Welcome to the IUP Journal of Operations Management
ISSN: 0972-6888
A ‘peer reviewed’ journal indexed on Cabell’s Directory,
and also distributed by EBSCO and Proquest Database
May'18
Previous Issues
The IUP Journal of Operations
Management is a quarterly journal focusing on inventory
control, Supply Chain Management, Enterprise Resource
Planning (ERP), Just-In-Time (JIT), Total Quality
Management (TQM), Business Process Re-engineering,
logistics management, six sigma, benchmarking and
flexible manufacturing systems.
Privileged access to Online edition for Subscribers.
Market Demand Forecast Method Selection and Application: A Case Study in Hero MotoCorp Ltd.
--D K Choudhury
In this dynamic era, the market is very competitive and the demand for a product fluctuates every now and then. Under these circumstances, it is quite essential to correctly estimate the market demand to survive the competition. If the estimated demand becomes less, the company loses the business but if the estimated demand is high, the company blocks the working capital till such time the excess production is sold in the market. In view of this, an attempt has been made to explore market demand forecast method selection criteria and apply them in practice to find out which one is most suitable for forecasting the demand for products of the industry in the market. The theoretical part of this study starts with the forecast method classification done by different researchers. The analysis of the different forecast methods reveals that it is rather difficult to determine the advantage of any method in forecast estimation as there always remains the risk of wrong method selection. Each forecast method has its advantages and disadvantages under different situations. Therefore, the analysis and differentiation of the main forecast method selection criteria is expedient. The literature review suggests that the selection of the forecast method should be based on several criteria such as forecast accuracy level, forecast time span, the scope of initial data, and the level of result appropriateness. This study was carried out in Hero MotoCorp Ltd. for the selection of a forecast method most suitable for the company for forecasting the motorcycle demand based on the actual demand experienced by the company for the period April 2016 to March 2017. The comparison of the forecast accuracy assessment indicators that were estimated by using different forecast methods indicates that the lowest motorcycle sales forecast error values were achieved by applying exponential smoothing method where smoothing constant, α = 0.3.
Inventory majorly contributes to total cost of a product. Profitability of any organization is directly dependent on its inventory level. Effective and efficient inventory policy is flexible to counter the dynamic customer demand. Selection of right inventory policy plays a vital role in Return on Investment of the organization. This paper presents a multi-criteria inventory selection model. A new Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) has been employed for selection of inventory policies, which hitherto has not been applied in literature. The developed model is user-friendly and can be applied for a large number of alternatives.
Assessment of Total Quality
of Healthcare in Rural
Primary Health Centers
--Udaykumar V Kokatnur and Sharanabasava C Pilli
Primary Health Center (PHC) is the cornerstone of healthcare services in rural areas. To assess the perception of the quality of healthcare delivery, a survey was carried out at three rural PHCs located at Honaga, Mutaga and Sulebhavi in Belagavi taluka of Karnataka. Two questionnaires—(i) demographic data and (ii) services provided grouped under 14 parameters with 114 questions —were designed. The survey was carried out with written consent from the patients seeking healthcare services at the PHCs after explaining them the study design. A comparison of the demographic data in terms of gender, age, education, employment status and income was carried out. The services were compared by the distribution of mode. Cronbach’s alpha for internal consistency, mean, standard deviation, one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), a quality index-based arithmetic mean were also reported. The Pearson coefficients were positively correlated and relative contribution of parameters on patients’ satisfaction was reported. The pair-wise comparison of PHCs indicates a significant difference among the three PHCs. The patients seeking healthcare services are predominantly women and have low educational background and low income. The service quality in the PHCs in Mutaga and Sulebhavi is identical and better than those at Honaga.
Automated Teller Machines (ATMs): The Changing Face of Banking in India
Bank Management
Information and communication technology has changed the way in which banks provide services to its customers. These days the customers are able to perform their routine banking transactions without even entering the bank premises. ATM is one such development in recent years, which provides remote banking services all over the world, including India. This paper analyzes the development of this self-service banking in India based on the secondary data.
The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is playing a very important role in the progress and advancement in almost all walks of life. The deregulated environment has provided an opportunity to restructure the means and methods of delivery of services in many areas, including the banking sector. The ICT has been a focused issue in the past two decades in Indian banking. In fact, ICTs are enabling the banks to change the way in which they are functioning. Improved customer service has become very important for the very survival and growth of banking sector in the reforms era. The technological advancements, deregulations, and intense competition due to the entry of private sector and foreign banks have altered the face of banking from one of mere intermediation to one of provider of quick, efficient and customer-friendly services. With the introduction and adoption of ICT in the banking sector, the customers are fast moving away from the traditional branch banking system to the convenient and comfort of virtual banking. The most important virtual banking services are phone banking, mobile banking, Internet banking and ATM banking. These electronic channels have enhanced the delivery of banking services accurately and efficiently to the customers. The ATMs are an important part of a bank’s alternative channel to reach the customers, to showcase products and services and to create brand awareness. This is reflected in the increase in the number of ATMs all over the world. ATM is one of the most widely used remote banking services all over the world, including India. This paper analyzes the growth of ATMs of different bank groups in India.
International Scenario
If ATMs are largely available over geographically dispersed areas, the benefit from using an ATM will increase as customers will be able to access their bank accounts from any geographic location. This would imply that the value of an ATM network increases with the number of available ATM locations, and the value of a bank network to a customer will be determined in part by the final network size of the banking system. The statistical information on the growth of branches and ATM network in select countries.
Indian Scenario
The financial services industry in India has witnessed a phenomenal growth, diversification and specialization since the initiation of financial sector reforms in 1991. Greater customer orientation is the only way to retain customer loyalty and withstand competition in the liberalized world. In a market-driven strategy of development, customer preference is of paramount importance in any economy. Gone are the days when customers used to come to the doorsteps of banks. Now the banks are required to chase the customers; only those banks which are customercentric and extremely focused on the needs of their clients can succeed in their business today.
