Securing small business - the role of information technology policy

As small and medium enterprises develop their capacity to trade  electronically, they and their trading partners stand to gain considerable benefit from the resulting transaction efficiencies and business  relationships. However, this raises the question of how well small business manages its IT security and the threats that security lapses may pose to the wider trading network. It is in the interest of all members of an electronic trading network, as well as governments, to assist smaller companies to secure their business data. This paper considers the relationship between IT security management and IT policy implementation among small  businesses involved in business-to-business eCommerce. It reports the results of a survey of 240 Australian small and medium businesses  operating in a cross-industry environment. The survey found a low level of strategic integration of eCommerce along with inadequate IT security among the respondents, despite the fact that 81% were doing business online and 97% identified their business data as confidential. Businesses which implemented satisfactory levels of security technologies were more likely than others to have an information technology policy within the organisation. The paper proposes a model that outlines the development of security governance and policy implementation for small and medium businesses.

Green marketing in the top publicly traded Australian organizations

This paper examines the inclusion of sustainability into marketing activities of the top Australian firms. The results found that almost half of organisations (46%) did not integrate sustainability or environmental issues into their mission statement. Of those that did include sustainability in their mission, few then integrated environmental issues into other areas of their activities, as reported on their corporate web sites. This suggests that while sustainability is frequently talked about within organisations as being important, it does not necessarily translate in to a strategic integration across activities. Firms might therefore be using environmental issues tactically, which could unfortunately result in superficial attempts at becoming environmentally sustainable.

Strategic framework for developing a process model for maximising the potential of radio frequency indentification (RFID) technology integration in hospital

Radio Frequency Identification is a radical technology that is being experimented in hospitals commonly for tracking high value equipment, in order to maximize the efficiency of processes. RFID deployment and integration is mostly vendor and business driven, and hence its potential is not maximized. In this chapter, we propose a strategic framework to develop a process model, that will assist in maximizing the potential of RFID in hospitals.

Strategic implications of global integration and local responsiveness for Chinese multinationals: an area for future study

Purpose – Based on the review of extant international business and management literature, this paper aims to examine the global integration (GI) and local responsiveness (LR) paradigm and its impact on the adoption of international business strategy (IBS) by multinational corporations (MNCs); second, discuss determinants that are critical in the process of forming IBS by MNCs; and third identify the lacuna in current research with respect to strategic implications of the framework for MNCs from emerging economies such as Chinese multinational corporations (CMNCs).Design/methodology/approach – Based on the extant literature review, this paper identifies a research gap and proposes several research questions for future study. First, the paper reviews prior studies on the GI-LR model and its impact on and strategic implications for IBS. Second, it examines how MNCs from developed countries adopt different types of IBS and what determinants drive their decision-making. Third, it attempts to discuss why CMNCs should be studied in terms of their choice of IBS based on the GI-LR mode. The paper concludes with research questions for future study.Findings – This paper summarizes determinants of IBS in a three-category table mainly based on prior studies on the GI-LR model from developed countries. As a consequence, it identifies a future research area in the field of international management.Originality/value – This paper is based on a comprehensive review of prior studies related to the GI-LR framework. The aim of the study is to identify a new research area in international management, that is, how MNCs from emerging country contexts, such as China, to co-ordinate GI and LR for their IBS.

Strategic implications of global integration and local responsiveness for Chinese multinationals: an area for future study

Purpose – Based on the review of extant international business and management literature, this paper aims to examine the global integration (GI) and local responsiveness (LR) paradigm and its impact on the adoption of international business strategy (IBS) by multinational corporations (MNCs); second, discuss determinants that are critical in the process of forming IBS by MNCs; and third identify the lacuna in current research with respect to strategic implications of the framework for MNCs from emerging economies such as Chinese multinational corporations (CMNCs).Design/methodology/approach – Based on the extant literature review, this paper identifies a research gap and proposes several research questions for future study. First, the paper reviews prior studies on the GI-LR model and its impact on and strategic implications for IBS. Second, it examines how MNCs from developed countries adopt different types of IBS and what determinants drive their decision-making. Third, it attempts to discuss why CMNCs should be studied in terms of their choice of IBS based on the GI-LR mode. The paper concludes with research questions for future study.Findings – This paper summarizes determinants of IBS in a three-category table mainly based on prior studies on the GI-LR model from developed countries. As a consequence, it identifies a future research area in the field of international management.Originality/value – This paper is based on a comprehensive review of prior studies related to the GI-LR framework. The aim of the study is to identify a new research area in international management, that is, how MNCs from emerging country contexts, such as China, to co-ordinate GI and LR for their IBS.

Assessment as a strategic tool for enhancing learning in teacher education: a case study

This small exploratory case study describes an attempt to integrate the academic and practical aspects of a teacher education course in order to promote deep understanding of children's ways of understanding mathematics. The assessment regime of the course was used as a strategic tool for engaging students, and the assessment tasks themselves were used as the means of generating genuine integration, or case knowledge, of the content of the course. The results indicate that the approach was effective in achieving the aims of the course, and student reaction to the approach was extremely positive.

Integration of an internet-driven supply chain for a medium-size e-commerce company

This research aimed at discovering the benefits and challenges of integration across a company's e-supply chain. The research involved a single case study of an Australian e-commerce company. In our work, we first formed a framework of benefits and challenges for e-supply chain integration, which was based on the beliefs held by management consultants. After conducting interviews with various organisational stakeholders of an e-commerce company, we found that although some of the elicited opinions matched those expressed by consultants, others provided their refinement in respect to a medium size, rapidly evolving, start-up company. We also discovered challenges, seemingly ignored by the consultants, which concerned changing market conditions and limited economies of scale perceived as seriously impeding SCM integration. Also, the ability to develop and maintain scalable and effective information systems was found to impact the capacity to integrate services across the e-supply chain. The case study's single most important contribution was to bring to our attention the importance of organisational and environmental maturity in the strategic planning of the supply chain management process.

Global branding and strategic CSR : an overview of three types of complexity

Purpose – There is general agreement that global brands should ensure that they incorporate social responsibility. To do this properly, organisations must understand what it means to be socially responsible and how they can leverage their actions. The paper proposes consideration of three distinct areas: the range of social responsibility issues, what the organisations actually do and how to leverage those corporate social responsibility (CSR) actions. This paper seeks to conceptually develop these three areas of complexity – Issue, Organisational and Communication – as it is only after organisations understand these three areas that they can effectively leverage socially responsible activities in their brands.

Design/methodology/approach – This research undertakes a review and synthesis of the academic, practitioner and industry literature examining CSR and the brand, addressing the three areas of complexity – issue, organisational and communication.

Findings – The research finds that within these three areas of complexity there are a number of sub-issues that must be addressed if CSR is to be strategically integrated into a global brand. This includes sub-issues associated with social issue complexity (identification, heterogeneity, measurement, and interpretation); organizational complexity (overall corporate brand, multiple products and brands, functional activities, and supply chain); and communication complexity (intensity of action/positioning, communicating action, types of programs utilised, and integration issues.) It thus provides an agenda for future research.

Research limitations/implications – There is limited academic literature examining how global organisations incorporate CSR activities into their brand and the research proposes the issues that need to be considered when integrating CSR into branding strategy. Future research needs to be undertaken to explore the internal processes that global firms use to develop their CSR positioning strategies and some research propositions for future research are proposed. Additionally further exploration of each of the issues (and sub-issues) identified in this paper is warranted, and some suggestions are made for this.

Practical implications – The results of this study show that developing a CSR leveraged brand in a consistent way that is salient to all stakeholders is no simple task for global organisations. By considering the three areas of complexity developed here organisations will be able to better understand and align their activities in line with CSR related issues. Being global means that organisations will likely need to ensure they address the highest set of global expectations, as any lower level may be criticised as being less than appropriate.

Originality/value – The paper develops the sub-issues of issue, organisational and communication complexity associated with global brands' CSR activities. This strategic perspective goes beyond focusing on the tactical activities undertaken or the philosophical issue of whether CSR should be undertaken. The work therefore allows global organisations to look at CSR more strategically as a branding issue.

Strategic design guidance on tall buildings in the Arab region

Globally, there has been enhanced media -and public interest in tall buildings following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York. In the Arab region, tall buildings have also become an important topic of debate. The Middle East is set to grow significantly over the next two decades. Soaring population and jobs growth will increase demands for the better use of residential and commercial office space. This is a vital issue for the growth in the economy of the region. The number of construction sites for tall buildings in the Arab world is staggering when compared to European developments. A statistical review of tall buildings has shown for example that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by the year 2010 will outnumber UK and Germany together in the number of 30+ floors buildings by reaching (446 UAE) compared to [243 UK(130) + Germany(113)]. Today high buildings are considered flagship developments not only in the Arab World but also worldwide that play an important part in regeneration. Tall buildings are likely to continue to be relevant to the master planning of areas with good public transport access and capacity. A successful tall building must adhere to a set of clear urban design guidelines that affect the following areas: edges, use, public space, urban integration and environmental factors. This paper addresses this issue. The challenge for architects, urban designers, and planners in the Arab world is to provide the right type and quality of new space and new place that won't undermine the question of identity. The paper explores the nature of tall buildings in the Arab region and provides examples of the positive and negative transformation of the urban environments in a number of locales. The paper concludes by drawing some guidelines for future development of tall buildings in the Arab World.

Marketing research and customer analytics : interfunctional knowledge integration

The Customer Analytics (CA) function is increasingly leveraged for Customer Relationship Management (CRM), however it may lack the value of marketing knowledge available from the Marketing Research (MR) function due to inadequate interfunctional knowledge integration. This paper develops a set of sixteen propositions from a synthesis of the marketing and knowledge management literatures relating key organisational influences on the integration of knowledge between the MR and CA functions. A range of strategic, cultural, structural and technical influences is reflected by the propositions. It is planned to test the propositions in future empirical research.

Integration of market research and customer analytics : a study of CRM manager perspectives

The study examined key relationships between two overlapping customer knowledge systems, Market Research (MR) and Customer Analytics (CA). Their integration can provide valuable new marketing insights. However a survey of 286 US CRM and CA managers showed that many companies do not fully integrate MR and CA. Organisations with a Prospector strategic orientation were more likely to integrate the two and judge the CA system a success. Trust between the two functions enhanced knowledge integration. This in turn was shown to make a strong contribution to the value of CA and a modest indirect contribution to firm success.

Challenges of international design chain integration and cultural diversity : organisational reflexive capability

Increasingly project teams on international mega projects are composed of multiple partners from different countries forming joint ventures to achieve a higher level of strategic flexibility. Establishing and maintaining local business networks are critical to ensure the success of exporting firms. Firms who achieve competitive advantage in international markets and long term economic sustainability constantly adapt their business practices to achieve client satisfaction by a combination of self, market and project needs assessment. Successful firms ultimately achieve this in local markets but in international market this is intensified with the complexity of barriers grounded in cross-cultural contexts. The need for flexibility, adaptability and continual reassessment is enhanced as the market evolves in various localities. Reflexivity theory was used to develop a conceptual model to explain the way in which firms develop awareness, responsiveness and adaptability for long term success in diverse international markets. This paper summarizes the initial Australian study which developed the model grounded in empirical observations of design construction firms working on projects in developing countries and a second study of Malaysian firms which validated the model. The aim of this study was to develop a performance measurement framework for capabilities assessment of international collaborative partnerships. The study explored the joint venture partnerships between Australian and Malaysian property and construction professionals. Four Malaysian organizations were examined as case studies and two key activities of design management and knowledge management were analyzed in relation to social, cultural and intellectual capital transformation within the Reflexivity Capability Maturity Assessment Framework.

Strategic planning to build transformational preparedness : an application of enterprise architecture practice

Enterprises are continuously evolving systems; this evolution can be directed or emergent. Enterprise transformation has special aspects due to the enterprise being a socio-technical system whereupon evolution happens on the levels of individuals / humans / organisation, on the level of the technology and on the level of the Information Systems that integrates the activities performed by humans and by technology. Furthermore, changes are typically continuous, due partly to external factors and partly to strategic foresights. Either way, transformation needs to happen so that the enterprise can keep satisfying its objectives. An important transformation mechanism is to perform mergers or acquisitions (M&As). Interestingly, literature reveals that an unacceptably high percentage of M&As do not achieve the aimed objectives and (as we demonstrate) the success of such trajectory depends on several factors. This article proposes a methodology to overcome potential problems by making necessary anticipatory transformations opening up a possibility to perform M&As with a better chance of success.

Board strategic balance: an emerging sport governance theory

Despite the important role governing boards play in organisational life our understanding of their strategic function is limited. This paper embarks on theory development to explain the notion of board strategic capability and to identify the factors and their relationships influencing strategic capability of sport boards. This little-used construct, we argue, can guide future governance research. In reflecting on the extant literature from the nonprofit, for-profit and sport governance domains, we derived six distinct and central factors of board strategic capability: increasing contribution of volunteer board members ('will and skill'); board operational knowledge; board integrating regional entities into the governing role; board maintaining the monitoring and control function; board co-leading strategy development; and board co-leading integration of strategy into board processes. In considering the relationships between these six factors, we propose a theory of 'board strategic balance' that explains these influences in a holistic model. We conclude that the theory of board strategic capability is encapsulated by understanding how creating and maintaining . equilibrium in these roles and functions is managed by sport boards.