Abstract
The approach discussed in this paper solves a general class of multistage decision problems which include distributed and/or multiple pure delays both in state and decision variables. The overall system equation of this problem is described by a multi-dimensional nonlinear difference equation of high order. Applying Lagrange duality theory to the original problem, the dual problemis formulated, and the decomposition. of the decision process in stages is obtained. It is shown that by solving the dual problem the delay terms can be easily handled withgut reducing the multi-dimensional high order system equation to a conventional higher dimensional first-order system equation. The approach developed in this paper is applied to a combined marketing and production control problem, and the computational results are included.
