David Boddy

Implementing Collaboration Between Organizations: An Empirical Study Of Supply Chain Partnering

Many managers attempt to develop collaborative alliances with other organizations. Such strategies are difficult to implement: they are as likely to fail as to succeeed. Implementing and managing an alliance is harder than deciding to collaborate. This paper explores the topic empirically through a study of one form of alliance – supply chain partnering. It presents an interaction model of partnering which shows seven contextual factors that shape, and are shaped by, human action. This context can both help and hinder the emergence of co-operative behaviour. The model is illustrated through a case study of two organizations (customer and supplier) attempting to co-operate more closely. The case shows how the cultural and other differences between the parties at first caused difficulty. Actions were taken to change aspects of the context to facilitate more co-operative behaviour. Improving interpersonal relations led to further actions to create more formal mechanisms which would support future co-operation. These appear to have contributed to the relationship exceeding the initial expectations of the partners. The interaction model illuminates both the content and process of supply chain partnering.

Success and failure in implementing supply chain partnering: an empirical study

Abstract An increasing number of companies subscribe to the idea that developing long-term collaboration and cooperation, partnering, can take significant wastes out of the supply chain and provide a route to securing the best commercial advantage. However, the implementation of partnering involves radical changes which can demand considerable work and are hard to implement. There is an extensive literature on project management and the implementation of change, though few of the many prescriptions have been supported by empirical research. This paper provides some quantitave evidence that some of the practices recommended in literature do make a difference to the implementation of partnering. It suggests six underlying barriers to partnering based on the results of the study.

Prescriptions for managing change: a survey of their effects in projects to implement collaborative working between organisations

This paper reports on a quantitative study of 100 companies which had attempted to move towards a more collaborative relationship with another organisation. Judged on criteria set out in the survey 46 had succeeded and 54 had failed in their attempt to implement supply chain partnering. A questionnaire invited respondents to indicate which project management practices (drawn from a review of the change management literature) they had used. Statistical analyses showed that four practices accounted for most of the difference between successful and unsuccessful implementation. These concerned project goals, resources, structures and controls. Many conventional change management prescriptions had no statistically significant effect on the outcome. The paper relates these results to theories of change management and draw the practical implications. These are likely to apply to many other types of change project.

Stakeholder management in IOS projects: analysis of an attempt to implement an electronic patient file

Implementing an inter-organizational system (IOS) requires significant organizational as well as technical changes. These will affect stakeholders (upon whom promoters depend) with varying degrees of power and with varying degrees of interest in the system. Identifying stakeholders and understanding the sources of their attitudes will enable promoters to meet their expectations more fully, and hence encourage acceptance. We examine these issues through a theoretically based study of an attempt to introduce an Electronic Patient File system in The Netherlands. All saw that the system would benefit patients, yet powerful players resisted its implementation, fearing it would affect their interests. This paper develops and tests a model of stakeholder management, showing that those with high interest in the system lacked the power to implement it, while those with low interest had the power to block it. These negative attitudes were shaped by concerns not about the system itself, but about the likely effects on working routines, power, culture and finance. This paper implies that those promoting an IOS (in any sector) should, from the outset of a project, identify their power sources and seek to reconcile stakeholder interests.

Exploring public perspectives on e-health: findings from two citizen juries.

Background  Interest and investment in e‐health continue to grow world‐wide, but there remains relatively little engagement with the public on this subject, despite calls for more public involvement in health‐care planning.

Implementing interorganizational IT systems : lessons from a call centre project

The growing power of computer–telephony integration (CTI) systems is encouraging many companies to create call centres. These deal with a growing range of business processes and, in doing so, can be used to challenge established organizational arrangements. The range of human and management issues that need to be dealt with has yet to become clear. Some insights into these are offered from a study of one call centre over 2 years, from shortly before its physical introduction to the present day. These empirical observations are set within the wider literature on organizational change and information technology (IT), particularly the processual and integrationist perspectives. The paper uses the evidence of the case to elaborate the integrationist model so that it reflects the areas of human action more fully. It concludes by outlining the implications of this perspective for managers seeking to build effective call centres or other forms of interorganizational IT system.

Maintaining alignment over the long-term: lessons from the evolution of an electronic point of sale system

Research in both the organizational and information systems areas suggests that aligning information systems and dimensions of the organization improves performance. However, the dynamic nature of both information systems and organizations makes a close alignment more an aspiration than a state. This paper examines alignment from the perspective of the management processes through which companies may achieve and sustain alignment in dynamic environments. In so doing they may also develop core capabilities in managing IS innovation, which enable sustained competitive advantage. The paper traces the evolution of alignment in a company that used information systems to develop the business in new strategic directions, and shows how semi-structures contributed to this.

Boundaries and e-health implementation in health and social care

BackgroundThe major problem facing health and social care systems globally today is the growing challenge of an elderly population with complex health and social care needs. A longstanding challenge to the provision of high quality, effectively coordinated care for those with complex needs has been the historical separation of health and social care. Access to timely and accurate data about patients and their treatments has the potential to deliver better care at less cost.MethodsTo explore the way in which structural, professional and geographical boundaries have affected e-health implementation in health and social care, through an empirical study of the implementation of an electronic version of Single Shared Assessment (SSA) in Scotland, using three retrospective, qualitative case studies in three different health board locations.ResultsProgress in effectively sharing electronic data had been slow and uneven. One cause was the presence of established structural boundaries, which lead to competing priorities, incompatible IT systems and infrastructure, and poor cooperation. A second cause was the presence of established professional boundaries, which affect staffs’ understanding and acceptance of data sharing and their information requirements. Geographical boundaries featured but less prominently and contrasting perspectives were found with regard to issues such as co-location of health and social care professionals.ConclusionsTo provide holistic care to those with complex health and social care needs, it is essential that we develop integrated approaches to care delivery. Successful integration needs practices such as good project management and governance, ensuring system interoperability, leadership, good training and support, together with clear efforts to improve working relations across professional boundaries and communication of a clear project vision. This study shows that while technological developments make integration possible, long-standing boundaries constitute substantial risks to IT implementations across the health and social care interface which those initiating major changes would do well to consider before committing to the investment.

Competence-Based Management Awards in Higher Education?

This paper reports on a project set up to assess the feasibility of introducing a competence-based management award in a university business school. The school has a long-established Executive MBA programme-could it be adapted to use the potential benefits of competence-based development and what issues would need to be dealt with? To find out, we worked with an advisory group of major employers, and designed and ran a pilot competence-based Certificate equivalent to Year 1 of the 3-year part-time MBA programme. The lessons of this pilot, and the evidence arising from our work with members of the advisory group, are set out in this paper. They indicate that linking workbased learning with a recognized qualification is more difficult and costly than expected, and the paper shows how we now plan to overcome those difficulties.

CREDITING MANAGEMENT COMPETENCE: RIGHT OR WRONG?

Summarizes the findings of a recently completed research project on Competence in higher education at Glasgow University Business School and outlines a subsequently developing competence assessment programme.