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Article
Publication date: 12 April 2011

Faramak Zandi and Madjid Tavana

The high expenditures in information technology (IT) and the growing usage that penetrates the core of business have resulted in a need to effectively and efficiently evaluate…

1182

Abstract

Purpose

The high expenditures in information technology (IT) and the growing usage that penetrates the core of business have resulted in a need to effectively and efficiently evaluate strategic IT investments in organizations. The purpose of this paper is to propose a novel two‐dimensional approach that determines the deferrable strategy with the most value by maximizing the real option values while minimizing the risks associated with each alternative strategy.

Design/methodology/approach

In the proposed approach, first, the deferrable investment strategies are prioritized according to their values using real option analysis (ROA). Then, the risks associated with each investment strategy are quantified using the group fuzzy analytic hierarchy process. Finally, the values associated with the two dimensions are integrated to determine the deferrable IT investment strategy with the most value using a fuzzy preemptive goal programming model.

Findings

Managers face the difficulty that most IT investment projects are inherently risky, especially in a rapidly changing business environment. The paper proposes a framework that can be used to evaluate IT investments based on the real option concept. This simple, intuitive, generic and comprehensive approach incorporates the linkage among economic value, real option value and IT investments that could lead to a better‐structured decision process.

Originality/value

In contrast to the traditional ROA literature, the approach contributes to the literature by incorporating a risk dimension parameter. The paper emphasizes the importance of categorizing risk management in IT investment projects since some risk cannot be eliminated.

Details

Benchmarking: An International Journal, vol. 18 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-5771

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 August 2021

Ehsan Rashidzadeh, Seyyed Mohammad Hadji Molana, Roya Soltani and Ashkan Hafezalkotob

Delivery management of perishable products such as blood in a supply chain is a considerable issue such that the last-mile delivery, which refers to deliver goods to the end user…

1127

Abstract

Purpose

Delivery management of perishable products such as blood in a supply chain is a considerable issue such that the last-mile delivery, which refers to deliver goods to the end user as fast as possible takes into account as one of the most important, expensive and, polluting segments in the entire supply chain. Regardless of economic challenges, the last-mile delivery faces social and environmental barriers to continuing operations while complying with environmental and social standards, therefore incorporating sustainability into last-mile logistic strategy is no longer an option but rather a necessity. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to consider a last-mile delivery in a blood supply chain in terms of using appropriate technologies such as drones to assess sustainability.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors discuss the impact of drone technology on last-mile delivery and its importance in achieving sustainability. They focus on the effect of using drones on CO2 emission, costs and social benefits by proposing a multi-objective mathematical model to assess sustainability in the last-mile delivery. A preemptive fuzzy goal programming approach to solve the model and measure the achievement degree of sustainability is conducted by using a numerical example to show the capability and usefulness of the suggested model, solution approach and, impact of drone technology in achieving all three aspects of sustainability.

Findings

The findings illustrate the achievement degree of sustainability in the delivery of blood based on locating distribution centers and allocating drones. Moreover, a comparison between drones and conventional vehicles is carried out to show the preference of using drones in reaching sustainability. A sensitivity analysis on aspects of sustainability and specifications of drone technology is conducted for validating the obtained results and distinguishing the most dominant aspect and parameters in enhancing the achievement degree of sustainability.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no research has considered the assessment of sustainability in the last-mile delivery of blood supply chain with a focus on drone technology.

Details

Journal of Modelling in Management, vol. 16 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5664

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 April 2021

Hamed Fazlollahtabar and Navid Kazemitash

However, due to the huge number of studies and on the other hand to be new and creative, the represented models and methods – as the two main parts of this field – have been got…

Abstract

Purpose

However, due to the huge number of studies and on the other hand to be new and creative, the represented models and methods – as the two main parts of this field – have been got more complicated, which consequently have been turned into unpractical research studies for the realistic situations. Therefore, the purpose of this study is the representation of a novel and simple method to deal with the aforementioned gap.

Design/methodology/approach

To this end, Fazl-Tash method have been proposed, in which a thorough and complete model including 114 criteria and a simple technique to rank and select the best supplier have been presented. Sustainability and resiliency are considered in collecting criteria effective on supplier selection.

Findings

The method was carried out in a case study in an industrial company. The efficiency of the proposed method is evaluated in comparison with other conventional approaches.

Originality/value

As selecting the supplier plays a crucial role to bring some important advantages for companies, such as coping with the cost and time problems and influencing the majority of contemporary markets’ requirements, in recent years, there have been representing more effective studies in the supplier selection literature.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 51 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 February 2023

Gokhan Agac, Birdogan Baki and Ilker Murat Ar

The purpose of this study is to systematically review the existing literature on the blood supply chain (BSC) from a network design perspective and highlight the research gaps in…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to systematically review the existing literature on the blood supply chain (BSC) from a network design perspective and highlight the research gaps in this area. Moreover, it also aims to pinpoint new research opportunities based on the recent innovative technologies for the BSC network design.

Design/methodology/approach

The study gives a comprehensive systematic review of the BSC network design studies until October 2021. This review was carried out in accordance with preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA). In the literature review, a total of 87 studies were analyzed under six main categories as model structure, application model, solution approach, problem type, the parties of the supply chain and innovative technologies.

Findings

The results of the study present the researchers’ tendencies and preferences when designing their BSC network models.

Research limitations/implications

The study presents a guide for researchers and practitioners on BSC from the point of view of network design and encourages adopting innovative technologies in their BSC network designs.

Originality/value

The study provides a comprehensive systematic review of related studies from the BSC network design perspective and explores research gaps in the collection and distribution processes. Furthermore, it addresses innovative research opportunities by using innovative technologies in the area of BSC network design.

Details

Journal of Modelling in Management, vol. 19 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5664

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 17 November 2010

Kenneth D. Lawrence, Dinesh R. Pai and Sheila M. Lawrence

This chapter proposes a fuzzy approach to forecasting using a financial data set. The methodology used is multiple objective linear programming (MOLP). Selecting an individual…

Abstract

This chapter proposes a fuzzy approach to forecasting using a financial data set. The methodology used is multiple objective linear programming (MOLP). Selecting an individual forecast based on a single objective may not make the best use of available information for a variety of reasons. Combined forecasts may provide a better fit with respect to a single objective than any individual forecast. We incorporate soft constraints and preemptive additive weights into a mathematical programming approach to improve our forecasting accuracy. We compare the results of our approach with the preemptive MOLP approach. A financial example is used to illustrate the efficacy of the proposed forecasting methodology.

Details

Advances in Business and Management Forecasting
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-85724-201-3

Article
Publication date: 30 January 2007

Malte L. Peters and Stephan Zelewski

This paper seeks to develop a model for the assignment of employees to workplaces. Assignment methods are of high relevance in practice because employees should be assigned to…

2605

Abstract

Purpose

This paper seeks to develop a model for the assignment of employees to workplaces. Assignment methods are of high relevance in practice because employees should be assigned to workplaces according to their competences and preferences to ensure that motivated employees carry out tasks effectively and efficiently.

Design/methodology/approach

Two goal programming models are introduced with inputs and valuations using the analytic hierarchy process.

Findings

The two goal programming models for the assignment of employees to workplaces, which take into account both employee competences and preferences as well as workplace competence requirements and attributes, seem to be effective in helping to arrive at an optimal assignment decision.

Research limitations/implications

In practice, one major problem is that the input data for the goal programming models are not updated regularly. Thus, the documentation of the competence profiles and the preferences of the employees might be out of date or incomplete.

Originality/value

The development of the two goal programming models which could be applied immediately in practical competence management is what makes the work valuable and addresses a gap in the modelling of personnel assignment methodologies.

Details

Management Research News, vol. 30 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0140-9174

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 October 2019

Chunxia Yu, Zhiqin Zou, Yifan Shao and Fengli Zhang

The purpose of this paper is to develop a novel integrated supplier selection approach incorporating decision maker’s risk attitude using the artificial neural network (ANN)…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a novel integrated supplier selection approach incorporating decision maker’s risk attitude using the artificial neural network (ANN), analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) methods.

Design/methodology/approach

In the proposed approach, the ANN model is used to classify decision maker’s risk attitude; the fuzzy AHP method is used to determine the relative weights of evaluation criteria; and the fuzzy TOPSIS method is used to evaluate ratings of suppliers. Finally, experiments are conducted to verify the feasibility and efficiency of the proposed integrated approach.

Findings

Experiments results show that the proposed integrated approach is effective and efficient to help decision makers to select suitable suppliers according to their risk attitudes.

Originality/value

The aim of this paper is to develop a novel integrated supplier selection approach incorporating decision maker’s risk attitude using the ANN, AHP and TOPSIS methods. The decision maker’s risk attitude toward procurement transaction is originally considered in supplier selection process.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 49 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 September 2023

Kemal Subulan and Adil Baykasoğlu

The purpose of this study is to develop a holistic optimization model for an integrated sustainable fleet planning and closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) network design problem under…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to develop a holistic optimization model for an integrated sustainable fleet planning and closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) network design problem under uncertainty.

Design/methodology/approach

A novel mixed-integer programming model that is able to consider interactions between vehicle fleet planning and CLSC network design problems is first developed. Uncertainties of the product demand and return fractions of the end-of-life products are handled by a chance-constrained stochastic program. Several Pareto optimal solutions are generated for the conflicting sustainability objectives via compromise and fuzzy goal programming (FGP) approaches.

Findings

The proposed model is tested on a real-life lead/acid battery recovery system. By using the proposed model, sustainable fleet plans that provide a smaller fleet size, fewer empty vehicle repositions, minimal CO2 emissions, maximal vehicle safety ratings and minimal injury/illness incidence rate of transport accidents are generated. Furthermore, an environmentally and socially conscious CLSC network with maximal job creation in the less developed regions, minimal lost days resulting from the work's damages during manufacturing/recycling operations and maximal collection/recovery of end-of-life products is also designed.

Originality/value

Unlike the classical network design models, vehicle fleet planning decisions such as fleet sizing/composition, fleet assignment, vehicle inventory control, empty repositioning, etc. are also considered while designing a sustainable CLSC network. In addition to sustainability indicators in the network design, sustainability factors in fleet management are also handled. To the best of the authors' knowledge, there is no similar paper in the literature that proposes such a holistic optimization model for integrated sustainable fleet planning and CLSC network design.

Article
Publication date: 13 December 2017

Vahid Kayvanfar, Mohsen S. Sajadieh, S.M. Moattar Husseini and Behrooz Karimi

In this paper, a multi-objective multi-echelon supply-distribution model is proposed to optimize interactions of entities located within an Industrial Cluster (IC) including…

356

Abstract

Purpose

In this paper, a multi-objective multi-echelon supply-distribution model is proposed to optimize interactions of entities located within an Industrial Cluster (IC) including small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), using a third-party logistics provider (3PL)-managed supply-demand hub in industrial cluster (SDHIC) as a specific public provider of warehousing and logistics services.

Design/methodology/approach

The three considered objectives are minimizing the total logistics costs, maximizing the rate of demand satisfaction and maximizing the quality of delivery. Because some parameters such as “demand of customers” are naturally fuzzy because of incompleteness and/or inaccessibility of the needed information, the triangular fuzzy number is applied for all fuzzy parameters to handle this difficulty. The proposed model is primarily changed into a correspondent supplementary crisp model. To solve such a model, a revised multi-choice goal programming (RMCGP) approach is then used with the purpose of finding a compromise solution.

Findings

Experimental results demonstrate that all enterprises involved in such a supply chain benefit with several advantages using SDHIC by consolidating shipments and merging the storage space of inventories. The applicability of the presented model is shown by conducting these experiments over an applied industrial case study.

Originality/value

The main contributions of this research are proposing a practical mathematical approach to the supply chain of ICs using a specific public warehouse managed by a 3PL, called SDHIC, bridging the existing gaps with respect to the already published researches in this area by applying real-world assumptions such as uncertainty; optimizing the interactions of involved entities in the supply chain of an IC, comprising suppliers, SMEs as manufacturers and customers; minimizing the total incurred logistics costs to such a system through optimum usage of lands, facilities, labors, etc. and boosting the satisfaction of customers through maximizing the service level criteria, illustrating the positive consequences of cooperation of 3PL with the SMEs/manufacturers in an IC, showing the applicability of the adopted approach by implementing it on an applied industrial instance.

Article
Publication date: 21 May 2021

Mohammad Khalilzadeh

This study aims to develop a mathematical programming model for preemptive multi-mode resource-constrained project scheduling problems in construction with the objective of…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to develop a mathematical programming model for preemptive multi-mode resource-constrained project scheduling problems in construction with the objective of levelling resources considering renewable and non-renewable resources.

Design/methodology/approach

The proposed model was solved by the exact method and the genetic algorithm integrated with the solution modification procedure coded with MATLAB software. The Taguchi method was applied for setting the parameters of the genetic algorithm. Different numerical examples were used to show the validation of the proposed model and the capability of the genetic algorithm in solving large-sized problems. In addition, the sensitivity analysis of two parameters, including resource factor and order strength, was conducted to investigate their impact on computational time.

Findings

The results showed that preemptive activities obtained better results than non-preemptive activities. In addition, the validity of the genetic algorithm was evaluated by comparing its solutions to the ones of the exact methods. Although the exact method could not find the optimal solution for large-scale problems, the genetic algorithm obtained close to optimal solutions within a short computational time. Moreover, the findings demonstrated that the genetic algorithm was capable of achieving optimal solutions for small-sized problems. The proposed model assists construction project practitioners with developing a realistic project schedule to better estimate the project completion time and minimize fluctuations in resource usage during the entire project horizon.

Originality/value

There has been no study considering the interruption of multi-mode activities with fluctuations in resource usage over an entire project horizon. In this regard, fluctuations in resource consumption are an important issue that needs the attention of project planners.

Details

Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology , vol. 20 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1726-0531

Keywords

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