FORRIDGE - Principles of good practice in material flow

The post World War II Industrial Revolution has driven production away from the old 'economies of scale' to the new 'economies of scope'. Apparently Japanese led, the associated roots of present good practice on material flow can be traced back in the USA to Jay Forrester and in the UK to Jack Burbidge. Specifically, in the supply chain scenario, Forrester exposed the importance of system structure in relating and integrating information flow with material flow. Similarly Burbidge led the way in exploiting cycle time reduction, synchronization of orders throughout the chain, simplified product structures, and streamlined component flows. This paper unites their contributions to material flow engineering and shows how present day system design methodologies incorporate their ideas on best practice. These principles are particularly relevant to the product delivery process (PDP) which governs material flow in supply chains.     

Personal development plans supporting employee learning and perceived performance: the moderating role of self-directedness

Due to developments in the current dynamic business environment which is more global and competitive than ever, employees’ lifelong learning and the way organizations support their continuous development are pivotal. Many organizations introduce personal development plans (PDPs) to support employees’ learning, however, not always taking into account their personal characteristics. This study had a twofold purpose as it was designed to explore on the one hand the relationship between PDPs in the workplace with employee’s undertaking of learning activities and perceived performance, and on the other hand the possible moderating role of employee self-directedness on this relationship. For this study, data collected by means of a questionnaire at two different organizations were used, one organization foregoing profit and one non-profit activity. The results indicated significant positive relations between the individual supporting factor ‘employee learning and reflection’ and the undertaking of learning activities and perceived performance and between employee self-directedness and the undertaking of learning activities and perceived performance. The same accounted for the moderating effect of employee self-directedness on the interaction between learning and reflection and perceived performance. Some findings were surprising, nevertheless resulted in valuable insights and implications for practice.     

求解带时间窗的装-卸载问题的概率式禁忌搜索算法

本文介绍一个求解有时间窗的装载—卸载问题的概率式禁忌搜索算法。论文首先回顾了求解VRP、PDP问题的主要方法,介绍了搜索算法的基本概念,给出了基于概率式禁忌搜索的详细算法。初步实验表明新算法优于传统禁忌搜索算法。     

谈高校教学中多媒体课件建设

通过分析新时期高校课程与教学发展的趋势,强调课件建设在教学设计中的重要意义,指出由于计算机技术的广泛应用,CAI作为现代工具极大地改进了原有的教学模式,使现代教育形式多样、风格各异,使课件具有更强的针对性、实用性和先进性.     

Did the Puerto Rico Project Have Consequences? A Personal View

Those of us who participated as fieldworkers in the Puerto Rico Project gathered regularly at the University of Puerto Rico (Río Piedras) during the eighteen months we were in the field to compare notes, discuss our work together, and advance our research cooperatively. During that time a distinct difference between our integration in the communities where we were working and in the university community where we gathered became apparent to some of us. It was a coefficient of the class and other differences that separated the university faculty from the working men and women among whom some of us lived in the field, and it was reflected in political differences, among others. A substantial fraction of the university faculty was strongly committed to political independence, whereas a large majority of rural dwellers supported the Popular Democratic Party, then in power. It was not surprising that these differences were linked to others, such that some of us felt we were more fully accepted by the laboring classes among whom we lived than by the intellectuals whom we knew at the university. I try here to show how our fieldwork made visible (and troublesome) these sharp political divisions.     

The use of a personal development plan and the undertaking of learning activities,expertise-growth,flexibility and performance: the role of supporting assessment conditions

In the current search for tools that encourage and assess learning and development, personal development plans (PDPs) are being used ever more frequently by organizations. A PDP is an assessment tool used by the employee to reflect on, to document the competencies s/he has been working on and to present his/her plans for further development. This study conducted among employees working in a governmental organization in the Netherlands (N = 287) focused on the PDP practice as conceptualized by three supporting conditions: learning and reflection, information and feedback and the motivating supervisor. It examined which of these features enhance the undertaking of learning activities, expertise-growth, flexibility towards changing circumstances and performance. Results from the hierarchical regression analyses indicate that a motivating supervisor, information and feedback and reflection by the employee on the basis of his/her PDP affect whether or not a PDP contributes to the four measured output variables. Next, by conducting mediation analyses evidence is found for the mediating role of undertaking learning activities in the relation between the PDP practice and two output variables.