Using IT for competitive advantage at Thomson holidays

This article describes how information technology was used to improve productivity and customer services in the travel and package holidays business. Information plays a vital role in services businesses such as this one and its introduction and development had a dramatic impact on turnover. The author emphasises that IT strategy and investment cannot stand still, no matter how successful—and it must constantly be developing and extending to assimilate new technologies.     

Attempting to Work Co-operatively in Queensland

This paper reports the results of a search for groups attempting to work cooperatively in Queensland. Results indicate there is a small number of people attempting to work co-operatively but the initiatives are tiny operations dependent upon a lot of lowly paid hard work and external help from friends or the local community. Four types of co-operative efforts were identified: the traditional, the alternative life style, the welfare oriented and the idealist The growth of worker co-operatives in Queensland will be dependent upon a long process of development, education, research and dialogue, along with the tireless efforts of those committed to the co-operative philosophy.     

Experimental markets for insurance

This article extends the large amount of research on double-oral auction markets to hazards that produce only losses. We report results from a series of experiments in which subjects endowed with low-probability losses can pay a premium for insurance protection. Insurers specify the price at which they are willing to assume the risk of a loss. Insurance prices approach expected value for a large range of probabilities and loss amounts. Subjects seem to realize losses are statistically independent. Prices are not affected by ambiguity about the probability of loss.     

Alternative forms and properties of the score test

TWO different issues relating to the score (S) test are investigated. Firstly, we study the finite sample properties of a number of asymptotically equivalent forms of the S test. From our simulation results we observe that these forms can behave very differently in finite samples. Secondly, we investigate the power properties of the S test and find that it compares favorably to those of the likelihood ratio (LR) test although the former does not use information about the precise forms of the alternatives.     

Multiplicity: discussion points from the Statisticians in the Pharmaceutical Industry multiplicity expert group

In May 2012, the Committee of Health and Medicinal Products issued a concept paper on the need to review the points to consider document on multiplicity issues in clinical trials. In preparation for the release of the updated guidance document, Statisticians in the Pharmaceutical Industry held a one‐day expert group meeting in January 2013. Topics debated included multiplicity and the drug development process, the usefulness and limitations of newly developed strategies to deal with multiplicity, multiplicity issues arising from interim decisions and multiregional development, and the need for simultaneous confidence intervals (CIs) corresponding to multiple test procedures. A clear message from the meeting was that multiplicity adjustments need to be considered when the intention is to make a formal statement about efficacy or safety based on hypothesis tests. Statisticians have a key role when designing studies to assess what adjustment really means in the context of the research being conducted. More thought during the planning phase needs to be given to multiplicity adjustments for secondary endpoints given these are increasing in importance in differentiating products in the market place. No consensus was reached on the role of simultaneous CIs in the context of superiority trials. It was argued that unadjusted intervals should be employed as the primary purpose of the intervals is estimation, while the purpose of hypothesis testing is to formally establish an effect. The opposing view was that CIs should correspond to the test decision whenever possible. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.