V. Balachandran

Bio: V. Balachandran is an academic researcher from Northwestern University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Decentralized planning & Total cost. The author has an hindex of 2, co-authored 2 publications receiving 6 citations. Previous affiliations of V. Balachandran include Saint Petersburg State University.

A Stochastic Model of Persuasive Communication

Abstract: A source repeatedly communicates a message through a channel so as to persuade a decision-maker to take a favorable action. The decision-maker observes the environment, the message and his cumulative learning experience and stochastically goes through a sequence of information processing states before taking an action. The transient and the steady state components of this information processing behavior are modeled in the semi-Markov process framework. Given such behavior, the problem of optimal communication system design is considered, using different measures of effectiveness of the persuasion process. Applications to advertising, decentralized planning and organizational decision-making are indicated.

Storage Decisions in Information Systems

Abstract: The problem is to dynamically store different data records in different storage devices in each period so as to minimize the total expected discounted cost over a planning horizon. Each device has a fixed total capacity, each record has a given storage space requirement, while the number of requests for each record per period is changing stochastically through time. Given an allocation, the total cost per period consists of the storage cost (depending on the storage requirements and device), the access cost including update and retrieval costs (depending on the number of requests) and the transfer cost (depending upon the change of allocation from the previous period). A dynamic programming model is presented to yield optimal strategies. The special case of independent identically distributed demands is completely solved, using a generalized transportation algorithm while a heuristic procedure is indicated for the general problem using parametric analysis.

Dynamic Analysis of Consumer Response to Marketing Strategies

Abstract: This paper develops a methodology for modeling consumer response that integrates previous research in stochastic brand selection, diffusion of innovation, test market analysis, and new product design. The methodology makes it practical to extend brand selection models to include diffusion phenomena such as awareness, trial, and information flow. Purchase timing and brand selection are interdependent and both phenomena depend jointly on managerial controls such as advertising, coupons, price-off promotion, product positioning, and consumer characteristics. Within this general structure, we provide practical estimation procedures a least squares approximation to the maximum likelihood estimates to determine the parameters which link managerial controls to consumer response. Closed form solutions are derived for cumulative awareness, cumulative trial, penetration, expected sales, and purchases due to promotion-all as a function of time. We also provide simplified expressions for equilibrium t → ∞ market share. Tradeoffs among complexity of the diffusion process, number of managerial variables, nonstationarity, complexity of purchase timing, consumer segmentation, and sample size are made explicit so that the marketing scientist can customize his analyses to the managerial problems that he faces. The effects of sample size, data interval frequency, and collinearity in the explanatory variables are investigated with simulations based on a five-state consumer response process which depends on 8-10 marketing variables. The paper closes with a brief description of the application and predictive test of a consumer response model based on the methodology.

A design-interpretation analysis of natural English with applications to man-computer interaction

Abstract: Many behavioral scientists and most designers of man-computer interfaces view communication in, a certain way. This viewpoint includes the implicit belief that communication from system A to system B essentially involves the encoding of some internal state in system A into an external statement for transmission to system B. System B decodes this message and changes its internal state. Communication is considered “good” to the extent that there is an isomorphism between the internal states of the two systems after the message has been sent. This paper argues that this view is inadequate both for an understanding of communication between two persons and as a theoretical foundation for any kind of man-computer interaction, particularly, in natural language. Empirical results supporting this proposition are reported. In addition, an alternative view of the communication process is outlined. This view stresses the game-theoretic aspects of communication, the importance of viewing message-building as a constructive (rather than translational) process, the importance of metacomments, the multiplicity of channels involved in human natural language communication, and stresses that, under certain conditions, the “vagueness”, “fuzziness” and ambiguity of natural language are assets, not liabilities. The paper concludes by discussing some ways these ideas could serve as possible guidelines for the design of man-computer interfaces. A major purpose of the paper is to encourage the expression of alternative views on these issues.

The dynamic predicate stashing copy problem

Abstract: One important issue being addressed in the design of Distributed Computer Networks is how to increase the availability of time-changing information even in the event of failures. Recently, a technique called “stashing” was proposed. Stashing a file signifies placing a copy of that file in several nodes of the network. In addition, a “predicate” has been defined as a consistency requirement for a particular file copy with respect to the original. We address the problem of minimizing the propagation cost of stashed copies subject to predicate restrictions imposed by the user. In the version of the problem that we tackle, the user may receive a copy with a predicate better than requested. We call this problem the Dynamic Predicate Stashing Copy Problem (DPSCP) and propose a formulation to solve it. Resolution approaches, numerical results, and properties of the problem are also discussed. © 1993 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.