Flow Coordination and Information Sharing in Supply Chains: Review,Implications, and Directions for Future Research

Advances in information technology, particularly in the e‐business arena, are enabling firms to rethink their supply chain strategies and explore new avenues for inter‐organizational cooperation. However, an incomplete understanding of the value of information sharing and physical flow coordination hinder these efforts. This research attempts to help fill these gaps by surveying prior research in the area, categorized in terms of information sharing and flow coordination. We conclude by highlighting gaps in the current body of knowledge and identifying promising areas for future research.     

The Role of Organizational and Information Technology Antecedents in Reengineering Initiation Behavior*

Business Process Reengineering (BPR) has been a major catalyst of the pervasive organizational change we have witnessed over the past decade. Although one can speculate on the reasons for the popularity of this phenomenon, it is important that we carefully examine its underlying antecedents for initiation, implementation, and ultimately success, if we are to add value to practitioners of this concept. This study empirically examines the importance of facets of the organizational structure, IT knowledge resources and infrastructure, and the IS function in the initiation of BPR. Data from 313 corporations were gathered using a carefully validated survey, and initiators were compared with noninitiators. The results strongly suggest that client-server architectures, the strategic integration of IS, and cross departmental interaction are among the more important factors facilitating initiation and can be important inputs in a BPR decision-making process. The study attempts to build a contingent theory for BPR, and the more sustainable notion of fundamental process change.     

The Role of Innovation Characteristics and Perceived Voluntariness in the Acceptance of Information Technologies

The often paradoxical relationship between investment in information technology and gains in productivity has recently been attributed to a lack of user acceptance of information technology innovations. Diverse streams of research have attempted to explain and predict user acceptance of new information technologies. A common theme underlying these various research streams is the inclusion of the perceived characteristics of an innovation as key independent variables. Furthermore, prior research has utilized different outcomes to represent user acceptance behavior. In this paper we focus on individual's perceptions about the characteristics of the target technology as explanatory and predictive variables for acceptance behavior, and present an empirical study examining the effects of these perceptions on two frequently used outcomes in the context of the innovation represented by the World Wide Web. The two outcomes examined are initial use of an innovation and intentions to continue such use in the future, that is, to routinize technology use. Two research questions motivated and guided the study. First, are the perceptions that predict initial use the same as those that predict future use intentions? Our results confirm, as hypothesized by prior research, that innovation characteristics do explain acceptance behavior. The results further reveal that the specific characteristics that are relevant for each acceptance outcome are different. The second research question asks if perceived voluntariness plays a role in technology acceptance. Results show that external pressure has an impact on adopters' acceptance behavior. Theoretical and practical implications that follow are presented.     

农村住户调查县级样本代表性评估方法研究

 全国农村住户调查县级样本在1984年抽选后几未改变,在全国农村住户新一轮样本轮换中对其代表性进行评估非常必要,因此研究开发县级样本代表性评估方法有重要意义。本文利用第二次全国农业普查和县市统计数据,以甘肃省为例,通过分析调查县样本特性、考察调查县的收入分布和地域分布,探索调查县农民收入水平对所在省农民收入水平代表性的评估与调查县调整方法。     

中国投资者的风险偏好

 投资者如何分配家庭资产,为个体的风险偏好研究提供了重要的信息。本文采用奥尔多投资研究中心《城市投资者行为调查问卷》的调查结果,从投资者对风险资产需求这一角度,详细研究哪些因素会显著影响投资者的风险偏好,以及不同群体投资者风险偏好的异质性问题。研究结果表明：投资者的财富水平、受教育程度、健康状况、收入水平和是否抚养小孩都是影响投资者风险偏好的重要因素。同时,不同群体风险偏好的表现有差异。研究中国投资者风险偏好的异质性,可以为进一步研究投资者的金融资产决策、储蓄行为、财富积累过程以及不同群体对宏观经济政策的反应提供依据。     

统计数据项目、发布渠道与用户质量感知

 通过实施统计用户满意度调查,测量统计用户对于政府统计部门所生产各类统计数据项目的综合质量感知,及其在主要发布渠道的具体质量感知状况。基于调查数据的分析结果表明：各类统计数据项目的综合用户质量感知水平存在较为明显的差异,用户质量感知与其使用频率之间保持了一定的正相关关系;而各类统计项目在不同发布渠道的具体质量表现也不尽相同。据此可以有效确立统计数据质量管理工作的重点环节。     

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.     

抽样调查中的权数问题研究

用样本数据推断总体,权数的作用十分重要。使用权数,不仅能将样本还原到总体,还能调整样本结构,使其与总体结构相一致,因此正确的使用权数是我们进行统计推断的基础。本文系统阐述了抽样调查分析中权数的获取过程,以及后期对初始权数调整过程。由于权数是把双刃剑,在提高精度的同时,有可能提高估计量的误差,本文提出了对权数进行评估的方法,研讨如何对权数进行控制,最后根据我国综合社会调查项目（CGSS）的数据进行实证分析,按照所给方法不仅能提高估计精度,而且能够降低抽样推断中的权效应。     

Importance sampling for signal extraction model in time series analysis

In time series analysis, signal extraction model (SEM) is used to estimate unobserved signal component from observed time series data. Since parameters of the components in SEM are often unknown in practice, a commonly used method is to estimate unobserved signal component using the maximum likelihood estimates (MLEs) of parameters of the components. This paper explores an alternative way to estimate unobserved signal component when parameters of the components are unknown. The suggested method makes use of importance sampling (IS) with Bayesian inference. The basic idea is to treat parameters of the components in SEM as a random vector and compute a posterior probability density function of the parameters using Bayesian inference. Then IS method is applied to integrate out the parameters and thus estimates of unobserved signal component, unconditional to the parameters, can be obtained. This method is illustrated with a real time series data. Then a Monte Carlo study with four different types of time series models is carried out to compare a performance of this method with that of a commonly used method. The study shows that IS method with Bayesian inference is computationally feasible and robust, and more efficient in terms of mean square errors (MSEs) than a commonly used method.     

Estimation of population mean and variance in flock management: a ranked set sampling approach in a finite population setting

Ranked set sampling is a sampling technique that provides substantial cost efficiency in experiments where a quick, inexpensive ranking procedure is available to rank the units prior to formal, expensive and precise measurements. Although the theoretical properties and relative efficiencies of this approach with respect to simple random sampling have been extensively studied in the literature for the infinite population setting, the use of ranked set sampling methods has not yet been explored widely for finite populations. The purpose of this study is to use sheep population data from the Research Farm at Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey, to demonstrate the practical benefits of ranked set sampling procedures relative to the more commonly used simple random sampling estimation of the population mean and variance in a finite population. It is shown that the ranked set sample mean remains unbiased for the population mean as is the case for the infinite population, but the variance estimators are unbiased only with use of the finite population correction factor. Both mean and variance estimators provide substantial improvement over their simple random sample counterparts.