Developing a practical methodology to improve the health-care services : studying a neonatal intensive care unit case in Oman

Purpose This study aims to develop a practical methodology to identify possible areas of improvements as well as exploring how to improve the health-care staff flow within a selected department in a hospital. Design/methodology/approach It focuses on showing how to properly study and analyze the health-care services and processes practiced at a selected department within a hospital. For this, several techniques like non-value-adding activities, time motion study, spaghetti diagram, layout analysis, etc. are used. Findings To test the proposed methodology, a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of a hospital in Oman was considered as a case study. The study revealed that this unit has several potential improvements capabilities. Further, this study also discussed possible areas of improvements of this case unit and suggested how such improvements can be implemented. Originality/value Several possible improvements are suggested and are discussed with the hospital authority, which can be clarified as the re-layout of the NICU rooms, reorganization of the store to improve the staff flow, increase the work efficiency, introduction of Help Us Support Healing policy, etc., which can enhance the entire operational system at the studied NICU.©2020 Emerald Publishing Limited. This manuscript version is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY–NC 4.0) license, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Integrated Fuzzy AHP-TOPSIS Method to Analyze Green Management Practice in Hospitality Industry in the Sultanate of Oman

Climate change is the most serious threat that the modern world has ever faced. This has led to increasing attention from the government, industries, researchers, and practitioners on the theme of green practice. Due to the heightened awareness of climate change, the hospitality industry is under pressure to implement green practices and reduce the environmental impact of their operation. The research aims at understanding the indicators that define green practice in the hospitality industry and then developing a model that can be used to measure the green score. The research identifies twenty-six indicators of green practice in the hotel industry. These indicators were clustered into six different criteria. Based on the identified indicators and criteria, an integrated fuzzy AHP-TOPSIS method is proposed to calculate the green score. The fuzzy AHP method is used to calculate the weight of the criteria and indicators, while the fuzzy TOPSIS method is used to calculate the green score and rank hotels. The fuzzy AHP result shows that the criterion “Recycling and Reuse” has the highest weight among the identified criteria, while “Green Training and Incentives” has the lowest weight. The application of the proposed method is demonstrated by using a case study of hotels situated in the Sultanate of Oman. The result shows that the 4-star and 5-star hotels in the Sultanate have green scores between 0.56 and 0.641 out of 1.0 at a 95% confidence interval. The results further show that having a high star ranking hotel does not necessarily mean that the hotel is better in terms of green practice. The developed model helps the hotel industry to understand the indicator and criteria, as identified in this research work, they need to improve in order to improve their overall green management practice.© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Utilize technical elements in the novel "Ibn Soula" by Ali Al-Mamari = توظيف العناصر الفنية في رواية "بن سولع" للكاتب علي المعمري

ناقشتْ هذه الدراسة التحليلية رواية "بن سولع" للأديب العُماني علي المعمري، التي بينت أسلوب المعمري في توظيف العناصر الفنية في الرواية. إذْ تعدُّ الرواية بناءً واحدًا لا يمكن فصل عناصرها؛ الشخصية، والزمانية، والحيّز المكاني، والأحداث، واللغة والأسلوب عندما تلتحم، عندئذٍ تحتاج إلى بحث إجرائي لاستخراج مكنوناته الكامنة في أعماقه، لتبيّن حقيقة التاريخ الدفين الذي شهدته تلك المنطقة. تهدف الدراسة: مناقشة توظيف العناصر الفنية في الرواية، وتوظيف الشخصية تاريخياً، والزمن في السرد الروائي، والحيّز، وتوظيف الوصف، وأخيراً توظيف اللغة والأسلوب. ومن خلال المنهج التحليلي، والمنهج الاستقرائي الوصفي؛ بينتْ نتائج الدراسة: اهتمام الكاتب في وصف الصراع، ومعاناة الشعوب في الإمارات، عمان، قطر، البحرين، السعودية، الكويت؛ سواء بسبب حكامها أم أطراف خارجية معادية. عرض الكاتب التاريخ العماني من جميع أبوابه؛ التاريخ السياسي والصراع الداخلي بين حكومة مسقط وعمان، والإمامة، والصراع حول "واحات البريمي" المتنازع عليها بين السعودية وعمان والأمارات. تجلت لنا شخصية الراوي في مخالفته للمعتقدات الخاطئة في المجتمع. ********************************************************** This analytical study discussed the novel "Bin Soula" by the Omani writer Ali Al-Maamari, which showed Al-Maamari's method of employing the artistic elements in the novel. As the novel is one building whose elements cannot be separated; Personality, temporality, spatial space, events, language and style when combined, then you need procedural research to extract its potentials deep within it, to show the truth of the hidden history that this region has witnessed. The study aims to: discuss the employment of artistic elements in the novel, the employment of personality historically, the time in narrative narration, space, the employment of description, and finally the language and style. Through the analytical method and the descriptive inductive approach; The results of the study showed: the writer's interest in describing the conflict and the suffering of peoples in the Emirates, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait; Whether because of its rulers or hostile external parties. The author presented Omani history in all its chapters; Political history and internal conflict between the government of Muscat and Oman, the Imamate, and the struggle over the disputed Buraimi Oasis between Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates. The narrator's character was revealed to us in contradiction with wrong beliefs in society

The historical approach to the "Ibn Soula" novel by Ali Al-Mamari = المقاربة التاريخية لرواية "بن سولع" للكاتب علي المعمري

تناقش هذه الدراسة التحليلية رواية "بن سولع" للأديب العُماني علي المعمري، التي تبين حقيقة التاريخ الدفين الذي شهدته منطقة شبه الجزيرة العربية، الذي لم تذكره كتب المؤرخين من قبل، وصراع أبنائها فيما بينهم، وتكالب الأطماع الخارجية على خيراتها النفطية والاستراتيجية، وأثره على المجتمع الخليجي. وظف المعمري آلية التاريخ في روايته، حين يجنح إلى الخيال والعاطفة التي قلما نجدها في كتب التاريخ؛ لكي يقود إلى معرفة حقيقة الأوضاع التي عاشتها المنطقة، وكشف الغموض العالق في صراع الواحات العربية. تهدف الدراسة: التعريف بالكاتب وماهية الرواية، وعلاقة عنوان بمضمونها التاريخي العميق. وبيان أهمية الرواية التاريخية، ودور النص التاريخي في الأحداث التاريخية والوقائع. ومناقشة الأحداث التاريخية وتأثر الخليج بالشركات النفطية الغربية. اعتمد الباحث؛ المنهج التحليلي، والمنهج الاستقرائي الوصفي. بينتْ نتائج الدراسة: استطاع قلم المعمري أنْ يصهر العبث الجغرافي والشاهد التاريخي في واحات البريمي، حين تحرّى الدقة والأمانة في توظيفه التاريخ في الرواية. فاستطاع أن يوثق الأحداث والوقائع التاريخية، بطريقة عجز عنها المؤرخون ورواة التاريخ، بل أحجموا عنها خوفا من الطغيان أو مجاملة للشيخ أو للسلطان. تميز المعمري في سرد أحداث التاريخ، باتخاذ التاريخ مادة للسرد، وإعمال الخيال في تقديم المادة التاريخية، بهدف خلق المتعة والتشويق، وشد القارئ إلى متابعة الرواية. فاستطاع أن ينجو من أصعب مزالق "الرواية التاريخية" وهو الانسياق لا شعوريا إلى العواطف الجامحة التي تُمليها الوقائعُ التاريخية الحقيقية. كلمات مفتاحية: المعمري، الرواية التاريخية، بن سولع. *************************************************************************** This analytical study discusses the novel "bn Soula" by the Omani writer Ali Al-Maamari, which shows the truth of the hidden history witnessed in the Arabian Peninsula, which was not mentioned by the books of historians before, the struggle inside it, the demands of external ambitions over its oil and its impact on the Gulf society. Al-Maamari used the history in his novel, when he strives to the imagination and passion that we rarely find in the history books. In order to lead to know the reality of the conditions experienced by the region, and to reveal the mystery lingering in the struggle of Arab oases. The study aims to introduce the author and what the novel is, the relationship of a title to its deep historical content. Explaining the importance of the historical novel, and the role of the historical text in historical events and facts. And discuss the historical events and the Gulf's influence on Western oil companies. The researcher adopted; The analytical method, and the descriptive inductive approach. The findings revealed: Al-Maamari was able to melt the geographical absurdity and the historical witness in Al-Buraimi oases, when the history was employed in a careful and honest way in the novel. He was able to document historical events and facts, in a way that historians and narrators of history were unable to do, but rather refrained from them for fear of tyranny or courtesy of the Sheikh or the Sultan. Al-Maamari has distinguished himself in narrating the events of history, by taking history as a material for narration, and the realization of imagination in presenting historical material, with the aim of creating fun and suspense, and drawing the reader to follow the novel. He managed to escape the most difficult pitfalls of the "historical narration", which is subconsciously drifting into the wild passions dictated by the real historical facts. Key words: Al-Maamari, Historical Novel, Bin Sulaa

Robust and stable flexible job shop scheduling with random machine breakdowns using a hybrid genetic algorithm

This paper addresses the problem of finding robust and stable solutions for the flexible job shop scheduling problem with random machine breakdowns. A number of bi-objective measures combining the robustness and stability of the predicted schedule are defined and compared while using the same rescheduling method. Consequently, a two-stage Hybrid Genetic Algorithm (HGA) is proposed to generate the predictive schedule. The first stage optimizes the primary objective, minimizing makespan in this work, where all the data is considered to be deterministic with no expected disruptions. The second stage optimizes the bi-objective function and integrates machines assignments and operations sequencing with the expected machine breakdown in the decoding space. An experimental study and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) is conducted to study the effect of different proposed measures on the performance of the obtained results. Results indicate that different measures have different significant effects on the relative performance of the proposed method. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the current proposed method is compared against three other methods; two are taken from literature and the third is a combination of the former two methods.Robust Stable Flexible job shop scheduling problem Machine breakdowns

Analysis of Factors Affecting Motivation in Projects: A Case Study in Oil and Gas Industry in Oman

Motivation is a key element for successful project execution. However, different people are motivated by various means in different sectors. Hence, this work aims to study, analyze and define the main motivational factors in project execution in the oil and gas industry. To achieve this, a dedicated survey is prepared and distributed among employees working in the oil and gas industry in Oman. To ensure diversifications and minimize biases, the survey is distributed randomly to people working in projects in different organizations in the oil and gas industry. Altogether, 86 respondents completed all the survey questions. The study revealed that, in general, external (extrinsic) factors have a significant motivational influence on employee performance in which money is considered as a powerful motivator. Moreover, task achievement is found to be the major intrinsic motivational factor influencing the employee’s performance. The study also reveals that irrespective of years of experience, organizational type and the level at which employee works, lack of management support will have a significant influence in lowering team motivation in the Oil and gas project. The study can serve as a guideline for the Oil and gas industry to target the specific factor which helps enhance the level of motivation of a specific segment of employee

Open Innovation in Small and Medium Size Enterprises-Perspective from Virtual Collaboration

AbstractOpen innovation is a growing concern in today’s manufacturing industries, especially within small and medium size enterprises (SMEs). Due to the resource scarcity, SMEs need to be collaborated with the objective to share knowledge and expertise to develop innovative product, which lead them to become more competitive in market segment. In this research study, generic concept and a novel framework on open innovation are elaborated. In addition, a methodological guideline to form and execute a collaborative business network is proposed. The framework and the methodological guidelines are presented to facilitate an open innovation management within the collaborative partner industries. Moreover, associated factors to manage a successful business network with open innovation are also identified along with possible challenges. Finally, within the scope of this research study, a case business network is presented, where the concept of open innovation is orchestrated within the partner organizations via web-enabled communication portal

Open Innovation in Small and Medium Size Enterprises-Perspective from Virtual Collaboration

Abstract Open innovation is a growing concern in today’s manufacturing industries, especially within small and medium size enterprises (SMEs). Due to the resource scarcity, SMEs need to be collaborated with the objective to share knowledge and expertise to develop innovative product, which lead them to become more competitive in market segment. In this research study, generic concept and a novel framework on open innovation are elaborated. In addition, a methodological guideline to form and execute a collaborative business network is proposed. The framework and the methodological guidelines are presented to facilitate an open innovation management within the collaborative partner industries. Moreover, associated factors to manage a successful business network with open innovation are also identified along with possible challenges. Finally, within the scope of this research study, a case business network is presented, where the concept of open innovation is orchestrated within the partner organizations via web-enabled communication portal

The application of agent-based modelling for the diffusion of innovation research: a case study

Agent-based modelling (ABM) is considered as an important technique to study innovation diffusion and has been increasingly applied in the diffusion of innovation activities. This study investigates the opportunities to adopt ABM to diffuse innovation in a construction company in Oman, engaged in an innovative project to construct a prestigious integrated township. It proposes a new innovation diffusion model that simulates the social interactions between agents and how that interaction influences the agent's (visitors) adoption decisions. The application of ABM in this case project is analysed through MATLAB simulation software. The result from the study shows how a more complex model of a society can be implemented in a commonly used platform. The simulation results showed how the proposed model can actually mimic the expected behaviour of a complex system where static characteristics of agents such as nationality and age may influence the dynamic characteristics such as talking and frequency of visiting a certain location, which enhances the rate of decisions making process.©2023 Inderscience.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed