A LOOK AT THE SEMANTIC DIFFERENTIAL AS A TOOL TO ASSIST FACULTY TEACHING EVALUATIONS

The evaluation of the effectiveness of faculty teaching is a difficult process. This paper presents the results of an experimental empirical investigation into the possibility of using a psycho-linguistic measurement technique, the Semantic Differential, to measure faculty communication of terminology to students. This measurement could be used to supplement other teaching evaluation devices. The paper determines a set of “key concepts,” derives a set of S.D. meanings from a Faculty to act as a standard, and measures student meanings at the beginning and end of an introductory course. These sets of meanings are then compared.     

OPTIMIZING AND SATISFICING IN STOCHASTIC COST-VOLUME-PROFIT ANALYSIS

This paper examines some of the implications of introducing penalties for output not equalling demand by employing a general stochastic model for a firm facing an uncertain demand with a known probability density function. Several alternative objectives of the firm are considered: (1) maximization of expected profits; (2) maximization of the probability of achieving a particular target level of profits; and (3) maximization of target profits, given a target level of the probability of their being achieved. It is shown that the resulting probability density function of profits is not well defined. The shape and location of the function depend on the relative magnitudes of the model parameters and the output decision. Several important implications of this result for cost-volume-profit analysis are discussed.     

COMPUTER APPLICATIONS IN TEACHING ECONOMETRICS

In most econometrics courses the students are given limited exposure to the empirical applications of econometric theory. The use of canned programs would make it possible to cover more applied econometric work, and help prepare the students for more empirical work. The computer can be a valuable teaching aid for both instructor and student. The students will also gain valuable experience in the area of computer assisted data analysis. This paper discusses many of the programs appropriate for use in econometrics courses. Examples of problems using programs, and several alternative outlines of possible courses in applied econometrics are presented.     

STRUCTURE,ENVIRONMENT, AND ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE IN MANUFACTURING*

The paper compares theories of organizational governance that explain delegation in decision making in terms of administrative rationality on the parts of top corporate officials with theories that emphasize lower-level actors mobilizing resources to gain control over organizational outcomes. These two alternative theories are developed and extended to apply to the relationship between manufacturing plants and parent companies. A general model is introduced to compare these theories which includes characteristics of parent companies and site environments, site resources, and delegation. The model is then tested on a sample of manufacturing plants.     

AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ROLLING SCHEDULES IN PRODUCTION PLANNING

An experimental study was designed to investigate the efficiency of decisions obtained from optimizing a finite, multiperiod model and implementing (structure is parallel with “optimizing” above) those decisions on a rolling basis. The results of the study suggest that rolling schedules are quite efficient and also that they point to some important design issues in model-building for production planning.     

INFLUENCE OF POWER BASES IN ORGANIZATIONAL DECISION MAKING: A CONTINGENCY MODEL*

The relative influence of four power bases was investigated in four decision-making contexts using data from forty successfully implemented decisions. The analysis suggests that position power decreases in influence while resource power and political power increase in influence as decision contexts vary from less to more uncertainty. Expert power derives its influence when organizational uncertainty is low and when technical uncertainty is reduced, whereas political power thrives when organizational uncertainty is high and when technical uncertainty remains high. Indexing the influence of power bases provides greater understanding of decision processes than the sociological or social-psychological approaches of studying participation.     

ORGANIZATIONAL SEGMENTATION AND LABOR TRANSFER POLICIES IN LABOR AND MACHINE LIMITED PRODUCTION SYSTEMS

This paper describes a simulation study to examine the effects of different organizational structures on the performance of a dual-constraint job shop production system. A hypothetical shop in which machines and workers are constraining resources is the setting of the study. The shop consists of divisions comprised of work centers which contain machines to which workers are assigned. There are fewer workers than machines. Variations in organizational structure are achieved by segmenting a fixed number of work centers equally into varying numbers of divisions. Mean flow-time, flow-time variance, and worker transfers between divisions and work centers are used as performance measures. Changes in organizational segmentation are shown to affect the performance of the production system and the effects are dependent on the extent to which workers can be transferred between the divisions of the system.     

TOWARD TEACHING EXCELLENCE IN THE DECISION SCIENCES*

Recently the National Commission on Higher Education Issues found serious problems with college-level teaching and recomended educational reforms. This paper describes one attempt at reform—namely, a course at Georgia State University on university teaching for College of Business doctoral students. The 45-hour seminar, based on a university teaching model, covers setting instructional objectives, lecture and discussion methods, teaching methods for higher-level learning, test construction, course evaluation instruments, and instructional and technological innovations. Previous studies have demonstrated repeatedly that teaching improvement seminars can improve teacher and student performance in the classroom. This paper discusses how the seminar could be implemented at other colleges of business administration, extended to faculty development workshops, and ultimately result in a master teacher or instructional professorship.     

POM TEACHING AND RESEARCH IN THE 21st CENTURY

We offer a view of operations management in the future based on a mapping of the field's history. We discuss issues raised by this view of the future that we expect will affect those who will teach and conduct research in operations management.     

THE BENEFITS OF OPTIMIZING PRICES TO MANAGE DEMAND IN HOTEL REVENUE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

We investigate the revenue impact of a new Price Setting Method (PSM) and compare it with the industry standard Bid Price Method (BPM). This comparison is performed via a simulation that was validated by a major hotel chain. In 27 out of the 32 cases, the PSM outperformed the BPM based on statistically significant tests. The PSM produces an average revenue increase of 34%, which can be thought of as an upper bound on the realistic revenue increase.     

USING MANAGEMENT GAMES AS AN AID IN TEACHING MIS DESIGN

As an approach to teaching management information systems, students are required to play a management game. The students become aware of information needs through participation in the decision process of the game. The student then develops an integrated system to assist in playing this management game. This new approach, the gaming method, is considered an effective way of teaching integrated systems because the intimate interrelationships between decision-making processes and information systems can be easily illustrated.     

A TEACHING NOTE ON THE USE OF ASSUMPTIONS IN CASE STUDY

This note describes a modification in the conventional case method of instruction. The modification, which deals with the problem caused by each student making a different set of assumptions for a given case, has successfully met the test of classroom use.     

TEACHING THE INDEPENDENCE OF X AND S2 IN APPLIED STATISTICS*

In this note, the independence of X and S² is proved without the prerequisite knowledge of differential calculus. The purpose is to compensate for the lack of a text in applied statistics that proves the independence of such statistics.     

TEACHING EFFECTIVENESS IN THE DECISION SCIENCES: THE USE OF STUDENT EVALUATIONS

This article presents the results of an AIDS-sponsored investigation of teaching effectiveness in the decision sciences. Two national samples were employed in the study: a sample of 247 business school deans and a sample of 3,292 students from 32 different business schools. Included among the findings are that 87 percent of the deans responding indicate they require some sort of faculty teaching effectiveness evaluation, and that great care must be exercised when interpreting student ratings of an individual instructor's teaching effectiveness.     

QUANTITATIVE TECHNIQUES IN MARKETING: AN ASSESSMENT OF TEACHING AND USAGE PATTERNS

This paper presents the perspectives of quantitative techniques in academics and practice. Based on the findings of an empirical study, the academicians and practitioners emphasize different techniques and prefer different journals for keeping abreast. This reveals the areas for curriculum improvement to orient the program toward the practitioners.