A Nietzschean re‐evaluation of values as a way of re‐imagining business ethics

Whereas a range of business and management scholars have argued that business is in an ethical crisis, Nietzsche makes it possible to see that it is ethics itself that is in crisis, and that only as the crisis in ethics is dealt with can ethics in specific areas such as business be addressed. Nihilism is the name that Nietzsche gives to the crisis in ethics. The failure to fully appreciate nihilism and its pervasiveness as the root cause of the problem, as evident in the perpetual quest to obliterate nihilism through the creation of ethical frameworks and foundations, has plunged business and ethics scholarship in the field, ever deeper in the quagmire of nihilism. In response to nihilism, Nietzsche offers a re‐evaluation of all values. To re‐evaluate all values means to accept nihilism and see it as a basis for questioning taken for granted assumptions that have supported the notion of ethics or values in order to re‐imagine an ethics which is responsive to the crisis of nihilism. The paper thus proposes that rather than trying to invent new ethics or ethical foundations, or figuring out “how” to be ethical, we need to turn our attention on the “why to be” of ethics.     

The effect of a roundabout corridor's design on selecting the optimal crosswalk location: A multi-objective impact analysis

Crosswalks located at mid-block segment between roundabouts can provide a good balance among delay, carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, and relative difference between vehicles and pedestrians speed. However, when considering local pollutant criteria, the optimal crosswalk location may be different to that obtained for CO₂. This paper described a multi-objective analysis of pedestrian crosswalk locations, with the objectives of minimizing delay, emissions, and relative difference between vehicles and pedestrians speed. Accounting for the difference between global (e.g., CO₂) and local pollutants (monoxide carbon, nitrogen oxides, and hydrocarbons) was one the main considerations of this work. Vehicle activity along with traffic and pedestrian flows data at six roundabout corridors in Portugal, one in Spain, and one in the United States were collected and extracted. A simulation environment using VISSIM, Vehicle Specific Power, and Surrogate Safety Assessment Model models was used to evaluate traffic operations along the sites. The Fast Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II) was implemented to further search optimal crosswalk locations. The results yielded improvements to both delay and emissions by using site-optimized crosswalks. The findings also revealed that the spacing between intersections widely influenced the optimal crosswalk location along a mid-block section. If the spacing is low (<100 m), the crosswalk location will be approximately in 20%–30% of the spacing length. For spacing values between 140 and 200 m, crosswalks would be located at the midway position. When a specific pollutant criterion was considered, no significant differences were observed among optimal crosswalk data sets.     

Congestion analysis of waterborne, containerized imports from Asia to the United States

A queuing model is introduced for estimating container flow times through port terminals as a function of infrastructure, staffing, and import volume. The model is statistically calibrated on industry data. Flow-time estimates of the model are aggregated with estimates from models previously developed for rail networks to develop estimates of the total container flow times from West Coast ports to inland distribution centers. Integrated with a supply-chain optimization model, the queuing formulas are used to predict import flows by port and landside channel in scenarios of total import growth, varying all-water rates, and a higher import share for nation-wide importers.     

Appointment scheduling of outpatient surgical services in a multistage operating room department

This article addresses the appointment scheduling of outpatient surgeries in a multistage operating room (OR) department with stochastic service times serving multiple patient types. We discuss many challenges, such as the limited availability of multiple resources (e.g., staff, operating rooms, surgeons, and recovery beds), and the compatibility of patient and surgeon types. In addition, availability of surgeons is restricted by time window constraints. Three simulation-based optimization methods have been proposed to minimize the patients’ wait time, patients’ completion time, and number of surgery cancellations. The first method is simulation-based tabu search (STS). It combines discrete-event simulation and tabu search to schedule surgery cases. The second and third methods are integer programming enhanced tabu search (IPETS) and binary programming enhanced tabu search (BPETS). IPETS and BPETS improve on STS by incorporating integer programming and binary programming models, respectively. This article includes a case study of an OR department in a major Canadian hospital. We further expand the actual data obtained in the case study to cover a wide range of parameters in sets of test problems, and provide analysis on the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed methods in comparison with several scheduling rules. Finally, comments on the applications of the proposed methods are provided.     

Estimating flow times for containerized imports from Asia to the United States through the Western rail network

Queuing models are introduced for estimating container dwell times at rail intermodal terminals and transit times through rail line-haul corridors. These models are statistically calibrated on industry data. The intent of these models is to estimate changes in container flow times stemming from changes in infrastructure, staffing levels at terminals, or import volumes passing through given infrastructure. Flow times estimated for individual line segments are aggregated to provide estimates of the total transit time from West Coast rail ramps to inland destination ramps for imports moving from Asia to the Continental United States in marine as well as domestic containers.