Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods Commons^™

Building Designers' Perception And The Effect On Sustainability In Malawi, Lloyd Ndau

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Environmental sustainability in buildings is an important part of preserving the environment and reducing climate change. The increasing amount of physical infrastructure systems in Malawi has not been accompanied by policy-makers clearly understanding perceptions and attitudinal behaviors of building designers to promote environmental sustainability. Some building designers in Malawi might not be practicing sustainability innovations adequately, requiring more research to understand their perceptions and behaviors. The purpose of this mixed methods sequential and explanatory study was to explore how building designers' behaviors relate to the implementation of sustainability innovations in Malawi. Ajzen's theory of planned behavior explaining how attitudinal behaviors …

Improving Machine Changeover/Setup Times By Increasing U.S. Manufacturers' Knowledge Of 5s, Nicole Schra-Martin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The 5S process is one of the techniques born out of Japanese manufacturing. Ohno, the developer of 5S, found that when manufacturing waste is eliminated, costs are reduced and profits increase. This is the bases of 5S and this research. The cost of U.S. manufactured products is higher compared to the cost of products from other global manufacturers that use 5S. This study was conducted to determine if implementing 5S in U.S. manufacturing could change U.S. manufacturing cost and if using 5S could impact U.S. manufacturing. The research questions focused on the relationship between 5S and changeover/setup times on production …

Electricity Sector Reform: Sourcing And Cost Management Of Electricity For Steel Manufacturing In Nigeria, Christopher Ndubuisi Okonkwo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In 2014, Lazard levelized cost of energy analysis model priced diesel powered systems at $0.225 – $0.404/KWh and a range of $0.165 – $0.242/KWh for gas-powered systems. The model gave a range of $0.28 – $0.33/kWh for diesel and a range of $0.14/kWh – $0.16/kW for gas fired. Nigeria has an abundance of gas reserves, but heavy gas flaring by oil companies perpetuates power failure across Nigeria. What has resulted is an unreliable electricity infrastructure and a high cost of alternative energy. The Electricity Power Sector Reform Act of 2005 started the reform process. Guided by decision theory, the purpose …

Dynamic Project Time And Cost Evaluation Under The Combined Influence Of Contract, Quality, And Uncontrollable Change, Thomas V. Hammock

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation proposes a method that quantifies the dynamics caused by disruptions due to multiple changes that can occur during the progression of a large scale project. To begin, equations consisting of multiple parallel event sequences are derived that define the relationship between individual process events and the final project completion time. Matrix notation and a precedence matrix concept are used in this derivation to produce equations that are best suited for computer programming applications. This relationship is the foundation upon which the equations are built to calculate the variation impact on each event of a large scale project. Pursuing …

Predicting Cross-Gaming Propensity Using E-Chaid Analysis, Eunju Suh, Matt Alhaery

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

Cross-selling different types of games could provide an opportunity for casino operators to generate additional time and money spent on gaming from existing patrons. One way to identify the patrons who are likely to cross-play is mining individual players’ gaming data using predictive analytics. Hence, this study aims to predict casino patrons’ propensity to play both slots and table games, also known as cross-gaming, by applying a data-mining algorithm to patrons’ gaming data. The Exhaustive Chi-squared Automatic Interaction Detector (E-CHAID) method was employed to predict cross-gaming propensity. The E-CHAID models based on the gaming-related behavioral data produced actionable model accuracy …

Four Runway Configuration Types And Their Relation To Arrival Delays, Rachel Jayne Kennedy

Open Access Theses

Aside from a safe flight, airline passengers expect to arrive to their destination on time. With an abundance of flights in the United States arriving late each day, it has yet to be determined if the airport's layout plays a role. This research looks at four common runway configuration types at hub and non-hub airports to determine if runway configurations affect arrival delays. A two-way ANOVA is conducted comparing the means of the on-time arrival percentage between airports exhibiting each of the four runway configurations as well as hub and non-hub airport status. The results determine if any or none …

Modeling And Simulation Of Evacuation Plan For Hancock Stadium, Nirmal Neranjan Weerasekara

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study is to use Modeling and Simulation of Evacuation Plan (MSEP) to support management to execute proper evacuation plan in case of emergency at Hancock Stadium in Illinois State University. Analyses of the research literature and evacuation scenarios are used to build a simulation system that will connect a description of emergency and evacuation situation with its context. It shows how an evacuation plan actually functions. The results of the study will help safety managers to understand the current situations of evacuation according to the specific simulation scenarios. The evacuation simulation is categorized according to the …

Identification Of Employee Engagement Practices Viewed As Critical To Retention: A Cross-Generational Comparison, Sharon R. Floyd

Dissertations

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to identify the employee engagement practices that millennial IT workers perceive as important to retention. The secondary purpose of the study was to determine whether a difference exists between the engagement practices that appeal to millennial IT workers and the engagement practices that appeal to remaining IT working groups, which include the baby boomers and generation X.

Methodology. A quantitative, descriptive, survey-based research method was chosen for this study. The population included information technology workers representing three generations of working adults, including baby boomers, generation Xers, and millennials. The sample included technology workers …

A Stochastic Approach For Pavement Condition Projections And Budget Needs For The Mtc Pavement Management System, Rafael Arturo Ramirez Flores

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Pavement management decision-making is the most important task for officials in transportation agencies, who develop maintenance and rehabilitation programs. Information about historical pavement network performance is needed for decision-making; pavement management systems (PMS) provide means to organize road network data to improve the pavement network condition. PMS have prediction performance models to forecast the future condition of the pavement networks with information required for decision-making; these models can be deterministic or probabilistic. Pavement performance deterministic models are commonly used in PMS, but they do not consider the uncertainty in forecasting pavement performance. Pavement performance depends on many random factors like …

From The Desk Of The Editor

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

No abstract provided.

Mathematical Modeling For Platform-Based Product Configuration Considering Total Life-Cycle Sustainability, Tian Lan

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Many companies are using platform-based product designs to fulfill the requirements of customers while maintaining low cost. However, research that integrates sustainability into platform-based product design is still limited. Considering sustainability during platform-based design process is a challenge because the total life-cycle from pre-manufacturing, manufacturing and use to post-use stages as well as economic, environmental and societal performance in these stages must be considered. In this research, an approach for quantifying sustainability is introduced and a mathematical model is developed for identifying a more sustainable platform. Data from life-cycle assessment is used to quantify environmental factors; criteria from the Product …

Table Of Contents

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

No abstract provided.

From The Desk Of The Editor

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

No abstract provided.

From The Desk Of The Editor

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

No abstract provided.

From The Desk Of The Editor

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

No abstract provided.

Applying The Analytic Hierarchy Process To Oil Sands Environmental Compliance Risk Management, Izak Johannes Roux

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Oil companies in Alberta, Canada, invested $32 billion on new oil sands projects in 2013. Despite the size of this investment, there is a demonstrable deficiency in the uniformity and understanding of environmental legislation requirements that manifest into increased project compliance risks. This descriptive study developed 2 prioritized lists of environmental regulatory compliance risks and mitigation strategies and used multi-criteria decision theory for its theoretical framework. Information from compiled lists of environmental compliance risks and mitigation strategies was used to generate a specialized pairwise survey, which was piloted by 5 subject matter experts (SMEs). The survey was validated by a …

Inventory Optimization In Manufacturing Organizations, Scott William Lemke

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Inventories totaling 1.7 trillion U.S. dollars represent an opportunity for U.S. manufacturers. This exploratory case study researched supply chain strategies used to manage inventory in manufacturing operations of a U.S. manufacturing company. A mature value chain contained within a single organization using the value chain framework was the basis for this study. Individual interviews conducted with 16 managers responsible for defining and implementing inventory control strategies, and 4 internal users provided primary information for the study. Other sources of information included a value chain map created through the observation of operations, various inventory measurements, and policies and guidelines related to …

Relationship Between Product Quality And Customer Satisfaction, Albert Vitales Cruz

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The National Safety Council (NSC) estimated that over 35,000 people died in U.S. traffic accidents. About 3.8 million traffic crash injuries requiring medical attention occurred in 2013, and the number of deaths was about the same over the last 5 years. The NSC found that product recalls, car repairs, injuries, and deaths were due to unsafe product designs or inferior product quality. These statistics underscore the challenge of producing quality vehicles while satisfying customers. The purpose of this nonexperimental study was to examine relationships among product (vehicle) quality, product cost, product safety, and consumer satisfaction. The hypotheses inquired the extent …

Using The Delta-Model For End-Stage Liver Disease To Improve The Decision-Making Process For The Donor Liver System, Joanne Chin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this experimental research was to determine whether using delta-MELD as a criterion for the liver transplant patient selection process could improve the U.S. liver allocation system. This research closed a gap in current literature on the utility of delta-MELD for liver transplant patient selection. The frameworks of systems theory, the analytic hierarchy process, and the Kalman filter contributed to the development of 2 simulation models of the liver allocation system: one that used delta-MELD and one that did not use delta-MELD. The research question examined whether using delta-MELD could improve the liver allocation system by reducing the …

Challenges For Developing Complex System Governance, Charles B. Keating, Polinpaplinho F. Katina, Joseph M. Bradley, Sila Çetinkaya (Ed.), J. K. Ryan (Ed.)

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper examines the challenges and practice implications for Complex System Governance (CSG). CSG is presented as an emerging field focused on the design, execution, and evolution of the higher order (metasystem) functions necessary to provide control, communication, coordination, and integration of a complex system. This paper is focused on three primary objectives. First, we introduce the complex system problem domain that the CSG field is being designed to address. The pervasiveness of this problem domain is demonstrated by a short examination of the water utilities sector. Second, we expound the nature of CSG and an emerging reference model …

The Effect Of Infrastructure Changes On Railway Operations., Martin J.R. Schmidt 1966-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper makes use of standard simulation programs in combination with the tools of applied statistics to simulate railway operations. The purpose of the use of this tool is to evaluate and compare different possible kinds of railway infrastructure, like different types of signaling procedures, different network configuration or operational procedures. A railway system is a logistic network and because of the demand for improved railway operation, much work has been undertaken lately in this scientific field. However the author postulates the hypothesis based on a literature review that in a lot of these works there is a lack of …

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.

Multi-Criteria Decision Modeling For Best Value Selections In Target Value Design Integrated Project Delivery, Brent Patrick Griffis

Master's Theses

Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) combined with Target Value Design (TVD) is a better way to deliver value for the client than traditional guaranteed maximum price (GMP) methods. With traditional GMP delivery methods, the interests of the parties are often at odds. The goal of IPD is to align all party interests in order to achieve a win-win scenario. Due to the aligning nature of IPD and the fact that each party’s success is dependent on achieving the project objectives as a whole; a non-biased, transparent, decision-making process is necessary in order to deliver the project objectives within the constraints of …

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 …

Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing For Healthcare Provider Supply Chain Processes, Martha Isaura Gonzalez

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In a time when healthcare costs continue to rise, nearly a third of hospital operating expenses are related to supplies, and the healthcare supply chain is complex, it is pertinent for healthcare providers to have a clear understanding of their healthcare supply chain process costs. Having a clear picture into how these costs are driven and where opportunities for cost reductions exist can support supply chain efficiencies. In this research, we develop a Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing (TDABC) supply chain cost management tool for healthcare providers. A TDABC management system can provide healthcare providers with valuable product and process supply chain …

Assessing Organizational Effectiveness Through The Competing Values Framework A Data Envelopment Approach, Raghavender Macherla

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This study proposes a model to diagnose organizations using the mathematical principles of data envelopment analysis (DEA) to the variables generated using competing values framework (CVF) in order to evaluate overall organizational effectiveness. The notion of organizational effectiveness is abstract and difficult to measure due to its complexity and multi-functional nature. Over the years, measurement of organizational effectiveness has remained a challenge due to the lack of agreement on the factors that should be assessed to determine effectiveness. This research is aimed at shedding some light into this topic by using data envelopment analysis as a tool to measure relative …

A Change Management Approach To Enhance Facility Maintenance Programs, Stanton P. Brown

Theses and Dissertations

A recent study assigned a grade of D+ on the nation's public infrastructure. Because of this poor asset condition, many organizations tend to respond to maintenance in a reactive mode; however, relying on corrective maintenance leads to increased maintenance costs due to unplanned downtime, increased labor costs, and inefficient use of personnel. To address this situation, asset management (AM) principles should be employed to transition organizations towards a proactive maintenance program. Unfortunately, it has been shown that two-thirds of the organizations failed to implement general change efforts. Therefore, an organizational change management framework should be followed to implement a change …