An examination of the influences of desired organisational capabilities in the preparation stage of business process re-engineering projects

To implement successful business process re-engineering (BPR) initiatives, several capabilities have been identified. Required capabilities before and during implementing of BPR projects have been introduced for achieving success. The literature has suggested various approaches to assessing readiness and implementation of BPR projects. However, lack of a practical measurement method is evident. Therefore, in this paper, a practical measurement tool for requiring capabilities is proposed to enhance the chances for successful implementation of BPR by mapping these capabilities on steps of BPR projects. In addition, the relations between these capabilities and BPR success barriers are identified. This tool includes a generic questionnaire that can be helpful for self-assessment of readiness based on the desired organisational capabilities (DOCs) in BPR efforts. In the questionnaire proposed in this paper, various indicators have been identified for assessing readiness in BPR implementation. These indicators include 21 categories based on DOCs. This report indicates the importance of each DOC in various steps and the influence of DOCs on different barriers of success. We report the results of a survey based on the questionnaire, which was conducted in four Iranian organisations. Based on the results gathered from this examination, the study offers several guidelines for increasing the points of success and decreasing the points of failure and, hence, increasing the rate of success before and during implementation.     

技术、业务、管理、服务能力,一个都不能少——浅谈信息部门IT人员在企业信息化中的正确定位

文章从企业信息部门IT人员对自身角色定位的误区入手,阐述了作为企业信息化工程的主力军,IT人员应该在技术、业务、管理、服务等诸方面均需拥有一定的专业水平,具备综合能力,最终正确定位自身为复合型信息化人才。     

Metrological support for measurement information systems and process control

We present the results of comprehensive research in the field of metrological support for modern measurement information systems and process control. Directions for future work are proposed. Translated from Izmeritel'naya Tekhnika, No. 9, pp. 16–20, September, 1995.     

Aligning business process reengineering in implementing global supply chain systems by the SCOR model

As supply chains continue to replace individual companies as the management arena for value-adding from the beginning of the twenty first century, understanding the supply chain management practices in a globalisation context becomes increasingly important. The Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) Model, which was developed by the experts and practitioners of the Supply Chain Council, is a major framework for supply chain planning that features supply chain management practices and business process reengineering. Despite being an integrative guide with many merits, it only provides a ‘top-down’ approach that requires the comparative analyses of post- and pro-performance indices as a basis of business process modification. This study discusses the limitations of current SCOR analysis and provides a mapping technique—Causes/Effects, the SCOR Standard, and Mutual Solution (CESM)—for gap mapping, problem prioritisation, and business process modification in a supply chain setting. As such, it is one of the early empirical studies combining BPR and SCM disciplines. The research results can facilitate the implementation processes of multinational supply chain projects by identifying the gaps and linking them to the channel entities.     

Beyond business process redesign: redefining Baxter's business network

Business process redesign has focused almost exclusively on improving the firm's internal operations. Although internal efficiency and effectiveness are important objectives, the authors argue that business network redesign--reconceptualizing the role of the firm and its key business processes in the larger business network--is of greater strategic importance. To support their argument, they analyze the evolution of Baxter's ASAP system, one of the most publicized but inadequately understood strategic information systems of the 1980s. They conclude by examining whether ASAP's early successes have positioned the firm well for the changing hospital supplies marketplace of the 1990s.     

Defining the intellectual structure of information systems and related college of business disciplines: a bibliometric analysis

Information systems permeate every business function, thereby requiring holistic Information Systems (IS) approaches. Much academic research is still discipline specific. More interdisciplinary research is needed to inform both industry and academe. Interdisciplinary research has been positively associated with increased levels of innovation, productivity and impact. IS research contributes to the knowledge creation and innovation within IS and other College of Business (COB) disciplines. This research defines the intellectual structures within IS and between IS and other COB disciplines. We use a large scale, diachronic bibliometric analysis of COB journals to assess reciprocal knowledge exchange and also to identify potential intra- and interdisciplinary publication outlets. Our findings show an increase in IS knowledge contributions to other COB disciplines, which supports the discussion that IS is a reference discipline. Our research also visually depicts the intellectual structures within IS and between IS and other COB disciplines. Anyone exploring research in IS and allied COB disciplines can peruse the proximity maps to identify groups of similar journals. The findings from this research inform decisions related to which journals to read, target as publication outlets, and include on promotion and tenure lists.     

Exploring website features for business information

Two previous webometrics studies found a relationship between the number of inlinks to a commercial site and the company's business performance measures. Thus inlink counts to commercial sites could be a potential source of business information. However, those studies examined top ranking information technology companies in the U.S. and China. Whether the above-mentioned relationship holds for all companies regardless of ranking and in other countries is unknown. The study reported in this paper investigated this question. The study includes all information technology companies in the U.S. and Canada and gathered both business performance data and website data for these companies. It found significant correlation between business performance measures and inlinks to the company websites. The correlation was still significant even after the size of the company and the website age were accounted for. The conclusion is robust to the search engine used for data collection. Data collection issues for webometrics research were also explored. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

MIS系统在工商行政管理部门的应用

随着计算机技术的发展，MIS系统在各行各业的应用越来越广泛，工商行政管理部门也不例外。本文介绍了MIS系统的总体概念，阐述了基于Internet的MIS系统的优越性，对运用该技术完成的工商行政管理软件系统进行了分析与说明，介绍了该系统的总体设计、各个功能模块及系统特点，结果表明MIS系统在工商行政管理部门将有广泛的应用前景。     

Kanban-based pull systems with advance demand information

This paper investigates the benefits of integrating advance demand information (ADI) with Kanban-based pull production and inventory control systems (PICS). Predicting the impact of several PICS design parameters such as Kanban card limits, base stock levels, demand information lead times, and the quality of ADI on performance measures such as throughput, inventory holding costs and customer service levels, presents a complex yet important problem. Since efficient analytical models for performance evaluation studies of these systems are unavailable, simulation experiments are used for the study. The study shows that in many situations, integrating ADI with Kanban-based pull systems provides opportunities for efficiencies that might be significantly greater than that available using pull systems alone. Further, the study also investigates the performance sensitivity of these systems to the quality of information shared and information asymmetry.     

Correlating the Rheology of PVC-Based Pastes with Particle Characteristics

ABSTRACT

This work deals with the rheological characterization of PVC plastisols. Plastisols are suspensions of fine particles in a plasticizer and have a wide commercial application. Rheological behavior is a fundamental control parameter for the final application stage of those pastes that normally undergo an aging process. This work seeks to understand the interaction mechanisms (particle/particle and particle/fluid) that condition the system rheology. It was possible to confirm that paste rheology is controlled by the particle characteristics, including the strength of the polymer aggregates. Moreover, as aging progressed, the rheological behavior changed, followed by changes in the particles' structures. This is particularly important when the plastisol is used to coat a substrate, since the spreading stage is strongly affected by paste rheology. Herein, the laser diffraction spectroscopy (LDS) technique was adjusted to analyze the particles in the concentrated emulsion, avoiding structure damage through an adequate dilution with an organic solvent.     

Correlating the Rheology of PVC-Based Pastes with Particle Characteristics

This work deals with the rheological characterization of PVC plastisols. Plastisols are suspensions of fine particles in a plasticizer and have a wide commercial application. Rheological behavior is a fundamental control parameter for the final application stage of those pastes that normally undergo an aging process. This work seeks to understand the interaction mechanisms (particle/particle and particle/fluid) that condition the system rheology. It was possible to confirm that paste rheology is controlled by the particle characteristics, including the strength of the polymer aggregates. Moreover, as aging progressed, the rheological behavior changed, followed by changes in the particles' structures. This is particularly important when the plastisol is used to coat a substrate, since the spreading stage is strongly affected by paste rheology. Herein, the laser diffraction spectroscopy (LDS) technique was adjusted to analyze the particles in the concentrated emulsion, avoiding structure damage through an adequate dilution with an organic solvent.     

Modelling and analysis of business process reengineering

Business process design and business process reengineering (BPR) depend crucially on linking production procedures and organizational services to business goals and objectives. There is currently very little formula support for this kind of reasoning as analytical tasks are usually carried out informally and individual design decisions are hard to relate to business objectives. If BPR is carried out without understanding the way it is done, then the most likely outcome would be continuing less-than-satisfactory current practice and automating outdated processes. This kind of practice misses opportunities for innovation and rationalization. The modelling and analysis of business processes along with business strategies and organizational structures are essential to study the implications of BPR. In this paper, an attempt has been made to study the modelling, analysis and tools/techniques used for modelling of BPR with the help of a survey on the recently (1993-2000) employed methods and tools used for BPR modelling and analysis. A framework for modelling and analysis, and guidelines for the selection of tools/techniques of business process reengineering are presented.     

Memory-type t charts with multiple auxiliary information for the process mean

Multiple auxiliary information-based (MAIB) memory-type $t$ charts are proposed with fixed and variable sampling intervals for an improved monitoring of the process mean, which include adaptive/nonadaptive cumulative sum (CUSUM) and exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) $t$ charts. These control charts are constructed based on a unique uniformly minimum variance unbiased estimator of the process mean that requires information on a study variable as well as on several correlated auxiliary variables. The Monte Carlo simulation technique is used to compute the run length characteristics of the proposed charts when sampling from a multivariate normal distribution. The run length comparisons show that the proposed MAIB-$t$ charts outperform their existing auxiliary information based (AIB) and non-AIB $t$ charts, where the normalizing transformation is used for all considered $t$ charts in order to have uniformity in the comparisons. A real data application is also given to support the proposed theory.     

Making the business case for process safety using value-at-risk concepts

An increasing emphasis on chemical process safety over the last two decades has led to the development and application of powerful risk assessment tools. Hazard analysis and risk evaluation techniques have developed to the point where quantitatively meaningful risks can be calculated for processes and plants. However, the results are typically presented in semi-quantitative "ranked list" or "categorical matrix" formats, which are certainly useful but not optimal for making business decisions. A relatively new technique for performing valuation under uncertainty, value at risk (VaR), has been developed in the financial world. VaR is a method of evaluating the probability of a gain or loss by a complex venture, by examining the stochastic behavior of its components. We believe that combining quantitative risk assessment techniques with VaR concepts will bridge the gap between engineers and scientists who determine process risk and business leaders and policy makers who evaluate, manage, or regulate risk. We present a few basic examples of the application of VaR to hazard analysis in the chemical process industry.     

Quality control information systems

As competition for world markets becomes more intense and as greater demands are placed on human and natural resources, manufacturers face a formidable challenge — to produce cost competitive products of the highest possible quality. Nowadays the quality control (quality assurance) department can spend incredibly large amounts of time just collecting the test data they need in order to do their job. Collating and analysing the data is similarly very demanding in terms of how much human time can be expended. Simplification and automation of the tasks of data collection, collation and analysis is possible with a quality control information system. A microprocessor can form the basis of a quality control information system if application to only a very small area of a manufacturing operation is desired. However, far greater benefits can be derived if a real-time minicomputer is used instead of a microprocessor. This is because quality control data can then be collected across the entire factory floor. Statistical quality control techniques can subsequently be applied to examine the effect of process conditions in some part of the factor on product malquality exhibited in any other part of the factory. ‘What-if’ type analyses can also be conducted factory wide. A quality control information system should be capable of (a) identifying the product quality problems (b) determining the causes of these product quality problems (c) helping to eliminate the causes (d) monitoring the altered process. These system functions enable the quality control department to progress from a ‘fix-the-product’ mode to a ‘fix-the-process’ mode and thereby concentrate on making the product right in the first place, by achieving better control of the manufacturing process. Application software packages are now available which have been purpose-designed for quality control information systems. One such example is the Quality Decision Management (QDM) software package from Hewlett-Packard, which runs on an industrial HP 1000 real-time minicomputer. On the data entry side a quality control information system should be capable of manual input from menu-driven terminals and bar-code wands. Automatic input of test data is also vitally important. This enables such devices as analysers, test instruments, data acquisition units. ATE and other computers to be interfaced to gather test data with no manual intervention. All collected data should be held in a database. The QDM database can be searched to generate a wide range of reports in tabular or colour graphic form, the latter include histograms, scattergrams, control charts (X-bar, sigma), P-charts and Pareto diagrams. The reports enable crucial quality control decisions to be taken. Quality control information systems can be linked to higher level production control computers to form a computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) network. Free movement of data around a CIM network offers enormous flexibility and efficiency in the overall manufacturing process, together with considerable savings in manpower. Costs incurred in the creation of a quality control information system can be easily won back by virtue of the significant savings that such a system brings about.     

Revitalizing executive information systems

As the saying goes, "garbage in, garbage out"--and this is as true for executive information systems as for any other computer system. Crockett presents a methodology he has used with clients to help them develop more useful systems that produce higher quality information. The key is to develop performance measures based on critical success factors and stakeholder expectations and then to link them cross functionally to show how progress is being made on strategic goals. Feedback from the executive information system then informs strategy formulation, business plan development, and operational activities.     

A new double EWMA-t chart with auxiliary information for the process mean

In this paper, we propose an auxiliary-information-based (AIB) double EWMA-$t$ (AIB-DEWMA-$t$) chart for monitoring the process mean. The DEWMA-$t$ chart encompasses the EWMA-$t$ and AIB-EWMA-$t$ charts. The Monte Carlo simulations are used to compute the run length characteristics of the AIB-DEWMA-$t$ chart. Based on detailed run length comparisons, it is found that the AIB-DEWMA-$t$ chart may uniformly and substantially outperform the AIB-EWMA-$t$ chart when detecting different shifts in the process mean. In addition, the AIB-DEWMA-$t$ chart is uniformly more sensitive than the DEWMA-$t$ chart. Similar trends are observed when comparing these control charts with the variable sampling interval feature. A real dataset is also considered to demonstrate the implementation of the proposed chart.     

Managing supply systems with partial information on shipment locations

This paper studies a supply system for a retailer who orders a single product from one manufacturer. Orders filled by the manufacturer pass through multiple transportation stages before reaching the retailer. Each stage represents either a physical location or a step in the delivery process. The lead time for a new order depends on the location of shipments against prior orders in transit. Shipments are not allowed to cross over in time. Thus, the movement of each shipment depends on the movements of shipments ahead of it and the resulting congestion. The retailer is able to track shipments as they move through the transportation channel. The retailer adopts an ordering policy that minimises the sum of his one-period holding and shortage costs, using available status information of shipments already in transit. The case where practical constraints prevent the retailer from obtaining a complete status of shipments at all stages in the transportation channel is considered. The methodology developed evaluates the value of partial shipment tracking information, and uses it to determine the optimal placement of a limited number of tracking devices. The methodology can also be used to evaluate the cost–benefit of placing additional tracking devices in the supply system.     

Quantitative model for evaluating the quality of an automotive business process

One of the key issues to business process control is the identification of measurable process attributes. For manufacturing processes these are typically physical parameters of the process (e.g. temperature, set points) or physical attributes of the manufactured product (e.g. dimension, functional performance). However, for business processes the metrics are more abstract. The challenge has been to develop metrics that capture the contributing subtle and hard to measure factors for business process control. This paper presents an analytical model that uses the weights-of-evidence concept to convert answers to audit or self-assessment questions into a single numerical process quality index. This index is used to forecast process success or failure and monitor its performance from start to end. The application of the approach is illustrated with an automotive industry product development sub-process where the process performance metric is the field warranty data, i.e. incidents per thousand vehicles (IPTV). The analytical model converts process self-assessment (failure mode and effect analysis) questions into a single numeric process quality index. The validity of the model is reflected in the strength of the correlation between the index and the IPTV results. Also, in this paper a measure is developed for identifying critical process quality assessment questions. This measure quantifies the deviation in the automotive business process that should have more focus. The significance of the analytical model proposed in this research is that the project managers or quality assurance auditors may be able to use the metric to predict product quality at any point in the product development process.