A fundamental approach to strategy development

The problem of developing sound business strategy is probably more difficult now than it has been at any time since the war. In the midst of conflicting pressures of inflation, recession, unemployment, business failures, and social and political upheaval, today's businessman faces an environment which is both unfamiliar and uncertain. The lack of predictability concerning economic affairs can make it seem impossible to plan effectively for the future. Yet without sound strategy today, corporate survival itself may be called into question. What should be done?In this, the first of two articles, the author suggests that the key to strategy development now is to focus more than ever before on ‘fundamentals’. For the individual business, market share appears to be paramount, as is shown by the ‘experience curve effect’, a concept developed by the Boston Consulting Group in the course of its international work in advising companies on corporate strategy problems. Relative competitive position thus becomes the required simple but fundamental strategic goal. However, the quest for a superior market share must take place within the confines of an appropriately defined strategic business segment.In a further article in the February 1977 issue of LRP the author will go on to expand these conclusions concerning individual businesses, considering their implications for the sound development of strategy for the multi-business company.     

外包环境下考虑产品质量的OEM采购战略决策

产品质量是业务外包中的关键问题,同时也是决定企业采购战略选择的重要变量。研究了生产两种替代性产品的制造商的采购战略选择问题,并讨论了不同采购战略对于供应商产品质量决策的影响。考虑制造商可以选择单源策略或者双源策略,并讨论了在四种情形下供应商和制造商的战略互动: 单源策略下,制造商可以选择分享供应商的质量投资或不分享供应商的质量投资; 双源策略下,两个供应商可以选择合作质量决策或者竞争质量决策。研究发现,一个合适的质量投资分享比例能使得与单个供应商合作战略成为制造商的占优选择; 如果制造商不愿意分享或者不愿意分享足够多的质量投资,当双源采购成本足够小时,开发两个竞争性供应商成为制造商的占优策略。对于双源采购策略,还讨论了制造商分享两个供应商质量投资的采购战略,并验证了当分享比例和双源采购成本足够小时,该战略成为制造商的唯一占优选择。另外,当制造商选择双源采购战略时,应避免供应商合作质量决策,因为供应商的质量合谋将会通过提供劣质产品而抽取更多的制造商利润。     

供应链中产品与信息质量改进的战略联盟策略研究

本文分析了一个包含单个供应商和单个制造商的供应链,研究了关于供应商的产品质量和市场需求的信息质量改进的战略联盟策略的设计,分析了成本共担策略能提高供应链绩效的条件及其对供应链的影响和价值.在供应链联盟中制造商参与到供应商的质量改进活动中,使供应商具有改进质量水平的激励,相应的使市场需求均值增加或使需求信息精度提高,供应商的期望收益比分散决策的供应链中的收益增加,当质量成本共担参数满足某些条件时,制造商也将获得比无战略联盟情况中更高的收益.     

Developing a communication strategy.

Hardly a week passes in which a physician executive does not hear a plea for improved communication. This plea can also be heard periodically within every department and at all levels in health care organizations. Executives typically respond only to communication breakdowns. They initiate communication through memos, meetings, and, of course, the establishment of committees. The feeling may persist, however, that "something else" is needed and that, in spite of a significant executive effort, communication breaks down too often.     

The fundamental paradox in the grief literature: a critical reflection

A key theme in the bereavement literature is the recognition that every grief experience is unique and dependent on many variables, such as the circumstances of the death, characteristics of the bereaved individual, their relationship with the deceased, the provision and availability of support, and a myriad of sociocultural factors. Concurrently, there are corresponding efforts to define "normal" grief and delineate it from "complicated" grief experiences. The discord between these two potentially opposing statements remains a paradox evident within the three major tensions within the thanatological literature--the dominance of grief theories, the medicalization of grief, and the efficacy of grief interventions. Three recommendations for moving beyond the paradox are discussed--the provision of improved grief education for service providers, the bereaved, and the wider community; the conduct of research that emphasizes the context of grief and is relevant to service provision; and the examination of current grief interventions.     

A balm: defend the clique-based attack from a fundamental aspect

Journal of Combinatorial Optimization - Clique, as the most compact cohesive component in a graph, has been employed to identify cohesive subgroups of entities, and explore the sensitive...     

开局以后怎么办

新官上任,都会面临一个如何开局的问题。开局顺利,接下来往往一路势如破竹;开局不利,则难免磕磕绊绊、踉踉跄跄。不过凡事都有例外。好的开局并不绝对等于好的过程和好的结果。不少领导者初来乍到即先声夺人,一番调研、一番运筹之后,很快熟悉了情况,进入了角色,理顺了关系,赢得了群众的信赖、同僚的理解和上级的支持,确定了工作思路并得到广泛认同,在大家的翘首期盼中拉开了大干一场的架势。可是,继之而来的局面却并非想像中的左右逢源、一帆风顺。有的领导者本身底气不足、力不从心,三板斧一砍完就四顾彷徨、不知所措,无法把工作推向更高层…     

Be positive--it's a necessary strategy.

The hallmarks of successful health care organizations include: A positive physician culture; meaningful physician involvement in governance and top management; and stability and strong community roots. Success is most likely where physicians in the facilities are having professional fun, where freedom from negativity allows them to perform at their highest level of quality. When a positive physician culture takes hold, remarkable things can occur. In the best scenarios, physicians are deeply involved in strategic direction, as well as in practice. They are part of making the decisions, instead of merely grumbling about decisions made by others. The column provides suggestions for creating a positive physician culture.     

正确选择决策思路

没有选择就没有决策。面对错综复杂的新情况、新问题，领导干部必须重视决策思路的选择，具体要在五个方面下功夫。一、从上情与下情的结合中，突出决策思路的独创性上级的指示精神对下级具有普遍的指导意义，但下级的实际情况也有其特殊性，对于这种不同质的矛盾，只有用不同质的方法才能解决。俗话说：“一把钥匙开一把锁。”领导作决策必须具体问题具体分析，做到不离上级的谱，唱好自己的戏，突出决策思路的独创性。一要善抓机遇，看清上级要求的“警戒点”。任何创新都只能是在政策规定范围内的创新，否则就会走进以身试法的死胡同。领…     

Decision Making in a Standby Service System*

A standby service option allows a firm to lower its risk of not having sufficient capacity to satisfy demand without investing in additional capacity. Standby service options currently exist in the natural gas, electric, and water utility industries. Firms seeking standby service are typically large industrial or institutional organizations that, due to unexpectedly high demand or interruptions in their own supply system, look to a public utility to supplement their requirements. Typically, the firm pays the utility a reservation fee based on a nominated volume and a consumption charge based on the volume actually taken. In this paper, a single‐period model is developed and optimized with respect to the amount of standby capacity a firm should reserve. Expressions for the mean and variance of the supplier's aggregate standby demand distribution are developed. A procedure for computing the level of capacity needed to safely meet its standby obligations is presented. Numerical results suggest that the standby supplier can safely meet its standby demand with a capacity that is generally between 20 to 50% of the aggregate nominated volume.     

低端市场中网络供应商的运作模式研究

以淘宝、天猫和京东等网络销售平台为研究背景,关注高支付意愿的消费者占比较小的低端市场为背景,研究得出: 第一,能力不足的网络供应商选择生产低质量产品,相对于直销模式,供销平台模式中的双重加价,促使网络供应商降低产品的质量水平,以及分销商降低产品的零售价格; 第二,若要提高网络供应商所生产产品的质量水平,相对于发展产品线模式,发展直销模式是较为有效的手段; 若要提高网络供应商的收益,相对于发展直销模式,发展产品线模式是较为有效的手段; 第三,随着把低质量产品误认为是高质量产品的消费者占比的增加,网络供应商的收益减少,高质量产品的质量水平保持不变,而低质量产品的质量水平提高。     

Developing and implementing a strategy for production

The survival of the organization as an independent unit is generally accepted as the primary objective for most businesses. While the reasons for failure are often complex, two major causes associated with technology are frequently found— obsolescence of the product line and excessive production costs. In this paper the author argues that there is a need for a production strategy to obviate such difficulties and to act as a guide to investment decisions.     

Production strategy decisions a simulation model approach

Model building in physical, statistical, simulation or other form, is making an increasing contribution to the problem solving methodology in economics, industry, government, and technological development (1). More specifically, in the present context, simulation models can offer a distinctive and valuable contribution to the understanding by management of complex business systems, interactions and environment and indicate ways toward improvement, financial and otherwise (2). The advent of powerful computers in the last few years is the decisive factor which has decided the means of realizing the full potential of simulation models, hitherto unattainable because of the vast amount of data processing and calculation required. The purpose of this article is to indicate the approach to and scope of a computerized simulation model for long term production strategy decision making (3). While the model relates to the system and data of a specific production unit, manufacturing electronic components, the principles are widely applicable in any size and type of company. It is not a specifically large company technique.     

Developing a manpower strategy for an industry

This paper considers the following issues for developing an industry manpower strategy. An idea of the national system that exists for implementing a manpower strategy. The main questions arising from the strategy, and a definition of manpower planning. From this, the information and analysis techniques used to identify the strategy. The first application produces a manpower picture of the foundry industry. For company manpower planning the paper describes a manpower model of a company, and how the relationship between the activity and employment patterns of boundries was investigated. The industry findings are verified by company manpower planning investigations using the same information and techniques. The conclusions discuss some of the strengths and weaknesses of using this approach.     

落实科学发展观的三个着力点

各级领导干部肩负着统领和指导一个地区经济社会发展的重任,必须率先摒弃传统的发展思维和发展模式的影响,牢固树立和落实科学发展观。把科学发展观落实到工作中,应从以下三方面努力。一、转变观念是前提科学发展观是以全面发展、协调发展和可持续发展为核心的新的发展观,它的提出是对传统发展观的扬弃和超越。经济增长是发展的核心内涵,但并非是其全部内涵。传统发展观认为,经济增长是发展目标,发展等同于经济发展,甚至等同于GDP增长,只要经济增长了,其他都可以忽略甚至牺牲。这种片面的发展观,必然导致在实践中重经济发展、轻社会发展,…     

On vendor part delivery dates in a stochastic assembly system

This paper describes the development of a model for the determination of optimal mean part delivery dates in a stochastic assembly system for the objective of minimizing the expected cost of subassembly and part inventory. Parts are assembled at each station to a subassembly. The part delivery and processing times at assembly stations follow known probability distributions. An approximate solution technique based on the optimization of individual stations in isolation is developed. The approximation applies a correction factor, as a function of the variability in part delivery and processing time, cost parameters and number of stations, to the decisions from the single station solutions to compensate for interdependence between stations. Results indicate that this is an effective approach and yields good near-optimal solutions with very little computational effort. Insights regarding the effect of the type of distribution used, random processing times, variance of the distribution used and cost parameter values on part delivery dates are also reported.