Driving continuous improvement

The quality of improvement depends on the quality of leading and lagging performance indicators. For this reason, several tools, such as process mapping, cause and effect analysis and FMEA, need to be used in an integrated way with performance measurement models, such as balanced scorecard, integrated performance measurement system, performance prism and so on. However, in our experience, this alone is not quite enough due to the amount of effort required to monitor performance indicators at operational levels. The authors find that IT support is key to the successful implementation of performance measurement-driven continuous improvement schemes

The Digitalisation of African Agriculture Report 2018-2019

An inclusive, digitally-enabled agricultural transformation could help achieve meaningful livelihood improvements for Africa’s smallholder farmers and pastoralists. It could drive greater engagement in agriculture from women and youth and create employment opportunities along the value chain. At CTA we staked a claim on this power of digitalisation to more systematically transform agriculture early on. Digitalisation, focusing on not individual ICTs but the application of these technologies to entire value chains, is a theme that cuts across all of our work. In youth entrepreneurship, we are fostering a new breed of young ICT ‘agripreneurs’. In climate-smart agriculture multiple projects provide information that can help towards building resilience for smallholder farmers. And in women empowerment we are supporting digital platforms to drive greater inclusion for women entrepreneurs in agricultural value chains

Implementing e-Services in Lagos State, Nigeria: the interplay of Cultural Perceptions and Working Practices during an automation initiative : Nigeria e-government culture and working practices

Accepted for publication in a forthcoming issue of Government Information Quarterly.The public sector’s adoption of Information and Communication Technologies is often seen as a way of increasing efficiency. However, developing public e-Services involves a series of organisational and social complexities. In this paper, we examine the organisational issues of implementing an ERP system, which was designed and developed within the context of Lagos State’s e-Services project. By doing so, we showcase the impact of organisational cultural perceptions and working practices of individuals. Our findings illustrate the strong role of cultural dimensions, particularly those pertaining to religion and multi-ethnicity. Our study provides insights to international organisations and governments alike toward project policy formulation within the context of ICT-based initiatives and reforms that aim to bring forward developmental progress.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Service-Oriented Process Models in Telecommunication Business

The thesis concentrates on to evaluate challenges in the business process management and the need for Service-oriented process models in telecommunication business to alleviate the integration work efforts and to reduce total costs of ownership. The business aspect concentrates on operations and business support systems which are tailored for communication service providers. Business processes should be designed in conformance with TeleManagement Forum's integrated business architecture framework. The thesis rationalizes the need to transform organizations and their way of working from vertical silos to horizontal layers and to understand transformational efforts which are needed to adopt a new strategy. Furthermore, the thesis introduces service characterizations and goes deeper into technical requirements that a service compliant middleware system needs to support. At the end of the thesis Nokia Siemens Networks proprietary approach – Process Automation Enabling Suite is introduced, and finally the thesis performs two case studies. The first one is Nokia Siemens Networks proprietary survey which highlights the importance of customer experience management and the second one is an overall research study whose results have been derived from other public surveys covering application integration efforts

HR Shared Services (HRSS): Model and Trends

[Excerpt] The findings of this research project are based on interviews with 44 Human Resources (HR) leaders across 39 national and international companies within 15 industries ranging from manufacturing to consulting services. The interviews ranged from 45 minutes to one hour, and sought to understand models, best practices, and trends. The interview included questions about employee experience, technology, and the integration between HR Shared Services (HRSS) and the overall HR Organization. To provide background information and data, the HR leaders answered a short survey, giving details about the structure of their HRSS, locations, areas of HR that had work performed in the shared services organization, systems, and technology capabilities

Factors influencing ERP projects success in the vendor selection process

Successful implementation of an ERP system is the result of knowledgeable and dedicated people working together. It entails company-wide commitment, openness to change, good planning and experienced guidance. These primary criteria determine the probability of gaining significant return on investment (ROI) from an ERP system. Using these criteria as guidelines during the system selection process and subsequent implementation can ensure that the chosen system will support and enable the business improvements envisioned. Among the numerous critical success factors (CSFs) in the implementation of ERP systems, identified and demonstrated by practitioners and academic researchers in the last few years, we will synthesize and analyze the vendor selection issues, in connection to the implementation aspects, as we consider implementation the essential “ingredient” of the ERP success.ERP implementation, ERP vendor selection process, critical success factors, ROI, ERP success

FEASIBILITY OF INVESTMENT IN BUSINESS ANALYTICS

Trends in data processing for decision support show that business users need business analytics, i.e. analytical applications which incorporate a variety of business oriented data analysis techniques and task-specific knowledge. The paper discusses the feasibility of investment in two models of implementing business analytics: custom development and packed analytical applications. The consequences of both models are shown on two models of business analytics implementation in Croatia

Bridging Web 4.0 and Education 4.0 For Next Generation User Training in ERP Adoption

This study addresses the critical issue of user comprehension and application within the sphere of cloudbased Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, a recurrent challenge exacerbated by the intricate nature of these systems. To bridge the existing gaps in training methodologies, a novel paradigm that synergizes Web 4.0 and Education 4.0 modules with traditional ERP systems is proposed. This innovative framework ushers in a paradigm shift in ERP adoption strategies, promising a marked enhancement in user interaction and efficiency. Rigorous qualitative evaluations, conducted with expert panels and potential end-users, provided robust validation of the framework's transformative potential in the realm of user training for ERP systems. This pioneering approach not only makes a substantial academic contribution by reframing the perception of ERP systems but also holds a significant practical value in ameliorating the user experience with cloud-based ERP systems. In essence, the adoption of a Web 4.0-oriented approach in user training heralds a revolutionary shift in ERP adoption strategies, setting a solid foundation for future explorations in this domain

Enterprise Systems Analysis and Modelling

In ES implementations, process modelling is a critical and often overlooked activity. This paper proposes a framework for process modelling of ES. The four steps method involves: Current Situation Analysis, Business Process Improvements and Requirements, Gap Analysis, and To-be process to develop. Outputs of the methodology are an interdependent set of organizational and system proposed changes, and feedback loops to the ES vendors and to the strategy of the firm. In-depth case studies and extensive literature review provides methodological support. For practitioners, this study provides useful insights into one of the reasons by which companies could be frustrated with ES implementation.E-business, ERP