Evaluation of multi-objective optimization approaches for solving green supply chain design problems

This paper evaluates the applicability of different multi-objective optimization methods for environmentally conscious supply chain design. We analyze a case study with three objectives: costs, CO₂ and fine dust (also known as PM – Particulate Matters) emissions. We approximate the Pareto front using the weighted sum and epsilon constraint scalarization methods with pre-defined or adaptively selected parameters, two popular evolutionary algorithms, SPEA2 and NSGA-II, with different selection strategies, and their interactive counterparts that incorporate Decision Maker׳s (DM׳s) indirect preferences into the search process. Within this case study, the CO₂ emissions could be lowered significantly by accepting a marginal increase of costs over their global minimum. NSGA-II and SPEA2 enabled faster estimation of the Pareto front, but produced significantly worse solutions than the exact optimization methods. The interactive methods outperformed their a posteriori counterparts, and could discover solutions corresponding better to the DM preferences. In addition, by adjusting appropriately the elicitation interval and starting generation of the elicitation, the number of pairwise comparisons needed by the interactive evolutionary methods to construct a satisfactory solution could be decreased.     

The efficiency of mutual fund companies: Evidence from an innovative network SBM approach

This paper is the first DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) evaluation of the efficiency of a sample of mutual fund companies in a large Euro fund industry, i.e. Spain. Our novel network model links the efficiency of the core activities (portfolio management and marketing/distribution) of a mutual fund company to the efficiency of its operational management function. Our results highlight the important networking effects at the marketing stage and question the prime role of portfolio management skills in the overall efficiency of a mutual fund company. The evaluation of robust efficiency clusters indicates that the efficiency rankings obtained with our network model persist significantly along our sample period. Finally, the application of the SBM (Slacks-Based Measure) Variation III to our network model allows us to identify a large number of globally inefficient but locally efficient companies with reference to competitors with similar management resources.     

Understanding the theory behind the Last Planner System using the Language-Action Perspective: two case studies

Since the Last Planner System® (LPS) was devised in the early 90s, a number of studies have pointed out the need to understand the underlying theory in which it is based on. The Language-Action Perspective (LAP) has been suggested as a suitable approach to understand the management of commitments in the LPS. This paper aims to assess the contribution of LAP to understand construction planning and control systems based on LPS. Two case studies were carried out in different construction companies, both highly experienced on the use of LPS. The results reveal the role of LAP for creating explicit representations of commitment flows that can be used to explain the sources of complexity and failures in planning systems, as well as for describing the profile of planning and control meetings.     

Sustainable supply chain management and the transition towards a circular economy: Evidence and some applications

In the last decades, green and sustainable supply chain management practices have been developed, trying to integrate environmental concerns into organisations by reducing unintended negative consequences on the environment of production and consumption processes. In parallel to this, the circular economy discourse has been propagated in the industrial ecology literature and practice. Circular economy pushes the frontiers of environmental sustainability by emphasising the idea of transforming products in such a way that there are workable relationships between ecological systems and economic growth. Therefore, circular economy is not just concerned with the reduction of the use of the environment as a sink for residuals but rather with the creation of self-sustaining production systems in which materials are used over and over again.Through two case studies from different process industries (chemical and food), this paper compares the performances of traditional and circular production systems across a range of indicators. Direct, indirect and total lifecycle emissions, waste recovered, virgin resources use, as well as carbon maps (which provide a holistic visibility of the entire supply chain) are presented. The paper asserts that an integration of circular economy principles within sustainable supply chain management can provide clear advantages from an environmental point view. Emerging supply chain management challenges and market dynamics are also highlighted and discussed.     

Understanding Client Communities Spatially for Developing Effective Interventions: Application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Technology for Program Planning in Health and Human Services Agencies

Social workers are better equipped to understand the need to incorporate geographical aspects pertaining to their clients’ lives as part of their practice, given the significant influence these factors have on client well-being. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology is a useful tool for administrators and planners to make informed decisions regarding human service programs including examining program outcomes and impact as well as streamlining program implementation. This article synthesizes the literature to date on GIS in health and human services with examples of real world applications.     

新兴业态发展与政府管理变革研究

我国新兴业态的技术支撑仍以移动互联网技术为主,背后的发展逻辑实质是新技术下的资本运作.新兴业态的乘数效应得以体现与扩张,并带来市场权力、市场关系和社会关系的重构,提出市场网络中心、供方、需方的政府监管需求.对此,政府应以公众利益为导向,充分发挥市场稳定器的作用;树立底线意识,把握新兴业态背后的本质社会关系,并通过法律法规政策加以规制;借鉴多方经验与力量,务实提高事中与事后监管能力,应对网络化与信息化的发展趋势;把握时代潮流,以合理方式促进社会经济朝信息化、网络化发展.     

Towards a sociology of risk work: A narrative review and synthesis

In this article, we define the concept of “risk work,” which aims to make visible working practices to assess or manage risk, in order to subject these practices to sociological critique. This article reviews and synthesizes existing published literature to identify components of risk work: (a) translating risk into different contexts, (b) minimizing risks in practice, and (c) caring in the context of risk. We argue that these three components of risk work raise important tensions for workers that have been inadequately explored in the literature to date. We propose that future research should additionally focus on practitioner subjectivity and identity in risk work. In addition, we argue that comparative research—across type of risk and different contexts—and methodological and theoretical diversity would enhance this emerging field of research.     

创新人才培养视角下的高校教学管理制度研究

本文通过对高校教学管理创新与创新人才培养的关系及存在问题的分析,对高校教学管理创新的意义进行了深入的论述,并在此基础上,提出了具体的高校教学管理制度改革与创新的对策和措施。     

An approximate dual-self model and paradoxes of choice under risk

We derive a simplified version of the model of Fudenberg and Levine, 2006, Fudenberg and Levine, 2011 and show how this approximate model is useful in explaining choice under risk. We show that in the simple case of three outcomes, the model can generate indifference curves that “fan out” in the Marschak–Machina triangle, and thus can explain the well-known Allais and common ratio paradoxes that models such as prospect theory and regret theory are designed to capture. At the same time, our model is consistent with modern macroeconomic theory and evidence and generates predictions across a much wider set of domains than these models.     

Maintaining organization–public relationships on tourism Websites through relationship management strategies

This study investigates the relationship maintenance strategies (RMS) of official state tourism Websites and online travel agencies’ Websites in the U.S. Content analysis reveals that the access strategy was enacted the best while the sharing of tasks strategy was utilized the least in both types of Websites. There are significant differences between these two types of Websites in terms of the positivity, the openness/disclosure, and the assurances strategies. The implications of adopting RMS for e-PR in the tourism and hospitality industry are discussed.