Norman R. Baker

An analytical approach to scoring model design — Application to research and development project selection

Multiple criteria scoring models have been suggested for use in evaluating competing research and development project proposals. This model form, more than any other, affords the decision maker the opportunity to combine, in exacting fashion, both qualitative and quantitative factors that affect his decisions. To date, however, the project scoring models that have appeared in the RD 2) development of performance measures; 3) quantification of the research environment; 4) determination of criteria weights; 5) initial model specification; 6) selection of model objectives; 7) initial model verification; and 8) complete model specification and verification.

Measures of Effectiveness for a University Library.

Two measures of effectiveness for university libraries are constructed. The Primary Measure of Effectiveness, defined over the total population of users, considers the number of material and information items desired by the users, the number of satisfactorily answered inquiries, and the number of users. For the Secondary Measure of Effectiveness, the total population is classified into subsets according to similarity of user needs. A measure is defined for each subset and is a function of the number of individuals in the subset.

Organizational analyses and simulation studies of university libraries: A methodological overview

Abstract Three research studies, which were conducted as part of a long-term research program dealing with organizational analyses and simulation studies of university libraries, are discussed and the methodologies utilized are made explicit. The first study draws from organization theory and economic decision theory to develop a model of the library/user/funder complex. Industrial dynamics is used in the second study to construct a computer simulation formulation of the library/user/funder complex model. Two simulation applications, dealing respectively with library controls procedures and with library resource utilization are presented and implications for library operations are drawn. In the third study, sequential search theory provides the framework for deducing optimal user search sequences. Criteria sufficient for determining optimal search sequences are derived for several postulated forms of the user evaluation function. In addition, parametric analyses are conducted in order to relate library operations to optimal user search behaviors. A final section attempts to integrate the three studies and to identify areas for future research.

Toward a conceptual framework of the process of organized innovation technological within the firm

Abstract The literature concerning information flow and organizational design for technological innovation is summarized and a conceptual framework of the process of organized technological innovation within the firm is developed. The framework incorporates Rosenblooms premise that corporate strategy can serve to cut across both internal and external boundaries of the firm and is shown to be consistent with the relevant organizational and planning literatures. The potential for using mathematical models to represent a firms corporate strategy, budgeting and resource allocation activities is discussed. We argue that such models are needed to provide for policy analysis and could lead to a simulation capability that serves as a surrogate for real-life experimentation.

The relationship between certain characteristics of industrial research proposals and their subsequent disposition

The ideas produced by three idea generation groups operating within a large industrial RD 2) urgency was the dominant consideration in the disposition decisions, but predictability and expected time horizon were dominant in the subjective evaluations; 3) predictability and time horizon are covariants; and 4) management hedges by shelving marginal ideas. Implications for R&D management are drawn.

Library policy structure: an industrial dynamics study

An industrial dynamics model of a university library, developed originally to investigate the effect of library control policies, is described. The model is used to analyze the effect of two policies pro posed by the Physics Library at Purdue University. After having operated under extremely crowded con ditions for the past several years, the Physics Library will move in 1971 into new, more spacious quarters. The policies for loans from the library collection have been rather free, control over the collection has been lax, and penalties for users failing to comply with library policies have been mild. The reasoning behind these policies was that if all loaned materials were returned, sufficient shelf space was unavailable. With the space limitations removed in the new quarters, the Physics Librarian can adopt one of two general policies: Policy 1 - Closer control over the library collection, more restrictive loan policies, more staff, and longer operating hours Policy 2 - Less control over the collection with more extended loan policies and increased purchases of multiple copies. Analysis of the two policies shows that Policy 1 effects a reduction in delays in return of loaned material at the expense of incurring user dissatis faction with the library and that Policy 2 results in even higher user satisfaction than is presently experienced.

Technical and management notes

The political factors that are affecting R & D are a significant input to the flow model of idea generation in the creativity process, and at times they are a decisive and dominant parameter in the determination of “needs.”