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The purpose of this paper is to investigate and report students’ perception of service quality in a university by examining the perceptual context of service quality with respect to students’ loyalty behavior, image of the university and culture/values.

A research framework is developed for quality assessment with three hypotheses. A questionnaire with 65 instruments was used for gathering the required data for the analysis. The questionnaire was sent through email to all engineering students. The analysis included descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, gap analysis and hypotheses tests. Seven dimensions of service quality were identified: the original dimensions of the SERVQUAL, namely, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibles. Two additional dimensions image and culture/value were added for the research to understand perceived service quality and loyalty.

The results provide a significant positive correlation between service quality and student's loyalty. It also shows that there is statistically significant relation between the image of the institution and the perceived service quality, and culture/values of the students in the institution and perceived service quality.

This study used data collected from a survey in the university in a given period.

The findings indicate that to provide quality education, meeting students’ needs, wants and expectations of services quality should be carefully understood and addressed. Management also needs to consider factors such as corporate image and culture/value, as they have the ability to heavily impact the type of services provided by the institution.

The findings presented in this paper fill the gap in the current literature by providing empirical knowledge on the quality of service assessment and customer satisfaction in the higher education context. The study is the first of its kind in Qatar’s context and provides opportunities for higher institutions to focus more on current students’ services. This can lead to an increased brand value representing one of the premier institutes of higher education in the Middle East Gulf Region.

Project management skills are important for today’s engineers, as they get involved in various project-based employment roles. The purpose of this paper is to discuss a learning model to provide project management knowledge through scaffolding and project-based learning (PjBL) methods in the project engineering course.

This paper discusses a generic learning model that includes how scaffolding and project-based methods are integrated to provide project management skills to the students. The paper uses the survey method to collect and analyze data on the applicability of the model.

Statistical analysis of the collected data shows that the respondents positively perceive the value of the learning model to gain project management knowledge and skills. The response shows that the model is useful not only to the current students but also the graduates who use project management skills in their employment.

The learning model can be used by the instructors to provide project management skills to undergraduate and graduate students from all education disciplines.

This paper focuses on the development of a unique learning model, and artifacts used by the students and the instructors for interactive learning and gaining skills on project management.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the use of Petri nets in a job shop setup for the improvement in the utilization of machines.

The study discusses concepts such as reachable state, token and matrix equations set, and demonstrates the improvements in machines’ utilization in a job shop. It makes use of algorithms to generate reachable markings to obtain utilization. The study not only describes the application of theory, but also extends the body of knowledge on Petri nets and job shops.

In this study, machines’ utilization has been studied in a job shop with six machines and eight products. The study finds that substantial utilization improvement in job shop set up can be obtained through the application of Petri nets. The study also exposes that Petri nets are mostly used for machines, jobs and tools scheduling problems, but its use in machines’ utilization is neglected. The framework and application presented here along with generalizable findings, is the first to report about machine utilization improvement in job shop manufacturing environment.

Job shops are characterized by high unit production cost, low investments, low volume and high variety, complex flows, flexible and skilled work force, general purpose machines, high material handling; resulting in poor utilization of machines. Therefore, the findings of this study can help in reducing such costs through better machine utilization. This can help in increasing the competitiveness of the companies.

The contribution of study lies in investigating and improving stage wise utilization in a job shop setup. It has never been reported before.

This systematic literature review analyzes the academic literature to understand SC risk and resilience across different organizational sizes and industries. The academic literature has well discussed the causes of supply chain (SC) risk events, the impact of SC disruptions, and associated plans for SC resilience. However, the literature remains fragmented on the role of two fundamental elements in achieving SC resilience: the firm's size and the firm's industry as firms' contingent factors. Therefore, it is important to investigate and highlight SC resilience differences by size and industry type to establish more resilient firms.

Building upon the contingent resource-based view of the firm, the authors posit that organizational factors such as size and industry sector have important roles in developing organizational resilience capabilities. This systematic literature review and analysis is based on the structural and systematic analysis of high-ranked peer-reviewed journal papers from January 2000 to June 2021 collected through three global scientific databases (i.e. ProQuest, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar) using relevant keywords.

This systematic literature review of 230 high-quality articles shows that SC risk events can be categorized into demand, supply, organizational, operational, environmental, and network/control risk events. This study suggests that the SC resilience plans developed by startups, small and mdium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and large organizations are not necessarily the same as those of large enterprises. While collaboration and networking and risk management are the most crucial resilience capabilities for all firms, applying lean and quality management principles and utilizing information technology are more crucial for SMEs. For large firms, knowledge management and contingency planning are more important.

This study provides a comprehensive review of the literature on SC resilience plans across different organizational sizes and industries, offering new insights into the nature and dynamics of startups', SMEs', and large enterprises' SC resilience in different industries. The study highlights the need for further investigation of SC risk and resilience for startups, SMEs, and different industries on a more detailed level using empirical data. This study’s findings have important implications for researchers and practitioners and guide the development of effective SC resilience strategies for different types of firms.

The use of information technology (IT) in the logistics area is growing all over the world and so is the number of third party logistics providers. In this article a specific case of interrelation between the uses of IT at the third party logistics service providers (3PLs) in Singapore is highlighted. Information collected through a randomly selected sample of 3PLs indicates that more and more service providers are either planning to incorporate IT in their operations or are benefiting from their use. Towards this end, the providers are acquiring new knowledge, skills and technologies. The survey results showed that respondents are also concerned about their investments in IT as they feel that with rapidly changing technology, their equipment, skill and processes could become obsolete before any tangible benefits could be derived from them. The providers indicate that financial justification is another key barrier to full‐scale IT implementation. These constraints hinder the implementation of strategic IT projects, which require significant investments. Therefore, a package program for skill development and equipment incentive could be initiated for 3PLs in Singapore.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate logistics activities in Singapore hospitals. It defines various types of activities handled by a logistics division. Inventory management policy and the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) for logistics purposes are also discussed. The study identifies the nature of strategic alliances in Singapore's health care industry.

This study was conducted by utilizing a framework for data collection, pre‐testing the questionnaire and conducting interviews. Various relevant literature was reviewed to design the questionnaire.

This study finds that logistics division carry out many related activities and some of them also provide engineering services. The hospitals make use of ICT. The hospitals are clustered under various groups to minimize the cost of operation, including the logistics related costs. However, hospitals do not see alliances with suppliers as a strategic option; rather they focus on outsourcing of logistics services. The findings also show that Singapore hospitals have a good stocking policy for both medical and non‐medical items so that changes in patient mix can be easily handled.

Singapore is continuously improving its health care industry and therefore, the findings will help hospitals in other regions to adopt some of the practices, like concentrating on local vendors, outsourcing, clustering, and maximum use of information technology as competitive factors that can improve the service and reduce the cost of operation. The paper suggests motivators and barriers to the use of ICT in logistics in the health care industry.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a case study for professionals who are in research and practice in maintenance engineering. Design/methodology/approach – This is a case study. Therefore, on‐site involvement in the development of steps for maintenance projects has been included. Findings – The case study shows that, if project management practice and involvement of external experts and parties are allowed in the maintenance projects, then issues in maintenance projects can be addressed more clearly and the cost and schedule for such a maintenance project can also be optimized. The use of information technology in the whole process can be facilitated not only during the planning phase, but also during the execution and review process. Research limitations/implications – Implication of this study can be seen in TAM projects where time and energy have to be spent to get the best practice. The case study will show a real life example of TAM. Practical implications – The paper should help one to understand the implications of starting a turn‐around maintenance project and the issues built therein. The case study highlights that collaborative planning and execution of TAM are useful. Collaboration could be in terms of internal parties, such as decision makers and managers, or of external parties, such as external experts and contractors. Originality/value – There are only a few studies in the turn‐around management process. As oil refining is an important economic process, learning of cases in one of the major oil‐refining plants can help others to emulate the process so that overall efficiency of turn‐around maintenance can be increased across the industry.

Logistics companies have benefited from the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in their business processes. Although ICT is being promoted in the Singapore logistics industry, details on status and perception towards ICT are not well‐known. Therefore, in order to understand ICT penetration, a study is necessary.

In this paper, the current status of ICT use in warehouse and transportation service providers obtained through a sample survey is reported. A framework is adopted to assess the perception of logistics companies towards ICT.

The results show that most of the logistics companies use ICT but their level and type depend mainly on the size of the company and the availability of technology. Logistics companies in Singapore provide services to more than one industry type and, in most cases, one logistics company provides multiple logistics functions. These companies consider efficiency, cost savings, reduced data entry error and increased customer service level as opportunities from ICT. The analysis of perception indicates that the use of ICT in Singapore is perceived positively with the increase in size of a company but is indifferent regarding the type of industry covered and the type of service offered by the logistics companies.

This is a comprehensive study to understand the status of ICT in logistics in Singapore. An understanding of motivators and barriers on ICT can help the decision makers in devising better policies and programs, if required, to increase ICT penetration. The result also gives an indication as to the level of business fulfillment that can be provided by the logistics industry in Singapore.

In an e‐manufacturing environment, the acquisition of real time quality data and information is paramount for distributed collaborative manufacturers to make quick and correct actions towards quality problems in a manufacturing process. This paper attempts to assist manufacturers in obtaining such data and information and further to make decisions regarding quality control.

In this paper, an online quality information system (OQIS) for quality control in an e‐manufacturing environment is presented. The common object request broker architecture standards and client‐server technologies are applied to obtain real time data and information whenever required at different locations. In addition, several modules, responsible for product design, process planning, quality control and data input, are developed within a coherent OQIS information model.

Preliminary results show advantages of the OQIS for companies to obtain real time quality data and information. It can also suggest possible improvements pertaining to quality control towards e‐manufacturing.

The proposed OQIS can be further developed to solve such issues as explanation of complex quality information and deployment costs in the enterprise. Further research should be directed to the evolution of OQIS.

The OQIS can provide consistent quality data and information, based on which manufacturers can make timely and correct decisions in solving quality problems in an e‐manufacturing environment.