Purchasing strategies for relief items in humanitarian operations

Author(s):  
Arthur Abreu da Silva Lamenza ◽  
Tharcisio Cotta Fontainha ◽  
Adriana Leiras

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a Humanitarian Purchasing Matrix to guide purchasing strategies for relief items in humanitarian operations. Design/methodology/approach The research synthesizes the structures of a Purchasing Portfolio Model and the characteristics of purchasing in humanitarian operations, validating them with academics and practitioners to develop a Humanitarian Purchasing Matrix. Then, based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process to classify the relief items in the matrix, an illustrative example is used as an empirical test for the proposed Humanitarian Purchasing Matrix. Findings The academic literature on purchasing in general and purchasing in humanitarian operations share some similarities in terms of “Importance of Purchasing” and “Complexity of Supply Market” dimensions. Moreover, the analysis of such criteria supports the definition of purchasing strategies for different relief items in humanitarian operations. Practical implications The Humanitarian Purchasing Matrix can be considered a tool/guide for professionals of humanitarian organizations in the adoption of purchasing strategies for the different relief items purchased for humanitarian operations. Originality/value Considering a scenario of a constant increase in the variety of relief items, the high purchasing volume and the pressure to more efficient relief operations, the research discusses the intersectionality of business purchasing models and the purchasing characteristics of humanitarian operations. Moreover, the research deliveries a tool/guide to the adoption of purchasing strategies that are composed of criteria observed in the literature and suggested by both humanitarian logistic academics and practitioners.

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 281-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qian Li

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate and rank the influence of internet public opinion of China’s Government work in 2015 by weighted absolute degree of grey incidence with TOPSIS. Design/methodology/approach – This disaggregation method includes four main steps, determine the vector of weights for the factors by analytic hierarchy process, calculate the matrix of consistent effect measure, determine the weighted absolute degree of grey incidence with TOPSIS, rank and evaluate the events. Findings – We get the ranking of internet public opinion of China’s Government work in 2015 by weighted absolute degree of grey incidence with TOPSIS. The result can be used for evaluating and ranking the influence of internet public opinion in China. The positive weighted absolute degree of grey incidence, the negative weighted absolute degree of grey incidence and the weighted absolute degree of grey incidence with TOPSIS have the same ranking results. The same ranking results show that the method of weighted absolute degree of grey incidence with TOPSIS has good consistency. Practical implications – The weighted absolute degree of grey incidence with TOPSIS can be easily used for other evaluation. Originality/value – The weighted absolute degree of grey incidence with TOPSIS is proposed and first used for evaluating and ranking the influence of internet public opinion of China’s Government work.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Faisal Talib ◽  
Saheim K Josaiman ◽  
Mohd. Nishat Faisal

PurposeTypically, adoption of sustainability in organizations are often done in an unstructured way without the consideration of other partners in the supply chain. The purpose of this paper is to suggest a coherent plan to improve sustainability in the supply chains utilizing ISO standards for environment and social responsibility.Design/methodology/approachThis paper draws on literature on ISO14000 and ISO26000 to derive a set of variables applicable to supply chains, which are then prioritized for real organizations utilizing analytic hierarchy process.FindingsThe findings highlight that not all the variables of environmental, social and economic responsibility are equally important. Besides, the work reported in this paper justifies the application of multi-criteria decision-making (AHP) to prioritize elements of sustainability in context supply chains. The suggested method is illustrated using inputs from large manufacturing companies in Qatar.Practical implicationsISO14000 and ISO26000 are well known standards; however, there was no effort to integrate these standards to improve sustainability in supply chains. The suggested methodology provides invaluable help to the managers to implement sustainability in a coherent manner across the supply chain.Originality/valueThe research contributes to the extant literature by proposing a new methodology based on the integration of three-approaches: Analytic Hierarchy Process, ISO14000 and ISO26000 systems.


2012 ◽  
Vol 518-523 ◽  
pp. 4466-4472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hao Zhang ◽  
Wei Xia Li ◽  
Cheng Yi Zhang

In this paper, the definition of additive consistent intuitionistic fuzzy complementary judgement matrix (ACIFCJM) was given; The addition and subtraction algorithms of intuitionistic fuzzy value representing the relative importance degree in the matrix were given, then the definition of the scale transition matrix of intuitionistic fuzzy complementary judgement matrix (IFCJM) was given; The additive consistency recursive iterative adjustment algorithm about the IFCJM was given, then priority vectors formula of IFCJM was introduced; At last, the steps of intuitionistic fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (IFAHP) were introduced, then the method was applied in actual examples, and its effectiveness was verified.


2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 549-568 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Ma ◽  
Zhibin Lin ◽  
Chi Keung Lau

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a better understanding of how Sino-Japanese joint ventures implemented the three Japanese improvement methods, i.e. Kaizen, Kaikaku and Kaizen Blitz. The specific objectives of this study are to identify the key enablers for the three improvement methods; and to identify the most selected improvement method. Design/methodology/approach This study employs a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process to pairwise-compare the three improvement methods. Data are collected from 28 industry experts from Sino-Japanese joint ventures. The study then adopts extent analysis approach for pairwise comparisons and extent analysis to obtain synthetic extent values for priority weights. Findings The results of the study indicate that personnel (humanware) factor enablers are the most important factor for Kaizen, whilst software factor enablers (essential rules, policies and institutional arrangements) weight second and hardware factor enablers (physical, measurable hard facts or resources) weight last. The study also reviews that Kaizen is the most selected improvement method among the three. Research limitations/implications The sample of this study is limited to Sino-Japanese ventures in Guangzhou, China. This study only identifies the key improvement enablers based on interviews with shop floor managers and improvement experts. Practical implications Practical implications are threefold: the improvement implementations should be based on factors such as regular training, incentives for motivations and shop floor management; improvement methods are transferable and standard operations may only have small effects on collecting improvement ideas; and Kaizen is the appropriate method to support long-term and process-oriented improvements. Originality/value This study is the first to specifically pairwise-compare the three Japanese improvement methods and to identify priorities of their key enablers in Sino-Japanese joint ventures.


2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 190-204
Author(s):  
Alvaro Luiz Neuenfeldt Júnior ◽  
Julio Cezar Mairesse Siluk ◽  
Marlon Soliman ◽  
Elpídio Oscar Benitez Nara ◽  
Liane Mahlmann Kipper

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the level of importance existing among the indicators that were previously defined for a Performance Measurement Systems (PMS) and are relative to franchises in Brazil, using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) methodology, together with a series of tests, which are responsible by verifying the degree of reliability, robustness and stability of the parameters used and the results obtained. As a result, the author suggests that the diagnosing of the five delimited indicators have different relevance assigned to them. Design/methodology/approach – This paper reviews extant literatures in Franchise, PMS, Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM), in specific the theory about AHP. Findings – The authors found that it was possible justified, for both the relative and the evaluative method, that the I3 was the main point of the system and, as a consequence, be considered as priority when talking about sectorial development of franchises in Brazil. As for the other indicators, even being located in a level lower than I3, they must be taken into contemplation in these measurements, however, with a relatively inferior importance degree. Practical implications – It was possible to better comprehend which economics and non-economic factors selected have a more predominance in the Brazilian franchise context, according to characteristics of the companies present. Originality/value – The absence of scientific papers that describe the relevance level of the main factors that influence in the Brazilian franchise system.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-190
Author(s):  
Vishal Vyas ◽  
Priyanka Jain

Purpose This study aims to quantify and prioritize the financial performance (FP) determinants in Indian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach Analytic hierarchy process, a multi-criteria decision-making tool, was used. Experts were allowed to express the opinion regarding the relative importance of each factor and sub-factors by making pairwise comparisons through a structured questionnaire based on a nine-point scale. Findings Market orientation (0.4529) was perceived as the most important FP determinant followed by the entrepreneurial orientation (0.3382) and corporate social responsibility (0.2089) in SMEs. Research limitations/implications This study can be considered as a pilot study because it is confined to Indian SMEs. Future research studies can incorporate the opinion or insights of other stakeholders and may target the SMEs situated in different geographical areas. Practical implications The inferences drawn in this study would clarify the conceptual and contextual applicability of competitive strategies in SMEs. Indeed, proposed hierarchy and developed framework would guide the SMEs in strategic planning. Moreover, it would help in repositioning and alignment of core strategies duly with business objectives. Originality/value The study represents the foremost step and a unique effort in the area of development of hypothetical model (a hierarchal model) with the framework considered to prioritize the FP determinants in SMEs.


Mathematics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 926 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Aguarón ◽  
María Teresa Escobar ◽  
José María Moreno-Jiménez ◽  
Alberto Turón

The paper presents the Triads Geometric Consistency Index ( T - G C I ), a measure for evaluating the inconsistency of the pairwise comparison matrices employed in the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Based on the Saaty’s definition of consistency for AHP, the new measure works directly with triads of the initial judgements, without having to previously calculate the priority vector, and therefore is valid for any prioritisation procedure used in AHP. The T - G C I is an intuitive indicator defined as the average of the log quadratic deviations from the unit of the intensities of all the cycles of length three. Its value coincides with that of the Geometric Consistency Index ( G C I ) and this allows the utilisation of the inconsistency thresholds as well as the properties of the G C I when using the T - G C I . In addition, the decision tools developed for the G C I can be used when working with triads ( T - G C I ), especially the procedure for improving the inconsistency and the consistency stability intervals of the judgements used in group decision making. The paper further includes a study of the computational complexity of both measures ( T - G C I and G C I ) which allows selecting the most appropriate expression, depending on the size of the matrix. Finally, it is proved that the generalisation of the proposed measure to cycles of any length coincides with the T - G C I . It is not therefore necessary to consider cycles of length greater than three, as they are more complex to obtain and the calculation of their associated measure is more difficult.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amna Abdallah ◽  
Salam Abdallah

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the factors that influence the improvement of productive work behaviour (PWB) in the dynamic, ergonomic nature.Design/methodology/approachThe analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is used, in experiment 1, to select and prioritise the most relevant criteria for improvement of PWB. A multi-criteria method is used to analyse and compare the importance of four main criteria and 16 sub-criteria identified from previous studies. The structural equation modelling (SEM) is also used to validate the findings of experiment 1.FindingsThis study revealed that not all criteria are considered important for improving PWB. Flexibility and job specifications were the top-scored criteria. These criteria collectively accounted for more than 65% of the four studied criteria. The SEM emphasised the significance of flexibility and job description of the changing dynamics of organisational regulation during the contemporary economic and managerial turmoil.Research limitations/implicationsThis study explored the criteria required to improve PWB. The findings recommend that future studies should be designed to identify new elements and add new criteria and test the newly introduced variables at a physical workplace after the outbreak ends.Practical implicationsKnowledge of the differential impacts of the criteria on the performance of PWB govern decision-makers in private and governmental organisation, especially at such times of economic turmoil and need for innovative strategies.Originality/valueFew studies have explored workplace behaviour and the environment in the government sector. Therefore, the focus of this study is the comprehensive coverage of workplace behaviour and the criteria influencing its productivity before and during the coronavirus outbreak.


2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 295-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michail Nerantzidis

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to look inside the “black box” in corporate governance (CG) measurement, and shed some light on how to construct a transparent, reliable and valid index, considering equally both the academics and practitioners’ perspectives. Design/methodology/approach A synthesized literature review is presented and a CG index is developed combining the strengths of three different methodologies: the Delphi method, the classical test theory (CTT) and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). This approach helps authors to break the process into separate steps and to select the appropriate techniques to support their decision regarding the norms, the criteria, the variables and the weights that someone should use to construct a CG index. Findings The authors’ analysis indicates that a well-designed CG index requires a combination of research methods to identify the best options to solve several methodological issues in index construction. For the application of this multi-methodology in Greece, the authors used two equal and independent samples to explore the different perspectives regarding the importance of the index criteria and sub-criteria. This process provides evidence that the opinion of academics and practitioners in Greece tend to converge. Moreover, it is found that this multi-methodology produces the highest variation in CG scores and ranking orders, as opposed to a traditional approach, in measuring CG disclosure, an important issue with econometric implications. Research limitations/implications The limitations of this study are associated with the methods used. Practical implications This paper provides practical implications for investors and commercial vendors. For the former, it highlights the need to be more cautious and/or suspicious when they use CG ratings, meaning that they should comprehend the base of the ratings models, and for the latter, it demonstrates the importance of enhancing the transparency in CG indices construction. Originality/value The value of the paper lies in improved understanding of the methodological issues in constructing CG indices. This is quite interesting because this approach could serve as a roadmap for other researchers.


Facilities ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenchao Shi ◽  
Joseph H.K. Lai ◽  
C.K. Chau ◽  
Philip Wong ◽  
David Edwards

Purpose The purpose of this study is to identify key performance indicators (KPIs) for badminton halls and, through a case study, illustrate how the facilities performance of a university badminton hall can be evaluated from the user perspective. Design/methodology/approach After a desktop literature review, the findings were discussed by a focus group, and the discussion result formed the basis for establishing an analytic hierarchy of facilities performance for the badminton hall. Then, interviews were made with 169 badminton hall users to solicit their perceived facilities’ importance and performance levels of the hall. Using MATLAB, a computer program incorporated with an Analytic Hierarchy Process was devised to compute the importance weights of the performance attributes under assessment. The outcomes were interpreted using an importance-performance evaluation matrix. Findings A facilities performance hierarchy, comprising nine KPIs, was established for the badminton hall. The factors influencing the users’ perceptions, the importance and performance levels of the KPIs and the areas of the hall requiring improvements were identified. Research limitations/implications Future studies can take a similar approach of this study to develop KPIs and facilities performance hierarchies for other types of sports venues. Practical implications The method used to identify the improvements required for the badminton hall can be applied to investigations on other sports facilities. Originality/value The methodology of this research was first applied to study a badminton hall – as reported in this paper.


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