舌战并购策略与文化整合

这是一场进程完全出乎我们意料的论坛。我们没有想到几位或中或洋、或产或研等不同背景与经验的并购专家,不仅在具体运作方式上各有千秋,而且在诸如"文化整合是不是并购要害"等基本并购理念上也存在巨大差异!而"各执一词"不恰好是处于转折与多变中的中国现状在并购领域的必然反映吗?为了读者便于理解,我们在编辑时冒昧地将嘉宾们的发言按辩论思路强行冠以了正反方的帽子,仅供参考。至于孰是孰非,恐怕眼下只能见仁见智吧。

A Strategy for the Integration of Production Planning and Scheduling in Refineries under Uncertainty

A strategy for the integration of production planning and scheduling in refineries is proposed. This strategy relies on rolling horizon strategy and a two-level decomposition strategy. This strategy involves an upper level multiperiod mixed integer linear programming （MILP） model and a lower level simulation system, which is extended from our previous framework for short-term scheduling problems [Luo, C.E, Rong, G, ＂Hierarchical apthis extended framework is to reduce the number of variables and the size of the optimization model and, to quickly find the optimal solution for the integrated planning/scheduling problem in refineries. Uncertainties are also considered in this article. An integrated robust optimization approach is introduced to cope with uncertain parameters with both continuous and discrete probability distribution.

A linear programming model for long-term mine planning in the presence of grade uncertainty and a stockpile

The complexity of an open pit production scheduling problem is increased by grade uncertainty. A method is presented to calculate the cost of uncertainty in a production schedule based on deviations from the target production. A mixed integer linear programming algorithm is formulated to find the min- ing sequence of blocks from a predefined pit shell and their respective destinations, with two objectives： to maximize the net present value of the operation and to minimize the cost of uncertainty. An efficient clustering technique reduces the number of var/ables to make the problem tractable. Also, the parameters that control the importance of uncertainty in the optimization problem are studied. The minimum annual mining capacity in presence of grade uncertainty is assessed. The method is illustrated with an oil sand deposit in northern Alberta.

Financial Integration Among the ASEAN 5 ＋ 3 Stock Markets： A Preliminary Look at the First 10 Years of the New Millenium

The purpose of this study is to investigate the financial integration of the stock markets of the ASEAN 5 ＋ 3 countries. These countries include Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, China, Japan, and South Korea. The research determined the stock return volatility for each country＇s index during the first decade of the new millennium. The findings showed that there is the presence of integration and co-integration with Philippine index＇s return with the index＇s returns of the following countries： Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand. Furthermore, there is evidence of volatility clustering in these stock markets. The study concluded with the policy implications of greater integration in light of the planned cross trading among four ASEAN bourses, namely, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia by 2012.

Modeling and optimization methods of integrated production planning for steel plate mill with flexible customization

With diversified requirements and varying manufacturing environments, the optimal production planning for a steel mill becomes more flexible and complicated. The flexibility provides operators with auxiliary requirements through an implementable integrated production planning. In this paper, a mixed-integer nonlinear programming(MINLP) model is proposed for the optimal planning that incorporates various manufacturing constraints and flexibility in a steel plate mill. Furthermore, two solution strategies are developed to overcome the weakness in solving the MINLP problem directly. The first one is to transform the original MINLP formulation to an approximate mixed integer linear programming using a classic linearization method. The second one is to decompose the original model using a branch-and-bound based iterative method. Computational experiments on various instances are presented in terms of the effectiveness and applicability. The result shows that the second method performs better in computational efforts and solution accuracy.

Integrating Crops-Tree Systems with Outgrower Schemes and Food Security

Outgrower Schemes have been implemented in different parts of the world to provide wood to forest and other companies and as income alternatives for farmers in rural areas. They have been considered by some researchers and practitioners as important advances in the area of planted forest and promoted by governments and forest companies in partnership with rural farmers and communities. Considering the importance of subsistence crops and forest products to smallholders and consumers and the economic viability of agroforestry, attention is given in this paper to Outgrower Schemes that combine tree planting with agroforestry, to contribute to food security and environment preservation in developing countries. The issue of Outgrower Schemes through integrated crops-tree systems was raised in a previous study of Outgrower Schemes in Brazil, commissioned by the FAO1. This paper examines, based on the research done for that study, the views and perspectives of the companies＇ personnel, the tree growers that participate in the programs studied, and other stakeholders＇ related institutions involved in such schemes with regard to the promotion of Outgrower Schemes through integrated crops-tree systems, linking them with agroforestry, which is a way those Outgrower Schemes can contribute to food security and environment preservation goals.

BILEVEL PROGRAMMING MODEL AND SOLUTION METHOD FOR MIXED TRANSPORTATION NETWORK DESIGN PROBLEM

By handling the travel cost function artfully, the authors formulate the transportation mixed network design problem （MNDP） as a mixed-integer, nonlinear bilevel programming problem, in which the lower-level problem, comparing with that of conventional bilevel DNDP models, is not a side constrained user equilibrium assignment problem, but a standard user equilibrium assignment problem. Then, the bilevel programming model for MNDP is reformulated as a continuous version of bilevel programming problem by the continuation method. By virtue of the optimal-value function, the lower-level assignment problem can be expressed as a nonlinear equality constraint. Therefore, the bilevel programming model for MNDP can be transformed into an equivalent single-level optimization problem. By exploring the inherent nature of the MNDP, the optimal-value function for the lower- level equilibrium assignment problem is proved to be continuously differentiable and its functional value and gradient can be obtained efficiently. Thus, a continuously differentiable but still nonconvex optimization formulation of the MNDP is created, and then a locally convergent algorithm is proposed by applying penalty function method. The inner loop of solving the subproblem is mainly to implement an Ml-or-nothing assignment. Finally, a small-scale transportation network and a large-scale network are presented to verify the proposed model and algorithm.

MIP FORMULATIONS AND HEURISTICS FOR SOLVING PARALLEL BATCHING PROBLEMS

This paper addresses the scheduling problem involving batch processing machines, which is Mso known as parallel batching in the literature. The presented mixed integer programming formulation first provides an elegant model for the problem under study. Fhrthermore, it enables solutions to the problem instances beyond the capability of exact methods developed so far. In order to alleviate computational burden, the authors propose MIP-based heuristic approaches which balance solution quality and computing time.