Search results

Explains that considerable recent publicity has been given to the claim that around 70 per cent of business process re‐engineering exercises are unsuccessful, mainly because of failure to take human factors into account. Outlines the work undertaken in a single specialist surgical service, within an acute services National Health Service Trust, and the outcomes achieved. Suggests that there are points arising from the project to be learned both by the Trust and by other health‐care employers contemplating similar exercises: in particular, deciding objectives; the preparation undertaken prior to the project; and detailed post‐implementation benefit analysis.

Analyses apparently conflicting pressures on NHS personnel practitioners for both greater integration into the business and increased specialization, using Mid‐Essex Hospital Services, a second wave NHS Trust, as a case study. Reflects on how the personnel team have clarified their personal development agenda. Describes the framework used to help in this process which identifies an “expert plus” role, where personnel advisers are expected to have a core of specialist expertise plus process consultancy and general management skills. Outlines examples of development processes used by personnel advisers in Mid‐Essex Hospitals.

Defines end user computing (EUC). Suggests a dichotomy between information systems (IS) managers and end users, both of whom wish control computing resources. Reviews literature concerning EUC and the stage growth model. Suggests alternative visions of the role of IS and user managements in the growth of EUC.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss responsibility in tourism destinations. On the basis of a resilience approach, central aspects of leadership and of responsibility in destination networks are introduced and, a contribution to a conceptual analysis of the future viability of tourism destinations is made. This contributes to a better understanding of resilience from a destination management organization (DMO) perspective in the context of shared responsibility.

To achieve this goal, a qualitative interview series was conducted with destination managers in urban and rural areas. The interviews were evaluated using the method of GABEK®, in order to reveal and visualize semantic relationships between the specific statements. This method allows the representation of linkages and relationships of keywords from interview transcripts in the form of network graphs.

A major result is the existence of a network of leaders who take responsibility for tourism development within a tourism destination. Within this network, the destination manager once again plays a key role by developing and formulating visions, goals and strategies. In this context, the relevant employees of the DMO have an important role to play, since they are an important resource of tourism development due to their experience and competences.

The paper contributes to a practical view on the development of visions and strategies. It analyzes challenges and possible ways to communicate with the required political and public actors of the destination as well as with the service providers to regard destination development as a collaborative task.

This article argues that measures for project accountability and cost effectiveness generated by the Home Office's Policing and Crime Reduction Unit are ill‐suited to capture the full complexity of project work over time. A new research tool is proposed ‐ a Calendar of Action. This tool has the advantage of being more dynamic and it allows the recording of both quantitative and qualitative data. Its principal aims are to aid the modelling of project impact, the process of evaluation and the measurement of the intensity of action.

This paper investigates an important issue emerging in information systems management—the decision to proceed with an expert system (ES) application in a business setting. The focus here is on knowledge based systems at the lower end of the complexity spectrum—small, very focused systems that can be implemented by the use of shell‐based development environments. This category represents the majority of ES that are currently being implemented and has some characteristics quite different from the larger systems. A classification scheme is suggested to differentiate three levels of ES development, from multi‐million dollar life cycle cost ES environments to those that are in the low five figure range. The Low End segment of the range, emphasized in this paper, is characterized by lower unit costs, powerful development tools and a large number of small, successful applications. The important role of Low End systems is discussed, with particular emphasis on their relatively high yield in stand‐alone applications. Such systems do not meet the AI demands of moderately or very complex problems but there is a surprising breadth in their use. A group of key success factors for Low End systems is proposed, based on a synthesis of the applications literature. To operationalize these factors three actual cases using Low End technology—from marketing, government, and agribusiness—are briefly described. Low End systems are not all gain. Low unit costs here can often mask the risks of proceeding headlong into an application without careful examination of the variables that can predict successful results. An agenda for action is offered for specific management policies for the planning of knowledge‐based applications.

Performance measurement in the implementation of information systems is under‐developed for, under‐researched in, small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). This article aims to develop a framework for IS that measures and evaluates IS performance from the following six perspectives: operational efficiency of the IS function, down time of IS, responsiveness of IS, timeliness of information, accuracy of information, overall competitive position.

This research is exploratory in nature, a survey methodology is used for study and the focus of study is cross‐sectional. The objective of the study was to become more familiar through survey and information collected at one point in time. The methodology was based on a questionnaire survey and personal interviews.

Empirical analysis from 147 Indian SMEs suggests that IS performance measurement framework can be the foundation for SMEs' strategic growth in the era of globalization. These findings provide SMEs the opportunity to compare their IS performance against other firms of similar size.

The target of the study is the SMEs operational in the western part of India and hence it has the limitation in terms of the scope. However, the overall results are encouraging with 70 percent response rate in the survey and underline the need for more such studies. The results have implications for all managers responsible for IS, in any SME in the era of globalization.

The paper presents a framework for IS performance measurement for SMEs. Findings reported in the paper provide SMEs the utility of IS‐related practices and its performance measurement in day‐to‐day business operations.

Nowadays, especially after the recent financial downturn, companies are looking for much more efficient and creative business processes management. They need to place better solutions on the market in less time and with lower costs. Companies are achieving these goals of efficiency always more by using the offshoring strategy. It commonly describes a company’s relocation of a business process from one country to another, typically manufacturing processes towards low-cost countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – BRICS area). The purpose of this paper is to propose a methodological approach based on project management tools that supports the decision-making process in order to help companies in optimizing the re-engineering production processes and improve management costs. The framework provided in this paper is grounded on available literature and from the authors’ personal experiences in managing several projects.

This paper seeks to propose a Project Management Process Reengineering performance model (PMPR) for managing projects of reengineering of processes and applies it in a real case study concerning the relocation of an automotive glass production line.

The model proposed in this paper should serve as a valuable tool to facilitate a successful BPR design in the project management and intends to assist companies as they operate projects of transferring and optimizing production lines.

This paper proposes a PMPR model with a methodological approach which integrates efficiency and effectiveness estimators applicable to company needs. Thus, the aim of the paper is to develop a methodology and technical approach for the redesign and realization of a production line in consequence of its relocation.

Project management factors affecting the implementation of IT projects have been widely studied; however, there is little empirical research investigating the implementation of organizational data‐mining (ODM) projects. ODM is defined as leveraging data‐mining tools and technologies to enhance the decision‐making process by transforming data into valuable and actionable knowledge to gain a competitive advantage. Organizations of all sizes are developing and implementing ODM technologies. A cross‐sectional survey based on The Square Route Framework was conducted to determine the relationship among project factors affecting ODM implementations. Findings from 111 organizations indicate that a number of implementation factors have a significant influence on the successful implementation of ODM projects.

The aim of this study is to evaluate effectiveness of several end‐user training methods during the deployment of a new information system in an Israeli financial institution.

Four training methods, namely, frontal (lectures), simulator (e‐learning), mentor (personal guidance), and hybrid (mix of the three aforementioned methods) were all compared in terms of the number of referrals to an online helpdesk following training sessions.

A pair‐wise analysis to pinpoint the source of the differences between the various training methods indicates that all training methods are significantly different except for frontal and simulator and therefore an organization considering these two methods can select them indifferently. A combination of mentor and simulator was found to be significantly inferior to the frontal and simulator hybrid method.

The main limitation of the study is that evaluation was based on data associated with a specific organization, and thus external validity to other industries or countries is somewhat limited. Among other limitations are cross‐organizational differences in terms of: difficulty of calls, individual experience in the IS/IT area, and prior exposure to similar technologies.

Although this research does not recommend a specific training method, our findings suggest that deploying a new software system is a matter that requires early assessment by the organization and that the best results are obtained by employing the hybrid training approach.

The use of the number of referrals to an online helpdesk is a novel metric for measuring training effectiveness. The study also investigates the decline of the number of referrals over time.