Die Bestimmung von individuellen Effizienzvorgaben — Alternativen zum Best-of-Four-Verfahren

The setting of the individual X-factor is a core element of every incentive regulation system. The problem faced by the regulator is the choice among a wide variety of methods for setting the individual efficiency objectives. So far no single method could achieve acceptance as best-practice in both scientific research and regulatory practice. The German incentive regulation, which started in January 2009, uses the so called “Best-of-Four Method” to define individual X-factors. The regulator, the Bundesnetzagentur, announced an in-depth evaluation of this method, because it potentially leads to an unacceptable downward bias in setting the individual efficiency objectives. This article illustrates the problems of the Best-of-Four Method and offers alternatives. The author additionally develops a new approach which is based on a multi-stage process, using economical and engineering methods. Finally all alternatives are compared according to various criteria.It can be shown that the complementary usage of Data Envelopment Analysis and Stochastic Frontier Analysis is a reasonable approach to efficiency analysis. But this raises the question how to transform the resulting efficiency scores into individual X-factors. The Best-of-Four Approach is not appropriate because it distorts the X-factors, offers possibilities for strategic behaviour and cannot guarantee comparability of the efficiency objectives. Comparing alternatives shows that no approach clearly dominates all others taking into account all considered criteria. The multi-stage approach offers a possibility of transforming a “Nordic Walking” into an ambitious fitness program while also setting appropriate and comparable individual X-factors.     

Working Time Mismatch and Subjective Well-being

This study uses nationally representative panel survey data for Australia to identify the role played by mismatches between hours actually worked and working time preferences in contributing to reported levels of job and life satisfaction. Three main conclusions emerge. First, it is not the number of hours worked that matters for subjective well-being, but working time mismatch. Second, overemployment is a more serious problem than is underemployment. Third, while the magnitude of the impact of overemployment may seem small in absolute terms, relative to other variables, such as disability, the effect is quite large.     

The Evolution of Health Insurer Costs in Massachusetts, 2010–2012

We analyze the evolution of health insurer costs in Massachusetts between 2010 and 2012, paying particular attention to changes in the composition of enrollees. This was a period in which Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) increasingly used physician cost control incentives but Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs) did not. We show that cost growth and its components cannot be understood without accounting for (1) consumers’ switching between plans, and (2) differences in cost characteristics between new entrants and those leaving the market. New entrants are markedly less costly than those leaving (and their costs fall after their entering year), so cost growth of continuing enrollees in a plan is significantly higher than average per-member cost growth. Relatively high-cost HMO members switch to PPOs while low-cost PPO members switch to HMOs, so the impact of cost control incentives on HMO costs is likely different from their impact on market-wide insurer costs.     

Risk analysis for operation of aluminum heat exchangers contaminated by mercury

Brazed aluminum plate-fin heat exchangers are extensively used in gas separation processes including LNG, LPG, NGL, nitrogen rejection and olefins manufacture. In situations where mercury is a trace component of feed gas or liquid feeds to crackers, condensation of liquid or precipitation of solid mercury can occur in heat exchanger passes, even with functional mercury removal systems in place. Mercury in liquid phase causes, under certain well-defined conditions, liquid metal embrittlement of susceptible metallurgy or amalgam corrosion of core fins, both of which can lead to sudden loss of pressure containment. Mercury-contaminated aluminum heat exchangers require close scrutiny and quantitative risk assessment to allow safe operation, remediation or to justify replacement. The risk analysis procedure involves computational prediction of mercury deposition, inspection of critical areas, detailed assessment of metallurgy and fabrication, strain analysis of temperature changes during trips and shutdowns and oxide fatigue analysis. Assigning probability of equipment failure requires a complete understanding of the mechanisms of liquid metal embrittlement and amalgam corrosion that operate on aluminum plate-fin heat exchangers. Statistical correlations to known failures are essential to assignment of probability-based risk factors. Probabilities of leak and rupture failure modes can be estimated using amounts and locations of mercury deposits determined from focused inspection or calculated thermodynamically. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog, 2009     

The Roles of Sustainability Orientation and Market Knowledge Competence in New Product Development Success

Firms’ sustainability orientation (SO) is widely understood as a strategic resource, which can lead to competitive advantage and superior (financial) performance. While recent empirical evidence suggests a moderate and positive relationship between SO and financial performance on a corporate level, little is understood about the influence of SO on new product development (NPD) success. Building on the natural‐resource‐based view (NRBV) of the firm, we hypothesize that firms’ SO positively influences NPD success, because of efficiency gains and differentiation advantages. However, scholars have also argued that the win–win paradigm postulated by NRBV might not always hold because NPD managers might find it difficult to balance sustainability objectives with the needs of their customer and the competitive dynamics in their markets. It is, therefore, proposed that market knowledge competence (MKC) is an important capability, which helps firms to balance social and ecological objectives with economic goals such as profitability and market share. Using data from 343 international firms from 24 countries that was collected by the Product Development and Management Association, structural equation modeling results suggest that (1) SO positively influences NPD and that (2) this relationship is partially mediated by firms’ market knowledge capabilities. The findings suggest that strategic‐level SO and MKC are complementary in that they help in balancing trade‐offs between sustainaility objectives and profitability goals. In this way, the study contributes to a better understanding of how critical NPD practices can help managers to translate firms’ SO into NPD success. The article concludes by highlighting implications for product innovation managers.     

Theorizing Financial Crimes as Moral Actions

Abstract

The paper maintains that all acts of financial crimes can be explained within a general theory of moral action and analyzed as such. In this regard, the paper presents such a theory – Situational Action Theory (SAT) – and argues that acts of financial crimes result from a perception-choice process involving rational deliberation and experimental habituation, themselves being the outcomes of interactions between individuals and their environments. To examine this argument, the paper draws on two recent high-profile fraud cases to critically discuss the extent to which these crimes should be meaningfully and innovatively analyzed as moral actions and the moral context in which they occur. The findings indicate that the feature most relevant to a criminogenic is its moral context in relation to the opportunities and frictions that it generates. As such, environmental factors along with psychosocial processes of moral education become particularly important in the explanation of why certain moral contexts emerge in particular kinds of settings at a particular point in time. In this regard, SAT can be used as a powerful overarching framework to gain a more comprehensive understanding of peoples’ choice processes to breach moral rules and devise effective crime prevention strategies to combat fraud.     

The relationship between attitudes toward diversity management in the Southwest USA and the GLOBE study cultural preferences

This study investigates the importance of diversity management as it relates to the GLOBE study cultural preferences. A survey of 225 students in undergraduate and graduate programs at a private Texas University concluded that collectivism was a strong predictor of how positively participants rated their organizations support for diversity, diversity recruitment efforts, diversity training for mentors, and employees with disabilities. The participants were nontraditional students who were also employed in a wide array of organizations. Collectivism and assertiveness were both strong predictors with regard to participant's ratings of chief executive officer (CEO) support of diversity and the organization's overall diversity training. With regard to leadership dimensions, humane-oriented leadership was a positive predictor of preference for a collective culture, which predicts diversity management ratings. Team-oriented leadership also predicted ratings of diversity management. The results of the study indicate that promoting a more collectivist rather than individualistic culture is associated with the increased rating of organizational diversity practices. Furthermore, it strengthens the argument that with the increase in globalization, organizations must be prepared to re-evaluate their policies and know when to adapt to changes in organizational culture.     

Strategic human resource management and supply chain orientation

Most SHRM research has concentrated on single, focal organizations and on activities taking place within the firm. The purpose of this article is to lay a foundation for studying SHRM in the supply chain. We present a framework which identifies factors that influence whether adopting a supply chain orientation (SCO) is effective, and articulates the contingencies that shape SHRM practices needed to achieve and capitalize on SCO. We make several contributions to the strategic human resource management and supply chain literatures. First, we highlight this neglected area of research. Second, we expand the boundary conditions of strategic human resource management and HR systems from a primarily single firm, intra-organizational focus to one which includes both intra- and inter-organizational relationships. Third, we provide a framework for understanding the links between HR systems, SCO, and strategic outcomes. Fourth, we build upon previous theorizing in strategic human resource management and provide a framework for research in the supply chain context. And finally, we offer propositions for future research, along with a decision making model which has implications for both research and management practice.