The strategic value of ergonomics for companies

The discipline of ergonomics studies the interaction between man and the designed technical and organizational environment. In product ergonomics, this knowledge is used to develop user-friendly products and in production ergonomics to design human-friendly (production) processes. Beside social goals, ergonomics can contribute to economic goals of an organization. With user-friendly products, a company can deliver benefits to its customers, which exceed those of competing products. With human-friendly production processes, a company can increase labor productivity and consequently can reach important cost-reductions. The growing consciousness of the importance of humans (customers and workers) for the success of organizations, implies that ergonomics can have a strategic value for the management of organizations. In this paper a model is presented how ergonomics can be integrated in the decision-making and design processes of organizations, and examples are given to show possible business benefits.Competitive advantage, labor productivity, human centered design, product development, process development

Pengaruh Manajemen Laba Terhadap Kinerja Operasi, Return Saham Pada Perusahaan Publik Di Bursa Efek Jakarta (Bej)

Metode pengumpulan data dengan dokumentasi kelompok, hasilnya diperoleh sampelsebanyak 31 Perusahaan. Metode analisis menggunakan independen t test. Independent-test digunakan sesudah data diuji normalitasya dengan uji kolmogorov smirnovdengan program SPSS 11.5.Hasil dari uji t indepeden menunjukkan bahwa tidak ada perbedaan kinerjaoperasi antara Perusahaan yang melakukan manajemen laba dengan Perusahaan yangmelakukan manajemen laba. Demikian juga dengan tingkat pengembalian saham, tidakada perbedaan antara Perusahaan yang melakukan manajemen laba denganperusahaan yang melakukan manajemen laba

An assessment system for rating scientific journals in the field of ergonomics and human factors

A method for selecting and rating scientific and professional journals representing the discipline of ergonomics and human factors is proposed. The method is based upon the journal list, impact factors and citations provided by the Institute of Scientific Information (ISI), and the journal list published in the Ergonomics Abstracts. Three groups of journals were distinguished. The "ergonomics journals" focus exclusively on ergonomics or human factors. The "related journals" focus on other disciplines than ergonomics or human factors, but regularly publish ergonomics/human factors papers. The "basic journals" focus on other technical, medical or social sciences than ergonomics, but are important for the development of ergonomics/human factors. Journal quality was rated using a maximum of four categories: top quality (A-level), high quality (B-level), good quality (C-level)) and professional (P-level). The above methods were applied to develop journal ratings for the year 2003. A total of 24 'ergonomics journals', 58 'related journals' and 142 'basic journals' were classified.impact factor;rating;scientific journals

Interactions faibles et propriétés : vers des matériaux moléculaires multifonctionnels

La nécessité croissante des besoins énergétiques conduit à un essor des recherches sur les nouveaux matériaux en particulier dans le cadre des matériaux multifonctionnels. En effet, la coexistence de plusieurs propriétés et leur contrôle au sein d’un même composé constitue un des challenges de la chimie actuelle. Les interactions non covalentes, dites liaisons faibles (liaisons de coordination, liaisons hydrogène, interactions π, interactions électrostatiques, interactions de Van der Waals, …) ont un rôle majeur lors de la synthèse des matériaux moléculaires pour pallier aux difficultés rencontrées pour faire coexister différentes propriétés au sein d’un même matériau. La conception de nouveaux systèmes fonctionnels repose donc sur plusieurs paramètres clés : i) la nature des ions métalliques spécifiques susceptibles d’apporter les propriétés physiques souhaitées, ii) le ligand qui possède un rôle crucial car il doit organiser les ions métalliques selon la topologie désirée et transmettre efficacement les interactions d’échange entre les centres métalliques de manière contrôlée. L’assemblage préférentiel de chaque brique moléculaire par l’intermédiaire des liaisons faibles peut conduire à des édifices de dimensionnalité supérieure multifonctionnels présentant une coexistence voire une synergie entre les propriétés. Ce phénomène d’auto-assemblage tient compte de plusieurs paramètres, tels que les complémentarités stériques et d’interactions, la complexation et la sélectivité, et peut se dérouler en présence ou non d’un agent template qui favorise la formation d’un composé particulier.  A travers cette communication par affiche, différents aspects seront abordés pour les matériaux paramagnétiques, bistables et pour la séparation moléculaire. Les stratégies de synthèse et caractérisations des composés moléculaires seront détaillées pour chacun de ces systèmes, alliant des propriétés magnétiques,1 optiques,2 électrochimiques3 et de détection d’analytes.

Ergonomics Contributions to Company Strategies

Managers usually associate ergonomics with occupational health and safety and related legislation, not with business performance. In many companies, these decision makers seem not to be positively motivated to apply ergonomics for reasons of improving health and safety. In order to strengthen the position of ergonomics and ergonomists in the business and management world, we discuss company strategies and business goals to which ergonomics could contribute. Conceptual models are presented and examples are given to illustrate: 1) the present situation in which ergonomics is not part of regular planning and control cycles in organizations to ensure business performance, and 2) the desired situation in which ergonomics is an integrated part of strategy formulation and implementation. In order to realize the desired situation, considerable changes must take place within the ergonomics research, education and practice community by moving from a health ergonomics paradigm to a business ergonomics paradigm, without losing the health and safety goals.corporate strategy;paradigm shift;system performance

Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA): Logic and Methodology of “Necessary but Not Sufficient” Causality

Theoretical “necessary but not sufficient” statements are common in the organizational sciences. Traditional data analyses approaches (e.g., correlation or multiple regression) are not appropriate for testing or inducing such statements. This article proposes necessary condition analysis (NCA) as a general and straightforward methodology for identifying necessary conditions in data sets. The article presents the logic and methodology of necessary but not sufficient contributions of organizational determinants (e.g., events, characteristics, resources, efforts) to a desired outcome (e.g., good performance). A necessary determinant must be present for achieving an outcome, but its presence is not sufficient to obtain that outcome. Without the necessary condition, there is guaranteed failure, which cannot be compensated by other determinants of the outcome. This logic and its related methodology are fundamentally different from the traditional sufficiency-based logic and methodology. Practical recommendations and free software are offered to support researcher

PENGARUH CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY TERHADAP STOCK RETURN (Studi Empiris Perusahaan yang Terdaftar di BEI Tahun 2008-2009)

This research is aimed to examine the influence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) of stock return (using CAR as a proxy) on the company’s environmentally sensitive category and does not follow the PROPER from 2008- 2009. Analysis of CSR in this research are based on environment and social parameters. It also uses PBV and DER as control variables. The samples which are use in this research are 68 annual report of companies listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange in the 2008-2009. Samples are obtained by using purposive sampling method. Hypothesis testing method used is multiple regression analysis. The result showed only partially CSR (social) variables, which has positive influence on stock return. While CSR variables (environment) variables did not affect the stock return. The result simultaneously with control variables indicate that the variables of CSR (environment) and CSR (social) positive effect on stock return

PENGARUH STRUKTUR KEPEMILIKAN, KEAKTIFAN KOMITE AUDIT, DAN KUALITAS AUDIT TERHADAP MANAJEMEN LABA (studi empiris pada perusahaan manufaktur yang terdaftar di BEI tahun 2010-2012)

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate empirically that ownership concentration, managerial ownership, Audit comitee effectiveness, and audit quality have negative significant effect on earning management The population used in this study are all manufacture companies listed on IDX in yhe period of 2010-2012. The sampling method used in this study was purposive sampling method. The analysis technique in this study uses multiple regression analysis with help from a program named SPSS From the analysis performed in this study, ownership concentration is the only variable that has significants negative effect on earnings management. Meanwhile, managerial ownership, audit comitee activeness, and audit quality have positive effect on earning management