An investigation into a new class of vehicle routing problem with backhauls

A new version of the vehicle routing problem with backhauls is presented. In this new problem backhauls are not restricted to be visited once all linehaul customers have been served, neither are backhaul customers fully mixed with linehaul customers. In this problem the user based on his or her experience, the vehicle capacity, the type of products and the type of vehicle used, can define the position along a route from which the first backhaul customer may be visited. An insertion-type heuristic is put forward for this class of problems. An analysis of the improvement in route cost obtained by allowing a relaxation in the restriction of the mix of linehaul and backhaul customers is reported.     

An investigation into the vehicle routing problem with time windows and link capacity constraints

In this work, we investigate a new, yet practical, variant of the vehicle routing problem called the vehicle routing problem with time windows and link capacity constraints (VRPTWLC). The problem considers new constraints imposed on road links with regard to vehicle passing tonnage, which is motivated by a business project with a Hong Kong transportation company that transports hazardous materials (hazmats) across the city and between Hong Kong and mainland China. In order to solve this computationally challenging problem, we develop a tabu search heuristic with an adaptive penalty mechanism (TSAP) to help manage the company's vehicle fleet. A new data set and its generation scheme are also presented to help validate our solutions. Extensive computational experiments are conducted, showing the effectiveness of the proposed solution approach.     

An empirical study of an inventory-distribution system

This paper discusses the simulation results of a system consisting of a factory warehouse, and five regional distribution centers, each handling the same four products. The independent variables are demands, leadtimes, cost-rate structures. The basic data for this study has been taken from an appliance manufacturing company. Simulation experiments were conducted for three levels of each of the independent variables. The performance of the systems was measured against five important management criteria: average investment in inventories, average annual inventory carrying cost, average shortage cost per year, average reordering cost per year, and total number of reorders within the system per year. Analysis of variance was used to investigate the respective influence of each of the independent variables on each individual performance measure. The results of our study are new and of special interest, because they highlight the differences between the performance trends resulting from a single-item model and those resulting from a complex system, in terms of variations of the independent variables. This study proves that the trend of any performance-measure provided by a single-item single-location model should never be used to project that very trend of the aggregate performance of a complex inventory-distribution system.     

An evaluation of the tandem configuration automated guided vehicle system

The performance of a tandem automated guided vehicle (AGV) system is compared with that of conventional AGV track systems. In the tandem system the track is divided into non-overlapping, single-vehicle closed loops. Using simulation it is shown that, because of trips requiring delivery across loops, the tandem system has a higher expected travel time per load and thus a greater average time in system. When the loads are delivered within the original loop only, the tandem system has a lower average time in system than in conventional systems, although the difference is modest. Track layout appears to influence the average time in system much more than docs the dispatching rule invoked. The success of the tandem system is highly dependent on approximately even AGV utilization, which may be difficult to obtain in practice.     

An empirical examination of the dimensions of quality of working life

A factor analysis was undertaken in an effort to investigate the underlying structure of the quality of working life (QWL) construct. The responses of 95 managers to 42 items were used to derive Varimax factors obtained from rotating the first five principal components. Some affinities with existing a priori lists of QWL criteria or categories are noted. But the total structure derived is superior to any of these, since it simultaneously deals with separate criteria which focus on individual and collective QWL concepts. Scales are produced which are explicable on the apparent meaning of the items which cluster. Adequate orthogonality and internal consistency are reported for the scales, and these in turn lead to increased confidence in the meaning of the structure obtained.     

An empirical evaluation of the impacts of telecommuting on intra-organizational communication

This study represents a preliminary step towards developing an understanding of how telework arrangements affect intra-organizational communication. The following general research questions are addressed: (1) Do telework arrangements change the way in which teleworkers communicate with their superiors, their subordinates, their colleagues and their clients?; and (2) Do telework arrangements change the way in which managers communicate with subordinates who telework? The study, which was conducted at two Canadian federal government departments, was designed to collect information from four groups: (1) teleworkers (n=36 at Time 2); (2) managers of teleworkers (n=28 at Time 2); (3) co-workers of teleworkers (n=27 at Time 2); and (4) a control group (n=25 at Time 2). Three data collection techniques were used in this study: paper and pencil questionnaires, telephone interviews, and focus group interviews. Data were collected at three points in time: (1) two weeks prior to the start of the telework pilot; (2) three months after the telework pilot had begun; and (3) six months after the start of the telework pilot. Analysis of the data suggests that, with a few important exceptions, part-time telework arrangements have little impact on intra-organizational communication.     

Cross-cultural industrial relations: An empirical examination

This paper is born out of research conducted in Hong Kong, Malaysia, and India between 1987 and 1990. It is an attempt to empirically test and extend the scope of a model formulated in England in 1977. The original model postulated that managerial behavior towards industrial relations issues, on an organizational or micro level, could be predicted if the managerial style could be properly predicated within the matrix of the model. The present study uses the model to see if similar prediction (or in any case, generalization) can be made on a macro level. The findings reveal that a certain degree of generalization can be empirically sustained in so far as the style of managers in the three countries is concerned. To that extent the paper is a contribution to the corpus of thought on the subject of managerial beliefs and provides valuable insight for the student of human resources management especially in the area of industrial relations and corporate policy.     

An empirical study of quality management practices in the petroleum industry

The purpose of this paper is to empirically study quality management practices in the petroleum industry in Iran. A reliable and valid survey instrument has been used for data gathering from managers in the petroleum industry in Iran. The instrument has been developed based on the criteria of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA), which consists of 13 dimensions of quality management. Correlation analysis has been used to test for a relationship between the quality management constructs and quality results (internal quality results and/or external quality results). Most of the linkages within the Baldrige criteria were supported, which indicates the universal applicability of the Baldrige Award criteria. The result of the correlation analysis indicates that top management support is the major driver for quality management implementation which is significantly correlated with most of the quality management constructs. Furthermore, the results indicated that employee training and employee involvement are significantly correlated with internal (operational) quality results. Customer orientation and supplier quality are not significantly correlated with external quality results (business performance).     

Technological newness: An empirical study in the process industries

Technological change in product development is a crucial issue in the management of technology. The entire sweep of technological changes over the past hundred of years is, in essence, the sum of thousands of individual product development projects in thousands of firms. Yet the degree of technological change in individual development projects has not been extensively studied. This paper presents a four-dimensional characterization of technological newness for product development projects in the process industries in which product development is closely tied to process innovation. The characterization uses four dimensions of change that are required in the development of new products: chemistry, production equipment, fabrication technology and process control. Based on the framework of technological newness, the paper presents data collected on the degree of process change in a set of 20 product development projects conducted by a large manufacturer of advanced polymers. The data provide a clear demonstration of the value of the measurement framework, showing a strong relationship between the characterization of change and the project performance.     

Efficiency analysis of university departments: An empirical study

Universities play an important role in the development of a country in this age of the knowledge economy. As government subsidies to universities have been reducing in recent years, the more efficient use of resources becomes an important issue for university administrators. This paper applies data envelopment analysis (DEA) to assess the relative efficiency of the academic departments at National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan. The outputs considered are total credit-hours, publications, and external grants; and the inputs utilized by the departments are personnel, operating expenses, and floor space. An assurance region is constructed by the top administrators of the university to confine the flexibility in selecting the virtual multipliers in DEA. Four groups of departments of similar characteristics are categorized via an efficiency decomposition and cluster analysis. The aggregate efficiency indicates whether the resources have been utilized efficiently by a department and the efficiency decomposition helps identify the weak areas where more effort should be devoted so that the efficiency of the department can be improved.     

An empirical investigation of stalled residential sites in England

Drawing upon a national database of unimplemented planning permissions and 18 in-depth case studies, this paper provides both a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the phenomenon of stalled sites in England. The practical and conceptual difficulties of classifying sites as stalled are critically reviewed. From the literature, it is suggested that planning permission may not be implemented due to lack of financial viability, strategic behaviour by landowners and house-builders, and other problems associated with the development process. Consistent with poor viability, the analysis of a national database indicates that a substantial proportion of stalled sites are high density apartment developments usually is located in low house value areas. The case studies suggest that a combination of interlinked issues may need to be resolved before a planning permission can be implemented. These include; the sale of the land to house-builders, renegotiation of the planning permission and, most importantly, improvement in housing market conditions.     

An empirical application of multidimensional scaling to advertising pretesting

One of the least-managed aspects of advertising management may well be that of effectiveness measurement. The problem of obtaining satisfactory indications of advertising effectiveness is particularly critical in pretesting since the rationale for pretesting is to evaluate advertisements before their release for broadscale media distribution. Therefore, the primary purpose of the research reported here is to provide empirical evidence of the value of multidimensional scaling methods to pretesting advertising. The article demonstrates how nonmetric methodology obviates the disadvantages of such methods as consumer jury tests and rating scales. A secondary purpose of the research project is to demonstrate the value of pretesting itself by comparing the perceptions of target market consumers with those of selected group of advertising professionals.     

信息技术战略价值及实现机制的实证研究

为研究信息技术战略价值及其实现机制,基于企业资源观、竞争战略理论和核心能力理论,构建了信息技术资源、信息技术应用能力、战略层面的信息系统能力、环境动态性和企业绩效之间关系的研究模型,应用结构方程模型对233家中国企业的调查问卷进行数据分析和模型拟合.研究结果表明信息技术资源和信息技术应用能力都无法直接影响企业绩效,其战...     

Strategic technology alliance termination: An empirical investigation

There is growing consensus that overall alliance termination rates are high. However, despite this track record of termination and despite unsurpassed growth rates of strategic technology alliances, little is known about the reasons for their termination. Typically strategic alliances have been characterized as inherently instable, i.e. often involving unplanned and premature termination of the alliance by partnering firms indicating alliance failure. The literature on strategic technology alliances, however, proposes that alliance termination does not always indicate failure, but can be intended and can be a sign of strength. We examine these different perceptions by using a sample of 48 strategic technology alliances in different high-technology industries. The findings in the paper confirm that the rates of termination are rather high for strategic technology alliances. Overall, we found that in particular negative prospects about future cooperation, negative perceptions about joint benefits and the lack of a win-win situation had an impact on the decision to terminate a strategic technology alliance. Also, the fact that some companies opt only for short-term (not for long-term and renewed) cooperation seems to introduce a negative factor into the longevity of strategic technology alliances.     

Management performance: An empirical study of the manufacturing companies in Taiwan

This paper proposes a methodology to measure the management performance of the firms of an industry. The idea is to break down the very complicated concept of management into subjects such that the performance of each subject can be measured. The performances of all subjects are then aggregated to form an overall performance of management. The weights associated with the subjects which play a decisive role in aggregation are determined from a two-stage method. This method takes into account both the experience of the experts and the reality reflected by the data collected from the firms. Therefore, the weights generated are more acceptable to the firms. An example of the manufacturing firms in Taiwan illustrates how management is broken down into subjects and how their performances are aggregated. A regression analysis shows that management, in addition to capital and labor, makes a significant contribution to organizational performance. Although the discussion of this paper is confined to the manufacturing industry in Taiwan, the methodology can be applied to other industries and other countries.     

Hofstede's cultural dimensions in the GCC countries: An empirical investigation

Managerial values are not the same across the world. Therefore, Multinational Corporations may be making costly decisions if they assume that corporate policies will receive the same attention, understanding or acceptance in their branches over the world. This paper applies Hofstede's four cultural dimensions to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. It also compares Hofstede's results with regard to these four cultural dimensions with our findings. The results of this study show that countries change. They reemphasize the concept that ethnocentric management theories have been untenable. This implies the necessity that Multinational Corporations should study the culture of the country they plan to do business with before starting the negotiations process that precedes the operations in that country and also to monitor changes in the life style of these countries over time. When Multinational Corporations become aware of the international workforce management and the differences between different cultures, they will save themselves costly troubles, loss of qualified personnel as well as loosing international customers. Therefore, it is important for Multinational Corporations to utilize management theories available to them through research and experience.The program leading to this article was supported in part by a grant from KFUPM.     

An analytical approach to prototype vehicle test scheduling

The test planning group within Ford׳s Product Development division develops schedules for building prototype vehicles and assigning them to departments in charge of different vehicle components, systems and aspects (e.g., powertrain, electrical, safety). These departments conduct tests at pre-production phases of each vehicle program (e.g., 2015 Ford Fusion, 2016 Ford Escape) to ensure the vehicles meet all requirements by the time they reach the production phase. Each prototype can cost in excess of $200 K because many of the parts and the prototypes themselves are hand-made and highly customized. Parts needed often require months of lead time, which constrains when vehicle builds can start. That, combined with inflexible deadlines for completing tests on those prototypes introduces significant time pressure, an unavoidable and challenging reality. One way to alleviate time pressure is to build more prototype vehicles; however, this would greatly increase the cost of each program. A more efficient way is to develop test plans with tight schedules that combine multiple tests on vehicles to fully utilize all available time. There are many challenges that need to be overcome in implementing this approach, including complex compatibility relationships between the tests and destructive nature of, e.g., crash tests. We introduce analytical approaches for obtaining efficient schedules to replace the tedious manual scheduling process engineers undertake for each program. Our models and algorithms save test planners׳ and engineers׳ time, increases their ability to quickly react to program changes, and save resources by ensuring maximal vehicle utilization.     

An empirical study of the impact of firm resources on alliance governance structures

Alliances between smaller biotechnology firms and larger pharmaceutical firms are the backbone of new product development strategies within the pharmaceutical industry. While pharmaceutical firms seek access to new technologies and products, small biotechnology firms depend on these alliance relationships to access key resources such as financing and downstream capabilities because they typically do not have the resources needed in-house to successfully commercialize their products. In this study, we investigate the governance structure of these alliance relationships arguing that the more resource rich a biotechnology firm is, in terms of technical, commercial, and social capital, the less likely it is to give up equity to an alliance partner. Results suggest that greater biotech patent quality, cash position, and alliance credibility impact the type of governance structure that is chosen by the alliance partners and therefore the extent of control that the biotechnology firm is willing to give up in the relationship.     

An empirical inquiry of negotiation effects in cross-cultural joint ventures

This study addresses the negotiation effect in the context of cross-cultural joint ventures (JV) in a volatile environment. We examined how negotiation variables are linked to the subsequent performance of JV operations. Our analysis of 155 JVs suggests that topic inclusiveness and term specificity are positively related to venture performance. Length of negotiations and government involvement in negotiations have no main effect on performance but moderate the link between term specificity or topic inclusiveness and performance. When length of negotiations is longer or if government involvement is weaker, the performance effect of negotiations becomes stronger. Companies with longer cultural distance from the host country tend to arrange higher term specificity and higher topic inclusiveness to neutralize an unfavorable influence of cultural distance on performance.     

城镇化进程对水资源利用效率影响的实证研究

采用包含非期望产出的SBM模型计算出全国30个省市的水资源利用效率,结合STIRPAT模型,构建影响水资源利用效率的理论框架,通过面板数据得出城镇化率和技术指数是提高水资源利用效率的主要影响因素。