Engineering asset management (EAM) organisations are increasingly motivated to implement business intelligence (BI) systems in response to dispersed information environments and regulatory requirements. However, the implementation of a BI system is a complex undertaking requiring considerable resources. To date, there has been only a limited authoritative set of critical success factors (CSFs) for management reference because the BI market is a relatively new area that has been driven mainly by IT industry and vendors. There is an imperative to explicitly focus on, and rigorously specify, the CSFs that impact on the implementation of BI systems. Consequently, this research seeks to bridge the gap that exists between academia and practitioners. It addresses the challenging problems in implementing BI systems by investigating the CSFs and their associated contextual issues with EAM organisations.

<p>IT outsourcing is a hot topic in today’s demanding environment. Many organizations start to outsource information technology in order to achieve benefits such as cost reduction, improve quality of service, and focus on the core competence. However, IT outsourcing projects are not an easy task to manage and many projects fail even though there exists a lot of research within the area. In order to increase the possibility to achieve project success, today’s literature indicates that trust is an important factor to achieve. This thesis aim is to identify and describe the process of how to achieve trust in IT outsourcing relationships. The methodology is a literature study as its purpose is to cover the aspects of trust and how the literature proposes how to achieve trust in IT outsourcing relationships.</p><p>Relevant literature has been identified, analyzed, and categorized in order to define the thesis concepts and to create a framework based on critical success factors of how to achieve trust in IT outsourcing relationships. The framework can be used as a guiding principle of how organizations can achieve trust in IT outsourcing relationships to increases the possibility to achieve project success. The framework can also raise the awareness that makes it possible to deal with different IT outsourcing situations.</p>

Background: Due to the rapid development of globalization, increased competition has led to significant market changes. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) has been a crucial part of gaining competitive advantage, but implementing an ERP system have shown to be complicated and expensive. Hence, understanding the critical success factors (CSF) when implementing an ERP system is vital as it can provide a successful implementation. Previous research has mainly focused on the general perspective, whereas the user perspective towards the CSFs has been lacking. This thesis complements the research by concentrating on the operational user and their perception towards the importance of each CSF as well as in which implementation phase each CSF is essential.  Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the CSFs of an ERP implementation from a user perspective and why these are important in different implementation phases.  Method: As this study adopted a qualitative approach, a multiple case study of three case companies was conducted with an inductive research approach. The empirical data have been gathered through semi-structured interviews. A theoretical framework has been used for the literature in this study. The empirical data was then analyzed and compared to the literature. By analyzing the data in a within-case analysis before combining the findings in a cross-case analysis, it enabled the possibility to compare and derive a conclusion covering all case companies.  Conclusion: The results of this thesis shows that users from the case companies believed that more users should be involved in the ERP implementation. Furthermore, two case companies believed each 13 CSFs to be critical in an ERP implementation, whereas one case company believed 12 CSFs to be important. Where the CSFs ‘minimum customization', ‘education and training,' ‘technical possibilities' and ‘performance measurement' were perceived to be essential in this study compared to previous research when users did not perceive these CSFs as important. Lastly, a first attempt at grouping the CSF with the phases of an ERP implementation was made. The findings from the cross-case analysis revealed that there is a shared perception across some of the companies of why the CSFs are essential concerning the specific phases.

A escolha da Tecnologia da Informação (TI) certa, e a cuidadosa implementação dos projetos de TI, podem significar o sucesso ou fracasso das organizações, no ambiente conturbado em que as mesmas estão inseridas atualmente. Este trabalho, de caráter exploratório, objetivou identificar os Fatores Críticos de Sucesso para a implementação de uma metodologia formal de projetos de sistemas, na Dimed S/A. Além disso, procurou identificar se os respondentes identificam valor estratégico nesta implementação – considerando as dificuldades existentes em obter retornos satisfatórios com a TI – e também os motivos que levaram a organização a adotar esta metodologia. A análise realizada teve uma parte quantitativa – através de pesquisa survey – e outra parte qualitativa – identificação de categorias através de Análise de Conteúdo. Os Fatores Críticos de Sucesso identificados, em ordem de importância foram o apoio da alta administração (que considera em função de prazos, recursos e urgência se a utilização do método formal está adequado e também tem papel fundamental nas mudanças organizacionais), possibilitar mudanças nos processos de negócio (já que as mesmas são constantes e muito rápidas), gerente de projeto com habilidades necessárias (deve aliar conhecimento a capacidades como liderança, boa comunicação e bom relacionamento), usuários capazes e envolvidos (pois os mesmos conhecem o negócio, e são os principais afetados pelas mudanças nos processos). Além destes fatores destacados, são importantes o planejamento detalhado do projeto e ter missões claras e definidas. O valor estratégico da implementação da metodologia está ligado principalmente ao prazo dos projetos e qualidade dos produtos, à economia direta e à estratégia de negócio, devido à possibilidade de filtrar projetos com pobre relação de custo-benefício, prever melhor os prazos, e diminuir o retrabalho. Os motivos que levaram à adoção da metodologia foram a necessidade de reduzir a ineficiência da área de TI e os altos custos relacionados ao desenvolvimento de software. Finalmente, alguns destes elementos foram ilustrados na análise de um caso prático. / The choice of the right Information Technology (IT), and the careful implementation of IT projects, might lead to the success or failure of organizations, taking in account the instability that surrounds the organizational environment. This work, of exploratory nature, aims to identify Critical Success Factors for the implementation of a formal methodology for system projects, in Dimed S/A. It aims also at identifying if respondents at Dimed find strategic value in this implementation – considering the difficulties of obtaining return in IT investments – and the motives that led to the adoption of the methodology. The analisys carried out had a quantitative approach – a survey research – and a qualitative approach – categorization and Content Analisys. The Critical Success Factors identified, in order of importance, where high administration support (which considers if resources and urgency are adequate to the use of the formal method and has a fundamental role in organizational change), enabling changes in business processes (these changes seem to be constant and fast), properly skilled project manager (besides knowledge, this person must have adequate communication, leadership and relational skills), capable and involved users (users know the business rules, and the changes affect them). In addition to these factors, the detailed project planning and clearly defined missions are also important. The strategic value of the implementation is mainly related to the schedule and quality of projects, cost reduction and business strategy, through filtering projects with poor cost-benefit relation, better prediction of project schedules and decrease of rework. The motives that led to the adoption of the methodology where the need to reduce IT inefficiency and the high costs related to the processes of systems development. Finally, some of these elements were illustrated in the analisys of a practical case.

The medical technology sector in Germany is considered an innovative, fast-growing and promising industry, being third behind the USA and Japan as the biggest market in the world, worth 17.1 billion euros. Consequently, supply chain success is of high importance. This research identified the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) for Original Equipment Manufacturers that are involved within medical technology supply chains in Germany. This thesis begins with a full literature review on Supply Chain Management (SCM) in the medical technology sector and presents the current state of academic discussion on CSFs in this context. The literary analysis identified that most academic research focuses on developing theory based on supply chains of the manufacturing sector with the consumer market as their primary concern, with limited insights into Medical Technology Supply Chains (MTSCs). This was a main driver for the exploration of the drivers and barriers extant in this sector. Two studies were designed to address the identified research gaps. The first study was a qualitative research using multiple case studies and was divided in two phases. Phase A involved 15 German manufacturers of medical technology products and focused on identifying the CSFs in this sector. Phase B involved 14 German manufacturers and uncovered issues and weaknesses of their current SCM strategies by means of an assessment tool developed specially for this study. The second study consisted of an action research project, using interviews and participative workshops to develop an understanding on how organisations in this sector can improve operations using the CSFs concept while offering insights into the actual implementation of SCM strategies and the behavioural aspects of change management in this context. The findings extend theory and provide insights into real-world practitioner challenges and priorities. The outcomes of this study propose that the prioritised combination of the identified CSFs leads to better performance of OEMs in the German MTSC sector, which shifts our understanding of how practitioners prioritise CSFs. Furthermore, this thesis addresses the qualitative knowledge gap around the relational aspects of implementing SCM practices within this sector, while exploring relationships between stakeholders during the process of introducing these changes. These findings challenge existing generic assumptions about supply chain CSFs, as well as adding to SCM, CSF, and medical technology research and knowledge.

Background: Higher global competition and more demanding customers force manufacturing companies to develop and adopt new collaborative strategies; the collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment concept allows stronger supply chain cooperation, cost saving, improved efficiency and performance. Purpose: Exploratory, to study the criticality of factors that can affect the feasibility of a potential a CPFR implementation in Sweden, from the perspective of a manufacturer in a pre-CPFR implementation stage.Method: Qualitative research, using a multiple case method of two manufacturing firms operating in Sweden. Using content analysis, it revolves around studying factor criticality, all the while showing differences and commonalities in terms capabilities, and future feasibility of CPFR between the two case studies. Findings: High degree of interconnectivity between the factors; the critical success factors for Sweden are relationship and trust, goal alignment, KPI’s and costs, with very important factors such as cross-functional communication, top management support, and lower impacting factors such as IT infrastructure and change management. Relationship and trust, cross-functional communication and change management are developed factors that the Swedish manufacturing firms possess. Implications: The study’s contributions are related to the criticality of factors that can affect CPFR implementations in Sweden’s manufacturing sector, showing the importance of each, contributing academically in attempting to fill in the gap related to CPFR in Sweden, and practically by allowing better strategic decision-making in relation to future implementations. This is even more relevant due to a thorough lack of research in this area.

A escolha da Tecnologia da Informação (TI) certa, e a cuidadosa implementação dos projetos de TI, podem significar o sucesso ou fracasso das organizações, no ambiente conturbado em que as mesmas estão inseridas atualmente. Este trabalho, de caráter exploratório, objetivou identificar os Fatores Críticos de Sucesso para a implementação de uma metodologia formal de projetos de sistemas, na Dimed S/A. Além disso, procurou identificar se os respondentes identificam valor estratégico nesta implementação – considerando as dificuldades existentes em obter retornos satisfatórios com a TI – e também os motivos que levaram a organização a adotar esta metodologia. A análise realizada teve uma parte quantitativa – através de pesquisa survey – e outra parte qualitativa – identificação de categorias através de Análise de Conteúdo. Os Fatores Críticos de Sucesso identificados, em ordem de importância foram o apoio da alta administração (que considera em função de prazos, recursos e urgência se a utilização do método formal está adequado e também tem papel fundamental nas mudanças organizacionais), possibilitar mudanças nos processos de negócio (já que as mesmas são constantes e muito rápidas), gerente de projeto com habilidades necessárias (deve aliar conhecimento a capacidades como liderança, boa comunicação e bom relacionamento), usuários capazes e envolvidos (pois os mesmos conhecem o negócio, e são os principais afetados pelas mudanças nos processos). Além destes fatores destacados, são importantes o planejamento detalhado do projeto e ter missões claras e definidas. O valor estratégico da implementação da metodologia está ligado principalmente ao prazo dos projetos e qualidade dos produtos, à economia direta e à estratégia de negócio, devido à possibilidade de filtrar projetos com pobre relação de custo-benefício, prever melhor os prazos, e diminuir o retrabalho. Os motivos que levaram à adoção da metodologia foram a necessidade de reduzir a ineficiência da área de TI e os altos custos relacionados ao desenvolvimento de software. Finalmente, alguns destes elementos foram ilustrados na análise de um caso prático. / The choice of the right Information Technology (IT), and the careful implementation of IT projects, might lead to the success or failure of organizations, taking in account the instability that surrounds the organizational environment. This work, of exploratory nature, aims to identify Critical Success Factors for the implementation of a formal methodology for system projects, in Dimed S/A. It aims also at identifying if respondents at Dimed find strategic value in this implementation – considering the difficulties of obtaining return in IT investments – and the motives that led to the adoption of the methodology. The analisys carried out had a quantitative approach – a survey research – and a qualitative approach – categorization and Content Analisys. The Critical Success Factors identified, in order of importance, where high administration support (which considers if resources and urgency are adequate to the use of the formal method and has a fundamental role in organizational change), enabling changes in business processes (these changes seem to be constant and fast), properly skilled project manager (besides knowledge, this person must have adequate communication, leadership and relational skills), capable and involved users (users know the business rules, and the changes affect them). In addition to these factors, the detailed project planning and clearly defined missions are also important. The strategic value of the implementation is mainly related to the schedule and quality of projects, cost reduction and business strategy, through filtering projects with poor cost-benefit relation, better prediction of project schedules and decrease of rework. The motives that led to the adoption of the methodology where the need to reduce IT inefficiency and the high costs related to the processes of systems development. Finally, some of these elements were illustrated in the analisys of a practical case.

Agente facilitador da inovação na produção de objetos manufaturados, o design faz parte do discurso de empresas ao redor do mundo. Sua relação com produtos é estreita e cada vez mais necessária nos processos de transformação de conceitos e, sobretudo, experiências de consumo. Por suas múltiplas possibilidades, o design também está habilitado a propor mudanças no artefato que protege, envolve e divulga produtos por todo o globo – as embalagens de consumo. Visto sob o ponto de vista do negócio, o design, porém, amplia seu espectro de atuação, determinado, então, por uma Gestão de Design. Considera-se assim que fatores críticos de sucesso (FCS) da Gestão de Design podem orientar a inovação em embalagens, permitindo também alterações no produto como um todo. Como objetivo geral, estabeleceu-se analisar estes FCS da Gestão de Design para inovação em embalagens, considerando a presença de tais fatores na realidade empresarial e o seu papel na competitividade de produtos de consumo. A fim de alcançar o objetivo geral, foram propostos objetivos específicos, correspondentes aos três artigos que compõem esta dissertação. O primeiro artigo teve como objetivo realizar uma revisão sistemática da literatura, a fim de identificar, genericamente, possíveis FCS a serem gerenciados pelo design para inovação em produtos industrializados. O segundo artigo propôs-se a evidenciar FCS da Gestão de Design para inovação em embalagens de produtos de consumo, através da retomada dos resultados do primeiro artigo e consulta a experts da área. O terceiro artigo, por sua vez, foi elaborado para avaliar o nível de Gestão de Design em empresas e seus FCS para a inovação em embalagens de produtos de consumo rápido. No que se refere aos objetivos, a pesquisa caracterizou-se como exploratória, de natureza aplicada, com abordagem qualitativa do problema devido à necessidade identificada de maior aprofundamento sistematizado sobre o que é de fato crítico em Gestão de Design para que se possa inovar em embalagens de consumo. Os principais resultados mostraram na literatura a valorização do design incorporado ao negócio, extensivo a inovação em produtos, mas ainda pouco evidenciado de modo sistemático em relação a embalagens. Parcerias estratégicas, o gerenciamento de competências de design, a definição de métricas e indicadores e a inovação em conceitos e tecnologia associadas às demandas de mercado foram os FCS encontrados para a Gestão de Design. Considerando estes FCS, os especialistas consultados reforçaram a importância de se planejar o desenvolvimento de produtos e embalagens conjuntamente. Nos estudos de caso, isso se revelou essencial às empresas que lidam com produtos de consumo rápido, diferenciáveis através das embalagens. Os conceitos teóricos de uma Gestão de Design holística, porém, não puderam ser identificados integralmente nas empresas analisadas, nas quais foi percebido uma valorização da Gestão de Design em nível de projeto, mas não em nível corporativo. / As a facilitating agent of innovation in the production of manufactured objects, the design is part of the companies’ discourse around the world. Its relationship with products is narrow and increasingly necessary in the transformation processes of concepts and especially consumer experiences. For its multiple possibilities, the design is also entitled to propose changes in the artifact that protects, promotes and engages products across the globe – the consumer packaging. Viewed from the standpoint of business, the design, however, extends its spectrum of activity, determined then by Design Management. It is therefore considered that the critical success factors (CSF) of Design Management can drive innovation in packaging, allowing changes in the product as a whole. As an overall objective, it was settled to analyze these CSF Management Design for innovation in packaging, considering the presence of such factors on the business reality and their role in the competitiveness of consumer products. In order to achieve the main objective, specific objectives were also proposed, corresponding to the three papers that comprise this dissertation. The first paper aimed to conduct a systematic review of the literature in order to identify, generically, possible CFS to be managed by design for innovation in industrial products. The second one proposed to highlight the CSF of Design Management for innovation in packaging of consumer products through the resumption of the main findings of the first paper and the consultation of experts in the field. The third paper, in its turn, was created to assess the level of Design Management in companies and their CSF for innovation in packaging of fast moving consumer goods. Regarding to the objectives, the research was characterized as exploratory with an applied nature and a qualitative approach to the problem, due to the identified need for a depth understanding of what is actually critical in Design Management in order to make the innovation possible in consumer packaging. The main results showed the appreciation of literature concerning to design incorporated to business and product innovation, but hardly systematized on packaging innovation. The establishment of strategic partnerships, the management of design skills, the definition of metrics and indicators, and the innovation related to technology, market demands and new concepts were found as the most important CSF for Design Management. Considering such CSF, the experts consulted reinforced the importance of planning the development of products and packages together. It was proved to be essential to companies dealing with fast moving consumer goods, differentiable through their packaging. The theoretical concepts of a holistic Design Management, however, could not be fully identified in the companies assessed, where it was identified an appreciation of the design management applied to a project level but not in a corporate level.

Agente facilitador da inovação na produção de objetos manufaturados, o design faz parte do discurso de empresas ao redor do mundo. Sua relação com produtos é estreita e cada vez mais necessária nos processos de transformação de conceitos e, sobretudo, experiências de consumo. Por suas múltiplas possibilidades, o design também está habilitado a propor mudanças no artefato que protege, envolve e divulga produtos por todo o globo – as embalagens de consumo. Visto sob o ponto de vista do negócio, o design, porém, amplia seu espectro de atuação, determinado, então, por uma Gestão de Design. Considera-se assim que fatores críticos de sucesso (FCS) da Gestão de Design podem orientar a inovação em embalagens, permitindo também alterações no produto como um todo. Como objetivo geral, estabeleceu-se analisar estes FCS da Gestão de Design para inovação em embalagens, considerando a presença de tais fatores na realidade empresarial e o seu papel na competitividade de produtos de consumo. A fim de alcançar o objetivo geral, foram propostos objetivos específicos, correspondentes aos três artigos que compõem esta dissertação. O primeiro artigo teve como objetivo realizar uma revisão sistemática da literatura, a fim de identificar, genericamente, possíveis FCS a serem gerenciados pelo design para inovação em produtos industrializados. O segundo artigo propôs-se a evidenciar FCS da Gestão de Design para inovação em embalagens de produtos de consumo, através da retomada dos resultados do primeiro artigo e consulta a experts da área. O terceiro artigo, por sua vez, foi elaborado para avaliar o nível de Gestão de Design em empresas e seus FCS para a inovação em embalagens de produtos de consumo rápido. No que se refere aos objetivos, a pesquisa caracterizou-se como exploratória, de natureza aplicada, com abordagem qualitativa do problema devido à necessidade identificada de maior aprofundamento sistematizado sobre o que é de fato crítico em Gestão de Design para que se possa inovar em embalagens de consumo. Os principais resultados mostraram na literatura a valorização do design incorporado ao negócio, extensivo a inovação em produtos, mas ainda pouco evidenciado de modo sistemático em relação a embalagens. Parcerias estratégicas, o gerenciamento de competências de design, a definição de métricas e indicadores e a inovação em conceitos e tecnologia associadas às demandas de mercado foram os FCS encontrados para a Gestão de Design. Considerando estes FCS, os especialistas consultados reforçaram a importância de se planejar o desenvolvimento de produtos e embalagens conjuntamente. Nos estudos de caso, isso se revelou essencial às empresas que lidam com produtos de consumo rápido, diferenciáveis através das embalagens. Os conceitos teóricos de uma Gestão de Design holística, porém, não puderam ser identificados integralmente nas empresas analisadas, nas quais foi percebido uma valorização da Gestão de Design em nível de projeto, mas não em nível corporativo. / As a facilitating agent of innovation in the production of manufactured objects, the design is part of the companies’ discourse around the world. Its relationship with products is narrow and increasingly necessary in the transformation processes of concepts and especially consumer experiences. For its multiple possibilities, the design is also entitled to propose changes in the artifact that protects, promotes and engages products across the globe – the consumer packaging. Viewed from the standpoint of business, the design, however, extends its spectrum of activity, determined then by Design Management. It is therefore considered that the critical success factors (CSF) of Design Management can drive innovation in packaging, allowing changes in the product as a whole. As an overall objective, it was settled to analyze these CSF Management Design for innovation in packaging, considering the presence of such factors on the business reality and their role in the competitiveness of consumer products. In order to achieve the main objective, specific objectives were also proposed, corresponding to the three papers that comprise this dissertation. The first paper aimed to conduct a systematic review of the literature in order to identify, generically, possible CFS to be managed by design for innovation in industrial products. The second one proposed to highlight the CSF of Design Management for innovation in packaging of consumer products through the resumption of the main findings of the first paper and the consultation of experts in the field. The third paper, in its turn, was created to assess the level of Design Management in companies and their CSF for innovation in packaging of fast moving consumer goods. Regarding to the objectives, the research was characterized as exploratory with an applied nature and a qualitative approach to the problem, due to the identified need for a depth understanding of what is actually critical in Design Management in order to make the innovation possible in consumer packaging. The main results showed the appreciation of literature concerning to design incorporated to business and product innovation, but hardly systematized on packaging innovation. The establishment of strategic partnerships, the management of design skills, the definition of metrics and indicators, and the innovation related to technology, market demands and new concepts were found as the most important CSF for Design Management. Considering such CSF, the experts consulted reinforced the importance of planning the development of products and packages together. It was proved to be essential to companies dealing with fast moving consumer goods, differentiable through their packaging. The theoretical concepts of a holistic Design Management, however, could not be fully identified in the companies assessed, where it was identified an appreciation of the design management applied to a project level but not in a corporate level.

Context. With the popularity of Agile methods, many studies about Agile software development has been done by researchers. Among the phases in Agile software projects, planning is critical because it provides an overview of the project and a guiding of future work. In addition, success factors are also mandatory to the success of Agile software development. The current literature focus on the success factors during the whole lifecycle rather than planning phase, and they don’t make an in-depth analysis on the factors. In this thesis, we perform an empirical study to deeply study the critical success factors at agile planning phase. Objectives. The main aim of our research is to identify the critical success factors at Agile planning phase and challenges associated with each factor. We list four objectives to support our main aim. First is to investigate the factors that are mandatory to the success of Agile software development at planning phase. Second is to investigate the challenges associated with each factor. Third is to find out the ways to address these challenges. The last is to identify the consequence of not ensuring these factors. Methods. We employed two research methods: systematic mapping and survey. Systematic mapping is used to identify the critical success factors of entire lifecycle in current literature. To find critical success factors at agile planning phase and make in-depth analysis, we conducted a survey based on an online questionnaire. The online questionnaire was consisted of open-ended questions and was sent to respondents who have experience on Agile development. Results. Through systematic mapping, we identified 13 papers and 47 critical success factors for Agile software development. We also made a frequency analysis for these factors and they will be the effective evidence to support the results of survey. Through the survey, we identified 13 critical success factors at agile planning and made an in-depth analysis for these 13 factors. These 13 factors are divided into two categories: people factor (individual-level, team-level) and process factor. Through the contrastive analysis of mapping results and survey results, we found that 7 factors of survey results are same or similar with some factors shown in mapping. The other 6 factors of survey are first shown. Conclusions. The factors proposed in this thesis are proved that they are important to the success of the project at planning phase. Failure to consider these critical success factors may lead to inefficient planning and even result in the failure ofthe whole project. The challenges and corresponding solutions can help organizations well manage these critical success factors. In conclusion, these detailed descriptions of critical success factors can be used as a guideline to help people increase the chance of successfully developing software with high quality and low cost in practice.