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Conference Presentations by Behnam Malmir

Research paper thumbnail of A New Model for Supply Chain Quality Management of Hospital Medical Equipment through Game Theory

The need for high-quality medical equipment in the hospital supply chain has more than ever demon... more The need for high-quality medical equipment in the hospital supply chain has more than ever demonstrated the necessity and importance of quality management to be implemented by administrators in line with the Iranian health reform plan. In this study, the Game Theory was used to model the strategies chosen by companies supplying medical equipment to hospitals. Considering the process of self-learning through the Markov chain on the part of medical equipment enterprises involved in market competition, the equipment supply chain environment was simulated. Finally, the importance of reward and penalty system implemented supply chain quality management of medical equipment for hospitals was discussed by analyzing the behavior of the simulated model and calculating the revenues, so as to propel the firms to adopt high-quality strategies.

Papers by Behnam Malmir

Research paper thumbnail of An integrated approach for prioritizing the strategic objectives of balanced scorecard under uncertainty

Neural Computing and Applications, 2016

Abstract Successful managers are always trying to identify and prioritize strategic objectives wh... more Abstract Successful managers are always trying to identify and prioritize strategic objectives which are the basis of each strategic plan in organizations. Strategic objectives distinguish weakness and strength keys for each strategic plan in order to define specific expectations to gain the most succeed and findings for their organization in the future. Due to the ambiguity in the judgment of managers’ prioritizing strategic objectives, this study is conducted to assist managers and prioritize the objectives. To this end, an integrated method is presented by combination of focusgroup interviews as qualitative methods and grey system theory as quantitative methods. In order to examine the proposed method, a case study took into account to prioritize strategic objectives of a strategic procurement system in an Iranian company and the proposed method applied on it. The findings revealed that this method is a reliable method and showed acceptable results. Keywords Strategic objectives  Balanced scorecard  Grey systems theory  Strategic plan

Research paper thumbnail of Analyzing and Estimating the project success with a hybrid method based on fuzzy theory and decision making analysis

2015 International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management, Mar 1, 2015

Forecasting the progress or regression of a project can definitely change the project's direction... more Forecasting the progress or regression of a project can definitely change the project's direction and lead to implement a strategy with lower risks. In this paper a new technique is developed first in order to model the problem using Analytical Hierarchy Process as a Multi Criteria Decision Making and then to apply fuzzy theory in project management's main factors such as: time, quality and cost by defining the triangular fuzzy membership function for each one in the MATLAB fuzzy toolbox based on if-then rules extracted from the experts' experiences. This methodology can be used by project managers to reduce the risks of uncertainty when deciding for investments, resource allocation and other levels from planning to executing as well as easily determining the percent of performance. The contribution of this study lies in presenting a fuzzy mathematical programming methodology to fuzzy multi-objective PM decisions, and provides a systematic decision-making framework that facilitates the decision maker to interactively adjust the search direction until the preferred efficient solution is obtained.

Research paper thumbnail of Selecting warehouse location by means of the balancing and ranking method with an interval approach

2015 International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management, Mar 1, 2015

Selecting the proper warehouse location has been always one of the most important and strategic c... more Selecting the proper warehouse location has been always one of the most important and strategic challenges in the optimization process of a logistics system. Such decisions have a great importance for companies because they are costly and difficult to reverse, and entail a long term commitment. Many quantitative and qualitative factors affect the selection of the warehouse location as a long term decision. A new balancing and ranking method combined with an interval data approach has been presented in this paper for solving a warehouse location selection problem. This method involves a three-step procedure to derive an overall complete final order of the warehouses which are already selected for the decision making. The procedure involves the definition of an outranking matrix based on the criteria values for all the available warehouse locations while taking into account the frequency of superiority of one location over others. The ordering of the warehouse locations has been performed based on the information of an advantagesdisadvantages table, the distance travelled after final balancing, and the provisional order of locations. This is referred to as the triangularisation. It should be noted that unlike other MCDM models, the proposed method does not require weights for the decision making criteria. In addition, the proposed approach is much more flexible than the conventional methods in some other aspects. To demonstrate the procedural implementation of the proposed method and illustrate its effectiveness, it was applied to a case study and the results are evaluated and verified.

Research paper thumbnail of Evaluating and ranking the learning components of entrepreneurial skills based on a hybrid approach of the M-learning technology and TOPSIS method

2015 International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management, Mar 1, 2015

M-learning, a new type of e-learning, is created through the use of mobile phones connected to th... more M-learning, a new type of e-learning, is created through the use of mobile phones connected to the internet. The present study aims to create a tool to investigate the learning of entrepreneurial skills via m-learning. An educational system to evaluate and enhance the learning of entrepreneurial skills and the creativity and innovations of the learners has to analyze the involved components. The effectiveness and importance of the components have to be determined to prioritize the components. In this research to create a tool, first a questionnaire that contained eighty-three questions was used to collect data. The statistical population included three hundred and thirty six BA students from the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences at the University of Isfahan. Analyses were carried out by means of descriptive statistics and inferential statistical methods, including one-variable t-test and TOPSIS technique. This survey evaluates the effects of the m-learning on the learning components of the entrepreneurial skills and identifies the most effective components as well. The results revealed that there is a positive and significant relationship between the mlearning, the motivation, the degree of learner's participation, the variety of educational methods, the satisfaction and the increase in self confidence in learners of entrepreneurial skills. It also revealed that motivation, self-confidence and participation have the highest effect on learning of entrepreneurial skills.

Research paper thumbnail of ‫‬Housing market analysis using the system dynamics approach (In Farsi)

The rising trends of the housing prices in Tehran and many other cities are alarming. The purpose... more The rising trends of the housing prices in Tehran and many other cities are alarming. The purpose of this research is to survey the effect of some macroeconomic variables on the behavior of the housing price indexes in Tehran, using the system dynamics while evaluating the real estate market in Tehran, and predicting its future development. Firstly, this paper represents a brief theoretical overview of the system dynamics approach and its use in the real estate field. The dynamics of housing price in this city has been studied over time to build a generic system dynamics model that can be used for housing price policy analysis at multiple levels. This approach is used in the rest of the paper to provide a causal-loop diagram of the system and its explanation as well as a stock and flow diagram. At the continuation of this paper, how the impact of variables on each other will be analyzed in terms of dynamic modeling and the future trends of the housing prices will be guessed. Finally, this research will be looking for methods to control the housing price.

Research paper thumbnail of A system dynamics approach to housing prices: A case study of the Tehran real estate market

The presented paper focuses on the use of system dynamics while evaluating the real estate market... more The presented paper focuses on the use of system dynamics while evaluating the real estate market in Tehran, Iran, and predicting its future development. The first section provides a brief theoretical overview of the system dynamics approach and its use in the real estate field. This approach is used in the rest of the paper to provide a causal loop diagram of the system and its explanation as well as a stock and flow diagram. This diagram is then used to simulate the behavior of the model within a time frame of 10 years. The last section of the paper focuses on discussing the results and implications for the real estate market in Tehran.

Research paper thumbnail of Selecting warehouse location by means of the balancing and ranking method with an interval approach

2015 International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IEOM), 2015

Selecting the proper warehouse location has been always one of the most important and strategic c... more Selecting the proper warehouse location has been always one of the most important and strategic challenges in the optimization process of a logistics system. Such decisions have a great importance for companies because they are costly and difficult to reverse, and entail a long term commitment. Many quantitative and qualitative factors affect the selection of the warehouse location as a long term decision. A new balancing and ranking method combined with an interval data approach has been presented in this paper for solving a warehouse location selection problem. This method involves a three-step procedure to derive an overall complete final order of the warehouses which are already selected for the decision making. The procedure involves the definition of an outranking matrix based on the criteria values for all the available warehouse locations while taking into account the frequency of superiority of one location over others. The ordering of the warehouse locations has been performed based on the information of an advantagesdisadvantages table, the distance travelled after final balancing, and the provisional order of locations. This is referred to as the triangularisation. It should be noted that unlike other MCDM models, the proposed method does not require weights for the decision making criteria. In addition, the proposed approach is much more flexible than the conventional methods in some other aspects. To demonstrate the procedural implementation of the proposed method and illustrate its effectiveness, it was applied to a case study and the results are evaluated and verified.

Research paper thumbnail of Evaluating and ranking the learning components of entrepreneurial skills based on a hybrid approach of the M-learning technology and TOPSIS method

2015 International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IEOM), 2015

M-learning, a new type of e-learning, is created through the use of mobile phones connected to th... more M-learning, a new type of e-learning, is created through the use of mobile phones connected to the internet. The present study aims to create a tool to investigate the learning of entrepreneurial skills via m-learning. An educational system to evaluate and enhance the learning of entrepreneurial skills and the creativity and innovations of the learners has to analyze the involved components. The effectiveness and importance of the components have to be determined to prioritize the components. In this research to create a tool, first a questionnaire that contained eighty-three questions was used to collect data. The statistical population included three hundred and thirty six BA students from the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences at the University of Isfahan. Analyses were carried out by means of descriptive statistics and inferential statistical methods, including one-variable t-test and TOPSIS technique. This survey evaluates the effects of the m-learning on the learning components of the entrepreneurial skills and identifies the most effective components as well. The results revealed that there is a positive and significant relationship between the mlearning, the motivation, the degree of learner's participation, the variety of educational methods, the satisfaction and the increase in self confidence in learners of entrepreneurial skills. It also revealed that motivation, self-confidence and participation have the highest effect on learning of entrepreneurial skills.

Research paper thumbnail of Analyzing and Estimating the project success with a hybrid method based on fuzzy theory and decision making analysis

2015 International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IEOM), 2015

Forecasting the progress or regression of a project can definitely change the project's direction... more Forecasting the progress or regression of a project can definitely change the project's direction and lead to implement a strategy with lower risks. In this paper a new technique is developed first in order to model the problem using Analytical Hierarchy Process as a Multi Criteria Decision Making and then to apply fuzzy theory in project management's main factors such as: time, quality and cost by defining the triangular fuzzy membership function for each one in the MATLAB fuzzy toolbox based on if-then rules extracted from the experts' experiences. This methodology can be used by project managers to reduce the risks of uncertainty when deciding for investments, resource allocation and other levels from planning to executing as well as easily determining the percent of performance. The contribution of this study lies in presenting a fuzzy mathematical programming methodology to fuzzy multi-objective PM decisions, and provides a systematic decision-making framework that facilitates the decision maker to interactively adjust the search direction until the preferred efficient solution is obtained.

Research paper thumbnail of Development of a supply chain model for healthcare industry

2015 International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IEOM), 2015

supply chain management in healthcare systems is evaluated with a particular focus on the distrib... more supply chain management in healthcare systems is evaluated with a particular focus on the distribution of medicines from a wholesaler to clinics. Currently, there are issues with service levels to clinics that need addressing. The value of the paper arises from providing a detailed analysis of a healthcare supply chain in the developing world and diagnosis the parameters involved in inventory.

Research paper thumbnail of A New Model for Supply Chain Quality Management of Hospital Medical Equipment through Game Theory

The need for high-quality medical equipment in the hospital supply chain has more than ever demon... more The need for high-quality medical equipment in the hospital supply chain has more than ever demonstrated the necessity and importance of quality management to be implemented by administrators in line with the Iranian health reform plan. In this study, the Game Theory was used to model the strategies chosen by companies supplying medical equipment to hospitals. Considering the process of self-learning through the Markov chain on the part of medical equipment enterprises involved in market competition, the equipment supply chain environment was simulated. Finally, the importance of reward and penalty system implemented supply chain quality management of medical equipment for hospitals was discussed by analyzing the behavior of the simulated model and calculating the revenues, so as to propel the firms to adopt high-quality strategies.

Research paper thumbnail of An integrated approach for prioritizing the strategic objectives of balanced scorecard under uncertainty

Neural Computing and Applications, 2016

Abstract Successful managers are always trying to identify and prioritize strategic objectives wh... more Abstract Successful managers are always trying to identify and prioritize strategic objectives which are the basis of each strategic plan in organizations. Strategic objectives distinguish weakness and strength keys for each strategic plan in order to define specific expectations to gain the most succeed and findings for their organization in the future. Due to the ambiguity in the judgment of managers’ prioritizing strategic objectives, this study is conducted to assist managers and prioritize the objectives. To this end, an integrated method is presented by combination of focusgroup interviews as qualitative methods and grey system theory as quantitative methods. In order to examine the proposed method, a case study took into account to prioritize strategic objectives of a strategic procurement system in an Iranian company and the proposed method applied on it. The findings revealed that this method is a reliable method and showed acceptable results. Keywords Strategic objectives  Balanced scorecard  Grey systems theory  Strategic plan

Research paper thumbnail of Analyzing and Estimating the project success with a hybrid method based on fuzzy theory and decision making analysis

2015 International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management, Mar 1, 2015

Forecasting the progress or regression of a project can definitely change the project's direction... more Forecasting the progress or regression of a project can definitely change the project's direction and lead to implement a strategy with lower risks. In this paper a new technique is developed first in order to model the problem using Analytical Hierarchy Process as a Multi Criteria Decision Making and then to apply fuzzy theory in project management's main factors such as: time, quality and cost by defining the triangular fuzzy membership function for each one in the MATLAB fuzzy toolbox based on if-then rules extracted from the experts' experiences. This methodology can be used by project managers to reduce the risks of uncertainty when deciding for investments, resource allocation and other levels from planning to executing as well as easily determining the percent of performance. The contribution of this study lies in presenting a fuzzy mathematical programming methodology to fuzzy multi-objective PM decisions, and provides a systematic decision-making framework that facilitates the decision maker to interactively adjust the search direction until the preferred efficient solution is obtained.

Research paper thumbnail of Selecting warehouse location by means of the balancing and ranking method with an interval approach

2015 International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management, Mar 1, 2015

Selecting the proper warehouse location has been always one of the most important and strategic c... more Selecting the proper warehouse location has been always one of the most important and strategic challenges in the optimization process of a logistics system. Such decisions have a great importance for companies because they are costly and difficult to reverse, and entail a long term commitment. Many quantitative and qualitative factors affect the selection of the warehouse location as a long term decision. A new balancing and ranking method combined with an interval data approach has been presented in this paper for solving a warehouse location selection problem. This method involves a three-step procedure to derive an overall complete final order of the warehouses which are already selected for the decision making. The procedure involves the definition of an outranking matrix based on the criteria values for all the available warehouse locations while taking into account the frequency of superiority of one location over others. The ordering of the warehouse locations has been performed based on the information of an advantagesdisadvantages table, the distance travelled after final balancing, and the provisional order of locations. This is referred to as the triangularisation. It should be noted that unlike other MCDM models, the proposed method does not require weights for the decision making criteria. In addition, the proposed approach is much more flexible than the conventional methods in some other aspects. To demonstrate the procedural implementation of the proposed method and illustrate its effectiveness, it was applied to a case study and the results are evaluated and verified.

Research paper thumbnail of Evaluating and ranking the learning components of entrepreneurial skills based on a hybrid approach of the M-learning technology and TOPSIS method

2015 International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management, Mar 1, 2015

M-learning, a new type of e-learning, is created through the use of mobile phones connected to th... more M-learning, a new type of e-learning, is created through the use of mobile phones connected to the internet. The present study aims to create a tool to investigate the learning of entrepreneurial skills via m-learning. An educational system to evaluate and enhance the learning of entrepreneurial skills and the creativity and innovations of the learners has to analyze the involved components. The effectiveness and importance of the components have to be determined to prioritize the components. In this research to create a tool, first a questionnaire that contained eighty-three questions was used to collect data. The statistical population included three hundred and thirty six BA students from the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences at the University of Isfahan. Analyses were carried out by means of descriptive statistics and inferential statistical methods, including one-variable t-test and TOPSIS technique. This survey evaluates the effects of the m-learning on the learning components of the entrepreneurial skills and identifies the most effective components as well. The results revealed that there is a positive and significant relationship between the mlearning, the motivation, the degree of learner's participation, the variety of educational methods, the satisfaction and the increase in self confidence in learners of entrepreneurial skills. It also revealed that motivation, self-confidence and participation have the highest effect on learning of entrepreneurial skills.

Research paper thumbnail of ‫‬Housing market analysis using the system dynamics approach (In Farsi)

The rising trends of the housing prices in Tehran and many other cities are alarming. The purpose... more The rising trends of the housing prices in Tehran and many other cities are alarming. The purpose of this research is to survey the effect of some macroeconomic variables on the behavior of the housing price indexes in Tehran, using the system dynamics while evaluating the real estate market in Tehran, and predicting its future development. Firstly, this paper represents a brief theoretical overview of the system dynamics approach and its use in the real estate field. The dynamics of housing price in this city has been studied over time to build a generic system dynamics model that can be used for housing price policy analysis at multiple levels. This approach is used in the rest of the paper to provide a causal-loop diagram of the system and its explanation as well as a stock and flow diagram. At the continuation of this paper, how the impact of variables on each other will be analyzed in terms of dynamic modeling and the future trends of the housing prices will be guessed. Finally, this research will be looking for methods to control the housing price.

Research paper thumbnail of A system dynamics approach to housing prices: A case study of the Tehran real estate market

The presented paper focuses on the use of system dynamics while evaluating the real estate market... more The presented paper focuses on the use of system dynamics while evaluating the real estate market in Tehran, Iran, and predicting its future development. The first section provides a brief theoretical overview of the system dynamics approach and its use in the real estate field. This approach is used in the rest of the paper to provide a causal loop diagram of the system and its explanation as well as a stock and flow diagram. This diagram is then used to simulate the behavior of the model within a time frame of 10 years. The last section of the paper focuses on discussing the results and implications for the real estate market in Tehran.

Research paper thumbnail of Selecting warehouse location by means of the balancing and ranking method with an interval approach

2015 International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IEOM), 2015

Selecting the proper warehouse location has been always one of the most important and strategic c... more Selecting the proper warehouse location has been always one of the most important and strategic challenges in the optimization process of a logistics system. Such decisions have a great importance for companies because they are costly and difficult to reverse, and entail a long term commitment. Many quantitative and qualitative factors affect the selection of the warehouse location as a long term decision. A new balancing and ranking method combined with an interval data approach has been presented in this paper for solving a warehouse location selection problem. This method involves a three-step procedure to derive an overall complete final order of the warehouses which are already selected for the decision making. The procedure involves the definition of an outranking matrix based on the criteria values for all the available warehouse locations while taking into account the frequency of superiority of one location over others. The ordering of the warehouse locations has been performed based on the information of an advantagesdisadvantages table, the distance travelled after final balancing, and the provisional order of locations. This is referred to as the triangularisation. It should be noted that unlike other MCDM models, the proposed method does not require weights for the decision making criteria. In addition, the proposed approach is much more flexible than the conventional methods in some other aspects. To demonstrate the procedural implementation of the proposed method and illustrate its effectiveness, it was applied to a case study and the results are evaluated and verified.

Research paper thumbnail of Evaluating and ranking the learning components of entrepreneurial skills based on a hybrid approach of the M-learning technology and TOPSIS method

2015 International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IEOM), 2015

M-learning, a new type of e-learning, is created through the use of mobile phones connected to th... more M-learning, a new type of e-learning, is created through the use of mobile phones connected to the internet. The present study aims to create a tool to investigate the learning of entrepreneurial skills via m-learning. An educational system to evaluate and enhance the learning of entrepreneurial skills and the creativity and innovations of the learners has to analyze the involved components. The effectiveness and importance of the components have to be determined to prioritize the components. In this research to create a tool, first a questionnaire that contained eighty-three questions was used to collect data. The statistical population included three hundred and thirty six BA students from the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences at the University of Isfahan. Analyses were carried out by means of descriptive statistics and inferential statistical methods, including one-variable t-test and TOPSIS technique. This survey evaluates the effects of the m-learning on the learning components of the entrepreneurial skills and identifies the most effective components as well. The results revealed that there is a positive and significant relationship between the mlearning, the motivation, the degree of learner's participation, the variety of educational methods, the satisfaction and the increase in self confidence in learners of entrepreneurial skills. It also revealed that motivation, self-confidence and participation have the highest effect on learning of entrepreneurial skills.

Research paper thumbnail of Analyzing and Estimating the project success with a hybrid method based on fuzzy theory and decision making analysis

2015 International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IEOM), 2015

Forecasting the progress or regression of a project can definitely change the project's direction... more Forecasting the progress or regression of a project can definitely change the project's direction and lead to implement a strategy with lower risks. In this paper a new technique is developed first in order to model the problem using Analytical Hierarchy Process as a Multi Criteria Decision Making and then to apply fuzzy theory in project management's main factors such as: time, quality and cost by defining the triangular fuzzy membership function for each one in the MATLAB fuzzy toolbox based on if-then rules extracted from the experts' experiences. This methodology can be used by project managers to reduce the risks of uncertainty when deciding for investments, resource allocation and other levels from planning to executing as well as easily determining the percent of performance. The contribution of this study lies in presenting a fuzzy mathematical programming methodology to fuzzy multi-objective PM decisions, and provides a systematic decision-making framework that facilitates the decision maker to interactively adjust the search direction until the preferred efficient solution is obtained.

Research paper thumbnail of Development of a supply chain model for healthcare industry

2015 International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IEOM), 2015

supply chain management in healthcare systems is evaluated with a particular focus on the distrib... more supply chain management in healthcare systems is evaluated with a particular focus on the distribution of medicines from a wholesaler to clinics. Currently, there are issues with service levels to clinics that need addressing. The value of the paper arises from providing a detailed analysis of a healthcare supply chain in the developing world and diagnosis the parameters involved in inventory.