The right cure for health care

An aging population with nearly unlimited access to high-priced doctors and technology is pushing medical costs skyward. Managed care is the best way to bring them down.     

Boys. Most dangerous and endangered

As both victims and perpetrators of crime and other pathologies, America's boys need help. An important lesson: Work on solutions with groups, not just individuals.     

Assessing black progress: voting and citizenship rights,residency and housing,education

Farley discusses progress US blacks have made in the areas of voting and citizenship rights, residency and housing, and education. A major goal of the civil rights movement was to permit blacks to influence the electoral process in the same manner as whites. Most important in this regard was the Voting Rights Act of 1965; the proportion of southern blacks casting ballots increased sharply since the early 1960s. The Civil Rights Act of 1875 outlawed racial segregation in public accommodations, but by the turn of the century, Jim Crow laws in southern states called for segregation in most public places. Common customs and government policy in the North resulted in similar segregation of blacks from whites. The Montgomery bus boycott and similar protests in dozens of other cities led to enactment of Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which proscribed such racial practices. By the late 1960s, blacks in all regions could use the same public accommodations as whites. In most metropolitan areas, de facto racial segregation persisted long after the laws were changed. Supreme Court decisions and local open-housing ordinances supported the right of blacks to live where they could afford. However the major change was the Fair Housing Act of 1968, which outlawed racial discrimination in the sale or rental of most housing units. The separation of blacks from whites did not end in the 1970s. Today, in areas which have large black populations, there are many central city neighborhoods and a few in the suburbs which are either all-black or are becoming exclusively black enclaves. Most other neighborhoods have no more than token black populations. Another major effort of civil rights organizations has been the upgrading of housing quality for blacks. By 1980, only 6% of the homes and apartments occupied by blacks lacked complete plumbing facilities (down from 50% in 1940). Unlike the modest changes in residential segregation, racial differences in housing quality have been greatly reduced. By 1960, black students approached parity with whites in terms of measurable aspects of school facilities. In 1940, young blacks averaged about 3 fewer years of educational attainment than whites; the time is nearing when the years of schooling completed by blacks and whites will be the same. In small and medium-sized cities throughout the country, public schools are generally integrated. However, the situation in the largest metropolitan areas is very different. Today, large public schools are segregated, in large part, because blacks and whites live in separate school districts.     

减少汽车业的浪费

汽车制造商和零件供应商可以节省巨大开支，但前提是双方要更为紧密地合作在一起麦肯锡的研究表明，北美汽车业每年在产品开发和组装过程中由于汽车生产商与供应商缺乏良好的计划和协调不当，造成了超过100亿美元的浪费。事实上．这只是较为保守的估算。因为我们的研究仅涵盖了供应商发生的成本，如：附加设计、生产工具最后改型和零件自身的附加成本。这还不包括因设计问题生产商需额外支付的改型费用、生产问题引发的车辆最终成本的增加或质保支出。这几项每年给汽车行业带来的浪费约为120亿美元。     

哈林顿专栏检验、纠正、预防、选择:质量工作者的角色转变

回顾自己40年的质量工作生涯,我认为可以将质量工作大致划分为四个阶段: 检验:20世纪70年代我们关注检验.质量组织致力于防止制造商装运不符合规范的产品.质量工作者是顾客的保护者,几乎会跑去躺在卡车前面,阻止制造商将不合格产品装车后带离码头.质量工作者的基本角色是警察.制造过程中约10%的工作与质量保证性检验相关.这属于质量控制范畴.     

管理者在创新中的角色：“聚会”的组织者——对《创新：缺失的维度》一书的点评

孤独的创造者是浪漫的,但是不切实际。创新是一个社会过程,创新越是成功,这个过程就越具有社会化。然而,在公司内部,创新的社会化、非正规化却经常受到管理者硬性规定的约束。他们强调预算、团队的时间表以及其它的条件来限制乃至取消自由交流思想的各种形式,管理者反对公司未来无法想象的产品拓展。《创新:缺失的维度》一书提出了管理者在创新中的角色:“聚会”的组织者。该书作者是麻省理工学院教授理查德·莱斯特和麦克尔·皮尔瑞。他们把创新的早期阶段描述成一个鸡尾酒会。在这个阶段,不同专业、不同兴趣的人们聚在一起,轻松而又认真地…     

短期事件对旅游的影响:以中国SARS危机为例

通过回顾近年来世界各国发生的短期危机对旅游产生的影响，重点分析2003年的SARS疫情给中国经济特别是旅游业造成的重大损失，讨论了不同的短期危机对旅游的不同影响以及旅游在危机后的不同恢复时间。旅游业对短期危机缺乏足够的防御能力，但通常能较为迅速的走上复苏之路。在这个过程中，适当的危机管理措施和有效的恢复策略是十分重要和不可或缺的。     

生物技术:一个烫手的市场

即使是生物技术公司能够带来丰厚利润的时候．投资者仍需谨慎小心。有关的建议是：确保你所投资的公司既能赚钱又有有前途的新产品。公司的产品越弱．投资失败的机会就越大。     

在解决地下水问题中电磁频率测深的应用

引言电磁频率测深法已经使用了十年之久,特别在西欧,主要用于深部的调查。无论如何,可以期望这种方法应用到地下水勘探中也会体现出某些优点。电磁测深法的第一个优点,它能够用变更频率去变更电流的穿透深度,这比电阻率测深法使用的移动供电电极更为方便。电磁测深法的第二个优点,特别适用于干旱地区,在这样地区由于有高阻抗表层,使得用良导体接地也难以将电流输入地下;当用电磁法时,这种困难就完全可以避免。