Electronic commerce is becoming more important day by day. Many transactions and business are done electronically and many people do not want paper work anymore. When a firm wants to buy raw materials or components, it announces its need to related websites or in the newspapers. Similar demands and announcements can be seen almost everywhere nowadays. In this way, it needs to perform fast and reliable auctions as much as possible. On the other hand, buyers not only consider cost but also consider a lot of different aspects like quality, warranty period, lead time etc when they want to purchase something. This situation leads to more complex problems in the purchasing process. As a consequence, some researchers started to consider auction mechanisms that support bids characterized by several attributes in addition to the price (quality of the product, quantity, terms of delivery, quality of the supplier etc.). These are referred to as multi-attribute combinatorial auctions. In this thesis, Combinatorial Auctions are analyzed. Single-attribute multi-unit, multi-attribute multi-unit combinatorial auction models are studied and an interactive method is applied for solving the multi-attribute multi-unit combinatorial auction problem.

The cost of sleepiness-related accidents runs into tens of billions of dollars per year in America alone (Leger, 1994), and can play a contributing role in motor vehicle accidents and large-scale industrial disasters (Reason, 1990). Likewise, the effects of an ill-timed distraction or otherwise lack of attention to a main task can be the difference between elevated risk, or simply a lack of productivity. The interaction between sleepiness and distraction is poorly researched, and little is known about the mechanisms and scale of the problems associated by this interaction. Therefore, we sought to determine the effects of sleepiness and distraction using overnight and daytime sleepiness with various levels of distraction on three tasks ranging from a simple vigilance task to a challenging luggage x-ray inspection task. The first and second studies examined overnight sleepiness (7pm to 7am) for twenty-four healthy participants (m = 23.2yrs old - same for both studies) using a psychomotor task compared to a systems monitoring task, while also manipulating peripheral distraction through a television playing a comedy series. The results showed significant effects of sleepiness on the psychomotor task and evidence for interactive effects of distraction, whereas the systems monitoring task showed no changes with either sleepiness or distraction. Subjects were far more prone to distraction when sleepy for both tasks, and EEG findings suggest that the alpha frequency (8-13Hz) power increases reflect impairments of performance. There is a decaying . exponential relationship between the probability of a subject's eyes being open as the response time increases, such that longer responses above three seconds are 95% likely to have occurred with the eyes closed. The third study used a sample of twelve young (m = 20.8yrs) and twelve older (m = 60.0yrs) participants, and examined the effects of sleep restriction (< 5hrs vs normal sleep) with three levels of distraction (no distraction, peripheral in the form of television and cognitive distraction as a simulated conversation by means of verbal fluency task). The task used was an x-ray luggage search simulator that is functionally similar to the task used for airport security screening. The practice day showed that speed and accuracy on the task improved with successive sessions, but that the older group were markedly slower and less accurate than the younger group even before the experimental manipulations. There was no effect of daytime sleep restriction for either the younger or older groups between the two experimental days. However, distraction was found to impair the performance of both young and old, with the cognitive distraction proving to be the most difficult condition. Overall, it is concluded that overnight sleepiness impairs performance in monotonous tasks, but these risks can be diminished by making tasks more engaging. Distractions can affect performance, but may be difficult to quantify as subjects create strategies that allow themselves to attend to distractions during the undemanding moments of a task. Continuous cognitive distraction does affect performance, particularly in older subjects, who are less able to manage concurrent demands effectively. Humans appear capable of coping Sleepiness and Distraction iv with a 40% loss of their usual sleep quota or 24-hours of sleep restriction on complex tasks, but performance degrades markedly on monotonous tasks. Performances for simple and complex tasks are impaired by distracters when the effect of distraction is large enough, but the magnitude of impairment depends on how challenging the task is or how well the subject is able to cope with the distractions.

Global connectivity, for anyone, at anyplace, at anytime, to provide high-speed, high-quality, and reliable communication channels for mobile devices, is now becoming a reality. The credit mainly goes to the recent technological advances in wireless communications comprised of a wide range of technologies, services, and applications to fulfill the particular needs of end-users in different deployment scenarios (Wi-Fi, WiMAX, and 3G/4G cellular systems). In such a heterogeneous wireless environment, one of the key ingredients to provide efficient ubiquitous computing with guaranteed quality and continuity of service is the design of intelligent handoff algorithms. Traditional single-metric handoff decision algorithms, such as Received Signal Strength (RSS) based, are not efficient and intelligent enough to minimize the number of unnecessary handoffs, decision delays, and call-dropping and/or blocking probabilities. This research presented a novel approach for the design and implementation of a multi-criteria vertical handoff algorithm for heterogeneous wireless networks. Several parallel Fuzzy Logic Controllers were utilized in combination with different types of ranking algorithms and metric weighting schemes to implement two major modules: the first module estimated the necessity of handoff, and the other module was developed to select the best network as the target of handoff. Simulations based on different traffic classes, utilizing various types of wireless networks were carried out by implementing a wireless test-bed inspired by the concept of Rudimentary Network Emulator (RUNE). Simulation results indicated that the proposed scheme provided better performance in terms of minimizing the unnecessary handoffs, call dropping, and call blocking and handoff blocking probabilities. When subjected to Conversational traffic and compared against the RSS-based reference algorithm, the proposed scheme, utilizing the FTOPSIS ranking algorithm, was able to reduce the average outage probability of MSs moving with high speeds by 17%, new call blocking probability by 22%, the handoff blocking probability by 16%, and the average handoff rate by 40%. The significant reduction in the resulted handoff rate provides MS with efficient power consumption, and more available battery life. These percentages indicated a higher probability of guaranteed session continuity and quality of the currently utilized service, resulting in higher user satisfaction levels.

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How do different stakeholders weigh different criteria in a sociallyimportant decision? When a decision needs to be made in today'ssociety, there are many criteria that can be analyzed. These criteriacan be linked to three main areas: economy, ecology, and socialaspects. This study examines how different stakeholder groupsvalue and prioritize different criteria. The study has focused on theissue of speed limits on the E14 road, aiming to use decisionanalytic models to determine how these stakeholders valuedifferent decisions and how they weigh and prioritize differentcriteria related to this decision. To achieve this goal, interviewswere conducted with two stakeholder groups relevant to the issue,namely the Swedish Transport Administration and themunicipality and region. During the interviews, the respondentsweighed and evaluated the different criteria and how they areinfluenced by a speed reduction. The information from theinterviews was then compiled using multi-attribute value theory.The results of the study show that the two stakeholder groupsview the speed reduction from different perspectives. One groupprimarily considered the issue from a traffic safety standpoint,where economic criteria played a less significant role, while theother group highly valued both traffic safety and economic factors.The results indicate that the speed reduction has an overall positiveimpact based on the analyzed criteria. / Hur viktar sig olika intressenter olika kriterier i ett samhällsviktigtbeslut? När ett beslut i dagens samhälle behöver göras finns detmånga kriterier som det går att analysera beslutet från. Dessakriterier kan kopplas ihop till tre stycken huvudområden:ekonomi, ekologi och sociala. I denna studie studeras hur olikaintressentgrupper värderar och viktar olika kriterier. Arbetet harstuderat frågan om hastighetsbeslut på E14 där målet med studienär att genom användning av beslutsanalytiska modeller därintressenter identifieras ta reda på hur dessa intressenter värderarolika beslut och hur de viktar och värderar olika kriterier kopplattill detta beslut. För att uppnå målet har intervjuer gjorts med tvåolika intressentgrupper som är relaterade till frågan, nämligenTrafikverket och Kommun och Region. Respondenterna har iintervjuerna viktat och värderat de olika kriterierna och hur depåverkas av en hastighetssänkning. Informationen frånintervjuerna har därefter sammanställts genom att använda multiattribute value theory. Resultatet från studien visar att de två olikaintressegrupperna ser hastighetssänkningen från olika perspektiv.Den ena gruppen såg på frågan mer från etttrafiksäkerhetsperspektiv där de ekonomiska kriterierna inte hadenågon större betydande roll, medan den andra gruppen värderadeäven trafiksäkerhet högt samt även de ekonomiska. Resultatetvisar att hastighetssänkningen får totalt sett en positiv inverkanutifrån de kriterier som analyseras.

Bakgrund: Tidigare forskning visar att konsumenter i allmänhet har blivit mer medvetna om de miljöproblem som kan uppstå, i och med en ökad konsumtion. Allt fler företag har börjat ändra inriktning på sina marknadsföringstrategier för att skapa en grönare identitet. Detta är ett svar på konsumenters ökade efterfrågan på miljövänligare alternativ. Företagen investerar stora resurser på att implementera dessa strategier. Ett problem som därför behöver undersökas är om det verkligen gör någon nytta för företaget i slutändan att använda sig av gröna marknadsföringsstrategier. I studien undersöks, om konsumenter har grönare attityder gentemot ett företag (Max), som har en grönare marknadsföringsstrategi än huvudkonkurrenterna (Burger King och McDonalds). Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att ta reda på om konsumenter i generation Y:s attityder skiljer sig åt, mellan företag med olika grad av gröna marknadsföringsstrategier. Metod: Studien utgår ifrån en deduktiv ansats med ett kvantitativt tillvägagångssätt. Datainsamlingen har skett i form av en enkätundersökning med 152 respondenter i åldrarna 21 till 39 år. Slutsats: Studien visar att ett företag med väletablerad grön marknadsföringsstrategi (Max) uppfattas som grönare hos konsumenterna, än huvudkonkurrenterna (Burger King och McDonalds). / Background: Previous research shows that consumers in general have become more aware of the environmental problems that may occur, with an increased consumption. More and more companies have begun to refocus their marketing strategies to create a greener identity. This is a response to consumers demands for greener alternatives. The companies are investing substantial resources to implement these strategies. A problem that therefore needs to be examined is whether it really do any good for the companies in the end, to use green marketing strategies. The study examines if consumers have greener attitudes toward a company (Max), which has a marketing strategy that is greener than it’s main competitors’ (Burger King and McDonalds). Purpose: The purpose of this study is to find out whether consumers of Generation Y's attitudes differ between companies with different degrees of green marketing strategies. Method: The study is based on a deductive approach with a quantitative method. Data has been collected in the form of a questionnaire survey with 152 respondents aged 21-39 years. Conclusion: The study shows that a company with a well-established green marketing strategy (Max) is perceived as greener by the consumers, than it’s main competitors (Burger King and McDonalds).

The Governments' promotion and support of Best Value within the Social Housing Sector has been a prime catalyst in the move by Registered Social Landlord's [RSL's] away from the traditional culture of acceptance of the lowest bid towards consideration of both price and quality criteria as a basis for contractor selection. Manifestly this radical change in the way the sector procures its construction services has forced many of its stakeholders to undergo significant cultural and organisational changes within a relatively short period of time, and problems have developed during this transitional period that have affected the efficiency of the best value process. This research traced the root causes of these problems and its overarching aim was to develop an approach which will enable RSL's and their stakeholders to streamline the best value tender analysis procedure thereby allowing tenders to be dealt with effectively and efficiently whilst also creating a transparent and auditable decision making process. The approach has been established using a mixed methods research methodology utilising; case studies, surveys, rational decision analysis and system evaluation. The main output of the research is the development of a support tool known by the acronym OVID-BV which aids the multi objective decision making process. The underlying rationale for the support tool is based on the innovative use of uncertainty in decision making and the functionality of the tool uses a combination of the analytical hierarchy process (AHP), multi attribute utility theory (MAUT) and whole life costing (WLC).

The modern economy includes a variety of markets, and the Internet has opened opportunities for efficient on-line trading. Researchers have developed algorithms for various auctions, which have become a popular means for on-line sales. They have also designed algorithms for exchange-based markets, similar to the traditional stock exchange, which support fast-paced trading of rigidly standardized securities. In contrast, there has been little work on exchanges for complex nonstandard commodities, such as used cars or collectible stamps. We propose a formal model for trading of complex goods, and present an automated exchange for a limited version of this model. The exchange allows the traders to describe commodities by multiple attributes; for example, a car buyer may specify a model, options, color, and other desirable properties. Furthermore, a trader may enter constraints on the acceptable items rather than a specific item; for example, a buyer may look for any car that satisfies certain constraints, rather than for one particular vehicle. We present an extensive empirical evaluation of the implemented exchange, using artificial data, and then give results for two real-world markets, used cars and commercial paper. The experiments show that the system supports markets with up to 260,000 orders, and generates one hundred to one thousand trades per second.

One of the petroleum industry?s goals is to reduce the environmental impact of oil and gas operations in environmentally sensitive areas. To achieve this, a number of Environmentally Friendly Drilling (EFD) technologies have been developed to varying degrees. For example, the use of an elevated platform as an alternative to the gravel pad is less intrusive and leads to a more environmentally friendly approach to drilling operations. Elevated drilling platforms will require the use of piles. Another alternative to the gravel pad is the use of composite mats. Since the demand of low impact technologies for drill site construction has rapidly increased, the parametric study for the feasibility of using pile foundations and composite mats is conducted in this research. Even though a number of EFD technologies have already been developed to varying degrees, few have been integrated into a field demonstrable drilling system (i.e., combination of technologies) compatible with ecologically sensitive areas. In general, it is difficult to select the best combination of EFD technologies for a given site because there are many possible combinations and many different evaluation criteria. The proposed technology evaluation method is based on a systems analysis that can be used for integrating current and new EFD technologies into an optimal EFD system. An optimization scheme is suggested based on a combination of multi-attribute utility theory and exhaustively enumerating all possible technology combinations to provide a quantitative rationale and suggest the best set of systems according to a set of criteria, with the relative importance of the different criteria defined by the decision-maker. In this research, the sensitivity of the optimal solution to the weight factors and the effects of the uncertainty of input scores are also discussed using a case study. An application of the proposed approach is described by conducting a case study in Green Lake at McFaddin, TX. The main purpose of this case study is to test the proposed technology evaluation protocol in a real site and then to refine the protocol. This research describes the results of the case study which provided a more logical and comprehensive approach that maximized the economic and environmental goals of both the landowner and the oil company leaseholder.

Capability Maturity Model Integrated (CMMI) developed by Software Engineering Institute of Carnegie Mellon University is aimed to improve the productivity of software development. From CMM to CMMI, they have been adopted worldwide. But the large numbers of unsuccessful and/or painful implementations have proved these implementations easier said than done. The software industry in Taiwan faces the challenge of global competition. Continuous improvement of productivity becomes inevitable. To achieve this goal, recently, government and non-government organizations together promote the CMMI. This thesis focuses on the Decision Analysis and Resolution of CMMI Level 3. Through the design of related methods and the development of software tools, the decision process can be more structured and more effective. Potential applications include evaluation and selection of software and hardware, outsourcing partner, tools, risk resolution alternatives or people. The typical Go/No-Go decision can also fit into it. The decision analysis methods included in this research are Multi-attribute Decision Making and Analytic Hierarchy Process(AHP). In addition, alternative screening and group decision making can be integrated into the above methods.