Change within purchasing and supply management organisations – Assessing the claims from maturity models

It is a wide-held assumption that professional development and change within purchasing and supply management (PSM) organisations can be explained and guided by a maturity model. In this paper the guidance which the maturity model concept offers to understand a PSM organisation's performance is assessed. The methodology is based on the outcomes of a literature review of PSM maturity models, development of an organisational change framework and the learning from three qualitative case studies. An alternative understanding of the development of the PSM organisation is offered through an organisational change framework, composing 1) movement transitions, 2) scalability of change, 3) acceptability of change, and 4) the substantive element of change. The research found that extant PSM maturity models are too rigid for PSM managers to apply, and although maturity models are commonly accepted in PSM literature, in practice, they may produce the opposite effect of what is promised. The PSM maturity models suggest that their application will lead to increased status and influence of PSM within the organisation; expectations that may not be met. PSM organisations’ change processes are subjected to a range of situational and contextual power relations which must be considered in order to advance the specific PSM organisation roles and responsibilities.     

Testing vertical price transmission for Vietnam's Robusta coffee

Vietnam has undergone market reforms over the last three decades; and as a consequence, the coffee sector has become increasingly market‐driven. The success of the government's liberalisation policies in terms of market efficiency is investigated by examining the transmission of both positive and negative price changes for Robusta coffee between export and farmgate prices. We used a threshold vector error correction model and high‐frequency daily data. The primary result here is that of a symmetric price transmission between export and farm‐level prices. This result holds when tested with weekly price data, derived from the daily data. Farmgate prices respond faster to decreases than increases in export prices when the long‐run deviation exceeds a certain threshold. These price changes are transmitted within several days. This research also confirms the importance of transaction costs, and other price frictions mostly ignored in prior analyses for coffee.     

Review: Chinese public administration and finance—a call for a new theory,research and dialogue

In implementing its national strategy to achieve global leadership, China needs a new public administration theory that integrates political administration, economic management and social regulation. Even so, China has already started to promote its brand of political and economic development abroad. Therefore new comparative research and dialogue is called to explore the universality of Chinese and Western public administration ideas.     

Effective HR implementation: the impact of supervisor support for policy use on employee perceptions and attitudes

Abstract

Effective implementation of human resource (HR) policies appears to depend on supervisors’ active involvement in the intervention process. Following recommendations of a recent intervention evaluation framework, we examine how perceived supervisor support during the implementation of a work-life intervention helps to change participants’ perceptions of organizational family supportiveness, and how this ultimately changes participants’ engagement and turnover intentions. A three-wave longitudinal study in a professional services firm (N = 434) that has formally involved supervisors in the process of a work-life intervention showed support for our study hypotheses. Supervisor support for policy use influenced employees’ positive work–home culture perceptions, which in turn strengthened employees’ work engagement and diminished their turnover intentions over time. We discuss practical implications and give recommendations on the future design of HR interventions and related policies.     

Interpoint Distance Test of Homogeneity for Multivariate Mixture Models

Finite mixtures offer a rich class of distributions for modelling of a variety of random phenomena in numerous fields of study. Using the sample interpoint distances (IPDs), we propose the IPD‐test statistic for testing the hypothesis of homogeneity of mixture of multivariate power series distribution or multivariate normal distribution. We derive the distribution of the IPDs that are drawn from a finite mixture of the multivariate power series distribution and multivariate normal distribution. Based on the empirical distribution of the IPDs, we construct a bootstrap test of homogeneity for other multivariate finite mixture models. The IPD test is applied to mixture models for matrix‐valued distributions and a test of homogeneity for Wishart mixture is presented. Numerical comparisons show that IPD test has accurate type I errors and is more powerful in most multivariate cases than the expectation–maximization (EM) test and modified likelihood ratio test.     

Stock price crash risk and CEO power: Firm-level analysis

This study examines the impact of stock price crash risk on future CEO power. Using a large panel sample with 17,816 firm-year observations, we posit and find a significant negative impact of stock price crash risk on CEO power, suggesting that CEO power becomes smaller after stock price crashes. We also find that our results are stronger for firms with female CEOs and are largely driven by firms with shorter-tenure CEOs. In addition, we find that the significant negative impact of stock price crash risk on CEO power is diminished for firms with strong corporate governance. Our study responds to the call in Habib, Hasan, and Jiang (2018) by providing more empirical evidence on the consequences of stock price crash risk.     

基于西门子PLC除尘器粉尘防爆危险源信号检测及预警系统的研究

研发适用于滤袋式除尘器粉尘爆炸危险源信号的实时检测及预警系统。该系统综合应用工业控制、PLC控制、智能测控终端无线传输、云平台数据管理等技术。采用传感器分别监测除尘器运行时的进出风口压差、除尘器运行状态、高压脉冲喷吹压力和箱体温度。当监测信号不在系统预设的合理范围时,PLC输出就地预警信号,监测信号也可通过无线传输模块上传到云平台。运用云平台的数据分析功能,实现除尘器运行状态系统化监测和综合管理。     

组织场域视角下水利水电工程BIM技术扩散的影响因素 ——基于TOE框架的分析

在梳理国内外BIM采纳与扩散相关研究的基础上，从新制度主义理论出发，提出了水利水电工程组织场域并分析了其特征；进而运用技术-组织-环境(TOE)框架和匹配理论，分别讨论了水利水电工程组织场域BIM扩散的主要影响因素，形成一个整体的理论分析框架。分析表明，水利水电工程组织场域BIM扩散的影响因素主要包括:相对优势、兼容性和复杂性等技术因素，组织沟通、资源就绪度和高层领导支持等组织因素，以及制度环境、市场环境等环境因素。     

Revising price history: consumer price index for Norway 1492–2018

ABSTRACT

The paper presents a new combined annual cost of living and consumer price index for Norway covering 1492–2018, indicating that Norwegian price history has to be revised. The new historical price index is constructed on a significantly richer data material, which also makes it cover a longer period of price history than the existing one. This is made possible by the compilation of quantitative data from numerous sources, mostly originating from the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with grain prices stretching back to 1492. The new combined cost of living and consumer price index is constructed by a Laspeyres approach with shifting baskets for commodities and expenditure groups.

The index makes it possible to follow annual inflation and deflation in Norway for a period of 526 years. When comparing to existing indices, the new series reveals that revisions are needed in Norwegian price history. These make the historical price development more in line with those of the neighbouring countries and more in line with the pattern of wholesale prices.     

What is the policy improvement of China’s land consolidation? Evidence from completed land consolidation projects in Shaanxi Province

Land consolidation plays an important role in increasing cultivated land, improving cultivated land quality and the ecological environment, and promoting the coordinated development of urban and rural areas. However, under the conditions of three decades of land consolidation being conducted and changing urban–rural human–land relationship, the areas of improvement in the land consolidation policy of China must be studied. This article analyzes the implementation and distribution characteristics of the land consolidation project completed in Shaanxi Province in 2018. Results show that land consolidation projects in Shaanxi are mainly land reclamation projects, cropland consolidation projects, and high-standard cropland consolidation projects. The increased cultivated land is mainly from land reclamation projects and cropland consolidation projects. The land consolidation projects in Aeolian Plateau Area, Loess Plateau Area, and Da Ba Mountain Area are mainly land reclamation projects. The land reclamation projects in Guan Zhong Plain Area and Qing Ling Mountain Area account for a large proportion. The spatial distribution of rural settlement consolidation projects, and rural settlement consolidation and land reclamation projects are mainly located in Guan Zhong Plain Area and distributed in the boundary area of Guan Zhong Plain Area and Loess Plateau Area. According to the characteristics of land consolidation projects and the changes of urban–rural human–land relationship, China should be prudent in or stop advancing land reclamation to increase cultivated land; cropland consolidation and high-standard cropland construction are vital ways to achieve China’s food security; and rural settlement consolidation should be carefully conducted in remote areas under the background of urbanization.