On green routing and scheduling problem

The vehicle routing and scheduling problem has been studied with much interest within the last four decades. In this paper, some of the existing literature dealing with routing and scheduling problems with environmental issues is reviewed, and a description is provided of the problems that have been investigated and how they are treated using combinatorial optimization tools

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION MEASUREMENT MODELS: GENERALISED MAXIMUM ENTROPY APPROACH

This paper presents the methodology of the Generalised Maximum Entropy (GME) approach for estimating linear models that contain latent variables such as customer satisfaction measurement models. The GME approach is a distribution free method and it provides better alternatives to the conventional method; Namely, Partial Least Squares (PLS), which used in the context of costumer satisfaction measurement. A simplified model that is used for the Swedish customer satis faction index (CSI) have been used to generate simulated data in order to study the performance of the GME and PLS. The results showed that the GME outperforms PLS in terms of mean square errors (MSE). A simulated data also used to compute the CSI using the GME approach.Generalised Maximum Entropy, Partial Least Squares, Costumer Satisfaction Models.

Enhancing Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) through Supply Chain Integration - An Examination of the Fisheries Sector in Aceh

This article proposes an qualitative approach to determine the underlying dimensions of Supply Chain Management integration and its relation to performance among small firm in Aceh, Indonesia  with special emphasis on the tuna industry.. The overall aim of the study is to better understand successful SCM practices which have been implemented by small industry in Aceh and the challenges faced in the process. This paper uses qualitative data, which was collected from open-ended interviews with stakeholders in a leading Aceh tuna business, together with the SCOR model, which is used to define supply chain processes and associated key performance indicators (KPI). The result of this research indicates that the industry regards flexibility, efficiency, and quality as the most important indicators in their supply chain operation. however, factors such as financial, SCM expertise, infrastructure and resource create a barrier in implementing an effective supply chain. Further to this, Successful SCM strategies improving SCM performance were identified based on each performance indicators. The result of this paper is expected to contribute to theoretical and practical knowledge of SCM practice, and to develop recommendation for future development of industry with small-scale capabilities

Improving the quality of human resources by implementation of internal marketing

Internal marketing includes programs intended for employees and their development. It is targeted on identifying, motivating and retaining customer oriented employees. For that reason, it is ov great importance for labour intensive, and especially service oriented compa¬nies, since knowledge, expertise, activity and behavior of employees create overall business portfolio that the consumers/clients are buying on external market. Regardless of its industry, adoption and implementation of internal marketing concept lead to long-term growth and success of the company. Internal marketing has important points of contact with human resources field of activity; therefore the analysis of internal marketing concept and its basic dimensions is a significant factor for creating competitive advantage in current business environment. The goal of internal marketing is to focus attention of employees on internal activities that need to be developed, maintained, and promoted for the purpose of business and strengthening competitiveness of the company on the external market. Human resources management through qualifying and motivation of employees to fulfill customer market needs as much as possible, namely to recruit appropriate personnel, and maintain and improve long-term relationship with them, is one of the key prerequisites for company’s business success.Human Resources, Internal Marketing, Competitiveness Improvement

Quality Improvement of Public Services in Surabaya Radio Frequency Spectrum Monitoring Office with Integration of Service Quality, Important Performance Analysis and House of Quality

The purpose of frequency spectrum management is to be effective, efficient, and free interferrence in frequency usage. As a Ministry Technical Unit, Balmon Surabaya has the task to supervise and controll the frequency usage in East Java. In carrying out their duties, there are some user’s complaints about Balmon Surabaya services. Therefore it is necesary to improve the quality of service and to know what service factors affecting the customers satisfaction. Objective of this research is to determine the quality of services and technical response that should be done in accordance with expectations of customers. The services as the object of the research are Radio Station License Distribution, Payment Notification Letter Distribution, and Interferrence of Frequency Report Handling. Measurement of the service is performed using Servqual methode while determining the variable to be improved use Important Performance Analysis. Then, Quality Function Deployment is utilized to develop the technical response influencing the service quality. The result shows that the highest gap is providing the free-toll telephone line, the 2nd is mentioning the data/references in giving the informations, and the 3rd is distributing the Payment Notification Letter before the due date. The Importance- Performance Analysis shows that there are 3 variabels in Quadrant I, distributing the Payment Notification Letter before the due date, mentioning the data/refferences in giving the informations, and providing of free-toll telephone line. QFD reveals that there are 3 Technical Responses with highest value of Important Rating of ie., the printing the Payment Notification Letter 2 months before the due date; confirming the letter receipt by the user, and proposing the toll-free numbe

Kesan imej dan kualiti perkhidmatan terhadap gelagat pelajar institusi pengajian tinggi swasta (IPTS) di Jakarta serta kepuasan pelajar sebagai mediator

Private higher educational institutions (PHEIs) have an important strategic role as a catalyst in the development of quality future generations for the job markets. In order to improve their competitiveness, PHEIs need to continuously improve their services, especially in dealing with the environment that has become more globalized and open. With the increase in the number of PHEIs annually, the competition to attract potential students, who now have more choices, has become more challenging. Among the criteria used by potential students in making their choices of PHEIs are their perceptions on the image and service quality associated with a particular PHEI. The image and the service quality experienced by the students subsequently influence their levels of satisfaction. The main objective of this study is to examine the extent of relationship between the independent variables (image and service quality), with the mediating variable (satisfaction) and the dependent variable (behavioural implications). Respondents in this study were students from PHEIs in Jakarta, and were selected by using a cluster sampling technique. Survey questionnaires were used for the data collection process, and a total of 442 usable questionnaires were returned and subsequently used for data analysis with the SPSS software. Results of factor analyses indicate that the variable image has three dimensions: environment, practicality, and stability; service quality is also divided into three dimensions: physical appearance, service reliability, and service assurance. The mediating variable, satisfaction, is also made up of three dimensions: intrinsic, extrinsic, and social extrinsic. The results of the factor analysis also show that the variable behavioural is unidimensional in nature. Results of multiple regression analyses, in general show that the variables of image and service quality demonstrate direct and indirect relationships with students’ behaviour, indicating that the presence of mediating effects of the mediator (satisfaction)

Strategic Issues in Lean Construction and the Higher Education Construction Market Sector

There are several, well-known difficulties in building construction that often result in low productivity and poor quality. Recent efforts to minimize their effects resulted in partial improvements but the sources of the problems still exist. Within the manufacturing and service sectors, however, improvements were attained with the introduction of a new production philosophy - later identified as lean production - that initiated in Japan (1945) and was introduced in Europe and in the United States in the 1980\u27s. The primary goal of lean production is the elimination of waste, seen as any non-value-added activity in the production system. The design and implementation of this innovative method of production involves the development of a comprehensive strategic planning by the organization and requires long-term capital and human resources investments. An academic movement, designated“lean construction originated in the United States (1994) with the purpose of studying the applicability of the lean production philosophy for the AEC industry. Current lean construction research, however, advances toward improving construction processes at the project level, but limited researchers address the core motives for manufacturing organizations to shift from mass production to lean production. This thesis focuses on the level of understanding on organizational issues in the implementation of lean construction and seeks answers for fundamental strategy-related matters. The thesis provides results of investigating those issues from the perspective of the owners, through an on-line survey conducted within the higher education institutions segment and 1) concludes that lean construction is feasible for AEC firms that serve that market and 2) suggests the appropriate business strategy to efficiently compete in that market

Purchasing Decision Behaviours of Health Insurance Products and The Determinants of Competitive Advantage

As a company that provides services in managing risks, coverage for the uncertainties faced by potential customers in the future makes the insurance business utilize several marketing models, such as personal selling combined with competitive premium prices and service quality. This study aimed to analyze the effect of competitive price strategies, service quality, and personal selling on purchasing decisions for health insurance products in Indonesia by implementing the role of mediating competitive advantage. This research was conducted using a random sampling technique using a sample of 220 respondents from customers of health insurance products in Greater Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia. Data was collected by distributing questionnaires, which were processed and analyzed using PLS (Partial Least Square) with SEM Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with WarpPLS software. The results of the study show that personal selling, competitive price strategies and service quality positively affect competitive advantage and purchasing decisions. The findings also confirm the mediating role of competitive advantage in bridging the relationship between independent variables and purchasing decisions. Practically, these findings underscore the importance of health insurance uniqueness as an important part of the formation of purchasing decisions by custumers. Keywords: personal selling, competitive price, service quality, competitive advantage, purchasing decisio

Evaluating strategies for implementing industry 4.0: a hybrid expert oriented approach of B.W.M. and interval valued intuitionistic fuzzy T.O.D.I.M.

open access articleDeveloping and accepting industry 4.0 influences the industry structure and customer willingness. To a successful transition to industry 4.0, implementation strategies should be selected with a systematic and comprehensive view to responding to the changes flexibly. This research aims to identify and prioritise the strategies for implementing industry 4.0. For this purpose, at first, evaluation attributes of strategies and also strategies to put industry 4.0 in practice are recognised. Then, the attributes are weighted to the experts’ opinion by using the Best Worst Method (BWM). Subsequently, the strategies for implementing industry 4.0 in Fara-Sanat Company, as a case study, have been ranked based on the Interval Valued Intuitionistic Fuzzy (IVIF) of the TODIM method. The results indicated that the attributes of ‘Technology’, ‘Quality’, and ‘Operation’ have respectively the highest importance. Furthermore, the strategies for “new business models development’, ‘Improving information systems’ and ‘Human resource management’ received a higher rank. Eventually, some research and executive recommendations are provided. Having strategies for implementing industry 4.0 is a very important solution. Accordingly, multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods are a useful tool for adopting and selecting appropriate strategies. In this research, a novel and hybrid combination of BWM-TODIM is presented under IVIF information