EFFECTIVE DECISION-MAKING AND ORGANIZATIONAL GOAL ACHIEVEMENT IN A DEPRESSED ECONOMY

Effective decision-making occupies key position in the life of an organization be it a public establishment or a private corporate entity. On daily basis, executives and leaders make multiplicity of decisions involving the exchange of information, data review, generation of new ideas, evaluation of alternative courses of action and implementation of policies. This article examines how effective decision-making impacts organizational goal achievement especially in a depressed economy. Descriptive research method was adopted in the article. Instrument used to gather data was questionnaire designed on 5-point scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Tables and percentages were used to analyze the data generated from the questionnaires. Chi-square inferential statistical tool was used to test the hypothesis of the study stated in null terms as follows: “cutting-edge knowledge of information technology and relevant data availability are not essential ingredients of effective decision-making for the achievement of organizational goals” The result of the chi-square test showed that chi-square calculated value (X2 cal 36.5) exceeded the table value of the chi-square (X2 tab 9.49). The result led to the rejection of the null hypothesis (Ho) and the acceptance of the Alternative hypothesis (Hi) thereby lending credence to the fact that effective decision-making with cutting-edge knowledge of modern information technology and relevant data availability lead to the achievement of desired organizational goals. This article is of the view that the chief executive and top management of an enterprise must seek broad spectrum of input from both inside and outside sources to make good decisions that would move the organization forward. Information from customers, suppliers and employees are instrumental to successful decision-makin

Consumers Valuations and Choice Processes of Food Safety Enhancement Attributes: An International Study of Beef Consumers

Food safety concerns have had dramatic impacts on food and livestock markets in recent years. Here we examine consumer preferences for various beef food safety assurances. In particular, we evaluate the extent to which such preferences are heterogeneous within and across country-of-residence defined groups and examine the distributional nature of these preferences with respect to marginal improvements in food safety. We collected data from over 4,000 U.S., Canada, Japan, and Mexican consumers. Using mixed logit models we find that Japanese and Mexican consumers have WTP preferences that are nonlinear in the level of food safety risk reduction. Conversely, U.S .and Canadian consumers appear to possess linear preferences. These results suggest that optimal food safety investment strategies hinge critically upon consumer perception of actual food safety improvements, the distributional relationship describing the targeted consumer segment's tradeoff function between WTP premiums and risk reduction levels, and the cost structure of these investments.consumer beef preference, food safety, investment decision, mixed logit, willingness-to-pay, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

The Role of Consumer Risk Perceptions and Attitudes in Cross Cultural Beef Consumption Changes

Beef food safety events have contributed to considerable market volatility, produced varied consumer reactions, created policy debates, sparked heated trade disputes, and generally contributed to beef industry frustrations. Better understanding of the forces causing observed consumer reactions in light of beef food safety events is critical for policy makers and industry participants. We examine whether consumers altered their beef consumption behavior because of their risk aversion and risk perceptions stemming from information about beef food safety in recent years. We use data from a total of 4,000 consumers in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Japan to estimate a two-stage Probit/double-bounded Tobit modeling framework. Results reveal there are stark differences in risk perceptions and risk aversion regarding beef food safety across consumers in the four countries and that these differences are revealed through different beef consumption behavior. An improved understanding of food safety perceptions and attitudes will enable policy makers and agricultural industries to better anticipate consumers changing consumption behavior, if a food safety event occurs. Consumers from the four countries examined exhibited heterogeneous food safety perceptions and attitudes. Results suggest that food safety management strategies should vary across countries because of identified differences in food safety risk attitudes and risk perceptions.Cross-culture, risk attitude, risk perception, food safety, beef, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Livestock Production/Industries,

Comparison of subjective grading of lid wiper epitheliopathy with a semi-objective method

Purpose: To validate a semi-objective method of grading lid wiper epitheliopathy (LWE) compared to subjective assessment. Methods: Twenty upper and 20 lower eyelid margins of patients with LWE were photographed after instillation of fluorescein and lissamine green. The images were graded by two observers using a 0-3 grading scale for height (%) and width (mm) of the lid staining. The images were also processed using custom designed software in MATLAB. After manual delineation of the staining area, width and perpendicular height were automatically measured throughout the selected area. The height as a proportion of the lid margin width and width measures were then categorized into the same bins as in the grading scale. Results: Repeatability of the image analysis system showed a mean difference (95% limits of agreement) between repeats of -0.01mm (0.03 and -0.05mm) for LWE height, 0.04mm (1.16 and -1.08mm) for LWE width, and -0.11mm2 (0.32 and -0.53mm2) for LWE area. The mean difference (95% limits of agreement) between image analysis and human grading for LWE height was -0.84 grades (0.54 and -2.21 grades), for LWE width was 0.31 grades (1.22 and -0.59 grades), and for the final grade (mean height and width) was -0.26 (0.44 and -0.96 grades) (all p <0.001). Conclusion: Human observers tend to overestimate the height and underestimate the width of LWE staining. Lid wiper region is not well defined, thus, it might be a difficult process for human observers to judge the stained region as a proportion of the lid wiper total region

Climate change and cattle farming

Issues raised by cattle farming in relation to climate change extend beyond discussion of greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. There are profound consequences for water availability, soil degradation, biodiversity and local ecology, as well as in terms of conflict for energy supplies. Although climate change impacts on cattle farming (through effects on water availability, heat stress and flooding, for example), this article focuses on how cattle farming impacts on climate change. It explores the issues in terms of the impact of cattle farming on the environment, and how to measure and reduce climate change impacts at farm level. Managing the complex and conflicting balance of factors required for sustainable food production offers an important role for the veterinary surgeon

Developing regional capacity in operations research and economic evaluation in South Asia

This project contributed significantly to the capacity-building of regional professionals in planning, implementing, and monitoring of reproductive health programs in South Asia. During 2001–05, professionals from 17 countries received training in various aspects of reproductive health in nine workshops, including operations research, economic evaluation, qualitative research methods, proposal writing, and process documentation and enhancing the utilization of research findings in reproductive health programs. Forty-three percent of workshop participants were program managers from government health programs and nongovernmental organizations. Success in leveraging resources from other collaborating agencies and other donors helped the project to organize more workshops than originally planned and train more professionals than expected. A survey of the workshop participants four to 38 months after training revealed that 70 percent of respondents were using their newly acquired skills in programmatic improvement, program development, and conducting operations research

Degermed corn distiller’s grains with solubles (DGS) have feed value similar to traditional distiller’s grains

Rapid expansion of the fuel ethanol industry has greatly increased availability of distillery byproducts. Distiller\u27s grains with solubles (DGS) are the predominant byproduct of fermenting grains into fuel ethanol. During this process, starch is removed from the grain and the residual components of the grain are concentrated in the DGS. Improvements in the conversion of cereal grains to ethanol have been fueled by recent changes in the production process. Broin Companies (Sioux Falls, SD) have developed a technology that removes the germ before the fermentation process. The resulting byproduct contains more protein, less crude fat, and less phosphorus compared to traditional distiller\u27s grains. Feeding even modest levels of DGS can contribute to greater phosphorus excretion from feedlots, suggesting that strategies aimed at reducing phosphorus levels are well warranted. The objective of this study was to compare diets based on steam-flaked corn with and without DGS and to compare a highprotein, low-fat, low-phosphorus byproduct to more traditional distiller\u27s grains

Linkage analysis in a large kindred with autosomal dominant transmission of polyglandular autoimmune disease type II (Schmidt syndrome)

Schmidt syndrome (PGA syndrome type II) is a rare condition characterized by polyglandular failure. It is an autosomal dominant trait with variable expressivity that was inherited over four generations in an Indiana kindred. Association of HLA-B8 has been reported with Schmidt syndrome. Our proband is a 12-year-old boy with Addison disease, insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), and vitiligo. Two of his eight sibs had either IDDM (sister) or vitiligo and hyperthyroidism (brother). His mother had hypothyroidism. Seven members of earlier generations apparently were also affected. We obtained peripheral blood for HLA and genetic analysis from 21 relatives in a family with 8 Schmidt syndrome individuals in three generations. HLA studies on 15 affected and unaffected relatives showed only 2 of 7 persons with B8-containing haplotypes. Therefore, no association exists between the B8-containing haplotype and the syndrome. We identified informative marker loci. No evidence for linkage of the Schmidt locus to any of the 14 markers was found and close linkage to esterase D and adenylate kinase and possibly properdin factor B was excluded

Operations Research for Managers of Reproductive Health Programs

The course presented in this publication defines operations research (OR) as the study of factors under the control of health program managers and other decision-makers. The purpose of OR is to improve programs and provide information for management decision-making. Successful OR is characterized by a close collaboration between program managers and researchers throughout the study. The course focuses on OR as a branch of the behavioral sciences and deals with formative research and field experiments. It concentrates on improving the research knowledge of managers who have had little or no training in research. The focus of this interactive course is on improving the quality of the manager-researcher interaction and, hopefully, an increase in the use of OR as a program improvement tool. It is essential that facilitators have a background in applied health research, especially in field experiments and intervention programs. The course, which is based on the experience of many researchers, especially those who have participated in the FRONTIERS program, has been conducted in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, former Soviet Bloc countries, and the United states