摘要:

AbstractRecent advances in technology have created opportunities for firms to invest in expensive automated equipment designed to improve volume flexibility. Such investments are made on the basis that flexibility benefits the firm by increasing managerial control over output, reducing the risk of demand uncertainty, and improving productivity. The presumption is that these benefits will eventually translate to higher cash flows, appreciation in the firm's market value, and better return to shareholders. Yet, there is no managerially useful analytical framework for measuring this relationship. This study develops a model that uses contingent claims analysis to evaluate the effect of volume flexibility on the firm's value and to determine the optimal degree of automation that maximizes share value. The analysis is done by taking into consideration alternative demand characteristics, cost patterns, and the effectiveness of volume flexibility in increasing managerial control over output, reducing the risk of demand uncertainty, and improving productivity.

ISSN:0011-7315    

DOI:10.1111/j.1540-5915.1996.tb00849.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractIn this paper, we study the capacity allocation problem faced by make‐to‐order manufacturing firms encountering expected total demand in excess of available capacity. Specifically, we focus on firms' manufacturing short‐life‐cycle or seasonal products such as high fashion apparel. Using a decision‐theory‐based approach, we develop a capacity allocation policy that allows such firms to discriminate between two classes of products (one yielding a higher profit contribution per unit of capacity allocated to it than the other), resulting in selective rejection of orders for the class with the lower unit contribution. The effectiveness of capacity rationing is investigated under a wide array of conditions characterized by variations in factors such as the ratio of unit profit contributions of the two product classes, the ratio of total available capacity to expected total demand, the ratio of expected demands between the two classes, and the variability in demand for each product class. The results indicate that capacity rationing is very effective in increasing the total profit, and could therefore serve as a valuable decision tool for managers in

ISSN:0011-7315    

DOI:10.1111/j.1540-5915.1996.tb00850.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractIn recent years many firms have been implementing small lot size production. Lot splitting breaks large orders into smaller transfer lots and offers the ability to move parts more quickly through the production process. This paper extends the deterministic studies by investigating various lot splitting policies in both stochastic job shop and stochastic flow shop settings using performance measures of mean flow time and the standard deviation of flow time. Using a computer simulation experiment, we found that in stochastic dynamic job shops, the number of lot splits is more important than the exact form of splitting. However, when optimal job sizes are determined for each scenario, we found a few circumstances where the implementation of a small initial split, called a “flag,” can provide measurable improvement in flow time performance. Interestingly, the vast majority of previous research indicates that methods other than equal lot splitting typically improves makespan performance. The earlier research, however, has been set in the static, deterministic flow shop environment. Thus, our results are of practical interest since they show that the specific method of lot splitting is important in only a small set of realistic environments while the choice of an appropriate number of splits is typically more import

ISSN:0011-7315    

DOI:10.1111/j.1540-5915.1996.tb00851.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractIt is generally believed that risk‐averse managers will not accept unfair gambles and therefore may not have the incentive to invest in high‐risk projects, products or technology. This paper argues that this is not necessarily so. Rational, risk‐averse managers with sufficient preference for positive skewness may undertake projects with payoff distributions that are unfair gambles. Furthermore, the minimum required payoff is shown to be less for managers with preference for positive skewness than otherwise. Thus, a risk‐averse manager with preference for positive skewness may accept potentially innovative high‐risk projects that are rejected by those without such p

ISSN:0011-7315    

DOI:10.1111/j.1540-5915.1996.tb00852.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractThis research examines the effects of erroneous estimation of activity durations on two different approaches for executing a resource‐constrained project. The two approaches are scheduling and dispatching. This research is conducted in two phases. Phase one examines the performance of scheduling and dispatching rules in a variety of project environments. These project environments are categorized by three different factors, namely, the order strength of the precedence relationship, the level of resource availability and the size of errors in estimating the activity durations. The results show that scheduling generally produces a shorter project completion time than the heuristic dispatching rules. The results also indicate that project environment affects only the relative performance differences of the scheduling and dispatching rules but not their ranking. Phase two examines the effect of rescheduling. The results show that frequent rescheduling improves the project completion time, while the timing of rescheduling has little impact on the improvement in the project completion time. The results also identify the project environments where rescheduling is beneficia

ISSN:0011-7315    

DOI:10.1111/j.1540-5915.1996.tb00853.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractManaging credit risk in financial institutions requires the ability to forecast aggregate losses on existing loans, predict the length of time that loans will be on the books before prepayment or default, analyze the expected performance of particular segments in the existing portfolio, and project payment patterns of new loans. Described in this paper are tools created for these functions in a large California financial institution. A forecasting model with Markovian structure and nonstationary transition probabilities is used to model the life of a mortgage. Logistic and regression models are used to estimate severity of losses. These models are integrated into a system that allows analysts and managers to depict the expected performance of individual loans and portfolio segments under different economic scenarios. With this information, analysts and managers can establish appropriate loss reserves, suggest pricing differentials to compensate for risk, and make strategic lending decisions.

ISSN:0011-7315    

DOI:10.1111/j.1540-5915.1996.tb00854.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractA multiple objective embedded network model is proposed to model a variety of human resource planning problems including executive succession planning, compensation planning, training program design, diversity management and human systems design. The Tchebycheff Method, an interactive multiple objective programming solution procedure developed by Steuer and Choo [32], is implemented using NETSIDE, a computer routine for solving network problems with side constraints developed by Kennington and Whisman [17]. This paper demonstrates how the network structure common to many types of human resource planning problems can be exploited to improve solution efficiency, and how our approach extends the use of network models in human resource planning by including multiple objectives and extranetwork constraints. An illustrative example demonstrating the modeling and solution approach is presented, and the potential applications of these approaches in two specific areas of human resource planning are discussed.

ISSN:0011-7315    

DOI:10.1111/j.1540-5915.1996.tb00855.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractMost of the initial work on perishable asset revenue management (PARM) situations assumed no possibility of customer diversion from one product class to another when the former is made unavailable. In this paper, an evaluation is made of the few published decision rules that incorporate the realistic and common behavior of customer diversion (or sell‐up). We present a new heuristic approach that incorporates diversion and could be used by airlines and other relevant industries to achieve improvements in expected contribution of 0.25 to 2.5% over the approach currently used. The sensitivity of the difference in expected contribution between these rules is tested relative to changes in the input parameters, and managerial insights are presente

ISSN:0011-7315    

DOI:10.1111/j.1540-5915.1996.tb00856.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractThis paper describes a simulation experiment to evaluate the relative effectiveness of rescheduling policies in capacity‐constrained, just‐in‐time (JIT) make‐to‐stock production environments. Three performance measures were analyzed: average finished goods inventory, total units of sales lost, and a measure of schedule instability. Among the three loading methods we studied (level loading, front loading, and back loading), none was superior across all three performance measures. Level loading was the most robust, while back loading had an interaction effect with forecasting model and capacity level. Time fence scenario was found not to be as significant a factor in system performance as reported by previous research. Once an acceptable time fence scenario is selected, attempts to optimize this factor do not appear to offer significant improvement. It was found that higher demand variation, larger forecast errors, and tight capacity lead to the degradation of system performance. Judicious use of slack capacity helps a system to incorporate the periodic schedule changes typical of JI

ISSN:0011-7315    

DOI:10.1111/j.1540-5915.1996.tb00857.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY