Competition and UK Defence Policy

Defence is a 'public good' that economists (until recently) have regarded as necessarily supplied by government. But it can use the market to maximise efficiency and minimise costs. Dr Hartley shows how, and with what results.     

Competing for quality in defence

A revamped marketing testing initiative known as Competing for Quality (CFQ) was introduced to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Services in 1992. It hailed a new approach to a partnership between the defence industry and the MoD in terms of the management of defence business. The CFQ programme opened up £2.2 billion of military activities to competition. This paper examines whether this government initiative has realised its potential or not.     

Technology deployment process model

Organisations frequently deploy a range of new or improved technologies in order to improve their performance (efficiency and effectiveness). However, the literature has thus far primarily investigated Information Technology (IT) deployment issues and success factors, which may not be relevant or sufficient in the context of other technology types. Moreover, the literature usually discusses high-level success factors without identifying relevant low-level activities and their interdependencies. Specific guidance on how such activities may best be arranged in a process model is also lacking. Based on a one-year-long ethnographic study and one in-depth case study in the Australian Defence Organisation, this paper presents a normative technology-neutral process model comprising 61 activities thought to be necessary and sufficient for effective technology deployment.     

Systemic risk in major public contracts

This paper presents a novel approach to the characterisation of “systemic risk” in the context of public sector procurement and contracting. We argue that contemporary risk management practices in project and programme management exhibit a number of limitations. This is particularly relevant to public sector contracting, which, the authors postulate, would benefit from more sophisticated practices that are capable of dealing with risk ‘systemicity’. Drawing on a sample of public sector procurement exercises commissioned by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), the paper presents a multi-method approach that aims to increase our understanding of complex outsourcing contracts. The results suggest a need for more appropriate methods of risk analysis, and discuss the practical implications.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: Breheny, M. , editor, 1988: Defence expenditure and regional development. Cowlishaw, G. K. 1988: Black, white or brindle: race in rural Australia. Friedrichs, J. , editor, 1988: Affordable housing and the homeless. Goss, S. 1988: Local labour and local government: a study of changing interests, politics and policy in Southwark from 1919 to 1982. Marshall, M. 1987: Long waves of regional development. Rex, J. 1988: The ghetto and the underclass: essays on race and social policy. Sassen, S. 1988: The mobility of labor and capital: a study in international investment and labor flow. Ward, S.V. 1988: The geography of interwar Britain: the state and uneven development.     

Co‐creating nonprofit brand equity

• The concept of brand equity (BE) has been the subject of much recent discussion in the field of nonprofit branding and also has been the concept of brand co‐creation in the field of branding. This study combines these aspects and examines the BE co‐creation of a nonprofit entity, the Finnish Defence Forces military driving school. Empirical data were collected from industrial logistics service providers and military recruits. A theoretical BE model was further developed using structural equation modeling in an exploratory manner to reveal whether the BE model of the military driving school is similar from both viewpoints. Similar workable models were found, indicating strong BE co‐creation and thereby contributing to the field. To support the future co‐creation of BE of the military driving school, it is important to ensure that the recruits take positive experiences from the school and industrial logistics service providers carefully consider how they relay their experiences about the school to other truck drivers. The attitudes of recruits towards the military driving school are likely eventually to conform to those of civilian truck drivers. Finding workable models required omitting some BE dimensions and measures of earlier models. Moreover, using data from one country alone may be a limitation of the study. Therefore, nonprofit BE measures should be further developed and tested with data from further afield.

Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Briefing Paper: Public expenditure control in the 1980s

The past few months have seen well-leaked ministerial bids for additional resources as the government prepares to consider allocations for the 1987-8 financial year. There has also been an increasing number of calls from within the Conservative party for more public expenditure as a response to poor performance in the polls. The first part of this Briefing Paper provides a new dimension to the discussion of future spending plans by analysing the record of controlling public expenditure in the past. It outlines the reasons for uncertainty and the various ways by which the government has sought to keep expenditure under control and the limitations of the available information. On the basis of this analysis we look at the future and conclude that the government is unlikely to be able to keep expenditure within the plan for the coming year, or indeed for the rest of the decade. There has been a regular pattern of overspending in the past and this cannot be entirely explained by such factors as the miners' strike and the Falklands. Another conclusion is that the government has so far chosen to be seen to be keeping plans for expenditure growth down rather than providing realistic plans which allow for overspending, and is likely to continue to do so in the future. At a disaggregated level, analysis of the pressures on three major spending departments – Defence, the DHSS and Education and Science – suggests that these are unlikely to be completely offset by efficiency savings. Indeed it may be more difficult to make savings in the future because of past success in eliminating inefficiencies and slack in the system. The freedom of manoeuvre available to the government, including the use of the reserve, adjusting proceeds from the privatisation programme and the possibility of adjusting the figures themselves, is less than in the recent past. And the greatest potential scope for manoeuvre – policy changes to cut spending in areas that have a significant impact on the totals – is effectively denied a government wishing to present a caring image in the run-up to a general election.     

先张法空心板梁法施工质量控制

先张法空心板梁施工一般在预制厂内生产,设计制梁台座并进行建设,安装底模后在台座上先张拉预应力钢束,安装梁体钢筋,支立侧模、端模,浇筑混凝土,待混凝土强度达到要求后进行预应力钢束放张,拆除模板,梁体铰缝区域凿毛,梁端封端,梁体移至存梁区放置。     

群体决策复合准则在供应商选择中的应用

供应商多属性的本质是供应商选择问题复杂性的主要原因之一,特别是属性为描述性质的模糊数时,有限理性的个体在决策制定过程中受到很大的局限。实际操作过程中,专家评分法运用广泛,在此基础上,文中将其与群决策理论相结合,首先指出了对供应商进行评价时常出现的平局问题,将群体决策复合准则引入到供应商选择过程中,然后建立模型,对其求解,最后结合算例,说明该方法的有效性。     

司法良知是司法职业道德的根本核心

法官是法治的灵魂、核心。司法腐败的根本原因在于法官司法良知缺失。法官的司法良知是法官职业道德的根本、核心,是法官综合素质中的灵魂、核心,是法官办案质量的根本保障,是判断法官优劣的根本标准。强化法官司法良知是法官队伍建设的中心任务、核心任务,是遏制和消除司法腐败的根本途径。     

掘进机回转耳架的设计与分析

本文介绍了回转耳架的主要功能,阐述了回转耳架的重要作用,设计了焊接结构的回转耳架,根据实际工况对回转耳架添加约束和载荷,对应力和应变进行了分析,在此基础上提出了改进措施,降低了应力,为掘进机焊接回转耳架的设计提供依据。     

高效液相色谱法测定叶黄素软胶囊中主含量

文章采用高效液相色谱法(HPLC)测定叶黄素软胶囊中叶黄素的含量。色谱柱为Ultimate AQ-C18(4.6×250 mm;5μm),流动相为乙腈-甲醇(95∶5),流速为0.8 ml/min,用紫外检测器检测波长为446 nm,柱温为25℃。结果为:叶黄素在2.58-10.21μg/ml范围内线性良好,检测限为0.01μg/ml,相关系数为r=0.9997,平均回收率为90.3%,RSD为1.47%。此方法快速,且操作简单、准确,可用作叶黄素含量的测定。     

太阳能利用与建筑一体化设计

我国城市化的速度在逐步加大,城市人口增长速度迅猛,为满足人居问题,中高层建筑成为了城市的建筑的主流,建筑耗能正在大幅增长,建筑节能相当重要;同时,城市化进程的加快,不仅仅是城市人口的增加,人们对生活的品味和质量的要求也在增大,高品位商品能源相对缺乏,为满足人们日常所需,新能源特别是太阳能的应用份额就必须加大。     

甘肃省徽县洛坝金矿床矿石特征研究

洛坝金矿床矿石工艺类型为贫硫化物全氧化含金矿石类型,矿石中金矿物为自然金及银金矿,有害元素炭品位为﹥0.1%,金矿物粒度细小,赋存状态以裂隙金为主,次为粒间金、包裹金;载金矿物主要为褐铁矿,粒度粗细不均,大部分粒度较细;通过对矿石质量研究,为选矿试验提供必要参数,并为矿床下步开发提供依据。     

农业现代化研究与对策

农业现代化是人类历史发展的必然选择。农业现代化的主要特征是现代装备武装农业,现代科技提升农业,市场手段经营农业,社会化服务保障农业,高素质人员从事农业,农业生产产业化,农业发展可持续化。本文根据农业现代化的特征及国家关于农业现代化的方针政策,指出了农业现代化过程中存在的困难,提出了在现阶段的方针和对策。     

新疆阜康丁家湾煤矿粉土湿陷性的工程地质特性分析

土的湿陷性即湿陷变形,是指土在一定压力作用下,下沉稳定后,受水浸湿所产生的附加下沉,其特点是速率快、变形大、危害大。新疆地处干旱、半干旱地区,湿陷性土分布很广,在湿陷性土地基上,屡屡发生建筑物湿陷的工程事故。根据对某煤矿工业场地内的粉土湿陷性的工程地质分析,提出了防治岩土工程中湿陷性粉土的切实可行的建议。     

高增益引向天线的设计与实现

基于引向天线的结构设计制作了一种高增益引向天线,并对具体结构和参数的选择进行了讨论,给出了该天线射频放大器的设计电路。通过实际测试表明:天线工作频段在450MHz～470MHz,增益约为20dB,前后比约为21dB,波瓣约为50°,与计算结果基本吻合。     

用氢化物原子荧光法检测聚合氯化铝中砷和汞的含量

文章探讨了用原子荧光光度计同时检测聚合氯化铝中的砷和汞含量的分析方法。试验结果为:砷在0～10.0ug/L范围内,线性相关系数为r=0.9995,检出限为0.0654 ug/L,相对标准偏差为1.12%,回收率为90.85%～99.4%;汞在0～1.00ug/L范围内,线性相关系数为r=0.9995,检出限为0.03328 ug/L,相对标准偏差为3.78%,回收率为99.5%～117%。实验结果表明,该方法灵敏度高,精密度好,具有一次性消化样品同时测定两种元素的特点。