Top Management Involvement Research Articles

Staff suggestion scheme (3Ss) within the UAE context

Purpose – There are two main objectives of this exploratory research paper; first is to identify and understand from a management point of view the key success factors in implementing an effective staff suggestion scheme in an organization based in UAE. The second objective is to develop and recommend a model which can bridge the gap between staff suggestion scheme theories and evidence‐based practices.Design/methodology/approach – A literature‐based study that examine the theories related to staff motivation, rewards and recognition, top management involvement, and communication. A qualitative, exploratory research was then conducted using in‐depth and semi‐structured interviews with two leading organizations and five key informants in the field of staff involvement.Findings – The study indicates that many factors have been considered in establishing the staff suggestion schemes by both organizations, issues pertaining to the increasing participation and suggestions implementation were detected. The rese...

Top management sponsorship to guide communities of practice

PurposePrior research on managing communities of practice (CoP) has not investigated top management's involvement in detail. The purpose of this paper is to present three detailed and successful mechanisms through which top management contributes to the guidance of CoPs.Design/methodology/approachThe paper presents an investigation of 47 CoPs conducted in several organizations. Data collection was achieved using a qualitative questionnaire, followed by in‐depth interviews with leaders of CoPs.FindingsThis study explored three mechanisms used by sponsors to successfully guide CoPs. More specifically, the findings highlight a set of operational means used by top management – via sponsors – to supervise and facilitate best practice development and sharing within CoPs.Research limitations/implicationsThe CoPs should be examined by means of an ethnological approach, thus interacting with many members of the same CoP to gain an in‐depth understanding of each mechanism's significance for the sponsorship's success. There is also a need to further explore how the three sponsorship mechanisms are interrelated.Originality/valueThrough numerous examples extracted from different multinational organizations, this paper offers clear guidelines for top managers on how to improve their support to CoPs in their organization.

Developing knowledge management – what makes the success?

In this paper we develop a list of critical factors for knowledge management (KM), using different theoretical frameworks. We identified four elements which were common to most models: management promotion, infrastructure, strategy and evaluation. Conducting four case studies from firms in the chemical industry allowed us to compare our factors with empirical data. We found that the involvement of top management is crucial for the implementation of knowledge management, whereas evaluation seems to be less important. In all cases, knowledge management was seen as a continuous development process. However, one of our most interesting findings is that an incentive programme seems to be necessary for a successful implementation of KM in the culture and processes of an organisation. Looking at the development of KM systems over time, we observed a conversion of all four analysed cases at the process level.

Examination of Contingency, Innovation Adoption, and Channel Power Theory Relating to Electronic Distribution Channels in the U.S. Lodging Industry: An Integrated View

This study proposed a comprehensive model applicable to hotel electronic distribution management. It was guided by three well-founded theories: contingency theory, information-adoption theory, and channel-power theory. We evaluated environmental and organizational determinants of electronic distribution strategy and their relationship with its consequences using the linear structural path modeling. Among 12 posited hypotheses, 8 were supported by the sample. Slack, investment, and innovativeness had significant effects on the Internet distribution strategy, while top management involvement did not. Constructs identified as consequences of the electronic distribution channel strategy were confirmed in the hotel electronic channel context.

An exploratory study of the relevance of trans-national global information systems to small and medium enterprises: evidence from Egypt

This paper provides an investigation into the information system (IS) strategy of SMEs in Egypt using questionnaires and case studies to explore if a trans-national global IS can be applied to SMEs in Egypt. Generally, most Egyptian SMEs lack the structure needed to successfully plan an ISS. However, it was evidenced that top management involvement is present at the decision-making stages and throughout implementation and IS planning is undertaken in some way by Egyptian SMEs. The case studies revealed that SMEs operating with a structured hierarchy proved to be far more advanced with regard to information system strategy planning (ISSP). The results of the OLS regression analysis indicated that the higher the involvement of top management in IS decision-making in Egyptian SMEs the more advanced the organisation regarding ISS; organisations that have an IS department and a specific IS budget are more successful in planning and implementing IS strategy; there is a lack of expertise to adequately implement ISS in new companies and in companies from the public sector and finally, the greater the IS budget the greater the outsourcing activities of a firm. A theory of trans-national global IS can therefore be applied to Egyptian SMEs with some modifications due to differing cultures.

Top management involvement in project management

PurposeTop management support is considered to be an area that has high impact on project success. However, previous studies have also stated that effective top management support practices may vary across industries. This paper focuses on top management support for projects executed in the software sector. The objective of this study is to identify those top management support processes that have the greatest impact on software development project success and to compare these critical processes with the actual type of support provided by organisations.Design/methodology/approachAbout 17 top management support processes have been identified from the literature. Their effectiveness has been calculated according to their relative impact on project success. Data has been collected from 213 software development project managers and their supervisors in Japan, Israel and New Zealand. For each country, the impact of top management support processes on project success has been analysed to identify critical processes. Then, the actual level of use of both critical and non critical top management support processes by senior managers has been compared.FindingsDifferent critical top management support processes have been identified in each country. However, six processes have been found to have higher contribution to project success than others. These processes are described and discussed in the paper. It has also been found that in all three countries top managers do not invest more effort in critical processes, than in non critical ones. Instead, in all countries, executives choose to perform easy‐to‐do processes. Critical top management support processes, which have higher impact on project success, often do not receive an appropriate level of attention from senior managers in the software industry.Practical implicationsSenior managers in the software industry may focus on critical processes, rather than paying lip service to less important ones. Specific practices designed to support these critical processes are also presented in the paper.Originality/valueThe paper suggests a detailed list of critical top management support processes, which significantly improve project success in different cultures. The paper also discusses this list in comparison with what is currently done by executives in the software industry and concludes with specific recommendations to managers in the software industry.

Top management involvement in project management

PurposeAs top management support is considered one of the critical success factors in project management, effective executive involvement can significantly improve project success. However, the literature does not provide organizations with a clear list of effective top management support practices to achieve this type of support. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to highlight the top management support processes, which highly contribute to project success.Design/methodology/approachAs it is expected that results vary among different project scenarios, data were collected from 700 project managers and their supervisors in seven industries and three countries – Japan, Israel, and New Zealand.FindingsResults reassure that top management support is significantly correlated with project success. Results also show that different top management support processes should be implemented in any industry and culture.Originality/valueThe paper introduces and discusses a detailed list of critical top management support processes for each industry and country, and concludes with introducing best practices to support these processes.

Project team effectiveness: the case for sufficient setup and top management involvement

Launching and supporting successful maintenance projects is an overlooked aspect of maintenance management research. This paper examines the effects of four important factors on project success: resource allocation, team leader authority, significant project objectives, and top management involvement. Additionally, we investigate the moderating effects of top management involvement on the relationship between inputs and team performance. By examining the responses from 60 industrial teams we found that a project team's ability to function efficiently is positively related to resource allocation and significant project objectives and negatively related to team leader authority and top management involvement. A project team's ability to achieve its business goals was positively related to significant project objectives. Moreover, the relationship was stronger for significant project objectives and project efficiency when top management was involved. The moderator also enhanced the team leader authority–goal achievement relationship but negatively impacted the team leader authority–project efficiency relationship. Implications are discussed.

An evaluation of TPM initiatives in Indian industry for enhanced manufacturing performance

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to evaluate the contributions of total productive maintenance (TPM) initiatives towards improving manufacturing performance in Indian Manufacturing Industry.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, a large number of manufacturing organizations have been extensively surveyed, to ascertain contributions made by TPM initiatives in the Indian manufacturing industries towards realizing manufacturing performance improvements. The correlations between various TPM implementation dimensions and manufacturing performance improvements have been evaluated and validated by employing various statistical tools.FindingsThe research focuses upon the significant contributions of TPM implementation success factors like top management leadership and involvement, traditional maintenance practices and holistic TPM implementation initiatives, towards affecting improvements in manufacturing performance in the Indian industry. The inter‐relationships between various TPM implementation success factors with the manufacturing performance improvement parameters have been evaluated, to efficiently manage the TPM implementation program to realize organizational objectives of growth and sustainability.Research limitations/implicationsThe study establishes that focused TPM implementation over a reasonable time period can strategically contribute towards realization of significant manufacturing performance enhancements.Practical implicationsThe study stresses upon the need for improving the synergy between maintenance function and other organizational quality improvement initiatives in the organizations, to establish maintenance as a competitive strategy for meeting the challenges of highly competitive environments.Originality/valueThe study highlights the strong potential of TPM implementation initiatives in affecting organizational performance improvements. The achievements of Indian manufacturing organizations through proactive TPM initiatives have been evaluated and critical TPM success factors identified for enhancing the effectiveness of TPM implementation programs in the Indian context.

Human Resource Driven Turnaround at North Delhi Power Limited: Transition from a Public Utility to a Private Enterprise

The case illustrates how a public sector utility entity with almost no human resource (HR) system in place went on the road of transformation and learning. The case documents areas of transformation from an archaic personnel architecture towards institutionalization of strategic HR system. From file maintenance to strategic partnership, the journey of HR along with top management support and line management involvement is mapped throughout the case. The establishment of a psychological contract acted as the foundation, resulting in commitment and faster adaptation to change. Organizational learning took roots with systemic changes starting from the external customer and later in the internal customer. The role of HR as a strategic partner in this transformation was exemplified as HR enjoyed voice and space at the board level of the organization. This case is useful for showing how internal change agents and the active partnership of HR can lead to greater commitment than compliance with top management directives.

Logistics collaboration in supply chains: practice vs. theory

PurposeThis paper aims to present results from a survey that investigates the situation in real world supply chains concerning logistics collaboration.Design/methodology/approachBased on supply chain management literature, a questionnaire was developed covering important topics from the literature. The questionnaire was sent to the logistics manager at Swedish manufacturing companies and a net response rate of 37.8 percent (177/482) was achieved. Apart from purely descriptive statistics, factor analysis, cluster analysis, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and cross tabulations with χ 2 tests were used for the analysis.FindingsFrom the results, three major conclusions are drawn. First, there is a clear relationship between the intensity of the collaboration and the positive effects experienced from the collaboration. Second, the results indicate that top management is an important driver for higher intensity collaboration. Third, there are serious differences between supply chain management (SCM) theory and practice, due to the absence of strategic elements in the collaboration and the different ways in which supplier and customer collaborations are managed.Research limitations/implicationsRelated to SCM theory, the lack of strategic elements in the collaboration might prevent or decrease the expected positive effects of the collaboration. It is therefore important to increase the strategic level component in the collaboration. Top management involvement is likely to be important to achieve this and hence more research on the topic is suggested.Originality/valueThe study presents a broad overview concerning logistics collaboration that covers many of the most important supply chain management issues. In addition, their relationship is discussed.

An examination of ISO 9000:2000 and supply chain quality assurance

ISO 9000:2000 is the latest version of the quality standard developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The standard aims to evaluate a firm's ability to effectively design, produce, and deliver quality products and services. This version of the standard tries to enhance customer satisfaction by including more top-management involvement and continual improvement. Despite widespread international acceptance, the new standard is surrounded by controversy similar to that surrounding its predecessor, the 1994 version. The literature is clearly divided in its assessment of ISO 9000:2000, which is viewed as either a quality management (QM)-based system or as another paper-driven process that increases risk, uncertainty, and costs. This study utilizes case-based research to address the competing views of the ISO 9000:2000 standard in an attempt to see if a sample of firms in the automotive industry can be positioned within the Miles and Snow [Miles, R.E., Snow, C.C., 1978. Organizational Strategy, Structure and Process. McGraw-Hill, New York] strategic typology. We compare different amounts of quality standard integration and quality assurance in the supply chain of firms with ISO 9000:2000 registration while positing several research propositions.

Realigning Top Management's Strategic Change Actions for ERP Implementation: How Specializing on Just Cultural and Environmental Contextual Factors Could Improve Success

Abstarct An enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and its implementation represents a substantial organizational change. Top management involvement has been cited as a critical factor in the success, as well as, failure of ERP implementation. To increase ERP implementation success, we propose that top management redesign its ERP implementation work to strategically concentrate on managing employee behavioural change to increase employee acceptance and commitment to the ERP project by specializing its involvement on just two factors – cultural and environmental contextual factors. Three case studies are used to validate this proposition. Eight strategic task, responsibility, and relationship changes to be used by top management to increase ERP implementation success are highlighted in the paper.

Development of B2B electronic data interchange using XML format

PurposeTo propose some recommendations to improve the model that the Taiwanese Government developed for business to business data‐interchange standards for XML format (DIS_XML) of seven industries.Design/methodology/approachThis study examines the DIS_XML development of Taiwan from a practical perspective. After an assessment of industrial structures and characteristics and recommendations are proposed for the development model.FindingsThe study concludes that the structure and function of development organization, expert knowledge, top management involvement and support, communication between relevant departments and the achievement of consensus are key factors in establishing the industrial DIS_XML.Practical implicationsThe study revealed the development content of government promoting the DIS_XML of seven industries in Taiwan and will be of assistance to other countries that are inclined to promote.Originality/valueGovernmental involvement of the sort demonstrated by the Taiwanese Government is a rare phenomenon in the world. Such government involvement has directed the thrust of business involvement in the development of DIS_XML, and will ultimately determine whether it succeeds.

A Study of Information Technology Effectiveness in Select Government Organizations in India

Achieving Information Technology (IT) effectiveness in government offices is a daunting prospect. This is because the bureaucratic structure, perceived (and often actual) laxity in the workplace, weak accountability and responsibility relationships, and cumbersome and conflated work processes act as serious inhibitors of IT effectiveness. There are many indirect influencers of IT effectiveness. The broad working propositions for this study have been formulated keeping in mind the working environment of the government organizations and the past studies that have looked at government organizations in the context of IT. In some of the organizations, the methodology of IT use is simple, while in some others, it is tedious and complicated. IT projects are often fraught with cost overruns and delays. Once deployed, many systems fail to meet functional requirements or are too complex to be feasible for many organizations. Hence we should expect to find that government organizations, in general, do not use IT effectively. This study specifically examines the effects of IT use, user satisfaction, organizational culture, top management, and IT management on the effectiveness of IT in government organizations in India. Further, the enablers for IT use are identified that enhances the organization's performance. A questionnaire survey was employed among the users in Indian government organizations situated in Delhi and surrounding areas for the collection of data. The descriptive and inferential statistical analyses result into the following conclusion: User satisfaction is the indicator of system success and the users like a friendly system. The users are influenced more by the information systems (IS) staff in comparison to non-IS staff. Top management involvement is relatively high in IT-related problems resulting in higher budget for IT, which in turn plays a positive role in increasing the satisfaction of users. However, the initiative to motivate IS staff is not enough and the computer training given to the users fails to take care of the latest needs. The users are required to be familiar with the latest technology and therefore be given the latest training for better IT use. The difficulty in effective IT use is also due to some resistance experienced from the employees of the organizations. This is further compounded due to the existence of workers� union problems. Correlation and regression analyses reveal that: the independent variables (viz., IT use, user satisfaction, top management, IT management, sand organizational culture) have significant positive effect on the dependent variable, i.e., IT effectiveness. leadership, managerial awareness of costs and benefits, centrality of IT business strategy, top management support, higher position of IS manager, easy accessibility to computer, enhanced connectivity capability, favourable cost performance trends, vendor push, and competitive pressure were found to be the IT enablers. The future scope of research lies in extending the study to all government organizations of India and also comparing state government organizations with those of the central government.

ANALISIS FAKTOR-FAKTOR YANG MEMPENGARUHI KEEFEKTIFAN MANAJER DALAM PENGEMBANGAN SISTEM INFORMASI

At Persent technologt is rapidly advancing. It is accompanied by the development of the technologt-based information system. The development af the information system requires various supportingfactors, which dre omang other the participation of user communication of useri top management involvement, cotnplexity af system,top mtmagement involvementand structure af organization can give the efectivity from information system that retlected on the user satisfaction. The obiective of this study is ta find empirical evidence that participation of user, commtmication of user, top monagement involvement, complexity system,top man'agement involvement and structure of organization had influence the successful information system development. The analysis indieates that the participation of useri comunnication of user, top management involvement, ord complexity system statically influence the srccessful infarmation development system and structtre of organization stdically did not intlaence the successful information system development.Keyword: The Participatioru af Users, Commwtication af users, Top Managernent Involvement, Complexity of System, Structureof Organization, The Successful of Information,SystemDevelopment.

Management by Objectives Revisited: In View of Chain Effects among Objectives

Management by Objectives (MBO) refers to a management control system advocated in 1954 by P. F. Drucker. MBO was introduced into Japan in the early 1960s. In the 40 years that have since elapsed, different studies have reported that over 60% of the listed corporations on the stock exchange markets in Japan have introduced MBO systems. Thus, the MBO system is, like budgeting, one of the most prevalent management control systems in Japan. Unlike other management control systems, MBO involves the application of a function that can break down the company-wide strategy and organization goal of a corporation to the level of individual workers. For the purposes of this paper, this function is called “chain effects among objectives”. Chain effects among objectives are essential for the management control system of a corporation. MBO will become more instrumental in implementing corporate strategy when it is organically combined and operated with other management control systems.This paper explores MBO's chain effects among objectives for Japanese corporations and focuses on identifying those factors that have an impact on the chain effects among objectives. The results have revealed that the concern and involvement of top management have a great impact on the chain effects among objectives, and that target workers' satisfaction with their MBO and chain effects among objectives are related in such a way that will bring about synergistic effects.

Critical success factors for successful implementation of enterprise resource planning systems in manufacturing organisations

This study examines the impact of the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) on the successful implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems in Malaysian manufacturing organisations. The ERP system is an integrated package of business software that enables companies to manage their resources efficiently (Nah, Zuckweiler and Lau, 2003). The effect of organisational resistance on the aforementioned relationship was also studied, along with user satisfaction and pre-determined goals to evaluate the degree of success of ERP system implementation. Top management involvement, business plans, vision, vendor support, change readiness, teamwork, team composition and communication were found to be critical factors to ensure a smooth introduction for successful ERP implementation. In addition, organisational resistance was found to moderate the relationship between CSFs and user satisfaction.

Management of IT-enabled change in a public organisation in Tanzania

The implementation of Information Technology (IT) is always associated with organisational change issues and in developing countries this is even more complex due to poorer and less established IT resources and governance. Therefore, our paper has focused to analyse the management of IT-enabled change in a public organisation in Tanzania by using Ward and Elvin framework, and see how these changes affected the organisation's performance. The results indicate that, despite the contextual complexity, the IT-enabled change that considers techno-organisational issues, is likely to meet the change objectives. Moreover, using the Ward and Elvin framework we have summarised six main success factors (which are involvement and commitment of top management; engagement of the key stakeholders; alignment of IT and business; developing necessary skills, competence and motivation; institutionalisation of the change process and incorporation of the learning process for adjustment and future intervention) that worth noting for replication to other similar IT-enabled changes.

New product development benchmarking to enhance operation competitiveness

The long-term survival of a business enterprise hinges upon its ability to introduce new products into the marketplace faster and better than its competitors. In search of the recipe for success, companies have widely adopted the NPD benchmarking to understand the best practices being used throughout the industry. The authors will attempt to provide an overview of NPD benchmarking practices since 30 years ago found from the studies in the literature and to identify those considered as 'best practices'. In doing so, the results of important research efforts undertaken during the last three decades will be summarised. The key conclusions from past studies indicate that NPD processes continue to evolve and to become more sophisticated. Interestingly, more than one-third of all firms in the latest study still use no formal process for managing NPD. The best-practice firms participating in this study do not use financial rewards for NPD. Furthermore, best-practice firms that use more multifunctional teams are more likely to measure NPD processes and outcomes and therefore expect more from the NPD programmes. However, top management support and involvement was an important predictor of NPD.