M.Comm. (Computer Auditing) / It is undeniable that over the last couple of years information technology outsourcing has witnessed considerable success and growth in South Africa and the world at large. However, there have been a number of IT outsourcing failures as evidenced by the substantial number of organizations that outsourced their IT systems and then moved them back in-house, or outsourced to another service provider. This is proof that some of the practices inherent in IT outsourcing are flawed. In order to find out why IT outsourcing was failing in South Africa, the study investigated the current practices in IT outsourcing against the best practices. A comprehensive literature study on IT outsourcing best practices and an empirical study on outsourcing organizations employing the services of top IT outsourcing service providers in South Africa was done. The research study revealed strong evidence that organizations are experimenting with different types of IT outsourcing that consequently have different benefits and risks. The empirical findings also proved that there was no ‘one size fits all’ when it came to the reasons for justifying outsourcing IT by organizations. It was also clear that no organization would openly admit to having hidden agendas that informed why and how they outsourced their IT. The study also found strong evidence of critical success factors that are significant and are embraced by IT outsourcing organizations. Also revealed, there were control considerations in IT outsourcing that showed strong evidence of applicable risks and the governance mechanisms employed.

M.Comm. / In order to achieve and sustain a competitive advantage in the present global trade environment, companies need to find ways to distinguish themselves from their opposition. One way by which this advantage can be gained, is by exercising superior supply chain management. Shortening product life cycles and multiple possible suppliers per product make it even more important to provide excellent customer service. Once again, these events imply the need for superior supply chain management. The question of how to improve supply chain management now arises. The aim of this study is to determine whether the outsourcing of certain supply chain activities can lead to the desired result. A secondary aim is to give an overview on supply chain management, as knowledge on this topic is often lacking or poorly understood, while it is seen as highly important for the reasons stated above. A key step in the process of determining whether or not a company should make use of a third-party supply chain provider, is in determining the strategic objectives of the company. During this step the company needs to determine its key competencies, which in turn helps the company to establish its goals. Once the above process has taken place, a decision can be made on whether to consider the outsourcing of supply chain activities. Companies that are considering the outsource of their supply chain activities, are looking for benefits such as reduced costs and increased service, reduced capital investment, increased flexibility to fluctuating demand, and a focus on core competencies. There are however, possible disadvantages associated with the outsourcing decision. Examples include, negative effects on workforce morale, a fear for loss of control by some supply chain professionals, breaches of confidentiality, and a loss of customer contact.

No description available.

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

published_or_final_version / Business / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This thesis analyzed costs and benefits between the recruiting of active duty dentists and the proposed alternative of contracting them instead. Despite aggressive efforts to improve Dental Corps recruitment and retention, the annual loss rate has steadily increased. This has forced the Dental Corps into using alternative programs such as the Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP) and the Financial Assistance Program (FAP) in addition to the accession programs already being funded. Also, there are various recruiting costs along with the accession bonus that costs the Navy over $90,000 per dentist recruited. The scope of this thesis included, but was not be limited to: (1) a review of the current structure of pay for active duty Endodontists by referencing Additional Special Pay (ASP), Variable Special Pay (VSP), Dental Officer Multiyear Retention Bonus (DOMRB) and the Board Certification Pay (BCP) that dentists receive while serving on active duty (2) and a summary of private sector pay and incentives for dentists in private practice. The thesis also analyzed the differences between the two with a Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) model. The completed research found savings in cost for contracting already licensed and trained Endodontists in place of recruiting a general dentist and training them to become an Endodontist over the 10 year period as composed in the analysis. In addition, a steady-state model verified the CBA and showed savings in cost per year as well. Each model shows significant savings when contracting Endodontists in our shore based MTFs. Furthermore, to mitigate shortages, this research proposes to concentrate resources on military essential competencies and contracting workload for nonmilitary essential functions, such as Endodontists. Note that Endodontists were chosen because they are one of the larger nonessential specialties with billet inventories above the Operational Support Algorithm (OSA).

by Cheung Hong Keung Alfred. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 39-42). / ABSTRACT --- p.ii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iv / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.vii / Chapter / Chapter I. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Importance of Information Technology Purchasing --- p.1 / Information Technology Purchasing Life Cycle --- p.2 / Problems with Information Technology Purchasing --- p.3 / Scope of the Project --- p.5 / Methodologies --- p.6 / Chapter II. --- INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PURCHASING STRATEGIES --- p.7 / Characteristics of Information Technology Industry --- p.7 / Strategic Management of Supply Chain --- p.9 / Models of Decision-Making --- p.14 / Total Cost of Ownership --- p.18 / Chapter III. --- SURVEY OF PURCHASING PRACTICES --- p.20 / Purchasing Tools and Techniques --- p.20 / Commercial Purchasing Practices --- p.21 / Government Purchasing Practices --- p.24 / Analysis of Survey --- p.28 / Chapter IV. --- CASE STUDIES --- p.30 / Purpose of Case Studies --- p.30 / Case Studies Procedure --- p.30 / Findings and Discussions --- p.31 / Chapter V. --- CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS --- p.34 / Conclusions --- p.34 / Recommendations --- p.36 / APPENDIX --- p.37 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.39

Currently in our domestic airports, there are some issues worth of studying. The issues include: problems regarding firefighter human resource, dilemma that needs breakthrough and whether the reinventing government is suitable from the long-term perspective. This report tries to exam the issues: vacancy demand, background and related problems that may follows of yearly-increased 336 firefighters from 2004 to 2008.Based on the reinventing government, background of affair contracting out ,theory for frequently applied contracting out, this report is analyze and evaluate examinees of different backgrounds¡¦ perception difference on¡ufinancial expenditure¡v¡B¡upersonnel administration¡v¡B¡ulegal system¡vand ¡uprivate sector support¡vof the above-mentioned firefighter human resource¡¦s outsourcing. Furthermore, the report evaluates the current firefighter human resource¡¦s dilemma and obstacles of implementing outsourcing for policy reference. Main findings are¡G 1.After technician from other organizations have finished training, human resource aging problem of firefighter human resource replacing policy. 2.Employed human resource for vacancy is worth of adopting. 3.The current dilemmas are lake of legal support for implementing public servant¡¦s firefighter system, financial burden for adding firefighting technician and increasingly-worsen human resource aging problem. 4.Reasons for applying outsourcing is to decrease financial burden on personnel expenditure, provide legal basic and non-core affairs, and deregulate for private administration. 5.Obstacles of outsourcing are lack or immaturity of firefighting human resource in private sector, tough assignment for current personneland concerns of policy for personnel vacancy transfer. 6.Obstacles of contracting out are many.Currently, it is not appropriate to implement outsourcing for firefighter human resource. If the obstacles can be overcome contracting out can be expected in the long run. At last, this report provides suggestions on short-term breakthrough, middle-term plan and long-term endeavor.

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Thesis (doctoral)--European Business School, International University Schloss Reichartshausen, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. (SpringerLink, viewed Dec. 3, 2009). Includes bibliographical references.