A simple model approach to multi-project monitoring

The commonly recommended network approach to project monitoring and scheduling can make very useful, detailed contributions to individual projects. However, it has not yet been adequately developed to deal with a large number of projects, particularly where considerable uncertainties are involved. To try to overcome this weakness an attempt has been made to use a project model that is so simple that it can easily be handled in large numbers. Although details of individual projects are lost, considerable benefit can be obtained from analyses of the resulting, collective data. This approach has been used successfully for some time to present project programmes and progress with the work in an engineering development laboratory and is currently being extended to assist with multi-project scheduling.     

A risk-adjusted approach for assessing factors that determine utilities' allowed returns on equity

This paper demonstrates that, even after adjustment for risk, state utility commissions are sensitive to the return on equity requests of electric utilities. This supports the hypothesis that commissions and utilities implicitly compensate for other ratemaking factors, so as to arrive at a reasonable rate of return. Publicized differences in allowed returns have superficial informational content with regard to regulatory treatment. An implication is that commissions are more efficient in both the performance of their duties and in the allocation of resources than is usually assumed.     

A bicriteria approach to maximize the weighted number of just-in-time jobs and to minimize the total resource consumption cost in a two-machine flow-shop scheduling system

We analyze a two-machine flow-shop scheduling problem in which the job processing times are controllable by the allocation of resources to the job operations and the resources can be used in discrete quantities. We provide a bicriteria analysis of the problem where the first criterion is to maximize the weighted number of just-in-time jobs and the second criterion is to minimize the total resource consumption cost. We prove that although the problem is known to be NP-hard even for constant processing times, a pseudo-polynomial time algorithm for its solution exists. In addition, we show how the pseudo-polynomial time algorithm can be converted into a two-dimensional fully polynomial approximation scheme for finding an approximate Pareto solution.     

煤炭企业战略成本管理系统设计探讨

在多样化的市场竞争环境中，煤炭企业应根据自身所处的内部和外部环境，遵循竞争战略原则，成本效益原则，协调原则和弹性原则，制定企业竞争战略和成本管理战略，选择适当的成本计算方法和成本控制方法，构建有效的战略成本管理系统。     

An interdisciplinary approach to assessing the characteristics and sales potential of modern salespeople

Technology is becoming increasingly pervasive in industrial markets. So too are the necessary attributes of salespeople in this context changing, to require not only the typical selling skills of persuasion and tact, and the interpersonal skills usually considered relevant in consumer markets, but also the technical skills associated with technology transfer. The research reported here investigates these three aspects, and measures their influence on actual sales performance in a business-to-business context.     

A systematic assessment of the empirical support for transaction cost economics

Transaction cost economics (TCE) is one of the leading perspectives in management and organizational studies, yet debate continues regarding its empirical support. In this paper, we take stock of the large body of extant research and provide a systematic assessment of empirical evidence. In all, 308 statistical tests from 63 articles, selected according to a set of clear criteria, were examined across various dimensions. We assess not only the level of empirical support for the theory, but also the degree of paradigm consensus present in the empirical literature. Our analysis shows that results are mixed: while we found support in some areas (e.g., with regard to asset specificity), we also found considerable disagreement on how to operationalize some of TCE's central constructs and propositions, and relatively low levels of empirical support in other core areas (e.g., surrounding uncertainty and performance). We conclude that a more thorough empirical grounding of the theory's foundation is crucial to its future development, and offer several strategies for doing this. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

关于发电厂改革技术经济指标体系及建立成本反馈系统的设想

基于企业服从市场的原则,提出了改革发电厂传统的技术经济指标体系,建立以企业市场目标为源头、符合独立市场主体需要、体现发电厂特点,呈"树状结构"分布的技术经济指标体系和分析系统,在此基础上,建立一个适应发电厂商业化运营的成本反馈系统,使企业能够针对电力市场变化反馈信息,促使发电厂优化资源配置,形成科学的市场策略。     

生产成本考核系统的开发与实现

引言中石化巴陵分公司己内酰胺产品部作为国内最大的己内酰胺生产基地，在面临全球性激烈竞争的情况下，要谋生存、求发展，就必须利用先进的现代管理理念来控制生产成本、降低损耗、提高产品质量，从而强化内部管理、提高产品竞争力、追求效益最大化。而建立一套科学、适用、有效的生产成本考核系统，充分利用各种成本数据，计算分析各种生产成本，提供快速准确的生产成本信息，并依托先进的成本管理思想，就能够真正实现生产成本科学、及时、动态的管理，达到企业成本最低化、利润最大化的目标。开发背景己内酰胺装置引进荷兰斯达米卡本公…     

A method for identifying and assessing key customer group needs

This paper presents a methodology for identifying and weighing the importance of product attributes used by a key customer group of a company. A central feature of the technique is the introduction of a new concept: competition factors (CF). These factors address the influence of substitute products in the specific product attributes that a customer group considers. A better knowledge of substitute products can surface previously hidden or latent customer needs. CF allow dealing with this problem, providing a powerful tool for market-oriented businesses that seek to understand customers' expressed and latent needs. The wood products industry and architects are used to illustrate the technique.     

Optimizing service-level and relevant cost for a stochastic multi-item cyclic production system

A multi-item make-to-order production system in a stochastic environment is analyzed. Assuming a common cycle production approach, the impact of safety stock, cycle time, demand, processing time and setup time on service-level and total relevant cost (holding, setup and backorder cost) is determined. To illustrate this relationship a trajectory for the service-level with respect to the relevant cost (holding and setup) is presented. Furthermore algorithms to calculate the cycle time which leads to maximum service-level at constant safety stock and to calculate the pair cycle time and safety stock which minimize total relevant cost are introduced.     

制造业中基于企业价值链的成本控制方法体系的探讨

中国制造业现阶段的竞争优势主要是价格,因此成本控制在企业管理中就成为了重点中的重点.本文基于企业价值链提出了制造业的成本控制方法体系.     

An extension to a DEA support system used for assessing R&D projects

This paper describes an extension to the data envelopment analysis (DEA) support system that has been used for the assessment, rating, and ranking of diverse portfolios of research and development (R&D) projects at Lucent Technologies. The approach is illustrated through its application to a large portfolio of R&D projects considered by Lucent's Advanced Technologies Group. The method proceeds by first stratifying the portfolio into comparably efficient groups of projects through the construction of a series of efficient DEA frontiers, and then by lexicographically ranking each project within these groups relative to DEA-based contextual attractiveness measures calculated from the different partitions. The advantages to this approach are provided not only from the perspective of the specific project rankings that are produced but also from the broader managerial insights that can be derived from any resulting differences between officially sanctioned, quantitative decision-making procedures, and the quality of the decisions that have actually been made by managers.     

A minimum cost flow model for level of repair analysis

Given a product design and a repair network for capital goods, a level of repair analysis determines for each component in the product (1) whether it should be discarded or repaired upon failure and (2) at which location in the repair network to do this. In this paper, we show how the problem can be modelled as a minimum cost flow problem with side constraints. Advantages are that (1) solving our model requires less computational effort than solving existing models and (2) we achieve a high model flexibility, i.e., many practical extensions can be added. Furthermore, we analyse the added value of modelling the exact structure of the repair network, instead of aggregating all data per echelon as is common in the literature. We show that in some cases, cost savings of over 7% can be achieved. We also show when it is sufficient to model the repair network by echelons only, which requires less input data.     

关于石油企业降低原油成本的思考

随着国际原油价格的起伏跌宕，人们对原油成本也越来越重视，因为低成本是化解价格风险的一剂良药，低成本战略也是国际大石油公司的重要经营战略之一。而油气产品的成本是反映企业管理水平的一个综合指标，它是企业中各种因素共同作用的结果，所以成本的降低要涉及到企业的各个方面。石油企业在实施低成本战略的过程中，不但要从技术、工艺方面采取措施，还要对石油企业传统的经营观念、管理体制、生产方式等进行重新审视，用正确的思想来指导低成本战略的实施。一、影响原油成本的主要因素分析资源状况。油田企业成本的大小和经济效益的好…     

A characterization for the negative welfare effects of cost reduction in Cournot oligopoly

This paper characterizes the welfare effects of cost reductions in a Cournot model with linear costs. Under linear demand, a small reduction in a firm’s marginal cost reduces welfare if and only if its market share is less than 1/(2n+2), or equivalently, its marginal cost exceeds a critical level determined by the market. A large cost reduction by the firm increases welfare if and only if its magnitude is at least twice the difference between the current marginal cost and its critical value. The paper also extends the results to non-linear demand, but the characterizations become less tractable.     

A simple technique for the optimization of lay-out and location for chemical plant safety

A computer program to optimize the use of land and ensure safe operation of plant. A logical process flow is maintained, while the position of plant items is optimized using a hill-climbing technique. A number of quantitative techniques exist for the measurement of hazard values for comparison of process routes in chemical plant design and operation. Such numerical values can also be used as a basis in lay-out considerations. There is a need for a simple technique, which allows for the optimization of separation distances between plant by determining the minimum requirement for safe operation. This requirement determines the cost of land and that of piping and control lines. It is then possible to carry out economic comparisons between using separation distances and the installation of mobile and fixed prevention and protection systems. An optimization technique based on a modified hill-climbing method is described.     

中国煤炭成本核算框架现状及存在问题分析

通过描述我国煤炭成本核算框架现状,指出现行煤炭成本核算框架存在的煤炭成本总体水平低、煤炭成本反映不完全、煤炭职工收入水平低等六个方面不足,并在此基础上提出政策性建议,以期完善我国煤炭成本核算体系。     

理顺成本价格机制 促进煤炭企业可持续发展

在我国加快推进建设小康社会的进程中，国民经济快速发展的拉动为煤炭工业带来了空前良好的发展机遇，煤炭行业进入新一轮经济上升期。然而，随着市场经济体制逐步完善。改革和发展环境发生了很大变化，如何提高煤炭企业的市场竞争力和抵御风险能力，为经济社会发展提供长期稳定的能源供应，是一项重大而紧迫的任务。