Search results for: Corporate strategic management

Authors: José M. Brotons, Manuel E. Sansalvador

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The relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and financial performance (FP) is a subject of great interest that has not yet been resolved. In this work, we have developed a new and original tool to measure this relation. The tool quantifies the value contributed to companies that are committed to CSR. The theoretical model used is the fuzzy discounted cash flow method. Two assumptions have been considered, the first, the company has implemented the IQNet SR10 certification, and the second, the company has not implemented that certification. For the first one, the growth rate used for the time horizon is the rate maintained by the company after obtaining the IQNet SR10 certificate. For the second one, both, the growth rates company prior to the implementation of the certification, and the evolution of the sector will be taken into account. By using triangular fuzzy numbers, it is possible to deal adequately with each company’s forecasts as well as the information corresponding to the sector. Once the annual growth rate of the sales is obtained, the profit and loss accounts are generated from the annual estimate sales. For the remaining elements of this account, their regression with the nets sales has been considered. The difference between these two valuations, made in a fuzzy environment, allows obtaining the value of the IQNet SR10 certification. Although this study presents an innovative methodology to quantify the relation between CSR and FP, the authors are aware that only one company has been analyzed. This is precisely the main limitation of this study which in turn opens up an interesting line for future research: to broaden the sample of companies.

Keywords: Corporate social responsibility, case study, financial performance, company valuation.

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Authors: D. Garg, S. Luthra, A. Haleem

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Due to growing concern about environmental and social consequences throughout the world, a need has been felt to incorporate sustainability concepts in conventional manufacturing. This paper is an attempt to identify and evaluate drivers in implementing sustainable manufacturing in Indian context. Nine possible drivers for successful implementation of sustainable manufacturing have been identified from extensive review. Further, Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) approach has been utilized to evaluate and categorize these identified drivers for implementing sustainable manufacturing in to the cause and effect groups. Five drivers (Societal Pressure and Public Concerns; Regulations and Government Policies; Top Management Involvement, Commitment and Support; Effective Strategies and Activities towards Socially Responsible Manufacturing and Market Trends) have been categorized into the cause group and four drivers (Holistic View in Manufacturing Systems; Supplier Participation; Building Sustainable culture in Organization; and Corporate Image and Benefits) have been categorized into the effect group. “Societal Pressure and Public Concerns” has been found the most critical driver and “Corporate Image and Benefits” as least critical or the most easily influenced driver to implementing sustainable manufacturing in Indian context. This paper may surely help practitioners in better understanding of these drivers and their priorities towards effective implementation of sustainable manufacturing.

Keywords: Drivers, Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL), India, Sustainable Manufacturing (SM).

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Authors: Tugce Ercan

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This research study aims to identify the impact of two factors –growth and competitive strategies- on a set of building production innovation strategies. It was conducted a questionery survey to collect data from construction professionals and it was asked them the importance level of predicted innovation strategies for corporate strategies. Multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA) was employed to see the main and interaction effects of corporate strategies on building innovation strategies. The results indicate that growth strategies such as entering in a new a market or new project types has a greater effect on innovation strategies rather than competitive strategies such as cost leadership or differentiation strategies. However the interaction effect of competitive strategies and growth strategies on innovation strategies is much bigger than the only effect of competitive strategies. It was also analyzed the descriptive statistics of innovation strategies for different competitive and growth strategy types.

Keywords: competitive strategy, growth strategy, innovation, construction company, MANOVA

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Authors: Songdi Li, Louise Spry, Tony Woodall

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Nowadays, Corporate Social responsibility (CSR) is becoming a buzz word, and more and more academics are putting efforts on CSR studies. It is believed that CSR could influence Corporate Reputation (CR), and they hold a favourable view that CSR leads to a positive CR. To be specific, the CSR related activities in the reputational context have been regarded as ways that associate to excellent financial performance, value creation, etc. Also, it is argued that CSR and CR are two sides of one coin; hence, to some extent, doing CSR is equal to establishing a good reputation. Still, there is no consensus of the CSR-CR relationship in the literature; thus, a systematic literature review is highly in need. This research conducts a systematic literature review with both bibliometric and content analysis. Data are selected from English language sources, and academic journal articles only, then, keyword combinations are applied to identify relevant sources. Data from Scopus and WoS are gathered for bibliometric analysis. Scopus search results were saved in RIS and CSV formats, and Web of Science (WoS) data were saved in TXT format and CSV formats in order to process data in the Bibexcel software for further analysis which later will be visualised by the software VOSviewer. Also, content analysis was applied to analyse the data clusters and the key articles. In terms of the topic of CSR-CR, this literature review with bibliometric analysis has made four achievements. First, this paper has developed a systematic study which quantitatively depicts the knowledge structure of CSR and CR by identifying terms closely related to CSR-CR (such as ‘corporate governance’) and clustering subtopics emerged in co-citation analysis. Second, content analysis is performed to acquire insight on the findings of bibliometric analysis in the discussion section. And it highlights some insightful implications for the future research agenda, for example, a psychological link between CSR-CR is identified from the result; also, emerging economies and qualitative research methods are new elements emerged in the CSR-CR big picture. Third, a multidisciplinary perspective presents through the whole bibliometric analysis mapping and co-word and co-citation analysis; hence, this work builds a structure of interdisciplinary perspective which potentially leads to an integrated conceptual framework in the future. Finally, Scopus and WoS are compared and contrasted in this paper; as a result, Scopus which has more depth and comprehensive data is suggested as a tool for future bibliometric analysis studies. Overall, this paper has fulfilled its initial purposes and contributed to the literature. To the author’s best knowledge, this paper conducted the first literature review of CSR-CR researches that applied both bibliometric analysis and content analysis; therefore, this paper achieves its methodological originality. And this dual approach brings advantages of carrying out a comprehensive and semantic exploration in the area of CSR-CR in a scientific and realistic method. Admittedly, its work might exist subjective bias in terms of search terms selection and paper selection; hence triangulation could reduce the subjective bias to some degree.

Keywords: Corporate social responsibility, corporate reputation, bibliometric analysis, software data analysis.

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Authors: G. Meyer, M. Klewer, P. Nyhuis

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Constantly changing economic conditions require companies to design their production to be more economical, innovative, and flexible. Since workers have a decisive influence on cost, time, and quality, e.g. by monitoring indicators that determine quality, by developing processes more resistant to disturbances, or by monitoring environmental standards, a focus on personnel as a production factor is needed. This presupposes the efficient use and systematic enhancement of employees’ existing competences since greater consideration of these aspects in work planning will help to enhance competitiveness. The aim of the research project ‘Integrated Technology- and Competence-based Work Planning in Socio-Technical Systems’ is to develop a new work planning method that combines technology with work science by incorporating employees’ skills as a quality indicator. For employee competences to increase competitiveness, it is first of all necessary to assess how competences affect cost, time, and quality. A model for deriving predictions about the effects of competence-based parameters on these strategic business objectives is developed in this paper.

Keywords: Competence management, education and training, employee competences, one-factor-at-a-time method, work planning.

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Authors: Masoud Hekmatpanah, Mohammad Sadroddin, Saeid Shahbaz, Farhad Mokhtari, Farahnaz Fadavinia

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The six sigma method is a project-driven management approach to improve the organization-s products, services, and processes by continually reducing defects in the organization. Understanding the key features, obstacles, and shortcomings of the six sigma method allows organizations to better support their strategic directions, and increasing needs for coaching, mentoring, and training. It also provides opportunities to better implement six sigma projects. The purpose of this paper is the survey of six sigma process and its impact on the organizational productivity. So I have studied key concepts , problem solving process of six sigmaas well as the survey of important fields such as: DMAIC, six sigma and productivity applied programme, and other advantages of six sigma. In the end of this paper, present research conclusions. (direct and positive relation between six sigma and productivity)

Keywords: Six sigma, project management, quality, theory, productivity.

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Authors: J. P. Méreaux, E. Lamy, J. C. Lopez

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In the face of new regulations related to waste management, it has become essential to understand the organizational process that accompanies this change. Through an experiment on the sorting of food waste in the community of Grand Reims, this research explores the acceptability, the behavior and the tools needed to manage the change. Our position within a private company, SUEZ, a key player in the waste management sector, has allowed us to set up a driven team with concerned public organizations. The research was conducted through a theoretical study combined with semi-structured interviews. This qualitative method allowed us to conduct exchanges with users to assess the motivations and obstacles linked to the sorting of bio-waste. The results revealed the action levers necessary for the project's sustainability. Making the sorting gestures accessible and simplified makes it possible to target all populations. Playful communication adapted to each type of persona allows the user and stakeholders to be placed at the heart of the strategy. These recommendations are spotlighted thanks to the combination of theoretical and operational contributions, with the aim of facilitating the new public management and inducing the notion of performance while providing an example of added value.

Keywords: Bio-waste, Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, stakeholders, public policies.

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Authors: Yvonne Ziegler, Regine Graml, Caprice Weissenrieder

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Under-representation of women in leadership positions" is still a general phenomenon in Germany despite the high number of implemented measures. The under-representation of female executives in the aviation sector is even worse. In this context our research hypothesis is that the representation and acceptance of women in management positions is determined by corporate culture.

Keywords: Aviation industry, women in leadership, CorporateCulture

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Authors: Mona M. Salem, Khaled S. Al-Hagla, Hany M. Ayad

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The concept of urban metabolism has increasingly been employed in a diverse range of disciplines as a mean to analyze and theorize the city. Urban ecology has a particular focus on the implications of applying the metabolism concept to the urban realm. This approach has been developed by a few researchers, though it has rarely if ever been used in policy development for city planning. The aim of this research is to use ecologically informed urban planning interventions to increase the sustainability of urban metabolism; with special focus on land stock as a most important city resource by developing a system dynamic based DSS. This model identifies two critical management strategy variables for the Strategic Urban Plan Alexandria SUP 2032. As a result, this comprehensive and precise quantitative approach is needed to monitor, measure, evaluate and observe dynamic urban changes working as a decision support system (DSS) for policy making.

Keywords: Alexandria SUP 2032, DSS, ecology, land resource, LULCC, management, metabolism, model, scenarios, System dynamics, urban development.

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Authors: M. Graus, K. Westhoff, X. Xu

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The climate change causes a change in all aspects of society. While the expansion of renewable energies proceeds, industry could not be convinced based on general studies about the potential of demand side management to reinforce smart grid considerations in their operational business. In this article, a procedure model for a case-specific data-driven decision support for industrial energy management based on a holistic data analytics approach is presented. The model is executed on the example of the strategic decision problem, to integrate the aspect of renewable energies into industrial energy management. This question is induced due to considerations of changing the electricity contract model from a standard rate to volatile energy prices corresponding to the energy spot market which is increasingly more affected by renewable energies. The procedure model corresponds to a data analytics process consisting on a data model, analysis, simulation and optimization step. This procedure will help to quantify the potentials of sustainable production concepts based on the data from a factory. The model is validated with data from a printer in analogy to a simple production machine. The overall goal is to establish smart grid principles for industry via the transformation from knowledge-driven to data-driven decisions within manufacturing companies.

Keywords: Data analytics, green production, industrial energy management, optimization, renewable energies, simulation.

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Authors: Tutku Eker Iscioglu

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Increasing attention has been given in academia to the concept of corporate social responsibility. Also, the number of companies that undertake social responsibility initiatives has been boosting day by day since behaving in a socially responsible manner brings a lot to the companies. Literature provides various benefits of social responsibility and under which situations these benefits could be realized. However, most of these studies focus on one aspect of the consequences of behaving in a socially responsible manner and there is no study that unifies the conditions that a company should fulfill to make customers prefer its brand. This study aims to fill this gap. More specifically, the purpose of this study is to identify the conditions that a socially responsible company should fulfill in order to attract customers. To this end, a scale is developed and its reliability and validity is assessed through the method of Multitrait- Multimethod Matrix.

Keywords: Consumers, Corporate Social Responsibility, Multitrait-Multimethod Matrix, Scale Development.

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Authors: Armando Calabrese, Roberta Costa, Tamara Menichini, Francesco Rosati

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A company CSR commitment, as stated in its Social Report is, actually, perceived by its stakeholders?And in what measure? Moreover, are stakeholders satisfied with the company CSR efforts? Indeed, business returns from Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices, such as company reputation and customer loyalty, depend heavily on how stakeholders perceive the company social conduct. In this paper, we propose a methodology to assess a company CSR commitment based on Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) indicators, Content Analysis and a CSR positioning matrix. We evaluate three aspects of CSR: the company commitment disclosed through its Social Report; the company commitment perceived by its stakeholders; the CSR commitment that stakeholders require to the company. The positioning of the company under study in the CSR matrix is based on the comparison among the three commitment aspects (disclosed, perceived, required) and it allows assessment and development of CSR strategies.

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), CSR Positioning Matrix, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Stakeholder Orientation

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Authors: Michael Harre, Terry Bossomaier, Ranqing Chu, Allan Snyder

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We introduce a novel approach to measuring how humans learn based on techniques from information theory and apply it to the oriental game of Go. We show that the total amount of information observable in human strategies, called the strategic information, remains constant for populations of players of differing skill levels for well studied patterns of play. This is despite the very large amount of knowledge required to progress from the recreational players at one end of our spectrum to the very best and most experienced players in the world at the other and is in contrast to the idea that having more knowledge might imply more 'certainty' in what move to play next. We show this is true for very local up to medium sized board patterns, across a variety of different moves using 80,000 game records. Consequences for theoretical and practical AI are outlined.

Keywords: Board Games, Cognitive Capacity, Decision Theory, Information Theory.

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Authors: Dimitrios J. Dimitriou

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The decades after the end of the second War provide evidence that infrastructures investments contibute to economic development, on terms of productivity and income growth. In order to force productivity and increase competitiveness the financing of large transport infrastructure projects are on the top of the agenda in strategic planning process. Such a decision may take form some days to some decades and stakeholders as well as decision makers need tools in order to estimate the economic impact on natioanl economy of such an investment. The key question in such decisions is if the effects caused by the new infrastructure could be able to boost economic development on one hand, and create new jobs and activities on the other. This paper deals with the review of estimation of the mega transport infrastructure projects economic effects in economy.

Keywords: Economic impact, transport infrastructure, strategic planning.

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Authors: Libor Zachoval, Daire O Broin, Oisin Cawley

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E-learning platforms, such as Blackboard have two major shortcomings: limited data capture as a result of the limitations of SCORM (Shareable Content Object Reference Model), and lack of incorporation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms which could lead to better course adaptations. With the recent development of Experience Application Programming Interface (xAPI), a large amount of additional types of data can be captured and that opens a window of possibilities from which online education can benefit. In a corporate setting, where companies invest billions on the learning and development of their employees, some learner behaviours can be troublesome for they can hinder the knowledge development of a learner. Behaviours that hinder the knowledge development also raise ambiguity about learner’s knowledge mastery, specifically those related to gaming the system. Furthermore, a company receives little benefit from their investment if employees are passing courses without possessing the required knowledge and potential compliance risks may arise. Using xAPI and rules derived from a state-of-the-art review, we identified three learner behaviours, primarily related to guessing, in a corporate compliance course. The identified behaviours are: trying each option for a question, specifically for multiple-choice questions; selecting a single option for all the questions on the test; and continuously repeating tests upon failing as opposed to going over the learning material. These behaviours were detected on learners who repeated the test at least 4 times before passing the course. These findings suggest that gauging the mastery of a learner from multiple-choice questions test scores alone is a naive approach. Thus, next steps will consider the incorporation of additional data points, knowledge estimation models to model knowledge mastery of a learner more accurately, and analysis of the data for correlations between knowledge development and identified learner behaviours. Additional work could explore how learner behaviours could be utilised to make changes to a course. For example, course content may require modifications (certain sections of learning material may be shown to not be helpful to many learners to master the learning outcomes aimed at) or course design (such as the type and duration of feedback).

Keywords: Compliance Course, Corporate Training, Learner Behaviours, xAPI.

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Authors: Feng-Tsung Cheng, Shu-Li Wang, Mei-Fang Wu, Hui-Yu Chuang

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The rapid development technology and widespread Internet make business environment changing a lot. In order to stand in the global market and to keep subsistence, “changing” is unspoken rule for the company’s survival. The purpose of this paper is building up change model by using SWOT, strategy map, KPI and change management theory. The research findings indicate that the company needs to deal with employee’s resistance emotion firstly before building up change model. The ways of providing performance appraisal reward, consulting and counseling mechanisms that will great help to achieve reducing staff negative emotions and motivate staff’s efficiencies also. To revise strategy map, modify corporate culture, and improve internal operational processes which is based on change model. Through the change model, the increasing growth rate of net income helps company to achieve the goals and be a leading brand of precision machinery industry.

Keywords: Organizational change, SWOT analysis, strategy maps, performance indicators.

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Authors: Tim Nedyalkov

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A business decision to move to the cloud brings fundamental changes in how an organization develops and delivers its Information Technology solutions. The accelerated pace of digital transformation across businesses and government agencies increases the reliance on cloud-based services. Collecting, managing, and retaining large amounts of data in cloud environments make information security and data privacy protection essential. It becomes even more important to understand what key factors drive successful cloud adoption following the commencement of the Privacy Amendment Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) Act 2017 in Australia as the regulatory changes impact many organizations and industries. This quantitative correlational research investigated the governance, risk management, and compliance factors contributing to cloud security success. The factors influence the adoption of cloud computing within an organizational context after the commencement of the NDB scheme. The results and findings demonstrated that corporate information security policies, data storage location, management understanding of data governance responsibilities, and regular compliance assessments are the factors influencing cloud computing adoption. The research has implications for organizations, future researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and cloud computing providers to meet the rapidly changing regulatory and compliance requirements.

Keywords: Cloud compliance, cloud security, cloud security governance, data governance, privacy protection.

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Authors: H. Zare Amadabadi, S. Soltani Gerdefaramarzi

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In recent years, strategic alliances have taken increasing importance as a means to control competitive forces and to enter into new markets. Joint ventures are one of the most frequently used contractual forms in strategic alliances. There are various motivations for cooperation between two or more firms e.g., accessing to technical know-how, accessing to financial resources and managing risks. The firms must know about these motivations to encourage for establishing joint venture. So, it is important for managers to understand about these motives. On the other hand, the cooperation section is one of the most effective parts in each country. In this way, our study identifies goals of joint venture between cooperative manufacturing firms, and prioritizes those using TOPSIS1. The results show that the most important of joint venture goals are: accessing to managerial know-how, sharing total capital investment.

Keywords: Cooperative, Joint Venture, TOPSIS

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Authors: Beatrice Abila, Jussi Kantola

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The paper attempts a synthesis of problems relating to municipal waste management in Nigeria and proposes a conceptual knowledge management approach for tackling municipal waste problems in cities across Nigeria. The application of knowledge management approach and strategy is crucial for inculcating a change of attitude towards improving the management of waste. The paper is a review of existing literatures, information, policies and data on municipal waste management in Nigeria. The inefficient management of waste by individuals, households, consumers and waste management companies can be attributed to inadequate information on waste management benefits, lack of producers- involvement in waste management as well as poor implementation of government policies. The paper presents an alternative approach providing solutions promoting efficient municipal waste management.

Keywords: Environment, Knowledge management, Municipal waste management, Nigeria.

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Authors: Heeyong Noh, Sungjoo Lee

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The goal of this research is discovering the determinants of the success or failure of external cooperation in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). For this, a survey was given to 190 SMEs that experienced external cooperation within the last 3 years. A logistic regression model was used to derive organizational or strategic characteristics that significantly influence whether external collaboration of domestic SMEs is successful or not. Results suggest that research and development (R&D) features in general characteristics (both idea creation and discovering market opportunities) that focused on and emphasized indirected-market stakeholders (such as complementary companies and affiliates) and strategies in innovative strategic characteristics raise the probability of successful external cooperation. This can be used meaningfully to build a policy or strategy for inducing successful external cooperation or to understand the innovation of SMEs.

Keywords: External collaboration, Innovation strategy, Logisticregression, SMEs.

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Authors: Nada Azhar

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The aim of the paper is to investigate the effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) CSR on the National Commercial Bank (NCB) in Saudi Arabia. In order to achieve this, a case study was made of the CSR activities of this bank from the perspective of its branch managers. The NCB was chosen as it was one of the first Saudi banks to engage in CSR and currently has a wide range of CSR initiatives. A qualitative research method was used. Open-ended questionnaires were administered to eighty branch managers of the NCB, with fifty-five usable questionnaires returned and twenty managers were interviewed as part of the primary research. Data from both questionnaires and interviews were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Six themes emerged from the questionnaire findings were used to develop the interview questions. These themes are the following: Awareness of employees about CSR in the NCB; CSR activities as a type of investment; Government and media support; Increased employee loyalty in the NCB; Prestige and profit to the NCB; and View of CSR in Islam. This paper makes a theoretical contribution in that it investigates and increases understanding of the effect of CSR on the NCB in Saudi Arabia. In addition, it makes a practical contribution by making recommendations which can support the development of CSR in the NCB. A limitation of the paper is that it is a case study of only one bank. It is therefore recommended that future research could be conducted with other banks in Saudi Arabia, or indeed, with a range of other types of firm within the financial services area in Saudi Arabia. In this way, the same issues could be explored but with a greater potential generalisability of findings of CSR within the Saudi Arabian financial services industry. In addition, this paper takes a qualitative approach and it is suggested that future research be carried out using mixed methods, which could provide a greater depth of analysis.

Keywords: Branch managers, corporate social responsibility. national commercial bank, Saudi Arabia.

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Authors: J. Becker, R. Arnold

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The design of distribution logistics has a decisive impact on a company's logistics costs and performance. Hence, such solutions make an essential contribution to corporate success. This article describes a decision support system for analyzing the potential of distribution logistics in terms of logistics costs and performance. In contrast to previous procedures of business process re-engineering (BPR), this method maps distribution logistics holistically under variable distribution structures. Combined with qualitative measures the decision support system will contribute to a more efficient design of distribution logistics.

Keywords: Decision support system distribution logistics, potential analyses, supply chain management.

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Authors: J. Zambujal-Oliveira

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The relation between taxation states and foreign direct investment has been studied for several perspectives and with states of different levels of development. Usually it's only considered the impact of tax level on the foreign direct investment volume. This paper enhances this view by assuming that multinationals companies (MNC) can use transfer prices systems and have got investment timing flexibility. Thus, it evaluates the impact of the use of international transfer pricing systems on the states- policy and on the investment timing of the multinational companies. In uncertain business environments (with periodical release of news), the investment can increase if MNC detain investment delay options. This paper shows how tax differentials can attract foreign direct investments (FDI) and influence MNC behavior. The equilibrium is set in a global environment where MNC can shift their profits between states depending on the corporate tax rates. Assuming the use of transfer pricing schemes, this paper confirms the relationship between MNC behavior and the release of new business news.

Keywords: Corporate Taxation, International Profit Shifting, Real Options

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Authors: Kgabo H. Badimo, Sheryl Buckley

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Knowledge is increasingly recognised in this, the knowledge era, as a strategic resource, by public sector organisations, in view of the public sector reform initiatives. People and knowledge play a vital role in attaining improved organisational performance and high service quality. Many government departments in the public sector have started to realise the importance of knowledge management in streamlining their operations and processes. This study focused on knowledge management in the public healthcare service organisations, where the concept of service provider competitiveness pales to insignificance, considering the huge challenges emanating from the healthcare and public sector reforms. Many government departments are faced with challenges of improving organisational performance and service delivery, improving accountability, making informed decisions, capturing the knowledge of the aging workforce, and enhancing partnerships with stakeholders. The purpose of this paper is to examine the knowledge management practices of the Gauteng Department of Health in South Africa, in order to understand how knowledge management practices influence improvement in organisational performance and healthcare service delivery. This issue is explored through a review of literature on dominant views on knowledge management and healthcare service delivery, as well as results of interviews with, and questionnaire responses from, the general staff of the Gauteng Department of Health. Web-based questionnaires, face-to-face interviews and organisational documents were used to collect data. The data were analysed using both the quantitative and qualitative methods. The central question investigated was: To what extent can the conditions required for successful knowledge management be observed, in order to improve organisational performance and healthcare service delivery in the Gauteng Department of Health. The findings showed that the elements of knowledge management capabilities investigated in this study, namely knowledge creation, knowledge sharing and knowledge application, have a positive, significant relationship with all measures of organisational performance and healthcare service delivery. These findings thus indicate that by employing knowledge management principles, the Gauteng Department of Health could improve its ability to achieve its operational goals and objectives, and solve organisational and healthcare challenges, thereby improving organisational performance and enhancing healthcare service delivery in Gauteng.

Keywords: Knowledge Management, Healthcare Service Delivery, Public Healthcare, Public Sector.

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Authors: Abhimanyu Pati, Krishna Kumar Veluri

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The paper intends to bring out a real life experience encountered during actual implementation of a large scale Tier-1 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system in a multi-location, discrete manufacturing organization in India, involved in manufacturing of auto components and aggregates. The business complexities, prior to the implementation of ERP, include multi-product with hierarchical product structures, geographically distributed multiple plant locations with disparate business practices, lack of inter-plant broadband connectivity, existence of disparate legacy applications for different business functions, and non-standardized codifications of products, machines, employees, and accounts apart from others. On the other hand, the manufacturing environment consisted of processes like Assemble-to-Order (ATO), Make-to-Stock (MTS), and Engineer-to-Order (ETO) with a mix of discrete and process operations. The paper has highlighted various business plan areas and concerns, prior to the implementation, with specific focus on strategic issues and objectives. Subsequently, it has dealt with the complete process of ERP implementation, starting from strategic planning, project planning, resource mobilization, and finally, the program execution. The step-by-step process provides a very good learning opportunity about the implementation methodology. At the end, various organizational challenges and lessons emerged, which will act as guidelines and checklist for organizations to successfully align and implement ERP and achieve their business objectives.

Keywords: ERP, ATO, MTS, ETO, discrete manufacturing, strategic planning.

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Authors: Victoriano Valencia García, Luis Usero Aragonés, Eugenio J. Fernández Vicente

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Nowadays, the successful implementation of ICTs is vital for almost any kind of organization. Good governance and ICT management are essential for delivering value, managing technological risks, managing resources and performance measurement. In addition, outsourcing is a strategic IT service solution which complements IT services provided internally in organizations. This paper proposes the measurement tools of a new holistic maturity model based on standards ISO/IEC 20000 and ISO/IEC 38500, and the frameworks and best practices of ITIL and COBIT, with a specific focus on IT outsourcing. These measurement tools allow independent validation and practical application in the field of higher education, using a questionnaire, metrics tables, and continuous improvement plan tables as part of the measurement process. Guidelines and standards are proposed in the model for facilitating adaptation to universities and achieving excellence in the outsourcing of IT services.

Keywords: IT Governance, IT Management, IT Services, Maturity Model, Measurement Tools, Outsourcing.

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Authors: C. Ardil

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This paper considers a comparative analysis of multiple criteria decision making analysis methods for strategic, tactical, and operational decisions in military fighter aircraft selection for the air force fleet planning. The evaluation criteria governing the decision analysis process are determined from the literature for the three existing military combat aircraft. Military fighter aircraft selection problem is structured using "preference analysis for reference ideal solution (PARIS)” approach in multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDMA). Systematic comparisons were made with existing MCDMA methods (PARIS, and TOPSIS) to verify the stability and accuracy of the results obtained. The proposed integrated MCDMA systematic approach is expected to address the issues encountered in the aircraft selection process. The comparative analysis results show that the proposed method is an effective and accurate tool that can help analysts make better strategic, tactical, and operational decisions.

Keywords: aircraft, military fighter aircraft selection, multiple criteria decision making, multiple criteria decision making analysis, mean weight, entropy weight, MCDMA, PARIS, TOPSIS, Saab Gripen, Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon

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Authors: J. Cheeneebash, K. B. Lallmamode, A. Gopaul

Abstract:

Throughout this paper, a relatively new technique, the Tabu search variable selection model, is elaborated showing how it can be efficiently applied within the financial world whenever researchers come across the selection of a subset of variables from a whole set of descriptive variables under analysis. In the field of financial prediction, researchers often have to select a subset of variables from a larger set to solve different type of problems such as corporate bankruptcy prediction, personal bankruptcy prediction, mortgage, credit scoring and the Arbitrage Pricing Model (APM). Consequently, to demonstrate how the method operates and to illustrate its usefulness as well as its superiority compared to other commonly used methods, the Tabu search algorithm for variable selection is compared to two main alternative search procedures namely, the stepwise regression and the maximum R 2 improvement method. The Tabu search is then implemented in finance; where it attempts to predict corporate bankruptcy by selecting the most appropriate financial ratios and thus creating its own prediction score equation. In comparison to other methods, mostly the Altman Z-Score model, the Tabu search model produces a higher success rate in predicting correctly the failure of firms or the continuous running of existing entities.

Keywords: Predicting Bankruptcy, Tabu Search

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Authors: M. N. Hasnine, M. K. H. Chayon, M. M. Rahman

Abstract:

Organizational tendencies towards computer-based information processing have been observed noticeably in the third-world countries. Many enterprises are taking major initiatives towards computerized working environment because of massive benefits of computer-based information processing. However, designing and developing information resource management software for small and mid-size enterprises under budget costs and strict deadline is always challenging for software engineers. Therefore, we introduced an approach to design mid-size enterprise software by using the Waterfall model, which is one of the SDLC (Software Development Life Cycles), in a cost effective way. To fulfill research objectives, in this study, we developed mid-sized enterprise software named “BSK Management System” that assists enterprise software clients with information resource management and perform complex organizational tasks. Waterfall model phases have been applied to ensure that all functions, user requirements, strategic goals, and objectives are met. In addition, Rich Picture, Structured English, and Data Dictionary have been implemented and investigated properly in engineering manner. Furthermore, an assessment survey with 20 participants has been conducted to investigate the usability and performance of the proposed software. The survey results indicated that our system featured simple interfaces, easy operation and maintenance, quick processing, and reliable and accurate transactions.

Keywords: End-user Application Development, Enterprise Software Design, Information Resource Management, Usability.

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Authors: P. Vel, H. Mubarak, M. A. Malak

Abstract:

The elements for success in the service industry for many organizations have been studied and quantified. They range from effective performance evaluation and management to adequately implementing seven P’s. However, the success story of every organization is unique. What might work for one organization might not for another as every company is inherently distinctive. In this paper, the strategic framework behind the success of Liberty Automobiles Dubai is captured. The primary data necessary for this paper was collected through in-depth interviews with the managers for sales, service and marketing as well as the group general manager. Subsequently, the key areas that led to the success of Liberty Autos will be discussed in this paper.

Keywords: Services marketing, automotive retailing, and retailer success.

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