Total acquisition cost of overseas outsourcing/sourcing: A framework and a case study

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework of total acquisition cost of overseas outsourcing/sourcing in manufacturing industry. This framework contains categorized cost items that may occur during the overseas outsourcing/sourcing process. The framework was tested by a case study to establish both its feasibility and usability. Design/methodology/approach - First, interviews were carried out with practitioners who have the experience of overseas outsourcing/sourcing in order to obtain inputs from industry. The framework was then built up based on combined inputs from literature and from practitioners. Finally, the framework was tested by a case study in a multinational high-tech manufacturer to establish both its feasibility and usability. Findings - A practical barrier for implementing this framework is shortage of information. The predictability of the cost items in the framework varies. How to deal with the trade off between accuracy and applicability is a problem needed to be solved in the future research. Originality/value - There are always limitations to the generalizations that can be made from just one case. However, despite these limitations, this case study is believed to have shown the general requirement of modeling the uncertainty and dealing with the dilemma between accuracy and applicability in practice. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

No evidence for an item limit in change detection.

Change detection is a classic paradigm that has been used for decades to argue that working memory can hold no more than a fixed number of items ("item-limit models"). Recent findings force us to consider the alternative view that working memory is limited by the precision in stimulus encoding, with mean precision decreasing with increasing set size ("continuous-resource models"). Most previous studies that used the change detection paradigm have ignored effects of limited encoding precision by using highly discriminable stimuli and only large changes. We conducted two change detection experiments (orientation and color) in which change magnitudes were drawn from a wide range, including small changes. In a rigorous comparison of five models, we found no evidence of an item limit. Instead, human change detection performance was best explained by a continuous-resource model in which encoding precision is variable across items and trials even at a given set size. This model accounts for comparison errors in a principled, probabilistic manner. Our findings sharply challenge the theoretical basis for most neural studies of working memory capacity.

Faith in the Landscape : Overseas Pilgrimages in 'The Book of Margery Kempe'

Watt, D. (2006). Faith in the Landscape: Overseas Pilgrimages in 'The Book of Margery Kempe'. In C. Lees and G. Overing (Eds.), A Place to Believe In: Locating Medieval Landscapes (pp.170-187). University Park (PA): Pennsylvania State University Press. RAE2008

The DSpace Course - Item Submission Workflows

This module will introduce the item submission workflows available in DSpace. Workflows allow submissions to be checked before entering the repository. Submissions may be checked for accuracy, in order to improve the metadata, or simply to decide if they are OK to be archived. The module will show the three workflow steps available in DSpace, along with details about adding, changing and removing them from the submission process of collections.

Neonatal Facial Coding System for assessing postoperative pain in infants:item reduction is valid and feasible

The objectives of this study were to: (1). evaluate the validity of the Neonatal Facial Coding System (NFCS) for assessment of postoperative pain and (2). explore whether the number of NFCS facial actions could be reduced for assessing postoperative pain.

Adaption and adjustment of military spouses to overseas postings: An online forum study

Little research has examined the impact of being an accompanying spouse on British military foreign postings. The aim of this qualitative study was to investigate the experiences of 13 military spouses from 11 different overseas locations. Data were collected via an online forum and thematic content analysis was conducted. Key findings revealed that, regardless of the location, reactions to overseas posting varied considerably and were related to the military spouse's personality and personal circumstances, as well as their relationship with family, husband and their support networks. Spouses experienced a loss of control over their lives that was in some cases psychologically distressing. The findings corroborate and extend the findings from a previous study that was limited to one location, further highlighting the need for pre-established support resources from the military and healthcare professionals to be readily accessible for all military spouses. Importantly, such support provision may also facilitate the military spouse in regaining some control over their everyday life, enhancing their well-being and the experience for the family.

Is a single item stress measure independently associated with subsequent severe injury: a prospective cohort study of 16,385 forest industry employees

Background: A previous review showed that high stress increases the risk of occupational injury by three- to five-fold. However, most of the prior studies have relied on short follow-ups. In this prospective cohort study we examined the effect of stress on recorded hospitalised injuries in an 8-year follow-up.
Methods: A total of 16,385 employees of a Finnish forest company responded to the questionnaire. Perceived stress was measured with a validated single-item measure, and analysed in relation recorded hospitalised injuries from 1986 to 2008. We used Cox proportional hazard regression models to examine the prospective associations between work stress, injuries and confounding factors.
Results: Highly stressed participants were approximately 40% more likely to be hospitalised due to injury over the follow-up period than participants with low stress. This association remained significant after adjustment for age, gender, marital status, occupational status, educational level, and physical work environment.
Conclusions: High stress is associated with an increased risk of severe injury.

The Development and Testing of a New Version of the Cognitive Reflection Test Applying Item Response Theory (IRT)

The cognitive reflection test (CRT) is a short measure of a person's ability to resist intuitive response tendencies and to produce a normatively correct response, which is based on effortful reasoning. Although the CRT is a very popular measure, its psychometric properties have not been extensively investigated. A major limitation of the CRT is the difficulty of the items, which can lead to floor effects in populations other than highly educated adults. The present study aimed at investigating the psychometric properties of the CRT applying item response theory analyses (a two-parameter logistic model) and at developing a new version of the scale (the CRT-long), which is appropriate for participants with both lower and higher levels of cognitive reflection. The results demonstrated the good psychometric properties of the original, as well as the new scale. The validity of the new scale was also assessed by measuring correlations with various indicators of intelligence, numeracy, reasoning and decision-making skills, and thinking dispositions. Moreover, we present evidence for the suitability of the new scale to be used with developmental samples. Finally, by comparing the performance of adolescents and young adults on the CRT and CRT-long, we report the first investigation into the development of cognitive reflection.

Can less be more? Comparison of an 8-item placement quality measure with the 50-item Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM)

Clinical clerks learn more than they are taught and not all they learn can be measured. As a result, curriculum leaders evaluate clinical educational environments. The quantitative Dundee Ready Environment Measure (DREEM) is a de facto standard for that purpose. Its 50 items and 5 subscales were developed by consensus. Reasoning that an instrument would perform best if it were underpinned by a clearly conceptualized link between environment and learning as well as psychometric evidence, we developed the mixed methods Manchester Clinical Placement Index (MCPI), eliminated redundant items, and published validity evidence for its 8 item and 2 subscale structure. Here, we set out to compare MCPI with DREEM. 104 students on full-time clinical placements completed both measures three times during a single academic year. There was good agreement and at least as good discrimination between placements with the smaller MCPI. Total MCPI scores and the mean score of its 5-item learning environment subscale allowed ten raters to distinguish between the quality of educational environments. Twenty raters were needed for the 3-item MCPI training subscale and the DREEM scale and its subscales. MCPI compares favourably with DREEM in that one-sixth the number of items perform at least as well psychometrically, it provides formative free text data, and it is founded on the widely shared assumption that communities of practice make good learning environments.