Business Commons^™

Forecasting Demand For Optimal Inventory With Long Lead Times: An Automotive Aftermarket Case Study, Chris Anderson

Dissertations

Accuracy in predicting customer demand is essential to building an economic inventory policy under periodic review, long lead-time, and a target fill rate. This study uses inventory and customer service level as a stock control metric to evaluate the forecast accuracy of different simple to more complex predictive analytical techniques. We show how traditional forecast error measures are inappropriate for inventory control, despite their consistent usage in many studies, by evaluating demand forecast performance dynamically with customer service level as a stock control metric that includes inventory holdings costs, stock out costs, and fill rate service levels. A second contribution …

Water Elites’ Perceptions Of Water Security In The Middle East And North Africa Region, Ghaleb Akari

Dissertations

The Middle East and North African region continues to face significant water security challenges. The purpose of this dissertation is to gain a deeper understanding of water elites’ perceptions of water security in the MENA region. It is not meant to generalize the findings. Instead, the intention for the research is to identify, explain, and analyze by national elites' contrasting perceptions in Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, and Tunisia.

The study examines water elites’ perceptions in four areas: current knowledge level of water security, water resource management, water service delivery, and water-related risk mitigation. These elites’ perceptions of water security will help …

Competitive Strategy And Firm Performance In Multinational Manufacturing Organizations: A Focus On Strategic Alignment, Kianoosh Ebrahimi

Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to study to examine the impact of strategic alignment and the concept of fit on manufacturing firm performance in order to achieve its strategic objectives. This study also examines the impact of market concentrate, manufacturing competitive dimensions, and corporate link strategies on firm performance. The design for this research is correlational research following a quantitative, deductive approach. Data collected through a survey based on completed questionnaires to measure perspectives of leadership teams about strategic directions discussed in this research. The survey was designed based on the drawn framework from the literature review. A quantitative …