No. 3 (2008)
Published:
2008-09-30
ARTICLES FROM THIS ISSUE
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Reference distribution based decision support platform
Abstract
There many decision problems where numerous partial achievement functions are considered impartially which makes the distribution of achievements more important than the assignment of several achievements to the specific criteria. Such models are generally related to the evaluation and optimization of various systems which serve many users where quality of service for every individual user defines the criteria. This applies to various technical systems, like to telecommunication ones among others, as well as to social systems. An example arises in location theory, where the clients of a system are entitled to equal treatment according to some community regulations. This paper presents an implementation of decision support framework for such problems. This platform is designed for multiple criteria problems analyzed with the reference distribution approach. Reference distribution approach is an extension of the reference point method.
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The problem of objective ranking: foundations, approaches and applications
Abstract
The paper starts with the discussion of the issue of objectivity versus subjectivity, stressing that while an absolute objectivity is not attainable, nevertheless trying to be as objective as possible constitutes a higher value, necessary for hard science and technology. Dangers and errors of the subjectivist reduction of objectivity to power and money attempted by the postmodern sociology of science are discussed. Then we turn to the problem of subjective versus objective decision analysis and ranking. It is shown that while all classical decision theory aims at a rational analysis and support of subjective decisions, there are important application cases, particularly in managerial problems, when the decision maker prefers to avoid specifying her/his preferences and needs decision analysis – e.g., ranking of decision options – that is as objective as possible. An approach to decision support that might be easily adapted for such objective ranking is the reference point methodology; its application is shown on examples. One of these examples is actually not an application of the methodology, but a real life problem that motivated the development of objective ranking. The examples illustrate that objective ranking might be important for management, including also management of telecommunication networks.
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Objective classification of empirical probability distributions and the issue of event detection
Abstract
The paper concentrates on the issue of classification of empirical probability distributions (histograms), which is useful both in management situations and in event detection or event mining. While existing approaches to event detection concentrate on the use of selected moments or other characteristics of empirical probability distributions, we postulate that full empirical distribution preserves more of needed information then selected moments of this distribution, thus multiple criteria classification of distributions can be most effective in event detection.
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Supporting telecommunication product sales by conjoint analysis
Abstract
Conjoint analysis is widely used as a marketing research technique to study consumers’ product preferences and simulate customer choices. It is used in designing new products, changing or repositioning existing products, evaluating the effect of price on purchase intent, and simulating marketshare. In this work the possibility of conjoint analysis usage in telecommunication filed is analyzed. It is used to find optimal products which could be recommended to telecommunication customers. First, a decision problem is defined. Next, the conjoint analysis method and its connections with ANOVA as well as regression techniques are presented. After that, different utility functions that represent preferences for voice, SMS, MMS and other net services usage are formulated and compared. Parameters of the proposed conjoint measures are determined by regression methods running on behavioral data, represented by artificially generated call data records. Finally, users are split in homogenous groups by segmentation techniques applied to net service utilities derived from conjoint analysis. Within those groups statistical analyses are performed to create product recommendations. The results have shown that conjoint analysis can be successfully applied by telecommunication operators in the customer preference identification process. However, further analysis should be done on real data, other data sources for customer preference identification should be explored as well.
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From transocean routes to global networks: a framework for liner companies to build service networks
Abstract
During the previous two decades liner carriers within maritime shipping have broken the barriers from being pure transportation providers towards being logistics service providers. Most of the top 20 liner carriers worldwide have set up spin-offs providing services from local booking up to 3rd party logistics services, combining the business advantages of tight linkages with liners together with the negotiation freedom with demanding customers by providing an extension of service coverage. Economical evaluations of transocean routes and global networks are of interest for decision makers re- sponsible for business strategies as well as for operations. It is crucial to achieve appropriate judgements about which liner routes are profitable and how to build better service networks so that the companies’ brand could be attractive to, e.g., shippers, including exporters, importers and forwarding agents. In this paper we discuss the corresponding trade-offs as well as related decision support systems of relevant service providers and companies.
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Negotiations on regulated markets
Abstract
The paper considers some problems of negotiations between competitive subjects on regulated market. It is assumed that two subjects (players) have to compete with each other on the retail market and cooperate on the wholesale market. The wholesale market is regulated. The role of the regulator is to support players in negotiations, especially by introducing recommended solutions when the negotiations were broken off. It is considered how introducing a recommended solutions influence the process of negotiations on the wholesale market and a decision problem of choosing retail strategy, that precedes the process of negotiations. A decision problems of a regulator are also formulated. The problems are discussed in context of competition and cooperations between operators on the telecommunications services market.
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Cross-selling models for telecommunication services
Abstract
Cross-selling is a strategy of selling new products to a customer who has made other purchases earlier. Except for the obvious profit from extra products sold, it also increases the dependence of the customer on the vendor and therefore reduces churn. This is especially important in the area of telecommunications, characterized by high volatility and low customer loyalty. The paper presents two cross-selling approaches: one based on classifiers and another one based on Bayesian networks constructed based on interesting asso- ciation rules. Effectiveness of the methods is validated on synthetic test data.
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Survey of NGN migration profiles deployed by selected carriers in Europe, North America and Asia
Abstract
The paper presents the alternative migration profiles to next generation carrier network architecture. It describes the paths of development of fixed public network infrastructure for five selected service providers. The carri- ers are selected as being in advanced stage of migration towards NGN. Moreover, examples of varying strategies ranging from full PSTN replacement and NGN overlay to constructing an NGN network from the ground up as well as examples of various migration strategies, especially based on IMS and softswitch solutions are presented.
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Testing of highly doped and photonic crystal optical fibers
Abstract
The paper presents optical measurements – spectral loss, OTDR and PMD, temperature cycling and mechanical tests – bending, twist and crush, performed on Yb-doped single mode fibers and small-core photonic crystal fibers (PCF). Several issues related specifically to characterization of such specialty fibers, like measurement errors and artifacts as well as coupling of test instruments to samples are presented. Of particular importance is reliable and low-loss fusion splicing of specialty fibers to standard single mode fibers (SMF), as most commercially available fiber test instruments are fitted with SMF interfaces only.
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E-resources versus traditional teaching models
Abstract
The paper presents the discussion about the e-resource structure and its influence on the resources’ quality. The thesis we are taking into consideration is as follows: the conformance of e-resource structure with structures suggested by traditional teaching model/models has a strong influence on the quality of this e-resource. To achieve this, the most popular teaching models are analyzed and a proposal of the metamodel useful for e-resources construction is introduced.
