Search results

Many retailers in India have decided to adopt one or another enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to improve their businesses, but implementing an ERP system can be a demanding venture. ERP implementation has always been an intricate process and is one of the challenges of the retail sector. There have been many obstacles seen in implementing ERP successfully. According to Standish Group's report, around 75 per cent of the ERP projects are classified as failures. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the process of identifying, analyzing and prioritizing the failure factors of ERP implementation using cause‐effect and Pareto analysis.

Empirical data were collected via a survey questionnaire/interview technique. The questionnaires were distributed to practitioners like project sponsors, project managers, implementation consultants and team members who had been involved/implementing/using ERP in retail sector.

Results suggest that 9 critical failure items namely Inadequate resources, Poor User involvement, Users' resistance to change, High Attrition rate of project team members, Lack of top management commitment, Poor project management, Inadequate project team composition, Ineffective organizational change management and Unrealistic project scheduling have a high impact on ERP implementation and therefore deserve serious attention in the process of ERP implementation.

This paper identifies and prioritizes the critical failure factors of ERP implementation in Indian retail sector. The awareness about these critical failure items may help the decision makers in formulating a better strategy for ERP implementation in Indian retail.

The increasing capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) are changing the way organizations operate and interact with users both internally and externally. The insurance sector is currently using AI in several ways but its potential to disrupt insurance is not clear. This research evaluated the implementation of AI-led automation in 20 insurance companies. The findings indicate four business models (BM) emerging: In the first model the insurer takes a smaller part of the value chain allowing others with superior AI and data to take a larger part. In the second model the insurer keeps the same model and value chain but uses AI to improve effectiveness. In the third model the insurer adapts their model to fully utilize AI and seek new sources of data and customers. Lastly in the fourth model a technology focused company uses their existing AI prowess, superior data and extensive customer base, and adds insurance provision.

The purpose of this paper is to define and explore the concept of financial supply chain strategy in a global business environment. The paper aims to illustrate the concepts with a detailed case study of Motorola's global financial supply chain.

This is a detailed, longitudinal case study analysis of a focal organisation and its economic partners in a financial supply chain. The case study combines qualitative analysis of the strategy evolution with extensive time‐series data and quantitative analyses of the performance of the financial supply chain.

The financial supply chain is an integral component of Motorola's overall supply chain management strategy. Physical product, information systems and financial flows are closely aligned with each other throughout the supply chain incorporating Motorola, its customers, suppliers and banks. The overall trend is towards the development of an integrated global financial supply chain in which cash flows mirror product flows. Motorola shares financial data with its suppliers as part of a cooperative strategy that generates cost savings for Motorola and its suppliers in areas such as foreign exchange and cash balances. The cooperative strategy also improves the quality of the payments process measured by six sigma techniques and produces strategic benefits such as risk reduction for the supply chain as a whole in areas such as foreign exchange and payments. A strategy of this type is only possible by taking a global perspective of the financial supply chain.

The development of financial supply chains has not been fully addressed in the supply chain management literature. This paper defines this relatively new topic area and explains its significance in its own right, and also in terms of the inter‐relationships between finance and manufacturing supply chains. A research agenda for financial supply chains is proposed that describes a range of new research opportunities in this area.

The development of integrated financial supply chains will lead to significant savings in terms of funding, banking and administrative costs associated with treasury and payment activities. The implementation and nature of the strategic change also highlight important strategic planning and implementation issues associated with financial supply chains.

The strategic importance of financial supply chains for business and academic researchers is demonstrated through the definition of this topic and the application of a research framework to a detailed study of Motorola's global financial supply chain using time‐series data of strategy evolution and financial supply chain performance. The research findings and comparison with theory support the assertion that this is a relatively new and unexplored problem area that is of direct relevance and interest to researchers in supply chain management.

To construct, test and illustrate a sophisticated and theory‐based architecture for analyzing business process management systems (BPMS) used for business process change.

Exploration of business process modeling‐based BPMS via a meta‐survey of academic and business literatures. Two main dimensions are used based upon semiotics and a block‐based BPMS pyramid architecture. Each block is a core technology required for the functioning of the BPMS and include: the subject being modeled; the software formalism; the IT infrastructure; the modeling language and notation; and the underlying technical infrastructure.

Theoretically explains and empirically illustrates each core technology in the proposed architecture then does the same for the architecture, its arrangement as a whole and its interrelationships. Recognizes the lack of a theoretical basis for business process modeling constructs and the dangers that this generates. Explains why automatic BPMS require formal construct transmission from subject modeled to modeling hardware and software.

The architecture's core technologies span numerous disciplines so each set of literatures introduces the component concepts and their bases but is not exhaustive.

This paper proposes a considerably more sophisticated framework for BPMS analysis than is currently available; it is theoretically and not just empirically based; it uses a novel method of theoretical justification concerned with the transmission of modeled properties and characteristics between several technological media; and it illustrates the innovative analytical use of this architecture and the practical use of BPMS with three different case vignettes.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software is the dominant strategic platform for supporting enterprise‐wide business processes. However, it has been criticised for being inflexible and not meeting specific organisation and industry requirements. An alternative, best of breed (BoB), integrates components of standard package and/or custom software. The objective is to develop enterprise systems that are more closely aligned with the business processes of an organisation. A case study of a BoB implementation facilitates a comparative analysis of the issues associated with this strategy and the single vendor ERP alternative. The paper illustrates the differences in complexity of implementation, levels of functionality, business process alignment potential and associated maintenance.

Introduces the special issue entitled “The role of information and communications technology in transforming marketing theory and practice”. Outlines the themes discussed in the papers in the issue, which seek to provide insights into how information and communications technology is transforming marketing theory and activities.

There have traditionally been different ways in which to view the marketing task, distinctions that have been drawn to facilitate the level of insight available to managers involved in marketing the firm's offer. A traditional distinction has been between business‐to‐consumer (B2C) and business‐to‐business (B2B) marketing. More recently, much has been written on whether the appropriate perspective of marketing should be transaction‐based or relationship‐driven. This paper argues that a different view is more useful: that the marketing task has moved beyond being transaction‐ or relationship‐driven, and that it can and should increasingly often be viewed as an information‐handling problem. First identifies what are considered to be the main tasks facing a marketing manager, and then interpret how these tasks may be managed in each of the transaction‐, relationship‐, and information‐driven approaches. By using three different case study vignettes, provides evidence of the applicability of these ideas.

Seeks to provide a historical case study of the founding and development of the Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing from the perspective of the two editors of the journal covering the first 20 years of publication.

The editors report on their experiences of establishing and nurturing the journal over a 20‐year period. Individual experiences are reported along with specific historical events and specific journal contents.

The paper provides information about the history of the journal and its founding, indicating the difficulties and managerial skills necessary to accomplish such a task. The paper also recognizes the 20‐year growth and contribution of the journal and those who contributed to it.

The viewpoints of the editors are anecdotal and recall events as far back as 20 years. They summarize the events of a 20‐year period in the article, relying on memory and information from archival files.

The paper provides one description of the founding and development of a leading journal in the field of business and industrial marketing. A list is presented summarizing Special Issues and significant milestones of the journal. The paper is a must‐read for anyone contemplating starting a new journal.

This article presents the only complete history of the Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing.

The following bibliography focuses mainly on programs which can run on IBM microcomputers and compatibles under the operating system PC DOS/MS DOS, and which can be used in online information and documentation work. They fall into the following categories: