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1 – 10 of over 161000Kirandeep Chahal, Tillal Eldabi and Terry Young
The purpose of this paper is to develop a generic framework for hybrid (integrated deployment of system dynamics and discrete event simulation) simulation which can be applied in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a generic framework for hybrid (integrated deployment of system dynamics and discrete event simulation) simulation which can be applied in the healthcare domain.
Design/methodology/approach
As hybrid simulation in an organisational context is a new topic with limited available data on deployment of hybrid simulation in organisational context, an inductive approach has been applied. On the basis of knowledge induced from literature, a generic conceptual framework for hybrid simulation has been developed. The proposed framework is demonstrated using an explanatory case study comprising an accident and emergency (A&E) department.
Findings
The framework provided detailed guidance for the development of a hybrid model of an A&E case study. Findings of this case study suggest that the hybrid model was more efficient in capturing behavioural impact on operational performances.
Research limitations/implications
The framework is limited to only SD and DES; as agent‐based is another simulation method which is emerging as a promising tool for analysing problems such as spread of infectious diseases in healthcare context, inclusion of this into the framework will enhance the utility of the framework.
Practical implications
This framework will aid in the development of hybrid models capable of comprehending both detail as well as dynamic complexity, which will contribute towards a deeper understanding of the problems, resulting in more effective decision making.
Social implications
It is expected that this research will encourage those engaged in simulation (e.g. researchers, practitioners, decision makers) to realise the potential of cross‐fertilisation of the two simulation paradigms.
Originality/value
Currently, there is no conceptual framework which provides guidance for developing hybrid models. In order to address this gap, this paper contributes by proposing a conceptual framework for hybrid simulation for the healthcare domain.
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Imoh Antai and Hans Olson
Although the supply chain (SC) competition concept has emerged during the past decade as the way firms will compete in future, there is scant academic research on actual…
Abstract
Purpose
Although the supply chain (SC) competition concept has emerged during the past decade as the way firms will compete in future, there is scant academic research on actual mechanisms through which such competition can occur. The purpose of this paper is to proposes interaction as the means by which competition between supply chains may be undertaken.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper investigates a Swedish logistics center via case study methodology to develop the idea of interaction for SC vs SC competition.
Findings
Results suggest that interaction points along organizations ' supply chains may present enough breadth to assume a role in determining how SC vs SC competition may be played out in reality.
Research limitations/implications
Interaction, as proposed here, implies an emphasis on all points at which supply chains meet to request goods and services, including various points where such supply chains converge, e.g. service providers, original equipment manufacturers, etc.
Originality/value
Most studies dealing with competition between supply chains fall short of exploring the link between theory and corresponding practice of this evolving competition mode. Such a link is provided with the use of logistics centers.
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Christopher R. Plouffe, Thomas E. DeCarlo, J. Ricky Fergurson, Binay Kumar, Gabriel Moreno, Laurianne Schmitt, Stefan Sleep, Stephan Volpers and Hao Wang
This paper aims to explore the increasing importance of the intraorganizational dimension of the sales role (IDSR) based on service-ecosystem theory. Specifically, it examines how…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the increasing importance of the intraorganizational dimension of the sales role (IDSR) based on service-ecosystem theory. Specifically, it examines how firms can improve interactions both internally and with external actors and stakeholders to both create and sustain advantageous “thin crossing points” (Hartmann et al. 2018). Academic research on sales ecosystems has yet to fully harness the rich insights and potential afforded by the crossing-point perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
After developing and unpacking the paper’s guiding conceptual framework (Figure 1), the authors focus on crossing points and the diversity of interactions between the contemporary sales force and its many stakeholders. They examine the sales literature, identify opportunities for thinning sales crossing points and propose dozens of research questions and needs.
Findings
The paper examines the importance of improving interactions both within and outside the vendor firm to thin crossing points, further develops the concept of the “sales ecosystem” and contributes a series of important research questions for future examination.
Research limitations/implications
The paper focuses on applying “thick” and “thin” crossing points, a key element of Hartman et al. (2018). The primary limitation of the paper is that it focuses solely on the crossing-points perspective and does not consider other applications of Hartman et al. (2018).
Practical implications
This work informs managers of the need to improve interactions both within and outside the firm by thinning crossing points. Improving relationships with stakeholders will improve many vendor firm and customer outcomes, including performance.
Originality/value
Integrating findings from the literature, the authors propose a conceptual framework to encompass the entire diversity of idiosyncratic interactions as well as long-term relationships the sales force experiences. They discuss the strategic importance of thinning crossing points as well as the competitive disadvantages, even peril, “thick” crossing points create. They propose an ambitious research agenda based on dozens of questions to drive further examination of the IDSR from a sales-ecosystem perspective.
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Lisa Melander and Ala Pazirandeh Arvidsson
The purpose of this paper is to discuss how a seller can use interactions to respond to public procurement needs for innovation when the buying side is restricted by public…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss how a seller can use interactions to respond to public procurement needs for innovation when the buying side is restricted by public procurement regulations.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors collected data using qualitative semi-structured interviews of different empirical examples, in which private–public interactions of four different high-technological products are studied. Two products belong to the defence industry and two to the civil industry.
Findings
The findings point to three types of innovations in public procurement: product, service and business model. The empirical examples further indicate, as suggested in previous studies, that innovation is hindered by regulations that limit interaction between suppliers and the public. In addition, the empirical examples indicate that firms mobilize actors in their network when the buyer is restricted in regard to interaction. The findings also add to the IMP literature by comparing interactions in the three types of innovations in the public procurement context.
Originality/value
Public procurement is an area where innovations are lagging behind, compared with private procurement. Research points to limited interaction between actors as an obstacle to innovation in public sector collaborations. This paper extends the literature on how organizations interact in the setting of public procurement. The authors identify demand and supply triggers for three types of innovations: product, service and business model innovation.
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Viktoria Sundquist and Lisa Melander
This paper aims to investigate how various organizational interfaces between firms, units and functions, and the interplay between them, are developed and mobilized in product…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate how various organizational interfaces between firms, units and functions, and the interplay between them, are developed and mobilized in product development processes.
Design/methodology/approach
The theoretical framework is based on the industrial network approach, including interactive resource development and the concept of organizational interfaces. A single case study is conducted at a world-leading industrial tool manufacturer, illustrating how resources are combined over time, crossing boundaries of firms, units and functions in the development of a hand-held digitalized tool for quality assurance in the production of cars. Data have been collected through semi-structured interviews, with additional data in the form of project reports, internal documents and practices for external collaboration.
Findings
In addition to inter-organizational interfaces, the study identifies a typology of scouting, embarking and integration interfaces at unit level (geographically spread units of one multinational corporation) and interpretation and reciprocal interfaces at function level. The conclusions show that these interfaces affect the outcome of three aspects of the product development process: product characteristics and functionality features, system integration and organizational network extent. Existing interfaces serve as a platform for developing interaction further and provide the interfaces with new content, thus moving between different types of interfaces. Product development processes also involve new interfaces where there was no previous interaction between the parties.
Research limitations/implications
This research has implications for the interplay between interfaces in cases involving multiple external and internal actors in resource combining efforts.
Practical implications
External interactions between firms influence and impact internal activities and resources. Managers need to be aware of the complex interdependencies between external and internal interfaces and resources. Managing organizational interfaces is about both exploiting established interfaces and developing new ones. Consequently, existing interfaces may be activated differently to align with new interaction purposes, which, in turn, requires efforts to combine resources according to the new conditions.
Originality/value
Previous research contains a typology of organizational interfaces between customers and suppliers. The study expands on this research by identifying internal interfaces between units and functions.
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Javier De Andrés, Beatriz Pariente, Martin Gonzalez-Rodriguez and Daniel Fernandez Lanvin
The purpose of this paper is to identify demographic differences based on how users interact with web applications. The research is needed to develop future systems able to adapt…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify demographic differences based on how users interact with web applications. The research is needed to develop future systems able to adapt the representation of online information to the user’s specific needs and preferences improving its usability. The following question guides this quest: is there a direct relationship between age and/or gender and interaction?
Design/methodology/approach
GOMS (goals, operators, methods, and selection rules) analysis was used to reduce complex interaction tasks into basic operators like pointing, dragging, typing, etc. An experiment was designed to analyse the user performance in the use of these operators through five complex tasks: point-and-click, drag-and-drop, text selection, text edition and menu selection. The sample comprises 592 individuals which took part in the experiment. The performance was analysed using multivariate regression analysis. User laterality and the the user experience were used as control variables.
Findings
The factors studied are significant enough to support user classification. The analysis evidenced that men performed significantly better than women when executing interaction pointing and dragging GOMS’s operators, but no significant differences arose with regard to the performance in the typing operators. Older users performed worse in all the interaction tasks. No significant performance differences were detected between left and right-handed users.
Research limitations/implications
The study pretends to lay the ground for developing artificial intelligence-based classification systems (e.g. neural networks, decision trees, etc.) able to detect significant differences in user performance, classifying users according to their age, gender and laterality.
Practical implications
This user profiling would drive the organisation, selection and representation of the online information according to the specific preferences and needs of each user. This would allow the design of new personalisation algorithms able to perform dynamic adaptation of user interfaces in order to improve the usability of online information systems.
Originality/value
This work extends previous research on user performance under a new approach and improved accuracy. First, it relies on the combined and simultaneous analysis of ageing and gender and the use of user laterality and experience as control variables. Second, the use of the GOMS analysis allowed the design of tests that closely resemble the user interaction in online information systems. Third, the size of the sample used in this analysis is much bigger than those used in previous works, allowing a more thorough data analysis which includes the estimation of an advanced model which is quantile regression.
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This paper aims to debate the technology-driven transformation of customer relationship management (CRM) into social CRM, which entails a shift from a transactional and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to debate the technology-driven transformation of customer relationship management (CRM) into social CRM, which entails a shift from a transactional and automational solution to a customer experience management philosophy, reflecting high levels of customer empowerment.
Design/methodology/approach
A literature review provides a critical analysis of the concept, tenets, aims and implementation approaches of social CRM. Arguments are summarised by developing a process-based framework for implementing social CRM.
Findings
By adopting a value co-creation approach that recognises the technology-fostered customer empowerment, the social CRM highlights the need to immigrate from relationship management to relationship stewardship. In this vein, social CRM implementation should support and foster dialogue facilitation and customer engagement in co-creating customer experiences. To achieve these, five approaches for implementing social CRM are proposed: collecting, analysing and interpreting customer insight; monitoring and improving the performance of CRM; developing holistic and seamless personalised customer experiences; gamifying CRM and loyalty programmes; and nurturing community relationship management.
Research limitations/implications
The five approaches to social CRM implementation are identified and validated based on current industry practices, theoretical arguments and anecdotal evidence of professionals’ perceptions about their outcomes. Future research is required to collect hard evidence showing the business and customer impacts of these approaches.
Practical implications
Social CRM immigrates relationship management from a transactional to a customer experience mindset that treats customers as co-creators of value and demands the tourism and hospitality firms to exploit the affordances of information and communication technologies to collect and analyse customer data for better understanding the customer; develop customer touch points that do not only aim to sell but also primarily aim to enhance the customer interactions and experiences; consider and treat the customers and the customer communities as co-creators, brand ambassadors and stewards of relations; and motivate and enable customer participation into value co-creation processes for developing customer experiences and building relationships.
Originality/value
Research in social CRM is emerging, but it mainly focusses on defining its scope and identifying the functionality and adoption of social CRM technology. The paper contributes to the literature by proposing five specific approaches and a process framework for implementing social CRM. Various directions for future research are also provided.
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Birendra K. Mishra, Erik Rolland, Asish Satpathy and Michael Moore
This study aims to examine the factors influencing enterprise risk management and propose a framework for identifying and explaining the components of enterprise risk management…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the factors influencing enterprise risk management and propose a framework for identifying and explaining the components of enterprise risk management. To enable broader analytical thinking about risk factors, the framework utilizes the resource-based theory to link various classes of risks to an extended set of organizational resources.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper opted for an exploratory study using a sample from an online survey. The survey subjects were recruited from the membership database of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, focusing primarily on CFOs. The survey consisted of six sections: demographics, a section on each of the four risk types included in ERM: strategic risk, operational risk, financial risk and hazard risk, and exit questions (where very general questions about ERM were asked). The survey yielded a data set of 227 valid responses.
Findings
Using the associated sample survey data, the paper provides empirical validation of the proposed framework that managers in any organizations could use to identify and manage risks.
Research limitations/implications
The proposed model does have limitations that predominantly exist from the fact that human judgment in decision-making is not always data-driven, and hence, a proper risk exposure could be ignored based on pure arguments of cost and benefits from domain experts. Therefore, researchers and practitioners are encouraged to test the proposed framework further.
Practical implications
Risk exposure is not a snapshot event in an organization’s time horizon. Rather, risk identification is an ongoing process and the proposed framework allows organizations to handle increasing complex risks and/or identifying them based on how the organizational resources may be exposed over time. Managers could use a form of risk control analytics (monitoring dashboard of all identified risks under each interaction sets on a regular basis) to become more proactive in managing risk or exploiting opportunities across enterprise.
Originality/value
This paper fulfills an identified need to study how enterprise risks exposure can be proactively assessed and managed.
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Barry P. Haynes, Louise Suckley and Nick Nunnington
The paper aims to explore the relationship between office occupier work activity and workplace provision. It tests the proposition that location-fixed office workers are not…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to explore the relationship between office occupier work activity and workplace provision. It tests the proposition that location-fixed office workers are not well-supported in the working environment as location-flexible office workers. The research also explores the perceptions of the workplace provision based upon the types of tasks completed at the desk-location, whether this was collaborative or focussed.
Design/methodology/approach
The research adopts a cross-sectional approach using an online questionnaire to collect data from several offices in the Middles East. The dataset consists of 405 responses. One-way analysis of variance was conducted to understand the relationship between location flexibility and perception of productivity. In addition, a series of t test were used to evaluate the relationship between work activities and office environment.
Findings
The results show that those workers who were location-fixed perceived the workplace provision to have a more negative impact on their productivity than those who had a greater level of location-flexibility, particularly with regards to noise levels and interruptions. In terms of types of activities, those that undertook more collaborative tasks valued the facilitation of creativity and interaction from the workplace provision.
Research limitations/implications
The research has limitations as data collection was at one-point in time and therefore lacks the opportunity to undertake longitudinal analysis. However, the research gives greater insights into the alignment of office environments based on flexibility and work activity.
Practical implications
The paper identifies implications for the design and development of office environments by identifying the need for office occupier activity profiles. These profiles can underpin data-led design which should promote a tailored choice appropriate work setting that can maximise productivity.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the research area of workplace alignment. It establishes that optimal workplace alignment requires a better understanding of office occupier needs based on location-flexibility and work activity.
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