摘要:

AbstractStatistics is a standard component of most Management Science or Operational Research courses. This paper argues that the teaching of Statistics in such courses should emphasise the philosophical aspects of the discipline, should concentrate on developing concepts rather than techniques, should stimulate ideas and should allow each student to reach his/her own level in the discipline. A postgraduate course structured in this way is described in detail.

ISSN:0160-5682    

DOI:10.1057/jors.1996.93

出版商:Taylor&Francis    

年代:1996

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

AbstractThis paper results from a collaboration between two academics, one a social psychologist who has explored creative work in engineering product design, the other engaged in the application of‘soft’methods in OR, but with a background in engineering. Much of the new thinking in OR is described in terms of a language-action perspective which is prominent in studies of computer supported work, negotiation, and other forms of discursive action. The perspective is used to examine some of the tasks needing to be undertaken if OR is to shift from a concern with social engineering to a concern with reflective social action. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of dilemmas, the growth of commitment, and the assessment of methods. It is concluded that, if OR makes the analysis of cognitive and political processes part of the core of the subject, it may become an epistemic subject with wide application to organisational decision-making.

ISSN:0160-5682    

DOI:10.1057/jors.1996.94

出版商:Taylor&Francis    

年代:1996

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

AbstractCritical Systems Thinking (CST) has traditionally sought its philosophical underpinning in the work of German theorist Jurgen Habermas. We suggest that CST need not necessarily be informed by Habermas, and present the thought of Michel Foucault as one possible alternative. This paper traces the historical development of the relative positions of Habermas and Foucault and examines the differences between the two with regard to systems. Our aim is to spark and inform debate within the systems/OR community as to the relative merits of each as a basis for CST.

ISSN:0160-5682    

DOI:10.1057/jors.1996.95

出版商:Taylor&Francis    

年代:1996

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

AbstractAlternative distribution strategies for delivering to a retailer's regional depots are compared. These include supplying all the manufacturer's warehouses from the factory and allowing every possible lateral transshipment with partial stock rebalancing over different time periods. The principal alternative is to have a hierarchical system. Effects of making emergency transfers to deliberately delayed delivery vehicles are evaluated. A data stream of actual demands for a typical product is used and forecasts are made over different time periods for production planning, warehouse allocations and transshipments. The conclusions are examined for various production frequencies and levels of stock cover.

ISSN:0160-5682    

DOI:10.1057/jors.1996.96

出版商:Taylor&Francis    

年代:1996

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

AbstractIn this paper we show how a Lagrangean relaxation approach to a turbine design problem results in a relatively easy set of Lagrangean subproblems to solve, because of the particular structure of the turbine design problem.

ISSN:0160-5682    

DOI:10.1057/jors.1996.97

出版商:Taylor&Francis    

年代:1996

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

AbstractStochastic trees are stochastic processes, such as continuous-time Markov chains, which may be represented using tree diagrams. Continuous-risk utility assessment is a methodology that differs from standard assessment protocols by offering choices between alternatives which are not‘sure’things, thus enabling more realistic and familiar assessment scenarios to be posed. In this paper we develop, using information from the medical literature, stochastic tree models of the total hip replacement decision alternatives facing a patient with advanced osteoarthritis of the hip. We describe a decision analytic approach to the problem which uses continuous-risk utility assessment, and present empirical assessment results. We explore the sensitivity of the subjects' treatment recommendations to changes in model parameters and elicited preference values, offering insights into the variety of patient risk attitudes and preferences about functional well-being and the robustness of the total hip replacement decision to them.

ISSN:0160-5682    

DOI:10.1057/jors.1996.98

出版商:Taylor&Francis    

年代:1996

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

AbstractMany existing solution methodologies for machine assignment problems in group technology do not consider factors such as part demand, operation sequence and cost of intercellular moves. We formulate a 0-1 quadratic programming model that takes into account these factors in machine assignment. Two approaches are proposed to solve this problem. The first is an A*-based approach that generates optimal solutions. The second is a heuristic approach developed to solve problems with large number of machines and/or parts. The heuristic approach is shown to be efficient in producing good solutions in a computational study.

ISSN:0160-5682    

DOI:10.1057/jors.1996.99

出版商:Taylor&Francis    

年代:1996

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

AbstractIn many automated manufacturing environments, particularly flowlines and flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs), machines are arranged along a straight material handling track with a material handling device moving jobs from one machine to aother. These layouts are referred to as row machine layouts. In this paper we study the Row Layout Problem (RLP) under the design objective of minimizing the total backtracking distance of the material handling device, which is a NP-complete problem. We propose the use of a dynamic programming algorithm for its solution. Special cases of the problem, usually encountered in flexible manufacturing cells and which can be solved with polynomial procedures, are also discussed. For the equidistant case (i.e., successive candidate locations are in equal distances), we formulate the problem as an integer linear program. The use of standard mathematical programming codes can efficiently solve this formulation. Two effective heuristic procedures, which explore simple ideas based on local optimality conditions, are also presented. Extensive computational results demonstrate the effectiveness of such heuristics.

ISSN:0160-5682    

DOI:10.1057/jors.1996.100

出版商:Taylor&Francis    

年代:1996

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

AbstractWe consider the GI/M/1/K queue where the server takes exponentially distributed vacations when there are no customers left to serve in the queue. We obtain the queue length distribution at arrival epochs and random epochs for the multiple vacation case. We present heuristic algorithms to compute the blocking probability for this system. Several numerical examples are presented to analyze the behaviour of the blocking probability and to test the performance of the heuristics.

ISSN:0160-5682    

DOI:10.1057/jors.1996.101

出版商:Taylor&Francis    

年代:1996

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

AbstractIn a recent paper, Ben-Daya and Raouf presented a continuous review inventory model in which they considered both lead time and the order quantity as decision variables where the shortages are neglected. We assume here that the shortages are allowed and we extend the Ben-Daya and Raouf model by adding the stockout cost. Furthermore, the effects of parameters are also included.

ISSN:0160-5682    

DOI:10.1057/jors.1996.102

出版商:Taylor&Francis    

年代:1996

数据来源: Taylor