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Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons

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Articles 31 - 60 of 454

Full-Text Articles in Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering

An Improved Analytical Model For Wormhole Routed Networks With Application To Butterfly Fat-Trees, Ronald I. Greenberg, Lee Guan Jan 2018

An Improved Analytical Model For Wormhole Routed Networks With Application To Butterfly Fat-Trees, Ronald I. Greenberg, Lee Guan

Ronald Greenberg

A performance model for wormhole routed interconnection networks is presented and applied to the butterfly fat-tree network. Experimental results agree very closely over a wide range of load rate. Novel aspects of the model, leading to accurate and simple performance predictions, include (1) use of multiple-server queues, and (2) a general method of correcting queuing results based on Poisson arrivals to apply to wormhole routing. These ideas can also be applied to other networks.


Structuring Financial Incentives For Residential Solar Electric Systems, Kevin C. Van Blommestein, Yonghee Cho, Tugrul U. Daim, Paul Sklar Dec 2017

Structuring Financial Incentives For Residential Solar Electric Systems, Kevin C. Van Blommestein, Yonghee Cho, Tugrul U. Daim, Paul Sklar

Joseph Cho

This paper introduces a simple methodology to aid in the decision of how to distribute financial incentive funding for residential solar electric systems in order to maximize demand. Incentive funding can be used more effectively if adjusted according to the decrease in price and the increase in demand of solar electric systems. The decision of how to reduce these incentives due to changing annual funds, while increasing or even maintaining the growth of solar electric system demand, is of great interest to policymakers and public benefit funded program administrators. In order to aid in this process, a three step methodology …


What Is Community Operational Research?, Gerald Midgley, Michael P. Johnson Jr., George Chichirau Dec 2017

What Is Community Operational Research?, Gerald Midgley, Michael P. Johnson Jr., George Chichirau

Michael P. Johnson

Community Operational Research (Community OR) has been an explicit sub-domain of OR for more than 30 years. In this paper, we tackle the controversial issue of how it can be differentiated from other forms of OR. While it has been persuasively argued that Community OR cannot be defined by its clients, practitioners or methods, we argue that the common concern of all Community OR practice is the meaningful engagement of communities, whatever form that may take – and the legitimacy of different forms of engagement may be open to debate. We then move on to discuss four other controversies that …


Community-Engaged Operations Research: Trends, New Frontiers And Current Applications, Michael P. Johnson Jr. Nov 2017

Community-Engaged Operations Research: Trends, New Frontiers And Current Applications, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

Community-engaged operations research is an extension of multiple OR/MS traditions to support participatory scholarship, localized impact and social change. It applies critical thinking, evidence-based policy analysis, community participation and decision modeling to local interventions. It emphasizes the needs, voices and values of disadvantaged and marginalized populations. Through a survey of current scholarship in two complementary areas of inquiry, ‘community operational research’ (referring to work by primarily UK-based researchers) and ‘community-based operations research’ (referring to work by primarily US-based researchers), we develop principles for community-engaged OR, present critical questions that represent opportunities to expand the impact of this work, and discuss …


Investigating The Effects Of Foreign Direct Investment (Fdi) On Croatian Business, Yonghee Cho, Tugrul U. Daim, Marina Dabic Nov 2017

Investigating The Effects Of Foreign Direct Investment (Fdi) On Croatian Business, Yonghee Cho, Tugrul U. Daim, Marina Dabic

Joseph Cho

Technological innovation plays a critical role in economic growth. The most advanced and new technologies are created by leading firms in developed countries. Global expansion, strategic outsourcing or off-shoring in leading companies has been growing to enrich their competitive advantage, while technology transfer of leading firms has been of more interest to emerging or developing countries for catching up and following the trajectory of economic growth proved in developed countries. Among various channels to acquire new technologies from leading firms, foreign direct investments (FDI) is one of the most effective channels through which technology can be transferred to subsidiaries in …


Strengthening The Profession Through Diversity, Inclusion And Equity: Best Practices And Distinguished Practitioners, Michael P. Johnson Jr. Oct 2017

Strengthening The Profession Through Diversity, Inclusion And Equity: Best Practices And Distinguished Practitioners, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

This session will introduce INFORMS conference participants to the mission and goals of the diversity, inclusion and equity committee. Panelists will describe the state of diversity and inclusion at INFORMS and other professional societies; at organizations whose employees and members participate in INFORMS and other professional societies; and the community of practice associated with operations research, management science and analytics, other STEM fields and related disciplines. Speakers and audience members will explore values, strategies and tactics that may enable INFORMS members of diverse backgrounds and experiences to achieve professional success, and that may enable organizations to produce greater social impact …


Improving Decision-Making Skills Of Nonprofit Professionals, Michael P. Johnson Jr., George Chichirau, Jason Wright Oct 2017

Improving Decision-Making Skills Of Nonprofit Professionals, Michael P. Johnson Jr., George Chichirau, Jason Wright

Michael P. Johnson

Nonprofits face gaps in organizational capacity, including program design and evaluation, but previous research suggests that capacity-building exercises have a positive effect. We describe a data analytics training workshop with staff from Boston-area nonprofits reflecting a wide range of sectors. Through analysis of participant work on case studies provided by the instructor, we examine how participants made sense of training materials, the various strategies employed by participants to solve three case study problems, and participant feedback about the session. Our findings provide a basis for novel interventions in community based operations research. 


All Models Are Wrong; Some Models Are Harmful, David Hunt, Michael P. Johnson Jr. Oct 2017

All Models Are Wrong; Some Models Are Harmful, David Hunt, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

We like to think that CBOR involves the application of analytical methods to "do good" locally, and, most will agree these efforts are "doing good". However, what is meant by "doing good" and how do we know when our models are not "doing good" and may in fact be doing harm? Some philosophers consider happiness as the only good, and utilitarianism is based on maximizing happiness. But maximizing happiness can create winners and losers, and are we really "doing good" as long as the pluses outweigh the minuses? This presentation will explore these topics using examples drawn from CBOR.


Decision Modeling For Housing And Community Development: A Methodology For Evidence-Based Urban And Regional Planning, Michael P. Johnson Jr. Aug 2017

Decision Modeling For Housing And Community Development: A Methodology For Evidence-Based Urban And Regional Planning, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

Urban community development corporations and other local institutions routinely face challenging problems in housing and economic development that require substantial expertise in data analytics and decision modeling. Recent research, inspired by local responses to the housing foreclosure crisis, and developed in cooperation with Boston-area CDCs, has resulted in a collection of applications that can assist CDCs and similar organizations to design local interventions for acquisition and redevelopment of housing. This paper describes these applications. The first of these is values and objective design, i.e. the process of identifying decision opportunities. The second of these is data analytics, or …


Capturing Cognitive Fingerprints From Keystroke Dynamics, J. Morris Chang, Chi-Chen Fang, Kuan-Hsing Ho, Norene Kelly, Pei-Yuan Wu, Yixiao Ding, Chris Chu, Stephen B. Gilbert, Amed E. Kamal, Sun-Yuan Kung Jun 2017

Capturing Cognitive Fingerprints From Keystroke Dynamics, J. Morris Chang, Chi-Chen Fang, Kuan-Hsing Ho, Norene Kelly, Pei-Yuan Wu, Yixiao Ding, Chris Chu, Stephen B. Gilbert, Amed E. Kamal, Sun-Yuan Kung

Morris Chang

Conventional authentication systems identify a user only at the entry point. Keystroke dynamics can continuously authenticate users by their typing rhythms without extra devices. This article presents a new feature called cognitive typing rhythm (CTR) to continuously verify the identities of computer users. Two machine techniques, SVM and KRR, have been developed for the system. The best results from experiments conducted with 1,977 users show a false-rejection rate of 0.7 percent and a false-acceptance rate of 5.5 percent. CTR therefore constitutes a cognitive fingerprint for continuous. Its effectiveness has been verified through a large-scale dataset. This article is part of …


A Multiperiod Generalized Network Flow Model Of The U.S. Integrated Energy System: Part I—Model Description, Ana Quelhas, Esteban Gil, James D. Mccalley, Sarah M. Ryan Jun 2017

A Multiperiod Generalized Network Flow Model Of The U.S. Integrated Energy System: Part I—Model Description, Ana Quelhas, Esteban Gil, James D. Mccalley, Sarah M. Ryan

James McCalley

This paper is the first of a two-part paper presenting a multiperiod generalized network flow model of the integrated energy system in the United States. Part I describes the modeling approach used to evaluate the economic efficiencies of the system-wide energy flows, from the coal and natural gas suppliers to the electric load centers. Under the proposed problem formulation, fuel supply and electricity demand nodes are connected via a transportation network, and the model is solved for the most efficient allocation of quantities and corresponding prices. The methodology includes physical, economic, and environmental aspects that characterize the different networks. Part …


Lean Energy Analysis: Identifying, Discovering And Tracking Energy Savings Potential, J. Kelly Kissock, John Seryak Mar 2017

Lean Energy Analysis: Identifying, Discovering And Tracking Energy Savings Potential, J. Kelly Kissock, John Seryak

J. Kelly Kissock

Energy in manufacturing facilities is used for direct production of goods, space conditioning, and general facility support such as lighting. This paper presents a methodology, called lean energy analysis, LEA, for graphically and statistically analyzing plant energy use in terms of these major end uses.

The LEA methodology uses as few as 60 easily obtainable data points. Multivariable change-point models of electricity and natural gas use as functions of outdoor air temperature and production data are developed. The statistical models are used to subdivide plant energy use into facility, space-conditioning and production-related components.

These breakdowns suggest the savings potential from …


Improving Compressed Air Energy Efficiency In Automotive Plants: Practical Examples And Implementation, Nasr Alkadi, J. Kelly Kissock Mar 2017

Improving Compressed Air Energy Efficiency In Automotive Plants: Practical Examples And Implementation, Nasr Alkadi, J. Kelly Kissock

J. Kelly Kissock

The automotive industry is the largest industry in the United States in terms of the dollar value of production [1]. U.S. automakers face tremendous pressure from foreign competitors, which have an increasing manufacturing presence in this country. The Big Three North American Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs)-General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler-are reacting to declining sales figures and economic strain by working more efficiently and seeking out opportunities to reduce production costs without negatively affecting the production volume or the quality of the product. Successful, cost-effective investment and implementation of the energy efficiency technologies and practices meet the challenge of maintaining the …


Measuring Plant-Wide Energy Savings, J. Kelly Kissock, Carl Eger Mar 2017

Measuring Plant-Wide Energy Savings, J. Kelly Kissock, Carl Eger

J. Kelly Kissock

This paper presents a general method for measuring plant-wide industrial energy savings and demonstrates the method using a case study from an actual industrial energy assessment. The method uses regression models to characterize baseline energy use. It takes into account changes in weather and production, and can use sub-metered data or whole plant utility billing data. In addition to calculating overall savings, the method is also able to disaggregate savings into components, which provides additional insight into the effectiveness of the individual savings measures. Although the method incorporates search techniques and multi-variable least-squares regression, it is easily implemented using data …


Swarm Engineering, S. Kazadi '90 Mar 2017

Swarm Engineering, S. Kazadi '90

Sanza Kazadi

Swarm engineering is the natural evolution of the use of swarm-based techniques in the accomplishment of high level tasks using a number of simple robots. In this approach, one seeks not to generate a class of behaviors designed to accomplish a given global goal, as is the approach typically found in mainstream robotics. Once the class of behaviors has been understood and decided upon, specific behaviors designed to accomplish this goal may be generated that will complete the desired task without any concern about whether or not the final goal will actually be completed. As long as the generated behaviors …


Community-Engaged Operations Research: Trends, New Frontiers And Opportunities, Michael P. Johnson Jr. Feb 2017

Community-Engaged Operations Research: Trends, New Frontiers And Opportunities, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

Scholars in multiple disciplines intersecting operations research have developed theory and applications to address the question, how can the decision sciences develop new ways to solve problems of special interest to organizations and individuals situated in geographically, economically and socially circumscribed communities? The motivation for this work is the belief that mission-driven and resource-constrained nonprofit organizations, and underrepresented, underserved, or vulnerable populations may have special needs for analytic and empirical problem-solving methods that have traditionally received less emphasis in traditional operations research and management science research and teaching. Scholarship in this area, alternatively labeled ‘community operational research’ (mostly in the …


Community Data Analytics: Localized Data Analysis And Decision Modeling In The Era Of ‘Big Data’ And ‘Smart Cities’, Michael P. Johnson Jr. Jan 2017

Community Data Analytics: Localized Data Analysis And Decision Modeling In The Era Of ‘Big Data’ And ‘Smart Cities’, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

Community-based organizations use data for program design, services provision and strategic planning. However, CBOs often have limited ability to identify, access and apply these data. Thus, CBOs may make decisions on the basis of inadequate data, or limited understanding of the local environment, or limited ability to generate mission-aligned solutions.Community data analytics (CDA) uses local know-how and clearly-articulated values in order to transform data into action. CDA is rooted in principles of operations research and management science for public benefi#12;t. These principles include: active participation by local stakeholders to identify problems of interest; a critical perspective on issues of problem …


Forecasting Mbt Technologies Using Dea And Lr, Yonghee Cho, Timothy R. Anderson Dec 2016

Forecasting Mbt Technologies Using Dea And Lr, Yonghee Cho, Timothy R. Anderson

Joseph Cho

First, this paper explores Main Battle Tank (MBT) data set with different
statistical methods in order to decide the most appropriate variables as
reliable  yardsticks  in  applying  technology  forecasting  (TF)  using  data
envelopment analysis (TFDEA) technique. It then applies TF using DEA
method to forecast MBT technologies. This article attempts to predict
technology  development  year  of  MBT  commercialised  from  1941  to
1994. This article presents the processes of TFDEA in detail and identifies
some  issues  to  search  for  appropriate  input  and  output  variables  to
forecast MBT technologies. The purpose of this study is to address some
issues and identify an …


Irresistible Bargains: Navigating The Surveillance Society, Robert M. Pallitto Dec 2016

Irresistible Bargains: Navigating The Surveillance Society, Robert M. Pallitto

Robert M Pallitto

Agents in contemporary societies are faced continually with choices regarding engagement with technological artifacts. They can choose to engage or decline engagement after considering the costs and benefits in each case. However, certain aspects of the surveillance society may be irresistible in a number of ways, so that refusal to engage with them is not a realistic option. The proliferation of the Internet of Things (IoT), particularly as embedded in “smart city” initiatives, helps to make surveillance technologies potentially irresistible. After laying the conceptual groundwork for discussing irresistible bargains, this essay offers a two-part normative critique, focusing on the asymmetrical …


Improving The Player's Recruiting Process By Using Scenario Based Analysis Methodology, Dotan I. Shvorin, Kevin M. Taaffe Dec 2016

Improving The Player's Recruiting Process By Using Scenario Based Analysis Methodology, Dotan I. Shvorin, Kevin M. Taaffe

Dr. Dotan Shvorin

High performance physical characteristics can be found today in most of the potential recruits
for any athletic program and it has become increasingly difi#14;cult to select the right candidate
based solely on these characteristics. As a result there is a growing need for a recruiter to evaluate
the decision-making capability of a player in order to understand the mind of the player in
addition to the player physical assessment. We employ scenario-based analysis to evaluate such
decision-making capabilities while enabling any recruiting to customize the potential candidate
evaluation, based on the specific program's needs. The proposed method provides a platform …


Pro Bono Analytics: A Program By Informs To Match Members Willing To Volunteer Their Analytical Skills With Nonprofit Organizations Working In Underserved Areas Or With Underserved Populations [Poster], Rina Schneur, Victoria Chen, Jim Cochran, Terry Cryan, Arnold Greenland, David Hunt, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Paul Rubin Nov 2016

Pro Bono Analytics: A Program By Informs To Match Members Willing To Volunteer Their Analytical Skills With Nonprofit Organizations Working In Underserved Areas Or With Underserved Populations [Poster], Rina Schneur, Victoria Chen, Jim Cochran, Terry Cryan, Arnold Greenland, David Hunt, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Paul Rubin

Michael P. Johnson

•INFORMS members (and non-members) volunteer to work with charitable organizations
•Charitable organizations (non-profits) request analytics help
•Pro Bono Analytics committee assists non-profits with formulation & scoping 
•Volunteers provide service free (except expenses)
•Win-Win:
- Clients get helpful analytics
- Volunteers get experience and do something charitable


Pro Bono Analytics – Addressing Business Problems Faced By Nonprofit Organizations, David Hunt, Michael P. Johnson Jr. Nov 2016

Pro Bono Analytics – Addressing Business Problems Faced By Nonprofit Organizations, David Hunt, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

Pro Bono Analytics is an INFORMS program that matches volunteers with nonprofit organizations working in underserved areas and for underserved populations. The nonprofits tend to be small and without the resources to utilize traditional operations research and advanced analytical methods. This talk will focus on how to communicate the value of OR/analytics to nonprofits, and perhaps more importantly, what we have learned about applying OR/analytical methods to problems that truly matter to our nonprofit clients.


Measuring Success: Community Analytics For Local Economic Development, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Sandeep Jani Nov 2016

Measuring Success: Community Analytics For Local Economic Development, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Sandeep Jani

Michael P. Johnson

Main Street organizations develop local development initiatives that support economic and social goals. We describe an application of value-focused thinking and community-based operations research to identify economic development performance metrics and decision alternatives for local development interventions. Using interviews with stakeholders in three Boston communities, we show how values structures vary across communities and stakeholder groups and how attributes can be quantified using a variety of data sources. We conclude by presenting a composite values structure to support improved operations management and strategy design for all Boston Main Street districts.


An Agenda For Diversity And Inclusion-Related Research Within Or/Ms/Analytics, Michael P. Johnson Jr., George Chichirau Nov 2016

An Agenda For Diversity And Inclusion-Related Research Within Or/Ms/Analytics, Michael P. Johnson Jr., George Chichirau

Michael P. Johnson

Diversity and inclusion have been widely studied and debated, most often within the social sciences. What contributions can operations research, management science and analytics make to this domain of inquiry? This talk will critically examine assumptions and practices within the decision sciences that may support as well impede diversity- and inclusion-related research, and propose a research agenda that can challenge yet enrich our profession.


Estimating Strategic Impacts Of Foreclosed Housing Redevelopment Using Spatial Analysis, Michael P. Johnson Jr. Nov 2016

Estimating Strategic Impacts Of Foreclosed Housing Redevelopment Using Spatial Analysis, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

Community-based organizations engaged in foreclosure response wish to quantify the relative value of housing units for redevelopment. We measure the 'strategic value' of property acquisition candidates based on proximity to site-specific neighborhood amenities and disamenities, given the relative importance of that proximity to CDC organizational and community objectives. We show that strategic values can differ in systematic ways depending on the types of amenities and disamenities identified as relevant for acquisition decisions, the relative importance assigned to those amenities and disamenities, and the utility maximization objectives of the organization.


James M. Resume.Doc, Jim Maskil Oct 2016

James M. Resume.Doc, Jim Maskil

Jim Maskil

No abstract provided.


Forecasting Oled Tv Technology Using Bibliometrics And Fisher-Pry Diffusion Model, Yonghee Cho, Tugrul Unsal Daim, Paul Sklar Oct 2016

Forecasting Oled Tv Technology Using Bibliometrics And Fisher-Pry Diffusion Model, Yonghee Cho, Tugrul Unsal Daim, Paul Sklar

Joseph Cho

The market of flat panel displays is experiencing rapid growth with the advancement of digital technologies in broadcasting service. The next challenge of LCD is OLED in TV market. The study attempts to investigate the trends in advanced or emerging technologies by determining their technology diffusion rates due to the lack of experiential data. With the development of information and communication technology, one of the recent methods to assist in technology forecasting is data mining in bibliometric or textual data from various sources such as patents, journals, and research awards. The information extracted from diverse sources can be employed in …


Measuring Success: Community Analytics For Local Economic Development, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Sandeep Jani Sep 2016

Measuring Success: Community Analytics For Local Economic Development, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Sandeep Jani

Michael P. Johnson

Main Street organizations are community-based nonprofits across the USA dedicated to local economic development through physical improvements, technical assistance to businesses, marketing and placebuilding. In this paper we identify metrics associated with success in local economic development and generate decision opportunities for improved program design and implementation. Our community partners, Main Street organizations in the city of Boston, want to ensure that data they collect about their service areas can help them measure progress towards achieving their individual goals as well as identify programs and initiatives that make best use of their resources and expertise. Using a mixed methods, inductive …


In Memoriam: Howard Raiffa, Jeffrey Keisler Aug 2016

In Memoriam: Howard Raiffa, Jeffrey Keisler

Jeffrey Keisler

No abstract provided.


Systems Social Seience: A Design Inquiry Approach For Stabilization And Reconstruction Of Social Systems, Barry G. Silverman Aug 2016

Systems Social Seience: A Design Inquiry Approach For Stabilization And Reconstruction Of Social Systems, Barry G. Silverman

Barry G Silverman

This paper explores novel approaches under the design inquiry paradigm that promise to help organizations better understand and solve socio-technical dilemmas. Design inquiry is contrasted with scientific inquiry (Section 1). Section 2 presents a meso-scale model of models methodology for design inquiry that synthesizes systems science, agent modeling and simulation, knowledge management architectures, and domain theories and knowledge. The goal is to focus computational science on exploring underlying mechanisms (white box modeling) and to support reflective theorizing and discourse to explain social dilemmas and potential resolutions. Section 3 then describes an evolving agent modeling and simulation testbed while Section 4 …