: In this research, we reviewed contract files and interviewed subject matter experts to collect ... more : In this research, we reviewed contract files and interviewed subject matter experts to collect and analyze data regarding the Army's contract and management practices in the acquisition of services. We examined 154 contracts for four specific service types at eight U.S. Army Mission and Installation Contracting Command (MICC) organizations. The goal was to answer three research questions: (1) Do the contract characteristics differ for different types of services? (2) Do the types of services being acquired affect the management practices being used? and (3) Does the capacity for carrying out acquisition-related work affect the management practices being used? The evaluation of the six contract characteristics revealed that a relationship exists between service type and three of the contract characteristics: contract cost, number of modifications, and contract award strategies. The evaluation of the 13 management practices showed that a relationship exists between service type ...
: The need to effectively and efficiently provide emergency supplies and services is increasing a... more : The need to effectively and efficiently provide emergency supplies and services is increasing all over the world. We investigate policy options: prepositioning supplemental resources, preemptive as well as phased deployment of assets, and surge of supplies and services. We hypothesize that there exists a correlation between these policies and our disaster classification based on localization (dispersed or local) of the disaster and its speed of onset (slow or sudden). We believe that the creation of a matrix and designation of policies based on disaster type will facilitate the policy makers' decision process. Exploring the efficacy of each policy option with respect to several crisis scenarios to assist policy makers to better prepare their disaster response is critical in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response.
We present interval-flow networks, network flow models in which the flow on an arc may be require... more We present interval-flow networks, network flow models in which the flow on an arc may be required to be either zero or within a specified range. The addition of such conditional lower bounds creates a mixed-integer program that captures such well-known restrictions as time windows and minimum load sizes. This paper builds on previous research [1] that described the mathematical properties of interval-flow networks and based on those designed an efficient new heuristic approach that incorporated the conditional bounds into the simplex pivoting process and exploits the efficient, specialized pure-network simplex technologies. The algorithm is applied to interval-flow transportation problems with a variable conditional lower bound and tested on problems with up to 100 nodes and 2000 arcs. Empirical comparisons with CPLEX demonstrate the effectiveness of this methodology, both in terms of solution quality and processing time.
The United States Navy (USN) can rapidly respond to disasters due to high levels of readiness tha... more The United States Navy (USN) can rapidly respond to disasters due to high levels of readiness that are maintained on a constant basis The USN’s unique capabilities allow the Department of Defense (DoD) to engage in global humanitarian operations. We study optimization of the USN’s assets based on the existing work that analyzes USN disaster relief operations. In light of budget cuts, the realignment of forces, and the restructuring of the Services, there is need for research identifying specific naval assets and their utility for conducting humanitarian operations and this research advances that aim.
Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management
PurposeThe purpose of this research is to understand whether an organization knows if it is ready... more PurposeThe purpose of this research is to understand whether an organization knows if it is ready to respond to a disaster and whether it has the capabilities to deliver relief. Our initial motivation was to identify unique resources possessed by the United States Navy (USN) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) due to their unique and critical capabilities for humanitarian operations. The recent frequency of disasters around the world suggests these events will continue to create demand for relief capabilities. For this reason we need to understand readiness metrics not just for USN and USMC but for humanitarian organizations (Hos) in general.Design/methodology/approachWe survey relevant literature for understanding how HOs define and develop readiness metrics and associated factors. We studied documents including peer-reviewed scholarly articles, government documents, white papers, research papers and Department of Defense (DoD) briefings. We study literature that is significantly...
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to show how data analytics can be used to identify areas of ... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to show how data analytics can be used to identify areas of potential cost savings for category managers of installation-level services. Using integrated solid waste management (ISWM) as a test case, the authors also examine the impact of small business set-asides on price and contractor performance. Design/methodology/approach The authors use data analytics, specifically sequential regression, the Wilcoxon rank-sum test and ordered logistic regression to investigate the influence of service- and contracting-related variables on price and contractor performance. Findings The authors find that service- and contracting-related variables influence price. Specifically, they identify that a service-related variable, number of containers, significantly affects price, and that two contracting-related variables, one type of small business set-aside and the number of offers received, also significantly affect price. The authors quantify the price premiums...
Purpose In an increasingly budget-constrained environment, the Department of Defense (DoD) must m... more Purpose In an increasingly budget-constrained environment, the Department of Defense (DoD) must maximize the value of fiscal resources obligated on service contracts. Over half of DoD procurement spending between 2008 and 2012 was obligated on service contracts (GAO, 2013). Many services are common across the enterprise and recurring in nature; however, they are treated as unique and procured individually at the base level, year after year, rather than collectively in accordance with a larger, enterprise-wide category management strategy. The purpose of this paper is to focus on creating a methodology that treats common, recurring service requirements in a more strategic manner. Design/methodology/approach The authors develop a standardized, repeatable methodology that uses relevant cost drivers to analyze service requirements to identify more efficient procurement strategies. Furthermore, they create a clustering continuum to organize services based on proximity between the custome...
This paper presents the results of our case-based research into the causes and remedies of fresh ... more This paper presents the results of our case-based research into the causes and remedies of fresh produce supply chain disruptions resulting from contamination. The research was motivated by the incident of E-coli outbreak in packaged spinach in the US. We base our analysis on information gathered from published literature and data collection in the region from personnel involved in Agriculture. Our research is aimed at addressing the following research questions: What key factors contribute to the vulnerability to disruption from contamination and what are the interrelationships between these contributing factors? What managerial actions may be taken to minimize the fresh produce supply chain's vulnerability to disruption? In this research we develop a conceptual framework consisting of the contributing factors: product type, topological structure, exposure to contamination, product traceability, and communication. The practice related contributions of this research are manageri...
Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management
The U.S. Navy has declared humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) operations as a c... more The U.S. Navy has declared humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) operations as a core mission in support of the U.S. national security strategy. However little work has been done to illustrate which vessels are typically deployed for such operations or the costs of these deployments which, as contingencies, are not part of the regular defense budget. In this work we summarize some of the work that has been done in the area of cost analysis for U.S. Navy HADR operations and conclude with implications for policy makers.
: In this research, we reviewed contract files and interviewed subject matter experts to collect ... more : In this research, we reviewed contract files and interviewed subject matter experts to collect and analyze data regarding the Army's contract and management practices in the acquisition of services. We examined 154 contracts for four specific service types at eight U.S. Army Mission and Installation Contracting Command (MICC) organizations. The goal was to answer three research questions: (1) Do the contract characteristics differ for different types of services? (2) Do the types of services being acquired affect the management practices being used? and (3) Does the capacity for carrying out acquisition-related work affect the management practices being used? The evaluation of the six contract characteristics revealed that a relationship exists between service type and three of the contract characteristics: contract cost, number of modifications, and contract award strategies. The evaluation of the 13 management practices showed that a relationship exists between service type ...
: The need to effectively and efficiently provide emergency supplies and services is increasing a... more : The need to effectively and efficiently provide emergency supplies and services is increasing all over the world. We investigate policy options: prepositioning supplemental resources, preemptive as well as phased deployment of assets, and surge of supplies and services. We hypothesize that there exists a correlation between these policies and our disaster classification based on localization (dispersed or local) of the disaster and its speed of onset (slow or sudden). We believe that the creation of a matrix and designation of policies based on disaster type will facilitate the policy makers' decision process. Exploring the efficacy of each policy option with respect to several crisis scenarios to assist policy makers to better prepare their disaster response is critical in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response.
We present interval-flow networks, network flow models in which the flow on an arc may be require... more We present interval-flow networks, network flow models in which the flow on an arc may be required to be either zero or within a specified range. The addition of such conditional lower bounds creates a mixed-integer program that captures such well-known restrictions as time windows and minimum load sizes. This paper builds on previous research [1] that described the mathematical properties of interval-flow networks and based on those designed an efficient new heuristic approach that incorporated the conditional bounds into the simplex pivoting process and exploits the efficient, specialized pure-network simplex technologies. The algorithm is applied to interval-flow transportation problems with a variable conditional lower bound and tested on problems with up to 100 nodes and 2000 arcs. Empirical comparisons with CPLEX demonstrate the effectiveness of this methodology, both in terms of solution quality and processing time.
The United States Navy (USN) can rapidly respond to disasters due to high levels of readiness tha... more The United States Navy (USN) can rapidly respond to disasters due to high levels of readiness that are maintained on a constant basis The USN’s unique capabilities allow the Department of Defense (DoD) to engage in global humanitarian operations. We study optimization of the USN’s assets based on the existing work that analyzes USN disaster relief operations. In light of budget cuts, the realignment of forces, and the restructuring of the Services, there is need for research identifying specific naval assets and their utility for conducting humanitarian operations and this research advances that aim.
Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management
PurposeThe purpose of this research is to understand whether an organization knows if it is ready... more PurposeThe purpose of this research is to understand whether an organization knows if it is ready to respond to a disaster and whether it has the capabilities to deliver relief. Our initial motivation was to identify unique resources possessed by the United States Navy (USN) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) due to their unique and critical capabilities for humanitarian operations. The recent frequency of disasters around the world suggests these events will continue to create demand for relief capabilities. For this reason we need to understand readiness metrics not just for USN and USMC but for humanitarian organizations (Hos) in general.Design/methodology/approachWe survey relevant literature for understanding how HOs define and develop readiness metrics and associated factors. We studied documents including peer-reviewed scholarly articles, government documents, white papers, research papers and Department of Defense (DoD) briefings. We study literature that is significantly...
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to show how data analytics can be used to identify areas of ... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to show how data analytics can be used to identify areas of potential cost savings for category managers of installation-level services. Using integrated solid waste management (ISWM) as a test case, the authors also examine the impact of small business set-asides on price and contractor performance. Design/methodology/approach The authors use data analytics, specifically sequential regression, the Wilcoxon rank-sum test and ordered logistic regression to investigate the influence of service- and contracting-related variables on price and contractor performance. Findings The authors find that service- and contracting-related variables influence price. Specifically, they identify that a service-related variable, number of containers, significantly affects price, and that two contracting-related variables, one type of small business set-aside and the number of offers received, also significantly affect price. The authors quantify the price premiums...
Purpose In an increasingly budget-constrained environment, the Department of Defense (DoD) must m... more Purpose In an increasingly budget-constrained environment, the Department of Defense (DoD) must maximize the value of fiscal resources obligated on service contracts. Over half of DoD procurement spending between 2008 and 2012 was obligated on service contracts (GAO, 2013). Many services are common across the enterprise and recurring in nature; however, they are treated as unique and procured individually at the base level, year after year, rather than collectively in accordance with a larger, enterprise-wide category management strategy. The purpose of this paper is to focus on creating a methodology that treats common, recurring service requirements in a more strategic manner. Design/methodology/approach The authors develop a standardized, repeatable methodology that uses relevant cost drivers to analyze service requirements to identify more efficient procurement strategies. Furthermore, they create a clustering continuum to organize services based on proximity between the custome...
This paper presents the results of our case-based research into the causes and remedies of fresh ... more This paper presents the results of our case-based research into the causes and remedies of fresh produce supply chain disruptions resulting from contamination. The research was motivated by the incident of E-coli outbreak in packaged spinach in the US. We base our analysis on information gathered from published literature and data collection in the region from personnel involved in Agriculture. Our research is aimed at addressing the following research questions: What key factors contribute to the vulnerability to disruption from contamination and what are the interrelationships between these contributing factors? What managerial actions may be taken to minimize the fresh produce supply chain's vulnerability to disruption? In this research we develop a conceptual framework consisting of the contributing factors: product type, topological structure, exposure to contamination, product traceability, and communication. The practice related contributions of this research are manageri...
Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management
The U.S. Navy has declared humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) operations as a c... more The U.S. Navy has declared humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) operations as a core mission in support of the U.S. national security strategy. However little work has been done to illustrate which vessels are typically deployed for such operations or the costs of these deployments which, as contingencies, are not part of the regular defense budget. In this work we summarize some of the work that has been done in the area of cost analysis for U.S. Navy HADR operations and conclude with implications for policy makers.
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Papers by Aruna Apte