Tactical Level Research Articles

Sustainable Construction Transition (SCT) Policy Regime in Kenya

The global construction industry is lagging in transitioning to sustainability, and the Kenyan construction industry is not excluded. As a result, and in response, there are Kenyan policies with specific provisions on SCT. Despite this progress, there is limited empirical research on their scope and implementation dynamics. Against this backdrop, this study examined Kenya's SCT policy regime regarding its priorities, instruments, and stakeholder orientation, including any inherent shortcomings. This aimed to make appropriate recommendations for an improved SCT policy regime to enhance and optimise industry SCT performance. Qualitative research design, specifically, qualitative content analysis technique, was used to analyse the 34 policy documents identified. The findings indicate that the regime: priorities – primarily focus on environmental sustainability targeting strategic and tactical implementation levels with minimal focus on SCT socio-economic objectives and operational level of implementation, which reduces its comprehensiveness; instruments – driven by regulations, the constitution, and Acts of Parliament, as well as codes, guidelines, and plans, from multiple sources, primarily aimed at regulation and control and not the other policy instruments functions hence not delivering on their full potential; and, stakeholder orientation – primarily targeting developers/owners/occupiers and government with less focus on the other stakeholders and thus not leveraging their specific roles in SCT supply chain. The resulting recommendations were: priorities – need for improved focus on SCT's socio-economic objectives and operational level of implementation; instruments – need for a central database and leveraging them to support economic incentives, supporting activities, liability compensation, education and information, voluntary programs, and management and planning; and, stakeholder orientation – improved targeting of contractors, suppliers/producers/manufacturers, professional consultants, non-governmental and civil society organisations, and media. Lastly, given that this study focused on SCT policy evaluation, future research can focus on other parts of the policy-making process. Keywords: Business, Construction, Content analysis, Kenya, Performance, Planning, Policy regime, South Africa, Strategy, Sustainability, Sustainable Construction Transition (SCT).

A collaborative approach based on Shapley value for carriers in the supply chain distribution

This paper addresses the problem of horizontal collaboration between carriers at the tactical planning level of the supply chain distribution. The study focuses on the relationship between a shipper and many carriers used to serve the transport requests of several geographically distributed customers. A profit sharing mechanism based on game theory is proposed in order to implement win-win collaboration between the carriers. The Shapley value is used to fairly share the profit of the grand coalition between the carriers. The collaboration is supported by mixed-integer linear programming model for the transport planning of all possible coalitions consisted by the carriers. The transport plans and the profit of each carrier can be generated by model simulation. The validity of the collaboration is checked by the super-additivity property of the game in each experiment. According to the subcontracting is allowed or not, the experimentations are carried out in two different contexts with realistic data sets. The experimental results show that each carrier's profit improvement is significant for all experiments, and that the collaboration also improves the customer service rate.

ROLE OF THE PERIOPERATIVE NURSE MANAGER IN THE OPERATING ROOM

The role of the perioperative nurse manager was complex and the content and focus of the role was unclear. Perioperative nurse managers are responsible for leading and managing the operating room at an operational and tactical level. As research in this area is limited, further discussion is needed to describe the role of the perioperative nurse manager. This viewpoint aims to identify the role of the perioperative nurse manager in the operating room. To answer the role of the perioperative nurse manager, there are several skills and tasks in the operating room. These required skills are coordination skills, collaboration skills, communication skills, decision making skills, leadership skills, management skills, nursing skills, and recruitment skills. These required tasks are aligned with the organizational goal, client-centered care management, daily unit operations management, perioperative care development, financial management, human resource management, and standard of care. Research lacks a clear description of the role of the perioperative nurse manager in the perioperative settings. However, the role of the nurse manager develops through knowledge, skills, and experience in the perioperative setting. Through these aspects, it is possible to develop competence in the skills and tasks undertaken while working in the perioperative setting.

The Siege of Enniskillen Castle, 1594: An Object Lesson in Combat Across the Land-Water Interface

The U.S. Marine Corps spent the years between the world wars developing a doctrine of opposed landings from the sea in an arena where the ocean provided the only maneuver space, but the opposed amphibious operation is not the province of ocean-borne amphibious assaults alone. The land-water interface impacts warfare well inland from the coast, and much can be learned from the application of riverine and lacustrine amphibious assaults found in history. One such example is the siege of Enniskillen Castle in Ireland in 1594. English operations at Enniskillen demonstrated the value of coordinated waterborne and land-based forces at the tactical level. Considering English lacustrine operations in the Irish Nine Years’ War (1593–1603) and U.S. riverine warfare experiences in the American Civil War and Vietnam War can inform Marine planners as they develop the tactics, techniques, and procedures of the Marine Littoral Regiments.

The missing piece. The perceived marginalization of CSOs and HRGs in SOSTs' decision-making processes: a review.

This review represents the first contribution of a research diptych which stems from the activities implemented in the framework of the H2020 ARESIBO project (Augmented Reality Enriched Situation awareness for Border security). The general objective of ARESIBO is to improve the efficiency of border surveillance systems by providing the operational teams, as well as the tactical command and control level with accurate and comprehensive information related to border control considering different issues and perspectives. These perspectives also include the analysis of the level of engagement and the (possible) enhancement of citizens' involvement in the development and decision making related to border surveillance. The principal human rights and migration International Organisations (IOs), as well as EU institutions dealing with security and external borders (i.e., Frontex), agree and state that human rights groups (HRGs) and civil society organisations (CSOs) should be more involved and integrated in border surveillance. That stated, the main goal of this paper is to analyse this perceived marginalisation of CSOs and HRGs, as it emerges from several HRGs' and CSOs' statements on that regard in order to explore the reasons of this perceived marginalisation, as well as the elements that on the contrary seem to make this marginalisation less substantial. The results of this non-systematic review in the framework of ARESIBO led to the elaboration of an innovative participatory model that will be analysed in detail in the second article of this research diptych, entitled "Towards the engagement of citizens in SOSTs decision-making: participatory models setting a common ground for border surveillance and respect of fundamental rights. The case of ARESIBO H2020 project".

Organizing construction logistics outsourcing: a logistics strategy perspective

PurposeThe construction industry shows an increased interest in how to manage logistics within construction projects. Often construction logistics is outsourced to a logistics service provider (LSP). However, construction logistics is normally approached either as a strategic decision or as an operational issue and rarely as a tactical concern. The purpose of this study is to explore how to organize the logistics outsourcing decision at strategic, tactical and operational levels.Design/methodology/approachThis study is performed as a single-case study within a construction corporation, containing (amongst others) a building contractor (BC) and a construction equipment rental company (CERC) offering logistics services.FindingsThe study shows that to procure construction logistics service successfully, BCs need logistics capabilities at strategic and tactical levels to maintain an alignment between the use of logistics services and operational characteristics. Simultaneously, CERC’s need to design their service offerings to correspond to the needs of the BC.Research limitations/implicationsThis study builds on a single-case study of a Swedish construction corporation. Further research is needed to better understand current logistics outsourcing and development practices and how these can be improved to foster better logistics management at the project level.Practical implicationsBCs find suggestions of different logistics organization structures and suitable outsourcing arrangements. CERCs and LSPs can use the findings to understand their customers’ needs and adapt service offerings.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first studies of how two companies within a corporation can work together to develop construction logistics service offerings.

A Novel Sustainable Reverse Logistics Network Design for Electric Vehicle Batteries Considering Multi-Kind and Multi-Technology

With the expansion of the new energy vehicle market, electric vehicle batteries (EVBs) have entered a massive retirement wave. The strategic level of facility location and configuration decisions and the tactical level of multi-product flow and multi-technology selection decisions have been integrated into a sustainable reverse logistics network (SRLN). In this paper, we considered multiple kinds of waste electric vehicle batteries (WEVBs) with multiple recycling technology and constructed a multi-level SRLN model for WEVBs with the objectives of minimum economic costs and minimum carbon emissions. To solve this model, fuzzy set theory was applied to the equivalence transformation of constraints, non-interactive and interactive methods were used to solve the multi-objective planning (MOP), and interactive fuzzy programming with priority control was proposed to find the global optimal solution for this model. Finally, numerical experiments demonstrated the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed model and solution method. The experimental results show that the SRLN model considering carbon emissions can significantly reduce carbon emissions of the network through a slight increase in the initial network construction cost, thus effectively balancing both economic and environmental objectives. In the non-interactive solution, the Lp-metric method has a lower deviation index than the weighted sum method; in the interactive solution, the priority control method proposed in this paper outperforms the TH method in terms of the number of practical solutions and CPU time and shows strong performance in searching and finding optimal solutions. The proposed model and method can provide the theoretical basis and technical support for a WEVB SRLN under the limited information uncertainty environment.

Systematic approach to the training of specialists tactical level of military administration with higher education

Purpose of the article. The purpose of the article is to substantiate the didactic foundations of the training of tactical-level military specialists with higher education, taking into account the experience of the military education systems of the leading NATO countries. The research methodology involved the use of methods of analysis, synthesis, systematization and generalization. The relevance of the problem is being investigated, its importance in the light of a determined state policy in the security and defense sphere is shown. Didactics of educational systems is considered as a complex concept, which contains two organic components – theoretical and applied. The basic laws and principles of development of educational systems of the leading leading countries of the world (the theoretical component of the didactic concept) have been determined. The main directions of the correction of the components of theoretical and applied didactics in the preparation of military specialists in the Military Higher Educational Institutions of Ukraine have been substantiated, namely: the requirements for specialists, the structure and content of the military specialists training, control and monitoring in the educational process, etc. Originality. The regularities and principles of functioning of educational systems have been determined; a number of didactic measures aimed at implementing transformation processes in the system of military specialists training in Ukraine have been proposed. The didactic approaches should facilitate convergence of military educational systems of NATO countries, increase the efficiency of the system of military education in Ukraine, and improve the quality of training of military specialists with higher education. Conclusion. Transformation processes in the system of training of military specialists with higher education at the present time should be aimed at implementation of the requirements of the basic legal documents on the security and defense policy of the state, at introduction of the didactic basis in the system of officers training, inherent in the military educational systems of the leading NATO countries. Perspective directions for further research: assessment of the effectiveness of implemented didactic innovations; military-economic calculations and substantiation; analysis of the activities of graduates of university in the army, joint exercises with the military of NATO countries and during hostilities. Key words: military education, didactic system, training of military specialists, transformation, content of education, technology, control, monitoring.

Status improvement in water and wastewater fixed facilities: Success and challenges of 11 Swedish water utilities as case studies

Abstract Reinvestment in water and wastewater (WW) facilities is a challenge for Swedish water utilities. Nationwide, 4% of 184 organizations meet the requirements for a sustainable WW facility status according to the sustainability index (SI), the Swedish benchmark system. Eleven Swedish municipal WW organizations that had improved the status of their facilities were examined and are presented as good learning examples. Managers/strategists of nine of the organizations were interviewed in depth. Our aims were to concretize the used strategies and to clarify success factors and challenges, as well as to support WW organizations that want to improve their results. The nine surveyed organizations showed a clear desire to move toward sustainability. For example, setting aside 1% of the whole replacement value per year for reinvestment (which is embedded in the policymakers’ business plan) and the use of its own staff for construction work significantly aided the Arvika company's goals. All organizations were found to have a 10-year plan for renewal at the strategic, tactical, and operational levels. Five organizations that had made more significant progress also had more specific 3-year plans and were linked to robust economies. New investments came at the expense of reinvestments because all municipalities are expanding.

Perencanaan Dashboard Untuk Monitoring Kinerja Dosen Menggunakan Metode Noetix dan Rasmussen Pada Fakultas Ilmu Komputer Universitas Pamulang

Abstract
 
 The supervisory function of lecturers at the Faculty of Computer Science, Pamulang University is inseparable from teaching, research and community service activities. The increasing number of lecturers and the increasing complexity of the problems they face, demands organizational performance to be further improved. Monitored organizational performance is intended to ensure the achievement of the goals that have been set. Dashboard is a measurement instrument that provides Key Performance Indicator (KPI) information at a glance and in real-time.
 The dashboard is used as an instrument for monitoring performance, in supporting management needs at both the tactical and operational levels. KPI information is tailored to the needs of its users. The characteristic of this planned dashboard lies in the type of information displayed, as well as the way it is presented, even if only at a glance. Organizational KPI identification is obtained by mapping each KPI in the organization from the viewpoint of the displayed KPI priorities. The method used in designing the dashboard is the Noetix and Rasmussen method, the results of which are the main KPIs of the organization, the information hierarchy and the addition of alerts for the dashboard.
 
 Keywords: dashboard, monitoring, KPI, information hierarchy, alerts

A decision-making characteristics framework for marketing attribution in practice: Improving empirical procedures

In today’s multi-channel environment, It is becoming increasingly difficult to implement advanced multi-touch attribution (MTA) models to facilitate advertising decision-making. This is due to the rising number of advertising platforms, such as TikTok, Metaverse and Google — each with its own unique attribution principles — and the decline in user-level disaggregated data. Over time, the development of marketing models has matured in parallel with the greater availability of consumer data and understanding of consumer behaviour. To overcome media optimisation challenges at the tactical and channel levels, e-commerce brands have replaced traditional media-mix methods with attribution methods that provide immediate insights into return on advertising spend. However, existing MTA models lack simplicity, robustness, ease of interpretation, and accuracy, all of which are critical attributes of decision-supporting models. To address this, this paper proposes a holistic conceptual framework that captures the various interplaying characteristics of attribution models in practice. The concept is based on the evolution of modelling and insights into the development of decision-making paradigms. The proposed architecture highlights the interactions between various tools, media categorisation and metrics, and how they influence media spend optimisation at the channel and tactical levels. The paper also describes some of the most recent advances in media measurement practices. By adopting the proposed framework, future advertisers can identify the best way to overcome the challenges of analysing marketing performance.

Extending the understanding of the impact of conscientiousness on individual soccer performance: examining the mediating role of mental toughness.

Drawing upon Motowidlo et al.'s theory of individual differences in individual performance, the current study aims to contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between conscientiousness and individual soccer performance, by examining whether mental toughness, posited as a characteristic adaptation, acts as a psychological mechanism underlying this link. Relying upon a concurrent validity design, 130 soccer players completed a survey including the measures of conscientiousness and mental toughness. Participants were also instructed to provide a subjective assessment of their individual soccer performance, by self-rating their physical, technical and tactical performance levels. Their objective performance was also measured as the total amount of minutes each player participated in official games, during the first half-season. The findings showed that conscientiousness and mental toughness represent significant and meaningful predictors of both individual soccer performance measures gathered, i.e. individual soccer subjective and objective performance. As expected, further mediation analyses showed that the influence of conscientiousness on subjective performance is totally indirect, via mental toughness. Still, for the objective performance criterion, only the direct effect of conscientiousness was supported. These findings support the merits of conscientiousness as a valid predictor of human performance across achievement contexts, namely in sports settings and specifically in the domain of soccer. They also suggest that while this personality factor exerts a direct impact on individual soccer objective performance, it seems to play a more distal influence on subjective performance, by enacting individual mental toughness resources. Major theoretical and applied research implications are discussed.

Elements of Improving Operational Logistics Planning Specific to Combatant Forces

Abstract The challenges, threats and regional military actions not far from the borders of NATO's eastern flank has demonstrated and reveals the need to reconfigure the potential and provide adequate, timely and resilient logistical support to operational offers at the tactical and joint levels. In this paper we highlight some aspects of the improvement of operational logistics planning, taking into account some elements such as: particularities of focused logistics, typology of planning, planning-execution correlation, evaluation of planning implementation, new requirements resulting from the lessons identified from the war in Ukraine. All the sequences that will be developed in this communication will be adequately correlated; taking into account the military operations of the future that will be planned and carried out in a national and/or multinational context.

Does Your Company Engage Efficiently on Social Media? Improving Performance Using DEA Model and Visualization

ABSTRACT: Despite an implosion in the use of social media, quantifying the efficiency of customer engagement continues to be a major challenge for most companies. In this study, we propose a data envelopment analysis (DEA) model to measure the relative operational efficiency of companies' customer engagement on social media based on non-financial inputs and outputs. We collected data from the Facebook and Twitter pages of 56 fast-food companies over 12 months in 2020, and used DEA, cluster analysis, and visualization techniques to perform a comparative efficiency analysis. Our study identified four distinct clusters of companies and mapped them to the corresponding stages of the social media maturity (SMM) model. By integrating the DEA model with the SMM, we provide a novel mechanism for assessing social media engagement efficiency. Furthermore, based on the results of our analysis, we offer strategic and tactical level recommendations to inefficient companies for improving their social media engagement performance.

Effective Use of Social Media in a Digitalizing Landscape

This paper addresses the increasing importance of considering social media in strategy formulation as well as tactical implementation to achieve strategic goals. The primary areas focused on reside around social media in the lens of strategic use, tactical use, and a comprehensive view to understand how interconnected social media decisions are in a digitalizing society. The primary research method used was through literature review, where current discussion on social media was gathered. Most of the body of literature seemed to focus on social media solely in the context of strategic level considerations or in the tactical implementation aspect. It seemed that if a comprehensive view was brought up briefly, much of the interconnected aspects were left indirectly touched on in favor of the singular focus. Thus, the application of this paper aims to offer a view for how social media decisions impact strategic level and tactical level actions and provide a clear picture of the importance in fully considering social media decisions with a comprehensive view in mind.

Fast, Lightweight, and Efficient Cybersecurity Optimization for Tactical–Operational Management

The increase in frequency and complexity of cyberattacks has heightened concerns regarding cybersecurity and created an urgent need for organizations to take action. To effectively address this challenge, a comprehensive and integrated approach is required involving a cross-functional cybersecurity workforce that spans tactical and operational levels. In this context there can be various combinations of cybersecurity actions that affect different functional domains and that allow for meeting the established requirements. In these cases, agreement will be needed, but finding high-quality combinations requires analysis from all perspectives on a case-by-case basis. With a large number of cybersecurity factors to consider, the size of the search space of potential combinations becomes unmanageable without automation. To solve this issue, we propose Fast, Lightweight, and Efficient Cybersecurity Optimization (FLECO), an adaptive, constrained, and multi-objective genetic algorithm that reduces the time required to identify sets of high-quality cybersecurity actions. FLECO enables productive discussions on viable solutions by the cross-functional cybersecurity workforce within an organization, fostering managing meetings where decisions are taken and boosting the overall cybersecurity management process. Our proposal is novel in its application of evolutionary computing to solve a managerial issue in cybersecurity and enhance the tactical–operational cybersecurity management process.

Towards Digital Twinning of Fabrication Lines in Shipyards

The digital twinning concept stands as a remarkable opportunity to integrate sophisticated mathematical models within the context of existing manufacturing systems. Such models may provide shipyard management with predictive analytics, improving the final results at the strategic, tactical, and operational levels. Therefore, the possibility of integrating the Markovian-framework-based finite-state method into the context of ship production is presented in this study, including its outline, digital thread, and factory-floor data reliance. First, the predictive analytics problem is addressed by the finite-state method in the case of the shipyard’s fabrication line, and the obtained results are validated afterward using a numerical model through discrete-event theory. The predictive analytics indicate an almost ideal balancing of the fabrication line, except for the buffers storing stiffeners before the coat-dying and marking operations. In addition, the improvability analysis of the shipyard’s fabrication lines extended the scope of the predictive analytics using bottleneck identification and affecting the key performance indicators through a digital thread, as well as by improved maintenance strategies.

Military Assistance to Ukraine and Its Significance in the Russo-Ukrainian War

The interest of social sciences in the military dates back ages, and currently, special attention is being paid to Russia’s war in Ukraine. The present paper also follows this research trend, and it intends to analyze both the tactical and operational levels of war by investigating how the military assistance provided by Western states and international organizations to Ukraine is influencing the course of the Russo-Ukrainian war. Subsequently, the paper studies the military assistance in all three phases of the war, beginning from the invasion of Crimea, through the Donbas offensive, to the phase of Ukrainian counter-offensives. The research method used by this paper was to review and synthesize the existing but scarce and sometimes disinformative literature. The findings suggest that Western military aid began cautiously by providing only non-lethal, defensive weapons, but it was of crucial importance in the second phase of the war by guaranteeing heavy weaponry. The paper concludes that Western military assistance, especially from the United States, United Kingdom, Poland, and Germany, has had a significant role in the Russo-Ukrainian war, without which Ukrainian forces may not have persisted to now.

A trio of resiliency, reliability, and uncertainty to design and plan the downstream oil supply chain

The main goal of this research is to design and plan a downstream oil supply chain network under mixed uncertainty. To reach this goal, a bi-objective mixed-integer linear model is proposed to make decisions at tactical and strategic levels. Notably, to deal with mixed uncertainty, a hybrid uncertain programming approach including adjustable possibilistic programming, chance-constrained programming, scenario-based programming, and p-robust optimization is developed and applied. Finally, the proposed model is implemented in a real-life case from the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company to illustrate the applicability and efficacy of the proposed approach. The analysis of the results indicates that the benefit of the used methods leads to the improvement of network performance against operational and disruption risks. Moreover, the analysis of the results indicates that the tailored approaches improve the total costs, the resiliency of the network, and the reliability of the chain in comparison to the deterministic situation.

Impact of Virtual Disaster Collaboration Exercises on Disaster Leadership at Hospitals in Saudi Arabia

Introduction:This study measured the impact of virtual three-level collaboration (3LC) exercises on participants’ perceived levels of collaboration, learning, and utility (CLU) at hospitals in the southern region of Saudi Arabia. Our 3LC exercise is a tabletop training tool used to facilitate disaster education and document CLU. This model enables the practitioner to acquire new knowledge and promotes active learning.Method:An English version of the CLU scale, the validated Swedish survey tool, was applied to 100 health-care managers or leaders in various positions at both the operational and tactical levels after conducting the 3LC exercises.Results:The results show that most participants strongly agreed that the exercises focused on collaboration (r2 = 0.767) and that they had acquired new knowledge during the exercises. There was a statistically significant association between participation in the collaboration exercises and perceived learning (r2 = 0.793), as well as between perceived learning and utility (r2 = 0.811).Conclusion:This study confirms the feasibility of three level collaboration exercises conducted virtually. Our work also demonstrates that learning depends on collaboration practices and that collaboration exercises before crises can help to build qualities that people can apply in daily life. Collaboration elements exercised in this study contributed to perceived learning. There was a strong covariation between participation in the participants’ collaboration exercises and perceived learning and utility. The virtual three-level collaboration exercises were well received by the participants and achieved an acceptable collaboration, learning, and utility score. Although exercises were conducted virtually, they were well received by the participants and achieved a value M = 4.4 CLU score, which opens up new dimensions in collaboration simulation exercises, at least from an organizational perspective, in a world with an increasing number of disasters and public health emergencies.