The Use of Flexible Manufacturing Capacity in Pharmaceutical Product Introductions*

This work considers the value of the flexibility offered by production facilities that can easily be configured to produce new products. We focus on technical uncertainty as the driver of this value, while prior works focused only on demand uncertainty. Specifically, we evaluate the use of process flexibility in the context of risky new product development in the pharmaceutical industry. Flexibility has value in this setting due to the time required to build dedicated capacity, the finite duration of patent protection, and the probability that the new product will not reach the market due to technical or regulatory reasons. Having flexible capacity generates real options, which enables firms to delay the decision about constructing product‐specific capacity until the technical uncertainty is resolved. In addition, initiating production in a flexible facility can enable the firm to optimize production processes in dedicated facilities. The stochastic dynamic optimization problem is formulated to analyze the optimal capacity and allocation decisions for a flexible facility, using data from existing literature. A solution to this problem is obtained using linear programming. The result of this analysis shows both the value of flexible capacity and the optimal capacity allocation. Due to the substantial costs involved with flexibility in this context, the optimal level of flexible capacity is relatively small, suggesting products be produced for only short periods before initiating construction of dedicated facilities.     

Developmental dilemmas of young children of immigrant parents

Migrant parents who are unable to complete the separation process from their country of origin may do so through their relationships with their young children. Two patterns of distorted early childhood development were identified: failure to integrate cognition with feeling, and serving as a cultural bridge at the expense of reality testing and individuation.Ms. Koplow is Associate Director of the Therapeutic Nursery of the Karen Horney Clinic and teaches at Bank Street College.is Director of the Child and Adolescent Partial Hospitalization Program at Metropolitan Hospital Center.     

Horizons for strategic planning

In this paper we present a normative model for setting time horizons for planning. Provided that certain conditions are met, we can state that only part of the future is relevant for present strategic planning, and a study of the future beyond that time horizons is a waste of resources.Following the introduction the impact of predetermined planning horizon on planning is discussed. Next, the model is presented: the problem is defined, developed and solved. The discussion of the model is designed to incorporate—and to show its implication on—existing views and methods for setting time horizons for strategic planning. Thus, simplifying assumptions which facilitate the mathematical solution of the problem, are discussed and relaxed in order to show how realistic situations are illuminated by the model.     

Public preferences for economic policies

The paper describes a method by which the intensity of preferences for different economic policies can be estimated. The model is based on revealed choice through voting behavior, and permits its transformation into measures of preference by taking into account the abstentions from voting and their frequency. It is then possible to derive both the elasticities of intensities and the absolute valuation of these preferences. In, the empirical analysis it is found that economic policies do not seem to generate the strong preferences that could have been expected. It is also found that the upper income group have no particular inclination towards laissez-faire type economic policies and, prefer many interventions by the government.     

‘We are just ordinary people working hard to reach our goals!’ Disabled students’ participation in Norwegian higher education

In this article we shed light on the experiences of disabled students attending professional courses in higher education in Norway. The findings from this empirical study are based on interviews with 14 students with diverse impairments, ranging from the visible to the invisible. They faced barriers that they resolved to address on their own, using their capabilities and working ‘in silence’ to meet the expectations of normal students in academia as strong and independent. In addition to their own motivation and self-determination, what facilitated their progress in their studies was that some of the staff and fellow students met them respectfully as ordinary students, while recognizing their strain and providing support without calling attention to it. Leaning on the Nordic Relational Model of Disability, we call for greater awareness of the complex interactional processes between the disabled students and people in their social environment.     

新疆阿布达里人渊源考

本文根据国内外有关资料的记载和阿布达里人自己的传说对天山南部的阿布达里聚落进行了分析考证,指出阿布达里人的祖先是10世纪末11世纪初从中亚及西亚来的伊斯兰志愿者。