ADVANCED TOPICS IN APPLIED OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT Edited by Yair Holtzman Advanced Topics in Applied Operations Management Edited by Yair Holtzman Published by InTech Janeza Trdine 9, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia Copyright © 2012 InTech All chapters are Open Access distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license, which allows users to download, copy and build upon published articles even for commercial purposes, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. After this work has been published by InTech, authors have the right to republish it, in whole or part, in any publication of which they are the author, and to make other personal use of the work. Any republication, referencing or personal use of the work must explicitly identify the original source. As for readers, this license allows users to download, copy and build upon published chapters even for commercial purposes, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. Notice Statements and opinions expressed in the chapters are these of the individual contributors and not necessarily those of the editors or publisher. No responsibility is accepted for the accuracy of information contained in the published chapters. The publisher assumes no responsibility for any damage or injury to persons or property arising out of the use of any materials, instructions, methods or ideas contained in the book. Publishing Process Manager Petra Nenadic Technical Editor Teodora Smiljanic Cover Designer InTech Design Team First published March, 2012 Printed in Croatia A free online edition of this book is available at www.intechopen.com Additional hard copies can be obtained from orders@intechweb.org Advanced Topics in Applied Operations Management, Edited by Yair Holtzman p. cm. ISBN 978-953-51-0345-5 Contents Preface IX Part 1 Competing with Operations 1 Chapter 1 Lean Six Sigma in the Service Industry 3 Alessandro Laureani Chapter 2 Economic Impact of the Adoption of Enterprise Resource Planning Systems: A Theoretical Framework 15 Wai-Ching Poon, Jayantha Rajapakse and Eu-Gene Siew Chapter 3 Utilizing Innovation and Strategic Research and Development to Catalyze Efficient and Effective New Product Development 31 Yair Holtzman Part 2 Process Strategy and Process Analysis 59 Chapter 4 A Value Structured Approach to Conflicts in Environmental Management 61 Fred Wenstøp Chapter 5 Game Theoretic Analysis of Standby Systems 77 Kjell Hausken Chapter 6 Harnessing Efficiency and Building Effectiveness in the Tax Department 93 Yair Holtzman and Laura Wells Part 3 Mathematical Methods for Evaluating Operations 111 Chapter 7 Some Remarks About Negative Efficiencies in DEA Models 113 Eliane Gonçalves Gomes, João Carlos C. B. Soares de Mello, Lidia Angulo Meza, Juliana Quintanilha da Silveira, Luiz Biondi Neto and Urbano Gomes Pinto de Abreu VI Contents Chapter 8 Quality of Life Modelling on the Basis of Qualitative and Quantitative Data 133 Jiří Křupka, Miloslava Kašparová, Jan Mandys and Pavel Jirava Chapter 9 A Ranking for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games Based on a Hierarchical Copeland Method 157 João Carlos Correia Baptista Soares de Mello and Nissia Carvalho Rosa Bergiante Chapter 10 Benchmarking Distance Learning Centers with a Multiobjective Data Envelopment Analysis Model 183 Lidia Angulo Meza, João Carlos Correia Baptista Soares de Mello and Silvio Figueiredo Gomes Junior Preface Operations management techniques and operations strategy can successfully be implemented to create more efficient and effective functionality within an enterprise. While these techniques and strategies are not innovative in and of themselves, the application of these techniques in new ways can prove to be extremely innovative. The chapters in Advanced Topics in Applied Operations Management creatively demonstrate a valuable connection among operations strategy, operations management, operations research, and various departments, systems, and practices throughout an organization. The authors show how mathematical tools and process improvements can be applied effectively in unique measures to other functions. The book provides examples that illustrate the challenges confronting firms competing in today's demanding environment bridging the gap between theory and practice by analyzing real situations. The focus of Advanced Topics in Applied Operations Management has broadened to include multiple topics comprising a firm's "operating core" including: 1) the multi-function, multi-firm system that includes basic research, design, engineering, product and process development and production of goods and services within individual operating units; 2) the networks of information and material flows that tie operating units together and the systems that support these networks; and 3) including the distribution and delivery of goods and services to customers. Yair Holtzman Director WTP Advisors, Business Advisory Services Practice Leader USA [...]... (leveraging on training and experience), and streamlining the underlying processes, eliminating unnecessary operations Given the large scale of many call-centre operations, even a relatively small improvement in the sigma value of the process can dramatically reduce the defect rate, increase customer satisfaction and deliver financial benefits to the bottom line (Rosenberg, 2005) By focusing on eliminating... Emergency (A&E) reducing turn-around time in preparing medical reports reducing bottle necks in emergency departments reducing cycle time in various inpatient and outpatient diagnostic areas reducing number of medical errors and hence enhancing patient safety reducing patient falls reducing errors from high-risk medication reducing medication ordering and administration errors improving active management of... personnel costs increasing productivity of health-care personnel increasing accuracy of laboratory results increasing accuracy of billing processes and thereby reducing the number of billing errors improving bed availability across various departments in hospitals reducing number of postoperative wound infections and related problems improving MRI exam scheduling reducing lost MRI films improving turn-around... waiting in line or on the phone involves some emotional management, not present in a manufacturing process Variability: Each service is a unique event dependent on so many changing conditions, which cannot be reproduced exactly As a result of this, the variability in service processes is much higher than in manufacturing processes, leading to very different customer experiences 6 Advanced Topics in Applied. .. easily adapting newly installed technologies, and the increase in human capital investment is a major contributor to the long-run economic growth This is also called the embodied technical progress Meanwhile, investment in technology involves the way inputs are mixed in the firm, such as innovation and invention of new products, improvements in organize production, advances in management and industrial... How customizing ERP information affects market dynamic? Will it be significant determinant in sustaining and maintaining the dramatic increase in productivity recorded since the mid-1990s? The economic contributions of information technology in general and ERP in particular, have important policy implications and have attracted the attention of researchers (Dewan & Kraemer, 2000) Cost saving and productivity... pharmacy orders improving nurse or pharmacy technician recruitment improving operating theatre throughput increasing surgical capacity reducing length of stay in A&E reducing A&E diversions improving revenue cycle reducing inventory levels improving patient registration accuracy improving employee retention The focus has been on the improvement of clinical processes to identify and eliminate waste from... speed while also increasing accuracy The benefits of Lean Six Sigma in the industrial world (both in manufacturing and services) have been highlighted extensively in the literature and include the following: 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ensuring services/products conform to what the customer needs (‘voice of the customer’) Removing non-value adding steps (waste) in critical business processes Reducing the cost of poor... percentage change in factor (e.g capital and labor) proportions due to a percentage change in marginal rate of technical substitution (MRTS) MRTS is the amount of one input that must be substituted for one unit of another input to maintain a constant level of output First is marginal productivity It is the rate of increase of the output for a small increase in the input The Law of Diminishing Marginal Productivity... variables in the regression, Vi is a firmspecific effect invariant over time, and eit, is the random error term in the equation, representing the net influence of all unmeasured factors (Dewan & Kraemer, 2000) From this Cobb-Douglas function, the output elasticities of βIT, βK, and βL that measure the 24 Advanced Topics in Applied Operations Management increase in output associated with a small increase in . analyzing real situations. The focus of Advanced Topics in Applied Operations Management has broadened to include multiple topics comprising a firm's "operating core" including:. ADVANCED TOPICS IN APPLIED OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT Edited by Yair Holtzman Advanced Topics in Applied Operations Management Edited by Yair. are not innovative in and of themselves, the application of these techniques in new ways can prove to be extremely innovative. The chapters in Advanced Topics in Applied Operations Management