Browsing by Author "Mathrani S"

Now showing 1 - 13 of 13
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    A systematic literature review on environmental sustainability issues of flexible packaging: potential pathways for academic research and managerial practice
    (MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2022-04-15) Farrukh A; Mathrani S; Sajjad A; Tacker M; Apprich S; Krauter V
    The purpose of this review is to investigate environmental sustainability issues of the flexible packaging (FP) segment of the packaging industry. Increasingly, waste and pollution caused by FP have become a significant challenge for global sustainable development. Prior research studies have examined a diverse set of environmental challenges associated with FP, albeit, in a fragmented way. There is a paucity of research exploring and synthesizing the environmental burden of FP in an integrated fashion. To bridge this knowledge gap, we conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) to identify, synthesize, and analyze the environmental sustainability issues of FP utilizing the SCOPUS database. Based on an in-depth critical analysis of selected articles, this paper provides novel insights to scholars, practitioners, and policymakers for developing an improved understanding of environmental issues of the FP sector. This paper promotes academic scholarship and strengthens managerial practice in addressing the environmental sustainability challenges of FP.
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    An integrated lean and ISO 14001 framework for environmental performance: an assessment of New Zealand meat industry
    (Emerald Publishing Limited, 17/11/2021) Ahmed A; Mathrani S; Jayamaha N
    Purpose The aim of this paper is to explore the implementation of an integrated lean and ISO 14001 approach in meat industry for environmental performance and examine a proposed conceptual framework by capturing insights from lean and ISO 14001 experts in New Zealand (NZ). Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews have been conducted with a group of consultants (lean and ISO 14001) to evaluate the suitability of an integrated lean and ISO 14001 approach in the meat industry for environmental performance. A conceptual framework from literature has guided this study leading to its further development based on the empirical evidence collected. Findings Findings have illustrated a synergistic positive impact of lean and ISO 14001 implementation as an integrated approach for sustaining environmental performance in the meat industry. A joint implementation program provides more clarity in aligning ISO 14001 operational procedures with lean tools and techniques for an enhanced environmental performance outcome. Practical implications The application of an integrated lean and ISO 14001 framework is proposed in this paper, which can help industry practitioners and academia in developing a joint implementation strategy and conducting future research. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is the first to assess the effective implementation of lean and ISO 14001 as an integrated approach in the NZ meat industry.
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    Big Data Analytic Framework for Organizational Leverage
    (MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 6/03/2021) Mathrani S; Lai X
    Web data have grown exponentially to reach zettabyte scales. Mountains of data come from several online applications, such as e-commerce, social media, web and sensor-based devices, business web sites, and other information types posted by users. Big data analytics (BDA) can help to derive new insights from this huge and fast-growing data source. The core advantage of BDA technology is in its ability to mine these data and provide information on underlying trends. BDA, however, faces innate difficulty in optimizing the process and capabilities that require merging of diverse data assets to generate viable information. This paper explores the BDA process and capabilities in leveraging data via three case studies who are prime users of BDA tools. Findings emphasize four key components of the BDA process framework: system coordination, data sourcing, big data application service, and end users. Further building blocks are data security, privacy, and management that represent services for providing functionality to the four components of the BDA process across information and technology value chains.
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    Business benefits from enterprise systems implementation in small and medium-sized enterprises
    (Australasian Association for Information Systems, and Australian Computer Society, 2009) Mathrani S; Viehland D
    The market for enterprise systems (ES) continues to grow as business becomes increasingly global and competitive. Increasingly, the market focus for ES vendors is on small businesses. The purpose of this study is to provide a unique ES vendor/consultant perspective on (a) the business benefits small and medium-sized organisations (SMEs) expect from their ES investment and (b) to examine current practices of ES implementation in SMEs through a conceptual framework that considers the organisational, process and strategic context of the implementation. This study does so with interview data collected from ES vendors, ES consultants and IT research firms, who are the key players in the New Zealand ES industry. A distinctive contribution of this research is the vendor/consultant perspective as the unit of analysis, rather than the SME perspective commonly used in similar research. The vendor/consultant perspective offers a comprehensive viewpoint that extends across numerous SMEs in a variety of industries. Findings from interviews with these professionals indicate that although many ES implementations are several years old now, SMEs have only recently started tracking benefits through analytical processes in expectation to realise business value from their ES investment. The results also identify how ES implementation practices are adapting to be more suitable to the SME sector, an important market for ES vendors given the saturation of the large enterprise market for ES implementation.
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    Critical business intelligence practices to create meta-knowledge
    (Inderscience Publishers Ltd, 14/01/2021) Mathrani S
    In order to successfully implement strategies and respond to business variations in real-time, business intelligence (BI) systems have been deployed by organisations that assist in focused analytical assessments for execution of critical decisions. Although businesses have realised the significance of BI, few studies have explored their analytical decision-enabling capabilities linked to organisational practices. This study investigates the BI practices critical in creating meta-knowledge successfully for strategy-focused analytical decision-making. First, key BI suppliers are interviewed to develop an understanding of their BI capabilities and current deployment practices. Subsequently, two large BI implementation case studies are conducted to examine their practices in data transformation process. Findings reveal that BI practices are highly context-specific in mapping decisions with data assets. Complimentary static and dynamic evaluations provide holistic intelligence in predicting and prescribing a more complete picture of the enterprise. These practices vary across firms in their effectiveness reflecting numerous challenges and improvement opportunities.
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    Enterprise systems maturity: A practitioners' perspective
    (Association for Information Systems, 2009) Mathrani S; Viehland D; Rashid MA
    Organizations continue to adopt enterprise systems (ES) technology to reduce costs and improve processes with the aim of achieving business benefits. The purpose of this study is to examine the utilization of ES technology and its information by New Zealand (NZ) organizations and their ability to derive benefits. The study does so by exploring (a) how ES data are transformed into knowledge, (b) how this knowledge is utilized to achieve benefits within NZ organizations, and (c) critical success factors for this process. This study gains insights through a "practitioners' perspective" of ES vendors, ES consultants, and IT research firms in a NZ context. Key findings indicate that although many ES implementations in New Zealand are several years old, companies have only recently started tracking benefits through analytical processes to optimize and realize business value from their enterprise systems investment.
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    Exogenous and endogenous knowledge structures in dual-mode course deliveries
    (Elsevier Ltd, 5/12/2020) Mathrani S; Mathrani A; Khatun M
    Learning Management Systems (LMS) have facilitated any-time any-place learning; thereby enabling educational institutions to embrace dual-mode teaching by engaging with on- and off-campus student cohorts. This study examines how lecturing staff build on existing knowledge structures when tasked with delivery of the same course concurrently over dual modes. Exogeneous knowledge structures are constructed from one's environment, while endogenous structures are rooted in how lecturing staff assimilate their teaching and learning environments to meet the needs of dual-mode learners. Activity Theory provided the theoretical lens and has revealed how exogeneous structures are influenced by the outer triangle elements, that in turn inform on interactions occurring among the inner triangle elements to construct endogenous knowledge. Seventeen lecturing staff participated via open-ended surveys to share their pedagogic approaches for maintaining equable learning experiences across both student cohorts. Findings show that staff can be constrained by LMS functionalities, course curriculum, course structure and lack of technical support. Staff employed additional online tools, changed assessment methods and encouraged online discussions to bring more parity across both learner groups. Our study provides new insights on dual-mode teaching deliveries and shares how lecturing staff develop new knowledge structures from their teaching practice. It will further help in development of instructional strategies especially post Covid-19, when it is likely that teaching modes will have more online component compared to current times.
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    Gender Diversity Population Simulations in an Extended Game of Life Context
    (IEEE, 20/06/2019) Mathrani A; Scogings C; Mathrani S
    Cellular automata studies have been instrumental in computational and biological studies for simulating life contours based on simple rule-based strategies. Game of Life (GoL) presented us with one of the earliest automata studies that led the way in exemplifying non-linear spatial representations, such as large-scale population evolution scenarios depicting species dominance, species equilibrium, and species extinction. However, the GoL was driven by interactions among vegetative entities comprising live and die states only. This paper extends GoL to gendered-GoL (g-GoL) in which male phenotypes and female phenotypes interact in an extended world to procreate. Using the g-GoL, we have demonstrated many evolution contours by applying gender-based dependence rules. Evolution scenarios have been simulated with skewed gender ratios that favor the birth of male offspring. Preference for a male child is common in certain cultures; therefore, empirical data realized with skewed gender settings in g-GoL can reveal the long-term impact of non-egalitarian gender societal structures. Our model provides a tool for the study of emergent life contours and brings awareness on current gender imbalances to strengthen multi-disciplinary research inquiry in the areas of social practices, mathematical modeling, and use of computational technologies.
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    Interpreting academic integrity transgressions among learning communities
    (BioMed Central Limited, 2021-12) Mathrani A; Han B; Mathrani S; Jha M; Scogings C
    Educational institutions rely on academic citizenship behaviors to construct knowledge in a responsible manner. However, they often struggle to contain the unlawful reuse of knowledge (or academic citizenship transgressions) by some learning communities. This study draws upon secondary data from two televised episodes describing contract cheating (or ghostwriting) practices prevalent among international student communities. Against this background, we have investigated emergent teaching and learning structures that have been extended to formal and informal spaces with the use of mediating technologies. Learners’ interactions in formal spaces are influenced by ongoing informal social experiences within a shared cultural context to influence learners’ agency. Building upon existing theories, we have developed an analytical lens to understand the rationale behind cheating behaviors. Citizenship behaviors are based on individual and collective perceptions of what constitutes as acceptable or unacceptable behavior. That is, learners who are low in motivation and are less engaged with learning may collude; more so, if cheating is not condemned by members belonging to their informal social spaces. Our analytical lens describes institutional, cultural, technological, social and behavioral contexts that influence learner agency.
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    Investigating the theoretical constructs of a green lean six sigma approach towards environmental sustainability: A systematic literature review and future directions
    (MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 7/10/2020) Farrukh A; Mathrani S; Taskin N
    Green lean six sigma (GLSS) is an emerging approach towards environmental sustainability in conjunction with operational achievements. The success of this approach is premised on an understanding of the different components of a GLSS program; being the determinants for its outcomes. The aim of this paper is to investigate the various constructs of GLSS that play an essential role in achieving environmental sustainability. For this purpose, a systematic review of available literature has been conducted to evaluate the drivers, enablers (tools), and outcomes of a GLSS strategy as well as its critical success factors and barriers. Findings reveal that these constructs of GLSS as a holistic approach can facilitate an organization to better accomplish environmental objectives such as waste minimization, emission reduction, and resource conservation as compared to constructs of only one or any two of these strategies. Based on the analysis, an integrated GLSS framework is developed for environmental sustainability in addition to identifying vital research gaps and future directions.
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    Knowledge-sharing Strategies in Distributed Collaborative Product Development
    (MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 16/12/2020) Mathrani S; Edwards B
    Knowledge-sharing strategies are used across the industry as open innovation and distributed collaboration are becoming more popular to achieve technological competencies, faster time-to-market, competitiveness and growth. Sharing of knowledge can provide benefits to manufacturing and new product development (NPD) companies in improving their product quality and enhancing business potential. This paper examines the implementation of knowledge-sharing strategies in New Zealand aimed at bridging the physical locational issues to achieve collaborative benefits in NPD firms through an in-depth case study. The analysis of this only one, but interesting, case extends a holistic multi-mediation model by Pateli and Lioukas for the effect of functional involvement in a distributed collaborative product development environment. This study explores the external and internal knowledge transfer and how it affects early-stage, late-stage, and the overall product development process. Findings present a knowledge-sharing toolset that enhances innovation in all stages of product development overcoming the environmental factors to improve early and late-stage development through a two-way knowledge-transfer loop with distributed stakeholders. An encouraging management culture is found as key for transparent knowledge transfer across cross-functional teams. The organizational structure and management style play an important role for both external and internal distribution of knowledge.
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    Strategy for Cultural Inclusion in New Product Development Processes: A New Zealand Study
    (MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2022-12-15) Mathrani S; Ibrahim SDE
    Cultural inclusion generates a positive impact by socially increasing pride for individuals or economically increasing a country’s global capital. Currently, in New Zealand (NZ), not many strategies exist that ensure inclusion of culture in new products introduced locally and globally. Further, cultural inclusion in products appears highly represented in the tourist markets, but not so much in the domestic markets. This paper examines the current NZ strategies for cultural inclusion in product development of different sized companies that supply locally and globally through three case studies and compares the findings with theoretical models used in other regions. Findings elaborate that NZ lacks in documented standardized strategies when it comes to cultural inclusion. A positive impact of having such a strategy is perceived by participating companies with a culture for open innovation to ensure they are following a process approach that can help include cultural aspects appropriately. Creating a unique position for the brand globally, increasing global capital and deeper connectivity, and increasing the understanding of culture were some key benefits identified. However, a few steps in the new product development process were found largely lacking in NZ firms, such as communication with cultural representatives and leaders. A cultural inclusion model is developed based on the study findings to include an open innovation culture that can help NZ companies be more inclusive in their design and establish a unique NZ market for generating positive impacts.
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    The Role of ICT in Collaborative Product Development: A Conceptual Model Based on Information Processing Theory
    (12/03/2014) Silva CWC; Mathrani S; Jayamaha N
    Manufacturing firms are increasingly adopting collaborative product development (CPD) as a strategy to achieve competitive advantage through joint synergies in introducing new products to market. Substantial increase in use of information and communication technology (ICT) in CPD is evidenced recently, as a result of extended spans between collaborative partners and enhanced collaboration effectiveness. Since using ICT is a highly cost intensive task, uncovering a detailed picture of the effect of ICT usage on CPD performance would be immensely useful for effective management ICT in CPD. This study develops a conceptual model (measurement considerations included) to comprehensively examine the role of ICT in CPD. Organizational information processing theory (OIPT) is adopted as the key methodology to draw the relationship between ICT usage and tangible and intangible outcomes of CPD. The model guides testing of hypotheses concerning direct and moderated effects of ICT usage on CPD performance considering project characteristics (complexity, uncertainty, and urgency) as moderators. Key insights from the model suggest that utilization of ICT resources and capabilities based on the information processing requirement generated by the characteristics of a project would provide better results in terms of both collaborative and new product performance.