• DEVELOPING A BENCHMARKING METHODOLOGY FOR THE NIGERIAN TRANSPORT SECTOR

      ONATERE-UBRURHE, JOYCE OGHENERUONA (2016-07)
      The Nigerian transport system has been facing challenges due to the imbalance in the transport system. Goods and passenger movements in Nigeria are performed mainly by road, with the railway and inland waterways playing significant, but less important roles. The dominance of road transport in Nigeria has placed obstacles in the way of economic development and has reduced the quality of life for citizens as the large number of vehicles required to meet demand causes congestion and parking issues and, in the main, citizens suffer with high levels of local associated pollution and low levels of security and safety. Decision-makers need support to make the right decisions. Precise and relevant information are required to give a clear overall view of the issues at stake and to monitor the benefits of implementing efficient public transport systems. This research has identified the need to develop an organized, effective and efficient transport system in Nigeria. Key Performance indicators were identified and developed for the Nigerian transport sector, which were used for the survey. A transport users’ survey was carried out in four cities (Lagos, Warri, Ughelli and Benin) in Nigeria, with 474 participants in total comprising both male and female between the age ranges of 20-70, the results of the survey was analysed and Lagos RII values were the lowest among the four cities falling below 0.60. However there is a similar case of low RII values between the four Cities, which was Security during evening/night and Accessibility during evening/night. The UK survey results was also analysed and the RII values were above 0.80 indicating a very high performance of the UK transport system. Data on highway robbery incidents in Nigeria was also collected and analysed and it was found out that there will be a continuous increase in highway robbery incidents in Nigeria if adequate security measures are not put in place. A Strategic Benchmarking was done between Nigeria and United Kingdom because the United Kingdom is a developed country with a more organized transport system compared to Nigeria hence it was seen as a best practice. Also the spearman’s rank correlation coefficient was done between the United Kingdom and Nigeria survey results and there was a perfect positive correlation (rs =1) for Motor parks/Bus stops/Stations and very strong positive correlation (rs = 0.9) for Vehicles. In other words Nigeria can adopt the United Kingdom public transport strategy into its transport system because it will have a very positive impact on the development of the Nigerian transport sector. Therefore, having identified the challenges of the Nigerian transport sector and possible solutions, a Strategic Action Plan has been proposed for the Nigerian transport sector to: assist policy makers in making decisions, assist security personnel in taking proactive measures against transport insecurity, enhance the overall performance of the transport system.
    • Global new product introduction and development in the automotive sector

      Oraifige, I.; Odouza, C.; Laoui, T.; Atkinson, David (University of Wolverhampton, 2007)
      A Global New Product Introduction and Development (GNPID) process is one of the cornerstones towards a competitive advantage in the automotive marketplace today. A fully optimised GNPID process in combination with other lean and agile manufacturing techniques and systems is guaranteed to reduce lead-time and save on cost. In the typical post-launch product life-cycle the problems faced by most manufacturing companies lies not only in accelerating and maintaining sales after the launch but in reducing the costly development time before the launch. In an effort to improve timelines and effectiveness, a number of firms within the automotive industry are experimenting with different best practices in their NPID processes. While much of the previous research has focused on NPID in a single location, little has been reported on how actual companies are addressing the problems with globalisation of NPID. The author aims to develop a set of methodologies for rapid new product introduction in a global manufacturing environment using an integrated framework of concurrent engineering tools and methods. This is to support the development of customer focused agile product and to meet customer expectations in terms of innovation and customisation, quality, competitive price, sustainable and environmentally friendly product.
    • Measuring the effectiveness of information technology management: a comparative study of six UK local authorities

      Worrall, Les (University of Wolverhampton, 1998-09)
      Evaluating and managing the effective delivery of IT services is an issue which has been brought into sharper relief recently. This has been particularly prevalent in the UK public sector where the growing emphasis on formalised client-contractor relationships, outsourcing and benchmarking (both between local authorities and between local authorities and private sector organisations) has meant that the definition of service standards and agreeing performance criteria has attracted considerable practitioner attention. This research is based on 300 interviews conducted in six UK local authorities. The investigation used both gap analysis and perceptual mapping techniques to develop an understanding of the aspects of IT service delivery that users' value most in conjunction with an assessment of how well they perceive their IT department is performing on these criteria. The paper exposes considerable differences in the relative performance of the six local authorities from both the gap analysis and the perceptual mapping elements of the investigation. The methodology is shown to provide an effective way of identifying key performance issues from the user perspective and benchmarking service performance across organisations.
    • Service user and carer involvement in learning and teaching: a faculty of health staff perspective.

      Gutteridge, Robin; Dobbins, Kerry (Elsevier, 2010-08)
      As part of a larger evaluation study, 20 members of staff in a Faculty of Health were interviewed about the impact of service user and carer involvement on learning and teaching. A qualitative approach was adopted and semi-structured interviews were used to explore current levels of involvement, barriers and solutions. The data generated was analysed using the principles of grounded theory. Findings suggest respondents recognised the requirement to involve service users and carers in their learning activities. Most wanted to develop this aspect of their educational provision but a number of barriers were described. Strategic and operational solutions were proposed to overcome these and respondents were positive about achieving meaningful involvement.