Shams Rahman | RMIT University (original) (raw)

Papers by Shams Rahman

Research paper thumbnail of Asian Institute of Technology ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTATION FORM

Query optimization, which aims to reduce query evaluation time, is crucial to the success of XML ... more Query optimization, which aims to reduce query evaluation time, is crucial to the success of XML database systems because of the complex structure of XML data and XML queries. Existing optimization techniques neither take the advantage of the rich semantic knowledge available in XML databases nor utilize it in a systematic and efficient manner, resulting in significant reduction of optimization opportunities. Aiming to address these deficiencies, an XML Semantic Query Optimization framework, which employs XML Declarative Description (XDD) theory to model XML databases, XML semantic queries as well as semantic knowledge, is proposed and developed. It uses Equivalent Transformation framework as a basis for query optimization at the semantic (logical) level. The framework fully utilizes, in a systematic way, available semantic knowledge in a database and its schema, and allows flexible but precise control of query optimization processes. Semantic knowledge, formulated as XML Integrity ...

Research paper thumbnail of Critical factors for successful six-sigma implementation: an analytical hierarchy process (AHP) based

Research paper thumbnail of Sourcing complexity in the Chinese manufacturing sector: An assessment of intangible factors and contractual relationship strategies

International Journal of Production Economics, 2015

ABSTRACT Over the past three decades original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) located in China and... more ABSTRACT Over the past three decades original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) located in China and elsewhere have been aggressively sourcing from Chinese suppliers. This has significantly contributed toward the complexity of global supply chains. Generally, both tangible and intangible factors contribute to the complexity, with intangible factors being relatively more dominant compared with the tangible factors. Through an extensive literature review we identify several intangible factors associated with people, culture, and infrastructure; as well as policies and regulations on sourcing complexity. We investigate the impact of these factors and elements on sourcing complexity, using a sample of 101 OEMs based in China. Using importance-complexity matrix analysis we identify lack of knowledge, quality issues, price erosion, increases in comparative price levels, supply risk and demand volatility as critical intangible elements. We suggest appropriate supplier contractual strategies such as collaborative relationships as we predict that contractual relationships that benefit by trust, shared knowledge, skill development and direct purchase from suppliers or through international procurement offices would suppress or greatly diminish most of the intangible sourcing complexity elements.

Research paper thumbnail of Supply Chain Complexity and Strategy

Supply Chain Strategies, Issues and Models, 2013

ABSTRACT The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of supply chain complexity and sug... more ABSTRACT The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of supply chain complexity and suggests appropriate supply chain strategies based on material flow and contractual relationships, to align product and process complexities. The material flow strategies considered for product and process alignment are lean, agile, leagile and risk hedging. The strategies considered for the contractual relationship are types of relationship, integration and preferred channel of operation. We substantiate the link between strategies and types of complexities using a case study. The discussion of this chapter is useful to supply chain managers for leveraging product and process complexities into competitive advantage.

Research paper thumbnail of Factors for implementing end-of-life computer recycling operations in reverse supply chains

International Journal of Production Economics, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of Impact of lean strategy on operational performance: a study of Thai manufacturing companies

Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which lean management practices are ... more PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which lean management practices are adopted by manufacturing organizations in Thailand and their impact on firms' operational performance.Design/methodology/approachUsing a survey questionnaire, data were collected against 13 lean practices from 187 middle and senior managers belonging to 187 Thai manufacturing firms. Using factor analysis these lean practices were then clustered into three higher level constructs namely just in time (JIT), waste minimization and flow management. The responding firms were categorized into small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises (LEs) based on size and Thai‐owned, foreign‐owned and joint venture firms based on ownership. The multiple regression models were employed to investigate the effects of three lean constructs on operational performance in different categories of firms. The operational performance is measured by four parameters such as quick delivery compared to ...

Research paper thumbnail of Green supply chain collaboration and incentives: Current trends and future directions

Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of Critical Success Factors of Six-Sigma Implementation: An Analytic Hierarchy Process Based Study

International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management, 2006

Six-Sigma is a well-established and one of the most recognized approaches in manufacturing strate... more Six-Sigma is a well-established and one of the most recognized approaches in manufacturing strategy development. Companies who have adopted and successfully implemented such a methodology were found to be more innovative which led to increased customer satisfaction and an improved bottom line. The aim of this study is to identify factors for successful Six-Sigma implementation by using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The study involves four phases, which include: (1) assessment of potential factors and performance measures in Six-Sigma implementation (2) development of the problem structure and building the AHP model (3) soliciting and compilation of opinion on preferences through expert interviews, and (4) determination of critical success factors. Twenty-one experts, consisting of three-project champions and eighteen-black belts from five multinational companies located in Thailand, were interviewed. Expert Choice® software was used to compute the normalized and unique prior...

Research paper thumbnail of Indian textile suppliers' sustainability evaluation using the grey approach

International Journal of Production Economics, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of Skill requirements for logistics professionals: findings and implications

Research paper thumbnail of Management of product returns in retail firms: an investigation into critical determinants

This study investigates the critical determinants of product returns management in Australian ret... more This study investigates the critical determinants of product returns management in Australian retail firms. Through the critical case sampling method we identify 17 major retail firms and analyse contents of their returns policies in terms of returns services. We develop a generic returns operations process model that can be follow ed by retailers. Analysis of return policies indicates quick resolution of return claims, less customer effort, and clarity of return policy and process are critical determinants for customer service elements of returns management in retails. The findings of the study can act as a reference guide to senior executives developing strategies for competitive advantage through efficient product returns management viz. customer retention and asset management. --ANZAM conference held: 4-6 December, Hobart, Tasmania

Research paper thumbnail of The impact of buyer-supplier cooperation and decision-making uncertainty on supply chain

Fast-changing consumer demand and preference in the fashion-oriented sporting goods industry inte... more Fast-changing consumer demand and preference in the fashion-oriented sporting goods industry intensify the retailer's perceived uncertainty in purchase decisions. To minimize retailers' decision-making uncertainty (DMU) , enhancing the cooperative relationships between the retailers and suppliers in such markets are of paramount importance to the supply chain performance. The aim of this study is to investigate how retailer-supplier cooperation and DMU affect the supply chain performance and how the relationship dimensions are related to cooperation and DMU. The results indicate that retailer-supplier cooperation and retai,ler's DMU had significant impact on supply chain performance in terms of financial and non-financial performance measures.

Research paper thumbnail of Benchmarking and best practices in supply chain management

The International Journal of Logistics Management, 2017

Research paper thumbnail of Management of Product Returns in Retail Firms: an Investigation into Retail Returns Policies and Service Determinants

This study investigates the critical determinants of product returns management in Australian ret... more This study investigates the critical determinants of product returns management in Australian retail firms. Through the critical case sampling method we identify 17 major retail firms and analyse contents of their returns policies in terms of returns services. We develop a generic returns operations process model that can be followed by retailers. Analysis of return policies indicates quick resolution of return claims, less customer effort, and clarity of return policy and process are critical determinants for customer service elements of returns management in retails. The findings of the study can act as a reference guide to senior executives developing strategies for competitive advantage through efficient product returns management viz. customer retention and asset management.

Research paper thumbnail of A Recovery Model for Sudden Supply Delay with Demand Uncertainty and Safety Stock

In this paper, a recovery model is developed for managing sudden supply delays that affect retail... more In this paper, a recovery model is developed for managing sudden supply delays that affect retailers’ Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) model. For this, a mathematical model is developed that considers demand uncertainty and safety stock, and generates a recovery plan for a finite future period immediately after a sudden supply delay. Solving recovery problems involve high commercial software costs, and their solutions are complex. Therefore, an efficient heuristic solution is developed that generates the recovery plan after a sudden supply delay. An experiment is conducted to test the proposed approach. To assess the quality and consistency of solutions, the performance of the proposed heuristic is compared with the performance of the Generalized Reduced Gradient (GRG) method, which is widely applied in constrained mathematical programming. Several numerical examples are presented and a sensitivity analysis is performed to demonstrate the effects of various parameters on the performanc...

Research paper thumbnail of Factors affecting radio frequency identification technology implementation: a comparative study of Australian and Chinese supply chains

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology has emerged as one of the most significant proce... more Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology has emerged as one of the most significant process innovations in supply chain contexts. It is a proven technology with the capability to increase accuracy, efficiency and speed of supply chain processes; reduce inventory and handling costs. The aim of this study is to investigate and compare enabling factors of RFID implementation in Australian and Chinese supply chains. Employing the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) approach this study suggests that managers in Chinese firms have a very different view concerning importance of factors for RFID implementation. Australians firms view technological factor-category as the most important priority, whereas Chinese firms view it as the least important category. Again, Australian firms view organizational factor-category as one of the least important priorities in terms of RFID implementation, whereas Chinese view it by far the most important. With respect to external environment category, t...

Research paper thumbnail of The use of social media in public e-procurement: Some possibilities and challenges

Social Media (SM), in recent years, is emerging as a common platform for low cost information exc... more Social Media (SM), in recent years, is emerging as a common platform for low cost information exchange, and has attracted a critical mass of users both at corporate and retail levels. Theoretically, SM can thus be used as a tool to strengthen e-procurement in the public sector. Towards this end, we have prepared a conceptual model drawing on literature reviews and some examples while identifying a set of expected benefits and challenges within four stages of e-procurement. Using the framework, a case study has been conducted involving Australian public procurement initiatives and 15 federal government senior officials engaged in e-procurement. They have been interviewed to shed light on the possibilities and challenges of using SM in the public e-procurement context. The findings of the study suggest a limited scope for SM usage in the Australian public sector eprocurement process. The implications of the findings are discussed and some recommendations offered.

Research paper thumbnail of Revisiting critical factors of logistics outsourcing relationship: a multiple-case study approach

The International Journal of Logistics Management

PurposeThis paper aims to examine critical factors of successful logistics outsourcing relationsh... more PurposeThis paper aims to examine critical factors of successful logistics outsourcing relationship from the perspectives of both LSPs and shippers employing case studies in Singapore and Vietnam as examples of well-established and growing logistics outsourcing markets.Design/methodology/approachThe case study design is adopted to empirically examine logistics outsourcing practices. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with senior managers from four cases in Singapore and seven cases in Vietnam. These case organisations are engaged comprehensively in logistics outsourcing activities and encompass both international firms that have their local operations and those local firms whose operations expand internationally.FindingsResults suggest that the success of logistics outsourcing may depend on five strategic factors and five operational factors, with some of them being the same between LSPs and shippers in both countries and in line with the literature. There also seemed t...

Research paper thumbnail of Leagile supply chain: design drivers and business performance implications

International Journal of Production Research

In the context of a dynamic and hypercompetitive business environment, effective supply chain des... more In the context of a dynamic and hypercompetitive business environment, effective supply chain design helps organisations to align resources for improved flow of products and services and satisfy customers’ diverse needs. Scholars have proposed several mutually exclusive supply chain designs such as efficient versus responsive, and lean versus agile. Quantitative testing has revealed that supply chain designs of many firms do not match with what was conceptually expected. To address this mismatch, in this study, a new approach to supply chain leagility is introduced and the impact of uncertainty as the key design driver of supply chains on leagility is investigated. The partial least squares (PLS) was employed to analyse data collected from 299 Australian firms by administering a structured questionnaire. Results indicate that higher performance is achievable on minimising the deviation from a balanced supply chain in which aspects of both leanness and agility are equally embedded. Further, the level of uncertainty directly and positively affects the Deviation from Leagility (DFL) index.

Research paper thumbnail of The Impact of Terrorism on Cycle Times in International Supply Chains

Journal of International Logistics and Trade

Research paper thumbnail of Asian Institute of Technology ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTATION FORM

Query optimization, which aims to reduce query evaluation time, is crucial to the success of XML ... more Query optimization, which aims to reduce query evaluation time, is crucial to the success of XML database systems because of the complex structure of XML data and XML queries. Existing optimization techniques neither take the advantage of the rich semantic knowledge available in XML databases nor utilize it in a systematic and efficient manner, resulting in significant reduction of optimization opportunities. Aiming to address these deficiencies, an XML Semantic Query Optimization framework, which employs XML Declarative Description (XDD) theory to model XML databases, XML semantic queries as well as semantic knowledge, is proposed and developed. It uses Equivalent Transformation framework as a basis for query optimization at the semantic (logical) level. The framework fully utilizes, in a systematic way, available semantic knowledge in a database and its schema, and allows flexible but precise control of query optimization processes. Semantic knowledge, formulated as XML Integrity ...

Research paper thumbnail of Critical factors for successful six-sigma implementation: an analytical hierarchy process (AHP) based

Research paper thumbnail of Sourcing complexity in the Chinese manufacturing sector: An assessment of intangible factors and contractual relationship strategies

International Journal of Production Economics, 2015

ABSTRACT Over the past three decades original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) located in China and... more ABSTRACT Over the past three decades original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) located in China and elsewhere have been aggressively sourcing from Chinese suppliers. This has significantly contributed toward the complexity of global supply chains. Generally, both tangible and intangible factors contribute to the complexity, with intangible factors being relatively more dominant compared with the tangible factors. Through an extensive literature review we identify several intangible factors associated with people, culture, and infrastructure; as well as policies and regulations on sourcing complexity. We investigate the impact of these factors and elements on sourcing complexity, using a sample of 101 OEMs based in China. Using importance-complexity matrix analysis we identify lack of knowledge, quality issues, price erosion, increases in comparative price levels, supply risk and demand volatility as critical intangible elements. We suggest appropriate supplier contractual strategies such as collaborative relationships as we predict that contractual relationships that benefit by trust, shared knowledge, skill development and direct purchase from suppliers or through international procurement offices would suppress or greatly diminish most of the intangible sourcing complexity elements.

Research paper thumbnail of Supply Chain Complexity and Strategy

Supply Chain Strategies, Issues and Models, 2013

ABSTRACT The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of supply chain complexity and sug... more ABSTRACT The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of supply chain complexity and suggests appropriate supply chain strategies based on material flow and contractual relationships, to align product and process complexities. The material flow strategies considered for product and process alignment are lean, agile, leagile and risk hedging. The strategies considered for the contractual relationship are types of relationship, integration and preferred channel of operation. We substantiate the link between strategies and types of complexities using a case study. The discussion of this chapter is useful to supply chain managers for leveraging product and process complexities into competitive advantage.

Research paper thumbnail of Factors for implementing end-of-life computer recycling operations in reverse supply chains

International Journal of Production Economics, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of Impact of lean strategy on operational performance: a study of Thai manufacturing companies

Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which lean management practices are ... more PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which lean management practices are adopted by manufacturing organizations in Thailand and their impact on firms' operational performance.Design/methodology/approachUsing a survey questionnaire, data were collected against 13 lean practices from 187 middle and senior managers belonging to 187 Thai manufacturing firms. Using factor analysis these lean practices were then clustered into three higher level constructs namely just in time (JIT), waste minimization and flow management. The responding firms were categorized into small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises (LEs) based on size and Thai‐owned, foreign‐owned and joint venture firms based on ownership. The multiple regression models were employed to investigate the effects of three lean constructs on operational performance in different categories of firms. The operational performance is measured by four parameters such as quick delivery compared to ...

Research paper thumbnail of Green supply chain collaboration and incentives: Current trends and future directions

Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of Critical Success Factors of Six-Sigma Implementation: An Analytic Hierarchy Process Based Study

International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management, 2006

Six-Sigma is a well-established and one of the most recognized approaches in manufacturing strate... more Six-Sigma is a well-established and one of the most recognized approaches in manufacturing strategy development. Companies who have adopted and successfully implemented such a methodology were found to be more innovative which led to increased customer satisfaction and an improved bottom line. The aim of this study is to identify factors for successful Six-Sigma implementation by using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The study involves four phases, which include: (1) assessment of potential factors and performance measures in Six-Sigma implementation (2) development of the problem structure and building the AHP model (3) soliciting and compilation of opinion on preferences through expert interviews, and (4) determination of critical success factors. Twenty-one experts, consisting of three-project champions and eighteen-black belts from five multinational companies located in Thailand, were interviewed. Expert Choice® software was used to compute the normalized and unique prior...

Research paper thumbnail of Indian textile suppliers' sustainability evaluation using the grey approach

International Journal of Production Economics, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of Skill requirements for logistics professionals: findings and implications

Research paper thumbnail of Management of product returns in retail firms: an investigation into critical determinants

This study investigates the critical determinants of product returns management in Australian ret... more This study investigates the critical determinants of product returns management in Australian retail firms. Through the critical case sampling method we identify 17 major retail firms and analyse contents of their returns policies in terms of returns services. We develop a generic returns operations process model that can be follow ed by retailers. Analysis of return policies indicates quick resolution of return claims, less customer effort, and clarity of return policy and process are critical determinants for customer service elements of returns management in retails. The findings of the study can act as a reference guide to senior executives developing strategies for competitive advantage through efficient product returns management viz. customer retention and asset management. --ANZAM conference held: 4-6 December, Hobart, Tasmania

Research paper thumbnail of The impact of buyer-supplier cooperation and decision-making uncertainty on supply chain

Fast-changing consumer demand and preference in the fashion-oriented sporting goods industry inte... more Fast-changing consumer demand and preference in the fashion-oriented sporting goods industry intensify the retailer's perceived uncertainty in purchase decisions. To minimize retailers' decision-making uncertainty (DMU) , enhancing the cooperative relationships between the retailers and suppliers in such markets are of paramount importance to the supply chain performance. The aim of this study is to investigate how retailer-supplier cooperation and DMU affect the supply chain performance and how the relationship dimensions are related to cooperation and DMU. The results indicate that retailer-supplier cooperation and retai,ler's DMU had significant impact on supply chain performance in terms of financial and non-financial performance measures.

Research paper thumbnail of Benchmarking and best practices in supply chain management

The International Journal of Logistics Management, 2017

Research paper thumbnail of Management of Product Returns in Retail Firms: an Investigation into Retail Returns Policies and Service Determinants

This study investigates the critical determinants of product returns management in Australian ret... more This study investigates the critical determinants of product returns management in Australian retail firms. Through the critical case sampling method we identify 17 major retail firms and analyse contents of their returns policies in terms of returns services. We develop a generic returns operations process model that can be followed by retailers. Analysis of return policies indicates quick resolution of return claims, less customer effort, and clarity of return policy and process are critical determinants for customer service elements of returns management in retails. The findings of the study can act as a reference guide to senior executives developing strategies for competitive advantage through efficient product returns management viz. customer retention and asset management.

Research paper thumbnail of A Recovery Model for Sudden Supply Delay with Demand Uncertainty and Safety Stock

In this paper, a recovery model is developed for managing sudden supply delays that affect retail... more In this paper, a recovery model is developed for managing sudden supply delays that affect retailers’ Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) model. For this, a mathematical model is developed that considers demand uncertainty and safety stock, and generates a recovery plan for a finite future period immediately after a sudden supply delay. Solving recovery problems involve high commercial software costs, and their solutions are complex. Therefore, an efficient heuristic solution is developed that generates the recovery plan after a sudden supply delay. An experiment is conducted to test the proposed approach. To assess the quality and consistency of solutions, the performance of the proposed heuristic is compared with the performance of the Generalized Reduced Gradient (GRG) method, which is widely applied in constrained mathematical programming. Several numerical examples are presented and a sensitivity analysis is performed to demonstrate the effects of various parameters on the performanc...

Research paper thumbnail of Factors affecting radio frequency identification technology implementation: a comparative study of Australian and Chinese supply chains

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology has emerged as one of the most significant proce... more Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology has emerged as one of the most significant process innovations in supply chain contexts. It is a proven technology with the capability to increase accuracy, efficiency and speed of supply chain processes; reduce inventory and handling costs. The aim of this study is to investigate and compare enabling factors of RFID implementation in Australian and Chinese supply chains. Employing the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) approach this study suggests that managers in Chinese firms have a very different view concerning importance of factors for RFID implementation. Australians firms view technological factor-category as the most important priority, whereas Chinese firms view it as the least important category. Again, Australian firms view organizational factor-category as one of the least important priorities in terms of RFID implementation, whereas Chinese view it by far the most important. With respect to external environment category, t...

Research paper thumbnail of The use of social media in public e-procurement: Some possibilities and challenges

Social Media (SM), in recent years, is emerging as a common platform for low cost information exc... more Social Media (SM), in recent years, is emerging as a common platform for low cost information exchange, and has attracted a critical mass of users both at corporate and retail levels. Theoretically, SM can thus be used as a tool to strengthen e-procurement in the public sector. Towards this end, we have prepared a conceptual model drawing on literature reviews and some examples while identifying a set of expected benefits and challenges within four stages of e-procurement. Using the framework, a case study has been conducted involving Australian public procurement initiatives and 15 federal government senior officials engaged in e-procurement. They have been interviewed to shed light on the possibilities and challenges of using SM in the public e-procurement context. The findings of the study suggest a limited scope for SM usage in the Australian public sector eprocurement process. The implications of the findings are discussed and some recommendations offered.

Research paper thumbnail of Revisiting critical factors of logistics outsourcing relationship: a multiple-case study approach

The International Journal of Logistics Management

PurposeThis paper aims to examine critical factors of successful logistics outsourcing relationsh... more PurposeThis paper aims to examine critical factors of successful logistics outsourcing relationship from the perspectives of both LSPs and shippers employing case studies in Singapore and Vietnam as examples of well-established and growing logistics outsourcing markets.Design/methodology/approachThe case study design is adopted to empirically examine logistics outsourcing practices. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with senior managers from four cases in Singapore and seven cases in Vietnam. These case organisations are engaged comprehensively in logistics outsourcing activities and encompass both international firms that have their local operations and those local firms whose operations expand internationally.FindingsResults suggest that the success of logistics outsourcing may depend on five strategic factors and five operational factors, with some of them being the same between LSPs and shippers in both countries and in line with the literature. There also seemed t...

Research paper thumbnail of Leagile supply chain: design drivers and business performance implications

International Journal of Production Research

In the context of a dynamic and hypercompetitive business environment, effective supply chain des... more In the context of a dynamic and hypercompetitive business environment, effective supply chain design helps organisations to align resources for improved flow of products and services and satisfy customers’ diverse needs. Scholars have proposed several mutually exclusive supply chain designs such as efficient versus responsive, and lean versus agile. Quantitative testing has revealed that supply chain designs of many firms do not match with what was conceptually expected. To address this mismatch, in this study, a new approach to supply chain leagility is introduced and the impact of uncertainty as the key design driver of supply chains on leagility is investigated. The partial least squares (PLS) was employed to analyse data collected from 299 Australian firms by administering a structured questionnaire. Results indicate that higher performance is achievable on minimising the deviation from a balanced supply chain in which aspects of both leanness and agility are equally embedded. Further, the level of uncertainty directly and positively affects the Deviation from Leagility (DFL) index.

Research paper thumbnail of The Impact of Terrorism on Cycle Times in International Supply Chains

Journal of International Logistics and Trade