摘要:

AbstractEngineers designing submarine oil-pipeline systems for the Beaufort Sea need to know how deep to bury them. Scientists studying ice scour have a major input into this decision; so do the economics of burying and pipeline failures. An operational researcher was asked to examine the way these aspects can be treated and the way they can be fitted together. This paper describes the resulting study, to illustrate how operational research might help in other interfacing contexts.

ISSN:0160-5682    

DOI:10.1057/jors.1988.1

出版商:Taylor&Francis    

年代:1988

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

AbstractIn this paper we argue that information management is not only about managing the information resources of an organization as an economic activity; it is also about the use that individuals make of their information inputs and outputs. The discussion centres on individual managers, particularly on how successful they are in converting information into effective action. The management of complexity is seen as the cornerstone of managerial activities; managers are always faced with the problem of matching their limited information-processing capacity to the much larger information space implied by their responsibilities and commitments. It is argued that managers can employ at least three possible strategies to achieve an adequate matching: they can make adjustments to the organization structure; they can design their organizational conversations; and they can aim at a good manager-to-task fit.

ISSN:0160-5682    

DOI:10.1057/jors.1988.2

出版商:Taylor&Francis    

年代:1988

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

AbstractThis paper addresses the problem of how much total stock is required at a stocking location, with reference to a small number of overall characteristics. A relationship defining stock cover to throughput, number of items, overall service level, lead time and re-order interval is derived. Its use is seen as a strategic tool, to investigate the costs and benefits of changing service levels or amalgamating stocking points etc. The restrictions on its applicability are given.

ISSN:0160-5682    

DOI:10.1057/jors.1988.3

出版商:Taylor&Francis    

年代:1988

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

AbstractA multi-objective decision-analysis procedure is presented which was developed to assist a company in selecting a strategy for dealing with microcomputer networking. Evaluation measures were defined to measure the performance of different strategies, and a multi-attribute utility function was used to combine the evaluation measures into a single index of the overall preferability of each strategy. Uncertainties about the projected performance of various strategies were encoded using probabilities. Advantages of the approach over scoring (weighting and rating) methods that are sometimes used for resource-allocation decisions are reviewed. The case study presented in this article could serve as a starting point for multi-objective decision analyses of other computer information-systems decisions.

ISSN:0160-5682    

DOI:10.1057/jors.1988.4

出版商:Taylor&Francis    

年代:1988

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

AbstractThis paper describes the construction of an expert system to help the admissions tutor for a university degree in business and management which receives some 2000 applications for entry each year, using the SAGE shell. What originally began as a‘demonstrator project’is shown to be of practical value, in terms of both producing a usable expert system and clarifying and questioning the selection criteria used by the admissions tutor. A particular conclusion emerging from this work which may be relevant to many expert systems applications is that ethical and practical considerations dictated that some questions involving judgement could not be delegated by the admissions tutor to the clerical staff. It thus became necessary to develop two versions of the expert system, one a full‘admissions-tutor system’, the other a more limited version for day-to-day use.

ISSN:0160-5682    

DOI:10.1057/jors.1988.5

出版商:Taylor&Francis    

年代:1988

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

AbstractThe cutting-stock problem in the clothing industry does not conform to the classical representation of such problems. Waste minimization is only a subsidiary objective. The overall objective is to maximize long-run profitability, but operational planning requires limiting consideration to a series of problems covering short planning periods. This requires a more complex objective to incorporate interaction between periods. Production constraints with unique characteristics occur in the laying, cutting and sewing operations. The conventional pattern-design problem is dealt with by use of a commercial computer-aided graphical design system. The question addressed in this paper is how to combine such patterns so as to satisfy the various objectives and constraints. This leads to both integer and quadratic formulations of appropriate mathematical programming models.

ISSN:0160-5682    

DOI:10.1057/jors.1988.6

出版商:Taylor&Francis    

年代:1988

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

AbstractGiven a number of proposed routes through a large network of pipes and valves, it was desired to test whether each route was separated from all others by at least two closed valves. An algorithm to test a given combination of valves settings is described. It has been coded in two different computer languages.

ISSN:0160-5682    

DOI:10.1057/jors.1988.7

出版商:Taylor&Francis    

年代:1988

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

AbstractA goal programming model was used to analyse optimum fertilizer combinations. Under this approach, the fertilizer requirements, instead of being fixed values as in traditional linear programming, are considered targets which may or may not be achieved. A penalty system coupled to the goal programming model makes the specified lower and upper levels of nutrients more flexible and realistic. A simple example is used to expound the model, and then applied to real data to give optimum combinations of fertilizers for sugar beet in Western Andalusia (Spain).

ISSN:0160-5682    

DOI:10.1057/jors.1988.8

出版商:Taylor&Francis    

年代:1988

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

AbstractA method of modelling the task of inspecting major civil-engineering structures is proposed. The objective is to relate measures of both the integrity of the structure and its maintenance cost to the inspection frequency. The option exists within the model to adopt a variety of physical testing techniques. Delay-time analysis is utilized, and the behaviour of the model illustrated with a numerical example. Some possible developments of the model and extension are discussed along with current input requirements.

ISSN:0160-5682    

DOI:10.1057/jors.1988.9

出版商:Taylor&Francis    

年代:1988

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

AbstractOptimal vertices of multiparametric linear-programming problems can be found by a local search procedure which involves testing only neighbouring vertices for optimality. When degeneracy is present, vertices and bases will not uniquely correspond, but a similar basis exploration procedure can be used. It is shown that, to within closure, local search applied to bases generates all optimal vertices (but not necessarily all optimal bases) for any constraint set if and only if the cone of permitted objective functions is convex. This implies that the procedure is successful if and only if the problem is essentially one of vector optimization.

ISSN:0160-5682    

DOI:10.1057/jors.1988.10

出版商:Taylor&Francis    

年代:1988

数据来源: Taylor