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The paper aims to build the connections between game theory and the resource allocation problem with general uncertainty. It proposes modeling the distributed resource allocation problem by Bayesian game. During this paper, three basic kinds of uncertainties are discussed. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to build the connections between game theory and the resource allocation problem with general uncertainty.

In this paper, the Bayesian game is proposed for modeling the resource allocation problem with uncertainty. The basic game theoretical model contains three parts: agents, utility function, and decision-making process. Therefore, the probabilistic weighted Shapley value (WSV) is applied to design the utility function of the agents. For achieving the Bayesian Nash equilibrium point, the rational learning method is introduced for optimizing the decision-making process of the agents.

The paper provides empirical insights about how the game theoretical model deals with the resource allocation problem uncertainty. A probabilistic WSV function was proposed to design the utility function of agents. Moreover, the rational learning was used to optimize the decision-making process of agents for achieving Bayesian Nash equilibrium point. By comparing with the models with full information, the simulation results illustrated the effectiveness of the Bayesian game theoretical methods for the resource allocation problem under uncertainty.

This paper designs a Bayesian theoretical model for the resource allocation problem under uncertainty. The relationships between the Bayesian game and the resource allocation problem are discussed.

Resource allocation is challenged by dynamic environments where changes are frequent. The purpose of this paper is to identify resource allocation challenges and practices in service units that perform both project and non-project activities in dynamic environments. Its goal is to show that top-down mechanisms of project resource allocation need to be replaced by or supplemented with mechanisms that are more flexible.

A qualitative comparative case study was conducted in two service units of two project-based firms. The main source of data consisted of semi-structured interviews with 17 service managers and staff members.

This study shows that resource allocation is not necessarily a top-down process at all, and the practices are context-dependent. Two more flexible approaches are revealed – hybrid resource allocation and bottom-up resource allocation – as examples of managing resource allocation in service units that engage in projects under uncertain conditions. The results of the analysis highlight prioritisation and adapting to change and delay as the main issues that managers face in allocating resources to different types of projects and service activities in dynamic environments.

The two target companies chosen for the qualitative research design limit the analysis to project-based firms in a business-to-business context. Further, the viewpoint of the service unit is central to the study. Studying project resource allocation in different organisational contexts and uncovering the perspectives of product development and delivery units would offer promising directions for future research.

The study reveals that in dynamic project settings such as service organisations, top-down mechanisms of resource allocation need to be accompanied by other, more flexible approaches to ensure the sufficient resourcing of projects and related services in dynamic environments. Companies need to establish practices for resource allocation changes that are caused by re-prioritising tasks and accommodating changes and delays in their project and service activities.

Compared to a top-down perspective taken in previous research, the study proposes a more flexible approach for resource allocation in constantly changing environments with different project and service activities. Previous studies have focussed on resource competition between projects, placing project managers in the central role for resource allocation. By contrast, this study discusses hybrid and bottom-up resource allocation, both of which involve broader personnel engagement in resource allocation tasks, drawing on the experience of all employees.

This paper aims to address a location-distribution-routing problem for distributing relief commodities during a disaster under uncertainty by creating a multi-stage model that can consider information updates during the disaster. This model aims to create a relief network that chooses distribution centers with the highest value while maximizing equity and minimizing response time.

A hybrid algorithm of adaptive large neighborhood search (ALNS) and multi-dimensional local search (MDLS) is introduced to solve the problem. Its results are compared to ALNS and an augmented epsilon constraint (AUGMECON) method.

The results show that the hybrid algorithm can obtain high-quality solutions within reasonable computation time compared to the exact solution. However, while it yields better solutions compared to ALNS, the solution is obtained in a little longer amount of time.

In this paper, the uncertain nature of some key features of the relief operations problem is not discussed. Moreover, some assumptions assumed to simplify the proposed model should be verified in future studies.

In order to verify the effectiveness of the designed model, a case study of the Sarpol Zahab earthquake in 2017 is illustrated and based on the results and the sensitivity analyses, some managerial insights are listed to help disaster managers make better decisions during disasters.

A novel robust multi-stage linear programming model is designed to address the location-distribution-routing problem during a disaster and to solve this model an efficient hybrid meta-heuristic model is developed.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a workforce optimisation model that maximises the profitability of a knowledge-based service organisation in the quaternary sector.

An optimisation model that allocates resources from different skillsets and seniority to projects that are delivered from several geographies has been developed in this paper. With the objective of maximising the profitability of a pipeline of projects, the model selects which projects to accept and which not to and indicates how many resources to hire for (or layoff from) each skillset-seniority-geography combination.

The paper discusses the model and its scalable nature. Through hypothetical scenarios, it is shown that the model, using a simple non-linear algorithm, converges to optimal solutions.

The model depends on inputs that are exogenously supplied by the organisation. The applicability of the outcome is dependent on them. However, on the other hand, it allows for the alignment of the outcomes with the strategic objective of the organisation.

The paper discusses the multi-dimensional nature of effective human resource allocation problem. It not only maximises profitability but also allows organisations to strategically screen projects. With proper calibration and minor modifications, the model may be used to allocate resources across the knowledge-based industry.

The paper integrates the demand and supply-side problems of workforce allocation to projects in a novel way to form a tractable model that is pragmatic and applicable.

This paper aims to apply a new approach for resource sharing and efficiency estimation of subunits in the presence of non-discretionary factors and partial impacts among inputs and outputs in the data envelopment analysis (DEA) framework.

First, inspired by the Imanirad et al.’s model (2013), the authors consider that each decision-making unit (DMU) may consist of several subunits, that each of which can be affected by non-discretionary inputs. After that, the Banker and Morey’s model (1996) is used for modeling non-discretionary factors. For measuring performance of several subunits, which can be considered as DMUs, the aggregate efficiency is suggested. At last, the overall efficiency is computed and compared with each other.

One of the important features of proposed model is that each output in this model applies discretionary input according to its need; therefore, the result of this study will make it easier for the managers to make better decisions. Also, it indicates that significant predictions of the development of the overall efficiency of DMUs can be based on observing the development level of subunits because of the influence of non-discretionary input. Therefore, the proposed model provides a more reasonable and encompassing measure of performance in participating non-discretionary and discretionary inputs to better efficiency. An application of the proposed model for gaining efficiency of 17 road patrols is provided.

More non-discretionary and discretionary inputs can be taken into consideration for a better analysis. This study provides us with a framework for performance measures along with useful managerial insights. Focusing upon the right scope of operations may help out the management in improving their overall efficiency and performance. In the recent highway maintenance management systems, the environmental differences exist among patrols and other geotechnical services under the climate diverse. Further, in some cases, there might exist more than one non-discretionary factor that can have different effects on the subunits’ performance.

The purpose of this paper was to measure the performance of a set of the roadway maintenance crews and to analyze the impact of non-discretionary inputs on the efficiency of the roadway maintenance. The application of the proposed model, on the one hand, showed that each output in this model uses discretionary input according to its requirement, and on the other hand, the result showed that meaningful predictions of the development of the overall efficiency of DMUs can be based on observing the development level of subunits because of the impact of non-discretionary input.

Providing information on resource sharing by taking into account non-discretionary factors for each subunit can help managers to make better decisions to increase the efficiency.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of supply capacity constraint, water delivery loss and fairness concern on the operational decisions/efficiency of the IBWT supply chain under the random precipitation.

Two game-theoretic decision models for the IBWT supply chain coordination considering water delivery loss without/with fairness concern under the supply capacity constraint and random precipitation are developed, analyzed and compared. On this basis, the corresponding numerical analyses are conducted and compared to derive the corresponding management insights and policy implications.

The research results indicate that the two-part tariff contract could effectively coordinate the IBWT supply chain and achieve operational performance improvement; the binding supply capacity constraint makes the water capacity to be allocated among IBWT distributors in accordance with fair shortage allocation rule and reduces the profit (or utility) of the IBWT supply chain and its members; the existence of fairness concern reduces the utility of the IBWT supply chain and its members; a lower precipitation utilization factor in the case with non-binding capacity constraint is beneficial for improving the profit/utility of the IBWT supply chain while a higher precipitation utilization factor in the case with binding capacity constraint is beneficial for improving the profit/utility of the IBWT supply chain; and reducing the water delivery loss rate, the mainline transfer cost, the branch-line transfer cost, the holding cost and the shortage cost and setting a higher retail price are beneficial for improving the profit/utility of the IBWT supply chain.

Two innovative coordination decision models under random precipitation are developed, analyzed and compared through game-theoretic approaches to investigate the impact of supply capacity constraint, water delivery loss and fairness concern on the operational decisions/efficiency of the IBWT supply chain, which have enhanced the optimization decision theory for the operations management of IBWT projects and provided a better decision support for the IBWT stakeholders to make better operations strategies.

Statistics in the construction industry show that lack of timely injection of funds to projects by clients is one of the common problems confronted by contractors. This problem is intensified when contractors construct multiple projects simultaneously. In these situations, it is rational that contractors share their financial resources among projects according to project conditions and the firm’s vision. This study aims to propose a fuzzy multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) model for financial management in multiple project environments.

First, the project evaluation criteria are defined using exploratory study and interviews with experts. Second, the weights of criteria are determined based on company strategies. Then, each of the projects are evaluated in each criterion. Finally, the fuzzy weighted average approach is used to determine the proportion of each project from the financial resources.

The proposed model is prepared as an applicable model for general contractors to assign financial recourses among the multiple projects optimally.

As a lack of applicable model assigning the financial resources among the multiple projects, this study is one of the first research studies that proposed a fuzzy MCDM model to assign financial resources to multiple projects optimally.

Analyses the influence of export share and domestic content policies on the level of capital investment undertaken by a multinational firm both in its home country and in the foreign country in which it operates. These protective policies, in force in both developing and industrialized countries, require the firm to employ a certain proportion of inputs from the foreign country in which it operates and to export a certain proportion of its output abroad. Cases examined in the analysis include those for which the firm faces uncertainty in the production process in the host and home countries; and in neither country. Finds that both of these policies can have spillover effects to the home country as well, i.e. when there is uncertainty in production in the home country, these policies can reduce the optimal level of investment in the home country, too.

This paper illuminates the distinction between individual and organizational actors in business-to-business markets as well as the coexistence of formal and informal mechanisms of coordination in multinational corporations. The main questions addressed include the following. (1) What factors influence the occurrence of personal contacts of foreign subsidiary managers in industrial multinational corporations? (2) How such personal contacts enable coordination in industrial markets and within multinational firms? The theoretical context of the paper is based on: (1) the interaction approach to industrial markets, (2) the network approach to industrial markets, and (3) the process approach to multinational management. The unit of analysis is the foreign subsidiary manager as the focal actor of a contact network. The paper is empirically focused on Portuguese sales subsidiaries of Finnish multinational corporations, which are managed by either a parent country national (Finnish), a host country national (Portuguese) or a third country national. The paper suggests eight scenarios of individual dependence and uncertainty, which are determined by individual, organizational, and/or market factors. Such scenarios are, in turn, thought to require personal contacts with specific functions. The paper suggests eight interpersonal roles of foreign subsidiary managers, by which the functions of their personal contacts enable inter-firm coordination in industrial markets. In addition, the paper suggests eight propositions on how the functions of their personal contacts enable centralization, formalization, socialization and horizontal communication in multinational corporations.

This paper aims to examine resource allocation behaviors of US and Taiwanese managers to help multinational firms understand the potential for divergence in resource allocations under different contextual conditions by managers from different national cultures.

The experimental design was developed as a 2 (national culture) × 2 (degree of project completion) × 2 (nature of market information) factorial design. The first two were between-subject factors. Because we would investigate subjects’ responses to both favorable and unfavorable conditions, the nature of market information was designed as a within-subject factor. Also, to avoid an order effect, half of the subjects first received favorable information and then unfavorable information, and the other half received the market information in the opposite order. Questionnaires were distributed randomly to subjects.

The results show that Taiwanese managers are less willing than US managers to continue a project in the presence of favorable information, but that both groups are equally willing to continue the project when receiving unfavorable information. Furthermore, Taiwanese managers allocate more funds than US managers do when the project is near completion. The authors use uncertainty avoidance and individualism to explain the different judgment and decision behaviors of these two cultural groups.

In this study, the authors examine only two contextual factors in resource allocation contexts. There are other important contextual factors associated with national culture that should be scrutinized, such as risks involved in each project, incentive plans related to performance evaluation and information asymmetry between central managers and division managers. It would be interesting for future studies to examine these factors in conjunction with different dimensions of national culture.

This study provides empirical evidence of the impact of different aspects of national culture (i.e. uncertainty avoidance and collectivism/individualism) on managerial resource allocation in light of different degrees of project completion and different types of market information. The results of our experiment add to both practice and theory of management. The findings of this study help top-level managers better understand the effects of national culture on division managers’ resource allocations. Hence, it may be possible to design incentive schemes and decision aids to mitigate the divergence in judgments and decision-making that can be attributed to cultural differences. This study also contributes to the management literature by extending our knowledge of complex managerial resource allocation decisions by incorporating the role of national culture with contextual factors.