The contribution of the social sciences

The contribution which Social Science has made and may make to policy formulation in modern Europe is described and evaluated. The rapid economic growth of the post war period was accompanied by the growing impact of government economic policy but the contribution made by Social Science in most countries was limited. The questioning of growth and bureaucratization which has subsequently arisen offers new opportunities for Social Science in policy-making. At present, its contribution is handicapped by limitations of methodology, and in some circumstances by a lack of awareness of its value. A positive strategy is now required for the development and integration of Social Science into policy formulation.     

Telepresence in cross-site business process simulation - lessons learnt in technology,social interaction and organizational learning

Re-engineering global business processes requires innovative methods for inter-organizational learning. This article describes and analyses an experimental telepresence process simulation that was applied to develop and train the cross-site New Product Introduction process of a global telecommunication company. Interactive, real-time audio and video connections over the Internet supported the process-oriented discussion between two groups in distant locations. Identical visual process charts and other information, projected on the walls of the two auditoriums, helped the two teams to discuss and understand the process. Audibility of the discussion was crucial for learning, but the visual 'talking heads' of the participants distorted concentration. Facilitation at both ends and local simulation periods smoothed the interaction and the imbalances between the locations. The simulation achieved positive effects in immediate learning and in motivation for change, although the telepresence caused some limitations. The ultimate goal, the feeling of real presence, was not reached. But when time gets more expensive, and travelling less preferable, telepresence simulation can be a feasible group-mode e-learning method for inter-organizational learning.     

管理科学与科学管理——兼论国家自然科学基金的管理

1 关于管理 什么是管理?至今似乎还没有一个统一的定义.有人从字面上解释,说管理就是管辖和处理;有人说管理就是通过其他人来进行工作;有人说管理就是决策;还有人说管理就是组织.经济学家认为管理是一种经济资源,政治学家认为管理是一种职权系统,社会学家认为管理是一个阶级和地位系统,心理学家则认为管理是使人们适应于组织的过程.     

我国管理科学重要期刊的遴选及其认定

从科学文献的角度阐述了管理科学类期刊的现状。介绍了管理科学重要期刊遴选的原则、遴选工作过程及最终认定的管理科学重要学术期刊。从期刊论文与引文统计的角度分析了在管理科学期刊中存在的一些问题并提出了改进建议     

面向群体利益分配的蚁群劳动分工建模与仿真

建立公平的社会群体利益分配机制是解决当前由利益失衡引发的社会矛盾与冲突的关键所在.基于对蚁群劳动分工在任务分配中所表现出柔性特征的分析,提出借鉴该任务分配柔性来实现利益分配柔性的新思路.首先从分配的角度对利益的概念进行界定,给出了其形式化描述,引入相对剥夺感来衡量利益分配的公平性.随后根据社会群体利益的特点,对基本蚁群劳动分工模型进行扩展,借助恢复因子来协调不同利益群体,建立了面向利益分配的蚁群劳动分工模型,给出了该模型的算法实现流程.选取一个具有代表性的利益分配实例进行仿真实验,从恢复性和分配柔性两方面验证本文模型的有效性.通过仿真分析发现,利益实现能力在利益分配过程中具有主导作用;对于利益分配不公的情况,恢复因子能够起到有效的恢复作用,且在动态环境下显示出良好的利益分配柔性.最后给出了利益型群体事件演化过程的描述,定量分析了其中的恢复情况,阐述了现实中利益型群体事件的演化规律.     

中国管理科学的学科结构与发展重点选择

管理是指管理者在不断变化的客观环境下,设法运用人力、物资、设备、信息等各类资源,来达到预定目标的各种活动和全部过程.管理是生产力中的软件,只有通过管理才能将劳动者、劳动工具和劳动对象这三个要素合理地组织起来,推动生产力的发展.也只有通过管理才能将科学技术真正转化为生产力,实现科技与经济的结合.     

2011年我国管理科学青年学者取得的巨大成就

根据管理科学与工程学科(管理科学部一处)2010年的《年度进展报告》中获资助者所提交的材料,总结了生产运作管理领域、服务运作管理领域、金融工程领域和技术管理领域等4个领域中我国学者以第1作者或通讯作者在学界公认的管理科学顶级期刊上发表的论文.这是我国管理科学与工程学科学者和国家自然科学基金委管理科学一处对十一五的阶段性总结,是个良好的开端.通过国家自然科学基金和国内学者共同的不懈努力,可望我国管理科学与工程领域的研究和实践会在十二五期间迈上新台阶.     

经济学与管理学的关系

一般认为,经济学是管理学的理论基础之一.这无疑是正确的,但并未全面反映经济学与管理学之间的关系.     

基于多智能体的城市群政府合作建模与仿真——嵌入并反馈于一个异构性社会网络

以社会网络视阈下的城市群政府合作过程中的多期进化博弈为例,通过概念模型、数学模型和计算机模型的完整建模过程,在微观主体互动层面建立一个考虑个体成本收益差异的非对称进化博弈系统(并同时考虑全体博弈互动和部分博弈互动的交互),在宏观社会结构层面建立一个实现节点之间连接概率定制化的异构性社会网络模型(且同时考虑全局信息交互和局部信息交互的更替),并通过多智能体系统(特别是交互意愿变量的引入)实现了微观互动(博弈行为)和宏观涌现(网络结构)之间的双向反馈和动态交互.在构建模拟系统的基础上,设计并运行了一系列的实验方案,对仿真模型及模拟结果进行信度检验,并结合多次模拟实验样本数据的统计分析,考察全局交互比例,局部连接概率等网络结构变量、合作收益、惩罚措施等博弈参数变量、以及决策个性等主体属性变量对城市群政府博弈形势与合作水平的动态影响,为促进城市群政府合作和区域一体化进程提供决策依据和政策参考,也是政治学与公共行政学科计算实验研究的一次创新尝试.     

认真开展案例研究,促进管理科学及管理教育发展

管理案例研究是现代管理科学发展的重要源泉 ,是管理新理论和方法创新的基础 ,目前已在管理学界引起了重视 .本文在讨论管理案例研究重要性的基础上 ,阐述了其对现代管理科学发展和管理人才培养的重要作用 ,并结合我国实际情况 ,提出了如何进行管理案例研究的几种方法 .     

Operational research in social security

In this paper we describe the work of the Department of Health and Social Security Operational Research (OR) Unit in Social Security. This work started in 1972 and with one break of eighteen months still continues. One of the authors (AFH) led the OR team from the beginning until September 1979 and the other (MJP) was the customer for much of its work. We describe briefly the organisation of social security work, and go on to talk about some of the projects attempted by the OR team. We will not shrink from describing some of the successes but we will concentrate most attention on the things which did not achieve the expected results. Readers will make their own judgements about the extent to which the failures were due to circumstances or to inadequacies of the team, or its leader.     

Computer incompetents in the cross-hairs.

Human Resources managers are distressingly aware that more than half the middle and senior managers (40- and 50-year-olds) in their organizations are technologically incompetent. Having spent millions on technology, most corporate CEOs, many of whom can't use a computer either, are drawing a bead on middle managers who are passively resisting the computer revolution. Physician executives are no exception. Given the current shortage of physician managers with good track records and people skills, can middle managers skirt technology issues until retirement if they dance slowly enough? It's doubtful. Organizations are using new tactics to bar technically challenged managers from their ranks: They will only interview candidates with mastery of specific software and they're posting job opportunities on their web sites. Those who still believe they can ride out the computer revolution may want to rethink that strategy.     

管理科学基金项目申请增长情况与原因分析

进入新世纪以来,管理科学部基金申请和资助项目数量连续快速增长,但在学科各领域的增长速率是不均衡的,前30名的依托单位承担了超过40%的申请和50%以上的受资助项目.申请项目连续增长既有社会需求强烈、学科本身发展成长的原因,也有部分申请者对学科界限认识不清的问题.今后应在基金管理工作中更加注重规范和质量,加强学科宣传和项目后期管理,完善科学基金特别是对管理科学的资助政策.     

Computer network scheduling

This paper presents a method for solving the scheduling problem of a computer-network. There are three possible criteria for optimality: (1) Maximum number of jobs to be processed per given period. (2) Minimum idle time for each of the computers in the network, or in other words, maximum utilization. (3) Optimizing an objective function which combines 1 and 2 and which may consider additional factors.     

Pathways to social value and social change: An integrative review of the social entrepreneurship literature

Social entrepreneurship has emerged as an important means of addressing grand challenges. Although research on the topic has accelerated, scholars have yet to articulate an overarching framework that links the different pathways taken by social entrepreneurs with the positive effects of these efforts. To address this shortcoming, we conducted a systematic literature review which enabled us to conceptually differentiate between social value and social change as distinct outcomes of social entrepreneurship and identify seven pathways for achieving these outcomes. Building on our analysis, we outline a research agenda for questions pertaining to: the dynamics between social value and social change; how contextual factors and social entrepreneurs influence various pathways; design principles of business models and innovations that facilitate social value and social change; and defining, measuring, and ensuring accountability for social value and social change.     

Neighborhood-based uncertainty generation in social networks

Imprecision, incompleteness and dynamic exist in a wide range of network applications. It is difficult to decide the uncertainty relationship among nodes since traditional models are not meaningful in uncertain networks, and the inherent computational complexity of the problems with uncertainty is always intractable. In this paper, we study how to capture uncertainty in networks by transforming a series of snapshots of a network to an uncertain graph. A novel sampling scheme is also proposed which enables the development of efficient algorithms to measure uncertainty in networks. Considering the practical aspects of neighborhood relationship in real networks, a framework is introduced to transform an uncertain network into a deterministic weighted network where the weights on edges can be measured by Jaccard-like index. The comprehensive experimental evaluation results on real data demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of our algorithms.     

The social auditor

The auditor is essentially a social animal. However, beyond this lies a type of audit called social audit which tries to strike a balance between an organization's social and more traditional business objectives. After the polar contrasting views of monetarist Friedman amd Marxism have been outlined, we concentrate on considering social audit in the more common mixed economy. With no statutory or other requirement for external social audit, the onus is on organizations to take their own initiatives. Internal resistance often needs to progress through five distinct phases to reach acceptance. Some organizations appoint consumer advocates, such as Esther Peterson. There is an underlying statutory basis to social audits, but if this is extended we enter the domain of external pressure groups, such as the private independent Social Audit and the statutory National Consumer Council. Finally, the scope and motivation for internalizing social audit is discussed.