Strategies for performance improvement in the Chinese chemical industry:evidence from case study investigations

Purpose – This paper sets out to explore the proposition that building competences is more effective than privatisation and restructuring to improve performance in the Chinese chemical industry. Design/methodology/approach – Case study research has been undertaken in the Chinese chemical industry. The two case companies provide representative data on the factors under investigation. The case investigations that are described were complemented by a survey, the results of which have been reported elsewhere. Findings – Results obtained from the research show that privatisation of Chinese state-owned enterprises is not always an effective strategy to improve performance. In the case study companies, the development of core competences was more effective in enhancing performance. Research limitations/implications – The research results are limited by the scope of the study, which was carried out in the Chinese chemical industry. They are also based on in-depth case investigations in only two companies, but are supported by a large-scale survey reported elsewhere. The results have implications for academic researchers interested in China's privatisation programme. Practical implications – The research has practical implications for companies outside China that are considering collaborative operations with Chinese companies or investing in joint ventures. It also has implications for suppliers or customers of Chinese companies. Originality/value – The paper is based on original case study investigations carried out in Chinese enterprises and is supported by a survey of representative companies in China's chemical sector. Value is derived from understanding the basis of improved performance in the companies studied.

Local-authority led economic regeneration strategies in the aftermath of the Foot-and-Mouth Disease crisis of 2001

The Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak of 2001 in the UK was completely unprecedented in its scale and severity, with over four million animals culled and a cost to the Exchequer of over £4 billion. Local authorities were at the front line in dealing with the outbreak, in coordinating the cull of livestock, the disposal of carcasses as well as attempting to deal with its aftermath and, in particular, the impact on the wider rural economy. This article examines the impacts of this crisis on three local authorities, Devon, Herefordshire and Cumbria. It examines how far the crisis acted as a catalyst in developing strategies to deal with a future outbreak as well as new local initiatives to promote regeneration in the areas most adversely affected. It focuses on developments that can be directly attributed to the crisis and shows that FMD had a considerable impact on communications and 'joined-up' activity within local authorities and with local stakeholders. © 2006, LEPU, South Bank University.

Understanding learning strategies in the workplace:a factor analytic investigation

The aim of this study was to validate a scale of learning strategies, as derived from the educational literature, in an organizational context. Participants were 628 call centre employees. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses suggested that a six-factor structure most accurately represented the learning strategies examined. Specifically, three cognitive (extrinsic work reflection, intrinsic work reflection, reproduction) and three behavioural strategies (interpersonal help seeking, help seeking from written material, practical application) were found.

The n-tuple network: coping with sub-optimality

The subject of this thesis is the n-tuple net.work (RAMnet). The major advantage of RAMnets is their speed and the simplicity with which they can be implemented in parallel hardware. On the other hand, this method is not a universal approximator and the training procedure does not involve the minimisation of a cost function. Hence RAMnets are potentially sub-optimal. It is important to understand the source of this sub-optimality and to develop the analytical tools that allow us to quantify the generalisation cost of using this model for any given data. We view RAMnets as classifiers and function approximators and try to determine how critical their lack of' universality and optimality is. In order to understand better the inherent. restrictions of the model, we review RAMnets showing their relationship to a number of well established general models such as: Associative Memories, Kamerva's Sparse Distributed Memory, Radial Basis Functions, General Regression Networks and Bayesian Classifiers. We then benchmark binary RAMnet. model against 23 other algorithms using real-world data from the StatLog Project. This large scale experimental study indicates that RAMnets are often capable of delivering results which are competitive with those obtained by more sophisticated, computationally expensive rnodels. The Frequency Weighted version is also benchmarked and shown to perform worse than the binary RAMnet for large values of the tuple size n. We demonstrate that the main issues in the Frequency Weighted RAMnets is adequate probability estimation and propose Good-Turing estimates in place of the more commonly used :Maximum Likelihood estimates. Having established the viability of the method numerically, we focus on providillg an analytical framework that allows us to quantify the generalisation cost of RAMnets for a given datasetL. For the classification network we provide a semi-quantitative argument which is based on the notion of Tuple distance. It gives a good indication of whether the network will fail for the given data. A rigorous Bayesian framework with Gaussian process prior assumptions is given for the regression n-tuple net. We show how to calculate the generalisation cost of this net and verify the results numerically for one dimensional noisy interpolation problems. We conclude that the n-tuple method of classification based on memorisation of random features can be a powerful alternative to slower cost driven models. The speed of the method is at the expense of its optimality. RAMnets will fail for certain datasets but the cases when they do so are relatively easy to determine with the analytical tools we provide.

The Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome-Quality of Life Scale for children and adolescents (C&A-GTS-QOL):development and validation of the Italian version

BACKGROUND: Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS) is a chronic childhood-onset neuropsychiatric disorder with a significant impact on patients' health-related quality of life (HR-QOL). Cavanna et al. (Neurology 2008; 71: 1410-1416) developed and validated the first disease-specific HR-QOL assessment tool for adults with GTS (Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome-Quality of Life Scale, GTS-QOL). This paper presents the translation, adaptation and validation of the GTS-QOL for young Italian patients with GTS. METHODS: A three-stage process involving 75 patients with GTS recruited through three Departments of Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry in Italy led to the development of a 27-item instrument (Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome-Quality of Life Scale in children and adolescents, C&A-GTS-QOL) for the assessment of HR-QOL through a clinician-rated interview for 6-12 year-olds and a self-report questionnaire for 13-18 year-olds. RESULTS: The C&A-GTS-QOL demonstrated satisfactory scaling assumptions and acceptability. Internal consistency reliability was high (Cronbach's alpha > 0.7) and validity was supported by interscale correlations (range 0.4-0.7), principal-component factor analysis and correlations with other rating scales and clinical variables. CONCLUSIONS: The present version of the C&A-GTS-QOL is the first disease-specific HR-QOL tool for Italian young patients with GTS, satisfying criteria for acceptability, reliability and validity. © 2013 - IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved.

Tsunami disaster recovery experience:a case study on micro, small and medium scale enterprises in Southern Sri Lanka

Post-disaster recovery of Micro, Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises (SMEs) remains an issue of interest for policy and practice given the wide scale occurrences of natural disasters around the globe and their significant impacts on local economies and SMEs. Asian Tsunami of December 2004 affected many SMEs in southern Sri Lanka. The study was developed to identify the main issues encountered by the Tsunami affected SMEs in Southern Sri Lanka in the process of their post-tsunami recovery. The study: a) identifies tsunami damage and loss in micro and SMEs in the Galle district; b) ascertains the type of benefits received from various parties by the affected micro and SMEs; c) evaluates the problems and difficulties faced by the beneficiary organizations in the benefit distribution process; and d) recommends strategies and policies for the tsunami-affected micro and SMEs for them to become self-sustaining within a reasonable time frame. Fifty randomly selected tsunami-affected micro and SMEs were surveyed for this study. Interviews were conducted in person with the business owners in order to identify the damages, recovery, rehabilitation, re-establishment and difficulties faced in the benefit distribution process. The analysis identifies that the benefits were given the wrong priorities and that they were not sufficient for the recovery process. In addition, the many governance-related problems that arose while distributing benefits are discussed. Overall, the business recovery rate was approximately 65%, and approximately 88% of business organizations were sole proprietorships. Therefore, the policies of the tsunami relief agencies should adequately address the needs of sole proprietorship business requirements. Consideration should also be given to strengthen the capacity and skills of the entrepreneurs by improving operational, technological, management and marketing skills and capabilities.

Incorporating Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) practices into the planning context:the conceptual case for lot-scale developments

In recent decades, a number of sustainable strategies and polices have been created to protect and preserve our water environments from the impacts of growing communities. The Australian approach, Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD), defined as the integration of urban planning and design with the urban water cycle management, has made considerable advances on design guidelines since 2000. WSUD stormwater management systems (e.g. wetlands, bioretentions, porous pavement etc), also known as Best Management Practices (BMPs) or Low Impact Development (LID), are slowly gaining popularity across Australia, the USA and Europe. There have also been significant improvements in how to model the performance of the WSUD technologies (e.g. MUSIC software). However, the implementation issues of these WSUD practices are mainly related to ongoing institutional capacity. Some of the key problems are associated with a limited awareness of urban planners and designers; in general, they have very little knowledge of these systems and their benefits to the urban environments. At the same time, hydrological engineers should have a better understanding of building codes and master plans. The land use regulations are equally as important as the physical site conditions for determining opportunities and constraints for implementing WSUD techniques. There is a need for procedures that can make a better linkage between urban planners and WSUD engineering practices. Thus, this paper aims to present the development of a general framework for incorporating WSUD technologies into the site planning process. The study was applied to lot-scale in the Melbourne region, Australia. Results show the potential space available for fitting WSUD elements, according to building requirements and different types of housing densities. © 2011 WIT Press.

Climate setting in sourcing teams:developing a measurement scale for team creativity climate

Creative sourcing strategies, designed to extract more value from the supply base, have become a competitive, strategic differentiator. To fuel creativity, companies install sourcing teams that can capitalize on the specialized knowledge and expertise of their employees across the company. This article introduces the concept of a team creativity climate (TCC) - team members' shared perceptions of their joint policies, procedures, and practices with respect to developing creative sourcing strategies – as a means to address the unique challenges associated with a collective, cross-functional approach to develop value-enhancing sourcing strategies. Using a systematic scale development process that validates the proposed concept, the authors confirm its ability to predict sourcing team performance, and suggest some research avenues extending from this concept.