Optimal timing of switches between product sales for sports and entertainment tickets

Like airlines and hotels, sports teams and entertainment venues can benefit from revenue management efforts for their ticket sales. Teams and entertainment venues usually offer bundles of tickets early in their selling horizon and put single‐event tickets on sale at a later date; these organizations must determine the best time to offer individual tickets because both types of ticket sales consume the same fixed inventory. We model the optimal a priori timing decision for a seller with a fixed number of identical tickets to switch from selling the tickets as fixed bundles to individual tickets to maximize the revenue realized before the start of the performance season. We assume that bundle and single‐ticket customers each arrive according to independent, nonhomogeneous Markovian death processes with a linear death rate that can vary over time and that the benefit from selling a ticket in a package is higher than from selling the ticket individually. We characterize the circumstances in which it is optimal for the seller to practice mixed bundling and when the seller should only sell bundles or individual tickets, and we establish comparative statics for the optimal timing decision for the special case of constant customer arrival rates. We extend our analytical results to find the optimal time for offering two groups of tickets with high and low demand. Finally, we apply the timing model to a data set obtained from the sports industry. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2008     

李雅普诺夫运动稳定性与平衡状态稳定性的关系

稳定性是系统分析的重要内容 ,针对在系统稳定性分析中 ,运动稳定性和平衡状态稳定性之间常易于混淆的问题 ,详细分析了两种稳定性之间内在本质联系 ,给出了从一种稳定性过渡到另一种稳定性的方法     

The effects of customer rebates and retailer incentives on a manufacturer's profits and sales

In some industries such as automotive, production costs are largely fixed and therefore maximizing revenue is the main objective. Manufacturers use promotions directed to the end customers and/or retailers in their distribution channels to increase sales and market share. We study a game theoretical model to examine the impact of “retailer incentive” and “customer rebate” promotions on the manufacturer's pricing and the retailer's ordering/sales decisions. The main tradeoff is that customer rebates are given to every customer, while the use of retailer incentives is controlled by the retailer. We consider several models with different demand characteristics and information asymmetry between the manufacturer and a price discriminating retailer, and we determine which promotion would benefit the manufacturer under which market conditions. When demand is deterministic, we find that retailer incentives increase the manufacturer's profits (and sales) while customer rebates do not unless they lead to market expansion. When the uncertainty in demand (“market potential”) is high, a customer rebate can be more profitable than the retailer incentive for the manufacturer. With numerical examples, we provide additional insights on the profit gains by the right choice of promotion.© 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2010     

Route optimization for multiple searchers

We consider a discrete time‐and‐space route‐optimization problem across a finite time horizon in which multiple searchers seek to detect one or more probabilistically moving targets. This article formulates a novel convex mixed‐integer nonlinear program for this problem that generalizes earlier models to situations with multiple targets, searcher deconfliction, and target‐ and location‐dependent search effectiveness. We present two solution approaches, one based on the cutting‐plane method and the other on linearization. These approaches result in the first practical exact algorithms for solving this important problem, which arises broadly in military, rescue, law enforcement, and border patrol operations. The cutting‐plane approach solves many realistically sized problem instances in a few minutes, while existing branch‐and‐bound algorithms fail. A specialized cut improves solution time by 50[percnt] in difficult problem instances. The approach based on linearization, which is applicable in important special cases, may further reduce solution time with one or two orders of magnitude. The solution time for the cutting‐plane approach tends to remain constant as the number of searchers grows. In part, then, we overcome the difficulty that earlier solution methods have with many searchers. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2010     

稳定自组织网络结构中单点突变对网络稳定性影响

从战场恶劣环境通信设备无法正常通信的条件下,介绍了一种自组织网络稳定度的模型。通过比较自组织网络结构中微结构和巨结构的优缺点,动态地描述了结构间的聚合和裂解。基于结构分析,考虑单点突变对网络稳定性的影响,从时间因素策略方面,提出了一个基于预测最稳定链路生存时间的一种分布式成群策略。通过合理建模以及优化路由算法,尽可能地维护网络结构的稳定。     

l阶链式积分器型多智能体实现平均一致的时延相关LMI判据

针对l阶链式积分器型多智能体平均一致性问题,给出联合连通拓扑条件下LMI表示的时延相关稳定判据.利用状态分解思想,将收敛条件转化为判断不一致系统零平衡点的稳定性;考虑存在多个时变通信时延的情况,采用构造公共的Lyapunov-Krasovskii泛函的方式来分析系统稳定性,为获得较低保守性判据,在主要结论中引入了自由权...     

基于复杂网络的联合作战指挥体系研究

以作战指挥理论需求为牵引,从复杂网络的角度对联合作战指挥体系问题进行网络抽象,将指挥体系中的指挥机构作为网络的节点,将指挥关系作为网络的边,按照指挥体系历史发展的规律,从简单到复杂,分别构建了传统层级纵长树状型的指挥体系网络模型,在树状模型基础上,增加了横向联系但依然具有层级结构的信息共享改进型的指挥体系网络模型,以及...     

跨境民族对云南边境管理的影响及原因分析

云南省是跨境民族多、贫困人口多、山村面积大的边疆省份。由于其特殊的地理位置和所处环境,历来既是中国边疆危机的前沿阵地,又是国防前线和战略要冲。跨境民族常年居住在边界两侧,对边境情况较为熟悉,经常在国境线两侧出入,从而加大了边境管理的难度,影响了边境管理的有效性和有序性。这一现象应引起边境管理部门的高度重视。     

When the Going Gets Tough… Monitoring Missions and a Changing Conflict Environment in Sri Lanka, 2002–2008

This article analyzes how the conflict environment in which a civilian monitoring mission is deployed influences the monitors' assessment of the operation. It draws on unique empirical material from the experience of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), deployed to oversee a ceasefire agreement in Sri Lanka 2002–2008. With material from a survey and in-depth interviews, experiences of the monitors are analyzed and changes over time are traced in relation to the monitors' assessment of the mandate and organizational set-up of the mission. The study points to the difficulty of monitoring missions to address escalation during an ongoing peace process. Its function is dependent on the goodwill of the parties. In essence, monitoring missions have the potential to strengthen peace when there is momentum in favor of progress, but when relations between the parties turn sour and the conflict escalates a civilian monitoring mission basically loses its potential. During the final stages of the war, which saw a very large number of civilian casualties, the war-torn areas were closed to international observers. Moreover, international pressure for a short-term ceasefire to alleviate the humanitarian situation was dismissed by the Sri Lankan government, which also saw the backing of several important actors, not the least China.     

Explaining US and British performance in complex expeditionary operations: The civil-military dimension

A nation's structure and culture of civil-military relations are important and largely overlooked factors in explaining the performance of armed forces involved in complex expeditionary operations. The US model of ‘Huntingtonian’, divided civil-military structures and poor interagency cooperation, makes the US military less suited for complex expeditionary operations. British civil-military relations involve a Defence Ministry that conscientiously integrates military and civilian personnel, as well as extensive interagency cooperation and coordination. This ‘Janowitzean’, integrated form of civil-military relations makes the British military more likely to provide for the planning and implementation of comprehensive campaigns that employ and coordinate all instruments of power available to the state, as well as troops in the field displaying the flexibility and cultural and political understanding that are necessary in complex expeditionary operations.