E‐commerce: exploring the critical success factors

The aim of the study was to identify critical success factors in customer relationship management strategy success in the local government authorities in Zimbabwe. A thorough abridgment of the literature was conducted, mainly to understand the nature and structure of local government authorities in Zimbabwe as well as to identify critical success factors in CRM strategy success. A Meta-analysis methodology was employed and explanatory research approach was adopted by means of a survey strategy. 197 questionnaires have been collected from twenty one local government authorities in Zimbabwe. The findings of the study revealed that all of the ten critical success factors are significant and positively linked to CRM strategy success. Furthermore, the statistical tests show that success and failure of CRM strategy success are highly dependent on four major critical success factors including Implementation Approach, Change Management, Metrics and Implementation Strategy. However, process design and Buy-in Approach and Adoption have low significance impact in CRM strategy success in local government authorities in Zimbabwe. The results of the data analysis led to the creation of a framework which outlines the critical success factors in CRM strategy success in local government authorities in Zimbabwe and the CRM implementation Index which need to be followed before implementing the CRM strategy. This study has clearly indicated that customer relationship management forms a powerful strategy that local government authorities should apply to manage long-term relationships with their key stakeholders.

Business Intelligence can bring critical capabilities to an organization, but the implementation of such capabilities is often plagued with problems. Why is it that certain projects fail, while others succeed? The aim of this article is to identify the factors that are present in successful Business Intelligence projects and to organize them into a framework of critical success factors. A survey was conducted during the spring of 2011 to collect primary data on Business Intelligence projects. Findings confirm that Business Intelligence projects are wrestling with both technological and non-technological problems, but the non-technological problems are found to be harder to solve as well as more time consuming than their counterparts. The study also shows that critical success factors for Business Intelligence projects are different from success factors for Information Systems projects in general. Business Intelligences projects have critical success factors that are unique to the subject matter. Major differences can be found primarily among non-technological factors, such as the presence of a specific business need and a clear vision to guide the project. Success depends on types of project funding, the business value provided by each iteration in the project and the alignment of the project to a strategic vision for Business Intelligence at large. Furthermore, the study provides a framework for critical success factors that, explains sixty-one percent of variability of success for projects. Areas which should be given special attention include making sure that the Business Intelligence solution is built with the end users in mind, that the Business Intelligence solution is closely tied to the company’s strategic vision and that the project is properly scoped and prioritized to concentrate on the best opportunities first.

Orientation: Globally, destinations offer various products and services to visitors featuring different attributes and characteristics, making each destination unique. The critical success factors (CSFs) of each of these destinations may differ, making the management process more complex.Research purpose: The purpose of this research was to identify the CSFs for business tourism destinations in South Africa from a supply viewpoint.Motivation for the study: Because of the importance of CSFs, many previous studies have attempted to identify such factors within the tourism industry, but few concentrated on business tourism, especially in South Africa, leaving a gap in terms of knowledge. By means of identifying and understanding what these factors are for South Africa, the country could further develop its tourism sector, which could result in its being more competitive as a destination.Research design, approach and method: To achieve this goal, a qualitative research approach was followed by interviewing seven key business tourism coordinators in South Africa, to determine the key success factors of the business. The data gathered were transcribed and analysed using Creswell’s six steps in data analysis and interpretation.Main findings: Finances, human resources, product and customer-related aspects were identified as the CSFs for business tourism in South Africa.Practical/managerial implications: Educating the market and marketing value add-ons were identified as important for enhancing and making business tourism in South Africa more competitive.Contribution/value-add: The results could guide managers in the implementation of effective key success factors in an effort to mitigate management problems in a very competitive sector.

Critical success factors (CSFs) are the hottest management buzz words. But most managers are vague about exactly what they are, how they work, and the problems inherent in using them. This article defines critical success factors (also known as “key success factors”) and describes how one insurance company has used them successfully to fine tune its business planning.

The aim of the study is to describe the implementation of the Cardiovascular Health Awareness Program (CHAP) in 20 mid-sized communities across Ontario, Canada, and identify key factors in the successful multi-site delivery of a collaborative cardiovascular risk assessment and management program. Lead organizations were identified and contracted following a request for proposals. An Implementation Guide detailed steps in community mobilization and delivery of volunteer-led pharmacy-based cardiovascular risk assessment sessions. Process data were collected through final reports; a debriefing meeting; and interviews with program staff. All 20 communities successfully implemented CHAP. Overall, 99% (338/341) of family physicians agreed to receive assessment results and 89% (129/145) of pharmacies held sessions. Five hundred and seventy-seven volunteers conducted 27,358 risk assessments for 15,889 unique participants. Essential program components were consistently included, however, variations in materials, processes and support occurred. Factors in program success included: local expertise, centralized support, identification and engagement of local physician and pharmacist opinion leaders and a balance of standardization and flexibility. Monitoring delivery of a multi-community cardiovascular risk assessment program yielded key factors in program success to inform development of a sustainable and transferable model.

This study explores the success factors of concrete recycling in construction projects, using Malaysia as a case study. The objectives include (1) identifying the critical success factors for concrete recycling in construction projects, (2) comparing the critical success factors between large enterprises (LEs) and small–medium enterprises (SMEs), and (3) developing constructs that group the critical success factors. First, a list of success factors was identified through semi-structured interviews with fifteen construction industry professionals and a systematic literature review of journal articles. This list was then incorporated into a questionnaire and disseminated to industry professionals. Eighty-nine valid responses were collected and analyzed using mean score ranking, normalization, agreement analysis, and factor analysis techniques. The analyses showed ten critical success factors for concrete recycling. The critical success factors include the availability of uniform standards for concrete recycling, adequate awareness among project stakeholders on concrete recycling, appropriate construction waste management plans, government policies to support concrete recycling, good marketing strategy for concrete recycling, good communication among employees, applications for recycled concrete in sub-industries, provisions in work method statements on concrete recycling, positive legislation toward concrete recycling, and availability of concrete recycling infrastructure. However, the percentage of agreement between SMEs and LEs for the ten critical success factors was only 22%. In other words, there is no consensus on criticality across organizational sizes. Finally, the critical success factors can be categorized into two interrelated groups: external and internal. This study contributes to the literature by analyzing the necessary success factors for concrete recycling. The study findings allow researchers and practitioners to develop strategies to promote concrete recycling.

COVID-19 has significantly changed the teaching-learning process and it may indeed be a permanent change. Schools, colleges and universities have had to switch to remote/e-learning in an attempt to continue their operations during the pandemic. Institutions have struggled to identify the key success factors necessary for effective e-learning. While there have been some studies that have identified a few key factors, there has not been a comprehensive review of the key success factors for effective e-learning. This paper fills that gap by presenting a detailed examination of the critical success factors required for effective e-learning. The results show that success in e-learning is a complex combination of key factors such as institutional/administrative support, systems configuration and technical design, the level of computer skills among learners, learners’ interpersonal behavior, e-learning readiness, learner motivation, computer anxiety, self-efficacy, instructors’ characteristics, environmental factors and the demand it imposes on learners of varying age and cognitive maturity.

The relevance of the researched topic lies in the growth of competition between business entities in both domestic and foreign markets. The processes of globalization and integration predetermine the constant search by enterprises for ways to gain competitive advantages in order to increase the loyalty of existing customers and obtain new ones, to seek access to new markets, and ultimately, increase profits. In such circumstances, the study of key success factors becomes an extremely important task for both business representatives and scientists. The purpose of the article is to review existing views on the process of defining and forming key success factors, as well as the issue of separating the essence of the concepts of “key success factors” and “key performance indicators”. To write the article, Ukrainian and foreign scientific publications in the field of marketing, management, international business and entrepreneurship have been analyzed. The article is devoted to the problem of increasing the competitiveness of Ukrainian enterprises through the development of key success factors. The article groups the main approaches to defining the concept of “key success factors”. The author’s interpretation of the concept of “key success factors” has been provided. Characteristics, that competitive advantages have to meet in order to be considered strategic success factors, have been identified. The main areas of key success factors have been formed and considered. It has been concluded that the competitive advantage of any product or service is constantly changing and unique, and therefore requires constant analysis of the market and economic situation, taking into account many factors that affect them. Recommendations have been provided on the effective use of key success factors by management of Ukrainian enterprises in order to increase the enterprise’s financial performance, improve its image, stabilize its economic condition, etc. The article presents scientific and practical significance for business representatives who seek to identify, investigate and improve the key success factors of their own enterprises and gain additional competitive advantages

A new framework for determining critical success/failure factors in projects

In the area of distribution management such as outage management, there is a large demand for automation systems. The challenge to those that specify the requirements for these systems, and those that build them are quite extensive and are the main focus of this paper and presentation. The examples of critical success factor discussed in this paper reflect the need for utilities and suppliers to be diligent in providing the functionality necessary to support the business processes related to outage management. Technology alone is only a piece of the solution. Significant benefits will be achieved only when technology and processes are integrated and the key success factors are considered, as utility requirements become more and more complex.

To assess the critical success factors for franchising a pharmacy business. This thesis is divided into two sections - the former is to determine the critical success factors of the franchise pharmacy industry and the latter is to develop a franchising concept. The first stage of this thesis methodology is to collect information from journals, research reports, human expert interview and questionnaires in order to analyze competition, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the franchise pharmacy industry by means of Porter’s Five Forces Analysis and SWOT Analysis. Then, the obtained result was analyzed by using TOWS Matrix to determine strategic objectives and key success factors of the industry, respectively. The key success factors were weighted in order to determine the critical success factors. The final result of this study indicated that there were five critical success factors of the franchise pharmacy industry such as chain store, product and service, human resource, location, and information. The identified critical success factors were used to develop a franchising concept that consisted of vision, mission, business objectives, and action plan. Moreover, the researcher developed a case study of franchising of Udom Pharmacy that included a business format franchising concept and a model of franchise management. The case study included business concept, marketing mix, investment feasibility study, a model of organization management, operations management and quality management of Udom Pharmacy to be used as a guideline for franchisors or entrepreneurs who interest in franchising a pharmacy business or other businesses.

Improving the quality and performance of the healthcare environment can assist service providers in developing reliable, cost-effective, and long-lasting healthcare processes, allowing them to improve care delivery and patient outcomes. In a healthcare environment, retail pharmacies play an important role, mainly supporting the coordination of the supply chain because, in addition to the government sector, retail pharmacies are the point where people get medicines. Because of the increasing demand for the retail pharmacy sector, there is an urgent requirement to improve their performance to offer a better service. This study aims to identify key success factors associated with retail pharmacies in Sri Lanka and determine the impact of identified success factors on the performance measures. A literature survey and experts' opinions identified the key success factors of Sri Lankan retail pharmacies. There was a total of 21 key success factors identified. A survey was done with 45 retail pharmacies in Sri Lanka, conducting interviews and questionnaires mainly with pharmacists, pharmacy owners, and pharmacy assistants. This study shows the relationship of key success factors with operational performance, financial performance, and customer satisfaction. Despite analyzing the success factors and performance measures separately, identifying the direct relationship between key success factors and how they have impacted the retail pharmacy performance based on the different aspects of indicators in Sri Lankan retail pharmacies is not yet considered in the literature published in the last decade. This study's findings will help increase the overall performance of retail pharmacies in Sri Lanka, enabling patients to experience a better service.

Research Question: Through a systematic review of the relevant literature, this paper identifies and analyses key success factors in technology entrepreneurship and provides a novel classification and systematization of the factors. Also, it provides a prioritization of the selected factors by tech entrepreneurs. Motivation: The conditions of uncertainty and the dynamic environment in which one technological venture operates cause that only a small number of them succeed (Baron, 2000; Changsok et al., 2012; Tomy & Pardede, 2018; Chen et al., 2019). Comprehensive systematization of success factors is lacking in the professional literature. This paper contributes to the literature in this field by systematizing and prioritizing the key success factors in technological entrepreneurship, as a usable basis for further research and decision making. Idea: The core idea of this paper was to provide an overview of existing knowledge and a systematized basis for further research, but also for work in the practice of technological entrepreneurship, giving guidance to all stakeholders and decision makers, entrepreneurs, investors and policymakers. Data: The review was conducted using online repositories of scientific publications on technology entrepreneurship success factors published in the period from 1980 to 2021. In total, 661 articles were identified, while 45 articles met the selection criteria and represent the basis for further research of this paper. In order to determine the prioritization of the identified factors, empirical research was conducted among decision makers of technological entrepreneurial ventures. Tools: The research and review of the literature were conducted by structured keyword search of the Web of Science database, while the process of article selection was performed using the identified selection algorithm, based on two phases, which both included the selection criteria. For the purposes of empirical research, the Google form questionnaire was used for collecting the data on the prioritization of the factors by technology entrepreneurs. Findings: The factors that are key to the success of technology ventures are often complex in nature. 151 originally identified success factors from different authors were classed into 31 groups. Based on the identified groups, five large groups of factors were used for classification: "characteristics of the founder/founding team", "environment", "technology and innovation", "organization" and "strategy". As a result of empirical research, the factor “motivation” emerges as the most influential factor on a venture’s success, while the “size of the founding team” is identified as the least influential. Contribution: This paper extends the existing literature providing the systematization of key technology entrepreneurship success factors with the systematization of scientific publications as a basis for further research.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the critical factors that need to be practiced by management of university in successfully implementing the Sustainable Campus Operation (SCO) initiatives at Malaysian universities, as well as to classify the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) into several related groups employing factor analysis function by SPSS software. As much as 23 listed governance success factors items in the questionnaire are constructed based on rigorous literature reviews aligned with the objectives of this study. For this study, judgmental sampling techniques are used and the main target of respondents are individuals who hold administrative posts such as Director, Assistant Director, Head of Department/Unit, Assistant Registrar, and other related posts at the Development and Facility Management Office and Sustainable Campus Department/Unit. The analysis allows the factors formation without any early intervention during questionnaire design work. By referring to the descriptive result, only fourteen (14) out of twenty-three (23) success factors are considered as critical factors. Therefore, based on the results from factor analysis, the fourteen (14) CSFs were then classified appropriately under 2 common groups namely; Governance set up to perform SCO initiatives (GovF) and Accountability to improve performance of SCO initiatives (AccF). This study has important contribution to the researchers in the field of campus management related to sustainability by highlighting the importance of the campus to consider the governance support and accountability in analysing and making decision of any potential initiatives towards green campus operations at Malaysian public universities. In fact, it can be a reference in assisting people involved to recognize exactly what factors are most important in implementing the SCO initiatives towards sustainable universities in Malaysia.

The concept of Multidisciplinary team working is well established in the literature within health and social sciences, as well as in the last decade within sport science teams. Knowledge and expertise that stems from different disciplines, which aim to be complementary and enriching can bring great benefits and potentially positive outcomes to clients, teams and organisation as a whole. However, little has been written and reported on the barriers and risks that stem from this multidisciplinary approach. The aim of this paper is to highlight and reflect on the potential barriers and risk factors that arise within this concept of multidisciplinary teams approach and to present and reflect on some corrective treatments. Suggestions which function as critical factors for success are then presented. This paper solely reflects on the author’s experiences in working within multidisciplinary teams over a period of time of twenty-four months across a number of health, education and social care providers in the UK. A framework is suggested in order to better understand and ultimately address some of the challenges faced by this approach. Furthermore the paper proposes drivers for positive change which are highlighted in this context.