争取摇摆“选票”

政治活动的管理者不会浪 费时间和精力去争取强反 对者与弱反对者,他们专 注于犹豫不定者。     

Modelling Resource Allocation in a Decentralized Organization with an AI-Based,Goal-Directive Model*

Modelling the resource allocation decision process in a decentralized organization using mathematical programming decomposition approaches has proven intractable for all but the smallest of problems. In this paper three artificial intelligence (AI) techniques are integrated to model the resource allocation decision process, and the solution for a three-level decentralized organization is illustrated. The techniques are (1) the filtered beam search, which selects a list of potential projects at the subordinate level, (2) the world model, which describes the ordinate and superordinate's worlds and their decision-making processes, and (3) the blackboard model, which allows for global, but selective, storage of information. Benefits of the new approach include: several different mechanisms of managerial control may be modelled, the true information flow in an organization is more closely mirrored, and problems of a more realistic size are now viable. There are three primary ways in which the new model could be useful to management: The desirability and effects of different organizational structures can be modeled, the efficacy of various coordination mechanisms along the organizational structure can be examined, and a subset of projects from a wider list of possibilities can be selected. Also, an example is given showing how the model may be extended to scenarios with asymetric information and divergence of preferences, whereby subordinates have different objectives than their managers and where there is no way for managers to verify the truthfulness of their subordinates' responses.     

Solving the Economic Lot-Scheduling Problem Using the Method of Prime Subperiods

In recent years the reported successes of Japanese production systems, particularly the just-in-time approach to inventory control, has caused managers to focus more of their attention on efficient decision-making procedures for determining production schedules that minimize inventory costs. One such potential area of attention is the economic lot-scheduling problem (ELSP), which occurs in a variety of manufacturing environments where machining operations are prevalent. The economic lot-scheduling problem addresses the determination of lot sizes for N products with constant demand (and cycled through one machine with a given production rate) to minimize setup and inventory costs. The most successful solution approaches to the ELSP have been based on the concept of a basic period that is of sufficient length for the production of all items, even though each item might not be produced during each repetition of the basic period. This paper proposes a heuristic approach to the solution of the ELSP (referred to as the method of prime subperiods), which is an extension of the basic period approaches. The procedure is described and demonstrated via an example and then tested using a set of six example problems previously employed in the literature related to the ELSP. The results indicate as good or superior performance by the proposed method of prime subperiods.     

Privilege and precarity: public scripts and self-censorship in shaping South African social science

South African social science’s close relationship with politics and policy have long provided a source of vitality and intellectual direction. Although one of the field’s greatest strengths, intimacy with socio-political and economic transformations engenders solipsism and stagnation. Ironically, it also compromises scholars’ political autonomy and intellectual ethics by blinding analysts to the emerging socio-political formations which will shape the country’s future. As demands for decolonisation and academic transformation continue, the pressures for political alignment will only grow. Drawing on over a decade of inquiry into the formal and informal governance of human mobility into and within South Africa, this article reveals the contours of such isolation and conceptual complacency. From this we can find direction for satisfying the “dual imperative:” contributing to progressive policy while maintaining scholarly autonomy. While not disengaging from politics, we must work to destabilise the language of it even where it means potential isolation from officials, peers, and personal profits. Doing so can protect social science’s autonomy while opening new opportunities for understanding the world in which we live and new tools for challenging those who seek to describe, theorise and change it. Doing otherwise risks converting the South African academic project into a policy think tank or self-referential echo chamber.     

营建企业的潜智——要确保企业最有价值员工的深层专业技能代代传承

企业无时无刻不在丢失重要的知识，而且在很多情况下，它们根本不明白自己曾拥有过这些知识。     

CAN ENTRY OR EXIT EVENT STUDIES INFORM HORIZONTAL MERGER ANALYSIS? EVIDENCE FROM GROCERY RETAILING

This study estimates how prices change following the entry and exit of grocery retailers. We estimate the effects of entry (exit) by comparing affected markets to a set of unaffected markets using both a difference‐in‐difference estimator and a synthetic control estimator. We find that entry typically results in reduced prices. More surprisingly, we find that exit is frequently associated with falling prices. Our estimated effects of entry on grocery prices are similar in magnitude to estimates of merger price effects in the supermarket industry. This finding suggests that entry event studies may be a useful tool for horizontal merger analysis. (JEL L11, L4, L81)     

积累点滴想法，收获非凡成就

企业往往忽视看似毫不起眼的建议,其实这些建议中 有许多能促进增长,让企业具备竞争优势 想方设法推动增长与盈利的经理人往往以为,卓尔不凡的 点子才是好点子。事实并非如此,内心光想着获得一鸣 惊人的高见,会让经理人对小点子的贡献视而不见。对 小点子嗤之以鼻,可能就等于拒绝了各种各样的收益,比如更强 的竞争优势、节省成本的手段,以及通过积累小点子培养更为高 明的见解。     

玩家？赢家？

在游戏文化的背后,是关于如何利用他人知识与才能的另一套价值体系。洛杉矶的咨询师和研究员米切尔·维德(Mitchell Wade) 认为:35岁以下的美国人与年长者之间．存在一道无形的代沟。这两个人群之间的区别并不在于年龄,更不是什么分水岭似的历史性事件,而是跟电子游戏和网络游戏的接触经历。研究人员发现,这种经验还强烈地影响着人们的工作方式。