Measuring productive efficiency using Nerlovian profit efficiency indicator and metafrontier analysis

The aim of this paper is to illustrate the measurement of productive efficiency using Nerlovian indicator and metafrontier with data envelopment analysis techniques. Further, we illustrate how profit efficiency of firms operating in different regions can be aggregated into one overarching frontier. Sugarcane production in three regions in Kenya has been used to illustrate these concepts. Results show that the sources of inefficiency in all regions are both technical and allocative, but allocative efficiency contributes more to the overall Nerlovian (in)efficiency indicator. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.

An overall profit Malmquist productivity index with fuzzy and interval data

Although crisp data are fundamentally indispensable for determining the profit Malmquist productivity index (MPI), the observed values in real-world problems are often imprecise or vague. These imprecise or vague data can be suitably characterized with fuzzy and interval methods. In this paper, we reformulate the conventional profit MPI problem as an imprecise data envelopment analysis (DEA) problem, and propose two novel methods for measuring the overall profit MPI when the inputs, outputs, and price vectors are fuzzy or vary in intervals. We develop a fuzzy version of the conventional MPI model by using a ranking method, and solve the model with a commercial off-the-shelf DEA software package. In addition, we define an interval for the overall profit MPI of each decision-making unit (DMU) and divide the DMUs into six groups according to the intervals obtained for their overall profit efficiency and MPIs. We also present two numerical examples to demonstrate the applicability of the two proposed models and exhibit the efficacy of the procedures and algorithms. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

To what extent do currently accepted for-profit new project development success factors apply in the small nonprofit context in the UK?

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Nonprofit leaders and for-profit entrepreneurs:similar people with different motivation

Today's market conditions require nonprofit leaders to act in an increasingly business-like fashion. This study asks whether NPO leaders have a similar disposition to act entrepreneurially as for-profit entrepreneurs, but hold different underlying motives. For this purpose, the study contrasts a sample of 72 leaders of nonprofit organizations with 117 entrepreneurs on their personality traits and explicit motives using standard personality tests and interviews. Both groups exhibit similar general and entrepreneurship-specific personality traits but differ significantly regarding their motivation. While nonprofit leaders' motivation stems primarily from the meaningfulness of their work; entrepreneurs are mainly motivated by the independence as well as by the income and profit provided by their work. This paper helps us understand who leaders of nonprofit organizations are.

Optimising market share and profit margin:SMDP-based tariff pricing under the smart grid paradigm

Smart grid technologies have given rise to a liberalised and decentralised electricity market, enabling energy providers and retailers to have a better understanding of the demand side and its response to pricing signals. This paper puts forward a reinforcement-learning-powered tool aiding an electricity retailer to define the tariff prices it offers, in a bid to optimise its retail strategy. In a competitive market, an energy retailer aims to simultaneously increase the number of contracted customers and its profit margin. We have abstracted the problem of deciding on a tariff price as faced by a retailer, as a semi-Markov decision problem (SMDP). A hierarchical reinforcement learning approach, MaxQ value function decomposition, is applied to solve the SMDP through interactions with the market. To evaluate our trading strategy, we developed a retailer agent (termed AstonTAC) that uses the proposed SMDP framework to act in an open multi-agent simulation environment, the Power Trading Agent Competition (Power TAC). An evaluation and analysis of the 2013 Power TAC finals show that AstonTAC successfully selects sell prices that attract as many customers as necessary to maximise the profit margin. Moreover, during the competition, AstonTAC was the only retailer agent performing well across all retail market settings.

Profit, productivity and price performance changes in the water and sewerage industry:an empirical application for England and Wales

This paper aims to analyse the impact of regulation in the financial performance of the Water and Sewerage companies (WaSCs) in England and Wales over the period 1991–2008. In doing so, a panel index approach is applied across WaSCs over time to decompose unit-specific index number-based profitability growth as a function of the profitability, productivity and price performance growth achieved by benchmark firms, and the catch up to the benchmark firm achieved by less productive firms. The results indicated that after 2000 there is a steady decline in average price performance, while productivity improves resulting in a relatively stable economic profitability. It is suggested that the English and Welsh water regulator is now more focused on passing productivity benefits to consumers, and maintaining stable profitability than it was in earlier regulatory periods. This technique is of great interest for regulators to evaluate the effectiveness of regulation and companies to identify the determinants of profit change and improve future performance, even if sample sizes are limited.

Profit, fenntarthatóság és etika

A nagy német filozófus, Martin Heidegger szerint a modern technológia sodorja végveszélybe az emberi és természeti létezést. A modern technológia ökológiai és etikai veszélyessége kétségtelen, azonban csak a modern vállalati működés segítségével fejti ki a hatásait. A profit-hajszoló modern vállalatok azok, amelyek veszélyeztetik a természeti ökoszisztémák integritását és biológiai sokféleségét, a helyi közösségek autonómiáját és kultúráját, valamint a jövő generációk életesélyeit. A tanulmányban a profit-maximalizálás kritikáját vázoljuk fel, és a gazdasági racionalitás egy átfogó, ökológiai és etikai értelmezését adjuk. Nem a profit eltörléséről van szó, hanem a kíméletlen profit-hajszolás megregulázásáról. A profit a gazdasági cselekvés jogos és természetes gyümölcse, ha az azt létrehozó tevékenység fenntartható és etikus módon megy végbe.

Nagyobb változatosság, több profit. A termékvariánsok számának növelése mint a profitmaximalizálás eszköze

A tanulmány azt a kérdést vizsgálja egy duopólium modellben, hogy egy termelőnek érdemes-e lényegében ugyanazt a terméket több formában, differenciáltan piacra dobnia. A modell ebben a csupasz formájában csak igen korlátozott mértékben épít a játékosok közti interakciókra, egy egyszer˝u szimultán döntési folyamatot ábrázol, azt is statikus környezetben. Az elemzés azt mutatja, hogy a keresleti paraméterek bizonyos értékei mellett még akkor is érdemes új, az eddigiektől eltérő tulajdonságú, differenciált termék piacra vitele, ha annak ára nem tér el a már korábban bevezetett terméktől, és így annál önmagában nem tekinthet˝o nagyobb nyereséget biztosítónak. Az a tény, hogy egy vállalat több differenciált termékvariánst árusít, arra vezet, hogy a korábbi egyensúlyi helyzethez képest kedvezőbb pozícióba kerül, mint a versenytársa.

Profit és/vagy közösségi szerepvállalás? Vállalati társadalmi felelősségvállalás vezetői szemmel

A vállalati társadalmi felelősségvállalás (CSR – corporate social responsibility) fogalma és menedzsmenteszköztára nem ismeretlen a hazai gazdasági életben, díjak, konferenciák, felmérések kapcsolódnak hozzá évről évre. A szerző dolgozatában először röviden elemzi a vállalati társadalmi felelősségvállalás elméleti megközelítéseiben a menedzserek szerepét kiemelő irányokat, majd a felelősségvállalás tartalmára vonatkozóan címszavakban bemutat néhány meghatározó elképzelést, amelyek a vizsgálati kérdések alapjait is adják. Ezt követi a kutatási eredmények bemutatása, majd a további kutatási lehetőségeket is tartalmazó konklúzió.

Factors that differentiate persistence beyond the first session at a for-profit university

An increasing number of students are selecting for-profit universities to pursue their education (Snyder, Tan & Hoffman, 2006). Despite this trend, little empirical research attention has focused on these institutions, and the literature that exists has been classified as rudimentary in nature (Tierney & Hentschke, 2007). The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that differentiated students who persisted beyond the first session at a for-profit university. A mixed methods research design consisting of three strands was utilized. Utilizing the College Student Inventory, student’s self-reported perceptions of what their college experience would be like was collected during strand 1. The second strand of the study utilized a survey design focusing on the beliefs that guided participants’ decisions to attend college. Discriminant analysis was utilized to determine what factors differentiated students who persisted from those who did not. A purposeful sample and semi-structured interview guide was used during the third strand. Data from this strand were analyzed thematically. Students’ self-reported dropout proneness, predicted academic difficulty, attitudes toward educators, sense of financial security, verbal confidence, gender and number of hours worked while enrolled in school differentiated students who persisted in their studies from those who dropped out. Several themes emerged from the interview data collected. Participants noted that financial concerns, how they would balance the demands of college with the demands of their lives, and a lack of knowledge about how colleges operate were barriers to persistence faced by students. College staff and faculty support were reported to be the most significant supports reported by those interviewed. Implications for future research studies and practice are included in this study.

Characterizing Poor Performance in For-Profit and Not-for-Profit Food Service Operations

In this article the authors explore the performance-related employee behaviors that are the most troublesome in food service. Four subsegments of food service were surveyed and differences in profit and not-for-profit operations analyzed. Significant differences were found between the two groups, with for-profit operations indicating more severe problems in all but one behavior category.

Placement for Profit: Menu Item Arrangement on Customer-Activated Computer Screens

Can profitable menu items be placed on a computer screen where they will be selected more readily than other items? The author examines whether printed menu theories and techniques can be applied, with the same results, to a computer menu screen

Best Practices: Lessons Learned by a South Florida Non-Profit Community Based Organization while Designing and Implementing a Career Exploration Evidence Informed Framework in Urban Communities

All A’s was designed to support of the agency’s family strengthening initiatives in South Florida. All A’s uses evidence informed strategies poised to be an inclusive curriculum that teaches self-determination and adaptive behavior skills. The framework incorporates problem based learning and adult learning theory and follows the Universal Design for Learning. Since 2012, the agency has served over 8500 youth and 4,000 adults using the framework. The framework addresses educational underachievement and career readiness in at risk populations. It is used to enhance participants AWARENESS of setting SMART goals to achieve future goals and career aspirations. Participants are provided with ACCESS to resources and opportunities for creating and implementing an ACTION plan as they pursue and ACHIEVE their goals. All A’s promotes protective factors and expose youth to career pathways in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) related fields. Youth participate in college tours, job site visits, job shadowing, high school visits, online college and career preparation assistance, service learning projects, STEM projects, and the Winning Futures© mentoring program. Adults are assisted with résumé development; learn job search strategies, interview techniques, job shadowing experiences, computer and financial literacy programs. Adults and youth are also given the opportunity to complete industry-recognized certifications in high demand industries (food service, general labor, and construction), and test preparation for the General Educational Development Test.