DEA-Based PROMETHEE II Distribution-Center Productivity Model: Evaluation and Location Strategies Formulation

The current era of industrial economics necessitates warehouse and logistic distribution centers (DCs) to contribute productively toward an organization’s success. Playing such a critical productive role implies that logistics activities must be practiced effectively and efficiently. However, the indistinguishability between effectiveness and efficiency leads to a somewhat shallow interpretation, and consequently, a diluted evaluation. Hence, this paper aims to develop a productivity evaluation model for nine DCs belonging to an international automotive vehicles and spare parts company. The developed model was set up based on two multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) approaches: the Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment of Evaluations II (PROMETHEE II) and data envelopment analysis (DEA). PROMETHEE II was employed to evaluate the effectiveness, while the DEA was utilized in order to measure the efficiency of the investigated DCs. The resulting hybrid model collectively creates what can conceptually and practically be considered a productivity evaluation model. The results also provide six different strategies through which distribution center locations can be evaluated in order to implement potential future initiatives.

Quantifying Covid19-vaccine location strategies for Germany

Background Vaccines are an important tool to limit the health and economic damage of the Covid-19 pandemic. Several vaccine candidates already provided promising effectiveness data, but it is crucial for an effective vaccination campaign that people are willing and able to get vaccinated as soon as possible. Taking Germany as an example, we provide insights of using a mathematical approach for the planning and location of vaccination sites to optimally administer vaccines against Covid-19. Methods We used mathematical programming for computing an optimal selection of vaccination sites out of a given set (i.e., university hospitals, health department related locations and general practices). Different patient-to-facility assignments and doctor-to-facility assignments and different constraints on the number of vaccinees per site or maximum travel time are used. Results In order to minimize the barriers for people to get vaccinated, i.e., limit the one-way travel journey (airline distance) by around 35 km for 75% of the population (with a maximum of 70 km), around 80 well-positioned facilities can be enough. If only the 38 university hospitals are being used, the 75% distance increases to around 50 km (with a maximum of 145 km). Using all 400 health departments or all 56 000 general practices can decrease the journey length significantly, but comes at the price of more required staff and possibly wastage of only partially used vaccine containers. Conclusions In the case of free assignments, the number of required physicians can in most scenarios be limited to 2 000, which is also the minimum with our assumptions. However, when travel distances for the patients are to be minimized, capacities of the facilities must be respected, or administrative assignments are prespecified, an increased number of physicians is unavoidable.

Exploring the elusive expansion secrets of multinational tourism firms

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings This research paper explores the tourism industry's globalization by examining 10 location strategies of 102 globally operating tourism firms who have a total geographical presence in 547 cities. The results reveal that there's no unified pattern that tourism forms follow when globalizing their business. Furthermore, most of the strategies are hybrid regional-national approaches, and they vary quite minimally. Complexity in the globalization journey of these firms is punctuated by the evolution of two geographic elements: boosting international visitor numbers, and creating global business environments where tourism services can succeed. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Stay Put; Remain Local; Go Elsewhere: Three Strategies of Women's Domestic Violence Help Seeking

In published domestic violence strategies, there is a tendency to focus on service provision and service responses in each administrative location; rather than recognising the extent to which women and children move through places due to domestic abuse. Whilst a woman’s help-seeking may be local—if she has the information and resources, and judges it possible to do so—such help-seeking whilst staying put is only one of many strategies tried by women experiencing domestic violence. Women’s strategies are often under-recognised and under-respected by the very service providers which should be expected to be supporting women’s recovery from abuse. This article uses administrative data (monitoring records), which were collected as part of a funding programme, to provide evidence of women’s domestic violence help-seeking involving these types of housing-related services in England. More than 180,000 cases of service access over eight years provide evidence of women’s three help-seeking strategies in terms of place: Staying Put, Remaining Local, and Going Elsewhere; and the distinctive patterns of service involvement and responses to these strategies. Service providers typically attempt to assess women’s levels of “risk” and “need;” however, such snapshot assessments in terms of time and place can fail to address the dynamic interplay between women’s location strategies and their needs for safety, wellbeing, and resettlement. In contrast, viewing the system from the perspective of what women do provides important insights into leaving abuse as a process—not an event—and highlights the impact of different types of services which help or hinder women’s own strategies.

An Analysis of Major Retail Store Change in Canada: 2013-2018

International retail has experienced significant numbers of closures in bricks-and-mortar stores in recent years. Moreover, with substantial reporting’s on international closures, there has been a notable absence for reports on Canadian retail as a whole in relation to store closures. Therefore, this research is a location-based analysis on where retail closures are in Canada. The objectives are: (1) to examine the store changes taking place in Canada through analysis of a selected subset of retailers; (2) to assess the influence of omni channel activities on store location strategies; and (3) to discuss the implications of store change with regard to the future of physical ‘bricks-and-mortar’ retailing in Canada. This major research paper utilizes a store per capita analysis to understand where closures in retail are in relation to population markets of varying sizes. The data utilized is from the Centre for Study of Commercial Activity, consisting of every physical store location between 2013 and 2018 for a set of twelve specifically selected retailers. The results of this paper are compared between the retailers respective retail sectors and supplementary retail quadrants they were assigned to.

An Analysis of Major Retail Store Change in Canada: 2013-2018

International retail has experienced significant numbers of closures in bricks-and-mortar stores in recent years. Moreover, with substantial reporting’s on international closures, there has been a notable absence for reports on Canadian retail as a whole in relation to store closures. Therefore, this research is a location-based analysis on where retail closures are in Canada. The objectives are: (1) to examine the store changes taking place in Canada through analysis of a selected subset of retailers; (2) to assess the influence of omni channel activities on store location strategies; and (3) to discuss the implications of store change with regard to the future of physical ‘bricks-and-mortar’ retailing in Canada. This major research paper utilizes a store per capita analysis to understand where closures in retail are in relation to population markets of varying sizes. The data utilized is from the Centre for Study of Commercial Activity, consisting of every physical store location between 2013 and 2018 for a set of twelve specifically selected retailers. The results of this paper are compared between the retailers respective retail sectors and supplementary retail quadrants they were assigned to.

A Spatial Analysis on Charter School Access in the New York Metropolitan Area

Background Extant literature has consistently indicated that access to charter school markets is shaped by social geography. Given interest in location shown by charter schools and parents, estimating potential spatial access to charter schools has become instrumental in understanding equal opportunities for charter school enrollment in metropolitan areas with preexisting residential segregation. Purpose By considering the increasing significance of sociogeography, this article asks whether students have equal opportunities for potential spatial access to charter schools across communities and how disparities in charter school access are related to housing patterns. Setting This study focuses on 122 charter schools in the New York metropolitan region, a highly segregated metropolitan area in the United States where charter schools are a primary component of education reform. Research Design The first part of this study illustrates patterns of spatial accessibility of the area's charter schools, within a 20-minute commuting time, to students aged 5–13 years by employing the enhanced two-step floating catchment area method using a Gaussian function. The next part of the study tests the hypothesis that students are able to access charter schools equitably and irrespective of their place of residence. The spatial lag regression model is used to compare distributions of potential spatial accessibility with 15 demographic and socioeconomic variables. Findings Even after controlling for disproportionate population sizes by census tract, the potential need for charter schools is matched inequitably with the supply of educational service providers. The spatial lag regression results indicate that children in areas less accessible to charter schools within a convenient travel period tend to be exposed to communities with more populations of color, higher unemployed groups, and less expensive housing. Conclusions The findings offer empirical evidence that access to charter school differs depending on demographic and socioeconomic attributes, in significant combination with geography, illuminating charter school location strategies in real-world contexts. Though charter schools have been promoted as a vehicle to offer significant equity advantages across politically designed and strictly operated school attendance boundaries, charter schools in metropolitan New York exercise a distinct and profound form of pseudo-zoning by use of location strategies to exclude certain children who may be considered less desirable.

Geography and location selection of multinational tourism firms: strategies for globalization

Purpose This study aims to analyse the major geographical dimensions of the location strategies of multinational tourism firms. Design/methodology/approach Conceptually, this paper is situated at the intersection of two distinct and evolving bodies of research literature on the global geographies of the tourism industry and the production of economic globalization from a set of strategic locations. Empirically, principal component analysis is applied to explore the main geographical configurations within a location matrix of 102 tourism firms across 547 cities. Findings The results identify strong geographical organizing patterns in the location strategies of multinational tourism firms, above all articulated in countries/regions that themselves have large domestic and/or international tourism markets. However, there is also a global component in terms of firm/location composition, while the national/regional components are hybrid and porous in practice. Originality/value This study contributes to a new way of looking at a globalizing tourism sector. The findings can be used to reflect on possible wider implications for the tourism geographies literature and reveal some avenues for further research.