Providing a Model for Electronic Tourism Development with an Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) Approach

Today, the tourism industry is one of the most important service industries which competes closely with other industries in the world. In recent years, information technology has had a significant effect on all sectors of the industry. Electronic Tourism is the link between tourism and information technology. Capability and competitive advantages of E-tourism are important factors in creating economic leap in the tourism industry. This study intends to employ the benefits of electronic tourism towards traditional tourism. So, this study offers comprehensive framework to identify and assess direct and indirect effects of each factor affecting the development of electronic tourism in Yazd province. For this purpose, first, factors affecting the development of electronic tourism in Yazd province were identified by comprehensive review of the literature and opinions of experts in the field. And then, these factors were rated using Interpretive Structural Modeling(ISM). The population of the research are academic tourism experts and professionals which are active in the tourism industry in Yazd province. Also interviews and questionnaires were used to gather data. The content validity of the questionnaire was approved by the experts. According to the results, "operating and financial possibilities", are the most basic factors in the development of electronic tourism of Yazd province that must be taken into serious consideration by executives in the industry. The results of this research will help policy makers, so that they can choose a better path for the development of electronic tourism

Solving two dimensional non-guillotine cutting problem Using Particle Swarm Optimization

One of the solutions for solving cutting stock problem in different industries, such as sheet metal, lumber, glass, paper and textile, is applying ,Particle Swarm Optimization to minimize the waste of rawmaterials. This article is intended to solve two-dimensional cutting problem. In these problems, larger rectangular plates, divided into smaller rectangularsegments, aim to minimizing the number of used plates or the waste of plates by considering demand. In this article PSO is used. To enhance the efficiency of algorithm, and preventing overlap in cutting problem, the CUL algorithm is used. In order to investigate the results of algorithm, new software has been designed. This software has two ways for solving the problem. First, it ends up with optimized cutting pattern considering the number and dimension of segments and, length and width of main plate. Also, there is a possibility to give different width to software, in this case, the software gives the user the optimum cutting pattern and optimum length of main plate in addition to optimum widt

Identify and Leveling the Human Resource Risks in Tourism Industry Using a Mixed Method Approach

Background & Purpose: The tourism industry has grown significantly in recent years and has moved from traditional to structured, professional and globalized. This research was conducted with the aim of identifying and leveling the risks of human resources as well as drawing the relationships between them. Methodology: In terms of the purpose, this research is considered to be an applied type and an exploratory type of study, and in terms of method, it is laid in the category of mixed research. In the qualitative part, for this purpose, human resource risks were extracted from the studies conducted using theme analysis. Findings:According to the findings of the research, the risks of "lack of appropriate educational structure", "non-compliance with the labor law and problems of the law for employees", and "lack of a suitable service compensation system (salary and benefits)" are the most basic human resource risks affecting the tourism industry, which should beprioritized. Conclusion: Due to the service-oriented nature of the tourism industry, human resources and related risks have always been the concern of trustees and business owners in this field. These results help the policy makers in determining the most suitable path and development of the tourism industry

Developing an integrated model for evaluation and selection of six sigma projects using ANN

Six Sigma is one of the most popular systems for eliminating waste, reducing cost and improving quality in organizations. The process of evaluation and selection of projects is the first step towards implementing Six Sigma and many researchers believe that these are important for the success of such projects. Respectively, in this paper, a model has been proposed based on artificial neural network (ANN) as an effective tool for non-linear information processing . In this model, six criteria of project cost, project duration, number of Black and Green Belts, improving customer satisfaction, impact on business strategy and financial impact have been identified as input factors and productivity and sigma level of improvement projects have been estimated using multi-layer perception (MLP). Finally, sensitivity analysis has been used for evaluation of the influence of inputs on outputs. The findings imply that 'business strategy' and 'financial impact' have the most and the least influence on model's outputs, including productivity and Sigma level, respectively.     

Developing an integrated model for evaluation Risk in Supply Chain using ANN (Case Study: Iran Alloy Steel Company)

In the last few years, supply chain management becomes more important, because of the globalization of business. By increasing complexity, level of uncertainty and risk in the chain goes up. Hence supply chain risk management has become a major issue in the organization. One of the risks existing in the supply chain is risk of suppliers. This research provides model for predicting supplier risk in Iran Alloy Steel Company that is then analyzed using Artificial Neural Networks which are capable to consider non-liner interrelations among criteria. In the model using fuzzy Delphi, seven criteria have been identified. Then by using AHP-VIKOR the risk of supplier calculated and the risk of suppliers were predicted. Finally, we u