Build–operate–transfer (BOT): an emerging entry mode for service offshoring

Build–operate–transfer (BOT) is a well-established solution used in the engineering and construction industries for building different types of infrastructure (e.g. railways, highways, power plants). In recent years, BOT has increasingly been adopted by companies in the service industry as a mode for entering foreign markets. BOT in service offshoring (SO) is characterised by a number of significant peculiarities (e.g. different numbers of involved parties, fee methods, lengths of the concession period), which may call into question the possibility of extending existing findings that relate to infrastructure projects. The aims of this work are as follows: to collect and systematise existing knowledge on engineering and construction BOT projects; to highlight – through an exploratory case study – how these results could be applied to BOT in SO; and to shed light on the factors affecting the choice between different entry modes (including BOT).     

The Integration of Cost and Capacity Considerations in Material Requirements Planning Systems

Within the sequential framework of material requirements planning (MRP), a master production schedule (MPS) of end-item production is prepared and a bill-of-material processor is used to convert the MPS into a plan for needed subassemblies, parts, and materials. This study examines the impact of different procedures for considering inventory-related costs and capacity limitations in the two phases of planning: master production scheduling and bill-of-material (BOM) processing. A total of nine procedures are considered for integrating the two phases of planning. The results indicate that the integrated procedures have a significant effect on the trade-offs among inventory-related costs, work load variations, over/under time costs, and excess work loads. Further, the results suggest that the method used to develop the MPS has the primary influence on these trade-offs, but the method used by the BOM processor can sometimes have a moderating effect.     

HEURISTIC LOT-SIZING APPROACHES FOR DEALING WITH MRP SYSTEM NERVOUSNESS

We develop and test ways for modifying the Silver-Meal and part-period-balancing lot-sizing procedures to include the costs of schedule changes in response to changes in demand estimates. These modifications tend to reduce MRP system nervousness. We compare the performance of these approaches with the modified Wagner-Whitin algorithm, which we have shown is optimal for static conditions. We find that the modified SilverMeal approach is only slightly more costly than the modified Wagner-Whitin technique and that the modified part-period-balancing approach performs both poorly and erratically.     

AN EVALUATION OF SEQUENCING RULES FOR AN ASSEMBLY SHOP

Research relating to sequencing rules in simple job shops has proliferated, but there has not been a corresponding proliferation of research evaluating similar sequencing rules in more complex assembly job shops. In a simple job shop, all operations are performed serially; but an assembly shop encompasses both serial and parallel operations. As a result of the increased complexity of assembly shops, the results associated with the performance of sequencing rules in simple job shops cannot be expected for an assembly shop. In this paper, 11 sequencing rules (some of which are common to simple job shops and some decigned specifically for assembly shops) are evaluated using a simulation analysis of a hypothetical assembly shop. The simulation results are analyzed using an ANOVA procedure that identifies significant differences in the results of several performance measures. Sensitivity analysis also is performed to determine the effect of job structure on the performance of the sequencing rules.     

An Experimental Analysis of Capacity-Sensitive Setup Parameters for MRP Lot Sizing

Most material requirements planning (MRP) systems apply standard costing (absorption costing) approaches to define setup costs that are used as fixed (time invariant) setup parameters in single-level lot-sizing methods. This paper presents a computationally simple approach for estimating more appropriate setup parameters based on estimates of work-center shadow prices. These setup parameters then are used in traditional single-level MRP lot-sizing procedures. The shadow price of capacity at each work center is calculated as the increase in the overall inventory carrying cost for each additional hour of capacity lost to setups. The opportunity cost of a setup for an order subsequently is determined based on the routing information for each order and is used by traditional MRP lot-sizing procedures to calculate lot sizes. A simulation experiment compares the performance period order quantity lot sizing with capacity-sensitive setup parameters with the fixed accounting-based setup parameters. The simulation replicates the planning and control functions of a typical MRP system. The results of the experiment show that capacity-sensitive setup parameters can make significant reductions in both carrying cost and lateness and can achieve many of the benefits of optimized production technology in the context of an MRP system.     

Socio-material network analysis: A mixed method study of five European artistic collectives

In this paper, I argue that we can better understand the relationship between social structure and materiality by combining qualitative analysis of practices in shared physical space with statistical analysis. Drawing on the two-mode approach, I treat social and material structures together with the relationship between them as a two-level socio-material network. In a mixed method study, formalized ethnographic data on such networks in five European artistic collectives are subjected to multilevel exponential random graph modelling. It sheds light on how different kinds of interpersonal ties condition the engagement of individuals with similar materiality over time.     

论民间的民事习惯法--宗族法

在中国传统社会里,由于宗族法对婚姻、家庭、人身财产等法律关系进行了全面而又广泛的调整,而婚姻、人身、财产等关系正是民事法律的主要内容,因而宗族法成为宗族内的民事习惯法。它与国家制定法中的有关民事法律规范相辅相成,互相配合成为中国传统民法的一大特征。文章从宗族法的定位、宗族法成为民间民事法的缘由背景以及宗族法作为民间民事法的具体表现这三个方面说明、论证及深化这一特征。     

《材料科学导论》课程内容及教学的改革与实践

根据材料科学日新月异的发展现状以及材料类专业新生的思想特点,阐述了对材料科学导论课程体系进行改革创新,对课程资源进行鉴别、开发和利用,以及处理好传授知识与培养学生的情操和能力的关系等问题.     

试论马克思主义哲学的辩证本体论

马克思主义哲学包含丰富的唯物辩证的本体论思想,是一种辩证本体论。其中,物质本体论是马克思主义哲学的基础本体论,其宗旨是先行地澄明世界的一般前提和基础;人学本体论是马克思主义哲学的主体本体论、其宗旨是先行地澄明马克思主义哲学研究的核心和主题;实践本体论是马克思主义哲学的逻辑本体论,其宗旨是先行地澄明人类社会历史活动的一般前提和基础;社会存在本体论是马克思主义哲学的结构本体论,其宗旨是先行地澄明人类社会历史的一般本质和特征。     

现代本体论视界中的马克思哲学——兼论物质本体论

能否从本体论的角度理解和把握马克思哲学,取决于如何理解本体论。本体论又有传统和现代之别,传统本体论和现代本体论有狭义与广义之分。马克思认为实践就是存在的终极形式、价值的终极基础和认识的终极根源,马克思哲学作为广义的现代本体论是实践本体论。