No abstract

The world is shifting toward renewable energy sources due to global warming and rising GHG emissions. Malaysia has joined other nations in the conference of parties to develop policies for the reduction of GHG and carbon emissions. Malaysia is switching towards sustainable, eco-friendly and renewable energy sources. EFB biomass, one of the by-products of palm oil, has enormous potential as a sustainable energy source. Malaysia, one of the top exporters of palm oil, is unable to employ EFB-biomass-based power generation due to storage, logistics and supply-chain-related constraints. Therefore, this study integrates EFB biomass supply-chain logistics to overcome the reported challenges. The current study employs the system dynamics (SD) approach to achieve the objectives as it explains the dynamics of interaction and behaviour among the sub-systems. A document-based model-building approach is employed to collect data to develop the base model. The document-based model-building approach and system dynamics modelling facilitates the achievement of two outcomes: integrated EFB biomass logistics and GHG reduction using EFB. These outcomes are crucial to enhancing the base model and realizing the zero-carbon emission goal to contribute to sustainable development goals.

Farm to fork strategy, advocated by the European Commission, aims for a ‘fair, healthy, and environmentally healthy food system. It requires a renewed mindset and an in-depth analysis of the intricate agricultural-based value- chain that forms the food system. Indigenous chicken micro-farming, the focus of this study, for example, is a highly potential candidate for the Farm to Fork strategy but requires a deep analysis of its disintegrated value chain to achieve the strategy. Indigenous chicken farming provides opportunities for the poor and marginal people for a steady income while at the same time being more environmentally friendly and a source of healthy food. These have motivated this study to analyse the indigenous chicken micro-farming value chain in Malaysia, with the objectives to evaluate the present status of the indigenous chicken farm value chain and develop an initial integrated model for indigenous chicken farms. This study uses qualitative system dynamics in data collection and analysis and model development to achieve the objectives. The proposed model is simulated to understand the dynamics of interaction and behaviour among the sub-systems. The findings lead to two outcomes of the study- the first is the dynamics model of the typical indigenous chicken value chain, and the second is the potential integrated value chain model for indigenous chicken farming. These findings are imperative for future research to enhance further the integrated model to be able to realise the farm-to-fork strategy and to contribute to the sustainable development goals.

The current study aims to examine the exponential rate of the spread of COVID-19 by employing a system dynamic model. The outbreak of COVID-19 was first evidenced on Feb 26, 2020 in Pakistan. The local bodies and law enforcing agencies took the initial preventive measures to restrict COVID-19 to a particular locality but all in vain. A large number of people were infected by this virus which increased the death rate countrywide. The numbers of infected people were alarming and a need was felt to develop the model to calculate the existing reproduction number and transmission rate and highlight its varied values in the coming days. People-friendly measures and government-based policies must be explored to fight against this deadly disease. This paper aims to develop an epidemic model using the system dynamic framework of simulation software STELLA. Additionally, the current study’s purpose is to experiment with the system dynamic model to replicate the progression of the communicable disease and probe multiple combinations of people-based and government-based measures to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. These containment measures are of two types; people-based measures and government-based measures which directly affect the reproduction number and infection growth rate of the mitigating circumstances due to COVID-19. Combined efforts of the public and government can combat this global pandemic. The reduced number of reproduction number/recurring cases and infection growth rate are the key metrics to judge and evaluate the effectiveness of containment/ control measures. Therefore, this research points to a more holistic combination of public and government-oriented measures that play a vital role in reducing the increasing infection rate of COVID-19. Simulation results were traced to replicate the real-life settings against four combinations of containmentmeasures in tabular form and graphical form.

Quality control circles are considered an effective tool in the organization to best utilize the potential of the workforce. The objective behind using quality control circles is to use employees’ brains to generate savings and create an impact on the bottom-line of the company. The framework of the quality control circles shown in Table 2 proposed the structured seven steps strategy to use the workforce's potential for continuous improvement in the organization. Companies confront multi-faceted issues and challenges in the operational processes and corporate excellence thus mainly depends upon the effective and efficient quality controls to overcome the product, process, machine, and material related issues that hamper the production efficiency, quality of the product, and overall productivity of the company. This paper attempts to develop the system dynamics model of quality control circles based on normalized data of the case company. Participation in quality control circles is voluntary in nature and passion to learn and improve is the intrinsic motivation for employees and organizations to join these circles. Employee involvement to participate and produce creative ideas in these circles is the key to the success of these quality-enhancing programs (Jerman et al. 2019) and model outcome depicts the same story. The quality control circle model indicates that a set of inter-related and interdependent skills and behaviors are a necessary condition to increase participation in the quality control circles and productivity of projects under consideration. The computer-based software STELLA is used for programming the model of quality control circles using the generic structures of the company under study. Underlying feedback structures and interactions among various variables makes the model closer to the real-life setting.