The development of an improved business game for use in Massey University marketing courses : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Agricultural Business and Administration in Marketing at Massey University

The thesis is a response to a problem situation in which a business game, having been used in undergraduate courses for several years, was thought to be inadequate by course and game administrators. The problem is first defined and objectives for the study are set. This is followed by a comprehensive overview of business gaming and a more specific review of the processes and problems of business game design. A description of the game in use, MARKSIM, is given. The MARKSIM experience at Massey University is evaluated from the game administrators' and game players' points of view, the latter by a survey of 41 second and third year marketing students. The specifications of a more satisfactory game are derived from this evaluation and alternative means of acquiring such a game are investigated. The solution chosen as most appropriate is to modify the game already in use and this is carried out. Improvements to the game include reparameterization of the game to reflect the New Zealand business environment, adoption of a two-product product mix, inclusion of optional qualitative administrator inputs reflecting advertising efficiency and annual report quality, superimposition of a share market on the model business community, increased market research capabilities, and general improvement of the game's robustness against administrator and player errors. Evaluation of the resultant game in terms of the problem situation is not possible within the time horizon of the thesis. Program listings are appended

An investigation into the potential of advanced sensor technology to support the maintenance of pipeline distribution systems

The construction industry has been challenged by the UK Construction Foresight Panel to apply advanced information and communication technology to improve the performance, in terms of sustainability, of the existing built environment and infrastructure. Traditionally, built-environment maintenance is a capital-cost-driven activity that relies either upon the subjective assessment of a built environment and infrastructure condition (i.e. a stock condition survey) to identify maintenance needs, or upon a reactive response to a component failure. The effectiveness and efficiency of the stock condition survey process to support planned maintenance has previously been questioned and a more sustainable approach, based on an objective assessment of a built environment and infrastructure performance, has been suggested. Previous attempts to develop objective-based (though not performance–based) maintenance models have largely failed, due to the limitations of technology, the daunting task of managing large amounts of data, and the inability of mathematically based models to cope with the complexity of real-life situations. This thesis addresses this challenge by exploring the feasibility of a performance-based assessment methodology to determine the maintenance needs of a buried oil steel-pipeline system and the impact that any changes in condition may have on the performance and integrity of related components in the pipeline system. The thesis also contains an evaluation of the ability and effectiveness of piezoelectric elements in pipeline defect (crack) signature detection to predict changes in component performance with data sets derived experimentally using laboratory bench testing. Vibration sound-emission detection techniques performed on various oil steel-pipeline defects, using non-destructive testing methods, were validated using attenuation and waveform analysis. Defect size and progression (i.e. the pattern characteristics of the defect) were monitored, measured and identified through spectrum analysis of multiple emission signals in combination with a number of frequency bands. Two series of tests were undertaken to evaluate the ability of vibration sound emission characteristics to identify steel pipeline defects, including leakage. Test Series 1 established the frequency (waveforms) of the generation of the acoustic emission signal caused by normal fluid dynamics (water flow) through the experimental steel pipe and the resulting signal propagation characteristics. Test Series 2 detected and monitored changes in the signal characteristics for incipient defects: (a) small-nail damage, (b) medium-sized nail damage, (c) large-nail damage and (d) crack to leakage source [sealed holes as a simulated corrosion to total failure]; oil was the fluid medium. The defect sources and leakage signals were also studied, and compared with theoretical models. The results of the theoretical analysis and the laboratory experiments confirmed the ability of non-destructive testing, based on vibration sound emission techniques, to detect and distinguish between different failure modes. The ability to carry out a basic inspection, analysis and report of a pipeline using an integrated-sensor device offers many potential benefits. The use of an integrated-sensor device is expected to provide valuable pipeline management information. Specifically the ability to detect and locate mechanical damage at the incipient stage and provide an assessment of the overall pipeline operating condition, including changes in performance profile and prediction of an estimated time to failure, has been shown to be feasible as part of a pipeline maintenance and rehabilitation programme

PRODUCER SEGMENTATION AND THE ROLE OF LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIP IN MALAYSIA’S MILK SUPPLY CHAINS

Research on buyer-seller relationships in the agricultural sector receives little attention. A growing body of evidence suggests that strong buyer-seller relationships facilitate more efficient supply chains. The long term relationship literature tends to treat suppliers as a homogenous group when attempting to identify motivations, strategies and incentives to enhance the quality of buyer-seller relationships. This article explores the role of long-term relationships between buyers and sellers in Malaysia’s dairy industry, taking into consideration the heterogeneous nature of the producers. Interviews with 133 producers provide the data for this study. Cluster analysis suggests two well-defined groups differing in terms of demographic characteristics and relationship perceptions toward their buyers. Based on the results, the study proposes some policy implication and marketing strategies for both milk buyers and government.buyer-seller relationship, price satisfaction dimensions, cluster analysis, dairy industry, Malaysia, Marketing,

Distributed Lag Models and Economic Growth: Evidence from Cameroon

This paper studies the intertemporal effects of various economic variables on the cameroonian growth. Using a Geometric Lag Model, we find out that 50% of the total effect of variables used is accomplished in less than half of a year. When we employ a Polynomial Distributed Lag, we find out that even if investment has a positive impact on growth in the current year, but in the presence of government expenditures, this effect becomes negative after one year due probably to the eviction effect. In addition, we find out that the consumption causes economic growth after three years whereas economic growth causes the consumption after only one year. The main lesson from this study is that any economic policy to sustain economic growth must boost in priority investment and foreign direct investment. The government should pursue policies that stimulate production instead to encourage consumption.Distributed Lag Models, Geometric Distributed Lag, Polynomial Distributed Lag, Economic Growth, Cameroon

Dietary fats and 16-year coronary heart disease mortality in a cohort of men and women in Great Britain

Objective: The paper aims to investigate the relationships of dietary fats to subsequent coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality in men and women while taking account of other CHD-related behaviours. Design: A cohort of randomly selected men and women were interviewed in 1984-85 and monitored subsequently for 16 y for deaths. The interview covered health, health-related behaviours, physical measurements, socio-demographic details and a dietary questionnaire. Appropriate exclusions left 1225 men and 1451 women aged 40-75 with 98 and 57 CHD deaths, respectively. Saturated, polyunsaturated and total fat intakes were estimated. Setting: The sample was randomly selected from households in Great Britain. The interviews took place in participants' own homes. Results: Not consuming alcohol, smoking, not exercising and being socially disadvantaged were related to high saturated fat intake and CHD death. Cox survival analyses adjusting for these factors found that a level of saturated fat 100 g per week higher corresponded to a relative risk for CHD death for men of 1.00 (0.86-1.18) and 1.40 (1.09-1.79) for women. This difference between the effects of saturated fat in men and women was statistically significant (P=0.019). Results are also reported for total fat and the relative effects of polyunsaturated and saturated fats. Conclusions: Strong evidence was found for the within cohort relationship of dietary fat and CHD death in women while no evidence was found for a relationship in men. Possible explanations for this are discussed

Contextualized B2B Registries

Abstract. Service discovery is a fundamental concept underpinning the move towards dynamic service-oriented business partnerships. The business process for integrating service discovery and underlying registry technologies into business relationships, procurement and project management functions has not been examined and hence existing Web Service registries lack capabilities required by business today. In this paper we present a novel contextualized B2B registry that supports dynamic registration and discovery of resources within management contexts to ensure that the search space is constrained to the scope of authorized and legitimate resources only. We describe how the registry has been deployed in three case studies from important economic sectors (aerospace, automotive, pharmaceutical) showing how contextualized discovery can support distributed product development processes