Design for availability: A holistic approach to create value for manufacturers and customers of capital goods

This research introduces a holistic framework called Design for Availability that uses the principles of Lean Sigma and Design for X to cost-effectively optimize the availability of capital goods(i.e., technical systems used in the production of end-products or -services such as medical systems, airplanes,and manufacturing equipment) throughout their entire lifetime.Manufacturers require such a framework because users of capital goods increasingly insist on high system availability levels against reduced lifetime costs.The Design for Availability framework allows manufacturers to determine the current status of system availability and associated lifetime costs,and to identify opportunities to create additional value for themselves and their customers.A case study at a global manufacturer of capital goods in the food processing industry illustrates how the framework can be used in practice and to what extent the manufacturer and customers may profit from applying Design for Availability.     

随机波动率与跳扩散相结合的保证险的鞅定价

假设未偿付额为常数,且房产价格为对数正态随机波动率过程和一个复合Poisson过程相结合的随机过程,引入期权定价理论,利用特殊的鞅方法,分析了住房抵押贷款保证险的定价问题.     

Information and the mechanistic metaphor: The place of information in organizational thought

The purpose of this paper is to examine the possibilities for extending organisational metaphors into the area of information systems. The mechanistic metaphor is used as a relevant example because analysing the assumptions behind it offers a particularly revealing insight into common assumptions in the field of management studies and information systems. These assumptions were developed in a specific historical context, that of the development of bureaucratic forms in a government and industry and the acceptance of what Weber described as instrumental rationality. Three elements of a characteristically mechanistic view of information management are identified: corporate ownership of information, a formal division of information work and a definition of the nature of information as data whose meaning is noncontroversial. It is argued that this view of information is too restricted to allow for creative development of information use, but that the corporate ownership of information continues to be relevant because of the notion of formal rights which has been developed from it.     

Hypergames and bayesian games: A theoretical comparison of the models of games with incomplete information

The present study discusses the relationships between two independently developed models of games with incomplete information,hypergames(Bennett,1977) and Bayesian games(Harsanyi, 1967).The authors first show that any hypergame can naturally be reformulated in terms of Bayesian games in an unified way.The transformation procedure is called Bayesian representation of hypergame. The authors then prove that some equilibrium concepts defined for hypergames are in a sense equivalent to those for Bayesian games.Furthermore,the authors discuss carefully based on the proposed analysis how each model should be used according to the analyzer’s purpose.     

The long shadow of childhood: associations between parental social class and own social class, educational attainment and timing of first birth; results from the ONS Longitudinal Study

In September 2004, linked data from the 2001 Census was made available in the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Longitudinal Study (a 1 per cent sample of the population of England and Wales). The study now includes information from four censuses on sample members and the people they lived with. The availability of this new information, the length of follow-up and other features of the study (such as records of births and deaths to sample members) provide new opportunities for analysing change--both over the life course, between time periods, and between generations. This article illustrates the potential for analysis of continuity and change with new results on intergenerational social mobility, and on parental social class and age at first birth.     

Kurt Lewin's change theory in the field and in the classroom: Notes toward a model of managed learning

This paper discusses some of Lewin's basic dictums and their influence in the author's work and that of others. Specifically, the paper expands on Lewin's change model. It also discusses process consultation and clinical research and describes a design to teach the management of planned change. The paper concludes that planned change might be better conceptualized as managed learning.     

Critical Systems Thinking and “new social movements”: A perspective from the theory of communicative action

The purpose of this paper is to review recent developments in critical theory on the political function of the public sphere and the emancipatory potential of new social movements. This work is shown to be relevant to systemic decisions made under conditions of public conflict. Normative models for the self-understanding of actors engaged in self-limiting emancipatory struggles in modern societies are reviewed and related to the concerns of Critical Systems Thinking.     

ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING AND VENDOR SUPPORT QUALITY BY THE USAGE OF APPLICATION SOFTWARE PACKAGES： A STUDY OF ASIAN ENTREPRENEURS

In this paper we study how organizational learning impacts organizational behavior, and howvendor support quality enhances product adoption and usage behavior.These constructs were verifiedusing Application Software Packages(ASP)-a prewritten, precoded, commercially available set ofprograms that eliminates the need for individuals or organizations to write their own softwareprograms for certain functions. The relationship between ASP usage, usage outcomes and useprocesses were also investigated. Two hundred and ninety-five Chinese, Indian, and Malayentrepreneurships were studied. It was found that usage outcome strongly determines usage, while useprocess has only an indirect relationship (via outcome) on usage. The impact of organizational learningand vendor service quality on usage, usage outcome, and use process were robust. Theoretical andpractical implications of the research are discussed.