437 research outputs found
Product Differentiation Costs and Global Competition
The growing competitive intensity on the markets determines the emergence of
competition costs that are expressed at a corporate level and have implicit
repercussions for the supply system. This type of costs makes it possible to identify
a close link between competition costs and supply differentiation costs.
Classification by competitive intensity presupposes that the analysis performed
identifies the classification of company costs as the discriminating element, in
terms of the competitive pressure of the context in which the firm operates.
The emergence of competition costs is linked to an attempt to squeeze them as an
aspect of vertical, or more specifically, horizontal cooperation strategies.Product Differentiation; Differentiation Costs; Over-Supply; Global Competition; Marketing; Market-Driven Management; Global Corporations; Global Markets DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.4468/2005.1.06garbelli
Screened Coulomb interactions in metallic alloys: I. Universal screening in the atomic sphere approximation
We have used the locally self-consistent Green's function (LSGF) method in
supercell calculations to establish the distribution of the net charges
assigned to the atomic spheres of the alloy components in metallic alloys with
different compositions and degrees of order. This allows us to determine the
Madelung potential energy of a random alloy in the single-site mean field
approximation which makes the conventional single-site density-functional-
theory coherent potential approximation (SS-DFT-CPA) method practically
identical to the supercell LSGF method with a single-site local interaction
zone that yields an exact solution of the DFT problem. We demonstrate that the
basic mechanism which governs the charge distribution is the screening of the
net charges of the alloy components that makes the direct Coulomb interactions
short-ranged. In the atomic sphere approximation, this screening appears to be
almost independent of the alloy composition, lattice spacing, and crystal
structure. A formalism which allows a consistent treatment of the screened
Coulomb interactions within the single-site mean-filed approximation is
outlined. We also derive the contribution of the screened Coulomb interactions
to the S2 formalism and the generalized perturbation method.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figure
Teams between Neo-Taylorism and Anti-Taylorism
The concept of teamworking is the product of two distinct
developments. One: a neo-
Tayloristic form of organization of work, of which Toyota has shown
that it can be very profitable, was
packaged and reframed to make it acceptable to the Western public.
Two: anti-Tayloristic ways of
organizing work, inspired by ideals of organizational democracy,
were relabeled to make these
acceptable to profit-oriented managers.
Drawing on empirical research in Scandinavia, Germany, The
Netherlands and the UK, as
well as on published case studies of Japanese companies, the paper
develops a neo-Tayloristic and an
anti-Tayloristic model of teamworking.
Key concerns in the teamworking literature are intensification of
work and the use of shop
floor autonomy as a cosmetic or manipulative device. Indeed, all the
features of neo-Tayloristic
teamworking are geared towards the intensification of work. However,
one of the intensification
mechanisms, the removal of Tayloristic rigidities in the division of
labor, applies to anti-Tayloristic
teamworking as well. This poses a dilemma for employee
representatives. In terms of autonomy, on the
other hand, the difference between neo-Tayloristic and
anti-Tayloristic teamworking is real.
In anti-Tayloristic teamworking, there is no supervisor inside the
team. The function of
spokesperson rotates. All team members can participate in
decision-making. Standardization is not
relentlessly pursued; management accepts some measure of worker
control. There is a tendency to
alleviate technical discipline, e.g. to find alternatives for the
assembly line. Buffers are used.
Remuneration is based on proven skill level; there are no group
bonuses.
In contrast, in neo-Tayloristic teamworking, a permanent supervisor
is present in the team as
team leader. At most, only the team leader can participate in
decision-making. Standardization is
relentlessly pursued. Management prerogatives are nearly unlimited.
Job designers treat technical
discipline, e.g. short-cycled work on the assembly line, as
unproblematic. There are no buffers. A
substantial part of wages consists of individual bonuses based on
assessments by supervisors on how
deeply workers cooperate in the system. Group bonuses are also
given.
The instability and vulnerability of anti-Tayloristic teamworking
imply that it can only
develop and flourish when managers and employee representatives put
determined effort into it. The
opportunity structure for this contains both economic and political
elements. In mass production, the
economic success of Toyota, through skillful mediation by management
gurus, makes the opportunity
structure for anti-Tayloristic teamworking relatively unfavorable
Observation of exclusive DVCS in polarized electron beam asymmetry measurements
We report the first results of the beam spin asymmetry measured in the
reaction e + p -> e + p + gamma at a beam energy of 4.25 GeV. A large asymmetry
with a sin(phi) modulation is observed, as predicted for the interference term
of Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering and the Bethe-Heitler process. The
amplitude of this modulation is alpha = 0.202 +/- 0.028. In leading-order and
leading-twist pQCD, the alpha is directly proportional to the imaginary part of
the DVCS amplitude.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
A Kinematically Complete Measurement of the Proton Structure Function F2 in the Resonance Region and Evaluation of Its Moments
We measured the inclusive electron-proton cross section in the nucleon
resonance region (W < 2.5 GeV) at momentum transfers Q**2 below 4.5 (GeV/c)**2
with the CLAS detector. The large acceptance of CLAS allowed for the first time
the measurement of the cross section in a large, contiguous two-dimensional
range of Q**2 and x, making it possible to perform an integration of the data
at fixed Q**2 over the whole significant x-interval. From these data we
extracted the structure function F2 and, by including other world data, we
studied the Q**2 evolution of its moments, Mn(Q**2), in order to estimate
higher twist contributions. The small statistical and systematic uncertainties
of the CLAS data allow a precise extraction of the higher twists and demand
significant improvements in theoretical predictions for a meaningful comparison
with new experimental results.Comment: revtex4 18 pp., 12 figure
eta-prime photoproduction on the proton for photon energies from 1.527 to 2.227 GeV
Differential cross sections for the reaction gamma p -> eta-prime p have been
measured with the CLAS spectrometer and a tagged photon beam with energies from
1.527 to 2.227 GeV. The results reported here possess much greater accuracy
than previous measurements. Analyses of these data indicate for the first time
the coupling of the etaprime N channel to both the S_11(1535) and P_11(1710)
resonances, known to couple strongly to the eta N channel in photoproduction on
the proton, and the importance of j=3/2 resonances in the process.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
Complete measurement of three-body photodisintegration of 3He for photon energies between 0.35 and 1.55 GeV
The three-body photodisintegration of 3He has been measured with the CLAS
detector at Jefferson Lab, using tagged photons of energies between 0.35 GeV
and 1.55 GeV. The large acceptance of the spectrometer allowed us for the first
time to cover a wide momentum and angular range for the two outgoing protons.
Three kinematic regions dominated by either two- or three-body contributions
have been distinguished and analyzed. The measured cross sections have been
compared with results of a theoretical model, which, in certain kinematic
ranges, have been found to be in reasonable agreement with the data.Comment: 22 pages, 25 eps figures, 2 tables, submitted to PRC. Modifications:
removed 2 figures, improvements on others, a few minor modifications to the
tex
Measurement of the Deuteron Structure Function F2 in the Resonance Region and Evaluation of Its Moments
Inclusive electron scattering off the deuteron has been measured to extract
the deuteron structure function F2 with the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer
(CLAS) at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. The measurement
covers the entire resonance region from the quasi-elastic peak up to the
invariant mass of the final-state hadronic system W~2.7 GeV with four-momentum
transfers Q2 from 0.4 to 6 (GeV/c)^2. These data are complementary to previous
measurements of the proton structure function F2 and cover a similar
two-dimensional region of Q2 and Bjorken variable x. Determination of the
deuteron F2 over a large x interval including the quasi-elastic peak as a
function of Q2, together with the other world data, permit a direct evaluation
of the structure function moments for the first time. By fitting the Q2
evolution of these moments with an OPE-based twist expansion we have obtained a
separation of the leading twist and higher twist terms. The observed Q2
behaviour of the higher twist contribution suggests a partial cancellation of
different higher twists entering into the expansion with opposite signs. This
cancellation, found also in the proton moments, is a manifestation of the
"duality" phenomenon in the F2 structure function
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High Involvement Management, High Performance Work Systems and Well-being
Studies on the impact of high-performance work systems on employees' well-being are emerging but the underlying theory remains weak. This paper attempts to develop theory of the effects on well-being of four dimensions of high-performance work systems: enriched jobs, high involvement management, employee voice, and motivational supports. Hypothesized associations are tested using multilevel models and data from Britain's Workplace Employment Relations Survey of 2004 (WERS2004). Results show that enriched jobs are positively associated with both measures of well-being: job satisfaction and anxietyâcontentment. Voice is positively associated with job satisfaction, and motivational supports with neither measure. The results for high involvement management are not as predicted because it increases anxiety and is independent of job satisfaction
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