Why bad projects are so hard to kill

Even at the prototype stage, experts were saying the technology was obsolete. Yet, in the face of tepid consumer response, the company stubbornly kept increasing production capacity and developing new models. By the time it was finally killed, the initiative had cost the company an astounding $580 million and had tied up resources for 14 years. The product was RCA's SelectaVision videodisc recorder, and its story is hardly unique. Companies make similar mistakes--if on a somewhat smaller scale--all the time. But why? No one comes to work saying, "I'm going to pursue a project that will waste my company millions of dollars." Quite the opposite. They come to work full of excitement about a project they believe in. And that, surprisingly, can be the root of all the trouble--a fervent belief in the inevitability of a project's ultimate success. Starting, naturally enough, with a project's champion, this faith can spread throughout the organization, leading everyone to believe collectively in the product's viability and to view any signs of impending doom merely as temporary setbacks. This phenomenon is documented here in two chillingly detailed case studied, one involving Essilor, the world's largest maker of corrective lenses for eyeglasses, and the other involving Lafarge, the largest producer of building materials. By counterexample, they point the way toward avoiding such morasses: assembling project teams not entirely composed of like-minded people and putting in place--and sticking to--well-defined review processes. Both cases also show that if it takes a project champion to get a project up and running, it may take a new kind of organizational player--an "exit champion"--to push an irrationally exuberant organization to admit when enough is enough.     

The tests of a prince

When a CEO takes office, stakeholders dissect his or her intellectual, physical, and emotional capacities as they try to gauge whether the new leader will help them fulfill their aspirations and protect them from trouble. For the heir to a family business, the challenge of turning stakeholders into followers is particularly thorny: He or she must manage many constituencies--family members, directors, senior executives, investors, trade unions--that may not be convinced the successor has earned the right to hold the top spot. Making matters worse, says Lansberg, a family business expert, corporate scions usually ignore or greatly underestimate stakeholders. They don't realize that, particularly after they are formally anointed as CEOs, they must establish their credibility with and authority over these spheres of influence. Smart CEOs understand that their success depends on how well they respond to the iterative testing process that stakeholders use to make judgments about would-be leaders. This article offers a road map for managing the four kinds of tests that constitute iterative testing: Qualifying tests are assessments based on criteria--such as formal education, work experience, and professional awards--that executives can cite as evidence of suitability for the top job. Self-imposed tests are expectations that leaders themselves set and against which they assume stakeholders will measure their performance. Circumstantial tests are unplanned challenges or crises, during which stakeholders can observe the leader coping with the unexpected. And political tests are challenges from rivals who want to enhance their own influence, often by undermining the leader.     

尼日利亚奥约州作物耕作技术的应用研究

为了促进农业生产，研究人员开发了一些农业技术，这些技术在农民的使用中又表现出不同结果。本文设法对尼日利亚奥约州农民的作物耕作技术的理解和运用进行研究。通过多阶段随机抽样方法（问卷调查），本文选取了120农户对其卡方和皮尔逊积差进行研究，表明没有好处或没有副作用的技术农民也欣然采纳了。化肥使用了68．3％，农场碱残留的处理技术67＋5％，contour bonds使用10％，谷物／豆类套种技术88．3％。 论文运用皮尔逊积差相关系数（PPMC）对非意愿采纳和一些独立变量的关系进行了检验，结果表明获益、采纳、社会参与和与推广机构联系显著，而年龄、农户规模不显著。非意愿采纳和各变量的多元回归结果也表明他们间有显著的关系，最重要的因素是采纳、参加会议频率和禾薯的生产率。     

交互作用多目标规划技术的应用

一 绪 言 进行农业开发的目的是为了满足若干个社会经济目标。这些目标包括增加生产、增加就业和提高利润,以及其它诸如环境稳定、污染降低和政治补偿等。一般说来,区域性的农业开发取决于从其它地区和其它经济部门的投入以及对其它地区和经济部门的产品输出。     

吉林省高校定向运动开展现状及对策研究

定向运动是目前高校新兴的体育项目,对提高学生综合素质具有重要的价值。本研究针对吉林省高校定向运动开展现状进行了调查与分析,研究认为目前吉林省高校开展定向运动课程并不理想,师资、教学与训练设备、经费等方面都受到一定限制,针对此笔者提出了加强领导重视,多渠道、多形式加强经费投入和加强师资结构完善的对策。     

余杭:参保人权益更有保障

正老有所养、病有所医是老百姓孜孜以求的梦想。在追求这个梦想的道路上,浙江省杭州市余杭区积极探索,走出一条通过实施社会保险全民参保登记,推动社会保险参保扩面,提高参保率,提高社会保障水平的道路。截至2014年5月,全区21个镇街、开发区的16周岁及以上户籍人员(在校生除外)为70.92万人,参加各类养老保险达67.23万人,参保     

乡村振兴背景下玉林茶泡的传承与发展

随着新型城镇化和全民休闲时代的到来，许多非物质文化遗产原有的生存土壤逐渐流失，非遗传承出现断层现象。如何使非遗传承和乡村振兴彼此赋能、相得益彰，是当前非遗发展亟须解决的问题。本文以玉林茶泡为例，通过现场走访和问卷调查的方式分析当下玉林茶泡传承的困境，运用态势分析法（SWOT分析法）对玉林茶泡的发展现状进行分析，并提出助力乡村振兴的对策。     

高质量发展背景下煤炭行业低碳科技创新发展研究

本文从煤炭行业低碳发展的现状入手，分析了煤炭行业低碳技术创新存在的问题，提出了在新时代高质量发展背景下煤炭行业低碳科技创新的主要方向，最后提出了加强国家层面政策扶持、技术创新激励等建议。