Search

The article presents information on a computerized information-exchange system. The author asserts that the potential impact of such an information system on the conventional business-paper medium will be quite large. With the introduction of the computerized system, the industrial marketing process may undergo certain changes. Some aspects of the marketing process predicted to change are: the life-cycle of the average industrial product, manufacturers exploitation of new products, and an instructed program of new product advertising.

As planning problems become more complex and the pace of change quickens in the society, managers are increasingly turning to the computer for assistance in their planning problems. But considering the rather disastrous track record of many computer aided planning systems, there appears to be cause for alarm. The executive needs a good briefing on the managerial aspects of computer based planning systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a mathematical model designed for computers for use in financial decision making. The multivariate forecasting model simulates the impact of changing assumptions regarding such variables as sales, operating ratios, price/earnings ratios, retention rates, and debt-to-equity ratios. The computer model considers how potential environmental changes can affect the performance of businesses. The model considers various aspects of corporate financing decisions upon the value of securities.

Several recent developments in marketing information systems and analytical marketing models are described. These developments in combination with others reported in this JOURNAL OF MARKETING symposium will cast the future marketing executive in the role of a market engineer. He will have a heavier involvement in planning rather than doing, and in profit maximization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the development, installation and evaluation of a simulation which sequences shop operations for the next shift. Simulation outputs give each foreman the priority of jobs currently in his section and those jobs which might be coming through his area during the next work period. The foreman can determine in advance what tools, raw materials, etc., are needed and obtain them, thus tending to eliminate queue time for hot jobs. In three months of operation, the simulation has been more successful than initially expected. Coordination and expediting efforts have been reduced, inprocess inventory has been reduced along with worker idle time, and schedule performance has improved. An additional important result noted during this time is an enlargement of the foreman's job. He has less need for coordinators and expediters since he has the information needed to make rational decisions on sequencing the work. This effort illustrates the practicality and desirability of incorporating advanced concepts into operating systems if the system's demands on working personnel are made compatible with the objectives and capabilities of the workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade, the roles of Management Science and Operations Research in Advertising have grown, under the salient influence of computer methodology, from a modest experimental project state to a full scale systems state. The rate of growth manifests itself in (1) the size and complexity of problems being tackled, and (2) the widening sphere of techniques being brought in to use. The classic areas of Advertising Research such as Product, Consumer, Media, and Copy Research, defined as the Advertising-Marketing Complex, are availing themselves of the mathematical and statistical modeling techniques being designed throughout the entire research community of the world. Techniques such as mathematical programming, simulation, Bayesian analysis, multivariate analysis, and Markov analysis have become everyday production and research tools to the Advertising Industry. This paper will outline the growth and the current state of important areas of Advertising Research in relation to their involvement with Operations Research and Management Science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A conference paper examining scientific investment analysis is presented. The author explores weather or not the management and analysis of common stock investments is more effective when conducted by quantitative methods, intuition based methods or a combination of the two. The author discusses the benefits and drawbacks of these methods and suggests that the growth of computer technology supports quantitative approaches.

Progress in measurement theory and techniques of data analysis can be useful to both the management scientist and behavioralist. Recent developments in multidimensional scaling and nonmetric methods in analyzing associative data are discussed. The author further speculates that such techniques will lead ultimately to more realistic prescriptive models and more rigorous formulations of buyer behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new computer, COMIC II, has been developed by Davidson and Hemmendinger (part of Kollmorgen Color Systems). This new computer incorporates many of the features of the older analog COMIC I, a well-known color matching computer used in the textile field, with the advantages of a digital computer. One of the unique capabilities of this new color matching computer is that color formulation can be carried out in a routine manner, or the operator can inject his own experience into the solution of the problem. A review of the computer's capability as it relates to the task of formulating new shades and production adjustments in the textile industry will be made. Also included is a review of test results by the Davidson and Hemmendinger color center on a new recording spectrophotometer, TRILAC, that is manufactured in France and now available in North America. INSET: About the Author. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a computer-based study related to the causes of traffic deaths in Jacksonville, Florida from 1965-1966. Researchers used advanced industrial management science techniques to obtain the results. The study revealed that habitual, white, male traffic violators were involved in accidents at speeds averaging more than 50 miles per hour within the city's limits. Researchers say the study shows that effective traffic enforcement programs must aim to slow down, apprehend, and remove the habitual traffic violators from city streets.

SUMMARY In this paper the author discusses systems for on-line statistical analysis, and describes a particular program written for an IBM 1620 computer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditionally, discriminant functions have been used to classify individuals according to a linear function of the individuals' measured characteristics. This article develops a Bayesian classification procedure which explicitly takes into account the costs of misclassification and attribute measurement. The article presents the results of a computer program designed to determine the optimal number of characteristics to measure and discusses the results' implications for consumer research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article evaluates the Uniproduct, a computer simulation for educational purposes which combines a functional business game and a Monte Carlo simulation.

The article discusses research pertaining to U.S. managers' thoughts on electronic data processing (EDP). The study showed wide differences among the firms with regard to management's computer objectives, acquisition practices, employment impact, system design, programming methods, and other factors associated with data processing. Analysts say management misconceptions about EDP may be due to the use of factory automation as the basis for comparison and predictions about computerized office automation. They say management must abandon their oversimplified view of EDP and meticulously analyze the data processing needs of their firm.

The article presents the author's assessment of electronic data processing (EDP) strategies in 1959. He contends that the failures of EDP systems stem from poor planning and poor adaptation by their users. He believes that the standards of EDP users are set too high. The author speculates that the future is favorable for the role of the computer.

The article reports on electronic data processing. The author focuses on future commercial applications of electronic systems in the business field. It is suggested, by 1968, the computer hardware industry will have evolved to the point where computers are being produced on a massive scale. According to the author, the accessibility of computers will lead to the automation of industrial paperwork. Industrial managers will begin to utilize electronic data processing on a grand scale, in order to predict the success of business plans, make policy decisions, and conduct operations research. Additional implications for industrial organizations are also discussed.

The article discusses aspects of optimal accounting information systems for unidentified users. The conditions required for such optimality involve the concept of a sufficient information system a concept relating to the statistical properties of information. Analysts say that for a set of alternative information systems a system is optimal for an unidentified user if and only if it is sufficient with respect to each of the alternatives. A decision model is presented comprised of a decision structure and a corresponding search problem. The decision structure is suggested to comprise a resource space, a state space, an outcome set, a transformation function, and a payoff function.

One means for reducing the costs and risks associated with developing marketing strategies is simultaneous concept testing. This article explores one technique for simultaneous concept testing--computer-controlled behavioral experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A few marketing groups are engaged in sophisticated computer applications; others are at an elementary stage and in conflict with computer service departments. Most firms operate marketing information systems which lag behind computer techniques. An overview of the situation is offered with organizational recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computer-aided instruction (CAI) can be significant in achieving educational goals in marketing management development programs and in university marketing instruction. However, the human and financial costs of attaining these goals may prove prohibitive. Marketing educators should look before they leap into costly CAI programs. This article describes and evaluates current and potential CAI performance in marketing curricula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Can the current multivariate methods revolution in marketing research be explained? What is the role of computer technology in the rapid diffusion of multivariate methods? This article defines multivariate analysis and discusses the reasons for the probable continuing increase in its use in marketing research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author offers his views regarding consumer behavior research, the progress in this field, and the impact of developments on market researchers, marketing executives, company presidents, public policy makers, and basic researchers. In the author's opinion, the integration of these developments represents a major breakthrough in marketing with important implications for the 1970s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author provides insights into the need for marketing information systems and discusses their benefits, organizational needs, structural requirements, and general limitations. Illustrations of current marketing information systems are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the American Institute of Biological Sciences' annual meeting at the University of Illinois on August 20, 1965.

The article presents abstracts pertaining to computer programming. They include "DISTAN: A Subroutine for Converting Zip Code Data to Distances," by Randall G. Chapman, "ICORE: Interactive Computer Research Exercise," by Robert A. Peterson and Joseph Dreussi, and "GROCUR: Growth Curve Fitting Program Using Method of Partial Totals," by Andrew C. Ruppel.

Automated models are used to classify and to plan treatments for patients with craniofacial pain. The clinical data used in the construction of the diagnostic and treatment planning models are discussed. Validation results are presented and applications of the models are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study we investigate the constraint qualifications for the Kuhn-Tucker conditions to hold for an inequality-constrained nonlinear programming problem. We present the qualifications in a consistent manner so that the interrelationships between them are highlighted. This gives rise naturally to two types of constraint qualifications, and it will be seen that all the qualifications of one type are almost equally weak whereas the other type of qualifications makes relatively strong assumptions. In the study we also slightly relax the Kuhn-Tucker and some other constraint qualifications, and also show the interrelationship between some of the qualifications which have not been established thus far. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A general purpose heuristic program (which has been applied to deductive question-answering and theorem proving) has now been applied to the problem of balancing assembly lines. The results indicate that the program is quite effective in its role as an assembly line balancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bell System applications of management science are reviewed, with examples, under three categories: (a) Facilities--providing the physical communications plant, (b) Operations--concerning both the plant and the organization, and (c) Marketing--determining services to be offered and rates. The facility applications have been the most studied, tend to be the simplest, and have yielded effective engineering solutions using computer programs for many recurring problems. Operations problems tend to be more difficult both to formulate and to solve, and their large size and complexity have frequently led to approximation in both formulation and solution. Marketing problems usually show complex interactions among the level of demand, the plant and services required to satisfy this demand, and the resulting cost of the services. This area has major difficulties in formulation and solution and has been the least studied of the three. However, the marketing area is likely to become the most important one in the future, primarily because of its basic relation to determining the direction of the business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the future of information processing technology. The author questions whether or not society is taking part in an information revolution. Information and the processing of information are becoming the objective of systematic scientific investigation. Further, the author suggests that a major task faced by management scientists is to design adequate information-processing systems that can be used for making decisions in government and in industry. It is also proposed that the design of such systems must deal with more than the computers and computer software.

The article comments on the use of marketing research data and the need to develop effective distribution models for supermarkets. The increasing availability of information related to warehouse withdrawals, order cycles, and customer purchases has allowed supermarkets to coordinate the activities of all of its store and distribution locations. Market reports provide salesmen with information related to individual accounts, manufacturer's research departments can provide an analysis of promotional activities, and details about the movement of merchandise from manufacturer to consumer can now be provided.

The article discusses the increasing use of computers and information systems in systematic biology. This concept makes the development of a general data format for summarizing and communicating taxonomic information desirable. General information storage and retrieval systems for biological data are also being studied, such as the one being developed for the Flora North America Program. Other imaginative methods for publishing information have also appeared in recent years. These systems allow development of a centralized taxonomic data bank of data files prepared by the various workers in a project and released by their authors for general use.

The article presents abstracts pertaining to storage and transportation. They include "Is It Endsville for Railroads?" and "Time Sharing: A Golden Topsy," by James M. Dixon.