One of the main points of criticism on academic research in operations research (management science ) is that there is too much emphasis on the mathematical aspects of the discipline. In particular, the mathematical models that lend themselves to rigorous mathematical analysis are often rough...

The nature of the relationship Bill James found between the win/loss percentage of a Major League Baseball team and the number of runs the team scores and allows over the course of a season is investigated for the National Hockey League (NHL). We find the optimal form of James' model for the NHL...

Rede, in verkorte vorm uitgesproken op vrijdag 20 september 2002 bij de aanvaarding van het ambt van bijzonder hoogleraar aan de Faculteit der Economische Wetenschappen, vanwege de Vereniging Trustfonds Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam, met als leeropdracht Mathematische Besliskunde, in het...

In this paper we will give an overview of the use of operations research models and methods in the design and operation of container terminals. We will describe the activities that take place at a container terminal and give an overview of the relevant decision problems, both at a strategic,...

A widely known algorithm for ¯nding the shortest path in a network is Bidirectional A*. The version of bidirectional A* that is considered the most appropriate hitherto, uses so-called balanced heuristic estimates. In this paper, we focus on symmetric heuristic estimates. First, we show that...

A term map is a map that visualizes the structure of a scientific field by showing the relations between important terms in the field. The terms shown in a term map are usually selected manually with the help of domain experts. Manual term selection has the disadvantages of being subjective and...

Online feedback mechanisms harness the bi-directional communication capabilities of the Internet in order to engineer large-scale word-of-mouth networks. Best known so far as a technology for building trust and fostering cooperation in online marketplaces, such as eBay, these mechanisms are...