Suchergebnisse

Although introducing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) to an organization has enormous benefits, it may entail new hazardous challenges if it cannot be well managed. This research focuses on the critical ERP success factors from a case study involving the Esfahan Steel Company, which started ERP implementation in September 2002. An in-depth research of ERP implementation processes and the level of adhering to five chosen ERP critical success factors—project management, top management supports, business process reengineering, and change management and Training—are conducted. Research results revealed that the five critical success factors (CSFs) are highly interdependent and the strengths and weaknesses of each have influenced the quality of ERP implementation to a large extent.

The concept of human resources engineering is introduced, which is the process of using human skill resources as factors in design trade-off studies. The development of the military's response to human resources needs in systems is traced from the reacting phase, through the current predicting phase, to a possible future phase involving some degree of control. The implementation of the control phase will require a human resources engineering technology. The establishing of such a technology will require research in the areas of data structuring, methods for relating data to design and life cycle costing, and computerized banks of human resources data.

The Implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems require huge investments while ineffective implementations of such projects are commonly observed. A considerable number of these projects have been reported to fail or take longer than it was initially planned, while previous studies show that the aim of rapid implementation of such projects has not been successful and the failure of the fundamental goals in these projects have imposed huge amounts of costs on investors. Some of the major consequences are the reduction in demand for such products and the introduction of further skepticism to the managers and investors of ERP systems. In this regard, it is important to understand the factors determining success or failure of ERP implementation. The aim of this paper is to study the critical success factors (CSFs) in implementing ERP systems and to develop a conceptual model which can serve as a basis for ERP project managers. These critical success factors that are called "core critical success factors" are extracted from 62 published papers using the content analysis and the entropy method. The proposed conceptual model has been verified in the context of five multinational companies.

Solwayo Ngwenya1–3 1Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Mpilo Central Hospital, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe; 2Royal Women's Clinic, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe; 3Medical School, National University of Science and Technology, Matabeleland, Zimbabwe Background: Primary postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is defined as blood loss from the genital tract of 500 mL or more following a normal vaginal delivery (NVD) or 1,000 mL or more following a cesarean section within 24 hours of birth. PPH contributes significantly to maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide. Women can rapidly hemorrhage and die soon after giving birth. It can be a devastating outcome to many young families. Women giving birth in low-resource settings are at a higher risk of death than their counterparts in resource-rich environments. PPH is a leading cause of maternal deaths globally, contributing to a quarter of the deaths annually. Aims: This study aims 1) to document the incidence, risk factors, and causes of PPH in a low-resource setting and 2) to document the maternal outcomes of PPH in low-resource setting. Methods: This was a retrospective descriptive cohort study carried out at Mpilo Central Hospital, a tertiary referral government hospital in a low-resource setting in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Data were obtained from the labor ward birth registers for patients who had a diagnosis of PPH during the period from January 1, 2016 to June 30, 2016. The case notes were retrieved and the demographic, clinical, and outcome data were gathered. Blood loss was estimated postdelivery by the attending clinician – either a midwife or a doctor. At this maternity unit, blood loss is not measured but estimated owing to prevailing resource constraints. The SPSS Version 21 statistical tool was used to calculate the mean and standard deviation (SD) values. Simple statistical tests were used on absolute numbers to calculate percentages. Results: There were 4,567 deliveries at the institution during the period from January 1, 2016 to June 30, 2016. There were 74 cases of PPH during the study period. The incidence of primary PPH was 1.6%. The mean age was 27.7 years (SD ±6.9), mean gestational age was 38.6 weeks gestation (SD ±2.2), and mean birth weight was 3.16 kg (SD ±0.65) for the studied group of patients. Three-quarters (75.7%) of the cases had NVD. The majority of the cases (77.0%) had an identifiable risk factor for developing primary PPH. The most identifiable risk factor for primary PPH was pregnancy-induced hypertension followed by prolonged labor. Uterine atony was the most common cause of postpartum hemorrhage (82.4%). The women who delivered by NVD, who were diagnosed with a PPH, and who lost an estimated 500–1,000 mL of blood were 73.2%; 25% lost 1,000–1,500 mL of blood, and 1.8% lost more than 1,500 mL of blood. The women who delivered by lower-segment cesarean section, who were diagnosed with a PPH, and who lost an estimated 1,000–1,500 mL of blood were 77.8%, and 22.2% bled an estimated 1,500 mL of blood or more. The majority of the cases of primary PPH (94.6%) survived the condition and 5.4% died. Conclusion: The incidence of PPH at Mpilo Central Hospital was 1.6% during the study period, lower than that reported elsewhere in similar setting in the literature. This study, therefore, is important as it documents for the first time for this maternity unit and for a Zimbabwean setting, the incidence of one of the most important causes of global maternal deaths. Future studies should involve the effect on maternal outcomes of PPH following widespread introduction of misoprostol therapy into practice. This data can help in mobilizing global efforts to improve women's health. Keywords: causes, uterotonics, avoidable deaths, maternal outcomes, low-resource settings

This article is based on research that explored how well protective factors are understood, assessed and used in risk assessment within probation practice. The research was facilitated by the Sir Graham Smith Award, administered by the Probation Institute. Semi-structured interviews explored the knowledge, ability, confidence and attitudes of a sample of probation officers working in the National Probation Service. The findings suggest that understanding of the term is varied, and there are some limitations around knowledge, but that attitudes towards protective factors are positive and there is some good practice in terms of assessment.

Although using some of the same organizational and financial factors examined by prior researchers to build and test models that explain factors influencing change in the general fund unreserved balance for smaller, rural, and less affluent counties in Mississippi, the rationale of this study is to build additional support that applying the recommended 5–15 percent savings benchmark across all jurisdictions is not a sufficient guide. Overall, Mississippi counties maintain unreserved fund balances ranging from a negative balance to over one hundred percent of their current expenditures. Counties also increase reserves during times of relative resource abundance and decrease them during relative resource scarcity. Moreover, they tend to address short‐term needs and resident demands when revenues are plentiful. During relative resource scarcity, however, they are more cost‐conscious and focus on maintaining rather than expanding current expenditures. This research shows that counties using the Beat system, a political form of government, are more likely to behave more frugally than counties using a Unit system, an administrative form of government.

Land resource management includes three interrelated levels: national, district and commune. The purpose and basic objectives are: state land policy implementation, legislation and regulations in force, effective implementation of measures to protect soil cover, to maintain ecological balance and biological diversity in ecosystems of the Republic of Moldova. The soil cover quality on the most agricultural land is unfavorable, and on some land - critical. Continue to expand the area affected by erosion and landslides, dehumification processes, damage of structure and compaction, sodium enrichment, salinization and soil swampy, drought intensified. Land management in the Republic of Moldova should be a process of development and implementation system of organizational, economic and administrative levers. They would allow regulation and development the forecast of quality land status; develop recommendations on the rational use of land, combating soil degradation processes and long-term preservation of agricultural production capacity. Basic information for proper management of land resources must become computerized information system of the state of soil quality.

A framework was developed for incorporating human factors (those which concern human well-being and quality of human life) along with technical and economic factors into the water-resources planning-decision process. Initially, 388 water-resources concepts from the human domain were collected, screened, and grouped to define 42 different factors. Then, from ratings of similarity-dissimilarity by 300 raters, a matrix was generated of mean distances between all 861 possible factor pairs; the matrix was analyzed by computer-based multidimensional scaling techniques to determine the underlying dimensional structure. Finally, using procedures that paralleled those for determining factor similarity-dissimilarity, a value reflecting social importance was developed for each of the 42 factors and for the 5 basic dimensions which emerged from the multidimensional analysis. These values were found to cover a wide range; however, values for the same factors and dimensions were found to be nearly identical among different subgroups of people, even those with potentially divergent viewpoints, such as behavioral scientists and water-works professionals.

Experiences in establishing small locally financed industries in rural regions of underdeveloped countries are discussed from the point of view of the entrepreneur. It is suggested that such development can be replicated in any of dozens of underdeveloped countries by sufficiently talented and thoughtful teams of engineers, economists and businessmen from the developed countries, who would also teach local counterparts to take over and carry on after a few years.