7,304 research outputs found
Knowledge-driven business model canvas for business development of SMEs in the food sector in the gulf cooperation council.
No full textFan, Ip-Shing - Associate SupervisorSmall and mid-size enterprises (SMEs) are the core engine of most economies
around the world. Empowering SMEs with the right tools, especially those utilised
to formulate business models, would help them thrive more successfully. This
study aims to provide such business development support tools to the food
sectors SMEs of the GCC. This research focuses on the SMEs in the Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC) processed food sector. First, an extensive literature
review was conducted on business development and business development
tools, the business models. It was found that the Business Model Canvas is the
most advanced tool in the market, yet the model is not fully exploited in terms of
business development and growth. A field study involving 36 companies within
the GCC region's food industry was conducted. The findings indicated three main
problems faced by SME’s: product-market-fit, business planning and finance.
Hereafter, Lean start-up was applied in a case study on a frozen yogurt producer
from the region. The findings from the case study showed that the lean start-up
approach minimises the product-market-fit problem and, hence, provides a more
explicit structure for business planning and finance. Furthermore, the case study
findings were presented to six industry practitioners to evaluate the lean start-up
method. Based on their evaluation; the model was modified to incorporate market
regulations as an additional block. A set of measurement (KPI’s) was added to
the model to develop a revised model named the Knowledge-Driven Business
Model Canvas (KD-BMC).
Finally, the KD-BMC was validated through a case study on two companies in the
food industry in Saudi Arabia and further evaluation was gained from six experts
in the field. Results of validation were discussed and concluded in the final
chapter of this research.PhD in Manufacturin
A model for manufacturing cell job redesign
No full textCellular manufacturing is widely viewed as an exemplary form of manufacturing
organisation for small batch size production. A UK survey states that over 75% of
British engineering industry have introduced or are planning to introduce cellular
manufacturing methods in an attempt to improve competitiveness through improved
product quality, responsiveness and flexibility (Ingersoll Engineers, 1990).
Cells are known to foster these improvements through a focus on the methods of
production and more co-operative work structures. The widespread adoption of
cellular manufacturing methods has warranted research into and practical application
of human-centred forms of work organisation. This approach seeks to improve the use
of people and technology to develop more robust and effective manufacturing systems.
The human-centred approach to job design and systems development is considered
essential for improving Europe's future competitiveness (EC MONITOR FAST
Programme, 1989-1992).
The design of cellular manufacturing systems is a complex task involving the joint
consideration of material flow, machines, people and control issues. The development
and practice of human-centred job design in ceRs is an area with little formal process.
There is no coherent academic model that embraces all the relevant issues in cell job
design.
This research develops and validates a generic model to facilitate human-centred job
redesign in cell systems. The model adopts an open systems perspective and unifies
three fields of job design embracing socio-technical, work organisation and function
allocation issues. These levels provide a structure for the model.
The model explicitly represents factors affecting job design by features defined at the
three levels of analysis. The features are comprehensive and are representative of the
issues encountered in each field of job design. The features are not independent and are
interelated between levels of analysis. The model describes in quantitative terms the
relationships between these features to provide a means for stepping through the
cumulative effects of job design changes from one level to the next.
An application procedure to use the model, derived from the research methodology in
this thesis, is described outlining the data capture and analysis activities for developing
situation sensitive pictures of cell job designs. The combined model and application
procedure are tools to help the model users accumulate knowledge on the factors
affecting the design of jobs in cells.
Field research was carried out in a British manufacturing company over a period of
fifteen months to develop and validate the model. CeH job design models were
developed for four dissimilar cell systems varying in terms of cell age, work
organisation and technical complexity. The model demonstrates its generalisability and
sensitivity by accurately describing job design in four cell systems
A new model for chief information officer role effectiveness in digital enterprises.
No full textRelatively high turnover rates for CIOs have endured since the role was conceived in the 1980s. Whilst the CIO has been studied as IT leadership and management research since the 1980s, a coherent theory to explain CIO role effectiveness has eluded practitioners. The author believes that rapidly changing expectations for an already ambiguous role, continuing use of inappropriate performance assessment frameworks, coupled with lack of personal development opportunities, represent major factors for continued demotivation and turnover. To help address Chief Information Officer (CIO) demotivation and reduce the impact of CIO turnover, the author developed and validated a new CIO role effectiveness model.
The author conducted a literature review and analysed UK CIO job advertisements as a means for capturing changing expectations for the CIOs behaviours and attributes. The result was developed into a conceptual model that was validated through a survey with participation from 82 UK CIOs, and 106 CIO stakeholders. Comparing expectations, the author finds that, as environments become increasingly dynamic and levels of digital maturity increase, most CIOs and their stakeholders expect: (i) that CIOs will transition their behaviours from change orientated behaviours towards relationship orientated behaviours; (ii) to agree more on the importance of the CIOs personal (demographic) attributes, the CIOs conceptual, human, and technical skills, the CIOs knowledge about stakeholders, IT and the business, and how CIOs should be assessed and (hence motivated). The author also finds continued disagreement about what CIOs are expected to learn and the sources of that learning. Acknowledging that expectations relate to changing situational variables, the author concludes that, whilst the new CIO effectiveness model doesn’t represent a deterministic solution for the relationships between expected behaviours and attributes, it does provide a new means for mentoring CIOs and their stakeholders, for their given situation, to identify and address misalignment in expectations for CIO effectiveness.PhD in Transport System
Nested Phylogeographical Clade Analysis of Trochodendron aralioides (Trochodendraceae) in Taiwan
No full text
Migration of Trochodendron aralioides (Trochodendraceae) in Taiwan and Its Adjacent Areas
No full textImplementation of ERP system in SMEs
No full textThis thesis tries to propose a list of Critical Success Factors (CSFs) in the form
of CSFs framework for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system
implementation at Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs).The research
describe in this thesis tries to test them by going through the experience of ERP
system implementation in SME called Hazelwood Sound & Vision Ltd (HSV).
In a first instance, the author compared implementation models and suggested
most appropriate model for HSV. Furthermore, literature search for critical
success factors of ERP implementation has taken place. This led to a general
CSFs framework for ERP system implementation. At later stage, CSFs were
classified into the phases of selected implementation model. This resulted in
integrated framework which later used for ERP system implementation called
Smart Office in HSV. Through this experience of implementing Smart Office in
HSV, the author determined factors which were critical for the success of the
ERP implementation in HSV and compared them with CSFs found in literature.
The study also examines, through the critical success factors, the impacts and
issues in implementation related to these factors. Findings include: an
increased emphasis upon the determination of clear goals and objectives at the
project outset, and, importantly, vendor support added value in terms of
specialist software knowledge and enhanced project team capability. Results
show that most of the success factors, found in the literature apply to HSV,
although change management, and communication among departments, don‟t
seems to be regarded as top CSFs for HSV.
Implementation is an expensive investment, and difficult to implement, due to
its complexity. It is hoped that knowledge and understanding of these factors
will assist SMEs in successfully implementing ERP and enable them to further
improve their systems in order to maximize returns. Furthermore, by identifying
relevant CSFs for SMEs, managers can better prioritize implementation efforts
and resources to maximize success of ERP implementations. One of the
outcomes of this research is implementation of Smart Office which fulfils the
business needs of the HSV
Author Correction: Angiotensin type 2 receptor activation promotes browning of white adipose tissue and brown adipogenesis
No full textThe original version of this Article incorrectly contained an error in author names, which was incorrectly given as ‘MelvinKhee-Shing Leow’, the correct authors name is Melvin Khee-Shing Leow and the initials should be Leow MK.</jats:p
Inter-organisational costing approaches: the inhibiting factors
No full textPurpose - The purpose of this paper is to highlight the limitations of current
accounting practices in an inter-organisational context; introduce contemporary
costing approaches used in inter-organisational costing (IOC) programmes; and
identify the inhibitors of successful implementation of IOC programmes. Design/
methodology/approach - The paper uses a structured review of empirical and
theoretical literature. Findings - Traditional accounting practices do not
adequately fulfil their role in the inter-organisational context. Contemporary
accounting practices overcome only some limitations of traditional accounting
practices. The paper uncovers part of the complexity surrounding the
implementation of IOC programmes and suggests that we are dealing with a broad
inter-disciplinary phenomenon. Research limitations/implications - Conclusions
are drawn on a conceptual level and further empirical investigation is
encouraged. Practical implications - The paper raises the awareness of the
complexity surrounding the implementation of IOC programmes. The broad set of
inhibiting factors could be effectively used by managers to assess the readiness
of organisations involved in implementation of IOC programmes. Originality/value
- This research is the first that systematically addresses the problem of
inhibitors in the implementation of IOC programmes. The broad scope of the paper
sets the foundations for more focused research into specific inhibiting factors
Integrating process and ontology for supply chain modelling
No full textThis paper introduces an ontology model developed to support supply chain process modelling. Supply chain provides the business context for achieving interoperability of enterprise systems. It is observed that the emphasis on ontology development for enterprise interoperability could result in information models that are not relevant to real business needs. This work explicitly defines the generic business processes relevant to supply chain operations and develops the ontology that was tested in the creation of the information model to support the information exchange needs three industry case studies. It demonstrated that prior identification of processes the ontology is supposed to support facilitates its development and also its subsequent validation. This paper introduces the overall ontology development approach together with some of the findings that summarise our experiences in developing the ontology model to support supply chain process modelling
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