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Article
Publication date: 8 May 2019

Syed Mohd Muneeb, Mohammad Asim Nomani, Malek Masmoudi and Ahmad Yusuf Adhami

Supplier selection problem is the key process in decision making of supply chain management. An effective selection of vendors is heavily responsible for the success of any…

438

Abstract

Purpose

Supplier selection problem is the key process in decision making of supply chain management. An effective selection of vendors is heavily responsible for the success of any organization. Vendor selection problem (VSP) reflects a more practical view when the decision makers involved in the problem are present on different levels. Moreover, vendor selection consists of various random parameters to be dealt with in real life. The purpose of this paper is to present a decentralized bi-level VSP where demand and supply are normal random variables and objectives are fuzzy in nature. Decision makers are present at two levels and are called as leader and follower. As the next purpose, this paper extends and presents a solution approach for fuzzy bi-level multi-objective decision-making model with stochastic constraints. Different scenarios have been developed within a real-life case study based on different sets of controlling factors under the control of leader.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses chance-constrained programming and fuzzy set theory to generate the results. Stochastic constraints are converted into deterministic constraints using chance-constrained programming. Decision variables in the bi-level VSP are partitioned between the two levels and considered as controlling factors. Membership functions based on fuzzy set theory are created for the goals and controlling factors and are used to obtain the overall satisfactory solutions. The model is tested on a real-life case study of a textile industry and different scenarios are constructed based on the choice of leader’s controlling factors.

Findings

Results showed that the approach is quite helpful as it generates efficient results producing a good level of satisfaction for the decision makers of both the levels. Results showed that on choosing the vendors that are associated with worst values in terms of associated costs, vendor ratings and quota flexibilities as controlling factors by the leaders, the level of satisfaction achieved is highest. The level of satisfaction of solution is lowest for the scenario when the leader chooses to control the decision variables associated with vendors that are profiled with minimum vendor ratings. Results also showed that higher availability of materials and budget with vendors proved helpful in obtaining quota allocations. Different scenarios generate different results along with different values of satisfaction degrees and objective values which shows the flexible feature of the approach based on leader’s choice of controlling factors. Numerical results showed that the leader’s control can be effectively incorporated maintaining satisfaction levels of the followers under various scenarios or conditions.

Research limitations/implications

The paper makes a certain contribution toward the study of vendor selection existing in a hierarchical manner under uncertain environment. A wide set of data of different factors is needed which can be seen as a limitation when the available time is short for the supplier selection process.

Practical implications

VSP which is generally adopted by most of the large organizations is characterized with hierarchical decision making. Moreover, dealing with the real-life concern, the data available for some of the parameters are not complete, representing an uncertainty of parameters. This study is quite helpful for decentralized VSP under uncertain environment to reduce the costs, improve profit margins and to create long-term relationships with selected vendors. The proposed model also provides an avenue to explore the decision making when the leader has control over some of the decision variables.

Originality/value

Reviewing the literature available, this is the first attempt to present a multi-objective VSP where the decision makers are at hierarchical levels considering uncertain parameters such as demand and supply as per the best knowledge of authors. This research further provides an approach to construct scenarios or different cases based on the choice of leader’s choice of controlling factors.

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Article
Publication date: 30 May 2008

Yusuf Ahmad and Mike Broussine

The purpose of the paper is to report on the results of an inquiry into the possible reasons why many public service managers and leaders across six European countries report a…

1255

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to report on the results of an inquiry into the possible reasons why many public service managers and leaders across six European countries report a loss of personal agency and suggests a possible pedagogic response to this.

Design/methodology/approach

The nature of agency is explored with reference to theory, and the methodology for the study – heuristic action inquiry – is outlined. The paper argues that spaces within postgraduate education are needed to facilitate managers' critical reflection and working with anxiety, and the article goes on to outline how public services leadership programmes can seek to achieve this.

Findings

The paper suggests that programmes need to work both with the cognitive and affective domains, and to find ways of exploring within the curriculum how managers may begin more to see their roles as potentially key actors in the policy‐making process rather than as passive recipients of policy imperatives received from above. The loss of agency experienced by public servants in several European countries suggests that MPA programmes and the like need to work with students' anxieties in a contained way.

Originality/value

Some trends within contemporary public services that lie behind anxiety and loss of agency are identified, including high emphasis on performance targets, centrally driven change, financial stringency, loss of professional and organisation identities, a perpetuation of a “private is best” governmental ideology, and contradictory accountability structures.

Details

International Journal of Public Sector Management, vol. 21 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3558

Keywords

Available. Content available
Article
Publication date: 30 May 2008

John Raine, Yusuf Ahmad, Mike Broussine, Jean Hartley and J.C. Ry Nielsen

518

Abstract

Details

International Journal of Public Sector Management, vol. 21 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3558

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 7 October 2021

Maura Pilotti, Halah Alkuhayli and Runna Al Ghazo

In the present study, the authors examined whether academic performance [grade point average (GPA)] can be predicted by self-reported frequency of memorization and recitation…

5721

Abstract

Purpose

In the present study, the authors examined whether academic performance [grade point average (GPA)] can be predicted by self-reported frequency of memorization and recitation, verbatim memory performance, and self-efficacy in a sample of college students from Saudi Arabia.

Design/methodology/approach

Students' verse memory, word memory, experience with memorization and recitation, as well as general self-efficacy were measured. GPA was provided by the Office of the Registrar.

Findings

Verbatim memory performance for individual words and verses moderately predicted GPA.

Research limitations/implications

To be determined is the extent to which memory skills for different materials are related to memorization and recitation practice as well as encoding preferences.

Practical implications

The findings indicate that even though in college a premium is placed on activities that transform the format of the materials to be learned, activities that replicate materials may still be helpful.

Social implications

In Western pedagogy, memorization and recitation are considered counterproductive modes of information acquisition. The findings of this study illustrate that retention is an essential processing step upon which the complex cognitive activities that are embedded in college-level curricula rely.

Originality/value

The extant literature illustrates the benefits of exceptional memorization and recitation training. The findings suggest that academic success is positively related to what would be judged as moderate practice, thereby supporting the notion that benefits exist.

Details

Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: Gulf Perspectives, vol. 18 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2077-5504

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Article
Publication date: 1 June 2000

Chris Miller and Yusuf Ahmad

Posits that collaboration in the UK is either recommended as good practice or enshrined within legislation as a necessity. Chronicles that there has been a sustained growth in the…

2469

Abstract

Posits that collaboration in the UK is either recommended as good practice or enshrined within legislation as a necessity. Chronicles that there has been a sustained growth in the number of formal and informal collaborative relationships between state agencies and market, voluntary and community sectors, as well as within and between state agencies themselves. Uses illustrative case study materials drawn from the authors’ research and consultancy experiences, particularly in the areas of inner city community based mental health, urban regeneration, policing, and child and adolescent mental health. Concludes that research has extensively been drawn on to illustrate the dilemmas that regularly arise when attempting to implement this policy objective.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 20 no. 5/6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

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Article
Publication date: 30 May 2008

Claus Nygaard and Pia Bramming

The purpose of this paper is to give concrete ideas to the development of MPA programmes in the light of the changing public sector. Following the introduction of ideas and…

1206

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to give concrete ideas to the development of MPA programmes in the light of the changing public sector. Following the introduction of ideas and practices from New Public Management, public managers face new requirements. The paper aims to deal with some of them and argues that in order to be a competent manager in the public sector today, one needs to be able to self‐develop four types of competence‐in‐practice: methodological competencies; theoretical competencies; meta‐theoretical competencies; and contextual competencies.

Design methodology/approach

The approach in the paper is explorative and normative. The paper explores the changes and challenges in the public sector based on the aforementioned four types of competence‐in‐practice. Following that the paper presents a normative model for curriculum design and exemplify the development and possible processes of learning‐centered MPA programmes.

Findings

The paper finds that learning‐centred MPA programmes are fruitful for the development of said the types of competence‐in‐practice.

Practical implications

With its particular focus on public sector management education this article may be relevant to curriculum developers, academics and practitioners interested in education and employability of public managers.

Originality/value

The paper shows that building on theories about learning, competencies, and curriculum development suggests a processual model for curriculum development that can inspire faculty members to develop learning‐centred MPA programmes where focus is learning and competence development.

Details

International Journal of Public Sector Management, vol. 21 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3558

Keywords

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Article
Publication date: 30 May 2008

Dorthe Pedersen and Jean Hartley

Purpose – Reform, transformation and restructuring have become endemic in public services. This paper aims to examine the central “modernisation” and improvement themes of public…

6772

Abstract

Purpose – Reform, transformation and restructuring have become endemic in public services. This paper aims to examine the central “modernisation” and improvement themes of public service reform in Denmark and the UK. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on the authors' reflections on experience and analysis, drawing on the UK and Denmark as sites where there have been substantial efforts to undertake public services reform. It argues that there has been a weakening of the hierarchically organised state in favour of more differentiated governance regimes that cut across the public, private and voluntary sectors. However, the new dynamic image of public leadership and the apparently enlarged opportunities for managerial discretion seem to be counter‐balanced by a strengthening of central interventions and controls. Findings – The paper identifies that managing the tensions and paradoxes of governance regimes has become a key element of the work of public service managers, and that this means that three sets of dynamics need to be worked with. First, the dynamics of self‐creation means that authority is not solely formal but that self‐constitution is necessary. Second, the dynamics of strategising means that managers cannot rely on a fixed legal or professional set of values but must be able to decode, challenge and develop varied sets of values and goals, working with varied rationales for action. Third, the dynamics of networking and negotiation mean that management and leadership positions are partly created through negotiated relations in a network‐like governance structure. Practical implications – These dynamics mean that teaching and learning have to address new challenges if programmes for public service leaders and managers are to be enabling. Originality/value – The paper highlights the challenges facing public sector leaders and managers.

Details

International Journal of Public Sector Management, vol. 21 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3558

Keywords

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Book part
Publication date: 17 December 2016

J. C. Ry Nielsen and John W. Raine

This chapter tells the story of the initiation, development (over two decades) and collective contribution of the Copenhagen Forum since its foundation in 1996. This Forum…

Abstract

Purpose

This chapter tells the story of the initiation, development (over two decades) and collective contribution of the Copenhagen Forum since its foundation in 1996. This Forum comprises a grouping of teachers and directors of masters-level public administrative programmes (notably the MPA) from different academic institutions across Northern Europe. Each year a workshop is convened where a series of papers are presented by the participants, and from which this volume, and a number of other related publications, have been derived.

Design/methodology/approach

The chapter is essentially factual and descriptive in style; summarising the story of the Copenhagen Forum so far; doing so under the following five headings – ‘overview’, ‘origins’, ‘odyssey’, ‘outputs’ and ‘outcomes’.

Practical implications

The chapter is particularly oriented towards teachers of public administration and by focusing on the pedagogical aspects of the public management programmes that they are responsible for delivering, provides insights, guidance and suggestions from experience to help them develop their practice.

Originality/value

The aim is to provide readers with an appreciation of the context from which the inspiration for this volume, and the individual contributions, derive. It is a context that has been all about a shared fascination with, and collective commitment to, the advancement of learning and development among practicing public managers.

Details

Developing Public Managers for a Changing World
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78635-080-0

Keywords

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Article
Publication date: 30 May 2008

Bríd Quinn and Grete Wennes

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to explore why critical reflexivity should be promoted within mid‐career management education programmes and articulate the benefits of a…

846

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to explore why critical reflexivity should be promoted within mid‐career management education programmes and articulate the benefits of a deliberate research orientation for such programmes. Design/methodology/approach – Having considered meta‐issues concerning the content and context of management education and research, the article identifies the categorical, methodological and contextual challenges which confront manager‐researchers and those facilitating mid‐career programmes. It argues that managers need to develop awareness of the different epistemologies and an understanding of their personal ontological orientation and methodological preferences in order to maximise the pertinence and added value of their research. Findings – The paper delineates the curricular, pedagogical and organisational challenges inherent in the promotion of critical reflexivity and research within mid‐career programmes. Originality/value – The paper outlines how a deliberate linkage of research and teaching can be forged in order to help managers surface and interrogate the knowledge, norms and values which frame their beliefs and actions. Consequently, it is of practical help to both academics and manager‐researchers.

Details

International Journal of Public Sector Management, vol. 21 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3558

Keywords

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Expert briefing
Publication date: 18 November 2016

The recovery in nickel prices this year after a 40% drop in 2015 and the likelihood that they will continue to trend upwards.

Details

DOI: 10.1108/OXAN-DB216083

ISSN: 2633-304X

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