The impact of TQM institutionalization on transactions cost calculations in customer-supplier relationships

Little research has been done on managerial perceptions of transactioncosts, or on the impact of institutions on the calculation oftransactions costs. In this study we develop a model that evaluatesthe effects of institutional forces on transactions costs calculationsin the context of the institutionalization of total qualitymanagement. Our findings indicate that institutionalizationdoes indeed shape perceptions of transactions costs, as do factorsalready associated with the transaction cost model, such asasset specificity and interdependence of customer and supplier.Our findings have important implications for research into bothinstitutionalization and transactions costs analysis.     

The concept of entropy in scientometrics and innovation research

The concept of entropy well-know in information theory and thermodynamics is applied in the fields of scientometrics and innovation research in order to introduce an indicator for the institutional involvement in of the location of research and development. By means of this concept four applications in the fields of research and national technology policy, industrial technology management, and innovation research are outlined. First, the national institutional structures in telecommunications research and development in Japan are compared to those of the Netherlands. It is concluded that the institutional involvement is not always more random in a larger country but rather depends on the disaggregation into fields and subfields. Secondly, broad versus narrow national technology strategies in the so-called “high technologies” are compared for various OECD and COMECON countries. Thirdly, corporate R & D strategies of Japanese telecommunication companies are studied. Fourthly, for selected R & D-intensive technologies it is shown that with the progress of time the involvement of industrial branches in a new technology fluctuates. The four analyses are based either on bibliometric or on patent data. The usefulness of the concept of entropy in scientometrics and innovation research is assessed through these examples.     

基于情境感知的机构养老服务设计策略研究

目的 探究情境感知在机构养老服务中的应用,满足老人的个性化养老需求,提升养老机构的资源分配效率和用户体验,促进机构养老服务的持续性创新发展。方法 首先,梳理情境感知理论的发展以及情境感知服务流程,同时分析归纳出机构养老服务的现状特征和问题;其次,结合情境感知介入机构养老服务的优势及特性,将机构养老的服务情境因素划分为用户、环境、任务、资源四类,同时采用桌面调研、用户访谈等方法对用户的需求进行分析总结;最后,基于上述四种情境因素提出设计策略,构建机构养老服务体系框架。结论 情境感知理论应用于机构养老服务之中,强化了系统情境信息的感知能力,从多维度视角挖掘动态情境下用户的需求,主动提供针对性的服务,简化用户操作路径,提升养老服务的用户体验。     

The differentiation of the strategic profile of higher education institutions. New positioning indicators based on microdata

We address the issue of differentiation of the profile of universities and offer a set of new indicators based on microdata at the individual level and the application of robust nonparametric efficiency measures. In particular, we use efficiency measures in order to characterize the way in which universities use their inputs (academic and non academic staff, funding) in the effort to position themselves in the space of output (undergraduate teaching, postgraduate education, fundamental research, contract research, third mission), while keeping efficiency under control. The strategic problem of universities is defined as making best use of existing resources in the short run, while enlarging the scope of autonomy in procuring additional resources in the long run. In order to make best use of resources universities are led to increase their specialization and differentiate their offering profile. This happens even if the European institutional landscape does not encourage universities to differentiate.     

A firm as a dialectical being: towards a dynamic theory of a firm

Today, firms are facing many contradictions: efficiency versuscreativity; exploitation versus exploration; speed versus time-consumingresource building. This paper argues that a firm's capabilityto synthesize such contradictions is the key to understandingwhy a firm can be more efficient at producing knowledge thanmarket. A firm can create new knowledge and capability thatgo beyond the balancing point in the existing frontier withits synthesizing capability, which is embedded in its knowledgevision, its ba, its creative routines, its incentive systemsand its distributed leadership.     

Online rules for container stacking

Container stacking rules are an important factor in container terminal efficiency. In this paper, we investigate two concepts to increase efficiency and compare them to several benchmark algorithms, using a discrete-event simulation tool. The first concept is to use knowledge about container departure times, in order to limit the number of reshuffles. We stack containers leaving shortly before each other on top of each other. The second concept is the trade-off between stacking further away in the terminal versus stacking close to the exit points and accepting more reshuffles. It is concluded that even the use of imperfect or imprecise departure time information leads to significant improvements in efficiency. Minimizing the difference in departure times proved to be important. It was also found that the trade-off between stacking further away in the terminal versus stacking close by the exit points and accepting more reshuffles leads to improvements over the benchmark.     

Low-voltage thin-film electroluminescent devices with low-resistivity stacked insulators

The characteristics and mechanism of low-voltage-driven thin-film electroluminescent (TFEL) devices with low-resistivity (10(6)-10(7)-Omega cm) SiO(2)/Ta(2) O(5) and Al(2)O(3)/Ta(2)O(5) stacked insulating films have been studied. At 50-Hz sinusoidal wave voltage excitation, the threshold voltage of devices with a ZnS:Mn emitting layer is below 40 V, and the brightness and luminous efficiency are above 1000 cd/m(2) and 4 lm/W, respectively, with 60 V voltage. The characteristics of brightness versus voltage (B-V) curves, integrated charge versus voltage (Q-V) figures, and luminous efficiency versus voltage (eta-V) characteristics are different from conventional devices. The study of a special semiconductor layer-a thin probe-doped layer located at a different part of the pure ZnS layer-has proved that the excitation efficiency is not homogeneous across the emitting layer in this kind of device, and its value decreases from the anode toward the cathode, which is opposite of that made with TFEL devices with high-resistivity insulators. By offering a model of space-charge-limited current, the mechanism of low-voltage-driven thin-film electroluminescence, its optoelectronic characteristics, and the distribution characteristics of excitation efficiency across the emitting layer can be thoroughly explained.     

Simulated Versus Real Life Data in Testing the Efficiency of Scheduling Algorithms

This paper compares and contrasts the use of simulated versus real data in testing the efficiency of scheduling algorithms. Five hypotheses, formulated to evaluate two important measures of algorithm efficiency, viz., CPU time and the number of iterations, are tested on over one hundred problems drawn from different sources. On the basis of these empirical results, it is shown that: (1) the real problems are easier to solve than the simulated ones; and (2) the Natural Order heuristic is more effective on real problems than simulated ones. Implications of these results for testing the efficiency of algorithms are discussed.     

Measurement of the Nuclear Recoil Thermal Relative Efficiency Factor with an Undoped Sapphire Scintillating Bolometer

In previous work of the ROSEBUD (Rare Objects SEarch with Bolometers UndergrounD) collaboration, undoped sapphire has shown high light yield at very low temperature and low particle discrimination energy threshold which convert sapphire scintillating bolometers in very suitable detectors for dark matter searches. Measuring the nuclear recoil thermal efficiency factor relative to gamma events is required in order to correctly estimate the sensitivity for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs). Here we report on the results of a dedicated experiment with an external ²¹⁰Po source which aims at the estimate of the relative thermal efficiency factor of nuclear recoil versus gamma events depositing the same energy in an undoped sapphire scintillating bolometer. A value slightly larger than one has been derived and its implications in the search for WIMPs are briefly outlined. We also present the results of an analysis of ²³⁶Pu calibration data obtained with the same scintillating bolometer, deriving an estimate of the relative thermal efficiency factor for nuclear recoil versus alpha events.      

热驱动薄膜式微型泵的效率研究

微型泵在生物化学分析、药物输送和芯片冷却等领域有广阔的应用前景。为了确定热驱动薄膜式微泵达到最大工作效率的工作条件,对泵的温度响应和振动响应进行数值模拟,分别得到五种加热功率下微泵的流率－频率曲线,效率－频率曲线以及微泵的最佳效率曲线。发现微泵的流率在4－5Hz达到最大,当加热功率大于2W时,微泵的流量不再显著增加;微泵在加热功率为1W时的效率最大,最佳工作条件是加热功率1W、加热频率5Hz,此时微泵的效率为32．54μl/min.W。     

Grating coupler dispersion compensation with a surface-relief reflection grating

Experimental results are presented that show that diffraction off a surface-relief reflection grating can be used to extend the FWHM input coupling efficiency versus the coupled-light wavelength of a grating coupler from 0.7 to 17 nm. Use of a surface-relief reflection grating allows high diffraction efficiency over a wide wavelength range. Dispersion-matching calculations are included that illustrate that for certain output coupling applications the FWHM can be extended to 33 am. Analysis shows that for inputcoupling applications the lateral beam shift resulting from angular dispersion may be the limiting factor for wavelength compensation.     

Benefits and Fast Construction of Efficient Two-Level Foldover Designs

Recent work in two-level screening experiments has demonstrated the advantages of using small foldover designs, even when such designs are not orthogonal for the estimation of main effects (MEs). In this article, we provide further support for this argument and develop a fast algorithm for constructing efficient two-level foldover (EFD) designs. We show that these designs have equal or greater efficiency for estimating the ME model versus competitive designs in the literature and that our algorithmic approach allows the fast construction of designs with many more factors and/or runs. Our compromise algorithm allows the practitioner to choose among many designs making a trade-off between efficiency of the main effect estimates and correlation of the two-factor interactions (2FIs). Using our compromise approach, practitioners can decide just how much efficiency they are willing to sacrifice to avoid confounded 2FIs as well as lowering an omnibus measure of correlation among the 2FIs.     

Recording head design calculations

Factors affecting the design and performance of digital recording heads are discussed with reference to multitrack write/read heads for use with thin high-coercivity disc media. Account is taken of the flux leakage paths round each ferrite core to calculate the core efficiency and crosstalk from an adjacent core. The efficiency for a core with permeability = 1000 is about 20% less than obtained by neglecting leakage. Formulae are given to find the minimum recording gap, leakage permeances, peak output, and write current. Values are plotted versus gap length and depth, pole-tip angle, back gap, core pitch, and permeability.     

Interconnections: a Contractual Analysis of the Regulation of Bottleneck Telephone Monopolies

This paper employs an institutional framework to analyze theregulation of dominant telecommunications firms in verticallyrelated markets. It focuses on two alternative regulatory regimesemployed in the telecommunications industry: (i) a divestitureregime in which the dominant firm is precluded from enteringcompetitive, vertically related markets; and (ii) an integrated/openaccess regime in which the dominant firm is allowed to enterthese markets subject to providing competitors with equal accessto its network. An analytical framework based on transactioncost economic theory is developed and applied to three casestudies of regulation and competition in the telecommunicationsindustry. The main findings are that higher levels of transactionalcomplexity and uncertainty lead to increased transaction andregulatory costs under both regimes, and that when one controlsfor transactional characteristics, the efficiency attributesof the two regulatory regimes do not differ greatly.     

The influence of coolant pH on efficiency of machining sapphire

The manifestation of Rebinder effect in abrasive machining of sapphire has been studied versus coolant pH. The change of pH from neutral to acidic results in an 1.8 times higher rate of grinding with a bound abrasive. An alkaline medium also facilitates the workpiece surface attrition by a bound abrasive. The use of an acidic solution as a coolant leads to an increase in efficiency of polishing sapphire, while an alkaline one lowers the polishing efficiency.     

A ranking of universities should account for differences in their disciplinary specialization

A bibliometric analysis of the 50 most frequently publishing Spanish universities shows large differences in the publication activity and citation impact among research disciplines within an institution. Gini Index is a useful measure of an institution’s disciplinary specialization and can roughly categorize universities in terms of general versus specialized. A study of the Spanish academic system reveals that assessment of a university’s research performance must take into account the disciplinary breadth of its publication activity and citation impact. It proposes the use of graphs showing not only a university’s article production and citation impact, but also its disciplinary specialization. Such graphs constitute both a warning and a remedy against one-dimensional approaches to the assessment of institutional research performance.     

Transmission of light through right-angle corners in hollow light guides

Transmission of light through the corners in hollow light guides is compared for a new type of corner that is based on a laser-cut light-deflecting panel and for a flat, 45°, mirror-type corner. Corner efficiency is defined, and an experimental method for the measurement of the corner efficiency versus the angular width of the input light is described. Measured corner efficiencies were found to be nearly independent of the angular width of the incident light for metallic hollow light guides, with the average efficiency of the laser-cut-panel corner (65%) lower than that of the mirror corner (80%).     

Institutional entrepreneurship and social innovation at the base of the pyramid: the case of M-Pesa in Kenya

This paper explores the agency of multinational corporations that perform social innovation under conditions of institutional complexity and resource constraints. Insights are drawn from a case study of Vodafone Group Plc and Safaricom Kenya Ltd that engaged in mobile money innovation in Kenya. The paper identifies three types of institutional voids that entrepreneurs can exploit to implement a social innovation: market, policy and social voids. Legitimating the social innovation involves appealing to the instrumental needs of target users, early and sustained engagement with policy-makers and redefining meanings of both incumbent and new technologies. The paper argues that spanning institutional voids – which provide entrepreneurial opportunities – also provide contingent legitimation narratives that can be targeted at different audiences. By mobilising insights from institutional theory, this paper provides a fresh perspective of social innovation in a base of the pyramid context.     

Subsidiary Initiatives in the Institutional Environment

We study subsidiaries of a MNC and research why they implement initiatives that deviate from organizational values of headquarters. Initially we relied only on the concept of institutional duality and expected that pressures in the institutional environment and values of headquarters explain the agency of the subsidiaries. But the results of our extensive participatory observation showed that the organizational values of subsidiaries (rather than those of headquarters) helped explain the subsidiaries’ actions. In conclusion, we find that there are limits to the predictive power of the concept of institutional duality. Our study shows that a distinction between values of headquarters and values of subsidiaries is necessary in order to understand the agency of subsidiaries. We suggest a concept of ‘institutional trinity’ that distinguishes between these two values as well as pressures in the institutional environment. Our research demonstrates that an MNC can benefit from a subsidiary that develops its own organizational values. If headquarters is subsequently ready to adopt some of these subsidiary values, it may be able to adapt more easily to a changing institutional environment.