This qualitative case study was used to examine the Request for Proposal (RFP) evaluation process used by airports for selecting concessions business operators, including retail and duty-free gift shops, restaurants, newsstands, and public parking. The case consisted of 42 purposefully selected RFPs from 35 airports representing 92% of all U.S. commercial airline passenger traffic compared against guidelines found in Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Report 54. A problem occurs when evaluation outcomes are challenged because of perceptions of bias, and formal protests and legal claims create delays that disproportionately affect small and minority-owned businesses. The purpose of this study was to compare RFP documents for congruence and influences of concessionaire evaluation ratings. Qualitative data analysis, qualitative content analysis, and interpretive coding were used to explain socioeconomic factors inferred from the documents. Gaps existed in available literature for the effect of airport size, governance type, and evaluator motivation on the RFP process. Study findings showed weighted evaluation criteria inconsistencies with the guidelines, evidence of innate governance system influences, government-operated airport RFP preference of revenue generation measures and socioeconomic attachments, independent authority operated preferences for command and control measures, and potential for the use of standardized core evaluation criteria. By challenging the premise of a bias-free government procurement process, positive social change was achievable through this study's reinforcement of federally qualified small and minority business expansion initiatives promoting open participation and fair competition in concessions opportunities at U.S. commercial passenger airports.

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Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:53:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 GALO_Nadya_2014.pdf: 1286140 bytes, checksum: 61414a7c6df1ec47f52a3c1d9a64a659 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-03-20 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / A company doesn t operate singly in the market, because it is involved in a chain of buyers and suppliers, from which depends its operational efficiency. Thus, the choice of a partner requires the fulfillment of a number of requirements to ensure that business objectives will be not affected by inadequate supply. In this context, supplier selection can be an important process for an organization that wishes to evaluate the alternatives according its preference criteria for contracting services. However, certain criteria may present difficulties in measuring and to define indicators that can compose each criterion can allow the performance measurement of each supplier, adding objectivity to the process. The objective of this research was to identify and analyze which criteria supplier selection are used for hiring logistics service providers (LSPs) and what are the indicators used to assess the performance of this partner, in a group of companies in the retail. For this, we used the method of case study in five companies, four shippers and one 3PL. This is an exploratory qualitative research and the technique used was the direct intensive research using semi-structured questionnaires. Thus, were identified and analyzed the selection criteria and performance indicators used by companies to selection and evaluation of LSPs. The analysis allowed characterizing the selection of suppliers of these companies and performance measurement, as well as some specific features. As a result, it was observed that companies can point which criteria are relevant for the selection of LSPs and they have indicators for supplier performance evaluation, however the alignment between criteria and indicators is not fully established because the indicators used are more geared to monitoring the operation than the supplier evaluation. / Uma empresa não atua isoladamente no mercado, pois está envolvida em uma cadeia de compradores e fornecedores da qual depende sua eficiência operacional. Assim, a escolha de um parceiro requer o atendimento de uma série de requisitos que garantam que os objetivos da empresa não sejam afetados pelo fornecimento inadequado. Neste contexto, a seleção de fornecedores pode ser um processo importante para uma organização que deseja avaliar as alternativas de acordo com seus critérios de preferência para contratação de serviços. Contudo, certos critérios podem apresentar dificuldade de mensuração e definir indicadores que possam compor cada critério pode possibilitar a medição do desempenho de cada fornecedor, acrescentando objetividade ao processo. Desta forma, o objetivo desta pesquisa foi identificar e analisar quais critérios de seleção de fornecedores são utilizados no momento da contratação de prestadores de serviços logísticos (PSLs) e quais são os indicadores utilizados na avaliação do desempenho deste parceiro, em um conjunto de empresas do setor do varejo. Para tanto, foi utilizado o método de estudo de caso em cinco empresas, sendo quatro embarcadores e um operador logístico. Trata-se de uma pesquisa exploratória com abordagem qualitativa e a técnica utilizada foi a investigação direta intensiva com o uso de questionários semiestruturados. Deste modo, foram identificados e analisados os critérios de seleção e os indicadores de desempenho utilizados pelas empresas para seleção e avaliação de PSLs. As análises permitiram caracterizar a seleção de fornecedores destas empresas e a medição de desempenho, assim como algumas características específicas. Como resultado, observou-se que as empresas conseguem apontar quais critérios são relevantes para a seleção de PSLs e possuem indicadores para a avaliação do desempenho do fornecedor, entretanto o alinhamento entre critérios e indicadores não é totalmente estabelecido porque os indicadores utilizados são mais voltados ao acompanhamento da operação do que à avaliação do fornecedor.

Företagsledare ställs inför mängder av beslut varje dag. Dessa beslut kan både påverka företagets verksamhet och samhället i stort. På senare tid har nya normer kring hållbarhetsarbete växt fram och större krav ställs på företag att anpassa sig till nya normer som etableras. Misslyckas företag att anpassa sig till krav som ställs från samhället och intressenter riskerar företag att förlora sin legitimitet. Ett sätt för företag att visa sig legitima är genom de beslut som tas, till exempel vid val av leverantör. Syftet med studien är att öka förståelsen för vilka beslutskriterier små och medelstora företag (SME-bolag) prioriterar i beslutsprocessen vid val av leverantör och skapandet av legitimitet. Således avser studien att bidra till kunskapsutveckling kring företags beslutsprocesser i förhållande till legitimitetsteorin samt beslutsteorier. För att uppnå syftet med studien har en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi tillämpats och tio företagsledare i värmländska SME-bolag har intervjuats gällande hur beslutsprocessen ser ut i deras företag. Studien visar att beslutsprocesser i värmländska SME-bolag varierar med hög grad beroende på vilken situation företaget ställs inför. Även graden av rationalitet i beslutsprocessen samt vilka beslutskriterier som beaktas varierar mellan företag och beroende på situation. Företagsledarna uppvisar en medvetenhet kring vilka normer som finns i samhället, men upplever att kraven från den närmsta kretsen, i form av kunder, inte omfattar hållbarhet i någon större utsträckning. Istället ställs krav på kvalitet, service och professionalism. Enligt företagarna är detta vad som i stor utsträckning påverkar de beslut som tas gällande val av leverantör och i sin tur även företagets legitimitet. / Business leaders are faced with a multitude of decisions every day. These decisions can both affect the company's operations, but also the society as a whole. Recently, new standards regarding sustainability have emerged and greater demands are placed on companies to adapt to the new standards. If companies fail to adapt to the demands of society and stakeholders, the company risks losing its legitimacy. One way for a company to prove its legitimacy is through the decisions that are made, for example when choosing a supplier. The purpose of this study is to increase the understanding for which decision criteria small and medium sized enterprises (SME) prioritize when choosing a supplier and creating legitimacy. Thus, the study intends to contribute to knowledge development about companies' decision-making processes in relation to the theory of legitimacy and decisions theories. To achieve the purpose of the study, a qualitative research strategy has been applied and ten company leaders in SMEs in Värmland have been interviewed regarding how the decision-making process in their companies looks like. The study shows that decision-making processes in SMEs in Värmland vary greatly depending on the situation the company is faced with. The degree of rationality in the decision-making process as well as which decision criteria that is important also varies between companies and depending on the situation. Business leaders show an awareness of the norms that exist in society, but feel that the requirements from the closest circle, in terms of customers, do not include sustainability to any great extent. Instead, demands are made on quality, service and professionalism. According to the entrepreneurs, this is what mainly affects the decisions made regarding the choice of supplier and in extension also the company's legitimacy.

<p> </p><p><strong>Degree Project Advanced Level - Business Administration, Linnaeus Business School at Linnaeus University, Business Process and Supply Chain Management, 4FE02E, Spring 2010.</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong>Authors:</strong> Muhammad Rizwan ul Haque, Ahmed Nawaz Shaikh, Kamonmarn Jaenglom, Zaheer Tariq</p><p><strong>Tutor:</strong> Petra Andersson</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Title: Supplier Selection Process Improvement through Six-Sigma DMAIC (A case of Lafarge Pakistan Cement Limited)</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Background: </strong>Cement industry is considered to be an intensive supplier base industry. Cement manufacturing involves several types of suppliers ranging from general utilities to large plant equipments. Also, supply chain performance is significant topic in many cement organisations. The supply chain department at Lafarge Pakistan Cement Limited (LPCL) wants to inspect and improve their supplier selection process. The intended objective of this inspection is two folded. First, LPCL wants to develop a competitive supplier base out of bulk suppliers available in the market that would result in competitive advantage over its competitors. Second, they want to improve their supplier selection process so that there would be low variance and exclusion of unnecessary activities that would ultimately help in achieving the cost, quality and service enhancement objectives.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Research question: </strong></p><p>How can the existing supplier selection process at Lafarge Pakistan Cement Limited (LPCL) be improved by applying Six-Sigma DMAIC?</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Methodology: </strong></p><p>This thesis is a descriptive case study and was conducted with a deductive approach. Data was collected through interviews, discussions and questionnaire. The scientific credibility of this thesis was secured by using many sources, avoidance of assumptions, studying a common process and following standardized steps of supplier selection.</p><p><strong>Conclusion:</strong></p><p>The existing process of supplier selection at LPCL was defined and mapped to understand the process characteristics and capabilities. The existing process was then analysed to identify problem areas, variations and unnecessary activities. Corrective actions were recommended to deal with problem areas and an improved supplier selection process for LPCL was suggested with process coordination and control measures.</p><p><strong>Suggestions for future research:</strong></p><p>Based on the findings of this thesis, we suggest that the further research for LPCL could be done in the area of sourcing and suppliers relationship management. Sourcing; a study could examine the sourcing policy at LPCL on purchasing practises of products. It would also be interesting to focus more on this area which leads to excellent cost reduction. Using scenario method could compare and analyse regional, national and worldwide sourcing. Supplier Relationship Management; a study could investigate supplier relationship management that leads to creating a competitive advantage for LPCL through the development of supplier performance monitoring and supplier development programme. More details could continuously move towards cost reduction, increased reliability and risk mitigation, transparency of supplier costs and quality, and enhanced efficiency of sourcing process.</p>

Denna rapports syfte är att beskriva och analysera hur företag arbetar för att ta sitt miljömässiga ansvar när det kommer till val och bedömning av nya leverantörer samt uppföljning och utvärdering av befintliga leverantörer. Tanken är att rapporten ska bidra med en beskrivning av vilka kriterier som är vanligt förekommande vid leverantörsval och leverantörsutvärdering, samt vilka bedömnings- och utvärderingskriterier som kan inkluderas för att uppnå grönare leverantörsval.   För att uppfylla rapportens syfte har det genomförts en litteraturstudie samt en intervjustudie. Anledningen till att detta har genomförts grundar sig främst i att inköp och anskaffning har fått en allt viktigare roll när det kommer till företags miljöansvar. De leverantörer som företag väljer ut kan i många fall bidra starkt till försörjningskedjornas miljöpåverkan. Detta resulterar i att det för organisationer och företag blir allt viktigare att söka en balans mellan ekonomiska och miljömässiga aspekter då leverantörer ska väljas ut samt utvärderas. De vanligast förekommande kriterierna vid leverantörsval och leverantörsutvärdering utgörs av kvalitet, leveransförmåga samt pris/kostnad. Utöver dessa vanligt förekommande kriterier kan företag med fördel inkludera en mängd olika miljömässiga kriterier i syfte att uppnå grönare leverantörsval. Exempel på sådana, så kallade gröna kriterier, kan vara miljöcertifiering, utsläpp av koldioxidekvivalenter samt återvinningsgrad.   Med hjälp av den genomförda litteraturstudien samt empiriinsamlingen har likheter, skillnader och nyanser kunnat upptäckas mellan hur gröna leverantörsval teoretiskt beskrivs, samt hur de studerade företagen arbetar för att inkludera ett miljömässigt hänsynstagande vid just val och utvärdering av leverantörer. En övergripande slutsats som dragits utifrån detta arbete är att det finns en stor förbättringspotential i hur samtliga företag arbetar för att inkludera miljömässiga kriterier vid såväl leverantörsval som leverantörsutvärdering. / The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze companies’ implementation of environmental responsibility regarding supplier selection as well as supplier evaluation. The objective of this paper is to provide a description of which criteria are most commonly used in supplier selection and evaluation, as well as which evaluation criteria companies could include to achieve green supplier selection. To fulfill the purpose of this paper we have done a literature study as well as an interview study. The motive of these studies is based on purchasing’s and procurement’s increasing responsibility regarding environmental impact. The supplier selection process has in many cases a huge impact on a supply chain’s environmental performance. This results in a necessity for companies and organizations to achieve a balance between economic and environmental aspects when it comes to supplier selection and evaluation. The most commonly used criteria in supplier selection and evaluation consists of quality, delivery performance and price/cost. In addition, there is also a lot of different environmental criteria that companies could take into consideration to achieve green supplier selection. For example, these green criteria may consist of environmental certification, carbon dioxide emissions and recycling. By analyzing the literature study as well as the empirical study similarities and differences have been discovered. The discovered similarities and differences is mainly based on how companies include environmental aspects in supplier selection and evaluation, compared to how green supplier selection theoretically is described. A general conclusion based on the analysis in this paper indicates that a great improvement is necessary regarding the implementation of environmental criteria in supplier selection and evaluation.

Degree Project Advanced Level - Business Administration, Linnaeus Business School at Linnaeus University, Business Process and Supply Chain Management, 4FE02E, Spring 2010.   Authors: Muhammad Rizwan ul Haque, Ahmed Nawaz Shaikh, Kamonmarn Jaenglom, Zaheer Tariq Tutor: Petra Andersson   Title: Supplier Selection Process Improvement through Six-Sigma DMAIC (A case of Lafarge Pakistan Cement Limited)   Background: Cement industry is considered to be an intensive supplier base industry. Cement manufacturing involves several types of suppliers ranging from general utilities to large plant equipments. Also, supply chain performance is significant topic in many cement organisations. The supply chain department at Lafarge Pakistan Cement Limited (LPCL) wants to inspect and improve their supplier selection process. The intended objective of this inspection is two folded. First, LPCL wants to develop a competitive supplier base out of bulk suppliers available in the market that would result in competitive advantage over its competitors. Second, they want to improve their supplier selection process so that there would be low variance and exclusion of unnecessary activities that would ultimately help in achieving the cost, quality and service enhancement objectives.   Research question: How can the existing supplier selection process at Lafarge Pakistan Cement Limited (LPCL) be improved by applying Six-Sigma DMAIC?   Methodology: This thesis is a descriptive case study and was conducted with a deductive approach. Data was collected through interviews, discussions and questionnaire. The scientific credibility of this thesis was secured by using many sources, avoidance of assumptions, studying a common process and following standardized steps of supplier selection. Conclusion: The existing process of supplier selection at LPCL was defined and mapped to understand the process characteristics and capabilities. The existing process was then analysed to identify problem areas, variations and unnecessary activities. Corrective actions were recommended to deal with problem areas and an improved supplier selection process for LPCL was suggested with process coordination and control measures. Suggestions for future research: Based on the findings of this thesis, we suggest that the further research for LPCL could be done in the area of sourcing and suppliers relationship management. Sourcing; a study could examine the sourcing policy at LPCL on purchasing practises of products. It would also be interesting to focus more on this area which leads to excellent cost reduction. Using scenario method could compare and analyse regional, national and worldwide sourcing. Supplier Relationship Management; a study could investigate supplier relationship management that leads to creating a competitive advantage for LPCL through the development of supplier performance monitoring and supplier development programme. More details could continuously move towards cost reduction, increased reliability and risk mitigation, transparency of supplier costs and quality, and enhanced efficiency of sourcing process.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Industrial & Manufacturing Systems Engineering / Chih-Hang Wu / Recently, interdisciplinary (management, engineering, science, and economics) collaboration research has been growing to achieve the synergy and to reinforce the weakness of each discipline. Along this trend, this research combines three topics: mathematical programming, data mining, and supply chain management. A new pegging algorithm is developed for solving the continuous nonlinear knapsack problem. An efficient solving approach is proposed for solving the ν-support vector machine for classification problem in the field of data mining. The new pegging algorithm is used to solve the subproblem of the support vector machine problem. For the supply chain management, this research proposes an efficient integrated solving approach for the supplier selection problem. The support vector machine is applied to solve the problem of selecting potential supplies in the procedure of the integrated solving approach. In the first part of this research, a new pegging algorithm solves the continuous nonlinear knapsack problem with box constraints. The problem is to minimize a convex and differentiable nonlinear function with one equality constraint and box constraints. Pegging algorithm needs to calculate primal variables to check bounds on variables at each iteration, which frequently is a time-consuming task. The newly proposed dual bound algorithm checks the bounds of Lagrange multipliers without calculating primal variables explicitly at each iteration. In addition, the calculation of the dual solution at each iteration can be reduced by a proposed new method for updating the solution. In the second part, this research proposes several streamlined solution procedures of ν-support vector machine for the classification. The main solving procedure is the matrix splitting method. The proposed method in this research is a specified matrix splitting method combined with the gradient projection method, line search technique, and the incomplete Cholesky decomposition method. The method proposed can use a variety of methods for line search and parameter updating. Moreover, large scale problems are solved with the incomplete Cholesky decomposition and some efficient implementation techniques. To apply the research findings in real-world problems, this research developed an efficient integrated approach for supplier selection problems using the support vector machine and the mixed integer programming. Supplier selection is an essential step in the procurement processes. For companies considering maximizing their profits and reducing costs, supplier selection requires seeking satisfactory suppliers and allocating proper orders to the selected suppliers. In the early stage of supplier selection, a company can use the support vector machine classification to choose potential qualified suppliers using specific criteria. However, the company may not need to purchase from all qualified suppliers. Once the company determines the amount of raw materials and components to purchase, the company then selects final suppliers from which to order optimal order quantities at the final stage of the process. Mixed integer programming model is then used to determine final suppliers and allocates optimal orders at this stage.

Rapidly changing business environment, increasing and fluctuating customer demand, the recent development and employment of technology are crucial reasons for companies to strive for better quality, shorter lead time and lower costs. The supplier evaluation and selection process is an increasingly important activity in the supply chain in order to enhance the company’s competitiveness by reducing the costs and simultaneously maintaining the same quality of products. The focus of this thesis is on the supplier evaluation and selection process for public procurement in Swedish electricity industry. Specifically, the work combines the literature and the empirical findings gathered from the case company Växjö Energy (VEAB) to develop a supplier evaluation and selection process for the public procurement in Swedish electricity industry. It was concluded that the supplier evaluation and selection process for public procurement has basically four steps. The steps are 1. Identifying the needs and the sourcing method; 2. Setting the pre-requirements; 3. Supplier evaluation and 4. Supplier selection. In addition, the developed supplier evaluation tool innovatively combines the advantages of the value-added model with the advantages of AHP model. Moreover, this developed supplier evaluation and selection process would help the public procurement departments in Swedish electricity industry to improve their current practices in selecting the suppliers by highlighting the important steps and developing the evaluation model in a way that enhance its credibility to provide a more precise and reliable results.

<p>U doktorskoj disertaciji razmatra se procena i odabir direktnih dobavljača u automobilskoj industriji, proces i razvoj kriterijuma u cilju optimalne selekcije najboljih izvora nabavke. Prikazane su različite metode koje se koriste za ove namene i razvijena je hibridna metoda kako bi se obezbedili najrealniji mogući rezultati procene dobavljača. Istraživanje je vršeno u jednoj kompaniji i korišćeni su podaci iz realnih poslovnih procesa.</p> / <p>In this thesis direct supplier assessment and selection systems development in automotive industry is considered, as well as criteria development in order to provide optimal supply sources. Different methods that are used for those purposes are presented and hybrid method was developed for providing the most realistic results of supplier assessment. The research was held in a real company using real business records.</p>