Francisco J. Santos Arteaga

A multicriteria spatial decision support system for solving emergency service station location problems

Earthquakes occurring in urban areas constitute an important concern for emergency management and rescue services. Emergency service location problems may be formulated in discrete space or by restricting the potential location(s) to a specified finite set of points in continuous space. We propose a Multicriteria Spatial Decision Support System to identify shelters and emergency service locations in urban evacuation planning. The proposed system has emerged as an integration of the geographical information systems (GIS) and the multicriteria Decision-Making method of Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation IV (PROMETHEE IV). This system incorporates multiple and often conflicting criteria and decision-makers’ preferences into a spatial decision model. We consider three standard structural attributes (i.e., durability density, population density, and oldness density) in the form of spatial maps to determine the zones most vulnerable to an earthquake. The information on these spatial maps is then entered into the ArcGIS software to define the relevant scores for each point with regards to the aforementioned attributes. These scores will be used to compute the preference functions in PROMETHEE IV, whose net flow outranking for each alternative will be inputted in ArcGIS to determine the zones that are most vulnerable to an earthquake. The final scores obtained are integrated into a mathematical programming model designed to find the most suitable locations for the construction of emergency service stations. We demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method and the efficacy of the procedures and algorithms in an earthquake emergency service station planning case study in the city of Tehran.

Modeling Sequential Information Acquisition Behavior in Rational Decision Making

Most real-life decisions are made with less than perfect information and there is often some opportunity to acquire additional information to increase the quality of the decision. In this article, we define and study the sequential information acquisition process of a rational decision maker (DM) when allowed to acquire any finite amount of information from a set of products defined by vectors of characteristics. The information acquisition process of the DM depends both on the values of the characteristics observed previously and the number and potential realizations of the remaining characteristics. Each time an observation is acquired, the DM modifies the probability of improving upon the products already observed with the number of observations available. We construct two real-valued functions whose crossing points determine the decision of how to allocate each available piece of information. We provide several numerical simulations to illustrate the information acquisition incentives defining the behavior of the DM. Applications to knowledge management and decision support systems follow immediately from our results, particularly when considering the introduction and acceptance of new technological products and when formalizing online search environments.

Solving multi-mode time–cost–quality trade-off problems under generalized precedence relations

In this paper, we model a multi-mode time–cost–quality trade-off project scheduling problem under generalized precedence relations using mixed-integer mathematical programming. Several solution procedures, including the classical epsilon-constraint, the efficient epsilon-constraint method, dynamic self-adaptive multi-objective particle swarm optimization (DSAMOPSO), and the multi-start partial bound enumeration algorithm, are provided to solve the proposed model. Several test problems are simulated and solved with the four methods and the performance of the methods are compared according to a set of accuracy and diversity comparison metrics. Additional analyses and tests are performed on the generated Pareto fronts of the solution procedures. Computational experiments are conducted to determine the validity and the efficiency of the DSAMOPSO method. The results show that this method outperforms the other three methods. We also carry out a sensitivity analysis of the DSAMOPSO algorithm to study the effects of parameter changes on the CPU time.

Choice Manipulation Through Comparability in Markets with Verifiable Multi-Attribute Products

We illustrate how an information sender may use unverifiable signals regarding a set of substitute products located in an alternative market to manipulate the choices made by uninformed but perfectly rational decision makers (DMs) within the verifiable market where the information sender operates. We do so by defining an optimal information gathering structure for rational DMs who acquire information sequentially from a set of multidimensional products. The resulting strategic signaling environment delivers two main results that are illustrated numerically. First, in order for the sender to successfully manipulate the information gathering and choice behavior of DMs, he should release signals on characteristics that differ from their most preferred ones. Second, the capacity of the sender to manipulate the behavior of DMs depends negatively on his reputation regarding the expected value of the unobserved characteristics guaranteed to DMs within the market where he operates. Normative applications to online search environments conditioned by the provision of strategic reviews in social media are presented.

Efficiency decomposition and measurement in two-stage fuzzy DEA models using a bargaining game approach

Abstract In this paper, a fuzzy two-stage Game-DEA (FTSGDEA) approach is proposed using a bargaining game model. Each decision-making unit (DMU) consists of two serially connected sub-DMUs. The first sub-DMU uses several inputs to produce several outputs. The outputs of the first sub-DMU, called intermediated measures, are the inputs of the second sub-DMU. Intermediate measures are used by the second sub-DMU to produce the final output of the main DMU. In standard TSGDEA settings, the product of the distance of the efficiency scores of each sub-DMU, which defines its breakdown payoff, is maximized. This approach leads to the overall enhancement of the efficiency scores through a cooperative game environment. We extend this setting to a fuzzy environment where the uncertainty of inputs, intermediate measures, and outputs is accounted for using linguistic terms parameterized via fuzzy sets. The proposed FTSGDEA associates an interval efficiency score to each DMU and sub-DMU, which allows the model to handle real-life problems involving uncertainties. We apply FTSGDEA to a case study involving the assessment of sixty branches from the Saman bank in Iran.

Do ethical leaders exist? A unified theoretical framework to identify and evaluate them

The literature has consistently verified the strong relationship existing between ethics and leadership. At the same time, it has also developed several differing views regarding the main attributes determining what constitutes an ethical leader. Critics of ethical leadership theory emphasise the lack of shared focus amongst existing researchers on the subject. Such a drawback complicates substantially the identification of the main factors required to demonstrate effective ethical leadership. This paper aims at identifying the main nexus areas arising across the existing body of research so that the main factors constituting the concept of ethical leadership can be identified. Besides identifying the uniform set of guidelines and principles defining ethical leadership, we will discuss whether or not it can be learned while also describing the key capacities required from a leader in order to develop it. Finally, the main strengths and limitations of ethical leadership theory will be analysed.

R%D internationalisation and the strategic relevance of the institutional framework in host locations

The configuration of host national systems of innovation and the technological international networks established by multinational enterprises (MNE) can become key aspects for the internationalisation decision that may also concern knowledge related activities such as R%D. Through the combination of a theoretical model and empirical analysis, this paper shows to what extent institutional quality becomes a determinant factor for the attraction of foreign R%D activities, these latter being conditioned by the technological and productive capabilities of local contexts and the competitive pressures MNE face in foreign countries. Our contribution is a step further in the explanatory framework of R%D internationalisation and also provides new insights about what are the key reinforcement mechanisms for the attraction of new knowledge intensive investments.