This volume presents an interdisciplinary reflection on the SARS-COV-2 pandemic and its consequences elaborated in real-time. It embodies the University of Palermo's values and mission by bringing together academics of very diverse disciplinary fields on an issue that is disrupting all aspects of individual and community existence. This volume captures the voices of academics during the pandemic, allowing to crystallize the discourses that are emerging in a wide variety of scientific fields as events unfold and knowledge is rapidly evolving. They share the belief that to shed adequate light on the complex and multifaceted phenomenon of the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences necessarily requires the adoption of an interdisciplinary approach, the consideration of a multiplicity of perspectives, and of a variety of levels of analysis. The organization of the single contributions in chapters allows the exchange of different perspectives, whilst conveying a general overall framework to the interpretation of the many facets of the changes and crisis generated by COVID-19. The volume addresses both academics and professionals dealing with the processes and the consequences brought forth by the pandemic and presents a solid example of the commitment an academic institution should devote to society and communities.

This book identifies factors of information system (IS) integration that influence supply chain agility and illustrates how IS integration can achieve greater supply chain agility. Also considering the consequent operational impacts that arise from IS-enabled supply chain agility, the author presents real-life examples through interviews and surveys to explore how IS integrations affect supply chain agility in the context of the Chinese automotive industry. The ability to swiftly respond to competitive challenges is a key element in industry 4.0 and organisations with agile supply chains are better prepared to respond to uncertainties and changes. This book develops and presents guidelines on the deployment of information system integration in order to achieve efficient agile supply chains.

Illustrates, in a very clear and practical manner, models and tools to analyse and improve healthcare production processes. Each chapter includes teaching cases, from different countries and settings, to help readers better understand the practical implications of the adoption of certain organizational models or managerial solutions (e.g. lean model). The recent COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted the need to redesign healthcare production processes to become more efficient, responsive and flexible. Focuses on the organizational conditions required to successfully implement operations management change plans.

The COVID-19 pandemic changed world dynamics, working scenarios, as well as professional and emotional dimensions. The virus has emerged as a significant threat for the continuity of business. Keeping the gravity of the problem in mind, companies must understand the need for change and must now update their strategy to account for pandemics. The next pandemic may be more severe than the current one, meaning that organizations need to devise mechanisms and business models to fight with these situations and maintain business continuity. They should not only look forward to saving plants, machinery and infrastructure, but also concentrate on employee welfare, customer engagement and satisfaction during this crisis time. The book will not only present the evidence of various effective solutions to run a business in the time of a pandemic, but also put forward the new models and practices of business being followed by people at the time of crisis. It aims to create a bridge between existing business models and proposed business solutions, focusing on existing theories and most importantly case studies from recent happenings. This rich collection of chapters will provide insights regarding the business challenges, opportunities and practices during pandemic situations like COVID-19, making it particularly valuable to researchers, academics and students in the fields of strategic management, leadership and disaster management.

This book provides the reader with a better understanding of the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative, its various projects around the world, and its consequences at a local as well as an international level. Background information on both Chinese and Greek sociopolitical history and their maritime industry is provided. The book also provides readers with the opinions of people directly involved with the Piraeus Port-China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (COSCO) deal through interviews conducted and included in the book. OBOR, a signature initiative of Chinese President Xi Jinping, is currently one of the most frequently discussed enterprises worldwide. This controversial mix of worldwide projects has put both China and Xi at the center of attention, and not in a positive way. Of course, not all projects included in the initiative have been or are likely to be successful, but the initiative has far-ranging economic, cultural, and political potential. OBOR, in its essence, is an attempt by the Chinese government to secure a paramount position in global finance for the country and ensure that primacy extends far into the future. In particular, it is an attempt to ensure that there are enough natural resources for China to support itself in the long term. Therefore, the areas selected for the implementation and development of OBOR are deliberately strategic. One of the countries that China has chosen to invest in is Greece, specifically the Port of Piraeus. The OBOR initiative has many similarities with the ancient Silk Road. Although the ancient route and modern concept are in no way identical, many similarities become evident when the two are compared. To understand China's motivation to build such a network, looking back at history is required. This project was long in the making. Various discussions took place both on an international and a domestic level until all parties came to an agreement. The deal at Piraeus between Greece and China affected more people than the politicians and the shipowners-it affected everyone involved in the operations of the port as well as the residents of the area. To further comprehend the impact on their lives, one must see things through their eyes, and there is no better way than contacting individuals and conversing with them. In conclusion, the specific deal at Piraeus and the OBOR initiative as a whole have the potential of benefiting the international and local communities. However, specific measures must be taken, and governments must collaborate in order for the deal in Piraeus and the OBOR initiative to have the most beneficial and the least negative impact.

WINNER: 2021 Plume d'Or - Grand Prix ACA-Bruel Award. A Practical Guide to E-Auctions for Procurement provides guidance to procurement professionals on how to realize the potential of e-auctions. Now is the time to optimize your e-negotiation strategy using key insights from the author Jacob Gorm Larsen, who is responsible for one of the most successful and award-winning e-sourcing programs in the world. A Practical Guide to E-Auctions for Procurement presents a proven process for developing an e-auction and e-negotiation strategy, along with a catalogue of change management initiatives for securing buy-in internally in the organization. The different e-auction formats and benefits are explained in detail and demonstrated with practical examples, templates and advice that can be adopted by the reader. Jacob and the team at Maersk are at the forefront when it comes to developing robots that execute e-auctions from end-to-end and are kicking off a transformation that will fundamentally change how we consider e-auctions and negotiations. In addition, with learnings from more than 10,000 e-auctions globally, this is the book for those in procurement looking to implement, deliver and maintain a thriving e-auction program.

Presents an elucidative discussion about productivity and efficiency, illustrating its potentials of use and conceptual differencesCovers the concepts and techniques for analysis of productivity and efficiency, analyzing critical benefits and limitations Explains didactically and in detail how to use DEA for analysis of productivity and efficiency Provides an innovative method for using DEA Offers a free online computer tool to operationalize the concepts and method proposed in the book

Sustainable procurement is the pursuit of sustainable development objectives through the purchasing and supply process, while balancing environmental, social, and economic objectives. This book will help readers develop new contemporary knowledge about frameworks, innovative tools and techniques to achieve sustainability in public as well as private procurement practices. The book will enable scholars and practitioners working in the domain of sustainable procurement to improve the overall performance of the supply chain and further achieve UN SDGs, by making various decisions at the planning and strategic phase of the business. Features Discusses theoretical, decision making and related business management models Assists to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Provides qualitative/quantitative frameworks Covers quality innovations sustainability in sourcing Examines measurement drivers, indicators and metrics

In today's competitive markets, considering the demand and the supply chain sides is crucial to keeping revenue and customer satisfaction maximized. Managing and planning demand play a vital role in the sustainability of a company. This is the first book to the discuss managerial, mathematical, and conceptual framework of influencing factors on demand along with accurate mathematical analyses to evaluate and raise revenue. The book provides an understanding of the key elements that impact buyer demand. It presents the mathematical relationship between the influencing factors and the demand functions. It discusses the methods used for inspiring demand, how to measure demand dependency on components such as price, quality, and inventory, and it helps management improve alignment between supply and demand by affecting the level and understanding of the role within supply chain management (SCM). This book is applicable for the professional as well as for academia. It can help those working in SCM, project management, production, inventory control, scheduling, engineering management, retail management, and operations management.

This book highlights topics ranging from green chemistry and engineering to bioremediation, smart technologies, and sustainable business practices. The common threads running through this volume are the need for urgent action, a vision for a sustainable future, and the awareness that solutions must be widely accessible and advance the welfare of all nations, especially in the face of climate change. The authors delineate how we can protect and restore natural ecosystem potential to achieve environmental sustainability. They provide a clear idea of today's environmental challenges and solutions, focus on energy use patterns and the reduction of energy consumption, advocate for increased environmental awareness, and discuss environmental monitoring systems. The book contains many domestic and international case studies and showcases visionary ideas in action to illustrate sustainability principles. This volume provides an in-depth reference for stakeholders from academia, government, and industry on the latest research in environmental sustainability solutions. Inspired by the common wisdom that we do not inherit this Earth from our ancestors but instead borrow it from our children, the authors offer solutions to emergent problems. This research comprises an important contribution to the global effort to build a more sustainable tomorrow.

This book sets out to explain blockchain for the non-technical expert, to decipher the dense technicalities that dominate the field and to present the opportunities for busy professionals using practical applications and case studies. Presented in a clear and structured way and with documented real-world cases, the book is a practical reference guide that can be used across different industries. It offers both a constructive and critical review of the pain points blockchain is facing today, illustrates the pitfalls as well as the opportunities for business and describes the steps towards overcoming them. It also aims to provide a unique view of both the intersection and synergy of blockchain with other emerging technologies and the wider digital ecosystem, as we see increasingly that blockchain alone won't be able to deliver business solutions. Most important, the book identifies trends and a path for the future of blockchain and its impact on society as a whole. The book is written for business audiences across all sectors. It is not a technical guide to blockchain, but it enables businesspeople to be better informed and prepared to plan ahead and develop strategies using blockchain.

This cross-disciplinary business book develops insight into the management of businesses operating in various economic sectors that take a proactive approach to the triple dimension of sustainability (economic, social and environmental), positioning itself as a key reference for both academics and practitioners in the wide area of business management. The concept of sustainability is today at the heart of international policies and debate, and plays a key role in deep changes to the organizational models of companies operating in a wide range of sectors of economic activity. In particular, this book aims to gain a deeper understanding of how stakeholder engagement can contribute to value co-creation both in the company and along the supply chain, and what distinguishes the differing involvement of stakeholders, in particular between public involvement and stakeholder participation. Each chapter of this book presents different modalities of stakeholder involvement and develops the concept of value co-creation from organizational and marketing perspectives. This book is recommended reading for those interested in the fields of stakeholder engagement and theory, sustainability, business studies, and sustainable development.

When thinking about lowering or changing consumption to lower carbon footprints, the obvious offenders come easily to mind: petroleum and petroleum products, paper and plastic, even food, but not clothes. When people evaluate ways to lower their personal carbon footprint by changing purchasing habits, they are bombarded with information to avoid petroleum and petroleum products, plastics, paper, even food, but not clothes. Most consumers do not think of clothes as a source of environmental damage. Yet, clothes are made with petroleum products through chemically-laden industrial processes that generate significant pollution. The fashion industry is among the largest organic water polluters in the world, accounting for significant greenhouse gas emissions and generating massive amounts of waste as a function of the frequent discarding of used clothing. In the Dirty Side of the Garment Industry: Fast Fashion and Its Negative Impact on Environment and Society, author Nikolay Anguelov exposed the ecological damage from the fast-fashion business model. In this book, The Sustainable Fashion Quest: Innovations in Business and Policy, the author takes this one step further by focusing on solutions. This book uses the familiar (yet complex) industry of fashion as a lens to examine how business pressures and national and international policies can have both positive and negative social and ecological impacts. It provides an analysis of extant and emerging policies to address the divergence in the ongoing quest to maximize economic development and minimize the social costs of the industrialization process. It also examines emerging technologies and innovative business models that have the potential to revolutionize how fashion is perceived, manufactured, and consumed. This book begins with an introductory letter that outlines the social and environmental issues facing the fashion industry, as well as emphasizing the seriousness and urgency of addressing them. Each chapter then focuses on a major aspect of the industry with an increasing emphasis on policy. The chapters outline the impact of global-level and business-level decisions on the industry's success, its social and environmental impact, and its relationship to consumers. The goal of the book is to define that transition, explain its challenges, and educate readers on the possibilities to become powerful drivers of change through their professional actions and their personal behavior as consumers. While the book specifically analyzes the fashion industry, it also explains the implications for other industrial sectors. It uses a product everyone is familiar with (we all buy clothes, after all) to examine the decisions, impacts, and policies shaping the industry behind the scenes. The linkages are applicable to other fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) business sectors, such as consumer electronics, which are starting to face sustainability criticism for relying on a business model of promoting a high frequency of repeat purchasing.

When thinking about lowering or changing consumption to lower carbon footprints, the obvious offenders come easily to mind: petroleum and petroleum products, paper and plastic, even food, but not clothes. When people evaluate ways to lower their personal carbon footprint by changing purchasing habits, they are bombarded with information to avoid petroleum and petroleum products, plastics, paper, even food, but not clothes. Most consumers do not think of clothes as a source of environmental damage. Yet, clothes are made with petroleum products through chemically-laden industrial processes that generate significant pollution. The fashion industry is among the largest organic water polluters in the world, accounting for significant greenhouse gas emissions and generating massive amounts of waste as a function of the frequent discarding of used clothing. In the Dirty Side of the Garment Industry: Fast Fashion and Its Negative Impact on Environment and Society, author Nikolay Anguelov exposed the ecological damage from the fast-fashion business model. In this book, The Sustainable Fashion Quest: Innovations in Business and Policy, the author takes this one step further by focusing on solutions. This book uses the familiar (yet complex) industry of fashion as a lens to examine how business pressures and national and international policies can have both positive and negative social and ecological impacts. It provides an analysis of extant and emerging policies to address the divergence in the ongoing quest to maximize economic development and minimize the social costs of the industrialization process. It also examines emerging technologies and innovative business models that have the potential to revolutionize how fashion is perceived, manufactured, and consumed. This book begins with an introductory letter that outlines the social and environmental issues facing the fashion industry, as well as emphasizing the seriousness and urgency of addressing them. Each chapter then focuses on a major aspect of the industry with an increasing emphasis on policy. The chapters outline the impact of global-level and business-level decisions on the industry's success, its social and environmental impact, and its relationship to consumers. The goal of the book is to define that transition, explain its challenges, and educate readers on the possibilities to become powerful drivers of change through their professional actions and their personal behavior as consumers. While the book specifically analyzes the fashion industry, it also explains the implications for other industrial sectors. It uses a product everyone is familiar with (we all buy clothes, after all) to examine the decisions, impacts, and policies shaping the industry behind the scenes. The linkages are applicable to other fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) business sectors, such as consumer electronics, which are starting to face sustainability criticism for relying on a business model of promoting a high frequency of repeat purchasing.

Operational excellence, as a quest in the prevailing digital era, is predicated on a systems view of the operating environments in business, industry, government, academia, and other organizational entities. This book uses a systems-based approach to show how operational excellence can be pursued, achieved, and sustained. It offers a systems perspective for operational excellence and discusses the evolution of products from the classical operation era to present day digital operations. It covers the role of global markets on domestic operations, presents operational work design and ergonomics, and combines industrial engineering, advanced research, and practical experience. This book is a useful guide for scholars, practitioners and those involved in engineering, management, and business fields.

Exploring the practices developed by remote teams to maintain trust across cultures, this book offers both theoretical and practical resources to enable better working in challenging contexts of project work. This book emphasizes building trust between team members from a practice perspective, meaning patterns of collective, shared activities that are produced and reproduced within the virtual team with the purpose of developing team trust. The author explores the trust practices that members of remote project teams use to describe their relationships and interactions. Team trust practices are powerful organizational tools for members of remote cross-cultural teams, influencing team decision-making and facilitating team effectiveness. This book offers extensive descriptions of team practices that build and maintain trust in virtual teams in two different cultures: Germany and Singapore. This is a unique contribution as it offers case studies from project teams that were observed and interviewed during their work and provides readers an in-depth, contextual analysis of the trust practices that virtual project teams develop, which previous research has overlooked. This book will appeal to researchers and graduate students in MBA programs studying project management, human resource management, and strategic leadership. This book is also of direct interest to many practitioners, particularly management consultants and project managers of virtual, cross-cultural, and interdisciplinary project teams.

In rapidly developing emergencies, it is vital for aid agencies to understand how to establish an agile supply chain that resists the chaos of a crisis and can cater to unknown needs. Now in its fourth edition, Humanitarian Logistics presents chapters from a wide range of academics and practitioners and offers cutting edge research into how complex problems such as distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine and provision of relief to victims of natural disasters can be solved. New chapters cover topics such as cash-based humanitarian logistics (HL) systems, sustainability in a HL context and providing logistics services for humanitarian relief. In recent years, a number of global crises have highlighted the critical role that logistics plays in humanitarian response. There is a vital need to understand how to conduct operations in confused and swiftly changing environments. This book is essential reading for anyone who needs to understand how to effectively manage supply networks during a rapidly developing emergency.

Sustainable Production and Logistics: Modeling and Analysis Subject Guide: Engineering - Industrial & Manufacturing This book presents issues faced by planners of production and distribution operations in terms of smart manufacturing and sustainability, using efficient quantitative techniques in a variety of decision-making situations. Addressing the state-of-the-art of the smart and sustainable sides of production and distribution planning operations, it highlights how a current issue can be effectively approached and what particular quantitative technique can be used. The book goes on to provide a foundation in the new and fast-growing digital journey, and includes logistics 4.0 inside Industry 4.0, along with case studies. The information in this book is useful worldwide, especially in the Americas, Europe, Turkey, and Japan. It is written for academicians, researchers, practitioners, and students.

Closed loop supply chains and their management have become mandatory for firms to stay competitive and profitable. This book provides insights into designing supply chain networks by understanding and incorporating key return parameters into the network design, which will affect profitability. The book discusses how customer categories and their acceptance behavior are incorporated into the network design. It also shows how to analyze the interaction of parameters on supply chain network design and profitability, offers modeling framework for incorporating uncertainties in the return product parameters, and shows how to design a robust network. Invaluable for managers in designing a sustainable, robust, and profitable supply chain network and ideal for managers, practitioners, and researchers in the area of supply chain network design and optimization.

Global systems integrators, outsourcers and consulting firms are responsible for directly leveraging or influencing most IT investment in large corporations. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), software companies and other technology providers aspire to create mutually successful partnerships with the large influencers due to their 'business case' driven approach, their early stage engagement in the sales cycle, their C-Suite relationships with large multi-national enterprises, and the often-giant scale of the typical technology spend that their projects and engagements drive. The projects that these companies deliver are specialist and complex, meaning that companies who aspire to work successfully in the sector require skill, knowledge and a sophisticated alliance approach to gain credibility and maintain long term sustainable relationships. The Ultimate Route to Market provides an insight into the practices, construct and culture of global consulting firms, systems integrators and outsourcers and provides a suggested framework for a successful alliance with them. Here, Ian Shanahan provides organisations with an overview of the global systems integrator, outsourcer and consulting firm sectors, provides insight into their culture and expertly explains alliance best practice methodology. This is a must read for anyone that aspires to understand the market, how it works and how they become desirable to the large IT services companies, so that they can execute alliance engagements to the sector in a measured, methodical and low risk way.

Strong leadership is necessary to drive the transformational change required to build and apply digital capabilities across organizations. Digital transformation in the supply chain is a leadership problem first and foremost. This book draws out some of the key digital business strategies supply chain leaders must become familiar with as they take on the responsibilities of leading transformations within their firms. The central rationale of the book is to establish a clear business case for the performance shifts and opportunities of the Digital Supply Chain. The benefits of a digital supply chain for firms can be summarized as uniquely reducing the amount of trade-off between costs and customer satisfaction. The challenges, complexity, and management involved in transforming to a digital supply chain have slowed many firms in their implementation. The key to unlocking this value and advantage is a new, robust, and digitally aware supply chain leadership mindset. It will provide readers with a practical Digital Supply Chain Leadership Road Map that will accelerate actions in technology, analytics, talent and business models. The road map to digital transformation will step the reader through these critical dimensions and illustrate how they can support their own organizational transformation by developing greater levels of maturity. This book will be most valued by supply chain leaders in medium to large scale organizations, as well as consultants and academics interested in digital business and supply chain transformation. The book will also be valuable for students studying digital transformation, supply chain, and operations.

This book focuses on digitalised talent management-the use of information technologies in talent management. The book affords theoretically, methodologically and empirically informed insights that are especially salient given the need for executives and organisations to balance the role of humans and technology, while ensuring competitiveness in this interconnected and increasingly digital world. In doing so, the book will shape and contribute to academic and industry-based conversations about the role of technological innovations in enabling organizations to transition towards digital ways of organising talent, as well as the associated implications for the who, what, where, when, and why of talent management as stakeholders decide which aspects of talent management can be delegated to technology, and those that require human agency. This book adds value by assembling subject matter experts currently siloed within traditional research domains whilst also highlighting the complexity of managing talent. By synthesising content from world-leading academics who herald from various backgrounds, the book will instigate, shape and contribute to conversations about both the promises and perils of digitalised talent management and the extent to which judgments and decisions about an organisations most valuable asset-it's talent-should be delegated to non-human agents. This book will be of interest to researchers, academics and students in the fields of talent management and organisational design, especially those interested in digital ways of working, managing and leading.

This book contains fundamental concepts on discrete mathematical structures in an easy to understand style so that the reader can grasp the contents and explanation easily. The concepts of discrete mathematical structures have application to computer science, engineering and information technology including in coding techniques, switching circuits, pointers and linked allocation, error corrections, as well as in data networking, Chemistry, Biology and many other scientific areas. The book is for undergraduate and graduate levels learners and educators associated with various courses and progammes in Mathematics, Computer Science, Engineering and Information Technology. The book should serve as a text and reference guide to many undergraduate and graduate programmes offered by many institutions including colleges and universities. Readers will find solved examples and end of chapter exercises to enhance reader comprehension. Features Offers comprehensive coverage of basic ideas of Logic, Mathematical Induction, Graph Theory, Algebraic Structures and Lattices and Boolean Algebra Provides end of chapter solved examples and practice problems Delivers materials on valid arguments and rules of inference with illustrations Focuses on algebraic structures to enable the reader to work with discrete structures

The key to success and reaching peak performance is integrating three processes to optimize business through the use of human performance improvement tools, lean thinking, operational excellence, along with a strong organizational culture as the underpinning. These components form the basis of the Peak Performance Model. The tools presented in this book, along with the case studies, demonstrate how the model is applied and integrated into company practices. Companies and organizations want to improve their performance, but many have not integrated the right tools and processes. Through the application of the Peak Performance Model, every company can achieve and sustain Peak Performance.

Supply chain management decisions are made under the conflicting criteria of maximizing profit and customer responsiveness while minimizing supply chain risk. Multiple Criteria Decision Making in Supply Chain Management provides a comprehensive overview of multi-criteria optimization models and methods that can be used in supply chain decision making. Presenting the contributions of internationally known authors, researchers, educators, and practitioners, this new book in the Operations Research Series provides readers with a single source guide to recent developments in this area. The focus of the book is on the design and operation of the supply chain system, which involves connecting many production and distribution systems, often across wide geographic distances, in such a way that the businesses involved can ultimately satisfy the consumer demand as efficiently as possible, resulting in maximum financial returns to those businesses connected to that supply chain system. The book includes several case studies on the design and operation of supply chain networks in manufacturing and healthcare.