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1 – 10 of over 31000P. Akhtar, N.E. Marr and E.V. Garnevska
The purpose of this paper is to identify chain coordinators and to explore their roles. The paper also highlights certain advantages of coordination, specific competencies of the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify chain coordinators and to explore their roles. The paper also highlights certain advantages of coordination, specific competencies of the coordinators, and challenges in the coordination.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a case study research. The data were collected through interviews, observations, and personal experiences of working as a logistics manager and a project manager in the 2005 South Asian earthquake.
Findings
The coordinated organizations manage a number of complex relationships to respond to the disasters effectively and efficiently. An umbrella organization plays a chain coordinator role in horizontal coordination. The umbrella organization leads, directs, and makes major decisions. A country director/programme manager acts as a strategic coordinator in vertical coordination. However, logistics managers, procurement managers and project managers (operations coordinators) also handle coordination activities. The coordinators’ tangible (finance, technology, and people) and intangible (leadership, extra efforts, relevant experiences and education, relationship management skills, research abilities, and performance measurement skills) assets are the key determinants of chain‐coordination success. The success of coordination is achieved if these characteristics of the coordinators are effectively matched with the unpredictable nature of humanitarian relief chains. However, coordination does not guarantee success in all situations because organizations may face coordination challenges such as cultural and structural differences.
Research limitations/implications
This paper provides specific and detailed information from the selected humanitarian relief chains of the South Asian earthquake 2005. The paper explores the useful and enhanced understanding of fundamentals to achieve the success of coordination in the chains. Therefore, it is an endeavour to enable a better practical strategy for chain coordinators/managers.
Originality/value
The conceptual and empirical research on the characteristics of chain coordinators and their impact on coordination success is very limited. This paper provides new thoughts to investigate relationships between the characteristics of chain coordinators or coordination and the success of humanitarian relief chains.
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Muhammad Ashraf Fauzi, Khairul Firdaus Anuar, Rahimi A. Rahman, Jamaludin Jupir and Noraina Mazuin Sapuan
Achieving project success is the goal of every project. Due to various project requirements, some of the key determinants of project success cannot be met. The purpose of this…
Abstract
Purpose
Achieving project success is the goal of every project. Due to various project requirements, some of the key determinants of project success cannot be met. The purpose of this paper is to understand relying factors that can lead to a successful project that includes project management maturity, decision-making, coordination and knowledge management.
Design/methodology/approach
A self-administered survey was distributed to 231 project managers in the Malaysian project management community. Analysis using partial least square structural equation modelling was applied in testing the proposed relationship between these latent variables.
Findings
Finding shows that all the hypotheses were supported and significant. The most impactful factor is project management maturity, followed by knowledge management.
Practical implications
Implication to the project management industry includes providing autonomy to individuals involved in their expertise and management of efficient cross-functional teams between teams in the project. A systematic knowledge management system through a central repository would contribute to the efficient and flexible distribution of knowledge throughout the project process.
Originality/value
This study is one of the few studies focussing on determinants of project success in Malaysia.
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Felix Nana Abaka Sackey and Livingstone Divine Caesar
Despite the criticality of strategic partnerships to the survival and success of professional service firms (PSF) in emerging markets, there is a dearth of research on the subject…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite the criticality of strategic partnerships to the survival and success of professional service firms (PSF) in emerging markets, there is a dearth of research on the subject matter. Specifically, not much is known concerning the dynamics of partnerships among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the professional services sector of the economy. This paper aims to explore the dynamics of the impact of constructs such as attributes of partnership, communication behaviour and collaborative conflict resolution on partnership success.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative survey sent to 300 small and medium-sized PSFs achieved a 79% response rate. The data is then analysed using bivariate and multi-variate techniques.
Findings
The results revealed a positive relationship between two of the three constituents of attributes of the partnership (i.e. commitment and coordination) and the success of partnerships. Commitment and coordination emerged as the significant attributes of partners that affect the success of the partnership. Contrary to previous studies, trust and information sharing did not have a positive impact on partnership success.
Practical implications
PSFs in emerging markets need concerted efforts to maintain competitive and sustainable partnerships. To make any significant impact, they must develop contemporary skills in collaborative conflict management.
Originality/value
This paper highlights the need for PSFs and SMEs in other service sectors of emerging markets to harness partnerships as a valuable tool to overcome the policy shortcomings of current regulatory frameworks within their respective markets.
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Arwen H. DeCostanza, Katherine R. Gamble, Armando X. Estrada and Kara L. Orvis
Unobtrusive measurement methodologies are critical to implementing intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) for teams. Such methodologies allow for continuous measurement of team states…
Abstract
Unobtrusive measurement methodologies are critical to implementing intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) for teams. Such methodologies allow for continuous measurement of team states and processes while avoiding disruption of mission or training performance, and do not rely on post hoc feedback (including for the aggregation of data into measures or to develop insights from these real-time metrics). This chapter summarizes advances in unobtrusive measurement developed within Army research programs to illustrate the variety and potential that unobtrusive measurement approaches can provide for building ITS for teams. Challenges regarding the real-time aggregation of data and applications to current and future ITS for teams are also discussed.
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The study examined the influence of relational capital on inter-cluster coordination and service delivery of humanitarian organisations; the mediating and moderating role of…
Abstract
Purpose
The study examined the influence of relational capital on inter-cluster coordination and service delivery of humanitarian organisations; the mediating and moderating role of inter-cluster coordination on the relationship between relational capital and service delivery.
Design/methodology/approach
Data was collected from 60 humanitarian organisations. Potential respondents were five officers from each humanitarian organisation involved in delivering humanitarian assistance. Respondents from the different organisations were selected using purposive sampling. The SPSS software, SMART PLS and CB-SEM software were used to obtain results on the influence of relational capital on inter-cluster coordination and service delivery in humanitarian organisations; and the mediating and moderating role of inter-cluster coordination on the relationship between relational capital and service delivery.
Findings
Findings indicated that relational capital influences inter-cluster coordination and service delivery in humanitarian relief chains; inter-cluster coordination partially mediates the relationship between relational capital and service delivery in humanitarian relief chains; and no interactive effect was found when the moderation effect of inter-cluster coordination on the relationship between relational capital and service delivery in humanitarian organisations was examined.
Research limitations/implications
The study was mainly focused on humanitarian organisations excluding beneficiaries and the logistics suppliers. The research has implications to decision-makers in government and humanitarian organisations concerned with providing relief aid to beneficiaries.
Originality/value
The influence of relational capital on inter-cluster coordination and service delivery in humanitarian relief chains; the mediating role and moderating role of inter-cluster coordination on the relationship between relational capital and service in humanitarian relief chains are aspects that have not been given significant attention empirically.
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Purpose – The purpose of the chapter is to introduce an actor-centered conflict perspective into research on multinational company (MNC) coordination. We first develop a…
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of the chapter is to introduce an actor-centered conflict perspective into research on multinational company (MNC) coordination. We first develop a theoretical framework of conflictual processes in MNC coordination and then use an empirical study of a German MNC in Japan to illustrate how cultural coordination in MNC subsidiaries triggers conflict processes.
Methodology/approach – The chapter integrates conflict theory and models of MNC coordination. The empirical study is based on qualitative data.
Findings – Coordination programs in MNC such as cultural integration through shared values lead to substantial conflictual processes. Local actors apply micro-political tactics to resist, delay or adjust coordination instruments developed by MNC headquarters.
Originality/value of chapter – The chapter applies conflict theory to MNC coordination issues, a field of research which so far is dominated by contingency approaches.
Thorbjørn Knudsen, Massimo Warglien and Sangyoon Yi
We develop an experimental setting where the assumptions and predictions of the garbage can model can be tested. A careful reconstruction of the original simulation model let us…
Abstract
We develop an experimental setting where the assumptions and predictions of the garbage can model can be tested. A careful reconstruction of the original simulation model let us select parameters that leave room for potential variations in individual behavior. Our experimental design replicates these parameters and thereby facilitates comparison of human behavior with the original model. We find that the majority strategy of human subjects is consistent with the original model, but exhibits some behavioral diversity. Human subjects exhibit fluid diverse behaviors that improve coordination in the face of uncertainty, but hinder collective learning that can improve group performance.
Hemal D. Kularatna, John D. Spriggs and Gary G. Storey
Canada, together with other developed countries, faces an increasingly sophisticated consumer in an increasingly differentiated and competitive marketplace. Over the last two…
Abstract
Canada, together with other developed countries, faces an increasingly sophisticated consumer in an increasingly differentiated and competitive marketplace. Over the last two decades, the Canadian beef industry has suffered from a decline in per capita beef consumption. One of the contributing factors to this is inadequate coordination of the beef supply chain to meet consumers’ changing tastes and preferences. This study focuses on the perspective of cow‐calf producers on the need for greater coordination and their attitudes towards industry coordination. The study found this group of participants to be broadly aware of the need to develop both a more coordinated beef industry and mechanisms that encourage them to be more consumer‐responsive.
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Michael Lounsbury, Christopher Kelty, Cafer T. Yavuz and Vicki L. Colvin
In the wake of growing pressures to make scholarly knowledge commercially relevant via translation into intellectual property, various techno-scientific communities have mobilized…
Abstract
In the wake of growing pressures to make scholarly knowledge commercially relevant via translation into intellectual property, various techno-scientific communities have mobilized to create open access/open source experiments. These efforts are based on the ideas and success of free and open source software, and generally try to exploit two salient features: increased openness and circulation, and distributed collective innovation. Transferring these ideas from software to science often involves unforeseen challenges, one of which is that these movements can be deemed, often incorrectly, as heretical by university administrators and technology transfer officers who valorize metrics such as number of patents filed and granted, spin-off companies created, and revenue generated. In this paper, we discuss nascent efforts to foster an open source movement in nanotechnology and provide an illustrative case of an arsenic removal invention. We discuss challenges facing the open source nano movement that include making a technology widely accessible and the associated politics of metrics.
Andrea H. Tapia, Edgar Maldonado, Louis‐Marie Ngamassi Tchouakeu and Carleen F. Maitland
This paper seeks to examine two humanitarian information coordination bodies. The goals of both coordination bodies are the same, to find mechanisms for multiple organizations…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to examine two humanitarian information coordination bodies. The goals of both coordination bodies are the same, to find mechanisms for multiple organizations, engaged in humanitarian relief, to coordinate efforts around information technology and management. Despite the similarity in goals, each coordination body has taken a different path, one toward defining the problem and solution in a more technical sense and the other as defining the problem and solution as more organizational in nature.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper develops case studies of two coordinating bodies using qualitative methodologies.
Findings
The data suggest that coordination bodies which pursue problems requiring low levels of organizational change are more likely to have visible successes. Coordination bodies that pursue a more challenging agenda, one that aims for information management or management of information technology in ways that require organizational change, are likely to face greater challenges and experience more failures.
Research limitations/implications
The paper only examines two coordination bodies at one point in time thus claims can not be made about all coordination bodies and all information coordination efforts.
Originality/value
In a time where coordination bodies are seen as an answer to the problem of information sharing during disasters, it is essential to gain understanding concerning the success of these efforts.
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