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Modern supply chains are vulnerable to high impact, low probability disruption risks. A supply chain usually operates in such a network of entities where the resilience of one supplier is critical to overall supply chain resilience. Therefore, resilient planning is a key strategic requirement in supplier selection decisions for a competitive supply chain. The aim of this research is to develop quantitative resilient criteria for supplier selection and order allocation in a fuzzy environment. To serve the purpose, a possibilistic fuzzy multi-objective approach was proposed and an interactive fuzzy optimization solution methodology was developed. Using the proposed approach, organizations can tradeoff between cost and resilience in supply networks. The approach is illustrated using a supply chain case from a garments manufacturing company.

Competence becomes competitive advantage for a business at all times. Making human resource more effective, competence-based hiring, development, and performance evaluation are popular phenomena discussed in the literature though not very common in practice. Despite their importance, the reason these are not commonly implemented may be the complexity of the subject and the absence of a generalized framework, which can be adopted with little or no modifications. There have been efforts made for competency framework development, but these are occupation-specific and usually limited in implementation. A need for an easily replicated general framework exists, which has followed a structured and scientific methodology utilizing professional expertise during development, which is simple to understand and is applicable to as many jobs as required. This article examines in detail the development approach of a generic competency framework using scientific tools and producing weighted ratings of competencies. The purpose is to establish confidence in potential users for a methodology that is applicable to the development of a similar framework for a diverse array of jobs.

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With advanced manufacturing technology, organizations like to cut their operational cost and improve product quality, yet the importance of human labor is still alive in some manufacturing industries. The performance of human-based systems depends much on the skill of labor that varies person to person within available manpower. Much work has been done on human resource and management, however, allocation of manpower based on their skill yet not investigated. For this purpose, this study considered offline inspection system where inspection is performed by the human labor of varying skill levels. A multi-objective optimization model is proposed based on Time-Varying factors; inspection skill, operation time and learning behavior. Min-max goal programming technique was used to determine the efficient combination of inspectors of each skill level at different time intervals of a running order. The optimized results ensured the achievement of all objectives of inspection station: the cost associated with inspectors, outgoing quality and inspected quantity. The obtained results proved that inspection performance of inspectors improves significantly with learning and revision of allocation of inspectors with the proposed model ensure better utilization of available manpower, maintain good quality and reduce cost as well.

Abstract:In developed countries, the application of the quality management system (QMS) is widely proven. However, in developing countries, like Pakistan, industries are not mature enough to understand and implement the system. The aim of this study is to examine the perception of quality, implementation of QMS and cost of quality (COQ) program in value-added garment sector, which is one of the major subsectors of textile industry in Pakistan. The methodology of the study is a questionnaire survey. The findings suggest that the majority of the respondent firms have well implemented quality management (QM) practices. Trend of results also depicts that most of the organizations wish to acquire ISO certification, which shows that the industrial processes are customer-centered thus striving to fulfil customer requirements. It can also be concluded that most of the organizations lack the COQ concept, its understanding and appropriate implementation.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to propose an improved framework for managing Private Participation in Infrastructure ICT (PPI-ICT) projects in the context of developing countries as the requirements to manage them are different in several aspects. Design/methodology/approach The framework has been proposed based on an exhaustive literature review and statistical analysis of the PPI-ICT projects’ data set using logistic regression, F-test and student’s t-test. The proposed framework was also applied to the PPI-ICT projects. Findings The framework is an extension to NTCP (novelty, technology, complexity and pace) approach by including extrinsic factors such as income of the country, climate risk, religious diversity, political stability, regularity quality and control of corruption. The proposed framework was used to analyze project characteristics and their external conditions in the context of developing countries. Based on the analyses, the authors have presented a detailed set of recommendations for project managers, practitioners and governments to improve the success rate of these projects. Originality/value The major contribution of this study is the framework, which encompasses the NTCP model as well as extrinsic characteristics of PPI-ICT projects. The proposed framework is meant to assist the project managers to comprehend the project characteristics and its external environment to identify an adequate approach for managing projects successfully.