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Less can be more: How to make operations more flexible and robust with fewer resources

Less can be more: How to make operations more flexible and robust with fewer resources
Less can be more: How to make operations more flexible and robust with fewer resources

We review empirical evidence from practice and general theoretical conditions, under which simple rules of thumb can help to make operations flexible and robust. An operation is flexible when it responds adaptively to adverse events such as natural disasters; an operation is robust when it is less affected by adverse events in the first place. We illustrate the relationship between flexibility and robustness in the context of supply chain risk. In addition to increasing flexibility and robustness, simple rules simultaneously reduce the need for resources such as time, money, information, and computation. We illustrate the simple-rules approach with an easy-to-use graphical aid for diagnosing and managing supply chain risk. More generally, we recommend a four-step process for determining the amount of resources that decision makers should invest in so as to increase flexibility and robustness.

1054-1500
Haksöz, Çaǧrl
f3973839-0c95-467e-b373-76053789e1bf
Katsikopoulos, Konstantinos
b97c23d9-8b24-4225-8da4-be7ac2a14fba
Gigerenzer, Gerd
16856b2c-59a5-4a16-80da-d2968c4437dd
Haksöz, Çaǧrl
f3973839-0c95-467e-b373-76053789e1bf
Katsikopoulos, Konstantinos
b97c23d9-8b24-4225-8da4-be7ac2a14fba
Gigerenzer, Gerd
16856b2c-59a5-4a16-80da-d2968c4437dd

Haksöz, Çaǧrl, Katsikopoulos, Konstantinos and Gigerenzer, Gerd (2018) Less can be more: How to make operations more flexible and robust with fewer resources. Chaos, 28 (6), [063102]. (doi:10.1063/1.5024259).

Record type: Article

Abstract

We review empirical evidence from practice and general theoretical conditions, under which simple rules of thumb can help to make operations flexible and robust. An operation is flexible when it responds adaptively to adverse events such as natural disasters; an operation is robust when it is less affected by adverse events in the first place. We illustrate the relationship between flexibility and robustness in the context of supply chain risk. In addition to increasing flexibility and robustness, simple rules simultaneously reduce the need for resources such as time, money, information, and computation. We illustrate the simple-rules approach with an easy-to-use graphical aid for diagnosing and managing supply chain risk. More generally, we recommend a four-step process for determining the amount of resources that decision makers should invest in so as to increase flexibility and robustness.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 14 May 2018
e-pub ahead of print date: 5 June 2018
Published date: June 2018

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 424844
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/424844
ISSN: 1054-1500
PURE UUID: 5b695343-a404-4124-a47f-e67fc042afbc
ORCID for Konstantinos Katsikopoulos: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9572-1980

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 05 Oct 2018 11:49
Last modified: 06 Jun 2024 01:58

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Contributors

Author: Çaǧrl Haksöz
Author: Gerd Gigerenzer

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