This page has only limited features, please log in for full access.

Dr. Sen Liu
Yunnan University of Finance and Economics

Basic Info

Basic Info is private.

Research Keywords & Expertise

0 Cloud Computing
0 Group Decision Making
0 Logistics
0 Information systems and business systems
0 Supply chain and logistics management

Fingerprints

Supply chain and logistics management
Group Decision Making
Logistics
Cloud Computing

Honors and Awards

The user has no records in this section


Career Timeline

The user has no records in this section.


Short Biography

The user biography is not available.
Following
Followers
Co Authors
The list of users this user is following is empty.
Following: 0 users

Feed

Journal article
Published: 15 January 2021 in Sustainability
Reads 0
Downloads 0

In response to the online channels established by manufacturers, physical retailers are starting to offer innovative services, which will intensify conflicts between manufacturers and retailers. Considering that the conflict will affect the operation efficiency and sustainable development of the supply chain, the coordination mechanism of a dual-channel supply chain has been established. In this study, we construct the Stackelberg game model based on consumer utility theory to analyze the complex mechanism of retailers' innovation input level affecting supply chain operation and design the double coordination mechanism. The results show that: (1) an optimal combination of wholesale prices, retail prices and innovation input levels can optimize the operational efficiency of the supply chain, (2) Noncooperation among channel members affects the retailer’s product pricing, decreases the market share of the physical channel and increases the market demand of manufacturers, (3) The dual coordination mechanism can alleviate channel conflicts, which can improve the operational efficiency of the supply chain. This study provides several insights on the theory of organizational coordination and sustainable development in conflicts of dual-channel supply chains.

ACS Style

Wensheng Yang; Yinyuan Si; Jinxing Zhang; Sen Liu; Andrea Appolloni. Coordination Mechanism of Dual-Channel Supply Chains Considering Retailer Innovation Inputs. Sustainability 2021, 13, 813 .

AMA Style

Wensheng Yang, Yinyuan Si, Jinxing Zhang, Sen Liu, Andrea Appolloni. Coordination Mechanism of Dual-Channel Supply Chains Considering Retailer Innovation Inputs. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (2):813.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Wensheng Yang; Yinyuan Si; Jinxing Zhang; Sen Liu; Andrea Appolloni. 2021. "Coordination Mechanism of Dual-Channel Supply Chains Considering Retailer Innovation Inputs." Sustainability 13, no. 2: 813.

Research article
Published: 13 November 2020 in International Journal of Intelligent Systems
Reads 0
Downloads 0

This article aims to develop a novel hybrid multi‐attribute group decision‐making approach under interval‐valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IVIFS) by integrating variable weight, correlation coefficient, and technique for order performance by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS). First, experts give their evaluation in IVIFS, and then the weighting evaluation matrix is computed based on interval‐valued intuitionistic fuzzy weighted averaging operator with the subjective attribute weights given in advance. Second, a simple and useful weighting approach on the basis of correlation coefficient is put forward to obtain the experts weights. Third, we treat the attribute weights as a varying vector, and then propose a variable weighting approach for its acquisition. Fourth, an individual decision can be converted to an alternative decision by considering the experts and attributes weights together. At last, the integrated assessment value of each alternative is computed by TOPSIS, and then the most appropriate alternative is chosen. Two illustrative examples dealt with the problem by the method presented in this article demonstrate the usefulness of this approach, compared with those by the other methods.

ACS Style

Sen Liu; Wei Yu; Felix T. S. Chan; Ben Niu. A variable weight‐based hybrid approach for multi‐attribute group decision making under interval‐valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets. International Journal of Intelligent Systems 2020, 36, 1015 -1052.

AMA Style

Sen Liu, Wei Yu, Felix T. S. Chan, Ben Niu. A variable weight‐based hybrid approach for multi‐attribute group decision making under interval‐valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets. International Journal of Intelligent Systems. 2020; 36 (2):1015-1052.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sen Liu; Wei Yu; Felix T. S. Chan; Ben Niu. 2020. "A variable weight‐based hybrid approach for multi‐attribute group decision making under interval‐valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets." International Journal of Intelligent Systems 36, no. 2: 1015-1052.

Conference paper
Published: 11 November 2020 in Transactions on Petri Nets and Other Models of Concurrency XV
Reads 0
Downloads 0

With the popularity of Internet technology, e-commerce enterprises have rapidly developed. Orders need to be collected before delivery, and vehicles are waiting in the warehouse for most enterprises. This paper considers a capacitated vehicle routing problem with order release time, with the aim of minimizing the maximum order delivery time. A mathematical model is first built, and then, a hybrid harmony search algorithm is proposed to address the nearest optimal solutions, with three methods to generate initial harmony memory, an optimization algorithm to evaluate each harmony and a tabu search to improve initial solutions and neighbourhood solutions. The linear programming software CPLEX is applied to verify the rationality of the mathematical model. Computational results indicate that the average solution quality of all generated instances obtained by the hybrid harmony search is better than the current operational strategy of the enterprise, a tabu search algorithm and a genetic algorithm in the related articles.

ACS Style

Ling Liu; Sen Liu; Ben Niu; Hui Tan. A Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem with Order Release Time Based on a Hybrid Harmony Search. Transactions on Petri Nets and Other Models of Concurrency XV 2020, 235 -249.

AMA Style

Ling Liu, Sen Liu, Ben Niu, Hui Tan. A Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem with Order Release Time Based on a Hybrid Harmony Search. Transactions on Petri Nets and Other Models of Concurrency XV. 2020; ():235-249.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ling Liu; Sen Liu; Ben Niu; Hui Tan. 2020. "A Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem with Order Release Time Based on a Hybrid Harmony Search." Transactions on Petri Nets and Other Models of Concurrency XV , no. : 235-249.

Research article
Published: 09 September 2020 in Mathematical Problems in Engineering
Reads 0
Downloads 0

The bullwhip effect (BWE) and stochastic demand coexist in supply chain operation management, which leads to a lower performance. In recent years, with the development of blockchain, cloud computing, big data, and other digital technologies (DTs), many enterprises hope to use them to weaken the BWE and improve profits. This paper focuses on improving the application level of DTs in the supply chain through coordination for enhancing the performance. We consider a supply chain with one-supplier-one-retailer and coordinate it with the cost-sharing contract and revenue-cost-sharing contract (the improved contract). We find out that the retailer and supplier did not always have the willingness to use DTs to alleviate the BWE. Even if they have the intention to use DTs, their ideal application level is not the same. After coordination, both the application level of DTs and the performance of the supply chain are improved, and we find that the improved contract has a better coordination effect. Finally, we validate our model by numerical simulation.

ACS Style

Wenxue Ran; Yan Wang; Lifan Yang; Sen Liu. Coordination Mechanism of Supply Chain considering the Bullwhip Effect under Digital Technologies. Mathematical Problems in Engineering 2020, 2020, 1 -28.

AMA Style

Wenxue Ran, Yan Wang, Lifan Yang, Sen Liu. Coordination Mechanism of Supply Chain considering the Bullwhip Effect under Digital Technologies. Mathematical Problems in Engineering. 2020; 2020 ():1-28.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Wenxue Ran; Yan Wang; Lifan Yang; Sen Liu. 2020. "Coordination Mechanism of Supply Chain considering the Bullwhip Effect under Digital Technologies." Mathematical Problems in Engineering 2020, no. : 1-28.

Journal article
Published: 05 August 2020 in Applied Mathematical Modelling
Reads 0
Downloads 0

Several logistics problems involving disaster relief have attracted growing research interest in the recent decade. A commonality among these problems is that demand–supply incongruence is always observed in post-disaster logistics operations due to the limited relief supplies and the randomly increasing relief demands. In such situations, the decision maker fails to meet the total relief demands simultaneously. This study employs a novel decision-making framework, where the traditional disaster relief logistics actions (e.g., vehicles routing and relief allocation) are replaced by periodic, sequential actions involving demand point location and assignment. A sequential approach allows the decision maker, in the face of every demand-point, to decide whether to locate and assign it to relief suppliers immediately or later, which sequentially influences the decision in the next period. A dynamic optimization model is built and solved by using particle swarm optimization algorithm. The results of a case study indicate the advantages of the sequential approach.

ACS Style

Sha-Lei Zhan; Sen Liu; Joshua Ignatius; Daqiang Chen; Felix T.S. Chan. Disaster relief logistics under demand-supply incongruence environment: A sequential approach. Applied Mathematical Modelling 2020, 89, 592 -609.

AMA Style

Sha-Lei Zhan, Sen Liu, Joshua Ignatius, Daqiang Chen, Felix T.S. Chan. Disaster relief logistics under demand-supply incongruence environment: A sequential approach. Applied Mathematical Modelling. 2020; 89 ():592-609.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sha-Lei Zhan; Sen Liu; Joshua Ignatius; Daqiang Chen; Felix T.S. Chan. 2020. "Disaster relief logistics under demand-supply incongruence environment: A sequential approach." Applied Mathematical Modelling 89, no. : 592-609.

Research article
Published: 24 July 2020 in Complexity
Reads 0
Downloads 0

Nowadays, how to offer extremely fast response to customer orders has become a major challenge for warehouse management, especially in e-commerce. Due to the time urgency aspect of some “VIP” orders that need priority processing, one of the most important issues for logistics distribution centres is how to improve the VIP order-picking priority without reducing the common order-picking efficiency. With this consideration, this article put forward a new priority polling model to describe and analyse this problem. We divide orders into priority and common categories according to their time urgency. A mathematical model is established for such a system by applying polling theory, a probability generating function, and an embedded Markov chain. Numerical analysis shows that this priority polling-based picking system can improve the picking efficiency and is well suited to practical operations.

ACS Style

Wenxue Ran; Sen Liu; Zhe Zhang. A Polling-Based Dynamic Order-Picking System considering Priority Orders. Complexity 2020, 2020, 1 -15.

AMA Style

Wenxue Ran, Sen Liu, Zhe Zhang. A Polling-Based Dynamic Order-Picking System considering Priority Orders. Complexity. 2020; 2020 ():1-15.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Wenxue Ran; Sen Liu; Zhe Zhang. 2020. "A Polling-Based Dynamic Order-Picking System considering Priority Orders." Complexity 2020, no. : 1-15.

Journal article
Published: 23 July 2020 in Sustainability
Reads 0
Downloads 0

Disasters accompanied by heavy casualties and huge economic losses directly result in the disruption or delay of economic development. Considering the urgent need for reducing losses and accelerating the process of social recovery, international nongovernment organizations (INGOs) and local NGOs (LNGOs) with different resource endowments should achieve organizational coordination to improve the relief efficiency and sustainability of the humanitarian supply chain. Due to conflicting interests and expectations, this coordination is hard to achieve. In this study, we first establish an evolutionary game model between INGOs and LNGOs to determine the influencing factors and explore the interaction of NGOs in a dynamic way. Our results show that: (1) coordination by resource sharing can improve the sustainability of the humanitarian supply chain; (2) coordination willingness is affected by the behavior of other players, which can nevertheless achieve equilibrium under certain conditions; and (3) the important factors and optimal strategies of players are highlighted in the dynamic model. This study provides several insights into the theory of organizational coordination in the humanitarian supply chain regarding sustainability.

ACS Style

Fan Chen; Sen Liu; Andrea Appolloni. Horizontal Coordination of I-LNGOs in the Humanitarian Supply Chain: An Evolutionary Game Approach. Sustainability 2020, 12, 5953 .

AMA Style

Fan Chen, Sen Liu, Andrea Appolloni. Horizontal Coordination of I-LNGOs in the Humanitarian Supply Chain: An Evolutionary Game Approach. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (15):5953.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Fan Chen; Sen Liu; Andrea Appolloni. 2020. "Horizontal Coordination of I-LNGOs in the Humanitarian Supply Chain: An Evolutionary Game Approach." Sustainability 12, no. 15: 5953.

Research article
Published: 22 July 2020 in Mathematical Problems in Engineering
Reads 0
Downloads 0

The green supply chain management (GSCM) is an enterprise’s effort to protect the environment and a key way to achieve sustainable environmental development. On the contrary, globalization brings more risks to the supply chain. Resilience has become a critical definition in supply chain management to help enterprises review the disruption and return to normal state. Therefore, choosing a resilient-green supplier to build a supply chain environment with flexibility and greenness under interruption becomes necessary for research works. However, the existing studies tended to focus on only one of the factors with resilience and greenness, and no comprehensive criteria system and performance value is expressed by a crisp number. Therefore, this paper proposes a hybrid method which integrates the Best-Worst method (BWM), Weighted Aggregated Sum-Product Assessment (WASPAS), and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) to solve the critical problems. Firstly, BWM is used to weigh the criteria; secondly, intuitionistic fuzzy numbers are introduced into the ranking stage. Then, the integrated WASPAS and TOPSIS are used to rank the alternatives to select the optimal resilient-green supplier. Finally, an illustrative example proves the feasibility of this method.

ACS Style

Lei Xiong; Shuqi Zhong; Sen Liu; Xiao Zhang; Yanfeng Li. An Approach for Resilient-Green Supplier Selection Based on WASPAS, BWM, and TOPSIS under Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets. Mathematical Problems in Engineering 2020, 2020, 1 -18.

AMA Style

Lei Xiong, Shuqi Zhong, Sen Liu, Xiao Zhang, Yanfeng Li. An Approach for Resilient-Green Supplier Selection Based on WASPAS, BWM, and TOPSIS under Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets. Mathematical Problems in Engineering. 2020; 2020 ():1-18.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Lei Xiong; Shuqi Zhong; Sen Liu; Xiao Zhang; Yanfeng Li. 2020. "An Approach for Resilient-Green Supplier Selection Based on WASPAS, BWM, and TOPSIS under Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets." Mathematical Problems in Engineering 2020, no. : 1-18.

Journal article
Published: 02 June 2020 in IEEE Access
Reads 0
Downloads 0

The emergence of blockchain technology has significantly changed the underlying infrastructure of existing information technology and will fundamentally affect the production modes of enterprises. However, because the application of blockchain is still in its infancy, it is difficult for an enterprise to develop a comprehensive assessment of various types of blockchain service providers in the market. Hence, enterprises need scientific decision tools to estimate which blockchain service provider is appropriate. However, few studies have focused on this phenomenon. Therefore, to address this challenge, this investigation proposes a novel integrated multi-attribute group decision-making (MAGDM) method to help enterprises estimate which blockchain vendor is more appropriate by considering more comprehensive influence factors. The proposed method is defined in an intuitionistic fuzzy environment and integrates entropy and the best-worst method (BWM) for comprehensive weighting of decision makers (DMs), subjective criteria and objective criteria in the decision-making process to make the decision results more reliable and reasonable. A numerical example and comparison are provided to illustrate the practicability and usefulness of the method. This study enriches the theory and methodology of blockchain technology and MAGDM analysis.

ACS Style

Sen Liu; Yanan Hu; Xiao Zhang; Yanfeng Li; Ling Liu. Blockchain Service Provider Selection Based on an Integrated BWM-Entropy-TOPSIS Method Under an Intuitionistic Fuzzy Environment. IEEE Access 2020, 8, 104148 -104164.

AMA Style

Sen Liu, Yanan Hu, Xiao Zhang, Yanfeng Li, Ling Liu. Blockchain Service Provider Selection Based on an Integrated BWM-Entropy-TOPSIS Method Under an Intuitionistic Fuzzy Environment. IEEE Access. 2020; 8 (99):104148-104164.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sen Liu; Yanan Hu; Xiao Zhang; Yanfeng Li; Ling Liu. 2020. "Blockchain Service Provider Selection Based on an Integrated BWM-Entropy-TOPSIS Method Under an Intuitionistic Fuzzy Environment." IEEE Access 8, no. 99: 104148-104164.

Journal article
Published: 21 January 2020 in Mathematics
Reads 0
Downloads 0

In this paper, an integrated production and distribution problem for perishable products is presented, which is an NP hard problem where a single machine, multi-customers, and homogenous vehicles with capacity constraints are considered. The objective is to minimize the total order weighted delivery time to measure the customer service level, by making two interacted decisions, production scheduling and vehicle routing, simultaneously. An integrated mathematical model is built, and the validity is measured by the linear programming software CPLEX by solving the small-size instances. An improved large neighborhood search algorithm is designed to address the problem. Firstly, a two-stage algorithm is constructed to generate the initial solution, which determines the order production sequence according to the given vehicle routing. Secondly, several removal/insertion heuristics are applied to enlarge the search space of neighbor solutions. Then, a local search algorithm is designed to improve the neighbor solutions, which further generates more chances to find the optimal solution. For comparison purposes, a genetic algorithm developed in a related problem is employed to solve this problem. The computational results show that the proposed improved large neighborhood search algorithm can provide higher quality solutions than the genetic algorithm.

ACS Style

Ling Liu; Sen Liu; Liu. Integrated Production and Distribution Problem of Perishable Products with a Minimum Total Order Weighted Delivery Time. Mathematics 2020, 8, 146 .

AMA Style

Ling Liu, Sen Liu, Liu. Integrated Production and Distribution Problem of Perishable Products with a Minimum Total Order Weighted Delivery Time. Mathematics. 2020; 8 (2):146.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ling Liu; Sen Liu; Liu. 2020. "Integrated Production and Distribution Problem of Perishable Products with a Minimum Total Order Weighted Delivery Time." Mathematics 8, no. 2: 146.

Journal article
Published: 12 November 2019 in Journal of Cleaner Production
Reads 0
Downloads 0

The deficiency of green products from a quality perspective has attracted significant attention from consumers. The recurring explosions of smart cell phone batteries in recent years is why green products are deemed quality-deficient. However, few researchers has paid attention to this issue, and there is no consensus in the previous literature regarding the impact of returning defective products on vertical dual-channel management in closed-loop supply chains. According to past studies, there are two types of product returns: 1) defective item return and 2) waste product return. The model in our study is based on these two types. However, available studies are not based on this model. Second, we examine how closed-loop supply chain members determine the product quality and price in the presence of return on defective items. Based on our results, we design a revenue-sharing contract to motivate retailer's efforts in recycling waste products. Our paper demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed coordination mechanism in mitigating retail price competitions and enhancing the total profit of dual-channel closed-loop supply chains, compared to non-coordination models. In addition, we also provide a practical managerial insight indicating that it may not be wise to pursue a low return rate for faulty products by making expensive quality improvements, and the increased quality may even worsen the entire supply chain in some scenarios.

ACS Style

Zhe Zhang; Sen Liu; Ben Niu. Coordination mechanism of dual-channel closed-loop supply chains considering product quality and return. Journal of Cleaner Production 2019, 248, 119273 .

AMA Style

Zhe Zhang, Sen Liu, Ben Niu. Coordination mechanism of dual-channel closed-loop supply chains considering product quality and return. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2019; 248 ():119273.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Zhe Zhang; Sen Liu; Ben Niu. 2019. "Coordination mechanism of dual-channel closed-loop supply chains considering product quality and return." Journal of Cleaner Production 248, no. : 119273.

Research article
Published: 07 April 2019 in Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society
Reads 0
Downloads 0

Resilient suppliers can reduce supply chain risk, effectively avoid supply chain disruption, and bring profits to enterprises. However, there is no united measuring index system to evaluate the resilient supplier under supply chain environment, and the assessment language sets are usually crisp values. Therefore, in order to fill the research gap, this paper proposes a hybrid method, which combines triangular fuzzy number, the best-worst method (BWM), and the modular TOPSIS in random environments for group decision-making (GMo-RTOPSIS) to solve the above problem. Firstly, the weight of decision-maker is calculated by using fuzzy BWM which can deal with triangular fuzzy numbers. Secondly, triangular fuzzy number is introduced into GMo-RTOPSIS, and combined with fuzzy BWM, alternatives are sorted to select the best resilient supply chain partner. Finally, the feasibility and universality of this method are proved by illustrative examples.

ACS Style

Jiawu Gan; Shuqi Zhong; Sen Liu; Dan Yang. Resilient Supplier Selection Based on Fuzzy BWM and GMo-RTOPSIS under Supply Chain Environment. Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society 2019, 2019, 1 -14.

AMA Style

Jiawu Gan, Shuqi Zhong, Sen Liu, Dan Yang. Resilient Supplier Selection Based on Fuzzy BWM and GMo-RTOPSIS under Supply Chain Environment. Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society. 2019; 2019 ():1-14.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Jiawu Gan; Shuqi Zhong; Sen Liu; Dan Yang. 2019. "Resilient Supplier Selection Based on Fuzzy BWM and GMo-RTOPSIS under Supply Chain Environment." Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society 2019, no. : 1-14.

Research article
Published: 15 October 2018 in Mathematical Problems in Engineering
Reads 0
Downloads 0

The wide application of cloud computing technology makes supply chain partner share information effectively and increase corporate profits. However, in cloud computing environment, the evaluation process of supply chain partner selection is dynamic and fuzzy, and its evaluation index is uncertain. To solve these problems, this paper proposes a new method combed with rough number, best-worst multicriteria decision-making method (BWM), and compromise ranking method (VIKOR). Firstly, Rough number is used to integrate data from different evaluation matrix. Secondly, rough number improves a new method, BWM, to get RBWM criteria weight methods. Thirdly, the rough numbers are introduced into VIKOR and combined with RBWM to evaluate and sort the supply chain partners. Finally, an example is given to demonstrate the rationality and feasibility of the method.

ACS Style

Sen Liu; Yanan Hu; Yingying Zhang. Supply Chain Partner Selection under Cloud Computing Environment: An Improved Approach Based on BWM and VIKOR. Mathematical Problems in Engineering 2018, 2018, 1 -11.

AMA Style

Sen Liu, Yanan Hu, Yingying Zhang. Supply Chain Partner Selection under Cloud Computing Environment: An Improved Approach Based on BWM and VIKOR. Mathematical Problems in Engineering. 2018; 2018 ():1-11.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sen Liu; Yanan Hu; Yingying Zhang. 2018. "Supply Chain Partner Selection under Cloud Computing Environment: An Improved Approach Based on BWM and VIKOR." Mathematical Problems in Engineering 2018, no. : 1-11.

Research article
Published: 02 September 2018 in Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society
Reads 0
Downloads 0

With the intensification of market competition, the choice of partners in the private sector plays a vital role in the success or failure of the government’s public sector in the bidding process. Based on FRS (factor risk scoring system), SAW (simple additive weighted), and the integrated subjective or objective fuzzy group decision-making methods, the private sector partner selection is carried out under the PPP (public-private partnership) model in this paper. First of all, a decision committee is established to select attributes and identify potential partners. Secondly, we determine the important decision of the consistency of the manufacturer, introduce linguistic variables, calculate and collect the fuzzy weighted personal attributes, evaluate the importance of the attributes, and get the comprehensive fuzzy evaluation. Thirdly, we establish fuzzy value matrix based on fuzzy evaluation and get the total fuzzy vector by multiplying respective weighted vectors and fuzzy evaluation matrix, then calculate the defuzzification value of each total score, and choose the alternative with the maximum score. Finally, an example is given to demonstrate the rationality of the algorithm.

ACS Style

Jiawu Gan; Yingying Zhang; Yanan Hu; Sen Liu. The Cooperation Partner Selection of Private Sector under Public-Private-Partnership Projects: An Improved Approach under Group Decision-Making Based on FRS, SAW, and Integrated Objective/Subjective Attributes. Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society 2018, 2018, 1 -8.

AMA Style

Jiawu Gan, Yingying Zhang, Yanan Hu, Sen Liu. The Cooperation Partner Selection of Private Sector under Public-Private-Partnership Projects: An Improved Approach under Group Decision-Making Based on FRS, SAW, and Integrated Objective/Subjective Attributes. Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society. 2018; 2018 ():1-8.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Jiawu Gan; Yingying Zhang; Yanan Hu; Sen Liu. 2018. "The Cooperation Partner Selection of Private Sector under Public-Private-Partnership Projects: An Improved Approach under Group Decision-Making Based on FRS, SAW, and Integrated Objective/Subjective Attributes." Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society 2018, no. : 1-8.

Journal article
Published: 27 July 2018 in International Journal of Information Management
Reads 0
Downloads 0

The emergence of cloud computing has significantly changed the model used for existing information technology and enhanced agility of a firm through its pay per use mode. However, few studies have focused on this phenomenon, and prior studies are unclear regarding the impact of cloud computing on organizational agility. Therefore, this study investigates the link between cloud computing and organizational agility based on survey data from users of the Alibaba cloud in China. The empirical analysis is conducted using the partial least squares (PLS) based structural equation modeling with SmartPLS 2.0. We propose that two cloud computing related capabilities (i.e., CI flexibility and CI integration) are critical for firms to improve their agility. Based on the IT—agility contradiction, we analyze the moderating effect of IT spending on cloud computing. This study provides a new perspective for understanding cloud computing technology in practice and theory.

ACS Style

Sen Liu; Felix T.S. Chan; Junai Yang; Ben Niu. Understanding the effect of cloud computing on organizational agility: An empirical examination. International Journal of Information Management 2018, 43, 98 -111.

AMA Style

Sen Liu, Felix T.S. Chan, Junai Yang, Ben Niu. Understanding the effect of cloud computing on organizational agility: An empirical examination. International Journal of Information Management. 2018; 43 ():98-111.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sen Liu; Felix T.S. Chan; Junai Yang; Ben Niu. 2018. "Understanding the effect of cloud computing on organizational agility: An empirical examination." International Journal of Information Management 43, no. : 98-111.

Research article
Published: 11 September 2017 in Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society
Reads 0
Downloads 0

The delivery time of order has become an important fact for customers to evaluate logistics services. Due to the diverse and large quantities of orders in the background of electronic commerce, how to improve the flexibility of distribution hub and reduce the waiting time of customers becomes one of the most challenging questions for logistics companies. With this in mind, this paper proposes a new method of flexibility assessment in distribution hub by introducing cost weighted time (CWT). The advantages of supply hub operation mode in delivery flexibility are verified by the approach: the mode has pooling effects and uniform distribution characteristics; these traits can reduce overlapping delivery time to improve the flexibility in the case of two suppliers. Numerical examples show that the supply hub operation mode is more flexible than decentralized distribution operation mode in multidelivery cycles.1. IntroductionToday, as the development of electronic commerce drives the increase of consumer demand, improving the flexibility of distribution hub to reduce the order-to-delivery time has become the primary challenge for distribution centers [1]. Due to the high time and financial costs, order delivery is considered an important activity of logistics distribution centers. Some studies have shown that the delivery time accounted for more than half of logistics services time [2].The distribution hub is closely related to the efficiency of order delivery, so it has been a hot research topic in logistics researches for the last several decades, and scholars have used a variety of methods in their attempts to study distribution hub, including logistics hub location, optimization of logistics network, region partitioning, and supply chain performance evaluation of logistics hub. (i) Logistics hub location: Ebrahimi-zade et al. [3] used covering radius, a decision variable, to build new mixed integer model to hub covering problem of multiperiod single distribution hub. Mohammadi et al. [4] proposed a mixed integer programming model to reduce failure cost for disruption problem; a new hybrid metaheuristic algorithm is designed to solve and prove reliability of the model. Correia et al. [5] put forward a modeling framework to minimize the total expected transportation costs between logistics hubs for determining the best multiple allocation hub locations. Some scholars even used the geographical level and family choice to construct structuration criteria for sequential assessment or simultaneous assessment of hubs location [6]. (ii) Optimization of logistics network: Ghodratnama et al. [7] proposed a single distribution hub location model with the objective of total transportation and installation costs and also considered the effects of different modes of transport on greenhouse gas emissions. Yang et al. [8] used the new fuzzy random simulation technique and the multistart simulated annealing algorithm to optimize the intermodal hub-and-spoke model to obtain the minimum mixed traffic cost and travel time. (iii) Region partitioning: the purpose is to divide the hubs in a certain area into several zones according to some rules. According to priority, the multistage logistics distribution network is divided into two-echelon logistics distribution region [9]. Anwar et al. [10] used spectral theory based graph partition to divide the density peak graph and obtain the different subnetworks, and results show that the proposed method is superior to the existing approach based on normalization. Franceschetti et al. [11] divided the distribution hub network by customer density to obtain the best combination of distribution hub partitions and number of vehicles. (iv) Supply chain performance evaluation of logistics hub: Bichou and Gray [12] proposed an approach that evaluates hub efficiency by directing port strategy towards relevant value-added logistics activities. Then Bichou [13] designed an integrative framework including traders affiliated with terminals as integrative benchmark to measure logistics hub performance by conceptualising hub from a logistics and supply chain management (SCM) approach. However, the most logistics centers usually measure output and resource utilization, while the use of comprehensive performance indicators is rare. Some scholars have made breakthroughs: Barros and Dieke [14] enhanced the performance of the least efficient airports by using data envelopment analysis (DEA). Cheng and Wang [15] constructed a platform that can be used to assess the integrated supply chain activities of enterprises, infrastructure, and institutional stakeholders in logistics hub.To improve the efficiency of order distribution, some researchers studied the performance of logistics activities from the perspective of flexibility. Logistics flexibility is defined as an ability that reasonably uses a variety of resources in the storage, transportation, distribution, and other aspects to improve the response speed for customer’s demand [16–19]. In particular, Nigel [20] and Upton [21] have made pioneering works in the study of flexibility. The former defined the flexibility from three dimensions (range, time, and cost): (1) range, the state or behavior of systems; (2) time, the time consumption of transition between states; (3) cost, the cost of transition between states. Based on the study [20], Upton [21] proposed the uniformity of flexibility, which can keep the performances of the whole system consistent. Now, the research of logistics flexibility is mainly focused on the transportation planning and management, facilities management, and other logistics activities related to information processing, material transportation, inventory management, reverse logistics, tracking, and delivery [22]. In order to improve the manufacturing flexibility, Mansoornejad et al. [23] considered the product line configuration in the integration of supply chain. Papageorgiou [24] proposed an optimized supply chain model considering the effect of uncertainty on system flexibility. Even the two-stage stochastic programming method is used to improve the flexibility of logistics system [25, 26].Nevertheless, the existing researches have some limitations: (i) most of them defined the definition and condition of delivery flexibility or used delivery flexibility as one of the assessment indicators to solve other problems. For example, the impact of the manufacturer’s promise strategy on the flexibility of delivery was discussed in [27]. Li et al. [28] designed a pricing strategy to maintain a high delivery flexibility. Chen [29] made a path planning model to solve fuzzy flexible delivery and pickup problem. However, few studies have responded to the question: how to determine the delivery flexibility under known distribution center operation mode? (ii) There are some previous works which considered weight in the supply chain management; Li et al. [30] constructed the TOPSIS model based on entropy weight considering the short-term target, the design concept of strategic target, and the characteristics of synchronous supply chain. Kocaoğlu et al. [31] designed a TOPSIS evaluation model based on strategic objectives and business indicators and used analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to determine the weights of indicators. Ha et al. [32] focused on interdependencies among logistics hub performance measures and built a model to quantify the supply chain performance of hub by introducing weights of interdependent measures. In [33], the “slack time” was used to evaluate the flexibility of enterprises’ supply chain. However, they constructed the indicators of flexibility evaluation only taking into account the company strategy, external environment, competitors’ reflection, and so on. Compared with these macrofactors, the microfactors such as delivery cost and delivery time interval have been neglected; they are flawed for assessing the flexibility of the distribution center [20]. Therefore, in order to resolve the research gap, this paper proposes a new method of flexibility assessment in distribution hub considering cost weighted time. The cost weighted time introduces the delivery cost factor of order into slack time that can be more accurate to measure the effect of delivery cost on the delivery time. In multidelivery cycles, the numerical examples show that supply hub is more flexible than decentralized distribution operation mode.The rest of the paper is structured as follows. Section 2 introduces the proposed new method. Section 3 presents our numerical example and discussion of results. The conclusions are presented in Section 4.2. The Method of Flexibility Assessment in Distribution Hub2.1. Problem StatementSupply hub is also known as supplier hub, vendor-managed inventory (VMI) hub, which refers to the logistics distribution center located near the manufacturer and used to store the raw materials of supplier [34]. Unlike decentralized distribution mode, supply hub changes the relationship between manufacturers and suppliers from one-to-many to one-to-one, simplifying the operation processes [34]. Since the utilization of supply hub has already achieved good results in enterprise management practices [35–37], we validate the effectiveness of the new approach by comparing and analyzing the flexibility performance of decentralized distribution mode as Mode 1 and supply hub operation mode as Mode 2. In order to facilitate the study, we consider the simple supply chain structure of 1 manufacturer and 2 suppliers. Each distribution center of Mode 1 only delivers one raw material as shown in Figure 1. The hub of Mode 2 concentrates on two kinds of raw materials for management and distribution as shown in Figure 2.Figure 1: The decentralized distribution mode.Figure 2: The supply hub operation mode.In Mode 1, two suppliers of enterprises deliver raw materials to manufacturers through distribution center 1 and distribution center 2. The manufacture

ACS Style

Wenxue Ran; Zhe Zhang; Sen Liu. A Flexible Logistics Distribution Hub Model considering Cost Weighted Time. Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society 2017, 2017, 1 -9.

AMA Style

Wenxue Ran, Zhe Zhang, Sen Liu. A Flexible Logistics Distribution Hub Model considering Cost Weighted Time. Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society. 2017; 2017 ():1-9.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Wenxue Ran; Zhe Zhang; Sen Liu. 2017. "A Flexible Logistics Distribution Hub Model considering Cost Weighted Time." Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society 2017, no. : 1-9.

Research article
Published: 18 June 2017 in Mathematical Problems in Engineering
Reads 0
Downloads 0

In recent years, with the development of the rural e-commerce, the importance of rural logistics has been widely recognized. The selection of rural logistics center is a crucial part in products circulation, because an unreasonable location of rural logistics can cause a circulation problem and product waste. In this paper, we propose a rural logistics center location model based on the theory of intuitionistic fuzzy TOPSIS. First, we integrate the information according to experts’ score based on the evaluation index system. Second, we use the entropy weight method to determine the weight of each evaluation index. Third, we rank the results by using the intuitionistic fuzzy TOPSIS method. Finally, an illustrative example will be used to prove the validity and feasibility of the proposed method.1. IntroductionAgriculture plays an important role in production. However, farmers focus on agricultural production more than the circulation process that leads to agricultural product backlog rot and poor harvests. This not only damages the interests of farmers, but also causes the waste of agricultural resources. Imperfect rural infrastructure construction seriously hinders the development of the rural logistics industry, which leads to the current difficulty. To a large extent, inconvenient rural logistics affects the development of economy. Rural logistics is relative to the concept of urban logistics. Rural logistics refers to rural resident production and life and other economic activities to provide transportation, handling, loading and unloading, packaging, processing, and storage and all its related activities [1]. Not only does it benefit the farmers’ lives and improves the economic income of farmers, but also it accelerates the production and development of agriculture. Rural logistics has distinct features of distinct seasonality, biology, decentralization, diversity, and complexity [2, 3]. At present, there is small scale and a little quantity in rural logistics. Agricultural products can only be circulated within a small scale, which cannot meet the development requirements of the rural logistics industry. There are many problems in the existing logistics centers that need to replanned and rebuilt. The unreasonable location of rural logistics can cause a circulation problem and products waste. It also can aggravate the waste of labor and the urban-rural economic gap [4]. Therefore, not only can reasonable rural logistics center location selection achieve the outward transportation of agricultural products, but also it implements effective product circulation between cities, other regions, and even other countries and forms two-way logistics, leading to the development of the economy.Experts have different opinions on the rural logistics center location. Amini used fuzzy TOPSIS methodology in rural industrial site selection [5]. Rao et al. proposed a fuzzy TOPSIS method in city logistics centers location selection and evaluation criteria are transformed into linguistic 2-tuples in this method [6]. Li et al. presented a comprehensive methodology combined with Axiomatic Fuzzy Set and TOPSIS for logistics center location selection [7]. Compared with other methods [8], TOPSIS is widely used in all aspects of the multiple attribute decision-making, such as the evaluation of suppliers, electronic commerce, electronic information, and logistics node location. However, many criteria and linguistic variables are difficult to accurately describe and order [9]. The existing methods based on interval numbers and fuzzy numbers need to use prior knowledge that makes the evaluation result subjective [10, 11]. Hence, these researches make conclusion unreasonable by using processed data. Compared with these methods, intuitionistic fuzziness can effectively reduce the fuzziness and make the results more realistic and accurate by using raw date [11–13]. Intuitionistic fuzzy improved TOPSIS can effectively deal with uncertainty evaluation information.In the rural logistics center location of the existing research, most theoretical models and algorithms focus on a single project model where application value is not high and model accuracy and science degrees are not perfect. And part of the studies also stay on a level that only considers a single objective and aims at cost or benefit [2, 10, 14]. They considered other indicators as a constraint and the establishment of the evaluation index system is not to carry out the green circulation and sustainable development concept.This paper studies rural logistics center location selection based on the theory of intuitionistic fuzzy TOPSIS. Based on the existing theories and empirical studies, this paper establishes the evaluation index system of logistics center location standing in the rural demand angle that combines logistics center location of the relevant theories and the characteristics of the rural logistics. Based on the rural electricity under the incomplete information logistics center location selection problem, this paper establishes the rural electric business logistics center location decision model using the theory of intuitionistic fuzzy sets and TOPSIS decision-making. This model calculates the weight with intuitionistic fuzzy weight and uses TOPSIS decision-making method for a final decision. This method is easy to operate and can help decision-makers quickly find out the suitable criteria for the development of the rural logistics center location. Finally, we give an illustrative example that proves the validity and feasibility of evaluation methods.2. The Proposed Method2.1. Intuitionistic Fuzzy SetThe intuitionistic fuzzy set is relative to the expansion of the traditional fuzzy sets. Intuitionistic fuzzy sets take into account the membership degree and information such as the degree of membership and hesitation [15]. Therefore, the intuitionistic fuzzy set is more flexible than traditional fuzzy sets and practical in dealing with vagueness and uncertainty. Compared with fuzzy sets, the intuitionistic fuzzy collective shows the fuzziness and uncertainty in the real world and it can better deal with the uncertain information in the decision-making process [7, 9, 15–17]. This method has good performance in terms of theory and application. At present, the intuitionistic fuzzy set applies to decision-making, medical diagnosis, logic programming, pattern recognition, machine learning, market prediction, and so forth [16].Definition 1. Set is a nonempty set; then, the theory of domain on intuitionistic fuzzy sets can be represented as : Among them, is the membership degree for , is the nonmembership degree for , and and are for the element that belongs to membership and the nonmembership degree:They meet the conditionFor the theory of domain intuitionistic fuzzy set of ,The element in belongs to degree of hesitation or uncertainty.Obviously, for any , we have .In particular, any fuzzy set in the theory of domain can be established in the following equation:Sets and are two fuzzy sets in the theory field ; multiplication is defined as2.2. The Proposed AlgorithmUnlike traditional TOPSIS decision, the elements of the decision matrix are intuitionistic fuzzy numbers under the environment of intuitionistic fuzzy TOPSIS multiple attribute decision-making method. We calculated each scheme and the distance between the ideal solution and the negative ideal solution with intuition fuzzy number related calculation formulas. First, experts integrate assessment information according to the evaluation index system. Then, entropy weight method is used to determine the weight of each evaluation index. Finally, we determine the decision scheme of sorting by intuitionistic fuzzy TOPSIS method for logistics center.The specific decision-making steps are as follows.Step 1 (determine the weight of decision-makers). We assume that the decision-making group has . The data of decision-maker is represented by intuitionistic fuzzy numbers. is the rating fuzzy number directly of DM. The weight of DM is as follows:Under the condition, .Step 2 (construct intuitionistic fuzzy matrix). Intuitionistic fuzzy decision matrix is . The weight of each decider is , under the condition , . In the process of group decision-making, IFWA (direct fuzzy weighted average) is presented because all personal opinion decisions need to be integrated into the group opinion structure polymerization intuitionistic fuzzy matrix:Under the condition, .Aggregated direct fuzzy matrix structure is as follows:Step 3 (determine the weight of the evaluation criteria). Evaluation criteria are unlikely to be equally important. represents a series of important degree levels. We get by integrating the importance of the decision-maker opinions and standards.The intuitionistic fuzzy standard of DM is .Calculate the weight of the standard with IFWA.Among them, .Step 4 (build weighted aggregation of intuitionistic fuzzy decision matrix). After determining weights of criteria (), we construct weighted aggregation of intuitionistic fuzzy decision matrix:Weighted aggregation intuitionistic fuzzy matrix is as follows: is the weight of aggregation intuition fuzzy matrix.Step 5 (calculate the intuitionistic fuzzy positive ideal solution and negative ideal solution). Determine the intuitionistic fuzzy positive ideal solution and fuzzy positive negative ideal solution ; they are defined as collection is efficiency standards set and collection is cost standards set.Under the condition,Step 6 (calculate the distance of the positive and negative ideal solution). is the distance between indicators and the positive ideal solution. is the distance between indicators and the negative ideal solution. Using Euclidean distance to calculate and , it is concluded thatStep 7 (calculate the closeness coefficient). Under the condition, .Step 8 (rank alternatives). Rank all the alternatives from large to small based on the closeness coefficient and select the b

ACS Style

Yan Zhang; Yingying Zhang; Yanfeng Li; Sen Liu; Junai Yang. A Study of Rural Logistics Center Location Based on Intuitionistic Fuzzy TOPSIS. Mathematical Problems in Engineering 2017, 2017, 1 -7.

AMA Style

Yan Zhang, Yingying Zhang, Yanfeng Li, Sen Liu, Junai Yang. A Study of Rural Logistics Center Location Based on Intuitionistic Fuzzy TOPSIS. Mathematical Problems in Engineering. 2017; 2017 ():1-7.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Yan Zhang; Yingying Zhang; Yanfeng Li; Sen Liu; Junai Yang. 2017. "A Study of Rural Logistics Center Location Based on Intuitionistic Fuzzy TOPSIS." Mathematical Problems in Engineering 2017, no. : 1-7.

Journal article
Published: 01 August 2016 in Expert Systems with Applications
Reads 0
Downloads 0

Cloud computing technology has become increasingly popular and can deliver a host of benefits. However, there are various kinds of cloud providers in the market and firms need scientific decision tools to judge which cloud computing vendor should be chosen. Studies in how a firm should select an appropriate cloud vendor have just started. However, existing studies are mainly from the technology and cost perspective, and neglect other influence factors, such as competitive pressure and managerial skills, etc. Hence, this paper proposes a multi-attribute group decision-making (MAGDM) based scientific decision tool to help firms to judge which cloud computing vendor is more suitable for their need by considering more comprehensive influence factors. It is argued that objective attributes, i.e., cost, as well as subjective attributes, such as TOE factors (Technology, Organization, and Environment) should be considered for the decision making in cloud computing services, and presents a new subjective/objective integrated MAGDM approach for solving decision problems. The proposed approach integrates statistical variance (SV), improved techniques for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS), simple additive weighting (SAW), and Delphi–AHP to determine the integrated weights of the attributes and decision-makers (DMs). The method considers both the objective weights of the attributes and DMs, as well as the subjective preferences of the DMs and their identity differences, thereby making the decision results more accurate and theoretically reasonable. A numerical example is given to illustrate the practicability and usefulness of the approach and its suitability as a decision-making tool for a firm using of cloud computing services. This paper enriches the theory and methodology of the selection problem of cloud computing vendoring and MAGDM analysis.

ACS Style

Sen Liu; Felix T.S. Chan; Wenxue Ran. Decision making for the selection of cloud vendor: An improved approach under group decision-making with integrated weights and objective/subjective attributes. Expert Systems with Applications 2016, 55, 37 -47.

AMA Style

Sen Liu, Felix T.S. Chan, Wenxue Ran. Decision making for the selection of cloud vendor: An improved approach under group decision-making with integrated weights and objective/subjective attributes. Expert Systems with Applications. 2016; 55 ():37-47.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sen Liu; Felix T.S. Chan; Wenxue Ran. 2016. "Decision making for the selection of cloud vendor: An improved approach under group decision-making with integrated weights and objective/subjective attributes." Expert Systems with Applications 55, no. : 37-47.

Research article
Published: 14 July 2016 in Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society
Reads 0
Downloads 0

Being a new research area, logistics finance solves the contradiction between banks and SMEs (small and medium enterprises) about financing; it is beneficial to financial market and logistics market development too. As a service innovation, it unites the interests of bank, 3PL (third-party logistics) providers, and SMEs and integrates material, finance, and information. Logistics finance has been developed in recent years in China, but the research is not enough on 3PL enterprises. On the background of that, the paper makes a research in the field of logistics finance with different pricing methods, based on the perspective of third-party logistics enterprises. This paper proposes a pricing model of inventory financing that can maximize the cash flow of 3PL enterprise, when the default rate of the small- and medium-sized enterprise is affected by the pledge price. And then this paper studies the model of inventory financing that can maximize the cash flow of enterprise under the condition of the existence of cash discount rate. The core factors affecting the loan-to-value ratio were established through analysis of mathematical model. We also consider the loan-to-value ratio of cash discount rate in the model. Results show that in the pledge of the known function and cash discount the price change can be calculated to meet enterprise cash flow lending rates and get biggest loan-to-value ratio.

ACS Style

Zhilan Song; Huan Huang; Wenxue Ran; Sen Liu. A Study on the Pricing Model for 3PL of Inventory Financing. Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society 2016, 2016, 1 -7.

AMA Style

Zhilan Song, Huan Huang, Wenxue Ran, Sen Liu. A Study on the Pricing Model for 3PL of Inventory Financing. Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society. 2016; 2016 ():1-7.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Zhilan Song; Huan Huang; Wenxue Ran; Sen Liu. 2016. "A Study on the Pricing Model for 3PL of Inventory Financing." Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society 2016, no. : 1-7.

Research article
Published: 10 May 2016 in Mathematical Problems in Engineering
Reads 0
Downloads 0

The recycling of waste products can sharply save manufacturing cost and improve the economic efficiency and corporate-reputation. It also has a great effect on the environment and resources protection. In the management of the closed-loop supply chain, the recycling of waste products and decision-making on pricing often directly affect the supply and demand of products and the operation efficiency of supply chain. Therefore, first we take waste glass bottles as an example and establish a mathematical model to solve the profit of manufacturers and retailers solely. Then, we analyzed whole supply chain profit under a dual-channel recycling condition which is directly recycled by consumers or by retailers. Finally, we concluded that no matter what product’s price, quality, profit, or operational efficiency of supply chain is, the overall recycling is better than the single node recycling model. Based on the analysis, we developed a new model to coordinate the profit of manufacturers and retailers in the supply chain with revenue-sharing contract. A numerical study shows that this approach is applicable and effective.

ACS Style

Wenxue Ran; Fan Chen; Qianni Wu; Sen Liu. A Study of the Closed-Loop Supply Chain Coordination on Waste Glass Bottles Recycling. Mathematical Problems in Engineering 2016, 2016, 1 -9.

AMA Style

Wenxue Ran, Fan Chen, Qianni Wu, Sen Liu. A Study of the Closed-Loop Supply Chain Coordination on Waste Glass Bottles Recycling. Mathematical Problems in Engineering. 2016; 2016 ():1-9.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Wenxue Ran; Fan Chen; Qianni Wu; Sen Liu. 2016. "A Study of the Closed-Loop Supply Chain Coordination on Waste Glass Bottles Recycling." Mathematical Problems in Engineering 2016, no. : 1-9.