Applying the Partitioned Multiobjective Risk Method (PMRM) to Portfolio Selection

The analysis of risk-return tradeoffs and their practical applications to portfolio analysis paved the way for Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT), which won Harry Markowitz a 1992 Nobel Prize in Economics. A typical approach in measuring a portfolio's expected return is based on the historical returns of the assets included in a portfolio. On the other hand, portfolio risk is usually measured using volatility, which is derived from the historical variance-covariance relationships among the portfolio assets. This article focuses on assessing portfolio risk, with emphasis on extreme risks. To date, volatility is a major measure of risk owing to its simplicity and validity for relatively small asset price fluctuations. Volatility is a justified measure for stable market performance, but it is weak in addressing portfolio risk under aberrant market fluctuations. Extreme market crashes such as that on October 19, 1987 ("Black Monday") and catastrophic events such as the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 that led to a four-day suspension of trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) are a few examples where measuring risk via volatility can lead to inaccurate predictions. Thus, there is a need for a more robust metric of risk. By invoking the principles of the extreme-risk-analysis method through the partitioned multiobjective risk method (PMRM), this article contributes to the modeling of extreme risks in portfolio performance. A measure of an extreme portfolio risk, denoted by f(4), is defined as the conditional expectation for a lower-tail region of the distribution of the possible portfolio returns. This article presents a multiobjective problem formulation consisting of optimizing expected return and f(4), whose solution is determined using Evolver-a software that implements a genetic algorithm. Under business-as-usual market scenarios, the results of the proposed PMRM portfolio selection model are found to be compatible with those of the volatility-based model. However, under extremely unfavorable market conditions, results indicate that f(4) can be a more valid measure of risk than volatility.     

Poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation, PARP, and aging

Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerases (PARPs) catalyze the poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation of proteins. This posttranslational modification, as generated by the DNA damage-activated enzymes PARP-1 and -2, has long been known to be involved in DNA repair. Correlative data have suggested an association between DNA damage-induced poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation and mammalian longevity, and this link has recently been strengthened by the discovery of interactions between PARP-1 and the Werner syndrome protein. Emerging additional members of the PARP family display different cellular localizations and are involved in diverse processes such as the regulation of telomere or centrosome function, thereby providing further, independent links between poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation and the aging process.     

Organisationsentwicklung durch Gesundheitsförderung,dargestellt am Beispiel Krankenhaus

The public interest in the health status of the individual has increased steadily over the last decades. Organisations — as goal oriented groups of individuals-need health promotion too. The article shows, using hospitals as an example, that this can be an important task for corporate social work. In addition to fundamental reflections on the health damaging impact of hospitals on their staff this article describes as well concrete and practical measures of how health promotion can be achieved in companies.     

Identification of outliers in a one-way random effects model

We distinguish between three types of outliers in a one-way random effects model. These are formally described in terms of their position relative to the main part of the observations. We propose simple rules for identifying such outliers and give an example which involves median-based statistics.     

Coaching — Performanceorientierung und Managererwartung

Coaching — orientation on performance and expectations of managersThe author discusses the up to now controversial question what managers are thinking about coaching. The inquiry, developed in the Free University of Amsterdam, asks also for the expectations on coaching. The author finds out, that issues of leading take priority and that not only crises and conflicts are reasons to ask for a coaching, but also desires to improve the personal performance.     

Wie wird Coaching in einem traditionellen technischen Dienstleistungsunternehmen angenommen?

How coaching is accepted in a traditional technological service-companyFor the present article four leading managers (two women, two men) of a big technological service-company were asked about their experiences with coaching. Their individual accounts are interpreted on the back-ground of the concrete changes in structure and culture of the company. The report gives an impression about the fact, how coaching is accepted in a more traditionally labelled, mainly hierarchically organized and male-dominated structure. There are some points of special interest for the implementation of coaching in that kind of organization structure.     

Qualitätsmanagement in Netzwerken der Integrierten Gesundheitsversorgung

Quality management in networks of the Integrated health care. Theory and practiceSelf evaluation is one of the most important sources for the quality management in ambulatory care of integrated health care systems. The quality testing of the survey instrument itself is of outstanding importance, since only a high quality instrument is able to supply high quality data, which can serve as a reliable base for improvement strategies. The paper shows the aspects of a quality management in organizational networks for integrated health care delivery systems. The technique allows the management and the single practioner on the one hand to identify the critical areas at a glance and on the other hand to focus — where necessary — on the single aspects in order to define detailed improvement actions.     

Wenn die Arbeitsfähigkeit gefährdet ist: Möglichkeiten institutioneller Konfliktbearbeitung

Mediation and conflict-moderation in organisational conflictsOrganisations are subject to permanent changes and must therefore master the task of permanently dealing with conflicts from a new. If the functioning of work of subsystems or the organisation as a whole is threatened, rapid interventions are demanded. The author introduces mediation as a intervention method. Two methods are compared in a practice test: mediation and conflict-moderation.     

Crossovers that link populations with the same vital rates

"In this paper, we consider crossovers of demographic density distributions from...populations that have the same fertility and mortality rates. We focus on observed populations and their associated stationary and stable models, and on proportional distributions of persons, births, deaths and reproductive values....Three different populations were selected to represent a range of demographic behavior. Those populations are Japan 1963, a low mortality, low fertility population; Togo 1961, a high mortality, high fertility population; and the United States 1919-1921, a population whose fertility and mortality are intermediate."