Comparison of Benchmarking Methods with and without a Survey Error Model

For a target socio-economic variable, two sources of data with different precisions and collecting frequencies may be available. Typically, the less frequent data (e.g., annual report or census) are more reliable and are considered as benchmarks. The process of using them to adjust the more frequent and less reliable data (e.g., repeated monthly surveys) is called benchmarking.
In this paper, we show the relationship among three types of benchmarking methods in the literature, namely the Denton (original and modified), the regression, and the signal-extraction methods. A new method called "quasi-linear regression" is proposed under the multiplicative assumption. The numerical Denton method is currently widely used. The aim of this paper is to promote the other two methods which are statistically model-based; the model for the survey error is assumed to be known. Assuming the survey-error series follows an autoregressive model of order 1, by simulation, we investigate the impact of misspecification of the model on the benchmarking prediction according to the criterion of minimizing the root-mean-squared error of prediction. It is concluded that both statistical methods have great advantages over the Denton method and they are robust to misspecification of the survey-error model. The problem of how to obtain a survey-error model is also mentioned.     

Evaluation of the convergence between “self-reporters” and “proxies” in a disability questionnaire by means of behaviour coding method

Household surveys often require including proxy reporters to obtain information about other household members who cannot be interviewed. The participation of proxies can undermine survey data quality due to the fact that proxies must respond to questions thinking about other people. The objectives of the present study were to analyze the behaviour of proxy reporters and evaluate the convergence between the answers given by proxies and self-reporters by means of behaviour coding. This improves the evaluation of convergence, since only adequate (i.e., interpretable) answers given by both types of informant are taken into account. Responses to a disability questionnaire employed by an official statistical institute were analyzed. The questionnaire includes 11 questions about different limitations related to everyday activities. 16 self-reporter and 16 proxies formed 16 couples whose members lived together and supported a direct family relation. The results show a high percentage (52%) of convergence between both types of informant, although fluctuating across the questions and the couples. Proxies showed relatively more adequate behaviour during the interaction than self-reporters. From this we conclude that proxies can be considered at least as good informants as self-reporters from an interviewer-respondent interaction perspective. Future research should address the impact of proxy responses on survey validity.     

Benchmarks and Citizen Judgments of Local Government Performance: Findings from a survey experiment

Government agencies can provide various benchmarks when reporting their performance to citizens, but not much is known about how citizens understand and respond to benchmarking information. Thus, this study aims to test what performance benchmarks appear most salient and persuasive to citizens. We conducted an online survey experiment in which n = 595 respondents were randomized to different benchmarking information concerning fourth-grade reading proficiency of an elementary school. Our findings suggest that better school performance relative to the overall state average influenced respondents’ ratings more than did performance relative to last year or similar schools. Improvement over last year, moreover, appears to be the least influential benchmark. The implication is that citizens find broad, comparative benchmarks to be the most persuasive and view reflexive benchmarks as less impressive, although confirmation of this conclusion is needed because of limitations in the design of the experiment.     

Discussion of the paper “Testing Time Series Data Compatibility for Benchmarking”, by Benoit Quenneville and Christian Gagné

Benchmarking is an important component of the reliability of macroeconomic information, and one which is relevant for both the final data user and the econometrician, as it deals with combining information from different sources, characterised by different frequencies of observation and different degrees of reliability. The paper by Quenneville and Gagné proposes tests for checking the compatibility of the series as a step preliminary to benchmarking. This discussion focuses on the actual implementation of these tests, on alternative tests available in the econometric literature, and on the various sources of measurement errors that affect benchmarking.     

Communication channels,innovation tasks and NPD project outcomes in innovation-driven horizontal networks

Inter-organizational collaborations and horizontal networks are increasingly playing a pivotal role in innovations and new product development among firms. In this study, we investigate the link between the innovation task analyzability and the richness of communications channels used in network arrangements and the link between task analyzability and ties and project development time. We investigated the links based on the data collected from 372 respondents representing ninety three different innovation-driven horizontal networks. The results of structural equation modeling reveal a negative link from task analyzability to communication channel richness and a positive link from communication channel richness to ties. Communication channel richness was found to partially mediate the influence that task analyzability has on both NPD project outcomes of ties and development time. The implications of our results for theory and practice are discussed.     

The effects of sampling on measures of association between variables based on sample means

Many studies that involve people's perceptions or behaviors focus on aggregate rather than individual responses. For example, variables describing public perceptions for some set of events may be represented as mean scores for each event. Event mean scores then become the unit of analysis for each variable. The variance of these mean scores for a variable is not only a function of the variation among the events themselves, but is also due to the variation among respondents and their possible responses. This is also the case for the covariances between variables based on event mean scores. In many contexts the variance and covariance components attributable to the sampling of respondents and their responses may be large; these components can be described as measurement error. In this paper we show how to estimate variances and covariances of aggregate variables that are free of these sources of measurement error. We also present a measure of reliability for the event means and examine the effect of the number of respondents on these spurious components. To illustrate how these estimates are computed, forty-two respondents were asked to rate forty events on seven risk perception variables. Computing the variances and covariances for these variables based on event means resulted in relatively large components attributable to measurement error. A demonstration is given of how this error is removed and the resulting effect on our estimates.     

Identifying the moderating influences of external environments on new product development process

Few studies have attempted to investigate the following: (1) whether the firm's core capabilities or resources and routines (e.g., integration among functions) for product development, in the presence of environmental dynamics, become incumbent inertia or core rigidities? and (2) how environmental dynamics affect the influence of a project team's implementation capabilities in the new product development (NPD) process on new product launch performance? This study approaches these questions by addressing the three most indispensable NPD process components (i.e., marketing, technology, and organization) and incorporating new moderators, namely pace of technological change and competitive intensity, within a single study. It specifically examines the extent to which the latter two external environmental variables moderate the impact of NPD practices on new product launch outcome. Data obtained from a survey of NPD projects developed and launched by Korean manufacturers suggest that environmental dynamics would reduce the contribution of functional-specific sources of advantage (resources) and project-specific sources of advantage (e.g., integration among functions) to organizational implementation capabilities (i.e., a project team's proficiency in executing NPD activities). Moreover, the research also shows that market dynamics may increase the contribution of organizational implementation capabilities to NPD project performance.     

Exploration-exploitation tradeoffs and information-knowledge gaps in self-regulated learning: Implications for learner-controlled training and development

Learning in modern organizations often involves managing a tradeoff between exploration (i.e., knowledge expansion) and exploitation (i.e., knowledge refinement). In this paper, we consider the implications of this tradeoff in the context of learner-controlled training and development. We then propose a model that integrates research on control theory, curiosity, and skill acquisition to explain how information knowledge gaps (i.e., gaps between what learners believe they know and what they desire to know) guide resource allocation decisions throughout the learning process. Using this model, we present testable propositions regarding (a) the different approaches learners take when resolving exploration-exploitation tradeoffs, (b) how systematic changes in learner perceptions translate into changes in systematic learner behavior, and (c) how common biases in key learner perceptions can undermine the functioning of self-regulated learning in training and development contexts. We finish with a discussion of the model's implications for the science and practice of training and development.     

面向合肥市房地产行业竞争情报分析

竞争情报在地产企业中已经发挥越来越重要的作用,地产行业的情报来源主要有出版物、电脑人际网络、相关的会议与招聘信息等,利用信息检索、竞争对手跟踪、市场调查、SWOT分析、定标比超等方法搜集,分析处理后形成对企业本身有作用的情报和策略。     

Performance appraisal,employee development and organizational justice: exploring the linkages

Much has been written about performance appraisal (PA) in such a manner as to suggest that the process is politically driven, even though one of its primary purposes is said to be the development of the individual employee. Our examination of a cross-section of workers' perceptions of this process was therefore motivated by the need to determine whether they believed that they experienced fair outcomes from PA, and whether its usage was seen to contribute toward their career advancement.

Given the role unions are expected to play in shaping human resource outcomes, we hypothesized that workers in the non-union environment would experience lower levels of procedural and interactional justice than their trade-union counterparts. We also hypothesized that, since unions might be asked to walk a tightrope in contesting PA decisions affecting different persons who were union members, employers would be able to exercise much discretion in making those decisions, with the result that there would not be any appreciable difference in justice perceptions between union member and non-union member. A third hypothesis that informed the research was that workers' perceptions about the treatment received from performance appraisal were likely to influence their expectations regarding career advancement, as expressed through opportunities for training and development, pay for performance and promotions.

No significant differences in perception were found among union and non-union respondents' perceptions about the vast majority of procedural elements used in this study. Contrary to our hypothesis, non-union respondents expressed less unfavourable perceptions about the interactional elements than their trade-union counterparts. The results confirmed the hypothesis that workers who believed that performers were not treated fairly as a result of performance appraisal would also agree that their expectations regarding development and advancement were not being met. We found significant, but relatively moderate relationships between perceptions about treatment of performers and their expectations about career advancement.     

Purchasing involvement in technologically uncertain new product development projects: Challenges and implications

This paper explores an emerging field of research within purchasing that concerns the changing role of purchasing when companies embark on technologically uncertain NPD projects. Where existing research has examined the role of purchasing in facilitating early supplier involvement in new product development, little research has been done to date on how purchasing's role might change when facing technologically uncertain NPD that require new capabilities and new technology. Based on an in-depth case study of a technologically uncertain NPD project in the passenger ship rescue equipment industry, the paper sheds light on how supplier involvement in NPD projects with a high degree of technological uncertainty impacts on a company's sourcing strategies and the challenges this poses for purchasing.Based on the case study findings, we propose a) that early purchasing involvement in technologically uncertain NPD projects requires a mature purchasing organization that possesses competences to interact effectively with R&D and b) that involving a new supplier from a different industry in NPD projects characterized by technological uncertainty requires a leap of faith from both innovating firm and supplier. The paper contributes to research in early supplier involvement in new product development, in particular the thin branch within this body of literature that now focuses on early purchasing involvement.     

Acceptability of energy sources using an integration of the Delphi method and the analytic hierarchy process

The research presented in this paper is structured on the basis of the extensive literature on the world energy shift and, in particular, the dynamics of the political, social, market, and community acceptability of different energy sources. This study attempts to determine which sources of energy are most accepted or preferred by political systems, public opinion, and the market and the weights that these dynamics of acceptability have on the global energy shift. In this theoretical framework, we present an application and propose a methodology resulting from the integration of two methods: the Delphi method and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). While Delphi seeks a convergence of opinions among a group of experts, the AHP helps solve complex decision problems using a hierarchical structure. To integrate the Delphi and AHP methods, we propose an innovation in the way the feedbacks are circulated among the participants. The experts’ judgements are given in a box-plot using a slider, which simplifies the procedure because the respondents have all the most important information on the distribution of responses from the previous round. At the same time, our method eliminates the problem of the choice of one of the diverse methods of aggregation, which are necessary when the AHP is applied in a group setting. The application of this method to energy issues and the dynamics of the acceptability of the different sources in particular revealed the feasibility and advantages of the instrument and produced interesting results.     

Strategic Flexibility in New High‐Technology Ventures

Strategic flexibility is a vital capability for new ventures to update their strategies in a timely manner. However, the role of external knowledge sources in new ventures’ endeavours to develop strategic flexibility are unclear. Drawing on the knowledge‐based and relational views, we explore the effect of two sources of external knowledge: new product development (NPD) alliances, representing tightly coupled sources, and loosely coupled sources such as industry associations. Our field study of 148 high‐tech ventures found that the extent to which firms utilize knowledge from NPD alliances has a curvilinear relationship with strategic flexibility, whereas the extent to which firms utilize loosely coupled sources has a positive linear relationship with strategic flexibility. We also found that in new ventures, decentralization of decision‐making and institutional support enhance knowledge integration, positively moderating these relationships.     

The Reliability of Family Background Effects on Status Attainment: Multiple Informant Models

This article sets out to investigate to what extent conventional retrospective measurement of family background leads to biases in the effects of family background in status attainment research. Multiple informant models show that the effect of father’s educational attainment on respondent’s educational attainment is 41% greater than conventional research suggests, and that the effect of father’s occupational status on respondent’s educational attainment becomes zero. The direct effect of respondent’s educational attainment on respondent’s occupational status is 21% greater after the unreliability in the respondent’s answers has been taken into account. We conclude that measurement error seriously biases conclusions about the status attainment process in the Netherlands.     

基于SOA的烟草商业信息系统整合研究及应用

为了解决烟草行业中普遍存在的信息孤岛问题,充分发挥已有信息系统的作用,本文以烟草商业对标管理工作为切入点,采用SOA技术构建烟草商业对标系统。经实验表明,所提方案是切实、可行、可靠的,为烟草行业的信息系统集成提供了成功的案例,具有一定的现实意义。     

新产品开发过程中的任务调度与分配

新产品开发过程工程管理是企业和研究者关注的热点,其过程中的任务调度和资源优化配置,对于资源的利用率、开发成本和开发周期都有改善作用。通过回顾新产品开发过程中的任务调度、任务分配、试验任务分配等方面的研究进展,发现这方面的研究总体上还比较匮乏,特别是试验任务调度与分配研究。在此基础上分析了其主要考虑的模型要素以及常用的求解方法,为进一步研究提供参考。     

The relationship between brokers’ influence, strength of ties and NPD project outcomes in innovation-driven horizontal networks

This paper examines the impact of a broker's perceived use of power – position (i.e., coercive, reward and legitimate) and personal (i.e., expert, information and referent) – on strength of ties between network members and new product development (NPD) project outcomes. Our sample consists of 100 individuals drawn from 42 organizations that were involved in different innovation-driven horizontal networks. The results of structural equation modeling suggest that the perceived use of both personal power bases and position power bases by the broker are positively related to the strength of ties between members. Strength of ties, on the other hand, is positively related to NPD project outcomes of design performance and development time. Finally, results show that the relationships between a broker's use of different power bases and NPD project outcomes are fully mediated by the strength of ties between networks members. Implications for research, theory, and practice are discussed.     

Expectation formation of older married couples and the rational expectations hypothesis

This paper tests the Rational Expectations (RE) hypothesis regarding retirement expectations of older married American couples, controlling for sample selection and reporting biases. In prior research we found that individual retirement expectation formation was consistent with the Rational Expectation hypothesis, but in that work spousal considerations were not analyzed. In this research we take advantage of panel data on expectations to test the RE hypothesis among married individuals as well as joint expectations among couples. We find that regardless of whether we assume that married individuals form their own expectations taking spouse's information as exogenous, or the reports of the couple are the result of a joint expectation formation process, their expectations are consistent with the RE hypothesis. Our results support a wide variety of models in economics that assume rational behavior of married couples.     

Consumer evaluations of store brands: Effects of product-perceived risks

The significance of retail store brands has increased. However, despite the emergence of numerous exclusive retail products, not all of them achieved success. Seemingly, retailers have a shortsighted comprehension of the different risks related to including new categories of products to the store brands. This research analysis investigates how various categories of perceived risks connected with attributes, products, and atmosphere of stores impact consumers’ evaluation of store-branded products. A developed and tested structural model gave indications of the probability of consumers’ evaluations of store brands. The research discovered various perceptions of store brands among the respondents. Also, one of the research results found different perceptions among users and non-users of store brands.     

In union lies strength: Collaborative competence in new product development and its performance effects

It is widely recognized that new product development (NPD) is a highly interdependent process, yet efforts to empirically model the interdependence and examine its effect on firm performance are scarce. Our study addresses this research gap. We model firms’ abilities to collectively collaborate with suppliers, customers, and internal employee teams in NPD as collaborative competence and examine its impact on project and market performance. Using responses collected from 189 NPD managers, we find empirical evidence for collaborative competence and its differential impact on project and market performance. Specifically, we find that collaborative competence has a direct impact on project performance, but its impact on market performance is indirect, mediated through project performance. The results have significant managerial implications; achieving superior market performance from inter- and intra-organizational involvement is contingent on achieving superior project performance, and companies that fail to achieve desired project performance outcomes will also fail in achieving market performance goals.