The Promises and Problems of Games and Simulation

Many educators see the wave of the future in computer games and simulation. Lumsden gives an appreciation of the kind of games and simulations available and illustrates with specific detail how powerfully instructive some of these can be. He also makes a plea for scientific evaluation.     

A Decision Rule Aggregation Approach to Multiple Criteria-Multiple Participant Sorting

A system that aggregates case-based linguistic decision rules using a hybrid of the dominance-based rough set approach (DRSA) and the Dempster–Shafer (DS) theory of evidence is proposed for multiple criterion-multiple participant sorting. First, DRSA is employed to infer linguistic decision rules that estimate the preferences of a few participants by means of their evaluations of representative case sets. Next, DS theory is applied to aggregate the decision rules triggered by all participants’ evaluations of an alternative, thereby generating an overall decision recommendation for the alternative. The method is demonstrated on a numerical example.     

引领全球化增长的新框架——柏亚天首创全球化成熟度模型

柏亚天管理咨询（PRTM）最新的一项研究提出了一个全新框架，即：全球化成熟度模型，企业可据此评估自身应对全球扩张挑战的能力，以及实现其战略目标所需的运营活动。     

Networking,trust and embeddedness amongst SMEs in the Aberdeen oil complex

Over the last decade or so, networking has become a ‘vogue concept’ in small business research, connecting with wider debates on learning and regional development. Participation in inter-firm networks is seen to provide small firms with access to a broader pool of resources and knowledge, helping them to overcome size-related disadvantages. In particular, the role of such networks as channels for innovation and learning within regions and localities has been emphasized in the context of an apparent shift towards a knowledge-driven economy. In this paper, we provide an empirically-grounded analysis of networking, trust and embeddedness amongst small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Aberdeen oil complex. Drawing upon survey and interview data, it is argued that connections to extra-local networks play a crucial role in providing access to wider sources of information and knowledge. At the same time, an Aberdeen location still matters to oil-related firms because of the access it offers to crucial forms of industry-specific information and expertise. In concurring with recent calls for more empirically-grounded research which seeks to ‘test’ theoretical propositions against relevant data, we suggest in conclusion that a combination of firm surveys and face-to-face interviews provides an appropriate way forward.     

Women-friendly HRM good for QWL? The case of Hong Kong based companies

Organizations in Hong Kong were surveyed to gauge how women-friendly they were and how their human resource managers viewed the effect of women-friendly HRM policies and practices on employees' quality of work life. It was found that only about half of the policies mentioned in the questionnaire were practised by less than 10 per cent of the organizations. Principal component analysis conducted showed that organizational women-friendliness was multi-facet in nature. Using these facets - women friendly dimensions (WFDs) - as criteria and controlling for size, the study found that firms with American and European origins were more women-friendly than Hong Kong firms. Furthermore, when American companies were compared to Hong Kong companies, it was on the WFD of career development that the former were significantly higher than the latter. In contrast, when comparing European organizations with Hong Kong organizations, it was the WFD of flexibility on which the two differed most markedly.     

Natural Images in Economics: A Review Essay

An extended review of Philip Mirowski's edited collectionNatural Images in Economic Thought. Examines the roles of metaphors; the relationships between metaphors of the “natural” and the “social”; the significance of metaphoric reasoning, for economics, with regard to questions of meaning, ontology and epistemology; the discursive, or rhetorical, nature of economic theory; and significant historical and interpretive issues pertinent to economic thought.     

A Characteristics Approach to the Evaluation of Economics Software Packages

Using the Bloom taxonomy of learning, the authors identify elements of student and instructor interest and then develop characteristics that are useful in analytically evaluating software packages for instruction in economics. They illustrate the technique with the extensively used software package Running the British Economy.     

In (limited but affirmative) defence of nhilism

In this article I shall define, a form of nihilism that can be identified with economics. Nihilists typically allow room for free will and subjectivism. Futhermore, societal, political and economic factors are not exogenously given to us. They are the intended, and unintended, consequences of human action. Consequently radical indeterminancy is considered important as the future is largely unknowable. Once one accepts this type of nihilism, the type of economics we practice is radically different. However, we do not deny the posssibility of economic theorizing. Instead of generating unrealistic, stable and determinate equilibria, the sensible nihilist, will consider other possibilities. For example, more emphasis will be placed upon statements of tendency and adjustment processes.     

Exhibiting Strategy and Implementation

Database marketing has grown rapidly during the last ten years, spurred on by the changing role of direct marketing, shifting cost structures, developments in information technology and dynamic market conditions. Database marketing and direct marketing have a wide range of applications and are changing the way agencies and media are used. At its most sophisticated, database marketing has the potential to drive marketing policy.