Competitive bidding has recently received considerable attention in the literature of economics and operations research. Unfortunately, the classic formulation of the problem developed by Friedman and still expounded (Stark and Mayer) can lead to an incorrect estimate of the expected profit for a bidder when uncertainty about the cost of…

Estimating the probability that a proposed bid will win is obviously a central problem in competitive bidding theory. Unfortunately, a method for doing this, which originated with Friedman and which continues to be expounded in the literature, is logically incorrect. This paper points out the deficiency in that formulation. (Author/MLF)

A model with only ten or twenty decision variables can be more instructive than large scale cost simulation models. Research efforts should concentrate on understanding the order-of-magnitude effects of proposed policy changes on various indicators of system performance. (Author/VW)

This report summarizes the results of a fourteen-month study to (1) examine the feasibility of establishing a book processing center to serve the nine state-supported college and university libraries in Colorado and (2) conduct a simulation study of the proposed Center. The report covers: background, operational characteri tics of participating…

This is a study on the operating efficiency of the public library system in Australia. Cost functions have been fitted to library data and the results are interpreted with a view to generating insights into the functioning of the existing library system. An exploratory cost benefit analysis has also been attempted. Activities of libraries have…

A review of the elementary ideas that are fundamental to most higher education resource models and necessary for understanding model-supported cost analyses. Analytic constructs providing information for policy decisions include the elementary model, the fundamental cost model, and the instructional cost index. (JT)

Several computer programs were developed to solve various versions of the quadratic capacitated facilities location problem. Matrices, which represent various business costs, are defined for the factors of sites, facilities, customers, commodities, and production units. The objective of the program is to find an optimization matrix for the lowest…

This study was undertaken for the Center for Applied Linguistics to survey and analyze its information system program for the language sciences. The study identifies and defines the generalized sets of parameters required for subsequent quantitative analysis of proposed alternative Language Information Network and Clearinghouse Systems by means of…

Presents a general mathematical model for measuring the factors which directly and indirectly affect the costs of maintaining a clinical education program in a hospital's allied health department. Specific application of the model to a physical therapy department deomonstrates how an institution can measure the costs of education on a per student…

This book focuses on and utilizes the methodology and tools of systems analysis and operations research to demonstrate their use in planning for the future and meeting public demands for information on how tax money is being spent by educational administrators. The range of possible and relevant applications is demonstrated by a step-by-step…

Massachusetts' Management and Information System for Occupational Education (MISOE) arrays data for its dynamic simulation model, which decides educational and instructional policies at the state, school district, and classroom levels, according to this formula: Inputs/Process/Product/Impact. In this monograph linear programed models are…

These proceedings include four articles intended to familiarize librarians with many facets of operations research and how they might be applied to their institutions. The first paper provides a brief definition of operations research. The second presentation, by Ralph Shoffner, relates, in the form of concrete examples, the questions one asks…