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Book part
Publication date: 23 September 2014

Mohamed E. Bayou, Alan Reinstein, Xinyu Du and Avinash Arya

While cost allocation decisions attract considerable attention in the management accounting literature, many studies are contradicting and inconclusive. They often seek to develop…

Abstract

While cost allocation decisions attract considerable attention in the management accounting literature, many studies are contradicting and inconclusive. They often seek to develop product or service weights in order to make operating decisions with the sole objective of maximizing the firm’s profitability. But before developing these weights, the studies must first rank these products – which is a complex endeavor that is often driven by many hierarchical financial and nonfinancial goals and objectives. Ranking is also difficult due to using such complex concepts as time, uncertainty, cost, and interdependencies between accounting systems and manufacturing systems and among the products of the product mix. These concepts are inherently fuzzy and coextensively applied often with a confluence of variables operating simultaneously.

This paper applies an advanced mathematical model to account for a hospital cost allocation decisions in treating spinal cord injuries (SCI). The model combines the powers of fuzzy set theory (Zadeh, 1965) and the analytic hierarchy process (Saaty, 1978). The precise ratings required in the conventional analytic hierarchy process but practically hard to obtain are replaced by naturally semantic variables by using the fuzzy set concept. de Korvin and Kleyle’s (1999) fuzzy-analytic-hierarchical process (FAHP) then develop these ambiguous variables. FAHP can help to optimize decisions involving ambiguous variables and the web of prioritized strategies and goals of cost leadership, product differentiation, financial objectives of earnings, cash flows, and market share and nonfinancial goals such as tradition and owners’ convictions and philosophies.

We use data from seven Michigan SCI facilities in applying the FAHP model to rank and otherwise develop more optimal strategies and goals and compare our results to the decisions of hospital management.

Details

Advances in Management Accounting
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-166-4

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 September 2019

Megashnee Munsamy, Arnesh Telukdarie and Johannes Fresner

Sustainability is an accepted measure of business performance, with reductions in energy demand a commonly practised sustainability initiative by multinational corporations…

Abstract

Purpose

Sustainability is an accepted measure of business performance, with reductions in energy demand a commonly practised sustainability initiative by multinational corporations (MNCs). Traditional energy models have limited scope when applied to the entire MNC as the models exhibit high data and time intensity, high technical proficiency, specificity of application and omission of non-manufacturing activities. The purpose of this paper is to propose a process centric energy model (PCEM), which adopts a novel approach of applying business processes for business energy assessment and optimisation. Business processes are a fundamental requirement of MNCs across all sectors. The defining features of the proposed model are genericity, reproducibility, minimum user input data, reduced modelling time and energy evaluation of non-manufacturing activities. The approach forwards the adoption of Industry 4.0, a subset of which focuses on business process automation or part thereof.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative approach is applied in development of the PCEM. The methodology is demonstrated by application to the procure to pay and electroplating business processes.

Findings

The PCEM quantifies and optimises the business energy demand and associated carbon dioxide emissions of the procure to pay and electroplating business processes, validating the application of business processes. The application demonstrates minimum user inputs as only equipment operational parameters are required and minimum modelling time as business process models and optimisation options are pre-defined requiring only user modification. As MNCs have common business processes across multiple sites, once a business process energy demand is quantified, its inputs are applied as the default in the proceeding sites, only requiring updating. The model has no specialist skills requirement enabling business wide use and eliminating costs associated with training and expert’s services. The business processes applied in the evaluation are developed by the researchers and are not as comprehensive as those in actual MNCs, but is sufficiently detailed to accurately calculate an MNC energy demand. The model databases are not exhaustive of all resources found in MNCs.

Originality/value

This paper provides a new approach to MNC business energy assessment and optimisation. The model can be applied to MNEs across all sectors. The model allows the integration of manufacturing and non-manufacturing activities, as it occurs in practice, providing holistic business energy assessment and optimisation. The model analyses the impacts of the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies on business energy demand, CO2 emission and personnel hours.

Details

Business Process Management Journal, vol. 25 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-7154

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 November 2017

Shivendra Singh and Ramesh Pandita

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact and role of libraries of the Institutes of Management in India in their research output. The study is based on the seven point…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact and role of libraries of the Institutes of Management in India in their research output. The study is based on the seven point performance evaluation parameter, whereby each individual library has been ranked on the basis of aggregate performance against each individual parameter. Some of the key parameters evaluated, include, preference of resource procurement namely, electronic or print, utilisation of library budget towards the procurement of print and electronic resources, average fund utilisation on resource procurement against each published research article and average fund utilisation on resource procurement against each faculty member. Research output against each faculty member and various other similar aspects have been evaluated.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is limited to the management institutes of India, but the findings can be generalised to assess omit it the overall trend across the management institutes in general and India in particular. The study is based on 2016 ranking list of Institutes of Management in India, compiled and released by the Ministry of Human Resource and Development, Govt. of India for the period 2012-2013, 2013-2014 and 2014-2015.

Findings

From the data analysis, it emerged that almost three-fourth of the library budget in the leading Management Institutes across India is being spent on the procurement of e-documents, mostly in the form of subscription of online journals. On average 1.18 research articles have been published by each faculty member during the period of study from each institute under study, with an average annual institutional research output of 19.63 research articles. In terms of resource allocation, on average Indian Rupees (INR) 0.986/million has been spent by each institutional library on the resource procurement against each published research article, and INR1.166/million has been spent on the resource procurement against each faculty member.

Practical implications

The study is an attempt to seek correlation between the money spend on the procurement of resources and its direct impact on the research output of that particular institution.

Originality/value

The study is original and first of its kind, undertaken in India.

Details

Library Management, vol. 38 no. 8/9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-5124

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1992

Paulo Rita and Luiz Moutinho

Describes a preliminary model for assisting national tourismorganizations (NTOs) in the allocation of promotional budgets tointernational travel markets so as to optimize their…

Abstract

Describes a preliminary model for assisting national tourism organizations (NTOs) in the allocation of promotional budgets to international travel markets so as to optimize their marketing objectives. The model (TOUREX) is a knowledge‐based system. Discusses findings (that allow enhancement and refining of the model) from in‐depth interviews conducted with 12 European NTOs as part of a wider study both to improve the model and expand the knowledge base.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 4 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 2014

Sergey D. Bushuyev and Reinhard Friedrich Wagner

The purpose of this paper is to describe the concepts of two new approaches offered by IPMA through its internationally widespread member associations: IPMA Delta® for assessing…

1985

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe the concepts of two new approaches offered by IPMA through its internationally widespread member associations: IPMA Delta® for assessing and developing project management maturity and the IPMA Organisational Competence Baseline (OCB), acting as reference model for IPMA Delta. In addition to this description, a case study reveals insights in the usage of IPMA Delta and the benefits realized through such a holistic assessment of project management maturity.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper takes the form of a conceptual paper and a case study.

Findings

IPMA Delta is a holistic assessment of the organisational competence in managing projects. Three modules are used to assess the competence of selected individuals, the application of project management in selected projects and the organisation's approach of managing projects. Through the assessment, an organisation gets insights in regard to the current maturity and the Delta to a desired target state. Recommendations drive the continuous development of organisational competences in managing projects, which is shown in the case of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. This case study also reveals insights in the benefits realized through such a holistic maturity assessment.

Originality/value

This conceptual paper builds on organisational competence in managing projects, a new concept in the world of maturity models offering a holistic view beyond processes.

Details

International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, vol. 7 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8378

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 2006

Wassim Masmoudi, Hédi Chtourou and Aref Y. Maalej

The purpose of this research is to focus on the solution of the resource sizing problem for production systems (PSs), defined as the specification of the number of each type of…

1045

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to focus on the solution of the resource sizing problem for production systems (PSs), defined as the specification of the number of each type of resources to be used in a production process for a given time period.

Design/methodology/approach

The resource sizing problem is tackled by a simulation‐expert‐system‐based approach, coupling an expert system (ES) with a simulation tool. Hence, a number of “simulation – ES optimization” cycles are realized until obtaining non‐improvable levels of performance. The main performance measures considered in this work are related to the manufacturing orders due dates (DD).

Findings

Through the approach proposed in this work, it is possible to size machines in order to optimize DD related performance measures for a PS belonging to a specific application domain. PSs of this domain are characterized by a functional layout and feature no labor constraints. In addition, machines belonging to a same department are considered to be identical.

Originality/value

The developed approach allows studying the machine sizing problem realistically, through the use of stochastic simulation. Also, by coupling an ES to the simulation tool, it avoids the try and error aspect characterizing most simulation‐based approaches. It hence features a well‐structured reasoning mechanism for the search of the best solution.

Details

Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, vol. 17 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-038X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 1964

All items listed may be borrowed from the Aslib Library, except those marked, which may be consulted in the Library.

Abstract

All items listed may be borrowed from the Aslib Library, except those marked, which may be consulted in the Library.

Details

Aslib Proceedings, vol. 16 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0001-253X

Book part
Publication date: 13 September 2018

Chin How (Norman) Goh, Michael D. Short, Nanthi S. Bolan and Christopher P. Saint

Biosolids, the residual solids from wastewater treatment operations and once considered a waste product by the industry, are now becoming increasingly recognised as a…

Abstract

Biosolids, the residual solids from wastewater treatment operations and once considered a waste product by the industry, are now becoming increasingly recognised as a multifunctional resource with growing opportunities for marketable use. This shift in attitude towards biosolids management is spurred on by increasing volatility in energy, fertilizer and commodity markets as well as moves by the global community towards mitigating global warming and the effects of climate change. This chapter will provide an overview of current global biosolids practices (paired with a number of Australian examples) as well as discuss potential future uses of biosolids. Additionally, present and future risks and opportunities of biosolids use are highlighted, including potential policy implications.

Details

Unmaking Waste in Production and Consumption: Towards the Circular Economy
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-620-4

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 June 2019

Felix T.S. Chan, Zhengxu Wang, Yashveer Singh, X.P. Wang, J.H. Ruan and M.K. Tiwari

The purpose of this paper is to develop a model which schedules activities and allocates resources in a resource constrained project management problem. This paper also considers…

473

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a model which schedules activities and allocates resources in a resource constrained project management problem. This paper also considers learning rate and uncertainties in the activity durations.

Design/methodology/approach

An activity schedule with requirements of different resource units is used to calculate the objectives: makespan and resource efficiency. A comparisons between non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm – II (NSGA-II) and non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm – III (NSGA-III) is done to calculate near optimal solutions. Buffers are introduced in the activity schedule to take uncertainty into account and learning rate is used to incorporate the learning effect.

Findings

The results show that NSGA-III gives better near optimal solutions than NSGA-II for multi-objective problem with different complexities of activity schedule.

Research limitations/implications

The paper does not considers activity sequencing with multiple activity relations (for instance partial overlapping among different activities) and dynamic events occurring in between or during activities.

Practical implications

The paper helps project managers in manufacturing industry to schedule the activities and allocate resources for a near-real world environment.

Originality/value

This paper takes into account both the learning rate and the uncertainties in the activity duration for a resource constrained project management problem. The uncertainty in both the individual durations of activities and the whole project duration time is taken into consideration. Genetic algorithms were used to solve the problem at hand.

Details

Industrial Management & Data Systems, vol. 119 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-5577

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 November 2018

Christopher Garcia, Ghaith Rabadi and Femida Handy

Every year volunteers play a crucial role in disaster responses around the world. Volunteer management is known to be more complex than managing a paid workforce, and this is only…

Abstract

Purpose

Every year volunteers play a crucial role in disaster responses around the world. Volunteer management is known to be more complex than managing a paid workforce, and this is only made worse by the uncertainty of rapidly changing conditions of crisis scenarios. The purpose of this paper is to address the critical problem of assigning tasks to volunteers and other renewable and non-renewable resources simultaneously, particularly under high-load conditions. These conditions are described by a significant mismatch between available volunteer resources and demands or by frequent changes in requirements.

Design/methodology/approach

Through a combination of literature reviews and interviews with managers from several major volunteer organizations, six key characteristics of crisis volunteer resource allocation problems are identified. These characteristics are then used to develop a general mixed integer programming framework for modeling these problems. Rather than relying on probabilistic resource or demand characterizations, this framework addresses the constantly changing conditions inherent to this class of problems through a dynamic resource reallocation-based approach that minimizes the undesirable impacts of changes while meeting the desired and changing objectives. The viability of this approach for solving problems of realistic size and scale is demonstrated through a large set of computational experiments.

Findings

Using a common commercial solver, optimal solutions to the allocation and reallocation problems were consistently obtained in short timespans for a wide variety of problems that have realistic sizes and characteristics.

Originality/value

The proposed approach has not been previously addressed in the literature and represents a computationally tractable method to allocate volunteer, renewable and non-renewable resources to tasks in highly volatile crisis scenarios without requiring probabilistic resource or demand characterizations.

Details

Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management, vol. 8 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-6747

Keywords

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