How to govern business services exchanges: Contractual and relational issues

With firms concentrating on core competencies, more emphasis has been placed on outsourcing and dealing with external sourcing agents. This has led to a stronger academic focus on buyer–seller exchanges and the corresponding mechanisms for governing these exchanges. This paper gives an overview of previous research investigating the exchange governance phenomenon based on transaction cost theory or co‐operative interorganizational relationships. The results reveal that few research studies have investigated the overall picture of exchange governance, including both contractual and relational governance and taking into account antecedents as well as performance outcomes of the governance mechanisms involved. Moreover, despite the service‐dominant logic shift, limited attention is given to specific service characteristics and their impact on exchange governance. This paper attempts to meld economic and social related antecedents into a model with regard to exchange governance in business services settings. Contractual and relational governance issues and their impact on performance outcomes are also considered. The resulting model indicates that to govern business services exchanges efficiently, more emphasis should be placed on behavioral uncertainty, human and process asset specificity and contractual governance. The paper concludes by discussing several directions for future research.     

Strategic management of consumer services

A period of more rigorous strategic management is under way in consumer service businesses. In banking, insurance, lodging, media, retailing, housing, restaurants and education, more growth must come from competitive share shift. This paper b shows the need for a different set of strategies to win in services than have been shaped in the product business context. Specific illustrations show how leading U.S. consumer service companies are building strategic advantage while also improving the value of their business.     

How to integrate strategic planning into your management process

The primary purpose of strategic planning is to enable management to make decisions today which will affect the firm over the long run where the long run is characterized by risk and uncertainty. If strategic planning is to be useful to management it must be an integral part of the decision making process and not merely an appendage to the management process. In this paper we shall define some of the problems involved in integrating strategic planning and strategic planning tools into the decision process. We shall also suggest some possible solutions to these problems.     

How to use outside collection agencies. Don't simply charge off accounts and forget them

Collection agencies may be the key to receiving payment on overdue bills. Learn how they work and what to look for in a reputable collection agency.     

Mathematics in management—How it looks to the manager

This paper begins by looking at the relationships between mathematics, statistics, OR (operational research) and management. It then examines a number of difficulties in the application of mathematics to management—difficulties of prediction, of determining an optimal solution, and of implementation. In connection with implementation, it discusses the position and attitudes of line managers, and the implications of these for the training of OR practitioners. Finally, an attempt is made to distinguish areas of application of mathematics in management by reference to the scale of resources at stake, the complexity of the problem, and the adequacy of the predictive data.     

Knowledge management based collaboration moderator services to support SMEs in virtual organizations

Abstract

Collaboration Moderator Services (CMS) are discussed as a Knowledge management service for SMEs operating in a virtual organization (VO). In this research, a CMS supports the pre-creation stage of a VO by quickly identifying potential business opportunities and collaborative partners. Text mining techniques are used to analyze calls for tender documents based on the competencies and areas of interest stored in the shared information about companies in a collaboration pool. A case study of UK-based SMEs demonstrates the application of text mining as a knowledge discovery tool, supporting SMEs at the pre-creation stage of a VO. Results show that text mining can be used to (1) identify possible business opportunities for SMEs in the collaborative network (2) Indicate potential collaborations between pairs of SMEs using link analysis and (3) Raise awareness of business opportunities and possible SME partners for multi-enterprise collaborations using a dimensional matrix.     

From blind spots to hotspots: How knowledge services clusters develop and attract foreign investment

This paper explores local and global dynamics underlying the development of knowledge services clusters, which we define as new geographic concentrations of technical talent and service providers offering upstream technical and knowledge-intensive business services to regional and global clients. Taking a co-evolutionary perspective on the development of knowledge services clusters in Latin America, based on data from the Offshoring Research Network (ORN), we find that cluster growth results from intersecting trajectories: the emergence of local talent pools and capabilities initially serving local and regional demand; broadening global search for talent and expertise by multinational corporations; and internationalization strategies of service providers competing to serve global clients. Findings suggest that increasing commoditization of knowledge services opens up windows of opportunity for new clusters, but also involves challenges for sustainable growth. Results may stimulate future research on global sourcing and cluster development.     

Bringing baby home: a comprehensive case management program for obstetrical services

Originally presented to the Society of Home Health Care Management of the American College of Physician Executives at its November 16, 1993, meeting in Tucson, Ariz., the program described in this article was the winner of the College's 1994 Innovations Award in Medical Quality Management, sponsored by Merck Sharp & Dohme. The program shows the potential of case management for both improvement in the quality of care and containment of costs for a managed care population with a substantial Medicaid segment. This article is part of a continuing series on innovative programs in home health care.     

Computational risk management techniques for fixed charge network flow problems with uncertain arc failures

We consider a formulation for the fixed charge network flow (FCNF) problem subject to multiple uncertain arc failures, which aims to provide a robust optimal flow assignment in the sense of restricting potential losses using Conditional Value-at-Risk (CVaR). We show that a heuristic algorithm referred to as Adaptive Dynamic Cost Updating Procedure (ADCUP) previously developed for the deterministic FCNF problem can be extended to the considered problem under uncertainty and produce high-quality heuristic solutions for large problem instances. The reported computational experiments demonstrate that the described procedure can successfully tackle both the uncertainty considerations and the large size of the networks. High-quality heuristic solutions for problem instances with up to approximately 200,000 arcs have been identified in a reasonable time.     

如何为下属的成长指点迷津

关心下属的成长是领导者的责任。下属成长快,从短期看可以增强单位实力,从长远看有利于放心地把事业一代一代传下去。在实际工作中,下属对于自身存在的问题和不足……     

A review and synthesis of demand management, capacity management and performance in health-care services

Responses to demand uncertainty in the field of health-care services is a very timely research issue because of ongoing changes in demand patterns that are driven by demographics and recent changes in the delivery of these services. Despite its importance to researchers, the literature on demand management, capacity management and performance in health care has not been extensively reviewed. The present paper addresses this need by analyzing and synthesizing 463 articles published between 1986 and 2006. The key contributions of this work are the analysis and synthesis of research on demand management, capacity management and performance, along with an agenda to guide future research in this important area.     

The services field: A cornucopia filled with potential management topics

A primary aim of management research is to develop knowledge about the management of organizations. Many countries’ long-trend shift towards a service economy and the concomitant increase in the number of service organizations have stimulated advancements in service management research. However, some blind spots remain. In this article, we focus on product market stakeholders and organizational stakeholders and discuss research questions (or blind spots) that map to different areas of management literature, especially those of service management literature. We believe that attaining answers to those research questions can yield important insights that have the potential to advance management research.     

如何捕捉与运用机遇

江泽民同志在党的十六大报告中指出：“综观全局，二十一世纪头二十年，对我国来说，是一个必须紧紧抓住并且可以大有作为的重要战略机遇期。”能否抓住机遇有所作为，完全取决于每个党员、干部能否善于把握机遇、勇于捕捉机遇和高效运用机遇。善于把握机遇机遇即契机、时机、战机，通常被理解为一种有利的客观环境和条件。历史的经验早已证明，什么时候抓住了机遇，我们的事业就顺利发展；什么时候丧失了机遇，革命和建设就遭受挫折。那么，如何才能把握住机遇呢？首先，要强化机遇意识。古人云：“难得而易失者，时也；时止不旋踵者，机也…     

How to make e-Procurement viable for SME suppliers

Due to their common role as suppliers, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are especially challenged by today's turbulent business conditions. In order to meet this challenge, short-term WWW-based enterprise cooperations are regarded as an appropriate way to enhance the competitive strength of SMEs. Hence, the Institute of Machine Tools and Industrial Management (IWB) operates three so-called competence networks for engineering (www.engineering-net.de), rapid prototyping (www.rp-net.de) and manufacturing (www.produktionsnetz.de) services. For the purpose of an applied research project, more than 80 participating SME suppliers have been included in these specialized virtual markets, which are based on the core competencies of the cooperating SMEs. Additionally, the platform (www.virtueller-markt.de) enables customers to configure their specific supply chains via the above-mentioned competence networks. The presented paper depicts how to establish and operate these competence networks as well as how to configure supply chains via these virtual markets.     

争不争争什么怎么争

人们在工作、学习和生活中,常常离不开争取,离不开努力。但是,争不争、争什么、怎么争,不是小问题。争取的方法、努力的方向,对人们的理想、信念、行为方式、工作取向和生活情趣都有着很大的影响。对于“争”,态度要科学,取向要正确,境界要高尚。一般来说,人人都有“争”的欲望和潜意识,总希望通过努力争取,保证自己在各方面都能不掉队、不落伍,走在前列。但在现实生活中,在争与不争的问题上,人们的态度是有差别的。有的人总是保持着一股不松懈、不怠慢的劲头,一种欲与天公试比高的精神和不服输、不认低的心志,为真理、为群众,孜孜以求,越争…