Business process reengineering: soluzioni ingegneristiche in ottica di re-layout, riorganizzazione del processo "service" ed attività di vendor rating in HSD S.p.A.

L'attività svolta in HSD S.p.A. si è concentrata sulle seguenti tematiche: progettazione di un nuovo layout con annessa pianificazione delle attività necessarie e valutazione economica dell'investimento, audit focalizzato ad individuare le criticità legate al processo di logistica inversa e proporne soluzioni migliorative ed infine implementazione di un sistema di controllo specifico e comparato dei fornitori.

Condition rating survey manual : state system condition rating survey (CRS).

The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), through the Office of Planning and Programming (OPP), conducts a Condition Rating Survey (CRS) to assess pavement condition on its approximate 16,000 mile state highway system. The CRS is an important tool to assist the Department with its pavement management activities. A CRS value indicates the current condition of a pavement. CRS is a factor in highway program development, provides an opportunity to review the highway network, provides overall condition of the state highway system, gives input into the legislative/budgeting process and allows calculation of pavement needs.

The cyanide process of gold extraction: a text-book for the use of mining students, metallurgists, and cyanide operators.

Mode of access: Internet.

Consumer (dis)satisfaction response to disconfirmation: An examination of the form and the underlying process

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the form of the consumer satisfaction/dissatisfaction (CS/D) response to disconfirmation. In addition, the cognitive and affective processes underlying the response were also explored. ^ Respondents were provided with information from a prior market research study about a new brand of printer that was being tested. This market research information helped set prior expectations regarding the print quality. Subjects were randomly assigned to an experimental condition that manipulated prior expectations to be either positive or negative. Respondents were then provided with printouts that had performance quality that was either worse (negative disconfirmation) or better (positive disconfirmation) than the prior expectations. In other words, for each level of expectation, respondents were assigned to either positive or negative disconfirmation condition. Subjects were also randomly assigned to a condition of either a high or low level of outcome involvement. ^ Analyses of variance indicated that positive disconfirmation led to a more intense CS/D response than negative disconfirmation, even though there was no significant difference in the intensity for positive and negative disconfirmation. Intensity of CS/D was measured by the distance of the CS/D rating from the midpoint of the scale. The study also found that although outcome involvement did not influence the polarity of the CS/D response, the more direct measures of processing involvement such as the subjects' concentration, attention and care in evaluating the printout did have a significant positive effect on CS/D intensity. ^ Analyses of covariance also indicated that the relationship between the intensity of the CS/D response and the intensity of the disconfirmation was mediated by the intensity of affective responses. Positive disconfirmation led to more intense affective responses than negative disconfirmation. ^

Parent involvement on school advisory councils: A process evaluation at the middle school level

Increasing parental involvement was made an important goal for all Florida schools in educational reform legislation in the 1990's. A forum for this input was established and became known as the School Advisory Council (SAC). To demonstrate the importance of process and inclusion, a south Florida school district and its local teacher's union agreed on the following five goals for SACs: (a) to foster an environment of professional collaboration among all stakeholders, (b) to assist in the preparation and evaluation of the school improvement plan, (c) to address all state and district goals, (d) to serve as the avenue for authentic and representative input from all stakeholders, and (e) to ensure the continued existence of the consensus-building process on all issues related to the school's instructional program. ^ The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent and in what ways the parent members of one south Florida middle school's SAC achieved the five district goals during its first three years of implementation. The primary participants were 16 parents who served as members of the SAC, while 16 non-parent members provided perspective on parent involvement as “outside sources.” Being qualitative by design, factors such as school climate, leadership styles, and the quality of parental input were described from data collected from four sources: parent interviews, a questionnaire of non-parents, researcher observations, and relevant documents. A cross-case analysis of all data informed a process evaluation that described the similarities and differences of intended and observed outcomes of parent involvement from each source using Stake's descriptive matrix model. A formative evaluation of the process compared the observed outcomes with standards set for successful SACs, such as the district's five goals. ^ The findings indicated that parents elected to the SACs did not meet the intended goals set by the state and district. The school leadership did not foster an environment of professional collaboration and authentic decision-making for parents and other stakeholders. The overall process did not include consensus-building, and there was little if any input by parents on school improvement and other important issues relating to the instructional program. Only two parents gave the SAC a successful rating for involving parents in the decision-making process. Although compliance was met in many of the procedural transactions of the SAC, the reactions of parents to their perceived role and influence often reflected feelings of powerlessness and frustration with a process that many thought lacked meaningfulness and productivity. Two conclusions made from this study are as follows: (a) that the role of the principal in the collaborative process is pivotal, and (b) that the normative-re-educative approach to change would be most appropriate for SACs. ^

Self-other rating discrepancy and personality antecedents

This study explored individual difference factors to help explain the discrepancy that has been found to exist between self and other ratings in prior research. Particularly, personality characteristics of the self-rater were researched in the current study as a potential antecedent for self-other rating agreement. Self, peer, and supervisor ratings were provided for global performance as well as five competencies specific to the organization being examined. Four rating tendency categories, over-raters, under-raters, in-agreement (good), and in-agreement (poor), established in research by Atwater and Yammarino were used as the basis of the current research. The sample for rating comparisons within the current study consisted of 283 self and supervisor dyads and 275 for self and peer dyads from a large financial organization. Measures included a custom multi-rater performance instrument and the personality survey instrument, ASSESS, which measures 20 specific personality characteristics. MANCOVAs were then performed on this data to examine if specific personality characteristics significantly distinguished the four rating tendency groups. Examination of all personality dimensions and overall performance uncovered significant findings among rating groups for self-supervisor rating comparisons but not for self-peer rating comparisons. Examination of specific personality dimensions for self-supervisory ratings group comparisons and overall performance showed Detail Interest to be an important characteristic among the hypothesized variables. For self-supervisor rating comparisons and specific competencies, support was found for the hypothesized personality dimension of Fact-based Thinking which distinguished the four rating groups for the competency, Builds Relationships. For both self-supervisor and self-peer rating comparisons, the competencies, Builds Relationships and Leads in a Learning Environment, were found to have significant relationship with several personality characteristics, however, these relationships were not consistent with the hypotheses in the current study. Several unhypothesized personality dimensions were also found to distinguish rating groups for both self-supervisor and self-peer comparisons on overall performance and various competencies. Results of the current study hold implications for the training and development session that occur after a 360-degree evaluation process. Particularly, it is suggested that feedback sessions may be designed according to particular rating tendencies to maximize the interpretation, acceptance and use of evaluation information. ^

Parent involvement on school advisory councils: a process evaluation at the middle school level

Increasing parental involvement was made an important goal for all Florida schools in educational reform legislation in the 1990's. A forum for this input was established and became known as the School Advisory Council (SAC). To demonstrate the importance of process and inclusion, a south Florida school district and its local teacher's union agreed on the following five goals for SACs: (a) to foster an environment of professional collaboration among all stakeholders, (b) to assist in the preparation and evaluation of the school improvement plan, (c) to address all state and district goals, (d) to serve as the avenue for authentic and representative input from all stakeholders, and (e) to ensure the continued existence of the consensus-building process on all issues related to the school's instructional program. The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent and in what ways the parent members of one south Florida middle school's SAC achieved the five district goals during its first three years of implementation. The primary participants were 16 parents who served as members of the SAC, while 16 non-parent members provided perspective on parent involvement as "outside sources." Being qualitative by design, factors such as school climate, leadership styles, and the quality of parental input were described from data collected from four sources: parent interviews, a questionnaire of non-parents, researcher observations, and relevant documents. A cross-case analysis of all data informed a process evaluation that described the similarities and differences of intended and observed outcomes of parent involvement from each source using Stake's descriptive matrix model. A formative evaluation of the process compared the observed outcomes with standards set for successful SACs, such as the district's five goals. The findings indicated that parents elected to the SACs did not meet the intended goals set by the state and district. The school leadership did not foster an environment of professional collaboration and authentic decision-making for parents and other stakeholders. The overall process did not include consensus-building, and there was little if any input by parents on school improvement and other important issues relating to the instructional program. Only two parents gave the SAC a successful rating for involving parents in the decision-making process. Although compliance was met in many of the procedural transactions of the SAC, the reactions of parents to their perceived role and influence often reflected feelings of powerlessness and frustration with a process that many thought lacked meaningfulness and productivity. Two conclusions made from this study are as follows: (a) that the role of the principal in the collaborative process is pivotal, and (b) that the normative-re-educative approach to change would be most appropriate for SACs.

The effect of a Computerised Decision Support System (CDSS) on compliance with the prehospital assessment process: results of an interrupted time-series study

BACKGROUND: Errors in the decision-making process are probably the main threat to patient safety in the prehospital setting. The reason can be the change of focus in prehospital care from the traditional "scoop and run" practice to a more complex assessment and this new focus imposes real demands on clinical judgment. The use of Clinical Guidelines (CG) is a common strategy for cognitively supporting the prehospital providers. However, there are studies that suggest that the compliance with CG in some cases is low in the prehospital setting. One possible way to increase compliance with guidelines could be to introduce guidelines in a Computerized Decision Support System (CDSS). There is limited evidence relating to the effect of CDSS in a prehospital setting. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of CDSS on compliance with the basic assessment process described in the prehospital CG and the effect of On Scene Time (OST). METHODS: In this time-series study, data from prehospital medical records were collected on a weekly basis during the study period. Medical records were rated with the guidance of a rating protocol and data on OST were collected. The difference between baseline and the intervention period was assessed by a segmented regression. RESULTS: In this study, 371 patients were included. Compliance with the assessment process described in the prehospital CG was stable during the baseline period. Following the introduction of the CDSS, compliance rose significantly. The post-intervention slope was stable. The CDSS had no significant effect on OST. CONCLUSIONS: The use of CDSS in prehospital care has the ability to increase compliance with the assessment process of patients with a medical emergency. This study was unable to demonstrate any effects of OST.

Extinction of affective learning: No evidence for dual process accounts of human learning

The acquisition and extinction of affective valence to neutral geometrical shape conditional stimuli was investigated in three experiments. Experiment 1 employed a differential conditioning procedure with aversive shock USs. Differential electrodermal responding was evident during acquisition and lost during extinction. As indexed by verbal ratings, the CS1 acquired negative valence during acquisition,which was reduced after extinction. Affective priming, a reaction time based demand free measure of stimulus valence, failed to provide evidence for affective learning. Experiment 2 employed pictures of happy and angry faces as USs.Valence ratings after acquisitionweremore positive for theCS paired with happy faces (CS-H) and less positive for the CS paired with angry faces (CS-A) than during baseline. Extinction training reduced the extent of acquired valence significantly for both CSs, however, ratings of the CS-A remained different from baseline. Affective priming confirmed these results yielding differences between CS-A and CS-H after acquisition for pleasant and unpleasant targets, but for pleasant targets only after extinction. Experiment 3 replicated the design of Experiment 2, but presented the US pictures backwardly masked. Neither rating nor affective priming measures yielded any evidence for affective learning. The present results confirm across two different experimental procedures that, contrary to predictions from dual process accounts of human learning, affective learning is subject to extinction.

China's proposing behavior in Global Governance: the cases of the WTO Doha Round negotiation and G-20 process

This article examines China's proposals on the reform of global governance, and discusses the main features of China's proposing behavior in the cases of the WTO Doha Round negotiation and G-20 Process. The main findings are: (1) in the critical junctures of global governance reform, China engaged the reform of the global governance institutions proactively, and put forward a series of reform proposals; (2) in proposing behavior, China argued the global governance institutions should be properly adjusted without intention to change the basic principles, refrained from playing a leadership role while proposing jointly with other countries, and upheld the principled idea of pro-development.

The UN peacebuilding process: an analysis of its shortcomings in Timor-Leste

This paper brings a comprehensive analysis of the peacebuilding process conducted by the UN in Timor-Leste. Drawing on fieldwork, interviews, and secondary sources, the paper brings light to the main fragilities of this process. Firstly, the paper briefly outlines the scholarly debate around UN peacebuilding process. Then, the paper brings an overview of the UN missions deployed to Timor-Leste. Finally, the paper identifies the major limitations of such engagement. By highlighting the main flaws of this peacebuilding process, the paper opens the space for (re)thinking alternative ways of building peace in post-conflict scenarios.

Importância do rating na padronização de debêntures

As debêntures padronizadas possibilitam aos investidores prescindir de complexas análises contratuais e cálculos sofisticados em mercados secundários. Este artigo analisa, com base em contratos de debêntures não padronizados, se, caso as diferenças contratuais fossem controladas estatisticamente, os ratings dessas debêntures seriam suficientes para captar os custos inerentes nas taxas de juros de suas emissões. Para tanto, analisamos uma amostra de 24 emissões de debêntures no período de 1999-2001, e verificamos se houve alguma diferença estatisticamente significativa (distribuição binomial) nas cláusulas contratuais entre as emissões com elevado rating e baixo rating. Concluímos que, para ratings elevados, a padronização afeta as taxas de juros como reflexo de seu rating. Contudo, para ratings baixos, a padronização não capta diferenças contratuais específicas, tais como repactuação programada e garantia.

How middle managers contribute to strategy formation process: connection of strategy processes and strategy practices

The role of middle management is essential when managing integrative and emergent strategy formation processes. We stand out the importance of its role connecting micro and macro organizational level offering a very important contribution when examining the strategy-as-practice perspective and integrative strategy formation process. The main goal of this research is to analyse the relationship between the integrative strategy formation process and the roles of middle management under the strategy-as-practice perspective. To check it out we adopted a qualitative methodology droving a case analysis in a Spanish University. Data was collected by means of personal interviews with members of different levels of the Institution, documents analysis and direct observation. In advance of some results we find out that the University develops an integrative strategy formation process and confers to middle management an important role extended all over the organization.