Application of load-oriented manufacturing control in industry

This paper deals with multi-stage lotsizing models for imperfect production processes. The effect of imperfect quality on lotsizing decisions and effect ofinspection errorsare taken into consideration in the proposed models. Numerical examples are presented for illustration purposes. The developed models are very helpful for justifying quality assurance and quality improvement efforts.     

MATERIALISTIC VALUES IN HONG KONG AND GUANGZHOU: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TWO CHINESE SOCIETIES

This article integrates two competing perspectives on value orientation. Inglehart's postmaterialism thesis stresses the permanent effects of childhood experience in which economic deprivation leads to materialism in adult life. The human development perspective, in contrast, emphasizes the evolution of a person's value system as life-cycle development unfolds new circumstances and possibilities. We adopt a developmental framework to test claims from these two perspectives. On the basis of micro-level data, we compare the materialistic values of two historically and culturally different Chinese societies, Hong Kong and Guangzhou. Findings support Inglehart's assertions that childhood experience has lasting effects and that rapid social changes create birth cohort differences in materialistic concerns. But life-cycle developments, such as education, marriage, and current social status, are equally important in influencing a person's value orientation. Both perspectives see only part of the picture, and an integrated approach is needed to better understand how people construct and maintain their value system.     

Muriel Dimen Interviewed by Andrew Samuels in the Context of the Publication of Her Book Sexuality,Intimacy, Power

Samuels interviewed Dimen in lieu of a book review for her Sexuality, Intimacy, Power. The interview was unstructured and dialogical and covered the following main topics: (a) professional issues in the field of psychoanalysis such as the relation of theory to practice and reflections on the nature and content of trainings in psychoanalysis; (b) issues in the broad areas of sexuality and gender including the question of moral relativism with respect to sexual behaviors historically designated as “perverse” and considerations of masculinity, femininity, and patriarchy; (c) intellectual considerations such as the relations between anthropology and psychoanalysis and the as yet indeterminate nature of the discipline of psychoanalysis, neither art nor science and not a hybrid of the two; and (d) the political, social, and cultural contexts within which psychoanalytic endeavors including the interview itself are taking place.     

The application of a performance management system in hospitals: A hypothetical example

Abstract

The central theme of this article is performance management, defined as activities of organizations aimed at an effective and efficient use of their human resources. The organization focused on in particular is the hospital. Three principles taken from motivation theory are dealt with which are basic to performance management: goal setting, feedback and reinforcement. Next, a recently developed procedure (Pritchard 1990, Pritchard et al. 1988, 1989) for the design of performance management systems is described. This procedure, ProMES: Productivity Measurement and Enhancement Systems, is explained using a team of ward nurses as a hypothetical example. In addition to the nursing wards example, other potential applications of the ProMES technique to several hospitals areas are mentioned. Finally, some conditions that should be fulfilled in order to successfully start a ProMES project are discussed.     

Analysis of Deviance for Hypothesis Testing in Generalized Partially Linear Models

In this study, we develop nonparametric analysis of deviance tools for generalized partially linear models based on local polynomial fitting. Assuming a canonical link, we propose expressions for both local and global analysis of deviance, which admit an additivity property that reduces to analysis of variance decompositions in the Gaussian case. Chi-square tests based on integrated likelihood functions are proposed to formally test whether the nonparametric term is significant. Simulation results are shown to illustrate the proposed chi-square tests and to compare them with an existing procedure based on penalized splines. The methodology is applied to German Bundesbank Federal Reserve data.     

Estimation of a process capability index for inverse gaussian distribution

In this article, interval estimates of Clements' process capability index are studied through bootstrapping when the underlying distribution is Inverse Gaussian. The standard bootstrap, the percentile bootstrap, and the bias-corrected percentile bootstrap confidence intervals are compared.     

Improving TAIEX forecasting using fuzzy time series with Box–Cox power transformation

Box–Cox together with our newly proposed transformation were implemented in three different real world empirical problems to alleviate noisy and the volatility effect of them. Consequently, a new domain was constructed. Subsequently, universe of discourse for transformed data was established and an approach for calculating effective length of the intervals was then proposed. Considering the steps above, the initial forecasts were performed using frequently used fuzzy time series (FTS) methods on transformed data. Final forecasts were retrieved from initial forecasted values by proper inverse operation. Comparisons of the results demonstrate that the proposed method produced more accurate forecasts compared with existing FTS on original data.     

Alternative tests for heteroscedasticity of disturbances:a comparative study

This paper presents three small sample tests for testing the heteroscedasticity among regression disturbances. The power of these tests are compared with two of the leading tests for this hypothesis, one by Goldfeld and Quandt [5] and the other by Theil [17]. We also provide a heuristic method of selecting the number of middle observations to be deleted for the Goldfeld-Quandt type of tests.     

Chronic Child Abuse: The Characteristics and Careers of Children Caught in the Child Protection System

The introduction of the Quality Protects initiative in Englandand the focus on performance management has challenged socialservices departments to examine the systems, processes and outcomesfor children who have their name on a child protection register.Research indicates that approximately one-quarter of the situationsin which children are registered could be described as chronic—thatis, they remain on the child protection register for significantperiods of time, experience more than one period of registrationor suffer a further incident of significant harm whilst subjectto a child protection plan. In this article, the findings froma research study conducted into this group of vulnerable childrenare reported, focusing on the characteristics of the childrenand their families, and their careers in the child protectionsystem. The paper concludes with observations about the weakconceptualization of performance management and the need torecognize the complexity of the factors that influence children’scareers in the child protection system.