Implications and Applications of a Behavior Systems Perspective

Improving employee performance in an organization seems to cycle back and forth among six broad approaches. Rather than debate which approach is most effective, the argument is made that each approach is simply one aspect of a larger behavior system. The ultimate answer, then, is to integrate these approaches within an overarching behavior systems perspective. A potential behavior systems perspective is described as well as its implications for employee performance improvement. An expansion of OBM graduate curricula is recommended that includes more diverse improvement strategies.     

Improving the Quality of Staff and Participant Interaction in an Acquired Brain Injury Organization

Weekly observations of direct-care staff in a facility for persons with brain injury yielded less than optimal interactional style with facility residents. Following an observational baseline, staff were asked to self-rate a 15-min video sample of their interaction behavior with participants on their unit. They were then asked to compare their self-ratings to those of a supervisor, as well as view a video exemplar of appropriate positive interaction behavior. Elements of their interactional style were highlighted and specific feedback was provided on how to improve their performance. Interaction style was then reevaluated via an unobtrusive observer and yielded positive gains for all participants. Subsequent on-the-job feedback sustained performance gains.     

Negotiating new meanings of ‘leader’ and envisioning culturally informed theories for developing African-American women in leadership roles: an interview with Patricia S. Parker

The aim of the human resources function (management and development) in the organizational context is to ensure the availability of competent, motivated and learning employees to the firm to facilitate the achievement of its business objectives. The HR function has been quite successful in performing its role in terms of developing capacity, knowledge, attitude and skills of employees. However, in the recent past a shift has been taking place in the expected model role from both the HR function and the HR manager. This new role is that of active partner along with other functionaries like production, finance, marketing, etc., equal if not more important. Therefore, HR is no longer a passive function. This has two implications for the HR managers and practitioners. First, it will require the HR function and persons dealing with it to provide more inputs related to human resources at the strategy formulation level. Second, it will require HR to demonstrate that investment in human resources contributes to business results. However, there is a paucity of empirical work in our country to support the assertion that investments in HR have an impact on firm performance. It is in this context that the present study of eighty-four Indian firms was carried out to answer the question of whether investment in HR contributes to firm performance.     

中国商品期货隔夜信息对日间交易的预测能力

鉴于供应管理对装配系统的重要意义,本文以VMI管理策略和成本共担机制为背景,研究了信息封闭和信息共享两种环境中多供应商对单制造商的库存博弈问题,以及供应商决策对于零部件库存量和供应链利润分配的影响。此外,通过对比集中模式,给出了提高分散模式绩效的两种途径。研究结果表明:在信息封闭时,供应商对较小库存者的不合理预期会导致决策失误,从而同时损害到制造商和供应商的收益。在保证各参与方期望利润不减和博弈均衡解存在的前提下,信息共享和成本共担比例的调节可以提高分散模式的绩效。如果分散决策能够协同为集中决策,那么在延误成本较高时,集中模式应该采取等量的零部件库存策略,而在延误成本较低时,非等量库存策略会更优,这一结论细分了分散模式向集中模式的改进方向。     

An examination of the strategic and operational impact of global sourcing on UK small firms

This paper presents three in-depth case studies of UK small manufacturers from the electronics manufacturing industry with global supply chains. There is no overlap in products, suppliers or customers and over time, each has developed a distinct and different strategy for managing an extended supply chain. The outcomes and experiences though are not markedly different. The operational challenges they encounter around quality and delivery, as well as the strategic dimensions of information asymmetry and capability fit are discussed. The study identifies the financial risks the firms are exposed to, the constraints to innovation and the wider strategic implications for long-term business performance.     

Using vulnerability performance indicators to attain food supply chain robustness

High effectiveness and leanness of modern supply chains (SCs) increase their vulnerability, i.e. susceptibility to disturbances reflected in non-robust SC performances. Both the SC management literature and SC professionals indicate the need for the development of SC vulnerability assessment tools. In this article, a new method for vulnerability assessment, the VULA method, is presented. The VULA method helps to identify how much a company would underperform on a specific Key Performance Indicator in the case of a disturbance, how often this would happen and how long it would last. It ultimately informs the decision about whether process redesign is appropriate and what kind of redesign strategies should be used in order to increase the SC's robustness. The applicability of the VULA method is demonstrated in the context of a meat SC using discrete-event simulation to conduct the performance analysis.     

Performance indicators for collaborative networks based on collaboration benefits

Collaborative networks are typically assumed to bring clear benefits and competitive advantage to the participating members. However, the identification and characterisation of objective and measurable collaboration benefits is an important element for the wide adoption of this paradigm. Departing from a brief categorisation of the intuitive advantages of collaboration, this paper introduces an approach for the analysis of benefits in collaborative processes, introducing a number of performance indicators. The potential application of the indicators derived from this analysis is then discussed in the context of a virtual organisation's breeding environment. Finally, experimental results based on data from two existing collaborative networks are presented and discussed.     

Judicious order acceptance and order release in make-to-order manufacturing systems

This paper explores a two-stage input control system for fixed capacity make-to-order manufacturing systems (with heavy job tardiness penalties), that selectively accepts incoming orders and holds the accepted ones in a pre-shop queue prior to releasing them to the shop floor. Single-stage input control systems that only allow orders to be delayed in a pre-shop queue (i.e. they do not allow some orders to be rejected) have been previously investigated and found to negatively impact overall due-date performance. The hypothesis motivating this research is that judiciously rejecting a subset of incoming orders can prevent the order release queue from being overloaded when a surge of demand occurs. The input control system is evaluated via experiments using a discrete-event simulation model of a fixed capacity manufacturing system. The experiments reported here suggest that holding orders in the pre-shop queue does not improve due date performance, and that judiciously rejecting orders on its own is a viable alternative mechanism of input control that can deliver improved performance.     

Quality management and performance: a comparison between the UK and Turkey

Purpose: The aim of this article is to detail the correlation between quality management, specifically its tools and critical success factors, and performance in terms of primary operational and secondary organisational performances.

Design/methodology/approach: Survey data from the UK and Turkey were analysed using exploratory factor analyses, structural equation modelling and regression analysis.

Findings: The results show that quality management has a significant and positive impact on both primary and secondary performances; that Turkish and UK attitudes to quality management are similar; and that quality management is widely practised in manufacturing and service industries but has more statistical emphasis in the manufacturing sector. The main challenge for making quality management practice more effective lies in an appropriate balanced use of the different sorts of the tools and critical success factors.

Originality/value: This study takes a novel approach by: (i) exploring the relationship between primary operational and secondary organisational performances, (ii) using service and manufacturing data and (iii) making a cross-country comparison between the UK (a developed economy) and Turkey (a developing economy).

Limitations: Detailed contrast provided between only two countries.     

惯性因子跟踪策略的有效性：来自中国股票市场的证据

基于惯性/反转效应普遍存在的现象以及中国股票市场上不能直接实施惯性/反转投资策略的事实,提出能灵活抓住惯性/反转效应的惯性因子跟踪策略。通过建立和求解惯性因子跟踪策略模型,我们发现,在允许卖空的条件下,最优惯性因子跟踪组合满足两基金分离定理,两基金分别是惯性因子模仿组合和最小方差组合。选择沪深300十大行业指数作为风险资产的代表,实证考察惯性因子跟踪组合的业绩,并与等权组合和最小方差组合的业绩进行比较。结果发现：惯性因子跟踪组合可以在保持和等权组合、最小方差组合风险水平相当的情况下带来更高的收益水平和夏普比率,平均而言,惯性因子跟踪组合的年化超额收益率(8.88%)比等权组合的年化超额收益率高出3.7%,夏普比率(0.42)高出0.18;即便在考虑交易成本的情况下,惯性因子跟踪组合的净夏普比率仍然高出等权组合0.16;综合上方获利和下方风险控制两个方面看,惯性因子跟踪组合优于等权组合。惯性因子跟踪策略的有效性相对于惯性因子的计算方法和样本数据选择区间具有稳健性。