Optimum stratification with two variates

For the 2×2 rectilinear stratification of a bivariate normal distribution with proportional and optimum allocation the dependence of the objective function z(x₁;y₁) on the coefficient of correlation ρ and the sampling fraction q=n/N is investigated. With proportional allocation for great values of ρ (but already for q=0) a so-called ρ-effect arises, which results in a saddle-point of z as “optimum” stratification point in the center of gravity of the distribution and two additional minima. With optimum allocation first for smaller values of q also the ρ-effect arises; for grater values of q a so-called q-effect is superposed, which results in a multitude of minima, saddle-points and maxima of z. All these points satisfy the generalized conditions of Dalenius, but for practical use only the global minimum is of interest.     

Naming the Beast: Defining and Classifying Service Innovations in Social Policy

Over the last decade, the search for innovationhas become a core component of much social policyformulation and implementation. This search, however,has often been undertaken with little attempt to define the actual nature of innovation or to classifyits different modes. This paper reports recent researchwhich has developed a typologyof organizational changewithin which to situate and analyze innovation in social policy. It argues that thistypologyis an essential tool both for socialpolicymakers and for those concerned with itsanalysis.     

Managing Technology for Competitive Advantage : Editors

This article discusses the importance of several parameters of context integral to jazz musicians' ability to hear musical signs as meaningful, such as performers' individual backgrounds and the various other styles of music available in the aural landscape, and how those parameters influence what the musicians play. Several examples from an ongoing ethnography of jazz jam sessions suggest that context is constituted by several variables, that different variables may become salient at different times, and that different interactants vary in their ability to attend to these variables. This study thus extends and elaborates frame analysis by showing that, while an interaction frame of the sort described by Goffman (1974) may perdure, it is subject to change, and the nature of the context it provides for interactions can change whenever a new interaction is initiated.     

Hook‐Ups and Train Wrecks: Contextual Parameters and the Coordination of Jazz Interactions

This article discusses the importance of several parameters of context integral to jazz musicians' ability to hear musical signs as meaningful, such as performers' individual backgrounds and the various other styles of music available in the aural landscape, and how those parameters influence what the musicians play. Several examples from an ongoing ethnography of jazz jam sessions suggest that context is constituted by several variables, that different variables may become salient at different times, and that different interactants vary in their ability to attend to these variables. This study thus extends and elaborates frame analysis by showing that, while an interaction frame of the sort described by Goffman (1974) may perdure, it is subject to change, and the nature of the context it provides for interactions can change whenever a new interaction is initiated.     

On the trimmed mean and minimax-variance L-estimation in Kolmogorov neighbourhoods

We consider the properties of the trimmed mean, as regards minimax-variance L-estimation of a location parameter in a Kolmogorov neighbourhood K() of the normal distribution: We first review some results on the search for an L-minimax estimator in this neighbourhood, i.e. a linear combination of order statistics whose maximum variance in K_t() is a minimum in the class of L-estimators. The natural candidate – the L-estimate which is efficient for that member of K_t,() with minimum Fisher information – is known not to be a saddlepoint solution to the minimax problem. We show here that it is not a solution at all. We do this by showing that a smaller maximum variance is attained by an appropriately trimmed mean. We argue that this trimmed mean, as well as being computationally simple – much simpler than the efficient L-estimate referred to above, and simpler than the minimax M- and R-estimators – is at least “nearly” minimax.     

Pitfalls in multi-national long-range planning

The authors of this article argue that too many companies are not getting the benefits which should be produced by their long-range planning systems. Of the many possible explanations for this, the authors concentrate on the major pitfalls which should be avoided in order to ensure good results. The article is based upon the results of a survey of planning pitfalls among corporations in six industrialized countries.