Ce travail porte sur les apports de la classification dans le cadre du déploiement des chaînes logistiques dans un groupe industriel.<br />Le modèle SCOR-model est une base de référence de processus standard qui a été utilisée pour le déploiement du Supply Chain Management. Il a notamment servi de base pour la description des processus et pour la détermination des variables quantitatives et qualitatives utilisables dans la classification d'objets autour du thème des chaînes logistiques.<br />Sur le cas de Rhodia (multinationale produisant plusieurs dizaines de milliers de produits avec plus d'une centaine de sites sur quatre continents), nous avons appliqué différentes méthodes de classification afin d'accélérer et de faciliter le déploiement du Supply Chain Management.<br />Parmi ces outils, nous avons utilisé les arbres de décision pour établir des classes de produits relativement à leur méthode de gestion et la méthode des nuées dynamiques pour définir des classes d'entreprises relativement à leurs caractéristiques propres à la gestion de la chaîne logistique.<br />Ces classifications ont servi de base au déploiement des logiques de pilotage et de SAP sur l'ensemble des entreprises du groupe.<br />A posteriori, nous pouvons constater le gain de temps qu'elles ont occasionné en permettant d'offrir un éventail de solutions prédéterminées, adaptables à chaque entreprise du groupe.<br />Le fait d'avoir réussi un développement du concept de gestion des chaînes logistiques et l'implantation de SAP sur un groupe de cette taille en un temps si court est en soit une validation de l'approche.

<p>Companies spend considerable amounts of money on implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. The implementation of an ERP system is risky since it involves the core administrative processes used to give a good customer service, plan and monitor production, handle suppliers and monitor the financial effectiveness of the company. It is quite clear that a wrongly managed ERP implementation can cause lower customer satisfaction and weakening trust from the market. These are effects that companies can’t afford in most markets were competition is very strong and customer service is the key to future improved business. One very important part to minimize the risk in such projects is to focus on change management and knowledge transfer to the end users. The end users need to be equipped with the right knowledge in the new ERP system from day one, otherwise the risks grow considerable. Missing knowledge can cost missed deliveries, customer complaints, financial claims and most importantly lower compatibility on the market. This thesis builds a framework with main points to consider when building a positive learning environment and how to break the information wall so that the trainer can get through with the message.</p>

The current study investigated the cognitive organization of alcohol expectancies using event-related potentials (ERPs). Building on previous behavioral and ERP paradigms, the goal of the current study was to quantify the relationship among alcohol expectancies using ERP indices of salience, congruence, and cognitive distance. The ERP components being evaluated fit perfectly into the alcohol expectancy theory and research; however, implementing specific paradigms to reliably measure individual differences in alcohol expectancies using ERPs has proven to be more elusive than originally thought. This study utilized established cognitive modeling techniques coupled with ERP responses to linguistic stimuli. In essence, this study provides an implicit measure of how particular types of words, in the context of alcohol, are categorized and integrated into individuals' expectancy frameworks. The study looked at two specific ERP components, the P300 and the N400, that have been shown to be sensitive to expectancy violations. In a sentence processing task the P300 was predicted to be related to individuals' alcohol expectancies and in a word pair task the N400 was predicted to index these expectancies. Results indicated that the P300 and N400 were both related to alcohol expectancies in the sentence task and the N400 was related to alcohol expectancies in the word pair task. While the results supported parts of the hypotheses, they were not unequivocal endorsements of the hypothesized relationships, perhaps highlighting the countervailing forces of salience and expectancy congruence. Furthermore, there were unexpected differences between males and females in the sample that interacted with the effect of expectancy on ERPs. In sum, prior research has highlighted individuals' expectations about alcohol as a mediator of biopsychosocial risk for alcohol use disorders (Goldman, 2002), and the results of this study provide a model for how ERP measures of expectancy could capture an aspect of individuals' risk based on reactions to expectancy related stimuli

ERP-system är idag närvarande i nästan alla organisationer och har utvecklats till att bli en konkurrensfördel för de organisationer som implementerar systemet på ett korrekt sätt. Det blir också viktigt att lyckas med användandet av ERP-systemet efter implementation. En framgångsfaktor är post-implementation learning (PIL) som innebär att organisationer lär sig från användandet av ERP-system och fortsätter utveckla och uppdatera dessa. Tidigare forskning har fokuserat på beslutsfattare i organisationens roll för PIL men utelämnat andra individer i organisationens påverkan. Denna kvalitativa studie har undersökt hur individers användande av ett ERP-system efter implementation påverkar organisationens PIL. Detta har genomförts genom en fallstudie hos en stor svensk tillverkningsindustri. Det empiriska materialet har samlats in genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer och sedan analyserats genom ett utvecklat ramverk grundat i tidigare teorier från skilda områden. Resultaten visar att individers användande av ERP-system påverkar PIL och att deras användande då får effekter på hela organisationen. Det utvecklade ramverket visade sig också ha praktisk relevans och validitet och öppnar upp för vidare forskning inom ämnet.

Dual-process models propose that two processes support recognition memory; familiarity, a general sense that something has been previously encountered; and recollection, the retrieval of details concerning the context in which a previous encounter occurred. Event-related potential (ERP) studies of recognition memory have identified a set of old/new effects that are thought to reflect these processes: the 300-500ms bilateral-frontal effect, thought to reflect familiarity and the 500-800ms left-parietal effect, thought to reflect recollection. Whilst the exact functional role of these effects remains unclear, they are widely viewed as reliable indices of retrieval. The ERP literature reviewed in this thesis suggests that the characteristics of these recognition effects vary with task specific details and individual participant differences, suggesting that the recognition effects purported to index retrieval may be conditional on both task and participant. This thesis examined the influence of individual differences on behavioural measures of recognition and the neural correlates of recognition memory, focusing on factors of stimulus material, task performance and participant genotype. Clear evidence of stimulus differences were found, with pictures eliciting more anteriorly distributed effects than words, and a late onsetting frontopolar old/new effect that was unique for voices. Furthermore, the pattern of ERP activity associated with successful recognition of faces appeared to vary as a function of general face recognition ability, with participants poorer at remembering faces exhibiting a 300-500ms old/new effect not present for those good at remembering faces. The data also suggested that activity over right-frontal electrodes, evident in some previous studies, may be participant specific and could reflect additional retrieval support processes. Contrary to expectations, behavioural task performance was not found to significantly modulate the ‘typical’ recognition memory effects. However, a number of genetic polymorphisms were found to significantly influence both behavioural scores and the pattern of ERP activity associated with recognition memory. These results therefore suggest that inherent participant differences influence the neural correlates of recognition memory, in a way that variations in task performance do not. Overall, the results from this thesis therefore suggest that the ‘typical’ bilateral-frontal and left-parietal effects thought to index retrieval are not universal. Furthermore the results suggest that the specific processes engaged during retrieval (as indexed by variations in ERP activity) may be dependent on specific task requirements, stimulus material and the genetic makeup of the individual.

Figure-ground perception can be modeled as a competitive process with mutual inhibition between shape properties on opposite sides of an edge. This dissertation reports brain-based evidence that such competitive inhibition can be induced by access to preexisting object memory representations during figure assignment. Silhouette stimuli were used in which the balance of properties along an edge biased the inner, bounded, region to be seen as a novel figure. Experimental silhouettes (EXP) suggested familiar objects on their outside edges, which nonetheless appeared as shapeless grounds. Control silhouettes (CON) suggested novel shapes on the outside.In an initial task, human observers categorized masked EXP and CON silhouettes (175 ms exposure) as "novel" versus a third group of silhouettes depicting "familiar" objects on the inside. Signal detection measures verified that observers were unconscious of the familiar shapes within the EXP stimuli. Across three experiments, novel categorizations were highly accurate with shorter RTs for EXP than CON. Event-related potential (ERP) indices of observers' brain activity (Experiments 2 and 3) revealed a Late Potential (~300 ms) to be less positive for EXP than CON, a reduction in neural activity consistent with the presence of greater competitive inhibition for EXP stimuli. After controlling for stimulus confounds (Experiment 3), the P1 ERP (~100 ms) was larger for EXP than CON conditions, perhaps reflecting unconscious access to object memories.In a second task, observers were informed about familiar shapes suggested on the outsides of the EXP silhouettes before viewing masked (Experiments 1 and 2) or unmasked (Experiment 3) EXP and CON silhouettes to report whether they saw familiar shapes on the outside. Experiment 3 observers were more accurate to categorize CON vs. EXP stimuli as novel vs. familiar, with shorter RTs for EXP than CON. Task 2 N170 ERPs (~170 ms) were larger for EXP than CON in Experiments 2 and 3, reflecting the conscious perception of familiar shape in the outsides of EXP silhouettes. LP magnitudes were greater for CON than EXP, although ERP polarity was dependent on the presence/absence of a mask. Task 2 LPs may reflect competitive inhibition or longer processing times for CON stimuli.

Adults and young children have been found to distinguish between moral and social conventional acts, which are considered to entail distinct domains of reasoning (e.g., Turiel 1983). Recently, research has begun to examine the neural basis of moral judgments (e.g., Greene et al., 2001), but these studies did not examine the development of neurocognitive processing of judgments in these two domains. The present study focused on detection of cognitive conflict as a neurocognitive process that distinguished judgments of moral and conventional violations. The N2 component of the ERP was examined in order to determine whether the two types of violation are associated with different neurophysiological correlates and whether they change with development. In a series of five experiments, reaction times and ERPs were recorded from 12- to 14-year-old children and undergraduates who read scenarios that had one of three possible endings: (1) moral violations, (2) conventional violations, (3) no violation (neutral acts). Participants judged whether the act was acceptable or unacceptable when a rule was assumed or removed. Results indicate that reaction times were faster for moral than conventional violations when a rule was assumed for both undergraduates and children, as well as when a rule was removed for children but not for undergraduates. ERP data indicated that adults’, but not children’s, N2 amplitudes were larger (i.e., more negative) for conventional than iii moral violations when a rule was assumed. Furthermore, source analysis indicated generators for the N2 in dorsomedial and ventromedial prefrontal cortices. The results suggest that judgments of conventional violations involve increased conflict detection as compared to moral violations, and these two domains are processed differently across development. The findings were explained by the idea that judgments of conventional violations are more explicitly dependant on rules, whereas judgments of moral violations are based more directly on the intrinsic negative consequences of the act.

Adults and young children have been found to distinguish between moral and social conventional acts, which are considered to entail distinct domains of reasoning (e.g., Turiel 1983). Recently, research has begun to examine the neural basis of moral judgments (e.g., Greene et al., 2001), but these studies did not examine the development of neurocognitive processing of judgments in these two domains. The present study focused on detection of cognitive conflict as a neurocognitive process that distinguished judgments of moral and conventional violations. The N2 component of the ERP was examined in order to determine whether the two types of violation are associated with different neurophysiological correlates and whether they change with development. In a series of five experiments, reaction times and ERPs were recorded from 12- to 14-year-old children and undergraduates who read scenarios that had one of three possible endings: (1) moral violations, (2) conventional violations, (3) no violation (neutral acts). Participants judged whether the act was acceptable or unacceptable when a rule was assumed or removed. Results indicate that reaction times were faster for moral than conventional violations when a rule was assumed for both undergraduates and children, as well as when a rule was removed for children but not for undergraduates. ERP data indicated that adults’, but not children’s, N2 amplitudes were larger (i.e., more negative) for conventional than iii moral violations when a rule was assumed. Furthermore, source analysis indicated generators for the N2 in dorsomedial and ventromedial prefrontal cortices. The results suggest that judgments of conventional violations involve increased conflict detection as compared to moral violations, and these two domains are processed differently across development. The findings were explained by the idea that judgments of conventional violations are more explicitly dependant on rules, whereas judgments of moral violations are based more directly on the intrinsic negative consequences of the act.

Effective information and resource management are the most important factors driving businesses to success. In today's dynamic and turbulent global business environment, there is a strong need for organisations to be competitive under all circumstances. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) can be used as a strategic tool, helping companies to gain competitive edge by integrating all business processes and optimising available resources. While ERP systems are powerful packages, many companies are not fully satisfied with their systems, because ERP systems do not always fulfil all company’s business needs. This work is meant to promote ERP systems by presenting one of them – the MFG/PRO by QAD, discussing its common and unique properties, sharing particular working experience and proving that this ERP system can be perfectly adapted to suit the needs of all companies. New methods for adaptation of ERP system according to organizational needs have been developed. Methods incorporate database, application and user interface modifications. Implemented modifications caused a reasonable improvement in MFG/PRO’s capabilities.

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