The state of business process management in South African companies today
- Authors: Sello, Isaac Thabiso
- Date: 2013-04-11
- Subjects: Business process management , Industrial management , Reengineering (Management) , Organizational change , Benchmarking (Management)
- Type: Mini-Dissertation
- Identifier: uj:7446 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/8306
- Description: M.Phil. (Engineering Management) , The principle aim of this study is to investigate the state of Business Process Management (BPM) in South African industrial organisations. The researcher as a Business Process Engineer dedicated to performance improvement through process innovation and change management principles, conducted a field research project studying the application of process management in South African companies. This survey summarises information provided by 348 respondents working in large, medium, and small companies, representing a broad cross section of industries in South Africa. Given the size and diversity of the respondents, the researcher believes that this is the most comprehensive and representative overview of: • How organisations understand BPM; • How was BPM spending in 2011; • What BPM activities companies are currently engaged in; and • What BPM activities companies are planning for the future? The researcher hopes the information provided in this survey report will provide readers with insight into the kinds of BPM development efforts currently underway and how their company’s BPM efforts compare to the overall market. Finally, the researcher hopes this survey report will provide BPM practitioners with insights that will suggest new ideas for future developments in their organisations. Research results shows that South African organisations are as likely to be pursuing business process redesign or considering the use of BPM Systems. Some industries are absolutely doing more than others, just as large companies are more likely to be undertaking large projects, but companies in all industries and companies of all different size are engaged in BPM work.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Sello, Isaac Thabiso
- Date: 2013-04-11
- Subjects: Business process management , Industrial management , Reengineering (Management) , Organizational change , Benchmarking (Management)
- Type: Mini-Dissertation
- Identifier: uj:7446 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/8306
- Description: M.Phil. (Engineering Management) , The principle aim of this study is to investigate the state of Business Process Management (BPM) in South African industrial organisations. The researcher as a Business Process Engineer dedicated to performance improvement through process innovation and change management principles, conducted a field research project studying the application of process management in South African companies. This survey summarises information provided by 348 respondents working in large, medium, and small companies, representing a broad cross section of industries in South Africa. Given the size and diversity of the respondents, the researcher believes that this is the most comprehensive and representative overview of: • How organisations understand BPM; • How was BPM spending in 2011; • What BPM activities companies are currently engaged in; and • What BPM activities companies are planning for the future? The researcher hopes the information provided in this survey report will provide readers with insight into the kinds of BPM development efforts currently underway and how their company’s BPM efforts compare to the overall market. Finally, the researcher hopes this survey report will provide BPM practitioners with insights that will suggest new ideas for future developments in their organisations. Research results shows that South African organisations are as likely to be pursuing business process redesign or considering the use of BPM Systems. Some industries are absolutely doing more than others, just as large companies are more likely to be undertaking large projects, but companies in all industries and companies of all different size are engaged in BPM work.
- Full Text:
Improve ferromanganese smelting processes using benchmarking techniques
- Sedumedi, B. Kaelo, Pan, Xiaowei
- Authors: Sedumedi, B. Kaelo , Pan, Xiaowei
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Benchmarking (Management) , Ferromanganese alloys
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:4777 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/11960
- Description: It is well known that ferromanganese alloys are used to help produce all types of steels. Manganese ore prices are closely associated with those of iron ore prices. The production of high quality ferromanganese has become increasingly important in the context of fluctuations in the iron ore price in global markets. In appreciating the importance of benchmarking the various ferromanganese production practices worldwide have to be identified to develop methodological aspects. Firstly the standard production variables would be reconfirmed, and identify new ones given the various sophisticated production environments. In other words, are there unique variables to specific production facilities? Secondly, appropriate benchmarking method(s) would be recommended given the production objectives in existence. Inductively, all the variables, both metallurgical and non- metallurgical would be condensed into concepts or particular benchmarking techniques.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Sedumedi, B. Kaelo , Pan, Xiaowei
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Benchmarking (Management) , Ferromanganese alloys
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:4777 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/11960
- Description: It is well known that ferromanganese alloys are used to help produce all types of steels. Manganese ore prices are closely associated with those of iron ore prices. The production of high quality ferromanganese has become increasingly important in the context of fluctuations in the iron ore price in global markets. In appreciating the importance of benchmarking the various ferromanganese production practices worldwide have to be identified to develop methodological aspects. Firstly the standard production variables would be reconfirmed, and identify new ones given the various sophisticated production environments. In other words, are there unique variables to specific production facilities? Secondly, appropriate benchmarking method(s) would be recommended given the production objectives in existence. Inductively, all the variables, both metallurgical and non- metallurgical would be condensed into concepts or particular benchmarking techniques.
- Full Text:
Financial product development : a strategically competitive system engineering approach to innovative risk based financial engineering.
- Authors: Piquito, Nicholas Paul
- Date: 2012-08-27
- Subjects: Financial engineering , Risk management , Competition , Benchmarking (Management)
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:3209 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/6621
- Description: D.Ing. , It is said that the development of innovative new products is set to become the economic battleground of the twenty-first century. Specifically, the innovative identification, development and subsequent marketing of financial products designed in order to allow organisations to manage their financial risk profiles will assume increased importance as volatility within the global business environment and capital markets increases. The discipline responsible for the development of such financial products, financial engineering, will increase in importance as financial services organisations compete to be the first to satisfy the needs of the market. The ultimate aim of financial engineering, as with any product development process, must be to develop the required product in an optimal manner at a minimised economic life-cycle cost to the organisation. Simultaneously, if correctly applied, the process of financial engineering can be a significant source of competitive advantage to the financial services organisation in an industry characterised by intense competitive pressures and exponentially increasing complexity and volatility. The financial services organisation which is able to successfully combine these two elements will have the capability to position itself as a leader in the identification and development of innovative financial products, a capability critical for success within the financial services industry. The science of engineering has within it a special subset devoted to the optimisation of the process of product development. This discipline, known as system engineering, has been extremely effective in the enhancement of product development processes within a traditional manufacturing environment. Tangible benefits of the application of system engineering include a reduced product development cycle, increased product adherence to client specifications, and a reduction in the economic life-cycle cost of the product. Within this thesis the author suggests that the optimal development of financial products in an increasingly competitive environment requires a two-pronged approach. In the first instance the financial services organisation must choose to develop the product which best promotes the medium to long-term strategic aims of the organisation. This is the concept of strategic fit. In the second instance the financial services organisation must have the capability to develop this product more effectively, and more efficiently, than its competitors. As an implementation mechanism the author develops a Financial Product Development Model based on system engineering principles chosen for their applicability to the process of financial product development. Simultaneously, the author develops a Competitive Strategy Framework, a collection of five strategic elements designed to ensure that the financial product development decision displays a measure of correlation to the strategic aims of the organisation. This Competitive Strategy Framework is implemented within the Financial Product Development Model via the use of a Strategic Circuit Breaker, a concept developed by the author and based on the concept of trading circuit breakers as used on the world's major stock exchanges. The aim of the Financial Product Development Model proposed within this thesis is to enhance the process of financial engineering and in so doing provide the financial services organisation with a means of improving its strategic competitiveness within the financial markets. The proposed Financial Product Development Model is validated via the practical application of the model. The results of this validation indicate that significant benefits may be obtained by correctly implementing the model. In addition the author conducts a limited scope industry survey designed to determine the opinion of financial services professionals to the major concepts underlying the model. The favourable results of this survey indicate that (1) the proposed model is practical and applicable within the financial services industry, and (2) the financial services industry in general is unaware of the importance of the process of product development and the manner in which system engineering can be used to enhance this process. By implication the financial services organisation that is able to differentiate its financial product development process from its competitors stands to achieve a significant competitive advantage.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Piquito, Nicholas Paul
- Date: 2012-08-27
- Subjects: Financial engineering , Risk management , Competition , Benchmarking (Management)
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:3209 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/6621
- Description: D.Ing. , It is said that the development of innovative new products is set to become the economic battleground of the twenty-first century. Specifically, the innovative identification, development and subsequent marketing of financial products designed in order to allow organisations to manage their financial risk profiles will assume increased importance as volatility within the global business environment and capital markets increases. The discipline responsible for the development of such financial products, financial engineering, will increase in importance as financial services organisations compete to be the first to satisfy the needs of the market. The ultimate aim of financial engineering, as with any product development process, must be to develop the required product in an optimal manner at a minimised economic life-cycle cost to the organisation. Simultaneously, if correctly applied, the process of financial engineering can be a significant source of competitive advantage to the financial services organisation in an industry characterised by intense competitive pressures and exponentially increasing complexity and volatility. The financial services organisation which is able to successfully combine these two elements will have the capability to position itself as a leader in the identification and development of innovative financial products, a capability critical for success within the financial services industry. The science of engineering has within it a special subset devoted to the optimisation of the process of product development. This discipline, known as system engineering, has been extremely effective in the enhancement of product development processes within a traditional manufacturing environment. Tangible benefits of the application of system engineering include a reduced product development cycle, increased product adherence to client specifications, and a reduction in the economic life-cycle cost of the product. Within this thesis the author suggests that the optimal development of financial products in an increasingly competitive environment requires a two-pronged approach. In the first instance the financial services organisation must choose to develop the product which best promotes the medium to long-term strategic aims of the organisation. This is the concept of strategic fit. In the second instance the financial services organisation must have the capability to develop this product more effectively, and more efficiently, than its competitors. As an implementation mechanism the author develops a Financial Product Development Model based on system engineering principles chosen for their applicability to the process of financial product development. Simultaneously, the author develops a Competitive Strategy Framework, a collection of five strategic elements designed to ensure that the financial product development decision displays a measure of correlation to the strategic aims of the organisation. This Competitive Strategy Framework is implemented within the Financial Product Development Model via the use of a Strategic Circuit Breaker, a concept developed by the author and based on the concept of trading circuit breakers as used on the world's major stock exchanges. The aim of the Financial Product Development Model proposed within this thesis is to enhance the process of financial engineering and in so doing provide the financial services organisation with a means of improving its strategic competitiveness within the financial markets. The proposed Financial Product Development Model is validated via the practical application of the model. The results of this validation indicate that significant benefits may be obtained by correctly implementing the model. In addition the author conducts a limited scope industry survey designed to determine the opinion of financial services professionals to the major concepts underlying the model. The favourable results of this survey indicate that (1) the proposed model is practical and applicable within the financial services industry, and (2) the financial services industry in general is unaware of the importance of the process of product development and the manner in which system engineering can be used to enhance this process. By implication the financial services organisation that is able to differentiate its financial product development process from its competitors stands to achieve a significant competitive advantage.
- Full Text:
A methodology for benchmarking in an engineering business environment
- Authors: Lindemann, Werner Philip
- Date: 2014-02-12
- Subjects: Engineering - Management , Benchmarking (Management)
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:3922 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/9285
- Description: M.Ing. (Engineering Management) , Most new generation organisations have management models and organisational performance measurement systems in place. All these new kinds of models and systems will not be enough in the race for survival. Organisations needs a clear point of view of where they are going -a vision about tomorrow and what they should do to overcome the gap, from their current situation in order to get there successfully. It is also important for organisations to have a solid foundation to base such a visioning process on. Reengineering, continuous renewal, total quality management, lean production, downsizing - these all have proven vital to survival. But getting better at what we do is just about keeping ourselves in the race - it's not about winning the race. To win, we will have to know what the strategic intent and business priorities of the competition are (where are they going), in order to make sure we get there first. Charles Handy said about the winners of the race, "... it will be those who invent the world, not those who respond to it." Benchmarking is a means to ensure the above, where one basically have to say, "Let's look honestly at ourselves and determine what we do well and what we do badly. And where we do things badly, let's figure out what the world standards are, and then find some way to commit ourselves to reaching those standards." The purpose of this study was therefore to ensure a means for an organisation to get ahead in the race. It is important to note that performance measurement plays an integral role in management and benchmarking, because no process or action can be managed if it can be measured. Organisations are also not solely based on actual detail processes. There are other more strategic as well as "softer" issues of an organisation that will become much more important in the future, than concrete processes. These factors are the visioning processes within an organisation and their impact on change, as well as the creation and mobilisation of certain knowledge for certain purposes. The end-result of the study was therefore a scientific analysis of an engineering business environment, in order to create a means/methodology to do benchmarking, whilst ensuring a balance between the strategic, operational and knowledge aspects.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Lindemann, Werner Philip
- Date: 2014-02-12
- Subjects: Engineering - Management , Benchmarking (Management)
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:3922 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/9285
- Description: M.Ing. (Engineering Management) , Most new generation organisations have management models and organisational performance measurement systems in place. All these new kinds of models and systems will not be enough in the race for survival. Organisations needs a clear point of view of where they are going -a vision about tomorrow and what they should do to overcome the gap, from their current situation in order to get there successfully. It is also important for organisations to have a solid foundation to base such a visioning process on. Reengineering, continuous renewal, total quality management, lean production, downsizing - these all have proven vital to survival. But getting better at what we do is just about keeping ourselves in the race - it's not about winning the race. To win, we will have to know what the strategic intent and business priorities of the competition are (where are they going), in order to make sure we get there first. Charles Handy said about the winners of the race, "... it will be those who invent the world, not those who respond to it." Benchmarking is a means to ensure the above, where one basically have to say, "Let's look honestly at ourselves and determine what we do well and what we do badly. And where we do things badly, let's figure out what the world standards are, and then find some way to commit ourselves to reaching those standards." The purpose of this study was therefore to ensure a means for an organisation to get ahead in the race. It is important to note that performance measurement plays an integral role in management and benchmarking, because no process or action can be managed if it can be measured. Organisations are also not solely based on actual detail processes. There are other more strategic as well as "softer" issues of an organisation that will become much more important in the future, than concrete processes. These factors are the visioning processes within an organisation and their impact on change, as well as the creation and mobilisation of certain knowledge for certain purposes. The end-result of the study was therefore a scientific analysis of an engineering business environment, in order to create a means/methodology to do benchmarking, whilst ensuring a balance between the strategic, operational and knowledge aspects.
- Full Text:
Benchmarking best practice in new product development project : a South African cinema study
- Authors: Mohono, Thobela
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: New products , New products - Management , Motion picture theaters , Knowledge management , Benchmarking (Management)
- Language: English
- Type: Masters (Thesis)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/233814 , uj:23880
- Description: M.Phil. (Engineering Management) , Abstract: Please refer to full text to view abstract
- Full Text:
- Authors: Mohono, Thobela
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: New products , New products - Management , Motion picture theaters , Knowledge management , Benchmarking (Management)
- Language: English
- Type: Masters (Thesis)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/233814 , uj:23880
- Description: M.Phil. (Engineering Management) , Abstract: Please refer to full text to view abstract
- Full Text:
Benchmarking a neural network forecaster against statistical measures
- Authors: Herman, Hilde
- Date: 2014-09-16
- Subjects: Forecasting - Data processing , Neural networks (Computer science) , Artificial intelligence , Benchmarking (Management)
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:12312 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/12098
- Description: M.Ing. (Mechanical Engineering) , The combination of non-linear signal processing and financial market forecasting is a relatively new field of research. This dissertation concerns the forecasting of shares quoted on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange by using Artificial Neural Networks, and does so by comparing neural network results with established statistical results. The share price rise or fall are predicted as well as buy, sell and hold signals and compared to Time Series model and Moving Average Convergence Divergence results. The dissertation will show that artificial neural networks predict the share price rise or fall with less error than statistical models and yielded the highest profit when forecasting buy, sell and hold signals for a particular share.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Herman, Hilde
- Date: 2014-09-16
- Subjects: Forecasting - Data processing , Neural networks (Computer science) , Artificial intelligence , Benchmarking (Management)
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:12312 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/12098
- Description: M.Ing. (Mechanical Engineering) , The combination of non-linear signal processing and financial market forecasting is a relatively new field of research. This dissertation concerns the forecasting of shares quoted on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange by using Artificial Neural Networks, and does so by comparing neural network results with established statistical results. The share price rise or fall are predicted as well as buy, sell and hold signals and compared to Time Series model and Moving Average Convergence Divergence results. The dissertation will show that artificial neural networks predict the share price rise or fall with less error than statistical models and yielded the highest profit when forecasting buy, sell and hold signals for a particular share.
- Full Text:
- «
- ‹
- 1
- ›
- »