Information integration and its impacts on logistics performance - Using information technology and systems to facilitate information integration

Fast changing environment sets pressure on firms to share large amount of information with their customers and suppliers. The terms information integration and information sharing are essential for facilitating a smooth flow of information throughout the supply chain, and the terms are used interchangeably in research literature. By integrating and sharing information, firms want to improve their logistics performance. Firms share information with their suppliers and customers by using traditional communication methods (telephone, fax, Email, written and face-to-face contacts) and by using advanced or modern communication methods such as electronic data interchange (EDI), enterprise resource planning (ERP), web-based procurement systems, electronic trading systems and web portals. Adopting new ways of using IT is one important resource for staying competitive on the rapidly changing market (Saeed et al. 2005, 387), and an information system that provides people the information they need for performing their work, will support company performance (Boddy et al. 2005, 26). The purpose of this research has been to test and understand the relationship between information integration with key suppliers and/or customers and a firm’s logistics performance, especially when information technology (IT) and information systems (IS) are used for integrating information. Quantitative and qualitative research methods have been used to perform the research. Special attention has been paid to the scope, level and direction of information integration (Van Donk & van der Vaart 2005a). In addition, the four elements of integration (Jahre & Fabbe-Costes 2008) are closely tied to the frame of reference. The elements are integration of flows, integration of processes and activities, integration of information technologies and systems and integration of actors. The study found that information integration has a low positive relationship to operational performance and a medium positive relationship to strategic performance. The potential performance improvements found in this study vary from efficiency, delivery and quality improvements (operational) to profit, profitability or customer satisfaction improvements (strategic). The results indicate that although information integration has an impact on a firm’s logistics performance, all performance improvements have not been achieved. This study also found that the use of IT and IS have a mediocre positive relationship to information integration. Almost all case companies agreed on that the use of IT and IS could facilitate information integration and improve their logistics performance. The case companies felt that an implementation of a web portal or a data bank would benefit them - enhance their performance and increase information integration.

THE ROLE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN CREATING SUSTAINABILITY VALUE FOR FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS IN 2020 : a scenario planning approach

The growing importance of global sustainability issues has been causing many changes to the financial services industry. Facts such as climate change, social development and the financial crisis in 2008 have been making banks reconsider the manner that they consider environmental, social and economic factors in their decision-making process. At the same time, information technology (IT) has been transforming the financial service industry and its fast development has casted doubts on the way it should be managed within an organization. This current changing environment brings a number of uncertainties to the future that cannot be addressed using traditional forecasting techniques. This research investigates how IT can bring value to sustainability in the financial service industry in 2020. Through the use of a scenario planning technique, we analyzed how trends in the current environment (considering the relation between sustainability, financial institutions an IT) can lead to four different future scenarios. Then, we discussed how IT can improve a bank’s sustainability performance, considering the limitations of each scenario.

Learning information technology business in a changing industry landscape. Introducing Team Entrepreneurship in Renewing Bachelor Education in Renewing Bachelor Education in Information

Speed, uncertainty and complexity are increasing in the business world all the time. When knowledge and skills become quickly irrelevant, new challenges are set for information technology (IT) education. Meta-learning skills – learning how to learn rapidly - and innovation skills have become more essential than single technologies or other specific issues. The drastic changes in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector have caused a need to reconsider how IT Bachelor education in Universities of Applied Sciences should be organized and employed to cope with the change. The objective of the study was to evaluate how a new approach to IT Bachelor education, the ICT entrepreneurship study path (ICT-ESP) fits IT Bachelor education in a Finnish University of Applied Sciences. This kind of educational arrangement has not been employed elsewhere in the context of IT Bachelor education. The study presents the results of a four-year period during which IT Bachelor education was renewed in a Finnish University of Applied Sciences. The learning environment was organized into an ICT-ESP based on Nonaka’s knowledge theory and Kolb’s experiental learning. The IT students who studied in the ICT-ESP established a cooperative and learned ICT by running their cooperative at the University of Applied Sciences. The students (called team entrepreneurs) studied by reading theory in books and other sources of explicit information, doing projects for their customers, and reflecting in training sessions on what was learnt by doing and by studying the literature. Action research was used as the research strategy in this study. Empirical data was collected via theme-based interviews, direct observation, and participative observation. Grounded theory method was utilized in the data analysis and the theoretical sampling was used to guide the data collection. The context of the University of Applied Sciences provided a good basis for fostering team entrepreneurship. However, the results showed that the employment of the ICT-ESP did not fit into the IT Bachelor education well enough. The ICT-ESP was cognitively too tough for the team entrepreneurs because they had two different set of rules to follow in their studies. The conventional courses engaged lot of energy which should have been spent for professional development in the ICT-ESP. The amount of competencies needed in the ICT-ESP for professional development was greater than those needed for any other ways of studying. The team entrepreneurs needed to develop skills in ICT, leadership and self-leadership, team development and entrepreneurship skills. The entrepreneurship skills included skills on marketing and sales, brand development, productization, and business administration. Considering the three-year time the team entrepreneurs spent in the ICT-ESP, the challenges were remarkable. Changes to the organization of IT Bachelor education are also suggested in the study. At first, it should be admitted that the ICT-ESP produces IT Bachelors with a different set of competencies compared to the conventional way of educating IT Bachelors. Secondly, the number of courses on general topics in mathematics, physics, and languages for team entrepreneurs studying in the ICTESP should be reconsidered and the conventional course-based teaching of the topics should be reorganized to support the team coaching process of the team entrepreneurs with their practiceoriented projects. Third, the upcoming team entrepreneurs should be equipped with relevant information about the ICT-ESP and what it would require in practice to study as a team entrepreneur. Finally, the upcoming team entrepreneurs should be carefully selected before they start in the ICT-ESP to have a possibility to eliminate solo players and those who have a too romantic view of being a team entrepreneur. The results gained in the study provided answers to the original research questions and the objectives of the study were met. Even though the IT degree programme was terminated during the research process, the amount of qualitative data gathered made it possible to justify the interpretations done.

The use of information technology by the quantity surveying professionals in Hong Kong

This paper introduces the findings of a recent study on the use of information technology (IT) among the quantity surveying (QS) organisations in Hong Kong. The study was conducted through a structured questionnaire survey among 18 QS organisations registered in Hong Kong, representing around 53% of the total number of organisations in the profession. The data set generated from this study provided rich information about what information technology the QS profession used, what the perceived benefits and barriers experienced by the users in the industry were. The survey concluded that although IT had been widely used in QS organisations in Hong Kong, it is mainly used to support various individual tasks of the QS services at a basic level, rather than to streamline the production of QS services as a whole through automation. Most of the respondents agreed that IT plays an important role in the QS profession but they had not fully taken advantage of IT to improve their competitive edge in the market. They usually adopted a more passive “wait and see” approach. In addition, very few QS organisations in Hong Kong have a comprehensive policy in promoting the use of IT within the organisations. It is recommended that the QS profession must recognise the importance of IT and take appropriate actions to meet the challenges of ever-changing and competitive market place.

Information technology for development of small and medium-sized exporters in Latin America and East Asia

Includes bibliography

Supply Chain Management practices in the electro-electronics sector in Brazil: Evolutionary approach, information technology adoption and management actions

This paper examines the current level of adoption of Supply Chain Management (SCM) practices in the electro-electronic sector in Brazil and aims to identify the management and Information Technology (IT) actions that have been implemented to support the adoption of those practices. An e-mail survey was conducted. Descriptive statistics techniques were employed for data analysis. This study makes contributions to the electro-electronics sector and to the topics related to SCM, such as identifi cation and level of adoption of SCM practices. Another contribution of this research is the investigation of whether approaches such as Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP), Workshop with Customers, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), Workshop with Suppliers and electronic Kanban are commonly used to support SCM practices. So far, this is the fi rst research on SCM practices in the electro-electronics sector in Brazil. Copyright © 2012 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

The technical skills of information technology workers in Argentina

Includes bibliography

Fact Findings and Lessons Learned from the Comparative Study on Information Techonology (IT) Usage by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Latin America and Asia

ECLACs International Trade and Integration Division (DCII) will launch the book titled Information Technology for Development of Small and Medium-sized Exporters in Latin America and East Asia in the end of September 2005. The report provides an overview of the present condition of Information Technology (IT) and its use to promote international trade. It focuses on the experiences of IT usage by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Latin American and Asian-Pacific regions, with a special focus on SME exporters in the 13 researched countries, that were selected from the Forum for East Asia - Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) member countries. This issue of the FAL bulletin is produced based on the executive summary of the book.

Potential of information technology in dental education

The use of information technology (IT) in dentistry is far ranging. In order to produce a working document for the dental educator, this paper focuses on those methods where IT can assist in the education and competence development of dental students and dentists (e.g. e-learning, distance learning, simulations and computer-based assessment). Web pages and other information-gathering devices have become an essential part of our daily life, as they provide extensive information on all aspects of our society. This is mirrored in dental education where there are many different tools available, as listed in this report. IT offers added value to traditional teaching methods and examples are provided. In spite of the continuing debate on the learning effectiveness of e-learning applications, students request such approaches as an adjunct to the traditional delivery of learning materials. Faculty require support to enable them to effectively use the technology to the benefit of their students. This support should be provided by the institution and it is suggested that, where possible, institutions should appoint an e-learning champion with good interpersonal skills to support and encourage faculty change. From a global prospective, all students and faculty should have access to e-learning tools. This report encourages open access to e-learning material, platforms and programs. The quality of such learning materials must have well defined learning objectives and involve peer review to ensure content validity, accuracy, currency, the use of evidence-based data and the use of best practices. To ensure that the developers' intellectual rights are protected, the original content needs to be secure from unauthorized changes. Strategies and recommendations on how to improve the quality of e-learning are outlined. In the area of assessment, traditional examination schemes can be enriched by IT, whilst the Internet can provide many innovative approaches. Future trends in IT will evolve around improved uptake and access facilitated by the technology (hardware and software). The use of Web 2.0 shows considerable promise and this may have implications on a global level. For example, the one-laptop-per-child project is the best example of what Web 2.0 can do: minimal use of hardware to maximize use of the Internet structure. In essence, simple technology can overcome many of the barriers to learning. IT will always remain exciting, as it is always changing and the users, whether dental students, educators or patients are like chameleons adapting to the ever-changing landscape.

Professionalism and Information Technology: Positioning and Mediation

The starting point of this paper is the assumption that - on the one hand - information technology (IT) is increasingly shaping the professional knowledge base and on the other the relation between organisation and profession. IT is changing the role, responsibilities and practices of social workers and therefore it is important to deal with the impact of IT on social work (representative for many: Harlow and Webb 2003; Burton and van den Broek 2008). Hence, the general aim of this paper is to stimulate a basic discussion on “IT application in social work“, or rather, in a more general way, on „technology and professions“. Secondly, it is about an analytical differentiation of the process of informatisation, respectively formalisation. Thirdly we want to discuss the assumption and overall combination of efficiency, effectiveness and IT. Therefore this paper is arranged as follows: After some opening remarks (chapter 1) we outline case management systems as research object (2). Further on, we confront the approach of reflexive professionalism (3) with the process of formalization (4). Subsequently, we touch on the debate of “technologies of care” (5) and conclude with some short remarks on a research program (6).

Study to assess the compensation and skills of medical library professionals relative to information technology professionals*

Purpose: The study seeks to determine how medical library professionals performing information-technology (IT) roles are compensated and how their positions are designed compared to information technology staff in their institutions.

The influence of perceptions of social identity on information technology-enabled change

Growth in the sophistication of information technology (IT) has led to the increasing importance of information accessibility in the workplace. The pervasiveness of the resultant knowledge-based economy has centered attention on issues of employee group identity. In this article we explore how employee perceptions of group membership guide the change outcomes of an organization implementing new information technology. Using a social identity framework, we investigate the salient intergroup relationships of two groups of employees (management and IT implementation teams) and how employees use their different group memberships to reframe positions of authority or knowledge around technology change. We discuss the extent to which perceptions of social identity legitimate institutional structures already in place despite the potential of new technology.

Women, careers and information technology: An introduction

This special issue revisits the relationship between women, work and technology, focusing specifically on gender equity in information technology (IT) employment. Along with theoretical contestation over the broader relationship between gender and technology, arguments about the prospects for women in IT employment have ranged from optimistic to pessimistic extremes. On the one hand, optimists have envisaged a more gender-egalitarian workforce based on new occupations lacking traditional gender markers, and 'young' firms offering positive flexibilities and equal employment opportunity protections. On the other hand, pessimists anticipate that ongoing male dominance over tedmology and competitive pressures in the IT sector will ensure that the most prestigious and highly rewarded jobs remain concentrated in male hands, even as teclmologies and jobs are themselves transformed.

Managing risk in information technology projects

There are several studies on managing risks in information technology (IT) projects. Most of the studies identify and prioritise risks through empirical research in order to suggest mitigating measures. Although they are important to clients for future projects, these studies fail to provide any framework for risk management from IT developers' perspective. Although a few studies introduced a framework of risk management in IT projects, most of them are presented from clients' perspectives and very little effort has been made to integrate this with the project management cycle. As IT developers absorb a considerable amount of risk, an integrated framework for managing risks in IT projects from developers' perspective is needed in order to ensure success in IT projects. The main objective of the paper is to develop a risk management framework for IT projects from the developers' perspective. This study uses a combined qualitative and quantitative technique with the active involvement of stakeholders in order to identify, analyse and respond to risks. The entire methodology has been explained using a case study on an information technology project in a public sector organisation in Barbados.

Starting from Scratch: Creating an Information Technology Infrastructure for MEMS-Related Research and Development

Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) have already revolutionized several industries through miniaturization and cost effective manufacturing capabilities that were never possible before. However, commercially available MEMS products have only scratched the surface of the application areas where MEMS has potential. The complex and highly technical nature of MEMS research and development (R&D) combined with the lack of standards in areas such as design, fabrication and test methodologies, makes creating and supporting a MEMS R&D program a financial and technological challenge. A proper information technology (IT) infrastructure is the backbone of such research and is critical to its success. While the lack of standards and the general complexity in MEMS R&D makes it impossible to provide a “one size fits all” design, a systematic approach, combined with a good understanding of the MEMS R&D environment and the relevant computer-aided design tools, provides a way for the IT architect to develop an appropriate infrastructure.