D.B. Candlin, S.D. Franklin, J.L. Heath and J.R. Knibbs
A common experience of tutors of post graduate management courses is the wide range of backgrounds, attributes, qualifications, experience and competence of course members. In…
Abstract
A common experience of tutors of post graduate management courses is the wide range of backgrounds, attributes, qualifications, experience and competence of course members. In this article the authors explore the nature of this mixed ability, seek to identify the challenges it presents in course design and thereafter explore possible approaches that might be adopted to minimise the harmful effects and optimise the learning to be gained from the mixed ability, post graduate programme. For the purpose of this paper, mixed ability is not used in the narrow sense of cleverness or mental faculty, but rather to encompass the individual's capacity to learn from and contribute to the learning programme.
Considers the importance of knowledge management for competitiveadvantage and the contribution which expert systems may make to theprocess. Explains the structure and role of…
Abstract
Considers the importance of knowledge management for competitive advantage and the contribution which expert systems may make to the process. Explains the structure and role of expert systems, and outlines the advantages they may offer. Explores different methods of introducing them into an organization and subsequently developing their potential, comparing the traditional life‐cycle approach with that of evolutionary methods including prototyping. Concludes with a description of the early stages of introducing an expert system into a large engineering company, based on an action research approach.
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In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of…
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In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of material poses problems for the researcher in management studies — and, of course, for the librarian: uncovering what has been written in any one area is not an easy task. This volume aims to help the librarian and the researcher overcome some of the immediate problems of identification of material. It is an annotated bibliography of management, drawing on the wide variety of literature produced by MCB University Press. Over the last four years, MCB University Press has produced an extensive range of books and serial publications covering most of the established and many of the developing areas of management. This volume, in conjunction with Volume I, provides a guide to all the material published so far.
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Nereu F. Kock, Robert J. McQueen and L. S John
How can action research be made more rigorous? We discuss in this paper action research, positivism and some major criticisms of action research by positivists. We then examine…
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How can action research be made more rigorous? We discuss in this paper action research, positivism and some major criticisms of action research by positivists. We then examine issues relating the conduct of IS research in organisations through multiple iterations in the action research cycle proposed by Susman and Evered. We argue that the progress through iterations allows the researcher to gradually broaden the research scope and in consequence add generality to the research findings. A brief illustrative case is provided with a study on groupware introduction in a large civil engineering company. In the light of this illustrative case we contend that effective application of the iterative approach to action research has the potential to bring research rigour up closer to standards acceptable by positivists and yet preserve the elements that characterise action research as such.
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The powerful competitive traits of a learning organization are well documented. Companies in the future will have to provide new and innovative techniques if they hope to survive…
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The powerful competitive traits of a learning organization are well documented. Companies in the future will have to provide new and innovative techniques if they hope to survive and prosper. These techniques will revolve around knowledge management. However, research on using knowledge management as a tool to increase learning is minimal. Knowledge management systems provide a new vehicle to effectively and efficiently disseminate knowledge, skill and expertise throughout an organization. Knowledge management is an outgrowth of the “information society”. Currently, research and implementation of knowledge has centered on the outside customer service and outside customer relationships. Little has been written about the use of knowledge to serve the training needs of the firm. This study combines the powerful competitive traits of a learning organization with knowledge management traits to potentially increase the positive effects of both.
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This special “Anbar Abstracts” issue of the Marketing Intelligence & Planning is split into nine sections covering abstracts under the following headings: Business Strategy;…
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This special “Anbar Abstracts” issue of the Marketing Intelligence & Planning is split into nine sections covering abstracts under the following headings: Business Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Customer Service; Sales Management; Promotion; Marketing Research/Customer Behaviour; Product Management; Logistics and Distribution; Sundry.
This special “Anbar Abstracts” issue of the International Journal of Bank Marketing is split into five sections covering abstracts under the following headings: Marketing Strategy…
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This special “Anbar Abstracts” issue of the International Journal of Bank Marketing is split into five sections covering abstracts under the following headings: Marketing Strategy and PR; Customer Service; Sales and Promotion; Product Development; Information Technology Strategies.
Based on recent reviews regarding its use in information systems (IS) studies, this paper argues that action research is still not well recognized by IS researchers and mainstream…
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Based on recent reviews regarding its use in information systems (IS) studies, this paper argues that action research is still not well recognized by IS researchers and mainstream IS journals especially in North America. To make the situation worse, existing criteria used to assess the quality of action research studies are found to be inadequate when applied to IS. In order to advance its understanding and use by IS researchers and practitioners, the IS action research framework proposed recently by Lau is refined and presented as a set of guidelines in this paper. The implications of this refined framework on IS research and practice are discussed.
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Nereu F. Kock and Robert J. McQueen
Much of the evaluative research on groupware in organizations sofar has been preoccupied with the role of groupware as a new interactionmedium to replace or extend face‐to‐face…
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Much of the evaluative research on groupware in organizations so far has been preoccupied with the role of groupware as a new interaction medium to replace or extend face‐to‐face communication in groups. It has focused on gains and losses from a group interaction point of view, typically disregarding the impact of other functions such as group access, and contribution to information concerning the organization. Attempts to bridge this gap with an action research into the effects of the introduction of an asynchronous groupware system to support business process improvement groups in a service company based in Brazil. The research suggests that improvements in business redesign efficiency and effectiveness can be attained not only from asynchronous groupware support to group communication, but also from public sharing of historical information about previous business process improvement efforts, and by providing a repository of information about business processes which could be candidates for improvement. Concludes with the proposal of an explanatory model, describing the relationship between the introduction of technology, its integration with a business process improvement meta‐process, and its effects on the efficiency and effectiveness of that meta‐process.
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SCECO‐EAST introduced total quality management (TQM) to achieve three main goals: increase customer satisfaction; reduce cycle time of the processes; and minimize total cost…
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SCECO‐EAST introduced total quality management (TQM) to achieve three main goals: increase customer satisfaction; reduce cycle time of the processes; and minimize total cost. Applying a TQM programme in service companies is very different from manufacturing in organizations since it involves subjective measures, while in manufacturing companies the end product is tangible and can easily be measured against preset standards. Explains in detail how TQM concepts can be applied to the process of “maintenance of medium voltage substations”. First, the team was formed to break down the process and assign actual time involved in each activity which helps to calculate the existing cycle time of the process. Second, value added and non‐value added activities were identified in order to eliminate/improve non‐necessary non‐value added activities. Third, the relationship value between customer needs and the work process was found by multiplying improvement ratio by the associated relationship weight to let the team focus on process activities which have the highest rating and biggest impact on customer satisfaction. Finally, the proposed recommendations/ improvements were evaluated and analysed. Concludes that applying TQM in a maintenance of S/S will reduce cycle time by 40 per cent which also results in a reduction of materials and manpower that correspond to more than one million Saudi Riyals per year.