Search results

For decades, the Department of Defense (DoD) has employed numerous reporting and monitoring tools for characterizing the acquisition cost estimates of its programs. These tools have led to dozens of studies thoroughly documenting the magnitude and extent of DoD acquisition cost growth. However, little attention has been paid to the behavior of the other main cost component of a system's life cycle cost: Operating and Support (O&S) costs. Consequently, the DoD has little knowledge regarding the accuracy of O&S cost estimates or how that accuracy changes over time. In a previous paper, the authors described an analytical methodology for remedying this deficiency via a study to characterize the historical accuracy of O&S cost estimates. The results are presented here, and indicate there tend to be large errors in DoD O&S cost estimates, and that the accuracy of the estimates improves little over time

The purpose of this paper is to present a preliminary study of the effect of the presence at work of employees' dogs on stress and organizational perceptions.

A pre‐post between‐group design with repeated measures was used to compare differences between employees who bring their dogs to work (DOG group), employees who do not bring their dogs to work (NODOG group), and employees without pets (NOPET group) on physiological and perceived stress, perceptions of job satisfaction, organizational affective commitment, and perceived organizational support.

Combined groups scored significantly higher on multiple job satisfaction subscales than the reference norm group for these scales. No significant differences were found between the groups on physiological stress or perceived organizational support. Although perceived stress was similar at baseline; over the course of the day, stress declined for the DOG group with their dogs present and increased for the NODOG and NOPET groups. The NODOG group had significantly higher stress than the DOG group by the end of the day. A significant difference was found in the stress patterns for the DOG group on days their dogs were present and absent. On dog absent days, owners' stress increased throughout the day, mirroring the pattern of the NODOG group.

This paper provides the first quantitative exploratory study of the effects of pet dogs in the workplace setting on employee stress and perceptions of satisfaction, support and commitment.

To study the advantages of a modular approach to packaging‐machine design.

Introduces the modular approach of this German company, with particular emphasis on its packaging robots and vision system. Uses a selection of food and pharmaceutical applications to illustrate the flexibility, capability and throughput of these compact packaging lines. Briefly, mentions other innovative features of the company's product range.

The company has reduced its top‐loading range of packaging machinery to just seven modules, of which a two‐ and a four‐axis robot greatly assist operational flexibility. A patented counterflow conveyor system unites products and packing boxes in a space‐saving layout. The de‐central control system reduces installation costs and assists trouble‐shooting.

Illustrates the power of robot technology in achieving a new approach to a particular type of automated machinery.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the ongoing data and evaluation strategies being used to document the impact of the Guilford County Family Justice Center, which has been in operation for nearly four years.

There are four primary ongoing data and evaluation strategies used to tell the story of the impact of the family justice center (FJC) on the community: tracking services provided by the FJC, collecting annual data from partner agencies, conducting week-long censuses and doing an annual survey of professionals affiliated with the FJC and its partner organizations. (The current paper reports on the first three of these strategies.)

Methodological limitations of the evaluation strategies used warrant caution in interpreting the findings of the ongoing evaluation of the Guilford County FJC. However, preliminary evaluation findings indicate support for the center’s positive impact on the community it serves, including in the number of clients served, a reduction in domestic violence-related homicide rates and the creation of new community resources that emerged through the FJC partnership.

Each of the evaluation strategies used in this study holds inherent strengths and limitations, which are discussed in the paper. Beyond the future evaluation of local FJCs, a range of rigorous methodologies can be used to further explore the impact of the FJC model. Qualitative methods may be useful for gaining an in-depth understanding of victims’ and survivors’ perceptions of accessing resources through an FJC, as well as for studying beliefs and attitudes toward FJCs among various community stakeholders. Quantitative methods can be used to apply more complex statistical analyses to comparing indicators of the impact of FJCs over time.

The data and evaluation findings from the Guilford County FJC add support to the potential positive impact of the FJC model on communities. These preliminary data suggest that FJCs can impact communities by offering support to victims and coordinating resources among partner organizations. Collaborative partnerships can be leveraged to lead to broader community changes that strengthen community-level responses to interpersonal violence through greater community awareness, opportunities for community members to contribute to solutions and the establishment of new resources that emerge from needs identified through the partnership.

Overall, there is a pressing need for research examining various aspects of the FJC model and identifying factors that contribute to its success at fostering collaboration, supporting victims and survivors, holding offenders accountable and preventing future violence. With the rapid growth of the FJC models, the need for research and evaluation to document the effectiveness and limitations of the model is high.

Designed to serve as a one-stop shop for victims of domestic violence and other forms of violence to seek help, FJCs offer, within a single location, multiple services from a variety of professional disciplines. These services include law enforcement, victim advocacy and prosecution. Although the FJC model is expanding rapidly across the USA and internationally, research to date is limited, and thus, the current paper will add to the research and evaluation basis for the FJC movement.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a selected bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy.

Introduces and annotates English-language periodical articles, monographs and other materials on library instruction and information literacy published in 2013.

Provides information about each source, discusses the characteristics of current scholarship and describes sources that contain unique scholarly contributions and quality reproductions.

The information may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a selected bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy.

Introduces and annotates periodical articles, monographs, and audiovisual material examining library instruction and information literacy.

Provides information about each source, discusses the characteristics of current scholarship, and describes sources that contain unique scholarly contributions and quality reproductions.

The information may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.

M & T Chemicals have announced the appointment of Mr David Smith as Director of PCB Systems and as a member of the company's Board of Management. Mr Smith, who was formerly Sales and Marketing Director of Lea Ronal (UK) Ltd, has had more than seventeen years experience in the printed circuit industry.

WE tell our students to concentrate on policy rather than practice, and this I propose to do here. But I am sure that librarians are interested in the way in which our policy is implemented, so there will be some account of our selection procedures. Some questions of principle will be examined as they arise from the facts given; others will be left to later sections of this paper.

Extant research has examined consumer acceptance of the internet in various contexts mainly as a dichotomy (adoption/non‐adoption), thus ignoring the process underlying adoption. This paper aims to provide insights into factors determining the extent to which an innovation is adopted.

The paper reviews the literature on the technology acceptance model (TAM), and justifies the use of this model to explore the factors contributing to the extent to which consumers use the internet as a distribution channel for financial services (FS). Data are collected through telephone interviews with 300 UK consumers responding to a questionnaire.

The application of the TAM model is helpful but additional links need to be included. The key drivers of extent of use are past experience with the internet as a purchasing channel (for non‐FS) and attitudinal aspects, i.e. positive emotions towards the internet as a distribution channel for FS. Insecurity about this channel does not appear to be an obstacle and perceived usefulness is not directly linked to extent of use but fully mediated via attitude towards the channel. Consumers with computer access from home, those with an active interest in FS, as well as consumers who have general online purchasing experience tend to find this channel easy to use, which, jointly with perceived usefulness, leads to a positive attitude toward this distribution channel.

The findings are limited to the FS online retail context and may not be generalisable beyond this context. Future research should be considered using a longitudinal approach.

FS retail providers should consider prior experience with the internet as a distribution channel and product category involvement as segmentation bases, and also provide more opportunities for consumers to try and observe the internet as a distribution channel.

This research explores the determinants of consumer acceptance of online retailing from a process‐based rather than a binary view of adoption of an innovation.

The World Health Organization has pointed out that the majority of developing countries currently rely on imported drugs, in spite of the fact that there is potential for them to produce their own drugs. The purpose of this paper is to present a framework as an innovation policy model that can strategically predict the outcome of drug development investment in developing countries.

In order to explore a model relevant to the policy-making process, the literature was systematically reviewed with a focus on the impact of policy changes on drug development in developing countries.

An innovation policy model consists of the relational influences of contextual variables of pharma capabilities, innovation incentives and political factors affecting drug development in developing countries, derived from a dissenting policy-making perspective. This was built to test two hypotheses of a positive relationship between the above variables; and a perspectives gap between the pharmaceutical companies and the policymakers. These hypotheses address issues related to the lack of drug development in developing countries.

This paper presents a conceptual framework for the evaluation and provides examples of its use, but it is currently at a relatively early stage of research. Further work is currently underway and will later be presented to the same journal.

Domestic drug development in developing countries needs to be feasible in order to ensure drug security. This predictive policy model provides a comprehensive approach to health policy reforms to examine innovation strategies.

This model includes measures to explore whether pharma capabilities, innovation incentives and/or political factors have an effect on domestic drug development in developing countries. It bridges the policy implementation’s operational process between pharmaceutical companies and policymakers.