Academic literature on the topic 'Business Administration, General|Applied Mathematics|Operations Research'

Poslovnointeligenčni sistemi (BIS) postajajo pomemben dejavnik uspešnega poslovanja organizacij. Za njihovo uvajanje je v literaturi predstavljeno veliko metodoloških pristopov, področje uporabe pa je v pretežni meri gospodarstvo. Zaradi vseh koristi je smiselna uporaba BIS tudi v javni upravi, kjer pa je na tem področju manj izkušenj in znanstvenih raziskav. Članek obravnava primernost uporabe metodologij za razvoj poslovnointeligenčnih sistemov v javni upravi, pri čemer smo ob upoštevanju specifičnih lastnosti BIS preučili praktični primer v eni od organizacij javne uprave, kjer so za razvoj BIS uporabili splošno metodologijo razvoja informacijskih sistemov, prvotno razvito za gospodarstvo. Kot raziskovalna metoda je bila uporabljena študija primera, s katero smo ovrednotili uporabljeno razvojno metodo in opredelili osnove za prihodnje raziskave na področju razvoja BIS v javniupravi. Z raziskavo je bilo ugotovljeno, da uporabljene metode razvoja, ki so bile razvite za informacijske sisteme v gospodarstvu, ne upoštevajo specifičnih lastnosti in razlik javne uprave in sistemov BIS, zato bi jih bilo treba ustrezno dopolniti in prilagoditi.Business Intelligence Systems (BIS) have become an important factor in successful business operations. In literature there are many methodological approaches to their implementation, but they have been mainly applied in the private sector. Due to all the advantages of BIS, their implementation in the public administration would be reasonable as well, however, limited experience and scientific research are available in this area. This paper deals with the applicability of the methodologies of BIS development in public administration. Focusing on the specific characteristics of the public administration, we have studied a case in one of the governmental organizations, where a general method of BIS development was used, which was originally developed for the private sector. As a research method a case study was used, on the basis of which the implemented method of BIS development was evaluated and the groundwork for future research in the field of public administration defined. By means of this research we have found that the implemented methods of BIS development, which were developed for the private sector information systems, do not consider the specific characteristics and differences of the public administration and the BIS systems. Therefore, considering their specific features, they should be properly completed and adapted.

The present Third Party Logistics (3PL) service providers in Malaysia and Thailand are expending their effectiveness and efficiency in several spheres from contemporary logistics services offers towards the series of value-added services to their customers. There is a need to forecast their key performance indicators growth using a systematic approach in resource management, as their quality indicators. Hence, this paper discovers on the current propensities of 3PLs service providers in respect of issues connected with their performance, resources and quality to establish on the 3PLs indicators of resources, quality and processes. It is also sought to develop a model of systematic dynamics for internal resources and company processes optimization based on the best practices. The methodology of the research is based on literature reviews which focusing on the performance measurement, quality and resources of 3PL. Using a System Dynamics, a model of optimization and management of 3PL, the internal processes and resources were developed. This model comprises of Nine (9) segmentations, which are operations, commercial activities, administration, personnel management, procurement, quality management, Resources, Performance Measurement and Financial models. The model is indicating all areas of activities of 3PL service providers. This study proposes a new model for Third-party Logistics (3PL) performance indicators for future guidelines in related industry.

Purpose – This paper aims to propose a management model of public assets within public-private partnerships which can be applied to properties subject to a possible requalification through the redevelopment and/or modification of the intended use. Design/methodology/approach – The logic developed is described by an algorithm which borrows the mathematical tools of Operations Research to identify the solution that maximises the utility functions of the parties related to the requalification and management of a public property. The unknowns of the model are the price and concession period, while the constraints reflect the specific and reciprocal conveniences of the actors involved. Findings – The benefits for the private investor are a reduction of the business risk, related to the lower financial outlay required by the investment, and therefore easier access to credit from banks. For the public administration, an increase in the demand of the property offered, savings in the property management costs, along with the preservation of public property. This aspect of no small importance where there is the fear of breaking up public property which local communities attach a high cultural and historic value. Practical implications – This leads to a logical support to public administrations involved in the requalification of property assets. Originality/value – This paper presents a strategic approach with long-term prospects, which interprets in a different way a pure concession model, which has a greater flexibility and articulation and also enriches the framework of the projects (public-private) considered necessary for the requalification of public property as well as possible urban transformation projects.

The main purpose of the publication is the development of theoretical approaches, systematization of the results of analysis and definition of measures for the formation of logistic systems of trade enterpreneurship subjects (trade enterprises), which belong to the small business sector. The peculiarities of formation were identified and the problematic aspects of the modern stage of entrepreneurship development in Ukraine were identified. The existence of the logistic component in the general complex of the conduct of trading activity by the entrepreneurship subjects is determined. The essence and ratio of concepts «system of logistic» and «logistics system» of the enterprise are determined. The objective of the logistics system organization as a complex, economic and technical and technological system covering the logistics system of the enterprise is emphasized), personnel of the management services of the enterprise logistic activity, as well as legal, organizational,managerial and methodical principles of all these elements interaction of the system and its management, formed on the basis of the scientific and theoretical basis (theory) of logistics management. The peculiarities of the functioning of small business entities in Ukraine and the averaged parameters of commodity flows in this sector of economy are investigated, factors of logistic flows organization specificity formation in the retail segment, which influence the requirements for the creation and operation of trade enterprises logistic systems and the choice of approaches to them, are determined. The attention is drawn to the need to consider as the main factor in the formation of the trade complex system of logistic of operational and functional processes of logistics activities, which are carried out by a trading company in order to bring commodity flows to end buyers of goods. The necessity of determining the structure of the logistics system of the trading company is focused on taking into account the resources available from the dealer in order to create opportunities for organizational, economic, technical and technological interaction with other supply chain participants in which the given enterprise is involved, and simultaneously ensuring compliance of the goods sold with the requirements end buyers. The key directions of logistic activity improvement of enterprises of trade – subjects of small (and micro) entrepreneurship, which are connected with technical and technological and infrastructure improvements within the enterprise logistics system, introduction of modern management technologies in the logistics management subsystem and logistics administration, are grounded, as well as the use of outsourcing capabilities of logistics functions and operations and the use of modern communication tools for the radical change of trade technologies , which will be reflected in the requirements for organizing a complex of logistics activities of retailers and, accordingly, logistic systems created by them. The purpose of the research is to develop theoretical approaches, to systematize the results of the analysis of the essential characteristics and the composition of the trade company system of logistics, and to identify the main measures for the formation of the system of logistics of the subjects of trade enterprise (trade enterprises), which belong to the small business sector. Object of research – subjects of trade enterprise – trade enterprises, which belong to the small business sector. The subject of the study is theoretical and methodological principles of logistic activity organization and conceptual approaches to the construction of logistic formations in the conditions of integration processes. In accordance with the goal formulated, the main objectives of the study: • on the basis of analysis of the most common scientific theories to determine mechanisms for managing them; • to identify new approaches for identifying the essence of logistics, the content of logistics activities of trade enterprises and identify the actual problems of their construction; • to formulate a conceptual approach, basic principles and applied principles of organization of logistic formations with the participation of small business entities; • to develop scientific and practical recommendations on the construction of trade enterprises systems of logistics and their development taking into account the integration processes in the field of commodity circulation.

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to point out the importance, value and the economic status of the public information services (PIS), which are in danger and to propose alternative solutions that the Greek Governmental Officials and Public Sector’s Library Managers can employ to support and promote PIS, their staff value and work and to finance their existence/preservation, plans and activities. Another objective of the paper is to increase librarians’ and library staff morale and encourage their participation and play a more proactive role in finding and securing such financial resources that will benefit all (PIS and librarians). Design/methodology/approach – Considering the deep financial crisis in Greece, the paper presents and analyzes a thorough list of strategies, actions, practical recommendations and measures that public sector’s information professionals could apply in their attempt to promote PIS benefits to the society. Through these actions, they can also approach and convince stakeholders, governmental officials for (more) funding and other people to become sponsors and donors. Findings – The article highlights the bad economic status of PIS, the increasing need for financial support and the fact that PIS and their professional appointments are under serious threat. It provides a combination of not only traditional widely known and applied methods but also a number of new measures and practices “borrowed” from private sector to show ways of finding alternative financing solutions to fund the existence of libraries, the paying of their debts and the salaries of librarians and the library staff. Moreover, it is suggested to politicians and policy-makers that important legislative bills/changes should take place to promote the flexibility in operations of PIS and in financial transactions between PIS and private companies. Practical implications – The paper with the analyzed measures can set a paradigm of changing the organizational culture of PIS. Also, it points management practices to managers such as employee engagement, brainstorming and employee empowerment. Furthermore, it explores ways for librarians to find motivation, to engage more actively and even point to Ministers to give Public Servants the opportunity to accelerate their career development. In addition, it implies that changes in the law should take place to form a more flexible frame of operation for PIS. Finally, it provides a practical strategy to reverse attempted mergers of PIS with each other or other public organizations. Social implications – The paper presents such ideas and suggestions, which come against with certain stereotypes of Public Administration/Management and operation, “old school” and conservative ways of thinking and acting of Public Servants (many of whom have never worked in the private sector and have been working in the same position for over 20 years now), professional and trade unions. The role of politicians and policy-makers and the ethos of private companies toward Public Sector’s services in days of financial hardship in Greece are also discussed. Originality/value – There is significantly limited research in the literature on the identification of threats to the existence, job security and constantly diminishing funding of PIS, in general, and, in particular, in Greece and suggested ways to overcome this. The article recommends to Information Professionals and particularly to those who work in PIS in Greece and worldwide various ways to secure income in an environment of tight budgets and cutbacks. The goal is to provoke thinking along the lines of the function of the private sector and adoption of specific practices to find economic resources and secure continuity of PIS “operation and jobs” preservation, even increase their salaries.

Abstract The Review of Managerial Science (RMS) is a leading international journal that publishes major advances related to business administration and management. The journal was launched in April 2007 and publishes eight issues per year (from 2021 onwards). The scope of RMS encompasses, but is not limited to, the functional areas of operations (such as production, operations management, and marketing), management (such as human resources management, strategic management, and organizational theory), information systems and their interrelations with capital markets (such as accounting, auditing, finance, and taxation), as well as questions of business strategy, entrepreneurship, innovation, and corporate governance. This study offers a bibliometric overview of the publication and citation structure of RMS from its inception in 2007 until 2020 in terms of topics, authors, institutions, and countries, thereby offering a comprehensive overview of the history of the journal so far. All the data for the study are from the Web of Science Core Collection database. To complement this analysis, VOSviewer software provides graphical analysis. The analysis is based on several bibliometric techniques such as co-citation analysis and bibliographic coupling.

Tutoring institution is an organization which focuses in education. The objective of this institution is improving the quality of learning of all students to achieve the desired target. The operational activities of this institution consist of registration, scheduling, evaluation, and administration supporters. It will be less effective if the processes are done manually. Therefore, many institutions are starting to restructure the model of information systems to support the company’s operations. This study describes about designing an information system model using object oriented approach based on the methodology introduced by Satzinger, where each phase is represented by using UML diagrams. The result achieved in this research is to produce a general model of information systems in supporting the operations of a tutoring institution. Designing an information system that is compatible with business processes can maximize the company's operations to run efficiently and effectively so as provides a competitive advantage from its competitors.

The study aims to explore postgraduate research students expectations from their thesis supervisors in online postgraduate programs. Particularly it aimed to study their perceptions of the role of thesis supervisor in their postgraduate research work. The study followed survey research design. The population comprised 1118 Postgraduate (MS) students enrolled in nine programs at post-graduation level in spring 2018. Using stratified random sampling technique, a total of 150 postgraduate research students were selected from five programs (MS Computer science, M Phil Educational Leadership and Management, MS Business Administration, MS Mathematics and MS Zoology of four faculties of Virtual University of Pakistan. Data were collected through researcher made scale Expectations of Research Students (ERS) having five subscales and 28 items. Mean, Standard Deviation and ANOVA were applied for obtaining results. Findings suggested that well documented and communicated thesis supervision regulations and including face-to-face interactions with online supervision could make some improvements to the outcomes of online supervision.

Green purchasing has become a significant priority for organizations and related parties to ensure a sustainable environment and future. Organizations should practise green purchasing because it provides a lot of benefits to the internal part of organization and to the external environment. The objective of this research is to examine the significant effectiveness of green fundamentals of purchasing and supply management, purchasing administration and materials management in enhancing the integrated purchasing and supply management process (green purchasing). This research focuses on a company that practising best in green purchasing that is Malaysia Trade and Transport Priority (MTT Priority). 20 Questionnaires were distributed to the employees and interviews were conducted with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and General Manager (GM) in the company. Green fundamentals of purchasing and supply management, purchasing administration and materials management are the independent variables for the green purchasing. Theoretically, it contributes an insight study on how the independent variables will affect green purchasing and benefit the company. Practically, this research is applicable for organizations in various industries, especially those who are operating business, in making important decisions to improve sustainable operations. Based on this research, it is found that there is positive outcome to promote Green Purchasing in the business organizations.

The author explored estimation by analogy (EBA) as a means of estimating the cost of international freight consignment. A version of the k-Nearest Neighbors algorithm (k-NN) was tested by predicting job costs from a database of over 5000 actual jobs booked by an Irish freight forwarding firm over a seven year period. The effect of a computer intensive training process on overall accuracy of the method was found to be insignificant when the method was implemented with four or fewer neighbors. Overall, the accuracy of the analogy based method, while still significantly less accurate than manually working up estimates, might be worthwhile to implement in practice, depending labor costs in an adopting firm. A simulation model was used to compare manual versus analytical estimation methods. The point of indifference occurs when it takes a firm more than 1.5 worker hours to prepare a manual estimate (at current Irish labor costs). Suggestions are given for future experiments to improve the sampling policy of the method to improve accuracy and to improve overall scalability.

The importance of checking the normality assumption in most statistical procedures especially parametric tests cannot be over emphasized as the validity of the inferences drawn from such procedures usually depend on the validity of this assumption. Numerous methods have been proposed by different authors over the years, some popular and frequently used, others, not so much. This study addresses the performance of eighteen of the available tests for different sample sizes, significance levels, and for a number of symmetric and asymmetric distributions by conducting a Monte-Carlo simulation. The results showed that considerable power is not achieved for symmetric distributions when sample size is less than one hundred and for such distributions, the kurtosis test is most powerful provided the distribution is leptokurtic or platykurtic. The Shapiro-Wilk test remains the most powerful test for asymmetric distributions. We conclude that different tests are suitable under different characteristics of alternative distributions.

The need for performance measurement and evaluation in supply chain management is well recognized in the literature. The timeliness of delivery is a key concern to customers and numerous empirical studies have documented the importance that on time delivery plays in the operation of the supply chain. Supply chain delivery performance models are based on the concept of the delivery window, which is defined as the difference between the earliest acceptable delivery date and the latest acceptable delivery date. In the dissertation supply chain delivery performance is evaluated from a supplier's and a buyer's prospective.

The research introduces a concept of the optimal positioning of the delivery window in a serial supply chain. Optimally positioning the delivery window minimizes the expected penalty cost due to early and late delivery. The conditions for the optimal position of the delivery window are derived for the general form of a delivery time distribution.

The research herein addresses strategies of delivery performance improvement using a cost based delivery performance model and evaluates the effect of different parameters on the expected penalty cost. An understanding of these analytical properties provides a strong foundation for identifying and integrating strategies to improve delivery performance.

Furthermore, we investigate how the timeliness of the delivery will affect the inventory cost structure of a buyer in a two stage supply chain. From the perspective of the buyer, untimely delivery can impact inventory holding and stockout costs. We formulate the supply chain delivery window problem as a stochastic model with three possible delivery outcomes (early, on time, and late delivery) and integrate this feature with an inventory model with two levels of storage (owned warehouse and rented warehouse).

This comparison and supporting analysis bridges existing gaps found in the literature and contributes to linking and coordinating the delivery and inventory sub processes within supply chains. Theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed.

Green supply chain models and carbon emissions tracking have become increasingly prevalent in the supply chain management literature and in corporate strategies. In this dissertation, carbon emissions are integrated into cost-based freight transportation models that can be used to assist operations and supply chain managers in solving the "last mile problem". The models presented herein serve to provide the decision maker with choices on which strategy to implement depending on the strength of the management's desire to reduce carbon emissions. By comparing the optimal solutions that result from using different delivery strategies, this research provides a basis for evaluating an appropriate trade-off between transportation cost and carbon emissions.

This dissertation contributes to academia and the literature in several ways. The discrete supply chain models provide a method for decision makers to analyze and compare the lowest cost delivery option with the lowest carbon footprint option. The stochastic last mile framework that is introduced provides a method for researchers and practitioners to measure the expected carbon footprint and compare probabilistic costs, carbon emissions, delivery mileage, and delivery times in order to make decisions regarding the most appropriate delivery strategy. This framework is then applied to two different problem settings. The first involves optimizing a delivery fleet to produce the lowest total cost with carbon emissions integrated into the total cost equation. The second compares the carbon footprint resulting from last mile delivery (ecommerce retailing involving a central store delivering to end customers) to customer pick up (conventional shopping at a brick-and-mortar retail location); the break-even number of customers for carbon emissions equivalence provides a basis for companies to determine the environmental impact of last mile delivery and to determine the feasibility of last mile delivery based on objectives related to minimizing carbon emissions.

Many types of services are provided using some equipment or machines, e.g. transportation systems using vehicles. Designs of these systems require capacity decisions, e.g., the number of vehicles. In my dissertation, I use many-server and conventional heavy-traffic limit theory to derive asymptotically optimal capacity decisions, giving the desired level of delay and availability performance with minimum investment. The results provide near-optimal solutions and insights to otherwise analytically intractable problems.

The dissertation will comprise two essays. In the first essay, &ldquoAsymptotic Analysis of Delay-based Performance Metrics and Optimal Capacity Decisions for the Machine Repair Problem with Spares,&rdquo I study the M/M/R machine repair problem with spares. This system can be represented by a closed queuing network. Applications include fleet vehicles' repair and backup capacity, warranty services' staffing and spare items investment decisions. For these types of systems, customer satisfaction is essential; thus, the delays until replacements of broken units are even more important than delays until the repair initiations of the units. Moreover, the service contract may include conditions on not only the fill rate but also the probability of acceptable delay (delay being less than a specified threshold value).

I address these concerns by expressing delays in terms of the broken-machines process; scaling this process by the number of required operating machines (or the number of customers in the system); and using many-server limit theorems (limits taken as the number of customers goes to infinity) to obtain the limiting expected delay and probability of acceptable delay for both delay until replacement and repair initiation. These results lead to an approximate optimization problem to decide on the repair and backup-capacity investment giving the minimum expected cost rate, subject to a constraint on the acceptable delay probability. Using the characteristics of the scaled broken-machines process, we obtain insights about the relationship between quality of service and capacity decisions. Inspired by the call-center literature, we categorize capacity level choice as efficiency-driven, quality-driven, or quality- and efficiency-driven. Hence, our study extends the conventional call center staffing problem to joint staffing and backup provisioning. Moreover, to our knowledge, the machine-repair problem literature has focused mainly on mean and fill rate measures of performance for steady-state cost analysis. This approach provides complex, nonlinear expressions not possible to solve analytically. The contribution of this essay to the machine-repair literature is the construction of delay-distribution approximations and a near-optimal analytical solution. Among the interesting results, we find that for capacity levels leading to very high utilization of both spares and repair capacity, the limiting distribution of delay until replacement depends on one type of resource only, the repair capacity investment.

In the second essay, &ldquoDiffusion Approximations and Near-Optimal Design of a Make-to-Stock Queue with Perishable Goods and Impatient Customers,&rdquo I study a make-to-stock system with perishable inventory and impatient customers as a two-sided queue with abandonment from both sides. This model describes many consumer goods, where not only spoilage but also theft and damage can occur. We will refer to positive jobs as individual products on the shelf and negative jobs as backlogged customers. In this sense, an arriving negative job provides the service to a waiting positive job, and vice versa. Jobs that must wait in queue before potential matching are subject to abandonment. Under certain assumptions on the magnitude of the abandonment rates and the scaled difference between the two arrival rates (products and customers), we suggest approximations to the system dynamics such as average inventory, backorders, and fill rate via conventional heavy traffic limit theory.

We find that the approximate limiting queue length distribution is a normalized weighted average of two truncated normal distributions and then extend our results to analyze make-to-stock queues with/without perishability and limiting inventory space by inducing thresholds on the production (positive) side of the queue. Finally, we develop conjectures for the queue-length distribution for a non-Markovian system with general arrival streams. We take production rate as the decision variable and suggest near-optimal solutions.

Dissertation

This thesis study evaluates access to care at an internal medicine unit with solely semi-private rooms at Baystate Medical Center (BMC). Patients are divided into two types: Type I patient consumes one bed; Type II patient occupies two beds or an entire semi-private room as a private space for clinical reasons, resulting in one empty but unavailable (blocked) bed per Type II patient. Because little data is available on blocked beds and Type II patients, unit-level hospital bed planning studies that consider blocked beds have been lacking. This thesis study bridges that gap by building a single-stream and a two-stream discrete micro-simulation model in Excel VBA to describe unit-level bed queue dynamics at hourly granularity in the next 48-hour time horizon, using historical arrival rates and census-dependent discharge rates, supplemented with qualitative results on complexity of patient-level discharge prediction. Results showed that while we increase additional semiprivate beds, there was notable difference between the traditional single-stream model and the two-stream model concerning improvement in bed queue size. Possible directions for future research include patient-level discharge prediction considering both clinical and nonclinical milestones, and strategic redesign of hospital unit(s) considering overflows and internal transfers.

Once properly managed, e-governance can add tremendous dynamism in reforming public administration and can change the mode of interaction between the state and its citizens. However, concerns regarding digital divides and the challenges of e-governance in the developing states of Africa, Asia, and Latin America are growing. If the factors contributing to digital divides are not carefully identified and properly solved, there is a growing risk that in the coming years digital resources might become the preserve of the “haves,” while ignoring the plight of the “have-nots” as they seek access to resources in developing countries. The current Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan (2000) provided the insight that new information and communications technologies are bringing people together, and bringing decision-makers unprecedented new tools for development. At the same time, however, Mr. Annan added, the gap between information “haves” and “have-nots” is widening, and there is a real danger that the world’s poor will be excluded from the emerging knowledge-based global economy. E-governance in this article could be referred to as the use of digital devices, usually by public authorities, when dealing with their public, private and non-profit stakeholders. E-governance comprises a practice, process, or activities through digital means and could equally be practiced by different stakeholders in managing public affairs. While in contrast “e-government” is defined by Shafritz and Russel (2003) as conducting any aspect of government business operations over the Internet—from providing information by government to paying bills to the government. This article examines and analyzes the current status of emerging electronic and Web-based governance (e-governance) in developing countries. In doing so, the article outlines the market model, participatory state model, flexible government model, and the deregulated government model presented by Professor Guy Peters for reforming governance. In light of the above, the article brings forward the emerging issues of governance, e-governance, and the possibility of shared governance. Emerging e-governance is reshaping the process of administrative reforms in developing countries—which requires fresh academic research and a scholarly contribution.

In 1997, the United States set a national goal to reduce the fatal accident rate for aviation by 80% within ten years based on the recommendations by the Presidential Commission on Aviation Safety and Security. Achieving this goal will require the combined efforts of government, industry, and academia in the areas of technology research and development, implementation, and operations. To respond to the national goal, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has developed a program that will focus resources over a five year period on performing research and developing technologies that will enable improvements in many areas of aviation safety. The NASA Aviation Safety Program (AvSP) is organized into six research areas: Aviation System Modeling and Monitoring, System Wide Accident Prevention, Single Aircraft Accident Prevention, Weather Accident Prevention, Accident Mitigation, and Synthetic Vision. Specific project areas include Turbulence Detection and Mitigation, Aviation Weather Information, Weather Information Communications, Propulsion Systems Health Management, Control Upset Management, Human Error Modeling, Maintenance Human Factors, Fire Prevention, and Synthetic Vision Systems for Commercial, Business, and General Aviation aircraft. Research will be performed at all four NASA aeronautics centers and will be closely coordinated with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other government agencies, industry, academia, as well as the aviation user community. This paper provides an overview of the NASA Aviation Safety Program goals, structure, and integration with the rest of the aviation community.