The Instrumental Genesis of Collective Activity. The Case of an ERP Implementation in a Large Electricity Producer

Collective activity should be a focal subject to study organizational dynamics, particularly in relation with the implementation of management systems such as ERPs. Collective activity is analyzed here as an ongoing dialogical construction by actors. It is always mediated by signs and particularly by instruments. To design and adapt collective activity, a reflexive dialogical exchange between actors, a “collective activity about collective activity”, mediated by instruments, is necessary: we call it “the instrumental genesis of collective activity”. We analyze the case of an ERP implementation at EDF, a large electricity company, in the purchase and procurement area of the production division. The design and implementation of the new system was not clearly viewed as the instrumental genesis of collective activity. Difficulties appeared particularly for cross-functional cooperation and for the construction of new professional profiles of competence. In the light of this case, we suggest that key conditions for the intelligibility and the actionability of collective activity are the establishment of communities and the hybridization of professional competences.Collective Activity; Collective Sensemaking; Community; Dialogical; ERP; Instruments; Instrumental Genesis of Activity; Interpretation; Sign

Effects of Information Flow on People-Driven Processes within a Remote-Based Field Staff

This study examines the potential of open information flow in leading autonomous and decentralized field staffs. Research questions focus on participant perceptions of access to useful information and whether a participant\u27s more positive organizational outlook compared favorably to their actual process performance. A chaotic model of people-driven processes formed the framework that explored these effects. A set of perception-based questions centered on the goals, roles, processes, and relationships held within a field organization created the model\u27s structure. An assessment tool collected participant self-reported views of their organization and compared them to the high and low participant performance groups of four unique processes. Operational and financial measures defined the metric categories of each process. The results identified consistent patterns of perception differences between the high and low performance groups within processes that utilized more operational metrics. Processes with only financial metrics did not show the same effect. Significant differences in perceived quality of information flow structures, and its content, \l/ere process dependent. These patterns provided insight and helped answer the study\u27s research questions. The study lends general support for the model\u27s usefulness in formulating effective processes within an organization. A suggested method to create and maintain people-driven processes was produced by integrating the model and study findings

Cross-Border IT-Support for the Management of International Subsidiary Operations: The Diffusion of Innovations-Based Conceptual Model

Rapid and effective internationalization has increasingly become important for high-tech companies. Establishing a foreign subsidiary can facilitate effective internationalization for a high-tech company. This study investigates how IT can provide cross-border support to manage international subsidiary operations and makes important theoretical contributions. The research results exhibit how companies can use cross-border IT-support to effectively share and utilize information from the target country environment for international subsidiary operations. This paper also introduces the diffusion of innovations-based conceptual model which deals with various factors that should be taken into account while operating a foreign subsidiary through IT support. The findings are useful for both practice and further research

Business intelligence for sustainable competitive advantage: the case of telecommunications companies in Malaysia

The concept of Business Intelligence (BI) as an essential competitive tool has been widely emphasized in the strategic management literature. Yet the sustainability of the firms’ competitive advantage provided by BI capability is not well explained. To fill this gap, this study attempts to develop a model for successful BI deployment and empirically examines the association between BI deployment and sustainable competitive advantage.Taking the telecommunications industry in Malaysia as a case example, the research particularly focuses on the influencing perceptions held by telecommunications decision makers and executives on factors that impact successful BI deployment. The research further investigates the relationship between successful BI deployment and sustainable competitive advantage of the telecommunications organizations. Another important aim of this study is to determine the effect of moderating factors such as organization culture, business strategy and use of BI tools on BI deployment and the sustainability of firm’s competitive advantage.This research uses combination of theoretical foundation of resource-based theory and diffusion of innovation theory to examine BI success and its relationship with firm’s sustainability. The research adopts the positivist paradigm and a two-phase sequential mixed method consisting of qualitative and quantitative approaches are employed. A tentative research model is developed first based on extensive literature review. Qualitative field study then is carried out to fine tune the initial research model. Findings from the qualitative method are also used to develop measures and instruments for the next phase of quantitative method. A survey is carried out with sample of business analysts and decision makers in telecommunications firms and is analyzed by Partial Least Square-based Structural Equation Modeling.The findings revealed that some internal resources of the organizations such as BI governance and the perceptions of BI’s characteristics influence the successful deployment of BI. Organizations that practice good BI governance with strong moral and financial support from upper management will have better chance in realizing their dreams of having successful BI initiatives in place. The scope of BI governance includes providing sufficient support and commitment in BI funding and implementation, laying out proper BI infrastructure and staffing and establishing a corporate-wide policy and procedures regarding BI. The perceptions about the characteristics of BI such as its relative advantage, complexity, compatibility and observability are also significant in ensuring BI success. It thus implied that the executives’ positive perceptions towards BI initiatives are deemed necessary. Moreover, the most important results of this study indicated that with BI successfully deployed, executives would use the knowledge provided for their necessary actions in sustaining the organizations’ competitive advantage in terms of economics, social and environmental issues.The BI model well explained how BI was deployed in Malaysian telecommunications companies. This study thus contributes significantly to the existing literature that will assist future BI researchers especially in achieving sustainable competitive advantage. In particular, the model will help practitioners to consider the resources that they are likely to consider when deploying BI. Finally, the applications of this study can be extended through further adaptation in other industries and various geographic contexts

The organisational characteristics and knowledge management enabler towards employee entrepreneurial orientation in Klang Valley manufacturing industries

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between organisational characteristics, knowledge management enabler, learning orientation and employee entrepreneurial orientation among the manufacturing industry employees in Klang Valley, Malaysia. The theoretical model based on Resource-Based Theory approach to the employee entrepreneurial orientation was developed. To answer the research questions, seven hypotheses were formulated. These are; (i) There is significant relationship between organisational characteristics and learning orientation, (ii) There is significant relationship between knowledge management enabler and learning orientation, (iii) There is significant relationship between learning orientation and employee entrepreneurial orientation, (iv) There is significant relationship between organisational characteristics and employee entrepreneurial orientation, (v) There is significant relationship between knowledge management enabler and employee entrepreneurial orientation, (vi) learning orientation mediates the relationship organisational characteristics and employee entrepreneurial orientation, and (vii) learning orientation mediates the relationship knowledge management enabler and employee entrepreneurial orientation. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to the manufacturing industry employees. A total of 386 manufacturing employees of all levels were involved in this study, making an overall 25.73 percent response rate. This study utilised the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) to establish the validity and reliability of the measurement model and test the relationships. The findings of the study showed that both organisational characteristics and knowledge management enabler have significant influences on employee entrepreneurial orientation. The results indicated that learning orientation has a mediating role in the relationship between organisational characteristics towards employee entrepreneurial orientation, and knowledge management enabler towards employee entrepreneurial orientation. The findings offered several theoretical and practical implications to employees and policy makers. The limitations of the study are addressed and recommendations for future research work also offered

INFORMATION SYSTEMS CONTRIBUTION TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SUSTAINABLE PURCHASING POLICY

Sustainability has become a central corporate concern as well as a key factor of success in terms of both image and productivity. In turn, the purchasing function is crucial to the definition and implementation of a sustainability policy. It drives a company’s sourcing activities and connects its other functions (i.e. internal customers) to external suppliers and providers. In short, sustainable purchasing plays a key role in global strategy and therefore requires high performance tools. Information systems, which have come under heavy criticism due to their negative environmental effects, can provide support services while also stimulating and disseminating sustainable purchase policies. This is because despite their poor reputation, purchasing information systems - which are usually designed to manage transactions and generate quick and significant gains through costcutting – have evolved to become virtual communities of practice where purchasers collaborate with one another and with internal or external partners to create sustainable value. The present study combines a literature review with a qualitative study to illustrate this emergence and show how information systems can and will contribute to the development of corporate sustainable purchasing policies. Using an exploratory approach and constructivist positioning, a “business forecasting” method is implemented to suggest a possible future for sustainable purchasing management, along with a new role for information systems. Towards this end, a scenario is co-constructed by 12 purchasing function experts responding to questions about their customs and practices and talking about their experiences, the effects of the rising wave of environmentalism, the problems they face in implementing and optimizing information systems and their professional. They also offer a few predictions and suggest new methods and modes of coordination. The study traces the development of new and innovative modes of sustainable purchasing management. These are aligned with a company’s global strategy thanks to the use of innovative information systems facilitating the dissemination of policies that purchasing departments implement both internally and externally through the integration of suppliers. Purchasing functions and information system departments work together to reduce the environmental footprint of technology and to exert greater influence on collaboration and teamwork by building an economic environment that is more viable and livable and also fairer. The originality of this article resides both in its sophisticated methodology, which associates several complementary approaches, and in its conclusions, which anticipate a probable future

Strategic repositioning in the construction industry – An examination of main challenges

This thesis aims stress out the key challenge organisation might face, if the changes in the environment reveal the need for a strategic repositioning. In particular this thesis examines the perceived organizational challenges that might occur, if an organizations tries to reposition itself by spinning out a new venture that aims to create a new combi-nation of products and markets. To illustrate how firms may tackle the occurring chal-lenges, a model is proposed that points out what key challenges companies need to con-sider when pursuing a process of strategic repositioning. On the one hand, this paper classifies strategic repositioning as a strategic initiative dedicated to the domain of stra-tegic renewal, which can be perceived as one of the main streams of strategic entrepre-neurship. On the other hand, it will point out several challenges that are directly interre-lated with a specific form of corporate venturing; the spin out. In effort to combine the-se two elemental streams of corporate entrepreneurship, the here used concept of strate-gic repositioning is referring to a range of theoretical concepts that reflect a broad per-spective on the area of entrepreneurship theory. The theoretical framework majorly con-sists of two superordinated streams: Firstly, theory dedicated to strategic repositioning (Reichel, 2005; Ryan, Moroney, Geoghegan, & Cunningham, 2007; Turner, 2003), which also includes a classification and distinction of the framing domain of strategic renewal (Agarwal & Helfat, 2009; Kuratko, Covin, & Morris, 2011). Secondly, theory discussing the main challenges of organizational change with a focus on strategic re-newal and strategic repositioning (Agarwal & Helfat, 2009; Ryan et al., 2007). Thereby, the conceptualization of the business model (Cavalcante, Kesting, & Ulhøi, 2011; McGrath, 2010; Morris, Schindehutte, & Allen, 2005; Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010) will be highlighted in effort to outline it as a particularly relevant key challenge with regard to the spin out as carrier of the strategic repositioning process. Subject of the conducted case study is Inwido, a multi-national construction company based in Swe-den that is settled in the window and door industry. To gather the required information a range of qualitative data was collected embracing semi-structured interviews as well as the employment of secondary data sources. In a further step the gathered data is ana-lyzed and compared with relevant literature to reveal implications to the proposed theo-retical model. According to the findings final recommendations are stated to deduct further implications for other companies in the construction industry or unrelated indus-tries that face similar challenges

An Application Of Aircraft Maintenance System Development By Lean Thinking

Tez (Yüksek Lisans) -- İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi, Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü, 2006Thesis (M.Sc.) -- İstanbul Technical University, Institute of Science and Technology, 2006Bu tezin amacı, yalın düşünce prensiplerinin bir havayolu şirketinde verimliliğin artmasına ve gereksiz iş süreçlerinin azaltılmasına nasıl katkıda bulunduğunu açıklamaktır. Uygulamada, varolan uçak bakım sistemi değerlendirilmiş, yeni prosesler önerilmiş ve yalın düşünce örneği olarak da yeni bir bakım planlama aracı geliştirilmiştir. Önerilen proseslerinin çoğunun gelişmesi bilgi teknolojilerindeki iyileştirmelere bağlıdır. Tavsiye edilen gelişim süreçlerinin tam olarak etkili olabilmesi için ya var olan bilgi sisteminin geliştirilerek güncellenmesi ya da bu sistemin tamamen yeni bir sistemle değiştirilmesi gerekmektedir. Sonuç olarak, bu çalışma planlama performansını etkileyen bir çok faktör olduğunu göstermiştir. Yalın düşünce felsefesiyle hat bakım planlama zamanı %85 düşürülmüştür. Bu yeni yaklaşım diğer departmanların katkısıyla desteklendiği takdirde organizasyonların fırsat maliyetlerini kara dönüştürerek sektörde daha güçlü bir oyuncu olmaları mümkündür.The purpose of this thesis is to describe how lean thinking principles were used by a aviation company to increase productivity and reduce waste. Existed aircraft maintenance system evaluated, new processes proposed and a new maintenance planning tool presented as a sample of lean thinking. Many of the recommended function and process improvements are at least partially dependent on a substantial improvement in the IT support. This inevitably means that there is a requirement to accomplish extensive software upgrades to the current system or for the replacement of the current system with a new generation fully integrated system. Finally, this research has shown that the level of appropriate factors has an effect on the planning performance. It is possible to decrease turn around time of line maintenance planning 85% by lean thinking. If this remedy combined with other departmental improvements, it will enable them to switch their opportunity cost to profit and better meets their demands.Yüksek LisansM.Sc