Allocating educational resources through happiness maximization and traditional CSP approach

This is an electronic version of the paper presented at the 4th International Conference on Software and Data Technologies, held in Sofia on 2009An instance of an Educational Resources Allocation (ERA) problem is the distribution of a set of students in different laboratories. This can be a complex and dynamic problem if non-quantitative considerations (i.e. how close the final allocation is to the student preferences or desires) are involved in the decision process. Traditionally, different approaches based on Constraint-Satisfaction techniques and Multi-agent negotiation have been applied to the general problem of Resource Allocation. This paper shows how a Multi-agent approach can be used to model and simulate the assignment of sets of students to several predefined laboratories, by using their preferences to guide the allocation process. This approach aims at finding new solutions that try to satisfy individual student needs with no knowledge about the general allocation problem. The paper shows some experimental results and a comparison, between a CSP-based solution modeled in CHOCO, a CSP Java-based library, and a Multi-agent model implemented using MASON, a multi-agent simulation platform.This work has been supported by research projects TIN2007-65989 and TIN2007-64718. We also thank IBM for its support to the Linux Reference Cente

A complexity science approach to swarm intelligence

Trabajo fin de máster en Ingeniería Informática y Telecomunicacione

Corporate social responsibility in the Egyptian banking sector: A study on effectiveness and profitability

Corporate Social Responsibility is a booming concept worldwide and all corporates are shifting towards undertaking some Corporate Social Responsibility activities. Banks play a major role in the Corporate Social Responsibility sector, as they are the base of any loan for any corporate, hence, they have the control of the Corporate Social Responsibility activities of a firm. Banks do Corporate Social Responsibility activities within different disciplines. This study analyzes the effectiveness of Corporate Social Responsibility activities, along with the relation between the bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility activities and its profitability. Intensive interviews were conducted with Corporate Social Responsibility representatives/managers at the banks to get more in-depth information on the research variables -effectiveness and profitability- to enhance our understanding of the Corporate Social Responsibility sector in Egypt. The results indicate that there is a shift in the concept of CSR from philanthropy or just charity giving to sustainability, taking into consideration the economic, social, governance and environmental aspects of the society

New Swarm-Based Metaheuristics for Resource Allocation and Schwduling Problems

Tesis doctoral inédita leída en la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Escuela Politécnica Superior, Departamento de Ingeniería Informática. Fecha de lectura : 10-07-2017Esta tesis tiene embargado el acceso al texto completo hasta el 10-01-201

Corporate community engagement framework for stakeholder relations in the extractive sector in the Western Cape, South Africa

Published ThesisStakeholder relations and Corporate Community Engagement (CCE) are both important activities that can and should be used to promote extractive sector success and sustainability. Success can be realised through stakeholder relations that is transformational in context and adaptive in character: to achieve sustainability outcomes envisaged in the CCE framework. For a transforming South African economy, sustainability should not be constrained by ineffective stakeholder relationship but contextual to the character of Corporate Community Engagement (CCE) activities for success. This study presents a framework to support effective stakeholder relations compatible with a transforming economy and supportive of CCE activities of mining companies. The characteristic of a transforming society postulate disparate perceptions of CCE and lack of its effectiveness is reported to be common. The varied perception of CCE effectiveness present the opportunity for a new framework to manage stakeholder relations for sustainability. To achieve the aim of the study, evidence of perception were collected through an exploratory sequential mixed methods approach. This approach enabled the collection of qualitative data using in-depth interviews on sixteen (16) purposefully selected employees from eight participating CCE companies and as well as quantitative online data on 384 randomly selected respondents from the extractive community using LimeSurvey. Although respondents’ perceptions were found to be mixed and variable, an understanding of the need for stakeholder’s relations effectiveness through CCE activities is common. The study concludes that CCE activities would benefit a framework that incorporates stakeholder relations as a strategy for business success and sustainability of CCE

Why ‘Doing Good’ is not Good Enough: Essays on Social Impact Measurement

__Abstract__ "We are facing a paradox of ‘doing good’. There is a clear role for philanthropic and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts to play in addressing the social problems that our world faces today. However, evidence seems to suggest that this ‘doing good’ is not effectively solving these social problems. ‘Doing good’ is thus often not good enough. The objectives of this doctoral thesis are to contribute to denuding this paradox of ‘doing good’, and to provide concrete suggestions on how this ‘doing good’ can be done better. A multilevel perspective is taken to identify three main causes for the paradox: 1) goal incongruence between the private sector, government, and the philanthropic sector, 2) a lack of results (impact) measurement at the organizational level, and 3) information asymmetry in the market of ‘doing good’ between donors,

Competing for Stakeholders: Three Essays on Business Sustainability

Literature Review. Competing for stakeholders toward a better understanding of Business Sustainability. Identifying Stakeholders' Multiple utility source: a first step for value Co-creation. The model in action: a real example of value co-creation in an Italian SME.Literature Review. Competing for stakeholders toward a better understanding of Business Sustainability. Identifying Stakeholders' Multiple utility source: a first step for value Co-creation. The model in action: a real example of value co-creation in an Italian SME.LUISS PhD Thesi

Personality Psychology and Economics

This paper explores the power of personality traits both as predictors and as causes of academic and economic success, health, and criminal activity. Measured personality is interpreted as a construct derived from an economic model of preferences, constraints, and information. Evidence is reviewed about the "situational specificity" of personality traits and preferences. An extreme version of the situationist view claims that there are no stable personality traits or preference parameters that persons carry across different situations. Those who hold this view claim that personality psychology has little relevance for economics. The biological and evolutionary origins of personality traits are explored. Personality measurement systems and relationships among the measures used by psychologists are examined. The predictive power of personality measures is compared with the predictive power of measures of cognition captured by IQ and achievement tests. For many outcomes, personality measures are just as predictive as cognitive measures, even after controlling for family background and cognition. Moreover, standard measures of cognition are heavily influenced by personality traits and incentives. Measured personality traits are positively correlated over the life cycle. However, they are not fixed and can be altered by experience and investment. Intervention studies, along with studies in biology and neuroscience, establish a causal basis for the observed effect of personality traits on economic and social outcomes. Personality traits are more malleable over the life cycle compared to cognition, which becomes highly rank stable around age 10. Interventions that change personality are promising avenues for addressing poverty and disadvantage.personality, behavioral economics, cognitive traits, wages, economic success, human development, person-situation debate

The Role of Information and Incentives in Voluntary Corporate Provision of Public Goods

More than ever, corporations face pressure to act beyond their fiduciary duties to shareholders and regulatory requirements to reduce their environmental impact and improve social conditions, yet frequently produce empty symbolic measures with no benefit to societal welfare or their own financial performance. This research program examines both external incentives for firms to engage in strategic provision of social and environmental goods and information strategies to harness sustainability motivations and influence perceptions among employees and other stakeholder groups. The dissertation consists of four chapters, each comprising a standalone empirical research study grounded in strategic management, economics, and behavioral theories. The first two studies use field experimental methods to examine the tendency for individuals to alter attitudes and behavior in response to information about relevant peers; the first study in a residential community and the second in a corporate workplace. The third study extends these behavioral phenomena to corporations, evaluating the degree to which more profitable or more rivalrous industry peers influence firms’ engagement in corporate social responsibility initiatives. The final study examines microdata contained within a prominent third-party corporate greenhouse gas emissions disclosure program, finding evidence of widespread reporting inconsistencies that suggest systematic efforts by companies to mislead stakeholders about actual carbon management performance. The outcomes of this research program inform corporate strategies for leveraging social and environmental goods for improved financial performance --- the triple bottom line --- and policy prescriptions to enhance incentives for companies to provide truthful disclosures of environmental performance