Fostering Risk Taking in Research and Development: The Importance of a Project's Terminal Value

Large firms face a conflict in managing a portfolio of high-risk projects. When an ongoing project is thought to have a low likelihood of success, project team members take risks to improve its chances of success. However, upper-level managers who allocate resources tend to withhold resources from a project with a low likelihood of success in favor of others in the portfolio that look more promising. Because this paucity of resources influences project team members to avoid risk, the total effect of success likelihood on risk taking is conflicted. The influence on risk taking of a project's terminal value—defined as the value that remains in the firm in the event of project failure—is unequivocally positive, because both senior management resource allocation and project team risk-taking propensity are encouraged by terminal value. Thus, firms can override the ambivalent effect of likelihood of success on project decision making by focusing attention on a project's terminal value.     

Causal Linkages in Supply Chain Management: An Exploratory Study of North American Manufacturing Firms

In this paper we investigate the key causal linkages in supply chain management. We propose a conceptual framework and test this framework on data from 215 North American manufacturing firms using structural equation modeling techniques. Three major research issues are addressed in this study: Do sourcing decisions affect the degree to which firms achieve manufacturing goals of cost, flexibility, dependability, and quality? Does the degree of manufacturing goal achievement lead to higher customer responsiveness? Does the degree of manufacturing goal achievement lead to higher internal manufacturing performance? The study examines the relationship among sourcing decisions, manufacturing goals, customer responsiveness, and manufacturing performance. The results support the notion that an integrated supply chain involves aligning sourcing decisions to achieve manufacturing goals that are set to respond favorably to the needs of customers.     

Staffing a Multiskilled Workforce with Varying Levels of Productivity: An Analysis of Cross-training Policies*

Service operations that utilize cross-trained employees face complex workforce staffing decisions that have important implications for both cost and productivity. These decisions are further complicated when cross-trained employees have different productivity levels in multiple work activity categories. A method for policy analysis in such environments can be beneficial in determining low-cost staffing plans with appropriate cross-training configurations. In this paper, we present an integer linear programming model for evaluating cross-training configurations at the policy level. The objective of the model is to minimize workforce staffing costs subject to the satisfaction of minimum labor requirements across a planning horizon of a single work shift. The model was used to evaluate eight cross-training structures (consisting of 36 unique cross-training configurations) across 512 labor requirement patterns. These structures, as well as the labor requirement patterns, were established based on data collected from maintenance operations at a large paper mill in the United States. The results indicate that asymmetric cross-training structures that permit chaining of employee skill classes across work activity categories are particularly useful.     

论当代中国饭店管理理念与实践中的人文导向

随着旅游需求的变迁、科技的发展和新型人力资源的引入,世纪之交的中国饭店业的管理理念和管理实践正在发生一系列的变化。人文导向则是把握这些变化的核心内核,并将主导未来一个时期中国饭店业的创新与发展。在对饭店管理理念进行解说的基础上,本文重点阐述了人文导向的若干载体性事件:管理制度的理性化、对员工的关注、经济型饭店的兴起、绿色饭店等等。     

我国企业知识管理对策研究

对我国企业现状、人员要求进行分析的基础上,提出了我国企业的知识管理对策,以及企业在实施知识管理时的方法与步骤.     

高校师资管理中的矛盾关系探讨

高校师资队伍建设是一个至关重要的问题。在师资的引进、使用、考核和培养过程中,经常会遇到如何处理诸如比较优秀的关键性人才与基本群体、教学与科研、稳定与流动、专职与兼职等关系问题,这些矛盾的妥善解决,会较大地调动教师的积极性、主动性、创造性,有利于教学、科研水平的提升。     

知识经济条件下管理要素探析

知识经济时代管理重心将不再限于传统的三大生产要素即劳动力、土地和资本,而在于时间、知识、情商等三大新要素。时间作为一种刚性稀缺资源,将成为衡量成本的基本单位,在不同的管理层面上显现出重要的基础意义。在知识经济时代,知识将成为最重要的生产要素,因此,对知识资源进行综合决策、全面管理、创新应用,形成有机组织的优化整体是知识管理的核心。现代管理以人为本,通过情商管理能综合修炼企业的情绪智商,充分发挥企业潜能。     

我国不同经济类型地区深入开展计划生育三结合的建议

实事求是地阐述了我国经济贫困地区、欠发达地区和较发达地区深入开展计划生育“三结合”的对策建议     

Post-war reconstruction. Participatory approaches to rebuilding the damaged villages of Lebanon: a case study of al-Burjain

This paper focuses on the reconstruction of war-damaged villages in Lebanon destroyed during the civil war (1975–1991). It presents a holistic approach that considers the complexity of socio-economic, cultural and organisational issues involved in shaping the built environment, in contrast to conventional top–down approaches, which concentrate largely on physical aspects. Therefore, the paper attempts to gain an insight into the socio-cultural conditions of the communities prior to disaster and into the specific situations, which emerged after the destruction of the villages. This will be illustrated by means of a detailed case study of one Lebanese village—namely al Burjain. It develops an understanding of the conditions of the people, their needs and perceptions about rebuilding the village and derives the specific and general principles that should guide the reconstruction process. The paper is based on fieldwork, which employs a qualitative approach that offers flexibility and suits the practical conditions in the field. This allows dynamic discussions with the community under study and permits better understanding of the local conditions. The developmental approach proposed for reconstruction presents principles and good practices appropriate for rebuilding the villages in Lebanon in particular and in similar reconstruction contexts in general.     

上海老旧公房管理与运营机制研究

公房是我国计划经济年代的产物,上海直管公房、售后公房在当前管理运营中存在诸多突出问题。公房管理涉及的内容非常宽泛,包括房屋买卖置换、租金费用收缴、邻里纠纷调解、违章搭建处理以及房屋的维修维护等,是改善居民工作与生活环境、提高居住水平的基础工作,也是城市建设和管理的重要内容。完善上海老旧公房管理与运营机制,应提高物业费收缴率,加强物业管理企业自身建设,健全公房服务收费机制,加强相关政策法规的执行力度,加大政府投入,完善业主大会自治机制等。