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.     

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.