A study of HRM and recruitment and selection policies and practices in Taiwan

In this paper, the authors present and discuss the findings of a survey of human resource management (HRM) and recruitment and selection policies and practices in a sample of manufacturing industry in Taiwan. The results indicate that there is a general desire among HR professionals in participant companies that HRM policies are integrated with corporate strategy and that HRM should be involved in decision making at board level. Evidence was also obtained that some HRM decisions are shared between line management and HR specialists and that line managers had a particularly influential role in decisions regarding recruitment and selection, training and development, and workforce expansion/reduction. There was also some evidence supporting an assertion that certain recruitment and selection practices were culturally sensitive and this was supported by evidence of association between recruitment and selection practices and country of ownership.     

The effect of advertising on the distribution-free newsboy problem

Advertising is very important for the newsboy problem because the shelf-life of the newsboy product is short and advertising may increase sales to avoid overstocking. In this paper, models to study the effect of advertising are developed for the distribution-free newsboy problem where only the mean and variance of the demand are known. As in Khouja and Robbins (2003), it is assumed that the mean demand is an increasing and concave function of advertising expenditure. Three cases are considered: (1) demand has constant variance, (2) demand has constant coefficient of variation, and (3) demand has an increasing coefficient of variation. This paper provides closed-form solutions or steps to solve the problem. Numerical results of the model are also compared with those from other papers. The effects of model parameters on optimal expenditure on advertising, optimal order quantity, and the lower bound on expected profit are derived or discussed.     

Internationalization, resource allocation and firm performance

In this paper, we examine the effects of internationalization and resource allocation on firm performance. We argue that resource allocation plays a pivotal role in determining a firm's international growth. Using a sample of Taiwanese firms, we find an optimal level of internationalization, in terms of the number of countries, as well as the level of investment towards value appropriation that is necessary to start creating a positive impact on firm performance. As a result of our study, we propose that Taiwanese firms would likely benefit by shifting their focus of resource allocation from R&D to marketing.     

Generalized confidence intervals for the process capability index C pm

Process capability indices have been proposed to the manufacturing industry for measuring process reproduction capability. The C _pm index takes into account the degree of process targeting (centering), which essentially measures process performance based on average process loss. To properly and accurately estimate the capability index, numerous conventional approaches have been proposed to obtain lower limits of the classical confidence intervals (CLCLs) for providing process capability information. In particular, lower confidence limits (LCLs) not only provide critical information regarding process performance but are used to determine if an improvement was made in reducing the nonconforming percent and the process expected loss. However, the conventional approach lacks for exact confidence intervals for C _pm involving unknown parameters which is a notable shortcoming. To remedy this, the method of generalized confidence intervals (GCIs) is proposed as an extension of classical confidence intervals (CCIs). For evaluating practical applications, two lower limits of generalized confidence intervals (GLCLs) for C _pm using generalized pivotal quantities (GPQs) are considered, (i) to assess the minimum performance of one manufacturing process/one supplier, and (ii) to assess the smallest performance of several manufacturing processes/several suppliers for equal as well as unequal process variances.     

The causality between fertility and female labour force participation in Japan

This study examines the correlation and reverse correlation between fertility and female labor force participation in Japan during 1950-93. The model is logarithmic and follows earlier studies by Cheng (1996) and Hsiao's (1981) version of the Granger causality method. Data were obtained from the Japan Statistical Yearbook on total fertility rates and female labor force participation rates. Tests for cointegration revealed no cointegration between measures of fertility and employment. Findings indicate that the presence of children had a strong negative effect on labor force participation. Findings are consistent with the study by Yamada and Yamada (1986) and inconsistent with the study by Hamilton (1984), who found that fertility was positive and not significantly related to female labor force participation in Japan. Findings indicate that female labor force participation had a negative and insignificant effect on fertility. These findings support findings from studies by Sprague (1988) and Maddavi (1990) and contest findings of Hamilton (1984) and Yamada and Yamada (1986) that showed negativity and significance. The authors view their findings as correctly specified and supportive of a causality that favors fertility affecting labor force participation without feedback. Findings indicate that employment does not prevent or reduce the probability of having more children. Having young children at home does strongly discourage women from seeking employment outside the home.     

Tax incentives and foreign direct investment in China

The preferential tax policies for foreign direct investment (FDI) in China were terminated by a tax reform in 2008. This article uses the provincial-level panel data for 1998?2008 before the reform in order to study whether the tax incentive had been a significant determinant of foreign investment decisions. We find that market size and geographic location had significant impacts on the FDI inflow into China but the tax incentive policies were not a sufficient determinant of FDI inflow into China over the periods studied, which provides a rationale for the termination of the tax incentives in FDI at 2008 reform in China.     

An analytical approach for making management decisions concerning corporate restructuring

Internal corporate restructuring activities, such as downsizing, sale or termination of a business line, facility closure, consolidation, or relocation, often occur as part of managerial strategies intended to improve efficiency, control costs, and adapt to an ever‐changing business environment. Such actions frequently result in fundamental changes in a business's organization, its strategies, its systems, and its operations. They can unsettle a business and often significantly affect current and future earnings and cash flows. In this paper we propose a novel decision‐making model through the use of the dynamic programming technique to illustrate how management can determine the optimal timing and appropriate restructuring actions that maximize the benefits of a restructuring program. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Applying the Grey prediction model to the global integrated circuit industry

This study examines the precision of the Grey forecasting model applied to samples based on demand and sales in the global integrated circuit (IC) industry. In doing so, the main objective is to explore which forecast model is most appropriate for the IC industry by comparing the empirical results from the Grey model (GM), time series and exponential smoothing. Furthermore, three residual modification models are applied to enhance the forecasting results. Empirical results indicate that the GM is better suited to short-term predictions than to mid- and long-term predictions. Meanwhile, the Markov-chain residual modification model achieves reliable and precise results.