We study the optimal resource portfolio for a price-setter firm under a consumer choice model with supply and demand risks. The firm sells two products that are vertically differentiated, and has the option to invest in both dedicated and flexible resources. Our objective is to understand the...

This research explores the effect of proposed management policies and related structures on the dynamics of value streams, particularly under demand instability. It relies on methods from the systems thinking and modeling literature and was designed to fulfill three main objectives. Objective...

Two important areas of decision-making in distribution system design involve facility loca-tion and inventory policy determination. Facility location analyzes questions such as howmany facilities should be opened, where they should be located, and which customers shouldbe assigned to which DCs....

In many situations, different consumers have different degrees of willingness to wait to get delivery of a product. So, consumers can be segregated based upon the demand lead time they are providing. In this paper, two types of consumers have been considered. The first category needs immediate...

Lean production prescribes training workers on all tasks within the cell to adapt to changes in customer demand. Multi-skilling of workers can be achieved by cross-training. Cross-training can be improved and reinforced by implementing job rotation. Lean production also prescribes using job...

This research presents a framework system dynamics (simulation) model that evaluates the effect of maintenance policies on system performance and life-cycle cost. The model highlights factors such as learning, aging and the technological upgrades that occur during the life-cycle of a system. The...

We study the benefits of resource flexibility, considering two different flexibility structures. First, we want to understand the impact of the firm's pricing strategy on its resource investment decision, considering a partially flexible resource. Secondly, we study the benefits of a flexible...

This dissertation set out to understand the decision processes used by decision makers in adversarial environment by setting up an adversarial decision making microworld, as an experimental platform, using a real time strategy (RTS) game called Rise of Nations (RON). The specific objectives of...

Test-analyze-and-fix (TAAF) is the mostcommonly recognized method of improvingsystem reliability. The work presented hereaddresses the question of when to stop testingduring TAAF programs involving one-shotsystems when the number of systems to beproduced is predetermined and theprobabilities of...

This research was concerned with the collection of empirical data necessary to estimate the effects ofdecision support tools on the performance of distributed groups. Data was collected in a controlledexperimental environment that simulated a geographically-dispersed meeting through the use...