The Value of Demand Information in Omni-Channel Grocery Retailing

As e-commerce reaches one of the last strongholds of traditional fulfillment, how can grocers leverage the omni-channel trend and stay competitive in today’s changing market landscape? To improve operating outcomes and address food waste concerns, this study investigates various scenarios in which the grocery retailer accepts online orders in advance. We examine the value of advance demand information through a Markov Decision Process-based model, in terms of changes to expected profits, outdating, freshness, and several inventory and service performance metrics. Our results indicate that when the demand lead time is longer than the replenishment lead time, close to 20% safety stock reduction on average can be achieved, leading to a 15% decrease in product deterioration and 26% less outdating. In some cases, we also find that it is possible to profitably offer discounted prices in exchange for the customer’s future demand information

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationToo often, prescription medications once thought safe for human use cause unacceptable adverse health consequences and fail during clinical testing or are recalled after public release. One major contributing factor to this problem is the inability of cu

RFID-Enabled Management of Highly-Perishable Inventory: A Markov Decision Process Approach for Grocery Retailers

We address the challenge of managing perishable inventory. One study was conducted to analyze the effects of recapturing unsatisfied demand, and another to estimate improvements in operational metrics through delaying order placements. Our results indicate that significant profit improvements can be achieved under these scenarios, as evidenced by a greater than 30% median increase in profit margin

Post Anesthesia Care Unit Comprehensive Safety Quality Improvement Project on De-Escalation of Patients

Background: Violence within the healthcare setting has risen significantly, and have crossed into areas where staff are less prepared to manage and deescalate challenging patient encounters. This lack of knowledge and confidence has led to increased staff stress, burn out, and can potentiate poor patient outcome. Methods: A pre/post-simulation quality improvement project was performed within a tertiary hospital Post-Anesthesia Care Unit in Upstate New York to evaluate the effect of simulation on feelings of confidence preparedness in patient de-escalation with PACU nurses and patient care technicians. The project evaluation included the Thackrey’s Clinician Confidence in Coping with Patient Aggression (CCPA) Instrument, De-Escalation Aggressive Behavior Scale (EDABS), and a project-specific simulation evaluation tool. Results: There was a statistically significant difference in the mean scores for the CCPA data pre and post across all questions. There was no correlation between length of being a RN (p \u3c .498), length of working in the PACU (p \u3c .492), or having any de-escalation training (p \u3c .786), on the CCPA data. There was a statistically significant, moderate positive correlation between age and ability to protect yourself physically from an aggressive patient, r(98) = .592, p \u3c .026. There was no other correlation with age and other CCPA questions. Conclusion: Simulations can be successfully used to train, develop and improve staff confidence in patient de-escalation. Implications: By implementing and combining de-escalation, on line training with high fidelity in situ simulation followed by a debrief, during orientation, should improve the level of confidence in the PACU prior to an escalated incident.https://scholar.rochesterregional.org/nursingresearchday_2023/1005/thumbnail.jp

Improving basic services for the bottom forty percent: lessons from Ethiopia

Ethiopia, like most developing countries, has opted to deliver services such as basic education, primary health care, agricultural extension advice, water, and rural roads through a highly decentralized system (Manor 1999; Treisman 2007). That choice is based on several decades of theoretical analysis examining how a decentralized government might respond better to diverse local needs and provide public goods more efficiently than a highly centralized government. Ethiopia primarily manages the delivery of basic services at the woreda (district) level. Those services are financed predominantly through intergovernmental fiscal transfers (IGFTs) from the federal to the regional and then the woreda administrations, although some woredas raise a small amount of revenue to support local services. Since 2006, development partners and the government have cofinanced block grants for decentralized services through the Promoting Basic Services (PBS) Program. Aside from funding the delivery of services, the program supports measures to improve the quality of services and local governments capacity to deliver them by strengthening accountability and citizen voice