The ability to effectively match supply and demand can lead to significant revenue benefits in the airline industry. Airline supply management deals with assigning the right resources (i.e., aircraft and crew) to the right routes in the flight network. Due to certain crew regulations, operating characteristics, and constraints of the airline companies, these supply management decisions need to be made well in advance of departures, at a time when demand is highly uncertain. However, demand forecasts improve markedly over time, as more information on demand patterns is gathered. Thus, exploiting the flexibilities in the system that allows the partial postponement of supply decisions to a later time, when more accurate demand information is obtained, can significantly improve the airline's revenue. In this thesis, we propose and analyze the Demand Driven Swapping (DDS) approach that aims at improving the airline's revenue by reducing the supply-demand mismatches through dynamically swapping aircraft as departures approach. This research has been done in collaboration with our industrial partner, the United Airlines Research and Development Division. Due to the proximity to departures, the DDS problem is restricted by two main constraints: 1) the initial crew schedule needs to be kept intact (due to certain union contracts); and 2) airport services and operations need to be preserved to the greatest extent possible. As a result, only a limited number of simple swaps can be performed between aircraft types of the same family (i.e. crew-compatible aircraft types). However, the swaps can be potentially performed on a daily basis given the initial fleet assignments. Clearly, the swapping criteria, frequency, and timing will highly impact the revenue benefits of the DDS approach. When the swapping decisions are made several weeks prior to departures (i.e., 4-6 weeks before departures), they will not cause much disturbance to the operations, but will be performed under highly uncertain demand information. On the other hand, swapping decisions that are delayed to a time later (i.e., 1-3 weeks before departures) will decrease the possibility of bad swaps, but will result in larger costs due to the higher disruptions to airport services and operations. Thus our research objective is to provide guidelines and principles on how the flexible capacity should be managed in the system. For this purpose, we study the effectiveness of different swapping strategies, characterized in terms of their frequency and timing, for hedging against the demand uncertainty. We first study stylized analytical models to gain insights into the critical parameters that affect these benefits. Simulation models are then conducted to test the validity of our analytical findings as well as to analyze more complex strategies and assess the dynamic performance of these strategies. The analytical results indicate that strategies that make the swapping decision early in time (in order to minimize disturbances to the operations) perform very well on routes, where the demand uncertainty is low and the expected demands on the legs are well-balanced. Otherwise, a swapping strategy, which revises the swapping decision over time, should be implemented. Our simulation results, based on real data obtained from United Airlines, confirm the analytical findings. / Master of Science

<p> </p> <p><em>This study examines data-driven contract design in the small data regime and large data regime respectively, and the implications from contract pricing in the pharmaceutical supply chain. </em></p>

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:50:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 3614.pdf: 4128707 bytes, checksum: e5c053faca805f08c256f5c1086ad0f2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-11-12 / Value creation for society and gains in efficiency, efficacy and effectiveness has been reason of concerning in public sector. Based on a broad literature about service operations management, service value and public service value, this thesis has taken for granted that to know the value which a service must deliver to its main stakeholders is prior to organize it. According to literature, value might be created since designing public institutions until managing them. To integrate the different perspectives, it was used an approach that evaluates service value creation from the consequences on to its customers and the necessary resources to deliver them. These consequences were analyzed under four dimensions: utility, justice, solidarity, and aesthetic. Recourses analyzed were competences and technology. Thus, this thesis s purpose was to define the value of Forensic Science Service (FSS) to its main stakeholders. The specific objectives, which generated propositions, were: to find out the role played by FSS in its interorganizational network, to find out the main FSS characteristics, to identify critical factors for value delivery, and to propose some guides to design FSS. To achieve these objectives, a five-year qualitative, longitudinal and exploratory case study was carried out in a FSS federation unity. Subsidiary information was collected in six other FSS. Data also were collected from FSS stakeholders, using multiple methods. Results were analyzed and criticized based on theory. The findings showed that FSS takes part in a Public Safety and Criminal Justice interorganizational network and provide it with a service: the production of forensic evidence. FSS operations present exams variety, process variability, layout by fixed position in front office, and stakeholders diversity. FSS association with science highlights its intangibility. FSS utility dimension is to link the suspect to crime scene (or innocent someone wrongly accused) using science and technology, that is, it helps to build a narrative, in which defendants behaviors are trialed according to the law. There are obstacles on delivering this value dimension, like miscoordination among network members on crime scene preservation, for instance. The justice dimension assumes that every citizen must have access to FSS, independent of any pre-existing condition. Although, FSS hasn t been universalized yet. The solidarity dimension has a deeply conexion with Human Rights, both in avoiding constraining suspects during criminal investigations, and contributing to fair trials, in the sense that either prosecution or defense have access to the service in equal terms. However, FSS subordination to the Police jeopardizes its impartiality. The aesthetic dimension consists on helping Police solve crimes without constraining suspects. Besides the technical competence, FSS personnel need a communicational competence to a full client s knowledge. The technological resources are part of production process and critical for value delivery. Concluding, FSS should be redesigned as an independent agency in order to increase Criminal Justice impartiality. Finally, the study encourages reflections about the difficulties of applying service operations management concepts to a public organization that is changing, and it´s characterized by the diversity of stakeholders and by its fluid and poorly defined, although important value. / A criação de valor para a sociedade e ganhos em eficiência, eficácia e efetividade são motivos de preocupação no setor público. Baseada em uma ampla literatura sobre gestão de operações de serviços e valor de serviço, incluindo serviços públicos, esta tese partiu do pressuposto de que saber o valor de um serviço para os seus principais stakeholders é prioritário para organizá-lo. Segundo a literatura, valor pode ser criado desde o desenho até a gestão de instituições. Para integrar as perspectivas, abordou-se a criação de valor a partir das consequências para os destinatários do serviço e dos recursos necessários para produzi-las. Estas consequências são analisadas sob quatro dimensões: utilidade, justiça, solidariedade e estética. E os recursos analisados foram competências e tecnologias. Assim, o propósito dessa tese foi definir o valor do serviço de perícia criminal para os seus principais stakeholders. Os objetivos específicos, que geraram proposições, foram: investigar o papel desempenhado pelo serviço em sua rede interorganizacional; abordar suas principais características; identificar fatores críticos para a entrega de valor e propor algumas diretrizes a fim de projetar o serviço. Com o propósito de atingir esses objetivos, um estudo de caso qualitativo, exploratório e longitudinal de cinco anos foi realizado em um órgão pericial. Subsidiariamente, coletaram-se informações em seis outros órgãos periciais. Foram coletados, também, dados de stakeholders do serviço, utilizando-se múltiplos métodos. Os resultados foram analisados e discutidos com base na teoria. Esses resultados mostraram que a perícia criminal integra uma rede interorganizacional de segurança pública e justiça criminal e produz um serviço: a prova pericial. O serviço apresenta variedade de exames, variabilidade de processos, arranjo posicional na linha de frente e diversidade de stakeholders. A associação entre o serviço e a ciência realça sua intangibilidade. A dimensão de utilidade do serviço é vincular o suspeito ao local do crime (ou inocentar alguém erroneamente acusado), utilizando a ciência e a tecnologia, ou seja, auxiliar a construção de uma narrativa, para que as condutas dos réus sejam julgadas de acordo com a lei. Há obstáculos na entrega desta dimensão, como, por exemplo, as dificuldades de coordenação entre os atores da rede na preservação do local de crime. A dimensão de justiça presume que todo cidadão tenha acesso ao serviço, independente de qualquer condição pré-existente. Entretanto, este acesso ainda não foi universalizado. A dimensão de solidariedade tem relação profunda com os Direitos Humanos, tanto para evitar que suspeitos sofram constrangimentos durante investigações criminais, quanto contribuindo para julgamentos justos, de forma que acusação e defesa tenham igual acesso ao serviço. Porém, a subordinação do serviço a Polícia compromete sua imparcialidade. A dimensão estética consiste em auxiliar a Polícia a desvendar crimes sem constranger suspeitos. Além da competência técnica, os peritos precisam ter competências comunicativas, para conhecerem os clientes. Os recursos tecnológicos são parte do processo de produção do serviço e críticos para a entrega de valor. Concluindo, o serviço de perícia criminal deveria ser redesenhado institucionalmente como um órgão independente, para incrementar a imparcialidade da Justiça. Finalmente, o estudo encoraja reflexões sobre as dificuldades em aplicar os conceitos de gestão de operações a um serviço público em mudança, que é caracterizado pela diversidade de stakeholders e por seu valor fluido e pouco definido, porém relevante.

Family businesses represent a key economical asset in the global economy. Leaders of family businesses have implemented internationalization as a key strategy to enhance sustainability and increase profitability in a hypercompetitive global marketplace. Guided by the Uppsala model, the purpose of this case study was to explore how Saudi family business leaders have planned and implemented internationalization. Three leaders from different international Saudi family businesses participated in semistructured interviews. The participants described their experience in achieving successful internationalization for their family businesses. After analyzing the interview data and validating through member checking, 3 main themes emerged: (a) the characteristics of the family business to compete internationally, (b) the characteristics of a suitable international market for family businesses to internationalize, and (c) the characteristics of a successful internationalization opportunity for a Saudi family business. In order to internationalize, Saudi family business leaders identified having a proper strategy, financial capability, qualified resources, well-structured policies, and globally-standardized products or services. Family business leaders should target the international market that is stable, that is secure with regulations, and that is welcoming to foreign investments. Each internationalization opportunity should have close psychic distance, available relationships in the international market, targeted family business motives, demonstrated existing market demand with the ability to satisfy, and proper timing. The findings may promote social change in Saudi family businesses by identifying essential characteristics to maintain the companies' existence and offer a roadmap to compete internationally.

Sjukvården i Sverige står inför flertalet stora utmaningar i dag. Med en växande och åldrande befolkning ökar vårdbehovet i både komplexitet och volym. Samtidigt är resurserna begränsade vilket leder till att sjukvården måste bli mer effektiv i sitt vårderbjudande. Sjukvården har därför börjat titta på management-teorier från andra branscher, främst bilindustrin. Ambulanta vårdgivare, enheter som utför vårdtjänster utan egna inneliggande patienter, är centrala i produktivitets och effektiviseringsförbättringar i de system de agerar i. Denna studie har undersökt hur forskningens idéer kring produktionsplanering och kontroll kan användas av en ambulant vårdgivare. Detta examensarbete är baserat på en fallstudie genomförd på röntgenavdelningen på Danderyds sjukhus i Stockholms län. Fallstudien har utgjorts av framförallt kvalitativ datainsamling genom semistrukturerade intervjuer understödda av kvantitativ produktionsdata och en benchmarkingstudie på röntgenmottagningen på Universitetssjukhuset i Linköping. Det empiriska bidraget i fallstudien har inkluderat en kartläggning av arbetsprocessen i röntgenmottagningen på Danderyds sjukhus. Processen kunde delas upp i tre faser: 1. Förberedelser, 2. Undersökning, och 3. Diagnosticering och dokumentering. Utifrån den kartlagda processen och en utförlig litteraturstudie om produktionsplanering och kontroll kunde tre huvudsakliga slutsatser dras: (1) implementering av produktionsplanering och kontroll måste utgå från en grundlig förståelse för processerna hos vårdgivaren och syfta till att verka för både kliniska och operationella mål, (2) produktionsplanerings- och kontrollaktiviteter måste anpassas till vårdgivarens omgivning, och (3) kontinuerlig återkoppling från kvalitets och produktivitetsmål är oumbärliga för framgångsrik utnyttjning av produktionsplanerings och kontroll i en ambulant vårdgivare. Detta examensarbete kommer hjälpa ambulanta vårdgivare att möte de utmaningar och produktivitetskrav dessa står inför i Sverige genom att utnyttja potentialen med produktionsplanering och kontroll. / The healthcare sector in Sweden faces several challenges today: a growing and ageing population increases demand in terms of both volume and complexity whereas monetary resources available do not follow suit, forcing care givers to become more efficient in their operation. The healthcare sector has for this reason in recent years become more and more inclined to implement management theories developed in other industries, primarily the automotive industry. Ambulatory care service units, who provide care services on an outpatient basis, are vital in productivity improvements in the system they are acting in but have been somewhat neglected by both policy makers and academia. This study has therefore investigated how production planning and control theories, principles and methods can be utilised in an ambulatory care service unit in a major emergency hospital in Sweden. This thesis is based on a case study conducted at the radiology department at Danderyds sjukhus, an emergency hospital located in Stockholm County Council. The case study mainly consisted of qualitative data gathering using semi-structured interviews with aid from quantitative data on department performance. The empirical contributions of the case study included a process mapping of a generic process flow prevalent in all subunits of the department in the radiology department. The main process could be divided into three main phases: 1. Preparation, 2. Examination, and 3. Diagnosing and documentation. Using the mapped out process and a thorough literature review on production planning and control three main conclusions could be drawn: (1) an implementation of production planning and control should begin with a deep understanding of process flows in the unit and aim to promote both operational and medical objectives, (2) production planning and control activities should be adapted to the environment the unit is acting in, and (3) continuous feedback from performance measurements is vital to successful production planning and control initiatives. This study will help ambulatory care service units to meet the challenge of increased demand they currently face in Sweden by utilising the potential in production planning and control.

The analysis of big data points and the use of data analytics have proven successful in improving corporate business efficiencies, growing profits, and increasing competitive advantages. The theory of academic capitalism, which holds that institutions of higher education are becoming more like corporations due to declining operating funds and the need to become more efficient, transparent, and competitive, guided this study. Despite the positive outcomes that analytic tools may produce in advanced efficiencies and competitive growth, college academic administrators have not yet adopted these tools, due in part to barriers facing the administrators. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the nature of those barriers in a community college. Ten academic managers in 6 community college divisions who reported accountability for criterion-based key performance indicators were interviewed on their perceived use of academic analytic tools and barriers in adopting these tools. The interviews were collected and analyzed through preliminary grouping, reducing and eliminating outliers, clustering descriptions into categories, and constructing themes. The managers' narratives suggested that there were 4 perceived barriers that prevented the adoption of tools such as organizational bureaucracy (climate), restricted organizational data (policy), training, and infrastructure. An important area for further research involves identifying the strategies managers could use to overcome these barriers. The findings of this study will assist college administrators in implementing analytic tools. Such tools will improve key performance indicators, resulting in a more cohesive and cost-effective academic experience for students, faculty, administrators, and the community.

The objective of this thesis is to explore the design of operational processes in information-intensive service delivery systems. Empirical data is presented which builds upon existing literature within the Business Process Management (BPM) and Service Operations Management (SOM) disciplines. Adopting a theory building mode, the thesis concludes with the formulation of several research propositions which specify the design characteristics of the processes that provide the service concept to the customer. The research addresses a number of gaps in the literature. First, there is little empirical evidence concerning the relationship between the service concept, customer inputs, and process design. Second, service classification schemes promote homogeneous thinking in the design of service systems delivering diverse service concepts. Third, the BPM literature provides generic process design principles which offer limited theoretical insights into the design requirements of operational processes. Finally, there is a need for process design research in information-intensive service organisations. A research framework that integrates theoretical models addressing service process design is investigated using a single case study approach. Fieldwork was carried out over a sixteen-month period in a large electricity supplier in the UK. In contrast to the macro-orientation found within the literature, this study employs a more granular level of analysis to address the unique requirements of ‘service concept – processes’ pairs. This approach results in a number of important findings which, in several instances, are in contradiction to current thinking. First, the results empirically validate the theoretical relationship between service concept, customer inputs, and process design. Different service concepts lead to different process designs, and the more customised the service concept, the more the process is uniquely designed. Significant differences in the design of the individual processes that collectively provide the service concept to the customer are highlighted. The results also provide some new insights into the design of front office – back office activities as well as into the design characteristics of processes characterised by low customer contact. In addition, the study refutes the view that generic process design principles are universally applicable irrespective of the context in which the processes operate. Finally, the research findings show that a process-based view of service systems allows for heterogeneity; that is differences in the design of service delivery processes within the same organisation.

<p>This dissertation contributes to the rapidly growing empirical research area in the field of operations management. It contains two essays, tackling two different sets of operations management questions which are motivated by and built on field data sets from two very different industries --- air cargo logistics and retailing. </p><p>The first essay, based on the data set obtained from a world leading third-party logistics company, develops a novel and general Bayesian hierarchical learning framework for estimating customers' spillover learning, that is, customers' learning about the quality of a service (or product) from their previous experiences with similar yet not identical services. We then apply our model to the data set to study how customers' experiences from shipping on a particular route affect their future decisions about shipping not only on that route, but also on other routes serviced by the same logistics company. We find that customers indeed borrow experiences from similar but different services to update their quality beliefs that determine future purchase decisions. Also, service quality beliefs have a significant impact on their future purchasing decisions. Moreover, customers are risk averse; they are averse to not only experience variability but also belief uncertainty (i.e., customer's uncertainty about their beliefs). Finally, belief uncertainty affects customers' utilities more compared to experience variability. </p><p>The second essay is based on a data set obtained from a large Chinese supermarket chain, which contains sales as well as both wholesale and retail prices of un-packaged perishable vegetables. Recognizing the special characteristics of this particularly product category, we develop a structural estimation model in a discrete-continuous choice model framework. Building on this framework, we then study an optimization model for joint pricing and inventory management strategies of multiple products, which aims at improving the company's profit from direct sales and at the same time reducing food waste and thus improving social welfare.</p><p>Collectively, the studies in this dissertation provide useful modeling ideas, decision tools, insights, and guidance for firms to utilize vast sales and operations data to devise more effective business strategies.</p> / Dissertation

Propôs-se no presente trabalho um modelo estruturado para, partindo-se da missão e visão da organização, de seus objetivos estratégicos declarados bem como de suas estratégias, identificar quais os fatores críticos de sucesso e propor-se um sistema de indicadores de desempenho estrategicamente alinhado com seus objetivos. Para tanto, utilizou-se de uma série de conceitos, modelos e ferramentas disponíveis para medição e avaliação de desempenho a fim de se criar um modelo de gestão das contribuições individuais que pudesse confrontá-las com as metas globais, com o objetivo de subsidiar o gestor na tomada de decisão no que se refere ao direcionamento de ações e recursos, de forma a garantir metas globais, aproveitando-se também das diferenças ambientais e potencialidades individuais de cada uma das unidades contribuintes da organização avaliada. / In the present work a structured framework is proposed for, departing from the organization’s mission and vision of the future, from its strategic objectives and adopted competitive strategies, identify critical success factors and propose a performance measurement system that is strategically aligned with the organization’s objectives. For such, a number of available performance measurement and evaluation concepts, models and tools where used in order to create a performance management framework form managing individual contributions that could be confronted to global targets, with the purpose of subsidizing manager in decision making, regarding action and resource directing, as means of guarantying global targets while taking advantage of environmental differences as well as individual potentialities of each of the evaluated organization’s contributing units.

O ensino de Administração da Produção e Operações (APO) foi investigado em quatro formas complementares: através da revisão da literatura; análise dos conteúdos dos livros didáticos; análise das questões do Exame Nacional de Cursos (Provão) e análise dos programas das disciplinas de APO dos cursos de graduação em Administração de Empresas da FEA-PUC-SP, FEA-USP e FGV-EAESP, que foram consideradas as principais escolas de Administração do município de São Paulo. Quanto aos conteúdos de APO, os resultados convergiram para uma lista de 25 tópicos principais que deveriam ser tratados tanto nos livros didáticos de APO, quanto nos cursos de graduação em Administração de Empresas. Através das respostas aos questionários enviados aos professores, bem como contatos telefônicos, por e-mail e in loco, foram obtidas informações que complementaram a análise do conteúdo de APO, mas também permitiram as seguintes comparações: as três escolas possuem de quatro a cindo disciplinas obrigatórias de APO, totalizando 230 horas no curso, que ainda conta com disciplinas optativas, sendo que a FEA-USP oferece apenas uma disciplina, enquanto a FEA-PUC-SP e a FGV-EAESP oferecem oito; Slack et al. (2002) é o livro mais recomendado para as disciplinas de Administração da Produção e operações, mas para as disciplinas ligadas à Administração de Materiais não há um livro que predomine, além disso, os professores têm complementado seus cursos com apostilas; o método de ensino e o sistema de avaliação nas três escolas possuem vários pontos em comum e o Provão não tem sido utilizado como recurso didático; finalmente, nas três escolas o corpo docente está organizado em áreas ou departamentos, sendo a área de produção uma das menores na FEA-USP e na FGV-EAESP. Sendo poucos os professores, deveriam, então, ter alto número de carga horária. Apesar disso, os professores do Departamento de Produção da FGV-EAESP possuem a menor carga horária na graduação, quando comparados com as outras duas escolas. / Production and Operations Management (POM) teaching has been investigated in four different supporting ways: from literature review, books content, Brazil´s National Exam questions, and discipline program analysis, all of them related to POM, and taking place in FEA-USP (Faculdade de Economia e Administração – Business Economics College of University of São Paulo) Business Management Courses, PUC-SP (Catholic University of São Paulo), and FGV-EAESP, most renowned Business Schools in São Paulo. Results concerning POM drove to 25 main listed topics which should be referred not only in POM school books, but also in Management graduation courses. Upon answers to the questions sent to professors, phone contacts, e-mails and locals, some information was collected, which led to the following comparison levels: the mentioned schools above have 4 or 5 primary course disciplines related to POM, totalizing 230 hours, and there are still free choice program students. FEA-USP offers just one disicipline, while FEA-PUC-SP, and FGV-EAESP offer eight. Slack et al. (2002) is the most recomended book concerning POM disciplines, but for the ones related to Material Management there is no such prevailing book. Besides, professors have been meeting their courses content goal using their own notes. Teaching methods, and grading systems in those schools have common views and the National Exam has not been used as a reference or a pattern. Finally, the faculty in those three schools is divided into areas or departments. The Production area is one of the smallest in FEA-USP and FGV-EAESP, and as a result of it, FGV-EAESP Production Department professors have the smallest number of classes in graduation courses, compared to the other two schools, though as they are so few, those teachers were expected to have great numbers of classes.