Oihab Allal-Chérif

Using serious games to manage knowledge and competencies: The seven-step development process

This article explores how serious games improve knowledge and competencies management in the context of human resources management. The exploratory research, based on the conceptual framework of the SECI model from Nonaka, analyzes the performances of three serious games developed in 3 different financial companies, from France, USA and India. These three case studies will help to define a 7-step development process of a knowledge and competencies management serious game. The banking sector has interesting characteristics for this study, some of the associated knowledge being both very standardized and also highly heterogeneous. It will be shown that serious games contribute significantly to improve “socialization”, “externalization”, “combination”, and “internalization” of knowledge and that they promote benchmarking throughout the company.

Serious Games and Their Use in HRM: A Typology of Uses in CAC40 Companies

The purpose of this article is to build a typology of serious games based on their use in human resources management (HRM). To construct this typology, an inventory was made of all the serious games used by CAC40 companies. Of these, 114 serious games have been identified for the 43 listed companies since December 2011. These games have been classified into 3 categories and 11 subcategories based on their designated uses. This is the first study to demonstrate that all CAC40 companies use serious games, with seven such companies adopting at least five games. This research is also the first to offer a detailed typology of serious games based on their use in HRM. The discussion will demonstrate how this typology can help to operationalize the concept of serious games for HR managers to better understand and choose their specific HR uses.

Do Electronic Marketplaces Improve Procurement Performance

Contrary to expectations, the use of electronic marketplaces still remains marginal and the credibility of such technology is constantly undermined in practice. However, some major business groups have acted as forerunners and have invested in electronic marketplaces because they are aware of the substantial benefits that could stem from their implementation and use, especially with regards to procurement performance. This issue has been overlooked in the academic literature although it constitutes a significant opportunity for businesses to increase their efficiency. Moreover, and despite the huge amount of literature that deals with marketplaces, very few studies analyze exhaustively their benefits, and with few exceptions, case studies are lacking. Such analysis is presented in this article, the purpose of which is to offer insight into relevant business practices. Based on the potential properties and functionalities of marketplaces, this article identifies qualitatively the benefits that would stem from the use of electronic tools, especially from the procurement perspective. This article demonstrates the considerable scope that exists for improving the procurement performance through the use of electronic marketplaces and validates empirically these findings through a case study related to an electronic marketplace implementation project in a multinational company leader in the field of designing and assembling industrial equipment.

La dynamique de la confiance sur la coopération acheteur / vendeur en B2B

RÉSUMÉ Cet article étudie la construction de la relation entre un acheteur et un vendeur de prestations intellectuelles dans un contexte de petite & moyenne entreprises (PME). Il démontre les effets (1) des bénéfices attendus, (2) de l’expertise, (3) de l’investissement dans la relation et (4) du bouche-à-oreille sur la coopération entre acheteur et vendeur, ainsi que (5) la médiation de la confiance. La contribution porte également sur un modèle dynamique de l’influence des phases relationnelles sur ces six construits. Six hypothèses sont formulées, testées et soumises à une analyse factorielle exploratoire et confirmatoire. L’ensemble des résultats a été obtenu sur un échantillon de 404 professionnels des achats et de la vente. La conclusion propose des recommandations managériales opérationnelles pour ces deux fonctions.

Determinants of the Decision to Transform Towards Cloud: An Exploratory Analysis of 225 CISCO Case Studies

This article aims to identify the determinant contingency factors in the decision to transform to cloud computing. An exploratory study of 225 cases of companies of different sizes and shapes, spread over all continents, was conducted, taking into account the factors of culture, size and structure. The factors of industry, strategy and technology were also considered, as well as managerial cognition. Indeed, the companies studied were chosen in seventeen distinct sectors of economic activities. The contributions of this research are manifold. From the managerial point of view, the 225 case studies that were analyzed led to the identification of factors which may facilitate or hinder the decision to convert to the cloud. From the academic point of view, this work has allowed to enrich the research knowledge with the various contingency factors of cloud computing transformation. From a methodological perspective, this research has overcome an important challenge, the exploratory study of a large number of companies that have adopted cloud computing, in a wide range of industries, and spread over all continents.

IS Governance, Agility and Strategic Flexibility in Multi-approaches Based Management Companies

The in-depth case-study with 2 years of participant observation in a very large Telecommunication Operator that has implemented several process approaches shows that, despite the benefits that these approaches can bring to this enterprise, significant problems arise, particularly regarding information systems governance, agility and strategic flexibility. Rich literature on process approaches teaches us the benefits of each approach, however, the impact on IS governance, agility and strategic flexibility of the implementation of multiple process approaches within the same company has never been studied.

Pertinence and Feasibility of a Unifying Holistic Approach of IT Governance

In accordance with the Design Science percepts, we present in this paper an approach that aims to give a holistic unifying framework that ensures consistency and coherence between the existing IT governance approaches and mechanisms. It considers the advances and best practices suggested by COBIT ITIL, etc. Therefore, it proposes an operational implementation and instantiation of information system of IT governance based on SOA architecture. It meets the requirements posed by gaps in the research on IT governance, which have been proven by the literature study. As well as the managerial problems highlighted by a two-year in-depth case study conducted inside one of the largest telecommunication operators in Europe. The relevance and feasibility of this approach have been proven by the implementation of this approach in a another two-year in-depth action research case study inside another large European telecommunications operator.

Special issue AIM 2012: Information Systems and Supply Chain Management

We are pleased to introduce this special issue of the journal Supply Chain Forum: An International Journal, which focuses on information systems and supply chain management. The articles included in this special issue are from a selection of papers that were presented during various sessions of the annual conference of the Association of Information and Management – AIM 2012 – that was sponsored in May 2012 in Bordeaux by BEM-Bordeaux Management School.