eprintid: 103
rev_number: 4
eprint_status: archive
userid: 5
dir: disk0/00/00/01/03
datestamp: 2007-06-19
lastmod: 2015-05-29 19:47:24
status_changed: 2009-04-08 16:54:12
type: report
metadata_visibility: show
item_issues_count: 0
creators_name: Breward, Chris
creators_name: Huang, Huaxiong
contributors_name: Gardener, Tim
contributors_name: Hadji, Richard
contributors_name: Lacey, Andrew
contributors_name: Noble, Steve
contributors_name: Ockendon, John
contributors_name: Pitcher, Ashley
contributors_name: Witelski, Tom
title: Resource allocation
ispublished: pub
subjects: aerodef
studygroups: esgi56
companyname: Dstl
full_text_status: public
abstract: This report discusses the problem of the allocation of resources: how should an organisation (such as MOD) invest bearing in mind the long term delay for the realization of investment strategies, and how might this apply in times of increasing budgetary constraints? After making certain simplifying assumptions, the Study Group constructed a prototype model based on the method of Optimal Control. This allows the decision maker to investigate the impact of particular investment strategies over a period of years, the impact being measured in terms of “quality” or “capability”. Interventions can be designed so that “quality” (Q) is maximized at a particular time, or so that the average quality over a given time interval is maximized. Both of these approaches are explored. This model shows reasonable behaviour when tested over a parameter set. It could be used as part of a systems approach to the defence budget as a whole, but the method itself is scalable to smaller (or larger) resourcing conundrums.
problem_statement: A military commander has to allocate resources to different courses of action in such a way as to achieve some desired set of outcomes. His view of what can be achieved by the different actions will vary with time as he sees the outcomes of his earlier choices. The outcomes also have intrinsic uncertainty. How can a mathematical model be made of this? At a different level, a defence organisation faces a corresponding problem when it has to partition funding between the armed services and defence technology research and development. The Study Group focused on the latter question, showed how it can be formulated as a problem in optimal control with delay, and studied examples of its behaviour numerically.
date: 2007-04-17
date_type: published
pages: 17
citation:   Breward, Chris and Huang, Huaxiong  (2007) Resource allocation.  [Study Group Report]     
document_url: http://miis.maths.ox.ac.uk/miis/103/1/Dstl-AllocationReport.pdf