Safety-critical and securtiy-critical computing in britain: an exploration

This paper explores the development and assessment, in the UK, of computer systems which are critical to human safety (focusing promarily on railways, civil aviation, offshore oil and defence), and also of those critical to national security are identified, ranging from ad hoc and unsystematic pratices, through good software engineering to the use of formal, mathematical methods. We discuss whether the resultant systems are safe and secure, and highlight two key problems: how to demonstrate safety and security, in advance of use; and how to ensure safe human computer interaction.     

Success factors for collaborative product development: a study of suppliers of information and communication technology

It is apparent that more and more organizations are embarking on collaborative ventures to develop products. This is particularly evident in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sectors, so much so that part of the 'received wisdom' of ICT companies is that collaboration is the preferred route for product development. The benefits of collaboration have been well documented and are linked to the complexity and costliness of product development and the need for inputs from wide and varied areas of expertise as well as shorter lead times for product development. But the risks and costs of collsborative product development have been less well defined. In this paper, it is argued that the alleged rewards of collaboration may not be experienced in practice and that collaboration can lengthen the product development process, add to the cost of product development and prove difficult to control. However, management practice can facilitate the effective outcome of collaborative product development and the critical factors affecting the likelihood of successful management practice are presented here.     

Revealed preferences in macroeconomic policy decisions

This paper extends the usual instrument-target framework by directly estimating macroeconomic policy preferences over a number of policy targets using a derived reduced form and then solving the nonlinear optimality conditions for optimal instrument choice. Solving the optimality equations using observations on predetermined variables yields the implicit set of preference weights which induced the observed choices. The derivation format parallels the integrability discussions about consumer preferences implicitly expressed through demand functions. The approach is applied to a simple macro model estimated over the period from 1955 through 1972.     

Workplace chaplains: filling a need traditional EAPs can't meet

More organizations are finding secular counseling provided by employee assistance programs (EAPs) is inadequate for many employees. As a result, increasing numbers of employers are providing services of workplace chaplains. Chaplain services are not necessarily part of the recent fad toward "spirituality" in organizations, but rather address the needs of an increasingly non-churchgoing culture living in a more stressful world.     

沃顿商学院中国的第二次经济大转型

我一直密切关注着中国近年来增长与繁荣。现在是中国的第二次经济转型．即构筑统一的国内市场的时候了。我认为这一转变势在必行．只有如此．那些有能力在国内竞争中获胜，继而挺进国际市场的企业才能脱颖而出。