A study of an integrated approach for strategy formulation and performance measurement in manufacturing enterprises.

Performance measurement quantifies the efficiency and effectiveness of action that helps organisations translate their strategies into results and fixes accountability to improve performance. This research identifies two problem statements: First, can integrating strategy formulation with measurement initiatives safeguard the performance goals in manufacturing enterprises? And second, how can manufacturing enterprises derive an integrated approach that meet their requirements and needs for strategy formulation (SF) and performance measurement (PM) system implementation? This work proposes an integrated paradigm that aligns the strategy-related performance measures to attain performance improvement in manufacturing enterprises. A two-stage empirical study was conducted, with 232 Hong Kong firms and 85 Shanghai firms participating in the study. The first stage surveys identified the common success factors, problem areas and strategy choices, and examined the relationship amongst corporate, marketing, technology and operational strengths and the `reactive/proactive' strategy choices. The subsequent personal interviews in Hong Kong complemented the survey findings by examining the impact of SF/PM efforts in manufacturing enterprises. There were two series of interviews. The first series acquired the managerial views on the decision criteria on the integration of strategy formulation and performance measures, with the aid of Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) methodology. The second interview series derived several design elements and process considerations for aligning strategy formulation with performance measures. The empirical study used in this research provided important inputs and served as a foundation for development of a SF/PM Integration (SPI) model. In an attempt to integrate strategy formulation and performance measurement, the SPI model adopts the guiding principles embodied with the Business Excellence Models and stresses the results-oriented assessments on five categories of SF/PM criteria, namely leadership and constancy of purpose, management by process, people development, continuous improvement, and results orientation. Unlike that of the MBNQA and EQA, the point values for criteria and sub-elements of SPI model were generated collectively from the perspectives of industry practitioners in the manufacturing sectors. These were determined using the normalised weights obtained from the AHP analysis of empirical interview findings. They are taken together to calculate the overall performance index for an organisation. The process framework comprises five stages starting from strategy formulation to implementation and evaluation of an integrated performance measurement system. It encapsulates the requirements, critical processes and activities of strategy formulation and performance measures into the way they are being managed in organisations. The SPI model helps manufacturing enterprises to build a self-assessment platform for amalgamating strategies, plans and actions which can enable performance improvement. It can supplement any Business Excellence Models, and serves three important purposes. Firstly, it is a working tool for integrating SF and PM initiatives and guiding the implementation of performance measurement system in manufacturing enterprises. Secondly, using the model can help improve the effectiveness of management practices in relation to performance measures and self-assessment; and thirdly, using the model can facilitate information sharing of best practices within an organisation and benchmark performance against competitors and other organisations. Results of a post-evaluation survey affirmed that the model and processes could encourage organisational learning and provide a practical means for manufacturing enterprises to devise effective self-assessment and performance improvement. The novel contributions of the research are to identify the key SF/PM attributes, develop the self-assessment scoring method and the process framework accompanying the SPI model. Manufacturing enterprises must evolve a holistic performance measurement system matching their corporate mission, objectives and strategies. The SPI model provides them with a systems approach for building and integrating the capabilities of SF and PM to attain performance improvement goals, irrespective of their business nature and sizes

Swift Observations of X-ray supernovae

We present a result of X-ray supernovae (SNe) survey using the Swift satellite public archive. An automatic searching program was designed to search X-ray SNe among all of the Swift archival observations between November 2004 and February 2011. Using the C++ program, 24 X-ray detectable supernovae have been found in the archive and 3 of them were newly-discovered in X-rays which are SN 1986L, SN 2003lx, and SN 2007od. In addition, SN 2003lx is a Type Ia supernova which may be the second X-ray detectable Type Ia after SN 2005ke (Immler et al. 2006). Calibrated data of luminous type Ib/c supernovae was consistent to the X-ray emission model done by Chevalier & Fransson (1994). Statistics about the luminosities and hardness ratio have been done to purpose of getting the X-ray emission features of the X-ray supernovae. The results from this work help investigating the X-ray evolution of SNe and developing similar X-ray SNe surveys in various X-rays missions

Do Actions Speak Louder than Motives? Evaluating the Effectiveness of Image-Fundraising

Charitable giving can boost an individual’s image, and organizations can capitalize on this by engaging in “image-fundraising.” Public announcements of donations give individuals the opportunity to demonstrate their generosity and are found to increase giving. This paper evaluates whether generosity inferred from charitable giving is discounted when donations are made in response to image-fundraising. I show in an experimental study that others reward larger donations, and that image-fundraising increases giving. However, others account for the conditions under which donations are made and reduce rewards for giving in an image-fundraising environment. While image-fundraising benefits charitable organizations, individuals are not recompensed for donating more in this setting

The Gift of Giving: Recognizing Donors and Revealing Donation Amounts

Publicly announcing how much individuals donate on behalf of themselves is a common fundraising strategy. For tribute gifts made on behalf of others, however, charities only reveal donor identities to the honoree with few revealing the size of their contributions. This paper examines the fundraising consequences of recognizing donors with and without information about donation amounts when notifying honorees of gifts made on their behalf. I find that revealing contribution amounts in addition to recognizing donors benefits fundraisers. I find that both the likelihood of giving on behalf of others and contribution amounts increase when honorees learn how much donors give. The results either suggest that fundraisers are leaving tribute donations on the table, or that announcing the size of these gifts may be repugnant and constrains what practices fundraisers can implement

Incidence of Removable Partial Denture Types in Eastern Wisconsin

Aim: This study was designed to investigate patterns of tooth loss in patients receiving removable partial dentures. Materials and Method: A point and shoot digital camera was used to collect 1502 digital images of cases at 5 dental laboratories in the eastern portion of the state of Wisconsin. Any case presenting to one the dental laboratories requesting a RPD was included. Two photographs were taken of each case. The first photograph was taken immediately upon arrival to the lab while the second photograph was taken immediately prior its first departure. A calibrated investigator analyzed all the photographs for Kennedy classification, type of RPD, major connectors, and other details Results: Kennedy class I was the most commonly constructed RPDs at a frequency of 41%. In the maxilla, class III RPDs were the most frequently fabricated while class I remained the most common RPD in the mandible. 73% of the RPDs used metal frameworks, while the remaining 27% of RPDs used acrylic or flexible frameworks. The horseshoe major connector was the most common maxillary major connector while in the mandible it was the lingual plate. Conclusions: Kennedy class I RPDs are still the most common mandibular RPD. However, the class III RPD is the most common maxillary RPD. 27% of all RPDs in this region utilized simple non-metallic frameworks which rarely met established design criteria. These numbers indicate a varying quality level of prosthodontic procedures provided in this region

Possible TeV Source Candidates In The Unidentified EGRET Sources

We study the $\gamma$-ray emission from the pulsar magnetosphere based on outer gap models, and the TeV radiation from pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) through inverse Compton scattering using a one-zone model. We showed previously that GeV radiation from the magnetosphere of mature pulsars with ages of $\sim 10^5-10^6$ years old can contribute to the high latitude unidentified EGRET sources. We carry out Monte Carlo simulations of $\gamma$-ray pulsars in the Galaxy and the Gould Belt, assuming the pulsar birth rate, initial position, proper motion velocity, period, and magnetic field distribution and evolution based on observational statistics. We select from the simulation a sample of mature pulsars in the Galactic plane ($|b|\leq 5^\circ$) and in the high latitude ($|b|> 5^\circ$) which could be detected by EGRET. The TeV flux from the pulsar wind nebulae of our simulated sample through the inverse Compton scattering by relativistic electrons on the microwave cosmic background and synchrotron seed photons are calculated. The predicted fluxes are consistent with the present observational constraints. We suggest that strong EGRET sources can be potential TeV source candidates for present and future ground-based TeV telescopes.Comment: Minor changes, MNRAS in pres

The Discovery of an X-ray/UV Stellar Flare from the Late-K/Early-M Dwarf LMC 335

We report the discovery of an X-ray/UV stellar flare from the source LMC 335, captured by XMM-Newton in the field of the Large Magellanic Cloud. The flare event was recorded continuously in X-ray for its first 10 hours from the precursor to the late decay phases. The observed fluxes increased by more than two orders of magnitude at its peak in X-ray and at least one in the UV as compared to quiescence. The peak 0.1-7.0 keV X-ray flux is derived from the two-temperature APEC model to be ~(8.4 +/- 0.6) x 10^-12 erg cm-2 s-1. Combining astrometric information from multiple X-ray observations in the quiescent and flare states, we identify the NIR counterpart of LMC 335 as the 2MASS source J05414534-6921512. The NIR color relations and spectroscopic parallax characterize the source as a Galactic K7-M4 dwarf at a foreground distance of (100 - 264) pc, implying a total energy output of the entire event of ~(0.4 - 2.9) x 10^35 erg. This report comprises detailed analyses of this late-K / early-M dwarf flare event that has the longest time coverage yet reported in the literature. The flare decay can be modeled with two exponential components with timescales of ~28 min and ~4 hours, with a single component decay firmly ruled out. The X-ray spectra during flare can be described by two components, a dominant high temperature component of ~40-60MK and a low temperature component of ~10MK, with a flare loop length of about 1.1-1.3 stellar radius.Comment: 35 pages, 6 figures, 5 tables, accepted for publication in Ap

Challenging Digital Capitalism: SACOM’s Campaigns against Apple and Foxconn as Monopoly Capital

“Utopia or dystopia—to where will the ‘digital revolution’ lead human society?” is a question that remains unanswered. Negotiating between two opposing standpoints, this article, looking at a form of trans-border activism originally driven by suicides and protests of Foxconn workers who produce iPhones, iPads and many other i-gadgets for the world’s consumers, is an attempt to explore a politics of online/offline resistance against anti-digital capitalism. Based in Hong Kong (HK), SACOM is a leftist student group which works to support Chinese workers in campaigning against corporate power and generating trans-border networks through media exposure, international activism, and localized organization. Combining online and offline activism, SACOM strives to extend the reach of their worker-consumer campaign to the worldwide audience by transgressing the Chinese state’s dominance of capital and political control. The most intriguing question to us is could this proactive activism be possible and, if so, how could it act at the grid of China’s transformation and incorporation into global capitalism