Experimental comparison of Web, electronic and mail survey technologies in operations management

With the growing acceptance of the Web (Internet) and electronic mail, it is no surprise that researchers are using an increasingly diverse set of survey technologies to gather data from managers. However, the effectiveness of these electronic technologies has not been rigorously assessed, especially for gathering data from establishment-level surveys (i.e. firm- or plant-level). To that end, a stratified sample of large and small, service and manufacturing firms was constructed, followed by random assignment to one of four survey technologies: mail, fax, PC disk-by-mail and Web-page survey (combined with e-mail notification). For each treatment, managers are queried about their use of forecasting characteristics, yielding a sample of 118 firms. Unfortunately, only a low percentage (34%) of firms and managers assigned to the Web technology treatment both reported access to e-mail and were willing provide their e-mail addresses; they tended to be large firms and from the service sector. Moreover, those that did offer e-mail addresses were only about half as likely to respond to the Web-based survey as those targeted by other survey technologies. However, Web, fax and disk-by-mail technologies yielded higher item completion rates than mail. Limited statistical evidence indicated that respondents using computer-based survey technologies (i.e. Web or disk-by-mail) generally reported forecasting characteristics that are associated with firms exhibiting best practices. Thus, a multi-technology survey approach using the Web and fax can yield a strong combination of benefits over a traditional mail survey.     

浅析GPS在地籍测量中的信号传输误差及应对方法

文章结合GPS测量技术在地籍测量工作中的应用,分析了GPS信号传播中出现延迟、接收机误差等原因和解决方法。     

Corporate Governance,Integrated Reporting and the Use of Credibility-enhancing Mechanisms on Integrated Reports

The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) and the South African King III Report on Governance emphasize the role of corporate governance in preparing a high-quality integrated report and establishing an appropriate credibility-enhancing process. This paper examines the significance of corporate governance mechanisms in explaining variations in the quality of integrated reports and the extent and quality of credibility-enhancing mechanisms (CEMs) for integrated reports. Using a sample of integrated reports published between 2012 and 2015 by listed companies on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, this study finds that traditional governance mechanisms such as the board and the audit committee are positively related to the reporting quality of <IR> and use of CEMs. In addition, sustainability-oriented corporate governance mechanisms (i.e. sustainability committee and the use of non-financial performance measures in executives’ compensation contracts) have an incremental positive effect on both the quality of <IR> and the extent and quality of CEMs on integrated reports. Additional analyses attribute the positive effect of these corporate governance mechanisms on <IR> quality and the use of CEMs mainly to the diligence and expertise of the board of directors and audit committee and the independence and expertise of a sustainability committee.     

Accuracy, unbiasedness and efficiency of professional macroeconomic forecasts: An empirical comparison for the G7

In this paper, we use survey data to analyze the accuracy, unbiasedness and efficiency of professional macroeconomic forecasts. We analyze a large panel of individual forecasts that has not previously been analyzed in the literature. We provide evidence on the properties of forecasts for all G7-countries and for four different macroeconomic variables. Our results show a high degree of dispersion of forecast accuracy across forecasters. We also find that there are large differences in the performances of forecasters, not only across countries but also across different macroeconomic variables. In general, the forecasts tend to be biased in situations where the forecasters have to learn about large structural shocks or gradual changes in the trend of a variable. Furthermore, while a sizable fraction of forecasters seem to smooth their GDP forecasts significantly, this does not apply to forecasts made for other macroeconomic variables.     

Efficiency meets accountability: Performance implications of supply chain configuration, control, and capabilities

The public increasingly holds firms accountable for social and environmental outcomes, such as product toxicity problems and human rights violations, throughout their global supply chains. How can companies improve the social and environmental performance within their supply chains, particularly as other competitive pressures, such as cost and quality, continue to escalate? Starting from an efficient versus responsive supply chain framework, we develop an integrative model that blends together elements of supply chain configuration, stakeholder management, and capability development. Specifically, we spotlight the dimensions of control and accountability that collectively determine stakeholder exposure, and show how this new construct affects the linkages between supply chain capabilities, configuration, and performance. In particular, this analysis reveals that the nature of stakeholder exposure determines how social/environmental technical and relational capabilities impact social and environmental outcomes. We conclude with implications for research and practice, discussing how current supply chain theories must be extended to incorporate external stakeholders, to clarify strategies and identify potential pitfalls, and to better predict performance outcomes.     

The political economy of environmental and social security policies: the role of environmental lobbying

Social security provides retirement benefits to the old at the expense of the working young, while environmental investment benefits the future of the young at the expense of the old. This paper presents a model incorporating this intergenerational conflict on public spending and considers the political determination of environmental investment and social security by focusing on the Markovian political equilibria. It is shown that (1) the political equilibria are generally inefficient, and (2) the introduction of environmental lobbying into politics may improve environmental quality but degrade lifetime utility in the long run.      

Building the Knowledge Stock: Lags,Depreciation, and Uncertainty in R&D Investment and Link with Productivity Growth

The search for an appropriate methodology to investigate the relation between R&D investment, knowledge stock and productivity growth is the main purpose of the paper. In analogy with physical assets, we present a model of knowledge capital formation which allows the calculation of the relevant user cost, as well. The proposed model accumulates R&D investment based on a stochastic gestation lag and a geometric depreciation of the stock. The basic parameters underlying the lag structure differ according to the types of research expenditure. The approach is applied to public R&D investment in Italian agriculture; the results provide interesting information about the economic structure of public research effort in Italian agriculture and plausible estimates of its internal rate of return.     

不同工业化阶段环境库兹涅茨曲线研究——以广州、佛山与肇庆市为例

运用环境库兹涅茨曲线,对广州、佛山、肇庆三个处于不同工业化阶段城市的工业废水排放量、工业废气排放量、工业固废产生量与人均GDP的关系进行拟合,并运用灰色关联分析法分析其主要影响因素.三市不同污染指标的EKC形状各异,呈现出不同的经济发展与环境污染的关系;除广州市工业废水排放量和佛山市工业废气排放量外,其余各种污染均呈现不同程度的增长趋势;工业污染排放受多种因素影响,不同工业化阶段主要影响因素各不相同,但经济规模和经济结构对工业污染变化的影响始终是巨大的.     

民族传统体育产业化发展的对策研究——以湘鄂渝黔地区为例

根据区域体育人口的现状和不同消费结构特点,本文作者运用文献资料法,实际考察法,从深度和广度上对区域群众的消费层次结构和生活习性进行了研究,以此为依据,制定了调整区域民族传统体育产业发展的结构方向,为民族体育产业化发展提供理论依据。     

危机环境中的企业困境与自救——国内外企业危机研究综述与比较分析

随着金融危机、疫情危机等带来的商业环境剧烈变化,企业危机话题越来越受到国内外学者的关注。基于文献计量方法,统计分析了CSSCI库与SSCI库中2005—2019年的相关文献,梳理并比较国内外企业危机话题的演化趋势、研究现状与发展前沿。研究发现,国内外企业危机研究基本在第一阶段都普遍关注公司治理与财务管理问题,第二阶段关注金融危机对企业造成的影响,第三阶段则主要关注产品伤害危机相关问题,但在本阶段国内外研究呈现一定的分化。从研究内容来看,国内外企业危机研究基本从危机的形式、应对及预警三个方面展开,其中在危机应对角度上国内研究主要是基于已有理论框架论述危机管理策略,国外研究则强调利用实证数据推导特定危机问题下的特定危机应对方法。最后,在未来趋势方面,国内趋于关注“社会化媒体”“溢出效应”及“品牌危机”等话题,而国外研究则更关注“企业社会责任”话题。     

Agreement and consensus in a Q-mode research design: an empirical comparison of measures,and an application

Subject of this paper is the analysis of consensus within small groups of respondents, based on a proportionally large number of variables. The target group is researchers who are interested in Q-mode research. Measures of agreement are compared, and an application from a recent project is presented. Cohen’s κ is the preferable measure, Krippendorff’s α is an alternative, which is based on a different concept of expected disagreement. At group level, along with κ and α for multiple raters, additional measures are r _wg, intraclass correlation, and κ _SC. Predictions about level differences between groups can be assessed by a t-test and θ     

与时俱进,提高企业思想政治工作的有效性

适应形势变化,增强企业思想政治工作的有效性,是需要我们认真研究和努力实践的重要课题。本文结合工作实践,探讨了思想政治工作如何做到求实、求细、重情、灵活、创新等方式方法。     

Measuring the impact of restructuring and country-specific factors on the efficiency of post-crisis East Asian banking systems: Integrating DEA with SFA

This paper investigates the relationship between post-crisis bank restructuring, country-specific conditions and bank efficiency in Asian countries from 1997 to 2001 using an approach that integrates data envelopment analysis and stochastic frontier analysis. We focus on restructuring measures related to bank ownership. The results indicate that although domestic mergers produce more efficient banks, overall, restructuring does not lead to more efficient banking systems. Banking system inefficiencies are mostly attributed to country-specific conditions, particularly, high interest rates, concentrated markets and economic development.     

Questioning the relevance of supplier satisfaction for preferred customer treatment: Antecedent effects of comparative alternatives and multi-dimensionality

Through the construct of supplier satisfaction, recent research explains the supplier's preferred treatment of a given customer. This cause-and-effect phenomenon is often not contrasted with other reasons or controlled for. This work addresses this issue and uses two tactics to elaborate upon social exchange theory, namely, construct splitting and construct contrasting, to analyse the development of preferential customer treatment. For this purpose, a structural equation model is used with data from the international automotive industry. The results extend the breadth of constructs explaining preferred customer treatment (PCT) and challenge the existing reasoning by questioning the relative importance of supplier satisfaction. While supplier satisfaction does affect PCT, the relative supplier satisfaction defined as a comparison of outcomes between the actual and the best alternative business relationships influences PCT much more.Furthermore, by distinguishing between the economic and non-economic dimensions of supplier satisfaction, the study indicate that economic satisfaction has a higher influence on the relative satisfaction whereas social satisfaction a higher one on absolute supplier satisfaction.These findings imply that despite the current debate about the importance of behavioural constructs such as supplier interaction and social capital, supplier resource allocation decisions are actually dominated by economic and relative aspects of satisfaction. This outcome calls for a more economically driven debate about behavioural supply management approaches.     

The adoption of high performance work practices in small businesses: the influence of markets,business characteristics and HR expertise

This paper explores the extent to which the adoption of high performance work practices (HPWPs) in UK small businesses with less than 50 employees is associated with the nature of the market in which the business operates, its business characteristics and its access to HR expertise. Drawing on data from the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey, the analysis suggests that, where market-related factors are concerned, the uptake of HPWPs is higher in small businesses that require a highly skilled workforce but is unrelated to either the degree of market competition or the presence of large dominant customers. In terms of access to HR expertise, the analysis finds greater use of HPWPs in small businesses that have contact with external sources of HR advice via membership of business advisory networks or Investors in People (IiP) recognition. However, uptake is unrelated to the presence of personnel/HR specialists. Overall, the findings suggest that rather than depicting employment practices in small businesses as the inevitable consequence of market circumstances, encouraging greater small business involvement with business advisory networks and IiP may have the potential to increase the adoption of HPWPs in the sector.     

产学研相结合--新时期我国企业科技创新持续发展途径

本文列举了我国企业与高校、科研院所的科技力量分布不平衡的情况;介绍了科学研究的两种模式,产学研相结合开展技术创新,就是对这两种模式的具体运用,并深入分析了企业-高校-科研院所产学研相结合持续发展的作用机制、产学研相结合的三种形式;提出了社会各界对产学研相结合的持续发展应给予的政策支持。     

从产学研角度分析《水环境修复工程》开设的必要性

现代水利已从单纯的工程水利演进为生态水利,水利工作者必须承担起水利建设与水环境保护双重任务,在水利工程专业开设水环境修复课程是为了适应这一转变。由于没有开设先修课程,学生们普遍缺乏必须的基本知识,给课程的开设带来一定的困难。为了解决困难,提高教学效果,采用了以下形式进行教学:以产学研为中心,采用研讨课的形式,围绕实际问题进行教学;努力将水利专业学生设计能力及建模能力较强的优势应用到水环境修复工程实践中;结合地域特色大量采用案例进行教学。实践表明,这种教学模式激发了学生的兴趣,使学生自觉通过课外学习扫除知识盲点,有效地解决了学生未上先修课程带来的基础知识的缺陷问题,取得了良好的教学效果。     

大学新生职业生涯规划现状调查及对策研究——基于北京石油化工学院2010级学生的分析

面对"90后"大学生的特点,文章从职业生涯规划的角度思考解决高校学风建设和就业工作中的突出问题。通过对北京石油化工学院2010级新生职业生涯规划的现状进行问卷调查,发现其存在的问题,提出对策和建议,为大学生的职业选择和发展提供科学的指导。     

真实型领导与团队创新绩效: 差错管理氛围与特质调节焦点的作用研究

团队创新是企业获取竞争优势,实现可持续发展的重要保证。差错管理氛围和特质焦点提供了理解团队创新的新视角。研究发现真实型领导通过营造差错管理氛围,对团队创新绩效产生正向影响;团队提升型特质调节焦点在差错管理氛围和团队创新绩效间起到正向调节作用。文章拓展了创新、差错管理氛围以及调节焦点等相关文献,并为提升团队创新绩效提供了管理建议。