Generalized Colonel Blotto Game

Competitive resource allocation between adversarial decision makers arises in a wide spectrum of real-world applications such as in communication systems, cyber-physical systems security, as well as financial, political, and electoral competition. As such, developing analytical tools to model and analyze competitive resource allocation is crucial for devising optimal allocation strategies and anticipating the potential outcomes of the competition. To this end, the Colonel Blotto game is one of the most popular game-theoretic frameworks for modeling and analyzing such competitive resource allocation problems. However, in many real-world competitive situations, the Colonel Blotto game does not admit solutions in deterministic strategies and, hence, one must rely on analytically complex mixed-strategies with their associated tractability, applicability, and practicality challenges. In this paper, a generalization of the Colonel Blotto game which enables the derivation of deterministic, practical, and implementable equilibrium strategies is proposed while accounting for the heterogeneity of the battlefields. In addition, the proposed generalized game enables accounting for the consumed resources in each battlefield, a feature that is not considered in the classical Blotto game. For the generalized game, the existence of a Nash equilibrium in pure-strategies is shown. Then, closed-form analytical expressions of the equilibrium strategies, are derived and the outcome of the game is characterized; based on the number of resources of each player as well as the valuation of each battlefield. The generated results provide invaluable insights on the outcome of the competition. For example, the results show that, when both players are fully rational, the more resourceful player can achieve a better total payoff at the Nash equilibrium, a result that is not mimicked in the classical Blotto game.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

THE ROLE OF ENGLISH COMMUNICATION COMPETENCE TOWARD STAR HOTEL STAFFS’ WORKING ACHIEVEMENT IN PALEMBANG

Considering the implementation of ASEAN Economic Community and Asian Games 2018, potential hotels are urged to prepare qualified and competitive human resource. Language is believed as a means of communication among people involved in these international events. People around the world would stay at certain hotel, and English communication competence might relate the hotel guests and the employees as service provider agent. This study aims to excavate the role of English communication competence toward employees’ working achievement. About three hundred and fifty-three employes from forty-four different star hotels in Palembang were involved as the sample. The data was collected by administering two kinds of instruments, namely speaking test (to obtain the condition of their communication competence) and questionnaires concerning superior’s judgement on employees’ working achievement. The results were obtained through the descriptive, percentage, and statistical analysis which was aimed to find out the significant influence of English communication competence toward employee achievement. The findings showed that there was positive influence of English communication competence toward employees’ achievement

MANAGERIAL INVESTMENT ON ORGANIZATIONAL STRESS

In a society affected by the economic and financial crisis and in the increasingly competitive environment it is important for any organization to adopt an organizational strategy to reduce costs without affecting its performance and market competitiveness. Human resources in a knowledge-based organization are increasingly affected by occupational stress, a phenomenon that generates lack of productivity. Technological development, scientific organization of production, development of the means of communication and transportation and the tightening of the competitive environment creates stress, which affects the ability of employees and managers to work efficiently, while also generating high costs for the organization as a whole. In this context, managerial attitudes and strategies need to invest, for the sake of the organisational welfare, in motivation, increased determination and coordination of the human resource, as the only resource capable of generating organizational effectiveness or non-effectiveness. Thus, in addition to economic and financial investment, in order to avoid the effects of occupational stress, there is a great need for a managerial "investment” defined by all the actions dealing with human resource coordination / motivation and by adequate managerial attitude, with the ultimate goal of attaining professional effectiveness and high level of organizational performance.leadership, modern market economy human capital, motivation, organization, occupational stress

ICT industry and resources based analysis of maintenance SME in the Central Europe

Highly competitive situation in Information and Communication technology (ICT) maintenance industry requires a precise analysis of all important factors and carefully defined company strategy which addresses each of these aspects. This paper presents a resource based analysis of family run SME, operating in IT parts and consumables market. In order to understand this complex view, it first describes the company background. It briefly presents the industry key success factors and company strategy of the SME. The value chain analysis helps to name the main organization’s capabilities and evaluates them in terms of costs and customer willingness to pay. Resource audit provides an analysis of key company tangible, intangible and human resources. The outcome of this audit shows that most of SME resources are of an intangible nature. Contrary to the higher mobility of today’s resources, intangible resources of SME such as company reputation, culture and strategic business relations, are mostly immobile and inimitable. Based on the audit all key resources and capabilities are appraised by their strength and importance relative to closest rivals. Results are presented in graph which recognizes the key strengths (family run business related) and weaknesses (IT and finance). The results of the resourced based analysis lead to recommendations for changes in order to create and retain competitive advantage.ICT, resource based analysis, resources, capabilities, strategy, SME, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, GA, IN,

The Importance Of Culture Change And Change Management In Successful Implementation Of Sap Enterprise Resource Planning Systems

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) has enabled organizations to connect vendors, the organization, and customers in an almost seamless manner with real-time accurate communication and information. In an increasingly competitive environment, businesses are looking for ways to become more competitive within their marketplace. Many are turning to ERP solutions to facilitate multiple competitive priorities to stand above competing businesses or to create a new competitive advantage. Critical success factors and change management are the primary vehicles for the achievement of success in the adoption of these systems. This research studies how change management becomes a significant link to successful ERP implementation

USING WIKI AS A CORPORATE KNOWLEDGE SHARING SYSTEM

The business world is changing at a fast pace. The multinationals, the relocation of the production centers, the virtual integration trend of companies, the ubiquitous text, audio and video communication channels and devices, the overwhelming amounts of information, the power of the new consumer, are all signs of these changes. The economy is switching from a physical resources oriented, to an information and knowledge oriented one. The most important resource a company has becomes the human resource, the people of the organization, with the information and knowledge they possess and use to deal with the everyday challenges. Beginning with getting an insight into the concepts of information and knowledge, the purpose of this paper is to evaluate the benefits of a Wiki as a collaborative knowledge sharing platform, able to harness the collective knowledge of a company in the highly competitive today’s knowledge economy.wiki; social networks; collaborative knowledge network; collective knowledge; web 2.0 technologies

Human Resources Engagement as a Competitive Strategy for Performance in Small and Medium Enterprises in Kenya: A case Study of Jirani Engineering Services.

The business environment within which Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) operates in Kenya is very dynamic. Internal and external forces are fast changing the style of management and human resource engagement to an extent that SMEs must as a matter of urgency amend or adopt new human resource strategies as key source of their strategic advantage in order to grow, remain competitive and profitable. A change in employees engagement strategy is widely believed will determine the direction of the SMEs in unlocking their potential and competitiveness. There is also a wide believe that human resource engagement affect labour performance, productivity, commitment and they create comparative advantage for the enterprise. The aim of this study was to establish the influencing factors that affect employee engagement and subsequent performance. This study was a descriptive and exploratory research, a case study of Jiran Engineering services. It employed questionnaires and interviews. The findings of this study indicated that an effective human resource strategy on communication, equal pay, equal opportunities and recognition affects employee engagement in the firm and has a direct impact on labour productivity and firm competitive edge. The study therefore recommended that Jirani Engineering Services should adopt a strategic human resource plan despite its nature of operations in order to tap the potential that goes with effectively engaged people. The firm should also have a clearly defined and well aligned human resource plans to drive the identified factors. This will enable the firm to focus on its market position and other value addition services. Key words: engagement, communication, equal opportunity, pay and benefits and recognitio

Beyond Cost-per-Hire and Time to Fill: Supply-Chain Measurement for Staffing

Identifying and acquiring talent is one of the most important processes in human resource management. It is a key element in being competitive in a knowledge driven, talent constrained economy. In addition, it is often the first contact that potential employees have with the organization, so it can be the basis for the entire employment relationship. Increasingly, organizations recognize that a professionally excellent staffing process can be a source of competitive advantage. Moreover, the emergence of fundamentally new information technologies and communication processes – such as the Internet, virtual job fairs, online testing, and global job boards – increase the opportunities and the risks associated with staffing process management. Unfortunately, existing staffing process measurement systems typically fail to provide the information necessary to understand, evaluate and make rational decisions about investments in the staffing system, and fail to support decisions about staffing by HR professionals, line managers, applicants and employees. As a result, organizations often base decisions about their staffing systems solely on information about the volume of applicants or new hires, or the costs and time involved in staffing activities. This leads to potentially disastrous decisions, and opens the door for competitors. In this article, we propose a framework for a staffing measurement system that truly supports professional excellence, partnership and optimal investment decisions

Communication enhancement: a process dividend for the organisation and the HRM department?

Quality has become a key issue for organisations seeking competitive advantage and coping with ever changing market demands. Evidence suggests that the human resource implications of such initiatives are frequently underestimated and neglected Powell, 1995). The present study surveyed 133 Irish organisations implementing Quality Initiatives (QIs), focusing particularly on the impact of these initiatives on internal communication processes and the role played by the human resource (HR) function in these changes. Results indicate the overall success of the QIs in enhancing internal communication processes, but highlight two issues: the surprising absence of HR function involvement in the deliverance of these communication enhancements and the perception by most respondents that while the stated tangible QI objectives have been achieved, there is still some distance to be travelled to fulfil employee expectations on the more intangible communication based needs. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of the changing face of the HR function and the long term success of QIs