PROCESS MODELS AS TRANSFORMATION VEHICLE FOR STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT

Practitioners within the IS-field tend to engage in different kind of modelling activities for the purpose of analysis, design and evaluation of information systems. Business process models has been used for several purposes such as reconstructing existing practice (AS-IS) and to design the future (TO-BE). So far little research has been conducted on process modelling practices, the role and characteristics of models mean for business transformation. This paper elaborates on the role of process models as transformation vehicle to create alignment between a strategic business plan and business processes. The empirical base in this paper is an action research project where researchers together with a retail chain in sports and recreation (Intersport), as a part of a bigger change program, has designed Intersport´s future practice based on a new strategic business plan. The results in the paper are descriptions about the role, characteristics and usage of different models during process design. The design of the future is a transformational process where models will have different roles during different phases of the project; scoping models, chiseling models, design models and change models. Good design results can be ensured through that the business process models in the end manage to express vital business dimensions such as transformation, coordination and interaction. The conclusions also depict the need for incremental design to create strategic alignment. The main reason for this is that people need to digest the evolving design in order to be able to understand characteristics and consequences of the final design

Advancing Strategy: How to Lead Change in Corporate Societal Engagement

Implementing a strategy may be even harder than developing it. This learning brief is intended for corporate foundation and CSR leaders who have completed an initial strategy refresh process and who seek effecitve practices and tools to advance this strategy. In our experience advising more than 100 multinational companie, effective leaders facilitate structured, data-informed decisions and enable important organizational improvements to achieve their strategic objectives. Specifically, advancing strategy in corporate societal engagement typically requires leading change in two major areas of the overall portfolio: designing a signative initiative and transforming local giving

A study on technology management process: the parts and components suppliers in the Turkish automotive industry

This paper summarizes part of an empirical study on technology management process in the Turkish automotive parts and components industry. In this study, technology management practices in the Turkish automotive parts and components suppliers' sector are described and evaluated. Practices, techniques, and approaches are proposed to improve the level of technology management so as to turn technology into a competitive weapon. The investigation is organized within the framework of a process model for technology management that consists of technology identification, selection, acquisition, exploitation, protection, and abandonment. A comprehensive questionnaire addressing all phases of this process is developed and the results of 21 companies are presented

Triple-Layer Chess: An Analogy for Multi-Dimensional Health Policy Partnerships

The focus is the Jefferson County Access Program. This program provides comprehensive diabetic case management through several rural health clinics

How the design of socio-technical experiments can enable radical changes for sustainability

Sustainability requires radical innovations, but their introduction and diffusion usually encounter the opposition of existing socio-technical regimes. An important challenge is, therefore, to understand how to catalyse and support the process of transitioning towards these innovations. Building upon insights from transition studies (in particular the concepts of Strategic Niche Management and Transition Management), and through an action research project (aimed at designing, introducing and diffusing a sustainable mobility system in the suburban areas of Cape Town), the paper investigates the role of design in triggering and orienting societal transformations. A key role is given to the implementation of socio-technical experiments. A new socio-technical system design role emerges: a role in which the ideation and development of sustainable innovation concepts is coupled with the designing of appropriate transition paths to gradually incubate, introduce and diffuse these concepts

Absorptive capacity and relationship learning mechanisms as complementary drivers of green innovation performance

This paper aims to explore in depth how internal and external knowledge-based drivers actually affect the firms\u2019 green innovation performance. Subsequently, this study analyzes the relationships between absorptive capacity (internal knowledge-based driver), relationship learning (external knowledge-based driver) and green innovation performance. This study relies on a sample of 112 firms belonging to the Spanish automotive components manufacturing sector (ACMS) and uses partial least squares path modeling to test the hypotheses proposed. The empirical results show that both absorptive capacity and relationship learning exert a significant positive effect on the dependent variable and that relationship learning moderates the link between absorptive capacity and green innovation performance. This paper presents some limitations with respect to the particular sector (i.e. the ACMS) and geographical context (Spain). For this reason, researchers must be thoughtful while generalizing these results to distinct scenarios. Managers should devote more time and resources to reinforce their absorptive capacity as an important strategic tool to generate new knowledge and hence foster green innovation performance in manufacturing industries. The paper shows the importance of encouraging decision-makers to cultivate and rely on relationship learning mechanisms with their main stakeholders and to acquire the necessary information and knowledge that might be valuable in the maturity of green innovations. This study proposes that relationship learning plays a moderating role in the relationship between absorptive capacity and green innovation performance

Applications of lean thinking: a briefing document

This report has been put together by the Health and Care Infrastructure Research and Innovation Centre (HaCIRIC) at the University of Salford for the Department of Health. The need for the report grew out of two main simple questions, o Is Lean applicable in sectors other than manufacturing? o Can the service delivery sector learn from the success of lean in manufacturing and realise the benefits of its implementation?The aim of the report is to list together examples of lean thinking as it is evidenced in the public and private service sector. Following a review of various sources a catalogue of evidence is put together in an organised manner which demonstrates that Lean principles and techniques, when applied rigorously and throughout an entire organization/unit, they can have a positive impact on productivity, cost, quality, and timely delivery of services

An Ontology for Product-Service Systems

Industries are transforming their business strategy from a product-centric to a more service-centric nature by bundling products and services into integrated solutions to enhance the relationship between their customers. Since Product- Service Systems design research is currently at a rudimentary stage, the development of a robust ontology for this area would be helpful. The advantages of a standardized ontology are that it could help researchers and practitioners to communicate their views without ambiguity and thus encourage the conception and implementation of useful methods and tools. In this paper, an initial structure of a PSS ontology from the design perspective is proposed and evaluated

Strategic Responses to Digitised Products: a Case Study of an Automotive Firm

Firms are faced with the pace and complexity of digital transformation, which leads to changes in organisational structures, processes, culture and products. This study examines how an automotive firm attempts to align its strategy to an increasingly digitised and software-based product. The key observations show how digitised products disrupt intra-organisational and inter-organisational ways of working, and old-fashioned mass production. To combat these challenges, essential strategic responses including the implementation of new processes and the establishment of own software firms take place. In addition, since manufactured digitised vehicles are not sold as completed products and require frequent software updates during their lifecycle, organisations need to develop dynamic alignment competencies to continuously update their business strategy, thrive in a digital world and sustain their competitive advantage