Daniel Reich, Ira Lewis, Austin J. Winkler, Benjamin Leichty and Lauren B. Bobzin
The purpose of this paper is to help optimize sustainment logistics for US Army brigade combat teams, which may face challenges in transporting their assigned assets.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to help optimize sustainment logistics for US Army brigade combat teams, which may face challenges in transporting their assigned assets.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper develops a simulation framework with an integrated integer programming optimization model. The integer-programming model optimizes sustainment outcomes of supported battalions on a daily basis, whereas the simulation framework analyzes risk associated with shortfalls that may arise over the entire duration of a conflict.
Findings
This work presents a scenario reflecting the steady resupply of an infantry brigade combat team during combat operations and presents an in-depth risk analysis for possible fleet compositions.
Originality/value
The risk curves obtained allow decision-makers and commanders to optimize vehicle fleet design in advance of a conflict.
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Kenneth Doerr, Ira Lewis and Donald R. Eaton
Performance Based Logistics (PBL) is an acquisition reform that is intended to improve weapon systems logistics by reducing cost, improving reliability, and reducing footprint…
Abstract
Performance Based Logistics (PBL) is an acquisition reform that is intended to improve weapon systems logistics by reducing cost, improving reliability, and reducing footprint. PBL is an extension of a broad process of rationalizing and, in many cases, outsourcing government services. As with other examples of governmental service outsourcing, measurement issues arise in the gap between governmental objectives and service measurement, and in the contrast between clear profit-centered vendor metrics, and more complex mission-oriented governmental metrics. Beyond this, however, PBL presents new challenges to the relationship between governmental agencies and their service vendors. In many cases, weapons systems logistical support involves levels of operational risk that are more difficult to measure and more difficult to value than other government services. We discuss the implications of operational risk and other measurement issues on PBL implementation.
Ira Lewis and Alexander Talalayevsky
Coordination is the management of dependencies between activities. Given that supply chains represent the functional integration of many interdependent activities associated with…
Abstract
Coordination is the management of dependencies between activities. Given that supply chains represent the functional integration of many interdependent activities associated with the flow of goods, coordination theory offers a framework for understanding and designing supply chains. Supply chains are separated into two distinct substructures: physical (dealing with the flow and storage of goods) and information (dealing with information associated with those goods). Optimization that alters the storage and movement of information and incorporates the impact of information technology leads to a distinct set of node connections and configurations for each substructure. Our analysis uses transaction cost economics to contrast the differences between structures infused with information technology and traditional supply chains.
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Ira Lewis and Jim Suchan
While the physical paths that goods traverse are being simplified, the capture, storage, processing and dissemination of information associated with logistics has become…
Abstract
While the physical paths that goods traverse are being simplified, the capture, storage, processing and dissemination of information associated with logistics has become considerably more complex. Logistics researchers need to better understand the behavioral and managerial issues created by information technology implementation. The paper suggests that structuration theory, a research approach derived from sociology that has become well established in the study of information systems, can contribute to that understanding. This paper introduces logistics researchers to structuration theory as a useful theoretical framework that can help understand the relationship between technologies, the people who interpret them, and the patterns of use that stem from that interpretation.
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The purpose of this paper is to draw together in one place knowledge that is relevant to the possible role of RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) in contractor monitoring. The…
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to draw together in one place knowledge that is relevant to the possible role of RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) in contractor monitoring. The paper uses multiple case studies and internet survey methods to explore several issues in RFIDenabled monitoring of contractors. It also offers some conceptual frameworks to help decision makers think through ways RFID might emerge as a contractor monitoring technology as well as some of the key reasons for using this mechanism of monitoring. The paper concludes with research challenges and key issues for practitioners.
This study is a considered interpretation of the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme for the health professions, which commenced operations in Australia in 2010. The…
Abstract
This study is a considered interpretation of the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme for the health professions, which commenced operations in Australia in 2010. The development of the Scheme and its operational elements (namely the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency and 14 profession-specific national Boards) are positioned within the context of regulatory capitalism. Regulatory capitalism merges the experience of neoliberalism with an attentiveness to risk, particularly by the State. Nationally consistent legislation put in place a new set of arrangements that enabled the continuity of governments’ role in health workforce governance. The new arrangements resulted in an entity which is neither exclusively subservient to nor independent of the State, but rather “quasi-independent.” In exploring this arrangement, specific consideration is given to how the regulatory response matched the existing reality of a global (and national) health workforce market. This study considers this activity by the State as one of consolidation, as opposed to fracturing, against a backdrop of purposeful regulatory reform.
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Denise Bedford, Ira Chalphin, Karen Dietz and Karla Phlypo
Workforce shortages and maldistribution in the health care sector are the outcome of poor planning processes, entrenched power relations, jurisdictional boundaries and…
Abstract
Purpose
Workforce shortages and maldistribution in the health care sector are the outcome of poor planning processes, entrenched power relations, jurisdictional boundaries and professional silos. In seeking to redress these problems, countries are moving toward establishing independent agencies to monitor, regulate and shape the health workforce. In Australia, for example, Health Workforce Australia (HWA) has been established to provide data on workforce numbers and fund clinical education. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether this strategy is likely to work. By locating HWA within the framework of an Independent Regulatory Agency, the implicit strengths and weaknesses of using HWA to manage workforce planning are highlighted.
Design/methodology/approach
A theoretical discussion on regulatory capitalism and Independent Regulatory Authorities provides the context for the case study: the gynaecological cancer workforce – a niche health workforce that is complex and multidisciplinary. Data are from a mixed method study commissioned by Cancer Australia.
Findings
The analysis of the gynaecological cancer workforce illustrates the difficulties that HWA will face in defining the health workforce, in measuring supply and demand and in setting targets for training and education.
Research limitations/implications
Findings are limited by the fact that HWA was only established in mid 2009.
Social implications
The establishment of independent agencies to oversee and implement government policy is a new form of control over universities and health professionals that challenges their professional autonomy.
Originality/value
This paper points to the creation of new agencies of government control in the wake of an international health workforce crisis.
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Denise Bedford, Ira Chalphin, Karen Dietz and Karla Phlypo
Denise Bedford, Ira Chalphin, Karen Dietz and Karla Phlypo