Thesis (M.S. in Information Technology Management)--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2003. / Thesis advisor(s): Thomas Housel, Glenn Cook. Includes bibliographical references (p. 87-90). Also available online.

published_or_final_version / Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering / Master / Master of Philosophy

During the last century business strategy has been the focus point for many corporations. Industry has grown exponentially and competition has evolved from traditional to nonconventional boundaries. In this age of high technological advances, globalisation and boarder-less markets, the 5 Forces acting on firms within an industry as best explained by Michael Porter, can threaten the livelihood and survival of a business unless they are carefully managed and pre-empted actions are taken. The subject on the what-to-do part of the strategy has been exhausted by many writers, strategists and business consultants. What organisations have realised over the years is that not only is it important to choose a winning strategy, but the manner in which the strategy is implemented is crucially important. A third dimension essential to the successful implementation of a strategy is the ongoing nature and renewal cycles necessary to run the strategy planning process successfully. Business theorists have commonly cited the fact that successful strategies are iv ongomg m nature and need to be regenerated on a continual basis. This is a time-consuming and expensive exercise and has led some organisations to sticking to the orthodox 'start-stop' 5yearly strategy planning processes. This research dissertation presupposes the fact that if strategy is executed in a continual regeneration principle, the organisation gains the ability to respond timeously with fresh strategies as the dictated by the environment. PPC Cement, a premium cement manufacturer and distributor, is also facing the need to streamline its resources towards successful strategy implementation and has a vested interest in unlocking the mystery surrounding the ongoing nature of business strategy. This research dissertation sets the tone m supplying valuable information necessary to companies like PPC Cement m order to make informed decision on whether on not to pursue continual business strategy regeneration, and most importantly - how to? / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2004.

Increasingly, companies around the world are reengineering their business process to be more profitable and to improve their customer satisfaction. The technique used is often known as Business Process Reengineering (BPR) which requires radical change in the structure of the company and offers high achievement on some performance dimensions. Statistics show that as many as 70% of large companies are involved in BPR projects and many others plan to begin projects soon. It also shows that up to 70-75% of these BPR projects fail. There are a few reasons for this high rate of failure. Lack of proper and well documented methodology is one main reason. It could also be due to unrealistic scope and expectation of the project, underestimating the time and cost involved, and the effect of company type on BPR projects. In this study a well structured methodology for BPR is proposed. The methodology includes several new concepts and tools orderly organised to ease the hardship of reengineering. Information Technology (IT) has been used as a tool to redesign the company in the form of a simulation tool. It has also been used as a tool within the company to automate the activities involved in the business process. The methodology was tested in industrial case studies and the results were quite satisfactory. The effect of company type on BPR was also tested. For Make-to-stock and Make/Assemble-to-order types of company, reengineering can have great impact. The effect of IT on BPR has been tested. IT if implemented by itself can improve the performance in the magnitude of 10-15%, and if implemented within the framework of BPR can have impact of 40-50% on the business. The simulation package of TOPIX was used for the first time in a manufacturing environment and it proved to be satisfactory software for BPR.

Proefschrift Universiteit van Amsterdam. / Met lit. opg. - Met samenvatting in het Nederlands.

Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-82).

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 167-171).

Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-82). Also available in print.

TU Hamburg-Harburg, Diss., 2005.

Berlin, Techn. Universiẗat, Diss., 2003.