Search results

Manufacturing and engineering depend heavily on computers for many low‐level operations, including design, resource planning and production scheduling. But only a few companies have implemented the sort of enterprise‐wide computerized planning/project management found in other industries. However, substantial gains in productivity, flexibility, and production costs are to be made from integrating all aspects of the planning and scheduling process. Examines the need for integrated, company‐wide planning in manufacturing/engineering companies, and highlights how it is increasingly being applied to the different parts of the production cycle.

A number of leading retail companies gave detailed descriptions of how they had developed merchandising policies for the 80s at a two‐day conference organised by RMDP, and held in London towards the end of June.

This paper argues that policymakers and academics should place more emphasis on maximising the additional benefit created by entrepreneurial support programs and impact investments. It demonstrates a robust approach to advancing this field of research by using qualitative methods to determine the variables that may predict the additional benefit a firm will gain from funding.

The research is based on 60 semi-structured interviews averaging 1.5 h each; 45 with entrepreneurs that did or did not receive funding from a business plan competition in Nigeria, 15 with relevant elites. Detailed World Bank panel data on program participants further validated responses and supported conclusions.

Numerous factors that may explain additional benefit were uncovered, including those that vary the need for external funding and those that vary access to it.

Qualitative methods explored variables previously assumed to be unobservable. Future studies are necessary to test the results quantitatively.

Understanding the characteristics that indicate ex ante which firms would most benefit from support will help policymakers, impact investors and development institutions to more effectively allocate capital.

This paper addresses the paucity of research into increasing additional impact and demonstrates the value of pursuing it. Methods used to suggest additionality variables for such programs and many of the factors highlighted are unique to this study. The research is also based on unique access to the participants and un-anonymised data from a significant World Bank study, and on substantially more interviews than previous papers.

Knowledge workers labor to meet their business goals with the support of practical information technology (IT) tools. IT advances can be organizational enablers, when aligned with business goals, and when selectively applied. Workplace leaders and their workers often experience a productivity paradox. This paradox forms an operational limit for current knowledge workers and organizational success. Performance management steps within a Balanced Scorecard (BSC) framework can help overcome workplace productivity paradoxes. The BSC frames and tabulates lagging and leading indicators of IT tools’ usage and soft skill engagements. These adaptive measures dashboard workplace progress and success for organizations of all sizes and in public and private sectors. Lessons can be learned from BSC deployment successes in several business sectors. Valued practices exist to pick / monitor / adapt organizational capability objectives, measures and HR initiatives. Can right IT tool(s) or application(s) help achieve aligned business goals? Yes. Certain IT applications can favorably frame learning and development (L&D) efforts and metrics for knowledge workers as most valuable players, or MVPs.How do knowledge workers and their business leaders manage and leverage these IT applications for employee L&D to improve organizational capabilities? How do they address and adapt to complex and chaotic business conditions, and manage disruptive technologies: a. Artificial Intelligence (AI), b. The Internet of Things (IoT), and c. Data Analytics? Prudent managers and workers can accommodate these conditions and disruptions with agile, productive BSC approaches to generate productivity-ware and to attain their aligned business goals.

It is too often presumed that marketing research can be no more than a survey of opinion, to be seriously considered only by the larger organisation, usually a manufacturer. Nigel Piercy questions these assumptions, pointing out a number of areas where marketing research can assist the retailer or wholesaler to make informed decisions. He also examines the relevant techniques available, and the kind of information they can be expected to produce. Although large and sophisticated retailers are already active in marketing research, other distributive organisations may find it increasingly necessary to undertake active and systematic research before making decisions in a changing and competitive market.

The introduction of a new computerised order processing system at Glaxo Pharmaceuticals made an enormous amount of production data available to the users of on‐line computer systems. To understand and act on this data effectively, it became increasingly evident that a wider understanding of production processes was needed at both a practical and conceptual level. To meet this training need, the MENTOR game was developed in‐house to train staff in the theory and practice of production planning, stock control and materials explosion in a manufacturing environment. The game has also been run with pre‐university school groups in liaison with local and central government educational agencies.

Support sought for changes to copyright law EIIA members have been asked to support a change in the copyright laws to permit some ‘fair use’ copying of software. A proposal is likely to go to the European Commission this month. Meanwhile, Memoranda of Mutal Understanding have been signed with the United States' HA and Japan's JICOA, to co‐operate in activities such as supporting the free flow of information.

The project was designed to provide a framework for a comprehensive user evaluation of both software packages and hypertext environments. User evaluation constituted an integral part of the design and development process. The learning packages and hypertext systems were evaluated in terms of the extent to which they provide flexibility for learners to follow their preferred learning styles. Evaluation was carried out in relation to: (1) hypertext packages; (2) learning styles and learning outcomes; and (3) system design. Two sets of learning experiments were conducted. In the first, the package related to ‘1992’ — the Single European Market—was tested with postgraduate MBA and Information Studies students, whose individual learning approaches were assessed. In the second, the package was in the field of food and wine and was tested with further education students on a catering course. Those with a holist predisposition strongly favoured the use of global features such as the map. On the other hand, serialists preferred the rapid access allowed by the index. The ‘Wine and Food’ experiment, with a smaller sample, produced no significant findings to reinforce the ‘1992’ results. However, there was an interesting positive correlation (though not statistically different) between field dependence and performance on the learning test. Cognitive styles were demonstrated to be a significant component of individual behaviour within the hypertext environment. Providing a variety of tools optimised for preferred modes of usage creates a rough equality of overall task‐related performance between those with differing cognitive styles, and allows the user to evolve an appropriate strategy for effective performance. The ‘lost in hyperspace’ phenomenon was rarely evident and may be eliminated by improved semantic content in navigational aids. Hypertext has been confirmed as a useful medium for searching, learning and recall, but must include as many alternative modes of usage as possible within the design of a particular system.