Shuttle Ground Operations Efficiencies/Technologies (SGOE/T) study. Volume 2: Ground Operations evaluation

The Ground Operations Evaluation describes the breath and depth of the various study elements selected as a result of an operational analysis conducted during the early part of the study. Analysis techniques used for the evaluation are described in detail. Elements selected for further evaluation are identified; the results of the analysis documented; and a follow-on course of action recommended. The background and rationale for developing recommendations for the current Shuttle or for future programs is presented

The development and application of text-focused methods for evaluating accounting narratives, with a view to investigating impression management

This study responds to a call in the literature for methodological and empirical studies to advance research into accounting narratives. The primary contribution is methodological, drawing on the literature of applied linguistics and that of managerial business communications, in developing for accounting applications three text-focused methods for evaluating accounting narratives. This expansion in the portfolio of approaches available to the accounting researcher offers the potential for a richer empirical analysis, demonstrated in this study through an illustrative empirical application. The methods are developed in light of acknowledged areas of weakness and gaps in the accounting literature and with a view to investigating impression management. A general line of critique in the accounting literature points to a lack of emphasis on the syntactic dimension, with a particular focus on the weaknesses of readability formulas as the dominant method of syntactic analysis. The particular orientation towards the investigation of impression management recognises the increasing importance in the literature of issues associated with impression management in accounting narratives. The aptitude of the methods developed for investigating impression management is demonstrated through an illustrative empirical application in tests of differentiation between `good performers' and `poor performers'. A texture index and a transitivity index go some way towards redressing the general lack of emphasis on the syntactic dimension, exhibited in the existing portfolio of approaches. The texture index is developed as an alternative to readability formulas, is response to the particular focus of critique. The texture index analyses text across a number of dimensions or indexicals and embodies a number of features, which render it attractive to accounting researchers. The transitivity index measures the number of passive constructions in a text, a textual dimension associated with causation and attribution, with a particular relevance to the investigation of impression management. The third approach outlined in this study is DICTION analysis, a computerised content analysis program, which examines a text for its verbal tone, measured across five variables: `certainty', `optimism', `activity', `realism' and `commonality'. This approach is selected principally because of its relevance and applicability to the investigation of impression management. The texture index is drawn from the applied linguistics literature. It has not previously been used in an accounting related application. The transitivity index and DICTION analysis are developed from the managerial business communications literature where both approaches have been applied, albeit to a limited extent, in accounting applications. Both of these approaches have a sound theoretical basis in linguistics. In developing these approaches from the managerial business communications literature, there are two main areas of contribution. First, the methods developed here have hitherto only been exploited to a limited extent in accounting applications. This study advocates the development of the methods in accounting related applications towards their full potential. Second, the methods are developed and adapted as appropriate with the expressed intention of investigating impression management in accounting narratives. In addition to the methodological contribution, the study also yields an empirical contribution through the empirical application. The study finds mixed results in relation to an investigation of differential reporting patterns in the Chairman's statement and `OFR type' Manager's report of `good performing' and `poor performing' investment trust companies. Extending the analysis beyond the traditional focus on the Chairman's statement to include the Manager's report, recognises the increasing importance of such `OFR type' documents and the relative lack of attention they have received hitherto from accounting researchers. The results are reported in light of a detailed synthesis of the empirical impression management literature that is included in this study. As far as the author is aware, this is the first detailed review of this nature in the literature. The study also finds mixed results in relation to differentiation between the Chairman's statement and Manager's report. Finally, the study fosters an ethos of interdisciplinarity between research communities in accounting and the communities of applied linguistics and managerial business communications. Such interdisciplinarity offers the accounting researcher insights and usable methods of analysis, developed in disciplines whose specialism is the evaluation of narrative

From the Preamble to the Foxhole

Defense policy formulation has evolved significantly since 1940, yet these processes have a constitutional foundation. This study described the process that the U.S. government uses to meet its security challenges. This study examined the interdependent relationships between the Joint Strategic Planning System (JSPS) and the Army Force Management System (AFMS); it analyzed the process the Army uses to determine the forces and equipment needed to meet the civilian leadership's guidance for national security. It explored this process "From the Preamble to the Foxhole". This study chronicled how Lieutenant General Richard G. Trefry (retired) was instrumental in the development of a systematic approach to managing change across the Army in the 1980s. The histories of many independent projects are portrayed in this study which comprised this effort. Chief among these were the development of: the Army Force Management System (AFMS), the U.S. Army Force Management School (USAFMS), the Mother of All Charts (MOAC), and the role of the Inspector General of the Army. This study demonstrated how civil-military relations are critical to defense policy determination. Lastly, it provided some future policy considerations that demonstrate the interrelationships between force management and national security policy development

Monitor Newsletter December 16, 1991

Official Publication of Bowling Green State University for Faculty and Staffhttps://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/monitor/1209/thumbnail.jp

FIRST Robotics Management Study

This report describes a study in which the correlations between the makeup of a FIRST Robotics Competition team and their team’s performance are explored. Each team’s performance has been ranked and then compared to their responses to a survey. Data analysis has been performed on each of these comparisons in order to assess any correlations that may exist. The strongest correlations found by this study can help teams understand which areas correlate best with the performance they want to achieve

The supply of new reporting – plethora or pertinent

This paper studies the extent to which present annual reporting practices fulfill the themes of comprehensive business reporting put forth by the Jenkin’s Report and a series of authoritative reports that have emerged in its wake, and thereby examines which types of information suppliers find relevant. In this paper, a content analysis of the annual reports of all the listed companies in the Danish biotech, pharmaceutical and medicotech industry from the fiscal year 2002/03 is conducted. The sample thus includes 13 companies. The empirical analysis uncovers the characteristics of the information that companies voluntarily supply to the capital market in their annual reports. The findings support the cost of disclosure theory, as a strong correlation between disclosure and market capitalization is found. Especially disclosures of corporate governance metrics and social and sustainability disclosures were significantly correlated with firm size. The overall findings indicate an overweight of context-building and branding-related information in the annual reports, suggesting that annual reporting plays a central role in legitimizing the company’s existence and that their content is driven by appropriate corporate action. The analysis confirms that there is a lack of disclosure of forward-oriented types of information which are comparable over time like e.g. value drivers, critical success factors as well as non-financial information. Finally, awareness towards and disclosure of information concerning the effects of voluntary disclosure were found to be non-existent.No keywords;

Earth Observing System (EOS)/Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit A (AMSU-A) configuration management plan

This plan describes methods and procedures Aerojet will follow in the implementation of configuration control for each established baseline. The plan is written in response to the GSFC EOS CM Plan 420-02-02, dated January 1990, and also meets he requirements specified in DOD-STD-480, DOD-D 1000B, MIL-STD-483A, and MIL-STD-490B. The plan establishes the configuration management process to be used for the deliverable hardware, software, and firmware of the EOS/AMSU-A during development, design, fabrication, test, and delivery. This revision includes minor updates to reflect Aerojet's CM policies

PICES Press, Vol. 10, No. 1, January 2002

Cover [pdf, 0.2 Mb] The state of PICES Science - 2001 [pp. 1-2] [pdf, 0.2 Mb] Reception remarks at PICES X [pp. 3-4] [pdf, 0.3 Mb] The state of the western North Pacific in the first half of 2001 [pp. 5-7] [pdf, 0.8 Mb] The status of the Bering Sea: January - August 2001 [pp. 8-9] [pdf, 0.4 Mb] The state of the eastern Norht Pacific since spring 2001[pp. 10-11] [pdf, 0.3 Mb] 2001 SEEDS experiment in the western Norht Pacific [pp. 12-13] [pdf, 0.5 Mb] Plans for the Canadian SOLAS Iron Enrichment Experiment [pp. 14-15] [pdf,. 0.4 Mb] Photo highlights of the PICES Tenth Annual Meeting [pp. 16-17] [pdf,. 0.3 Mb] NEAR-GOOS 2001 Ocean Environment Forecasting Workshop [pp. 18-19] [pdf, 0.6 Mb] IRI/IPRC Pacific Climate-Fisheries Workshop [pp. 20-21] [pdf, 0.2 Mb] PICES North Pacific Ecosystem Status Report [p. 21] [pdf,. 0.2 Mb] U.S. GLOBEC Northeast Pacific Ocean Program [pp. 22-26] [pdf, 0.5 Mb] New PICES Committee and Program Chairmen biographies [pp. 27-29] [pdf,. 0.4 Mb] Upcoming PICES publications and meetings [p. 30] [pdf,. 0.2 Mb] North Pacific Transitional Areas Symposium [p. 31] [pdf, 0.5 Mb] Gijon Symposium and other PICES announcements [p. 32] [pdf, 0.4 Mb