Business process management tools as a measure of customer-centric maturity

In application of business process management (BPM) tools in European commercial sectors, this paper examines current maturity of customer centricity construct (CC) as an emerging dimension of competition and as a potential strategic management direction for the future of business. Processes are one of the key components of transformation in the CC roadmap. Particular departments are more customer orientated than others, and processes, customer-centric expertise, and approach can be built and utilized starting from them. Positive items within a current business process that only involve minor modification could be the basis for that. The evidence of movement on the customer-centric roadmap is found. BPM in European telecommunications, banking, utility and retail sector supports roadmap towards customer-centricity in process view, process alignment and process optimization. However, the movement is partial and not flawless, as BPM hasn’t been inquired for supporting many of customer-centric dimensions

Implementation process of quality management tools

The aim of the article is to describe the research focused on understanding the relationship between quality management tools and results in the training of students of educational establishments of the city of Manizales. To achieve this objective, a process of qualitative nature was developed with a comprehensive intention in mind, based on hermeneutics: a reading of a phenomenon of the reality of management processes to interpret the logical relationship between quality management tools and results in the formation of students in schools and the impact it has had on education. The main findings allowed an approach to the main theoretical contributions focused on the implementation process of quality management tools and training of students in educational establishments. However, we found that nationwide investigations are very few and show a significant co-relation between educational standards and discourse. In recent years, these studies emphasize the development plans of the political and administrative authorities, but even these proposals and speeches are not reflected effectively in the socialcultural transformation that the country needs in relation to processes of the quality management system.The aim of the article is to describe the research focused on understanding the relationship between quality management tools and results in the training of students of educational establishments of the city of Manizales. To achieve this objective, a process of qualitative nature was developed with a comprehensive intention in mind, based on hermeneutics: a reading of a phenomenon of the reality of management processes to interpret the logical relationship between quality management tools and results in the formation of students in schools and the impact it has had on education. The main findings allowed an approach to the main theoretical contributions focused on the implementation process of quality management tools and training of students in educational establishments. However, we found that nationwide investigations are very few and show a significant co-relation between educational standards and discourse. In recent years, these studies emphasize the development plans of the political and administrative authorities, but even these proposals and speeches are not reflected effectively in the socialcultural transformation that the country needs in relation to processes of the quality management system

Methods and tools for supporting industrial design innovation

The introduction of information technology (IT) systems to support designers’ activities and data management have profoundly affected company structure and design organization. This evolution has brought the introduction of systematic methods, close to information tools skills and prerogatives, using computer management and data recovery skills as main design support. The use of the IT also improved information exchange among different work figures involved during product development process. In this direction authors have intended to analyze the role and the implementation of systematic methods and tools within industrial designer area of the design process and their impact on the conceptual design phase in particular. Consequently, the research has been developed primarily in reference to design methods able to support the strict ideation stage of the Conceptual Design, that can be referred to two typologies: knowledge based and functional approaches. Subsequently authors have analyzed the information tools currently used during design process, as CAD systems, and some innovative, as Virtual and Augmented Reality tools, that can be used within industrial design area. The result of the study has been a formalization of the course followed during idea conceptual phase in order to include and to arrange the design methods and tools analysed. The research proposes a structured view of a process of product conceptualization, usually considered as mainly heuristic, focusing on the integration of methods and tools to support project and its communication. In this area the research has highlighted industrial designer role characteristics during design process, changeable in reference of project development level, and also some important new questions have been identified about the interaction between industrial designers and the other design areas involved in the process. In this direction the study has highlighted the need to support knowledge exchange and recovery, introducing the possibility to extend the research to the whole process and integrate industrial design and engineering collaboration in a more effective way. Keywords: Conceptual design process, Systematic innovation, Knowledge management, Integration</p

A product line for workflow management systems

This paper presents an ongoing research on the development of a component-based product line architecture for workflow management systems. The research includes a process to design the proposed product line, the population of the product with components, the product member production process, architecture evaluation mechanisms using architecture description languages and support tools, a variability management process and the development of case studies to evaluate each proposed technique

Performance Measurement Systems in Theatres: The Case of the Municipal Theatre of Ferrara

In recent years, cultural organisations have introduced and tested new management tools to achieve their institutional goals of efficiency, effectiveness and social cohesion. This process has been widely linked to New Public Management for public sector cultural organisations, but the introduction of these tools has been an interesting process in private cultural organisations too. This paper aims at considering more specifically one kind of management tools: performance measurement systems. Their goal is to give to the management a set of information of quantitative and qualitative nature that could guide the strategic choices in the long-term. With this work, we will consider the real possibilities of application of a good performance measurement system in cultural organisations, with a particular focus on theatres. Our research starts with the analysis of the theoretical framework of performance measurement systems and theatres management. The theoretical approach is supported by the analysis of a case study, the Municipal Theatre of Ferrara (Italy). In this way, we will try to verify and discuss opportunities and critical points implied by the introduction of a performance measurement system in theatres.New Public Management; Management Tools; Performance Measurement; Theatres; Municipal Theatre of Ferrara

Knowledge organization or information organization : a key component of knowledge management activities

This paper focuses on the various bibliographic and information retrieval tools and techniques used for information organization, a key activity in a knowledge management process. The paper begins with the existing debate on the very concept of knowledge management, and looks at some recent papers and arguments on this issue. It then briefly discusses how some projects over the past decade or so have used various traditional bibliographic organization tools for providing access to electronic resources. This follows examples of some sophistical information organization techniques used by some speciality search engines. It is argued that these tools and techniques, although are quite useful, cannot be used as such in a knowledge management environment. A generic model of information access in a knowledge management environment is then proposed, and new areas of research, especially in the context of information organization are discussed

Network-based business process management: embedding business logic in communications networks

Advanced Business Process Management (BPM) tools enable the decomposition of previously integrated and often ill-defined processes into re-usable process modules. These process modules can subsequently be distributed on the Internet over a variety of many different actors, each with their own specialization and economies-of-scale. The economic benefits of process specialization can be huge. However, how should such actors in a business network find, select, and control, the best partner for what part of the business process, in such a way that the best result is achieved? This particular management challenge requires more advanced techniques and tools in the enabling communications networks. An approach has been developed to embed business logic into the communications networks in order to optimize the allocation of business resources from a network point of view. Initial experimental results have been encouraging while at the same time demonstrating the need for more robust techniques in a future of massively distributed business processes.active networks;business process management;business protocols;embedded business logic;genetic algorithms;internet distributed process management;payment systems;programmable networks;resource optimization

Requirements and Tools for Variability Management

Explicit and software-supported Business Process Management has become the core infrastructure of any medium and large organization that has a need to be efficient and effective. The number of processes of a single organization can be very high, furthermore, they might be very similar, be in need of momentary change, or evolve frequently. If the ad-hoc adaptation and customization of processes is currently the dominant way, it clearly is not the best. In fact, providing tools for supporting the explicit management of variation in processes (due to customization or evolution needs) has a profound impact on the overall life-cycle of processes in organizations. Additionally, with the increasing adoption of Service-Oriented Architectures, the infrastructure to support automatic reconfiguration and adaptation of business process is solid. In this paper, after defining variability in business process management, we consider the requirements for explicit variation handling for (service based) business process systems. eGovernment serves as an illustrative example of reuse. In this case study, all local municipalities need to implement the same general legal process while adapting it to the local business practices and IT infrastructure needs. Finally, an evaluation of existing tools for explicit variability management is provided with respect to the requirements identified.

Agricultural climate change mitigation : Carbon calculators as a guide for decision making

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis Group in International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability on 9 November 2017, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2017.1398628. Under embargo. Embargo end date: 9 November 2018.The dairy industry is receiving considerable attention in relation to both its significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and it’s potential for reducing those emissions, contributing towards meeting national targets and driving the industry towards sustainable intensification. However, the extent to which improvements can be made is dependent on the decision making processes of individual producers, so there has been a proliferation of carbon accounting tools seeking to influence those processes. This paper evaluates the suitability of such tools for driving environmental change by influencing on-farm management decisions. Seven tools suitable for the European dairy industry were identified, their characteristics evaluated, and used to process data relating to six scenario farms, emulating process undertaken in real farm management situations. As a result of the range of approaches taken by the tools, there was limited agreement between them as to GHG emissions magnitude, and no consistent pattern as to which tools resulted in the highest/lowest results. Despite this it is argued, that as there was agreement as to the farm activities responsible for the greatest emissions, the more complex tools were still capable of performing a ‘decision support’ role, and guiding management decisions, whilst others could merely focus attention on key issues.Peer reviewe

A Risk Management Process for Consumers

Simply by using information technology, consumers expose themselves to considerable security risks. Because no technical or legal solutions are readily available, the only remedy is to develop a risk management process for consumers, similar to the process executed by enterprises. Consumers need to consider the risks in a structured way, and take action, not once, but iteratively. Such a process is feasible: enterprises already execute such processes, and time-saving tools can support the consumer in her own process. In fact, given our society's emphasis on individual responsibilities, skills and devices, a risk management process for consumers is the logical next step in improving information security