Examining organisational flexibility in an interorganisational context: A case study of a grocery retail supply chain.

The objective of this thesis is to clarify the complex notion of flexibility and to explore the impact of Interorganisational Information Systems (IOS) on the flexibility of organisations. Previous studies have shown that while the utilisation of IOS can contribute significantly to organisational flexibility, it does not provide equal benefits to all trading partners. Although flexibility is increasingly becoming more important for the survivability and competitiveness of organisations, its meaning is still ambiguous and a rigorous conceptualisation of the notion is lacking in the literature. Most researchers examining the impact of technology on organisational flexibility identify technological as well as organisational issues influencing flexibility, but fail to analyse flexibility as a dynamic concept embedded in the social context. Moreover, they mainly focus on the flexibility of the individual firm, paying less attention to flexibility as a property of the interaction between firms. This research proposes an interpretive approach and examines the notion of flexibility by including a thorough investigation of the organisational context within which it is embedded. Since IOS involve interaction between different organisations, issues of cooperation and relationships with trading partners are also considered. Therefore, the concept of flexibility is viewed from both an organisational and an interorganisational (business network) level, referring to the interaction of trading partners. A synthesized research framework, based on previous research and the theoretical perspectives of appreciative systems thinking and web models, enables us to perceive flexibility as a multidimensional and dynamic concept, embedded in and shaped by the organisational/interorganisational context. In the proposed framework, flexibility is presented not only as the ability of the organisation/business network to respond to environmental disturbances, but also as its capability to evolve and to change over time. A multiple case design in a grocery retail-supply chain in Greece, comprising three suppliers and four retailers, provides the empirical data to support the argument of this thesis. The analysis of the data relates differences in organisational contexts to variations in the flexibility achieved by the organisations. It shows that IOS can provide constraints even for the more competent organisations and illustrates how the interaction with trading partners may influence the flexibility achieved at an organisational level. It finally demonstrates the dynamic nature of flexibility, it describes the relation between its different dimensions and discusses their change and evolution, following and influencing the changes of the organisational and interorganisational contexts

The Impact of Blockchain Technology on Food Waste Management in the Hospitality Industry

This paper examines blockchain technology and food waste management in the hospitality industry. Food waste prevention is an important issue for hotels, as food consumption is difficult to estimate, often leading to huge amounts of waste. Food waste occurs at each stage of the food supply chain and represents a big percentage of hospitality waste. Although many studies examine the difficulties of food waste management, only a limited number of studies examine the stages of food waste inside food supply chains. The coordination of food supply chains can be supported by blockchain technology, which can break the supply chain into smaller parts and help managers to better mitigate food control. To address these issues, this paper conducts an extensive literature review, firstly to clarify the concept of food waste management in the hospitality industry and secondly to examine the benefits of the use of blockchain technology in food supply chains. Combining the obtained knowledge, this study aims to analyze the relationship between blockchain and food waste management practices. It also aims to examine how this combination boosts hotels to increase their performance and gain customers’ loyalty. Therefore, this paper analyses food waste management in the hospitality industry makes propositions on how blockchain technology could support food waste management in the food supply chain and forms the base for future research

Towards specification of a software architecture for cross-sectoral big data applications

The proliferation of Big Data applications puts pressure on improving and optimizing the handling of diverse datasets across different domains. Among several challenges, major difficulties arise in data-sensitive domains like banking, telecommunications, etc., where strict regulations make very difficult to upload and experiment with real data on external cloud resources. In addition, most Big Data research and development efforts aim to address the needs of IT experts, while Big Data analytics tools remain unavailable to non-expert users to a large extent. In this paper, we report on the work-in-progress carried out in the context of the H2020 project I-BiDaaS (Industrial-Driven Big Data as a Self-service Solution) which aims to address the above challenges. The project will design and develop a novel architecture stack that can be easily configured and adjusted to address cross-sectoral needs, helping to resolve data privacy barriers in sensitive domains, and at the same time being usable by non-experts. This paper discusses and motivates the need for Big Data as a self-service, reviews the relevant literature, and identifies gaps with respect to the challenges described above. We then present the I-BiDaaS paradigm for Big Data as a self-service, position it in the context of existing references, and report on initial work towards the conceptual specification of the I-BiDaaS software architecture.This work is supported by the IBiDaaS project, funded by the European Commission under Grant Agreement No. 780787.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Conceptualizing Supply Chain Resilience: The Role of Complex IT Infrastructures

To deal with environmental uncertainty, organizations need resilience to respond to disruptions, such as changing market conditions or variations in demand or supply, while avoiding large scale adjustments. The concept of resilience is ambiguous, often explained as the capability of an organization or a supply chain to recover its original state, within an appropriate time frame, after being disrupted. Resilient supply chains have event handling capabilities, can provide efficient responses, and can return to their normal operating performance, after the disruptive event. To increase their resilience, companies often make changes or adjustments to their internal IT infrastructure, which may temporarily disrupt their smooth operation. As a result, contemporary IT infrastructures are mixed and include varied systems or technologies. Although new technologies, including blockchain, IoT and cloud-based solutions, may facilitate the handling of changes by providing secure, low cost and scalable solutions, more traditional systems may hinder such changes. Therefore, the relationship between IT and supply chain resilience is still unclear. The paper intends to examine the above issues by adopting a socio-technical approach to explain the concept of supply chain resilience and investigate the role of IT. More specifically, based on previous literature and on the appreciative systems thinking theoretical perspective, the paper develops a theoretical framework to analyse the organisational and/or supply chain resilience. It then uses this framework to examine and explain the impact of IT, by identifying important characteristics of an IT infrastructure and examining whether they may support or hinder business resilience

The study of the somatometric characteristics of head and neck, during the preoperative assessment of the patient's airway, prior the endotracheal intubation

The present study studied 5 human corpses from the Medical School of Athens and specifically from the department of Anatomy used for the education of medical students, 3 human heads from the Hellenic Center of Neurosurgery and 221 patients from General Hospital of Elefsina "Thriassio". All of the researcher's observations were placed in an electronic database (DATA) for the safe export of observations and conclusions.Στην παρούσα έρευνα μελετήθηκαν 5 ανθρώπινα πτώματα της Ιατρικής Σχολής Αθηνών και συγκεκριμένα στο Εργαστήριο Ανατομίας – Ανατομείο, που χρησιμοποιούνται για την επιστημονική εκπαίδευση των φοιτητών ιατρικής, επιπρόσθετα 3 ανθρώπινες κεφαλές του Ελληνικού Κέντρου Νευροχειρουργικής Έρευνας και 221 ασθενείς από το Γενικό Νοσοκομείο Ελευσίνας "Θριάσιο". Όλες οι παρατηρήσεις της ερευνήτριας τοποθετήθηκαν σε ηλεκτρονική τράπεζα πληροφοριών (DATA) για την ασφαλή εξαγωγή παρατηρήσεων και συμπερασμάτων

Theoretical Perspectives on Sustainable Supply Chain Management and Digital Transformation: A Literature Review and a Conceptual Framework

In an era where environmental and social pressures on companies are increasing, sustainable supply chain management is essential for the efficient operation and survivability of the organizations (members of the chain). Digital transformation and the adoption of new technologies could support the development of sustainable strategies, as they support supply chain processes, decrease operational costs, enable control and monitoring of operations and support green practices. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between sustainable supply chain management and digital transformation through the adoption of specific technologies (Blockchain technology, big data analytics, internet of things). It aims at theory building and the development of a conceptual framework, enabling the explanation of under which circumstances the above combination could lead to the development of sustainable performances. It also aims to examine how companies can increase their competitive advantage and/or increase their business performance, contributing both to academics and practitioners. After conducting a literature review analysis, a significant gap was detected. There are a few studies providing theoretical approaches to examining all three pillars of sustainability, while at the same time analyzing the impact of big data analytics, internet of things and blockchain technology on the development of sustainable supply chains. Aiming to address this gap, this paper primarily conducts a literature review, identifies definitions and theories used to explain the different pillars of flexibility, and examines the effect of different technologies. It then develops a theoretical conceptual framework, which could enable both academics and practitioners to examine the impact of the adoption of different technologies on sustainable supply chain management. The findings of this research reveal that digital transformation plays an important role to companies, as the combination of different technologies may lead to the development of significant capabilities, increasing sustainable performances and enabling the development of sustainable strategies, which can improve companies’ position in the market

Theoretical Perspectives on Sustainable Supply Chain Management and Digital Transformation: A Literature Review and a Conceptual Framework

In an era where environmental and social pressures on companies are increasing, sustainable supply chain management is essential for the efficient operation and survivability of the organizations (members of the chain). Digital transformation and the adoption of new technologies could support the development of sustainable strategies, as they support supply chain processes, decrease operational costs, enable control and monitoring of operations and support green practices. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between sustainable supply chain management and digital transformation through the adoption of specific technologies (Blockchain technology, big data analytics, internet of things). It aims at theory building and the development of a conceptual framework, enabling the explanation of under which circumstances the above combination could lead to the development of sustainable performances. It also aims to examine how companies can increase their competitive advantage and/or increase their business performance, contributing both to academics and practitioners. After conducting a literature review analysis, a significant gap was detected. There are a few studies providing theoretical approaches to examining all three pillars of sustainability, while at the same time analyzing the impact of big data analytics, internet of things and blockchain technology on the development of sustainable supply chains. Aiming to address this gap, this paper primarily conducts a literature review, identifies definitions and theories used to explain the different pillars of flexibility, and examines the effect of different technologies. It then develops a theoretical conceptual framework, which could enable both academics and practitioners to examine the impact of the adoption of different technologies on sustainable supply chain management. The findings of this research reveal that digital transformation plays an important role to companies, as the combination of different technologies may lead to the development of significant capabilities, increasing sustainable performances and enabling the development of sustainable strategies, which can improve companies’ position in the market

Η μελέτη των σωματομετρικών χαρακτηριστικών της κεφαλής και του τραχήλου, κατά την προεγχειρητική εκτίμηση του προς διασωλήνωση αεραγωγού

Στην παρούσα έρευνα μελετήθηκαν 5 ανθρώπινα πτώματα της Ιατρικής Σχολής Αθηνών και συγκεκριμένα στο Εργαστήριο Ανατομίας – Ανατομείο, που χρησιμοποιούνται για την επιστημονική εκπαίδευση των φοιτητών ιατρικής, επιπρόσθετα 3 ανθρώπινες κεφαλές του Ελληνικού Κέντρου Νευροχειρουργικής Έρευνας και 221 ασθενείς από το Γενικό Νοσοκομείο Ελευσίνας "Θριάσιο". Όλες οι παρατηρήσεις της ερευνήτριας τοποθετήθηκαν σε ηλεκτρονική τράπεζα πληροφοριών (DATA) για την ασφαλή εξαγωγή παρατηρήσεων και συμπερασμάτων.The present study studied 5 human corpses from the Medical School of Athens and specifically from the department of Anatomy used for the education of medical students, 3 human heads from the Hellenic Center of Neurosurgery and 221 patients from General Hospital of Elefsina "Thriassio". All of the researcher's observations were placed in an electronic database (DATA) for the safe export of observations and conclusions

The issue of flexibility in inter-organisational collaboration: an appreciative systems thinking perspective

The objective of this paper is to clarify the complex notion of flexibility and to explore the impact of inter-organisational information systems (IOS) on the flexibility of the interaction between organisations. Based on previous research and on Vickers's appreciative systems thinking, the paper examines flexibility as a multidimensional concept, influenced by the inter-organisational context. Following an interpretive approach and a multiple case design, it analyses the flexibility of the interaction of two retailers and two suppliers. Based on the empirical findings, it shows that the use of IOS can constrain even competent organisations. It also shows how different organisational contexts affect the flexibility of inter-organisational collaboration. It finally discusses the socio-technical and dynamic nature of flexibility, as well as examining the relationships between its different dimensions