Analytical tools of strategic marketing management

This thesis deals with three topics; Bayesian tracking, shape matching and visual servoing. These topics are bound together by the goal of visual control of robotic systems. The work leading to this thesis was conducted within two European projects, COSPAL and DIPLECS, both with the stated goal of developing artificial cognitive systems. Thus, the ultimate goal of my research is to contribute to the development of artificial cognitive systems. The contribution to the field of Bayesian tracking is in the form of a framework called Channel Based Tracking (CBT). CBT has been proven to perform competitively with particle filter based approaches but with the added advantage of not having to specify the observation or system models. CBT uses channel representation and correspondence free learning in order to acquire the observation and system models from unordered sets of observations and states. We demonstrate how this has been used for tracking cars in the presence of clutter and noise. The shape matching part of this thesis presents a new way to match Fourier Descriptors (FDs). We show that it is possible to take rotation and index shift into account while matching FDs without explicitly de-rotate the contours or neglecting the phase. We also propose to use FDs for matching locally extracted shapes in contrast to the traditional way of using FDs to match the global outline of an object. We have in this context evaluated our matching scheme against the popular Affine Invariant FDs and shown that our method is clearly superior. In the visual servoing part we present a visual servoing method that is based on an action precedes perception approach. By applying random action with a system, e.g. a robotic arm, it is possible to learn a mapping between action space and percept space. In experiments we show that it is possible to achieve high precision positioning of a robotic arm without knowing beforehand how the robotic arm looks like or how it is controlled

The use of matrix methods in the strategic analysis of diversified companies

Розглянуто суть, завдання та роль матричних методів «портфельного аналізу». Дано характеристику методичному забезпеченню досліджуваного виду аналізу. Обґрунтовано необхідність застосування досліджуваних методів у здійсненні стратегічного аналізу та у процесі прийняття управлінських рішень щодо набору стратегій у диверсифікованих організаціях. Розглянуто такі методи, як портфельна матриця БКГ (матриця „зростання – частка ринку”), матриця „McKincey” – „General Electric” („привабливість – конкурентоспроможність”), матриця фірми Arthur D.little (ADL/LC). Поряд з перевагами вказано й недоліки, які є у досліджуваних методах. Зроблено висновок про необхідність їх адаптації до вітчизняних умов господарювання й використання в аналітичній діяльності та управлінській практиці.The article deals with the essence, objectives and role of matrix methods of the "portfolio analysis". The importance of the studied type of the analysis due to the fact that it reveals the interdependence of individual business activities and indicates that the portfolio as a whole is significantly different from the simple sum of its parts is proved. The methodological support of the researched type of analysis is characterized. The necessity of the researched methods use in the implementation of strategic analysis and in decision-making concerning the selection of strategies in diversified organizations is justified. The most widely used methods of analyzing the position of company’s strategic business units (SBUs) in Western countries are models represented as matrices where each SBU is graphically positioned in the cells of two- or three-dimensional analytical matrix. The most famous of them (the Boston Consulting Group Matrix (BCG portfolio matrix – the Growth-Share Matrix); the "McKincey – General Electric" Matrix ("attractiveness-competitiveness" matrix); the ADL/LC matrix by Arthur D. Little which helps managers discern their SBUs strategic position depending upon two dimensions – SBU’s life cycle and competitive position) are discussed in the article. The use of the portfolio analysis is a necessary and important factor in the implementation of strategic analysis which allows to: get a generalized picture of the economic portfolio, define the functions, markets, position and contribution of each SBU in the company’s portfolio, consider and develop optimal strategies for each activity. Along with the advantages of the researched methods their disadvantages are listed. The conclusion about the necessity of their adaption to local conditions and use in the analytical and management practices is made

Реформування системи місцевого оподаткування в контексті світового досвіду

В роботі розглянуто досвід зарубіжних країн щодо зміцнення дохідної бази місцевих бюджетів та особливостей систем місцевого оподаткування, використання якого може стати рушійною силою розвитку муніципальних господарств територіальних утворень УкраїниThis paper reviews the experience of foreign countries for strengthening the revenue base of local budgets and local tax system features, the use of which may become the driving force of the development of Ukrainian territorial entities’ municipal economie