Effects of various types of change in shift schedules: A controlled longitudinal study

Abstract

Data from a longitudinal study accompanying changes in shift rotas connected with a shortening of working time in the chemical industry are presented. Altogether 260 subjects forming five experimental groups participated in both the pretest and the posttest. The effects of the change in shift schedules were controlled by the inclusion of five groups in which 139 subjects participated in both tests. Five types of change in shift schedule were investigated. The purpose was to determine to what extent similar, but in some aspects differing, types of change in shift schedule varied from one another in their effects on those involved, and on which factors their attitudes towards the new shift systems depended with regard to various types of schedule change. The effects of a change in shift schedule were tested by means of the 4-group investigation design developed by Solomon (1949). The results confirm that differences in the effects of new shift systems depend on the type of change. Only in three experimental groups were improvements in health and social life observed. One experimental group showed significant signs of deterioration in subjective health. In the analyses of the factors influencing the attitude of the shiftworkers towards the new shift system, differences in the structure of the influencing factors between the experimental groups were observed. The causal analysis was used in order to test how important the factors found in each group were and which of them were dominant. It showed that the most influential factors dominated so much that the disturbances in the less influential ones lost their importance. In spite of the number of indicators analysed regarding their influence on attitude in this study, further important factors seem to exist that have not been analysed here.     

Shop floor characteristics influencing the use of advanced planning and scheduling systems

The purpose of this article is to investigate how the manufacturing process, the shop type and the data quality, i.e. the shop floor characteristics, influence the use of advanced planning and scheduling (APS) systems in production activity and control (PAC). The methodology implemented is a multiple case study at three case companies. Each company has different shop floor characteristics, but all use a scheduling module in an APS system, which supports production scheduling. A theoretical framework is developed suggesting how APS system are used in the PAC activities, and which major aspect to consider. The case analysis shows that the scheduling module in APS system, foremost supports sequencing and dispatching. In particular, the shop type is influenced by the decision of how often the APS runs and what freedom is given to the shop floor. The manufacturing process influences how the dispatch list is created. Contrary to the literature presuming that APS systems are most suitable in job shop processes, it is found that the manufacturing process is not a crucial factor when deciding whether APS systems are an appropriate investment. It is found that the level of data quality needed in the APS system depends to a large extent on how the dispatch list is used. For example, is the dispatch list used as a guideline, not a regulation, the need for accurate data in the module is reduced. This article extends the previous literature concerning APS systems by analysing how APS systems influence PAC as a whole and increase the understanding of the challenges of using APS systems in PAC.     

企业战略三维坐标体系及其风险测度

近年来,简化定量化测量企业管理实践的方法,一直是发达国家研究人员关注的重要课题。以往的定量化测量方法,基于二维测量,而且较复杂,即不变于企业测量,也不能全面描述企业管理实践的现状。文章作者基于长期大型企业集团高级经理人的实践,结合以往学者的研究成果,提出战略理论模型及战略融合度等新概念。文章提出的三维测量方法便于企业自我测量,并能较全面地描述企业管理实践现状及其风险。文章依据战略模型描述的案例,是某大型企业管理实践及其成长的真实案例。文章提出的战略模型及其测量方法,实现了企业管理实践测量方法的创新,丰富了该领域的研究。     

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。     

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 human resources for health planning in developing economies

There is a universal consensus that human resources represent the heart and soul of effective health systems everywhere. However, despite this consensus, human resource planning in low income countries remains a neglected, often poorly implemented and ineffective component of health-system development. The planning exercises that do take place are often inefficient, use inappropriate planning models or fail to adequately prioritize human resource investment decisions. This article briefly discusses possible reasons why this failure occurs and describes four key steps that can help health system planners more effectively prioritize and link human resource for health investment decisions to health system strategy and programmatic initiatives. Implications for human resource development practice and national human resource development are discussed.     

Design of Stockless Production Systems

In make‐to‐stock production systems finished goods are produced in anticipation of demand. By contrast, in stockless production systems finished goods are not produced until demand is observed. In this study we investigate the problem of designing a multi‐item manufacturing system, where there is both demand‐ and production‐related uncertainty, so that stockless operation will be optimal for all items. For the problem of interest, we focus on gaining an understanding of the effect of two design variables: (i) manufacturing speed—measured by the average manufacturing rate or, equivalently, the average unit manufacturing time, and (ii) manufacturing consistency—measured by the variation in unit manufacturing times. We establish conditions on these two variables that decision makers can use to design stockless production systems. Managerial implications of the conditions are also discussed.     

人工智能时代城市的“韧性”与应急管理

在城市应急管理中,强化城市的“承灾能力”和“自恢复能力”,有利于完善现代城市治理体系,提升城市治理现代化水平。从“韧性城市”理论的视角,分析传统城市应急管理的方法和措施在事前预测预警能力、事中处置应对能力和事后恢复重建能力上面临的新问题：应急预警能力有待提高、应急处置措施有待改进、协同应对能力有待加强。我们应抓住人工智能时代科技发展的新机遇,努力做到智能化的预测预警及应急响应,全过程的实时感知及趋势分析,多方面的协同应对与恢复重建,以提高城市应急管理的智能化水平和抵御各种灾害的能力。     

基于Agent和进化博弈的服务商动态联盟协同管理策略研究

基于进化博弈理论,实现了用于服务商动态联盟协同管理工作的多智能体模拟系统,并进行模拟数据分析。扩展传统对称静态博弈为含惩罚参数和协同效率参数的离散进化博弈情形,设计一种含历史信息和近邻特征的群体进化学习规则;在Repast基础上,用java编程实现了多加盟企业进化博弈Agent模拟系统并进行分析。结果表明:agent规模数对平均收益影响小,具有不同决策特征的agent的比例分布能改变企业的平均收益,不同协同率、沟通方式和惩罚参数对期望收益有影响。为电子商务和移动商务环境下的动态联盟管理决策提供参考。     

多维背包问题的二进制蚂蚁算法

针对著名的多维背包问题(MKP), 在蚁群优化系统高维立方体结构的基础上,提出了一种二进制蚂蚁算法(BAS).与其他求解MKP问题的蚂蚁算法不同,BAS根据二进制解的结构设计了特殊的信息素放置方式,同时在算法的迭代过程中允许非可行解的产生,并通过基于问题特征信息的修改算子修复每次迭代所产生的非可行解.BAS算法采用了特殊的信息素更新规则,使得各个选择路径上的信息素可以直接作为选择概率,同时,为了避免算法陷入早熟,BAS设计了简单的局部搜索法,并根据算法所处的不同收敛状况,采用了不同的信息素更新规划和信息素重新初始化的方法.针对MKP基准问题的实验结果表明,BAS具有超越其他蚂蚁算法的求解结果,其求解不同基准测试问题的能力表明了BAS具有解决超大规模MKP问题的潜力.