Strategic imperatives for managing materiel into the next century

The next century of opportunity is less than a decade away. Materiel management must involve itself in the strategic changes occurring within the health care industry and its respective institutions. Those materiel managers who are aggressively ensuring that their operations are supported by a well-developed and well-orchestrated operational infrastructure are now well positioned to address the future challenges of this decade. Unfortunately, many other materiel managers are focusing their attention and efforts solely on the management of materiel for which they currently have control. Materiel managers must develop an acute awareness of the support needs of their respective organizations. Those who are not apprehensive about venturing from the traditional materiel management world will be exposed to incredible educational opportunities and will receive responsibilities of unparalleled organizational importance.     

Balancing clinical priorities in an era of diminishing resources

By learning to ask both manufacturers and clinicians why a technology is needed, how it compares to the existing technology, and whether it will eliminate the need for the existing technology and by demanding specific answers, much more rational decisions can be made, which will be in the best interests of the community the hospital serves. Materiel managers can play a key role in fostering this process. In addition, by helping department managers develop long-range multiyear plans, materiel managers can help hospitals better manage their existing assets and make better long-term purchasing decisions.     

The materiel manager's role in executive management

The ability to achieve advancement for materiel management is a potential that few have challenged and achieved. Reasons for this lack of growth vary in degree, but the opportunities in the 1990s will be tremendous. The political skill and team leadership ability expressed by materiel managers throughout hospitals will ultimately result in whether this challenge is met or not. Materiel managers will need certainly to change their perception of their own role, as well as the perception of hospitals, in order to achieve this. The road will be challenging, but with the winning attitude, skill building, and proven management ability, I believe that materiel managers will become successful in hospital executive management in the 1990s.     

CEO expectation: the Star Wars materiel manager of the 1990s, or C-3PO as role model

Materiel-intensive expenditures account for a significant portion of all hospital costs, second only to salaries and wages, yet materiel managers may often be overlooked as key members of the management team. This is alarming since the potential exists for materiel managers to impact annual savings of hundreds of thousands of dollars by operating efficient departments. Materiel managers have a tremendous opportunity to enhance their image and improve hospital productivity in the coming decade. The challenges of the 1990s will stretch materiel managers' skills toward enhancing their professionalism and achieving the expectations of themselves and top management. If materiel managers will effectively utilize (C3)PO they will increase their educational levels, continue to learn new skills, maintain a customer-oriented management style, exercise creativity, develop and adhere to standards, and be proactive in their responsibilities. The benefits of their success will be felt by patients, hospitals, the industry, and materiel managers everywhere.     

基于WEB方式的装备器材仓库MIS开发技术与方法

本文分析了基于WEB方式的装备器材仓库MIS建设的必要性和可行性分析，论述了系统的开发技术和基于WEB方式的装备器材仓库MIS开发方法。对ASP、ADO技术实现网页与网络数据库链接等技术手段进行了阐述．同时，对系统网络拓扑结构、软硬件配置进行了具体设计。     

Carry the fire

Materiel managers of today have survived the initial cuts brought about through mergers, closures, and acquisitions. Continued survival requires embracing change, practicing instant alignment, and leveraging effectiveness. This case study provides an example of taking a new approach to the old problem of product standardization and utilization reduction, and challenges all of us to bear the torches and "carry the fire."     

Inpatriate managers: how to increase the probability of success

Developing multicultural management teams has gained increasing importance in many global organizations. One global staffing option — inpatriate managers — has the potential to provide a more multicultural management frame-of-reference when developing global strategies. Inpatriates have social knowledge of global operations and countries facilitating the modification of organizational strategies to local competitive/market conditions while ensuring their consistency and coordination with the existing global strategic thrust. This paper addresses the need to provide an effective mechanism for increasing the success rate of inpatriate managers thus improving the global performance of the organization. To achieve enhanced organizational performance the need for a proactive inpatriate program is critical to engender long-term commitment and loyalty of inpatriate managers.     

Strategic Global Human Resource Management: The Role of Inpatriate Managers

The need for highly qualified multicultural managers will increase as more organizations globalize their operations. These global managers may be perceived as organizational resources and, therefore, a resource-based view of human resource management is utilized. At the same time, relational view of human capital provides insight into the value of managers who have unique local market knowledge (i.e., social knowledge). By integrating the two aspects of the resource-based view, one can develop a dynamic capabilities approach to staffing global assignments. Within this integrative theoretical perspective, inpatriate managers (i.e., host or third country managers who are transferred into the home country organization on a semi-permanent to permanent basis) can be explored as a potential pool of uniquely qualified global managers to be utilized in global organizations. It is envisioned that through this unique building of managerial talents, organizations can develop/maintain a distinct competitive advantage in the markets they enter. This article explores inpatriation as an innovative means to develop managers as strategic resources to be used in formulating and implementing a global strategic plan.     

Reengineering materiel management using computer technology

The Materiel Management Department in today's hospital is in a uniquely advantageous position. It can better support the hospital's mission by applying current techniques in material management systems automation together with current computing technology as part of a broad-based reengineering process. Materiel management executives, suppliers, software developers, and hardware manufacturers now have all the necessary tools to create and implement a flexible, cost-effective, complete, paperless system. The model system offers tremendous advantages in terms of increased productivity and reduced total cost. This article discusses the process and the tools and techniques that should be considered.     

Managing in a Nuevo Mundo: Accommodating Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Under Title VII

This article examines a legal issue that is derivative of the increasingly multicultural character of the American work force. The recent case of Garcia v. Spun Steak (1993, 1994) is illustrative of the challenge managers can face in dealing with cultural and linguistic diversity in the workplace. Over time, there have been conflicting messages in employment discrimination law as to the propriety of employer-imposed restrictions on the use of languages other than English in the workplace. However, the basic question involves the balancing of both the employer's right to manage the business and the right to self-expression in the language of one's choice in the workplace. Recommendations are made as to how each party's rights can be balanced under the law. What will be seen is that in the nuevo mundo of work found at the edge of the twenty-first century, the interests of both employers and employees may be best served by policies favoring language promotion over language restrictions.     

The moderating effect of environmental uncertainty on the relationship between real options and technological innovation in high-tech firms

In the past decade, management scholars have applied aspects of real options theory to organizational settings, considering it an approach to enhancing strategic flexibility in the firm. They have also recognized that technological innovation is a critical mechanism through which high-tech firms try to secure a place in the competitive world of the future. Uncertainty about the environment makes it very important to analyze both factors, since the use of real options obligates managers to reflect constantly on future scenarios for which they will have to propose innovative solutions. This paper attempts to apply the theory of real options to innovation theory to propose a model in which real options reasoning improves the level of product/process technological innovation. We argue that this improvement will increase when the environment's level of uncertainty is higher. The proposal is supported empirically by a study performed on a sample of technology firms from different countries in the European Union.     

装备保障物流信息化系统评估研究

本文依据装备保障物流信息化系统建设的特点，结合当前信息化评估技术的最新研究成果，全面分析了系统评估的指标建模原则，并提出了装备保障物流信息化系统评估的指标体系结构，为装备保障物流信息化系统的评估提供了指导方法。     

Spotlight on rehabilitation

Purchasing equipment for a comprehensive rehabilitation program is "patient driven." That means that the equipment needed will be inextricably intertwined with evaluation and restoration of patient function, both medically and psychologically. In addition to being concerned about the traditional managerial functions, that is equipment costs, usefulness, and maintenance, institutional liability, finance, and reimbursement guidelines, Materiel and Purchasing Directors must be knowledgeable about patient safety, rehabilitation QA, and the general impact of QA on direct patient care. As such, Materiel and Purchasing Directors become integral members of the therapeutic interdisciplinary patient care team.     

Managing in aNuevo Mundo: Accommodating linguistic and cultural diversity under title VII

This article examines a legal issue that is derivative of the increasingly multicultural character of the American work force. The recent case of Garcia v. Spun Steak(1993, 1994) is illustrative of the challenge managers can face in dealing with cultural and linguistic diversity in the workplace. Over time, there have been conflicting messages in employment discrimination law as to the propriety of employer-imposed restrictions on the use of languages other than English in the workplace. However, the basic question involves the balancing of both the employer’s right to manage the business and the right to self-expression in the language of one’s choice in the workplace. Recommendations are made as to how each party’s rights can be balanced under the law. What will be seen is that in the nuevo mundoof work found at the edge of the twenty-first century, the interests of both employers and employees may be best served by policies favoring language promotion over language restrictions.     

Implementing structure and control over unofficial inventories in a multispecialty group practice

Materiel managers have been in control of most aspects of the supply chain except for the inventories of the end users, which account for 70 percent of the inventory supply dollars. When the Materials Manager at Lexington Clinic in Lexington, Kentucky, was approached by the Clinic's Chief Executive Officer to implement cost containment measures, the Materials Manager seized the opportunity to implement a six-step program aimed at controlling those supply dollars. Through requisition training, enforcing approval levels, limiting the number of requisitioners, and establishing par levels on floor inventories, the clinic's "unofficial" inventory supply dollars were reduced by 7 percent in the first 12 departments where the par levels were established. The program was hailed as a tremendous success and a positive experience for everyone, from nurses to warehouse clerks.     

基于EPC技术的物联网应用研究

随着全球信息技术革命的深入和3G网络的建设,物联网被看作是推动世界经济复苏的重要动力,其核心技术基于RFID的EPC技术也因此倍受关注。作者对基于EPC技术的物联网的基本构成及工作流程进行分析,讨论了EPC技术的实际应用以及推广实施EPC技术所面临的障碍。     

Gender and organisational position: predicting victimisation of cyberbullying behaviour in working life

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate possible predictors of cyberbullying behaviour in working life by examining previously known predictors of face-to-face bullying as well as demographic variables such as gender and formal position in the work organisation. Multiple regression analyses were conducted on a random sample of 3371 respondents. The results show that a poor social climate at work predicted exposure to cyberbullying behaviour. The study also found differences related to gender and organisational position. While low support from managers was related to higher exposure to cyberbullying behaviours for men managers, men non-managers and women non-managers, this relation did not apply to women managers. For women managers alone, low support from colleagues was associated with exposure to cyberbullying behaviours. Further, only for women managers age had no protective effect of exposure to cyberbullying behaviour. These findings imply that men and women have different social experiences in terms of holding power in working life. As women managers are in a minority in working life, other factors may be involved in predicting exposure to cyberbullying behaviour for women managers than for the other three groups. This article contributes to the sparse knowledge on cyberbullying in working life by recognising triggering factors.     

The relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and speed to the market: The case of incubator firms in Norway

Incubators and incubator firms work to promote the development and commercialization of technology and products. This study shows that entrepreneurial orientation can help achieve this aim. Using survey data from incubator firms, we show that entrepreneurial orientation has a statistically significant positive effect on ability to bring technology and products quickly to the market. This finding is important for managers of incubator firms and managers of incubators alike as they have a common interest in speed to the market. An implication of our study is that managers of incubators should try to enhance the entrepreneurial orientation of the incubator firms.     

An investment perspective for hospital materiel managers

Materiel managers are making investments every time they authorize capital, supply, or personnel requisitions on behalf of their departments or organizations. While not as formal as external investments in securities or the like, internal investments are even more critical to the organization's success and carry the same fiduciary obligations. Generating an acceptable return is a necessity rather than an option as concerns internal investments; the same formal analysis that is applied to external investments should be extended to internal ones as well. Adopting an investment perspective is a critical first step in seeing internal initiatives as investments and obtaining an appropriate return.     

Work life balance and the retention of managers in Spanish SMEs

Executives in today's business world are increasingly conscious that the competitive advantage of companies rests upon the retention of their key employees. According to the literature, dissatisfaction with the job is an important determinant of turnover rates and work life balance (WLB) initiatives are today considered to be an important antecedent of job satisfaction. This study explores these relationships in small and medium enterprises (SMEs), where a number of academics have suggested that research is necessary. This paper presents an empirical research study with a sample of 149 managers of Spanish SMEs. The findings show that the existence of a WLB culture rather than the availability of WLB practices offered by the company is the main determinant of job satisfaction. There is also strong evidence that job satisfaction is a good predictor of turnover intentions. Based on the findings, the paper argues that informal support for WLB, expressed through the existence of positive and supportive organizational values for WLB, plays a major role in enhancing organizational outcomes such as job satisfaction among managers and their retention in SMEs. The implications for practitioners and academics are also discussed.