Optimal Production and Admission Policies in Make‐to‐Stock/Make‐to‐Order Manufacturing Systems

In this article, we study optimal production and admission control policies in manufacturing systems that produce two types of products: one type consists of identical items that are produced to stock, while the other has varying features and is produced to order. The model is motivated by applications from various industries, in particular, the automobile industry, where a part supplier receives orders from both an original equipment manufacturer and the aftermarket. The product for the original equipment manufacturer is produced to stock, it has higher priority, and its demands are fully accepted. The aftermarket product is produced to order, and its demands can be either accepted or rejected. We characterize the optimal production and admission policies with a partial‐linear structure, and using computational analysis, we provide insights into the benefits of the new policies. We also investigate the impact of production capacity, cost structure, and demand structure on system performance.     

Algebraic Representations of Beliefs and Attitudes Ii: Microbelief Models For Dichotomous Belief Data

It may often be the case that the beliefs about which survey researchers query respondents are composed of discrete components, such that holding all of the components isnecessary to give a "yes" response. Simple logical relations, which some researchers have proposed may structure belief data, may obtain between these components, and not between the beliefs that are actually measured. This paper demonstrates that an algebraic inversion of a data matrix, first used in test theory by Haertel and Wiley (1993), can be seen as a unique and interpretable decomposition that can recover information regarding the compositional formulas of the measured beliefs as well as the logical relations between the unobserved components. The inversion is illustrated with a set of data from the GSS. Finally, the conditions under which related techniques are then helpful or not helpful for analyzing survey data are discussed.     

Authoritative Knowledge and Heteronomy in Classical Sociological Theory

This article traces the impact of philosophical questions regarding the grounds of moral autonomy and heteronomy (rule-from-another as opposed to rule-from-oneself) on classical sociological theory, arguing that both Weber and Durkheim understood sociology to have a contribution to make in the debate with Kant over the grounds of ethical action. Both insisted that the only possible ethical action was one within the bounds of rational knowledge that was inherently authoritative, but this sat uneasily with their focus on the relation between concrete social authority and the authoritativeness of beliefs in the sociology of religion. In rejecting Comte's explicit avowal of the embodiment of moral authority in the secular priesthood of sociologists, Weber and Durkheim had to paper over the social authority supporting the formulation of this rational knowledge. Each then produced a sociology of knowledge without a well-specified mechanism, in turn encouraging the development of the sociology of knowledge as a flawed sub-discipline.     

From the ‘Double Nature’ of Cooperation to the Social Economy: Fifty Years of Associationalism1

The past 50 years or so have witnessed significant changes in the way of conceiving and practising cooperation. Three major shifts are presented here: (1) from the single to the multi-stakeholder cooperative; (2) from internal to extended mutuality in cooperatives and (3) from the historical ‘double nature’ of cooperation to the social economy. It is argued that these shifts testify of the capability of the cooperative system to adapt to such global trends as privatization, deregulation and ‘tertiarization’ that came in the wake of globalization. Moving from the traditional model of the single stakeholder cooperative based on internal homogeneity and on the identification of the notion of member and user, to a new model of multi-stakeholder organization, broadened the scope of cooperatives yet, at the same time, sharpened the socio-economic tension at the inter-cooperative level. Hence, the need, for cooperatives, to strengthen their links with similar nonprofit organizations as partners in the social economy. Our approach is grounded on a Western European interpretation of cooperatives, although the social economy is recently making strides outside Europe, especially in Canada and Latin America.     

Public Servants’ Trust in Citizens: An Extension of Theory and an Empirical Examination with Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)

This study examined trust that public servants have in citizens. We build on the reciprocal nature of trust and applied Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to test both the antecedents to public servants?? trust in citizens (e.g., job satisfaction, organizational commitment, organizational politics, public sector motivation and generalized trust) and several of its potential outcomes (exit, voice, loyalty, neglect and cynicism) among Israeli civic servants. A revised and improved model found that organizational politics and generalized trust are the strongest predictors of public servants?? trust in citizens and that exit intention is its major outcome. Implications and suggestions for future studies are presented.     

Stable and Coordinating Contracts for a Supply Chain with Multiple Risk‐Averse Suppliers

We analyze a decentralized supply chain with a single risk‐averse retailer and multiple risk‐averse suppliers under a Conditional Value at Risk objective. We define coordinating contracts and show that the supply chain is coordinated only when the least risk‐averse agent bears the entire risk and the lowest‐cost supplier handles all production. However, due to competition, not all coordinating contracts are stable. Thus, we introduce the notion of contract core, which reflects the agents' “bargaining power” and restricts the set of coordinating contracts to a subset which is “credible.” We also study the concept of contract equilibrium, which helps to characterize contracts that are immune to opportunistic renegotiation. We show that, the concept of contract core imposes conditions on the share of profit among different agents, while the concept of contract equilibrium provide conditions on how the payment changes with the order quantity.     

Motor Function and Social Participation in Kindergarten Children

This study focused on the associations between individual variations in children’s motor abilities and individual differences in social participation and play behavior. Indoor and outdoor play behavior patterns of 88 kindergarten children were observed, and a battery of standard assessments of basic motor functions was administered. The findings indicate significant associations between children’s motor abilities and social and nonsocial forms of play. Results are discussed in relation to existing conceptual models of the underlying causes for nonsocial behavior.     

The objective and subjective rationalization of war

Perhaps the most engaging theories in historical sociology have been those pertaining to the rationalization of Western society. In particular, both Max Weber and Michelle Foucault point to the unique nature of societal rationalization in the early modern period, a thorough-going upheaval both in forms of social organization and in individual subjectivity. These correlative changes led to the nature of the modern state and its citizens. One example used by both is the rationalization of warfare. Close attention to the question of rationalization and the history of infantry warfare, however, suggests that far from representing a watershed change from non-rationalized to rationalized war, the early-modern period was more like other rapid expansions of armies based on recruitment of commoners, and had little to do with the distinctive characteristics of the emerging nation-states.