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Efficiently Generating k-Best Solutions to Procurement Auctions

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Algorithmic Aspects in Information and Management (AAIM 2009)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 5564))

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Abstract

Procurement executives often find it difficult to articulate their preferences and constraints regarding auctions, making it difficult to cast procurement decisions as straightforward optimization problems. This paper presents an efficient algorithm to aid decision support in such situations. Instead of trying to compute a single optimal solution for the auction winner determination problem, we generate many candidate solutions in ascending order of buyer expenditure. Standard techniques such as clustering and dominance pruning can then trim this list to a compact yet diverse menu of alternatives; other analyses can illuminate the cost of constraints and the competitive landscape. Our efficient solution-generation algorithm addresses sealed-bid procurement auctions with multiple suppliers and multiple types of goods available in multiple units. It supports multi-sourcing and volume discounts/surcharges in bids. Our algorithm may optionally incorporate certain classes of hard constraints, generating only solutions that satisfy them.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Palo Alto, California, USA

    Andrew Byde, Terence Kelly, Yunhong Zhou & Robert Tarjan

Authors
  1. Andrew Byde
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  2. Terence Kelly
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  3. Yunhong Zhou
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  4. Robert Tarjan
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Microsoft Research – Silicon Valley, 1065 La Avenida, Mountain View, CA 94062, USA

    Andrew V. Goldberg

  2. Rocket Fuel Inc., 350 Marine Parkway, CA 94065, Marina Park Center, USA

    Yunhong Zhou

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© 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Byde, A., Kelly, T., Zhou, Y., Tarjan, R. (2009). Efficiently Generating k-Best Solutions to Procurement Auctions. In: Goldberg, A.V., Zhou, Y. (eds) Algorithmic Aspects in Information and Management. AAIM 2009. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 5564. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02158-9_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02158-9_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-02157-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-02158-9

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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