Analyzing the Efficient Execution of In‐Store Logistics Processes in Grocery Retailing—The Case of Dairy Products

In this article, we examine in‐store logistics processes for handling dairy products, from the incoming dock to the shelves of supermarkets and hypermarkets. The efficient execution of the in‐store logistics related to such fast‐moving, sensitive, and essential items is challenging and crucial for grocery retailers' sales, profits, and image. In our empirical study, we survey in‐store logistics processes in 202 grocery supermarkets and hypermarkets belonging to a major retail chain in central Europe. Using a data envelopment analysis (DEA) and simulation, we facilitate process benchmarking. In particular, we identify ways of improving in‐store logistics processes by showing the performance impacts of different managerial strategies and tactics. The DEA results indicate different efficiency levels for different store formats; the hybrid store format of the small hypermarket exhibits a comparatively worse performance in the analyzed execution of in‐store logistics processes. The process simulation analysis reveals that the strategic and tactical design of in‐store logistics processes (such as store locations/layouts, capacity management, reorder time, order period, and safety stock factors) lead to substantial service performance improvements (such as higher on‐shelf availability combined with reduced inventory obsolescence costs). The results also show marginal improvements in the performance figures when delivery delays and damage to products are reduced.     

Entrepreneurship theories of the non-profit sector

This article summarises the main results of entrepreneurship theories of the non-profit sector and discusses the impact they may have on theory development and on the real world non-profit sector. It is pointed out that the entrepreneurship approach advances our knowledge of the non-profit sector, especially by stressing the supply-side aspect and by focusing on the preferences individuals must have in order to engage in non-profit activities. There is empirical evidence consistent with entrepreneurship theories. Yet most observations do not exclusively support entrepreneurship theories but also provide evidence consistent with other economic theories of the non-profit sector. This illustrates that the various economic theories of the non-profit sector are more complements than substitutes. Furthermore, entrepreneurship theories indirectly help to improve the image non-profit organisations have in the real world; therefore they play a prominent role in teaching programmes which have been established to train non-profit managers. The author gratefully acknowledges the comments of the participants of theVoluntas Symposium at Yale University, especially the comments made by Estelle James, James Ferris and Dennis Young.     

Public Distrust and Hazard Management Success at the Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant

Based on experience gained while serving a public oversight commission appointed by the governor of Colorado, hazard management at the Department of Energy's Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant is reviewed. Specific reference is made to the plant's history of controversy, its defense-in-depth strategy of hazard control, occupational health issues, public exposure to plutonium, and the assessment of low-probability, high-consequence risks. This leads to the conclusion that Rocky Flats is, by any objective standard, a hazard management success. It follows that public distrust of Rocky Flats arises as much from fear and loathing of nuclear weapons themselves as from the manufacturing process by which they are made.     

Humankapitalbewertung bei der BASF Coatings AG – Eine anwendungsorientierte Modifizierung und Operationalisierung der Saarbrücker Formel mit dem Schwerpunkt der Wissensbewertung

The present paper describes the concrete application of an integrated Human capital measurement at BASF Coatings AG. For this purpose the Saarbrücker Formula has been broaden by factors that are of practical relevance. The resulting necessary adjustments in terms of definitions, delimitations and calculation logics of the Saarbrücker Formula lead to the extension and development of the approach. The so generated extended formula enables other companies to evaluate their human capital in a sensible way and to derive personnel-politically measures and therefore to overcome the gap between theory and praxis.     

A Meta Analytic Approach to Testing for Panel Cointegration

We propose new tests for panel cointegration by extending the panel unit root tests of Choi (2001 Choi , I. ( 2001 ). Unit root tests for panel data . Journal of International Money and Finance 20 ( 2 ): 249 – 272 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and Maddala and Wu (1999 Maddala , G. , Wu , S. ( 1999 ). A comparative study of unit root tests with panel data and a new simple test . Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics 61 ( S1 ): 631 – 652 .[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) to the panel cointegration case. The tests are flexible, intuitively appealing, and relatively easy to compute. We investigate the finite sample behavior in a simulation study. Several variants of the tests compare favorably in terms of both size and power with other widely used panel cointegration tests.     

A statistical test for detecting discordance in rankings between k groups

In several research areas such as psychology, social science, and medicine, studies are conducted in which objects should be ranked by different judges/raters and the concordance of the different rankings is then analyzed. In such studies, it is also frequently of interest to compare the rankings between different groups of judges, e.g. female vs. male judges or judges from different professions. In the two-group case, the two-group concordance test of Schucany & Frawley can be employed for such a comparison. In this article, we propose an extension of this test enabling the comparison of rankings from more than two groups of judges. This test aims to detect disagreement in the average rankings of the objects between k groups with an at least moderate intra-group concordance. We evaluate this test in an extensive simulation study and in an application to data from an aesthetics study. This simulation study shows that the proposed test is able to detect differences between average rankings and performs well even in situations in which the disagreement is comparably small or the intra-group concordance is inhomogeneous.