bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A Study of Consumer Behavior by use of Competitive Business Games
Authors: Symonds Gifford H. 
Published: November 2008

The behavior of consumers, labor, investors, and community members in a simulated society has been studied by use of competitive business games. The model for the simulation represents a closed economic system with firms in an oligopolistic industry operating by a set of anticipatory decision rules and a number of household communities whose decisions are made by players who identify themselves with the welfare of their communities. The product price and product sales each period are determined by equating the aggregate supply function of the firms and the aggregate demand function of the household communities. The wage rates and employment each period are determined by matching offers of the firms with offers of the household communities. The game results show that some regulations were required in order to maintain a satisfactory consumption level. Regulations included wage control, taxation of firms and households, dividend policy and assistance for destitute household communities. It was found that change in employment was related to anticipated change in wage rate and to household's monetary assets, and that change in product demand was related to anticipated change in product price and to past consumption.
The Management of Scientific Manpower
Authors: Saxberg Borje O. , Slocum John W. 
Published: November 2008

Management control of professional employees such as engineers and scientists leads to a state of conflict in the business organization. To management, the control of human resources implies the limiting of individualistic behavior of subordinates in order to realize the objectives of the firm. In contrast, the industrial scientist, even as a subordinate in an organizational hierarchy, believes that control as applied to him should allow for autonomy and independence as attributes of professionalism in his work environment. In this paper we examine various approaches to managerial control— traditional, bureaucratic, cybernetic, and behavioral—and their application to the engineer-scientist as the carrier of professional values in the work culture. A successful manager in this environment must create a work climate without emphasis on formal mechanisms of control and direction. Recent research indicates that to this effect optimum supervisory behavior involves neither excessive direction nor autonomy but frequent interaction with industrial scientists as participants in decision making. We conclude that management of industrial scientists in relation to their professional values should take place within the networks of informal organizational relationships. It involves the application of normative managerial control based upon the exercise of self-imposed sanctions by the industrial scientists themselves, and of colleague authority by their managers relying on communication and information for compliance with organization's objectives and goals.
Parallel Strategies in Development Projects
Authors: Abernathy William J. , Rosenbloom Richard S. 
Published: November 2008

It is common in R & D to identify and explore several approaches to a particular objective so that the best approach may be chosen. The outcome of any approach is uncertain; hence, it is difficult to choose the best one at an early date. To deal with this uncertainty, two or more approaches to the objective may be continued in parallel until a clear choice can be made, i.e., a parallel strategy. Such a strategy can provide better information for a decision, maintain options, or hedge against the occurrence of an unsatisfactory outcome. This report addresses the project manager's problem of deciding when to use or continue a parallel strategy. It reports the results of studies of actual projects and of a digital simulation analysis of a model appropriate to the structure of the decision as it is faced in practice. It identifies the information requirements for a sound choice between parallel and sequential strategies and the consequence of choosing a strategy on the basis of incomplete information. The report demonstrates the feasibility of collecting the requisite economic data in actual projects and suggests that it is costly for project managers to ignore such data.
Optimal Dividend and Investment Policies for a Self-Financing Business Enterprise
Authors: Manne Alan S. 
Published: November 2008

For a self-financing business enterprise (or for an underdeveloped economy subject to constraints on the availability of foreign investment funds), three theorems are presented. Each result is based upon the assumption that the firm's investment opportunities follow constant returns-to-scale, and are of the “point input—stream output” type. Theorem 1 shows that if the enterprise is attempting to maximize a linear function of the cash dividends paid out, the optimization model cannot explain a readily observed phenomenon: both investment expenditures and also cash dividends at the same point in time. Theorems 2 and 3 explore the consequences of supposing that the maximand is a concave, nonlinear function of the cash dividends paid out, and that the optimal solution consists of positive investment expenditures over time. (The optimal policy may or may not call for positive dividends during each time period.) Then Theorem 2 shows that the optimal dual variable price ratios are determined uniquely by the set of investment opportunities available, and Theorem 3 shows that the optimal policy can be evaluated numerically through optimization of the original utility function subject to a specially constructed single linear equality constraint on the cash withdrawals. An economic decentralization interpretation is attached to this auxiliary maximization problem.
Management Science Applications in the Bell System
Authors: Hardgrave W. W. , Mac Williams W. H. 
Published: November 2008

Bell System applications of management science are reviewed, with examples, under three categories: (a) Facilities—providing the physical communications plant, (b) Operations—concerning both the plant and the organization, and (c) Marketing—determining services to be offered and rates. The facility applications have been the most studied, tend to be the simplest, and have yielded effective engineering solutions using computer programs for many recurring problems. Operations problems tend to be more difficult both to formulate and to solve, and their large size and complexity have frequently led to approximation in both formulation and solution. Marketing2 problems usually show complex interactions among the level of demand, the plant and services required to satisfy this demand, and the resulting cost of the services. This area has major difficulties in formulation and solution and has been the least studied of the three. However, the marketing area is likely to become the most important one in the future, primarily because of its basic relation to determining the direction of the business.
Graduate Programs in Operational Research at Lancaster and Sussex
Authors: Simpson M. G. , Rivett B. H. P. 
Published: November 2008

The Graduate programmes at Lancaster and Sussex have much in common. Although the areas of special interest are somewhat different the general philosophy matches closely, and it thus seems more compact to present our views on the main purposes of education in the Management Sciences jointly. As the form of graduate education differs significantly from one country to another, it might perhaps be useful to the readers of TIMS to point out that in the United Kingdom two main forms of full-time post graduate education are common: (a) Programmes mainly of a “course” content, which may also have some practical project work, but which do not expect proof of research ability from a student (mainly offering Masters degrees). (b) Both Master's and Doctoral programmes with little or no course work and in which the merits of the student are almost exclusively judged on his ability in research.
The Information Content of Prices: A Preliminary Model for Estimating Buyer Response
Authors: Monroe Kent B. 
Published: November 2008

An understanding of buyer response to price depends upon determining how buyers perceive price. One hypothesis is buyers have an acceptable range of prices and, therefore, the demand curve is backward bending. This article presents an a priori argument for a new research methodology for estimating buyers' responses to price. Two concepts are introduced to aid the development of the model. The potential applicability of the Weber-Fechner Law of psychophysics for exploring the price-quality relationship is analyzed and provides the basis of the argument that the demand function can be represented logarithmically. Given the desire to express demand as a logarithmic function of price, the lognormal distribution is used to explore the ramifications of the relationship. Finally, the method of profit analysis is developed for obtaining demand estimates.
Programme Selection in Research and Development
Authors: Lockett A. Geoffrey , Gear Anthony E. 
Published: November 2008

Mathematical programming as an aid to R & D project portfolio selection has been suggested by many authors, but few practical applications have been reported. This paper discusses some, of the difficulties, associated with the application of the proposed models, and describes procedures for handling these problems. Problem areas considered are: Allowance for future opportunities in multi-period models, Generation of alternative risk-return solutions, Inclusion of projects not completed during the planning period, Comparison of linear and integer programming outputs. In the main, both the problems and methods of solution are clarified by means of numerical examples, and details of a practical case study are given.
A Modified Simulation of Cyert, Feigenbaum, and March's Duopoly Model
Authors: Tuckman Howard P. , Holmblad L. Peter 
Published: November 2008

This paper utilizes a duopoly model to simulate the effects of various management rules of thumb and of changing economic conditions on the market share and profit-goals of the firm. Part I presents and discusses a behavioral model, Part II gives the initial market conditions and the parameters for the alternative simulations, and the remaining sections discuss the effects of the parameter changes. Several findings are of interest to management scientists. If a firm incorrectly estimates market demand its market and profit share will decrease. Estimates of the market demand curve slope which are far away from the true slope have a lesser proportional effect on the firm's share of the market than estimates close to the “true” slope. If costs rise rapidly due to internal slack, the price of a product will rise, market output will fall, and the two firms will have lower profit goals. Moreover, policies which encourage both short- and long-run expansion result in a larger share of the market for the newer firm. The paper ends with recommendations for further development of the model.
A Recursive Optimization and Simulation Approach to Analysis with an Application to Transportation Systems
Authors: Nolan Richard L. , Sovereign Michael G. 
Published: November 2008

Modeling large systems with either an optimization or a simulation method has several disadvantages. Simulation is usually expensive if adequate detail and experimental designs are employed. Complete detail in optimization models may press the bounds of computability. A recursive approach integrating both types of models is presented. The recursive approach involves, an allocation of resources by optimization models at an aggregate level. At this level computation is not difficult and broad alternatives can be easily explored. Simulation models can then be designed to address detailed questions of productivity of resources, discreteness, and complex relationships. The simulation can use the particular schedules generated by the optimization so that experimental designs can be limited in size. The revised productivities can then be input to the optimization model for a more refined optimal solution. The recursive approach has been applied to the strategic mobility system problem in reaching decisions for the size of transportation forces for the DOD. A linear programming model provides optimal allocation of overall mobility system vehicles and schedules. Two simulation models, an airlift model and a sealift model, provide productivity estimates and tests of capability.
Experiences with a Sales Districting Model: Criteria and Implementation
Authors: Hess Sidney W. , Samuels Stuart A. 
Published: November 2008

Previously reported research documented the analogue between sales districting and legislative apportionment and described the first applications of computer techniques to the redrawing of sales and service areas. This paper summarizes what we have learned from these seven applications. We emphasize —motivation for re-alignment: Better coverage, fairer work load and change in size of sales force, —criteria for measuring “good” districting: Single, multiple and weighted measures of salesman activity; relationship to sales objectives; and correlation between activity measures, —implementation: Top management involvement and presentation to the sales force, —demonstrated effectiveness of the new alignments.
An Analytical Model of a Two-Product, One-Machine, Production-Inventory System
Authors: Hodgson Thom J. 
Published: November 2008

This paper is concerned with the modeling and analysis of a one-machine two-product, integrated production-inventory system. A semi-Markovian model is developed which incorporates a state dependent control system heretofore not used in integrated production-inventory models. Control optimization is achieved through the use of Markov-renewal programming. The model is exercised over a range of parameters in order to determine the characteristics of the system. An analysis of the experimental results leads to the following conjectures about the production-inventory system: 1. For the production-inventory system, the economic manufacturing quantity is greater than that seen in the deterministically derived EMQ. The increase results primarily from increases in expected overtime costs and expected setup costs rather than increases in stockout costs. This is important for applications, since overtime and setup costs are a good deal easier to quantify than stockout costs in a real system. 2. Under some conditions, deterministically derived rules for the application of overtime have merit in a stochastic system.
Hospital Admission Systems: Their Evaluation and Management
Authors: Milsum John H. , Turban Efraim , Vertinsky Ilan 
Published: November 2008

The paper presents a holistic analysis of hospital management admission systems. It outlines control strategies which will facilitate a system's effectiveness for various organizational attributes. In particular, attention is focused on bed occupancy levels and on the stability of flows into the hospital as interacting control variables. The paper surveys the major available mathematical models and evaluates their use vs. the use of simulation. It emphasizes the potential use of an iterative assignment model which explicitly considers the alternative profiles for preferences for service attributes held by the various participants in the admission system. To reconcile conflicting objectives of these participants the DELPHI and the Multi-attribute Reduction methods are proposed.
Planning Human Capital Structure: A Study of Economic, Demographic and Educational Determinants
Authors: Parvin Manoucher 
Published: November 2008

There exists a need in less—as well as more—advanced economies for human resource development as an integral part of a planning program and a means of avoiding structural or sectoral unemployment. As a first approximation in planning a human capital structure for a given country, a set of ratios such as students per teacher, inhabitants per physician, nurse or lawyer, etc., may be considered a long-run plan objective. In this paper, economic as well as demographic and educational factors and parameters are used to construct a production function for human capital structure which is called the technical model. The technical model is subsequently used as a constraint in the determination and analysis of the least-cost condition of achieving alternative plans. One of the theoretical results here is that such ratios become larger as the average percentage of student “dropouts” per year increase. The model shows that the marginal cost of improving the quality of human capital (by a requirement for a longer training period or by the establishment of stiffer educational standards) is an increasing function of such educational variables. Finally, the model gives an explicit algebraic expression for the qualitative-quantitative transformation-professional expertise vs. the number of personnel produced-existing in the production of human capital for equal or comparable costs. The model can be used for regional as well as global planning and in a mixed capitalist as well as a socialist economy.
An Optimum Budget Allocation Model for Dynamic, Interacting Market Segments
Authors: Gensch Dennis H. , Welam Ulf Peter 
Published: November 2008

This paper formulates a model for determining the optimal allocation of a given advertising budget over M interacting market segments and a time domain of T periods. Guidance for budget size optimization is provided via a shadow price. The basic input parameters are in terms of sales saturation levels and advertising elasticities, concepts experienced advertising executives understand and are willing to estimate. Economic and political developments in Western Europe are increasing the interactions among geographically defined segments, and recent development in discrimination techniques may soon make market segmentation a practical strategy for the United States market. In relation to the time domain, the simplistic and often unrealistic constraint of a constant carryover effect is relaxed in that current advertising is hypothesized to generate sales both by creating new customers and by interacting with the residual effects of past advertising (goodwill) thus reinforcing preferences of past customers. This interactive formulation relating past and future expenditures allows a model user greater flexibility in specifying the relationship between advertising and sales. The mathematical programming technique used is a form of convex programming.
Computer Based Decision Systems in Xerox Corporate Planning
Authors: Seaberg Ronald A. , Seaberg Charlotte 
Published: November 2008

The whole concept of modelling has caught on aided immeasurably by the considerable progress in computer technology. Mini-computers, timesharing systems, remote terminals, and graphical displays have placed computer power directly into the hands of the decision maker. This paper presents a corporate decision-aiding system, a family of timeshared models, developed for Xerox of Canada Limited (XCL) in an effort to link the functional areas for communication, planning, and control purposes. Using the approaches of statistical forecasting, heuristics, and simulation, the XCL Decision System assists and guides management all the way from deriving product demand forecasts to simulating the day-to-day operations of the firm to formulating divisional financial statements to preparing corporate operating and medium-range plans. Developed in a short time span and at low cost, the system is used extensively in Canada and has been adopted, in part, by U.S. corporate and regional offices.
Decision Analysis Expert Use
Authors: Morris Peter A. 
Published: November 2008

This paper is the first in a series of articles introducing a new conceptual and methodological framework for the use of experts in decision situations. Presented is the first theory of expert resolution wholly consistent with the Bayesian or subjectivist view of probability. The approach taken rests philosophically on the foundations of decision analysis. The results form practical tools for solving expert resolution problems. The present paper develops a structure in which the expert resolution problem may be logically formulated and conceptually solved. A framework is developed which enables a decision maker to encode his state of information concerning an expert. Application of the tools of Bayesian inference provides a mechanism by which a decision maker can incorporate an expert's opinion into his own. The more complicated case in which a decision maker is confronted with the diverse judgments of more than one expert is also addressed in detail. Additionally, the problem of determining the economic worth of one or a panel of experts is presented.
Preference Order Dynamic Programming
Authors: Mitten L. G. 
Published: November 2008

The dynamic programming recursive procedure has provided an efficient method for solving a variety of multi-stage decision problems in which the objective is measured by a real valued utility function. In this paper we propose that the real valued objective function be replaced by preference relations. Sufficient conditions are given on the structure of the preference relations to insure that the recursive dynamic programming procedure yields an optimal sequence of decisions. The solution method is well adapted to an interactive mode of implementation in which there is a dialogue between the decision maker and a source of information and analysis (e.g., a computer). The “computer” collects, analyzes, and presents information on a set of alternatives to the decision maker who then communicates to the “computer” his choice of the best alternatives in the set. The process is repeated, stage by stage, thus generating an optimal sequence of decisions. The approach should be particularly useful in dealing with multi-stage decision problems involving design and/or operation of facilities and multi-period public projects where a variety of desiderata must be considered (i.e., a simple cost or benefit function is inadequate).
Note—A Computational Survey of Methods for the Set Covering Problem
Authors: Christofides Nicos , Korman S. 
Published: November 2008

This paper is a survey of available methods for the solution of the Set Covering Problem. The prime objective has been to establish the computational efficiency and relative merits of the various algorithms that have been proposed. To this end five methods have been programmed and tested on the same set of 33 test problems some of which can be found in the literature and the rest of which were randomly generated. Some of the methods examined have—as far as the authors are aware—never been previously tested, and in some cases some surprising results have been noted. In addition, one type of tree search method has been studied in some greater detail and new techniques involving multiple dominance tests, and the calculation of a better lower bound have been suggested to limit the search. This resulting algorithm was found to be better than the original one by orders of magnitude in both computation times and numbers of tree-nodes generated, and has proved to be the most efficient of the methods tested.