ABSTRACT
This teaching brief describes a three‐echelon supply chain simulation that involves complex decision making in a dynamic environment. Using a team‐based logistics simulation operating on a ...live commercial‐software application (SAP ERP) as a foundation, a supplemental exercise is proposed for deeper learning of transportation and logistics aspects of supply chain management. Sales and operations planning is used during four simulated months to develop detailed procurement strategies and logistics plans to enhance the baseline supply chain management (SCM) concepts of inventory control and forecasting in a distribution network. Transportation planning and scheduling complexity is introduced as students manage freight to conform to motor carrier weight regulations. The combination of commercial software and extensive real‐world planning allows students to assimilate numerous SCM concepts in a realistic environment. Student opinion survey data shows that students are highly engaged by the detailed nature of the simulation, which they concluded aided their conceptual learning. Additionally, the inclusion of the SAP ERP commercial software becomes a competitive advantage during collegiate recruiting by potential employers.
Changes in technologies and practitioner approaches to project management have led to a mix known as hybrid. This research identifies approaches practitioners currently use and determines possible ...influences on how a project manager selects an approach for a project. Four hundred participants completed a survey questionnaire to help identify methodologies in use. Additionally, participants reviewed a list of 39 specific project management tools and techniques to indicate their level of use for each of them. Our findings indicate that few project managers exclusively employ agile methodologies without the incorporation of predictive techniques and tools. Chi-square analysis was used to analyze industry, project manager experience level, and type of project to determine the influence on approach selection. The results showed that industry and type of project were important to selection, but a project manager's level of experience was not. A qualitative analysis identified two additional important factors of company policy and team experience. Overall, the study supported that there is no best approach to managing projects, but hybrid is emerging as a predominant approach to exploit the benefits of multiple approaches. Additionally, the data implies a need for greater support, resources, or education to facilitate the successful implementation and longevity of adaptive project management approaches.
This paper assesses the effectiveness of the adoption of curriculum content developed and supported by a global academic university-industry alliance sponsored by one of the world's largest ...information technology software providers. Academic alliances promote practical and future-oriented education while providing access to proprietary software and technology. Specifically, this paper addresses a lack of quantitative analysis to substantiate the perceived benefits of using information technology "point-and-click" instructional pedagogy to teach fundamental business processes and concepts. The analysis of over 800 test questions from 229 students allowed inferences regarding the utilization of self-directed "point-and-click" driven case studies employed to teach software applications of business processes needed for supply chain management. Correlation studies and analysis of variance investigated data collected from 10 individual course sections over a two-and-one-half-year period in a four-year public university. The data showed statistically significant positive correlations between the pedagogy and conceptual learning. Further, the research provided evidence that the methodology is equally effective for teaching information technology applications using either face-to-face or distance education delivery methods.
Changes in technologies and practitioner approaches to project management have led to a mix known as hybrid. This research identifies approaches practitioners currently use and determines possible ...influences on how a project manager selects an approach for a project. Four hundred participants completed a survey questionnaire to help identify methodologies in use. Additionally, participants reviewed a list of 39 specific project management tools and techniques to indicate their level of use for each of them. Our findings indicate that few project managers exclusively employ agile methodologies without the incorporation of predictive techniques and tools. Chi-square analysis analysed industry, project manager experience level, and type of project to determine the influence on approach selection. The results showed that industry and type of project were important to selection, but project manager level of experience was not. A qualitative analysis identified two additional important factors of company policy and team experience. Overall, the study supported that there is no best approach to managing projects, but hybrid is emerging as a predominant approach to exploit the benefits of multiple approaches. Additionally, the data implies a need for greater support, resources, or education to facilitate the successful implementation and longevity of adaptive project management approaches.
Distance education (DE) is entering its fourth generation, requiring universities to consider how to sustain this continually evolving delivery method. Competition from for-profit entities, ...open-source depositories, and an increasing number of non-profit universities has created a competitive marketplace for academia to navigate. Rather than consider implementation of distance education, this research focuses on defining success factors for DE evolution and sustainability in non-profit, public four-year higher education institutions. It investigates controllable factors, directly influenced by administration and faculty, needed to foster a culture supporting high quality DE. Also investigated are non-controllable factors related to the role and impact of a technology savvy student body. A metadata analysis presents new insights for university administrators and faculty to sustain and grow existing programs. Theories for technology adoption, acceptance, and use underpin the research and conclusions. The findings suggest that higher education has moved beyond Roger's (1962) early adopter stage and is now faced with a need to establish a pathway for sustainability and growth in the face of increasing DE enrollment and technology change. Critical success factors were found to be university leadership with respect to infrastructure and faculty support systems. Additionally, faculty should continually challenge teaching paradigms and adapt pedagogy to newly adopted technology for continued success. Recommended strategies are provided along with suggested infrastructure and pedagogy components.
The primary role of a warehouse is to decouple supply from demand, minimize cost, maintain a high degree of inventory control, and assure customer service. To these ends, organizational capabilities, ...technology, and business practices will determine an operation’s effectiveness. This research investigated the impact of technology and warehousing practices on key performance indicators for wholesale distribution branch operations. An on-line questionnaire gathered objective data from distribution branches on types of technologies utilized, warehouse best practices employed, and inventory control or customer service metrics used to monitor performance. Correlation analysis, multiple linear regression, analysis of variance, and stepwise regression were utilized to determine the impact of the individual technologies, as well as interactions between technology and practices. A salient insight of this research was that technology adoption alone did not produce a discernible difference in performance, and appeared to require industry best practices to generate improvements. Also, when information technology was adopted, there seemed to be approximately one year of implementation required before positive operational results materialized and/or stabilized. The research pointed to warehouse management systems as the predominant information and communication technology (ICT) for discernible differences in inventory related performance, with improved performance realized when combined with ABC inventory stock analysis and/or physical inventory practices. The use of automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) technologies did not show any effect on inventory or customer service metrics, indicating that they are a support tool rather than an impact technology. Neither ICT nor AIDC technologies demonstrated a predictive value for inventory accuracy or on-time shipping performance. Predictive models were created for fill rate and inventory accuracy, but the veracity of the models is somewhat limited by the sample size and study population.
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