Sheu Hua Chen

Applying ANP approach to partner selection for strategic alliance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to establish a mechanism for partner selection via adapting relative weights of criteria according to the priority of motivations for establishing strategic alliance.Design/methodology/approach – The analytic network process (ANP) approach derived from the idea of the Markov chain is employed to deal with this dynamic situation and to establish a partner selection mechanism. With this approach, the priority of motivations and the relative importance of criteria are determined simultaneously.Findings – Although choosing an appropriate partner is an important variable influencing success of alliance, attempts to identify a universal list of criteria and their corresponding relative importance which enterprises should employ when seeking a proper partner would be futile since the objectives of forging alliances vary depending on specific motivations. Based on this iterative review approach proposed in this paper, a proper weight setting for these criteria is available a...

The hierarchical network design problem for time-definite express common carriers

Time-definite express common carriers provide time guaranteed door-to-door express service for small parcel shipments. Centers pick up and deliver parcels, while hubs consolidate partial loads. Each center is connected through a secondary route to its primary hub, while hubs are mutually connected by primary routes in a hierarchical hub-and-spoke network. The carriers may dispatch large trucks/aircraft on the primary routes but utilize smaller trucks/aircraft on the secondary routes. The time-constrained hierarchical hub-and-spoke network design problem involves determining the fleet size and schedules on the primary and secondary routes to minimize the total operating cost, while satisfying the desired level of service. We developed a route-space directed network and modeled the problem as a 0-1 binary program. An implicit enumeration method with an embedded least time path subproblem was developed. The sensitivity analysis on the service level in a partial line-haul operations network for the second largest carrier in Taiwan showed that the costs are not strictly monotonically increasing with the service levels, rather they are monotonically non-decreasing according to a step function. In addition, the determination of the sort start and pickup cutoff times has a great impact on the total cost.

Fuzzy regression model with fuzzy input and output data for manpower forecasting

In modeling a fuzzy system with fuzzy linear functions, the vagueness of the fuzzy output data may be caused by both the indefiniteness of model parameters and the vagueness of the input data. This situation occurs as the input data are envisaged as facts or events of an observation which are uncontrollable or uninfluenced by the observer rather than as the controllable levels of factors in an experiment. In this research, we concentrate on such a situation and refer to it as a generalized fuzzy linear function. Using this generalized fuzzy linear function, a generalized fuzzy regression model is formulated. A nonlinear programming model is proposed to identify the fuzzy parameters and their vagueness for the generalized regression model. A manpower forecasting problem is used to demonstrate the use of the proposed model.

The destination competitiveness of Kinmen's tourism industry: exploring the interrelationships between tourist perceptions, service performance, customer satisfaction and sustainable tourism

Based upon an empirical investigation, the study draws upon the responses of 1623 tourists in Kinmen to explore the notion of destination competitiveness and how it is related to customer satisfaction with tourists’ perceptions, service performance and destination competitiveness. It also considers the question of destination competitiveness and sustainable tourism development. Variables such as tourists’ pre-visit perceptions, post-visit satisfaction toward destination attractions and resources, willingness to recommend and revisit, and competitiveness with foreign destinations are tested. The results of the study suggest that there is no correlation between tourists’ overall satisfaction and destination competitiveness. Implications of the study outcome illustrate that a destinations unique tourism characteristics can be the most important variables for destination competitiveness. In Kinmens case, battlefields, historic relics, beautiful scenery and travel security gave it a competitive edge, despite high prices. In addition, developing the destinations brand image was found to be critical for tourism marketers and authorities in the context of increasingly global tourism competition.

Multicriteria scheduling using fuzzy theory and tabu search

Scheduling problems are frequently encountered in manufacturing systems. The results of job scheduling can have a great impact on the throughputs of systems. To maintain a high level of productivity of the systems, many objectives have to be taken into account simultaneously while evaluating the results of a scheduling arrangement. Unfortunately, in the high-dimension environment of considering these objectives, the performance evaluation over the criteria of interest becomes rather vague. Thus, it is very difficult to apply the traditional numerical methods to construct the models, though the measurement of these may not be fully compatible with the criteria of the scheduling problems. In this paper, the linguistic values of fuzzy set theory are introduced to evaluate each criterion and to represent its relative weight for the schedules of a multicriteria environment. The basic operations for the triangular fuzzy numbers and the calculations for obtaining the ranking of each aggregated linguistic evaluation for the quality of the schedule are explained clearly. According to the complex property of scheduling problems, a heuristic approach of tabu search is applied to solve the problems. The basic mechanism and spirits of the tabu search are also interpreted here. The overall procedure of the proposed approach is addressed by a numerical example. The aim is to propose an approach that can more easily apply the multicriteria technique.

Interrelationships between Physical Environment Quality, Personal Interaction Quality, Satisfaction and Behavioural Intentions in Relation to Customer Loyalty: The Case of Kinmen's Bed and Breakfast Industry

This research was aimed at exploring an empirical understanding of interrelationships between service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in the bed and breakfast (B&B) market, using Kinmen Island as an example. Better understanding of B&B customer perceptions of physical environment quality, personal interaction quality and the effects of these perceptions on behavioural intentions relating to customer loyalty and customer satisfaction is the objective of this research. The dimensions of service quality as perceived by B&B customers were identified through a literature review and focus group discussions. Customer perceptions of these constructs were compared and analysed based on the structural equation modelling analysis. The research contributes to the literature by providing an examination of service quality marketing constructs. The findings are important as they may assist lodging practitioners in developing and implementing services marketing strategies in the B&B market.

Tourism development planning using analytic network process

Tourism is a multi-sectoral activity and complicated for conceiving a tourism development planning. In this research, a systematic approach for selecting a proper location for tourism development is proposed. We deemed that the committee who intend the pattern of tourism to be developed would influence the weighting process of the characteristics and vice versa. Hence, in the selection process, the relationship between the patterns of tourism and the characteristics of location for developing tourism are considered. The weightings of characteristics that will be used to evaluate the candidate locations and a suitable tourism pattern for the selected location for tourism development are determined simultaneously. An ANP approach with the capability in handling this recursive dilemma is applied to deal with this problem. A case of developing a tourism planning for the selected Kinmen Island in Taiwan ROC is used to illustrate and verify this approach. According to the results of the analysis, the elaborated tourism and leisure tourism that restricts to reducing the facilities construction for commercial purpose, emphasising the sightseeing of natural scenery and reserving a larger area for conservational species is suggested for the patterns of tourism development in this island.

Analytic network approach for selecting suppliers considering different cooperation patterns

This paper aims to examine the weights of criteria and identify the choice of cooperation patterns simultaneously while evaluating and selecting suppliers for a manufacturing company. While the weighting process for the criteria is affected by the cooperation pattern that the company intends to pursue, the cooperation patterns are also affected by the emphasis on some specific criteria. The analytic network process that draws support from the concept of the Markov process is used to manipulate the interdependence situation. The decision-maker becomes aware of the choice of cooperation patterns with the suppliers by analyzing the weighting process for the criteria in the supplier selection process. It is different from the general way of determining the cooperation pattern subjectively. This also gives the decision-maker a chance to examine his previous decision. A numerical example has been used to verify the effectiveness of the approach. Although, in our example, only a single evaluator is involved in the evaluation process, the proposed approach is still applicable to the situation of multi-evaluators provided that data have been preprocessed appropriately.

The police service quality in rural Taiwan

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the perceptions and satisfaction between police officers and citizens on Kinmen Island (of Taiwan), using an analytical framework that combines five primary dimensions and 25 corresponding determinants. Design/methodology/approach – It considers recent developments in the application of performance measures and management to public and, particularly, police services. It goes on to assess comparative rural police performance which suggests that the application of targets could ultimately serve to provide the overall satisfaction with police services. Findings – The findings of the study suggest that perceptions and satisfaction of both citizens and police staff may result in the success of the policing management, and that police managers have to satisfy their citizens with a high level of service quality based on different localities. Practical implications – From managerial perspectives, police managers should consider both the service quality and cus...

Apply DEA Approach Regarding Institution's Goal for Faculty Performance Evaluation

Abstract Comparing performance by conventional DEA model, some DMUs may be considered as efficient units because of their outstanding performance on some relative unimportant output items. For expressing the relative importance of those input or output items, adding multiplier restrictions on them is a possible method. In this research, we try to add the strictly predefined relationships of output items and analyze its effect in the existed model. According to this approach, only the DMUs that really match the predefined requirements and have good performance can be regarded as efficient units. This is meaningful for managerial practices. That is to say a DMUs performance is its capability which matches the goals that the organization pursues. A case of performance evaluation of faculty in different types of university with specific development orientation is provided to illustrate the proposed idea. According to the numerical experiment, the performances of the faculties may be dissimilar considering different types of universities. The significance of those efficient faculties is also different.