Management Commitments that Maximize Business Impact from IT

2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 114-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Quaadgras ◽  
Peter Weill ◽  
Jeanne W Ross
Keyword(s):  
Financial Performance ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Value Creation ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Publicly Traded ◽  
Business Impact ◽  
It Value ◽  
It Capabilities ◽  
Small Set ◽  
Over Time

As digitization becomes pervasive, many organizations struggle to drive value from the growing number of IT-related opportunities. We show how the drivers of IT value creation can be framed as firm-wide commitments to a set of IT capabilities. On the basis of 20 published case studies, we identify a small set of IT decisions that organizations must make to use IT to successfully enhance their impact. We group these decisions into a framework of four commitments. Making these commitments helps organizations reinforce what really matters over time, which in turn helps focus the attention of their employees. We demonstrate, via a survey of 210 publicly traded firms, that firms which are more effective in making these four commitments have higher business impact from IT, which in turn correlates with higher financial performance. We suggest the construct of commitment is a step toward unifying the IT value literature and creating an overarching concept that brings together many of the important management practices identified in previous work.

Entrepreneurial Processes of Business Cluster Formation and Growth by ‘Habitual’ Entrepreneurs

1998 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 43-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Rosa
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Cluster Formation ◽  
High Growth ◽  
New Venture ◽  
Corporate Management ◽  
Business Ownership ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Habitual Entrepreneurs

Previous studies on habitual entrepreneurs have not researched in any depth the processes and strategies associated with the growth of business clusters by habitual entrepreneurs. To gain insights into these issues, case studies were conducted with habitual entrepreneurs who owned high-growth businesses in Scotland. The research involved the analysis of life histories and business genealogies. A diversity was found in the backgrounds of the entrepreneurs studied, in the types of ventures founded, and in strategies adopted to build up their cluster of companies. Entrepreneurial motives, strategies, and practices by habitual entrepreneurs in building their business ownership clusters not only can differ markedly from one entrepreneur or type of entrepreneur to another, but also by individual entrepreneurs over time. Despite this diversity, little evidence emerged that the growth of business ownership clusters was motivated by orthodox corporate management principles, though corporate management practices were employed in some cases to subsequently assimilate the new venture into a cluster. On balance, entrepreneurial opportunism was more prevalent than planned “survivalist” diversification. Further, the concept of “entrepreneurial” performance is introduced to distinguish performance through creating a cluster of ventures rather than through growing a single one.

scholarly journals Meta-Interpretation: Fifteen Years of Research with the Management Report

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (71) ◽  
pp. 217-231
Author(s):  
Uajará Pessoa Araújo ◽  
Mozar José de Brito ◽  
Lívia Maria de Pádua Ribeiro ◽  
Fernanda Tarabal Lopes
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Publicly Traded ◽  
Economic Sectors ◽  
Administrative Practices ◽  
Publicly Traded Companies ◽  
Company Directors ◽  
Contemporary Management ◽  
Over Time

ABSTRACT This paper deals with Brazilian empirical research published in journals between 2000 and mid-2015 that used, as a source of data, the Management Reports (MRs) released by publicly-traded companies together with their financial statements. MRs differ from each other, both in form as well as in substance, and due to this as well as to their other characteristics, they prove attractive for academic studies interested in official company discourse, more so because they involve documents that are public and retrievable over time, covering a substantial range of typically larger companies from different economic sectors. Driven by these characteristics, the goal of this study was to understand the way the academic world understands and uses the MR. The paper favored an interpretivist viewpoint, but used the triangulation allowed by the use of qualitative (content analysis) and quantitative (statistical, sociometric, and bibliometric analyses) methods. It was concluded that, for the core group of experts who dealt with the document, the MR is biased, incomplete, questionable, unclear, laborious, uncertain, but also useful - in the absence of another -, comprehensive, available, and retrievable over time. And it lends itself to the interest of company directors by increasing their value and at the same time legitimizing their companies, incorporating into discourse the use of contemporary management practices, consistent with the expectations of stakeholders. Finally, it suggests the possibility, unexplored in the articles analyzed, of employing the MR to study the dynamics of the institutionalization of administrative practices among companies in the country.

scholarly journals Determinants of revenue management practices and their impacts on the financial performance of hotels in Kenya: a proposed theoretical framework

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Murimi ◽  
Billy Wadongo ◽  
Tom Olielo
Keyword(s):  
Financial Performance ◽  
Revenue Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Second Stage ◽  
Theoretical Structure ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Conceptual Paper

AbstractThis conceptual paper aims at identifying a theoretical framework for the determinants of revenue management (RM) practices and their impacts on the financial performance of hotels. To create this framework, a two-phased process is employed where the first stage involves an explicit examination of the literature related to practices of revenue management and their determinants and to hotel financial performance. The second stage involves an enhancement of the framework. The theoretical structure is developed based on past theoretical explanations, and empirical analysis is conducted in the fields of revenue management. The researchers propose a theoretical framework illustrating how revenue management practices and their determinants affect the financial performance of Kenyan hotels. The use of contingency theory and its justifications and inadequacies among studies on revenue management in hotels is highlighted. The methods highlighted by the reviewed theoretical framework may be utilized to organize revenue management (RM) practices and their determinants for Kenyan hotels. Measurements for the financial performance of hotels are also described. Last, the researchers call for empirical research that authenticates the proposed model using a cross-sectional survey. The present work can inspire scholars and specialists to determine how RM practices and their determinants impact the financial performance of hotels. By assimilating knowledge from numerous disciplines, this paper emphasizes aggregated awareness surrounding the conceptualization of RM, RM practices adopted in hotels, and the financial performance of hotels.

Software-driven Security Attacks: From Vulnerability Sources to Durable Hardware Defenses

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-38
Author(s):  
Lauren Biernacki ◽  
Mark Gallagher ◽  
Zhixing Xu ◽  
Misiker Tadesse Aga ◽  
Austin Harris ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Gain Control ◽  
Illustrative Case ◽  
Security Attacks ◽  
Specific Point ◽  
Security Vulnerabilities ◽  
Significant Challenge ◽  
Hardware Realization ◽  
Over Time

There is an increasing body of work in the area of hardware defenses for software-driven security attacks. A significant challenge in developing these defenses is that the space of security vulnerabilities and exploits is large and not fully understood. This results in specific point defenses that aim to patch particular vulnerabilities. While these defenses are valuable, they are often blindsided by fresh attacks that exploit new vulnerabilities. This article aims to address this issue by suggesting ways to make future defenses more durable based on an organization of security vulnerabilities as they arise throughout the program life cycle. We classify these vulnerability sources through programming, compilation, and hardware realization, and we show how each source introduces unintended states and transitions into the implementation. Further, we show how security exploits gain control by moving the implementation to an unintended state using knowledge of these sources and how defenses work to prevent these transitions. This framework of analyzing vulnerability sources, exploits, and defenses provides insights into developing durable defenses that could defend against broader categories of exploits. We present illustrative case studies of four important attack genealogies—showing how they fit into the presented framework and how the sophistication of the exploits and defenses have evolved over time, providing us insights for the future.

Practical Applications of Bed Scour Calculations: Two Case Studies

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leif M. Burge ◽  
Laurence Chaput-Desrochers ◽  
Richard Guthrie
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Flood Frequency ◽  
Flood Frequency Analysis ◽  
Accurate Estimation ◽  
Pool Depth ◽  
Regional Flood Frequency Analysis ◽  
Channel Degradation ◽  
Design Depth ◽  
Bed Scour ◽  
Over Time

Pipelines can be exposed at water crossings where rivers lower the channel bed. Channel bed scour may cause damage to linear infrastructure such as pipelines by exposing the pipe to the flow of water and sediment. Accurate estimation of depth of scour is therefore critical in limiting damage to infrastructure. Channel bed scour has three main components: (1) general scour, (2) bed degradation, and (3) pool depth. General scour is the temporary lowering of the channel bed during a flood event. Channel bed degradation is the systematic lowering of a channel bed over time. Pool depth is depth of pools below the general bed elevation and includes the relocation of pools that result from river dynamics. Channel degradation is assessed in the field using indicators of channel incision such as channel bed armoring and bank characteristics, through the analysis of long profiles and sediment transport modelling. Pool depth is assessed using long profiles and channel movement over time. The catastrophic nature of bed lowering due to general scour requires a different assessment. A design depth of cover is based on analysis of depth of scour for a given return period (eg. 100-years). There are three main steps to predict general scour: (1) regional flood frequency analysis, (2) estimation of hydraulic variables, and (3) scour depth modelling. Typically, four scour models are employed: Lacey (1930), Blench (1969), Neill (1973), and Zeller (1981), with the average or maximum value used for design depth. We provide herein case studies for potential scour for pipeline water crossings at the Little Smoky River and Joachim Creek, AB. Using the four models above, and an analysis of channel degradation and pool depth, the recommended minimum depth of cover of 0.75 m and 0.142 m, respectively, were prescribed. Variability between scour models is large. The general scour model results varied from 0.45 m and 0.75 m for the Little Smoky River and 0.16 m to 0.51 m for Joachim Creek. While these models are more than 30 years old and do not adequately account for factors such as sediment mobility, they nevertheless do provide usable answers and should form part of the usual toolbox in water crossing scour calculations.

Performance Sports Group: To Invest or Not to Invest

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-85
Author(s):  
Erin P. Jackson ◽  
Stefania Ciulla ◽  
Frederik Ehlen ◽  
Ayobami Ogunlana ◽  
Jess C. Dixon
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Financial Performance ◽  
Parent Company ◽  
Financial Ratios ◽  
Stock Exchanges ◽  
Industry Analysis ◽  
Publicly Traded ◽  
Sporting Goods ◽  
Financial Analyses

In August of 2015, Felix Farmer received notice that he would be inheriting a large sum of money from his great-uncle’s will. Farmer is contemplating investing $50,000 CAD ($38,251 USD) of his inheritance in the parent company of his favorite hockey brand, Bauer. Performance Sports Group (PSG) is a leading manufacturer in the global sporting goods industry that is publicly traded on both the Toronto and New York Stock exchanges, and the parent of such highly successful brands as Bauer and Easton. This case study challenges students to calculate financial ratios, apply various other financial analyses to understand the financial performance of PSG, and complete a Porter’s (2008) Five Forces industry analysis as a means of deciding whether Farmer should invest a portion of his inheritance with PSG.

Droughts, floods and freshwater ecosystems: evaluating climate change impacts and developing adaptation strategies

2011 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison Aldous ◽  
James Fitzsimons ◽  
Brian Richter ◽  
Leslie Bach
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Numerical Models ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
Adaptation Strategies ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Eastern Australia

Climate change is expected to have significant impacts on hydrologic regimes and freshwater ecosystems, and yet few basins have adequate numerical models to guide the development of freshwater climate adaptation strategies. Such strategies can build on existing freshwater conservation activities, and incorporate predicted climate change impacts. We illustrate this concept with three case studies. In the Upper Klamath Basin of the western USA, a shift in land management practices would buffer this landscape from a declining snowpack. In the Murray–Darling Basin of south-eastern Australia, identifying the requirements of flood-dependent natural values would better inform the delivery of environmental water in response to reduced runoff and less water. In the Savannah Basin of the south-eastern USA, dam managers are considering technological and engineering upgrades in response to more severe floods and droughts, which would also improve the implementation of recommended environmental flows. Even though the three case studies are in different landscapes, they all contain significant freshwater biodiversity values. These values are threatened by water allocation problems that will be exacerbated by climate change, and yet all provide opportunities for the development of effective climate adaptation strategies.

Changes in the contents of corporate codes of ethics: an institutional interpretation

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 369-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jang B. Singh
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Codes Of Ethics ◽  
Legal Authority ◽  
Valuable Contribution ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Innovative Management ◽  
Study Population ◽  
Over Time

Purpose – The purpose of this paper was to examine changes in the contents of Canadian corporate codes of ethics over a period of two decades from an institutionalization perspective. Design/methodology/approach – The paper tracks changes in the contents of the codes of large Canadian corporations longitudinally by analyzing their contents at two points over two decades, in 1992 and 2012. In particular, the paper tests three hypotheses related to the institutionalization of codes. Findings – It was found that the codes have become more prescriptive, they are more concerned with social responsibility and are more likely to identify their moral and legal authority. Overall, the findings support an institutional interpretation of the observed changes. Research limitations/implications – While large corporations are critical in establishing new and innovative management practices, their selection as the study population limits the generalizabilty of the findings. Another limitation of this paper is that it used an a priori determined set of items to analyze the contents of the codes and while this was needed to facilitate the comparison across time, it also meant that some important items were not clearly identified. Originality/value – Codes of ethics are the foundation of ethics programs in corporations and their contents could be critical in the development of a culture of ethics in corporations. This paper makes a valuable contribution to research on business ethics by analyzing the codes of ethics of the largest corporations in Canada at two points over two decades. The need to track changes in corporate codes of ethics over time has been advocated by several researchers, but longitudinal studies in this area are rare.

A case study review of wood ash land application programs in North America

TAPPI Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-120
Author(s):  
ILICH LAMA ◽  
DEREK SAIN
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Soil Quality ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Forest Products ◽  
Wood Ash ◽  
Land Application ◽  
Agricultural Application ◽  
Application Programs

Several regulatory agencies and universities have published guidelines addressing the use of wood ash as liming material for agricultural land and as a soil amendment and fertilizer. This paper summarizes the experiences collected from several forest products facility-sponsored agricultural application programs across North America. These case studies are characterized in terms of the quality of the wood ash involved in the agricultural application, approval requirements, recommended management practices, agricultural benefits of wood ash, and challenges confronted by ash generators and farmers during storage, handling, and land application of wood ash. Reported benefits associated with land-applying wood ash include increasing the pH of acidic soils, improving soil quality, and increasing crop yields. Farmers apply wood ash on their land because in addition to its liming value, it has been shown to effectively fertilize the soil while maintaining soil pH at a level that is optimal for plant growth. Given the content of calcium, potassium, and magnesium that wood ash supplies to the soil, wood ash also improves soil tilth. Wood ash has also proven to be a cost-effective alternative to agricultural lime, especially in rural areas where access to commercial agricultural lime is limited. Some of the challenges identified in the review of case studies include lengthy application approvals in some jurisdictions; weather-related issues associated with delivery, storage, and application of wood ash; maintaining consistent ash quality; inaccurate assessment of required ash testing; potential increased equipment maintenance; and misconceptions on the part of some farmers and government agencies regarding the effect and efficacy of wood ash on soil quality and crop productivity.

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