This note considers possible arrangements of the sectors of a generalised dartboard. The sum of the pth powers of the absolute differences of the numbers on adjacent sectors is introduced as a penalty cost function and a string reversal algorithm is used to determine all arrangements that maximise the penalty, for any p ≥ 1. The maximum value of the penalty function for p = 1 is well known in t...

The mega trend individualization drives productmanufacturers towards offering more and more variants of theirproducts. As seen in mass customization scenarios, productconfiguration based on a modular strategy is an enabler for thistrend. The key idea of variant management is to optimize the number of product variants that can be offered to a specific market segment, i.e. outer v...

The economic performance of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) over the past two decades has been disappointing. The initial explanation for this poor performance focussed on deficient macroeconomic policies. However a number of SSA countries have undertaken and sustained a reasonable measure of macroeconomic reform and still see no significant expansion in the growth of manufactured exports. This sugges...

The problem of slaughterhouse waste water can be resolved by mixing it with serum from lacteal industry to produce a biogas. The effect of serum addition on the anaerobic co-digestion of solid and liquid slaughterhouse waste has been studied. The experimental device consisted of a continuous digester by recirculation of biogas produced in the anaerobic digestion. The input effluent was a mixtur...

We study the case where parallel trade (PT) stems from government price controls in a foreign country. We remove the presumption that PT blunts dynamic efficiency if the government has partial commitment ability. We model the R&D firm’s option to serve the foreign country, and find that PT may improve quality, depending on preferences for quality. Improving quality may be a sufficient condition...