Some straightforward but unconventional strategies are proposed for implementing branch and bound methods. These include 'shrinking' the branch and bound tree and instituting 'branch reversals' by reference to the notion of the relative influence of particular branches in the current solution....

The paper describes a procedure for mixed integer programming that allows branches to be imposed 'by degrees', which can subsequently be revised or weeded out according to their relative influence. It is an adaptive approach in which the branch and bound tree can be manipulated and restructured....