Higher education outcomes, graduate employment and university performance indicators

Summary.  Official employment-related performance indicators in UK higher education are based on the population of students responding to the 'First destination supplement' (FDS). This generates potentially biased performance indicators as this population of students is not necessarily representative of the full population of leavers from each institution. University leavers who do not obtain qualifications and those who do not respond to the FDS are not included within the official analysis. We compare an employment-related performance indicator based on those students who responded to the FDS with alternative approaches which address the potential non-random nature of this subgroup of university leavers.     

区域工业循环经济发展的综合评价研究——以西安市为例

依据工业循环经济发展的理论和目标以及减量化、资源化和无害化的基本原则，构建区域工业循环经济发展评价指标体系，运用层次分析法测算指标权重，并以西安市为例进行实证研究。研究结果表明，西安市的工业循环经济发展水平与世界发达国家具有明显差距，接近全国平均水平。     

可持续发展动态评价研究——以湖北省为例

在阐明可持续发展基本理论的基础上，根据省情，从经济、社会、资源、环境四方面构建湖北省可持续发展指标体系，针对小样本数据特点，运用灰色关联分析法、偏最小二乘回归对其可持续发展状况进行动态评价。     

基于成本核算的政府绩效评价指标体系构建与应用

政府绩效评价是政府评价主体运用一定的评价方法对政府绩效进行考核评价的过程。由于我国政府绩效评价起步较晚,部分地方还存在重投入轻管理、重支出轻绩效的问题,绩效考核结果的导向作用不强,成本核算成为提升政府绩效的核心。因此,文章在成本核算的基础上对政府绩效进行评价,采用层次分析法从经济发展、社会管理、教育科技、资源环境、成本管理、公共服务六大方面构建基于成本核算的政府绩效评价指标体系,将其应用于H市政府的绩效评价工作,从而有效地提高政府的公信力和执行力,同时也有助于推进我国政府绩效评价工作的发展。     

Measuring operational excellence: an operational excellence profitability (OEP) approach

The pursuit of operational excellence in the manufacturing industry is at rise but its measurement still lacks of appropriate indicators to determine its financial benefits. The ambiguity is due to the impact arisen from manufacturing fluctuations such as price and cost, production mix and direct and indirect parameters variations. Manufacturing fluctuations distort the cost benefit of operational excellence. This paper, therefore, proposes the OEP (Operational Excellence Profitability) indicators to isolate the impact of manufacturing fluctuation and distinctly identify the payback of operational excellence strategies and initiatives through cost benefits of achieving higher efficiency and yield. The paper presents the conceptual and mathematical development of the proposed OEP indicators and the formulas used for their calculation. Hypothetical and industrial-based investigations and applications of the OEP indicators are conducted for their validation. The results obtained from the hypothetical exercise and industrial case suggest that OEP indicators can provide an effective cost-benefit analysis of operational excellence. This would contribute in providing manufacturing organizations with more complete information regarding the performance of their processes, which will allow their directors and managers to take better decisions related to the management and improvement of their processes.     

The limitations of using school league tables to inform school choice

Summary. In England, so-called 'league tables' based on examination results and test scores are published annually, ostensibly to inform parental choice of secondary schools. A crucial limitation of these tables is that the most recent published information is based on the current performance of a cohort of pupils who entered secondary schools several years earlier, whereas for choosing a school it is the future performance of the current cohort that is of interest. We show that there is substantial uncertainty in predicting such future performance and that incorporating this uncertainty leads to a situation where only a handful of schools' future performances can be separated from both the overall mean and from one another with an acceptable degree of precision. This suggests that school league tables, including value-added tables, have very little to offer as guides to school choice.     

The application of a performance management system in hospitals: A hypothetical example

Abstract

The central theme of this article is performance management, defined as activities of organizations aimed at an effective and efficient use of their human resources. The organization focused on in particular is the hospital. Three principles taken from motivation theory are dealt with which are basic to performance management: goal setting, feedback and reinforcement. Next, a recently developed procedure (Pritchard 1990, Pritchard et al. 1988, 1989) for the design of performance management systems is described. This procedure, ProMES: Productivity Measurement and Enhancement Systems, is explained using a team of ward nurses as a hypothetical example. In addition to the nursing wards example, other potential applications of the ProMES technique to several hospitals areas are mentioned. Finally, some conditions that should be fulfilled in order to successfully start a ProMES project are discussed.     

Prevalence of Elder Mistreatment as Reported by Social Workers in a Probability Sample of Adult Day Health Care Clients

ABSTRACT

There are growing numbers of Adult Day Health Care (ADHC) programs providing needed health services to community-dwelling elderly. Therefore, ADHC staff are in an opportune position to identify and to intervene in suspected elder mistreatment (EM) cases. In this paper, prevalence estimates of EM are reported for a probability sample of ADHC clients in New York State, using data provided during a social worker informant interview. The abuse “signs and symptoms” items in the social worker informant interview schedule were divided into two categories: (1) physical indicators and (2) client's behavioral indicators. Physical indicators included unexplained bruises and welts, unexplained burns, unexplained lacerations or abrasions, human bite marks, and frequent injuries that are “accidental” or “unexplained.” Client's behavioral indicators included apprehension, being frightened, and afraid to go home. EM prevalence for all 8 items was 12.3 percent. When “apprehensive” was excluded, the EM prevalence was 3.6 percent in this sample. These findings suggest that ADHC provides a point of contact for the assessment and intervention of EM that might otherwise be overlooked among elders who are often isolated or homebound.     

建立与完善人才评价机制

人才评价对于实际工作具有配置、导向、激励和约束四重作用,是实现管理功能的动力所在。面对现阶段制约人才评价的诸多问题,为充分发挥管理的功能,需要对人才评价机制进行完善。在界定人才评价机制优劣标准的基础上,建立人才评价机制模型,以展示人才评价机制的结构、内部联系及运行机理,实现组织和人才的自加压、自运行和自寻优。     

Efficiency and effectiveness of knowledge management systems in SMEs

This paper proposes a 3D fuzzy logic methodology to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of knowledge management systems (KMSs) adopted by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and identifies a classification bringing together the behaviour of SMEs when adopting KMSs. The proposed methodology was previously tested on an individual SME and then implemented on a sample of SMEs. The results highlight that there is an ample variety of behaviours related to the nature of knowledge and the KMSs used. Specifically, four typologies of behaviour are identified: the efficient and effective SME, the effective but inefficient SME, the efficient but ineffective SME, and the inefficient and ineffective SME. The results show that only 18% of surveyed SMEs are efficient and effective for both KM-Tools and KM-Practices, the remaining 82% are inefficient or ineffective for KM-Tools and/or KM-Practices. Lastly, the paper shows how this methodology may be used by an SME as a managerial tool to suggest appropriate changes to improve the efficient and effective adoption of KMSs supporting SMEs in the knowledge management processes.