Mehran Sepehri

A grid-based collaborative supply chain with multi-product multi-period production–distribution

A collaborative supply chain seeks to coordinate its members to produce and distribute products along the chain for minimum overall costs to satisfy customer demand. An integrated multi-period, multi-product and multi-stage supply chain model is developed. A collaborative supply chain grid (CSCG) system gathers necessary information on operations and resources from members of the supply chain. It then guides the members on ordering decisions for a minimum overall cost, while continuously re-directing them as new data becomes available. An actual CSCG system has been implemented in a collaborative auto industry with diverse and dynamic membership, yielding an approximately 26% reduction in total supply chain costs.

The evaluation of Business Intelligence maturity level in Iranian banking industry

Business intelligence (BI) is a managerial concept helping managers and organizations to manage information and make factual decisions. Some have introduced Business Intelligence as a process of turning data into information and then into knowledge. This concept has become a popular trend for businesses interested in adding value to their decision making processes. Measurement of maturity in implementing Business Intelligence process in organizations is considered a critical issue. Business intelligence like software development is a process, which expressed in terms of components such as artifacts and workflows. Capability Maturity Model Integrated (CMMI) is developed to define different levels of software process maturity. The concepts underlying CMMI have been defined different maturity levels for a business intelligence process. The current methods for measurement of Business Intelligence maturity are reviewed introducing the application of CMMI as a new measurement tool for this purpose. The main contribution of this research is to apply CMMI model in BI field, specifically in banking industry in Iran. Also this paper makes a contribution on the empirical knowledge on the topic. It determines in which level of maturity Iranian banks stand in case of implementing Business Intelligence process.

Analysis of Time Delays in Projects - Application to Iran and Emerging Countries

Numerous projects are underway in emerging countries, such as Iran, where technology transfer and economic expansion are the primary national objectives. However, majority of these projects either fail, according to world class standards, or faced with significant time delays. An initial analysis of selected projects reveals that over 60% of causes belong to organization factors, while environment and personal causes are less than 40%. The overwhelming evidence points of lack of proper project management and education within organization factors. Some prescriptive interventions are proposed to counter organization deficiencies and overcome consistent time delays. A planning stage using project management methodology is essential in this proposal. A proper assessment and treatment of risk should be included in the model. Further analysis is underway to conduct statistical test and dynamic analysis of a larger portfolio of projects. Particular attention is given to effects of company culture, organization structure, top management involvement, and education, all of them of concern to emerging countries

Managing Reengineering Operations

Fifteen years after introduction of business process reengineering (BPR) and a series of successful and not-so-successful BPR implementation, a revised methodology is needed to incorporate cases of major and sudden organizational or environmental changes with BPR. The new methodology can also be particularly applicable to project oriented businesses. September 11, Tsunami, and other major world events show that nothing is constant but change. A reengineered process may only stay as the environment factors stay the same. Therefore, the processes can no longer be the central focus of reengineering, but the output needs. Technology has enabled us to refocus and apply reengineering constantly to volatile organizations. The goal of new methodology would be on process flexibility and process dynamics, to cope with any and all business and environment changes and still to meet business needs, while focusing on the organization learning and growth as well as overall effectiveness and speed to market. Use of knowledge-based systems to process the requirements may be applicable

A Decision-Making Framework for Subcontractor Selection in Construction Projects

Abstract Subcontractor (SC) selection is a critical part of SC management, and a major challenge is the existence of multiple criteria that the project management team needs to evaluate in the selection process. To overcome this challenge, the Kano model is applied to classify the selection criteria into five categories including must-be, reverse, one-dimensional, attractive, and indifferent. Data were obtained via a questionnaire based on Kano model concepts to categorize the identified selection criteria. The obtained results show that the selection criteria can be categorized into three categories; must-be, one-dimensional, and attractive. According to this categorization, the weight of criteria is extracted by applying the Analytic Hierarchy Process. Then, a fuzzy multi-attribute decision framework is developed to select the best SC with two main components, screening by the must-be criteria category and selection based on the one-dimensional and attractive criteria categories. A case example of the framework application and the results of a questionnaire are presented and validate acceptance of the framework accuracy.

Cooperative Supply Chain management using a Grid-based optimizer

A cooperative supply chain seeks to coordinate its members to produce and distribute products along the chain, for minimum overall costs to satisfy customer demand. An integrated multi-period, multiple product and multiple stage supply chain is formulated using a flow networks framework. A Cooperative Supply Chain Optimizer (CSCO), as a central software entity taking advantage of Grid technology, connects and gathers necessary operational information from members of the corporate supply chain. The CSCO then guides supply chain members on ordering decisions, for a minimum overall cost of the entire supply chain, while continuously re-directing the members as new data becomes available. The system has been implemented in a cooperative supply chain, with a diverse and dynamic set of member systems connecting to the Grid, with an approximately 26% reduction in total costs of the supply chain.