Birhanu Beshah | Addis Ababa University (original) (raw)
Papers by Birhanu Beshah
Quality and Value Chain Analyses of Ethiopian Coffee
Ethiopia has a major comparative advantage in the abundance of the raw materials needed for the l... more Ethiopia has a major comparative advantage in the abundance of the raw materials needed for the leather sector, which makes it in principle appropriate for exporting leather product. Even though, Ethiopia has a large livestock population; its leather sector significantly lags behind many countries that are less endowed. The problems of leather sector starts from animal husbandry stage. This calls for intervention options as early as possible in the supply chain. In this paper livestock husbandry cluster is proposed as a solution. The first and the most important stage of industrial clustering procedure is identifying best area for cluster development. Livestock husbandry cluster identification is a strategic decision with uncertainties. To handle the uncertainties, Fuzzy-AHP based livestock husbandry cluster identification is proposed. Up to now, there is no research conducted on Fuzzy-AHP for livestock husbandry cluster identification. The Fuzzy-AHP can tackle fuzziness or the problem of vague decision making more efficiently by using fuzzy scales. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to identify livestock husbandry cluster in Ethiopia using Fuzzy-AHP. As a result, three alternatives ( i.e. West Gojjam, East Gojjam and North Shewa ) and six quantitative and qualitative criteria (i.e. geographical proximity, sectorial concentration, market potential, support services, resource potential and potential entrepreneurs) are found . Finally, North Shewa is selected as best area for livestock husbandry clusters. A sensitivity analysis is also performed to justify the results.
The aim of this study is to establish anthropometric data for garment industries in Bahir Dar Cit... more The aim of this study is to establish anthropometric data for garment industries in Bahir Dar City for the design and manufacturing of clothing. Date were collected from nine Bahir Dar City tailors' adult men measurement for shirt and trouser making. Totally, about 350 and 1000 measurements were collected for shirt and for trouser. Data purging process has been carried out before using it for developing standards. Data collected were analysed using percentile base for the 5 th , 50 th , and 95 th percentile. Based on the percentile, standard sizes for the two products were developed. Size charts are also established for both products. Visible difference has been observed on standards when compared with Italy and USA standards for the same measurements. This proved that further studies should be conducted in all regions and ethnic groups in Ethiopia for clothing design and beyond for other applications.
Outsourcing as a Means for Technological Capability Development
Technological outsourcing requires possessing the technological capability level by enterprises t... more Technological outsourcing requires possessing the technological capability level by enterprises taking the outsourced activity and further monitors them to build-up their capabilities. Small and medium enterprises in developing nations such as Ethiopia are usually equipped with low level of technological capability and could benefit from outsourcing networks. The current study preliminarily assessed performance of outsourcing initiative taken by Hibret Manufacturing and Machine Building Industry, subsidiary company of METEC, in developing technological capability of small and medium enterprises in Ethiopia. Outsourcing contracts undertaken so far is observed to benefit both parties in realizing their development objectives. Technological learning, acquisition of new technologies, market access, and process innovation are few capabilities attained by SMEs. To harness these opportunities and assist in policy ratification, a conceptual framework has also been presented and elaborated.
Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 2015
Productivity has been practised by every company as a performance measure and indicator. It is br... more Productivity has been practised by every company as a performance measure and indicator. It is broadly defined as the ratio of output values to input values. Usually, the total output value is represented by the sales revenue of conforming products, whereas the total input value constitutes all incurred costs, used or not. However, only those useful inputs are consumed by the conforming products. The remaining is not practically incorporated within the conforming products. This study intends to devise a new productivity measurement approach which discretely considers the effective and ineffective components of organisational inputs by taking advantage of the arithmetic inverse of the usual productivity ratio. The practicality of the new model is demonstrated in a selected manufacturing company and it is found that the inverse of the effective productivity is 0.58. This signifies that the company's productivity, if all inputs are efficiently used, can reach up until 1.72 -an inverse value of the inverted effective productivity. The cost of ineffective inputs is also found to be 23.2% of the total sales revenue. The new model can notably help decision-makers when working on the identification, measurement, and elimination of wastes from manufacturing processes.
National cost of quality in Ethiopian import–export
Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 2015
Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, 2015
Ethiopian Livestock Husbandry Cluster Identification Using FUZZY-AHP Approach
Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, 2015
ABSTRACT The problems of leather sector in Ethiopia starts from animal husbandry stage. This call... more ABSTRACT The problems of leather sector in Ethiopia starts from animal husbandry stage. This calls for intervention options as early as possible in the supply chain. In this paper livestock husbandry cluster is proposed to mitigate the problems of Ethiopian leather sector at animal husbandry stage. The first and the most important stage of industrial clustering procedure is identifying best area for cluster development. Livestock husbandry cluster identification is a strategic decision with uncertainties. To handle the uncertainties, Fuzzy-AHP based livestock husbandry cluster identification is proposed. Up to now, there is no research conducted on Fuzzy-AHP for livestock husbandry cluster identification. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to identify livestock husbandry cluster in Ethiopia using Fuzzy-AHP. As a result, three alternatives (i.e. West Gojjam, East Gojjam and North Shewa) and six quantitative and qualitative criteria (i.e. geographical proximity, sectorial concentration, market potential, support services, resource potential and potential entrepreneurs) are found. Finally, North Shewa is selected as best area for livestock husbandry clusters. A sensitivity analysis is also performed to justify the results.
Marketing Information Systems (MKIS) has played a significant role in many areas of marke... more Marketing Information Systems (MKIS) has played
a significant role in many areas of marketing activities in today’s market. However, the use of MKIS as a tool for marketing decision making practice is a challenge in Ethiopian Industries (IEs). The purpose of this study is to
assess whether MKIS supports the marketing activities of Ethiopian industries in particular price change decision making. A research model is developed in relation to MKIS and price change decision activities. The model is then tested
using a quantitative survey on randomly selected 42 EIs in the year 2010. The findings of the study show that there is good data acquisition and information processing in most EIs, which indicates the existence of MKIS. However, the MKIS is not used for price change decision making. As a result of this,the role of MKIS on price change decision making activities is not significant. This subsequently affects the effect
of price change decision making on the price change outcomes of EIs.
Providing and improving urban public transport service is becoming highly important to... more Providing and improving urban public transport
service is becoming highly important to meet the demand of rapidly growing mass mobility due to high population growth and galloping urbanization in and around the city of Addis
Ababa. This paper tries to assess the existing operational and financial performances of Anbessa City Bus Service Enterprise (ACBSE), which is the sole and government owned transport enterprise. The research used primary data, and secondary data collected from ACBSE for the last nineteen months. The findings
of the study showed that the overall operational and financial performance of the enterprise is inadequate. In all the
parameters of the operational performance, the enterprise operates under the international standard and could not recover its operational cost from the traffic revenue. Moreover, the
enterprise has deficiency to meet the level of service quality required as well as to attract more passengers in the future. Therefore, the enterprise should design an optimum bus
assignment and bus scheduling system so as to serve passengers' need with maximum satisfaction and minimize its operating
costs.
Anbessa City Bus Service Enterprise (ACBSE) is the only public enterprise that provid... more Anbessa City Bus Service Enterprise
(ACBSE) is the only public enterprise that provides transport services in and around the city of Addis Ababa. The enterprise uses a fixed bus schedule system to serve passengers in 110 routes. However, this type of bus assignment system created a problem in the company’s
operational and financial performances. The objective of this paper is to develop an optimum bus assignment method using Linear Programming (LP). After thorough analysis of the existing bus scheduling system, the LP
model is developed and used to determine the optimal number of buses for each route in four shifts. The output of the LP-model is then validated with the performances of the existing systems. The findings of the study show that
the new model reveals better performances on the operating costs, bus utilization and trips and distance covered compared with the existing scheduling system. The enterprise’s bus utilization improved by the new system and cut costs on the one hand and improves the service quality to passengers on the other hand. The authors recommended the enterprise to adopt the new bus assignment system so that buses can be assigned based on the demand distribution of passengers for each route at a
given shift.
Effectiveness of quality management in the effort to satisfy customers’ expectations has bee... more Effectiveness of quality management in the effort to
satisfy customers’ expectations has been questioned both by
academicians and practitioners. In the course of the evolution
of quality, very important theories have been developed in the
field but failed to satisfy customers’ expectation. The aim of
this paper is to examine the challenge and develop a new
method to address it. Following a literature review on the
evolution of the concept of quality, confusions and limitations
in the present paradigm are clarified. Then the future quality
paradigm is proposed, and two practical cases are presented
to substantiate the new approach. Quality management
evolved from product inspection at the final stages of the
production process. Basically, manufacturers take care of
quality up to the point where a product is delivered to a
customer. Product failure occurs due to various reasons after
purchase. However, this happened or discovered during
operational phase of the product which subsequently result in
dissatisfaction for the users after purchase. To address this
misalignment, all inclusive approach called Lifecycle Quality
came into being as the future generation’s paradigm.
Misalignment between the manufacturer and the customer’s
desire in the operational phases of a product life-time leads to
market loss to the former and dissatisfaction to the latter.
Considering lifecycle quality of the product will definitely
resolve the occurrence of such undesired outcomes affecting
the two parties
Recycling is a strategy to combat environmental pollution due to plastic wastes. Of the many plas... more Recycling is a strategy to combat environmental pollution due to plastic wastes. Of the many plastic wastes, researchers confirmed the possibility to produce plastic lumber from used HDPE plastics. The aim of this study is to experimentally determine the mechanical property of the plastic lumber produced from pure HDPE and its composite with wood to proof usability and applicability for different purpose. The experiment considered different conditions. Pure plastic lumber and wood plastic composite lumber is initially produced and examined under room temperature and below room temperature. Under each condition, bending, tensile and impact strength were examined. For each test eight specimens were prepared based on international standards and the experiments were conducted using standard testing machines. The result shows that pure plastic lumber has demonstrated superior load carrying capability, tensile load resistance capability and impact load resistance at room temperature. Moreover, the pure plastic lumber has an elastic nature and the wood composite has a brittle nature. In both cases the mechanical property of the plastic lumber permits to use for different applications. This has been also tested and resulted in similar phenomena at 2 0 C below room temperature.
Due to the availability of numerous microeconomic models of quality, organisations widely measure... more Due to the availability of numerous microeconomic models of quality, organisations widely measure and control cost of quality in their day-to-day activities. Quality of products and services is no more the issue of producers only because the consequences of poor quality are diverse. Quality also concerns nations, regions and the world in general. There are sporadic investments to minimise the supply of poor quality products/services either for local or international consumers. Up to now however, there is limited or no attempt to model the macroeconomics of quality. The aim of this paper is to develop a model on how to measure and control cost of quality at national level. The new model is found to be the aggregation of production, export, import and market related cost items which will then help to understand the consequences of poor quality products/services and will give rationale to the public investment on national quality infrastructure. In addition, the model will help to correctly understand the macroeconomics of a nation which basically does not consider cost of quality of the national production in its measurement. This will also pave a way to future researchers on diagnosing the health of a nation's economy.
Value addition has only been measured as the difference between output and input prices and the c... more Value addition has only been measured as the difference between output and input prices and the critical roles of all functions in the process of value addition were not clearly known. Moreover, some core functions that inherently exist in the process of value addition were ignored until recently. The process of value addition and enhancement is continuous in its approach. Despite the fact that the value addition process is a continuous process, only its absolute measures were used for evaluating the intensity of value addition. Usually, value addition to a product was considered to happen only in the shop floor. In reality however, value addition is not only the responsibility of manufacturing function; rather, other functions before and after manufacturing also add significant tangible or intangible value to a product. The continuous characteristics of the value addition process can be visualized and evaluated in terms of the PDCA continuous process cycle so that value addition can be enhanced in a continuous basis. The PDCA cycle is a renowned continuous quality improvement approach and has been widely used by many successful companies as a strategic weapon for enhancing organizational performance. Hence, this paper roots its core idea towards the conceptual design of continuous value addition process using the PDCA cycle. The study also intends to identify the potential functions that were ignored and their respective roles. Thus, six core functions in the value addition process are identified and categorized into the four distinct phases of the PDCA cycle. The findings of this paper will, at large, help academicians and practitioners care for the respective roles of functions in the process of value addition and easily know how these functions interact in a continuous basis.
Micro and Small Enterprises' (MSEs) cluster is a group of small firms operating in a defined geog... more Micro and Small Enterprises' (MSEs) cluster is a group of small firms operating in a defined geographic location, producing similar products or services, cooperating and competing with one another, learning from each other to solve internal problems, setting common strategies to overcome external challenges, and reaching distance markets through developed networks. During recent years, identifying MSEs cluster has become a key strategic decision. However, the nature of these decisions is usually complex and involves conflicting criteria. The aim of this paper is to develop an AHP-based MSEs cluster identification model. As a result, quantitative and qualitative factors including geographical proximity, sectorial concentration, market potential, support services, resource potential and potential entrepreneurs are found to be critical factors in cluster identification. In this paper, linguistic values are used to assess the ratings and weights of the factors. Then, AHP model will be proposed in dealing with the cluster selection problems. Finally, a case study was taken to prove and validate the procedure of the proposed method. A sensitivity analysis is also performed to justify the results.
One output of a well-functioning educational system is knowledgeable students. In higher educatio... more One output of a well-functioning educational system is knowledgeable students. In higher education, evaluating and improving student performance can be challenging. This study applies Statistical Quality Control (SQC) to help address this challenge. Using randomly selected student scores from 20 sections of Addis Ababa Institute of Technology's Engineering Mechanics II course, the paper uses statistical quality control to develop a new grading method. The new approach compares favourably with the prior method of grade determination. In addition, the SQCbased approach may allow faculty to give grades more objectively than before and students likely will perceive the new approach as more fair and, therefore, more motivating.
The purpose of this study is to review the efforts made to improve quality of healthcare by asses... more The purpose of this study is to review the efforts made to improve quality of healthcare by assessing the existing healthcare quality improvement models and to approach alternative directions for future research in the area.
Quality and Value Chain Analyses of Ethiopian Coffee
Ethiopia has a major comparative advantage in the abundance of the raw materials needed for the l... more Ethiopia has a major comparative advantage in the abundance of the raw materials needed for the leather sector, which makes it in principle appropriate for exporting leather product. Even though, Ethiopia has a large livestock population; its leather sector significantly lags behind many countries that are less endowed. The problems of leather sector starts from animal husbandry stage. This calls for intervention options as early as possible in the supply chain. In this paper livestock husbandry cluster is proposed as a solution. The first and the most important stage of industrial clustering procedure is identifying best area for cluster development. Livestock husbandry cluster identification is a strategic decision with uncertainties. To handle the uncertainties, Fuzzy-AHP based livestock husbandry cluster identification is proposed. Up to now, there is no research conducted on Fuzzy-AHP for livestock husbandry cluster identification. The Fuzzy-AHP can tackle fuzziness or the problem of vague decision making more efficiently by using fuzzy scales. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to identify livestock husbandry cluster in Ethiopia using Fuzzy-AHP. As a result, three alternatives ( i.e. West Gojjam, East Gojjam and North Shewa ) and six quantitative and qualitative criteria (i.e. geographical proximity, sectorial concentration, market potential, support services, resource potential and potential entrepreneurs) are found . Finally, North Shewa is selected as best area for livestock husbandry clusters. A sensitivity analysis is also performed to justify the results.
The aim of this study is to establish anthropometric data for garment industries in Bahir Dar Cit... more The aim of this study is to establish anthropometric data for garment industries in Bahir Dar City for the design and manufacturing of clothing. Date were collected from nine Bahir Dar City tailors' adult men measurement for shirt and trouser making. Totally, about 350 and 1000 measurements were collected for shirt and for trouser. Data purging process has been carried out before using it for developing standards. Data collected were analysed using percentile base for the 5 th , 50 th , and 95 th percentile. Based on the percentile, standard sizes for the two products were developed. Size charts are also established for both products. Visible difference has been observed on standards when compared with Italy and USA standards for the same measurements. This proved that further studies should be conducted in all regions and ethnic groups in Ethiopia for clothing design and beyond for other applications.
Outsourcing as a Means for Technological Capability Development
Technological outsourcing requires possessing the technological capability level by enterprises t... more Technological outsourcing requires possessing the technological capability level by enterprises taking the outsourced activity and further monitors them to build-up their capabilities. Small and medium enterprises in developing nations such as Ethiopia are usually equipped with low level of technological capability and could benefit from outsourcing networks. The current study preliminarily assessed performance of outsourcing initiative taken by Hibret Manufacturing and Machine Building Industry, subsidiary company of METEC, in developing technological capability of small and medium enterprises in Ethiopia. Outsourcing contracts undertaken so far is observed to benefit both parties in realizing their development objectives. Technological learning, acquisition of new technologies, market access, and process innovation are few capabilities attained by SMEs. To harness these opportunities and assist in policy ratification, a conceptual framework has also been presented and elaborated.
Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 2015
Productivity has been practised by every company as a performance measure and indicator. It is br... more Productivity has been practised by every company as a performance measure and indicator. It is broadly defined as the ratio of output values to input values. Usually, the total output value is represented by the sales revenue of conforming products, whereas the total input value constitutes all incurred costs, used or not. However, only those useful inputs are consumed by the conforming products. The remaining is not practically incorporated within the conforming products. This study intends to devise a new productivity measurement approach which discretely considers the effective and ineffective components of organisational inputs by taking advantage of the arithmetic inverse of the usual productivity ratio. The practicality of the new model is demonstrated in a selected manufacturing company and it is found that the inverse of the effective productivity is 0.58. This signifies that the company's productivity, if all inputs are efficiently used, can reach up until 1.72 -an inverse value of the inverted effective productivity. The cost of ineffective inputs is also found to be 23.2% of the total sales revenue. The new model can notably help decision-makers when working on the identification, measurement, and elimination of wastes from manufacturing processes.
National cost of quality in Ethiopian import–export
Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 2015
Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, 2015
Ethiopian Livestock Husbandry Cluster Identification Using FUZZY-AHP Approach
Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, 2015
ABSTRACT The problems of leather sector in Ethiopia starts from animal husbandry stage. This call... more ABSTRACT The problems of leather sector in Ethiopia starts from animal husbandry stage. This calls for intervention options as early as possible in the supply chain. In this paper livestock husbandry cluster is proposed to mitigate the problems of Ethiopian leather sector at animal husbandry stage. The first and the most important stage of industrial clustering procedure is identifying best area for cluster development. Livestock husbandry cluster identification is a strategic decision with uncertainties. To handle the uncertainties, Fuzzy-AHP based livestock husbandry cluster identification is proposed. Up to now, there is no research conducted on Fuzzy-AHP for livestock husbandry cluster identification. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to identify livestock husbandry cluster in Ethiopia using Fuzzy-AHP. As a result, three alternatives (i.e. West Gojjam, East Gojjam and North Shewa) and six quantitative and qualitative criteria (i.e. geographical proximity, sectorial concentration, market potential, support services, resource potential and potential entrepreneurs) are found. Finally, North Shewa is selected as best area for livestock husbandry clusters. A sensitivity analysis is also performed to justify the results.
Marketing Information Systems (MKIS) has played a significant role in many areas of marke... more Marketing Information Systems (MKIS) has played
a significant role in many areas of marketing activities in today’s market. However, the use of MKIS as a tool for marketing decision making practice is a challenge in Ethiopian Industries (IEs). The purpose of this study is to
assess whether MKIS supports the marketing activities of Ethiopian industries in particular price change decision making. A research model is developed in relation to MKIS and price change decision activities. The model is then tested
using a quantitative survey on randomly selected 42 EIs in the year 2010. The findings of the study show that there is good data acquisition and information processing in most EIs, which indicates the existence of MKIS. However, the MKIS is not used for price change decision making. As a result of this,the role of MKIS on price change decision making activities is not significant. This subsequently affects the effect
of price change decision making on the price change outcomes of EIs.
Providing and improving urban public transport service is becoming highly important to... more Providing and improving urban public transport
service is becoming highly important to meet the demand of rapidly growing mass mobility due to high population growth and galloping urbanization in and around the city of Addis
Ababa. This paper tries to assess the existing operational and financial performances of Anbessa City Bus Service Enterprise (ACBSE), which is the sole and government owned transport enterprise. The research used primary data, and secondary data collected from ACBSE for the last nineteen months. The findings
of the study showed that the overall operational and financial performance of the enterprise is inadequate. In all the
parameters of the operational performance, the enterprise operates under the international standard and could not recover its operational cost from the traffic revenue. Moreover, the
enterprise has deficiency to meet the level of service quality required as well as to attract more passengers in the future. Therefore, the enterprise should design an optimum bus
assignment and bus scheduling system so as to serve passengers' need with maximum satisfaction and minimize its operating
costs.
Anbessa City Bus Service Enterprise (ACBSE) is the only public enterprise that provid... more Anbessa City Bus Service Enterprise
(ACBSE) is the only public enterprise that provides transport services in and around the city of Addis Ababa. The enterprise uses a fixed bus schedule system to serve passengers in 110 routes. However, this type of bus assignment system created a problem in the company’s
operational and financial performances. The objective of this paper is to develop an optimum bus assignment method using Linear Programming (LP). After thorough analysis of the existing bus scheduling system, the LP
model is developed and used to determine the optimal number of buses for each route in four shifts. The output of the LP-model is then validated with the performances of the existing systems. The findings of the study show that
the new model reveals better performances on the operating costs, bus utilization and trips and distance covered compared with the existing scheduling system. The enterprise’s bus utilization improved by the new system and cut costs on the one hand and improves the service quality to passengers on the other hand. The authors recommended the enterprise to adopt the new bus assignment system so that buses can be assigned based on the demand distribution of passengers for each route at a
given shift.
Effectiveness of quality management in the effort to satisfy customers’ expectations has bee... more Effectiveness of quality management in the effort to
satisfy customers’ expectations has been questioned both by
academicians and practitioners. In the course of the evolution
of quality, very important theories have been developed in the
field but failed to satisfy customers’ expectation. The aim of
this paper is to examine the challenge and develop a new
method to address it. Following a literature review on the
evolution of the concept of quality, confusions and limitations
in the present paradigm are clarified. Then the future quality
paradigm is proposed, and two practical cases are presented
to substantiate the new approach. Quality management
evolved from product inspection at the final stages of the
production process. Basically, manufacturers take care of
quality up to the point where a product is delivered to a
customer. Product failure occurs due to various reasons after
purchase. However, this happened or discovered during
operational phase of the product which subsequently result in
dissatisfaction for the users after purchase. To address this
misalignment, all inclusive approach called Lifecycle Quality
came into being as the future generation’s paradigm.
Misalignment between the manufacturer and the customer’s
desire in the operational phases of a product life-time leads to
market loss to the former and dissatisfaction to the latter.
Considering lifecycle quality of the product will definitely
resolve the occurrence of such undesired outcomes affecting
the two parties
Recycling is a strategy to combat environmental pollution due to plastic wastes. Of the many plas... more Recycling is a strategy to combat environmental pollution due to plastic wastes. Of the many plastic wastes, researchers confirmed the possibility to produce plastic lumber from used HDPE plastics. The aim of this study is to experimentally determine the mechanical property of the plastic lumber produced from pure HDPE and its composite with wood to proof usability and applicability for different purpose. The experiment considered different conditions. Pure plastic lumber and wood plastic composite lumber is initially produced and examined under room temperature and below room temperature. Under each condition, bending, tensile and impact strength were examined. For each test eight specimens were prepared based on international standards and the experiments were conducted using standard testing machines. The result shows that pure plastic lumber has demonstrated superior load carrying capability, tensile load resistance capability and impact load resistance at room temperature. Moreover, the pure plastic lumber has an elastic nature and the wood composite has a brittle nature. In both cases the mechanical property of the plastic lumber permits to use for different applications. This has been also tested and resulted in similar phenomena at 2 0 C below room temperature.
Due to the availability of numerous microeconomic models of quality, organisations widely measure... more Due to the availability of numerous microeconomic models of quality, organisations widely measure and control cost of quality in their day-to-day activities. Quality of products and services is no more the issue of producers only because the consequences of poor quality are diverse. Quality also concerns nations, regions and the world in general. There are sporadic investments to minimise the supply of poor quality products/services either for local or international consumers. Up to now however, there is limited or no attempt to model the macroeconomics of quality. The aim of this paper is to develop a model on how to measure and control cost of quality at national level. The new model is found to be the aggregation of production, export, import and market related cost items which will then help to understand the consequences of poor quality products/services and will give rationale to the public investment on national quality infrastructure. In addition, the model will help to correctly understand the macroeconomics of a nation which basically does not consider cost of quality of the national production in its measurement. This will also pave a way to future researchers on diagnosing the health of a nation's economy.
Value addition has only been measured as the difference between output and input prices and the c... more Value addition has only been measured as the difference between output and input prices and the critical roles of all functions in the process of value addition were not clearly known. Moreover, some core functions that inherently exist in the process of value addition were ignored until recently. The process of value addition and enhancement is continuous in its approach. Despite the fact that the value addition process is a continuous process, only its absolute measures were used for evaluating the intensity of value addition. Usually, value addition to a product was considered to happen only in the shop floor. In reality however, value addition is not only the responsibility of manufacturing function; rather, other functions before and after manufacturing also add significant tangible or intangible value to a product. The continuous characteristics of the value addition process can be visualized and evaluated in terms of the PDCA continuous process cycle so that value addition can be enhanced in a continuous basis. The PDCA cycle is a renowned continuous quality improvement approach and has been widely used by many successful companies as a strategic weapon for enhancing organizational performance. Hence, this paper roots its core idea towards the conceptual design of continuous value addition process using the PDCA cycle. The study also intends to identify the potential functions that were ignored and their respective roles. Thus, six core functions in the value addition process are identified and categorized into the four distinct phases of the PDCA cycle. The findings of this paper will, at large, help academicians and practitioners care for the respective roles of functions in the process of value addition and easily know how these functions interact in a continuous basis.
Micro and Small Enterprises' (MSEs) cluster is a group of small firms operating in a defined geog... more Micro and Small Enterprises' (MSEs) cluster is a group of small firms operating in a defined geographic location, producing similar products or services, cooperating and competing with one another, learning from each other to solve internal problems, setting common strategies to overcome external challenges, and reaching distance markets through developed networks. During recent years, identifying MSEs cluster has become a key strategic decision. However, the nature of these decisions is usually complex and involves conflicting criteria. The aim of this paper is to develop an AHP-based MSEs cluster identification model. As a result, quantitative and qualitative factors including geographical proximity, sectorial concentration, market potential, support services, resource potential and potential entrepreneurs are found to be critical factors in cluster identification. In this paper, linguistic values are used to assess the ratings and weights of the factors. Then, AHP model will be proposed in dealing with the cluster selection problems. Finally, a case study was taken to prove and validate the procedure of the proposed method. A sensitivity analysis is also performed to justify the results.
One output of a well-functioning educational system is knowledgeable students. In higher educatio... more One output of a well-functioning educational system is knowledgeable students. In higher education, evaluating and improving student performance can be challenging. This study applies Statistical Quality Control (SQC) to help address this challenge. Using randomly selected student scores from 20 sections of Addis Ababa Institute of Technology's Engineering Mechanics II course, the paper uses statistical quality control to develop a new grading method. The new approach compares favourably with the prior method of grade determination. In addition, the SQCbased approach may allow faculty to give grades more objectively than before and students likely will perceive the new approach as more fair and, therefore, more motivating.
The purpose of this study is to review the efforts made to improve quality of healthcare by asses... more The purpose of this study is to review the efforts made to improve quality of healthcare by assessing the existing healthcare quality improvement models and to approach alternative directions for future research in the area.