M.Ing. (Engineering Management) / Logistics management has been extensively researched and implemented in the private sector, but it is gradually gaining traction in the humanitarian sector. Most humanitarian organization operations involve a mix of many activities. Some of them are involved in disaster relief, as short-term operations carried out immediately after a disaster, while some are involved in continuous aid work aimed at restoring normalcy to the disaster ravaged society and such efforts are longer term. Humanitarian organizations, particularly Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are the primary vehicle through which donors channel their contributions, but it is unfortunate to note that many of these organizations face challenges with the logistics of effectively getting the relief aid to the intended users. The purpose of this study is to improve the understanding in humanitarian logistics (HL) and identify the key challenges affecting aid agencies during humanitarian action. The study adopts a quantitative approach; data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was used to identify the most outstanding subjects and areas of interest in line with humanitarian logistics challenges identified in the literature. The findings from the research survey shows that there is an awareness of the importance of humanitarian logistics in the sector, but the results also show that only half of the participants of the survey reported that they have a logistics professional employed in their organization. Furthermore, only 50% of the participants of the survey indicated that their organization has a preparedness plan in place in the event of an emergency. Other challenges identified are: lack of fund; difficulty to obtain real time information and poor knowledge management. The author identified unavailability and tagging of funds as the most critical challenge the humanitarian organizations face because it hinders capacity building and organizational development. The study also suggests that learning and forging closer ties with private organizations is an effective means of overcoming some of the identified challenges.

This thesis seeks to advance our understanding of how quantitative models can be developed and applied to marketing in complex dynamic environments characterized by demand perishability. Specifically, it involves three essays on the dynamic shelf-space management of movies. The problem is particularly complex for exhibitors - the retailers in the motion picture supply chain - given the short life cycles of movies, their perishable and uncertain demand, and complicated contracts. Our objective is to understand, formalize, and develop optimal normative policies for such decision making situations. Essay 1 considers this problem from a theoretical standpoint by addressing the stochastic aspects of movie replacement, which is analogous to equipment replacement in maintenance theory. We formulate this problem as a Markov decision process model. A scenario analysis reveals that the exhibitor is better off when shelf-space becomes scarcer for the distributors. A smart exhibitor associates a cost with contract parameters and bears it if it makes economic sense. The results underscore the importance of precise information for making smart replacement decisions. The optimal policy under special conditions resembles a control limit policy, which is easy to implement and compute. Essay 2 applies the theoretical concepts developed in Essay 1 to a special case of the movie replacement problem. The output of this essay is SilverScreener, which is a decision support model for movie exhibitors. The model helps the exhibitors both select (which) and schedule (when, how long) the movies. The model is readily implementable and appears to lead to considerable improvement in profitability in different comparative cases. The general nature of optimal policy emerges as: choose fewer "right" movies and run them longer. The robustness of the results is shown through sensitivity analyses. Essay 3 proposes a two-tier application of the SilverScreener model to show its effectiveness as a managerial aid. The master plan helps the manager in bidding and planning for movies before a season. The rolling horizon approach is useful for weekly replacement decisions during the season. Our results show that SilverScreener can improve the manager's profitability and promises to be an effective scheduling and planning tool. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

This thesis analyzes railway demand and its determinants in the context of regional railway passenger transport in the Czech Republic and Prague suburban railway system. Special attention is devoted to examining the impact of new trains on the demand for the selected route of Jizerskohorské Railway. In particular models, I utilize as estimation procedure and difference-in-differences estimator. Panel data analysis found, in line with other published studies, short-run inelastic nature of demand. In order to increase revenue to railway operator, one must distinguish between a group of dependent and discretionary riders whose elasticity is different. Effect of buying new trains can be substantial, especially on less frequented routes with a greater proportion of private car holders.

The frequency with which acquisitions occur in the South African business environment served as motivation to evaluate the effect of acquisition announcements on the share performance of JSE listed shares. The basis of the study was to use event study methodology to evaluate short term effects as well as to investigate size effects in acquisition announcements. Companies were grouped into small and large companies using market capitalisation as segmentation criteria. To evaluate effects on the share price and volume traded, the market demand curve for traded securities was used. It proved to be a useful tool specifically in the evaluation of smaller companies, where information asymmetry was prevalent. The shift in the demand curve was evaluated by constructing a Demand Curve Variable, which showed the direction (if any) of the change in the demand curve. Acquisition announcements by JSE listed companies over the last seven years were evaluated and confounding events were controlled for. The findings supported the fact that there exist differences in the results of the small and large company samples when making acquisition announcements, and that small companies have more pronounced negative effects subsequent to the announcement of an acquisition. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The dissertation "Alignment of supply and demand within a supply chain: a qualitative study” determines the causes of the misalignment between the supply and demand within a supply chain, with specific focus on Kraft Foods South Africa. The costs of a mismatch between supply and demand are growing in many industries. Companies have tried various approaches, however these approaches, while useful, have failed to address a number of the drivers of supply-demand mismatch. The literature study starts with an overview of supply chain management. The study covers the various concepts of supply chain management, the importance of supply chain performance, the challenges of managing supply chains, demand management, supply management, as well as the relationship between supply and demand. The literature study continues to cover the various concepts related to the alignment of supply and demand within a supply chain. The study covers the effects of the misalignment between supply and demand within a supply chain, traditional approaches to align supply and demand and the transformation to a more responsive organisation. The various approaches to decrease the supply and demand lead time gap are also discussed. The literature study concludes with an overview of the supply chain of Kraft Foods South Africa, as well as the global Kraft Foods organisation. The review covers the challenges, the sustainable growth plan, the organisational set-up, sources and product range, geographical layout, people, functions and technology involved in Kraft’s supply chain. The review concludes with an overview of the current alignment between supply and demand within Kraft Foods South Africa’s supply chain. Chapter five discusses the details of the research design and methodology that was followed in conducting the research. Chapter six indicates the findings of the structured interviews with the key players in Kraft Foods South Africa’s supply chain. Chapter seven makes certain recommendations for the supply chain of Kraft Foods South Africa that will assist in improving the alignment between supply and demand. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Business Management / unrestricted

Farm machinery is a vital input for production agriculture and, as a result, is a significant part of the agricultural economy. Despite its great importance, there has been relatively little academic analysis on the driving forces behind farm machinery sales over the past several decades. The studies that do evaluate farm machinery sales all do so regarding annual sales despite shorter-term sales data being available. These previous studies primarily use traditional macroeconomic variables, tailored to the agricultural industry, to explain farm machinery sales. Recently, with the creation of the Ag Economy Barometer Survey in October 2015, farmer sentiment data is being collected. Studies using consumer sentiment data to evaluate consumer demand have found sentiment data useful when including it in demand models, especially for consumer durable goods. This study evaluates farm machinery sales, specifically two-wheel-drive tractors with 100 horsepower or higher, using both traditional macroeconomic variables and farmer sentiment data. The evaluation begins by looking at annual tractor sales from 1978 to 2019 using machinery prices, prices received for outputs, prices paid for inputs, lagged net farm income, interest rates for loans specifically for farm machinery, farm assets, and the number of acres harvested. The annual models are used to derive elasticities with respect to farm tractor sales, and the quantity demanded is most responsive to changes in machinery prices, the number of acres harvested, prices received for crops and livestock, and the level of farm assets. Out-of-sample estimations aids in evaluating the forecasting power of the models with the best statistical fit. The model with the best out-ofsample performance forecasts 2020 sales of farm tractors with 100 HP and above using various assumptions for agricultural economic conditions in 2020. The model estimates a record low in tractor sales dating back to 1978. The annual models are then re-estimated using quarterly data spanning from 2009 to 2019. The quarterly models have less statistical fit than their annual counterparts. This reduced model performance is likely due to the seasonal nature of farm tractor sales and that some of the explanatory variables are only updated on an annual basis, limiting their ability to capture the seasonal variations. Finally, the quarterly models are estimated again to include farmer sentiment data. At the time of the study, only 17 quarterly observations of farmer sentiment data had been collected, significantly limiting the evaluation. The limited number of observations results in an inconclusive outcome regarding the explanatory power of farmer sentiment data.

Master of Science

El texto completo de este trabajo no está disponible en el Repositorio Académico UPC por restricciones de la casa editorial donde ha sido publicado. / Over time, the textile sector has been globally represented and characterized by increasingly demanding customers, which has forced companies to seek more flexible processes. However, these changes in production methods have also generated greater wastes, a common problem, which also leads to a greater number of defaults on meeting the demand. As a result, several efforts have been made to solve this issue, such as using emerging Lean or Just-in-Time philosophies with different approaches. Likewise, high sector turnover sometimes causes learning to become tedious, thus affecting the knowledge which has already been acquired. Therefore, this paper proposes a Lean Manufacturing model, bolstered by knowledge management to guarantee its viability over time. A simulation using the Arena software reduced non-compliances with companies’ production schedule up to 80%.

No description available.

Participants in the agricultural marketing system include commodity producers, grain elevators, feed processors, flour millers, bakers, exporters, and retail outlets. Every firm in the marketing system is concerned with creating expectations regarding supply, demand, quality, and price in the physical market. The role of market information plays in the agricultural marketing system is considered in the three chapters of this thesis. Chapters 1 and 2 were completed with financial support from the Virginia Small Grains Board and the Virginia Agricultural Council. The futures market is used by a number of firms, private and public, to create price expectations. Firms rely on the futures market to provide market signals and manage risk. Chapter 1 examines what might happen in the soft red winter wheat marketing system if the price signals from the futures market become less accurate because Federal grades fail to account for all of the grain characteristics desired by millers and bakers. Expected returns from competing crops are a factor in a producer's decision-making process. Chapter 2 examines the role first-level handlers play in expanding the market share of grain sorghum and barley in Virginia. The objective of the first-level handler survey was to determine if factors, such as limited market information, prevented the expansion of the grain sorghum and barley markets. Contrary to a priori expectations that price risk would be the limiting factor, results showed that inconsistent local supply was the main barrier to the expansion of grain sorghum and barley. Chapter 3 is an example of a pricing guide written for Virginia cotton producers. It uses a balance sheet approach, which illustrates how information regarding the cotton crop can be translated into price expectations. / Master of Science