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Cellular manufacturing is widely acknowledged as one of the key approaches to achieving world-class performance in batch manufacturing operations. The design of cellular manufacturing systems (CMS) is therefore crucial in determining a company's competitiveness. This thesis postulated that, in order to be effective the design of CMS should not only be systematic but also systemic. A systemic design uses the concepts of the body of work known as the 'systems approach' to ensure that a truly effective CMS is defined. The thesis examined the systems approach and created a systemic framework against which existing approaches to the design of CMS were evaluated. The most promising of these, Manufacturing Systems Engineering (MSE), was further investigated using a series of cross-sectional case-studies. Although, in practice, MSE proved to be less than systemic, it appeared to produce significant benefits. This seemed to suggest that CMS design did not need to be systemic to be effective. However, further longitudinal case-studies showed that the benefits claimed were at an operational level not at a business level and also that the performance of the whole system had not been evaluated. The deficiencies identified in the existing approaches to designing CMS were then addressed by the development of a novel CMS design methodology that fully utilised systems concepts. A key aspect of the methodology was the use of the Whole Business Simulator (WBS), a modelling and simulation tool that enabled the evaluation of CMS at operational and business levels. The most contentious aspects of the methodology were tested on a significant and complex case-study. The results of the exercise indicated that the systemic methodology was feasible.

The thesis reports of a study into the effect upon organisations of co-operative information systems (CIS) incorporating flexible communications, group support and group working technologies. A review of the literature leads to the development of a model of effect based upon co-operative business tasks. CIS have the potential to change how co-operative business tasks are carried out and their principal effect (or performance) may therefore be evaluated by determining to what extent they are being employed to perform these tasks. A significant feature of CIS use identified is the extent to which they may be designed to fulfil particular tasks, or by contrast, may be applied creatively by users in an emergent fashion to perform tasks. A research instrument is developed using a survey questionnaire to elicit users judgements of the extent to which a CIS is employed to fulfil a range of co-operative tasks. This research instrument is applied to a longitudinal study of Novell GroupWise introduction at Northamptonshire County Council during which qualitative as well as quantitative data were gathered. A method of analysis of questionnaire results using principles from fuzzy mathematics and artificial intelligence is developed and demonstrated. Conclusions from the longitudinal study include the importance of early experiences in setting patterns for use for CIS, the persistence of patterns of use over time and the dominance of designed usage of the technology over emergent use.

This thesis describes research on End-User Computing (EUC) in small business in an environment where no Information System (IS) support and expertise are available. The research aims to identify the factors that contribute to EUC Sophistication and understand the extent small firms are capable of developing their own applications. The intention is to assist small firms to adopt EUC, encourage better utilisation of their IT resources and gain the benefits associated with computerisation. The factors examined are derived inductively from previous studies where a model is developed to map these factors with the degree of sophistication associated with IT and EUC. This study attempts to combine the predictive power of quantitative research through surveys with the explanatory power of qualitative research through action-oriented case study. Following critical examination of the literature, a survey of IT Adoption and EUC was conducted. Instruments were then developed to measure EUC and IT Sophistication indexes based on sophistication constructs adapted from previous studies using data from the survey. This is followed by an in-depth action case study involving two small firms to investigate the EUC phenomenon in its real life context. The accumulated findings from these mixed research strategies are used to form the final model of EUC Sophistication in small business. Results of the study suggest both EUC Sophistication and the Presence of EUC in small business are affected by Management Support and Behaviour towards EUC. Additionally EUC Sophistication is also affected by the presence of an EUC Champion. Results are also consistent with respect to the independence between IT Sophistication and EUC Sophistication. The main research contributions include an accumulated knowledge of EUC in small business, the Model of EUC Sophistication, an instrument to measure EUC Sophistication Index for small firms, and a contribution to research methods in IS.

Workflow implementations require a deep understanding of business and human cooperation. Several approaches have been proposed to address this need for understanding, but largely in a descriptive way. Attempts to use them in software development have had mixed results. The work reported here proposes that these approaches can be used in a generative way, as part of the requirement engineering process, by (a) extending requirements engineering modelling techniques with underlying cooperation properties, (b) integrating these techniques through the use of a derivation modelling approach, and (c) providing pragmatic heuristics and guidelines that support the real-world requirements engineering practitioner to ensure a high probability of success for the business workflow system to be developed. This thesis develops and evaluates a derivation modelling approach that is based on scenario modelling. It supports clear and structured views of cooperation properties, and allows the derivation of articulation protocols from business workflow models in a scenario-driven manner. This enables requirements engineering to define how the expectations of the cooperative situation are to be fulfilled by the system to be built - a statement of requirements for business workflow systems that reflects the richness of these systems, but also acts as a feasible starting point for development. The work is evaluated through a real-world case study of business workflow management. The main contribution of this work is a demonstration that the above problems in modelling requirements for business workflow systems can be addressed by scenario-based derivation modelling approach. The method transforms models through a series of properties involving cooperation, which can be addressed by using what are effectively extensions of current requirements engineering methods.

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An increasing number of organisations are procuring off-the-shelf software products from commercial suppliers. However, there has been a lack of methods and software tools for such requirements acquisition, product selection and product procurement. This thesis proposes a new method called PORE (Procurement-Oriented Requirements Engineering) which integrates existing requirements engineering techniques with those from knowledge engineering, feature analysis, multi-criteria decision-making and argumentation approaches to address the lack of guidance for acquiring requirements to enable evaluation and selection of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software. PORE is designed in part from conclusions drawn from real-world case studies of requirements acquisition for complex software product selection. Such studies are reported in this thesis. The PORE method is part goal-driven and part context-driven, in that it exploits models of the candidate COTS software and customer requirements as well as process goals to guide a requirements engineering team. The method's approach and mechanisms is demonstrated using a well-known commercial electronic-mail system. A number of studies are presented to provide validation for the method. These include three studies in three different organisations to select COTS software products and one study of requirements engineering experts to elicit their knowledge. The results from these studies demonstrated that the method is usable and effective. The thesis concludes with a discussion of future work to improve the PORE method and future research directions on requirements engineering for COTS-based systems development.

This thesis studies the relationship between technology and industrial structure in the context of a growing market economy. Chapters 2 and 5 develop some general equilibrium models which permit a study of the relationship between quality competition, market structure and growth. Both market structure and the rate of growth are determined endogenously as functions of underlying parameters describing the pattern of technology and tastes, and the institutional environment. It is argued that quality competition constitutes an economic mechanism of primary importance, which provides essential incentives for innovation at the industry level, while also contributing to aggregate technological progress by way of R&D spillover effects. A related theme of the thesis is that constraints on quality competition are detrimental to growth. Chapter 3 presents a theoretical model which explains certain statistical regularities regarding cohort survival patterns, the persistence of firm turnover, and the appearance of shakeouts during an industry life cycle. By treating the market as comprising a number of strategically independent submarkets, this analysis separates the strategic interaction effects which occur at the submarket level, from the independence effects which operate across submarkets. Chapter 4 studies competition between two cohorts of radically different but substitutable technologies. By analyzing the entry of new-technology- based firms, the exit of incumbents and subsequent quality competition, this chapter explores the impact of a radical innovation on market structure and on the turnover of firms. Two critical levels of the parameter which measures the efficiency of the new technology are identified: the first must be attained for 'creative destruction' to take place, while the second must be attained for this 'creative destruction' process to take a 'drastic' form which involves the complete replacement of currently active firms by a wave of new entrants.

In the late 1990s, the internet was heralded as a global opportunity for new ventures. One aspect of this opportunity was the innovation of including small firms and consumers in seamless 'business webs.' The second aspect was the distance insensitivity and internationality of the internet. New ventures appeared in different countries responding to this seemingly global opportunity. In Germany, this response appeared especially strong against the background of years of slow development of the domestic information technology (IT) sector. This thesis examines the role of national government policy in a world being transformed by technology. 'Network thinkers,' following Schumpeter's concept of 'creative destruction,' believed the internet represented a global innovation opportunity. They emphasised the independence and self-governance of globally networked market players, arguing that the territorial basis of national government policy has eroded. The problematique guiding this research effort has emerged from this thinking. Can the concepts associated with network thinking account for the apparently strong entrepreneurial response to the internet in Germany. A detailed study of the development of internet ventures in Germany was carried out to examine this guiding question. The study was supported by quantitative data supplied through a 123-firm survey conducted in the Spring of 1998. This research revealed that the entrepreneurial response in Germany was much weaker than it appeared to contemporary observers. New ventures had to adopt a 'mixed-play' approach which placed them on a less innovative and less international, slower growth trajectory. Two key policy arenas were identified which constrained the development of German internet ventures: (I) The course of telecommunications liberalisation and (2) the initial lack of venture capital. Practitioners have long been aware of the importance of these two determinants for internet development. The main contribution of this thesis has been to add to the understanding of how these two factors have operated in a national environment conditioned by distinctive institutions.

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