Implications and Applications of a Behavior Systems Perspective

Improving employee performance in an organization seems to cycle back and forth among six broad approaches. Rather than debate which approach is most effective, the argument is made that each approach is simply one aspect of a larger behavior system. The ultimate answer, then, is to integrate these approaches within an overarching behavior systems perspective. A potential behavior systems perspective is described as well as its implications for employee performance improvement. An expansion of OBM graduate curricula is recommended that includes more diverse improvement strategies.     

Production scheduling for apparel manufacturing systems

In this paper, we model an apparel manufacturing system characterized by the co-existence of the two production lines, i.e. traditional, long lead time production line and flexible, short lead time production line. Our goal is to find strategies which decide: (i) the fraction of the total production capacity to be allocated to each individual line, and (ii) the production schedules so as to maximize the overall profits. In this problem, searching for the best solution is prohibited in view of the tremendouscomputing budget involved. Using ordinal optimization ideas, we obtained very encouraging results not only have we achieved a high proportion of 'good enough' designs but also tight profit margins compared to a pre-calculated upper bound. There is also a saving of at least 1/2000 of the computation time.     

Respondent hazards in the unrelated question randomized response model

The randomized response technique is a method of interviewing which allows estimation of population proportion or mean of a sensitive characteristic while maintaining anonymity of response. This is accomplished by use of two questions in the interview, one sensitive and one not so, with the respondent applying a random device to determine which question to answer. The statistician knows the parameters of the random device but is kept from knowledge of individual outcomes. When the nonsensitive question bears on a matter quite foreign to the sensitive characteristic, it is termed an unrelated question, and the associated technique carries that designation. Critical in the construction of such a model are the assigned probability p that the respondent will select the sensitive question and the proportion Π_y of the population having the unrelated nonsensitive characteristic. The choice of these parameters is discussed herein with reference to the risks perceived by respondents.     

Estimates of induced abortion in urban North Carolina

In 1965, Warner developed an interviewing procedure designed to eliminate evasive answer bias when questions of a sensitive nature are asked. He called the procedure ‘randomized response.’ The authors have been studying the technique for several years and, in this paper, are reporting some of the estimates of induced abortion in urban North Carolina using randomized response. Estimates of the proportion of women having an abortion during the past year among women 18–44 years of age are reported. For the study population indices were developed relating induced abortion to total conceptions for whites and nonwhites. The illegal abortion rate per 100 conceptions was estimated to be 14.9 for whites and 32.9 for nonwhites. Estimates of the proportion of women having an abortion during their lifetime among women 18 years old or over are also shown. Among ever married women, the proportion having an abortion during their lifetime declined as education increased. Estimates were high for women with 5 or more pregnancies. Most of the respondents stated that they were satisfied that the randomized response approach would not reveal their personal situation. Furthermore, they did not think their friends would truthfully respond to adirect question regarding abortion.     

On A Method for Studying Family Size Preferences

Demography - The concept of desired family size is widely accepted, and numerous studies have been undertaken to measure its level in certain population groups. The determination of desired family...     

In Memoriam: Bernard George Greenberg 1919-1985

The bivariate normal density with unit variance and correlation ρ is well known. We show that by integrating out ρ, the result is a function of the maximum norm. The Bayesian interpretation of this result is that if we put a uniform prior over ρ, then the marginal bivariate density depends only on the maximal magnitude of the variables. The square-shaped isodensity contour of this resulting marginal bivariate density can also be regarded as the equally weighted mixture of bivariate normal distributions over all possible correlation coefficients. This density links to the Khintchine mixture method of generating random variables. We use this method to construct the higher dimensional generalizations of this distribution. We further show that for each dimension, there is a unique multivariate density that is a differentiable function of the maximum norm and is marginally normal, and the bivariate density from the integral over ρ is its special case in two dimensions.     

Purposive concealment of death in household surveys in Misamis Oriental Province

Summary The randomized response technique was used in a household survey of approximately 2,000 rural and 2,000 urban households in Misamis Oriental Province in the southern Philippines in order to determine the extent of purposive concealment of death. The estimated number of deaths deliberately not revealed to the interviewers was 50 per cent or higher. Adjusted crude death rates of 11.5 and 13.4 per 1,000 population were computed for urban and rural areas, respectively, by adding estimated concealed deaths to deaths reported to the interviewers. Application of stable population techniques and of model life tables suitable to the Philippine setting, while not permitting definite conclusions, provided reasons for believing that these adjusted death rates are close to the true mortality situation in the study areas. Randomized response data further indicate that approximately 75 per cent of urban deaths and 47 per cent of rural deaths of the population studied were not registered with municipal authorities. The authors postulate that failure to register deaths with municipal authorities, together with fear of legal involvement if this failure becomes known outside the immediate neighbourhood, is a major reason for the purposive concealment of death in household surveys.     

Beyond the Skinner Box: The Design and Management of Organization-Wide Performance Systems

A discussion of the need for organizational behavior management practitioners to shift their application paradigm from a dyadic perspective to a systems perspective is presented. Such a shift would improve the identification of performance improvement opportunities, reduce the effects of unintended contingency interactions, and help ensure sustainable improvement efforts. Nine performance system tools are described that assist the analyst in the design of a performance system and its long-term management and maintenance. A manufacturing case study describing the application of these tools is provided.