scholarly journals Distributed Operations in Response to COVID-19: Assessing Workforce Perceptions of Productivity and Success

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (97) ◽  
pp. 262-318
Author(s):  
Glenn Tolentino ◽  
John Wood ◽  
Shane Riley

During the midst of the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a large Navy Working Capital Funded government laboratory transitioned from a traditional on-site/physical daily operational presence to a distributed, virtual maximum telework posture. The direction given in March 2020 was that unless performance of a specific approved tasking was required at the physical workplace, the laboratory workforce was to telework from a safe location while practicing social distancing. To this extent, a majority of the organization’s workforce continued performing the duties associated with their programs and projects in a virtual and secure distributed environment. This new norm certainly raised questions and considerations related to the effectiveness of the workforce while under maximum telework. As a result, two surveys were conducted to assess the perceived work-effectiveness of the organization. The perceived work-effectiveness was assessed at the operational (work unit) level, focusing on project impacts of telework, and from the macroorganizational perspective. The first survey was conducted on a project that was 2 weeks into this virtual maximum telework environment. The second survey was performed one layer above the project at the division level, thereby extending the aperture of the data. Both surveys provided a great deal of information and insight on how project teams perceived work performance and effectiveness during telework. The purpose of the study was to understand the impact of distributed telework in workforce productivity and project success as well as assess workforce perceptions on the effects of telework.

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 9-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aqeel Ahmed ◽  
Muhammad Sehail Younis

This preliminary study attempts to link among the critical success factors on overall project success in public sector organizations in Pakistan.  In this study it’s reflected that major critical success factors (soundness of Business & workforce, planning & control, quality performance and past performance) can enhance the success of the project in Pakistan.  The purpose of this preliminary study was to verify the reliability of the survey instrument which has been used in European countries. It was found that the planning & control was the highest Cronbach Alpha value, while the ranged for each constructs in the present study from 0.68 to 0.88.  Therefore, based on the Cronbach alpha value score, the proposed survey instrument has fulfilled the basic requirement of a valid instrument.


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Priyank Sharma

Working capital is the funds required for the day to day working of any organization. So it should be managed in effective way to ensure profitability, solvency and survival of the company. Every organization has to manage its working capital in such a way that it does not result in blockage of funds and is able to cater the needs of the organization. In this paper I have tried to show the impact of the mismanagement of working capital on profitability and liquidity of the firm. For this purpose I have taken Tata Motors Pvt. Ltd for the s


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4513
Author(s):  
Summaira Malik ◽  
Muhammad Taqi ◽  
José Moleiro Martins ◽  
Mário Nuno Mata ◽  
João Manuel Pereira ◽  
...  

The success of a construction project is a widely discussed topic, even today, and there exists a difference of opinion. The impact of communication and conflict on project success is an important, but least addressed, issue in literature, especially in the case of underdeveloped countries. Miscommunication and conflict not only hinder the success of a project but also may lead to conflicts. The focus of this paper was to examine the impact of communication on project success with the mediating role of conflict. By using SPSS, demographics, descriptive statistics and correlation were determined. Smart PLS version 3.0 was used for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), internal accuracy and validity estimates, hypothesis checking and mediation testing. The results showed that formal communication has a negative impact on the success of a construction project, resulting in conflicts among project team members, whereas informal communication and communication willingness have a positive impact on project success because people tend to know each other, and trust is developed. Task, process and relationship conflicts were used as mediating variables. It was found that task conflict effects the relations positively because project team members suggest different ways to do a certain task, and, hence, project success is achieved. On the contrary, process conflict and relationship conflict have a negative impact on communication and project success. Both of these conflicts lead to miscommunication, and project success is compromised. Hence, it is the responsibility of the project manager to enhance communication among project team members and to reduce the detrimental effects of process and relationship conflict on project success.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
Sorin Anton ◽  
Anca Afloarei Nucu

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between working capital and firm profitability for a sample of 719 Polish listed firms over the period of 2007–2016. The scarcity of empirical evidence for emerging economies and the importance of working capital efficiency motivate the research on the working capital–financial performance relationship. The paper adopts a quantitative approach using different panel data techniques (ordinary least squares, fixed effects, and panel-corrected standard errors models). The empirical results report an inverted U-shape relationship between working capital level and firm profitability, meaning that working capital has a positive effect on the profitability of Polish firms to a break-even point (optimum level). After the break-even point, working capital starts to negatively affect firm profitability. The study brings theoretical and practical contributions. It extends and complements the literature on the field by highlighting new evidence on the non-linear interrelation between working capital management (WCM) and corporate performance in Poland. From the practitioners’ perspective, the results highlight the importance of WCM for firm profitability.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 364-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Joslin ◽  
Ralf Müller

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to qualitatively validate the constructs of a theoretically derived research model while gaining insights to steer the direction of a greater study on methodologies, their elements, and their impact on project success. In doing so, to investigate whether different project environments, notably project governance, impacts the relationship between methodologies and project success. Design/methodology/approach – A deductive approach was applied to validate a theoretically derived research model. In total, 19 interviews across 11 industrial sectors and four countries were used to collect data. Pattern-matching techniques were utilized in the analysis to deductively validate the research model. Findings – There is a positive relationship between project methodology elements and the characteristics of project success; however, environmental factors, notably project governance, influence the use and effectiveness of a project methodology and its elements with a resulting impact on the characteristics of project success. Research limitations/implications – Project governance plays a major role in the moderating effect of a project methodology’s effectiveness. Contingency theory is applicable to a project’s methodology’s selection and its customization according to the project environment. Practical implications – Understand the impact of project methodologies and their elements on the characteristics of project success while being moderated by the project environment, for example, the risk of suboptimal project performance due to the effectiveness of methodology elements being negatively impacted by the project environment. Originality/value – The impact of a project methodology (collection of heterogeneous-related elements) on the characteristics of project success is identified while being moderated by the project environment, notably project governance.


2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 71-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meryem Bellouma

Working capital is an important component in the financial decision of the company. An optimal working capital management is reached through a trade off between profitability and liquidity. This study aims to provide empirical evidence about the effects of working capital management on the profitability of 386 Tunisian export SMEs observed from 2001 to 2008. The results of fixed and random effects models show a negative relationship between corporate profitability and the different working capital components. This reveals that Tunisian export SMEs should shorten their cash conversion cycle by reducing the number of days of accounts receivable and inventories to increase their profitability.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aqsa Ameer ◽  
Farah Naz ◽  
Bushra Gul Taj ◽  
Iqra Ameer

Purpose The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of conscientiousness and extraversion personality traits on project success. The relationship is mediated by affective professional commitment, whilst the relationship between personality traits and project success is moderated by organizational project management maturity. Design/methodology/approach The deductive approach is used to achieve the objectives of this study. Data were collected through a purposive sampling technique from 250 respondents with the help of questionnaires from information technology sectors. The structural equation modelling (SEM) in partial least squares-SEM and SPSS is used to analyse the data and to examine the hypothesis. Findings The outcomes demonstrate the partial mediating impact of affective professional commitment between the relationship of conscientiousness and extraversion personalities with project success. Additionally, it proves the moderating effects of project management maturity between the relationship of conscientiousness and extraversion personalities with project success. Practical implications This study reflects that employee personality appears to be a reliable indicator of how an employee is faithful to his profession. This faithfulness or duty decides the employee’s execution in terms of offering a successful project. Thus, achieving employee commitment needs to be done by completing the project successfully by the organizations in the presence of project management maturity systems. Originality/value It is the first study of its kind to provide experimental proof of the impact of a manager’s personality traits on project success in the presence of affective professional commitment (mediator) and organizational project management maturity (moderator).


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