<p>This thesis deals with game theory and its applications in management science and focuses upon some management science areas such as inventory control and new product development. Some interesting theoretical findings and new policies are obtained by using the game theoretical approach to analyze certain management science problems. The discussion starts with a review of static game theory models and their applications in management science. Of particular interest here is the state of the art of game theory as an analytical technique in management science. Chapters Two and Three discuss the discount problem. Particular attention is paid to the gaming nature and the buyer's demand aspect of the problem. It is shown that, if they work independently and rationally, the seller and the buyer can gain from price discount only if it can attract more demand from the buyer. Nevertheless, they can gain from quantity discount even if demand is constant. Quantity discount is always better than a price discount for the seller and, in certain situations, can be very efficient in obtaining the maximum profit. Optimal decisions are obtained for both the seller and the buyer under various conditions. Chapter Four studies the order quantities of substitutable products with stochastic demands. This analysis extends the newsboy problem analysis into situations with three or more players. It is shown that there is one Nash equilibrium for the problem. If any player(s) acts irrationally, the other players' decision problem reduces to the one without the irrational player(s). If cooperation is possible, their decisions depend on whether side payments are allowed. If side payments are allowed, they will determine their order quantities together. If side payments are not allowed, secure strategies exist for each player. It is also shown that all players' cooperation is often worthwhile and feasible. Chapter Five analyzes the growth of new repeat purchasing products. It is shown that markets of repeat purchasing products will never saturate like that of consumer durable products unless customers are extremely loyal to at least one product. For new repeat purchasing products, the optimal advertising strategy is increasing at the introductory stage and then decreasing or possibly terminating after some time and, the optimal service strategy is monotonically increasing at the introductory stage and then possibly maintained constant at a certain level. Especially, more advertising should be done at early stages against competitors' advertising campaign. The game is solved analytically for optimal strategies in the case where all the control functions representing the effects of advertising and service are linear in the control variables. Finally, the main findings and possible extensions to this research are briefly summarized in Chapter Six. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p>This thesis represents research in the combined areas of inventory and maintenance. It analyzes two independent inventory and maintenance problems under dynamic systems: (i) a production and maintenance problem and (ii) a repairable-item inventory problem. For each problem, the thesis develops a new control model and proposes a simultaneous determination of optimal inventory and maintenance policies. The first part of the thesis examines a production process where the process performance deteriorates over time in the absence of preventive maintenance. First, it develops a new finite-time control model for optimal production and maintenance decisions by combining a dynamic maintenance model with a production control model. Second, it derives the necessary conditions for optimal production and maintenance controls using the maximum principle. Finally, it proposes two optimization algorithms for numerically solving the necessary conditions already derived. The second part of the thesis considers the repairable-item inventory problem, which may be faced at each period by the inventory manager responsible for determining the optimum quantities to purchase new serviceable units, to repair and to junk returned repairable units in order to satisfy random demand for serviceable units. First, it proposes an inventory model for repairables, incorporating several important features. The model includes a periodic review policy, random demand, lost sales for unsatisfied demand, set-up costs for ordering and repair, and a dynamic return process. Second, it employs a quite different solution methodology from what the previous research has used. The approach employed here is a 'Markov decision process (MDP)'. With this approach, the inventory problem is remodelled as a discrete-time Markov decision problem with two-dimensional state and three-dimensional decision spaces and then solved for finite-time planning horizon using the backward induction algorithm and for infinite-time planning horizon using the method of successive approximations. Finally, it introduces and utilizes two acceleration techniques, the error bounds approach and State Decomposition by Dimension (SDD), for speeding up the convergence of the computational methods described above.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p> The purpose of this qualitative study with a modified Delphi research design was to understand the reasons human resource (HR) leaders are slow to implement Cloud-based technologies and potentially identify how Cloud-Based Computing influences human resource management (HRM) and HR effectiveness, and potentially the overall performance of the organization. Business executives and HR leaders acknowledge the effect of technology on business processes and strategies, and the leader's influence on technology implementation and adoption. Cloud-Based Computing is fast becoming the standard for conducting HR processes and HR leaders must be prepared to implement the change effectively. Study findings revealed characteristics demonstrated by HR leaders successfully implementing cloud technology, best practices for successful implementation, factors championing and challenging Cloud-Based Computing adoption, and effects on HRM and organizational performance as a result of using Cloud-Based Computing. The outcomes of this study may provide the foundation of a model for implementing Cloud-Based Computing, a leadership model including characteristics of technology early adopters in HR, and identify factors impeding adoption and may assist HR leaders in creating effective change management strategies for adopting and implementing Cloud-Based Computing. Findings and recommendation from this study will enable HR professionals and leaders to make informed decisions on the adoption of Cloud-Based Computing and improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and strategic capability of HR.</p>

<p> This single explorative case study investigated the causes of churn in the telecommunication industry in Kenya, narrowed down to include only the capital city of Nairobi. The question of this dissertation was split into three sub-questions. The first sub-question investigated the behavioral patterns of customers causing churn. The second sub-question investigated the economic patterns causing churn, and the third sub-question investigated the policies and regulations that cause churn.</p><p> Data was gathered from carrier websites and publications from all the four carriers, Safaricom, Airtel, Orange, and YuMobile. Face-to-face interviews with one manager from each carrier were conducted. Field research was gathered from 29 customers who used multiple SIM cards or have changed their carrier. </p><p> Findings of this dissertation confirmed findings of most previous literature. Causes of churn differed based on the perspectives. Carriers thought they were mainly in control of churn, whereas customer causes reflected multiple behavioral and economic factors that were not related to the carriers. Findings also indicated that it not possible to investigate a single cause of churn without taking into consideration the effect of all other linked causes. Recommendations for telecommunication leaders have been provided, and a model illustrating the procedure that was followed to solve the problem was also provided. The first step that leaders must take is to identify the true causes of any problem from all the different perspectives before attempting to solve the problem. Future quantitative research is required to investigate the links between causes of churn. Results from this dissertation together with the quantitative research could be used to make customized churn prediction software to accurately predict churning customer.</p>

published_or_final_version / Management Studies / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Business / Master / Master of Philosophy

No description available.

No description available.

<p> Since the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 and the Global Financial Crisis of 2007, members of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) have sought to strengthen ASEAN&rsquo;s regional economies through a digital trade project known as the ASEAN Single Window (ASW). The purpose of this case study was to explore the business strategies that multinational organizational leaders used to overcome business barriers while implementing ASEAN partnership contracts and ASW region-wide projects. This study may be unique in that, at the time of this research, there was no published study in which researchers had explored a single window for a vast, multination geographical region. Data collection was done via in-depth interviews with ASW executives, studying online ASW-related conferences, and examining relevant strategic documents. A 6-phase thematic analysis process based on methodological triangulation corroborated the data and addressed construct validity through data familiarization, generating initial coding, categorizing codes and searching for themes, breaking codes into subcategories, data reduction and defining and naming themes, and report generation. The 4 strategic themes that emerged were business models and processes, public&ndash;private partnerships, project management methodologies, and overlapping themes. The findings offer insights into ways to overcome the ASW&rsquo;s constraints and barriers. These strategic themes developed into a list of critical success factors and a summary list of principle business strategies and best practices. The implication for social change is a regionally collaborative trading environment providing potential economic options that not only impede the deterioration of the regional social fabric but support new opportunities such as trade liberalization and economic stability.</p>

<p> Measuring knowledge management performance was one of, if not the most challenging knowledge management activities. This study suggested using intellectual capital as a proxy for knowledge management performance in evaluating its impact on organizational performance. The Value Added Intellectual Coefficient model was employed to measure intellectual capital. Although being used widely in research, the model had its limitations. Also, for intellectual capital measurement, there was a lack of guidelines supported by empirical evidence or best practices. The present study aimed to test the classic and a modified version of this model, and based on the results, shed light on whether the classic version was good enough or the modified one should be highly recommended. The financial fundamental and market data of 425 randomly selected publicly listed firms were collected, and the structural equation modeling technique was employed to test the models. Chi-square difference test was performed to determine whether there was a statistically significant difference between these two models. The results of the tests indicated that the difference between them was insignificant. Therefore, it was concluded that the classic model is adequate, and it can be used effectively to measure intellectual capital. Adding two new efficiency elements&mdash;research and development efficiency and relational capital efficiency&mdash;in the model did not provide any significant benefit.</p>