REVIEW OF LITERATURELinear programming (LP) is a standard topic in management science and operations management courses. Harrod (2009) presented a spreadsheet-based implementation of the simplex method that does not require scripts, macros, or Visual Basic programming. His method uses an efficient matrix LP formulation, with separate matrices for basic and non-basic variables. Only two matrix array functions are required, regardless of the number of variables and constraints. At each iteration, students identify the entering and exiting variables, change the matrices accordingly, and check for optimality. Harrod states that this spreadsheet-based formulation should be taught after the fundamentals of algebraic model formulation and the graphical solution method have been covered.The active learning exercise presented in this article is designed to introduce the standard algebraic formulation for an LP model, and to provide a foundation for further instruction in formulating and solving LP models. The exercise addresses a problem that was identified by Murphy and Panchanadam (1999), who found that some students have difficulty formulating LP models because they cannot translate from a word problem to an algebraic model. Providing verbal descriptions, or schema, for various types of LP problems improves student performance but does not eliminate the translation difficulty (Murphy & Panchanadam, 1999)
This article presents a rubric for evaluating student performance on written case assignments that require qualitative analysis. This rubric is designed for three purposes. First, it informs students of the criteria on which their work will be evaluated. Second, it provides instructors with a reliable instrument for accurately measuring and grading student performance on written case assignments. Third, if the rubric is used multiple times during the semester, student progress can also be measured. In addition, we piloted an instrument, with statistically confirmed reliability, for measuring students' perceptions of the benefits of the rubric.
In response to international competition and pressure from retailers, US apparel manufacturers and their suppliers initiated the Quick Response (QR) program. QR seeks to provide retailers with the exact stock‐keeping units (SKUs) which consumers demand and to deliver these SKUs quickly. An effective QR program requires rapid transmission of data throughout the value chain, from the retailer back to apparel manufacturers, fabric producers and fibre manufacturers. Therefore, electronic data interchange (EDI) is a key component of QR and should be tightly linked with other information systems at each level of the value chain. This research is an empirical study of the degree to which EDI has been implemented by US apparel manufacturers and the extent to which EDI is integrated with other information systems. It was found that apparel manufacturers use EDI to establish tight linkages with their customers, the retailers. Manufacturers are less likely to increase their own efficiencies by linking EDI with internal information systems or by establishing EDI linkages with suppliers. The lack of supplier linkages may reduce manufacturers' ability to replenish retail inventories quickly, which is the primary objective of QR.
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