Estado situacional de los algoritmos genéticos en los negocios internacionales

La computación evolutiva y muy especialmente los algoritmos genéticos son cada vez más empleados en las organizaciones para resolver sus problemas de gestión y toma de decisiones (Apoteker & Barthelemy, 2000). La literatura al respecto es creciente y algunos estados del arte han sido publicados. A pesar de esto, no hay un trabajo explícito que evalúe de forma sistemática el uso de los algoritmos genéticos en problemas específicos de los negocios internacionales (ejemplos de ello son la logística internacional, el comercio internacional, el mercadeo internacional, las finanzas internacionales o estrategia internacional). El propósito de este trabajo de grado es, por lo tanto, realizar un estado situacional de las aplicaciones de los algoritmos genéticos en los negocios internacionales.

Konfigurationshanteringsverktyg (CM-verktyg) och CM-kriterier, dess tillämpning för presentation av migreringsdata

The purpose of this thesis is to present and describe which criteria, according to the systemfamily Configuration Management, should be met when developing a CM-tool to handlemigration data.ACT is a tool developed by Microsoft to gather information about, analyze, test and mitigateapplications in a network when migrating the IT-infrastructure of an organization to a newoperating system. The organization that is being studied wants to present the data about theanalyzed applications in such a way, that a customer can choose what to mitigate and migrate.The goal is therefore to develop a prototype (CM-tool) that will present this data.The study has shown that ACT lacks certain requirements stated by the organization when itcomes to presentation. But when it comes to the rest of the functions, ACT performs as expected.The investigation resulted in specifications and technical solution for the new CM-tool. CMcriteriafor migration data was put forth and parts of the prototype were also developed.

O impacto das práticas ITIL na flexibilidade organizacional - evidências empíricas em uma empresa multinacional de TI

The present work has as main objective the identification and impact analysis for the practice ITIL in the organizational flexibility of a multinational IT company, being this study of quali-quantitative and exploratory nature. To achieve this objective, some theoretical studies on bureaucracy, organization flexibility, control, IT governance and ITIL were done, as a form to better understand the research problem. For analysis effect a set of eleven ITIL process was considered in this research ¿ service desk, incident management, problem management, change management, configuration management, release management, service level management, availability management, capacity management, continuity management and finally IT financial services management ¿ grouped in its two core areas ¿ service support and service delivery. Then a scale was constructed and validated, on the basis of theoretical models developed by Volberda (1997), Tenório (2002) and Golden and Powell (1999), to measure the flexibility related to each process comprising the ITIL core. The dimensions adopted to measure flexibility were: organization design task, managerial task, IT impact on work force, HR management, efficiency impact, sensitivity, versatility and robustness. The instrument used in research was a semi-structured interview, which was divided in two parts. The data collection was performed with ten interviewed people from an IT multinational company, based on convenience, some were managers and there were users, some were ITIL certified and others not. The statistic tests of t student and Wilcoxon non-parametric were adopted. The result of the research indicated that the ITIL service support area, for possessing greater operational focus, presents flexibility trend. The opposite was found for the service delivery area, which has greater tactical focus. The results also suggest that the change management discipline was the one that contributed for the most flexibility inside the company, followed by incident management discipline and the service desk function.

Network reconfiguration and loss allocation in a deregulated environment of distribution systems

Low flexibility and reliability in the operation of radial distribution networks make those systems be constructed with extra equipment as sectionalising switches in order to reconfigure the network, so the operation quality of the network can be improved. Thus, sectionalising switches are used for fault isolation and for configuration management (reconfiguration). Moreover, distribution systems are being impacted by the increasing insertion of distributed generators. Hence, distributed generation became one of the relevant parameters in the evaluation of systems reconfiguration. Distributed generation may affect distribution networks operation in various ways, causing noticeable impacts depending on its location. Thus, the loss allocation problem becomes more important considering the possibility of open access to the distribution networks. In this work, a graphic simulator for distribution networks with reconfiguration and loss allocation functions, is presented. Reconfiguration problem is solved through a heuristic methodology, using a robust power flow algorithm based on the current summation backward-forward technique, considering distributed generation. Four different loss allocation methods (Zbus, Direct Loss Coefficient, Substitution and Marginal Loss Coefficient) are implemented and compared. Results for a 32-bus medium voltage distribution network, are presented and discussed.

Strumenti di gestione per infrastrutture IT

L'elaborato analizza gli strumenti utilizzati nella gestione di infrastrutture informatiche. In particolare: nel primo capitolo viene fatta una panoramica del Cloud Computing e relativi modelli infrastrutturali e di distribuzione. Nel secondo vengono analizzate le piattaforme di gestione di sistemi basati su architettura IaaS, quali OpenStack, OpenNebula ed Eucalyptus. Nel terzo capitolo vengono esaminati due dei Software Configuration Management maggiormente utilizzati: Puppet e Chef. Nel quarto ed ultimo capitolo viene descritto lo standard OCCI (Open Cloud Computing Interface).

Studio, analisi e progettazione di un prototipo di infrastructure as code

La tesi inserita in un periodo di forte transizione dai sistemi On­premises a sistemi Cloud ha avuto l'esigenza di risolvere alcune problematiche legate alla definizione delle infrastrutture. Come poter scalare le risorse all'evenienza ricreando gli stessi ambienti, monitorandoli e mettendo in sicurezza i dati critici delle applicazioni? La tesi ha risposto proprio a questa domanda definendo un nuovo paradigma nel concepire le infrastrutture chiamato Infrastructure as Code. La tesi ha approfondito le pratiche e le metodologie che si sono legate maggiormente all'Infrastructure as Code tra le quali Version Control, Configuration Management, Continuous Integration e Continuous Delivery. La tesi inoltre ha previsto la realizzazione di un prototipo finale nato dallo studio del flusso di sviluppo software aziendale, definendo gli ambienti in accordo ai sistemi di Version Control e Configuration Management, applicando pratiche di integrazione continua per giungere ad una deployment pipeline funzionale.

Gestión de configuración y línea de productos para mejorar el proceso experimental en ingeniería del software

La Ingeniería del Software (IS) Empírica adopta el método científico a la IS para facilitar la generación de conocimiento. Una de las técnicas empleadas, es la realización de experimentos. Para que el conocimiento obtenido experimentalmente adquiera el nivel de madurez necesario para su posterior uso, es necesario que los experimentos sean replicados. La existencia de múltiples replicaciones de un mismo experimento conlleva la existencia de numerosas versiones de los distintos productos generados durante la realización de cada replicación. Actualmente existe un gran descontrol sobre estos productos, ya que la administración se realiza de manera informal. Esto causa problemas a la hora de planificar nuevas replicaciones, o intentar obtener información sobre las replicaciones ya realizadas. Para conocer con detalle la dimensión del problema a resolver, se estudia el estado actual de la gestión de materiales experimentales y su uso en replicaciones, así como de las herramientas de gestión de materiales experimentales. El estudio concluye que ninguno de los enfoques estudiados proporciona una solución al problema planteado. Este trabajo persigue como objetivo mejorar la administración de los materiales experimentales y replicaciones de experimentos en IS para dar soporte a la replicación de experimentos. Para satisfacer este objetivo, se propone la adopción en experimentación de los paradigmas de Gestión de Configuración del Software (GCS) y Línea de Producto Software (LPS). Para desarrollar la propuesta se decide utilizar el método de investigación acción (en inglés action research). Para adoptar la GCS a experimentación, se comienza realizando un estudio del proceso experimental como transformación de productos; a continuación, se realiza una adopción de conceptos fundamentada en los procesos del desarrollo software y de experimentación; finalmente, se desarrollan un conjunto de instrumentos, que se incorporan a un Plan de Gestión de Configuración de Experimentos (PGCE). Para adoptar la LPS a experimentación, se comienza realizando un estudio de los conceptos, actividades y fases que fundamentan la LPS; a continuación, se realiza una adopción de los conceptos; finalmente, se desarrollan o adoptan las técnicas, simbología y modelos para dar soporte a las fases de la Línea de Producto para Experimentación (LPE). La propuesta se valida mediante la evaluación de su: viabilidad, flexibilidad, usabilidad y satisfacción. La viabilidad y flexibilidad se evalúan mediante la instanciación del PGCE y de la LPE en experimentos concretos en IS. La usabilidad se evalúa mediante el uso de la propuesta para la generación de las instancias del PGCE y de LPE. La satisfacción evalúa la información sobre el experimento que contiene el PGCE y la LPE. Los resultados de la validación de la propuesta muestran mejores resultados en los aspectos de usabilidad y satisfacción a los experimentadores. ABSTRACT Empirical software engineering adapts the scientific method to software engineering (SE) in order to facilitate knowledge generation. Experimentation is one of the techniques used. For the knowledge generated experimentally to acquire the level of maturity necessary for later use, the experiments have to be replicated. As the same experiment is replicated more than once, there are numerous versions of all the products generated during a replication. These products are generally administered informally without control. This is troublesome when it comes to planning new replications or trying to gather information on replications conducted in the past. In order to grasp the size of the problem to be solved, this research examines the current state of the art of the management and use of experimental materials in replications, as well as the tools managing experimental materials. The study concludes that none of the analysed approaches provides a solution to the stated problem. The aim of this research is to improve the administration of SE experimental materials and experimental replications in support of experiment replication. To do this, we propose the adaptation of software configuration management (SCM) and software product line (SPL) paradigms to experimentation. The action research method was selected in order to develop this proposal. The first step in the adaptation of the SCM to experimentation was to analyse the experimental process from the viewpoint of the transformation of products. The concepts were then adapted based on software development and experimentation processes. Finally, a set of instruments were developed and added to an experiment configuration management plan (ECMP). The first step in the adaptation of the SPL to experimentation is to analyse the concepts, activities and phases underlying the SPL. The concepts are then adapted. Finally, techniques, symbols and models are developed or adapted in support of the experimentation product line (EPL) phases. The proposal is validated by evaluating its feasibility, flexibility, usability and satisfaction. Feasibility and flexibility are evaluated by instantiating the ECMP and the EPL in specific SE experiments. Usability is evaluated by using the proposal to generate the instances of the ECMP and EPL. The results of the validation of the proposal show that the proposal performs better with respect to usability issues and experimenter satisfaction.

SubCM: A tool for improved visibility of software change in an industrial setting

Software Configuration Management is the discipline of managing large collections of software development artefacts from which software products are built. Software configuration management tools typically deal with artefacts at fine levels of granularity - such as individual source code files - and assist with coordination of changes to such artefacts. This paper describes a lightweight tool, designed to be used on top of a traditional file-based configuration management system. The add-on tool support enables users to flexibly define new hierarchical views of product structure, independent of the underlying artefact-repository structure. The tool extracts configuration and change data with respect to the user-defined hierarchy, leading to improved visibility of how individual subsystems have changed. The approach yields a range of new capabilities for build managers, and verification and validation teams. The paper includes a description of our experience using the tool in an organization that builds large embedded software systems.

Influência da revisão de atividades executadas para melhoria da acurácia na estimativa de software utilizando planning poker

Abstract – Background – The software effort estimation research area aims to improve the accuracy of this estimation in software projects and activities. Aims – This study describes the development and usage of a web application tocollect data generated from the Planning Poker estimation process and the analysis of the collected data to investigate the impact of revising previous estimates when conducting similar estimates in a Planning Poker context. Method – Software activities were estimated by Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR) computer students, using Planning Poker, with and without revising previous similar activities, storing data regarding the decision-making process. And the collected data was used to investigate the impact that revising similar executed activities have in the software effort estimates' accuracy.Obtained Results – The UTFPR computer students were divided into 14 groups. Eight of them showed accuracy increase in more than half of their estimates. Three of them had almost the same accuracy in more than half of their estimates. And only three of them had loss of accuracy in more than half of their estimates. Conclusion – Reviewing the similar executed software activities, when using Planning Poker, led to more accurate software estimates in most cases, and, because of that, can improve the software development process.

Considering tourist perceptions and network configuration in destination management

The competitiveness of tourism destinations is a relevant issue for tourism studies, moreso, is a key element on the daily basis of tourism destinations. In this sense, the management of tourism destinations is essential to maintain competitive advantages. In this article tourism destination is considered as a relational network, where interaction and cooperation is needed among tourist agents, to achieve major levels of competitive advantage and a more effective destination management system. In addition, the perceptions of tourists are obtained from two main sources. The first one is the social construction of a tourism destination previous to the visit and the second one is obtained from the interaction between tourists and tourism destination agents during the visit. In this sense, the management of tourism destination to emit a homogenous and collective image is a factor that can reduce the gap if dissatisfaction from the previous and real tourist perception. The discussion is centered on the relationship within a destination, between the supply network and the targeted demand, considering these two approaches jointly, to benefit destination management. The main result is a conceptual model that shows how tourism agents and tourists in the tourism destination interact to improve the destination competitiveness

Model Configuration And Data Management In The Short-Term Water Information Forecasting Tools

The Short-term Water Information and Forecasting Tools (SWIFT) is a suite of tools for flood and short-term streamflow forecasting, consisting of a collection of hydrologic model components and utilities. Catchments are modeled using conceptual subareas and a node-link structure for channel routing. The tools comprise modules for calibration, model state updating, output error correction, ensemble runs and data assimilation. Given the combinatorial nature of the modelling experiments and the sub-daily time steps typically used for simulations, the volume of model configurations and time series data is substantial and its management is not trivial. SWIFT is currently used mostly for research purposes but has also been used operationally, with intersecting but significantly different requirements. Early versions of SWIFT used mostly ad-hoc text files handled via Fortran code, with limited use of netCDF for time series data. The configuration and data handling modules have since been redesigned. The model configuration now follows a design where the data model is decoupled from the on-disk persistence mechanism. For research purposes the preferred on-disk format is JSON, to leverage numerous software libraries in a variety of languages, while retaining the legacy option of custom tab-separated text formats when it is a preferred access arrangement for the researcher. By decoupling data model and data persistence, it is much easier to interchangeably use for instance relational databases to provide stricter provenance and audit trail capabilities in an operational flood forecasting context. For the time series data, given the volume and required throughput, text based formats are usually inadequate. A schema derived from CF conventions has been designed to efficiently handle time series for SWIFT.

A configuration framework of manufacturing strategy paradigm in state owned enterprises within China's petrochemical industry:building context-embedded configurations for the paradigm of strategic manufacturing management from exploratory case studies

The role of the production system as a key determinant of competitive performance of business operations- has long been the subject of industrial organization research, even predating the .explicit conceptua1isation of manufacturing, strategy in the literature. Particular emergent production issues such as the globalisation of production, global supply chain management, management of integrated manufacturing and a growing e~busjness environment are expected to critically influence the overall competitive performance and therefore the strategic success of the organization. More than ever, there is a critical need to configure and improve production system and operations competence in a strategic way so as to contribute to the long-term competitiveness of the organization. In order to operate competitively and profitably, manufacturing companies, no matter how well managed, all need a long-term 'strategic direction' for the development of operations competence in order to consistently produce more market value with less cost towards a leadership position. As to the long-term competitiveness, it is more important to establish a dynamic 'strategic perspective' for continuous operational improvements in pursuit of this direction, as well as ongoing reviews of the direction in relation to the overall operating context. However, it also clear that the 'existing paradigm of manufacturing strategy development' is incapable of adequately responding to the increasing complexities and variations of contemporary business operations. This has been factually reflected as many manufacturing companies are finding that methodologies advocated in the existing paradigm for developing manufacturing strategy have very limited scale and scope for contextual contingency in empirical application. More importantly, there has also emerged a deficiency in the multidimensional and integrative profile from a theoretical perspective when operationalising the underlying concept of strategic manufacturing management established in the literature. The point of departure for this study was a recognition of such contextual and unitary limitations in the existing paradigm of manufacturing strategy development when applied to contemporary industrial organizations in general, and Chinese State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in particular. As China gradually becomes integrated into the world economy, the relevance of Western management theory and its paradigm becomes a practical matter as much as a theoretical issue. Since China markedly differs from Western countries in terms of culture, society, and political and economic systems, it presents promising grounds to test and refine existing management theories and paradigms with greater contextual contingency and wider theoretical perspective. Under China's ongoing programmes of SOE reform, there has been an increased recognition that strategy development is the very essence of the management task for managers of manufacturing companies in the same way as it is for their counterparts in Western economies. However, the Western paradigm often displays a rather naive and unitary perspective of the nature of strategic management decision-making, one which largely overlooks context-embedded factors and social/political influences on the development of manufacturing strategy. This thesis studies the successful experiences of developing manufacturing strategy from five high-performing large-scale SOEs within China’s petrochemical industry. China’s petrochemical industry constitutes a basic heavy industrial sector, which has always been a strategic focus for reform and development by the Chinese government. Using a confirmation approach, the study has focused on exploring and conceptualising the empirical paradigm of manufacturing strategy development practiced by management. That is examining the ‘empirical specifics’ and surfacing the ‘managerial perceptions’ of content configuration, context of consideration, and process organization for developing a manufacturing strategy during the practice. The research investigation adopts a qualitative exploratory case study methodology with a semi-structural front-end research design. Data collection follows a longitudinal and multiple-case design and triangulates case evidence from sources including qualitative interviews, direct observation, and a search of documentations and archival records. Data analysis follows an investigative progression from a within-case preliminary interpretation of facts to a cross-case search for patterns through theoretical comparison and analytical generalization. The underlying conceptions in both the literature of manufacturing strategy and related studies in business strategy were used to develop theoretical framework and analytical templates applied during data collection and analysis. The thesis makes both empirical and theoretical contributions to our understanding of 'contemporary management paradigm of manufacturing strategy development'. First, it provides a valuable contextual contingency of the 'subject' using the business setting of China's SOEs in petrochemical industry. This has been unpacked into empirical configurations developed for its context of consideration, its content and process respectively. Of special note, a lean paradigm of business operations and production management discovered at case companies has significant implications as an emerging alternative for high-volume capital intensive state manufacturing in China. Second, it provides a multidimensional and integrative theoretical profile of the 'subject' based upon managerial perspectives conceptualised at case companies when operationalising manufacturing strategy. This has been unpacked into conceptual frameworks developed for its context of consideration, its content constructs, and its process patterns respectively. Notably, a synergies perspective towards the operating context, competitive priorities and competence development of business operations and production management has significant implications for implementing a lean manufacturing paradigm. As a whole, in so doing, the thesis established a theoretical platform for future refinement and development of context-specific methodologies for developing manufacturing strategy.

Records Management System: Indexing Standard, Document Standard, Technology Standard, Laboratory Configuration, 1997

Purpose of Records Management Sysytem indexing standards document is to develop indexing standards that will best support Iowa DOT's effort to build an agency-wide Records Management System