Everywhere,planners are in pain

In this provocative article the author suggests that planners should now leave the field of rational decision-making to high technology machines and should themselves concentrate on the non-rational judgmental aspects of human activity. Management is not and never can be a science, and with the growing awareness among businessmen and academics that over-rationality is eventually harmful, planners should be adding qualitative analysis and interpretation to their role and becoming more aware of the complexities of the non-rational aspects of managerial planning.     

Relative squared error prediction in the generalized linear regression model

In linear regression models, predictors based on least squares or on generalized least squares estimators are usually applied which, however, fail in case of multicollinearity. As an alternative biased estimators like ridge estimators, Kuks-Olman estimators, Bayes or minimax estimators are sometimes suggested. In our analysis the relative instead of the generally used absolute squared error enters the objective function. An explicit minimax solution is derived which, in an important special case, can be viewed as a predictor based on a Kuks-Olman estimator.     

A taxonomic view of illegal transfer of technologies: A case study

Illegal transfer of technology (ITT) is one of the major policy formulation, industrial management, and law enforcement issues of this decade. It includes industrial espionage, the piracy of; software, logos, and hardware designs and it overlaps with issues of terrorism and those involving weapons of mass destruction. It is of concern at corporate, national, and world-body levels. Technology herein is defined broadly to include intellectual property. ITT involves various kinds of players, takes on various modalities and is done for various motivations. The ITT literature is very disjoint and disparate. It transcends several academic disciplines, professions and professional communities. To remedy such fractionation this paper offers a taxonomy defining the field in its entirety while delineating all of its facets in a manner that is parsimonious yet discriminating. A number of actionable uses for the taxonomy are identified as are its potential users.     

Changing values and lifestyles

It has been apparent for several years that changes in people's values in the United States, have been occurring more frequently and having greater impact than has previously been experienced. The most significant impacts appear to be coming from people whose values and lifestyles are considerably less materialistic than traditional American values.Work at SRI, spanning more than a decade, had identified a new and rapidly growing group of people, the ‘inner directeds’; while more traditional groups—‘outer directeds’ and ‘money restricted’—have been declining as percentages of the population. These three major groups and their subdivisions are described in the article and particular emphasis is given to the inner directed group since it is likely to have the greatest impact on business, the market and government.     

Modeling in a business environment

Application of an easy to create and use data base technique is discussed in a small to medium business enterprise. A case of actual application for a food processor company is provided in which production resource optimization, and the use of data base for financial reporting and planning are integrated.     

Theory and Practice of Social Planning and Studies in Social Policy and Planning, 2 Volumes,Alfred J. Kahn. New York,Russel Sage Foundation, 1969. Vol. I, 348 pp. $8.75 Hardbound. Vol. II, 324 pp. $8.75 Hardbound

Research on the values of social workers and the effect of education on professional socialization is examined with particular reference to self-selection, the role of age in openness to the changes required, the effectiveness of explication in communication of specific values, and the need for campus and field faculty to present compatible models to students. The writer's own research using the Varley Social Work Questionnaire is described and discussed. Implications for admissions and curriculum development are offered.