A Performance Evaluation of Introducing Balanced Scorecard to High-tech Related Industries in Taiwan

Balanced Scorecard (BSC) has become the most desirable performance evaluation tool for industries in Taiwan; however, difficulty or bad performance of system introduction has occurred due to an incomplete understanding of the implementation approaches and correct objectives of the BSC system, causing the risk of cost loss. Two domestic high-tech companies in the high-tech related industry were served as the object of study in this research. The contents of four perspectives of the BSC were converted to twenty key performance evaluation indicators in terms of modern business administration as the variables in the research. Based on the DMAIC model, the importance and satisfaction of BSC implementation factors in high-tech related industry are defined first. The performance indices of satisfaction and importance of implementing BSC are standardized by fuzzy methods for evaluation and a performance matrix with the target line and upper and lower performance control lines are established. Management can analyze the performance level and compare the performance indices and matrixes of two companies after introducing BSC according to the coordinates of satisfaction and importance of implementation factors in the matrixes. These two-dimension matrices will then be converted to one-dimension coordinates for cross performance matrices of four quadrants. Next, performance improvement strategies will be devised in accordance with the aspects of the theory of constraints. After carrying out improvement strategies, the cross performance matrix will be constructed to verify the effect and ascertain the factors of bad performance. In this way, improvement strategies can be re-devised and the most appropriate distribution of resources will be made to sustain the optimum state of ability and cost during the process of introducing the BSC system. Requirements for a short period of time and low cost to evaluate the performance of BSC introduction can be met via this simple and convenient evaluation model presented in this research. Resources will be invested to enhance satisfaction for the implementation factors of high importance and low satisfaction. Likewise, resources will be adjusted to reduce the cost of system introduction for the implementation factors of low importance and high satisfaction. As a result, the time efficiency of introducing the BSC system will be promoted effectively

Role of remote interfacial phonons in the resistivity of graphene

The temperature ($\it T$) dependence of electrical resistivity in graphene has been experimentally investigated between 10 and 400 K for samples prepared on various substrates; HfO$_2$, SiO$_2$ and h-BN. The resistivity of graphene shows a linear $\it T$-dependence at low $\it T$ and becomes superlinear above a substrate-dependent transition temperature. The results are explained by remote interfacial phonon scattering by surface optical phonons at the substrates. The use of an appropriate substrate can lead to a significant improvement in the charge transport of graphene

Self-marking phase-stepping electronic speckle pattern interfometry (ESPI) for 3D displacement measurement on cathode ray tube (CRT)-panels

This study demonstrates the feasibility of applying phase-shifting electronic speckle pattern interfometry to measure the deformation field of the front panel of a cathode ray tube, to support analysis to enhance the implosion-resistance capacity under violent collapse. Two effects, the air exhaustion and shrink band constraint effects, are comprehensively investigated, The angle of an adjustable mirror is switched, to provide three sensitivity vectors that are required in 3D-displacement measurement. A Fourier filtration is employed to remove speckle noise and establish a noise-free phase map. Inconsistent points are identified and masked to prevent any possible divergence during phase unwrapping. The results show that the accuracy of this method is satisfactory. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd, All rights reserved

Graphene modified basal and edge plane pyrolytic graphite electrodes for electrocatalytic oxidation of hydrogen peroxide and beta-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide

Grapheme was cast on basal and edge plane pyrolytic graphite electrodes for electrochemical applications. The morphology of the resulting graphene modified electrode was investigated by atomic force microscopy. In cyclic voltammetric responses, both anodic and cathodic peak currents varied linearly with the square root of scan rates over the range of 25-600 mV in 0.1 M KCl containing 5 mM Fe(CN)(6)(4-) at graphene modified basal and edge plane pyrolytic graphite electrodes, which suggests a diffusion-controlled process. The graphene modified basal and edge plane pyrolytic graphite electrodes exhibited the abilities to lower the electrooxidation potentials of beta-nicotinamide adenine clinucleotide and hydrogen peroxide in comparison with bare basal and edge plane pyrolytic graphite electrodes. The electrocatalytic behavior obtained at the graphene modified basal and edge plane pyrolytic graphite electrodes may led to new applications in electroanalysis. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Assessment of Localized Plastic Deformation during Fatigue in Polycrystalline Copper by Nonlinear Ultrasonic

Nonlinear ultrasonic (NLU) and conventional ultrasonic techniques have been applied to assess the localized plastic deformation in polycrystalline copper during high-cycle fatigue (HCF). The measurement parameter of NLU, i.e., the NLU parameter, b, has been calculated from the power spectrum of the filtered and amplified received signal. For conventional ultrasonic, longitudinal velocity (Vl) and attenuation coefficients (a) have been determined. It has been observed that the position of maximum localized plastic deformation cannot be detected by Vl and a, whereas b detects the same at the stage of 30 pct of damage corresponding to the total fatigue life of the material. The result of NLU has also been correlated with the hardness during fatigue. This work reveals the potential of NLU to assess the localized deformation during fatigue much earlier to the failure