Search results

The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual framework for merging the strategic management process, the managerial decision‐making process and the six‐sigma process into a single, unified decision model.

The methodology involves each of the three decision‐making processes, noting their similarities and differences, and arguing from the similarities that a single unified model will result in superior decisions.

The findings were that a single, unified model is possible and the resulting model is presented in the paper.

Since this research results in a conceptual model only, it remains to be tested in actual practice. This testing is intended for a later paper.

If the testing of the model in practice results in superior decisions, the practical implications of the paper would be use of the Friday‐Stroud/Sutterfield model in practice for better management decisions.

The paper presents an original model, which results from merging the three‐decision‐making process.

During the past decade the role of purchasing in global competitiveness has been steadily increasing in importance. Similarly, the role of packaging continues to increase in importance because of its dual function in advertising and shipping. The purpose of this paper is to employ the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) methodology to analyze the common purchasing problem of supplier selection for toothpaste packaging. Thus, a technique well known in quality management is adapted for use in the entirely new context of supplier selection in purchasing.

The paper begins by stipulating the properties necessary for suitable packaging. It then examines the type(s) of packaging necessary to satisfy these properties. Finally, it moves to the selection of a supplier having the necessary properties to provide packaging. The analysis is performed with a QFD construct.

The QFD process led to a rapid identification of those suppliers most capable of providing the product characteristics that met the corporate total value goal at the time of study.

The paper presents a structured management approach to deal with the common problem of supplier selection. In doing so, it provides an approach that may be generalized to solve many types of decision problems confronting operations and supply chain managers.

This paper presents a management approach to the very important area of supplier selection. In doing so, it employs a technique well known in the product design area, but not used in the area of supplier selection, that of Quality Function Deployment (QFD). It extends beyond the dyad in that it brings to bear a powerful technique from the Quality Management discipline to a problem in another discipline, Purchasing.

In this chapter we discuss how, as a tool for organizational change, action research can affect the development of cooperation between a traditional university and the external environment. The case analyzed was a two-year action research project carried out in cooperation with over 20 employers. This project was carried out at multiple levels and had several essential goals. Apart from its emancipatory role in the shift in the way students carry out their master's theses (toward application, implementation, where organizations become the research subject instead of the research object), the project's aim was to open up the university to cooperation with its environment and conduct useful research. The results indicate that action research through the democratization of the process of introducing changes and its bottom-up nature influences the development of real cooperation between the university and external organizations. Additionally, they contribute to the emancipation of university knowledge, its democratization, dehierarchization, as well as cocreation and sharing with cooperating organizations.

The purpose of this paper is to test social exchange in the presence of perception about organizational support theory.

Data have been collected through a questionnaire survey at a primary level and were analyzed primarily by smartPLS.

Results show that all relationships among study variables are highly responsive to the perception about organizational support. Nonmonetary rewards create reciprocity of employee performance (EP), but their magnitudes get affected where practioners need to pay specific attention on employee perception about organizational discretionary arrangements.

The sample size for this study was taken only 10 percent from the top ten banking organizations and these organizations were selected from three big cities only including two provincial capitals. Purposive/judgmental sampling technique is being used for the data collection purpose. As moving out from these cities earning opportunities, langue and behaviors are different; so, the results cannot be generalized to the entire country and other industries.

All managers who are intended and assigned for the increase in overall firms’ performances can achieve their targets and goals by focusing on decision-making participation (DMP) through job satisfaction. Further to this, in order to increase the strength of exchange relationship where firms can introduce DMP to increase employees’ performance, perception about organizational support (if it is to be focused) to its workers well-being can yield and induce employees to perform more.

This study ensures researchers not to forget to check the impact of perceived organizational support during a discussion on social exchange and more specifically nonmonetary part of the exchange. This study suggests the way to increase employee outcomes is by focusing on the employee perception about the organizational care about them and involving them in DMP which does not involve any monetary benefits and ultimately managers and organizations can concentrate on these points to have the overall increase in EP, while keeping themselves in limited or available budgets/resources.

This paper aims to evaluate and prioritize the key supplier selection indicators and to establish the relationship between available alternatives and selected indicators by using step-wise weight assessment ratio analysis (SWARA) and weighted aggregated sum product assessment (WASPAS).

Authors have extracted the supplier selection criteria from literature and used a combined SWARA-WASPAS method to evaluate and rank the criteria’s. SWARA is applied for evaluating and weighting selection criteria, whereas WASPAS helped in evaluating different available alternatives based on supplier selection indicators.

Finding from SWARA suggests that supplier management is the high weighted criteria followed by information sharing and joint actions. WASPAS was used to evaluate the available alternatives and supplier A1 got the highest priority. Additionally, sensitivity analysis indicates the different scenarios for the best supplier selection.

Working executives can use the SWARA for assessment of weights of finalized indicators for their firm in the cement industry. Further, the calculated weights can be used for product and sum weightage through WASPAS to finalize the best supplier.

The originality of the manuscript lies in the sector and methodology. Author(s) applied the SWARA and WASPAS method for supplier selection in the Indian cement industry that will help working executives to evaluate their supply chain partners.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the critical success factors (CSFs) for effective project stakeholder management at the local government level in Ghana.

The study used data from questionnaires administered to project stakeholders for identifying and ranking CSFs.

The study identified the top five CSFs for stakeholder management at the local government level in Ghana to be: communicating with and engaging stakeholders; identifying stakeholders properly; formulating a clear project mission statement; keeping and promoting good relationships; and analyzing stakeholder conflicts and coalitions.

Generalization of the findings should be done with caution since the scope of data collection was limited to district assemblies in the Greater Accra region of Ghana. Nevertheless the results of the study are, however, useful and indicative and can lend direction to future research.

This paper has contributed to the growing body of knowledge related to CSFs for local government projects. The results should help understand factors which are of priority to stakeholders when assessing their involvement in projects. Further, the findings could form the basis for competency development of local government personnel in specific areas where improvements are required.

The paper identified CSFs for effective project stakeholder management at the local level. Most studies on critical factors in project environments have focused on CSFs and project success and thus this study delves into an area which has not received much attention in the literature.