Anirban Ganguly

Defining a Set of Metrics to Evaluate the Potential Disruptiveness of a Technology

Abstract: Disruptive technology can be defined as an emerging technology whose arrival in the marketplace signifies the eventual displacement of the dominant technology in that sector. Defining and assessing a set of key metrics for a disruptive technology at its early stages can substantially aid an enterprise to develop requirements, identify, and in turn increase the possibility of the successful launch of a disruptive technology. This article aims at defining a set of key metrics for evaluation of a possible disruptive technology. A case study is subsequently used for demonstrating the metrics identified. The article concludes with its relevance to the engineering management domain and directions for future research.

Measuring Knowledge Management/Knowledge Sharing KM/KS Efficiency and Effectiveness in Enterprise Networks

Knowledge Management KM is critical in ensuring process efficiency, outcome effectiveness and improved organizational memory for the modern day business enterprises. Knowledge Sharing KS is fast becoming a rapidly growing area of interest in the domain of knowledge management. The purpose of this paper is to enlist a set of generalized metrics that can be used to evaluate the efficiency and the effectiveness of knowledge sharing in an enterprise network. The metrics proposed in this research are those that can be readily measured by various types of enterprise knowledge sharing systems, and link usage information to organizational outputs. The paper uses an illustrative case example of how an enterprise might make use of the metrics in measuring the efficiency and effectiveness of its knowledge sharing system.

IDENTIFICATION, CLASSIFICATION, AND PRIORITIZATION OF RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH A DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGY PROCESS

Disruptive technology (DT) is an emerging technology whose arrival in the marketplace signifies the eventual displacement of the existing dominant technology. Identifying and assessing the risks associated with the various phases of a DT process is one of the key challenges a firm developing the technology might encounter. This paper identifies, classifies, and prioritizes a set of possible risks associated with different phases of a DT process. The paper presents ideas that differ from traditional risk assessment for new product development in that DT occurs at a different pace. These results can be used to develop a technology as well as a risk mitigation strategy.

Supply chain network, information sharing and SME credit quality

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of small and medium enterprises (SMEs)’ supply chain network on influencing credit quality, or more specifically, whether bridging tie (structural network) or strong tie (relational network) of SMEs in the supply chain can improve the availability of equity and debt capital through information sharing. , – A survey was conducted in manufacturing industry in China and 208 valid questionnaires were used to test all the hypotheses. The data were then analyzed by employing partial least squares path modeling. , – The results suggest that both strong tie and bridging tie of SMEs can lead to a positive effect on information sharing in supply chain, which can further enhance the credit quality for SMEs. However, without information sharing, the strong tie has not significant influence on SMEs’ credit quality, while bridging tie can directly impact on credit quality. , – Despite their crucial role in sustaining national economies, SMEs are beset by the critical constraint of risk-free financing. Based on a survey, this research finds that the credit quality of SMEs is affected by two important factors: one concerns information sharing in supply chain and the other relates to the attributes of SMEs’ supply chain network. This study implies that a SME may have a financing advantage for better embedding in the supply chain network, but different effects will be experienced according to constraints associated with information asymmetry in the supply chain.

A Risk Assessment Framework for analyzing risks associated with a Systems Engineering Process

Systems Engineering Process (SEP) is the systemic approach to design, development and implementation of a reliable and trustworthy system that satisfies its specified requirements. However, beyond the precision of the plans developed through SEP, it is also essential to consider uncertainties as well as emergent properties created through the process that might lead to negative consequences and subsequent financial losses throughout the systems life cycle. Therefore, assessing the risks associated with various stages of the SEP is among the key factors in efficiency of engineered systems and one of the major challenges that a systems engineer has to encounter. This paper proposes a Risk Assessment Framework (RAF) for analyzing risks associated with the process of systems engineering. RAF proposes a systemic approach to risk management and analysis through identification, classification, and prioritization of risks associated with different stages of a systems engineering process. The framework is subsequently applied to an illustrative example through which hundreds of subject matter experts participate in the risk evaluation process. Enterprises involved in systems engineering activities can use the findings of this research as a guideline to develop their risk management strategies.

Evaluating the effects of supply chain quality management on food firms’ performance: The mediating role of food certification and reputation

The purpose of this paper is to identify the two kinds of supply chain quality management (SCQM) capabilities: intra-SCQM and inter-SCQM, and explore the effect of intra- and inter-food SCQM on food safety and quality, and the effect of food SCQM on domestic and export performance through food certification and corporate reputation.,Secondary data on food selling or processing firms in Western China were collected to test all the hypotheses. The data were then analyzed using the statistical technique of stepwise regression and inference was drawn based on the result.,Through utilizing secondary data sources, it is found that intra-SCQM promotes sales in domestics market with mediating role of corporate reputation, while the realization of overseas performance depend both on intra- and inter-SCQM with mediating role of food certification.,The paper study on food supply chain quality problem, the suggested approaches can be easily realized by agro-food companies to achieve international competitiveness by implementing both intra- and inter-SCQM. Meanwhile to Chinese domestic companies, it is important to strengthen inter-SCQM and food certification in order to achieve competitive advantage.,Review of literature indicated that there is a dearth of open literature that discusses food safety from the perspective of inter- and intra-organizational management. Furthermore, it was also observed that there has been no study that has taken the safety signaling perspective. The current research tires to shed some light on this important, but sparely discussed issue.

EVALUATING BARRIERS TO KNOWLEDGE SHARING AFFECTING NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT TEAM PERFORMANCE

Manufacturing and service organisations have repeatedly stressed the importance of knowledge management and sharing as an integral part of their growth and business strategy. Unfortunately, knowledge sharing (KS) barriers or factors can have a negative influence on a new product development (NPD) project team performance can make it difficult for the organisation to achieve sustained superior performance. The purpose of this research is to identify and explore a set of important KS barriers that might negatively affect the performance of a NPD project team. Specifically, this research focussed on identifying and evaluating the barriers to development and to offer guidelines to decision makers to improve KS to foster effective processes. This research can be utilised by decision-makers to design and develop effective processes and mitigation strategies to ensure effective KS.

Evaluating risks associated with extended enterprise systems (EES)

The term “system” is defined as a: “… set or arrangement of elements (people, products, (hardware, software) and processes (facilities, equipment, material, and procedures)) that are related and whose behavior satisfies customer/operational needs, and provides for the life cycle sustainment of the products” [1]. Similarly, “enterprise” is described as a: “goal-directed complex system of resources -human, information, financial, and physical-and activities, usually a significant operational scope, complication, risk, and duration” [2], However, the necessities of todays market governed by intense competition, globalizations, and battles among supply chains, have changed the focus on how an enterprise conducts its business. Enterprises are gradually moving on from operating as a stand-alone entity to producing goods and services through a network of independent or semi-independent organizations [3]. As a result, enterprises are becoming extended network-based organisms able to operate in extremely complex environments [4]. In order to capture the dynamic nature of such entities, existing approaches can be combined to introduce an Extended Enterprise System (EES) as “a complex network of distinctive yet distributed and interdependent organizational systems that are connected in an autonomic way to achieve objectives beyond reaching capacities of each” [5]. The type of interactions among constituent systems of such a network might be defined based on hierarchy, collaboration, coordination, or a combinatorial form. Regardless of the interconnectivity rules and forms that results in an increased flexibility and adaptability, an EES is not devoid of being susceptible to sudden, unforeseen vulnerability that can put it in a position of great risk through astronomical financial losses and a steep decline in its overall market share, thereby leading to the loss in its competitive advantage. Since developing a “risk free” strategy that enables the “ideal” functioning of an EES is nearly impossible in the currently prevailing business environment, having a clear understanding of the critical risks associated with the functioning of an EES is absolutely necessary for its growth and sustenance in the business environment. Furthermore, the boundaries for evaluation and management of risks associated with an EES are inherited from a plethora of intra- as well as inter-organizational relationships [6,7] that stretches well beyond those associated with its enterprise-centric counterparts, and therefore warrants a great deal of attention from policy-makers as a part of designing a well-structured risk mitigation strategy. However, despite the rapidly growing popularity of EES among practitioners, there is still a considerable void in the open literature on evaluating the critical risks associated with an EES, something that the current research is trying to shed some light on.

Evaluating risks associated with Extended Enterprise Systems (EES)

Extended Enterprise System (EES) represents a network of interconnected enterprises functioning in harmony towards achieving a common objective. The efficiency of an EES lies in the ability of all its constituent enterprise systems working effectively in order to achieve a common objective. However, it is also essential to consider uncertainties that might lead to negative consequences and subsequent financial losses to the EES. Therefore, assessing the risks that might lead to the malfunctioning of an EES is one of the major challenges that a business enterprise might encounter. The paper is a variation of a previous research conducted by the authors on risk evaluation and proposes an extended enterprise-centric risk evaluation model through identification and prioritization of a set of critical risks that might affect the efficient functioning of an EES. The proposed model had a twofold contribution in the domain of EES. Firstly, policy-makers can use the findings of the research as a guideline to identify the critical risk involved with the functioning of an EES, which in turn can potentially escalate its vulnerability in the industry. Secondly, the identified risks along with their subsequent ranking to determine their relative criticality can be used by decision-makers to develop risk mitigation strategies for the EES.

The Role of Resiliency in Managing Supply Chains Disruptions

Current day business organizations, symbolized by complex and global supply chains, are often subjected to unforeseen threats that result in huge financial losses. There are no sure ways of assessing these threats, especially the “black swans” (high-impact, but low-probability events like natural disasters, terrorist attacks, outbreaks, etc.), as the severe dearth of historical data excludes the use of forecasting tools to evaluate those disruptions. However, it has been observed that some organizations cope far better than others in addressing these unforeseen and unquantifiable disruptions. This is not because they have a ‘secret formula’, but due to them sharing a critical trait known as resilience. The notion of supply chain resiliency, which is the ability of a supply chain to recover to the ‘pre-disruption’ or a better state after suffering through a disruption process, has always been considered as a core element in the success of an organization. The primary objective of this chapter is to familiarize the readers with the concept of supply chain resiliency and its role in mitigating supply chain disruptions. The chapter will also reveal the advantages of a resilient supply chain through insightful examples from a wide range of industries.