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We consider a batch production process that can be either stable or unstable, in which inspection is performed offline after production of the batch is completed. The quality of a batch can be estimated with a desired level of certainty by inspecting only a sample of its units. In order to minimise the expected total cost per batch, which includes the costs of inspection, of false acceptance and of false rejection, we propose an economic inspection plan in which only a fraction of the batches, rather than each batch, is inspected. We prove that the expected total cost is a strictly quasiconvex function of the inspection interval. We establish necessary and sufficient conditions for the optimal inspection interval to be finite and propose an efficient algorithm to obtain its value. We demonstrate for the case of a single-sampling plan where the proposed economic approach outperforms the common procedure of inspecting every batch, and the proposed algorithm is very efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper develops a three-phase procedure to measure the performance of a highly value-added footwear manufacturing system taking reworking actions into account, in which the system consists of multiple production lines. We mainly address the system reliability as a performance indicator to evaluate the possibility of demand satisfaction. First, we construct the manufacturing system as a manufacturing network by graphical transformation and decomposition. Second, capability analysis is implemented to determine the input flow of each station based on the manufacturing network. Third, a simple algorithm is proposed to generate all minimal capacity vectors that stations should provide to satisfy the given demand. We evaluate the system reliability in terms of the minimal capacity vectors. A further decision making issue is discussed to decide a reliable production strategy. Whenever the system state changes, the proposed performance evaluation procedure can be implemented easily and flexibly. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The link between makespan and the profitability and competitiveness of a firm is addressed first. We then study the problem of minimising makespan in a two-machine flowshop with setup times. Jobs have random setup times that are bounded within certain intervals. The distributions of job setup times are not known. We propose a polynomial time algorithm that generalises Yoshida and Hitomi's algorithm. The algorithm uses a weighted average of lower and upper bounds for setup times. Different combinations of weights result in nine different versions of the algorithm. The computational results indicate that one of the versions, with equal weights given to the lower and upper bounds of setup times, performs much better than the others. Next, the performance of this best version is compared with that of the optimal solution, which is obtained by Yoshida and Hitomi's algorithm applied to the problem after setup times have been realised. Computational analysis shows that the overall average absolute error of the best algorithm is 0.03%, and this decreases in size as the number of jobs increases. The analysis also shows that the proposed best version yields robust results regardless of setup-time distributions and the range of setup times. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Many authors consider that production and marketing decisions should be integrated. In this paper, we discuss an aggregate planning problem that includes production, selling price, cash management and flexible capacity (by means of hiring and firing and with the possibility of unlimited production subcontracting). The demand is considered to be a nonlinear function of the product selling price. The problem, which is modelled as a mixed integer linear program, can be solved using standard optimisation software. The results of a computational experiment and a numerical example are shown to illustrate the performance of the proposed model and obtain some managerial insights. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To maintain enterprise competitiveness, enterprises require appropriate initiatives to efficiently manage the product, information and cash flows among different supply chain (SC) partners. Co-operation, postponement, vendor managed inventory, transhipment, logistic consolidation etc., are some of the typical initiatives for performance improvement in SC. In an industrial scenario, two or more of these SC initiatives are undertaken simultaneously for superior enterprise performance on multiple performance dimensions. These factors render the analytical SC models inapt and simulation modelling becomes a suitable methodology to study SC performance that can accommodate the complexities present. The impact studies of these initiatives are difficult because these require exploitation of flexible and dynamic modelling elements which are analytically complex and mathematically intractable. We address these issues in the present research by developing a simulation platform to undertake studies with an industrial SC scenario. The challenges to explore SC performance under multiple initiatives are the major motivations for the present research. The novelty of this research lies in the development of a multi-product, multi-echelon SC simulation platform for realistic and industrial SC scenario encompassing the capability to accommodate multiple SC initiatives simultaneously. It is based on the building block approach using Arena®. We undertake SC performance studies under the application of several important SC initiatives. The results are encouraging and they underline interesting research areas to explore further. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Performance evaluation of a mixed model assembly line is complicated in nature. For some configurations of the mixed model line, operational objectives can directly be evaluated; however, in others some performance measure is required for evaluating the operational objective. This paper reports a comprehensive comparative study of performance measures as to their relevance in representing the operational objectives of a mixed model assembly line balancing problem of type II. Two performance measures are proposed in this work. A genetic algorithm has been developed for comparing the proposed measures with eight others in an effort to investigate their ability to equalize workload along with minimizing cycle time. Through statistical analysis, one of the proposed performance measures has been established to perform better than the others. Application of the performance measures to balance an assembly line taken as part of an industrial case study also corroborates the results obtained by statistical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses materiality considerations and how they factor into the audit process and involve both quantitative and qualitative factors. Most accountancy literature concerning quantification of materiality assessments reveals that most auditors use quantitative rules of thumb in their materiality judgments. These rules, such as assuming a materiality threshold of 5 percent of net income, may cause auditors to undermine the quality of their audited financial reports. The authors analyze the effects of auditors' qualitative materiality thresholds and examine the difference between thresholds based on quantitative and qualitative materiality.

Global supply chain management presents some special challenges and issues for manufacturing companies in planning production: these challenges are different from those discussed in domestic production plans. Globally loading production among different plants usually involves substantial uncertainty and great risk because of uncertain market demand, fluctuating quota costs incurred in the global manufacturing process, and shortening lead times. This study proposes a dual-response production loading strategy for two types of plants—company-owned and contracted—to hedge against the short lead time and uncertainty, and to be as responsive and flexible as possible to cope with the uncertainty and risk involved. Three types of robust optimization models are presented: the robust optimization model with solution robustness, the robust optimization model with model robustness, and the robust optimization model with the trade-off between solution robustness and model robustness. A series of experiments are designed to test the effectiveness of the proposed robust optimization models. Compared with the results of the two-stage stochastic recourse programming model, the robust optimization models provide a more responsive and flexible system with less risk, which is particularly important in the current context of global competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars' calls for an integrating view of the technical, political, and cultural (TPC) aspects of management lead to examining Tichy's TPC framework as the basis of such a view. Tichy's framework is shown to require modification to include the TPC systems of a firm's customers and competitors, and a modified TPC framework is proposed. This framework's usefulness for pattern matching to identify causes of performance is demonstrated in historical case research into a strategic group marketing IBM-compatible mainframes. A result is four testable hypotheses suggesting how firms' success marketing to organizations depends on effective integration between marketing and general management, and a potential cause of variations in performance within strategic groups and during movement between strategic groups. In addition, a method for testing and developing hypotheses by pattern matching on a modified TPC framework is demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little empirical work has been done on the effect of stakeholder management on corporate performance. In this study, the authors contributed to stakeholder theory development by (1) deriving two distinct stakeholder management models from extant research, (2) testing the descriptive accuracy of these models, and (3) including important variables from the strategy literature in the tested models. The results provide support for a strategic stakeholder management model but no support for an intrinsic stakeholder commitment model. Implications of these findings for management practice and future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors describe new developments in structural equation modeling as incorporated in LISREL V. The procedures are illustrated on data from three previous studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors discuss and illustrate the advantages and limitations of a family of new approaches to the analysis of metric and nonmetric data in marketing research. The general method, which is based on alternating least squares optimal scaling procedures, extends the analytical flexibility of the general linear model procedures (ANOVA, regression, canonical correlation, discriminant analysis, etc.) to situations in which the data (1) are measured at any mixture of the nominal, ordinal, or interval levels and (2) are derived from either a discrete or continuous distribution. The relationship of these procedures to traditional linear models and to other nonmetric approaches (such as multidimensional scaling and conjoint analysis) is reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging evidence from scientific studies and specific organizations suggests that how people are managed significantly affects organizational success, and that certain patterns of human resource activities are associated with financial performance. Most human resource (HR) and line managers, however, find existing measures of human and intellectual capital woefully inadequate. In this article, we suggest that designers of HR measurement systems can learn from the success of well-accepted measurement models in the financial and marketing arenas. We show that the historical development of these measurement systems suggests several lessons for the HR measures of the future. These lessons include articulating the links in the value chain, focusing on key organizational constraints, and using data to make "soft" intangible factors more tangible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of the feeling of warmth created by a commercial, as measured by the "warmth monitor," is explored in a series of three studies. The first study examines the relationship between warmth and arousal as measured by skin response. The other studies explore the relationship between warmth and advertising responses such as liking of the ad and purchase likelihood through testing ads with warm and other execution strategies. They also test the effects of sequences of commercials on warmth responses and on the impact of the ad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study demonstrates the applicability of a quantitative modeling approach, specifically goal programming, in operationalizing the relationship between environmental variables and specific organizational structural variables for optimal goal attainment. A goal programming model is developed to analyze and determine the optimal relationships for goal attainment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a model of corporate performance incorporating environmental, organizational, and leadership variables, three performance dimensions-profit, profitability, and stock price-are examined for a sample of 193 manufacturing companies over a 19 year period. This research evaluates the work of Lieberson and O'Connor, a cornerstone for those arguing that the top leadership position of an organization is unimportant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article will present a methodological framework to measure distance transitivity. This is a rather strong property and, a priori, one would not think that preferences are that precise. However, an examination of more than 1,500 preference order transitivities from pairwise experiments showed subjects extremely consistent in preference ordering [5], despite the fact that many subjects had seldom, if ever, tried several brands. This article has presented two essential aspects of analysis of data collected from subjects when an unbounded subjective comparison scale is used: 1. The use of measures other than the coefficient of determination R[sup 2] and 2. A method to measure discriminal dispersion m a relative manner. The empirical results of analyzing 1,500 cases showed that most subjects (91%) had discriminal dispersions in excess of 10%. Thus they Were not distance transitive, although they were very highly order-transitive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In summary, the Monte Carlo analysis has demonstrated that good recovery of artificially generated configurations is possible from the rank order of conditional proximities alone, at least in cases where the number of points (n = 15 in this case) is large relative to the dimensionality of the configuration." From an experimental standpoint, there appears to be little choice between the triangularization versus unfolding methods. (In real applications, however, it would seem that the triangularization procedure might be less susceptible to local minimum problems when arbitrary starting configurations are used in the Kruskal program.) This general finding suggests that procedures like n-dimensional rank order, which for large n require substantially fewer comparisons than tetrad procedures, could still provide enough constraints to lead to "determinate" metric solutions. Of additional interest is the relative insensitivity of configuration recovery to "ties" in the data. This suggests that in real applications the effect of inattention or fatigue on configuration "recovery" may be less than we had imagined prior to running the simulation. This finding appears relevant for either tetrad or n-dimensional rank order data collection. Finally, both findings provide some support for the robustness of nonmetric procedures under conditions where the total number of constraints remains large relative to the number of coordinate values necessary to specify the configuration. These results, while limited to synthetic data, should be somewhat reassuring to researchers interested in applying nonmetric scaling techniques to field-level data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Present models for prescribing the configuration of a firm's physical distribution system generally fail to consider order service time as a variable, though there is reason to believe buyers are influenced by service time differentials among suppliers. This article attempts to clarify how retailers discriminate among levels of service time available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computer simulation techniques have been used successfully in solving marketing management decision problems. Can these techniques be applied to the analyst's problem of selecting the best solution techniques for analyzing marketing decisions? The author indicates they can. "Methodological simulation" can also be used to narrow the "credibility gap" between the analyst and the manager. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the input-output analysis method utilized in marketing. The practice is a statistical data collection and analysis which is designed to provide insight on probable cost trends. It's largely used by industries which sell directly to consumers, investors, and government and foreign buyers. A prerequisite for the approach is the organized collection of quantitative information pertaining to purchases and sales among industrial or processing sectors of the economy. The input-output table represents a set of double-entry books for the economy, in which each sector is represented by debit and credit accounts. It also shows in compact form the transactions among the sectors during a stated time period.

The article presents various abstracts in marketing, including "What Makes Successful and Unsuccessful Executives?" by Burleigh B. Gardner; "Intercity Wage Differences, 1945-46," by L. M. David and Harry Ober; and "Getting and Using Market and Business Data."

The article discusses predetermining sample sizes in marketing studies. Market analysts say sample size is critical in accurately measuring market characteristics. Analysts use statistical methods including the arithmetic mean, or arithmetic average and the percentage proportion of a total. These methods present problems of "true" measurement for analysts. A method of obtaining an arithmetic average of a desired accuracy is presented. The equation incorporates the desired number of cases to ensure accuracy, the accuracy necessary for the arithmetic average, and the range of data in which all data will fall.

This article presents a reply by the authors, to a review done by Professor Andrew W. Halpin, on their book "Explorations in Role Analysis." The author's believe that Halpin's view of the major conclusion of the book indicates that he failed to understand the findings and conclusions they drew. According to the authors, Halpin's take on the major conclusion is the starting point for the analysis, not the end. They believe Halpin's criticism of the authors' use of the sign test is inappropriate because Halpin failed to note the explicit statement in the book and his criticism indicates a misunderstanding of the legitimate uses of the sign test. The sign test is based on binomial distribution, which reports the relative frequencies of the possible events under the binomial hypothesis.

The article discusses the use of DEMON (Decision Mapping via Optimum Networks) as a decision making system for marketing new products. As of 1968, new products have a 60 percent failure rate, despite studies of consumers and test marketing. DEMON is a computerized marketing management model intended to reduce money spent on marketing research and advertising, promote profit returns, and impartially analyze input data. The model also reduces lead times in product introductions, allowing companies to respond to more quickly to market forces.

This article focuses on the usefulness of heuristic models in business planning. The use of computer algorithms and stochastic processes are appropriate for certain sophisticated business models. However, such advance modeling can use resources such as time and money that may not be practical. The use of heuristic models allows many companies to approach decision making based on less information. Heuristic models have been used to develope delivery schedules, airline schedules, certain aspects of marketing, and problems associated with warehouse storage.

This study analyses how robust the management excellence model (MEG) is as a guide for implementing best practices from different reference models to achieve greater quality and excellence in management. The study starts by discussing the model's assumptions and purposes and how it has been applied to a diverse and large group of Brazilian companies with the expectation of improving business performance. The study is based on 389 independent assessments of 8 MEG criteria in 52 Brazilian companies participating in the Minas Quality Award (PMQ) in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, between the 2008-and-2011 cycle. From a theoretical background, 13 proposed hypotheses were tested using the structural equation model (SEM) with a partial least squares (PLS) estimation. Empirical tests support the conceptual framework of MEG, positioning leadership and information management as forces that lead to the strategic management of people, markets, processes, and societal concerns, which in turn are strong predictors of business performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, the sugarcane trading system in Thailand is investigated. The price of sugarcane depends on its quality (sweetness) and weight. The objective of this work is to develop a mathematical model to find the optimal time to minimize gathering cost and maximize revenue. The ε- constraints method will be applied to solve the mathematical model by choosing gathering cost as the main objective function of the model. The optimal harvest time in the four regions of Thailand for crop years 2012/13, 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16 were obtained and then compared to the results with paper [6] which used the "-constraints method to solve the mathematical model by choosing revenue as the objective function of the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses broad architecture of parallel execution of genetic-fuzzy system by identifying limitations of the single minded traditional genetic algorithms. For additional advantages to manage uncertainty as well as other advantages related with fuzzy logic, fuzzification is also incorporated in the approach. The propose architecture of the hybrid genetic-fuzzy systems is experimented in the domain of dairy co-operatives and sample encoding, genetic operations, fitness functions and fuzzification are discussed for the case. An interface screen is also presented to demonstrate working of the prototype system. At end, advantages and future scope of the proposed work is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hayek (1945) argues that local information is key to understanding the efficiency of alternative economic systems and whether production should be centralized or decentralized. The Chinese experience of decentralizing SOEs confirms this insight: when the distance to the government is farther, the SOE is more likely to be decentralized, and this distance-decentralization link is more pronounced with higher communication costs and greater firm-performance heterogeneity. However, when the Chinese central government oversees SOEs in strategic industries, the distance-decentralization link is muted. We also consider alternative agency-cost-based explanations, and do not find much support. (JEL D22, D83, L25, L32, L33, O14, P31) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a significant business activity, merger and acquisition (M&A) generally means transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations or their operating units are transferred or combined. In a typical M&A procedure, M&A target selection is an important issue that tends to exert an increasingly significant impact on different business areas. Although some research works based on fuzzy methods have been explored on this issue, they can only deal with incomplete and uncertain information, but not inconsistent and indeterminate information that exists universally in the decision making process. Additionally, it is advantageous to solve M&A problems under the group decision making context. In order to handle these difficulties in M&A target selection background, we introduce a novel rough set model by combining interval neutrosophic sets (INSs) with multigranulation rough sets over two universes, called an interval neutrosophic (IN) multigranulation rough set over two universes. Then, we discuss the definition and some fundamental properties of the proposed model. Finally, we establish decision making rules and computing approaches for the proposed model in M&A target selection background, and the effectiveness of the decision making approach is demonstrated by an illustrative case analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates exchange rates and bank lending as the transmission channels for Japan's Quantitative Easing Policy (QEP) during 2001-2006. Using a Time Varying Parameter-VAR model and monthly data to analyze the dynamism of the QEP, this study is the first to show that the exchange rate channel was the effective QEP transmission channel after around 2005, while the bank lending channel was inactive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the calculation of the variance-weighted comparison for the evaluation of the impact of sales training courses. The author presents a hypothetical example that shows some of the issues involved in how to weight information from sales areas where there are an unequal number of trained and untrained salesmen. He then evaluates the information used by weighting the difference between means of trained salesmen in each area and by weighting the difference by the number of untrained salesmen in each area. He proposes researchers would gain more value by weighting the differences in each area by the inverse of their variance to gain a minimum variance. The author believes this method is most effective when evaluating information from unplanned experiments.

The article presents a statistical technique for the rapid calculation of a correlation index. A graphic method is discussed which measures the correlation of certain variables. The procedure is found to be effective in most linear equations. Certain criteria must exist in order to use this technique. They include a short-cut method for calculating the coefficient of correlation, an adequate appromixation, and a relationship that justifies mathematical analysis. This method of graphic analysis is accurate when correlation is high rather than low.

The article presents a section of abstracts related to marketing, specifically focused on statistics in marketing, including "First Quarter Dollar Volume Likely to Expand by 15-20%;" "New England's Economic Prospects," by Charles D. Hyson and Alfred C. Neal; and "The Negro Market Today."

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Harmony is the highest level of management in the enterprise management practice. The establishment of "harmony" of the enterprise become the common goal of today's managers, in the actual operation of the enterprise, harmonious management leadership plays a more important role and play a key role. This paper studies the high, medium and lower-level managers in the enterprises as the target, in each layer of leadership assessment research as the main line, built the evaluation index system of harmonious management leadership consist of behavior influence, strategic thinking ability, executive ability, cultural management ability, team building and cooperation ability, paying attention to staff development and ability to work. . And fuzzy comprehensive evaluation was used to discuss the evaluation model of harmony management leadership. And finally through the H's harmonious leadership evaluation, we verified the proposed evaluation system. This article indicates a specific and reasonable direction to enhance enterprise managers harmonious management leadership level, provides effective ways to cultivate and promote enterprise managers, and provides effective reference for researching and improving enterprise performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology foresight is usually conducted by government or industry associations and can serve to provide companies with information on critical technologies that a country or industry intends to develop in the next ten to twenty years. For individual companies to benefit from foresight results and transform them into specific technology development plans, the relationships between the desired technologies and the dynamic business environment need to be understood. In this article, an innovation diffusion model implemented via system dynamics simulation is used to operationalize the link between foresight and planning. It helps company decision makers visualize the diffusion process of the innovation inhabiting the chosen technology and determine the critical parameters quantitatively through experiments and analysis. Using these results, possible paths leading to the desired future of the chosen technology can be generated and plans be prepared to guide the effective development of the technology, essential infrastructure, and key applications. An example is presented at the end to illustrate the application of the proposed method that helps a Chinese service carrier to plan for its 4G wireless communication network expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]