War words:language, history and the disciplining of English

Debates about the nature of literacy and literacy practices have been conducted extensively in the last fifteen years or so. The fact that both previous and current British governments have effectively suppressed any real debate makes the publication of this book both timely and important. Here, Urszula Clark stresses the underlying ideological character of such debates and shows that they have deep historical roots. She also makes the point that issues regarding the relationship between language and identity, especially national identity, become sharply focused at times of crisis in that identity. By undertaking a comparison with other major English-speaking countries, most notably Australia, New Zealand and the USA, Clark shows how these times of crisis reverberate around the globe.

Optimization of PCB component placements for the collect-and-place machines

This paper presents two hybrid genetic algorithms (HGAs) to optimize the component placement operation for the collect-and-place machines in printed circuit board (PCB) assembly. The component placement problem is to optimize (i) the assignment of components to a movable revolver head or assembly tour, (ii) the sequence of component placements on a stationary PCB in each tour, and (iii) the arrangement of component types to stationary feeders simultaneously. The objective of the problem is to minimize the total traveling time spent by the revolver head for assembling all components on the PCB. The major difference between the HGAs is that the initial solutions are generated randomly in HGA1. The Clarke and Wright saving method, the nearest neighbor heuristic, and the neighborhood frequency heuristic are incorporated into HGA2 for the initialization procedure. A computational study is carried out to compare the algorithms with different population sizes. It is proved that the performance of HGA2 is superior to HGA1 in terms of the total assembly time.

An integrated scheduling problem of PCB components on sequential pick-and-place machines:mathematical models and heuristic solutions

This paper formulates several mathematical models for determining the optimal sequence of component placements and assignment of component types to feeders simultaneously or the integrated scheduling problem for a type of surface mount technology placement machines, called the sequential pick-andplace (PAP) machine. A PAP machine has multiple stationary feeders storing components, a stationary working table holding a printed circuit board (PCB), and a movable placement head to pick up components from feeders and place them to a board. The objective of integrated problem is to minimize the total distance traveled by the placement head. Two integer nonlinear programming models are formulated first. Then, each of them is equivalently converted into an integer linear type. The models for the integrated problem are verified by two commercial packages. In addition, a hybrid genetic algorithm previously developed by the authors is adopted to solve the models. The algorithm not only generates the optimal solutions quickly for small-sized problems, but also outperforms the genetic algorithms developed by other researchers in terms of total traveling distance.

The right time and place:strategic positioning for competitive manufacture

Increasingly in the UK, companies that have traditionally considered themselves as manufacturers are being advised to now see themselves as service providers and to reconsider whether to have any production capability. A key challenge is to translate this strategy into a selection of product and service-centred activities within the company's supply chain networks. Strategic positioning is concerned with the choice of business activities a company carries out itself, compared to those provided by suppliers, partners, distributors and even customers. In practice, strategic positioning is directly impacted by such decisions as outsourcing, off-shoring, partnering, technology innovation, acquisition and exploitation. If companies can better understand their strategic positioning, they can make more informed decisions about the adoption of alternative manufacturing and supply chain activities. Similarly, they are more likely to reject those that, like off-shoring, are currently en vogue but are highly likely to erode competitive edge and business success. Our research has developed a new concept we call 'competitive space' as a means of appreciating the strategic positioning of companies, along with a structured decision process for managing competitive space. Our ideas about competitive space, along with the decision process itself, have been developed and tested on a range of manufacturers. As more and more manufacturers are encouraged to move towards system integration and a serviceable business model, the challenge is to identify the appropriate strategic position for their organisations, or in other words, to identify their optimum competitive space for manufacture.

History and symptom taking in contact lens fitting and aftercare

Aim: To appraise history and symptom taking for contact lens consultations, to determine current practice and to make recommendations for best practice. Method: The peer reviewed academic literature was reviewed and the results informed a survey completed by 256 eye care practitioners (ECPs) on their current practice and influences. Results: The last eye-test date, last contact lens aftercare (for existing wearers) and reason for visit are key questions for most ECPs. Detailed use of contact lens questions are more commonly applied in aftercares than when refitting patients who have previously discontinued wear (87% vs 56% use), whereas questions on ocular and general history, medication and lifestyle were generally more commonly utilised for new patients than in aftercares (72% vs 50%). 75% of ECPs requested patients bring a list of their medication to appointments. Differential diagnosis questioning was thorough in most ECPs (87% of relevant questions asked). Attempts to optimise compliance included oral instruction (95% always) and written patient instructions (95% at least sometimes). Abbreviations were used by 39% of respondents (26% used ones provided by a professional body). Conclusion: There is scope for more consistency in history and symptom taking for contact lens consultations and recommendations are made.

Paradigms lost:integrating history and organization studies

This article reviews recent attempts at mapping research paradigms in Management and Organizational History and argues that the old distinctions between supplementarist, integrationist, and reorientationist approaches have been superseded by attempts at integrating historical research in organization studies. A typology of these integrationist approaches differentiates between pluralist and unitary integration, as well as between models based on either historical theory or organization theory. Each has distinct weaknesses and strengths, but essentially all limit their integration of historical research paradigms to only a few. As a result, there is a danger that history might become reduced to a methodology, an empirical endeavor, narrative representations, or indeed be considered the subject of research rather than a research approach in its own right. I argue that all of these present an impoverished picture of the rich research traditions available in the discipline of history, which has unique insights and approaches to offer to the study of organizations.