A Comprehensive Risk Analysis of Transportation Networks Affected by Rainfall‐Induced Multihazards

Climate change and its projected natural hazards have an adverse impact on the functionality and operation of transportation infrastructure systems. This study presents a comprehensive framework to analyze the risk to transportation infrastructure networks that are affected by natural hazards. The proposed risk analysis method considers both the failure probability of infrastructure components and the expected infrastructure network efficiency and capacity loss due to component failure. This comprehensive approach facilitates the identification of high‐risk network links in terms of not only their susceptibility to natural hazards but also their overall impact on the network. The Chinese national rail system and its exposure to rainfall‐related multihazards are used as a case study. The importance of various links is comprehensively assessed from the perspectives of topological, efficiency, and capacity criticality. Risk maps of the national railway system are generated, which can guide decisive action regarding investments in preventative and adaptive measures to reduce risk.     

基于4PL的跨境电商物流联盟多方行为博弈研究

在对我国4PL跨境电商物流联盟运作模式分析的基础上，针对基于跨境电商平台主导的跨境电商物流联盟，运用演化博弈理论，分析联盟内跨境电商平台、物流服务商和商家之间的动态博弈过程，构建三者在不同策略下的演化博弈模型，并结合系统动力学对三方策略选择的动态博弈进行仿真分析。结果表明，在联盟运作过程中：（1）各方参与者最终会达到"平台监管、物流企业努力、商家参与"的均衡状态，并且商家参与对联盟稳定运作具有重要作用。平台监管对物流企业策略选择具有直接影响，其应制定科学的惩罚力度及补偿裁定，以提升物流服务质量并保障商家权益；（2）联盟各方参与者对其相关外生变量具有较高的敏感性，但其最终策略受多个变量的共同作用，为此平台需发挥其主导作用，采取多种措施激发物流企业及商家的积极性。     

Understanding performance measurement dynamism: a case study

This paper elaborates on the notion of performance measurement (PM) dynamism. The paper’s argument is based on a literature review and an interventionist case study. The analysis of the structure of PM dynamism is deepened by using New Institutional Sociology theory as a tool. PM dynamism was found to occur at four different levels: in setting the role of performance measures for decision making in general, in the use of measures, in the selection of measures and within the components of single measures. PM dynamism allows, for instance, measures used only for specific and topical purposes (ad hoc), in contrast to the views presented in the extant literature, which reject measures that are not institutionalized. The use of up-to-date measures, a major implication of understanding PM dynamism more thoroughly, could lead to more efficient strategy implementation and enactment at different levels. The originality of the article consists of identifying the rationale and the levels of PM dynamism and of the consideration that the use of ad hoc measures may have a positive impact on managing performance.     

Green logistics management and performance: Some empirical evidence from Chinese manufacturing exporters

The value chain of many business enterprises is increasingly required to demonstrate the profitability of their primary activities, starting from inbound logistics to operations, outbound logistics, marketing sales, and finally to services. The adoption of green logistics management (GLM) presents an opportunity for Chinese manufacturing exporters to competently respond to the escalating expectation of the international community for resources conservation and to achieve environmental performance profitably. This study makes several important contributions to the literature on managing logistics with environmental considerations. First, the authors identify the components of GLM: (i) procedure-based practices, (ii) evaluation-based practices, (iii) partner-based practices, and (iv) general environmental management practices. Second, they relate GLM to environmental and operational performance in a developing country context. Third, they identify the institutional and operational antecedents that prompt the adoption of GLM by export-oriented manufacturing enterprises in China. Fourth, they examine the moderating effect of environmental regulatory pressure on the GLM-performance linkage. The results are based on a survey of manufacturing exporters in China. The commonly held view that economic motivation is related to the adoption of GLM is not supported. However, GLM positively affects both environmental and operational performance, and regulatory pressure enhances the GLM-performance relationship.     

REPETITIVE LOTS: FLOW-TIME REDUCTIONS THROUGH SEQUENCING AND DYNAMIC BATCH SIZING

This paper presents a new integrative concept for job sequencing, dispatching, and lot sizing. The interrelation between these procedures and their impact on flow-time performance is examined in a capacitated production environment. Generally, lot-sizing decisions are made without regard to shop conditions and do not consider their impact on job sequencing procedures. The repetitive lots (RL) concept (developed and tested in this paper) attempts to integrate these decision processes. RL uses a number of features which have not been considered jointly in either the lot-sizing or job-dispatching/sequencing literature. These include operation batch sizes which vary by operation, transfer of work within the shop in quantities less than operation batch size, and the use of overlapped operations. A simulation model is used to analyze flow-time characteristics in a hypothetical production system. Traditional measures of flow-time performance are compared to a set of nontraditional measures which capture the interaction between lot sizing and the sequencing procedure used.     

考虑质量成本的物流服务供应链纵向整合策略研究

本文聚焦于物流服务供应链中的纵向整合问题,考虑由一个物流服务集成商和两个物流服务提供商构成的供应链系统,基于物流服务质量成本分别构建纵向分散和纵向整合模式下的质量博弈模型,探讨纵向整合策略对物流服务供应链运作效率的影响,分析纵向整合策略存在的市场条件。研究表明,竞争强度是影响企业决策和策略选择的关键因素;纵向整合会对接受整合的物流服务提供商产生“协同效应”,而对未被整合的物流服务提供商产生“外部效应”;当且仅当竞争强度较大时,物流服务集成商和物流服务提供商会同时选择纵向整合,既有利于提升整体物流服务质量水平,又能降低物流服务质量实现成本。     

考虑第三方物流竞争的第四方物流运输与库存外包决策

第四方物流在物流外包中的主导地位和第三方物流在提供服务时基于配送频率的竞争对物流外包产生重要影响。针对这一问题,本文建立基于价格、配送频率和需求分配比例的三阶段非合作动态决策模型和库存运输联合优化模型(ITIO)来分析4PL主导的业务外包和3PL之间的竞争,通过对比两个模型来分析决策权对个体和系统绩效的影响,并用算例验证了文章的结论。研究表明,在3PL同质且需求分配比例为0.5时,三阶段非合作动态决策模型的配送频率比ITIO最优值小29%,库存持有成本比ITIO最优值高41%,物流配送成本比ITIO最优值小21%,总成本比ITIO最优值大9%。库存运输联合优化模型虽然具有一定成本优势,但是其过分强调协调不利于3PL之间的竞争和提高。     

The Impact of Logistics Performance on Trade

This paper studies the impact of logistics performance on global bilateral trade. Taking a supply chain perspective, logistics performance refers to cost, time, and complexity in accomplishing import and export activities. We draw on a data set compiled by the World Bank containing specific quantitative metrics of logistics performance in terms of time, cost, and variability in time. Numerous researchers have shown that logistics performance is statistically significantly related to the volume of bilateral trade. Our research calibrates the impact of specific improvements in logistics performance (time, cost, and reliability) on increased trade. Our findings can spur public and private agencies that have direct or indirect influence over logistics performance to focus attention on altering the most relevant aspects of logistics performance to improve their country's ability to compete in today's global economy. Moreover, as our logistics metrics are directly related to operational performance, countries can use these metrics to target actions to improve logistics and monitor their progress.     

基于混合蚁群算法的冷链物流配送路径优化研究

基于绿色物流发展理念，为企业寻求经济与环境达到双赢的局面，本研究将节能减排转化为绿色成本，融入路径优化问题中，建立以总成本最小为研究目标的冷链物流路径优化数学模型。针对蚁群算法初始阶段由于信息素不足导致收敛速度慢的问题，将A*算法与蚁群算法相结合，利用A*算法的全局收敛性和蚁群算法的正反馈性构造了一种混合蚁群算法。通过对实例进行仿真优化与对比分析，验证了模型和算法的有效性。     

基于组合赋权的高速公路上市公司绩效动态综合评价

结合高速公路行业的特点,建立了高速公路上市公司绩效评价的评价指标体系,通过组合赋权的方法赋予动态指标权重,并结合理想解法,运用动态综合评价原理对10家高速公路上市公司2005-2007这一时段的经营绩效进行了实证分析。在动态评价模型中,采用序关系分析法和和熵值法确定指标的组合权重,兼顾了主客观赋权的优点,提高了评价结果的准确性。     

Risk Framework for an Organizational System With Major Components

Many large organizations accomplish their various functions through interactions across their major components. Components refers to functional entities within a large complex organization, such as business sectors, academic departments, or regional divisions. The dependency between the various components can cause risk to propagate through their overall system. This article presents a risk assessment framework that integrates risk across a diverse set of components to the overall organization functions. This project addresses three major challenges: aggregating risk, estimating component interdependencies including cycles of dependencies, and propagating risk across components. The framework aggregates risk assessments through a value function for severity that is evaluated at the expected outcome of accomplishing planned goals in terms of performance, schedule, and resources. The value function, which represents risk tolerance, scales between defined points corresponding to failure and success. Different risk assessment may be aggregated together. This article presents a novel approach to establishing relationships between the various components. This article develops and compares three network risk propagation models that characterize the overall organizational risk. The U.S. Air Force has applied this risk framework to evaluate success in hypothetical future wars. The analysts employing this risk framework have informed billions of dollars of strategic investment decisions.     

Information Technology and Process Performance: An Empirical Investigation of the Interaction Between IT and Non‐IT Resources*

Drawing on the resource‐based view, we propose a configurational perspective of how information technology (IT) assets and capabilities affect firm performance. Our premise is that IT assets and IT managerial capabilities are components in organizational design, and as such, their impact can only be understood by taking into consideration the interactions between those IT assets and capabilities and other non‐IT components. We develop and test a model that assesses the impact of explicit and tacit IT resources by examining their interactions with two non‐IT resources (open communication and business work practices). Our analysis of data collected from a sample of firms in the third‐party logistics industry supports the proposed configurational perspective, showing that IT resources can either enhance (complement) or suppress (by substituting for) the effects of non‐IT resources on process performance. More specifically, we find evidence of complementarities between shared business–IT knowledge and business work practice and between the scope of IT applications and an open communication culture in affecting the performance of the customer‐service process; but there is evidence of substitutability between shared knowledge and open communications. For decision making, our results reinforce the need to account for all dimensions of possible interaction between IT and non‐IT resources when evaluating IT investments.     

伙伴关系、物流能力与供应链整合关系研究

目前学术界对于影响供应链整合的因素以及这些因素如何影响到供应链整合的研究相对匮乏。本研究以供应链管理为视角,构建了伙伴关系、物流能力和供应链整合之间关系的概念模型。基于来自218家供应链上下游企业的调查数据,采用结构方程模型（SEM）的方法对上述概念模型进行了实证研究。研究结果显示：伙伴关系、物流能力对供应链整合均有显著的正向影响;同时结果显示,伙伴关系对物流能力也具有显著的正向影响,且透过物流能力,伙伴关系对供应链整合的间接影响高于其直接影响。此外研究结果还显示,不同规模及行业企业的伙伴关系和物流能力对供应链整合的作用大不相同。本文不仅为研究伙伴关系对供应链整合的影响路径和作用机理提供了一个新的视角,而且还为我国不同规模及行业企业如何利用伙伴关系和物流能力来提升供应链整合提供了决策的依据。     

Reverse logistics drivers: empirical evidence from a case study in an emerging economy

Academic and corporate interest in reverse logistics (RL) has risen considerably in recent years. In this context, the objective of this study was to identify the drivers that enable RL practice in an emerging economy. Firstly, international peer-reviewed publications on RL were used to develop a RL environment framework representing the main RL internal and external influences. Secondly, a case-based research was conducted in a large manufacturing company located in Southern Brazil. The results indicated that the most cited driver in the RL literature, the government and legislation, was not a main influence on the studied company. Environmental legislation is still limited in the country and struggles to provide incentives to increase materials recycling. An economic factor related to materials value recovery was also found to drive the backward flow. Finally, knowledge of the RL driving forces may support industries to better implement and manage reverse flows and to bridge the gap between existing and future solutions for reverse supply chains.     

Employee performance management across borders: A review of relevant academic literature

The purpose of this paper is to survey the emerging academic literature on employee performance management (PM) from an international perspective. The primary information source was a search of electronic databases. Two criteria were used to determine which studies to include in the literature survey: (1) those published in an English-language blind refereed academic journal, and (2) those focused on employee PM or performance appraisal (PA) from an international/global perspective. Sixty-four articles, published between 1985 and 2005, met the criteria. A preliminary scheme was developed for classifying the existing academic research into conceptual and empirical articles. The empirical articles were further classified by their foci and themes. In addition to classifying the articles, the paper presents a summary of what can be learned from the major findings of the empirical studies. The major conclusion is that the academic literature on cross-border PM is relatively atheoretical and exploratory in nature and that the design and substance of the research studies are weak. With regard to themes, there are a number of foci in the literature with only scant attention paid to the central concern with the PM of expatriates as expressed by firms. The empirical articles look at the disparate components of PA and are interested mainly in cultural differences as an intervening variable. Several recommendations are presented for researchers to help focus future research on cross-border PM.     

An empirical assessment of the operational performance through internal benchmarking: a case of a global logistics firm

This article solves an operational performance measurement problem of a global logistics firm through an internal benchmarking tool. The intended impact is to enable logistics firms to form a deeper understanding of their own internal processes and metrics. The methodology of this in-depth action research involves a sequential approach with a series of interviews, questionnaire-based surveys, operations data collated through observations and process mapping yielding real-world data. A series of statistical tests are conducted to analyse the collated data. Strategic priorities of the firm are integrated with the firm’s operational performance to ascertain the effective performance by considering both the tangible and intangible measures. The outcomes inform both practitioners and academics how the firm could improve its freight forwarding business’s profitability by ensuring that its operations meet the prioritised criteria. The ‘best practice’ derived from internal benchmarking forms an intermediate step towards external benchmarking. The outcomes facilitate investigating the current business strategy, the standard operating procedures and the scope of improving those.     

基于改进蚁群算法的低碳车辆路径问题研究

全球气候恶化危及人类生存环境,物流运输过程中产生的大量温室气体则是祸源之一。本文考虑带有碳排放约束的车辆路径问题（VRP）,以车辆行驶里程最短和碳排放量最小为目标,构建了多目标的VRP非线性规划模型。提出了一种改进的蚁群系统算法对该模型进行求解,算法在更新路径上的蚂蚁信息素时引入了混沌扰动机制,此举能降低算法运行时陷入局部最优解的概率并有效提高算法的适应性。同时,对启发因子、状态转移概率、信息素更新等环节进行了优化设计,提高了最优路径的搜索效率。最后,数值仿真实验证明了该算法的求解表现优于同类研究常用的遗传算法和禁忌搜索算法,具有较强的全局寻优能力。在灵敏性和有效性的保证下,本研究所设计的改进蚁群算法能够较好地处理低碳车辆路径问题（LCVRP）。     

Network design for reverse logistics

Collection and recycling of product returns is gaining interest in business and research worldwide. Growing green concerns and advancement of green supply chain management (GrSCM) concepts and practices make it all the more relevant. Inputs from literature and informal interviews with 84 stakeholders are used to develop a conceptual model for simultaneous location–allocation of facilities for a cost effective and efficient reverse logistics (RL) network. We cover costs and operations across a wide domain and our proposed RL network consists of collection centers and two types of rework facilities set up by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) or their consortia for a few categories of product returns under various strategic, operational and customer service constraints in the Indian context.     

A COMPUTER-BASED METHOD FOR PREDICTING TRANSIT TIME PARAMETERS USING GRID SYSTEMS

This article reviews a computer-based method to predict transit time parameters (mean and variance) from historical data for use in logistics planning analysis. Efficient use of the data depends on relating it to a grid system of the United States. Performance of the technique on a sample of shipments by four methods of transportation is compared to a system based solely on highway distance. The techniques perform equally well for average transit time (speed). The grid system method demonstrates superior predicting power for reliability (transit time variance). Use of the system in daily operations is also anticipated.     

ANP-Fuzzy方法在电力企业绩效考核中的应用研究

本文针对我国电力企业绩效考核指标间具有相互影响关系,且大多定性指标难以精确界定的特点,给出了一种ANP-Fuzzy的综合评价法。首先,建立系统的绩效考核指标体系及具体的考核标准,为考核员工提供规范化的评价框架。其次,设计能够准确反映考核指标间相互关系的ANP网络结构,以此确定具有联系性的指标权重。在此基础上,设计能够精确界定定性指标的Fuzzy多层次评价结构,以此评价具有模糊性的员工绩效。最后,运用Super Decisions软件和Matlab软件,给出了基于ANP-Fuzzy方法的电力企业员工绩效考核实证研究。结果表明,该方法合理可行,能够真实反映员工绩效,并且能够有效区分员工自身不同方面的绩效差异以及员工之间的绩效差异。这对帮助员工发现绩效改进空间,不断提升自身绩效具有明显效果。同时,该方法可以借助软件实现,将其应用于电力企业绩效考核具有较强的操作性。