Machine learning and design of experiments with an application to product innovation in the chemical industry

Industrial statistics plays a major role in the areas of both quality management and innovation. However, existing methodologies must be integrated with the latest tools from the field of Artificial Intelligence. To this end, a background on the joint application of Design of Experiments (DOE) and Machine Learning (ML) methodologies in industrial settings is presented here, along with a case study from the chemical industry. A DOE study is used to collect data, and two ML models are applied to predict responses which performance show an advantage over the traditional modeling approach. Emphasis is placed on causal investigation and quantification of prediction uncertainty, as these are crucial for an assessment of the goodness and robustness of the models developed. Within the scope of the case study, the models learned can be implemented in a semi-automatic system that can assist practitioners who are inexperienced in data analysis in the process of new product development.     

Preschoolers' Bistrategic Resource Control,Reconciliation, and Peer Regard

Bistrategic resource control entails using both coercive and prosocial strategies in competition for resources. The present study sought to clarify whether bistrategic involves more than simply using both strategies some of the time. Examining 88 preschoolers' coercion and prosociality over an entire school year, results showed that coercive resource control was used most frequently at the start of the school year, presumably to access resources and establish social dominance. Rates of prosocial resource control increased over the school year, and socially dominant preschoolers showed higher rates compared with peers, presumably to maintain resource control while keeping peers as allies. Socially dominant preschoolers also used reconciliation more often than peers, resulting in higher rates of affiliation between former competitors and more positive peer regard from fall to spring. Findings are discussed in terms of resource control theory and the importance of situating social behaviors within the behavioral and relationship context in which they are embedded.     

Child custody issues and co‐occurrence of intimate partner violence and child maltreatment: controversies and points of agreement amongst practitioners

The situation of families undergoing separation in a context of co‐occurrence of intimate partner violence (IPV) and child maltreatment raises certain issues related to child custody. The results presented in this paper were collected and analysed within the framework of a qualitative study aiming to identify the principal points of agreement and the main controversies amongst practitioners in several different types of organizations. Focus groups were held with a total of 43 practitioners from six different settings concerned with child custody in cases of co‐occurrence of IPV and child maltreatment. Although they agreed on the importance of ensuring the safety of victims of violence, their views diverged on three points: (1) the importance of preserving the father–child relationship; (2) collaboration between voluntary organizations and semi‐voluntary or legal agencies; and (3) consideration of cultural differences.     

Symbols Build Communication and Thought: The Role of Gestures and Words in the Development of Engagement Skills and Social‐emotional Concepts during Toddlerhood

Social skills and symbol skills are positively associated in middle childhood, but the relation between these domains is less clear in newly verbal toddlers. Vygotsky proposed that symbols are both tools for interaction and mental tools for thought. Do symbols help even very young children build skills for interacting with and conceptualizing the social world? Longitudinal data from 108 children and mothers were collected when children were 14, 24, and 36 months. Children's gestures and words during mother–child interactions were used as symbol skill indicators to predict children's abilities to engage others and the number of social‐emotional concepts children portray during play. In a series of growth models, words had a stronger effect on engagement skills whereas early gesture use predicted later development of social‐emotional concepts. Therefore, even in early development, symbols serve as both communication tools and mental tools to construct understanding of the social‐emotional world.     

Interval censored and truncated data: Rate of convergence of NPMLE of the density

We consider survival data that are both interval censored and truncated. Under appropriate assumptions on the involved distributions, the censoring, truncation and survival, we prove the consistency of the NPMLE of the density of the survival, and give the rate of convergence. Finally, we give an example where the joint law of the censoring and truncation can be explicitly computed.     

Multivariate Kendall's tau for change‐point detection in copulas

Statistical procedures for the detection of a change in the dependence structure of a series of multivariate observations are studied in this work. The test statistics that are proposed are $L_1$ , $L_2$ , and $L_{\infty }$ distances computed from vectors of differences of Kendall's tau; two multivariate extensions of Kendall's measure of association are used. Since the distributions of these statistics under the null hypothesis of no change depend on the unknown underlying copula of the vectors, a procedure based on the multiplier central limit theorem is used for the computation of p‐values; the method is shown to be valid both asymptotically and for moderate sample sizes. Alternative versions of the tests that take into account possible breakpoints in the marginal distributions are also investigated. Monte Carlo simulations show that the tests are powerful under many scenarios of change‐point. In addition, two estimators of the time of change are proposed and their efficiency is carefully studied. The methodologies are illustrated on simulated series from the Canadian Regional Climate Model. The Canadian Journal of Statistics 41: 65–82; 2013 © 2012 Statistical Society of Canada     

Primal and Dual Capacity Utilization: An Application to Productivity Measurement in the U.S. Automobile Industry

Capacity utilization measures have traditionally been constructed as indexes of actual, as compared to “potential,” output. This potential or capacity output (Y*) can be represented within an economic model of the firm as the tangency between the short- and long-run average cost curves. Economic theoretical measures of capacity utilization (CU) can then be characterized as Y/Y* where Y is the realized level of output. These quantity or primal CU measures allow for economic interpretation; they provide explicit inference as to how changes in exogenous variables affect CU. Additional information for analyzing deviations from capacity production can be obtained by assessing the “dual” cost of the gap.

In this article the definitions and representations of primal-output and dual-cost CU measures are formalized within a dynamic model of a monopolistic firm. As an illustration of this approach to characterizing CU measures, a model is estimated for the U.S. automobile industry, 1959–1980, and primal and dual CU indexes are constructed. Application of these indexes to adjustment-of-productivity measures for “disequilibrium” is then carried out, using the dual-cost measure.     

Putting Process (Back) In: Research on the Internationalization Process of the Firm

This paper provides a critique of existing research on the internationalization process of the firm and proposes an agenda for future inquiry. In recent years, process approaches have received increasing attention in management research, leading to a more refined understanding of the distinction between process and variance paradigms. We apply a process lens to a well‐established sub‐field of international business, namely the internationalization process of the firm. We review how this research tradition has evolved over four decades. The review commences with a reassessment of the seminal ‘stage models’ that date back to the 1970s. It then proceeds to classify subsequent research on the basis of whether it includes process data and/or process theorizing. It is found that the majority of studies in this review do not combine process data with process theorizing. We show how, even in studies that contain some process elements, a process approach is not always sustained throughout the paper. On the basis of this review, six research themes are proposed, which would form the basis for a process agenda for future research.     

Ambidextrous Organizational Culture,Contextual Ambidexterity and New Product Innovation: A Comparative Study of UK and Chinese High‐tech Firms

Contextual ambidexterity is of paramount importance for new product innovation and organizational success, particularly in high‐tech firms operating in a dynamic environment. Whilst it is recognized that contextual ambidexterity is grounded in organizational culture, existing research has not crystallized what kind of organizational culture enables contextual ambidexterity and consequently new product innovation. In this paper, drawing on data from 150 UK and 242 Chinese high‐tech firms, we conceptualize ambidextrous organizational culture as a higher‐order construct consisting of organizational diversity and shared vision, and examine its impacts on contextual ambidexterity and consequently on new product innovation outcomes. Using structural equation modelling, we find significant relationships between ambidextrous organizational culture, contextual ambidexterity and new product innovation outcomes; contextual ambidexterity mediates the relationship between ambidextrous organizational culture and new product innovation outcomes. Our findings also suggest that the above relationships are robust in the UK–China comparative research context, and that contextual ambidexterity and new product innovation outcomes are dependent on business unit level heterogeneity (i.e. ambidextrous organizational culture and research and development strength) rather than industry or cross‐cultural differences.