Taiwan quality indicator project and hospital productivity growth

The Taiwan Quality Indicator Project (TQIP) is a quality management program that measures and monitors the healthcare quality of hospitals in Taiwan. This paper examines the impact of TQIP participation on hospital productivity growth with the application of the Malmquist productivity change index based on data envelopment analysis (DEA). Analyzing operations data from 31 TQIP regional hospitals over the period 1998–2004, we find that TQIP hospitals improved their productivity in the post-TQIP period. This improvement is attributable to quality change and relative efficiency progress. The simultaneous enhancement in both quality and relative efficiency coincides with the philosophy of total quality management (TQM) spirit, and confirms the efficiency improvement and quality assurance functions of TQIP.     

Skin Cancer and Inorganic Arsenic: Uncertainty-Status of Risk

The current U.S. EPA standard for inorganic arsenic in drinking water is 50 ppb (μg/L), dating to the National Interim Primary Drinking Water Regulation of 1976. The current EPA risk analysis predicts an increased lifetime skin cancer risk on the order of 3 or 4 per 1000 from chronic exposure at that concentration. Revision of the standard to only a few ppb, perhaps even less than 1 ppb, may be indicated by the EPA analysis to reduce the lifetime risk to an acceptable level. The cost to water utilities, and ultimately to their consumers, to conform to such a large reduction in the standard could easily reach several billion dollars, so it is particularly important to assess accurately the current risk and the risk reduction that would be achieved by a lower standard. This article addresses the major sources of uncertainty in the EPA analysis with respect to this objective. Specifically, it focuses on uncertainty and variability in the exposure estimates for the landmark study of Tseng and colleagues in Taiwan, analyzed using a reconstruction of the their exposure data. It is concluded that while the available dataset is suitable to establish the hazard of skin cancer, it is too highly summarized for reliable dose-response assessment. A new epidemiologic study is needed, designed for the requirements of dose-response assessment.     

Perception of Earthquake Risk in Taiwan: Effects of Gender and Past Earthquake Experience

This study explored how individuals in Taiwan perceive the risk of earthquake and the relationship of past earthquake experience and gender to risk perception. Participants (n= 1,405), including earthquake survivors and those in the general population without prior direct earthquake exposure, were selected and interviewed through a computer‐assisted telephone interviewing procedure using a random sampling and stratification method covering all 24 regions of Taiwan. A factor analysis of the interview data yielded a two‐factor structure of risk perception in regard to earthquake. The first factor, “personal impact,” encompassed perception of threat and fear related to earthquakes. The second factor, “controllability,” encompassed a sense of efficacy of self‐protection in regard to earthquakes. The findings indicated prior earthquake survivors and females reported higher scores on the personal impact factor than males and those with no prior direct earthquake experience, although there were no group differences on the controllability factor. The findings support that risk perception has multiple components, and suggest that past experience (survivor status) and gender (female) affect the perception of risk. Exploration of potential contributions of other demographic factors such as age, education, and marital status to personal impact, especially for females and survivors, is discussed. Future research on and intervention program with regard to risk perception are suggested accordingly.     

公司治理、环境因素与利益相关者对台湾上市电子公司赴大陆投资决策影响的实证研究

本文从公司治理的角度切入,通过实证分析研究了一般经营环境、大陆投资环境、台湾投资环境等因素对台湾电子上市公司投资决策的影响;研究了不同利益相关者对股东大会、董事会决策以及投资策略、生产策略、研发策略、用人策略、行销策略、财务策略和企业间合作关系的影响,并针对企业和政府提出了相应的对策建议.     

Confucian philosophy and influence on perceived values and behavioural orientations by Taiwan’s millennials

This study examines the millennials’ perceptions of Confucianism and their influence on their personal values and behavioural orientations with a sample from Taiwan to address the research gap in intergenerational and intercultural human resource development (HRD) research. It complements results from western research and offers important insights to worldwide managers and HRD practitioners for talent development and learning-related initiatives when working with employees and organizations with East Asia backgrounds. The concept of Confucius’ process of developing into a virtuous person seems to be rooted in the Taiwanese millennials’ mind, who as guided by Confucius tend to have a primary focus on accumulating knowledge, practicing moral behaviour, and correcting one’s mind and behaviour. Along with the globalization and technology advancement, the sampled millennials hold a strong traditional values of Confucian philosophy; yet, such strong cultural values may be attenuated a great deal after exposing to western culture over times. The Confucian virtue (moral) behaviour practice, harmonious relations, and self-cultivation are found as top three factors of Confucian values. Implications for HRD practices and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

The New Spatial Planning Act in Taiwan: A Messy Shift from Economic Development-Oriented Planning to Environmental Conservation-Oriented Planning?

On 18 December 2015, the spatial planning bill was finally passed by the Legislative Yuan in Taiwan. That was a special moment for planning community and authority since they had anticipated this moment for more than two decades. However, this is not the end of the story. On the contrary, the battle between the economic development promoters and environmental conservation supporters just starts. The Act introduces several new changes to secure its goal of nationwide sustainable development, but the introduction also raises some tensions. This article reviews the tensions and their socio-political context, and gives some suggestions to the Taiwanese government.     

Taipei,Taiwan: A transformational learning event: Reflecting on the 4th Asian Conference of Academy of Human Resource Development

Abstract

The 4th Asian Conference of the Academy of Human Resource Development held in Taipei, Taiwan, nurtured new learning, networking and international integration. As we reflected upon the experience in Taiwan, the realization was evident that we now view the world from a global perspective. We no longer look at the world through our own country's lenses. Through participation in this transformational learning event, the way we see the world and ourselves has changed as well as enriched our HRD knowledge.     

The perceptions of human resource development professionals in Taiwan regarding their working relationships with subject matter experts (SMEs) during the training design process

While the literature supports the importance of establishing a relationship between designers and subject matter experts (SMEs) in the training design process, this approach is not followed in all global practices. The purpose of this study was to identify the perceptions of human resource development professionals in Taiwan regarding their working relationships with SMEs. The respondents of the study were HRD professionals who worked in high-tech companies located in a science park in Taiwan. The study found that a significant relationship exists between the ability to work with SMEs and current ability in the training design process among HRD professionals who had worked with SMEs. This study provides implications for the professional development of HRD practitioners and HRD practice in Taiwan companies. Cross-cultural issues are discussed to explain inconsistencies between the results and US-based perspectives on the training design process.     

Evaluating training and development practices in Taiwan: challenges and opportunities

The purpose of this article is to explore the status and challenges of employee training and development (T&D) in Taiwan. Literature review suggested that government intervention, vocational and technical education, social network, and organizational structures are the key factors that influence T&D practices in Taiwan. Taiwanese government plays a major role in promoting value-added production and skilled workforce in the organizations via developing various national labour enhancement policies, strategies and regulations and providing a set of training subsidies for employee T&D. The promotion of Taiwan TrainQuali System in Taiwan is one of the major national employee T&D policies that motivates and forces the corporations to cultivate their manpower. The challenges are evident when corporations adapt and apply Western T&D models or programmes. This study investigates T&D applications in Taiwan and provides a guide to practitioners to overcome challenges in terms of implementing T&D practices in Taiwan. Implications and recommendations for practice and future research were also discussed.     

Gender,power and office politics

Abstract

This interpretative study explores the experiences of Taiwanese female clerical workers as they deal with office politics. A hermeneutical phenomenology is used to describe and interpret the participants' experiences. The study shows that powerlessness and frustration result from: (1) structural barriers; (2) behavioral barriers; and (3) accommodation and rationalization. This study has implications for research and practice in international area of women's studies and for the field of international career development education.     

Significance of Exposure Assessment to Analysis of Cancer Risk from Inorganic Arsenic in Drinking Water in Taiwan

The primary source of evidence that inorganic arsenic in drinking water is associated with increased mortality from cancer at internal sites (bladder, liver, lung, and other organs) is a large ecologic study conducted in regions of Southwest Taiwan endemic to Blackfoot disease. The dose-response patterns for lung, liver, and bladder cancers display a nonlinear dose-response relationship with arsenic exposure. The data do not appear suitable, however, for the more refined task of dose-response assessment, particularly for inference of risk at the low arsenic concentrations found in some U.S. water supplies. The problem lies in variable arsenic concentrations between the wells within a village, largely due to a mix of shallow wells and deep artesian wells, and in having only one well test for 24 (40%) of the 60 villages. The current analysis identifies 14 villages where the exposure appears most questionable, based on criteria described in the text. The exposure values were then changed for seven of the villages, from the median well test being used as a default to some other point in the village's range of well tests that would contribute to smoothing the appearance of a dose-response curve. The remaining seven villages, six of which had only one well test, were deleted as outliers. The resultant dose-response patterns showed no evidence of excess risk below arsenic concentrations of 0.1 mg/l. Of course, that outcome is dependent on manipulation of the data, as described. Inclusion of the seven deleted villages would make estimates of risk much higher at low doses. In those seven villages, the cancer mortality rates are significantly high for their exposure levels, suggesting that their exposure values may be too low or that other etiological factors need to be taken into account.     

An exploratory factor analysis of workplace learning,job satisfaction,and organizational commitment in small to midsize enterprises in Taiwan

The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to identify the factor structures associated with three Western-developed instruments (Small Business Workplace Learning Survey, Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire, and the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire, hereinafter referred to as SBWLS, MSQ, or OCQ) used to assess workplace learning, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment when applied in a non-Western setting; and (2) to determine if individuals who differed in terms of selected demographic variables, differed in terms of the derived constructs. The factor analytic structure of each instrument which was originally established using Western samples was compared to the factor structure results obtained for an Eastern sample. Quantitative data were collected from employees in 26 small to midsize IT companies in Taiwan. A total of 206 valid surveys were obtained and analysed out of 450 that were distributed. The factor structure of each instrument generated from this study appeared to be substantially different from those obtained for the original instruments. The researchers suggest that the highlighted structure deviations reflect some culturally oriented factors which might be useful for developing more indigenous instruments. Regarding the participants' demographic variables, no differences in terms of SBWLS, MSQ, or OCQ were found for Gender, Age and Tenure. Marital status was significant in terms of MSQ and OCQ. Educational level was significant for SBWLS and OCQ.     

我国企业复杂技术创新能力研究:基于三维模型的成长路径

我国经济强国之路需要复杂技术产业的创新和发展。本文针对复杂技术的特点来解构复杂技术创新能力的维度构成,并结合后发国家特点从企业层面来探讨复杂技术创新能力演化的路径。本文对我国通信系统设备、造船和汽车产业三家企业的复杂技术创新能力成长路径进行了案例研究。本文的主要学术贡献是:(1)提出系统技术创新能力、核心技术创新能力、产业链创新能力三维模型,解构复杂技术创新能力的维度构成;(2)发现我国企业复杂技术创新能力成长可能路径有三种,一是从核心技术创新能力到系统技术创新能力、再到产业链创新能力;二是从系统技术创新能力到核心技术创新能力和产业链创新能力;三是从系统技术创新能力和核心技术创新能力到产业链创新能力;(3)我国企业复杂技术创新能力成长路径的驱动因素有市场特性、技术特性和企业组织特性,这些因素的组合决定了企业复杂技术创新能力成长的起点、速度与深度。     

The servant identity: Influences on the cognition and behavior of servant leaders

This paper approaches the study of servant leadership by concentrating on the identity of servant leaders. An identity is important to one's sense of self and it influences the way a leader cognitively processes socially relevant information and exercises a particular leadership behavior in response to a situation. Unlike existing studies, which typically approach servant leadership as one of a number of possible leadership styles, and which merely describe its characteristics, this paper serves to explain the basis for individuals enacting this mode of leadership. This paper defines and elaborates on the servant identity by showing the psychological factors constituting it. Taking a socio-cognitive approach, the paper offers a theoretical framework for the servant identity. The framework encompasses the cognitive and behavioral disposition of leaders with servant identity and the organizational contexts that influence it. This new angle on servant leadership opens avenues for future research and practice.     

Umbrella for research into Human Resource Development (HRD)

This paper explores Thailand's ‘sufficiency economy’ (SE) philosophy and its impact on human resource development (HRD). The paper highlights the current attempts to achieve sustainable development, especially after the economic crisis of 1997. The philosophy introduces a great shift of conceptual thinking on the general development and administration in the country. This paper examines the importance of the SE philosophy and discusses its impact on HRD in Thailand at different levels of the society.     

Approaches to solve the fleet-assignment,aircraft-routing,crew-pairing and crew-rostering problems of a regional carrier

This paper presents the results of a research project funded by a regional carrier operating inter-island services within the Canary Islands (Spain) in addition to services to Morocco and Portugal. It operates between 100 and 150 flights a day using three airline operators. The main scope of the project was to solve fleet-assignment, aircraft-routing, crew-pairing and crew-rostering problems on real-world data. The special characteristics of the carrier, flying between 7 am and 11 pm every day, have motivated us to design models and algorithms that are different than the ones addressed in the literature, typically built for large airline companies. This paper shows a solution approach for an integrated fleet-assignment, aircraft-routing and crew-pairing problem covering the flights of a single day. This is a new combinatorial problem that can be considered as a 2-depot vehicle routing problem with driver changes, where the vehicles represent aircrafts and the drivers represent crews. Adapting approaches from the vehicle routing literature, this paper describes a heuristic algorithm based on an integer programming model. In a similar way, this paper also addresses the rostering problem. This problem can be decomposed in smaller problems taking into account operators, bases and crew groups. These problems admit a compact formulation through mixed integer linear programming models which can be tracked by modern general-purpose solvers. This paper illustrates the success of our solution approaches on real-world instances. The airline carrier is currently using these approaches.     

外国直接投资在中国发展的分期研究

本文利用定量分析方法对在中国的外国直接投资作分阶段研究,研究结果表明,1979—1995年可划分为三个阶段．文章对各阶段的投资情况作了分析和阐述,并对外国直接投资在中国未来发展趋势作了初步探讨.     

基于参数模拟的中国物业税调控能力研究

通过构建包含投机型消费者、自住型消费者以及房地产商在内的住宅市场税收影响模型,利用数值模拟的估计方法,分析比较开征物业税与现存流转税对消费者和房地产商决策行为的影响,表明物业税和流转税对均衡房价的影响及其程度,用以探讨物业税对中国市场的调控能力.研究发现:1)物业税相对于其他税种,调控作用更为明显,对参与者决策行为有更...     

A dose-response analysis of skin cancer from inorganic arsenic in drinking water

A study of the prevalence of skin cancer among 40,421 persons consuming arsenic-contaminated drinking water in Taiwan was used for a cancer dose-response assessment of ingested arsenic. The numbers of persons at risk over three dose intervals and four exposure durations were estimated from the data in order to apply the method of maximum likelihood to a multistage-Weibull time/dose-response model. A constant exposure level since birth for each of the exposure categories was assumed. It was found that the cumulative hazard increases as a power of three in age, and is linear or quadratic (with a linear coefficient) in dose. Observations from a smaller epidemiologic survey in Mexico were similar to what would be predicted from the model of the Taiwan data. Assuming that the skin cancer risk from ingested arsenic in the American population would also be similar to the Taiwan population, an American male would have a lifetime risk of developing skin cancer of 1.3 x 10(-3) (3.0 x 10(-3] if exposed to 1 microgram/kg/day for a 76-year lifespan (median lifespan in the U.S.).     

基于支持向量机的人的全面发展评价模型及省份实证

根据“坚持以人为本,树立全面、协调、可持续的发展现,促进经济社会和人的全面发展”的科学发展观的内涵,通过人的全面发展评价指标的海选、筛选和理性分析构建了人的全面发展综合评价指标体系.建立了基于支持向量机(Support Vector Machines,SVM)的人的全面发展评价模型,并对我国2006年典型的14个省级行政区人的全面发展状况进行实证分析.本文的创新与特色一是通过高斯核支持向量机把评价指标空间映射到高维特征空间,解决了人的全面发展评价影响因素非线性赋权问题.克服了现有评价方法均采用线性加权方式计算评价结果、不能表达指标与评价结果间的真实关系的缺陷.二是通过正交设计确定支持向量机训练样本的输入数据,并通过AHP确定训练样本的权重,得到指标训练样本的评价结果作为训练样本的输出.解决了在没有训练样本输入和输出情况下如何确定指标训练样本的问题.这就解决了在缺乏训练样本输入、输出数据情况下如何应用支持向量机进行回归,以得到评价结果的问题.三是通过人口累积比重、收入累积比重、通货膨胀等可获得数据指标计算准基尼系数和准国民幸福指数,解决了基尼系数和国民幸福指数的间接测算问题,进而解决了现阶段因统计数据缺失、而无法进行省级行政区人的全面发展评价的问题.