Applying performance measures to support decision-making in supply chain operations: a case of beverage industry

Performance measurement systems (PMS) have commonly been applied to evaluate and reward performances at managerial levels, especially in the context of supply chain management. However, evidence suggests that the effective use of PMS can also positively influence the behaviour and improve performance at an operational level. The motivation is to accomplish organisational goals, namely to increase supply chain flexibility by responding to evermore-varying customer demands in a timely manner. The purpose of the study described in this paper was to develop a conceptual framework that adopts performance measures for ex-ante decision-making at an operational level within the supply chain. To guide the research, five questions were asked and subsequently key gaps have been identified. In an attempt to fill the gaps, a case study at a major global brand beverage company has been carried out, and as a result, a conceptual framework of the PMS has been developed. Overall, the research offers a foundation of the applicability and impact of PMS in the supply chain and provides a framework that attends to some of the potential uses of PMS that so far have not been practically applied. The outcomes from the testing indicate that the initial gaps identified in the literature have been addressed and that the framework is judicious with scope for practical applicability. The framework is deemed worthy of further testing in different operational contexts of the supply chain

N=2\mathcal{N}=2 central charge bounds from 2d2d chiral algebras

We study protected correlation functions in $\mathcal{N} = 2$ SCFT whose description is captured by a two-dimensional chiral algebra. Our analysis implies a new analytic bound for the $c$-anomaly as a function of the flavor central charge $k$, valid for any theory with a flavor symmetry $G$. Combining our result with older bounds in the literature puts strong constraints on the parameter space of $\mathcal{N}=2$ theories. In particular, it singles out a special set of models whose value of $c$ is uniquely fixed once $k$ is given. This set includes the canonical rank one $\mathcal{N}=2$ SCFTs given by Kodaira's classification.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figure

Applying performance measures to support informed decision making at an operational level

Performance Measurement Systems (PMS) have commonly been applied to evaluate and reward performances at managerial levels, especially in the context of supply chain management. However, evidence suggests that the effective use of PMS can also positively influence the behaviour and improve performance at an operational level. The purpose of the study described in this paper is to develop a conceptual framework that adopts performance measures for ex-ante decision-making at an operational level within the supply chain. A case study at Coca-Cola Enterprises has been carried out and as a result, a conceptual framework of the PMS has been developed

On the instability of Reissner-Nordstrom black holes in de Sitter backgrounds

Recent numerical investigations have uncovered a surprising result: Reissner-Nordstrom-de Sitter black holes are unstable for spacetime dimensions larger than 6. Here we prove the existence of such instability analytically, and we compute the timescale in the near-extremal limit. We find very good agreement with the previous numerical results. Our results may me helpful in shedding some light on the nature of the instability.Comment: Published in Phys.Rev.

Optimal length and signal amplification in weakly activated signal transduction cascades

Weakly activated signaling cascades can be modeled as linear systems. The input-to-output transfer function and the internal gain of a linear system, provide natural measures for the propagation of the input signal down the cascade and for the characterization of the final outcome. The most efficient design of a cascade for generating sharp signals, is obtained by choosing all the off rates equal, and a ``universal'' finite optimal length.Comment: 27 pages, 10 figures, LaTeX fil