Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods Commons^™

Risk Management Practices In The Aviation Industry: Lessons Learned And Effective Tools… A Mixed Method Approach, Jim W. Marion Jr. Phd, Tracey M. Richardson, Valerie Denney, Carlos Chaves

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

This paper provides a data-driven approach to apply lessons learned from Project Risk Management in the aviation industry. This is accomplished by performing a qualitative analysis to inform a second-pass quantitative analysis using tools like surveys, word clods and analysis through NVivo and Singular Value Decomposition (SVD). The results of this analysis show that the most important lessons are elements of early identification, rigorous risk identification and analysis and a focus on reducing risks inherent within the aviation history. Furthermore, the analysis yielded the following top tools for risks management within their phases of the project life-cycle: document review, checklists …

Aviation Risk Management, Tracey M. Richardson, Jim W. Marion Jr. Phd, Rachel Vigness

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Risk management plans form a central part of all projects. However, projects in industries such as aviation and aerospace face serious risks due to the inherent hazards that may endanger the lives of those who utilize the products and services resulting from such projects. This study examined the practices of 56 project managers in the field of aviation to understand the unique approach to risk management undertaken by project managers. The results of the study offers approaches to managing risk in project characterized by extreme hazard.

Optimization Of Lean And Agile Supply Chain Management Practices In The Aviation Industry, Constantine M. Koursaris, Valerie P. Denney

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Organizations that provide products and/or services must be able to execute fast, adaptive supply and (fluctuating) demand practices. From producers to consumers, and every stakeholder involved throughout the supply chain network processes, a collaborative relationship promotes sharing information that is beneficial to all. This long-term relationship then flourishes and in return stimulates the growth, health, and stability of the supply chain. Understanding the organizational processes and requirements is a complex endeavor. However, with technological advances and with the right type of data collected, it is possible to optimize entire supply chain networks.

This research study, seeks to provide an insight …

A Panel Study Of Outsourced Maintenance Impact On Major U.S. Passenger Airlines' Profitability (1995-2019), Linfeng Jin Ph.D., John Mott Ph.D., Chuyang Yang M.S., Chien-Tsung Lu Ph.D.

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

This study investigates eight viable United States major passenger airlines' outsourced maintenance impact on profitability between 1995 and 2019 by using panel data analysis. The results demonstrate that the percentage of airline outsourced maintenance and inhouse maintenance labor pay have no statistically significant impact on profitability. The researchers call for the further research with a larger sample, and more time periods to explore airlines' outsourced maintenance impact on profitability.

Under Pressure: Decision Making In Aircraft Maintenance And The Role Of Gender, Stephanie Douglas Ph.D., Bettina M. Mrusek Ph.D.

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

In aircraft maintenance, leaders are under near-constant pressure to maintain airworthiness. Every minute an aircraft cannot fly due to maintenance represents financial waste. Decisions are therefore made in a relatively quick fashion. A leader evaluates the situation, identifies a course of action and then communicates this message to a team of technicians. However, gender influences regarding leaders’ decisions can influence team members’ perceptions of those decisions.

The study will measure decision making methods of leaders in aircraft maintenance and the perceptions of the technicians. It informs how gender influences decision making from both the leader and follower perspective. The expected …

Project Management Leadership And Interpersonal Skills: The Past, Present, And Future, Valerie Denney, Gordon Haley, Edward Rivera, Daryl V. Watkins

Publications

The purpose of this research is to examine how interpersonal competencies have evolved in the project management profession and describe which additional skills will be needed in the future. Using an applied thematic analysis, the authors examined the past, present, and future of interpersonal skills in peer reviewed academic literature and project management textbooks. A gap analysis was used to compare the reviewed material vs. interpersonal competencies. This research concluded that project management interpersonal transferrable skills are the ones that will be most highly sought after into the future. The future of interpersonal skills will need to concentrate on those …

Airport Ceos And The Decentralized System Of Airports: A Case Study, Marjan Mazza

Publications

The job of the airport CEO is complex with responsibility for the security and safety of a large and dynamic facility and, yet the FAA does not have regulatory qualification and performance standards for the position. The purpose of this qualitative multi-case study was to explore the primary attributes that could be the leading indicators in the event national standards for the hiring of airport CEOs are pursued at major commercial airports. The guiding conceptual framework of the study was to combine competency with the concept of training and development. Airport CEOs from six airport facilities were interviewed, and an …

A Data Mining Approach To Building A Predictive Model Of Low-Cost Carriers' Presence In The U.S. Domestic Routes, Canh Nguyen, John E. Deaton, Nurettin Dinler

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The purpose of the study was to build the predictive model of the presence of U.S. low-cost carriers (LCCs) in the domestic network structure. SEMMA (Sample, Explore, Modify, Model, and Assess) schematic in data mining was followed and employed as the primary methodological procedure. Data in the period of 1Q2016-1Q2018 were extracted from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (DB1B database) and reconstructed to form predictors. Stepwise logistic regression showed a significant predictive performance compared to decision tree technique in terms of fitting measures, which was then used as the concluding model. Significant predictors included: (1) Market concentration positively related with …

Predicting The U.S. Airline Operating Profitability Using Machine Learning Algorithms, Woojin Choi, Mary B. O’Connor, Dothang Truong

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

With the increasing competition and cost pressures, the U.S. airline industry has explored methods to reduce operating costs and diversify revenue sources for improving financial performance. Understanding the influence of operating revenues and expenses on airline profitability is imperative for the long term growth of the airlines and continued generation of profits.

This study examined the cost and revenue data of the U.S. major airlines from the Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics Form 41 reports between 2009 and 2018. Using SAS Enterprise Miner software, researchers used variables representing revenue and expenses from these data to develop and test …

Innovation Ambidexterity And The Three-Legged Stool: The Value Of Business Processes, Janet Tinoco

Publications

Successful accomplishment of ambidexterity in innovation was, and remains today, a perplexing and challenging task for many firms, especially those in the competitive high-technology climate. Ambidexterity in this context is the ability to create radical product innovations for the future while also developing incremental product innovations for short-term return. Each type of innovation requires different—often opposing—structures, cultures, and processes. Thus, to become ambidextrous, companies must create a balanced mix of all three, each a leg in a three-legged stool.

An Optimal Airline Revenue Management Seat Pricing Plan Model, Constantine M. Koursaris, James W. Marion Jr.

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The goal of an airline is to sell tickets at the highest fare possible, thus yielding maximum profit for the stakeholders. As airline seat pricing is divided into different fare classes, a revenue management system is created and maintained to identify opportunity costs where the airline may sell an optimum number of available seats in both discounted fare and full fare classes. Ideally, under perfect conditions, the airline will sell all available seats at full capacity for each leg of a trip. Under non-ideal conditions for the airline, not all available seats may sell at either full fare or discounted …

A Tale Of Two Airlines: A Comparative Case Study Of High-Road Versus Low-Road Strategies In Customer Service And Reputation Management, Donna L. Roberts, John C. Griffith

Publications

Customer surveys from Ryanair and Southwest Airline passengers were examined to determine their perceptions on customer service for the period of 2012-2013. Southwest Airlines (n=149) was rated significantly higher than Ryanair (n=165) in overall rating (p=.0228), seat comfort (p<.0001), cabin/staff service (p<.0001), and value (p=.0004). Additionally, passengers would recommend Southwest Airlines at a higher rate than Ryanair (p=.0006). Open area comments emphasized that customer service and policies had a large impact on the ratings. Specifically, 53% of Ryanair customers complained about inefficient or unwelcome processes and discourteous or unfriendly service compared to 29% for Southwest Airlines. Ryanair customers complained about check-in procedures, open seating policy, and fees ranging from oversized carry-on bags to fees for printing out boarding passes. The largest area of complaint for Southwest customers concerned how customers were treated for flight delays.

Identification Of Reverse Engineering Candidates Utilizing Machine Learning And Aircraft Cannibalization Data, Marc Banghart

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

As military aircraft continue to remain in service and age, cannibalization of parts is increasing. Proactive identification of parts that are at high risk for cannibalization will inform engineering processes such as reverse engineering, thus allowing potentially reducing lead time to develop new parts. The research objective was to develop a causal structure that can be used for prediction of when cannibalization actions may occur. Bayesian networks allow encoding of causality between various descriptive features given a data set. The method utilized a tabu search algorithm, identified the underlying causal structure and the associated node probabilities. The method is then …

Macroconstants Of Development: A New Benchmark For The Strategic Development Of Advanced Countries And Firms, Andrey V. Bystrov, Vyacheslav N. Yusim, Tamilla Curtis

Publications

This research proposed a new indicator of countries’ development called “macroconstants of development”. The literature review indicates that the concept of "macroconstants of development" is not used at the moment in neither the theory nor the practice of industrial policy. Research of longitudinal data of total GDP, GDP per capita and their derivatives for most countries of the world was conducted. An analysis of statistical information has been done by employing econometric analyses.

Based on the analysis of the statistical data, which characterizes the development of large, technologically advanced countries in ordinary conditions, it was identified that the average acceleration …

Insights From Global Project Managers: Career Advice For Successful International Assignments, Tracey M. Richardson, James Marion, Stephen Onu

Publications

Qualitative analysis techniques were used to identify recurring themes from project manager interview summaries undertaken by 120 project management students. The themes and the resulting conceptual framework provide evidence for the factors that support the development of successful global project managers. Such factors were found to include taking the initiative to acquire an in-depth understand the local environment and to develop culture and language competence.

Validating The Knowledge, Skills, And Abilities Composite Measure: An Aviation Industry Pilot Study, Aaron M. Glassman, Jason M. Newcomer, Matthew P. Earnhardt, Rose A. Opengart, Daryl V. Watkins, James W. Marion

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Recent research into the aviation management education paradigm shift indicated that education, certification, and experience (ECE) were all important in the aviation industry; however, the relative importance varied between managers depending on their field. Overall, the results identified experience as the most important factor, followed by certification, then education. Furthermore, the authors made a logical connection between the that study and knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs), which would ultimately lead managers to a hiring decision. The purpose of this mixed-methods sequential exploratory pilot study was to develop, validate, and test the reliability of the KSA composite measure (KCM), a data …

A Meta-Analysis Of Crew Resource Management/Incident Command Systems Implementation Studies In The Fire And Emergency Services, John C. Griffith, Donna L. Roberts, Ronald T. Wakeham

Aviation / Aeronautics / Aerospace International Research Conference

The presentation will summarize a meta-analysis of studies on Crew Resource Management/Incident Command System implementation in the fire and emergency services. The need for using participative leadership tools such as CRM evolved from an NTSB recommendation that followed United Airlines Flight 173 crash in 1978. NASA, civilian and military aviation communities implemented Crew Resource Management (CRM) training to improve decisionmaking during flight operations. Maintenance Resource Management (MRM) was a variant of CRM and first appeared in a Federal Aviation Administration circular in 2000. CRM was adopted by the medical community in the 1990s, specifically in the surgical and nursing areas, …

Assessing Customer Service In Airports – Models From The Uae, Aman Gupta, Mohammed Arif, Phillip A. Richardson

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Customer service at airports has become a key priority for airport operators given the high degree of competitions. This paper uses an airport customer service model to analyze three examples from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Passenger interviews, statistical information, customer feedback and other forms of information have been utilized to learn more about the customer view on the quality of service offered at these three airports. Detailed qualitative analysis of these case studies has highlighted some key issues in the area of customer service and identifies some opportunities for improvement.

A Simulation Approach To Airline Cost Benefit Analysis, Massoud Bazargan, David Lange, Luyen Tran, Zhiyuan Zhou

Management, Marketing and Operations - Daytona Beach

In this paper we conduct a cost benefit analyses using simulation for an Airline. This study pertains to using Towbarless Towing Vehicles (commonly referred to as supertugs) to transport aircraft to and from the terminal to airline’s maintenance hangar facility at their hub. This study attempts to investigate the possibility of reducing costs through saving jet fuel by adopting supertugs and identify if their high purchasing costs are justified. This study adopts simulation to analyze the annual savings by studying the numbers needed, as well as the utilization and operation cost for these supertugs. The results are very encouraging, enabling …

Short Term Effects Of The Retrenchment Exercise On Individual And Organisational Performance In The Uganda Civil Service: Part Ii, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

IBPP Note. The concluding segment of this article provides theory, empirical data, and analysis on some political psychological consequences of organizational retrenchment in a political bureaucracy within a country often unattended to by Western researchers. It was written by Dr. Peter Baguma, Senior Lecturer, Institute of Psychology, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, and International Editor, IBPP. Dr. Baguma can be reached at uparipari@mulib.ac.ug.

Abstract. This study set out to assess the short-term effects of a retrenchment exercise on individual and organisational performance in the Uganda civil service. In all, 247 senior and lower rank employees from 6 civil service ministries were …

Short Term Effects Of The Retrenchment Exercise On Individual And Organisational Performance In The Uganda Civil Service: Part I, Peter Baguma

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This study set out to assess the short-term effects of a retrenchment exercise on individual and organisational performance in the Uganda civil service. In all, 247 senior and lower rank employees from 6 civil service ministries were administered a questionnaire that measured individual performance, factors hindering employee performance and suggestions on how performance could be improved, and organisational performance factors. The majority of participants reported retrenchment had positive or unknown effects on individual performance. Factors hindering employee performance were inadequate funding, lack of motivation, work overload, and lack of tools--to mention but a few. Providing a living wage, improved incentives, …