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The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of different Additive Manufacturing (AM) orientations on the structural behavior of topologically optimized wings for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), which might enable lightweight and low cost, yet complex, wing structural designs.

Based on an aerodynamic load, a two dimensional NACA0012 airfoil is topologically optimized considering PolyLatic Acid (PLA), several volume fractions and different manufacturing orientations. Then, the resulting topologies are post-processed to allow for manufacturing and extrude to three dimensional wing geometries with constant cross-sections. These wings are then manufactured using Fusion Deposition Modeling (FDM) technology and their dynamic structural behavior analyzed by means of Experimental Modal Analysis (EMA) in the linear elastic region.

Volume fraction increase is observed to improve the structural performance without increasing the manufacturing time. Despite manufacturing the wing from the leading edge to the trailing edge can reduce manufacturing time using FDM technology, it is found to be more difficult to build.

This research is a contribution toward the design and built of lightweight and low cost wings for UAS.

This paper aims to discuss and collect evidence about the hypothesis that, under imperfect information, the multipurpose public organization emulates its peers, arguing that this hypothesis can be fruitful to the study of this kind of organization.

At IPEC – Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Evandro Chagas, the clinical research institute affiliated to FIOCRUZ – Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, activities relating to infectious diseases –, e.g. diagnostic exams; outpatient care and patient admissions; teaching and research – are structured in the form of integrated action programs (briefly, PAIs). Taking into account the complexity of this organizational format, this paper applies a mathematical model allowing to define and compute managerial indicators referring to the eight main PAI programs with a view to measure their performance, to investigate whether there are any scale inefficiencies in the eight programs selected as decision‐making units (DMUs) and to assess the effectiveness of the whole organizational structure. To accomplish those objectives, the paper employs the so‐called DEA models with variable returns to scale – whereby two input and seven output variables were used to represent the eight DMUs.

Findings suggest that PAIs related to clinical research operated under increasing returns to scale between 2002 and 2006. To that extent, both the choice of PAIs as an organizational format and the current growth strategy at the Institute may be considered adequate.

This approach is valuable to complement the cost minimization analysis of specific activities of multipurpose organizations and has general application to the overall assessment of performance, structures and strategies in these organizations.

This paper aims to present a simple and innovative fuzzy methodology-based lean performance measurement system (L-PMS) for an Indian automotive supply chain. The paper also enlightens the influence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on supply chains and the practical implications of the unprecedented disruptions on the performance measurement systems.

The L-PMS is divided into three phases. In the first phase, the key performance indicator (KPI) list, as deemed fit by the organization, is prepared using literature and suggestions from the case organization. The list contains 61 KPIs measuring 24 performance dimensions in seven functional areas of the supply chain. In the second phase, the KPI performance data (actual, best and worst) are collected using the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. In the last phase, the leanness score of the case organization is calculated at four levels – KPI, dimension, functional area and overall organization.

The overall leanness score of the case organization is 60%. The case organization uses KPIs from all seven functional areas, but it needs to improve the number of KPIs in administration and supplier management functional areas. The case organization uses only quantitative KPIs. However, the performance dimensions at the middle level are adequate. The leanness level of the case organization in different areas is highly variable (ranges from 45% to 91%).

The major limitation of the study is that the case study is done at a single organization.

The managers at the different levels of the hierarchy can use the lean performance measurement score to leverage the better performing areas/dimensions/KPIs and improve poor performing areas/dimensions/KPIs. The lean performance measurement at functional area level can help leadership to give responsibility to different people for the improvement of leanness with respect to different dimensions/functional areas. The disruptive impact of COVID-19 should clearly be understood by the managers to make appropriate decisions based on the severity as measured at different levels.

According to the authors' best knowledge, this is the first lean performance measurement application at the four hierarchical levels (KPI, performance dimension, functional area and overall organization).

The purpose of this paper is to persuade a hybrid framework, which can be used to assess the performance of various supply chains and can be further used to segregate supply chains concerning critical KPMs. The KPMs have been selected in the COVID-19 pandemic condition.

A real case of e-commerce is presented to illustrate the working of the proposed framework comprising a hybrid methodology of BWM and Fuzzy TOPSIS to measure the performance of the e-commerce supply chains by identifying the critical key performance metrics (KPMs) and measuring the performance of the considered supply chains against these.

The proposed framework is illustrated using real-time data from experts, collected through interviews and discussions. It is found that rate of return on investment (SCPM 27), flexibility of service systems to meet particular customer needs (SCPM 23) and supplier lead time against industry norm (SCPM 33) are significantly weighed in assessing performance of the selected supply chains, with weights 0.07764, 0.06863 and 0.0547, respectively. Amazon and Flipkart are seen to stand out among the other supply chains taken for the present study with closeness coefficients as 0.945 and 0.516, respectively.

The contemporary world has seen the drastic attack of COVID-19 on many firms worldwide, and hence measuring the performance of the supply chains has become necessary so as to understand the critical factors affecting performance, their relative importance and the firm's relative standings. There have been studies in the recent past where researchers worked on similar motives to generate a framework to measure performance of supply chains, but it is seen that the methodologies lack flexibility with respect to effectively handling large data, uncertainty in human emotions, consistency, etc. This is where the current study stands out in effectively measuring the performance of supply chains so as to aid many firms affected by the pandemic.

We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.

The purpose of this study is to improve supplier performance and strategic sourcing decisions by integrating jobshop scheduling, inventory management and agile new product development. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the organizations have struggled a lot to maintain the supplier performance and strategic sourcing decisions in the organizational benefit. However, in this context, the organization’s agile new product development (ANPD) process must be aligned with this requirement by maintaining the inventory and jobshop scheduling. As a result, identifying ANPD indicators, performance metrics and developing a structural framework to guide practitioners at various stages for smooth adoption is essential to improve the overall performance.

A comprehensive literature review is conducted to identify jobshop scheduling, inventory management and ANPD indicators along with the performance metrics, and the hierarchical structure is developed with the help of expert opinion. The modified stepwise weight assessment ratio analysis (SWARA) and weighted aggregated sum product assurance (WASPAS) techniques, along with expert judgement, are used in this study to calculate the weights of the indicators and the ranking of the performance metrics.

As per the weight computation by SWARA method, the strategy indicators have the highest relative weight, followed by the product design indicators, management indicators, technical indicators, supply chain indicators and organization culture indicators. According to the ranking of performance metrics obtained through WASPAS, the “frequency of new product development is at the top”, followed by “advances in product design and development” and “estimated versus actual time to market”.

It is believed that the framework developed will help industrial practitioners to plan effectively to improve supplier performance. The indicators identified may guide the ANPD penetration, and performance metrics may be useful for evaluation and comparison.

The outcomes of the present study will be extremely beneficial for the industry practitioners to improve the supplier performance. The indicators identified may guide the ANPD penetration, and performance metrics may be useful for evaluation and comparison.

A unique combination of modified SWARA–WASPAS technique has been used in this study which would be beneficial for organizations willing to adopt the jobshop scheduling and inventory management and ANPD for improving supply chain performance.