Bibliometric Analysis of Performance Management: Research Obstacles and Opportunities

This study presents a bibliometric analysis of publications relevant to performance management. Increased research in management has led to the emergence of a new paradigm in applying performance management systems. The researchers explore how to improve the effectiveness of the performance of companies and institutions. This bibliometric analysis research found 945 articles related to performance management using the Scopus database. The R-Studio bibliometric package is used to conduct data analysis to find trends, worldwide distribution of documents, influential journals, frequently used citations, and countries that dominate publishing articles. This study aimed to analyze articles from the Scopus database related to "Performance Management." The findings obtained in this study that the effectiveness of management lies in the organization's ability to determine goals, motivate employees to change individual behavior, and use the Balanced Score Card (BSC). This research can assist organizations in improving the effectiveness of performance management and as an illustration for future research

How Software Promotes the Integration of Sustainability in Business Process Management

Business research and practice increasingly focus on integrating sustainability in organizations. To contribute to rising challenges related to the society and the environment, sustainability-driven concepts (e.g., environmental friendly)have to be implemented in the daily business routines, and thus, need to be considered during the design of business processes in any organization. In this study, we conceptualize the field of Green Business Process Management (BPM)and use the derived concepts to classify supporting modelling tools and concrete software features. While our study indicates a lack of realization of the ecological and social sustainability in particular and a gap in supporting users during the redesign phase, there are software features that can potentially serve as a starting point to further incorporate sustainability in the design, implementation, and controlling of business processes

Information Outlook, September 2004

Volume 8, Issue 9https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_io_2004/1008/thumbnail.jp

Information Outlook, September 2004

Volume 8, Issue 9https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_io_2004/1008/thumbnail.jp

Information Outlook, September 2004

Volume 8, Issue 9https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_io_2004/1008/thumbnail.jp

An investigation into the impact of emphasis on profitability and security of electricity supply as compared to total asset management in a power plant

Asset owners are faced with the challenge of making operational decisions that are consistent with strategic objectives of the company. Staying in the forefront of Asset Management to optimize long term profitability and sustainability often have conflicting objectives and more so for an ageing asset. In 2008, South Africans saw the highest load shedding events ever experienced in the country as the power utility, Eskom cut electricity supply to houses. The government, in its bid to ensure a year-on-year economic activity, decided to operate assets in the power Industry to their maximum capacity while waiting for new capacity that will be provided by the new built Power Plants to be commissioned. Balancing conflicting objectives of Total Asset Care is a challenge in itself for asset managers, adding an Asset Management environment where profitability and reducing the risk of load shedding in the short term takes precedence over Total Asset Care, adds a totally new dimension. The objective of the research was to investigate, using a single case study, the impact of a focus of ensuring security of electricity supply to the National Grid or profitability as opposed to Total Asset Management in a Power Plant. A single case study with embedded units was used for the research. The study was considered within the context of the Asset Management strategy used in the Power Plant under study and the environment in which it operates. Literature review revealed that the Power Utility adopted PAS 55, currently considered as the best practice in Asset Management in industry, in 2010. Following this, the subject of the research is to investigate the actual Asset Management practices, dictated by operational indicators as compared to the Power Utility Asset Management Requirements and thus PAS 55. Power Plant Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) were used as the central focus of the analysis section. This is because KPI’s not only gives information about the performance of the Power Plant; it also indicates the means of achieving such a performance. 17 year operational data from the Power Plant was used in the analysis. The data was collected from archiving systems in the Power Plant. The data collected included information about operations, availability, reliability, risk management, asset renewal, asset configurations and modification. Analysis of data employed both qualitative and quantitative techniques. The objective of the analysis was to use KPI’s to determine how asset managers in such power utilities manage conflicting objectives of short-term performance and long term sustainability, asset utilization and asset care, capital investment and operating cost in the light of current electricity capacity challenges in South Africa. The analysis showed that the performance of the Power Plant regarding availability is amongst the best in the world. The availability average is above 90% as compared to an average industry figure of 83%. The load factor is also very high, with an average of 77% as compared to the industry average of 64%. This particular Power Station under study is used for grid frequency regulation. In summary, the analysis highlighted that the asset is operated at higher utilization factors, higher load factors close to operating limits and with limited maintenance opportunities. The key finding in the investigation is that prior 2001, the Power plant built a considerable maintenance backlog and it has not been able to recover from that. The plant started showing signs of distress from having limited maintenance opportunities after that. The distress was further exercebated by a decrease in reserve margins. In addition, the asset is not renewed timeously (to make it more available, instead of taking it down for replacements) and all systems supporting Asset Management are showing signs of deterioration. The current high asset availability levels, as indicated by the analysis might be giving a false sense of security to customers, regulators and investors in South Africa, however the current means of achieving good production performances are not sustainable. The impact of the current asset care regime will eventually lead to premature plant deterioration and the signs are already visible as shown by the incident management system. The current environment is a breeding ground for creation of future problems about premature asset deterioration in an effort to obtain short term gains. This means that by the time new built capacity is commissioned, the current assets might not be able to sustain current production levels because of deterioration. This will lead to a situation where this new capacity will not serve the intended purpose of relieving current shortages but compensate for losses resulting from deteriorating assets. This will eventually lead to a condition where the country will remain in a state of lack until something drastic is done e.g. building a number of high capacity nuclear plants. A focus on Total Asset Management on the other hand inherently takes care of long term sustainability of production levels. The analysis of the data shows that even though the power utility has adopted the best practices in Asset Management currently available in the market i.e. PAS 55, asset operational data paints a different picture. This is attributed to the fact that the dayto- day running of the plant contradicts the strategic objectives of the utility i.e. the line of sight between strategy and operation is blurred. An Asset Management system that does not support the strategic objectives of the organization is fruitless. The recommendation was that the utility reviews the appropriateness of its Asset Management strategy taking into account, the current status of the asset, operational environment and all supporting systems with the objective of aligning to world best practice. Currently the world best practice in Asset Management is PAS 55. Adoption of the standard without operational proof of adherence and certification is not sufficient. Adherence to the standard and certification on the other hand gives assurance to all stakeholders that the asset will deliver personnel safety, environmental safety, profit, security of supply as well as positive public opinion

A snap on quality management in Zimbabwe: a perspectives review

Purpose: The main objective of this article was to provide evidence concerning the level of Quality Management (QM) in Zimbabwe. Submitted evidence regarding QM in Zimbabwe will help organizations that want to implement QM systems. The results can guide government agents in making informed decisions towards QM systems implementation since very few organizations are officially quality certified. Research Methodology: The survey followed online search query on quality management in zimbabwe from journal articles, proceedings and institutional repository. 51 publications were selected and excel file was used to capture data and analyse. Results: The results expose that there was high interest in QM in 2014, 2015 and 2016. The results showed industries lack of capacity and resources, lack of skills and expertise, poor communication with stakeholders, poor raw materials, changing customer preferences, lack of top management commitment and costs of QM systems as key barriers to QM implementation. Limitations: The study limitation was survey of few studies retrieved through Bindura University online library and open access journal articles, proceedings papers and dissertations/thesis available on institutional repository. Keywords: Zimbabwe, Quality Management (QM), Drivers, Barriers, Benefit

Knowledge Management Practice at a Bulgarian Bank: A Case Study

This paper reports on knowledge management (KM) practices in the customer service and lending departments of one of Bulgaria's top retail banks and investigates how KM processes can be further improved. The Bank's KM activities have been studied using observations, interviews and informal discussions for data collection. Findings were compared and contrasted with existing literature in similar contexts. Although rudiments of knowledge sharing are evident from the KM activities in different departments of the bank, the limitations such as resistance to change of the implemented KM systems are impeding the effectiveness of the knowledge management process. More training and incentives are needed to increase knowledge creation and sharing. Moreover, a clearly articulated KM strategy along with success criteria and commitment and support from senior management is needed. There is a severe lack of knowledge management studies in Bulgarian context in general and Bulgarian banking sector in particular. The authors' findings will potentially help in improving knowledge sharing practice as well as provide a valuable insight into knowledge management related issues in the Bulgarian context. The findings from this research can be useful to companies from Eastern Europe and other regions in improving their knowledge sharing practice