Search results for: Project Success
1446 Differences in IT Effectiveness among Firms: An Empirical Investigation
Authors: Crystal X. Jiang, Tess Han, George J. Titus, Matthew J. Liberatore
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Information is a critical asset and an important source for gaining competitive advantage in firms. The effective maintenance of IT becomes an important task. In order to better understand the determinants of IT effectiveness, this study employs the Industrial Organization (I/O) and Resource Based View (RBV) theories and investigates the industry effect and several major firmspecific factors in relation to their impact on firms- IT effectiveness. The data consist of a panel data of ten-year observations of firms whose IT excellence had been recognized by the CIO Magazine. The non-profit organizations were deliberately excluded, as explained later. The results showed that the effectiveness of IT management varied significantly across industries. Industry also moderated the effects of firm demographic factors such as size and age on IT effectiveness. Surprisingly, R & D investment intensity had negative correlation to IT effectiveness. For managers and practitioners, this study offers some insights for evaluation criteria and expectation for IT project success. Finally, the empirical results indicate that the sustainability of IT effectiveness appears to be short in duration.
Keywords: Firm effect, industry effect, IT effectiveness, sustained IT effectiveness.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 13081445 Sustainability Assessment of a Deconstructed Residential House
Authors: Atiq U. Zaman, Juliet Arnott
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This paper analyses the various benefits and barriers of residential deconstruction in the context of environmental performance and circular economy based on a case study project in Christchurch, New Zealand. The case study project “Whole House Deconstruction” which aimed, firstly, to harvest materials from a residential house, secondly, to produce new products using the recovered materials, and thirdly, to organize an exhibition for the local public to promote awareness on resource conservation and sustainable deconstruction practices. Through a systematic deconstruction process, the project recovered around 12 tonnes of various construction materials, most of which would otherwise be disposed of to landfill in the traditional demolition approach. It is estimated that the deconstruction of a similar residential house could potentially prevent around 27,029 kg of carbon emission to the atmosphere by recovering and reusing the building materials. In addition, the project involved local designers to produce 400 artefacts using the recovered materials and to exhibit them to accelerate public awareness. The findings from this study suggest that the deconstruction project has significant environmental benefits, as well as social benefits by involving the local community and unemployed youth as a part of their professional skills development opportunities. However, the project faced a number of economic and institutional challenges. The study concludes that with proper economic models and appropriate institutional support a significant amount of construction and demolition waste can be reduced through a systematic deconstruction process. Traditionally, the greatest benefits from such projects are often ignored and remain unreported to wider audiences as most of the external and environmental costs have not been considered in the traditional linear economy.
Keywords: Circular economy, construction and demolition waste, resource recovery, systematic deconstruction, sustainable waste management.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 11041444 Identifying and Ranking Critical Success Factors for Implementing Leagile Manufacturing Industries Using Modified TOPSIS
Authors: Naveen Virmani, Rajeev Saha, Rajeshwar Sahai
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Leagile is combination of both lean and agile system. Lean is concerned with less of everything i.e. less material, less time, less space, less manpower to produce a product, while agile is concerned with quick respond to customer demand and to reconfigure the system as soon as possible to meet the customer expectations well on time. The market is excessively competitive, so there is a dire need for the companies to adopt new and modern technologies with latest equipments. It has been seen that implementation of leagile system become tedious so the purpose of the paper is to find critical success factors (CSF) affecting leagile manufacturing system using literature review and rank them by using modified TOPSIS (Technique of order preference by similarity to ideal solution) technique.
Keywords: Agile manufacturing, lean manufacturing, leagile manufacturing, modified TOPSIS.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 9851443 Multi-Sensor Target Tracking Using Ensemble Learning
Authors: Bhekisipho Twala, Mantepu Masetshaba, Ramapulana Nkoana
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Multiple classifier systems combine several individual classifiers to deliver a final classification decision. However, an increasingly controversial question is whether such systems can outperform the single best classifier, and if so, what form of multiple classifiers system yields the most significant benefit. Also, multi-target tracking detection using multiple sensors is an important research field in mobile techniques and military applications. In this paper, several multiple classifiers systems are evaluated in terms of their ability to predict a system’s failure or success for multi-sensor target tracking tasks. The Bristol Eden project dataset is utilised for this task. Experimental and simulation results show that the human activity identification system can fulfil requirements of target tracking due to improved sensors classification performances with multiple classifier systems constructed using boosting achieving higher accuracy rates.
Keywords: Single classifier, machine learning, ensemble learning, multi-sensor target tracking.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 5811442 Towards the Use of Renewable Energy Sources in the Home
Authors: Adriana Alexandru, Elena Jitaru, Rayner Mayer
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The paper presents the results of the European EIE project “Realising the potential for small scale renewable energy sources in the home – Kyotointhehome". The project's global aim is to inform and educate teachers, students and their families so that they can realise the need and can assess the potential for energy efficiency (EE) measures and renewable energy sources (RES) in their homes. The project resources were translated and trialled by 16 partners in 10 European countries. A web-based methodology which will enable families to assess how RES can be incorporated into energy efficient homes was accomplished. The web application “KYOTOINHOME" will help the citizens to identify what they can do to help their community meet the Kyoto target for greenhouse gas reductions and prevent global warming. This application provides useful information on how the citizens can use renewable energy sources in their home to provide space heating and cooling, hot water and electricity. A methodology for assessing heat loss in a dwelling and application of heat pump system was elaborated and will be implemented this year. For schools, we developed a set of practical activities concerned with preventing climate change through using renewable energy sources. Complementary resources will also developed in the Romanian research project “Romania Contribution to the European Targets Regarding the Development of Renewable Energy Sources" - PROMES.Keywords: Education, energy policy, Internet, renewable energy sources.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16941441 A Survey on Usage and Diffusion of Project Risk Management Techniques and Software Tools in the Construction Industry
Authors: Muhammad Jamaluddin Thaheem, Alberto De Marco
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The area of Project Risk Management (PRM) has been extensively researched, and the utilization of various tools and techniques for managing risk in several industries has been sufficiently reported. Formal and systematic PRM practices have been made available for the construction industry. Based on such body of knowledge, this paper tries to find out the global picture of PRM practices and approaches with the help of a survey to look into the usage of PRM techniques and diffusion of software tools, their level of maturity, and their usefulness in the construction sector. Results show that, despite existing techniques and tools, their usage is limited: software tools are used only by a minority of respondents and their cost is one of the largest hurdles in adoption. Finally, the paper provides some important guidelines for future research regarding quantitative risk analysis techniques and suggestions for PRM software tools development and improvement.Keywords: Construction industry, Project risk management, Software tools, Survey study.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 29611440 Cross Country Comparison: Business Process Management Maturity, Social Business Process Management and Organizational Culture
Authors: Dalia Suša Vugec
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In recent few decades, business process management (BPM) has been in focus of a great number of researchers and organizations. There are many benefits derived from the implementation of BPM in organizations. However, there has been also noticed that lately traditional BPM faces some difficulties in terms of the divide between models and their execution, lost innovations, lack of information fusioning and so on. As a result, there has been a new discipline, called social BPM, which incorporates principles of social software into the BPM. On the other hand, many researchers indicate organizational culture as a vital part of the BPM success and maturity. Therefore, the goal of this study is to investigate the current state of BPM maturity and the usage of social BPM among the organizations from Croatia, Slovenia and Austria, with the regards to the organizational culture as well. The paper presents the results of a survey conducted as part of the PROSPER project (IP-2014-09-3729), financed by Croatian Science Foundation. The results indicate differences in the level of BPM maturity, the usage of social BPM and the dominant organizational culture in the observed organizations from different countries. These differences are further discussed in the paper.
Keywords: Business process management, BPM maturity, organizational culture, social BPM.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 8311439 Building Information Modeling-Based Approach for Automatic Quantity Take-off and Cost Estimation
Authors: Lo Kar Yin, Law Ka Mei
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Architectural, engineering, construction and operations (AECO) industry practitioners have been well adapting to the dynamic construction market from the fundamental training of its disciplines. As further triggered by the pandemic since 2019, great steps are taken in virtual environment and the best collaboration is strived with project teams without boundaries. With adoption of Building Information Modeling-based approach and qualitative analysis, this paper is to review quantity take-off (QTO) and cost estimation process through modeling techniques in liaison with suppliers, fabricators, subcontractors, contractors, designers, consultants and services providers in the construction industry value chain for automatic project cost budgeting, project cost control and cost evaluation on design options of in-situ reinforced-concrete construction and Modular Integrated Construction (MiC) at design stage, variation of works and cash flow/spending analysis at construction stage as far as practicable, with a view to sharing the findings for enhancing mutual trust and co-operation among AECO industry practitioners. It is to foster development through a common prototype of design and build project delivery method in NEC4 Engineering and Construction Contract (ECC) Options A and C.
Keywords: Building Information Modeling, cost estimation, quantity take-off, modeling techniques.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 6811438 A Study on the Importance of Motivation among the Managers in Construction Companies in Medan
Authors: A.Marisa, Nor'Aini Yusof
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Managers as the key employees have a very important role in maintaining the workforce performance which is critical to the construction companies- success in the future. If motivated employees start with motivated managers probably it would seem plausible if the de-motivated ones start with de-motivated managers. This study aims to analyze the importance of motivated managers to their successes and construction companies- successes. In this study, a quantitative method was used and the study area was in Medan, North Sumatera. Questionnaire survey was distributed directly to construction companies in Medan which are listed in the Construction Services Development Board. A total of 60 managers responded and the completed questionnaires were analyzed using the descriptive analysis. The results indicated that the respondents acknowledge the importance of motivation among themselves to the projects and construction companies- success, implying that it is vital o maintain the motivation and good performance of the workforce.Keywords: construction companies, managers, motivation
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16981437 Necessity of using an Optimum Business Model in High-Tech Firms, Nanotechnology Case Study
Authors: Reza Davoodi, Jahangir Yadollahi Farsi, Roya Naseri
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In the way of growing and developing firms especially high-tech firms, on many occasions manager of firm is mainly involved in solving problems of his business and decision making about executive activities of the firm, while besides executive measures, attention to planning of firm's success and growth way and application of long experience and sagacity in designing business model are vital and necessary success in a business is achieved as a result of different factors, one of the most important of them is designing and performing an optimal business model at the beginning of the firm's work. This model is determining the limit of profitability achieved by innovation and gained value added. Therefore, business model is the process of connecting innovation environment and technology with economic environment and business and is important for succeeding modern businesses considering their traits.Keywords: Business Model (BM), Nanotechnology, High- TechFirms.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21641436 Learning Undergraduate Mathematics in a Discovery-Enriched Approach
Authors: Kam-moon Liu, Kwok-chi Chim, Kwok-wai Chung, Daniel Wing-cheong Ho
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Students often adopt routine practicing as learning strategy for mathematics. The reason is they are often bound and trained to solving conventional-typed questions in Mathematics in high school. This will be problematic if students further consolidate this practice in university. Therefore, the Department of Mathematics emphasized and integrated the Discovery-enriched approach in the undergraduate curriculum. This paper presents the details of implementing the Discovery-enriched Curriculum by providing adequate platform for project-learning, expertise for guidance and internship opportunities for students majoring in Mathematics. The Department also provided project-learning opportunities to mathematics courses targeted for students majoring in other science or engineering disciplines. The outcome is promising: the research ability and problem solving skills of students are enhanced.Keywords: Discovery-enriched curriculum, higher education, mathematics education, project learning.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18141435 Software Effort Estimation Using Soft Computing Techniques
Authors: Parvinder S. Sandhu, Porush Bassi, Amanpreet Singh Brar
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Various models have been derived by studying large number of completed software projects from various organizations and applications to explore how project sizes mapped into project effort. But, still there is a need to prediction accuracy of the models. As Neuro-fuzzy based system is able to approximate the non-linear function with more precision. So, Neuro-Fuzzy system is used as a soft computing approach to generate model by formulating the relationship based on its training. In this paper, Neuro-Fuzzy technique is used for software estimation modeling of on NASA software project data and performance of the developed models are compared with the Halstead, Walston-Felix, Bailey-Basili and Doty Models mentioned in the literature.
Keywords: Effort Estimation, Neural-Fuzzy Model, Halstead Model, Walston-Felix Model, Bailey-Basili Model, Doty Model.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20691434 A Review of Quality Relationship between IT Processes, IT Products and IT Services
Authors: Whee Yen Wong, Chan Wai Lee, Kim Yeow Tshai
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Producing IT products/services required carefully designed. IT development process is intangible and labour intensive. Making optimal use of available resources, both soft (knowledge, skill-set etc.) and hard (computer system, ancillary equipment etc.), is vital if IT development is to achieve sensible economical advantages. Apart from the norm of Project Life Cycle and System Development Life Cycle (SDLC), there is an urgent need to establish a general yet widely acceptable guideline on the most effective and efficient way to precede an IT project in the broader view of Product Life Cycle. The current paper proposes such a framework with two major areas of concern: (1) an integration of IT Products and IT Services within an existing IT Process architecture and; (2) how IT Product and IT Services are built into the framework of Product Life Cycle, Project Life Cycle and SDLC.Keywords: Mapping of Quality Relationship, IT Processes/IT Products/IT Services, Product Life Cycle, System Development Life Cycle.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21561433 Development of the Academic Model to Predict Student Success at VUT-FSASEC Using Decision Trees
Authors: Langa Hendrick Musawenkosi, Twala Bhekisipho
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The success or failure of students is a concern for every academic institution, college, university, governments and students themselves. Several approaches have been researched to address this concern. In this paper, a view is held that when a student enters a university or college or an academic institution, he or she enters an academic environment. The academic environment is unique concept used to develop the solution for making predictions effectively. This paper presents a model to determine the propensity of a student to succeed or fail in the French South African Schneider Electric Education Center (FSASEC) at the Vaal University of Technology (VUT). The Decision Tree algorithm is used to implement the model at FSASEC.
Keywords: Academic environment model, decision trees, FSASEC, K-nearest neighbor, machine learning, popularity index, support vector machine.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 11231432 Implementation of Intuitionistic Fuzzy Approach in Maximizing Net Present Value
Authors: Gaurav Kumar, Rakesh Kumar Bajaj
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The applicability of Net Present Value (NPV) in an investment project is becoming more and more popular in the field of engineering economics. The classical NPV methodology involves only the precise and accurate data of the investment project. In the present communication, we give a new mathematical model for NPV which uses the concept of intuitionistic fuzzy set theory. The proposed model is based on triangular intuitionistic fuzzy number, which may be known as Intuitionistic Fuzzy Net Present Value (IFNPV). The model has been applied to an example and the results are presented.
Keywords: Net Present Value, Intuitionistic Fuzzy Set, Investment Projects.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 25011431 Integration of LCA and BIM for Sustainable Construction
Authors: Laura Álvarez Antón, Joaquín Díaz
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The construction industry is turning towards sustainability. It is a well-known fact that sustainability is based on a balance between environmental, social and economic aspects. In order to achieve sustainability efficiently, these three criteria should be taken into account in the initial project phases, since that is when a project can be influenced most effectively. Thus the aim must be to integrate important tools like BIM and LCA at an early stage in order to make full use of their potential. With the synergies resulting from the integration of BIM and LCA, a wider approach to sustainability becomes possible, covering the three pillars of sustainability.
Keywords: Building Information Modeling (BIM), Construction Industry, Design Phase, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Sustainability.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 53941430 Logistics Support as a Key Success Factor in Gastronomy
Authors: Hanna Ziętara
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Gastronomy is one of the oldest forms of commercial activity. It is currently one of the most popular and still dynamically developing branches of business. Socio-economic changes, its widespread occurrence, new techniques or culinary styles affect the almost unlimited possibilities of its development. Importantly, regardless of the form of business adopted, foodservice is strongly related to logistics processes, and areas of foodservice that are closely linked to logistics are of strategic importance. Any inefficiency in logistics processes results in reduced chances for success and achieving competitive advantage by companies belonging to the catering industry. The aim of the paper is to identify the areas of logistic support, occurring in the catering business, and affecting the scope of the logistic processes implemented. The aim of the paper is implemented through a plural homogeneous approach, based on direct observation, text analysis of current documents, and in-depth free targeted interviews.
Keywords: Gastronomy, competitive advantage, logistics, logistics support.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 5351429 e-Collaborative Learning Circles
Authors: C. Ardil
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In this paper, we introduce an e-collaborative learning circles methodology which utilizes the information and communication technologies (ICTs) in e-educational processes. In e-collaborative learning circles methodology, the teachers and students announce their research projects on various mailing lists and discussion boards using available ICTs. The teachers & moderators and students who are already members of the e-forums, discuss the project proposals in their classrooms sent out by the potential global partner schools and return the requested feed back to the proposing school(s) about their level of the participation and contribution in the research. In general, an e-collaborative learning circle project is implemented with a small and diverse group (usually 8-10 participants) from around the world. The students meet regularly over a period of weeks/months through the ICTs during the ecollaborative learning process. When the project is completed, a project product (e-book / DVD) is prepared and sent to the circle members. In this research, when taking into account the interests and motivation of the participating students with the facilitating role of the teacher(s), the students in each circle do research to obtain new data and information, thus enabling them to have the opportunity to meet both different cultures and international understandings across the globe. However, while the participants communicate along with the members in the circle they also practice and develop their communication language skills. Finally, teachers and students find the possibility to develop their skills in using the ICTs as well.
Keywords: Distance Education, Online Learning, Web BasedLearning, Learning Circles, e-Collaborative Learning Circles
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16831428 User Satisfaction Issues in ERP Projects
Authors: Shahin Dezdar
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Over the past few years, companies in developing countries have implemented enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Regardless of the various benefits of the ERP system, its adoption and implementation have not been without problems. Many companies have assigned considerable organizational resources to their ERP projects, but have encountered unexpected challenges. Neglecting a number of important factors in ERP projects might lead to failure instead of success. User satisfaction is among those factors that has a major influence on ERP implementation success. So, this paper intends to investigate the key factors that create ERP users- satisfaction and to discover whether ERP users- satisfaction varies among different users- profiles. The study was conducted using a survey questionnaire which was distributed to ERP users in Iranian organizations. A total of 384 responses were collected and analyzed. The findings indicated that younger ERP users tend to be more satisfied with ERP systems. Furthermore, ERP users with more experiences in IT and also more educated users have more satisfaction with ERP softwares. However, the study found no satisfaction differences between men and women users.Keywords: ERP, Enterprise resource planning, User satisfaction, Iran, Developing country
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 29791427 Study on Crater Detection Using FLDA
Authors: Yoshiaki Takeda, Norifumi Aoyama, Takahiro Tanaami, Syouhei Honda, Kenta Tabata, Hiroyuki Kamata
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In this paper, we validate crater detection in moon surface image using FLDA. This proposal assumes that it is applied to SLIM (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon) project aiming at the pin-point landing to the moon surface. The point where the lander should land is judged by the position relations of the craters obtained via camera, so the real-time image processing becomes important element. Besides, in the SLIM project, 400kg-class lander is assumed, therefore, high-performance computers for image processing cannot be equipped. We are studying various crater detection methods such as Haar-Like features, LBP, and PCA. And we think these methods are appropriate to the project, however, to identify the unlearned images obtained by actual is insufficient. In this paper, we examine the crater detection using FLDA, and compare with the conventional methods.
Keywords: Crater Detection, Fisher Linear Discriminant Analysis , Haar-Like Feature, Image Processing.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17201426 Emotion Recognition Using Neural Network: A Comparative Study
Authors: Nermine Ahmed Hendy, Hania Farag
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Emotion recognition is an important research field that finds lots of applications nowadays. This work emphasizes on recognizing different emotions from speech signal. The extracted features are related to statistics of pitch, formants, and energy contours, as well as spectral, perceptual and temporal features, jitter, and shimmer. The Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) was chosen as the classifier. Working on finding a robust and fast ANN classifier suitable for different real life application is our concern. Several experiments were carried out on different ANN to investigate the different factors that impact the classification success rate. Using a database containing 7 different emotions, it will be shown that with a proper and careful adjustment of features format, training data sorting, number of features selected and even the ANN type and architecture used, a success rate of 85% or even more can be achieved without increasing the system complicity and the computation time
Keywords: Classification, emotion recognition, features extraction, feature selection, neural network
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 46811425 The Concept of an Agile Enterprise Research Model
Authors: Maja Sajdak
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The aim of this paper is to present the concept of an agile enterprise model and to initiate discussion on the research assumptions of the model presented. The implementation of the research project "The agility of enterprises in the process of adapting to the environment and its changes" began in August 2014 and is planned to last three years. The article has the form of a work-inprogress paper which aims to verify and initiate a debate over the proposed research model. In the literature there are very few publications relating to research into agility; it can be concluded that the most controversial issue in this regard is the method of measuring agility. In previous studies the operationalization of agility was often fragmentary, focusing only on selected areas of agility, for example manufacturing, or analysing only selected sectors. As a result the measures created to date can only be treated as contributory to the development of precise measurement tools. This research project aims to fill a cognitive gap in the literature with regard to the conceptualization and operationalization of an agile company. Thus, the original contribution of the author of this project is the construction of a theoretical model that integrates manufacturing agility (consisting mainly in adaptation to the environment) and strategic agility (based on proactive measures). The author of this research project is primarily interested in the attributes of an agile enterprise which indicate that the company is able to rapidly adapt to changing circumstances and behave pro-actively.Keywords: Agile company, acuity, entrepreneurship, flexibility, research model, strategic leadership.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 24781424 Payment Problems, Cash Flow and Profitability of Construction Project: A System Dynamics Model
Authors: Wenhua Hou, Xing Liu, Deqiang Chen
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The ubiquitous payment problems within construction industry of China are notoriously hard to be resolved, thus lead to a series of impacts to the industry chain. Among of them, the most direct result is affecting the normal operation of contractors negatively. A wealth of research has already discussed reasons of the payment problems by introducing a number of possible improvement strategies. But the causalities of these problems are still far from harsh reality. In this paper, the authors propose a model for cash flow system of construction projects by introducing System Dynamics techniques to explore causal facets of the payment problem. The effects of payment arrears on both cash flow and profitability of project are simulated into four scenarios by using data from real projects. Simulating results show visible clues to help contractors quantitatively determining the consequences for the construction project that arise from payment delay.Keywords: payment problems, cash flow, profitability, system dynamics.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 27171423 Sustainable Balanced Scorecard for Kaizen Evaluation: Comparative Study between Egypt and Japan
Authors: Ola I. S. El Dardery, Ismail Gomaa, Adel R. M. Rayan, Ghada El Khayat, Sara H. Sabry
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Continuous improvement activities are becoming a key organizational success factor; those improvement activities include but are not limited to kaizen, six sigma, lean production, and continuous improvement projects. Kaizen is a Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement by making small incremental changes to improve an organization’s performance, reduce costs, reduce delay time, reduce waste in production, etc. This research aims at proposing a measuring system for kaizen activities from a sustainable balanced scorecard perspective. A survey was developed and disseminated among kaizen experts in both Egypt and Japan with the purpose of allocating key performance indicators for both kaizen process (critical success factors) and result (kaizen benefits) into the five sustainable balanced scorecard perspectives. This research contributes to the extant literature by presenting a kaizen measurement of both kaizen process and results that will illuminate the benefits of using kaizen. Also, the presented measurement can help in the sustainability of kaizen implementation across various sectors and industries. Thus, grasping the full benefits of kaizen implementation will contribute to the spread of kaizen understanding and practice. Also, this research provides insights on the social and cultural differences that would influence the kaizen success. Determining the combination of the proper kaizen measures could be used by any industry, whether service or manufacturing for better kaizen activities measurement. The comparison between Japanese implementation of kaizen, as the pioneers of continuous improvement, and Egyptian implementation will help recommending better practices of kaizen in Egypt and contributing to the 2030 sustainable development goals. The study results reveal that there is no significant difference in allocating kaizen benefits between Egypt and Japan. However, with regard to the critical success factors some differences appeared reflecting the social differences and understanding between both countries, a single integrated measurement was reached between the Egyptian and Japanese allocation highlighting the Japanese experts’ opinion as the ultimate criterion for selection.
Keywords: continuous improvements, kaizen, performance, sustainable balanced scorecard
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 6131422 Collaborative Document Evaluation: An Alternative Approach to Classic Peer Review
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Research papers are usually evaluated via peer review. However, peer review has limitations in evaluating research papers. In this paper, Scienstein and the new idea of 'collaborative document evaluation' are presented. Scienstein is a project to evaluate scientific papers collaboratively based on ratings, links, annotations and classifications by the scientific community using the internet. In this paper, critical success factors of collaborative document evaluation are analyzed. That is the scientists- motivation to participate as reviewers, the reviewers- competence and the reviewers- trustworthiness. It is shown that if these factors are ensured, collaborative document evaluation may prove to be a more objective, faster and less resource intensive approach to scientific document evaluation in comparison to the classical peer review process. It is shown that additional advantages exist as collaborative document evaluation supports interdisciplinary work, allows continuous post-publishing quality assessments and enables the implementation of academic recommendation engines. In the long term, it seems possible that collaborative document evaluation will successively substitute peer review and decrease the need for journals.Keywords: Peer Review, Alternative, Collaboration, Document Evaluation, Rating, Annotations.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14781421 Impact of Strategic Emotional Intelligence to Transformational Leadership of Managers: A Case Study
Authors: L. N. A. C. Jayawardena, Ales Gregar
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Emotional Intelligence (EI) has been identified as an important factor for corporate success. However, there are few empirical findings on the impact of Strategic EI per se. The ooverall objective of the study was to empirically examine the relationship between the Strategic EI and Transformational Leadership style of managers. Sixty four managers were selected from the banking industry in Czech Republic. Genos EI Inventory, and the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire – Form 5X-Short were employed as the major research instruments of the study. Descriptive and inferential analyses of survey data were conducted using SPSS software. Variations were observed among the components of Strategic EI between males, and females. Study concludes positive a relationship between Strategic EI of Czech managers and their transformational leadership style. Improving awareness and usage of EI, will contribute to facilitate career success through enhanced levels of transformational leadership of managers.
Keywords: Strategic Emotional Intelligence, Transformational leadership, Socio-demographic factors.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 25481420 Determinants for Success in Expatriation of Malaysian International Corporations
Authors: Senian Malie, Oriah Akir
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Malaysian corporations going global increased many folds. The shift from domestic to international operations requires increased expatriation to achieve global business goals. Therefore, this study aims to identify the determinants for success in expatriation of Malaysian international corporations. There are certain attributes necessary for a global employee to succeed in international assignment. Self-administered questionnaires were sent to 327 respondents with a response rate of 35.2 percent. The results indicated that most Malaysian manufacturers are involved in expatriation. For a global employee to succeed in an international assignment, the ability to work in international teams was identified and ranked as the most important factor in determining the effectiveness of expatriation followed by language proficiency, adaptability to the international assignment and expatriate sensitivity to cultural elements. The results support previous research with regard to the importance of an effective expatriation selection process in order for a company-s international expansion strategy to succeed.Keywords: Key Competencies, Expatriate, Expatriation, Globalization, and International Assignment
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 25521419 A Study on the Planning Criteria of Block-Unit Redevelopment to Improve Residential Environment - Focused on Redevelopment Project in Seoul -
Authors: Hong-Nam Choi, Hyeong-Wook Song, Sungwan Hong, Hong-Kyu Kim
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In Korea, elements that decide the quality of residential environment are not only diverse, but show deviation as well. However, people do not consider these elements and instead, they try to settle the uniformed style of residential environment, which focuses on the construction development of apartment housing and business based plans. Recently, block-unit redevelopment is becoming the standout alternative plan of standardize redevelopment projects, but constructions become inefficient because of indefinite planning criteria.
In conclusion, the following research is about analyzing and categorizing the development method and legal ground of redevelopment project district and plan determinant and applicable standard; the purpose of this study is to become a basis in compatible analysis of planning standards that will happen in the future.
Keywords: Shape Restrictions, Improvement of Reagulation, Diversity of Residential Environment, Classification of Redevelopment Project, Planning Criteria of Redevelopment, Special Architectural District (SAD).
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 13131418 Lean Implementation: An Investigation in Successfully Adopting a Lean Philosophy
Authors: P. Ahern, D. Collery
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The implementation of lean thinking in the manufacturing industry revolutionized the traditional approach to large-scale production through the process of identifying the waste in each task and putting in place mitigation measures to eliminate the waste in all its forms. The Irish construction industry, however, has been much slower to adopt the principles of lean, opting instead to stick with the traditional approach to construction project delivery which is inherently wasteful. Lean thinking holds the potential to revolutionize the construction industry in a similar manner to the adoption of lean manufacturing. Lean principles present opportunities for reduced project duration, reduced project cost, improved quality, and elimination of re-works and non-value-added activities. This research has been designed to accumulate research data through available literature, electronic surveys, and interviews. The results show an industry reluctant to accept change and an undefined path to successful lean construction implementation.
Keywords: Barriers, lean construction, lean implementation, lean manufacturing, lean philosophy.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2331417 Application of Seismic Isolators in Kutahya City Hospital Project Utilizing Double Friction Pendulum Type Devices
Authors: Kaan Yamanturk, Cihan Dogruoz
Abstract:
Seismic isolators have been utilized around the world to protect the structures, nonstructural components and contents from the damaging effects of earthquakes. In Structural Engineering, seismic isolation is used for protecting buildings and its vibration-sensitive contents from earthquakes. Seismic isolation is a passive control system that lowers effective earthquake forces by utilizing flexible bearings. One of the most significant isolation systems is seismic isolators. In this paper, double pendulum type Teflon coated seismic isolators utilized in a city hospital project by Guris Construction and Engineering Co. Inc, located in Kutahya, Turkey, have been investigated. Totally, 498 seismic isolators were applied in the project. These isolators are double friction pendulum type seismic isolation devices. The review of current practices is also examined in this study. The focus of this study is related to the application of passive seismic isolation systems for buildings as practiced in Kutahya City Hospital Project. Based on the study, the acceleration at the top floor will be 0.18 g and it will decrease 0.01 g in every floor. Therefore, seismic isolators are very important for buildings located in earthquake zones.
Keywords: Maximum considered earthquake, moment resisting frame, seismic isolator, seismic design.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 657