Fashion products with asymmetric sales horizons

In this study, we explore an inventory model for a wholesaler who sells a fashion product through two channels with asymmetric sales horizons. The wholesaler can improve profitability by employing joint procurement and inventory reallocation as a recourse action in response to the dynamics of sales. In this research, a simple stochastic programming model is analyzed to specify the properties of the optimal inventory decisions. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2011     

Capacity allocation with traditional and Internet channels

In this paper we study a capacity allocation problem for two firms, each of which has a local store and an online store. Customers may shift among the stores upon encountering a stockout. One question facing each firm is how to allocate its finite capacity (i.e., inventory) between its local and online stores. One firm's allocation affects the decision of the rival, thereby creating a strategic interaction. We consider two scenarios of a single‐product single‐period model and derive corresponding existence and stability conditions for a Nash equilibrium. We then conduct sensitivity analysis of the equilibrium solution with respect to price and cost parameters. We also prove the existence of a Nash equilibrium for a generalized model in which each firm has multiple local stores and a single online store. Finally, we extend the results to a multi‐period model in which each firm decides its total capacity and allocates this capacity between its local and online stores. A myopic solution is derived and shown to be a Nash equilibrium solution of a corresponding “sequential game.” © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2006     

A new reformulation approach for the generalized partial covering problem

In this paper, we consider a situation in which a group of facilities must be constructed in order to serve a given set of customers, where the facilities might not be able to guarantee an absolute coverage to the different customers. We examine the problem of maximizing the total service reliability of the system subject to a budgetary constraint. We propose a new reformulation of this problem that facilitates the generation of tight lower and upper bounds. These bounding mechanisms are embedded within the framework of a branch‐and‐bound procedure. Computational results on problem instances ranging in size up to 100 facilities and 200 customers reveal the efficacy of the proposed exact and heuristic approaches. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2006     

The Banzhaf value and communication situations

Myerson 3 and 4 proposed and characterized a modification of the Shapley value in the context of communication situations. In this paper we propose several characterizations of the extension of the Banzhaf value proposed by Owen 7 to communication situations. In particular we characterize this value with the properties of fairness, isolation, and pairwise merging. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2006     

Quay crane scheduling at container terminals to minimize the maximum relative tardiness of vessel departures

In this paper, we study the problem of scheduling quay cranes (QCs) at container terminals where incoming vessels have different ready times. The objective is to minimize the maximum relative tardiness of vessel departures. The problem can be formulated as a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model of large size that is difficult to solve directly. We propose a heuristic decomposition approach to breakdown the problem into two smaller, linked models, the vessel‐level and the berth‐level models. With the same berth‐level model, two heuristic methods are developed using different vessel‐level models. Computational experiments show that the proposed approach is effective and efficient. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2006     

Combustion characteristic and aging behavior of bimetal thermite powders

Nanothermites have been employed as fuel additives in energetic formulations due to their higher en-ergy density over CHNO energetics. Nevertheless, sintering and degradation of nanoparticles signifi-cantly limit the practical use of nanothermites. In this work, combustion characteristic and aging behavior of aluminum/iron oxide (Al/Fe2O3) nanothermite mixtures were investigated in the presence of micron-scale nickel aimed to produce bimetal thermite powders. The results showed that the alumina content in the combustion residue increased from 88.3％ for Al/Fe2O3 nanothermite to 96.5％ for the nanothermite mixture containing 20 wt％nickel. Finer particle sizes of combustion residue were obtained for the nanothermite mixtures containing nickel, indicative of the reduced agglomeration. Both results suggested a more complete combustion in the bimetal thermite powders. Aging behavior of the nano-thermite mixture was also assessed by measuring the heat of combustion of the mixture before and after aging process. The reduction in heat of combustion of nanothermite mixtures containing nickel was less severe as compared to a significant decrease for the nanothermite mixture without nickel, indicating better aging resistance of the bimetal thermite powders.     

Bullwhip and reverse bullwhip effects under the rationing game

When an unreliable supplier serves multiple retailers, the retailers may compete with each other by inflating their order quantities in order to obtain their desired allocation from the supplier, a behavior known as the rationing game. We introduce capacity information sharing and a capacity reservation mechanism in the rationing game and show that a Nash equilibrium always exists. Moreover, we provide conditions guaranteeing the existence of the reverse bullwhip effect upstream, a consequence of the disruption caused by the supplier. In contrast, we also provide conditions under which the bullwhip effect does not exist. In addition, we show that a smaller unit reservation payment leads to more bullwhip and reverse bullwhip effects, while a large unit underage cost results in a more severe bullwhip effect. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 64: 203–216, 2017     

Performance analysis of the cultural and creative industry: a network‐based approach

The cultural and creative industries (CCIs) in Taiwan have gradually contributed to the national economy under the impetus of government policies. We employ a two‐stage data envelopment analysis model with an additive efficiency decomposition approach to measure the profitability and marketability of 22 Taiwanese cultural and creative companies. Furthermore, we employ the network‐based ranking approach to identify benchmark inputs/outputs, and the strengths and weakness of each company. Our empirical results show that the profitability of the cultural and creative companies is better than their marketability. Companies in the industries of publishing, creative life, popular music, and cultural content averagely perform better than those in the other three types of CCIs in terms of profitability. Companies in the creative life industry are on average more efficient than those in the other five types of CCIs in terms of marketability. The profitability/marketability matrix of cultural and creative companies is also presented.     

Legitimacy and the Politics of Recognition in Kosovo

Abstract

How do contemporary secessionist movements gain international recognition of their claims to self-determination? I argue that international recognition is forthcoming when a sufficient number of states believe a claim to self-determination ought to be accepted. That is, states recognize claims to self-determination when they perceive them to be legitimate. To convince outsiders of the legitimacy of their claims, separatist movements invoke resonant norms and symbols in a moral economy that structures decision-making. I contrast this argument with prevailing explanations of recognition dynamics. To illustrate the argument, I examine the diplomacy surrounding Kosovo’s independence bid and unilateral secession.     

On the busy period of the M/G/1 retrial queue

The M/G/1 queue with repeated attempts is considered. A customer who finds the server busy, leaves the service area and joins a pool of unsatisfied customers. Each customer in the pool repeats his demand after a random amount of time until he finds the server free. We focus on the busy period L of the M/G/1$ retrial queue. The structure of the busy period and its analysis in terms of Laplace transforms have been discussed by several authors. However, this solution has serious limitations in practice. For instance, we cannot compute the first moments of L by direct differentiation. This paper complements the existing work and provides a direct method of calculation for the second moment of L. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 47: 115–127, 2000