Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons^™

Strategic Planning In Construction Professional Service Firms: A Study Of Irish Qs Practices, Roisin Murphy

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The role and usefulness of strategic planning has been documented over several decades of strategic management research. Despite the significant body of existing knowledge in the field of strategic planning, there remains limited empirical investigation of the construction sector, specifically professional service firms operating within it. The construction sector is hugely important to the Irish economy, yet until now, no empirical investigation has been undertaken to determine the strategic planning process in construction professional service firms in Ireland. A two-phase mixed methods study was undertaken to ascertain the extent of strategic planning within quantity surveying (QS) practices in Ireland. Characteristics …

Technology Adoption In Small And Medium-Sized Logistics Providers, Pietro Evangelista, Alan Mckinnon, Edward Sweeney

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Purpose - The main aim of the research is to shed light on the role of information and communication technology (ICT) in the logistics innovation process of small and medium- sized third party logistics providers (3PLs).

Design/methodology/approach – A triangulated research strategy was designed using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. The former involved the use of a questionnaire survey of small and medium-sized Italian 3PLs with 153 usable responses received. The latter comprised a series of focus groups and the use of seven case studies.

Findings – There is a relatively low level of ICT expenditure with few …

Employee Perspectives On The Post-Integration Stage Of A Micro-Merger, Jennifer Lawlor

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Purpose - This paper seeks to address the impact of an organisational change initiative on organisational employees, with specific reference to a micro-merger which occurred in a public sector, higher education organisation in Ireland. The literature on change management is examined, with specific reference to the post-integration stage of a micro-merger. The paper then reports on a study that was undertaken in an Irish higher education institution and focuses on the impact of the micro-merger on employees. Specifically, the study seeks to address their perceptions and emotions relating to a heretofore under-researched area in the merger literature, namely the impact …

Aligning Strategy And Talent In Creative Professional Service Firms, Deirdre Canavan, Pamela Sharkey Scott, Vincent Mangematin

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Purpose – Reliance on individual talent and motivation renders creative professional service firms (PSFs) highly dependent on their ability to attract and mobilise the right individuals. This paper aims to build an integrated framework showing firstly how creative industry PSFs can differ in their strategy for growth, and secondly how these alternative strategies for growth can influence the firm's approach to organising and the type of talent required.

Design/methodology/approach – The findings are based on a series of interviews with managing directors, senior management and practitioners of architectural organisations in a single country, combined with an extensive literature review.

Findings …

When The Human Factor Is At The Core Of The Safety Barrier, Maria Chiara Leva, Catalina Bermudez Angel, Emmanuel Plot, Marco Gattuso

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There are situation in the industry where the human actions are the main safety barriers to abnormal or accidental conditions. In order to maximize the reliability of good human and organizational barriers we need to ensure that the action-plans generated are based on a valid risk assessment of the situation to be addressed and informed by a relevant human factor analysis. This implies that the process needs to be participatory in nature, thus involving end user all the way through. In this paper we present a study in which a critical scenario of vessel overpressure was analyzed using a bowtie. …

Optimising End-To-End Maritime Supply Chains: A Carbon Footprint Perspective, Patrick Rigot-Muller, Chandra Lalwani, John Mangan, Orla Gregory, David Gibbs

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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to illustrate an optimisation method, and resulting insights, for minimising total logistics-related carbon emissions for end-to-end supply chains.

Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on two real-life UK industrial cases. For the first case, several alternative realistic routes towards the UK are analysed and the optimal route minimising total carbon emissions is identified and tested in real conditions. For the second case, emissions towards several destinations are calculated and two alternative routes to southern Europe are compared, using several transport modes (road, Ro-Ro, rail and maritime). An adapted Value Stream Mapping (VSM) …

Silent Stories Of Resistance To Doing Employment, Sue Mulhall

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Purpose – Exploring experiences of participants on an Irish active labour market programme, the purpose of this paper is to examine accounts of everyday forms of resistance to the subject positions offered in the dominant discourse of “doing employment” espoused on such schemes.

Design/methodology/approach – Employing narrative research, the process of individual opposition to established work routines is illustrated at the level of meaning, identity and self reflection by using the three-dimensional narrative inquiry space to chronicle three participants’ stories. Their newly formed subjectivities (created by changes encountered in their past lives and the situations they are experiencing in their …

Knowledge Management And Measurement: A Critical Review, Amr Arisha, Mohamed Ragab

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Purpose - Knowledge is the currency of the current economy, a vital organisational asset and a key to creating a sustainable competitive advantage. The consequent interest in Knowledge Management (KM) has spurred an exponential increase in publications covering a broad spectrum of diverse and overlapping research areas. The purpose of this paper is to provide a literature review and categorised analysis of the rapidly growing number of KM publications, and offer a comprehensive reference for new-comers embarking on research in the field with a particular focus on the area of Knowledge Measurement.

Design/methodology/approach - A total of 350 articles published …

Purchasing Green Transport And Logistics Services: Implications For Small Business, Pietro Evangelista, Maria Huge-Brodin, Karin Isaksson, Edward Sweeney

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Considering its strong environmental impact, logistics plays a critical role in green supply chain management. It provides strategic links in the supply chain and is an essential function in the delivery of green products to the consumer. There is a general consensus on the fact that more environmentally sustainable companies may be achieved only if transport and logistics activities also become greener. To achieve this objective, buyer companies need to incorporate green considerations in the purchasing of transport and logistics services. This appears particularly challenging for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) because of their traditional lack of managerial, organisational …

Tracing The Path To ‘Tiger Hood’: Ireland’S Move From Protectionism To Outward-Looking Economic Development, Paul Donnelly

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Up to very recently, Ireland was spoken of in very adulatory terms, to the point of being dubbed the ‘Celtic Tiger.’ However, the tiger is no more, having been consumed by a property-led boom, the collapse of which was compounded by the global financial crisis. Taking path dependence as lens, this paper looks at an early sequence of events that shaped the country’s path to ‘tiger hood’, i.e., the policy shift from protectionism to outward-looking economic development. From relatively contingent and unpredictable beginnings evolved an institutional matrix, with a clear focus on the global, that, ex ante, could not have …

A Survey Based Analysis Of It Adoption And 3pls’ Performance, Pietro Evangelista, Riccardo Mogre, Alessandro Perego, Antonino Raspagliesi, Edward Sweeney

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Purpose – In today’s competitive scenario, effective supply chain management is increasingly dependant on third party logistics (3PL) companies’ capabilities and performance. The dissemination of information technology (IT) has contributed to change the supply chain role of 3PL companies and IT is considered an important element influencing performance of modern logistics companies. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between IT and 3PLs’ performance, assuming that logistics capabilities play a mediating role in this relationship.

Design/methodology/approach – Empirical evidence based on a questionnaire survey conducted on a sample of logistics service companies operating in the Italian …

Reducing Recidivism Through Entrepreneurship Programmes In Prisons, Thomas Cooney

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Prison systems are facing significant challenges from overcrowding and a ‘revolving door’ routine. Reducing recidivism would help alleviate both these problems and would also assist in breaking the cycle of career criminality. However, one of the primary causes of recidivism is a lack of employment opportunities for people who have spent time in prison, thereby causing them to return to crime. Given the dearth of entrepreneurship research on ex-prisoners, this paper examines a ‘Start Your Own Business’ programme delivered inside a prison. Based on interviews with the participants, the author examines whether such programmes offer a realistic opportunity for reducing …

Aligning Strategy And Talent In Creative Professional Service Firms, Deirdre Mcquillan, Pamela Sharkey Scott, Vincent Mangematin

Articles

Purpose: Reliance on individual talent and motivation renders creative Professional Service Firms (PSFs) highly dependent on their ability to attract and mobilise the right individuals. This paper builds an integrated framework showing firstly how creative industry PSFs can differ in their strategy for growth, and secondly how these alternative strategies for growth can influence the firm’s approach to organising and the type of talent required. Design/methodology/approach: Findings are based on a series of interviews with managing directors, senior management and practitioners of architectural organisations in a single country, combined with an extensive literature review. Findings – Our framework illustrates how …

Towards A Unified Definition Of Supply Chain Management, Edward Sweeney

Articles

A wide range of definitions of supply chain management (SCM) have been developed over the last three decades. The philosophy of SCM is based firmly on a recognition that it is only by working in a more integrated manner that competitive advantage can be maximised. However, for this to become a reality the development of common definitions and understandings between supply chain partners is a critical success factor. The corollary of this is that a lack of definitional consistency and a common understanding is an inhibitor to the successful adoption of SCM thinking in practice. This paper reviews a number …

Virtual Ed: Utilisation Of A Discrete Event Simulation-Based Framework In Identifying "Real-Time’ Strategies To Improve Patient Experience Times In An Emergency Department, Waleed Abo Hamad, John Mcinerney, Amr Arisha

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Objectives and Backgrounds Emergency Department (ED) overcrowding and associated excessive Patient Experience Times (PETs) have proven deleterious impacts on patient mortality, morbidity and overall length of hospital stay. Health systems constantly seek cost-effective organisational strategies to reduce ED crowding and improve patient outcomes, but complex change implementation is constrained by the necessity of maintaining concurrent safe patient-care. Computer modelling in a “virtual reality” has been successfully utilised in industries outside medicine, in providing innovative “real-time” solutions to outdated practices. Therefore a bespoke “Virtual ED” computer model, based on a Discrete Event Simulation (DES) -Based Framework was constructed to determine the …

Including The Customer In Efficiency Analysis:Evidence Of A Hybrid Relational-Transactional Approach, Joseph Coughlan, Estelle Shale, Robert Dyson

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Purpose This paper illustrates the effect of including the customer as a resource in efficiency measurement. Variations in counting the customer illustrate the different impacts on efficiency between a transactional and a relational approach to bank branch marketing. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to analyse the efficiency of the branch network under consideration. This technique, while well established in the bank branch efficiency literature, is used here to gain insight into how relationship and transactional paradigms are affecting performance. Findings Although the average profile of the efficiency scores was similar, the scores of the individual branches differed …

Ict Innovation Diffusion In Small Logistics Service Providers: An Empirical Survey, Pietro Evangelista, Edward Sweeney, Claudia-Maria Wagner

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For companies competing in highly dynamic markets, innovation is considered a fundamental component of a successful business as it allows companies to sustain profit margins, sales growth and reduce competitors’ pressures. Information and communication technology (ICT) is essential innovation enablers especially in service companies. The focus of the paper is on the analysis of the role of ICT in innovation processes of small third-party logistics service providers (3PLs). On the basis of quantitative evidence emerging from a recent survey carried out on the Italian 3PL market, the paper analyses how ICT is used to support innovation and the factors the …

Practical Simulation Application: Evaluation Of Process Control Parameters In Twisted-Pair Cables Manufacturing System, Amr Mahfouz, Amr Arisha

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Intensive competition and rapid technology development of Twisted-Pair Cables (TPC) industry have left no room for competing manufacturers to harbour system inefficiencies. TPC are used in various communication and networks hardware applications; their manufacturing facilities face many challenges including various product configurations with different equipment settings, different product flows and Work in Process (WIP) space limitations. The quest for internal efficiency and external effectiveness forces companies to align their internal settings and resources with external requirements/orders, or in different words, significant factors must be set appropriately and identified prior to manufacturing processes. Integrated definition models (IDEF0, IDEF3) in conjunction with …

Developing Subsidiary Contribution To The Mnc-Subsidiary Entrepreneurship And Strategy Creativity, Pamela Sharkey Scott, Gibbons Patrick, Joseph Coughlan

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Despite its theoretical and managerial significance, subsidiary entrepreneurship and its effects 15 on subsidiary contribution remain underexplored in the literature.We propose that subsidiary 16 entrepreneurship encourages more creative strategic responses to escalating environmental 17 change. We explore the direct and mediating effects of subsidiary entrepreneurship on 18 subsidiary contribution to the MNC, particularly subsidiary strategy creativity. We use 19 structural equation modelling to test our propositions on data generated from surveying the 20 population of Irish subsidiaries of foreign MNCs, and find strong support for our theoretical 21 predictions. The managerial implications of subsidiary entrepreneurship in generating creative 22 strategy, …

Simulation Optimisation Methods In Supply Chain Applications: A Review, Amr Arisha, Waleed Abo-Hamad

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The competitiveness and dynamic nature of today’s marketplace is due to rapid advances in information technology, short product life cycles and the continuing trend in global outsourcing. Managing the resulting supply chain networks effectively is challenged by high levels of uncertainty in supply and demand, confl ict objectives, vagueness of information, numerous decision variables and constraints. With such levels of complexity, supply chain optimisation has the potential to make a signifi cant contribution in resolving these challenges. In this paper, a literature review – based on more than 100 peer-reviewed articles – of state-of-the-art simulation-based optimisation techniques in the context …

The Role Of Information And Communication Technology In Small Italian Logistics Enterprises, Pietro Evangelista, Edward Sweeney

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Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is widely regarded as a key integration enabler in contemporary supply chain configurations. Furthermore, recent years have seen the vertical disintegration of supply chains as increasing numbers of manufacturers and retailers outsource significant parts of their supply chain functionality. In this environment, Third Party Logistics (3PL) providers - the majority of which are small companies - play a pivotal role. This raises important questions about the usage of ICT in this sector. However, there is a paucity of research in the field of small 3PLs with little empirical investigation into the usage of ICT by …

Supply Chain Management Diffusion Among Firms In The Republic Of Ireland, Edward Sweeney, Claudia-Maria Wagner, Bernd Huber

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The changing business environment has sharpened the focus on the need for robust approaches to supply chain management (SCM) and the improvement of supply chain capability and performance. This is particularly the case in Ireland, which has the natural disadvantage of a location peripheral to significant markets and sources of raw materials which results in relatively high transport and distribution costs. Therefore, in order to gain insights into current levels of diffusion of SCM, a survey was conducted among 776 firms in the Republic of Ireland. The empirical results suggest that there is a need for more widespread adoption of …

Do Different Iindustries Report Corporate Social Responsibility Differently?: An Investigation Through The Lens Of Stakeholder Theory, Lorraine Sweeney, Joseph Coughlan

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The social responsibility of business has become a major issue in recent years and the reporting of such activity is becoming more prevalent. Companies are attuning to the benefits of being seen as socially responsibly and many industries are jumping on the bandwagon of reporting CSR and using different media to communicate their activities in this arena to their stakeholders. This paper considers the content of one type of such communications, the annual report, and looks at how organisations are taking a focused stakeholder view of CSR rather than a wider view as would be expected from the ambiguity of …

The Need For Wider Supply Chain Management Adoption: Empirical Results From Ireland, Bernd Huber, Edward Sweeney

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Purpose - Empirical results are provided which suggest that there is a need for more widespread adoption of supply chain management among Irish firms.

Design/methodology/approach - The Republic of Ireland is a small, open, trade-dependent economy and is one of the fastest growing economies in the developed world. However, due to rising costs, there is an increasing trend in Ireland to outsource lower function manufacturing processes to lower cost locations but to retain high skill functions (such as R&D). This trend, together with other factors such as its peripheral location, suggests that supply chain management is critical from an Irish …

An Investigation Into Outsourcing Practice In Ireland: A New Direction In Logistics And Supply Chain Management, Aoife O'Riordan, Edward Sweeney

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Companies are increasingly focusing on the development of core competencies as an integral part of their overall strategy development and implementation. The corollary of this is that functions regarded as being non-core are being outsourced. This paper investigates the case for and against outsourcing and in addition what is happening in Ireland regards outsourcing. Furthermore to analysis of current literature in
the field, an Irish-wide postal and e-mail survey, as well as three case studies revealed many interesting facts. The key findings of the work are manufacturing outsourcing is now the most popular function to be outsourced for both small …

Techonology Usage In The Supply Chain: The Case Of Small 3pls, Pietro Evangelista, Edward Sweeney

Articles

Purpose - In today’s supply chain management (SCM) practices, a successful strategy depends
increasingly on the performance of Third Party Logistics (3PL) providers as they play a key
integrative role linking the different supply chain elements more effectively. Information and
Communications Technology (ICT) has become an important element of 3PL competitive
capability as it enables higher levels of supply chain integration. Recent industry developments
have widened the technological gap between large and small 3PLs. This is critical particularly for
those markets populated by a large number of small 3PLs such as the Italian logistics industry. The
purpose of this paper …

Port Community Learning Needs: Analysis And Design, Edward Sweeney, Pietro Evangelista

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The port industry is facing a dramatic wave of changes that have transformed the structure of the
industry. Modern seaports are increasingly shifting from a “hardware-based” approach towards “knowhow intensive” configuration. In this context knowledge resources, learning processes and training initiatives increasingly represent key elements to guarantee the quality of service supplied and hence the competitiveness of modern seaport communities. This paper describes the learning needs analysis conducted amongst key port community actors in three ports in the south east of Ireland during 2005 in the context of the I-Sea.Net project. It goes on to describe the learning requirements report …

Supply Chain Learning Needs: Towards A Port Community Perspective, Edward Sweeney, Pietro Evangelista

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The traditional role of ports in the wider supply chain context is currently being subject to a process
of radical review. In broad terms, the traditional model is being replaced by a model which focuses on higher value and more knowledge intensive activities. This trend requires a change in the way in which new knowedge and skills are developed by staff in companies of all kinds within port communities. Traditional models need to be re-evaluated to reflect the increasing importance of knowledge and skills acquisition, particularly in relation to the supply chain management (SCM) concept and the evolving role of …

Putting Supply Chain Learning Theory Into Practice: Lessons From An Irish Case, Edward Sweeney, Pietro Evangelista, Renato Passaro

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The logistics service market is currently going through a fundamental transition. The development of closer relationships with customers and the continuous adaptation of products and services, represent potentially successful approaches to the development of improved competitive capability. To this end knowledge resources and learning processes increasingly represent key elements within the evolving framework of the 3PL business. This paper describes the case of NITL’s Foundation Certificate Programme (FCP) learning programme with specific reference to its use in addressing some of current shortcomings related to supply chain knowledge and skills in the Irish third party logistics (3PL) industry. The FCP rationale …

B2b E-Marketplaces In The Airline Industry: Process Drivers And Performance Indicators, Claudia-Maria Wagner, Bernd Huber, Edward Sweeney, Austin Smyth

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Competitive pressures are increasing within and between different strategically oriented groups of airlines. This paper focuses on the level of efficiency improvements gained by using e-Marketplaces in the procurement process. Findings from a survey among 88 international airlines reveal that the use of Business-to-Business (B2B) e-Marketplaces does play different roles across the various airline groupings. Airlines that are involved in strategic alliances show higher joint procurement activities than airlines that are not involved in strategic alliances. However, alliances are probably viewed as loose arrangements and thus airlines may be reluctant to share information on procurement prices and processes with another …