Browsing by Author "Afful-Dadzie, A.,"
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Item Assessing Commercial Viability of Technology Start-up Businesses in a Government Venture Capital under Intuitionistic Fuzzy Environment.(Springer International Publishing AG, 2017) Afful-Dadzie, E.,; Afful-Dadzie, A.,; Oplatková, Z. K.Governments around the world are increasingly showing keen interests in venture capital investments in technology start-up businesses. However, determining the commercial potential of a new Technology start-up business is generally seen as a complex exercise especially in a government-controlled setting where selection of candidates can be clouded by several peripheral considerations. To generate more interests in decision-making models aimed at assessing the commercial viability of candidate start-up businesses in a government-run venture capital, this study (1) provides a modified form of the Strategic Technology Evaluation Program (STEP) called G-STEP as a new selection criteria for a government-controlled venture capital scheme (2) adopts a comprehensive intuitionistic fuzzy TOPSIS framework with a sensitivity analysis component for the assessment of early stage but high potential tech start-up firms and (3) demonstrates its applicability with a numerical example assessing the commercial potential of start-up businesses in a Government technology venture capital program. The proposed decision-making framework could be useful in the assessment and selection problems in other government priority areas.Item Case study application of blended learning for an engineering simulation course.(2013) Allen, T.T.,; Artis, S.,; Afful-Dadzie, A.,; Allam, Y.,Quality Approaches in Higher Education Vol. 4(1), May 2013 article by Theodore T. Allen, Sharnnia Artis, Anthony Afful-Dadzie, and Yosef Allam. The research was conducted at The Ohio State University. This case study documents the transition of an undergraduate software laboratory from face-to-face only instruction to a blended-learning model motivated, in part, by instructor cost savings. To assure quality in learning outcomes was preserved, we implemented the transition using a randomized experiment. Participating students were randomly assigned to blended (treatment) and traditional (control) groups. Performance was measured by pre- and post-knowledge assessment and quizzes. Attitude was measured by the results of a survey administered at the end of the course. The results show that students’ performance in a purely face-to-face instructional class was not significantly different from that based on a blend of online and face-to-face instruction. In addition, the blended type had significantly more consistently favorable ratings than the purely face-to-face instruction. We conclude that blended learning and our experimental approach could be usefully replicated for other face-to-face software laboratory courses and propose four topics for future research.Item Data-Driven Cyber-Vulnerability Maintenance Policies.(2014) Afful-Dadzie, A.,; Allen, T.T.,The frequencies of cyber attacks and known cyber vulnerabilities continue to increase and there is a need for models to focus limited administrator attention and build cases for additional resources. A related challenge is the scarcity of available data partly because of security concerns. In this paper, we propose a method based on Markov decision processes (MDP) for the generation and graphical evaluation of relevant maintenance policies for cases with limited data availability. The proposed method also provides an estimate of the cost benefit of collecting additional data. Both Bayesian and non-Bayesian formulations of the transition probabilities and cost models are considered. We apply the proposed method to a real-world cyber-vulnerability dataset and generate specific guidance and cost predictions. We also illustrate the relevance of the proposed method to general MDP modeling using a numerical example involving three levels of data scarcity.Item A fuzzy Topsis framework for selecting fragile states for support facility.(2014) Afful-Dadzie, E.,; Nabareseh, S.,; Afful-Dadzie, A.,; Oplatkova, Z. K.Aid recipient-countries especially those classified as ‘fragile states’ look to donor agencies and other financial organizations for various forms of support facilities to rebuild institutions and repair infrastructure. As countries within the fragile states bracket increase around the world, competition for such assistances has also become keen. To select countries for the fragile states support facility run by the African and Asian development banks, expert ratings over sets of unquantifiable performance based criteria are used to determine the ultimate deserving countries. In order to ensure transparency and fairness in the face of competition, such multi-criteria ratings demand techniques that do not only model human judgements but take into account the effect of variations in expert ratings as a result of possible influences. This paper proposes a fuzzy TOPSIS framework for selecting fragile states for support facility based on the African Development Bank selection criteria. Using pre-defined linguistic terms parameterized by triangular fuzzy numbers, a numerical example is provided on how the framework can be used by decision makers towards final selection of competing countries for the fragile states support facility. The paper anticipating possible influences of lobbyists, further performs a sensitivity analysis to examine the effect that bias in expert ratings could have on the final selection. The result shows a framework that can be applied in instances of selecting countries and organizations for aid purposes.Item Measuring progress of the millennium development goals. A fuzzy comprehensive evaluation approach(2014) Afful- Dadzie, E.,; Afful-Dadzie, A.,; Oplatkova, Z. K.,The United Nations’ target date to achieve its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to free people from extreme poverty and multiple deprivations is 2015. As the date approaches, several attempts have been made to evaluate the performance of the set goals, targets, and indicators. Although the methodology used to measure the performance of member countries has been questioned by many, the fiercest criticism so far has been the apparent lack of data with which to measure progress. The subjectivity of the MDGs further increases the complexity of the evaluation systems, but an effective measurability of each MDG is key to the overall success. This study applies a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method (FCEM) in evaluating the performance of individual member countries with regard to the MDGs. The result shows how, in the absence of data, the FCEM can be used to evaluate performance of member countries involved in the MDG project.Item Power generation capacity planning under budget constraint in developing countries(2017) Afful-Dadzie, A.,; Afful-Dadzie, E.,; Awudu, I.,; Banuro, J. K.This paper presents a novel multi-period stochastic optimization model for studying long-term power generation capacity planning in developing countries. A stylized model is developed to achieve three objectives: (1) to serve as a tool for determining optimal mix, size and timing of power generation types in the face of budget constraint, (2) to help decision makers appreciate the consequences of capacity expansion decisions on level of unserved electricity demand and its attendant impact on the national economy, and (3) to encourage the habit of periodic savings towards new generation capacity financing. The problem is modeled using a stochastic mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) technique under demand uncertainty. The effectiveness of the model, together with valuable insights derived from considering different levels of budget constraints are demonstrated using Ghana as a case study. The results indicate that at an annual savings equivalent to 0.75% of GDP, Ghana could finance the needed generation capacity to meet approximately 95% of its annual electricity demand between 2016 and 2035. Additionally, it is observed that as financial constraint becomes tighter, decisions on the mix of new generation capacities tend to be more costly compared to when sufficient funds are available.Item A TOPSIS Extension Framework for Re-Conceptualizing Sustainability Measurement.(Emerald Publishing Limited, 2016) Afful-Dadzie, A.,; Afful-Dadzie, E.,; Turkson, C.Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a sustainability measurement and scoring system for assessing the efforts of organizations at meeting sustainability targets. Using technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) as the basic framework, the proposed method incorporates all three sustainability dimensions – economic, environmental and social – to establish a threshold below which an organization is considered to have failed a sustainability test. In Addition, an introduction of a time-independent threshold enables a clearer comparison of performance of organizations over time. The proposed method includes plots for visualizing the sustainability performance of organizations under review. Design/methodology/approach – The proposed method first assigns target values to a hypothetical organization. TOPSIS is then used to generate composite scores in which the score of the hypothetical organization is set as the threshold below which organizations are deemed to have failed a sustainability test. Using the square of the closeness coefficient of TOPSIS, the final composite score is decomposed into three components to reflect the contribution of the three dimensions of sustainability to serve as a guide to determining which dimension to focus on for improvement. A relative comparison score is then proposed to track the performance of organizations over time. Findings – The proposed method with its ability to set a threshold is able to determine organizations that have passed a sustainability test from those that have failed. The tracking of organizational performance over time also serves to highlight progress being made by organizations to meet an agreed sustainability target. Results from the application of the proposed method for evaluating sustainability of banks under the three dimensions of sustainability highlight its practical applicability. The proposed method can also be applied to a wide range of comparison problems including make-or-by decisions and award selection. Practical implications – As most industries and organizations become conscious of the pressure to adopt sustainable practices, the proposed measuring system would help identify those that are meeting sustainability targets as well as to track their progress over time. Originality/value – Most sustainability measurement indicators rarely have thresholds to determine whether an organization has met or failed to meet a sustainability test other than ranking them from top to bottom. The proposed method provides a threshold as well as a procedure for tracking the sustainability performance of organizations over time.Item Tracking progress of African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) using fuzzy comprehensive evaluation methods.(2014) Afful-Dadzie, A.,; Afful-Dadzie, E.,; Nabareseh, S.,; Oplatkova, Z.K.,Purpose - This paper proposes a new assessment methodology for the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) using fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method and the Delphi technique. The proposed approach by its design simplifies the review processes and also quantifies the outcome of the assessment result for easier interpretation and benchmarking among member countries. The proposed hybrid method demonstrates how the subjective APRM thematic areas and their objectives can be efficiently tracked country by country while addressing the key identified challenges.Design/methodology/approach - Using a numerical example, a demonstration of how the APRM assessment could be carried is shown using the Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation Method (FCEM) and the Delphi Method. The APRM’s own thematic areas are used as the evaluation factors and the weights are assigned using Delphi technique. A novel remark set is constructed to linguistically describe the performance of a country against each or all of the thematic areas. Then in line with the maximum membership degree principle, the position of the maximum number would correspond to its respective remark element to indicate the level of performance. Findings - The result shows a hybrid method of FCEM and Delphi used to determine whether a member country has "Achieved, "On Track", "Very likely to be achieved", "Possible if some changes are made" or "Off-Track" on the four focus areas of the APRM. The method provides a well-organized way of tracking progress of member countries. It is also an ideal method of tracking progress of individual thematic areas and objectives. Moreover, the simplicity of the proposed method, the preciseness of the final result it generates and the clear interpretation of the result makes it a stronger alternative to the current approach for assessing member countries. Practical implications - The African Peer Review mechanism (APRM) is a respected body with the backing of the heads of state in Africa. As most African countries become conscious of the pressure to meet international standards as far as governance performance is concerned, this proposed assessment methodology if adopted would go a long way in improving performance evaluation on the continent. Originality/value - The proposed methodology is unique in its simplicity and its ability to evaluate any of the APRM thematic areas independent of the others. This means an overall performance can be tracked as well as that of individual evaluation factors.