THE USE OF GROUNDED THEORY FOR THE QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

Qualitative social research generates large amounts of non-standard data which make analysis problematic. This discussion advocates the use of grounded theory as a way of handling these problems. The approach is illustrated, in the context of organizational research, by three cases of grounded theoretical analyses: (a) a study of face-to-face interaction in a hospital between nurses and patients’ relatives; (b) a field-study based on the complex organizational interrelationships associated with small batch production manufacturing; and (c) a documentary-based analysis of the organizational pre-conditions of large-scale accidents. The discussion of the cases stresses the manner in which the qualitative data collected were manipulated in order to give them theoretical shape.     

Sequential estimate for linear regression models with uncertain number of effective variables

As a result of novel data collection technologies, it is now common to encounter data in which the number of explanatory variables collected is large, while the number of variables that actually contribute to the model remains small. Thus, a method that can identify those variables with impact on the model without inferring other noneffective ones will make analysis much more efficient. Many methods are proposed to resolve the model selection problems under such circumstances, however, it is still unknown how large a sample size is sufficient to identify those “effective” variables. In this paper, we apply sequential sampling method so that the effective variables can be identified efficiently, and the sampling is stopped as soon as the “effective” variables are identified and their corresponding regression coefficients are estimated with satisfactory accuracy, which is new to sequential estimation. Both fixed and adaptive designs are considered. The asymptotic properties of estimates of the number of effective variables and their coefficients are established, and the proposed sequential estimation procedure is shown to be asymptotically optimal. Simulation studies are conducted to illustrate the performance of the proposed estimation method, and a diabetes data set is used as an example.     

探究自动化技术在煤矿机电设备中的应用

在我国整体的能源应用之中,煤炭占据了重要的地位,这与我国的工业发展具有极大关系,煤炭安全关系到我国的经济进步,因此,国家未来的工业进步仍然需要依赖煤矿企业的大力支持。在众多化石能源的应用之中,煤炭占据了极大比例,即使现代社会出现了许多新兴能源,但是煤炭资源仍然是其他新生资源所不能替代的重要资源。煤价的大幅下跌会帮助各行各业降低生产成本,从而提高产业的整体竞争力,从侧面拉动了国家经济的增长。     

LABOUR SUPPLY ESTIMATION AND PUBLIC POLICY

Abstract. Economists devote considerable energies towards refining their econometric techniques to overcome difficulties connected with conducting empirical research. Despite advances in technique. it is not clear whether further refinement in this direction is worthwhile for policy purposes. It may be that no further amount of statistical adjustment of inadequate data will increase understanding, and that better data is simply necessary to add to our knowledge. But rarely is sufficient credit paid to new forms of data. In short, econometric technique is emphasized to the neglect of data innovation, as if new data were merely lying about waiting for an ingenious suggestion for use. This paper surveys advances of the last twenty five years in estimating labour supply for policy purposes with a view towards appreciating the relative contribution of both improvements in econometric technique as well as developments of new data.
After briefly detailing the key parameters which economists have sought to estimate, we describe the early 'first generation' research (circa 1970), which is plagued by problems of unobservable variables, measurement errors, truncation and selectivity bias, and non linear budget constraints. 'Second generation' research constitute attempts to resolve one or more of these difficulties, and the respective contribution of econometric technique and new data is acknowledged and assessed, including the contribution of data generated by large scale social experiments in which participants are randomly assigned to different guaranteed income plans and their labour supply behaviour measured.     

Copyright Enforcement: Evidence from Two Field Experiments

Effective dispute resolution is important for reducing private and social costs. We study how resolution responds to changes in price and communication using a new, extensive data set of copyright infringement incidences by firms. The data cover two field experiments run by a large stock‐photography agency. We find that substantially reducing the requested amount generates a small increase in the settlement rate. However, for the same reduced request, a message informing infringers of the price reduction and acknowledging the possible unintentionality generates a large increase in the settlement rate; including a deadline further increases response rate. The small price effect, compared to the large message effect, can be explained by two countervailing effects of a lower price: an inducement to settle early, but a lower threat of escalation. Furthermore, acknowledging possible unintentionality may encourage settlement due to the typically inadvertent nature of these incidences. The resulting higher settlement rate prevents additional legal action and significantly reduces social costs.     

Assessment and development centers: judgment biases and risks of using idiographic and nomothetic approaches to collecting information on people to be evaluated and trained in organizations

Assessment center and development center are two procedures that organizations can use in order to evaluate and train people. They make use of different methods and techniques, some (i.e. interviews) descending from the so called idiographic (or clinical) approach, and some (i.e. standardized instruments) descending from the so called nomothetic (or psychometric) approach. The idea is that different methods and techniques allow assessors and decision makers to collect as much information as possible, in order to come to an integrated judgment of people to be evaluated. Regarding this idea, psychological research has already discovered that it is not the amount of information collected that makes the difference between expert and non-expert assessors and decision makers. Besides, too much information is difficult to manage; and while it increases the confidence of assessors and decision makers about their judgments, it unfortunately does not increase their accuracy as well, since relevant information is mixed with irrelevant one and this makes it difficult to decide which one to consider and which one not. So, the article wants to be a critical review of what psychological science has found, and not so recently, in the field of assessment and development of psychological characteristics, in terms of risks and biases. Finally, it wants to underline the fact that, in spite of risks and biases, nowadays different methods and techniques are actually used to assess one person’s psychological characteristics, which is certainly questionable but also methodologically appropriate if they are appropriately used.     

De Computer: Werkwijze en toepassingsmogelijkheden van elektronische rekenmachines

Since world-war II, there has been an enormous development in the field of the electronic data processing equipment.
This rapid development was on one side due to the boom which followed the war, on the other hand the armaments-race contributed considerably to a further increase of the research in this sector.
In the years 1948–50 it became clear that this equipment could also be of great advantage in other areas than scientific, such as business administration, automatic translation, information retrieval and production control. These applications, however, made other demands on the computer. A greater and faster memory and more speed in input and output of data were necessary. The research in the last few years is therefore mainly concentrated on these problems.
The computers, as they are now available, consist of 5 units: input device, calculating-unit, storage, control unit and output device. The processing is controlled by means of a program, which consists of a number of instructions, prescribing in detail the operations to be performed by the machine.
It will be clear that the use of this equipment requires a careful study beforehand, whilst also the implications on staff and organisation must be considered.     

An examination of national supply-chain flow time

The US and other national governments invest in research and development to spur competitiveness in their domestic manufacturing industries. However, there are limited studies on identifying the research efforts that will have the largest possible return on investment, resulting in suboptimal returns. Manufacturers commonly measure production time in order to identify areas for efficiency improvement, but this is typically not applied at the national level where efficiency issues may cross between enterprises and industries. Such methods and results can be used to prioritize efficiency improvement efforts at an industry supply-chain level. This paper utilizes data on manufacturing inventory along with data on inter-industry interactions to develop a method for tracking industry-level flow time and identifying bottlenecks in US manufacturing. As a proof of concept, this method is applied to the production of three commodities: aircraft, automobiles/trucks, and computers. The robustness of bottleneck identification is tested utilizing Monte Carlo techniques.     

Factors affecting development of crisis management mechanisms in hospitals

The growing competition among hospitals has almost dissolved hospitals’ absolute dominance over the physician–patient relationship. Many existing systems or regulations governing public organizations are so rigid that outstanding physicians in public hospitals may easily depart or be head hunted by competitors. Therefore, there will be more and starker challenges ahead of public hospitals. Through collection and analysis of a large sample, we attempt to apply a unique data validation method—nonlinear fuzzy neural network model to investigate the research issue. The questionnaire was administered to chairmen or physicians taking administrative positions in Taiwan’s public hospitals. The empirical results are as follows: Uncertainty of the hospital business environment is positively correlated with development of crisis management mechanisms; Operation of crisis management mechanisms is positively correlated with establishment of a medical risk management system; Organizational culture in public hospitals is disadvantageous to operation of crisis management mechanisms.     

数据挖掘技术在高校教学管理中的应用

高校在教学和管理中逐渐聚集了相当数量的数据资料,要充分的使用好这些数据资料研究技术对这些数据进行分析和挖掘,从中找出相对于教育教学和监督管理有关的知识,帮助管理者更好的做出决策,与此同时也能够促进学校合理设置课程、制定培养方案和有效管理学生,从而推动学校的全面发展。     

Managerial practices that enhance innovation

In high-innovation organizations, special funds earmarked for research and development are used to support experimental activities. A special committee accepts or rejects an innovators proposal and undertakes a feasibility study. The feasibility-study team uses a marketing orientation to determine if a real customer need exists and how it may best be met. By the time a proposal reaches the adoption stage, the advocate's original idea has been modified by input from study-group members. The project is given an adequate funding level and is monitored and audited on a regular basis. Finally, implementation takes place first on a small scale so that, in the event of failure, a minimum amount of resources will be lost.Essentially, successful innovation depends on a company's willingness to commit the necessary time, money, and leadership to research and development. In the simplest terms, the difference between high- and low-innovation organizations is that the latter are willing to follow up and follow through on behalf of new ideas.     

温特制对新型工业化发展影响的实证分析

走新型工业化道路,实现可持续发展,是中国工业发展的现实与必然选择。新型工业化道路要求实现工业企业的低能耗发展,因此,企业技术效率的提高显得尤为必要。温特制作为一种典型的敏捷生产方式,对世界包括中国在内的资源配置格局产生了积极的影响。本文应用随机前沿生产函数模型,对温特制的代表行业即电子业与传统机械行业企业进行了技术效率的测度,进而基于实证分析结果,探讨了温特制对新型工业化发展的影响。分析表明,相对于传统机械制造业,电子制造业作为温特制的代表行业,存在着技术效率的优势,说明温特制生产方式顺应了新型工业化对工业低能耗发展的要求。     

Big data for cyber physical systems in industry 4.0: a survey

ABSTRACT

With the technology development in cyber physical systems and big data, there are huge potential to apply them to achieve personalization and improve resource efficiency in Industry 4.0. As Industry 4.0 is the relatively new concept originated from an advanced manufacturing vision supported by the German government in 2011, there are only several existing surveys on either cyber physical systems or big data in Industry 4.0. In addition, there are much less surveys related to the intersection between cyber physical systems and big data in Industry 4.0. However, cyber physical systems are closely related to big data in nature. For example, cyber physical systems will continuously generate a large amount of data which requires the big data techniques to process and help to improve system scalability, security, and efficiency. Therefore, we conduct this survey to bring more attention to this critical intersection and highlight the future research direction to achieve the fully autonomy in Industry 4.0.     

湖南省大型制造业企业与物流业联动发展探究

针对湖南省制造业与物流业联动的现状,文中通过企业问卷调查和座谈的方式,收集了湖南大型制造企业物流的信息和物流企业为制造业提供服务的情况。通过对所收集数据的分析和对相关文献的梳理,研究了湖南省制造业和物流业的模式及实现路径,并对湖南省两业联动的发展提出了建议。     

基于契约合作与信息共享的供应链协同研究

为能满足市场多元化需求,降低运营成本,节省不必要的配送流程,提高配送效率,提升服务质量,实现高效的供应链协同是供应链管理的必经之路。契约合作与信息共享是实现供应链协同的重要前提。近年来,有关契约与信息共享的课题研究也有了新的进展。文中对供应链协同管理中的契约合作、信息共享、协同管理应急措施等多个重点内容进行深入探讨,为完善供应链协同体系、增强供应链协同管理质量提供基础理论与实践依据。     

Statistical Integration Through Metadata Management

Faster and more versatile technology is fuelling user demand for statistical agencies to produce an ever wider range of outputs, and to ensure those outputs are consistent and mutually related to the greatest extent possible. Statistical integration is an approach for enhancing the information content of separate statistical collections conducted by an agency, and is necessary for consistency. It has two aspects-conceptual and physical-the former being a prerequisite for the latter. This paper focuses on methods for achieving statistical integration through better management of metadata. It draws on experiences at the Australian Bureau of Statistics in the development and use of a central repository (the "Information Warehouse") to manage data and metadata. It also makes reference to comparable initiatives at other national statistical agencies.
The main conclusions are as follows. First, a prototyping approach is required in developing new functionality to support statistical integration as it is not clear in advance what tools are needed. Second, metadata from separate collections cannot easily be rationalised until they have been loaded to a central repository and are visible alongside one another so their inconsistencies are evident. Third, to be effective, conceptual integration must be accompanied by physical integration. Fourth, there is great scope for partnerships and exchange of ideas between agencies. Finally, statistical integration must be built into the ongoing collection processes and viewed as a way of life.     

浅谈古浪县水源地水资源量计算与评价

水源地资源量计算在水源地勘察中非常重要。本文结合甘肃省武威市民勤县地下水水源地的地下水资源量计算实践,系统地阐述了古浪县水源地地下水资源量计算的内容及要求,以前人研究成果为基础,充分搜集了大量的水文地质、环境地质、水资源开发利用现状等资料,进行了各类供水工程、地下水动态、地质地貌调查及取样工作,通过分析研究,对地下水资源量进行了计算与评价。     

Assessing the technological innovation efficiency of China's high-tech industries with a two-stage network DEA approach

As significant strategic players in China's economy, high-tech industries need to evaluate and analyze the technological innovation activities from a system point of view to understand and improve their technological innovation efficiency and, thereby, promote their development. Different high-tech industries have different characteristics and thus benefit from different industrial development policies. However, few studies to date have discussed this issue from a systematic perspective. In this study, technological innovation activities are divided into a research and development (R&D) stage and a commercialization stage. A high-tech industrial evaluation framework of technological innovation efficiency based on two-stage network data envelopment analysis (DEA) is constructed with shared inputs, additional intermediate inputs, and free intermediate outputs. Our empirical results indicate that the overall efficiency of most industries is relatively low and the differences between the five high-tech industries (i.e., sub-sectors) we examined are large. The Spearman correlation shows that overall efficiency and R&D efficiency are more correlated than overall efficiency and commercialization efficiency. Additionally, R&D has better average efficiency. The sub-sector with the highest average efficiency is computers and office equipment, and the one with the lowest average efficiency is medicines. These findings indicate the inadequacy but potential for breakthroughs in the evolution of high-tech industries in China. The analysis proves that it is necessary to create different industrial policies to encourage effective progress in certain high-tech industries, and some guidelines for doing so are provided.     

Some thoughts on reading the physician market

Marketing to physicians is still the key to a hospital's well being. This is anything but an exact science, but it does have its roots in data collection and research. The best way to market to physicians is to meet their expectations of the hospital and seek the cooperation of the physicians in getting the word out on new programs and services to their patients. The more the hospital can promote the physician out front with his or her patients, the more likely it is that those physicians will support the promotional efforts of the hospital.     

轻轨对中小城镇商业发展的影响——以中山市为例

作为一种大运量、快捷、准点的交通方式,轻轨的建成运营将对相关城镇的客流量在数量、空间分布等方面产生深刻影响,并对城镇发展产生积极的作用.在商业发展方面,轻轨交通的影响主要体现在市场因素、空间因素、竞争因素等方面.在深入剖析轻轨交通对商业发展的影响因素、借鉴地铁商业经验、分析相关预测数据的基础上,就广珠轻轨对中山市城镇商业发展的商业格局、商业规模、商业网点空间分布和商业业态结构等多方面的影响进行了探析.