Empowering leadership and contextual ambidexterity – The mediating role of committed leadership for continuous improvement

Organisations nowadays try to be ambidextrous, that is, to balance exploitation and exploration, at the level of the organisational unit, or even at the individual level. Recent studies found that important drivers for contextual ambidexterity are a high level of empowerment and an orientation towards continuous improvement (CI) and innovation. It is, therefore, to be expected that empowering leadership and leader commitment to CI are associated with contextual ambidexterity. However, literature about the relationships between empowering leadership, committed leadership for CI and contextual ambidexterity is scant. Based on two separate survey studies, we validated both the relationship between empowering leadership and contextual ambidexterity, and the mediating effect of committed leadership for CI in the organisational unit level and the individual level. The managerial implications of this research is that organisations that want to facilitate contextual ambidexterity should not only empower employees so that they can decide more independently on how to organise their time and make choices when they conduct exploratory activities and when they perform exploitative activities. Management must also act as committed ambassadors for CI, as CI functions as an integration mechanism to create both alignment and adaptability, and hence contextual ambidexterity.     

高含水期复杂断块油藏剩余油分布及挖潜

高含水期陆相复杂断块层状油藏剩余油分布复杂,油藏模拟难度大。马11复杂断块油藏在油藏精细描述基础上,利用动静态综合分析研究与密网格大规模数值模拟研究相结合,提高了剩余油研究精度和可信度;在此基础上,针对油藏剩余油分布特点并结合当前经济技术条件,部署实施了以调整井、调剖、堵水、油水井大修为主的剩余油挖潜方案,油藏含水上升率大幅度下降、采油速度上升、采收率提高了。     

Using Lean Six Sigma to improve mobile order fulfilment process in a telecom service sector

This study proposes and follows a specific and systematic framework for implementing Lean Six Sigma (LSS) methodology in a telecom company in order to improve customer satisfaction by minimizing the company’s response time to customer requirements. The goal of this study was achieved by utilizing several LSS tools under five phases of the DMAIC methodology. Unlike previous studies in the telecom sector that used only qualitative method, in this study, both qualitative and quantitative methods were utilized to draw meaningful conclusions. As a result of the implementation of the LSS methodology, the average order fulfilment lead time for sales orders (SO) and value-added service (VAS) orders was reduced from 10.3 to 5.9 days and from 1.5 to 0.5 days, respectively. The reduction in lead time resulted in an increase in the sigma level for SO and VAS orders from 0.44 to 1.26 and from 0.73 to 2.66, respectively. These improvements were expected to lead to a financial benefit in savings of over $600,000 per year in operational costs, enhancements to customer experience and an increase in revenue generating opportunities. Moreover, this article enriches the existing literature on the application of LSS concept in the service industry, and helps the company to speed up the response to customer requirements.     

论西部大开发中的民族法制建设

本文分析了西部大开发中民族法制建设的必要性、原则 ,提出了加强民族法制建设的几个方面。作者认为 ,必须重视和加强西部大开发中的民族法制建设 ,特别要加强少数民族政治权利、少数民族文化、少数民族风俗习惯、少数民族宗教 ,以及民族地区生态、民族地区市场经济方面的法制建设。惟其如此 ,才能顺利实施西部大开发的战略 ,才能真正实现民族平等、团结和共同繁荣 ,才能帮助少数民族走上现代化的发展道路。     

民族自治地方制定民族区域自治法实施办法的几点思考

自治地方制定民族区域自治法实施办法迫在眉睫。自治地方制定自治法实施办法存在不少问题。本文就自治地方制定自治法实施办法存在的主要问题,即认识问题和利益协调问题,提出自治地方制定自治法实施办法的几点思考。     

Impact of an Overt Response System on Staff Performance and Maintenance of Computer-Based Instruction

Interactive Computer Based Instruction (CBI) systems involve teaching strategies to facilitate greater response opportunities during training in an effort to improve learner performance. The current study investigated the effect of online staff training videos with and without overt response requirements on posttest and maintenance test scores across six block-randomized instructional modules for four employees of a university located in the southeastern region of the United States. The overt response consisted of multiple-choice questions administered throughout select teaching modules using an alternating treatment design. Findings suggest that learning occurred as a result of the CBI training; however, the effectiveness of the overt response system varied across individuals, with no discernible differentiation between learning gains associated with response requirements. Other areas of research for expanding the efficacy of CBI and overt response systems are highlighted.     

论“学报体”及其改良

"学报体"指发表在我国社科学术期刊上的文章所体现出的某些共性,既涉及题材内容,又涉及风格气象。我国社科期刊自创立至今,事实上存在着作为"正体"的和作为"伪体"的两种"学报体"文章,前者应得到护持,后者应受到贬斥。"正体"文章之长的主要体现是:分学科门类表述高深问题研究新得;举充分依据细密论证大小论点;以人文关怀给力社会发展;有较多行文规范服务内容表达。"伪体"文章之弊主要表现为:形式完备而内容贫瘠;"八股化"程度严重;缺少淑世情怀。当今"学报体"文章的改良,应先从三个方面做起:变文章评价由"重量轻质"为"重质轻量";变文章体式由"一体独大"为"众体并茂";变文章语言由"重质轻文"为"质文双重"。     

A reference activity model for smart factory design and improvement

Smart manufacturing systems (SMSs) are envisioned to contain highly automated and IT-driven production systems. To address the complexity that arises in such systems, a standard and holistic model for describing its activities and their interrelationships is needed. This paper introduces a factory design and improvement (FDI) activity model and illustrates a case study of FDI in an electromechanical component factory. In essence, FDI is a reference activity model that encompasses a range of manufacturing system activities for designing and improving a factory during its initial development and also its operational phases. The FDI model shows not only the dependency between activities and manufacturing control levels but also the pieces of information and software functions each activity relies on. We envision that the availability of these pieces of information in digital form to integrate across the software functions will increase the agility of factory design and improvement projects. Therefore, our future work lies in contributing to standards for exchanging such information.     

Mainstream is not for all: the educational experiences of autistic young people

Abstract

This article highlights two current issues facing autistic young people in their pursuit of suitable education. First, mainstream education is advocated for all, from a rights-based perspective on inclusion, yet, as 12 autistic young people from Northern Ireland demonstrate, being academically able does not mean they are mainstream able. Second, autistic young people, who are largely missing from the debate on educational improvement, and in particular the inclusion debate, ought to be central to this discussion and have much to add. The social model of disability is considered relevant to autism. For the young people referred to in this article, inclusion is a feeling (a sense of belonging) not a place (mainstream or otherwise).     

逆向选择条件下带奖惩金的两期保险契约模型及其Pareto改进性研究

为了更有效的规避影响保险市场交易效率的逆向选择问题，本文分投保人风险类型为两种和多种情形建立了带奖惩金的两期保险契约模型，首次提出可以用奖励金和惩罚金有效甄别投保人的风险类型。该模型根据投保人第一个保险期内的索赔情况在第二个保险期对其进行奖励或惩罚，高风险类型的投保人如果选择为低风险类型投保人设计的保险契约，则其在第二阶段受到惩罚的概率要远远大于得到奖励的概率，即风险越高的投保人越害怕惩罚金，因此所建模型满足斯彭斯-莫里斯分离条件。带奖惩金的两期保险契约模型中保险公司的期望利润仍然为0，并不会给投保人带来额外的经济负担，却能够实现对传统部分保险契约简单重复两次的严格帕累托改进。最后采用一个算例说明了该模型的有效性。