学院制改革:校院系学术权力的重新配置

在经过一系列改革后,我国高校拥有越来越多的办学自主权,但高校内部管理基本上仍然是上令下行的行政管理方式。学院制改革正是要改变这种管理方式,将学术权力进行下放。这种"放权"主要是将学术权力在校院系三个层级进行重新分配,使得学术权力配置更有效率。因此,学院制改革其实也是我国高校自主办学改革的延续和深化。     

Assessing the impact of patent infringement on new product sales

In order to assess the impact of patent infringement on the growth of a new product, a model is developed through the intervention model development processes of Box-Jenkins and Box-Tiao. Physical interpretations of model parameters and determination of associated damages suggest that the model can provide a sound basis for analyzing patent infringement disputes.     

Marketing versus public relations in selling nuclear power

All too often, the terminology and practices of public relations are used when marketing is what is really needed. This misapplication appears most often when a concept, an idea, or an intangible product is involved. Webster defines public relations as: relations with the general public through publicity; those functions of a corporation, organization, branch of military service, etc., concerned with informing the public of its activities, policies, etc., and attempting to create favorable public opinion.This definition implies a general, ongoing effort to supply information supporting the image of an organization. There is, however, a considerable difference between this kind of activity and the specific, overt process of marketing. This difference has been particularly apparent in attempts of public utilities to “sell” nuclear power plants. Utilities, of course, are monopoly suppliers and, as such, must seek a favorable image in the community. Thus, when public opposition to nuclear power plants mounted, many utilities responded with stepped-up public relations programs; the method they knew best. This article examines the experience of several utilities in locating nuclear plants and suggests how marketing techniques might be used in selling this intangible product.     

校企合作模式对学生体质健康影响的动态分析

以福建卫生职业技术学院2011级与2012级学生为研究对象,运用文献资料法、测试法、实验法和数理统计法等,对校企合作模式下体育课程改革前后学生体质健康数据进行对比分析,结果显示：说明体育课程设置与大学生体质健康密切相关,特别在耐力素质、腹肌耐力、上肢力量影响很大,呈显著差异.对此提出加强对学生体育课学习需求的调查、加快体育教学改革中体育课教学内容和课程体系的改革、改善体育教学条件、完善“课内外一体化”模式,希望在校企合作改革的大背景下,能为顺应高职高专人才培养模式制定科学、合理的体育课程改革提供有力的依据.     

Reward meritocracy or nepotism: The case of independent financial advisors appointed by Chinese listed companies

As independent financial advisors, securities firms are the core intermediaries in major asset reorganization (MAR) of listed companies. Furthermore, they play the dual roles of transaction and authentication. Based on this institutional background, this paper studies how listed companies choose between industry experience (“meritocracy”) and relationships (“nepotism”). Using the MAR of A-share listed companies from 2008 to 2013 as the sample, this paper shows that higher transaction costs (i.e., greater demand for the transaction function of advisors) are related to the higher possibility of advisors with weaker relationships and more industry experience being hired. It also shows that higher suspicion of tunneling (i.e., greater demand for the signal of fairness associated with advisors’ authentication function) is related to the higher possibility of advisors with weaker relationships being hired, but it is not significantly related to whether advisors have more or less industry experience. This paper also shows that reputation has a certain governance effect on the negative consequences of relationship. For the most part, listed companies reward meritocracy but not nepotism when appointing independent financial advisors.     

Integrating strength-weakness analysis into strategic planning

Strength-weakness assessment, which must be performed as a part of any strategic planning process, is presented in terms of a process, termed SWA, that involves managers in making the critical informational choices that are implicit in strategic assessments of strengths and weaknesses. The process is illustrated in terms of its underlying premises, their implications, its benefits, and an illustrative substantive framework that can be used to guide the process.     

Urban density and pupil attainment

We explore the association between urban density and pupil attainment using three cohorts of pupils in schooling in England. Although—as widely recognised—attainment in dense urban places is low on average, this is not because urban environments disadvantage pupils, but because the most disadvantaged pupils with low average attainments attend the most urbanised schools. To control for this, we exploit changes in urban density faced by pupils during compulsory transition from Primary to Secondary school, and measure educational progress at the end of the Secondary phase, relative to attainment at the end of Primary schooling. Our results suggest that there are small but significant benefits from education in schools in more densely urbanised settings. We detect this density advantage even amongst pupils moving relatively short distances between Primary and Secondary schools within urban areas, so we cannot attribute it to broad urbanisation effects experienced by pupils making rural–urban school moves. A more likely explanation lies in greater school choice and competition between closely co-located educational providers.     

Competition and public high school performance

Increasing the level of school competition has been suggested as a way to improve school performance. This study examines one of the most extreme examples of such reform using data from New Zealand public high schools. In the 1990s school zoning was abolished in New Zealand and public schools competed for students, not just with private schools, but also with each other. A categorical Data Envelopment Analysis model using data on school resources and student academic performance, stratified using student socio-economic characteristics, is used to calculate efficiency scores for schools. A regression model is then used to analyse differences in these efficiency scores and their relationship to different levels of competition.     

Usefulness of financial ratios in a single industry

This paper reports the findings of a study on the relationship and ratio grouping of a well-published set of financial ratios within the context of a single, homogenous industry. The findings provide some insight into the validity of using single-industry ratio averages as standards to evaluate individual firm performance. Factor analysis was used to study the interrelationship among the ratios and to determine whether these ratios group in the “traditional” category of ratios suggested in the financial statement analysis literature. This analysis was followed by a cluster analysis of the composite ratios derived from the factor analysis to determine whether any consistent and stable statistical grouping of firms developed over time within the industry. These analyses were done for 72 companies for the period 1966–1975 using Dunn and Bradstreet ratios and Compustat data.     

A troublesome transport challenge? Working round the school run

Transport policy and practice could be challenged by the future of women’s mobility if it means an increasing reliance on the car. The paper examines the contextual relationship between the journey to school/childcare and the journey to work undertaken by eleven women who work part-time. It considers what the problems these women face in managing their time-space commitments and argues that time is the central problem. Transport can be a solution and a further problem in negotiating the competing time needs of work and family schedules. The research indicates the role ICTs, notably the mobile phone, play in mitigating individual transport problems, thus solutions to the problem of women’s time may not be sustainable.