Choosing an organisational form: the case of collaborative procurement initiatives

This paper deals with different organisational forms of collaborative procurement and provides insight into when to use which form. Different forms from the literature are compared with empirical examples to give an overview of forms, which are then described in terms of strategy, skills and organisation. Whilst acknowledging variations, the paper distinguishes between two main forms: virtual networks and third-party organisations. Using empirical data and four theoretical perspectives (transaction cost economics, resource-based view, contingency theory, agency theory), the paper reflects on when which form can be used and presents an overall framework to help choose an organisational for

The e-revolution and post-compulsory education: using e-business models to deliver quality education

The best practices of e-business are revolutionising not just technology itself but the whole process through which services are provided; and from which important lessons can be learnt by post-compulsory educational institutions. This book aims to move debates about ICT and higher education beyond a simple focus on e-learning by considering the provision of post-compulsory education as a whole. It considers what we mean by e-business, why e-business approaches are relevant to universities and colleges and the key issues this raises for post-secondary education

Strategic motivators and expected benefits from e-Commerce in traditional organisations

This paper aims to identify the strategic motivators and expected benefits related to the implementation of e-commerce infrastructures in traditional “brick and mortar” organisations. Despite the fact that the clearest benefit from e-commerce might be expected to come from contribution to corporate profits, either from an increase of sales or reduction of costs, but this may not be the case. The literature suggests that there are different ways in which the potential benefits can be assessed. These ways are directly related to the evolution of e-commerce. This research has chosen six representative organisations from different sectors to explore their rationales for their e-commerce strategies. One of the main benefits reported is to increase the focus on the customer and improving internal communications. Additionally, obtaining competitive advantage was found to be a powerful motivator, despite the fact that the recent academic literature suggests that this is very difficult to achieve

The commercialisation of knowledge management practices to k-based development in Malaysia

This paper studies the connection between the commercialization of knowledge management practices and its contributions toward the knowledge-based development in Malaysia. Theoretical relations in this paper were tested through an empirical study carried out among public-listed organisations in the industrial products, consumer products, and service industries in Malaysia. The findings of this paper revealed that it is important for corporations to focus on knowledge management in the development of the organisation’s corporate strategy. Empirical evidence supported the view that firms with knowledge management capabilities and understanding will utilise these capabilities to drive their quality strategy, thus performing better than those that do not. In addition, the finding serves as an initial move among private sector business toward a knowledge-based country. This paper concludes that these practices have a positive incidence not only on the performance of the firm but it also gives some initial contributions toward the development of Malaysia as a knowledge-based country

Identity ambiguity and the promises and practices of hybrid e-HRM project teams

The role of IS project team identity work in the enactment of day-to-day relationships with their internal clients is under-researched. We address this gap by examining the identity work undertaken by an electronic human resource management (e-HRM) 'hybrid' project team engaged in an enterprise-wide IS implementation for their multi-national organisation. Utilising social identity theory, we identify three distinctive, interrelated dimensions of project team identity work (project team management, team 'value propositions' (promises) and the team's 'knowledge practice'). We reveal how dissonance between two perspectives of e-HRM project identity work (clients' expected norms of project team's service and project team's expected norms of themselves) results in identity ambiguity. Our research contributions are to identity studies in the IS project management, HR and hybrid literatures and to managerial practice by challenging the assumption that hybrid experts are the panacea for problems associated with IS projects

Knowledge management : why do we need it for corporates

This article gives a brief introduction about Knowledge Management (KM), its need, definition, components, KM assets, challenges and processes of KM initiative at any organisation. It also provides a narration on how the KM initiative has been adopted at ICICI OneSource, to support the achievement of its Business Process Outsourcing objectives. Both knowledge sharing as well as reuse need to be encouraged and recognized at the individual employee level as well as the company level. This is best done by measuring and rewarding knowledgeperformance. Sustained strategic commitment and a corporate culture that is conducive to knowledge-performance are vital for success in Knowledge Management. The paper concludes with suggestions for the implication for policy and future practices