Measuring cost savings in the operating room: a matter of FOCUS (follow-through, obsolescence, control, utilization, standardization)

In summary, changes came slowly at first in the OR. The biggest inventory reduction came about a year after the effort had begun. It would seem that tackling obsolescence, standardizing products, etc. would give an initial "big chunk" savings, with small amounts coming later as inventories are lowered. What we expected did not occur, due to the inherent nature of practices and what was customarily being used. For example, previously, some equipment purchases were paid for by purchasing product, which resulted in long-term commitments and high supply costs. The OR at times seemed more like a process of managing change, not just supplies. FOCUS is a daily process. How many times can you afford to overlook this process? How often are the mistakes of the past repeated? In review, we suggest this simple outline: Follow-through (review each case from start to finish), Obsolescence (schedule inventories every six months), Control (achieve inventory management by adjusting PAR levels to needs), Utilization (utilize product/equipment with your control), and Standardization (standardize products and measure results).     

Book Reviews

Anthony J. Whitten, Sengli J. Damanik, Jazanul Anwar and Nazaruddin Hisyam, The Ecology of Sumatra, Yogyakarta: Gadjah Mada University Press, Second Edition, 1987, pp. 583 + xx.

Christine Drake, National Integration in Indonesia: Patterns and Policies, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1989, pp. 354 + xvi. Cloth: US$ 35.00.

Geoffrey B. Hainsworth (ed.), Environmental Linkages, Halifax: School for Resource and Environmental Studies, Dalhousie University, 1985, pp. 97.

R. Repetto et al., Wasting Assets: Natural Resources in the National Income Accounts, Washington DC: World Resources Institute, June 1989, pp. 69 + vi. Paper: US$10.00.

William E. James, Seiji Naya and Gerald M. Meier, Asian Development: Economic Success and Policy Lessons, Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 1989, pp. 281 + Xviii.

Robert B. Dickie and Thomas A. Layman, Foreign Investment and Government Policy in the Third World: Forging Common Interests in Indonesia and Beyond, London: MacMillan, 1988, pp. 240 + xxxi. £35.

Alan Gelb and Associates, Oil Windfalls: Blessing or Curse? New York: Oxford University Press, for the World Bank, 1988, pp. 357 + x. $32.50.

Benjamin Higgins, The Road Less Travelled: A Development Economist's Quest, History of Development Studies 2, Canberra: National Centre For Development Studies, the Australian National University, pp. 204 + x. Paper: A$20.00

BRIEFLY NOTED: Sarwar Hobohm, Indonesia to 1993: Breakthrough in the Balance, London: Economist Intelligence Unit, Special Report no. 2012, 1989, pp. 91, £190 for this Plus the Companion Report, Indonesia to 1991: Can Momentum be Regained?

Geoffrey Hainsworth and Hasan Poerbo (eds), Local Resource Management: Towards Sustainable Development, Halifax: School for Resource and Environmental Studies, Dalhousie University, 1987, pp. 69 + xii.

H.W. Dick, Industri Pelayaran Indonesia: Kompetisi dan Regulasi, Jakarta: LP3ES, 1990, 306 + xxv.     

Socio‐economic factors determining the success achieved among cotton‐adopting households in two magisterial districts of KwaZulu

The aim of the paper is to investigate certain aspects of the post‐adoption behaviour of dryland cotton farmers in the Ubombo and Hlabisa magisterial districts of KwaZulu. Particular attention is paid to the socio‐economic determinants of the success (returns per hectare) of the household cotton enterprise.

Multi‐stage sampling methods were used to draw a random sample of fifty cotton‐farming households from each of the two study districts. The data were collected by interview survey and analysed using principal components and regression techniques.

Results suggest that the success of the household enterprise in both areas is largely determined by the socio‐economic environment under which the producer operates. The most important success‐determining factors are those relating to the human capital endowments and economic status of the household.     

THE ROLE OF EXCHANGE RATE IN SINO-U.S. BILATERAL TRADE

We use the error component two-stage least squares estimation method to examine the effects of the Sino-U.S. exchange rate and the weighted exchange rate between the United States and other Asian countries on the Sino-U.S. trade patterns. Our study suggests that both the exchange rates have contributed to China's increased trade surplus with the United States. China has imported intermediate goods from the Asian countries, produced final goods using its cheap labor, and exported those goods to the United States. This is especially true for bilateral trade of high-tech manufacturing goods. Our study also reveals that the U.S. bilateral trade balance could improve if China appreciates its currency (Yuan) against the U.S. dollar. ( JEL F14, F10, F19)     

Some comparative-statics results for nonlinear input-output models of a multisectored economy,and related results for nonlinear price-demand relations

For a nonlinear version of the linear input-output model of Leontief, we consider the effect, on the vector x of total gross outputs, of changes in the components of the final-demand vector c. For example, it is shown that, for a certain important class of models, the “large-change elasticity” of any component of x, with respect to any component of c, is less than or equal to unity. Some similar results are proved concerning properties of nonlinear price-demand relations for the case in which all goods are weak gross substitutes. Unlike earlier work in this general area, we do not introduce hypotheses concerning the indecomposability or homogeneity of certain mappings. For that reason, the results are valid for the price-demand relation for a single firm, or for any collection of firms.