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Elsevier

Books in Decision sciences

Our Decision Sciences titles care essential reading for students and professionals, and cover key topics in decision support systems, and global logistics, among other areas of research and practice

  • Multiple Criteria Analysis for Agricultural Decisions, Second Edition

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 11
    • C. Romero + 1 more
    • English
    This book presents the Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) paradigm for modelling agricultural decision-making in three parts. The first part, comprising two chapters, is philosophical in nature and deals with the concepts that define the underlying structure of the MCDM paradigm. The second part is the largest part consisting of five chapters, each of which presents the logic of a specific MCDM technique, and demonstrates how it can be used to model a particular decision problem. In the final part, some selected applications of the MCDM techniques to agricultural problems are presented and thus reinforce the development of an understanding of the MCDM paradigm.The book has been designed for use at different levels: as a textbook for final year undergraduate and postgraduate courses in modelling for decision-making; as a manual for researchers and practising modellers; and, as general reference on the application of MCDM techniques. Readers with basic appreciation of algebra and linear programming can easily follow the contents of this book.

  • Relationship and Resource Management in Operations

    • 1st Edition
    • David Loader
    • English
    'Relationship and Resource Management in Operations' explains in practical terms the importance of the business relationships with internal and external counterparts while demonstrating how things can go wrong and what causes the situation. The authors examine the need to instil cultures in the team focusing on client service, risk and cost effectiveness. The text covers, via practical examples, the kind of scenario managers or supervisors might face in their role and shows what decisions could and should be made. The operations function in a financial organization is crucial to the success of the business. It drives both profitability and reputation as well as contributing to business development and support. It is also a complex part of a business and one that is treated differently in different types of organizations. The complexity of operations and the diverseness of the teams and the people they interact with create a need for a high degree of relationship and resource management. For instance a bank that is involved in both retail and investment banking will have hundreds of different relationship situations, but so too will a small private client broker. Some situations may be common to all types of organizations; others common to particular types of organizations and a few will be very specific to an organization. These relationships may be very open or highly discreet and confidential. Whatever the type of relationship, whether problematic or successful, it is likely that any problems will have an impact of the business. For operations managers their role is a key one. Charged with managing resources and the numerous relationship issues, it is neither a simple task nor, because of the variety and frequency of the issues that might arise, one that is easy to find solutions for. This book, however, explores some of the situations that managers might find themselves in and puts forward some solutions. Relationships and resources are the energy source that makes operations work and managed well they will provide the means to grow and to attain success. The central aim of this book is to provide knowledge and guidance on this important and key area of operations management. Successful operations teams are built on talented resource and effective management - let this book be your guide.

  • Controls, Procedures and Risk

    • 1st Edition
    • David Loader
    • English
    'Controls, Procedures and Risk' covers the skills and procedures needed to enable the monitoring and managing of risk and the authors focus on procedures design, implementation and documentation. Considerable emphasis is also given to the key controls and the importance of control functions, audit and risk management groups and policy. Case studies are used to effectively demonstrate 'success' and 'failure'. In the financial services industry risk is a constant threat to organizations of all sizes and to the markets themselves. Many industry 'events' have shown how dangerous it is when a business operates in an uncontrolled way, particularly when the lack of control was not evident to the management of the business until it was too late.Controls, procedures and risk are occupying more and more management time. The responsibility to manage the risks lies with the whole operations team. If it is successful in fulfilling this role the overall risk of the business is reduced, if it is not successful the consequences may be severe.In this book the author has deliberately focussed on the practical side of risk, controls and procedures, rather than analyse the Basel Capital Accord and the capital requirements etc.(however, the Accord and updates are contained in the Appendices). Operations teams need to be aware of risk but not overwhelmed by it. Risk management within, and by, the operations function is the focus of this book. From day-to-day risk to wider risk implications the operations function is reviewed to show the sources and implications of risk situations.

  • Handbook of Econometrics

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 5
    • J.J. Heckman + 1 more
    • English
    The Handbook is a definitive reference source and teaching aid for econometricians. It examines models, estimation theory, data analysis and field applications in econometrics. Comprehensive surveys, written by experts, discuss recent developments at a level suitable for professional use by economists, econometricians, statisticians, and in advanced graduate econometrics courses.For more information on the Handbooks in Economics series, please see our home page on http://www.elsevier....

  • Information Gap Decision Theory

    Decisions under Severe Uncertainty
    • 1st Edition
    • Yakov Ben-Haim
    • English
    Information-Gap Decision Theory presents a distinctive new theory of decision-making under severe uncertainty. Applications in engineering design and analysis, project management, economics, strategic planning, social decision making, environmental management, medical decisions, search and evasion problems, risk assessment, and other areas are discussed. Info-gap theory deals with many of the problems and questions of classical decision analysis such as risk assessment, gambling, value of information, trade-off analysis, and preference reversal, but the distinctive character of info-gap uncertainty repeatedly gives rise to new insights and unique decision algorithms. Furthermore, this book deals with many of the difficult interface issues facing the responsible decision maker such as value judgments concerning risk and immunity to failure, as well as philosophical implications of decision under uncertainty. This book is a fresh approach to the age-old problem of deciding responsibly with deficient information.An info-gap is the disparity between what is known and what needs to be known in order to make a well-founded decision. The book begins with a discussion of info-gap models of uncertainty, which provides an innovative approach to the quantification of severe lack of information.This book can be used in advanced undergraduate and graduate courses on decision theory and risk analysis. It is also of interest to practicing decision analysts and to researchers in decision theory and in human decision-making.

  • Pricing Derivative Securities

    An Interactive, Dynamic Environment with Maple V and Matlab
    • 1st Edition
    • Eliezer Z. Prisman
    • English
    Pricing derivatives theory comes alive in this self-contained interactive experience in financial pricing. The no-arbitrage perspective in a one-period state-preference model drives the book, and the Maple® and Matlab® programs help readers visualize payoffs and respond to various constraints and conditions. With clear explanations and lavish illustrations, Pricing Derivative Securities: An Interactive, Dynamic Environment with Maple V and Matlab teaches the core theoretical concepts so often disguised behind difficult terms and institutional details.Readers can experiment with the electronic packages forever, using the book and its solutions manual as a tutorial that can help solve problems of increasing complexity.

  • Microscopic Simulation of Financial Markets

    From Investor Behavior to Market Phenomena
    • 1st Edition
    • Haim Levy + 2 more
    • English
    Microscopic Simulation (MS) uses a computer to represent and keep track of individual ("microscopic") elements in order to investigate complex systems which are analytically intractable. A methodology that was developed to solve physics problems, MS has been used to study the relation between microscopic behavior and macroscopic phenomena in systems ranging from those of atomic particles, to cars, animals, and even humans. In finance, MS can help explain, among other things, the effects of various elements of investor behavior on market dynamics and asset pricing. It is these issues in particular, and the value of an MS approach to finance in general, that are the subjects of this book. The authors not only put their work in perspective by surveying traditional economic analyses of investor behavior, but they also briefly examine the use of MS in fields other than finance. Most models in economics and finance assume that investors are rational. However, experimental studies reveal systematic deviations from rational behavior. How can we determine the effect of investors' deviations from rational behavior on asset prices and market dynamics? By using Microscopic Simulation, a methodology originally developed by physicists for the investigation of complex systems, the authors are able to relax classical assumptions about investor behavior and to model it as empirically and experimentally observed. This rounded and judicious introduction to the application of MS in finance and economics reveals that many of the empirically-observed "puzzles" in finance can be explained by investors' quasi-rationality. Researchers use the book because it models heterogeneous investors, a group that has proven difficult to model. Being able to predict how people will invest and setting asset prices accordingly is inherently appealing, and the combination of computing power and statistical mechanics in this book makes such modeling possible. Because many finance researchers have backgrounds in physics, the material here is accessible.

  • An Introduction to the Mathematics of Financial Derivatives

    • 2nd Edition
    • Salih N. Neftci
    • English
    An Introduction to the Mathematics of Financial Derivatives, Second Edition, introduces the mathematics underlying the pricing of derivatives. The increased interest in dynamic pricing models stems from their applicability to practical situations: with the freeing of exchange, interest rates, and capital controls, the market for derivative products has matured and pricing models have become more accurate. This updated edition has six new chapters and chapter-concluding exercises, plus one thoroughly expanded chapter. The text answers the need for a resource targeting professionals, Ph.D. students, and advanced MBA students who are specifically interested in financial derivatives. This edition is also designed to become the main text in first year masters and Ph.D. programs for certain courses, and will continue to be an important manual for market professionals and professionals with mathematical, technical, or physics backgrounds.

  • The Grouting Handbook

    A Step-by-Step Guide to Heavy Equipment Grouting
    • 1st Edition
    • Donald M. Harrison
    • English
    Based on twenty years of research and field experience, this book collects a vast amount of information into a handy reference for mechanical and civil engineers. It focuses on four basic elements of grouting: load carrying capability of the foundation soil; mass design, concrete mix and installation, and curing procedures of the foundation; anchor bolts; and the grout. From the ground up, this book takes you step by step through the grouting process. Clear, straightforward directions give you details on preparing the foundation and surface, and selecting the best material and method. Comprehensive yet concise, this is a convenient handbook for veteran and rookie engineers alike.

  • Analysing and Aiding Decision Processes

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 14
    • P. Humphreys + 2 more
    • English
    This book contains an edited selection of papers presented at the Eighth Research Conference on Subjective Probability, Utility and Decision Making, held in Budapest. Together they span a wide range of new developments in studies of decision making, the practice of decision analysis and the development of decision-aiding technology.The volume is arranged in sections: Societal Decision Making; Organizational Decision Making; Aiding the Structuring of Small Scale Decision Problems, and Tracing Decision Processes.The emphasis is on decision processes and structures and their applications, rather than formal modelling in isolation, thus reflecting current developments in research and practice which follow from the understanding of the nature and operation of decision theoretical models gained during the 1970's.The fifth section, A Symposium on the Validity of Studies on Heuristics and Biases, is of a different nature. The papers take stock of the considerable volume of work investigation ``heuristics and biases'' in decision making over the past decade, and their implication for theory and practice.

  • Handbooks in Operations Research and Management Science: Transportation

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 14
    • Cynthia Barnhart + 1 more
    • English
    This book contains eleven chapters describing some of the most recent methodological operations research developments in transportation. It is structured around the main transportation modes, and each chapter is written by a group of well-recognized researchers. Because of the major impact of operations research methods in the field of air transportation over the past forty years, it is befitting to open the book with a chapter on airline operations management. This book will prove useful to researchers, students, and practitioners in transportation and will stimulate further research in this rich and fascinating area.

  • Modelling Stock Market Volatility

    Bridging the Gap to Continuous Time
    • 1st Edition
    • Peter H. Rossi
    • English
    This essay collection focuses on the relationship between continuous time models and Autoregressive Conditionally Heteroskedastic (ARCH) models and applications. For the first time, Modelling Stock Market Volatility provides new insights about the links between these two models and new work on practical estimation methods for continuous time models. Featuring the pioneering scholarship of Daniel Nelson, the text presents research about the discrete time model, continuous time limits and optimal filtering of ARCH models, and the specification and estimation of continuous time processes. This work will lead to a rapid growth in their empirical application as they are increasingly subjected to routine specification testing.

  • Submodular Functions and Optimization

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 47
    • S. Fujishige
    • English
    The importance of submodular functions has been widely recognized in recent years in combinatorial optimization. This is the first book devoted to the exposition of the theory of submodular functions from an elementary technical level to an advanced one. A unifying view of the theory is shown by means of base polyhedra and duality for submodular and supermodular systems. Among the subjects treated are: neoflows (submodular flows, independent flows, polymatroidal flows), submodular analysis (submodular programs, duality, Lagrangian functions, principal partitions), nonlinear optimization with submodular constraints (lexicographically optimal bases, fair resource allocation). Special emphasis is placed on the constructive aspects of the theory, which lead to practical, efficient algorithms.

  • Stochastic Models

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 2
    • English
    One of the central problems in operations research and management science is how to quantify the effects of uncertainty about the future. This, the second volume in a series of handbooks, is devoted to models where chance events play a major role. The thirteen chapters survey topics in applied probability that have been particularly useful in operations research and management science. Each chapter was written by an expert, both in subject matter and in its exposition. The chapters fall into four groups. The first four cover the fundamentals of stochastic processes, and lay the foundation for the following chapters. The next three chapters are concerned with methods of getting numbers. This includes numerical solution of models, parameter estimation for models, and simulation of models. Chapters 8 and 9 describe the fundamentals of dynamic optimization. The last four chapters are concerned with the most important structured models in operations research and management science; queues, queueing networks, inventories, and reliability.

  • Fuzzy Sets in Psychology

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 56
    • T. Zetenyi
    • English
    This volume provides an up-to-date picture of the current status of theoretical and empirical developments in the application of fuzzy sets in psychology. Fuzzy set theory could benefit researchers in at least two ways: first, as a metaphor or model for ordinary thought, and secondly, as an aid to data analysis and theory construction. One can find examples for both kinds in the volume, which will be of interest both to the advanced student in the field as well as to anyone possessing a basic scientific background.

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