August 2008
Title : A collaborative national initiative to enhance the management capabilities of small- and medium-sized manufacturers.
Authors : Howard Harris, PhD, FIEAust
Director, Smartlink: National Institute for Manufacturing Management University of South Australia, Adelaide SA AUSTRALIA
Description: Smartlink, the National Institute for Manufacturing Management, is based in Adelaide at the University of South Australia. Formed in June 2000, Smartlink is a joint industry-university initiative to enhance the management capabilities of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Australia’s manufacturing sector. Smartlink’s major activities include a national seminar program, applied research, a content-based website and an online professional development program including awards to masters level. A commitment to alliances is inherent in the Smartlink concept and in its implementation. Realising that there are many resources available to SMEs and well defined needs, but little progress in raising the level of management capability, it was decided that Smartlink should form a “smart link” joining resources with existing industry, regional, and professional organisations and through them to individual SMEs.
Link: Smartlink Collaboration
The Middleborough Road Rail Separation required an exceptional level of innovation, dedication and teamwork. In a landmark project, the Middleborough Road level crossing in the Melbourne suburb of Box Hill was eliminated by lowering the railway line by six metres and slightly raising Middleborough Road to bridge over the tracks. VicRoads believes delivering the project under a typical design and construct model would have taken 18 months.
However, under an alliance format, the project, which involved excavating 73,000 cubic metres of fill to lower a railway line by up to six metres and constructing a four lane road bridge, was completed in just 27 days – eight days ahead of schedule. Middleborough Road now bridges across the railway line, improving traffic flow, safety, noise and pollution. In its previous state, motorists and pedestrians experienced significant delays on Middleborough Road as they waited for trains at the level crossing. Traffic monitoring indicated that 30,000 vehicles and 250 trains passed through the intersection on a daily basis, causing significant road congestion.
As part of the project, Laburnum Station was demolished and reconstructed with wider platforms and improved ramps to ensure Disability Discrimination Act compliance. Provisions were also made for a future third track but this third track was not constructed as part of the project. A new rail bridge at Laburnum Street was also built to remove a tight bend in the road. The alliance was formalised in early October, 2006, and major construction was carried out over four weeks of intensive works from January 1-28, 2007.
Developed and produced for The Alliancing Association of Australasia Limited by Stephen Cook. July 2008
Middleborough Road Rail Separation Alliance - FoM August 2008
Title : Exploring the management of strategic alliances : How cellular biology helps us conceptualize resource regulation, allocation, transfer and contamination.
Authors : Jonathan Gander University of East London; Adrian Haberberg University of Westminster; Alison Rieple Harrow Business School University of Westminster
Description: A substantial body of theory has grown up to show how organizational resources can be sources of enduring advantage. Yet almost no attention has been paid to how resources may be managed in an alliance, and for example prevented from contaminating a partner’s own resources. This paper uses a cell membrane metaphor to develop propositions concerning the coordination and control of resources between firms based on insights from a specific creativity-hungry industry, popular recorded music.
Link: Exploring the management of alliances
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NZTA Alliancing Conference
AAA is pleased to support and to participate to the first NZ Alliancing Conference organized by Transit New
Please check the event brochure and register by following the link. www.nzallianceconference.co.nz
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