scholarly journals Workers’ Aging Management—Human Fatigue at Work: An Experimental Offices Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (21) ◽  
pp. 7693
Author(s):  
Marcello Fera ◽  
Vittoria De Padova ◽  
Valentina Di Pasquale ◽  
Francesco Caputo ◽  
Mario Caterino ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Operations Management ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Technology Selection ◽  
Safety Level ◽  
Work Activities ◽  
Industrial Companies ◽  
Industrial Operations ◽  
Human Fatigue ◽  
Fatigue Evaluation ◽  
The Impact

The aging issue in the work context is becoming a significant element of the future sustainability of service and industrial companies. It is well known that with increasing worker age the problem of maintaining the performance and the safety level when fatigue increases is a crucial point, and fatigue increases with the age. Due to social and political developments, especially in Western countries, the retirement age is increasing and companies operate with a higher workforce mean age. Therefore, the problem of recognizing and measuring fatigue has become a key aspect in the management of aging. Note that in the scientific engineering field, the problem of fatigue evaluation when a worker is performing his/her work activities is an important issue in the industrial and service world and especially in the context of the researchers that are investigating the human reliability assessment. As it is clear from the literature, the industrial operations management are suffering from some misleading concepts that only the medicine scientific context can clarify. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to define what are the open issues and the misleading concepts present in the classical fatigue evaluation methods, and second to define two experimental curves of fatigue that will help the decision makers to minimize the impact of fatigue on the workers, thus maximizing the sustainability of the working tasks assigned. This aim is achieved by examining the medical literature about the measurement of a particular kind of fatigue related to the circadian cycle, i.e., the cognitive one; after that, a survey about the possible technologies for measurements is performed. On the basis of technology selection, an experiment on real work activities is performed and some remarkable results about the fatigue in the workers observed and the technology use and its limitations are defined.

scholarly journals Adoption of improved agricultural technology and its impact on household income: a propensity score matching estimation in eastern Ethiopia

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muluken G. Wordofa ◽  
Jemal Y. Hassen ◽  
Getachew S. Endris ◽  
Chanyalew S. Aweke ◽  
Dereje K. Moges ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Propensity Score ◽  
Propensity Score Matching ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Household Income ◽  
Agricultural Technology ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Farm Income ◽  
Agricultural Technologies ◽  
Eastern Ethiopia ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Adoption of improved agricultural technologies remains to be a promising strategy to achieve food security and poverty reduction in many developing countries. However, there are limited rigorous impact evaluations on the contributions of such technologies on household welfare. This paper investigates the impact of improved agricultural technology use on farm household income in eastern Ethiopia. Methods Primary data for the study was obtained from a random sample of 248 rural households, 119 of which are improved technology users and the rest are non-users. The research employed the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) procedure to establish the causal relationship between adoption of improved crop and livestock technologies and changes in farm income. Results Results from the econometric analysis show that households using improved agricultural technologies had, on average, 23,031.28 Birr (Birr is the official currency of Ethiopia. The exchange rate according to the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) was 1 USD = 27.6017 Birr on 04 October 2018.) higher annual farm income compared to those households not using such technologies. Our findings highlight the importance of promoting multiple and complementary agricultural technologies among rural smallholders. Conclusions We suggest that rural technology generation, dissemination and adoption interventions be strengthened. Moreover, the linkage among research, extension, universities and farmers needs to be enhanced through facilitating a multistakeholders innovation platforms.

scholarly journals The Impact of the Coexistence of Methane Hazard and Rock-Bursts on the Safety of Works in Underground Hard Coal Mines

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 128
Author(s):  
Justyna Swolkień ◽  
Nikodem Szlązak
Keyword(s):  
Rock Burst ◽  
Methane Concentration ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Hard Coal ◽  
Coal Seams ◽  
Safety Level ◽  
Methane Drainage ◽  
Innovative Methods ◽  
Hard Coal Mining ◽  
The Impact

Several natural threats characterize hard coal mining in Poland. The coexistence of methane and rock-burst hazards lowers the safety level during exploration. The most dangerous are high-energy bumps, which might cause rock-burst. Additionally, created during exploitation, safety pillars, which protect openings, might be the reason for the formation of so-called gas traps. In this part, rock mass is usually not disturbed and methane in seams that form the safety pillars is not dangerous as long as they remain intact. Nevertheless, during a rock-burst, a sudden methane outflow can occur. Preventing the existing hazards increases mining costs, and employing inadequate measures threatens the employees’ lives and limbs. Using two longwalls as examples, the authors discuss the consequences of the two natural hazards’ coexistence. In the area of longwall H-4 in seam 409/4, a rock-burst caused a release of approximately 545,000 cubic meters of methane into the excavations, which tripled methane concentration compared to the values from the period preceding the burst. In the second longwall (IV in seam 703/1), a bump was followed by a rock-burst, which reduced the amount of air flowing through the excavation by 30 percent compared to the airflow before, and methane release rose by 60 percent. The analyses presented in this article justify that research is needed to create and implement innovative methods of methane drainage from coal seams to capture methane more effectively at the stage of mining.

Drivers, Riders, and Service Providers: The Impact of the Sharing Economy on Mobility

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saif Benjaafar ◽  
Harald Bernhard ◽  
Costas Courcoubetis ◽  
Michail Kanakakis ◽  
Spyridon Papafragkos
Keyword(s):  
Operations Management ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Sharing Economy ◽  
Car Ownership ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Ride Sharing ◽  
Finite Set ◽  
Nonatomic Game ◽  
Payoff Functions ◽  
The Impact

It is widely believed that ride sharing, the practice of sharing a car such that more than one person travels in the car during a journey, has the potential to significantly reduce traffic by filling up cars more efficiently. We introduce a model in which individuals may share rides for a certain fee, paid by the rider(s) to the driver through a ride-sharing platform. Collective decision making is modeled as an anonymous nonatomic game with a finite set of strategies and payoff functions among individuals who are heterogeneous in their income. We examine how ride sharing is organized and how traffic and ownership are affected if a platform, which chooses the seat rental price to maximize either revenue or welfare, is introduced to a population. We find that the ratio of ownership to usage costs determines how ride sharing is organized. If this ratio is low, ride sharing is offered as a peer-to-peer (P2P) service, and if this ratio is high, ride sharing is offered as a business-to-customer (B2C) service. In the P2P case, rides are initiated by drivers only when the drivers need to fulfill their own transportation requirements. In the B2C case, cars are driven all the time by full-time drivers taking rides even if these are not motivated by their private needs. We show that, although the introduction of ride sharing may reduce car ownership, it can lead to an increase in traffic. We also show that traffic and ownership may increase as the ownership cost increases and that a revenue-maximizing platform might prefer a situation in which cars are driven with only a few seats occupied, causing high traffic. We contrast these results with those obtained for a social welfare-maximizing platform. This paper was accepted by Charles Corbett, operations management.

Heavy Lifters, India: Towards a Circular Economy Era

2021 ◽  
pp. 097226292110435
Author(s):  
Anupama Prashar
Keyword(s):  
Operations Management ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Total Cost Of Ownership ◽  
Total Cost ◽  
Planning And Control ◽  
Cost Of Ownership ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Impact

The case helps students to understand the emerging concept of linear and circular economies. It facilitates to examine the implications of circular business models such as remanufacturing on operations management decisions. It also introduces them to the concept of total cost of ownership and impact of remanufacturing on reducing total cost of ownership. The cases help students to evaluate the challenges and opportunities of remanufacturing business in emerging economy like India. This case is among the first few cases on the application of circular economy principles in context of heavy-duty and off-road sector and the impact of these principles on product design and production planning and control decisions.

Does Water Scarcity Affect Environmental Performance? Evidence from Manufacturing Facilities in Texas

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suresh Muthulingam ◽  
Suvrat Dhanorkar ◽  
Charles J. Corbett
Keyword(s):  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Operations Management ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Full Sample ◽  
Toxic Releases ◽  
Manufacturing Operations ◽  
Toxic Emissions ◽  
Manufacturing Facilities ◽  
The Impact

It is well known that manufacturing operations can affect the environment, but hardly any research explores whether the natural environment shapes manufacturing operations. Specifically, we investigate whether water scarcity, which results from environmental conditions, influences manufacturing firms to lower their toxic releases to the environment. We created a data set that spans 2000–2016 and includes details on the toxic emissions of 3,092 manufacturing facilities in Texas. Additionally, our data set includes measures of the water scarcity experienced by these facilities. Our econometric analysis shows that manufacturing facilities reduce their toxic releases into the environment when they have experienced drought conditions in the previous year. We examine facilities that release toxics to water as well as facilities with no toxic releases to water. We find that the reduction in total releases (to all media) is driven mainly by those facilities that release toxic chemicals to water. Further investigation at a more granular level indicates that water scarcity compels manufacturing facilities to lower their toxic releases into media other than water (i.e., land or air). The impact of water scarcity on toxic releases to water is more nuanced. A full-sample analysis fails to link water scarcity to lower toxic releases to water, but a further breakdown shows that manufacturing facilities in counties with a higher incidence of drought do lower their toxic releases to water. We also find that facilities that release toxics to water undertake more technical and input modifications to their manufacturing processes when they face water scarcity. This paper was accepted by David Simchi-Levi, operations management.

scholarly journals The Impact of Mobile Device Use on Shopper Behaviour in Store: An Empirical Research on Grocery Retailing

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Bellini ◽  
Simone Aiolfi
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Technology ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Mobile Channel ◽  
Grocery Retailing ◽  
Impulse Purchases ◽  
Shopper Behavior ◽  
Marketing Activities ◽  
Device Use ◽  
Retail Setting ◽  
The Impact

Over the last decade, retailers and manufacturers alike are increasing their attention to the role of instore mobile technology use with the aim to understand its impact on consumers’ decision making process. The rise of the mobile channel, in fact, has produced disruptive changes in shopping habits designed to gradually reduce the effectiveness of in-store marketing levers in influencing shopping behaviour.This topic is of paramount importance in grocery sector since retailers and manufacturers devote a lot of investments in instore marketing activities with the aim to influence consumers’ decisions and stimulate impulse purchases. Nevertheless, there are few contributions about the influence of the mobile technology in a retail setting and its effects on buying behavior inside the store.Our research intends to explore the impact of in-store mobile technology use on shopper behavior instore in order to understand its effects on planned versus unplanned purchases. According to our preliminary results, consumers using mobile technology instore make less unplanned items and fail to purchase more planned items. Moreover, the use of mobile technology negatively impacts shoppers’ ability to recall in-store stimuli. Our findings are interesting for both retailers and manufacturers who are looking for new ways to better address their marketing efforts and increase consumers’ engagement instore.

How Price Dispersion Changes When Upgrades Are Introduced: Theory and Empirical Evidence from the Airline Industry

2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (8) ◽  
pp. 3835-3852 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yao Cui ◽  
A. Yeşim Orhun ◽  
Izak Duenyas
Keyword(s):  
Operations Management ◽  
Airline Industry ◽  
Price Dispersion ◽  
Consumer Welfare ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Differentiation Strategy ◽  
Valuation Effect ◽  
Price Distribution ◽  
The One ◽  
The Impact

This paper studies the effect of introducing a new vertical differentiation strategy, paying for an upgrade to a premium product after purchasing the base product, on the price dispersion of the base product arising from existing price discrimination strategies. In particular, we examine how a major U.S. airline’s price dispersion in the coach cabin changes after introducing the option to upgrade to a new type of premium economy seating within the coach cabin. We first provide a theoretical analysis that highlights two competing pressures that the new premium economy seating upgrades created on coach class prices. On the one hand, the airline benefits from lowering its prices because by allowing more customers to purchase in the first place, it increases the probability of selling upgrades (admission effect). On the other hand, for some customers, the value of flying with the airline increases because of the upgrade availability, therefore the airline may find it optimal to increase its prices (valuation effect). In the second part of the paper, we conduct an empirical investigation of the impact of upgrade introduction on coach class prices, based on a proprietary transaction-level data set from a major U.S. airline company. The empirical analysis tests the main predictions of our theoretical model and examines further nuances. The results show that the introduction of the premium economy seating upgrades is associated with an increase in the price dispersion and revenues in the coach class, the admission effect is stronger than the valuation effect on the low end of the price distribution, and the opposite is true on the high end of the price distribution. Finally, we discuss implications of our results for firm revenues and consumer welfare. This paper was accepted by Serguei Netessine, operations management.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document