James Wan, Raafat Saade and Ling Wang
A consequence of the UN general assembly resolution calling for increased efficiency and better utilization of resources in all its agencies, is a mandate for change. As a…
Abstract
Purpose
A consequence of the UN general assembly resolution calling for increased efficiency and better utilization of resources in all its agencies, is a mandate for change. As a response to this resolution, the purpose of this paper is to identify the key factors for managing change.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey methodology approach was used where officials representing department heads, middle managers, professionals and specialists were the target participants. Exploratory factor analysis was done for factor validation and reduction, followed by confirmatory factor analysis to identify the relationships between those factors.
Findings
Three significant factors, communication, temporal sensitivity and knowledge were found to represent a shared common theoretical propositions from Kotter’s, Lewin’s and ADKAR models. Extracted factor explain the proposed United Nations (UN) model.
Research limitations/implications
Due to political and cultural reasons, characteristics of participants could not be revealed. Also, a larger pool of participants spanning across all the UN agencies would provide more comprehensive view. The final UN model proposed herein would need to be further validated and tested within each agency as well as across them.
Practical implications
The study urges the UN to utilize its findings, with the hope of standardizing an effective change management model for all its agencies.
Originality/value
While change management literature primarily focuses on the private sector, few are applicable in the public sector. Research effort on managing change in UN is scarce. This study advocates the need for UN research to fill this very important gap. As such, the authors test existing theoretical model and then adapt it for the UN context.
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Raafat G. Saadé and Semaan Sarraf
In Northern Regions, ice covers that form on rivers, streams, and lakeswith the onset of winter, cause various problems related to winter navigationand pollution dispersion among…
Abstract
In Northern Regions, ice covers that form on rivers, streams, and lakes with the onset of winter, cause various problems related to winter navigation and pollution dispersion among others. Warm water, from industrial plants, discharged into these rivers cause partial or total melting of the ice cover over considerable distances. The present work investigates the melting of a thin non‐uniform ice cover subject to varying water and air temperatures under turbulent flow conditions. A two‐dimensional depth averaged turbulence model coupled with a heat transfer model is used to simulate laboratory conditions of ice cover melting. Computational results were compared with experimental investigations. The average melting of the ice cover was found to be in close agreement with the experimental measurements with the exception of the leading edge region.
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Raafat George Saade and Harshjot Nijher
The purpose of this paper is to consolidate the critical success factors (CSFs) as published in enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation case studies. The authors perform…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to consolidate the critical success factors (CSFs) as published in enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation case studies. The authors perform the analysis and propose the final CSFs based on the reported ERP implementation process stages.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper follows the eight category coding steps proposed by Carley (1993) and utilizes only ERP implementation case studies to identify a distinct set of critical success factors. The 37 case studies used in this paper provide a reasonable sample from different countries and contexts. Two methodologies were followed, one for the literature review process and the other for the analysis and synthesis.
Findings
Out of 64 reported CSFs that were extracted from the literature and subsequent detailed analysis and synthesis the authors found a total of 22 factors that are distinct. These factors which encompass change management, are proposed with five ERP implementation stages.
Research limitations/implications
The final set of success factors proposed in this study gives a consolidated and unified view of the significant variables to be considered during all the stages of ERP implementation. The research is limited to case study literature and does not account for ERP implementation models and frameworks. Another limitation would be the scope of the literature searched which is that of the Management Information Community.
Practical implications
The proposed CSFs can be used by practitioners in five ways: assess implementation of an ERP; ex-ante assessment; comparative analysis with other implementation experiences; utilize CSFs from model as part of key performance indicators; and utilize the model to establish a concise strategy to project management process for the ERP implementation.
Social implications
ERP implementation is complex. The promise has not yet been fully realized. An ERP-enabled organization entails primarily strategy and change management. To that effect, all stakeholders are impacted by ERP implementation. This paper, identified CSFs extracted from cases of ERP implementation and proposes a model to support its project management, user satisfaction and sustainability. The results aim at reducing costs, maintaining timeline, reducing employee anxieties and with a successful implementation, better service to customer base.
Originality/value
This paper is the first attempt to present a consolidated list of CSFs and mapping them to the stages of an ERP implementation as reported from the industry. It originality is its focus on utilizing rigorous published case studies with the hope that future case studies would utilize the work to report on the same factors. The value is that as the case studies are increased, comparison and differentiation between is enhanced.
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Rajan Yadav, Anurag Tiruwa and Pradeep Kumar Suri
The growing use of internet-based learning (IBL) platforms in institutions of higher education is producing profound changes in the traditional teaching learning process…
Abstract
Purpose
The growing use of internet-based learning (IBL) platforms in institutions of higher education is producing profound changes in the traditional teaching learning process worldwide. This paper aims to identify and understand the ways in which higher education institutions draw benefits by the use of such means, synthesizing the literature research.
Design/methodology/approach
The study synthesized the literature research by using a mixed method approach in which both Web of Science (WoS) and bibliographic techniques were used to retrieve the relevant data base.
Findings
The comprehensive review of the literature suggests that communication technology (CT), massive open online courseware (MOOCs), social networking sites (SNSs), blogs, real simple syndication (RSS) and YouTube are creating new possibilities and avenues of collaborative learning by transforming the traditional class and teacher-centric system.
Research limitations/implications
Multiplicity of the IBL platforms and rapid technological obsolesce are some of the limitations of this paper.
Originality/value
The findings of this study are highly useful in developing a strategic framework to accelerate the integration of IBL platforms to make teaching learning process more interactive and informative.