Implementing Information Systems: Some Practical Advice and a Richer Model

Recent research suggests that implementing information systems presents considerable difficulties and that many implementations are total or partial failures. This paper argues that what both practitioners and students require are richer and more acceptable models of information systems implementation. Accordingly, case study data concerning the introduction of manufacturing resource planning (MRP II) are used to illustrate five patterns of behaviour (rites) which capture important social actions; and four components of changing psychological orientation. It is argued that appreciation of the rites and psychological developments identified here will support effective change programmes. Guidelines based on our model are provided for practitioners.     

Awards for distinguished professional contributions: Robert B. McCall.

Presents the citation, biography, and selected bibliography for Robert B. McCall, one of the 1994 recipients of the American Psychological Association's Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions--Distinguished Professional Contributions to Public Service. From McCall's citation: "Building on a prolific research career in child development, Robert B. McCall communicated the scientific findings of his colleagues to the public through the mass media, winning four national awards and demonstrating to a sometimes skeptical profession that such articles and TV programs could be both accurate and interesting. Subsequently, he became the inaugural director for the University of Pittsburgh Office of Child Development, a unique interdisciplinary, university-community facilitative unit that has broadened the definition of university public service to embrace partnerships among faculty and community service professionals, funders, and policymakers that have created innovative interdisciplinary training and research programs, human service demonstration and evaluation projects, and policy studies." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Life quality index for the estimation of societal willingness-to-pay for safety

The engineering and management of human safety is an important societal objective that includes extensive efforts by governments, both legislative and administrative, to enhance the health and safety of the public. Although the achievement of safety goals depend primarily on individuals and organizations responsible for safety, much support is drawn from expertise in diverse scientific and engineering disciplines. The activities range from structural safety (dams, tunnels, bridges to tall buildings) to safe operation of hazardous industrial installations (energy generation facilities, LNG terminals, petrochemical plants) to transportation systems (airline, rail, car safety) to technologies designed to minimize adverse impacts on the environment. All these activities are crucially concerned with risk: with the likelihood and the probable effects of various measures on life and health. We have developed a unified rationale and a clear basis for effective strategic management of risk across diverse sectors. Safety is an important objective in society but it is not the only one. The allocation of society's resources devoted to safety must be continually appraised in light of competing needs, because there is a limit on the resources that can be expended to extend life. The paper presents the Life Quality Index (LQI) as a tool for the assessment of risk reduction initiatives that would support the public interest and enhance safety and quality of life. The paper provides an intuitive reformulation of the LQI as equivalent to a valid utility function that is consistent with the principles of rational decision analysis. The LQI is further refined to consider the issues of discounting of life years, competing background risks, and population age and mortality distribution. The LQI is applied to quantify the societal willingness-to-pay, which is an acceptable level of public expenditure in exchange for a reduction in the risk of death that results in improved life-quality.     

Thermomechanical stress fields in high-temperature fibrous composites. I: Unidirectional laminates

This two-part paper presents a closed-form procedure for evaluation of estimates of local thermomechanical stress fields in two-phase fibrous composites and laminates. The first part is concerned with a unidirectional elastic laminate subjected to uniform mechanical loads and to uniform changes in temperature. Both phases are assumed to be elastic, with temperature-dependent moduli and expansion coefficients; the solution reflects the influence of thermomechanical interactions. Exact solutions are not possible for any real system, because the local geometry is not known in detail. Instead, estimates of the fields are found from a modified Mori-Tanaka approximation. Examples are presented for two SiC/Ti---Al---Nb composites. Local stresses of interest are found after cooling from fabrication to room temperature. The presence of local yielding, and the influence of coupling terms on the local stress magnitudes are examined. Extension of the results to laminated plates is presented in Part II (Dvorak, G.J., Chen, T. & Teply, J., Composites Science and Technology, 43 (1992) 359–368, this issue).     

甲醇制烯烃技术进展

阐述了甲醇制低碳烯烃各个工艺的研究进展,从甲醇制乙烯、甲醇制丙烯和甲醇制丁烯三个方面对比了各自技术特点,指出未来需开发出以丙烯、 C₄烯烃为主产品的新技术。     

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本文根据四川天然气产能建设多年的实践,分析了产能建设的特点和存在问题,着重强调了当前搞好产能建设应注意的几个问题,供决策和工作参考。     

注水开发油田砂砾岩储层含油饱和度解释模型

本文利用常规测井资料,结合储层岩性、物性、含油性之间的地质规律,解决了储层岩石粒度变化及水淹层混合水电阻率变化对储层电阻率的影响;研究出了一种对电阻率测井资料标准化的校正方法;建立了储层原始、剩余、残余油饱和度解释模型。计算的储层原始、剩余、残余油地质储量,经生产验证相对下误差小于10％;计算产水率,试油验证平均绝对误差小于10％;划分水淹油层等级,试油验证符合率在80％以上。     

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本文提出了凹型压力恢复曲线的一阶导数图版和二阶导数图版。综合使用这两种导数图版,提高了匹配的精度,使匹配结果准确。无量纲起始压力梯度D很难确定。本文提出的两种导数图版综合匹配法能准确确定D值,是致密储层动态评价的有效工具。     

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本文针对天然气井提高钻井速度问题,总结分析了盆地中部井身结构,水力、机械参数,聚合物钻井液,正注反挤固井等工艺技术对该地区钻速的影响。指出提高天然气井钻井速度,必须搞好系统工程,形成配套技术。