The Critical Success Factors Of The ERP System Project: A Meta-Analysis Methodology

Many articles have been written on enterprise resource planning success in the last two decades in both the public and private sector. An important number of empirical studies attempt to delineate the steps of ERP project integration and their specificities. These research works can be divided into two principal phases: the implementation and the post-implementation. The complex nature of the ERP system and its implementation stages lead us to investigate about the critical success factors mentioned in both phases of integration. Recently, several studies have tried to assess the success of ERP system and highlight the CSF’s based on some theoretical models. This study uses a meta-analysis methodology to highlight the principal factors leading to ERP success, and it evaluates the weight of CSF’s in the process of implementing the ERP project. Based on the best studies published in the last years about ERP success, we conduct this research to determine the most important factors highly correlated with the ERP success. Eleven CSF’s are identified in our meta-analysis and classified according to their significant importance based on the correlation coefficients finding in 32 articles focus only on the ERP system. Some criteria were selected to choose studies such as: Sample size, the availability of correlation coefficient finding (quantitative empirical data), the availability of reliable constructs (Cronbach’s alpha), and the measurement scale of each factor

Modelling the tactical decisions for open-pit mines

Open-pit deposits are often characterized by a stack of layers of different geological nature. Some layers are worthless while the ore of the others is of a varying economic value depending on grade. To reach a layer, it is necessary to have first removed the upper layers above the extraction zone. This action results in uncovering the layer in this particular place and in facilitating access to the layers below. This process involves a series of 2 to 7 operations; each one is performed by a machine, some of which are able to perform up to 3 different operations. Ensuring the consistency of mining extraction scheduling over a few months, in order to meet known or forecast demand, is a challenging task. A mining extraction model based on mathematical programming has been proposed but it is hardly usable due to its size. A Discrete Events Simulator modelling is currently being tested to measure the impact of dynamic rules used to allocate the machines and select the target mining area

Understanding the UK hospital supply chain in an era of patient choice

Author Posting © Westburn Publishers Ltd, 2011. This is a post-peer-review, pre-copy-edit version of an article which has been published in its definitive form in the Journal of Marketing Management, and has been posted by permission of Westburn Publishers Ltd for personal use, not for redistribution. The article was published in Journal of Marketing Management, 27(3-4), 401 - 423, doi:10.1080/0267257X.2011.547084 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2011.547084The purpose of this paper is to investigate the UK hospital supply chain in light of recent government policy reform where patients will have, inter alia, greater choice of hospital for elective surgery. Subsequently, the hospital system should become far more competitive with supply chains having to react to these changes as patient demand becomes less predictable. Using a qualitative case study methodology, hospital managers are interviewed on a range of issues. Views on the development of the hospital supply chain in different phases are derived, and are used to develop a map of the current hospital chain. The findings show hospital managers anticipating some significant changes to the hospital supply chain and its workings as Patient Choice expands. The research also maps the various aspects of the hospital supply chain as it moves through different operational phases and highlights underlying challenges and complexities. The hospital supply chain, as discussed and mapped in this research, is original work given there are no examples in the literature that provide holistic representations of hospital activity. At the end, specific recommendations are provided that will be of interest to service to managers, researchers, and policymakers

Système interactif d'aide à la décision pour la planification de l'extraction minière

International audienceThe extraction process of an open-pit mine, consisting of an accumulation of ore layers of different characteristics, results from the iteration of a sequence of elementary operations carried out on parcels, by specialized or multipurpose machines. The medium-term programming of the extraction consists in deciding the assignment of the available machines over time. This problem is addressed through a discrete event simulation, being implemented in a phosphate mine, taking into account all the extraction constraints and driving the extraction process by the combination of an efficiency criterion (urgency of obtaining certain qualities) and an effectiveness criterion (machine movements). The controlling parameterization of thesimulation makes it possible to quickly obtain many technically feasible scenarios, between which the choice is difficult, because of the necessity of taking into account time in the progressive provisioning of the extracted ores and in the use of machines. We describe the bases of a visual decision support system, currently under development, which makes it possible to exploit the results of a scenario, to compare several scenarios and to pilot the parameterization in search for a good solution. This web-based DSS is coupled to the simulator via a relational database.Le processus d'extraction d’une mine à ciel ouvert, composée d’une superposition de couches de minerais de caractéristiques différentes, résulte de l’itération d’une séquence d’opérations élémentaires réalisées sur des cases, par des machines spécialisées ou polyvalentes. La programmation à moyen terme de l’extraction consiste à décider l’affectation des machines disponibles au cours du temps. Ce problème est abordé au travers une simulation à évènements discrets, en cours d’implantation dans une mine de phosphate, prenant en compte l’ensemble des contraintes d’extraction et pilotant le processus d’extraction par la combinaison d’un critère d’efficacité (urgence de l’obtention de certaines qualités) et d’un critère d’efficience (déplacements des machines). Le paramétrage du pilotage de la simulation permet d’obtenir rapidement de très nombreux scénarios techniquement réalisables, entre lesquels le choix est difficile, en raison de la nécessaire prise en compte du temps dans la mise à disposition progressive des minerais extraits et dans l’utilisation des machines. Nous décrivons les fondements d’un système d’aide à la décision visuel, en cours de développement, permettant d’exploiter les résultats d’un scénario, de comparer plusieurs scénarios et de piloter le paramétrage de la recherche d’une bonne solution. Ce SIAD, de type web-based, est couplé au simulateur via une base de données relationnelle

Reviews and syntheses:Best practices for the application of marine GDGTs as proxy for paleotemperatures: Sampling, processing, analyses, interpretation, and archiving protocols

Marine glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs) are used in various proxies (such as TEX86) to reconstruct past ocean temperatures. Over 20 years of improvements in GDGT sample processing, analytical techniques, data interpretation and our understanding of proxy functioning have led to the collective development of a set of best practices in all these areas. Further, the importance of Open Science in research has increased the emphasis on the systematic documentation of data generation, reporting and archiving processes for optimal reusability of data. In this paper, we provide protocols and best practices for obtaining, interpreting and presenting GDGT data (with a focus on marine GDGTs), from sampling to data archiving. The purpose of this paper is to optimize inter-laboratory comparability of GDGT data, and to ensure published data follows modern open access principles.</p

Paleoceanographic changes and extreme event records in the marine sedimentary archives since the Last Glacial Maximum, east of Taiwan

En l’absence d’un réel consensus quant à l’évolution future de la dynamique des typhons dans le contexte du réchauffement actuel, leur étude dans le cadre des changements climatiques passés est un sujet de recherche nécessaire pour améliorer notre compréhension de ces événements. Taiwan est située au cœur de la « Typhoon Alley », région présentant la plus grande fréquence des cyclones tropicaux les plus intenses à l’échelle planétaire. D’un point de vue géologique, Taiwan est affectée par un important taux de surrection orogénique lié à une double subduction. Ce cadre géodynamique particulier est à l’origine de nombreux séismes entrainant la mise en place des glissements gravitaires à terre et en mer. Ces paramètres combinés aux précipitations de la mousson d’Asie de l’Est d’été amènent à un important export de matériel terrigène à l’océan par le biais de canyons sous-marins.Les objectifs principaux de ce doctorat sont de reconstituer l’évolution climatique et océanographique, de comprendre les mécanismes d’enregistrement des typhons dans les archives sédimentaires marines, et enfin de faire le lien entre les changements océanographiques et climatologiques et les enregistrements des paléo-typhons depuis le Dernier Maximum Glaciaire (DMG) dans cette région clé. Pour ce faire, des mesures de sédimentologie, de géochimie organique, isotopique et inorganique, de biomarqueurs lipidiques et de distribution faunistique des foraminifères benthiques et planctoniques ont été menées sur deux carottes sédimentaires (MD18-3532 et MD18-3523) prélevées au cours de la campagne franco-taïwanaise EAGER (2018). La carotte MD18-3532 provient d’un bassin intra-pente du prisme d’accrétion de Ryükyü éloigné des apports continentaux directs, tandis que la carotte MD18-3523 a été prélevée sur une levée du canyon de Hoping qui reçoit les panaches de débordements des flux turbiditiques. Elles couvrent respectivement 27 et 19 kilo-années.À partir de mesures sédimentologiques et géochimiques de la carotte MD18-3532, il a été possible de reconstituer l’évolution du courant de Kuroshio depuis le DMG et de mettre en lumière son rôle combiné avec la mousson d’Asie de l’Est d’hiver dans les changements de la productivité primaire.L’étude de la distribution faunistique des foraminifères benthiques et planctoniques, ajoutée à des analyses géochimiques des sédiments de la carotte MD18-3523, ont permis une meilleure compréhension des changements et des mécanismes de contrôle de l’oxygénation des masses d’eaux profondes dans la zone d’étude au cours de la déglaciation. Elles ont aussi permis de mettre en lumière le rôle de la mousson d’Asie de l’Est d’hiver sur la productivité et l’oxygénation de fond, ainsi que sur l’efficacité de la pompe biologique marine dans cette région subtropicale. Cette étude a aussi permis la caractérisation de périodes d’intensification de l’activité typhonique à Taiwan.L’étude des biomarqueurs lipidiques dans la carotte MD18-3532 a permis la reconstruction des changements de température de surface et de subsurface depuis le DMG. L’utilisation de biomarqueurs lipidiques terrigènes a mis également en évidence l’apparition de niveaux typhoniques dès le début du réchauffement de subsurface et de surface de la déglaciation, appuyant l’hypothèse d’une intensification de ces évènements dans un monde en réchauffement. Enfin, la caractérisation géochimique et physique des niveaux noirs présents pendant le DMG et la déglaciation suggère une origine biogénique liée au transport de matériel terrigène par typhons, ou à des tempêtes de poussières durant les périodes d’intensification de la mousson d’Asie de l’Est d’hiver.Ces études ont mis en évidence l’importance de la pompe biologique marine subtropicale au cours du DMG et au début de la déglaciation, mais aussi la capacité des typhons à transférer le carbone terrestre vers l’océan profond, et l’importance de la température des eaux de surface et de subsurface dans la dynamique des typhons.Without real consensus on the future evolution of typhoon dynamics in the context of global warming, their study over past climate change is a necessary research topic for improvement of the understanding of these events. Taiwan is located in the centre of the “Typhoon Alley”, the region with the highest frequency of the world's most intense tropical cyclones. Geologically, Taiwan is affected by a high rate of orogenic uplift related to a double subduction. This particular geodynamic setting is at the origin of numerous earthquakes that provoke landslides on land and at sea. These parameters combined with intense East Asian summer monsoon precipitation lead to an important export of terrigenous material to the ocean through submarine canyons.The main objectives of this PhD are to reconstruct the climatic and oceanographic evolution, understand the mechanisms of typhoon recording in the marine sedimentary archives, and link oceanographic and climatic changes to the paleo-typhoon record since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in this key region. In order to achieve these goals, analysis of sedimentology, organic, isotopic and inorganic geochemistry, lipid biomarkers and faunal distribution of benthic and planktonic foraminifera were carried out on two sediment cores (MD18-3532 and MD18-3523) collected during the French-Taiwanese EAGER oceanographic cruise (2018). Core MD18-3532 was recovered from an intra-slope basin of the Ryukyu accretionary prism removed from direct continental inputs, while core MD18-3523 was collected from a levee of Hoping Canyon that receives overflow plumes from turbiditic flows. The records cover 27 and 19 kiloyears respectively.From the sedimentological and geochemical measurements of core MD18-3532, it was possible to reconstruct the evolution of the Kuroshio Current since the LGM and highlight its combined role with the East Asian winter monsoon in changes in primary productivity.The study of the faunal distribution of benthic and planktonic foraminifera, together with geochemical analyses in core MD18-3523, led to a better understanding of the changes and control mechanisms of deep water mass oxygenation in the study area during the deglaciation, and to confirm the role of the East Asian Winter Monsoon on paleoproductivity and bottom oxygenation, as well as on the efficiency of the marine biological pump in this subtropical region. This study also allowed the characterisation of periods of increased typhoon activity in Taiwan.The study of lipid biomarkers in core MD18-3532 allowed the reconstruction of sea surface and subsurface temperature changes since the LGM. The use of terrigenous lipid biomarkers also revealed the occurrence of typhoon records at the onset of subsurface and surface deglacial warming, supporting the hypothesis of an intensification of these events during global temperature rise. Finally, the geochemical and physical characterisation of the black levels present during the LGM and deglaciation suggests they have a biogenic origin linked to the transport of terrigenous material by typhoons or by dust storms during the intensification of the East Asian winter monsoon.These studies have highlighted the importance of the subtropical marine biological pump during the LGM and early deglaciation in this region, as well as the ability of typhoons to transfer terrestrial carbon to the deep ocean, and the importance of surface and subsurface water temperature in typhoon dynamics