This book focuses on optimal control and systems engineering in the big data era. It examines the scientific innovations in optimization, control and resilience management that can be applied to further success. In both business operations and engineering applications, there are huge amounts of data that can overwhelm computing resources of large-scale systems. This "big data" provides new opportunities to improve decision making and addresses risk for individuals as well in organizations. While utilizing data smartly can enhance decision making, how to use and incorporate data into the decision making framework remains a challenging topic. Ultimately the chapters in this book present new models and frameworks to help overcome this obstacle. Optimization and Control for Systems in the Big-Data Era: Theory and Applications is divided into five parts. Part I offers reviews on optimization and control theories, and Part II examines the optimization and control applications. Part III provides novel insights and new findings in the area of financial optimization analysis. The chapters in Part IV deal with operations analysis, covering flow-shop operations and quick response systems. The book concludes with final remarks and a look to the future of big data related optimization and control problems.

This introduction to the field of hyper-heuristics presents the required foundations and tools and illustrates some of their applications. The authors organized the 13 chapters into three parts. The first, hyper-heuristic fundamentals and theory, provides an overview of selection constructive, selection perturbative, generation constructive and generation perturbative hyper-heuristics, and then a formal definition of hyper-heuristics. The chapters in the second part of the book examine applications of hyper-heuristics in vehicle routing, nurse rostering, packing and examination timetabling. The third part of the book presents advanced topics and then a summary of the field and future research directions. Finally the appendices offer details of the HyFlex framework and the EvoHyp toolkit, and then the definition, problem model and constraints for the most tested combinatorial optimization problems. The book will be of value to graduate students, researchers, and practitioners.

This book is a volume in honor of Zvi Drezner's 75th birthday. Professor Drezner is a leading scholar in location science. He received his BSc degree in Mathematics in 1965 and his PhD. in Computer Science ten years later, both from the Technion in Haifa, Israel. Since 1978 he has published in excess of 300 papers in refereed journals and books. He has received many honors, among them the University Outstanding Professor in 2005-6, the Outstanding Research Award (both from Cal State-Fullerton), the Location Analysis Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society for Location Analysis, and was named a Lifetime Fellow in INFORMS.Zvi has worked in a variety of fields, but most prominently in continuous location models. His main contributions include a 1982 paper on competitive location analysis, which was the first contribution to formally use the von Stackelberg "leader-follower" concept in the plane, contributions in 1989 (along with many others) on the Weber problem, and work with Oded Berman on the p-median under uncertainty in 2008. He has also enriched the literature by many contributions that devise genetic algorithms and tabu search techniques (both heuristic algorithms), as well as global optimization techniques, such as the "big-triangle-small-triangle" method, applied to location problems.The chapters of the book have been chosen to provide readers with a large variety of topics in the field of location science, which normally are available only in many different specialist journals. In addition to easily approachable surveys, the contributions, written by the top specialists in the field, present the latest results as well.

This volume presents state-of-the-art models, algorithms, and applications of quantitative methods in management and economics. The papers are clustered into four parts, focusing on optimization issues, applications of Operations Research in production and service management, applications of Operations Research in logistics, and interdisciplinary approaches.

Multicriteria analysis is a rapidly growing aspect of operations research and management science, with numerous practical applications in a wide range of fields. This book presents all the recent advances in multicriteria analysis, including multicriteria optimization, goal programming, outranking methods, and disaggregation techniques. The latest developments on robustness analysis, preference elicitation, and decision making when faced with incomplete information, are also discussed, together with applications in business performance evaluation, finance, and marketing. Finally, the interactions of multicriteria analysis with other disciplines are also explored, including among others data mining, artificial intelligence, and evolutionary methods.

Aimed at final year undergraduate students, this is the first volume to publish in a new series of text covering core subjects in operational research in an accessible student-friendly format. This volume presents simulation paired with inventory control. The Operational Research Series aims to provide a new generation of European-originated texts of practical relevance to todays student. To guarantee accessibility, the texts are concise and have a non-mathematical orientation. These texts will provide students with the grounding in operational research theory they need to become the innovators of tomorrow.

The book is an edited volume from leading research scholars in the field of Operations Research, focusing on future perspectives in OR. Each of the contributors offers their perspective looking forward to the further development of the field. The theme will provide pivotal interest in the book because of prominence of the contributors and Saul Gass' position as one of the founders of OR and his involvement in writing about the history of OR. The history of operations research is of considerable interest and this book takes a pivotal perspective of OR's history by examining current trends and the future of the field.

This book offers a comprehensive introduction to fuzzy methods for solving flow tasks in both transportation and networks. It analyzes the problems of minimum cost and maximum flow finding with fuzzy nonzero lower flow bounds, and describes solutions to minimum cost flow finding in a network with fuzzy arc capacities and transmission costs. After a concise introduction to flow theory and tasks, the book analyzes two important problems. The first is related to determining the maximum volume for cargo transportation in the presence of uncertain network parameters, such as environmental changes, measurement errors and repair work on the roads. These parameters are represented here as fuzzy triangular, trapezoidal numbers and intervals. The second problem concerns static and dynamic flow finding in networks under fuzzy conditions, and an effective method that takes into account the network's transit parameters is presented here. All in all, the book provides readers with a practical reference guide to state-of-the art fuzzy methods for solving flow tasks and offers a valuable resource for all researchers and postgraduate students in the fields of network theory, fuzzy models and decision-making.

Over eleven years have passed since the last NATO sponsored meeting on Fishing which took the form of a Conference held in Trondheim in 1979. The proceedings contained in this book consist of papers presented in support of an Advanced Study Institute on Operations Research and Management in Fishing held at P6voa de Varzim, Portugal from March 25 to April 7 1990. It was originally intended to use the five themes, Production Functions and Management; Marine Fish Stocks; Fisheries Models; Fish Farming and Miscellaneous. There were no contributions on Fish Processing and the Fish Farming papers were not original. It was also decided to group the papers on Fisheries Models and Marine Fish Stocks together which means the proceedings has four headings: - Opening Session - Production Functions and Management - Marine Fish Stocks and Fisheries Models - Miscellaneous The contributions give a broad and complete overview of historical approaches and of recent trends on research in different sectors of fisheries. Criteria for quota distribution and schemes based on conclusions drawn from models and methods are presented. Surveillance methods are described in relation to species conservation and catch improvement. Different levels of regulatory enforcement are discussed and the implications of new technologies are introduced. Applications of Expert Systems to stock assessment and efficiency improvement in field sampling are presented. Models for fleet dispatch planning and fleet structure appraisal are introduced and procedures for operational capacity evaluation of fishery harbours are considered.

Higher Education Consumer Choice provides a comprehensive and highly focused critical analysis of research on HE consumer choice behaviour in the UK and around the world. Ideal for students, scholars and marketing practitioners interested in consumer choice and behaviour in higher education markets, the book explores the background and context to research on HE choice including globalization, changing supply and demand, fees and costs, and concerns about social disadvantage. Focusing on personal factors that influence consumer choice, group aspects of consumer behaviour such as cultural and ethnic differences, as well as theoretical and research models, this book is designed to stimulate new debate and criticism of HE consumer choice.

This book offers a bridge between our current understanding of supply chain risk in practice and theory, and the monumental shifts caused by the emergence of the fourth industrial revolution. Supply chain risk and its management have experienced significant attention in scholarship and practice over the past twenty years. Our understanding of supply chain risk and its many facets, such as uncertainty and vulnerability, has expanded beyond utilizing approaches such as deploying inventory to buffer the initial effects of disruptions. Even with our increased knowledge of supply chain risk, being in the era of lean supply chain practices, digitally managed global supply chains, and closely interconnected networks, firms are exposed as ever to supply chain uncertainties that can damage, or even destroy, their ability to compete in the marketplace. The book acknowledges the criticality of big data analytics in Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) processes and provides appropriate tools and approaches for creating robust SCRM processes. Revisiting Supply Chain Risk presents a state-of-the-art look at SCRM through current research and philosophical thought. It is divided into six sections that highlight established themes, as well as provide new insights to developing areas of inquiry and contexts on the topic. Section 1 examines the first step in managing supply chain risk, risk assessment. The chapters in Section 2 encompass resiliency in supply chains, while Section 3 looks at relational and behavioral perspectives from varying units of analysis including consortiums, teams and decision makers. Section 4 focuses on examining supply chain risk in the contexts of sustainability and innovation. Section 5 provides insight on emerging typologies and taxonomies for classifying supply chain risk. The book concludes with Section 6, featuring illustrative case studies as real-world examples in assessing and managing supply chain risk.

This is the Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Management Science and Engineering Management (ICMSEM) held from July 25 to 27, 2014 at Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal and organized by International Society of Management Science and Engineering Management (ISMSEM), Sichuan University (Chengdu, China) and Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Lisbon, Portugal). The goals of the conference are to foster international research collaborations in Management Science and Engineering Management as well as to provide a forum to present current findings. A total number of 138 papers from 14 countries are selected for the proceedings by the conference scientific committee through rigorous referee review. The selected papers in the second volume are focused on Computing and Engineering Management covering areas of Computing Methodology, Project Management, Industrial Engineering and Information Technology.

The purpose of the book is to put these new techniques at the disposal of researchers coming from different horizons, to assess the state of the art, to identify the capability of these new algorithms, to evidence the contribution of these methods to Economics and Management Sciences. It is a privileged place to expose the know-how and to discuss new developments and problems encountered in the researches.

The contributions in this book bring new confirmations of the interest of connectionist approaches for researchers in Economics and Management Sciences. The first part is dedicated to theoretical advances; the second part presents a wide range of applications. All papers contain interesting results on each subject, which would have been very difficult to show with classical techniques but which has been proven by using these connectionist non linear methods. They reflect the great diversity of connectionist approaches of which we know the reader will benefit for his(her) own research. If this study enlarges the range of analysis tools for researchers in Economics and Management we will have reached our goal of sharing our interest in these new and fascinating connectionist methods.

Facility location is concerned with the siting of one or more facilities in a way that optimizes certain objectives such as minimizing transportation costs, providing equitable service to customers, or minimizing the time taken to deliver emergency services. This handbook presents a wide-ranging survey of location analysis. Both researchers in the subject and practitioners concerned with the solution of real-world problems will find this an up-to-date and comprehensive volume which addresses all the major methods and applications in the field. Each chapter has been written by an expert on that particular topic, and the editor has taken care to ensure a uniformity of style and notation throughout. The book is organized into four parts: Methodology and analysis of facility location.- Various objectives in facility location.- Competitive facility location.- Routing and location.

This proceedings volume presents new methods and applications in Operational Research and Management Science with a special focus on Business Analytics. Featuring selected contributions from the XIV Balkan Conference on Operational Research held in Thessaloniki, Greece in 2020 (BALCOR 2020), it addresses applications and methodological tools or techniques in various areas of Operational Research, such as agent-based modelling, big data and business analytics, data envelopment analysis, data mining, decision support systems, fuzzy systems, game theory, heuristics, metaheuristics and nature inspired optimization algorithms, linear and nonlinear programming, machine learning, multiple criteria decision analysis, network design and optimization, queuing theory, simulation and statistics.

The disciplines of computer science and operations research (OR) have been linked since their origins, each contributing to the dramatic advances of the other. This work explores the connections between these key technologies: how high-performance computing methods have led to advances in OR de ployment, and how OR has contributed to the design and development of ad vanced systems. The collected writings-from researchers and practitioners in Computer Science, Operations Research, Management Science, and Artificial Intelligence-were among those delivered at the Fifth INFORMS Computer Science Technical Section Conference in Dallas, Texas, January 8-10, 1996. The articles advance both theory and practice. Presented are new approaches to complex problems based on: metaheuristics (neural networks, genetic al gorithms, and Tabu Search), optimization and mathematical programming, stochastic methods, constraint programming, and logical analysis. These ad vanced methodologies are applied to new applications in such areas as: telecom munications network design, financial engineering, manufacturing, project man agement, and forecasting, airline and machine scheduling, vehicle routing, mod eling and decision support systems. Featured is a remarkable paper by keynote speaker Fred Glover, creator of the Tabu Search family of metaheuristics. In it he develops the principles of memory-based heuristic methods, contrasts them with the popular genetic algorithms and simulated annealing, provides a sweeping survey of application vignettes, and points to promising avenues for future research."

This book examines the different motivational policies used for inventory management. In many competitive markets, sellers use motivational policies to encourage the customers to buy more and these kinds of strategies are used as competitive tools. This book brings together all the motivational policies for lot sizing decisions and offers a useful guide for inventory control. Each chapter applies deterministic inventory models such as economic order quantity (EOQ) and economic production quantity (EPQ), but also stochastic models for the motivational policy covered. The book begins exploring quantity discounts such as all-unit and incremental discounts. It then looks at delayed payment or trade credit policies that are applied by many suppliers and/or wholesalers to increase their sales. The motivational policies covered in the following chapters are dedicated to advance payment/prepayment schemes and also special sales offered by retailers to increase sales levels or decrease the inventory level. Finally the book concludes with a review of announced price increases, which persuades customers to buy a product at the current price, rather than paying more for it in the future. Inventory Control Models with Motivational Policies should be useful for professionals working on supply chains, but also researchers in operations research and inventory management.

This book examines supply and value chains in African agriculture, providing both a thorough analysis of existing practices and practical business models for future development. It examines why Africa is a net importer of food, despite its vast agricultural potential, using the tomato value chain in Ghana as a case study. The book explores commodity value chain structures; commodity clusters, arenas, linkages and business models; systematic constraints within commodity value chains; and value chain profiling in practice among others. It would benefit policy makers, policy implementers, development practitioners, agri-entrepreneurs, researchers and all those who have interests in the transformation of African agriculture. It will also be an excellent reference material for students of agriculture management, agribusiness, agricultural economics, and rural development.

This book presents real-world decision support systems, i.e., systems that have been running for some time and as such have been tested in real environments and complex situations; the cases are from various application domains and highlight the best practices in each stage of the system's life cycle, from the initial requirements analysis and design phases to the final stages of the project. Each chapter provides decision-makers with recommendations and insights into lessons learned so that failures can be avoided and successes repeated. For this reason unsuccessful cases, which at some point of their life cycle were deemed as failures for one reason or another, are also included. All decision support systems are presented in a constructive, coherent and deductive manner to enhance the learning effect. It complements the many works that focus on theoretical aspects or individual module design and development by offering 'good' and 'bad' practices when developing and using decision support systems. Combining high-quality research with real-world implementations, it is of interest to researchers and professionals in industry alike.

This is a thorough revision of the 2007 publication, and includes five new chapters and brings all existing chapters completely up to date. There have been many advances in hydropower and renewable technologies since the original publication, and Europe, and particularly Scandinavia, plan many more in the coming years. From a review of the original edition: "... it is important to note that the author deals well with his selected topics. ... I recommend this book to all readers who wish to learn more about the economics of hydroelectric power." (Amitrajeet A. Batabyal, Interfaces, Vol. 39 (1), January-February, 2009)

This book discusses recent developments in the vast domain of optimization. Featuring papers presented at the 1st International Conference on Frontiers in Optimization: Theory and Applications (FOTA 2016), held at the Heritage Institute of Technology, Kolkata, on 24-26 December 2016, it opens new avenues of research in all topics related to optimization, such as linear and nonlinear optimization; combinatorial-, stochastic-, dynamic-, fuzzy-, and uncertain optimization; optimal control theory; as well as multi-objective, evolutionary and convex optimization and their applications in intelligent information and technology, systems science, knowledge management, information and communication, supply chain and inventory control, scheduling, networks, transportation and logistics and finance. The book is a valuable resource for researchers, scientists and engineers from both academia and industry.

The University of Genoa - Ohio State University Joint Conference on New Trends in Systems Theory was held at the Badia di S. Andrea in Genoa on July 9-11, 1990. This Proceedings volume contains articles based on two of the three Plenary talks and most of the shorter presentations. The papers are arranged by author, and no attempt has been made to organize them by topic. We would like to thank the members of the Scientific Committee and of the Program Committee, the speakers and authors, and everyone who attended the conference. Approximately 120 researchers and students from all over the world visited Genoa for the meeting, representing a wide spectrum of areas in pure and applied control and systems theory. The success of the conference depended on their high level of scientific and engineering expertise, not to mention their enthusiasm. The Conference on New Trends in Systems Theory would not have been possible without the help of a great many institutions and people. We would like to thank the University of Genoa, particularly Professor Enrico Beltrametti, and the Ohio State University's Columbian Quincentenary Committee led by Professor Christian Zacher, for encouragement and financial assistance. The University of Genoa Mathematics Department and Communication, Computer and System Sciences Department supplied assistance and technical help. The staff of the Consorzio Genova Ricerche, particularly Ms. Piera Ponta and Ms. Camilla Marconi, worked diligently over many months and especially during the conference itself to insure a smooth and enjoyable meeting.

Scilab and its Scicos block diagram graphical editor, with a special emphasis on modeling and simulation tools. The first part is a detailed Scilab tutorial, and the second is dedicated to modeling and simulation of dynamical systems in Scicos. The concepts are illustrated through numerous examples, and all code used in the book is available to the reader.

This volume presents new concepts and methods in Air Traffic Management, in particular: Collaborative Decision Making, as it incorporates for the first time airline companies in the management process; Congestion Pricing, as many part of the systems are and will remain saturated, hence only leveling of demand can contribute to global efficiency; Flow Management Methods, as the most important tools in planning and analysis; Models of Controller-Pilot Interaction, as deregulation increases the workload of this communication; Weather Forecast, as airport capacity is strongly affected by weather conditions.