Maqsood Sandhu

Adaptive fuzzy vendor managed inventory control for mitigating the Bullwhip effect in supply chains

This paper proposes an adaptive fuzzy control application to support a vendor managed inventory (VMI). The methodology applies fuzzy control to generate an adaptive smoothing constant in the forecast method, production and delivery plan to eliminate, for example, the rationing and gaming or the Houlihan effect and the order batching effect or the Burbidge effects and finally the Bullwhip effect. The results show that the adaptive fuzzy VMI control surpasses fuzzy VMI control and traditional VMI in terms of mitigating the Bullwhip effect and lower delivery overshoots and backorders. This paper also guides management in allocating inventory by coordinating suppliers and buyers to ensure minimum inventory levels across a supply chain. Adaptive fuzzy VMI control is the main contribution of this paper.

Business process development in project‐based industry: A case study

The strategic focus of organisations today is on the customer and internal and external processes. This paper presents a systematic approach to project process development and identifies key aspects of long‐term process evaluation. A framework for process development is presented with special emphasis on value‐adding activities in engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) projects. The framework provides a better understanding of the dynamic processes and critical interfaces in inter‐organisational networks. The choice of concepts and final construction of the framework is informed by an empirical research of EPC projects, and a case study of the power division of Wartsila Corporation is analysed. Empirical findings are gathered through the Delphi method and the use of personal group interviews with the key actors involved. A model for process development is developed, linking interest groups to the development of their targets, information, and knowledge sharing. The emphasis is on the right place, the right actors, the right resources, and the right time.

Adopting TQM approach to achieve customer satisfaction

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a survey of customer satisfaction with regard to the strategy of total quality management (TQM) adopted in a wheat flour milling company.Design/methodology/approach – A survey was conducted to learn more about customer expectations and satisfaction. The respondents were all customers of a flour‐based food processor. Quality function deployment (QFD) was applied to improve customer service performance by focusing on customer satisfaction, value and retention.Findings – The results show that customer satisfaction has increased steadily over a period of three years. The QFD approach helped to design a competitive product by aligning the company resources to customers’ needs.Research limitations/implications – The findings are limited to a specific food manufacturing company and for this reason they cannot be generalized to the whole in service sector. Further research is needed for other service companies.Practical implications – The findings m...

The role of trust on the performance of strategic alliances in a cross‐cultural context

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to explore the role of trust in the relationships and long‐term commitment between partners in strategic alliances. A framework is developed for better understanding the role of trust in the performance of strategic alliances in a cross‐cultural context.Design/methodology/approach – The empirical findings of this study are gathered from structured and unstructured interviews with some key actors involved in the process of forming strategic alliances in their own organizations; a case study of the oil industry in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which illustrates this is analysed. Qualitative analysis is conducted to assess the role of trust in this cross‐cultural context.Findings – It was noted that building trust between partners helped to avoid bureaucratic obstructions and enhanced the decision making process in the UAE. It was found that trust helped partners to exchange resources faster, devote more funds to the venture and exchange knowledge and information smoot...

A network approach to project business analysis

Purpose – Based upon previous models and the extant literature, the purpose of this paper is to present a network approach to describing and analyzing inter‐organizational relationships in project business. The framework provides a better understanding of the dynamic processes and critical interfaces in a network context, and advocates the use of the tools of agile supply‐demand networks (ASDN) and design structure matrix (DSM).Design/methodology/approach – This conceptual paper uses a network approach to understand inter‐organizational business relationships in resource management. This approach is useful for understanding relationships in project business, which usually involves a wide array of actors or stakeholders who provide resources or have an interest in project outcomes.Findings – The paper concludes that a network‐based framework provides a solid basis for a rich description and analysis of a multi‐actor project business, as well as assisting in understanding important interpersonal relationshi...

Handbook on Business Information Systems

This handbook covers the vast field of business information systems, focusing particularly on developing information systems to capture and integrate information technology together with the people and their businesses. Part I of the book, “Health Care Information Systems”, focuses on providing global leadership for the optimal use of health care information technology (IT). It provides knowledge about the best use of information systems for the betterment of health care services. Part II, “Business Process Information Systems”, extends the previous theory in the area of process development by recognizing that improvements in intra-organizational business processes need to be complemented by corresponding improvements in inter-organizational processes. Part III deals with “Industrial Data and Management Systems” and captures the main challenges faced by the industry, such as the changes in the operations paradigm of manufacturing and service organizations. Finally, Part IV, “Evaluation of Business Information Systems”, discusses the empirical investigation into the adoption of systems development methodologies and the security pattern of the business systems along with the mathematical models.

Steel supply chain management by simulation modelling

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to propose a simulation study of the “steel supply chain” to demonstrate the effect of inventory management and demand variety on the bullwhip effect mitigation.Design/methodology/approach – The relevant literature is reviewed, and then the simulation model proposed.Findings – This study identifies reasons for sharing information under varying levels of demand and some variants, and demonstrates the benefits of mitigating the bullwhip effect by applying a design of experiment. It is shown that the information sharing is able to mitigate the bullwhip effect in the steel supply chain by extending the order interval and minimising the order batch size.Research limitations/implications – This study explores the factors associated with the bullwhip effect. This research is focused on built‐to‐order simulation, so the results are only oriented on the basis of orders; hence a simultaneous order‐ and forecast‐based steel supply chain should be carried out in the future.Practical...

Supply process development with an inter-organisational and intra-organisational perspective

Using established project management theory as a foundation, the paper analyses the supply process and its impact on gains from business process development methods. Discussion of the challenges faced by the project based organisation and suggestions to improve project supply performance are presented. The findings reveal that the extent to which firms witness optimisations through such procurement is dependent not only on the intra-organisational process of corporate systems, but also on the inter-organisational perspective. The choice of concepts and final construction of the framework is informed by an empirical research of EPC projects, and a case study of the power plant is presented.

Analysis of risks faced by information technology offshore outsourcing service providers

To gain competitive advantage, organisations are considering information technology (IT) outsourcing as a strategic option by concentrating on their core operations and by reducing their operating costs. Many organisations are offering outsourcing services from various parts of the world. There are certain risks factors which IT outsourcing service providers come across while managing their service operations. Risk-related data from 50 Indian IT outsourcing service providers about their risks and concerns have been collected and archived. This study identifies risks from the providers’ perspective in regard to offshore outsourcing and put forward some guidelines to mitigate such risks.

The adoption of ICT in project‐based and traditional organizations: Evidence from Finnish and Swedish companies

Purpose – This research aims to investigate the adoption of electronic communication tools and seeks to shed more light on their diffusion process, a challenging task for project‐based (PBO) and traditional business organizations (TBO).Design/methodology/approach – The data for the study were collected through three surveys, one total population survey in the Finnish and Swedish house building industries representing traditional business organizations, together with a focused and a total population survey in project‐based organizations.Findings – The main findings from the survey indicate a difference in attitude between the employees of TBOs and PBOs. Moreover, electronic document management and scheduling were more prominent among PBOs, because these firms exhibit more inter‐organizational communication.Research limitations/implications – The findings are limited to project‐based and traditional business organizations. The research emphasises the fact that PBOs make more inter‐firm collaboration efforts...