In this article, a manpower allocation and cell loading problem is studied, where demand is sto-chastic. The inter-cell and intra-cell movements are considered and attention is focused on as-signing operators with different skill levels to operations, because cell performance in addition to load cell is dependent on manpower. The purpose of this article is manpower allocation in cellu-lar manufacturing with consideration to learning and training policies. The manpower skill levels are determined in order to enhance production rate. The main contribution of this approach is the scenarios of training and learning in addition to the combination of training and learning being simulated. By using these three scenarios, the skill level of workers increase which reduces the processing time. In this regard cell layout is static where processing times and customer demand follow a normal distribution. As one of the significant costs of industrial unit is related to pro-duction cost, this study has attempted to reduce these costs by increasing the skill level of opera-tor which causes to reduce the processing time. Scenarios are evaluated by using a simulation method that finally attained results indicate this simulation provides better manpower assign-ments.

This work aims to present the application of Multi-Criteria Decision-Making methods to the process of recruiting candidates for the position of project manager, considering aspects of the decision maker's preferences in uncertain and risk scenarios. Applied, descriptive and experimental, made up of the combined employment TODIM-FSE methods for multi-criteria classification of available candidates, and the method Behavioral TOPSIS, to choose the ideal project manager. The hybrid application of the Multi-Criteria Decision-Making methods TODIM-FSE, method based on Prospect Theory, and Behavioral TOPSIS, which considers the concept of loss aversion of Economic Behavior, is essentially innovative. When using TODIM-FSE and Behavioral TOPSIS, it was verified the explicit incorporation of the risk profile of the decision maker - aggressive, neutral, or conservative - in the context of aversion or propensity to the risks associated with the management of a project. Through the personal recruiting process from a large Brazilian organization, the possibility of adopting the hybrid model resulting from the combination of the two methods in a real situation was validated. Such validation allowed us to conclude that the candidates' classifications and choices, previously normally accepted, were at odds with the profile and risk propensity of the decision makers.

This research discusses and analyzes scientific, macroeconomic, financial risk management, audit views, stock returns, investment decisions, funding decisions, and good corporate governance as a moderator. There are 147 samples of manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. The results of this study indicate that there are four insignificant hypotheses. The results indicate: Macroeconomics does not have a substantial effect on Financial Risk Management, Good corporate governance (GCG) is having no significant impact on Going Concern Audit Opinion. Stock Return is having no significant effect on Going Concern Audit Opinion; GCG does not moderate the impact of Stock Return on Going Concern Audit Opinion when the level of significance is five percent.

Structural irregularity is a crucial issue in assessing seismic vulnerability of both new and existing buildings. European technical codes provide simple criteria to define irregularities in plan and in elevation, amplifying the seismic actions and/or introducing torsional effects. Nevertheless, this approach only considers geometrical irregularity. For existing buildings, another source of irregularity comes from the non-uniform distribution of the material strength. In particular, for existing reinforced concrete (r.c.) structures, it is possible to detect significant spread of the concrete compressive strength not only from different structural elements but also from different parts of the same member. In this work, non-linear static analysis is performed on two case-studies of r.c. buildings characterized by geometrical and mechanical irregularity. The resistance of each column is determined with an extensive experimental campaign with in situ and laboratory test (about 600 in situ tests). The results are analyzed considering both local and global effects in terms of resistance of the single elements and of the entire buildings. In this sense, shear and bending failure mechanism are taken into account. The effect of story flexibility is also considered in the models. Fragility curves are calculated for the buildings with random distribution of the compressive strength of the columns. The results are then compared with the approaches proposed by the Eurocodes evaluating in the standard approach proposed by technical codes is conservative or not.

Increasing attention to environmental problems and social responsibility lead to appear reverse logistic (RL) issues in designing supply chain which, in most recently, has received considerable attention from both academicians and practitioners. In this paper, a multi-product reverse logistic network design model is developed; then a hybrid method including Chance-constrained programming, Genetic algorithm and Monte Carlo simulation, are proposed to solve the developed model. The proposed model is solved for risk-averse and risk-seeking decision makers by conditional value at risk, sum of the excepted value and standard deviation, respectively. Comparisons of the results show that minimizing the costs had no direct relation with the kind of decision makers; however, in the most cases, risk-seeking decision maker gained more return products than risk-averse ones. It is clear that by increasing returned products to the chain, production costs of new products and material will be reduced and also by this act, environmental benefits will be created.

The current study aims at examining the differences between umbrella branding and house of brands on organizational market share. Various variables are adopted including reach, efficiency, image and ambiguity. A sample of 98 marketing managers or their representatives within the chemical industry sector in Jordan, SPSS is employed to screen and analyze gathered data. Results of study indicate that umbrella branding has a bigger and much deeper influence on market share compared to house of brands which is attributed to many factors including that umbrella branding has a wider reach, it is more efficient and more able to shed the light and increase the focus on organization's image, meaning that in umbrella marketing the focus is more on the marketing organization more than manufacturing organization which increases its reputation and market share. The study recommends the necessity for each brand to have a specific purpose to avoid overlapping or disintegration of brands.

This paper presents a model to solve the multi-objective location-routing problem with capacitated vehicles. The main purposes of the model are to find the optimal number and location of depots, the optimal number of vehicles, and the best allocation of customers to distribution centers and to the vehicles. In addition, the model seeks to optimize vehicle routes and sequence to serve the customers. The proposed model considers vehicles’ traveled distances, service time and waiting time while guaranteeing that the sum of these parameters is lower than a predetermined value. Two objective functions are investigated. First objective function minimizes the total cost of the system and the second one minimizes the gap between the vehicles’ traveled distances. To solve the problem, a Multi-Objective Imperialist Competitive Algorithm (MOICA) is developed. The efficiency of the MOICA is demonstrated via comparing with a famous meta-heuristics, named Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II (NSGA-II). Based on response surface methodology, for each algorithm, several crossover and mutation strategies are adjusted. The results, in terms of two well-known comparison metrics, indicate that the proposed MOICA outperforms NSGA-II especially in large sized problems.

A new method of amidation of Carboxy Multi Walled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNT-COOH) with diamine monomer such as ethylene diamine (EDA) and O-Phenylenediamine (OPDA) was applied by using a solution blending technique. The structure and properties of these composites have been investigated by FTIR, SEM, TEM, XRD, UV, DSC and TGA. The formation of Poly [MWCNT/ Amide] composites was confirmed and the DC electrical conductivity of poly-composites was in the range 4.5×10^-6-5.3×10^-6 S/cm due to the interaction between the nanotubes.

A simple yet powerful optimization algorithm is proposed in this paper for solving the constrained and unconstrained optimization problems. This algorithm is based on the concept that the solution obtained for a given problem should move towards the best solution and should avoid the worst solution. This algorithm requires only the common control parameters and does not require any algorithm-specific control parameters. The performance of the proposed algorithm is investigated by implementing it on 24 constrained benchmark functions having different characteristics given in Congress on Evolutionary Computation (CEC 2006) and the performance is compared with that of other well-known optimization algorithms. The results have proved the better effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. Furthermore, the statistical analysis of the experimental work has been carried out by conducting the Friedman’s rank test and Holm-Sidak test. The proposed algorithm is found to secure first rank for the ‘best’ and ‘mean’ solutions in the Friedman’s rank test for all the 24 constrained benchmark problems. In addition to solving the constrained benchmark problems, the algorithm is also investigated on 30 unconstrained benchmark problems taken from the literature and the performance of the algorithm is found better.

This study assessed the critical success factors (CSFs) of public-sector road construction projects execution from the perspective of definitive stakeholders associated with such projects by drawing on in-depth semi-structured interviews (16) and surveys (372) in Ghana, thirty-four (34) CSFs were identified. Using Relative Importance Index (RII), Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficients, and Kendall’s Coefficient of Concordance and the Chi-square test of significance statistics, the top ten most important factors in descending order are: the absence of political interference, project continuity by successive governments, adequate project funding, support from financial institutions and donor agencies and countries, government commitment to the project, absence of clientelism, absence of nepotism, no political corruption, payments of contractors on time and absence of court injunction or legal suit and land litigations. This study contributes to road construction CSFs in the context of public sector road construction in developing economies.