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Lu, Liang, Maria Munar, and Susana Gargallo. "Packaging as a strategic tool." Thesis, Halmstad University, School of Business and Engineering (SET), 2007. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-803.
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Moody, Shona. "SLOPE : a metaphor-based strategy formation tool /." Burnaby B.C. : Simon Fraser University, 2005. http://ir.lib.sfu.ca/handle/1892/2192.
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Lhotáková, Markéta. "Positioning as a Strategic Marketing Planning Tool." Doctoral thesis, Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze, 2001. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-77135.
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Positioning is an important tool of marketing planning and brand building on the market. Positionig is a streategy that helps marketers to differentiate the brand from those of competition and creaete unique brand perception in minds of target consumers. In a proces of positioning development four core elements must be defined and analyzed -- target consumer, unique consumer benefit which brand offeres to the target consumer, brand and its brand equity and competitors from whom we want to differentiate the brand. In my dissertation I address both, theoretical attitudes toward positioning and its definition, as well as practical application of theoretical conclusions in case study from corporate practice
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Mahlambi, Sizwe Blessing. "Strategic planning: a tool for effective management of schools." Thesis, University of Zululand, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10530/1451.
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A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Education in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education in the Department of Education Foundations and Management at the University Of Zululand, South Africa, 2015The aim of this study is to investigate the role of strategic planning in the management of schools. Strategic Planning refers to the combined effort of people with interest in education (stakeholders) to develop a common goal for a particular school. Everyone within the boundaries of the school (teachers, learners and parents) then work toward the attainment of such a goal. From the literature study it becomes clear that strategic planning should commence with a study of the environment. “Environment” is an all inclusive word in this context that refers to both internal and external environments. The internal environment includes inherent factors that strengthen or weaken the school’s position. The external environment includes outside opportunities that the school may have as well as the threats that are brought by outside influences, including other schools or the community. The literature survey supplies a vast amount of evidence to support the belief that successful organisations are goal orientated. What all successful schools have in common is a well discussed mission / goal that people in that particular school works towards. A goal orientated school is characterised by parental involvement in matters concerning the school; by learner performance because of set standards; by educator competence because of available resources for effective teaching; and by teamwork, trust and participation in all activities in the school. For the purpose of the empirical investigation, a self-structured questionnaire for educators was utilized. The data obtained from the completed questionnaires was processed and analysed by means of descriptive statistics. The findings from the empirical study confirmed that most schools are still lacking in goal setting and- management expert skills. In conclusion a summary of the study, based on the findings of the literature and empirical studies is presented, with the following recommendations: • Programmes in the form of workshops should be developed to empower parents in their involvement in schools. • Implementation of training and education of the school management teams with regard to the running of the schools. • Further research should to be done to improve planning and management of the schools.
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Costello, Seosamh. "An integrated strategic planning tool for road maintenance funding." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2001. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.633080.
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Previous research in pavement management systems in the United Kingdom has primarily concerned itself with one or other of the two maintenance "tracks" of project and network level analysis. Those systems that do combine both "tracks" adopt a micro level approach to strategic planning at the network level. This work redresses that imbalance by advancing upon previous work, in the form of System BSM and NETCOM, in the development of the Strategic Planning Model (SPM) suite of software programs. In addition, it was decided to include a maintenance standards selection process, which would take account of sociopolitical preferences in addition to economics and legislation in the decision process. This necessitated the creation of a completely new process for the selection of maintenance standards based on multiple criteria analysis (MCA). The SPM adopts a macro level approach to strategic planning, through the STRAT-2 component, while at the same time addressing the much sought after link between the project and network levels by way of the project to network interface (PNI). The PNI provides for seamless transfer of all relevant data, between STRAT-2 and the project to network level system HMS-2, thereby ensuring that detailed project level decisions are not taken in isolation but instead take account of political and economic constraints made at the network level. Conversely it ensures that global or strategic decisions are not taken without reference to the true situation of the road network under review. Maintenance standards selection is executed through the MCA component of the software. The central database (CDB), placed at the heart of the process, ensures integrity of data across the system thereby allowing the strategic decision making process, in STRAT-2, and the prioritisation process, in HMS-2, to proceed with confidence. The CDB has also been designed as a "shell" capable of being customised to the agency's requirements, however basic or advanced in the first instance. This ensures accessibility to a broad spectrum of agencies, from the highly advanced to the resource scarce. This same "shell" design also ensures sustainability of the system by providing the necessary flexibility to evolve with the agency's requirements. Finally, the SPM has been successfully trialed as part of a full scale study on the A30/A35 Exeter to Bere Regis Design Build Finance and Operate (DBFO) project. The industrial sponsor has since taken this "pilot" study forward and is currently implementing the SPM not only on its sister project, the A50 Stoke Derby DBFO, but also as a decision support tool to assist in the bidding process for the forthcoming AI (M) DBFO tender bid. In addition, the industrial sponsor is currently in the process of implementing the SPM in the "Super" Agency Area 12 in Birmingham to assist with periodic maintenance planning.
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Carton, Katherine F. (Katherine Frances) 1969. "Planning for public housing : strategic tool or regulatory checklist?" Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/64912.
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Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2002.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-84).
The Public Housing Agency (PHA) Plan was introduced in 1998 as part of the landmark Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act. The stated purpose of this legislation was to reform public housing by "deregulating and decontrolling public housing authorities, thereby enabling them to perform as property and asset managers." The complex, topdown bureaucratic rules and regulations promulgated in Washington were no longer deemed workable. Congress strove to foster a new relationship with public housing authorities that replaced the single, top-down, cookie-cutter approach with the flexibility and local authority necessary to foster individual initiative and develop context-based solutions that recognize the unique nature and dynamics of individual neighborhoods and communities. Yet, upon examination of the statutory and regulatory requirements of the PHA Plan, it becomes evident that Congress and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have missed their mark. Unfortunately, neither Congress nor HUD have articulated how deregulation and decontrol will necessarily result in better performance as property and asset managers. Ultimately, this omission undermined Washington's ability to effect its public housing reform agenda. By rigidly prescribing the content and introducing a uniform, electronic format, the PHA Plan appears to be driven more by technology and the ease of the review and approval process than by the needs of public housing authorities and their constituents. More importantly, as demonstrated by a case study of the Boston Housing Authority, the PHA Plan fails to reinforce locally based initiatives designed to revitalize public housing using established real estate principles. Drawing on extensive research, interviews with key actors and the author's own experiences as a planner with the Boston Housing Authority, this thesis will explore the factors that contributed to the disjunction between the stated purpose of the PHA Plan and the way the requirements have actually played out at the local level. Based upon these observations, recommendations are offered to change the statutory and/or regulatory requirements to better serve public housing agencies in their efforts to improve as property and asset managers.
by Katherine F. Carton.
M.C.P.
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Ohlander, Lisa, Miranda Willems, Paul Leistra, and Simon Damstra. "Biomimicry Toolbox, a strategic tool for generating sustainable solutions?" Thesis, Blekinge Tekniska Högskola, Institutionen för strategisk hållbar utveckling, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:bth-16436.
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The goal of this thesis is to understand how the Biomimicry Toolbox (BT), a practical tool for applying biomimicry, currently supports strategic thinking in order to create sustainable solutions. A pragmatic qualitative research approach was used, in which the BT was analysed through the lens of the Five Level Framework (5LF), a tool for planning and analysing in complex systems and the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development, the application of the 5LF for sustainability endeavours. Interviews were conducted with people experienced with the BT. Results show that the BT has several aspects of strategic thinking. It supports the application of a systems perspective, provides a success goal to move towards and offers tools for a strategic process to follow. The authors conclude that the BT could benefit from including understanding of the patterns and structures of the social system in relation with the earth system. Also, it can benefit from including a section on upstream thinking helping users of the BT consider root causes. Lastly, it could benefit from a strategic approach for evaluating how sustainable solutions are and include a simple and clear prioritisation process. The improvements can make the BT more impactful in supporting societies transition towards sustainability.
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Torstensson, Malin, and Emmy Dannehall. "Customer Support Chat : A strategic tool for a company." Thesis, Högskolan i Halmstad, Akademin för ekonomi, teknik och naturvetenskap, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-35069.
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The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate if a customer support live chat can be used as a strategic tool to increase customer satisfaction and build a stronger relationship. To gather our data, we have chosen to do qualitative interviews with Customer Support Managers at eight different e-commerce companies. By using the model E-Service Quality in the Live Customer Service/Support Chat Success Model (2011) developed by Dr. Ahmed Elmorshidy, we tested if there is a significance between customer satisfaction and the usage of customer support chat. The results we found were in line with our expectations, that the chat can be a strategic advantage tool if used to its full potential.
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Freire, Solange Maria Santos. "Marketing strategies as a tool for improving strategic management of small hotels in Fortaleza." Universidade Federal do CearÃ, 2006. http://www.teses.ufc.br/tde_busca/arquivo.php?codArquivo=3658.
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Competition incitement has led companies to update and seek for strategies in order to uphold or increase their performance in the market. The choice for these strategies
may imply in the redefinition of the structure, culture, working process amongst other aspects. The work aims at checking the marketing strategies used by small hotels in
Fortaleza and their interference in the strategical management. Theoretical references have grounded the accomplishment of a field research, together with the
managers of small hotels in Fortaleza, they are integrated with the following: entrepreneur strategies, company of labor service, labor service market, market strategies of labor service, and the hotel industry position in Fortaleza. Semi-structured interviews were used as well as non-probabilistic samples by judgment. The results showed that the lack of knowledge regarding the marketing skills is a very big obstacle for the setting up of efficient strategies. Although many entrepreneurs, intuitively make use of marketing actions, there is a very strong tendency to think that we know what the customer expectsâ, which is something difficult to be changed and needs working on little by little, showing the disadvantages and advantages of knowing exactly what the customerâs needs are, relying on what the customer himself/herself perceives. The major difficulty is not to accomplish the strategies but to choose the most adequate ones, those that can really add some value to the customer and improve competitiveness in the company. The tools used to establish the marketing strategies, need to be flexible because its usage depends on the companyâs level, size and its own flexibility and level of knowledge.O acirramento da concorrÃncia tem levado as organizaÃÃes a se atualizarem e a buscarem estratÃgias para se manterem ou ampliarem sua atuaÃÃo no mercado. A escolha destas estratÃgias pode implicar a redefiniÃÃo da estrutura, da cultura, do processo de trabalho, dentre outros aspectos. O trabalho se propÃe a verificar o uso de estratÃgias de marketing pelos pequenos hotÃis de Fortaleza e sua interferÃncia na gestÃo estratÃgica. Os temas do referencial teÃrico que fundamentaram a realizaÃÃo de uma pesquisa de campo, junto aos dirigentes de pequenos hotÃis de Fortaleza, estÃo associados Ãs seguintes temÃticas: estratÃgia empresarial, as empresas do setor de serviÃos, marketing de serviÃos, estratÃgias de marketing de serviÃos e o cenÃrio da hotelaria em Fortaleza. Fez-se uso de entrevistas semi-estruturadas e utilizou-se a amostragem nÃo probabilÃstica por julgamento. Os resultados evidenciaram que: o desconhecimento das prÃticas de marketing à realmente um grande entrave para a implantaÃÃo de estratÃgias eficazes na gestÃo. Embora muitos empresÃrios realizem aÃÃes de marketing intuitivamente, existe uma tendÃncia muito forte de âachar que se sabe o que o cliente querâ, o que à difÃcil de ser mudado e precisa ser trabalhado aos poucos, mostrando-se as desvantagens e vantagens de saber ârealmenteâ o que o cliente deseja, baseando-se no que o prÃprio cliente percebe. A dificuldade maior nÃo està na realizaÃÃo das estratÃgias, e sim na escolha das estratÃgias mais adequadas, aquelas que realmente agreguem valor para o cliente e melhore a competitividade da organizaÃÃo. As ferramentas a serem utilizadas para implantaÃÃo de estratÃgias de marketing precisam ser muito flexÃveis, pois a sua utilizaÃÃo depende do grau de maturidade da empresa, do seu porte, da sua prÃpria flexibilidade e do seu grau de conhecimento.
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Kjellnäs, Mikael. "Social media as a marketing tool versus strategic alliance acomparison." Thesis, KTH, Skolan för datavetenskap och kommunikation (CSC), 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-169896.
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This report is based on two different approaches that companies could use in order to develop their business. These approaches are: Social Media Marketing and Strategic Alliances. A detailed theory study explains what these approaches are and how they are used. This study was done from a startup company’s point of view. Startup companies are also called startups and the results found are based on how these two approaches are and could best be utilized by startups.The results indicate that the majority of startups does not utilize the possibility of a business partnership, other than small “deals” made startup to startup. The startups however who are in a business partnership right now or are in the early stage of implementing one could not go into details of what said partnership were, but that terms and conditions had been set.Another result is the correlation between the two different approaches. Social media marketing is one of the first things that startups uses and if marketing and sales are operating at a good level then strategic alliances, or some other business partnership, could be exploited mainly in order to reach mainstream customers. Another result is also the order of how startups usually aims their business. This is described in chapter 4 where figure 3.0 visualizes these aims.Also found is that startups should use social media platforms in order to expose themselves. They should make a strategy revolving their exposure and have a Social Media Manager responsible for implementing the strategy. It’s also important for a company that uses social media as a marketing tool to have a clear message towards its consumers and employees - a cohesive profile amongst all social media. Also, the strategizing procedure is connected to the specific company, meaning that every single company needs to make its own social media strategy.
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Abdulhadi, Samer Nazmi. "Strategic Decisions Creation-Implementation (SDCI) process : an empirical study." Thesis, Cranfield University, 2015. http://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/9725.
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The aim of this research was to explore empirically how firms create and
implement strategic decisions (SD’s). The research was inspired by the need to
understand further organizational process underpinning SD’s phenomenon and
potentially contribute to the overall performance of firms.
Previous research on SD’s has been focusing on the formal strategic planning
approaches, which have been criticized for their highly prescriptive views of
SD’s, separating creation from implementation, and focusing on the content and
discrete elements rather than the holistic process. Despite all these studies, our
understanding of the actual nature of the SD phenomenon from creation to
implementation remains incomplete. Motivated by the need to look empirically
and holistically at this very complex social phenomenon, this research
problematizes the above aspects of SD’s literature and positions this research
within a wider social and descriptive process based approach.
The research employed qualitative and Analytic Induction (AI) methodologies,
and addressed the above need in three projects. The objective of each project
has evolved and lead to the emergence of the final findings, which suggest a
possible answer to the overall research aim. The Scoping Study proposed a
theoretical framework of successful SD’s implementation factors. Project 1 went
further and investigated these factors empirically. Project 2 developed
empirically the process of how people actually create and implement SD’s. In
Project 3, this process was analysed through the theoretical lens of the
sensemaking perspective and was applied by practitioners through an
empirically tested diagnostic tool.
This research has made a step towards a better understanding of SD’s in
practice and contributed to the academic knowledge by proposing a different,
yet viable descriptive process, which can improve the overall quality of the SD’s,
and potentially lead to better performance.
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Burden, Timothy Henry Arthur. "A thesis on company modelling for integrated strategic and operational planning." Thesis, Birmingham City University, 1995. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.283163.
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Adetunji, Israel O. "Sustainable construction : a web-based performance assessment tool." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2006. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/2302.
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The quest towards sustainable development, both nationally and globally, puts the construction industry in the foreground as the main consumer of natural resources. The industry has profound economic, social and environmental impacts. Sustainable construction is one of the most important challenges faced by the construction industry today. In the UK, sustainability is being driven and enforced by the government through stringent fiscal policies and regulations, voluntary initiatives combined with naming and shaming strategies. Stakeholders are becoming more aware of the global challenges and are using their power to exert pressure on companies. Increasingly, construction clients are demanding that their business partners submit: their corporate sustainability policies with tender packages to demonstrate their performance in dealing with opportunities and risks stemming from economic, environmental and social aspect of sustainability. However, the lack of understanding of the concept and its practical application has been a recurrent problem. The conceptual confusion; its vagueness and ambiguity, the complexity of the myriad of challenges and fluidity of the sustainability concept, compounded with the myopic attitude of the industry, lack of clear-cut and practical framework are causing frustration in the construction industry. Consequently, a number of sustainability management frameworks have been proposed. There are probably more than one hundred frameworks for sustainable business strategy. However, the majority of these are either complicated to implement or lack sound theoretical base, effective change management and completeness. These, therefore, do not make the situation any easier. Many are still baffled as to what they should do and how they should go about affecting change. Corporate sustainability in the construction industry is a challenge to many companies. The industry is still under-performing in each of the key themes of sustainable construction and this has lead to a 'blame culture' where each sector of the industry allocates responsibility for its current failings to others (CIRIA C563, 2001). Such a situation poses a need for a comprehensive, practical and easy to use tool that would aid the implementation and management of sustainability at the core of business process. The tool will complement the existing frameworks, which breaks down the strategic and management issues into manageable components. This will enable companies to focus on individual areas and identify actions needed to facilitate change. The problem is that such a tool is virtually non-existent. The main focal point of this research is the development of a tool to facilitate the implementation, management and integration of sustainability issues at the strategic level and promote wider uptake of the concept in the construction industry. This requires a thorough understanding of the concepts of sustainable development, sustainable construction and related issues as well as drivers, benefits, barriers and enablers for achieving corporate sustainability. It also demands an examination of existing management frameworks and collation of case studies from the early adopters to establish critical factors for strategic and management issues involved in achieving corporate sustainability. Through, diverse research epistemologies (quantitative, qualitative and triangulation methods), the research established four main critical factors and thirty-six sub-critical factors for achieving corporate sustainability. These factors underpinned the development of a web-based prototype software (ConPass). This thesis presents the development and evaluation ConPass Model and the prototype software.
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梁錦玲 and Kam-ling Joyce Leung. "A study on using performance appraisal as a strategic management tool." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1995. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B3126668X.
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Leung, Kam-ling Joyce. "A study on using performance appraisal as a strategic management tool /." Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 1995. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B17092516.
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Drake, Bryan (Bryan G. ). "Enabling strategic fulfillment : a decision support tool for fulfillment network optimization." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/73440.
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Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2012.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 48).
Dell's Third-Party (3P) Product network uses several different order fulfillment methods, though the determination of which products are fulfilled under which method is not clearly delineated. We have developed a tool to assist in the decision making process for Dell's 3P distribution network. This tool transparently presents the results of cost modeling and forecast variance simulation while maintaining usability to achieve broad adoption and exert influence on product fulfillment method decisions. The cost model created takes into account product, overhead, logistics, and capital costs and has the capability to deal with volume uncertainties through simulation. This tool solidifies the discussion around choosing the correct fulfillment method decision process and is the first step towards quantifying the fulfillment method decision.
by Bryan Drake.
S.M.
M.B.A.
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Bhattacharya, Abhijeet. "Visual Brand Language – A Strategic Design Tool in New Product Development." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2008. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1212028922.
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Lim, Ai Chye. "A decision-support tool for strategic decision-making in biopharmaceutical manufacture." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2005. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1444983/.
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The need for software tools to support decision-making relating to biomanufacture is becoming increasingly critical in order to accelerate the time-to-market and reduce costs. The main objective of this thesis is the design and implementation of a decision-support tool that integrates both the business and process perspectives of biopharmaceutical manufacture to aid the evaluation of manufacturing alternatives. The tool, designated BioPharmKit, was built on the platform of the simulation package Extend Industrial Suite (Imagine That Inc., San Jose, USA). As an illustration, the tool was used to evaluate manufacturing alternatives for the production of monoclonal antibodies derived from mammalian-based processes. The functionalities of such a tool to model cost summation, perform mass balance calculations, simulate resource handling, and incorporate uncertainties are demonstrated via two industrial-related case studies. The first case study was based upon the assessment of pooling strategies in perfusion culture of mammalian cells to deliver a therapeutic protein for commercial use. The analysis in this study addressed the trade-offs between investing in a plant with a smaller downstream process (DSP) capacity and employing more frequent pooling of the broth for purification or opting for a plant with a larger DSP capacity and less frequent pooling of broth. The feasibility of each manufacturing option was evaluated based on the annual throughput, resource utilisation profiles and cost of goods per gram (COG/g). Project appraisal was based on expected output values and the likelihood of achieving or exceeding critical threshold indicators generated using Monte Carlo simulations. Critical drivers that may affect the decision were identified through scenario analyses to improve the robustness of the decision-making process. In the second case study, the decision-support tool developed was employed to evaluate the economic feasibility of fed-batch and perfusion cultures. The trade-offs between the relative simplicity and high titres of fed-batch systems and the high productivity but greater complexity of perfusion processes were analysed. The study aimed to investigate the relative economics of the two operational modes by examining key performance metrics such as the COG/g and the net present value (NPV). Another major objective of this study was to compare the relative usefulness and limitations of the decision tree and Monte Carlo simulations, which are typical tools used for risk analysis to aid decision-making in situations subject to uncertainty. Although the decision tree analysis provided a simple approach for decision-making based on the expected values of performance metrics, it does not explicitly consider the underlying uncertainty in each contributory estimate. The Monte Carlo simulation method was more time-consuming but provided a more complete estimation of process uncertainties subject to fluctuating product titres and process yields. The examples illustrate the benefits of using the tool to investigate the cost effectiveness of different manufacturing alternatives and may assist the process of decision-making in the context of both business and process drivers. It is envisaged that such a tool might be employed in early process development, hence contributing to transparent planning and project management decisions.
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Soo, Wei-Chieh. "How Sustainability Accounting Can Be A Strategic Tool In The Singapore Hospitality Sector." St. Gallen, 2008. http://www.biblio.unisg.ch/org/biblio/edoc.nsf/wwwDisplayIdentifier/07615040001/$FILE/07615040001.pdf.
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Rockwell, Wayne. "Simulation as a strategic planning tool at Fleet Maintenance Facility Cape Scott." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2001. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk3/ftp05/MQ63553.pdf.
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Carley, Ryan (Ryan Trenell) 1976, and Matthew 1973 Robinson. "Project Extranets : b a strategic necessity or a tool for competitive advantage?" Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/32187.
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Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2000.Vitae.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-80).
An exploratory study was conducted to determine the strategic advantage that firms may gain by using project extranets on real estate development projects. Eight organizations were interviewed to determine their priorities, risk preferences, and needs regarding project communication technologies. Interviews were conducted with Corporate Owner/Occupiers, Owner/Non Occupiers, and Institutional Owner/Occupiers. The hypothesis tested was that owners and developers of real estate were looking to use project extranets to gain a competitive advantage. Research results indicated a resounding 'no' to our hypothesis. No owners or developers are currently looking at extranets as a source of competitive advantage at this time. However, the research data did provide insights into what is necessary for the technology to deliver for organizations to view a project extranet as a source of competitive advantage in the future. Owners were segmented into categories based on risk profile and needs regarding project extranets. Corporate Owner/Occupiers with real estate support needed assistance with predictability and execution. Corporate Owner/Occupiers of Manufacturing operations needed increases in speed. Institutional Owner/Occupiers needed certainty. Finally Owner/Non-Occupiers needed mitigation of market risks.
by Ryan Carley [and] Matthew Robinson.
S.M.
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Lane, Tanya Elizabeth. "Towards Sustainable Freight Energy Management - Development of a Strategic Decision Support Tool." Thesis, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/33234.
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Freight transportation, in its current shape and form, is on a highly unsustainable trajectory. Global demand for freight is ever increasing, while this demand is predominantly serviced by inefficient, fossil fuel dependent transportation options. The management of energy use in freight transportation has been identified as a significant opportunity to improve the sustainability of the freight sector. Given the vast amount of energy mitigation measures and policies to choose from to attempt this, decision-makers need support and guidance in terms of selecting which policies to adopt – they are faced with a complex and demanding problem. These complexities result, in part, from the vast range, scope and extent of measures to be considered by decision-makers. The tool developed needs to encompass a suitable methodology for comparing proverbial apples to oranges in a fair and unbiased manner, despite the development of one consistent assessment metric that can accommodate this level of diversity being problematic. Further to this, decision-makers need insight into the extent of implementation that is required for each measure. Because the level of implementation of each measure is variable and the extent to which each adopted measure will be implemented in the network needs to be specified, the number of potential measure implementation combinations that decision-makers need to consider is infinite, adding further complexity to the problem. Freight energy management measures cannot, and should not, be evaluated in isolation. The knock-on effects of measure adoption on the performance of other measures need to be considered. Measures are not all independent and decision-makers need to take these dependencies and their ramifications into account. In addition, there is dimensionality to be accounted for in terms of each measure, because one measure can be applied in a variable manner across different components of the freight network. A unique and independent decision needs to be made on the application of a measure for each of these network components (for example for each mode). Decisions on freight transportation impact all three traditional pillars of sustainability: social, environmental and economic. Measure impacts, thus, need to be assessed over multiple criteria. Decisions will affect a variety of stakeholders and outcomes must be acceptable to a range of interested parties. Sustainability criteria are often in conflict with one another, implying that there are trade-offs to be negotiated by the decision-makers. Decision-makers, thus, need to propose system alterations, or a portfolio of system alterations, that achieve improvements in some sustainability respects, whilst maintaining a balance between all other sustainability aspects. Moreover, the magnitude of impacts (be it positive or negative) of a measure on the sustainability criteria is variable, adding additional dimensionality to the problem. The aim of the research presented in this dissertation was to develop a decision support tool which addresses the complexities involved in the formulation of freight transport energy management strategies on behalf of the decision-makers, facilitating the development of holistic, sustainable and comprehensive freight management policy by government level decision-makers. The Freight Transport Energy Management Tool (FTEMT) was developed in response to this research objective, using a standardised operations research approach as a roadmap for its development. Following a standardised operations research approach to model development provides a structure where stakeholder participation can be encouraged at all the key stages in the decision-making process; it offers a logical basis for proposing solutions and for assessing any proposed suggestions by others; it ensures that the appraisal of alternative solutions is conducted in a logical, consistent and comprehensive manner against the full set of objectives; and it provides a means for assessing whether the implemented instruments have performed as predicted, enabling the improvement of the model being developed. The FTEMT can be classified as a simulation optimisation model, which is a combination between multi-objective optimisation and simulation. The simulation component provides a suitably accurate representation of the freight system and affords the ability to approximate the effect that measure implementation will have on the sustainability objectives, whilst the optimisation component provides the ability to effectively explore the decision space and reduces the number of alternative options (and, therefore, the complexity) that decision-makers need to consider. It is this simulation optimisation backbone of the FTEMT that enables the tool to address all the complexities surrounding the problem, enabling the decision support produced by the FTEMT to provide the information necessary for decision-makers to steer the freight transport sector towards true sustainability. Although this problem originates from the domain of sustainable transportation planning, the combination of operations research and transport modelling knowledge applied proved essential in developing a decision support tool that is able to generate adequate decision support on the problem. To demonstrate the use and usefulness of the decision support system developed, a fictitious case study version of the FTEMT was modelled and is discussed throughout this dissertation. Results from the case study implementation were used to verify and validate the tool, to demonstrate the decision support generated and to illustrate how this decision support can be interpreted and incorporated into a decision-making process. Outputs from the case study FTEMT proved the tool to be operationally valid, as it successfully achieved its stated objectives (the FTEMT unearths a Pareto set of solutions close to the true efficient frontier through the exploration of different energy management measure combinations). Explained in short, the value of using the FTEMT to generate decision support is that it explores the decision space and reduces the number of decision alternatives that decision-makers need to consider to a manageable number of solutions, all of which represent harmonic measure combinations geared toward optimal performance in terms of the entire spectrum of the problem objectives. These solutions are developed taking all the complexity issues surrounding the problem into account. Decision-makers can, thus, have confidence that the acceptance of any one of the solutions proposed by the FTEMT will be a responsible and sound decision. As an additional benefit, preferences and strategic priorities of the decision-makers can be factored in when selecting a preferred decision alternative for implementation. Decision-makers must debate the trade-offs between solutions and need to determine what they are willing to sacrifice to realise what gain, but they are afforded the opportunity to select solutions that show the greatest alignment with their official mandates. The structure of the FTEMT developed and described in this dissertation presents a practical methodology for producing decision support on the development of sound freight energy management policy. This work serves as a basis to stimulate further scholarship and expands upon the collective knowledge on the topic, by proposing an approach that is able to address the full scale of complexities involved in the production of such decision support.
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Patel, Jaitra. "Balance It! : Designing a game-based learning tool for strategic sustainable development." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Industriell teknik, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-422718.
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In recent times, companies have been motivated to transition towards sustainable development. This motivation is driven by several external and internal factors such as awareness about limited resources, environmental degradation, economic profitability, changes in regulations, etc. Transitioning towards sustainability is not an easy task. There can be several challenges such as the multi-dimensional aspect of sustainable development, changes in workflow , investing in/inventing new technology , etc. T o tackle these challenges, a strategic transition is required. In order to help organizations strategically move towards sustainable development, Göran Broman and Karl- Henrik Robèrt have provided a framework through their research. It can be an overwhelming task for a company to understand and implement this framework. The thesis addresses this challenge by designing a board game around the operational procedure provided by the framework. To develop the game, Evensen et al.’s model was leveraged which utilized different inputs such as literature review, Broman and Robèrt’s framework, and thematic analysis of interviews as inputs for game development. The interviewing process included semi-structured interviews of eight employees (sustainability-related positions) from different companies to understand how their companies are perceiving sustainable development, implementing sustainable practices, and what are the needs and challenges faced. This thesis contributes to academia in two ways. First, it extends the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) by providing an application-based learning tool. After studying the theoretical side of the framework, the developed game can enhance the understanding of the framework. Second, it modifies the game design model by substituting generative research with a framework (FSSD) as an input and further discusses the benefits of having FSSD as an input element. From a practical perspective, apart from providing a better understanding of sustainability and educating companies about FSSD, the board game session enables the employees to think about how to implement FSSD for their specific scenario. Additionally, it also provides companies a controlled environment to think about risks and foresee the consequences of their future actions. Hence, providing a safety net before the initiation of the implementation process.
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MALLOW, PETER JAY. "STRATEGIC PLANNING AS AN IMPLEMENTATION TOOL: MADERIA, OHIO AS A CASE STUDY." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2001. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin989851206.
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Booth, Darcie Lee. "A strategic capacity planning tool for a firm in the newsprint industry." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1990. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/30599.
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A strategic planning tool has been developed to help a firm in the North American newsprint industry decide whether to expand its capacity. This tool can also be used as an industry model, to forecast capacity decisions under various conditions. Key features of the model are the explicit consideration of the interdependence between firms and the recognition of the lumpiness of capacity expansion. Individual firms and groups of firms are modelled. All firms are assumed to determine their best capacity option taking into consideration the capacity decisions of other firms. The model uses an open loop Nash equilibrium concept to solve the capacity expansion problem. Firms also simultaneously determine their profit-maximizing production in each year, given their capacities. Demand functions for each year are specified, and demand scenarios may be subject to uncertainty.
The model was applied to the newsprint industry for the 1979 to 1983 time period. The top five firms in the industry were modelled as individual firms. The next eight firms were modelled as two groups of four identical firms. The behaviour of the fringe (i.e., the remaining 20% of total industry capacity) was forecast exogenously. Historical firm and industry capacities, production levels and prices were compared to model simulations under three different assumptions for firm objectives: profit maximization, market share maximization subject to a profitability constraint, and maximization of expected utility assuming exponential utility functions for all firms (with different assumptions about attitudes of firms towards risk). The constrained market share maximization hypothesis best explained observed behaviour. Multiple equilibria were often computed and methods for addressing this problem were discussed.Business, Sauder School of
Graduate
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Ekelund, Astrid. "Parking as a strategic tool : Stated Preferences of commuters in Umeå municipality." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Nationalekonomi, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-116807.
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Amlaeva, Anzhelika, Saide Begüm Feyzioğlu, and Hadel Mohammed Iskander ElKambergy. "Sustainability Governance Initiatives in Universities as a Tool for Sustainability." Thesis, Blekinge Tekniska Högskola, Institutionen för strategisk hållbar utveckling, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:bth-12745.
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Mostert, Daniël Gerhardus. "Competitive analysis : a tool to enhance the process of strategy formulation /." Link to the online version, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10019/1122.
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Lien, Jung-Hsun, and N/A. "Integrating Strategic Environmental Assessment into Transport Planning." Griffith University. Griffith School of Environment, 2007. http://www4.gu.edu.au:8080/adt-root/public/adt-QGU20070813.155624.
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Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) has become recognised as an improvement on the existing, limited system of project-based EIA. It aims to integrate environmental considerations into government policies, plans and programmes, and provides a basis for arriving at better-informed decisions at broader strategic levels. However, the compatibility of this new environmental planning tool with other planning systems such as transport, holds the key to successful integration of environmental concerns into existing planning approaches. This study investigates whether SEA can influence and integrate with transport planning and policy development processes through a survey of attitudes and opinions of planners on transport SEA in Taiwan. Transport planning has been criticised for considering too few alternatives, and for basing evaluations solely on technical and economic grounds. The emerging SEA seems theoretically feasible and potentially beneficial in allowing the integration of environmental concerns into strategic transport planning. Though many countries or regions have transport SEA provisions, practical transport SEA applications remain limited, mostly in Western developed countries with high environmental awareness. SEA applications are also limited in their strategies, focusing mainly on infrastructure-related projects. Moreover, most current transport SEA practices lack strategic focus and thus fail to fulfill SEA principles. This suggests that many planners are unfamiliar with the nature and techniques of SEA, and the conceptual impediments are still critical, which may result in significant barriers to transport SEA application. The EIA Act promulgated in 1994, together with its relevant provisions, have provided an applicable mechanism and a legal basis for SEA application in Taiwan, however, no transport SEA cases have been conducted. Many technical and non-technical barriers have been identified by the interviewees, indicating that most of the planners in Taiwan believe that transport SEA is conceptually and practically immature, and planners are not yet ready for it. The conceptual barriers seem more critical at this stage because practical barriers can only be identified and overcome when planners and decision-makers have a clear and proper concept of SEA. This narrowly-viewed application has limited the benefits of SEA, and has resulted in a rigid and incorrect idea that SEA was a passive impact-reducing mechanism; this may mislead the attitudes of planners to transport SEA. In fact, the emerging SEA is a re-engineered planning system framework that serves to remind planners that they are able to improve their efforts. It is a paradigm revolution, as the way in which planners think can make a vast difference. Thus, the potential for the emerging SEA concept to influence and integrate with transport planning and transport policy development processes depends not only on practical feasibility but also on a fundamental conceptual recognition of transport SEA. SEA could influence and integrate with transport planning and transport policy development processes if planners and decision-makers changed their ways of thinking. This study also found that a tiered and integrated transport SEA, embedded in the main transport planning process at different strategic levels, has great potential to embody the environmental and sustainable concerns in transport planning and decision-making. This finding is based on several contentions supported by the recent SEA studies showing that it should not be detached from the main planning process. SEA needs to be flexible in order to meet various policies, plans and programmes (PPP) demands, and it must be value-driven, not impact-oriented. A tiered, integrated transport SEA provides ways to overcome identified transport SEA application impediments. This two-in-one planning system is a simple solution which allows transport SEA to be conducted without involving complex legal processes. It improves institutional coordination and integrates not only with planning processes but also with values and resources.
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Kikine, Bereng Nimrode. "Strategic planning as a tool for investment decision-making for SMEs in Nelson Mandela Metropole." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/6465.
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All around the world, SMEs are perceived as the engine room of economic growth, job creation and poverty alleviation, due to their flexibility and quick adaptability to change. It is believed that, for developing countries to address their social and economic challenges, it would be beneficial if they leverage the potential that the SME sector potentially possess. However, despite the government focus on supporting and encouraging the establishment of SMEs through the small business development programmes in order to address these social challenges, SME sector has experienced a high degree of business mortality, which impacts negatively on the ability to create sustainable employment opportunities in the long term. This view is supported by the work of (Ligthelm and Cant 2003). According to the global economic monitor (GEM), the small business mortality in South Africa is among the highest in the world. It is said that that most newly established SMEs will not survive beyond 48 months Von Broembsen, as cited in Olawale and Garwe (2010: 730). One of the reasons that lead to the high failure rate of SMEs is the lack of strategic planning and the poor allocation of resources. The literature review suggests that SMEs that embark on strategic planning are the ones that are most likely to experience sales growth, personnel growth and asset value growth, as opposed those that do not do any strategic planning at all. The primary objective of this research was to establish how a strategic planning process can be used as an investment decision-making tool for manufacturing SMEs in the Nelson Mandela Metropole. In order to address this research problem, the following sub-problems had to be solved: What strategic planning processes do current SME managers use?; What strategic performance measurement systems do SME owner-managers currently use?; What capital budgeting techniques are currently being used by SME’s in the region?; How do SME owner-managers evaluate the risk of the projects at hand?. The research design was methodological triangulation in nature, that is, using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, though a quantitative paradigm was more dominant that the qualitative paradigm. A questionnaire was designed as a primary source of data collection from a selected sample group. The empirical study revealed that there is some level of strategic planning amongst SMEs, however, it is mostly informal and unstructured. It also emerged that strategic planning can be used as more than just a performance measurement tool, it can contribute more effectively to strategic alignment, organisational learning and diffusion of knowledge throughout the organisation. The empirical study also suggests that SMEs understand that capital budgeting is critical for the success of the organisations. However, very few SMEs have a formal capital budgeting process. It also became evident that most SMEs are still relying on the traditional capital budgeting techniques; that is, ‘gut feel’ and the payback methods of evaluating projects. The empirical study suggests that the largest group of SMEs rely on break-even analysis and scenario planning as the major indicators of the impact the projects will or may have on the organisation. The recommendations have thus been made to address the challenges facing SMEs with regard to strategic planning, strategic performance measurement, capital budgeting and project risk evaluation.
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Agrawal, Vaibhav. "A web-application tool for manufacturing systems strategic management and competitive performance monitoring /." free to MU campus, to others for purchase, 2004. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/mo/fullcit?p1426042.
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Druckenmiller, Douglas Allen. "Exploring Agent-Based Simulation of Causal Maps: Toward a Strategic Decision Support Tool." [Kent, Ohio] : Kent State University, 2005. http://www.ohiolink.edu/etd/view.cgi?acc_num=kent1112125730.
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Thesis (Ph.D.)--Kent State University, 2005.Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Feb. 23, 2005). Advisor: Acar, William. Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center. Keywords: strategy making; causal mapping; multi-agent systems; knowledge management; dialectical inquiry Includes bibliographical references (p. 111-116).
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Drummond, Lance F. (Lance Fitzgerald). "An investigation of organizational change using a strategic process as the intervention tool." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1995. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/11357.
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Shin, Kei-Lok (Felix). "A strategic support tool for the incorporation of societal benefits into toy design." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2017. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/33539.
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This thesis reports on the research undertaken to embed positive social factors into strategic decision making of toy design and manufacturing. This is achieved by two objectives, the first and main objective of this research is to develop a framework which assess the societal benefits of products and enable the comparison of products based on their functionalities. The secondary objective is to develop a toolkit that incorporates the framework with existing sustainable assessment and product management strategies.
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Bartholomew, Nathan. "Accurately predicting visitation as a strategic tool for management of a public park." Thesis, Kansas State University, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/35445.
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Master of AgribusinessDepartment of Agricultural Economics
Nathan P. Hendricks
Public parks can provide considerable value to the population that visit them, for the community around them and the local economy. A well designed public park can attract growth in tourism, stimulate a habitat for wildlife, contribute to personal health and wellness, improve the aesthetics of an area and stimulate economic growth. Managing and operating a public park entails many complex issues such as designing an attractive green space, implementing and maintaining the park, attracting and managing visitors and obtaining financial support. Public parks need to identify factors that influence park visitation in order to more effectively manage park visitorship.. This thesis examines park visitation analyzing data of park users of The High Line in New York City to develop a model to more accurately predict visitation. The thesis focuses on the critical social and climatic variables that attract visitors to spend time in the High Line park. Understanding these factors will allow park management the ability to create a strategic plan for managing a public space that best serves its visitors and the community. More specifically, a strategic plan helps to determine who the visitors are and what activities they enjoy in the park. In conceptualizing a solution, High Line can put into practice what its visitors want to see offered in the park and which of its programming needs improvement to attract more visitors. Meeting the needs of park visitors will create a better experience for the customers and a better management strategy for operations. A multivariate regression analysis was used to establish the relationship between High Line visitation and the climatic and social variables. The climatic variables of daily average temperature and precipitation. The social variables of day of the week and season of the year were added to the structural model as dummies. A time trend variable characterized as time in years was added to the model to show any yearly change in visitation to the park. This method has been widely applied to a number of studies testing the relationship of climatic and social variables to park visitation (Micah, Scotter and Fenech 2016). The results of this regression analysis show that the social variables of day of the week and season and the climatic variables of average temperature and precipitation had a significant affect on park visitation. The model developed can be used to forecast park visitation, quantifying the many variables that influence park visitation.
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Bergdahl, Emil, and Markus Kvarnlöf. "Infrastructural Assessment : A Quantitative Tool within Business & Economics." Thesis, Örebro University, Swedish Business School at Örebro University, 2009. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-7837.
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Traditional theories, models, and methods often address a general view of the environment including sociocultural, technological, political, and economic factors. However, there is a lack in infrastructural attention in these concepts which this thesis intends to contribute with by analyzing how regional specific infrastructural variables can be aggregated to one comparative measure and what that measure’s scope of use could be in the market analysis? Hence, the purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the strategic planning process research with a supporting quantitative tool, based on statistical metrics, for determining the market potential.
This thesis has an inductive approach and is primary based on documentary secondary data and the strategic planning process is the main theory of concern when evaluating the possibilities of infrastructural assessment. As a complement, the infrastructural concerns in the economics are also dealt with.
The empirics are compiled and calculated in a manner which allows an indexing and the finalized result is presented as an Infrastructural Status Index (InfraStat Index). Some of the utilities of this index are that it can be a complementary part of the PEST- and SWOT-models and a supporting tool in companies’ strategic planning processes. The index has both business and macroeconomic scopes of use and one of the summarizing conclusions is that further research within this concept should incorporate more variables in order to retrieve a more comprehensive result.
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Nash, Scott Joseph. "Television Executive Producers' Use of Twitter as a Public Relations Tool." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2015. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/5554.
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This study examines how television executive producers are utilizing the social media platform of Twitter as a public relations tool. Utilizing a qualitative textual analysis, this study examines 10 executive producers' use of Twitter over a three-week period. The results of the textual analysis indicated executive producers primarily used Twitter as a public relations tool in five different themes: clarification, compliment, gratitude, promotion, and engagement. Future research should utilize additional qualitative research through in-depth interviews with industry professionals such as television executive producers or public relations firms that work directly with the television industry and those who specifically work with television executive producers.
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Moen, Rune M. "Customer and process focused poor quality cost model usedas a strategic decision-making tool." Doctoral thesis, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Engineering Science and Technology, 1997. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:no:ntnu:diva-733.
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Gentle, Paul Nicholas. "Action learning as a tool for strategic leadership in higher education : an empirical study." Thesis, n.p, 2007. http://ethos.bl.uk/.
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Pooe, Molefe M. B. A. "The development of a strategic performance measurement tool for SMEs in the construction industry." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/810.
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Research in strategic performance measurements has focused mostly on large organisations. In the last few years, there has been a widespread adoption and implementation of balanced strategic performance measurements that no longer narrowly focus on financial measurements but include other non-financial measures. Again, such improvements have focused on large organisations. This study aims to assess strategic performance measurement practices in the Small and Medium Enterprises within the construction industry. The Balanced Scorecard is used as a generic measurement framework to ascertain the current strategic performance measurements within this sector. The four perspectives of measurement; namely, financial, customer, internal process and learning and growth are used to determine the generic measurements within the construction industry. These are then used to determine to what the extent Small and Medium Enterprises in the construction industry have adopted the measurements outlined in these four perspectives. The nature and extent of strategic planning and perceived relevance of various sets of balanced measurements were also assessed. A survey was conducted in the form of a questionnaire in order to obtain primary data from a selected sample group. Using qualitative and quantitative techniques, the data was analysed to get a clear picture of current practice. From the results obtained from the respondents in the sample group, it seemed that there was some strategic planning within this sector although the process was mostly unstructured. The results also showed that the owner-manager is still solely responsible for strategic planning with little or no inclusion of other managers or employees.
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Slater, Michael M. A. "Target costing as a strategic cost management tool in the South African motor industry." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1094.
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Traditional cost-accounting approaches have served manufacturers well over a long period, but due to the changing nature of the modern manufacturing environment shortcomings have resulted and are no longer regarded as suitable (Gagne & Discenza 1993: 68). Similarly, Monden and Lee (1993: 22) state that many practitioners and academicians have questioned the effectiveness of standard cost systems, which have been used as the primary cost control measure for the last several decades. Cooper and Slagmulder (1997: 2) point out that in contrast to the conventional cost management techniques, target costing adopts a feed-forward approach. The objective of target costing is to design costs out of products, and not to find ways of eliminating costs after the products enter production. Few firms can afford to ignore such a powerful mechanism to increase profits in today’s highly competitive environment.
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Abrahams, Shaheed. "Budgeting, forecasting and financial planning as a strategic tool in the Eastern Cape's manufacturing industry." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1008408.
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The primary objective of the study is to assess whether organisations are using their budgeting, forecasting and financial planning information as a strategic tool in the decision-making process. The research aims to investigate the various factors that hinder the success of the finance department in delivering a quality financial plan, budget or forecast to top management and the rest of the organisation.
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Mostert, Daniel Gerhardus. "Competitive analysis : a tool to enhance the process of strategy formulation." Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/3311.
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Thesis (MPhil (Information Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006.It is well understood that the modern business environment has become a very complex and uncertain arena. The only way that the modern organization can survive under these circumstances, is by “crafting” a strategy that will differentiate itself from its competitors. The process of strategy formulation has been the victim of widespread criticism, from practitioners and academics, alike. Competitive analysis has been identified as a tool that can assist and facilitate strategy formulation. The objective of this assignment was to investigate the dynamic relationship that exists between competitive analysis and strategy formulation and to determine how competitive analysis can assist practitioners during the process of strategy formulation. The first part of the assignment consisted of a literature review that focused on the many facets of strategy and strategy formulation. This involved identifying and defining all the pertinent concepts. In order to understand the process of strategy formulation better, an analysis on the concepts of strategy, strategic planning, strategic management and competitive analysis was done. To enhance understanding of the process further, an analysis was done of the business environment that the organization is active in and that could influence strategy formulation. The assignment also focused on the different objectives of competitive analysis and an analysis was made of the different techniques that are available, because it could influence the technique chosen for the process of competitive analysis. Certain pitfalls and blind spots were also identified that could affect the process negatively and that have to be kept in mind when conducting a competitive analysis Finally, certain recommendations are proposed in order to enhance the understanding of competitive analysis and the process of strategy formulation, as it is applied in the modern business environment.
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Lilleby, Hilde Elise Sæther. "A Strategic Tool for Competence Building within the Health Sector : With the Use of Nurse Rerostering." Thesis, Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet, Institutt for industriell økonomi og teknologiledelse, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:no:ntnu:diva-20091.
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Implementing a model of competence building in the XpressMP and building a case based on a simplified version of a hospital gave room for computational studies. A lower amount of nurse rotation lead to lower cost of external hires and thus decreased the cost of absence. The hospital chose to invest in gained competence, though even by several rotations the nurses gained mostly competence and special expertise within their belonging home wards. The main result of this thesis was the positive change in cost, by the increase of nurses competence. Compared to the solution of working with the initial competence profile, the optimal profile found by the model proved to be more beneficial even though the building phase produce an extra yearly fixed cost by increased salary.
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Saunderson, Ian Peter. "Videoconferencing as strategic management tool in new organisational forms : the case of TELP / Ian Peter Saunderson." Thesis, North-West University, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/10394/429.
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This study examines new organisational environments and all the
environmental variables that are involved in the adoption and implementation
of new communication technology. This includes structures within the
organisation, as well as social communication networks. Social
communication networks determine the levels of measurement of processes
associated with managerial practises and policies regarding
videoconferencing implementation.
Videoconferencing as a communication management tool should take into
account the numerous applications that videoconferencing hold, but should at
the same time consider all the implications for management. Communication
managers should show a level of sensitivity on interpersonal relationship
establishment and maintenance using a videoconferencing system. Aspects
that should be attended to include alteration of verbal and non-verbal
communication processes, the establishment of virtual relationships and how
it impacts on the social communication network.
The study utilises focus group research, social network analysis and
descriptive statistics in the investigation of manifestation of above-mentioned
variables in the Tertiary Education Linkages Project (TELP), which is a
linkage project between the Eastern Cape Technikon and Texas Southern
University. The study utilises triangulation for establishment of acceptable
levels of reliability and validity.
The analysis of data revealed that videoconferencing facilitates organisational
communication networks on the precondition that communication networks
and the communication environment are well managed. The nature of social
networks reveals that it will always be in existence where human interaction is
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present, however, communication management strategies are indeed
required to ensure that the quality of information disseminated over the social
network contribute to sound managerial outcomes. It was furthermore
established that communication management policies do not necessarily
affect individuals' experience of videoconferencing, however, as a
communication management tool, videoconferencing must be guided by
effective communication management policies and practises for the group to
be effective.Thesis (M.A. (Communication Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.
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Van, Vuuren Gary Wayne. "Duration as a strategic interest rate risk management tool in financial institutions / Gary Wayne van Vuuren." Thesis, North-West University, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10394/827.
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Banks and financial institutions record core banking activities (taking deposits and making
loans) on the balance sheet of the banking book, but trading book (trading and investment) pursuits
are recorded off-balance-sheet. Both books are subject to considerable risk from numerous
sources, but regulatory capital reserves - to shield from unexpected market moves - are not required
for the banking book as they are for the trading book. Both of these substantial shortcomings
will be addressed in the near future. The 2005 initiation of new global accounting standards
will ensure that trading book derivative fair values are recorded and reported on the balance
sheet while the new Basel accord, due for full implementation in 2007, will regulate the calculation
and reservation of capital required for the banking book. These changes are expected to better
regulate and manage the transparency of financial institutions' activities and so prevent large
scale economic disasters or deliberate corporate fraud. Institutions not compliant with the new
rules will face severe financial losses, regulatory fines and possible debilitating legal action.
One of the most commonly-used tools for measuring and managing interest rate risk, the
Macaulay duration, has enjoyed almost unchallenged success, but it employs severely restrictive
and unrealistic assumptions which constrain its usefulness and reliability in the rapidly-changing
world of defaultable securities, those with embedded derivatives and instruments with perpetual
maturities. Robust measures which more accurately approximate interest rate risk by relaxing
unrealistic assumptions are required.
Applications which significantly improve the accuracy of the Macaulay duration are considered
as well as a new look at the duration problem in general. The influence of a more accurate duration
measure on duration gap provides a significantly improved economic Market Value of Equity.
The role of this enhanced measure is crucial for risk management as well as regulatory and
accounting compliance.Thesis (Ph.D. (Risk Management))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.
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Brönmark, Riex Emma, and Elizabeth Karlsson. "SMEs gaining ground : How employer branding could be used as a strategic tool for competitive advantage." Thesis, Högskolan i Halmstad, Sektionen för ekonomi och teknik (SET), 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-26836.
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Background: In a world that is becoming more knowledge-based and where it gets harder to find value-adding employees, employer branding could be used as a way to attract and retain employees, which later can create competitive advantage. Research Question: In order to experience competitive advantage, how do SMEs use the strategies and tools of employer branding as a way to attract and retain value-adding employees? Purpose: The purpose with this study was to explore how employer branding is used by SMEs as a way to experience competitive advantage. Method: A qualitative research method with six case studies of SMEs located in different industries was adopted. Primary data was based on semi-structured interviews with respondents at the different SMEs. Theoretical framework: With the basis of the RBV, theories about this and the human capital as a resource as well as a competitive advantage, is presented. This continues with theories about the employer brand, attractive attributes about employers, employer branding strategies, and what the outcomes of employer branding is. Findings and Conclusions: SMEs do not use the strategies and tools of employer branding in the generic way. Instead, much communication is carried out first when the recruitment process starts, with the aim to find employees who could deliver competitive advantage through their fit with the organization. Once onboard, different benefits are provided in order to retain them. Involvement and engagement are the most prominent ones, due to SMEs ability to offer cross-functional management.
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Abele, Alexander. "Acculan System : The next generation of a Surgical Power Tool." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Designhögskolan vid Umeå universitet, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-162815.
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Orthopedic surgery is dangerous, especially for the surgeon! Tool failures belong to the ten most frequent causes of operation delays. Nowadays, hospitals are pressured to optimize procedures and lower costs. Especially, orthopedic surgery is physically demanding for the ergonomics of the surgeon and tools wear out more quickly. Could the evolution of a surgical power tool be used in these scenarios to ease and support the surgeons work, increase the efficiency and flexibility of usage and at the same time offer more control and knowledge about the condition of the tools?
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Gustafsson, Kristina, and Camilla Miedl-Ohlsson. "The Package : The Neglected Attribute The package´s role as a strategic tool in a competitive context." Thesis, Linköping University, Department of Management and Economics, 2002. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-1375.
Full textAbstract:
Background: When functionalities of todays products become increasingly alike, design plays a prominent role for product differentiation. Visuality becomes as significant as functionality and increases the importance for companies to work with, and use, packaging design as a tool for creating competitiveness.
Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to, from a corporate perspective, illuminate and create understanding for the role of packaging design as a strategic tool in a competitive context, where the core product is difficult to differentiate.
Realization: We have performed a qualitative study of packaging design as a phenomenon. Data have been gathered through interviews with influential employees from companies who produce beverages and from design consultants. In total, eight respondents have participated in the study.
Results: The package equals communication - an advertising tool that customers are recurrently exposed to. When the core products are difficult to differentiate, it becomes more important to express product identity and core values through packaging design. The effect is a product and packaging design with a strong mental position among consumers. The purpose of packaging design is therefore to create demand by depicting surplus value.
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Motsiri, Paulos Moeketsi. "Public sector procurement as strategic tool for black economic empowerment at Sedibeng District Municipality / Paulos Moeketsi Motsiri." Thesis, North-West University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10394/3092.
Full textAbstract:
The central objective of this study was to establish the extent to which public procurement, as applied at Sedibeng District Municipality, contributes to the development of designated suppliers. Previously, procurement was considered just another function of government responsible for purchasing and receiving goods. Currently, procurement is considered a strategic function that can be utilized by government to achieve certain policy objectives, such as Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) and Local Economic Development (LED).If implemented properly, without favoritism, nepotism and corruption, public sector procurement will promote the empowerment of designated groups. In this way, it will address socio-economic imbalances of the past. The study's hypothesis implied that Sedibeng District Municipality has laudable objectives to promote black economic empowerment through procurement. However, the implementation procedures and processes showed considerable constraints. Academic literature and government procurement documents were reviewed; and interviews were conducted at Sedibeng municipal area. The literature study was based on best procurement practices both in government and private sector. Empirical research was conducted on Sedibeng District Municipality's procurement unit practices, Small, Medium and Micro Enterprise development and the benefits of procurement to designated suppliers. The purpose was to determine the role that procurement policies play in promoting black economic empowerment. Eventually, a number of models and systems were recommended to improve procurement policies and procedures at Sedibeng District Municipality. These methods include: Management Assessment System; Realistic Objectives System; Departmental Evaluation Plan; Contract Progress Report Form; and Checklists. In the view of the researcher, a combination of these methods can assist to improve procurement policies and procedures.Thesis (M. Development and Management)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.