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This book includes a selection of refereed papers presented at the'Annual International Conference of the German Operations Research Society (OR2016),'which took place at the Helmut-Schmidt-Universität / Universität der Bundeswehr Hamburg, Germany, Aug. 30 - Sept. 2, 2016. Over 700 practitioners and academics from mathematics, computer science, business/economics, and related fields attended the conference. The scientific program included around 475 presentations on the theme Analytical Decision Making, focusing on the process of researching complex decision problems and devising effective solution methods towards better decisions. The book presents papers discussing classical mathematical optimization, statistics and simulation techniques. Such approaches are complemented by computer science methods and tools for the processing of data and the design and implementation of information systems. The book also examines recent advances in information technology, which allow big data volumes to be treated and enable real-time predictive and prescriptive business analytics to drive decisions and actions. Further, it includes problems modeled and treated under consideration of uncertainty, risk management, behavioral issues, and strategic decision situations.

This book contains substantially extended and revised versions of the best papers from the 15th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems, ICEIS 2013, held in Angers, France, in July 2013.The 29 full and two invited papers included in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 321 submissions. They reflect state-of-the-art research focusing mainly on real-world applications and highlight the benefits of information systems and technology for industry and services, thus connecting academia with the world of real enterprises.The topics covered are: databases and information systems integration, artificial intelligence and decision support systems, information systems analysis and specification, software agents and Internet computing, human–computer interaction, and enterprise architecture.

This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-proceedings of the 4th International Workshop on Agent-Mediated Electronic Commerce, AMEC 2002, held in Bologna, Italy in July 2002 during the AAMAS 2002 conference. The 20 revised full papers presented together with an introductory survey by the volume editors were carefully selected and improved during two rounds of reviewing and revision. The book gives a unique overview of the state of the art of designing mechanisms and systems for agent-mediated e-commerce- The papers are organized in topical sections on electronic auctions, negotiations, and electronic markets.

This book contains a selection of papers from the 13th International Conference on Engineering, Project, and Production Management (EPPM) held in Auckland, New Zealand from 29 November to 1 December 2023. The conference was organized by the School of Built Environment, Massey University in collaboration with the EPPM Association. The book comprises of quality-assured theoretical discussions, data analysis, case studies, and industry practices, presented by global researchers and practitioners. The conference theme was “Creating capacity and capability: re-energizing supply chain for sustainable management of projects and productions in engineering,” and this volume focuses on papers related to engineering project, production, and technology. The papers are comprehensive, multidisciplinary, and advanced, and will be of interest to researchers and practitioners from various industries seeking the latest updates on the fields of engineering, project, and production management.

This is an open access book. It is my great pleasure to introduce the Proceedings of the International Conference on Governance, Management, Social Sciences, Education and Innovation (ICGMSI2023). The event was held at UST Angelicum College, Manila, Philippines on 20th – 21st September 2023. The conference convenes researchers, scientists, academics, and practitioners from various nations to facilitate conversations and debates on pertinent problems, opportunities, challenges, and research discoveries. It is one of its significant and valuable features. Building worldwide relationships and offering participants a fantastic venue to share and exchange outstanding original research findings and creative ideas are the main goals of ICGMSI2023. In the fields of governance, management, social sciences, education and innovation, we live up to our pledge of contributing to the development of a positive outlook. A total of 13 submissions including authors from Malaysia, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia and other countries were approved as full papers for publication and presentation in ICGMSI2023. These papers offer excellent illustrations of recent research on pertinent subjects, such as governance, management, social sciences, innovation and education, among others. I express my gratitude to the authors for presenting the conference and contributing their knowledge and research findings to this occasion. We will be able to develop and clear the path for the future of governance, management, social sciences, education, innovation and related fields with their vision, contributions, and involvement. They are the best players and assets available now and in the future. The authors and delegates had a great time during their visit to Manila in the Philippines and that ICGMSI2023 was fascinating, thrilling, and motivating. We would like to take this opportunity to thank and acknowledge the reviewers who assisted us in maintaining the high caliber of the manuscripts published in the ICMGSI Proceedings. We also sincerely thank the organising staff and conference committee members for their tireless efforts.

The paper coordinated by Prof. Dr. Bogdan Cristian Onete is a topical subject in the context of the present informational era. It suggests a distinct approach regarding social media and the peer-to-peer platforms from the perspective of the quality of services and collaborative consumption. The research of the paper includes a quantitative research regarding the implications of peer-to-peer platforms concerning the consumer, and a qualitative research with regards to social media and its degree of influence on the quality of services. This research presents many interesting findings regarding the consumer perception of quality of services in the context of the sharing economy. These findings are valuable for all parties working in the domain of the sharing economy or collaborative consumption.

This book gathers selected science and technology papers presented at the 2018 International Conference on Science Technology and Social Sciences (ICSTSS 2018), organised bi-annually by Universiti Teknologi MARA Pahang, Malaysia. Based on the theme “Redesigning Education for Industrial Revolution”, the papers in this book address a broad range of topics in the fundamental and applied sciences, including computer science, engineering, environmental and management, furniture, forestry, health and medicine, material science, mathematics, plantation and agrotechnology, sport science and statistics, covering theoretical, numerical and experimental studies. The book serves as a platform for disseminating research findings by academicians of local, regional and global prominence, as a catalyst to inspire positive innovations in the development of the region. It provides a significant point of reference for academicians and students: for academicians, it is a good source of information to conduct further research; for students, it is the latest point of reference on research conducted in their fields of study. The carefully reviewed papers intend to facilitate the creation of new knowledge through the exchange of ideas, strategies and innovations in various science and technology disciplines, and to contribute towards enhancing the learning environment.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Serviceology for Services, held in Osaka, Japan, in March 2020.The 16 full papers and 3 short papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 58 submissions. The papers are organized around the following topics: hospitality management; service innovation and employee engagement; service marketing and consumer behavior; customer experience and service design; service engineering and implementation.

This book constitutes the proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Perspectives in Business Informatics Research, BIR 2020. The conference was initially planned to be held in Vienna, Austria, during September 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic it was postponed to be held together with BIR 2021. The 14 papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 48 submissions. The papers were organized in topical sections as follows: Digital Transformation and Technology Acceptance; Multi-perspective Enterprise Models and Frameworks; Supporting Information Systems Development; Literature and Conceptual Analysis; and Value Creation and Value Management.

This volume of Eurasian Studies in Business and Economics includes selected papers from the 24th Eurasia Business and Economics Society (EBES) Conference, held in Bangkok. The theoretical and empirical papers gathered here cover diverse areas of business and management from different geographic regions; yet the main focus is on the latest findings on evolving marketing methods, analytics, communication standards, and their effects on customer value and engagement. The volume also includes related studies that analyze sustainable consumer behavior, and business strategy-related topics such as cross-border restructuring, quality management standards, and the internationalization of SMEs.

The proceedings of the'Economics and Business Competitiveness International Conference'(EBCICON) provides a selection of papers, either research results or literature reviews, on business transformation in the digital era. Nine major subject areas, comprising accounting and governance, customer relations, entrepreneurship, environmental issues, finance and investment, human capital, industrial revolution 4.0, international issues, and operations and supply chain management are presented in the proceedings. These papers will provide new insights into the knowledge and practice of business and economics in the digital era. Therefore, parties involved in business and economics such as academics, practitioners, business leaders, and others will be interested in the contents of the proceedings.

These proceedings comprise 60 refereed papers of the Seventh World Congress on Engineering Asset Management (WCEAM) that was held in Deajeon City, Korea from 8-9 October 2012. The material is a compilation of state-of-the-art papers in the field covering a comprehensive range of subjects that are equally relevant to business managers and engineering professionals alike.Proceedings of the 7th World Congress on Engineering Asset Management (WCEAM 2012): Towards Integration and Interoperability in EAM covers a wide range of topics in the discipline of engineering asset management, including:· strategic asset management· condition monitoring and diagnostics· integrated intelligent maintenance· sensors and devices· information quality & management;· sustainability in asset management· asset performance and knowledge management· data mining and AI techniques in asset management· engineering standards and· education in engineering asset management.The breadth and depth of these proceedings will make them an excellent resource for asset management practitioners, researchers and academics, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students in tertiary institutions and in industry.

Management Science is often confronted with optimization problems characterised by weak underlying theoretical models and complex constraints. Among them, one finds data analysis, pattern recognition (classification, multidimensional analysis, discriminant analysis) as well as modelling (forecasting, confirmatory analysis, expert system design). In recent years, biomimetic approaches have received growing attention from Marketing, Finance and Human Resource researchers and executives as effective tools for practically handling such problems. Biomimetic approaches include a variety of heuristic methods - such as neural networks, genetic algorithms, immunitary nets, cellular automata - that simulate nature's way of solving complex problems and, thus, can be considered as numerical transpositions of true life problem solving. Bio-Mimetic Approaches in Management Science presents a selection of recent papers on biomimetic approaches and their application to Management Science. Most of these papers were presented at the last ACSEG/CAEMS International Congresses (Approches Connexionnistes en Sciences Economiques et de Gestion/Connectionnist Approaches in Economics and Management Science). All papers combine the discussion of conceptual issues with illustrative empirical applications, and contain detailed information on the way heuristics are practically implemented. The advantages and limits of the biomimetic approaches are discussed in several of the papers, either by comparing these approaches with more classical methods (logit models, clustering), or by investigating specific issues like overfitting and robustness. Synthesizing overviews are provided, as well as new tools for coping with some of the limitations of biomimetic methods.

This volume is the proceedings of a symposium entitled'Bottom Line Results from Strategic Human Resource Planning'which was held at Salve Regina University, Newport, Rhode Island on June 11-14, 1991. The meeting was sponsored by the Research Committee of the Human Resource Planning Society (HRPS). In developing the agenda, the Research Committee continued the approach used in previous HRPS research symposia. The focus of these meetings is on the linkage ofthe state-of-practice with the state-of-the-art. Particular attention was placed on research studies which were application oriented so that member organizations can see examples of ways to extend current practices with the knowledge presented by the applications. The meeting had sessions on: (1) The Strategic Role of Human Resources, (2) Globalization, (3) Downsizing, (4) Quality as a Strategic Human Resource Issue, (5) Forecasting Human Resource Needs, and (6) Managing People to Build Competitive Advantage. Twenty six papers were presented with discussion periods at appropriate points in the meeting. This volume contains twenty two ofthese papers along with an introductory paper. A short summary is also provided at the beginning of each major subdivision into which the papers are arranged. Thanks are in order for all who contributed to the success of the meeting.

This book is a multi-purpose document. It can be used as a text by teachers, as a reference manual by researchers, and as a practical guide by statisticians. It covers 1165 references from different research journals through almost 1900 citations across 1194 pages, a large number of complete proofs of theorems, important results such as corollaries, and 324 unsolved exercises from several research papers. It includes 159 solved, data-based, real life numerical examples in disciplines such as Agriculture, Demography, Social Science, Applied Economics, Engineering, Medicine, and Survey Sampling. These solved examples are very useful for an understanding of the applications of advanced sampling theory in our daily life and in diverse fields of science. An additional 173 unsolved practical problems are given at the end of the chapters. University and college professors may find these useful when assigning exercises to students. Each exercise gives exposure to several complete research papers for researchers/students.

During recent years auditory research has advanced quite rapidly in the area of experimental psychology as well as in that of physiology. Scientists working in both areas have in cornrnon the study of the process in HEARING, yet different scientific areas always tend to diverge. A SYMPOSIUM ON PSY­ CHOPHYSICAL MODELS AND PHYSIOLOGICAL FACTS IN HEARING was or­ ganized for the exchange of information and to stimulate dis­ cussion between research workers in psychoacoustics, neurophy­ siology, anatomy, morphology and hydromechanics. The basic aim of holding this syrnposium was to halt the divergence and to initiate the kind of multi-disciplinary research that will be need ed to elucidate the hearing process as a whole. The present proceedings comprise the papers, which were circulated to the participants two months before the syrnposium and discussed during the syrnposium, together with some cornrnents and additional re­ marks. These cornrnents and rernarks do not, however, represent the full discussions but only the parts available in written form. We have arranged the material in five sections: I. Structure and Neurobiology of the Inner Ear II. Cochlear Mechanisms III. Auditory Frequency Analysis IV. Auditory Time Analysis V. Nonlinear Effects Within the limits of a syrnposium, none of these topics could be treated comprehensively; moreover, most of the papers concerned problems having several aspects.

Insurance companies, as well as banks and thrift institutions, have traditionally reported assets and liabilities on the basis of their amortized cost, or book value. But following the turmoil in securities markets due to highly volatile interest rate fluctuations in the 1980s and the early 1990s, and problems caused by inadequate liquidity, in the mid-1990s the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued a new ruling calling for financial intermediaries to report the fair, or market, value of most assets. Called FAS 115, this new standard is the first step in the eventual change to valuing all the assets and liabilities belonging to financial intermediaries under the fair value accounting method. Thus, these changes will pose tremendous future implications for three key business measures of a financial intermediary: Solvency: if the fair values of assets and liabilities are out-of-step, then healthy companies may report negative net worth and insolvent companies may appear to be in sound financial condition. Reported Earnings: if the fair values of assets and liabilities are out of step, then reported earnings will not accurately represent the financial operations of the company. Risk Management: FASB recently postponed the implementation of its new rules on accounting for the use of derivatives instruments. However, if the final set of rules for figuring the fair value of derivatives is not carefully crafted, it may be possible that companies prudently hedging their risks are subject to penalties in their financial reports, while companies taking greater risks appear to have less volatile financial performance. Compared to banks and other financial intermediaries, life insurance companies have the longest term and most complex liabilities, and hence the new FASB requirement poses the most severe challenges to the life insurance industry. The lessons learned from the debate amonglife insurance academics and professionals about how respond to the fair value reporting rule will be instructive to their counterparts in other sectors of the insurance industry, as well as those involved with other financial institutions. Of particular note are the two papers which comprise Part III. The first provides examples of the fair valuing of annuity contracts, while the second offers examples of the fair valuing of term insurance products. As the papers collected in The Fair Value of Insurance Business extend and update some of the issues treated in a previous Salomon Center conference volume, The Fair Value of Insurance Liabilities, this new volume may be viewed as a companion to the earlier book.

Components of System Safety contains the invited papers presented at the tenth annual Safety-critical Systems Symposium, held in Southampton, February 2002. The papers included in this volume are representative of modern safety thinking, the questions that arise from it, and the investigations that result. They are all aimed at the transfer of technology, experience, and lessons to and within industry, and they offer a broad range of views. Not only do they show what has been done and what could be done, but they also lead the reader to speculate on ways in which safety might be improved.

Computing Tools for Modeling, Optimization and Simulation reflects the need for preserving the marriage between operations research and computing in order to create more efficient and powerful software tools in the years ahead. The 17 papers included in this volume were carefully selected to cover a wide range of topics related to the interface between operations research and computer science. The volume includes the now perennial applications of rnetaheuristics (such as genetic algorithms, scatter search, and tabu search) as well as research on global optimization, knowledge management, software rnaintainability and object-oriented modeling. These topics reflect the complexity and variety of the problems that current and future software tools must be capable of tackling. The OR/CS interface is frequently at the core of successful applications and the development of new methodologies, making the research in this book a relevant reference in the future. The editors'goal for this book has been to increase the interest in the interface of computer science and operations research. Both researchers and practitioners will benefit from this book. The tutorial papers may spark the interest of practitioners for developing and applying new techniques to complex problems. In addition, the book includes papers that explore new angles of well-established methods for problems in the area of nonlinear optimization and mixed integer programming, which seasoned researchers in these fields may find fascinating.

This book has an objective and a focus. It provides the reader with: • an in-depth acquaintance with the theory of the firm developed by Erich Gutenberg • an insight into a coherent body of current German research in the theory of the firm. The book is divided into two parts. The first part lays the foundations. It presents Gutenberg's theory of the firm to the English speaking reader. Considering the great importance that Erich Gutenberg has had in Germany and taking into consideration the impact that the translations of his path-breaking three volumes'Principles of Management'have had in France, the Spanish speaking countries, and in Japan, it was felt that it was necessary, on the occasion of his tOOth anniversary, to present a concise summary of his contributions to the theory of the firm to an English speaking scientific community. Six papers present Gutenberg's theory in the light of the theoretical advances that he stimulated as well as in the framework of other theoretical developments like capital market theory, transaction cost theory, principal agent theory, and contract theory. The papers show that Gutenberg's theory is highly relevant for theory and highly influential in the practice of management.

Eugene A. Feinberg Adam Shwartz This volume deals with the theory of Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) and their applications. Each chapter was written by a leading expert in the re­ spective area. The papers cover major research areas and methodologies, and discuss open questions and future research directions. The papers can be read independently, with the basic notation and concepts ofSection 1.2. Most chap­ ters should be accessible by graduate or advanced undergraduate students in fields of operations research, electrical engineering, and computer science. 1.1 AN OVERVIEW OF MARKOV DECISION PROCESSES The theory of Markov Decision Processes-also known under several other names including sequential stochastic optimization, discrete-time stochastic control, and stochastic dynamic programming-studiessequential optimization ofdiscrete time stochastic systems. The basic object is a discrete-time stochas­ tic system whose transition mechanism can be controlled over time. Each control policy defines the stochastic process and values of objective functions associated with this process. The goal is to select a'good'control policy. In real life, decisions that humans and computers make on all levels usually have two types ofimpacts: (i) they cost orsavetime, money, or other resources, or they bring revenues, as well as (ii) they have an impact on the future, by influencing the dynamics. In many situations, decisions with the largest immediate profit may not be good in view offuture events. MDPs model this paradigm and provide results on the structure and existence of good policies and on methods for their calculation.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the First International Conference on Scalable Uncertainty Management, SUM 2007, held in Washington, DC, USA, in October 2007. The 20 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from numerous submissions for inclusion in the book. The papers address artificial intelligence researchers, database researchers and practitioners.

This book offers an up-to-date and comprehensive picture of the Vietnamese economy, which is the fast-growing economy in Southeast Asia. The country has invested heavily in education, health, and development infrastructure across the country. Progress in recent decades has been strong and Vietnam has attracted significant relocation and outsourcing of production from The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. In the recent years, much of the foreign direct investment from China has been channeled to Vietnam. The state's development policy has created optimal conditions for further expansion of production, supply chain, education and finances. Investment in education, health, infrastructure, administration and regulations is facilitating investment inflows, technology transfer and spillover to the growing national companies. The educated young population and disciplined labor force have provided a strong basis for the growth of the economy. The high level of productivity, improved quality of products, low and competitive cost of production, and over 100 million people provide a strong base for a continuous economic growth. This edited volume, brings together selected papers presented at The 5th International Conference on Business (ICB 2023), providing good insights into the features of the economy and its development potential. They provide an up-to-date overview and an empirical research-based picture of the recent trends in Vietnam's economic development. The book would be a useful read for educators, undergraduate and graduate students, domestic and foreign investors, government agencies, provincial and industrial sector decision-makers, trade partners, libraries, individual researchers, and professional and practitioners. It helps to fill the gap in knowledge and inform development planners and investors about different sectors of the Vietnamese economy and its development potential.

This book features research presented and discussed during the Research & Innovation Forum (Rii Forum) 2023. As such, this book offers a unique insight into emerging topics, issues and developments pertinent to the fields of technology, innovation and education and their social impact. Papers included in this book apply inter- and multi-disciplinary approaches to query such issues as technology-enhanced teaching and learning, smart cities, information systems, cognitive computing and social networking. What brings these threads of the discussion together is the question of how advances in computer science—which are otherwise largely incomprehensible to researchers from other fields—can be effectively translated and capitalized on so as to make them beneficial for society as a whole. In this context, Rii Forum and Rii Forum proceedings offer an essential venue where diverse stakeholders, including academics, the think tank sector and decision-makers, can engage in a meaningful dialogue with a view to improving the applicability of advances in computer science.

This book features research presented and discussed during the Research & Innovation Forum (Rii Forum) 2022. As such, this book offers a unique insight into emerging topics, issues and developments pertinent to the fields of technology, innovation and education and their social impact. Papers included in this book apply inter- and multi-disciplinary approaches to query such issues as technology-enhanced teaching and learning, smart cities, information systems, cognitive computing and social networking. What brings these threads of the discussion together is the question of how advances in computer science – which are otherwise largely incomprehensible to researchers from other fields – can be effectively translated and capitalized on so as to make them beneficial for society as a whole. In this context, Rii Forum and Rii Forum proceedings offer an essential venue where diverse stakeholders, including academics, the think tank sector and decision-makers, canengage in a meaningful dialogue with a view to improving the applicability of advances in computer science.

This volume is a collection of empirical and theoretical research papers regarding Economics, Public Finance and Business written by researchers from several different universities. The studies include a wide range of topics from issues in Economics, Public Finance and Business. The book is aimed at educators, researchers, and students interested in Public Finance, Business and Economics.

This book covers high-quality peer-reviewed research papers presented at the 18th International Symposium of Organizational Sciences (SymOrg 2022) held in Belgrade, Serbia, from 11 to 14 June 2022. The aim of the book is providing stimulative framework for readers to explore viable alternatives and indicate implications for the post-pandemic world. Researchers from academia and industry present their original work focusing on different aspects of sustainable management and digital transformation including blockchain technology, business analytics, e-business, innovation, digital operations and logistics management, financial industry, public administration, lean business systems, digital transformation projects, human resources, marketing and communication, and quality and standardization. The chapters could be useful for industry experts, research institutions, universities, and all others who share a common interest in contemporary organizational sciences.

This book gathers selected theoretical and empirical papers from the 29th Eurasia Business and Economics Society (EBES) Conference, held in Lisbon, Portugal. Covering diverse areas of business and management in various geographic regions, it highlights the latest research on human resources, management and marketing, among other topics. It also includes related studies that address marketing and management-relevant aspects such as the impact of supervisor support on employee performance through work engagement, the standardization of global logistics business operations, elements to support long-term B2B communication, and omni-channel strategies in the Marketing 4.0 paradigm.

The present book project on Research Design, which is planned in English, is intended to create an innovative textbook that can be used at university undergraduate and graduate levels in internationally oriented education in the German-speaking countries. This textbook shall provide comprehensive guidance for students when tackling their (applied) research papers. Instead of reiterating qualitative and quantitative methods it focuses on how to come up with an appropriate research design that allows the student to make the intended intellectual contribution. Starting from the desired (hypothetical) conclusion or statement the student will be guided through the process of finding the appropriate Research Question that will be answered by such a statement and the required Research Design consisting of data collection and data analysis, that allows for such a statement as the conclusion of the study. Common Research Designs in Business and Management, i.e. well beyond the standard ResearchDesigns of Social Sciences and curtailed to the focus area, will be described with regard to their suitability to answer specific kinds of questions as well as the idiosyncrasies of the these Designs and their impact on the written research reports. Examples for each Research Design will be provided as well as guidance about how to write about such research.

This book presents the proceedings of the Joint Conference of the Asian Council on Ergonomics and Design and Southeast Asian Network of Ergonomics Societies (ACED SEANES), held on December 2-4, 2020. By highlighting the latest theories and models, as well as cutting-edge technologies and applications, and by combining findings from a range of disciplines including engineering, design, robotics, healthcare, management, computer science, human biology and behavioral science, it provides researchers and practitioners alike with a comprehensive, timely guide on human factors and ergonomics. It also offers an excellent source of innovative ideas to stimulate future discussions and developments aimed at applying knowledge and techniques to optimize system performance, while at the same time promoting the health, safety and wellbeing of individuals. The proceedings include papers from researchers and practitioners, scientists and physicians, institutional leaders, managers and policy makers that contribute to constructing the Human Factors and Ergonomics approach across a variety of methodologies, domains and productive sectors.

This volume highlights current research and developments on organizations and (their) performance against the background of ubiquitous complexity. It investigates some of the challenges and trends dominating the complex world of nowadays and the ways organizations are dealing with them in their continuous search for performance. The papers in the volume cover a series of hot and/or emerging topics (i.e. sustainable development, corporate social responsibility, green marketing, digital revolution, social media, global trade, intangible assets, economic intelligence and innovation).Built on an interdisciplinary perspective and a multi-level approach―global (trade, power, sustainable development), regional (EU, BRICS), national (country-based systems, cultures, policies, practices), industry (airlines, pharma, luxury, retailing, banking, tourism), local (communities, destinations), and organization (entrepreneurship, MNEs, public organizations: national and local)―thevolume uniquely addresses issues of high interest for researchers, practitioners and policymakers.

This book presents selected theoretical and empirical papers from the 26th and 27th Eurasia Business and Economics Society (EBES) Conferences, held in Prague, Czech Republic, and Bali, Indonesia. Covering diverse areas of business and management in various geographic regions, it addresses a range of current topics, such as human resources, management, SMEs and marketing. It also includes related studies that analyze management and marketing aspects, e.g. workplace learning, gamification in business, resilience and entrepreneurship, the use of IT tools in small businesses, and dynamic marketing capabilities in an intercultural environment.

In urban analytics, ‘crowding'implies the spatiotemporal distributional unevenness of people's stays and flows in middle-scale urban spaces, and has since become an emerging keyword, attracting not only practical interests but also research interests, especially in the current IoT devised downtown. This book presents a collection of papers on a series of exploratory studies on the rise and fall of downtowns (Downtown Dynamics), which the author's group has been working on with the aim of constructing an artificial society that contributes to the planning and management of crowds by developing Agent-Based Social Simulation (ABSS). In particular, the book includes (1) an analysis of 20 years'worth of survey data on visitors'shopping-around behavior for Osu district in Nagoya city, as a representative Japanese downtown, (2) correlation analyses of spatial distributions between Visibility Graph Analysis (VGA) as a “visibility index” and crowding in middle scale urban spaces, (3) agent modeling of visitors'shopping-around behavior and construction of the Downtown Dynamics Model as an artificial society, and (4) modeling of the vision-driven agent as a “crowd generator” and its applicability to spatial design and sign layout in urban spaces. The book also includes a novel research program derived from complexity system science that provides new approaches to Agent-Based Modeling (ABM), social simulation, regional sciences, geo-informatics, and urban planning studies for researchers and graduate students, as well as planning scientists and practitioners such as town managers and planners who are concerned with downtown revitalization.

This book gathers selected theoretical and empirical papers from the 28th Eurasia Business and Economics Society (EBES) Conference, held in Coventry, United Kingdom. Covering diverse areas of business and management in various geographic regions, it highlights the latest research on human resources, management and marketing, among other topics. It also includes related studies that address management and marketing aspects such as telecommuting versus the traditional work environment, the effect of value congruence, promoting product characteristics using social media, perception of terrorism risks, and personal innovativeness and employability.

This volume is a collection of empirical and theoretical research papers regarding public finance and business and economics written by researchers from several different universities. The studies include a wide range of topics from issues in public finance and business and economics. The book is aimed at educators, researchers, and students interested in public finance and business and economics.

For decades Germany and France have been forming the core of the European Union. They generate about 40 per cent of total economic output in the Euro Zone. Nowhere else, there does exist such an intense relationship between neighbouring economies like between these two countries. Those links go far beyond external trade relations and are targeted towards mutual business cooperation. In the light of globalisation, a rising number of competitors, increasing customer demands and short product life cycles, cross-national commerce are of great importance for German Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) – particularly in the B2B sector. Sales is often tagged as an enterprise's figurehead. It is responsible for determining whether a manufacturer effectively conveys its capabilities to the B2B customer. To date, there exists no single reference book covering all four topics of this paper's headline: B2B, SMEs, sales and Franco-German business relationships. The ongoing literature is mainly focussed on large firms. The subject of international sales has hardly been investigated, yet. Apart from the sales excellence approach, there are few selling models for corporate practice. The lack of sales expertise both in theory and practise is thus not the ideal prerequisite for succeeding on a cross-border scale. This study addresses sales challenges of German SMEs with its trading partner France in the B2B sector. It should be stressed that the focus is on SMEs from Germany only. The company size of French business partners does not play a role in this context. The acquisition-related part of sales (selling) is highlighted while the physical component (distribution) is secondary within the framework of this assignment. In consequence, the central question is to figure out what kind of challenges German SMEs must face when exerting B2B sales activities in France. A related sub-issue is defined as follows: “Which type of challenge has the greatest impact on cross-border sales operations in France?” The declared purpose of this study is to answer the above-mentioned queries. Following the acquired basic knowledge this is done through an empirical survey. Furthermore, it is targeted to provide recommendations in order to enhance sales efficiency and effectiveness of German SMEs.

Management and Leadership Innovations, vol. 38 of Advances in Librarianship presents techniques, cases and theoretical papers on how libraries and other non-profit organizations can achieve sustainability through application of the UN's Agenda 21, how to interview candidates through non-traditional and interactive processes to assess'soft skills'needed to join a team, how a model was developed to ensure successful school libraries, and how academic libraries can provide leadership in sustaining and preserving their surrounding communities'history and culture. It also offers chapters on the utility of gossip in management, how to provide mindful leadership within an organization, and how to identify and manage levels of stress and burnout. The volume presents a case study of how a library altered the skill sets of subject librarians to function in teams using a matrix approach in order to better serve clients. Another innovation is represented by a chapter on staff development and service through participation in a community of practice. Also included is a chapter on service design a relatively new concept of service design which is critical in improving user/customer satisfaction and patronage.

units. This can be seen as an indicator of the extent to which the MNC is capable of putting its corporate-level resources to work on aglobaI scale. Becerra and San­ tal6 find that about ten percent of the variability of regional units is attributable to corporate effects. The more internationalized the MNC is, the stronger the cor­ porate effect. This suggests that the more internationalized MNCs are also more successful in integrating their international operations, whether by employing worldwide home-grown advantages, or by spreading over the entire organization resources and capabilities developed by a particular subsidiary. This integration within the MNC, that can be assumed to be responsible for the stronger corporate effect in the more internationalized MNCs in Becerra and Santal6's sampie, is the focus of Mauri and Sambharya's paper. These authors study the effect of global integration on the performance of the MNC, operatio­ nalizing global integration as the inter-area product flows within the multinatio­ nal. They find a non-linear relation between global integration and MNC per­ formance. At low levels of global integration, there is a negative relation with performance, which turns positive at intermediate levels, but negative again at very high levels of global integration. Their explanation is that at very low and very high levels of integration the balance between the costs and benefits of global integration activities is negative.

Fixed-point algorithms have diverse applications in economics, optimization, game theory and the numerical solution of boundary-value problems. Since Scarf's pioneering work [56,57] on obtaining approximate fixed points of continuous mappings, a great deal of research has been done in extending the applicability and improving the efficiency of fixed-point methods. Much of this work is available only in research papers, although Scarf's book [58] gives a remarkably clear exposition of the power of fixed-point methods. However, the algorithms described by Scarf have been super~eded by the more sophisticated restart and homotopy techniques of Merrill [~8,~9] and Eaves and Saigal [1~,16]. To understand the more efficient algorithms one must become familiar with the notions of triangulation and simplicial approxi- tion, whereas Scarf stresses the concept of primitive set. These notes are intended to introduce to a wider audience the most recent fixed-point methods and their applications. Our approach is therefore via triangu- tions. For this reason, Scarf is cited less in this manuscript than his contri- tions would otherwise warrant. We have also confined our treatment of applications to the computation of economic equilibria and the solution of optimization problems. Hansen and Koopmans [28] apply fixed-point methods to the computation of an invariant optimal capital stock in an economic growth model. Applications to game theory are discussed in Scarf [56,58], Shapley [59], and Garcia, Lemke and Luethi [24]. Allgower [1] and Jeppson [31] use fixed-point algorithms to find many solutions to boundary-value problems.

Guillaume Wunsch, Michel Mouchart, Josianne Duchene This book is an outcome of the activities of the Working Group on Health, Morbidity, and Mortality Differentials of the European Association for Population Studies, which was chaired for some years by one of the present editors (G. Wunsch). In collaboration with the Institute of Statistics and the Institute of Demography of the University of Louvain, this Working Group held a workshop in Louvain-Ia-Neuve a few years ago on the use of life tables in Europe, taking into account problems of data collection, methods, and models. Some of the participants in the workshop were then invited by the present editors to improve, develop, or in some cases thoroughly modify their papers in order to transform them into chapters of a book on life tables. Though life tables are one of the oldest tools in demography, and every textbook on demographic methods deals with the topic of life table construction, few books have dealt with the subject in depth. It is the hope of the editors that the present volume will fulfill to some extent this need. Though primarily written by and for demographers, this book will also be of use to actuaries working in life insurance, and to epidemiologists dealing with morbidity and cause of death. Furthermore, a topic such as competing risks theory should also be of interest to statisticians.

Volumes 1 & 2 Guide to the MAJOR COMPANIES OF EUROPE 1991192, Volume 1, arrangement of the book contains useful information on over 4000 of the top companies in the European Community, excluding the UK, over 1100 This book has been arranged in order to allow the reader to companies of which are covered in Volume 2. Volume 3 covers find any entry rapidly and accurately. over 1300 of the top companies within Western Europe but outside the European Community. Altogether the three Company entries are listed alphabetically within each country volumes of MAJOR COMPANIES OF EUROPE now provide in section; in addition three indexes are provided in Volumes 1 authoritative detail, vital information on over 6500 of the largest and 3 on coloured paper at the back of the book, and two companies in Western Europe. indexes in the case of Volume 2. MAJOR COMPANIES OF EUROPE 1991/92, Volumes 1 The alphabetical index in Volume 2 lists all the major & 2 contain many of the largest companies in the world. The companies in the UK. In this index companies with names area covered by these volumes, the European Community, such as A B Smith can be found listed as A B Smith and represents a rich consumer market of over 320 million people. Smith, A B.

This book originated in a symposium on business ethics that took place in the Faculty of Commerce at the University of Canterbury in September of 1997. Professor Werhane, who was a visiting Erskine Fellow, provided the keynote address, and many of the papers in this collection were originally presented at this symposium. We are grateful to Kluwer Publishers for the opportunity to publish these essays in their series on International Business Ethics. We want to thank the Olsson Center for Applied Ethics at the Darden School, University of Virginia, and the Erskine Trust and the Department of Management at the University of Canterbury for their support of Professor Werhane's fellowship, research for this text, and funding for its production. We especially want to thank Lisa Spiro, who copy-edited and prepared the manuscript for publication. INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW This book originated in a symposium on business ethics that took place in the faculty of commerce, at the University of Canterbury, in September 1997. Professor Werhane, who was a visiting Erskine Fellow, provided the keynote address. Contributions to the proceedings were. inter-disciplinary, spanning theory and practice. Subsequent contributions were obtained from within New Zealand and from Asia. The book starts off on rather a pessimistic note: the new managerialism (the kind of thing Scott Adams jokes about in the world-famous Dilbert cartoons) is economically suspect and psychologically damaging.

This book represents the tenth edition of what has become an established reference work, MAJOR COMPANIES OF THE Guide to the FAR EAST & AUSTRALASIA This volume has been carefully researched and updated since publication of the prevIous arrangement of the book edition, and provides more company data on the most Important companies In the region The information In the ThiS book has been arranged In order to allow the reader to book was submitted mostly by the companies themselves, find any entry rapidly and accurately completely free of charge Company entries are listed alphabetically Within each section, The companies listed have been selected on the grounds of In addition three Indexes are provided on coloured paper at the size of their sales volume or balance sheet or their the back of the book Importance to the bUSiness environment of the country In which they are based The alphabetical Index to companies throughout South East Asia lists all companies haVing entnes In the book Irrespective The book IS updated and published every year Any company of their main country of operation that considers It IS eligible for Inclusion In the next edition of MAJOR COMPANIES OF THE FAR EAST & AUSTRALASIA The alphabet/cal Index to companies Within each country of should write to the pu blishers No charge whatsoever IS made South East ASia lists companies by their country of operation for publishing details about a company The bUSiness activity mdex lists companies by their vanous

The articles in this volume were originally reports conceived as Germany's contribution to the 6th International Congress of Criminology in Madrid. Impressions gained at this world congress, prompted our decision to make these papers available in the English language. In this way we hope to make accessible to an international audience the most recent reflections, approaches and research findings of criminologists in the Federal Republic of Germany. We are adding to this collection a bibliography listing all criminological It seems to us monographs published in German within the last five years. that a systematic survey of the literature is highly suitable for completing the picture outlined in the various articles. This should provide some idea of the focal points and tendencies of the present thinking and of the efforts at institutionalization in German criminology. Last but not least, this col­ lection may help to revise the opinion that criminology in the German­ speaking world is still largely biologically oriented. The editors are aware of the scholarly and editorial risks connected with the publication of such a volume. Nevertheless they believe that these risks have to be faced in order to provide information about the present crimino­ logical thinking in the Federal Republic of Germany and to illustrate its close links with the international scene. We hope that this book will be accepted by the international public as a contribution to a'comparative criminology'. Should this venture find an interested audience, similar volumes could follow in regular intervals.

Recent events like the BSE and GM food crises, and the Concorde crash in July 2000, have illustrated that large private and public sector organisations are vulnerable and can suffer from major disruption to their business. Awareness of the need to develop expertise in risk management has grown and as a result new programs of research and teaching in risk and crisis management are being developed at universities. The contributions to this volume have been selected by adopting a multi-disciplinary approach to risk, and by considering the implications for management, business and society. The contributions are written by recognized experts in their fields and represent a unique collection of papers on the topic. Audience: The book will be of benefit to scientists, managers, politicians and trainers in academia, business and industry involved in risk analysis, assessment and management, regulation and deregulation of risk, crisis management and accidents and disasters.

to Actuarial Mathematics by A. K. Gupta Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, U. S. A. and T. Varga National Pension Insurance Fund. Budapest, Hungary SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B. V. A C. I. P. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN 978-90-481-5949-9 ISBN 978-94-017-0711-4 (eBook) DOI 10. 1007/978-94-017-0711-4 Printed on acid-free paper All Rights Reserved © 2002 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 2002 No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner. To Alka, Mita, and Nisha AKG To Terezia and Julianna TV TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE.......................................................................................... ix CHAPTER 1. FINANCIAL MATHEMATICS.................................. 1 1. 1. Compound Interest........................................................ 1 1. 2. Present Value................................................................... 31 1. 3. Annuities........................................................................... 48 CHAPTER 2. MORTALITy.............................................................. 80 2. 1Survival Time.................................................................... 80 2. 2. Actuarial Functions of Mortality................................... 84 2. 3. Mortality Tables............................................................... 98 CHAPTER 3. LIFE INSURANCES AND ANNUITIES..................... 112 3. 1. Stochastic Cash Flows..................................................... 112 3. 2. Pure Endowments........................................................... 130 3. 3. Life Insurances................................................................. 133 3. 4. Endowments.................................................................... 147 3. 5. Life Annuities................................................................... 154 CHAPTER 4. PREMIUMS................................................................ 194 4. 1. Net Premiums.................................................................. 194 4. 2. Gross Premiums.............................................................. 215 Vll CHAPTER 5. RESERVES................................................................. 223 5. 1. Net Premium Reserves.................................................. 223 5. 2. Mortality Profit................................................................ 272 5. 3. Modified Reserves...............

As the markets in transitional economies open and grow, major challenges and opportunities arise for multinational firms entering these markets, local firms facing these new competitors, and policymakers seeking to increase the ability of all firms to compete fairly and efficiently. Yet despite the important questions transition economies pose for policymakers and companies seeking to enter and compete in these new markets, there has been a relative absence of systematic research on these concerns. This book seeks to fill a gap in the existing literature by offering a pioneering and comprehensive examination of issues that have developed as markets in transitional economies become more deregulated and open. The countries discussed include China, the Czech Republic, Hungary, India, Poland, Romania, Russia, South Africa and South Korea. The topics covered are divided into five main sections, and the individual chapters are written by some of the world's leading academic experts on these issues. Most of the authors draw from freshly-collected data in new studies of consumers and/or firms in transitional economies. After an opening section which discusses the marketing issues and challenges multinational and local firms face in transitional economies, the next three sections offer detailed treatments of changing consumer behavior, measuring and improving the marketing orientation of firms, and implementing and managing distribution channels. The fifth and final section is devoted to firm strategies and tactics, examined variously from the perspective of multinational firms entering these new markets, from the viewpoint of existing local firms facing new competitive challenges from global entrants, and from the perspective of local firms seeking to establish themselves in foreign markets where they have not previously competed. Most of the individual chapters are revised versions of papers originally presented at a conference sponsored by the William Davidson Institute, which focuses on research related to emerging and transitional economies, and have not previously appeared in published form. Thus, the book is a unique collection of cutting-edge scholarship on the various aspects of marketing in transitional economies. It will prove valuable reading to academics, policymakers, and international business strategists.

Innovation networks are a major source for acquiring new information and knowledge and thus for supporting innovation processes. Despite the many theoretical and empirical contributions to the explanation of networks, many questions still remain open. For example: How can networks, if they do not emerge by their own, be initiated? How can fragmentation in innovation systems be overcome? And how can networking experience from market economies be transferred to the emerging economies of Central and Eastern Europe? By presenting a selection of papers which address innovation networking from theoretical and political viewpoints, the book aims at giving answers to these questions.

The purpose of this monograph is to illuminate the central issues of dynamic analysis applied to economic models, using a generally accepted language of the study of dynamical systems at a level of sophistication likely to be understood by an economist versed in elementary topology. Whether an economic system is governed by a first order difference equation or several simultaneous multivalued partial differential equations, its solution is a flow that determines the state of the system given an initial condition and elapsed time. Thus the flow of a system is the central concept from which the theory here expounded develops. The explicit examples and applications herein are discrete time models, but the theoretical re­ sults hold for continuous time models as well. The supplementary bibliography in­ cludes several papers at the frontier of set-valued dynamics which may be viewed using the basic concepts defined in this text; all of these works involve demon­ strating that (almost) all possible trajectories that a system may follow converge to some set of equilibria. The application of set valued dynamical analysis to economic models is pro~ vided to engender in the reader an appreciation for the relevance of these con­ cepts to economic theory.