Search results

1 – 10 of over 85000
Article
Publication date: 1 October 1996

Kenneth B. Kahn and John T. Mentzer

Suggests that while integration is a term that logistics discusses in an interorganizational context, integration within an interdepartmental integration is not as prevalent…

11565

Abstract

Suggests that while integration is a term that logistics discusses in an interorganizational context, integration within an interdepartmental integration is not as prevalent. Consequently, a common definition for “integration” is lacking. Literature has provided three characterizations: integration represents interaction or communication activities; integration consists of collaborative activities between departments; and integration is a composite of interdepartmental intraction and interdepartmental collaboration. Adopting the composite view, prescribes that managers and researchers consider integration to be a multidimensional process. Proposes a model is based on this perspective to suggest that different logistics situations will require varying degrees of integration via interaction and collaboration. Managerial implications are discussed for each situation.

Details

International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, vol. 26 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0960-0035

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 November 2020

Ana Beatriz Murillo Oviedo, Marcio Lopes Pimenta, Éderson Luiz Piato and Per Hilletofth

The objective of this study is to analyze how cross-functional integration contributes to the development of market-oriented strategies in the context of food and beverage…

Abstract

Purpose

The objective of this study is to analyze how cross-functional integration contributes to the development of market-oriented strategies in the context of food and beverage manufacturers in Latin America.

Design/methodology/approach

A multi-case study was conducted in two multinational companies in Costa Rica and Brazil. Twenty-four semi-structured interviews were carried out with managers, leaders and supervisors.

Findings

The results showed four market-oriented processes: product launch, product delivery, customer complaints solution and improvement and innovation projects. Within these processes, 12 integration factors that impact market orientation were characterized. They also indicate that the concepts of market orientation and cross-functional integration should be integrated in the organizational culture to facilitate the understanding of the different needs and levels of urgency.

Originality/value

The studied literature does not emphasize the way integration is operationalized to allow organizations to be market oriented. According to our findings, responsive strategies depend on the integration of various internal functions to generate market intelligence. Managers must realize that when the workers are motivated and informed, they become more willing to take on a group vision and commit to organizational goals. This paper presents seven propositions on the operationalization of market orientation through cross-functional integration.

Details

Business Process Management Journal, vol. 27 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-7154

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 May 2012

Irene Pollach, Trine S. Johansen, Anne Ellerup Nielsen and Christa Thomsen

This paper aims to shed light on corporate practices regarding the integration of CSR into corporate communication in large European companies.

5434

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to shed light on corporate practices regarding the integration of CSR into corporate communication in large European companies.

Design/methodology/approach

An e‐mail survey was conducted among large European companies in a total of 14 European countries. The questionnaire focuses on the organization of corporate communication activities, the organization of CSR activities, and the cooperation between the two.

Findings

The authors find that CSR is managed most frequently by CSR departments, but also by communication departments to a small extent. Whichever organization is chosen, the communication departments frequently engage in cooperation with the CSR departments. The more frequently the two cooperate, the more likely they are to have formalised their cooperation. The authors also conclude that the communication department is generally aligned to the strategic management of the organization, whereas this is not always the case for the CSR department.

Research limitations/implications

A limitation of the study is clearly the sample size, which could have been larger. However, corporate policies against survey participation pose an obstacle to large‐scale surveys among companies in general.

Originality/value

The question of whether and how companies integrate CSR and communication responsibilities is an under‐researched area. This paper provides empirical evidence of how large companies manage the two functions in their organizations.

Details

Journal of Communication Management, vol. 16 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-254X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 October 2012

Anuska Kalita and Shinjini Mondal

The aim of this paper is to highlight the significance of integrated governance in bringing about community participation, improved service delivery, accountability of public…

1002

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to highlight the significance of integrated governance in bringing about community participation, improved service delivery, accountability of public systems and human resource rationalisation. It discusses the strategies of innovative institutional structures in translating such integration in the areas of public health and nutrition for poor communities.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on experience of initiating integrated governance through innovations in health and nutrition programming in the resource‐poor state of Chhattisgarh, India, at different levels of governance structures – hamlets, villages, clusters, blocks, districts and at the state. The study uses mixed methods – i.e. document analysis, interviews, discussions and quantitative data from facilities surveys – to present a case study analyzing the process and outcome of integration.

Findings

The data indicate that integrated governance initiatives improved convergence between health and nutrition departments of the state at all levels. Also, innovative structures are important to implement the idea of integration, especially in contexts that do not have historical experience of such partnerships. Integration also contributed towards improved participation of communities in self‐governance, community monitoring of government programs, and therefore, better services.

Practical implications

As governments across the world, especially in developing countries, struggle towards achieving better governance, integration can serve as a desirable process to address this. Integration can affect the decentralisation of power, inclusion, efficiency, accountability and improved service quality in government programs. The institutional structures detailed in this paper can provide models for replication in other similar contexts for translating and sustaining the idea of integrated governance.

Originality/value

This paper is one of the few to investigate innovative public institutions of a particularly vulnerable and poor region in India, and is unique in that it uses the lenses of governance and community mobilisation to explore this important, and under‐researched, topic.

Details

Journal of Health Organization and Management, vol. 26 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7266

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 April 2021

Ai-Hsuan Chiang and Ming-Yuan Huang

Rapid response is often the cornerstone of success in many industries, especially manufacturing. In the authors’ opinion, organizational structure will also affect the…

1575

Abstract

Purpose

Rapid response is often the cornerstone of success in many industries, especially manufacturing. In the authors’ opinion, organizational structure will also affect the construction of a fast-response supply chain system. The main purpose of this research examines whether different levels of organizational structure have different effects on the relationship between external integration and firm performance.

Design/methodology/approach

This study applied questionnaires to collect data. This study collected 818 questionnaires from manufacturers in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan to verify our proposed model using structural equation modeling.

Findings

Results show that response speed perfectly mediates the relationship between external integration and firm performance. Different levels of organizational structure will also affect external integration. Strict organizational structure requires customer integration, while loose organizational structure requires supplier integration to quickly meet customer needs.

Practical implications

Companies can probably determine whether their organizational structure is higher or lower than that of their competitors. If firms can determine that their organization structure is high or low, they can adopt suitable external integrations to enhance quick response and operational performance.

Originality/value

In the relationship between supply chain integration and performance, we consider a mediating variable and moderating variable together. Results explain the reason that the relationship between supply chain integration and performance are inconsistent in previous studies. We have addressed external integration in alignment with organizational structure to provide better service and enhance performance by providing empirical evidence.

Details

Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, vol. 32 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-038X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 September 2019

Abbas Tarhini, Jihan Tarhini and Anwar Tarhini

Research has shown that information technology has a tremendous effect on higher educational (HE) institutions. The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework that would…

1215

Abstract

Purpose

Research has shown that information technology has a tremendous effect on higher educational (HE) institutions. The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework that would depict and highlight on the financial, cultural, political and social difficulties that affect the adoption of technology in HE institutions.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, it is hypothesized that cultural, political and financial resources of the university administrative body, together with the employees’ background in terms of academic experience and education, shape the approach to a successful IT adoption. To investigate the proposed framework, a survey targeting employees, and an interview targeting IT managers were conducted.

Findings

The results indicate that the university structural framework together with IT knowledge and awareness at the university administrative level restrains any individual cultural and political effects on the IT adoption even if it is implemented partially.

Research limitations/implications

First, the respondents were selected using the convenience sampling technique. Second, the data were collected through self-report questionnaires.

Practical implications

The results of this study are important for university administrators, technology suppliers and donors, as this may contribute to better understanding of the factors that could influence the adoption, management and use of ICT resources for enhancing the knowledge of the university capabilities.

Originality/value

This study is the first one to address the integration of IT in HE institutions in the region; the results have implications for IT adoption in such institutions. More importantly, the study suggests a framework that reveals multiple levels of influence that impact the adoption and implementation of IT in the institutions.

Details

International Journal of Educational Management, vol. 33 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-354X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 February 2020

Ambuj Anand, Sanjiv D. Vaidya and Sanawi M. Sharahiley

Scaling is an important concern in the management of information systems projects. E-Government projects are no exception to the challenges of scaling. The problem is more severe…

Abstract

Purpose

Scaling is an important concern in the management of information systems projects. E-Government projects are no exception to the challenges of scaling. The problem is more severe because of a large and diverse population of target users and more crucial because of the vulnerability of the target population in case of failure of such initiatives (in projects, such as public distribution system of food). In spite of a significant awareness of its importance among implementers, scaling still remains a challenge. This paper aims to examine this important issue.

Design/methodology/approach

The case study method has been used to demonstrate the relationship between integration and scaling of e-Government projects. This study uses analytic generalization from field case as a method to theorize a broad framework for the integration of information and communications technology projects. The context of this study is an e-Government project in West Bengal, India. The selection of the case involved theoretical sampling apart from considerations for the possibility of access to the project and its appropriateness with respect to the topic under study.

Findings

Five different levels of integration in e-Government projects, namely, interface, data, electronic communication, application, and knowledge, have been identified. Further, it has been demonstrated that each of these integration mechanisms impacts scaling of e-Government projects. Also, the nature of the impact has been identified.

Originality/value

This paper demonstrates the impact of integration on the scaling of e-Government projects. It analyzes the phenomenon of integration in terms of five different levels. All the levels of integration impact scaling of e-Government projects in different ways.

Details

Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, vol. 14 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6166

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 April 2013

Teresa Vallet‐Bellmunt and Pilar Rivera‐Torres

This work has two main objectives: to obtain a set of scales for measuring the patterns, attitudes and practices of integration that can be extrapolated to different scopes (both…

2257

Abstract

Purpose

This work has two main objectives: to obtain a set of scales for measuring the patterns, attitudes and practices of integration that can be extrapolated to different scopes (both internal and external) and participants (supplier and customer) within the supply chain; and to evaluate the relations between the different components of integration.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on previous literature on the content, measurement and scope of the concept of integration, a model is presented and tested using structural equation modelling. Data were collected from 450 enterprises from the Spanish construction materials sector.

Findings

The authors' results suggest that integration is a multidimensional concept that covers the different organisational levels of the company: corporate through attitudes; strategic through patterns; and operative through practices. These components have a different structure and, although attitudes and patterns behave similarly, practices do not, and so there is no single dimension of integration that includes the three levels. With regard to scope, internal and external integration are related but do not constitute one single concept of integration. It therefore cannot be measured as a single dimension in order to relate the integration of the firm with its (corporate, logistic or marketing) performance.

Research limitations/implications

From a methodological point of view, data were collected from a single sector, in a single moment in time and with a single respondent in each company.

Practical implications

Patterns and attitudes have a complete, corporative and strategic content, whereas practices are independent from each other and have a more operational vision.

Originality/value

Unlike studies that analyse integration and its relationship with outcomes, this work focuses on the concept of integration itself by analysing its three components. Thus, it extends the study of internal and external integration and focuses on the behaviour of the enterprise with two different members of the supply chain (suppliers and customers), thereby extending the analysis beyond the dyad.

Article
Publication date: 29 December 2023

Abdullah Kaid Al-Swidi, Mohammed A. Al-Hakimi and Mohammed Saad Alyahya

Despite the importance of green supply chain integration (GSCI) in advancing green innovation (GI) is recognized, it remains unclear how firms can translate their GSCI efforts…

Abstract

Purpose

Despite the importance of green supply chain integration (GSCI) in advancing green innovation (GI) is recognized, it remains unclear how firms can translate their GSCI efforts into GI. Therefore, this study aims to understand how GSCI affects GI, with its dimensions (exploitative GI and exploratory GI), as well as to investigate the mediating role of green knowledge integration capability (GKIC) and the moderating role of blockchain technology (BCT) adoption.

Design/methodology/approach

On the basis of data collected from 247 managers working in Indian firms in the automotive industry, the authors tested the proposed model using the PROCESS macro tool via SPSS software.

Findings

The empirical results indicate that GSCI is positively associated with both exploitative and exploratory GI, with a higher effect on exploitative GI. In addition, GKIC mediates the link between GSCI and exploitative GI in contrast to exploratory GI. Notably, the relationship between GSCI and GKIC is stronger when BCT adoption is high.

Originality/value

This study opens the black box of how GSCI affects exploitative and exploratory GI by revealing the mediating role of GKIC and the moderating role of BCT adoption. It provides valuable insights for practitioners to translate GSCI efforts into GI through developing GKIC and adopting BCT.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1367-3270

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 June 2023

Mohammad Ali Fallah, Mehrdad Agha Mohammad Ali Kermani, Alireza Moini and Javad Mashayekh

The present research is trying to construct the network of relationships between different department of an organization during the design and development of car engine. Analyzing…

Abstract

Purpose

The present research is trying to construct the network of relationships between different department of an organization during the design and development of car engine. Analyzing the structure of the network, finding the patterns of collaborations, and determining the important departments are the main purposes of the present research.

Design/methodology/approach

Improving relationships during a project life is an effective way to enhance employee performance in project-oriented organizations. This paper examines the collaborative relationships between internal project stakeholders through social network analysis (SNA) in a project for the design and development of car engine. In the first step of the research, the network of internal stakeholders was studied based on collaboration in the common activities performed by the resources. Then, the network of correspondences between internal stakeholders was studied. Finally, the two networks were integrated into a single network.

Findings

In the integrated network, the “fuel and combustion department” had the largest degree centrality (i.e. highest collaboration with others). The “integration department” was found to have the highest closeness centrality (i.e. more rapid access to other nodes). Furthermore, the “procurement department” had the highest betweenness centrality (i.e. the most strategic department). Our results revealed the potential capabilities of SNA method for the project management in the vehicle industry.

Originality/value

The obtained results of the present research show us the value of applying SNA methods and concepts to analyze the inter-organizational network of the Project Stakeholders relationship.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 85000