RESEARCH PROJECTS
Optimal seat allocation in two-leg flights One
of the obvious of the deregulation of airlines has been increased price
competition and the resulting proliferation of discount fare booking classes.
While this has had the expected effect of greatly expanded demand for air
travel, it has presented the airlines with a significant tactical planning
problem – that of determining booking policies that result in optimal allocations
of seats among the various fare classes. What is sought is the best tradeoff
between the revenue gained through greater demand for discount seats against
revenues lost when full-fare reservations requests must be turned away
because of prior discount seat sales. Flights with intermediate stops are
considered. N. Abboud. (Supported by URB.)
Investigation of unbalancing in construction bid prices (1997-1998) The
objective of the research project is to develop a methodology that helps
detect bid items that could be part of a price-unbalancing scheme. A comprehensive
review of factors related to the structure of a unit rate, the construction
schedule, and the bill of quantities—that are considered crucial to unbalancing
- has been made. A process model has been devised that is intended to help
the consultant, acting on behalf of the owner, in systematically detecting
possible unbalancing in the most preferred bid price. The process introduces
experience-based heuristic rules aimed at providing a systematic and logical
manipulation of available information, while giving flexibility to the
decision maker to apply own judgement in setting thresholds for the various
criteria introduced in the analysis. The devised unbalancing-detection
process has been automated using MATLAB with interfacing capabilities with
spreadsheet and project management software. M.A. Abdul-Malak. (Supported
by URB.)
A behavioral decision model in scheduling for electrical works under phases construction (1998-1999) In
electrical construction, the contract’s duration initially depends on the
client’s desired project completion time, the scope of the work involved,
and the management’s planning decision regarding the pace at which the
works may proceed. However, the planned work pace is invariably altered
by factors such as client-initiated change orders, insufficient resource
assignment, and the construction programs of other packages that could
be proceeding concurrently with electrical works. This research project
deals with a survey-based investigation of the determinants of an electrical
contract’s duration and their effect on risk assessment and
resource allocation. The work’s merits are an in-depth understanding of
schedule determinants and a behavioral decision model indicative of the
strategies adopted by project managers to alleviate the delay impacts of
scheduling-related problems. M. A. Abdul-Malak. (Supported by URB.)
Strategies for reducing delays in large construction projects (1997-98) This
paper presents the major causes of delays in the construction industry
in Lebanon and their relative importance. A survey of a randomly selected
sample of 11 owners, 15 contractors, and 10 architectural/engineering firms
(A/E) from Lebanon was undertaken. The survey included 64 causes of delay,
grouped into 10 major groups, in which the participants were asked to indicate
their level of importance of each delay. The level of importance of the
causes and the groups were measured and ranked by their importance index
for owners, contractors, and A/Es. It was found that all three parties
generally agree on the ranking of the major categories of delay factors.
Owners have more concerns regarding financial issues. Contractors ranked
contractual relationships the highest. Finally, A/Es ranked project management
as the highest. T. Mezher. (Supported by URB.)
Greening of people in the manufacturing sector in Lebanon: a study of current practices in environmental management (1998-99) The
objective of this project is to analyze and appraise whether emerging economic
and environmental considerations in Lebanon are affecting human resource
management practices in the manufacturing sector. In addition, the paper
looks at the curriculum of business and management programs in higher educational
institutions as well as in training institutions to see if they offer the
needed knowledge in environmental management to provide the private and
the public sectors with skillful managers. The paper assesses the current
environmental management practices in the Lebanese manufacturing industry.
In addition, the best practices in environmental management are recorded
in order to be adapted by other organizations. Furthermore, the project
will also evaluate the current environmental management programs in business
and engineering schools in Lebanon to see if they are meeting the demand
of the private and public sectors. Finally we will investigate the training
programs that are available in leading training institutions where many
leading firms use to update the skills and knowledge of their managers.
Recommendations were suggested in order to ensure that good environmental
management practices are adopted in Lebanon. T. Mezher. (Supported
by URB.)
Effect of payment credit facilities on the inventory continuous review model This
inventory model incorporates the effect of payment credit facilities on
the economic order quantity of the continuous review model. Continuous
compounding and discounting is used and performed on continuous flows where
applicable. The uniqueness of the optimal solution is demonstrated, and
the feasibility of payment credit facility offers is investigated. Because
of the probabilistic nature of demand, the Microsoft Excel Solver is used
to determine the optimal operating policy. M. K. Salameh and N.
E. Abboud. (Supported by URB.)
Abboud, N. E. Daigle, J. N.*, A little’s result approach to the service constrained spares provisioning problem. Operations Research, 45, 4, 577-583, 1997. Mezher, T., Sustainable development strategies for Lebanon. Sustainable Development,5 (2), 55-64, 1997. Mezher, T., Abdul-Malak, M.A. and Dayya, M., Decision support system for managing infrastructure telecommunication projects. Management in Engineering Journal, ASCE, 15 (1), 74-81, 1999. Mezher, T., Abdul-Malak, M.A. and Maarouf, B., Embedding critics in decision making environments to reduce human errors. Knowledge-Based Systems, 11 (3), 229-237, November1998. Mezher, T., Abdul-Malak, M.A. and Mokahal, M., A heuristic rule-based procedure for identifying obstacle to the diffusion of construction technologies. International Journal of Construction Information Technology, 6 (1), 25-46, July 1998. Mezher, T., Chedid, R., Zahabi, W., Energy resource allocation using multiobjective goal programming: the case of Lebanon. Applied Energy Journal, 61 (4), 175-192, December 1998. Mezher, T., and Ramadan, H., The costs and benefits of getting the ISO 9000 certification in the manufacturing sector in Saudi Arabia. Quality Assurance Journal, 6 (2), 107-122, 1999. Mezher, T., Tawil, W., Causes of delays in the construction industry. Engineering Construction and Architecture Management Journal, 5 (3), 252-260, September 1998. Salameh, M. and Jaber, M.Y., Buffer stock analysis for a single source-single location inventory model with delivery lag. Production Planning and Control Journal, 9 (8), 754-759, 1998. Salameh, M., Jaber, M.Y., and Nuwayhid, N., Effect of deteriorating items on the instantaneous replenishment model. Production Planning and Control Journal, 10 (2), 175-180,1999. Salameh, M., and Nuwayhid, N., Effect of payment credit facilities on the instantaneous replenishment model, an exact approach. Production Planning and Control Journal, 10 (5), 448-453, 1999. Salameh, M., Nuwayhid, N., and Fakhreddine, S., Effect of deteriorating items on the instantaneous replenishment model with backlogging. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 37 (1-2), 231-234, 1999. Silverman,
B.G. and Mezher T., A study of strategies for computerized critiquing of
programmers. Empirical Software Engineering, 2 (4), 339-60, 1997.
ABSTRACTS,
PRESENTATIONS AND PROCEEDINGS
Abdul-Malak, M.A., Modelinthe frictional performance of highway surfaces using neural networks. International Congress on Computing in Civil Engineering, American Society of Civil Engineers, 660-670, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A., 1998. ———, Parameters for an integrated life-cycle analysis of transportation. Fourth International Conference on Urban Transport and the Environment for the 21st Century, Lisbon, Portugal, 1998. Mezher, T., Abdul-Malak, M.A. and Mokahal, M., Using expert critiquing system for improving construction technology diffusion problem. International Congress on Computing in Civil Engineering, American Society of Civil Engineers, 135-146, Boston, Massachusetts, October 1998. Mezher, T., Medawar, H., Applying total quality management techniques to improve software development. The Second International Al Shaam Conference on Information Technology, Damascus, Syria, 119, April 1999. Salameh, M. K. and Kassar, A., The effect of credit facilities on the single period model. International Conference on Scientific Computations ICS99, Beirut, Lebanon, 1999. Salameh,
M. K., and Jaber, M. Y., Accounting for imperfect quality items when using
the economic order quantity (EOQ) model. FUCaM International Conference
on Industrial Engineering and Production Management, Lyon, France,
373-379, 1997.
Abou Ibrahim, O., A computational model for solid waste management applied to the Greater Beirut area (1997). Nadim E. Abboud. Abou Jawdeh, M., Methods of pricing of general items in construction bidding (1999). M. A. Abdul Malak. Abou Nehme Sawaya, A., A new regenerative based algorithm for closed Jackson Networks (1997). NadimE. Abboud. Bogarian, S., Cost control for phased construction (1998). M. A. Abdul Malak. Chehab, G., Materials purchase and inventory management in building construction (1999). M. A. Abdul Malak. Dakkash, Z., Lessons learned in contract administration (1999). M. A. Abdul Malak. El-Baba, J., Optimal allocation of rooms among different classes and services in hospitals (1998). Nadim E. Abboud. El-Khoury, F., Total quality management: application to maintenance department of hospitals (1998). T. Mezher. El Medawar, H., Applying TQM techniques to improve software development (1999). T. Mezher. El-Saadi, M., Administrative procedures for the administration of construction claims (1999). M. A. Abdul Malak. Farah, R., Determinants of the schedule duration for electrical construction (1998). M. A. Abdul Malak. Jiblawi, J., Towards quantifying the concrete parameter for concrete construction (1999). M. A. Abdul Malak. Jureidini, N., A feasibility study for the expansion of a printing press in Lebanon (1998). Nadim E. Abboud. Kawasmi,M., Electronic commerce and the banking sector in Lebanon (1999). T. Mezher. Mohammad, M., Standardizing the statistical quality control process in accordance with 1509000: the case light metal products (1998). Nadim E. Abboud. Namani, M., Towards environmental best practices in the Lebanese manufacturing industry (1999). T. Mezher. Ramadan, H., The advantages and disadvantages of getting the ISO 9000 certification in the manufacturing sector in Saudi Arabia (1999). T. Mezher. Semaha, A., The Design-Build Approach: Applicability and 1999). M. A. Abdul Malak. Shoucair, M., Factors critical to the delivery of construction projects under the BOT concept (1999). M. A. Abdul Malak. Thomeh, S., Towards TQM application to the delivery of low-voltage switchgear assemblies (1999). M. A. Abdul Malak. Zreik,
C., Greening of people in the manufacturing sector in Lebanon: a study
of current practices in environmental Management (1999). T. Mezher.
|
