The application of information technology (IT) to corporateenvironments is now widespread. Recent years have seen IT successfullyapplied to a wide range of corporate activities…
Abstract
The application of information technology (IT) to corporate environments is now widespread. Recent years have seen IT successfully applied to a wide range of corporate activities. Artificial intelligence, in the guise of knowledge‐based systems is on the point of delivering its long awaited potential. With many successful systems developed over the past three or four years, the time is now ripe for the corporation to develop a coherent strategy to investigate and exploit this technology. In this, the second of two articles looking at knowledge‐based systems, we examine how the corporation can exploit this technology for strategic and competitive advantage. It discusses the organisational implications of KBS as well as the impact and pay‐off that can be expected.
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Stan Maklan, Joe Peppard and Philipp Klaus
The purpose of this paper is to examine the conundrum between the increasingly importance of investments in new information technologies (IT) on marketing practice and marketing…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the conundrum between the increasingly importance of investments in new information technologies (IT) on marketing practice and marketing scholars continuing to question the profitability of IT-led marketing initiatives.
Design/methodology/approach
Systematic reviews of the relevant literature on the financial and market return of customer relationship management (CRM) investments from both Marketing and Information Systems (IS) literature were conducted.
Findings
Findings suggest that, while both IS and Marketing scholars try to determine what generates returns on CRM investment, the IS community has a more complete conceptualisation as to how these returns are realised. A broader epistemological framework, better suited to observing how organisations benefit from IT-led management initiatives, enables a more comprehensive assessment of CRM investment.
Research limitations/implications
Supplementing the methods used by Marketing scholars with those frequently used in IS research would likely improve the assessment of IT-led Marketing investments and the resultant prescriptions for Marketing practitioners.
Practical implications
Failure to assess accurately the return from IT-led Marketing investments hinders managers’ ability to manage them for maximum performance improvements, all the more important now that organisations are preparing for large-scale investments in big data and social media strategies.
Originality/value
This paper is the first to illustrate how a combination of Marketing and IS scholarship can assist Marketing research and practice.
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For most knowledge‐intensive companies at present, the business environment where they compete is complex, characterized by rapid change and uncertainty. Employees and other…
Abstract
For most knowledge‐intensive companies at present, the business environment where they compete is complex, characterized by rapid change and uncertainty. Employees and other intangible resources (i.e. intellectual capital) generally represent the most critical resources in the value creation process. Crafting strategy in such contexts is not helped by conventional models and tools of strategy. The assumptions which underpin many of them do not hold in the present competitive environment, making them at best irrelevant, but at worst leading to the development of strategies that can put the success of a company in jeopardy. New metaphors for describing these companies and their competitive realities, as well as tools for navigating in them, are required, if the strategy discipline is to remain relevant for practitioners. In this paper, it is suggested that the intellectual capital perspective can provide a bridge to the practical application of a vision‐ and values‐based strategy through the notion of embodying strategy in organizational resources. A conceptualization of strategy, that links strategy, identity and intellectual capital, more suitable to knowledge‐intensive companies competing in uncertain environments, is introduced and described.
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J. Peppard and P.L. Henry
Knowledge‐based systems are beginning to provide executives with powerful systems which serve to automate corporate expertise. This is the first of two articles exploring KBS and…
Abstract
Knowledge‐based systems are beginning to provide executives with powerful systems which serve to automate corporate expertise. This is the first of two articles exploring KBS and their corporate implications.
Remote monitoring technology (RMT) is widely acknowledged as an important enabler of servitisation however, there is a dearth of understanding about how RMT is used by…
Abstract
Purpose
Remote monitoring technology (RMT) is widely acknowledged as an important enabler of servitisation however, there is a dearth of understanding about how RMT is used by manufacturing firms to support servitised strategies. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to this important yet somewhat ignored topic in servitisation research. It attempts to address the following questions: what has constrained, and what has enabled the exploitation of RMT in the context of servitised strategies?
Design/methodology/approach
The research adopts an exploratory multiple-case study design. Four in-depth descriptive case studies of companies operating in aerospace, industrial equipment, marine, and transport sectors were conducted. The collected data were analysed and synthesised, drawing out conclusions.
Findings
The study describes how four manufacturers are using RMT and identifies ten factors that have enabled and constrained the realisation of expected outcomes. The enabling factors identified include: skills, experience, and knowledge; support from customers and other complementary data sources, processes, and structures; operations centres; historical data; and presence of in-house knowledge and capabilities. While the constraining factors include: defining benefits of RMT; limitations of RMT; limited understanding about true capabilities of RMT; knowledge management; and lack of alignment between services and manufacturing strategies.
Research limitations/implications
While considerable attention and effort have been invested in designing and conducting the research and analysing the data from the case studies, more empirical work is required to validate and enrich findings and conclusions. For this purpose several research questions to guide further theory development in this area are formulated.
Originality/value
This paper is an in-depth study examining the role of RMT in supporting servitised strategies. In particular, it explores how this technology is used in practice to support service-oriented value propositions of manufacturers and identifies the factors that are key to successfully executing this strategy. As such it qualifies as one of the first studies of this kind.
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Uses the case of telecommunications software company APiON to illustrate how the company developed and implemented a growth strategy that allowed them to realize a dramatic…
Abstract
Uses the case of telecommunications software company APiON to illustrate how the company developed and implemented a growth strategy that allowed them to realize a dramatic increase in shareholder value through proactively focusing on managing their intellectual capital (IC) resources. While there are many perspectives on value creation, they all share a weakness in identifying specific actions and in mobilizing organizational resources. As it has emerged out of practice, the IC perspective has a distinctive practitioner focus, emphasizing resource accumulation and deployment in the value creation process. Presents the key concepts and language of the IC perspective, illustrating its implementation using the case of APiON. Closes with some conclusions and remarks concerning further development of the IC perspective.
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Tim Baines, Howard Lightfoot, Joe Peppard, Mark Johnson, Ashutosh Tiwari, Essam Shehab and Morgan Swink
This paper aims to present a framework that will help manufacturing firms to configure their internal production and support operations to enable effective and efficient delivery…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present a framework that will help manufacturing firms to configure their internal production and support operations to enable effective and efficient delivery of products and their closely associated services.
Design/methodology/approach
First, the key definitions and literature sources directly associated with servitization of manufacturing are established. Then, a theoretical framework that categorises the key characteristics of a manufacturer's operations strategy is developed and this is populated using both evidence from the extant literature and empirical data.
Findings
The framework captures a set of operations principles, structures and processes that can guide a manufacturer in the delivery of product‐centric servitized offering. These are illustrated and contrasted against operations that deliver purely product (production operations) and those which deliver purely services (services operations).
Research limitations/implications
The work is based on a review of the literature supported by data collected from an exploratory case study. Whilst it provides an essential platform, further research will be needed to validate the framework.
Originality/value
The principal contribution of this paper is a framework that captures the key characteristics of operations for product‐centric servitized manufacture.
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Clare Victoria Thornley and Catherine Anne Crowley
The purpose of this paper is to address the problem of ensuring that the capabilities are in place to identify when a project can no longer deliver value and to take appropriate…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address the problem of ensuring that the capabilities are in place to identify when a project can no longer deliver value and to take appropriate action to terminate the project.
Design/methodology/approach
Focus groups with project management practitioners were used to collect in-depth qualitative data. This was then supplemented with a questionnaire, which included both closed questions and the opportunity for free text answers.
Findings
The problem of getting better at stopping projects is both common and difficult to solve. It has many facets, which include complex people and cultural issues, processes and procedures as well as financial reporting and project governance. In order to improve, therefore, it is useful to address these different facets in a coordinated way using a capability approach with a focus on business value.
Research limitations/implications
The data from practitioners are retrospective, as their actions were not actually observed by the researchers as they were happening. This means that faulty recollection may influence the results but, it also allows for insights from reflection to be incorporated.
Practical implications
An organizational capability approach focusing on all three aspects of capability; people, processes and technology, can help organizations get better at stopping projects. Specific recommendations are provided and analyzed in terms of their respective capability focus.
Social implications
If performance in terminating projects is improved, it has the potential for significant benefits and cost saving for society in terms of improved government services and the ability to halt projects around new policy initiatives when emerging evidence shows they will not work.
Originality/value
It provides detailed practitioner input on the problem of stopping projects and suggests recommendations for improvement in the context of a structured organizational capability approach with reference to a particular framework, IT-CMF.