A family of shrinkage estimators for Weibull shape parameter in censored sampling

In this paper a new class of shrinkage estimators has been introduced for the shape parameter in an independently identically distributed two-parameterWeibull model under censored sampling. The main idea is to incorporate the prior guessed value by correcting the standard estimator, which is essentially an unbiased estimator, with optimally weighted ratios of the guessed value and the standard estimator, instead of considering a convex combination of the standard estimator and the difference of the guessed value and the standard estimator. The resulting estimator dominates the standard estimator in a surprisingly large neighborhood of the guessed value. The suggested estimator has also been compared with the minimum mean squared error estimator and a class of estimators suggested by Singh and Shukla in IAPQR Trans 25(2), 107–118, 2000. It is found that the suggested class of estimators has lesser bias as well as lesser mean squared error than its competitors subject to certain conditions.      

The probability generating function of empty cell variable in a randomized occupancy problem

Let M_o denote the number of empty cells when n distinguishable balls are distributed independently and at random in ra cells such that each ball stays with probability p in its cell, and falls through with probability 1-p. We find the probability generating function of M_o by solving a partial differential equation satisfied by a suitable generating function. The corresponding function for the classical case p = 1 is well-known, but obtained by different methods.     

Asyhptotic efficiency of sequential and non-sequential procedures based on fisher's method of combining tests

In this paper we propose test statistics based on Fisher's method of combining tests for hypotheses involving two or more parameters simultaneously, It Is shown that these tests are asymptotically efficient In the sense of Bahadur, It is then shown how these tests can be modified to give sequential test procedures which are efficient in the sense of Berk and Brown (1978).

The results in section 3 generalize the work of Perng (1977) and Durairajan (1980).     

Multinational alliances: A note on the perception of technology executives

Multinational alliances in the 1980s came into vogue as one of the prominent instruments of corporate strategies. In the process of forging alliances, especially in the technologyintensive firms, senior technology executives such as directors of R & D often play a vital advisory role. This short paper reports the findings of survey of American technology executives. Among the findings two are noteworthy in the conceptualizations of multinational alliances: Alliances are viewed as a means to solving a firm's strategic problems, and as offering mutual learning opportunities, rather than win-win possibilities for firms entering the alliances.     

Relative performance of academic departments using DEA with sensitivity analysis

The process of liberalization and globalization of Indian economy has brought new opportunities and challenges in all areas of human endeavor including education. Educational institutions have to adopt new strategies to make best use of the opportunities and counter the challenges. One of these challenges is how to assess the performance of academic programs based on multiple criteria. Keeping this in view, this paper attempts to evaluate the performance efficiencies of 19 academic departments of IIT Roorkee (India) through data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique. The technique has been used to assess the performance of academic institutions in a number of countries like USA, UK, Australia, etc. But we are using it first time in Indian context to the best of our knowledge. Applying DEA models, we calculate technical, pure technical and scale efficiencies and identify the reference sets for inefficient departments. Input and output projections are also suggested for inefficient departments to reach the frontier. Overall performance, research performance and teaching performance are assessed separately using sensitivity analysis.     

When managers become leaders: The role of manager network centralities,social power,and followers' perception of leadership

We explore how formal managers' centralities in both positive and negative networks predict followers' perceptions of their leadership. By incorporating social networks and social ledger theory with implicit leadership theories (ILTs), we hypothesize that formally assigned group leaders (managers) who have more positive advice ties and fewer negative avoidance ties are more likely to be recognized as leaders by their followers. Further, we posit that managers' informal networks bring them greater social power, an important attribute differentiating leaders from non-leaders. We conducted two survey-based studies in student and field teams to test the hypotheses. Based on nested data in both studies, we found support for our hypotheses. These results remain robust across the two studies even though they used different designs (cross-sectional versus longitudinal), different samples (field versus students) across different countries (United States versus India), and a host of control variables at both the leader and follower levels. We find that managers who are central in the advice network are socially powerful and are seen as leaders by individual followers. In contrast, managers who are avoided by followers lack informal social power are not seen as leaders. We conclude by discussing the theoretical and practical implications of our findings and the ways in which our theory and results extend ILTs and social network theory.     

What Management Style is Considered Best for a Team-Based Organization and Why?

The paper reviews various styles of management that are commonly employed for managing team-based programs and projects in many manufacturing industries. It analyzes the characteristics of each style with respect to the needs for decomposing the goals into smaller chunks in a team-based organization or in a program. Three styles of management were considered at Electronic Data Systems (EDS) for this analysis. Based on the experiences of applying each style during various team-based programs at EDS, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, and Unigraphics Solutions accounts and from the varying degree of success achieved then, the paper points out which management style is well suited for managing this decomposed set of goals and why. It then analyzes which style is best suited for managing a team-based organization. As W. Edward Deming said in his book The New Economics, setting a particular numerical goal accomplishes nothing. Setting a method to achieve a common set of consistent goals is important. Clear and consistent set of decomposed goals provides a `constancy-of-purpose.' Without a common subset of consistent goals identified for each concurrent team (decomposed from its original sets), the product development teams do not know what is expected from each other and how to accomplish the tasks concurrently. Finally, the paper discusses why a management style, which is based on a set of constancy-of-purpose (governing) principles, is considered superior for managing a team-based organization.     

(Un)willing to resist? the discursive production of local workplace opposition ∗

Workplace resistance is conventionally regarded as the product of worker consciousness and intentionality. More recent studies of resistance have questioned this notion, seeing workplace resistance as emerging out of more spontaneous and non-calculative types of action. This paper examines the discursive production of routine resistance in an organization, showing how notions of employee intentionality and non-intentionality were categories through which resistance itself was produced. We look at an alleged case of sabotage, the enactment of “careful carelessness” and “dumb resistance” as complex discursive productions of both resistance and intentionality. We conclude with a brief discussion of implications for managerial control.     

Working with the “smart” machine: computerization and the discourse of anthropomorphism in organizations ∗

Computers are routinely anthropomorphized in contemporary societies. Yet, few studies seriously examine the personification of computers at the workplace. This paper focuses on the discourse of anthropomorphism and work computerization. Based on the findings of an ethnographic study that looked at the computerization of administrative processes in a Health Maintenance Organization, the paper demonstrates how the discourse of anthropomorphism simultaneously reflects attitudes towards the computer, and structures relationships with the technology in the workplace. Three themes emerged within the discourse of anthropomorphism in the organization. They were (1) the intelligent & cerebral computer, (2) the human computer, and (3) the computer as superior life form. These themes also performed certain ideological functions by glamorizing the computer and thereby legitimizing it in the organization. At the same time, employees discursively resisted the ideology of the ‘smart’ machine by interpreting it in ways that were contrary to managerial expectations. Overall, the paper presents a complex picture of human-machine relationships revolving around the personification of computers at the workplace.