While the low profit times is coming, most of the enterprises hope to strengthen the interior information construction to promote the ability of obtaining profit or enhancing the management skill. With the progress of information technology, descent of hardware price, more friendly user interface, fast computer processing speed and the simplification of information technology, all these factors will aid business management for the enterprises. Recently electronic-business has turned into the mainstream, to implement the information system and build the e-business enterprise nowadays are becoming the hot topic in business management. When the macroeconomic environment is changing quickly, now the state-owned enterprise is facing the unprecedented pressure of reformation. The reformation includes the simplification of manpower, the objective effect management and running the state-owned enterprise by the private stockholder. In order to face the changes and promote the efficiency, all enterprises step into implementing all kind of information systems to enhance the management efficiency. With the electronic trend, a state-owned enterprise has also implemented many information systems, however, the process turned out to have some success and some failure. What are the critical success factors and how do they work? It is worth to do research in depth. This thesis will take ¡§technology acceptance model¡¨ for basis and add something like ¡§computer self-efficacy¡¨ and ¡§task-technology fit theory¡¨ for external variance to discuss what the critical success factors are to implement the information systems for the state-owned enterprise. Besides, we hope the conclusion of the critical success factors will be the reference for other state-owned enterprises or government departments.

In the new era of information technology, teachers will have to keep learning in order to offer students with proper directions. However; the traditional teacher professional training modes still have a lot of problems, so the teachers¡¦ aspiration in pursuing further professional development is not high. Teacher¡¦s training through the Internet using digital school therefore becomes one of the possible solutions to solve this problem. The management model of digital school is different than the traditional physical school; it will be difficult to run the school continuously if key factors are not operated and managed well. The Kaohsiung city K12 digital school is founded in 2001 by Prof. Nian-Shing Chen. It has already opening teachers¡¦ training courses for 10 semesters, and its excellent achievement has obtained an honor of wining the third place for the competition held by the Executive Yuan in Taiwan in 2002. It certainly exhibited its excellent model in implementation and operation. Therefore; exploring the critical success factors of K12 digital school will be able to advance its strengths to the digital school operators, for helping them to operate the digital school continuously and extend to the other cities and counties around Taiwan. All the teachers from the elementary and secondary schools will be able to have a more innovated and convenient digital learning environment. This study adopted Analytic Hierarchy Process for the research of critical success factors for K12 digital school, and the result showed that course content is the critical success factor. The most important elements are encouraging interactive course design, and the requirements of the course content that fits the students. We hereby recommend the operators of K12 digital schools to acquire the requirements of the teachers in advance before planning the courses, and offering the courses that will be useful for them. While designing the courses, the schools also need to consider enhancing the interactive and corporative learning activities. We also suggest the K12 digital schools to gain the supports of principles and government administrative chiefs. The positive reward system will be one of the attractions to encourage teachers to attend the training courses in K12 digital schools. The selection of the courses and the training of the teaching team are also the key factors to the success of running K12 digital schools.

<p>Enterprise Resource Planning systems are business systems that are expected to integrate all the business’ processes within organization, and since ERP systems are complex and re-quire extensive changes in the organization, it is crucial that the implementation is success-ful. However, the implementation of ERP systems is described as both risky and complex projects.</p><p>The purpose of this master thesis is to investigate the importance of different critical success factors across the ERP project life cycle within SMEs. Furthermore, we will compare our findings to see if there are differences between larger corporations in the USA and SMEs in the county of Jönköping, Sweden and try to explain the potential differences.</p><p>In order to fulfill our purpose, we used a quantitative approach to collect primary data from the SMEs in the county of Jönköping. Our data was thereafter qualitatively analyzed in order to describe our findings.</p><p>The conclusions drawn in this thesis is that the following critical success factors are per-ceived to be most important within the SMEs investigated:</p><p>• Infusion stage: Careful selection of package</p><p>• Adoption stage: Top management support</p><p>• Adaptation stage: Project champion</p><p>• Acceptance stage: Project champion</p><p>• Routinization stage: Education on new business processes</p><p>• Infusion stage: Vendor support.</p><p>It was apparent that the critical success factors identified in our research differed from the critical success factors identified for the Fortune 500 companies in the USA. However, we have failed to find any valid and reliable reasons for the differences even though we have discussed possible reasons for them.</p>

Substantial step-wise advances and efficient work processes geared towards leveraging the modularization strategy to an optimal extent are needed in industry in order to maximize its potential benefit for capital projects because the industry suffers from low levels of application of the strategy. Due to this, this research focused on what changes to the traditional work processes within the industry as a whole and on individual projects are required. The ideas presented in this thesis seek to guide individual professionals and engineering organizations to create an optimal environment in which broader and more effective use of modularization can occur. / text

World-wide it is estimated that workers suffer 250 million accidents every year, with 330 000 fatalities. In South a c a , the fatality rate is 426 per annum. Sishen mine also experienced safety problems, namely a high injury rate, an average of one fatality per annum, and 85% of injuries being caused by risk behaviour. Furthermore, the safety culture at the mine was moderate. A proper safety management system requires continual attention to three domains, namely the environment (equipment, tools and housekeeping), the person (knowledge, skills, abilities, intelligence and personality), and behaviour. Sishen mine previously concentrated on the domains of environment and person, and virtually ignored safety behaviour. To correct this, Sishen mine adapted a behaviour based safety intervention programme. The aims of this research were to determine drivers that motivate safety and risk behaviour, to identify critical factors for the successful implementation of such a programme, and to determine if the safety culture and performance were affected by the implementation of a behaviour based safety intervention programme. A single-group non-experimental design was used. Questionnaires were used to conduct non-experimental surveys. The questionnaires addressed certain safety culture dimensions. A longitudinal survey was carried out before and after implementation of the behaviour based safety intervention programme. The results showed that the safety culture at the mine improved since implementation of the intervention programme. Management support for safety improved by 6%, peer support for safety by 13%, personal responsibility for safety by 7%, management systems by 6%, and employees actively caring for safety, by 3%. The improvement in safety culture also positively impacted on the injury rate at Sishen mine. Results indicated the following factors as being critical for a successful behaviour based safety implementation (in order of importance): participation, structured implementation, training, readiness for such a programme, communication, observation and feedback, target critical behaviours, flexibility, effective intervention actions, and data management. The study identified issues and challenges which must be dealt with, especially those applicable in developing countries like South Africa, with unique circumstances such as social and political diversity. The conclusion was that safety behaviour is mainly d i e d by activators, and motivated by consequences. The ABC model was identified as an important tool to analyse the drivers for safety behaviour in an effort to develop effective intervention actions. It is recommended that companies shift their focus from traditional safety approaches to the human dimension of safety. Thus, it is recommended that the behaviour based safety model must be applied by companies in order to focus on behaviour. Secondly, it is recommended that factors that are critical for a successful implementation must be identified and ranked in order of importance. The attention which is paid to each critical factor should then be related to its relative importance. It is also recommended that activators and consequences must be regarded as important drivers for safety behaviour when intervention actions are to be developed, and that the ABC technique should be applied in practice to analyse the appropriateness of the intervention actions. By way of conclusion, recommendations for future research are made. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems have been in existence for over 2 decades yet businesses are still losing billions of dollars annually in the implementation of software designed to reduce costs and increase profitability. The inability to manage risks is an area that contributes to these losses, specifically due to uncertain outcomes when dealing with an interconnected construct such as risk, and a research gap at the tactical and operational levels between risks and controls. A comparative case study approach, encompassing 12 different organisations was adopted to explore emerging patterns at the project implementation level, and from this three contributions emerged. After observing risks behaving in a hierarchical fashion with predictable results, Hierarchy of Risk models representing different implementation stages were constructed. Although these models are still in their formative stages, it may prove useful in furthering our understanding of the close inter-relationship between different risks, where they occur in ERP implementations and the implications of managerial choice when determining risk prioritisation. A second finding is that no direct linear relationship appears to exist between risks and controls. Rather, this counter-intuitive finding suggests that it is additional factors including risk categories, implementation stages, prior control decision making and the hierarchical flow-on effect of impacts as a consequence of identified risks. Finally, by combining the Hierarchy of Risk models and the risk-to-impact-to-control relationship, a method of reverse engineering portfolios of control was discovered. This potentially offers an explanation as to how portfolios of control can be constructed, and why they are essential in ERP implementations.

Background: Strategic capabilities are vital components for organisations to include in their business. Another essential elements in a strategy that can affect the performance of an organisation in both a negative and positive direction are critical success factors. This research will study if it possible to evaluate organisations CSFs in order to see whether a well performed CSF also can be identified as a strategic capability. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate organisations CSF in order to identify strategic capabilities Research question: What CSFs can be identified? Which CSFs are identified as strategic capabilities? Methodology: This thesis involved a qualitative pre-study consistent of a content analysis and semi-structured interview that were used to provide measurements to the quantitative survey. Conclusion: The findings indicate that it is possible to identify strategic capabilities by evaluating CSFs. In this study transportation, number of stores and the atmosphere were considered as strategic capabilities.

World-wide it is estimated that workers suffer 250 million accidents every year, with 330 000 fatalities. In South a c a , the fatality rate is 426 per annum. Sishen mine also experienced safety problems, namely a high injury rate, an average of one fatality per annum, and 85% of injuries being caused by risk behaviour. Furthermore, the safety culture at the mine was moderate. A proper safety management system requires continual attention to three domains, namely the environment (equipment, tools and housekeeping), the person (knowledge, skills, abilities, intelligence and personality), and behaviour. Sishen mine previously concentrated on the domains of environment and person, and virtually ignored safety behaviour. To correct this, Sishen mine adapted a behaviour based safety intervention programme. The aims of this research were to determine drivers that motivate safety and risk behaviour, to identify critical factors for the successful implementation of such a programme, and to determine if the safety culture and performance were affected by the implementation of a behaviour based safety intervention programme. A single-group non-experimental design was used. Questionnaires were used to conduct non-experimental surveys. The questionnaires addressed certain safety culture dimensions. A longitudinal survey was carried out before and after implementation of the behaviour based safety intervention programme. The results showed that the safety culture at the mine improved since implementation of the intervention programme. Management support for safety improved by 6%, peer support for safety by 13%, personal responsibility for safety by 7%, management systems by 6%, and employees actively caring for safety, by 3%. The improvement in safety culture also positively impacted on the injury rate at Sishen mine. Results indicated the following factors as being critical for a successful behaviour based safety implementation (in order of importance): participation, structured implementation, training, readiness for such a programme, communication, observation and feedback, target critical behaviours, flexibility, effective intervention actions, and data management. The study identified issues and challenges which must be dealt with, especially those applicable in developing countries like South Africa, with unique circumstances such as social and political diversity. The conclusion was that safety behaviour is mainly d i e d by activators, and motivated by consequences. The ABC model was identified as an important tool to analyse the drivers for safety behaviour in an effort to develop effective intervention actions. It is recommended that companies shift their focus from traditional safety approaches to the human dimension of safety. Thus, it is recommended that the behaviour based safety model must be applied by companies in order to focus on behaviour. Secondly, it is recommended that factors that are critical for a successful implementation must be identified and ranked in order of importance. The attention which is paid to each critical factor should then be related to its relative importance. It is also recommended that activators and consequences must be regarded as important drivers for safety behaviour when intervention actions are to be developed, and that the ABC technique should be applied in practice to analyse the appropriateness of the intervention actions. By way of conclusion, recommendations for future research are made. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:35:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2009-02-26Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:05:50Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 rocha_hm_dr_guara.pdf: 978455 bytes, checksum: b5f0c588360528590d2e12d3fea840f2 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Este estudo buscou identificar os fatores críticos de sucesso dos processos de desenvolvimento de produtos na indústria automotiva situada na região Sulfluminense. Os referenciais teóricos utilizados são os fatores críticos de sucesso de Rockart. Partindo da literatura existente sobre o assunto e das deduções obtidas por prognósticos, foram identificados oito fatores críticos de sucesso. Estes foram avaliados por meio de pesquisa, na forma de entrevistas e questionários (método Delphi) em duas montadoras instaladas na citada região. Utilizando o método hipotético-dedutivo, os resultados foram testados estatisticamente e pelo método da lógica paraconsistente. Sete fatores foram considerados críticos para os processos de desenvolvimento de produtos: gerenciamento de custos e orçamentos; gerenciamento do tempo e prazos; posicionamento estratégico definido para o produto; atendimento das necessidades dos clientes; alinhamento organizacional; características do time de desenvolvimento; e processos de trabalho estabelecidos pelas organizações para o desenvolvimento de seus novos produtos. / This research purported to identify the critical success factors for the product development process used by the automotive industry in southern Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. The theoretical referential used in this research was Rockart’s critical success factors. Having the existing literature about the subject and prognostic deductions as start points for this study, eight critical success factors have been identified and evaluated through research – interviews and questionnaires applied in two automaker plants in the Southern State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Through the hypotheticaldeductive method, results have been statistical tested and also submitted to the paraconsistent logic evaluation. Seven success factors have been considered critical: management of costs and budgets, deadlines and time management, product strategic positioning, customer needs fulfillment, organizational alignment, characteristics of the development team, and work processes established by the organizations for new product development.

Resumo: Este estudo buscou identificar os fatores críticos de sucesso dos processos de desenvolvimento de produtos na indústria automotiva situada na região Sulfluminense. Os referenciais teóricos utilizados são os fatores críticos de sucesso de Rockart. Partindo da literatura existente sobre o assunto e das deduções obtidas por prognósticos, foram identificados oito fatores críticos de sucesso. Estes foram avaliados por meio de pesquisa, na forma de entrevistas e questionários (método Delphi) em duas montadoras instaladas na citada região. Utilizando o método hipotético-dedutivo, os resultados foram testados estatisticamente e pelo método da lógica paraconsistente. Sete fatores foram considerados críticos para os processos de desenvolvimento de produtos: gerenciamento de custos e orçamentos; gerenciamento do tempo e prazos; posicionamento estratégico definido para o produto; atendimento das necessidades dos clientes; alinhamento organizacional; características do time de desenvolvimento; e processos de trabalho estabelecidos pelas organizações para o desenvolvimento de seus novos produtos. / Abstract: This research purported to identify the critical success factors for the product development process used by the automotive industry in southern Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. The theoretical referential used in this research was Rockart's critical success factors. Having the existing literature about the subject and prognostic deductions as start points for this study, eight critical success factors have been identified and evaluated through research - interviews and questionnaires applied in two automaker plants in the Southern State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Through the hypotheticaldeductive method, results have been statistical tested and also submitted to the paraconsistent logic evaluation. Seven success factors have been considered critical: management of costs and budgets, deadlines and time management, product strategic positioning, customer needs fulfillment, organizational alignment, characteristics of the development team, and work processes established by the organizations for new product development. / Orientador: Mauricio Cesar Delamaro / Coorientador: Heitor Luiz Murat de Meirelles Quintella / Banca: Fernando Augusto Silva Marins / Banca: Messias Borges Silva / Banca: José Glênio Medeiros de Barros / Banca: João Alberto Neves dos Santos / Doutor