On the Compatibility of Organizational Behavior Management and BACB Certification

The number of practicing behavior analysts who hold Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) certification has substantially increased in the past decade. Some have mistakenly interpreted the BACB’s certification requirements as being specific to the autism and intellectual disabilities practice area. We present key BACB requirements, describe how they are practice-area neutral, and provide specific examples of their relevance to organizational behavior management.     

Certification: goals set, goals met.

When the American Board of Medical Management was founded by the American College of Physician Executives on January 1, 1989, it was understood that the process for formal recognition of medical management as a specialty of medicine would be rigorous. Understandably, particularly at a time when the medical profession and the health care delivery system are under increasing scrutiny by all third-party payers, the decision to expand medical specialization is made with great caution. But the process of recognition for medical management is now well under way. In an interview with Frank A. Riddick Jr., MD, FACPE, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ABMM, Physician Executive learned more about the specific goals of ABMM and about the degree to which those goals have been achieved.     

ISO 14001 Certification in Zimbabwe: Experiences, Problems and Prospects

The quest for sustainable development has become paramount, whereby there is a need to satisfy the needs of today without compromising the needs of tomorrow, with the aim of improving the quality of life now and in future. Environmental management systems need to be integrated into the overall management framework in order for society to develop in a sustainable manner. ISO 14001 has the effective elements for such an environmental management system. It is systematically structured, effective and verifiable. This paper examines the implementation of ISO 14001 in Zimbabwe, and the responses from various organisations to standardisation. The environmental laws in Zimbabwe, and the need to improve their enforcement, are discussed. A role for computers in environmental management in Zimbabwe is suggested, as well as driving forces for better environmental management and solutions to overcome the main constraints to ISO 14001 certification.     

供应链安全管理、食品认证和绩效的关系

食品质量安全问题并不是一个部门或一个单位的责任,涉及到从农田到餐桌所有环节的安全控制,如果其中任何一个环节的食品源发生污染或出现不安全问题,不安全的食品都可能随着大范围流通而扩散。因此,要保障食品质量安全应从整个供应链的角度考虑。大部分农产食品具有信任和经验属性,购买或者消费前无法观测到其质量。高质量(或安全)产品或服务的提供者为了将其产品或服务与其他低质量产品或服务区分开,采用信号战略。 识别供应链安全管理的内部供应链安全管理和外部供应链安全管理两个关键维度,从供应链安全管理的视角出发,整合交易成本理论和信号理论,以能力-信号-绩效为理论框架,构建以食品质量安全认证为中介的食品企业的(内部和外部)供应链安全管理与(国内和国际)销售绩效之间的关系模型。为验证假设,选择中国西部地区食品行业企业作为研究对象,从各个地区绿色食品发展中心和乡镇企业局收集2010年至2014年240家食品企业的二手数据,采用多元回归分析的逐步回归预测模型。 研究结果表明,内部供应链安全管理对食品企业的国内销售绩效具有直接积极影响,但作为食品质量安全信号的食品质量安全认证和外部供应链安全管理对国内销售绩效没有显著影响;内部供应链安全管理和外部供应链安全管理均对食品企业国际销售绩效具有直接积极影响,也以食品质量安全认证作为完全中介对食品企业国际销售绩效产生间接影响。 内部供应链安全管理促进了食品企业的国内销售绩效,但是能实现国际销售绩效的食品企业,不仅需要良好的内部供应链安全管理,更需要形成外部供应链安全能力,并且获得食品认证。由此,从供应链安全管理的投资和建设的视角,为改善中国食品质量安全提供了启示和解决途径。     

An Analysis of the Relationship between Environmental Motivations and ISO14001 Certification

The objectives of this paper are both to identify the environmental motivations associated with the decision to initiate the process for ISO14001 certification and to check whether such motivations undergo any changes once the company obtains its certification and experiences the actual effects of this process. Based on the work of Bansal and Roth, we distinguish between ethical, competitive and relational motivations, and compare the importance of these motivations in four company stages with respect to the ISO14001 certification: not considered, considered, in process and awarded. This comparison was performed through a logit analysis applied over the data supplied by 184 Spanish manufacturers from three different industrial sectors. It was concluded that the decision to pursue the ISO14001 certification responds to ethical and competitive motivations, and that once the company gets its certification, the company portfolio of environmental motivations does not change significantly.     

The Influence of ISO 9000 Certification on Process Compliance

This article examines the influence of ISO 9000 certification on plant‐level process compliance, which arguably is its first‐order, targeted performance dimension. The empirical setting is the medical device manufacturing industry. Process compliance is measured through Food and Drug Administration inspections of manufacturing plants. We control for several observable factors that possibly affect process compliance by matching certified plants with non‐certified plants. Using longitudinal data, we find plants that obtained certification in the earlier diffusion period (early‐certified plants) tend to have significantly better process compliance than a matched, non‐certified control group of plants. The compliance difference between early‐certified plants and their matched control group is greater than the compliance difference between late‐certified plants and their matched control group. We also find deterioration in process compliance over time after certification. Because we capture longitudinally the first‐order effects of ISO 9000 on process compliance, this study provides a useful baseline for assessing causality in ISO 9000‐performance linkages. Also, we explain, in part, the inconsistencies observed in related ISO 9000 literature examining the performance effects of certification. Further, this research offers managerial insights on the dynamics of certification and process compliance with time, and highlights the need for continued vigilance post certification.     

Use of Risk Assessment Methods in the Certification of Decontaminated Buildings

Accidental events such as fires, explosions, and leaks often result in large-scale contaminations of buildings with toxic chemicals. After decontamination, the certification for original use requires testing for residual contamination. The two basic kinds of sampling plans in use up to recently both fall short of the required performance. Their deficiencies are analyzed in terms of the scientific questions implicit in both the sampling plan and the subsequent statistical evaluation. A sampling strategy of a new kind is proposed and discussed in the same context. It is motivated by concern for the long-term safety of the building's occupants and is, therefore, based on factors important in risk assessment. Three different sampling plans are derived in the framework of this methodology, two of which have already been used in actual certification proceedings.     

The Role of Cluster Presence and Quality Certification in Internationalization and Performance of Offshore Service Providers

Offshore Service Providers (OSPs) have been a subject of research for several years now. However, there is little known about what drives the internationalization of OSPs. In this paper, we combine insights from economic geography and institutional view to investigate cluster presence and quality certification as the drivers of OSP internationalization and their performance. We hypothesize the facilitating role these two factors play in driving the performance of internationalized firms. We test our hypotheses using data from Indian software firms between 1992 and 2002. We find a positive effect of certification on OSP internationalization. Although certification contributes negatively to OSP performance, it positively moderates the performance effect of OSP internationalization. Cluster presence was found to drive OSP's overall performance, but has no effect on internationalization. Through our findings, we contribute towards the literature on OSP internationalization.     

Inventory cost saving benefits from the standardization of computer modular instruments

This article investigates the savings in inventory costs from the standardization of two computer modular instrument interface standards: NIM, an analog standard and CAMAC, a digital standard, at US nuclear laboratory installations. The major benefit from the standardization effort springs from the fact that the modular instruments are interchangeable, providing opportunities for reducing inventory costs. To that effect, the safety stock levels of instrument modules required for computer system configurations were estimated by an iterative procedure derived from a continuous Markov chain process with a one-to-one replacement policy. Since on the average, there are only two instruments of the same type per CAMAC or NIM crate, the opportunities for reducing inventory costs are a function of the number of crates and thus appear present only in medium and large systems. Large amounts of benefits of $206m (in 1981 dollars) were estimated from this successful standardization effort.     

Marketing mix standardization in multinational corporations: A review of the evidence

This paper reports the findings of a systematic review of literature on marketing mix standardization in multinational corporations. The objective is to extract and synthesize ‘best evidence’ regarding marketing mix standardization practices in multinational corporations and to identify evidence regarding the performance impact of marketing mix standardization. Beyond relevance to an academic audience, this review could be useful for management practitioners in multinationals seeking to integrate operations across borders. In this context, the paper seeks to make a contribution to evidence based policy and practice.     

Editorial

Journal of Management and Governance -