Showing papers by "Chandrasekharan Rajendran published in 2010"

Service quality and its impact on customer satisfaction in Indian hospitals: perspectives of patients and their attendants

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize hospital service quality (SQ) into its component dimensions from the perspectives of patients and their attendants; and to analyze the relationship between SQ and customer satisfaction (CS) in government and private hospitals in India.Design/methodology/approach – The study employs questionnaire‐survey approach to obtain the perceptions of patients and attendants. The instruments developed have been validated using tests for reliability, validity and uni‐dimensionality. Data collected have been analyzed by using statistical techniques such as bi‐variate correlation and multiple regression.Findings – Patients and attendants treat the interpersonal aspect of care as the most important one, as they cannot fully evaluate the technical quality of healthcare services. The study also revealed that the hospital service providers have to understand the needs of both patients and attendants in order to gather a holistic view of their services.Research limitati...

An empirical study of total quality management in engineering educational institutions of India

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the adoption of quality management practices in engineering educational institutions (EEIs) in India from management's perspective.Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire was developed based on a literature review of research in quality management and based on the responses of the pilot survey among the senior faculty/management. The psychometric properties of this instrument were examined using tests of reliability and validity. Correlation and multiple regression analyses were used to analyze the impact of the total quality management (TQM) dimensions on institutional performance (effectiveness).Findings – Findings highlight 27 critical factors/dimensions of quality management, which analyzed the relationship between TQM dimensions and institutional performance, which has been formulated using five dimensions. Positive and significant relationships among the TQM dimensions and institutional performance have been observed.Research limitations/implic...

An empirical study on Supply Chain Management: the perspective of Logistics Service Providers

Abstract: A growing awareness that competitive advantage comes from the delivery process as much as from the products has been instrumental in regarding logistics as a key strategic function. The present work develops a valid and reliable instrument, covering various aspects of Supply Chain Management (SCM) in India, from the Logistics Service Provider's (LSP's) perspective and investigates the relationship between the factors of SCM and the measures of performance in a moderated environment. The findings indicate that the moderator (Supply Chain Orientation) appears to have a significant and positive effect on the relationship between the factors of SCM and the business performance measures of LSPs, but appears to have no significant effect on their financial measure of performance.

An empirical study on supply chain management in India: the perspective of original equipment manufacturers and suppliers

Abstract: Supply Chain Management (SCM) is a key strategic approach for increasing organisational effectiveness and the realisation of organisational goals. Effectively selecting and evaluating suppliers and managing their involvement in the supply chain are some of the capabilities that enable Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to achieve customer satisfaction. At the same time, the suppliers have a significant and direct impact on the performance of buyers. A sustained supplier-manufacturer relationship cannot be possible without tangible benefits accrued to both the partners. The present study, by viewing the supply chain from the perspective of the OEMs and the suppliers, identifies the critical dimensions of SCM and the measures of performance. Reliable and validated instruments are developed. Conceptual models are proposed. The effect of the moderator, such as 'selection', 'long-term relationships', etc. (OEM's perspective) and 'supply chain orientation' (supplier's perspective) on the relationship between the critical dimensions of SCM and the performance measures, are investigated. The investigations reveal that from the perspectives of the OEM and supplier, the moderator has a significant and positive effect on the relationship between the critical dimensions of SCM and the performance measures. The simultaneous effect of all the moderators on the above relationship is also significant in the case of the OEM. [Submitted 31 December 2007; Revised 28 April 2008; Accepted 28 June 2008]

Optimal and heuristic base-stock levels and rationing policy for a divergent supply chain

Abstract: A critical problem often faced by distribution centres that hold finished-good inventory is inventory rationing. A rationing problem arises when the available resources cannot satisfy all demand, indicating a shortage at the distribution centre. We consider a divergent two-stage supply chain with one distributor and four retailers. Retailers face external demand, and they in turn place the replenishment demand to the distributor. The unsatisfied demand is assumed to be backlogged at both distributor's and retailer's ends. Our study focuses on determining a rationing policy and base-stock levels (assuming order-up-to level policy), where the available stock at the distributor is rationed among the successors (i.e. retailers) in case of shortage, with the objective of minimising total holding and backlog costs in the supply chain. We present a mathematical programming model, which can give optimal solutions in the class of base-stock policy, and a genetic algorithm-based heuristic methodology for determining the base-stock levels and rationing fractions.

Optimal and heuristic base-stock levels and review periods in a serial Supply Chain

Abstract: A key issue in a Supply Chain (SC) concerns the control policy to determine the optimal order-up-to levels or base-stock levels and review periods. In this study, a mathematical model is developed to determine the optimal installation or local base-stock levels and review periods for every member in the SC that uses periodic-review order-up-to (S) policy, with the consideration of the ordering cost at every installation. Our model considers four members, namely, a supplier, a manufacturer, a distributor and a retailer. We obtain optimal review periods and base-stock levels (in the class of order-up-to policy) for different SC settings. In addition, two Genetic Algorithms (GAs) have been developed to determine the best base-stock levels and review periods for all members in the SC.

An Ant-Colony Algorithm to Transform Jobshops into Flowshops: A Case of Shortest-Common-Supersequence Stringology Problem

Abstract: In this work we address the problem of transforming a jobshop layout into a flowshop layout with the objective of minimizing the length of the resulting flowline. This problem is a special case of the well-known classical Shortest Common Supersequence (SCS) stringology problem. In view of the problem being NP-hard, an ant-colony algorithm, called PACO-SFR, is proposed. A new scheme of forming an initial supersequence of machines (i.e., flowline) is derived from a permutation of jobs, followed by the reduction in the length of the flowline by using a concatenation of forward reduction and inverse reduction techniques, machine elimination technique and finally an adjacent pair-wise interchange of machines in the flowline. The proposed ant-colony algorithm’s performance is relatively evaluated against the best known results from the existing methods by considering many benchmark jobshop scheduling problem instances.

Scheduling in resource-constrained multiple projects to minimise the weighted tardiness and weighted earliness of projects

Abstract: Determination of a schedule to complete projects exactly on their assigned due-dates is considered a major objective for many researchers and practicing managers. In some situations, projects that are completed before their due-dates are not handed over to the project owner or customer, but held with the organisation that executes the project, while the projects that are completed after their due-dates are considered tardy and result in loss of customer goodwill and penalty. The current study, therefore, addresses the problem of scheduling resource-constrained multiple projects with the consideration of projects having different relative earliness and relative tardiness costs. In the first phase of the study, relative costs (or weights) for tardiness of projects is considered, and the scheduling rules are presented in order to minimise the weighted tardiness of projects. In the second phase of the study, the objective considered is the minimisation of the sum of weighted earliness and weighted tardiness of projects, and the scheduling rules are presented by incorporating the relative costs of earliness and tardiness of projects. Computational studies have been conducted separately for both phases of the current study; the performance of the scheduling rules has been observed independently and the results of the computational study have been reported.

Exact and heuristic algorithms for inventory rationing in a divergent supply chain with order costs

Abstract: This paper addresses the development of an inventory control mechanism and inventory rationing policies in a static divergent two-stage supply chain consisting of one single distributor and several retailers The unsatisfied demand is assumed to be backlogged at both distributor's and retailers' ends In the case of shortage at distributor, the available stock on hand is rationed among the retailers Most of the studies in the literature treat ordering costs as negligible and assume the review period to be one unit of time However, if there is a significant cost associated with the order placement, then the review period can be greater than one time unit Hence, in this study, we consider ordering costs for retailers, and present a mathematical programming model which can give optimal base-stock levels and review periods and inventory rationing (in the class of periodic review, order-up-to S policy) A genetic algorithm-based heuristic algorithm is also presented for solving problems with a large time horizon