...long range planning Long Range Planning 34 (2001) 357-381 www.lrpjournal.com Success Factors of Strategic Alliances in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises—An Empirical Survey Werner H. Hoffmann and Roman Schlosser Strategic alliances are increasingly gaining favour over go-it-alone strategies for organisations to achieve fast and economical growth. This study aims to identify critical success factors in alliance-making with special consideration given to the specific situation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). A comprehensive questionnaire was used to interview a random sample of key executives in 164 Austrian SMEs. This paper reports on the results of that empirical survey, and seeks to identify the weights of various success factors in alliance-making in SMEs. The results show that “soft” facts such as trust are important for alliance success, but not on their own sufficient. Also “hard” facts such as strategic compatibility and appropriate governance mechanisms have an important influence on alliance success. Careful strategic planning and good partnership preparation are essential for alliance success, but the full value of an alliance has to be developed as it evolves. k 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights c reserved. Introduction Interfirm collaborations, such as strategic alliances and joint ventures,1 have become important business management instruments to improve the competitiveness of companies, especially in complex and turbulent environments...
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...taken to measurement “recommended” by the BBC. Key Success Factors Identify and Measure the organisation {SWOT&PEST) Key Performance Indicators Balance Scorecard Appraisal & Review of Business Policy Measurement 4 4 5 6 7 9 3 How should the senior team in BBC Broadcasting & Presentation develop their thinking to sustain the momentum of total quality/business excellence? Pillars and Dimensions of Total Quality Management Customer Focus Continuous Improvement Employee Investment and Empowerment Systems Thinking Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle Leadership Customer Focus through Customer Relationship Management (CRM) European Forum for Quality Management (EFQM) Balance Scorecard Programme Management Process (BSPM) Establishment and set up of Programme Office Strategic Analysis Strategic Development Strategic Implementation Strategic Implementation: Measure and Appraise 10 11 11 12 14 14 15 16 16 17 19 19 21 22 22 23 4 Conclusion 24 5 Bibliography 25 Executive Summary BBC Broadcasting & Presentation began their quality journey when their mission statement was emerged out of a lengthy process. They develop objectives that connected to their mission. To deliver their mission they had critical success factors and key performance indicators than linked to the critical success factors. They also assigned owners to each critical process and total quality measures were put in place. BBC Broadcasting...
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...INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMPUTERS Issue 4, Volume 6, 2012 Strategic and tactical success factors in ERP system implementation K. Curko1, D. Stepanic2, M. Varga3 Abstract— In order to successfully implement an ERP system it is necessary to properly balance critical success factors. By researching what the critical success factors in ERP implementation are, why they are critical, and to what extent they are relevant to users, consultants and suppliers, this paper seeks to identify critical success factors in ERP implementation and to understand the impact of each factor on the success of ERP system introduction. This paper lists ten critical success factors (CSF) providing two points of view: strategic and tactical. These are: top management support, a business plan and vision, top management support, change management program, project management, implementation strategies, project team, business process modeling and minimal customizations, monitoring and performance evaluation, software development, testing and troubleshooting, legacy systems. Keywords— ERP implementation, critical success factors, IT project, management I. INTRODUCTION Complex IT projects, such as developing and especially implementing ERP systems often fail. Many studies indicate a small success rate in terms of exceeding the time limit, budget and poor functionality of the new system. Successful ERP projects bring great benefits to the company, but can also be devastating to organizations...
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...Project Management for Information Systems Project Management for Information Systems Abstract Information systems (IS) projects are vulnerable to resource cutbacks and the increasing complexity of systems and advances in information technology make finding the right personnel difficult and the associated development costs high. Good project management is essential for success. Some alignment methodologies include IBM's business systems planning (BSP), Robert Holland's strategic systems planning, James Martin's (1989) information engineering and method/1 from Anderson Consulting. Critical success factors (Rockart, 1979) methodology focuses on identifying key information needs of senior executives and building information systems around those key needs. Williams, (1997) identified four steps to system planning. Earl (1989) proposed five alternate strategy frameworks which project managers should consider when deciding how the system will enhance the business function. Standard business strategy...
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...International Conference on Technology and Business Management March 28-30, 2011 Conceptual Framework for E-CRM Project Deployment in Indian Banks Ashwini Atul Renavikar ashvinirenavikar@yahoo.co.in University of Pune Sharad L Joshi sharadljoshi@gmail.com Marathwada Mitra Mandal Institute of Mgt Education, Res and Training, Pune A survey of Database Group (2006) has revealed that approximately 65% of the financial institutions have failed in getting expected benefits from huge investments in CRM technology. Another finding of the study conducted by I-L Wu and K-W Wu (2005) approximately 60% of the web-based CRM software (e-CRM) installations are failures. With these findings at the background the researchers have attempted to study the aspect of e-CRM deployment in 11 Indian banks (34 branches) with specific reference to banks in Pune and Mumbai. The study has been conducted in a sectoral comparison of public, private and cooperative banks. The study has contributed to the body of knowledge by suggesting a conceptual framework – PCM-PPT framework which is a result of quantitative and qualitative analysis of responses by bankers and e-CRM consultants. Keywords: e-CRM, Relationship Marketing, McCall’s Quality Factors 1. Introduction Customer relationship management (CRM) is that part of an enterprise’s business strategy that enables the entire enterprise to understand, anticipate and manage the needs of any current and potential customers. CRM is not an event or a technology...
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...at www.emeraldinsight.com/1598-2688.htm AJQ 13,3 An analysis of critical success factors for Six Sigma implementation Sunil Sharma Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi, Delhi, India, and 294 Anuradha R. Chetiya Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Ramjas College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India Abstract Purpose – The success of Six Sigma implementation is known to depend on a number of critical factors. The purpose of this paper is to explore and analyse Six Sigma critical success factors (CSFs) in the context of Indian manufacturing organizations. Design/methodology/approach – Although Six Sigma success factors have been amply researched in the global context, in this paper, a maiden attempt is made to identify, through an extensive literature review, the CSFs for Six Sigma implementation followed by their validation and prioritization using primary data collection from Indian companies. A total of 22 CSFs have thus been compiled through an extensive literature review. These CSFs are then validated through an empirical research of select Indian manufacturing companies at various stages of implementation of the Six Sigma process improvement methodology. Findings – A factor analysis was used to finally reduce the 22 factors to seven groups of underlying CSFs, the top factors being use of right tools, measurement assurance, innovation and supplier collaboration. Based on the factors extracted, a Six Sigma adoption model has been proposed in...
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...Critical Success Factors of Enterprise Systems Name Institution OUTLINE Critical success factors for enterprise development 1. Business plan and vision 2. Change management 3. Management support and championship 4. Communication 5. Project management 6. Enterprise systems team 7. Business process re-engineering 8. Systems analysis and technical implementation Introduction Business ventures have taken a giant leap in adopting technology. The storage of business information is necessary in order to integrate all the resources of a company. There was a need for a system that could perform these functions with ease, and provide the management with a chance to put together their enterprise data. The enterprise system was developed to cater for this. It is a computerized information system that puts together large amounts of data that can be retrieved. It is used mainly for large companies whereby information relating to the various structures and operations of the company can be stored and retrieved when required.(Noha and Delgado, 2006) various factors that make the system efficient were identified, and they are discussed here in this paper. Success factors of enterprise systems. 1. Business plan and vision A business plan should be drawn to give direction to the company. It acts as the rationale as to why people engage in a business venture. The business plan should state the goals of the business, the mission and the vision...
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...Determinants of Critical Success Factors of Quality Management in Higher Education Institutions in Morocco Using DELPHI method by: Youssef Loutfi Supervised by: Dr. Abderrahman Hassi Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Business Administration Al Akhawayn University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Master of Business Administration Al Akhawayn University Summer 2014 iii Dedication In conducting this process, I would like mention people to whom this work is dedicated. To my parents, Habiba Hamdi and Abdessamd Loutfi, who instilled in me very young the thirst for knowledge and determination. Your values, your humility and generosity have always guided me and represent what I most admire in a human being. Here I take a special place to celebrate the sacrifices you have made to educate us and to enable us to follow our dreams. Thank you dear parents for this unique feeling of success and excellence, thank you to support me when I doubted especially you believed in this dream despite all the sacrifices it required. Thank you to believe in this project, our project. To my sister and brother, Ijlal and Ahmad Amine. Thank you for your patience and your great sense of humor. To Sofia, my treasure. My apologies for any breach of my duties. You have come to accept my frequent absences and my moods. Thank you Sofia. To Mr. Hassi Abderahman, you felt my ambition, you have believed in me and you opened the doors of knowledge. To...
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...for all Riordan Manufacturing locations. Riordan Manufacturing wants to take advantage of a more sophisticated, state-of-the art, information systems technology in their Human Resources department ("Service Request Riordan Manufacturing", 2011). Butner Consulting will be responsible for defining the business requirements for the development of the HR system to support the objective of this request. Butner consulting will create a detailed system design and project implementation plan required to complete this project. This project is expected to be completed within six months so the new system can be utilized in the second quarter of next year ("Service Request Riordan Manufacturing", 2011). Stakeholders During this System Development Life Cycle the first phase is “analysis.” Analysis involves detailing the business requirements for the project and what is expected. This stage places a great deal of emphasis upon stakeholder involvement in drafting, reviewing and approving the requirements. These requirements are prioritized in discussion amongst stakeholders so that critical success factors can be defined. Stakeholder involvement is essential to work towards success and satisfactory results. A stakeholder is defined by anyone involved in creating this project as well as those expected to use it ("Sdlc", 1995). Stakeholders for Riordan Manufacturing for this proposed HR System are as follows and include at least one person from each HR department: * Hugh McCauley...
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...CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS FOR BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE SYSTEMS WILLIAM YEOH University of South Australia SA 5095 Australia ANDY KORONIOS University of South Australia SA 5095 Australia The implementation of a business intelligence (BI) system is a complex undertaking requiring considerable resources. Yet there is a limited authoritative set of critical success factors (CSFs) for management reference because the BI market has been driven mainly by the IT industry and vendors. This research seeks to bridge the gap that exists between academia and practitioners by investigating the CSFs influencing BI systems success. The study followed a two-stage qualitative approach. Firstly, the authors utilised the Delphi method to conduct three rounds of studies. The study develops a CSFs framework crucial for BI systems implementation. Next, the framework and the associated CSFs are delineated through a series of case studies. The empirical findings substantiate the construct and applicability of the framework. More significantly, the research further reveals that those organisations which address the CSFs from a business orientation approach will be more likely to achieve better results. Keywords: Business intelligence system, Critical success factors, Delphi method, Case study INTRODUCTION Recently Business Intelligence (BI) applications have been dominating the technology priority list of many CIOs [11, 12]. According to Reinschmidt and Francoise [22], a BI system is “an integrated set...
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...Costs/benefit analysis: Cost/benefit analysis is a systematic approach that estimates the strengths and weakness of alternatives that satisfy the transactions, activities and functional requirements of an organisation. When the decision about whether or not a business should outsource or insource arises, cost/benefit analysis can be used to evaluate the decision. It is vital for the business to know how to conduct a cost/benefit analysis for the decision making. Cost/benefit analysis involves a series of steps or stages, these stages are sequential and include defining the problem, identifying costs and benefits, choosing a criterion, comparing alternatives, and performing sensitivity analysis. In the first step of cost/benefit analysis a business defines the problem and generates alternatives. After defining the problem the business identifies and quantifies the cost and benefits of each alternative. It is a very challenging task because assigning a monetary value to cost and benefits and perceive the effects of IT is very difficult. To avoid any problems a business should have an experienced team to conduct cost/benefit analysis. Sensitivity analysis can be done to estimate cost and benefits erroneously. It involves some changeable parameters such as costs, benefits, discount rate etc. Critical success Factors: Critical success factor (CSF) is the term for an element that is necessary for an organization or project to achieve its mission. It is a critical factor or activity...
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...Michael Workman Information Security Management RISK ASSESMENT Information systems have long been at some risk from malicious actions or inadvertent user errors and from natural and man-made disasters. In recent years, systems have become more susceptible to these threats because computers have become more interconnected and, thus, more interdependent and accessible to a larger number of individuals. In addition, the number of individuals with computer skills is increasing, and intrusion, or “hacking,” techniques are becoming more widely known via the Internet and other media. Arisk assessment is not about creating huge amounts of paperwork , but rather about identifying sensible measures to control the risks in your workplace. You are probably already taking steps to protect your employees, but your risk assessment will help you decide whether you have covered all you need to. Think about how accidents and ill health could happen and concentrate on real risks – those that are most likely and which will cause the most harm. For some risks, other regulations require particular control measures. Your assessment can help you identify where you need to look at certain risks and these particular control measures in more detail. These control measures do not have to be assessed separately but can be considered as part of, or an extension of, your overall risk assessment. Although all elements of the risk management cycle are important, risk assessments provide...
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...Enterprise Resource Planning - Facts, Benefits and Critical Elements for a Successful Implementation in Small Manufacturing Company Azhanorhisam Che Din 1. Introduction Imagine a world without technology, and imagine a company without Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP). Perhaps we can still survive without technology, but without ERP, a company may fail to remain competitive as they fail to respond quickly to new practices and procedures. Indeed, a company who quest for competitive advantage in this era of intense competition where business entities compete for innovation, expanding customer’s expectation and internationalization of markets, a company regardless of their size must have a reliable ERP to support them. ERP has proven to be an effective tool for competitive advantage as ERP help to delivery products of the highest quality on time, as quickly as possible and at the best price. Davenport (1998, p.121) suggests that “ERP appear to be a dream comes true as these software promise the seamless integration of the information flowing through a company. Markus et al. (2000) defines ERP as commercial software package that enable the integration of transaction oriented data and business process throughout an organization. The purpose of this paper is to discuss facts about ERP, its benefits and the critical success factors in ERP implementation especially for small manufacturing companies, which is in this paper, will sometime refer to small and medium-sized enterprises...
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...Strategy & Communication. LA 1; Introduction to Strategy LA 2; Conducting a Situational Analysis LA 3; Developing a Strategic Direction LA 4; Formulating a Strategy LA 5; Implementing a Strategy LA 6; Monitoring & Evaluating Strategic Performance Purpose The purpose of the report is to give an in depth view on the case company ‘Dienst Facilitaire Bedrijven’ of Tilburg University, and formulated a strategy with could improve the current situation. Recommendations The main recommendations are; reformulating and reviewing the current mission and vision in addition to setting a strategy in which a niche is filled. Focusing on customer intimacy which follows the slogan; DFB does it, just the way you like it!! DFB will be changing its generic strategy from Cost Leadership to Differentiation Focus. Table of content 1.Introduction to Strategy 4 1.1 Strategy 4 2. DFB 5 2.1 Mission 5 2.2 Vision 5 2.3 Values 5 3.Conduction a situational analysis 6 3.1 Situation analysis 6 3.2 SWOT 6 3.3 The 3 C’s by Ohmea 7 3.3.1 Corporation 7 3.3.2 Customer 7 3.3.3 Competition 7 3.4 DESTEP 7 3.4.1 Demographic 7 3.4.2 Economic 7 3.4.3 Social 8 3.4.4 Technological 8 3.4.5 Ecological 8 3.4.6 Political 8 4.Formulating a Strategy 9 4.1 Porters generic strategies 9 4.2 Critical Success Factors 9 5.Implementing a Strategy 11 5.1 Eight Step Process by Kotter 11 6.Monitoring and Evaluating Strategic Performance 12 6.1 Balance Scorecard...
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...Resource Planning serves as a cross-functional enterprise backbone that integrates and automates many internal business processes and information systems within the manufacturing, logistics, distribution, accounting, finance, and human resource functions of a company. Large companies throughout the world began installing ERP systems in the 1990s as a conceptual framework for reengineering their business processes1. They have come to realize the importance of having such system in place to help them sustain their competitive advantage and to be ahead of other players in the market. It is true that the benefits that come with successful implementation are great but if not handled carefully, the risks involved are equally great. At present, most of the corporations can no longer disregard the significance of Information Technology in their organization to get competitive benefit. The companies are seriously depending on IT for processing their work because IT has supremacy to alter the whole organization such as size, net-profit, efficiency, human activity competence and customer contentment. A category III IS advancement, ERP (Enterprise resource planning system), has strategic application for the business since the incorporation of this system into all the major strategies or processes of the business can have a direct impact on the performance of the business (Sambamurthy et al. 2003). Majority businesses, therefore, have started to plan their strategies with their...
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