The simplest and most scalable type of optimization problem is one in which the objective function and constraints are formulated using the simplest type of functions – linear functions. We refer to this class of problems as linear optimization (LO) problems.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 sent shock waves though the world’s wheat market. The world price of wheat jumped from about $8 per ton to more than $13 per ton within a few days. The markets feared that wheat supplies from the region – which account for a third of the world’s wheat harvest – would be disrupted.

This chapter critically discusses the exponential discounted utility model (EDU). In the class of discounted utility models, the EDU model uniquely gives time consistent choices. The psychological foundations of EDU are quite limited, and captured by a single parameter, the constant per-period discount rate. The EDU model is rejected on several grounds. Unlike the assumption of constant discounting, as an outcome is brought towards the present, the discount rate increases, making individuals more impatient, and giving rise to present-focussed preferences. This leads to preference reversals and the common difference effect. Furthermore, animal and human evidence shows that the pattern of temporally declining discount rates is hyperbolic, giving rise to hyperbolic discounting. Other anomalies of EDU that are considered include: Sign effect, magnitude effect, sub-additive discounting, intransitivity of preferences or cyclical preferences, and dependence of utility on shapes of consumption profiles with identical EDU.

This chapter concentrates on classroom structures that a teacher can employ, including how the room can be arranged, physically and structurally, to maximise engagement for all students. We will examine the research on learning space architecture, the role of desk configuration, group workspaces, chill-out zones and ideas for wall displays.

Structurally, we explore the use of routines in class for maintaining consistency and predictability. Examples include managing entry and exit to class, transition between learning activities and routines for what to do when students finish work, arrive late or need to use the toilet.

It is very satisfying to teach in a classroom where students are actively participating in discussions, group projects and other activities. Learning spaces are complex – both teachers and students experience numerous pressures, wants and needs that accompany them into a classroom. For instance, both teachers and their students want to be heard, to learn, to be safe and to have positive relationships with their peers, just to name a few. However, the value and sources for satisfaction that you and they place on these needs and wants at any given time may be different from one another. You may want to get on with a brilliant geography lesson, while a sleep-deprived student may just want a bit of rest and believe the right place for it is the very same geography lesson. These possibilities remind us that your lesson is taking place in a social environment with multiple stakeholders actively reacting to each other. This is why it is very important to develop strategies that will help you manage both your and your students’ expectations in the classroom. This chapter focuses on how the use of rules and expectations lays the foundations for positive and engaging learning environments.

In 2014, Fabrice Brégier, then chief operating officer of Airbus, called for the European Central Bank to intervene as the strength of the euro was “crazy.” He wanted them to push it down against the dollar by 10% from an “excessive” $1.35 to between $1.20 and $1.25. We learned in Chapter 5 how a strong currency makes it harder for domestic manufacturers to export goods, so we can understand why a European executive trying to sell commercial airplanes might worry that a strong euro was making his job harder. And it is a fact that in 2014, Airbus was registering disappointing sales compared to its rival across the Atlantic, Boeing. But why would it be “crazy” for the euro to be worth $1.35, and yet normal and acceptable for the euro to be worth 10% less than that? And how did Fabrice Brégier expect the European Central Bank to adjust the euro’s value, when the euro is under a floating, rather than a fixed, exchange rate regime?

This chapter introduces robust optimization (RO), where we aim to solve a MILO in which some of the parameters/data can take multiple (possibly infinitely many) values and we want the optimal solution to perform “the best possible,” assuming that the unknown problem parameters can always turn out to be “the worst possible.”

Americans are big consumers of sugar, eating and drinking some 66 pounds each of it per year, on average. This is not just a dietary issue; it is also a big trade issue. The United States imports sugar from the tropical climes of the Caribbean, which has the natural conditions suited for growing sugar cane. But sugar imports are much less now than they once were – not because Americans have cut back on sugar consumption but because low-cost imports were hurting domestic cane producers in Florida and Louisiana. To help them out, the federal government began restricting imports decades ago. (Just ask any representative or senator from those states whether they believe free trade in sugar would be a good idea.)

Current societal expectations, theory and research conclude that effective teachers meet students’ needs by encouraging responsibility and having active control of their class, within a context that develops positive relationships. This chapter presents corrective strategies that have been curated to be consistent with this approach. They particularly draw from research that focuses on maintaining high expectations and structure, developing positive student–teacher relationships, treating disengagement and its associated behavioural challenges in students as opportunities to teach about self and others, and maximising student autonomy wherever possible. This approach is referred to as authoritative teaching.

In June of 2016, voters in the United Kingdom narrowly approved a referendum on leaving the European Union (EU), a common market wherein labor, capital, and goods and services are free to move between countries without impediment. The vote in favor of Britain’s exit – or “Brexit” – set in motion a process by which the country would leave the EU within two years.

Understanding Culture defines culture and identifies why culture is such an important element of the international management context. International management is about leading people and implementing tasks with people across cultural borders. The starting point for effective international management behavior must be a deep understanding of culture. We set the foundation for culture as one of the important contexts of global management. We define culture, examine its different facets, analyze its impact on people, and explore important questions about the intersection of cultures and individual characteristics. Culture serves two important functions for groups. Culture makes action simple and efficient because it creates context for meaning, and it also provides an important source of social identity for its members.