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This paper describes the design and development of a system for the selection and construction of vertical and horizontal machining center packages with a base machine and options format subject to budgetary constraints. Options are categorized and divided into groups depending on their utilization, and their selection is based on a priority setting. Options are categorized as those providing the capability for high speed, enhanced levels of productivity, high levels of machining complexity, high levels of machining accuracy, and potential for the inclusion of automation to facilitate and satisfy production requirements. A user‐friendly and object‐oriented computer0based decision support software system was developed incorporating real data from a machine tool sales organization.

Aims to present a comparison and evaluation of four user interfaces of web‐based e‐journals (Science Direct, ProQuest Direct, EBSCO Host and Emerald).

The systems were assessed in an expert study according to accepted guidelines regarding user friendliness and functionality. User friendliness features studied were: language(s) and type(s) of interface; navigation options; personalization; and screen features. Functions inspected were: database selection; query formulation and reformulation; results manipulation; and help.

Many similarities were found, but some differences among the systems were also discovered and analysed in detail. The greatest differences were found in the area of query formulation, and between the interface languages and types.

The user interfaces of four full‐text IR systems offering e‐journals which are accessible at the University of Ljubljana are surveyed.

The interfaces are surveyed and assessed in order to discover their characteristics, advantages, and potential downsides and/or mistakes which may hinder use by an average user.

The study serves as a basis for a subsequent user study of the information behaviour of the users of these systems.

The purpose of this paper is to study the effects of hedging with options and cardinality constraints in multi‐period portfolio management systems.

The paper focuses on a recursive multi‐period portfolio management formulation (SHAREX) subject to hedging with cardinality constraints and options. The problem formulation is tested with observed and simulated data.

The yield of the multi‐period cardinality constrained option hedging framework under integer‐valued transactions and fixed and variable transactions costs exceeds the riskless return predicted by the Black‐Scholes model in equilibrium.

The paper demonstrates that the multiple representations framework constructed to generate optimal predictions provides accurate forecasts with obvious value for portfolio management.

Current business challenges force companies to exchange critical and sensitive data. The data provider pays great attention to the usage of their data and wants to control it by policies. The purpose of this paper is to develop usage control architecture options to enable data sovereignty in business ecosystems.

The architecture options are developed following the design science research process. Based on requirements from an automotive use case, the authors develop architecture options. The different architecture options are demonstrated and evaluated based on the case study with practitioners from the automotive industry.

This paper introduces different architecture options for implementing usage control (UC). The proposed architecture options represent solutions for UC in business ecosystems. The comparison of the architecture options shows the respective advantages and disadvantages for data provider and data consumer.

In this work, the authors address only one case stemming from the German automotive sector.

Technical enforcement of data providers policies instead of relying on trust to support collaborative data exchange between companies.

This research is among the first to introduce architecture options that provide a technical concept for the implementation of data sovereignty in business ecosystems using UC. Consequently, it supports the decision process for the technical implementation of data sovereignty.

Herein a cost minimization model with fuzzy multiple goals to determine available alternatives, which will economically enhance the quality of electricity within high‐tech industries is developed. The proposed model focuses on the worsening phenomenon of the quality of electricity within high‐tech industries. Electricity quality is initially divided into load curtailment, interruption frequency and interruption duration, and is associated with the cost components and defined in terms of damage functions. A model is formulated using fuzzy multiple goals based on these damage functions and the characteristics of demands for electricity quality. A realistic packing enterprise is implemented to test the model methodology. The results of the implementation demonstrate that the proposed model is adequate for the high‐tech enterprise on deciding electricity quality planning.

In industrialised countries water service providers (WSPs) must provide an appropriate level of service with an acceptable performance at an acceptable cost to customers. In the UK a move towards sustainable development is now also a major goal for WSPs. However, the imposition of institutional systems and regulatory targets still encourage the adoption of less sustainable technologies or solutions by the water industry. It is within this context, that the Sustainable Water industry Asset Resource Decisions (SWARD) project has developed a set of decision support processes that allow WSPs to assess the relative sustainability of water/wastewater system asset development decisions. A Guidebook has been produced that takes the WSP and its stakeholders through the processes essential to incorporating sustainability in asset investment decision‐making. Several case studies that demonstrate the SWARD principles in application are included within the Guidebook, the experience of which is described in this paper.

This article identifies three main trends in service operations. It identifies how these have been applied to service industries in general and to the food service sector in particular. The relationship between these and specific industry sectors is identified. The application and implementation of these trends in food service organisations is discussed in relation to the organisational culture, leadership style and systems that such firms adopt.

How to derive policy implications from five future scenarios of transformed research and innovation (R&I) systems? This paper analyzes methodological and content issues of five future scenarios of transformed R&I systems. The aim of this paper is to provide an outlook on strategic policies capable of facilitating or moderating these transformative changes in R&I practices is discussed in light of overarching intentions to foster “responsible” ambitions (in Europe and beyond, discussed as responsible research and innovation, RRI).

The paper elaborates a four-step methodology to assess the scenario’s policy implications: first, by articulating the scenario implications for six core dimensions of R&I systems; second, an RRI assessment framework is developed to assess in each scenario opportunities and limitations for transforming R&I systems towards responsibility goals; the third involves a cross-scenario analysis of similarities and differences between the scenarios, allowing the identification of robust policy options that make sense in more than one scenario. The last analytical step includes again the richness of the individual scenario assessments aiming to provide a broader outlook on transformative policy orientations.

The paper concludes with outlining the contours of a future-responsible R&I system together with some suggestions for transformative policy orientations that aim to govern the R&I system towards such a future, as a source of inspiration and reflection.

The analysis is based on five future scenarios that do not systematically cover future developments external to the R&I system.

An outlook of strategic policies capable of facilitating or moderating these transformative changes in R&I practices is discussed in light of the overarching European Union goal of encouraging the performance of RRI.

This paper provides inspirational anticipatory strategic intelligence for fostering the responsible ambitions of research with and for society.

The purpose of this paper is to apply options to the pharmaceutical markets to solute the corruption and counterfeit drugs in emerging markets.

This article proposes a framework for using pharmaceutical options. The application of options to pharmaceuticals will enable a freer and more competitive pharmaceutical market, and assist medicine producers and hospitals using pharmaceutical options market to hedge price risk.

The paper finds that it is possible, for example, to apply the theoretical framework to case studies in pharmaceutical markets.

The present study provides a starting‐point for further research in the pharmaceutical markets sector. The environment of the existing pharmaceutical markets, the implementation of pharmaceutical options, and the potential benefit of such implementation are discussed in details.

This framework has proven to be useful in improving the pharmaceutical markets of the medical industry.

Laser disk databases containing MARC records that can be retrieved, edited, and used to print cards and labels and/or to produce machine‐readable catalog records in some transferable form are compared for seven vendors: Gaylord Information Systems, General Research Corporation, The Library Corporation, OCLC, Solinet, Utlas, and the Western Library Network. Major areas of exploration include: database characteristics, access, display, editing, new records, hard copy products, hardware, and price.