bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
On the Hotel Overbooking Problem—An Inventory System with Stochastic Cancellations
Authors: Liberman Varda , Yechiali Uri 
Published: November 2008

M hotel rooms are available at a date n periods from now. Reservations are made by customers for that date, which is at the peak of the high season. Typically, for such a time period, a policy of overbooking is exercised by the hotel management. Customers, however, may cancel their previously confirmed reservations at any time prior to their arrival, with no penalty. On the other hand, new requests for rooms for that particular date are generated anew. At the end of each period the hotel management reviews both the “inventory” level of remaining uncanceled (previously confirmed) reservations and the total number of not-yet-confirmed new requests. At that time a decision is made regarding the inventory level of confirmed reservations with which to start the next period. A decision is one of three actions: (i) to keep the inventory at its present level (i.e., declining all new requests); (ii) to increase the level of overbooking by confirming some of the new requests and, if necessary, by trying to obtain some additional reservations (at some extra cost); (iii) to decrease the level of inventory by canceling some of the previously confirmed reservations (incurring a penalty for each such cancellation). Each occupied room at the target day carries a given profit, while each unhonored reservation at that time incurs a penalty. The problem is to find the optimal over-booking strategy that will maximize net profit. For both criteria, maximization of the expected total net profit, and maximization of the expected discounted net profit, it is shown that the optimal strategy is a 3-region policy as follows: For each period there exist upper and lower bounds and an intermediate point such that, (a) if the overbooking level at the end of a period is greater than the upper bound, it should be decreased to that bound; (b) if the inventory level is below the lower bound, two cases may occur: (i) if the discrepancy is greater than the number of new requests, all new requests should be confirmed and additional reservations should be acquired such that the inventory level will be equal to the lower bound; and (ii) if the discrepancy is smaller than the number of new requests, some of the new requests are confirmed but the inventory level may not exceed the intermediate point; (c) if the inventory level is between the two bounds there are two possibilities: (i) if it is above the intermediate point none of the new requests are confirmed, but (ii) if it is below that point, some of the new requests should be confirmed provided that the new inventory level will not exceed the intermediate point.
An Efficient Integer Programming Algorithm with Network Cuts for Solving Resource-Constrained Scheduling Problems
Authors: Talbot F. Brian , Patterson James H. 
Published: November 2008

In this paper we describe an integer programming algorithm for allocating limited resources to competing activities (jobs, tasks, etc.) of a project such that the completion time of the project is minimal among all possible completion times. Typical of such problems is the minimization of the completion time of projects of the PERT/CPM variety where limits on resource availability force the postponement of selected activities during project performance. Also included in this class of problems for which our procedure is applicable is the assignment of jobs to machines such that the elapsed time for completing all jobs (makespan) is a minimum over all possible job-machine assignments. The procedure developed consists of a systematic evaluation (enumeration) of all possible job finish times for each task in the project. To limit the number of task assignments which have to be explicitly evaluated, an artifice called a network cut is developed which removes from consideration the evaluation of job finish times which cannot lead to a reduced project completion time. Results reported demonstrate that the procedure developed is a reliable optimization technique for projects consisting of up to 30–50 jobs and three different resource types. The procedure is particularly applicable in those instances in which computer primary storage is limited. Many of the mini-computers available today are capable of implementing our approach without extensive programming being required for writing to auxiliary storage, making the technique available to the project manager in those environments in which extensive computer resources for scheduling are not readily available.
A Simultaneous Equation Model of Corporate Strategy
Authors: Schendel Dan , Patton G. Richard 
Published: November 2008

Over the past decade strategy has become a concept of value to management as it relates the firm to the threats and opportunities of an increasingly turbulent environment. However, empirical tests of the validity of the strategy construct have been limited, as have been the managerial applications of the models used to test the construct. Early research efforts, both analytical and empirical, have shown that quantitative modeling of strategy could be a tool of value in helping top management achieve the goal is of the firm [Gershefski, George W. 1969. Building a corporate financial model. Harvard Business Rev. (July–August) 61–72; Guth, W. D. 1972. Product differentiation and concentration in the brewing industry. J. Business Policy. 2 (3) 31–36.]. Prior research has been limited to single equation models linking strategy and environment to only one performance goal, profitability. While there is some controversy about it, complex organizations set multiple, and sometimes conflicting goals, creating a need for models that car; encompass more than a single performance goal. Moreover, the interactive effects of strategic variables governing the efficiency of daily operations, suggests that single equation models of strategy cannot capture the complexity of the modern firm. This research explores the use of a simultaneous equation model of corporate strategy as a means of overcoming the multiple performance goal problem, while capturing the complex patterns of the strategic, operating, and environmental variables that influence goal achievement. The difficulties of estimating the model, including the problems of sample heterogeneity so important to this type of work, are identified and discussed using data and results taken from the U.S. brewing industry.
Facility Location with Price-Sensitive Demands: Private, Public, and Quasi-Public
Authors: Erlenkotter Donald 
Published: November 2008

We formulate a general model for an uncapacitated facility location problem in which demands are related to the prices established at the various locations. Pricing decisions and location decisions are determined simultaneously in this model, in contrast to traditional location models that assume fixed demands and prices. We show that a transformation of the general model is equivalent to the fixed-demand location model of Efroymson and Ray, and thus may be solved by any of the exact or heuristic methods available for that model. Specifying either a private sector objective of maximizing profits or a public sector objective of maximizing net social benefits provides a particular case of the general model. A third plausible objective is the “quasi-public” one of maximizing net social benefits subject to a constraint that ensures sufficient revenues to cover costs. A Lagrangian relaxation of this constraint, which yields another case of the general model, is used to develop a solution procedure for the quasi-public objective. Details of the solution approach are given for quadratic revenue functions, and an example illustrates the procedure.
On Equity in Providing Public Services
Authors: Savas E. S. 
Published: November 2008

The performance of public services is determined to a large extent by the spatial distribution of facilities and resources that provide the service. Three measures of performance are discussed: efficiency, effectiveness, and equity. The last of these, equity, is recognized as being of growing importance, but has been generally neglected by management scientists. Different equitable formulas can be used for the spatial distribution of public services within a community. They are based on four general principles: equal payments, equal outputs, equal inputs, and equal satisfaction of demand. The application of these principles is illustrated by reference to municipal services. Mutual inconsistency among these formulas is evident, and is shown caused by the different values which underlie the choice of formulas. The choosing of values is, ultimately, a political process.
ISMS: Computer-Aided Analysis for Design of Decision-Support Systems
Authors: Hansen James V. , McKell Lynn J. , Heitger Lester E. 
Published: November 2008

This paper demonstrates concepts, collectively termed interpretive structural modeling, which can aid in the development of decision-support systems through: (1) creating a structure which helps identify the presence or absence of information necessary for decision-making; (2) providing a convenient framework for evaluating control subsystems; (3) defining levels in the system hierarchy; (4) specifying subsystems at each level, and (5) facilitating user participation in the design process. The procedures described operate without the requirement of an a priori knowledge of system structure. This feature and the programmability of the approach (ISMS) help analysts and users think and communicate effectively about complex design issues.
Fire Loss Reduction: Fire Detectors vs. Fire Stations
Authors: Halpern Jonathan 
Published: November 2008

This paper develops a method for comparing the cost effectiveness of two ways of improving the fire protection in a community: the installation of detection-alarm systems (DAS) in dwellings and the addition of fire companies. The method is developed from a number of relatively simple models and assumptions. One is a relationship that predicts average travel time from the number of “covered” fire stations and the size of the area being served. A second is a set of regressions of the percentage of the property value destroyed vs. response time for five classes of fires in one- and two-family homes. And a third is the effect of installing detection-alarm systems on the distribution of fires among the five classes at the time of detection. Adding fire companies increases the number of covered stations, thus reducing response time, and thence expected loss. Installing detectors increases the proportion of fires in the less serious classes, thus reducing expected loss. The method was applied to data from Calgary, Canada. The results for this case show that, from a base case with no DAS and 16 fire stations, adding detectors would be more cost effective than adding fire stations to reduce fire losses if a DAS for a one- or two-family home costs less than $2500 to install and $1700 a year to maintain (or the equivalent cost mix using present values). The methodology can be extended to other types of occupancies (e.g., high-rise buildings and commercial properties), and to other types of losses (e.g., indirect and life). It could then become a useful tool in helping to choose fire protection levels for a community, as well as determining how to allocate a given amount of resources among different means of fire protection.
Extended Pattern Search with Transformations for the Three-Parameter Weibull MLE Problem
Authors: Zanakis Stelios H. 
Published: November 2008

The Weibull distribution has found extensive applications in a variety of engineering, science and business problems. A journal survey indicated that it is the third most often used distribution in the statistical literature. To use it, one must best estimate its parameters from a given sample. Maximum likelihood estimates (MLE) of the three Weibull parameters are usually desirable due to their nice asymptotic properties, but several computational difficulties arise during the solution of this bounded-variable nonlinear optimization problem. This paper extends a method (pattern search) which was successfully used by the author for obtaining joint MLE of all three Weibull parameters. Fifteen different transformations (to eliminate bounds) and three search direction approaches (derivative-free, exact and numerical gradient) of a revised unconstrained pattern search are evaluated on a set of randomly generated realistic test problems. Performance criteria include computation speed, accuracy of estimators (relatively to the true parameters and true MLEs), log-likelihood value achieved, and goodness of fit of the estimated distribution (to the sample or generating population). The results are analyzed statistically and successful (unsuccessful) transformation/direction options are identified for each criterion. User interest in different performance criteria and the flatness of the log-likelihood function prevent identification of a single “overall best” option. Simple percentile estimators, used as search starting points, proved to be superior to MLE in problems with a small shape parameter value. The search procedures examined in this paper may also be used for solving other types of nonlinear optimization problems with bounded variables. They are attractive to practitioners because they are easily programmed and understood; they run fast but they do not guarantee optimality.
An Allocation Model for Catalog Space Planning
Authors: Johnson Miki , Zoltners Andris A. , Sinha Prabhakant 
Published: November 2008

Deciding which items to include in a sales catalog and how much space should be allocated to each item is a major planning problem facing many large retailers and catalog firms. The steps in the catalog planning process include compiling a list of candidate items, developing one or several ad size “strategies” for each item, estimating the sales and contribution which would be realized as a result of each strategy, and then selecting a set of strategies which effectively allocate the space available in the catalog to some subset of items. This paper describes the planning process in detail. An integer programming model is presented which incorporates merchandising policy constraints in optimally choosing the items and ad strategies to be included in the catalog. The organizational implications of using such a model are also explored. A simple example of the application of the model to planning the tennis equipment lines of a major mass merchandiser appears as an appendix.
Mathematical Models of Road Travel Distances
Authors: Love Robert F. , Morris James G. 
Published: November 2008

Some management science models require estimates of distances between points in a road network based on the point coordinates. This paper evaluates the accuracy of a range of reasonable forms for distance estimating functions using samples of urban and rural road distances. The intent is to derive better distance estimating functions for analyzing systems with distance related performance measures. Contrary to a standard assumption, the rectangular distance function is inferior to the simple Euclidean metric in the urban samples. More general functions provide still greater improvement over the rectangular metric. Statistical significance accompanies these conclusions. One of the more general functions appears particularly suited to rural distances.
An Application of the Blin-Whinston Algorithm for Resolving Fuzzy Group Preferences
Authors: Steinberg Earle , Rinks Dan 
Published: November 2008

Important decisions regarding governmental expenditures for the public welfare require accurate assessment of preferences of the citizenry as one input. Often, strong disagreement exists regarding relative merit of various projects competing for limited resources. This paper proposes a procedure for establishing a complete social preference ordering on the set of alternative projects when the group preference is fuzzy because of individual differences. An extension of current algorithms is developed-and applied to a problem concerning public preferences for expenditures on civic projects in Houston, Texas. One thousand male and female heads-of-household were interviewed in depth to determine their preferences for investment among forty-one projects in the areas of social services, business and job development, public transportation, arts and leisure, and education. A complete preference order for group decision was obtained for a situation in which significant disagreement exists among group members and where funding is limited.
Advertising Agency Compensation: A Model for Incentive and Control
Authors: Calantone Roger J. , Drury Donald H. 
Published: November 2008

This paper describes a theoretical model for incentive and control within the framework of the advertising agency-client relationship. This particular interorganizational relationship has been characterized by frequent disagreements, discontent and resignation of accounts by both sides. For many years simple commission schemes were the rule. Recently many alternative schemes have been instituted but have either had no effect or overly favored one party or the other and thus exacerbated the historical discontent in the industry. The problem is identified through an examination of the major client-agency compensation methods currently in use. The article deals first with the effects and drawbacks of making the simple commission rate method more complex by introducing an increasing number of numerical statements of the variables with which the advertisers and agencies must deal. Then four simple compensation methods—the commission basis, the fixed fee method, time-charges and a results incentive program—are analyzed and compared to introduce an alternative, three-stage approach to compensation. In the first or preliminary stage, the agency proposes to the advertiser a tentative target and a tentative compensation which as been determined by means of an equation which guarantees the agency a normal return. In the second or planning phase, the agency has the option of selecting according to a formula a larger or smaller plan target with a correspondingly larger or smaller compensation payment. In the third or implementation phase, when the agency acutally provides the service negotiated in stage two, it actually receives the corresponding agreed-upon compensation appropriate to its inputs and performance. Thus the model presented provides output performance incentives to both agency and client while providing controls on inputs for both sides. It also explicitly recognizes the planning and negotiation facets of compensation schemes through which the accommodation of each set of organization goals may be achieved.
Multiattribute Utility Functions: Decompositions Using Interpolation
Authors: Bell David E. 
Published: November 2008

Methodologies developed in the last several years allow formal inclusion of two sources of complexity in the analysis of a decision problem—uncertainty and multiple conflicting objectives. Uncertainty can be handled by assessing the decision maker's attitude towards risk in the form of a von Neumann-Morgenstern utility function. Conflicting objectives may be handled by making the utility function multidimensional. A problem that then arises is in devising assessment protocols for these multidimensional (multiattribute) functions that make efficient use of the decision maker's time and effort. Mostly, such methods have concentrated on identifying structural properties of the function, such as separability, by asking questions of a general nature about the preferences and tradeoffs of the decision maker. These methods have been applied successfully on such problems as facilities siting, selection of appropriate medical treatment, optimal pest control and the evaluation of R&D proposals. The problem addressed in this paper is that of what to do about the assessment if no useful decomposition of the utility function can be identified. One possiblity is to make use of some of the properties that were most nearly satisfied and then attempt to support the resulting recommendations with a sensitivity analysis. This paper provides the analyst with an efficient, routine method of approximating the utility function to any degree of accuracy that the decision maker or the problem requires. The idea is to assess the function exactly only on a multidimensional grid and then to interpolate other values of the utility function from those on the grid. Evidently, a finer grid will, in general, provide a better approximation. The resulting utility function is continuous. It is not anticipated that many of the problems in which conflicting objectives are a factor will need this level of sophistication. But just as there are problems that require a substantial modelling effort to identify feasible consequences so, occasionally, an analysis would benefit from an accurate modelling of the objective function.
Sample vs. Population Mean-Variance Efficient Portfolios
Authors: Levy Haim , Kroll Yoram 
Published: November 2008

It is common to use historical data in calculating the rates of return of risky options, and these data are used to calculate the mean and the variance, which are employed in the (MV) preference ranking. In this paper we study the effect of possible sampling error on the portfolio ranking. It is shown that in order to keep the error at a reasonable level (5 percent), one needs 50–100 observations, a number that is rarely used in the (MV) comparison of portfolios. The results are almost independent of the correlation between the portfolios.
Evaluating and Improving Resource Allocation for Navy Recruiting
Authors: Morey Richard C. , McCann John M. 
Published: November 2008

The recruitment of enlisted men and officers under the All-Volunteer Force concept costs approximately $620 million per year; of this amount approximately $100 million are in advertising expenditures. However, recently Congress and the General Accounting Office have expressed considerable concern over the lack of justification for such expenditures. The issue is further complicated by the recent recruiting shortfalls by all the services and the debate surrounding registration and a possible return to the draft. Finally, results of most profit-oriented sales research are difficult to apply to improving military recruiting efficiency due to the difference in the levels of rapport and credibility necessary to convince a potential recruit to invest several years of his life. This paper reports on modeling and implementation experience geared towards determining the proper allocation of resources between advertising and recruiters. This mix is especially crucial since Congress does not permit funds appropriated for advertising to be used for manpower or vice versa. The study consists of two parts: generation of response functions to estimate the number and mix of enlistments over time and geographically as a function of the various demographics, advertising expenditures and the number of recruiters; a nonlinear programming resource allocation model to improve the budget generation and budget execution capabilities in meeting and assessing the impact of the various multi-faceted quantity and quality goals. The basic model, with updating of the response function parameters, is being used by the Navy to aid in the generation and defense of its annual budget appropriations. Numerical results are given which are compared to the past allocations of the Navy and to results observed in industrial product marketing.