Journal of Quality Engineering and Management

Abstract Knowing the real costs of a project, correctly estimating them and identifying the risks involved in resource allocation for projects such as the construction of a petrochemical unit whose resources are expensive or difficult to access, is of particular importance. By using costing methods in conditions of risk and uncertainty, more reliable cost information can be obtained. By examining past studies and researches in the field of costing, it was found that their focus was mostly on carrying out activities, and less attention was paid to the risk factor. In this article, the use of the ABC approach, which focuses on identifying activities and cost centers, has been discussed in the form of a mathematical model whose purpose is to minimize the risk of resource allocation to activity centers based on the desired limitations in costs and resources. Due to the fact that the numerical values of the parameters in the general model, such as cost and time, have uncertainty, risk-based resource allocation modeling has been considered. To test the proposed model, the main activities of the construction and installation stage of a petrochemical unit were considered, and after collecting the necessary data, the steps of the compiled model for resource allocation and the steps of the activity-based costing approach have been implemented. The results show that there is a difference between the costs calculated based on the allocation of resources of the proposed model for the activity centers and the costs estimated according to the past data.

Abstract As time goes on and crises increase in societies, organizations are increasingly exposed to disruption. These crises can be of natural (such as earthquakes, floods, and fires) or human (such as terrorist attacks, infectious diseases, and intentional or inadvertent employee errors). Therefore, organizations need to be resilient to protect themselves from harmful consequences. The basic aspect of resilience involves the ability of an element to return to normal after disruption and resource allocation. Obviously, in any organization, the primary goal is to allocate the least resources to recover operations and to bring activities back to the tolerance threshold so that destructive events do not stop vital activities. In this paper, a quantitative model for resource allocation is presented, which minimizes the lack of resilience. The problem has a basic assumption, that there is a shortage of resources in at least one of the available resources due to excessive demand. After solving the model by numerical experiment, the results of the model were described and it was found that destructive events were retrieved before the tolerance threshold.

Abstract Process analysis is closely related to process optimization and in the optimization, the discussion of resources plays a major role. Since the optimal set of resources, especially in the event of unexpected events will have variable effects on risk, process performance and efficiency can be similar to the optimal stock portfolio selection model. The purpose of this paper is to provide a mathematical model for allocating human resources using the Markowitz model to the days of the week based on skills and costs, which the objective function minimizes the risk and maximizes the efficiency of resources. The proposed model includes a combination of risk and return assessments to find the best resource portfolio in critical situations. The study also used the Epsilon constraint method. The innovations of this research is the application of Markowitz model to optimize resource allocation and risk-based allocation of resources in the process. The proposed model has been used in a case study of a urology subspecialty kidney center. Numerical results show that using the designed model, resources can be allocated in such a way that it has optimal returns and risk, in order to produce the maximum amount of output in critical situations.