Creating customer value by streamlining business processes

Much of the strategic preoccupation of senior managers in the 1990s is focusing on the creation of customer value. Companies are seeking competitive advantage by streamlining the three processes through which they interact with their customers: product creation, order handling and service assurance. 'Micro-strategy' is a term which has been coined for the trade-offs and decisions on where and how to streamline these three processes. The article discusses micro-strategies applied by successful companies.     

Small populations of the north: their problems and how to solve them

The authors examine the present conditions of 26 small, isolated populations living in the north of Russia. The total size of the population under consideration is 181,600, according to the 1989 Soviet census. The conclusion is that these populations are under severe threat of extinction and that there is no consensus about how to resolve their present predicament.     

Realities of life and future prospects within two cultures: unaccompanied minor refugees from South East Asia in the Federal Republic of Germany

From August 1979 on, more than 30,000 refugees from South East Asia were accepted in the Federal Republic of Germany as quota refugees in a special program; among them were 1600 unaccompanied minor refugees. About 1500 were accompanied Vietnamese children and youths who had fled their home country as 'boat people' across the South China Sea. Unaccompanied minor refugees have, like all other recognized refugees, a legal claim to family reunion in the Federal Republic. Today, only parents can join their children and vice versa, and spouses their spouses. The 1st phase of socialization in the lives of the unaccompanied minor refugees evolved in the cultural traditions of their South East Asian country of origin up to the age of 10 to 15 years. In the 2nd phase of socialization--the enculturation--the child establishes its culturally specific emotionality, language, mentality, and patterns of behavior through interaction and verbal communication with the people nearest him. The 3rd phase of socialization begins at school age and reaches full significance at the age of starting to work, with the accompanying expectations of society. Most of the minor unaccompanied refugees from South Asia had already completed their enculturation--the establishment of their cultural identity. The realities of life the young single refugees as foreigners in German society are determined by 4 special factors: 1) the great cultural differences between their country of originin South East Asia and the resettlement country, 2) the young people left their homes as refugees and their resettlement in the Federal Repulic was determined by chance events, 3) they have to live there alone and without the emotional support of their families in a situation of cultural change, and 4) because of their Asian physiognomy they will always appear as foreigners even if they have integrated well. The future prospects of the young South East Asian refugees in German society will be determined primarily by to what extent they will be able to find a satisfactory place within both cultures.     

论当代政治小说

广为流传的政治小说和对它的理论研究之间存在着一种颇不协调的现象.近年来有关体裁方面的论著,大多对结构-类型体系、体裁-功能体系、体裁功能转换及分类这一类问题表现出浓厚的兴趣,而对政治小说则语焉不详.叶尔绍夫对苏联小说的分类最为全面,他把政治小说看作政论小说的一种.在人物描写、文体常项、文献利用诸手法上,两者确有相同的地方,但是,尽管"政论小说"的概念远比"政治小说"的概念宽,     

Spontaneously settled refugees in Northwestern Province,Zambia

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) commissioned researchers from the University of Zambia to conduct a socioeconomic survey and census of "spontaneously settled" Zairean and Angolan refugees in the Northwestern Province of Zambia in 1982. The sample consisted of 188 Angolans, 201 Zaireans, and 2 South Africans. The difficulties experienced by refugees in Northwestern Province in achieving integration were related to a combination of factors including the lack of a clear national policy on refugees and refugee status, a national concern for maintaining security, the popular belief that aliens are responsible for an increasing crime rate, the desire by immigration officials for stricter laws to control alien infiltration, conflict between traditional and modern leaders, and Zambia's deteriorating economic situation. In spite of the problems described, the integration of refugees into existing communities is a desirable goal and should be encouraged. One should not assume that self-settling refugees are able to live with ethnic kin, receive assistance and hospitality, and thus are better off than those in camps. The Zambian case provides ample evidence that integration is not easy even with kin support, shared ethnicity, language, and historical connections. Moreover, given the fact that Zambia will continue to receive refugees it is vital that there is a well defined refugee policy and an administrative mechanism for implementing that policy at all levels. This will be particularly important in Zambia as it will undoubtedly continue to receive large influxes of refugees, from countries such as Namibia, Uganda, Angola, Mozambique, and South Africa.     

空间嵌入视角下民族互嵌型社区的形成与发展——新疆塔城哈尔墩社区的个案

文章基于新疆塔城哈尔墩社区的田野调查,从空间嵌入的视角对该民族互嵌型社区形成和发展的历程,即社区的生命史进行描述和分析。调查发现,该社区的生命史反映了清末以来各民族人口向塔城迁移汇聚的历史进程,是塔城各民族由“小聚居”逐渐走向“嵌入”历程的一个缩影。文章认为,应加强对历史上形成并延续至当下的民族互嵌型社区的调查和研究,以空间嵌入为“起手棋”,关照社区生命史与族群生活史的互构,并将社区的小历史嵌入于整体社会的大历史中,进而从“国家—区域—地方”三个维度的互动中对这类社区的形成与发展进行解释。