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The make‐or‐buy decision has been performed on the assumption that cost data are deterministic and accurate. The data available to decision makers are often highly imprecise because of estimation inaccuracy and/or errors in measurement. The bounded interval estimate is a common allowance scheme to compensate for the inherent estimating error. Applies the propagation of errors technique to evaluate make‐or‐buy alternatives with estimate errors. The numerical examples show how the proposed error analysis generates more discerning power when assessing competing alternatives.

This study explores the main factors considered when shippers and container shipping lines select their import/export and transshipment ports. In the present study, 38 container port selection indices were chosen from the previous research and field interviews. The scores of the 38 items were collected via survey to the three major maritime/port market players: shippers, shipping lines, and container terminal operators. In order to analyze the different priorities imposed on the port selection factors by the three market players, the ANOVA method has been employed. The empirical test shows the different perceptions about port selection attributes among service suppliers and demanders. In addition, the 38 items have been categorized into seven key factors through an exploratory factor analysis. The ANOVA technique was employed again to analyze the perspective differences for the port selection factors among the market players. The results show that there are significant differences among the players assessing the importance of the three port choice factors: liners and terminal operators give more weight to ‘hinterland and terminal basic conditions’ than shippers; terminal operators do not take ‘line operation’ as seriously as carriers and shippers; the factor of ‘terminal operation’ is more significantly considered by liners and terminal operators than by shippers.

With data from the 2003 and 2005 National Minority Business Owners Survey, we examined the extent to which minority business owners differ from nonminority business owners in their reported use of adjustment strategies, and the relationship between the use of adjustment strategies and perceived business success. The sample consisted of 193 African American, 200 Mexican American, 200 Korean American, and 210 white business owners. Mexican American and Korean American business owners reported higher levels of adjustment strategy use than African American and white business owners. The ordinary least squares show that reallocating family resources to meet business needs and reallocating business resources to meet family needs were negatively associated with perceived business success, whereas hiring paid help was positively associated with perceived business success.

The purpose of this conceptual article is to examine the role of villainification and heroification in social studies through critically analyzing the author’s place-based encounters with three civil war narratives.

The article describes the author’s critical reflections on three narratives involving confederate figures and examines theoretical and pedagogical implications.

The article introduces a spectrum of ethical judgments which plots villainification and heroification on opposing ends. The author advocates for more nuanced ethical judgments that contextualize decisions as understandable or defensible based on evidence. The term understandable reflects a concept of being able to explain (i.e. demonstrate understanding) why a curricular figure made certain choices without agreeing with or supporting those choices. The term defensible denotes the existence of evidence that provides a rationale for a choice such that the person making the ethical judgment would feel comfortable making (i.e. defending) the same choice.

The article introduces a theory of nuanced ethical judgments in social studies that maps onto existing literature on heroification, villainification and place-based education. Pedagogical implications for social studies education are also identified.

Gives a bibliographical review of the finite element methods (FEMs) applied for the linear and nonlinear, static and dynamic analyses of basic structural elements from the theoretical as well as practical points of view. The range of applications of FEMs in this area is wide and cannot be presented in a single paper; therefore aims to give the reader an encyclopaedic view on the subject. The bibliography at the end of the paper contains 2,025 references to papers, conference proceedings and theses/dissertations dealing with the analysis of beams, columns, rods, bars, cables, discs, blades, shafts, membranes, plates and shells that were published in 1992‐1995.

This study investigates how a tax agency would assess the liability of a taxpayer who has first adopted a new, controversial tax‐saving scheme, which might be employed by other taxpayers. The tax agency’s post‐audit assessment to the first taxpayer influences whether and how the innovation will diffuse among taxpayers. We find that it is optimal for the tax agency to settle the issue regardless of whether and how fast the innovation diffuses. A trial is too costly an option for the agency: losing in court would make the innovation public knowledge, and other taxpayers would immediately adopt the new scheme. Neither the number of other taxpayers nor the speed of diffusion affects the amount of the optimal post‐audit assessment. These results suggest that a tax practitioner who markets a new tax‐saving scheme need not limit the speed of diffusion for fear of an aggressive response from the agency.

As an interruption to existing nationalistic and neoliberal frames, teachers are beginning to embrace cosmopolitanism to ground literacy instruction. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the possibilities and tensions of using a cosmopolitan approach to literacy instruction. This chapter presents a qualitative study of interviews with 24 educators from the United States, Belize, and China to examine curricular and instructional choices educators report using to promote students' global meaning-making and cosmopolitan worldviews. Findings include three themes: situated relevance, glocal connections, and intercultural collaboration. Participants reported that creating a welcoming environment and promoting equality in the local classroom is foundational to teaching students at the local or global level. Teaching global literacies included teaching about similarities and differences locally and internationally and making local–global connections on issues of importance to the students. Also, participants reported that for students to engage in global meaning-making, they needed to dialogue and collaborate with people from different countries. While the findings present possibilities, the discussion approaches the data through the lens of potential challenges. Some participants reported first helping students move beyond ethnocentric thinking and stereotypes through reflexive exercises so that students could constructively interact with peers cross-culturally. However, not all participants taught reflexivity or with a critical lens. This study may bring awareness to educators as to curricular choices and instructional processes that hold promise for promoting students' global meaning-making.

Reviews the sizing systems developed in several countries — the USA, Austria, England, Germany, Hungary, Japan and South Korea. A comparison of these systems shows that: the way of labelling garment sizes has varied from one sizing system to another; most of the sizing systems classified figure types by height and drop value (the difference between hip girth and bust girth measurements), and the way of classifying garments and the key dimensions of garment types in each system was slightly different. Recognizing the need for greater uniformity, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) developed an international size labelling system. Many countries, including England, Japan, South Korea and Hungary, revised their size labelling systems by adopting the ISO system.