Reprint of “Quality management,environmental management maturity,green supply chain practices and green performance of Brazilian companies with ISO 14001 certification: Direct and indirect effects”

This study aims to test a new conceptual model based on the relationship between quality management (QM), environmental management maturity (EMM), adoption of external practices of green supply chain management (GSCM) (green purchasing and collaboration with customers) and green performance (GP) with data from 95 Brazilian firms with ISO 14001. To our knowledge, such links and relationships are not simultaneously identified and tested in the literature. The results indicate the validation of all of the research hypotheses. This paper highlights that an improvement in green performance will require attention to quality management, environmental management maturity, and green supply chain.     

Runway capacity management – An empirical study with application to Doha International Airport

This paper examines a three-faceted approach for runway capacity management, based on the runway configuration, a chosen scheduling approach, and an aircraft separation standard. These factors prompt alternative runway settings that are encapsulated using a classical mixed-integer formulation. The optimal solution for each runway setting is compared against our proposed optimization-based heuristic. This integrated approach is applied to investigating the transition from the (Old) Doha International Airport to the New Doha International Airport. Our empirical study based on historical data reveals that the proposed heuristic consistently yields optimal or near-optimal schedules, with considerable savings in fuel cost and reductions in delays, while preserving the spirit of an FCFS sequencing policy.     

Quality management,environmental management maturity,green supply chain practices and green performance of Brazilian companies with ISO 14001 certification: Direct and indirect effects

This study aims to test a new conceptual model based on the relationship between quality management (QM), environmental management maturity (EMM), adoption of external practices of green supply chain management (GSCM) (green purchasing and collaboration with customers) and green performance (GP) with data from 95 Brazilian firms with ISO 14001. To our knowledge, such links and relationships are not simultaneously identified and tested in the literature. The results indicate the validation of all of the research hypotheses. This paper highlights that an improvement in green performance will require attention to quality management, environmental management maturity, and green supply chain.     

An integrative approach to determine store delivery patterns in grocery retailing

This article focuses on the tactical problem of selecting delivery patterns according to which grocery stores are repetitively supplied with products from different order segments by retail-owned distribution centers. The research environment considered consists of logistics processes in DCs, transportation and instore logistics. We identify dependencies on the delivery patterns selected and specify the relevant costs. These costs are reflected in the objective function of a binary selection model. Implementing and applying the model to the real case of a major European retail company yields substantial cost savings potential of 5.3%, amounting to tens of millions of euros per annum.     

Study of emerging air taxi network operation using discrete-event systems simulation approach

This research focuses on understanding the air taxi operations to determine the number of air taxis required to fulfill the demand for urban air mobility in New York City (NYC). We leverage the Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, and Verify (DMADV) framework and integrate it with the systems simulation approach. Upon investigation, we find that all the parameters linearly impact the vehicle utilization, while other measures are robust, specifically with respect to the seating capacity. It is also recommended to operate initially with 70 air taxis in NYC to achieve a trade-off between customer wait time and vehicle utilization. The proposed approach can act as a recommender system for air taxi companies.     

Impact of Continuous Climb Operations in ATC workload. Case-study Palma airport

This research assesses the impact of the integration of Continuous Climb operations (CCOs) on Air Traffic Control (ATC) workload. The methodology encompasses different modules: CCO, standard departing and arriving trajectories extracted from an external database, an ad-hoc algorithm for detecting and solving conflicts, and an ATC-workload model with the inclusion of CCO-task modifications. Monte Carlo simulations evaluates different combinations of these modules. Then, a sensitivity analysis is performed to evaluate two parameters: the impact of the calibration of the maximum ATC workload and the percentage increase of the CCO tasks on the ATC workload. The methodology is applied to a case study at Palma airport in Spain. Extensive numerical simulations are executed based on the integration of CCOs into the system from 0% to 100%. The integration of CCOs implies the increase of the ATC workload in the Control Tower (TWR) and the reduction in the Approach Control Centre (APP). The sensitivity analysis shows that the decrease in the increase of CCO-task workload barely affects the number of CCOs that can be operated without exceeding the workload limits. Conversely, the reduction of the ATC workload calibration allows the integration of CCOs around 50% in the case of 90% TWR calibration and up to 100% in the case of 80%.     

The Retailer's Perspective on the Link Between Logistical Resources and Perceived Customer Loyalty to Manufacturer Brands

The objective of this study was to investigate the relationships between logistics and brand‐related resources, and assess their impact on the retailer's perceptions of customer loyalty to manufacturer brands. On the basis of theoretical underpinnings of the resource‐based view, this study explores the relationships among four main variables: (1) variety of collaborative logistics technologies shared between retailers and manufacturers, (2) manufacturer's logistics operations quality provided to retailers, (3) retailer's brand differentiation orientation, and (4) retailer's perceptions of customers loyalty to manufacturer brands. An online survey was conducted on 313 senior marketing and supply chain managers from retailer firms. The results of the structural equation analysis support a mediated relationship between logistical resources and perceived loyalty to manufacturer brands. The retailers believe that shared logistics technologies enable manufacturers and retailers to offer higher levels of availability and visibility of preferred brands to their end‐user customers. In turn, the end‐users become more confident with their decisions to repurchase the same brand offerings.     

International Bribery: Does a Written Code of Ethics Make a Difference in Perceptions of Business Professionals

This article analyzes the attitudes of United States business professionals toward the issue of international bribery, and in particular, whether or not having a written code of ethics has an effect on these attitudes. A vignette relating to international bribery from a widely used survey instrument was employed in a nationwide survey of business professionals to gather information on ethical attitudes of respondents. Data were also collected on gender of respondents, whether or not respondents were self-employed, whether or not the respondents’ firms had a written code of ethics, and to what extent the respondents’ firms generated revenues from international operations. Attitudes concerning whether or not international bribery is ever acceptable exhibited wide dispersion. Respondents from firms that have a written code of ethics were significantly less likely to find international bribery acceptable. Firms that generate revenues from international operations were significantly more likely to have a written code of ethics than were firms which did not generate revenues from international operations. Implications of the findings for business policy are discussed. Joseph A. McKinney is Ben H. Williams Professor of International Economics at Baylor University. He was previously on the faculty of the University of Virginia, and has served as visiting professor to universities in Japan, France, the United Kingdom and Canada. His research interests include business ethics, international trade policy, and regional economic integration. Carlos W. Moore is the Edwin W. Streetman Professor of Marketing at Baylor University, where he has been on the faculty for more than 30 years. His research interests include business ethics, marketing and advertising evaluation, and small business strategies. He has done consulting on bank marketing and new product development.     

Using the Pack‐and‐a‐Half Rule to Eliminate Backroom Inventories in Retail Operations

In the retail industry, backroom inventories are typically associated with higher labor costs and greater operational complexity. Thus, retailers look for ways to eliminate backroom inventories. A heuristic used for this purpose is the pack‐and‐a‐half rule which suggests that the shelf space allocated for a product should be at least 50% larger than the case pack quantity in which the product is delivered. Despite its popularity among retailers, the pack‐and‐a‐half rule has been ignored in the academic literature. We introduce the pack‐and‐a‐half rule, assess its impact on a retailer's profits, identify cost, demand, and product characteristics driving this impact, and propose a modification. Based on an analysis of data obtained from a retailer on 1,986 SKUs in 20 categories, we find that the pack‐and‐a‐half rule decreases a retailer's profits, on average, by 10% when applied uniformly across all SKUs. Further, this decrease is significantly affected by product depth, product width, demand elasticity, case pack quantity, and inventory carrying cost. Finally, we develop a set of modifications based on these variables where the pack‐and‐a‐half rule is applied selectively and in a stepwise fashion. These modifications limit the decrease in a retailer's profits to a range between 6% and 7%.     

Tipped out: How do gratuities affect restaurant operations?

Tipping is a well-established social norm in North American restaurants. Researchers have given considerable attention to the interaction between consumers and servers, but less so to the relationships within a restaurant and even less so to restaurant managers’ perspectives. Our study, the first of its kind, used interviews and a survey to explore the perspectives of both restaurant managers and servers in identifying operational issues arising from tipping. Inequity and unfairness, loss of control of service quality, and difficulties in succession planning and promotion were identified. There is clearly a need to investigate strategies to mitigate some of these impacts.