Generic Strategies and Business Performance: an Empirical Study of the Screw Machine Products Industry

Select businesses in industry may attempt to compete through distinct strategies. But some may be successful in adopting distinct strategic profiles while others may not prove successful. In this study it was expected that six different groups of businesses might be present in the empirical exploration – those competing successfully with the low cost strategy and those competing unsuccessfully with this strategy; those competing successfully with the differentiation strategy and those competing unsuccessfully with this strategy; and those competing successfully with low cost and differentiation strategies and those competing unsuccessfully with these strategies. The results of the investigation portray the presence of three strategic profiles. They are unsuccessful low cost businesses with the lowest performance, unsuccessful differentiated businesses with the second lowest performance, and successful businesses with combination strategies with the highest performance.     

两级供应链中供应中断情形下零售商转运策略

考虑由两个供应商和两个零售商组成的两级供应链系统,且两个供应商以一定概率发生供货中断,基于供应商供货发生中断的四种情形,分别对零售商实施相互转运策略、单向转运策略和不转运策略下建立最优订货决策模型。从理论上比较了三种策略下零售商期望利润和订货量高低,并分析相互转运和单向转运策略下零售商期望利润和订货量与转运价格、转运成本之间的关系,最后运用算例进行验证,同时分析了三种策略下,供应中断概率和其它主要参数的变化对零售商期望利润和最优订货量的影响。     

The deterministic EPQ with partial backordering: A new approach

Several authors have developed models for the EOQ when only a percentage of stockouts will be backordered. Most of these models are complicated, with equations unlike those for the EOQ with full backordering. In this paper we extend work by Pentico and Drake [The deterministic EOQ with partial backordering: a new approach. European Journal of Operational Research 2008; in press] that developed equations for the EOQ with partial backordering that are more like those for the EOQ with full backordering to develop a comparable model for the EPQ with partial backordering.     

Failure feedback as an affective event: Influences of leader affect on subordinate attitudes and performance

This experiment examines the impact of leader affect on subordinates in a failure feedback situation in the context of promotion and prevention task goals and whether or not the feedback was personalized or task focused. Results were consistent with expectations that negative leader affect displayed during feedback would produce lower perceptions of leader effectiveness and lower quality performance on a group task than positive leader affect. Also in line with expectations was the finding that leader affect interacted with goal type such that groups with a prevention goal perceived the negative affect leader more favorably than groups with a promotion goal. Goals also interacted with feedback focus. Prevention-goal groups identified more with the leader when feedback was personalized and promotion-goal groups identified more with the leader when the feedback was task focused, regardless of leader affect.     

股权结构与公司业绩关系的行业特征--来自冶金、医药、机械与IT行业的实证证据

冶金与医药行业第一大股东提高了业绩,冶金行业业绩明显靠固定资产投资拉动.医药第二大至第三大持股与公司业绩显著负相关,但第二大至第三大股东抑制了第一大股东占用上市公司资金.机械行业业绩,第一大持股与其负相关,第二至第十大与其正相关.前十大股东中具有信托投资公司的上市公司,关联资金占用显著高.IT行业,业绩与生产性股东个数显著正相关,与固定资产投资负相关.业绩与股份法人类别的相关性符号是:国家股与境内发起法人股之和,冶金与医药,显著为正,机械行业为负;募集法人股,机械行业显著为正,冶金为负;流通股,冶金与医药为负,但IT为正.     

Individual differences in dealing with overflow

Understanding factors limiting the effectiveness of multitasking and increasing the risks of experiencing overflow by individuals engaged in multitasking are important challenges for management sciences and may help with the reduction of psychosomatic costs incurred by employees. The analyses presented in this paper focus on reactivity and multitasking as risk factors for overflow, and on individual differences in dealing with overflow, resulting from an interaction of reactivity and point or interval activity styles. Activity style may be either congruent or incongruent with the temperament. Undertaking activities in accordance with temperament is psychologically rewarding, but undertaking activities mismatched with the temperament, if they are consistent with the expectations of important others, may also be equally beneficial. Individuals with low-energy resources, who engage in multitasking, must deal with a mismatch of the activity style and the capabilities of the body—often resulting in an overflow.     

Estimating Benchmark Concentrations and Other Noncancer Endpoints in Epidemiology Studies

Methods for evaluating the hazards associated with noncancer responses with epidemiologic data are considered. The methods for noncancer risk assessment have largely been developed for experimental data, and are not always suitable for the more complex structure of epidemiologic data. In epidemiology, the measurement of the response and the exposure is often either continuous or dichotomous. For a continuous noncancer response modeled with multiple regression, a variety of endpoints may be examined: (1) the concentration associated with absolute or relative decrements in response; (2) a threshold concentration associated with no change in response; and (3) the concentration associated with a particular added risk of impairment. For a dichotomous noncancer response modeled with logistic regression, concentrations associated with specified added/extra risk or with a threshold responses may be estimated. No-observed-effect concentrations may also be estimated for categorizations of exposures for both continuous and dichotomous responses but these may depend on the arbitrary categories chosen. Respiratory function in miners exposed to coal dust is used to illustrate these methods.     

Chronic strain,daily work stress and pain among workers with rheumatoid arthritis: Does job stress make a bad day worse?

The structure of the job and the daily experience of work are challenges for workers with rheumatoid arthritis. Yet little is known about how these two factors interact to put workers with chronic pain at risk for worse pain on a given day. This exploratory 20 workday diary study of 27 workers with rheumatoid arthritis used hierarchical linear modelling to examine how the structure of the job and neuroticism moderate the relationship between daily undesirable work events (daily stressors), and pain reports within a day. On days with more undesirable work events compared to days with fewer events, individuals with jobs associated with job ‘strain’ (high demand/low control) reported greater midday pain, irrespective of neuroticism and negative mood, than workers with other combinations of demand and control. These findings demonstrate the utility of analysing fluctuating within-person relationships among pain, mood and daily work stressors within the context of the structure of the job, and helps to explain why daily work stressors result in worse health outcomes for some but not all workers with RA.     

考虑产品可替换的再制造产品选择决策

再制造是处理回收产品的一种重要方式.本文研究了一种简单的产品可替换的再制造决策模型,再制造商生产的产品有高质量和低质量两种,高质量的再制造产品数量超过需求量时,可以作为低质量产品的替换品销售.最后通过仿真算例说明了产品可替换策略比不可替换具有优势.     

Pricing and ordering decisions in a supply chain with downward substitution and imperfect process yield

We consider a manufacturer sourcing from two suppliers of asymmetric component quality and producing a quality-differentiated product, namely a low- and high-quality version, with each having deterministic demand. The manufacturer adopts the existing process to produce low-quality products with components from the supplier with low component quality, and develops a new process to produce high-quality products with components from the supplier with high component quality. The new process has imperfect yield, and products that do not meet the specifications for high-quality products can substitute for low-quality products produced with the existing process. We investigate the suppliers’ price decisions and the manufacturer’s ordering and production decisions in a game-theoretical model under dual sourcing. Our analyses reveal that increasing product differentiation or higher yield of high-quality products do not necessarily translate to a higher profit for the manufacturer. In light of the manufacturer’s sourcing strategies, we show that sourcing from a single supplier with high- and low-quality components yields a lower profit than sourcing from one supplier with high component quality and the other with low component quality. Finally, we investigate the manufacturer’s decision-making with endogenous yield rate of high-quality products. Our analyses demonstrate that the manufacturer benefits from setting the yield rate of high-quality products ahead of the suppliers’ price decisions.     

Chronic strain, daily work stress and pain among workers with rheumatoid arthritis: Does job stress make a bad day worse?

The structure of the job and the daily experience of work are challenges for workers with rheumatoid arthritis. Yet little is known about how these two factors interact to put workers with chronic pain at risk for worse pain on a given day. This exploratory 20 workday diary study of 27 workers with rheumatoid arthritis used hierarchical linear modelling to examine how the structure of the job and neuroticism moderate the relationship between daily undesirable work events (daily stressors), and pain reports within a day. On days with more undesirable work events compared to days with fewer events, individuals with jobs associated with job 'strain' (high demand/low control) reported greater midday pain, irrespective of neuroticism and negative mood, than workers with other combinations of demand and control. These findings demonstrate the utility of analysing fluctuating within-person relationships among pain, mood and daily work stressors within the context of the structure of the job, and helps to explain why daily work stressors result in worse health outcomes for some but not all workers with RA.     

基于改进粒子群优化方法的供应商优选与订货量分配模型

研究了随机性需求环境下的供应商优选与订货量分配问题,构建了以质量、成本、交货期3个准则为目标函数、以其他目标为约束条件的多目标随机约束规划模型;借助于加权法和罚函数法,将多目标随机约束规划模型转化为单目标优化模型;进而设计了带惯性因子和收缩因子的粒子群优化求解算法对所建模型进行求解,并与常用的遗传算法求解方法进行对比分析,实例验证了粒子群优化算法解决此类优化问题的可行性和有效性.     

Pitfalls in planning for multinational operations

This paper reviews the planning practices in multinational firms, focusing particularly on the relationship between subsidiaries and head offices during the planning process. It examines the planning problems experienced by multinationals using a simple paradigm to classify problems according to whether their origin was primarily with home office or with subsidiary; with the planning system itself or with the managers involved in running that system.     

Tampering with Nature: A Systematic Review

Tampering with nature has been shown to be a strong, and sometimes even the strongest, predictor of the risk perception and acceptance of various technologies and behaviors, including environmental technologies, such as geoengineering. It is therefore helpful to understand what tampering with nature is as a construct, to which factors it relates, and when a technology or behavior is perceived as such. By means of a systematic review, we show that very little systematic research has been conducted on tampering with nature. Because tampering with nature has not yet been clearly defined, no systematic operationalization of tampering with nature has been used in the current literature. We show that tampering with nature is often used interchangeably with other constructs, such as naturalness. Based on the literature, we suggest that tampering with nature is related to and possibly influenced by three other constructs, which are naturalness, morality, and controllability. We discuss the influence of tampering with nature on the acceptance and risk perception of various technologies and behaviors and make suggestions for future research needs in order to better understand this construct.     

The Aversion to Tampering with Nature (ATN) Scale: Individual Differences in (Dis)comfort with Altering the Natural World

People differ in their comfort with tampering with the natural world. Although some see altering nature as a sign of human progress, others see it as dangerous or hubristic. Across four studies, we investigate discomfort with tampering with the natural world. To do so, we develop the Aversion to Tampering with Nature (ATN) Scale, a short scale that is the first to directly measure this discomfort. We identify six activities that people believe tamper with nature (geoengineering, genetically modified organisms, pesticides, cloning, gene therapy, and nanoparticles) and show that ATN scores are associated with opposition to these activities. Furthermore, the ATN Scale predicts actual behavior: donations to an anti-tampering cause. We demonstrate that ATN is related to previously identified constructs including trust in technology, naturalness bias, purity values, disgust sensitivity, aversion to playing God, and environmental beliefs and values. By illuminating who is concerned about tampering with nature and what predicts these beliefs, the ATN Scale provides opportunities to better understand public opposition to technological innovations, consumer preferences for “natural” products, and strategies for science communication.     

Coaching für einen Dozenten in einer Weiterbildungseinrichtung

Coaching with a lecturer in a retraining institution The author presents an individual coaching with an IT-lecturer, who recently has begun to work as lecturer. His motive was a conflict with a member of the course. His communication and leading style was discussed and improved by new behavior patterns. After that, in a communication training with the total group, who had also difficulties with this group member, a reintegration of this person was achieved by a role play and the atmosphere in the group was relieved.     

Cash flow models: A review

Cash flow management is concerned with the efficient use of the company's cash and short-term investments. Under stable economic conditions, this is a matter of deciding when to transfer assets and how much. The development of models designed to answer these questions is reviewed. More recently, emphasis has been placed on decisions concerned with operating conditions with the object of maintaining a level of cash flow in accordance with unstable conditions, in particular with a high rate of inflation.     

高管团队人口统计特征对纺织和信息技术公司经营绩效的影响

运用中国纺织业和信息技术业上市公司的实证数据,本研究发现,高管团队组成特征比CEO个人特征解释更多的企业绩效变异。本研究还发现,公司短期绩效的正相关因素有团队规模和平均任期,公司长期绩效的正相关因素是平均教育水平,公司长期绩效的负相关因素是团队规模。在信息技术公司,高管团队的平均任期与公司的长期绩效负相关,任期异质性与公司的长期业绩正相关,高管团队平均年龄与企业当期绩效显著负相关。     

Stress at work and psychological and immunological parameters in a group of Norwegian female bank employees

This study concerned the immunological correlates of stress and work. Self reported stress, emotional state, ego-strength, and defensiveness were examined in relation to measures of cellular immunity (T-cell response to Con A and number of T4 and T8 cells) and humoral immunity (concentrations of immunoglobulins and complement components in plasma) in a group of 96 Norwegian female bank employees. The analyses showed that workload, the stress factor with the highest group mean, was associated with number of T-cells, while strain due to body posture during work was related to concentrations of IgM and C3. Further, depression was significantly correlated with IgM concentration and T-cell number, and anxiety with C3 concentration. T-cell activity was the immunological parameter most consistently associated with psychological well-being, showing positive correlations with defensiveness and ego-strength and negative correlations with anxiety and depression. In conclusion, T-cell number and concentrations of IgM and C3 were sensitive to both work-related stress experience and emotional distress. Coping abilities, indicated by the MMPI Ego-strength scale and emotional distress, were reflected in T-cell activity; insufficient coping was associated with low T-cell activity.     

VERTICAL INTEGRATION AND TECHNOLOGY: THEORY AND EVIDENCE

We study the determinants of vertical integration. We first derive a number of predictions regarding the relationship between technology intensity and vertical integration from a simple incomplete contracts model. Then, we investigate these predictions using plant‐level data for the UK manufacturing sector. Most importantly, and consistent with the theoretical predictions, we find that the technology intensity of downstream (producer) industries is positively correlated with the likelihood of integration whereas the intensity of upstream (supplier) industries is negatively correlated with it. Also consistent with theory, both correlations are stronger when the supplying industry accounts for a large fraction of the producer's costs. These results are generally robust and hold with alternative measures of technology intensity, with alternative estimation strategies, and with or without controlling for a number of firm‐ and industry‐level characteristics. (JEL: L22, L23, L24, L60)