A bilevel game model for ascertaining competitive target prices for a buyer in negotiation with multiple suppliers

In this paper, a decision-support is developed for a strategic problem of identifying target prices for the single buyer to negotiate with multiple suppliers to achieve common goal of maintaining sustained business environment. For this purpose, oligopolistic-competitive equilibrium prices of suppliers are suggested to be considered as target prices. The problem of identifying these prices is modeled as a multi-leader-single-follower bilevel programming problem involving linear constraints and bilinear objective functions. Herein, the multiple suppliers are considered leaders competing in a Nash game to maximize individual profits, and the buyer is a follower responding with demand-order allocations to minimize the total procurement-cost. Profit of each supplier is formulated on assessing respective operational cost to fulfill demand-orders by integrating aggregate-production-distribution-planning mechanism into the problem. A genetic-algorithm-based technique is designed in general for solving large-scale instances of the variant of bilevel programming problems with multiple leaders and single follower, and the same is applied to solve the modeled problem. The developed decision support is appropriately demonstrated on the data of a leading FMCG manufacturing firm, which manufactures goods through multiple sourcing.

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Development of the Model of Decision Support for Alternative Choice in the Transportation Transit System

Transport and Telecommunication Journal ◽

10.1515/ttj-2015-0007 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

pp. 61-72 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Igor Kabashkin ◽

Jelena Lučina

Keyword(s):

Decision Support ◽

Large Scale ◽

Finite Graph ◽

Business Environment ◽

Analytic Hierarchy ◽

Transit System ◽

Effective Decision ◽

Alternative Choice ◽

Analytic Hierarchy Process Method ◽

Hierarchy Process

Abstract The decision support system is one of the instruments for choosing the most effective decision for cargo owner in constant fluctuated business environment. The objective of this Paper is to suggest the multiple-criteria approach for evaluation and choice the alternatives of cargo transportation in the large scale transportation transit system for the decision makers - cargo owners. The large scale transportation transit system is presented by directed finite graph. Each of 57 alternatives is represented by the set of key performance indicators Kvi and set of parameters Paj. There has been developed a two-level hierarchy system of criteria with ranging expert evaluations based on Analytic Hierarchy Process Method. The best alternatives were suggested according to this method.

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Strategic resources and smallholder performance at the bottom of the pyramid

International Food and Agribusiness Management Review ◽

10.22434/ifamr2018.0111 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 22 (3) ◽

pp. 365-380 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Matthias Olthaar ◽

Wilfred Dolfsma ◽

Clemens Lutz ◽

Florian Noseleit

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Business Environment ◽

Agricultural Economics ◽

Local Market ◽

Bottom Of The Pyramid ◽

Fine Grained ◽

Strategic Resources ◽

Relative Contribution ◽

The Relationship ◽

Resource Based Theory

In a competitive business environment at the Bottom of the Pyramid smallholders supplying global value chains may be thought to be at the whims of downstream large-scale players and local market forces, leaving no room for strategic entrepreneurial behavior. In such a context we test the relationship between the use of strategic resources and firm performance. We adopt the Resource Based Theory and show that seemingly homogenous smallholders deploy resources differently and, consequently, some do outperform others. We argue that the ‘resource-based theory’ results in a more fine-grained understanding of smallholder performance than approaches generally applied in agricultural economics. We develop a mixed-method approach that allows one to pinpoint relevant, industry-specific resources, and allows for empirical identification of the relative contribution of each resource to competitive advantage. The results show that proper use of quality labor, storage facilities, time of selling, and availability of animals are key capabilities.

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A Decision Support System for Public Funding of Experimental Development in Energy Research

Energies ◽

10.3390/en11061357 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 1357 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Simon Hirzel ◽

Tim Hettesheimer ◽

Peter Viebahn ◽

Manfred Fischedick

Keyword(s):

Decision Support ◽

Decision Support System ◽

Support System ◽

Large Scale ◽

Public Funding ◽

Evaluation Process ◽

Decision Makers ◽

Market Failures ◽

Energy Research ◽

Experimental Development

New energy technologies may fail to make the transition to the market once research funding has ended due to a lack of private engagement to conclude their development. Extending public funding to cover such experimental developments could be one way to improve this transition. However, identifying promising research and development (R&D) proposals for this purpose is a difficult task for the following reasons: Close-to-market implementations regularly require substantial resources while public budgets are limited; the allocation of public funds needs to be fair, open, and documented; the evaluation is complex and subject to public sector regulations for public engagement in R&D funding. This calls for a rigorous evaluation process. This paper proposes an operational three-staged decision support system (DSS) to assist decision-makers in public funding institutions in the ex-ante evaluation of R&D proposals for large-scale close-to-market projects in energy research. The system was developed based on a review of literature and related approaches from practice combined with a series of workshops with practitioners from German public funding institutions. The results confirm that the decision-making process is a complex one that is not limited to simply scoring R&D proposals. Decision-makers also have to deal with various additional issues such as determining the state of technological development, verifying market failures or considering existing funding portfolios. The DSS that is suggested in this paper is unique in the sense that it goes beyond mere multi-criteria aggregation procedures and addresses these issues as well to help guide decision-makers in public institutions through the evaluation process.

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Development of Composite Indicators of Cyclical Response in Business Surveys

Voprosy statistiki ◽

10.34023/2313-6383-2021-28-2-24-41 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 28 (2) ◽

pp. 24-41

Author(s):

L. A. Kitrar ◽

T. M. Lipkind

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Integrated Approach ◽

Early Response ◽

Business Environment ◽

Economic Behavior ◽

Retail Trade ◽

Composite Indicators ◽

Business Activity ◽

Short Term ◽

Current Output

The article proposes a new set of composite indicators-predictors in business tendency surveys, which allow identifying early information signals of a cyclical nature in the economic behavior of business agents. The main criterion for the efficiency of such indicators is their sensitivity to a cyclical pattern and changes in the dynamics of statistical referents. Property such as a statistically significant lead in time series or earlier publication allows them to be combined into indicators of early response. The composite Business Activity Indicator (BAI) in the basic sectors of the Russian economy is calculated by the authors for the first time based on the results of regular (monthly and quarterly) business surveys of Rosstat for 1998–2020 with a large-scale coverage of sampling units. In 2020, the number of survey respondents averaged about 20,000 organizations of all sizes. The index reflects the «common» profile in the dynamics of short-term fluctuations of the key parameters of the economic environment, which consists of the «balances of opinions» of respondents to the questions unified for all sectoral surveys and connected with the reference quantitative statistics with cross-correlation coefficients that are statistically significantly different from zero, with a lead at least one quarter. This is its main difference from the well-known indices of economic sentiment and entrepreneurial confidence. The main components of the BAI are the new composite indices of real demand, current output, real employment, total profits and economic situation. They aggregate the relevant «order» statistics for the basic sectors of the national economy, including the main kinds of industrial activities, retail trade, construction, and services.The article provides a methodological substantiation and an extended procedure for identifying the BAI components; their composition is formed for the entire set of retrospective results of business tendency monitoring in Russia. A new Aggregate Economic Vulnerability Indicator with a counterdirectional profile and varying degrees of symmetry of its dynamics relative to the short-term movement of the BAI is being introduced as the main limitation of business activity. Proactive monitoring of emerging vulnerabilities in the business environment is necessary to warn their large-scale accumulation, prevent the risks of economic downturns and ensure the highest possible macroeconomic stability. This integrated approach makes it possible to determine the novelty of the proposed measurements of short-term cyclical fluctuations in economic development.

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Decision support system for corrective maintenance in large-scale photovoltaic systems

10.1109/pvsc43889.2021.9518796 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Andreas Livera ◽

Marios Theristis ◽

Alexios Charalambous ◽

Joshua S. Stein ◽

George E. Georghiou

Keyword(s):

Decision Support ◽

Decision Support System ◽

Support System ◽

Large Scale ◽

Photovoltaic Systems ◽

Corrective Maintenance

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Deep learning-based decision support system for weeds detection in wheat fields

International Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering (IJECE) ◽

10.11591/ijece.v12i1.pp816-825 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 816

Author(s):

Brahim Jabir ◽

Noureddine Falih

Keyword(s):

Neural Network ◽

Deep Learning ◽

Decision Support ◽

Large Scale ◽

Intelligent System ◽

Management Program ◽

Wheat Crop ◽

Smart System ◽

Mechanical Methods ◽

Hand Weeding

<span>In precision farming, identifying weeds is an essential first step in planning an integrated pest management program in cereals. By knowing the species present, we can learn about the types of herbicides to use to control them, especially in non-weeding crops where mechanical methods that are not effective (tillage, hand weeding, and hoeing and mowing). Therefore, using the deep learning based on convolutional neural network (CNN) will help to automatically identify weeds and then an intelligent system comes to achieve a localized spraying of the herbicides avoiding their large-scale use, preserving the environment. In this article we propose a smart system based on object detection models, implemented on a Raspberry, seek to identify the presence of relevant objects (weeds) in an area (wheat crop) in real time and classify those objects for decision support including spot spray with a chosen herbicide in accordance to the weed detected.</span>

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PROBLEMS OF NATIONAL LANGUAGE FUNCTIONING WITHIN BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

South archive (philological sciences) ◽

10.32999/ksu2663-2691/2020-83-18 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 100-106

Author(s):

Piven N.M.

Keyword(s):

Language Acquisition ◽

Large Scale ◽

Language Skills ◽

Business Environment ◽

Educational Process ◽

National Language ◽

Professional Activity ◽

Language Functioning ◽

Low Level ◽

State Language

Мета роботи – дослідити проблеми функціонування державної мови в сучасному бізнес-просторі, оскільки відомо, що тривалий час представники приватних бізнес-компаній нею майже не послуговувалися; відповідно до цього було поставлено завдання: сформулювати основні етапи опанування української мови як державної для фахівців зазначеної категорії осіб.Методи. У дослідженні використано теоретичні методи (аналіз стандартів і стану функціонування державної мови в різних галузях господарства); ретроспективний аналіз власного педагогічного досвіду з організації й проведення навчальних занять; емпіричні – педагогічні спостереження, тестування й спеціальні завдання для діагностичного зрізу рівня знань працівників бізнес-сфери; статистичні методи для кількісного та якісного аналізу отриманих емпіричних та експериментальних даних.Результати. З’ясовано, що тема функціонування державної мови в бізнес-сфері залишається малодослідженою. Мате-ріалом послугувала практична мовна діяльність групи слухачів одного з приватних підприємств. Проаналізовано загальну характеристику слухачів, рівень володіння державною мовою перед навчанням і після, розроблено шкалу оцінювання рівня мовних навичок. Зазначено, що в російськомовному середовищі серед представників великого й малого бізнесу виникають труднощі стосовно україномовної комунікації, спричинені низьким рівнем мовленнєвих умінь і навичок, відсутністю необхід-ної лексичної бази, наявністю суржику й росіянізмів тощо.Висновки. У результаті навчального процесу було визначено основні етапи опанування української мови як державної. Заува-жено, що важливе місце в підготовці слухачів належить мотиваційному та базовому етапам; надано методичні рекомендації сто-совно їх мовної підготовки. Доведено, що навіть при низькій мовній базі, але за умови високої мотивації можна досягти достатньо-го рівня мовленнєвих знань, умінь і навичок для подальшої професійної діяльності й комунікації державною мовою. The purpose. The objective of the article is to study the problems concerning state language functioning within current business environment. It is known that for a long period of time representatives of private businesses have hardly ever used it. It caused the necessity to define the basic stages of Ukrainian language acquisition as a state one by professionals in business sphere.Methods. The set of scientific methods are applied in the article: theoretical (analysis of standards and status of state language functioning in different economical spheres); retrospective analysis of own pedagogical experience in educational process organization and training sessions; empirical (pedagogical observations, testing and special sessions to detect the level of expertise among business sphere representatives; statistical methods (qualitative and quantitative analysis of empirical and experimental data received).Results. It is found that the issue of state language functioning in business sphere is still poorly investigated. Practical activity by the employees of a private enterprise is served as a ground for this study. General characteristic of trainees, their level of state language acquisition before and after training is analysed, and the evaluation scale of language skills level is developed. It is noted that in Russian-speaking environment representatives of large-scale and small-sized businesses face a lot of challenges while communicating in Ukrainian, caused by low level of language skills, lack of necessary basic vocabulary, existence of surzhik (mixed Russian-Ukrainian dialect) and russicismes (use of Russian words instead of Ukrainian ones).Conclusions. The educational process resulted in defining the main stages of Ukrainian acquisition as a state language. It is emphasized that it is motivational and basic stages that play the important role in preparation of trainees which led to developing methodical recommendations concerning state language acquisition. It is proved that in spite of a low level of language improved motivation helps business people achieve sufficient level of language knowledge and skills for further professional activity and communicating in state language.

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