Discussion: Statistics Research in Business and Industry ‐ The General Electric Experience

For over 60 years, the statistics group at General Electric (GE) has used statistical methods to successfully address key company issues, both reactively and in recent years more and more proactively and holistically. Much of this work invariably calls for some degree of statistics research, including what we now call statistical engineering. We briefly review the history of research at GE, describe the accomplishments, research, and evolution of the GE statistics group over time, and present our views on the state of statistics research in business and industry.     

THE INTELLECTUAL STRUCTURE OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT: A BIBLIOMETRIC APPROACH

Now that supply chain management has a two‐decade research history, it is possible to examine the literature to identify whether there is any latent intellectual structure using bibliometric tools. The study applies a citation and co‐citation approach to reveal four clusters of research that have emerged. One cluster has strong ties to the logistics field, with primarily conceptual articles. A second cluster finds its roots in operations research, and consists mainly of modeling articles. The application of multidimensional scaling, cluster analysis, and factor analysis on co‐citations demonstrated a clearly identifiable structure. The structure is examined and implications for the future development of supply chain research are discussed.     

Home-owned versus foreign-owned firms in the UK automotive industry: Exploring the microfoundations of ambidextrous production and supply chain positioning

The UK automotive industry is home to a large number of foreign firms, demonstrating the open nature of competition. However, the industry necessitates both exploitative and explorative capabilities. Contingency theory suggests that firms align their internal structure with contextual factors. As such, the aims of this study were to investigate whether it was possible to distinguish home-owned (UK) and foreign-owned firms based upon: a) the microfoundations of ambidextrous production, which are conceptualised as lean and agile routines; and b) the tier at which these firms operate in the automotive supply chain. Survey data were collected from 85 home-owned and 55 foreign-owned firms within the UK Midlands automotive industry. Logistic regression results revealed that home-owned firms were significantly more likely to be implementing explorative (agile) production methods, whereas foreign-owned firms were significantly more likely to be implementing exploitative (lean) production. Home-owned and foreign-owned firms were found to be significantly more likely to be operating upstream and downstream in the automotive supply chain respectively. Thus, the findings support a contingency theory explanation, suggesting that firms align their performance priorities with contextual factors, but we argue that home-owned and foreign-owned firms have evolved to compete based on their different innovative capabilities, which are located at different tiers of the automotive supply chain. On this basis, although neither home-owned nor foreign-owned firms were found to be endogenously ambidextrous, we argue that foreign-owned firms internationalise into the UK automotive sector to exploit the explorative capabilities acquired by home-owned firms operating upstream in automotive supply chains, thus enabling ambidextrous capabilities at an exogenous, industrial level.     

Benefits management beyond the adding machine: using integrated, worker-specific analysis

Modern employee benefits practices have not taken advantage of modern information technology largely because of an implicit reliance on "adding machine" approaches to health care benefits. This article argues that an integrated, worker-specific approach to benefits management is needed in a modern benefits environment. Quantitative illustrations of the integrated approach are provided in terms of a benefits Pareto analysis. The empirical results presented suggest that human resource/risk management practices can have a significant impact on worker benefits costs.     

问一问人力资源主管：我们用“员工数据”来创造价值了吗？

有些企业正通过分析员工实践与生产率之间的联系,来提高利润水平。整个上一代人力资源高管都渴望着成为企业领导的战略顾问。但是,这对很多人来说,都很困难,因为如何衡量人力资源方法的业务价值实在太难。“培训的投资回报率是多少”？“哪种筛选方法能找出绩效最佳的招聘人选”？     

SUPPLY CHAIN PARTNERSHIPS: MODEL VALIDATION AND IMPLEMENTATION

An important aspect of implementing supply chain management is the formation of appropriate linkages between members of the supply chain. While practitioners and academics have championed the value of partnerships for this purpose, the challenge is to find effective methods for developing the appropriate type of relationship. This paper describes a large‐scale validation of a previously developed model that can be used to structure business relationships. Implementation issues are documented and direction is provided for managers interested in using this tool for tailoring key relationships.     

The relationship between technology and science: Some historical and philosophical reflections. Part II

Dr Paul Gardner was appointed to the Faculty of Education at Monash University in 1967 and is currently a Reader in Education. After graduating from the University of Melbourne with a science degree and teacher qualifications in 1960, he taught physics and chemistry in high schools for six years. He obtained the M. Ed. degree from the University of Melbourne in 1970 for a thesis which involved experimental studies of concept attainment, and in 1972 completed a Ph.D. at Monash for an investigation of student and teacher characteristics which influence students' attitudes to physics. His major field of interest is science education, and he has published extensively on the assessment of cognitive and affective outcomes, the role of language in learning science and (his current major interest) the links between science and technology. He was a founding member of the university's Centre for Science, Mathematics and Technology Education in 1989. He is currently the Editor ofResearch in Science Education, the annual journal of the Australasian Science Education Research Association, of which he was a founding member in 1970. Early in 1993, he presented a paper on science-technology relationships at a UNESCO-sponsored conference in Jerusalem; a revised version of this paper is being published inStudies in Science Education in 1994. He teaches post-graduate courses on statistical analysis, attitude measurement, curriculum issues and science and technology education.