To highlight a few critical issues related to indicators that are used to compare organizational practices.
Abstract
Purpose
To highlight a few critical issues related to indicators that are used to compare organizational practices.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach is as follows: to compare the efficacy of qualitative and quantitative indicators; objectivity in identification of processes and practices; and make a distinction between essence and logistics of benchmarking.
Findings
For any benchmarking exercise the most important job is objectivity in identification of processes and practices. The distinction between the two is not always apparent. Qualitative evaluation of practices is as important as quantitative evaluation. The quantitative performance indicators for evaluation of best practices come only at the end of a series of critical qualitative analysis of the organizational processes and practices.
Research limitations/implications
The subject of the paper has been the enhancement of the effectiveness of R&D organizations. Such organizations form an important part of the innovation system of a nation, generally known as national innovation system (NIS). NISs of more successful countries are being continuously evaluated and emulated by other countries for attaining respective technological aspirations. This leaves a wide scope for application of benchmarking methodology. The dynamics of networks like NIS being different from that of a business organization, the methodology for best practices has to be refined. The present paper has addressed only the R&D organization part of NIS. Much of the validity of the conclusions will depend upon studies on NIS in particular and organizations not driven by profit motive in general.
Practical implications
The exact definition of the organization in terms of its mandate, longâterm vision and source of competence is the critical task. This is an important lesson for extending benchmarking exercise beyond business enterprises. The study envisages that the methodology would have wide scope of application for organizational restructuring of R&D organizations. However, methodology has to be refined depending on the specificity of the problem of R&D organizations.
Originality/value
It is in presenting the comparative efficacy of qualitative and quantitative indicators for R&D organizations and also in highlighting the importance of benchmarking, the essence of organizational practices, to arrive at the logistics.
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Presents an illustrative example of a benchmarking exercise for nonâcorporate R&D organizations. Drawing from a global study of 60 R&D organizations from around the world, theâŠ
Abstract
Presents an illustrative example of a benchmarking exercise for nonâcorporate R&D organizations. Drawing from a global study of 60 R&D organizations from around the world, the benchmarking practice for identification of processes, practices and best practices is examined. Focuses primarily on R&Dâindustry linkage â a nagging problem, particularly relevant for nonâcorporate R&D organizations. Processes like project selection, human resource development and knowledge delivery systems are functionally related to R&Dâindustry linkage and therefore constitute the main body of the benchmarking exercise. It has been argued that the basic organizational principle behind successful R&D is partnership between R&D organizations and users of the research results. Practices under each of the selected processes, therefore, have to be examined in the light of this basic organizational principle. Argues that, to achieve this, actionable accuracy is more important than quantitative indicators for identification of best practices.
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In the present context an organization competes in terms of its knowledge intensity. In this article we are focusing on human resource development, sustenance and enhancement as aâŠ
Abstract
In the present context an organization competes in terms of its knowledge intensity. In this article we are focusing on human resource development, sustenance and enhancement as a process in nonâcorporate research and technology organizations (RTOs), based on an international study on âBenchmarking the best practices for research and technology organizationsâ, coordinated by WAITRO. The basic function of these RTOs is to generate knowledge to effectively enhance their clientâs competitive strength. A best RTO can be the one that provides a structure, which encourages people to take initiatives to generate new knowledge and effectively translate clientsâ technological requirements into research results. For this, the RTO has to be a learning organization. To develop and sustain capabilities is essential for any RTOâs survival and growth. How best an organization performs depends upon its capability to build and enhance this knowledge base, i.e. the human capital. This in turn depends upon the way various activities are organized to generate human resource from the manpower they have.
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Carlos Augusto RincĂłn DĂaz and JosĂ© Albors GarrigĂłs
The purpose of this paper is to propose a contingent model that facilitates knowledge of the strategies followed by the research technology organizations (RTOs) of Valencia andâŠ
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose a contingent model that facilitates knowledge of the strategies followed by the research technology organizations (RTOs) of Valencia and the Basque Country, Spain, to adapt to the turbulence of their environment.
Design/methodology/approach
The research includes context, organizational and results variables and identifies some barriers that the RTOs encounter in collaborating with SMEs and also the best practices they follow to develop competitive advantages. The methodology used consisted of applying the proposed model to the 27 RTOs of both autonomous regions; a factor analysis was then performed to determine whether there exist groups of related (correlated) variables; finally, the authors proceeded to carry out a hierarchical cluster analysis to observe how the 27 RTOs are distributed according to their ability to adapt and respond to environmental turbulence.
Findings
The technological policy must consider the characteristics of each region to propose more efficient and equitable mechanisms that allow the RTOs to face new challenges.
Originality/value
This study proposes a theoretical model suitable for RTOs to respond to environmental changes, to the current economy globalization and to cope with new challenges. This proposal means that RTOs must manage an appropriate combination of key factors, including the development of more proactive innovation strategies, an organic organizational structure to relate better with other innovation agents and universities, which help them to work more efficiently with SMEs and to obtain a higher innovative performance.
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Mehdi Namazi, Madjid Tavana, Emran Mohammadi and Ali Bonyadi Naeini
New business practices and the globalization of markets force firms to take innovation as the fundamental pillar of their competitive strategy. Research and Development (R&DâŠ
Abstract
Purpose
New business practices and the globalization of markets force firms to take innovation as the fundamental pillar of their competitive strategy. Research and Development (R&D) plays a vital role in innovation. As technology advances and product life cycles become shorter, firms rely on R&D as a strategy to invigorate innovation. R&D project portfolio selection is a complex and challenging task. Despite the management's efforts to implement the best project portfolio selection practices, many projects continue to fail or miss their target. The problem is that selecting R&D projects requires a deep understanding of strategic vision and technical capabilities. However, many decision-makers lack technological insight or strategic vision. This article aims to provide a method to capitalize on the expertise of R&D professionals to assist managers in making informed and effective decisions. It also provides a framework for aligning the portfolio of R&D projects with the organizational vision and mission.
Design/methodology/approach
This article proposes a new strategic approach for R&D project portfolio selection using efficiency-uncertainty maps.
Findings
The proposed strategy plane helps decision-makers align R&D project portfolios with their strategies to combine a strategic view and numerical analysis in this research. The proposed strategy plane consists of four areas: Exploitation Zone, Challenge Zone, Desperation Zone and Discretion Zone. Mapping the project into this strategic plane would help decision-makers align their project portfolio according to the corporate perspectives.
Originality/value
The new approach combines the efficiency and uncertainty dimensions in portfolio selection into an integrated framework that: (i) provides a complete representation of the stochastic decision-making processes, (ii) models the endogenous uncertainty inherent in the project selection process and (iii) proposes a computationally practical and visually unique solution procedure for classifying desirable and undesirable R&D projects.
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Santoso Wibowo and Srimannarayana Grandhi
The purpose of this paper is to formulate the process of measuring and benchmarking the performance of knowledge management (KM) practices as a multicriteria group decision-makingâŠ
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to formulate the process of measuring and benchmarking the performance of knowledge management (KM) practices as a multicriteria group decision-making problem and present a new multicriteria group decision-making approach for effectively evaluating the performance of KM practices to meet the interests of various stakeholders in small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Design/methodology/approach
A new multicriteria group decision-making approach is developed for evaluating the performance of KM practices of individual SMEs. Intuitionistic fuzzy numbers are used for representing the subjective assessments of decision makers in evaluating the relative importance of the evaluation criteria and the performance of individual KM practices with respect to specific evaluation criteria. A fuzzy multicriteria group decision-making algorithm is developed for measuring and benchmarking the performance of alternative KM practices.
Findings
The proposed multicriteria group decision-making approach is capable of effectively evaluating the performance of KM practices through adequately considering the presence of multiple decision makers, the multi-dimensional nature of the evaluation problem, and appropriately modeling the subjectiveness and imprecision of the evaluation process. The presentation of an example shows that the proposed fuzzy multicriteria group decision-making algorithm is simple to use and efficient in computation.
Research limitations/implications
The outcome of the multicriteria group decision-making approach is highly dependent on the inputs provided by the decision maker.
Practical implications
The novelty from this research lies in the utilization of a multicriteria group decision-making approach for evaluating the performance of KM practices in an organization. The outcome from the performance evaluation process allows the enterprise to adopt appropriate KM practices for achieving competitive advantages.
Social implications
The proposed multicriteria group decision-making approach has a significant social implication as it can be used as a decision-making tool for providing various decision makers in SMEs with useful and strategic information concerning the performance of KM practices in a given situation.
Originality/value
The originality of this paper lies in the development of the multicriteria group decision-making approach for effectively measuring and benchmarking the performance of KM practices of individual SMEs.
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Marco Bisogno, John Dumay, Francesca Manes Rossi and Paolo Tartaglia Polcini
It is important to have a literature review to open any special issue as a way of introducing the state-of-the-art topics and link past research with the papers appearing in thisâŠ
Abstract
Purpose
It is important to have a literature review to open any special issue as a way of introducing the state-of-the-art topics and link past research with the papers appearing in this special issue on IC in education. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
This research uses the structured literature to investigate the state-of-the-art and future directions of IC literature in education. In total, 47 articles are explored including nine from this special issue.
Findings
IC in education research is concentrated in Europe and mainly addresses IC in universities. Additionally, current IC research is progressing by examining IC practices inside universities using a third-stage IC approach, with new research also concentrating on third-mission outcomes, thus there is scope to continue IC and education research beyond universities. IC in education can also expand into fifth stage IC research, which abandons the boundaries of the educational institution and concentrate on the impact of IC and education on multiple stakeholders.
Research limitations/implications
Current IC in education research is too narrow and mainly investigates IC in European contexts using case study methodology. However, there is ample scope to widen research that develops new frameworks in different educational and country contexts using a wider range of research methodologies. IC in education needs to expand its boundaries so it does not lose its relevance, and thus be able to contribute to wider policy debates.
Originality/value
This paper presents the current state-of-the-art structured literature review of the articles investigating IC in education.
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Aragudige Nagaraja and A.B Prashanth
This study aims to analyze the resources used in the citations of 156 postgraduate dissertations submitted to the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) through theâŠ
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyze the resources used in the citations of 156 postgraduate dissertations submitted to the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) through the Acharya & BM Reddy College of Pharmacy (ABMRCP), and prepares the core journal list according to the Bradfordâs law of scattering. For any research and academic institutional libraries, books and journals are considered as key resources. As the resources are more and diverse, collection building is a tough task for librarians. Citation analysis is one of the best methods to list the most used resources by the users. The paper highlights the extent use of in-house resources and open access journals in the citations.
Design/methodology/approach
Citations of PG dissertations during 2010-2013 (four years) were compiled, the data about the resources cited in each were taken and the list of resources used in PG dissertations was prepared. The list of core journals obtained by citation analysis was matched with the list of online journals provided by Health Science Library & Information Network (HELINET) of RGUHS as well as print list of journals subscribed by ABMRCP Library, and evaluated the print and online consortia journals used by ABMRCP community. The list of core journalsâ ranking in the SCImago Journal & Country Rank (SJR) list-pharmaceutical sciences was identified to know the impact of the journals.
Findings
The study gives the list of different information resources cited in the pharmacy dissertations. The core list obtained by applying the Bradfordâs law of scattering in this study has 19 journals pertaining to pharmacy. After matching the core list with the Keoghâs list, it is found that 31 journals can be considered very useful in the field of pharmacy. Twelve journals listed in the core list have different positions in the SJR ranking 2013. The results indicate that open-access journals with online journals subscribed through HELINET and print holdings have been cited more in the PG dissertations.
Originality/value
The topic of journal use in this case may be of greatest interest to those who purchase journals in the sciences and, very specifically, the pharmaceutical sciences.
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Yong Joong Kim and Murat Hancer
The purpose of this paper is to examine knowledge management resource inputs that affect organizational effectiveness in the restaurant industry.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine knowledge management resource inputs that affect organizational effectiveness in the restaurant industry.
Design/methodology/approach
The target population of this paper was restaurant employees. Data were collected using online surveys. Data analysis for this paper included frequency table, tâtest, oneâway ANOVA, and multiple regression analysis.
Findings
The paper finds knowledge management resource inputs influence organizational effectiveness in a restaurant. The results reveal that the significant knowledge management resource inputs that affected organizational effectiveness were information technology, incentive, and a knowledge sharing culture. Information technology turns out to be the most important input followed by incentive and a knowledge sharing culture to improve organizational effectiveness.
Research limitations/implications
First, data collection from selfârepot surveys can threaten the validity of the paper. Second, this paper did not take into account the role of all possible resource factors relevant for organizational effectiveness. Future research should examine how other factors, such as leadership, influence organizational effectiveness.
Practical implications
The overall practical implication of the findings is that to achieve highâorganizational effectiveness, restaurant operators first need to establish distinctive strategies in how they use knowledge management resource inputs.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the theoretical development of knowledge management by examining how inputs from knowledge management resources are being put to use in the restaurant industry.