Analysis of intermodal freight from China to Indian Ocean: A goal programming approach

This paper presents an intermodal network optimization model to examine the competitiveness of 36 alternative routings for freight moving from China to and beyond Indian Ocean. The proposed model, which is built upon the principles of goal programming, is able to handle multiple and conflicting objective functions such as minimizing transportation cost, transit time and transit time variability while ensuring flow continuity and transit nodes compatibility among the rail, road, ocean vessel, airplane and inland waterway transports. Transportation time and cost obtained from comprehensive industry sources are then fed into the intermodal transport network connecting two important Chinese origins and four Indian destinations, from which the most attractive routes are identified. In addition, the paper investigates several non-dominated transportation cases through sensitivity analysis tests, and analyzes the potential competitiveness and possible influences of future route developments to current transportation patterns in Asia.     

Extrinsic and Intrinsic Contingent Self‐Esteem and Materialism: A Correlational and Experimental Investigation

While there is substantial evidence regarding the role of generalized self‐esteem and identity deficits as potential antecedents of materialism, the exact nature of the domains from which such self‐esteem deficits (that breeds materialism) emanate has remained unexplored. Moreover, there is scant research attention on intrinsically oriented contingent self‐esteem and how it relates to materialism. The present study investigated contingent self‐esteem in extrinsic domains as antecedents of materialism. It was shown that extrinsic and intrinsic forms of contingent self‐esteem relate differently with materialism such that intrinsically contingent self‐esteem is incompatible with materialistic attitudes. Study 1 (N = 231 Singaporean adults) furnished cross‐sectional evidence that extrinsically oriented contingent self‐esteem positively predicts materialism. Study 2 (N = 206 undergraduates from a public university in Singapore) found that intrinsically oriented contingent self‐esteem is negatively related to materialism. Study 3 (N = 105 Singaporean undergraduates) showed that experimental induction of extrinsic and intrinsic contingent self‐esteem leads to higher or lower materialism among participants respectively. The findings advance understanding on the self‐esteem‐materialism link by showing how the domain‐specific view of self‐esteem has the potential to promote or discourage materialism based on whether self‐esteem is anchored to external or internal domains. Recommendations for intervention researchers and practitioners are proposed.     

Defining the “global” in global leadership

While scholars have begun to develop the conceptual foundations of global leadership, few attempts have been made to unify the plethora of existing definitions. We argue that the lack of a precise, rigorous and commonly accepted definition of global leadership limits the field's conceptual and empirical progress. Building on recommended practice for construct definitions, we first review and critique existing definitions of global leadership. Second, we specifically focus on explicating the global construct encompassed by the global leadership phenomenon and propose three dimensions along which this sub-construct can be analyzed: complexity, flow, and presence. Finally, we offer a revised construct definition and conclude with implications for research and practice.     

What really works

When it comes to improving business performance, managers have no shortage of tools and techniques to choose from. But what really works? What's critical, and what's optional? Two business professors and a former McKinsey consultant set out to answer those questions. In a ground-breaking, five-year study that involved more than 50 academics and consultants, the authors analyzed 200 management techniques as they were employed by 160 companies over ten years. Their findings at a high level? Business basics really matter. In this article, the authors outline the management practices that are imperative for sustained superior financial performance--their "4+2 formula" for business success. They provide examples of companies that achieved varying degrees of success depending on whether they applied the formula, and they suggest ways that other companies can achieve excellence. The 160 companies in their study--called the Evergreen Project--were divided into 40 quads, each comprising four companies in a narrowly defined industry. Based on its performance between 1986 and 1996, each company in each quad was classified as either a winner (for instance, Dollar General), a loser (Kmart), a climber (Target), or a tumbler (the Limited). Without exception, the companies that outperformed their industry peers excelled in what the authors call the four primary management practices: strategy, execution, culture, and structure. And they supplemented their great skill in those areas with a mastery of any two of four secondary management practices: talent, leadership, innovation, and mergers and partnerships. A company that consistently follows this 4+2 formula has a better than 90% chance of sustaining superior performance, according to the authors.     

Labor force participation

Trends in U.S. female and male labor force participation are outlined, particularly for the post-World War II period. Potential causes of these trends are then discussed, both those that operate on the demand side and those that operate on the supply side of the labor market, along with some discussion of alternative approaches to modeling these employment changes. Effects of these trends and future direction of changes are also considered.     

基于土地出让行为的地方政府竞争与经济增长

本文利用2004～2009年中国地级及以上城市的面板数据,实证分析了地方政府通过土地价格竞争和土地财政支出竞争两种方式吸引投资、促进增长的策略,评估了两种策略在全国和地区尺度上的实施效果及其区域差异。研究发现,在全国尺度上,土地价格竞争和土地财政支出竞争两种手段都对城市经济增长产生了显著的促进作用。地区层面的进一步分析发现,土地价格竞争的经济增长效应主要体现在中部地区,而土地财政支出竞争则在东部和西部地区对经济增长有显著的影响。