Investigating the Structure and Meaning of Public Service Motivation across Populations: Developing an International Instrument and Addressing Issues of Measurement Invariance

The growth in international research on public service motivation (PSM) raises a number of important questions about the degree to which the theory and research developed in one country can contribute to our understanding of PSM in other counties. To help address this issue, this study revisits the conceptual and operational definitions of PSM to address weaknesses previously noted in the literature. Although some important steps have been taken to both improve and internationalize the PSM scale, this work has been done incrementally. In contrast, this study takes a more systematic and comprehensive approach by combining the efforts of international PSM scholars to develop and then test a revised measurement instrument for PSM in 12 countries. Although the resulting four dimensional 16-item measure of PSM reported here provides a better theoretical and empirical foundation for the measurement of PSM, our results suggest that the exact meaning and scaling of PSM dimensions are likely to differ across cultures and languages. These results raise serious concerns regarding the ability to develop a single universal scale of PSM, or making direct comparisons of PSM across countrie

Unbalanced Magnetic Pull Effect on Stiffness Models of Active Magnetic Bearing due to Rotor Eccentricity in Brushless DC Motor Using Finite Element Method

We firstly report on an investigation into the unbalanced magnetic pull (UMP) effect on the static stiffness models of radial active magnetic bearing (RAMB) in brushless DC motor (BDCM) in no-loaded and loaded conditions using the finite element method (FEM). The influences of the UMP on the force-control current, force-position, current stiffness, and position stiffness of RAMB are clarified in BDCM with 100 kW rated power. We found the position stiffness to be more susceptible to UMP. The primary source of UMP is the permanent magnets of BDCM. In addition, the performance of RAMB is affected by the UMP ripples during motor commutation and also periodically affected by the angular position of rotor. The characteristic curves of RAMB force versus control current (or rotor position) and angular position of rotor affected by the UMP are given. The method is useful in design and optimization of RAMB in magnetically suspended BDCMs

Public service motivation and job satisfaction in China: An investigation of generalisability and instrumentality

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to investigate how generalisable the public service motivation (PSM) observed in Western society is to China and to examine the effects of public service motivation on job satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach – Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis techniques are applied to survey data of 191 public servants in China to investigate the generalisability of Western PSM. Using hierarchical regression analysis, the paper examines the effects of the dimensions of PSM on job satisfaction. Findings – The results show that the public service motivation observed in the West exists in China, but the generalisability of the construct is limited. Three of the four dimensions of public service motivation (attraction to public policy making, commitment to the public interest, and self-sacrifice) exist in China, but the fourth dimension (compassion) is unconfirmed. Originality/value – The paper is the first to examine the generalisability and instrumentality of PSM as observed in Western society to China. The results indicate that the public service motivation observed in the West also exists in China, but that the generalisability is limited. Public service motivation emerges from the results as a positively significant predictor of job satisfaction in the public sector of China. It enhances the applicability and meaningfulness of the concept of public service motivation across political and cultural environments.China, Job satisfaction

Transferring technology across borders: institutional effects in Chinese context

Technology transfer across border, Country institutional profile, Effectiveness of technology transfer, A12, A21, D02, E12, F23, M13, O12, O14, O33, R11, Z13,

Cloud-Based Fault Tolerant Control for a DC Motor System

The fault tolerant control problem for a DC motor system is investigated in a cloud environment. Packet dropout phenomenon introduced by the limited-capacity communication channel is considered. Actuator faults are taken into consideration and fault diagnosis and fault tolerant control methods towards actuator faults are proposed to enhance the reliability of the whole cloud-based DC motor system. The fault diagnosis unit is then established with purpose of obtaining fault information. When the actuator fault is detected by comparing the residual signal with a predefined threshold, a residual matching approach is utilized to locate the fault. The fault can be further estimated by a least-squares filter. Based on the fault estimation, a fault tolerant controller is designed to guarantee the stability as well as the control performance of the DC motor system. Simulation result on a DC motor system shows the efficiency of the fault tolerant control method proposed in this paper

Cloud-Based Fault Tolerant Control for a DC Motor System

The fault tolerant control problem for a DC motor system is investigated in a cloud environment. Packet dropout phenomenon introduced by the limited-capacity communication channel is considered. Actuator faults are taken into consideration and fault diagnosis and fault tolerant control methods towards actuator faults are proposed to enhance the reliability of the whole cloud-based DC motor system. The fault diagnosis unit is then established with purpose of obtaining fault information. When the actuator fault is detected by comparing the residual signal with a predefined threshold, a residual matching approach is utilized to locate the fault. The fault can be further estimated by a least-squares filter. Based on the fault estimation, a fault tolerant controller is designed to guarantee the stability as well as the control performance of the DC motor system. Simulation result on a DC motor system shows the efficiency of the fault tolerant control method proposed in this paper

A New Residual Life Prediction Method for Complex Systems Based on Wiener Process and Evidential Reasoning

A new residual life prediction method for complex systems based on Wiener process and evidential reasoning is proposed to predict the residual life of complex systems effectively. Moreover, the better maintenance strategies and decision supports are provided. For the residual life prediction of complex systems, the maximum likelihood method is adopted to estimate the drift coefficient, and the Bayesian method is adopted to update the parameters of Wiener process. The process of parameters estimation and the probability density function (PDF) of the residual life are deduced. To improve the accuracy of the residual life prediction results, the evidential reasoning (ER) is used to integrate the prediction results of Wiener process. Finally, a case study of gyroscope is examined to illustrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method, compared with fuzzy theory, which provides an important reference for the optimization of the reliability of complex systems and improvement