A fuzzy-based evaluation of financial risks in build-own-operate-transfer water supply projects

The build–own–operate–transfer (BOOT) scheme is widely used for the provision of new bulk water supply. However, this scheme is complex and carries significant financial risks because of the characteristics of the water sector and the involvement of public-private stakeholders with new and extended responsibilities, large private capital, and long contract duration. Drawing on the Nungua Seawater Desalination Plant (NSDP) in Ghana, this study seeks to identify and assess the critical financial risks associated with BOOT water supply projects and evaluate the financial risk level of the NSDP project. The risks and their relative criticality on the NSDP project are investigated by using a questionnaire survey method. The questionnaire was formulated with a set of 18 risks derived from extant literature and project documentation. Perceived critical financial risks affecting the NSDP project were assessed by a team of experts who had direct involvement in the project. A fuzzy synthetic evaluation suggests that the project is financially risky and that all the risks are critical to the project. Bankruptcy of consortium members, unfavorable economy of the host country, uncertainty in tariff adjustment of water products, rate of return restrictions, and availability problem of private capital are the five most highly-ranked risks. The fuzzy technique is used to represent and model experiential knowledge of the survey participants and to address the fuzziness of their expert judgments. The study’s results facilitate prioritization of risks and a comprehensive risk management program during the lifecycle of the case project and future projects. The fuzzy technique is suitable for early phases of BOOT projects to prioritize the risks that require a detailed analysis and to predict the risk level of a project

Multicriteria Decision Making in Sustainable Tourism and Low-Carbon Tourism Research: A Systematic Literature Review

Multicriteria Decision Making (MCDM) is increasingly being utilized as an analytical research tool for sectors that require decision-making with specific objectives and constraints, such as the tourism industry. Sustainable tourism, which examines the balance of numerous aspects, including stakeholders’ interests, is the critical feature propelling the increased usage of MCDM. This paper explores the use of Multicriteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods applied in studies of sustainable tourism and its derivative term, low-carbon tourism, using a systematic literature review (SLR) search from the Scopus database. The analysis has identified 189 relevant studies published between 1987 to April 2022. After selection, screening, and synthesizing processes, we selected 135 pertinent studies, which were analysed in general descriptive data, citation impacts, geographical categorization, categorization of the methodologies’ objectives, and possible trajectories of similar research in the future. We find that highly cited authors and articles are related to sustainable tourism indicators\u27 development and case studies. Furthermore, most relevant studies are concentrated in Asia and Europe rather than other regions. We also categorize the reviewed studies into six classifications depending on each method\u27s intended usage and further suggest four contexts for the studies’ future trajectory

"ALTERNATIF PENERAPAN TEKNOLOGI INFORMASI DALAM PENENTUAN SUPPLIER INDUSTRI MANUFAKTUR BERBASIS BILL of MATERIAL DAN GROUP TECHNOLOGY"

"Pemilihan supplier merupakan permasalahan yang komplek pada era Industri 4.0 sekarang ini. Banyaknya jumlah supplier dengan kualitas performansi yang berbeda-beda menyebabkan sulitnya pihak internal perusahaan untuk memilih supplier yang sesuai. Di sisi lain macam-macam bahan baku yang dibutuhkan untuk membuat produk jadi, sangat beragam. Kesesuaian supplier berkualitas yang diperlukan untuk memasok bahan baku yang dibutuhkan oleh industri menjadi hal yang penting untuk diselesaikan. Begitupun halnya dengan industri perakitan traktor tangan, industri kecil menengah ini juga sangat tergantung pada ketersediaan bahan pasokan, dan sudah pasti tergantung pula dengan pemilihan supplier itu sendiri. Penelitian disertasi ini bertujuan untuk memperoleh metode terbaru untuk memilih supplier pada industri manufaktur dengan studi kasus pada perakitan industri kecil traktor tangan. Penelitian disertasi ini diawali dengan kegiatan studi literatur melalui FGD, dan studi pustaka, kemudian diikuti dengan pembuatan desain prototipe aplikasi. Dimana untuk menyusun database bahan baku disusun menggunakan struktur produk pada Bill of Material, penentuan bobot kriteria optimal menggunakan Genetic Algorythms dan pemilihan supplier menggunakan metode multi criteria decision making. Studi kasus penelitian ini di sentra Industri Logam Ceper Klaten Solo, yaitu di Politeknik Manufaktur Ceper. Sedangkan pelaksanaan penelitiannya di Lab Komputasional dan Sistem Informasi serta Laboratorium Rekayasa Sistem Informasi Politeknik Negeri Jember. Uji coba aplikasi diimplementasikan pada studi kasus sesungguhnya, dengan data supplier 153, data bahan baku 70 bahan baku dengan variabel kriteria pemilihan supplier sebanyak 10 variabel. Pada tahap akhir diverifikasi menggunakan kuesioner online Google Form, dengan data responden sebanyak 101, banyaknya responden yg memilih “Sangat mudah” dan “Mudah” atau “Sangat lengkap” dan “Lengkap” atau “Sangat tepat” dan “Tepat” > 80 %, ini menunjukkan bahwa aplikasi / web yang dihasilkan dalam penelitian ini sesuai dengan harapan IKM pengguna (Verified). Kata kunci : Pemilihan pemasok, Computational intelegence, Bill of Material, Group Technology, Multi Criteria Decision Making dan Genetic Algorythms.

Services marketing in the hospitality economy: An exploratory study

Meeting the challenges of an unstable and unsettled environment is not easy. The recent impacts on the hospitality services economy of changing technology, mergers of institutions, increasingly demanding consumers and increased competition have created an atmosphere of volatility and rapid change. In order to survive in this demanding market place, service organisations have only one choice, to successfully develop and launch new services. However, the failure rate of new service projects is high, because the knowledge on how new services should be developed is limited. Unfortunately, unlike tangible new product development practices which have the benefit of extensive research into how successful new products are developed, the service sector has only recently begun to explore ways to ensure the success of new services. Therefore, this study focuses on a better understanding of how successful new hotel services are developed and investigates the factors, which have impact on success or failure in new service development (NSD) in the hotel sector. The results of the exploratory study are summarised in a conceptual model for further research.Innovation process, services marketing, new product development, new service development, critical success factors, hotels - tourism, Marketing,

A Collaborative Planning Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR) Maturity Model

This paper presents the development of a framework that organizations can use to assess their CPFR maturity. The proposed modeling framework identifies important functional and structural aspects of CPFR processes and formulates a method for evaluation on a variety of characteristics of CPFR. This paper uses a variant of multi-objective decision analysis to structure the framework into a hierarchical model for CPFR maturity assessment. Each area of the model was identified based on standardized, industry-accepted process definitions. Then, easy to answer questions were formulated to develop a multi-attribute assessment and scoring of capabilities. This model provides a structured representation of the CPFR process for maturity assessment and provides a path of progress for improving the state of CPFR within the  underperforming areas. The developed model can be used by engineering managers for assessing an on-going CPFR program across several areas and communicating the identified high impact improvement areas with various segments of the organization

Best matching processes in distributed systems

The growing complexity and dynamic behavior of modern manufacturing and service industries along with competitive and globalized markets have gradually transformed traditional centralized systems into distributed networks of e- (electronic) Systems. Emerging examples include e-Factories, virtual enterprises, smart farms, automated warehouses, and intelligent transportation systems. These (and similar) distributed systems, regardless of context and application, have a property in common: They all involve certain types of interactions (collaborative, competitive, or both) among their distributed individuals—from clusters of passive sensors and machines to complex networks of computers, intelligent robots, humans, and enterprises. Having this common property, such systems may encounter common challenges in terms of suboptimal interactions and thus poor performance, caused by potential mismatch between individuals. For example, mismatched subassembly parts, vehicles—routes, suppliers—retailers, employees—departments, and products—automated guided vehicles—storage locations may lead to low-quality products, congested roads, unstable supply networks, conflicts, and low service level, respectively. This research refers to this problem as best matching, and investigates it as a major design principle of CCT, the Collaborative Control Theory. The original contribution of this research is to elaborate on the fundamentals of best matching in distributed and collaborative systems, by providing general frameworks for (1) Systematic analysis, inclusive taxonomy, analogical and structural comparison between different matching processes; (2) Specification and formulation of problems, and development of algorithms and protocols for best matching; (3) Validation of the models, algorithms, and protocols through extensive numerical experiments and case studies. The first goal is addressed by investigating matching problems in distributed production, manufacturing, supply, and service systems based on a recently developed reference model, the PRISM Taxonomy of Best Matching. Following the second goal, the identified problems are then formulated as mixed-integer programs. Due to the computational complexity of matching problems, various optimization algorithms are developed for solving different problem instances, including modified genetic algorithms, tabu search, and neighbourhood search heuristics. The dynamic and collaborative/competitive behaviors of matching processes in distributed settings are also formulated and examined through various collaboration, best matching, and task administration protocols. In line with the third goal, four case studies are conducted on various manufacturing, supply, and service systems to highlight the impact of best matching on their operational performance, including service level, utilization, stability, and cost-effectiveness, and validate the computational merits of the developed solution methodologies

A Multicriteria Framework to Evaluate Supplier’s Greenness

Environmental protection is becoming more and more important for enterprises because of stronger public awareness, competitors and communities, and government regulations. For this purpose, some programs have become more popular for raising environmental awareness including total quality environmental management and green supply chain management. Reducing the environmental pollution from upstream to downstream during procuring raw materials, producing, distribution, selling products, and products depreciation is the most important goal of Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM). The main contribution of this study is introducing the main factors in green supply chain management that are very important in environmental attributes by providing an evaluation framework to select the most eligible green suppliers by examining the influential and important criteria and subcriteria among ten elements of two main GSCM practices, namely, green logistics and environmental protection. First, these factors are divided into two groups, that is, green logistics and environmental protection, and then by applying DEMATEL technique, the complex causal relationship between all factors dependencies and feedbacks among them is examined. Finally, by drawing the impact relationship map the most important and influential factors are determined for improving green supply chain environmental aspects

A multi-attribute framework for the selection of high-performance work systems: the hybrid DEMATEL-MABAC model

Research in strategic human resource management indicates that high performance work systems (HPWS) have a positive impact on the overall performance of an organization as a result of better human resource (HR) outcomes. Regarding the multi-dimensional and complex nature of these factors, common statistical models are not useful for examining the performance of HPWS. Using the capabilities of multi-attribute decision-making (MADM) methods to deal with various criteria that may be contradictory, this study proposes a MADM-based framework that provides the opportunity to prioritize HR practices. Based on this framework, high-performance HR practices and their related HR outcomes were identified after studying the theoretical literature and ascertaining the views of decision-makers and HR experts. Then, after looking at the interactions among HR outcomes, the weights of the criteria were calculated using the method of the decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL). Then, the alternatives were ranked using the multi-attributive border approximation area comparison (MABAC) method. Finally, the designed framework was implemented in an organization active in the banking industry. This framework can be used to improve employees’ performance and, consequently, the performance of the organization. Accordingly, taking into account the resource constraints organizations face, the priorities presented can be helpful in budgeting human-resource-management (HRM) improvement projects and making an appropriate resource allocation for this

Développement de l'approche conséquentielle pour l'analyse de la durabilité du cycle de vie: cas d’un bâtiment hybride multiétages

Il est indéniable que l'industrie du bâtiment doit évoluer vers des bâtiments plus durables à l'avenir. Les décideurs dans le secteur du bâtiment doivent prendre en compte les aspects sociaux et économiques dans leur prise de décision, en plus de l'aspect environnemental. Ces évaluations doivent également inclure la perspective du cycle de vie. L’approche conséquentielle est nécessaire pour évaluer les conséquences à long terme par rapport à l’approche attributionnelle qui se concentre sur l’évaluation d’un profil donné. Ce projet de recherche montre comment l'approche conséquentielle est intégrée dans l'analyse du cycle de vie (ACV), l’analyse du coût du cycle de vie (ACCV) et l'analyse sociale du cycle de vie (AsCV) dans le cadre de l'analyse de la durabilité du cycle de vie (ADCV). Ce mémoire de thèse contient huit chapitres pour atteindre les objectifs de recherche susmentionnés. Le chapitre 1 décrit le contexte de l'étude et l'organisation de la thèse. Le chapitre 2 présente les défis et les opportunités actuels de l'évaluation de la durabilité du cycle de vie qui a été publié et auquel il est fait référence comme premier article de cette thèse. Le premier article présentait les lacunes identifiées dans l'harmonisation des trois méthodes discutées (ACV, ACCV et AsCV). Dans l'intégration de l'ACV et du ACCV, la question de la temporalité est toujours absente dans l'ACV, en plus de la perspective conséquentielle dans l'ACV et l’ACCV. Dans l'intégration de ACCV et AsCV, deux lacunes de recherche sont également trouvées : la différence de perspective lors de l'utilisation à la fois de la méthode, en plus du manque de la perspective conséquentielle. Dans l'intégration de l’AsCV et de l'ACV, les problèmes qui se posent sont : la présence d'impact négatif et positif dans l’ AsCV, par rapport à l'ACV (dont les impacts sont presque toujours négatifs), sans oublier l'absence de l’approche conséquentielle dans l’AsCV. Lors de l'application de l’ADCV dans un contexte politique, nous avons suggéré que le cadre a besoin d'une perspective conséquentielle pour faciliter la capture non seulement des impacts directs, mais aussi des conséquences indirectes. Le chapitre 4 présente l'énoncé du problème et les questions de recherche, le but et les objectifs de la recherche, ainsi que la définition du projet. Le chapitre 5 décrit l'ACV et le CCV d'un bâtiment hybride à plusieurs étages avec une étude de cas au Québec, Canada. Il a également été publié et fait référence au deuxième article de cette thèse. Le deuxième article a démontré la pertinence de l'utilisation complémentaire d'approches attributionnelle et conséquentielle avec l'étude de cas d'un bâtiment hybride à plusieurs étages, et ce du point de vue environnemental et économique. Les résultats de l'ensemble du cycle de vie indiquent des différences potentielles entre les deux approches de modélisation sous-jacentes. Par exemple, la production de matériaux est l'étape la plus impactante sur le plan environnemental (avec une contribution de 86 à 98 %) et économique (72 %) dans l'approche attributionnelle. Cependant, dans l'approche conséquentielle, la production de matériaux est moins responsable sur le plan environnemental (46 à 94 %) et pourtant plus responsable sur le plan économique (59 %). Cela démontre que l'ACV et l’ACCV conséquentielle peuvent révéler des informations complémentaires (non disponible d’un point de vue attributionnelle). Même si l'étude est soumise à des limitations et des incertitudes notables, telle que la disponibilité et la qualité des données, la réalisation d'une ACV-ACCV attributionnelle et conséquentielle d'un produit pourrait donner plus d’informations pertinentes pour une prise de décision plus robuste. Le chapitre 6 présente l'ACVS du même bâtiment en utilisant l'analyse multiniveau et constitue le troisième article publié dans cette thèse. Dans le troisième article, l'analyse sociale du cycle de vie (ASCV) a été réalisée en évaluant l'impact social potentiel et les bénéfices du cycle de vie du bâtiment. L'utilisation d'une analyse à plusieurs niveaux (résolutions), qui est appliquée à l'ACV sociale conséquentielle et attributionnelle, pourrait aider à combler les lacunes dans les données. Bien que davantage de données ne soient pas toujours meilleures, cela peut aider à comprendre les points chauds possibles de l'impact/bénéfice social et le champ d'influence de l'impact/bénéfice social pour les parties prenantes. Combler les lacunes dans les données est important de deux manières : 1) combler les lacunes des données sur les indicateurs et 2) combler les lacunes des données sur le cycle de vie du système de produits (du berceau à la tombe). En utilisant une analyse à plusieurs niveaux dans une ACV sociale conséquentielle, il a été observé que l'importation d'acier et/ou d'aluminium de Chine est potentiellement associée à certains impacts sociaux négatifs (restrictions à l'association des travailleurs, risque pour la santé et la sécurité et travail des enfants), mais aussi des contributions bénéfiques (emploi). En fin de compte, révéler ces types d'indicateurs peut aider les décideurs politiques à prévoir et à planifier les conséquences négatives avant qu'elles ne surviennent, et vice versa à promouvoir des avantages positifs. Plus important encore, comme pour l'ACV, la nécessité d'inclure une perspective du cycle de vie complet existe, car l'impact tout au long de la phase du cycle de vie du produit est souvent négligé en raison de données manquantes. Enfin, le chapitre 7 présente la discussion de la recherche tandis que le chapitre 8 montre les conclusions, les contributions, les limites et fournit des recommandations pour les recherches futures. En conclusion, l'utilisation de trois outils ADCV (ACV, CCV et AsCV) dans l'approche conséquente signifie que le LCSA conséquent a également été réalisé. L'optique prospective de l'approche conséquentielle permet d'améliorer les performances de durabilité de manière causale. Les impacts du processus, de l'activité ou de la technologie évalués sont ceux du processus, de l'activité ou de la technologie qui vont répondre à la demande accrue. Ainsi, l'évaluation a pour logique de répondre aux conséquences futures. Cela inclut éventuellement l'implication des fournisseurs de matériaux mondiaux de l'étranger, comme observé dans cette étude, où les conséquences sociales peuvent avoir différents résultats possibles. La situation sociale et les conditions de travail dans d'autres pays (en particulier dans les pays en développement) peuvent présenter de mauvaises pratiques. L'approche conséquentielle aide les décideurs politiques à anticiper l'impact des différents résultats possibles et à identifier les faiblesses. Par exemple, les décideurs peuvent découvrir qu'il faut réduire l'acier et les importations de l'étranger et se concentrer davantage sur l'utilisation de produits locaux. Un plan de transformation peut être élaboré à l'avance pour faire face à d'éventuels problèmes techniques et opérationnels liés au passage de l'étranger au local et offrir une valeur future plus mesurable.Abstract: It is undeniable that building industry needs to move to more sustainable buildings in the future. Building policy-makers need to include social and economic aspect into consideration, beside environmental one. These assessments also need to include a life cycle perspective. Consequential life cycle approach is suitable for assessing long-term consequences ,as compared to attributional approach that only focus on the impact accounting itself. This research project aims to demonstrate how the consequential approach when applied to life cycle assessment (LCA), life cycle costing (LCC) and social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) (under the life cycle sustainability assessment umbrella) can shed light on important insights that can’t be identified when using the attributional one. This thesis dissertation contains eight chapters to achieve the aforementioned research objectives. Chapter 1 describes the context of the study and dissertation organization. Chapter 2 presents the current challenges and opportunities of life cycle sustainability assessment that has been published and referred as first paper in this thesis. The first paper presented the identified gaps shown in the harmonization of the three presented methods (LCA, LCC, and SLCA). In the integration of LCA and LCC, temporality issue is still missing in LCA (issue, here it is called research gap [RG 1]), in addition to the missing consequential perspective in LCA and LCC (RG 2). In the integration of LCC and S-LCA, two research gaps are also found: the difference in stakeholder perspective when using both method (RG 3), in addition to the missing consequential perspective (RG 4). In the integration of S-LCA and LCA, the identified issues are (not extensive list): the presence of negative and positive impact in S-LCA, as compared to LCA (RG 5), the scales of assessment applied in each method differs (RG 6), in addition to the absence of a consequential approach in S-LCA. When applying LCSA in a policy context, it is suggested that the framework needs a consequential perspective to facilitate capturing not only direct impacts but also indirect consequences. Chapter 3 presents the updated and recent literature review with the same topic as in Chapter 2. Chapter 4 shows the problem statement and research questions, research goal and objectives, and project definition. Chapter 5 describes the LCA and LCC of hybrid multistory building with case study in Quebec, Canada. It is also has been published and referred as second paper in this thesis. The second paper showed the added value of using attributional and consequential approaches with the case study of hybrid multistory building, from environmental and economic perspectives. For example, material production is the most impactful stage environmentally (with 86–98% contribution) and economically (72%) in the attributional approach. However, in the consequential approach, material production is less environmentally responsible (46–94%), while from an economic perspective the contribution reached 59%. By implementing consequential LCA-LCC, additional insights are gained from the consequential impacts of constructing hybrid wood multistory buildings. Even though the study is a subject to notable limitations and uncertainties, such as data availability and quality, conducting attributional and consequential LCA-LCC of a building can give a broader/more comprehensive spectrum of possible results for a robust decision-making. Chapter 6 provides S-LCA of the same building using multilevel analysis and referred as third published paper in this thesis. In the third paper, the social life cycle assessment was carried out by evaluating the potential social impact and benefit from the product's life cycle. Using a multilevel analysis, applied to consequential and attributional social LCA, helped in filling data gaps, particularly for the consequential perspective. While more data is not always better, it can help to understand the possible hotspots of social impact/benefit. Filling data gaps is important in two ways: 1) filling data gaps on indicators and 2) filling data gaps on the product system's life cycle (cradle to grave). As a matter of fact, when using multilevel analysis in consequential social LCA, it was noticed that importing steel and/or aluminum from China is potentially associated with negative social impacts (restrictions on worker association, risk on health and safety, and child labor) but also some beneficial contributions (employment). Ultimately, revealing these types of trade-offs may help policymakers predict and plan for negative consequences before they occur, and vice versa promote positive benefit. More importantly, as with LCA, the need to include a full life cycle perspective exists because the impact throughout the product's life cycle phase is frequently overlooked due to missing data. Finally, Chapter 7 presents the research discussion while Chapter 8 shows conclusions, contributions, limitations, and provides recommendations for future research. In conclusion, having three tools of LCSA (LCA, LCC and S-LCA) performed in consequential approach mean that consequential LCSA also have been carried out. The forward-looking lens of consequential approach helps to improve sustainability performance in causal-effect manner. The impacts of the process or activity or technology assessed are the ones from process or activity or technology that are going to supply the increased demand. Thus, the assessment has logic on answering the future consequences. This possibly includes the involvement of global material suppliers from abroad such observed in this study where the social consequences can have different possible outcomes. The social working situation and labor condition in other countries (especially in developing countries) may have poor practices. Having consequential approach helps the policy makers anticipate the impact of different possible outcomes and identify weaknesses. For example, policy makers may discover that it needs to reduce the steel and import from abroad and more focus on using local products. A transformation plan can be made in advance to cope with possible technical and operational problems from shifting from abroad to local and deliver more measurable future value