Disruption management in distributed enterprises: A multi-agent modelling and simulation of cooperative recovery behaviours

Disruption management in industrial areas consists in dealing with unanticipated events that get the plans deviate from their intended course. The solution results from the design and the maintenance of an operating mode ensuring a relevant deployment of individual recovery behaviours.The paper proposes an approach to minimize the impact of disrupting events on the whole system. It is based on an analysis of disrupting events and the characterization of the recovery process, and on a cooperative repair method for distributed industrial systems. This method is based on a cooperative distributed problem solving approach supported by a multi-agent system framework.     

Managers' emotional displays and employees' willingness to act entrepreneurially

In this study we draw on the literature of emotions and entrepreneurial motivation to analyze how and why emotional displays of managers influence the willingness of employees to act entrepreneurially. Using an experimental design and 2912 assessments nested within 91 employees from 31 small entrepreneurially oriented firms, we find that managers' displays of confidence and satisfaction about entrepreneurial projects enhance employees' willingness to act entrepreneurially, whereas displays of frustration, worry, and bewilderment diminish employees' willingness. Moreover, we find that displays of satisfaction, frustration, worry, and bewilderment moderate the effect of managers' displayed confidence on employees' willingness to act entrepreneurially. Our findings have implications for the emotions and entrepreneurial motivation literature.     

On the acceptance of apologies

An apology is a strong and cheap device to restore social or economic relationships that have been disturbed. In a laboratory experiment in which apologies emerge endogenously, we find that harmdoers use apologies in particular if they fear punishment and if their intentions cannot be easily inferred. After offenses with ambiguous intention punishment for apologizers is lower than for non-apologizers. Victims expect an apology and punish if they do not receive one. An apology does not help at all after clearly intentionally committed offenses. On the contrary, after such offenses an apology strongly increases punishment compared to remaining silent.     

A hybrid parallel genetic algorithm for yard crane scheduling

This paper aims at postulating a novel strategy in terms of yard crane scheduling. In this study, a dynamic scheduling model using objective programming for yard cranes is initially developed based on rolling-horizon approach. To resolve the NP-complete problem regarding the yard crane scheduling, a hybrid algorithm, which employs heuristic rules and parallel genetic algorithm (PGA), is then employed. Then a simulation model is developed for evaluating this approach. Finally, numerical experiments on a specific container terminal yard are used for system illustration. Computational results suggest that the proposed method is able to solve the problem efficiently.     

A dynamic carsharing decision support system

This paper proposes a dynamic optimization–simulation model as a decision support system for one-way carsharing organizations. To reduce the vehicle imbalance in one-way systems, a Vehicle Relocation Optimization model is solved successively in a discrete event simulation. Each event is the arrival of a new user. The model is compared to an a priori benchmark model. Autoshare is chosen as a case study. Results show that increasing the reservation time (time between requesting and picking up a vehicle) from 0 to 30 min reduces fleet size by 86%. The model captures a tradeoff between vehicle relocation hours and fleet size.     

Making dynamic ride-sharing work: The impact of driver and rider flexibility

We conduct an extensive computational study to quantify the impact of different types of participants’ flexibility on the performance of a single-driver, single-rider ride-sharing system. Our results consistently show that small increases in flexibility, e.g., in terms of desired departure time or maximum detour time, can significantly increase the expected matching rate, especially when the number of trip announcements in the system is small. The insights gained from our study can provide the basis for the design of information campaigns and incentives schemes aimed at increasing the performance and success of ride-sharing systems.     

Health screening strategies for international air travelers during an epidemic or pandemic

Air travelers can carry an infectious disease's pathogenic microorganism in their bodies and spread the disease from one country to another in a few days. To delay the spread, health screening stations may be set up at airport terminals to screen travelers. This research tested three different health screening strategies, each with a different combination of screening stations at trip origins, destinations and connecting airports. Discrete event simulations were performed, based on the 2014 to 2016 Ebola virus epidemic, with special focus on travelers from the West African countries traveling to the United States, including travelers who transferred flights at airports in European Union member states. The effectiveness of the screening strategies was analyzed in terms of correct detection, missed detection and false alarm rate. The results showed that exit screening at trip origins brought big improvements in the performance measurements compared to no screening. However, additional screening at the destinations and connecting airports contributed marginal benefits.     

Consumers’ perceptions of food waste: A pilot study of U.S. students

Participants in this pilot study are asked to rank their perceptions of food waste by choosing between pairs of four types of foods of equal weight: chicken, cheese, bread and peas. We examine whether these perceptions are consistent for proportionally different weights and whether they are linked to the perceived cost of the items. The subjects (n = 106) who are students are randomly assigned to one of three information treatments: a control, a food waste video or the text of the food waste video. We find that the subjects have very accurate perceptions of the environmental impacts of food waste and the relative wastefulness of different food groups. These perceptions are not related to cooking skills or frequency. We find that the perceptions are consistent for proportionally different weights of food: 25 and 50 g. We also find that the perceptions are linked to participants’ assessments of the relative prices of the foods. However, while the participants have somewhat accurate estimates of the relative prices, they vastly overestimate the actual prices of foods. This implies that more accurate information about the true prices could actually decrease their perceptions of the wastefulness of throwing out food. Given that the participants had highly accurate perceptions of the environmental impacts of food waste and the relative wastefulness of animal vs. plant products, we found no significant increase in overall accuracy of perceptions due to information treatment, except for bread, for those who saw the food waste video.     

Exploring International Investment Through a Classroom Portfolio Simulation Project

A rapid integration of financial markets has prevailed during the last three decades. Investors are able to diversify investment beyond national markets to mitigate return volatility of a “pure domestic portfolio.” This article discusses a simulation project through which students learn the role of international investment by managing their own portfolios. The article explains the project's investment ground rule, trading requirement, and grading rubric. The students are required to examine many important factors in international business such as currency risks and regional policies. The structure of this project can also be applied to a course involving student-managed investment funds.     

A dynamic approach to the analysis of strategic alliances

The increasing trend in strategic alliance formation between major firms around the world, has prompted researchers from various disciplines to look at this phenomenon in great detail. In this paper, we review alternate approaches in the literature in this area. We then propose a non-linear dynamic approach to study the formation of competitive strategic alliances and contrast it with the traditional game-theoretic approach. The pros and cons of these two approaches are discussed with reference to a competitive alliance scenario. Dynamic models have significant managerial implications as they enable us to investigate ‘if-then’ type scenarios and project the impact of different strategies.