Auditing Quality of Research in Social Sciences

A growing body of studies involves complex research processes facing many interpretations and iterations during the analyses. Complex research generally has an explorative in-depth qualitative nature. Because these studies rely less on standardized procedures of data gathering and analysis, it is often not clear how quality was insured or assured. However, one can not easily find techniques that are suitable for such complex research processes to assess the quality of the study. In this paper, we discuss and present a suitable validation procedure. We first discuss how ‘diagnosing’ quality involves three generic criteria. Next, we present findings of previous research in possible procedures to assure the quality of research in social sciences. We introduce the audit procedure designed by Halpern [(1983) Auditing Naturalistic Inquiries: The Development and Application of a Model. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Indiana University] we found an appropriate starting point for a suitable procedure for quality judgment. Subsequently, we will present a redesign of the original procedure, with according guidelines for the researcher (the auditee) and for the evaluator of the quality of the study (the auditor). With that design, we aim to enable researchers to bring forward their explorative qualitative studies as stronger and more equally valuable to studies that can rely on standardized procedures.     

基于QFD的物流战略规划

分析了应用质量功能展开进行物流战略规划的意义，将物流战略规划分解为系统收集基础信息，推演，评价，整合物流战略目标四个步骤，并基于QFD方法分别进行了阐述。     

高等级公路加筋土挡土墙施工要点

文章结合某高速公路加筋土挡土墙施工建设,介绍了一些较成熟的施工方法,并总结了加筋土挡土墙的施工工艺和质量控制的相关经验。     

高等院校建立ISO9000质量管理体系研究

高等院校欲长期地保持并持续完善教学秩序、提高教学质量,引进先进的ISO9000族管理体系标准,建立ISO9000教学质量管理体系是一种有效的途径。文章分析了高等院校建立ISO9000质量管理体系的意义和可行性,重点探讨了高等院校构建质量管理体系时应遵循的原则。     

When natural resources run out,market knowledge steps in: Lessons on natural resource deployment from a longitudinal study in a resource-scarce region of Ethiopia

With the increasing scarcity of natural resources, the ability to maintain quality standards during resource-scarce times becomes more critical for business performance. Theories on managing resource scarcity cannot be easily tested in contexts where resources are still abundant. This study therefore turns to an emerging market context in which natural resource availability naturally varies strongly between seasons, namely, that of Ethiopian pastoralists who for many generations learned to adapt to natural resource scarcity. Central to our theory is the natural resource deployment capability, which is the ability of a business to make efficient and effective use of available resources to maintain business performance during resource-scarce times. Using three-wave longitudinal data from 120 pastoral family-based livestock businesses, the study shows that when resources are scarce or extremely scarce, market knowledge helps to better deploy the scarce natural resources, leading to higher product quality. The findings imply that businesses with a better understanding of markets have stronger natural resource deployment capability. The lesson for businesses that are confronted with approaching resource scarcity is therefore to strengthen their ability to deploy resources efficiently and effectively by strengthening their market knowledge in which such capability is rooted.     

Examining the extent of and determinants for sustainability assurance quality: The role of audit committees

This study examines the extent of and determinants for sustainability assurance quality. Data comprise sustainability assurance statements published by the top 100 listed companies in Australia and New Zealand from 2017 to 2019. The findings indicate that Australian companies lead their New Zealand counterparts in sustainability assurance. Although sustainability reporting has risen, assurance rates remain significantly low. Accountants dominate the market, and companies prefer to use their own auditors for sustainability assurance work. Sustainability assurance quality is poor and does not vary significantly among Australian and New Zealand companies. Low-quality sustainability assurance plays a limited role in mitigating potential stakeholder–agency conflicts. The regression analysis indicates that audit committee characteristics such as members' independence, industry/market expertise, and attending meetings enhance sustainability assurance quality, whereas audit committee size has no affect. These findings suggest that audit committee characteristics such as independence, industry expertise, and regular meeting attendance have the potential to reduce stakeholder–agency conflicts by improving the quality of sustainability statement assurance. Our findings build on the sustainability assurance literature by exploring current trends in sustainability assurance practices in Australia and New Zealand where corporate governance codes have been recently revised. Further, these findings are timely given recent changes in standards (International Standard on Assurance Engagements [ISAE] 3000 and Global Reporting Initiative [GRI]). Our study contributes to the audit committee literature and sheds light on the role played by audit committee characteristics on sustainability assurance statement quality. The study findings potentially offer useful insights for practitioners, standard setters, and regulators.     

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.     

如何利用物流提高企业竞争力

21世纪是物流的世纪。近几年来,有效的物流管理已经被认为是提高企业赢利能力和竞争绩效的关键因素。与其他竞争手段不同的是:一个企业的物流能力是其竞争对手无法在短时间内轻易或者廉价模仿的。因而,一旦企业在物流方面拥有了高效率的物流管理系统,无疑将使企业保持长久的竞争力。文中着眼于企业物流活动的全过程,说明如何在物流活动的众多关键环节上切实降低企业成本,提高企业竞争力。     

基于产品质量记录的企业质量信用评价模型及应用研究

文章分析了国内外信用评价理论和评价模型,并结合质量信用的特征提出了基于产品质量记录的企业质量信用评价模型、指标体系和评价标准.局部试点证实,该研究成果能够为质量信用管理部门提供技术支撑,为企业质量信用分类和评价工作提供参考.     

我国农产品质量分级标准的现状、不足与对策

文章围绕国内外农产品质量分级标准的区别,详细分析了我国农产品质量分级标准的现状,如数量、农产品分级目的、标准格式、依据和原则等,指出了我国农产品质量分级标准在内容、指标以及基础研究等方面的不足,并提出了我国农产品质量分级标准发展的建议。