Managerial Constraints Research Articles

Towards digitalisation of food safety management systems – enablers and constraints

Ensuring the integrity, efficacy, efficiency, and reliability of the food safety management system (FSMS) has become imperative for every food business operator (FBO) as part of the interconnected food supply chains and essential to overcoming global food challenges. The 4th industrial revolution process creates new opportunities for FBOs, prompting a re-evaluation of the design, operation, and maintenance of FSMS. This article presents the findings of a Delphi study aimed to generate insights into the enablers, and technological and managerial constraints of introducing digitalisation in prerequisite programs (PRPs) and HACCP activities, the cornerstones of FSMS. The panel comprised experts from academia, industry, and consultancy to obtain a broad perspective. The experts suggested and agreed on how digitalisation can enable the design, operation, and maintenance of PRPs and HACCP-related activities. Regarding the managerial and technical/technological constraints, we observed a greater dispersion of agreement amongst the experts than the enablers. Typical managerial/organisational-related challenges encompass financial impact, lack of motivation/resistance to change, need for specific digital competencies/training, and absence of a clear regulatory framework. Technical/technological constraints included aspects such as lack of system adaptability/flexibility and user-friendliness, data entry workload, and ensuring system reliability. The research contributes to a better understanding of how digitalisation could enable the design, operation and maintenance of PRP and HACCP-based FSMS, and offers insights into the potential practical and policy implications of FSMS digitalisation. Future research could conduct case studies to evaluate FSMS digitalisation at the firm level, systematically assessing the tangible benefits and the barriers encountered by FBOs.

A model-driven decision support system for the storage location assignment problem in bulk ports

Yard storage management involves tactical and operational decisions affecting bulk port productivity. The main challenge is to ensure that bulk materials are available and stored according to physical and managerial constraints while minimizing storage space utilization. This article studies a new variant of the storage location assignment problem by considering contamination constraints for bulk materials. The problem is inspired by a real case study of Africa's largest fertilizer hub port. To tackle the problem, a model-driven decision support system, optimizing the storage space while satisfying vessels' demands and avoiding contamination from overlapping bulk materials, is developed. A mixed-integer linear programming model is formulated, and an efficient rolling-horizon heuristic is investigated as a solution approach. Extensive numerical experiments are performed, and the results confirm the efficiency of this model-driven support system from both theoretical and practical points of view.

Assessing the Conservation and Management Status in the Archaeological Site of Pella (Tabaqat Fahl) in Jordan

The archaeological site of Pella (Tabaqat Fahl) in Jordan is a unique heritage site that represents a rich historical chronology and is listed on UNESCO’s Tentative List of World Heritage Sites under criteria (i), (iii), and (iv). Pella is currently under the administration and management of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MOTA) and the Department of Antiquities (DoA) respectively. This paper assesses the site’s status of conservation and management through investigating the current physical conditions, threats, managerial constraints, and opportunities. The paper explores the annual work carried out in the site over the past 15 years, including foreign missions, as well as the new visitor centre that the MOTA has established in the site recently. In addition, all stakeholders that have cross responsibilities in the site are identified. The results of this research highlight strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities that face the site. It is evident that the site requires efficient conservation and management processes, as Pella has slowly deteriorated over the years, which has left it in a vulnerable and neglected state. Overall, the archaeological site of Pella holds immense opportunities for improvement and strengthening its Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) that can aid in inscribing it on the list of World Heritage Sites.

Why and how you matter: learning development as everyday leadership

For the learning developers, operating within the third space in higher education (between academic-faculty positions, and professional/learning services and administration) brings its rewards through supporting students and staff to succeed. However, well-documented challenges, such as uncertainty around own professional identity; own place in the institutional culture and infrastructure; entitlement to CPD; and career progression trajectory (Silvey, Pejcinovic and Snowball, 2018; Obexer, 2020; Clark, 2021). Learning Developers who often are employed as both academics and professional services may find themselves grappling with finding ways to capture and evidence impact of their activity on their students’ academic and broader experience and proving their worth to their institution and the sector on the whole (Riggio, 2020). Our institutions may feel like worlds of academic standards and managerial constraints, neither of which helps reinforce the feeling of empowerment and belonging among learning developers.
 Everyday leadership, as a position and behaviour of choice, can help navigate these challenges, at individual, institutional and LD community levels. Everyday leadership has links with a stronger sense of empowerment, self-fulfilment and belonging – to the collective LD community, and to the institution (Drury, Evripidou, and Van Zomeren, 2015). Everyday leadership implies influence, and therefore, impact. In this session, we applied our thinking from Cashman (2017) and Whitelaw (2020) and define leadership as extending your energy into “things that matter” (Whitelaw, 2020. NP), to create value for others. Everyday leaders are all individuals, notwithstanding of their status, who “influence others to achieve shared objectives for the good of the collective” (Riggio, 2020, NP). Our participants also explored, and reframed their activity from the angle of everyday leadership – such as influencing peers and students, mentoring peers, initiating or leading a project, speaking up, acting as an active bystander. Finally we referred to broad themes from the ALDinHE Leadership Community of Practice. Participants shared practice and came up with a range of everyday leadership ‘expressions’ which are meaningful to them, within the context of their value and purpose; empowerment and belonging; influence and impact. Participants were encouraged to commit to one new everyday leadership action/ behaviour.

An Integrated Simulation-Optimization Approach for Dynamic Design of the Urban Wastewater Collection Systems

In this study, a simulation-optimization approach is proposed for dynamic design of the urban wastewater collection systems. The proposed approach consists of the mutual integration of the Storm Water Management Model (SWMM), developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US-EPA) and the heuristic Harmony Search (HS) optimization approach. Unlike the previous approaches developed to solve wastewater collection system design problems, the proposed approach simulates the hydraulic flow process by considering unsteady state flow conditions based on the dynamic wave model. The objective of the HS-based optimization model is to determine the pipe slopes so that the total system cost is minimized. After determining the pipe slopes, the corresponding pipe diameters were determined by developing an internal solution approach. All the physical and managerial constraints that should be considered during the search process have been considered by means of the penalty function approach. The applicability of the proposed approach was evaluated by solving two example problems. Identified results indicated that the proposed approach can effectively solve the dynamic design problems of the wastewater collection systems.

Constraints perceived by the field extension functionaries of Dairy Development Department, Kerala

The study was conducted in Kerala state in 2021–2022, with the objective of identifying the constraints related to effective role performance as perceived by the Field Extension Functionaries (FEFs) of the Dairy Development Department (DDD). Through non-proportionate stratified random sampling, a sample of 120 FEFs was chosen, of whom 60 were Dairy Extension Officers (DEOs) and 60 were Dairy Farm Instructors (DFIs). The study found that inadequate infrastructure facilities and lack of transport facilities were the major physical constraints perceived by the respondents. Among organisational constraints, inadequate staff strength and heavy administrative work were cited as the major constraints. The most significant technological constraints perceived were inadequate knowledge about dairy innovations among the farmers and lack of technical support for implementing schemes. Inadequate budget allocation for programme execution and lack of monitoring and evaluation of schemes were the major managerial constraints. Under communication constraints, weak research-extension-farmer linkage, and lack of feedback from farmers were perceived as the major ones.

The role of Industry 4.0 in developing resilience for manufacturing companies during COVID-19

Humanity has faced many crises in the past, such as pandemics, wars, and economic crises, and other crises are certain to come in the future; however, emerging technologies have a role to play in improving companies’ resilience in the face of such crises. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has led to human, technological, and managerial constraints for manufacturing companies due to scarce resources or supply chain (SC) disruptions. The research goal of this paper is to investigate whether Industry 4.0 implementation improved companies’ resilience and whether companies’ performance maintained stability during the COVID-19 outbreak. Composite-based structural equation modeling is applied to analyse data collected from 207 manufacturing companies. The theoretical model is grounded in the Practice-Based View (PBV) theory. The research findings show that operational responses based on Industry 4.0, smart manufacturing practices, and smart capabilities enable manufacturers to build resilience and quickly mitigate performance loss in times of global crisis. Therefore, the results demonstrate that Industry 4.0 implementation provides resilience for companies through flexibility, reliability, robustness, and responsiveness. The main practical implication of this study is to support managers in achieving manufacturing performance stability during disrupted times, such as the COVID-19 crisis, using Industry 4.0 approaches to make their companies more resilient and prepared to face future challenges and crises.

Prescribed fire in longleaf pine ecosystems: fire managers’ perspectives on priorities, constraints, and future prospects

BackgroundProjected trajectories of climate and land use change over the remainder of the twenty-first century may result in conditions and situations that require flexible approaches to conservation planning and practices. For example, prescribed burning is a widely used management tool for promoting longer-term resilience and sustainability in longleaf pine ecosystems of the southeastern United States, but regional stressors such as climatic warming, changing fire conditions, and an expanding wildland-urban interface may challenge its application. To facilitate the development of fire management strategies that account for such changes, we surveyed nearly 300 fire managers to elicit information on the criteria used for prioritizing burn sites, current burning practices and constraints, and expectations for changes in burning opportunities, including those pertaining to climate change and urban growth.ResultsRespondents noted that their most common criteria for selecting longleaf pine stands for burning were fire history, ecosystem health, and fuel reduction, with the presence of threatened and endangered species also given priority by public land managers. Many respondents (38%) cited recent burn frequencies that fall short of historic burn intervals. Barriers to burning included legal, institutional, and managerial constraints, such as proximity to human developments, public concerns, and risk aversion, as well as environmental and resource constraints, including weather, air quality restrictions, and lack of personnel, equipment, or funding. Roughly half of all respondents expect that opportunities to burn will be reduced over the next 30 years, particularly during the growing season. Fire manager perceptions of factors that will limit prescribed burning in the future include a similar suite of constraints, many of which will be affected by projected regional changes in land use and climate.ConclusionsOn an organizational level, burn window availability and resource limitations constrain prescribed burning practices. More broadly, policy and legal frameworks coupled with trends in urbanization and climate change are expected to interact with operational constraints to challenge managers’ abilities to implement landscape-scale burning strategies and achieve restoration goals. Additional research and engagement with fire managers are needed to investigate opportunities for introducing policy flexibility, leveraging shared management interests, and developing creative solutions to expand burning opportunities.

PROFITABILITY ANALYSIS OF DRY SEASON FLUTED PUMPKIN PRODUCTION AMONG SMALLHOLDER FARMERS IN OKIGWE, SOUTHEASTERN NIGERIA

The study analyzed the profitability of dry season fluted pumpkin production among smallholder farmers in Okigwe, Southeastern Nigeria. Data were collected with the aid of well-structured questionnaire and interview schedule using simple random sampling technique. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Result showed that the smallholder fluted pumpkin farmers in the area had mean age of 39 years and majority (61.7%) were female who were mostly (76.7%) married with household size of 5 persons. Majority (51.7%) had secondary education with mean farming experience of 5 years and mean farm size of 0.5417 hectare. Majority (66.7%) were none members of cooperative society and greater percentages (71.7%) have never had extension contact but their mean annual farm income was N73,550. Result further showed that, the total cost and total revenue of production were N163,005 and N338,340 respectively. Net return was N175,335, Benefit to cost ratio was 2.08 and return on investment was 1.08, with shepherd future of 48%. The sources of water for dry season production analyzed, showed that majority (55%) of the farmers use perennial stream, and wastewater (26.7%). Results also, revealed the constraints on profitable fluted pumpkin production in the area. These constraints were categorized into production, economic and managerial. The major production constraints were inadequate improved varieties of seeds (0.518), and poor feeder roads (0.581). Also the economic constraints were high cost of inputs (0.526), and inadequate credit facilities (0.5331). The major managerial constraints were inadequate extension contact (0.5885), poor market information (0.563), and Lack of irrigation facilities (0.518). However, dry season fluted pumpkin production in the area was profitable and recommended regular extension contacts, provision of irrigation facilities and good road network.

Earliness of First Foreign Entry and Rapidness of Post-entry Process

The phenomenon of early and rapid internationalization has been receiving increasing attention from scholars. However, in the extant research on international entrepreneurship (IE), it remains unclear how the earliness of first foreign entry relates to the rapidness of the post-entry process. Drawing Penrose’s theory of firm growth, we attempt to explain the effect of early internationalization on post-entry speed in terms of managerial learning and its imperfect fungibility. While early initiation of foreign entry imposes managerial constraints in the short term and slows the post-entry process, it enables entrepreneurs to quickly start managerial learning, which in turn accelerates the post-entry process in long term. Based on this premise, we hypothesize that accumulating operational experience has a U-shaped influence on the post-entry speed of early internationalizing firms. Furthermore, this study proposes that the effect of managerial learning takes place only in specific regions where the entrepreneur acquires operational experience. The results of our longitudinal 19-year (2000–2018) study on 91 Japanese firms that initiated internationalization from an early age provide evidence for our hypotheses.

System-based barriers for seaports in contributing to Sustainable Development Goals

PurposeThe main purpose of this paper is to identify the reasons for the stagnant behaviour of seaports contributing towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).Design/methodology/approachGlobal seaport sustainability practices that correspond with SDGs were identified through an extensive literature review. In total, five focus interviews were carried out with port managers in Sri Lanka to identify the existing knowledge about seaport sustainability, and the reasons for disparities between the global standards and country-level port sustainability practices. Data collected from a questionnaire survey of 55 seaport terminal managers in Sri Lanka were analysed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and thematic analysis.FindingsDeficient collaborative policies, structural and managerial constraints, market constraints and the absence of a well-established SDG-driven global port framework were identified as significant barriers for seaports to contribute towards SDGs.Social implicationsIdentifying barriers in implementing sustainable practices in ports help the responsible authorities tackle them. Hence, seaports in return and the wider society benefit from the spillover effects of port operations aligning to SDGs.Originality/valueThis paper provides port organizations insights on the barriers needing to be addressed in their operational and management systems to best incorporate practices aligning to SDGs in seaports.

Corporate governance of state-owned enterprises in Iran: an exploratory pathology

PurposeDespite the rather adequate physical and human resources available to Iranian state-owned enterprises (SOEs), they have proved not only unproductive and unprofitable but also corrupt in cases due to their corporate governance (CG) systems. This study aims to identify the most important challenges faced within designing, implementing and operating such systems in Iranian SOEs.Design/methodology/approachA judgmental sampling technique was adopted for the purposes of the present qualitative study to select a heterogeneous group of interviewees in terms of experience and expert knowledge in CG and SOEs. Using 28 semi-structured interviews and the thematic analysis methodology within an exploratory approach, the themes/challenges were extracted from the data thus collected that were subsequently analyzed and explicated.FindingsThe 16 challenges derived from the data set were subsequently classified into the four categories of “general assembly deficiencies”, “contextual issues of ownership”, “board deficiencies” and “external managerial constraints”.Research limitations/implicationsThis study aims to provide insights into policy-making systems at both national and international levels to gain a better understanding of the contextual factors that could be exploited toward developing and/or reforming CG codes. To improve SOEs, this study also suggests four main solutions to the CG challenges faced within Iran and similar centralized economic planning systems.Originality/valueThe literature on the topic indicates that while a few theoretical and empirical studies have been conducted on CG of SOEs, no study has ever been conducted on similar Iranian cases. The present study provides ample empirical evidence from the CG systems in a state-controlled and centralized economic system to offer new insights into the comparative CG, especially in a developing country like Iran, where the government is the major player in the economy.

Managing fuel price variability for ship operations through contracts using fuzzy TOPSIS

Bunkering cost is a significant contributor to the total operating cost of ships. The number of shipping companies seeking to actively manage this cost either by adapting market offered tools or by developing their own tools keeps increasing. Existing literature has so far approached bunkering cost optimization through various techniques among the many being consumption optimization, contract selection and port selection. The present work focuses on the problem of managing fuel operating cost for ships aiming at developing tools and techniques for the selection of optimal bunkering contracts. Fuzzy methods are proposed to tackle the variability stemming from the bunkering market. Particularly, Fuzzy TOPSIS (Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) method is employed as appropriate for the supplier selection process. This method leads to optimal bunkering contracts for the shipping company. In fuzzy TOPSIS method, the criteria method are aligned with the company's policy, taking into consideration financial and managerial constraints resulting from the company's internal and external environment. This research assists shipping companies to manage financial risk in supplier selection via optimizing the ship's operating costs. Fuzzy methods offer a reliable approach in cost optimization by analyzing the criteria used both qualitatively and quantitatively. The aggregated profiles of bunkering experts in bulk shipping and a set of ten major criteria for the selection of the optimum bunker contract are used here and implemented via a case study.

Enhancing reflectivity in social, care and health professionals – identifying students’ abilities and needs

ABSTRACT Reflectivity, a central attribute of professional competence, has received much attention in the literature on teaching and practice of social work and increasingly also in nursing. However, there is a need to differentiate the factors that make up reflective abilities and to relate these more specifically to the influence that personality, experience, training and organisational context have on their development, the latter with a view to the risk managerial objectives pose in terms of instrumental uses of reflectivity. We analysed the reflective abilities of 99 practice-experienced post-graduate students from social work and nursing backgrounds on a master's programme with Supervision and Management study sections at Charles University, Prague, by applying and statistically analysing two proven tests (SRIS and PHLMS). Social workers in the Czech Republic, in contrast to nurses, have access to supervision recommended by law and we hypothesised that they would hence score higher in reflectivity. This was disconfirmed while both health and social work students who had been accepted on the Supervision study section scored significantly higher on account of highly specific past supervisory experiences complying with ANSE standards. The results show that effective training for reflection requires elaborate preparation independent of managerial constraints.

COVID-19 Challenges: Can Industry 4.0 Technologies Help with Business Continuity?

The COVID-19 pandemic has halted economic activities and made business dynamics much more challenging by introducing several additional operational, structural, and managerial constraints. The problem has affected global supply chains in many ways, and has questioned their long-term continuity. On the other hand, Industry 4.0 is an emerging phenomenon. However, there is a need to investigate how Industry 4.0 technologies may play a potential role in sustaining business operations to ease unprecedented causalities. The current research aims to investigate the potentiality of Industry 4.0 technologies to solve the COVID-19 challenges for long term sustainability. From an exploratory literature analysis coupled with the Delphi method, keeping in view the situation of the pandemic, ten challenge groups that have affected global business dynamics were identified. A questionnaire was developed with the aim of accumulating industrial and academic experts to evaluate the degree of influence and interrelationship among the identified challenges. The Decision Making, Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) approach was deployed to further analyze the challenges for the categorization of these into causes and effects, further prioritizing them for better decision making. The prioritized challenges from the list of causes were governmental policies and support, followed by real access to customers and a lack of infrastructure. Additionally, these challenges were further evaluated through the expert opinion of Industry 4.0 systems experts and strategic-level supply chain experts to potentially gauge the potency of Industry 4.0 technologies to solve COVID-19-induced challenges. The outcomes of this research (which used Delphi integrated with a DEMATEL approach) are expected to support businesses in formulating strategies with the aim of business continuity in combating future disruptions caused by COVID-19-like pandemics.

Digitalisasi Ukm Dalam Hadapi Era Less Contact Economy Pada Masa Covid-19

The craft of marine wood waste has been practiced for almost 10 years by the UKM Fortuna Handycraf whose products have been exported to various countries in Europe and America. However, during a pandemic, SMEs find it difficult to increase productivity due to various constraints such as constraints on production technology, marketing and managerial capacity. The Indonesia Bangkit UKM Program provides solutions to overcome these problems, namely solutions to technological capacity constraints by procuring production machines such as cutting machines, sitting drilling machines, compressor machines, work tables and wheelbarrows. Solution to marketing / distribution and managerial constraints by designing and manufacturing an Android-based Management Information System (SIMBA) (inventory management based on online purchase orders), and assist in the preparation of the company's income statement. Besides that, it also offers marketing media using neon box boards. The solutions provided can help increase the productivity of the Fortuna Handycraft SME in terms of production, digital marketing and managerial

Digitalisasi Ukm Dalam Hadapi Era Less Contact Economy Pada Masa Covid-19


 
 
 
 The craft of marine wood waste has been practiced for almost 10 years by the UKM Fortuna Handycraf whose products have been exported to various countries in Europe and America. However, during a pandemic, SMEs find it difficult to increase productivity due to various constraints such as constraints on production technology, marketing and managerial capacity. The Indonesia Bangkit UKM Program provides solutions to overcome these problems, namely solutions to technological capacity constraints by procuring production machines such as cutting machines, sitting drilling machines, compressor machines, work tables and wheelbarrows. Solution to marketing / distribution and managerial constraints by designing and manufacturing an Android-based Management Information System (SIMBA) (inventory management based on online purchase orders), and assist in the preparation of the company's income statement. Besides that, it also offers marketing media using neon box boards. The solutions provided can help increase the productivity of the Fortuna Handycraft SME in terms of production, digital marketing and managerial.
 
 
 

Internationalization speed and subsidiary survival of EMNCs: The moderating roles of CEO international experience and state ownership

In the process of internationalization, effective management of dispersed location-specific knowledge is the key to successful internationalization strategies for companies. Rapid internationalization often prevents multinational corporations (MNCs) from absorbing and internalizing internationalized knowledge in a timely manner and achieving ideal performance. Compared with MNCs in developed countries, emerging market multinationals (EMNCs) are more inclined to implement a rapid internationalization strategy to enhance their own competitive advantage. However, their internationalization process is limited by their lack of managerial resources. Why and how would internationalization speed impact the survival of EMNCs Subsidiary? Using the survival analysis method and taking the Chinese A-share listed companies as empirical setting, our results show that the internationalization speed negatively affects the survival of EMNCs Subsidiary; Both CEO international experience and state ownership weaken the negative impact of internationalization speed on the survival of EMNCs Subsidiary. We argue that rapid internationalization underestimates the Penrose effect in the process of internationalization, that is, underestimates the managerial resources required to learn and accumulate absorptive capacity, and effectively manage dispersed knowledge. Based on the dual context of dispersed knowledge management and managerial constraints, this paper expands the understanding of the impact mechanism of internationalization speed on corporate performance, and also has certain guiding significance for the selection of internationalization speed of EMNCs.

Deconstructing Discourses in Assessments of Child Neglect

Abstract This article presents the findings of a qualitative study exploring how child neglect is ‘performed’ in social work practice. Informed by Foucauldian and feminist theoretical positions, semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten local authority social workers, eight Children’s Centre professionals in England and eight parents who had received professional intervention due to concerns about child neglect. In addition, ten case files were analysed where child neglect was a substantive concern. This article explores the discourses that were produced in social workers’ assessments of child neglect. In a neo-liberal context in which cuts are being made to childcare services, professionals were preoccupied with the identification and management of neglectful families by risk. Professional debates surrounding contested thresholds into services and categorisation of neglectful families are explored. Judgements of ‘good enough’ mothering as well as bureaucratic and managerial constraints to holistic, analytical and quality assessments are identified. The article also explores the bureaucratic performance of children’s assessed identities through which children become the objects of the assessment rather than active subjects. The article concludes with recommendations for practice and future research.

Managerial and Financial Barriers to the Net Zero Transition

We use data on 11,233 firms across 22 emerging markets to analyze how credit constraints and low-quality firm management inhibit corporate investment in green technologies. For identification we exploit quasi-exogenous variation in local credit conditions and in exposure to weather shocks. Our results suggest that both financial frictions and managerial constraints slow down firm investment in more energy efficient and less polluting technologies. Complementary analysis of data from the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR) corroborates some of this evidence by revealing that in areas where banks deleveraged more after the global financial crisis, industrial facilities reduced their carbon emissions by less. On aggregate this kept local emissions 15% above the level they would have been in the absence of financial frictions. (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.) (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)