Book reviews

Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Global Order. By Harald Muller, David Fischer, and Wolfgang Kotter. SIPRI, Oxford, Oxford University Press, (1994) ISBN 0-19-329155-8, hardback, £25.00

Conventional Arms Control: Perspectives on Verification By Sergey Koulik and Richard Kokoski, SIPRI, Oxford University Press, (1994) ISBN 0-19-829149-3 and

Implementing the Comprehensive Test Ban: New Aspects of Definition, Organisation and Verification Edited by Eric Arnett, SIPRI Research Report No. 8, Oxford University Press, (1994) ISBN 019-829188-4

Military Technological Innovation and Stability in a Changing World: Politically assessing and Influencing Weapons Innovation and Military Research and Development, By Wim A. Smit, John Grin and Lev Voronkov (eds.) VU University Press, Amsterdam, Netherlands (1992), ISBN 90-5383-158-4.

Security, democracy, and development in US - Latin American relations. By Lars Schoultz, William C. Smith and Augusto Varas (eds.) Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick (USA), and London (UK) (1994). ISBN 1-56000-760-5     

A bicriterion approach to common flow allowances due window assignment and scheduling with controllable processing times

We investigate a single‐machine scheduling problem for which both the job processing times and due windows are decision variables to be determined by the decision maker. The job processing times are controllable as a linear or convex function of the amount of a common continuously divisible resource allocated to the jobs, where the resource allocated to the jobs can be used in discrete or continuous quantities. We use the common flow allowances due window assignment method to assign due windows to the jobs. We consider two performance criteria: (i) the total weighted number of early and tardy jobs plus the weighted due window assignment cost, and (ii) the resource consumption cost. For each resource consumption function, the objective is to minimize the first criterion, while keeping the value of the second criterion no greater than a given limit. We analyze the computational complexity, devise pseudo‐polynomial dynamic programming solution algorithms, and provide fully polynomial‐time approximation schemes and an enhanced volume algorithm to find high‐quality solutions quickly for the considered problems. We conduct extensive numerical studies to assess the performance of the algorithms. The computational results show that the proposed algorithms are very efficient in finding optimal or near‐optimal solutions. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 64: 41–63, 2017     

The determination of optimal base-stock inventory policy when the costs of under- and oversupply are uncertain

This article considers the determination of the optimal base-stock inventory policy for the newsboy inventory model when there is uncertainty about either or both of its basic cost inputs: either C_u, the marginal cost of an undersupply mistake, or C_o, the marginal cost of an oversupply mistake. Such uncertainties often arise in implementing the newsboy model, especially with respect to C_u, whose value depends mostly on the often-imponderable economic consequences of a lost sale or backorder. Given this uncertainty, we use decision theory to propose and analyze two measures of policy “goodness” and two base-stock selection criteria, which in combination provide four alternative “optimal” base-stock policies. Formulas and/or conditions defining each alternative policy are provided. Our empirical study indicates that the recommended policy can be quite sensitive to the measure/criterion chosen, and that the consequences of the wrong choice can be quite considerable.     

Multicriteria efficiency with arbitrary finite sets and cyclic preferences

It is shown that when X is an arbitrary finite subset of an n-factor product set and preference relations on each factor or criterion are assumed only to be asymmetric, efficient (undominated) points always exist in the set P of probability distributions on X when the preference relations are extended to probability distributions on the factors according to SSB utility theory. Thus, arbitrary finite structures and potentially cyclic preferences do not present a problem for the theory of efficiency under the convexification-extension procedure.     

A duality model for a generalized minmax program

We consider a generalized minmax programming problem, and establish, under certain weaker convexity assumptions, the Fritz John sufficient optimality conditions for such a problem. A dual program is introduced and using those optimality conditions duality theorems are proved relating the dual and the primal. Duality for the generalized fractional programming problem is considered as an application of the results proved.