摘要:

AbstractThis paper investigates the nature of optimal prices for a durable good in the presence of continuous quality improvements. The analysis of optimal prices is based on a nonlinear dynamic model of sales response that relates price, quality, average life of a product and the persistence of quality perceptions. Numerical solutions to the model are derived by employing the generalized reduced gradient algorithm. The results show that optimal price depends on the persistence of quality perceptions and the average life of a product (an aspect of quality). The analysis of optimal results affirms results based on other models and provides insights on the influence that quality has on optimal pricing. The implications of the results and suggestions for future research are discussed.

ISSN:0011-7315    

DOI:10.1111/j.1540-5915.1996.tb00858.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractConventional approaches to knowledge‐based system (KBS) development are not appropriate for building KBSs when the application task is structurable (i.e., exhibits a certain degree of ill structure). Building a KBS for structurable tasks requires an understanding of the problem‐solving strategies used by an expert to manage the ill structure, while at the same time relying on domain theories to understand the structured parts of the task. This paper presents a methodology for developing a knowledge model for structurable tasks during the conceptualization stage of KBS development. This is equivalent to building a logical model for design during the development of conventional information systems. The methodology relies on prior research on the decomposition and characterization of a task based on its various attributes. The paper also illustrates the use of the methodology in the case of KBS development for financial hedging. The paper concludes with some observations about the potential impact of this methodology on other stages in the KBS development proc

ISSN:0011-7315    

DOI:10.1111/j.1540-5915.1996.tb00859.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractThe Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) has been widely used to predict user acceptance and use based on perceived ease of use and usefulness. However, in order to design effective training interventions to improve user acceptance, it is necessary to better understand the antecedents and determinants of key acceptance constructs. In this research, we focus on understanding the determinants of perceived ease of use. Data from three experiments spanning 108 subjects and six different systems supported our hypothesis that an individual's perception of a particular system's ease of use is anchored to her or his general computer self‐efficacy at all times, and objective usability has an impact on ease of use perceptions about a specific system only after direct experience with the system. In addition to being an important research issue in user acceptance research, understanding antecedents of perceived ease of use is also important from a practical standpoint since several systems in which millions of dollars are invested are rejected because of poor user interfaces. Moreover, the actual underlying problem might be low computer self‐efficacy of the target user group. In such cases, training interventions aimed at improving computer self‐efficacy of users may be more effective than improved interface design for increasing user accep

ISSN:0011-7315    

DOI:10.1111/j.1540-5915.1996.tb00860.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractIn recent years, manufacturing firms have realized that a new, higher level of global competition causes them to compete simultaneously on multiple manufacturing goals, such as quality, delivery, cost, and flexibility. In response to this realization, considerable research now focuses on the relationship of manufacturing improvement programs to manufacturing goals. However, to date, this research has not investigated the specific underlying statistical relationships between manufacturing goals and the shop floor. This study investigates manufacturing lead time linkages with manufacturing programs and manufacturing goals. The basic purpose of this study is to understand and explain how programs affect the elements of manufacturing lead time and how manufacturing lead time affects manufacturing goal capabilities. By understanding these linkages, managers can logically trace the effects of specific programs to their eventual effects on manufacturing goal capabilities.This study's most important finding is that statistical variations in the elements of lead time cause a tendency for certain manufacturing goals to be more difficult to control and achieve than others because of canonical relationships of lead time variances. To control these lead time variances, successful firms concentrate their early program targets first on achieving “fitness for use” quality, followed by delivery reliability, short delivery lead time and cost, current product flexibility, and lastly, new product flexibility. This study mathematically illustrates which improvement programs most affect manufacturing goals through their relationship to manufacturing lead time variance reduction. It suggests that firms improve goal performance by initially targeting improvement through setup time reduction programs, defect reduction programs, and preventive maintenance programs, to facilitate quality improvements. By targeting specific programs and their related lead time variances, firms improve their manufacturing facility competitiveness with minimum obstac

ISSN:0011-7315    

DOI:10.1111/j.1540-5915.1996.tb00861.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractIn this paper, Virtual Cellular Manufacturing (VCM), an alternative approach to implementing cellular manufacturing, is investigated. VCM combines the setup efficiency typically obtained by Group Technology (GT) cellular manufacturing (CM) systems with the routing flexibility of a job shop. Unlike traditional CM systems in which the shop is physically designed as a series of cells, family‐based scheduling criteria are used to form logical cells within a shop using a process layout. The result is the formation of temporary, virtual cells as opposed to the more traditional, permanent, physical cells present in GT systems. Virtual cells allow the shop to be more responsive to changes in demand and workload patterns. Production using VCM is compared to production using traditional cellular and job shop approaches. Results indicate that VCM yields significantly better flow time and due date performance over a wide range of common operating conditions, as well as being more robust to demand variabilit

ISSN:0011-7315    

DOI:10.1111/j.1540-5915.1996.tb00862.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractDeterministic goal programs for employee scheduling decisions attempt to minimize expected operating costs by assigning the ideal number of employees to each feasible schedule. For each period in the planning horizon, managers must first determine the amount of labor that should be scheduled for duty. These requirements are often established with marginal analysis techniques, which use estimates for incremental labor costs and shortage expenses. Typically, each period in the planning horizon is evaluated as an independent epoch. An implicit assumption is that individual employees can be assigned to schedules with as little as a single period of work. If this assumption violates local work rules, the labor requirements parameters for the deterministic goal program may be suboptimal.As we show in this research, this well‐known limitation can lead to costly staffing and scheduling errors. We propose an employee scheduling model that overcomes this limitation by integrating the labor requirements and scheduling decisions. Instead of a single, externally determined staffing goal for each period, the model uses a probability distribution for the quantity of labor required. The model is free to choose an appropriate staffing level for each period, eliminating the need for a separate goal‐setting procedure. In most cases this results in better, less costly decisions. In addition, the proposed model easily accommodates both linear and nonlinear under‐ and overstaffing penalties. We use simple examples to demonstrate many of these advantages and to illustrate the key techniques necessary to implement our model. We also assess its performance in a study of more than 1,700 simulated stochastic employee scheduling pro

ISSN:0011-7315    

DOI:10.1111/j.1540-5915.1996.tb00863.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractThis study falls in the class of models in which advertising wearout and the differences between the learning and forgetting of advertisements are explicitly included. A discrete time Markov decision modeling approach is used to obtain optimal control limit policies, and an algorithm is provided to identify these policies. A control limit policy specifies whether or not to advertise in a specific time period on the basis of the level of awareness in that time period. Thus, the duration for which advertising is not done is determined endogenously, and the algorithm helps determine this duration for a given set of parameters. This is a particularly desirable feature, since advertising practitioners are interested in determining the optimal duration of advertising pulses. Computational experience suggests that the algorithm is very fast and easy to implement. Also, conditions on model parameters indicating the relative efficacy of pulsing versus uniform advertising are provided.

ISSN:0011-7315    

DOI:10.1111/j.1540-5915.1996.tb00864.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Recent extensions of the newsboy problem have focused on multiple discounts used by retailers to sell excess inventory. Earlier extensions have focused on quantity discounts offered by suppliers. An important practical extension would address a combination of the two previous extensions. In this paper, a newsboy problem with supplier quantity discounts and retailer multiple discounts is formulated and solved. The case of all‐units supplier quantity discounts is addressed, and the results with numerical examples are illustrate

ISSN:0011-7315    

DOI:10.1111/j.1540-5915.1996.tb00865.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY