On the Multi-Kind BahnCard Problem

The BahnCard problem is an important problem in the realm of online decision making. In its original form, there is one kind of BahnCard associated with a certain price, which upon purchase reduces the ticket price of train journeys for a certain factor over a certain period of time. The problem consists of deciding on which dates BahnCards should be purchased such that the overall cost, that is, BahnCard prices plus (reduced) ticket prices, is minimized without having knowledge about the number and prices of future journeys. In this paper, we extend the problem such that multiple kinds of BahnCards are available for purchase. We provide an optimal offline algorithm, as well as online strategies with provable competitiveness factors. Furthermore, we describe and implement several heuristic online strategies and compare their competitiveness in realistic scenarios

Strategic Decision Support for Smart-Leasing Infrastructure-as-a-Service

In this work we formulate strategic decision models describing when and how many reserved instances should be bought when outsourcing workload to an IaaS provider. Current IaaS providers offer various pricing options for leasing computing resources. When decision makers are faced with the choice and most importantly with uneven workloads, the decision at which time and with which type of computing resource to work is no longer trivial. We present case studies taken from the online services industry and present solution models to solve the various use case problems and compare them. Following a thorough numerical analysis using both real, as well as augmented workload traces in simulations, we found that it is cost efficient to (1) have a balanced portfolio of resource options and (2) avoiding commitments in the form of upfront payments when faced with uncertainty. Compared to a simple IaaS benchmark, this allows cutting costs by 20%

Transport Policy, Acceptance and the Media

The last two decades have seen a substantial change in the basic philosophy underlying European transportation policy. Due to the Commission's efforts and due to supporting jurisdiction by the European Court of Justice the dominant approach to transportation policy has become far more market oriented. This change of approach in transportation policy will only be successful and sustainable if the problem of acceptability will be solved. For researchers this entails that their perspective must change from the normative to the positive aspects of transportation policy-making. This paper reports work undertaken within research project TIPP (Transportation Institutions in the Policy Process) funded by the European Commission. In this work it has been attempted to develop a theoretical structure that merges the positive economic theory of regulation with cognitive psychology and traffic psychology. This theoretical structure offers a matrix of actors and factors that are seen to be essential for success or failure in the implementation of a certain measure of transport policy. Four case studies were carried out in order to check the plausibility of this approach. The case studies are the failure of the German Railway (Deutsche Bahn AG) to introduce a new tariff system in passenger transport in the period 2002-2003, the attempt to introduce a toll for HGVs in Germany, the failure to operate a private tolled motorway in Hungary (M1/M15), the failure to introduce a road-pricing system in the densely populated Randstad area in the Netherlands. --Transportation Policy,Europe,Common Transport Policy,Transport Regulation,Acceptability

Structural market changes and strategic adaptation along the value chain:theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence

Strukturelle Veränderungen der Wettbewerbslandschaft, insbesondere die Deregulierung von Märkten und der rasante technologische Fortschritt, nehmen Einfluss auf die optimale Gestaltung von Wertschöpfungsprozessen. Zwei wesentliche Trends sind beobachtbar: die zunehmende Desintegration von Produktionsprozessen und die Neuinterpretation der Rolle des Kunden im Wertschöpfungsprozess. Im Rahmen von drei empirischen und einer konzeptionellen Analyse werden wesentliche Implikationen für die erfolgreiche Gestaltung von Wertschöpfungsprozessen abgeleitet und erwartete Erfolgswirkungen struktureller Veränderungen entlang der Wertschöpfungskette kritisch reflektiert

Drivers of consumer behavior and competitive strategy outcomes:plurality of perspectives, modeling, and empirical evidence

Durch die rasante Entwicklung von Internet- und Telekommunikationstechnologien hat sich die Interaktion der Wettbewerbskräfte grundlegend verändert. Letztendlich kosteninduziert durch die IT-Entwicklung, erfährt das Customer Relationship Management (CRM) eine ständig wachsende Bedeutung für Unternehmensstrategie und Markterfolg. Ausgehend von der These, dass die gesteigerte Verbreitung von CRM-Strategien Unternehmen unterstützen kann, wertvolle und längerfristige Beziehungen zu Ihren Kunden zu etablieren, bedient diese Dissertation aktuelle Themen wie “Wachstum des e-Commerce”, “Bedeutung von CRM-Strategie, -Konzeption und -Performance” sowie “Evolution von Märkten”. Neben dem Wechsel von kunden- und firmengetriebener Sichtweise werden dabei interdisziplinäre Modellierungsansätze verwendet. Ergebnisse beinhalten konzeptionelle und strategische Implikationen hinsichtlich der effektiven Gestaltung von CRM-Prozessen und -Strategien und des Erfolges in zweiseitigen Märkten.In the course of the rapid development of Internet and telecommunication technologies the interaction of competitive forces has changed fundamentally. Eventually cost-induced by the IT-development, customer relationship management (CRM) has become increasingly important for business strategy and market success. Based on reasoning how the increased penetration of CRM philosophies and strategies in organizations can help to improve firms in establishing valuable long-term relationships with their customers, this thesis considers current issues as “growth of e-commerce”, “significance of CRM strategy, conception and performance” and “evolutionary market dynamics”. In this connection, customer- as well as firm-driven interdisciplinary modeling approaches are adopted. The findings bear conceptional and strategic implications for the effective design of CRM processes and strategies, and for the success in two-sided markets

Road User Charging – Pricing Structures.

This project considers the extent to which the public could cope with complex price or tariff structures such as those that might be considered in the context of a national congestion pricing scheme. The key elements of the brief were: • to review existing studies of road pricing schemes to assess what information and evidence already exists on the key issues; • to identify what can be learned about pricing structures from other transport modes and other industries and in particular what issues and conclusions might be transferable; • to improve the general understanding of the relationship between information and people’s ability to respond; and • to recommend what further research would be most valuable to fill evidence gaps and enable conclusions to be drawn about an effective structure

Grundlagen rationaler Transportpolitik bei Integration

Rationale Transportpolitik, die ökonomische und ökologische Aspekte berücksichtigt, ist aus theoretischer und institutioneller bzw. wirtschaftspolitischer Sicht eine besondere Herausforderung. Während traditionelle (US-dominierte) Ansätze die internationalen Dimensionen der Transportpolitik beim Verkehrsträger Straße kaum berücksichtigt haben, ergibt sich im Kontext der EU-Integration und der EU-Erweiterung unmittelbar das Erfordernis einer internationalen Analyseperspektive: Die moderne verkehrsökonomische Analyse wird hier in den Rahmen einer offenen Volkswirtschaft eingepasst, so dass Handels- und Direktinvestitionsaspekte zu berücksichtigen sind - damit aber ergeben sich insbesondere in ordnungspolitischer Sicht bzw. beim Aspekt der Internalisierung negativer externer Umwelteffekte neue Einsichten. Zudem wird argumentiert, dass wegen der besonderen Kostenbedingungen im Verkehrsgewerbe bzw. bei Verkehrsnetzen die Optionen zweistufiger differenzierter Tarife in besonderer neuartiger Weise zu beachten sind - solche Tarife sind einfachen zweistufigen Tarifen überlegen. Dank der modernen Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologie können sie ohne weiteres angewendet und zugunsten einer nachhaltigen Entwicklung in einem wichtigen Feld der Wirtschaft eingesetzt werden. Aus der präsentierten Analyse ergeben sich wichtige Schlussfolgerungen für eine rationale EU-Verkehrspolitik, die die vorgeschlagenen wohlfahrtsmaximierenden institutionellen Innovationen auf nationaler und supranationaler Ebene aufnehmen sollte.European Integration, Transportation Economics, Transportation Policy, Environmental Policy, EUtransport06

From manufacturer to mobility provider : BMW’s response to the disruption in the automotive industry

The dissertation is written in a teaching case format to illustrate how established companies balance out addressing the need of established consumers as well as reacting on current consumer trends. Changing market environments tempt manufacturers to offer access services as an alternative consumption mode to ownership. Companies need to understand the impact of those business model innovations on the parent brand and its current customers. The selected company is BMW, which is confronted with digitization, resulting new technologies and emerging competitors disrupting the traditional business. By concentrating on meeting customers’ needs rather than focusing too much on selling products, the company has taken the right path in becoming a mobility provider. The introduction of an own car sharing service paves the way to address new targets and is a positive communication tool. This study analyzes the impact of car sharing on purchase behavior of consumers. By consulting secondary research and collecting quantitative data via an online survey can be concluded that both, owners and non-owners of the brand, positively evaluate the mobility service. Additionally, the received responses indicate that car sharing usage cannot fully substitute car ownership and that DriveNow usage influences consumers purchase preferences for a BMW.A dissertação foi escrita acompanhada por um caso para ilustrar como as empresas poderão se equilibrar, atendendo às necessidades dos consumidores estabelecidos e reagindo às tendências atuais. Mercados voláteis fazem com que os fabricantes ofereçam serviços de acesso como um modo de consumo alternativo ao de titulo de propriedade. As empresas beneficiariam de saber o impacto dessas inovações nos modelos de negócios da marca original e nos seus clientes atuais. A empresa selecionada é a BMW, que é confrontada com a digitalização, resultando em novas tecnologias e distintos concorrentes que mudaram os negócios tradicionais. Ao se concentrar em atender às necessidades dos clientes em vez de se focar em demasia na venda de produtos, a empresa tomou o caminho certo ao se tornar um fornecedor de mobilidade. A introdução de um serviço próprio de partilha de carros abre caminho para novos alvos e é uma ferramenta de comunicação positiva. Este estudo analisa o impacto da partilha de carros nos padrões de compra dos consumidores. Ao consultar a pesquisa secundária e dados quantitativos através de uma pesquisa online, pode-se concluir que os proprietários e não-proprietários da marca avaliam positivamente o serviço de mobilidade. Além disso, as respostas recebidas indicam que o uso do serviço não pode substituir totalmente a posse de um carro e que o uso do DriveNow influencia as preferências de compra do consumidor para um BMW

Rhythms of information infrastructure cultivation: the case of e-Mobility in Berlin

This thesis investigates the importance of temporal rhythms in the study of information infrastructures (IIs), responding to the call to address an II’s “biography” by focusing on its evolution over time. It enriches understanding of how socially constructed rhythms, a temporal structure under-examined in the II literature, influence II cultivation. A strategic niche project to develop an e-mobility II in Berlin is used as the case study and reveals the influence of rhythm in disciplining (constraining) and modeling (motivating) II cultivation. It demonstrates how the intermediary may mediate these influences through the interventions of harmonising, riffing and composing. Based on these interventions, the study develops the concept of facilitated II cultivation, which adds to the emergent literature exploring the tension between planned and emergent infrastructure work. In doing so, the study presents a framework that helps combine short-term implementation concerns (strategic interventions by the intermediary) with long-term path dependency and evolutionary concerns (influences of past and future temporal rhythms) for IIs

Online algorithms for conversion problems : an approach to conjoin worst-case analysis and empirical-case analysis

A conversion problem deals with the scenario of converting an asset into another asset and possibly back. This work considers financial assets and investigates online algorithms to perform the conversion. When analyzing the performance of online conversion algorithms, as yet the common approach is to analyze heuristic conversion algorithms from an experimental perspective, and to analyze guaranteeing conversion algorithms from an analytical perspective. This work conjoins these two approaches in order to verify an algorithms\u27 applicability to practical problems. We focus on the analysis of preemptive and non-preemptive online conversion problems from the literature. We derive both, empirical-case as well as worst-case results. Competitive analysis is done by considering worst-case scenarios. First, the question whether the applicability of heuristic conversion algorithms can be verified through competitive analysis is to be answered. The competitive ratio of selected heuristic algorithms is derived using competitive analysis. Second, the question whether the applicability of guaranteeing conversion algorithms can be verified through experiments is to be answered. Empirical-case results of selected guaranteeing algorithms are derived using exploratory data analysis. Backtesting is done assuming uncertainty about asset prices, and the results are analyzed statistically. Empirical-case analysis quantifies the return to be expected based on historical data. In contrast, the worst-case competitive analysis approach minimizes the maximum regret based on worst-case scenarios. Hence the results, presented in the form of research papers, show that combining this optimistic view with this pessimistic view provides an insight into the applicability of online conversion algorithms to practical problems. The work concludes giving directions for future work.Ein Conversion Problem befasst sich mit dem Eintausch eines Vermögenswertes in einen anderen Vermögenswert unter Berücksichtigung eines möglichen Rücktausches. Diese Arbeit untersucht Online-Algorithmen, die diesen Eintausch vornehmen. Der klassische Ansatz zur Performanceanalyse von Online Conversion Algorithmen ist, heuristische Algorithmen aus einer experimentellen Perspektive zu untersuchen; garantierende Algorithmen jedoch aus einer analytischen. Die vorliegende Arbeit verbindet diese beiden Ansätze mit dem Ziel, die praktische Anwendbarkeit der Algorithmen zu überprüfen. Wir konzentrieren uns auf die Analyse des präemtiven und des nicht-präemtiven Online Conversion Problems aus der Literatur und ermitteln empirische sowie analytische Ergebnisse. Kompetitive Analyse wird unter Berücksichtigung von worst-case Szenarien durchgeführt. Erstens soll die Frage beantwortet werden, ob die Anwendbarkeit heuristischer Algorithmen durch Kompetitive Analyse verifiziert werden kann. Dazu wird der kompetitive Faktor von ausgewählten heuristischen Algorithmen mittels worst-case Analyse abgeleitet. Zweitens soll die Frage beantwortet werden, ob die Anwendbarkeit garantierender Algorithmen durch Experimente überprüft werden kann. Empirische Ergebnisse ausgewählter Algorithmen werden mit Hilfe der Explorativen Datenanalyse ermittelt. Backtesting wird unter der Annahme der Unsicherheit über zukünftige Preise der Vermögenswerte durchgeführt und die Ergebnisse statistisch ausgewertet. Die empirische Analyse quantifiziert die zu erwartende Rendite auf Basis historischer Daten. Im Gegensatz dazu, minimiert die Kompetitive Analyse das maximale Bedauern auf Basis von worst-case Szenarien. Die Ergebnisse, welche in Form von Publikationen präsentiert werden, zeigen, dass die Kombination der optimistischen mit der pessimistischen Sichtweise einen Rückschluss auf die praktische Anwendbarkeit der untersuchten Online-Algorithmen zulässt. Abschließend werden offene Forschungsfragen genannt