The Value Of IS – A New Perspective

Several studies have been done in the last decades to align business and IS personnel and to present how IS can increase business value. Nevertheless, many of them were not successful and the business-IS gap is still present in many companies causing several failed IS implementation projects. Consequently, IS department is often considered merely as a cost and not as an enabler of business value. However, researchers were focusing mostly on the business value of IS and regardless of the effort the same problems that were existing a decade ago are still present in the business-IS relationship. Therefore, there is a strong a need to improve the importance of IS by presenting the value of IS from a different perspective. By the advent of social networks new opportunities are emerging for researchers and organizations to recognize the new value of IS. The purpose of this research is thus to present IS as an enabler and constructor of a better future and not emphasizing merely the business value of IS. Approximately 400 undergraduate students will be invited to participate in the research enabling to present the value of IS in a way that helps people to live better

Ontological Stakeholder View: An Innovative Proposition

This article describes a theoretical way of understanding business enterprise, for what it is used the stakeholder theory as a theory of the firm. Thus, the purpose of this article is to show an innovative perspective called ontological perspective of stakeholders that relies on a phenomenological model where the subjective perspective of agents is the key, from a purely monetarist model to an economic, social and emotional value creation model, and from a deductive model of stakeholder interests to an inductive model. The main contributions are: add a new perspective to the different classifications made of stakeholder theory, avoid monetarist reductionism under the concept of value in a way that the manager takes into account all interconnected interests of stakeholders, and finally prioritize interests map instead of roles map without accepting the assumption that the role involves joint and no conflicting interests

Supply chain integration in New Zealand: benchmark comparisons with the UK automotive sector

Supply chain integration is a promising approach to cross-enterprise process improvement that is still not well understood. This research investigates the level of sophistication (maturity) of supply chain integration in New Zealand from the systems uncertainty perspective. Uncertainty levels of value streams are evaluated using the 'uncertainty circle' concept, thereby enabling benchmark comparisons of value stream performance. A sample of 21 NZ process industry value streams is assessed using a so-called Quick Scan Audit Methodology (QSAM). and the uncertainty results compared with those obtained from 21 value streams in the UK automotive sector. This benchmarking revealed that value streams in New Zealand are weakly integrated and have control mechanisms which are significantly looser than those of the UK sample, even though they face higher uncertainty on the control and demand sides. In contrast, crosscountry differences in supply and process uncertainty are marginal. While providing insights into the general health of New Zealand value streams, the authors acknowledge that the sample is not a comprehensive representation of every NZ value stream

Measuring Customer Value and Market Dynamics for New Products of a Firm:An Analytical Construct for Gaining Competitive Advantage

The role of customer value has been largely recognized over time by the firms as an instrument towards stimulating market share and profit optimization. The customer values for a new product of firm in competitive markets are shaped more by habits, reinforcement effects, and situational influences than strongly-held attitudes. A strong and sustainable customer value associated with a new product launched by a firm may also lead to build the customer loyalty in the long run. An analysis of the new product-market structuring based on customer value may be developed well within the microeconomic framework of a firm. The measure of customer value as the efficiency of new product may be viewed from the customer’s perspective towards a ratio of outputs (e.g., perceived use value, resale value, reliability, safety, comfort) that customers obtain from a product relative to inputs (price, running costs) that customers have to deliver in exchange. However, the aggregate returns on the customer value towards the new product from the perspective of a firm may be observed manifesting in enhancing the market share, market coverage and augmenting profit in a given market. There has not been many contributions emerged in the past addressing the measurement of the customer value as an intangible asset of the firms, though substantial literature is available discussing the customer relations and loyalty building perspectives. This paper attempts to critically examine the available literature on the subject, discuss a model that provides a framework for analyzing the variables associated with customer value and to identify potential research areas. A basic premise of the paper is that the focus should be on maximizing total customer value and customer satisfaction which are inter-dependent in the decision making process towards buying new products. The framework of the construct is on a proposed model which integrates all aspects so as to maximize the potential of the organization and all its subsystems to create and sustain satisfied customers. The discussion in the paper on the customer value gaps in the process of marketing new products explores the possible situations that may lead to lower the customer value.New product management, customer value measurement, market coverage, aggregate returns, market penetration, model construct and estimation, profitability

Social Value of Marine and Coastal Protected Areas in England and Wales.

The U.K. government is committed to establishing a coherent network of marine protected areas by 2012 and the recentMarine and Coastal Access Act, 2009 will designate marine conservation zones and provide wider access rights to the coast. To fulfill these goals, this article argues the need for a clearer, shared understanding of the social value of protected areas in creating new designations and managing existing ones. Although marine and coastal environments attract many people and are vitally important in terms of realized and potential social value, the majority of the public in the United Kingdom lacks understanding and awareness regarding them. Combined with this, the social value of marine and coastal protected areas (MCPAs) have been largely ignored relative to conservation and economics, with the latter invariably taking precedence in environmental policymaking. Social value reflects the complex, individual responses that people experience in a given place. Many reasons determine why one area is valued above another, and this research investigates the social value of MCPAs from a practitioner’s perspective through a series of interviews. Understanding why we “socially” value MCPAs will ultimately equip managers with an informed understanding of these spaces, influence management decisions, and, potentially, policymaking. This article defines social value in the context of MCPAs in England and Wales from a practitioner perspective, explores key concepts, and suggests possible improvements in decision-making

Introducing the concept of first and last value to aid lean design: learning from social housing projects In Chile

Value for the customer through efficient production processes is a fundamental principle of Lean. In Lean Construction, Value to customers is largely delivered through project planning and control activities only. Thus, it can be argued that Lean Construction overlooks the opportunity to address Value from the early stages of a project. Aimed at improving this, Lean Design arose as a new approach for design management promoting customer and end user involvement from the early stage of projects. However, even here environmental & social issues are postponed over individual requirements. As a result, Lean potential in general skips the opportunity to address Value from a wider perspective in which the return of Value from the construction industry to society is considered. This paper proposes dividing the wider understanding of the performance of the (global) built environment from the particular (local) project requirements calling the former First Value and the latter Last Value. The theory is triangulated through observation of how a developing country (Chile) is resolving social issues through the use of the built environment. The work described develops Lean Design Management by providing a clearer vision of Value to reduce waste and aid sustainability in the built environment

What’s D&T for? Gathering and comparing the values of design and technology academics and trainee teachers

Some who read and research about Design & Technology (D&T) would say that the concept of value is key to understanding and defining D&T. Closer inspection reveals though that there are two ways in which values are defined in D&T: how values are taught and learnt about in D&T to use them to make judgments in D&T lessons, and also how values are developed in pupils as a result of studying D&T. Layton’s seminal keynote speech is the notable exception to these two classifications. In 1992 he shared a new perspective of values and D&T: how different stakeholders value the school subject D&T (1992a). The work presented here builds on Layton’s ‘new’ perspective and compares how two D&T stakeholder groups value D&T. The opinions of trainee D&T teachers and D&T academics, both directly affected by these changes were analysed using a grounded theory coded method. This resulted in a series of twenty-two values that facilitated comparison of the two group’s values. Further analysis revealed there were many similarities between the two groups, and only a few differences. However these differences showed the trainees did not believe D&T can be about the process of designing or identifying the needs of others, both values central to the original purpose of D&T in England and recognised by the academics. One implication for this, as schools take more ownership of teacher training, is that the value of D&T is likely to move further away from the D&T academics’ influence and be based upon the ‘spontaneous’ (Dow 2014, p.151) values developed through classroom practice with little reference to external opinion. Future work could widen the scope of the research, incorporating the values of other stakeholder groups into the values series and hence become a new tool to support the development of design and technology education, which hopefully will benefit others as they reflect on why they teach, research or use D&T