Grey Critical Chain project scheduling technique and its application

Based on the idea of Grey System and interval number coefficient notation, a Grey Critical Chain scheduling approach is studied. According to Grey system Theory, the time of project or task completion can be considered as the object that extension is definite but intension is uncertain, which is coincident with the character of the project management. The Grey Critical Chain Scheduling Technique mainly aims at the single project time management, but the management idea can also be applied to the other knowledge areas of the project management. In this technique, we improve the selection method of the buffer time in the Critical Chain, in order to obtain reasonable Feeding Buffer time and Project Buffer time. In this paper, we will use an example to discuss the Grey Critical Chain Scheduling Technique, compare Grey Critical Chain with Program Evaluation and Review Technique, Critical Chain and Fuzzy Critical Chain, and analyze the advantages, disadvantages and applicable scope of their own.     

Limits to forecasting in personalized medicine: An overview

Biomedical research is generating massive amounts of information about potential prognostic factors for health and disease. However, few prognostic factors or systems are robustly validated, and still fewer have made a convincing difference in health outcomes or in prolonging life expectancy. For most diseases and outcomes, a considerable component of the prognostic variance remains unknown, and may remain so for the foreseeable future. I discuss here some of the main problems in medical forecasting that pose obstacles to personalized medicine. Their recognition may help identify solutions to improve personalized prognosis, or at least understand and cope with the component of the future that we cannot predict. Much prognostic research is stuck at generating “publishable units”, without any interest in conclusively proving their worth, let alone moving them into real life applications. Information is reported selectively and reporting is deficient. The replication record of prognostic claims is poor. Even among replicated prognostic effects, few are convincingly shown to add much information besides what is already known through more simple, traditional measurements. There are few efforts to systematize prognostic knowledge. Most prognostic effects are subtle when traced to the molecular level, where most current research operates. Many researchers, clinicians, and the public are not appropriately educated to interpret prognostic information. We still have not even agreed on what the important health outcomes are that we want to predict and intervene for, and some subjectivity may be unavoidable. Finally, without concomitant effective, affordable, and non-harmful interventions, prognosis alone is of questionable value, and wrong prognosis or a wrong interpretation thereof can be harmful. The identification of these problems also suggests a roadmap on what could be done to amend them. Solutions include a systematic approach to the design, conduct, reporting, replication, and clinical translation of prognostic research; as well as the education of researchers, clinicians, and the general public. Finally, we need to recognize that perfect individualized health forecasting is not a realistic target in the foreseeable future, and we have to live with considerable residual uncertainty.     

The Lowest Supply and Demand of Engineering Officers of National Vessels in Taiwan

This article is based on the number of engineering officers from 1994 to 2000 in Taiwan, and adopts a 6-year moving average to work out the transition probability of engineering officers and to construct an absorbing Markov Transition Matrix to forecast the terms of seniority and annual supply in each hierarchy. In order to estimate the minimum number of vessels needed, this article also employed the quantity of demand for imported consumer goods from 1994 to 2000 in Taiwan and applied a Grey model to predict the annual quantity of demand for imported consumer goods. Furthermore, this article estimated the minimum number of demand for engineering officers according to the minimum number of vessels needed. In addition, this paper used cross-analysis to investigate the manpower supply and demand of engineering officers in Taiwan and obtained some important results, which can be valuable references for pertinent authorities.     

黑龙江省木材产业发展影响因素的灰色关联分析

根据11年的《中国林业统计年鉴》和《黑龙江省统计年鉴》数据,对黑龙江省木材产业产品的发展变化趋势进行描述;选择影响发展的主要指标对黑龙江省三类木材加工产业进行灰色关联分析,以产值作为参考数列。结果表明,各指标与不同加工产业的产值的关联度各不相同,企业数量对木材加工及木制品业的产值影响最大,年人均劳动生产率对家具制造业的产值的影响最大,造纸及纸制品业的产品销售率对总产值的影响最大。依据研究结果提出提高木材产业技术含量、推进木材产业集聚发展、保障产业可持续发展等提高产业竞争力的对策。     

A process leading to strategic alliance outcome: The case of IT companies in China,Japan and Korea

Although theories and research have provided valuable information on strategic alliance, it still seems difficult for practitioners to overview the process and subsequent outcomes of strategic alliance in a single frame. This is because the conditions of alliance are different from one alliance to another, which makes it difficult for practitioners to apply existing research findings to their own cases. One of the ways to overcome such difficulties in practical application would not be focusing on alliance processes with unique or idiosyncratic features of each alliance but instead focusing on elements that exist in most alliances. To find out the process that leads to the outcome in strategic alliance that is easily applicable for practitioners, the current study measured the behavioral direction and relational outcomes of strategic alliance based on benefit and risk perception in information technology (IT) companies in China, Japan and South Korea. Results show that firms set the direction and the intensity of their participation in alliance based on benefit and risk perception. Specifically, while perceived benefits promoted active participation in alliance, perceived risks increased protective participation in alliance. Also, these behavioral directions predicted the relational outcome in strategic alliance such that while active behavioral orientation predicted commitment to the relationship with the partner firms, protective behavioral orientation led to dissolution of the relationship. The present study provides useful insights for strategy associates, and evoke more various and detached academic approaches in the field of strategic alliance discussions.     

西北5省区“生态环境—经济发展—城镇化”耦合协调发展及预测分析

［目的］探讨“生态环境—经济发展—城镇化”三维系统（以下简称“EEU”系统）协调发展关系，以期为推动三者全面协调发展提供参考。［方法］文章以西北5省区为例，在构建EEU系统评价指标体系的基础上，运用熵权法、耦合协调模型、GIS工具和灰色预测模型对西北各省区EEU系统耦合协调发展进行分析。［结果］2003—2017年西北5省区EEU系统评价值呈上升趋势，经济发展和城镇化系统评价值呈波动上升态势，明显高于生态环境系统评价值； 耦合度水平较高，协调度整体由过度发展大类向协调发展大类演变； 各省区协调度上升等级不同且未能达到优质协调等级，协调发展的制约因素有经济发展滞后型和生态环境滞后型两大类； 未来5年各省区协调度将稳步提升，但演进差异明显。［结论］提出要遵循科学方法，补齐生态环境短板；突破薄弱环节，推进系统协调发展；重点关注甘肃，实现区域协同发展的对策建议。     

Combining forecasts: An application to elections

We summarize the literature on the effectiveness of combining forecasts by assessing the conditions under which combining is most valuable. Using data on the six US presidential elections from 1992 to 2012, we report the reductions in error obtained by averaging forecasts within and across four election forecasting methods: poll projections, expert judgment, quantitative models, and the Iowa Electronic Markets. Across the six elections, the resulting combined forecasts were more accurate than any individual component method, on average. The gains in accuracy from combining increased with the numbers of forecasts used, especially when these forecasts were based on different methods and different data, and in situations involving high levels of uncertainty. Such combining yielded error reductions of between 16% and 59%, compared to the average errors of the individual forecasts. This improvement is substantially greater than the 12% reduction in error that had been reported previously for combining forecasts.     

地区产业结构、能源消费与经济增长关系研究

为了探讨地区经济增长与产业结构、能源消费的关系,本文以广东顺德2005—2012年数据为例,利用灰色关联模型对三者进行动态关联分析。结果表明,能源消费总量的快速增长是导致顺德经济增长的主要原因,其次是第二产业占国民经济比值。因此,要加快地区经济的发展,必须率先从改善能源利用效率和调整产业升级开始,大力发展绿色经济,形成合理的能源消费结构,加大可再生能源的开发力度。     

要素密集型逆转与贸易获利能力提升——以中美纺织业为例

本文运用灰色聚类法并以中美纺织业为例,研究了产业生产要素密集型的逆转与贸易获利能力的提升问题。研究表明:以2000年中国制造业作为衡量标准,美国的纺织业在2003年从劳动密集型产业逆转成为技术密集型产业,而中国的纺织产业在考察期间一直为劳动密集型产业。文章进一步分析了要素密集型逆转的动因及贸易利得效应,发现在发生要素密集型逆转后美国纺织出口企业的获利能力明显大于中国,表明通过要素密集型逆转实现产业内升级是一条可行的路径选择。     

Intrinsic bubbles and Granger causality in the S&P 500: Evidence from long-term data

Results of research on whether changes in earnings can predict future stock returns are inconclusive. We add to this debate by using long-term data from 1871 to 2004 to examine the predictive power of changes in earnings in periods of intrinsic bubbles and in periods absent intrinsic bubbles. Our results show that accounting for bubbles is important in whether changes in earnings can predict future stock returns. In periods of no bubble, we find that changes in earnings Granger-cause future returns, whereas in periods of bubble, this Granger causality from changes in earnings to future returns cannot be found. We conclude that changes in earnings can predict future stock returns, but only in periods absent bubbles.