Advanced manufacturing technology and work design:towards a theoretical framework

This paper introduces a theoretical framework to guide research into the psychological effects of advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) on shopfloor operators. The framework has two main aspects. First, based on the emerging literature on the job content implications of AMT, it identifies four key constructs, namely: control, cognitive demand, production responsibility and social interaction. Second, by drawing on the more established job design, stress and related literatures, it predicts how these independent variables differentially affect system performance, job-related strain and job satisfaction. The wider implications and limitations of the theoretical framework are discussed.

Personality across working life:the longitudinal and reciprocal influences of personality on work

Summary: This paper focuses on the role of personality at different stages of people's working lives. We begin by reviewing the research in industrial, work, and organizational (IWO) psychology regarding the longitudinal and dynamic influences of personality as an independent variable at different career stages, structuring our review around a framework of people's working lives and careers over time. Next, we review recent studies in the personality and developmental psychology domain regarding the influence of changing life roles on personality. In this domain, personality also serves as a dependent variable. By blending these two domains, it becomes clear that the study of reciprocal effects of work and personality might open a new angle in IWO psychology's long-standing tradition of personality research. To this end, we outline various implications for conceptual development (e.g., trait stability) and empirical research (e.g., personality and work incongruence). Finally, we discuss some methodological and statistical considerations for research in this new research domain. In the end, our review should enrich the way that IWO psychologists understand personality at work, focusing away from its unidirectional predictivist influence on job performance toward a more complex longitudinal reciprocal interplay of personality and working life. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Engaging with a world outside of ourselves:vistas of flatness, children's work and the urban informal economy

This paper considers the work and labour of children living on the streets of Accra, Ghana. It does so in two distinctive ways. First, it considers how the children's photographs of a day or two in their working lives, and the dialogues that go on in, through and around them, may contribute to the making of strong sociological arguments about children's work. In so doing, this paper elaborates the connections between visual sociology and realist traditions of photography, and argues that photographs can contribute distinctive and novel sources of insight into working children's lives and a powerful, humanising media of dissemination. Second, these arguments are then deployed to examine street children's experiences of work. Conceptualised in terms of its 'flatness', the paper explores the informal means of regulation through which the children are locked into types of working that prove difficult to escape. © Sociological Research Online, 1996-2012.

Engaging employers as partners in work-based learning assessment:proposal for a quality enhancement framework

This paper seeks to advance research and practice related to the role of employers in all stages of the assessment process of work-based learning (WBL) within a tripartite relationship of higher education institution (HEI), student and employer. It proposes a research-informed quality enhancement framework to develop good practice in engaging employers as partners in assessment. The Enhancement Framework comprises three dimensions, each of which includes elements and questions generated by the experiences of WBL students, HEI staff and employers. The three dimensions of the Enhancement Framework are: 1. ‘premises of assessment’ encompassing issues of learning, inclusion, standards and value; 2. ‘practice’, encompassing stages of assessment made up of course design, assessment task, responsibilities, support, grading and feedback; 3. ‘communication of assessment’ with the emphasis on role clarity, language and pathways. With its prompt questions, the Enhancement Framework may be used as a capacity-building tool for promoting, sustaining, benchmarking and evaluating productive dialogue and critical reflection about assessment between WBL partners. The paper concludes by emphasising the need for professional development as well as policy and research development, so that assessment in WBL can more closely correspond to the potentially transformative nature of the learning experience.

Work-based HE pathways for the electrical power engineering industry

Aston University has been working closely with key companies from within the electricity industry for several years, initially in the development and delivery of an employer-led foundation degree programme in electrical power engineering, and more recently, in the development of a progression pathway for foundation degree graduates to achieve a Bachelors-level qualification. The Electrical Power Engineering foundation degree was developed in close consultation with the industry such that the programme is essentially owned by the sector. Programme delivery has required significant shifts away from traditional HE teaching patterns whilst maintaining the quality requirement and without compromise of the academic degree standard. Block teaching (2-week slots), partnership delivery, off-site student support and work-based learning have all presented challenges as we have sought to maximise the student learning experience and to ensure that the graduates are fit-for purpose and "hit the ground running" within a defined career structure for sponsoring companies. This paper will outline the skills challenges facing the sector; describe programme developments and delivery challenges; before articulating some observations and conclusions around programme effectiveness, impact of foundation degree graduates in the workplace and the significance of the close working relationship with key sponsoring companies. Copyright © 2012, September.

Constructing spaces for strategic work:a multimodal perspective

In this paper we take seriously the call for strategy-as-practice research to address the material, spatial and bodily aspects of strategic work. Drawing on a video-ethnographic study of strategic episodes in a financial trading context, we develop a conceptual framework that elaborates on strategic work as socially accomplished within particular spaces that are constructed through different orchestrations of material, bodily and discursive resources. Building on the findings, our study identifies three types of strategic work - private work, collaborative work and negotiating work - that are accomplished within three distinct spaces that are constructed through multimodal constellations of semiotic resources. We show that these spaces, and the activities performed within them, are continuously shifting in ways that enable and constrain the particular outcomes of a strategic episode. Our framework contributes to the strategy-as-practice literature by identifying the importance of spaces in conducting strategic work and providing insight into the way that these spaces are constructed.

Personal Work Space and Content Analysis Functionality in a Cultural Heritage Digital Library

The paper presents a different vision for personalization of the user’s stay in a cultural heritage digital library that models services for personalized content marking, commenting and analyzing that doesn’t require strict user profile, but aims at adjusting the user’s individual needs. The solution is borrowed from real work and studying of traditional written content sources (incl. books, manuals), where the user mainly performs activities such as underlining the important parts of the content, writing notes and inferences, selecting and marking zones of their interest in pictures, etc. In the paper a special attention is paid to the ability to execute learning analysis allowing different ways for the user to experience the digital library content with more creative settings.

Modern Training Tools for Binding Design and Paper Conservation of Antique Books, Albums and Documents (BBINDING)

Report published in the Proceedings of the National Conference on "Education in the Information Society", Plovdiv, May, 2013

Towards a multilevel model of the high performance work systems–workplace safety relationship

Human Resource (HR) systems and practices generally referred to as High Performance Work Practices (HPWPs), (Huselid, 1995) (sometimes termed High Commitment Work Practices or High Involvement Work Practices) have attracted much research attention in past decades. Although many conceptualizations of the construct have been proposed, there is general agreement that HPWPs encompass a bundle or set of HR practices including sophisticated staffing, intensive training and development, incentive-based compensation, performance management, initiatives aimed at increasing employee participation and involvement, job safety and security, and work design (e.g. Pfeffer, 1998). It is argued that these practices either directly and indirectly influence the extent to which employees’ knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics are utilized in the organization. Research spanning nearly 20 years has provided considerable empirical evidence for relationships between HPWPs and various measures of performance including increased productivity, improved customer service, and reduced turnover (e.g. Guthrie, 2001; Belt & Giles, 2009). With the exception of a few papers (e.g., Laursen &Foss, 2003), this literature appears to lack focus on how HPWPs influence or foster more innovative-related attitudes and behaviours, extra role behaviors, and performance. This situation exists despite the vast evidence demonstrating the importance of innovation, proactivity, and creativity in its various forms to individual, group, and organizational performance outcomes. Several pertinent issues arise when considering HPWPs and their relationship to innovation and performance outcomes. At a broad level is the issue of which HPWPs are related to which innovation-related variables. Another issue not well identified in research relates to employees’ perceptions of HPWPs: does an employee actually perceive the HPWP –outcomes relationship? No matter how well HPWPs are designed, if they are not perceived and experienced by employees to be effective or worthwhile then their likely success in achieving positive outcomes is limited. At another level, research needs to consider the mechanisms through which HPWPs influence –innovation and performance. The research question here relates to what possible mediating variables are important to the success or failure of HPWPs in impacting innovative behaviours and attitudes and what are the potential process considerations? These questions call for theory refinement and the development of more comprehensive models of the HPWP-innovation/performance relationship that include intermediate linkages and boundary conditions (Ferris, Hochwarter, Buckley, Harrell-Cook, & Frink, 1999). While there are many calls for this type of research to be made a high priority, to date, researchers have made few inroads into answering these questions. This symposium brings together researchers from Australia, Europe, Asia and Africa to examine these various questions relating to the HPWP-innovation-performance relationship. Each paper discusses a HPWP and potential variables that can facilitate or hinder the effects of these practices on innovation- and performance- related outcomes. The first paper by Johnston and Becker explores the HPWPs in relation to work design in a disaster response organization that shifts quickly from business as usual to rapid response. The researchers examine how the enactment of the organizational response is devolved to groups and individuals. Moreover, they assess motivational characteristics that exist in dual work designs (normal operations and periods of disaster activation) and the implications for innovation. The second paper by Jørgensen reports the results of an investigation into training and development practices and innovative work behaviors (IWBs) in Danish organizations. Research on how to design and implement training and development initiatives to support IWBs and innovation in general is surprisingly scant and often vague. This research investigates the mechanisms by which training and development initiatives influence employee behaviors associated with innovation, and provides insights into how training and development can be used effectively by firms to attract and retain valuable human capital in knowledge-intensive firms. The next two papers in this symposium consider the role of employee perceptions of HPWPs and their relationships to innovation-related variables and performance. First, Bish and Newton examine perceptions of the characteristics and awareness of occupational health and safety (OHS) practices and their relationship to individual level adaptability and proactivity in an Australian public service organization. The authors explore the role of perceived supportive and visionary leadership and its impact on the OHS policy-adaptability/proactivity relationship. The study highlights the positive main effects of awareness and characteristics of OHS polices, and supportive and visionary leadership on individual adaptability and proactivity. It also highlights the important moderating effects of leadership in the OHS policy-adaptability/proactivity relationship. Okhawere and Davis present a conceptual model developed for a Nigerian study in the safety-critical oil and gas industry that takes a multi-level approach to the HPWP-safety relationship. Adopting a social exchange perspective, they propose that at the organizational level, organizational climate for safety mediates the relationship between enacted HPWS’s and organizational safety performance (prescribed and extra role performance). At the individual level, the experience of HPWP impacts on individual behaviors and attitudes in organizations, here operationalized as safety knowledge, skills and motivation, and these influence individual safety performance. However these latter relationships are moderated by organizational climate for safety. A positive organizational climate for safety strengthens the relationship between individual safety behaviors and attitudes and individual-level safety performance, therefore suggesting a cross-level boundary condition. The model includes both safety performance (behaviors) and organizational level safety outcomes, operationalized as accidents, injuries, and fatalities. The final paper of this symposium by Zhang and Liu explores leader development and relationship between transformational leadership and employee creativity and innovation in China. The authors further develop a model that incorporates the effects of extrinsic motivation (pay for performance: PFP) and employee collectivism in the leader-employee creativity relationship. The papers’ contributions include the incorporation of a PFP effect on creativity as moderator, rather than predictor in most studies; the exploration of the PFP effect from both fairness and strength perspectives; the advancement of knowledge on the impact of collectivism on the leader- employee creativity link. Last, this is the first study to examine three-way interactional effects among leader-member exchange (LMX), PFP and collectivism, thus, enriches our understanding of promoting employee creativity. In conclusion, this symposium draws upon the findings of four empirical studies and one conceptual study to provide an insight into understanding how different variables facilitate or potentially hinder the influence various HPWPs on innovation and performance. We will propose a number of questions for further consideration and discussion. The symposium will address the Conference Theme of ‘Capitalism in Question' by highlighting how HPWPs can promote financial health and performance of organizations while maintaining a high level of regard and respect for employees and organizational stakeholders. Furthermore, the focus on different countries and cultures explores the overall research question in relation to different modes or stages of development of capitalism.

Perspective work on optical fibre sensors

Optical fibre based sensors are transforming industry by permitting monitoring in hitherto inaccessible environments or measurement approaches that cannot be reproduced using conventional electronic sensors. A multitude of techniques have been developed to render the fibres sensitive to a wide range of parameters including: temperature, strain, pressure (static and dynamic), acceleration, rotation, gas type, and specific biochemical species. Constructed entirely of glass or polymer material, optical fibre devices like fibre gratings offer the properties: low loss, dielectric construction, small size, multiplexing, and so on [1-3]. In this paper, the authors will show the latest developing industrial applications, using polymer optical fibre (POF) devices, and comparing their performance with silica optical fibre devices. The authors address two pressing commercial requirements. The first concerns the monitoring of fuel level in civil aircraft. There is a strong motivation in the aerospace industry to move away from electrical sensors, especially in the fuel system. This is driven by the need to eliminate potential ignition hazards, the desire to reduce cabling weight and the need to mitigate the effects of lightning strikes in aircraft where the conventional metallic skin is increasingly being replaced by composite materials. In this case, the authors have developed pressure sensors based on a diaphragm in which a polymer fibre Bragg grating (POFBG) has been embedded [3]. These devices provide high pressure sensitivity enabling level measurement in the mm range. Also, it has developed an approach incorporating several such sensors which can compensate for temperature drifts and is insensitive to fluid density. Compared with silica fibre-based sensors, their performance is highly enhanced. Initial results have attracted the interest of Airbus from UK, who is keen to explore the potential of optical technology in commercial aircraft. The second concerns the monitoring of acoustic signals and vibration in the subsea environment, for applications in geophysical surveying and security (detection of unwanted craft or personnel). There is strong motivation to move away from electrical sensors due to the bulk of the sensor and associated cabling and the impossibility of monitoring over large distances without electrical amplification. Optical approaches like optical hydrophones [5] offer a means of overcoming these difficulties. In collaboration with Kongsberg from Norway, the authors will exploit the sensitivity improvements possible by using POF instead of silica fibre. These improvements will arise as a result of the much more compliant nature of POF compared to silica fibre (3 GPa vs 72 GPa, respectively). Essentially, and despite the strain sensitivity of silica and POFBGs being very similar, this renders the POF much more sensitive to the applied stress resulting from acoustic signals or vibration. An alternative way of viewing this is that the POF is better impedance-matched to the surrounding environment (water for the intended applications), because although its impedance is higher than that of water, it is nearly an order of magnitude smaller than that of silica. Finally, other future industrial applications will be presented and discussed, showing the vast range of the optical fiber devices in sensing applications.

Munkaszervezés a lean termelésben – mit magyaráznak a termelésmenedzsment koncepciók = Work organization in lean production – what production concepts explain

A tanulmány a lean termelés munkaszervezését három termelésmenedzsment koncepció segítségével vizsgálja. Az egyes koncepciók a szervezet eltérő metszeteit érintik: (1) a termék-folyamat mátrix (Hayes és Wheelwright, 1979) a termék és a folyamat jellemzőit helyezi középpontba. A lean hatására a szervezet a mátrixban a nagyobb választék és a folyamat alapú működés (nagyobb függőség) irányába mozdul el. Az elmozdulást üzemi szinten a magas elkötelezettségű munkavégzési rendszer gyakorlatainak bevezetése kíséri, mivel azok támogatják a rugalmas működést, a gyors kommunikációt és problémamegoldást. Az elmozdulás „minősége” és így a munkaszervezési gyakorlatok használata (mélyég, száma, munkavállalók bevonása) nagyban függ a termelési stratégiától és a lean érettségtől. (2) A termelési stratégia szakaszai (Wheelwright és Hayes, 1985) a termelés üzleti stratégiában játszott szerepét elemzik. A lean termelés összeegyeztethető a termelési stratégia harmadik szakaszának „command és control” szemléletmódjával. Az ilyen lean termelők költégfókuszúak, a hagyományos munkaerőképben gondolkodnak és körükben kevésbé jellemző az új emberi erőforrás gyakorlatok használata. A lean termelés adaptálása ösztönözheti a vállalatokat a termelési stratégia negyedik szintje felé. A negyedik szint a bevonásra, problémamegoldásra és tanulásra épít, amely megfelel a lean „emberek tisztelete” pillérének. (3) A lean érettségi modell (Hines és társai, 2004) a lean szervezeten belüli elmélyülését és terjedését mutatja be. A lean utazás során a vállalatok az eszköz alapú megközelítéstől a komplex értékrendszerben gondolkodó lean szervezet felé haladnak. A technikai tudásanyag egyre szélesebb körűvé válik, ami rávilágít a tudásátadás (személyek közöttire, de akár struktúrákba, folyamatokba építése is) képességének jelentőségére. Az emberi erőforrás gyakorlatok folyamatosan jelennek meg. De csak a legfejlettebb szakasz, a lean tanuló szervezet megjelenése teszi valóban szükségessé a munkavállalói kép újragondolását is. = This paper examines work organization in lean production with the help of three production concepts. These concepts embrace different dimensions of the organization: (1) the product-process matrix (Hayes and Wheelwright, 1979) is about product and process characteristics. Due to the lean the organization shifts within the matrix – towards higher variability and flow (higher level of interdependencies). On the shop floor the shift is accompanied by the introduction of high commitment work system’s practices, since those support flexible operations, fast communication and problem-solving. The „quality” of the shift and hence the application of these work practices (number of practices, their embeddeness, employee involvement) highly depends on manufacturing strategy and lean maturity. (2) The concept of stages of manufacturing strategy (Wheelwright and Hayes, 1985) analyzes the role of the manufacturing function in the business strategy. Lean production is compatible with the „command and control” approach of the third stage of manufacturing strategy. These lean producers are cost-driven, they have the traditional approach of employees and apply new work organization practices to a less extent. However, the implementation of lean production may drive these companies to the fourth stage. The fourth stage of manufacturing strategy is based on employee involvement, problem-solving and learning. This stage is in full accordance with the „respect for people” pillar of lean production. (3) Lean maturity (Hines et al., 2004) shows the path how lean management deepens and expands within an organization. During the lean journey, companies progress from the tool-based approach to the complex lean value system. The technical knowledge of lean becomes more and more comprehensive and it points out the crucial importance of knowledge conversion capabilities (intrapersonal or even how to build knowledge into structures, processes). Work organization practices constantly appear with the progress, but the review of the traditional approach of employees is only essential at the most advanced stage, when an organization becomes lean learning organization.

A versenyképesség aktuális kérdései a pénzügyekben - Összefoglaló a pénzügyi kutatócsoport munkájáról = Current issues of competitiveness - Summary on the work of the Finance research team

A pénzügy kutatócsoport a TÁMOP-4.2.1.B-09/1/KMR-2010-0005 azonosítójú projektjében igen szerteágazó elemzési munkát végzett. Rámutattunk, hogy a különböző szintű gazdasági szereplők megnövekedett tőkeáttétele egyértelműen a rendszerkockázat növekedéséhez vezet, hiszen nő az egyes szereplők csődjének valószínűsége. Ha a tőkeáttételt eltérő mértékben és ütemben korlátozzák az egyes szektorokban, országokban akkor a korlátozást később bevezető szereplők egyértelműen versenyelőnyhöz jutnak. Az egyes pénzügyi intézmények tőkeallokációját vizsgálva kimutattuk, hogy a különféle divíziók közt mindig lehetséges a működés fedezetésül szolgáló tőkét (kockázatot) úgy felosztani, hogy a megállapodás felmondás egyik érintettnek se álljon érdekében. Ezt azonban nem lehet minden szempontból igazságosan megtenni, így egyes üzletágak versenyhátrányba kerülhetnek, ha a konkurens piaci szereplők az adott tevékenységet kevésbé igazságtalanul terhelték meg. Kimutattunk, hogy az egyes nyugdíjpénztárak befektetési tevékenységének eredményességére nagy hatással van a magánnyugdíjpénztárak tevékenységének szabályozása. Ezek a jogszabályok a társadalom hosszú távú versenyképességére vannak hatással. Rámutattunk arra is, hogy a gazdasági válság előtt a hazai bankok sem voltak képesek ügyfeleik kockázatviselő képességét helyesen megítélni, ráadásul jutalékrendszerük nem is tette ebben érdekelté azokat. Számos vizsgálatunk foglalkozott a magyar vállalatok versenyképességének alakulásával is. Megvizsgáltuk a különféle adónemek, árfolyamkockázatok és finanszírozási politikák versenyképességet befolyásoló hatását. Külön kutatás vizsgálta a kamatlábak ingadozásának és az hitelekhez kapcsolódó eszközfedezet meglétének vállalati értékre gyakorolt hatásait. Rámutattunk a nemfizetés növekvő kockázatára, és áttekintettük a lehetséges és a ténylegesen alkalmazott kezelési stratégiákat is. Megvizsgáltuk azt is, hogy a tőzsdei cégek tulajdonosai miként használják ki az osztalékfizetéshez kapcsolódó adóoptimalizálási lehetőségeket. Gyakorlati piaci tapasztalataik alapján az adóelkerülő kereskedést a befektetők a részvények egy jelentős részénél végrehajtják. Külön kutatás foglakozott a szellemi tőke hazai vállalatoknál játszott szerepéről. Ez alapján a cégek a problémát 2009-ben lényegesen magasabb szakértelemmel kezelték, mint öt esztendővel korábban. Rámutattunk arra is, hogy a tulajdonosi háttér lényeges hatást gyakorolhat arra, ahogyan a cégek célrendszerüket felépítik, illetve ahogy az intellektuális javakra tekintenek. _____ The Finance research team has covered a wide range of research fields while taking part at project TÁMOP-4.2.1.B-09/1/KMR-2010-0005. It has been shown that the increasing financial gearing at the different economic actors clearly leads to growth in systematic risk as the probability of bankruptcy climbs upwards. Once the leverage is limited at different levels and at different points in time for the different sectors, countries introducing the limitations later gain clearly a competitive advantage. When investigating the leverage at financial institutions we found that the capital requirement of the operation can always be divided among divisions so that none of them would be better of with cancelling the cooperation. But this cannot be always done fairly from all point of view meaning some of the divisions may face a competitive disadvantage if competitors charge their similar division less unfairly. Research has also shown that the regulation of private pension funds has vital effect on the profitability of the investment activity of the funds. These laws and regulations do not only affect the funds themselves but also the competitiveness of the whole society. We have also fund that Hungarian banks were unable to estimate correctly the risk taking ability of their clients before the economic crisis. On the top of that the bank were not even interested in that due to their commission based income model. We also carried out several research on the competitiveness of the Hungarian firms. The effect of taxes, currency rate risks, and financing policies on competitiveness has been analysed in detail. A separate research project was dedicated to the effect of the interest rate volatility and asset collaterals linked to debts on the value of the firm. The increasing risk of non-payment has been underlined and we also reviewed the adequate management strategies potentially available and used in real life. We also investigated how the shareholders of listed companies use the tax optimising possibilities linked to dividend payments. Based on our findings on the Hungarian markets the owners perform the tax evading trades in case of the most shares. A separate research has been carried out on the role played by intellectual capital. After that the Hungarian companies dealt with the problem in 2009 with far higher proficiency than five years earlier. We also pointed out that the ownership structure has a considerable influence on how firms structure their aims and view their intangible assets.

Deeds and Consequences: Ethical Issues in a Welfare-to-Work Program

This paper explores the impact of a lack of sensitivity to the ethical issues that surfaced in a specific welfare-to-work program on participants’ perceptions, self-esteem, and motivation. Ethical issues in three areas were identified and discussed: (a) professionalism and accountability, (b) participant and provider relationships, and (c) shared responsibilities.

Evaluation of the evidential value of the elemental composition of glass, ink and paper by laser-based microspectrochemical methods

Elemental analysis can become an important piece of evidence to assist the solution of a case. The work presented in this dissertation aims to evaluate the evidential value of the elemental composition of three particular matrices: ink, paper and glass. In the first part of this study, the analytical performance of LIBS and LA-ICP-MS methods was evaluated for paper, writing inks and printing inks. A total of 350 ink specimens were examined including black and blue gel inks, ballpoint inks, inkjets and toners originating from several manufacturing sources and/or batches. The paper collection set consisted of over 200 paper specimens originating from 20 different paper sources produced by 10 different plants. Micro-homogeneity studies show smaller variation of elemental compositions within a single source (i.e., sheet, pen or cartridge) than the observed variation between different sources (i.e., brands, types, batches). Significant and detectable differences in the elemental profile of the inks and paper were observed between samples originating from different sources (discrimination of 87–100% of samples, depending on the sample set under investigation and the method applied). These results support the use of elemental analysis, using LA-ICP-MS and LIBS, for the examination of documents and provide additional discrimination to the currently used techniques in document examination. In the second part of this study, a direct comparison between four analytical methods (µ-XRF, solution-ICP-MS, LA-ICP-MS and LIBS) was conducted for glass analyses using interlaboratory studies. The data provided by 21 participants were used to assess the performance of the analytical methods in associating glass samples from the same source and differentiating different sources, as well as the use of different match criteria (confidence interval (±6s, ±5s, ±4s, ±3s, ±2s), modified confidence interval, t-test (sequential univariate, p=0.05 and p=0.01), t-test with Bonferroni correction (for multivariate comparisons), range overlap, and Hotelling's T2 tests. Error rates (Type 1 and Type 2) are reported for the use of each of these match criteria and depend on the heterogeneity of the glass sources, the repeatability between analytical measurements, and the number of elements that were measured. The study provided recommendations for analytical performance-based parameters for µ-XRF and LA-ICP-MS as well as the best performing match criteria for both analytical techniques, which can be applied now by forensic glass examiners.