End-to-end process management: implications for theory and practice

The term ‘end-to-end’ process management is now commonplace in the language and practice of operations. Managers are encouraged to migrate from functional process management to end-to-end process management to realise a range of performance improvements. However, these improvements are often elusive; the specific challenges associated with such a migration are under-researched. This paper uses a cross-sector study to identify the challenges of end-to-end process management and to generate practical managerial guidance. Three areas are identified that demand particular managerial attention: the need to move beyond process mapping, the role of IT in process management and maintaining the process infrastructure as a strategic asset. More significantly, the findings highlight the need for greater conceptual clarity regarding the end-to-end concept itself. The existing literature suggests that scope is the primary differentiator of the end-to-end process – the requirement to manage an extended boundary from customer order through to customer fulfilment. However, this research suggests that the end-to-end concept is more complex, comprising of three core constructs with seven dimensions: scope (boundary conditions, sequence/flow and controls); scale (resources and input/output transformation) and complexity (interrelationships and orientation). End-to-end process management involves much more than an extended boundary. It requires a systemic perspective and clarity regarding controls and transforming resources.     

The role of CEO emotional stability and team heterogeneity in shaping the top management team affective tone and firm performance relationship

In this paper, we aim to bridge the micro-macro divide by addressing continued calls from strategic leadership and affect researchers to examine the black box to consider how CEO characteristics relate to top management team (TMT) affective experiences, and, in turn firm outcomes. We further consider the role of one key contextual factor in this relationship: TMT heterogeneity. We predict that CEO personality, specifically, emotional stability, is positively associated with TMT affective tone. Moreover, we posit that the relationship between TMT affective tone and firm performance depends on TMT task-related heterogeneity, such that positive affective tone benefits firm performance in heterogeneous TMTs, whereas negative affective tone benefits firm performance in homogeneous TMTs. Using a novel methodology that measures key psychological aspects of the CEO and TMT, we examined 50 TMTs from publicly-traded companies to test our predictions. Our findings offer theoretical contributions to the strategic leadership, affect and diversity literatures as well as managerial applications for CEO selection and management and managing diversity in upper echelons.     

英语广告的音韵修辞格及其美学效应

音韵修辞是英语广告中一种常见的修辞方式。各种音韵修辞手段的巧妙运用不仅让消费者迅速地领悟到广告语言的优美,而且还达到对其进行劝购和宣传产品功效的目的。从音韵修辞格在英语广告中的表现形式及其美学效果采探讨其对于广告的传播力和影响力具有很强的实践意义。     

Treatment-competing events in dynamic regimes

A dynamic treatment regime is a sequence of decision rules for assigning treatment based on a patient’s current need for treatment. Dynamic regimes are viewed, by many, as a natural way of treating patients with chronic diseases; that is, treating patients with adaptive, complex, longitudinal treatment regimens. In developing dynamic treatment strategies, treatment-competing events may play an important role in the overall treatment strategy, and their effects on subsequent treatment decisions and eventual outcome should be considered. Treatment-competing events may be defined generally as patient-specific, random events which interrupt the ongoing treatment decision process in a dynamic regime. Treatment-competing events censor later treatment decisions that would otherwise be made on a particular dynamic treatment regime had the competing events not occurred. For example, in therapeutic studies of HIV, physicians may assign treatment based on a patient’s current level HIV1-RNA; this defines a treatment assignment rule. However, the presence of opportunistic infections or severe adverse events may preclude a strict adherence of the treatment assignment rule. In other contexts, the “censoring”-by-death phenomenon may be viewed as an example of a treatment-competing event for a particular dynamic treatment regime. Treatment-competing events can be built into the dynamic treatment regime framework and counting processes are a natural mechanism to facilitate this development. In this paper, we develop treatment-competing events in a dynamic infusion policy, a random dynamic treatment regime where multiple infusion treatments are initiated simultaneously and given continuously over time subject to the presence/absence of a treatment-competing event. We illustrate how our methodology may be used to suggest an estimator for a particular causal estimand of recent interest. Finally, we exemplify our methods in a recent study of patients undergoing coronary stent implantation.     

Efficient estimation for the proportional hazards model with bivariate current status data

We consider efficient estimation of regression and association parameters jointly for bivariate current status data with the marginal proportional hazards model. Current status data occur in many fields including demographical studies and tumorigenicity experiments and several approaches have been proposed for regression analysis of univariate current status data. We discuss bivariate current status data and propose an efficient score estimation approach for the problem. In the approach, the copula model is used for joint survival function with the survival times assumed to follow the proportional hazards model marginally. Simulation studies are performed to evaluate the proposed estimates and suggest that the approach works well in practical situations. A real life data application is provided for illustration.     

团队学习的过程、条件与氛围

组织中的知识分为隐性知识和显性知识两种,团队学习过程就是两种知识相互转化的过程。然而,团队学习过程并不能凭空产生,需要一定条件和氛围。文章将团队学习的条件分为物理空间、虚拟空间和心智空间三种。对团队学习的氛围着重讨论了团队自治、绩效评估与激励系统、团队持续性三个方面。     

《等韵精要》音系性质再认识

学界普遍认为《等韵精要》反映北方官话的语音特点,但就其音系构成上存在分歧,本文认为《等韵精要》大体反映中原官话的语音特点,但也受贾氏存古意识、贾氏方言的影响。割裂贾氏存古意识、清代官话的实际面貌和贾氏方言影响来判断《精要》性质的作法是不全面的。     

意美、音美和形美——许渊冲诗词翻译的理论与实践

许渊冲在汉语诗词外译的实践中认识到,翻译所涉及的两种语言各有劣势、等势和优势,因此在翻译中可运用浅化、等化、深化手段,力求在意似、音似、形似的基础上传达原诗的意美、音美、形美,从而使译者本人和读者都能知之、好之、乐之.这五个三,加上以诗译诗等原则,构成了许渊冲诗词翻译美学体系,而意美、音美、形美实为该体系的核心.许渊冲诗词翻译美学既来源于实践,更为难能可贵的是,他自己在汉语诗词外译中也一直以一贯之.     

Diversity of romantic experiences in late adolescence and their contribution to identity formation

Romance constitutes a central experience in adolescence, which can take several forms including (a) serious romance with a steady partner, (b) casual and short‐lived dating, and (c) pending experiences of romantic thoughts and attempts. Using a three‐way longitudinal design, the present study examined the gender differences and developmental changes of these romantic experiences, and their cross‐lagged associations with identity processes, throughout one year in late adolescence. 389 students (63% girls) filled out questionnaires about their romantic experiences and identity processes. Girls reported more serious romance than did boys, who reported more casual dating and pending experiences. Serious romance increased over the year for both genders whereas casual dating and pending experiences continued to rise only for boys. The cross‐lagged model highlighted that serious romantic experience positively predicted identity commitments and exploration in depth whereas identity exploration in breadth positively predicted casual dating. This pattern was stable over the three time points and across gender and age groups. Overall, this study invites consideration of more diverse romantic experiences than those associated with tangible involvement. We discuss the contribution of romantic experiences to the identity dynamic.