Yes / The integration of products and services into a bundled product/service offering by manufacturing organisations is seen as a global trend in today’s competitive business environment. The shift of product-based manufacturers towards offering business solutions and value-added services to consumers is termed as ‘Servitization’. Contrary to the potential benefits expected by adding service activities to the offerings, advocates voice their concerns towards experiential problems and challenges in employing the servitization strategy – termed as ‘Servitization Paradox’. Nevertheless, the shift from product-based delivery to a service-based provision has the potential to significantly impact on developing sustainable and eco-friendly environment. To provide greater insights to the servitization phenomenon, this paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the servitization implementation in manufacturing organisations. In order to respond to the latter, we propose the following three research questions “Q1 – what are the different types of servitization strategies”, “Q2 – what are the different servitization definitions”, “Q3 – what are the potential benefits in selecting a servitization strategy?”, “Q4 – what are the challenges in transitioning towards servitization?”. A systematic literature review is carried out to understand the past trends and extant patterns/themes in the servitization strategy research area, evaluate contributions, summarise knowledge, thereby identifying limitations, implications and potential further research avenues. The key findings confirm servitization studies have contributed both conceptually and empirically to the development and accumulation of intellectual wealth to the manufacturing operations and supply chain discipline. Moreover, the findings clearly indicate the potential of servitization in transitioning manufacturing organisations (e.g. benefits) and utilising innovative technologies to generate business value. Nevertheless, some voices are backing further research/development in the area of servitization due to the several existing challenges.

Abstract In today’s business world, the delivery of superior information technology services has become an important deliverable for successful organisations. This study focuses on the end user perception of information technology service quality in manufacturing organisations. The study focuses on one manufacturing organisation, namely Nissan South Africa, a supplier of quality vehicles to South African customers. The main research problem describes the necessity of having a tool in place that can measure users’ perception of information technology service quality. The two subproblems describe the change of perception regarding information technology service quality when measured from a functional area or designation level perspective. The functional area represents the various departments within an organisation and the designation level, the hierarchical position of the employee within an organisation. A broad literature review is conducted and a theoretical foundation is developed and relevant service quality models are reviewed and adjusted in order to construct a model to measure information technology from a service quality perspective. The information has been collected by means of a questionnaire, which was distributed to approximately 1200 users. i i The overall perception of the information technology service quality, as experienced by the Nissan user base, is rated as above average customer satisfaction. No significant differences are identified between the demographic levels and the dimensions of the service quality model. Even though the model used in this study provides a good indication of the information technology service quality, it needs to be refined on a continuous basis in order to ensure that it is aligned with the dynamic nature of information technology.

Abstract In today’s business world, the delivery of superior information technology services has become an important deliverable for successful organisations. This study focuses on the end user perception of information technology service quality in manufacturing organisations. The study focuses on one manufacturing organisation, namely Nissan South Africa, a supplier of quality vehicles to South African customers. The main research problem describes the necessity of having a tool in place that can measure users’ perception of information technology service quality. The two subproblems describe the change of perception regarding information technology service quality when measured from a functional area or designation level perspective. The functional area represents the various departments within an organisation and the designation level, the hierarchical position of the employee within an organisation. A broad literature review is conducted and a theoretical foundation is developed and relevant service quality models are reviewed and adjusted in order to construct a model to measure information technology from a service quality perspective. The information has been collected by means of a questionnaire, which was distributed to approximately 1200 users. i i The overall perception of the information technology service quality, as experienced by the Nissan user base, is rated as above average customer satisfaction. No significant differences are identified between the demographic levels and the dimensions of the service quality model. Even though the model used in this study provides a good indication of the information technology service quality, it needs to be refined on a continuous basis in order to ensure that it is aligned with the dynamic nature of information technology.

Due to the multifaceted nature of manufacturing performance measurement and measures, the nature and scope of the information flow between those who lead manufacturing organisations and those who evaluate the performance of these organisations are very critical. The objective of this study is to shed some light on the information flow between these two groups. To achieve this objective, data collected from a sample of Portuguese financial analysts and Portuguese manufacturing executives was analysed using multiple regression analysis, cluster analyses and gap analysis. Based on the results of this study, three levels of information availability in relation to organisational performance measures are identified. A framework designed to view these three informational levels in relation to the willingness of management to share performance information with concerned outsiders is proposed.

Over the past few years there has been growing interest in the study of leadership styles and organisational culture. Internal issues and external environment challenge the leadership of manufacturing organisations, Scarborough(2001). The focus of the research was to gain insight into the transformational leadership of manufacturing organisations. Although leadership scholars have generated a significant stream of research on transformational leadership, there has been a lack of attention to the specific features in the context of transformational leadership such as contingency theories, attribution theory, and organisational culture. The study investigates the effects of transformational leadership on situational determinants and organisational culture in manufacturing organisations in Pakistan. Podsakoff et al, (1990) a 23-item measure of transformational leadership inventory questionnaire was employed to evaluate transformational leadership in manufacturing organisations. The objectives of this research study are: Firstly to study transformational leadership in Pakistani manufacturing organisations. Secondly to study transformational leaders' behaviour in manufacturing organisations with respect to situational determinants, i.e., situation strength, attribution theory, feedback, and organisational culture. Thirdly to develop hypotheses concerning the relationship between transformational leadership, and situational determinants and to develop a model of relationship between transformational leadership, situational determinants and organisational culture. Lastly, to suggest further research guidelines for transformational leadership phenomena and leadership in Pakistani manufacturing organisations. Results from the research show that transformational leaders tend to create weak situations for their followers in manufacturing organisations; they favour discretion to their followers and delegate decision-making to followers. Transformational leaders also tend to make external attributions for the causes of poor performance in their organisations, and assume follower's mistake as a learning experience. They try to establish close contact with their followers and seek feedback directly from followers. Transformational leaders favour clan type culture more in their manufacturing organisations; however adhocracy culture is not completely ignored. A new leadership alignment model incorporating various concepts focusing on leadership style, organisational leadership, and situational strength has been introduccd. Results from the data analysis indicate that there is a need to train more leaders in Pakistani manufacturing organisations to benefit from the transformational leadership style, as it has beene stablished that transformational leadershipis an influential form of leadership clearly associated with high levels of individual and organisational performance(, Shamir & Kark, 2002). As pointed out by Bass, (2002) leaders will be prized for their innovativeness, responsiveness, and flexibility, all linked to their frequency of transformational leadership behaviour.

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The objective of this study is to investigate the approaches utilised by external decision-makers in their evaluation of the different facets of performance of manufacturing organisations, operating as open systems. In process, important linkages which exist among relevant performance parameters are explored. The types and frequencies of performance measures used by the sampled Portuguese financial analysts are compared using factor analysis and multiple regression analysis. Results tend to underscore the significance of the collective performance of all subsystems of the manufacturing system. Based on the findings of this research, implications focusing on the management of organisational performance systems are identified.

Yes / While few recent studies have paid attention to the relationship between organizational culture (OC) and individual readiness for change (IRFC), there is still a lack of systematic and empirical studies regarding the influence of all OC types on the IRFC components within the change management literature. This study aims to fill this gap in the literature by empirically examining the influence of all four organizational culture types of the competing values framework (CVF) on the components of IRFC regarding TQM implementation, within the context of manufacturing organizations operating in Syria. A total of four hypotheses were proposed for testing. A questionnaire was developed and distributed to 350 Syrian manufacturing organizations (SMOs) in order to measure the level of IRFC and to identify the cultural profiles and characteristics of these organizations. The analysis of the data collected shows that certain types of organizational culture are conducive to fostering IRFC. In particular, the findings of an empirical investigation revealed that group culture and adhocracy culture are the most supportive culture types for IRFC. This paper contributes to the existing literature of change management by providing empirical evidence leading to advancement of knowledge and the understanding of the relationship between OC types and IRFC components. Furthermore, the paper adds value via its contextual originality; being the first study that empirically examined the Syrian cultural context, and hence contributing to the scarce body of literature of both OC and IRFC, and in particular the developing countries.

Yes / This paper seeks to explore the behavior and embodied energy involved in the decision-making of information technology/information systems (IT/IS) investments using a case within a small- to medium-sized manufacturing firm. By analyzing decision making within a given case context, this paper describes the nature of the investment through the lens of behavioral economics, causality, input-output (IO) equilibrium, and the general notion of depletion of executive energy function. To explore the interplay between these elements, the authors structure the case context via a morphological field in order to construct a fuzzy cognitive map of decision-making relationships relating to the multidimensional and nonquantifiable problems of IT/IS investment evaluation. Noting the significance of inputs and outputs relating to the investment decision within the case, the authors assess these cognitive interrelationships through the lens of the Leontief IO energy equilibrium model. Subsequently, the authors suggest, through an embodied energy audit, that all such management decisions are susceptible to decision fatigue (so-called “ego depletion”). The findings of this paper highlight pertinent cognitive and IO paths of the investment decision-making process that will allow others making similar types of investments to learn from and draw parallels from such processes.

Magister Commercii - MCom / This study aimed to assess employee’s responses with regard to the implementation of a new workplace improvement programme. The purpose of this research was to focus on the understanding that could be gained about employee’s responses to organisational change using qualitative research