Lead Time and Price Quotation Mode Selection: Uniform or Differentiated?

Firms in service and make‐to‐order manufacturing industries often quote lead times and prices to customers. We define uniform quotation mode (UQM) as the strategy where a firm offers a single lead time and price quotation, and differentiated quotation mode (DQM) is where a firm offers a menu of lead times and prices for customers to choose from. Both modes are followed in practice. Firms should determine which is more profitable. We classify customers into two groups: lead time sensitive (LS) and price sensitive (PS). LS customers value lead time reduction more than PS customers. We develop mathematical models of both quotation modes and analyze them to determine the most profitable mode under specified situations as well as the best lead time and price quotations within each mode. We find that DQM is dominated by UQM whenever PS customers have positive utilities from UQM or LS customers have positive utilities from DQM. Otherwise, which quotation mode is better depends on multiple factors, such as customer characteristics (including lead time reduction valuation and product valuation of a customer, and the proportion of LS customers) and production characteristics (including the desired service level and service or production cost).     

新时代高校思想政治理论课教师队伍建设的问题与对策研究

加强高校思想政治理论课教师队伍建设,是巩固和加强高校意识形态安全的关键环节,也是落实立德树人根本目标和推进高等教育内涵发展的题中应有之义.新时代思想政治理论课教师队伍建设应从坚定的政治方向、深厚的教学能力、较高的学术水平布局谋划.从总体情况来看,当前高校思想政治理论课教师队伍建设在队伍规模、年龄结构、综合素质等方面都存有明显短板.为此,要将其视作一项系统工程,坚持科学规划整体统筹,不断扩大队伍规模;坚持"外引进"和"内培养"相结合,持续打造高素质队伍;重视青年教师成长,促进教学科研协调发展.     

客户关怀构成因素与关系质量的影响研究

新技术和产品同质化使企业从传统的产品竞争和服务竞争发展到客户资源的竞争,争夺并维系客户很大程度上决定了企业的利润和发展前景。基于对顾客价值和客户关怀等理论的文献回顾和梳理,提出客户关怀概念和构成因素,构建客户关怀对关系质量的影响模型,选取全球通客户进行抽样调查和实证分析。研究结果表明,客户关怀的四要素与关系质量的三要素之间均存在正向影响,其中社会价值对关系质量的总体影响最大,知识价值对关系质量的总体影响最小,回馈价值和移情价值对关系质量的总体影响处于中等程度。     

The Effects of Competitive Environment on Supply Chain Information Sharing and Performance: An Empirical Study in China

Information sharing in supply chains has become an important topic over the past decade. This study uses data from 617 Chinese manufacturing firms to investigate the relationships among competitive environments, supply chain information sharing (SCIS), and supply chain performance. The results of structural equation modeling analysis show that (i) international competition is positively related to all three types of SCIS whereas local competition is not significantly related to any of the three types, (ii) internal information sharing is positively related to external information sharing with suppliers and customers, and (iii) internal information sharing and information sharing with customers are positively related to superior supply chain performance, whereas supplier information sharing is not significantly related to performance. The findings enhance our understanding of the relationships among competitive environment, SCIS, and supply chain performance in Chinese manufacturing settings.     

Outsourcing Competition and Information Sharing with Asymmetrically Informed Suppliers

This paper studies an outsourcing problem where two service providers (suppliers) compete for the service contract from a client. The suppliers face uncertain cost for providing the service because they do not have perfect information about the client's type. The suppliers receive differential private signals about the client type and thus compete under asymmetric information. We first characterize the equilibrium of the supplier competition. Then we investigate two of the client's information sharing decisions. It is shown that less information asymmetry between the suppliers may dampen their competition. Therefore, the client does not necessarily have the incentive to reduce information asymmetry between the suppliers. We characterize the conditions under which leveling the informational ground is beneficial to the client. We also find that under the presence of information asymmetry (e.g., when the suppliers have different learning abilities), sharing more information with both suppliers may enhance the advantage of one supplier over the other and at the same time increase the upper bound of the suppliers' quotes in equilibrium. Consequently, the suppliers compete less aggressively and the client's payoff decreases in the amount of shared information. The findings from this study provide useful managerial implications on information management for outsourcing firms.     

在全球化语境中对传统武术与现代武术的文化解读

在全球背景下对传统武术和现代武术进行文化解读,不但有助于提高对其概念的理解,而且更能提高我们对两者的认识,传统武术是建立在我国传统文化基础之上的一种武术文化,而现代武术则是在西方体育文化影响下,在传统武术的基础上发展起来的一种竞技性体育文化。对两者的深入研究有利于武术事业的进一步发展。     

The family planning work as suggested by analysis of the age at first marriage in Jiaxing Prefecture, Zhejiang Province]

Since 1970 when the big push for family planning began, China advocated late marriages. In general, the age for late marriage for female peasants is 23 years and 25 for males; for urban females and males, it is 25 and 27 years, respectively. In 1981 the New Marriage Law stipulated the age at marriage to be 20 years for females and 22 for males (these ages are lower than the ages advocated for marriage in actual practice). Despite the New Marriage Law, however, there was in 1981 an increase in the number of people who married before attaining the "late marriage age," thereby creating problems in family planning work. Since 1981, early marriages have been an increasing phenomenon (for the purposes of this essay, age at early marriage is 23 years for females and 25 for males). Jiaxing Prefecture had a 460.53% increase from 1979 to 1981 in the number of women who married early. The following findings were based on studies of Tungxiang and Pinghu Countries. Early marriages as well as "regular" marriages have increased greatly, with early marriage exceeding the number of other marriages. Urban marriages are far more moderate in number than rural marriages, partly because family planning work in urban areas is more effective. Early marriage in areas where family planning work was effective is less extreme than in areas where family planning work was ineffective. Findings from Kayuan Commune of Tungxiang County shows that 47.8% of all male marriages in 1981 were early marriages, as opposed to 6.3% in 1980. The average age for men at marriage in 1981 was 1.6 years younger than in 1980, and .75 years younger for females. Undoubtedly the New Marriage Law influenced the trend in early marriages, but the main reason is that the agarian economy is backwards. Further, traditional attitudes (e.g., "the sooner the children come the sooner the riches come") prevail.     

Technological change and sociocultural models in China: A case study of train commuters in Beijing

ABSTRACT

China’s mobility turn has created the world’s largest public rail system, contributing extensively to citizens’ economic, social, and spatial mobility. Concurrently, this technological transformation has introduced many opportunities for individuation, which could potentially challenge the social, collectivistic, and Confucian foundations of China’s sociocultural and political ideology. While the notion that ‘mobility produces culture’ is readily accepted, research on train mobility in China is rare. In this study, we use Albert Bandura’s Model of Triadic Reciprocal Causation to conceptualize mobility as agency. We employ Hermeneutic Content Analysis, a mixed methods framework, to study how this rapidly evolving mobility environment connects to the lives of 31 regular train users living in Beijing. Studying agency in China enables us to systematize the sociocultural models within which mobility practices are embedded and how they manifest. We find that our interviewees embed agentive practices in a cultural model that is intertwined with collectivistic aspirations of the country. Technological developments are thus integrated into existing sociocultural models and political expectations, contradicting existing debates on the fracturing impact of disruptive technologies.     

Contraceptive use in China

A national sampling survey carried out in China in 1988 showed that 90.71% of the population were using some form of contraception: male sterilization (10.99%); female sterilization (38.24%); and IUDs (41.48%). Compared with 1982, the figures gathered in 1988 showed an increase in male sterilization and female sterilization and a decrease in condoms, oral or injected contraceptives, IUDs and spermicides. A great difference was found between the contraceptive methods used by women in rural areas as compared to women in urban areas. In urban areas IUDs accounted for 58%, female sterilization for 15%, male sterilization for 1% and condoms for 13%. In the country, female sterilization accounted for 42%, IUDs for 39%, male sterilization 15%, condoms 1% and oral contraceptives for 4%. There was also a strong difference between women of certain ages; the use of IUDs was highest among women between the ages of 15-29 years, while female sterilization was more prevalent for women over the age of 30. There was also a considerable difference between the birth control taken by women with children and those without; the majority of women (31%) without children used condoms; the majority of children (78%) with 1 child used IUDs; the majority of women (65%) with 2 children were sterilized. The sample study shows that 91% of the women using contraception used long-acting contraception.