A Computational Model for Product Development Organizations: Integration of Distributed AI and Organization Theory

In this study, we develop a computational model and a multi-agent simulation system for the analysis and design of product development organizations. The computational model represents the product development organizations as a collection of autonomous/semiautonomous computational agents interacting with each other. It is used to model the dynamic, complex, and distributed nature of organizations. To operationalize the model, a multi-agent simulation system is developed where the detailed information requirements and decision-making procedures of human decision-makers are translated into objected oriented programming modules. This is used to measure the effect of alternative organizational structures and coordination mechanisms on organizational performances. Several hypotheses are developed to test the relationship between organization design parameters and organization performances

Design of Extended Warranties in Supply Chains under Additive Demand

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The original publication is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1937-5956.2011.01300.x.We study the design of extended warranties in a supply chain consisting of a manufacturer and an independent retailer. The manufacturer produces a single product and sells it exclusively through the retailer. The extended warranty can be offered either by the manufacturer or by the retailer. The party offering the extended warranty decides on the terms of the policy in its best interest and incurs the repair costs of product failures. We use game theoretic models to answer the following questions. Which scenario leads to a higher supply-chain profit, the retailer offering the extended warranty or the manufacturer? How do the optimum price and extended warranty length vary under different scenarios? We find that, depending on the parameters, either party may provide better extended warranty policies and generate more system profit. We also compare these two decentralized models with a centralized system where a single party manufactures the product, sells it to the consumer and offers the extended warranty. We also consider an extension of our basic model where either the manufacturer or the retailer resells the extended warranty policies of a third party (an independent insurance company, for example), instead of offering its own policy

Distribution Channel Choice and Divisional Conflict in Remanufacturing Operations

We consider a firm consisting of two divisions, one responsible for designing and manufacturing new products and the other responsible for remanufacturing operations. The firm will sell these new and remanufactured products either directly to the consumer (direct selling) or through an independent retailer (indirect selling). Our study demonstrates that a firm’s organizational structure can affect its marketing decisions. Specifically, a decentralized firm with separate manufacturing and remanufacturing divisions can benefit from indirect selling with higher firm profit, supply chain profit, and total consumer demand than direct selling. Moreover, this structure also induces a remanufacturable product design. In contrast, a centralized firm in which the manufacturing and remanufacturing divisions are consolidated is intuitively better off by choosing direct selling than indirect selling. Furthermore, we show that, surprisingly, when the focal firm sells through an independent retailer, a decentralized internal structure can result in higher supply chain profit than a centralized internal structure. We further investigate the case of dual dedicated channels and conclude that, while direct selling of remanufactured products and indirect selling of new products can better induce a remanufacturable product design and higher supply chain profit, it is not in the best interest of the firm in terms of total sales and firm profit

A fixed interval due-date scheduling problem with earliness and due-date costs

Includes bibliographical references (p. 21)

An integrated approach to product design and process selection

Includes bibliographical references (p.23-25)

Determination of optimal due dates and sequence / 1714

Includes bibliographical references (p. 21)

M-median and M-center problems with mutual communication : solvable special cases

Includes bibliographical references (p. 27)

Locating facilities which interact : some solvable cases

Includes bibliographical references (p. 22)