Pricing and capacity allocation strategies: Implications for manufacturers with product sharing

Emerging sharing modes, like the consumer-to-consumer (C2C) sharing of Uber and the business-to-consumer (B2C) sharing of GoFun, have considerably affected the retailing markets of traditional manufacturers, who are motivated to consider product sharing when making pricing and capacity decisions, particularly electric car manufacturers with limited capacity. In this paper, we examine the equilibrium pricing for a capacity-constrained manufacturer under various sharing modes and further analyze the impact of capacity constraint on the manufacturer's sharing mode selection as well as equilibrium outcomes. We find that manufacturers with low-cost products prefer B2C sharing while those with high-cost products prefer C2C sharing except when the sharing price is moderate. However, limited capacity motivates manufacturers to enter into the B2C sharing under a relatively low sharing price, and raise the total usage level by sharing high-cost products. We also show that the equilibrium capacity allocated to the sharing market with low-cost products first increases and then decreases. Finally, we find that sharing low-cost products with a high limited capacity leads to a lower retail price under B2C sharing, which creates a win-win situation for both the manufacturer and consumers. However, sharing high-cost products with a low limited capacity creates a win-lose situation for them.     

Callable products with dependent demands

Capacity providers such as airlines often sell the same capacity to different market segments at different prices to improve their expected revenues. The absence of a secondary market, due to the nontransferability of airline tickets, gives rise to an opportunity for airlines to broker capacity between consumers with different willingness to pay. One way to broker capacity is by the introduction of callable products. The idea is similar to callable bonds where the issuer has the right, but not the obligation, to buy back the bonds at a certain price by a certain date. The idea of callable products was introduced before under the assumption that the fare-class demands are all independent. The independent assumption becomes untenable when there is significant demand recovery (respectively, demand cannibalization) when lower fares are closed (respectively, opened). In this case, consumer choice behavior should be modeled explicitly to make meaningful decisions. In this paper, we consider a general consumer choice model and develop the optimal strategy for callable products. Our numerical study illustrates how callable products are win-win-win, for the capacity provider and for both high and low fare consumers. Our studies also identify conditions for callable products to result in significant improvements in expected revenues.     

能量均衡的围捕任务分配方法

随着水下机器人反围捕策略研究的不断深入,水下机器人围捕变得越来越困难。为此构建一种多层环状伏击围捕模型并设计了基于围捕任务的任务分配方法,使得水下机器人能够充分利用自身的特点更好地完成任务。同时,考虑在围捕过程中随时间推移,系统内能量会出现消耗不均的现象,据此提出一种能量均衡方法平衡系统能量的消耗。实验证明所提出的基于多层环状围捕模型的能量均衡策略任务分配方法能有效提高围捕成功率,延长系统寿命。     

Evergreening and operational risk under price competition

“Evergreening” is a strategy wherein an innovative pharmaceutical firm introduces an upgrade of its current product when the patent on this product expires. The upgrade is introduced with a new patent and is designed to counter competition from generic manufacturers that seek to imitate the firm's existing product. However, this process is fraught with uncertainty because the upgrade is subject to stringent guidelines and faces approval risk. Thus, an incumbent firm has to make an upfront production capacity investment without clarity on whether the upgrade will reach the market. This uncertainty may also affect the capacity investment of a competing manufacturer who introduces a generic version of the incumbent's existing product but whose market demand depends on the success or failure of the upgrade. We analyze a game where capacity investment occurs before uncertainty resolution and firms compete on prices thereafter. Capacity considerations that arise due to demand uncertainty introduce new factors into the evergreening decision. Equilibrium analysis reveals that the upgrade's estimated approval probability needs to exceed a threshold for the incumbent to invest in evergreening. This threshold for evergreening increases as the intensity of competition in the generic market increases. If evergreening is optimal, the incumbent's capacity investment is either decreasing or nonmonotonic with respect to low end market competition depending on whether the level of product improvement in the upgrade is low or high. If the entrant faces a capacity constraint, then the probability threshold for evergreening is higher than the case where the entrant is not capacity constrained. Finally, by incorporating the risk‐return trade‐off that the incumbent faces in terms of the level of product improvement versus the upgrade success probability, we can characterize policy for a regulator. We show that the introduction of capacity considerations may maximize market coverage and/or social surplus at incremental levels of product improvement in the upgrade. This is contrary to the prevalent view of regulators who seek to curtail evergreening involving incremental product improvement. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 63: 71–89, 2016     

面向多平台多目标协同跟踪的指派问题

针对多平台多目标协同跟踪中要求多个无人地面平台尽可能均匀地协同跟踪多个目标的特点,提出了改进的离散粒子群优化算法。首先采用连续型粒子群优化算法中的速度和位置迭代公式,然后对粒子位置进行离散编码,使粒子编码对应于可行的指派方案;其次,在优化算法中引入局部搜索,提高算法寻优性能。最后将所提算法应用于多平台多目标协同跟踪中的指派问题,并与未加入局部搜索的粒子群优化算法比较,仿真结果表明,加入局部搜索后的离散粒子群优化算法具有较好的寻优性能。     

蜂窝网络中基于干扰控制的D2D通信联合资源分配方案

在蜂窝网络中部署D2D(Device-to-Device)通信能够有效提升频谱利用率,降低基站负载,但D2D用户与蜂窝用户共享无线信道时会产生信号干扰。提出了一种联合资源分配算法,通过综合考虑信道分配对网络中已有的蜂窝用户和D2D用户的信号干扰,并在小区范围内寻找具有最小干扰值的信道资源分配给用户,以实现有效的干扰控制。仿真结果显示:联合资源分配能够提升D2D链路、蜂窝链路的信噪比及系统总吞吐量,使得蜂窝网络的整体性能优于独立资源分配。     

基于Riccati方程的动态传感器分配算法

针对组网跟踪系统传感器分配算法计算量过大的问题,提出了一种基于Riccati方程的动态传感器分配算法。该算法通过Riccati方程离线计算各传感器组合跟踪下的稳态滤波协方差,根据稳态滤波协方差与期望协方差的接近程度动态分配传感器资源。仿真结果显示,与传统协方差控制和贪婪算法相比,基于Riccati方程的动态传感器分配算法在大大减少计算量的同时能够保持较好的跟踪性能。该方法能够更好地应用于大规模传感器组网目标协同跟踪系统。     

多操纵面战斗机动态控制分配策略研究(英文)

现代先进飞机配置多个操纵面且又冗余,这有利于实现非常规飞行,提高飞机敏捷性,使飞机在机动和故障时有更多的选择,但是同时也导致了飞机控制设计复杂度的增加.为了达到更好的效果,就必须利用控制分配器来充分利用多操纵面的不同带宽.从频率域角度出发,研究了动态控制分配方法,并将其应用于某型先进战斗机的控制分配器设计中,利用鸭翼的频率特性抵消府舱过载,经仿真验证,采用动态控制分配策略时,可以有效地减小座舱过载,同时还可以减小配平阻力,取得了良好的控制效果.     

并联系统可靠性分配的模糊层次分析法

综合考虑影响系统可靠性分配的定性因素和定量因素、影响因素的模糊性以及系统的结构组成.利用层次分析法可集定性与定量分析于一体,从而确定出各影响因素对可靠性分配的权重向量;模糊数学理论进而确定出分系统之间可靠性水平的相对比重;进行模糊变换最终进行并联系统的可靠性分配.结合实例分析,对并联系统运用模糊理论和层次分析法相结合的方法进行可靠性分配科学、合理,便于工程应用.     

软件可靠性分配的遗传模型研究

对软件可靠性分配的遗传模型进行了研究,结合相关知识缩小了基本遗传算法的搜索区域,比较灵活地处理了非线性约束条件,提高了搜索效率,避免了早熟收敛现象.此外,在基本遗传算法中增加了保优操作,从而能够在理论上保证实现分配的最优化.算例表明,该算法十分有效.