To see the other types of publications on this topic, follow the link: Operator firms.
Journal articles on the topic 'Operator firms'
Create a spot-on reference in APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and other styles
Consult the top 50 journal articles for your research on the topic 'Operator firms.'
Next to every source in the list of references, there is an 'Add to bibliography' button. Press on it, and we will generate automatically the bibliographic reference to the chosen work in the citation style you need: APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago, Vancouver, etc.
You can also download the full text of the academic publication as pdf and read online its abstract whenever available in the metadata.
Browse journal articles on a wide variety of disciplines and organise your bibliography correctly.
1
Wang, Fen, Shouzhen Zeng, and Chonghui Zhang. "A Method Based on Intuitionistic Fuzzy Dependent Aggregation Operators for Supplier Selection." Mathematical Problems in Engineering 2013 (2013): 1–9. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/481202.
Full textAbstract:
Recently, resolving the decision making problem of evaluation and ranking the potential suppliers have become as a key strategic factor for business firms. In this paper, two new intuitionistic fuzzy aggregation operators are developed: dependent intuitionistic fuzzy ordered weighed averaging (DIFOWA) operator and dependent intuitionistic fuzzy hybrid weighed aggregation (DIFHWA) operator. Some of their main properties are studied. A method based on the DIFHWA operator for intuitionistic fuzzy multiple attribute decision making is presented. Finally, an illustrative example concerning supplier selection is given.
2
Ready, Kathryn J., Drew Stapleton, Milorad Novicevic, and Tom Kuffel. "Industry-wide response to terror: a political economy analysis of the owner/operator sector of the U.S. motorcoach industry post 9-11." Journal of Transportation Management 14, no. 1 (April 1, 2003): 47–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.22237/jotm/1049155560.
Full textAbstract:
The authors develop a political economy framework to study the post- September 11th environmental changes and firm responses in the owner/operator sector of the U.S. motorcoach industry. Based on a comprehensive analysis of both evolutionary and revolutionary changes in the competitive and regulatory environments faced by the firms in this industry, their policy and strategic responses to the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001, on U.S. soil are examined. The industry’s response is captured (i.e., collective action response) by surveying 163 firms operating and competing in the owner/operator sector of the U.S. motorcoach industry. Several descriptive statistics are synthesized and analyzed for a structured presentation of the survey findings. In conclusion, contributions and limitations of this study, as well as directions for future research, are outlined.
3
Fitzgerald, Timothy. "Experiential Gains with a New Technology: An Empirical Investigation of Hydraulic Fracturing." Agricultural and Resource Economics Review 44, no. 2 (August 2015): 83–105. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1068280500010236.
Full textAbstract:
In conjunction with technologies such as horizontal drilling, hydraulic fracturing has transformed U.S. and world energy outlooks by adding reserves from unconventional resources. Fracturing was developed by experimentation and experience. This study empirically analyzes fracturing data for wells in the Williston Basin in North Dakota and Montana, focusing on firms' ability to improve well production over time through collaboration. Results suggest that producers gain from experience with fracturing and that proprietary additives are not generally correlated with greater production but have value for some firms. Experiential gains are stronger for operators than for contractors, but some operator-contractor pairings have productive value.
4
Barth, Richard T., and Philip L. Cottell. "Factors Related to Performance Variation Among Logging-Machine Operators." Relations industrielles 32, no. 4 (April 12, 2005): 565–85. http://dx.doi.org/10.7202/028823ar.
Full textAbstract:
Despite the economic importance of large variations in individual productivity of logging-machine operators, few studies have attempted to examine the source of such variations. Based on data obtained for a total of 757 shifts of tree-felling activity, this exploratory study attempted to: (a) document variation in on-the-job performance and assign the variation to sources « within individual operators », « between operators », or « between firms »; (b) relate ob-served performance measured operator characteristics (ability and motivation); and (c) suggest ways in which average levels of job performance could be improved.
5
Arief, Ikhwan, and Alfajri Nalda. "Indikator Proses Utama pada Proses Grinding dengan Pendekatan Manajemen Pengetahuan." Jurnal Optimasi Sistem Industri 13, no. 2 (April 22, 2016): 743. http://dx.doi.org/10.25077/josi.v13.n2.p743-759.2014.
Full textAbstract:
This study discusses aboutkey process indicators in grinding with the knowledge management approach. Common/key indicators used in the machine are workpiece, grinding wheel, dressing tool and coolant. The resulting key processeswill benefit firms and their operators especially new ones in managing scienceson grinding process that will allow knowledge transferred to new operators quickly. Process indicators are described with IDEF0 diagrams which will define the inputs, outputs, mechanisms and controls.Keywords: Knowledge Management, Grinding, IDEF0AbstrakPenelitian ini membahas tentang indikator proses utama pada proses grinding/gerinda dengan pendekatan manajemen pengetahuan. Indikator umum yang dipakai yaitu mesin, benda kerja, grinding wheel, dressing tool dan coolant. Hasil ini akan bermanfaat untuk membantu perusahaan dalam mengelola ilmu pengetahuan pada proses grinding sehingga akan memudahkan pewarisan ilmu pengetahuan kepada operator baru dari operator senior. Indikator proses digambarkan dengan IDEF0 yang memperlihatkan masukan, luaran, mekanisme dan kontrol pada proses.Kata kunci: Manajemen Pengetahuan, Grinding, IDEF0
6
Poutsma, Erik, and Aad Zwaard. "Programming CNC-Equipment—The Effects of Automation in Small Industrial Enterprises." International Small Business Journal: Researching Entrepreneurship 7, no. 2 (January 1989): 35–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/026624268900700203.
Full textAbstract:
ERIK POUTSMA and Aad Zwaard are research associates at the Economic Research Institute for Small-and Medium-sized businesses in Zoetermeer, the Netherlands. This paper focusses on the effects of new technologies in small-and medium-sized industrial businesses. The study is based on a survey of 780 enterprises in different industries and three case studies in the metals industry. One of the crucial indicators to judge the changes in work organisation and job content is where and by whom computer numerically controlled (CNC) machines are programmed. In general it can be stated that the smaller the scale of the enterprise and size of batches, the greater the number of tasks and responsibilities on the part of the operator. Furthermore, in small firms with variable runs of production, the machine operators carry out programming functions as well as tasks of optimalisation, adjustment and quality control. The number of different tasks also depends on the level of education and skills of the operator, which is slightly higher in small firms. One of the main findings is that new technologies leave room for organisational choices concerning the quality of work. If small firms are to be able to compete in the future much depends on the way they make use of modern technologies. The first concern when automation is introduced is to keep the multi-skill and autonomous character of jobs intact.
7
Garcia, S., L. Guérin-Schneider, and G. Fauquert. "Analysis of water price determinants in France: cost recovery, competition for the market and operator's strategy." Water Supply 5, no. 6 (December 1, 2005): 173–81. http://dx.doi.org/10.2166/ws.2005.0062.
Full textAbstract:
This paper explores the effects of technical factors, competition and strategies of firms on the water price in France. From data on the procedures of delegation of water utilities, we estimate a price equation, taking into account the unobserved strategies of private operators and geographical effects. We show that the local strategy of the operator has a significant impact on the water price level and that neglecting it would lead to bias the effects of other factors.
8
Hedija, Veronika, Roman Fiala, and Martina Kuncová. "Is profitability a good proxy for efficiency? Evidence from the subsector of tour operators." Review of Economic Perspectives 17, no. 4 (December 20, 2017): 425–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/revecp-2017-0022.
Full textAbstract:
Abstract The goal of the paper is to evaluate the economic efficiency of tour operators in the Czech Republic in the period 2007-2014 using data envelopment analysis (DEA) models and prove the link between economic efficiency and profitability and to find out if profitability is a good proxy for economic efficiency. Data was exported from the database Albertina CZ Gold Edition. We calculated the efficiency score using CCR (Charnes, Cooper and Rhodes) and BCC (Banker, Charnes and Cooper) models based on 3 inputs and 1 output. In the years 2007 to 2010, the efficiency score of almost all the companies was higher than 0.5; however, in years since 2011, we revealed significant differences in the efficiency of individual firms and only about 40 percent of tour operators achieved an efficiency score higher than 0.5. Using Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients, our findings show that, in the case of the Czech tour operator market, profitability ratios do not correspond with firm efficiency. Profitability ratios are not a good proxy for economic efficiency and should not be used as the only firm criterion of performance.
9
Brunello, Andrea, Paolo Gallo, Enrico Marzano, Angelo Montanari, and Nicola Vitacolonna. "An Event-Based Data Warehouse to Support Decisions in Multi-Channel, Multi-Service Contact Centers." Journal of Cases on Information Technology 21, no. 1 (January 2019): 33–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/jcit.2019010103.
Full textAbstract:
Multi-channel contact centers are an increasingly important component of today's business world. They serve as a primary customer-facing channel for firms in many different industries, and employ millions of operators across the globe. During their operation, they generate vast amounts of data, ranging from automatically registered logs to handwritten notes and voice recordings. Unfortunately, in most firms, data of interest is unstructured, and stored in several databases, making their exploitation very hard. This article presents a decision support system for a multi-channel, multi-service contact center for front office business process outsourcing, along with its prospective extension to a decision management system. Its core is an enterprise-wide data warehouse, based on the general concept of an event. The proposed system supports a broad new set of advanced analysis tasks, ranging from operator performance assessment to call-flow simulation and data mining, providing operational and management staff the basis for taking effective operative and strategic decisions.
10
Llorente Galera, Francisco. "Flexibilidad Funcional y Flexibilidad Financiera en las Empresas Medianas y Grandes del Sector Metal en Cataluña." Dirección y Organización, no. 58 (April 11, 2016): 44–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.37610/dyo.v0i58.487.
Full textAbstract:
El artículo analiza en las empresas medianas y grandes del sector metal de Cataluña la intensidad de implantación individual y conjunta de diversas modalidades de la flexibilidad funcional y flexibilidad salarial, sus posibles relaciones, y establecer una tipología de empresas. Además, conocer si hay diferencias significativas en los ritmos de trabajo, nivel de estrés, absentismo, productividad laboral, margen de explotación y Gastos de personal/Ingresos de explotación, según el grado de aplicación de los ítems de flexibilidad seleccionados. La implantación conjunta de la mayoría de ítems de flexibilidad laboral considerados es muy reducida, obteniéndose una hibridación de empresas por su incorporación.Palabras clave: Metal, Cataluña, Flexibilidad, TrabajoFunctional flexibility and financial flexibility in large and medium-sized enterprises of the metal sector in CataloniaAbstract: This paper summarizes the theoretical characteristics of the types functional flexibility and wage flexibility. In the empirical part we check for a sample of companies in the Catalonia metal sector with at least 100 employees, if several modalities about functional flexibility are implemented. Mainly the job rotation, autonomy over work, and delegate indirect tasks to the operator. In addition also the modalities of variable pay for the operator. The individual and joint application of the items is analyzed, making a descriptive statistical analysis and bivariate association. In most companies operators are intensively responsibles for the order and clean their workplace, as well as self control, followed by prepares the machine, to search the origin of defects and their solution. Almost half firms haven’t incorporated teamwork, while cross functional teams and improvements teams are more incorporated, although the proportion that applies a high degree is low. The operator does not usually engage in maintenance of machinery nor collaborate in the development and improvement of the standard. There are limited autonomy in work organization and planification, fixing work methods and rhythm of work. The wage flexibility is low, although the pay for performance/productivity is the modality most used. The pairs of modalities of wages that are significantly are the incentives: “to fulfill team goals” and “quality”, “profit sharing” and “knowledge / skills /abilities “. Moreover it is tested whether there are significant differences according to central tendency of various items (rhythm of work, stress level, absenteeism level as well as the ratios: percentage of variable pay, labor productivity, ROS, and personnel costs/revenues) segmented according to the modality functional flexibility or wage flexibility considered. The main conclusions are that rhythms of work and absenteeism are lower when job rotation is reduced, there aren’t significant differences in productivity, but there are differences in central tendency measures of the profit margin when segmenting by the items: autonomy in work organization and planification, rhythm of work, self control, order and clean, and operator maintenance of machinery. The value of this ratio is lower when such items are reduced. Few companies incorporated most labor practices intensely. Therefore, most firms require greater joint incorporation of labor flexibility dimensions to achieve complementarities and synergies. Homals analysis is used to establish relationships between more than two qualitative variables and reduce the dimensionality by incorporating measures of discrimination. The first dimension includes mainly: the operator is responsible of seeks the origin of defects, to solve the defects found, to program the machine, the basic maintenance of the machine and analyzed data. The second dimension includes: teamwork in the production area, teams improvement voluntary, the operator involvement in continous improvement and cross teams to solve problems. We identify a typology of firms, using cluster analysis with the results of Homals. No significant differences were obtained when segmented by the 10 groups offered by the cluster.
11
Zhang, Jianhua, and Mohammad Shahidul Islam. "The Heterogeneous Impacts of R&D on Innovation in Services Sector: A Firm-Level Study of Developing ASEAN." Sustainability 12, no. 4 (February 22, 2020): 1643. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12041643.
Full textAbstract:
Identifying the determinants of firms’ investment in knowledge, this study first explores the heterogeneous impacts of research and development (R&D) on product, process, organization, and marketing innovation. Second, it examines if there exists a complementary (substitute) relation in terms of firms’ preference between four types of innovation. Studying 1500 firms of seven developing economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), we applied the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO), a machine learning-based regression, to identify key predictors likely to influence firms’ R&D propensity and intensity. Estimating the knowledge function, we found—in line with LASSO—that medium-sized firms, human capital (training) and credit facilities favorably affect firms’ decision to invest in R&D. Contrarily, the impact is adverse if the first or main product generates firms’ large share of revenue, a unique finding not captured by previous studies. The marginal effects of four univariate probit models indicate that firms’ investment in R&D translates into innovation. However, the application of the Geweke–Hajivassiliour–Keane (GHK)-simulator based multivariate probit, which considers simultaneity of firms’ innovation decisions that univariate probit ignores, suggests that the relationship between different types of innovation is complementary. Firms’ strategy to adopt a particular type of innovation is influenced by other types. This led to the estimation of R&D’s impact on technological and nontechnological innovation, which shows that while firms innovate both types, there is a skewed link between nontechnological innovation and the services sector.
12
Kelly, Matthew C., and René H. Germain. "Applying Theory of Constraints to Timber Harvesting." Croatian journal of forest engineering 41, no. 1 (November 5, 2019): 59–69. http://dx.doi.org/10.5552/crojfe.2020.534.
Full textAbstract:
Logging firms are a critical link in wood supply chains, connecting forest landowners with markets for wood products. Improving operational planning can benefit individual logging firms as well as the larger wood supply chain in which they operate. Applying concepts from Theory of Constraints (TOC) to timber harvesting may help achieve greater predictability and efficiency when planning harvest operations. However, examples that demonstrate how TOC can improve logging operations are lacking. This study focuses on the analysis of production and activity data collected during the harvest of a temperate mixed hardwood forest in the Northeast United States using a chainsaw-forwarder system through a TOC lens. Specifically, the drum-buffer-rope (DBR) method was used to reschedule operator and machine activities such that a consistent flow of wood from stump to landing was maintained despite anticipated production setbacks. The results of this case study provide insights into the usefulness of applying TOC to logging operations. In particular, logging businesses must be able to estimate machine and operator productivity within a given harvest context to identify and exploit system constraints, while taking full advantage of unused capacity of any non-constraint functions.
13
Sahu, Nitin Kumar, Atul Kumar Sahu, and Anoop Kumar Sahu. "Cluster approach integrating weighted geometric aggregation operator to appraise industrial robot." Kybernetes 47, no. 3 (March 5, 2018): 487–524. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/k-11-2016-0332.
Full textAbstract:
Purpose Robot appraisement under various dimensions and directions is a crucial issue in real-time manufacturing scenario. Logistic robots are programable-independent movable devices capable of transporting stuffs in a logistic cycle. The purpose of this paper is to opt for the most economical robot under chains of criteria, which is always considered as a sizzling issue in an industrial domain. Design/methodology/approach The authors proposed a cluster approach, i.e. ratio analysis, reference point analysis and full mutification form, embedded type-2 fuzzy sets with weighted geometric aggregation operator (WGAO) to tackle the elected problem of industrial robot. The motive to use WGAO coupled with type-2 fuzzy sets is to effectively undertake the uncertainty associated with comprehensive information of professionals against defined dimensions. Furthermore, the cluster approach is used to carry out the comparative analysis for evaluating robust scores against candidate robot’s manufacturing firms, considering 59 crucial beneficial and non-beneficial dimensions. A case research study is carried out to demonstrate the validity of the proposed approach. Findings The most challenging task in real-time manufacturing scenario is robot selection for a particular industrial application. This problem has become more complex in recent years because of advanced features and facilities that are continuously being incorporated into the robots by different manufacturers. In the past decade, robots have been selected in accordance with cost criteria excluding other beneficial criteria, which results in declined product quality, customer’s expectation, ill productivity, higher deliver time, etc. The proposed research incorporates the aforesaid issues and provides the various important attributes needed to be considered for the optimum evaluation and selection of industrial robots. Research limitations/implications The need for changes in the technological dimensions (speed, productivity, navigation, upgraded product demands, etc.) of robot was encountered as a hardship work for managers to take wise decision dealing with a wide range of availability of robot types and models with distinct features in the manufacturing firms. The presented work aids the managers in taking their decisions effectively while dealing with the aforesaid circumstances. Originality/value The proposed work suggests chains of dimensions (59 crucial beneficial and non-beneficial dimensions) that can be used by managers to measure the economic worth of robot to carry out logistic activities in updated manufacturing environment. The proposed work evolves as an effective cluster approach-embedded type-2 fuzzy sets with WGAO to assess manufacturing firms under availability of low information.
14
Scherger, Valeria, Antonio Terceño, and Hernán Vigier. "The OWA distance operator and its application in business failure." Kybernetes 46, no. 1 (January 9, 2017): 114–30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/k-05-2016-0107.
Full textAbstract:
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a goodness index based on Hamming distance and ordered weighted averaging distance (OWAD), which is useful to make decisions. These alternative measures enrich the results of diagnostic fuzzy models and facilitate the experts’ task in decision-making. An application to a set of firms to verify the results is also presented. Design/methodology/approach The paper follows the basis of OWA operators to design a methodology to reduce the map of causes of business failure into monitoring key areas. Findings The present paper introduces two alternative measures to test the proposal of grouping. In the empirical application, the superiority of the minimum T-norm over other decision rules is verified. The ordered weighted averaging distance (OWAD) goodness index predicts a better adjustment over the index built using OWA and Hamming distance measures. Practical implications A useful mechanism to reduce the map of causes or diseases detected in key areas is added through this analysis. At the same time, these key areas can be disaggregated once some alert indicator is identified; this allows knowing the causes that require special attention. This application of OWA can encourage the development of suitable computer systems for monitoring the firm’s problems, alerting regarding failures and easing decision-making. Originality/value A comparison of grouping causes into key areas through a goodness index based on Hamming distance and OWAD is proposed. These contributions enrich the Vigier and Terceño (2008) model and could be applied to any model of fuzzy diagnosis to test the results.
15
Maru, Loice. "Sustainable Entrepreneurship: A Study of Tour Operator Firms in the Kenya Coast Region." Academy of Management Proceedings 1, no. 1 (April 16, 2013): aomafr.2012.024. http://dx.doi.org/10.5465/aomafr.2012.0249.
Full text
16
Isabelle Pope. "Social Network Dynamic Modeling via Mathematical Applicative Formulae." Mathematical Statistician and Engineering Applications 70, no. 1 (January 31, 2021): 05–08. http://dx.doi.org/10.17762/msea.v70i1.7.
Full textAbstract:
For one or more files contained in databases, the computer forms a leading site for storage. In the majority of large firms, the databases tend to be in central systems, rather than on the individual employee computers. It is also worth noting that computer servers are contained in these respective firm central systems, offering services over networks. The implication is that the server hosts database files but, using different firm computers, an operator can access the files. An increase in database complexity translates into the formation of a social network. Therefore, a social network becomes a database collection working together. The role of social networks lies in their capacity to foster data integration from different databases, giving the information new insights. Given that the ultimate goal of business organizations stretches beyond data storage to support decision-making in relation to the resultant data, this paper has established that social networks play a critical role towards the achievement of this goal.
17
Jeon, Dong-Hwa, Jong-Soon Koo, and Su-Jung Hwang. "Effects of Authorized Economic Operator Certification on Productivity and Efficiency in Korean Trading Firms." Korea International Trade Research Institute 12, no. 4 (August 26, 2016): 503–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.16980/jitc.12.4.201608.503.
Full text
18
de Mesnard, Louis. "More firms, more competition? The case of the fourth operator in France's mobile phone market." International Journal of Production Economics 130, no. 2 (April 2011): 186–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2010.12.011.
Full text
19
Donna, Giorgio, and Salvatore Nieddu. "Creare Valore Sanitario: nuove prospettive per il management delle aziende sanitarie." Farmeconomia. Health economics and therapeutic pathways 1, no. 1 (March 15, 2000): 25–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.7175/fe.v1i1.708.
Full textAbstract:
The value creation is the primary target of a firm and to this pattern is inspired each managerial instrument, behaviour and action. For particular firms as health companies, the pattern of value creation can be well – grounded, provided that it takes care of their particular attributes. Therefore this article is structured on the following methodology of analysis: first of all the pattern of value creation for private firms is shown making clear the meaning of value creation compared with firm’s strategic targets. Then the particular attributes of health companies and the meaning that value creation can undertake in these circumstances are analysed. If the creation of health value can become the strategic target of a health company, it is essential a valuation of the “key variables” marking out the way to create value. At last the change of classical instruments of management and administration control are described. To create health value is the real strategic target of health companies. After years of prevailing or exclusive orientation to efficiency, now managerial instruments rediscover the efficacy and the quality of medical treatments as “key variables” to program and control. Old management tools, such as the budget or the reporting, can become an excellent support for every operator, first of all the medical class that, because of various motives, was (and is) particularly refractory to these instruments. The pattern of value creation can become the philosophy which has to inspire all the health management instruments, and the common language for all the cultures and the professions inside the health companies. Concluding, the pattern of value creation can be an interesting proposal to innovate control systems of health companies and to put an end to the impasse of most of the health management’s applications, but, it required a new co-operation between managers and medical class. Only if the medical class will accept valuation and measurement systems of activity, the value creation will stop to be just a theory and will become a reality.
20
Mo, Xiaoting, Xinglu Liu, and Wai Kin (Victor) Chan. "Modeling and Optimization in Resource Sharing Systems: Application to Bike-Sharing with Unequal Demands." Algorithms 14, no. 2 (January 30, 2021): 47. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/a14020047.
Full textAbstract:
The imbalanced distribution of shared bikes in the dockless bike-sharing system (a typical example of the resource-sharing system), which may lead to potential customer churn and lost profit, gradually becomes a vital problem for bike-sharing firms and their users. To resolve the problem, we first formulate the bike-sharing system as a Markovian queueing network with higher-demand nodes and lower-demand nodes, which can provide steady-state probabilities of having a certain number of bikes at one node. A model reduction method is then designed to reduce the complexity of the proposed model. Subsequently, we adopt an operator-based relocation strategy to optimize the reduced network. The objective of the optimization model is to maximize the total profit and act as a decision-making tool for operators to determine the optimal relocation frequency. The results reveal that it is possible for most of the shared bikes to gather at one low-demand node eventually in the long run under the influence of the various arrival rates at different nodes. However, the decrease of the number of bikes at the high-demand nodes is more sensitive to the unequal demands, especially when the size of the network and the number of bikes in the system are large. It may cause a significant loss for operators, to which they should pay attention. Meanwhile, different estimated values of parameters related with revenue and cost affect the optimization results differently.
21
Pang, Xuelian, Haoran Xue, Ming-Lang Tseng, Ming K. Lim, and Kaihua Liu. "Hybrid Flow Shop Scheduling Problems Using Improved Fireworks Algorithm for Permutation." Applied Sciences 10, no. 3 (February 10, 2020): 1174. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/app10031174.
Full textAbstract:
Prior studies are lacking which address permutation flow shop scheduling problems and hybrid flow shop scheduling problems together to help firms find the optimized scheduling strategy. The permutation flow shop scheduling problem and hybrid flow shop scheduling problems are important production scheduling types, which widely exist in industrial production fields. This study aimed to acquire the best scheduling strategy for making production plans. An improved fireworks algorithm is proposed to minimize the makespan in the proposed strategies. The proposed improved fireworks algorithm is compared with the fireworks algorithm, and the improvement strategies include the following: (1) A nonlinear radius is introduced and the minimum explosion amplitude is checked to avoid the waste of optimal fireworks; (2) The original Gaussian mutation operator is replaced by a hybrid operator that combines Cauchy and Gaussian mutation to improve the search ability; and (3) An elite group selection strategy is adopted to reduce the computing costs. Two instances from the permutation flow shop scheduling problem and hybrid flow shop scheduling problems were used to evaluate the improved fireworks algorithm’s performance, and the computational results demonstrate the improved fireworks algorithm’s superiority.
22
Oh, Jungsuk, Byungwan Koh, and Srinivasan Raghunathan. "Value Appropriation between the Platform Provider and App Developers in Mobile Platform Mediated Networks." Journal of Information Technology 30, no. 3 (September 2015): 245–59. http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/jit.2015.21.
Full textAbstract:
The mobile ecosystem has recently experienced a transition in platform leadership from network operators to mobile operating system providers. In each system the platform provider exerts effort in order to attract other firms for generativity and profitability. In this paper, we identify and analyze the working mechanism of one business practice that significantly influences the ecosystem's generativity and platform provider's profitability via value appropriation. Revenue sharing has become a common practice in the mobile ecosystem following NTT DoCoMo's radical revenue-sharing model contributing toward mobile service success in Japan. Studies further argue that offering a wide portfolio of services through an attractive or innovative revenue-sharing model is one of key success factors in the mobile ecosystem. However, app developers have continuously claimed that they do not receive their fair share and the press reports a substantial number of disputes concerning revenue sharing between the platform provider and app developers. We propose a new bargaining model, the modified apex game, that investigates how value is likely to be appropriated between the platform provider and app developers within a given mobile platform mediated network. We support our theoretical predictions using data collected from the early mobile ecosystem by a network operator as well as the iOS and Android mediated networks.
23
Lee, Hui Shan, Fan Fah Cheng, Wai Mun Har, Annuar Md Nassir, and Nazrul Hisyam Ab Razak. "Efficiency, firm-specific and corporate governance factors of the Takaful insurance." International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management 12, no. 3 (July 15, 2019): 368–87. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/imefm-06-2018-0187.
Full textAbstract:
Purpose Malaysia is recognised as an emerging country with a large Muslim population, making the Malaysian Takaful industry the largest Takaful market in the Southeast Asia region and, notably, one of the fastest growing markets globally. Malaysia is also the first country globally to implement a risk-based capital framework for Takaful. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to identify the factors that influence the efficiency level (cost efficiency and technical efficiency) of the Takaful industry and to examine the effects of Takaful insurance firms’ specific factors and corporate governance factors that influence the efficiency of Takaful insurance in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the efficiency level of the Malaysian Takaful industry was examined between 2011 and 2015. The sample consisted of 11 family Takaful and 8 general Takaful operators. Two-stage Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was used by first, conducting non-parametric frontier data envelopment analysis to obtain a DEA score for each operator. This was followed by panel regression with the DEA scores as the dependent variable and the insurance firms’ specific factors and corporate governance factors as the independent variables. Findings The results of DEA indicate that Takaful operators in general have allocative inefficiency but family Takaful is more cost efficient than general Takaful. Results of panel data analysis reveal that corporate governance factors do influence the cost efficiency but find no evidence on the firm-specific factors towards the cost efficiency and technical efficiency on Takaful operators. Board size and the proportion of non-executive directors impose a negative and significant relationship with cost efficiency, while proportion of Muslim directors in the board is not significant. Research limitations/implications This paper focused solely on Malaysia which uses strict regulations governing the Takaful insurance market. Due diligence was also performed to minimise any limitation in the paper. It is proposed that future studies should examine this issue in greater detail by incorporating more data from other Muslim countries. Practical implications The findings of this paper have significant implications for policymakers to understand the efficiency condition in the Takaful market. Takaful operators should maintain a small board size with a higher proportion of executive directors, given they could improve the level of effective decision-making to enhance the cost efficiency. As corporate governance factors are significant, Takaful operators in Malaysia should also undertake transparent disclosure practice and reporting such as providing adequate and relevant information related to Shariah compliance and principles to provide a robust foundation as the Takaful market leader regarding Takaful regulations globally. Social implications The consumer is able to make a better decision when choosing Takaful insurance company to protect their interests. Originality/value No similar paper has been undertaken to the best of the researcher’s knowledge using similar research design and scope to investigate the efficiency of Takaful insurance as in this paper. Takaful insurance is a rapidly growing industry in Malaysia, setting a prime example to other countries globally. Malaysia was selected for this study, as it is the only nation that has implemented the most extreme regulation in the Takaful insurance market.
24
Salman, Doaa, and Dina Seiam. "THE LESSONS LEARNED FROM THOMAS COOK FAILURE. IS IT BREXIT?" Economics & Law 2, no. 2 (December 30, 2020): 14–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.37708/el.swu.v2i2.2.
Full textAbstract:
The aim of this research paper is to discuss market failure of Thomas Cook and analyse the reasons behind the market failure of Thomas Cook Group and how outdated technology, having high debts, and did Brexit lead to its collapse. Further on analysis of the reasons for failure supported by literature review across different economic schools has been elaborated. The paper provides clarification to the characteristics of the airlines and their entry barriers taking into consideration the tour operator. Further, it is described how Thomas Cook collapse affected Africa and Europe. Lastly, the conclusion is about the losses occurred in Thomas Cook Company, how other firms can avoid failure and the direct negative impact of the BREXIT on the company.
25
Peacock, Jonathon, and Steve Dow. "Opportunities for collaboration in the Australian oil and gas industry: learning lessons from more mature basins and international best practice (North Sea, Norway, Gulf of Mexico, Onshore US)." APPEA Journal 59, no. 2 (2019): 683. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/aj18145.
Full textAbstract:
As many Australian assets move from ‘project’ to ‘operate’, the challenge is to ‘sustainably optimise’ to provide value to shareholders and attract continued investment. There is an opportunity to learn the lessons of more mature regions and accelerate improvements now, rather than wait. The North Sea, Norway, Gulf of Mexico and Onshore USA provide insights and opportunities for improvement, from operator and supplier collaboration, through optimised operating models and the critical role of government and regulators in improving industry development. These opportunities require key Australian industry stakeholders to be adaptable. They require humility and strong listening skills, steady hands and a keen focus on long-term value. For example, the Efficiency Task Force of Oil & Gas UK launched the Industry Behaviours Charter in 2015, a collective commitment to encourage companies in the offshore industry to work effectively, efficiently and co-operatively. Forty companies signed up and that number continues to rise. Firms are sharing cost cutting initiatives under the Rapid Efficiency Exchange scheme. A second initiative encourages companies to share spare parts. Amec Foster Wheeler has brought in a More for Less scheme to eradicate processes that are superfluous to final outcomes. Operating costs across the UK North Sea dropped by 14% in 2016, operators saving over US$1.5 billion, and this progress continues. The OGA runs an asset stewardship program, sharing best practice across operators and encouraging collaboration. Collaboration there is itself maturing, still with a keen focus on cost reduction, but drivers now include sharing knowledge, new ideas and solutions, not just transferring risk.
26
Haefner, C. H. "Disaster Management at Frankfurt Airport." Journal of the World Association for Emergency and Disaster Medicine 1, no. 2 (1985): 133. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1049023x00065250.
Full textAbstract:
During peak hours at Frankfurt Airport, approximately 10,000 employees of 300 different firms, organizations and services simultaneously handle more than 10,000 passengers and accompanying people. Most of them are not familiar with the airport facilities and speak several different languages.Disaster management is the act of solving an organization problem under pressure of time. The leading role during the immediate action concerning major accidents or disasters is played by the Safety and Security Control Center of the airport operator, which alerts and controls all emergency services of the airport. Included in this organization are the fire-fighting, rescue and medical services of the airport operator, the U.S. Rhein Main Air Base and the emergency services of the City of Frankfurt. The immediate actions are exclusively based on the operation of professional task forces (without volunteer helpers). As far as possible, the emergency procedures, including personnel operations, are the same at all hours (working/holidays, day/night).The basis for the emergency operation is the “Emergency Orders” manual. The manual consists of an alarm plan in the form of alarm checklists for the different emergency services and of emergency procedures which are activated through the alarm plan.Command and control through the staff and communication system of the Safety and Security Operation Center, the on-scene Mobil Command Post and the operation centers of the airport services guarantee that the immediate response of the airport's and external task forces is fully coordinated without delay.
27
Baporikar, Neeta. "Entrepreneurship in a Modern Networked Indian Economy." International Journal of Asian Business and Information Management 4, no. 4 (October 2013): 48–66. http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/ijabim.2013100104.
Full textAbstract:
Entrepreneurship is important in the daily business environment and is plays a crucial role in the world economy. Entrepreneurship is an interesting topic as it deals with the behaviour of the firm entrepreneur and the entrepreneur's main competencies. However, the field of entrepreneurship world over is evolving and so is it in India. The focus of this paper is on entrepreneurship in modern networked economy of India. In this survey paper the literature on entrepreneurship is summarized from the perspective of geographical seedbed conditions and network constellations. Urban areas offer favourable incubator conditions for innovative entrepreneurship, as a result of economies of density and the opportunities created by the city as a nucleus of a broader network. Hence, a modem entrepreneur tends to become increasingly a network operator and manager. The paper focuses on the role that small firms and entrepreneurship would play in the Indian economy as it transforms itself. The current constraints are identified, and the areas that need action are highlighted. It is argued that a better understanding of the process of evolution of the modern entrepreneurship in the late industrializing economies can help India make appropriate policy choices. It is also suggested that in the age of liberalization and globalization, any attempt at creation of a competitive environment in the country would need to explicitly take note of the emerging global production and knowledge networks.
28
Breton, B. C., G. Chand, P. J. Howard, N. H. M. Caldwell, and D. M. Holburn. "NETSEM Collaborator - an Application in Telemicroscopy." Microscopy and Microanalysis 5, S2 (August 1999): 320–21. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1431927600014926.
Full textAbstract:
Telemicroscopy, sometimes called remote microscopy, is an expanding set of microscopy techniques, made possible by the advent of ubiquitous and pervasive Internet technologies such as the World Wide Web. Recently, telemicroscopy has moved from laboratory prototypes to commercially available software. This paper discusses a real-world application of telemicroscopy in terms of a microscopy consultancy service offered by ERA Technology Ltd. in Leatherhead, UK.Many organisations require microscopical services on an occasional basis. These needs are not however, sufficiently frequent as to justify the purchase and upkeep of an SEM or the recruitment and retention of a trained instrument operator Such organisations employ consultancy firms to perform the required analyses. In many such consultancies, a sample is sent to the microscopist with appropriate instructions. Once the investigation is complete, the consultant returns sample, micrographs and other results. The SEM service run by ERA has always offered its customers the opportunity for personal participation in any investigation, by attendance at SEM sessions at the Leatherhead laboratory.
29
Harison, Elad, and Ofer Barkai. "Automating The Improvement Of Service Quality: The TELCO Case." Journal of Business Case Studies (JBCS) 7, no. 6 (October 27, 2011): 81–90. http://dx.doi.org/10.19030/jbcs.v7i6.6482.
Full textAbstract:
The case under discussion presents a new and innovative framework for implementing preventive service systems that detect potential service malfunctions, attempt to automatically prevent them and notify customers about the results of these operations. Such automated systems may proactively avert service malfunctions and reduce the volume of customer complaints due to service outages. The presented framework is based on four major stages: continuous detection of service delivery infrastructure and equipment, prevention of identified service failures, notification of customers about service failures and follow-up activities. Telco is a major Israeli telecommunications operator that implemented the preventive service methodology and systems to improve the quality of its services to the satisfaction of its largest customers. The model presented in this paper can be utilized by a broad variety of firms and service providers as means for improving the quality of their services, the satisfaction and the loyalty of customers and the ability to retain them for longer periods in an increasingly competitive environment.
30
Boyle, Glenn, Sanghyun Hong, and Michael Foley. "The impact of the 2012 NZX listing rule change on board composition and company performance." Pacific Accounting Review 32, no. 4 (November 26, 2020): 543–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/par-07-2019-0091.
Full textAbstract:
Purpose This study aims to examine the impact of December 2012, New Zealand (NZ) stock exchange operator listing rule change that introduced compulsory disclosure about gender diversity on NZ boards. Design/methodology/approach A quasi-natural experiment setting with a clearly identifiable exogenous event. Findings The rate of growth in female-held directorships increased significantly after the introduction of the new rule, resulting in, by 2016, the average female board representation being more than double what it had been in 2012. However, this paper finds no relationship between this response and company performance. Research limitations/implications This study cannot attribute causality to the observed jump in female directorships following the 2012 listing rule change due to the absence of a control group of firms not subject to this change. Practical implications The results are consistent with an efficient director appointment process in NZ. Originality/value Low-key regulatory changes can have a significant impact on company behaviour.
31
Sagayam, K. Martin, J. Jenkin Winston, Mohd Helmy Abd Wahab, Bharat Bhushan, Radzi Ambar, and Hazwaj Mhd Poad. "Combination of Thermal and sRGB imaging Techniques for Advanced Surveillance System." Annals of Emerging Technologies in Computing 5, no. 5 (March 20, 2021): 27–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.33166/aetic.2021.05.003.
Full textAbstract:
Surveillance is described as close observation; this term is used mostly when it comes to security observations and recording. Nowadays in our daily life we see the need of security rising up with the constant increase in the world of technology and features. On the other hand, the industries and firms continuously face threats and are pushed to a situation of seeking help for their safety. Also, that there are various blind spots in the regular security cam even the operator is not in a position to identify an emergency or any such need. This work is focused on providing clarity to such issues to the respective personal. It might be an industry, an office workspace, a supermarket or even a house. This concept deals with the enhancement of the surveillance system by infusing two different frames of Thermal and sRGB obtained input and give the output of noise reduced, enhanced and more visible image.
32
Kudrytska, Natalia. "International review of water transport institutional provision." University Economic Bulletin, no. 38 (July 3, 2018): 63–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.31470/2306-546x-2018-38-63-70.
Full textAbstract:
The urgency of the research on the institutional provision of water transport in Ukraine is confirmed by the program documents of the Government: the draft National Transport Strategy of Ukraine for the period up to 2030; Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU; Ukraine 2020 Sustainable Development Strategy. The purpose of the article is to determine the main provisions for improving the methodology of institutional provision of water transport on the basis of international experience in the context of globalization and integration processes. As a result of the research the following provisions are formulated: - formalization of aspects of port studies (space, time, socio-economic, functional, institutional, organizational level); - definition of ports as clusters of rules, norms and behavior patterns as opposed to researching them as infrastructure objects and nodes of retail networks; - expediency of researches of institutionalization of relations between "actors" that interact with water transport; - representation of the port as a technological and economic point of contacts and contracts; - the need to "measure" the influence of stakeholders on the functioning and performance of the port; - сonsideration of competition of ports from the point of view of construction of target chain systems (supply chains); - taking into account institutional changes in the port industry through the emergence of multinational corporations, multinational global terminal operators; - research of ports as part of the ecological system; - formulation of port administration functions: landlord function, regulator, operator and manager responsible for the entire port cluster; - consideration of ports as market firms, taking into account the inter-functional integration of their business processes in a chain of values.
33
Zhong, Junying, and Marko Nieminen. "Resource-based co-innovation through platform ecosystem: experiences of mobile payment innovation in China." Journal of Strategy and Management 8, no. 3 (August 17, 2015): 283–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/jsma-03-2015-0026.
Full textAbstract:
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce the RISE model on service innovation in coopetitive business environment. The case study illustrates why and how Chinese providers utilize ecosystems for innovative mobile payment service development to achieve coopetitive advantage based on firms’ superior resources. Design/methodology/approach – The companies in the case study include Alipay (third-party actor), Bestpay (mobile operator), and UnionPay (banking). Empirical data comes from semi-structured interviews complemented with observations and documents. The analysis of the data follows grounded theory guidelines: creation of a theoretical framework, data collection, and interpretation of the data using the coding strategies of open coding, axial coding, and selected coding. Findings – Inter-organizational co-innovation appears as a successful strategy for mobile payment service innovation. In addition to strategic choice on this, understanding of superior and inferior resources and capabilities influence firms’ coopetitive advantages in a coopetitive service development environment. Ecosystems are formed along with the innovating activities, and difficulties are caused by coopetition challenges. The RISE model enables the analysis and selection of strategic patterns for service innovation in a coopetitive environment. Originality/value – The paper contributes to resource-advantage theory and platform ecosystem theory. The theories are used to analyze and model the effects of strategy execution for achieving win-win relationships in inter-organizational co-innovation. This paper helps executives to match their service innovation strategies to platform ecosystem architectures, as well as to understand how resource-advantage challenges affect the execution strategy of setting up their platform ecosystems.
34
Yap, Bryan Kweh King, and Low Hock Heng. "Technology Transfer at Malaysia: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Industry." Applied Mechanics and Materials 315 (April 2013): 364–68. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.315.364.
Full textAbstract:
Transfer of technology is the key element for the industrialization and economic development of the countries. Indeed, today, the transfer of manufacturing technology has become an important part of the international business strategy of firms. According to Schmidt and Uydess [1] pharmaceutical manufacturers are transferring more technology now compared to the last decade. Recent survey conducted by Tunnell Consulting, looking at the technology transfer practices of executives at 10 global pharmaceutical companies, the study found that most of companies undertake more than 10 technology transfer per year whether from development to commercial manufacturing or from one manufacturing site to another. The aims of the research is to identify the factor that will influence the technology transfer process in pharmaceutical manufacturing industry and provide the better understanding for pharmaceutical process validation at Malaysia. Respondents for this research included Manager, Engineer, Technician, Machine Operator and Supportive Staff at pharmaceutical manufacturing industry. This paper is considered as in progress status. Therefore it will explore and explain the concept of technology transfer and the factors that will influence the process.
35
BRADY, TIM. "CREATING AND SUSTAINING A SUPPLY NETWORK TO DELIVER ROUTINE AND COMPLEX ONE-OFF AIRPORT INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS." International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management 08, no. 03 (September 2011): 469–81. http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/s0219877011002362.
Full textAbstract:
Over the years, we have seen a growing interest in the use of interorganizational networks as a means to develop and deliver ever more complex products and services. Much of the earlier research was carried out on supply networks — mostly focused on strong lead-manufacturing firms producing mass-produced consumer goods. More recently, attention has been paid to a new model of industrial organization based on systems integration being adopted by many of the world's leading firms, particularly those in high-technology sectors [Hobday et al. (2005)]. The key role of systems integrator is usually played by a prime contractor or a dominant manufacturer. However, there are sectors where structural problems inhibit both the innovation and the development of supply networks and where it is not obvious who should play the systems integrator role. The UK construction sector has long been characterized as fragmented with much of the industry continuing to be structured and constrained by the contracting model that emerged in the early 19th century with the emergence of the professions. These structural problems are often held to contribute to the perceived poor record of innovation in the sector [Winch (1998); Gann et al. (1992)]. This paper analyzes how BAA, a major airport operator and construction client, developed and managed a network of suppliers to deliver both its portfolio of routine capital construction projects and one-off complex mega projects. To achieve its objectives, BAA sets about implementing ways of improving the efficiency of its ongoing capital projects that would enable them to show continuous improvement in performance whilst simultaneously developing the project capabilities required to manage the massive T5 project. These developments enabled BAA to address issues of predictability at the same time as providing an environment that encouraged innovation.
36
IONESCU, IRINA, ADELA FLOREA, and EMIL CONSTANTIN LOGHIN. "Increasing effectiveness of the sewing methods for products with special destination." Industria Textila 70, no. 05 (October 31, 2019): 481–86. http://dx.doi.org/10.35530/it.070.05.1518.
Full textAbstract:
The execution of the products with special destination requires solving two problems: assuring a high degree of protection of the consumer, acquired by structural and technological design, according with the product destination and increasing the operator’s responsibility for the quantitative and qualitative result of the work, by implementing rigorous work methods for the sewing operations. The final result will be economical efficiency of the companies. Paper’s aim is to analyze different solutions for the sewing operations for military equipment (for example, products designed to carry grenades or radio stations). The case study was made in a clothing company, with the particularity that, for increasing work responsibility, one operator is responsible for all the operations for a product. The work method used in the paper implied data analyze and synthesis, the results were obtained using the Time Measurement Method. Implementing the optimum work method at the production system level results in decreasing the time for the order, in 100% quality conditions. The research path used in the paper can be used for obtaining some data used for the evaluation of the results, in order for the clothing companies to be certified for the sewing of the specific products, taking in account that, for this type of products, the firms certification is an European request.
37
Valenti, Michael. "Double Wrapped." Mechanical Engineering 121, no. 01 (January 1, 1999): 52–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/1.1999-jan-2.
Full textAbstract:
This article discusses that a probabilistic study showed that the use of double-hulled shuttle tankers could reduce the probability of spillage resulting from collisions, contact with non-ship objects, and groundings by 75 percent. American petroleum companies are already using double-hulled tankers. The efficacy of double-hulled vessels in preventing environmental threats was borne out in October 1997 by Conoco Inc.’s tanker Guardian. Conoco, based in Houston, has operated a 100 percent double-hulled U.S. tanker fleet since August 1998. Indeed, the company decided to build only double-hulled tankers months before Congress passed OPA 1990. Two new craft will join Conoco’s flotilla of four twin-hulled vessels in 1999. Conoco engineers met a number of challenges when they embarked on building a double-hulled fleet. Double-hulled vessels are inherently more expensive than single-hulled vessels. Maritrans Operating Partners LP, a wholly owned subsidiary of Maritrans Inc. in Philadelphia, operator and owner of one of the nation’s largest fleets of oil tankers, tugboats, and oceangoing petroleum tank barges, found a way to reduce those costs, which may serve as a model for other shipping firms. The 65-year-old company converted a two-decade-old single-hulled tank barge into a double-hulled vessel.
38
Salih Abdalla, Abdalla,. "On Elliptic Operator Theory." Journal of Mathematics Research 9, no. 6 (November 12, 2017): 144. http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/jmr.v9n6p144.
Full textAbstract:
The theory talks about partial differentiation equations. For the this reason, elliptic operators take the portion of differential operators in general Laplace operators. The operators have clear definitions through the rule that the coefficients of the highest order derivatives are positives. The above aspects imply that crucial properties, which are the main symbols, are fixed. On the other hand, they can be equivalent, meaning that they have no real characteristic directions. To expound on the above, elliptic operators are representatives of the potential theory. The reason behind this is that they often appear in the field of electrostatics and continuum mechanics. Elliptic regularity shows that their solutions tend to be smooth functions, which means that it applies if the coefficients are smooth operators. Additionally, firm state resolutions to hyperbolic and parabolic equations apply in general to solve elliptic equations. Partial differentiation equations are important mathematical formulas that apply in solving mathematical problems. The theory plays a critical role in explaining functioning of the elliptic operator as many find it a mathematical phenomenon in how efficient it is in solving problems in mathematics. The article talks about theorems and lemmas in the elliptic operator.
39
Yap, Ching Seng, Boon Liat Cheng, Nurhuzira Mohamad Hussain, and Rizal Ahmad. "Innovativeness, market intelligence practices, and firm performance of small- and medium-sized tour operators." Tourism and Hospitality Research 18, no. 2 (March 9, 2016): 143–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1467358416636931.
Full textAbstract:
The study examines the effect of market intelligence practices on firm performance in the small- and medium-sized tour operators in Malaysia. Specifically, a conceptual model is developed which hypothesizes that firm innovativeness relates positively to market intelligence acquisition and market intelligence utilization which, in turn, affects firm performance. A self-administered questionnaire survey is used to garner responses from a sample of 81 tour operators. The findings indicate that firm performance is positively related to market intelligence practices both in terms of market intelligence acquisition and market intelligence utilization. In addition, it also shows that the relationship between firm innovativeness and market intelligence acquisition is stronger than the relationship between firm innovativeness and market intelligence utilization. These findings may imply that even though market intelligence practices are more prevalent among larger firms, small- and medium-sized tour operators may also benefit from having formal information processing systems and in particular in terms of acquiring and utilizing information. The limitations of the study and recommendations for future research are also discussed.
40
Mouraviev, Nikolai, and Nada K. Kakabadse. "“Rules of engagement”." Journal of Management Development 33, no. 6 (June 9, 2014): 551–63. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/jmd-04-2014-0028.
Full textAbstract:
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate to what extent one can apply experiential learning theory (ELT) to the public-private partnership (PPP) setting in Russia and to draw insights regarding the learning cycle ' s nature. Additionally, the paper assesses whether the PPP case confirms Kolb ' s ELT. Design/methodology/approach – The case study draws upon primary data which the authors collected by interviewing informants including a PPP operator ' s managers, lawyers from Russian law firms and an expert from the National PPP Centre. The authors accomplished data source triangulation in order to ensure a high degree of research validity. Findings – Experiential learning has resulted in a successful and a relatively fast PPP project launch without the concessionary framework. The lessons learned include the need for effective stakeholder engagement; avoiding being stuck in bureaucracy such as collaboration with Federal Ministries and anti-trust agency; avoiding application for government funding as the approval process is tangled and lengthy; attracting strategic private investors; shaping positive public perception of a PPP project; and making continuous efforts in order to effectively mitigate the public acceptance risk. Originality/value – The paper contributes to ELT by incorporating the impact of social environment in the learning model. Additionally, the paper tests the applicability of ELT to learning in the complex organisational setting, i.e., a PPP.
41
BERAKDAR, J. "SCATTERING PATH FORMALISM FOR THE PROPAGATION OF INTERACTING COMPOUNDS IN ORDERED AND DISORDERED MATERIALS." Surface Review and Letters 07, no. 03 (June 2000): 205–10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/s0218625x00000257.
Full textAbstract:
This study presents a theoretical framework for the propagation of a compound consisting of N interacting particles in a multicenter potential. A novel Green operator approach is proposed that disentangles the geometrical and dynamical properties of the scatterers from the internal evolution of the projectile compound. Furthermore, the transition operator for the scattering from the multicenter potential is expanded in terms of many-body scattering path operators, which in turn are expressed in terms of single site transition operators that are amenable to computations. To deduce the correlated many-body Green operator of the scattering compound, a cumulative method is designed that reduces the problem to the evaluation of Green operators of systems with a reduced number of interacting particles. This is particularly useful for efficient calculations and encompasses the usual perturbative approaches.
42
Hedija, Veronika, and Roman Fiala. "Is Gibrat’s law valid for travel agencies and tour operators? Evidence from the Visegrad group countries." Journal of East European Management Studies 24, no. 3 (2019): 447–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.5771/0949-6181-2019-3-447.
Full textAbstract:
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the validity of Gibrat’s law for a sample of travel agents from the Visegrad group (V4) countries and to identify the size-growth relationship. Using a linear auto-regressive model and ordinary least squares estimator, we rejected the validity of Gibrat’s law in the V4 countries (except Poland, where the results were mixed). The smallest firms tend to grow faster than their larger counterparts. Using quantile regression models, we concluded that the size-growth link differed depending on actual firm size. Before reaching minimum efficient scale (MES), there is a positive relationship between firm growth and firm size. This relationship is negative after reaching MES: the smaller firms grow faster than bigger ones. Gibrat’s law tends to be valid in the population of firms that have reached MES. This shows that economies and diseconomies of scale could play a significant role in explaining the size-growth relationship of travel agents.
43
Lehman-Salada, Laura. "Operator and Instrument Affect Apple Firmness Readings." HortScience 30, no. 4 (July 1995): 817C—817. http://dx.doi.org/10.21273/hortsci.30.4.817c.
Full textAbstract:
Apple flesh firmness, a common indicator of maturity and postharvest quality, can be measured destructively using several instruments. This study compared readings obtained with a Magness-Taylor tester, an Effegi device, and an electronic tester with Magness-Taylor testing in the on or off mode. Three trained operators measured firmness of 50-apple samples of three cultivars with a wide range in suspected maturity. In the instrument test, each operator measured firmness using a different instrument or mode on one half of each apple. In the operator test, the firmness of each apple was measured three times (once by each operator). Both soft and firm lots had consistent operator and instrument differences in readings. Ignoring the operator differences, five out of six comparisons of instrument and mode produced significantly different readings. Operator differences between instruments and modes were also significant in many instances. The results suggest that a single instrument and operator should be used in long-term experiments when multiple determinations of apple flesh firmness are planned.
44
Rahrovi Dastjerdi, Alireza, Daruosh Foroghi, and Gholam Hossain Kiani. "Detecting manager’s fraud risk using text analysis: evidence from Iran." Journal of Applied Accounting Research 20, no. 2 (May 13, 2019): 154–71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/jaar-01-2018-0016.
Full textAbstract:
Purpose In accounting and finance, researchers have used many ways to detect manager’s fraud risk. Until now, many researchers have used some data mining methods in these two fields to detect this risk. The purpose of this paper is to compare the precision of two data mining methods in detecting such a risk. Design/methodology/approach For this purpose, this paper analyzed the texts of board’s reports and used two methods including the convex optimization (CVX) method and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression method. In this way, the words of these reports, which have the greatest power in explaining the manager’s high fraud risk index, were identified. Using these words, this paper presented a model that could detect manager’s high fraud risk index in companies. Findings The results indicated that both methods can detect the manager’s high fraud risk index with a precision between 82.55 and 91.25 percent. The LASSO method was significantly more precise than the CVX method. Research limitations/implications The lack of access to an official and reliable list of firms suspected to fraud and the lack of access to the Microsoft Word (MS Word) file of board’s reports were two of the most important limitations of this study. Practical implications Regulatory bodies and independent auditors can consider the proposed methods in this study for assessing the fraud risk for a firm or other legal parties. Originality/value This paper avoided using merely financial statements data to detect the manager’s fraud risk index and focused on texts of board’s reports for the detection process. The capabilities of data mining and text mining methods for detecting the manager’s fraud risk index using board’s reports were tested in this paper. By comparing CVX and LASSO results, this paper indicated that methods with a binary-dependent variable have more power and are more precise than methods with continuous-dependent variables for detecting fraud.
45
Бондаренко, Дмитрий, and Dmitriy Bondarenko. "Regulatory aspects of pilgrimage and religious tourism at the present stage." Universities for Tourism and Service Association Bulletin 9, no. 3 (August 28, 2015): 14–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.12737/12525.
Full textAbstract:
The article discusses the issues of legal regulation of relations in the field of tourism, especially such varieties
as religious tourism and pilgrimage. The article substantiates the conceptual distinction of these concepts, from
which the need for different approaches and principles for the provision of appropriate tourist services comes. The
author notes the significance of the impact of religious tourism on the economy of individual countries and regions
of the world, and religious centers. In the article there is the analysis of conceptual regulation of tourist activity in
the Russian Federation and it is considered a separate state program of development of tourism and pilgrimage.
The main attention is focused on the lack of legal concept and practice of pilgrimage and, respectively, difficulties,
arising in connection with these issues, in the organization of tourist trips and the provision of travel services of this
thematic trend. Available in Russia legal conflict is that religious organizations have no right to organize pilgrimages,
as they are equated to tourism and operated by tour operators. In the article, specific examples prove why
firms are not always able to efficiently and fully right to organize and conduct a pilgrimage to the Holy places. We
examine why the majority of pilgrimages, organized today, may be defined as an Amateur travel, not full tours.
The author prove the relevance of the Association of Church organizations involved in the formation and promotion
of pilgrimages, which would allow them to use legal mechanisms for liability insurance, obtain a Bank guarantee
in the formation of the tourist product, all these officially allow to implement tour operator activities. The
results of the analysis of the quantitative composition of consumers of religious tourism and pilgrimage indicate
that this product is in great demand and has great prospects for development in Russia. The attention is focused
on the problem of the qualification of pilgrimage tours guides, training of specialized staff for sightseeing ensure of
religious tourism and pilgrimage. The author substantiates the practical significance of the use of network forms
of realization of educational programs for training specialists for the sphere of religious tourism and pilgrimage.
46
Niemi, Petri, and Petra Pekkanen. "Estimating the business potential for operators in a local food supply chain." British Food Journal 118, no. 11 (November 7, 2016): 2815–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/bfj-03-2016-0086.
Full textAbstract:
Purpose Estimating the business potential for local food intermediary businesses, like wholesales and retailing, can be extremely difficult. The purpose of this paper is to present an approach at finding out the possibilities of estimating the business potential of a business idea in advance. Design/methodology/approach In the approach, a model is built based on two data sources. Statistical data on the food expenditure of households and average division of the revenues and margins of the local food supply chain are divided to production, intermediate level (wholesales/distribution) and retailing stages. To estimate the regional local food business potential as a whole, the market share estimations have been made by local food experts. Findings The approach was tested and utilized in evaluating the feasibility of a local food wholesale business in South-East Finland. It produced a credible overview of the business potential and pinpointed the challenges of the local food wholesales. The study indicated also that expressing the feasibility in terms of the required market share for employee count is an easy-to-understand way to depict the feasibility of a business. Research limitations/implications The model gives indicative, industry average-based results: the results of the model should be refined with analyses on the particular business model, especially its cost efficiency and other competitive parameters compared to more traditional way of doing business. Practical implications The model helps local food entrepreneurs and firms as well as their financiers to get a realistic picture of the business potential and the economic feasibility of the targeted business. Originality/value The study introduces a novel approach combining quantitative data and expert evaluation for evaluating the market potential and economic prerequisites of a regional food supply chain operator.
47
Fischer, Carolyn, Atle G. Guttormsen, and Martin D. Smith. "Disease Risk and Market Structure in Salmon Aquaculture." Water Economics and Policy 03, no. 02 (April 2017): 1650015. http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/s2382624x16500156.
Full textAbstract:
We develop a model of a multi-national firm producing commodities for a global market in multiple locations with location-specific risks and different regulatory standards. Salmon aquaculture and disease outbreaks provide an empirically relevant example. We specifically examine details of the infectious salmon anemia outbreak in Chile in the late 2000s, the multi-national nature of some firms operating in Chile, and the overall market structure of the salmon farming industry as motivation for our theoretical model. In the model, market structure and the regulatory environments in multiple countries interact to influence how intensively firms use aquatic ecosystems. Downward-sloping market demand can lead to a perverse outcome in which high environmental standards in one country both lower the provision of disease management in the other country and reduce industry-wide output. We extend this model to consider additional locations, types of firms, and within-location risk spillovers. We find that the risk of outbreak in a given location is decreasing with greater firm concentration within the location, increasing with the outside production of operators within the location, and increasing with lower risk (or more regulation) in other locations where the operators produce. We suggest other applications of multi-national risk management.
48
Авдеева, Диана, and Александр Филатов. "Аукцион резервирования мест доступа в заповедниках: теоретическое и экспериментальное исследование." ИЗВЕСТИЯ ДАЛЬНЕВОСТОЧНОГО ФЕДЕРАЛЬНОГО УНИВЕРСИТЕТА. ЭКОНОМИКА И УПРАВЛЕНИЕ, no. 4 (2019): 136–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.24866/2311-2271/2019-4/136-151.
Full textAbstract:
Работа посвящена разработке эффективного механизма взаимодействия заповедников с туроператорами, который позволяет находить финансирование для приоритетных проектов, а также привлекать на рынок новых участников и создавать новые туристические продукты для потенциальных клиентов. Существующая схема распределения, препятствующая входу на рынок новичков, не позволяет раскрыть потенциал экологического и познавательного туризма. Предложенный механизм, главной составляющей которого является аукцион мест доступа, решает проблему неэффективности. В то же время, нерациональное поведение экономических агентов может нивелировать общественный выигрыш от аукциона. Пилотная серия экспериментов, проведенных как на студентах-экономистах, так и с участием представителей заповедника и туристических компаний, позволила оценить глубину возникающей неэффективности и скорость обучения участников. The paper dwells upon developing an effective mechanism of interaction between the reserved areas and tour operators which allows to raise funds for priority projects, to involve new participants into the market and to create new tourism products for potential clients. The existing scheme of access points arrangement, hampering the new entrants, doesn’t allow to realize the potential of ecological and educational tourism. The proposed mechanism, the principal element of which is the auction for the access points reservation, eliminates entry barriers, helps to redistribute quotas effectively, to raise money for the most important projects and investigations, and in general to solve the problem of inefficiency. In particular, the reserved areas always have portfolios of tourism, environmental and scientific projects. At the same time the lack of the budget funding doesn’t allow them to realize all of those projects. Besides, there is no reasonable experience of involving business into such issues solution. The proposed mechanism allows the reserved areas to get funds from tour operators even for noncommercial projects. The firms supporting any of the projects financially (one or several, wholly or partly) become the partners of the reserved area. This is of interest for the partners not only for the purposes of advertising themselves or for improving their reputation. Tour operators get the whole amount of the transferred money (and in some cases even some additional bonus) to their virtual accounts. They can spend these funds to buy permits for serving tourists on the top-requested routes. The reserved areas offer some access points to be arranged (in the future all of them) by the auction. If a tour operator would like to enter the market or increase the number of available permits, it makes bids in the format (p, q), i.e. the price and the corresponding number of tourists whom it is ready to serve at this price. The number of bids is unlimited. After the time expiration the access points are arranged by the multi-auction at the (n+1)-price (multi-version of the Vickrey auction). Access points are granted to the companies that have made the maximum bids. It is possible to establish (by the decreasing coefficients) priorities in favor of certain companies, for example, long-term partners of the reserved areas, local tour operators, etc. This, in particular, can reduce skepticism regarding the transition to a new model of interaction between tour operators and the reserved areas. At the same time any other companies also have the opportunity to enter the market and receive the desired permits. As for the important features of the auction format, determining its choice as the proposed mechanism, we can mention, that the auction shows the market price. This format allows to determine the real wish of the firm to pay for the tourism activities in the reserved areas. Indeed, it is at the Vickrey auction where each bidder could demonstrate its real demand. In addition, what is especially important for this format is a large number of permits and tour operators participating in the auction and that helps to solve the traditional issues of participants’ collusion and possible auctioneer opportunism. At the same time the agents irrational behavior can eliminate social effects of the auction. The pilot series of experiments performed involving students-economists as well as the representatives of the reserved areas and tourist companies allowed estimating the arising inefficiency and the learning rate. After updating the proposed mechanism is planned to be applied on the electronic platform of the recreational and tourist services developed at the FEFU together with the staff of the Kronotsky Biosphere Reserve. Upon successful testing, it can be adapted and applied in other protected areas.
49
Jarboui, Sami, Pascal Forget, and Younes Boujelben. "EFFICIENCY EVALUATION IN PUBLIC ROAD TRANSPORT: A STOCHASTIC FRONTIER ANALYSIS." TRANSPORT 30, no. 1 (May 23, 2013): 1–14. http://dx.doi.org/10.3846/16484142.2013.785019.
Full textAbstract:
This paper measures the technical efficiency of 54 public road transport operators and investigates the degree to which various factors influence efficiency levels in these firms. The study makes an attempt to provide an overview of the general status of different operators in 18 countries. Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) methods are applied to our sample over a twelve year period from 2000 to 2011. To our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive analysis of technical efficiency of public road transport operators in 18 countries using parametric method. Our empirical results indicate that investment, operating profit and firm size have a significant influence on technical efficiency levels. We find that technical efficiency level of public road transport operators varies between 0.458 and 0.95. We also observe that large-size operators with more investment capacity tend to be more technically efficient than small-size operators. Finally, we find that operators from developed countries are technically more efficient than those of developing countries.
50
Kianto, Aino, Muhammad Shujahat, Saddam Hussain, Faisal Nawaz, and Murad Ali. "The impact of knowledge management on knowledge worker productivity." Baltic Journal of Management 14, no. 2 (April 1, 2019): 178–97. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/bjm-12-2017-0404.
Full textAbstract:
Purpose The productivity of knowledge workers is crucial not only for organizational innovation and competitiveness but also for sustainable development. In the context of knowledge-intensive firms, implementation of knowledge management is likely to increase knowledge worker productivity. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of knowledge management on knowledge worker productivity. Design/methodology/approach A research framework on the effects of knowledge management processes on knowledge worker productivity is established and empirically tested with data from 336 knowledge workers at five mobile network operator companies in Pakistan. Findings The results indicate that knowledge creation and knowledge utilization impact knowledge worker productivity positively and statistically significantly. However, knowledge sharing does not have statistically significant impact on knowledge worker productivity. Demographic factors (gender, managerial position and formal education level) do not moderate the relationship between knowledge management and knowledge worker productivity statistically significantly. Research limitations/implications The key limitations are the cross-sectional nature of the data and the geographic limitation to telecom companies in Pakistan. Practical implications Irrespective of gender, education and managerial position, implementation of knowledge management can increase knowledge worker productivity. Therefore, knowledge management practices should be implemented to enhance the knowledge worker productivity via fostering the knowledge worker’s engagement in and propensity to knowledge management processes. Originality/value This study is among the first to examine the likely influence of knowledge management on the productivity of knowledge workers conclusively while controlling for three individual demographic factors. This study also addresses the effectiveness of knowledge management in the little-explored cultural context of Pakistan.