This paper aims to contextualize the management of human activity systems (HAS) in lodging Mexican SMEs in the tourism environment, given that the management has been constrained in its ability to respond and adapt, this affects the operational dimension as well as the service provided to customers. Complementarity between methodologies and models of systems science allows to set the tourism SMEs concept through the of Warfield’s domain science model. Due to complex interactions derived from the interrelationships among actors engaged in tourism services, it seeks to unify different views about problems faced by human activity system management and establish guidelines between the being and the should of it (Soft Systems Methodology), it is proposed that the adoption of the principles of autopoietic systems can lead management to a state of order and self-organization in the human activity system to influence the efficiency of the total system. Professors and actors with decision-making power within these organizations would benefit from a new perspective in the issues treatment of the human dimension of these companies.
During the last decades, Tourism has been one of the fastest growing economic sectors across the world, reverting importance by the governments as a key factor in socio-economic progress due to the revenue by the activity, employment and infrastructure investment.
Derived from the phenomenon of globalization and the relevance of the activity, tourism experiences a continuous expansion and diversification, for that reason, and the need of organizations to hold events in which information could be updated for their industries, MICE Tourism emerged in the late 1950s, consisting in the organization of Meetings, Incentive travel, Conferences and Exhibitions. The MICE Tourism highlight very specific characteristics: (a) interdependence between the various stakeholders; (b) extent of the phenomenon; and (c) the event and its inter and multi-disciplinarity, which requires knowledge of the economic, social, cultural and environmental context within a systemic vision.
In Mexico the number of companies engaged in MICE Tourism has increased; however, many have been created as a market opportunity, without reference to the requirements of the segment and a structured business model that allows their long-term growth and generate value for all the stakeholders; in addition, most companies that make up this sector are Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), which have many deficiencies generated by various factors, which does not allow them to develop more and in some cases can lead to its demise, reason why their study is relevant, not only to prevent the failure of these enterprises but accelerate growth and level of global competition.
It is for the above explained that this research describes how building a systemic business model can generate value for Professional Congress Organizers. Because of the magnitude and interdisciplinarity that involves the operation of Tourism SMEs, the research develops a holistic view from the systemic approach due to their ability to study the system as a whole and covering its complexity, allowing the study not only of the intern problems of the company, but the external factors that affect it. Specifically in this research, is used the Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) by Peter Checkland.
The diagnostic of the Professional Congress Organizers in Mexico using the SSM and Strategic Management was developed as preliminary results of the research, showing the current situation of these enterprises, their strengths and weaknesses, the elements of the system and the approach of the Business Model according to the diagnostic.
Commerce is arguably one of the dominant forces driving social change on a global scale today, and within this e-commerce represents a significant component. The retail e-commerce ecosystem can be viewed as pivotal in this arena, providing a bridge between the evolution of service technology and service-driven social change.
The past few years have seen enormous changes in the retail industry. Customers now expect a seamless and consistent experience from a retailer or brand as they move between stores, computer, mobile devices and social media, potentially buying from one location and returning items to another, sometimes even across geographies. This can only be achieved with a shift from a traditional product-focus to a new customer-focus, a shift that has a powerful impact on entire organisations and business models. Many branded manufacturers who previously only distributed wholesale are starting up direct-to-consumer operations, and retailers who previously only operated physical stores now have online shopping websites driving a significant proportion of their business. More interestingly, new generation retailers are realising that customer-centricity can only be achieved with engaged and committed employees, and this is driving an emerging employee-centricity that, to my mind, constitutes a promising new force for change.
In parallel, e-commerce software providers are changing with the emergence of software-as-a-service and supporting business models. Demandware is an interesting example of this, offering a revenue-share payment model to retailers that leads to an unusually strong business partnership where both parties’ goals are aligned around revenue growth. Working with nearly 400 retailers worldwide, Demandware is in a good position to take a more systemic view of the dependencies between people, processes and technology, and is highly motivated to help its clients address their broader organizational challenges. A core part of the offering is shared expertise and evolutionary learning across the client community, facilitated through formal events, clients self-organising, cross-client research, and included consulting services.
In this context, I have been developing a consultancy programme to provide organisational design and change planning guidance tailored for ecommerce retailers. An early need was to develop a common language that could allow for comparison across vastly different organisations, so that general lessons could be extracted. For this purpose I developed a visual, high-level e-commerce process model canvas inspired by the business model canvas from Osterwalder et al. A focus on process avoids many of the issues arising from differences in terminology, titles and roles, and differences in organisational composition and structure. The canvas provides a framework for capturing and comparing different types of organisations, and for identifying both business and technology factors that influence how processes scale.
The partnership context allows me to work iteratively with clients so that my tools evolve through practical use while being expanded and refined. I have found the e-commerce process canvas to be valuable for framing wide-ranging discussions and exposing aspects of a situation that might not otherwise emerge. I will show some examples of the canvas in use, and describe the types of conversation it stimulates. I will also outline some of the ways this programme might develop, and would welcome comments from other participants on challenges, pitfalls and opportunities of such programmes.
Systems Engineering projects often fail to meet expectations in terms of timescales and cost. Project plans, which determine cost and deadline expectations, are produced and monitored within a reductionist paradigm. This assumes that the cumulative activities, and their corresponding durations, that comprise the developed solution can be known in advance, and that monitoring and management intervention can ensure satisfactory delivery of an adequate solution, through implementation of this plan.
An ongoing research effort within Thales UK investigates the influence of complexity in the development of systems engineering solutions, and the impact that complexity may have in the ability of organisations to meet delivery expectations.
This paper presents a case study that examines the systems engineering function within a Thales UK business line. The focus is the organisation, in particular how it supports the technical development of projects - what it does, how it works and why. The research is exploratory. It gathers evidence through participant-observation, interviews, documentation, and archival records. It considers two perspectives; a ‘traditional’, predominantly reductionist perspective, and a novel CAS perspective. Evidence is analysed in light of both perspectives to consider how each is able to explain the observations.
Research that considers an organisation as a CAS is predominately theoretical, rather than empirical. No reports of empirical research that consider organisations performing complex system development as CAS were found in the literature. Research that considers the delivery performance of systems engineering projects is predominately reductionist. This paper contributes by viewing a systems engineering development organisation as a CAS, and considering the novel insights this perspective brings to the issue of satisfactory project delivery.
Keywords: Systems Engineering Development; Reductionist; Complex Adaptive System; Empirical Research.
Managing a single business demands knowing about how to create and sustain its competitive advantage. Managing multibusiness firms additionally requires coordinating business diversity and capturing synergies that increases managerial complexity. Those challenges demand a different kind of knowledge. Based on a qualitative research, this paper presents a conceptual model of this knowledge as a complex adaptive system (CAS). As a CAS, multilevel agents, synergy stimulus, adaptive responses and action systems compose this knowledge. Corporate level managerial knowledge characterizes as tacit, collective, integrative and collaborative. The research used a case study approach in a Colombian multibusiness firm, focusing on the top management team. The resulting approach helps to enhance the conception of corporate level managerial knowledge and this approach facilitates decision-making decentralization.
Keywords: Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS), Multibusiness Firm, Managerial Knowledge, Corporate Strategy
Higher education institutions generate a significant amount of wastes in their laboratories. Toxic reagents can react to other chemicals and form unknown products which are dangerous to both human and environment. Despite the severity of the situation, these wastes are not always discarded properly due to either lack of awareness by students and employees or lack of follow-up inspection. As education institutions, the universities should be the best example of how to manage their wastes and therefore show concern about the environment. This work is aimed at applying the Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) for management of hazardous wastes in a laboratory at the Federal University of Uberlândia, including their storage and disposal, in order to improve the awareness by those involved in scientific laboratory research about this issue.
Keywords: Reagents, hazardous wastes, SSM, laboratories.
Environmental concerns have increased the awareness of the limitations of the modern conception of nature and its disastrous consequences. Corporate sustainability consists of ensuring long-term economic viability and, at the same time, contributing to the socio-economic development of communities, the health of the environment and the stability of society (Ethos, 2009). The concept of corporate sustainability involves sustainable economic growth that is aligned with social development and environmental conservation. Consequently, a new development strategy emerges embodying political, economic, social, technological, and environmental dimensions. This new paradigm of a sustainable development implies the need for profound changes in the current production systems, human society organisation, and utilisation of natural resources essential to human life and other living beings (Belico et. al, 2000). Therefore, the paradigm of sustainability implies the need for changes in the current production systems, including human society organization and utilization of natural resources essential to human life and other living beings (Liboni; Cezarino, 2014).The aim of this paper is to analyze the development of changes in operations management towards sustainability using the Soft System Methodology. The results show that Balbo company, Brazilian sugarcane industry, has developed new ways to change and adapt in a disturbing environment was able to built dynamics capabilities. SSM is a soft methodology, which was developed from the observation that not all problems and situations faced by corporations are of a precise nature (Martinelli and Ventura, 2006, p. 163). This systemic method was “designed to assist in the resolution of soft issues, which are of complex nature and involve many human elements” (Martinelli; Ventura, 2006, p.163). Native branch and all the changes demanded by the company’s new business were the source of development of dynamic capacities and adaptation of the company, which shifted from a stable commodity market to a dynamic, increasing market of organic food products. In order to seek a more sustainable management model, the company has developed dynamic capacities within the economic sphere focusing on efficacy, reduction and reuse of solid wastes, and cogeneration of energy; within the social sphere, the rural workers are assisted with security and quality of life programs; and within the environmental sphere, the company, through the Cana Verde project, has environmental certifications and preserves protected areas by conciliating the respect for the environment with the production processes of all areas.
