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Models, Methods and Tools for Product Service Design: The Manutelligence Project (SpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences and Technology)

This open access book summarizes research being pursued within the Manutelligence project, the goal of which is to help enterprises develop smart, social and flexible products with high value added services. Manutelligence has improved Product and Service Design by developing suitable models and methods, and connecting them through a modular, collaborative and secure ICT Platform. The use of real data collected in real time by Internet of Things (IoT) technologies underpins the design of product-service systems and makes it possible to monitor them throughout their life cycle. Available data allows costs and sustainability issues to be more accurately measured and simulated in the form of Life Cycle Cost (LCC) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Analysing data from IoT systems and sharing LCC and LCA information via the ICT Platform can help to accelerate the design of product-service systems, reduce costs and better understand customer needs. Industrial partners involved in Manutelligence provide a clear overview of the project’s outcomes, and demonstrate how its technological solutions can be used to improve the design of product-service systems and the management of product-service life cycles.

Models, Methods, Concepts & Applications of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (International Series in Operations Research & Management Science #175)

The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is a prominent and powerful tool for making decisions in situations involving multiple objectives. Models, Methods, Concepts and Applications of the Analytic Hierarchy Process, 2nd Edition applies the AHP in order to solve problems focused on the following three themes: economics, the social sciences, and the linking of measurement with human values. For economists, the AHP offers a substantially different approach to dealing with economic problems through ratio scales. Psychologists and political scientists can use the methodology to quantify and derive measurements for intangibles. Meanwhile researchers in the physical and engineering sciences can apply the AHP methods to help resolve the conflicts between hard measurement data and human values. Throughout the book, each of these topics is explored utilizing real life models and examples, relevant to problems in today’s society.This new edition has been updated and includes five new chapters that includes discussions of the following:- The eigenvector and why it is necessary- A summary of ongoing research in the Middle East that brings together Israeli and Palestinian scholars to develop concessions from both parties- A look at the Medicare Crisis and how AHP can be used to understand the problems and help develop ideas to solve them.

Models, Methods, Concepts & Applications of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (International Series in Operations Research & Management Science #34)

Models, Methods, Concepts and Applications of the Analytic Hierarchy Process is a volume dedicated to selected applications of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) focused on three themes: economics, the social sciences, and the linking of measurement with human values. (1) The AHP offers economists a substantially different approach to dealing with economic problems through ratio scales. The main mathematical models on which economics has based its quantitative thinking up to now are utility theory, which uses interval scales, and linear programming. We hope that the variety of examples included here can perhaps stimulate researchers in economics to try applying this new approach. (2) The second theme is concerned with the social sciences. The AHP offers psychologists and political scientists the methodology to quantify and derive measurements for intangibles. We hope that the examples included in this book will encourage them to examine the methods of AHP in terms of the problems they seek to solve. (3) The third theme is concerned with providing people in the physical and engineering sciences with a quantitative method to link hard measurement to human values. In such a process one needs to interpret what the measurements mean. A number is useless until someone understands what it means. It can have different meanings in different problems. Ten dollars are plenty to satisfy one's hunger but are useless by themselves in buying a new car. Such measurements are only indicators of the state of a system, but do not relate to the values of the human observers of that system. AHP methods can help resolve the conflicts between hard measurement data and human values.

Models & Methods for Project Selection: Concepts from Management Science, Finance and Information Technology (International Series in Operations Research & Management Science #58)

Models & Methods for Project Selection systematically examines in this book treatment the latest work in the field of project selection modeling. The models presented are drawn from mathematical programming, decision theory, and finance. These models are examined in two categorical streams: the management science stream and the financial model stream. The book describes the assumptions and limitations of each model and provides appropriate solution methodologies. Its organization follows three main themes: *Criteria for Choice: Chapters 1-3 investigate the effect of the choice of optimization criteria on the results of the portfolio optimization problem. *Risk and Uncertainty: Chapters 4-7 deal with uncertainty in the project selection problem. *Non-Linearity and Interdependence: These chapters deal with problems of non-linearity and interdependence as they arise in the project selection problem. Chapters 8, 9 and 10 present solution methodologies, which can be used to solve these most general project selection models.

Models of Balance of Payments Constrained Growth: History, Theory and Empirical Evidence

This book extends Thirlwall's model and adapts its implications to the current problems facing developed and emerging economies. In this context, this book combines theoretical models and empirical applications, unveiling new results and highlighting the importance of the balance of payments as a constraint to growth.

Models of Capitalism in the European Union: Post-crisis Perspectives

This book uses comparative economic analysis to provide a common conceptual framework for all current European Union member states. Based on empirical investigation, the author identifies the Nordic, North-western, Mediterranean, and Central and Eastern models of capitalism on the threshold of the 2008 global financial and economic crisis. The chapters also examine the resulting institutional responses to the crisis and the methods of crisis management adopted by each member state. The analysis reveals that the crisis has not triggered radical institutional change but, instead, highlighted deep institutional differences not between the old and new member states, but between the Nordic, North-western, Mediterranean, and Central and Eastern European countries. These institutional differences are so significant that they require the rethinking of European integration theory.Models of Capitalism in the European Union serves as a useful handbook for academics, advanced students, policy-makers and advisors who are interested in European economic issues.

Models of Disequilibrium and Shortage in Centrally Planned Economies (International Studies in Economic Modelling)

The centrally planned economies (CPEs) of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe have experienced severe imbalances in domestic and external markets over the past several decades. As a result, they have been chronically afflicted by problems such as excess demand, repressed inflation, deficits of commodities, queues, waiting lists, and forced savings. Economists have responded to these phenomena by developing appropriate theoretical and empirical models of CPEs. Of particular note have been the pioneering studies of Richard Portes on disequilibrium econometric models and Janos Kornai on the shortage economy. Each approach has attracted followers who have produced numerous, innovative macro- and microeconomic models of Poland, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, and the USSR. These models have proved to be of considerable value in the analysis of the causes, consequences and remedies of disequilibrium phenomena. Inevitably, the new research has also generated controversies both between and within the schools of shortage and disequilibrium modelling, concerning the fundamental nature of the socialist economy, theoretical concepts and definitions, the specification of models, estimation techniques, interpretation of empirical findings, and policy recommend­ ations. Furthermore, the research effort has been energetic but incomplete, so many gaps exist in the field.

Models of Economic Dynamics: Proceedings of a Workshop held at the IMA, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA, October 24–28, 1983 (Lecture Notes in Economics and Mathematical Systems #264)

Models of Economic Growth with Environmental Assets (Economics, Energy and Environment #8)

The connection between economic growth and the quality of the environment is a popular subject. Since the second half of the 1980s, there has been an increasingly frequent use of the term "sustainable development", to refer to the preoccupation that the production of goods and services may decrease standards of living. It is natural to analyze this question from the point of view of economic models, which may be helpful in at least identifying the main factors behind such preoccupations and perhaps in suggesting policy measures. Indeed, models are useful to discuss some relevant factors, like the structure of production of the economy, the type of preferences and goals pursued by agents, and the elements of uncertainty. This monograph will consider some of these themes: there will be a study of the analytical framework which can be used for the purpose of defining and analyzing sustainability, and some discussion of how to calibrate a restricted version of the model to empirical data. There will be also some analysis about which type of uncertainty should be incorporated into the model, and which objective functions may be useful for policy purposes. Also, there will be discussions about the key variables which should be included, and some description of a general framework.

Models of Intraurban Residential Relocation (The Plenum Behavior Therapy Series)

Most of the research incorporated in this monograph was initially undertaken as part of the author's Ph.D. dissertation submitted to the School of Urban and Public Affairs, Carnegie-Mellon University. The research was funded through a Doctoral Dissertation Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The dissertation was a winning entry in the 1979-80 Ph.D. Disser­ tation Competition of the North American Regional Science Association, funded through a grant from the Economic Development Agency of the U.S. Depart­ ment of Commerce. Revisions and extensions of the initial research were con­ ducted at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. I would like to thank in particular Chang-I Hua for his guidance and direc­ tion in reviewing this research. In addition, I would like to acknowledge the useful comments provided by Robert Avery, Shelby Stewman, Tong Hun Lee, Swarnjit Arora, and Charles Manski regarding the substance and econometric approaches used in the research. Stephen Gale is acknowledged for his help in providing the data used in this study from a National Science Foundation Grant (SOC #76-12358).

Models of Leadership in Plato and Beyond

Leadership has become a prevalent concept across a variety of disciplines, among them history, politics, management studies, economics, and psychology. An array of definitions and theories have been proposed both by those who study leadership, and by those in leadership positions themselves. Here, Dominic Scott and R. Edward Freeman adopt a highly innovative approach by going back to one of the greatest thought leaders of all time, the Greek philosopher Plato. Plato brought a richness and complexity to common ideas about the nature and purpose of leadership. Rather than attempting to give a single 'one-size-fits-all' definition, his strategy was to break it into its different strands. He presents several 'models' of leadership, mostly through images or analogies: the leader as doctor, navigator, artist, teacher, shepherd, weaver, or sower. Each model points to features of leadership that we intuitively recognize to be important, and which still carry significant weight today, such as curing a social malaise or charting a new course. Scott and Freeman set out the essentials of Plato's thought and illustrate each model through modern case studies, including presidents, CEOs, and Nobel laureates. They also measure Plato's models against more recent concepts, using his insights to throw light on contemporary theory and practice. With a principal focus on leadership, and an assumption of no prior knowledge of Plato's works, this book takes a multi-faceted approach to a complex phenomenon.

Models of Leadership in Plato and Beyond

Leadership has become a prevalent concept across a variety of disciplines, among them history, politics, management studies, economics, and psychology. An array of definitions and theories have been proposed both by those who study leadership, and by those in leadership positions themselves. Here, Dominic Scott and R. Edward Freeman adopt a highly innovative approach by going back to one of the greatest thought leaders of all time, the Greek philosopher Plato. Plato brought a richness and complexity to common ideas about the nature and purpose of leadership. Rather than attempting to give a single 'one-size-fits-all' definition, his strategy was to break it into its different strands. He presents several 'models' of leadership, mostly through images or analogies: the leader as doctor, navigator, artist, teacher, shepherd, weaver, or sower. Each model points to features of leadership that we intuitively recognize to be important, and which still carry significant weight today, such as curing a social malaise or charting a new course. Scott and Freeman set out the essentials of Plato's thought and illustrate each model through modern case studies, including presidents, CEOs, and Nobel laureates. They also measure Plato's models against more recent concepts, using his insights to throw light on contemporary theory and practice. With a principal focus on leadership, and an assumption of no prior knowledge of Plato's works, this book takes a multi-faceted approach to a complex phenomenon.

Models of Modern Information Economy: Conceptual Contradictions and Practical Examples

The concept of an information economy is considered by some to be a new branch of economic theory, and by others as the next stage of development for an economy post-industrialization. Leading and developing economies are seeking to quickly develop a functional information economy in order to help overcome the consequences of the global financial crisis and ensure high global economic competitiveness. This book analyzes modern conceptual models of information economies, highlighting and examining their systemic contradictions and failings. It explores the disconnection between the readiness of the technical infrastructure for forming and developing the information economy, and an unprepared institutional and societal structure that is therefore unable to implement these processes and models. The editors present different approaches to solving these methodological and practical contradictions and lay out future models across different international contexts. They also provide recommendations for optimizing their theoretical model and improving its implementation in modern economic systems.

Models of Modern Information Economy: Conceptual Contradictions and Practical Examples

The concept of an information economy is considered by some to be a new branch of economic theory, and by others as the next stage of development for an economy post-industrialization. Leading and developing economies are seeking to quickly develop a functional information economy in order to help overcome the consequences of the global financial crisis and ensure high global economic competitiveness. This book analyzes modern conceptual models of information economies, highlighting and examining their systemic contradictions and failings. It explores the disconnection between the readiness of the technical infrastructure for forming and developing the information economy, and an unprepared institutional and societal structure that is therefore unable to implement these processes and models. The editors present different approaches to solving these methodological and practical contradictions and lay out future models across different international contexts. They also provide recommendations for optimizing their theoretical model and improving its implementation in modern economic systems.

Models of Political Economy

Models of Political Economy will introduce students to the basic methodology of political economics. It covers all core theories as well as new developments including: decision theory game theory mechanism design games of asymmetric information. Hannu Nurmi's text will prove to be invaluable to all students who wish to understand this increasingly technical field.

Models of Political Economy

Models of Political Economy will introduce students to the basic methodology of political economics. It covers all core theories as well as new developments including: decision theory game theory mechanism design games of asymmetric information. Hannu Nurmi's text will prove to be invaluable to all students who wish to understand this increasingly technical field.

Models of Proposal Planning & Writing

This book is an essential weapon for anyone looking for funding in the extremely competitive grantseeking world. It explains how and why to approach both public and private sponsors with not just information, but persuasion, for the best chance for success.How do you present the right balance of logic, emotion, and relationship-awareness to make a persuasive proposal? What is THE most important thing to do before submitting a proposal to increase your odds for funding success? What portion of the proposal must be stressed even when it has a low point value assigned to it in the reviewer's evaluation form? How can a site visit make or break the fate of a meticulously prepared application? Models of Proposal Planning & Writing: Second Edition answers all these critical questions and more for grantseekers, documenting how to write a proposal that will persuade a sponsor to invest in your projects and organization—and just as importantly, explaining why a properly persuasive application puts forth a seamless argument that stands the test of reason, addresses psychological concerns, and connects your project to the values of the sponsor. The book's comprehensive annotations provide practical information that walks readers step-by-step through a logical, integrated process of planning and writing persuasive proposals.

Models of Proposal Planning & Writing

This book is an essential weapon for anyone looking for funding in the extremely competitive grantseeking world. It explains how and why to approach both public and private sponsors with not just information, but persuasion, for the best chance for success.How do you present the right balance of logic, emotion, and relationship-awareness to make a persuasive proposal? What is THE most important thing to do before submitting a proposal to increase your odds for funding success? What portion of the proposal must be stressed even when it has a low point value assigned to it in the reviewer's evaluation form? How can a site visit make or break the fate of a meticulously prepared application? Models of Proposal Planning & Writing: Second Edition answers all these critical questions and more for grantseekers, documenting how to write a proposal that will persuade a sponsor to invest in your projects and organization—and just as importantly, explaining why a properly persuasive application puts forth a seamless argument that stands the test of reason, addresses psychological concerns, and connects your project to the values of the sponsor. The book's comprehensive annotations provide practical information that walks readers step-by-step through a logical, integrated process of planning and writing persuasive proposals.

Models of Risk Preferences: Descriptive and Normative Challenges (Research in Experimental Economics #22)

Behavioural economists have developed alternatives to Expected Utility Theory as descriptive and normative models of risk preferences. One popular view is that these alternative descriptive models are generally better descriptively, but that they tend to be inferior normative models for guiding risky decisions. Models of Risk Preferences collects studies that critically review these two claims from the perspective of experimental economics. The Research in Experimental Economics series focuses on laboratory experimental economics, but includes theoretical, empirical, or field economic research to encompass the broader experimental economics community.

Models of Risk Preferences: Descriptive and Normative Challenges (Research in Experimental Economics #22)

Behavioural economists have developed alternatives to Expected Utility Theory as descriptive and normative models of risk preferences. One popular view is that these alternative descriptive models are generally better descriptively, but that they tend to be inferior normative models for guiding risky decisions. Models of Risk Preferences collects studies that critically review these two claims from the perspective of experimental economics. The Research in Experimental Economics series focuses on laboratory experimental economics, but includes theoretical, empirical, or field economic research to encompass the broader experimental economics community.

Models of Scenario Building and Planning: Facing Uncertainty and Complexity (Bocconi on Management)

Models of Scenario Building and Planning offers a unique and innovative exploration of the scenario approach. The book focuses on the analysis of the competitors' behavior; the analysis of risk and uncertainty; and the link between scenarios and strategies.

Models of Simon

Herbert Simon (1916-2001) is mostly celebrated for the theory of bounded rationality and satisficing. This book of essays on Models of Simon tackles these topics that the he broached in a professional career spanning more than 60 years. Expository material on the fundamental concepts he introduced are re-interpreted in terms of the theory of computability. This volume frames the behavioural issues of concern for economists, such as: hierarchy, causality, near-diagonal linear dynamical systems, discovery, the contrasts between the notion of heuristics, and the Church-Turing Thesis of Computability Theory. There is, consistently, an emphasis on the historical origins of the concepts Simon worked with, in emphasising Human Problem Solving and Decision Making – by rational individuals and institutions (like Organizations). The main feature of the results in the book are its emphasis on the procedural aspects of human problem solving, decision making and the remarkable way Simon harnessed many tools of mathematical logic, mathematics, cognitive sciences, economics and econometrics. This long-awaited volume is an important read for those who study economic theory and philosophy, microeconomics and political economy, as well as those interested in the great Herbert Simon’s work.

Models of Simon

Herbert Simon (1916-2001) is mostly celebrated for the theory of bounded rationality and satisficing. This book of essays on Models of Simon tackles these topics that the he broached in a professional career spanning more than 60 years. Expository material on the fundamental concepts he introduced are re-interpreted in terms of the theory of computability. This volume frames the behavioural issues of concern for economists, such as: hierarchy, causality, near-diagonal linear dynamical systems, discovery, the contrasts between the notion of heuristics, and the Church-Turing Thesis of Computability Theory. There is, consistently, an emphasis on the historical origins of the concepts Simon worked with, in emphasising Human Problem Solving and Decision Making – by rational individuals and institutions (like Organizations). The main feature of the results in the book are its emphasis on the procedural aspects of human problem solving, decision making and the remarkable way Simon harnessed many tools of mathematical logic, mathematics, cognitive sciences, economics and econometrics. This long-awaited volume is an important read for those who study economic theory and philosophy, microeconomics and political economy, as well as those interested in the great Herbert Simon’s work.

Models of Social Intervention and Constructionism: Current Narratives

This book takes a new, critical, and multidisciplinary look at experiences and meanings of social intervention in different social contexts, taking the approaches of social constructionism as a theoretical approach. The volume collects the results of theoretical-practical experiences that social science professionals with critical and constructionist visions linked to social work intervention have carried out in different spaces. It considers the way social work intervention models are built, their foundation, and their application. It provides the findings on tested intervention models built according to the basis of social constructionism in specific social scenarios, providing interesting findings that show intervention alternatives beyond traditional approaches. The social intervention strategies discussed take place in diverse situations, including health recovery and reconstruction in breast cancer, family abandonment issues of institutionalized adolescents, institutional care of refugee families, women caregivers of children with disabilities, men who exercise violence, and more.

Models of Social Intervention and Constructionism: Current Narratives

This book takes a new, critical, and multidisciplinary look at experiences and meanings of social intervention in different social contexts, taking the approaches of social constructionism as a theoretical approach. The volume collects the results of theoretical-practical experiences that social science professionals with critical and constructionist visions linked to social work intervention have carried out in different spaces. It considers the way social work intervention models are built, their foundation, and their application. It provides the findings on tested intervention models built according to the basis of social constructionism in specific social scenarios, providing interesting findings that show intervention alternatives beyond traditional approaches. The social intervention strategies discussed take place in diverse situations, including health recovery and reconstruction in breast cancer, family abandonment issues of institutionalized adolescents, institutional care of refugee families, women caregivers of children with disabilities, men who exercise violence, and more.