Systems between information and knowledge : In a memory management model of an extended enterprise

The research question of this thesis was how knowledge can be managed with information systems. Information systems can support but not replace knowledge management. Systems can mainly store epistemic organisational knowledge included in content, and process data and information. Certain value can be achieved by adding communication technology to systems. All communication, however, can not be managed. A new layer between communication and manageable information was named as knowformation. Knowledge management literature was surveyed, together with information species from philosophy, physics, communication theory, and information system science. Positivism, post-positivism, and critical theory were studied, but knowformation in extended organisational memory seemed to be socially constructed. A memory management model of an extended enterprise (M3.exe) and knowformation concept were findings from iterative case studies, covering data, information and knowledge management systems. The cases varied from groups towards extended organisation. Systems were investigated, and administrators, users (knowledge workers) and managers interviewed. The model building required alternative sets of data, information and knowledge, instead of using the traditional pyramid. Also the explicit-tacit dichotomy was reconsidered. As human knowledge is the final aim of all data and information in the systems, the distinction between management of information vs. management of people was harmonised. Information systems were classified as the core of organisational memory. The content of the systems is in practice between communication and presentation. Firstly, the epistemic criterion of knowledge is not required neither in the knowledge management literature, nor from the content of the systems. Secondly, systems deal mostly with containers, and the knowledge management literature with applied knowledge. Also the construction of reality based on the system content and communication supports the knowformation concept. Knowformation belongs to memory management model of an extended enterprise (M3.exe) that is divided into horizontal and vertical key dimensions. Vertically, processes deal with content that can be managed, whereas communication can be supported, mainly by infrastructure. Horizontally, the right hand side of the model contains systems, and the left hand side content, which should be independent from each other. A strategy based on the model was defined.

Structured engagement in the extended enterprise

Discusses the necessity for the conscious recognition of the phenomenon known as the extended enterprise; this demands that product, process and supply chain design are all considered simultaneously. Structure must be given to the extended enterprise in order to understand and manage it efficaciously. The authors discuss multiple perspectives for doing this, and employ the notions of “3-dimensional concurrent engineering” and “holonic thinking” for conceiving what the structure may look like. Describes a current “action research” project that is investigating potential lead-time reductions within an extended enterprise’s product introduction process. This aims to produce process visualisations, a framework for structuring and sychronising phases and stage-gates within the extended enterprise, and a new simulation tool which will provide a synthetic distributed hypermedia network. These deliverables will be used to play strategic “games” to explore problem issues within the product introduction process that belongs to the extended enterprise, develop teamwork across autonomous companies, and ultimately, contribute to the design of future extended enterprise supply chains.

Tourism Destination Management: A Collaborative Approach

Part 6: Engineering and Implementation of Collaborative Networks

Measuring and managing performance in extended enterprises

Purpose - The purpose of this research paper is to demonstrate how existing performance measurement may be adopted to measure and manage performance in extended enterprises. Design/methodology/approach - The paper reviews the literature in performance measurement and extended enterprises. It explains the collaborative architecture of an extended enterprise and demonstrates this architecture through a case study. A model for measuring and managing performance in extended enterprises is developed using the case study. Findings - The research found that due to structural differences between traditional and extended enterprises, the systems required to measure and manage the performance of extended enterprises, whilst being based upon existing performance measurement frameworks, would be structurally and operationally different. Based on this, a model for measuring and managing performance in extended enterprises is proposed which includes intrinsic and extrinsic inter-enterprise coordinating measures. Research limitations/implications - There are two limitations this research. First, the evidence is based on a single case, thus further cases should be studied to establish the generalisibility of the presented results. Second, the practical limitations of the EE performance measurement model should be established through longitudinal action research. Practical implications - In practice the model proposed requires collaborating organisations to be more open and share critical performance information with one another. This will require change in practices and attitudes. Originality/value - The main contribution this paper makes is that it highlights the structural differences between traditional and collaborative enterprises and specifies performance measurement and management requirements of these collaborative organisations. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Tool support for integrating extended enterprises

A current EPSRC project, product introduction process: a simulation in the extended enterprise (PIPSEE) is discussed. PIPSEE attempts to improve the execution of the product introduction process (PIP) within an extended enterprise in the aerospace sector. The modus operandi for accomplishing this has been to develop process understanding amongst a core team, spanning four different companies, through process modelling, review and improvement recommendation. In parallel, a web-based simulation capability is being used to conduct simulation experiments, and to disseminate findings by training others in the lessons that have been learned. It is intended that the use of the PIPSEE simulator should encourage radical thinking about the ‘fuzzy front end’ of the PIP. This presents a topical, exciting and challenging research problem.

Managing enterprise resource planning and multi-organisational enterprise governance:a new contingency framework for the enterprisation of operations

This research has been undertaken to determine how successful multi-organisational enterprise strategy is reliant on the correct type of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) information systems being used. However there appears to be a dearth of research as regards strategic alignment between ERP systems development and multi-organisational enterprise governance as guidelines and frameworks to assist practitioners in making decision for multi-organisational collaboration supported by different types of ERP systems are still missing from theoretical and empirical perspectives. This calls for this research which investigates ERP systems development and emerging practices in the management of multi-organisational enterprises (i.e. parts of companies working with parts of other companies to deliver complex product-service systems) and identify how different ERP systems fit into different multi-organisational enterprise structures, in order to achieve sustainable competitive success. An empirical inductive study was conducted using the Grounded Theory-based methodological approach based on successful manufacturing and service companies in the UK and China. This involved an initial pre-study literature review, data collection via 48 semi-structured interviews with 8 companies delivering complex products and services across organisational boundaries whilst adopting ERP systems to support their collaborative business strategies – 4 cases cover printing, semiconductor manufacturing, and parcel distribution industries in the UK and 4 cases cover crane manufacturing, concrete production, and banking industries in China in order to form a set of 29 tentative propositions that have been validated via a questionnaire receiving 116 responses from 16 companies. The research has resulted in the consolidation of the validated propositions into a novel concept referred to as the ‘Dynamic Enterprise Reference Grid for ERP’ (DERG-ERP) which draws from multiple theoretical perspectives. The core of the DERG-ERP concept is a contingency management framework which indicates that different multi-organisational enterprise paradigms and the supporting ERP information systems are not the result of different strategies, but are best considered part of a strategic continuum with the same overall business purpose of multi-organisational cooperation. At different times and circumstances in a partnership lifecycle firms may prefer particular multi-organisational enterprise structures and the use of different types of ERP systems to satisfy business requirements. Thus the DERG-ERP concept helps decision makers in selecting, managing and co-developing the most appropriate multi-organistional enterprise strategy and its corresponding ERP systems by drawing on core competence, expected competitiveness, and information systems strategic capabilities as the main contingency factors. Specifically, this research suggests that traditional ERP(I) systems are associated with Vertically Integrated Enterprise (VIE); whilst ERPIIsystems can be correlated to Extended Enterprise (EE) requirements and ERPIII systems can best support the operations of Virtual Enterprise (VE). The contribution of this thesis is threefold. Firstly, this work contributes to a gap in the extant literature about the best fit between ERP system types and multi-organisational enterprise structure types; and proposes a new contingency framework – the DERG-ERP, which can be used to explain how and why enterprise managers need to change and adapt their ERP information systems in response to changing business and operational requirements. Secondly, with respect to a priori theoretical models, the new DERG-ERP has furthered multi-organisational enterprise management thinking by incorporating information system strategy, rather than purely focusing on strategy, structural, and operational aspects of enterprise design and management. Simultaneously, the DERG-ERP makes theoretical contributions to the current IS Strategy Formulation Model which does not explicitly address multi-organisational enterprise governance. Thirdly, this research clarifies and emphasises the new concept and ideas of future ERP systems (referred to as ERPIII) that are inadequately covered in the extant literature. The novel DERG-ERP concept and its elements have also been applied to 8 empirical cases to serve as a practical guide for ERP vendors, information systems management, and operations managers hoping to grow and sustain their competitive advantage with respect to effective enterprise strategy, enterprise structures, and ERP systems use; referred to in this thesis as the “enterprisation of operations”.

Supply network integration in multi-organisational network systems

This paper explores supply network integration in complex product service systems involving close collaboration between primes. Four case study networks are studied (aerospace, naval, power and telecoms), each involving equipment manufacture and service provision. Factors that support network integration, identified from the literature and refined in the in-depth pilot case, were used to explore which processes support integration of the extended enterprise. Results suggests that a select set of processes support integration of the extended enterprise and that the absence of a shared view on these critical enabling processes results from contextual complexity of the network rather than from competing commercial interests. Copyright © 2011 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Creating and sustaining competitive advantage in collaborative systems:the what and the how

Initially this paper asks two questions: In order to create and sustain competitive advantage through collaborative systems WHAT should be managed? and HOW should it be managed? It introduces the competitive business structure and reviews some of the global trends in manufacturing and business, which leads to focus on manage processes, value propositions and extended business processes. It then goes on to develop a model of the collaborative architecture for extended enterprises and demonstrates the validity of this architecture through a case study. It concludes that, in order to create and sustain competitive advantage, collaborative systems should facilitate the management of: the collaborative architecture of the extended enterprise; the extended business processes and the value proposition for each extended enterprise through a meta level management process. It also identifies areas for further research, such as better understanding of: the exact nature and interaction of multiple strategies within an enterprise; how to manage people/teams working along extended business processes; and the nature and prerequisites of the manage processes.

Supply chain "mega-trends":current status and future trends

The supply chain management (SCM) concept has become embedded in the thinking of many organisations in recent years. Originally introduced by management consultants in the early 1980s, SCM has a strong focus on integration of processes across functions within firms, as well as between the organisations that comprise the wider extended enterprise. There is a significant body of research to support the notion that the consistent delivery of value to customers is predicated on higher levels of intra-firm and inter-firm integration. Putting the supply chain integration (SCI) concept into practice is critically dependent on the ability of firms to manage material, money and information flows in a holistic manner. It also depends on the way in which relationships between key supply chain actors are managed. This article explores the “mega-trends” that are evident across most sectors and which have a potentially significant impact on the ability of organisations to put SCM theory into practice. The late Don Bowersox and his colleagues from Michigan State University introduced the idea of supply chain “mega-trends” over a decade ago in their widely cited article in the Journal of Business Logistics (Bowersox et al., 2000). This article explores the current status of these “mega-trends” in an Irish context based on research being undertaken at the National Institute for Transport and Logistics (NITL). It also identifies some key factors that are likely to impact upon progress in these key areas in the medium term.

El periodismo deportivo condicionado por la gestión comunicativa de los clubes de fútbol: el caso del FC Barcelona

Las relaciones entre los gabinetes de Comunicación de los clubes de fútbol y los periodistas deportivos se enmarcan en el modelo de Gieber y Johnson (1961) por el que el hecho de que ambos compartan objetivos comunes, donde los gabinetes de Comunicación necesitan que los medios publiquen determinadas informaciones y los periodistas precisan de noticias que publicar, provoca una pérdida de independencia por parte de los periodistas, ya que necesitan a esos departamentos como fuentes. En la actualidad, los departamentos de Comunicación de los clubes de fútbol, como el del FC Barcelona, se han constituido en gatekeepers. Esto ha acentuado las históricas diferencias que existen entre los periodistas y los profesionales de la comunicación corporativa, incrementado por el control informativo de estos departamentos lo que provoca constantes tensiones entre ambos.

Modelo para formação dinâmica de rede de fornecedores em empresas estendidas

Supply chains have become an important focus for competitive advantage. The performance of a company increasingly depends on its ability to maintain effective and efficient relationships with its suppliers and customers. The extended enterprise (i.e. composed of several partners) needs to be dynamically formed in order to be agile and adaptable. According to the Digital Manufacturing paradigm, companies have to be able to quickly share and disseminate information regarding planning, designing and manufacturing of products. Additionally, they must be responsive to all technical and business determinants, as well as be assessed and certified for guaranteed performance. The current research intends to present a solution for the dynamic composition of the extended enterprise, formed to take advantage of market opportunities quickly and efficiently. A construction model was developed. This construction model consists of: information model, protocol model and process model. The information model has been defined based on the concepts of Supply Chain Operations Reference model (SCOR®). In this model is defined information for negotiating the participation of candidate companies in the dynamic establishment of a network for responding to a given demand for developing and manufacturing products, in seven steps as follows: request for information; request for qualification; alignment of strategy; request for proposal; request for quotation; compatibility of process; and compatibility of system. The protocol model has been elaborated and inspired in the OSI, this model provides a framework for linking customers and suppliers, indicates a sequence to be followed, in order to selecte companies to become suppliers. The process model has been implemented by means of process modeling according to the BPMN standard and, in turn, implemented as a web-based application that runs the process through its several steps, which uses forms to gather data. An application example in the context of the oil and gas industry is used for demonstrating the solution concept.

La disrupción: el punto de partida de la resiliencia o del fracaso empresarial (reflexiones desde la ingeniería)

La perdurabilidad empresarial ha sido un tema recurrente en la literatura sobre dirección de empresas. A pesar de los avances, la liquidación de las empresas aumenta permanentemente. Buscando alternativas de mejora se estudia el caso de dos empresas cuadragenarias dedicadas a prestar servicios de consultoría en ingeniería eléctrica y civil que, en condiciones de crisis, implementaron acciones que les permitieron, no sólo mantenerse en el mercado sino también fortalecer su estructura financiera. Los resultados demostraron que un enfoque equilibrado caracterizado por la toma oportuna de decisiones y la definición e implementación de estrategias de negocio efectivas constituyen herramientas óptimas para asegurar un mayor grado de resiliencia empresarial.