The interface of buffer design and cyclic scheduling decisions in deterministic flow lines

In this paper, we address some issues on the interface of buffer design and cyclic scheduling decisions in a multi-product deterministic flow line. We demonstrate the importance of the above interface for the throughput performance of the flow line. In particular, we point out that the use of sequence-independent information, such as workload distribution and variability in processing times among stations, is not adequate to decide the optimal buffer configuration of the flow line. We formulate the buffer design problem for a fixed sequence of jobs as a general resource allocation problem, and suggest two effective heuristics for its solution. For the simultaneous buffer design and cyclic scheduling problem, we suggest an iterative scheme that builds on the effectiveness of the above heuristics. One of the side results of our extensive computational studies on this problem is that the general guidelines of buffer design in single-product flow lines with stochastic processing times are not directly transferable to the multiproduct deterministic flow line environment. © 1994 J.C. Baltzer AG, Science Publishers

Cyclic scheduling in flow lines: Modeling observations, effective heuristics and a cycle time minimization procedure

In this paper we address the cyclic scheduling problem in flow lines. We develop a modeling framework and an integer programming formulation of the problem. We subsequently present exact and approximate solution procedures. The exact solution procedure is a branch-and-bound algorithm which uses Lagrangian and station-based relaxations of the integer programming formulation of the problem as the lower bounding method. Our heuristic procedures show a performance superior to the available ones in the literature. Finally, we address the stability issue in cyclic scheduling, demonstrate its relationship to the work-in-progress inventory control of a flow line, and present a very simple procedure to generate stable schedules in flow lines. © 1996 John Wuey & Sons, Inc

What kinds of value motives guide people in their moral attitudes? The role of personal and prescriptive values at the culture level and individual level

Opinions about moralized issues are arguably one of the most difficult issues in interpersonal dialogues given that they can result in intolerance and prejudicial behavior toward those with divergent moral beliefs. Recent research has shown that moral attitudes vary not only depending on the individual's characteristics but also as a function of culture. Individuals from individualistic-oriented cultures exhibit more lenient judgments toward moralized issues than those from collectivistic-oriented cultures. What is unclear to date is what kinds of cultural value motives underlie these attitudesAre they driven only by intrinsic value motives (personal values) or also by extrinsic value motives (prescriptive values in the form of societal expectations about what should be valued)? The cultural press to conform is arguably stronger if moral attitudes are predicted by the latter. Participants from eight countries (N = 1,456) responded to a questionnaire containing a modified version of the Schwartz Value Survey assessing personal and prescriptive values. The results showed that personal value ratings of openness-to-change versus conservation at the culture and individual levels were predictive of individuals' moral attitudes consistent with previous findings. Prescriptive value ratings of openness-to-change versus conservation also predicted individuals' moral attitudes, but only at the aggregated culture level. This suggests that the prescriptive values concept is a truly group-level phenomenon and that attitudes toward moralized issues are guided by cultural values with normative qualities. We discuss the implications for intercultural contact situations.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Managing to lead in private enterprise in China: Work values, demography and the development of trust

Previous work on trust has focused on employee trust in management. However, issues of how leaders develop trust in their followers in leader-member exchange (LMX) are under-explored. Based on theories of leader-member exchange, attribution and industrial convergence, this study investigates how the work values of leaders influence the development of their trust in followers and how this is moderated by demographic factors. A survey of 219 leaders was conducted in privately owned enterprises in China. The findings suggest that the work value of centralization is negatively related to leader trust in follower predictability. Group orientation and formalization are positively related to the development of trust in follower good faith. Moreover, age and level of formal education are found to moderate significantly the relationships between leader work values and development of their trust in followers within the context of China. Copyright © 2007 SAGE Publications

Gendered self-views across 62 countries: a test of competing models

Social role theory posits that binary gender gaps in agency and communion should be larger in less egalitarian countries, reflecting these countries’ more pronounced sex-based power divisions. Conversely, evolutionary and self-construal theorists suggest that gender gaps in agency and communion should be larger in more egalitarian countries, reflecting the greater autonomy support and flexible self-construction processes present in these countries. Using data from 62 countries (N = 28,640), we examine binary gender gaps in agentic and communal self-views as a function of country-level objective gender equality (the Global Gender Gap Index) and subjective distributions of social power (the Power Distance Index). Findings show that in more egalitarian countries, gender gaps in agency are smaller and gender gaps in communality are larger. These patterns are driven primarily by cross-country differences in men’s self-views and by the Power Distance Index (PDI) more robustly than the Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI). We consider possible causes and implications of these findings

Many Labs 2: Investigating Variation in Replicability Across Samples and Settings

We conducted preregistered replications of 28 classic and contemporary published findings, with protocols that were peer reviewed in advance, to examine variation in effect magnitudes across samples and settings. Each protocol was administered to approximately half of 125 samples that comprised 15,305 participants from 36 countries and territories. Using the conventional criterion of statistical significance (p < .05), we found that 15 (54%) of the replications provided evidence of a statistically significant effect in the same direction as the original finding. With a strict significance criterion (p < .0001), 14 (50%) of the replications still provided such evidence, a reflection of the extremely highpowered design. Seven (25%) of the replications yielded effect sizes larger than the original ones, and 21 (75%) yielded effect sizes smaller than the original ones. The median comparable Cohen’s ds were 0.60 for the original findings and 0.15 for the replications. The effect sizes were small (< 0.20) in 16 of the replications (57%), and 9 effects (32%) were in the direction opposite the direction of the original effect. Across settings, the Q statistic indicated significant heterogeneity in 11 (39%) of the replication effects, and most of those were among the findings with the largest overall effect sizes; only 1 effect that was near zero in the aggregate showed significant heterogeneity according to this measure. Only 1 effect had a tau value greater than .20, an indication of moderate heterogeneity. Eight others had tau values near or slightly above .10, an indication of slight heterogeneity. Moderation tests indicated that very little heterogeneity was attributable to the order in which the tasks were performed or whether the tasks were administered in lab versus online. Exploratory comparisons revealed little heterogeneity between Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) cultures and less WEIRD cultures (i.e., cultures with relatively high and low WEIRDness scores, respectively). Cumulatively, variability in the observed effect sizes was attributable more to the effect being studied than to the sample or setting in which it was studied.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Sociales::Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas (IIP

Is Calling Conceptualized Equivalently across Cultures? A Comparative Study across Six Countries

The concept of calling is deeply rooted in western culture, but research in other cultures is increasing. In the last 25 years, the concept has been applied to work, giving rise to a large and increasing corpus of studies on why and how individuals approach work as a calling. Researchers from many non-Western nations began to study the construct of career calling, which seemed to be relevant in their societies. Yet, the equivalence of the concept of calling has not been adequately investigated, construct and measurement equivalence of existing measures has been assumed rather than tested, and the influence of culture on calling has been overlooked. Also, some authors suggested that the concept of calling does not exist outside Christianity (Cahalan & Shuurman, 2016). Yet, many non-western traditions prescribe, suggest, or at least implicitly include a reflection on the importance of approaching work as a way to find a purpose in life, to build a personal identity, to help others or the society, even indirectly, and to answer a transcendent summons, either coming from within or from a greater entity. Calling might change in meaning across cultures or be a universal human experience, and researchers might have overstated the generalizability of previous empirical evidence or the importance of its Western origins. Using a recent conceptualization of calling (Vianello et al., 2018) that unifies the different theoretical approaches that emerged in the literature we investigated the cross-cultural generalizability of calling across six nations (N = 2491): India, Turkey, China, Italy, the United States, and The Netherlands. Calling was measured with the Unified Multidimensional Calling Scale (UMCS; Vianello et al., 2018) that defines calling as composed by seven facets: Passion, Sacrifice, Transcendent Summons, Prosociality, Pervasiveness, Purposeful Work, and Identity. Participants were active business college students; Countries were selected to maximize cultural differences according to Hofstede’s six cultural dimensions (Hofstede, 2011; van de Vijver & Tanzer, 2004). Using multi-group structural equations model, we ascertained invariance and estimated unbiased factor scores. We observed that the multidimensional structure of calling and the relative importance of the different dimensions of calling in defining the construct are the same across cultures. This result contributes to the theoretical debate on the conceptualization of calling and its generalizability. Drawing on an integrated model of calling, we show that a conceptualization that combines both neoclassical and modern components is valid in countries that were deeply influenced by such varying philosophical and religious traditions as Christianity, Confucianism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism. Pursuing work as a calling is an important factor of people’s work experiences, regardless of their heritage (Steger et al., 2010). We also surprisingly observed that the overall level of calling is higher in non-western countries, putting into question the western origin of the concept and opening important research questions. Small cross-cultural differences were observed in the intensity with which people from different countries approach their calling domain. Comparisons conducted at the level of facets indicated that Italian and Dutch participants scored lower in Transcendent Summons and Pervasiveness, while Chinese participants scored the highest. Callings in India are especially high in the Purpose and Identity components. These results are based on convenience samples of business students; hence, results cannot be generalized to the whole nation, nor to nations that were not included in our sample. The main contribution of this research is the empirical evidence that approaching work as a pervasive and transcendent source of purpose, passion, prosociality, self-sacrifice, and personal identity is an experience that is shared across very different cultures. This is in line with the surprisingly high agreement across religious traditions about the way individuals should approach their work. Calling may be universal in its structure and meaning, and this result validates the many studies that investigated calling and its nomological network in cultures that are different from those in which the construct or its measurement were originally conceived. Also, the different profiles of calling that we identified and that characterize different nations are useful to practitioners and counselors who work in the increasing number of multicultural work environments because they inform on the extent to which people, who have been influenced by different traditions, approach their work as a source of meaning and passion. Furthermore, perceiving work as a calling is a resource that leads to greater well-being and resilience. Hence, this study is also relevant to the 3rd and 8th Sustainable Development Goals, which tackle well-being, decent work, and economic growth