The Internet creates opportunities for firms to leverage information technology to expand markets, increase efficiencies and raise profits. Users benefit through expanding their global search capacity for information and experiences. However, rapid expansion and increased complexity have created...

Many small manufacturing firms are becoming dislinked from their traditional client connections as those larger manufacturing clients strive to reduce costs by either moving production to lower cost countries or working with fewer, more capable suppliers. This paper explores learnings from a...

There is an increasing need for greater collaboration between academe and industry partners. To attract research funds, academics often market the potential value of empirical research to the private sector and form partnerships While the outcomes of these partnerships have potential value for...

Business process integration and automation have gained popularity among business community, in the recent past. This increased popularity can be seen as a result of the widespread use of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems as part of maximizing the benefits of Business Process...

Collaboration literally means working together. Collaborative improvement is an extension of continuous improvement and can be defined as a purposeful inter-company interactive process that focuses on continuous incremental innovation aimed at enhancing the collaboration's overall performance....

This paper examines a sample of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) firms in Australia drawn from a wide range of product and service providers in the Sydney region. It researches the sources of information and ideas that firms utilize to sustain their competitive position through...

This paper explores qualitative research in general and the case study approach in particular as used in Operations Management (OM) theory-building research. It discusses the relative strengths and weaknesses of qualitative approaches used in OM research as against their quantitative...

The purpose of the research undertaken for this thesis was to examine management practices relating to new product development processes in small to medium-sized manufacturing firms (SMEs). The thesis topic has its origins in a European Community funded research project carried out during 1997-9...

Collaborative R&D networks in Australia are explored through a comparison of case studies of seven such ?clubs?. The paper addresses the research question: what are the conditions and mechanisms that facilitate the engagement of entrepreneurial SMEs with R&D and innovation? A typology of these...

As knowledge-based economies emerge and develop there should be increasing interest in the knowledge work of individuals, groups or organisations. This issue prompted a review of recent research efforts to determine what the term ?knowledge work? means and how this term has been used. The review...