Search results

The goal of this paper is to present the main critical failure factors extracted from analyzing ten case studies of failure in knowledge management (KM) systems and projects and present a framework in which the failure factors are linked to the different stages in the cycle of KM implementation.

“Grounded theory” as a qualitative research technique has been applied to explore the main failure factors. Data was collected reviewing scholarly articles containing KM case studies (failure in KM implementation) and after an in-depth study – applying grounded theory method – the results of main critical failure factors categorized and analyzed in specific stages of implementing KM systems.

Through review and analysis of ten case studies, two main results were obtained. First, the main critical failure factors of KM projects were identified. Second, identified critical failure factors were traced along the KM implementation cycle. A framework is proposed that shows the critical failure factors' effect in each specific stage of the KM cycle.

The results of this research are generalized based on cases from prior literature. However, the authors have tried to be as inclusive as possible to ensure a representative sample of reported KM failures. In addition, organizations do not provide accurate reports of failure in their projects because of their policies, the image of their organization, and privacy, which could affect the identification of all failure factors.

The findings are incorporated into a framework of failure factors in KM projects and the proposed framework can help practitioners in organizations to avoid factors that lead to the demise of KM systems in each stage of the KM project development cycle. This multi-case study research and its suggested framework are also useful for academics to gain a comprehensive view of KM critical failure factors for future studies.

To the authors' knowledge this study is the first of its kind to provide an integrated perspective of critical failure factors for the implementation of KM through the inspection of ten case studies and maps the failure factors on KM implementation cycle. It provides valuable information and guidelines that will hopefully pave the way for managers to avoid failure in implementation of a KM.

The purpose of this paper is to present an integrative and detailed review of the critical factors that cause enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation failures, based on an in‐depth literature review (1997‐2009).

Keywords relating to the subject of this paper were defined, and used to search web engines and journal databases for papers on ERP implementation failures. These papers were further analysed and classified into various categories.

Nine factors are found to be critical in the failure of ERP implementations: excessive customisation, dilemma of internal integration, poor understanding of business implications and requirements, lack of change management, poor data quality, misalignment of IT with business, hidden costs, limited training and lack of top management support.

The paper proposes the development of a framework to address each ERP implementation failure factor in its entirety based on the frequency of its occurrence in industry, as a topic for future research.

The paper contributes to research in the ERP domain by highlighting ERP implementation challenges from a critical failure perspective and proportion of the failures, as opposed to presenting critical success factors. Failure factors with examples provides a clearer visibility of the costly damages that can be introduced into organisations in the event that these failures are ignored.

During the past few decades, Lean Six Sigma (LSS) in the health-care sector has received increasing attention from both researchers and practitioners because it plays an imperative role in quality improvement and cost reduction initiatives. Although researchers have often focussed on evidence of model effectiveness through the study of performance indicators, too little attention has been given to the factors that lead to implementation failure and the causal relationships among them. This study aims to investigate the factors that may inhibit the successful implementation of the method by focussing on Italian public hospitals.

Through the use of the Delphi technique and fuzzy cognitive maps, this paper derives new and relevant results for researchers, hospital managers and policymakers.

The results show the factors with the greatest impact on LSS implementation and provide insight into the causal links and degrees of influence between critical failure factors and performance variables.

The findings could be considered useful, in particular, to hospital managers and policymakers, who could leverage the suggestions derived from the study to address LSS implementation.

This work overcomes a gap in the literature related to the absence of studies on the causal relationships between factors that determine the success or failure of LSS implementation.

Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is a continuous improvement methodology that aims to reduce the costs of poor quality, improve the bottom-line results and create value for both customers and shareholders. The purpose of this paper is to explore the critical failure factors for LSS in different sectors, such as manufacturing, services, higher education, etc.

The following research is based on a systematic literature review of 56 papers that were published on Lean, Six Sigma and LSS in well-known academic databases from 1995 to 2013.

There are 34 common failure factors of LSS cited in this paper. There are some common factors for failure, such as a lack of top management commitment and involvement, lack of communication, lack of training and education, limited resources and others. Many gaps and limitations are discussed in this paper and need to be explored in future research.

The paper is one of the first systematic literature reviews to explore the critical failure factors of LSS and discuss the top failure factors from different angles, i.e. countries’ evolution, organisations’ size (small- and medium-sized enterprises and large organisations) and industry nature.

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.

Many projects focus on the reliable operation of the activities in the project. Any failure in the process activities leads to major problems resulting in waste, defects, equipment damage, which has a direct impact on the consumers. In addition, Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is not new to this issue. LSS projects have faced an interruption in the process flow and unforeseen defects. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to identify the vital failure factors of LSS projects.

Through extant literature review, the researchers found 44 critical failure factors (CFFs) of LSS. Using the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) SIMOS approach, the decision makers’ (DMs) rating and weight for each factor were collected. Moreover, the study was conducted in both the manufacturing and service industries to identify the impact of CFFs in LSS projects.

CFFs and their evaluation have received little attention in the literature. Most of the previous studies deal only with the identification of the success factors in general. Therefore, the study identified 44 CFFs and ranked them through DMs. In addition, the TOPSIS SIMOS approach ranked the vital failure factors enabling the management to avert the LSS project from failures.

The study focused on project failures due to CFFs of LSS. Nevertheless, it did not consider other failure factors of project and knowledge management. Further, the sample used to test the approach was considerably small. Therefore, the study can be repeated with significant samples and the vital failure factors compared.

In real-life application, all the parameters in the LSS project need to be understood in a better manner. In such a condition, the practitioner needs to know that the project never fails due to the CFFs and TOPSIS SIMOS approach can prevent the LSS project failures.

The study applied TOPSIS SIMOS approach to rank the CFFs in an LSS project, which is first of its kind and aids the practitioners to make the right decisions in the business environment.

The Vietnam construction industry has considerably developed since 1986 as a result of “Doi Moi” or all-round renovation process. However, despite the pace of economic reforms, a number of challenges continue to plague the construction industry. The purpose of this paper is to revisit the factors causing construction project failure in Vietnam. Some of the selected best practices from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) and China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey, South Africa (CIVETS) are discussed.

Using a mixed method approach, data were collected from construction stakeholders in Vietnam using a postal survey questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The quantitative data were subjected to descriptive statistics using ranking and frequencies analysis, and qualitative data employed content analysis.

Despite the lack of systematic approach to managing projects risks, there is a high level of acknowledgement regarding the importance of risk management practices. The highly ranked critical factors still causing construction project failure in Vietnam are: disregard of the significance of project planning process and project planning; lack of experience in executing complicated project; poor design capacity and frequent design changes; lack of knowledge and ability in managing construction projects; lack of financial capacity of owner; poor performance of contractors; lack of a systematic approach to managing the project and entire organisation; corruption and bribery in construction projects; the delays in payment; and economic volatility and high inflation.

The identified and revisited project failure factors could be used as a “road map” for the revaluation, and development of appropriate project management practices.

The construction sector has undergone through significant structural changes following “Doi Moi”. This study provides the opportunity to realign the strategies for addressing project failure factors and learning from comparative studies in BRICS and CIVETS countries.

Numerous studies to date have demonstrated the public-private partnership (PPP) project procurement method's failure to deliver low-cost housing (LCH) to low-income groups (LIGs) in developing countries. The purpose of this paper is to investigate critical failure factors (CFFs), and how they cause the failure of PPP-LCH program.

Grounded Theory methodology was used to gather and analyze the data in order to identify, categorize, and develop the logically causal relationships among CFFs that cause PPP-LCH program failure.

Ten CFFs in various phases of PPP-LCH project life cycle caused PPP-LCH program failure. Some CFFs resulted from ineffective PPP policy and strategy, while some were beyond the control of the project/program management team. These CFFs were inter-/intra-related to one another in a particular way.

Despite the increase in PPP-LCH projects/programs for LIGs in practice and the prevalence of failure, the studies of PPP-LCH project/program failure still suffer from insufficient conceptual clarity about the causes of these failures. The lessons learned, to some extent, help decision makers in both public and private sectors to reduce the probability of the PPP-LCH project/program failure by clearly explaining the nature of each CFF.

The purpose of the present study is to examine the failure factors for the construction firms in a developing nation. Furthermore, the comparison of failure factors for private and government firms are evaluated.

In the present study, comparison between private and government construction firms is done in the context of a construction firm failure. About 60 construction firms were selected in and around the Nashik region for the investigation, where a simple multi-attribute rating technique (SMART) is used for analysis purpose.

It is found that for private firms (private contractors and builders) lack of experience is the major factor for failure of the business as against lack of managerial experience is a critical factor in case of a government contractor.

The outcome of the present study will be used to guide the policymakers during the implementation of governmental and private projects in order to lessen the construction project failures.

Construction company failure is an important aspect in developing countries like India. The limited studies were available in literature which shows failure factors for government and private firms and distinguished them. Hence, the present study extends the construction company failure literature by focusing on government and private firms. Also, the study provides some theoretical guidelines for management to avoid construction company failure in India.

The purpose of this study is to identify, evaluate and develop a structured model to measure the interrelation between critical failure factors (CFFs) that affects the implementation of the sustainable Lean Six Sigma (SLSS) framework in a manufacturing organization. Further solution approaches have been provided that inhibit those CFFs and help in successful implementation of the framework.

To find the interrelation among the selected CFFs and develop a systematic structured model, a total interpretive structural modeling (TISM) approach has been used. A 13-level model for selected CFFs has been formed after the application of the TISM approach. Further classification of CFFs has been performed for a better understanding of their nature through MICMAC analysis.

A total of 26 SLSS CFFs have been identified through a detailed study of case organization, various literature reviews and experience of panel experts toward developing a systematic model of CFFs. The solution approach has been provided by panel experts based on their industrial experiences after observing the role of CFFs in the developed model. Based on the analysis, it was found that most dependent and dominant CFFs affect the implementation of the SLSS framework in the case organization.

This study helps SLSS practitioners, project managers, decision-makers and academicians of manufacturing industries to a better understanding of the failure factors and their interrelations while implementing the SLSS framework in manufacturing organizations. This study also guides the systematic solution approach which helps in tackling such problems that occurred in manufacturing organizations.

In this study, the TISM-based structural model of CFFs for implementing the SLSS framework in manufacturing organizations has been proposed which is a very new effort in the area of a manufacturing environment.