Informatica

In sport tournaments where teams compete in match play format, the pairing of players in matches is critical to the final outcomes. This paper presents simulation models using only commonplace spreadsheet software to analyze and compare strategies in such pairings based on actual or estimated performance of individual players. The approach can be a useful decision support tool for captains and coaches of competing teams in collegiate conferences, club leagues, or international sport tournaments.

The Star Plot approach to high-dimensional data visualization is applied to multi-attribute dichotomies. It is observed that the areas of the plot for the two parts of a dichotomy may be used as an aggregate measure of their relative dominance. An optimization model is developed to determine a topology (or weighted configuration of the attributes) that maximizes the resolution of this measure with respect to a given set of reference dichotomies.

Amidst the debate on the relative merits of push versus pull technologies, the role of information dynamics over the Internet in shaping truly compelling use of the medium for electronic commerce is being recognized. Focused Broadcasting, a business model of matching classified and want ads using the World Wide Web, is positioned as an example of a balanced approach whose success may be predictable based on market research and analysis. This article reports on a study conducted in New Zealand of Internet user attitudes toward this type of service.

It is well known that in linear programming, the optimal values of the dual variables can be interpreted as shadow prices (marginal values) of the right-hand side coefficients. However, this is true only under nondegeneracy assumptions. Since real problems are often degenerate, the output from conventional LP software regarding such marginal information can be misleading. This paper surveys and generalizes known results in this topic and demonstrates how true shadow prices can be computed with or without modification to existing software.

As a significant segment of the Information Industries, classified advertising can be a prime example of how conventional businesses, rather than being simply transplanted to the New (digital) Media, may indeed be transformed for future growth. To be successful, such transformations must be able to take full advantage of the defining features of the emerging information infrastructure for innovative creation of economic value. Focused Broadcasting, a class of service for matching classified and want ads using the World Wide Web, is an approach that balances the push-pull dynamics of information over the Internet. Applying the concept of product introduction with complementary network externalities, a dynamic model is formulated to simulate the potential growth of such business in cyberspace. Robustness of the model is demonstrated.

Most efforts in business process reengineering to date are motivated by potential improvement in performance measures such as costs, quality of products or services, and cycle time for their delivery. While obviously important, these factors do not necessarily reflect any intrinsic improvement in how work is organized. This paper presents an approach to the structural analysis of business processes. The goal is to capture an inherent degree of synchronization of the various interdependent activities involved. This way, the process before and after reengineering, or alternative designs, can be compared without arbitrary scaling effects introduced by nonstructural variables. Our methodology for modeling and analysis incorporates established techniques in fuzzy logic and systems. Its application to a well-known example is used as illustration.

In the application of Dantzig–Wolfe decomposition to block-angular linear programming problems with R natural blocks. it is possible to have from 1 to R subproblems structurally while solving all R independent subproblems computationally. Early literature on the topic was inconclusive regarding the relative merits of such formulations. This paper attempts clarification by characterizing the significance of the degree of decomposition as well as presenting extensive empirical results.