Simon P. Philbin

Design and implementation of the Balanced Scorecard at a university institute

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to identify how the management of university institutes can be improved through adoption of an integrated performance measurement system based on the Balanced Scorecard.Design/methodology/approach – Through building on literature studies and management best practice, formulation of the performance measurement system was explored. The Balanced Scorecard solution was then designed and implemented at a university institute. Benefits and outcomes are discussed through reflective analysis of the case study investigation.Findings – The study identified how the development of scorecard reports that include economic and non‐economic measures can improve the operational management of a university institute through providing tangible benefits to stakeholders.Research limitations/implications – The scorecard was investigated at an industry‐supported university institute and so features of the scorecard design and implementation may be less relevant to other types of organisa...

Investigating the Scope for Agile Project Management to Be Adopted by Higher Education Institutions

The agile project management approach offers many potential benefits in terms of alignment with business needs, flexibility and adaptability as well as a strong focus on the people dimension of projects. Agile has been applied in many industrial and government organisations, but how can it be adopted by higher education institutions? This chapter provides an initial answer to this question through exploring how agile techniques can be applied to improve the performance at universities in regard to research, education and knowledge-exchange operations. This is supported by a review of agile project management, including the main features and guiding principles as well as evaluation of the scope for agile to make a positive impact on performance at universities. The chapter also includes description of three illustrative case study investigations that identify there are significant opportunities for agile management to be applied to various types of projects at higher education institutions. The cases include identification of the initial system requirements to support implementation of the relevant agile technique on appropriate infrastructure. The cases reveal that adoption of agile management would support more open forms of communication leading to improved knowledge sharing and trust-based working at universities.

Emerging Requirements for Technology Management: A Sector-based Scenario Planning Approach

Identifying the emerging requirements for technology management will help organisations to prepare for the future and remain competitive. Indeed technology management as a discipline needs to develop and respond to societal and industrial needs as well as the corresponding technology challenges. Therefore, following a review of technology forecasting methodologies, a sector-based scenario planning approach has been used to derive the emerging requirements for technology management. This structured framework provided an analytical lens to focus on the requirements for managing technology in the healthcare, energy and higher education sectors over the next 5-10 years. These requirements include the need for new business models to support the adoption of technologies; integration of new technologies with existing delivery channels; management of technology options including RD technology standards, validation and interoperability; and decision-making tools to support technology investment.

Developing an integrated approach to system safety engineering

This article describes the development of a new, integrated approach to system safety engineering. The approach is illustrated in a case study involving the design of a high-pressure experimental research facility. The system safety engineering framework incorporates five main groups of activities, including system design visualization, failure modes and effects analysis, multidisciplinary teaming, benchmarking, and enterprise management. Coupling a systems engineering approach with the recognized principals of failure mode avoidance was found to significantly enhance the engineering design process.

The imperative need to develop guidelines to manage human versus machine intelligence

Machine intelligence is increasingly entering roles that were until recently dominated by human intelligence. As humans now depend upon machines to perform various tasks and operations, there appears to be a risk that humans are losing the necessary skills associated with producing competitively advantageous decisions. Therefore, this research explores the emerging area of human versus machine decision-making. An illustrative engineering case involving a joint machine and human decision-making system is presented to demonstrate how the outcome was not satisfactorily managed for all the parties involved. This is accompanied by a novel framework and research agenda to highlight areas of concern for engineering managers. We offer that the speed at which new human-machine interactions are being encountered by engineering managers suggests that an urgent need exists to develop a robust body of knowledge to provide sound guidance to situations where human and machine decisions conflict. Human-machine systems are becoming pervasive yet this research has revealed that current technological approaches are not adequate. The engineering insights and multi-criteria decision-making tool from this research significantly advance our understanding of this important area.

Exploring the challenges and opportunities for higher education institutions: Work domain analysis and development of strategic options

This paper provides an exploration of the challenges faced by higher education institutions (HEIs) in the United Kingdom in the context of reductions in the level of public funding along with increased competition both on a national and international level. This competitive landscape has been reviewed through analysis of supporting data and information in order to identify the underlying trends impacting HEIs as well as the emerging opportunities especially in the context of research, technology development and industrial engagement. An extensive literature review has been carried out and was used as the basis for work domain analysis involving a structured process methodology to capture the domain specific drivers that contribute to academic strategy development especially relating to science and engineering areas. Subsequently, strategic options for operating in this landscape have been synthesized according to the research, education and knowledge exchange capabilities of HEIs. This strategy development includes discussion of a number of practitioner-oriented strategic options that may be adopted by HEIs to support the establishment of leading organizational capabilities, contribute to financial sustainability and deliver value for key stakeholders.

Applying an Integrated Systems Perspective to the Management of Engineering Projects

Engineering projects can be subject to significant complexity, which may result in a number of issues and challenges that need to be addressed throughout the project life-cycle. Traditionally projects have been viewed according to the so called “iron triangle,” i. e., achievement of project milestones according to schedule, cost and quality targets. While these targets are fundamentally important to the performance of engineering projects, it is possible to view projects on a systemic level in order to allow an adequate focus on all the underpinning factors that have the potential to influence the performance of projects. Consequently, a management framework has been developed that is based on an integrated systems perspective of engineering projects, where the performance of projects is a function of six contributing sub-systems that are: process, technology, resources, knowledge, culture and impact.