David A. Dittman

Evaluating a hotel GM's performance: a case study in benchmarking.

Because every market is different, evaluating a general managers performance is complex. By controlling for market differences with a linear programming model, a chain can develop benchmarks for a...

Evaluating a hotel GM's performance

Abstract A computer model that matches similar hotels will allow a chain to compare the performance of one general manager to that of another. Doing so will help identify the most efficient operations while providing benchmarks for less-efficient managers to attain.

Reimbursement rate setting for Medicaid prescription drugs based on relative efficiencies

Abstract This paper illustrates a new LP approach, called Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), which is used to set Medicaid prescription drug dispensing fees for a sample of 68 pharmacies. DEA utilizes Pareto efficiency to gauge the degree of relative technical efficiency achieved by each pharmacy. The approach constructs a peer group of other pharmacies, which are matched on environmental factors, level of services provided, and level of resources consumed. The DEA approach also determines what adjustments in the levels of the resources and outputs would have been needed over the specified period so that an inefficient pharmacy would have been rated as relatively technically efficient. It is these adjusted values that we suggest can be used to help set an equitable reimbursement rate. In particular, a prospective variable dispensing fee with a retrospective adjustment is proffered as an equitable payment mechanism.

Cost pass-through reimbursement to hospitals and their impacts on operating efficiencies

In both the private and public sectors, it is strongly believed that when goods and services are transferred at full cost, efficiency of operation is not encouraged. A cost pass-through payment mechanism, heavily used by the U.S. Federal Government prior to 1983 to reimburse hospitals for in-patient services, has been blamed for part of the annual double digit escalation in health care costs from 1965 to 1983. A cost pass-through formula is still in use for some types of outpatient care reimbursement (especially clinics and ancillary services); additionally retrospective reviews are still used to determine Medicare “outlier” payments under the present prospective system. Finally some private health care plans still utilize a mixed retrospective/prospective payment system. Hence, the issue is still very relevant to health care professionals. Unfortunately it has been difficult to settle this issue empirically since hospitals are characterized by the provision of multiple services, with no clear resource/product allocations; additionally different client mixes and other uncontrollable factors complicate the issue of measurement of efficiency. We provide some quantitative insights into this issue, using a new formal hypothesis testing procedure developed by Banker (1993) which uses asinputs the technical efficiency ratings from a Data Envelopment Analysis with non-discretionary factors (see Banker and Morey (1986)). The data set involved is for 105 North Carolina hospitals, operating in 1978 (before the era of prospective reimbursement); three distinct outputs, three controllable resources and six descriptors of the hospital (bed size, case mix, etc.) are available for each hospital. Additionally thepercent ofeach hospitals total reimbursement, generated utilizing the cost pass-through formula, was estimated. The hypotheses tested related generally to whether or not an inverse relationship existed between the hospitals inefficiency rating and the extent of its cost pass-through reimbursement. The data supports the widely held belief that hospitals with higher cost pass-through percent reimbursement indeed tended to be less efficient.

Managerial Accounting in the Hospitality Industry

Abstract In this chapter we review the scholarly literature on managerial accounting that is set in the hospitality industry. Despite the fact that the hospitality industry is one of the worlds largest, there is very little research on its management accounting issues and practices. We conclude the chapter with a discussion of research opportunities focused on the hospitality industry.

A simulation-based optimization approach for investment decisions: a case study of pure allergy-friendly rooms.

In this article, the authors demonstrate how to use optimization combined with Monte Carlo simulation to model an investment decision by means of a case study of a hotel considering the converting a portion of its inventory to allergy-friendly rooms (by applying a proprietary method). Using survey data on consumer demand and hotel occupancy data, the model considers the random nature of occupancy to determine the optimal number of rooms to convert and the corresponding price to charge. In setting up the model, the authors demonstrate the limitations of traditional approaches using average occupancy data.

Digging the well

Let’s use the picture of digging a well to help us understand what we call The Four Outcomes. We believe that for the person who has been “born from above” and follows Jesus Christ, there are certain outcomes or consequences (in the positive sense of the word). These Outcomes do not make us more religious or put us on God’s version of the Dean’s List. Instead, the Outcomes put us in a position to be changed by God. Again, remove the idea of a checklist from your mind. These Four Outcomes are more like four shovels that we will use to dig our well deeper. If you’ve been around people who may identify themselves as “religious,” they probably have a code of conduct or a list of rules to abide by. It doesn’t really matter what religion they adhere to, because the point is that they have a checklist of do’s and don’ts that determine their steps. Being a Christian is not about having the best or a superior checklist; in fact, we can do without the checklist altogether. Being a Christian is a lot more like digging a well. The deeper we dig, the more we are washed over with the grace of God in our lives. Some people only want to go in up to their ankles; that way, they can do their “Sunday/ God thing” but still live their old lives Monday through Saturday. Why not dig deep? Why not go all in on this? The more and more that we taste the life-giving waters of Jesus, we will fi nd the behaviors and desires of the world offers us less and less appetizing. Digging A Well

When disaster strikes

The Need of the Hour: A Case for Standards in Rapidly Deployable Communication Systems for Public Safety By Kamesh Namuduri, University of North Texas Abstract: From one earthquake to another, from one hurricane to another, and from one terrorist attack to another, the world has seen again and again, the destruction of communication infrastructure caused by natural and man-made disasters and their impact on human lives. In each and every situation, the story repeated itself – communication systems and networks get choked, bringing emergency services to a complete halt. The solution to this problem is the development of rapidly deployable and interoperable communication systems. Despite the efforts from the federal government, academic, and telecommunication industry, the progress has been rather slow. This article makes a case for the need for standards in rapidly deployable communication systems and the engineered ecosystem around them with capabilities to augment first-responder activities during disaster relief operations. The grand vision is availability of a portable and interoperable communication system, the size of a backpack that fits in a fire engine at every fire department in every town in near future. The system should be readily and rapidly deployable in minutes to establish communications to the citizens and first responders. This article describes what has been done so far and what needs to be done to make this vision a reality. EPICS in IEEE Teaches and Inspires Students through Community Service By Nicholas J. Kirsch, University of New Hampshire Abstract: Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) is a program that is making a lasting impact on students and communities around the world. EPICS in IEEE empowers students to work with local service organizations and use their technical knowledge to help a community in need. The program fosters technological innovation while benefiting humanity. It not only helps the communities, but also helps students to broaden their skills through engineering-based projects and encourages them to pursue engineering as a career for community improvement. The World in 2050: Safety by Design By Tiana Ashley Khong, San Jose State University Abstract: This paper compares technological advances in intelligent buildings, autonomous vehicles, and smart roads to their lack of safety service standards for consumers and users. Companies continuously compete with one another to come up with innovative technology but in doing so often put consumers and users at risk. The Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud service platforms make it possible to build intelligent buildings that reduce company costs and environmental impacts, produce autonomous vehicles that reduce consumer costs and risks while making lives efficient, and construct smart roads that reduce risks and increase efficiency. All those amazing technologies can provide enormous benefits for communities, but they fall victim to lack of security. Hackers pose a serious threat to IoT, cloud service platforms, and devices that rely on both services to work, and all it takes is one small alteration in the programs to cause severe damage to societies all over the world. Full Articles Connected Through a Disaster By raiMundo rodulfo, City of Coral gaBleS, florida Just as residents of many south Florida towns prepare their homes and families for natural disasters—boarding up windows, stocking up on vital supplies, identifying evacuation centers, etc.— city officials must also take steps to ready for these emergency situations. After being hit hard by hurricanes in 2004 and 2006, city leaders in Coral Gables, Florida, created a resistant, reliable communications network to safeguard its infrastructure and ensure uptime of critical services. With the adoption of IEEE 802 standards, the City of Coral Gables developed a system that enables residents to stay connected even when Mother Nature strikes at her hardest. Raimundo Rodulfo is the Director of information technology for Coral Gables. His team works with city leadership to achieve efficiencies, innovation and process improvements through technology solutions, smart city initiatives and projects. When Rodulfo started with the city as an IT analyst in 2004, the network was simpler, more segregated and less burdened with diverse services to support. From every perspective, the needs and expectations of the network have grown more challenging and complex in the years since. Rodulfo’s team led the creation of a new, more robust network based on IEEE 802 about 10 years ago. In September 2017, the new system was put to the test when Hurricane Irma—considered to be the continental United States’ most powerful hurricane since Katrina of 2005—delivered tremendous damage to the Northeastern Caribbean and much of Florida. Irma lashed Coral Gables, with numerous downed power lines, trees and traffic lights throughout the city. The system survived the storm and was able to provide digital services and communications to emergency responders and constituents during and after the wrath of Irma. “Because of the resilience of our infrastructure, we’ve been able to sustain critical services such as police, fire and 911 emergency systems and communications, even though many of our network sites lost power during Hurricane Irma,” said Rodulfo. “We’ve created a robust design based on IEEE 802 protocols. Through those standards, failover capabilities are built in the design of our network at multiple layers—at the fiber optics, metropolitan Ethernet network, satellite systems or point-to-point wireless links.” Poor interagency communication during emergency response and recovery operations can have disastrous consequences for a city and its residents. Coral Gables officials had learned through experience that could not depend solely on a terrestrial communication infrastructure due to the destructive nature of tropical storms and hurricanes. Such events can uproot wireless base stations, disconnect vital communication cables, and flood central offices. The old system offered a limited degree of redundancy and lacked interoperability between public safety agencies. In order to update the system, Coral Cables looked to industry standards developed by IEEE. The IEEE 802 suite of end-to-end networking standards underpin the internet, “Wi-Fi®,” the Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, cloud computing, the smart grid, computer gaming, eHealth, industrial automation and numerous other hightech applications. IEEE 802 standards undergird the functionality and resiliency of products and services so that cities like Coral Gables can avoid dire communication failures. The new system developed by Rodulfo’s team uses a combination of redundancy layers to ensure uptime and availability. “We learned a lot from hurricanes in 2004 and 2006, and that influenced subsequent designs,” Rodulfo said. “For example, we learned that there would be a high probability of losing power completely in different areas. We learned the hard way that not

Update and Extension to “Evaluating a Hotel GM's Performance”: Controlling for differences in various general managers’ environments allows an even-handed comparison of each GM's efficiency, and provides a properly chosen benchmark for evaluating a GM's performance.

t has been some eight years since our paper &dquo;Evaluating a Hotel GM’s Performance: A Case Study in Benchmarking&dquo; was published in Cornell Quarterly, outlining (and illustrating using a real hotel chain) a path-breaking method for evaluating the performances of hotel GMs.’ Its strength lies in the fact that it: (1) incorporates factors outside the control of the GM (such as the operating environment the GM faces); (2) incorporates characteristics of the prop-

Summary and Future Needs

While it is clear that GM 25 essentially dominates GM 1, a linear, convex combination of three of the GMs provides even greater potential for identification of inefficiencies. We can actually slightly increase the total cost difference beyond the