Showing papers in "Journal of the Operational Research Society in 2018"
TL;DR: This paper proposes the intuitionistic fuzzy Dombi Bonferroni mean operators, which are very useful to deal with MAGDM problems and introduces the concept, the characteristics, the score function, the accuracy function and the operational rules of IFNs.
Abstract: The Bonferroni mean (BM) operator has the advantage of considering interrelationships between parameters, but it only can deal with crisp values. In recent years, many extended BM operators have been proposed to deal with fuzzy information. Dombi Bonferroni mean operators are special cases of general T-conorm and T-norm, which have the advantage of good flexibility with a general parameter. In this paper, we extend the BM operator based on the Dombi operations to propose the intuitionistic fuzzy Dombi Bonferroni mean (IFDBM) operator, the intuitionistic fuzzy weighted Dombi Bonferroni mean (IFWDBM) operator, the intuitionistic fuzzy Dombi geometric Bonferroni mean (IFDGBM) operator and the intuitionistic fuzzy weighted Dombi geometric Bonferroni mean (IFWDGBM) operator for dealing with the aggregation of intuitionistic fuzzy numbers (IFNs) and propose some multi-attribute group decision-making (MAGDM) methods. Firstly, we introduce the concept, the characteristics, the score function, the accuracy function and the operational rules of IFNs. Then, we propose the IFDBM operator, the IFWDBM operator, the IFDGBM operator and the IFWDGBM operator for aggregating IFNs. Then, we propose two MAGDM methods based on the proposed IFWDBM operator and the proposed IFWDGBM operator for dealing with MAGDM problems. Finally, we use an example to illustrate the MAGDM process of the proposed MAGDM methods. The proposed intuitionistic fuzzy Dombi Bonferroni mean operators are very useful to deal with MAGDM problems.
216 citations
TL;DR: A novel concept called probabilistic uncertain linguistic term set is proposed, which is composed of some possible uncertain linguistic terms associated with the corresponding probabilities and an extended technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution method and an aggregation-based method are developed to rank the alternatives and select the best one.
Abstract: Existing decision-making methods cannot work under the probabilistic uncertain linguistic environment where the decision makers give different uncertain linguistic terms as their assessments and the weights of assessments are different. In this paper, a novel concept called probabilistic uncertain linguistic term set is proposed, which is composed of some possible uncertain linguistic terms associated with the corresponding probabilities. Then, the normalization process, comparison method, basic operations, and aggregation operators are studied for probabilistic uncertain linguistic term sets. After that, an extended technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution method and an aggregation-based method are developed to rank the alternatives and then select the best one for multi-attribute group decision-making with probabilistic uncertain linguistic information. Finally, a practical case concerning the selection of Cloud storage services is shown to illustrate the applicability o...
180 citations
TL;DR: New Bonferroni mean(BM) and weighted BM averaging operator for aggregating the different preferences of the decision-maker and counter-intuitive cases for showing the validity of it are developed.
Abstract: Intuitionistic fuzzy soft set (IFSS) theory is one of the successful extensions of soft set theory for handling the uncertainty in the data by introducing the parametrisation factor during the deci...
82 citations
TL;DR: This paper reviews the papers that have been published that apply methods and procedures in an exact (as opposed to evolutionary) sense to address problems in portfolio selection with criteria beyond mean and variance and analyses the methodologies that allow the solution of the problem in a multiple criteria context.
Abstract: In 1952, Markowitz published his famous paper on portfolio selection that transformed the field of finance. Although over 65 years have passed since then, the mean-variance model remains today the ...
56 citations
TL;DR: This study is the first to combine NSBM with DEA window analysis to give a dynamic evaluation of the environmental efficiency of Chinese regional industrial systems, indicating that the substantial efforts China has devoted to protecting the environment have yielded benefits.
Abstract: In recent years, environmental problems caused by industries in China have drawn increasing attention to both academics and policy makers. This paper assesses the environmental efficiency of Chinese regional industrial systems to come up with some recommendations to policy makers. First, we divided each Chinese regional industrial system into a production process and a pollutant treatment process. Then, we built a scientific input–intermediate–output index system by introducing a new network slacks-based model (NSBM) model. This study is the first to combine NSBM with DEA window analysis to give a dynamic evaluation of the environmental efficiency. This enables us to assess the environmental efficiency of Chinese regional industrial systems considering their internal structure as well as China’s policies concerning resource utilization and environmental protection. Hence, the overall efficiency of each regional industrial system is decomposed into production efficiency and pollutant treatment efficiency. Our empirical results suggest: (1) 66.7% of Chinese regional industrial systems are overall inefficient. 63.3 and of 66.7% Chinese regional industrial systems are inefficient in the production process and the pollutant treatment process, respectively. (2) The efficiency scores for the overall system and both processes are all larger in the eastern area of China than those of the central and western areas. (3) Correlation analysis indicates that SO2 generation intensity (SGI), solid waste generation intensity, COD discharge intensity, and SO2 discharge intensity have significantly negative impacts on the overall efficiency. (4) The overall inefficiency is mainly due to inefficiency of the pollutant treatment process for the majority of regional industrial systems. (5) In general, the overall efficiency was trending up from 2004 to 2010, indicating that the substantial efforts China has devoted to protecting the environment have yielded benefits.
54 citations
TL;DR: An economic order quantity model is presented for non-instantaneous deteriorating items under a hybrid payment schedule composed of a multiple advanced payments scheme and a delayed payment plan, which is employed as a marketing strategy to stimulate sales.
Abstract: In this paper, an economic order quantity model is presented for non-instantaneous deteriorating items under a hybrid payment schedule. This payment schedule is composed of a multiple advanced paym...
48 citations
TL;DR: This work identifies a ranking method that under reasonably sufficient conditions will satisfy all of the properties and state properties such that if followed, the ranking methods will be fair and comprehensive.
Abstract: Ideally, the ranking of sports teams should incorporate information (comprehensiveness) obtained from the outcome of a match, such as the strength of the opponent and schedule. In addition, the ranking method should be fair and not reward teams for poor performance or factors beyond their control, such as the sequence of the matches. We state properties such that if followed, the ranking methods will be fair and comprehensive. We evaluate five popular sports ranking methods and whether or not they adhere to these properties. Further, we identify a ranking method that under reasonably sufficient conditions will satisfy all of the properties.
42 citations
TL;DR: A system of joint dynamic pricing and preservation technology investment decisions for deterioration items in an integrated supply chain management environment involving a manufacturer and a retailer, a controllable deterioration rate, and price-dependent demand is proposed.
Abstract: In this paper, we propose a system of joint dynamic pricing and preservation technology investment decisions for deterioration items in an integrated supply chain management environment involving a manufacturer and a retailer, a controllable deterioration rate, and price-dependent demand. Because the purchasing decisions of consumers usually involve psychologically encoded prices based upon past shopping experiences, the effects of initial reference prices are also incorporated into the proposed model. An optimal dynamic pricing and preservation technology investment model is then established to determine joint strategy, maximizing the discounted total profit over an infinite time horizon from the perspectives of the retailer and integrated supply chain. We also characterize the properties of the optimal pricing and preservation technology investment decisions, and conduct numerical studies to investigate the impact of initial reference price and various system parameters on the optimal strategies and discounted total profit for the retailer/integrated supply chain. Finally, we offer concluding remarks and suggestions for future studies.
41 citations
TL;DR: The results show that investment inefficiency decreases with audit quality, which indicates that auditors provide value-added services that impact the investment decisions of firm managers, separately from the quality of accounting information.
Abstract: This study investigates the effect of audit quality on firm investment efficiency for 125 French-listed companies over 2008–2015. It uses parametric and non-parametric measures of firm investment e...
40 citations
TL;DR: A novel optimization model which is characterized by a combination of CBM and age information using proportional hazards model is proposed, and the formula for the mean residual life of the system is derived, which is an important statistic in practical applications.
Abstract: Unlike the previous maintenance models of multi-unit systems which considered condition-based maintenance (CBM) or age information separately, we propose a novel optimization model which is characterized by a combination of CBM and age information using proportional hazards model. The preventive maintenance is applied for the main two units, where one unit is the core part of the system and subject to CM, and only the age information for the second main unit is available. Also, the other units are adjusted or replaced each time when the system is maintained. The objective is to find an optimal opportunistic maintenance policy minimizing the long-run expected average cost per unit time. The problem is formulated and solved in the semi-Markov decision process framework. The formula for the mean residual life of the system is derived, which is an important statistic in practical applications. A practical example of a multi-unit system from a mining company is provided, and a comparison with other policies shows an outstanding performance of the new model and the control policy proposed in this paper.
39 citations
TL;DR: A conceptual design for an extension to BPMN (BPMN4SIM) using model-driven architecture is proposed to address a number of limitations, namely the ability to represent queues and data-driven decision points.
Abstract: Stakeholder engagement in simulation projects is important, especially in healthcare where there is a plurality of stakeholder opinions, objectives and power. One promising approach for increasing engagement is facilitated modelling. Currently, the complexity of producing a simulation model means that the ‘model coding’ stage is performed without the involvement of stakeholders, interrupting the possibility of a fully facilitated project. Early work demonstrated that with currently available software tools we can represent a simple healthcare process using Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) and generate a simulation model automatically. However, for more complex processes, BPMN currently has a number of limitations, namely the ability to represent queues and data-driven decision points. To address these limitations, we propose a conceptual design for an extension to BPMN (BPMN4SIM) using model-driven architecture. Application to an elderly emergency care pathway in a UK hospital shows that BPMN4SIM is able to represent a more complex business process.
TL;DR: This paper comprehensively compare the performance of several state-of-the-art sampling techniques in the context of churn prediction and shows that the impact of sampling methods depends on the used evaluation metric and the impact pattern is interrelated with the classifiers.
Abstract: Class imbalance presents significant challenges to customer churn prediction. Many data-level sampling solutions have been developed to deal with this issue. In this paper, we comprehensive...
TL;DR: The key finding is that although the core activities and methods of gathering data, analysing it and developing models are logically well founded, the management of uncertainty in the line of argument could benefit from the insights and methods provided by logic.
Abstract: OR consultants aspire to provide their clients with good reasoning. OR methods are designed to support the process of developing good reasoning. Logic examines what counts as good reasoning...
TL;DR: A multi-start matheuristic algorithm that combines adaptive large neighborhood search and mixed integer linear programming is developed that presents extensive computational results on instances derived from the Solomon test bed.
Abstract: This paper introduces the vehicle routing and truck driver scheduling problem with idling options, an extension of the long-haul vehicle routing and truck driver scheduling problem with a more comprehensive objective function that accounts for routing cost, driver cost and idling cost, i.e., the cost associated with energy supply used to maintain drivers’ comfort when the vehicle is not moving. For the idling cost, we consider Electrified Parking Space (EPS) and Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) usage costs. The use of EPSs or APUs avoids keeping the engine running while the vehicle is not moving. We develop a multi-start matheuristic algorithm that combines adaptive large neighborhood search and mixed integer linear programming. We present extensive computational results on instances derived from the Solomon test bed.
TL;DR: The optimal joint order and pricing decisions for the newsvendor are analytically derived in the presence of put option contracts and circulation loss, and the optimal order quantity and selling price are found to decrease with option price, but increase with exercise price.
Abstract: This paper investigates a newsvendor problem for fresh produce with put option contracts, in which the stochastic demand is price sensitive. The newsvendor can obtain products by ordering from a firm and return unsold products by purchasing and exercising put options. The fresh produce incurs a circulation loss in quantity during its transportation. The optimal joint order and pricing decisions for the newsvendor are analytically derived in the presence of put option contracts and circulation loss. Moreover, combined with numerical analysis, the optimal order quantity and selling price of the newsvendor are found to decrease with option price, but increase with exercise price and circulation loss, whereas the maximum expected profit is found to decrease with option price and circulation loss, but increase with exercise price. Furthermore, the newsvendor with put option contracts can deal with the risks that caused by demand uncertainty and high circulation loss of fresh produce.
TL;DR: A novel three-way group decision method is proposed, which considers the psychological attitudes from the decision maker through fusing prospect theory into three- way group decision methods.
Abstract: The three-way decision method is a new developing uncertain decision theory. The method divides a set of decision alternatives into three regions, called the acceptance, rejection and uncertainty regions constructed from a pair of thresholds. However, seldom researches about three-way decisions take psychological attitudes and preferences of the decision makers into consideration. In this paper, we propose a novel three-way group decision method, which considers the psychological attitudes from the decision maker. Firstly, we provide the concept of three-way group decisions. The three-way approximation is constructed by many decision makers with respect to a single critical value. The objects are still divided into acceptance, rejection and uncertainty regions, respectively. Then, for the proper region (uncertain region, in general), we propose a decision method, which considers the psychological preferences through fusing prospect theory into three-way group decision methods. The alternatives in the proper region are ranked in accordance with their weighted prospect values. Finally, the optimal choices are made. The decision steps are presented in detail, and the practicality of the proposed methods is illustrated through an example.
TL;DR: The equilibria of the EV supply chain that incorporates the influence from the government who is an external player in each subsidy model is examined to explore the effects of different subsidizing policies on consumer surplus and social welfare.
Abstract: This paper inspects the effects of government subsidies on a supply chain that involves a supplier, a manufacturer, and consumers with electric vehicles (EVs). In practice, the government usually s...
TL;DR: This research aims to optimize the chain total profit concerning the selling prices and order quantities of the manufacturer and the retailers under different transport methods and a composite incentive contract.
Abstract: Companies often offer incentive contracts to persuade buyers to order more to increase their sales volume and to decrease their setup and freight costs. More sales volume means an increase in profits, market power, and market shares. This investigation analyzes optimal pricing and replenishment decisions of a single-manufacturer/multiple-retailer supply chain where a composite contract combines quantity and freight discounts, and a free shipping contract is incorporated into the model. Here, the transportation modes of raw materials and finished products are subject to a limited capacity. The manufacturer, who faces geographically dispersed retailers, ships the ordered shipments under three different modes classified in three scenarios. In the first scenario, the shipments are shipped by identical transport modes to the retailers. In the second one, they are delivered by different transport modes in terms of their capacities regarding distance from the manufacturing site. In the third scenario, products are sent to a central warehouse for fast ship to the retailers. Demand depends on selling price and shortage is not permitted. The leader–follower game is considered between the members of the chain so that the manufacturer is a follower and the retailers are the leaders. This research aims to optimize the chain total profit concerning the selling prices and order quantities of the manufacturer and the retailers under different transport methods and a composite incentive contract. To clarify the applicability of the model, some numerical samples are presented and the effects of optimal decision policies of the chain’s partners are examined.
TL;DR: This paper extends the geometric process to a new process, the doubly geometric process, which overcomes the above two limitations and is applied on fitting warranty claim data and the performance of other widely used models in fitting real-world datasets.
Abstract: The geometric process has attracted extensive research attention from authors in reliability mathematics since its introduction. However, it possesses some limitations, which include that: (1) it can merely model stochastically increasing or decreasing inter-arrival times of recurrent event processes and (2) it cannot model recurrent event processes where the inter-arrival time distributions have varying shape parameters. Those limitations may prevent it from a wider application in the real world. In this paper, we extend the geometric process to a new process, the doubly geometric process, which overcomes the above two limitations. Probability properties are derived, and two methods of parameter estimation are given. Application of the proposed model is presented: one is on fitting warranty claim data, and the other is to compare the performance of the doubly geometric process with the performance of other widely used models in fitting real-world datasets, based on the corrected Akaike informatio...
TL;DR: Analytical results suggest that the government should provide subsidies to the manufacturer to maximise channel profit and total surplus as subsidies increase in all closed-loop supply chain models.
Abstract: Today’s government is interested in the product recovery programme in order to encourage sustainability. The research develops four closed-loop supply chain models by considering different scenario...
TL;DR: This paper characterize an atypical channel to examine the effect of product cannibalization within the DellReconnect project, and investigates how the presence of a Goodwill agency in a second-hand market impacts the business of a manufacturer in a new market through cannibalization.
Abstract: Product cannibalization can push some consumers to shift their purchasing preferences from new to used products. This is a costly issue for manufacturers, who have to adjust their pricing strategies accordingly to mitigate the negative effect of cannibalization. In this paper, we characterize an atypical channel to examine the effect of product cannibalization within the DellReconnect project. In particular, we investigate how the presence of a Goodwill agency in a second-hand market impacts the business of a manufacturer (e.g., Dell) in a new market through cannibalization, and how the manufacturer reacts to mitigate its effects. We show that even if the manufacturer adjusts its price to decrease the negative effects of cannibalization, this effect is so severe that it always loses some profits. Nevertheless, when the manufacturer provides some additional services to new consumers, the negative effects of cannibalization can be partially overcome.
TL;DR: This study proposes a new comprehensive methodology for supplier evaluation, selection, and improvement using an expectation maximization (EM) algorithm for clustering, data envelopment analysis (DEA) for efficiency, and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) for importance.
Abstract: This study proposes a new comprehensive methodology for supplier evaluation, selection, and improvement. A hybrid approach for evaluation and selection is presented using an expectation maximization (EM) algorithm for clustering, data envelopment analysis (DEA) for efficiency, and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) for importance. First, industrial taxonomy and EM algorithms are used to cluster the suppliers. Then, DEA is utilized to calculate internal operation efficiency. Next, AHP is applied to assess external function importance. After the weighted efficiency and importance scores are combined, the suppliers for improvement and strategic improving direction are determined based on a quadrant and diamond graph analysis. Finally, based on the supplier clusters, the effective stepwise benchmarking paths are presented with improvement strategies, and the final target indicators are obtained through DEA projection analysis. The proposed method is successfully demonstrated on 63 tier-one suppliers in the Korean automobile industry using three-year panel data from 2012 to 2014.
TL;DR: The computational results showed that the proposed methods can effectively obtain the train stop plan, timetable and passenger distribution plan at the same time.
Abstract: Aiming to provide a more practical modeling framework for railway optimization problem, this paper investigates the joint optimization model for train scheduling, train stop planning and passengers distributing by considering the passenger demands over each origin and destination (OD) pair on a high-speed railway corridor. Specifically, through introducing new decision variables associated with the number of passengers distributed in each train over each OD pair and formulating the connection constraints between the train stop plan and passenger distributions, the total travel time of all the trains is firstly adopted as the objective function to optimize the train stop plan and timetable with the passenger demands being guaranteed. Then, based on the generated train stop plan and timetable, the passenger distribution plan is further optimized with the purpose of minimizing the total travel time of all the passengers. Finally, the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed approaches are verified by the obtained train stop plans, timetables and passenger distribution plans for a sample railway corridor and Wuhan–Guangzhou high-speed railway corridor. The computational results showed that the proposed methods can effectively obtain the train stop plan, timetable and passenger distribution plan at the same time.
TL;DR: This paper integrates cognitive mapping and multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDA) and, based on the discussion of real world cases with a panel of urban planning experts from the Lisbon municipality in Portugal, constructs a blight intervention prioritisation index.
Abstract: The existence of abandoned or poorly maintained properties, often with overgrowth, litter, and abandoned junk – or “neighbourhood blight” as it is sometimes referred to – is a complex and wide-ranging real estate problem. Its detrimental impact on neighbourhood property values, safety and reputation requires an elucidation of where its causes lie, which in turn requires that areas of intervention first be identified. The need is for multidimensional solutions which take into account different stakeholders’ interests and perceptions. To address this need, this paper integrates cognitive mapping and multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDA) and, based on the discussion of real world cases with a panel of urban planning experts from the Lisbon municipality in Portugal, constructs a blight intervention prioritisation index. The resulting framework was validated by the participating panel members and a representative of the city council, and is aimed at facilitating strategies for intervention and eli...
TL;DR: An alternative approach to decompose the potential overall gains from mergers into to technical effect, size effect, and harmony effect is developed and an application to the City Commercial Banks in China is provided to illustrate the usefulness and efficacy of the proposed approach.
Abstract: Bogetoft and Wang proposed admirable production economic models to estimate and decompose the potential gains from mergers. They provided a good platform to quantify the merger efficiency and related it to relevant organisational changes ex-ante. In this paper, we develop an alternative approach to decompose the potential overall gains from mergers into to technical effect, size effect, and harmony effect. The proposed approach uses strongly efficient projections, and consistently calculates radial input-based measures for these three effects based on the pre-merger aggregated inputs. In addition, the proposed approach is of vital significance in two special cases where the aggregated projected inputs are not proportional to the pre-merger aggregated inputs and where the production sizes are very different for the original decision-making units. Finally, an application to the City Commercial Banks (CCBs) in China is provided to illustrate the usefulness and efficacy of the proposed approach. The application shows that there exist significant merger efficiency gains for these top 20 CCBs. Further, both the technical effect and harmony effect favour mergers, whereas the size effect would work against most mergers. Thus, in most cases the full-size merger with “organisational sense” is not proper.
TL;DR: The concept of closest target is introduced to determine the attractiveness and progress for each DMU, which can further improve DMUs’ performance with less wastes in inputs or underproduction in outputs.
Abstract: An important branch of data envelopment analysis (DEA) is context-dependent DEA, which evaluates efficiency by combining the attractiveness and progress for a particular decision-making unit (DMU)....
TL;DR: Three uncertain chance-constrained programming models for project scheduling problem, in which the chance constraint must reach a predetermined confidence level, are built and can be transformed to their crisp forms.
Abstract: In this paper, we consider an uncertain project scheduling problem, in which activity durations, with no historical data generally, are estimated by belief degrees and assumed to be uncertain variables. To achieve different management goals, we build three uncertain chance-constrained programming models for project scheduling problem, in which the chance constraint must reach a predetermined confidence level. Moreover, these models can all be transformed to their crisp forms, and an intelligent algorithm is designed to search the optimal schedule. Finally, a numerical example is presented to illustrate the usefulness of the proposed model.
TL;DR: A four-phased systemic framework linking elements of the above four ‘Soft’ OR approaches is conceptualized and applied to a real-world case in a department where a new team leader was appointed with the specific brief to improve the departmental strategy and its performance in general.
Abstract: The paper reports on the application of a combination of Operational Research (OR) approaches to a real-world case of re-designing the strategy of a department management team, in an aircraft manufacturing organization in Brazil. We combine approaches from ‘Soft’ OR Problem Structuring Methods in a multi-methodological framework arguing that this helps to discuss, develop and implement a new departmental strategy. The proposed framework uses elements of Soft Systems Methodology; Strategic Options Development and Analysis to understand and structure the situation; Value-Focused Thinking to define the means and objectives; and Value-Focused Brainstorming to highlight the potential solutions. We conceptualize a four-phased systemic framework linking elements of the above four ‘Soft’ OR approaches and apply it to a real-world case in a department where a new team leader was appointed with the specific brief to improve the departmental strategy and its performance in general. Findings suggest that combining the approaches into a framework encourages trust and participation from stakeholders which, in practice, is translated into an improved strategy for the organization. A reflection on the multi-methodological approach is proposed. Conclusions and points for further research are suggested.
TL;DR: The efficiency of electricity distribution utilities in India is examined using panel data from 2005 to 2012 to find positive effects of customer structure and population density on the efficiency of utilities and government subsidies are negatively related to the efficiency.
Abstract: The efficiency of the energy sector in India, the world’s third-largest energy consumer, is becoming an important issue amid growing concerns about global warming. This paper examines the efficienc...
TL;DR: Three heuristic algorithms, including tabu search, variable neighbourhood search, and a mixed version of VNS and TS, are developed and compared with the multi-start iteration improvement algorithm through a computational experiment conducted on a randomly generated data set.
Abstract: This paper addresses the resource-constrained project problem in which activity durations are stochastic variables and the objective is to maximize the net present value of cash flow in the...