Managing healthcare quality using combined SWOT and the analytic process

Improving healthcare quality is a growing need of any society. Although various quality improvement projects are routinely deployed by the healthcare professional, they are characterised by a fragmented approach, i.e. they are not linked with the strategic intent of the organisation. This study introduces a framework which integrates all quality improvement projects with the strategic intent of the organisation. It first derives the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) matrix of the system with the involvement of the concerned stakeholders (clinical professional), which helps identify a few projects, the implementation of which ensures achievement of desired quality. The projects are then prioritised using the analytic hierarchy process with the involvement of the concerned stakeholders (clinical professionals) and implemented in order to improve system performance. The effectiveness of the method has been demonstrated using a case study in the intensive care unit of Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Bridgetown, Barbados.

Re-engineering construction communication in distance management framework

In an exploding and fluctuating construction market, managers are facing a challenge, which is how to manage business on a wider scale and to utilize modern developments in information technology to promote productivity. The extraordinary development of telecommunications and computer technology makes it possible for people to plan, lead, control, organize and manage projects from a distance without the need to be on site on a daily basis. A modern management known as distance management (DM) or remote management is emerging. Physical distance no longer determines the boundary of management since managers can now operate projects through virtual teams that organize manpower, material and production without face-to-face communication. What organization prototype could overcome psychological and physical barriers to reengineer a successful project through information technology? What criteria distinguishes the adapted way of communication of individual activities in a teamwork and assist the integration of an efficient and effective communication between face-to-face and a physical distance? The entire methodology has been explained through a case application on refuse incineration plant projects in Taiwan.

Project risk management:a combined analytic hierarchy process and decision tree approach

Time, cost and quality achievements on large-scale construction projects are uncertain because of technological constraints, involvement of many stakeholders, long durations, large capital requirements and improper scope definitions. Projects that are exposed to such an uncertain environment can effectively be managed with the application of risk management throughout the project life cycle. Risk is by nature subjective. However, managing risk subjectively poses the danger of non-achievement of project goals. Moreover, risk analysis of the overall project also poses the danger of developing inappropriate responses. This article demonstrates a quantitative approach to construction risk management through an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and decision tree analysis. The entire project is classified to form a few work packages. With the involvement of project stakeholders, risky work packages are identified. As all the risk factors are identified, their effects are quantified by determining probability (using AHP) and severity (guess estimate). Various alternative responses are generated, listing the cost implications of mitigating the quantified risks. The expected monetary values are derived for each alternative in a decision tree framework and subsequent probability analysis helps to make the right decision in managing risks. In this article, the entire methodology is explained by using a case application of a cross-country petroleum pipeline project in India. The case study demonstrates the project management effectiveness of using AHP and DTA.

Towards an inter-organisational knowledge transfer framework for SMEs

This paper aims to develop a framework for SMEs to help them understand, and thus to improve, the process of knowledge exchange with their customers or suppliers. Through a review of the literature on knowledge transfer, organisational learning, social network theory and electronic networks, the key actors, key factors and their relationships in the process are identified. Finally, a framework containing all above points is proposed.

Applications of the behavioural homogeneity evaluation framework: the predictive ability of consumer involvement for international food market segmentation

This article proposes a framework of alternative international marketing strategies, based on the evaluation of intra- and inter-cultural behavioural homogeneity for market segmentation. The framework developed in this study provides a generic structure to behavioural homogeneity, proposing consumer involvement as a construct with unique predictive ability for international marketing strategy decisions. A model-based segmentation process, using structural equation models, is implemented to illustrate the application of the framework.

The practice and process of delivering integration through strategic planning

This paper explains how strategic planning is able to deliver strategic integration within organizations. While communication and participation within planning processes are perceived to have an integrative effect, we argue that these effects are unlikely to arise simply from bringing people together. Rather, we suggest that, given the varying interests of actors in different business units, integration will only arise from active negotiations and compromises between these actors. The paper is based upon a case of strategic planning in a multinational that was attempting to develop greater strategic integration across Europe. Drawing upon an activity theory framework, we examine how a common strategy emerges over time through modifications to the planning process and to different actors’ roles within it. The findings are used to develop a process model that shows how different business unit characteristics of planning experience and relative power shape different experiences of communication and participation activities and different processes for achieving integration. The paper concludes with a discussion of how this process model contributes to the literature on strategic planning, political processes of strategy-making, and strategy-as-practice.

A conceptual framework of accounting policy choice under SSAP 20

Purpose - To provide a framework of accounting policy choice associated with the timing of adoption of the UK Statement of Standard Accounting Practice (SSAP) No. 20, "Foreign Currency Translation". The conceptual framework describes the accounting policy choices that firms face in a setting that is influenced by: their financial characteristics; the flexible foreign exchange rates; and the stock market response to accounting decisions. Design/methodology/approach - Following the positive accounting theory context, this paper puts into a framework the motives and choices of UK firms with regard to the adoption or deferment of the adoption of SSAP 20. The paper utilises the theoretical and empirical findings of previous studies to form and substantiate the conceptual framework. Given the UK foreign exchange setting, the framework identifies the initial stage: lack of regulation and flexibility in financial reporting; the intermediate stage: accounting policy choice; and the final stage: accounting choice and policy review. Findings - There are situations where accounting regulation contrasts with the needs and business objectives of firms and vice-versa. Thus, firms may delay the adoption up to the point where the increase in political costs can just be tolerated. Overall, the study infers that firms might have chosen to defer the adoption of SSAP 20 until they reach a certain corporate goal, or the adverse impact (if any) of the accounting change on firms' financial numbers is minimal. Thus, the determination of the timing of the adoption is a matter which is subject to the objectives of the managers in association with the market and economic conditions. The paper suggests that the flexibility in financial reporting, which may enhance the scope for income-smoothing, can be mitigated by the appropriate standardisation of accounting practice. Research limitations/implications - First, the study encompassed a period when firms and investors were less sophisticated users of financial information. Second, it is difficult to ascertain the decisions that firms would have taken, had the pound appreciated over the period of adoption and had the firms incurred translation losses rather than translation gains. Originality/value - This paper is useful to accounting standards setters, professional accountants, academics and investors. The study can give the accounting standard-setting bodies useful information when they prepare a change in the accounting regulation or set an appropriate date for the implementation of an accounting standard. The paper provides significant insight about the behaviour of firms and the associated impacts of financial markets and regulation on the decision-making process of firms. The framework aims to assist the market and other authorities to reduce information asymmetry and to reinforce the efficiency of the market. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

A concise guide to market research:the process, data, and methods using IBM SPSS Statistics

This accessible, practice-oriented and compact text provides a hands-on introduction to the principles of market research. Using the market research process as a framework, the authors explain how to collect and describe the necessary data and present the most important and frequently used quantitative analysis techniques, such as ANOVA, regression analysis, factor analysis, and cluster analysis. An explanation is provided of the theoretical choices a market researcher has to make with regard to each technique, as well as how these are translated into actions in IBM SPSS Statistics. This includes a discussion of what the outputs mean and how they should be interpreted from a market research perspective. Each chapter concludes with a case study that illustrates the process based on real-world data. A comprehensive web appendix includes additional analysis techniques, datasets, video files and case studies. Several mobile tags in the text allow readers to quickly browse related web content using a mobile device.

An exploratory framework for analysing international retail learning

It is argued that international retail research has overlooked an essential component of the retail internationalization process, notably learning. This paper proposes an exploratory framework that enables the application of learning theory to the study of international retailing. The paper provides a meaningful starting point for developing an overarching framework which would represent one sort of re-conceptualization of the retail internationalization process, and arguably a new perspective for reinterpreting, re-evaluating and refining the existing literature on international retailing. Alongside this exploratory framework, we present a series of research propositions that might serve as an agenda for research into international retail learning. The paper concludes with a summary of the key themes and ways in which the area of international retail learning may be investigated.

Examining the strategy development process through the lens of complex adaptive systems theory

The development of strategy remains a debate for academics and a concern for practitioners. Published research has focused on producing models for strategy development and on studying how strategy is developed in organisations. The Operational Research literature has highlighted the importance of considering complexity within strategic decision making; but little has been done to link strategy development with complexity theories, despite organisations and organisational environments becoming increasingly more complex. We review the dominant streams of strategy development and complexity theories. Our theoretical investigation results in the first conceptual framework which links an established Strategic Operational Research model, the Strategy Development Process model, with complexity via Complex Adaptive Systems theory. We present preliminary findings from the use of this conceptual framework applied to a longitudinal, in-depth case study, to demonstrate the advantages of using this integrated conceptual model. Our research shows that the conceptual model proposed provides rich data and allows for a more holistic examination of the strategy development process. © 2012 Operational Research Society Ltd. All rights reserved.

An application of decision process modelling to manufacturing system design

As levels of investment in advanced manufacturing systems increase, effective project management becomes ever more critical. This paper demonstrates how the model proposed by Mintzberg, Raisinghani and Theoret in 1976, which structures complicated strategic decision processes, can be applied to the design of new production systems for both descriptive and analytical research purposes. This paper sets a detailed case study concerning the design and development of an advanced manufacturing system within the Mintzberg decision model and so breaks down the decision sequence into constituent parts. It thus shows how a structured model can provide a framework for the researcher who wishes to study decision episodes in the design of manufacturing facilities in greater depth.

A discussion of ethnographic research methods and their relevance for the translation process

In recent years, technologically advanced methodologies such as Translog have gained a lot of ground in translation process research. However, in this paper it will be argued that quantitative research methods can be supplemented by ethnographic qualitative ones so as to enhance our understanding of what underlies the translation process. Although translation studies scholars have sometimes applied an ethnographic approach to the study of translation, this paper offers a different perspective and considers the potential of ethnographic research methods for tapping cognitive and behavioural aspects of the translation process. A number of ethnographic principles are discussed and it is argued that process researchers aiming to understand translators’ perspectives and intentions, how these shape their behaviours, as well as how translators reflect on the situations they face and how they see themselves, would undoubtedly benefit from adopting an ethnographic framework for their studies on translation processes.

Development of real-time process control systems using formal techniques

A major application of computers has been to control physical processes in which the computer is embedded within some large physical process and is required to control concurrent physical processes. The main difficulty with these systems is their event-driven characteristics, which complicate their modelling and analysis. Although a number of researchers in the process system community have approached the problems of modelling and analysis of such systems, there is still a lack of standardised software development formalisms for the system (controller) development, particular at early stage of the system design cycle. This research forms part of a larger research programme which is concerned with the development of real-time process-control systems in which software is used to control concurrent physical processes. The general objective of the research in this thesis is to investigate the use of formal techniques in the analysis of such systems at their early stages of development, with a particular bias towards an application to high speed machinery. Specifically, the research aims to generate a standardised software development formalism for real-time process-control systems, particularly for software controller synthesis. In this research, a graphical modelling formalism called Sequential Function Chart (SFC), a variant of Grafcet, is examined. SFC, which is defined in the international standard IEC1131 as a graphical description language, has been used widely in industry and has achieved an acceptable level of maturity and acceptance. A comparative study between SFC and Petri nets is presented in this thesis. To overcome identified inaccuracies in the SFC, a formal definition of the firing rules for SFC is given. To provide a framework in which SFC models can be analysed formally, an extended time-related Petri net model for SFC is proposed and the transformation method is defined. The SFC notation lacks a systematic way of synthesising system models from the real world systems. Thus a standardised approach to the development of real-time process control systems is required such that the system (software) functional requirements can be identified, captured, analysed. A rule-based approach and a method called system behaviour driven method (SBDM) are proposed as a development formalism for real-time process-control systems.

Strategic development process and complex adaptive systems

The two areas of theory upon which this research was based were „strategy development process?(SDP) and „complex adaptive systems? (CAS), as part of complexity theory, focused on human social organisations. The literature reviewed showed that there is a paucity of empirical work and theory in the overlap of the two areas, providing an opportunity for contributions to knowledge in each area of theory, and for practitioners. An inductive approach was adopted for this research, in an effort to discover new insights to the focus area of study. It was undertaken from within an interpretivist paradigm, and based on a novel conceptual framework. The organisationally intimate nature of the research topic, and the researcher?s circumstances required a research design that was both in-depth and long term. The result was a single, exploratory, case study, which included use of data from 44 in-depth, semi-structured interviews, from 36 people, involving all the top management team members and significant other staff members; observations, rumour and grapevine (ORG) data; and archive data, over a 5½ year period (2005 – 2010). Findings confirm the validity of the conceptual framework, and that complex adaptive systems theory has potential to extend strategy development process theory. It has shown how and why the strategy process developed in the case study organisation by providing deeper insights to the behaviour of the people, their backgrounds, and interactions. Broad predictions of the „latent strategy development? process and some elements of the strategy content are also possible. Based on this research, it is possible to extend the utility of the SDP model by including peoples? behavioural characteristics within the organisation, via complex adaptive systems theory. Further research is recommended to test limits of the application of the conceptual framework and improve its efficacy with more organisations across a variety of sectors.

Supply chain performance measurement framework:case studies on the Thai manufacturers

One of the most significant paradigm shifts of modern business management is that individual businesses no longer compete as solely autonomous entities, but rather as supply chains. Firms worldwide have embraced the concept of supply chain management as important and sometimes critical to their business. The idea of a collaborative supply chain is to gain a competitive advantage by improving overall performance through measuring a holistic perspective of the supply chain. However, contemporary performance measurement theory is somewhat fragmented and fails to support this idea. Therefore, this research develops and applies an integrated supply chain performance measurement framework that provides a more holistic approach to the study of supply chain performance measurement by combining both supply chain macro processes and decision making levels. Therefore, the proposed framework can provide a balanced horizontal (cross-process) and vertical (hierarchical decision) view and measure the performance of the entire supply chain system. Firstly, literature on performance measurement frameworks and performance measurement factors of supply chain management will help to develop a conceptual framework. Next the proposed framework will be presented. The framework will be validated through in-depth interviews with three Thai manufacturing companies. The fieldwork combined varied sources in order to understand the views of manufacturers on supply chain performance in the three case study companies. The collected data were analyzed, interpreted, and reported using thematic analysis and analysis hierarchy process (AHP), which was influenced by the study’s conceptual framework. This research contributes a new theory of supply chain performance measurement and knowledge on supply chain characteristics of a developing country, Thailand. The research also affects organisations by preparing decision makers to make strategic, tactical and operational level decisions with respect to supply chain macro processes. The results from the case studies also indicate the similarities and differences in their supply chain performance. Furthermore, the implications of the study are offered for both academic and practical use.