ON THE RELATIVE PERFORMANCE OF FUNCTIONAL AND CELLULAR LAYOUTS- AN ANALYSIS OF THE MODEL-BASED COMPARATIVE STUDIES LITERATURE

Paralleling the increased interest in cellular manufacturing in recent years, a large number of studies have emerged that focus on the relative performance of cell systems and the functionally organized systems they replace. This paper is an analysis of studies that use model-based, controlled experimentation to seek answers to the questions of if, when, and why cellular layouts outperform their functional counterparts. Twenty-four model-based studies are analyzed with respect to their definitions of cellular versus functional layouts, the experimental factors that have been investigated, the results concerning relative performance, and the findings' relevance to layout choice. We conclude that although the comparative studies have been very valuable in their efforts at identifying the factors that embody the essence of cells and shape performance improvements, most of the basic findings are known from past research. Furthermore, the studies' findings cannot assist practitioners in making specific choices between existing layouts and alternative cell systems. However, the totality of the findings reinforce our knowledge of how work systems in general can be designed and organized to reduce throughput time, and can also be used to identify environments and conditions for which conversions to cells may have more or less potential.     

EXPLODING THE MYTH: DO ALL QUALITY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES CONTRIBUTE TO SUPERIOR QUALITY PERFORMANCE?

In his landmark article on total quality management, Powell (1995) lamented the lack of large scale studies investigating quality management practices and performance. This study begins to fill that void using a large, random sample of manufacturing sites. The results show that quality practices can be categorized into nine dimensions. However, not all of them contribute to superior quality outcomes. “Employee commitment,” “shared vision,” and “customer focus” combine to yield a positive correlation with quality outcomes. Conversely, other “hard” quality practices, such as “benchmarking,” “cellular work teams,” “advanced manufacturing technologies,” and “close supplier relations” do not contribute to superior quality outcomes.     

The potential for golf courses to support restoration of biodiversity for BioBanking offsets

In golf course development there is frequently remnant vegetation on the areas unused for infrastructure. We propose that these areas, together with a whole range of other reserves including sporting fields, cemeteries, railway reserves and educational facilities may be the source of degraded remnant vegetation and associated open space that could be used to provide offsets for biodiversity. We followed the changes in vertebrate biodiversity with low key alteration to management of the Camden Lakeside Golf Course to assess if such areas had the potential for biodiversity banking offsets. Birds, bats, frogs and reptiles increased in species diversity over time. Frogs and reptiles tended to peak in species numbers during the observational period but bat and bird diversity continued to increase. We concluded that on this ‘island’ within a matrix of urbanisation and cleared agricultural lands without remnant vegetation, observed changes in diversity made such areas potential sites for biodiversity banking offsets.     

Everyday discrimination,emotion, and daily interactions during adolescence

The present study examined whether everyday discrimination relates to the frequency of adolescents' positive and negative daily social interactions and whether these associations are driven by anger and positive emotion. Adolescents (N = 334) participated in a three-wave longitudinal study, in which they completed surveys regarding everyday discrimination, anger, and positive emotion, as well as 15 daily reports of conflict and getting along with friends and family. Higher everyday discrimination was related to more daily conflicts and fewer experiences of getting along with other people. Longitudinal models also provided preliminary evidence that everyday discrimination was associated with daily conflicts 4 years later indirectly through anger. Overall, results suggest everyday discrimination relates to adolescents' daily experiences, potentially through differences in emotion.     

Goal orientation and variety seeking behavior: The role of decision task

This research conducted two experiments to examine the interaction effect of decision task (sequential choices vs. simultaneous choices) and goal orientation (prevention focus vs. promotion focus) on variety-seeking behavior. In the sequential choices for sequential consumption condition (consumers buy one item at a time for each consumption occasion), promotion-focused consumers tend to select a greater variety of items (a higher extent of variety-seeking) than prevention-focused consumers. In contrast, in the simultaneous choices for sequential consumption condition (consumers buy several items at a time for each following consumption occasion), prevention-focused consumers tend to select a greater variety of items (a higher extent of variety-seeking) than promotion-focused consumers.     

A note on the rubustness of the lilliefors test for univariate normality with respect to equicorrelated data

The Lilliefors test, which was developed by Lilliefors (1967), is a well-known test for univariate normality when population parameters are unknown. The main assumption for implementing the test is the independent-data assumption. This paper demonstrates the robustness of the Lilliefors test against equicorrelated observations. More specifically, we show that the null distribution of the Lilliefors test statistic is invariant under the alternate assumption that the observations are equicorrelated.     

Some New Estimators for Small-Area Means With Application to the Assessment of Farmland Values

Regression models that account for main state effects and nested county effects are considered for the assessment of farmland values. Empirical predictors obtained by replacing the unknown variances in the formulas of the optimal predictors by maximum likelihood estimates are presented. The computations are carried out by simple iterations between two SAS procedures. Estimators for the prediction variances are derived, and a modification to secure the robustness of the predictors is proposed. The procedure is applied to data on nonirrigated cropland in the Corn Belt states and is shown to yield predictors with considerably lower prediction mean squared errors than the survey estimators and other regression-type estimators.     

ARE THE DISABLED LESS LOSS AVERSE? EVIDENCE FROM A NATURAL POLICY EXPERIMENT

Research findings show that disabled persons often develop physical and psychological mechanisms to compensate for disabilities. Coping mechanisms may not be limited to the psychophysiological domain and may extend to cognitive bias and loss aversion. In this study, we apply unique microdata from a natural policy experiment to assess the role of loss aversion in home purchase among nondisabled and disabled households. Results of survival analysis indicate that the physically disabled are substantially less loss averse in home purchase. Furthermore, loss aversion varies with other population characteristics and attenuates with degree of disability. Findings provide new evidence of diminished cognitive bias and more rational economic decision‐making among the physically disabled. (JEL D03, C9, R38)     

Exploring racism inside and outside the mathematics classroom in two different contexts: Colombia and USA

We give attention to the racial contexts of mathematics education in Colombia and the USA. We discuss the particularities of these contexts but also explore the how in both contexts Blackness and Black people are relegated to the lower rungs of the social order. In offering this comparative analysis, we call for expanded research on race, racism, and mathematics education in global contexts.     

CONCEPTUAL LEVELS AND THE DESIGN OF ACCOUNTING INFORMATION SYSTEMS*

This article attempts to expand and clarify the discussions in the literature on complexity theory applied to accounting via two central assertions: (a) affecting the cognitive conceptual level of an individual through the financial reporting system can be accomplished not only by varying the immediate information load, but also, in the long run, by modifying the types of information and the mode of user-system interface. In other words, a properly designed accounting information system can have developmental cognitive effects in both the short and long run. (b) attempting to maximize the conceptual level of the decision maker is not always desirable. In certain types of environments, a high conceptual level actually impedes appropriate decision making. Therefore, the appropriate conceptual level must be related to the type of decision being made as well as to the type of decision maker.