Supplier segmentation using fuzzy logic

Supplier segmentation means that the suppliers of a specific firm are categorized on the basis of their similarities. This supply-side business-to-business (B2B) segmentation is of special importance to companies with many suppliers. Supplier segmentation yields a manageable number of segments, each of which requires a separate strategy. Standard supplier segmentation methods have serious shortcomings, for instance because they fail to make a proper connection between supplier segmentation and other supplier-related activities such as supplier selection and development. Moreover, these standard methods typically use a limited number of segmentation criteria and different sets of criteria are suggested for each method. It is unclear for practitioners how to choose a particular method. The purpose of this paper is to form a practical tool for supplier segmentation taking into account all suggested segmentation criteria. The principal result of this paper is the design of a rule-based method to segment the suppliers of a firm based on two overarching dimensions: supplier capabilities and supplier willingness. The method is applied to a real-world situation to show how the results can be used in practice. A general sensitivity analysis procedure for fuzzy rule-based systems is proposed and then implemented, to identify the most important supplier capabilities and willingness criteria and to formulate better supplier development strategies. A major conclusion of the paper is that the fuzzy logic approach to supplier segmentation is simple to apply in practice, yet considers all available segmentation criteria and their inherent fuzziness in a way that is easily adaptable to a specific industrial context.     

A view on Bhattacharyya bounds for inverse Gaussian distributions

Shanbhag (J Appl Probab 9:580–587, 1972; Theory Probab Appl 24:430–433, 1979) showed that the diagonality of the Bhattacharyya matrix characterizes the set of Normal, Poisson, Binomial, negative Binomial, Gamma or Meixner hypergeometric distributions. In this note, using Shanbhag (J Appl Probab 9:580–587, 1972; Theory Probab Appl 24:430–433, 1979) and Pommeret (J Multivar Anal 63:105–118, 1997) techniques, we evaluated the general form of the 5 × 5 Bhattacharyya matrix in the natural exponential family satisfying f(x|q)=\fracexp{xg(q)}b(g(q))y(x){f(x|\theta)=\frac{\exp\{xg(\theta)\}}{\beta(g(\theta))}\psi(x)} with cubic variance function (NEF-CVF) of θ. We see that the matrix is not diagonal like distribution with quadratic variance function and has off-diagonal elements. In addition, we calculate the 5 × 5 Bhattacharyya matrix for inverse Gaussian distribution and evaluated different Bhattacharyya bounds for the variance of estimator of the failure rate, coefficient of variation, mode and moment generating function due to inverse Gaussian distribution.     

Industry,academe and the national tourist organizations

Jafar Jafari reports on the second Educators Forum sponsored by the Pacific Area Travel Association (PATA) held in Macau, 12–14 September 1983.     

An assessment of the impact of watershed programmes on agricultural sustainability in Hamedan province,Iran

This paper assessed the effects of watershed programmes (WPs) on the sustainability of agro-ecosystems in Hamedan province, western Iran. This research was a causal–comparative study, and various techniques were used to collect data, such as survey data, archival data, observations, and face-to-face interviews with key informants. The causal–comparative method requires a comparison of agro-ecosystems with and without WPs. Therefore, a survey was conducted using a stratified random sampling to select 136 households in agro-ecosystems with and without WPs. Nine indicators were selected to evaluate sustainability. Significant differences were found between the two agro-ecosystems in biodiversity, soil quality management, hydrological processes, energy-use efficiency (EUE), access to public services, farm management practices, and social capital. No significant variation was found in the indicator of quality of life, even though that indicator was found to be slightly higher in the agro-ecosystem that had WPs. Results revealed that the agro-ecosystem with WPs, with the exception of the social capital, productivity, biodiversity, soil quality, EUE, farm management, and hydrological processes as well as access to public services had significantly higher values than the agro-ecosystem without WPs. Therefore, it can be concluded that despite WPs' positive impact on biodiversity, soil quality, hydrological processes, EUE, farm management, productivity, and access to public services, it had a negative impact on social capital. The findings suggest that WPs affected the agro-ecosystem by increasing the stability and economic viability of the agro-ecosystem and decreasing social dimensions. A new approach, including demand-driven WPs rather than supply-driven ones to cater to the specific needs of local people, was recommended for the promotion of the social acceptability of WPs.     

Toward a framework for tourism education: Problems and prospects

Jafari, Jafar, J. R. Brent Ritchie, Toward a Framework For Tourism Education: Problems and Prospects. Annals of Tourism Research 1981, VIII(1):13–34. The purpose of this article is to offer a framework for analysis and discussion of tourism education. It first adopts a definition of tourism within which interaction among its components and extraneous aspects are considered. Specifically, it addresses issues related to travelers, tourism goods and services, socio-physical factors, and the host-guest relationship. Second, it discusses some social science disciplines relevant to the study of tourism, with reference to some methods of research and teaching of tourism. Finally, the article moves on to present some other issues pertinent to curriculum development in tourism. Throughout the paper, a number of questions are raised and attempts are made to point out some critical issues in tourism education.