Abstract Reverse osmosis (RO) desalination has become a prominent desalination method for fresh-water production from either saline seawater or brackish water to meet the ever-growing demand for water, especially in water-scarce regions. Its integration with renewable energy sources (RES) reduces the environmental impact of carbon emission by conventional fossil fuel energy sources. The optimisation of the RES-RO desalination system is intended mainly to minimise total system cost and energy requirements and to guarantee system reliability. In this study, an extensive review of the optimisation of the RES-RO desalination system is presented based on optimal system sizing, optimal system operation and optimal thermodynamic analysis. RES such as geothermal, ocean, wind and solar energy and their hybrids were considered alongside desalination methods. Important findings of the review were discussed, and recommendations made for future work. Key recommendations of this study include the suggestion that extensive optimisation and analysis of a RES-RO system should utilise optimisation approaches that combine the sizing, operation and thermodynamic effect of the system. Future work should furthermore incorporate both economic and reliability indices in the formation of objective functions. Finally, demand response programmes can be introduced to the RES-RO system for demand side management. This has the potential of minimising system cost while maximising fresh-water production.
Widiya Dewi Anjaningrum, Elisa Dwi Rahayu, Vivien Amor Viloria
Purpose – This study aimed to determine the significant impact of marketing stimuli on perceived usefulness, the appreciably effect of social media interaction on content quality, and the remarkably influence of perceived usefulness and content quality on purchase intentions.
Design/methodology/approach – This is quantitative research, where quantitative data were obtained from the distribution of online questionnaires. The research sample was all participants of the "Book Writing Camp" up to Batch 21 (2023) who had published their books at PT. Litera Media Tama, totaling 162 people. A sophisticated PLS-SEM analysis was used to examine the data gathered.
Findings – The results showed that perceived usefulness and content quality on the publisher's social media greatly determine the author's choice. To increase perceived usefulness, publisher must strengthen marketing stimuli such as relative service innovation, service and price advantage, and promotional effort. Meanwhile, publisher must interact more with consumers on social media to improve content quality.
Research limitations – Limitations of this study are that the data collecting process was conducted online and only at one publisher. Therefore, the results obtained from this study may vary if applied to other publishers.
Practical implications – Publishers should optimize marketing stimuli to strengthen perceived usefulness and increase interaction with followers on social media to improve content quality. Therefore, publishers can effectively attract very motivated writers to publish their books with that publisher.
Originality/value – The originality of this work lies in the utilization of Planned Behaviour Theory inside a sophisticated conceptual framework that has yet to be employed in prior research. In addition, the framework tested on Indie publishers in developing countries, a practice that has yet to be explored.
Production management. Operations management, Management. Industrial management
The issue of wellhead uplift in underground gas storage wells not only affects production efficiency but also poses a significant risk of wellhead seal failure, potentially leading to natural gas leakage accidents. This study proposes a systematic analytical framework for predicting wellhead uplift in gas storage wells. Initially, based on heat transfer theory and considering the coupled effects of temperature and pressure, a wellbore temperature prediction model was established. This model was tailored to the injection and production operations of gas storage wells, incorporating their specific operational characteristics. Subsequently, a predictive model for wellhead uplift distance was developed, accounting for various cementing conditions under fully cemented well scenarios. The proposed methodology was validated using data from injection and production wells in a gas storage reservoir. Furthermore, an analysis of the impact of injection and production parameters, along with predictions of wellhead uplift heights under different operating conditions, was conducted. The results indicate that the prediction errors relative to measured data are −0.8% and 4.3%, respectively. Gas production volume was identified as the most critical dynamic factor influencing wellhead uplift height. Predictions of wellhead uplift heights under both normal and extreme operating conditions can provide guidance for optimizing operational parameters. The proposed method holds theoretical and practical significance for the integrity management of gas storage wells.
The role and impact of females in supply chain management have received insufficient attention in extant research. In addition, research investigating the relationship between upper-echelon leadership and supply chain phenomena is extremely scant. To address these limitations, we collected archival data from 433 publicly traded Fortune 500 firms from 2007 to 2015 (3464 firm-year observations) and analyzed them using fixed-effect regressions. Our findings indicate that female top management team representation directly and positively influences a firm's supplier orientation. This influence of female representation is attenuated for firms that have a Chief Supply Chain Officer present in their top management team and for firms operating in environments characterized by high dynamism and low munificence. Furthermore, our findings show that supplier orientation mediates the impact of female top management team representation on firm performance. We put forth several interesting theoretical and managerial contributions. Most importantly, we hope that our findings, highlighting the positive impact of female executives on supplier orientation and providing additional evidence regarding women's managerial capabilities, will contribute towards eliminating bias and discrimination faced by women in the area of supply chain management and business in general.
Brooke A Gazdag, Niels Van Quaquebeke, Maria Besiou
In this essay, our analysis takes important insights on diversity and inclusion from the behavioral literature but critically contextualizes them against the reality of humanitarian operations. Humanitarian operations are characterized by system immanent diversity, particularly between local and expatriate aid workers, who not only bring valuable different perspectives to the table but also differ along multiple dimensions of diversity into a so-called diversity faultline. Such a faultline, however, provides fertile ground for continued conflict resulting in relational fractures and, ultimately, inefficient collaboration. While, in theory, inclusion could help overcome the negative effects of faultlines, in practice, the time pressure for humanitarian organizations to quickly respond to disasters makes it effectively impossible to engage in it. Against this background, we argue, humanitarian organizations should take preemptive action before disaster strikes. Specifically, we posit that the pre-disaster phase presents an opportunity to engage in inclusion in order to cultivate relational resilience between local and expatriate aid workers. Such resilience would enable them to not only better weather the inevitable relational fractures during a disaster response (and thus stay more functional throughout), but also quickly realign with each other in the post-disaster phase. We conclude with a set of concrete recommendations for practicing inclusion in the pre-disaster phase.
Gatot Cahyo Sudewo, Muhammad Yamin Jinca, Tjuk Sukardiman
et al.
The mental health and overall quality of seafarers are critical to the safety and efficiency of maritime operations. This study investigates the factors influencing the quality of Indonesian seafarers, with a particular focus on mental health as a mediating variable. Using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with Partial Least Squares (PLS), we analyzed data from 280 respondents, including skippers and crew members working on Indonesian flagged ships. The study examines the impact of working conditions, recruitment and placement, training and development, and safety culture on seafarer quality, both directly and indirectly through mental health. Our findings indicate that mental health significantly mediates the relationship between these factors and the quality of seafarers. Training and development emerged as the most influential factor, followed by safety culture, recruitment and placement, and working conditions. The results emphasize the importance of enhancing mental health support to improve working conditions, recruitment processes, training initiatives, and safety culture, thereby increasing productivity and the overall quality of seafarers. This research addresses an empirical gap by providing practical strategies to improve Indonesian seafarers' quality and job stability in the global maritime industry. Future research should expand the geographic scope and explore additional factors affecting seafarer quality and mental health.
Production management. Operations management, Management. Industrial management
Majid Reza Dahmardeh, Vahid pourshahabi, Amin Reza Kamalian
et al.
AbstractThe purpose of this research is to identify indicators and effective factors in the maintenance of expert human resources in deprived and less developed areas and their ranking, as well as to draw a model of maintenance with an ecological approach, centered on the government organizations of Sistan and Baluchistan province, which is applicable in terms of purpose; and Regarding the implementation method, it is survey based on structural equation modeling. The statistical population included 181 managers and experts of government organizations in Sistan and Baluchistan province, from which 123 people were selected as a sample using Cochran's method. The data of this research was collected through a questionnaire created by the researcher, and validity and construct validity were used in order to evaluate the validity of the final questionnaire. Structural equation technique and Smartpls software were used to analyze the data. The results show that in this research, the dimensions of maintaining expert human resources include: behavioral, structural, contextual, and normative/attitudinal factors; and 31 components, based on the output of structural equation analysis and path analysis technique, the path coefficient of behavioral factors is 0.901, structural factors 0.886, contextual 0.821, and normative/attitudinal 0.840, in which the behavioral factors have the greatest impact and the job satisfaction component with a significant number obtained from the T-test equals 24.004 and the path coefficient 0.901 has played the greatest role in maintaining expert human resources in the government organizations of Sistan and Baluchistan provinceExtended abstractIntroductionHuman capital is considered the most complex and valuable capital in any organization, which plays the main role in realizing the organization's goals. If we carefully study the national wealth of a society, we come across two types of capital resources: material capital and human capital, meanwhile, it is the existence of trained and expert human capital that uses material capital, and its lack and deficiency is the reason for the loss and stagnation of the national capital and the decline of production and reproduction (Armestrang, 2018). For this purpose, most of the organizations consider the issue of maintaining the human resources of the organization as important and fundamental, and plan for it and spend a lot of money on it. One of the basic missions of human resources management of organizations is to maintain capable employees. Because maintenance measures are complementary to other human resource management measures and processes; even if the recruitment, selection, appointment and improvement operations are done properly, the results of management actions will not be very impressive without paying enough attention to maintenance. In many businesses, employee retention has become a major concern. The longer a person stays in the organization, the more skills he acquires; so ideally, employees should stay for a long time so that the organization achieves consistent success (Chawla. 2021). Therefore, maintaining human resources and preventing the loss of workforce in leading organizations has become one of the most important concerns of human resource management. In fact, leaving a job is a kind of work challenge that is associated with a decrease in the amount of physical and mental energy in employees. Today, leaving a job has attracted a lot of attention from researchers and organizational leaders, which is mainly related to important organizational and individual consequences such as job performance, organizational behavior, job attitudes, and negative psychological consequences. In the event of a drop in specialized forces, the movement of the organization will be affected and it will appear as a problem for the managers of the organizations who seek to preserve, maintain, improve and improve the productivity of their human resources, which can bring irreparable consequences for the organization (Khalili Tabar et al., 2020).The basis of every organization is development and movement, and this is possible through specialized and efficient human resources. Currently, attracting and maintaining specialized human resources, especially in less developed and deprived areas, is one of the most important strategies in the field of strategic human resources management, and on the other hand, it is one of the most serious problems of organizations in the modern era, which today, in completely changing conditions governing organizations, The increase in competition and the necessity of its effectiveness in such conditions reveals their need for a valuable generation of employees who are referred to as organizational soldiers, the national wealth of the land, and drivers of development. Therefore, the strategic and economic advantage in the future will be given to organizations that attract, cultivate and maintain this best and brightest human capital better than others. Undoubtedly, this will be an important characteristic of effective organizations; therefore, the purpose of this research is to design a model for the feasibility and establishment of maintaining expert human resources in government organizations of Sistan and Baluchistan province.Theoretical literatureHuman resource retention: The term human resource retention can be defined as an effort to create and improve an environment over a long period of time that continues to encourage employees to work while implementing policies and practices that suit their various needs.Talent management: Talent management is the strategic management of the flow of talents in the organization, and its goal is to create an available source of talent to match the right people with the right jobs at the right time based on the strategic goals of the business. Also, talent management can be defined as the management of the supply, demand and flow of talented people through the engine of human capital (Roknabadi & Adibzadeh, 2023).Suman (2024) in a research titled Employee Retirement and Planning for Retention in the Public and private Sectors in the United Kingdom, using a mixed method and combining quantitative and qualitative techniques, investigated the correlation between employee interaction and their retention. The data showed that employee turnover rates varied significantly across UK industries.Roknabadi & Adibzadeh (2023), in a research titled identifying and prioritizing the factors affecting human resources maintenance in Islamic Azad University, came to the conclusion that maintaining expert staff in Islamic Azad University first requires attracting efficient, committed and specialized staff.Research methodologyThe current research is applicable in terms of its purpose, and survey in terms of the execution method, and is based on structural equation modeling. The statistical population included 181 managers and experts of government organizations in Sistan and Baluchistan province, from which 123 people were selected as a sample using Cochran's method. The data of this research was collected through a researcher-made questionnaire.In order to analyze the data, the structural equation modeling method, the path analysis technique, and the Smartpls software were used to determine the factor load of the manifest and hidden variables. In order to conduct the research, the final questionnaire was provided to the experts, and by applying their expert opinions, corrections were made and the formal and content validity was confirmed.Research findingsIn this research, by using covariance and correlation between independent and dependent variables, loading factors and variances of hidden variables can be estimated, and it can be used for confirmatory factor analysis and also structural equation modeling (casual construction with hidden variables), and the results of the factor loadings of the research variables were presented in the form of graphs. Values of factor loadings greater than 0.7 were kept and the rest (q3, q5 and q9) were removed. The results showed the alignment of the questionnaire questions (except for the aforementioned indicators) to measure the concepts. The above results showed that the relationships between constructs or hidden variables can be cited. At the end, q5, q3, q9 indicators (because all their indicators have a factor load of less than 0.7) were removed and the modified model in the form of a diagram (1 and 2) was re-implemented.Evaluation criteria of the measurement model (outer model)With the help of Average Variance Extracted (AVE) index, it was found that all the studied constructs have an extracted average variance higher than 0.5; that is, the validity of the divergence of the research variables is confirmed. Combined reliability indices (CR), Cronbach's alpha and Rho coefficient are used to check the reliability of the questionnaire, and it is necessary to confirm the reliability of these indices higher than 0.7. All these coefficients are higher than 0.7 and show the reliability of the measurement tool.Divergent validity is a measure of the fit of measurement patterns and is checked through the HTMT coefficient. According to the researchers, this coefficient is the most reliable way to comment on the divergent validity, and it is based on the Monte Carlo simulation method. If this coefficient is below 0.9, there is divergent validity between the two constructs.Evaluation of structural model criteria (inner model)With the path coefficient of 0.886 and also the t-statistic of 25.539 obtained from the partial least squares method; at the 99% confidence level (given that the t-statistic is more than 2.57), structural factors are one of the factors of maintaining human resources.Discussion and conclusionIn explaining these findings, it can be said that job satisfaction is the result of a wide range of factors and elements that are effective on the quality of work life, and can even play a role as an independent factor in maintaining expert human resources. Existence of rich jobs with a meaningful and challenging and independent identity and nature with multiple tasks and responsibilities, leadership and management style based on value systems, trust in employees, conflict of opinions in decision-making and strategic areas, a dynamic, active and growing environment and the supporter of the elites and the culture of the organization in which they prominently witness the rule of transcendent social values, values that have become social norms and are practically seen in the behavior and style of most social agents, some of which include central justice instead of unfair discrimination, criteria-based instead of relationalism, merit selection instead of dynasticism and work politics, etc., providing such a social environment helps to feel safe and calm, and experiencing such an environment will be the basis for the permanence of the organization's elites.According to the results of the research, it is suggested that the extraordinary payment of operational and war zones for specialist employees working in border and underprivileged areas should be put on the agenda in the seventh development plan. It is suggested that the duration of the official trial period of Article 46 be reduced from three years to two or one year in case of employment in the target areas.
The tariff rate quota (TRQ) is a widely utilized market access instrument in global agricultural trade that allows a predetermined quantity of a product to be imported at a lower tariff rate than the usual rate. This study examines the design and administration of TRQ systems from an operations management perspective and analyzes their impact on market access, fill rates, and revenue for policymakers. We investigate the two most common TRQ administration methods, namely, licensing and first‐come, first‐served (FCFS) systems. We characterize the Nash equilibria (NE) of importers' strategies and observe how information delays and lead times can result in under‐utilization (i.e., imports being less than the quota limit) in licensing and over‐utilization (i.e., imports exceeding the quota limit) in FCFS TRQ systems. We introduce a dual TRQ system and demonstrate its superiority over licensing and FCFS systems. We study the effects of stock‐keeping options through customs‐bonded warehouses and the choice of logistics channels on arrival patterns and fill rates. We conduct a case study of the United Kingdom and the European Union imported beef market using customs data. Our numerical study provides an explanation for the suboptimality of the current TRQ systems and proposes modifications to transform the existing systems. Our findings offer practical directions for agricultural traders to reassess their supply chain strategies by considering the logistical implications of TRQ systems and understanding their competition. This study also urges policymakers to adopt an integrative approach in (re)designing TRQ systems, recognizing the pivotal role of supply chains in global agricultural trade.
Navid Mohamadi, Hataw Bakhishi, Sandra Transchel
et al.
In 2020, the world started a fight against a pandemic that has severely disrupted commercial and humanitarian supply chains. Humanitarian organizations (HOs), like the World Food Programme (WFP), adjusted their programs in order to manage this pandemic. One such program is cash and voucher assistance (CVA), which is used to bolster beneficiaries' freedom of choice regarding their consumption. In this vein, WFP supports local retailers to provide CVA to beneficiaries who do not have access to a functioning market. However, the operations of these stores can suffer from a very high transmission risk of COVID‐19 unless preventive measures are put in place to reduce it. This paper discusses strategies that retailers and HOs can enact to maximize their service and dignity levels while minimizing transmission risk under a CVA program during a pandemic. We argue that HOs providing CVA programs can improve their assistance during a pandemic by implementing strategies that impact the retailing operations of their retailers.
Hasan Rakibul, Siddiqa Ayesha, Roy Tutul Chandra
et al.
Financial capability is one of the primary drivers for buyers to make purchases. Therefore, sellers must set an optimum selling price and consider trade credit facilities to attract more demand. This paper proposes an inventory decision model in which customer demand depends on the price and number of credit installments to serve low-abled buyers. This study has developed a demand function with a positive impact on installment policies and the effect of the selling price. Two models have been formulated to optimize the selling price and positive stock time, m total profit, with and without installment policies. Then, numerical examples and sensitivity analysis illustrate the proposed model for different cases. The study has found that the selling price and positive stock time can be optimized. Profits can be higher in the case of an installment facility than in the case without an installment facility. It shows positive responses from the buyer to the installment policy.
Radioactive wastes are generated during nuclear fuel cycle operation, production and application of radioisotope in medicine, industry, research, and agriculture, and as a byproduct of natural resource exploitation, which includes mining and processing of ores, combustion of fossil fuels, or production of natural gas and oil. To ensure the protection of human health and the environment from the hazard of these wastes, a planned integrated radioactive waste management practice should be applied. This work is directed to review recent published researches that are concerned with testing and application of different treatment options as a part of the integrated radioactive waste management practice. The main aim from this work is to highlight the scientific community interest in important problems that affect different treatment processes. This review is divided into the following sections: advances in conventional treatment of aqueous radioactive wastes, advances in conventional treatment of organic liquid wastes, and emerged technological options.
The operations management literature has recently begun to analyze how novel data sources help practitioners better understand product demand. We extend this stream of research by analyzing how air quality, a prominent environmental factor that has received little attention in prior studies, can impact product demand. Specifically, we examine how air quality affects the demand for different product color options, and find a greater demand for blue‐color product option on air‐polluted days (vs. clear days). We attribute this pattern to compensatory consumption induced by need deprivation. Specifically, poor air quality deprives people of the visual experience of seeing a blue sky, leading them to seek compensation by acquiring blue‐color options. By analyzing a three‐year purchase‐related dataset from an online retailer (Study 1) and conducting a field experiment (Study 2) and two laboratory experiments (Studies 3 and 4), we establish the external validity, internal validity, and robustness of this finding. We also provide empirical support for deprived visual experience as the mechanism: The proposed effect is driven by air quality indicators that affect visibility (Study 1) and is mediated by experienced visibility (Study 3). We further identify a theoretically relevant individual difference variable as a moderator: prior experience with air pollution, which strengthens the proposed effect in the laboratory setting because prior experience enables people to “relive” the deprived visual experience more vividly (Study 4). Given the prevalence of air pollution across the globe, our research sheds light on how practitioners can improve their operational decisions by factoring in air quality.
Financial hedging of raw material prices and exchange rates has become an integral part of many manufacturers' operating practices. Previous empirical research suggests that a desire to avoid financial distress and the affiliated curtailment in operations is one of the strongest hedge motivations. Taking the hedging motivation as given, we examine the effectiveness of two data‐driven hedging policies at mitigating financial distress in the car manufacturing industry. The first policy is the “cost hedging” policy, under which the carmaker hedges raw material and production input purchases. This policy appears to be in wide use in practice. The car manufacturer needs to trade in aluminum, steel, zinc, and plastic to achieve the cost hedge. The second policy is a “cash hedging” policy under which the firm hedges its net cash flow. To determine a cash hedging policy, the firm solves a stochastic program that minimizes its hedge cost subject to cash flow constraints. The program solution suggests that the firm needs to trade S&P500, aluminum, and zinc to implement the hedge. Our results reveal that the most critical drivers of hedging decisions appear to be demand shifts, especially demand elasticity shifts. The least important drivers are car design updates, which change the car's raw material requirements. This finding sheds light on why cost hedging, which focuses on hedging raw materials, is less effective than the cash hedging technique, which hedges both costs and demand.
Conceptualized as a meta‐construct, operations‐related structural flux (ORSF) refers to appointments and exits—voluntary or involuntary—of operations‐related executives, to and from the firm. This research leverages the contingency theory perspective to show that ORSF’s influence on firm performance is contingent on contextual circumstances of such executive changes, specifically, appointments and exits—voluntary or involuntary. Examining executive turnover data from North American public firms between 2000 and 2016, the authors find that the firm‐level context of operations executives’ turnover is consequential for firm performance. On average, operations appointments are adaptive, but operations exits, including those due to both voluntary and involuntary reasons, disrupt firm performance. However, parallel effects are not evident for marketing‐ and finance‐related appointments and exits. Furthermore, our study reveals that exit of one operations executive hurts firm performance (measured in terms of Tobin’s q) by 3.3%. A post‐hoc analysis finds that firm performance of the sample firms that witness involuntary operations‐related exits (IVOpE)is, on average, 9.2% lower than that of the sample firms that do not witness IVOpE. These results indicate the outsized influence of operations‐related executives, who collectively are generally responsible for much of a firm’s budget, workforce, resources, structures, and capabilities.
Abstract This paper presents a comprehensive energy management system based centralized control for a smart greenhouse integrating a microgrid with the aim to optimize and control the global internal environment and the crop growth. The objective is to develop an advanced and comprehensive energy management platform based model predictive control (MPC) considering intermittent behaviour of renewable energy production, energy and water storage dynamics as well as uncertainties related to climate conditions. A multi-objective integrated optimization framework is proposed to manipulate the whole operation of the smart greenhouse that considers both forecasts and updated data collected from the available wireless sensor network. The MPC-based scheduling is verified via a case study where its numerical results are depicted and discussed.
This paper analyzes the Sustainability Balanced Scorecard (SBSC) as a renewed framework for measuring and managing sustainability performance of a company. The paper presents the main characteristics of original Balanced Scorecard (BSC), explains its purpose and main performance perspectives. Based on literature review, paper address the various approaches to design and prioritize performance perspectives within the SBSC. Firstly, casual links within and between performance perspectives are described: hierarchical links (as is in original BSC approach), semi-hierarchical links and network links. Secondly, the paper explains how the sustainability issues are incorporated within SBSC framework. Several solutions are explained as suggested in the literature: (1) adding additional single or multiple performance perspectives to deal with strategically important sustainability issues, (2) incorporating sustainability aspects within original four performance perspectives, (3) adding additional sustainability perspectives and incorporating sustainability aspects in four original performance perspectives simultaneously, (4) organize separate SBSC for managing only sustainability issues. Specific features of these approaches are explained as well as appropriateness of their application in practice. Advantages and disadvantages of SBSC are highlighted and recommendations for future research.
Production management. Operations management, Personnel management. Employment management