bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Perspectives on MS Applications: All Around the Model—An Empirical Study on Ideal Personal Characteristics of Japanese OR/MS Leaders
Authors: Kawase Takeshi , Nemoto Tadaaki 
Published: October 2008

The personal characteristics of Japanese OR/MS leaders which are considered to affect the successful survival and promotion of OR/MS activities in the organization through their evolutionary phases were empirically examined. It was found, among other things, that OR/MS leaders should change as an OR/MS group progresses through its organizational evolution in such a way that the characteristics of technical orientation become less important while characteristics of organizational orientation become highly important as the group advances to the maturity phase.
Management Science Roundup
Authors: Bucatinsky Julio 
Published: October 2008

—“From Japan: Intercorporate Technology Transfer in Japanese Industry”; —“Seen Elsewhere” with three overviews: (1) Economic and Technological Models for Evaluation of Energy Policy (The Bell Journal of Economics, Autumn 1977, Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 444–466) by Kenneth C. Hoffman (Brookhaven National Laboratory) and Dale W. Jorgenson (Harvard University); (2) Advertising Decision Rules in a Multibrand Environment: Optimal Control Theory and Evidence (Journal of Marketing Research, February 1978, Vol. XV, No. 1, pp. 82–92) by Mario J. Picconi (The University of Akron) and Charles Olson (Governors State University); (3) Management and the Art of Chinese Baseball (Sloan Management Review, Spring 1978, Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 83–89), by Ralph G. W. Siu.
A Note on “Political Kidnapping: A New Risk in International Business”
Authors: Sharon Ed M. 
Published: October 2008

In a recent article, Richard E. Peterson presents the results of a study on political kidnapping (see Interfaces, Vol. 8, No. 2, February 1978, pp. 46–53). My concern is twofold; First, I disagree with the quality of modeling and analysis. Secondly, I am beginning to worry about this attempt to capitalize on the image of being “scientific” in front of a qualitatively oriented audience (politicians) who cannot challenge the scientific validity of the analysis. If one needs an example for an OR/MS course to demonstrate how a problem should not be attacked, he may not be able to find a better one.
The Practice of Management Science
Authors: Barry John Y. 
Published: October 2008

A major purpose of the College on the Practice of Management Science is to show the value of management science to managers and to the management science profession. Thus, one of its objectives is to develop a way to bring to public view good and useful OR/MS activity in industry, commerce, and government. This edition of Interfaces provides the reader with evidence by which he can judge the achievement of the goal in 1978. The articles included here are edited versions of the presentations which competed for the prize in May 1978. They represent the final selection from a group of abstracts which were submitted in response to the call for entries. Specifically, they describe in each case a completed application of Management Science which has had a significant impact on the organization under study. As a result, they constitute a significant addition to the evidence of the value of Management Science in the real world.
Applying Capital Market Theory to Investing
Authors: Lanstein Ronald J. , Jahnke William W. 
Published: October 2008

In 1970 Wells Fargo Bank began the development of an investment management process utilizing the new insights of Capital Market Theory but retaining workable elements of Classical Financial Theory. Two years later, by the end of 1972, the new system had taken sufficient form to be introduced as the process to manage the $1.58 billion of assets entrusted to the Investment Advisors Division, the money management arm of the Trust Division. At the end of 1977, the sharpened management system calls the shots on the investment of $2.1 billion of institutional assets and another $1.7 billion of personal trust assets, and is subscribed to by nearly 100 other money managers throughout the world. The annual net profit to Wells Fargo is currently about $3.5 million and growing rapidly. A major underpinning of the process comes from a highly systematic approach to understanding the structure of equity prices. Using the oldest available theory, the discounting of future cash flows to present value, in combination with a modern definition of risk, the “Security Market Line” of the Capital Asset Pricing Model is derived. The Security Market Line description of the equity market, along with a similar description of the fixed income market, in combination with the clients' ability to bear risk, are inputs to the asset allocation model which determines the optimal mix of equity and fixed income investments. Within the equity market a quadratic programming model structures a “value added” risk-controlled optimal portfolio. In addition, index funds, pioneered by Wells Fargo, are used in a growing number of accounts. In some cases index funds are used in conjunction with the “value added” strategies.
Helicopter Fleet Mix
Authors: Thomson Richard , Tiplitz Charles 
Published: October 2008

In Fall 1975, the Navy proposed that the Marines procure a modified Army helicopter. The objective was to be able to mount airborne naval supported amphibious operations deep into coastal regions with fewer overseas bases. The aircraft had to deliver a squad to an inland landing site at 3,000 feet altitude and 90 degrees F and return fast enough to deliver a second wave in 90 minutes. The Marines were already buying a new version UH-1 helicopter for this mission. Consequently, a one month ad-hoc study was directed to study all available and yet-to-be designed helicopters. American Power Jet (APJ) had developed some timely techniques and so was provided a unique opportunity to support a study with some rigorous analysis in time to influence decisions. The procedures assembled were straightforward. Each helicopter's performance specifications were converted to an envelope of payload at representative altitudes, temperatures, and radii. Payload and cost/effectiveness were then tabulated, on a mini-computer, yielding relative indices for each altitude-temperature-radius combination. Since scenarios are uncertain and no subset of helicopters dominated the others in more than a fraction of scenarios, the game-theoretic approach was applied to the table of indices. (An LP module had been developed which was readily converted for game theory.) The results were startling but convincing. The UH-1 procurement was not cost/effective. This was made graphic to top management by comparing UH-1 payloads with the game-theoretic solution for equivalent cost units under the Marine Doctrine scenario. The Commandant cancelled the UH-1 procurement and substituted a CH-46 modification thereby greatly increasing capability.
Management Science in the Public Sector—The Estevan Case
Authors: Debanne Joseph G. , Lavier Jean-Noel 
Published: October 2008

A consultant's study commissioned by the Canadian Department of Transport, (DOT), recommended that the oldest of the five ships then in service, the Estevan, be replaced, and furthermore suggested that a sixth ship might be needed to meet growing Coast Guard duty requirements. The “good news” to build a new ship at the Vancouver shipyards was announced by the minority Liberal government during the 1968 federal election. To decide which combination of features was to be specified in the design of the new ship, Mr. Baldwin, DOT's Deputy Minister, commissioned an optimal investment study from the National Energy Board's OR Branch as DOT did not at the time have an in-house OR group. This OR study led to the startling conclusion that the Estevan need not be replaced and that only three ships were required to perform all Coast Guard functions, thereby leaving one ship available for standby and emergencies. The decision to build a new ship was accordingly set aside. As the federal elections had by then taken place, this decision was perceived as a breach of a campaign promise and was brought up in Parliament. Mr. Hellyer, then Minister of Transport, effectively disposed of this question by stating that it was an OR study and budgetary considerations rather than politics that led to the “setting aside” of plans for a new ship. The OR plan was then successfully implemented and has been credited both with the saving of the cost of a Coast Guard vessel estimated at about six million dollars in 1968 currency and with the subsequent savings in Coast Guard operations and investments estimated at many times this amount. Furthermore, this success led Mr. Baldwin to create an in-house OR capability at DOT.
The Value of Queueing Theory—A Case Study
Authors: Cosmetatos George P. 
Published: October 2008

The case study described here was carried out in 1971 to supplement a 20-hour introductory course on OR methodology and techniques which was organized within a large Greek company. The specific problem to be studied was chosen by the plant manager in the major factory of the company, the one engaged in the manufacture of electrical appliances, and it involved the study of the operation of the internal transport system. It appeared that the study had two major objectives to meet: (a) to educate the participants of the course on how a real world problem could be analyzed and formulated in terms of a model, and (b) to assist in resolving the conflict within the plant by providing quantitative information on the advantages and disadvantages of increasing the size of the fleet. Senior management regarded the study as an opportunity to enhance the spirit of team work within the company and backed it with their full support.
Information Systems in Management Science—Concerning the Dangers of Little Knowledge
Authors: Vazsonyi Andrew 
Published: October 2008

Information system analysts often say that information reduces or even eliminates uncertainty. This is supposed to be a good thing because uncertainty disagrees with the nervous system of executives, who recognize only two possible probability values: 0 and 1. That information reduces uncertainty is “scientifically proven” by invoking the Wiener-Shannon theory of information and the concept of entropy. Now I find all this confusing or downright erroneous. Perfect information or complete knowledge—difficult, expensive, or well-nigh impossible to find—does eliminate uncertainty. But imperfect or little knowledge—a more practical commodity—does much more curious or subtle things. One of the aims of information calculus advocated by this writer is to clarify and remove confusion in this field. So in this column I illustrate what imperfect information does, and show that the phrase “remove uncertainty” does not make good sense.
The USTA/Equitable Computerized Tennis Ranking System
Authors: Musante Thomas M. , Yellin Bruce A. 
Published: October 2008

The USTA/Equitable Computerized Tennis Ranking system is the most comprehensive and highly developed international system of its kind available today. Implemented and maintained by The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States for the United States Tennis Association (USTA), the system takes advantage of the computer's capacity to accept data from an unlimited number of tournaments and perform numerous and complex calculations. The outcome is a ranking that is more objective, consistent, and broad-based than any other. These qualities are extremely important, since rankings directly influence the acceptance by tennis officials of a player's tournament entry and his placement in the draw.
The Management Science Achievement Award
Authors: Barry John Y. 
Published: October 2008

A major purpose of the College on the Practice of Management Science is “to focus attention of the management community and the public on the great value of the practice of Management Science and Operations Research.” To that end, the College on the Practice of Management Science sponsors the annual international Management Science Achievement Award Competition. The awards were established in 1972 to recognize and honor outstanding examples of implemented Management Science. The prize is awarded to the client organization in recognition of its use of high impact Management Science. A cash award of $6,000 is given to the Management Scientists who developed and implemented the work.
Is OR/MS Everywhere?
Authors: Gray Paul 
Published: October 2008

In the May 1978 issue of Interfaces, John Hall, Jr., and Sidney Hess [Hall, J. R., Jr., S. W. Hess. 1978. OR/MS dead or dying? RX for survival. Interfaces 8 (3, May) 42–44.] argued that we are now passing into an era in which the approaches, concepts, and methodologies of OR/MS are becoming pervasive. They cited changes occurring in business school Management Science enrollments as one of the prime indicators. Students interested in Management Science no longer have to study under specialists in the field; they can receive the same training while majoring in a functional area such as finance or accounting. The curricula in these areas are now heavily imbued with OR/MS. The purpose of the present paper is to examine the Hall-Hess hypothesis in terms of evidence implied by what is being published in the scholarly literature. We will show that OR/MS results and applications are no longer being published only in the traditional OR/MS literature (if they ever were published only in these sources).
The Last Mohicans of OR: OR, it Might Be in the “Genes”
Authors: Zeleny Milan 
Published: October 2008

The recent exchange of opinions among Byrd [Byrd, J., Jr. 1978. The value of queueing theory. Interfaces 8 (3) 22–26.], Kolesar [Kolesar, P. 1979. A quick and dirty response to the quick and dirty crowd: Particularly to Jack Byrd's ‘The value of queueing theory’. Interfaces 9 (2) 77–82.], and Vazsonyi [Vazsonyi, A. 1979. To queue or not to queue: A rejoinder. Interfaces 9 (2) 83–86.], although apparently significant and undoubtedly intense, deals only with the symptoms and not with the causes of a deeply felt crisis of identity emerging within the Operations Research and Management Sciences community. Queueing theory and its applications has played the role of an unfortunate scapegoat for the real issue: OR/MS is being challenged and its usefulness in modern society is questioned. One of the most serious and also most merciless challenges to OR/MS comes from one of its “founding fathers,” Russell Ackoff [Ackoff, R. L. 1979. The future of operational research is past. J. Oper. Res. Soc. 30 (2) 93–104.]. It is the issue of OR/MS as a whole, not queueing theory, which should be debated on the pages of Interfaces. Ackoff declares: American Operations Research is dead even though it has yet to be buried.
Management Science Applications in the Planning and Design of a Water Supply System for a Nuclear Power Plant
Authors: Hamilton Carl W. , Bingham William G. 
Published: October 2008

In 1982, the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station near Phoenix, Arizona, will begin commercial operation as one of the world's largest power facilities. Locating this multi-unit nuclear power plant in the Arizona Desert was a decision whose uniqueness was exceeded only by the magnitude of the project: Approximately $3.0 billion for three nominal 1300 MWe units needing a total of 90 million gallons of cooling water per day. To supply this resource, Phoenix city wastewater will be conveyed 38 miles to the plant site, treated, stored, used, recycled, and the residues disposed of. Wastewater has been used as cooling water for power plants before, but never in this quantity, in such a climate, and for so critical a use. The overall problem of systems design was a classic unstructured and interconnected situation. Every major decision—on conveyance, treatment plant capacity, method of treatment, size of the storage reservoir, condenser tube material, use of wet/dry cooling towers, cycles of concentrations, and blowdown disposal—was linked in cost and performance with two or three others, and all were surrounded by uncertainties regarding supply, performance, and demand. To comprehensively analyze these factors, a spectrum of Management Science methods was used to develop a project plan, sort through the interconnections, assess their net effects, and select the design parameters of the system. Besides providing direction for the project and comprehensiveness in the final design, the effort was directly responsible for a reduction of $20 million in capital construction costs, or a cash flow savings of $3.5 million per year for the anticipated 30-year economic life of the plant.
The Fifth Column—Ten Ways to Go Down With MRP
Authors: Woolsey Gene 
Published: October 2008

The purpose of this short article is to comment on some reasons why MIS systems, such as Materials Requirements Planning, for example, can be successful. However, I will do this by enumerating 10 reasons why MRP systems have gone down to defeat in recent industrial history. Now, I must also warn the reader that I have usually appeared at the scene of the crime long after the installation was terminal. I suspect that consultants are usually called in at such times because (1) if the consultant can pull it off, obviously the situation wasn't so bad, and/or (2) if the consultant blows it, the situation was hopeless anyway (obviously). The following methods are presented here to show some common errors made by management in the acquisition and implementation (attempted) of MRP systems. It is hoped that the translation of the results to other types of MIS systems is obvious to the most casual observer.
Information Issues in Model Specification
Authors: Balakrishnan Anantaram , Whinston Andrew B. 
Published: October 2008

This paper explores the tradeoffs and information issues in model specification, i.e., choosing the appropriate level of detail and precision of decision support models. For many real-time and distributed decision problems, decision-makers face a wide spectrum of information gathering choices that vary in the amount and quality of information as well as their associated costs and delays. Modeling these problems raises several operational and strategic questions including: • how much and what type of information to acquire before making a decision. • what protocol to use for exchanging information among multiple decision-makers. • what organization and information structure (e.g., centralized, coordinated, distributed) to use for effective information sharing and decision-making. We highlight the modeling issues and tradeoffs using examples from production planning, distributed processing, and network routing, and draw upon research in diverse fields, including information economics and game theory, knowledge logic in computer science, and distributed computation, to obtain model specification insights. Our discussions emphasize and illustrate two main model specification themes. First, acquiring additional information often has diminishing returns (in terms of the quality of decisions suggested by the model); therefore, an imprecise model based on partial information might be more appropriate than using a detailed and accurate model that identifies ‘optimal’ decisions. Concepts from information economics and team theory provide a framework for analyzing this tradeoff. We also briefly discuss some heuristic methods to identify effective information gathering strategies. Our second theme applies to systems consisting of several decision-makers who make interdependent decisions. In this context, the decision model for each agent must be based on an understanding of what information to exchange, how frequently, and what protocol to use for exchanging information. We illustrate how complete information sharing among distributed decision-makers might even be impossible because of a possible dead-lock in decision-making. This game-theoretic phenomenon has implications for designing the organization structure, information systems, and communication protocols to support multi-agent decision-making.
Modeling Team Processes: Issues and a Specific Example
Authors: Rao H. Raghav , Chaudhury Abhijit , Chakka M. 
Published: October 2008

This paper develops a perspective to modeling team processes by drawing on concepts from team theory, and the informational processing and organizational paradigms. In such a perspective, humans and their interactions in a team are modeled as objects in a computerized environment. The behavior of the objects are specified in terms of the executable programs. A simulation testbed is described. Various information structures for team decision making in an example financial domain are examined. Questions regarding the relationship between information structure (who (knows) what, when, and how (the information is used)) and team performance are studied for the example. Thus this study can be seen as a step in the translation of behavioral and normative viewpoints of team decision making into a computational framework. The results indicate that there are complex relationships between information structure and team performance. The conventional wisdom relating improved performance to more information is not always true. The experiments demonstrate several situations of team interaction where more information can lead to dysfunctional effects.
Are Attributes Entities? A Study of Database Designers' Memory Structures
Authors: Weber Ron 
Published: October 2008

A longstanding debate in the data modeling literature pertains to whether the grammars used to generate conceptual schemas should sustain a distinction between entities and attributes. The grammars used to generate entity-relationship diagrams and object-oriented conceptual models, for example, provide separate constructs for representing entities and attributes. The grammars used to generate binary data models, however, provide only a single construct for representing both entities and attributes. To sharpen the focus of the debate, a multi-trial free-recall experiment was conducted with database designers who had been trained primarily in a binary conceptual schema design methodology. In the experiment, the designers were first shown conceptual schema diagrams based on a binary model. The designers were then asked to recall the diagrams. Throughout their training as designers, they had been admonished to eschew any distinction between entities and attributes. Moreover, the diagrams they were shown in the experiment did not make a distinction between entities and attributes. Their recall protocols seemed to show, however, that they were considering some elements of the diagrams to be entities and others to be attributes. Their memory structures appear to reflect, therefore, that they perceive entities and attributes to be two distinct constructs.