Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, March, 1996. / Title from PDF t.p.

Project report (M. Eng.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1991. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-98). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1991. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-100). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-87). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (M.Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 140-146). Also available in electronic version.

Report (M. Engr.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 43-54). Also available via the Internet.

No description available.

In the present market place situation, a consumer's main contact with manufacturing (i.e., the production process) is through retailers or other middlemen, such as mail order catalog companies. Consumers rarely complain, but when they do, consumers complain to or request information from retailers about products (Kincade, Redwine, & Hancock, 1992). Manufacturers rarely receive information directly from consumers. Instead, they get second-hand reports from retailers or they get no information at all. The purpose of this research was to explore the relationship between manufacturers and consumers during the relationship process using a mixed design of preexperimental research and panel analysis with in-depth interview. The major research question is: What will happen in the Relationship Spiral Model when the consumer becomes a part of the manufacturer /consumer relationship? Twenty female participants, out of 35 who answered the screening questionnaire, were selected from students and acquaintances of the researcher in Blacksburg, VA. For the experiment, a simulated web site was used by a consumer (i.e., participant) to order two pair of customized shoes based on each consumer's needs. In the preexperimental design for this study, a longitudinal case study with a panel study technique, as described by Babbie (1999) and Creswell (1994), was utilized to investigate consumer characteristics (i.e., demographics, shopping orientation, expectation, and experience), goods and service in encounter, and direct communication over time. The following procedure was conducted: (a) interviewing the subjects, (b) transcribing tapes and field notes, (c) segmenting data, (d) de-contextualizing data, (e) coding data, and (f) re-contextualizing data. Interpretational qualitative analysis was utilized for data analysis in this study. As a result of recontextualization of the interview scripts, the Relationship Spiral Model emerged from the data. Four sub-models for four groups were refined according to the data from the Relationship Spiral Model. Further analysis was conducted on sub-models. Consumers are constantly changing and have multiple selection criteria. These criteria are constantly changing based on expectations, experiences and other situational variables. / Ph. D.

In this thesis we present an integrated formulation for production planning, facilities layout and process selection and provide two heuristics for solving the integrated problem. The traditional solution procedures to each of the subproblems are discussed. The decisions modeled in these three problems are interrelated and, in some cases, share overlapping data requirements. The integrated formulation provided is a mixed integer program. Solving this mixed integer program optimally is a hard problem. Thus, in this thesis we only provide heuristic solutions. An optimal branch and bound algorithm is suggested. Both heuristic solutions are demonstrated on a sample problem. The results of testing eight problems is recorded. Further suggestions for improving the heuristic solutions are also provided.