New Data,Strategies, and Insights for Listeria monocytogenes Dose‐Response Models: Summary of an Interagency Workshop, 2011

Listeria monocytogenes is a leading cause of hospitalization, fetal loss, and death due to foodborne illnesses in the United States. A quantitative assessment of the relative risk of listeriosis associated with the consumption of 23 selected categories of ready‐to‐eat foods, published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2003, has been instrumental in identifying the food products and practices that pose the greatest listeriosis risk and has guided the evaluation of potential intervention strategies. Dose‐response models, which quantify the relationship between an exposure dose and the probability of adverse health outcomes, were essential components of the risk assessment. However, because of data gaps and limitations in the available data and modeling approaches, considerable uncertainty existed. Since publication of the risk assessment, new data have become available for modeling L. monocytogenes dose‐response. At the same time, recent advances in the understanding of L. monocytogenes pathophysiology and strain diversity have warranted a critical reevaluation of the published dose‐response models. To discuss strategies for modeling L. monocytogenes dose‐response, the Interagency Risk Assessment Consortium (IRAC) and the Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (JIFSAN) held a scientific workshop in 2011 (details available at http://foodrisk.org/irac/events/ ). The main findings of the workshop and the most current and relevant data identified during the workshop are summarized and presented in the context of L. monocytogenes dose‐response. This article also discusses new insights on dose‐response modeling for L. monocytogenes and research opportunities to meet future needs.     

A comment on: A note on the EOQ-JIT relationship

In a recently published note in this journal the need for independent control of the production rate (R) and production time (L) was established in order to adapt the economic production quantity (EPQ) model in JIT settings. In this comment we aim to improve the relevance of EPQ in a JIT environment. We focus on two issues, namely, modelling the production rate as a decision variable and also deriving an expession for the optimal number of batches (n* ) for the raw materials and/or subcomponents needed.     

Manpower planning for maintenance jobs in process industries

This paper describes a model for allocating the weekly requirement of manpower for maintenance jobs in the process units. We develop a simple procedure for the solution of the manpower allocation problem which has to deal with planned and unplanned jobs during a planning period. The solution procedure is illustrated by a numerical example. Possible extensions of this model are also discussed.     

An industrial application for total productivity optimization

Abstract. This paper presents four strategies for total productivity optimization of a real-life manufacturing company. These strategies are developed to attain overall growth, cost reduction, upgrading of technical efficiency and management effectiveness. Such strategies have been modelled mathematically by using a nonlinear mathematical programming approach. The model base and the data base used in implementing the strategies can serve as decision support to management for optimizing total productivity.     

Inspection of an unreliable flexible manufacturing system: with repairable parts and non-negligible inspection times

The purpose of this paper is to address the problem of quality control and repair in an FMS which is described by an open queuing network. We consider two cases: first, all detected defective parts are directed to a special repair facility; second, a defective part is repaired within the machine group where it is detected. Using numerical analyses, we provide some managerial insights regarding the role, position, and distribution of the inspection effort in an FMS, and draw some inferences regarding the design of such FMS when both quality and quantity issues in the FMS are considered.     

Going global: professional mobility and concerns for LGBT workers

The world of work has regularized the practice of people moving from one country to another to accept job assignments. Travel and relocation are stress-laden endeavours. For LGBT people, the risks can be more complicated than they are for heterosexuals. This article explores particular challenges that LGBT people face when they travel and relocate for business, both domestically and internationally. The article is contextualized with a literature review on sexual minorities and workplace issues, and uses auto-ethnographic stories of three of the authors’ lived experiences as sexual minorities relocating for professional reasons in order to examine issues related to LGBT relocation. These issues include legal, social, cultural and familial considerations. Implications and suggestions for human resource developers are presented, which include acquiring awareness around the psychological and physiological reactions to new and diverse ecologies, or ‘eco-shocks’.     

Governance Structure,Innovation and Internationalization: Evidence From India

We examine the impact of firm-level governance structure on the innovation and internationalization strategies of emerging market firms. We propose that in the case of emerging market firms, governance is a response to the prevailing institutional environment and affects the innovation and internationalization strategies of firms. Based on a longitudinal sample of 16,337 firm-year observations of Indian listed firms over a year time period from 2002 to 2009, we find a positive effect of family ownership and group affiliation on R&D intensity and new foreign investments. Institutional ownership also positively affects new foreign investments, but has no effect on R&D intensity. Further, we find that R&D intensity interacts with family ownership, institutional ownership and group affiliation in affecting new foreign investments.     

Creating value through offshore outsourcing: An integrative framework

This article proposes an analytical framework to explain value creation through offshore outsourcing by addressing a key question: How do firms create value by outsourcing their business functions to foreign external providers? The growing prevalence of offshore outsourcing as a dominant business practice in global business makes this question worthy of further research attention. Situated within the organizational design literature, our proposed value creation framework also draws from strategic resource management, disintegration, location-specific resourcing, and externalization (D–L–E) and contingency perspectives. Our analysis shows that firms embarking on offshore outsourcing create value by effectively managing their internal and external resources in accordance with a changing global environment. The framework has significant implications for theory and practice and suggests avenues for further research.     

Transaction‐Specific Investments,Relational Norms,and ERP Customer Satisfaction: A Mediation Analysis*

Integrating the perspectives of transaction cost economics, the resource‐based view, and resource dependency theory, this study analyzes the institutional settings of enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementations in China. Specifically, it examines how bilateral transaction‐specific investments (TSIs) and relational governance mechanisms influence customer satisfaction with ERP implementations. The model is empirically tested using data from on‐site interviews with 208 ERP customers in China. The results demonstrate that the effects of vendors’ and customers’ TSIs on customer satisfaction are facilitated by multiple‐stage micromediational chains. The influence of TSIs on customer satisfaction is mediated by relational norms, and the impact of relational norms on customer satisfaction is bridged by perceived service quality and customer trust. Furthermore, the influence of vendors’ TSIs is stronger than the influence of customers’ TSIs. The findings contribute to business research and practice by providing valuable insights into how ERP vendors and customers should strategize TSIs to enhance relationship performance.