The Evolution of Human Sigma

Different quality management concepts, including Six Sigma, have been applied by many different types of organizations. Although much important work has been documented regarding Six Sigma, a number of questions remain concerning the applicability of these concepts in various organizations and contexts. Currently, limited research has been conducted on the Human Sigma approach. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to analyse the principles and philosophies of Human Sigma and its relationship to Six Sigma through a systematic review of the literature. It is suggested that this in turn will lead to a better understanding of the Human Sigma approach and ultimately bridge the gap in the literature. Therefore, the paper argues that much can be learned from the principles and practices of Six Sigma, however the discussion further provides an assessment of the Human Sigma principles and their potential suitability to tourism businesses. In particular, specific similarities and differences concerning areas such as methodologies, tools, and results are presented in this article.     

大学生低碳消费行为影响机制与引导策略研究——基于ANP模型

发展低碳经济已经在世界各国达成普遍共识,低碳消费成为发展低碳经济不可或缺的重要组成部分。大学生作为未来社会主义事业的建设者和接班人,其日常生活活动对于经济社会的发展起着重要作用,其低碳消费行为制约影响着中国低碳经济发展的进程。本文采用ANP分析法,探讨影响其低碳消费的各项因素及机制,最后提出引导大学生低碳消费的策略和建议。     

Quality,Satisfaction and Customers’ Future Intention: The Case of Hotels’ Fitness Centers in Cyprus

In an era of fierce competition, financial hardship, and volatile customer expectations the hospitality industry is seeking out new revenue centers that can both enrich the customer experience, and contribute to financial success. Capturing the attention of the industry, fitness centers have become a fundamental component of the contemporary hospitality experience with numerous strategic, operational and tactical implications. Responding to the need for further empirical investigation, the study, by adopting a quantitative methodology, holistically investigates quality, satisfaction, and behavioral intention in fitness centers currently operating in upscale hospitality establishments in Cyprus. Findings suggest that satisfaction with the provision of fitness services in hotels is primarily associated with the dimensions of employee behavior and workout facilities. Moreover, workout facilities was the only quality dimension which was significantly associated with the respondents’ intention to renew their membership, whereas a strong relationship between satisfaction and future intention was substantiated.     

Government intervention,sectoral productivity growth and structural transformation

This article examines the long-term impact of government intervention and sectoral productivity on structural transformation. We construct a multi-sector Dynamic General Equilibrium model that explicitly incorporates government intervention as a force of structural transformation. The government affects the economy through taxation and lump sum transfers. We show that in the steady state, a reduction in the tax rate and an increase in sectoral productivity will decrease the agricultural employment share, and when nonhomotheticity of preference is strong enough, these changes can also increase the share of services employment.     

谈加强当代大学生节俭教育

从当代大学生的消费现状和历史使命两个方面分析加强当代大学生节俭教育的必要性。提出从“加强节俭认知,形成科学消费观”、“挖掘隐性教育资源,内化节俭认知”、“增加心理资源,抵制消极思想和物欲”三个方面加强当代大学生节俭教育。     

The Higher Earning in America: Are 529 Plans a Good Way to Save for College?

This article studies whether 529 plans are an effective way for most people to save for college. The 529 plans were created in 1996 to help low- and middle-income American families save for college. Since this time they have adopted more tax advantages and grown substantially as a result. While total balances in 529 plans now exceed $250 billion, less than 3.0 percent of households have a 529 plan. And the majority of 529 plan accounts are held by the wealthiest households. Low- and middle-income households receive little tax savings from investing in 529 plans, and some states count these plans against financial aid. Also, 529 plans are complicated, rules vary by state, and fund management fees tend to be high. Thus, 529 plans are not the panacea to college affordability.     

Identification of approximately duplicate material records in ERP systems

The quality of master data is crucial for the accurate functioning of the various modules of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. This study addresses specific data problems arising from the generation of approximately duplicate material records in ERP databases. Such problems are mainly due to the firm’s lack of unique and global identifiers for the material records, and to the arbitrary assignment of alternative names for the same material by various users. Traditional duplicate detection methods are ineffective in identifying such approximately duplicate material records because these methods typically rely on string comparisons of each field. To address this problem, a machine learning-based framework is developed to recognise semantic similarity between strings and to further identify and reunify approximately duplicate material records – a process referred to as de-duplication in this article. First, the keywords of the material records are extracted to form vectors of discriminating words. Second, a machine learning method using a probabilistic neural network is applied to determine the semantic similarity between these material records. The approach was evaluated using data from a real case study. The test results indicate that the proposed method outperforms traditional algorithms in identifying approximately duplicate material records.     

油田社区服务“三精”质量控制模式的实践与思考

介绍了油田社区服务单位的现状与特点，联系实际论述了精准定位、精确作业、精细管理质量控制模式的概念与架构，探讨了该模式运行的关键控制点、控制措施及其推行该模式产生的效果。     

大学生职业幸福感教育探索

职业幸福感教育是高校思想政治教育重要的一部分,它是培养大学生形成良好品德修养社会能力的重要基础,也是培养大学生生活充满信心和对职业价值追求的内在精神链条。本文从大学生思想政治教育注入职业幸福感教育的意义出发,指出了提升大学生职业幸福感需要从加强团队精神教育、加强职业价值感教育和加强感恩教育等途径来实现。     

The Effects of International Trade on Economic Growth and Meeting Basic Human Needs

Abstract

This research measures the influence of international marketing, in the form of exporting and importing on economic growth and meeting basic human needs. The conceptual model examines the effects of three categories of trade (agricultural products, raw materials, and manufacturing goods) on economic growth and meeting basic human needs. The analysis uses structural equation models with time-lagged independent variables, multiple indicators of the dependent variables, and newly-developed multivariate outlier analysis techniques. This study contributes to the marketing literature by empirically evaluating macro-level effects of international marketing, i.e., exporting and importing, and by testing the predictive validity of competing theories from sociology, economics, and marketing. The findings have practical implications for public policy officials, marketing managers, and future research.