带有马尔可夫竞争因子的多产品报童模型

在竞争的环境下考虑多产品报童问题。为了刻画多产品间的竞争关系，本文利用马尔可夫链构建多产品的需求转移模型，并根据模型的转移概率矩阵提出马氏竞争因子和综合竞争力等核心概念，进而结合卷积公式和雅可比行列式，将竞争因子的概念纳入经典报童模型的框架，构建了带有马氏竞争因子的多产品报童模型，同时在该模型的理论基础上给出了新的决策机制。模型的数据实验表明：竞争因子对多产品库存系统的最优订购策略具有重要的影响，关于产品的综合竞争力为单调递增函数；将竞争因子纳入多产品库存系统的决策机制，可进一步拓展报童模型在实际应用领域中的适应性以及提高库存系统的优化与控制的效用。     

具有多元马氏需求的多产品多阶段库存优化模型

本文研究一类新的多产品库存控制策略,即具有多元马氏需求特征的多产品多阶段的订货点订货量(Q, R, SS)策略,该策略考虑市场需求在不同产品之间具有多元马氏转移特征,并考虑缺货因素设置安全库存。论文首先建立了多产品多阶段的多元马氏需求预测模型,并通过该模型确定了各种产品需求之间的关系。同时,在该模型的理论基础上,提出了多产品多阶段的总期望成本模型及其最优(Q, R, SS)策略,进而结合算例给出模型的最优策略的数值解。     

报童问题的最优竞争比策略及其风险补偿模型

报童问题是库存管理中一个重要的模型。对报童问题在不同的目标函数和约束条件下的扩展模型已有了大量的研究。已有研究假设产品的需求分布已知,然而,在实际中完全刻画需求分布信息常常是很困难的,因此,部分信息下的报童模型研究近年越来越受到重视。在竞争比分析方法下,对报童问题进行了讨论,建立概率预期下风险补偿模型用于解决部分信息的报童问题。在确定性预期和基本概率预期下,分别为具有风险偏好的报童设计了最优订购策略,使报童可以根据自己不同的风险容忍度和未来预期选择订购策略。     

具有多元马氏需求的易变质多产品的EOQ模型

本文研究一类新的易变质多产品库存控制策略,即具有多元马氏需求特征的多产品的最优(Q,T,?t)策略,该策略综合考虑了市场需求在不同产品之间具有马氏转移特征和变质率因素。论文首先建立了多产品多周期的多元马尔可夫需求预测模型,并通过该模型确定了各种产品在订货周期内的需求之间的关系。同时,在该关系的理论基础上,进一步给出了多产品多周期库存的最优(Q,T,?t)策略,进而结合算例给出模型的最优策略的数值解。     

不完备质量下带有风险厌恶的库存决策模型

在质量的不完备性诱发联动效应的环境下,考虑带有风险厌恶的库存决策问题。假设质量水平为一马尔可夫过程,并将马氏理论和条件风险值（conditional value-at-risk, CVaR）准则纳入库存决策模型的框架,进而给出了不完备质量下带有风险偏好的决策模型及其最优决策机制。模型数值实验的结果表明：最优期望订购量和期望销售利润关于供应能力和风险厌恶因子都为单调递增;库存系统的可靠性与随机质量过程的不可约性、遍历性等基本性质有关,即当随机质量过程为不可约的遍历马氏链时,模型的最优解具有平稳的极限性态。     

考虑战略顾客行为时的供应链性能分析与协调

动态定价策略的广泛应用使得越来越多的顾客具有了战略性,战略顾客会根据产品在销售期内的价格路径确定最优购买时机,零售商则根据顾客的购买行为确定订货数量和销售价格.研究了双方静态博弈时的理性预期均衡解和零售商进行数量承诺时的情形.研究表明:理性预期均衡时的最优销售价格、最优存货数量和最优期望利润分别小于标准报童模型的情形;数量承诺时的最优存货数量小于理性预期均衡时的最优存货数量;最优期望利润则大于理性预期均衡时的最优期望利润,并且在一定条件下可能会大于标准报童模型的最优期望利润,战略顾客行为的存在对零售商可能有利.最后分析了在分散式供应链中如何利用收入分享契约和数量折扣契约实现供应链协调.     

随机需求下企业采购外包的风险与博弈分析

企业将具有随机需求的报童商品的订购管理外包给第三方物流公司(3PL),使3PL和企业共同分摊不确定风险,3PL在管理企业物流活动的同时成为企业风险的分担者.这种合作方式无疑会对企业和3PL的决策产生重要影响.本文结合现有文献关于3PL在企业管理的作用,从数学模型上刻画3PL管理报童产品订购对企业、3PL的决策和绩效的影响.通过模型求解,本文得到了3PL最优订购量、企业最优销售价格和最优的损失分担比例满足的条件,不仅如此,通过对比3PL管理订购和企业管理订购的数学模型,本文发现在一定的损失分担比例和委托费用的前提下,3PL管理订购能够给企业和3PL带来更多的收益,而且风险越大3PL管理订购的利益就越突出.     

概率预期下在线报童问题的最小风险策略

报童问题是库存管理中一个基本模型。已有的报童模型主要利用均值-方差方法和期望效用目标方法进行风险的描述和度量。这些方法假设需求分布信息已知,而实际中需求分布信息往往难以完全刻画。本文使用概率预期作为刻画不完全需求分布信息的格式,基于在线风险补偿的思想,为需求分布信息不完全的报童问题建立了最小风险模型。使用该模型设计了最小风险策略,使报童可以根据自己设定的不同收益和未来概率预期选择最优订购量。     

基于多级折扣价格的易逝品订货策略研究

基于价格折扣条件下的报童模型,研究了分销商面向折拐的需求价格曲线.采用呈等差数列下降的多级折扣价格销售产品,以期望利润最大为目标,给出了求解最优折扣次数的算法,进而得到相应的分销商最优订货量.与需求价格曲线的斜率b不变时相比较,b增大对最优订货量无显著影响;b减小对最优订货量有显著影响.     

不同决策目标下受资金约束零售商的最优采购策略研究

在提前订购和延时采购两种情景下，分别考虑最大化期望收益和最小化违约概率两种决策目标，对受资金约束零售商的最优采购量和相匹配的融资策略进行分析，结果表明，相比于以最大化期望收益为决策目标，以最小化违约概率为决策目标的零售商在提前订购中将奉行"保守"的采购量和融资策略（仅耗尽自有资金量采购而不融资），而在延时采购中采取"激进"的采购量和融资策略（与最大化期望收益下一致）；在此基础上，对不同决策目标下受资金约束零售商的最优采购时机问题进行研究发现，在最大化期望收益下，零售商的最优采购时机由产品采购成本、市场容量均值、市场容量方差、自有资金量、银行贷款利率等多个参数共同决定，而在最小化违约概率下，零售商将始终选择延时采购。     

Introduction to Special Section on Sensitivity Analysis and Summary of NCSU/USDA Workshop on Sensitivity Analysis

This guest editorial is a summary of the NCSU/USDA Workshop on Sensitivity Analysis held June 11–12, 2001 at North Carolina State University and sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Office of Risk Assessment and Cost Benefit Analysis. The objective of the workshop was to learn across disciplines in identifying, evaluating, and recommending sensitivity analysis methods and practices for application to food‐safety process risk models. The workshop included presentations regarding the Hazard Assessment and Critical Control Points (HACCP) framework used in food‐safety risk assessment, a survey of sensitivity analysis methods, invited white papers on sensitivity analysis, and invited case studies regarding risk assessment of microbial pathogens in food. Based on the sharing of interdisciplinary information represented by the presentations, the workshop participants, divided into breakout sessions, responded to three trigger questions: What are the key criteria for sensitivity analysis methods applied to food‐safety risk assessment? What sensitivity analysis methods are most promising for application to food safety and risk assessment? and What are the key needs for implementation and demonstration of such methods? The workshop produced agreement regarding key criteria for sensitivity analysis methods and the need to use two or more methods to try to obtain robust insights. Recommendations were made regarding a guideline document to assist practitioners in selecting, applying, interpreting, and reporting the results of sensitivity analysis.     

Distinguishing traumatic, vicarious and routine operational stressor exposure and attendant adverse consequences in a sample of police officers

Problems in studying occupational stress within the police service are identified and the paucity of work on operational duties as potential stressors are discussed. The present study reports the results of a factor analysis of operational stressors (N = 601 serving British police officers) that revealed three factors: exposure to death and disaster; violence and injury; sexual crime. These were demonstrated to be reliable scales and were included in logistic regression models together with a range of demographic and psychological variables. Models were applied to men and women separately, which showed there to be different predictors of the likelihood of suffering distress (measured by the General Health Questionnaire, GHQ) in terms of the officer's gender and operational role. Overall the model for women officers was better at predicting psychological distress than that for men. These findings are related to aspects of the police occupational culture. Further discussion is offered that conceptualizes police operational stressors as traumatic, routine and vicarious. Finally, some implications are drawn for the provision of stress intervention in the light of this differentiation.     

Power,authority and legitimacy

Management, human resources, organization, control, leadership, etc., all seem to be just so many euphemisms for power, and this suggests a discourse of management and organization that calls things by their proper name. This paper on the contrary stresses the need to resolve the concept of ‘power’ itself into more differentiated notions, and proposes that clarification may be derived from distinctions once explicit in the vocabulary of Classical antiquity, but lost in modern European languages. It argues that nothing but confusion in thinking about organizations, management and legitimation can result from the failure to recognize that the phenomena this vocabulary identifies and distinguishes are irreducibly different.     

Criteria for selecting a production control philosophy

Logistic objectives constitute a compromise between having short leadtimes and a low volume of work in progress on the one hand and a high resource loading and due date obligation on the other. Miscellaneous production planning approaches offered today provide different combinations of logistic objectives for satisfying a manufacturing strategy. To combine the strength of the various approaches into a unified system, a new approach based on a dynamic and distributed production planning methodology is proposed. To customize the approach, various analyses and specifications have to be made and for that reason some important characteristics and criteria for analysing production control philosophies will be given.     

Employees' perceptions of organizational restructuring: the role of social support

Organizational change and restructuring is often perceived as leading to increased occupational stress, impacting negatively on the psychological well-being of employees. This pragmatic study investigates the role of social support and dispositional affect as moderators of role stress post-restructuring for employees in a public utility company. A total of 176 employees, including 37 managers, 60 graded staff and 78 industrial staff completed a self-report questionnaire, approximately 1 year postrestructuring, retrospectively assessing role conflict, ambiguity, overload and positive and negative feedback pre- and post-restructuring. Results suggested that overall role stress increased for managers/ senior officers and graded staff, but not for industrial staff. Social support was linked with lower role stress, more positive feedback and less negative feedback at post-restructuring. For certain role stressors this impact was moderated by dispositional affect, but the effect was not consistent across occupational groups. Positive affect enhanced the effect of manager support in reducing role conflict for graded staff, and the effect of co-worker support in increasing positive feedback and reducing negative feedback for industrial staff. Findings suggest that managers should pay particular attention to support and feedback for employees during periods of chronic occupational stress following organizational restructuring.     

The Danish psychosocial work environment and symptoms of stress: the main, mediating and moderating role of sense of coherence

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to explore the main, mediating and moderating role of sense of coherence (SOC) on stress symptoms and on the association between perceived psychosocial work environment and stress symptoms. The sample includes 2053 Danish employees from 52 workplaces. Hierarchical regression models were applied for each measure of stress. The results strongly supported the presence of a main effect for SOC. People with high levels of SOC experienced fewer stress symptoms. A mediating effect of SOC was also supported. Thus, SOC in part explained the association between work environment and stress symptoms. In addition, some support for a moderating effect of SOC was found, suggesting that people with higher SOC coped more efficiently with work environmental strain that people with lower SOC. Taken together the regression models explained 11-32% of the variance in stress symptoms. The results suggest that measures of individual factors such as SOC should be included in analyses of the effects of work environmental factors on stress and well-being.     

Control at work: a generalized resource factor for the prevention of musculoskeletal symptoms?

During the last two decades two potent groups of predictors for work-related musculoskeletal problems have been identified: physical work load and poor psychosocial working conditions. However, little is known about their combined effects. In this study the buffering effect of control at work with respect to the negative effects of psychological demands and physical work load on musculoskeletal problems is examined. All study variables were sampled from 431 people working in geriatric nursing homes in Germany by means of questionnaires. Main effects and interactions were tested with multiple regression analysis. The results showed that control buffered the effects of high psychological demands, but not of high physical work load; the buffering effect of control was observed only when physical work load was low. The combined effects of demands and physical work load were over-additive. Thus, the power of different predictors for musculoskeletal symptoms depended on the level of other predictors. This suggests that the efficiency of certain strategies for the prevention of musculoskeletal problems is likely to depend on the level of risk factors, with different strategies being appropriate for different levels of risk.     

The social construction of the meaning of acute stressors: a qualitative study of the personal accounts of police officers using a stress counselling service

The police profession is one in which acute stressors are encountered more frequently than in other occupations. Using the personal accounts of 35 police officers attending an in-house stress counselling clinic, the aim of the present study was to provide a qualitative examination of how the institutional context of policing influenced the ways in which acute stressors signified to individual police officers experiencing felt distress. Using the framework of Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy as an analytical tool, it is argued that beliefs contributing to the experience of felt distress are related to the way in which policing as both an identity and an activity is constructed through the police organizational culture. Not only do these constructions influence the ways in which officers perceive themselves and their environments, but they also operate at the collective level to 'normalize' some emotional responses and to 'pathologize' others which, it is argued, could impact upon the outcomes of interventions such as stress counselling.     

The moderating role of social support in Karasek's job strain model

This paper examines whether social support is a boundary-determining criterion in the job strain model of Karasek (1979). The particular focus is the extent to which different sources of social support, work overload and task control influence job satisfaction, depersonalization and supervisor assessments of work performance. Hypotheses are tested using prospective survey data from 80 clerical staff in a university setting. Results revealed 3-way interactions among levels of support (supervisor, co-worker, non-work), perceived task control and work overload on levels of work performance and employee adjustment (self-report). After controlling for levels of negative affect in all analyses, there was evidence that high levels of supervisor support mitigated against the negative effects of high strain jobs on levels of job satisfaction and reduced reported levels of depersonalization. Moreover, high levels of non-work support and co-worker support also mitigated against the negative effects of high strain jobs on levels of work performance. The results are discussed in terms of the importance of social support networks both at, and beyond, the work context.     

Job insecurity, coping resources and personality dispositions in occupational strain

This paper presents research on the relationships between the work-related stressor of perceived job insecurity and various indicators of occupational strain, taking into account employees' personality dispositions (trait negative and positive affectivity) and coping resources. Respondents were 222 Australian public servants surveyed during organizational restructuring that involved downsizing and threat to job certainty. The research was formulated within an adaptation of Osipow, Doty, and Spokane's (1985) framework of stress-strain-coping that included the possible direct as well as moderating effects of personality dispositions in reporting occupational strain (Parkes, 1990). Findings from hierarchical regression analyses indicate consistent significant independent effects of personality dispositions, coping resources and perceived job insecurity on various indicators of strain. There was also support for the moderating roles of negative affectivity and self-care in the relation between perceived job insecurity and physical strain. Implications for the role of dispositional factors, especially negative affectivity, and the utility of various coping resources in accounting for occupational strain in times of threatened job security are discussed.