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The purpose of this paper is to examine the implications of implementing innovation in experimental schools (focussing on R & D) for school effectiveness post-intervention (five years). Based on theoretical models of social exchange and “conservation of resources” (Hobfoll, 1989), the authors focussed on assessing the effects of implementing innovation on individual outcomes (strain) and school level outcomes (social cohesion, emotional conflict, organizational innovation). The authors compared three types of schools: schools that have completed the implementation process (after), schools still in the implementation process (during) and schools not participating in the implementation process (control group).

A sample of 75 schools (23 non-experimental, 25 during the experiment, 27 post-experiment) was used. Data were collected from teachers and principals to avoid a single source bias.

MANOVA analyses suggest that the process of implementation of innovation contributes to organizational effectiveness: differences were found between the control group and the two groups of experimental schools. The two groups of experimental schools showed higher levels of organizational innovation and social cohesion and lower levels of emotional conflict and strain as compared to the control group.

This study concentrated on the question of the direct links between the study variables – the effects of the implementation of innovation on school functioning. It would be interesting to examine the limit conditions (encourage – discourage factors) for these relations.

Findings suggest that a structured process of implementing innovation contributes not only to the outcome of innovation in school, but also enhances overall school functioning.

Permits the authors to deepen the knowledge of the potential of organizational processes of innovation in schools over time (pre-during-post process).

The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual framework for benchmarking implementation in small medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) taking into consideration their characteristics.

The paper begins with the review on the definition of SME and a comparison of the characteristics of SMEs and large organizations. It presents the need for a framework and its relationship with benchmarking and TQM. This is followed by reviewing the benchmarking implementation frameworks proposed by researchers and discusses these frameworks based on their strengths and weaknesses from SMEs perspective. The frameworks were categorised into two broad types based on the different writer's background and the approach on how they view the benchmarking implementation process.

The paper suggested a conceptual framework for benchmarking implementation dedicated to the automotive manufacturing SMEs. This framework guides them through from the start to end of the benchmarking process. The framework was validated at six pilot case study companies, which gave useful comments and suggestions regarding the usefulness and applicability within the SMEs context.

The conceptual framework is still in the development stage and research is undertaken to include the pilot study companies suggestions and comments into the final version of the framework.

This guidance and framework provides a useful guide for companies to adopt and adapt before embarking on their benchmarking journey.

This paper fulfils an identified knowledge gap and offers practical help to SMEs starting out a benchmarking implementation effort.

Although research has suggested that enterprise system (ES) implementations have major impacts on employee job characteristics and outcomes, there has been limited research that has examined the impacts of ES implementations on interpersonal relationships over time. Building on and extending recent studies that have examined changes in employee job characteristics and outcomes during an ES implementation, this research examined the nature, extent, determinants and outcomes of changes in an important interpersonal relationship construct—coworker exchange (CWX)—following an ES implementation. CWX is considered a critical aspect of employees' job and an important determinant of their success in the workplace. Drawing on social exchange theory (SET), the authors theorize that employees will perceive a change in CWX following an ES implementation.

A longitudinal field study over a period of 6 months among 249 employees was conducted. Latent growth modeling was used to analyze the data.

The authors found that employees' work process characteristics, namely perceived process complexity, perceived process rigidity and perceived process radicalness, significantly explained change, i.e. decline in our case, in CWX during the shakedown phase of an ES implementation. The decreasing trajectory of change in CWX led to declining job performance and job satisfaction.

The role of CWX and its importance in the context of ES implementations is a key novel element of this work.

This paper aims to explore how different motives for implementing activity based‐costing may affect the implementation process. It focuses on the factors that affect different stages of the implementation process.

The paper uses case studies of two different business units of the same company which approached ABC implementation with different motivations. It is informed by administrative theory and institutionalist framework which draws on concepts from both old institutional economics and new institutional sociologists theory.

The paper shows how administrative and institutional factors affect different stages of the ABC implementation process and that the importance of success factors for implementation may depend on the level of implementation stage, and motivation for change. For instance, the quality of information system is very important at the adaptation and infusion stage.

The paper uses case studies that focus on two types of motivation for change. Further research work is needed that would examine other types of motivation for adopting accounting innovation to support the findings.

The empirical evidence results of this study can provide guidelines for companies either planning or implementing ABC.

The theoretical framework developed suggests that administrative theory reveals the practice (action) involved in the implementation, whereas institutional theory reveals the broader (macro) factors which shape the internal (micro) processes of implementation.

The purpose of this paper is to verify the extent to which corporate strategy is reflected in lower managerial levels, and problem addressed by the author has been analysed with reference to a functional as well as a process-oriented system.

This paper is empirical in nature, as it refers to results of a survey conducted in 30 Polish enterprises. The author’s attention has been focussed on identification and analysis of the actions comprising implementation of a strategy on different levels of management, with particular consideration of the process level.

Based on the measurements undertaken by the author, it was established which methods were most frequently applied for the sake of strategy implementation, the existing barriers were highlighted and the correctness of the strategy deployment on the strategic, the tactical and the operating level was assessed. It was also assessed to what extent the strategy becomes reflected on the level of key processes.

The results obtained are, in the first instance, legitimate with regard to large and medium-size organisations, and second, to businesses which have matured in the scope of strategic management and process management.

The practical aspects addressed by the author are linked with identification of the most problematic obstacles encountered in strategy implementation as well as the solutions proposed for their elimination.

The paper provides an innovative solution for studying the degree of successful strategy implementation in a functional as well as a process-oriented system. The research results presented in the paper are up-to-date and reflect the latest trends observed in the enterprises examined.

The purpose of this paper is to study the radical innovation process behind the adoption and implementation of building information modelling (BIM) for a specialty contracting small or medium enterprise (SME). This paper offers two distinct perspectives on BIM adoption and implementation, which are underrepresented in the current literature: the SME perspective and the specialty contractor perspective. It also attempts to bridge the gap between the growing literature on BIM adoption and implementation and the established literature on innovation by developing the notion of embedded contexts in the innovation process.

A mixed-method, longitudinal case study approach was used in this research project to study the evolution of the innovation process and its impact on the Organisation over time. The objectives of this research were to investigate and document the different factors mediating the BIM adoption and implementation process for the Organisation across various contexts, the mechanisms put in place to facilitate this process and the perceived impact within the Organisation.

The initial transition to BIM represented a radical innovation for the Organisation. Subsequently, a series of incremental innovations took place to further advance the Organisation’s BIM capabilities. This innovation process is influenced by different layers of embedded contextual factors, which can be mitigated by, among others, a clear strategic approach towards the innovation process. Furthermore, despite a limited sphere of influence, specialty contractors can leverage BIM within their own supply chain to reap significant benefits.

This paper offers an in-depth study of radical innovation within a specialty contracting SME. This study discusses the influence of four embedded contexts on innovation for a specialty contracting SME: the industry context, the institutional context, the organisational context and the project context. It also offers insight into the factors, mechanisms and their impact on the innovation process.

The purpose of this study is to discover the learning mechanisms and temporal dynamics of implementing systems (Six Sigma) as it unfolds over time.

The data come from a European engineering company that was implementing a Six Sigma-based quality management system (QMS) over a seven-year period. The analysis is based on an event-sequence reconstruction of the implementation process as it unfolded over time and discovers four different learning mechanisms that emerged: programmatic, persistent, adaptive and dialectical learning mechanisms. The research follows a process design study, where the authors study how the process unfolds over time.

Much of the literature on implementing management systems suggests that implementation follows a prescribed sequence of “turn-key” steps. However, the findings show that only 40% of all events were driven by prescribed “turn-key” generic practices, while 56% of events required constructing new practices via adaptive and dialectical learning. Moreover, the implementation process did not proceed in a linear programmatic fashion, but instead followed a punctuated equilibrium pattern, which alternated between periods of incremental change and major organizational change. The study also found that implementation required changing many complementary organizational structures and practices that were interdependent with the management system (i.e. Six Sigma). By understanding the implementation process, managers can better assess the time and effort involved, better adapt the system to their situated context and predict critical junctures where implementation could break down.

This research complements the few studies that have examined the process of implementing management systems. Most studies examine factors or conditions that result in implementation success (the what of implementing systems), but few examine the process of implementation and the learning that takes place during implementation (the how of implementing systems), which is a complex nonlinear process that involves different modes of learning.

The purpose of this paper is to propose and empirically test a model of different aspects of ISO 9000 implementation in terms of their relationships with three key supply chain (SC) management practices (internal processes, supplier relationships, and customer relationships). In addition, it aims to examine the relationship between the three key SC activities and operational performance.

Data were collected from 321 middle and senior managers of ISO 9001 certified firms in Australia who were responsible for managing the quality systems in their organizations. The structural equation modelling (SEM) technique was employed using LISREL software to test the research model and the hypotheses in this study.

The results show that advanced implementation of ISO 9000 is positively related to all three aspects of SC activities (internal, customer, and supplier process management), while supportive implementation is positively related to internal and customer process management. However, basic implementation has no direct influence on any SC management practices. The results also indicate that supplier and internal process management both have a positive effect on operational performance, while customer process management has no significant impact on operational performance.

The results provide key insights for managers on the extent to which different aspects of the implementation of a quality management system would produce benefits for the organization within the SC context.

Despite the central premises of ISO 9000, which are concerned with internal processes and SC management practices, only a few studies have examined this matter to date. The current study seeks to bridge this gap by examining the effect of ISO 9000 implementation on operational and SC management practices that, in turn, will predict the operational benefits within adopting firms.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the degree of process approach implementation in the businesses studied and to identify the major motives behind the actions undertaken in the scope of reorientation towards processes.

The paper provides a discussion on the results of empirical research conducted in the year 2015 in 100 companies by means of the CATI system. The research comprised assessment of the process approach implementation in Polish enterprises which had deployed a quality management system (QSM). Specific motives providing grounds for process approach implementation in the organisations examined were also analysed. The results thus obtained were verified with reference to previous studies conducted in the field in question; they were statistically validated and then critically analysed, all in order to draw final conclusions.

It was observed that the evolution of experience of Polish entrepreneurs in the area of process management affects the growing number of organisations evaluating themselves as highly advanced in terms of process approach implementation, and at the same time, the number of companies classified as representing an intermediate level is dropping. Assessment of the extent of advancement of process approach implementation suggests that processes are measured in most businesses studied, but it also implies certain problems with process management. It was established that improvement of business credibility and deployment of the QSM were the most significant reasons motivating companies to implement the process approach.

Individual practical aspects are associated with the barriers identified and the solutions proposed to remove them. Such recommendations may be used by persons responsible for the implementation or improvement of the process approach in an enterprise.

The research addressed in the paper is not the first study of the process approach implementation level in Polish enterprises, but it followed the steps of other authors and the discourse they initiated. The research results provided in the paper are the most recent ones and reflect the latest trends. At the same time, the conclusions drawn may provide grounds for further scientific studies in this field.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the business process reengineering (BPR) implementation process adopted by organisations grounded in the actual project-level realities. The findings are used to propose a BPR implementation process that can be adopted by organisations to effectively reengineer their processes.

A thorough literature review was used to first develop a conceptual BPR implementation process comprising three key phases and five steps. Then, four case studies were conducted in organisations that have successfully undertaken BPR projects to explore the actual project-level implementation processes. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with respondents who have been actively involved in the different steps of the BPR implementation processes to collect data within the selected organisations.

Altogether 30 activities which are to be carried out throughout the BPR implementation process were identified. Findings disclosed that the minor differences in the activities being performed throughout the BPR implementation process are due to the lack of homogenous characteristics, i.e. type of the process reengineered, form of reengineering and approach for implementing BPR projects.

This paper puts forward a comprehensive view on the BPR implementation process including the key phases, steps and the sequence of activities to be followed. In doing so, the paper addresses a clear gap in literature that calls for a comprehensive model to assist during the BPR implementation to achieve the desired results.