Indian Institute of Management Calcutta

About: Indian Institute of Management Calcutta is a education organization based out in Kolkata, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Supply chain & Emerging markets. The organization has 415 authors who have published 1354 publications receiving 21725 citations. The organization is also known as: IIMC & IIM Calcutta.

Queue lengths in the GIX/MR/∞ service system

Abstract: Service systems with queueing often have both batch arrivals and batch services. This paper focuses on the number of busy servers and waiting customers in theGIX/MR/∞ system. For the number of busy servers, we obtain a recursive relation for the partial binomial moments in terms of matrices and explicit expressions for the marginal binomial moments. Special cases are also discussed to provide a more heuristic understanding of the model.

A Macro-Level Approach to Understanding Use of E-Collaboration Technologies

Abstract: The term e-collaboration technologies (ECT) in an organization refers to the collective system of interactive computer-based tools that facilitate a variety of group tasks. It thus includes among others, electronic mailing systems, bulletin boards, intranets and extranets, messaging systems, group support systems, decision rooms, computer conferencing tools, and computer based video-conferencing systems, etc. ECTs have often been referred to in the literature, using various terms to highlight specific uses such technologies have been put to. These include group decision support systems, group support systems, computer supported collaborative work, groupware, and collaborative technologies. ECTs are among the many IT applications that have seen a rapid deployment in organizations due to greater use of task-teams and groups. There is thus an increased use of inter-departmental and cross-functional teams (Sarker, Valacich, & Sarker, 2005). Groups are hence viewed as a “basic unit of the formal organization structure” (Applegate, 1991). Second, the coming of the PCs, the advent of easy-to-use software and the developments in network technologies constitute additional impetus for the use of computers to support collaborative work in organizations. Use of technology support for collaborative work is believed to increase productivity in organizations. It is hence important to examine the use of such technologies in greater depth (Markus, 1994). Increasing access to communication technologies without adequately understanding the task requirements and the potential change in the work environment and processes may lead to information overload and may not benefit the user. This study therefore, aims at enhancing our understanding of the broad factors influencing the use of ECT in organizations. The article is organized in the following manner. The first section reviews concerned literature relevant to the use of ECT in organizations. The second section describes a framework depicting the drivers of ECT use in organizations. The framework represents a macro level perspective of the phenomenon. The subsequent section highlights the implications of such a framework and the potential for further research.

An iterative convex simplex method for geometric programming with applications

Abstract: An iterative linear computational method which utilizes the theory of condensation of polynomials and varies parametrically the objective function of a linearized geometric programme is extended and applied hero to minimize a polynomial subject to polynomial constraints. Applications to dynamic planning and scheduling problems are also briefly referred to.

Towards dominant flexibility configurations in strategic capacity planning under demand uncertainty

Abstract: The research herein addresses the strategic capacity planning problem in a multi-product, multi-plant setting under demand uncertainty. Past research provides a number of useful insights on the relationship between the degree of flexibility and the optimal product-plant configuration, based on product demand, product price, and plant capacity. A few prior studies, however, have addressed both capacity and product-plant configuration together as decision variables. In this paper, we develop a two-stage stochastic programming model to determine the capacity and the product-plant configuration to maximize the expected profit. For a four-product, four-plant setting, a computational study is conducted using the sample based optimization procedure with the assumption that the product demand follows a multivariate normal distribution. The model is solved in order to understand the effect of the product-plant configurations on expected profit and investment in capacity. We also examined the extent to which the observations are sensitive to product price, flexibility investment cost, average demand, variance in demand, and product demand correlation. The results provide some new insights on the flexibility structure in capacity planning. For example, with capacity as the decision variable, none of our optimal solutions support a ‘closed chain’ structure. For asymmetric product demand, high-demand products with positive correlation should be allocated to dedicated plants. Some of the optimal flexibility structures required investment in three different degrees of flexibility: dedicated, two-product flexible and three-product flexible. In conclusion, we provide several managerial insights based on the results of the study.