This paper compares and evaluates the performance of five different conventional job selection dis-patching rules for scheduling of multi-load automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) serving for material handling operations in variable sized flexible manufacturing system (FMS) layout. Four sizes of FMS layout are considered for the performance evaluation of the five types of conventional job se-lection dispatching rules. The FMS layouts under consideration are served by the two multi-load AGVs. The multi-load AGVs cruises under machine initiated the nearest vehicle (NV) dispatching rule for the material handling activities at all work centers (WCs) for all four sizes of FMS layout. Four sizes of FMS layout produce five different types of parts and consist of three, six, nine and twelve work centers and loading-unloading centers, respectively. In the simulation test, it is found that the identical destination first (IDF) job selection rule having selection criterion based on the destination similarity of two picked up jobs outperforms all other job selection dispatching rules for an overall production rate of the FMS (parts/hr) in all four FMS layouts.

Variation exists in all processes. There is not even a single process that is completely true. Measuring the trueness of the process is itself a process which can also imitate the process variation. Therefore, measurement system should be strong enough to wager on the trueness of the process. This paper is an attempt to indicate the true method and substantiate the use of measurement system analysis (MSA) by using it in two different environments i.e. in manufacturing as well as process industry. Also, a comparison among various analyzing techniques has been drawn for authenticating the candid method followed by an evaluation using fuzzy TOPSIS for authenticating the results of comparison. The organization’s type, also, strongly influences the performance of MSA as revealed in the conclusion of the article. The results calculated by various methods and in both environments were discussed and as a result ANOVA comes out to be the best method. The application of correct MSA is highly required which ultimately results in increased organizations’ performance. The study is one of its type and will motivate the researchers and industrialists to use and explore the new and efficient ways of MSA.

The aim of this article is to study the impact of marketing innovation and the visual and verbal ele-ments of packaging on customers purchase intentions. After a brief literature review, an empirical study is conducted among 140 customers of Coca-Cola brand in Tlemcen city. To this end, a model of intention has been developed to be tested by structural equations modeling. The results of this study showed that marketing innovation and the visual and verbal elements of packaging directly affect the purchase intentions of the customers of this brand.

India has turned out to be one of the most favorite destinations for the patients who want to undertake cost effective medical care for various medical problems and who have infuriated from the long waiting lists for medical and diagnostic procedures in their home countries. This research aims to analyze different factors along with their intensity affecting medical tourism industry in a developing country like India so that managers and policymakers can take better decisions which will help in growth & promotion of Indian health tourism market. The study has been done by performing a cross-sectional survey within major hospitals in India and exploratory factor analysis and graph theory and matrix approach have been used to evaluate the intensity of variables affecting Indian medical tourism sector. Nineteen variables have been identified through review of literature, and four factors have been extracted including cost, quality of treatment and care, availability of experts, competitive advantage and political, legal and visa related factors. With the understanding of the intensity of different variables suitable precautions can be taken by the healthcare managers so that these variables can be handled very carefully.

Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) is widely used to perform cladding so as to enhance corrosion resistance and several other properties of substrate material. However, the success of cladding us-ing GMAW depends on the optimal selection of its critical parameters. Therefore, in this study, the cladding of stainless steel over mild steel substrate using GMAW process is investigated with an aim to optimize the GMAW process parameters. Three GMAW process parameters i.e. current, voltage, and torch angle were selected and their effect on the time required to complete the cladding and arc power was investigated and optimized. Multiple objective optimization based on ratio anal-ysis (MOORA) method was employed to evaluate and optimize the effect of the selected process parameters. It was found that the current and voltage have significant effect in reducing the time and power required for the cladding process.

Fair HRM practices are indispensable for the success of any company, especially the growing companies. The aim of this exploration is to understand the impact of certain personal characteris-tics of the employees of Telecommunication Company on HRM practices in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A booklet consisted of HRM practices questionnaires along with personal characteristics blank sheet were used to gather the information of the respondents. A total of 210 sample collected from public and private sector Telecommunication Company existing in the Kingdom. The collected data was analyzed by inferential and descriptive statistics and the results were analyzed. The results revealed that married & unmarried, public & private sector, younger & older, high & low income and high & low experienced group of employees differ but in a varied degree on HRM practices in terms of performance appraisal, training and development, security and health, recruitment and se-lection, intention to stay in the company communication, working conditions, compensation and benefits, job analysis and co-worker relationships. The findings’ significances and implications were also elaborated at length and few suggestions were provided that could enhance the fair HRM practices in the telecommunication company in the Kingdom.

Conveyors and automated guided vehicles (AGVs) are important mechanical handling equipment used to transport loads from one place to another. Selection of proper material handling equipment is an intricate process. In the present paper two material handling equipment selection problem was solved using various newly developed multi criteria decision making (MCDM) methods. First a conveyor selection problem with six conflicting criteria and four alternatives was solved using four MCDM methods, i.e. combinative distance based assessment (CODAS) method, evaluation based on distance from average solution (EDAS) method, weighted aggregated sum product assessment (WASPAS) method and multi-objective optimization on the basis of ratio analysis (MOORA) method. Second an automated guided vehicles selection problem with six conflicting criteria and eight alternatives was solved using CODAS, EDAS, WASPAS and MOORA methods. Spearman rank correlation coefficient was calculated between the ranks obtained by various methods. The ranks obtained by these methods were even compared with the ranks of other MCDM methods and it was found that the relatively new methods CODAS, EDAS and WASPAS were in good agree-ment with each other.

Innovation is one of the key factors distinguishing organizations from competitors in today’s high-ly competitive markets. Therefore, improving innovative performance is critical for creating com-petitive advantage. On the other hand, availability of information and knowledge can be defined as one the best ways to increase the innovation ability of organizations. Many theorists as well as practitioners emphasize on knowledge management as an enabler in enhancing organizational inno-vation. Hence, This study is carried out in the Fars governor in Iran during the year of 2017 to in-vestigate the relationship between the knowledge-based leadership and knowledge management and innovation performance. This study is descriptive / survey and the data collection is a cross-sectional and data questionnaire is used to collect the required data. Data analysis and hypotheses testing have indicated a significant relationship between knowledge-based leadership and knowledge management and innovation performance in Fars governor. The results also suggest a relationship between knowledge-based leadership and the knowledge management activities with a coefficient of 0.97. In addition, There is also a positive and meaningful relationship between knowledge management and innovation performance with a coefficient of 0.73 and between knowledge-based leadership and innovation performance with a coefficient of 0.73. The results al-so led to the existence of a relationship between knowledge based leadership, knowledge manage-ment practices and innovation performance with a coefficient of 0.7081.

The purpose of this research is to design a crisis management model in the archival centers of Iran during the pre-crisis phase. The present study was conducted with a qualitative approach using the Grounded theory method. The necessary data was collected using semi-structured interviews. Data saturation was a major factor in determining the sample size. The research population included 20 crisis management specialists and managers of archives in Iran and the data analysis was performed in three stages: open, axial, and selective coding. The paradigmatic model derived from the findings of the research includes the sections of the causal conditions, strategies, intervening conditions and the underlying conditions and their outcomes. The causal conditions are located in two categories of internal crises such as biological crises and lack of proper management, and external crises such as natural disasters, fires and human-made crises. Intervener conditions and backgrounds include cat-egories such as lack of specialist staff training, lack of appropriate environmental conditions and management mechanisms, archival building and human resources issues. To prevent and mitigate the effects of the crisis in archives, some strategies are required such as modern education for resil-ience, teaching how to use documents, standardizing buildings and equipment (non-use of steel skeletons in building archives, use of concrete skeletons Armed or metal, as well as the use of walls and doors and floors of anti-fire covers) in the building of archives and the establishment of multi-layer protective systems for the protection of documents.

Several studies have made known that internet banking (IB) implementation is not only advanta-geous for banks, but also by perception and experience of IB users. Therefore, little is known about factors propelling user’s intention to adopt internet banking in Pakistan. Thus, the purpose of this research is to investigate the role of unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) in internet banking adoption context. A quantitative approach based survey was conducted to col-lect the data from 398 internet banking users. For statistical analysis structural equation model (SEM) approach was used. The result of this study indicates that, UTAUT model provided a good theoretical foundation in technology adoption investigation. Findings confirmed that all four predic-tors (performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence and facilitating condition) were significant and had significant amount of variance in predicting user’s intention to adopt internet banking. Additionally, the IPMA test revealed that performance expectancy was the most important factor among all other variables to predict user’s intention towards adoption of internet banking. Lastly, managerial implications, limitations and future recommendations are discussed.