Supply chains have become more complex in the global economy, which has made supply chain disruptions inevitable. Disruptions can cause loss of profitability and hinder business growth. The goal of this multiple case study was to explore strategies to mitigate the effects of disruption in grocery store supply chains. The conceptual framework for this study was the resource dependency theory, which stipulates that firms rely on other businesses in the external environment for critical resources to create a competitive edge. Four purposively selected participants from 4 grocery store businesses in Northwest Arkansas participated in semistructured interviews and provided organizational documentation for this study. The participants were supply chain managers who had knowledge about disruptions and had successfully mitigated disruptions in their grocery stores' supply chains. Yin's 5-step process was used to analyze data, which involved compiling the database, disassembling data, reassembling data, interpreting data, and making a conclusion. Four themes emerged from the data analysis: supply chain partners' collaboration, multiple supply base and supplier qualification, inventory management, and information technology and communication. The uninterrupted flow of grocery merchandise to the community could result in a positive social change by helping to ensure that community members have timely access to food.

Thesis (Ph. D. - Economics)--University of Arizona, 1983. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 137-140).

The main topic of this thesis is to study the connection between Service Supply Chain Management (SSCM) and Customer Satisfaction (CS). The study is based on the factors of SSCM for receiving CS and its implementation.One of the major contributions to the connection between SSCM and CS has been the awareness to flexibly and efficiently manage logistics and deliver to the end user in time and at the same to achieve an increased brand image/reputation for the company. SSCM is an essential part of a company's inventory management and it's supply chain. On the other hand, CS is an integral part of a business as making consumers content and meeting their requirements is crucial for a business' survival. SSCM and CS are inextricably linked.In this thesis, Walmart has been used as the case for the authors to carry out the research. Because of the unique feature of the Chinese retail market, the Chinese retail market has been also discussed as the business background of Walmart. The first-hand data has been offered from interview by E-mail and social website to the staff of Walmart and 90 feedbacks of questionnaire. The literature review and qualitative analysis have been used to analyze the case for research. The importance of SSCM in dealing with CS and its implementation has been explored in this thesis.

The traditional water-supply planning problem is characterized by two main steps: (1) project future water requirements based on present rates of economic growth, 'and (2) schedule water development projects to be introduced into the system on time to meet these predicted requirements. If alternative projects are thought to exist, the one thought to cost the least amount is selected. As project costs rise and actual new water availabilities become less, there is a growing awareness that more new water is not necessarily the only answer. Increased efficiency in water use through conservation, reuse, transfer to less consumptive and higher valued applications, and improved management techniques are becoming practical alternatives. These alternatives lead to a need for a restatement of water-supply planning objectives in more precise forms than have heretofore been put forth. The various water- supply planning objective functions including the traditional one are all expressions which maximize the difference between gains and los se s involved with water development. They can be expressed mathematically and differentiated on the basis of how these gains and losses are defined. In the traditional sense, gains derived from meeting projected requirements are assumed to be infinite, and losses are taken to be actual project costs; therefore, maximization of net gains is accomplished by minimizing project costs and gains do not even have to be expressed. Consideration of alternatives, however, requires that gains be expressed quantitatively as benefits to individuals, communities, or regions, i. e. , primary, secondary, or tertiary benefits. The same thing holds for the expression of total costs. An objective function used to express the water-supply problem in the Tucson Basin, Arizona, considers gains as cash revenue to a hypothetical central water-control agency which sells water to the users within the basin. Losses are considered as marginal costs to the agency for producing, treating, and distributing water. The concept of economic demand is used to estimate the amount of water that municipal, agricultural, and industrial users will purchase at different prices. The possible sources of supply considered are groundwater from within the basin, groundwater from the neighboring Avra Valley Basin, reclaimed waste water, and Central Arizona Project water from the Colorado River. Constraints are formulated in order to determine optimal allocations of water under different conditions. The model used is referred to as a pricing model and is optimized by first decomposing the objective function into component parts, each part representing terms involving only one source of water. Then in instances involving inequality constraints, quadratic programming is used. In other instances where equality constraints or unconstrained conditions exist, Lagrangian multipliers and the calculus are used. The se latter conditions arise when it is determined at which point certain constraints become inactive. In the completely general case, this type of decomposition is not possible, but it appears that in many specific uses objective functions of this nature can be profitably decomposed. and optima determined much more conveniently than otherwise possible.

This research is an exploratory study of the relationship between two supply chain management (SCM) concepts, namely supply chain structure and supply chain integration. The objective is to enhance the understanding of the extent to which supply chain structure is relevant to the supply chain integration, and of how this relationship between these concepts contributes to the ideas of supply chain quality (SCQ) in the manufacturing industry. The literature review with reference to the structure and integration results in the following structural dimensions: centralisation, formalisation and communication which are likely to have an effect on the supply chain integration; ultimately, on supply chain quality. For the purposes of this research, the conceptual model was developed, and its validity was explored via case-studies. The two manufacturing supply chains including their focal firms and the first-tier suppliers based in Turkey were selected as the case-supply chains. A total of 41 face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were carried out. The findings of the present study suggest that while formalisation and communication are positively related to the supply chain integration, centralisation in which a focal firm designs and manages the whole network negatively affects the supply chain integration. Hence decentralised, formalised supply chains facilitated by the means of communication are proposed in today’s global economy in order for supply chains to achieve integration, hence considered to attain supply chain quality.

A principal motivação da seguinte pesquisa foi conseguir estabelecer um ganho referente ao custo total da programacão de atendimento das plataformas de petróleo, partindo da premissa de cooperação dos navios de diferentes portos. Por tanto nesta pesquisa será estudado o problema de roteirização periódica na entrega de suprimentos a plataformas de petróleo, com a consideração de compartilhamento de recursos entre os diferentes portos. Isto significa que uma ou mais embarcações poderão ser deslocadas entre os portos, sendo aproveitadas nos dois portos. Esta forma de operação se contrapõe a ter uma frota dedicada em cada porto, sem a possibilidade de compartilhamento. A pesquisa se propõe a construir modelos matemáticos de programação linear inteira, e resolvê-los por meio de pacotes computacionais. Este problema foi inicialmente estudado como sendo uma extensão do problema de localização e roteirização periódica, que também é pouco explorado na literatura. No caso da distribuição física urbana, o compartilhamento de recursos consiste em possibilitar que a rota de um veículo inicie em um depósito, e termine em um depósito diferente do qual iniciou. Para o caso da distribuição urbana, também serão apresentados 3 modelos matemáticos. Instâncias extraídas e adaptadas da literatura serão testadas para mostrar a aplicabilidade dos modelos. / The main motivation of the following research was to establish a gain related to the total cost of scheduling service of oil platforms, based on the premise of cooperation of ships from different ports. Therefore In this research the periodic routing problem will be studied in the context of delivering supplies to oil platforms at the sea. A novel aspect will be considered which is the sharing of resources (supply vessels) among the ports. This means that one or more vessels can be transferred between ports, being used by all ports. This modus operandi contrasts with a dedicated fleet operating at each port, without the possibility of being shared. The research is focused on proposing integer linear mathematical models, and have them solved with commercial optimization codes. The problem was initially considered as an extension of the periodic location routing problem, which also has been seldom studied in the existing literature. In the case of the urban physical distribution, the resource sharing aspect consists in allowing a distribution route to end at a different depot, other than the one where the vehicle started. For the urban physical distribution, it will be proposed 3 mathematical models. Instances extracted and adapted from the literature will be tested to demonstrate the models\' applicability.

水作為人類最基本的必需品，本應是人人共用的自然之物。但隨著近代社會的工業化及城市化發展，水資源愈見有限，人們對水的認識也逐漸改變：水被賦予許多新的涵義，並與現代技術結合而成為一種商品。在中國，從1850年到1950年間，使用商品水漸漸成為富裕、衛生、文明、摩登的象徵。本論文主要探討在這百年間用水的演化如何在蘇州城中體現出來。 / 在中國現代供水進程中，上海公共租界最先建立起具有標誌性的自來水廠。而後法租界、華界也爭相仿效建立。但在上海整個城市中，自來水的用水方式沒有得到統一。租界內漂亮的洋房在屋內即有供水，而租界內華人居住的弄堂與租界之外的華界地區仍使用水夫挑水。這種差異帶出了西人和華人的區別，同時還是富人和窮人生活方式的區別。 / 在本研究重點研究的蘇州城內，清末至民國時期，地方精英一直試圖建立現代象徵的自來水，卻未能成功。最終，城內少數富裕商戶合資開掘自流井，然後將井水接連水管入屋，創建了蘇州模式的自來水。這與整個城市供水為目標的自來水廠相差甚遠，但由於民國時期蘇州城內勢力分散，沒有力量創辦統一的供水模式，只有少數的富裕人家可以使用自流井，大多數的居民，仍然大量依靠淺水井和河水。 / Water, as an essential ingredient for life, is supposed to be freely used. However, in the age of industrialization and urbanization, with fear of water shortage and environmental degradation, people imposed new ideas on this natural resource, and transformed water from public good into a tradable commodity by using new technology. In China from 1850 to 1950, commoditized water supply made people feel affluent, healthy, civilized, and modern. This thesis examines the transformation of water use in the city of Suzhou. / The establishment of the first water supply company in the Shanghai International Settlement in the late nineteenth century was a significant milestone of China's modern water supply. Soon after that the French Concession and the Chinese Zone attempted to follow the practice. The services of water supply were yet never unified in Shanghai. While better-off households in the Foreign Concession enjoyed indoor tap water supply, many others, especially those who lived in the Chinese walled city, bought water directly in streets installed with water taps. The way to consume water reflected living standard. / During late Qing period and China’s Republican period, the local elites of Suzhou City also attempted to set up modern water supply, but failed with insufficient capital. Eventually, a few wealthy merchants formed a small company of water supply. Instead of using steam engines to pump water from river, the company opened artesian wells, and built water pipes to transport water to households. This created the Suzhou model of water supply. However, because of competing local forces, this modern water supply in Suzhou was of a small scale. Only a few rich people could afford to consume the water, a majority of the Suzhou population still relied on ordinary shallow wells and rivers to have their daily water. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 陳文妍. / Parallel title from added title page. / Thesis (Ph.D.) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2016. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 178-190). / Abstracts also in English. / Chen Wenyan.

by Lam Siu Ling, Franklin, Lau Kok Chun, James. / Bibliography: leaves 62-63 / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1986

Products at the end of life cycles that are thrown away by the consumers can be harmful to the environment, but could create additional profit as each product or part of the materials of the product can be remanufactured or refurbished and then resold in the market. In this paper, using the ink cartridge as an example, we first describe the product return process, then present the mechanisms for coordinating the customers, the retailers and the manufacturers in order to lure the customers to return the used items while simultaneously presenting potential profits for both the retailers and manufacturers. According to characteristics of ink cartridge industry, an alternative reverse supply chain design is proposed, where partnership is built between OEM and 3rd party refiller to better attract ink cartridge return. Further comparison analysis is conducted to find out which design is better under different circumstances.

Photocopy of typescript. / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries