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1 – 10 of over 19000Payyazhi Jayashree and Syed Jamal Hussain
Change literature emphasizes the significance of aligning change at a systemic level for sustained effectiveness of strategic change initiatives. While this body of literature…
Abstract
Purpose
Change literature emphasizes the significance of aligning change at a systemic level for sustained effectiveness of strategic change initiatives. While this body of literature emphasizes the significance of psychological and process dimensions of managing change, research on an integrated and strategic approach to deploy, track, measure and sustain large‐scale changes has been limited and inconclusive. The purpose of this paper is to address this gap in the literature to propose a holistic conceptual framework for identifying, formulating, deploying, measuring, aligning and tracking strategic changes in organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
Specifically, core concepts drawn from scholarly literature and practitioner writings from distinct fields of change management and strategy deployment tools, primarily the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) as proposed by Kaplan and Norton, are reviewed, synthesized and critiqued, to inform and advance the integrated framework proposed.
Findings
The suggested approach draws significantly from the BSC framework and focuses on the use of formal steps such as developing change themes and results, setting change objectives, developing lead and lag performance measures for measuring strategic change objectives. Furthermore, the proposed framework also provides directions on how to track the progress of change initiatives with respect to the desired objectives, for evaluating the effectiveness of change deployment efforts, all through applying cause and effect linkages.
Research limitations/implications
Although the focus on individual change arose to support technical deployment of change, over the years the strategic deployment process itself has not received the desired focus in the change strategy literature. The proposed framework extends the current literature on strategic change to offer academics fresh insights on the significance of a strategic approach to change deployment. An application of the framework in the context of large‐scale transformational changes in organizations can provide further evidence related to the validity of the proposed approach.
Practical implications
A total of 70 percent of all change efforts fail. While some fail due to incomplete diagnoses, others fail due to gaps in deployment or measurement. However, there is uncertainty about how to prevent change failure, with no one having explicitly articulated the same. A rigorous and practical approach to systematically deploy change with a continuous focus on strategic alignment has specifically been found missing in the literature. The proposed framework fills this gap to offer managers and organizational decision makers a holistic and practical tool to successfully navigate the complexities of their strategic change efforts by measuring strategic alignment in a step‐wise manner throughout the change process.
Originality/value
Mention of the need to use integrated and strategic performance management tools, such as the BSC proposed by Kaplan and Norton, to measure and review change and to manage the change process has been found in recent literature. However, no studies have yet provided any direction on “how” to use such integrated and strategic tools throughout the change process, to deploy measure and ensure continuous strategic alignment during transformational changes. The paper addresses this gap to propose a systematic, integrated and holistic approach for aligning change deployment.
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Max Saunders, Robin Mann and Robin Smith
Recent operations management research suggests that adopting and implementing the right practices are essential to attaining “world‐class” performance. The purpose of this paper…
Abstract
Purpose
Recent operations management research suggests that adopting and implementing the right practices are essential to attaining “world‐class” performance. The purpose of this paper is to report the leading operations management practices and the strategy deployment framework that emerged from a qualitative study that addressed the question of how managers implement strategy in an organisational excellence environment.
Design/methodology/approach
Group work with managers responsible for implementing strategic initiatives was followed by case studies of seven organisations via in‐depth semi‐structured interviews. A survey questionnaire strengthened the validity of the constructs of strategy deployment that were identified in the case analyses.
Findings
In total, seven strategy deployment constructs were identified and linkages between them are described. The 50 leading deployment practices indicate a mix of hard and soft management skills applied across the seven constructs.
Practical implications
The leading deployment practices have the potential to raise the performance of organisations by improving the implementation of strategic initiatives. The framework is relevant to the deployment of both corporate and business unit strategy such as manufacturing or operations, and should be of interest to managers in these areas.
Originality/value
Researchers have noted for more than a decade that no generally accepted framework of operations management practices has emerged for strategy implementation. Most strategy studies have focused on strategy formulation, content, or on project/programme management. There have been few multiple case studies of leading strategy deployment practices in diverse organisations from both private and public sectors.
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Max Saunders, Robin Mann and Robin Smith
The purpose of this paper is to describe how managers from a network of organisations formed and operated as a team to work on a benchmarking project. The project had the dual…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe how managers from a network of organisations formed and operated as a team to work on a benchmarking project. The project had the dual purpose of enabling learning for the participants, and identifying leading practices in strategy deployment.
Design/methodology/approach
The participants were managers with responsibility for strategy deployment. Data were collected from case studies of seven diverse New Zealand organisations that were undertaking performance improvement using the Baldrige performance excellence model. The unit of analysis for the case studies was a strategic initiative that the organisation had deployed. Secondary sources were also used to identify leading deployment practices.
Findings
Despite the different sectors, sizes, and cultures of the participating organisations their strategy deployment issues were similar and the managers were able to share experiences and cooperate effectively. Over 50 leading deployment practices were identified. Seven dimensions of strategy deployment were determined. A framework for strategy deployment was developed.
Research limitations/implications
The framework aids the analysis and classification of strategy deployment practices. Future research using longitudinal studies could evaluate the effectiveness of leading strategy deployment practices and identify circumstances that lead to the success or failure of strategy implementation.
Practical implications
The framework highlights the management skills required for effective strategy deployment. It is applicable to a wide range of organisations.
Originality/value
The paper provides and example of network benchmarking and how it was managed. This will be of interest to organisations that are part of an existing network, or that wish to create a similar network. No benchmarking studies of strategy deployment were found in the literature.
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Erik Xavier Wood and Tim Frazier
Current centralized humanitarian aid deployment practices may encourage urbanization thereby weakening short- and long-term resiliency of lower-income countries receiving aid. The…
Abstract
Purpose
Current centralized humanitarian aid deployment practices may encourage urbanization thereby weakening short- and long-term resiliency of lower-income countries receiving aid. The purpose of this paper is first, to explore these shortcomings within the peer-reviewed literature and, second, propose a starting point for a solution with a decentralized humanitarian aid deployment (DHAD) framework.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted a focused, qualitative review of available and relevant literature.
Findings
The literature reviewed demonstrates that current centralized humanitarian aid deployment models lack meaningful engagement of local assets while indicating a plausible connection between these same models and disaster urbanization. Next, the literature shows introducing a new decentralized model could represent a sustainable aid deployment standard for that country’s specific response, recovery, mitigation and planning opportunities and constraints.
Research limitations/implications
The next step is to develop a working DHAD model for a lower-income country using a multi-layered, GIS analysis that incorporates some or all of the socioeconomic and environmental variables suggested herein.
Practical implications
The practical potential of the DHAD framework includes establishing the impacted country in the lead role of their own recovery at the moment of deployment, no longer relying on foreign logistics models to sort it out once aid has arrived.
Originality/value
This paper discusses a topic that much of the literature agrees requires more research while suggesting a new conceptual framework for aid deployment best practices which is also largely absent from the literature.
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Antti Ylä-Kujala, Damian Kedziora, Lasse Metso, Timo Kärri, Ari Happonen and Wojciech Piotrowicz
Robotic process automation (RPA) has recently emerged as a technology focusing on the automation of repetitive, frequent, voluminous and rule-based tasks. Despite a few practical…
Abstract
Purpose
Robotic process automation (RPA) has recently emerged as a technology focusing on the automation of repetitive, frequent, voluminous and rule-based tasks. Despite a few practical examples that document successful RPA deployments in organizations, evidence of its economic benefits has been mostly anecdotal. The purpose of this paper is to present a step-by-step method to RPA investment appraisal and a business case demonstrating how the steps can be applied to practice.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology relies on design science research (DSR). The step-by-step method is a design artefact that builds on the mapping of processes and modelling of the associated costs. Due to the longitudinal nature of capital investments, modelling uses discounted cashflow and present value methods. Empirical grounding characteristic to DSR is achieved by field testing the artefact.
Findings
The step-by-step method is comprised of a preparatory step, three modelling steps and a concluding step. The modelling consists of compounding the interest rate, discounting the investment costs and establishing measures for comparison. These steps were applied to seven business processes to be automated by the case company, Estate Blend. The decision to deploy RPA was found to be trivial, not only based on the initial case data, but also based on multiple sensitivity analyses that showed how resistant RPA investments are to changing circumstances.
Practical implications
By following the provided step-by-step method, executives and managers can quantify the costs and benefits of RPA. The developed method enables any organization to directly compare investment alternatives against each other and against the probable status quo where many tasks in organizations are still carried out manually with little to no automation.
Originality/value
The paper addresses a growing new domain in the field of business process management by capitalizing on DSR and modelling-based approaches to RPA investment appraisal.
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Satyajit Mahato, Amit Rai Dixit, Rajeev Agrawal, Jiju Antony, Jose Arturo Garza-Reyes and Anbesh Jamwal
This study investigates the quantitative aspect of the various strains of operational excellence (OE) and competitive-potential (CP) in the SME sector. It has five steps, i.e.…
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates the quantitative aspect of the various strains of operational excellence (OE) and competitive-potential (CP) in the SME sector. It has five steps, i.e., identifying the key performance constructs of OE and their hypothesized relationship pattern from literature, validating these constructs through factor analysis, formalizing their empirical relationships by structural-equation-modeling (SEM), path analysis of performance constructs with the empirical results, and lastly proposing a framework for OE deployment in SMEs.
Design/methodology/approach
Data for the deployment scores of operational excellence procedures (OEPs) were collected through a structured questionnaire survey. Nine hundred participants from a stratified random sample were approached for the survey, and 473 responses were received. Sample stratification was based on Gender, Education, Experience, Position, Department and Industry. Respondents had 5–30 years of experience managing manufacturing operations, holding the manager position and above.
Findings
The path analysis of the structural model provides unique insights into OE's practical aspects in SMEs (small and medium enterprises). For example, Contractual-conformance and Process-efficiency play pivotal roles as both have a significant positive impact on CP. Supplier efficacy, Consistency and Product-excellence do not improve CP unless mediated by Contractual-conformance or Process-efficiency.
Research limitations/implications
The study provides important implications for academia, policymakers and managers. The study identifies and validates the operational excellence key performance practices and proposes a framework for manufacturing organizations. SME managers can follow the framework to develop effective operational excellence strategies to help them achieve their organizational goals. Additionally, the study emphasizes the need for continuous culture in SMEs, which will help to support operational excellence deployment. Overall, the implications presented in the study will help SMEs to enhance their competitiveness and operational performance.
Originality/value
The study explores the empirical investigation of the operational excellence deployment in SMEs. The study uses a mixed method approach for research design, including qualitative and quantitative approaches, and uses SEM to test the proposed framework. Validation of OE's six key performance constructs and establishing their empirical relation is an attempt to advance the Operations excellence theory. Unlike large enterprises, SMEs demonstrate an incohesive response to the practices pertaining to Supplier efficacy, Consistency and Product-excellence. This unique response pattern requires special treatment, which is incorporated into the proposed framework.
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Vijaya Sunder M. and Jiju Antony
The purpose of this paper is to present the potent application of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) in higher education services and to suggest a conceptual framework of deploying LSS in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present the potent application of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) in higher education services and to suggest a conceptual framework of deploying LSS in the higher education institutions (HEIs).
Design/methodology/approach
This paper aims to outline the importance of the quality excellence criterion in general through different constructs from the literature including TQM, Lean, Six Sigma and LSS. The paper further expands on the applicability of LSS in the HEI setting, with an understanding of HEI as comparatively different from the manufacturing sector from where LSS originated. The published literature on LSS and authors’ experience in the field of LSS (as practitioners) were used as sources for devising a conceptual framework for LSS deployment in HEIs.
Findings
The key finding from the study is the confirmation of LSS applicability in HEIs. The study also confirms that LSS is not anyone’s job but a key part of leadership agenda. The six-staged conceptual framework prescribed for the HEIs as part of the paper is the key contribution of this study. The model describes that LSS readiness is the foremost step in the LSS deployment journey in HEIs. The strategic perspectives of aligning the organisational vision for quality excellence need to be achieved by establishing a need for LSS through leadership. Then, developing an LSS deployment strategy becomes the next step. Educating the appropriate stakeholders (students) and team formation becomes the next important steps in the LSS deployment. Once the above steps are implemented in right way, identifying and implementing LSS projects becomes critical. The execution and closure of the LSS projects leads to quality excellence in HEIs.
Research limitations/implications
Since the framework prescribed here is a conceptual framework, it deserved a testing in the real-life context. This leaves an opportunity for future researchers to test and expand on the implications of the model. Though the LSS framework is customised for HEIs, the fundamental factors essential for any change management initiative holds correct for LSS as well, and hence these are not elaborated as part of this paper.
Originality/value
This paper would serve as an excellent resource for both academicians and LSS practitioners in HEIs, for deployment. The framework presented here is the original work contributed by the authors, as the first of its kind in the academic literature relevant to LSS in HEIs.
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Jing Wang and Weisheng Lu
Over the past two decades, building information modeling (BIM) has been promoted as one of the most disruptive innovations across the global architecture, engineering and…
Abstract
Purpose
Over the past two decades, building information modeling (BIM) has been promoted as one of the most disruptive innovations across the global architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) community. Nevertheless, despite its widely propagated benefits, BIM adoption in various localities is not progressing excitingly. BIM as an innovation developed from a presumed, general context may not fit well with the specific regulatory, social and cultural settings of a locality. This study aims to tackle the lukewarm local BIM adoption by developing a deployment framework for BIM localization.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing upon the diffusion of innovation (DoI) theory, a longitudinal case study is designed and conducted by engaging closely with a top cost consultancy company in Hong Kong for forty-one months.
Findings
The findings refuted the “one-size-fits-for-all” view to use a standardized BIM for international users. Rather, an organization needs to undergo a series of localization works to integrate global BIM in its specific local context. The deployment framework outlines the BIM dimensions (i.e. technology, process and protocol) and the mechanisms (i.e. configuration, coupling and reinterpretation) of BIM localization that go through the three “A”s (i.e. analysis, adaption and assimilation) process under a firm's network and contextual factors.
Originality/value
This study improves our understanding of sluggish BIM adoption by attributing it to the gap between general BIM development and the local, unique BIM use context. Proposing the deployment framework, the study also offers a handy tool for prospective executives to localize BIM and harness its power in their respective organizations and localities.
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The aim of the study is to develop and apply a continuous improvement (CI) framework by introducing environmental considerations into the Six Sigma DMAIC…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of the study is to develop and apply a continuous improvement (CI) framework by introducing environmental considerations into the Six Sigma DMAIC (define–measure–analyze–improve–control) cycle for a continuous identification, evaluation and implementation of promising opportunities of enhancing environmental sustainability of process-based industries.
Design/methodology/approach
Action research approach within the research design of a single case study was used for illustrating the application of the proposed DMAIC framework for improving operational and environmental performance in the process-industry environment of a pharmaceutical manufacturing company.
Findings
The case study illustrated the implementation of DMAIC cycle for optimizing the energy consumption of pharmaceutical plants producing bulk drugs for medication. After improving the energy distribution in the cooling tower (CTW), chilled brine (CHB) and chilled water (CHW) system, the pharmaceutical plant was able to achieve an annual economic benefit of US$97,047 and environmental benefits of mitigating CO2 emissions of 807.44 t (CO2) by reducing the electricity and furnace oil consumption.
Originality/value
The framework may be adopted for environmental considerations specific to process-based industry such as chemical plant, fertilizer units, thermal power plant and food processing industry.
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Max Saunders, Robin Mann and Nigel Grigg
To examine the processes used by custodians of business excellence frameworks (BEFs) internationally to review and revise their frameworks, and to present the findings of a review…
Abstract
Purpose
To examine the processes used by custodians of business excellence frameworks (BEFs) internationally to review and revise their frameworks, and to present the findings of a review of the design of the Australian business excellence framework (ABEF).
Design/methodology/approach
A literature review, three surveys, and a series of focus groups and key informant interviews were conducted. The study involved input from 16 countries and was part of a larger study of how BEFs are designed, reviewed, promoted and deployed within and across nations.
Findings
The role of stakeholders in business excellence model design and development, the processes involved in framework review and enhancement, and the frequency of minor and major review activities and who led them are presented. We found there was widespread support for the design of the ABEF amongst stakeholders. This review of the ABEF design and its appropriateness to the Australian business environment are discussed.
Research limitations/implications
While the primary focus was on the Australian context, the findings draw upon a range of international sources and hence are of relevance to all BEF custodians.
Practical implications
The findings from the project were used to redesign the ABEF, and are expected to help inform national business excellence strategies worldwide.
Originality/value
The paper updates the current situation regarding the review of BE frameworks in 16 countries, with a focus on Australia.
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