Practical Goal Programming is intended to allow academics and practitioners to be able to build effective goal programming models, to detail the current state of the art, and to lay the foundation for its future development and continued application to new and varied fields. Suitable as both a text and reference, its nine chapters first provide a brief history, fundamental definitions, and underlying philosophies, and then detail the goal programming variants and define them algebraically. Chapter 3 details the step-by-step formulation of the basic goal programming model, and Chapter 4 explores more advanced modeling issues and highlights some recently proposed extensions.

Chapter 5 then details the solution methodologies of goal programming, concentrating on computerized solution by the Excel Solver and LINGO packages for each of the three main variants, and includes a discussion of the viability of the use of specialized goal programming packages. Chapter 6 discusses the linkages between Pareto Efficiency and goal programming. Chapters 3 to 6 are supported by a set of ten exercises, and an Excel spreadsheet giving the basic solution of each example is available at an accompanying website.

Chapter 7 details the current state of the art in terms of the integration of goal programming with other techniques, and the text concludes with two case studies which were chosen to demonstrate the application of goal programming in practice and to illustrate the principles developed in Chapters 1 to 7. Chapter 8 details an application in healthcare, and Chapter 9 describes applications in portfolio selection.

One of the major challenges for European governments is to solve the dilemma of increasing the security and reducing fraud in international trade, while at the same time reducing the administrative burden for commercial as well as public administration organisations. To address these conflicting demands, the ITAIDE project has developed a large set of innovative IT-related tools and methods that enable companies to be better in control of their business operations. These tools and methods have been integrated in the ITAIDE Information Infrastructure (I3) framework. By using the I3 framework, companies are better positioned to apply for the Trusted Trader status, and enjoy trade facilitation benefits such as simplified customs procedures and fewer inspections of their goods. Hence, the I3 framework can contribute to making global supply chains faster, cheaper, and more secure. The I3 framework has been tested and validated in five real-life Living Labs, spanning four different sectors of industry, and conducted in five different EU countries. National Tax & Customs organizations from various European countries have actively participated in the Living Labs. The United Nations CEFACT group, experts from the World Customs Organization and representatives of key industry associations have also provided valuable feedback and ideas for the Living Labs and the project in general. www.itaide.org

Highly praised for its exceptional clarity, conversational style and useful examples, Introductory Business Statistics, 7e, International Edition was written specifically for you. This proven, popular text cuts through the jargon to help you understand fundamental statistical concepts and why they are important to you, your world, and your career. The text's outstanding illustrations, friendly language, non-technical terminology, and current, real-world examples will capture your interest and prepare you for success right from the start.

This book provides a conceptual framework for systemic flexibility and business agility, drawing on a basis of research/case applications in various types of flexibility and agility in business. The selected papers address a variety of issues concerning the theme of systemic flexibility and business agility and are organized into following five parts: (i) Systemic and Strategic Flexibility; (ii) Information and Business Agility; (iii) Flexibility, Innovation and Business Excellence; (iv) Flexibility in Value and Supply Chains; and(v) Financial Flexibility and Mergers & Acquisitions. Flexibility and agility in business are emerging as key dimensions of business excellence that encompass the requirements of both choice and speed. The two concepts, flexibility and agility, have been used in multiple ways and often interchangeably, both in literature and in practice. The growing need for flexibility/agility in business can be seen from reactive as well as proactive perspectives. A business enterprise is expected to possess reactive flexibility/ agility (as adaptability and responsiveness) in order to cope with the changing and uncertain business environment. It may also endeavor to intentionally generate flexibility/agility as a strategic change in a variety of ways, such as leadership change, reengineering, innovation in products and processes, use of information and communication technology, and learning orientation.

This book presents different use cases in big data applications and related practical experiences. Many businesses today are increasingly interested in utilizing big data technologies for supporting their business intelligence so that it is becoming more and more important to understand the various practical issues from different practical use cases. This book provides clear proof that big data technologies are playing an ever increasing important and critical role in a new cross-discipline research between computer science and business.

This book presents a framework through transformation and explains how business goals can be translated into realistic plans that are tangible and yield real results in terms of the top line and the bottom line. Process Transformation is like a tangram puzzle, which has multiple solutions yet is essentially composed of seven 'tans' that hold it together. Based on practical experience and intensive research into existing material, 'Process Tangram' is a simple yet powerful framework that proposes Process Transformation as a program. The seven 'tans' are: the transformation program itself, triggers, goals, tools and techniques, culture, communication and success factors. With its segregation into tans and division into core elements, this framework makes it possible to use 'pick and choose' to quickly and easily map an organization's specific requirements. Change management and process modeling are covered in detail. In addition, the book approaches managed services as a model of service delivery, which it explores as a case of process transformation. This book will appeal to anyone engaged in business process transformation, be it business process management professionals, change managers, sponsors, program managers or line managers. The book starts with the basics, making it suitable even for students who want to make a career in business process management.

This book shows the patterns of the fuzzy front end of innovation and how it can be managed successfully. Topics in this book cover traditional instruments and processes such as technology monitoring, market-oriented research management, lead-user developments, but also modern approaches such as frontloading, user community-driven innovation, crowdsourcing, anthropological expeditions, technological listening posts in global R&D settings, cross-industry innovation processes, open innovation, and IP cycle management. Contributions are based on latest research and cases studies on this new paradigm. The authors investigate this phenomenon, linking the practice of the early innovation phase to the established body of innovation research. Conceptional articles complement case studies to provide the reader with insight on managing the fuzzy front end of innovation.Lessons learned with success factors and checklists complement each chapter. "

Papers in this unique volume were developed from the 2006 conference hosted by IBM, Service Science, Management, and Engineering (SSME) Education for the 21st Century. The book incorporates a variety of perspectives, informed by an international background in SSME experience and education, including management, business, social science, computer science and engineering. Readers will derive an understanding of education needs and program offerings in SSME.

This proceedings volume presents the latest scientific research and trends in experimental economics, with particular focus on neuroeconomics. Derived from the 2016 Computational Methods in Experimental Economics (CMEE) conference held in Szczecin, Poland, this book features research and analysis of novel computational methods in neuroeconomics. Neuroeconomics is an interdisciplinary field that combines neuroscience, psychology and economics to build a comprehensive theory of decision making. At its core, neuroeconomics analyzes the decision-making process not only in terms of external conditions or psychological aspects, but also from the neuronal point of view by examining the cerebral conditions of decision making. The application of IT enhances the possibilities of conducting such analyses. Such studies are now performed by software that provides interaction among all the participants and possibilities to register their reactions more accurately. This book examines some of these applications and methods. Featuring contributions on both theory and application, this book is of interest to researchers, students, academics and professionals interested in experimental economics, neuroeconomics and behavioral economics.

The book presents state of the art knowledge about Decision-Making Support Systems (DMSS). Its main goals are to generate a compendium of quality theoretical and applied papers on decision-making support systems, to help diffuse scarce knowledge about effective methods and strategies for successfully designing, developing, implementing, and evaluating decision-making support systems, and to create an awareness among academicians and practitioners about the relevance of decision-making support systems in the current complex and dynamic management environment. Decision-Making Support Systems: Achievements and Challenges for the New Decade is a comprehensive compilation of DMSS thought and vision, dealing with issues such as decision making concepts in organizations.

Concentration tendencies, globalization, increasing cost pressure and well-informed customers all make up the hard competition faced by today's businesses. The "right" products, a successful market image, a strong positioning between suppliers and customers, efficient logistics and optimum organization structures contribute to a company's survival. Achieving this goal requires flexible information and communication systems that are fully adaptable to the specific situation. Modern retail information systems are not bound by organization borders but support both business partner cooperation and electronic commerce. This book presents the architecture of retail information systems, as well as the functions of SAP Retail, and in so doing links modern retail management with the implementation strategies based on innovative software systems.

The second edition of this reference work describes key international business reference sources and databases, and provides the instructive analysis needed to effectively use them. It lists and explains the most important resources - both electronic and print - for use by professional researchers, business instructors, reference and business librarians, and student researchers. The authors also describe business practices in various regions and countries, the basics of international trade and finance, international business organizations, and relevant political departments and agencies. The book features an extensive number of exhibits and tables, and the appendixes include glossaries, checklists for evaluating sources, and sample disclosure documents.

This successful book provides in its second edition an interactive and illustrative guide from two-dimensional curve fitting to multidimensional clustering and machine learning with neural networks or support vector machines. Along the way topics like mathematical optimization or evolutionary algorithms are touched. All concepts and ideas are outlined in a clear cut manner with graphically depicted plausibility arguments and a little elementary mathematics.The major topics are extensively outlined with exploratory examples and applications. The primary goal is to be as illustrative as possible without hiding problems and pitfalls but to address them. The character of an illustrative cookbook is complemented with specific sections that address more fundamental questions like the relation between machine learning and human intelligence.All topics are completely demonstrated with the computing platform Mathematica and the Computational Intelligence Packages (CIP), a high-level function library developed with Mathematica's programming language on top of Mathematica's algorithms. CIP is open-source and the detailed code used throughout the book is freely accessible.The target readerships are students of (computer) science and engineering as well as scientific practitioners in industry and academia who deserve an illustrative introduction. Readers with programming skills may easily port or customize the provided code. "'From curve fitting to machine learning' is ... a useful book. ... It contains the basic formulas of curve fitting and related subjects and throws in, what is missing in so many books, the code to reproduce the results.All in all this is an interesting and useful book both for novice as well as expert readers. For the novice it is a good introductory book and the expert will appreciate the many examples and working code". Leslie A. Piegl (Review of the first edition, 2012).

Includes global case studies of organizations in the cultural sector to facilitate translation of theory into practice Author team combines academic and practitioner expertise Unique combination of fundraising and creative/cultural industries

The growth in Internet and Information Technology (IT) has led to revolutionary changes in the way businesses are managed and operated. These IT changes have been largely characterized with the term, globalization, and these globalized changes in modern business are increasing at a rapid pace. Moreover, globalization requires rapid growth and dramatic changes in the business and market environments.

Enterprises must be scalable to support such changes and unprecedented growth. Hence, there is an immediate need for a single reference book that identifies the multiple dimensions of scalability and enterprise systems. This book will fulfill this need. Its objectives are as follows:
*To create a single source of literature to address the emerging area of scalable enterprise systems.
*To address the multi-disciplinary research needs stemming from engineering, computer science and business.
*To address the design, modelling, analysis, implementation and experimentation needs of scalable enterprise systems.
*To act as a springboard for much of the ongoing research in the field of Scalable Enterprise Systems.

Scalable Enterprises Systems: An Introduction to Recent Advances addresses six key ideas related to scalable enterprise systems. Chapters 1, 2 and 3 address the modelling aspects of enterprise systems. Chapter 4 discusses distributed control of such systems. Chapter 5 discusses the information systems modelling and implementation of the enterprise system with a transportation example. Given that enterprise systems produce and deal with large volumes of data, data mining is taken as a topic in Chapter 6. The need for a research test-bed is critical to study andanalyze enterprise systems and this is the topic of Chapter 7. Implementation level details play a vital role in studying the scalability of large-scale systems. Chapters 8, 9 and 10 deal with several applied and implementation aspects, such as publish-subscribe middleware, auctions in the context of reverse logistics, and value net implementation.

This book will be of interest to researchers and practitioners in the field of logistics, supply chain management, transportation, and enterprise integration. It will be of special interest to professionals in IT at the detailed implementation level and at the strategic level.

This edited collection brings together a series of interdisciplinary contributions in the field of Information Technology Law. The topics addressed in this book cover a wide range of theoretical and practical legal issues that have been created by cutting-edge Internet technologies, primarily Big Data, the Internet of Things, and Cloud computing. Consideration is also given to more recent technological breakthroughs that are now used to assist, and - at times - substitute for, human work, such as automation, robots, sensors, and algorithms. The chapters presented in this edition address these issues from the perspective of different legal backgrounds. The first part of the book discusses some of the shortcomings that have prompted legislators to carry out reforms with regard to privacy, data protection, and data security. Notably, some of the complexities and salient points with regard to the new European General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR) and the new amendments to the Japan's Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) have been scrutinized. The second part looks at the vital role of Internet intermediaries (or brokers) for the proper functioning of the globalized electronic market and innovation technologies in general. The third part examines an electronic approach to evidence with an evaluation of how these technologies affect civil and criminal investigations. The authors also explore issues that have emerged in e-commerce, such as Bitcoin and its blockchain network effects. The book aims to explain, systemize and solve some of the lingering legal questions created by the disruptive technological change that characterizes the early twenty-first century.

Mass customization is a business strategy that aims at satisfying an individual customer's needs with near mass production efficiency. ""Mass Customization Information Systems in Business"" provides original and innovative research on IT systems for mass customization. It is a wide-ranging reference collection of chapters describing the solutions, tools, and concepts needed for successful realization of these systems. Mass customized markets, product modeling, and supply chain management are explored in precise detail. This Premier Reference Source provides a comprehensive investigation of the business processes required for manufacturing individualized products.

This book offers a comprehensive guide to implementing a company-wide management system (CWMS), utilising up-to-date methodologies of lean-six sigma in order to achieve high levels of business excellence. It builds the foundation for quality and continuous improvement, which can be implemented in any organization. The book begins with an introduction to and an overview of CWMSs, and reviews the existing literature on various management systems. It then discusses the integration and implementation of lean-six sigma in supply chain management. The integration approach presented highlights the link between the existing management systems and shows how continuous improvement methodologies are incorporated. The book then examines the components of CWMS, comparing them to other systems. It also explores Kano-based six sigma and concludes with further recommendations for reading. This book covers five management systems integrated into one novel approach that can be followed by organizations wishing to achieve quality and business excellence. Covering lean-six sigma - an essential element of management systems - it is a valuable resource for practitioners and academics alike.

Dedicated to the Russian mathematician Albert Shiryaev on his 70th birthday, this is a collection of papers written by his former students, co-authors and colleagues. The book represents the modern state of art of a quickly maturing theory and will be an essential source and reading for researchers in this area. Diversity of topics and comprehensive style of the papers make the book attractive for PhD students and young researchers.

"Statistical Analysis of Management Data" provides a comprehensive approach to multivariate statistical analyses that are important for researchers in all fields of management, including finance, production, accounting, marketing, strategy, technology, and human resources. This book is especially designed to provide doctoral students with a theoretical knowledge of the concepts underlying the most important multivariate techniques and an overview of actual applications. It offers a clear, succinct exposition of each technique with emphasis on when each technique is appropriate and how to use it. This second edition, fully revised, updated, and expanded, reflects the most current evolution in the methods for data analysis in management and the social sciences. In particular, it places a greater emphasis on measurement models, and includes new chapters and sections on:

confirmatory factor analysis

canonical correlation analysis

cluster analysis

analysis of covariance structure

multi-group confirmatory factor analysis and analysis of covariance structures.

Featuring numerous examples, the book may serve as an advanced text or as a resource for applied researchers in industry who want to understand the foundations of the methods and to learn how they can be applied using widely available statistical software.

This handbook offers comprehensive coverage of recent advancements in Big Data technologies and related paradigms. Chapters are authored by international leading experts in the field, and have been reviewed and revised for maximum reader value. The volume consists of twenty-five chapters organized into four main parts. Part one covers the fundamental concepts of Big Data technologies including data curation mechanisms, data models, storage models, programming models and programming platforms. It also dives into the details of implementing Big SQL query engines and big stream processing systems. Part Two focuses on the semantic aspects of Big Data management including data integration and exploratory ad hoc analysis in addition to structured querying and pattern matching techniques. Part Three presents a comprehensive overview of large scale graph processing. It covers the most recent research in large scale graph processing platforms, introducing several scalable graph querying and mining mechanisms in domains such as social networks. Part Four details novel applications that have been made possible by the rapid emergence of Big Data technologies such as Internet-of-Things (IOT), Cognitive Computing and SCADA Systems. All parts of the book discuss open research problems, including potential opportunities, that have arisen from the rapid progress of Big Data technologies and the associated increasing requirements of application domains. Designed for researchers, IT professionals and graduate students, this book is a timely contribution to the growing Big Data field. Big Data has been recognized as one of leading emerging technologies that will have a major contribution and impact on the various fields of science and varies aspect of the human society over the coming decades. Therefore, the content in this book will be an essential tool to help readers understand the development and future of the field.

This textbook discusses central statistical concepts and their use in business and economics. To endure the hardship of abstract statistical thinking, business and economics students need to see interesting applications at an early stage. Accordingly, the book predominantly focuses on exercises, several of which draw on simple applications of non-linear theory. The main body presents central ideas in a simple, straightforward manner; the exposition is concise, without sacrificing rigor. The book bridges the gap between theory and applications, with most exercises formulated in an economic context. Its simplicity of style makes the book suitable for students at any level, and every chapter starts out with simple problems. Several exercises, however, are more challenging, as they are devoted to the discussion of non-trivial economic problems where statistics plays a central part.

Provides an updated view of knowledge management strategies of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) by focusing on how those firms manage innovation in their value chains and at the territorial level. Offers an original analysis of key processes of KIBS, specializing in design, professional firms and information technology.

The book is concerned with production planning problems arising in the context of make-to-order assembly. After introducing the general decision context, a survey of the relevant literature in the fields of assembly management, make-to-order manufacturing, and project scheduling is given. The main part of the book provides a hierarchical planning approach with three levels: order selection, manufacturing planning, and operations scheduling. The decision problem of each level is carefully elaborated and stated in terms of a mathematical programme. Suited solution procedures such as list scheduling, tabu search, and linear programming are proposed and experimentally tested.

This book covers a very broad range of topics in marketing, communication, and tourism, focusing especially on new perspectives and technologies that promise to influence the future direction of marketing research and practice in a digital and innovational era. Among the areas covered are product and brand management, strategic marketing, B2B marketing and sales management, international marketing, business communication and advertising, digital and social marketing, tourism and hospitality marketing and management, destination branding and cultural management, and event marketing. The book comprises the proceedings of the International Conference on Strategic Innovative Marketing and Tourism (ICSIMAT) 2019, where researchers, academics, and government and industry practitioners from around the world came together to discuss best practices, the latest research, new paradigms, and advances in theory. It will be of interest to a wide audience, including members of the academic community, MSc and PhD students, and marketing and tourism professionals.