Comparison of leadership styles in Confucian Asian countries

The purpose of this study was to examine the overall impact of four leadership styles (charismatic, directive, participative, and supportive) in four Confucian Asian countries, China, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, by reviewing recent studies conducted in those countries. By reviewing 38 studies selected from 430 studies published between 2005 and 2016, we identify the impact of the four leadership styles in the four Asian countries. We start with the research question and purpose, and then propose criteria for selecting the relevant recent studies followed by a review of cultural heritage and its influence on leadership in the four Asian countries. We summarize and review the studies and, finally, discuss the theoretical and practical contributions of this study.     

Unlocking the Value of RFID

RFID (Radio‐Frequency Identification) technology has shown itself to be a promising technology to track movements of goods in a supply chain. As such, it can give unprecedented visibility to the supply chain. Such visibility can save labor cost, improve supply chain coordination, reduce inventory and increase product availability. Industry reports and white papers are now filled with estimates and proclamations of the benefits and quantified values of RFID. Early adopters are now rallying more and more followers. However, most such claims are educated guesses at best and are not substantiated, that is, they are not based on detailed, model‐based analysis. This paper argues that there is a huge credibility gap of the value of RFID, and that a void exists in showing how the proclaimed values are arrived at, and how those values can be realized. The paper shows that this credibility gap must be filled with solid model analysis, and therefore presents a great opportunity for the Production and Operations Management (POM) research community. The paper reviews some of the ongoing research efforts that attempt to close the credibility gap, and suggests additional directions for further strengthening the POM's contribution to help industry realize the full potentials of RFID.     

RFID and Operations Management: Technology,Value, and Incentives

As RFID technology matures and organizations seek to deploy it in their business operations, a basic objective in the endeavor is that of extracting business value from the technology. This paper examines three dimensions of the value proposition of RFID and attempts to identify areas for further investigation. The first dimension consists of the generic architecture of RFID implementations and the drivers of value that can result from its components. The second consists of measurement issues associated with quantification of value. Since the complete benefits of RFID will only result when multiple independent organizations deploy the technology and coordinate the resulting information flows, the third dimension addresses incentives for achieving that diffusion. The collection of issues identified through this exercise offers an initial roadmap to view ongoing research and recognize additional problems for further investigation.     

Improved cross-entropy method for estimation

The cross-entropy (CE) method is an adaptive importance sampling procedure that has been successfully applied to a diverse range of complicated simulation problems. However, recent research has shown that in some high-dimensional settings, the likelihood ratio degeneracy problem becomes severe and the importance sampling estimator obtained from the CE algorithm becomes unreliable. We consider a variation of the CE method whose performance does not deteriorate as the dimension of the problem increases. We then illustrate the algorithm via a high-dimensional estimation problem in risk management.     

农业综合生产自组织功能优化探讨——基于耗散结构理论视角

农业综合生产系统具备耗散结构的基本条件,拥有自组织功能。城市化和工业化进程一定程度上削弱了它的自组织功能,应从系统负熵流的增加、非平衡性的加强、非线性特征的强化和巨涨落的催生等入手,优化农业综合生产的自组织功能。     

走向双性化的性别角色教育

性别角色教育的缺失和单性化的性别角色教育是当前性别角色教育中存在的两种误区.贝姆的性别角色发展模式理论和性别角色与心理适应的实证研究为实施双性化的性别角色教育提供了理论依据,通过家庭教育、学校教育以及社会教育的共同努力进行双性化的性别角色教育是造就适应社会发展、推动社会进步的优秀人才的一种有意义的尝试.     

生态文明视野中的明清采木

明清时期奢侈之风兴盛,朝廷采办大量木材用于薪炭、造船、建筑以及家具。木材采办主要分布于四川、湖广、浙江等地,采伐后经过陆运、水运两种形式将木材从产地运送到京城,并储存在木厂之中。由于没有得到妥善的管理,在运输和贮藏的过程中造成了大量的浪费。重点研究木材运输、贮藏过程及其特点,认为这一时期朝廷的采木超出了生态和社会的承受能力,不利于人与自然、社会的和谐共生与良性循环。     

“镇改市”过程中的制约因素与改革进路

“镇改市”是我国基层行政体制改革的试验,也是在新型城镇化过程中对基层行政区划改革做出的有益尝试。以构建大中小城市和小城镇协调发展的城镇化空间格局为目标指向,通过激活中小城市的发展“命脉”,改变单纯依靠经济推动乡镇发展的路径依赖,实现“农民城”向新型城镇的跨越,是中国经济发展的新探索。然而,随着改革的推进,缺位的行政规划设计、有限的乡镇管理能力、被异化的政绩观念、社会组织发育不成熟以及市民文化普及不到位等,对“镇改市”的推进造成一定程度的制约,成为“镇改市”过程中难以回避的现实问题。问题的化解离不开政策的引导、技术的支持和法治的保障,这三个维度相互联系、缺一不可,共同为“镇改市”改革的顺利实施“保驾护航”。