Reinforcement learning, one of the most active research areas in artificial intelligence, is a computational approach to learning whereby an agent tries to maximize the total amount of reward it receives when interacting with a complex, uncertain environment. In Reinforcement Learning, Richard Sutton and Andrew Barto provide a clear and simple account of the key ideas and algorithms of reinforcement learning. Their discussion ranges from the history of the field's intellectual foundations to the most recent developments and applications. The only necessary mathematical background is familiarity with elementary concepts of probability. The book is divided into three parts. Part I defines the reinforcement learning problem in terms of Markov decision processes. Part II provides basic solution methods: dynamic programming, Monte Carlo methods, and temporal-difference learning. Part III presents a unified view of the solution methods and incorporates artificial neural networks, eligibility traces, and planning; the two final chapters present case studies and consider the future of reinforcement learning.

/pdf/reinforcement-learning-an-introduction-rzxgej9p17.pdf

Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction

Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques

Data Mining - Concepts and Techniques.

According to W. Edwards Deming, American companies require nothing less than a transformation of management style and of governmental relations with industry. In Out of the Crisis, originally published in 1982, Deming offers a theory of management based on his famous 14 Points for Management. Management's failure to plan for the future, he claims, brings about loss of market, which brings about loss of jobs. Management must be judged not only by the quarterly dividend, but by innovative plans to stay in business, protect investment, ensure future dividends, and provide more jobs through improved product and service. In simple, direct language, he explains the principles of management transformation and how to apply them.

Out of the Crisis

How has Japan become a major economic power, a world leader in the automotive and electronics industries? What is the secret of their success? The consensus has been that, though the Japanese are not particularly innovative, they are exceptionally skilful at imitation, at improving products that already exist. But now two leading Japanese business experts, Ikujiro Nonaka and Hiro Takeuchi, turn this conventional wisdom on its head: Japanese firms are successful, they contend, precisely because they are innovative, because they create new knowledge and use it to produce successful products and technologies. Examining case studies drawn from such firms as Honda, Canon, Matsushita, NEC, 3M, GE, and the U.S. Marines, this book reveals how Japanese companies translate tacit to explicit knowledge and use it to produce new processes, products, and services.

The knowledge-creating company : how Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation

This paper looks at legal reasoning from the point of view of the work of the lawyer, rather than the law itself In the case of Common Law systems, this means a more flexible view of how tasks are divided between the humans and the computer system, with an emphasis on decision support rather than complete automation A process-based model of the lawyer's work is proposed in the form of a double syllogism, which displays an aesthetically pleasing symmetry, but also a significant asymmetry in the role played by perceived precedents This arises from the use of inductive, rather than deductive, reasoning The potential complications arising from the issue of the perception of precedents are discussed in depth The double-syllogism model is then considered in the light of CommonKADS terminology and models It is suggested that decision support systems using knowledge-based techniques, as required to support lawyers working under Common Law jurisdiction, raise a stronger form of the interaction problem that is well known in knowledge-based systems This means that such systems are not well catered for in the existing CommonKADS Organisational, Agent, Task and Communication Models The double-syllogism model is suggested as a supplement to CommonKADS in the development of such systems, at least until a more generic addition is available

Modelling rhetorical legal “logic”—a double syllogism

Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) and Knowledge Management (KM) both encompass top-down and bottom-up approaches developing and embedding risk knowledge concepts and processes in strategy, policies, risk appetite definition, the decision-making process and business processes. The capacity to transfer risk knowledge affects all stakeholders and understanding of the risk knowledge about the enterprise’s value is a key requirement in order to identify protection strategies for business sustainability. There are various factors that affect this capacity for transferring and understanding. Previous work has established that there is a difference between the influence of KM variables on Risk Control and on the perceived value of ERM. Communication among groups appears as a significant variable in improving Risk Control but only as a weak factor in improving the perceived value of ERM. However, the ERM mandate requires for its implementation a clear understanding, of risk management (RM) policies, actions and results, and the use of the integral view of RM as a governance and compliance program to support the value driven management of the organization. Furthermore, ERM implementation demands better capabilities for unification of the criteria of risk analysis, alignment of policies and protection guidelines across the organization. These capabilities can be affected by risk knowledge sharing between the RM group and the Board of Directors and other executives in the organization. This research presents an exploratory analysis of risk knowledge transfer variables used in risk management practice. A survey to risk management executives from 65 firms in various industries was undertaken and 108 answers were analyzed. Potential relationships among the variables are investigated using descriptive statistics and multivariate statistical models. The level of understanding of risk management policies and reports by the board is related to the quality of the flow of communication in the firm and perceived level of integration of the risk policy in the business processes.

Transferring knowledge of risk management to the board of directors and executives

Knowledge Management Strategy - What Happened Next?

Health visitors revisited

Knowledge management is an age-old activity, yet it has only been identified and named for just over 30 years. This chapter will review the theories and practices that have developed under that name. Although the majority of knowledge management work has been done in a corporate context, its theories cover the whole range from the individual level to that of nations or even the entire human race. As the theme of this book is connecting adult learning and knowledge management, this chapter will place its emphasis on the links between knowledge management and learning and on the area known as personal knowledge management. These emphases mean the chapter will concentrate on theories from the “knowledge as knowing” or “knowledge as process” stream of literature, as opposed to the “knowledge as object” school.

John S. Edwards

Papers

Modelling rhetorical legal “logic”—a double syllogism

Transferring knowledge of risk management to the board of directors and executives

Knowledge Management Strategy - What Happened Next?

Health visitors revisited

Knowledge Management: Theories and Practices