Capacity management of migrant accommodation centers using approximate dynamic programming

Irregular migration has become a major macro-economic and political challenge. Due to rising political conflicts and income inequality across the world, the number of migrants is expected to increase exponentially over the coming decade. Thus, it is of critical importance to effectively use the limited resources allocated to humanitarian operations for irregular migration. In this paper we model the problem of capacity management and migrant transfers within a network of migrant accommodation centres with stochastic dynamic programming. Our study extends the literature on stochastic modelling and humanitarian operations by applying Approximate Dynamic Programming (ADP) into a new context. The model is translatable in other similar migratory routes and locations around the world where governments need to deal with uncertain numbers of irregular migrants. We test our approach on five Greek islands which have been the main migrant arrival points during the European Migrant Crisis. The results show that ADP provides a better computational performance than a simple myopic heuristic. The sensitivity analysis gives insights to the decision-makers about the impact of parameter values on the policies

Dynamic Capacity Planning of Hospital Resources under COVID-19 Uncertainty using Approximate Dynamic Programming

COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an inflow of patients into the hospitals and overcrowding of healthcare resources. Healthcare managers increased the capacities reactively by utilizing expensive but quick methods. Instead of this reactive capacity expansion approach, we propose a proactive approach considering different realizations of demand uncertainties in the future due to COVID-19. For this purpose, a stochastic and dynamic model is developed to find the right amount of capacity increase in the most critical hospital resources. Due to the problem size, the model is solved with Approximate Dynamic Programming. Based on the data collected in a large tertiary hospital in Turkey, the experiments show that ADP performs better than a benchmark myopic heuristic. Finally, sensitivity analysis is performed to explore the impact of different epidemic dynamics and cost parameters on the results.</p

Linking entrepreneurial orientation to environmental collaboration:A Stakeholder Theory and Evidence from Multinational Companies in an Emerging Market

Revisiting stakeholder theory as a potential theory of the firm giving rise to expectations about organizing, we analyze when and under what circumstances entrepreneurially oriented firms increase their environmental collaboration with suppliers. Specifically, we investigate the association between entrepreneurial orientation and environmental collaboration with suppliers by accounting for the degree of employees’ work engagement and market environment complexity as stakeholder-oriented moderators of this relationship. We test our hypotheses using multi-level analyses on 249 managers nested in 66 multinational companies (MNCs) in Turkey. We find that entrepreneurial orientation positively impacts environmental collaboration with suppliers. A high level of work engagement (as an organizing principle favouring a stakeholder focus) and a low level of market environment complexity (as an organizing principle favouring the customer as an instrumental stakeholder) moderate this linkage. We enrich the debate on entrepreneurial orientation, strategy, and environmental sustainability by providing logic rooted in stakeholder theory of the conditions under which MNCs’ entrepreneurial orientation in emerging markets prioritizes and privileges environmental collaboration with suppliers.WOS:0007448190000012-s2.0-8512307832

Capacity management of migrant accommodation centers using approximate dynamic programming

Irregular migration has become a major macro-economic and political challenge. Due to rising political conflicts and income inequality across the world, the number of migrants is expected to increase exponentially over the coming decade. Thus, it is of critical importance to effectively use the limited resources allocated to humanitarian operations for irregular migration. In this paper we model the problem of capacity management and migrant transfers within a network of migrant accommodation centres with stochastic dynamic programming. Our study extends the literature on stochastic modelling and humanitarian operations by applying Approximate Dynamic Programming (ADP) into a new context. The model is translatable in other similar migratory routes and locations around the world where governments need to deal with uncertain numbers of irregular migrants. We test our approach on five Greek islands which have been the main migrant arrival points during the European Migrant Crisis. The results show that ADP provides a better computational performance than a simple myopic heuristic. The sensitivity analysis gives insights to the decision-makers about the impact of parameter values on the policies

Survival at the expense of the weakest? Managing modern slavery risks in supply chains during COVID-19

This paper reflects on the implications of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on modern slavery risks in supply chains. We first reason that the global supply and demand shock resulting from COVID-19 exacerbates workers’ vulnerability to modern slavery. Then, we discuss challenges firms face to detect, prevent, and mitigate increasing modern slavery risks in supply chains during COVID-19. We conclude our paper by arguing that proactive, value-oriented, and long-term supply chain management approaches increase firms’ resilience to cope with highly volatile and extreme events, such as COVID 19

AMELIORATING EFFECT OF HAWTHORN (CRATAEGUS OXYACANTHA) AND PHYSICAL EXERCISE ON ACUTE PENICILLIN INDUCED SEIZURES IN GERBILS

The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of Hawthorn (Crataegus oxyacantha) and physical activity. We studied its effect on penicilline induced epilepticus (Pie) in gerbils. Pie was induced by administration of penicilline G (500 IU, ip). The gerbils were divided randomly in four groups (6 animals per each group) and studied as described below: 1) Control group 2) Exercise group (30 min/each day for 8 weeks) (Eg) 3) Extract group, 50mg/kg/day/animal in 1 ml saline, 3 h prior to exercise (Exe) 4) Exercise+Extract + (Exe+Ex). The severity of Pie was observed and recorded. The means of latencies (Mean±SE) were 236±45, 369±36, 386±58 and 433±37 ms in groups of control, Exe, Ex, and Exe+Ex respectively. The mean spike latency significantly (P=0,033 F=3,560) decreased in Exe, Ex and Exe+Ex when compared control. Although spike frequency significantly (

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P &lt; 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

A cognitive approach to organizational slack : development and validation of the Attitudes Towards Slack Resources Questionnaire (ATSRQ)

This thesis integrates the cognitive modelling perspective into the literature on organizational slack by developing and validating a questionnaire-based instrument which measures managers’ attitudes towards slack resources. The literature is deeply polarized regarding the role played by slack in organizations. Researchers debate whether organizational slack is a sure sign of inefficiency in the workplace or a necessary cost to enhance the competitiveness of firms. Empirical studies have not been able to resolve this conceptual debate as the results are highly diverse. In order to explain conflicting empirical findings, scholars have made untested assumptions about the interaction between organizational slack and managerial psychology. However, despite repeated calls, managerial cognition regarding organizational slack remains a black box in empirical studies. This thesis addresses this shortfall in the literature by developing a new measurement instrument which reveals managers’ attitudes towards slack resources. The instrument, i.e. the Attitudes Towards Slack Resources Questionnaire (ATSRQ), consists of three five-item subscales reflecting attitudes towards HR, financial, and physical slack and a combined higher-order scale measuring overall attitudes towards slack. It is developed and validated by means of a rigorous and systematic paradigm. The psychometric properties of the ATSRQ are assessed with five empirical studies which provide evidence for the internal consistency reliability, test-retest reliability, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and criterion-related validity of the ATSRQ. Results of the empirical studies suggest that managers’ attitudes towards slack resources are related to some key organizational phenomena, such as managers’ trust in employees. The results also reveal that managerial attitudes towards slack resources predict various employee-related outcomes, including leader-member exchange, perceived organizational support, work autonomy, access to resources, and decision latitude. The thesis concludes with a discussion of results, as well as limitations and future research directions