bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Reducing preventive maintenance cost error caused by uncertainty
Authors: Cavalier Michael P. , Knapp Gerald M.
Published: July 2002

Maintenance managers must often make preventive maintenance (PM) decisions based on limited historical failure data. These small data sets introduce significant uncertainties which can lead to selecting suboptimal (more costly) PM intervals. Examines the performance of two commonly used estimation techniques (MLE and rank regression), and develops a third hybrid technique which improves the PM interval accuracy for small data sets. In addition, characterizes the risks involved in making PM decisions based on small data sets for all three methods, to provide useful guidelines for the practising maintenance engineer.
Life assessment study of a 400MW steam boiler at Ghazlan Power Plant
Authors: Ahmad Syed S.
Published: July 2002

Ghazlan Power Plant Engineering in conjuction with a general contractor, ABB Combustion Engineering, conducted a successful study which evaluated the existing and remaining life and condition of the boiler, and established guidelines for an in‐house inspection programme of the boiler and auxiliary system components. The detailed analysis consisted of evaluating water treatment and steam purity practices, and metallurgically analysing tube material samples of the superheat, reheat and economizer sections of the boiler. In addition, several non‐destructive examination (NDE) methods (magnetic particle examination, ultrasound shear wave examination, bore‐scope, and plastic replication of metal surface) were utilized to determine the integrity and rate of deterioration of the tube material and associated support structures. On the basis of the test results, a scheduled monitoring and inspection programme has been established, and is currently being implemented on all Ghazlan boilers and associated system components. It is expected that the programme will significantly minimize unscheduled and costly outages of the boilers.
Maintenance performance reporting systems: some experiences
Authors: Pintelon Liliane , Van Puyvelde Frank
Published: July 2002

Maintenance management is a business function of which the considerable operational and tactical importance is still growing. As problems and opportunities are needed to be anticipated in time in order to make the necessary adjustments, sound performance reporting is indispensable. Presents a short overview of commonly used maintenance performance measurement systems based on literature study and industrial practice. Discusses experiences with the implementation of an in‐house developed performance measurement tool in Belgian industry. Presents recommendations concerning the introduction of a maintenance performance reporting system.
Availability‐based maintenance within an asset management programme
Authors: Organ Mike , Whitehead Tony , Evans Mike
Published: July 2002

Suggests that maintenance should be proactive and that a modern maintenance department should be a leader in the management team. Considers factors such as scheduling and capacity planning. Looks at traditional maintenance and reliability‐centred maintenance as well as factors relating to people, e.g. teamwork. Focuses on asset management and the various elements involved. Considers how availability based maintenance links with factors such as asset management and makes recommendations for good practice.
The status of maintenance management in Swedish manufacturing firms
Authors: Jonsson Patrik
Published: July 2002

Presents a model of five linked maintenance management components (strategy, human aspects, support mechanisms, tools/techniques and organization). Analyses the present status of these components in Swedish manufacturing firms through a survey of 284 respondents. Shows that fewer than half have written maintenance strategies or computerized maintenance information systems and several give maintenance low status. The figures are lowest in small firms and in the timber industry. Preventive maintenance at fixed intervals and corrective maintenance are the most common maintenance techniques. However, condition monitoring is common in large paper and chemical firms. Also indicates that Swedish firms have not fully made maintenance a company‐wide issue, and that centralized maintenance departments dominate resources in large firms, but outsourcing has become important in small firms. Many of these figures are considered not to be optimal, but the average firm should be able to improve.
Industry driven postgraduate maintenance education: MIRCE approach
Authors: Knezevic Jezdimir
Published: July 2002

Over the past decade the education system in the UK has been heavily criticized for its irrelevance to industry. Employers, in particular, have been concerned that the values and products of the system do not meet their requirements. Meeting these requirements presents many challenges and, indeed, raises many fundamental questions about the aims and purposes of education and how it should relate to industry. Although maintenance education in the UK is still in its infancy, the work undertaken at the MIRCE Centre of University of Exeter has demonstrated that education and industry can work closely together to develop programmes which meet the demands for highly skilled and trained maintenance engineers.
Spare optimization models for series and parallel structures
Authors: Dinesh Kumar U. , Knezevic J.
Published: July 2002

Proposes optimization models for spare provisioning. In the first model, considers a series system with m components where each component can have a maximum of (n‐1) spares. The objective function is to maximize the availability of the system satisfying a constraint on space required for the spares. In the second model, considers a series‐parallel system where each component of the system can have a maximum of (n‐1) spares. The optimization models developed in the paper can be solved using general purpose software such as SOLVER of EXCEL. Also presents an efficient branch and bound algorithm which can be used to solve the optimization problem.
Hydroinformatics technology and maintenance of UK water networks
Authors: Savic Dragan , Walters Godfrey , Ashcroft Philip G. , Arscott Arthur
Published: July 2002

Notes that the most important fixed asset of any water distribution company is its pipe network. However, once installed it is difficult to manage not only because it is buried in the ground but because management of potable water networks encompasses complex activities concerned with supply. In addition, privatized UK water utilities are required to balance often conflicting demands from their shareholders, regulators and customers. Maintenance, including rehabilitation, replacement, and/or expansion of existing networks to meet current and future demands, is the major element of potable water distribution management. Introduces hydroinformatics as a way forward for water network management and maintenance in particular. Looks at elements such as geographic information systems and artificial neural networks. Outlines the scope for improvement to the new technologies for maintenance of water networks together with a wide range of possible applications.
Renewal in changing environment
Authors: Finkelstein M.S.
Published: July 2002

Usually the renewal stochastic processes are used for description of repairable systems performance in the fixed environment. The main characteristic that arises in applications is the mean number of failures or repairs and this is very significant for the spares assessment. In this paper the situation is generalized for the case of changing environment (deterministic or random). The renewal equations for various types of repair, ranging from perfect to minimal via general, are analyzed from the maintenance point of view. Several simple examples are considered.
Empirical study of attitudes to teamworking in manufacturing system maintenance
Authors: Greenough Richard
Published: July 2002

This paper describes a study of attitudes to team working in an engine plant of a major UK motor manufacturer. The aim of the study was to identify causes of resistance to teamworking and suggest possible solutions. A survey was designed to obtain input from the workers and, in addition, workers were interviewed. The results indicated that workers valued the chance to interact more and get to know each other better. However, they felt strongly that there was not enough communication between the company management and the teams.
Dynamic analysis of coherent fault trees
Authors: Huanqiu Wang , Jinzhong Gao , Fengzhang Xu
Published: July 2002

An important characteristic of many engineering systems which cannot be modeled by fault trees to perform system reliability analysis is that they behave dynamically. In this paper, the method of applying Petri Nets (Pns) as a modeling tool to represent the coherent fault trees is discussed. When the repair facility is added into the nets, the dynamic behavior of the repairable system can be studied through the nets by using equivalent Markov chains.
A capital equipment replacement model for a fleet with variable size
Authors: Scarf P.A. , Bouamra O.
Published: July 2002

A replacement model over two cycles, with decision variables based on age at replacement of the current fleet and size of the new fleet is considered. In order to consider both age at replacement and fleet size, the concept of penalty cost for unmet demand is introduced and modelled using results from birth‐and‐death processes. Optimal values for decision variables may be found through minimization of the total discounted cost per unit time or the equivalent rent value. The role of the penalty cost and its influence on decision variables is emphasized. A numerical solution is proposed and illustrated using data on a particular fleet of medical equipment.
Analysis of repairable system failure data using time series models
Authors: Xie M. , Ho S.L.
Published: July 2002

Repairable system reliability analysis is very important to industry and, for complex systems, replacing a failed component is the most commonly used corrective maintenance action as it is an inexpensive way to restore the system to its functional state. However, failure data analysis for repairable system is not an easy task and usually a number of assumptions which are difficult to validate have to be made. Despite the fact that time series models have the advantage of few such assumptions and they have been successfully applied in areas such as chemical processes, manufacturing and economics forecasting, its use in the field of reliability prediction has not been that widespread. In this paper, we examine the usefulness of this powerful technique in predicting system failures. Time series models are statistically and theoretically sound in their foundation and no postulation of models is required when analysing failure data. Illustrative examples using actual data are presented. Comparison with the traditional Duane model, which is commonly used for repairable system, is also discussed. The time series method gives satisfactory results in terms of its predictive performance and hence can be a viable alternative to the Duane model.
Profit analysis of a system with mutual changeover of units and correlated failures and repairs
Authors: Gupta Rakesh , Mumtaz S.Z. , Nitin Rastogi R
Published: July 2002

Profit analysis of a two non‐identical unit cold standby system model with mutual changeover of the units is carried out in this paper. With mutual changeover of the unit, the operating unit, after functioning for some random amount of time, becomes standby to take rest, and the standby unit becomes operative. The failure and repair times of each unit are jointly distributed as bivariate exponential (BVE) with different parameters. Various measures of system effectiveness useful to system engineers and designers are obtained by using the regenerative point technique. Behaviour of the mean time to system failure (MTSF) and availability have also been studied graphically.
New trends in aircraft reliability and maintenance measures
Authors: Dinesh Kumar U.
Published: July 2002

Discusses two measures, namely, maintenance free operating period (MFOP) and failure free operating period (FFOP) that are seen as the future reliability and maintenance measures. The concept of MFOP is a new reliability metric driven by the Ministry of Defence, UK, which is becoming popular among projects such as future offensive aircraft systems (FOAS), joint strike fighter (JSF) and ultra reliable aircraft (URA) etc. Analyses how these two measures can change the whole operation of military and commercial aircraft operations.
Mary Parker Follett: assessing the contribution and impact of her writings
Authors: Fry Brian R. , Thomas Lotte L.
Published: July 2002

Examines the extent and nature of Mary Parker Follett’s contribution to the literature of public administration and related fields. First reviews the substantive contribution, and then employs a citation analysis to explore the frequency of references to Follett’s works and the areas in which they have had the greatest impact. The analysis suggests some relative neglect of Follett’s writings compared with other major authors in the field, but some recent resurgence of interest prompted largely by her focus on conflict resolution.
Do historical facts speak for themselves?
Authors: Scott William G.
Published: July 2002

Notes that facts and chronologies of events do not tell the whole historical story and that the historian must speculate about meaning. Points out that this undertaking requires intuition and imagination and that management historians are not exempt from speculation in their search for meaning. Argues for a metahistorical approach in interpreting management thought and practice in the past.
The promises of managerial revolution theory
Authors: Nodoushani Omid
Published: July 2002

Posits that since the New Deal era, 1933‐1940, the theory of managerial revolution has sparked tremendous debate concerning the governance of the USA’s large corporations. Argues that an interpretation ofThe Modern Corporation and Private Property, within the context of other works by Adolf Berle and Gardiner Means, could raise profound insights in terms of a paradigm shift concerning the governance of big corporations in contemporary economy.
A historical perspective of the impact of feedback on behaviour
Authors: Baker Diane F. , Buckley M. Ronald
Published: July 2002

Notes that during the past 100 years, a significant amount of social science research has attempted to elucidate the relationship between feedback and behaviour. Research designs and behavioural models clearly reflected the researcher’s basic assumptions about the determinants of human behaviour. Behaviourism, for example, had a pervasive influence on feedback research, especially during the first half of the century. During the 1940s, more cognitive approaches began to emerge. Recently, the importance of contextual variables has been recognized. Explores how these trends in psychology have affected feedback research and models. Also discusses the future of feedback research.
The disinheritance of management ethics: rational individualism in Barnard’s The Functions of the Executive
Authors: Feldman Steven P.
Published: July 2002

Refers to Chester Barnard’s classic work in management theory, The Functions of the Executive, which includes one of the first systematic discussions of management ethics, and is an attempt to create a new justification for executive control and organization freedom. The literature reviewing Barnard’s effort has focused on the various arguments he uses to justify these ends. Contends that the key fact in understanding Barnard’s work on management ethics is that he broke with any historical continuity of (traditional) moral belief. Barnard attempts to replace traditional moral beliefs with a rational process of moral conflict resolution controlled by the executive. He develops a complex system of dichotomies, assumptions, and concepts in order to incorporate the individual into the organization and demonstrate the moral superiority of the individual executive. This conceptual system, however, is shown to be based on a contradictory reversal of the definitions in the individual‐organization dichotomy. This reversal supports Barnard’s objectification of organization which enables him to reduce morality to a functional role within the organization. In other words, morality is reduced to politics. The argument is based on the dubious ambition that only organizations, not society, can provide an integrated moral whole. Barnard’s justification fails in that rational individualism cannot provide a stable or legitimate moral system.
African‐American insurance enterprises: An early vehicle for economic and social development
Authors: Plater Michael A.
Published: July 2002

The study analyzes different early African‐American life insurance enterprises and illustrates how these organizations significantly influenced both cultural and economic development in African‐American communities. Because African Americans purchased at least one billion‐dollars worth of insurance by the end of the 1930s and because African‐American insurance companies carried at least $340,000,000 of this insurance, African Americans also played a significant role in developing the United States’ financial infrastructure during the first half of the twentieth century. This paper explores the cultural and economic issues used by this industry to overcome the environment constraints that hindered many other African‐American industries.
John Locke’s influence on American government and public administration
Authors: Griffith Mark F.
Published: July 2002

John Locke, one of the most influential writers in history, profoundly affected the principles upon which the government of the United States was founded. He leaves a legacy of thoughts on human understanding, religion, economics, and politics that still influence the structure, environment, and operation of public administration today. He is most noted for his concept of separation of powers and for his ideas about property as the basis for prosperity. he moderated the more radical teachings of Thomas Hobbes and Niccolo Machiavelli. His politics, emerging from the concept of a state of nature, involved the underlying radical, modern premises about religion and morality. Locke presents his case for what we would call modern liberal democracy. He created the modern emphasis on constitutionalism that defines, in part, the relationship between the political system and the bureaucracy. Finally, he was an important link in the development of modern executive and legislative power.
Are proverbs really so bad? Herbert Simon and the logical positivist perspective in American public administration
Authors: Cruise Peter L.
Published: July 2002

Since the 1950s, the unifying epistemological perspective in American public administration has been logical positivism, most notably as defined and promoted by Herbert Simon. In recent years, logical positivism has been under attack for limiting inappropriately the scope of inquiry within the field, forcing it to ignore important, value‐laden issues critical to government and the public sector. The willingness to address value‐laden issues was at the core of what was to become the field of public administration in the early twentieth‐century. This article examines the philosophical roots of logical positivist movement, its dramatic effects upon public administration, and the subsequent counter attacks on the movement. The article concludes that although logical positivism’s attack on public administration initially weakened the field, as a result practitioners and scholars were eventually to demand increased rigor and higher standards of inquiry for research in the field.
Reconstruction of the Homunculus skull using a combined scanning and stereolithography process
Authors: Zhang Guangming , Tsou Yi‐chien , Rosenberger Alfred L.
Published: July 2002

The reconstructed skull of the primate fossil Homunculus, a Miocene New World monkey from Argentina, offers unique opportunities for further study and has revealed information that could not be observed or appreciated on the original damaged specimens. This paper presents the process that applies the rapid prototyping methodology to reconstruct and produce such a physical model of the Homunculus’s skull. A laser scanner is used to digitize three pieces of sharp epoxy casts from the left facial skull and the mandible, which were broken apart during fossilization. Commercial software systems are used to develop image models of the fully reconstructed face and lower jaw. A stereolithography process is used to build the physical model.
Rapid prototyping of small size objects
Authors: Bertsch Arnaud , Bernhard Paul , Vogt Christian , Renaud Philippe
Published: July 2002

The commercialization of new products integrating many functions in a small volume requires more and more often the rapid prototyping of small high‐resolution objects, having intricate details, small openings and smooth surfaces. To give an answer to this demand, the stereolithography process has started to evolve towards a better resolution: the “small spot” stereolithography technology allows to reach a sufficient resolution for the manufacturing of a large range of small and precise prototype parts. Microstereolithography, a technique with resolution about an order of magnitude better than conventional stereolithography, is studied by different academic research groups. The integral microstereolithography machine developed at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne is described in this paper, and potential applications are presented. The resolutions of conventional, small spot and microstereolithography technologies are compared and the potential of the microstereolithography technique is shown for the manufacturing of small and complex objects.
Equidistant path generation for improving scanning efficiency in layered manufacturing
Authors: Yang Y. , Loh H.T. , Fuh J.Y.H. , Wang Y.G.
Published: July 2002

Path generation is an important factor that affects the quality and efficiency of most laminated manufacturing processes such as SLS, SLA and FDM. This paper introduces an efficient path generation algorithm. The principle of the algorithm and its implementation are presented. A comparative study is used to analyze the effectiveness of this method. The results of comparison on both path length and processing time between the traditional method and the proposed method are discussed.
RP process chains for ceramic microcomponents
Authors: Knitter Regina , Bauer Werner , Göhring Dieter , Risthaus Peter
Published: July 2002

Conventional shaping processes for ceramics are mostly based on a powder‐technological molding process using a negative mold and subsequent thermal compaction. Especially for prototypes and small lot series of microcomponents the outlay for molds are the major costing factor. Consequently the use of rapid prototyping (RP) processes can decisively reduce the costs and time in product development of ceramic microcomponents. In spite of the fact, that a large number of freeform fabrication techniques for different materials were developed in recent years, most generative techniques of ceramics still have different drawbacks for the fabrication of prototypes and often exhibit limited resolution compared to those of polymers. The combination of RP techniques such as micro stereolithography and ceramic injection molding in a RP process chain can fill in the gap between the limited applicability of solid freeform fabrication of ceramics and the restricted material properties of polymers.
Unbalanced embeddedness of ethnic entrepreneurship
Authors: Schnell Izhak , Sofer Michael
Published: July 2002

Ethnic entrepreneurs’ networks are analysed on the basis of three complementary dimensions: intensity and complexity of networks; power relations; and entrepreneurs’ horizons of awareness. The analysis is based on two theoretical propositions. First, firms located in the periphery are weakly embedded in national markets due to their external depended relations. Second, local firms use the tendency to embed themselves in their home regions as a strategy to improve their position in external power relations. The inquiry of Arab industry in Israel suggests that the form and degree of embeddedness of any given firm is affected by the existence of both separate economic milieus: Arab and Jewish. The findings lead us to suggest two concepts. First, over‐embeddedness, which characterises Arab firms that are highly embedded in the local milieu, operate under the influence of kinship structures and a petrified supportive tissue that downgrades networks into cohesive coalitions opposing structural changes. Second, under‐embeddedness, which characterises firms that manage to develop and maintain wide inter‐ethnic dependent sets of networks, but due to lack of power fail to transform them into more rewarding exchanges.
Business opportunity or food pornography?
Authors: Lin Pang Ching
Published: July 2002

Maps and analyzes the development of ethnic Chinese food in the city of Antwerp through the ethnography of both Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs and their customers. Most existing studies draw our attention to group characteristics in explaining Chinese immigrant small businesses, predominantly clustered in the catering sector. Some studies examining Chinese immigrants and the development of the catering sector adopt a mixed model of group characteristics and opportunity structures in the broader society. Looks into a hitherto unexplored terrain, namely the relation between the white customer and the immigrant entrepreneur. Such an in‐depth analysis “from within” instructs us about the dynamics of the immigrant/ethnic restaurant business. From the perspective of the immigrant entrepreneur, immigrant/ethnic restaurants provide in many instances an avenue to social mobility, thereby overcoming the general constraints facing immigrants such as insufficient financial capital, low educational levels, linguistic handicap, etc. The economic advancement is the success side, whereas the success has a series of social costs. The social exchange is fraught with ambivalence, which in its most extreme manifestation may turn into what Frank Chin calls “food pornography”. The two dimensions both present in Chinese immigrant restaurant ventures for they provide opportunities with a series of social costs.
Small firms, industrial districts and power asymmetries
Authors: Baker Peter
Published: July 2002

Considers the renewed interest in industrial districts as a
post‐Fordist form of spatial distribution of industry. Local
agglomerations of industry in the form of small and medium‐sized firms
have been proposed as a means of dealing effectively with changing
patterns of demand; furthermore, they are seen as offering opportunities
to workers of more satisfying employment. Contends that the positive
aspects of industrial districts are often exaggerated and that the
increased importance of small firms generally has, in many cases, been
the outcome of regressive economic restructuring at the global level.
Takes evidence from survey work in the East Midlands, and shows that
small firms often occupy a weak position in the production chain and, as
a consequence, are subject to asymmetrical power relationships. Makes
policy recommendations which are designed to deal both with the problems
faced by small firms in particular and by labour more generally.
Exporting and non‐exporting small firms in Great Britain
Authors: Westhead Paul
Published: July 2002

Makes a contribution to the debate surrounding the characteristics of “non‐exporting” (n = 203 firms) and “exporting” (n = 64 firms) new manufacturing and “producer services” small firms in Great Britain. It was appreciated that sample differences may overwhelm the exploratory analysis. Consequently, in order to overcome this potentially distorting influence a “matched pairs” methodology was also utilized. Forty‐two matched pairs of non‐exporting and exporting firms were identified (by age of the business, industry and location type). In total, data were collected on 146 variables covering the firm, the founder and the environment. Dichotomizing between the two types of firms the univariate analysis of the “matched samples” identified statistically significant differences with regard to only 14 variables (10 per cent). Additional multivariate analysis was conducted. Results from a logit regression model of the “matched samples” suggests new firms are “pushed” into “exporting” their sales abroad due to perceived shortages of local resources as well as intense local competition. Discusses the policy implications of the survey findings.
The Russian entrepreneur: a study of psychological characteristics
Authors: Green R. , David J. , Dent M. , Tyshkovsky A.
Published: July 2002

Outlines the methodology and results of a study into entrepreneurism in the new Russian economy. Asks whether the Russian entrepreneur can be characterized as similar to entrepreneurs identified in research in Western economies. Discusses the results in the context of the debate on individual v. situational causes of entrepreneurial success. Claims it would be helpful to the promotion of business venturing in growing economies, if differences in entrepreneurial psychological profiles could not only be identified, but were indicative of the potential for training or socialization.
Entrepreneurial activity in the Third World informal sector
Authors: Morris Michael H. , Pitt Leyland F. , Berthon Pierre
Published: July 2002

Extensive attention has been given in recent years to the role of entrepreneurship in facilitating global economic development, with research indicating that much employment growth originates from the “entrepreneurial sector” of the economy. In many parts of the world, emphasis has also been placed on the so‐called “informal sector” (comprising all activities that fall outside the formal net of registered, taxed, licensed, statistically documented business enterprises) as a contributor to the economic welfare of society. Aims to explore further the nature of the informal sector, and specifically, to distinguish entrepreneurial from non‐entrepreneurial business activity within this sector. Describes the results of a series of in‐depth interviews with owners from a cross‐section of small businesses located in a black South African township. Identifies a sub‐group of firms that demonstrate relatively strong entrepreneurial orientations and distinguishes this group from the remainder of the sample. Draws implications for theory development, ongoing research, and public policy.
Potential, procedures and pitfalls of analysing internal newspapers
Authors: Hughes Mark
Published: July 2002

This paper is based upon research focused upon the internal newspapers produced by Barclays, Lloyds, Midland and National Westminster Banks between 1990 and 1994. Discusses why internal newspapers should be analysed, how they can be analysed, and acknowledges the pitfalls of undertaking such analysis. Conclusions are drawn that internal newspapers merit research. However, researching exclusive documents may prove problematic. Finally, given the ambiguous nature of the content of internal newspapers, they are much more suited to research designs which seek to build new theories, rather than test existing theories.
Corporate identity: external reality or internal fit?
Authors: Kiriakidou Olivia , Millward Lynne J.
Published: July 2002

Examines the impact of corporate identity management on the employees’ attitudes towards the organization, as well as their willingness to accept its premises in the way they conduct organizational business. Argues that this knowledge is critical to our understanding of how external relations can be systematically managed via the employee. Presents a framework which outlines the perceived actual‐ideal identity fit seen as critical to the way in which corporate identity is interpreted and enacted by employees. Case study material is provided from within a telecommunications company, to illustrate that the effective management of corporate identity requires that it is perceived to be consistent with, and representative of, actual organizational reality.
Bridging the communication gap: dolphin‐safe “ecolabels”
Authors: D’Souza Clare
Published: July 2002

“Ecolabels” without advertising support are communicating the environmentally friendly message. This article investigates the general belief and evaluation consumers have about ecolabelled products. In conventional markets, labelling conveys to the consumer information about the product. Appropriate communication in the form of symbols reinforces messages. Ecolabels enable consumers to articulate their preferences for environmental friendly products. Consumer beliefs are highly regarded as they serve to simplify the cognitive process of decision making. This study examines the impact of communicating the environmental friendly message by the dolphin‐safe symbol on four brands of tuna. It examines the effectiveness of brand perception on environmentally friendly products. Results indicate that consumers are favourably influenced by the presence of these labels regardless of type of product, thus supporting an affective evaluation process. Consumer perceptions of the two top selling brands are perceived to be more environmentally friendly than the other brands.
Communication competency of Japanese managers in Singapore
Authors: Kameda Naoki
Published: July 2002

In this day of internationalization and electronic information, communication competency is truly required for global managers. Japanese global managers, however, are often criticized as lacking the power of expression. It is said that they are very poor at communicating with their foreign counterparts because they are not good at English. Is it really so? The discussion will be focused on the author’s research on Japanese managers’ use of English as a means of business communication with local businesses in Singapore. The research was to see if the cause of their communication blunders is related to English or to fundamental differences in communication patterns. The results support the author’s claim that their problem is not because of a lack of English grammar but is due to the lack of communication competency irrelevant to grammar. Japanese global managers should understand that English alone cannot be a panacea for communication blunders.
Corporate citizenship as a factor of corporate communication
Authors: Sabeh Zanab , Flora Mandeep , Khairan Faodil
Published: July 2002

Inspired by the United Nations International Year of a Society for All Ages (1999), this study set out to investigate how the media contributed to this campaign by the coverage it was afforded. Focusing on an area of London, the views of representatives from local newspapers and members of the public were gathered. Respondents were generally unaware of the UN campaign although this varied according to survey location and availability of the different newspapers. Also it was felt that, in this instance, local newspapers were neglecting their claims to serve the community with both a lack of coverage of the UN campaign and a refusal to offer pricing concessions to older people addressed by the campaign.
Public relations: does the industry need regulating?
Authors: Moloney Kevin
Published: July 2002

Hypothesises that the public relations industry and those connected with it suffer from low reputation; that this perception is widespread and may create a distorted reality. Surveys a self‐selected and representative sample to evaluate the hypothesis. Considers semantic differences in terminology. Argues for empirical location, reform and more interdisciplinary research. Suggests that an Office for the Regulation of the Public Relations industry (OFFPR) might improve reputation of the industry and the people who work in it, including teachers and students.
Evaluation of written communication: a replication study to determine accuracy
Authors: Clarke Geraldine
Published: July 2002

Within the traditional model of encoding, transmitting and decoding written communications, observant analysis can be made of the text to determine the underlying themes and emphases. The analysis of written documentation must be clearly embedded within the context in which it is written: successful inference is based on this premiss. There is also a requirement, where possible, to substantiate content analytical findings by reference to other research methodologies. Communications content has been subjected to content analysis for over 100 years. In that time the methodology has come a long way to making this research process rigorous and objective.
Corporate reputation and perceived risk in professional engineering services
Authors: Ewing Michael T. , Caruana Albert , Rinson Loy Ernest
Published: July 2002

The importance of corporate reputation is widely acknowledged in both contemporary and academic business writings. While reputation is a difficult concept to measure, managers frequently assume a positive relationship between business performance and corporate reputation. The literature avers that from a client’s perspective, a healthy reputation may act as a risk suppresser. In this empirical study, the nature of corporate reputation and risk aversion in professional engineering consultancies is examined. Findings support a three‐dimensional reputation construct, but there is no evidence to suggest that a good corporate reputation reduces clients’ perceived risk. Implications are drawn, limitations noted and directions offered for ongoing research.
Evaluating media exposure: applying advertising methods to publicity measurement
Authors: Kim Yungwook , Kim Jihye , Park Jungki , Choi Youjin
Published: July 2002

Tests new proposed tools for measuring media exposure in a crisis management situation. A theoretical formula based on a literature review is applied to two crises: the TWA 800 crash and the ValuJet 592 crash. The application of the proposed formula was generally successful. The outcomes showed that diverse comparisons of media exposure are possible through the new methods.
An investigation of the effect of poling conditions on the characteristics of screen‐printed piezoceramics
Authors: Dargie Peter , Sion Russell , Atkinson John , White Neil
Published: July 2002

A study of the effect of poling conditions on screen‐printed piezoceramics was undertaken. Printable pastes were produced, using a commercially available lead zirconate titanate (PZT) powder, mixed with two types of binder, lead (II) oxide and a lead borosilicate glass. Sample devices were fabricated using the two paste types and processed, using standard thick film techniques, before being poled under varying conditions. Samples were compared by measurement of piezoelectric charge constant, d33 and using scanning electron microscopy techniques. Temperature and time are shown to increase poling efficiency, while poling field reaches an optimum at 2‐3 MV m‐1. The PZT layers start to fail through a process of dielectric breakdown at fields of 3.5 MV m‐1 and above.
A new concept for the use of Al‐sheet as integrated substrate for one or multichip module package
Authors: Philippov Ph. , Arnaudov R. , Yordanov N. , Gospodinova M.
Published: July 2002

In this paper we present recent studies on the electrochemical migration processes in Ag thin film parallel microstrip lines in MCM(D) structures. The basic concept is applying accelerated local drop‐test of water solutions onto the surface of two adjacent lines, under a given voltage potential. These operational conditions are often met in the interconnection line buses, placed in the top assembly level of multilayered hybrid structures. The subject of investigations are MCM(D) developed on Al‐sheet carrier with internal conducting and isolating layers, produced through unique selective electrochemical anodization of Al and Ta. This technology process also enables the creation of embedded R and C passive components on the base of TaOxN1‐x and Ta2O5 (or Al2O3) respectively. We propose an electrochemical deposition of Ag/Sb alloys on the surface of Al interconnection lines and contact pads to ease the bondability and solderability in chip mounting procedures. The artificially created silver migrated defects and partial shorts are investigated through the high frequency method of coupled transmission lines in order to eliminate the errors and insufficient validity of DC direct measurements.
Employee affective reactions to organizational quality efforts
Authors: Carlopio James , Gardner Dianne
Published: July 2002

Examines two hypotheses: first, that employees’ perceptions of their firm’s quality efforts are related to employee affective reactions (satisfaction, commitment, turnover intentions), with those perceiving greater organizational quality efforts exhibiting more positive affective reactions; and, second, that perceptions of autonomy would account for the relationship between perceptions of organizational quality efforts and employees’ affective reactions. Questionnaires were completed by 228 employees of a large bank. Reports that regression analysis revealed that all of the affective reaction variables were significantly related to perceptions of quality efforts. Further analysis revealed that, while perceptions of autonomy were important with regard to affective reactions, employee perceptions of organizational quality efforts were also directly and significantly related to employees’ affective reactions. The impact of perceptions of quality efforts was found to be most significant for organizational commitment. Discusses the implications of these results.
An integrated approach to service quality improvement
Authors: Kuei Chu‐Hua , Lu Min H.
Published: July 2002

Presents a synergy and integration of marketing and operations for continuous quality improvement in a service setting. Discusses measurements, improvements, and responsibilities of service quality. Integrates a service quality evaluation tool (SERVQUAL) and a service quality improvement tool (QFD). Claims that only through this synergy and integration of systems, concepts and tools will the aim of the organization in achieving service quality be reached.
The Dodge‐Romig double sampling plans based on fuzzy optimization
Authors: Wang Reay‐Chen , Chen Chung‐Ho
Published: July 2002

Considers that the problem of determining the Dodge‐Romig lot tolerance per cent defective (LTPD) double sampling plan (DSP) under the fuzzy environment satisfies the consumer’s risk closely and is an extension of Chakraborty’s work. Models the problem as fuzzy mathematical programming (FMP). A linear membership function and the minimum operator are assumed in FMP. The solution of the proposed model has a smaller average total inspection (ATI) than those of the traditional Dodge‐Romig LTPD DSP and Chakraborty’s.
The Baldrige quality competition in New Zealand: a critical assessment
Authors: Perry Martin
Published: July 2002

Examines the Baldrige criteria and their use in New Zealand. Government development agencies and private industry groups have recently promoted models of best practice in business organization and strategy. Across these initiatives there is a remarkable unanimity in the version of best practice being advocated, reflecting the influence of the Baldrige Award criteria. Contrasts the types of workplace reorganization advocated in the Baldrige criteria with sociotechnical systems, German diversified quality production, flexible specialization. Argues that each of these systems offers a route to best practice in its related market and business environment. Discusses the limits of reducing workplace change to a single one of these options and managerial action alone. Presents evidence of the value of industry co‐ordinated change, including contrasting case studies from the meat and dairy processing sectors.
Neural network procedures for experimental analysis with censored data
Authors: Su Chao‐Ton , Miao Chia‐Li
Published: July 2002

Owing to some uncontrollable factors, only a portion of an experiment can be completed. Such incomplete data are generally referred to as censored data. Conventional approaches for analysis of censored data are computationally complicated. In this work an effective means of applying neural networks to analyze an experiment with singly‐censored data is presented. Two procedures are developed, which are simpler than conventional ones such as maximum likelihood estimation and Taguchi’s minute accumulating analysis. In addition, three numerical examples are presented to compare the proposed procedures with the conventional ones. Those comparisons reveal that proposed procedures are effective and feasible.
Strategic approaches, organizational design and quality management
Authors: Moreno‐Luzón  , Peris F.J.
Published: July 2002

The main contribution of this paper is to integrate into one model management and organizational fields that are normally analyzed separately: contingency factors, organizational design variables, strategic approaches and quality management approaches. The essential core of the model is constituted by three basic variables of organizational design: level of centralization, level of formalization‐standardization, and level of shared vision and common values. Through analysis using this conceptual tool, we can: assess the position of tasks and organizational units in relation to these organizational variables; evaluate the congruence between organizational variables and contingency factors; identify relationships between strategic management approaches and quality approaches; and establish a fit between strategic management approaches, organizational variables, contingency factors and quality approaches.
Consumer behaviour and fruit quality: supply chain management in an emerging industry
Authors: Mowat Alistair , Collins Ray
Published: July 2002

Supply chains in new and emerging agricultural industries typically lack information linking product quality with consumer behaviour. This case study of the emerging persimmon industry in Australia and New Zealand demonstrates how adopting a supply chain orientation can address this situation. Assessing and modelling consumer response to product quality provides information that demonstrates to supply chain stakeholders how better product quality management can improve the performance of the whole chain. Emerging fruit industries, therefore, have more incentive to adopt a supply chain orientation if they understand quality‐related factors that drive consumer satisfaction and repeat buying behaviour.
A new value‐added strategy for the US beef industry: the case of US Premium Beef Ltd
Authors: Katz Jeffrey P. , Boland Michael
Published: July 2002

US Premium Beef Ltd is a cooperative partnership between all segments of the beef industry value chain, affording each segment an interest in the key stages of beef production and processing, as well as an equal share of the financial risks and rewards. This “value‐added” strategy is accomplished through vertical integration and adding a quality‐based pricing structure to more closely link beef producers and consumers. The case study is an example of supply chain management as a strategic response to a mature industry. It also exemplifies how ownership structure of the firm, particularly the emergence of new‐generation cooperatives, is employed as a strategic factor in developing a new competitive approach in an industry characterized by sales decline and aggressive competition from substitute products such as poultry and pork.