Forecast quality improvement with Action Research: A success story at PharmaCo

There is a gap in the forecasting research surrounding the theory of integrating and improving forecasting in practice. The number of academically affiliated consultancies and knowledge transfer projects that there are around, due to a need for improvements in forecast quality, would suggest that many interventions and actions are taking place. However, the problems that surround practitioner understanding, learning and usage are rarely documented. This article takes the first step toward trying to rectify this situation by using the specific case study of a fully engaged company. A successful action research intervention in the Production Planning and Control work unit improved the use and understanding of the forecast function, contributing to substantial savings, enhanced communication and improved working practices.     

Multiple job holding as a strategy for skills development

This study investigated the training effect of multiple job holding on the activity of main jobs. First, we developed a dual-labor supply model by adding the training effect of working second jobs. The theory showed that workers with unconstrained hours hold second jobs when they develop skills via the experience of second jobs. To verify the hypotheses from the theoretical model, the causal relationship between holding a second job and the wage rate of a main job was estimated using the Keio Household Panel Survey. Difference generalized method of moments was adopted to remove time-invariant individual effects and endogenous bias. Moreover, the estimations showed heterogeneity of main jobs in terms of length of working hours, tasks, and job turnover. Full-time workers engaged in intelligent tasks and those who did not change their jobs secured training effects from second jobs but only when the comparison group was the workers allowed to hold second jobs by their employers. It was presumed that employers paid to restrict employees’ activities. On the contrary, part-time workers engaged in physical tasks were exhausted by second jobs, which decreased the wage rate of their main jobs.     

新疆坎儿井农业遗产资源保护与旅游开发利用

[目的]分析新疆坎儿井农业文化遗产资源的旅游效用,以期更好地指导当地旅游资源的开发利用工作,达到促进区域休闲农业可持续发展的目的。[方法]文章以新疆坎儿井农业文化遗产资源为例,分析其资源特征、资源保护及开发现状;采用AHP分析法分析坎儿井农业遗产资源旅游效用,基于上述分析并结合农业文化遗产旅游发展的需求,提出优化其农业遗产资源保护及开发的规划、模式及策略。[结果]坎儿井农业文化遗产资源中主体旅游资源坎儿井工程(B_1)、辅助旅游资源农业文化资源(B_2)、客源与市场特征(B_3)和外部因素特征(B_4)的权重分别是0.43、0.22、0.10和0.06。[结论]在比较其生态价值、环保价值、旅游价值的基础上,发现在稳固生态价值与环保价值的同时,挖掘新疆坎儿井的旅游价值是实现农业文化遗产有效保护的最佳途径;主体旅游资源坎儿井工程和辅助旅游资源农业文化资源为坎儿井农业遗产资源旅游带来良好的经济收益,而客源与市场特征和外部因素特征权重最低,说明这两个因素是导致旅游效益权重低的主要原因;农业遗产资源旅游的保护和开发两者互惠共赢,但必须建立在重视农业遗产资源的保护及其宣传保护的基础上。     

中国区域农业科技资源配置能力及比较优势研究*——基于省级农业科学院视角

[目的]通过测算各地区农业科技资源的配置能力,分析其比较优势并找出不足以便弥补差距,促进各区域农业科技配置能力的提高,为各地区农业经济的发展提供支持。省级农业科学院作为各省市规模最大、综合实力最强的农业科研机构,是农业科技创新的重要主体之一,分析其科技资源配置能力具有重要的现实意义。[方法]基于2009—2016年相关数据,遴选了有代表性的评价指标体系,运用突变级数法计算农业科技资源配置能力,运用NRCA模型定量分析农业科技资源配置效益的比较优势。[结果]山东农业科学院科技资源配置能力位居全国第一,甘肃、江苏、青海农业科学院分别在农业科技人力、物力、财力资源方面具有明显的比较优势。[结论]省级农业科学院科技资源配置能力区域差异十分明显,但区域格局变化不大,且大致与各地区经济实力相吻合;农业科技资源配置能力较高的农业科学院大多在农业科技物力资源配置效益方面具有比较优势,在农业科技人力、财力资源配置效益方面不具备比较优势。     

数字经济下生鲜供应链创新机理与路径

立足于生鲜供应链发展实际，文章总结归纳了数字经济时代生鲜供应链的变革需求和创新机理与路径。研究表明，数字经济时代生鲜供应链创新就是以用户为中心、数字化赋能生鲜供应链实现跨职能协同的创新，目的是破解传统生鲜供应链供需信息延迟的痼疾，提升供应链效率，构建数字化、智能化、高效化和生态化系统。具体而言,顾客感知价值、数据资产价值和经营主体利润是其价值来源渠道；数字化技术是生鲜供应链创新的支撑工具；数字化技术对传统生鲜供应链赋能、数字化技术及思维与现代生鲜供应链的深层融合是生鲜供应链创新的关键路径。文章的研究结论在丰富数字经济与生鲜供应链创新融合研究理论的同时，可以指导生鲜供应链创新实践。     

综合性国家科学中心建设公共政策绩效实证分析——以安徽合肥为例

基于科技政策评价指标体系构建和熵权法分析方法，以2013年以来安徽合肥创建和实施推进综合性国家科学中心的政策绩效为研究对象，实证测算2013—2017年科技政策的评价绩效得分。从创新载体建设、人才计划、科技项目、财税金融、科技成果产出、技术转移与产业化等方面对政策实施效果及其薄弱环节进行分析，并就综合性国家科学中心建设的科技政策的优化与完善提出政策建议。     

产业视角下环京津山区贫困县农业品牌建设路径研究*——以张家口市崇礼区为例

[目的]农业品牌建设是连接农业生产与市场消费的有效途径,是贫困地区特色农产品产销对接的重要抓手,在环京津贫困地区率先实现农业品牌建设的突破,示范意义重大。然而,针对贫困县的研究相对缺乏,农业品牌建设实践中脱离产业实际的问题比较常见,亟需路径探索。[方法]采用文献梳理、案例分析、实地和书面调研等方法,以张家口市崇礼区为例,对环京津山区贫困县农业品牌建设的现状进行分析,对路径与战略作出谋划。[结果]环京津山区贫困县的农业产业具有品质优势、错季优势和物流优势,受到资源短缺、投入不足、人才匮乏的限制,也面临居民消费升级、京津冀协同发展、产业扶贫等机遇。[结论]在产业视角下推进环京津山区贫困县农业品牌建设,应当重点实施品质农业发展行动,加强品牌营销,培育专业队伍,开展小而美、中高端、精准化的特色农业品牌建设。同时,建议上级有关部门在组织保障、政策倾斜、指导服务上给予有力支持。     

新疆棉农残膜回收行为影响因素及实证研究*——基于棉农的调研数据

［目的］为响应农业农村部“农业绿色发展五大行动”，加强农业面源污染防治，缓解新疆棉田残膜危害，基于新疆棉农的问卷调查研究棉农的残膜回收行为。［方法］采用描述性统计和Logistic回归模型分析影响新疆棉农残膜回收行为的因素。［结果］（1）新疆农用地膜回收率低，地膜污染形势严峻。（2）棉农对残膜危害认知缺乏，对残膜回收的间接价值认识不足，影响新疆残膜回收效率。（3）残膜回收的成本收益是影响棉农残膜回收行为的关键因素，其他如棉农年龄、种棉年限、对残膜危害的认知等自身特征，以及农户劳动力数量、政府对残膜污染的关注程度等因素对棉农的残膜回收行为有重要影响。［结论］网络及电视广播等现代媒体对棉农的残膜危害认知水平有较大影响，棉农更愿意采用成本更节约的焚烧、堆地的残膜处理方式。因此提出引导棉农残膜回收、提高棉田残膜回收效率的对策建议。     

What you see is meaningful: Does green advertising change the intentions of consumers to purchase eco-labeled products?

Consumers are increasingly worried that their current consumption patterns have negative environmental impacts, which in turn shapes their green purchase intentions. Based on the signaling theory and stimulus–organism–response model, the purpose of this research is to construct a theoretical framework to understand consumer intentions to buy eco-labeled products. Empirical results from 671 questionnaires show that as expected, green advertising receptivity positively affects intention, and the relationship between green advertising receptivity and intention is also moderated by promotion focus and mediated by system trust and personal trust. However, the relationship between green advertising receptivity and purchase intention is not moderated by prevention focus. Hence, this research suggests that stakeholders should conduct truthful green advertising campaigns to dispel consumer suspicion and target different consumers with different green advertising and marketing campaigns to increase sales.     

Blockchain in Additive Manufacturing and its Impact on Supply Chains

Additive manufacturing (AM) appears to be a particularly attractive use case for blockchain. This research combines inductive in‐depth interviews with the Delphi method to explore what potentials blockchain technology in AM creates, which adoption barriers firms need to overcome, and how supply chains will be affected by the integration of these two potentially disruptive technologies. The results suggest opportunities that are related to intellectual property (IP) rights management, the monitoring of printed parts throughout their lifecycle, process improvements, and data security. The most important barriers for blockchain adoption in AM are an absence of blockchain‐skilled specialists on the labor market, missing governance mechanisms, and a lack of firm‐internal technical expertise. By addressing important limitations of AM, blockchain is expected to improve the competitiveness of AM in parts’ production, catalyzing the trend toward more decentralized manufacturing resulting in more agile, resilient, and flexible supply chains and reduced logistics costs. Beyond that, blockchain‐based AM platforms are expected to enhance supply chain visibility, drive supply chain digitalization, support supply chain finance, and contribute to the emergence of shared factory systems.