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Debbink, Thomas M. "MAKE-BUY DECISION MAKING: A MULTI-THEORETICAL EXAMINATION." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2001. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin997977397.
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Palmgren, Daniella, and Bränneby Linn. "Outsourcing versus in-house production : Development of a make-or-buy decision model at Atlas Copco Rock Drills AB." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Industriell ekonomi, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-119496.
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The question regarding whether to produce in-house or to purchase from an external supplier is nowadays commonly highlighted as a central and strategic decision for manufacturing firms. Furthermore, the importance of creating a competitive and consistent make-or-buy strategy that is adapted to the context of the firm as well as to today´s dynamic business environment cannot be underestimated. Today, the division Surface and Exploration Drilling (SED) within Atlas Copco Rock Drills AB in Örebro lack a standardized and holistic process to support this decision making, why this is requested. Consequently, this master thesis aims to, in line with Atlas Copco´s business strategy, develop a decision model in order to facilitate the make-or-buy decision at the SED. In order to be able to fulfill the purpose, a thorough examination of the contemporary academic findings was executed. Furthermore, as the requested make-or-buy decision model should be adapted to the firm’s contextual circumstances, SED´s corporate strategy was analyzed and interviews with concerned employees from different functions were conducted. As a result of this, an initial list of parameters that affect the make-or-buy decision was generated. Thereafter, how to decompose, measure and prioritize this selected parameters were determined. Additionally, if any parameter should be considered as a knockout criterion was established as well. Based on this, the first draft of the decision model was developed and presented. An in depth analysis regarding areas of improvements was thereafter executed, and the first draft of the decision model was updated accordingly. Inputs to this analysis were gained from an empirical investigation. In more detail, interviews at both SED and at external suppliers, a calculative case study where the first draft of the model was tested as well as a workshop at SED were all sources of additional inputs. Based on the outcome of the in depth analysis, modifications of the first draft of the model was made which resulted in the final version of the make-or-buy decision model. The result of this investigation can consequently be described as a corporate adapted make-or-buy decision model. The model is divided into seven steps, namely: Core competence analysis Determination of module characteristics Configuration of the make-or-buy setup Request of quotations to potential supplier Volume flexibility, lead time and total cost analysis Risk evaluation Synthesis of above stated parameters, including the parameters: time flexibility impact on R&D operations acquiring competitive knowledge product flexibility the opportunity to share risks long-term capacity Furthermore, the end-user needs to have an idea of what module and what assembly level that could be of interest and use the decision model in order to investigate whether to reject or proceed with this suggested make-or-buy setup. The model also illustrates the need of a regular re-evaluation of the decision made, in order to cope with the dynamic internal and external business environment. One additional advantage with the decision model is that it takes both quantitative and more qualitative aspects into consideration after which a holistic analysis of these can be made.
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Hodosi, Georg. "Information Technology Outsourcing in Large Companies in Sweden : A Perspective on Risks, Relationships and Success Factors." Doctoral thesis, Stockholms universitet, Institutionen för data- och systemvetenskap, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-141707.
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This thesis investigates large private companies in Sweden that have outsourced their information technology (IT). A considerable proportion of IT outsourcing (ITO) is unsuccessful. For IT service buyers, this could cause IT that does not fully work, entailing problems with the network, application, infrastructure and security, with serious consequences such as a loss of customers’ confidence and significantly increased costs. Therefore, the main research goal was to analyse and define ways to improve ITO for buyer organizations. This main research goal was accomplished through three research goals that are the followings: 1) To develop a method for risk assessment in IT outsourcing; 2) To identify the important factors in IT outsourcing relationship; and 3) To identify the success factors in IT outsourcing. The research strategies applied in conducting this research were design science research and survey research. To achieve the first research goal, a method was developed for assessing the ITO risks, including support for mitigating these risks. This method could help both researchers and practitioners in estimating the ITO risks and in this way improve ITO. An application based on the developed method was used to facilitate the testing of this method by several ITO decision makers in large companies concerning its usability, correctness and functionality. Moreover, a study was performed to explore ITO decision makers’ acceptance of the developed method and their use of it for assessing the ITO risks. The second research goal investigated how to improve service buyers’ ITO relationship with their providers. A well-working ITO relationship is a critical determinant of successful ITO and is relevant to the whole ITO life cycle. This research goal was achieved by identifying and analysing the most important factors in ITO relationships, including a prioritized list of those factors that are highly recommended for use in creating and maintaining a good ITO relationship. The third research goal examined how to improve ITO by identifying and prioritizing the success factors (SFs) in ITO. This research identified the ITO SFs in large companies and provided a prioritized list of them to be applied in these companies with a description of the value that they could create from implementation during the ITO life cycle. Moreover, the SFs identified in large companies were compared with those identified in medium-sized companies, which could give an indication to the researchers in this field that company size matters in regard to the implementation order of the identified SFs. In summary, the research presented in this thesis contributes with: 1) a method for assessing the risks of outsourcing IT and, in the case that IT has been outsourced, suggested ways to mitigate them; 2) the important factors that could improve ITO relationships and 3) a prioritized list of success factors that could improve IT outsourcing.Denna avhandling undersöker stora privata företag i Sverige som har outsourcat sin IT verksamhet. Som vi uppmärksammade har en stor del av IT-outsourcingen (ITO) misslyckats. För köparen av IT-tjänsten kan det leda till bristande IT funktionalitet med allvarliga konsekvenser som i värsta fall leder till förlorade kunder och betydande kostnadsökningar. Därför är det övergripande forskningsmålet är att analysera och fastställa hur ITO:n för köparen av IT tjänsten kan förbättras. För att lösa det övergripande forskningsmålet forskningen undersökte: 1) Utvecklingen av en metod för att bedöma riskerna med IT-outsourcing; 2) Identifiering av de viktiga faktorerna inom IT-outsourcingsrelationer; och 3) Identifiering av en lista över framgångsfaktorer i IT-outsourcing. De använda forskningsstrategierna för att genomföra forskningen var ”design science research" och kartläggning. För att uppnå först huvudforskningsmålet, har en metod tagits fram för att bedöma riskerna och vägleda hur man kan minska dem. Den här metoden kan hjälpa både forskare och de som utövar IT-outsourcing med att bedöma ITO-riskerna och på så sätt förbättra sina IT-outsourcing. En programvara baserad på den metoden har utvecklats för att underlätta testningen av metoden vilket har genomförts med IT beslutsfattare på stora organisationer, beträffande användbarhet, korrekthet och funktionalitet. Dessutom har en studie utförts för att bedöma om programvaran kan accepteras av IT beslutsfattare och få reda på om de skulle använda metoden för att bedöma ITO riskerna. Det andra forskningsmålet har undersökt hur köparna av den outsourcade IT-tjänsten kan förbättra relationen med sina leverantörer. En bra ITO-relation är en avgörande faktor för en framgångsrik ITO och den är viktig för hela livscykeln. Forskningsmålet har uppnåtts genom analys för att hitta de viktigaste faktorerna ITO-relationsfaktorer, som studien rekommenderar för att skapa och underhålla en bra ITO relation. Det tredje forskningsmålet har undersökt hur ITO kan förbättras genom att identifiera och prioritera framgångsfaktorerna i ITO. Studien har identifierat framgångsfaktorerna i stora företag och tagit fram en lista med prioriterade framgångsfaktorer som bör implementeras i de undersökta företagen. Dessutom så har nyttan av dessa framgångsfaktorer beskrivits under ITO livscykeln. Dessutom har de identifierade framgångsfaktorerna från stora företag jämförts med framgångsfaktorerna som har identifierats för medelstora företag. Denna jämförelse ger en indikation till forskarna på det här området att prioriteringen av framgångsfaktorerna är beroende av företagsstorlek. Sammanfattningsvis, den beskrivna forskningen i den här uppsatsen bidrar med: 1) En metod för att bedöma risker och förslag på hur minska dessa risker; 2) En lista med de viktiga faktorerna för att förbättra ITO relationen inom IT-outsourcing och; 3) En prioriterad lista av framgångsfaktorer som kan förbättra IT outsourcing.
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Mobus, Sandra. "Verticalização e terceirização das atividades logísticas : estudo de casos múltiplos no setor químico." reponame:Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações da UFRGS, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10183/56077.
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A logística permite desenvolver estratégias para a redução de custos e aumento do nível de serviço ofertado ao cliente. A tomada de decisão sobre a empresa executar internamente as atividades logísticas ou terceirizar essas atividades é uma decisão tão importante que na grande maioria das empresas ela é feita em nível de Diretoria ou Gerência. A tendência empresarial de manter o foco no negócio é uma estratégia que vem sendo adotada cada vez mais pelas empresas. Consequentemente, atividades fora do core business estão sendo terceirizadas. No setor de distribuição de produtos químicos verifica-se a presença tanto de empresas que terceirizam suas atividades logísticas quanto de empresas que verticalizam, não havendo uma unanimidade a respeito no setor. Dado este contexto, o objetivo da pesquisa é o de analisar a adoção da verticalização ou da terceirização das atividades logísticas em empresas distribuidoras de produtos químicos. Assim, a questão de pesquisa é: Por que as empresas adotam a estratégia de verticalização ou de terceirização de suas atividades logísticas? A pesquisa é qualitativa descritiva e aplicou o método de estudo de caso, através da investigação de casos múltiplos realizada em empresas distribuidoras de produtos químicos. A pesquisa utilizou como fontes de evidência entrevistas e análise de documentos, sendo inicialmente feitos dois estudos de caso pilotos e após as devidas correções foram feitos mais dois estudos de casos. Os resultados obtidos permitiram a constatação dos seguintes fatores como sendo motivadores da adoção da verticalização das atividades logísticas: reduzir custos, ter maior controle da operação, aumentar os níveis de serviço logístico e focar em logística (competência central) foram determinantes, enquanto dispor de habilidades e recursos e aumentar a proximidade com o cliente foram considerados importantes. O fator atender todos os requisitos logísticos do negócio não foi levado em consideração na adoção da verticalização das empresas. Em relação à terceirização das atividades logísticas, os seguintes fatores foram identificados como motivadores de sua adoção: reduzir investimentos em ativos, reduzir custos e focar no core business foram determinantes, enquanto os fatores expandir mercados e aumentar a flexibilidade da operação foram considerados importantes. Os fatores: ter acesso a competências externas; melhorar as tecnologias de informação utilizadas e aumentar os níveis de serviço logístico não foram fatores considerados pelas empresas quando optam por terceirizar suas atividades logísticas. Assim, a dissertação buscou trazer contribuições para a área de Logística, pois explorou e analisou um tema sempre considerado atual e estratégico que é o da terceirização ou verticalização das atividades logísticas, em um mesmo contexto. Já para a prática gerencial, a principal contribuição pretendida foi a de fornecer subsídios para ajudar os executivos de logística na tomada de decisão terceirizar x verticalizar.Logistics allow the company to develop strategies for cost reduction and increase the level of the service offered to the client. For the company to make the decision of executing internally the logistics activities or to outsource these activities is such an important one that in most of the companies this decision is made by the directors or managers. The companies’ trend to keep the focus on the business is a strategy which has been adopted more and more. Consequently, activities out of the core business of the companies are being outsourced. In the sector of distribution of chemicals we can observe the presence of companies that outsource their logistics activities and companies that insource, meaning that there is no unanimity about this in the sector. Given this context, the objective of the research is to analyze the adoption of insourcing or outsourcing of logistics activities in chemicals distribution companies. Thus, the research question is: Why do companies adopt the strategy of insourcing or outsourcing their logistics activities? The qualitative research is descriptive and applied the method of case studies, by investigating multiple cases performed in distributors of chemicals. The research used interviews as sources of evidence and analysis of documents and initially two pilot case studies were made and after corrections two more case studies were made. The results led to the finding of the following factors as drivers of the adoption of the vertical integration of logistics activities: reduce costs, greater control of the operation, increase levels of service and focus on logistics (core competency) were determinants, while having skills and resources and increase customer proximity were important. The factor meet all the requirements of the logistics business was not taken into consideration in the adoption of vertical integration of enterprises. Regarding outsourcing logistics activities, the following factors were identified as motivators of the adoption: reduce asset investment, reduce costs and focus on core business were decisive factors while the factors market expansion and increase the flexibility of the operation were considered important. The factors: have access to external expertise, improve the information technology used and increase levels of logistical service were not considered by companies when they choose to outsource their logistics activities.The dissertation sought to bring contributions to the field of logistics, since it explored and analyzed a theme that is always current and strategic, which is the outsourcing or insourcing of logistics activities, in the same context. For the management practice, the main contribution intended was to provide information that can help the logistics executives in the decision to outsource x insource.
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Köhler, Florian. "Reps or agents or both: Managers' rationale behind how to organize the sales function : About the rationale of decision-makers in manufacturing companies of the Swedish prefabricated wooden house industry behind the organization of sales forces." Thesis, Internationella Handelshögskolan, Högskolan i Jönköping, IHH, Företagsekonomi, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-30273.
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Problem - Decision makers shape the structure of the sales function, but it is unclear how they go about it and why. The rationale for making certain decisions need to be analyzed in order to understand why different decision makers apply different sales strategies. Topic - The Swedish prefabricated wooden house industry consists of many actors with no clear market leader. The sales force seems to mainly consists of external sales agents (manufacturers' representatives, also called reps), though some manufacturers also employ direct sales agents at the manufacturing company. Prefabricated wooden houses corresponded to 86% of all building permits requested during 2015. Purpose - This thesis aims to explore decision-makers' rationale behind the organization of manufacturers' sales forces in the Swedish prefabricated wooden house industry. Method - Semi-structures interviews with decision makers at manufacturing companies in the Swedish prefabricated wooden house industry have been conducted in order to fulfill the purpose of this study. The empirical findings are then analyzed based on theory that has been collected through partly inductive, partly deductive approaches. Main results - Decision makers use different arguments to justify their strategies. Many different rationale applied translates into no clear pattern besides the one that there seems to be no clear pattern. Arguments for a rationale decision are given without analytical proof for an assumption. Some interviewees are in essence for an integrated sales force, though might also work with reps.
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Öhlin, Ebba. "The decision behind outsourcing New Product Development : An exploratory case study in the context of technical products." Thesis, Karlstads universitet, Fakulteten för hälsa, natur- och teknikvetenskap (from 2013), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-78905.
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In todays increased globalized business world and with a firms’ ongoing need for higher quality and lower costs, outsourcing is a popular strategy for companies to use. This thesis intends to study outsourcing in the context of new product development (NPD). The aim of this research is to contribute to the field of operations management. This is achieved by improving the understanding of decision-making during outsourcing NPD by investigating what factors affect the outsourcing decision. This will be fulfilled by addressing the research question What affect the choice between make or buy in outsourcing New Product Development? By conducting an exploratory single case study and performing semi-structured interviews, the factors that influence decision-making in outsourcing of NPD could be generated. The findings show that competence, time, service, costs, strategy, and ability to collaborate with supplier were important factors that influenced the decision. The factors were analyzed and compared with transaction cost economics and resource-based views, which are theoretical perspectives commonly used to understand the firm’s strategical decisions. The factors from the findings were also used to conduct a cost model and a decision model. This can help a firm’s decision-making and increase the understanding of how the decision in outsourcing of NPD is made. The results lend support to the argument that outsourcing decisions are complex. With different factors creating different influences, and all of them need to be considered in order to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the decision. The findings also suggest that no theoretical perspective can alone completely explain the decision of outsourcing NPD, they need to be integrated with another demand-oriented perspective. A recommendation for further research should be to investigate how the cost model and decision model could be implemented in practical situations and in different contexts.I dagens globala affärsvärld och företags konstanta strävande efter högre kvalité och lägre kostnader, så är utkontraktering en populär strategi att använda. Denna avhandling avser att studera utkontraktering i samband med ny produktutveckling (PU). Syftet med forskningen är att bidra till området för verksamhetsstyrning genom att förbättra förståelsen i beslutsfattande för utkontraktering av ny produktutveckling genom att undersöka vilka faktorer som påverkar beslutet av att utkontraktera. För att uppfylla detta ska forskningsfrågan Vad påverkar valet mellan att köpa eller göra i utkontraktering av ny produktutveckling? besvaras. Genom att genomföra en explorativ fallstudie och utföra semistrukturerade intervjuer så kan de påverkande faktorerna bakom utkontraktering av PU genereras. Resultatet visade att kompetens, tid, service, kostnad, strategi och förmågan att samarbeta med leverantör är viktiga faktorer att ta hänsyn till vid beslutet. Faktorerna analyserades och jämfördes med transaktionskostnad- och resursbaserad teori som är vanliga teoretiska teorier att applicera för att förstå ett företags strategiska beslut. De framtagna faktorerna användes också gör att konstruera en kostnad- och beslutsmodell som kan användas som stöd och hjälp för företags beslutsfattande och öka förståelsen för hur beslutet av att utkontraktera PU görs. Resultatet ger stöd till tidigare forskning som menar på att beslutet av att utkontraktera är komplext vilket innebär att flera faktorer påverkar beslutet och alla faktorer behöver bli betraktade för att kunna få en heltäckande förståelse för beslutet. Resultatet visade också på att ingen av de teoretiska perspektiven kan ensamt förklara beslutet av att utkontraktera PU, utan de behöver bli integrerade med ett annat perspektiv för att fullt kunna förklara beslutet. En rekommendation till framtida forskning kan vara att undersöka praktisk tillämpning av kostnadsmodellen och beslutsmodellen och hur de kan användas i andra kontext.
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Weber, Deisi Luana Diel. "Sourcing decision: a behavioral perspective, a replication of david hall teses." Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, 2015. http://www.repositorio.jesuita.org.br/handle/UNISINOS/5224.
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UNISINOS - Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos
This research presents an investigation about the decision-making process regarding Make or Buy, trying to understand which variables most influence this decision to insource some activities, to outsource others, or to better estimate a percentage to combine both. The dependent variable on our research is the behavioral decision-making process, measuring the influence received by cost, quality, and monitoring. Trying to understand if differences between these independent variables influence how managers make their decision in the context of insource or outsource production. In order to test this model empirically, an experiment research was conducted, on the basis of eight different scenarios, which simulate a purchasing decision situation ranging the variables costs, quality, and monitoring of suppliers between High and Low, to understand the relationship of these constructs with the decision-making process of Brazilian managers. It was performed with a sample of 211 students from the Production Engineer course at Universidade do Rio dos Sinos (Unisinos). The data was analyzed using statistical technique ANOVA. The results demonstrate that managers consider cost variation to decide about how much to internalize and how much to outsource. They change their choices when quality is higher in their suppliers than inside the company. They also evaluate manager capability to control costs over their suppliers and on their process inside the company. However, they do not change their sourcing decision due to supplier’s monitoring variation, neither when quality monitoring is considered. This issue was already addressed in Hall’s study (2012) conducted in the United States. Thus, we decided to replicate his in Brazil in order to check if in a different environment, with other economic, politic, social, and regulatory situation, the manager will change their decisions. Nevertheless, after comparing both studies, we realize that the same hypothesis was supported in both studies, what means that even in another context the same variables are considered to base managers sourcing decision.
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Blomkvist, Klas, and Samuel Cervall. "Globala försörjningsbeslut i en industriell kontext." Thesis, Tekniska Högskolan, Högskolan i Jönköping, JTH, Industriell organisation och produktion, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-32257.
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Purpose – The purpose with this study is to investigate which factors that needs to be considered for sourcing decisions to ensure an optimal long-term decision, and which of these factors that can be quantified in a product costing model. To fulfill this purpose two research questions have been proposed: Which factors needs to be considered for a sourcing decision? Which of these factors that needs to be considered can be quantified in a product costing model? Method – A case study was conducted to fulfill the purpose of this study. The case study produced empirical data through interviews and document studies. The empirical data was interpreted and analyzed on the basis of the theoretical framework, created through literature studies. This process produced the result of this study. Findings – Factors to be considered for a sourcing decision have been identified and categorized in four over-arching categories: unit cost, logistical factors, capability factors and risk factors. These factors have been quantified in a product costing model. A preparatory decision model was created to further integrate some risk factors that could not be quantified. Implications – Both the make or buy decision and the manufacturing location decision have been considered in the product costing model presented in this study. The product costing model visualize and take into account hidden costs, rarely considered in sourcing decisions. This further enables optimal long-term sourcing decisions. Limitations – Risk factors remain difficult to quantify. This makes it difficult to determine the cost of risk factors, and as a result of that, to include them in a product costing model. Companies with similar conditions suites the model since the case study was conducted at only one company. Whether the product costing model is true for business in other contexts remain uncertain.Syfte – Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vilka faktorer som bör beaktas vid ett försörjningsbeslut för att säkerställa ett långsiktigt korrekt beslut och vilka av dessa som kan kvantifieras i en kalkylmodell. För att uppfylla syftet har följande två frågeställningar formulerats: Vilka faktorer bör beaktas vid ett försörjningsbeslut? Vilka av dessa faktorer som bör beaktas kan kvantifieras i en kalkylmodell? Metod – För att uppfylla studiens syfte genomfördes en fallstudie. Med hjälp av intervjuer och dokumentstudier har fallstudien genererat empirisk data. Utifrån det teoretiska ramverket, som skapats genom litteraturstudier, har data tolkats och analyserats. Detta har gett upphov till studiens resultat. Resultat – Faktorer som bör beaktas vid ett försörjningsbeslut har identifierats och kategoriserats i fyra övergripande kategorier: enhetskostnad, logistikfaktorer, kapabilitetsfaktorer och riskfaktorer. Dessa faktorer har kvantifierats i en kalkylmodell. För vissa riskfaktorer som är svåra att kvantifiera har en förberedande beslutsmodell skapats. Implikationer – Kalkylmodellen som presenteras i denna studie beaktar både tillverka/köp-beslutet och lokaliseringsbeslutet. Kalkylmodellen tar hänsyn till dolda kostnader som sällan beaktas vid dessa typer av beslut. Detta möjliggör ett långsiktigt korrekt försörjningsbeslut. Begränsningar – Riskfaktorer är fortsatt svåra att kvantifiera och därmed kostnadsbestämma. Detta gör det svårt att inkludera dem i en kalkylmodel. Då fallstudien genomfördes på endast ett fallföretag är kalkylmodellen lämpad för företag med liknande förutsättningar. Det är därför svårt att säga hur väl kalkylmodellen stämmer för företag i andra kontexter.
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Matthee, Thomas Francois. "Make, buy or rent decision for information systems in the heavy engineering industry / Matthee, T.F." Thesis, North-West University, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10394/7032.
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The study focuses on the use of information systems in the Heavy Engineering industry in South
Africa and the decision to make, buy or rent information systems. Special focus was placed on
the factors that influence the decision to make, buy or rent information systems. It is undeniable
that changes in the competitive environment, such as technological advances and globalisation,
are driving organisations toward new ways of operating. In striving to become flexible, lean, and
more competitive, organisations have been increasingly swift to externalise support service
functions.
Every organisation must adapt to the current economic environment, the technology available in
its industry and consider the risk and rewards within the industry framework. Organisations
should carefully analyse the impact of their decisions, especially in consideration of the extent to
which organisational competencies and competitive advantage could be affected.
An extensive literature study was conducted on the factors that influence the decision to make,
buy or rent. The literature study portrays the ideal state or methodologies for acquiring
information systems and the best practices used in evaluating the best option for the
organisation. The literature indicated the criteria for evaluating the decision to make, buy or rent
information systems are the business need, in–house experience, project skills, project
management and the time frame. These criteria can be broken down into the factors that have
an influence on the decision, competitive advantage, security, skills, expertise, available
resources, cost, time, implementation, support, maintenance, performance, quality,
documentation, vendor issues, size of organisation, expected annual transactions, software
control, functionality, productivity and increased turnover.
Calculating the benefit that can be achieved from information systems must also include
measures to incorporate the total benefit, not only the financial benefit. The balance scorecard
approach measures the total return accompanying an investment in information systems,
broken down into four sections, the financial perspective that measures the tangible outcomes,
the customer perspective that measures customer value (quality, delivery and skill), the internal
process perspective that measures the internal processes that add value and have the greatest
impact on strategy and finally the learning and growth perspective that measures the intangible
assets which focuses on human capital. Information systems form part of the corporate strategy,
competitive positioning and must be aligned with the overall strategy of the organisation.
A survey was done to determine the opinions about the different options
managers/organisations have to consider when seeking to fulfil organisational requirements for
information systems. Methodological issues as well as considerations with regard to gathering
the data were discussed. A questionnaire was designed to collect data to obtain the information
needed to solve the research problem. The internal consistency of the questionnaire was tested
and it was found that a moderate to high level of consistency exists. The survey results were
then presented in frequency tables and were analysed using descriptive statistics as well as
inferring possible trends or conclusions based on relationships between certain responses on
specific related questions and referring to the literature study.
A framework was compiled from the literature study and empirical study that can be used for the
purpose of decision–making in the make, buy or renting of information systems in the heavy
engineering environment in South Africa. Benefits from purchasing software from a vendor
include competitive advantage, available resources, implementation of the system, support to
the system, system performance, documentation and training, and business functionality.
Benefits from open source offerings include the size of the organisation and the number of
expected annual transactions by the organisation. Benefits from SaaS (Software as a service)
include competitive advantage, expertise, system performance and business functionality.
Benefits from the outsourcing of development and other IT functions include competitive
advantage, security, skills, available resources, implementation of the system, support to the
system, system performance, documentation and training, business functionality and technical
functionality. Benefits from developing in–house all or part of the effort include competitive
advantage, security, skills, expertise, available resources, time, implementation of the system,
support to the system, maintenance and upgrades, system performance, quality, documentation
and training, business functionality, technical functionality, productivity improvements and
increased turnover.
Overall the linkage between the literature study and the empirical study concludesThesis (MBA)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.
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Ilten, Paul. "Ansätze für profitables Wachstum von BPO-Dienstleistern." Doctoral thesis, Saechsische Landesbibliothek- Staats- und Universitaetsbibliothek Dresden, 2015. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:14-qucosa-175529.
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In dieser Arbeit wird untersucht, wie eine theoriegeleitete Bewertung der Auslagerungseignung von Geschäftsprozessen erfolgen kann und welche Ansatzpunkte für profitables Wachstum von Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)-Anbietern in Deutschland sich aus der Nutzung einer entsprechenden Methodik ableiten lassen. Dazu wird in drei Schritten vorgegangen. In einem ersten Schritt wird ein theoretisch-konzeptionelles Bewertungsmodell zur Bestimmung der Auslagerungseignung von Geschäftsprozessen entwickelt. In einem zweiten Schritt werden Möglichkeiten einer konzeptionellen Übertragung dieses Modells auf Praxisanwendungen geprüft. Im abschließenden dritten Schritt wird gezeigt, wie die Verwendung des in dieser Arbeit entwickelten Bewertungsmodells im Rahmen der Marktbearbeitungsaktivitäten von BPO-Dienstleistern einen Beitrag zum profitablen Wachstum dieser Anbieter leisten kannIn this thesis it is studied how a theory-based assessment of business processes regarding their adequacy for outsourcing can be carried out and what starting points for profitable growth of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) providers in Germany can result from the application of such a methodology. For this purpose a three step approach is taken. As a first step a theory-based concept of an assessment model to determine the adequacy of outsourcing business processes is developed. As a second step possibilities for transferring the concept of this model to real life applications are examined. In a final third step it is shown how the assessment model developed here can be used as part of the marketing activities of BPO companies to contribute to their profitable growth
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Åkerström, Björn, and Rasmus Skarphagen. "The role of financial and non-financial goals in the make or buy decision at a family firm : A case study on Väderstad AB." Thesis, Internationella Handelshögskolan, Jönköping University, IHH, Centre of Logistics and Supply Chain Management (CeLS), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-48697.
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Background: Make or buy decisions is the most fundamental part in a company’s manufacturing strategy. The decision is complex and involves sacrifices whichever strategy is chosen, and before making the decision the firm should understand and evaluate the trade-offs and comparative costs of manufacturing or outsourcing. The uniqueness of family firms is that they often operate their business with non-financial goals at the centre. This study will investigate the make or buy decisions at Väderstad AB, a family owned firm that deals with decisions of make or buy on a large scale, with many thousands of parts included in their final machines, and decisions made daily whether to make or buy. There is no existing research looking at the qualitative non-financial goals and factors in family firms and how it affects the make or buy decision. Purpose: This master thesis studies the make or buy decision at a family firm. The aim is twofold, namely, to explore the potential uniqueness of family firms within the context of the make or buy decision and then to create a make or buy decision model for a family firm. This aim is explorative, i.e. to generate theory, in the realm of family firm research. Method: This is a qualitative study performed by conducting a single case study methodology. 12 Semi-structured interviews with 14 employees from all parts of the case company and the use of documents from archival records were collected as data. The data was analyzed with the technique of 1st order concepts, etc. as developed by Gioia. Conclusion: Our analysis showed that in the context of family firms, the primary factors influencing make or buy decisions at the case company were not financial goals. Instead drivers were goodwill for customers, innovation, quality, flexibility and control which are non-financial goals. However, financial goals were not neglected, but rather costs were measured after a decision had been made, proving that it was not in the centre of their operations before and during the decision and thus, it was secondary. As a result, non-financial goals played a larger role than financial goals in the make or buy decision.
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Ward, Tyrone L. "A database of Adversary Decision Makers." Thesis, Monterey, Calif. : Springfield, Va. : Naval Postgraduate School ; Available from National Technical Information Service, 2001. http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA386608.
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Thesis (M.S. in Information Technology Management) Naval Postgraduate School, March 2001.Thesis advisor(s): Dolk, Daniel R. ; Buettner, Raymond. "March 2001." Includes bibliographical references (p. 101). Also available in print.
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Bradonjic, Philipp, Nikolaus Franke, and Christian Lüthje. "Decision-Makers' Underestimation of User Innovation." Elsevier, 2019. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2019.01.020.
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In the past few decades,much Research has documented the importance of users assources of innovations. Over
the last 10 years, Research Policy alone has published 56 Research articles investigating this phenomenon. We ask
to what degree the findings of users as Innovators have been absorbed by decision-makers responsible for new
product development (managers) and by those who shape the contextual conditions for innovation (policy
makers and public administration). A realistic perception of the sources of innovation is important as it con-
stitutes the Basis for arational allocation of resources and thus indirectly Impacts the Innovation Performance of
companies and societies at large.
In a large-scale survey of n=1500 decision-makers, we found support for a substantial underestimation of
users as a source of innovation: While the true proportion of user innovation among the most valuable 1678
innovations in nine industries is 54.4% (as established inexisting research articles), decision-makers estimate it
to be 21.7%. A content analysis of transfer media (450 academic textbooks, popular innovation books, and
business articles) underscores this theory-practice gap: Of 3469 text paragraphs dealing with the sources of
innovation, only 2.7% mention users as innovators. We develop six propositions on the reasons for and con-
sequences of this underestimation that may serve as a starting point for future research and practical con-
sequences.
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Brock, Floyd James Jr. "Enhanced Computer Graphics for Decision Makers." PDXScholar, 1986. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/1238.
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Words need a context to be understood. Visual patterns also need a context to convey their meaning. When patterns represent quantities in business graphics, decision makers (DMs) depend on contrasting visual contexts to discern patterns and discover relationships. Depending on the context in which DMs see trends, differences between two trends may point to a problem, to continuity, or to an opportunity. Can enhancing the context in computer graphics help DMs visualize problems? To answer this research question, three experiments were done in the field on computer graphics. One hundred five DMs tried 17 different contexts for time-series trends displayed on a microcomputer monitor. The research objective was to find out whether changing the context in graphics affected the decision efficiency (accuracy/response time) of DMs in determining relationships among trends. Essential for measuring the effect were interactive computer programs that displayed random trends in graphics of differing contexts, collected the DMs' answers to questions about the trends, and graded 1133 graphics based on the answers, response times, and trend data. The experimental results supported the hypothesis that computers can enhance the visual context surrounding time-series trends so that DMs can better visualize problems. Results were based on comparisons of DMs' decision efficiencies between trial graphics with differing contextual enhancements and based on answers to questions about the trial graphics. The results were tested with nonparametric statistics at the 0.05 significance level. Specific findings were: (1) Computer-supplied forecasts, as an enhancement, significantly helped DMs discover differences among trends. (2) Although not statistically significant, stratified presentation of trends and fading chartjunk tended to increase DMs' efficiencies. (3) Adding two colors, as an enhancement, made no difference in efficiency over black and white. (4) Paired trends in windows did not affect efficiency significantly. (5) Sequentially traced trends and composites of enhancements did not affect efficiency significantly. (6) DMs preferred stratified trends most and had the most confidence in graphics with fading context. They least liked and had the least confidence in black-and-white graphics.
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Jamieson, Bruce (Kieren) James, and k. jamieson@cqu edu au. "Information Systems Decision Making: Factors Affecting Decision Makers and Outcomes." Central Queensland University. School of Management and Information Systems, 2007. http://library-resources.cqu.edu.au./thesis/adt-QCQU/public/adt-QCQU20070626.103825.
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Organisations are increasingly reliant on effective information systems (IS) yet little is known about the information and influences that contribute to their selection. Decision makers play an important role in the evaluation, acquisition and implementation of information systems in organisations. Their role during the re-implementation phase of information systems projects is critical, yet little is known about how and why these decisions are made. This thesis explores the influences on these decisions and reports their effects. The aim of this research is to increase the understanding of what occurs during decision making in the critical pre-implementation phase. A cross-disciplinary approach has been employed to develop a research framework informed by literature from information systems, innovation and adoption theory, management decision making and organisational decision making. A qualitative research method was used to develop four exploratory case studies. Research was conducted in private and government organisations that had implemented large information systems. An interpretive hermeneutic text-based analysis technique was used in a cross-case analysis in order to build theory and address the research questions. Fifty-six informational and contextual factors were identified in this research as having effects on information systems pre-implementation decision making. These factors fall into eight broad thematic factor groups: confidence, decision process, opinions, option attributes, organisation, perceptions, politics and vendor attributes. This thesis concludes that there are linkages between decision factors and decision outcomes. It is argued that to achieve positive decision outcomes from information systems preimplementation
decisions, conditions for intra- and inter-organisational alignment must exist. It is also argued that information systems re-implementation decision outcomes alter intra- and inter-organisational alignment conditions and affect future decisions.
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Bower, Emily H. "Evaluation of a tube feeding decision aid for substitute decision makers." Morgantown, W. Va. : [West Virginia University Libraries], 2006. https://eidr.wvu.edu/etd/documentdata.eTD?documentid=4909.
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Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2006.Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains v, 132 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references.
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Ozdoglar, Mehmet Rasit. "Assessment Of Criteria-rich Rankings For Decision Makers." Master's thesis, METU, 2010. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/3/12611509/index.pdf.
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Environmental policymaking is a difficult issue for governments. It is desirable to have the decisions based on the results of quantitative and analytical studies. On the other hand, by their very nature, many such decisions have political aspects, whose subtleties are difficult to be captured by quantitative approaches alone. It is left to the political establishments to decide how best to allocate the efforts to improve environmental conditions. In this respect, evaluating the countries by generating environmental indices and the subsequent ranking of the countries with respect to those indices is a common practice. Perhaps the best known environmental sustainability index, the Environmental Performance Index-2008 (EPI-2008), is a composite index that comprises 6 core policy categories and 25 indicators.
While recognizing the qualitative aspects of such decision making, in order to support and guide the policymaking process, we develop analytical tools to assist the process. We carefully delineate our models to be limited only to the provable quantitative properties of the available objective data. However, such data are processed into more meaningful statements concerning the available options. Specifically, using EPI-2008, meaningful mathematical models that shed further light onto the country sustainability measures are developed.
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Richardson, William. "Management strategy models to aid regulatory decision makers." Thesis, Coventry University, 1991. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.306069.
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Digby, Sarah Jayne. "Ugandan pupils as decision makers : freedoms and constraints." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2018. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/30813/.
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The thesis comprises a qualitative study exploring the freedoms and constraints to pupils participating in decisions relating to their education. The context of the study is within rural Uganda and includes an analysis of political, cultural and structural frameworks which may inhibit or enhance pupils from making decisions.
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Garisch, I. "Bayesian decision-makers reaching consensus using expert information." Journal for New Generation Sciences, Vol 7, Issue 2: Central University of Technology, Free State, Bloemfontein, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/11462/534.
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Published ArticleThe paper is concerned with the problem of Bayesian decision-makers seeking consensus about the decision that should be taken from a decision space. Each decision-maker has his own utility function and it is assumed that the parameter space has two points, Θ = {θ1,θ2 }. The initial probabilities of the decision-makers for Θ can be updated by information provided by an expert. The decision-makers have an opinion about the expert and this opinion is formed by the observation of the expert's performance in the past. It is shown how the decision-makers can decide beforehand, on the basis of this opinion, whether the consultation of an expert will result in consensus.
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Sutton, P. P. "A decision aid for me, Neolithic man and other impaired decision makers." Thesis, University of Bath, 2003. https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.760837.
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Niskanen, S. (Salla). "Outsourcing decision-making in mining industry." Master's thesis, University of Oulu, 2013. http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:oulu-201309251723.
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The objective of this research is to describe the nature of an outsourcing in mining industry and the main focus of outsourcing will be in the characteristics of outsourcing decision-making and its implications on outsourcing decision-making process. Mining industry sector is offering interesting facets for outsourcing as a practice due to the remote locations, mine lifecycle, limited and specified supply market and challenging production.
The theoretical contribution of this research creates knowledge from the typical elements of the outsourcing decision in mining industry and shows where the motivators and factors are typically encountered in such decisions, and how they affect to the outsourcing process.
In this research qualitative research methods are used. The theoretical framework is created by combining pre-existing outsourcing literature of outsourcing process and outsourcing decision-making. The theoretical framework is used to support the empirical data collection, analysis and formation of the theoretical conclusions. The empirical part consist a multiple case-study with two research cases from a mining industry. Interviews were the main empirical data used.
As a result of this study, outsourcing in mining industry is guided by two contextual factors: the production factors and the capacity-based factors. Production related decisions occur more often in the strategic level of outsourcing decision and capacity-based outsourcing decisions in the tactical level. Therefore the outsourcing decision is the groundwork of firm’s capability base and a risk perspective. The strategic risk assessment is to identify how critical outsourced processes are to the organization. For the capability evaluation, several actors have been recognized to have an impact on outsourcing decision. This research also reveals that in some situations, for example in limited market with high uncertainty, the supplier capability can have an overall impact on outsourcing decision of the company.
This research provides useful insights for outsourcing managers to evaluate their outsourcing decisions. The study reveals that it is important to understand both internal and external environment of the outsourcing decision and the strategic and structural aspects associated with an organization’s decision to reconfigure.
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Fredriksson, Martin, and Martin Andersson. "Decision-makers’ Attitudes and Behaviors Toward E-mail Marketing." Thesis, Internationella Handelshögskolan, Högskolan i Jönköping, IHH, Marketing and Logistics, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-18416.
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Background E-mail marketing is used to get consumers’ attention to one’s products, services, need, etc., and ultimately to get them to act in a specific way. How consumers are affected by E-mail marketing is a topic that has not been thoroughly investigated even though it is of great interest due to the vast increase of E-mail marketing the last couple of years. Thus, there is a major gap in the research of this topic, especially in a B2B context. Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to analyze behaviors and attitudes of decision-makers in the Swedish manufacturing industry regarding B2B E-mail marketing. Method The authors used a quantitative research approach with an online-survey in order to collect necessary data. The population is decision-makers within the manufacturing industry in Sweden. The result is based on 1 777 participating decision-makers. The questionnaire was constructed by the authors and is based on the theoretical framework consisting: Tri-Component Model of Attitudes, Planned Behavior, Micheaux’s (2011) theory of perceived pressure and A(ad). The authors used analysis techniques such as descriptive univariate analysis, Anova-test, factor analysis and linear regression analysis to derive the result. Conclusion The conclusions drawn from this study are that the decision-makers within the manufacturing industry in Sweden tend to have a negative attitude and behavior toward E-mail marketing messages, only a small minority of the decision-makers had a positive attitude. Furthermore, the authors discovered an association between their attitude and how they actually behave. The study also reveals differences in the attitudes and behaviors regarding age and position within the company. A final conclusion drawn from this study is that the decision-makers do not read all marketing messages they receive and they also delete some marketing messages without reading them. The result of this is a non-functional marketing method, as it does not work as it is intended. A suggestion for marketers working with E-mail marketing is to try to establish more positive attitudes by building relationships with the recipients.
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Rhim, Joong Bum. "Aggregation and influence in teams of imperfect decision makers." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/89998.
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Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2014.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 137-141).
Bayesian hypothesis testing inevitably requires prior probabilities of hypotheses. Motivated by human decision makers, this thesis studies how binary decision making is performed when the decision-making agents use imperfect prior probabilities. Three detection models with multiple agents are investigated: distributed detection with symmetric fusion, sequential detection with social learning, and distributed detection with symmetric fusion and social learning. In the distributed detection with symmetric fusion, we consider the agents to be a team aiming to minimize the Bayes risk of the team's decision. In this model, incorrect beliefs reduce the chance of the agents from being right so always lead to an increase in the Bayes risk of the decision-making team. In contrast, the role of beliefs is more complicated in the sequential detection model with social learning, where agents observe public signals, which are decisions made by other agents. Since each agent affects the minimum possible Bayes risk for subsequent agents, she may have a mixed objective including her own Bayes risk and the Bayes risks of subsequent agents. For an earlier-acting agent, it is shown that being informative to later-acting agents is different from being right. When private signals are described by Gaussian likelihoods, informative earlier-acting agents should be open-minded toward the unlikely hypothesis. Social learning helps imperfect agents who have favorable incorrect beliefs outperform perfect agents who have correct beliefs. Compared to in the sequential detection model, social learning is less influential in the distributed detection model with symmetric fusion. This is because social learning induces the evolution of the fusion rule in the distributed detection model, which countervails the other effect of social learning-belief update. In particular, social learning is futile when the agents observe conditionally independent and identically distributed private signals or when the agents require unanimity to make a decision. Since social learning is ineffective, imperfect agents cannot outperform perfect agents, unlike in the sequential detection model. Experiments about human behavior were performed in team decision-making situations when people should optimally ignore public signals. The experiments suggest that when people vote with equal qualities of information, the ballots should be secret.
by Joong Bum Rhim.
Ph. D.
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Garcia-Herreros, Pablo. "Supply Chain Optimization With Uncertainty and Hierarchical Decision-Makers." Research Showcase @ CMU, 2015. http://repository.cmu.edu/dissertations/666.
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Supply chain models describe the activities carried out in the process industry. They are used to design and operate complex sequences of tasks that transform raw materials and deliver final products to markets. Many optimization models have been developed for supply chain planning because they offer the possibility of finding strategies that lead to greater economic benefits. The traditional models have focused on finding the optimal decisions of the supply chain planner in a deterministic context. However, it is widely recognized that uncertainty and external decisionmakers play a fundamental role in the economic success of industrial supply chains. This thesis proposes mathematical programming models for supply chain optimization that consider uncertainty and external decision-makers in a variety of industrial settings. Chapter 1 provides the motivation and the necessary background for our models. In Chapter 2, we study the design of resilient supply chains with risk of disruptions. Disruptions is a type of uncertainty that has not received much attention for supply chain planning, but it is known to have a significant effect in the performance of supply chains. We develop a stochastic programming model for supply chain design that includes disruptions at distribution centers, and a tailor-made solution method to address industrial instances of the problem. In Chapter 3, we present a novel cross-decomposition algorithm for investment planning under uncertainty. The algorithm integrates Benders and Lagrangean decomposition for two-stage stochastic programming formulations. Our computational experiments on instances of the resilient supply chain design problem show the superior performance of the cross-decomposition algorithm over Benders decomposition and direct solution with commercial MILP solvers. In Chapter 4, we propose a new approach for production planning and inventory management in process networks. Inventory management in these networks is a very challenging task because of the close interaction between production activities and the presence of diverse sources of uncertainty. Our planning strategy is based on implementing basestock policies iii to control production rates and inventory levels. Our results show the benefits of using a policybased approach for inventory planning in comparison to other stochastic programming approaches. In Chapter 5, we address the capacity planning problem with rational markets. Our model considers potential customers as rational decision-makers in a bilevel optimization formulation. We propose two reformulation techniques that transform the bilevel model into a single-level problem by replacing the lower level with constraints that guarantee its optimality. The reformulations are based on the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker conditions and the strong duality property of the lower-level linear program; the examples show better computational performance for the duality-based reformulation. The results also demonstrate the benefits of considering markets as rational decision-makers for capacity expansion planning, since it allows developing expansion plans according to the needs of the consumers. In Chapter 6, we extend the capacity planning model to include competitors that optimize their own capacity expansion plans. The resulting trilevel formulation considers as rational all decision-makers present in a competitive environment. We analyze the properties of the trilevel formulation and develop two algorithms to solve this challenging problem. The results reveal the complex interactions that take place in decision-making problems with multiple players and show the importance of considering them in the model. Finally, in Chapter 7 we present the conclusions of this thesis. We demonstrate that uncertainty and external decision-makers have significant impact in supply chain operations, and that our models can be used to anticipate their influence in supply chain performance. The application of these models for industrial supply chain planning has a remarkable potential to increase efficiency.
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Athanasopoulos, Haralabos. "A proposed computer-assisted decision making system for the Hellenic Navy decision makers." Thesis, Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, 1987. http://hdl.handle.net/10945/30408.
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The Hellenic Navy currently avoids the use of computers in all functional areas except for routine bookkeeping. Some individual, societal cultural and institutional military factors that influence this attitude are explored. To correct this situation, it is proposed that a staff Information Systems Officer specialty be established, capable of creating the interface between the decision maker and modern computer systems. A computer-assisted decision making system is proposed that can be used by I ,the Hellenic Navy decision maker. Finally, three representative problems are proposed and solved using such system, to demonstrate the power of modern computer-assisted decision making.
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Rundquist, Jonas. "Outsourcing of New Product Development - A decision framework." Licentiate thesis, Luleå : Luleå University of Technology, 2007. http://epubl.ltu.se/1402-1757/2007/50/.
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Susiva, Suthasinee. "An investigation into how B2B decision-makers utilise resources in their marketing decision-making." Thesis, University of Bath, 2006. https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.512255.
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Everyone makes decisions, some simple, others complex. In business-to-business (B2B) marketing environments, decision-making becomes even more complicated. The decision-makers require an adequate set of facts to support their decision-making. In order to provide the necessary decision-support, B2B organisations invest huge amounts of money in information systems such as enterprise resources planning applications, customer relationship management software, and other types of databases. These systems store, analyse, manipulate and/or integrate internal data and perhaps force-feed it to the decision-makers; what we call a foie-gras approach. On the other hand, organisations may allow the decision-makers to search for the desired facts or decision-support by themselves; what we refer to as anarchic resources utilisation. Alternatively, the decision-makers may utilise resources with a combination of the two approaches. Previous studies have shown that many factors may influence the resources utilisation; however, not many studies have been conducted in the B2B context. This research, therefore, aims to provide a better understanding of how decision-makers utilise the available resources by firstly identifying B2B factors affecting the resources utilisation, and then explaining how these factors influence them. Results from in-depth interviews with the marketing decision-makers from three case studies show that the value of customers, supplier-customer relationships, and the nature of demand are the most influential B2B factors affecting the resources utilisation of the decision-makers. Other factors such as experience, nature of decisions, and management style are also found to have considerable impact on the approach the decision-makers adopt. In order to provide adequate decision-support, the providers may need to consider these factors and understand their effects on the decision-makers in the organisation, and design or choose the right information system(s); this should then result in better quality decisions.
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Jönsson, Joanna, and Mikaela Zahn. "Decision makers' use of Return on Marketing Investment metrics in the decision-making process." Thesis, Högskolan i Halmstad, Akademin för ekonomi, teknik och naturvetenskap, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-37151.
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There is extensive literature written about how to calculate Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI) and its importance for marketing managers. However, there are not many studies made on how and when Return on Marketing Investment metrics are used in real life and if and how it is used to argue the value of a marketing activity. We have in this study with comparative cases investigated if and how ROMI metrics are used by managers outside the marketing department in their decision-making process. We based our case selection on how well they represented "Mad men to Math men" presented in Gilan and Hammarberg (2016)'s book "Get Digital or Die Trying." Mad men refers to old school "gut feeling" marketing decision making and "Math men" refers to modern digital marketers with decision making based on numbers and statistics. This study is made from the decision makers point of view with the purpose to gain a better understanding of if and how ROMI calculations are used in the decision-making process of senior management outside of the marketing department. This comparative case study consists of eight in-depth interviews, four in each company. The interviewees are all senior management outside of the marketing department. Our findings include that these two companies work very differently in how they make decisions in marketing investments. In Company 1 the marketing budget is decided by senior management outside of the marketing department, and this management may also cut the marketing budget if they see it necessary. In Company 2 the Segment Managers are responsible for the amount of the budget they would like to invest in marketing activities, and therefore they have more incentive to calculate the return of each investment and compare it with the return on other investments available to them. One of the reasons for the different ways of working can be a result of the different responsibility structure over the marketing budget. There is also a difference in how the two companies measure the success of the investment; Company 1 measure success in pure financial return and Company 2 measure success in increased market shares as well as financial return. Company 2 are using ROMI metrics to a greater extent than Company 1, who does not use any ROMI metrics. Marketers can in this study get an idea of how using ROMI metrics can help argue their case for further investments in marketing or cutting the budget for the marketing department. With the use of ROMI metrics, marketers can also evaluate which marketing activities are more efficient and thereby decide if they should continue with these activities or not. This study also shows that there is still, in some companies, a divide and conflict between the finance department and the marketing department. By shifting the responsibility of the marketing budget like in the case of Company 2, the adverse effect of this division on the marketing investments can be reduced. It can also be beneficial for the company to focus more on market shares than on sales and numbers. As digital marketing is growing stronger, the calculations of ROMI will become easier. Keywords: Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI), decision-making process, senior management, marketing department, finance department, ROMI metrics, real-life ROMI, comparative case study, Mad men, Math men
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AlKhars, Mohammed. "Decision Makers’ Cognitive Biases in Operations Management: An Experimental Study." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2016. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc849675/.
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Behavioral operations management (BOM) has gained popularity in the last two decades. The main theme in this new stream of research is to include the human behavior in Operations Management (OM) models to increase the effectiveness of such models. BOM is classified into 4 areas: cognitive psychology, social psychology, group dynamics and system dynamics (Bendoly et al. 2010). This dissertation will focus on the first class, namely cognitive psychology. Cognitive psychology is further classified into heuristics and biases. Tversky and Kahneman (1974) discussed 3 heuristics and 13 cognitive biases that usually face decision makers. This dissertation is going to study 6 cognitive biases under the representativeness heuristic. The model in this dissertation states that cognitive reflection of the individual (Frederick 2005) and training about cognitive biases in the form of warning (Kaufmann and Michel 2009) will help decisions’ makers make less biased decisions. The 6 cognitive biases investigated in this dissertation are insensitivity to prior probability, insensitivity to sample size, misconception of chance, insensitivity to predictability, the illusion of validity and misconception of regression. 6 scenarios in OM contexts have been used in this study. Each scenario corresponds to one cognitive bias. Experimental design has been used as the research tool. To see the impact of training, one group of the participants received the scenarios without training and the other group received them with training. The training consists of a brief description of the cognitive bias as well as an example of the cognitive bias. Cognitive reflection is operationalized using cognitive reflection test (CRT). The survey was distributed to students at University of North Texas (UNT). Logistic regression has been employed to analyze data. The research shows that participants show the cognitive biases proposed by Tversky and Kahneman. Moreover, CRT is significant factor to predict the cognitive bias in two scenarios. Finally, providing training in terms of warning helps participants to make more rational decisions in 4 scenarios. This means that although cognitive biases are inherent in the mind of people, management of corporations has the tool to educate its managers and professionals about such biases which helps companies make more rational decisions.
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Fernandes, Elsa da Glória Bernardo. "Outsourcing Delivery Centers : a decision making model." Master's thesis, Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/10863.
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Mestrado Gestão/MBAEste estudo examina os motivos que levam fornecedores de outsourcing a mudar o modo como executam este negócio com a introdução de Delivery Center's (DC's), os desafios e os riscos que enfrentam e o impacto dessa mudança. Este estudo baseia-se num caso transversal exploratório. Os dados foram recolhidos através de entrevistas e questionários. Os resultados obtidos mostram a existência de uma relação entre os objectivos e expectativas do negócio de outsourcing e da introdução dos DC's e que a redução de custos é o factor principal. A introdução de DC's no negócio de outsourcing afecta negativamente as equipas locais, bem como a qualidade de serviço.
The current study examines the reasons that motivate suppliers to change the way they are outsourcing business with the introduction of Delivery Centers (DC's), the challenges and the risks they face, and the impact of such change. This study used a cross-sectional and exploratory case. The data were collected using key informant interviews and questionnaires. The study results indicate that a relation exists between outsourcing and DC?s objectives and that cost savings is the key factor. The introduction of DC?s on the outsourcing business affected negatively the local people and also the service quality.
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Paranagama, Priyanka C. (Priyanka Chandana) 1969. "Using decision maker personality as a basis for building adaptive decision support system generators for senior decision makers." Monash University, School of Information Management and Systems, 2000. http://arrow.monash.edu.au/hdl/1959.1/8035.
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Thomasius, Sebastian [Verfasser]. "Political decision makers and their relevance for public finances / Sebastian Thomasius." Baden-Baden : Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, 2013. http://d-nb.info/1108817580/34.
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Snyder, Daniel Jay. "Philosophia Soteria| How Occupational Safety and Health Professionals Influence Decision Makers." Thesis, University of Arkansas, 2019. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=13421816.
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The purpose of this study was to identify ideas about how occupational safety and health (OSH) professionals influence decision-makers on matters impacting occupational health and safety management systems. A modified nominal group technique was used that involved 67 participants in ten nominal groups and identified the most important ideas about how OSH professionals can influence workplace safety and health decision making. The research produced themes of communication, scientific, professionalism, leadership, adaptability, and business acumen that resulted in six domains of occupational safety and health professional influence.
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Brown, Lauren Elizabeth. "Corporate Social Responsibility in NCAA Athletics: Institutional Practices and Decision Makers." The Ohio State University, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1337557941.
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Khan, Asim. "Decision making of IT Outsourcing in three companies." Thesis, Mälardalen University, School of Sustainable Development of Society and Technology, 2008. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-775.
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The thesis report investigates the important steps related to the decision making of IT
outsourcing. Mostly organizations do not achieve their expected goals from IT outsourcing
due to the complexity of decision making process. The main purpose of this thesis, thus, is to
describe the necessary steps of IT outsourcing decision making, reveal both major reasons for
taking such a decision and main risks involved with it. As secondary data source, books and
some previous research papers on the issue have been used in order to give better
understanding of the thesis topic. To collect relevant empirical data, a questionnaire was sent
to a range of Swedish and Pakistani companies. The thesis report shows that, a successful and
effective IT outsource decision requires a clear vision of the issue and of the effects that such
a decision may bear with it.
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Ho, Zhi Lyang Luke. "HABIO : a strategic framework for outsourcing decision-making." Thesis, Staffordshire University, 2006. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.438101.
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Marshall, Donna. "The outsourcing process : from decision to relationship management." Thesis, University of Bath, 2001. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.341546.
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Wright, Barry A. "An empirical examination of the outcome effects of downsizing on decision makers." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1999. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk3/ftp04/nq38337.pdf.
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Smart, Francis Clayton. "Minimum-data analysis of ecosystem service supply with risk averse decision makers." Thesis, Montana State University, 2009. http://etd.lib.montana.edu/etd/2009/smart/SmartF0809.pdf.
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There is a need for models that produce results that are both timely and sufficiently accurate to be useful to policy makers. The minimum-data approach of Antle and Valdivia (2006) responds to this need by supplying a spatially explicit first order approximation that models ecosystem supply by producers. However, producers in developing nations often are observed to deviate from simple expected profit maximization. Risk is one possible explanation for this divergence. This study builds upon the minimum-data approach by allowing for risk averse producer preferences. The study presents a framework for translating relative risk aversion measurements into the parameters needed for the mean-standard deviation utility function. This study utilizes experimental and econometric measurements of risk aversion by other researchers to parameterize the model. Historic weather data are used with crop yield models to simulate temporal variation in crop yields. The model is used to simulate the supply of carbon sequestration in Machakos, Kenya. At low levels of risk, producers behave in a manner consistent with risk neutrality. However as risks and risk aversion levels increase, there is an increasing divergence from the behavior implied by expected profit maximization. The effects of varying the structure of risk preferences were also examined. This study finds that, consistent with the results in a number of other studies, the level of risk aversion is generally a more important factor in simulated behavior than the structure of risk preferences. This study also examines the effects of increasing the spatial variation of returns. As the spatial variation of returns increases, the predicted producer behavior converges on a fifty percent rate of adoption of the carbon sequestering system, regardless of other parameters. Overall, this study finds that - at levels of risk aversion measured in similar populations in developing nations - the inclusion of risk aversion in the model provides an explanation for why the observed behavior of producers appears to diverge from expected profit maximization.
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Dimitriou, Stavrianna. "The impact of prices on boundedly rational decision makers in supply chains." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2010. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/35221/.
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This PhD thesis was motivated by the simple observation that the objectives of distinct supply chain managers are often conflicting. This problem is usually addressed via supply chain contracts that are designed to align the incentives of the different supply chain partners to the overall benefit of the entire supply chain, when seen as a whole. In this way, the long-term prosperity and viability of all the firms that participate in the supply chain can be ensured. In order to study the efficiency of different supply chain contracts in attaining the theoretical optimum performance, there exist a number of standard normative models that predict the decisions of perfectly rational decision makers. But supply chain partners might in reality not make the perfectly rational decisions that these theoretical models predict. This may be because they may lack the required information, or experience cognitive limitations and individual preferences or have only a finite amount of time available. For this reason, they might have to settle at satisficing choices. The result of these ‘boundedly rational’ decisions is a real world of different than expected interactions. Since in this world the standard normative models retain limited predictive power, this PhD thesis aims to explore the true efficiency of the simplest supply chain contract that can exist, namely, the wholesale price contract. In addition, this PhD thesis provides some useful recommendations that aim to help supply chain managers make price and order quantity decisions that would be better aligned with the interests of the overall supply chain. To this end, this study applies an original approach that supplements experiments with human subjects with Agent Based Simulation experiments. In greater detail, informal pilot sessions with volunteers were first conducted, during which knowledge of the underlying decision making processes was elicited. Appropriate Agent Based Simulation models were subsequently built based on this understanding. Later on human subjects were asked to interact with specially designed versions of these Agent Based Simulation models in the laboratory, so that their consecutive decisions over time could be recorded. Statistical models were then fitted to these data sets of decisions. The last stage of this approach was to simulate in the corresponding Agent Based Simulation models all possible combinations of decision models, so that statically accurate conclusions could be inferred. This approach has been replicated for both the simple newsvendor setting and the beer distribution game. The results that are obtained indicate that the overall efficiency of the wholesale price contract differs significantly from the theoretical prediction of the corresponding standard normative models. It varies greatly and depends largely on the interplay between the pricing and ordering strategies that the interacting supply chain partners adopt. In view of this, real world echelon managers are advised to use prices as an effective mechanism to control demand and, also, keep their total supply chain profits in mind when making their respective decisions.
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Dranginis, Tracy K. "Balancing approaches : the impact of local decision makers on community economic viability /." free to MU campus, to others for purchase, 1997. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/mo/fullcit?p9841278.
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Shenoy, Sushil. "A Framework for Identifying Key Decision Makers for Institutional Owner Capital Projects." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/34830.
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The Federal Government spends $40 billion dollars a year maintaining its facility portfolio. As a result of the size of investment and current economic conditions, the government and other institutional owners are facing increased pressure to optimize their investment in their portfolios. Green design offers a way for owners to accomplish this. Part of the definition used by the General Services Administration (GSA) for sustainable or green design is minimizing the total life-cycle ownership cost of a facility. Many tools, such as BUILDER or IMPACT, are available to aid institutional owners in this task; however, most do not take into account non-rational behavior since they apply a strict rational logic. In order to develop tools that take non-rational behavior into account, a framework needs to be developed for identifying which actors are worth studying or modeling. This research seeks to fill this gap by developing a framework that can be applied to public sector institutional owners. The framework is based on prior work done in the fields of stakeholder theory and engineering management, and it uses research methodologies from the social sciences as its building blocks.Master of Science
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Sami, Kashkooli Ali Mohammad. "A critical building lifecycle assessment framework for building designers and decision makers." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2013. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/4499/.
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In the past few decades, world-wide interest in environmental preservation has involved researchers in a great challenge to find new approaches to manage the environmental impact of human activities. This challenge has been significantly highlighted in the construction sector. Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) has developed a variety of methodologies and tools to quantify and manage rates of consumption and emissions during the process of a building’s construction, service-life, and disposal. However, the building sector is not yet satisfied with the results of these methods and tools, due to the low level of sensitivity, lack of user-friendliness and precision. The principal goal of this research is to determine the level of confidence in prospective building lifecycle assessment (BLCA) methodologies and tools in the UK and their applicability to design and decision making. In addition, it investigates the differentiation of the results according to climatic and geographical variation. Therefore, it introduces a new prospective semi-quantitative framework to calculate some key factors such as total energy (including embodied energy and operational energy) during the building’s lifecycle, as well as the embodied carbon, and total environmental impact. The capability of this framework was tested through 132 modelling scenarios of a real case study (‘The Arts Tower’ of Sheffield, United Kingdom). In the study, a quantitative measurement approach was developed (an Excel-based spreadsheet) with a great flexibility in micro-detail modelling. This spreadsheet benefits from validated updatable databases and various-unlimited modelling programmes (such as Envest 2 and Ecotect 2011, in this research) to reach a more realistic decision in design. The results of this measurement approach were compared based on different modelling scenarios. The differences are based on the variety of building material scenarios through the case study building in Sheffield. The main outcome of this research is a framework of semi-quantitative prospective BLCA developed to achieve more precise results applicable to design and decision-making. The determination of the sensitivity and capability of this framework was conducted through both quantitative (132 modelling scenarios) and qualitative (surveys including questionnaires and interviews) approaches.
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Mohile, Pushpen K. "Multi-objective decision making for supplier selection in outsourcing /." Online version of thesis, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1850/8079.
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Chandra, Maneesh. "Strategic outsourcing of services : a decision and procedural framework /." Digital version accessible at:, 1999. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/utexas/main.
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Pignatiello, Grant Alan. "The Relationships Among Self-Regulation, Cognitive Load, Decision Support, and Decision Making Readiness in Surrogate Decision Makers for the Critically Ill." Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies / OhioLINK, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1528453527097319.
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Bengtsson, Viktor, and Robert Ljungberg. "Beslutsmodell för outsourcing." Thesis, Tekniska Högskolan, Högskolan i Jönköping, JTH, Industriell organisation och produktion, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-24736.
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Syfte – Examensarbetets syfte är att skapa förståelse kring ett outsourcingbeslut genom att utveckla en beslutsmodell för outsourcing. För att uppnå syftet ska följande frågeställningar besvaras: Vilka faktorer bör påverka ett outsourcingbeslut? Vilka kostnader bör analyseras för att ett outsourcingbeslut ska bli väl avvägt? Vilka komponenter bör ingå i en beslutsmodell för outsourcing? Metod – Examensarbetet bygger på en analytisk konceptuell studie med ett deduktiv och induktiv förhållningssätt, där påverkansfaktorer togs fram genom litteraturstudier. Jämförelser och analyser av redan befintliga teorier gjordes för att identifiera påverkansfaktorer, utifrån dessa faktorer skapades en beslutsmodell för outsourcing. Resultat – Resultatet från studien visar att det finns ett flertal olika faktorer som påverkar ett outsourcingbeslut och kan sammanfattningsvis placeras som påverkansfaktorer, strategiska- och konkurrensfaktorer samt kostnadsfaktorer. Den utvecklade beslutsmodellen för outsourcing består av sju steg där varje steg innefattar olika analyser och beslut, de sju stegen baseras på de faktorer som bör påverkas vid outsourcing. Förslag till fortsatta studier – För att utveckla beslutsmodellen skulle fler teorier och faktorer som möjligen kan beröras i samband med outsourcing adderas. En ytterligare studie skulle kunna vara att utveckla ett verktyg där organisationen kan gradera hur organisationen förhåller sig till de faktorer som påverkas vid ett outsourcingbeslut och därmed utöka beslutsunderlaget. Praktiska konsekvenser – För att underlätta för beslutsfattaren och få en helhetsbild över faktorer och kostnader som påverkas vid outsourcing kan beslutsmodellen användas. Originalitet – Det finns enligt författarnas vetskap ingen fullständig beslutsmodell som belyser alla faktorer som kan påverkas vid ett outsourcingbeslut.Purpose – The purpose of the thesis is to create understanding of the outsourcing decision making by developing a decision model for outsourcing. To achieve this, the following questions are answered: What factors should influence the outsourcing decision? What costs should be analyzed so that an outsourcing decision should be balanced? What components should be included in a decision model for outsourcing? Method – The thesis is based on an analytical conceptual study with a deductive and inductive approach, where the influencing factors was generated through literature reviews. Comparison and analysis of existing theories were made to identify the influencing factors, based on the generated influencing factors a decision model for outsourcing was created. Findings – Results from the study shows that there are several factors that influence the outsourcing decision and can in summary be positioned as strategic and competitive factors and cost factors. The developed decision model for outsourcing consists of seven steps, where each step includes various analyzes and decisions, the seven steps are based on the factors that should be affected by outsourcing. Research limitations/implications – The results in this thesis are based only on theory. The model can still be generalized by being adaptable for different Organization. Practical implications – Decision model can be used to aid and support in an outsourcing decision. To facilitate the decision-maker and get an overview of the factors and costs that are affected by the outsourcing decision model can be used. With the decision model, the organization can analyze factors and costs to obtain a comprehensive decision-making. Originality – Since many organizations are making outsourcing decision wrongly without taking into account all the factors affected by the outsourcing decision. There is, in the authors' knowledge no complete decision model that highlights all the factors that may be affected by an outsourcing decision.
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Tsimiklis, Georgios. "Offshore location decision and economic crisis (The case of Greece)." Thesis, KTH, Industriell ekonomi och organisation, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-98207.
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Outsourcing is a trend that has penetrated many industries over the last years taking the form of offshore outsourcing in many cases. However the location decision that follows the offshore outsourcing or the offshoring decision is quite complex and almost impossible to be answered through a linear model. A series of frameworks have been developed attempting to facilitate the process above.The focus of this work is the analysis of the location decision making through the reflection of the existing literature and the example of a specific country, Greece. Greece is chosen as a dynamic environment where the recent economic crisis has provoked structural reforms at the country, affecting the attractiveness of the location. The analysis of country is based on an OECD recent survey while the comparison is made with the assistance of a specific location decision model.Based on the findings of this study, it can be claimed that the case of Greece is quite different compared to other countries at the past which have faced similar situations. Further the reforms that take place need more time in order to be projected and trigger the attractiveness of the location.
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Ekelund, Martin, and Erik Pettersson. "Make or buy? : Developing a generic framework for make-or-buy decisions at Cardo AB." Thesis, Linköping University, Logistics, 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-57288.
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Cardo AB is an international corporate group that has performed major organizational changes the last few years. These changes utilize possible synergies that exist in a corporate group. One of the initiatives is that Cardo wants to develop a model for make-or-buy decisions. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is stated as:
The study’s purpose is to develop a generic model for make-or-buy decisions at Cardo.
To develop the model, a theoretical study was conducted, where four main aspects were identified: core capability, risk, cost and relationship. For each aspect, a tool to define what the aspects consist of was identified. The aspects were combined together into a model, called model version 1. To enhance and adjust the model to suit Cardo’s situation, an empirical study was conducted. In the empirical study, it was investigated how different sites within Cardo are currently working with make-or-buy decisions. Moreover, in the empirical study it was also revealed how Cardo is dealing with each of the aspects identified in theory. The combination of theory and empirical study formed the enhanced model, called model version 2. The last step in the procedure was to let several end-users review the model and suggest improvements. After this step, the final model was formed, called model version 3.The model combines the best practices from Cardo with the latest theoretical aspects. Using this model will help Cardo deal with make-or-buy decisions in a structured way. The model highlights the importance of connecting business strategy with the core capabilities of Cardo and provides a tool to identify this connection. Furthermore, the model highlights risks connected to outsourcing and provides tools to identify these risks. The model also applies a total cost approach. To calculate the different costs, a model is presented that functions as a guide when quantifying costs. Lastly, the model shows the importance of developing a proper relationship with the supplier according to the strategic importance of the product.Cardo AB is an international corporate group that has performed major organizational changes the last few years. These changes utilize possible synergies that exist in a corporate group. One of the initiatives is that Cardo wants to develop a model for make-or-buy decisions. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is stated as:The study’s purpose is to develop a generic model for make-or-buy decisions at Cardo.To develop the model, a theoretical study was conducted, where four main aspects were identified: core capability, risk, cost and relationship. For each aspect, a tool to define what the aspects consist of was identified. The aspects were combined together into a model, called model version 1. To enhance and adjust the model to suit Cardo’s situation, an empirical study was conducted. In the empirical study, it was investigated how different sites within Cardo are currently working with make-or-buy decisions. Moreover, in the empirical study it was also revealed how Cardo is dealing with each of the aspects identified in theory. The combination of theory and empirical study formed the enhanced model, called model version 2. The last step in the procedure was to let several end-users review the model and suggest improvements. After this step, the final model was formed, called model version 3.The model combines the best practices from Cardo with the latest theoretical aspects. Using this model will help Cardo deal with make-or-buy decisions in a structured way. The model highlights the importance of connecting business strategy with the core capabilities of Cardo and provides a tool to identify this connection. Furthermore, the model highlights risks connected to outsourcing and provides tools to identify these risks. The model also applies a total cost approach. To calculate the different costs, a model is presented that functions as a guide when quantifying costs. Lastly, the model shows the importance of developing a proper relationship with the supplier according to the strategic importance of the product.