The process safety impact of distributed control systems

Experience has shown that a Distributed Control System (DCS) can provide enhanced process monitoring and control capabilities, as well as system self-diagnostics, that permit increased safety of process operations. However, this enhanced safety does not come about automatically with the installation of a DCS. The complexity and versatility of the DCS can introduce new failure scenarios leading to process upset and potential relization of process hazards. This paper reviews some novel considerations that should be taken into account when conducting process hazards reviews on facilities controlled by a DCS.     

The employee selection interview: A fresh look at an old problem

This article takes a fresh look at employee selection interviews as they are practiced in most organizations. Interviewers' selection decisions are demonstrated to be idiosyncratic and it is concluded that variation in interviewers' decision processes jeopardizes organizational effectiveness. Practical recommendations for improving employment interviews are offered. © 1996 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

DEVELOPMENTS IN DANISH ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTING

Developments in environmental reporting in Denmark in the 1990s are described and also some interesting legal developments regarding the new Danish law requiring approximately 2000 companies to produce environmental reports. Some tentative speculations are offered about future directions for environmental reporting in Denmark and elsewhere.     

The differential impact on stockholder wealth of various antitakeover provisions

This paper examines the relationship between the passage of six types of corporate antitakeover provisions (supermajority, classified boards, fair-price, reduction in cumulative voting, anti-greenmail and poison pills) and stockholder wealth. Our event study from a sample of 381 firms that adopted 486 antitakeover provisions in the 1984 to 1988 period indicates a strongly negative effect on stockholder wealth, supporting the management entrenchment view of the antitakeover provisions. Moreover, the empirical results of this paper indicate that the market reacts equally negatively to both non-operating provisions that require stockholder approval and to operating provisions that do not require stockholder approval. However, separate analyses of the antitakeover provisions provide some support for the argument that stockholders discriminate between individual provisions.     

The effects of product knowledge on the evaluation of warranteed brands

This study explores the effects of consumer knowledge on respondents' evaluations of both known and unknown brands that include either a 2-year or a 20-year warranty. Both experts and nonexperts evaluated warranty as more important than brand name in their product quality decision. Warranty length was positively correlated with product quality perceptions for both known and unknown brands. With the unknown brand, nonexperts perceived significant improvement in product quality when the warranty length was increased from 2 to 20 years. For the known brand, nonexperts perceived little difference in quality for the two warranty lengths. Experts indicated no significant differences in perceived quality, given the four brand/warranty-length conditions. The results indicate that warranty length is most heavily weighted as a cue to product quality when consumers are not highly knowledgeable, and the brand name is not well known. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

美国地方政府创新的影响因素分析

本文研究了促进或妨碍地方政府管理创新的各项因素。研究结果表明,领导公信力既对地方政府创新的发起和实施起到了重要的作用,也是决定具体政府改革成败的重要因素;议会冲突对地方政府改革的成败不起关键作用;议会—行政机关关系的融洽有利于地方政府创新的成功开展。