Involving constituents in agency priority setting: a case study

Many government agencies have "constituents" who believe the agencies should hear and consider their needs and desires in establishing program priorities. This article describes how one involves interested constituents (consumers, industry, medical professionals, and state organizations) in the agency's annual priority-setting process. This participation has produced a number of beneficial results-some expected and some unexpected.     

The utilization of prevailing evaluation policy in the selection of performance measures

This study considers the problem of inferring a functional evaluation criterion from existing performance measure policies. The objective is to develop a rational basis by which to adaptively evaluate a current best set of performance measures from alternative sets. The analysis is based on a matrix approach for relating system characteristics to performance measures across a set of activities. A procedure for ranking measure combinations which are candidate implementation alternatives is devised using this matrix representation and cost information. An example illustrating the procedure is presented.     

Evaluating employee assistance programs. A review of methods, outcomes, and future directions

Renewed interest in assisting troubled employees has led to an upsurge in the development of employee assistance programs, coupled with demands for demonstrable effectiveness. This review examines the nature and scope of these programs, their administrative and methodological context, and the types and outcomes of evaluation studies conducted thus far. Proposals for improving future investigations through a number of different approaches and strategies are then made.     

On the limiting properties of social indicators

Characteristics of the population and economic measures that constitute traditional social indicators are compared with more recent “quality of life” measures to demonstrate that social indicators are always value statements at the policy level. The possibility of alternative perspectives is illustrated. It is suggested that an awareness of the assumptions implicit in any given indicator is as important as the data they provide.     

Managing Uncertainty through Profit Sharing Contracts from Medieval Italy to Silicon Valley

Organizational innovation is essential to economic development. But, the way successful societies have organized new ventures has been remarkably similar in both past and present. The commenda organizations of medieval Italy shared many characteristics with modern startups that are financed by venture capital. Profit share contracts; limited liability and periodic reevaluations are cases in point. Agency contracts in both types of ventures are designed to absorb the high uncertainty inherent to these enterprises through risk sharing. Uncertainty prohibits a unique ex ante ranking order of investment projects and prompts investors to look for hidden human capital. Equity finance is better equipped to even out unexpected losses and gains that are inherent to uncertainty than debt finance.     

Information and communications technologies, strategic asymmetry and national security

In the history of warfare, there are a number of examples of strategic uses of asymmetric technologies. Consistent with history and theory, individuals, organizations and nations have spotted opportunities to employ information and communications technologies to gain and exploit asymmetric advantages and to counter asymmetric weaknesses. This article discusses various asymmetries associated with institutions, nations and organizations that influence the ICT-national security nexus. Regulative, normative and cognitive institutions in a country provide various mechanisms that affect the nature of positive and negative asymmetries. Nations and organizations also differ in terms of their capability to assimilate ICT tools to gain positive asymmetries and deal with vulnerabilities of negative asymmetries. Integrative approaches that combine policy and technological measures at various levels are likely to make the world more secure.     

网络时代的适时财务监控与公司治理

网络技术应用的普及使传统财务监控的变革已成为公司治理和财务管理的热点话题,本文简要揭示新概念——适时财务监控与公司治理的关系,剖析了公司不同管理层次的适时财务监控的实时需求,从公司治理的基本需要对公司价值流再造、公司信息系统变革和适时财务监控机制重构等三个方面进行了初步研究,为网络适时财务监控在公司治理实务中的应用提供了一个基本框架。     

金融网络的模型和优化

金融网络就是经济系统中资金循环,文献[1-8]研究了金融网络的模型。本文则在文献[1-8]金融网络模型的基础之上,建立了资产、负债、适度规模和价格的改进模型。这一改进模型考虑了所有经济部门的金融工具的风险、金融网络的经济资源约束、资产和负债的会计帐户约束等问题。模型的改进适用于应用。文章采用了进化规划算法,并依此进行仿真实验。     

我国财务危机公司投资行为的财务特征分析

在引入一个简化的理性财务危机公司投资模型的基础上,论文分析了企业陷入财务危机后,债权人与债务人之间在期权博弈过程中,企业在投资策略的选择上会偏离正常的投资行为的财务特征。在此基础上,重点分析了我国经济转轨时期财务危机公司严重地过度投资和在债务重组过程中的盲目性、短期性和功利性及其形成的主要原因。企业的过度投资是内部人控制和银行债权弱化的具体体现,虚假的债务重组是将危机转嫁给企业债权人的真正动因。