1. Multicriteria evaluation of intermodal (rail/road) freight transport corridorsMilan Janić, 2020, original scientific article Abstract: This paper deals with the multi-criteria evaluation of the intermodal (rail/road) freight corridors as competing transport alternatives. For such a purpose, the methodology has been developed consisting of two main components; i) the analytical models for estimating the indicators and measures of the corridors’ physical/spatial or infrastructural, technical/technological, operational, economic, social, and environmental performance; and ii) the MCDM (Multi-Criteria Decision Making) method using the above-mentioned indicators and measures of performance as the evaluation attributes/criteria in ranking and identifying the preferred among the several mutually competing freight transport alternative corridors. The proposed methodology has been applied to two Trans-European intermodal rail/road freight transport corridors. As such, it has shown to be of use, in addition to the researchers, also to the other potential DMs (Decision Maker(s)). These could be, for example, the freight shippers/receivers as the users of the already existing intermodal (rail/road) transport services, the transport and intermodal terminal operators and infrastructure providers, and the business and policy makers facing with the problems of allocating the usually limited investments in the social-economic feasible way to the corresponding infrastructure at the local, regional, national, and international scale. Keywords: intermodal (rail/road) freight transport corridors, indicators and measures of performance, multicriteria evaluation Published in DKUM: 22.08.2024; Views: 66; Downloads: 9
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2. The relationship between leadership in BPM and company profitabilityDušan Gošnik, Maja Meško, Igor Stubelj, 2023, original scientific article Abstract: This paper studies the relationship between leadership as an activity of business process management (BPM) and company performance. Business process data about leadership and business processes in SMEs were collected via questionnaires on the population of 3007 SMEs in Slovenia. Aspects of leadership such as the involvement of employees, middle management, customers and suppliers were studied. The financial data of the SMEs of the sample were obtained from publicly available financial statements to assess relative residual income profitability ROEr and ROEa. Data analysis was performed using Bartlett’s, Kaiser–Maier–Olkin and nonparametric Mann–Whitney U tests. We confirmed a positive relationship between employee involvement in leadership as an activity of BPM and company profitability. It was proved that companies that involve employees and middle management in improving core business processes to a greater degree are more profitable. Intense involvement of employees in changes in core business processes results in higher company profitability, which has been detected by the higher risk-adjusted profitability measure ROEa. Companies that involve middle management to a greater degree by leading employees based on their interests are more profitable. The results are important for managers as decision-makers and other company stakeholders, especially those responsible for business process improvements. Theoretical and practical implications and further research possibilities are discussed. Keywords: management, leadership, BPM, risk-adjusted profitability measures, SME, performance Published in DKUM: 16.04.2024; Views: 200; Downloads: 9
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3. An innovative approach to organizational changes for sustainable processes : a case study on waste minimizationEva Krhač Andrašec, Tomaž Kern, Benjamin Urh, 2023, original scientific article Abstract: It is necessary to adapt constantly to the business environment with its changing demands. Understanding the objectives, scope, and limitations of actual process changes is crucial, and can be achieved with numerous measures, methods, and techniques. This research demonstrates an innovative approach to organizational changes to enable sustainable processes. In the first part of this research, relevant measures, methods, and techniques are selected through an in-depth literature review. Then, an international online questionnaire is executed among 213 enterprises from four countries. In the last part of this research, the developed approach is tested for the example of waste minimization in the process of developing coatings. Based on the analysis of the survey questionnaire, the usability and benefits of various measures are demonstrated, namely from the point of view of their positive impact on structural and operational efficiency indicators. At the end of the article, a case study presents the success of the innovative approach in terms of 88% waste minimization and up to 48% time and cost reductions in the process of developing coatings. The proposed approach enables better choices to be made and the more efficient use of various measures, which can lead to more sustainable processes and improve the efficiency of enterprises. Keywords: organizational changes, key performance indicators, measures, methods and techniques, sustainable processes, waste minimization Published in DKUM: 02.04.2024; Views: 286; Downloads: 24
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4. Exploring approaches how to measure a lean processChrister Österman, Anders Fundin, 2014, original scientific article Abstract: Purpose:The purpose of the research is to explore a practical method of measuring the implementation of lean in a process. The method will be based on examining the abilities of a group. At this scale the ability to work standardized and solve problems is important. These two abilities are dependent of each other and are fundamental for the group's ability to create a stable result. In this context the method of standardized work (SW) is define to be the methods used in a process to generate stable results. Problem solving (PS) is defined as the methods used to return a process to a condition where SW is possible.
Methodology /approach: The research is conducted in a multiple case study in four large global manufacturing companies. The order of the data collection is: Firstly, interviews with the individuals that are centrally responsible for overall implementation of lean in the organization. Secondly, observe the implementation of SW and PS at the group level. In total 7 groups have been studied and 19 respondents interviewed.
Findings: Results show that the central definition of the methods for standardized work does not by itself have a direct impact on success of implementation of SW at group level. The method of SW where similar on a general level in the different cases, but with varying levels of implementation at group level was applied. Results also show that key factors for a successful implementation of standardized work on group level are: Ownership of the process, Direct connection to result of process, Correct workload and Leader demand. Methods of PS at group level where dissimilar despite a superficially similar approach. The evaluation method used was successful in providing comparable results between the cases.
Research limitations: A limitation of this research is within the scale of the measurement, as it only examines the group level. The research is further limited to four companies and seven groups.
Originality/value of paper: This paper aims to fill a gap in the established measurement methods of lean, as it examines the abilities of SW and PS at the group level of a process. These abilities are often referred to as essential in lean theory. However, there has been little scholarly work in defining the methods of SW and PS or the key factors affecting the methods at an operational level. Keywords: lean, performance measures, problem solving, standardized work, stability Published in DKUM: 30.11.2017; Views: 1321; Downloads: 363
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5. Homecare service providers as an organizational form of support for the elderly : establishment and planning of optimal capacityPolona Šprajc, Iztok Podbregar, Alenka Brezavšček, 2017, original scientific article Abstract: Background and Purpose: Different studies have highlighted health care allocation problems in Slovenia that indicate the increased need for homecare services for the elderly. It was also found that Slovenian municipalities differ dramatically in the availability of elder care services. A number of older people with diverse unmet needs for care remains. Therefore, the need for the establishment of an additional type of formal homecare services for the elderly exists.
Design/Methodology/Approach: Although many positive effects of home elder care against institutional care are stressed in the literature, the results of many studies performed in recent years have indicated that accessibility of homecare for elderly in Slovenia remains scarce, and it is not equally accessible throughout the country. To mitigate this problem, a new organizational form called “elder homecare service provider” is indicated. The aim of the provider is to offer a variety of different services for the elderly (e.g. homemaking, social networking, transfer services, basic life needs, basic health services, etc.). The establishment of such an organization needs to be designed carefuly, while the unique characteristics and specific needs of the target population must be addressed to optimize desired outcomes.
Results: The aim of the paper is to provide fundamental guidelines for the establishment of elder homecare service provider. All essential characteristics of such an organization are defined. To ensure an appropriate level of service quality, the primary focus is oriented towards the planning of personnel team capacity. For this purpose, the service provider was described using the stochastic queueing model, which enables service capacity optimization considering different performance measures. The usefulness of the model was illustrated with a numerical example, which has shown that the results obtained provide valuable information for decision support.
Conclusion: The establishment of a homecare service provider network would have many positive effects on society in general. The quality of the everyday life of the elderly is expected to be improved considerably, particularly in the rural areas where a lack of institutional care support is reported. Guidelines proposed in the paper together with the quantitave model for planning of its optimal capacity provide useful information, which are especially relevant in the preliminary phase of the establishment of service providers. Keywords: elderly, service provider, performance measures, capacity planning Published in DKUM: 01.09.2017; Views: 1835; Downloads: 203
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