Search results

A SIMPLE method for solving problems involving steady flow of grease in pipes or tubing is being developed by the NLGI Subcommittee on Grease Dispensing in Central Systems. The method, based largely on a 1964 NLGI Annual Meeting paper, uses a graphical presentation of the Poiseuille equation for laminar flow. For this purpose, the Subcommittee has prepared charts that are direct reading in pressure drop and flow rate for pipe and tubing sizes commonly used in centralised systems and in transfer of grease from one point to another. The user of the charts must know the apparent viscosity characteristics of the particular grease of interest to him. When these data are plotted on the proposed NLGI chart as lines of shear stress vs. shear rate at constant temperature, various types of flow problems can be solved by drawing a few straight lines on the chart. Since the apparent viscosity is equal to the shear stress divided by the shear rate, the shear stress is found by multiplying each apparent viscosity value by its corresponding shear rate.

Strategic decision making influences organizational performance. However, close examination of this relationship reveals a subtle paradox. It appears that the products of strategic decision making, all of which are necessary for enhanced organizational performance, do not peacefully coexist. Conflict seems to be the crux of this conundrum. As such, a better understanding of conflict's effects on strategic decision making is needed This paper integrates a multidimensional conceptualization of conflict Into a model of strategic decision making and organizational performance and develops propositions to guide empirical study of the effects of conflict on strategic decision making.

Previous researchers (eg. Libby, 1976 and Salamon et al., 1976) have proposed three alternative strategies for improving decisions: (1) changing the information set; (2) replacing the decision maker with a model; and (3) training the user (e.g. with the use of feedback information). The present research focusses on the role of feedback in the prediction of corporate failure. The effect of various types of feedback on human judgments is examined in the present study in two ways. The first section of the paper extends Kessler and Ashton's (1981) study which looked at the impact of several alternative types of feedback. Using 173 advanced undergraduate students as subjects, we find that, contrary to general expectations, both task properties and lens model feedback are not effective for decisions taken within a financial accounting context. Several possible explanations are given for this result. The second section of the paper examines the effect of outcome feedback within a financial accounting context. The participants in this study were 40 advanced undergraduate students. We found that outcome feedback is an effective means for promoting learning even where the task is not highly predictable.

This study tests the premise that conflict between advertising agencies and clients has a cognitive basis — that is, each group weighs decision factors differently, and consequently evaluates campaigns differently. We identified five common decision factors in evaluating campaigns: market research, media planning, message/creativity, budget, and agency/client relationship. Based on these five variables, we used multiple regression‐based judgment analysis to create decision profiles for a group of 120 advertising agency professionals and clients. We compared agencies' and clients' judgments by six categories. Analysis affirmed that cognitive conflict differs by product type, longevity, and campaign purpose; but not by seniority or campaign budget. Clients had less cognitive disagreement with creatives than with agency management.

Research into the antecedents of TMT conflict has become increasingly popular in light of the effects that conflict can have on strategic decision making and organizational performance. Of course, such performance becomes a part of the contextual backdrop against which future decisions are made. Thus, organizational performance is itself an important antecedent of TMT conflict. Using data drawn from the TMTs of 44 mid‐sized public firms, we demonstrate that cognitive and affective conflict relate differently to past performance. The implications of this research for efforts to effectively manage conflict during strategic decision making are discussed.

Auditing researchers have recommended that the use of audit decision models should be subject to cost‐benefit analysis. This paper provides insight into cost‐benefit analysis and its shortcomings as a tool for evaluating audit decision models. The paper also identifies and discusses the limitations of other evaluation methods. Finally, the paper suggests the use of model confidence as an alternative to model value and model validity.

This paper aims to explore the influence of collective orientation (CO) on coordination and team performance for interdependently working teams while controlling for person-related and team variables.

A total of 58 two-person-teams participated in a simulation-based firefighting task. The laboratory study took 2 h for each team. The effects of CO in tasks of increasing complexity were investigated under the consideration of control variables, and the relations between CO, coordination and team performance were assessed using a multivariate latent growth curve modeling approach and by estimating indirect effects in simple mediation models.

Team members high on CO performed significantly better than low-scoring members. The effect of CO on team performance was independent from an increasing task complexity, whereas the effect of CO on coordination was not. The effect of CO on team performance was mediated by coordination within the team, and the positive relation between CO and performance persists when including group efficacy into the model.

As CO is a modifiable person-related variable and important for effective team processes, additional research on factors influencing this attitude during work is assumed to be valuable.

CO is especially important for highly interdependently working teams in high-risk-organizations such as the fire service or nuclear power plants, where errors lead to severe consequences for human beings or the environment.

No other studies showed the importance of CO for coordination and team performance while considering teamwork-relevant variables and the interdependence of work.

Managerial decision-making is an area of interest to both academia and practitioners. Researchers found that managers often fail to manage complex decision-making tasks and system thinkers assert that generic structures known as systems archetypes help them to a great deal in handling such situations. In this paper, it is demonstrated that decision makers resort to lowering of goal (quick-fix) in order to resolve the gap between the goal and current reality in the “drifting the goals” systems archetype.

A real-life case study is taken up to highlight the pitfalls of “drifting the goals” systems archetype for a decision situation in the Indian two-wheeler industry. System dynamics modeling is made use of to obtain the results.

The decision makers fail to realize the pitfall of lowering the goal to resolve the gap between the goal and current reality. It is seen that, irrespective of current less-than-desirable performance, managers adopting corrective actions other than lowering of goals perform better in the long run. Further, it is demonstrated that extending the boundary and experimentation results in designing a better service system and setting benchmarks.

The best possible way to avoid the pitfall is to hold the vision and not lower the long term goal. The managers must be aware of the pitfalls beforehand.

Systems thinking is important in complex decision-making tasks. Managers need to embrace long-term perspective in decision-making. This paper demonstrates the value of systems thinking in terms of a case study on the “drifting the goals” systems archetype.

Construction projects are susceptible to cost and time overruns. Variations from planned schedule and cost estimates can result in huge losses for owners and contractors. In extreme cases, the viability of the project itself is jeopardised as a result of variations from baseline plans. Hence new methods and techniques which assist project managers in forecasting the expected variance in schedule and cost should be developed. This paper proposes a judgment‐based forecasting approach which will identify schedule variances from a baseline plan for typical construction projects. The proposed forecasting approach adopts multiple regression techniques and further utilises neural networks to capture the decision‐making procedure of project experts involved in schedule monitoring and prediction. The models developed were applied to a multistorey building project under construction and were found feasible for use in similar construction projects. The advantages and limitations of these two modelling process for prediction of schedule variance are discussed. The developed models were integrated with existing project management computer systems for the convenient and realistic generation of revised schedules at appropriate junctures during the progress of the project.

Jehn (1992, 1994) developed the Intragroup Conflict Scale (ICS) to measure two theoretically distinct dimensions of conflict: relationship and task conflict. In the years since, the ICS has been widely adopted by researchers as a measurement tool for group conflict. However, limited evidence of the scale's psychometric properties has been published. Following guidelines provided by Schwab (1980) and Hinkin (1995), we assess the construct validity of the scale, using both individual level and group level techniques, and test proposed nomological relationships, using six diverse samples. We conclude that a 6‐item version of the original 9‐item scale best captures relationship and task conflict.