INNUMERACY ABOUT MINORITY POPULATIONS

We use a small but nationally representative sample to investigatethe sources of innumeracy regarding the proportion of blacks,Hispanics, and Jews in the U.S. population. In addition to anumber of standard demographic differences, we find that overestimatesare closely related to region as well as to the density of thelocal black/Hispanic population. The extent to which minoritypopulations are perceived as a kind of threat is also relatedto perceived proportions, though the direction of causalitycannot be determined. We discuss the meaningfulness of thesepopulation estimates and speculate on whether trying to improvethem would alter attitudes toward minorities.     

A closed loop automatic scheduling system (CLASS)

Abstract

CLASS is a production scheduling system, that is designed to function in either a stand-alone manner, or in conjunction with an MRP system. MRP systems innately do not have 'closed loop’ capability in the sense of being able to produce master schedules and order releases that are consistent and that respect capacity constraints. True closed loop performance requires detailed scheduling. In addition to interfacing with MRP systems, CLASS is designed to produce schedules that can be used in conventional shops or can be downloaded to automated facilities. The design goals for the system, its internal architecture, and its role in manufacturing control systems are described. The modelling and decision capabilities     

THE IMPACT OF TRADE COSTS ON FIRM ENTRY,EXPORTING, AND SURVIVAL IN KOREA

This study examines how changes in trade costs have affected entry, exit, productivity, and exporting in the Korean manufacturing sector. We verify several predictions of heterogeneous‐firm models of international trade. For example, falling import‐trade costs are associated with less entry and lower market shares among existing domestic firms, and higher total factor productivity for Korean manufacturing as a whole. The size of firms plays an important role in many of our results. New domestic firms are more likely to be small, but large firms are less likely to exit and more likely to have an increase in total factor productivity. (JEL F10, D24)     

FISCAL POLICY AND TRADE ADJUSTMENT: ARE THE DEFICITS REALLY TWINS?

Since the mid 1980s, an extensive emprical literature has examined the relationship between U.S. Fiscal deficits, exchange rates, and trade balances. We investigate two questions that continue to spark debate: do increased government deficits casue doller appreciation, and do fiscal deficits lead to higher trade deficits (the popular ‘twin deficit’ notion)? We examine these issues fusing a five-variable VAR system, generating posterior probability bounds to assess significance. Our result provide some evidence that growing goverment deficits apperciate the dollar, and support the “twin deficit” notion that government deficits contrinute to trade deficits.     

DO SOCIAL PREFERENCES INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY? FIELD EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE FROM FISHERMEN IN TOYAMA BAY

In addition to showing that student measures of social preference, a concern for outcomes achieved by other reference agents, are quite different from those obtained in the field with participants who face social dilemmas in their daily lives, we find links between the social preferences of our field participants and their productivity at work. We also find that the field stock of social preferences evolves endogenously with respect to how widely team production is utilized. Because the link between productivity and social preference is strong, we provide a reason for the wider economics profession to take notice of social preferences. (JEL C93, D21, D24, H41, J24, M52, Z13)     

Stakeholder Actions and Their Impact on the Organizational Cultures of Two Tobacco Companies

We link the behaviors of executives and lawyers in two tobacco companies, in defending their tobacco products to the actions of stakeholders (e.g., the U.S. Government and Congress, medical researchers, consumers, public‐health organizations, tobacco‐control advocates, and insiders who have spoken out). Included in our analysis, which is based on publicly available documents spanning over a period of almost six decades, are critical incidents in which moral disengagement tactics were applied in the decision‐making process. We infer that the disengagement tactics applied by tobacco decision makers are indicative of what Schein and other organizational scientists describe as organizational culture. We equate the critical incidents to the espoused beliefs and values and underlying assumptions which comprise organizational culture and explain that the cultures of these two tobacco companies are not consistent with the stakeholder theory of management. We conclude that the critical incidents we analyze were immoral and the representatives were indeed accountable for these behaviors. From an organizational change perspective, we discuss how analyzing these critical incidents can serve to assess the extent to which an organizational culture is ethical. Furthermore, these critical incidents can be fed back to organizational decision makers and can then be used to initiate organizational changes.     

POM TEACHING AND RESEARCH IN THE 21st CENTURY

We offer a view of operations management in the future based on a mapping of the field's history. We discuss issues raised by this view of the future that we expect will affect those who will teach and conduct research in operations management.     

MANUFACTURING PROCESS TECHNOLOGY and SUPPORT STAFF COMPOSITION: AN EMPIRICAL VIEW OF INDUSTRY EVIDENCE

Despite the attention given to restructuring and trimming down manufacturing firms during the 198Os, little attention has been paid to the mix of skills they needed under different circumstances. We examined the patterns of employment by occupation in manufacturing industries utilizing different production technologies and the effect of establishment size on nonproduction employment. We found that a relationship exists between production technology and nonproduction employment per 100 production workers. Establishment size is found to be a moderator between nonproduction employment and production technology. Our findings imply two clear messages for managers. First, when considering major changes in production technology, managers should be aware that the supporting skills they will need from their nonproduction work force are likely to change greatly. Further, these changes involve technical and managerial workers as well as clerical and production support people. Second, they should restructure the functional or occupational mix of an organization in the context of the process technologies in place. Different process technologies require different structures.     

GLOBAL JOB SHOP SCHEDULING WITH A GENETIC ALGORITHM

This paper describes a global job shop scheduling procedure that uses a genetic algorithm to find a good schedule. Unlike previously considered algorithms, this procedure has been implemented in the scheduling system for a manufacturing facility and has led to improved scheduling. This facility is a semiconductor test area. The test area is a job shop and has sequence-dependent setup times at some operations. The concern of management is to meet their customer due dates and to increase throughput. This requires the coordination of many resources, a task beyond the ability of simple dispatching rules. We discuss a centralized procedure that can find a good schedule through the use of a detailed scheduling model and a genetic algorithm that searches over combinations of dispatching rules. We discuss our effort in developing a system that models the shop, creates schedules for the test area personnel, and makes a number of contributions to test area management.