European International Freight Forwarders

2010 ◽  
pp. 1125-1139
Author(s):  
Hans Lehmann

This case study is about information systems in one of the largest freight forwarding companies in Europe, here named Spedition Chur AG (SCA)1. With a long tradition of computers, data processing, and information systems on a global level, SCA has used information technology extensively since the 1960s. Over the years, their systems have become a truly strategic resource; many of the services SCA offers today are based solely on information management — the physical side of the transport business has taken a back seat and is often outsourced. The problems and issues SCA is dealing with now are the dichotomy of its IT strategy: how to coordinate a stringently standardized core of systems with its critically important but highly individualized system-to-system interfaces with its key customers. Furthermore, the rapid change in technology and the very wide range and reach of its operations now means that the global implementation of new information systems often cannot be completed before the technologies underlying them have become obsolescent. The case describes the development of the systems that underlie the business success and sets out the governance and management structures that make this possible.

Author(s):  
Susan Gasson

This case study examines the impact of online reservation systems and e-commerce on the travel industry. Two questions are examined: 1. How can competitive advantage be obtained from the exploitation of new information technologies—in particular, e-commerce technologies? 2. How has the role of travel agents changed because of the new information technologies being used to achieve competitive advantage in the air travel industry? Initial discussion concerns the impact of the American Airlines SABRE system, as this has often been touted as giving American Airlines first-mover advantage in the industry. The wider impact of remote-access, computerized reservation systems, or Global Distribution Systems, and e-commerce access to online reservations in the travel industry is analyzed, using Porter’s five-force model of industry competitive forces, to understand how the travel industry has shaped and has been shaped by information systems. The case study concludes with a comparison of the impact of information technologies between the U.S. and European travel industries. It concludes that technology alone does not affect the roles of industry players, but the development of winning technologies exploits structural factors in the environment. Constant evolution of strategic information systems is critical to producing competitive advantage, but opportunism also plays a strong role.


2004 ◽  
Vol 37 (7) ◽  
pp. 751-780 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Thatcher

This article examines how internationalization affects domestic decisions about the reform of market institutions. A developing literature argues that nations maintain different “varieties of capitalism” in the face of economic globalization because of diverse domestic settings. However, in an internationalized world, powerful forces for change applying across border scan affect decision making within domestic arenas. The article therefore analyzes how three factors (transnational technological and economic developments, overseas reforms, and European regulation) affected institutional reform in a selected case study of telecommunications regulation in Britain, France, Germany, and Italy between the 1960s and 2002. The author argues that when different forms of internationalization are strong and combined, they can overwhelm institutional inertia and the effects of different national settings to result in rapid change and cross-national convergence in market institutions. Hence different varieties of capitalism may endure only when international pressures are low and/or for limited periods of time.


Author(s):  
Tony Bullard ◽  
ERSF Project Team

Te Whanau o Waipareira Trust provides a large range of health, education, social, justice, economic and employment services to its predominantly West Auckland Maori constituency. It operates over a large number of sites and uses a wide range of networks, alliances and joint ventures to deliver its services. Its external environment, like many other New Zealand organisations, is characterised by rapid change and uncertainty. This paper is a preliminary analysis of some of the cultural and structural features of Waipareira and the ski/ling strategies it undertakes to survive in its environment. Te Whanau o Waipareira Trust is the fourth case study of the FRST funded "Economic Restructuring and Skills Formation" project undertaken by WEB Research.


2011 ◽  
pp. 825-852 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryan Houliston

Hospitals are traditionally slow to adopt new information systems (IS). However, health care funders and regulators are demanding greater use of IS as part of the solution to chronic problems with patient safety and access to medical records. One technology offering benefits in these areas is Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). Pilot systems have demonstrated the feasibility of a wide range of hospital applications, but few have been fully implemented. This chapter investigates the factors that have restricted the adoption of RFID technology in hospitals. It draws on related work on the adoption of IS generally, published case studies of RFID pilots, and interviews with clinicians, IS staff and RFID vendors operating in New Zealand (NZ) hospitals. The chapter concludes with an analysis of the key differences between RFID and other IS, and which RFID applications have the greatest chance of successful implementation in hospitals.


Author(s):  
Bryan Houliston

Hospitals are traditionally slow to adopt new information systems (IS). However, health care funders and regulators are demanding greater use of IS as part of the solution to chronic problems with patient safety and access to medical records. One technology offering benefits in these areas is Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). Pilot systems have demonstrated the feasibility of a wide range of hospital applications, but few have been fully implemented. This chapter investigates the factors that have restricted the adoption of RFID technology in hospitals. It draws on related work on the adoption of IS generally, published case studies of RFID pilots, and interviews with clinicians, IS staff and RFID vendors operating in New Zealand (NZ) hospitals. The chapter concludes with an analysis of the key differences between RFID and other IS, and which RFID applications have the greatest chance of successful implementation in hospitals.


Author(s):  
Paul W. Taylor

This case study focuses on the modernization of purchasing practices and policies by a large city government. It hinged on harvesting savings from existing processes as the sole means of funding the introduction of a new enterprise procurement or supply chain technology system. The case demonstrates the essential role of changing organizational behaviors, re-engineering processes, assessing risk, and judging the level of bene?ts that can realistically be achieved through the introduction of new information systems.


Author(s):  
I S Murgatroyd ◽  
A Hodgson ◽  
R H Weston

In order to remain competitive, manufacturing enterprises must be able to adapt their business processes, and the associated resources and information systems, to ongoing change. This paper highlights the shortcomings of current business process re-engineering practice and proposes that there is a requirement for a business process for ‘process visualization and improvement’. A framework and methodology for the above business process are described and a case study utilizing the framework is detailed. It is concluded that the process visualization and improvement framework enabled a wide range of company personnel to participate in the case study exercise, to contribute to improved processes and subsequently to hold the view that a significant improvement over previous best practice had been achieved.


Author(s):  
Susan Gasson

This case study examines the impact of online reservation systems and e-commerce on the travel industry. Two questions are examined: 1. How can competitive advantage be obtained from the exploitation of new information technologiesin particular, e-commerce technologies? 2. How has the role of travel agents changed because of the new information technologies being used to achieve competitive advantage in the air travel industry? Initial discussion concerns the impact of the American Airlines SABRE system, as this has often been touted as giving American Airlines first-mover advantage in the industry. The wider impact of remote-access, computerized reservation systems, or Global Distribution Systems, and e-commerce access to online reservations in the travel industry is analyzed, using Porters five-force model of industry competitive forces, to understand how the travel industry has shaped and has been shaped by information systems. The case study concludes with a comparison of the impact of information technologies between the U.S. and European travel industries. It concludes that technology alone does not affect the roles of industry players, but the development of winning technologies exploits structural factors in the environment. Constant evolution of strategic information systems is critical to producing competitive advantage, but opportunism also plays a strong role.


2012 ◽  
Vol 09 (03) ◽  
pp. 1250019 ◽  
Author(s):  
NOUHA TAIFI ◽  
MARIANGELA LAZOI ◽  
ANGELO CORALLO ◽  
GIUSEPPINA PASSIANTE ◽  
MARIANGELA LAZOI

Organizations need to share and acquire new information to sustain competitive advantage in complex environment. They communicate through IT-based integrated systems to fasten communication and knowledge sharing for the creation of innovative products. Firms are, thus, extending their operations to integrate strategic knowledge from partners in the product development process. In this paper, we present a case study related to process innovation in an aerospace firm integrating its information systems with one of its partners to facilitate the design of the models of a complex product. We investigate on the strategy followed to integrate the information systems, the types of these latter, on their success factors and their impact on the product development. The case study provides important insights on the integration of information systems for product design outsourcing.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Bessa ◽  
Frederico Branco ◽  
António Rio Costa ◽  
José Martins ◽  
Ramiro Gonçalves

Portuguese Higher Education Institutions have more and more data that needs to be processed in order to get information and, therefore, Knowledge. In order to respond to this need, over time there have been several types of IS supported by ICT, which enables them to achieve these features and, at the same time, help with their daily activities. However, the continuous evolution of this technological component has led to a current high degree of complexity, from which the Information Systems Architectures emerged as means of increasing the effectiveness of its management and maintenance. Using the University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro as a case study, the research team proposed a generic ISA that enabled it to have a transversal vision of its IS, allowing the validation of existence/need IS focused on Information Management and decision-making under a multidimensional perspective, i.e., geared towards the various organizational levels, since the Operational level to the Strategic level, taking into account the information needs associated with each player.


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