Consequences of competitive bidding in project-based production

This paper discusses the consequences competitive bidding have on lead time in project-based production, such as construction. Earlier studies argued that competitive bidding may significantly increase resource consumption and generate waste in the delivery process, which this paper supports. However, the relation between competitive bidding and lead time has been less discussed. Lead time reduction has long been considered a fundamental objective for overall business improvement. An objective of our study was to understand what contributes to long lead times. The reported findings are from a 4-year study on the delivery process of power distribution equipment, a type of engineered-to-order (ETO) product. The paper concludes by suggesting procurement practices that reduce lead times for ETO products.     

北京城市发展空间布局研究

北京城城址几经移动,城市位置也发生了很大变化,现代北京城市的生长与变化也不可避免。建国以来,对现代北京城市的位置定位与选择,进行了多次探讨与激烈论争。在论争中形成的诸多城市定位方案,既是今天城市发展的重要参照,又不可避免地带有当时的历史局限性。需要从生态的角度对北京城市今后位置的迁移与选择进行探讨,从超越城市本身的宏观空间角度对新的城市位置进行思考。从生态屏障的角度来看,北京城市的位置不应当向西北部移动,而应当向东南部移动。同时要严格保护北京城市的西北农田、森林和城市水源地,形成城市与西部山区间的缓冲地带,使北京城市的发展对西北部山区生态屏障不至于产生严重的负面扰动。     

美国大都市区规划管理经验及启示

随着经济全球化与区域经济一体化发展 ,如何有效管理以促进大都市区经济的空间整合 ,日益成为国内外关注的焦点。本文分析和总结了美国大都市区规划管理的经验 ,在此基础上对我国大都市区的行政分割有效治理提出了建议。     

The benefits of global teams for international organizations: HR implications

Abstract

In this special issue we aim to advance the theoretical, conceptual and empirical knowledge about the relationship between global teams and human resource management in international organizations. We argue that although the prevalence of global teams in international organizations is rapidly rising, simultaneously affecting the management of firms on global, regional and local levels, the response of firms and scholars alike to such changes has been slower, especially in the area of IHRM. The HR function in organizations could play a vital role in understanding, managing and leveraging the benefits of global teams to ensure that they contribute positively to the performance of firms, organizational units, and people. We demonstrate that there is still a disconnect in this respect and we highlight several areas in which the increasing use of global teams may challenge our conventional understanding of IHRM issues, and at the same time offer solutions for improvement in international organizations. The selected articles in this special issue provide both theoretical and practitioner implications by highlighting the need to explore the relationship between global teams and IHRM more generally and fully, as well as the need for HR practitioners and IHRM scholars to focus more on the ‘human’ and less on the ‘resources’ aspect. We trust that readers of this issue will agree that the articles all offer novel insights into key issues that open new avenues for further research in this nascent yet promising area.     

联想:最带劲的时刻

"坐二望一",联想可以站在行业最顶端俯瞰对手、挥斥方遒了吗?没有。这是身处IT行业的困境,从来没有任何一刻可以丢弃危机感。但是,联想在国际化深水区——文化磨合上的跋涉摸索,值得所有有国际化梦想的中国企业镜鉴     

International best practice,quality management anf high performance: inferences from the Australian automotive sector

The adoption of international ‘best practice’ (IBP) has been presented widely as a strategy for organizations to improve productivity and competitiveness. The most prominent best practices include total quality management, continuous improvement programmes and just-in-time (JIT) production. Two key measures of competitiveness are quality and efficiency, and we examine those IBPs that lead to high levels of quality and efficiency in the Australian automotive industry. Our findings are based on a survey of the Australian automotive industry, and they suggest that the successful implementation of JIT and continuous improvement programmes can influence efficiency; this corresponds with recent discussions of IBP. However, our analyses also indicate that certain areas of human resource management, such as performance appraisals, performance-related pay, welfare schemes and testing during selection, can have an important influence on efficiency and quality and should also be considered as important forms of best practice.     

Using QFD method for the ecological designing of products and services

QFD method is a method in the area of quality management. In this publication, it has been modified and used in environmental management. As an example, ecologically modiefied QFD was implemented for Bedzin district in Poland. Implementing this method in a town allows to select activities that are crucial for fulfilling ecological requirements and it leads to the improvement of the life quality of the citizens.     

A diagnosis of leadership effectiveness in the Irish public sector

Abstract

As Ireland has followed other countries in modernizing its public sector according to the principles of ‘new public management’ (without introducing market mechanisms on the same scale as its Anglo-Saxon counterparts), the capacity of its public managers to supply the leadership required to drive this programme forward has been identified as a crucial factor affecting its sustainability. A broadly representative sample of Irish public managers has been surveyed using the Leadership Effectiveness Analysis diagnostic instrument to identify those behaviours that need to be developed since they are infrequently used or can moderate the liabilities associated with frequently used behaviours. The findings of this study are interpreted within the context of a broader literature that debates the distinctiveness, significance and malleability of organizational leadership, in general, and the possibility of achieving a balance between different and, at times, conflicting public leadership behaviours, in particular.     

Small business responsibility in developing countries: a threat or an opportunity?

Many developing country small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) that are exporters see themselves facing a dilemma. They do not know how to respond to the rising social and environmental requirements of global buyers and supply chains and fear that were they to do so they would lose their competitive edge. However, they are aware that if they do not meet these requirements, they will not be able to access new foreign markets and may lose the contracts they already have. To investigate whether practical methods exist for resolving this dilemma, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) carried out a one year project with 22 SMEs in four Asian countries. The results suggest that well targeted, enterprise‐specific efforts to meet corporate social responsibility (CSR) requirements can make a positive contribution to both short‐term profitability and longer‐term competitiveness. The ‘business case’ for CSR appears strongest in the environmental area, but measures in that area can act as a ‘starter motor’ for tackling more systemic ‘social’ problems. Furthermore, tackling social issues at the workplace can feed back positively to improve the sustainability of the environmental improvement measures. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Continuity and Change in Mergers and Acquisitions: A Social Identity Case Study of a German Industrial Merger*

abstract It is crucial from an employee's point of view to perceive some degree of stability even in times of major organizational change. This paper examines the role of a sense of continuity for organizational identification after an organizational merger. We argue that mergers and acquisitions so often end in failures partly because the change is designed in discontinuous ways and employees do not feel they are doing the same job after the merger as before. Such discontinuous change engenders a critical tension between positive and negative effects of identification that has not yet been fully understood. To deepen the understanding of this tension, in‐depth interviews were conducted in a recently merged German industrial company. Based on these qualitative data we demonstrate how features of the post‐merger company structure and the way it was implemented may have eroded organizational identification. Finally, we propose a parsimonious model to be tested by future research, in which the sense of continuity is consisting of both observable as well as projected continuity.     

Evaluation of scheduling techniques for solving flowshop problems with no intermediate storage

The flowshop scheduling problem with no intermediate storage (NIS problem) was studied in this research. This problem, a modification of the classical flowshop scheduling problem, arises when a set of jobs, once started, must be processed with no wait between consecutive machines. By eliminating the need for intermediate storage, reduction of capital investment in work-in-process inventory can be achieved. This approach can be practically applied to a steel mill, in which the metal should be continuously processed in order to maintain high temperature, as well as many other similar processes.To provide insight into selecting an appropriate scheduling technique for solving the NIS problem, six methods were compared in terms of the quality and efficiency of the scheduling solutions they produced. The quality of solution was measured by makespan and the efficiency of solution was measured by the computational time requirements. The six methods examined in this study included: the Gupta algorithm, the Szwarc algorithm, an integer linear programming method, the Campbell et al. algorithm, the Dannenbring rapid access with extensive search algorithm, and a mixed integer linear programming procedure.The problem factors considered in this study were number of jobs, number of machines, and range of processing times. Relatively small-sized problems were tested with up to ten jobs, five machines, and 1–100 processing time units. Six solution techniques were selected and compared, with respect to makespan and computational time requirements, for multiple combinations of the three problem variables.The resulting test data were investigated using graphical procedures and formal statistical analyses. Initially, plots of mean values were used to graphically compare the six solution methods for the two performance criteria. Next, a multivariate analysis of variance study was conducted to investigate the quality and efficiency of the algorithms with respect to the problem factors. Then, a multiple comparison procedure was employed to analyze treatment mean differences among the six solution techniques. Results from the statistical analyses are summarized in this article.It was concluded that the two mathematical programming methods, the integer linear programming procedure and the mixed integer linear programming methods, produced the best performance in terms of makespan. These two methods, however, used a far greater amount of computational time than the other four solution techniques. Producing moderately good results as far as quality of performance, the Gupta and the Szwarc algorithms were comparable with the Campbell et al. and the Dannenbring algorithms in terms of computational efficiency. By comparison, the Campbell et al. and the Dannenbring algorithms produced the poorest performance with respect to the quality of solutions.Certain limitations were imposed for this study. The problem size considered was relatively small and the sample size was also limited to ten problems per cell. In addition, a uniform distribution function was used for generating processing times within certain ranges. These limitations were necessary in order to allow the various scheduling problems to be solved within a reasonable amount of computer time.Finally, some suggestions were provided for future research in the NIS problem area. The integer linear programming method was recommended as a standard of evaluation, owing to its best overall performance. A possible area for future research would involve the improvement of the Gupta and the Szwarc algorithms through the use of backtracking procedures within the branch-and-bound technique, so that they might be competitive with the mathematical programming methods with respect to quality of performance. Other distribution functions could be investigated in terms of the influence of the distribution of processing times on the performance measures.     

Know thyself: Leading through the core of you in times of turbulence

The paper describes how leaders behave and react in unprecedented times when a professional service firm has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Firsthand data were gathered through interviews, observations, and participation based on direct interaction with leaders and employees. The concept of leadership anatomy is used to describe, discuss, and critique leadership behavior. It signifies the different parts of a human body equipped with sensory ability. The study reveals that in times of crisis, leaders tend to draw on the core of who they are through compassion rather than conventional wisdom in decision making and problem solving. The search for what truly matters helps leaders to reinterpret the ethos of the firm and what they stand for as leaders in their sensemaking of chaos. A deeper reflection of their personal values and beliefs gives them the courage to acknowledge their vulnerability and start seeing the value in others.     

Pre-expatriation: the role of HR factors in the early stages of internationalization

While there has been considerable research on the early stages of internationaIization, HRM aspects have not generally been part of this work, even though many of the important variables revolve around the key people involved and such aspects as their knowledge and networks. In this article, the somewhat neglected area of HRM and internationalization before full-scale expatriation is examined. From the limited available research, it would appear that, within companies, many of the emerging HR issues in early internationalization are dealt with as and when they arise, in a relatively ad hoc manner, often through the marketing department. It is argued that there is potential for a more substantial role to be played by HR staff, but this may well depend on the development of more internationally oriented HR staff as a starting point.     

采空区悬顶面积超标时的处理

随着综合机械化采煤水平的提高,矿井巷道的支护强度和支护水平有了很大的改善。但同时也带来一些隐患,甚至造成安全事故。本文就采空区悬顶面积过大问题进行分析和解决。     

Application of Robust Parameter Design Methodologies

The concepts of robust parameter design (RPD) are based on the philosophy of Genichi Taguchi, who introduced the concepts after several years of research. Robust engineering which is also referred to as Taguchi Methods, (TM), systematically evolved starting in the 1950s and aims at providing industries with a cost effective methodology for enhancing their competitive position in the global market. In this study, RE Methods has been used to improve the quality of oil pump housing production of Iranian diesel engine manufacturing (IDEM) Company in which 134 improvement over the current condition has been achieved. It is interesting to mention that the above wonderful result has been obtained under vast conditions of production and operation environments, and increasing production capacity and not imposing any further investment in factors of production.     

UT斯达康:赌徒心态

央视315晚会尽管只是打了一只“死老虎”．但这却是对UT斯达康最严厉的警告     

人民币汇率变动对我国外贸产业的影响

在世界经济蓬勃发展的今天,我国的经济也是随着世界经济的发展呈现出一片良好的态势。因此我国在国际中的地位也不断提高,同时人民币的地位也水涨船高。 早在2002年,亚洲经济快速发展,中国成为了亚洲经济发展的“领头羊”,在中国周边国家更是形成了“人民币地带”时,日本政府便曾经提出议案要求七国集团通过类似于“广场协议”的文件,以迫使人民币升值。而在2006年中美贸易顺差达到1442.6亿美元,美国便以中美巨额贸易顺差造成损失为由,要求人民币升值。现如今2014年,人民币已经多次升值,今年中美汇率更是首次破六,使人民币升值达到了新高。 作为我国GDP的一个极为重要的组成部分,外贸产业一直都受到人民币汇率变化带来的巨大影响。本文将通过我国人民币汇率变动而分析出人民币升值对外贸产业带来的影响,以及总结出外贸产业应对人民币汇率变动带来的后果的措施。     

加强国有施工企业思想政治工作的策略分析

在时代不断发展变化的背景下,社会主义市场经济体制逐步完善,各大国有施工企业在经营管理期间能否正确开展思想政治工作至关重要。鉴于此,国有施工企业的思想政治工作备受关注,同时也面临着严峻挑战。为了保障国有施工企业的长远发展,其必须从思想政治工作的态度和方式方面进行转变和创新,在保证思想政治工作质量的同时,紧跟中国共产党的正确领导,保证建设安全和建设质量,为国家整体实力的提升奠定基础。     

燃油加油机实际检测中存在的问题及对策探究

随着时代的发展,我国综合实力与社会经济水平的提高,带动着我国汽车行业的快速发展,大量汽车与人们日常生活的融合,极大地提高了人们的日常生活水平,并在另一方面提高了对相关燃油的需求。为了保障燃油质量,同时满足油品市场的需求,相关人员需要加强燃油加油机检测水平的提高,同时借助现代化检测技术与设备,降低检测过程中的问题出现概率,并对已出现的问题进行合理解决,对燃油质量及消费者自身经济效益进行保障,进而促进相关领域的进步与发展。论文将主要对燃油加油机实际检测中存在的问题及解决对策进行深入研究。     

灌区工程建设及建后管护

文章就北海市合浦水库灌区节水改造项目建设，探讨怎样搞好和加快灌区项目建设及加强建后管护工作的紧迫性，使之尽快和持续发挥应有效益。