Tactical production and distribution planning with dependency issues on the production process

Tactical production-distribution planning models have attracted a great deal of attention in the past decades. In these models, production and distribution decisions are considered simultaneously such that the combined plans are more advantageous than the plans resolved in a hierarchical planning process. We consider a two-stage production process, where in the first stage raw materials are transformed into continuous resources that feed the discrete production of end products in the second stage. Moreover, the setup times and costs of resources depend on the sequence in which they are processed in the first stage. The minimum scheduling unit is the product family which consists of products sharing common resources and manufacturing processes. Based on different mathematical modelling approaches to the production in the first stage, we develop a sequence-oriented formulation and a product-oriented formulation, and propose decomposition-based heuristics to solve this problem efficiently. By considering these dependencies arising in practical production processes, our model can be applied to various industrial cases, such as the beverage industry or the steel industry. Computation tests on instances from an industrial application are provided at the end of the paper.     

A hybrid approach to configure eco-efficient supply chains under consideration of performance and risk aspects

Formal models that support multi-criteria decision making represent a strongly growing area in sustainable supply chain management research. However, uncertainties and risks are seldom considered in quantitative models for green supply chain (SC) design. The paper at hand suggests a hybrid approach to configure an eco-efficient SC for a new product under consideration of economic and environmental risks. Discrete-event simulation is applied to assess the financial, operational and environmental performance of different SC configuration options while the value-at-risk concept is adapted to evaluate related SC risks. The analytic hierarchy process is employed to solve the resulting multi-criteria decision problem of choosing the best option. The approach is illustrated at a case example of a fast moving consumer goods manufacturer.     

Looking into the ‘black box’ – unlocking the effect of integration on acquisition performance

Extending research on the performance of Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As), this paper seeks to explain how the post-acquisition integration phase affects acquisition performance. Despite extensive research efforts, there remains a scant understanding of how acquisition implementation, particularly in the post-acquisition integration phase, impacts the performance of M&As. Based on an extensive study of eight acquisitions, in this paper, a grounded model detailing the mechanisms by which the post-acquisition integration phase affects acquisition performance is developed. The model posits that integration-related factors do not bear directly upon acquisition performance. Instead, their effect is mediated by functional organizations in both firms. When focusing into these functional mediating dynamics, we observe that integration-related processual, behavioral and cultural factors affect the identified functional mediators in different ways. Going forward, we echo calls for integrated perspectives to the study of M&A and M&A performance in particular.     

学习迁移的系统理论:PPEE理论模型的建构和意义

学习是人类社会永恒的主题。为了更好地利用过去的经验,增强学习效果,个人和组织进行学习迁移具有重要意义。学习迁移是指将在以往通过学习或解决问题所获得的经验,用于解决之后所遇到的问题。本文力图建立系统的学习迁移理论,研究人、问题、环境的因素对于学习迁移的影响。本文采用理论推导的研究方法,在前人研究的基础上,提出相应的理论模型。本文运用系统的观点,构建了学习迁移的PPEE理论模型,认为人的因素、问题的因素、人和问题的交互作用、以及环境的调节作用,会共同影响学习迁移的效果。本理论主要从五个方面论述学习迁移的机制。首先,将人的因素按照不同层面划分为后端基本能力、中端心理过程、前端知识结构,讨论了其各自对学习迁移效果的直接影响。其次,将问题的因素划分为形象相似性和抽象相似性,并根据这两个维度构建了四种问题间关系类型,并探究了其与学习迁移效果之间的关系。第三,同时考虑人的因素和问题的因素,研究了二者之间的互动对于学习迁移效果的影响。第四,将环境因素划分为时间紧迫性和空间重要性两个维度,探讨了人和环境,以及问题和环境之间的互动对学习迁移效果的影响。第五,基于系统整体的方面,研究人、问题、环境三者之间的互动对学习迁移效果的交互影响。本文还认为,该模型不仅适用于个人,也同样适用于团队、组织、地区、甚至国家和社会等各个层面,影响各个层面主体的学习迁移。本文最后总结了研究的理论和实践贡献,并提出了未来研究课题。本文对丰富学习理论、特别是学习迁移理论,以及推动教育和管理实践的发展进步具有重要的意义。     

愿景领导创新和再造高校班级组织管理

高校班级是学生在校最基本的归属单位,为其成员储备将来直接参与社会活动的基本能量。针对当前高校班级管理的松散和无力感,本文将探讨愿景领导的班级组织管理模式,对班级愿景领导过程进行理论构建,以取代以规划和控制为手段的传统的班级管理模式,以求更好地发挥班级的团体育人功能、唤醒学生的生命自觉、培养主动发展之人并塑造优质学习环境及班级气氛。     

基于三角模糊的航空公司安全评估研究

本文在综合考虑航空公司安全影响因素的前提下,建立了安全评估指标体系。由于评估过程中存在的不确定性,故利用模糊层次分析法确定指标体系的权重,基于三角模糊数建立安全评估模型。实证分析表明,利用模糊理论在航空公司安全评估中可以获得较为准确的评价结果。     

From victims to winners: strategies of negotiation among relocated residents in demolition-compensation events in local China

It has been well documented by researchers that in China’s continual quest for modernisation and urbanisation, many urban and rural residents became displaced and portrayed as victims. A more important question however needs to be explored: do evicted residents learn from others to develop strategies to protect themselves from becoming victims? Through in-depth interviews, primary data collection, documentary research, this study has confirmed that for some evicted residents in Southern China’s urban fringes, when their land was appropriated by local government and developers and they were offered resettlement elsewhere, they did not behave passively to accept the terms of compensation dictated. Instead, they actively learnt from other dwellers who were evicted earlier to become well-organised, resourceful, and sophisticated negotiators in bargaining for their compensation. The group of rural residents proved that they could do better than the evicted urban residents, especially in terms of compensation-negotiation.     

西方人类学农民研究综述

农民研究包含了人类学关注的所有多样性和复杂性特征。 在资本主义全球化背景下,农民概念中的复杂性使得对其进行具体分类和厘清尤为必要。 文章通过对国外人类学农民概念及农民研究的梳理,呈现出人类学农民研究的三个重要阶段:对农民的定义经历了从模糊到清晰,从清晰到逐渐被消解,以及当下再小农化的历史进程。 总体而言,农民研究主要围绕文化和政治经济两个方向展开。20世纪以来,农民以不同的形式融入更广泛的社会组织中,农业正在以农民的方式日益重组。     

Transient detailed balance and product form for reaction networks

This paper explores the boundary of the set of reaction networks that have an exact transient (truncated) multidimensional Poisson or product-form distribution for the number of particles of different types. Motivated by the birth–death process, we introduce the notions of transient detailed balance and delay functions, and use these notions to obtain the novel transient product-form distribution in a coagulation-fragmentation process for polymers with a tree-like structure from that of the pure coagulation process.     

Policy instrument affordances: a framework for analysis

The present study uses the concept of technological efficacy derived from ecological psychology and design studies to offer an alternative way of analyzing how policy instruments affect change. Reasoning from this, the paper outlines a framework for analyzing policy instruments in terms of their affordances. We define affordances as the means through which an instrument exerts influence on its intended target audience. Using this approach, we contend that policy instruments may be analyzed as interfaces that organize social relations and create structures of opportunity and/or restrict possibilities for action. We argue that explicating the pathways through which instruments afford or constrain action is a central task for policy analysis. Our proposed framework of analysis builds on the idea that instruments yield effects by facilitating action and learning. We further contend that the actions that an instrument can facilitate or inhibit are determined by specific affordance modalities of the instrument in conjunction with contingencies of the actor and the policy environment. Examples from research policy are used to illustrate some of these effects.