Can B. Kalayci and Surendra M. Gupta
Disturbing increase in the use of virgin resources to produce new products has threatened the environment. Many countries have reacted to this situation through regulations which…
Abstract
Disturbing increase in the use of virgin resources to produce new products has threatened the environment. Many countries have reacted to this situation through regulations which aim to eliminate negative impact of products on the environment shaping the concept of environmentally conscious manufacturing and product recovery (ECMPRO). The first crucial and the most time-consuming step of product recovery is disassembly. The best productivity rate is achieved via a disassembly line in an automated disassembly process. In this chapter, we consider a sequence-dependent disassembly line balancing problem (SDDLBP) with multiple objectives that is concerned with the assignment of disassembly tasks to a set of ordered disassembly workstations while satisfying the disassembly precedence constraints and optimizing the effectiveness of several measures considering sequence-dependent time increments among disassembly tasks. Due to the high complexity of the SDDLBP, there is currently no known way to optimally solve even moderately sized instances of the problem. Therefore, an efficient methodology based on the simulated annealing (SA) is proposed to solve the SDDLBP. Case scenarios are considered and comparisons with ant colony optimization (ACO), particle swarm optimization (PSO), river formation dynamics (RFD), and tabu search (TS) approaches are provided to demonstrate the superior functionality of the proposed algorithm.
Details
Keywords
Digitalisation is a key driver of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) to better understand the opportunities and challenges pertaining to digital transformation;…
Abstract
Digitalisation is a key driver of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) to better understand the opportunities and challenges pertaining to digital transformation; organisations adopt different approaches to dealing with digitisation. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the impact of Industry 4.0 on the procurement process re-engineering and its role within the area of supply chain management. Additionally, the research will examine barriers and challenges involved in the digitalisation of procurement and supply chains and how to overcome them. According to the findings, digitalisation of the procurement process can have several advantages, such as supporting complex decision-making processes and administrative tasks, focusing on strategic decisions and activities, transforming procurement into a strategic interface to support organisational efficiency, effectiveness and profitability and fostering the development of new business models. Furthermore, the study highlighted various influencing factors, challenges and the role of stakeholders impacting the digitalisation of procurement functions and supply chains.
Details
Keywords
Mehdi Rahmani, Pantea Foroudi, S. Asieh H. Tabaghdehi and Ramin Behbehani
With the global market for advanced technology-driven customer service set to soar, understanding the complicated relationship between advanced technology and customer purchase…
Abstract
With the global market for advanced technology-driven customer service set to soar, understanding the complicated relationship between advanced technology and customer purchase behaviour is paramount. While prior research has touched upon the impact of technology on purchase processes in some aspects, this study investigates the specific features of advanced technology that shape customer purchase intention in greater depth. By investigating when and under what conditions customers choose advanced technology-based purchases, this research sheds light on the evolving landscape of consumer decision-making and it seeks to quantify the transformative power of advanced technology in driving customer purchase intentions.
Details
Keywords
Søren Skjold Andersen, Mahesh C. Gupta and Diego Augusto de Jesus Pacheco
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914), recognized as the father of philosophical pragmatism, has been described as a philosopher’s philosopher. Eliyahu Moshe Goldratt (1947–2011)…
Abstract
Purpose
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914), recognized as the father of philosophical pragmatism, has been described as a philosopher’s philosopher. Eliyahu Moshe Goldratt (1947–2011), considered the father of the management philosophy theory of constraints (TOC), has been described as being, first and foremost, a philosopher. The TOC body of knowledge is mainly preserved as concrete methodologies used in the management discipline. By examining the foundational elements of synechism and the TOC, the purpose of this study is to investigate the intellectual connections between the arguments and legacies of Goldratt and Peirce. Although this connection is worthy of much further investigation, the research emphasizes the possible implications from a management philosophy perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a “review with an attitude,” the authors first examined the foundations of Goldratt’s TOC through the lens of Peirce’s synechism. Next, the authors then examined how the study of Peirce combined with a selection of contemporary research in the management and organizational studies domain could point out a direction toward completing Goldratt’s unfinished intellectual work to establish a unified science management while addressing some of the current gaps in the TOC body of knowledge.
Findings
Major findings show that synechism’s growth may extend TOC knowledge, improving managerial practice in organizations. Findings on the convergent ideas of both also reveal that Goldratt valued all synechism categories, emphasizing the importance of not overlooking Firstness. Furthermore, the study analyzes the abductive inference demonstrated in the two use cases, introducing an additional metaphor to the management of organizational systems inspired by Peirce’s philosophical concepts. The research concludes that incorporating TOC and synechism principles can enhance management and organizational practices and enrich management philosophy and theories.
Research limitations/implications
This pioneering research opens promising opportunities to draw parallels between Peirce and Goldratt. Interdisciplinary collaboration will enhance the rigor and validity of integrating synechism and TOC. Experts in organizational behavior, systems theory and complexity science can provide valuable insights into this debate, while practitioners and consultants could help identify barriers and opportunities for integrating synechistic principles.
Practical implications
The study proposes a novel abductive approach using Peirce’s cable metaphor as an initial framework to build a unified science of management based on evolutionary stages: TOC, common sense and connectedness.
Originality/value
This research reinforces the argument that contemporary management practices need philosophical thinking. The authors argue that re-evaluating the foundations of management thought enriches the decision-making process in organizations and the understanding of contemporary theories in management and organizational studies.
Details
Keywords
Brian McBreen, John Silson and Denise Bedford
This chapter reviews traditional intelligence work, primarily how intelligence was perceived and conducted in the industrial economy. The review includes economic sectors with…
Abstract
Chapter Summary
This chapter reviews traditional intelligence work, primarily how intelligence was perceived and conducted in the industrial economy. The review includes economic sectors with dedicated intelligence functions such as military, law enforcement, and national security. The review also includes secondary intelligence work in all other economic sectors. Looking across all these examples, the authors present a traditional life cycle model of intelligence work and highlight this traditional view of intelligence’s tactical and reactive approach. The chapter details the historical evolution and common intelligence elements in military, business, law enforcement, judicial forensics, national security, market, financial, medical, digital, and computer forensics.
Can B. Kalayci, Olcay Polat and Surendra M. Gupta
The purpose of this paper is to efficiently solve disassembly line balancing problem (DLBP) and the sequence-dependent disassembly line balancing problem (SDDLBP) which are both…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to efficiently solve disassembly line balancing problem (DLBP) and the sequence-dependent disassembly line balancing problem (SDDLBP) which are both known to be NP-complete.
Design/methodology/approach
This manuscript utilizes a well-proven metaheuristics solution methodology, namely, variable neighborhood search (VNS), to address the problem.
Findings
DLBPs are analyzed using the numerical instances from the literature to show the efficiency of the proposed approach. The proposed algorithm showed superior performance compared to other techniques provided in the literature in terms of robustness to reach better solutions.
Practical implications
Since disassembly is the most critical step in end-of-life product treatment, every step toward improving disassembly line balancing brings us closer to cost savings and compelling practicality.
Originality/value
This paper is the first adaptation of VNS algorithm for solving DLBP and SDDLBP.
Details
Keywords
Gaki Wangmo, Rico Piehler and Chris Baumann
Brand competitiveness as a brand’s outperformance of competing brands is receiving growing attention in the literature. This study aims to provide a theoretical underpinning for…
Abstract
Purpose
Brand competitiveness as a brand’s outperformance of competing brands is receiving growing attention in the literature. This study aims to provide a theoretical underpinning for the construct’s relevance, introduce customer-based brand competitiveness (CBBC) as a customer-based perspective and develop a scale to measure the construct.
Design/methodology/approach
The scale development process comprises three stages, with a literature search and a qualitative consumer study (n = 20) in the scale construction stage, interviews and a survey with academic branding experts (n = 21) in the scale refinement stage and three quantitative studies with consumers (n = 1,157), resulting in 2,078 brand evaluations across five industries, in the scale validation stage.
Findings
This study develops a seven-item CBBC scale, representing a powerful yet parsimonious tool for measuring brand competitiveness. The superiority of the new over the existing brand competitiveness scale was validated through structural equation modelling by comparing the performance in explaining customer-based brand equity and purchase intentions.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to develop a brand competitiveness scale following a scholarly scale development process. The CBBC scale advances the relative perspective in brand performance measures, considering the relativity at the individual customer level. This study offers a theoretical underpinning for the construct’s relevance and further insights into brand competitiveness by investigating the customer-based perspective. Finally, this study suggests and empirically validates customer-based brand equity and purchase intentions as outcomes of CBBC, extending research into the nomological network of brand competitiveness.
Details
Keywords
C.S. Gupta, J.C. Bruch and V. Comincioli
A numerical solution to the free boundary problem of three‐dimensional transient seepage through an earth dam with accretion is presented. The numerical model uses a Baiocchi type…
Abstract
A numerical solution to the free boundary problem of three‐dimensional transient seepage through an earth dam with accretion is presented. The numerical model uses a Baiocchi type transformation to extend the unknown solution region to a fixed known region. The initial value problem is then solved by an iterative method of successive over‐relaxation type. A seepage situation of sudden rise of water level on one side of a dam is presented as an example problem. The effects of variation of accretion, effective porosity and hydraulic conductivity are studied.