An Adaptive Supplier Selection Mechanism in E-Procurement Marketplace

B2B e-commerce has fundamentally changed the way in which an organization purchases goods/service. Nowadays, the adoption of e-procurement, which means the electronic acquisition of goods/service, has been prevalent in supply chain management. A variety of supplier selection models have been developed in supply chain management literature. In this research, an adaptive supplier selection mechanism is proposed to help buyers evaluate suppliers in an e-marketplace. A Multi-Agent System simulation package of Repast is used to create a realistic environment where different kinds of suppliers and buyers equipped with the proposed selection model can interact so as to study the performance of the proposed selection model. We evaluate three supplier selection models and find that our proposed model outperforms the other two in terms of robustness and performance

Blue Ocean Strategy and Operations Management

The emphasis is on Blue Ocean markets and businesses are struggling to create more products with greater value and lower cost. Innovation delivers value in a frugal product and process. Achieving competitive advantage involves efficient management of all aspects of the operation consistent with applying the principles of Operations Management. There are established techniques effective in achieving Blue Ocean Strategy. A conceptual outline is provided here of useful techniques and how they help achieve Blue Ocean Strategy

Customer-Oriented Competitive Advantage in the Airline Industry

The competitive environment in the service industry requires firms to constantly improve business practices to be profitable and competitive. The airline industry, characterized by human interaction and delivery of services, is most in need of research in competitive advantage. This research explores and identifies the critical sources of competitive advantage from a customer-oriented perspective in the globalized airline market. The data obtained from semi-structured interviews was analysed using qualitative and inductive reasoning. The research identified critical drivers of customer satisfaction in the airline industry establishing a logical and structured rationale for models of strategy development for competitive advantage

HIV-Specific Functional Antibody Responses in Breast Milk Mirror Those in Plasma and Are Primarily Mediated by IgG Antibodies ▿

Despite months of mucosal virus exposure, the majority of breastfed infants born to HIV-infected mothers do not become infected, raising the possibility that immune factors in milk inhibit mucosal transmission of HIV. HIV Envelope (Env)-specific antibodies are present in the milk of HIV-infected mothers, but little is known about their virus-specific functions. In this study, HIV Env-specific antibody binding, autologous and heterologous virus neutralization, and antibody-dependent cell cytotoxicity (ADCC) responses were measured in the milk and plasma of 41 HIV-infected lactating women. Although IgA is the predominant antibody isotype in milk, HIV Env-specific IgG responses were higher in magnitude than HIV Env-specific IgA responses in milk. The concentrations of anti-HIV gp120 IgG in milk and plasma were directly correlated (r = 0.75; P < 0.0001), yet the response in milk was 2 logarithm units lower than in plasma. Similarly, heterologous virus neutralization (r = 0.39; P = 0.010) and ADCC activity (r = 0.64; P < 0.0001) in milk were directly correlated with that in the systemic compartment but were 2 log units lower in magnitude. Autologous neutralization was rarely detected in milk. Milk heterologous virus neutralization titers correlated with HIV gp120 Env-binding IgG responses but not with IgA responses (r = 0.71 and P < 0.0001, and r = 0.17 and P = 0.30). Moreover, IgGs purified from milk and plasma had equal neutralizing potencies against a tier 1 virus (r = 0.65; P < 0.0001), whereas only 1 out of 35 tested non-IgG milk fractions had detectable neutralization. These results suggest that plasma-derived IgG antibodies mediate the majority of the low-level HIV neutralization and ADCC activity in breast milk