Search results for "Operations"
showing 10 items of 1692 documents
Communication quality and added value: a measurement instrument for municipalities
2009
PurposeThis study aims to achieve a better understanding of communication quality and how it can be measured in the municipal context. A previously developed instrument for measuring communication in municipalities is tested and evaluated.Design/methodology/approachThe instrument draws on the balanced scorecard of Kaplan and Norton and quality control procedures as utilised by the European Foundation of Quality Measurement (EFQM). For municipalities, communication quality can be defined as the degree to which communication contributes towards the effectiveness of municipal policy and how it strengthens the relationship between citizens and municipal organisations. Three communication functi…
Problems in the Interplay of IS Development and IT Operations: An Alignment Analysis
2013
This chapter addresses the interplay of IS development and IT operations in system development projects, as seen from the perspective of IT operations. The underlying perspective is that a well-performed interplay of the two domains is essential, both for the successful development of a new information system, as well as for its subsequent operation. In this chapter, we use alignment theory to analyse data from a Delphi study in order to investigate the interplay of the two areas. The chapter concludes that the two areas are often unsatisfactorily aligned and that improving their interplay must be a priority for IS development and IT operations alike.
(Un)Routinization of the Environmental Performance Measures – A Case Study; BSC Rules but Does not Routinize
2009
This study focuses on the (un)routinization of environmental performance measures (EPMs). It studies how new environmental measures were implemented within the new environmental management system (EMS) and how they became connected with the financial measures, like cost savings and profitability. By doing so, they were connected to the taken-for-granted profit orientation of the case company in order to overcome these values and to make them succeed in organization. Later on these new measures were also included in the new BSC. In conditions of the profit oriented taken-for-granted values, the BSC locked the rule status of the environmental measures, but it locked them at the operational le…
Designing dynamic performance management systems to foster SME competitiveness according to a sustainable development perspective: empirical evidence…
2015
The role of performance management (PM) systems has become crucial for steering small-medium enterprises (SMEs) to successfully compete during the ongoing critical economic transition. To improve decision-maker strategic learning processes, traditional PM frameworks need to be combined with system dynamics (SD) modelling. This paper shows how to design and use a dynamic performance management (DPM) approach to assess and support SMEs competitiveness according to a sustainable development perspective. The emerging framework is applied to a real case of an Italian small business to analyse the empirical effectiveness of the approach hereby suggested.
Supporting start-up business model design through system dynamics modelling
2017
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how system dynamics (SD) modelling can provide a methodological support to business model (BM) design with the intent to better communicate business strategy and manage performance. Design/methodology/approach After a literature review of the field and an analysis of the strengths and limitations of conventional BM frameworks, the paper illustrates and discusses an approach that combines such a framework with SD modelling. A single-case study design was selected to explore the implications and limitations of using this combined approach to business modelling. Findings The methodological support provided by SD to BM design may effectively impr…
Overcoming managers’ myopic decisions in a waste collection company
2019
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to show how the changing interrelationships between fleet management, human resources and outsourcer capacity areas are likely to counterbalance managerial policies, thereby generating a performance decay. The use of system dynamics modelling in a waste collection company offered an effective contribution to support decision makers to overcoming myopic decisions. Design/methodology/approach Literature review and a case study analysis (including interviews with company actors and data gathering) offered the basis to build a system dynamics model. The model built was then used to run simulations sessions to assess alternative investments decisions. Findin…
Combining system dynamics modelling and management control systems to support strategic learning processes in SMEs: a Dynamic Performance Management …
2015
Traditional management control systems, mainly centred on accounting-based measures, are widely recognized as useful tools to support Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) managers and entrepreneurs in steering business development. However, due to the increasing turbulence and dynamic complexity that characterize today’s competitive arenas, such systems need to be combined with simulation-based methodologies in order to improve entrepreneurial learning processes and, as a result, better detect possible crisis symptoms and weak signals of change—emerging from the business environment—to promptly react. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to show how a combination of traditional management con…
ERP Lifecycle
2000
A lot of research has been undertaken focusing on ERP systems lifecycles, but very little paid attention to retirement. ERP retirement means the replacement of an ERP with another. The aim of this research paper is to investigate why and when should organizations retire their ERP systems. A convenience case study of a SME has been selected from Egypt. The case study under investigation has retired their local ERP system and replaced it with SAP ERP. Results of the analysis indicate that reasons of retirement were: wrong selection, users were not involved in the selection process, and lack of an official implementation methodology. This is considered a new finding since main stream literatur…
A Web-Based Hub & Spoke Model For The Management Of HCV Patients And Innovative Treatments: The Resist - HCV Sicily Network Experience
2017
Process-oriented knowledge system for health professionals as a tool for transition to hospital process orientation
2016
AbstractHospitals face increasing pressure to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and guarantee a quality of services. This is perhaps the main reason why hospital process orientation (HPO) – a view on a hospital being a group of processes organized around patients with similar needs is a growing field of interest among hospital managers and researchers. The theoretical research of the content of hospital activities was performed in order to determine the main distinct characteristics in hospital organization that determine the specifics for a process-oriented knowledge system. A conceptual proposal of a technological tool was elaborated taking into account the limited control of hospital man…