Thesis (M.S.) -- Central Connecticut State University, 2007. / Title from electronic t.p. Special project advisor: Marianne D'Onofrio. Special project submitted for approval in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, Computer Information Technology. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (doctoral)--University of Oulu, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the World Wide Web.

O Processo Desenvolvimento de Produtos (PDP) é um processo de negócio cada vez mais influente nos resultados estratégicos das empresas que dele dependem. A gestão deste processo é uma atividade desafiadora e complexa em função das próprias características deste processo. A tarefa de perceber oportunidades de melhoria nesta atividade é intrigante, e isso incentivou vários pesquisadores a propor abordagens para tornar mais racional o esforço de sofisticação da gestão do PDP. Este trabalho tem por objetivo propor um método gerencial aplicável ao diagnóstico da maturidade da gestão do PDP e priorização de melhorias. Neste trabalho, a análise de maturidade é realizada a partir da freqüência de ocorrência de problemas típicos de PDP, e é seguida da priorização de oportunidades de melhoria. O diagnóstico da maturidade é realizado através do relacionamento entre dez áreas do conhecimento da gestão do PDP com problemas típicos do PDP. As áreas do conhecimento são provenientes dos estudos de melhores práticas publicados por: Product Development and Management Association (PDMA), Association of Productivity and Quality Center (APQC), guias de melhores práticas do PDMABoK e do PMBoK, além de modelos de referência. Com esse diagnóstico é possível reconhecer as áreas do conhecimento que mais se relacionam com os problemas, denominadas de áreas críticas. No que diz respeito à priorização, as áreas críticas são desdobradas em melhores práticas que se configuram em oportunidades de melhoria e, a partir de critérios, emprega-se uma matriz MAUT (Multiattribute Utility) para realizar a priorização das oportunidades. Os resultados são um índice de maturidade e a proposição de um portfólio de oportunidades de melhoria a serem realizados pela empresa para sofisticar a sua gestão do PDP. O método foi aplicado, na forma de estudo de caso em quatro empresas, para verificar a aplicação da macro-fase de coleta e análise da maturidade. Após, em uma destas empresas, foi aplicada a segunda macro-fase para verificar a geração do portfólio de oportunidades de melhoria. O resultado deste trabalho é a proposição de um método que analisa a maturidade da gestão do PDP vinculado à freqüência de ocorrência de problemas recorrentes no cotidiano da empresa, e auxilia a priorização das oportunidades de melhoria proporcionando uma adequação da estratégia de melhoria com o seu perfil competitivo. / The Product Development Process (PDP) management is of prime importance for manufacturing business results. The management of this process is a challenging and complex activity due to PDP characteristics that includes: people, tasks, and tools in an interdependent network. The aim in this dissertation is to propose a managerial method for the maturity level of PDP management analysis coupled with the prioritization of PDP opportunities identified. The background basis for maturity analysis, in this research, is the frequency of PDP typical problems incidence. The maturity analysis is accomplished through the relationship among ten knowledge areas of the PDP management with PDP typical problems. The ten knowledge areas is the consolidation of best practices published by: Product Development and Management Association (PDMA), Association of Productivity and Quality Center (APQC), best practices guides like PDMABoK and PMBoK, and as well, from PDP reference models. The developed method is divided in two macro phases (i) data gathering and maturity analysis; (ii) improvement portfolio development. The first macro phase is performed in three stages: typical problems frequency incidence identification; maturity level and development index analysis and improvement opportunities identification. The second macro phase is performed in three stages: prioritization criteria weight definition; managers’ prioritization matrix fulfill and PDP improvement portfolio definition. With the maturity level recognition is possible to identify the knowledge areas that are more associated with the high frequency problems, denominated critical areas. The critical areas consist in the best practices that will minimize the high frequency typical problems. These best practices are considered the PDP improvement opportunities. With reference to the improvement opportunities prioritization the MAUT (Multiattribute Utility) tool is used to support the managerial decision making process. The method was tested in four companies to verify the application of the maturity level diagnosis, the first macro phase. Afterwards, in one of these companies, the second macro phase was applied to verify the prioritization part and the results are a maturity index and an improvement opportunities portfolio to be accomplished by the company to increase its PDP management maturity level.

El texto completo de este trabajo no está disponible en el Repositorio Académico UPC por restricciones de la casa editorial donde ha sido publicado. / The microfinance sector has a strategic role since they facilitate integration and development of all social classes to sustained economic growth. In this way the actual point is the exponential growth of data, resulting from transactions and operations carried out with these companies on a daily basis, becomes imminent. Appropriate management of this data is therefore necessary because, otherwise, it will result in a competitive disadvantage due to the lack of valuable and quality information for decision-making and process improvement. The Master Data Management (MDM) give a new way in the Data management, reducing the gap between the business perspectives versus the technology perspective In this regard, it is important that the organization have the ability to implement a data management model for Master Data Management. This paper proposes a Master Data management maturity model for microfinance sector, which frames a series of formal requirements and criteria providing an objective diagnosis with the aim of improving processes until entities reach desired maturity levels. This model was implemented based on the information of Peruvian microfinance organizations. Finally, after validation of the proposed model, it was evidenced that it serves as a means for identifying the maturity level to help in the successful of initiative for Master Data management projects. / Revisión por pares

O Processo Desenvolvimento de Produtos (PDP) é um processo de negócio cada vez mais influente nos resultados estratégicos das empresas que dele dependem. A gestão deste processo é uma atividade desafiadora e complexa em função das próprias características deste processo. A tarefa de perceber oportunidades de melhoria nesta atividade é intrigante, e isso incentivou vários pesquisadores a propor abordagens para tornar mais racional o esforço de sofisticação da gestão do PDP. Este trabalho tem por objetivo propor um método gerencial aplicável ao diagnóstico da maturidade da gestão do PDP e priorização de melhorias. Neste trabalho, a análise de maturidade é realizada a partir da freqüência de ocorrência de problemas típicos de PDP, e é seguida da priorização de oportunidades de melhoria. O diagnóstico da maturidade é realizado através do relacionamento entre dez áreas do conhecimento da gestão do PDP com problemas típicos do PDP. As áreas do conhecimento são provenientes dos estudos de melhores práticas publicados por: Product Development and Management Association (PDMA), Association of Productivity and Quality Center (APQC), guias de melhores práticas do PDMABoK e do PMBoK, além de modelos de referência. Com esse diagnóstico é possível reconhecer as áreas do conhecimento que mais se relacionam com os problemas, denominadas de áreas críticas. No que diz respeito à priorização, as áreas críticas são desdobradas em melhores práticas que se configuram em oportunidades de melhoria e, a partir de critérios, emprega-se uma matriz MAUT (Multiattribute Utility) para realizar a priorização das oportunidades. Os resultados são um índice de maturidade e a proposição de um portfólio de oportunidades de melhoria a serem realizados pela empresa para sofisticar a sua gestão do PDP. O método foi aplicado, na forma de estudo de caso em quatro empresas, para verificar a aplicação da macro-fase de coleta e análise da maturidade. Após, em uma destas empresas, foi aplicada a segunda macro-fase para verificar a geração do portfólio de oportunidades de melhoria. O resultado deste trabalho é a proposição de um método que analisa a maturidade da gestão do PDP vinculado à freqüência de ocorrência de problemas recorrentes no cotidiano da empresa, e auxilia a priorização das oportunidades de melhoria proporcionando uma adequação da estratégia de melhoria com o seu perfil competitivo. / The Product Development Process (PDP) management is of prime importance for manufacturing business results. The management of this process is a challenging and complex activity due to PDP characteristics that includes: people, tasks, and tools in an interdependent network. The aim in this dissertation is to propose a managerial method for the maturity level of PDP management analysis coupled with the prioritization of PDP opportunities identified. The background basis for maturity analysis, in this research, is the frequency of PDP typical problems incidence. The maturity analysis is accomplished through the relationship among ten knowledge areas of the PDP management with PDP typical problems. The ten knowledge areas is the consolidation of best practices published by: Product Development and Management Association (PDMA), Association of Productivity and Quality Center (APQC), best practices guides like PDMABoK and PMBoK, and as well, from PDP reference models. The developed method is divided in two macro phases (i) data gathering and maturity analysis; (ii) improvement portfolio development. The first macro phase is performed in three stages: typical problems frequency incidence identification; maturity level and development index analysis and improvement opportunities identification. The second macro phase is performed in three stages: prioritization criteria weight definition; managers’ prioritization matrix fulfill and PDP improvement portfolio definition. With the maturity level recognition is possible to identify the knowledge areas that are more associated with the high frequency problems, denominated critical areas. The critical areas consist in the best practices that will minimize the high frequency typical problems. These best practices are considered the PDP improvement opportunities. With reference to the improvement opportunities prioritization the MAUT (Multiattribute Utility) tool is used to support the managerial decision making process. The method was tested in four companies to verify the application of the maturity level diagnosis, the first macro phase. Afterwards, in one of these companies, the second macro phase was applied to verify the prioritization part and the results are a maturity index and an improvement opportunities portfolio to be accomplished by the company to increase its PDP management maturity level.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-12T15:52:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 arquivo3101_1.pdf: 6739331 bytes, checksum: b2ce7e13223b4c79b74bfc1a7d45bf1c (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado da Bahia / Muitas organizações estão planejando investir ou já investiram dinheiro, tempo e recursos no reúso de software. Com esse investimento, essas organizações esperam melhorar a sua competitividade no mercado por meio da redução de custos e esforço, aumento da produtividade e melhoria da qualidade e da confiabilidade dos produtos de software desenvolvidos. Um problema comum é que as abordagens de reúso nas organizações são consideradas, normalmente, como um problema de adoção tecnológica (ambientes e ferramentas) e de processos, que focam nos aspectos técnicos do reúso. Neste cenário, processos de adoção de reúso - ou estratégias, modelos ou programas - têm se destacado na área como um facilitador para obter os benefícios associados ao reúso de software. No entanto, os processos existentes apresentam alguns problemas cruciais, como, por exemplo, serem fortemente relacionados a tecnologias específicas; demandarem um alto investimento inicial; além de não definirem de forma sistemática e suficientemente detalhada as atividades, papéis, entradas e as saídas de todo o processo. Assim, este trabalho propõe um modelo de referência de reuso de software para auxiliar nos processos de adoção e avaliação da capacidade de reúso nas organizações, baseado no estado da arte e da prática da área. Essa definição foi embasada por estudos detalhados sobre processos de adoção de reúso, modelos de referência de reúso e métodos de avaliação de capacidade em reutilização, envolvendo pesquisas informais, estudos empíricos e relatos de empresas. Com esta tese, pretende-se demonstrar que é possível estabelecer, para as empresas que desejam adotar reúso, um caminho mais seguro e com menores riscos e custos do que uma estratégia de reúso ad-hoc. Neste cenário, espera-se alcançar os seguintes objetivos: (i) aperfeiçoar o desempenho de alguns aspectos do desenvolvimento por meio de práticas de reúso (custo, qualidade, produtividade, competitividade da organização, entre outros); e (ii) redução dos riscos na adoção e/ou aperfeiçoamento de um programa de reúso, dando suporte a um processo incremental

This diploma thesis focuses on industry clusters and their relation to industry 4.0. The aim is to propose improvements of a selected cluster with prerequisites for transition to industry 4.0. For this purpose, a cluster maturity model will be developed in order to determine the current level of cluster readiness for industry 4.0 in predefined dimensions. This model will be based on an analysis of current maturity models and specific features and clusters´s restrictions. An analysis of the OMNIPACK cluster and the subsequent application of the maturity model to this cluster will be also part of the work. The benefit of this diploma thesis will be wider application of the defined maturity model in Czech cluster organizations.

The goal of this master's thesis "Project Management Evaluation in Selected Company" is to evaluate project management in the conditions of concrete Czech software company. The theoretical part is aimed at individual aspects of project management and activities connected to it. The practical part is aimed at information gained from questionnaire surveys and interviews with clients and company employees. These pieces of information are further analyzed using maturity model. Based on the gained results, the set of recommendations and suggestions are proposed to the director in order to improve the project management in the company. These concrete suggestions will become basis for future management decisions of the company.

Banking through insufficiently coordinated and non-integrated channels (Multi-Channel) is slowly being discarded. With Omni-Channel banking, where channels are integrated and data and information are shared across cross channels, customers are in control of the channels they wish to use. Factors influencing the organisational decision to transition from Multi-Channel to Omni-Channel hasn't been fully explored. Is this decision responding to internal factors like efficiency improvements, or is it driven by external factors like customer demands, trying to enhance customer experience, gaining competitive advantage over the competitors, expanding the business by introducing new business models, or trying to gain access to smart technologies for financial benefit? This dissertation presents research findings into the investigation of factors that influence the organisational decision to transition from Multi-Channel to Omni-Channel banking. A positivist case study with inductive reasoning was adopted. Qualitative data was collected from a single organisation through interviews together with observations of the strategy documents between January 2019 and April 2019. An initial conceptual model was derived from the literature review to guide data collection, after which thematic analysis was used to analyse the data and develop an emergent theory. The key findings from the research study are that a customer centric approach informs the decision to transition. The customer is at the centre of the omni-channel strategy: that is through an enhanced customer experience or timeously responding to customer demands. Other factors are either enabling this strategy, like technological innovations, and efficiency improvements or are the outcome of the strategy like customer satisfaction, revenue or cost optimisation, and competitive advantage. The key implications are that organisations must pay more attention to the customer journey and ensure that they advance in the Customer Experience Capability Maturity Model. Most successful business transitions to the Omni-Channel strategy require a transformation in organizational culture, operations and processes, and the underlying technologies.

Micro finance organizations play an important role since they facilitate integration of all social classes to sustained economic growth. Against this background, exponential growth of data, resulting from transactions and operations carried out with these companies on a daily basis, becomes imminent. Appropriate management of this data is therefore necessary because, otherwise, it will result in a competitive disadvantage due to the lack of valuable and quality information for decision-making and process improvement. Data Governance provides a different approach to data management, as seen from the perspective of business assets. In this regard, it is necessary that the organization have the ability to assess the extent to which that management is correct or is generating expected results. This paper proposes a data governance maturity model for micro finance organizations, which frames a series of formal requirements and criteria providing an objective diagnosis. This model was implemented based on the information of a Peruvian micro finance organization. Four domains, out of the seven listed in the model, were evaluated. Finally, after validation of the proposed model, it was evidenced that it serves as a means for identifying the gap between data management and objectives set.