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The prominent role of traditional contract and design‐build methods in the procurement of projects and the importance of planning in the success of the projects prompt this study. The study evaluates the levels of use of project documents and their influence on the outcome of projects procured by the two methods. The purpose of this paper is to assist stakeholders in comparing the documents prepared and the performance of projects procured by traditional contract and design‐build methods.

The study adopted a questionnaire survey approach to achieve its purpose. A field survey of 84 projects made up of 42 traditional contract projects and 42 design‐build projects selected by purposive sampling was conducted. Three categories of variables namely: procurement method, project planning and project outcome were used. Data were collected with the aid of structured questionnaires and analysed to derive and compare the levels of use of selected project plans, levels of project inception, design, tendering, construction and overall planning in projects procured by traditional contract and design‐build methods using percentage, mean and t‐test.

The results reveal that the levels of project stage and overall planning in projects procured by the two methods investigated are the same. However, the levels of use of specific plans and project outcome in the two categories of projects are significantly different. The study considers the difference in the levels of use of project plans to be responsible for the lower delivery time and cost of projects procured by traditional contract method and higher quality standards in projects procured by design‐build method.

The paper has revealed the level of efforts put into the planning of projects procured by traditional contract and design‐build methods and their influence on the performance of the projects. The results will make project stakeholders aware of how to improve their efforts, thereby improving the outcome of the projects.

Delivery of safe products while meeting customer demand is a critical marketing requirement for logistics. To meet this requirement, this paper aims to develop a decision‐making model for distribution strategies in cold chain network with the real‐time flow and quality information of perishable foods.

This paper first presents a real‐time monitoring solution for cold chain distribution by integrating radio frequency identification (RFiD), sensor, and wireless communication technologies. With the enhanced visibility of product flow and quality information, a multi‐stage planning model is developed to determine optimal distribution plans so that the overall cost of the entire cold chain network is minimized.

The proposed distribution‐planning model can capture the dynamics of logistics due to frequent update of product quality information during distribution. Therefore, the distribution decision will be adjusted at sequential stages to optimally preserve the product value and meet demand. The proposed solution and model can ensure an effective cold chain logistics and thus meet the marketing requirement.

The current planning model cannot quantitatively capture all benefits, such as the social impact, due to the implementation of RFiD and other technologies.

The proposed solution to achieve complete visibility of the cold chain is innovative and addresses the urgent requirements for cold chain logistics from marketing perspective. For the first time, the economic benefits of real‐time information on product quality can be quantitatively evaluated by the multi‐stage planning model and this has been verified by a numerical case study.

Prefabricated construction concerns off-site production, multi-mode transportation and on-site installation of the prefabricated components, which are interdependent and dynamically interactive, so coordination among the multiple stages along the prefabricated component supply chain (PCSC) is indispensable. This study aims to solve the dynamic transportation planning problem for the PCSC by addressing the interdependency, dynamic interaction and coordination among the multiple stages and different objectives of the stakeholders.

The PCSC is analyzed and then the formulation for the dynamic transportation planning problem is developed based on the just-in-time (JIT) strategy. The particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is applied to solve the dynamic optimization problem.

The proposed dynamic transportation planning method for the PCSC regarding component supplier selection, transportation planning for means, routes and schedule, site layout planning and transportation plan adjustment is able to facilitate coordination among the multiple stages by addressing their interdependencies and dynamic interactions, as well as different economic objectives of the stakeholders such as suppliers or the contractor.

The study helps to achieve the advantages of prefabricated construction by prompting coordination among multiple stages of the PCSC by realizing different benefits of the stakeholders. In addition, it provides the stakeholders with the competitive bidding prices and the evaluation data for the bids quote. Meanwhile, it contributes to the domain knowledge of the PCSC management with regard to the viewpoint of coordination and integration of multiple stages rather than only one stage as well as the dynamic optimization model based on the JIT strategy and the PSO algorithm.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and validate executive sponsor behaviors necessary for successful project implementation during project planning.

A survey of 145 executives and managers interested in project management was conducted. Data were analyzed using principal components analyses with varimax rotation for both behavioral‐ and outcome‐based items. Relationships between variables were analyzed via path analysis.

In total, five sponsor behavior factors were identified including: ensure planning, clarify outputs, stakeholder relationships, support project, and appoint project manager. Additionally, three outcome factors were found: firm's future, meeting agreements (e.g. budgets, scheduling expectations), and customer success. An estimated path model testing the effects of sponsor behaviors on project outcomes indicated six significant paths.

This paper empirically identifies behaviors sponsors may use during project planning and the impact such behaviors have on project success measures. The exploratory nature of this study suggests further research to confirm findings.

This paper provides executive sponsors with a focus during the planning stage when various stakeholders are determining many project details.

The paper adds to the limited body of research on the role of project sponsors. The investigation indicates that as sponsors spend more time performing the three behaviors of ensuring planning, managing stakeholder relations, and appointing the project manager; project success increases as measured by outcome factors.

To achieve a full understanding of the role of marketing from plan to profit requires a knowledge of the basic building blocks. This textbook introduces the key concepts in the art or science of marketing to practising managers. Understanding your customers and consumers, the 4 Ps (Product, Place, Price and Promotion) provides the basic tools for effective marketing. Deploying your resources and informing your managerial decision making is dealt with in Unit VII introducing marketing intelligence, competition, budgeting and organisational issues. The logical conclusion of this effort is achieving sales and the particular techniques involved are explored in the final section.

Hospitals struggle to integrate the planning from different departments; resulting in unacceptable waiting times for patients. The literature mainly addresses general, organizational factors inhibiting or enabling integration and omits important factors stemming from the care delivery process. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to uncover operational antecedents and to assess their effect on the integration of hospital planning.

The study is based on a three-hospital multi-case study. The main findings stem from over 40 in-depth interviews with specialists, nurses, planners, and managers of four specialties that are all involved in the orthopedic internal supply chain.

This study identifies five critical operational antecedents: performance management, shared resources, information technology, process visibility, and uncertainty/variability. The latter two are of specific importance in a healthcare context. Three distinctive roles are identified; initiating (performance management and process visibility), facilitating (information technology), and inhibiting (shared resources and uncertainty/variability).

The authors address how integration can be achieved, rather than merely prescribing integration as a means to improve performance. The identification of specific operational antecedents and their role help managers to find tangible ways to effectively integrate hospital planning which increases hospital performance.

First, the identified operational antecedents are essential supplementary factors to more common organizational and behavioral antecedents. Second, in contrast to earlier contributions the authors show the effects of antecedents on three different stages of integration, rather than on integration in general.

The paper seeks to develop a framework for sales and operations planning (S&OP) that is based on previous literature and company interviews. It is designed to help managers understand how effective their S&OP processes are and how to progress to advanced stages.

The S&OP literature, is reviewed and the results of a number of company interviews are presented. These lead to a new framework, with descriptions of each stage, and to implementation insights for managers.

After highlighting key dimensions for establishing a firm's S&OP maturity on a five‐stage framework and, with the use of this framework, exploring in a preliminary way the relationship between firm size or process type (job shop, batch flow, continuous flow, etc.) and its degree of S&OP plan integration, little apparent relationship was found. However, the data suggest that business processes are enablers of S&OP plan integration, but that information technology is not clearly so.

The results are based on a thorough review of the literature and on 15 in‐depth company interviews. Because the sample size is small, the results should be considered to provide only preliminary insights.

Managers can use the framework to assess their S&OP process maturity. To advance to higher S&OP integration, managers should focus on leadership of business processes that can enable effective S&OP plan integration. These processes include organizational structure, meetings and collaboration across functional areas, and performance measurements. Information technology tools may also be enablers, but they do not appear to be the primary drivers.

The framework separates business processes from information processes. It is quite extensive and therefore provides managers with an indication of the maturity of their S&OP processes. Also presented are insights into an intuitive, albeit challenging, process for advancing through the stages of maturity. Finally, a perspective on the future of S&OP integration is suggested that is focused on optimizing profits rather than myopically maximizing revenues or minimizing costs.

This study explores the influencing factors of the enterprise resource planning (ERP) readiness stage on project success immediately after go-live from the project manager’s perspective.

The influencing factors of the ERP readiness stage are explored through the literature and expert review sessions and are embedded in Kotter’s change management model. A survey-based empirical study is conducted among ERP project managers in Turkey in 2019 utilizing principal component analysis and multiple regression analysis to reveal the direct relation of influencing factors and project success.

Results show that the proposed model explains 65.179% of the variation with four components. The association of components through regression analysis reveals that project planning and management, employee commitment and change management directly relate to the ERP project success. Yet, surprisingly top management support is not directly correlated. Therefore, the results suggest that influencing factors of such long projects are to be evaluated by the stages of the project life cycle.

This research is limited to the project managers’ perspective in Turkey and the readiness stage of the project life cycle.

The objectives of this research serve as a guideline for ERP project managers to consider the success factors in terms of ERP project phases. This ensures that the project manager allocates optimum resources to the right factors at the right time.

Despite numerous studies in the ERP readiness stage, this study opens new ways of future research while filling several gaps. First, the ERP readiness phase is discussed with a theoretical approach through Kotter’s change management model. Second, the influencing factors of the ERP readiness stage on ERP project success from the project manager’s perspective are explored, and factor structures are revealed. Then, the association of the factors with ERP project success of “immediately after go-live” is empirically tested.

Strategic quality management represents a state wherein the organization’s total quality management (TQM) system is tightly interwoven with the strategy formulation process, thereby contributing to a sustainable competitive advantage. Numerous models have been proposed to describe how organizations can fully integrate strategy and TQM. Proposes that organizations undergo evolutionary stages on the way to full integration of strategy and TQM. The conceptual bases of the proposed model consist of organizational life cycles, stages of quality maturity and models describing the evolution of strategic management. Gives examples of corporations in the USA and the Asia‐Pacific region which provide preliminary support for the model’s validity.

Previous research has demonstrated that task is the driving force for information retrieval (IR). However, few studies investigate how people engaged in work and search tasks define their decisions and behaviors in the IR process. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how dimensions of tasks affect the information‐seeking and retrieving process.

In total, 40 participants are recruited for the two studies conducted in a corporate setting as well as an academic setting. Multiple methods are applied to collect data related to participants' tasks and the information‐seeking and retrieving process: web surveys, questionnaires, diaries, and telephone interviews. Both qualitative and quantitative data are analyzed.

This paper identifies nature (routine, typical, and unusual), stages (pre‐focus, formation, and post‐focus), and timeframe (extremely urgent, urgent, and non‐urgent) as dimensions of work tasks as well as origination (self‐generated and assigned), types (updating information, looking for specific information, looking for items with common characteristics, and looking for known items), and flexibility (very flexible, flexible, and inflexible) as dimensions of search tasks. Moreover, the relationships between dimensions of work and search tasks and the information‐seeking process – in particular, the extent of planning, the application of different types of information‐seeking strategies, and shifts in search‐task‐related goals – are explored.

This paper fills in a gap in current research – the impact of dimensions of task on the information‐seeking and ‐retrieving process.