Search results

Competitive advantage in the service industry is achieved through superior customer service. This paper looks at the ways in which IT is being used to support superior quality customer service initiatives in the highly competitive Australian banking industry. The extent to which the need to improve service quality influences IT planning and purchases, and shifts in the level of influence over recent years, are detailed. The link between IT‐supported quality customer service improvements and organisational performance is then discussed.

The Australian banking industry has undergone fast and dramatic change in response to deregulation and globalisation of financial markets. The release of the Wallis Report on the Australian financial industry in March 1997 signalled that this rate of change can be expected to continue into the twenty‐first century. This study was carried out on one proje ct, part of an organisation‐wide reengineering programme in a major Australian bank and examined the link between corporate strategy and implementation of an IT‐supported change project. Results highlight the need for careful co‐ordination of organisational, technology and departmental strategies when carrying out major change programmes, and the importance of user training for effective use of the system.

Business process reengineering (BPR) and total quality management (TQM) both emphasise the benefits that a process orientated view of company operations can bring. Acquiring a clear definition of the “as‐is” business process and developing an understanding about how the process may be re‐engineered is a crucial stage in any BPR project. This early phase normally has three objectives: to achieve a full understanding of the process to be re‐engineered so as to clarify its objectives and characteristics; to create a shared vision and understanding among the re‐engineering team; to have a basis for starting the redesign. To support this phase, there is a range of tools: manual, computer supported and computer enabled which are traditionally used to help in the activities of process definition and analysis. This paper describes some of the newer approaches. The product introduction process (PIP) is examined in a general sense, and specific examples from the automotive industry are taken as a basis for evaluation of the available tools and applications. A sample from the process analysis tools identified was used to model the PIP, and from the difficulties and successes an understanding of the attributes required in such an analysis tool was derived.

The alternative to using source lines of code (SLOC) for costing software projects is to use function points. Functional point analysis (FPA), which was first introduced in 1979, has now been widely accepted as the industry standard for estimating software size and costs. International standard bodies like the International Function Point Users’ Group (IFPUG) has been maintaining a repository of data based on projects that were drawn from 14 countries in North America, Europe and Asia/Australasia. This paper presents the results of the analysis that was performed on these data together with recommendations such as benchmarks for software projects. Project measures such as functional size, work effort, project delivery rate, speed of delivery and project duration were analysed using the statistical package, Systat. Apart from project duration, all distributions were log‐normal, thus suggesting that the results can be used for software benchmarking. Regression analysis on the data further identified correlation of functional size with other project measures that can be used as a basis for planning and estimating software projects. Further work on the repository involves other project measures such as team size and software defects.

To remain competitive many businesses in the 1990s have undertaken business process re‐engineering (BPR) projects re‐organizing and re‐structuring their business operations. At the same time the need for an IT business solution has enabled integrated business packages such as SAP’s R/2 and R/3 to quietly dominate the IT systems industry. Although the successes and benefits of SAP have been widely published, there is little literature on the problems associated with embracing such an integrated and unique system. The paper results from a case study of the evaluation and implementation of SAP by a very large US multinational corporation in its European, Australian and New Zealand businesses. The different approaches to the installation of an integrated core system and BPR are explored. Problems and lessons that can be learnt from the company’s experiences are also highlighted in this paper.

The purpose of the paper is to demonstrate that significant improvements through business process re‐engineering can still be achieved after the implementation of enterprise resource planning systems. While the business process re‐engineering benefits of enterprise resource planning systems have been widely published, the opportunities for process improvement after the installation of integrated systems have not been extensively explored.

This paper results from a case study of the highly successful intervention in the purchasing and accounts payable functions of Mobil Oil Australia Limited undertaken well after the implementation one of the widely used off‐the‐shelf enterprise resource planning systems, SAP (Systems, Applications and Products in Data Processing).

Significant benefits were achieved in the purchasing and accounts payable functions of Mobil Oil Australia Limited, via a focus on best practice and radical process improvement. Invoices and invoice processing were largely eliminated. Cheque usage was reduced by 87 per cent and the staff paying accounts cut by almost 75 per cent.

The case study demonstrates clearly to companies and practitioners that business process re‐engineering can achieve “dramatic improvements in cost, quality, service and speed” even after an enterprise resource planning solution has been implemented via a focus on best practice benchmarking and using best practice to provide a target for the change team. Companies can leverage existing, often substantial, investments in installed systems to further improve their processes and increase the return on those investments.

To remain competitive many businesses in the 1990s have undertaken business process reengineering projects reorganising one or more parts of their operations. This paper results from a case study of the enterprise‐wide review of Mobil Oil Australia Limited to increase profitability and change the culture of the organisation. A radical (to the oil industry) business unit organisation structure was designed, populated and implemented. The project was an immediate financial success and reenergized the company. Income after tax was six times higher after the reorganisation than in the previous year, notwithstanding a continuing recession and the uncertainty caused by the restructuring. Return on capital employed increased from 2 percent to 7 percent. Lessons can be learnt from the way the project was initiated and developed, the deployment of the project management structure and improvement methodology, the approach to the implementation of the new structure and the findings of the post implementation review.

Despite the prevalence of technology in health care, marketing research on social media in the birthspace is limited. The purpose of this paper is to explore how birthing women leverage social media for transformative well-being in the liminal context of birth.

A qualitative study of women who had recently experienced birth was undertaken. Thematic analysis of data from in-depth interviews reveals birthing women’s digital practices and social media capabilities for well-being in a liminal space.

Within the birthspace, women use social media and digital platforms in an effortful and goal-directed way for role transitions and transformation, curating self and other history, goal striving and normalizing experience. These digital practice styles facilitate consumer integration of the liminal digital birthspace and in situ service encounter enabling diverse value outcomes. Drawing on liminality and social presence theories, the authors interpret these practices as demonstrating three interactive liminal stages of suspending, comprehending and transforming. Multi-modality and rapid connection afforded by digital devices and social media platforms provide social presence (according to perceived immediacy and intimacy) enabling transformative well-being outcomes.

This study is unique, as it provides insights into the traditionally private health service experience of birth. Further, the authors extend the understanding of liminal spaces and use of digital technology, specifically for transformative outcomes, by proposing a framework of consumers’ digital practice styles for well-being in liminal spaces.

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that significant improvements through business process re‐engineering can still be achieved after the implementation of enterprise resource planning systems.

This paper is based on a case study of the purchasing and accounts payable functions of Mobil Oil Australia Limited, undertaken well after the implementation of the off‐the‐shelf enterprise resource planning system, SAP.

Significant benefits were achieved in the purchasing and accounts payable functions, via a focus on best practice and radical process improvement. Invoices and invoice processing were largely eliminated. Check usage was reduced by 87 percent and the staff paying accounts cut by almost 75 percent.

Companies can leverage existing, often substantial, improvements in installed systems to further improve their processes and increase the return on those investments.

To demonstrate that business process re‐engineering can achieve dramatic improvements in cost, quality, service and speed even after an enterprise resource planning solution has been implemented.

We investigate the long‐term dependency behavior of Asian foreign exchange markets by using rescaled range analysis. Emerging markets in Korea, Taiwan, India, and Thailand, show evidences of long memory in the exchange rate return series, while the exchange rate return persistence is not found in more developed and mature markets in Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Our results suggest that the return‐generating processes and presence of long memory depends on the degree of market development. In addition, the findings suggest that Asian financial crisis affects long‐term dependences of Korean won and Thai baht in which their economies and currency were hard hit by the crisis.