IT Offshore Provider Profiling Strategies: New Zealand and Indian Perspectives

Offshoring of IT products and services to provider nations belonging to the Asia Pacific region is a growing phenomenon. However, clients are apprehensive of risks undertaken by outsourcing work to businesses in different economic spaces which represent different time zones, cultures and income status. This study does an empirical investigation through twenty case studies to understand the profiling strategies used by IT offshore provider organisations in two diverse countries – India (farshore) and New Zealand (nearshore) – to improve their business image and reduce clients’ perceptions of risks. Findings reveal that strategies used by IT providers depend upon ownership status by clients or third parties, their organisational size as well as cultural differences between client and provider nations. The paper contributes to existing studies on emerging offshore marketplace and explains global strategies adopted by IT provider businesses to remain competitive. offshore markets, profiling strategies, outsourcing arrangements, national consortia, accreditation

Managing Enterprise Systems for Enhancing Business Benefits

Enterprise systems (ESs) necessitate a substantial investment for most organisations and maximising benefits from this investment is a critical issue. This research utilises an ES data transformation model from existing literature to investigate how ES data were transformed into knowledge by a hi-tech manufacturing firm from an ES implementation, and how this knowledge was used to provide benefits for the company. Findings indicate that the ES data transformation process was the result of making knowledge-leveraging actions at both operational and executive levels. At the operational level, the ES data supported day-to-day running of business functions to provide an infrastructure for actions. At the executive level, various tools and methods were used for transforming ES data into knowledge including the use of data warehouses and business intelligence modules that helped in extraction and manipulation of data, and reporting on particular data objects. Cascades of balanced scorecards were used for knowledge sharing and to assess progress for achieving goals. The organisation continues to establish analytical and knowledge-leveraging processes to optimise and realise business value from its ES investment

Close encounters in the rainforest : a children\u27s book for eight and nine-year-olds

Presents an original children\u27s book that describes the array of biodiversity present in a tropical rainforest

Bridging digital divides in the learning process: challenges and implications of integrating ICTs

Abstract: This paper investigates an initiative by a New Zealand School to integrate one-to-one ICTs into the learning process, called \u27Bring your own device\u27 (BYOD). Prior to embarking on the BYOD initiative, similar past initiatives have been studied and some persistent issues have been identified. Before starting with the detailed investigation of BYOD, a preliminary analysis of the public response data from different sources has also been conducted. From the past initiatives and preliminary analysis of public responses, we have been able to form general research questions for the study. A socio-cultural ecological approach to mobile learning has been considered appropriate as a means of analysis for this study. Authors: Janak Adhikari, Doctoral Student; Dr. David Parsons, Associate Professor and Dr. Anuradha Mathrani, Lecturer, in the department of Information Technology, Massey University Auckland. This paper was presented at mLearn 2012 Mobile and Contextual Learning, Helsinki, Finland, October 16 -18, 2012 and published in the Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Mobile and Contextual Learning .  &nbsp

Managing Distribution Logistics Using Enterprise Systems

To meet the shipping deadlines of dynamic product demands efficiently, the operations and shipping systems in an enterprise must be nimble and responsive enough to delight customers. Organizations have implemented enterprise systems (ESs) to integrate their supply chain processes such as customer order receipt, logistics planning, manufacturing, and dispatch of products. This paper explores the distribution logistics function of manufacturing organizations utilizing ES technology to investigate the goods dispatch process. Three case studies are conducted in manufacturing companies that have implemented ESs to examine how these systems support the management practices and strategies in shipping out operations. Findings reveal that ES tools aid information flow for tracking shipment orders, optimization of product packaging, and achieving on-time deliveries. Though firms are sometimes constrained in materials and availability of physical products for dispatch, the underlying ES technology provides the analytical and knowledge-leveraging support to spur the distribution logistics processes efficiently

Critical business intelligence practices to create meta-knowledge

In order to successfully implement strategies and respond to business variations in real-time, business intelligence (BI) systems have been deployed by organisations that assist in focused analytical assessments for execution of critical decisions. Although businesses have realised the significance of BI, few studies have explored their analytical decision-enabling capabilities linked to organisational practices. This study investigates the BI practices critical in creating meta-knowledge successfully for strategy-focused analytical decision-making. First, key BI suppliers are interviewed to develop an understanding of their BI capabilities and current deployment practices. Subsequently, two large BI implementation case studies are conducted to examine their practices in data transformation process. Findings reveal that BI practices are highly context-specific in mapping decisions with data assets. Complimentary static and dynamic evaluations provide holistic intelligence in predicting and prescribing a more complete picture of the enterprise. These practices vary across firms in their effectiveness reflecting numerous challenges and improvement opportunities.Publishe

Managing Supply Chains Using Business Intelligence

Organizations are deploying business intelligence (BI) systems to enable analysis of data assets for establishing management decisions. Corporate data captured using enterprise systems (ESs) are leveraged through BI to evaluate digital information for deploying business strategies. This study investigates use of BI in organizations for managing supply chain operations. The current BI practices of manufacturing firms are evaluated for transforming transactional data captured through ESs into organizational knowledge in pursuit of realizing supply chain goals. Findings from a case study reveals that although manufacturing firms have identified business analytic as one of the major necessities for organizational effectiveness, these companies often lack clarity in aligning key measurable against their business processes to utilize vital ES data. This results in underutilization of BI tools and the data assets for establishing business decisions. However, more and more companies are now deploying BI strategies for impromptu decision making in managing supply chains.falsePublishedAuckland, New Zealan