Business Commons^™

An Agent-Based Commodity Trading Simulation, Shih-Fen Cheng, Yee Pin Lim

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this paper, an event-centric commodity trading simulation powered by the multiagent framework is presented. The purpose of this simulation platform is for training novice traders. The simulation is progressed by announcing news events that affect various aspects of the commodity supply chain. Upon receiving these events, market agents that play the roles of producers, consumers, and speculators would adjust their views on the market and act accordingly. Their actions would be based on their roles and also their private information, and collectively they shape the market dynamics. This simulation has been effectively deployed for several training sessions. We will …

Time Valuation Of Risk: A Delayed-Bang Approach, Abhishek Pathak

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The subject of this thesis is the combined use of engineering economics and survival analysis in estimating time-value of risk-related resources. The discussion includes (1) the need for sustainable risk management, (2) the importance of time-valuation of risk related resources in the allocation or selection among competing risk mitigation alternatives, (3) the convergence of deterministic engineering economics, survivability analysis, and probabilistic analysis, and (4) results and examples of application in the context of prevention of risk event or mitigation of its consequences.

The significance of this thesis is in how three topics: engineering economics, survivability analysis, and probability theory can …

Land Conservation And Land Use In New England: Trends, Challenges & Opportunities, Amanda Loomis, Tom Devine, Andrea Small, Brittany Howard, Brett Richardson, Stephanie Dulac

Land Conservation

Sprawling development patterns accelerated across the New England landscape in the last three decades and consumed the region‘s forests, farms, and open spaces at an unprecedented rate. New England‘ers in all six states formed land trusts, supported statewide conservation organizations, and collaborated with state and federal partners to protect some of their most-prized recreation lands, wildlife habitats, and working lands. The current economic recession has slowed development pressures across the region and offers an opportunity to build on recent successes. The time is right to plan a coordinated New England conservation strategy that protects and links the region‘s natural assets. …

South Burlington Vt: New Urbanist South Village, Jack Kartez, Richard Barringer

Planning

The 220 acre master plan for South Village, the largest project in the City of South Burlington’s history, encompasses multiple housing types and innovative provisions for affordable housing. It integrates housing with open space and natural resource conservation, including a major Community Supported Agriculture project developed by a nonprofit partner, the Intervale Foundation. While not a mixed-use project (that is, commercial as well as residential development), South Village nonetheless represents a qualitative change in approach for South Burlington by incorporating large-scale open space preservation as part of development and multiple housing-types in one project. The case study recounts events leading …

Confidence Intervals For The Ratio Of Two Exponential Means With Applications To Quality Control, James Albert Polcer,Iii

Student Research Conference Select Presentations

We considered the problem of statistical quality control based on the ratio of two population means. We restrict the discussion for two exponential rates, which are commonly used for modeling failure times of components, machines, or systems. Closed form expressions via the moment generation function (MGF) technique will be presented, and numerical examples will be shown using engineering data sets.

Information Sharing And Strategic Signaling In Supply Chains, Robert J. Kauffman, Hamid Mohtadi

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Information sharing in procurement occurs in rich and varied industry contexts in which managerial decisions are made and organizational strategy is formulated. We explore how information sharing ought to work in procurement contexts that involve investments in inter-organizational information systems (IOS) and collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment (CPFR) practices. How and under what circumstances does a firm that plays the role of a supply chain buyer decide to share information on key variables, such as point-of-sale consumer demand data with its supplier, up the supply chain? This is a key issue that crosses the boundary between supply chain management and …

Architectural Dualities In Complex Systems: Components, Interfaces, Technologies And Organizations, C. Jason Woodard, Joel West

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Research on technological innovation and product development has long recognized the importance of product architecture, and many scholars have explored its relationship to the organizational structure of the product development process. Product architecture, in turn, has long encompassed both the allocation of functionality to components and the pattern of linkages between them. In this paper, we forge new connections among these established ideas by examining them as two pairs of dual relationships. First, we draw attention to the duality between components and interfaces. While innovation and product development researchers have historically emphasized the partitioning of products and systems into components, …

Enterprise Information Technology Organizational Flexibility : Managing Uncertainty And Change, Karen Prast Patten

Dissertations

Chief Information Officers (CIOs) lead enterprise information technology organizations (EITOs) in today's dynamic competitive business environment. CIOs deal with external and internal environmental changes, changing internal customer needs, and rapidly changing technology. New models for the organization include flexibility and suggest that CIOs should create and manage an enterprise IT organization that is more flexible in order to manage change and prepare for uncertainty, but they do not define what is meant by flexibility.

The first objective of this exploratory and ethnographic research study was to understand how uncertainty and unexpected change are currently managed by CIOs. The second was …

Leadership In Partially Distributed Teams, Linda Plotnick

Dissertations

Inter-organizational collaboration is becoming more common. When organizations collaborate they often do so in partially distributed teams (PDTs). A PDT is a hybrid team that has at least one collocated subteam and at least two subteams that are geographically distributed and communicate primarily through electronic media. While PDTs share many characteristics with both traditionally collocated and fully distributed teams, they also have unique characteristics and issues.

This dissertation reports on a field study of PDTs conducted over two semesters with student participants, This research was conducted as part of a larger series of studies investigating PDTs, In these studies, participants …

The Influence Of Organizational And Information Systems Factors On The Effectiveness Of Post-Merger Technology Integration, Gianilda A. Morsell

Dissertations

This dissertation explores how ten specific organizational and information systems factors influence post-merger IS integration success, and the role that degree of IS integration plays in moderating the influence these factors may have on IS integration success. Data were gathered, using a self-administered survey instrument, from senior IS executives at firms that experienced a U.S. public merger greater than $25 million between 2004 and 2007. Support is found for the study's Conceptual Model, indicating that all ten factors in unison influence post-merger IS integration success. The data support the hypotheses that quality of merger planning, quality of communication of merger …

Interview With Ted Labbe, Depave, 2009 (Audio), Ted Labbe

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Ted Labbe by Chris Fogg in Portland, Oregon on May 31st, 2009.

The interview index is available for download.

Interview With Tom Patzkowski, Rebuilding Center, 2009 (Audio), Tom Patzkowski

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Tom Patzkowski by Greg Peterson at the Rebuilding Center in Portland, Oregon on May 27th, 2009.

The interview index is available for download.

Interview With Hilary Pfeifer, Art On Alberta, 2009 (Audio), Hilary Pfeifer

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Hilary Pfeifer by Franziska Davis at Portland State University on May 14th, 2009.

The interview index is available for download.

Pace Institute Of Modern Business Management (Proposal), Collaborative Project

Dyson College- Seidenberg School of CSIS : Collaborative Projects and Presentations

This entry adheres to the use of the quad chart template to provide a succinct description only of the current research project undertaken by the participants. It provides for the following information

1. Participants and Affiliations
2. Overall Project Goals
3. Illustrative picture
4. Specific research/artistic/pedagogic foci

Ecotourism In Dominica: Studying The Potential For Economic Development, Environmental Protection And Cultural Conservation, Vanessa Slinger-Friedman

Faculty Articles

Over the last 20 years, the government of the small Caribbean island nation of Dominica has pursued the development of ecotourism on the island. The hope is that this industry will promote dispersed economic development while providing environmental protection and cultural conservation. However, not enough has been done to determine whether or not the industry is achieving the desired results. To this end, this study explores the growth of the tourism industry on Dominica and shows that, while not perfect, ecotourism is providing some definite benefits to the island in this regard.

Whole Foods: Renewable Energy Credits, Green Business, And Capitalist Approaches To Climate Change, Samantha Kanofsky

Pomona Senior Theses

Dedication. Acknowledgements. Preface. Chapter 1: Introduction. Chapter 2: Green Business and Carbon Offsetting. Chapter 3A: Case Study. Chapter 3B: Interview. Chapter 4: Case Study. Chapter 5: Conclusion. Bibliography.

Are Online Auction Markets Efficient? An Empirical Study Of Market Liquidity And Abnormal Returns., Robert J. Kauffman, Trent J Spaulding, Charles A. Wood

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Technological advances have facilitated investment in collectibles through online auction markets, where information regarding product characteristics, current and historical prices, and product availability is available to millions of market participants. However, market inefficiencies may still exist, where prices do not reflect market information and where savvy speculators can profit. Using unit root and variance ratio tests, we examine 8538 rare stamp and 56,997 rare coin auctions to evaluate the efficiency of online markets. In particular, we study market liquidity, abnormal returns and weak-form efficiency. We find an inverse relationship between market efficiency and liquidity. Bidder competition intrinsic to liquidity increases …

An Agent-Based Commodity Trading Simulation, Shih-Fen Cheng, Yee Pin Lim, Chao-Chi Liu

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In recent years, the study of trading in electronic markets has received significant amount of attention, particularly in the areas of artificial intelligence and electronic commerce. With increasingly sophisticated technologies being applied in analyzing information and making decisions, fully autonomous software agents are expected to take up significant roles in many important fields. This trend is most obvious in the financial domain, where speed of reaction is highly valued and significant investments have been made in information and communication technologies.Despite the successes of automated trading in many important classes of financial markets, commodity trading has lagged behind, mainly because of …

Case Study: Feasibility Analysis Of Renewable Energy Supply Systems In A Small Grid Connected Resort, Jody Robins

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This paper presents a case study on the feasibility of a small grid connected resort in the marine west coast climate of Canada to implement a renewable energy supply system. The current industry conditions of three renewable energy systems are explored including small and large wind energy conversion systems, solar photovoltaic cell systems, and energy cell systems. Furthermore, these three systems are evaluated using the power load, wind, and solar radiation information from a specific resort. The renewable energy source assessment and optimization software HOMER (National Renewable Energy Laboratory, US) is used to evaluate the costs and benefits of each …

Going Green In The Hospitality Industry, Christina Wilson Micioni

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this research is to examine whether a hotel’s greening efforts are a reason why everyday guests or hospitality professionals choose a hotel. Do meeting planners and business travelers expect certain things while staying at a hotel? Do the personal greening activities of a guest affect their hotel stay? This will also include the housekeeping needs of the guests and why they choose the hotel. The objective of the research will be to discover whether there is guest data to support the need for hotels to become green establishments.

Faulkner The Humanist: How His Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech Changed How We Interpret "Barn Burning", Jessie L. Magee

Student Research Conference Select Presentations

No abstract provided.

Protecting Walden Pond: A Step Towards Defending Ordinary Nature In The United States, Jessie L. Magee

Student Research Conference Select Presentations

No abstract provided.

2009 - The Fourteenth Annual Symposium Of Student Scholars

Symposium of Student Scholars Program Books

The full program book from the Fourteenth Annual Symposium of Student Scholars, held on April 13, 2009. Includes abstracts from the presentations and posters.

Ua35/1 Doers & Deeds Vol. 7, No. 11, Wku Provost

WKU Administration Documents

Newsletter created by the WKU Provost & Vice President of Academic Affairs to highlight the activities of faculty, staff and alumni.

Mine, Yours Or Ours?: The Role Of Local Identity In United Way System Redesign, Elizabeth Claire Monaco

MPA Capstone Projects 2006 - 2015

For-profit and non-profit entities alike are facing the challenges of recruiting and retaining effective leadership, gathering sufficient and competitive capital and achieving long-term credibility as they struggle to assert their legitimacy and ensure sustainability in an ever changing world. These challenges have forced many organizations to consider different business models of operations, including opportunities to partner with others in their sector. There exists a growing list of non-profit federations that are considering and pursuing complete system redesign through the strategic restructuring of their affiliates in response to factors such as competition for resources, environmental and institutional pressures and the effects …

Capital Expansion And Organizational Growth: A Cost-Effective Analysis For Huntington Family Centers, Sean P. Burke

MPA Capstone Projects 2006 - 2015

Huntington Family Centers Inc., is a nonprofit social service agency located in the near-Westside of the City of Syracuse, N.Y. The agency currently employs 75 people and offers 25 programs, ranging in focus from preschool to services for senior citizens. It has developed a business plan with the goal of increasing program services by 35% over the next two years. However, as new programs are considered, it will be forced to rent space due to the lack of functional space at its primary are considered, it will be forced to rent space due to the lack of functional space at …

Optimal Digital Content Distribution Strategy In The Presence Of Consumer-To-Consumer Channel, Yunfang Feng, Zhiling Guo, Wei-Yu Kevin Chiang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Although the online business-to-consumer (B2C) channel is the primary selling channel for digital content (e.g., videos, images, and music), modern digital technology has made possible the legal dissemination of such content over the consumer-to-consumer (C2C) channel through personal computing devices, such as PCs, mobile phones, and portable media players. This paper investigates the optimal channel structure and the corresponding pricing and service strategies for digital content distribution in order to understand the business value of introducing the C2C channel alongside the prevailing B2C channel. We identify conditions under which it is more profitable to use both B2C and C2C channels …

The Green Business Revolution, Jacob Martin, Penny Mcclendon, Brian Watson, Jimanna Watson

Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.

Going Green Makes Cents!, Anthony Caldwell, Logan Fountain, Tiffany Snider

Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.

Crop Updates - 2009 Katanning, Murray Scholz, Peter Newman, Glenn Adam, Trevor Bell, Michael Whitehead, W. K. Anderson, Chris Gazey, J. Andrew, R. Pearce, Bill Bowden, Wayne Pluske, Jeremy Lemon, D. C. Edmeades, J. J. Russell, Blakely H. Paynter, David Ferris, Abul Hashen, Catherine Borger, Stephen B. Powels, Qin Yu, Mechelle Owen, Roberto Busi, Sudheesh Manalil, Sally Peltzer, David Minkey, Raj Malik

Crop Updates

This session covers seventeen papers from different authors

1. GM canola – How will it affect the way I farm? Murray Scholz, 2008 Nuffield scholar, Southern NSW

2. Eight years of IWM smashes tyegrass seed banks by 98% over 31 focus paddocks, Peter Newman, Glenn Adam & Trevor Bell, Department of Agriculture and Food

3. The global economic climate and impacts on agriculture, profile on Michael Whitehead Rabobank New York

4. Lessons from five years of cropping systems research, W.K. Anderson, Department of Agriculture and Food

5. Case study of a 17year old agricultural lime trial, C. Gazey, Department of Agriculture …

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