Research Notes. A SURVEY OF THE APPLICATION OF QUANTITATIVE TECHNIQUES TO PRODUCTION/OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT IN LARGE CORPORATIONS.

The Implementation of a Cash-Flow-Based Mathematical R&D Project Selection Model

“…The empirical surveys state non-applicability as the most relevant factor, followed by lack of education, and data availability (Green et al, 1977;Kathawala, 1988). The summarized literature review on implementation barriers in Table 2 as well as comparable studies addressing problems that occurred at the OR's usage (Gaither, 1975;Jeffrey & Seaton, 1995) illustrate a similar picture.…”

“…Theory divides the non-applicability to problems (Lam, 1993;Vatter, 1967) into two parts: an inadequate problem formulation (Chen & Wei, 2002;Ward, 1974) and a deficient instrumental realization. Formulations are either too simplistic (Ashton & Ashton, 1988) and lack, for instance, organizational objectives, hierarchies (Radnor & Neal, 1973), special events, and behavioral factors (Ward, 1974) or are too sophisticated (Ford, Bradbard, Ledbetter, & Cox, 1987), in which case simpler models are sufficient (Fabozzi & Valente, 1976;Green, Newsom, & S. Roland Jones, 1977;Kathawala, 1988;Watson & Marett, 1979). Instruments are known to be too slow (Ford et al, 1987) and known to produce outdated solutions (Thomas & DaCosta, 1979).…”

“…In particular, operating managers as well as executives as decision makers are not informed about the models and their benefits. This ignorance results in a lack of interest (Ashton & Ashton, 1988;Chen & Wei, 2002;Vatter, 1967), distrust (Green et al, 1977;Kathawala, 1988;Watson & Marett, 1979), or a protection of vested interests (Radnor & Neal, 1973). Poor communication between management and research scientists, as stated in several surveys (Forgionne, 1983;Lam, 1993;Thomas & DaCosta, 1979;Watson & Marett, 1979), management's educational background, and the limited availability of specialized software are blamed as reasons for the lack of education barrier (Ford et al, 1987;Hildebrandt, 1980;Liberatore & Titus, 1983;Watson & Marett, 1979).…”

“…Lack of data is described as the inability to clearly identify data resources (Radnor & Neal, 1973;Thomas & DaCosta, 1979) for clean (Watson & Marett, 1979), adequate (Forgionne, 1983), and structured data. If data are not entirely unavailable (Green et al, 1977;Kathawala, 1988), difficulties arise at the quantification of data or their accumulation and transmission (Radnor & Neal, 1973). Here, lack of data refers to the inability to easily gather required information.…”

The Skateboard Factory: a teaching case on discrete-event simulation

“…Empirical studies support this criticism, showing a gap between what is taught in the classroom and reality (Abraham & Karns, 2009;Basnet, 2000;Green et al, 1977). Felder (2006) considered outdated the traditional expository methodology of engineering courses, asserting that in traditional lectures, the professor loses its relevance and is not able to enrich the classroom experience.…”