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 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

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

Critical Success Factors for the Transformation Process in Enterprise System Implementation

Organizations continue to deploy enterprise systems (ESs) to improve information flow, reduce costs, and increase operational efficiencies. Realization of these benefits can be enhanced if more is known about the preceding factors that enable transformation of ES data into successful outcomes. This study identifies the critical success factors (CSFs) that influence the process for transforming ES data into knowledge, which leads to business benefits from ES implementation. A multiple case study approach is used to examine how three hi-tech manufacturing companies in New Zealand have deployed an ES and, specifically, the CSFs that contributed to business benefits. The findings emphasize that benefit realization from an ES implementation is a holistic process that not only includes the essential data and technology factors, but also includes business strategy deployment, people and process management, and skills and competency development

A Conceptual Framework to Integrate ISO 14001 and Lean for Evaluating Environmental Performance in Meat Industry

Meat industry is facing major challenges due to excess consumption of water, production of air pollutant emissions and waste generation which have an impact on environmental performance. International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards’ implementation and lean are considered the main tools and techniques to achieve the highest level of process improvement benefits. ISO 14001 is potentially considered the most effective tool to improve the environment performance which focuses on degeneration, environment protection and sustainable utilization of natural resources. On the other hand, lean along with its tools and techniques has been adopted in meat industry to eliminate wastes in meat processing which also in turn leads to better environmental performance. Therefore, a conceptual framework is proposed which integrates ISO 14001 and lean elements in order to achieve synergetic environmental performance effectiveness and benefits that could be applied to meat industry

Leveraging Knowledge-Driven Technologies for Business Success

A significant investment in resources is required for implementation of integrated enterprise systems as technology solutions while the effectiveness of these systems to achieve business benefits remains unclear and empirically largely unexplored. Unarguably, the business benefits can be achieved from improvements through transformation of enterprise system data into knowledge by applying analytic and decision making processes. This study explores a model of transforming ES data into knowledge and results by comparing two case studies that examine the impact of enterprise systems information on organizational functions and processes leading to business benefits

Business Benefits from Enterprise Systems Implementation in New Zealand

Organisations rely on their enterprise systems (ES) to integrate and optimise business processes, automate business transactions and share context-rich information to support decision making, according to the literature. But does this happen and how? This study examines key benefits that organisations generally seek from ES implementations, how ES data are transformed into knowledge, how this knowledge is utilised to achieve business benefits and the critical success factors for this process. Findings indicate that key benefits New Zealand organisations expect from ES include improve information flow, reduce out-of-inventory events and implement process efficiencies. An important finding is that New Zealand companies have only recently started tracking benefits through analytical processes to optimise and realise business value from their ES investment. Implications for practice are discussed with a focus on usability of ES and its information

Investigating Critical Success Factors of Project Management in Global Software Development: A Work in Progress

Global software development (GSD) business model has gained recognition over the years for achieving competitiveness in the global market. However, its implementation is not easy due to its complex nature and the various challenges it faces. Project management is a vital area in software development with significant impact to the GSD process. Companies adopt GSD without knowing its implications which lead to failure of their project management processes. Existing project management practises do not address the core issues of GSD, which makes the process more intricate. This research paper investigates the project management practices in GSD and identifies its critical success factors with the development of a framework that will facilitate software companies to implement GSD successfull

A Framework to Assess the Critical Success Factors for Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning Adoption in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is a well-known business management system used for improving effectiveness in organisations. In the current digital era, cloud ERP systems have evolved which are taking precedence over the traditional ERP due to convenience of remote information access in real-time with benefits of cost saving, flexibility and scalability. These systems are especially helpful to SMEs which usually are constrained in resources. However, there have not been many studies that look at the critical success factors for cloud ERP adoption in SMEs. This paper develops an integrative framework using technology-organisation-environment (TOE) and unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) models to investigate the individual, environmental, technological and organisational levels of cloud ERP adoption in SMEs for identifying factors for success. The findings will provide new insights on cloud ERP adoption and will help both academia and practitioners increase understanding for future research and implementatio

A transformational model to understand the impact of enterprise systems for business benefits : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Information Technology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

Over the years many organizations have implemented an enterprise system (ES), also called enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, to streamline the flow of information and improve organizational effectiveness to produce business benefits which justify the ES investment. The effectiveness of these systems to achieve benefits is an area being proactively researched by both professionals and academia. However, most of these studies focus on ‘what ESs do’ rather than ‘how ESs do it’. The purpose of this study is to better understand how organizations derive benefits from utilization of an ES and its data. This study utilizes a transformational model of how ES data are transformed into knowledge and results to evaluate the impact of ES information on organizational functions and processes and how this can lead to business benefits. The linkage between expected outcomes, utilization of ES data in decision-making processes, and realized or unrealized benefits provides the reason for this study. Findings reveal that the key benefits commercial firms seek from an ES include improving information flow and visibility, integration and automation of functions, cost reductions by reducing inventory, and achieving process efficiencies for both internal and external operations. The various tools and methods businesses use for transforming ES data into knowledge include the use of data warehouses and business intelligence modules that assist in extraction and manipulation of data, and reporting on particular data objects. Web portals are actively utilized to collaborate between stakeholders and access real-time information. Business tools such as KPI reporting, balanced scorecards and dashboards are used to track progress towards realizing benefits and establishing analytical decision making. Findings emphasize that benefit realization from an ES implementation is a holistic process that not only includes the essential data and technology factors, but also includes other factors such as business strategy deployment, people and process management, and skills and competency development. Findings reveal that business organizations generally lack in producing value assessments that often lead to weak business cases and insufficient benefit models which cannot be used for benefit tracking. However, these organizations are now realizing that it is not enough to put in an ES and expect an automatic improvement. Organizations are now establishing analytical and knowledge-leveraging processes to optimize and realize business value from their ES investment