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Describes a procedure for modelling the costs of production and distribution between several production facilities with economies of scale and many customers who are widely dispersed. The problem takes the form of a large transportation problem on which is superimposed a cost minimization problem involving variable production quantities. These costs involve fixed costs for initiating production and variable costs with diminishing returns to scale. Models the problem as a non‐linear integer programming problem and then solves it using a recently developed non‐linear integer algorithm. Describes two applications in Australia and New Zealand and illustrates how comparison with a mixed‐integer linear programming formulation shows a significant improvement.

Reviews the value of network concepts as a means of portraying complex logistics and distribution systems. Reports on research which focuses on the broader issues of model formulation and solution techniques rather than specific applications. Addresses the issues of designing networks with a tree structure, and also more general ones in which loops are allowed and redundancy enforced. The decision variables involved are related to whether or not a link should exist between two specific pairs of nodes, and then what should be the level of traffic flow on that particular link. Describes the design problem in detail and possible models that could be used to represent it. Follows with a description of genetic algorithms to solve the synthesis problem of deciding the node‐link topology, and the use of linear and non‐linear programming to solve the problem of assigning traffic flow to a network with a given typology in a least‐cost manner. Concludes with a description of computational experience with solving such problems.

Academic researchers are increasingly required, and rightly so, to demonstrate the impact of their work beyond the gates of the university. This has led to an increasing focus, especially in response to funded calls, on developing research partnerships that cross disciplines, sectors and borders to help address our grand societal challenges. The purpose of this paper is to set out learning from the work of the organisation the Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland (CARDI) and reflections on how to bring forward effective research partnerships involving users.

This paper is based on reflections and learning from the organisation CARDI which delivered a highly successful programme of interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral and cross-country research partnerships in both rural and urban areas between 2007 and 2015, across the island of Ireland.

Research partnerships that wish to involve users require time, commitment, support, understanding and a willingness to change and be challenged. This paper highlights that there are methodological, philosophical, moral, economic and of course, practical aspects to be considered.

This reflective paper is based on a case study from the island of Ireland during the period 2007–2015 working in the area of ageing and older people.

The author emphasises that for research partnerships involving users to be successful, they need to not only consider the most effective research methods but also focus on the overarching purpose of the work and adopt an ethos and practice that maximises each partner’s knowledge and expertise to their full potential.

This reflective paper focused on the characteristics associated with partnership success, i.e. communication style, values, philosophy and practice and argues that establishing effective and inclusive partnerships requires time, the appropriate framework and reviewing the process on an ongoing basis.

The issue of user involvement in research partnerships requires much more consideration. Researchers, government, funders, businesses and service providers are increasingly recognising the benefits of “user” involvement to help design programmes and services that are most effective. Nowhere is this more important than in planning and delivering services, policy and programmes for our ageing population.

Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to examine the field of criminal justice and assess how diversity influences what is taught and, how research is conducted in the field.

Methodology/approach – This chapter looks at the historical exclusion of feminist and integrative theories on crime and criminal justice. A socio-legal analysis of how the increase in the number of women faculty and faculty of color has influenced teaching and research in the field of criminal justice.

Findings – As more women and persons of color become faculty and practitioners in the field of criminal justice, then more diverse perspectives will be promoted. It is not enough to change a discriminatory law or engage in affirmative action to hire more women and persons of color, it is important to understand how preconceived biases about women and non-white persons impact who we define as criminal, how we educate students in the field, and how we respond to the needs of offenders and victims.

Originality/value – Research on diversity in the field of criminal justice has focused on historical discrimination. More research is needed on the impact that diversity has in research performed and what is being taught in the field of criminal justice.

The purpose of this paper is to deal with a new dispatching and optimization of reactive power sources in power systems.

The methodology is first based on an optimal movement of existing reactive sources as a first phase, then an optimal investment in a second phase and finally a combination of the two previous phases as the third one. The methodology showed also the advantage of a two‐levels procedure, considering an initial minimal compensation before minimizing the active losses. The solution of the global non‐linear problem is performed using the projected and augmented Lagrange method associated with the reduced gradient and the DFP methods.

In waiting for new investment programs which are planned for limited periods, the study presents an alternative of optimizing the reactive power compensation by a movement of the power sources or some of them, satisfying all system constraints and minimizing also the active power losses.

The planners and operators are able to decide what cases are to be considered for reactive power dispatch; the proposed program gives a proposal solution to almost all changes that can occur to the power system (incident, contingency, load variation, development).

Today, global supply chains must deal with large amounts of uncertainty. This paper seeks to provide a framework for understanding the different types of uncertainties that can impact supply chains and their attendant information systems.

Addresses the following questions. What are the different types of uncertainty at the general macro level? How are these macro level uncertainty types broken down into more specific types of uncertainty seen in supply chains? What impact do these uncertainties have on the supply chain and the supporting IS, and what are the current methods for dealing with them?

The term uncertainty is used as a generic reference for various and sundry different types of problems within the management of supply chains and their supporting information systems (IS). This can lead to confusion about what tools and techniques are available and which tools apply to which types of problems. The framework presented allows researchers and practitioners to more accurately converse about the exact problems encountered in the management of supply chains and the tools that are needed to address these problems.

The paper addresses uncertainty in supply chains and provides a starting‐point for further discussion and research on the management of uncertainty within them.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the long‐term ability of the Integrated Southern Ghor Project (ISGP) to meet the required water demands, assess the resulting energy requirements, pumping costs, water transfers, benefits of the current system with respect to predevelopment conditions and effect of projected water demands increase on the resulting water deficits.

A surface water resources management model is developed using dynamic programming. The model inputs are the hydrological inflows from the different wadis in the project area, reservoirs characteristics and evaporation rates, system water demands. The model outputs are water deficits at the different demand areas, reservoirs storage and release sequences, water transfers and energy requirements and the associated costs. The average annual values of different performance criteria with the annual frequency curves are used to evaluate the implications of different water scenarios on the ISGP.

The results show the efficiency of the ISGP model in reducing the water deficits in the demand areas as compared to predevelopment conditions. Increased demand scenario showed the importance of finding new water projects to supplement the Southern Ghor Area in the future in order to meet the increasing water demands. The proposed water transfer will reduce the resulting deficits at the agricultural areas without the expenses of increasing the water deficits at other demand areas. The application of this model is expected to enhance decision making regarding water policies in Jordan.

This paper provides critical quantitative information to decision makers in Jordan about the potential of the different storage facilities and proposed transfers in meeting the required water demands in the Southern Ghor Project and assesses the required energy for that. This can help decision makers to have a holistic view about the expected water deficits in the area and therefore assist them in determining the areas impacted most and what alternative solution to use. The paper also shows the importance of using optimal control/management models to support water resources decision making in Jordan.

Locating hub facilities is important in different types of transportation and communication networks. The p‐Hub Median Problem (p‐HMP) addresses a class of hub location problems in which all hubs are interconnected and each non‐hub node is assigned to a single hub. The hubs are uncapacitated, and their number p is initially determined. Introduces an Artificial Intelligence (AI) heuristic called simulated annealing to solve the p‐HMP. The results are compared against another AI heuristic, namely Tabu Search, and against two other non‐AI heuristics. A real world data set of airline passenger flow in the USA, and randomly generated data sets are used for computational testing. The results confirm that AI heuristic approaches to the p‐HMP outperform non‐AI heuristic approaches on solution quality.

Describes the analysis of the logistics system of a supplier of anhydrous sodium sulphate to the Australian market. This examination considered the total cost and customer service implications of the present supply of this bulk product from one Canadian and US west coast source, its unloading at three Australian ports and subsequent distribution to customers in major Australian markets. Examines a number of options for restructuring anhydrous sodium sulphate logistics including the use of a single inbound port and the establishment of a single centralised distribution centre. In addition to these major structural options, examines a number of possible improvements which could be applied to any of them: the installation of a centralised national order processing operation; the reduction of national inventory holdings; changes in the terms of trade; modified relations with distributors; and improved interrelationships with customers. Uses a spreadsheet model to examine these options.

Process mapping is an essential tool for business process re‐engineering. During the initial steps of business process re‐engineering process mapping is used to evaluate the existing processes and to identify their non‐value added activities. Presents a method for determining the most economical way to determine the levels of process mapping for the purpose of re‐designing. Using this approach, the process designer can determine how many levels of process mapping are required for a given process and how much it is likely to cost. Accordingly, this approach is a more realistic tool for budgeting for process mapping costs and for determining the cost‐effective level of mapping. This approach is based on balancing the usefulness against the cost of collecting the information through process mapping. The main benefit from this approach is an overall reduction in the cost of business process re‐engineering. Therefore this approach may be referred to as the least cost process mapping. This is because this method can be used to determine the optimum level of process mapping and the least cost of process mapping.