ON THE CALCULATION OF FLOW OVER AND THROUGH A ROCK-FILL DAM

1.INTRODUCTIONInthedesignofanovertoppedrock--filldam,oneofthemajortasksistodecidethesizeofthedownstreamprotection.Theovertoppedrock--filldamismadeofporousmedia,thereforethewaterwillpenetrateintothedamfromtheupperfaceandemergeoutofitfromthelowerpart,whileitflowsoverthedam.Hence,theprotectionissubjectedtotheactionofboththeoverflowandtheseepageflow,andneitherofthemcanbenegligible.Inthiscase,theflowfieldconsistsoftwoparts:theopenflowandtheseepageflow,whichhavedifferentproperties.Infact,forthe…     

Balancing corporate power: a new Federalist paper

In an effort to govern their increasingly complex organizations, chief executives in some of today's largest corporations are turning to one of the world's oldest political philosophies-federalism. Given that organizations are seen more and more as minisocieties, the prospect of applying political principles to management makes a great deal of sense. Federalism is particularly appropriate because it offers a well-recognized system for dealing with paradoxes of power and control: the need to make things big by keeping them small; to encourage autonomy but within bounds; and to combine variety and shared purpose, individuality and partnership, local and global. As London Business School professor Charles Handy explains it, federalism responds to these paradoxes by balancing power among those in the center of the organization, those in the centers of expertise, and those in the center of the action--the operating businesses. The centers of federal organizations meet regularly, but they do not need to live together. Doing so would concentrate too much power in one place, whereas federalism gets its strength and energy from spreading responsibility across many decision points. Guided by five principles, federalism avoids the risks of autocracy and the overcontrol of a central bureaucracy. It ensures a measure of democracy and creates a "dispersed center" that is more a network than a place. That's why Asea Brown Boveri CEO Percy Barnevik calls his sprawling "multi-domestic" enterprise of 1,100 separate companies and 210,000 employees a federation. It succeeds because the independent bits, be they individuals, clusters, or business units, know they are part of the greater whole.     

The case of the unpopular pay plan

Three years after launching the team-based Quality For All program, Top Chemical Company CEO Sam Verde was searching for a team-based compensation system that would reflect his company's new philosophy. With a committee gathered to discuss the issue, Verde confronts the fact that changing pay plans is an issue few people can agree on. "Very simply," explains vice president for compensation Gilbert Porterfield, "the plan is designed to give employees working on teams real incentives for constant improvement and overall excellence. The variable aspect of the system pays employees for the performance of their group." This doesn't sit well with the others. "It's going to punish teams like mine for the failings of others instead of rewarding us for the work we do and have already done," says packaging team representative Ruth Gibson. Another committee member feels that team-based anything is a "motivational happy land that doesn't square with how people really work." While Verde likes the proposed pay plan, he has doubts over whether his employees will accept the risk. Upper management has no problem basing 60% of its pay on TopChem's performance. But getting line employees to risk part of their salaries--even as little as 4%--on the ups and downs of the chemical industry may be more trouble than it's worth. Four experts on compensation reveal where Top Chemical went wrong in its plan and how Sam Verde might bring about change successfully.     

Will your Medicare claims stand up?

In the first two installments of our series, we gave you the details of reimbursement under the new Medicare fee schedule, and showed how to code evaluation-and-management services with the revised CPT system.* This issue, we'll tell what to expect from Medicare carriers as they teach and enforce the new payment rules.     

Combining health education, risk-rated insurance and employee rebates into an integrated health care cost management strategy

Health education, risk rating and employee rebates can be combined into a comprehensive health promotion program within a benefits plan, reflecting health promotion in its truest sense.     

The savings potential of 24-hour coverage

In summary, there are costs to maintaining separate systems to cover both work- and non-work-related injuries and illnesses; there are also significant costs associated with achieving coordination--if not integration--of the two plans. Overall, the financial data do not indicate that the overlap between workers' compensation and health benefits is of such magnitude as to justify integration regardless of cost; however, the data do suggest that judicious exploitation of opportunities to coordinate the two programs, especially in regard to managing health care providers, may generate significant savings.     

富士通:完全解决客户的问题

如今,消费者和供应方所面对的挑战,就是要找出更好的办法,来纠正实际使用过程中确实出现的问题,如缺陷产品(这些产品往往是由不同的组织各自设计的)、损坏或不相匹配等。所幸的是,精益方法能够使我们稳步迈向极少出问题的精益消费过程。其中关键的做法是,把对每一个“消费问题”的智能型反馈收集起来。这将使现有问题得到迅速而彻底的纠正,同时避免同类问题今后再度发生。真实的企业面对真实的客户真的能实施这样的智能型反馈吗?在研究中我们高兴地发现,欧洲最大的IT支持服务供应方之一的富士通服务公司(FujitsuServices),已经令人信服地…