Do flow principles of operations management apply to computing centres?

By analysing large data-sets on jobs processed in major computing centres, we study how operations management principles apply to these modern day processing plants. We show that Little’s Law on long-term performance averages holds to computing centres, i.e. work-in-progress equals throughput rate multiplied by process lead time. Contrary to traditional manufacturing principles, the law of variation does not hold to computing centres, as the more variation in job lead times the better the throughput and utilisation of the system. We also show that as the utilisation of the system increases lead times and work-in-progress increase, which complies with traditional manufacturing. In comparison with current computing centre operations these results imply that better allocation of jobs could increase throughput and utilisation, while less computing resources are needed, thus increasing the overall efficiency of the centre. From a theoretical point of view, in a system with close to zero set-up times, as in the case of computing centres, the law of variation does not hold. We observe that the more variation in job lead times and resource usage, the higher the throughput of the system.     

Entwicklung ländlicher Kommunen

Due to a revision of the land utilisation plan the town Lichtenberg had initiated a civic participation. After four official workshops the citizens decided to continue on their own. The article describes a best practice example of a citizen’s action committee. The citizens develop concepts and work pro bono for their community. Their aim is to prepare the town for future challenges. The citizen’s action committee works closely together with the town’s council. In the meantime there are three projects that have been finished successfully. One project–the development of a shared vision–is described more detailed. The author summarizes experiences that could be beneficial for other citizen’s action committees.     

Managing Internal R&D Networks in Global Firms: What Sort of Knowledge is Involved?

How should a global firm manage its network of R&D centres in an effective manner? Some have developed an Integrated Network model in which the R&D centres around the world are tightly integrated into a coherent whole. Others have adopted a Loosely-Coupled Network model in which individual “centres of excellence” are given considerable autonomy. In this paper we argue that the way individual R&D units are structured, and the way the entire network is managed, should be based not on administrative heritage, environmental turbulence or management style, but on the basis of the underlying characteristics of the firm’s knowledge assets. In particular we focus on the observability and mobility of the firm’s knowledge assets, the impact these factors have on the way individual R&D centres are structured, and how they relate to one another in the international network. The argument is supported using examples and data from Swedish firms including ABB, Alfa Laval and Ericsson.     

A multicriteria sorting approach based on data envelopment analysis for R&D project selection problem

In this paper, multiple criteria sorting methods based on data envelopment analysis (DEA) are developed to evaluate research and development (R&D) projects. The weight intervals of the criteria are obtained from Interval Analytic Hierarchy Process and employed as the assurance region constraints of models. Based on data envelopment analysis, two threshold estimation models, and five assignment models are developed for sorting. In addition to sorting, these models also provide ranking of the projects. The developed approach and the well-known sorting method UTADIS are applied to a real case study to analyze the R&D projects proposed to a grant program executed by a government funding agency in 2009. A five level R&D project selection criteria hierarchy and an assisting point allocation guide are defined to measure and quantify the performance of the projects. In the case study, the developed methods are observed to be more stable than UTADIS.     

On the need for reform of the Portuguese judicial system – Does Data Envelopment Analysis assessment support it?

The Portuguese judicial system has attracted considerable criticism in recent years and demands for reforms have gained prominence. By using the Data Envelopment Analysis technique and focusing on the performance of 223 Portuguese first instance courts during the period of 2007–2011, this research has found evidence that supports some of this criticism and justifies the calls for reforms, better performance and accountability of the judicial system. In particular, our results found a sector with considerable scope for improvement with less than 16% of the 223 courts analysed making an efficient use of their resources in each year and with only one third of the courts being considered efficient in at least one of the five years assessed. Whilst the results suggest that improvement can be achieved with better case management, scale factors also seem to play an important role in explaining inefficiency, with most of the inefficient courts being smaller than optimal and with smaller courts being, on average, less efficient than larger ones. The existence of a statistically significant relationship between courts׳ efficiency and size was confirmed by the Mann–Whitney test. These results indicate considerable scope for improvement and that some of the planned reforms are timely and seem well targeted. However, the results also suggest that efficiency increases matching peers׳ best practices are not enough to sustainably reduce the prevailing judicial backlog and length of court proceedings in a considerable number of courts. Major changes in the capacity and/or functioning of the Portuguese judicial system might also be required.     

Mechanization in building construction projects: assessment and views from the practitioners

Abstract

While mechanization has been widely adopted in the current construction industry, little research has been done to assess the level of mechanization in building construction projects. The aims of this study are to propose a framework that can assess the level of mechanization in building construction projects, to develop a computer-based tool that can help assess mechanization levels, and to collect the views of industry practitioners regarding mechanization. To achieve these goals, a comprehensive literature review was conducted first, and based on which a six-layer assessment framework, namely Mechanization Index for Building Construction Projects, was proposed. After that, Mechanization Index Assessment Tool, a computer-based tool that can assess the level of mechanization in building construction projects, was developed. The developed tool was adopted in 14 construction projects in Singapore. Assessment results showed that the mechanization level of the projects was 48.54 percent out of 100, which is moderate. Results also reported that ‘site preparation’ and ‘underground piping’ were two work types that are more mechanized, while work types of ‘formwork’, ‘tiling’, and ‘painting’ were relatively less mechanized. Additionally, industry practitioners perceived that the mechanization levels in the current building construction projects and industry were moderate and more efforts should be put in this regard, especially from the perspective of the industry. This study is the first piece of research work that assesses the level of mechanization in building construction projects and thus, it contributes to the body of knowledge. Furthermore, the assessment tool developed can easily be used either by industry practitioners or by construction authorities to do mechanization assessment. Thus, this study contributes to the practice as well.     

Benchmark Schedules for Subcontracted Operations: Decentralization Inefficiencies that Arise from Competition and First‐Come‐First‐Served Processing*

Subcontracting has become a prominent business practice across many industries. Subcontracting of industrial production is generally based on short‐term need for additional processing capacity, and is frequently employed by manufacturers to process customer orders more quickly than using only in‐house production. In this article, we study a popular business model where multiple manufacturers, each capable of processing his entire workload in‐house, have the option to subcontract some of their operations to a single third party with a flexible resource. Each manufacturer can deliver customer orders only after his entire batch of jobs, processed in‐house and at the third party, is completed. The third party facility is available to several manufacturers who compete for its use. Current business practice of First‐Come‐First‐Served (FCFS) processing of the subcontracted workloads as well as the competitive Nash equilibrium schedules developed in earlier studies result in two types of inefficiencies; the third party capacity is not maximally utilized, and the manufacturers incur decentralization cost. In this article, we develop models to assess the value created by coordinating the manufacturers' subcontracting decisions by comparing two types of centralized control against FCFS and Nash equilibrium schedules. We present optimal and/or approximate algorithms to quantify the third party underutilization and the manufacturers' decentralization cost. We find that both inefficiencies are more severe with competition than they are when the third party allocates capacity in an FCFS manner. However, in a decentralized setting, a larger percentage of the players prefer Nash equilibrium schedules to FCFS schedules. We extend our analysis to incomplete information scenarios where manufacturers reveal limited demand information, and find that more information dramatically benefits the third party and the manufacturers, however, the marginal benefit of additional information is decreasing. Finally, we discuss an extension wherein each manufacturer's objective takes into account asymmetries in subcontracting, in‐house processing, and delay costs.     

Developing alliances between U.S. and Portuguese executives: The impact of executive courage

This study represents an effort to gain insights into the differences between U.S. and Portuguese executives with regard to their attitudes toward the role of executive courage in the business organization. Eighty Portuguese and 40 American executives participated in the study. Four research questions were formulated and investigated. Results show that the two groups of executives tended to be more similar than different. However, some statistically significant differences between the two samples were detected. Portuguese organizations exhibited significantly more control over the actions of their executives and rewarded efficiency rather than effectiveness, when compared to American business organizations. Implications for strategic alliances between Portuguese and American executives are discussed and recommendations for future research are provided.     

Learning and Open Source Software License Choice

Licensing is the defining characteristic of open source software (OSS) and often has tremendous impact on the success of OSS projects. However, OSS licenses are very different from those for proprietary software, and our understanding of the choice of OSS licenses is very limited. In this study, we explore this important decision from a learning perspective. We build collaboration networks and trace paths through which potential learning and knowledge flow across projects using a dataset derived from SourceForge. We identify that both experiential learning and vicarious learning have significant influence on OSS license choice. We provide reasons why experiential learning and vicarious learning affect decision‐making regarding OSS license choice, and explore important contingencies under which the two modes of learning are more effective. We find that leadership roles on prior projects and similarities between projects significantly moderate these two modes of learning, respectively. More importantly, we argue and empirically illustrate that experiential learning is more effective than vicarious learning in influencing OSS license choice. Our research sheds new light on our understanding of license choice for OSS projects and provides practical guidelines for future OSS development.     

The coordination processes and dynamics within the inter-organizational context of contract-based outsourced engineering projects

This paper examines the coordination processes (CPs) in outsourced engineering projects by focusing on two questions: How are these processes shaped in contract-driven projects, and is there an alternative approach that improves inter-organizational control of CPs from the client perspective? In studying these questions, we compare two engineering projects, one of which implements the meetings-flow approach, abbreviated as MFA. The findings suggest that, for effective management of different organizations through various dependent project activities, the CPs require an integrated and institutionalized venue enabled by the client. CPs are shaped between clients and contractors, and they can be improved and sustained by this approach.     

Area-based urban regeneration comparing Denmark and Japan

In this paper, we study the characteristics and results of two different approaches to urban regeneration which we have termed ‘Metagovernance’ and ‘Pluricentric coordination’ following. We studied this through a comparative study of area-based, participatory urban regeneration projects in Denmark and Japan, representing each one approach. The paper aims to clarify results of the two approaches in terms of five aspects of urban regeneration, relevant to the process and results: (1) strategic spatial improvement, (2) influence of the legal system and transparency of the processes, (3) empowerment of citizens and diversity of participants, (4) innovative capacity (diversity and creativity of the projects) and (5) continuity and flexibility of the projects. The paper concludes that each approach has strengths and weaknesses and that each country can learn from the other to strengthen future participatory urban regeneration.     

The third dimension of two-dimensional cutting

A number of papers in Operational Research literature have described and discussed approaches to one and two dimensional cutting stock, or trim loss problems; only a handful describe implementation in an industrial setting. It seems that in this area of Operational Research, as in many others, implementation lags far behind theory. In this paper, written jointly by the client and the researcher, we suggest that there is an equally important ‘third dimension’ concerned with practical and interpersonal issues which is often overlooked in tackling cutting stock problems. We describe work with an international timber company who were concerned about this issue because they were attempting to market a waste cutting optimisation computer package for the furniture and packing case industries. To explore the issue we used techniques developed by our research group at the University of Bath, UK, including an interactive software package called cope which is designed to assist in the exploration of complex decision making issues.     

Allocation of research and development funds: A zero-one goal programming approach

The research and development project selection process is one of the most difficult and important problems faced by management. It is typically complicated by indivisibility of projects and multiple and conflicting objectives, in addition to limitations on funding, facilities, and qualified researchers. In this paper a case example involving a high technology electrical equipment manufacturer is developed to illustrate this problem using zero—one goal programming to accommodate indivisibility of projects in addition to multiple and conflicting goals. The model presented is an attempt to provide managers with a robust tool for allocating scarce resources among research and development projects.     

Targeting lean process improvement projects for maximum financial impact

This empirical paper details a 12-month applied research project at a UK low-volume manufacturer of large vehicles. The industry problem from which this study originates was a concern over the subjective nature with which the firm’s existing lean intervention projects were being targeted (prioritised and selected). A structured literature review on this topic was unable to identify any objective decision support mechanism for doing so; one that encompassed financial as well as operational criteria. The resultant study was organised around an established seven-step action research framework. The main body of evidence was derived from extensive analysis of financial and operational data extracted from the firm’s enterprise resource planning system, along with two structured workshops that each involved multiple informants drawn from the firm’s production centres and its accountancy department. Supplementary primary research was provided in the guise of numerous unstructured interviews to validate data and from observation of shop floor practices. The main contribution of this article is identifying and addressing the gap highlighted above, by developing and testing a financially driven method for objectively targeting process improvement interventions within this large and geographically dispersed operation. This innovative method includes five new constituent techniques.     

村级债务的成因与危害──湖北J市调查

当前的乡村治理中,村级债务已成为最大难题。颇具讽刺意味的是,造成村级债务这一难题的原因,正是为了解决乡村治理中的难题。村级债务是刃９９０年代以来的新现象。１９９０年代初期,针对乡村组织普遍存在软弱涣散的问题,上上下下都期待发展乡村集体经济,增强集体经济实力,从而增加乡村组织的凝聚力和战斗力。这个时期,以兴办村办企业、调整产业结构为名,乡村两级大量借贷,形成了当前村级债务的第一个“基础”;自１９９２年以来,在“再苦不能苦孩子、再穷不能穷教育”的口号声中,“普九”达标不分地区不切实际地在全．国铺开,…     

顾客满意对企业财务绩效的影响研究——基于中国部分上市公司的面板数据

顾客满意对企业财务绩效的影响作用是当前国际营销研究的热点领域之一。营销研究者希望能够对顾客满意的实际效果进行更加准确的衡量,以便对营销战略制定和营销资源分配进行更加准确的指导。本文在对国内外相关文献探讨的基础上,对各个层次的企业财务绩效指标进行选择并形成了以经济增加值(EVA)、企业盈利能力、企业运营能力为核心的财务绩效评价体系,在统一的框架内使用相同的估计方法对顾客满意与企业财务绩效之间的关系进行了实证检验。研究采用中国顾客满意度指数(CCSI)和中国部分上市公司财务数据对模型进行拟合,使用动态面板数据的广义矩估计(GMM)方法进行数据检验。研究结果不仅证实了顾客满意对企业财务绩效的巨大推动作用,而且从财务能力的层次对这种关系进行了进一步的阐述。     

Using Prior Risk‐Related Knowledge to Support Risk Management Decisions: Lessons Learnt from a Tunneling Project

The authors of this article have developed six probabilistic causal models for critical risks in tunnel works. The details of the models' development and evaluation were reported in two earlier publications of this journal. Accordingly, as a remaining step, this article is focused on the investigation into the use of these models in a real case study project. The use of the models is challenging given the need to provide information on risks that usually are both project and context dependent. The latter is of particular concern in underground construction projects. Tunnel risks are the consequences of interactions between site‐ and project‐ specific factors. Large variations and uncertainties in ground conditions as well as project singularities give rise to particular risk factors with very specific impacts. These circumstances mean that existing risk information, gathered from previous projects, is extremely difficult to use in other projects. This article considers these issues and addresses the extent to which prior risk‐related knowledge, in the form of causal models, as the models developed for the investigation, can be used to provide useful risk information for the case study project. The identification and characterization of the causes and conditions that lead to failures and their interactions as well as their associated probabilistic information is assumed to be risk‐related knowledge in this article. It is shown that, irrespective of existing constraints on using information and knowledge from past experiences, construction risk‐related knowledge can be transferred and used from project to project in the form of comprehensive models based on probabilistic‐causal relationships. The article also shows that the developed models provide guidance as to the use of specific remedial measures by means of the identification of critical risk factors, and therefore they support risk management decisions. Similarly, a number of limitations of the models are discussed.     

Forecasting expenditure on capital projects

S-curves are widely used for planning, forecasting and control of cost, time and resources of a project. In this paper, a comparison of two S-curve models developed at the Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS) and Bradford University is carried out both from the viewpoint of predictive accuracy and ease of use. The models are validated using expenditure data for 21 recent U.K. health building projects. Methods of least squares is used to estimate the parameters of the two models. These parameters are categorized according to the total cost of the projects. Both the models are shown to be of comparable accuracy for fitting actual expenditure data. The DHSS model has a major advantage of simplicity of form and use, although the slightly greater mathematical complexity of the Keller-Singh model is off-set by the readily interpretable nature of its form and basic parameters. It is concluded that both or either of the models could be used by clients/contractors for effective planning and control of project costs.     

The Role of Contracts on Quality and Returns to Quality in Offshore Software Development Outsourcing

In this study, we examine how the different incentive structures inherent in two primary contract types—time and materials (T&M) and fixed price (FP)—influence the quality provided by the vendor in the software development outsourcing industry. We argue that the incentive structure of FP contracts motivates a vendor to be more efficient in the software development process, which results in higher quality as compared to projects executed under a T&M contract. We thus argue that vendors consistently staff FP projects with better trained personnel because they face the most risk on these contracts, resulting in better outcomes on these projects. We extend our analysis to propose that providing higher quality is associated with higher profit margins for the vendor only for FP contracts. We develop and test these hypotheses on data collected from 100 software projects completed by a leading Indian offshore vendor. The results provide strong support for our fundamental thesis that the drivers of and returns to quality vary by contract type. We discuss the implications of our research for both researchers and practitioners.     

Risk,Process Maturity,and Project Performance: An Empirical Analysis of US Federal Government Technology Projects

In recent years, there has been increasing pressure on the US federal government to reduce spending and improve the management of its technology projects. Mitigating the adverse impact of risks on the performance of these projects presents a significant challenge for its stakeholders. Our research examines this challenge in two steps. First, we identify and define a set of salient risks in federal technology projects—specifically, complexity risk and contracting risk in the planning process, and execution risk in the execution process. Next, we investigate whether higher levels of process maturity, assessed by the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) framework, mitigate the negative effect of project risks on project performance. The analysis of time‐series data collected from 82 federal technology projects across 519 quarterly time periods indicates that each of the three types of risks has a significant negative effect on project performance. This finding highlights the practical significance of managing these risks in the federal technology project context. Further, we find that increasing levels of process maturity attenuate the negative effect of project risks on the performance of federal technology projects. However, the attenuation effects are consequential only at high levels of project risks; at low levels of project risk, increasing levels of process maturity can adversely affect project performance. To demonstrate the financial implications of increasing process maturity levels in federal technology projects, we examine the magnitude of project cost savings (and overruns) across different levels of CMMI and project risks. In summary, our study contributes to the sparse literature on public sector operations by addressing the understudied context of federal technology projects, and provides a nuanced examination of the implications of process maturity in managing the risk to performance relationship in such projects.