An Integrative,Experiential Approach to Production Management Education

This paper addresses the important relationship between production and operations management (POM) and information technology. An approach to POM education is presented in which information technology is used to create an experiential learning environment that integrates the topics taught in POM courses. Results of an implementation of the proposed approach are presented and implications are discussed for POM education.     

A Comparative Analysis of Master Production Scheduling Techniques for Assemble-To-Order Products

This paper studies the master production scheduling (MPS) activity of manufacturing firms that produce assemble-to-order (ATO) products. It describes four techniques for master scheduling ATO products: end-product bills, modular bills, super bills, and percentage bills. These procedures are compared in terms of the percentage of customer orders delivered late, the mean tardiness of customer order deliveries, and the total cost of inventory using simulation analysis. The results indicate that the performance of an MPS technique is affected by the level of uncertainty of the end products' demands and the degree of component commonality in the product structure. In particular, modular bills produce the highest customer service level and super bills produce the lowest total inventory cost under most operating conditions. The conclusions also suggest that the choice of a particular MPS technique is often a compromise between the benefits of improved MPS performance and the costs of implementing and executing the MPS system.     

Understanding Persistent Food Insecurity: A Paradox of Place and Circumstance

Survey data from a U.S. Department of Agriculture funded multi-state longitudinal project revealed a paradox where rural low-income families from states considered prosperous were persistently more food insecure than similar families from less prosperous states. An examination of quantitative and qualitative data found that families in the food insecure states were more likely to experience greater material hardship and incur greater housing costs than families in the food secure states. Families in the food insecure states, however, did not have lower per capita median incomes or lower life satisfaction than those in the food secure states. A wide range of strategies to cope with food insecurity reported by families in both food insecure and food secure states was examined using the Family Ecological Systems Theory. Families in the food insecure states used several risky consumption reduction strategies such as curbing their appetite and using triage. Families in the food secure states, on the other hand, employed positive techniques involving their human capital.

论两种生产学说之为彻底的唯物史观一元论——重读《家庭、私有制和国家的起源》

自《起源》一问世,批评者就一直认为,马克思的历史唯物主义只是把物质资料生产视为历史中的决定性因素,恩格斯主张"生产本身又有两种",就是二元论。其实,恩格斯关于两种生产的学说恰巧是最彻底的历史唯物主义一元论,因为被唯物史观视之为历史中的决定性因素的并不是物质资料生产,而是物质生活生产;而所谓"物质生活生产",也就是作为辩证综合的人类自身生产与物质资料生产这样"两种生产"。     

Understanding material deprivation: A comparative European analysis

In this paper, taking advantage of the inclusion of a special module on material deprivation in EU-SILC 2009, we provide a comparative analysis of patterns of deprivation. Our analysis identifies six relatively distinct dimensions of deprivation with generally satisfactory overall levels of reliability and mean levels of reliability across countries. Multi-level analysis based on 28 European countries reveals systematic variation in the importance of within and between country variation for a range of deprivation dimensions. The basic deprivation dimension is the sole dimension to display a graduated pattern of variation across countries. It also reveals the highest correlations with national and household income, the remaining deprivation dimensions and economic stress. It comes closest to capturing an underlying dimension of generalized deprivation that can provide the basis for a comparative European analysis of exclusion from customary standards of living. A multilevel analysis revealed that a range of household characteristics and household reference person socio-economic factors were related to basic deprivation and controlling for contextual differences in such factors allowed us to account for substantial proportions of both within and between country variance. The addition of macro-economic factors relating to average levels of disposable income and income inequality contributed relatively little further in the way of explanatory power. Further analysis revealed the existence of a set of significant interactions between micro socio-economic attributes and country level gross national disposable income per capita. The impact of socio-economic differentiation was significantly greater where average income levels were lower. Or, in other words, the impact of the latter was greater for more disadvantaged socio-economic groups. Our analysis supports the suggestion that an emphasis on the primary role of income inequality to the neglect of differences in absolute levels of income may be misleading in important respects.     

家园精神之创造——东阳民居文化初探

东阳民居将特定的自然审美取向、宗法血缘亲情、伦理品格教化、地方民俗特色等文化观念与有形的民居形态、空间布局、装饰手法紧密结合 ,赋予其自身深层的文化内涵 ,营造至亲、至善的家园精神。     

论柳宗元的传记文学思想

文章主要从传记写作的宗旨、传记材料的搜集、传记作家的职责及其新颖的传记文体观四个方面论述了柳宗元的传记文学思想 ,并认为柳宗元的传记文学思想具有一定的系统性 ,对丰富我国古代的传记文学理论作出了卓越的贡献     

无机非金属材料工程专业英语教学改革与实践

分析目前无机非金属材料专业英语教学模式中存在的问题,并从教育管理、教材建设、师资队伍、教学方法、考核方式等方面探讨了教改的途径,以实现材料专业英语教学过程中的素质教育。     

Assessing the Measurement and Structure of Material Hardship in the United States

Previous attempts to measure material well-being or hardship have not made clear the relationship of individual items to the broader concept of hardship. The current study used the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), a large-scale U.S. survey with a large number of questions on the material circumstances of households to create a measurement model of hardship that takes this relationship into account. A higher-order model with five-first-order factors: consumer durables, resources available to meet needs, housing conditions, neighborhood problems and crime, and community services, and a single second-order factor hardship fit the data well, with the “Housing” and “Neighborhood” first-order factors most strongly related to the higher-order hardship construct. Despite our attempts to tie the hardship measures to objective conditions, subjective evaluations were strongly related to most of the factors.

Social Metabolism and Labour in a Local Context: Changing Environmental Relations on Trinket Island

From a material and energetic perspective, this paper outlines the patterns of society-nature interactions of a local horticultural, hunter-and-gatherer population that lives on a remote island between India and Indonesia. Based on empirical research, we present several indicators to show an economic portfolio of a local society that combines horticulture, hunting and gathering activities with elements of industrialisation and market economy. In describing these environmental relations, the study narrows its focus to the use of three socio-ecological concepts, namely socio-economic metabolism, colonising natural processes, and the energetic return on investment. Using these concepts, we show the dynamics of social and environmental transformation at a local level and the consequences this may have for sustainability.