Competitive Problem Research Articles

UNFAIR COMPETITION IN PATENT LAW (PATENT TROLLING)

The purpose of this article is to consider problematic issues regarding unfair competition in patent law, in particular, patent trolling. For this purpose, the concepts of «patent trolling» and «patent troll» were analyzed. Types of patent trolls are also defined. The signs and peculiarities of patent trolling in Ukraine and the reasons for its spread are established. The manifestation of unfair competition, consisting in the abuse of intellectual property rights, is considered. Recommendations are given on introducing an effective mechanism to combat patent trolls and bring them to justice for unfair competition. The methodological basis of the research is general scientific and special methods of scientific knowledge. The use of these methods made it possible to describe and propose ways to solve the problem of unfair competition in patent law, in particular, patent trolling. Results: no provision in national legislation directly provides for the liability of patent trolls for abuse of rights, including under competition law. Ukrainian legislation does not provide for the liability of patent trolls for the abuse of rights, which in a certain way have a conditional nature, since they are provided under their personal responsibility in terms of compliance of the object with the conditions of patentability or the criteria of protectionability. In this regard, it is necessary to eliminate the causes and conditions that contribute to the mentioned negative phenomenon at the legislative level. Discussion: in fact, «patent trolls» are neither product manufacturers nor inventors, but only possess property rights to objects of intellectual property rights, buying up protective documents for them and realizing these rights only by prohibiting their use, initiating lawsuits, in fact, that’s why they got that name.

Equilibrium Identification and Selection in Finite Games

Decision-making under simultaneous competition Hardly any decision is made in isolation and most decision makers are dealing with fierce competition when trying to find the optimal decision for their problem. The expected outcome of such a competitive problem setting or the individually optimal course of action for each competitor is not evident. In a finite game, a finite set of decision makers simultaneously select their action from a finite set of strategies. In “Equilibrium identification and selection in finite games”, T. Crönert and S. Minner propose a solution approach enumerating all equilibria and selecting the most likely equilibrium in finite games. The approach is targeted toward large finite games that cannot be efficiently represented in normal form. They apply their algorithm to two- and three-player knapsack and facility location and design games. Their numerical experiments show that prior approaches identifying a single equilibrium can result in unlikely outcomes.

Resource coordination scheduling optimisation of logistics information sharing platform considering decision response and competition

The varying types and quantities of shared resources and fluctuating demands over time in the logistics information platform (LIP) often bring unbalanced resource competition, resulting in lower response demander success rates as well as lower platform resource utilisation rates, and weakening the LIP values. To address the problem of unbalanced resource competition in LIPs, a resource coordination scheduling optimisation method comprising a two-stage model is proposed. As the inherent reason for resource competition is decision time centralisation of each demander, the first-stage model decentralises the decision time points by optimising the LIP decision crowding degree and scheduling risk of an LIP transaction system. Subsequently, considering the scheduled time points obtained in the first stage as input, based on resource distribution changes that affect the comprehensive benefit of the demander's decision making, the second-stage model is proposed. The purpose is to optimise the resource distribution for ensuring that demanders achieve the highest decision benefits at the scheduled time points. Additionally, an entire dynamic scheduling strategy is designed based on the actual situation of vehicle-cargo matching. Particle swarm optimisation and a genetic algorithm are adopted to solve the models. An application example demonstrates that the proposed method and model are both valid and efficient. The proposed model can improve the demander response success and platform resource utilisation rates, solve the platform resource competition problem at a lower cost compared with price incentives, and contribute to new methods for scheduling and controlling shared resources. This can help improve the functionality and promote the healthy operation of the platform.

A comparative performance analysis of intelligence-based algorithms for optimizing competitive facility location problems

Most companies operate to maximize profits and increase their market shares in competitive environments. Since the proper location of the facilities conditions their market shares and profits, the competitive facility location problem (CFLP) has been extensively applied in the literature. This problem generally falls within the class of NP-hard problems, which are difficult to solve. Therefore, choosing a proper solution method to optimize the problem is a key factor. Even though CFLPs have been consistently solved and investigated, an important question that keeps being neglected is how to choose an appropriate solution technique. Since there are no specific criteria for choosing a solution method, the reasons behind the selection approach are mostly unclear. These models are generally solved using several optimization techniques. As harder-to-solve problems are usually solved using meta-heuristics, we apply different meta-heuristic techniques to optimize a new version of the CFLP that incorporates reliability and congestion. We divide the algorithms into four categories based on the nature of the meta-heuristics: evolution-based, swarm intelligence-based, physics-based, and human-based. GAMS software is also applied to solve smaller-size CFLPs. The genetic algorithm and differential evolution of the first category, particle swarm optimization and artificial bee colony optimization of the second, Tabu search and harmony search of the third, and simulated annealing and vibration damping optimization of the fourth are applied to solve our CFLP model. Statistical analyses are implemented to evaluate and compare their relative performances. The results show the algorithms of the first and third categories perform better than the others.

How does a Network Platform Work for Participating Actors Towards Integrated Care Governance? A Case Study of a Dutch Hospital Region.

Network platforms are interesting for integrated care governance as they seek solutions for the problem of competition and tensions between networks. In this paper, we analyse how a network platform functions for the actors involved, and how it is used in their work. We employed a case study in a Dutch urbanised hospital region, and conducted 17 interviews with hospital physicians, directors, and supporting staff who are involved in a network platform called "BeterKeten" (BK). Actors assign different functions and purposes to BK: facilitating and legitimising professional (learning) communities; adapting to a changing policy context; enlarging professionals' and the networks' circle of influence; and extending governing possibilities. Network platform' dynamics and frictions entail changing professional and managerial practices; embedding a BK network in a partner network; and alignment of (conflicting) network platforms. Network platforms are a promising strategy to govern, facilitate, and nurture network-building actions to enhance integrated care, offering new ways of working to cope with its multi-level nature. BK is a dynamic actor with steering capacities that enables the co-existence of multiple purposes. Further research could pay attention to how network platforms are able to develop modalities of integrated care governance that suit healthcare system's networked character.

Structural-component analysis of the phenomenon «manager’s competitiveness» in psychological and pedagogical discourse

The urgency of the problem of formation of competitiveness of future managers in the process of their professional training is substantiated in the article. The problem of competition and competitiveness, which was introduced in the field of economics, management and production, over time, due to the strengthening of its humanistic context, has received wide and comprehensive coverage in the field of education. The relevance of the study is due to the dynamic development of the education sector, which requires highly qualified competitive professionals capable of effective action at the level of world standards. The author made a theoretical analysis of the main approaches to understanding the nature and components of «competitiveness». It is noted that "competitiveness of the manager of education» is a multilevel integrated personal education, characterized by a set of values, personally and professionally significant qualities, basic knowledge, skills and abilities and is designed for all spheres of life and provides future leaders with competitive advantages, educational activities for creative self-realization. As a result of the analysis, the author summarizes the existing approaches and considers the studied phenomenon as a four-component phenomenon, the components of which are: motivational-value, cognitive, activity and personality-reflexive components. Motivational and value component determines the value orientation and motivation of the individual to self-development, covers the motivation for professional growth and reflects the value orientations of the individual. The cognitive component is characterized by the possession of a system of knowledge necessary for the effective performance of professional tasks; understanding the essence, content, goals and objectives of professional activity; awareness of methods and ways of performing management tasks. The activity component is characterized by the ability of future managers in the field of education to use the acquired knowledge in solving professional problems; ability to adapt to new situations, justify and make decisions for independent professional tasks. The personality-reflexive component determines the suitability for the chosen profession and is characterized by the presence and level of formation of priority professional and personal qualities that affect the ability of future professionals in the field of education to compete.

The Effect of Workload and Compensation System on Turnover Intention with Job Satisfaction as a Mediating Variable in PT. Xyz

Background: The problem of limited Human Resources (HR) and competition is a major obstacle to the growth of the industry, especially in the banking industry. This problem then also causes other problems such as the high employee turnover rate which has now become a separate problem for many companies. The high employee turnover rate experienced by a company can be predicted by how much desire to move company members have to other companies. PT. XYZ is one of the Islamic banking companies that has experienced an increase in the turnover rate of its employees from year to year.
 
 Objective: This study aims to examine and build a conceptual model of the effect of workload and compensation systems on the turnover intention with job satisfaction as a mediating variable in PT. XYZ. 
 
 Method: This study used a non-probability sampling technique with the sample used being 70 permanent employees through the distribution of questionnaires.
 
 Results: This study found that job satisfaction does not mediate the effect of workload on turnover intention, but job satisfaction can mediate the variable of the compensation system against turnover intention in PT. XYZ.
 
 Conclusion: PT. XYZ has not been able to provide a workload that is by the abilities of its employees, coupled with compensation that is not by the workload that is fished so as to reduce the level of employee work loss which ultimately increases the intensity of employee turnover intention at PT. XYZ.

Competition-level code generation with AlphaCode

Programming is a powerful and ubiquitous problem-solving tool. Systems that can assist programmers or even generate programs themselves could make programming more productive and accessible. Recent transformer-based neural network models show impressive code generation abilities yet still perform poorly on more complex tasks requiring problem-solving skills, such as competitive programming problems. Here, we introduce AlphaCode, a system for code generation that achieved an average ranking in the top 54.3% in simulated evaluations on recent programming competitions on the Codeforces platform. AlphaCode solves problems by generating millions of diverse programs using specially trained transformer-based networks and then filtering and clustering those programs to a maximum of just 10 submissions. This result marks the first time an artificial intelligence system has performed competitively in programming competitions.

Competitive location problems: balanced facility location and the One-Round Manhattan Voronoi Game

We study competitive location problems in a continuous setting, in which facilities have to be placed in a rectangular domain R of normalized dimensions of 1 and rho ge 1, and distances are measured according to the Manhattan metric. We show that the family of balanced facility configurations (in which the Voronoi cells of individual facilities are equalized with respect to a number of geometric properties) is considerably richer in this metric than for Euclidean distances. Our main result considers the One-Round Voronoi Game with Manhattan distances, in which first player White and then player Black each place n points in R; each player scores the area for which one of its facilities is closer than the facilities of the opponent. We give a tight characterization: White has a winning strategy if and only if rho ge n; for all other cases, we present a winning strategy for Black.

Solutions of the Ortvay Rudolf International Competition in Physics: Phase-Transition in Collective Aggression (1991/22 Problem)

This paper is the third in a series of published solutions 1 , 2 discussing problems of the Ortvay Rudolf international competition. The problem treated below is an exercise in building a qualitative model for complex systems, applying statistical physics methods. Accounting for the simplifications, it is also possible to express corrections in the results due to otherwise neglected properties. The problem is appropriate for university students, especially for future physics teachers, as it helps to demonstrate the power of using physical reasoning in interdisciplinary fields.

Bilevel optimization for the reorganization of inland river ports: A niche perspective

To address the problems of duplicate construction, disorderly competition, small scale, and weak functionality, we examine the reorganization optimization of an inland river port group to realize its coordinated development. Considering port customers' decision-making behaviors, we propose a bilevel programming model for inland river port group reorganization based on niche theory. More specifically, an upper-level model is used to develop a reorganization plan, including the inland river port spatial layout and expansion extent, to maximize the value contributed by the port group to its region and industry and minimize the competition among the ports from the perspective of port management. More specifically, two upper-level objectives can be creatively measured by niche breadth and niche overlap. A lower-level model oriented to port customers aims to reduce their respective logistics costs by designing a transportation plan and providing feedback to the upper-level model to facilitate adjustments for port group reorganization. Since the dynamic interaction between the upper- and lower-level models significantly increases model complexity, we develop a hybrid heuristic algorithm by incorporating a genetic algorithm and an exact solution method. To verify the applicability of the proposed model and the efficiency of the developed hybrid approach, we conduct a series of numerical experiments on a real-world case study concerning Jining City, Shandong Province, China. Our case study also provides managerial insights into investment scale, land-use intensification, and the balance of planning objectives that may be useful for port managers.

A Memetic algorithm for determining robust and influential seeds against structural perturbances in competitive networks

The influence maximization problem has attracted increasing attention in previous studies. Recent years have witnessed an enormous interest in the modeling, performance evaluation, and seed determination in different networked systems. Further, the competitive behavior between multiple influential groups within a network is developed to simulate the realistic marketing and propagation tasks. Powerful seeds can be detected to achieve considerable diffusion effects. Meanwhile, networks are operated in the presentence of disturbances, and the connectivity tends to be threatened by attacks and errors. Seeds with robustness against structural perturbances in competitive networks are significant for daily applications. However, little attention has been paid on evaluating the robustness of seeds towards competitive spreading scenarios, and an effective determination strategy is still lacked. In order to tackling the robust competitive influence maximization problem, a diffusion model considering competitive behaviors between spreading groups has been developed, and the spreading ability estimation technique is also given. Equipped with which, a robustness measure RCS is designed to evaluate the robustness of seeds under node-based attacks in a numerical form. The seed determination task has been modeled as a discrete optimization problem, and a Memetic algorithm containing several problem-orientated operators, termed MA-RCIM, is devised to solve the problem. Tested on several synthetic and real-world networks, MA-RCIM achieves satisfactory results for solving diffusion dilemmas, and shows superiority over existing approaches.

Cost-effective competition on social networks: A multi-objective optimization perspective

The competition on social networks has attracted widespread attention in recent years. Despite the great progress in this domain, acquiring more votes for competitors with fewer recruiting costs is still a research blank. This paper addresses this issue from three aspects: modeling, proposition, and methodology. First, a succinct competitive model is built to clear the final beliefs of normal agents. Then, a cost-effective competition (CEC) problem is proposed by formulating the number of votes and the recruiting costs as two optimization objectives. Seeing the cost constraints, a theoretical cost budget is also determined. Next, a multi-objective optimization approach (MOCEC) with theoretical guarantees is developed to solve the CEC problem. In the experiments, MOCEC is compared with seven prevalent competitive methods on ten real-world social networks. We show that MOCEC can achieve the best trade-offs between maximizing the number of votes with minimizing the recruiting costs in all test environments. Especially when the number of votes reaches the maximum value, MOCEC can save up to 50% of the recruiting costs than the best baseline.

Coherence of Socio-Cultural Processes: On the Problem of Methodology

The article deals with the problems of methodology for studying the dynamics of socio-cultural processes of local communities in the context of globalization. The purpose of the study is a methodological analysis of the problem of competition, from the point of view of global and local specifics of the development of culture and sociality. Modernization processes generate a paradigm of socio-cultural development that fixes the scale of action, methods and means of interrelation and existence of elements and subsys­tems that influence the formation of evolution models of the socio-cultural space. The emerging models of socio-cultural development have a high degree of dynamism, maintaining a certain level of locality in the sphere of socio-cultural life. The use of the coherence principle makes it possible to ensure the iden­tification of all components and modifications of the socio-cultural system.

The Competition Between Local Government and Entrepreneurs in the View of Pierre Bourdieu’s Concept of Capitals

The paper presents the concept of capitals developed by Pierre Bourdieu in the light of the problems of competition between public entities, in particular local government units, and entrepreneurs outside the public utility sphere. The presented analysis sheds a new light on the multi-faceted competition between public and private entities in the field of economy, in particular on the cultural and social aspects of such competition. Pierre Bourdieu’s universal theory of the sociology of law may be successfully used in studying various aspects of the presented issues, which are often erroneously considered to be only economic factors in the common belief.

Numerical Investigation and Factor Analysis of the Spatial-Temporal Multi-Species Competition Problem

This work considers the spatial-temporal multi­species competition model. A mathematical model is described by a coupled system of nonlinear diffusion reaction equations. We use a finite volume approximation with semi-implicit time approximation for the numerical solution of the model with corresponding boundary and initial conditions. To understand the effect of the diffusion to solution in one and two-dimensional formulations, we present numerical results for several cases of the parameters related to the survival scenarios. We control all non-diffusion parameters, including reproductive growth rate, competition rate, and initial condition of population density of competing species, and compare the dynamic and equilibrium under regular diffusion rate and small diffusion rate; we found that competing species with small diffusion rate can reach a higher equilibrium over the whole geographic domain, but requires more time steps. The random initial conditions' effect on the time to reach equilibrium is investigated. We control other parameters and examine the impact of the initial condition of the species population; we found that regardless of the values of initial conditions in the system, competing species populations will arrive at an equilibrium point. The influence of diffusion on the survival scenarios is presented. We control other parameters and examine the effect of diffusion of species; we found that when the ratio of diffusion rates passes some thresholds, the survival status will change. In real-world problems, values of the parameters are usually unknown yet vary in some range. To evaluate the impact of parameters on the system stability, we simulate a spatial­temporal model with random parameters and perform factor analysis for two and three­species competition models. From the perspective of the numerical experiment, we release control for all parameters and perform factor analysis on simulation results. We found that the initial population condition has a minimum effect on the final population, which aligns with the outcome of our controlled numerical experiment on the initial condition. Diffusion is the dominant factor when diffusion rates are on the same scale as other parameters. This dominant factor aligns with our controlled numerical experiment on diffusion rate, where the change in diffusion rate leads to different survival statuses of species. However, when diffusion rates are 1/10 on the scale of other parameters, reproductive growth rates and competition rates become the dominant factors.

High-order mode interaction structure for a W-band CW sheet beam extended interaction klystron

To solve the problem of mode competition in high-order working modes, this paper presents a fast design method based on the TM31-2π mode for the dumbbell shaped extended interaction cavity. Based on the equivalent circuit theory, the high-frequency characteristics of the structure are studied. In addition, we propose a W-band continuous wave sheet beam extended interaction klystron high-frequency circuit. The circuit was driven by a 20 kV and 0.85 A sheet electron beam, with a 3.2 × 0.3 mm2 section. The beam was focused by a 0.8 T permanent magnet system. The high-frequency system adopts five dumbbell shaped five-gap cavities, and the output system adopts a symmetrical output waveguide. The 3D particle-in-cell simulation shows that more than 1.5 kW power can be obtained at an input power of 0.12 W, and the electron efficiency and gain are 9.2% and 41.2 dB, respectively.

Trilevel Optimization Model for Competitive Pricing of Electric Vehicle Charging Station Considering Distribution Locational Marginal Price

We study the competitive pricing problem of electric vehicle charging station (EVCS). The EVCS determines its optimal pricing strategy considering the competition from the other EVCS and the impact of charging loads on the distribution locational marginal price (DLMP) of the power network. A trilevel optimization model is proposed, where the upper and middle level capture the profit maximization problems of this EVCS and its competitor respectively, while the lower level represents the optimal power flow problem of distribution network. Due to its computational challenge, this model is reformulated into a single level one, and their equivalence is rigorously proved. Furthermore, we develop an exact algorithm to achieve the global optimal solution, and also prove its finite convergence. Finally, numerical results validate our trilevel model and exact algorithm, and demonstrate their merits in increasing profits for the EVCS.

Can street markets be a sustainable strategy to mitigate food insecurity in emerging countries? Insights from a competitive facility location model

This research explores the sustainability of street markets to grant access to fruits and vegetables (F&Vs) to underserved communities in emerging economies. Specifically, this paper studies the impact of adding new street markets to satisfy the demand of end consumers in a real case. To do so, we developed a novel non-linear mathematical model to establish the location and number of street markets. This model, a variant of the competitive facility location problem, includes specific features of street markets, such as their itinerant nature and the dynamic shopping behavior of customers. To feed the model, we collected data from both primary and secondary sources: we surveyed the main competitors of the street markets (i.e., small, family-owned retailers or nanostores) to investigate their market share and purchasing habits. The problem was solved with an ad-hoc iterative method. The results suggest that street markets can provide better access to F&Vs to food-insecure households to some extent. Still, their management, operational complexity, and financial sustainability may limit their applicability in the long term.

Research on the Returns of SSE STAR Market Chip Index Based on the ARMA Model

Since 2021, China’s semiconductor industry and chip industry have been in the hot stage. While the scale of the two industries has continued to expand, there are also problems of bubble economy and excessive competition. In the first half of 2022, the stock market has entered an adjustment cycle. In order to predict the returns trend of the adjustment cycle and help investors make reasonable decisions. This paper uses AIC and BIC criteria to determine the order of the model, test the significance of the model and its parameters, then build the ARMA(2,1) model to predict the closing price of the SSE STAR Market Chip Index from January 2nd, 2020 to February 21st, 2022. According to the results, this paper finds out that both fitting effect and forecasting effect are good. The index will maintain a downward trend in the next 30 periods. Through the above empirical analysis, this paper puts forward two suggestions: firstly, in the face of industry differentiation, people need to invest rationally; secondly, semiconductor companies and chip companies should attach importance to mergers and acquisitions.