一个惠安女的成功

命运的造化永远是个谜。邱淑花做梦也没有想到,这辈子会和熊打起交道来,当上福建省惠安县金熊发展有限公司总经理,成为生命中最华采的一章。熊,东北称之为黑瞎子,个大体壮,出没于深山老林。在我的概念里,还有冰天雪地的北极熊。其实,北方有熊,南方也有熊。我们的故事就从熊开始。     

讨好领导日记

哪个不想讨好领导呢?我也想,做梦都想。可是,想归想,做起来却不那么容易。不信呀,请看我的几篇讨好领导日记。一月十六日星期一晴这天上午,我找郝局长汇报工作,为了给领导留个好印象,我连忙     

化作春泥更护花——记全国最具影响力名校长、德州德城区政协委员、德州市天衢东路小学校长段永军

“九达天衢路边有我可爱的校园,天衢东路小学是我‘金色的名片’”正如这首校歌里唱的那样,在德州最为宽阔的天衢路上,坐落着一座有名的小学,说她有名,不只是因为她的校园里有近四千名天使般的祖国花朵——是德州市最大的小学,她的校园就有两个——相隔百米远的东校区、西校区,也不仅是因为这是一座现代化的省级规范化学校,     

文明的衰败与启迪2001年5月8日曲格平在香港中文大学的演讲(节选)

前些天,我去了内蒙,强劲的西北气流卷起了漫天沙尘,天昏地暗,日月无光,大有沙吞山河之势。我走进一片由小叶杨组成的林网农田,顿时,大风失去了它的桀骜不驯,只在树梢间呼啸,在农田里,却风缓土静。我第一次看到了林木神奇般的威力,使我领悟到,我国沙化土地之所以无止境的蔓延,是因为我们破坏了保护大地的绿色植被,特别是砍伐了阻挡风沙的林带。     

光荣与梦想

奥巴马从小就喜欢做梦，但他的梦一开始就受困于他的肤色。在他第一本书《我父亲的梦想》中，他坦承为了找回自信，吹嘘自己的父亲是非洲的王子。而实际上他有一个黑人父亲，白人母亲，父母离异后又有了一个印尼继父，所以同母异父或同父异母的兄弟姐妹有一大堆。在以白人为主的学校和社区里，他有过一段很压抑也很放浪形骸的日子；     

而立之年话变迁

时令的脚步虽然走进了初冬,古城长阳却荡漾荷春意融融,当汽车缓缓驶入长阳土家族自治县县城,呈现在我们眼前的是一幅幅人间仙境般的美景：玉带般的清江两岸,一座座错落有致的新楼房依傍在青山秀水间,真可谓“八百里清江美如画,三百里画廊在长阳”。穿梭在县城整洁、亮丽、繁华的大街小巷,只见穿着民族服装的长阳人民笑逐颜开,其乐融融,好一幅政通人和,民族和谐,经济繁荣的景象。     

让心插上梦想的翅膀——江苏梦兰集团董事长自述创业经过

我被评为“中国十大女杰”，是我做梦也想不到的。就像当初想不到自己会创办“梦兰”，想不到“梦兰”会成为我们国家纺织业的“梦之队”一样。人的一生，喜怒哀乐，总有梦想伴随着。     

试论毛泽东应用写作的文学之翼

著名学者胡适对旅美历史学家唐德刚说：“共产党里白话文写得最好的还是毛泽东。”胡适治学严谨,他对毛泽东文章的褒奖绝非溢美之词,而是大师的真知灼见。最近我重读了四卷本《毛泽东选集》,更觉得胡适所言不虚。毛泽东在学问上的精深功力、透彻悟性以及天才般的文学修养,不仅使他的著述浸透着一种拿得起、放得开、     

吴官正忆梦

正几十年来,夜里常做梦,似乎"睡觉是为了做梦"。小时候做梦,常梦见自己饱吃了一餐红薯,梦中醒来,嘴仍在动,似有一种精神会餐的味道。初中时做梦,常于梦中哭起来,多因交不起伙食费,被勒令停学回家。高中时做梦,常梦见病中难熬,有时甚至梦见自己病死了,父母哭成泪人,惊醒后,余悸难消,心潮难平。大学时做梦,有时怪怪的,时值灾害之年,醒时饥来梦时吃,几乎每梦必"吃"。一次梦见下大雪,丰收了,吃得饱饱的,醒后,还用舌头舔嘴唇。还有一次梦见毕业后被分到北京饭店端盘子,客人吃过后,把剩下的残羹剩饭风卷残云般扫荡一番,饱饱吃了一顿,醒后仍似余味未消。     

两个男人一个梦

“如果买彩票中了一百万,你会拿这些钱去干什么呢？” “娶美女,住别墅,品尽天下美味” “你做梦去吧!我有钱还不如去做点小买卖,让钱滚钱。”     

THE COEFFICIENT OF VARIATION AS A FACTOR IN MRP RESEARCH

This paper investigates the use of the coefficient of variation (CV) as a measure of requirements lumpiness (the amount of variation in requirements from period to period) in material requirements planning (MRP) research. CV is used as a factor in MRP research even though it is limited as a measure. Any sequence of requirements will have a unique CV, but any CV can represent a variety of requirements sequences. This limitation raises questions concerning the robustness of CV as a measure. In this paper, two other aspects of the requirements sequence for a given CV are investigated: the procedure used to generate the requirements and the manner in which the requirements are grouped. A simulation comparison of selected lot-sizing techniques is used to conduct the investigation. With respect to these two (new) aspects of the requirements sequence, CV appears to be a robust measure.     

UPSTREAM VOLATILITY IN THE SUPPLY CHAIN: THE MACHINE TOOL INDUSTRY AS A CASE STUDY

Cyclicality is a well‐known and accepted fact of life in market‐driven economies. Less well known or understood, however, is the phenomenon of amplification as one looks “upstream” in the industrial supply chain. We examine the amplification phenomenon and its implications through the lens of one upstream industry that is notorious for the intensity of the business cycles it faces: the machine tool industry. Amplification of demand volatility in capital equipment supply chains, e. g., machine tools, is particularly large relative to that seen in distribution and component parts supply chains. We present a system dynamics simulation model to capture demand volatility amplification in capital supply chains. We explore the lead‐time, inventory, production, productivity, and staffing implications of these dynamic forces. Several results stand out. First, volatility hurts productivity and lowers average worker experience. Second, even though machine tool builders can do little to reduce the volatility in their order streams through choice of forecast rule, a smoother forecasting policy will lead companies to retain more of their skilled work force. This retention of skilled employees is often cited as one of the advantages that European and Japanese companies have had relative to their U. S. competitors. Our results suggest some insights for supply chain design and management: downstream customers can do a great deal to reduce the volatility for upstream suppliers through their choice of order forecast rule. In particular, companies that use smoother forecasting policies tend to impose less of their own volatility upon their supply base and may consequently enjoy system‐wide cost reduction.     

BOOK TRANSLATIONS AS IDEA FLOWS: THE EFFECTS OF THE COLLAPSE OF COMMUNISM ON THE DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE

We use book translations as a new measure of international idea flows and study the effects of Communism's collapse in Eastern Europe on these flows. Using novel data on 800,000 translations and difference‐in‐differences approaches, we show that while translations between Communist languages decreased by two thirds with the collapse, Western‐to‐Communist translations increased by a factor of 4 and quickly converged to Western levels. Convergence was more pronounced in the fields of applied and social sciences, and was more complete in Satellite and Baltic than in Soviet countries. We discuss how these patterns help us understand how repressive institutions and preferences towards Western European ideas shaped the international diffusion of knowledge.     

COMPETITION AND RELATIONAL CONTRACTS: THE ROLE OF UNEMPLOYMENT AS A DISCIPLINARY DEVICE

Abstract When workers are faced with the threat of unemployment, their relationship with a particular firm becomes valuable. As a result, a worker may comply with the terms of a relational contract that demands high effort even when performance is not enforceable by a third party. But can relational contracts motivate high effort when workers can easily find alternative jobs? We examine how competition for labor affects the emergence of relational contracts and their effectiveness in overcoming moral hazard in the labor market. We show that effective relational contracts do emerge in a market with excess demand for labor. Long‐term relationships turn out to be less frequent when there is excess demand for labor than they are in a market characterized by exogenous unemployment. However, stronger competition for labor does not impair labor market efficiency: higher wages induced by competition lead to higher effort out of concerns for reciprocity.     

THE USE OF FORECAST ERROR MEASURES AS SURROGATES FOR AN ERROR COST CRITERION IN THE PRODUCTION SMOOTHING PROBLEM

This paper presents research on the problem of selecting a proper surrogate for a forecast error cost criterion in the production smoothing problem. Various forecast models estimated future selected demand process values. Resultant error costs were computed and the coincidence of the selection of a forecast model on the basis of least error cost and the various error measures was noted. The error measures used were the mean absolute deviation, average algebraic error(bias), and the mean squared error. Computations necessary to develop the mathematical form of the error cost criterion are presented in an Appendix. Also presented are the penalty costs of using an error measure as a surrogate for an error cost criterion.     

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.     

THE HERMITE DISTRIBUTION AS A MODEL OF DEMAND DURING LEAD TIME FOR SLOW-MOVING ITEMS

Heretofore, the Poisson and the Laplace distributions have been used to model demand during lead time for slow-moving items. In this paper, we present a Poisson-like distribution called the Hermite. The advantage of the Hermite is that it is as simple to use as the Poisson and the Laplace are. Moreover, the Hermite is the exact distribution of demand during lead time when unit demand is Poisson, P(Λ), and lead time is normally distributed, N(μ, σ²), so long as (μ/σ²)≥Λ. Thus, the Hermite can enhance the accuracy of analysis as well as add to the tools available to the analyst.     

AN ANALYSIS OF PURCHASING COSTS AS THE NUMBER OF PRODUCTS‘ COMPONENTS IS REDUCED

Product design efforts in recent years have focused on standardization and simplification of the product structure. It has been widely argued that savings, tangible and intangible, can be realized by simplifying the product design. In this study, we examine this belief and show that other issues like flexibility of process and design are important as well. We demonstrate that having process flexibility, e.g., of producing a product in two different ways, using two different product structures (as opposed to one), is advantageous with respect to components purchasing costs. This result is in contrast with the notion of standardization since the variety of components in the flexible design is increased. Properties of savings in purchasing costs associated with the use of this flexible design are provided.     

THE CLASSIC ECONOMIC PRODUCTION QUANTITY MODEL WITH SETUP COST AS A FUNCTION OF CAPITAL EXPENDITURE*

The formulation of the classic economic production quantity (EPQ) model is extended to include setup cost as a function of capital expense. Additional capital will buy reduced setup cost. Thus, the objective now is to balance holding, setup, and capital expenses. This new formulation is solved under conditions where setup cost varies exponentially and linearly as a function of capital expense. Decision rules are formulated to indicate under what conditions setup cost reduction reduces total cost. For the linear function, it is shown that once the decision to reduce setup cost is justified, the optimal choice is the minimum setup cost that is technologically feasible.     

AN EXPOSITION OF MULTIPLE CONSTRAINT SCHEDULING AS IMPLEMENTED IN THE GOAL SYSTEM (FORMERLY DISASTERTM)

Since Eli Goldratt first appeared on the scene in the late 1970s, his ideas concerning production management have generated a huge amount of interest, controversy, and misunderstanding. These ideas have been proliferated under several names such as optimized production technology (OPT), drum-buffer-rope (DBR), synchronized manufacturing (SM), and theory of constraints (TOC). Although there seems to be general agreement on the importance of how capacity-constrained resources are scheduled, research aimed at advancing the state of the art for the specific problem addressed by DBR continues to be limited by prior misunderstandings and the lack of a rigorous examination by the academic community. This paper seeks “to advance the state of research on constraint scheduling in several ways. First, it presents a concise history of the evolution of DBR. It then explains the use of rods in constraint scheduling. Next, it presents in detail the solution algorithm incorporated by the Goldratt Institute in their production software and, finally, relates that algorithm to alternative methods. In the process of these activities, several lingering misconceptions are resolved.