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The realm of manufacturing is replete with instances of uncertainties in job processing times, machine statuses (up or down), demand fluctuations, due dates of jobs and job priorities. These uncertainties stem from the inability to gather accurate information about the various parameters (e.g., processing times, product demand) or to gain complete control over the different manufacturing processes that are involved. Hence, it becomes imperative on the part of a production manager to take into account the impact of uncertainty on the performance of the system on hand. This uncertainty, or variability, is of considerable importance in the scheduling of production tasks. A scheduling problem is primarily to allocate the jobs and determine their start times for processing on a single or multiple machines (resources) for the objective of optimizing a performance measure of interest. If the problem parameters of interest e.g., processing times, due dates, release dates are deterministic, the scheduling problem is relatively easier to solve than for the case when the information is uncertain about these parameters. From a practical point of view, the knowledge of these parameters is, most often than not, uncertain and it becomes necessary to develop a stochastic model of the scheduling system in order to analyze its performance. Investigation of the stochastic scheduling literature reveals that the preponderance of the work reported has dealt with optimizing the expected value of the performance measure. By focusing only on the expected value and ignoring the variance of the measure used, the scheduling problem becomes purely deterministic and the significant ramifications of schedule variability are essentially neglected. In many a practical cases, a scheduler would prefer to have a stable schedule with minimum variance than a schedule that has lower expected value and unknown (and possibly high) variance. Hence, it becomes apparent to define schedule efficiencies in terms of both the expectation and variance of the performance measure used. It could be easily perceived that the primary reasons for neglecting variance are the complications arising out of variance considerations and the difficulty of solving the underlying optimization problem. Moreover, research work to develop closed-form expressions or methodologies to determine the variance of the performance measures is very limited in the literature. However, conceivably, such an evaluation or analysis can only help a scheduler in making appropriate decisions in the face of uncertain environment. Additionally, these expressions and methodologies can be incorporated in various scheduling algorithms to determine efficient schedules in terms of both the expectation and variance. In our research work, we develop such analytic expressions and methodologies to determine the expectation and variance of different performance measures of a schedule. The performance measures considered are both completion time and tardiness based measures. The scheduling environments considered in our analysis involve a single machine, parallel machines, flow shops and job shops. The processing times of the jobs are modeled as independent random variables with known probability density functions. With the schedule given a priori, we develop closed-form expressions or devise methodologies to determine the expectation and variance of the performance measures of interest. We also describe in detail the approaches that we used for the various scheduling environments mentioned earlier. The developed expressions and methodologies were programmed in MATLAB R12 and illustrated with a few sample problems. It is our understanding that knowing the variance of the performance measure in addition to its expected value would aid in determining the appropriate schedule to use in practice. A scheduler would be in a better position to base his/her decisions having known the variability of the schedules and, consequently, can strike a balance between the expected value and variance. / Master of Science

This study focused on the alcohol use of college freshmen. It was designed to explore an area of student alcohol use that has not been well researched. An extensive amount of research has been done on reasons students use alcohol, the consequences of alcohol use, patterns of alcohol use, and the expected effects of alcohol consumption. However, very little is known about students’ expected use of alcohol. The study focused on student expectations for the use of alcohol prior to starting college and their actual use of alcohol in their first year of college. A qualitative research method was used to collect and analyze the data. Data were collected via individual and group interviews, and analyzed by gender, residency status, and living environment. This structure was used to identify differences and similarities between males and females, in-state and out-of-state students, and students assigned to small and large halls. The use of interviews proved to be a good way of gaining information on students’ expectations verses actual experiences with alcohol in college. Study findings indicated that students come to the college environment with some strong, deeply embedded preconceived notions about alcohol and its role on campus and that these expectations did, to some extent, influence student behaviors regarding their use of alcohol. Students in this sample held the expectation that alcohol would be very accessible and was just a part of college life. Findings about actual behaviors with alcohol indicated that students drink more during their first semester in college than in later semesters. Students reported their use of alcohol is influenced by a number of factors, including: peers, academic stress, the accessibility of alcohol, and the need to relax and become more sociable. / Master of Arts

Social economic decision-making considers the well-being and emotions of others. Unlike traditional economics which routinely assumes that individuals care only about their own outcomes, behavioral economics and neuroeconomics offer research strategies which help us explore our social motivations. This dissertation consists of three essays studying the underlying behavioral and neural mechanisms of individuals' social economic decision-making. The analyses focus on investigating experimentally how humans make decisions in three distinct social economic environments. Chapter 2 examines how individuals react to hold-up when explicit promises are available. Hold-up happens when two parties can form an incomplete contract to cooperate, but the agreement may fall apart due to concerns about the other party gaining bargaining power. We propose that a belief-dependent frustration anger model can explain behavior about investment, cooperation, and costly punishment in a hold-up environment. We show experimentally that communication improves cooperation and increases efficiency. Promises lead to cooperation, and broken promises lead to costly punishment. Chapter 3 explores threats' deterrence effect and credibility in an ultimatum bargaining environment where two parties can both benefit over trade but have a conflict of interests. We show that a belief-dependent frustration anger model captures the relationship among messages, beliefs, and behavior. Our design permits the observation of communicated threats, credibility, and deterrence. As we hypothesize, messages convey intention to punish the opponents (threats) changes players' expectations, that first movers are largely deterred by the threats and second movers' threats are credible. Threats lead to deterrence and greater propensity for costly punishment. Chapter 4 investigates the neural basis of individuals' charity donation behavior in a modified dictator game. The right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) has been associated with social decision-making, but the exact neural mechanism of charitable giving remains unknown. In our experiment, participants allocate money between themselves and a charity in a graphical revealed preference task, that measures both parameterized other-regarding preferences and economic rationality (Monotonicity, WARP, and GARP). We find evidence for a causal role of the rTPJ in determining fairness preferences and economic rationality. / Doctor of Philosophy / Social economic decision-making considers the well-being and emotions of others. Individuals engage in social economic decision-making on a daily basis, for example, negotiating over an offer, investing or cooperating on a project, bargaining over a purchase, or interacting with friends or strangers. Each of these decisions involves a variety of motivations including money for oneself, the well-being of others, each participants’ emotions and future relationships. Because of the complex nature of social economic decisions we need to employ an interdisciplinary research strategy. Behavioral economics applies psychological insights to economic problems and allows us to model the behavior of people who care about more than just money. Neuroeconomics integrates neuroscientific techniques and information about how the brain works to further expand our set of research tools. In this dissertation, we use all of these methods to explore how people make economic decisions in three distinct social scenarios. All three scenarios are especially intriguing since they represent different ways in which individuals integrate “others” into their own decision-making process. First, hold-up happens when two parties can form an incomplete agreement to cooperate and achieve higher efficiency together, however, the agreement may fall apart due to concerns about the other party gaining more bargaining power. In a historic example, Fisher Body had an exclusive supply agreement with General Motors. When the demand for cars increased sharply, Fisher Body held up General Motors by increasing prices. Second, negotiation is a situation where two parties can both benefit from trade, but they have conflicting interests. Third, individuals who engage in charity donations often sacrifice themselves monetarily to improve well-being of others. The scientific mission of this dissertation is to advance understanding of how individuals engage in social decision-making. In particular, we examine how communication (promises and threats) influences decision-making involving hold-up and negotiation respectively, and explore the neural mechanism governing altruism and charitable giving. We find evidence that communication enhances cooperation and efficiency in social economic decision-making through by changing expectations about monetary payoffs. In addition, we find evidence that the neural circuits responsible for fair-minded behavior also play a role in regulating economic rationality. This dissertation improves our understanding about how humans engage in social exchanges on both behavioral and neural levels.

<p>The expectation gap is the definition of the differences between what the interests expects from the auditor and what the auditor delivers. A number of studies have been done regarding the expectation gap and generally they point at the existence of an expectation gap.</p><p>In our paper we want to discover and see how strategies are used in the process to reduce the expectation gap from three levels. The levels we treat are auditors, audit bureaus and the profession. We have chosen to examine the strategies used by the three levels to reduce the expectation gap to following interest groups, owners, management/board of directors, and creditors.The purpose with our paper is to create understanding about how auditors, audit bureaus and the profession use strategies in the process to reduce the expectation gap.</p><p>With existing theories as ground we have construed and developed our own theory about which thinkable strategies the three levels can use.</p><p>We have interviewed auditors, representatives from bureaus and a spokesman for the profession. In the examination we have used telephone interviews with questions based on our operationalization. From our analyse we came to following conclusion: All three levels use strategies in the process to reduce the expectation gap, but not to all interests and not in the same range. We can se a common denominator for the strategies that are used by the levels, they are built on communication. The difference between them is that they take way thru different communication channels. Examples of communication channels are commission letters and oral communication.</p> / <p>Förväntningsgapet är definitionen på skillnaden mellan vad intressenterna förväntar sig av revisorn och vad revisorn i själva verket tillhandahåller. Det har utförts en rad studier gällande förväntningsgapet och generellt pekar de på existensen av ett förväntningsgap.</p><p>Vi vill i vår uppsats upptäcka och se hur strategier används i arbetet mot att reducera förväntningsgapet utifrån tre nivåer. Nivåerna vi behandlar är revisorer, revisionsbyråer och professionen. Vi har valt att undersöka de tre nivåernas strategier för att reducera gapet till följande tre intressentgrupper, ägare, kreditgivare och ledning/styrelse.</p><p>Syftet med vår uppsats är att skapa förståelse för hur revisorn, revisionsbyrån och professionen använder sig av strategier för att reducera förväntningsgapet till intressenterna.</p><p>Med existerande teorier som grund har vi tolkat och utvecklat en egen teori för vilka tänkbara strategier som kan användas av de tre nivåerna.</p><p>Vi har intervjuat revisorer, representanter från byråer och en talesman för professionen. Vi har i undersökningen använt oss av telefonintervjuer med frågor baserade på vår operationalisering. Utifrån vår analys kom vi fram till följande: alla tre nivåer använder sig av strategier för att reducera förväntningsgapet, men inte till alla intressenter och inte i lika stor omfattning. Vi kan se en gemensam nämnare för strategierna som idag används av de tre nivåerna, nämligen att de bygger på kommunikation. Skillnaden mellan de är att de sker via olika kommunikationskanaler. Exempel på kommunikationskanaler är uppdragsbrev och muntlig kommunikation.</p>

The expectation gap is the definition of the differences between what the interests expects from the auditor and what the auditor delivers. A number of studies have been done regarding the expectation gap and generally they point at the existence of an expectation gap. In our paper we want to discover and see how strategies are used in the process to reduce the expectation gap from three levels. The levels we treat are auditors, audit bureaus and the profession. We have chosen to examine the strategies used by the three levels to reduce the expectation gap to following interest groups, owners, management/board of directors, and creditors.The purpose with our paper is to create understanding about how auditors, audit bureaus and the profession use strategies in the process to reduce the expectation gap. With existing theories as ground we have construed and developed our own theory about which thinkable strategies the three levels can use. We have interviewed auditors, representatives from bureaus and a spokesman for the profession. In the examination we have used telephone interviews with questions based on our operationalization. From our analyse we came to following conclusion: All three levels use strategies in the process to reduce the expectation gap, but not to all interests and not in the same range. We can se a common denominator for the strategies that are used by the levels, they are built on communication. The difference between them is that they take way thru different communication channels. Examples of communication channels are commission letters and oral communication. / Förväntningsgapet är definitionen på skillnaden mellan vad intressenterna förväntar sig av revisorn och vad revisorn i själva verket tillhandahåller. Det har utförts en rad studier gällande förväntningsgapet och generellt pekar de på existensen av ett förväntningsgap. Vi vill i vår uppsats upptäcka och se hur strategier används i arbetet mot att reducera förväntningsgapet utifrån tre nivåer. Nivåerna vi behandlar är revisorer, revisionsbyråer och professionen. Vi har valt att undersöka de tre nivåernas strategier för att reducera gapet till följande tre intressentgrupper, ägare, kreditgivare och ledning/styrelse. Syftet med vår uppsats är att skapa förståelse för hur revisorn, revisionsbyrån och professionen använder sig av strategier för att reducera förväntningsgapet till intressenterna. Med existerande teorier som grund har vi tolkat och utvecklat en egen teori för vilka tänkbara strategier som kan användas av de tre nivåerna. Vi har intervjuat revisorer, representanter från byråer och en talesman för professionen. Vi har i undersökningen använt oss av telefonintervjuer med frågor baserade på vår operationalisering. Utifrån vår analys kom vi fram till följande: alla tre nivåer använder sig av strategier för att reducera förväntningsgapet, men inte till alla intressenter och inte i lika stor omfattning. Vi kan se en gemensam nämnare för strategierna som idag används av de tre nivåerna, nämligen att de bygger på kommunikation. Skillnaden mellan de är att de sker via olika kommunikationskanaler. Exempel på kommunikationskanaler är uppdragsbrev och muntlig kommunikation.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O presente estudo objetiva analisar as características das diferenças de expectativas entre o público geral e os auditores independentes, no que diz respeito às demonstrações contábeis. Para isso, incorreu-se em uma pesquisa de artigos científicos em que os autores investigam o problema, cada um em determinado país, e as causas de sua ocorrência. Essa análise da literatura permitiu verificar as similaridades e sugestões para reduzir o fenômeno, em cenário globalizado, e compará-las. Os principais achados demonstram que, de maneira geral, os problemas são globalmente relacionados, assim como as sugestões, e que se torna essencial medidas para amenizar o problema. Tanto os auditores independentes quanto os usuários das demonstrações contábeis tem conhecimento da existência dessa diferença de expectativa, sendo uma ameaça para o bom andamento de uma economia capitalista o desconforto dos usuários caso ocorra à manutenção dessa diferença de expectativa. Dessa maneira, uma mudança na estrutura do cenário atual das empresas de auditoria independente torna-se fundamental. / The purpose of this study is to analyze fairness of expectations gap between the public and independent auditors regarding the financial statements. A articles survey was provided to support this study, which the authors investigate the matters, each in a given country, and the causes of its occurrence. This literature review has shown the similarities and suggestions to reduce the phenomenon. The main results show that, in general matter, the expectation gap really exist globally, as well as suggestions and measures to mitigate such issues become essential. The existence of the differences in expectation is already known by independent auditors and public users of financial statements. For this fact, the discomfort for the users caused by the maintenance of these differences may be a threat to the capitalist economy ongoing. Therefore, a change in the actual scenario of the independent audit firms and auditors behavior is fundamental.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O presente estudo objetiva analisar as características das diferenças de expectativas entre o público geral e os auditores independentes, no que diz respeito às demonstrações contábeis. Para isso, incorreu-se em uma pesquisa de artigos científicos em que os autores investigam o problema, cada um em determinado país, e as causas de sua ocorrência. Essa análise da literatura permitiu verificar as similaridades e sugestões para reduzir o fenômeno, em cenário globalizado, e compará-las. Os principais achados demonstram que, de maneira geral, os problemas são globalmente relacionados, assim como as sugestões, e que se torna essencial medidas para amenizar o problema. Tanto os auditores independentes quanto os usuários das demonstrações contábeis tem conhecimento da existência dessa diferença de expectativa, sendo uma ameaça para o bom andamento de uma economia capitalista o desconforto dos usuários caso ocorra à manutenção dessa diferença de expectativa. Dessa maneira, uma mudança na estrutura do cenário atual das empresas de auditoria independente torna-se fundamental. / The purpose of this study is to analyze fairness of expectations gap between the public and independent auditors regarding the financial statements. A articles survey was provided to support this study, which the authors investigate the matters, each in a given country, and the causes of its occurrence. This literature review has shown the similarities and suggestions to reduce the phenomenon. The main results show that, in general matter, the expectation gap really exist globally, as well as suggestions and measures to mitigate such issues become essential. The existence of the differences in expectation is already known by independent auditors and public users of financial statements. For this fact, the discomfort for the users caused by the maintenance of these differences may be a threat to the capitalist economy ongoing. Therefore, a change in the actual scenario of the independent audit firms and auditors behavior is fundamental.

I ett samhälle som blir allt mer beroende av Internet har även e-handel fått en mer framträdande roll. Då detta innebär att säljare ersätts av teknologi är det av vikt att företaget anstränger sig för att skapa en tillförlitlig miljö där kunden känner sig trygg. Här påverkar inte bara strukturen och utseendet på e-handeln, utan också företagets val av marknadsföring. Kunden skapar sig en förväntan av företaget och vad det har att erbjuda. Denna förväntan baseras på kundens tidigare erfarenheter och upplevelser, där en förväntan som inte uppnås kan resultera i en negativ upplevelse. I denna studie har expectation-confirmation theory använts som ett ramverk för att undersöka kundens förväntan inför e-handel överlag, men också i synnerhet inför uppdragsgivaren xplore.se:s e-handel. Användarupplevelse har använts för att få en djupare förståelse för kundens känslor och uppfattningar, där även användbarhet undersökts då detta påverkar användarupplevelsen. Fem potentiella framtida kunder inkluderades i intervjuer och användartest i två iterationer, den första baserad på deras erfarenheter och förväntningar inom e-handel överlag där deltagarna fick utforska xplore.se:s nuvarande gränssnitt. De ombads även utföra ett antal uppgifter för att undersöka graden av användbarhet. Resultatet visade ett stort behov av ny design då deltagarna upplevde att e-handeln var oattraktiv med låg tillförlitlighet. Därefter skapades ett designförslag i form av en interaktiv prototyp, vilken användes som underlag för den andra iterationen. I denna iteration ombads deltagarna berätta hur mycket de mindes av det tidigare användartestet. Detta gjordes för att människan inte kan minnas alla detaljer utav en upplevelse, varför det skapade förståelse för vad deltagarna mindes starkast. Sedan ombads deltagarna utforska designförslaget, även här med ett antal uppgifter att utföra för att undersöka användbarheten i det. Deltagarna upplevde att designen var mycket attraktivare med en högre grad av tillförlitlighet. Slutsatsen som kunde dras från resultatet var att design har stor påverkan på både användarupplevelse och kundens vilja att känna tillit. Kunden förväntar sig att e-handel ska vara bekvämt där något som inte stämmer överens med denna förväntan har negativ påverkan på upplevelsen. Här förväntar sig kunden även en design som påminner om andra e-handlar, vilket innebär en högre grad av användbarhet. Webbsidan bör ha en tydlig struktur med visuella blickfång som hjälper kunden få en snabb överblick över nivån av tillförlitlighet. Företaget bör exempelvis överväga att investera i certifieringar såsom trygg e-handel, medan marknadsföringen som används ska vara i enlighet med vad kunden kan förvänta sig. Då kunden till stor del förlitar sig på omdömen från andra kunder rekommenderas även en funktion för recensioner. / In a society growing more dependent of the Internet, e-commerce has also been given a more prominent role. Since this means that sellers are replaced by technology, it is of importance that the company tries to create a reliable environment where the customer can feel safe. Not only the structure and appearance has an influence, but the company’s choice of marketing can have an effect as well. The customer creates expectations based on former experiences of both the company and overall e-commerce, where expectations that cannot be met could result in a negative experience. This study has used expectation-confirmation theory as a framework to examine the customers’ overall expectations in e-commerce, but also for xplore.se:s e-commerce, the constituent for this study. User experience has been used to gain a deeper understanding of the customers’ emotions and perceptions, whereas usability has been examined as it affects the user experience. Five potential future customers were included for interviews and user tests for two iterations, the first based on their general experiences and expectations regarding e-commerce where the participants also explored the current interface of xplore.se. In order to examine the level of usability they were asked to execute a number of tasks. The results showed great need of a new design since the participants found the e-commerce to be unattractive with low reliability. A design proposal in the shape of an interactive prototype was made, which was used as a foundation for the second iteration. In this iteration the participants were asked to share their memories of the former user test. Since humans cannot recall every single detail of an experience this created an understanding for what the participants remembered most. They were then asked to explore the design proposal, also with a number of tasks to execute to examine its usability. Their experience was that this design was more attractive with a higher level of reliability. The conclusion that could be drawn from the result was that design has a big effect on user experience and the customers trust. The customer expects e-commerce to be convenient, where something that does not meet this expectation has a negative impact on the experience. Another expectation is that the design should look like other e-commerces, as the resemblance implies a higher level of usability. The website should have a clear structure with visual elements capturing the customers’ attention, which helps the customer get a quick overview of the level of trustworthiness. For instance, the company should consider investing in certifications for secure e-commerce, whilst the marketing that is being used should be designed according to what the customer can expect. As the customer also largely relies on other customers’ opinions, it is recommended to implement a function for reviews as well.