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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 constitutes revised papers from the six workshops held at the 19th International Conference on Business Information Systems, BIS 2016, held in Leipzig, Germany, in July 2016. The workshops included in this volume are: • The 8th Workshop on Applications of Knowledge-Based Technologies in Business - AKTB2016 accepted 7 papers from 14 submissions and features 1 invited talk. • The 7th Workshop on Business and IT Alignment - BITA 2016 selected 6 papers from 12 submissions. • The Workshop on Big Data and Business Analytics Ecosystems - DeBASE 2016 has 4 papers in this volume. • The First International Workshop on Intelligent Data Analysis in Integrated Social CRM - iCRM 2016 features 5 contributions. • The Second International Workshop on Digital Enterprise Engineering and Architecture - IDEA 2016 contributes 4 papers to this volume. • The First International Workshop on Integrative Analysis and Computation of Life Data for Smart Ecosystems - INCLuDE 2016 publishes 4 research papers. In addition, BIS hosted a Doctoral Consortium which was organized in a workshop formula. The best papers from this event are included in the book.In total, the workshops had 84 submissions of which 38 were accepted for publication.

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 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 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 proceedings volume presents a selection of the best papers from the 14th International Conference on Business Excellence, Business Revolution in the Digital Era (ICBE 2020), held in Bucharest, Romania. The respective papers share the latest findings and perspectives on innovation in a turbulent business environment, and on improvements in economic, societal and technological structures and processes to help reach major sustainability goals.

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 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.

Businesses in African countries continued to face crises due to COVID-19, supply chain, and climate change. Governments can take steps to increase businesses'resilience by supporting and promoting sustainable development. In turn, businesses can increase their resilience by promoting the resilience of their employees. This book explores the current state of management and resilience in African nations and discusses issues that revolve around its reciprocal impact on global business, government, and society. Featuring select papers from the 4th Annual Current Business Issue in African Countries (CBIAC) Conference held in Agadir, Morocco in 2023, this book focuses on the synergies between climate change, supply chain and sustainable development, particularly post pandemic featuring content from business and NGO leaders, faculty, and students. The impetus of the CBIAC conference was the discussions held at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) held in Nairobi, Keyna in July 2016 and in Bridgetown, Barbados, and Geneva in October. The goal of the conference is to create long-term collaborative relationships between business leaders, faculty, researchers, students, and community members from different African nations.

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 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.

This book contributes to growing literature on the role of business groups in the development of corporate sector and contains perspectives from the Indian economy. It brings together an array of well-researched papers that provide a comprehensive understanding of evolution and nature of the Indian business groups, as well as various aspects of their functioning. All chapters are primarily empirical, use appropriate quantitative techniques and are strongly grounded in relevant theories. This fine combination of data, techniques and theories is expected to provide the reader with in-depth understanding of the complex structures and behaviour of firms affiliated to business groups. Readers interested in the Indian corporate sector, especially Indian business groups, will find the book useful.

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 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 provides a thorough understanding of the key policy debates on international trade and investment for development with a focus on the East African Community (EAC) to strengthen Member States'capacity to develop policies to promote their exports'competitiveness and diversification. Beyond Member States', the book serves as a base for a deeper understanding of the challenges, opportunities and requirements of the intra-continental trade agreement which is now in sight with the ratification of the Tripartite (EAC-COMESA-SADC) Free Trade Area that is critical in addressing key constraints to trade in the African continent. Moreover, the lessons from this edited volume may also extend to the challenges and opportunities of the African Continental Free Trade Area. The book brings together a comprehensive overview and an evidence-based analysis that can be considered best practice in the region. The trade and investment policy analysis of constraints and opportunities aims to improve trade and competitiveness and covers macro- (economy-wide), meso- (sectoral) and micro- (firm or household) levels. This multi-level approach is crucial for understanding how current trade and investment policies limit competitiveness and diversification in order to identify more tangible policy action for overcoming such constraints. The individual contributors follow comprehensive applied empirical approaches, and each chapter generates knowledge needed to identify key challenges and opportunities focusing on research-led policy-relevant approaches that enable readers to better understand national, bilateral, and multilateral cooperation as well as policies for sustainable development in East Africa. The contributors know the EAC context very well as their engagement in policymaking goes beyond the context of the papers they are writing about. The individual chapters were developed as part of a research and capacity building programme under the aegis of ACP and EUthat we implemented in 2020-2022. The research project well fits into the Frontiers in African Business Research series as we have many African contributors. The contributions matter to policymakers and academic circles. For students, the book serves as an excellent guide for understanding international trade and investment theories and gaining up-to-date knowledge on developments in the world economy and their effects on developing countries and SDGs. Trade policy researchers and students will be able to extend theories and empirical data to address new and emerging topics beyond the settings already covered in the book.

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 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.

This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-workshop proceedings of eight international workshops held in Ulm, Germany, in conjunction with the 7th International Conference on Business Process Management, BPM 2009, in September 2009. The eight workshops were on Empirical Research in Business Process Management (ER-BPM 2009), Reference Modeling (RefMod 2009), Business Process Design (BPD 2009), Business Process Intelligence (BPI 2009), Collaborative Business Processes (CBP 2009), Process-Oriented Information Systems in Healthcare (ProHealth 2009), Business Process Management and Social Software (BPMS2 2009), Event-Driven Business Process Management (edBPM 2009). The 67 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from numerous submissions.

This book contains the refereed proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Agile Software Development, XP 2016, held in Edinburgh, UK, in May 2016.While agile development has already become mainstream in industry, this field is still constantly evolving and continues to spur an enormous interest both in industry and academia. To this end, the XP conference attracts a large number of software practitioners and researchers, providing a rare opportunity for interaction between the two communities. The 14 full papers accepted for XP 2016 were selected from 42 submissions. Additionally, 11 experience reports (from 25 submissions) 5 empirical studies (out of 12 submitted) and 5 doctoral papers (from 6 papers submitted) were selected, and in each case the authors were shepherded by an experienced researcher. Generally, all of the submitted papers went through a rigorous peer-review process.

This book examines the impact of digital innovation on organizations. It reveals how the digital revolution is redefining traditional levels of analysis while at the same time blurring the internal and external boundaries of the organizational environment. It presents a collection of research papers that examine the interaction between Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and behavior from a threefold perspective: First, they analyze individual behavior in terms of specific organizational practices like learning, collaboration and knowledge transfer, as well as the use of ICT within the organization. Second, they explore the dynamics at work on the border between the internal and the external environments by analyzing the organizational impact of ICT usage outside the company, as can be seen in employer branding, consumer behavior and organizational image. Third, they investigate how ICT is being adopted to help face societal challenges outside the company like wasteand pollution, smart cities, and e-government. The diversity of views offered makes this book particularly relevant for users, companies, scientists and governments. The content is based on a selection of the best papers – original double-blind peer reviewed contributions –presented at the annual conference of the Italian chapter of AIS, which took place in Rome, Italy, in October 2015, or in other reputable international peer-refereed Information Systems conferences.

This proceedings volume examines the state-of-the art of productivity and efficiency analysis and adds to the existing research by bringing together a selection of the best papers from the 8th North American Productivity Workshop (NAPW). It also aims to analyze world-wide perspectives on challenges that local economies and institutions may face when changes in productivity are observed. The volume comprises of seventeen papers that deal with productivity measurement, productivity growth, dynamics of productivity change, measures of labor productivity, measures of technical efficiency in different sectors, frontier analysis, measures of performance, industry instability and spillover effects. These papers are relevant to academia, but also to public and private sectors in terms of the challenges firms, financial institutions, governments and individuals may face when dealing with economic and education related activities that lead to increase or decrease of productivity.The North American Productivity Workshop brings together academic scholars and practitioners in the field of productivity and efficiency analysis from all over the world. It is a four day conference exploring topics related to productivity, production theory and efficiency measurement in economics, management science, operations research, public administration, and related fields. The papers in this volume also address general topics as health, energy, finance, agriculture, utilities, and economic development, among others. The editors are comprised of the 2014 local organizers, program committee members, and celebrated guest conference speakers.

This book presents a collection of original research papers focused on the relationship between information technology and accounting and control models. The book discusses the importance of establishing a synergetic relationship between new information technologies (ERP, BI, web-based technology, data mining, XBRL, etc.) and new or renewed accounting models and tools (performance indicators, prevision and simulation models, accounting models for public administration, etc.) in order to enhance an organization's capability to manage information and make valuable decisions. The search for these synergies takes place at all organizational levels: at a strategic level, in order to simulate and forecast behaviors and financial results at a management level, in order to innovate performance measurement and improve value creation at the operational level, in order to improve information qualityand the efficiency of the information process. This book is particularly useful for IS and CFO managers and scholars, as it is based on a selection of the best papers – original, double blind reviewed contributions - presented to the Annual Conference of the Italian Chapter of AIS under the category “Accounting Information Systems”.

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.

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 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.

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.

Ob Diesel-Skandal oder Panama-Papers – immer wieder umgehen große Unternehmen oder führende Persönlichkeiten aus Politik und Wirtschaft das Gesetz. Und immer wieder staunt die Öffentlichkeit, warum das so oft kaum spürbare Konsequenzen für die Beteiligten hat. Jochen Theurer erklärt anhand aktueller Fälle, wann und warum der Rechtsstaat an seine Grenzen stößt: Warum entscheiden Richter nicht immer nur nach Recht und Gesetz? Warum helfen Rechtsanwälte auch den bösen Buben? Warum gibt es Gesetzeslücken? Warum haben es Menschen mit Geld leichter vor Gericht? Warum wird nicht jeder Gesetzesverstoß bestraft? Warum hört der Kampf ums Recht nie auf? Spannend, unterhaltsam und informativ beantwortet der frühere Insider diese Fragen und gibt dem Leser wertvolle Einsichten in den operativen Alltag des Rechtswesens. Das Buch schließt mit nützlichen Tipps zum Umgangmit Anwälten und Richtern.

This volume presents the current thinking on finance and strategy inside China. It begins with research presented at the China Financial Markets Conference in 2016, jointly organized by the University of Malaya and the Sun Tzu Art of War Institute. It includes a talk by Check Teck Foo on Currency-at-War: A Longer View, as well as a highly innovative piece by Kishan on the New Chinese Paradigm in Finance, and Tianyue Lu and Wee-Yeap Lau's empirical work on China's Shadow Banking. Ignatius Roni Setyawan and Buddi Wibowo also offer compelling contributions on Determinants of Market Integration in ASEAN. Other topics include The intriguing poser: integrating China into ASEAN, will determinants be the same? and Real Estate and Inflation in China by Siew Peng Lee and Mansor Isa.The book also features contributions from the 7th Global Chinese Management Conference held in 2017. Of the several papers on Sun Tzu, Seow Wah Sheh's on Modeling of the Dao of SunTzu for Business was chosen along with Shi Yong Song's Legal Risks inside China and Sustainability Reporting by Xin Sheng Duan and Check-Teck Foo. Furthermore, contributions on Company Secretaries on Chinese Board of Directors by Guang You Liu and Xiao Hui Wang are included. Lastly, it presents Check-Teck Foo's interview with Singaporean Chinese forecaster, Jason Tan Beng Siang, discussing Chinese approaches to forecasting as well as his invention, San Bian Shu.

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.

This book discusses the concepts of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) that are the core of various paradigms used in strategic management to understand competitive advantage as well as flexibility in organizational boundaries. It serves as a valuable reference resource in the area of VUCA markets. An increase in the levels and types of uncertainty has important implications potentially for the durability of a company's advantages, the way firms learn and adapt, approaches for managing innovation and knowledge, and the attractiveness of different strategies and organizational models. In today's world, strategic flexibility in VUCA is essential for business leaders to sustain market advantage and attain a clear vision amid the chaos. Business leaders who stay focused and are aware of external volatility as the prevalent characteristic are successful, while those who are not flexible in this VUCA world and lock themselves into fixed positions lose out.The book includes empirical and conceptual research papers along with case studies and models discussing strategies for emerging markets in volatile and uncertain environments. It also covers a variety of issues, including innovation, people and processes, financial management, and leadership and strategies in VUCA markets. Apart from research fraternity and academia, the contents of the book will be useful for practitioners as well as industry watchers.

This volume provides the latest outcomes of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) research conducted in various industries. It reveals how AR and VR are currently changing the business landscape, and how new innovations provide opportunities for businesses to offer their customers unique services and experiences. Collecting the proceedings of the International AR & VR Conference held in Manchester, UK, in February 2017, the book advances the state of the art in AR and VR technologies and their applications in various industries such as tourism, hospitality, events, fashion, entertainment, retail, education and the gaming industry. The papers presented here cover the most significant topics within the field of AR and VR for both researchers and practitioners, approaching them from a business and management perspective.

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.

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.

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 edited book focuses on growth and entrepreneurial development in rapidly developing countries in Asia-Pacific region. The book synthesizes the scholarly papers and ideas presented at the 3rd International Conference on Managing the Asian Century, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2015. It accounts for that fact that entrepreneurs of today are focusing more on technology and that this is happening in so-called Smart Nations. Chapters in the book elaborate on huge gains in innovation in ASEAN, China and India. Gains that are essential for national growth. Some of the issues that are covered include developments in Financial-Data Analysis, Global Healthcare, Geospatial Analysis, Lean Manufacturing, Human Resource, and Big Data and Learning Analytics.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Third International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management in Mediterranean Countries, ISCRAM-med 2016, held in Madrid, Spain, in October 2016. Information systems and technologies can play a key role in crisis management in order to support preparation, response, mitigation and recovery processes. Yet technology is not enough to guarantee a better management process, and therefore the conference does not only focus on engineering technologies, but also on their application and practical experiences. The 12 full and 8 short papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 36 submissions. They are organized in topical sections on mobile apps for citizens, modeling and simulation, development of information systems, information and knowledge management, collaboration and coordination, social computing, and issues in humanitarian crisis.

This book presents the latest findings and ongoing research in the field of green information systems and green information and communication technology (ICT). It provides insights into a whole range of cross-cutting topics in ICT and environmental sciences as well as showcases how information and communication technologies allow environmental and energy efficiency issues to be handled effectively. The papers presented in this book are a selection of extended and improved contributions to the 28th International Conference on Informatics for Environmental Protection dedicated to ICT for energy efficiency. This book is essential and particularly worth reading for those who already gained basic knowledge and want to deepen and extend their expertise in the subjects mentioned above.

These conference proceedings focus on the topic of decision-making under uncertainty, smart decisions, management simulation and their applications in operations management for power and logistics companies. The Beijing University of Chemical Technology organized IFDS2015, the 3rd International Forum on Decision Sciences, with this year's theme being “Decision Making under Uncertainty”. The proceedings collect 7 selected papers presenting the cutting-edge modeling and solution methods and including numerous practical case studies, which are of interest for researchers and practitioners alike. Teachers, students and practitioners working in the fields of decision science, operations research, management science and engineering will benefit from the valuable findings presented in this book.

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 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

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.