AbstractBlockchain has the potential to become a significant source of disruptive innovations in business and management. There is a scarcity of knowledge and understanding of blockchain techniques that hinders its academic research and practical application. Business managers need to understand the potential impact and threat of blockchain applications in order to gain and maintain competitive advantage. Blockchain applications appear to offer considerable performance improvement and commercialization opportunities.
In: International journal of social ecology and sustainable development: IJSESD ; an official publication of the Information Resources Management Association, Band 6, Heft 3, S. 21-30
Green supply chain management and reverse logistics has emerged as a key area of research interest. Recent environmental regulations have also stimulated interest in this field. However, information sharing is a prerequisite to efficient and effective logistics utilisation. Manufacturing organisations in China were argued to be 10-20 years behind their Western counterparts in relation to information sharing in their supply chains (). This barrier needs to be addressed if China is going to maintain and grow its manufacturing position in the world, attempt to address green supply chain issues and their negative externalities. A systematic literature review was undertaken and green supply chain management theoretical framework adopted. The paper explores the perceptions of senior management toward green logistics and information sharing in Chinese electronic manufacturers. Previous research has concentrated on the focal companies (brand owners). This research concentrated on SME organisations further up the supply chain. Semi-structured interviews of eighteen senior managers of electronic manufactures in Jiangsu province China were conducted in 2012. Thematic analysis is applied and the findings contrasted to other research. The paper provides insight to the current status of managers' views on information sharing and green supply chain initiatives. Information platform, skills, investment, and trust emerged as key influences on their willing to engage in information sharing in relation to green supply chains. This research, among others, assists to inform policy for optimal evidence based intervention. Future research directions are also considered.
In: International journal of social ecology and sustainable development: IJSESD ; an official publication of the Information Resources Management Association, Band 6, Heft 3, S. 31-40
The issue of sustainability has attracted considerable attention over the last decade and has been accompanied by the development of stringent packaging material legislation for firms. Drawing on a single case approach, this paper examines the operational challenges faced by manufacturing SMEs as they strive to meet the expectations and requirements of increasingly demanding sustainable packaging regulations. The findings highlight the internal costs and complexities that are faced by manufacturing firms when complying with the regulations. It suggests that some firms may face financial and technical constraints that prevent them from reporting the significant efforts that they are making to improving packaging materials. More significantly it identifies the seemingly insurmountable problems that are faced by SMEs when confronted with powerful upstream or downstream supply chain partners that are resistant to improvement initiatives. This can result in organisations acting in a self-interested manner and consequently, the cumulative environmental impact of the supply chain is greater than it may be if organisations were more environmentally cooperative.
Using pattern comics, an approach to visualization offers an innovative way of making sense of the issue of strategic change, particularly as it concerns the domains of electronic business and electronic commerce.
System developers quickly acquire knowledge of the benefits and limitations of system development approaches and this knowledge enables them to adopt or adapt methodologies according to the scope and scale of projects.
The implementation of information technologies can cause disruption to the very fabric of the organizations in which they are employed, but they can also underpin initiatives to improve society at large.
The factors mentioned most frequently by the information system implementation teams as being critical to success were all issues pertaining to cultural rather than strategic management.
PurposeThis study aims to expand understanding of servant leadership beyond organisational boundaries by making an examination of its role in the establishment and growth of a social movement.Design/methodology/approachThis paper's findings are developed from four sequential, semi-structured interviews and a narrated tour of Garstang with the founder of the Fairtrade Towns (FTT) movement. It follows a theoretical framework of servant leadership (SLship) from Spears (1996; 2009). Evidence is gathered through in-depth investigation of the activities of Bruce Crowther, the architect and driving force behind the FTT initiative.FindingsThe findings discovered how SLship operates in a social, place-based setting to influence Fairtrade consumption. The paper argues the success of the FTT movement is linked to Bruce Crowther's leadership. The findings presented draw and expand upon Spears' ten characteristics of SLship. Utilisation of this framework sees Crowther emerge as a servant leader operating at a community level to influence FT consumption via the FTT movement.Originality/valueThe paper makes a contribution to theory by identifying the novel characteristic of servant leaders that is exploring affinity and proffers it as an extension of Spears' framework. It also provides valuable information about the impact and importance of SLship in the efficacious advance of ethical consumerism.
Purpose This paper aims to examine the factors that influence and collectively conspire to inhibit social enterprises' abilities to flourish in geographies of economic and social deprivation. Drawing upon the extant literature, it deploys a Delphi study to rank the relative importance of these factors.
Design/methodology/approach A two-round Delphi study has been used to assess the relative importance of the issues that beset social enterprises. The research panel consisted of owner-managers of nine social enterprises from South Wales (UK).
Findings The findings indicate that the prime challenge faced by social enterprise owner-managers is balancing their dual mission. The difficulties faced in delivering social value while remaining financially viable is one that appears to impinge upon the other strategic and operational challenges they face.
Research limitations/implications The generalizability of this study that utilizes expert insight is dependent upon the nature of the panel. In this instance, social enterprise owner-managers studied operated within a socially deprived region of the UK. The relative influence of the tensions that affect social enterprises in less impoverished areas of the UK or other geographies may well differ.
Originality/value Drawing upon the extant literature that examines the tensions that surround social enterprises, the prevailing factors are considered and ranked of significance. The resulting ranking provides a crystallised vantage point for policy and support. This could be used to better inform the allocation of resources to facilitate a favourable eco system capable of supporting social enterprises who operate in areas troubled by economic and social deprivation.
On‐site outsourcing can be an effective strategy for organizations but operational performance may be temporarily hindered and recovery from this can take many months.
On‐site outsourcing can be an effective strategy for organizations but operational performance may be temporarily hindered and recovery from this can take many months.This study explores an instance of outsourcing in an aerospace maintenance and repair operation (MRO) in South Wales, where the inbound materials handling and warehousing (IMHW) function has been wholly outsourced to a third‐party organization. In this respect the study is novel and sheds new light on the operational performance benefits of outsourcing.The host organization, located in South Wales, employs over 1000 staff and its annual turnover is in excess of £1 billion. The outsourcing organization is a provider of workforce solutions to organizations in aviation, defense, government, and technology sectors. After outsourcing the IMHW function, the host organization's staff were retained and re‐employed in other areas of the facility.Specifically, this study provides a quantitative analysis of the IMHW function, comparing the throughput and accuracy of the function before and after outsourcing. The analysis is made based on data extracted from the host organization's management information system (MIS), spanning the 13 months prior to, and 16 months post, the function being outsourced.Using trend analysis, correlation, and linear regression analysis it finds that on‐site outsourcing can deliver comparable operational performance, in terms of IMHW functional throughput and accuracy, to the host organization, and therefore be an effective strategy for organizations wishing to focus upon core competencies.It also highlights that operational performance can be severely hindered following functional outsourcing and that recovery from this can take many months. It postulates that preparation for functional handover, especially in the form of training and tacit knowledge exchange between host and outsourcing employees, requires careful planning to minimize disruptions and maximize operational benefits.The literature section begins by exploring the ...
AbstractCertain operational issues related to information technologies and staff training turn out to be particularly important for successful procurement practice in public emergency services.
Enabling the development of strategic procurement has long been recognized as contributing to an effective organization, but companies in both the public and private sector still seem to find it challenging, and there appears to be a systemic Cycle of Impotence.
