A STRATEGY FOR INTEGRATING QUANTITATIVE TECHNIQUES INTO THE BUSINESS CURRICULUM*

Quantitative methods courses play an increasingly significant role in the programs of Schools of Business. However, maximum utilization of the concepts can occur only when these quantitative techniques have been integrated into the various functional areas via a faculty knowledgeable with such techniques and their applications. Lacking sufficient stimuli, this integrative process is observed to be one of an evolutionary nature. This article presents a strategy for stimulation of this process.     

THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTEGRATIVE CURRICULUM IN AN UNDERGRADUATE BUSINESS PROGRAM*

This paper describes how the core portion of the undergraduate business program at Indiana University was revised to facilitate integration of basic functionally oriented decision making skills and thus help students gain a deeper understanding of the interdependence of business decisions. It relates, in essence, why and how a single computer-oriented case study which demanded a solution to a large-scale, unified finance-marketing-production problem was used at Indiana University, mentions how we plan to accomplish further integration of functional material, and provides some insight into student reaction to what was, in fact, a massive project from both student and administrative points of view.     

ANALYZING GEOGRAPHICALLY DISCRETE WAREHOUSING NETWORKS BY COMPUTER SIMULATION*

This paper describes a comprehensive simulation modeling approach to the problem of locating warehousing facilities in a fashion that minimizes the cost associated with operating a multi-product, multi-source, multi-destination distribution system. The digital simulation model presented in the study is derived within an “industrial dynamics” framework, utilizes input from an existing management information system, and employs a number of relatively simple heuristic procedures to analyze various alternative warehousing networks. Simulation results, in terms of the distribution costs associated with various warehouse locations, are presented for cases involving the effect of provision of a 100% service level, the effect of constraining product availability and/or inventory capacities at various warehouses, and the effect of deleting various warehouses from the existing warehouse network.     

A new heteroscedastic regression to analyze mass loss of wood in civil construction in Brazil

A heteroscedastic regression based on the odd log-logistic Marshall–Olkin normal (OLLMON) distribution is defined by extending previous models. Some structural properties of this distribution are presented. The estimation of the parameters is addressed by maximum likelihood. For different parameter settings, sample sizes and some scenarios, various simulations investigate the performance of the heteroscedastic OLLMON regression. We use residual analysis to detect influential observations and to check the model assumptions. The new regression explains the mass loss of different wood species in civil construction in Brazil.     

Examining Localized Patterns of Air Quality Perception in Texas: A Spatial and Statistical Analysis

Environmental and human health issues associated with outdoor air pollution, such as ozone, sulfur dioxide, and other pollutants in metropolitan regions, are an area of growing concern for both policy officials and the general public. Increasing attention from the news media, new health data, and public debate over the effectiveness of clean air regulations have raised the importance of air quality in the public consciousness. While public perceptions of air quality have been studied thoroughly dating back to the 1960s, little empirical research has been conducted to explain the spatial aspects of these perceptions, particularly at the local level. Although recent studies suggest characteristics of local setting are important in shaping perceptions of air quality, the roles of proximity, neighborhood characteristics, and location have not been clarified. This study seeks to improve understanding of the major factors shaping public perceptions of air quality by examining the spatial pattern of local risk perception, the role of socioeconomic characteristics in forming these perceptions, and the relationship between perceived and scientifically measured air pollution. First, we map the spatial pattern of local air quality perceptions using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) across the Dallas and Houston metropolitan areas. Next, we explain these perceptions through local contextual factors using both bivariate correlations and multivariate regression analysis. Results indicate that perceptions of air quality in the study areas are not significantly correlated with air quality based on readings of air monitoring stations. Instead, perceptions appear to be influenced by setting (urban vs. rural), state identification, access to information, and socioeconomic characteristics such as age, race, and political identification. We discuss the implications of the findings and provide direction on how further research can provide a deeper understanding of the local contextual factors influencing public perceptions.     

Improving Cancer Dose–Response Characterization by Using Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Modeling: An Analysis of Pooled Data for Acrylonitrile-Induced Brain Tumors to Assess Cancer Potency in the Rat

Historically, U.S. regulators have derived cancer slope factors by using applied dose and tumor response data from a single key bioassay or by averaging the cancer slope factors of several key bioassays. Recent changes in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines for cancer risk assessment have acknowledged the value of better use of mechanistic data and better dose–response characterization. However, agency guidelines may benefit from additional considerations presented in this paper. An exploratory study was conducted by using rat brain tumor data for acrylonitrile (AN) to investigate the use of physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling along with pooling of dose–response data across routes of exposure as a means for improving carcinogen risk assessment methods. In this study, two contrasting assessments were conducted for AN-induced brain tumors in the rat on the basis of (1) the EPA's approach, the dose–response relationship was characterized by using administered dose/concentration for each of the key studies assessed individually; and (2) an analysis of the pooled data, the dose–response relationship was characterized by using PBPK-derived internal dose measures for a combined database of ten bioassays. The cancer potencies predicted for AN by the contrasting assessments are remarkably different (i.e., risk-specific doses differ by as much as two to four orders of magnitude), with the pooled data assessments yielding lower values. This result suggests that current carcinogen risk assessment practices overestimate AN cancer potency. This methodology should be equally applicable to other data-rich chemicals in identifying (1) a useful dose measure, (2) an appropriate dose–response model, (3) an acceptable point of departure, and (4) an appropriate method of extrapolation from the range of observation to the range of prediction when a chemical's mode of action remains uncertain.     

FEMALE SEX WORK,NON-WORK SEX AND HIV IN PERTH

This study is based on repeated interviews with twelve heterosexual female commercial sex workers (SWs) in Perth. These informants deploy, with various degrees of success, strategies to demarcate ‘work-sex’, with its socially ascribed stigma, from ‘non-work sex’. Such strategies inhibit the spread of HIV at work but, ironically, increase the risk of HIV transmission during non-work sex. SWs recognise this risk and construct a variety of rationales to reduce their fear of contracting HIV and justify their strategies of demarcating work-sex from non-work sex. Efforts to reduce the risk of HIV infection among Perth SWs would seem to depend upon addressing not only these strategies of demarcation but these rationales in a supportive environment that recognises the creative complexities of their lives.     

Does Privatization Protect Natural Resources? Property Rights and Forests in Guatemala

Objectives . Property rights are central to debates about natural resource policy. Governments traditionally have been seen as the appropriate custodians of natural resources for their citizens. More recently, many argue the privatization of property rights will ensure that users have incentives to manage their resources well. Common property, to the extent it is discussed at all, is seen as leading to the tragedy of the commons. We evaluate these claims by assessing property rights and forest conditions in two private and three communal forests in Guatemala. Methods . Data on biological and social phenomena from five forests (151 plots) and their associated communities were collected using the International Forestry Resources and Institutions Research Program protocols. Ordinary least squares regression was used to analyze four models. We examined t -scores for differences in coefficients for the different models. Results . The models demonstrate that de jure property rights are not a powerful predictor of variations among the sampled forests. Conclusions . We argue that de facto institutions and their enforcement are much more important than de jure property rights to forest management. Communities holding a forest in common can, under certain circumstances, create institutions to manage their resources as successfully as—or more successfully than—private owners.     

Branded: The Economic Geographies of Streets Named in Honor of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King,Jr.*

Objectives. We investigate the economic geographies of streets named for Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK Streets), which are an increasingly common means by which various community members across the United States are attempting to commemorate the slain civil rights leader. It is our intent to characterize these negatively “branded” spaces in order to challenge some of the common perceptions about them and inform current and future MLK Street naming debates. Methods. We statistically analyze nonresidential establishments located on streets named for King in terms of scale (as measured by annual sales and employment) and industrial classification. To our knowledge, this is the first such analysis conducted at the national level. Results. Establishments located on MLK Streets do not systematically exhibit economic marginality. Establishments located on these streets do systematically exhibit unique local functions and industrial composition. Conclusion. In the absence of empirically‐driven research, the negative stereotypes that surround MLK Streets have gone unchallenged and are proliferating. The research reported here calls into question a number of these stereotypes and should inform the public, city councils, and other local policymakers, who are increasingly being faced with contentious MLK Street naming debates.