The value of rescheduling functionality within standard MRP packages

One of the basic functions of an MRP system is to issue rescheduling messages that urge the planner tospeed up or slow down open orders. It seems in practice that these messages are not used at all by planners. This is mostly due to the inaccuracy of MRP, that more or less ignores safety time, safety stocks and lotsize flexibility in the calculation of reschedule-in messages. Reschedule-out messages are usually ignored because planners do not see the value of the message. Other reasons for not adhering to rescheduling messages are a lack of maintenance of MRP parameters or simply the wrong use of the MRP function. In the future, MRP rescheduling functionality will be used even less than today, due to the changing role of MRP within the planning framework. With the uprise of finite capacity scheduling packages, MRP is being pushed one level upward in the planning hierarchy. This means that rescheduling functionalities for the short term will become completely obsolete in MRP systems.     

The extended enterprise-a context for manufacturing

Today's manufacturing enterprises face tremendous competitive pressures. Global competition, together with market demands for customized products delivered just in time, place tremendous pressures on manufacturers. The emerging global economy is rapidly replacing local markets. The emergence of open markets, reductions in trade barriers, and improvements in transportation and communications links have led to a situation where local competition and markets operate in the context of global standards. This open infrastructure allows manufacturers to respond to these challenges by working more closely with their suppliers and customers, and by building extended enterprises across the whole value chain. Such extended enterprises present great challenges in terms of redesigning business processes to create a competitive advantage from the linkages they include. This paper describes the manufacturing philosophies currently in vogue. Any manufacturing or related business will need to use them, albeit tailored to its own circumstances, in one form or the other, to ensure its prosperity.     

Occupational stress in universities: Staff perceptions of the causes,consequences and moderators of stress

In recent years, the Australian university sector has undergone large-scale organizational change, including restructuring, downsizing and government funding cuts. At the same time, research from across the globe reports an alarming increase in the occupational stress experienced by university staff. We report on the first phase of a longitudinal investigation of occupational stress. A total of 22 focus groups were conducted with a representative sample of 178 academic and general staff from 15 Australian universities. The groups focused on understanding staff 's experience of occupational stress, and perceptions of the sources, consequences and moderators of stress. Both general and academic staff reported a dramatic increase in stress during the previous 5 years. As a group, academic staff reported higher levels of stress than general staff. Five major sources of stress were identified including: insufficient funding and resources; work overload; poor management practice; job insecurity; and insufficient recognition and reward. The majority of groups reported that job-related stress was having a deleterious impact on their professional work and personal welfare. Aspects of the work environment (support from co-workers and management, recognition and achievement, high morale, flexible working conditions), and personal coping strategies (stress management techniques, work/ non-work balance, tight role boundaries and lowering standards), were reported to help staff cope with stress. The findings provide a timely insight into the experience of stress within universities.     

Effects of resident-oriented care on job characteristics of nursing caregivers

This study evaluates the effects of the implementation of resident-oriented care on the job characteristics (job autonomy, job demands and social support) of nursing caregivers in three Dutch nursing homes. In a quasi-experimental design, experimental and control groups in both general and psychogeriatric wards were followed for up to 22 months, using a pre-test and two post-tests by means of written questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The results showed that the intervention appeared to be partly successful. Last post-test regression analyses revealed significant increases in a number of design characteristics of resident-oriented care. Significant increases were noticed on resident assignment, the two variables measuring the nursing process and, in the psychogeriatric experimental group, on resident-oriented tasks (p≤.01). The effects on job characteristics were limited. An indicative increase was shown in contextual job autonomy in the experimental group (p≤.05). The qualitative data derived from the interviews showed that there was still a partly task-oriented division of labour. Further, the delegation of co-ordination tasks to nursing caregivers had not yet been properly achieved. The study concludes with some theoretical and methodological reflections in the light of the findings.     

Testing whether reduced cognitive performance in burnout can be reversed by a motivational intervention

It has been suggested that the motivation to spend effort is decreased in burnout patients, resulting in reduced cognitive performance. A question that remains is whether this decreased motivation can be reversed by motivational interventions. We investigated this by examining the effect of a motivational intervention on cognitive performance. We presented 40 burnout patients in The Netherlands and 40 matched healthy controls with a complex attention task. As expected, in a first block of trials the performance of the burnout patients was poorer than that of healthy controls. Subsequently, we provided the participants with fake positive feedback about their performance and announced that we would financially reward those who performed best in a subsequent block of trials. Contrary to the healthy controls, the burnout patients did not improve their performance and experienced more aversion to spend effort. The study demonstrated that impaired cognitive performance in burnout patients could not be reversed by motivational interventions, which is in line with contemporary theories on burnout that state that physiological changes in burnout may underlie a relatively long-term decrease in motivation. The implication of these results is that in practice employers and therapists might need to accept that there could be a reduction in cognitive performance in employees with burnout.     

Sources of occupational stress: An examination of British prison officers

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to identify the major sources of occupational stress experienced by British prison officers and to examine their effects on overall job stress and job satisfaction. Eighty-one officers from HM Prison, Maidstone, took part in a questionnaire study, and three main findings emerged. First, lack of stiff and resources were ranked as the most likely sources of stress, and areas of the prison where confrontations with inmates were most likely to occur were ranked as the most stressful locations. Second, officers who reported the highest levels of job stress overall had the lowest job satisfaction and the greatest wish for more emphasis on control and security of inmates. Third, when the sources of stress were factor-analysed and used to predict overall job stress and job satisfaction, using multiple regression, the sìngle most important predictor of job stress was found to be the factor labelled 'confrontations with inmates' and, for dissatisfaction with the job, it was 'poor morale and resentments'. The paper discusses the theoretical implications of the findings.     

Organizational climate and burnout in a New Zealand social service agency

Abstract

A two-phase study was conducted on the relationship between organizational climate variables and burnout among personnel in a multifunction community service agency. Initial interviews with a small pilot sample identified major sources of stress, which were then incorporated into a second-phase questionnaire to all staff. Multiple regression analyses illustrated that perceived interactions between head office administrators and sections of the agency contributed significantly to emotional exhaustion, whereas perceptions of within-section interactions and involvement in decision-making had a positive impact on personal accomplishment. Perceived communication levels, however, were negatively related to personal accomplishment. The findings suggest the importance of organizational variables and highlight strategies for burnout reduction and effective stress management in human service organizations.     

Catastrophe Risk Models for Evaluating Disaster Risk Reduction Investments in Developing Countries

Major natural disasters in recent years have had high human and economic costs, and triggered record high postdisaster relief from governments and international donors. Given the current economic situation worldwide, selecting the most effective disaster risk reduction (DRR) measures is critical. This is especially the case for low‐ and middle‐income countries, which have suffered disproportionally more economic and human losses from disasters. This article discusses a methodology that makes use of advanced probabilistic catastrophe models to estimate benefits of DRR measures. We apply such newly developed models to generate estimates for hurricane risk on residential structures on the island of St. Lucia, and earthquake risk on residential structures in Istanbul, Turkey, as two illustrative case studies. The costs and economic benefits for selected risk reduction measures are estimated taking account of hazard, exposure, and vulnerability. We conclude by emphasizing the advantages and challenges of catastrophe model‐based cost‐benefit analyses for DRR in developing countries.     

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.     

Effectiveness of FISK,an Invasiveness Screening Tool for Non‐Native Freshwater Fishes,to Perform Risk Identification Assessments in the Iberian Peninsula

Risk assessments are crucial for identifying and mitigating impacts from biological invasions. The Fish Invasiveness Scoring Kit (FISK) is a risk identification (screening) tool for freshwater fishes consisting of two subject areas: biogeography/history and biology/ecology. According to the outcomes, species can be classified under particular risk categories. The aim of this study was to apply FISK to the Iberian Peninsula, a Mediterranean climate region highly important for freshwater fish conservation due to a high level of endemism. In total, 89 fish species were assessed by three independent assessors. Results from receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that FISK can discriminate reliably between noninvasive and invasive fishes for Iberia, with a threshold of 20.25, similar to those obtained in several regions around the world. Based on mean scores, no species was categorized as “low risk,” 50 species as “medium risk,” 17 as “moderately high risk,” 11 as “high risk,” and 11 as “very high risk.” The highest scoring species was goldfish Carassius auratus. Mean certainty in response was above the category “mostly certain,” ranging from tinfoil barb Barbonymus schwanenfeldii with the lowest certainty to eastern mosquitofish Gambusia holbrooki with the highest level. Pair‐wise comparison showed significant differences between one assessor and the other two on mean certainty, with these two assessors showing a high coincidence rate for the species categorization. Overall, the results suggest that FISK is a useful and viable tool for assessing risks posed by non‐native fish in the Iberian Peninsula and contributes to a “watch list” in this region.