Ram Ramanathan | University of Essex (original) (raw)

Papers by Ram Ramanathan

Research paper thumbnail of Energy alternatives for lighting in households: An evaluation using an integrated goal programming-AHP model

Energy, 1995

Seven energy sources usable for lighting in households have been evaluated against I2 (9 quantita... more Seven energy sources usable for lighting in households have been evaluated against I2 (9 quantitative and 3 qualitative) objectives representing the energy-economy-environmental system using an integrated goal programming-AHP model. Sensitivity analysis has been performed. While photovoltaics, grid electricity, and electricity generated from diesel, biogas and fuelwood are preferred, the use of kerosene and biogas requires efficiency improvements of the lamps.

Research paper thumbnail of A Data Envelopment Analysis of Comparative Performance of Schools in the Netherlands

Research paper thumbnail of Combining indicators of energy consumption and CO<SUB align=right>2 emissions: a cross-country comparison

International Journal of Global Energy Issues

Research paper thumbnail of Link between population and number of vehicles: evidence from Indian cities

Research paper thumbnail of Investigation of the status of RFID applications in the UK logistics sector

Logistics Transport Focus, Nov 1, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of Exploring the role of interfirm knowledge transfer in developing sustainable supply chains

Research paper thumbnail of An investigation into rank reversal properties of the multiplicative AHP

International Journal of Operational Research, 2011

Research paper thumbnail of Reducing CO2 Emissions in Logistics Ac-tivities: Drivers and Barriers

Proceedings of the 2013 International Conference on Information, Business and Education Technology (ICIBET-2013), 2013

This study examines aspects of CO 2 emissions reduction in logistics activities of a number of la... more This study examines aspects of CO 2 emissions reduction in logistics activities of a number of large UK companies. Data were collected from in-depth interviews with logistics managers of UK companies across different sectors. The research identified the main drivers and barriers for CO 2 reduction initiatives in these companies. It was also found that most CO 2 reduction initiatives are mainly operational and tactical in nature, and a major driver for companies to adopt CO 2 emission initiatives has been the link between emissions reduction and cost reduction.

Research paper thumbnail of The long-run behaviour of transport performance in India: a cointegration approach

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 2001

The long-run relationships between variables representing transport performance and other macroec... more The long-run relationships between variables representing transport performance and other macroeconomic variables in India are analysed in this paper using the concepts of cointegration and error correction. The results show that passenger-kilometres (PKM) in India are likely to increase faster than gross domestic product (GDP), and much faster than urbanisation. The tonne-kilometres (TKM) are highly correlated to industrial growth, and are likely to increase faster than the index of industrial production. Both the passenger and freight performances are relatively inelastic to price changes. The error correction model (ECM) shows that both passenger and tonne-kilometres adjust to their respective long-run equilibrium at a moderate rate, with about 35% of adjustment in PKM and 40% of adjustment in TKMs occurring in the ®rst year.

Research paper thumbnail of Supplier selection problem: integrating DEA with the approaches of total cost of ownership and AHP

Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 2007

Purpose–This paper seeks to propose a methodology to integrate the total cost of ownership (TCO) ... more Purpose–This paper seeks to propose a methodology to integrate the total cost of ownership (TCO) and the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) approaches for selecting appropriate suppliers for a firm. Design/methodology/approach–This paper suggests an interesting ...

Research paper thumbnail of A Multi-Criteria Framework to the Global Negociations on Climate Change

Global negociaitons on environment are essentially multi-dimensional: there is no single factor w... more Global negociaitons on environment are essentially multi-dimensional: there is no single factor which governs the concerns of all parties involved. In this paper we review some of the studies in the literature which analyse the outcomes of these negociations and estimate the costs and benefits for different parties in adopting any particular position in the process.

Research paper thumbnail of Recent developments in operations strategy, supply chain design and production systems—Selected papers from the 18th International Conference on Production Research

International Journal of Production Economics, 2007

Research paper thumbnail of The impact of e-commerce on Taiwanese SMEs: Marketing and operations effects

International Journal of Production Economics, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of A multiobjective programming approach to energy resource allocation problems

International Journal of Energy Research, 1993

The optimal allocation of energy resources to various energy end uses is an important strategy fo... more The optimal allocation of energy resources to various energy end uses is an important strategy for bridging the energy supply and demand gap in India. It has been recognized that the allocation should be guided by multiple criteria. A multiobjective programming model for such an allocation process is presented in the paper. The normative model has been applied for the households sector of Madras city. The model is solved using non pre-emptive goal programming. Variations in the original model have been made to build alternative scenarios. The results of the original model and the alternative scenarios indicate that the use of solar thermal energy, natural gas, LPG, fuelwood, kerosene and lignite should be promoted for cooking, and the use of grid electricity and diesel, should be promoted for meeting water pumping demands. They favour the use of electricity generated from diesel for lighting, and the use of solar photovoltaics for meeting the electricity demands of household appliances. The results also indicate that grid electricity and electricity generated from fuelwood should be promoted to meet the demands of all the four household end uses, and point to the need for more research into solar photovoltaics, which may become competitive for meeting household demands in the future.

Research paper thumbnail of A multicriteria methodology for global negotiations on climate change

IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, Part C (Applications and Reviews), 1998

Global negotiations on environmental issues are essentially multidimensional: there is no single ... more Global negotiations on environmental issues are essentially multidimensional: there is no single factor that governs the concerns of all parties involved. We review some of the studies in the literature that analyze the outcomes of these negotiations and estimate the costs and benefits for different parties in adopting any particular position in the process. The multidimensional nature of these negotiations

Research paper thumbnail of Selection of appropriate greenhouse gas mitigation options

Global Environmental Change, 1999

Greenhouse gas mitigation options help in reducing greenhouse gas emissions so as to avoid the ad... more Greenhouse gas mitigation options help in reducing greenhouse gas emissions so as to avoid the adverse environmental impacts due to global warming/climate change. They have di!erent characteristics when evaluated using di!erent criteria. For example, some options may be very cost e!ective, while some may have an additional advantage of reducing local pollution. Hence, selection of these options, for consideration by a national government or by a funding agency, has to incorporate multiple criteria. In this paper, some important criteria relevant to the selection are discussed, and a multi-criteria methodology is suggested for making appropriate selection. The methodology, called the Analytic Hierarchy Process, is described using two illustrations.

Research paper thumbnail of A (0–1) goal programming model for scheduling the tour of a marketing executive

European Journal of Operational Research, 2007

This paper addresses the problem of scheduling the tour of a marketing executive (ME) of a large ... more This paper addresses the problem of scheduling the tour of a marketing executive (ME) of a large electronics manufacturing company in India. In this problem, the ME has to visit a number of customers in a given planning period. The scheduling problem taken up in this study is different from the various personnel scheduling problems addressed in the literature. This

Research paper thumbnail of Group preference aggregation methods employed in AHP: An evaluation and an intrinsic process for deriving members' weightages

European Journal of Operational Research, 1994

The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is one of the popular and powerful techniques for decision m... more The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is one of the popular and powerful techniques for decision making. A detailed survey of the literature has revealed that there exists no formal evaluation of the group preference aggregation methods currently employed in AHP. This paper ...

Research paper thumbnail of Stochastic decision making using multiplicative AHP

European Journal of Operational Research, 1997

The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) has found a number of applications in decision making proble... more The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) has found a number of applications in decision making problems. Its multiplicative version, called the Multiplicative AHP (MAHP), has been proposed to overcome some of the criticisms of the conventional version. Both these methodologies operate by obtaining expert judgements on the ratios of perceived importance of objects under consideration. The literature on MAHP in dealing with these judgements, when they are specified without uncertainty, is well developed. However, stochastic aspects of these judgements have not received much consideration in the literature so far. Stochastic judgements are considered in this paper for use in MAHP. The fact that weight derivation in MAHP can be handled using mathematical programming is exploited and the literature on stochastic programming is adapted to the MAHP context.

Research paper thumbnail of Incorporating Qualitative Objectives in Integrated Resource Planning: Application of Analytic Hierarchy Process and Compromise Programming

Energy Sources, 1995

This article proposes a multiobjective methodology for the integrated resource planning (IRP) pro... more This article proposes a multiobjective methodology for the integrated resource planning (IRP) problem using a combined analytic hierarchy process (AHP)-compromise programming (CP) model. Six objectives, of which five are qualitative in nature, have been considered to select demand- and supply-side resources for meeting future electricity demand. The quantitative objective (viz., cost) is employed directly in the CP model. AHP priorities are derived for the qualitative objectives (e.g., technological maturity) after eliciting expert judgements. These priorities are employed as coefficients of the decision variables in the objective functions corresponding to the qualitative objectives of the model. The two distinct advantages of this method are (1) explicit consideration of all important qualitative and quantitative aspects of demand-side management (DSM) and supply-side options, and (2) consideration of specific characteristics of various types of DSM options. An illustrative application is provided for an Indian utility (Maharashtra State Electricity System) for its integrated resource plan for the period 1990-2000. The results show that the AHP-CP model incorporating qualitative objectives selects a different portfolio of DSM and supply options, as compared with single-criterion solutions. Compromise among the conflicting objectives leads to significant cost savings as well as qualitative benefits like improved system reliability, reduced environmental impact, fewer problems related to fuel supply, and shorter project installation times.

Research paper thumbnail of Energy alternatives for lighting in households: An evaluation using an integrated goal programming-AHP model

Energy, 1995

Seven energy sources usable for lighting in households have been evaluated against I2 (9 quantita... more Seven energy sources usable for lighting in households have been evaluated against I2 (9 quantitative and 3 qualitative) objectives representing the energy-economy-environmental system using an integrated goal programming-AHP model. Sensitivity analysis has been performed. While photovoltaics, grid electricity, and electricity generated from diesel, biogas and fuelwood are preferred, the use of kerosene and biogas requires efficiency improvements of the lamps.

Research paper thumbnail of A Data Envelopment Analysis of Comparative Performance of Schools in the Netherlands

Research paper thumbnail of Combining indicators of energy consumption and CO<SUB align=right>2 emissions: a cross-country comparison

International Journal of Global Energy Issues

Research paper thumbnail of Link between population and number of vehicles: evidence from Indian cities

Research paper thumbnail of Investigation of the status of RFID applications in the UK logistics sector

Logistics Transport Focus, Nov 1, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of Exploring the role of interfirm knowledge transfer in developing sustainable supply chains

Research paper thumbnail of An investigation into rank reversal properties of the multiplicative AHP

International Journal of Operational Research, 2011

Research paper thumbnail of Reducing CO2 Emissions in Logistics Ac-tivities: Drivers and Barriers

Proceedings of the 2013 International Conference on Information, Business and Education Technology (ICIBET-2013), 2013

This study examines aspects of CO 2 emissions reduction in logistics activities of a number of la... more This study examines aspects of CO 2 emissions reduction in logistics activities of a number of large UK companies. Data were collected from in-depth interviews with logistics managers of UK companies across different sectors. The research identified the main drivers and barriers for CO 2 reduction initiatives in these companies. It was also found that most CO 2 reduction initiatives are mainly operational and tactical in nature, and a major driver for companies to adopt CO 2 emission initiatives has been the link between emissions reduction and cost reduction.

Research paper thumbnail of The long-run behaviour of transport performance in India: a cointegration approach

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 2001

The long-run relationships between variables representing transport performance and other macroec... more The long-run relationships between variables representing transport performance and other macroeconomic variables in India are analysed in this paper using the concepts of cointegration and error correction. The results show that passenger-kilometres (PKM) in India are likely to increase faster than gross domestic product (GDP), and much faster than urbanisation. The tonne-kilometres (TKM) are highly correlated to industrial growth, and are likely to increase faster than the index of industrial production. Both the passenger and freight performances are relatively inelastic to price changes. The error correction model (ECM) shows that both passenger and tonne-kilometres adjust to their respective long-run equilibrium at a moderate rate, with about 35% of adjustment in PKM and 40% of adjustment in TKMs occurring in the ®rst year.

Research paper thumbnail of Supplier selection problem: integrating DEA with the approaches of total cost of ownership and AHP

Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 2007

Purpose–This paper seeks to propose a methodology to integrate the total cost of ownership (TCO) ... more Purpose–This paper seeks to propose a methodology to integrate the total cost of ownership (TCO) and the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) approaches for selecting appropriate suppliers for a firm. Design/methodology/approach–This paper suggests an interesting ...

Research paper thumbnail of A Multi-Criteria Framework to the Global Negociations on Climate Change

Global negociaitons on environment are essentially multi-dimensional: there is no single factor w... more Global negociaitons on environment are essentially multi-dimensional: there is no single factor which governs the concerns of all parties involved. In this paper we review some of the studies in the literature which analyse the outcomes of these negociations and estimate the costs and benefits for different parties in adopting any particular position in the process.

Research paper thumbnail of Recent developments in operations strategy, supply chain design and production systems—Selected papers from the 18th International Conference on Production Research

International Journal of Production Economics, 2007

Research paper thumbnail of The impact of e-commerce on Taiwanese SMEs: Marketing and operations effects

International Journal of Production Economics, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of A multiobjective programming approach to energy resource allocation problems

International Journal of Energy Research, 1993

The optimal allocation of energy resources to various energy end uses is an important strategy fo... more The optimal allocation of energy resources to various energy end uses is an important strategy for bridging the energy supply and demand gap in India. It has been recognized that the allocation should be guided by multiple criteria. A multiobjective programming model for such an allocation process is presented in the paper. The normative model has been applied for the households sector of Madras city. The model is solved using non pre-emptive goal programming. Variations in the original model have been made to build alternative scenarios. The results of the original model and the alternative scenarios indicate that the use of solar thermal energy, natural gas, LPG, fuelwood, kerosene and lignite should be promoted for cooking, and the use of grid electricity and diesel, should be promoted for meeting water pumping demands. They favour the use of electricity generated from diesel for lighting, and the use of solar photovoltaics for meeting the electricity demands of household appliances. The results also indicate that grid electricity and electricity generated from fuelwood should be promoted to meet the demands of all the four household end uses, and point to the need for more research into solar photovoltaics, which may become competitive for meeting household demands in the future.

Research paper thumbnail of A multicriteria methodology for global negotiations on climate change

IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, Part C (Applications and Reviews), 1998

Global negotiations on environmental issues are essentially multidimensional: there is no single ... more Global negotiations on environmental issues are essentially multidimensional: there is no single factor that governs the concerns of all parties involved. We review some of the studies in the literature that analyze the outcomes of these negotiations and estimate the costs and benefits for different parties in adopting any particular position in the process. The multidimensional nature of these negotiations

Research paper thumbnail of Selection of appropriate greenhouse gas mitigation options

Global Environmental Change, 1999

Greenhouse gas mitigation options help in reducing greenhouse gas emissions so as to avoid the ad... more Greenhouse gas mitigation options help in reducing greenhouse gas emissions so as to avoid the adverse environmental impacts due to global warming/climate change. They have di!erent characteristics when evaluated using di!erent criteria. For example, some options may be very cost e!ective, while some may have an additional advantage of reducing local pollution. Hence, selection of these options, for consideration by a national government or by a funding agency, has to incorporate multiple criteria. In this paper, some important criteria relevant to the selection are discussed, and a multi-criteria methodology is suggested for making appropriate selection. The methodology, called the Analytic Hierarchy Process, is described using two illustrations.

Research paper thumbnail of A (0–1) goal programming model for scheduling the tour of a marketing executive

European Journal of Operational Research, 2007

This paper addresses the problem of scheduling the tour of a marketing executive (ME) of a large ... more This paper addresses the problem of scheduling the tour of a marketing executive (ME) of a large electronics manufacturing company in India. In this problem, the ME has to visit a number of customers in a given planning period. The scheduling problem taken up in this study is different from the various personnel scheduling problems addressed in the literature. This

Research paper thumbnail of Group preference aggregation methods employed in AHP: An evaluation and an intrinsic process for deriving members' weightages

European Journal of Operational Research, 1994

The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is one of the popular and powerful techniques for decision m... more The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is one of the popular and powerful techniques for decision making. A detailed survey of the literature has revealed that there exists no formal evaluation of the group preference aggregation methods currently employed in AHP. This paper ...

Research paper thumbnail of Stochastic decision making using multiplicative AHP

European Journal of Operational Research, 1997

The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) has found a number of applications in decision making proble... more The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) has found a number of applications in decision making problems. Its multiplicative version, called the Multiplicative AHP (MAHP), has been proposed to overcome some of the criticisms of the conventional version. Both these methodologies operate by obtaining expert judgements on the ratios of perceived importance of objects under consideration. The literature on MAHP in dealing with these judgements, when they are specified without uncertainty, is well developed. However, stochastic aspects of these judgements have not received much consideration in the literature so far. Stochastic judgements are considered in this paper for use in MAHP. The fact that weight derivation in MAHP can be handled using mathematical programming is exploited and the literature on stochastic programming is adapted to the MAHP context.

Research paper thumbnail of Incorporating Qualitative Objectives in Integrated Resource Planning: Application of Analytic Hierarchy Process and Compromise Programming

Energy Sources, 1995

This article proposes a multiobjective methodology for the integrated resource planning (IRP) pro... more This article proposes a multiobjective methodology for the integrated resource planning (IRP) problem using a combined analytic hierarchy process (AHP)-compromise programming (CP) model. Six objectives, of which five are qualitative in nature, have been considered to select demand- and supply-side resources for meeting future electricity demand. The quantitative objective (viz., cost) is employed directly in the CP model. AHP priorities are derived for the qualitative objectives (e.g., technological maturity) after eliciting expert judgements. These priorities are employed as coefficients of the decision variables in the objective functions corresponding to the qualitative objectives of the model. The two distinct advantages of this method are (1) explicit consideration of all important qualitative and quantitative aspects of demand-side management (DSM) and supply-side options, and (2) consideration of specific characteristics of various types of DSM options. An illustrative application is provided for an Indian utility (Maharashtra State Electricity System) for its integrated resource plan for the period 1990-2000. The results show that the AHP-CP model incorporating qualitative objectives selects a different portfolio of DSM and supply options, as compared with single-criterion solutions. Compromise among the conflicting objectives leads to significant cost savings as well as qualitative benefits like improved system reliability, reduced environmental impact, fewer problems related to fuel supply, and shorter project installation times.