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The purpose of this paper is to list and discuss several workers on cybernetics and systems, all fairly recently deceased. Online sources of further details are quoted.

The aim is to review developments on the internet, especially those of general cybernetic interest.

The demise of these workers is a great loss.

For all of the people listed, it is instructive to contemplate their achievements and to speculate on what else they would have done had they lived.

It is hoped this is a valuable periodic review.

The purpose of this paper is to propose an interpretive structural modeling (ISM) model which highlights the relationships between the identified just-in-time (JIT) elements useful for the implementation of JIT in maintenance and understand mutual influences of these identified JIT elements on JIT implementation in maintenance. Further, this paper seeks to identify dependence power and driving power of identified JIT elements using an ISM and Matrice d’Impacts Croisés Multiplication Appliquée á un Classement (MICMAC) analysis.

The methodology used in the paper is ISM with a view to evolving mutual relationships among JIT elements. The identified JIT elements have been further classified, based on their dependence power and driving power using MICMAC analysis.

This paper has developed the relationships among 16 identified JIT elements using the ISM methodology. Further, this paper analyses the driving power and dependence power of identified JIT elements with the help of MICMAC analysis. The incorporated approach is developed here, as the ISM provides only binary correlation among identified JIT elements. The MICMAC analysis is adopted here as it is useful in specific examination related to driving and the dependence power of identified JIT elements. The ISM developed model and MICMAC analysis finding are validated with the help of industrial experts.

The weightage and validation for the ISM and MICMAC analysis are obtained throughout the opinion of academics and industry experts. Further hypothesis may be conducted to examine the validity of the planned model, and structural model may also be validated statistically with the help of structural equation modeling.

The ISM model development and MICMAC analysis of identified JIT elements provide academics and maintenance managers a macro picture of the profits gained by the organizations by the implementation of JIT in maintenance of an organization.

The results will be useful for maintenance managers to understand the process of implementation of JIT in maintenance and to gain benefits after the implementation of JIT in maintenance of an organization.

In the uncertain business environment, the supply chains are under pressure to balance routine operations and prepare for adverse events. Consequently, this research investigates how artificial intelligence is used to enable resilience among supply chains.

This study first analyzed the relationship among different characteristics of AI-enabled supply chain and how these elements take it towards resilience by collecting the responses from 27 supply chain professionals. Furthermore, to validate the results, an empirical analysis is conducted where the responses from 231 supply chain professionals are collected.

Findings indicate that the disruption impact of an event depends on the degree of transparency kept and provided to all supply chain partners. This is further validated through empirical study, where the impact of transparency facilitates the mass customization of the procurement strategy to Last Mile Delivery to reduce the impact of disruption. Hence, AI facilitates resilience in the supply chain.

This study adds to the domain of supply chain and information systems management by identifying the driving and dependent elements that AI facilitates and further validating the findings and structure of the elements through empirical analysis. The research also provides meaningful implications for theory and practice.

Security and safety have remained important concerns for mankind since ancient times. In the context of railways, however, the threat perceptions to safety and security have increased significantly lately. In view of this, the Indian Railways requires an effective and efficient security management system. The purpose of this paper is to propose an integrated approach to help develop the Indian railway security system (IRSS) by successively reducing the complexity of the system through a series of studies.

The relevant elements of the complex system of Indian Railways have been identified. The framework in which the elements exist and interact with each other has been clearly established using the interpretive structural modelling (ISM) technique. The output of ISM is further reduced in complexity by having different policy option profiles. A comparison of different option profiles has been done by a multi-criteria decision-making technique, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), by choosing suitable criteria for comparison.

The following elements need to be pursued as the key objectives for making IRSS: protection of passengers, protection of property, modernisation, manpower enhancement, multi-skilling of staff, latest technology and enhanced legal powers.

The present research can be extended in many important ways. Interpretive structural models for different contextual relationships can be developed and used for formulating and implementing customised security policy. Policy elements and the ISM structure obtained in this research can be utilised for the system dynamic modelling of IRSS. A pilot study can be done to implement the recommendations made in this study.

The ISM model developed can be implemented as a policy tool in enhancing the railway’s security. Some of the policy elements proposed appear to be consistent with the strategic direction being undertaken in the railway security in the country.

Security is an important concern for mankind and social civilisations. The results have significant welfare implications in India and the rest of the world.

The present study is one of the first approaches in a series of studies in railway security in India. The results of this study can be extended to other security scenarios with similar needs.

Marketing is all about understanding your consumers and giving them what they want. However, this process becomes more complicated in times of economic crisis and national slowdown. Consumers can become scattered and unpredictable in their behaviour, making it hard to understand what they want or need. At times like these, it is more important than ever to rely on qualitative market research to understand the views of consumers and managers. Thus, this study aims to look at the significant consumer challenges that arise during times of crisis and the marketing strategies that managers prefer to counter the crisis.

The data collected for this study involves an extensive literature review followed by personal interviews with industry experts. This study presents two separate models, indicating hierarchical relationships among consumer challenges during crisis and marketing strategies using the total interpretive structural modelling approach. Further MICMAC analysis (popularly known as cross-impact matrix multiplication) was also performed to assess each variable's driving and dependence power.

“Price sensitiveness” and “adaptive buying” result as driving factors with the highest driving and lowest dependence power, which further gives rise to other consumer behaviour challenges. Likewise, the most critical strategies are “information systems” and the formation of “crisis management teams” during a crisis. At the same time, other strategies have resulted as linkage and dependent factors and none as the autonomous factor.

This paper provides a systematic understanding of how a manager can understand the challenges consumers face during a crisis and suggests a powerful summary of strategies companies can implement to sail through a crisis.

The aim of this paper is, first, the desire to present the issue of retail sector competitiveness with the simultaneous determination of factors having an impact on competitiveness and their development. The main aim is to identify the factors and relationships among those factors to strengthen the competitive positioning of apparel retail stores.

The literature review and experts’ opinion helped to identify the key factors. The relationships among the factors were obtained by using interpretive structural modelling (ISM). Experts’ opinions were collected again for the fuzzy direct relationship matrix. Factors were further classified by driver and dependence power using the fuzzy matrix of cross-impact multiplications applied to classification (FMICMAC) analysis.

Total nine strengthening factors (SFs) identified here, and developed an integrated model using ISM and classified it into four clusters with the help of driver and dependence power. The model hierarchy shows the interrelationships among these SFs. The retail environment, Information and Communication Technology, technology adoption and human resource management were found to be the most significant factors needing some spotlight by the top-level authority.

The study will help managers to understand the variables and their relationships and to select the right factors to achieve a potential competitive position. Relationships among the factors were obtained through the opinions of experts and academicians. Expert opinion is a subjective judgement, and biasing in judgement might affect the result.

The research presents the first kind of an integrated model using ISM and FMICMAC to identify nine factors and classify them by their driving and dependence power. The developed model helps in the identification, classification and selection of factors as per requirement. This study will assist managers to understand the variables and their relationships and to select right factors to achieve a potential competitive position.

This study aims to identify and recognize the interrelationship between green supply chain practices (GSCPs) and analyze the effect of GSCPs on green supply chain management (GSCM) implementation on the premise of driving and dependence power of GSCPs.

This research identifies twenty GSCPs with the consultation of the team of industry practitioners and academicians. Interpretative structural modelling (ISM) is applied to develop the relationship between GSCPs, which gives the direct and indirect effects of each GSCPs. The result obtained from ISM is used as an input for Fuzzy matriced impacts croises multiplication appliquee a un classement (Fuzzy MICMAC) to identify the driving and dependence power of GSCPs.

An integrated model has been established using ISM and the Fuzzy MICMAC method to categorize the GSCPs. It reveals the direct and indirect effect of each GSCPs on the execution of GSCM. The result shows that driver GSCPs have deliberate importance because of their driving power and dependent GSCPs are more performance-oriented.

ISM model and fuzzy MICMAC analysis depends on the judgment of the professional's team from a single industry. These opinions may be subjective judgments of the experts and any biasing may influence the final result.

This study gives significant guidance to industry practitioners and academicians. Industry practitioners need to concentrate on these most significant GSCPs for the successful implementation of GSCM. They must also plan for the growth of GSCM by concentrating on all GSCPs. On the other side, academicians may be motivated to categorize other issues which are essential for GSCPs.

In this research, an effort has been made to identify the significant GSCPs for GSCM implementation on a single platform. A huge literature is available on GSCPs, but none of the researchers paid attention to model these GSCPs using ISM and fuzzy MICMAC.

The purpose of this chapter is to identify and analyze various critical success factors (CSFs) that can facilitate retailing business in Thailand. This chapter further aims to understand the mutual interactions among these CSFs through identification of the hierarchical relationships among them. A framework for Thai retailers has been developed, wherein the hierarchical interrelationships between identified CSFs have been presented and interpreted using total interpretive structural modeling (TISM). Cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification analysis has been further employed to identify the driving power as well as dependence power of these CSFs. In the present research, 15 CSFs have been identified through literature review and expert opinions. The methodology employed in this study provides a mechanism to conduct an exploratory study by identifying the factors and analyzing their interactions through the development of a hierarchical framework. The proposed framework developed through qualitative modeling is an effort to understand relevant factors that can apply to the Thai retailers. This study makes a significant contribution in the literature of retailing business, which captures the perspective of different customers.