1,151 research outputs found
Studies of selected aspects of business in Europe
No full textPreface
The Cranfield Management Development Programme is an intensive ten
week course for middle management aged 28 - 45. The courses which are
held twice yearly started in 1964; the seventh of these, M.D.P.7, was
held from October - December 1967. The members of the course are drawn
from a variety of businesses and have previous experience in one or more
of the main fields of business activity, e.g. general management, marketing,
production, finance.
As part of the course two weeks are devoted to studying business
conditions on the continent of Europe. For this tour the members are
formed into small groups who study particular projects. Throughout the
visits the emphasis is on discussion with Senior Executives.
The specific objectives of the European Tour are:-
1. To use this exposure to a new environment to effect some measure
of re-evaluation of their past business experience in the United
Kingdom.
2. To acquaint members with business problems in different European
environments and to Provide an opportunity to discuss business
Problems with European managers.
To study problems that confront British companies who do business
in or with European countries.
M.D.P. 7 were in Europe from 12th - 24th November 1967 during which
Period the following cities were visited; Gothenburg, Copenhagen, Hamburg,
Rotterdam and Brussels. In each city discussions were arranged -with a
representative cross-section of the business community. These included
British Embassy Staff, British Chambers of Commerce, Local Bankers, Industrial
Companies, Advertising Agents, Trade Union Officials, Management Consultants,
British Subsidiaries and the E.E.C. Commission.
This report is split into sections representing the work of the project
groups.
The time available was not sufficient for a study in depth of any of
the chosen subjects. Nevertheless the large number of interviews and frank
discussions with British and foreign businessmen enabled the writers to gain
an insight into many aspects of European business. The report must
necessarily concern itself largely with opinions - those of the writers and
the persons interviewed.
The College would like to express its appreciation of the co-operation and
frank answers to searching questions received from all the businessmen, trade
unionists and others we had the pleasure of meeting during the tour. We would
like to give particular thanks to those who entertained the course members.
The success of the tour owes a very great deal to the hard work done on our
behalf by British officials. In particular thanks are due to the Foreign Office
(Economic Section), Board of Trade (Export Services Branch) and the Embassies
or Consulates in the cities visited
Contextual Intelligence in Programme and Project Management: A preliminary framework for configuring resources to meet strategic objectives
No full textAdditional research, design and data collection was carried out by David Partington and Arnoud Franken, Cranfield School of ManagementThe purpose of this paper is twofold.
Firstly it explores a key development from Operations Management, (Hayes and Wheelwright, 1985) and tests whether it provides insights into the practices of Programme and Project Management (PPM). Through an empirical study, it is found to provide a number of important insights, including that, in general, PPM is limited to a ‘stage two’ performance aspiration on the Hayes & Wheelwright four-point scale for competitive manufacturing, with a prevailing focus on conformance to standards. The resulting question is, ‘how does an organisation develop its PPM capability beyond stage two? Achieving stage three and beyond requires that resources are configured, not to conform to a standard, but to meet the strategic needs as defined by the organisation and any end ‘customers’ for the work.
Secondly, the paper considers the research question, ‘what elements of an organisation designed for programme and project-based working can be configured to meet particular strategic requirements?’ It describes the investigation of this question in a field study of 11 cases to determine the nature of the elements of configurability, and hence to generate key decision areas for PPM. The results of this study provide a preliminary framework for determining what would constitute stage 3 - effectiveness in programme and project-based operations (PPOs). The paper concludes that the theoretical insights from Operations Management used in this paper offer a future direction for research on PPOs and sets out a research agenda
Studies of selected aspects of business in Europe
No full textPreface
The Cranfield Management Development Programme is an intensive ten
week course for middle management aged 28 - 45. The courses which are
held twice yearly started in 1964; the seventh of these, M.D.P.7, was
held from October - December 1967. The members of the course are drawn
from a variety of businesses and have previous experience in one or more
of the main fields of business activity, e.g. general management, marketing,
production, finance.
As part of the course two weeks are devoted to studying business
conditions on the continent of Europe. For this tour the members are
formed into small groups who study particular projects. Throughout the
visits the emphasis is on discussion with Senior Executives.
The specific objectives of the European Tour are:-
1. To use this exposure to a new environment to effect some measure
of re-evaluation of their past business experience in the United
Kingdom.
2. To acquaint members with business problems in different European
environments and to Provide an opportunity to discuss business
Problems with European managers.
To study problems that confront British companies who do business
in or with European countries.
M.D.P. 7 were in Europe from 12th - 24th November 1967 during which
Period the following cities were visited; Gothenburg, Copenhagen, Hamburg,
Rotterdam and Brussels. In each city discussions were arranged -with a
representative cross-section of the business community. These included
British Embassy Staff, British Chambers of Commerce, Local Bankers, Industrial
Companies, Advertising Agents, Trade Union Officials, Management Consultants,
British Subsidiaries and the E.E.C. Commission.
This report is split into sections representing the work of the project
groups.
The time available was not sufficient for a study in depth of any of
the chosen subjects. Nevertheless the large number of interviews and frank
discussions with British and foreign businessmen enabled the writers to gain
an insight into many aspects of European business. The report must
necessarily concern itself largely with opinions - those of the writers and
the persons interviewed.
The College would like to express its appreciation of the co-operation and
frank answers to searching questions received from all the businessmen, trade
unionists and others we had the pleasure of meeting during the tour. We would
like to give particular thanks to those who entertained the course members.
The success of the tour owes a very great deal to the hard work done on our
behalf by British officials. In particular thanks are due to the Foreign Office
(Economic Section), Board of Trade (Export Services Branch) and the Embassies
or Consulates in the cities visited
Contributions to resource and environmental risk management
No full textThe rest of this DSc thesis is made up of published articles, as listed in the PDF attached to this record.This thesis charts a research journey through the disciplines of waste chemistry,
environmental risk assessment, policy analysis and corporate risk governance since
award of the candidate’s PhD in 1990. The insights gained present a distinctive
perspective on resource and environmental risk management - assessments of risk must
reflect our understanding of the science and evidence that supports them; and the
protection of public and environmental health, as an overarching motive, requires
greater prominence if the confidence of citizens in the Government and industry
handling of risk is to be secured.
Waste management is risk management and without an understanding of the
fundamental science and engineering of wastes and how they behave in the
environment, process technologies for their treatment can not be optimised, nor
regulatory oversight designed properly to protect public health and the environment.
The candidate’s research on the chemical characterisation of complex wastes and their
interaction with soils, waters and air, offers a more optimistic assessment of these
risks, at least within developed nations. This said, technical assessments of risk are
insufficient, in isolation, to secure the confidence of communities, investors, or the
wider citizenry. The motives and values of process operators and regulators that
oversee operations are as critical as technical demonstrations of environmental safety.
The recent contributions in this thesis examine organisational competencies in
preventative risk management, specifically within the water sector as it responds to
international calls for improved risk governance.
In concert, the candidate’s contributions and practical achievements in resource
and environmental risk management reported here represent a unique and substantive
body of problem-oriented research, directed at reconciling societal unease about waste
with our responsibilities for its safe management. Significant insights are made on the
reuse of hazardous and carbonaceous wastes, on the characterisation, fate and transport
of hydrocarbons in the environment, on the practice of environmental risk assessment
and the organisational competencies required to manage risk to the levels of
stakeholder confidence expected in the 21
st
century
Technology Transfer for Development: Insights from the Introduction of Low Cost Water Well Drilling Technology to Uganda
No full textThird World development theory and practice are changing so rapidly that it is
important to critically examine the fashions of today before they become history. This
thesis considers the development, transfer, early adoption and sustainable use of
technology, coupled with private sector participation in rural water supply provision.
Improving water supplies for rural communities is one of the key challenges
faced by development interventionists today. Lack of low cost, off the shelf technology
for local enterprise which can provide affordable shallow wells for rural communities is
one barrier to facilitating improvements.
This thesis is based on research undertaken in Uganda to develop and transfer
low cost water drilling technology in the context of decentralisation and privatisation
policies. An extensive range of literature has been drawn together into 16 principles
which guide technology transfer and development intervention. These principles are reexamined
in the light of analysis of first hand experiences of undertaking a technology
transfer project and interviews with stakeholders regarding their attitudes and
perceptions.
The research found that technology transfer is a cross-disciplinary and cross
cultural process in which the linkages between the technology, context, individuals,
organisations and beneficiaries need to be firmly established. Ugandan business and
local Government culture plays a major role in facilitating successful technology
uptake. Dealing with the risks associated with low cost groundwater technology is
fundamental for its wider adoption. The process of technology transfer is important,
particularly as high levels of stakeholder participation may compromise the delivery of
outputs, at least in the short term.
In terms of future challenges, this thesis shows that, culture, governance and
equity need to be closely examined in relation to private sector participation in rural
infrastructure provision. Private sector participation can conflict with community
participation. How to adequately support innovation in Sub-Saharan Africa while
harmonising development interventions is a challenge to the development community
The role of programme evaluation in organisational decision-making about management and leadership development
No full textA number of models of evaluation exist in the education and training domain, yet most are
rarely cited in studies of the effectiveness of management and leadership development.
Given the vast sums of money that continue to be invested by organisations in management
development, we must assume that organisations are perceiving value and that this is
identified, in the main, through processes other than formal evaluation. Relatively little
attention has been paid to how organisations use evaluation models and data, and a specific
challenge has been raised about the usefulness of evaluation models in informing decisionmaking.
To begin to address this challenge, this study set out to document the role of programme
evaluation in organisational decision-making about management and leadership development.
Eight customised programmes aimed at “high flyers” and middle to senior managers were
studied. In each case, the way in which decisions were made and the role played by
evaluation were explored from multiple stakeholder perspectives.
The study found that programme evaluation did contribute to decisions made about
management and leadership development, but only to a limited extent, and only to a subset of
decisions. Central to the organisational decision-making process were stakeholder
preferences and experience. This included anecdotal data and impressions gained informally
by key stakeholders who came into direct contact with a programme and its participants.
External influences, unrelated to the programme itself, were also important.
Given these findings, it is suggested that there may be value in re-framing evaluation as part
of an Evidence-Based Management (EBMgt) approach. EBMgt recognises the contribution
of four elements of evidence to effective decision-making. Currently, decision-making about
management and leadership development programmes does not draw fully on all four
elements. Evaluation, both context-specific and casting light on external evidence, is underutilised,
resulting in potentially sub-optimal decisions. Thus, future research to explore how
to better integrate these elements would be valuable
Measuring collective competencies of organisations - a systematic review of literature
No full textThe present Systematic Review explores the existing academic literature on the
instruments to measure collective competences of organisations. The purpose is to
identify those that could be further used in a PhD work on the competences of
organisations involved in co-operative R&D projects. This area of research is at the
intersection of Strategic Management, Human Resources Management, Evolutionary
Economics and Business Performance Measurement.
The methodology starts with a set of keyword strings for search in bibliographic
databases. The extracted articles were then filtered for relevance and quality
according to pre-defined criteria. An expansion of the resulting list was performed
using cross-referencing and citation analysis. The final core list contains 33 articles.
Descriptive statistics illustrate an emergent and highly fragmented field: the number
of articles in the list rises sharply over the last 25 years, but no agreement is reached
on either the nature of the variables to measure nor on the means to do so.
The understandings of the concept of competence either aim at classifying firms (in a
minority of articles), or at ranking them. In the latter case, the concept is assimilated
to the proximity to best practices, to an efficiency or to an effectiveness in reaching
functionally defined goals.
Four families of methods are used in the existing literature to measure collective
competences of organisations: questionnaires, exploitation of secondary data, case
studies and interviews, in descending order of frequency in the core list.
The selected articles provide a set of relevant concepts, of methods, of constructs, of
third-party quantitative metrics and of individual questionnaire items useful for the
further research
The economics of the provision of rural transport services in developing countries
No full textRural accessibility planning in developing countries over the last few decades has
primarily focused on increasing rural communities access to rural roads. It has been
considered that road building improves access to health, education, markets and
employment opportunities, and hence promotes economic development. It is argued
in this thesis that accessibility, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, has not improved
to the desired extent because the problem of mobility, in terms of access to vehicle
services, has not been addressed. The provision of rural roads and transport services
have been taken as synonymous with each other, but in reality this has not proved to
be the case. This thesis attempts to redress that balance by seeking to change the
mindset of policy makers to think about mobility and increase the emphasis placed on
the promotion of transport services, both motorised and non-motorised.
The findings relate to surveys undertaken in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Zimbabwe
and Pakistan where data were collected on vehicle operating costs (VOC's) and
performance for a wide range of commonly used rural vehicles. These included
human porterage and non-motorised vehicles such as bicycles and animal transport,
as well as motorised vehicles such as conventional trucks and pickups, agricultural
tractors and simple engine-powered vehicles. Analysis of the data demonstrated
large differences in the VOC's and transport charges for rural transport services
between the generally efficient systems in the Asian countries and the inefficient ones
in the African countries studied.
These findings form the foundation for the development of the Rural Transport
Planner (RTP) and the framework which identifies the relationships between
transport charges, VOC's, and factors relating to the vehicles operating environment.
The RTP provides the first known attempt at producing a model for rural vehicle
selection and for recommending interventions to improve the operating environment
for rural transport services
Development of a strategically driven production facilities management (PFM) framework
No full textThis thesis presents the results of a programme of research into the development and
evaluation of a strategically driven Production Facilities Management (PFM)
framework. PFM is the activity of managing production facilities to fully realise the
corporate strategic objectives of a manufacturing organisation.
Companies with strategies tend to be more successful than companies without them.
The concept of manufacturing strategy is an approach to enhance the consistency
between the manufacturing function and the direction of the organisation.
Consequentially, PFM is the means to ensure these strategic requirements can be fully
realised from the facilities management viewpoint. Through the literature review, it was
seen that there is a lack of a link between manufacturing strategy and the management
of production facilities. From questionnaire surveys and interviews at companies in the
manufacturing sector, it was found that the issue of linking facilities management with
corporate strategy has been ignored. Therefore, this programme of research not only
investigates the context and contents in formulating an appropriate manufacturing
strategy in a manufacturing environment but also reviews the most popular methods in
relation to maintenance management and performance assessment of the facilities.
This programme describes the development of a strategically driven, step-by-step
approach that helps a company to capture the strategic requirements of the
manufacturing function, measure the performance of existing production facilities and
supports the decision-making analysis tasks. The primary contribution of the work
presented in this thesis was the development of an implementation framework and an
associated implementation workbook which comprise a set of stages and
implementation sections that a user can use to carry out the process of capturing the
strategic requirements and realise them with support from an appropriate PFM
framework and a systematic, step-by-step implementation process
Learning and knowledge processes in an academic-management consulting research programme. The case of the MC Centre
No full textThe purpose of this thesis is twofold: to explore learning and knowledge processes in an academic-management consultancy collaborative research programme, and to investigate the enablers and barriers of these processes. The research is driven by an interest in understanding the nature of the divide between academic management research and management practice, the so called `relevance gap'. A narrative review of Organisational Learning theory is used to inform and ground the research. In addition, a systematic review on learning and knowledge processes within and across organisations is conducted. From the systematic review, a conceptual
framework is derived to guide empirical work. This framework identifies three key classes of enablers and barriers to learning and knowledge processes: `content', `practices' and `people'. The research design consists of an in-depth, longitudinal single case study with five embedded units of analysis (research projects). The case is explored by means of participant observation, semi-structured interviews, repertory grids and document analysis over a period of five years (2001-2006). The study identifies a number of paradoxes at individual, group and organisational levels that affect learning and knowledge processes in this case. Among others, a lack of a clearly articulated purpose, unclear mechanisms to exploit research findings, and non-sustained engagement of people help to explain how learning and knowledge failed to occur in some research projects but thrived in others. Purposeful engagement is proposed as an overarching integrative theme to enhance learning and knowledge in academic-management consulting research programmes.
This thesis contributes to theory providing a theoretically-informed, empirically¬grounded conceptualisation of enablers and barriers to learning and knowledge processes in academic-management consulting research programmes. This conceptualisation offers new perspectives to dimensionalise the divide between academic management research and management practice, contributing to the relevance gap debate. The thesis contributes to methodology by providing an exemplar of the adoption of an evidence-informed approach to knowledge using systematic review in the management field
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