让梦想不再遥远

企业的经营环境正变得日益错综复杂、难以预料且充满着激烈的竞争。企业组织要做的事就是制定应对混乱和复杂局面的策略过程，这一过程所描绘的是一幅平淡无奇、枯燥乏味的企业未来情景。     

小议“光杆司令”

在现实生活中，人们常常把那些只知个人卖力，而不去调动和发挥群众积极性的一把手比作“光杆司令”。这种领导，看似忙得团团转，到头来却总是事倍功半甚至劳而无功。观其表现形式大致有如下三类： 一是上忙下不忙，原戏照样唱。上面召开什么样的……     

上级领导如何帮扶矛盾大的下级班子

任何一个班子都不是铁板一块,都有可能存在这样或那样的矛盾和问题.对此,作为主管的上级领导,既不要大惊小怪,也不要漠然视之,而是要审慎对待,帮助下级尤其是下级一把手解决好矛盾,促使班子顺利运转.     

A FUZZY SUBSET CHARACTERIZATION OF A SITE-SELECTION PROBLEM

This paper presents an application of fuzzy subsets to the problem of selecting sites for locating gas stations. Cost minimization and profit maximization models represent typical approaches to location decisions. These approaches are not well-suited to problems like site selection for gas stations because of the difficulty in identifying precise relationships, the uncertainties involved, and the qualitative and imprecise nature of much of the information used for decision making. This paper proposes the use of a model based on linguistic variables and a direct evaluation of the available alternatives via the use of fuzzy variables. Conclusions regarding the practical advantages and limitations of the approach are drawn based on the reported application.     

A TEST FOR THE DETECTION OF A POISSON PROCESS

A statistical test is presented to detect the presence of a Poisson input source into a queueing system. The fact that the arrival times of a Poisson input source are distributed independently and uniformly over time is used in conjunction with the central limit theorem to develop a test, based on the sum of the arrival times over a given interval of time, for the hypothesis that an input source into a queueing system is Poisson. Failure to reject this hypothesis gives one an extra degree of assurance that traditional queueing models assuming a Poisson input are applicable.     

A NOTE ON PROCEDURES FOR TESTING THE QUALITY OF A CLUSTERING OF A SET OF OBJECTS

Despite the increased application of cluster analysis in decision sciences, few attempts have been made to derive hypothesis-testing procedures for the evaluation of clustering solutions. In fact, the present paper shows that at least one such attempt failed to specify a meaningful sampling distribution for the test procedure. An alternative index based on the concept of point-biserial correlation is proposed as a possible recovery measure. The index is subsequently used to form the basis of a valid statistical test for the existence of cluster structure.     

A ONE-PERIOD STOCHASTIC INVENTORY PROBLEM WITH A LUMP-SUM PENALTY COST

This paper presents an inventory problem related to the one-period stochastic inventory (or “newsboy”) problem. In this problem, the firm has to decide how much product to order to meet a random one-period demand. The version of the problem presented is novel in two respects. First, demand is explicitly permitted to be negative, and second, the penalty (or shortage) cost is assumed to be independent of the magnitude of the shortage. This situation is shown to change the form of the cost function and to complicate the determination of optimal policies. The form of the optimal policy is developed, and two example problems are presented in some detail.     

A comment on: A note on the EOQ-JIT relationship

In a recently published note in this journal the need for independent control of the production rate (R) and production time (L) was established in order to adapt the economic production quantity (EPQ) model in JIT settings. In this comment we aim to improve the relevance of EPQ in a JIT environment. We focus on two issues, namely, modelling the production rate as a decision variable and also deriving an expession for the optimal number of batches (n* ) for the raw materials and/or subcomponents needed.     

A NOTE ON A MULTIVARIATE GENERALIZATION OF THE KRUSKAL-WALLIS TEST

Marketers are often interested in testing whether the mean vectors of multivariate distributions are equal. The test usually applied, one-way MANOVA, assumes the distributions are multinormal. Unfortunately, this assumption is not supported in many studies. As an alternative, a nonparametric multivariate one-way analysis of variance procedure is presented.     

A TUTORIAL ON BOTTLENECK DYNAMICS: A HEURISTIC SCHEDULING METHODOLOGY

We give a tutorial on bottleneck dynamics. Bottleneck dynamics is a scheduling framework that uses approximate dual resource prices to make decentralized decisions. The basic idea is to establish a price for a resource as a function of the set of jobs that need to be processed by the resource. Tasks are then sequenced according to a cost/benefit ratio. Starting with one resource sequencing problems, we describe how priorities for jobs can be developed and how they translate into resource prices. We then describe how resource prices can be approximated in a multiresource situation and how lead times which are critical for these approximations can be accurately computed. We also describe a number of studies that have shown bottleneck dynamics to be an effective approach in several different problem areas.     

A NOTE ON DYNAMIC LOT SIZING IN A ROLLING-HORIZON ENVIRONMENT

This paper presents a modification of the dynamic lot-size algorithm of Wagner and Whitin for rolling horizon environments. The computational results show that the modified algorithm gives better cost performance than the Wagner-Whitin algorithm and the Silver-Meal heuristic. The improvements over the Wagner-Whitin algorithm require very few additional computations.     

A METHODOLOGY FOR LABOR SCHEDULING IN A SERVICE OPERATING SYSTEM

In the increasingly competitive services sector, utilization of the labor force can make the difference between profits or losses. Until recently, service operations managers had a limited set of tools, most of them computer-based, for scheduling labor. This paper offers a manual heuristic for labor scheduling that outperforms traditional algorithmic solution approaches. Specifically, this study examines the problem of scheduling employees in service delivery system subject to demand variability. The manual heuristic proposed asigns full-time empolyees to weekly work schedules with the objective of minimizing the total number of labor hours scheduled. The performance of the manual heuristic is compared to the classical algorithmic solution and to a lower bound for a variety of demand distributions and system operating conditions. The heuristic is shown to produce a smaller work force than the classical approach in 106 of the 108 demand-operating condition patterns examined.     

“中国管理学”发展中的范式问题

尽管中国管理学的研究可能要结合中国传统文化的某些特点,但中国管理学的研究目的并不是单纯为延续中国传统文化.中国管理学建立的初衷和目的,是在中国文化语境下研究组织如何达成管理目标及其效率问题.以这一目的而言,西方管理学主流范式目前是可以借鉴的.中国管理学借鉴这一成熟的范式,将它运用到本土文化语境下,就能得到快速发展.     

A DYNAMIC OPTIMIZATION MODEL FOR PLANNING IN A MULTI-PRODUCT ENVIRONMENT

This paper describes an extension of the product mix problem and explicitly considers situations where demand can fluctuate over time. The additional decision variables and constraints that must be considered are described, and a revised objective function is discussed. The solution to the proposed linear programming formulation is compared to the traditional simulation and illustrates the potential for increased profits.     

金牌合作

奥运会恐怕是当代最重要的一项全球性活动了，无论是从覆盖范围还是从整个组织过程的复杂性来说，你都很难找到一项足以与其匹敌的活动。每一届奥运会的规划和筹办都要耗时十年以上，需要上百万人——其中包括市长、总统和首相，本地和国际专业人士，以及大量的志愿者的参与。