Showing papers in "IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management in 2015"
TL;DR: While the current incentives are structurally suboptimal, the resultant welfare loss under the rebate-only mechanism is very small, while under the subsidy- only mechanism it is quite large, and a comprehensive numerical study is presented that compares the current government incentives with those suggested by the model.
Abstract: This paper presents a stylized framework for analyzing the design of government incentives for public interest goods (goods with externalities, such as electric vehicles.) We extend the newsvendor model with pricing to account for the consumption externality inherent in public interest goods and analyze the governments ability to coordinate their pricing and supply through the use of rebates and subsidies. Our model allows for goods with both positive and negative externalities, and considers three government intervention mechanisms: the joint mechanism that uses both subsidies and rebates, and two simplified mechanisms that use only rebates or only subsidies. The goal of the intervention is to coordinate the system in order to achieve the maximal welfare, which in our model consists of the firms profit, consumer surplus, and externality benefit net the government cost. We find that the joint mechanism coordinates the system, but results in a negative subsidy (i.e., a tax) unless the externality is very small. The simplified mechanisms mostly result in positive rebates and subsidies, but generally do not coordinate the system. We apply our model to the case of Chevy Volt, a leading electric vehicle in North America manufactured by General Motors. We estimate all model parameters from industry data and present a comprehensive numerical study that compares the current government incentives with those suggested by our model. We find that while the current incentives are structurally suboptimal, the resultant welfare loss under the rebate-only mechanism is very small, while under the subsidy-only mechanism it is quite large.
130 citations
TL;DR: A research model linking business analytics to organizational DME is developed, demonstrating that business analytics, through the mediation of a data-driven environment, positively influences information processing capability, which in turn has a positive effect on DME.
Abstract: While business analytics is being increasingly used to gain data-driven insights to support decision making, little research exists regarding the mechanism through which business analytics can be used to improve decision-making effectiveness (DME) at the organizational level. Drawing on the information processing view and contingency theory, this paper develops a research model linking business analytics to organizational DME. The research model is tested using structural equation modeling based on 740 responses collected from U.K. businesses. The key findings demonstrate that business analytics, through the mediation of a data-driven environment, positively influences information processing capability, which in turn has a positive effect on DME. The findings also demonstrate that the paths from business analytics to DME have no statistical differences between large and medium companies, but some differences between manufacturing and professional service industries. Our findings contribute to the business analytics literature by providing useful insights into business analytics applications and the facilitation of data-driven decision making. They also contribute to managers’ knowledge and understanding by demonstrating how business analytics should be implemented to improve DME.
130 citations
TL;DR: A simulation approach is used to compare the results of AHP with MCAHP under different levels of uncertainty and shows that as long as the variation in different pairwise comparisons is less than 0.24, the performance of A Hewlett-Packard analytic hierarchy process is not statistically different from the Performance of M CAHP.
Abstract: Despite the extensive application of Monte Carlo analytic hierarchy process (MCAHP) in various fields of decision making, its performance has not been compared with the classic analytic hierarchy process (AHP). Both of these methods are heavily affected by individual or group preferences and thus provide subjective rankings. Since the mere difference between their results does not necessarily warrant the superiority of one against the other, a reliable and robust ranking of alternatives should be available as a comparison basis so that the results of these two methods can be evaluated. In this paper, we use a simulation approach to compare the results of AHP with MCAHP under different levels of uncertainty. We validate our simulation results by comparing the performance of these two alternatives against a real world and reliable ranking of blogs. Our simulation results show that as long as the variation in different pairwise comparisons is less than 0.24, the performance of AHP is not statistically different from the performance of MCAHP. When the uncertainty in terms of variation grows beyond 0.24, MCAHP provides more precise rankings. The findings of this research add to the current body of knowledge in the multicriteria decision analysis as well as Information Systems literature and provide insights for managerial applications of these techniques.
67 citations
TL;DR: A novel method for analyzing information flows between activities in complex engineering design projects and shows how the network of information flows in a large-scale engineering project evolved over time and how network analysis yields several managerial insights are shown.
Abstract: The pattern of information flow through the network of interdependent design activities is thought to be an important determinant of engineering design process results. A previously unexplored aspect of such patterns relates to the temporal dynamics of information transfer between activities as those activities are implemented through the network of people executing the project. To address this gap, we develop a dynamic modeling method that integrates both the network of people and the network of activities in the project. We then employ a large dataset collected from an industrial setting, consisting of project-related e-mails and activity records from the design and development of a renewable energy plant over the course of more than three years. Using network metrics for centrality and clustering, we make three important contributions: 1) We demonstrate a novel method for analyzing information flows between activities in complex engineering design projects; 2) we show how the network of information flows in a large-scale engineering project evolved over time and how network analysis yields several managerial insights; and 3) we provide a useful new representation of the engineering design process and thus support theory-building toward the evolution of information flows through systems engineering stages. Implications include guidance on how to analyze and predict information flows as well as better planning of information flows in engineering design projects according to their individual stage and activity characteristics.
54 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify three elements of a business case control at the portfolio level, i.e., the initial review, the ongoing monitoring during the project execution, and the post-project tracking until the business case is realized.
Abstract: Practitioners place strong emphasis on business cases with the expectation that using business cases to inform and drive investment decisions will assist in creating value from those investments. Maximizing the value generated by project investments is a central aim of the project portfolio management, and the business case provides the underlying rationale for the evaluation of the value created in each project. However, research regarding the use of business cases at a project portfolio level is scarce, and there is a little guidance for portfolio managers on when and how to control the business cases. We identify three elements of a business case control at the portfolio level—the initial review, the ongoing monitoring during the project execution, and the postproject tracking until the business case is realized—and investigate the relationship between business case control and project portfolio success. Furthermore, we analyze enablers and contingencies for the application of the business case control. Based on a cross-industry sample of 183 firms, we find that the business case control is positively related to the project portfolio success. Accountability for business case realization and corresponding incentive systems increase this positive effect. Finally, we show that the portfolio complexity also positively moderates the relationship.
46 citations
TL;DR: A two-staged supply chain composed of a manufacturer, a retailer, and consumers with different aesthetic preferences is studied, finding the manufacturer is more aggressive in engaging in direct sales in a decentralized supply chain than in an integrated one.
Abstract: Many manufacturers engaging in direct sales online face channel competition and conflict with traditional retailers. This paper studies a two-staged supply chain composed of a manufacturer, a retailer, and consumers with different aesthetic preferences. The manufacturer distributes a standard product via the conventional retailer. In addition, it offers a spectrum of customized products directly online. Modeling the firms’ decisions on offering customization, we study their dependence on consumers’ acceptance level of the online channel and consumers’ fix cost. We obtain the following key findings. First, with the manufacturer offering customized products online, the Pareto improvement zone, in which both the manufacturer's and retailer's profits are improved because of alleviated vertical competition and an enlarged market, exists only under certain circumstances, and it depends on consumers’ acceptance level of the online channel and their fit cost. Second, the manufacturer's offering customized products online does not necessarily lead to a reduction in the retail price. Third, the manufacturer is more aggressive in engaging in direct sales in a decentralized supply chain than in an integrated one, because it is less interested in alleviating horizontal competition (i.e., the competition between the standard and the customized products) in the decentralized setting.
45 citations
TL;DR: This paper introduces the concept of serious games as a well-acknowledged alternative method to discourse and delivering current engineering or management-related research findings to society and proposes a knowledge transfer framework based on a participatory design approach.
Abstract: Disseminating scientific findings through journal publications is the very nature of every academic discipline. However, with the emergence of knowledge society and lifelong learning needs, there is a growing demand for alternative ways to enhance the dissemination of research findings to a broader audience than academics and young students. In this paper, we first introduce the concept of serious games as a well-acknowledged alternative method to discourse and delivering current engineering or management-related research findings to society. Then, considering the lack of a unified serious game design framework and the gaps in the extant literature, we illustrate our design rationale for the development and evaluation of serious games. The proposed framework contributes the following advancements to the body of extant literature and practices. It is strongly centered on a well-known knowledge transfer framework, and it is strongly based on a participatory design approach deliberately involving iterative and frequent testing and fine-tuning sessions that overcome the inherent limitations of traditional stage-gate or waterfall development models. We conclude by providing some insights gained during the development of the game and the framework, as well as by discussing the challenges associated with the design and use of serious games as an alternative genre for disseminating engineering- and management-related research findings.
44 citations
TL;DR: The experimental results show that the proposed multiobjective local search based decomposition (MOLSD) provides better solutions that several state of the art algorithms.
Abstract: This paper focuses on the multiobjective solutions of the flow shop scheduling problem with and without sequence dependent setup times. In our case, the two objectives are the minimization of makespan and total flowtime. These problems are solved with a novel multiobjective local search framework-based decomposition, called multiobjective local search based decomposition (MOLSD), which decomposes a multiobjective problem into a number of single objective optimization subproblems using aggregation method and optimizes them simultaneously. First, a problem-specific Nawaz–Enscore–Hoam heuristic is used to initialize the population to enhance the quality of the initial solution. Second, a Pareto local search embedded with a heavy perturbation operator is applied to search the promising neighbors of each nondominated solution found so far. Then, when solving each subproblem, a single insert-based local search, a multiple local search strategy, and a doubling perturbation mechanism are designed to exploit the new individual. Finally, a restarted method is used to avoid the algorithm trapping into the local optima, which has a significant effect on the performance of the MOLSD. Comprehensive experiments have been conducted by two standard multiobjective metrics: 1) hyper-volume indicator; and 2) set coverage. The experimental results show that the proposed MOLSD provides better solutions that several state of the art algorithms.
42 citations
TL;DR: This study proposes a three-way interaction effect among three important antecedents of IPCPD: decisional control; image discrepancy; and social network overlap between the disclosed person and the discloser.
Abstract: In online social networks, because one's private information can be co-owned and disclosed by peers, a new type of privacy concern, i.e., information privacy concern about peer disclosure (IPCPD), looms large. Should a member of an online social network be offered decision control to veto ex-ante the disclosure of his/her information by peers? There has been no theoretical research on the effectiveness of decisional control to alleviate such a privacy concern. Drawing on the communication privacy management perspective and the impression management theory, this study proposes a three-way interaction effect among three important antecedents of IPCPD: 1) decisional control; 2) image discrepancy (i.e., the degree to which the disclosed information portrays an unfavorable image of the disclosed person); and 3) social network overlap between the disclosed person and the discloser. Our experimental study reveals significant findings. When image discrepancy is low, decisional control is helpful only when the social network overlap between the disclosed one and the discloser is low. When image discrepancy is high, decisional control is helpful only when the social network overlap between the disclosed one and the discloser is high. This study contributes to a theory of privacy concern about peer disclosure in the context of online social networks.
37 citations
TL;DR: It is proposed that technological capabilities, marketing capabilities, and market-linking capabilities, due to their absorptive capacity and boundary spanning attributes, will facilitate the speed of strategic change and the risk orientation of managers will moderate this effect such that it would be strengthened for relatively risk-taking managers.
Abstract: Despite the general agreement of the importance of resources and capabilities to strategic change, the broader question of how resources and capabilities affect strategic change itself remains unresolved. This research focuses on one characteristic of the process of strategic change, i.e., its speed. This study investigates the relationship between dynamic capabilities, the speed of strategic change, and performance. We propose that technological capabilities, marketing capabilities, and market-linking capabilities, due to their absorptive capacity and boundary spanning attributes, will facilitate the speed of strategic change. Furthermore, the risk orientation of managers will moderate this effect such that it would be strengthened for relatively risk-taking managers. Finally, we argue that the speed of strategic change will have an inverted-U relationship with organizational performance. We test these hypotheses on a sample of 213 Chinese firms and find that while dynamic capabilities facilitate rapid strategic change, the risk orientation of decision makers moderates this relationship, but not all as hypothesized. While faster implementation of strategic change has a positive effect on performance, strategic change carried out too quickly has negative performance repercussions. Our findings suggest that firms not only need to adjust strategies to complement the changing environment, but also have corresponding capabilities to enable rapid strategic change.
36 citations
TL;DR: A novel holistic model that makes standardized inter Process communication possible in manufacturing organizations and a model for quantifying the implications of standardizing interprocess communication upon MOP are proposed.
Abstract: A number of environmental forces such as increasing value chain network complexity, decreasing product life-cycle cost, and time-to-market requirements or increasing product complexity act upon manufacturing organizations, enhancing the acute need for organizational routines that foster efficient and effective communication between processes. Such organizational routines erode quickly in the absence of common standards for knowledge sharing, that is why successful manufacturing systems benefit from interprocess standardization. The purpose of this paper is to offer a standardization model of interprocess communication that increases manufacturing operational performance (MOP). First, we propose a novel holistic model that makes standardized interprocess communication possible in manufacturing organizations. Second, we propose a model for quantifying the implications of standardizing interprocess communication upon MOP. Finally, as a matter of application, we show the results of its successful implementation in one Japanese manufacturing organization.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors highlight the role of absorptive capacity and examine how industry appropriability influences these relations, concluding that companies seeking superior product innovation should invest in basic research.
Abstract: We explain why companies seeking superior product innovation should invest in basic research. Our arguments highlight the role of absorptive capacity and examine how industry appropriability influences these relations. Based on a rich dataset of 8 416 firms, we argue that basic research in firms increases their knowledge stock and flows, therefore improving their capacity to identify, assimilate, and exploit external knowledge, which allows them to enhance their product innovation performance. We also verify that strong appropriability regimes not only reduce the effect of basic research on absorptive capacity, but also affect the relation between absorptive capacity and product innovation in two ways. In businesses with a high absorptive capacity, strong appropriability regimes exert a negative influence by reducing product innovation; however, businesses with a low absorptive capacity see their level of product innovation increase. This evidence not only throws into question the attitude of many managers toward basic research; it also calls for open reflection on both the net effect of appropriability on innovative performance and the stages of the innovation process to which public resources should be allocated.
TL;DR: Investigation of the motivations of the members of a professional virtual community to engage in knowledge exchange finds that trust among participants has a positive influence on attitudes toward both sharing and acquiring knowledge, and perceived information quality negatively moderates the relationship between attitudes toward knowledge sharing and user intentions to use a virtual community.
Abstract: Virtual communities have become ubiquitous and vital in nearly all professions. These communities typically involve voluntary participation, and given that these communities are not organization specific, community members’ motivations for participation vary. In this study, we investigate the motivations of the members of a professional virtual community to engage in knowledge exchange. We synthesize social exchange theory and the theory of reasoned action to identify critical determinants of attitudes toward knowledge exchange in virtual communities, namely, trust among participants, anticipated reciprocal relationships, and the relevance of the community to participants’ jobs. Additionally, we posit that attitudes will influence the intention to use the virtual community and that this relationship will be moderated by the perceived quality of the information exchanged within the community. We test our research model using data compiled from a community of research scientists in South Korea. Our findings indicate that trust among participants has a positive influence on attitudes toward both sharing and acquiring knowledge. The anticipation of a reciprocal relationship has a positive effect on attitudes toward knowledge acquisition, and job relevance has a positive effect on attitudes toward knowledge sharing. Furthermore, attitudes toward knowledge acquisition affect attitudes toward knowledge sharing, and attitudes toward knowledge sharing positively influence intentions to use a virtual community. We also find that perceived information quality negatively moderates the relationship between attitudes toward knowledge sharing and user intentions to use a virtual community. We interpret and discuss these findings, and their implications for research and practice.
TL;DR: It is found that individual education, interfirm network ties, and firm regional location mediate the entrepreneur gender-firm innovation relationship.
Abstract: Using a multilevel approach, we explore the entrepreneur gender–innovation relationship in new ventures. We investigate individual education, interfirm network ties, and firm regional location using a sample of 4265 new Korean firms. Results show that male entrepreneurs, compared with female, are more likely to complete engineering or natural science degrees, maintain heterogeneous interfirm network ties, and locate firms in clustered regions. Further, engineering or natural science degrees, heterogeneous interfirm network ties, and locating in clustered regions are positively associated with firm innovation. We find that individual education, interfirm network ties, and firm regional location mediate the entrepreneur gender–firm innovation relationship.
TL;DR: This paper investigates the moderating role of organizational context on the relationship between cross-functional teams and performance and demonstrates that cross-functionality contributes to the performance of innovation projects in more functionally organized firms, with a separate innovation unit, and above-average levels of organizational connectedness.
Abstract: Cross-functional teams are often seen as key for innovation projects At the same time, functional diversity also introduces conflict, which may hinder a team's optimal performance Most of the existing literature focuses on resolving and preventing these conflicts; however, conflict alone fails to explain why the contribution of these teams to performance is found to be absent in certain types of firms This paper investigates the moderating role of organizational context on the relationship between cross-functional teams and performance A multilevel sample of 142 projects in 95 firms is used to demonstrate that cross-functionality contributes to the performance of innovation projects in more functionally organized firms, with a separate innovation unit, and above-average levels of organizational connectedness Other types of organizations may want to reconsider the use of cross-functional teams for their innovation projects
TL;DR: Empirical evidence indicates that three alignment patterns (i.e., SCFS-IDS pattern, SDFS-CLS pattern, and CIFS-FS pattern) have synergistic effects on firm performance, and results confirm that the effects of the alignments on Firm performance differ according to the types of industry.
Abstract: A well-planned service innovation strategy is recognized as a prerequisite for successful service innovation in organizations. However, prior studies on service innovation strategies struggle to provide guidance on successful service innovation, because they do not consider the alignment between service innovation strategy and business strategy. Furthermore, they did not consider conditions, such as industries, that affect the alignments to improve firm performance. By using empirical data collected from 175 service firms in Korea, this study aims to investigate the effect of alignments between service innovation strategy (i.e., service creation-focused [SCFS], service delivery-focused [SDFS], and customer interaction-focused [CIFS] strategies) and business strategy (i.e., cost leadership [CLS], innovative differentiation [IDS], and focus [FS] strategies) on firm performance, which is assessed using both nonfinancial and financial measures. We then examine how the effect of alignments differs depending on industry types (i.e., scale intensive [SCIS], technology-based knowledge intensive [TKIS], and professional-based knowledge intensive service industries [PKIS]). Empirical evidence indicates that three alignment patterns (i.e., SCFS-IDS pattern, SDFS-CLS pattern, and CIFS-FS pattern) have synergistic effects on firm performance. Results also confirm that the effects of the alignments on firm performance differ according to the types of industry. The SCFS-IDS alignment performs well in the TKIS group, the SDFS-CLS alignment in the SCIS group, and the CIFS-FS alignment in the PKIS group. The implications for practice highlight the idea that successful service innovation requires judicious alignment between service innovation strategy and business strategy with the consideration of industries.
TL;DR: It was found that the step for calculating the functional size exhibited the highest number of problems, indicating the need to revise FPA in order to encompass the possible improvements suggested by the researchers.
Abstract: Function point analysis (FPA) is a standardized method to systematically measure the functional size of software. This method is proposed by an international organization and it is currently recommended by governments and organizations as a standard method to be adopted for this type of measurement. This paper presents a compilation of improvements, focused on increasing the accuracy of the FPA method, which have been proposed over the past 13 years. The methodology used was a systematic literature review (SLR), which was conducted with four research questions aligned with the objectives of this study. As a result of the SLR, of the 1600 results returned by the search engines, 454 primary studies were preselected according to the criteria established for the SLR. Among these studies, only 18 specifically referred to accuracy improvements for FPA, which was the goal of this study. The low number of studies that propose FPA improvements might demonstrate the maturity of the method in the current scenario of software metrics. Specifically in terms of found issues, it was found that the step for calculating the functional size exhibited the highest number of problems, indicating the need to revise FPA in order to encompass the possible improvements suggested by the researchers.
TL;DR: Two supply chain models under different channel leaderships, namely the retailer(-led) Stackelberg (RS) model and manufacturer-led (MS) model, are developed to address the issues on product variety and pricing.
Abstract: Motivated by observations that consumers demand product variety and scope economies or diseconomies for multiple products are prevalent, we develop two supply chain models under different channel leaderships, namely the retailer(-led) Stackelberg (RS) model and manufacturer(-led) Stackelberg (MS) model, to address the issues on product variety and pricing. In the RS case, we find that if it is not too costly to increase variety, the manufacturer's profit increases with diseconomies of scope, and it is optimal to provide a greater variety than the variety just covering the market under the centralized supply chain, while the decentralized supply chain provides a variety level just covering the market; however, the variety under the decentralized supply chain is greater than that under the centralized system. In addition, a higher shelf cost for the retailer strengthens the double marginalization effect. For the MS model, when we compare it with the RS model, we find that the retail price under the MS model is higher than that under the RS model, while the variety level under the MS model is higher when scope economies exist and whether variety and channel profit under the MS model are higher highly depends on shelf cost and marginal variety cost.
TL;DR: Using data from 1878 Phase II R&D projects funded through the U.S. Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, this work provides for the first time quantitative findings on the success/failure of publicly funded firm-performed R&d projects.
Abstract: There is an extensive literature on the success/failure of firm-funded R&D projects, but growing policy interest focuses on publicly funded R&D projects. We discuss this literature, which builds on a long stream of research of which Albert Rubenstein was a prime investigator, and use the literature to motivate the theoretical and empirical parts of the paper. Using data from 1878 Phase II R&D projects funded through the U.S. Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, of which 624 had been discontinued prior to technical completion, we provide for the first time quantitative findings on the success/failure of publicly funded firm-performed R&D projects. Using a single-equation qualitative choice model, we find that prior R&D experience with the technology funded by SBIR projects, the amount of the SBIR award, and having a female as a principle investigator, other factors held constant, are all negatively related to the probability of project failure. In contrast, firm size is positively associated with project failure. We did not find evidence that human capital, experiential knowledge embodied in the firm conducting the R&D, or university involvement in the R&D project affected the probability of project failure. We discuss the implications of these findings for practice, policy, and further research.
TL;DR: The results suggest that open innovation is a very pervasive behavior among smaller and younger companies, for which internal R&D is complementary to openness; still being in the development phase, they derive most of their revenues from open innovation itself and show negative financial performances.
Abstract: This paper aims at investigating the relationships between the adoption of open innovation by companies and their context features, internal RD still being in the development phase, they derive most of their revenues from open innovation itself and show negative financial performances. Yet, a wider range of open transactions are performed by larger and longer established firms, exhibiting good financial performances and adopting open innovation as a substitution to internal R&D efforts. Through an in-depth review of the literature, this paper contributes to the research on open innovation by providing an accounting measurement system, testing six hypotheses among open innovation and some firm-level variables, and positioning the obtained results within the current debate.
TL;DR: A Bayesian project cost forecasting model that adaptively integrates preproject cost risk assessment and actual performance data into a range of possible project costs at a chosen confidence level is presented.
Abstract: Forecasting the actual cost to complete a project is a critical challenge of project management, particularly for data-driven decision making in contingency control, cash flow analysis, and timely project financing. This paper presents a Bayesian project cost forecasting model that adaptively integrates preproject cost risk assessment and actual performance data into a range of possible project costs at a chosen confidence level. The second moment Bayesian (SMB) model brings more realism into project cost forecasting by explicitly accounting for inherent variability of cost performance, correlation between aggregated past and future performance, and the fraction of project completed at the time of forecasting. Functionally, the SMB model fully encompasses, as restrictive cases, two most commonly used index-based cost forecasting techniques in earned value management. The SMB model provides computationally efficient algebraic formulas to conduct robust probabilistic forecasting without additional burden of data collection or sophisticated statistical analysis. Numerical examples and simulation experiments are presented to demonstrate the predictive efficacy and practical applicability of the SMB in real project environments.
TL;DR: Clusters of actors are proposed in order to provide decision makers with a temporary and complementary organization designed for making efficiently simultaneous collaborative decisions.
Abstract: Numerous decisions have to be made in early design processes. Often times they involve many actors, with the difficulty that they are shared across numerous parallel collaborative groups, for coordination and meeting scheduling reasons. This paper aims at facilitating collaborative decision-making process by grouping actors according to the relationships they have due to their assignment to decisions. Clusters of actors are proposed in order to provide decision makers with a temporary and complementary organization designed for making efficiently simultaneous collaborative decisions. This approach has been illustrated through actual data in a new product development project in the automotive industry.
TL;DR: A bilevel model is developed and the experimental results reveal significant enhancements with respect to more classical approaches (i.e., integrated formulation and Pareto optimal solutions) based on the proposed bileVEL model and algorithms.
Abstract: The dynamic facility layout problem considers flow over multiple time periods in an environment where the material flow between departments changes over time. If this complex problem is combined with the other system problems, such as material handling system designing, this results in a more complicated problem. In most recently proposed approaches for these two synchronized problems, the integrated formulations have been used where the objective function is a weighted sum of some conflicting objectives that may belong to either one or different decision makers. In the former case, the poor practicability of such an approach is due to the difficulty of normalizing these functions and of quantifying the weights. In addition to these problems, in multiagent systems with a strong cooperation, there is another important problem in incorporating the conflicting objectives of conflicting decision makers that is not considered in the existing researches. By these descriptions, developing some other solution strategies, such as iterative or hierarchical methods, are necessary for these cases. In this paper, a bilevel model is developed. The experimental results reveal significant enhancements with respect to more classical approaches (i.e., integrated formulation and Pareto optimal solutions) based on the proposed bilevel model and algorithms.
TL;DR: Experimental results have shown that the proposed FICDP can outperform other benchmark methods.
Abstract: Construction firms are vulnerable to bankruptcy due to the complex nature of the industry, high competitions, the high risk involved, and considerable economic fluctuations. Thus, evaluating financial status and predicting business failures of construction companies are crucial for owners, general contractors, investors, banks, insurance firms, and creditors. The prediction results can be used to select qualified contractors capable of accomplishing the projects. In this study, a hybrid fuzzy instance-based classifier for contractor default prediction (FICDP) is proposed. The new approach is constructed by incorporating the fuzzy K -nearest neighbor classifier (FKNC), the synthetic minority over-sampling technique (SMOTE), and the firefly algorithm (FA). In this hybrid paradigm, the FKNC is utilized to classify the contractors into two groups (“default” and “nondefault”) based on their past financial performances. Since the “nondefault” samples dominate the historical database, the SMOTE algorithm is employed to create synthetic samples of the minority class and therefore alleviates the between-class imbalance problem. Moreover, the FA is employed to determine an appropriate set of model parameters. Experimental results have shown that the proposed FICDP can outperform other benchmark methods.
TL;DR: A novel stochastic multiobjective dynamic scheduling model is constructed by considering the key features of the MC of global producer services, namely, stochastically demand, distinctive characteristics of customization orders, special stage classification, economies of scale, Stochastic service capabilities, and pressures for global integration versus local responsiveness.
Abstract: Scheduling in the mass customization (MC) of global producer services is a typical multiobjective dynamic optimization issue, which is constrained by stochastic demand and resources. Such scheduling frequently challenges the cross-border decision-making processes of multinational enterprises (MNEs). The academic literature has yet to examine this optimization, although studies on the MC of tangible product provision are numerous. To address this challenge effectively, we construct a novel stochastic multiobjective dynamic scheduling model by considering the key features of the MC of global producer services, namely, stochastic demand, distinctive characteristics of customization orders, special stage classification, economies of scale, stochastic service capabilities, and pressures for global integration versus local responsiveness. We improve the ant algorithm to solve the scheduling problem and illustrate the feasibility, validity, and applicability of the new model and algorithm using the case of an MNE that provides seismic acquisition services for oil companies. The results suggest that the proposed algorithm can achieve the flexibility and balance of multiobjective optimization. The major optimization indicators suggest that the scheduling improved the overall economies of scale on the supply chain, which is a key factor in ensuring the success of the MC of global producer services. By incorporating the methodology of operational research and the perspective of international business, this study contributes to the literature of operational research by developing a novel scheduling model for the MC of global producer services.
TL;DR: It is found that the time-cost benefits of crashing and overlapping increase with increasing iteration, and whereas crashing works well in combination with an aggressive work policy that does not seek to minimize iteration and rework, overlapping ironically works better with a workpolicy that defers rework.
Abstract: Project management theory provides insufficient insight on the effects of crashing and overlapping in product development (PD) projects. The scholarly literature largely assumes that networks of project activities are acyclical. PD projects are iterative, however, and the time-cost implications of managerial actions, such as activity crashing and overlapping, differ in this context. We build a rich model that accounts for activity overlapping, crashing, and iteration in the project's activity network. Using a bank of thousands of artificial but realistic test problems, we test the performance of several alternative work policies —managerial rules about when to start work and rework, and when to allow crashing and overlapping—and compare their time-cost implications. We find that the time-cost benefits of crashing and overlapping increase with increasing iteration. However, whereas crashing works well in combination with an aggressive work policy that does not seek to minimize iteration and rework, overlapping ironically works better with a work policy that defers rework. No single work policy dominates in all situations, although an aggressive policy that precipitates rework may often be worth its added cost. We distill our findings into a set of propositions that pave the way for further theory development in this area. Our results also illuminate useful heuristics for managers of PD projects.
TL;DR: Analyzing secondary survey data from 238 plants in eight countries and three industries via hierarchical linear regression, it is found that each individual resource type has a positive direct effect on mass customization capability, as long as the levels of the other two resources are at their sample mean value.
Abstract: Research suggests that flexible manufacturing resources, customer involvement, and product management tools contribute to a high level of mass customization capability. Conceptualizing these antecedents as resource types, we examine hypotheses about their direct and complementary effects on mass customization capability. Analyzing secondary survey data from 238 plants in eight countries and three industries via hierarchical linear regression, we find that each individual resource type has a positive direct effect on mass customization capability, as long as the levels of the other two resources are at their sample mean value. Probing these results via conditional effects and marginal effects plots provides partial support for the complementarity argument, and unveil complex nonlinear interactions among the three resource types. When the level of one resource type is low, the two remaining resource types exhibit a strong bivariate complementary effect on mass customization capability. Conversely, when one resource type is at a high level, the complementary effect on mass customization capability of the two remaining resource types disappears and is replaced by a cancellation effect. The detection of complementary effects and of cancellation effects are two specific theoretical contributions to the literature on how manufacturers can enhance their capability to mass customize.
TL;DR: This study introduces a fuzzy fault tree analysis (FFTA) approach to conceptualize the root causes of construction dispute negotiation failure and suggests that construction disputes negotiation failure is highly probable and the main causes are inadequate preparation, inappropriate behavior, and contract governance.
Abstract: Reaching integrated agreement has been advocated to be the optimal outcome in dispute negotiation. When this is not achieved, the outcome is suboptimal and can be technically identified as a form of failure. This study introduces a fuzzy fault tree analysis (FFTA) approach to conceptualize the root causes of construction dispute negotiation failure. The FFTA framework also enables assessment of negotiation failure occurrence likelihood. Employing the proposed framework, an empirical study was conducted. The findings suggest that construction dispute negotiation failure is highly probable and the main causes are inadequate preparation , inappropriate behavior, and contract governance . These findings inform instigation of remedial and mitigation measures to address these root causes.
TL;DR: A model for forecasting the loss of critical human skills and the impact of that loss on the future cost of system support is developed and can be used to support business cases for system replacement.
Abstract: The loss of critical human skills that are either nonreplenishable or take very long periods of time to reconstitute impacts the support of legacy systems ranging from infrastructure, military, and aerospace to information technology. Many legacy systems must be supported for long periods of time because they are prohibitively expensive to replace. Loss of critical human skills is a problem for legacy system support organizations as they try to understand and mitigate the effects of an aging workforce with highly specialized low-demand skill sets. Existing literature focuses on workers that have skills that are obsolete and therefore need to be retrained to remain employable; alternatively, this paper addresses the system support impacts due to the lack of workers with the required skill set. This paper develops a model for forecasting the loss of critical human skills and the impact of that loss on the future cost of system support. The model can be used to support business cases for system replacement. A detailed case study of a legacy control system from the chemical manufacturing industry is provided and managerial insights associated with the support of the system drawn.
TL;DR: The authors' results suggested that, contrary to expectations, respondents' perceptions of the female candidate, Susan, were significantly higher across both managerial dimensions of likeability and trust.
Abstract: There have been numerous studies examining the effects of social role theory on negative stereotyping of female managers, including low perceived likeability and unwillingness by subordinates to trust them. These attributions are particularly relevant in the context of “male-dominated” jobs, such as technical disciplines like engineering and project management. We investigated the specific setting of project manager job candidate selection, a professional discipline that has historically been male-dominated, but one that has seen a large rise in female project managers over the past decade. We examined the perceptions of respondents to differences in male and female job candidates based on the critical personal/managerial characteristics of trust and likeability. Using a scenario-based survey questionnaire, we sampled 312 project management personnel and tested subjects’ reactions to two candidates for a project management position, employing identical descriptions and language while only changing the candidate's name: Susan or Stan. Our results suggested that, contrary to expectations, respondents’ perceptions of the female candidate, Susan, were significantly higher across both managerial dimensions of likeability and trust. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.