Using an IT Strategy to Improve Company Interaction with Their Supply Chain - A Case Study of a Fire Truck Bodybuilding Business in Thailand

This research is a case study of the impact of the introduction of information technology on the internal operations of a fire truck manufacturing company in Thailand and on its supply chain. Using Action Research, this study focuses on a fire truck manufacturing company, where supply chain efficiency was not improving and where costs of, and relationships with, both upstream suppliers and downstream clients in the supply chain were increasing. This research involved the interaction of the researcher and the company through three phases of change with the researcher being based in the company throughout the research process. This research is framed as ‘strategy as practice’ reporting the process of strategy development, implementation and review within a cyclic process of change, renewal, review and further implementation. Outcomes indicate that there were positive changes within the organisation and staff members are able to work more efficiently and effectively. This research provides evidence that ICT can assist in changing and improving business in conjunction with training, whereas policies can address support for business improvements. This research demonstrates that IT implementation highlights the importance of the usage of IT as it affects the company’s supply chain, and deepens our understanding of the impact of IT to the organisation

Using an IT strategy to improve company interaction with their supply chain in a fire truck bodybuilding business in Thailand

This research is a single case study of the impact of the introduction of both information technology (software, hardware and Internet) and a company policy about IT use on the internal operations of a fire truck assembly company and its supply chain relationships. Using Action Research, the research focuses on a fire truck assembly company in Thailand, where supply chain efficiency was not improving and where costs of, and relationships with, both upstream suppliers and downstream clients in the supply chain were increasing. The CEO decided that the introduction of ICT hardware and software would be an enabler to address the effectiveness, cost and relationship issues for the company. The research involves the interaction of the researcher and the company through three phases of change with the researcher being based in the company throughout the research process. The research is framed as 'strategy as practice' reporting the process of strategy development, implementation and review within cycle processes of changes, renewal, review and farther implementation. Strategy as practice is an approach that is concerned with a study of strategy related to what people do, focused on practice and understanding the human agency in the construction and enactment of strategy, concerned with 'the doing of strategy: who does it, what they do, how they do it, what they use, and what implications this has for shaping strategy'. Therefore, strategy as practice can help improve practice by providing explanations about what happens when strategy is put into action, i.e. what activities take place and what are the outcomes of those activities. The research shows that there were positive changes within the organisation and staff members are wiling to work more efficiently and effectively. This research provides evidence that IT can assist to change and improve business efficiency whilst training and policies can address the supports for business improvements. Staff members' information technology knowledge also influences information technology usage and the information sharing within the organisation. This research adopted a qualitative approach, therefore three senior managers, a supplier and a trader, and other eleven staff members were interviewed and observed between the year 2009 and 2010. This research demonstrates that the implementation of various IT projects highlights the importance of the usage of IT and contributes to a deepening understanding of the impact of IT to the organisation that contributes to business improvements. The changes in the company resulting from the introduction of new IT improved the efficiency of the upstream supply chain. The lead-time of orders for supplies and the accuracy of orders placed by the company both improved and promoted collaboration across the members of the supply chain. Suppliers delivered parts on time and with greater accuracy, thus improving truck assembly efficiency Fire Trucks were delivered from the manufacturer on time as contracted and together with communications improvements upstream and downstream, operational process efficiencies flowed through to customer delivery

Evaluating the strategic roles of reverse logistics in private hospitals: case studies in Thailand

This thesis is a study of reverse logistics structures, processes and their characteristics in Thai private hospitals. The research evaluates the strategic importance and role of reverse logistics operations in creating business value in hospitals. The research literature suggests that the adoption of reverse logistics, specifically reverse logistics activities, can result, through the adoption of an RL strategy, in added business value. The intent in this research is to use the activities of Reverse Logistics (re-use, re-sale, re-distribution, repair, refurbishing, remanufacturing, retrieval, recycling and incineration) to examine how these activities are used strategically in hospitals in Thailand to create business value for these organisations. The research addresses the question: “What strategic roles does the implementation of reverse logistics activities play in private hospitals in Thailand?”. The research is grounded in a theoretical model that argues that an overall, front-stage, strategy drives organisations business goals and that this is supported by a ‘back-stage or hidden strategy that focuses on the operations of that organisation and that both are necessary for strategic success and the attainment of competitive advantage. In this research part of that back-stage strategy is the operationalization of reverse logistics activities and that these both support the overall company strategy and themselves create business value. The overall context of the research is an interpretivist multiple-case study based on interviews with key stakeholders and a focus group with relevant industry experience. The population and sample for this research includes three significant private hospitals in Bangkok (Bangkok Pattaya Hospital, Vejthani Hospital and Bumrungrad Hospital) as case studies. The research shows that reverse logistics activities in each of 4 similar departments in the three Thai private hospitals results in the creation of business value for each hospital. The research shows that the strategy of Bumrungrad, Vejthani, and Bangkok Pattaya Hospitals are relevant to their vision and mission focusing on customer satisfaction and the customer as the core business. This strategy, it is argued in the thesis, can be seen as a ‘front strategy’ or ‘obvious strategy’ resulting from the hospitals wanting to provide excellent medical services to people who will then be return customers. The front stage relates to the development of an image as a high quality provider of medical services. The research also argues there is a ‘back stage’ used to support the creation of that image, a strategy built on implementation of a supply chain strategy that becomes an integral part of hospital policy. The research shows that whilst much existing research literature supports a view that adopting reverse logistics, specifically reverse logistics activities in hospitals, can result in added business value, this research confirms that view but it questions the simplicity of the relationship proposed in the extant literature. This research demonstrates the complexity of the RL activities used in each hospital and the associated complexity of types of business value created. These complex relationships (between RL and business value) are all happening simultaneously. The strategy is not a simple one, but the research confirms the importance of strategy in healthcare operations. The research also shows that the back stage strategy of operations, the adoption of supply chain strategy and subsequent adoption of reverse logistics activities, re-enforces the intent and direction of the front stage focus of each hospital in terms of their ‘image’. The research shows that reverse logistics strategy in the Thai hospitals was driven by the need to save costs, use resources efficiently and maintain business plans that delivered high quality health services at high prices. The high level of competition in the Thai hospitals, however, is based on their image and reputations but the research also shows that where these hospitals get their competitive advantage is by focusing heavily on customers' wants and needs through operational efficiency and cost management, delivered through effective supply chain operations, specifically, through their adoption and use of reverse logistics

Understanding continuous and problematic patterns of anabolic androgenic steroid (AAS) use amongst UK males

Background Despite continuing ambiguity regarding anabolic androgenic steroid (AAS) dependence forming properties, up to 30% of users are hypothesised to develop a dependence syndrome resulting in substantial morbidity, and in some cases suicidality. Motives for continuing use of AAS despite harms sit largely within two discursive and pathologizing frameworks of ‘illicit drug use’ and ‘body image disorder’ framing AAS as addictive psychoactive compounds, and users as psychologically disordered. Aim Offer a non-pathologizing view of the motives and rewards behind continuous and problematic patterns of AAS use amongst a sample of UK male ‘body sculptors’ with an ethno-physiological appreciation of excessive muscularity. Methodology This qualitative case study draws on participant observations over a ten-month period at a bodybuilding gymnasium in the West Midlands of England and semi-structured interviews with 15 current and former AAS users. Results Discontinuation of AAS use resulted in several study participants experiencing a state of ‘hysteresis’ due to a mismatch between their motivation and functional capability to work out productively once AAS use ended, and the temporal rhythms of bodybuilding practices required to appropriate muscle capital. Physical and mental health issues associated with the phenomenon of anabolic steroid induced hypogonadism (ASIH) led some participants to adopt continuous and problematic patterns of AAS use in a mode of ‘hysteresis’ avoidance. Several men expressed a belief that they had permanently impaired their own production of testosterone using AAS. Perceptions of stigma and gender inequality when seeking a resolution to the symptoms of hypogonadism prompted some men to return to illicitly produced AAS in a form of self-administered testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). Recommendations Harm reduction interventions for men wishing to permanently exit AAS use may benefit from assessment and appropriate treatment of hypogonadism as part of holistic model of support

2019 Oklahoma Research Day Full Program

Oklahoma Research Day 2019 - SWOSU Celebrating 20 years of Undergraduate Research Successes

University of Dayton Magazine. Spring 2017

This issue includes articles about Mary\u27s Garden exhibit, the 1967 basketball tournament, 200 years of Marianist brothers and sisters, mental health after a trauma, and Joseph T. Dickman.https://ecommons.udayton.edu/dayton_mag/1214/thumbnail.jp

The Whitworthian 2006-2007

The Whitworthian student newspaper, September 2006-May 2007.https://digitalcommons.whitworth.edu/whitworthian/1091/thumbnail.jp

2016, UMaine News Press Releases

This is a catalog of press releases put out by the University of Maine Division of Marketing and Communications between January 4, 2016 and December 30, 2016