Trust, alliance management capability and the alliance management function: A comparative analysis of Portuguese SMEs

Strategic alliances represent a key driver for internationalization and growth, being the purpose of this work project to better understand the intertwined relationship between trust and the existence of an alliance management position. Previous research supports the positive impact of such position in stock market returns. However, little attention has been given to the impact of such position on the level of trust in the collaborative arrangement, which is deemed to be a key driver for alliance success. A qualitative comparative case-study of three Portuguese SMEs is used to draw conclusions from the literature to real life business cases and it demonstrates the positive impact of an alliance management position on trust.

The role of alliance capabilities in alliance portfolio management

The question of why some firms perform better in managing their alliances has raised interest among scholars and managers. Whereas inter-firm factors influencing the alliance performance such as strategic fit between partners and the existence of complementarities have been studied extensively, research on firm-level antecedents is rather scarce. Therefore this study investigates the role of firm’s alliance capability in the alliance success equation. Particularly it analyses the specialized mechanisms and processes set up by firm in order to facilitate alliancerelated know-how leverage organization-wise. Evidence from a cross-industry sample of R&D intensive Finnish companies supports the fact that firms which have invested in institutionalizing alliance capabilities outperform their counterparts in alliance portfolio management. Results also suggest that firms need to adjust alliance management tools depending on the alliance portfolio size, prior experience with inter-firm partnerships and the strategic importance of alliances. Furthermore, absorptive capacity is found to be crucial for successful alliance management, its role being complementary to that of alliance capability. Finally, firms that have successful alliances also enjoy higher financial, market and innovation performance.

Lean Product Management – Enhancing Product Managers' Ability to Create Value

The purpose of this master’s thesis was to study the opportunity to apply Lean practices to product management function which happens in an office environment. Since product management plays an important role in the company’s success story, it’s important to have it functioning as effectively as possible. The goal was to find those Lean tools and methods that fit the best to the needs of product management. The research was conducted as a qualitative action research which comprises a comprehensive literature review and a single case study. Theoretical information about Lean Thinking and product management was collected from articles, literature and Internet sources. Moreover, empirical data was collected by conducting interviews in the Case Company’s product management department in order to gain an in-depth understanding of product management’s problematics. The results indicate that most of the product management challenges could be overcome by applying Lean practises. Based on the usability rate, which has been discussed in the empirical part of this study, the most suitable Lean practises for product management function are: value stream mapping, Kanban and KPIs.

Personnel Management Practices in the Kerala based Scheduled commercial Banks

The thesis entitled Personnel Management Practices in the Kerala-Based Scheduled Commercial Banks. Personnel management function is of cardinal importance, requiring a sophisticated and scientific approach. In a labour-intensive, service industry like banking. Productivity and ultimate profitability of the entire organization depend considerably on the effectiveness with which personnel management function is executed; and the prudence with which personnel problems are handle. The main objectives of the study are to understand the current status of personnel management functions in the banks and to evaluate the practices in the light of the principles and theories of personnel management so as to identify the strengths and weaknesses. The universe of this study is the eight Scheduled Commercial Banks based in Kerala. The major limitation of the study is that as State Bank of Travancore, the lone public sector bank based in Kerala did not grant permission for collection of data, this study had to be confined to private sector banks only. Almost the entire data used for this study are primary and were collected from the files and other records or the concerned banks. This report has chapters dealing with the functional areas of personnel management such as determination of human resource requirements, recruitment and selection, training and development, performance appraisal, promotions and compensation. Findings reveal that the practice of personnel management in the Kerala-based private sector scheduled commercial banks has not gained a degree of sophistication compatible with its role in modern business management.

Quality management and competitiveness: the diffusion of the ISO 9000 standards in Latin America and recommendations for government strategies

Includes bibliography

Reengineering helps improve materials procurement in Indian oil refinery

The materials management function is always a major concern to the management of any organisation as high inventory and inefficient procurement processes have a significant effect on profitability. The problems multiply in the face of a very dynamic business environment, as is the present case in India. Hence, the existing system of materials planning, procurement processes and inventory management require reviewing with respect to the changed business environment. This study shows a radical improvement in materials procurement function of an Indian petroleum refinery through Business Process Reengineering (BPR) by analysing current process, identifying key issues, deriving paradigm shifts and developing reengineered processes through customer value analysis. BPR has been carried out on existing processes of 'material planning and procurement' and 'warehousing and surplus disposal'. The reengineered processes for the materials management function triggered several improvement projects that were identified by the group of executives who took part in the reengineering exercise. Those projects were implemented in an integrated framework, with the application of state of the art information technology tools and building partnership alliance among all stakeholders. Considerable improvements in overall functions of the organisation are observed, along with financial benefits. Copyright © 2006 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Re-engineering materials management: a case study on an Indian refinery

Materials management function is always a major concern to the management of any industrial organisation as high inventory and an inefficient procurement process affect the profitability to a great extent. Problems multiply due to a very current business environment in India. Hence, existing materials planning and procurement processes and inventory management systems require a re-look with respect to a changing business environment. This study shows a radical improvement in materials management function of an Indian petroleum refinery through business process re-engineering (BPR) by analysing current processes, identifying key issues, deriving paradigm shifts and developing re-engineered processes through customer value analysis. BPR has been carried out on existing processes of “materials planning and procurement” and “warehousing and surplus disposal”. The re-engineered processes for materials management function trigger a few improvement projects that were identified by the group of executives who took part in the re-engineering exercise. Those projects were implemented in an integrated framework with the application of the state of art information technology tools.

Virtual manufacturing:a study of some important issues relating to the transformation of traditional manufacturing organisations

This thesis starts with a literature review, outlining the major issues identified in the literature concerning virtual manufacturing enterprise (VME) transformation. Then it details the research methodology used – a systematic approach for empirical research. next, based on the conceptual framework proposed, this thesis builds three modules to form a reference model, with the purpose of clarifying the important issues relevant to transforming a traditional manufacturing company into a VME. The first module proposes a mechanism of VME transformation – operating along the VME metabolism. The second module builds a management function within a VME to ensure a proper operation of the mechanism. This function helps identify six areas as closely related to VME transformation: lean manufacturing; competency protection; internal operation performance measurement; alliance performance measurement; knowledge management; alliance decision making. The third module continues and proposes an alliance performance measurement system which includes 14 categories of performance indicators. An analysis template for alliance decision making is also proposed and integrated into the first module. To validate these three modules, 7 manufacturing organisations (5 in China and 2 in the UK) were investigated, and these field case studies are analysed in this thesis. The evidence found in these organisations, together with the evidence collected from the literature, including both researcher views and literature case studies, provide support for triangulation evidence. In addition, this thesis identifies the strength and weakness patterns of the manufacturing companies within the theoretical niche of this research, and clarifies the relationships among some major research areas from the perspective of virtual manufacturing. Finally, the research findings are summarised, as well as their theoretical and practical implications. Research limitations and recommendations for future work conclude this thesis.

Competitive edge through operations management

A view has emerged within manufacturing and service organizations that the operations management function can hold the key to achieving competitive edge. This has recently been emphasized by the demands for greater variety and higher quality which must be set against a background of increasing cost of resources. As nations' trade barriers are progressively lowered and removed, so producers of goods and service products are becoming more exposed to competition that may come from virtually anywhere around the world. To simply survive in this climate many organizations have found it necessary to improve their manufacturing or service delivery systems. To become real ''winners'' some have adopted a strategic approach to operations and completely reviewed and restructured their approach to production system design and operations planning and control. The articles in this issue of the International journal of Operations & Production Management have been selected to illustrate current thinking and practice in relation to this situation. They are all based on papers presented to the Sixth International Conference of the Operations Management Association-UK which was held at Aston University in June 1991. The theme of the conference was "Achieving Competitive Edge" and authors from 15 countries around the world contributed to more than 80 presented papers. Within this special issue five topic areas are addressed with two articles relating to each. The topics are: strategic management of operations; managing change; production system design; production control; and service operations. Under strategic management of operations De Toni, Filippini and Forza propose a conceptual model which considers the performance of an operating system as a source of competitive advantage through the ''operation value chain'' of design, purchasing, production and distribution. Their model is set within the context of the tendency towards globalization. New's article is somewhat in contrast to the more fashionable literature on operations strategy. It challenges the validity of the current idea of ''world-class manufacturing'' and, instead, urges a reconsideration of the view that strategic ''trade-offs'' are necessary to achieve a competitive edge. The importance of managing change has for some time been recognized within the field of organization studies but its relevance in operations management is now being realized. Berger considers the use of "organization design", ''sociotechnical systems'' and change strategies and contrasts these with the more recent idea of the ''dialogue perspective''. A tentative model is suggested to improve the analysis of different strategies in a situation specific context. Neely and Wilson look at an essential prerequisite if change is to be effected in an efficient way, namely product goal congruence. Using a case study as its basis, their article suggests a method of measuring goal congruence as a means of identifying the extent to which key performance criteria relating to quality, time, cost and flexibility are understood within an organization. The two articles on production systems design represent important contributions to the debate on flexible production organization and autonomous group working. Rosander uses the results from cases to test the applicability of ''flow groups'' as the optimal way of organizing batch production. Schuring also examines cases to determine the reasons behind the adoption of ''autonomous work groups'' in The Netherlands and Sweden. Both these contributions help to provide a greater understanding of the production philosophies which have emerged as alternatives to more conventional systems -------for intermittent and continuous production. The production control articles are both concerned with the concepts of ''push'' and ''pull'' which are the two broad approaches to material planning and control. Hirakawa, Hoshino and Katayama have developed a hybrid model, suitable for multistage manufacturing processes, which combines the benefits of both systems. They discuss the theoretical arguments in support of the system and illustrate its performance with numerical studies. Slack and Correa's concern is with the flexibility characteristics of push and pull material planning and control systems. They use the case of two plants using the different systems to compare their performance within a number of predefined flexibility types. The two final contributions on service operations are complementary. The article by Voss really relates to manufacturing but examines the application of service industry concepts within the UK manufacturing sector. His studies in a number of companies support the idea of the ''service factory'' and offer a new perspective for manufacturing. Harvey's contribution by contrast, is concerned with the application of operations management principles in the delivery of professional services. Using the case of social-service provision in Canada, it demonstrates how concepts such as ''just-in-time'' can be used to improve service performance. The ten articles in this special issue of the journal address a wide range of issues and situations. Their common aspect is that, together, they demonstrate the extent to which competitiveness can be improved via the application of operations management concepts and techniques.

Integrated approach to materials management:a case study

The materials management function is always a major concern to management of any industrial organization, since high inventory and an inefficient procurement process significantly affect profitability. Problems multiply due to the current dynamic business environment in many countries. Hence, existing materials planning and procurement process and inventory management systems require a review. This article shows a radical improvement in the materials management function for an Indian petroleum refinery through business process re-engineering (BPR) by analyzing the current process, identifying key issues, deriving paradigm shifts and developing re-engineered processes through customer value analysis. BPR has been carried out on the existing processes of "material planning and procurement" and "warehousing and surplus disposal.

The paradoxes of risk management in the banking sector

This paper uses empirical evidence to examine the operational dynamics and paradoxical nature of risk management systems in the banking sector. It demonstrates how a core paradox of market versus regulatory demands and an accompanying variety of performance, learning and belonging paradoxes underlie evident tensions in the interaction between front and back office staff in banks. Organisational responses to such paradoxes are found to range from passive to proactive, reflecting differing organisational, departmental and individual risk culture(s), and performance management systems. Nonetheless, a common feature of regulatory initiatives designed to secure a more structurally independent risk management function is that they have failed to rectify a critical imbalance of power - with the back office control functions continuing to be dominated by front office trading and investment functions. Ultimately, viewing the 'core' of risk management systems as a series of connected paradoxes rather than a set of assured, robust practices, requires a fundamental switch in emphasis away from a normative, standards-based approach to risk management to one which gives greater recognition to its behavioural dimensions.

HOLDING HANDS WHILE PARTING WAYS: EXAMINING ALLIANCE TREATY RENEGOTIATION

This study investigates the renegotiation of security alliances, specifically the structural conditions surrounding their revision. Although the field of international relations offers a rich discussion of the formation and violation of alliance treaties, few scholars have addressed the reasons why alliance members amend security obligations. After the formation of an alliance, a member may become dissatisfied owing to changes in the external and domestic security environments. A failure to address this discontent increases the risk of alliance breakdown. Members manage their alliance relationship through a negotiation process or intra-alliance bargaining in the search for a new arrangement that can endure. Factors that help to show commitment to the alliance and communicate a set of feasible solutions are crucial if members are to find a mutually acceptable arrangement. By taking these factors into account, allies are more likely to revise an existing treaty. Examining a set of bilateral alliances dating from 1945 to 2001, this research demonstrates that public requests for renegotiation compel allies to change the status quo. It is found that alliance-related fixed assets and the formation of external alliances increase the likelihood of treaty revision, though institutionalization of an alliance does not help to resolve interest divergence. In addition, this study examines the strategy of delay in intra-alliance bargaining. Allies may postpone a dispute by ignoring it while working to maintain the alliance. Tension among allies thus increases, but the alliance endures. I examine three alliances in order to illustrate this renegotiation process. Among these, the Anglo-Japanese alliance demonstrates two successful renegotiations that prolonged a wavering alliance relationship; the Sino-Soviet alliance is an example of failure owing to the lack of substantive cooperation; and the US-Taiwan alliance during the 1970s demonstrates successful use of a strategy of delay that appeases a dissatisfied member.

O agir cotidiano dos gestores da Estratégia Saúde da Família em um município do Espírito Santo

O Sistema único de Saúde (SUS) pode ser considerado uma das maiores conquistas sociais consagradas na Constituição de 1988, representando a materialização de uma nova concepção acerca da saúde no Brasil. As diretrizes do SUS são importantes instrumentos indutores de mudanças e modernização da gestão, incluindo aspectos relativos à organização da assistência, como sua humanização e também a busca de maiores níveis de desempenho e responsabilidade institucional para com os resultados alcançados. Diversos autores tem se debruçado sobre o tema gestão, porém, qual o modelo de gestão que conseguiria combinar um papel ativo, de liderança e de coordenação para gestores com autonomia? Este estudo objetiva analisar a prática da gestão nos serviços de saúde do município de Itapemirim/ES, buscando compreender as múltiplas e complexas dimensões que orientam essa prática, tendo como principal fonte as entrevistas de seus gestores. O município adota uma política de gestão participativa na saúde com várias instâncias formais e pratica um investimento em saúde acima do preconizado pela Constituição Federal o que permite um investimento em estruturação e oferta de serviços públicos. Do ponto de vista metodológico, o estudo adota a abordagem qualitativa através de entrevistas semiestruturadas, focalizando a gestão como um mundo social e expressão dos processos presentes nas organizações e que atravessam os relatos coletados. Foram entrevistados três gestores, sendo esses, Secretário Municipal de Saúde, Diretora da Atenção Primária em Saúde e Coordenadora de Estratégia Saúde da Família do município de Itapemirim. A análise do material empírico teve como um de seus eixos o estudo do percurso profissional dos gestores, especialmente os processos que os levaram à função de gestão. A contingência marca essas trajetórias que se desenrolam em um contexto em que, em alguns dos casos, percebe-se que não existe qualquer exigência quanto à formação de gestão. Outro eixo abordado são as práticas de gestão onde são examinados os sentidos que o exercício da função de gestor tem para os sujeitos, como também as suas estratégias de trabalho, planejamento e ferramentas de uso. O exame das práticas de gestão norteia-se pela análise das possibilidades e limites para desencadear processos de mudança. Os depoimentos apontam as características dessas experiências de gestão, que procuram construir condições para processos de mudança, seja através das experiências anteriores desses gestores ou das estratégias de trabalho e do sistema de gestão articulado que procuram desenvolver. Os projetos profissionais dos gestores entrevistadas vão claramente se definindo no âmbito da gestão: se veem, não mais como profissionais de sua área de formação original (enfermeiro, farmacêutico ou cirurgião dentista), mas acima de tudo como gestores, alimentados pelo reconhecimento de suas capacidades de mobilização e de desenvolvimento de mudanças relativas a outras realizações no campo da gestão.

The European challenge of KMN and innovation: a skills and competence portfolio for knowledge worker in SME's

Versão editor: http://www.isegi.unl.pt/docentes/acorreia/documentos/European_Challenge_KM_Innovation_2004.pdf

The European challenge of KM and innovation: a skills and competence portfolio for the knowledge worker in SME's

This chapter appears in Innovations of Knowledge Management edited by Montano, D. Copyright 2004, IGI Global, www.igi-global.com. Posted by permission of the publisher.