A forecasting model is developed for the number of daily applications for loans at a financial services telephone call centre. The purpose of the forecasts and the associated prediction intervals is to provide effective staffing policies within the call centre. The model building process is constrained by the availability of only 2 years and 7 months of data. The distinctive feature of the data is that demand is driven in the main by advertising. The analysis given focuses on applications stimulated by press advertising. Unlike previous analyses of broadly similar data, where ARIMA models were used, a model with a dynamic level, multiplicative calendar effects and a multiplicative advertising response is developed and shown to be effective. 相似文献
This paper describes three case studies which investigated issues relating to the implementation and management of advanced information technology. The benefits derived from information technology were found to vary from one organization to another. These studies provide further evidence to support earlier research findings that senior management has an important role to play in the effective exploitation of information technology, and that the investment approach taken by an organization has a significant effect on the development of computer-based information systems. The effectiveness of a system depends not only on applying the appropriate technology, but also on how successfully technical and behavioural issues are resolved. 相似文献
In this paper, an MILP formulation is proposed for the design of a reverse logistics network based on a warehouse location–allocation model, which optimizes, simultaneously, the forward and reverse networks. A single product model with unlimited capacity is first defined. Subsequently, the model is extended to a multi-product capacitated recovery network model, where capacity limitations and a multi-product system can be considered. The proposed model is compared to published work in the field, where different model assumptions have been proposed. Two cases are described so as to gain a better insight into the model and allow a comparative analysis. 相似文献
There is an intensive effort underway to develop new corrosion control coatings for structural metals. In part, this effort
has been motivated by the desire to replace chromium(VI)-containing coatings currently used for corrosion control of iron
and aluminum alloys. Cr(VI) has been shown to be hazardous to the environmental and to human health, and its use in many countries
will be sharply curtailed in the coming years. Electroactive conducting polymers (ECPs) represent a class of interesting materials
currently being explored for use in corrosion control coating systems, possibly as a replacement for Cr(VI)-based coatings.
The electroactivity and the electronic conductivity (or semiconductivity) of ECPs set them apart from traditional organic
coatings. As with chromate, interesting and potentially beneficial interactions of ECPs with active metal alloys such as steel
and aluminum are anticipated, with concomitant alteration of their corrosion behavior. A review of this active research area
will be presented in two parts. Here in Part 1, a general introduction to the topic of corrosion control by ECPs will be presented,
including an overview of corrosion and its control by traditional methods, an introduction to ECPs and their properties, and
a discussion of the processing issues surrounding the use of ECPs as coatings. Part 1 also includes a review of the literature
on the use of ECPs as coatings (or components of coatings) on non-ferrous active metals, principally aluminum and aluminum
alloys, although some work on zinc, copper, silver, titanium and silicon will also be described. In Part 2 of this review
(to be published in the next issue of this journal), the rather extensive literature on the use of ECPs for the corrosion
control of ferrous alloys (steels) will be reviewed.
Electronic Publication 相似文献
The solar wind almost disappeared on May 11, 1999: the solar wind plasma density and dynamic pressure were less than 1cm−3 and 0.1 nPa respectively, while the interplanetary magnetic field was northward. The polar ionospheric data observed by the multi-instruments at Zhongshan Station in Antarctica on such special event day was compared with those of the control day (May 14). It was shown that geomagnetic activity was very quiet on May 11 at Zhongshan. The magnetic pulsation, which usually occurred at about magnetic noon, did not appear. The ionosphere was steady and stratified, and the F2 layer spread very little. The critical frequency of day-side F2 layer, f0F2, was larger than that of control day, and the peak of f0F2 appeared 2 hours earlier. The ionospheric drift velocity was less than usual. There were intensive auroral Es appearing at magnetic noon. All this indicates that the polar ionosphere was extremely quiet and geomagnetic field was much more dipolar on May 11. There were some signatures of auroral substorm before midnight, such as the negative deviation of the geomagnetic H component, accompanied with auroral Es and weak Pc3 pulsation.
Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) offers a piece-wise linear approximation of the production frontier. The approximation tends to be poor if the true frontier is not concave, eg in case of economies of scale or of specialisation. To improve the flexibility of the DEA frontier and to gain in empirical fit, we propose to extend DEA towards a more general piece-wise quadratic approximation, called Quadratic Data Envelopment Analysis (QDEA). We show that QDEA gives statistically consistent estimates for all production frontiers with bounded Hessian eigenvalues. Our Monte-Carlo simulations suggest that QDEA can substantially improve efficiency estimation in finite samples relative to standard DEA models. 相似文献
We consider RKKY interaction in a quasi 2D system with nonparabolic dispersion. In our paper we calculate the RKKY range function assuming the in-layer confinement via effective dimensionality approach. We show, that indirect magnetic exchange in our system can be modelled by the effective spectral dimension which equals one. 相似文献