Sharma Pillutla

Creating a Web-based simulation gaming exercise using PERL and JavaScript

Business simulation gaming has been around for quite a few years. The pedagogical and, more recently, the assessment value of gaming has been recognized and accepted in many circles. Many functional and total enterprise gaming exercises have been used in various business courses. Over the year, as technology has improved, simulation exercises have become more sophisticated and user friendly. The student can now concentrate on the content and learning in the gaming exercise without getting too diverted by the mechanics of playing the game. With the advent of the Internet an added dimension of convenience is now available. Using the World Wide Web (WWW) is a natural extension of making simulation games more powerful and the access more convenient. Due to the ubiquitous nature of the World Wide Web, which is accessible today from any home computer connected to the Internet, it behooves academics to explore and take advantage of this technology. This article delineates one such implementation that makes the entire game available on the Web. The game has been in continuous use for the past 3 years. The various components of the game and how the programming languages Practical Extraction and Reporting Language (PERL) and JavaScript can provide the functionality for making the game available on the Internet are described.

Object-oriented model construction in production scheduling decisions

Abstract The importance of rapid and automated model development for decision support is recognized in production scheduling applications, where problem instances are often similar to some general model but not necessarily consistent with it, and yet there is little of either time or modeling expertise available. In the modeling literature, there are few, if any, constructs of model development from component parts. Model construction is closely associated with the structure and representation of model information and with the abstraction of problem information from the user. Proceeding from a taxonomy of general production scheduling models, we develop a schema to represent model information in an object-oriented framework that relies on the definitions of natural entities, rather than on a collection of models from past experience. We show the interactions of user information with the model objects in the construction of a model to support a decision in a problem instance.

A constructivist approach to designing business simulations for strategic management

The authors considered two principles of simulation design (simple rules and smart algorithms) and three essential attributes (choice of industries, employer-employee relationships, and real markets for products and participant services) for strategic management business simulations. They applied these considerations and a constructivist approach to develop a computer-assisted simulation, using it to investigate the concurrent and predictive relationships of market share and production experience on profitability. The authors found that the relationships are (a) as expected and stronger than those reported in an earlier study using a simulation of a more conventional design and (b) more consistent with a well-known series of field studies. They suggest that computer-assisted simulations developed through a constructivist approach may be used to advance the discipline of strategic management.

The Tournament Concept in Assessment

This article reports on two studies that were conducted to determine whether (a) total enterprise simulations are suitable for assessing business skills and (b) the tournament concept can be effectively applied to such simulations. The first study involved 141 senior business students; the second, 74. The results are consistently favorable on both questions. The studies also show that the free-rider problem that may have previously undermined the validity of simulation performance scores can be overcome by incorporating a system of individual performance scores, and that a progressively difficult simulation experience can keep participants challenged for 30 decision periods.

Cloud computing: a collaborative green platform for the knowledge society

Purpose – The main aim of this paper is to investigate the potential of Cloud Computing as a multilayer integrative collaboration space for knowledge acquisition, nurturing and sharing. The paper will pinpoint benefits and challenges of Cloud Computing in satisfying the new techno-sociological requirements of the knowledge society through the provision of information technology (IT) green services. Furthermore, the article calls for the engagement of researchers to generate additional discussion and dialog in this emerging and challenging area. Design/methodology/approach – The paper applies a conceptual analysis to explore the utilization of the Cloud ecosystem as a new platform for knowledge management (KM) technologies characterized by environmental and economic benefits. Findings – This paper reveals the emergence of a new layer in the Cloud stack known as Knowledge Management-as-a-Service. The article discusses how KM has the opportunity to evolve in synergy with Cloud Computing technologies using th...

Pure and mixed strategies for programmed trading in a periodic double auction

For programmed trading of electricity, cellular connection services, and other homogeneous goods in a periodic double auction, we consider rules for an efficient clearinghouse and conclude by suggesting discriminatory pricing over uniform pricing. When the transaction price is the bidding price, we suggest reporting the lowest transaction price of each period, encouraging marginal buyers by giving consolation awards to near-successful bidders, and discouraging marginal sellers by applying First-In-First-Out (FIFO) with shuffling to multiple offers that have the same reserved asking price. We differ from others in finding a loss of efficiency that accompanies entry by marginal sellers.

Drivers of Adoption and Continued Use of E-Procurement Systems: Empirical Evidence from China

ABSTRACT This article develops and empirically tests a research framework that models the role of technological, organizational, and environmental factors in organizational intention toward using e-procurement systems. The partial least square analysis of survey data from 211 firms in China demonstrates that technological factors including perceived efficiency benefits and perceived ease, organizational factors including business to business commerce expertise, information sharing culture, and top management support, and an environmental factor, business partner pressure, shape in different ways organizational intention to adopt and to continue with e-procurement. The findings of the study not only offer valuable insights for stimulating the diffusion of e-procurement systems but also provide important guidance to systems vendors in strategizing their marketing campaigns and focusing limited resources on relevant strategic components.

Data mining the adoption intention of e-procurement system for Chinese companies

We conduct a structured survey among Chinese firms in the City of Suzhou on the adoption of e-procurement systems. We analytically mine the data to explore the impact of operations as well as supply chain performance measures on organisational behavioural intention to adopt e-procurement systems. The results demonstrate that a series of operations and supply chain performance measures, such as expected improved supply chain efficiency, improved operational efficiency, and reduced inventory level, are critical drivers for the adoption of e-procurement systems among Chinese companies. The findings highlight the importance of operations and supply chain performance benefits of an e-procurement systems as well as the importance of strategic marketing by e-procurement systems vendors to promote those benefits.