Some social implications of personnel planning

It would appear that most discussions on manpower or personnel planning are concerned with highlighting the dichotomy between organizational needs and personal needs. The assumption that these two separate need areas can be successfully harmonized through personnel planning is implicit. In this paper the intention is to discuss this relationship in terms of the consequences for employees of attempts to achieve the aims of organizational manpower plans through the establishment of personnel control mechanisms.     

西安“标准化执法”破解城管困局

西安市莲湖区城管执法局在全国首创“标准化执法”,实现了被百姓认为的从“暴力型,随意型执法模式”到“文明化、规范化、法制化执法模式”的转变。     

Some financial implications of risk in the UK

This paper explores ways in which risk taking is entwined with financial considerations, and examines the trade-off between acceptable levels of risk and associated costs. The changing identity of holders of funds available for risk investment, combined with the evolving attitudes of fund-seekers as to the nature of acceptable risks, points to the need for a re-examination of traditional approaches. In formulating public policy aimed at reducing risks a more formal consideration of the overall cost of Government measures, set against the achievements anticipated from the measure concerned, is required whether or not that cost falls on Government. In commerce, increased use of joint ventures is seen as a likely vehicle for the development of largescale risk activities, with a loan guarantee scheme to assist in nurturing new enterprises and small businesses. Finally, the role of pension funds is examined and a case made for the consideration of index linked gilts as a means both of assisting the Government with the orderly handling of the National Debt and meeting the pension schemes' need to match liabilities that are susceptible to inflationary pressures.     

Data-driven operations management: organisational implications of the digital transformation in industrial practice

Abstract

The ongoing digital transformation on industry has so far mostly been studied from the perspective of cyber-physical systems solutions as drivers of change. In this paper, we turn the focus to the changes in data management resulting from the introduction of new digital technologies in industry. So far, data processing activities in operations management have usually been organised according to the existing business structures inside and in-between companies. With increasing importance of Big Data in the context of the digital transformation, the opposite will be the case: business structures will evolve based on the potential to develop value streams offered on the basis of new data processing solutions. Based on a review of the extant literature, we identify the general different fields of action for operations management related to data processing. In particular, we explore the impact of Big Data on industrial operations and its organisational implications.     

Learners' educational orientation as a design tool for human resource development professionals in law enforcement: a Caribbean context

The training academy of any law enforcement agency serves as the educational platform for personal, professional and academic development of law enforcement officers. It is essential that the training provided is reflective of best practices to enhance learning, curriculum design, educational policies and instructional techniques compatible with the educational orientation of their learners. To this end, it is proposed within this study that the learners' educational orientation be incorporated in the design phase of the ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation) model. In an effort to determine the educational orientation of the participants, the study utilized the Student Orientation Questionnaire (SOQ) to analyse the educational orientation of law enforcement officers and its implication for training.     

Inventory control with seasonality of lead times

The practical challenges posed by the seasonality of lead times have largely been ignored within the inventory control literature. The length of the seasons, as well as the length of the lead times during a season, may demonstrate cyclical patterns over time. This study examines whether inventory control policies that anticipate seasonal lead-time patterns can reduce costs. We design a framework for characterizing different seasonal lead-time inventory problems. Subsequently, we examine the effect of deterministic and stochastic seasonal lead times within periodic review inventory control systems. We conduct a base case analysis of a deterministic system, enabling two established and alternating lead-time lengths that remain valid through known intervals. We identify essential building blocks for developing solutions to seasonal lead-time problems. Lastly, we perform numerical experiments to evaluate the cost benefits of implementing an inventory control policy that incorporates seasonal lead-time lengths. The findings of the study indicate the potential for cost improvements. By incorporating seasonality in length of seasons and length of lead times within the season into the control models, inventory controllers can make more informed decisions when ordering their raw materials. They need smaller buffers against lead-time variations due to the cyclical nature of seasonality. Reductions in costs in our experiments range on average between 18.9 and 26.4% (depending on safety time and the probability of the occurrence of stock out). Therefore, inventory control methods that incorporate seasonality instead of applying large safety stock or safety time buffers can lead to substantial cost reductions.     

Tackling seasonality : The case of Sri Lanka

Seasonality can be analysed at three levels — national, regional, and sectoral. In Sri Lanka there is a direct relationship between the product/ market mix of individual regions and their seasonality. The south-west coast resorts, with their November–March high season, are a major factor in the national seasonal pattern. Several diversification measures are considered and their probable impact assessed. A distinction is made between seasonal markets(eg Sweden) and counter-seasonal markets (eg India), and between inherent and expedient seasonality. The author discusses the deliberate manipulation of the supply of accomodation and its main effects.     

Business in Japan and the United States of America; some implications for management science and operations research

Significant differences exist between United States-managed and Japanese-managed organizations.

• •• U.S. firms are epitomized by surplus behaviors (emphasis on profits and returns on assets, investments and equity).
• •• Japanese firms are characterized by scarcity behaviors (emphasis on husbanding resources and reduction of waste).
• •• Management Science has been used in the generally surplus-oriented Western-world. Western values drive its application, or the decision not to apply it.
• •• Management Science can work effectively within a scarce-resource framework, as well as within a surplus-resource framework.
• •• Management Science has been barely used by the Japanese, although they might use it effectively. A possible explanation is that the Japanese culture is pervasive and consistent in dealing with scarcity.
• •• Management Science, when combined with a severe distaste for waste, may enable Western-world management to develop better strategies to achieve Global Competitiveness.
• •• The scarcity-oriented value system elevates the importance of people as resources. Management Science, to be effective, must do the same.

     

Innovation,the multinational corporation: Some implications for national science policy

In recent years the role of research and development has been examined with great interest to determine its causal relation to economic growth. Emerging from a number of studies is a realization that the process of innovation is the key variable. Innovation refers to that complex chain of events and processes which stretches from the conception of a new idea (often in an R & D lab) through to the acceptance in the market place of a new or improved good or service. This article sets out to examine the impact on the innovative potential of the corporate structure of a country when multinational corporations are active in such a country. In particular, the emphasis is on high technology manufacturing industries. The host country most often referred to will be Canada.     

Leadership in small-scale societies: Some implications for theory,research, and practice

Leadership studies concentrate on large-scale societies and organizations with formal hierarchies, large power differences, and diverse membership. Much less is known about leadership in small-scale, homogeneous, and relatively egalitarian societies in which humans have spent most of their existence. We summarize the anthropological literature on leadership from traditional, small-scale societies in terms of (1) the functions and roles of leaders; (2) the traits and behaviors conducive to leader emergence and effectiveness; and (3) the motivations and incentives to assume leadership positions. We address how studies of leadership in small-scale societies inform theory development. By viewing leadership and followership in light of our evolutionary history in small-scale societies, we shed new light on outstanding questions in leadership research and on challenges for leadership practice.     

Leaders perceived as distant and close. Some implications for psychological theory on leadership

This paper deals with some principles derived from the concept of psychological distance, which are relevant to the differential view of distant and close leaders as perceived by the followers. The claim is that psychological distance is a subjective dimension that affects the manner of construal and attributions with regard to leaders. The more distant the leaders in the followers' perception the more they will be construed in abstract categories; more weight will be attributed to them in explaining occurrences of events; the followers will relate more to their traits and less to their behaviors, and will derive from their image more meaning for their own self worth. The theoretical and empirical significance of these arguments is discussed in the paper.     

Auditing the strategic role of operations

The literature relating to auditing the strategic role and contribution of operations has been dominated by methodologies attuned to the predominance of the environmental and competitive forces, and entry deterrence approaches to achieving and sustaining competitive advantage, broadly termed the outside‐in perspective. However, tools suited to the resource‐based and associated dynamic capability view to strategy formulation, deemed the inside‐out perspective, are sparse. This paper makes a contribution to furthering understanding of the auditing of the strategic role and contribution of operations by conducting a review and critique of established ideas, practices and approaches from both strategy formulation perspectives. It argues that the reported methodologies reflect the traditional outside‐in perspective to strategy formulation. It highlights the limitations of the available tools for an inside‐out view and questions the suitability of the existing methods to the more recent inside‐out emphasis, also a factor vital in circumstances where a firm typically is pursuing a combination or blend of the outside‐in and inside‐out approaches to strategy formulation. Finally, it presents the outline of an additional audit tool designed to address these limitations and describes next steps in future research.     

Measuring dynamic efficiency of highway maintenance operations

In this paper we discuss a dynamic efficiency measurement model for evaluating the performance of highway maintenance policies where the inter-temporal dependencies between consumption of inputs (i.e., maintenance budget) and realization of outputs (i.e., improvement in road condition) are explicitly captured. We build on a micro representation of pavement deterioration and renewal processes and study the impact of the allocation of scarce maintenance budgets over time. We provide a measure of efficiency that contrasts the optimized budget allocations to the actual ones. The developed model is then applied to an empirical dataset of pavement condition and maintenance expenditures over the years 2002 to 2008 corresponding to seventeen miles of interstate highway that lay in one of the counties in the state of Virginia, USA. The policies that were found through optimization showed that road authorities should give higher priorities to preventive maintenance than corrective maintenance. In essence, by applying preventive maintenance, the road authorities can effectively decrease the need for future corrective maintenance while spending less overall.