Sameer Kumar

University of St. Thomas - Minnesota | st thomas · Department of Management

Non-pharmaceutical intervention (NPI) policies, ranging from mild measures to total isolation, were implemented worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic. We adopt a systematic approach to guide policymakers in deploying NPI policies to mitigate the pandemic’s effects while balancing their social and economic impacts. Our results show that each NPI ha...

Purpose Traceability is predicted to usher in a fundamental shift in the way transactions in supply chains (SCs) are carried out. By reducing the negative aspects of trust-related issues in a SC, traceability enables improved visibility and transparency. Design/methodology/approach We advance research on traceability adoption in the perishable pro...

Non-pharmaceutical intervention (NPI) policies, ranging from mild intervention to total isolation, were implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic across the globe. We adopt a systematic approach to guide policymakers in deployment of NPI policies to mitigate the pandemic's effects while maintaining a proper balance on their social and economic impac...

One of the main characteristics of health systems and pharmaceutical supply chains is their significant costs in the public sector, which has forced governments and companies active in this field to find ways to reduce costs. In this paper, the deterioration of imported pharmaceutical items is investigated as one of the challenges of the supply cha...

This paper develops a generic model that helps in crucial decision making of pricing and revenue-focused outsourcing for a stock-out problem of a deterministic, multi-echelon inventory system for a global supply chain. The manufacturer is considered to have insufficient production capacity and has the option to outsource. The optimization technique...

This paper develops a generic model that helps in crucial decision making of pricing and revenue-focused outsourcing for a stock-out problem of a deterministic, multi-echelon inventory system for a global supply chain. The manufacturer is considered to have insufficient production capacity and has the option to outsource. The optimization technique...

Purpose Lean manufacturing (LM) is prevalent in the manufacturing industry; thus, focusing on fast and accurate lean tool implementation is the new paradigm in manufacturing. Value stream mapping (VSM) is one of the many LM tools. It is understood that combining LM implementation with VSM tools can generate better outcomes. This paper aims to devel...

Purpose Collaboration methods are unique strategies that can help organizations hedge against external and internal supply chain risks without stressing their relationships with supply chain partners. However, selecting the most appropriate collaboration method from a given set of strategies is a multifaceted challenge. This paper aims to address t...

From a sustainability perspective, the performance of a company's supply chain will be satisfactory when it has reached in all aspects a desirable eco-environmentally friendly level. Assessing the sustainability performance in the closed-loop e-waste supply chain becomes vital because its activities are primarily targeted towards sustainability goa...

The Covid-19 pandemic is triggering several supply chain disruptions that have a tremendous impact on firms’ activities. Consequently, firms have pushed suppliers to develop their disruption orientation through the exchange of information and collaboration with the aim to enhance their own performance. Although this is important from the industry p...

The aim of this paper is to present empirical evidence about the relationship between Agri-fresh Food Supply Chain Quality (AFSCQ) practices and Organizational Sustainability (OS) outcomes. Organizational Sustainability embraces economic, environment and social sustainability. Based on literature review, a set of AFSCQ practices has been identified...

The increasing vulnerability of the population from frequent disasters requires quick and effective responses to provide the required relief through effective humanitarian supply chain distribution networks. We develop scenario-robust optimization models for stocking multiple disaster relief items at strategic facility locations for disaster respon...

https://theconversation.com/apres-la-covid-un-virage-plus-vert-samorce-dans-la-logistique-166434

Post COVID-19 vaccine development, nations are now getting ready to face another challenge: how to effectively distribute vaccines among the masses to quickly achieve herd immunity against the infection. According to some experts, herd immunity for COVID-19 can be achieved by inoculating 67% of the population. India may find it difficult to achieve...

Drawing on the natural resource-based view and coordination theory, this study examines the extent to which different combinations of internal and external green supply chain management (GSCM) practices influence third-party logistics providers’ (TPLs) operational and financial performances. A fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis of survey da...

Influenza and COVID-19 are infectious diseases with significant burdens. Information and awareness on preventative techniques can be spread through the use of social media, which has become an increasingly utilized tool in recent years. This study developed a dynamic transmission model to investigate the impact of social media, particularly tweets...

Organizations and managers need to consider multiple criteria when they want to evaluate or rank their available plans and alternatives. A proper decision-making process enables organizations to select and implement strategies that are more in line with their business goals and prospects. Problems arises with some issues in a complex decision-makin...

Closed loop supply chain network design (CL-SCND) is a critical economic and environmental activity. The closing of the loop to handle return, uncertainty in business environment, various supply chain risks, impact network design processes and performance of the firm in the long term. Thus, it is important to design robust and reliable supply chain...

In most multicriteria decision-making methods, several options are ranked according to numerous criteria. In the decision-making process, experts often determine the importance weight of the criteria by comparing them to each other or with ideal solutions. With increasing criteria, the decision-making process becomes more complex, and the compatibi...

Purpose: The research study aims to investigate green supply chain management (GSCM) elements as part of a complete system. It aims to understand the special properties of GSCM system under the moderating effects of product complexity and purchasing structure. Methodology: A thorough literature review led to the building of the conceptual framewor...

While there have been claims that disaster preparation and preparedness reduce the cost of humanitarian disaster response, there is little substantiated evidence to support this claim. We investigate this relationship using data from 2002 through 2014 of 71 OECD countries that received disaster assistance. We find that investing in disaster prepara...

Disaster management (DM), within a broad field of operations management, is becoming an emergent area of interest for academics and practitioners. This study examines the literature evolving on disaster management linked to application of simulation modelling. Many literature review studies on disaster management are offered by numerous authors. Ho...

The purpose of this paper is to assess supply chain reconfigurability in a global scenario. The paper attempts to measure comprehensive relative reconfigurability index (CRRI) in an automobile case supply chain by holistically considering fifteen enablers of reconfigurability. The present research evaluates CRRI by utilizing two distinct assessment...

In recent decades, more information has become increasingly available on the Web. Every user can actively participate in the generation and exchange of information. Investigating the quality of user-generated content (UGC) has therefore become a necessity and an ever-increasing challenge. In collaborative environments where users collect, share and...

Purpose - The present study examines the link between information systems (IS) agility, HR performance management systems and job satisfaction using organizational information processing theory. The objective of this study answers the questions: how does use of different IS agility impact HR systems and job satisfaction and what are the connecting...

Purpose – Cloud based ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) enables an organization to pay for the services they need and removes the need to maintain Information Technology (IT) infrastructure. In this paper, we have empirically tested the role of cloud based ERP services on the performance of an organization. Here, the performance is categorized as...

As the majority of voting machines in use today approach or exceed their expected lifetime, an increased number of voting machine failures are expected in upcoming elections. This study examines and quantifies the impact of less reliable voting machines, due to age, on the number of voters waiting longer than 30-min. G/G/s queue approximation and d...

Purpose Although there is a growing body of literature on human resource (HR) outsourcing, there are still unresolved issues regarding the level of outsourcing HR activities initiated in firms having different strategies and structures. This is relevant to examine because firms with different orientations (strategy and structure) cannot do HR outso...

The purpose of this study is to develop a hierarchy-based model for supply chain resilience (SCRES), explaining the dynamics between various enablers and validating the model empirically. Literature review and a survey identified the enablers. Interpretive structural modelling (ISM) is used to analyse the levels of relationships among enablers. Bas...

This paper examines procurement dynamics when there is a power imbalance between a supplier and a buyer. The importance of considering relative power when sharing profit with suppliers is investigated. We also compare this power-based profit sharing with the benefit of a quantity discount on bulk purchases. The underlying micro-model is the classic...

The aim of this paper is to review the literature on humanitarian operations and crisis/disaster management in order to identify the current research and to provide direction for future research in this growing field. Articles from supply chain management, disaster management, and economics were reviewed, keywords were identified within a disaster...

Organizations have been under growing pressure to reduce emissions across their supply chains while cutting supply costs to remain competitive. This paper proposes a Carbon Market Sensitive (CMS) and a green decision making approach based on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) called CMS–GDEA. It builds on an existing Green DEA model and modifies it to...

: The purpose of this paper is to propose a decision support model for supplier selection based on analytic hierarchy process (AHP) using a case of automotive industry in a developing country of Pakistan and further performs sensitivity analysis to check the robustness of the supplier selection decision.

Purpose – Many studies have proposed variant fuzzy time series models for uncertain and vague data. The purpose of this paper is to adapt a fuzzy time series combined with genetic algorithm (GA) to forecast tourist arrivals in Taiwan. Design/methodology/approach – Different cases are studied to understand the effect of variation of fuzzy time seri...

Low prices and good medical care have caused an increasing number of Americans to travel abroad for affordable health care (medical tourism). This study analyzes the viability of medical tourism as an alternative to United States (U.S.) hospitals for routine surgical procedures by considering the total charges paid by U.S. insurance companies and b...

Chronic disease is defined as a long lasting health condition, which can develop and/or worsen over an extended time, but which can also be controlled. The monetary and budgetary toll due to its persistent nature has become unsustainable and requires pressing actions to limit their incidence and burden. This paper demonstrates the utility of the Sy...

This study aims to systematically review the cross disciplinary literature covering the time period from 1934 to January 2013 on behavioral operations in supply chain in order to identify and define the taxonomy of the research on power influences in supply chain. A list of noted journals and search results from Science Direct and Web of Knowledge,...

This paper studies how a global manufacturer with many subsidiaries can achieve enhanced business value for the organization by sharing information within its supply chain network. Specifically, the uncertainties in the demands from the downstream distribution center affect the inventory levels at the upstream distribution center under different in...

The quick recovery and rebuilding of the housing stock after disaster (natural or man-made) is critical for an affected region, from the socio-economic perspective. The recovery efforts demand a considerable amount of time and resources. An efficient emergency management response system needs to be designed, with the intention of allowing a smooth...

With the onset of the ‘climate change movement’, organisations are striving to include environmental criteria into the supplier selection process. This article hybridises a Green Data Envelopment Analysis (GDEA)-based approach with a new Genetic/Immune Strategy for Data Envelopment Analysis (GIS-DEA). A GIS-DEA approach provides a different view to...

Background/purpose The occurrence of catastrophic events proves disastrous as they cause significant physical damages, both at the human and material levels. Depending on the magnitude of the event, a natural phenomenon can potentially lead to loss of life, home destruction and alter the economic and social structures of the affected community. The...

While simple models of the Earth’s ocean can provide useful information about the sensitivity of the climate to increasing greenhouse gases, it is important to ensure that the models are based on realistic physical processes and are evaluated with an accurate numerical methodology. In this regard, a number of computational issues are identified and...

Managing processed food products’ safety and recall is a challenge for industry and governments. Contaminated food items can create a significant public health hazard with potential for acute and chronic food borne illnesses. This industry study examines the challenges companies face while managing a processed food recall situation and devise a res...

Allocation of the tasks in competitive market conditions at each echelon of the supply chain is an important activity in the supply chain. The task allocation problem, referred to as supply chain formation process, normally faces information asymmetry in the supply chain. The information asymmetry is caused by rational and intelligent players tryin...

To achieve a competitive edge in an uncertain business environment where change is imperative, one of the significant challenges for an organization is to mitigate risk by creating resilient supply chains. This research proposes a model using graph theory which holistically considers all the major enablers of resilience and their interrelationships...

Supply chains for perishable items consist of products with a fixed shelf life and limited production/collection; managing them requires competent decision-making. With the objective of placing the learners in the position of decision-makers, we propose the Blood Supply Chain Game which simulates the supply chain of blood units from donors to patie...

Utility analysis is the measure of efficiency in supply chain, which is the function of strategy decided by supply chain players. The competition provided by the coopetitive (cooperation and competition) environment of new manufacturing systems demands analyzing the strategic interaction between two tiers of supply chains such as manufacturer–suppl...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide the organization with a process for assessing risk associated with their supply chain and a framework from which they can build their strategy to manage risk. Design/methodology/approach – The proposed process is based on a compilation of research and interactions with supply chain managers in vari...

Purpose – Managing a supplier base can be both challenging and rewarding. Instances abound where the lack of attention to supplier management has caused once successful businesses great losses or even failures. Assessing a supply base using the combined approach of discrete choice analysis (DCA) and total cost of ownership (TCO) can help a company...

This industry note explores the benefits of online reverse auctions for both buyers and suppliers in contrast to the negative implications for procurement process. Information was gathered from numerous sources to create a comprehensive analysis of benefits and shortcomings of online reverse auctions. The argument presented shows a strong temptatio...

The potential and scope of damages resulting from large scale natural disasters is undisputed. Additionally, the risks that societies are facing continue to grow along with the global population. A decision support risk assessment and mitigation framework for disaster relief supply chain is proposed. This framework was applied to the example of the...

This article outlines a four-step approach in analysing a complex supply chain using optimization and simulation software tools. The first step consists of Multi-Echelon Optimization to determine the best supply chain structures. The second step involves a Discrete-Event Simulation to determine the appropriate supply chain configuration. The third...

Global supply chains encounter low-occurrence/high-disruption risks that are not addressed adequately by adding inventory. Although many operational risk-management tools exist, these tools and methods have not been synthesized into a comprehensive management system. This article evaluates risk-assessment methodologies and operational approaches to...

U.S. healthcare costs consistently outpace inflation, causing growing problems of affordability. This trend cannot be sustained indefinitely. The purpose of this study is to use supply-chain tools for macro-level examination of the U.S. healthcare as a business system and identify options and best use practices. We compare the important and success...

The study focuses on the key issues affecting the functioning and structure of Africa's private manufacturing sector. Surveys conducted in seventeen countries in sub-Saharan Africa present a number of issues faced by participating firms. These issues include: access to finance, access to trade finance, complexity of tax system, customs and trade re...

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to highlight a key strategic initiative within the former ADC Company (now part of TE Connectivity) called “Lean Pull Replenishment”, designed and implemented to achieve Six Sigma customer service excellence. This case study would also help facilitate problem‐based learning pedagogy. Design/methodology/approa...

Many researchers have revealed that US companies acknowledge the inevitability of supply chain disruptions in a global environment. These companies employ strategies that vary from proactive, reactive, resilient, to no supply chain risk management (SCRM) strategies to mitigate risks and ensure business continuity. When a company's competitive advan...

Purpose – The motivation for this paper arises from the evolution of the e‐commerce which has provided new means for retailers to serve customers. Pure e‐tailers and clicks‐and‐mortars are two business models of this new paradigm. It aims to study the particularities of pure e‐tailer (Amazon.com) and clicks‐and‐mortars (Walmart) with special focus...

Relying more heavily on multi-disciplinary groups involved in product design and development creates added challenges for companies in maintaining the proper mix of members of the design and development team and those with technical skills and abilities. Further, there is a greater learning curve in bringing in new members and growing the team. Thi...

The system dynamics SD modeling approach is used to study the U.S., Japan and EU auto industries' closed loop supply chains. The objectives of this study are to examine the impact on these three supply chains of: government regulations; financial incentives for recycling, remanufacturing, and salvage; the export of used cars; market pricing for rem...

The purpose of this paper is to develop a business model to generate quantitative evidence of the benefits of implementing radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, limiting the scope to outpatient surgical processes in hospitals. The study primarily uses the define-measure-analyze-improve-control (DMAIC) approach, and draws on various anal...

The author aims to assess the spread of avian flu, its impact on businesses operating in the USA and overseas, and the measures required for corporate preparedness. Six Sigma DMAIC process is used to analyze avian flu's impact and how an epidemic could affect large US business operations worldwide. Wal-Mart and Dell Computers were chosen as one spe...

This study highlights some of the inefficiencies in the U.S. health care system and determines what effect medical tourism has had on the U.S. and global health care supply chains. This study also calls attention to insufficient health communication efforts to inform uninsured or underinsured medical tourists about the benefits and risks and determ...

The purpose of this study is to review current in-hospital based coding techniques and explore various means by which clinicians and HIM (Healthcare Information Management) staff members (which include Coding Technologist or "Coders") miss potential technical fee reimbursement due to poor dictation and/or lack of knowledge of the newer MS-DRG codin...

The purpose of this study is to examine the non-perishable product food supply chain performance under a monopolistic environment. A system dynamics approach was used to study the behavior and relationships within a supply chain for a non-perishable product, and to determine the impact of demand variability and lead-time on supply chain performance...

Animals were exposed for 2 h a day for 45 days at 0.21 mW/cm² power density SAR (0.038 W/Kg). After exposure, pineal gland and whole brain tissues were separated for the study of melatonin, creatine kinase and caspase 3. Result showed a significant decrease (P<;0.05) in melatonin level in the exposed group as compared with sham-exposed....

Aim: The purpose of this study is to investigate expanding the role of nurses in the current U.S. health care system from the standpoint of nurse–patient interactions and nursing interventions to improve patient care and reduce overall health care costs. Background: Many failures in nurse–patient interactions in the hospital and in postrelease sett...

The purposes of this article are to help prevent problems related to transfer pricing, add some clarity to an important tax issue and decrease small and medium enterprise's (SME's) exposure to double taxation and tax penalties for a global SME operation. Staying within compliance of transfer pricing rules and regulations is one of the challenges to...

System dynamics modeling methodology is well suited to address the constantly changing complexity that characterizes designing a modern urban hospital’s patient flow operation. It involves the development of simulation models that portray process flows and feedback that may be tested to find effective designs to overcome ineffective means of health...

To assess the effect of patient physician trust on how British South Asian (BSA) and British White (BW) patients cope when diagnosed with cancer. We administered a questionnaire incorporating domains of fidelity, honesty, competence, confidentiality and global trust. The patient-physician relationship most preferred by the patient was tested by a f...

To compare knowledge about the outcome of cancer treatment and beliefs about the causes of cancer among British South Asian (BSA) cancer patients of predominantly Gujarati origin with the beliefs held by British White (BW) cancer patients. We also wanted to determine if these beliefs impacted upon the patients' mental health. We administered a ques...

Aim: The purpose of this study is to leverage application of Six Sigma DMAIC Cycle in examining the expanded role of nurses in the United States for delivering improved health care during and posthospitalization of patients. Method: This study makes use of the operations management service tools, such as service blueprints and poka-yokes (mistake-p...

The fundamental concern of this research study is to learn the quality and efficiency of U.S. healthcare services. It seeks to examine the impact of quality and efficiency on various stakeholders to achieve the best value for each dollar spent for healthcare. The study aims to offer insights on quality reformation efforts, contemporary healthcare p...

In this article, we describe the use of an information-gathering tool, the Delphi technique, to overcome issues encountered when conducting a failure modes effects analysis as part of a define, measure, analyze, implement, control study to improve the processes of a clinical medical laboratory. The study was conducted with the goals of reducing med...

Hospital costs in the USA are a large part of the national GDP. Medical billing and supplies processes are significant and growing contributors to hospital operations costs in the USA. This article aims to identify cost drivers associated with these processes and to suggest improvements to reduce hospital costs. A Monte Carlo simulation model that...

As radio-frequency identification (RFID) implementation becomes more widespread it is important for managers to consider if this technology is right for their businesses. This study examines challenges of RFID implementation along with a cost-benefit analysis of a pharmaceuticals manufacturer's supply chain. Research was gathered from a variety of...

Catastrophes cause significant physical damage and destruction, potential loss of life and disruption to the structure of society. However, many times, the relief efforts, although well-intentioned, fail to efficiently and effectively reach the intended victims. The evidence of supply chain effectiveness is examined and highlighted instances when t...

This study was initiated to integrate information and enterprise-wide healthcare delivery system issues specifically within an inpatient retail pharmacy operation in a U.S. community hospital. Six Sigma tools were used to examine the effects to an inpatient retail pharmacy service process. Some of the tools used include service blueprints, cause-ef...

This case study quantifies the trade-off between customer service and inventory in a multinode supply chain while assessing system performance. An integrated and generalized modeling framework is used that incorporates define, measure, analyze, improve, control (DMAIC) methodology and designed experiments. Many traditional models require normality...

Purpose – Numerous research articles and industry reports are currently available that deal with global sourcing, however, few articles and reports can be specifically found on sourcing packaging materials in the consumer packaged food (CPF) industry. The purpose of this paper is to understand and develop the supplier selection process and overall...

It is increasingly recognized that hospital operation is an intricate system with limited resources and many interacting sources of both positive and negative feedback. The purpose of this study is to design a surgical delivery process in a county hospital in the U.S where patient flow through a surgical ward is optimized. The system simulation mod...

Many companies are not dramatically changing to more sustainable environmental practices despite pressure from the investment community, the government and consumers. This study explores a simple model that companies can use to understand and improve supply chain sustainability practices. It applies this model in two case studies, Coca-Cola, a lead...

The focus of this study is to analyse the management of recalls in a consumer products supply chain, as well as the reasons, costs, and measures to prevent recalls. A Six Sigma DMAIC methodology is used to understand the root causes and management of recalls and also analyse the costs in a consumer products supply chain. There are many variables in...

A framework consisting of a conceptual model and a closed-loop knowledge work outsourcing decision model is developed. A process flow model of a medical device company's product development function is analysed, where this framework is applied to understand various outsourcing options for the company. The conceptual framework describes major attrib...

An EMR system implementation would significantly reduce clinician workload and medical errors while saving the US healthcare system major expense. Yet, compared to other developed nations, the US lags behind. This article examines EMR system efforts, benefits, and barriers, as well as steps needed to move the US closer to a nationwide EMR system. T...

Treatment of chronic diseases presents a major cost burden to U.S. National Healthcare