This study explores the application of wireless local area network (WLAN) in retailing industy for enhancing experiential marketing. As competition in the retailing industry increases, added with new entrants competing for old customers, department stores nowadays must consider new ways of attracting customers. Against that backdrop , experiential marketing becomes increasing important. Taking Kaohsiung¡¦s six department stores as cases for study, the author conducted a two-wave survey to examine whether and to what extent visitors of deparment stores appreciate the introduction and possible deployment of wireless local area networks as a means for enhancing experiential marketing. Using analytic hierarchy process (AHP) as a research method, this study sorts out not only the key success factors of introducing wireless Internet in the context of department stores but also the priority setting of those key success factors, which includes seventeen elements falling into five categories. Broadly put, marketing and promotion stands out as the first priority setting, followed by business model and infrastructure. The finding of such priority setting has deep implications for experiential marketing which also falls into five modules of analysis: sense, feel, think, act and relate. It shows that visitors are more satisfied with the aspects of sense and feel, whereas the other three leave rooms for improvement. By introducing and deploying information and communications technologies, such as WLAN, that weakness of experiential marketing can be improved.

Η ανάπτυξη του δικτύου καταστημάτων μιας εμπορικής επιχείρησης είναι πολύ κρίσιμη για την κερδοφορία της επιχείρησης. Η γεωγραφική θέση του καταστήματος και η σημαντικότητα αυτής μπορεί να επιβεβαιωθεί από τις μεγάλες διαφορές στον κύκλο εργασιών των καταστημάτων της ίδιας εμπορικής αλυσίδας. Η μεθοδολογία που θα παρουσιαστεί παρακάτω είναι από τις πιο διαδεδομένες στις διεθνείς αγορές , η οποία και έχει εφαρμοστεί σε τομείς όπως: τράπεζες στο χώρο του corporate και private banking, εμπορικές επιχειρήσεις στο χώρο των super markets, των ηλεκτρικών και ηλεκτρονικών ειδών, στο χώρο της εστίασης και της ένδυσης καθώς και στο χώρο των τηλεπικοινωνιών. Μέχρι τώρα, η επίλυση του προβλήματος βέλτιστης τοποθεσίας για την εγκατάσταση τραπεζικών καταστημάτων βασιζόταν σε εμπειρικές κυρίως μελέτες. Οι μελέτες αυτές δεν χρησιμοποιούσαν όμως ποσοτικοποιημένες μεθόδους και δεν υπήρχε ακρίβεια στα αποτελέσματα. Στην παρακάτω μελέτη, γίνεται διαχωρισμός του κύριου προβλήματος σε μικρότερα προβλήματα έτσι ώστε τα αποτελέσματα που θα προκύψουν να είναι ακριβέστερα και με μεγαλύτερη λεπτομέρεια. Με τον τρόπο αυτό, υπάρχει η δυνατότητα να μελετηθούν και να αναλυθούν όλες οι επί μέρους παράμετροι και τα δεδομένα κάθε μικρότερου υποπροβλήματος. Έτσι, ορθολογικοποιείται η διαδικασία λήψης αποφάσεων, δίνοντας ακριβή αποτελέσματα τα οποία δεν είναι μόνο χρήσιμα για τη λήψης μιας απόφασης του παρόντος αλλά και για μελλοντικές αποφάσεις. Ένα ακόμα νέο δεδομένο που εισάγει η παρακάτω μελέτη στην επίλυση τέτοιων προβλημάτων είναι η αιτιολόγηση των βαθμολογιών που δίνονται από τον ερευνητή στα κριτήρια και στις εναλλακτικές. Αυτό επιτυγχάνεται με τη σύγκριση μεταξύ των τιμών των μετρήσιμων μεγεθών των εναλλακτικών. Για τα μη μετρήσιμα μεγέθη, γίνεται αιτιολόγηση της βαθμολόγησης με βάση ποιοτικά δεδομένα. Η μεθοδολογία που ακολουθείται είναι πλήρως εμπεριστατωμένη και ποσοτικοποιημένη κάνοντας χρήση ενδεδειγμένων τεχνικών ανάλυσης. Ακόμα, προσφέρει καλύτερη γνώση στους επιχειρηματίες για την αγορά στην οποία δραστηριοποιούνται. Αναφέρεται στην απεικόνιση, ανάλυση και αναγνώριση τοποθεσιών-αγορών βάσει γεωγραφικών, οικονομικών και δημογραφικών κριτηρίων με απώτερο στόχο την βέλτιστη χωροθέτηση καταστημάτων μιας επιχείρησης. / -

Η παρούσα εργασία σκοπεύει στην παρουσίαση και ανάλυση μιας μεθόδου Λήψης Αποφάσεων η οποία διαχειρίζεται αποφάσεις πολυσταδιακές ως προς τα κριτήρια. Πρόκειται για αποφάσεις οι οποίες έχουν συγκεκριμένες εναλλακτικές επιλογές και πολλαπλά κριτήρια. Αποφάσεις σαν αυτές συνδέονται με κάθε επιστημονικό κλάδο αλλά τις συναντάμε και στην καθημερινότητα μας, γεγονός που καθιστά τον αποτελεσματικό χειρισμό τους σημαντικό. Η μέθοδος με την οποία θα ασχοληθούμε ονομάζεται Αναλυτική Ιεραρχική Διαδικασία (Analytic Hierarchy Process – AHP), δημιουργός της είναι ο Thomas L. Saaty και χρονολογείται μέσα στην δεκαετία του 1970. Η AHP βασίζεται στις σχετικές συγκρίσεις ανάμεσα στους παράγοντες που προσδιορίζουν την εκάστοτε απόφαση. Οι συγκρίσεις πραγματοποιούνται με κοινή βάση την θεμελιώδη κλίμακα του Saaty. Στο πρώτο κεφάλαιο όπου παρουσιάζεται το θεωρητικό υπόβαθρο της μεθόδου, θα δούμε ότι με τον τρόπο αυτό η AHP καθιστά τα πάντα μετρήσιμα. Σκοπός είναι μέσω της ιεραρχική δόμησης του προβλήματος να προσδιοριστεί η καλύτερη από τις εναλλακτικές. Η AHP προσεγγίζει με απλότητα την πολυπλοκότητα των αποφάσεων, γεγονός που κάνει την εννοιολογικά απλή προσέγγιση της μεθόδου εξαιρετικά ισχυρή. Στην πορεία της εργασίας θα παρουσιάσουμε το μαθηματικό υπόβαθρο της μεθόδου μέσα από την αξιωματική θεμελίωση όπως δόθηκε από τον Thomas L. Saaty. Τέλος, θα αναλύσουμε προβλήματα επιλογής τοποθεσίας σε διεθνές επίπεδο και θα ολοκληρώσουμε με την υλοποίηση ενός τέτοιου προβλήματος στο Expert Choice. / This paper intends to present and analyze a method of multi-criteria decision making. In these decisions the alternatives have been predetermined and there are multiple criteria affecting them. Decisions like these are linked with many areas of science, but there are in everyone’s daily lives too, fact that makes the effective handling really important. The present study is been dealing with a method called Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), invented by Thomas L. Saaty in seventies. The AHP is based on pairwise comparisons among the factors that determine the decision. The Saaty’s fundamental scale of absolute numbers is used in making paired comparison judgments. In the first chapter of the study where the theoretical base of the method is represented, will be seen that AHP with the relative comparisons makes everything measurable. AHP intends through hierarchical structuring of the problem to determine the best of the alternatives. The AHP approach with simplicity to the complexity of decisions makes the method conceptually simple and extremely powerful. Later in this paper will be presented the mathematical background of the method through the axiomatic foundation as given by Thomas L. Saaty. Finally, will be dealt with problems of location selection decisions in international operations and the paper will be completed with the implementation of such a problem in Expert Choice.

Thesis (MScEng)--Stellenbosch University 2012 / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Reverse engineering (RE) has emerged as an important tool in the design stages of a product. The demand for better performance of hardware and software has spawned many different technologies that fall under RE. The diversity of technologies is linked to the different application areas of industry. It is critical to understand what the exact capability of each individual technology is, in order to choose the appropriate RE system. The objective of this study is to develop capability profiles of different RE technologies available, such as: Coordinate Measuring Machine, Articulated Arm (Cimcore), Non-contact scanner (GOM), and contact scanner (Renishaw). To achieve the objective, the different characteristics of each technology are measured and quantified. A capability profile can be regarded as defined criteria that represent the performance of a RE technology and in this study, is defined by quantifying the following characteristics:  Accuracy  Repeatability  Speed of Measurement  Work Envelope  User-friendliness. The significance of developing these capability profiles is so that they may be compared to one another. This is important, especially for the accuracy criterion, as each technology is manufactured by a different company, making an acceptable accuracy comparison amongst the different technologies impossible. The study also suggests an evaluation tool which will help a decision maker choose the appropriate technology for a specified objective. Guidelines are also given to potential end users of RE technologies on how they should go about acquiring the right system. On a more general level, the study contributes to research in recent trends, in the RE industry in terms of application, hardware, software and the selection of RE systems. By developing these capability profiles, the study aims to contribute to its value in academia, as well as for industry partners and potential RE end-users. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: RE het ontwikkel as n belangrike hulpmiddel in die ontwerp fase van ‘n produk. Die aanvraag na beter prestasie van hardeware en sagteware het gelei tot die ontwikkeling van baie verskillende tegnologie. Die diversiteit van die tegnologie gaan hand aan hand met die verskillende toepassings areas in die industrie. Dit is belangrik om die spesifieke eienskappe van elke individuele tegnologie te verstaan om die regte RE sisteem te kies. The doel van hierdie studie is om die vermoë profiele van die verskillende beskikbare RE tegnologie te ontwerp: Coordinate Measuring Machine, Articulated Arm (Cimcore), nie-kontak skandeerder (GOM) en kontak skandeerder (Renishaw). Die verskillende eienskappe van elke tegnologie word gemeet en gekwantifiseer. ‘n Vermoë profiel kan gesien word as ‘n vaste kriteria wat die prestasie van die RE tegnologie verteenwoordig en in hierdie studie word dit gedefinieer deur die volgende eienskappe:  Akkuraatheid  Herhaalbaarheid  Spoed van meeting  Meet volume  Gebruikers-vriendelikheid Die relevansie van die ontwikkeling van hierdie vermoë profiele is dat dit wedersyds vergelyk kan word. Dit is belangrik, spesifiek vir die akkuraatheids kriteria, omdat elke tegnologie by ‘n verskillende maatskappy vervaardig word. ‘n Aanvaarbare akkuraatsheid vergelyking onder die verskillende tegnologie is dus onmoontlik. Die studie stel ook ‘n evaluasie hulpmiddel voor wat die besluitnemer sal lei om die mees toepaslike tegnologie te kies vir die spesiefieke doeleindes. Verder word riglyne aan die potensiele gebruikers van RE tegnologie gegee oor hoe om te werk te gaan om die regte sisteem te kies indien die tegnologie nie in besit is nie. Op ‘n meer algemene vlak dra die studie tot navorsing by deur die nuutste tendense in toepassing, hardeware, sagteware en die keuse van RE sisteme in die RE industrie te beskryf. Deur hierdie vermoë profile te ontwikkel beoog die studie om waarde toe te voeg aan die akademie, vennote in die industrie en potensiele RE gebruikers.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-08T14:53:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 3641102 bytes, checksum: fde00bcf23cfe2eafbeb9674257e6ef0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-02-28 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The performance measurement is emphasized in the literature as an important feature to the supply chain management, because as it comes between a customers and suppliers relationship, it is essential a medium to evaluate if this relation is as expected. However, although to the performance measurement s significance is acknowledged and ratified, there are some difficulties on how to evaluate the performance on supply chains, especially in the service sector. Thereby, of the forms to evaluate the performance is through a performance measurement system that certifies with management models to supply chains. Accordingly, this work s goal is to propose a performance measurement system to assist in the supply chain management, with the application towards the service sector. To achieve such goal, this work adopts a quali-quantitative approach following these steps: 1) Conceptual theoretical structure s definition; 2) Choice of a focal company; 3) Mapping of current and beneath supply chains; 4) Performance indicators definition; 5) Performance metric s definition; 6) Verification of the significance of processes and metrics with AHP aid. Starting from these goals, the study proposes a performance measurement system based on the SCOR management model and it was applied in a company in the service sector and in a supplier. Starting from the conducted analysis it was found that the most important processes in decreasing order were: Source, Plan, Deliver, Make and Return. For the metrics, the most important were: perfect order fulfillment, stock cost, average answer time to a service request, deliveries carried without faults, and finally, customer complaint. Thereby, according to the seen results, it is possible to settle the most important metrics between the focal company and supplier, expecting the relationship s performance to be improved. / A avaliação de desempenho é destacada na literatura como fator importante para o gerenciamento da cadeia de suprimentos, pois como se trata de relacionamentos entre clientes e fornecedores, é necessário um meio para avaliar se esse relacionamento está conforme o esperado. No entanto, embora a importância da avaliação de desempenho seja reconhecida e ratificada, existem ainda dificuldades em como avaliar o desempenho em cadeias de suprimentos, em especial no setor de serviços. Para isso, uma das formas de se avaliar o desempenho é por meio de um sistema de medição de desempenho que corrobore com modelos de gestão para cadeia de suprimentos. Nesse sentido, o objetivo desse trabalho é propor um sistema de medição de desempenho que auxilie na gestão da cadeia de suprimentos, com uma aplicação voltada para o setor de serviços. Para atingir tal objetivo, o trabalho segue uma abordagem quali-quantitativa que primeiramente define uma estrutura conceitual teórica, posteriormente, seleciona uma empresa foco e realiza o mapeamento da cadeia de suprimentos imediata. A partir disto, houve a definição dos indicadores de desempenho e as métricas de desempenho. Por fim, para atingir os objetivos da pesquisa fez-se a verificação da importância dos processos e métricas, a nível operacional, com o auxílio do AHP. Assim, o estudo propõe um sistema de medição de desempenho, baseado no modelo de gestão SCOR e foi aplicado em uma empresa do setor de serviços e em uma fornecedora. De posse das análises realizadas constatou-se que os processos mais importantes em ordem decrescente foram: Abastecer, Planejar, Entregar, Fazer e Retornar. Já para as métricas, as mais importantes foram: cumprimento da ordem perfeita, custo de estoque, tempo médio de resposta a uma solicitação de serviços, entregas realizadas sem defeitos e por fim, reclamações dos clientes. De acordo com os resultados apresentados, foi possível estabelecer as métricas mais importantes entre a empresa foco e fornecedor, esperando-se que o desempenho dessa relação seja aprimorado.

In the past few decades, there has been increasing concern towards the potential effects of industrial pollutants on our eco-system. Each country has developed and enacted stringent environmental regulatory standards to address this concern. Several studies conducted in the general area of regulatory impact show significant direct impact of these regulations on organizations. Pharmaceutical industry in particular, due to the generation of variety of hazardous waste during operations, is one among the highly regulated industrial sector globally. The financial liabilities and resource shortages associated while incorporating abatement technologies and related procedural changes make Pharmaceutical Small and Medium Enterprises (PSMEs) highly vulnerable to these regulatory compliance standards. This study aims to investigate two aspects of environment regulation compliance in the PSMEs, namely To identify the nature and magnitude of vulnerabilities encountered by the PSMEs in India while complying with environmental regulations, and To explore and to analyze the adaptation mechanisms followed by the PSMEs in India, while complying with environmental regulations. Literature explorations in the area of environmental regulation, enforcement, compliance, pharmaceutical industry and SMEs, gave limited studies with focus on India. Hence a questionnaire based survey was administered online and face to face. The sampling design followed was stratified random and the total sample size taken for the final analysis was 71. The survey targeted the senior executive officers of pharmaceutical firms across India. Unstructured discussions and interactions with experts in the field were also carried out to understand the gravity of each concern. Data was analyzed using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) for exploring and prioritizing vulnerability concerns, factor analysis for identifying the general adaptation mechanisms and systems practiced, and cluster analysis for assessing the underlying relationship among vulnerability concerns and adaptation patterns of firms under study. Findings of the analysis highlighted several significant drivers of the interaction between the PSMEs and the environment regulations. Some of them are as follows: One, conforming to literature finding, our study also found manufacturing related problems as the most significant concern for the PSMEs. However, unlike the Western countries, it was the poor quality of raw material available in the market that causes the main concern, and not the need for intensive capital investment in abatement technologies. Investigations revealed the steady global market decline for this sub-sector and the need for new innovations to meet the changing global trends. Two, marketing was a significantly higher concern for the PSMEs than regulator and regulatory management. Marketing has special relevance in the pharmaceutical industry as it deals with health and life saving issues for the people, and this got highlighted in our results. Three, the study found external management factors as the most followed coping / adaptation mechanism pursued by the PSMEs. Conforming to literature findings, our study also demonstrated smaller firms as significantly more vulnerable to adaptation in comparison with medium scale firms. The study also highlighted the attempt at balancing the local and global by the Indian PSMEs. While the process orientation was towards meeting international standards, the management of resources, marketing and regulatory requirements had a focus on the local pressures. The study provides some insight into the vulnerabilities and adaptation efforts of the Indian PSMEs and brings out the relevant strategic interventions needed from government, regulatory organizations and industry associations to develop a more sustainable business environment for the Indian PSMEs.

The automotive manufacturing facility is extremely complex and expensive system. Managing and understanding the dynamics of automotive manufacturing is a challenging endeavour. In the current era of dynamic global competition, a new concept such as Collaborative Lean Manufacturing Management (CLMM) can be implemented as an alternative for organisations to improve their Lean Manufacturing Management (LMM) processes. All members in the CLMM value chain must work together towards common objectives in order to make the LMM achievable in the collaborative environment. The novel research approach emphasises the use of Knowledge-Based (KB) approach in such activities as planning, designing, assessing and providing recommendations of CLMM implementation, through: a) developing the conceptual CLMM model; b) designing the KBCLMM System structure based on the conceptual model; and c) implementing Gauging Absences of Pre-requisites (GAP) analysis and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) approach in the hybrid KBCLMM. The development of KBCLMM Model is the most detailed part in the research process and consists of five major components in two stages. Stage 1 (Planning stage) consists of Organisation Environment, Collaborative Business and Lean Manufacturing components. Stage 2 (Design stage) consists of Organisation CLMM Capability and Organisation CLMM Alignment components. Each of these components consists of sub-components and activities that represent particular issues in the CLMM development. From the conceptual model, all components were transformed into the KBCLMM System structure, which is embedded with the GAP and AHP techniques, and thus, key areas of potential improvement in the LMM are identified for each activity along with the identification of both qualitative and quantitative aspects for CLMM implementation. In order to address the real situation of CLMM operation, the research validation was conducted for an automotive manufacturer¿s Lean Manufacturing Chain in Malaysia. Published case studies were also used to test several modules for their validity and reliability. This research concludes that the developed KBCLMM System is an appropriate Decision Support System tool to provide the opportunity for academics and industrialists from the fields of industrial engineering, information technology, and operation management to plan, design and implement LMM for a collaborative environment. / Universiti Utara Malaysia and Ministry of Higher Education of Malaysia

This study demonstrates that hybrid methods can be used for measuring the risk severity of technology-induced errors (TIE) that result from use of health information technology (HIT). The objectives of this research study include: 1. Developing an integrated conceptual risk assessment model to measure the risk severity of technology-induced errors. 2. Analyzing the criticality and risk thresholds associated with TIE’s contributing factors. 3. Developing a computer-based simulation model that could be used to undertake various simulations of TIE’s problems and validate the results. Using data from published papers describing three sample problems related to usability and technology-induced errors, hybrid methods were developed for assessing the risk severity and thresholds under various simulated conditions. A risk assessment model (RAM) and its corresponding steps were developed. A computer-based simulation of risk assessment using the model was also developed, and several runs of the simulation were carried out. The model was tested and found to be valid. Based on assumptions and published statistics obtained by publically available databases, we measured the risk severity and analyzed its criticality to classify risks of contributing factors into four different classes. The simulation results validated the efficiency and efficacy of the proposed methods with the sample problems. / Graduate / 0723 / 0680 / 0769 / tschio2011@gmail.com

The automotive manufacturing facility is extremely complex and expensive system. Managing and understanding the dynamics of automotive manufacturing is a challenging endeavour. In the current era of dynamic global competition, a new concept such as Collaborative Lean Manufacturing Management (CLMM) can be implemented as an alternative for organisations to improve their Lean Manufacturing Management (LMM) processes. All members in the CLMM value chain must work together towards common objectives in order to make the LMM achievable in the collaborative environment. The novel research approach emphasises the use of Knowledge-Based (KB) approach in such activities as planning, designing, assessing and providing recommendations of CLMM implementation, through: a) developing the conceptual CLMM model; b) designing the KBCLMM System structure based on the conceptual model; and c) implementing Gauging Absences of Pre-requisites (GAP) analysis and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) approach in the hybrid KBCLMM. The development of KBCLMM Model is the most detailed part in the research process and consists of five major components in two stages. Stage 1 (Planning stage) consists of Organisation Environment, Collaborative Business and Lean Manufacturing components. Stage 2 (Design stage) consists of Organisation CLMM Capability and Organisation CLMM Alignment components. Each of these components consists of sub-components and activities that represent particular issues in the CLMM development. From the conceptual model, all components were transformed into the KBCLMM System structure, which is embedded with the GAP and AHP techniques, and thus, key areas of potential improvement in the LMM are identified for each activity along with the identification of both qualitative and quantitative aspects for CLMM implementation. In order to address the real situation of CLMM operation, the research validation was conducted for an automotive manufacturer's Lean Manufacturing Chain in Malaysia. Published case studies were also used to test several modules for their validity and reliability. This research concludes that the developed KBCLMM System is an appropriate Decision Support System tool to provide the opportunity for academics and industrialists from the fields of industrial engineering, information technology, and operation management to plan, design and implement LMM for a collaborative environment.

Includes supplemental material. / Disaster relief operations, such as the 2005 Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, and wartime operations, such as Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, have identified the need for a standardized command and control system interoperable among Joint, Coalition, and Interagency entities. The Systems Engineering Analysis Cohort 9 (SEA-9) Rapid Response Command and Control (R2C2) integrated project team completed a systems engineering (SE) process to address the military’s command and control capability gap. During the process, the R2C2 team conducted mission analysis, generated requirements, developed and modeled architectures, and analyzed and compared current operational systems versus the team’s R2C2 system. The R2C2 system provided a reachback capability to the Regional Combatant Commander’s (RCC) headquarters, a local communications network for situational assessments, and Internet access for civilian counterparts participating in Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief operations. Because the team designed the R2C2 system to be modular, analysis concluded that the R2C2 system was the preferred method to provide the RCC with the required flexibility and scalability to deliver a rapidly deployable command and control capability to perform the range of military operations.