scholarly journals Cross-sectoral process modelling for smart city development

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Asmita Dessai ◽  
Vahid Javidroozi

PurposeIntegration of city systems is needed to provide flexibility, agility and access to real-time information for the creation and delivery of efficient services in a smart and sustainable city. Consequently, City Process Modelling (CPMo) becomes an essential element of connecting various city sectors. However, to date, there has been limited research on the requirements of an ideal CPMo approach and the usefulness of available Business Process Modelling (BPMo) approaches. This research develops a framework for CPMo to guide smart city developers when modelling city processes.Design/methodology/approachData from literature analysis was gathered to derive capabilities of existing BPMo techniques. Then, semi-structured interviews were conducted to thematically and qualitatively explore the requirements, challenges and success factors of CPMo.FindingsThe interview findings offered 17 requirements to be addressed by a CPMo approach, along with several challenges and success factors to be considered when implementing CPMo approaches. Then, the paper presents the results of mapping these requirements against 12 existing BPMo capabilities, identified from the literature, concluding that a significant number of requirements (which are mainly related to inputs and visualisation) have been left unfulfilled by existing BPMo approaches. Hence, developing an innovative CPMo approach is necessary to address the components of unfulfilled requirements.Originality/valueThe innovative framework presented in this paper justifies the CPMo requirements, which are unexplored in existing SCD frameworks. Moreover, it will act as a guide for smart city developers, to model cross-sectoral city processes, helping them progress their SCD road map and make their cities smart.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Jung Yue Chun ◽  
Wahid Abdul Nabsiah ◽  
Cheng Ling Tan

Purpose This paper aims to discover why such a public partnership project had been successful with a non-profit third-party alliance such as a smart city consortium (SCC) promoting smart city development. Design/methodology/approach This descriptive case study is primarily based on analysing data collected from various texts, public statements, media interviews and three semi-structured interviews with key members involved in the Covid-19 dashboard project. Findings The data and analysis reviews that both interpersonal and interorganisational trust, dedication and proactiveness of the leaders at SCC were major contributing factors to why SCC was able to partner with the Hong Kong Government in the Covid-19 dashboard in the first place and that the success was also a direct outcome of effective mass collaborative knowledge management activities. Research limitations/implications The research in leadership attributes and activities in the non-profit alliance has been few and this collaborative partnership between the alliance and the government is an example of the importance of further research in smart city leadership. Practical implications In deploying projects for mass collaboration and knowledge sharing in smart city development (which is multi-disciplinary in nature). there are still many new and evolving organisational practices and leadership matters that many business leaders and city managers can learn from. Social implications Smart city development projects involve the notion of sharing data in an open environment enabled by software and mediating tools. Successful projects such as this Hong Kong Covid-19 dashboard which serves a diverse audience can further promote the importance of an open data policy regime for the benefit of the public. Originality/value This case study covers a highly original and unique case study with the leaders at the SCC and representatives from the Hong Kong Government.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrícia Moura e Sá ◽  
Catarina Frade ◽  
Fernanda Jesus ◽  
Mónica Lopes ◽  
Teresa Maneca Lima ◽  
...  

PurposeWicked problems require collaborative innovation approaches. Understanding the problem from the users' perspective is essential. Based on a complex and ill-defined case, the purpose of the current paper is to identify some critical success factors in defining the “right problem” to be addressed.Design/methodology/approachAn empirical research study was carried out in a low-density municipality (case study). Extensive data were collected from official databases, individual semi-structured interviews and a focus group involving citizens, local authorities, civil servants and other relevant stakeholders.FindingsAs defined by the central government, the problem to be addressed by the research team was to identify which justice services should be made available locally to a small- and low-density community. The problem was initially formulated using top-down reasoning. In-depth contact with citizens and key local players revealed that the lack of justice services was not “the issue” for that community. Mobility constraints and the shortage of economic opportunities had a considerable impact on the lack of demand for justice services. By using a bottom-up perspective, it was possible to reframe the problem to be addressed and suggest a new concept to be tested at later stages.Social implicationsThe approach followed called attention to the importance of listening to citizens and local organisations with a profound knowledge of the territory to effectively identify and circumscribe a local problem in the justice field.Originality/valueThe paper highlights the limitations of traditional rational problem-solving approaches and contributes to expanding the voice-of-the-customer principle showing how it can lead to a substantially new definition of the problem to be addressed.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynn Marie Jamieson ◽  
Brandon Douglas Howell ◽  
Carlos Siu Lam

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to discover, qualitatively, periods of involvement in Las Vegas gambling marketing campaigns and analyze success factors that may be useful to other gambling destinations, particularly in the Asian market.Design/methodology/approachThe study was established to allow a two-pronged approach of semi-structured interviews and site analysis coupled with review of planning and marketing documents in Las Vegas, Nevada 1980–2000 era and ending with the 2019 branding approach.FindingsResults revealed degrees of success and rationales for changes in campaigns over a 40-year period. When analyzing market strategies, it became evident that many factors were involved decisions to visit Las Vegas, such as social, safety and security factors, as well as opportunities for recreation.Research limitations/implicationsGaining access to top level executives proved challenging due to reluctance of subjects wanting to disclose business strategies.Originality/valueThis study was unique in employing qualitative processes to elicit planning and marketing approaches and relative successes or failures from those involved in multi-property management. Further, analysis of documents over a wide time frame provided insight into the pitfalls and strengths associated with various campaigns.


2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 465-492
Author(s):  
Azilah Anis ◽  
Rafikul Islam

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a hierarchical model to rank the challenges faced by the private Malaysian higher education institutions (HEIs) in the provision of quality education and subsequently their corresponding critical success factors (CSFs) to address those challenges. Design/methodology/approach A sequential mix method was adopted in this study. Semi-structured interviews with 29 participants were initially conducted to identify the challenges and CSFs. This was followed by a questionnaire survey involving 158 respondents to prioritise the identified findings. Thematic analysis was conducted in the qualitative stage, uncovering the challenges and their corresponding CSFs. Data for both stages were accumulated from internal and external stakeholders of Malaysian private HEIs. Finally, the four stages of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) were applied to rank the challenges and CSFs. Findings The qualitative stage identified eight challenges, i.e. “academics”, “facilities”, “students”, “programmes and curriculum”, “competition”, “accreditation”, “finance” and “research” together with their corresponding CSFs. The AHP enables the ranking of these challenges. “Finance” has been found to be the most crucial challenge and “high competency in managing the institution’s finance” as the most important CSF to address this challenge. Research limitations/implications As the study restricted its focus on Malaysian private HEIs, the results may not be generalised for public HEIs and foreign private HEIs operating in Malaysia. Originality/value The hierarchical model developed in this study is deemed important for implementation to resolve the prioritised challenges. It spells out the specific areas in which the resources of Malaysian private HEIs need to be prudently disbursed and properly managed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 737-755
Author(s):  
Luiz Antonio Felix Júnior ◽  
Wênyka Preston Leite Batista da Costa ◽  
Luciana Gondim de Almeida Guimarães ◽  
Glauber Ruan Barbosa Pereira ◽  
Walid Abbas El-Aouar

Purpose The participation of society is a valuable aspect of the governability of cities, for it strengthens the citizens’ collaborative component. Such participation, which is seen as social, is considered an essential element for the design of a smart city. This study aims to identify the factors that contribute to social participation in the definition of budgetary instruments’ planning. Design/methodology/approach Concerning the methodological instruments, this study is characterised by a quantitative and descriptive approach and uses a multivariate data analysis with a sample of 235 respondents. Findings The study’s findings identified a framework that portrays elements that collaborate with the social participation in the definition of the public administration’s budgetary instruments, which are considered as elements that are able to develop the role of the popular participation and are characterised by the definition of a smart city by enabling more assertiveness in society’s needs. Practical implications Identification of a framework that brings out elements that are able to develop the popular participation in the definition of budgetary instruments. Then, one scale of elements that contribute to social participation in the definition of the public administration’s budgetary instruments theoretically represented and statistically validated, thus contributing to the continuity of studies on social participation. Social implications Through studies on social participation in budgetary planning, it is possible to guarantee a better allocation of public resources through intelligent governability. Originality/value The research can bring theoretical elements about social participation in the definition of budget instruments for a statistical convergence through the perception of the sample.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 644-665 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maude Brunet ◽  
Daniel Forgues

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate a case of collective sensemaking about the project success of the multifunctional amphitheater of Quebec (Canada). Design/methodology/approach For this explorative and qualitative research, the authors started from the post-mortem document and complemented their comprehension with six semi-structured interviews with the main project actors and other public documents regarding this project. Findings According to the respondents, the main success factors of this project can be attributed to: a clear governance structure; proven project management and construction methods; the use of emerging collaborative practices in construction (such as building information modeling (BIM) and lean construction); an adapted policy for procurement; as well as a code of values and ethics shared by all stakeholders. Originality/value The sensemaking perspective has been scarcely mobilized in project management studies, emerging from a constructivist view of reality and being sensitive about material-discursive practices. This exploratory study explores a case of collective sensemaking of a major project success and suggests avenues for major and megaprojects research. Lessons learned and implications for practice are also outlined. The conclusion allows a synthesis and an opening to consider how practitioners and researchers can build on this (and other successful) case(s) for future projects and research.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas Omoregie Aghimien ◽  
Clinton Aigbavboa ◽  
David J. Edwards ◽  
Abdul-Majeed Mahamadu ◽  
Paul Olomolaiye ◽  
...  

PurposeThis study presents a fuzzy synthetic evaluation of the challenges of smart city realisation in developing countries, using Nigeria as a case study. By defining and delineating the problems faced by the country, more viable directions to attaining smart city development can be achieved.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted a post-positivist philosophical stance with a deductive approach. A structured questionnaire was used to gather data from built environment professionals involved in the delivery of Nigerian public infrastructures. Six dimensions of the challenges of smart cities were identified from literature and explored. They are governance, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal issues. Data gathered were analysed using Cronbach alpha test for reliability, Shapiro-Wilks test for normality, Kruskal-Wallis H-test for consistency and fuzzy synthetic evaluation test for the synthetic evaluation of the challenges of smart city attainment.FindingsThe findings revealed that all six assessed dimensions have a significant impact on the attainment of smart cities in Nigeria. More specifically, issues relating to environmental, technological, social and legal challenges are more prominent.Originality/valueThe fuzzy synthetic approach adopted provides a clear, practical insight on the issues that need to be addressed before the smart city development can be attained within developing countries.


2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Barson ◽  
Fiona Doolan-Noble ◽  
Jonathon Gray ◽  
Robin Gauld

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the contextual factors contributing to the sustainability of healthcare quality improvement (QI) initiatives. Design/methodology/approach Themes from semi-structured interviews with international healthcare leaders are compared with Kaplan and Provost et al.’s (2012) model for understanding success in quality (MUSIQ). Critical success factors within these themes are shown in detail. Findings The interviews provide a rich source of information on critical success factors. The themes largely correspond with MUSIQ, reinforcing its robustness. An important factor emerging from the interviews was the importance of engagement with patients and families in QI, and this needs consideration in seeking to understand context in QI. Research limitations/implications Interview participants represent a limited set of western countries and health systems. Their experiences may not hold true in other settings. Practical implications The detail on critical success factors provides QI practitioners with guidance on designing and implementing sustainable initiatives. Originality/value Including consideration of contextual factors for engagement with patients and families in frameworks for context in QI appears to be an original idea that will add value to such frameworks. Researchers in patient engagement are starting to address contextual factors and connections should be made with this work.


2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Chileshe ◽  
Raufdeen Rameezdeen ◽  
M. Reza Hosseini

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate and analyse the perceptions of South Australian construction practitioners on drivers affecting the implementation of reverse logistics (RL). In this context, RL is defined as the process of moving goods from their typical final destination for the purpose of capturing value or ensuring proper disposal. Design/methodology/approach – Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight practitioners to collect data and the interview transcripts were analysed using the NVivo (version 10) package. Cluster analysis was used to cross-validate the findings and provide an in-depth insight into the findings. Findings – The findings indicate that most of the drivers identified in earlier research are relevant for the construction industry. In addition, the study identified some new drivers that are categorised as “targeted demands by an exclusive clientele”. These drivers were found to be complementary to the economic, environmental and social drivers as previously conceptualised. In addition, a set of factors affecting the strength of drivers that had been overlooked in previous studies emanated from the interview analysis. These include the type of project and the attributes of clients, both of which strongly affect the drivers of RL implementation in construction. Research limitations/implications – The major limitations are the relatively small size of the sample of interviewees and having interviewees from one geographic area with specific socio-economic characteristics. Practical implications – The identified drivers and the clustering of RL themes could be used by practitioners as a “road map” for the development of appropriate solutions to successfully promote RL within the construction industry. Organisational energies could thus be channelled towards the drivers that need the most improvement. Originality/value – The study contributes to this research sphere by employing cluster analysis to customise and contextualise the drivers that were previously identified. The study goes beyond the extant literature by discovering the prominent effects of these drivers on the impact of targeted demands by an exclusive clientele. This could be of great value in terms of creating avenues for future investigations on the topic.


Smart Cities ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 1337-1365
Author(s):  
Eleonora Sista ◽  
Pietro De De Giovanni

A large number of smart city logistics projects fail to scale up, remaining a local experimental exercise. This lack of scalability is, in fact, commonly recognized as a major problem. This study aims to determine the key success factors related to the scalability of smart city logistics projects. The process of scaling up, which is articulated as expansion, roll-out, and replication, is defined as the ability of a system to improve its scale by aiming to meet the increasing volume demand. Specifically, this study investigates the scalability intended to be used as expansion and roll-out. A qualitative case study was conducted to fulfill the research purpose. The chosen case study is SMOOTh, a pilot project currently underway in the city of Gothenburg, Sweden, involving a diverse group of companies including Volvo Group and DHL. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven of the project’s stakeholders. Through a thematic analysis, four categories and the respective success factors were identified. These were represented by a business model, as well as technical, stakeholder and regulatory factors. The paper concludes with observations and recommendations aimed at the pilot initiatives, adding new perspectives to the upscaling debate.


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