Decision science techniques in higher education administration

This paper describes three actual applications of decision science techniques in solving education and administration problems at Universiti Utara Malaysia. They are the assignment of group projects to students, the determination of the most suitable candidate for student excellence award, and budget allocation for student activities. For each application, the problem environment is given followed by the description of the technique used to solve the problem. It is hoped that with these simple illustrations those who are unfamiliar with decision science will be aware of its great potential in solving managerial problems

Post-Fire Mechanical Properties Of Natural And Synthetic Fibre Composites

Sustainability is an important aspect in engineering design. Manufacturers are looking to find more sustainable materials as an alternative to synthetic fibres in composite. Natural fibres seem to be a great alternative to replace synthetic fibres in composite materials applications. However, the mechanical properties of the composite materials after exposure to fire needs to be considered in the design process. This study fills the research gap whereby the post-fire mechanical properties of natural fibre reinforced polyester and glass fibre reinforced polyester can be compared and analysed. In this study, jute fibre reinforced polyester and glass fibre reinforced polyester are fabricated by using wet hand layup method. Then, the physical appearance of the two composites after exposing it to fire for a certain duration are investigated and lastly the mechanical properties of room temperature and post-fire composites are compared by running a tensile test. The result of the study shows that in general, when exposed to fire for a short duration only, the composite retains most of its tensile properties with slight burn on the surface. But after exposing it to fire for a longer period, the resin is completely burnt, and the fibre is exposed to fire. This further decreases the mechanical properties of the composites. From the study, it can be stated E-glass fibre has better fire performance than jute fibre polyester composite

Utilizing local communities towards the marketability of EDC-UUM: a supply chain model

This study proposes a supply chain model for the Excecutive Development Center of Universiti Utara Malaysia (EDC-UUM) to enhance the usability and the visibility of EDC-UUM, thus increasing the demand for EDC-UUM services and indirectly, the profit as well. Specifically, this study embarks on two objectives which are to determine the resources available and opportunities that can be grabbed to strengthen the functions and usability of EDC-UUM and to develop a supply chain model for EDC-UUM that will incorporate all the resources and opportunities so that the demand for and the utilization of the training/seminar rooms and hotel rooms increases. To achieve the first objective, a SWOT analysis was conducted by assessing the current practice and future plans of EDC-UUM. The second objective was achieved by studying the characteristic of a hotel supply chain, and then mapping the supply chain to suit the characteristics of EDC-UUM. In this report, the supply chain model focuses only on the first tier for EDC-UUM's product development that directly involves the use of local community members

A hybrid multiattribute decision making model for evaluating students’ satisfaction towards hostels

This paper proposes a new hybrid multiattribute decision making (MADM) model which deals with the interactions that usually exist between hostel attributes in the process of measuring the students’ satisfaction towards a set of hostels and identifying the optimal strategies for enhancing their satisfaction. The model uses systematic random stratified sampling approach for data collection purpose as students dwelling in hostels are “naturally” clustered by block and gender, factor analysis for extracting large set of hostel attributes into fewer independent factors, λ-measure for characterizing the interactions shared by the attributes within each factor, Choquet integral for aggregating the interactive performance scores within each factor, Mikhailov’s fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (MFAHP) for determining the weights of independent factors, and simple weighted average (SWA) operator to measure the overall satisfaction score of each hostel. A real evaluation involving fourteen Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) hostels was carried out in order to demonstrate the model’s feasibility. The same evaluation was performed using an additive aggregation model in order to illustrate the effects of ignoring the interactions shared by attributes in hostel satisfaction analysis

A short survey on the usage of choquet integral and its associated fuzzy measure in multiple attribute analysis

Choquet integral operator is currently making inroads into many real multiple attribute analysis due to its ability on modeling the usual interactions held by the attributes during the aggregation process.Unfortunately, the process of identifying 2n values of fuzzy measure prior to employing Choquet integral normally turns into a very complex one with the increasing number of attributes, n.On that note, this paper mainly reviews on some of the methods that have been proposed in reducing the complexity of identifying fuzzy measure values together with their pros and cons. The paper begins with a discussion on the aggregation process in multiple attribute analysis which then focuses on the usage of Choquet integral and its associated fuzzy measure before investigating some of the fuzzy measure identification methods A simple numerical example to demonstrate the merit of using Choquet integral and the indications for future research are provided as well.The paper to some extent would be helpful in stimulating new ideas for developing simpler or enhanced versions of fuzzy measure identification methods

Utilizing Local Communities towards the Marketability of EDC-UUM: A Supply Chain Model

This study proposes a supply chain model for the Excecutive Development Center of Universiti Utara Malaysia (EDC-UUM) to enhance the usability and the visibility of EDC-UUM, thus increasing the demand for EDC-UUM services and indirectly, the profit as well. Specifically, this study embarks on two objectives which are to determine the resources available and opportunities that can be grabbed to strengthen the functions and usability of EDC-UUM and to develop a supply chain model for EDC-UUM that will incorporate all the resources and opportunities so that the demand for and the utilization of the training/seminar rooms and hotel rooms increases. To achieve the first objective, a SWOT analysis was conducted by assessing the current practice and future plans of EDC-UUM. The second objective was achieved by studying the characteristic of a hotel supply chain, and then mapping the supply chain to suit the characteristics of EDC-UUM. In this report, the supply chain model focuses only on the first tier for EDC-UUM's product development that directly involves the use of local community members

Economic tour package model using heuristic

A tour-package is a prearranged tour that includes products and services such as food, activities, accommodation, and transportation, which are sold at a single price.Since the competitiveness within tourism industry is very high, many of the tour agents try to provide attractive tour-packages in order to meet tourist satisfaction as much as possible.Some of the criteria that are considered by the tourist are the number of places to be visited and the cost of the tour-packages.Previous studies indicate that tourists tend to choose economical tour-packages and aiming to visit as many places as they can cover. Thus, this study proposed tour-package model using heuristic approach.The aim is to find economical tour-packages and at the same time to propose as many places as possible to be visited by tourist in a given geographical area particularly in Langkawi Island.The proposed model considers only one starting point where the tour starts and ends at an identified hotel.This study covers 31 most attractive places in Langkawi Island from various categories of tourist attractions. Besides, the allocation of period for lunch and dinner are included in the proposed itineraries where it covers 11 popular restaurants around Langkawi Island. In developing the itinerary, the proposed heuristic approach considers time window for each site (hotel/restaurant/place) so that it represents real world implementation. We present three itineraries with different time constraints (1-day, 2-day and 3-day tour-package).The aim of economic model is to minimize the tour-package cost as much as possible by considering entrance fee of each visited place.We compare the proposed model with our uneconomic model from our previous study. The uneconomic model has no limitation to the cost with the aim to maximize the number of places to be visited.Comparison between the uneconomic and economic itinerary has shown that the proposed model have successfully achieved the objective that minimize the tour cost and cover maximum number of places to be visited

Program-Budget Marginal-Analysis for University Strategies concept of Planning and Execution

Research addressing budgeting allocation planning on budget allocation and execution planning on Priotization of strategies are scanty in literature. This study presents program-budget marginal-analysis for university budget planning and execution aimed at priotizing budget allocation on strategies used for improving university rating. The research will illustrate the program-budget marginal-analysis with little adjustment to suit the university strategic budget allocations. This paper proposes a conceptional frame work for budget planning execution on university strategies. The framework for implementing PBMA will identify the total amount of available resources or funding allocated to priorities, examination of the current allocation activity, evaluation of benefit of cost of expansion with regards to both existing and new introduced strategies, in any of the existing services in use, which is effective with fewer resources allocation. Alternatives to be allocated fewer resources with greater effectiveness included in the priotized list. The budget allocation has the potential to maximize efficiency of each strategic allocation for improving the university rating

Identifying solution alternatives to curb employee absenteeism using analytic hierarchy process

This paper reports the findings of a survey analysis done to identify reasons for absenteeism and suitable remedial mechanisms to curb absenteeism among employees at an organization.Eight criteria that mostly influence employee absenteeism were selected from fifteen criteria obtained through a survey involving twelve employees with highest absenteeism record.In addition, five remedial mechanisms to curb the problem were identified.The final decision on the remedial mechanism believed to be most suitable and efficient in curbing the absenteeism problem was determined using analytic hierarchy process.The findings revealed that uninteresting work, illness and job stress are three top contributors to employee absenteeism while the top three alternatives to curb this problem are through staff recognition, attendance financial bonus, and counseling

Maximizing the utilization of Universiti Utara Malaysia's executive development center through proper supply chain

This study proposes a supply chain model for the Excecutive Development Center of Universiti Utara Malaysia (EDC-UUM) to enhance the usability and the visibility of EDC-UUM, thus increasing the demand for EDC-UUM services and indirectly, the profit as well.Specifically, this study embarks on two objectives which are to determine the resources available and opportunities that can be grabbed to strengthen the functions and usability of EDC-UUM and to develop a supply chain model for EDC-UUM that will incorporate all the resources and opportunities so that the demand for and the utilization of the training/seminar rooms and hotel rooms can be increased.To achieve the first objective, a SWOT analysis is conducted by assessing the current practice and future plans of EDC-UUM.The second objective is achieved by studying the characteristic of a hotel supply chain, and then maps the supply chain to suit the characteristics of EDC-UUM. In this report, the supply chain model focuses only on the first and second tier for EDC-UUM's product development that directly involves the use of local commu-nity members