The efficiency of TVA power distributors

This study utilizes linear programming and regression for identifying distributors of Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) power that deviate from the normal efficiency levels and for listing distributor attributes that affect these efficiencies. The conclusions are: (1) most TVA distributors are reasonably efficient; however, they appear to be more efficient with respect to technical and scale measures than with respect to cost and allocation measures; (2) TVA distributors tend to over use labor and capital, but utilize purchased wholesale power appropriately; (3) TVA distributors display increasing, decreasing and constant returns to scale, depending on observation; and (4) firm attributes that impact efficiencies the most are: distribution of utilities other than electricity, state location, service area size, the relative amount of power distributed to small customers, the ratio of small customers to large customers and the total amount of electrical energy distributed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

PROBING PARTIAL CHAINING UNDER SPATIAL COMPETITION IN VERTICAL MARKET STRUCTURE

This paper probes impacts of partial chaining upon the cost structures of not only the chained and independent distributors under spatial competition, but also the monopolistic producer who manages differentiated distribution channels for heterogeneous retailers simultaneously. We assume vertically related but decentralized markets in upstream and downstream stages. Upon chaining, market areas of each chained (independent) store increase (decrease), the related retail prices decline (rise) and profits increase (decrease). Chaining also tends to lower the wholesale prices for the chain stores generally. While aggregate consumer surplus increases, profit for the producer not even directly chained also increases. Social surplus increases with chaining at the expense, however , of not only the remaining independent stores and their customers, but also the chain store's own customers partly at the market periphery.     

提升中国电子元器件和集成电路分销商供应链竞争力的管理策略

中国电子分销约占中国电子元器件和集成电路(IC)总体市场需求的60%,也就是说国内电子制造商的采购多数是与分销商打交道。在客户端和供应商之间多出了分销商,好象增加了通路的环节,但实际上增加了价值链的有效性,因为在客户端和供应商之间如果有正确和有效率的信息传递,便能够为整个产业带来双赢。元器件分销商作为供应链的重要组成部分,所起到的作用是延长和连接,将元器件制造商的服务和产品延长到客户端,将电子制造商的真实需求带到元器件厂商面前,将原本断开的链条紧密地连接起来。面对竞争日益激烈的分销市场,如何构建自身的核心优势以及真正满足用户需求是分销商们值得深思的问题。从营销学和供应链理论的角度,结合电子元器件分销市场的行业特点,分析总结了提升元器件分销商供应链竞争力的管理策略。     

Exploitation- and exploration-based innovations: The role of knowledge in inter-firm relationships with distributors

Learning capacity is a critical factor for a firm’s innovation and competitiveness. This study explores the issue of how knowledge in inter-firm relationships with distributors influences manufacturers’ exploitation- and exploration-based innovations and performance. The empirical model examines the effect of three different types of knowledge-related issues in inter-firm relationships: (i) the acquisition of substantial knowledge (about products, technology, or markets) from distributors; (ii) the learning about collaborating with each distributor as the relationship evolves; and (iii) the general firm’s knowledge about managing distributors. A model of learning—innovation—performance is developed and tested in a sample of 201 firms in the food and beverages sector. The results reveal that: (i) knowledge about managing distributors promotes continuous learning from them; (ii) learning to collaborate is critical, as it favours knowledge acquisition and both types of innovations (exploitation- and exploration-based); (iii) learning from distributors weakens firms’ tendency to stress one type of innovation strategy over another; and (iv) knowledge in inter-firm relationships with distributors affects performance in a completely mediated way, that is, through innovation. Theoretical and managerial implications of these findings are discussed in the conclusion of the paper.     

Participation and study decisions in a public system of higher education

We analyze the decision whether to participate and where and what to study in a public system of higher education, based on a unique dataset of all eligible high school pupils in an essentially closed region (Flanders). We find that pupils perceive the available institutions and programs as close substitutes relative to the outside option. This implies an ambiguous role for travel costs: they hardly affect the participation decision, but have a strong impact on the decision where and what to study. To illustrate how our empirical results can inform the debate on reforming public systems, we assess the effects of tuition fee increases. Uniform cost‐based tuition fee increases achieve most of the welfare gains; the additional gains from fee differentiation are relatively limited. These welfare gains are quite large under conservative assumptions on the social cost of public funds, and there is a substantial redistribution from students to outsiders. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Efficiency and ownership in Swedish electricity retail distribution

This article examines the efficiency of electricity retail distributors in Sweden in a multiple output multiple input framework. Productive efficiency measures are calculated by use of different versions of the non-parametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method. Comparisons are made between different types of ownership and between different types of service areas.The study indicates a rather low level of technical efficiency, a high level of scale efficiency in urban service areas, but a fairly low level of scale efficiency in rural areas. The results show no significant differences in efficiency between different types of ownership or economic organization.Paper presented at ORSA/TIMS joint national meeting, Productivity and Global Competition, Philadelphia, October 29–31, 1990.     

A model for measuring the need for services in a district

Administrators of social programs are often faced with decisions regarding how to distribute available funds. An important factor in this decision is the geographic location of the population in need of the agency's services. One would assume that those areas of the community where there are more people in need of the agency's support would receive a larger portion of the budget. However, in many cases, dollars are apportioned without adequate knowledge of what parts of the community are in the greatest need of services.This paper presents a method that can be used by most agencies for making a determination of the service need in different parts of the community. The agency used in the model construction is the Office of Community Services (OCS). The mandate of OCS is to implement a comprehensive plan for the delivery of social services in New York City. The “community” (New York City) is divided into forty Human Resource Districts (HRD's). In each of these districts there are outstations that provide a range of social services.In the past, misleading population characteristics of the districts were used to represent the need for OCS services. The characteristics were misleading because they did not represent the number of persons who would be in need of the services. For example, the number of persons receiving public assistance would not adequately represent the number of persons who needed child health services. This is especially true because some persons who are not eligible for public assistance are eligible for child health services.     

DEA and Dynamic Yardstick Competition in Scandinavian Electricity Distribution

Multi-period multi-product regulatory schemes for electricity distributors are presented, based on cost information from a productivity analysis model and an agency theoretical decision model. The proposed schemes are operational and demonstrate considerable advantages compared to the popular CPI-X revenue cap regulation. The schemes avoid arbitrariness, excessively high or negative informational rents as well as ratchet effects and they promote rapid productivity catch-up by making full use of available data. More generally, the paper contributes to the theoretical unification between firm-based Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) productivity models and micro-economic reimbursement theories.JEL Classification: D24, D82, L12, L51, L94     

Human resource management in action. The paradox of participation: Lessons from the tennessee valley authority

The three year Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) quality of work life experiment was one of eight large scale projects developed by the American Center for Quality of Work Life and assessed by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. The key themes of this research program involved union–management collaboration and employee participation in organizational change. This article presents major outcomes of the experiment, with particular emphasis on the participatory change process that was the central focus at TVA. The implications of participation are discussed in terms of the paradoxes of change, leadership, and process. Based on data from interviews and observation of events throughout the experiment, recommendations are provided for similar quality of work life programs.     

Promoting cost efficiency and uniformity in parcel delivery centre locations and service areas: a GIS-based analysis

This paper provides a systematic framework to determine local delivery centre (LDC) locations and service areas to reduce delivery costs and balance the allocation of parcel delivery loads to promote sustainable LDC development. Based on a case study of a parcel distribution company in Korea, this study proposes two strategies for LDC service area delineation within each terminal service boundary that either minimises the total delivery time or balances the allocation of delivery loads. This research contributes to improving cost efficiency and balancing delivery load allocations in planning LDC locations and service areas that can potentially promote the long-term mutual sustainable development of parcel distribution companies and their local delivery counterparts.     

Fleet management policies for humanitarian organizations: Beyond the utilization–residual value trade-off

Four-wheel drive vehicles play a pivotal role in securing the last-mile distribution of goods and services in humanitarian development programs. To optimize the use of their fleets, humanitarian organizations recommend policies aimed at enhancing the utilization of vehicles while preserving residual value. Although these decisions have a significant impact on cost, there is limited empirical evidence to show that the recommended policies are actually implemented and that they produce the expected benefits. This paper theoretically and empirically examines the complex and inter-related effects of vehicle-to-mission allocation decisions and of alternative vehicle usage patterns on vehicle utilization and residual value in humanitarian development programs. The results suggest that humanitarian organizations could break the utilization–residual value trade-off by adopting different policies than the ones currently in place. They also reveal that organizations need to realize that what seems logical from the headquarters' perspective may be illogical or inconvenient for the field, and as a result, the field may do the opposite of what is recommended or even instructed. Therefore, they either need better data and analysis combined with audits or they need to improve mechanisms that incentivize field delegations to follow standards recommended by the headquarters.     

Competition in prescription drug markets: is parallel trade the answer?

This article uses a price determination model with dynamic panel data estimation to examine the extent to which pharmaceutical parallel trade promotes price competition and leads to downward price convergence. Little evidence of sustainable price competition is found. We find that prices are mainly affected by regulation and by competition in the wholesale distribution chain; that the pricing strategy of parallel distributors resembles that of originator drugs in importing countries; and that there may be upward rather than downward price convergence. Drawing on the European evidence, the findings also indicate that opening the US market to parallel imports will not necessarily lead to competition and enhance pharmaceutical cost containment. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

电子产品分销商企业物流服务水平的改善

对于电子产品的分销商企业来说,伴随着市场竞争的越来越激烈,企业所拥有产品的库存可用性以及提供给客户的物流服务水平是企业之间竞争的焦点。由于电子产品的特殊性,大部分仓库都设在保税园区,对产品进行分类管理的同时,也需要考虑如何设立两级库存才能使保税区内的产品不仅在进口时方便快捷,在出口时也能提供给客户较高的物流服务水平。     

A DEA-centric decision support system for evaluating Ciclovía-Recreativa programs in the Americas

Ciclovía-Recreativa (CR) is a community-based program with health and social benefits including physical activity promotion, social capital development, improvement in the population's quality of life, and reduction of air pollution and street noise. It is critical that these programs are evaluated through their operational performance and efficient use of resources. In this paper, we develop a DEA methodology that measures each CR efficiency relative to its peer programs, compares its performance to a benchmark system, identifies its sources of inefficiencies and offers recommendations for improvement. We examine the proposed methodology on programs in the region of the Americas as a case study and demonstrate the results and the recommendations. Finally, we present a spreadsheet-based DEA-centric Decision Support System (DSS) that facilitates the evaluation of the CR programs. Based on this study, an award called “Bicis de Calidad” (in English “Bikes of Quality”) was created to be granted to the best CR programs reaching full efficiency according to the DEA outcomes.     

随机系数面板数据单位根联合LM检验的稳定性研究

本文从初始值的视角研究其对随机系数面板数据单位根联合LM检验稳定性的影响。推导当初始值不是依概率有界的随机变量而是渐近不可忽略的变量时联合LM检验统计量的渐近分布,并发现联合LM检验不再服从其原分布,且其与初始值有关,表明联合LM检验统计量的渐近性质不稳定。蒙特卡洛模拟结果显示,在有限样本情形下,初始值可能会导致联合LM检验统计量出现较严重的水平扭曲现象,即联合LM检验的统计性质不稳定,易受初始值影响。     

Solar powered light emitting diode distribution in developing countries: An assessment of potential distribution sites in rural Cambodia using network analyses

The objective of this research is to use geographic information systems and spatial analyses to create a template for distributing lighting, particularly light emitting diodes, in developing countries. Approximately 1.6 billion people do not have access to traditional electrical systems; therefore, a significant number of people do not have access to safe, efficient, and inexpensive lighting technologies. This research addresses the need for lighting in one developing country. As an introductory case study area for the distribution of lighting products, Cambodia has a population that is considerable, rural, and without electricity. In addition, a significant percentage of Cambodia’s population will not have access to grid-quality electricity by 2030. To help alleviate this lighting deficiency, eliminate inappropriate distribution areas, and create a list of potential locations, the authors use geographic information system techniques to address four site-specific characteristics (grid electricity access, water inundation potential, hazardous landmine locations, and extreme poverty levels). To select among potential locations, the authors combine spatial analyses, service area delineations, and origin-destination cost matrices into a heuristic method for determining one location. These analyses identify the commune of Kantreang as the most appropriate location for lighting distribution.     

Analysing the impact of restructuring transportation,production and distribution on costs and environment – a case from the Thai Rubber industry

Transportation and distribution are key elements to successful supply chains, however there is some disagreement regarding the impact of distribution and transportation restructuring on costs and the environment. This paper explores the use of an optimisation model of Thailand’s rubber industry supply chain, to assess the impact of distribution and transportation on costs and greenhouse gas emissions. It has previously been observed that there is a positive correlation between transportation cost reduction and environmental impact, nevertheless the correlation is not clearly established when the distribution system is restructured. This paper is divided into two parts: the first part examines the impact of transportation service capacity on distribution decisions; the second part of the paper aims to examine the impact of restructuring the distribution network considering multi-modal options on cost and greenhouse gas emissions. For both parts a scenario analysis is utilised in conjunction with an optimisation model to derive the best possible answer in terms of costs and GHG emissions. In this paper, the results obtained indicate that the impact on cost minimisation from the increase in rail freight service capacity is marginal, while the impact on GHG emission minimisation is more significant. In terms of short-sea shipping prices and service capacity, the scenario analysis shows a slight positive impact on cost minimisation but no positive or negative impact on GHG emission minimisation. Results also confirm that in terms of economic advantages, distribution network restructuring provides greater benefit to the industry than does capacity development for the transportation service.     

浅析战略成本管理在工程项目建设中的应用

传统成本管理关注的是企业内部生产经营的价值耗费,而对企业外部环境的分析则很少考虑;战略管理强调的是知己知彼,也就是说要在开放型、竞争型的市场环境中既关注自己,又要去了解别人;既要知道上游供货商的情况,又要清楚下游客户和经销商的情况,并协调好与他们的关系,同时更需要对竞争对手的基本情况进行分析和研究。对于没有中间商、直接面对供应商和客户的房地产业来说,战略成本管理无疑比传统成本管理具有更大的优势。     

Analysis of electric distribution utilities efficiency levels by stochastic frontier in Brazilian power sector

The regulatory power sector model in several countries determines tariff review forms based, among other things, on sharing efficiency gains with consumers. As these reviews have an important impact on consumers and distribution utilities, it is necessary that the adopted methodologies always be improved. To this end, this article assessed a Bayesian inference application in order to estimate a stochastic cost frontier considering temporal efficiency dynamics. Taking this point into consideration is essential, since studies carried out to assess power sector efficiency have neglected the fact that part of efficiency increases originate from scale gain due to market expansion, which occurs over time. The sample assessed herein is composed of panel data from 61 electric power utilities between 2003 and 2016. The results demonstrate that the tariff review is positively affected by distributor efficiency.     

The development of a comprehensive medical-surgical distribution agreement

The selection of a medical-surgical distributor has become one of the most important decisions made by a hospital materiel manager today. It is therefore critical that before a distributor is selected a clearly defined development process and master plan be established. This master plan should contain, at a minimum, (1) a comprehensive strategic plan, (2) a detailed request for proposal, and (3) a detailed project implementation schedule. A well-structured, well-executed plan will help to ensure that the best distributor is selected and that the best possible distribution agreement is designed.