Information-Processing Alternatives for Coping with Manufacturing Environment Complexity

Investment in information systems and technology is often justified as a necessary strategy for coping with the increased complexity and information needs of today/s manufacturing environments. However, the world class manufacturing paradigm suggests that increased complexity is not always necessary to meet the needs of markets and customers. Galbraith/s (1973, 1977) seminal information-processing model is applied to a manufacturing environment, supported by the world class manufacturing paradigm, to test the role of various information-processing alternatives for coping with increased environmental complexity. Moderated regression and multiple discriminant analysis are used to test hypotheses in a sample of 164 manufacturing plants. Environmental complexity was found to be related to manufacturing performance for each of the five dependent variables. This relationship was moderated by at least one information-processing alternative for each dependent variable, including self-contained tasks, lateral relations, and environmental management strategies for reducing manufacturing, supplier, and goal diversity. Investments in information systems and reduction of labor and customer diversity did not moderate this relationship. Practices that were found to be particularly effective in moderating this relationship included the use of multifunctional employees, communication of manufacturing strategy, coordination of decision making, product design simplicity, reduction of parts counts, supervisory interaction facilitation, recruiting and selection for flexible employees, JIT practices, blanket purchase orders, and strong customer relationships.     

The impact of learning opportunities and decision authority on occupational health

In an investigation of 418 employees in the Norwegian Postal Service, employees with high learning opportunities and high decision authority were found to be better off on psychological functioning, health and organizational outcome variables than employees with low scores on these variables. Decision authority and learning opportunities had specific and independent impact on subjective health, psychological functioning, coping style and organizational outcome variables. There were, however, also interaction effects between demands, learning opportunities, and decision authority on subjective health. Learning opportunities and decision authority were operationalized with a questionnaire, supplemented with questions on the opportunities to learn skills beyond the present job situation. It is suggested that this is a particularly important dimension for coping with the present day rapid changes in working life, where the objective for many workers will be to broaden their repertoire and competence to increase their flexibility in the labour market.     

The Job Demands-Job Control Model and absence behaviour: results of a 3-year longitudinal study

Empirical results of earlier studies only marginally supported the relevance of Karasek's Job Demands-Job Control Model for absence behaviour. Since longitudinal studies with respect to these relations were largely lacking, a four-wave panel study was carried out using data from 1755 male employees of a technical maintenance firm in the public sector. Job demands, job control, physical working conditions, and the employee's age, education, and health were measured in one year and absenteeism in the same year and in the next 3 years. Data were analysed with linear regression and Poisson regression techniques. The Poisson regression technique was superior to the linear regression technique in explaining absence. Age, health and prior absence were the best predictors of later absence behaviour. With respect to the Job Demands-Job Control Model, the main findings of the study were (1) that job control was significantly associated with a low number of simultaneous and later absence days, and (2) that, contrary to expectations, job demands were also related to a low number of simultaneous and later absence days. These results hold when age, health, education, prior absence, and working conditions are controlled for. Job control and job demands did not predict later absence frequency. In the discussion it is suggested that a high level of job demands may not only be harmful for the well-being of employees but also work as 'a pressure to attend'.     

关于城镇人口就业的发展趋势与人口控制

本文阐述了人口就业在机制、渠道、就业压力等方面的发展趋势,并提出了顺应发展需要所必须选择的人口控制的若干措施和建议     

Integration Between Business Planning and Information Systems Planning: Validating a Stage Hypothesis

This paper proposes and empirically validates a stages of growth model for the evolution of Information Systems Planning (ISP). A questionnaire survey of senior IS executives is used to gather information pertaining to the stages of growth model, which includes measurement of the nature and level of integration between business planning (BP) and ISP. The del test is used to validate empirically benchmark variables for each stage of BP-ISP integration. The results support the stages of growth model of BP-ISP integration and the benchmark variables are generally found to be successful in predicting the stage of integration.     

The effect of autocorrelation on the ewma maxmin tolerance limits

Amin et al. (1999) developed an exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) control chart, based on the smallest and largest observations in each sample. The resulting plot of the extremes suggests that the MaxMin EWMA may also be viewed as smoothed tolerance limits. Tolerance limits are limits that include a specific proportion of the population at a given confidence level. In the context of process control, they are used to make sure that production will not be outside specifications. Amin and Li (2000) provided the coverages of the MaxMin EWMA tolerance limits for independent data. In this article, it is shown how autocorrelation affects the confidence level of MaxMin tolerance limits, for a specified level of coverage of the population, and modified smoothed tolerance limits are suggested for autocorrelated processes.     

浅析高校后勤社会化财务内控体系

目前,我国高校后勤社会化财务内部控制制度存在着理论滞后、实践不一的问题,解决这些问题应遵循合法性原则、成本效益原则、稳定性与灵活性相结合原则、全面性原则、规范化,程序化原则,采取完善内部控制制度,加大内部监控力度;完善外部监督机制,发挥外部监督作用;适时进行审首行动;果断采取有效隔离内部控制的对策,从而提高高校后勤社会化财务内部控制的有效性,使高校后勤财务内部控制制度能真正更好地保证我国高校后勤社会化的顺利、健康、快速发展。     

示范性数控技术专业建设探索与实践

总结了过去几年来数控技术专业的办学经验和办学成果,找到存在的不足,并对今后的专业建设和教学改革提出了工作设想和未来展望。     

新资本结构理论综述

随着资本结构研究的深入,理论界进一步放宽MM定理的基本假设。以Jensen,Myers,Ross,Leland,Harris,Hart等学者为代表的新资本结构理论引入最新的研究方法,对资本结构展开分析。本文按照新资本结构理论发展的历史轨迹,全面评述了资本结构理论中最为重要的各种理论,同时系统地描述了各有关理论的基本内容。     

日本内部控制准则的特色及其实施情况分析

财政部等五部委发布《企业内部控制基本规范》及其配套指引后,我国内部控制准则体系的建设取得了阶段性成果,但也体现出诸如信息生产力无法满足信息需求、理论与实务无法完美融合的矛盾.为此有必要借鉴日本的内部控制准则的特点及首次执行的实际情况,结合我国国情,提出着眼于现实、降低准则执行成本;明确目标,重视过程;编写案例,充分尊重企业创意;加强企业对披露“重大缺陷”的认识等,为我国内部控制实务提出建议.