Optimal acceptance sampling policy considering Bayesian risks

In this paper, we propose a sampling policy considering Bayesian risks. Various definitions of producer's risk and consumer's risk have been made. Bayesian risks for both producer and consumer are proven to give better information to decision-makers than classical definitions of the risks. So considering the Bayesian risk constraints, we seek to find optimal acceptance sampling policy by minimizing total cost, including the cost of rejecting the batch, the cost of inspection, and the cost of defective items detected during the operation. Proper distributions to construct the objective function of the model are specified. In order to demonstrate the application of the proposed model, we illustrate a numerical example. Furthermore, the results of the sensitivity analysis show that lot size, the cost of inspection, and the cost of one defective item are key factors in sampling policies. The acceptable quality level, the lot tolerance proportion defective, and Bayesian risks also affect the sampling policy, but variations of acceptable quality level and producer Bayesian risks, for values more than a specified value, cause no changes in sampling policy.     

Quality management and performance: a comparison between the UK and Turkey

Purpose: The aim of this article is to detail the correlation between quality management, specifically its tools and critical success factors, and performance in terms of primary operational and secondary organisational performances.

Design/methodology/approach: Survey data from the UK and Turkey were analysed using exploratory factor analyses, structural equation modelling and regression analysis.

Findings: The results show that quality management has a significant and positive impact on both primary and secondary performances; that Turkish and UK attitudes to quality management are similar; and that quality management is widely practised in manufacturing and service industries but has more statistical emphasis in the manufacturing sector. The main challenge for making quality management practice more effective lies in an appropriate balanced use of the different sorts of the tools and critical success factors.

Originality/value: This study takes a novel approach by: (i) exploring the relationship between primary operational and secondary organisational performances, (ii) using service and manufacturing data and (iii) making a cross-country comparison between the UK (a developed economy) and Turkey (a developing economy).

Limitations: Detailed contrast provided between only two countries.     

Gender,polychronicity, and the work–family interface: is a preference for multitasking beneficial?

This study examined how polychronicity, or the preference to do several things concurrently, was related to work and family overload, work–family conflict, and outcomes in the work, family, and life domains (i.e. turnover intent, family, and life satisfaction). Using conservation of resources theory as a framework, polychronicity was conceptualized as a resource that could be used to reduce work and family overload. The participants were 553 employed parents from Canada and the US. Results indicated that polychronicity was related to lower work overload. Lower work overload was related to lower work interference with family conflict, lower turnover intent, and higher family and life satisfaction. We also examined gender differences and found that, although women scored significantly higher than men on family overload and family satisfaction, and significantly lower than men on life satisfaction, there was no mean gender difference on polychronicity. In addition, the path coefficients in the model were not significantly different for men and women.     

On the ratio of two independent skewnesses

In many fields, the researchers are interested in making inferences about the ratio of skewnesses in two independent populations. In the present paper, the asymptotic distribution for the ratio of the sample skewnesses in two independent populations is established. Then the asymptotic distribution is used to derive the asymptotic confidence interval and to test the hypothesis for the ratio of population's skewnesses. Finally, the applicability of the proposed method is investigated through Monte Carlo simulations.