Demand information is an input for a great deal of operations research models. Assumed as given in many problem instances addressed in the literature, demand data are di cult to generate. In this tutorial, we provide an introduction to disaggregate demand models that are designed to capture in detail the underlying behavioral mechanisms at the foundation of the demand.

Article history: Received 30 September 2007 Accepted 11 December 2008 Available online30December2008

In this course, one main objective is to demonstrate the wide applicability of operations research tools to real systems. Hence, we will focus on modeling and analysis of various economic and social problems as illustrated by examples from the literature. Although we will not cover any solution technique in depth, we will introduce some new analysis tools that are typically outside the scope of...

Over the last three decades a large number of Operations Research (OR) studies in the context of developing nations have been published. Many of these studies deal with public policy issues. Using OR case studies in the context of Bangladesh health and agriculture sectors, this study investigates the development process of these models and identifies the challenges for implementing the results ...

In this paper we deal with the location of hyperplanes in n{ dimensional normed spaces. If d is a distance measure, our objective is to nd a hyperplane H which minimizes points and d(x m ; H) = min z2H d(x m ; z) is the distance from x m to the hyperplane H. In robust statistics and operations research such an optimal hyperplane is called a median hyperplane. We show that for all distance measu...

Article history: Received 28 September 2007 Accepted 11 December 2008 Available online30December2008

In the last four decades the container as an essential part of a unitload-concept has achieved undoubted importance in international sea freight transportation. With ever increasing containerization the number of seaport container terminals and competition among them have become quite remarkable. Operations are nowadays unthinkable without effective and efficient use of information technology a...

The Institute of Medicine identified “timeliness” as one of six key “aims for improvement” in its most recent report on quality. Yet patient delays remain prevalent, resulting in dissatisfaction, adverse clinical consequences, and often, higher costs. This tutorial describes several areas in which patients routinely experience significant and potentially dangerous delays and presents operations...

Overcoming significant technical and human difficulties, Zara recently deployed a new process that relies extensively on sophisticated operations research models to determine each inventory shipment it sends from its two central warehouses to its 1,500 stores worldwide. By taking a retail size-assortment view of a store’s inventory, the model incorporates the link between stock levels and deman...