Integrating regional and functional plans at Henkel

The article describes the planning system of the Henkel KGaA. The company is completely family owned. It is the fourth largest chemical company in Germany with affiliated companies nearly all over the world. The product range consists of consumer good articles such as detergents, cosmetics, household cleaners and adhesives and a wide range of chemical specialities which are sold to industry. The turnover world-wide is nearly DM7bn. The planning system of the Henkel KGaA is constructed in such a way that despite the necessity of short-term control the longer-term perspective still remains the basis for decision making. The planning structure and process throughout the company are explained in detail. The authors show that this system is an investment in managerial information processing.     

武器装备保障供应链中基于绩效的整体外包机制

传统的武器装备保障是军方体制内的保障,供应商只负责提供装备,因
而供应商没有动力提高装备可靠性,保障成本也比较高。针对这种弊端,本文提
出了一种基于绩效的保障服务整体外包模式,即由供应商负责从提供装备到完成
装备保障任务的整个供应链,军方根据保障的绩效水平通过合同进行一定的奖励
和惩罚。本文运用委托代理的研究模型,分析了这种保障模式的优势。结果表明,
军方一定的激励政策可以引导供应商努力提高装备可靠性,并使其获得更好的收
入;与此同时,军方保障的总成本也得到降低,供应链绩效得到改善。     

A MODEL FOR OPTIMIZING FACILITY DESIGN

A chance constrained programming model is developed to arrive at an optimal long-range design for a manufacturing facility. The determination of process capacities, the amounts of the various types of equipment, and the time-phasing of the acquisition constitutes facility design in the study. The expected cost is minimised, subject to probabilistic constraints which express the risk associated with demand forecasts. The model is solved by decomposing the deterministic equivalent. The structure of the model enables the solution to be obtained with one iteration. The algorithm is incorporated into a computer code which is applied to the design of a tire plant. The methodology has the potential of extendability to nonmanufacturing systems.     

沪市公司IPO业绩效应研究

本文通过对1996至1999年间上市的沪A股公司的实证研究,发现在这些年间上市的沪A股公司确实同其它国家的新股一样,存在业绩下滑现象。结合中国特有的制度背景,本文采用实证研究方法探讨了公司IPO业绩下滑的影响因素。     

价值工程在合理质量分析中的应用

阐述了价值工程在合理质量分析中应用的意义,论述了不同质量成本模型对质量价值分析的指导意义和适用性,并运用价值工程方法寻找质量价值最优点,以及对传统质量成本区域划分进行改进,给出了价值分析同效益分析相结合的最佳质量水平区间。     

An evolving medical leadership position. Tomorrow's Vice President for Medical Affairs

The role of medical leadership in hospitals and health systems is under constant scrutiny and change. The nature of the Vice President for Medical Affairs (VPMA) position and its relationship to leadership in the health care system is explored through a national panel survey conducted recently. The effective VPMA will: be an aggressive manager able to implement change, address strategic planning and quality of care issues; have a high level of integrity; and be a good communicator and problem solver. The results of the research are presented in three sections. The first section describes the background characteristics and compensation of the VPMAs who participated in the survey. The second section focuses on the current role of the VPMA, including duties and responsibilities, job performance barriers and required skills. The final section addresses respondents' perceptions regarding areas for improvement in the role of the VPMA, as well as projections for future changes in this position.     

The Aston Programme Contribution to Organizational Research: A Literature Review

This paper reviews the literature about the Aston Programme of organizational research, in particular, its studies of organizational structure. The intellectual commitments of the Aston Programme are explicated and contrasted with the then dominant traditions of organizational research. The methodology is explained, with its emphasis on quantitative variables, reliable scales and statistical methods. The way successive studies confirmed or challenged Weberian bureaucracy is discussed. The major structural scales and their short forms are described. The relationships among the structural variables and between them and the contextual variables of size, technology and public accountability are outlined. The generalizability of these relationships in organizational research across countries is considered. The paper offers a roughly chronological narrative in three phases: the original Aston study, the National study and then on to the many subsequent replication and extension studies and reviews of them. Some cognate organizational research studies are brought in that confirm the Aston Programme. The need to continue the Astonian Cartesian approach rather than the configurational approach is emphasized. In closing, the Aston legacy is briefly summated and a vision for a future Aston Programme is offered in an Epilogue.     

The systems revolution

In this paper the author brings together a number of ideas which are presented more fully in his forthcoming book—Redesigning the Future (John Wiley and Sons, New York): This synthesis amounts to a digest of Part 1 of that book. The article is organized into 5 parts: The Systems Revolution; The Self-Control Problem; The Humanization Problem; The Environmentalization Problem and Science in the Systems Age.     

Doing or being?

The founder of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba, would occasionally distill the essence of the art into three simple shapes--a circle, a square, and a triangle. These are three basic ways of dealing with what's coming at you. The square is the simplest. It is about, essentially, doing nothing. The saying here is from the old spiritual: "I shall not be moved." You meet the challenge head on. The triangle is about forward motion--attack, cutting right to the heart of what is coming at you, or cutting right past it to the space beyond. The circle is often the most interesting space. The circle is not about standing ground or cutting through. The circle is about dancing with whatever is headed your way. The real danger lies in being stuck in any one mode--perpetually intransigent, always flailing away in attack mode, or forever slip-sliding through one dance step after another. It is only when our response is embodied in who we are that we will have the power truly to lead other people.     

Behaviorally anchored competencies: evaluation tool for training via distance

The purpose of the study was to evaluate and measure perceived learning in a training program delivered via distance education. The program was entitled: Course Design for the Digital Age: Instructional Design and Materials Conversion. The study documents the growth in distance education core competencies of professionals in Costa Rica using a competency-based behaviorally anchored instrument. The study uses both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection and analysis. The resulting scores provide outcome assessment measures useful for researchers and practitioners for documenting the results of self-assessment and comparing observable behaviors of competence.     

The dynamic performances of DDTs in the environment and Japanese exposure to them: a historical perspective after the ban.

The fugacity model for evaluating DDTs dynamic performances in the environment was combined with the dietary exposure evaluation model, including the contribution of imported food, to develop the macroscopic mathematical model relating DDTs in the environment with the health risks of the reference Japanese. The model validity was examined by comparing the simulated DDTs concentrations in environmental media, various kinds of food, and dietary intake with those observed. Numerical simulations were done for the past half and future of one century to evaluate the effect of the DDTs usage prohibition in 1970 in Japan. The major results obtained under the limits considered are as follows. The DDTs concentrations in environmental media, various kinds of foods, and the dietary intake showed the steady exponential decrease after the DDTs usage prohibition in 1970. The DDE/DDTs ratio is larger in the higher position in an ecological system, and increased steadily with time. The critical exposure of DDTs occurred through animal product intake until 1960; after 1990 marine product intake caused the most exposure. The estimated DDTs intake was evaluated to be less than the PTDI and RfD. The annual excess cancer induction risk due to the annual dietary intake of DDTs was the largest at the level of (0.5 - 2.0) x 10(-6) (1/yr) in the early 1970s. The effect of the DDT usage prohibition on dietary exposure reduction was expected to appear after about 20 years. The life-span excess cancer induction risk was conservatively estimated to be larger than 10(-5) (1/lifespan) for the reference Japanese who were born before 1970. The DDTs usage prohibition in 1970 was effective to reduce the life-span cancer risk under the 10(-5) level.     

Consistent Moment Selection Procedures for Generalized Method of Moments Estimation

This paper considers a generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation problem in which one has a vector of moment conditions, some of which are correct and some incorrect. The paper introduces several procedures for consistently selecting the correct moment conditions. The procedures also can consistently determine whether there is a sufficient number of correct moment conditions to identify the unknown parameters of interest. The paper specifies moment selection criteria that are GMM analogues of the widely used BIC and AIC model selection criteria. (The latter is not consistent.) The paper also considers downward and upward testing procedures. All of the moment selection procedures discussed in this paper are based on the minimized values of the GMM criterion function for different vectors of moment conditions. The procedures are applicable in time-series and cross-sectional contexts. Application of the results of the paper to instrumental variables estimation problems yields consistent procedures for selecting instrumental variables.     

A PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM

We present a pavement management expert system developed by the University of Wisconsin-Madison and implemented within a geographical information system for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. The system uses pavement data regularly collected on the state's 12,000 miles of highway to assist engineers, planners, and budget analysts' management decisions about pavements to be included in 6-year improvement and 3-year maintenance programs. The system has a three-layer architecture. The lowest level suggests treatments for each of a large number of small segments of highway. The middle layer aggregates segments, suggests alternative treatments, and estimates the cost of each. The top layer prioritizes the projects and incorporates them into intermediate-range plans. The geographical information system environment enables integration of existing databases within the system using a topologically structured geographic database and specialized software.     

On the product selection and plant dimensioning problem under uncertainty

We present a two-stage full recourse model for strategic production planning under uncertainty, whose aim consists of determining product selection and plant dimensioning. The main uncertain parameters are the product price, demand and production cost. The benefit is given by the product net profit over the time horizon minus the investment depreciation and operation costs. The Value-at-Risk and the reaching probability are considered as risk measures in the objective function to be optimized as alternatives to the maximization of the expected benefit over the scenarios. The uncertainty is represented by a set of scenarios. The problem is formulated as a mixed 0–1 Deterministic Equivalent Model. The strategic decisions to be made in the first stage are represented by 0–1 variables. The tactical decisions to be made in the second stage are represented by continuous variables. An approach for problem solving based on a splitting variable mathematical representation via scenario is considered. The problem uses the Twin Node Family concept within the algorithmic framework known as Branch-and-Fix Coordination for satisfying the nonanticipativity constraints. Some computational experience is reported.     

基于改善紧急疏散网络流通能力的仿真研究

紧急疏散网络中由于流动方向的不可控,极易在某些节点处发生堵塞,堵塞时的饱和流值有多样性和随机性的特点,饱和流是研究随机流动情况下网络流通性能的重要参数.为改善网络的流通能力,本文提出了两种网络改造方案,分别利用随机流动仿真试验得出不同改造对网络饱和流的概率分布的影响,利用网络期望流通值与随机饱和流的偏方差值两个评价指标对改造过程进行分析比较,分别找出两种改造的最佳方案;最后分析了这两种改造方案在实际中应用的可能性.     

现货市场与期货市场微观结构比较研究

证券现货市场和期货市场的微观结构是不相同的,在考虑交易成本和卖空限制条件下研究了拥有特定证券信息的知情交易者在这两个市场中的交易策略,以及相应的做市商和未知情策略交易者的交易策略.通过上述研究比较了现货市场与期货市场微观结构的不同.     

A managerial approach to environmental assessment

The external environment of a corporation is one of the major determinants of its strategy. While this view is readily accepted, the tools to monitor this important determinant are still relatively underdeveloped. The authors have developed a managerial process which fills this gap by enabling an organization to assess its external environment effectively and economically. The approach helps executives identify major forces for strategic change in the market and non-market dimensions of the environment. The relevance of these changes is determined by measuring their impact on the mission and the strategies of the company. The process, furthermore, provides a starting point for assessing an organization's capabilities to respond to these forces for change.     

委托代理框架下项目投资的最优合同设计

在不确定的市场环境下,企业的投资机会具有期权特点。本文在委托代理框架下,研究实物期权投资中的最优合同设计问题。考虑一个委托代理制的企业,委托人拥有推迟项目投资的期权,授予代理人执行该投资期权。信息不对称下,代理人有隐藏信息转移现金流的动机。为了实现自身利益的最大化,委托人设计合同,在该合同下,代理人将揭示真实的信息。在信息对称与信息不对称的情形下,分别建立实物期权模型,得到了委托人设计的最优合同。并通过数值分析,得到了如下的主要结论,信息不对称下,与信息对称相比,高成本的项目投资时机推迟,低成本的项目时机提前,投资期权价值减少。委托人的期权价值随着审核效率的提高而增大。当代理人越没有耐心时,委托人的期权价值越大。本文的研究为现实中的委托代理框架下的实物期权投资决策提供了一定的指导意义。     

Applying fuzzy logic to personnel assessment: a case study

The main results of a research project spanning over several years are presented in this paper. The aim of the research was the improvement of the effectiveness of personnel assessment within a large Italian corporation operating in the research sector. The first step of the research consisted of the analysis of the raters’ behavior, so as to elicit the judgement categories and prototypes they used in the judgement formulation, based on the rating method adopted in the corporation. The second step consisted of improving the rating method using fuzzy logic. The corporate management tested the new rating method and found it more efficient and reliable than the previous one.     

Romantic Relationships at Work: Why Love Can Hurt

The academic community, practitioner literature and newspapers have all taken an interest in workplace romance. This paper aims to review the literature on workplace romance and to argue that the issue of power is key to understanding the negative consequences for individuals and organizations, linking workplace romance with theories or explanatory models of power. The paper first examines definitions of workplace romance, presents evidence of its prevalence, distinguishes between different types of workplace romance, and then looks at the main issues that managers and organizations face when considering the issue. The approaches taken by research in management, law, psychology and sociology are contrasted. The motivations for romance and the place of culture are described. Secrecy, gender differences and the negative and positive outcomes for men and women are discussed. The link between romance and harassment is explored. The paper looks at what organizations have done to manage romance. The research methods that have been used are reviewed, as are the gaps and weaknesses in order to make recommendations for future research. The review synthesizes accumulated knowledge in both research and practice, ending by identifying recommendations for managers.