Knowledge management models as a source of employee and organization’s efficiency

Motivation: Knowledge management in an organization is a new and less explored area in business literature and business practice. The scope of changes to enterprises influenced by competitive environment forces them to continuous seeking new ways of achieving the success. So-called intangible development factors start to be extremely meaningful — especially knowledge, consciously gained, created and disseminated through diversified methods aimed at shaping employees’ appropriate behaviours and developing information technology, which succours this process. Applying this approach requires the proper preparation of the organizational background and the system operation allowing the selection of a specific model. There are a lot of knowledge management models for organisation’s decision-makers to be able to manage the resources properly and skilfully.Aim: The aim of the article is to present the significance of knowledge management models’ use in modern organizations. The authors constructed 2 main research questions for which they sought answers within the collection of empirical material: What are the main knowledge management models used in a company? And How can models influence the effectiveness of an organization? The following research hypothesis has been constructed: In practice management has not yet developed appropriate models for evaluating and diagnosing the impact of models on the effectiveness of business decisions. The empirical material was collected by means of a qualitative method and the technique used was a secondary analysis of the existing data in the form of thematic sources.Results: The results of the review of the literature of the subject are presented as a synthetic description. Literary research was conducted at the turn of 2016 and 2017. Added value is a review of existing models that can be used in management practice

An investigation of aligning project management to business strategy: A review and conceptual framework

Copyright (C) 2011/12 ISEing.This paper discusses in depth the factors that lead to misalignment between the project management and the business strategy by investigating four case studies in the telecomunications industry in Saudi Arabia. Project management has been an important issue for many years and for many companies worldwide. Many implementations of project management (PM) have been successful, while others have failed to deliver the outcome of the project. The literature indicates that misalignment between large projects and the business strategy leads to 30% of all projects failing. Indeed, the literature highlights few internal factors (e.g. effective communication, executive support, involving the project manager in the business strategy development, and the project manager leadership competence) that may tie the project management to the company's business strategy. However, this study indicates very important external factors that affect the implementation of the company's business strategy. A framework will be developed to provide a clear guide to the project management efforts towards a competitive business strategy

Business process management and supply chain collaboration: a critical comparison

The link between a firm and supply chain (SC) members has been recognised as one of the key issues for ensuring business success and achieving competitive advantage. Indeed, working across organisational boundaries is required to accomplish effective responses to customers’ needs. Our preliminary research confirmed that there are positive relationships between business process management (BPM), supply chain collaboration (SCC), collaborative advantage and organisational performance. This study is a step further and uses a multiple case design to illuminate the results and gain a greater understanding from extensive discussions about these relationships. By means of semi-structured interviews, the three main issues were identified as: (1) the link between BPM and organisational performance; (2) the link between BPM and SCC; and (3) the contextual factors and benefits achieved from working collaboratively with SC partners. The different scenarios of the link between BPM and SCC were developed in a taxonomy, and the case studies were used to illustrate the experience of intra- and inter-organisational practices in the developing economy of Thailand. The case studies’ results explain in depth that both BPM and SCC are important for improving organisational performance and competitiveness. BPM not only improves organisational performance directly, but also assists with collaborative activities that in turn help to improve internal capabilities. Additionally, the comparisons in issues relating to firm size, industry type, relationship closeness and relationship length were also included in this study

Exploring the supply chain agility attributes in fast moving consumer goods industry: A case study in the Middle East

During the 1990s, supply chain management and agility have both received great attention. This is due to the fact that the business market place is characterized by being highly dynamic and complex. This paper aims to explore the need and the attributes of supply chain agility in FMCG business industry working in the Middle East markets. A case study of a multinational company working in the Middle East was chosen, where it faces the challenges of its business environment and its rapid changes in its markets. The findings show the case study supply chain working within such type of industry needs to be agile and that the attributes required for achieving agility within FMCGs supply chain includes: responsiveness; Customer service; flexibility; innovation; speed; quality; efficiency; and responsible people thinking

Kesediaan pelajar politeknik kejuruteraan elektrik dalam menceburi bidang keusahawanan

Bidang keusahawanan kini semakin berkembang maju selaras dengan seruan kerajaan yang banyak memberi dorongan kepada rakyat Malaysia agar menjadikan usahawan sebagai kerjaya utama. Kajian yang dijalankan adalah untuk mengenal pasti kesediaan pelajar bidang kejuruteraan elektrik di Politeknik bahagian zon selatan yang terdiri daripada Politeknik Melaka (PM), Politeknik Ibrahim Sultan (PIS), Politeknik Merlimau (PMM) dan Politeknik Port Dickson (PPD) dalam menceburi bidang keusahawanan. Seramai 291 orang pelajar terlibat dalam kajian ini. Kajian yang dijalankan adalah berasaskan Model Integratif Keusahawanan Input dan Keluaran, Model Asas Proses Keusahawanan, Teori Tingkah Laku Terancang, Model Pembangunan Usahawan dan juga Model Proses Pembentukan Usahawan Data kajian diperolehi daripada borang soal selidik yang mengandungi 73. Nilai kebolehpercayaan, Alpha Cronbach bagi instrument kajian adalah 0.957. Dapatan yang diperolehi dianalisis dengan menggunakan perisian komputer Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) Versi 16.0 untuk mendapat nilai frekuensi, peratus dan juga pekali korelasi. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan min bagi setiap elemen kesediaan yang dikaji ialah pengetahuan (3.60), kemahiran (min: 3.45), dorongan (min: 3.74), minat (min: 3.72), pengalaman (3.20) dan kepimpinan (min: 3.80). Manakala min bagi kekangan sikap ialah 2.56. Dapatan kajian juga mendapati bahawa hipotesis yang menyatakan bahawa terdapat hubungan yang signifikan antara minat keusahawan dan kepimpinan keusahawanan ditolak (r: 0.46). Berdasarkan kajian ini, dirumuskan bahawa elemen kesediaan keusahawanan bagi diri pelajar politeknik berada pada tahap sederhana

Winning customer loyalty in an automotive company through Six Sigma: a case study

Six Sigma is a disciplined approach to improving product, process and service quality. Since its inception at Motorola in the mid 1980s Six Sigma has evolved significantly and continues to expand to improve process performance, enhance business profitability and increase customer satisfaction. This paper presents an extensive literature review based on the experiences of both academics and practitioners on Six Sigma, followed by the application of the Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, Control (DMAIC) problem-solving methodology to identify the parameters causing casting defects and to control these parameters. The results of the study are based on the application of tools and techniques in the DMAIC methodology, i.e. Pareto Analysis, Measurement System Analysis, Regression Analysis and Design of Experiment. The results of the study show that the application of the Six Sigma methodology reduced casting defects and increased the process capability of the process from 0.49 to 1.28. The application of DMAIC has resulted in a significant financial impact (over U.S. $110 000 per annum) on the bottom-line of the company

Buyer-supplier partnership in agile supply chains: A conceptual view

The purpose of this paper focuses on achieving agility within the supply chain and seeks to examine the impact of developing an integrated buyer-supplier partnership on achieving agility. It also aims to investigate the moderating role played by information sharing and technology in achieving such a goal. Supply chain management and agility have both been received great attention in recent years. In a highly dynamic and complex business market place the customer is demanding more choice and companies need to possess the means to rapidly adjust to market changes in order to satisfy its customers in an effective manner. Agility has been introduced to the supply chain context to enable companies to face the business environmental changes and deal with them effectively. The methodological approach used in this paper is an analysis and critique to the existing literature, as an initial step for developing the empirical study for the paper

Achieving High Organization Performance through Servant Leadership

This empirical paper investigates whether a servant leader can develop a corporate culture that attracts or develops other servant leaders. Using the survey developed by Barbuto and Wheeler (2006), servant leader characteristics in managers were measured at three high-performing organizations. Results indicate that servant leaders can develop a culture of followers who are servant leaders themselves. This is one of the few studies to empirically test the model of servant leadership in an organizational environment. The success these servant leaders have achieved in a for-profit, demanding environment suggests this leadership style is viable for adoption by other firms

Outsourcing the logistics function: the supply chain role of third-party logistics service providers in UK convenience retailing

Logistics, defined as the process of strategically managing the procurement, movement and storage of materials; parts; finished inventory and related information flow through the organisation and its marketing channels, is increasingly being recognised as a vital part of an organisation’s marketing strategy. In many organisations, the logistics function is currently facing significant challenges. Pressures from increasing competition and high customer service-level expectations have created a need for more professional and better-equipped logistics services. Confronted with such competitive pressures, these organisations are faced with decisions of the make OR buy kind with regard to the logistics processes of supply and distribution. In addition, the emergence of a need to focus on core capabilities has led many organisations to contract out all, or part of, the logistics function to third-party providers. This paper explores the challenges of outsourcing logistics in the UK convenience-retailing sector

HR Metrics and Strategy

[Excerpt] The idea that an organization\u27s people represent a key strategic resource is widely accepted. The business press is filled with examples of top executives proclaiming how important it is to engage people\u27s minds and spirits in the quest for competitive advantage (Boudreau & Ramstad, 1997; Boudreau, 1996). There is also mounting scientific evidence that certain bundles of high-performance work practices (e.g., performance-contingent pay, team-based work structures, selective recruitment and hiring, extensive training, etc.) are associated with higher organizational financial performance (Becker & Huselid, forthcoming; Ichniowski, Arthur, MacDuffie, Welbourne & Andrews)