This paper considers a multi-objective bottleneck transportation problem with fuzzy random constraint about transportation time and chance constraint about the total cost. There exist m supply points with flexible supply quantity and n demand points with flexible demand quantity. For each route, that is, each pair of a supply and a demand, the transportation time is an independent random variable according to a normal distribution with an uncertain mean denoted by an L-fuzzy number and a crisp variance. Further for each route, existence possibility denoting the preference choosing the route is attached. Satisfaction degrees about the supply and demand quantity are attached to each supply and demand point, respectively. These satisfaction degrees are denoted by membership functions of corresponding fuzzy sets. Moreover transportation cost on each route is a random variable and these random variables are assumed to be independent each other. We consider four criteria, given as follows. (1) Minimize the transportation time target under the possibility that the satisfaction probability with respect to transportation time below the target is over a certain thresh-hold should be over a given level. (2) Maximize the minimal preference among used routes in transportation. (3) Maximize the minimal satisfaction degree among all supply and demand points. (4) Minimizing the budget under the chance constraint, the probability that the total cost is below the budget should be over a certain level. Above setting, we formulate the model with three objective and fuzzy random constraint with respect to random transportation time of each route. This is a multi-objective bottleneck transportation problem. First this problem is transformed into deterministic equivalent problem with four objectives. Usually an optimal transportation pattern optimizing four objectives at a time and so we propose solution algorithm to seek some non-dominated transportation pattern after non-domination with introducing threshold about preference of route. Finally, we summarize the result of the paper and discuss future research problems.

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Japanese automobile manufacturers have actively activated activities to incorporate highly intelligent function to enhance their competitiveness. As part of this policy Japanese automobile manufacturers have required the suppliers of electrical control units (ECUs) to coordinate their software development activities to improve the effectiveness and stability of in-vehicle LAN network system which should offer high intelligent function. The purpose of the paper is to evaluate the impacts of a change in the process of software development from the traditional sequential approach to the one which is more integrated and adaptive to changes in the course of optimization. We conduct regression analyses (OLS and Tobit) utilizing project management data collected from an American automotive parts supplier over the six years between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2008. Our empirical analysis can be summarized by three key findings. First, the adoption of the new integrated R&D process, it increased the frequency of specification changes that presumably helped to improve the effectiveness and stability of in-vehicle LAN network system. Second, the new process significantly raised number of flaws caught during the development, thus improved product quality was observed after the shipment. Third, the introduction of the new process lowered productivity and raised the wage cost substantially. Additional implication for the role of firm-specific experience is also discussed.

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Compared with investments in residential and office buildings, investments in healthcare properties in Japan represent a small share of the commercial real estate market. Nevertheless, the need for such healthcare facilities is increasing with Japan's rapidly aging society so increased investment in this subclass of real estate assets is desirable. This paper aims to identify risk factors that are unique to healthcare properties, and which should be considered in making investment decisions. The appropriate disclosure of such risk factors is explored by applying and customizing established measures currently used to evaluate hotel properties. The impact of such disclosure on the market prices of healthcare J-REITs is also examined.

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As the key to success in a social business, creation of social innovation has been captured in collaboration with other organizations and entrepreneurships. This study acquires new insights on social innovation creation through a strategic perspective. The study selected a case of a successful social business and conducted framework analysis via the Blue Ocean Strategy and business process by the Design and Engineering Methodology for Organizations (DEMO). The study reveals that social innovation is created from the coexistence of creativity and productivity. Moreover, social business is necessary not only to avoid competitive markets and enter into undeveloped markets, but also to make efforts to differentiate and reduce costs.

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It is important for a hospital to take countermeasures to reduce the damage of natural disasters such as earthquake because they need to provide necessary healthcare services to earthquake victims. However, there is no study on ways to maintain and improve hospitals' healthcare continuity. The aim of this study is to clarify what kinds of countermeasures should be taken, and to make a list of concrete countermeasures that can provide more information for hospital staff who need to take action for hospital business continuity. As a result, five countermeasure types can be specified, and 253 more detailed countermeasures for our proposed list are extracted based on these countermeasure types. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed list is confirmed in disaster base hospital A, Kawaguchi City.

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Assurance cases standardized by ISO have come to draw a lot of attention. With the aim of identifying challenges of assurance case description method in Japanese organizations, this study evaluates assurance cases created by beginners. The objectives of this study are three folds. First, we aim to show, based on the test and questionnaire survey, the challenges which have not been identified in previous studies regarding assurance case description. Though teaching the description method of assurance cases is necessary, each organization in the industries conforming to international standards find it difficult to educate the employees on how to describe appropriate assurance cases. Second, we aim to confirm for which of visualizing strengths and visualizing weaknesses of the contents described in assurance cases work better. With this in mind, assurance case instructors could suggest the participants which of strengths and weaknesses they are likely to visualize in creating assurance cases. It will also help beginners create assurance cases. Third, this study aims to demonstrate the number of trainees who made mistakes in the test after the training with a view to disclosing the proportion of trainees who created assurance cases correctly after the training. This study concludes with presenting challenges of assurance case description method in Japanese organizations.

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One of the goals of university students is to get a job at a good company. Students graduate from high school and enter the university using various entrance examinations. Then, receiving a lecture at a university, acquiring a unit, assigning to a seminar and preparing a graduation thesis. After graduating from university, most students find employment in companies. In this way, it is possible to acquire various data in a series of flows from high school graduation to employment.This study analyzes how a set of factors such as deviation value of the senior high school, type of entrance examination, achievement of the University, seminar advisor, and the employment place data can influence this process. Moreover, the paper considers the analysis of variance for the same purpose.

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Daily management is a component of Total Quality Management. It is important for medical institutions to ensure high quality in healthcare services. To ensure the quality of healthcare services, it is necessary to build a Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle and structure daily management for continuous improvement. Some literature proposes methods of deriving control items and specific lists of action items. It is not clear, however, what kind of difficulties exist in promoting daily management in healthcare services. In this study, we held individual meetings to see the progress of daily management, specifically focusing on data collection and observation. As a result, managers in hospitals tend to have problems in observing the current situation carefully. In order to overcome these difficulties, holding individual meetings seems to be effective.

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Malaysian healthcare landscape is changing rapidly and facing drastic transformation in relation to drivers of change in the healthcare system. The objective of this study is to analyze the impact of healthcare resources interventions on accessibility and affordability of healthcare. The Malaysian Healthcare Resources Model (MHRM) is developed to provide a wide-ranging view of the complex interactions between demand and supply of healthcare resources and provide potential future scenarios of healthcare provision to achieve the country's target. The scenario analysis' findings suggest that increasing healthcare resources through medical workforce supply and productivity of hospital beds (bed turnover ratio) will assist to achieve healthcare accessibility and this in turn will improve the quality of healthcare along with moderate increase in budget allocation to public healthcare. Meanwhile, reducing the proportion of out-of-pocket expenditure is more valuable than having higher income in fostering healthcare affordability among Malaysians.

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In this research, we validate the types of applications that can be carried out with a new work instruction support device developed for the purpose of enabling project supervisors to dispatch instructions and guidance across distances to on-site workers performing maintenance and inspection tasks. In three different cases, namely voice only, voice and on-site video, and the use of the proposed work instruction support device (voice/on-site video/work instruction display), maintenance and inspection tasks of an industrial robot can be performed. The effect of the use of such equipment is clarified through a comparison of the time and the content of the tasks performed.

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We analyzed the capability of small- and medium-sized enterprises in the Japanese food manufacturing industry, through a review of public documents and a case study of a tofu shop. Specifically, we analyzed the strategy and capabilities of traditional tofu production. We selected managers' comments, strategy, and philosophy from newspaper and magazine articles, trade journals, published books, trademarks, designs, patents, and company web pages. The results from our case study of Otokomae Tofu Shop are as follows. The enterprise has been successful at building its brand and it has excellent managerial decision-making, strategy planning, and execution from management. Specifically, the company has a commitment to quality. Moreover, its unique distribution strategies avoid advertising costs but target buyers in well-known shops. Initially, the company president built the brand alone, indicating the company's capability of integration. The results of our research indicate the need for management to have capabilities in building capacity from scratch and forging collaboration capability. Furthermore, management should be able to integrate capability, construct capability, and relocate capability.

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