Operations and Supply Chain Management Commons^™

Impact Of Component Supplier Branding On Profitability, Stefan Worm, Rajendra K. Srivastava

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In recent years, many business-to-business (B2B) component supplier (CS) firms have added branding to their marketing toolbox. By extending the logic of ingredient branding to B2B components, they aim to create “pull” from B2B end customers by building a strong CS brand image among their customers' customers. In contrast with the established “push” approach of building strong relationships with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), it is unclear whether and under which conditions CS branding is a worthy strategy. On the one hand, anecdotal evidence suggests that suppliers can leverage strong CS brand image in negotiations with increasingly powerful OEMs to enhance …

Cellular Bucket Brigades On U-Lines With Discrete Work Stations, Yun Fong Lim, Yue Wu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

It is challenging to maximize and maintain productivity of a U-line with discrete stations under the impact of variability. This is because maximizing productivity requires assigning workers to suitable tasks and maintaining productivity requires sufficient flexibility in task assignment to absorb the impact of variability. To achieve this goal, we propose an operating protocol to coordinate workers on the U-line. Under the protocol the system can be configured such that its productivity is maximized. Workers are allowed to dynamically share work so that the system can effectively absorb the impact of variability. Analysis based on a deterministic model shows that …

Chain Liability In Multitier Supply Chains? Responsibility Attributions For Unsustainable Supplier Behavior, Julia Hartmann, Sabine Benoit

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

When it becomes publicly known that products are associated with suppliers that engage in unsustainable behaviors, consumers protest, as Nestlé, Zara, and Kimberly Clark, among others, have learned. The phenomenon by which consumers hold firms responsible for the unsustainable behavior of their upstream partners suggests the notion of “chain liability.” This study aims to generate insights into the antecedents and consequences of such consumer responsibility attributions. Using data from four vignette-based survey experiments, the authors find that the chain liability effect increases if an environmental degradation incident (1) results from supplier behavior rather than force majeure, (2) results from a …

An Analysis Of The Impact Of Variation In Mean Time Between Demand On Air Force Fleet Level Aircraft Parts Inventories, Andrew J. Berger, Caleb S. Murphy

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis researched the accuracy of demand forecasting and impact of demand variation on requirements definition for Air Force aircraft secondary items. Specifically, this thesis sought to answer three questions: How does the Air Force calculate item requirements? , How accurate is the current system at predicting future item requirements? , and How do variations in predicted demand change item requirements? The literature review described the Air Force supply system for aircraft secondary items. Analysis into current demand forecast accuracy found that the level of error between actual and predicted historic demand was as high as 92% for the items …

Exploring Capability Maturity Models And Relevant Practices As Solutions Addressing It Service Offshoring Project Issues, Rosine Hanna Salman

Dissertations and Theses

Western countries' information technology and software intensive firms are increasingly producing software and IT services in developing countries. With this swift advancement in offshoring, there are many issues that can be investigated which will enable companies to maximize their benefits from offshoring. However, significant challenges can occur throughout the lifecycle of offshoring IT service projects that turn the potential benefits into losses. This research investigated CMM/CMMI best practices and their effects on managing and mitigating critical issues associated with offshore development.

Using a web based survey, data was collected from 451 Information Technology and software development firms in the US. …

Navigating The Flow Of Value Streams To The Seas Of Collection Management, Acquisitions, And Preservation, Greg W. Voelker, Richard J. W. Zwiercan, Michael Frazier

Charleston Library Conference

Our process of repairing damaged items had no clear ownership and an ever growing amorphous backlog consisting of approximately 2,800 items at the start of the process review. This backlog continues to hinder access to materials in the collection. We are currently in multistage process review which incorporates Lean methodologies to improve workflow across a number of departments. At the core of these improvements is gathering data to measure current levels of work. From that perspective, we can see where value is needed in the workflows, including areas of collection access, level of repair needed, item replacement/weeding, and meeting user/stakeholder …

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.

Robust Two-Stage Stochastic Linear Programs With Moment Constraints, Sarah Yini Gao, Lingchen Kong, Jie Sun

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We consider the two-stage stochastic linear programming model, in which the recourse function is a worst case expected value over a set of probabilistic distributions. These distributions share the same first- and second-order moments. By using duality of semi-infinite programming and assuming knowledge on extreme points of the dual polyhedron of the constraints, we show that a deterministic equivalence of the two-stage problem is a second-order cone optimization problem. Numerical examples are presented to show non-conservativeness and computational advantage of this approach.

Service Systems With Finite And Heterogeneous Customer Arrivals, Rowan Wang, Oualid Jouini, Saif Benjaafar

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We consider service systems with a finite number of customer arrivals, where customer interarrival times and service times are both stochastic and heterogeneous. Applications of such systems are numerous and include systems where arrivals are driven by events or service completions in serial processes as well as systems where servers are subject to learning or fatigue. Using an embedded Markov chain approach, we characterize the waiting time distribution for each customer, from which we obtain various performance measures of interest, including the expected waiting time of a specific customer, the expected waiting time of an arbitrary customer, and the expected …

Modeling Queues With Simulation Versus M/M/C Models, Kum Khiong Yang, Joyce M. W. Low, Cayirli Tugba

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper examines the performance of single-queue service systems using a combination of computer simulation and M/M/C queuing models. Our results show that the accuracy of M/M/C models is significantly affected by the assumptions supporting the models. Managers should therefore exercise caution in using the M/M/C models for designing queuing systems when the models’ assumptions are violated. Our results show that cost-centric and servicecentric firms should manage their queues differently. While cost-centric firms should target higher arrival load, single service session, and front-loaded arrival pattern for higher efficiency, service-centric firms should strive for lower arrival load, multiple short sessions and …

Supply Chain Risk Management In India: An Empirical Study Of Sourcing And Operations Disruptions, Their Frequency, Severity, Mitigation Methods, And Expectations, Andreas Udbye

Dissertations and Theses

With an annual growth of almost 20% since the year 2000, Indian merchandise exports exceeded 300 billion U.S. dollars in 2012. The country is becoming a major supplier to the world. However, companies sourcing products and operating in India are experiencing a variety of supply chain disruptions that impede their operations and finances. The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the frequency, impact and severity of supply chain risks experienced by companies in India, as well as assess the usefulness of mitigation methods and enquire about future expected disruptions. It is hoped that the results will prepare managers to …

The Business Of Beds: An Exploration Of Hotel And Hostel Business Strategy, Robert B. Bunda

Honors Scholar Theses

At their cores, hotels and hostels are similar in that they provide a place for travelers to stay. Despite this core similarity, the structures of the two industries are radically different. The hotel industry began in the Middle Ages and has given rise to massive multinational companies, many managing more than four thousand hotels. In stark contrast, the hostel industry began in 1909 and is mostly comprised of independently owned and operated guesthouses, with the largest global chain comprising of less than twenty properties. This study first defines the hotel and hostel industries and examines the different experiences they offer …

Assortment Planning Of Automotive Products: Considerations For Economic And Environmental Impacts Of Technology Selection, Ali Taghavi, Ratna Babu Chinnam

Industrial and Systems Engineering Faculty Research Publications

A manufacturer’s assortment is the set of products that the company offers to its customers. Assortment planning considerably affects both the sales revenue and product offering costs for the company and it had experienced growing attention across different industries over recent decades. In this study, we propose a modeling framework that seeks to identify the optimal assortment for a manufacturer of configurable products (in particular, automobiles). Our model accounts for environmental considerations (Corporate Average Fuel Economy requirements, tail-pipe emissions, and greenhouse gas emissions related to the production of the fuel used to power the vehicle) during assortment planning. We formulate …

Fact Sheet: The Environmental, Public Health, And Social Impacts Of Pig Factory Farming

Agribusiness Reports

No abstract provided.

The Future Of Supply Chain Management In The Downstream Segment Of The Oil And Gas Industry: Emphasis On Company Phillips 66, Kiley Huslig

Supply Chain Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this research is to provide insight for supply chain management scholars in the downstream segment of the oil and gas industry. To broaden their view of how a supply chain management degree can be used in an industry other than retail/CPG, which is heavily focused on in the classroom. The research will be exploring the downstream segment of the oil and gas industry. A direct focus will be placed on the company Phillips 66. Their company profile will be presented, comparing it to their competitors and peers. The challenges that the downstream oil and gas companies are …

Detailed Inventory Record Inaccuracy Analysis, Hayrettin Kaan Okyay

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation performs a methodical analysis to understand the behavior of inventory record inaccuracy (IRI) when it is influenced by demand, supply and lead time uncertainty in both online and offline retail environment separately. Additionally, this study identifies the susceptibility of the inventory systems towards IRI due to conventional perfect data visibility assumptions. Two different alternatives for such methods are presented and analyzed; the IRI resistance and the error control methods. The discussed methods effectively countered various aspects of IRI; the IRI resistance method performs better on stock-out and lost sales, whereas error control method keeps lower inventory. Furthermore, this …

Let’S Bring It Home: Discovering Efficiency In Re-Shoring Production In The Beauty Industry, Julie Sarah Gibli

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

The beauty industry is an understudied industry that can benefit greatly from reshoring. Product developers in this industry source raw materials from Europe when creating a complex product, and from China when creating a mass-market, basic product. Many companies across the United States have begun to reshore all or parts of their manufacturing process. They have been able to benefit by cutting transportation costs and lead time, and by maximizing quality. This thesis aims to explore the reshoring trend and its viability for mass-market products in the beauty industry.

A case study was compiled to discover whether it is economically …

Sourcing Hub, Anupam Agrawal, Luk N. Van Wassenhove, Arnoud De Meyer

Asian Management Insights

Managing the suppliers of your suppliers may be a lot of work, but there is plenty of value in unlocking the supply chain.

Blue And Orange Lunch Line, Donald Riger

College of Business and Economics Presentations

The fall 2013 section of Supply Chain Management 420-Creating Sustainable Goods and Services, taught by Dr. Tom Gattiker, completed a group project using the Green Breakthrough process which is based on Design Thinking. The assignment for this portion of the course was a written proposal for a product or service that:

– Is highly innovative, not incremental

– Meets a customer (e.g. student, faculty) need

– Has a significant environmental benefit

– Related to the BSU / our campus

– Customer facing

– Could be implemented at BSU (or nearby) within one year

I was a member of team 2 …

The Business Of Human Trafficking, Elizabeth Kaczmarek

Honors Theses

Human trafficking has been a social justice issue that has been addressed in the past by many scholars in the social sciences fields and has recently started to be acknowledged by academics in business fields. Exploited labor assisted in building almost all civilizations and while is no longer as blatant as it once was, it is just as prevalent and the market is becoming more aware of the issue. As with profit performance and environmental sustainability, consumers are starting to demand that the third pillar of sustainability – people – be addressed by organizations. In this paper, the current status …