Women,Poverty, and the Microenterprise: Context and Discourse

The article discusses the claims of success of microenterprise development programmes (MDPs) in poverty reduction and gender equality. It also deals with the broader theoretical and methodological issues related to the ways in which context and discourse interact in the assessment of anti‐poverty and gender equity strategies. MDPs are considered among the most viable strategies for helping women overcome poverty and promoting gender equity. However, there has been significant debate over these claims. The relationship between business ownership, poverty reduction and gender empowerment is still to be proved. The article presents the voices of women engaged in a microenterprise (ME) from a context‐informed and discourse analysis perspective, and considers the women's insights about ME as an anti‐poverty and gender empowerment strategy. The findings show a complex picture. On one hand, the new occupational status promises a tangible alternative to multiple personal, social and gender constraints. Additionally, women in the study perceived the ME as a space for self‐definition and as an outlet for expressing their oppressed identities. On the other hand, the findings seriously challenge the capacity of the MDP strategy to promote gender equity and combat poverty among low‐income women. Implications for research and policy are discussed.     

A Risk Analysis Model in Concurrent Engineering Product Development

Concurrent engineering has been widely accepted as a viable strategy for companies to reduce time to market and achieve overall cost savings. This article analyzes various risks and challenges in product development under the concurrent engineering environment. A three‐dimensional early warning approach for product development risk management is proposed by integrating graphical evaluation and review technique (GERT) and failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA). Simulation models are created to solve our proposed concurrent engineering product development risk management model. Solutions lead to identification of key risk controlling points. This article demonstrates the value of our approach to risk analysis as a means to monitor various risks typical in the manufacturing sector. This article has three main contributions. First, we establish a conceptual framework to classify various risks in concurrent engineering (CE) product development (PD). Second, we propose use of existing quantitative approaches for PD risk analysis purposes: GERT, FMEA, and product database management (PDM). Based on quantitative tools, we create our approach for risk management of CE PD and discuss solutions of the models. Third, we demonstrate the value of applying our approach using data from a typical Chinese motor company.     

The eigenstructure of block-structured correlation matrices and its implications for principal component analysis

Block-structured correlation matrices are correlation matrices in which the p variables are subdivided into homogeneous groups, with equal correlations for variables within each group, and equal correlations between any given pair of variables from different groups. Block-structured correlation matrices arise as approximations for certain data sets’ true correlation matrices. A block structure in a correlation matrix entails a certain number of properties regarding its eigendecomposition and, therefore, a principal component analysis of the underlying data. This paper explores these properties, both from an algebraic and a geometric perspective, and discusses their robustness. Suggestions are also made regarding the choice of variables to be subjected to a principal component analysis, when in the presence of (approximately) block-structured variables.     

Influence in covariance structure analysis: with an application to confirmatory factor analysis

Influence functions are derived for the parameters in covariance structure analysis, where the parameters are estimated by minimizing a discrepancy function between the assumed covariance matrix and the sample covariance matrix. The case of confirmatory factor analysis is studied precisely with a numerical example. Comparing with a general procedure called one-step estimation, the proposed procedure has two advantages:1) computing cost is cheaper, 2) the property that arbitrary influence can be decomposed into a fi-nite number of components discussed by Tanaka and Castano-Tostado(1990) can be used for efficient computing and the characterization of a covariance structure model from the sensitivity perspective. A numerical comparison is made among the confirmatory factor analysis and some procedures of ex-ploratory factor analysis by using the decomposition mentioned above.     

从战略成本管理视角分析SD酒店的成本控制问题

酒店经营的最终目标是实现利润最大化,要实现此目标,成本管理是关键.在理解酒店战略成本控制理论的基础上,以SD花园酒店为案例,剖析其企业战略成本控制存在的主要问题,并从现代战略成本控制的视角,提出了改进酒店成本控制的方法与措施.     

基于城市特征分析模型的智慧城市建设需求分析——以新乡市为例

如何在智慧城市建设过程中确定建设需求一直是智慧城市建设的重点与难点,本文通过构建城市特征分析模型,提出从城市特征出发进行比较分析确定智慧城市建设需求的方法。在完成城市特征分析模型的构建后,本文运用这一模型对新乡市智慧城市建设需求进行了分析并给出了相应的解决方案,展现了这一模型的使用方法。     

广州番禺垃圾焚烧发电厂冲突事件分析

发生在2009年的广州番禺垃圾焚烧发电厂公共决策事件,就系统工程冲突分析的视角而言,存在着八种可行结局,局中人广州番禺区政府和当地居民有着不同的偏好向量。从冲突中的稳定性分析可以得出两个整体稳定性结局,一个合作解和一个非合作解,而合作解的实现需要政府认真切实地对待才能实现。     

A Critical Look at Some Analyses of Major League Baseball Salaries

At a data analysis exposition sponsored by the Section on Statistical Graphics of the ASA in 1988, 15 groups of statisticians analyzed the same data about salaries of major league baseball players. By examining what they did, what worked, and what failed, we can begin to learn about the relative strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to analyzing data. The data are rich in difficulties. They require reexpression, contain errors and outliers, and exhibit nonlinear relationships. They thus pose a realistic challenge to the variety of data analysis techniques used. The analysis groups chose a wide range of model-fitting methods, including regression, principal components, factor analysis, time series, and CART. We thus have an effective framework for comparing these approaches so that we can learn more about them. Our examination shows that approaches commonly identified with Exploratory Data Analysis are substantially more effective at revealing the underlying patterns in the data and at building parsimonious, understandable models that fit the data well. We also find that common data displays, when applied carefully, are often sufficient for even complex analyses such as this.     

岩体变形参数的应力状态效应研究

岩体力学参数存在随应力状态不同而变化的特性，称为应力状态效应。岩体力学特性的实测值具有空间场分布特征，分析表明地应力（或围压）的有规律变化是造成岩体力学参数空间变化的主要原因。考虑到实测地应力多具有较大的离散型，尝试利用反演方法获取地应力场信息，通过多元回归分析得到实测岩体变形参数与地应力的经验关系，以研究岩体变形参数的应力状态效应。通过一工程实例研究：得到地下厂房区域的岩体变形模量为16 GPa左右，与反演分析结果也比较符合；通过应力状态效应研究得到的岩体变形参数物理场，是一个渐变的物理场模型，是更为符     

Notes on authors

Social network analysis (SNA), a method which can be used to explore networks in various contexts, has received increasing attention. Drawing on the development of European smoke-free policy, this paper explores how a mixed-method approach to SNA can be utilised to investigate a complex policy network. Textual data from public documents, consultation submissions and websites were extracted, converted and analysed using plagiarism detection software and quantitative network analysis and qualitative data from public documents and 35 interviews were thematically analysed. While the quantitative analysis enabled understanding of the network’s structure and components, the qualitative analysis provided in-depth information about specific actors’ positions, relationships and interactions. The paper establishes that SNA is suited to empirically testing and analysing networks in EU policy-making. It contributes to methodological debates about the antagonism between qualitative and quantitative approaches and demonstrates that qualitative and quantitative network analysis can offer a powerful tool for policy analysis.