Showing papers by "Indian Institute of Management Calcutta published in 1997"

Defending against MNC offensives: strategy of the large domestic firm in a newly liberalizing economy

Abstract: States that waves of liberalization are blowing across developing countries leading to the creation of new opportunities for multinational corporations (MNCs). Proposes that, MNCs respond to such new opportunities with a set of offensive moves that can give them a salient position in the newly liberalized economies. Posits that domestic firms in India respond to these offensives through a combination of three broad responses and clear emphasis on achieving pre‐emptive market position, attaining a critical size, creating national brands, exploiting national competitive advantages, adopting best international practices and altering core values.

On the asymptotic performance of IDA

Abstract: Since bestdfirst search algorithms such as A* require large amounts of memory, they sometimes cannot run to completion, even on problem instances of moderate size. This problem has led to the development of limiteddmemory search algorithms, of which the best known is IDA*. This paper presents the following results about IDA* and related algorithms: 1) The analysis of asymptotic optimality for IDA* in lR.E. Korf, Optimal path finding algorithms, in: Search in Artificial Intelligence, eds. L. Kanal and V. Kumar (SpringerdVerlag, 1988) pp. 200–222r is incorrect. There are trees satisfying the asymptotic optimality conditions given in lR.E. Korf, Optimal path finding algorithms, in: Search in Artificial Intelligence, eds. L. Kanal and V. Kumar (SpringerdVerlag, 1988) pp. 200–222r for which IDA* is not asymptotically optimal. 2) To correct the above problem, we state and prove necessary and sufficient conditions for asymptotic optimality of IDA* on trees. On trees not satisfying our conditions, we show that no bestdfirst limiteddmemory search algorithm can be asymptotically optimal. 3) On graphs, IDA* can perform quite poorly. In particular, there are graphs on which IDA* does \Omega(2^{2N}) node expansions where N is the number of nodes expanded by A*.

Slicibility of rectangular graphs and floorplan optimization

Abstract: The graph dualization approach to fIoorplan design with rectangular modules usually involves topology generation followed by sizing. The sizing problem for nonslicible topologies is NP-complete. Slicible topologies are often preferred for their simplicity and efficiency. Linear time algorithms exist for generation of topology corresponding to a given rectangular graph, but these do not guarantee slicible topologies even if one exists. Moreover, there is a class of rectaugular graphs, known as inherently nonslicible graphs, which do not have any slicible topologies. Previous methods for efficient generation of a slicible topology under sizing constraints for any rectangular graph, are likely to require addition of pseudeblocks, thereby more empty area. In this paper, new tighter sufficiency conditions for slicibility of rectangular graphs are postulated and utilized in the generation of slicible area-optimal floorplans. These graph-theoretic conditions not only capture a larger class of slicible rectangular graphs but also help in reducing the total effort for unified topology generation and sizing.