Management Information Systems Commons^™

Western Australian Agriculture - Key Achievements 1999 - 2000, Agriculture Western Australia

Farm Systems and Economics published reports

Agricultural continue to underpinning employment opportunities and the financial viability of the agricultural sector. While the traditional industries such as cereals, wool exports grow and meat remain the most valuable, the growth in oilseeds, pulses, viticulture and horticulture is significant. The resurgence in the live animal trade has been an important milestone for Western Australia and it is essential that we continue to build on this.

To maintain competitiveness, WA farmers need to be at the cutting edge of new technology, responsive to changing customer needs and actively developing new trade opportunities.

Progress Rural Western Australia and Better Business programs …

The Multi– Mode Resource– Constrained Project Scheduling Problem With Generalized Precedence Relations, Bert De Reyck, Willy Herroelen

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In this paper, we tackle the challenging problem of scheduling activities to minimize the project duration, in which the activities (a) are subject to generalized precedence relations, (b) require units of multiple renewable, non-renewable and doubly constrained resources for which a limited availability is imposed, and (c) can be performed in one of several different ways, reflected in multiple activity scenarios or modes. These multiple modes give rise to several kinds of tradeoffs (time/resource, time/cost and resource/resource trade-offs) which allow for a more effcient allocation and use of resources. We present a local search-based solution methodology which is able to …

Selecting It Applications In Manufacturing: A Kbs Approach, Ravi Kathuria, Murugan Anandarajan, Magid Igbaria

Business Faculty Articles and Research

The use of the right type of Information Technology (IT) applications or manufacturing systems is expected to usher in a competitive advantage. Selection of the right type of IT application is, however, a challenging task. When a company, with a given dominant process structure, emphasizes two or more competitive priorities, such as quality, product flexibility, etc., an unaided manager faces a complex decision problem in choosing from alternative IT applications available in the areas of product design through distribution. In this paper, we present a Knowledge Based System (KBS) that would assist managers with the identification of IT applications that …

Western Australian Agriculture - Key Achievements 1998 - 1999, Agriculture Western Australia

Farm Systems and Economics published reports

During 1998/99 Western Australia's agricultural industries continued to build on an enviable international reputation for a professional approach to business and a proven track record in producing and supplying food and fibre products of consistently high ·quality.

A global increase in demand for food and fibre, changing consumer behaviour, and further world trade liberalisation offer great challenges and opportunities for the export of Western Australian agricultural produce. Agriculture Western Australia has responded to these changes with increased emphasis on quality assurance and supply chain management to focus on specific consumer and end-user requirements, and to improve alliances between producers, processors …

Linking It Applications With Manufacturing Strategy: An Intelligent Decision Support System Approach, Ravi Kathuria, Murugan Anandarajan, Magid Igbaria

Business Faculty Articles and Research

Research has indicated the importance of matching Information Technology (IT) applications or manufacturing systems with the competitive strategy of a company. Selection of the right type of IT application is, however, a challenging task. When a company, with a given dominant process structure, emphasizes two or more competitive priorities, such as quality, product flexibility, etc., an unaided manager faces a complex decision problem in choosing from alternative IT applications available in the areas of product design through distribution. In this paper, we developed an Intelligent Decision Support System (IDSS) that would assist managers with: assessment of the relative importance of …

Algorithms For Scheduling Projects With Generalized Precedence Relations, Bert De Reyck, Erik Demeulemeester, Willy Herroelen

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The problem of scheduling projects under various types of resource constraints constitutes an important and challenging problem which has received increasing attention during the past several years. The bulk of the models and procedures designed for coping with these problem types aim at scheduling project activities to minimize the project duration subject to constant availability constraints on the required set of resources and precedence constraints that indicate that activities can only be started when all of their predecessors have already been finished. However, real-life project scheduling applications often involve more complicated types of precedence relations such as arbitrary minimal and …

A Classification Scheme For Project Scheduling Problems, Willy Herroelen, Erik Demeulemeester, Bert De Reyck

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The basic concern of scheduling is commonly described as the allocation of limited resources to tasks over time (Lawler et al. 1993, Pinedo 1995). The resources and tasks may take many forms. In project scheduling the tasks refer to the activities belonging to one or more projects. The execution of project activities may require the use of different types of resources (money, crews, equipment, …). The scheduling objectives may also take many forms (minimizing project duration, minimizing project costs, maximizing project revenues, optimizing due date performance,…). The result is a wide and steadily growing variety of problem types which motivates …

Local Search Methods For The Discrete Time/Resource Trade-Off Problem In Project Networks, Bert De Reyck, Erik Demeulemeester, Willy Herroelen

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In this paper we consider the discrete time/resource trade-off problem in project networks. Given a project network consisting of nodes (activities) and arcs (technological precedence relations), in which the duration of the activities is a discrete, nonincreasing function of the amount of a single renewable resource committed to it, the discrete time/resource trade-off problem minimizes the project makespan subject to precedence constraints and a single renewable resource constraint. For each activity, a work content is specified such that all execution modes (duration/resource requirement pairs) for performing the activity are allowed as long as the product of the duration and the …

A Branch-And-Bound Procedure For The Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling Problem With Generalized Precedence Relations, Bert De Reyck, Willy Herroelen

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We present an optimal solution procedure for the resource-constrained project scheduling problem (RCPSP) with generalized precedence relations (RCPSP-GPR) with the objective of minimizing the project makespan. The RCPSPGPR extends the RCPSP to arbitrary minimal and maximal time lags between the starting and completion times of activities. The proposed procedure is suited for solving a general class of project scheduling problems and allows for arbitrary precedence constraints, activity ready times and deadlines, multiple renewable resource constraints with time-varying resource requirements and availabilities, several types of permissible and mandatory activity overlaps and multiple projects. It can be extended to other regular and …

New Computational Results On The Discrete Time/Cost Trade-Off Problem In Project Networks, Erik Demeulemeester, Bert De Reyck, Bram Foubert, Willy Herroelen

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We describe a new exact procedure for the discrete time/cost trade-off problem in deterministic activity-on-the-arc networks of the CPM type, where the duration of each activity is a discrete, nonincreasing function of the amount of a single resource (money) committed to it. The objective is to construct the complete and efficient time/cost profile over the set of feasible project durations. The procedure uses a horizon-varying approach based on the iterative optimal solution of the problem of minimising the sum of the resource use over all activities subject to the activity precedence constraints and a project deadline. This optimal solution is …

Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling: A Survey Of Recent Developments, Willy Herroelen, Bert De Reyck, Erik Demeulemeester

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We review recent advances in dealing with the resource-constrained project scheduling problem using an efficient depth-first branch-and-bound procedure, elaborating on the branching scheme, bounding calculations and dominance rules, and discuss the potential of using truncated branch-and-bound. We derive conclusions from the research on optimal solution procedures for the basic problem and subsequently illustrate extensions to a rich and realistic variety of related problems involving activity preemption, the use of ready times and deadlines, variable resource requirements and availabilities, generalized precedence relations, time/cost, time/resource and resource/resource trade-offs and non-regular objective functions.

Managing For Flexibility: A Manufacturing Perspective, Ravi Kathuria

Business Faculty Articles and Research

This paper investigates managerial practices that are conducive to the management of flexibility. Using data from manufacturing plants in the United States, this paper identifies managerial practices that manufacturing managers strongly demonstrate in plants that place a high emphasis on flexibility. The results indicate that managers who pursue flexibility, emphatically engage in team building, employee empowerment, and other relationship oriented practices that generate enthusiasm among employees. These practices seemingly motivate workers to deal with the uncertainty and changes, in the form of product mix, customer delivery schedule, capacity adjustments, etc., that characterize manufacturing flexibility. Furthermore, workers are entrusted with the …

Western Australian Agriculture - Key Achievements 1997-1998, Department Of Primary Industry And Fisheries, Western Australia

Farm Systems and Economics published reports

During the past year the agriculture sector continued to be one of the most innovative and significant contributors to the Western Australian economy. In 1996/97 the value of agricultural exports reached $4.6 billion, having doubled in five years.

Not only does agriculture contribute directly to the State's financial position but farm expenditure is estimated to have a three-fold multiplier effect, thereby having a wide impact on the social well-being of Western Australians.

Increasingly, international trade is being linked to environmental performance. Accordingly, the Government has cemented sustainable farming as a cornerstone of the industry's and Agriculture WA's activities, thereby ensuring …

Western Australian Fisheries - Key Achievements 1997-1998, Fisheries Western Australia

Fisheries Published Reports

The WA fishing community can look back at the past year with considerable satisfaction.

Close partnership arrangements between Government, industry, the community and Fisheries Western Australia have both consolidated and advanced the State's position at the forefront of sustainable management of marine environments and fish resources.

Together, commercial fishing and recreational fishing make 􀁚 annual $1.5 billion contribution to the Western Australian economy. Through a carefully balanced portfolio of policies and initiatives the Coalition is making sure that both sectors continue to prosper, while at the same time ensuring that future generations inherit a marine environment which we are all …

An Optimal Procedure For The Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling Problem With Discounted Cash Flows And Generalized Precedence Relations, Bert De Reyck, Willy Herroelen

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In this paper, we consider the resource-constrained project scheduling problem (RCPSP) with discounted cash flows and generalized precedence relations (RCPSPDC-GPR). The RCPSPDC-GPR extends the RCPSP to (a) arbitrary minimal and maximal time lags between the starting and completion times of activities and (b) the non-regular objective function of maximizing the net present value of the project with positive and/or negative cash flows associated with the activities. To the best of our knowledge, the literature on the RCPSPDC-GPR is completely void. We present a depth-first branch-and-bound algorithm in which the nodes in the search tree represent the original project network extended …

No. 130 1997 November

International Journal for Business Education

SIEC Historical Documents

No. 129 1997 April

International Journal for Business Education

SIEC Historical Documents

No. 128 1996 November

International Journal for Business Education

SIEC Historical Documents

Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling: A Survey Of Recent Developments, Willy Herroelen, Erik Demeulemeester, Bert De Reyck

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Resource-constrained project scheduling involves the scheduling of project activities subject to precedence and resource constraints in order to meet the objective(s) in the best possible way. The area covers a wide variety of problem types. The objective of this paper is to provide a survey of what we believe are the important recent developments in the area. Our main focus will be on the recent progress made in and the encouraging computational experience gained with the use of optimal solution procedures for the basic resource-constrained project scheduling problem (RCPSP) and important extensions. We illustrate how the branching rules, dominance and …

On The Use Of The Complexity Index As A Measure Of Complexity In Activity Networks, Bert De Reyck, Willy Herroelen

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

A large number of optimal and suboptimal procedures have been developed for solving combinatorial problems modeled as activity networks. The need to differentiate between easy and hard problem instances and the interest in isolating the fundamental factors that determine the computing effort required by these procedures, inspired a number of researchers to develop various complexity measures. In this paper we investigate the relation between the hardness of a problem instance and the topological structure of its underlying network, as measured by the complexity index. We demonstrate through a series of experiments that the complexity index, defined as the minimum number …

No. 127 1996 April

International Journal for Business Education

SIEC Historical Documents

No. 126 1995 November

International Journal for Business Education

SIEC Historical Documents

No. 125 1995 April

International Journal for Business Education

SIEC Historical Documents

No. 124 1994 November

International Journal for Business Education

SIEC Historical Documents

No. 123 1994 April

International Journal for Business Education

SIEC Historical Documents

No. 121 1993 April

International Journal for Business Education

SIEC Historical Documents

No. 120 1992 November

International Journal for Business Education

SIEC Historical Documents

No. 119 1992 April

International Journal for Business Education

SIEC Historical Documents

No. 118 1991 November

International Journal for Business Education

SIEC Historical Documents

No. 117 1991 April

International Journal for Business Education

SIEC Historical Documents