Lean and green in the transport and logistics sector – a case study of simultaneous deployment

The transport and logistics sector is of vital importance for the stimulation of trade and hence the economic development of nations. However, over the last few years, this sector has taken central stage in the green agenda due to the negative environmental effects derived from its operations. Several disciplines including operations research and sub-areas of supply chain management such as green supply chains, green logistics and reverse logistics have tried to address this problem. However, despite the work undertaken through these disciplines, theoretical or empirical research into the sequential or simultaneous deployment of the lean and green paradigms, particularly, in the road transport and logistics sector is limited. This paper presents a case study where both paradigms have been combined to improve the transport operations of a world leader logistics organisation in the metropolitan area of Monterrey, Mexico. To do this, a systematic methodology and a novel tool called Sustainable Transportation Value Stream Map (STVSM) were proposed. The results obtained from the case study indicate that the concurrent deployment of the green and lean paradigms through such methodology and the STVSM tool is an effective approach to improve both operational efficiency and environmental performance of road transport operations. The paper can be used as a guiding reference for transport and logistics organisations to undertake improvement projects similar to the one presented in this paper. Additionally, this research also intends to stimulate scholarly research into the application of lean and green paradigms in the transport and logistics sector to expand the limited research pursued in this area.     

Using Household Survey Data to Measure Educational Performance: The Case of Ghana

This paper shows how household data collected for the Ghana Living Standards Survey can be used to calculate national trends in educational performance (enrolment, completion rates and literacy). The resulting enrolment figures are shown to be more reliable than the rather different picture given by offcial statistics. In addition, a short English test conducted alongside the household survey in 1988 and repeated in 2003 gives a direct measure of changes in literacy.     

Pension Reforms in Europe and Life-course Politics

In recent years, somewhat drastic pension reforms have taken place in all European countries. The pension systems developed in the last century are no longer considered to be suited to the changing demographic constellations in European countries, and the financial sustainability of these systems is under threat. Moreover, the changing political and economic set‐up in European countries is also used to justify reforming the different pension systems. Different reasons can be given to explain the various pension reform measures without, however, there being any integrated coherence. We suggest that a politics of social policy, and of pension policy in particular, based on a life‐course perspective, facilitates the understanding of the whole range of pension reform measures. In the past, the elaborated pension systems were attuned to a normative standard biography. A new standard biography, with different phases and more transitions and combinations, enables one to understand the variety of the ongoing pension reform measures. Such a life‐course perspective integrates sequences of learning, working and caring considered necessary for the polity. In other words, it is based on a conception of human potential, and it integrates, to some extent, the previously separate domains of labour market policy, education policy, care policy and pension policy. However, recent theoretical and empirical studies of the life course lead to a critical evaluation of the new standard biography, with the conclusion that the new standard is one‐sided and scientifically unsound, entailing challenges for social policy.     

A Rationale for Teaching Communication Skills to the Culturally Deprived

This paper presents a theoretical rationale for explaining the learning and achievement weaknesses noted in ‘culturally deprived’ children. Based on a theory of social competence which reveals schools as denying the validity of such children's experiences and ignoring the different competences they bring with them to the learning situation, the model suggests new teaching strategies which develop ‘first-order’ communication outputs as a prerequisite to ‘higher-order’ cognitive outputs. Research evidence of the applicability of the model is examined and an attempt to apply the teaching strategies in Australia is described.     

Testing a Political Economic Theory of the Media: How Were Steel Tariffs Covered?*

Objective. The objective of this article is to test Strömberg's (2001) prediction that newspapers will devote more space to costs of tariffs than to their benefits, using the recent steel tariff issue as a test case. Method. A content analysis was performed on a sample of 123 New York Times (NYT) and 177 Wall Street Journal (WSJ) articles published between January 1 and September 10, 2002. The articles were coded sentence by sentence for pro‐, anti‐, and neutral‐tariff content. Comments or information deemed supportive of the tariffs, that is, touting their benefits, were coded +1, while those emphasizing the costs of tariffs were coded –1. A statement that was neutral with regard to the tariff issue was coded 0. The proportion of sentences coded –1 was then compared with the proportion coded +1. Results. The coders found 395 sentences devoted to the negative impacts of steel tariffs versus 124 sentences devoted to their benefits out of a combined total of 3,207 sentences. The results also reveal a mild “slant” toward free trade in the WSJ relative to the NYT. In the WSJ, the proportion of lines criticizing tariffs (0.11) exceeds the proportion supporting tariffs (0.02) by a wider margin than in the NYT (0.13 vs. 0.06). Conclusions. This article provides empirical support for Strömberg's (2001) political economy model of the media. The model implies that mass media will weaken the power of special‐interest lobbies relative to unorganized interests. Specifically, the data support Strömberg's prediction that more newspaper space would be devoted to the costs of steel tariffs—which are widely dispersed—than to their benefits—which are narrowly targeted.     

Using Video Interviewing in the Assessment of Social Work Communication Skills

The social work degree has now been introduced in England andit is timely to reflect on and evaluate key changes made bymany universities in this process. This paper reflects on thebeginning of such an evaluation, presenting a case study ofassessment changes made in relation to communication skillsteaching in a post-1992 university. This will act as a vehicleto explore some of the inherent complexities involved. Assessmentmethods implemented on social work courses should be scrutinizedin relation to their validity, reliability and feasibility.Drawing upon multi-professional literature, one such processof scrutiny is described, with the intention of contributingto current debates regarding communication skills within thewider arena of developing social work education. The case studypresented outlines how one social work programme changed itsmethod of assessing communication skills for social work students.It explores the processes involved in moving from an essay assignmentto the use of video interviews, supplemented by a written reflectiveself-evaluation undertaken in relation to the interview process.The views of students are outlined via their responses to aquestionnaire and the paper highlights key themes identifiedby a student focus group.     

Quality Indicators: Disabled Children's and Parents' Prioritizations and Experiences of Quality Criteria when Using Different Types of Support Services

Correspondence to Dr Wendy Mitchell, Social Policy Research Unit, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK. E-mail: wam1{at}york.ac.uk Summary Current health and social care policy seeks to develop and refinestandards of service quality. However, policies have so farlargely focused upon statistically based service output indicators.Recognizing the importance and yet limitations of this, especiallyin services for disabled children and their families, this paperdraws upon qualitative and quantitative data to explore indicatorsthat are meaningful and relevant to disabled children and theirfamilies. Results demonstrate the need to look beyond a genericfamily-based perception of service quality, as children andparents value different aspects of service quality and prioritizedifferent indicators when using different types of services.Although some indicators are regarded as ‘core’quality indicators, irrespective of service type, others areonly prioritized for specific types of services.     

Normative Trends in Children's Perceptions of Availability and Utilization of Attachment Figures in Middle Childhood

Two studies addressed the normative aspects of attachments to mothers and fathers in middle childhood. Using both cross-sectional and longitudinal comparisons, we tested the hypothesis that children show no changes in perceptions of availability of attachment figures across the later middle childhood years, but do utilize attachment figures less at older ages. The first study included a cross-sectional comparison of third and sixth graders, and the second study was a follow-up on the third graders when they were in fifth grade. Both studies suggested a decline in utilization, but not in perceptions of availability of attachment figures within the later middle childhood years. Study 1 also demonstrated that children turn to parents to meet attachment needs, and peers to meet companionship needs. Study 2 examined individual differences in attachment by exploring how changes in attachment to mothers from third to fifth grade were related to children's social adjustment at fifth grade. Increases in perceptions of availability forecast better emotional and behavioral regulation at fifth grade. Changes in utilization of attachment figures showed both linear and nonlinear relations to regulation.