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Preface The functions of business divide into several areas and the general focus of this book is on one of the most important although least understood of these—DISTRIBUTION. The particular focus is on reviewing current practice in distribution costing and on attempting to push the frontiers back a little by suggesting some new approaches to overcome previously defined shortcomings.

Contemporary literature reveals that, to date, the poultry livestock sector has not received sufficient research attention. This particular industry suffers from unstructured supply chain practices, lack of awareness of the implications of the sustainability concept and failure to recycle poultry wastes. The current research thus attempts to develop an integrated supply chain model in the context of poultry industry in Bangladesh. The study considers both sustainability and supply chain issues in order to incorporate them in the poultry supply chain. By placing the forward and reverse supply chains in a single framework, existing problems can be resolved to gain economic, social and environmental benefits, which will be more sustainable than the present practices.

The theoretical underpinning of this research is ‘sustainability’ and the ‘supply chain processes’ in order to examine possible improvements in the poultry production process along with waste management. The research adopts the positivist paradigm and ‘design science’ methods with the support of system dynamics (SD) and the case study methods. Initially, a mental model is developed followed by the causal loop diagram based on in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and observation techniques. The causal model helps to understand the linkages between the associated variables for each issue. Finally, the causal loop diagram is transformed into a stock and flow (quantitative) model, which is a prerequisite for SD-based simulation modelling. A decision support system (DSS) is then developed to analyse the complex decision-making process along the supply chains.

The findings reveal that integration of the supply chain can bring economic, social and environmental sustainability along with a structured production process. It is also observed that the poultry industry can apply the model outcomes in the real-life practices with minor adjustments. This present research has both theoretical and practical implications. The proposed model’s unique characteristics in mitigating the existing problems are supported by the sustainability and supply chain theories. As for practical implications, the poultry industry in Bangladesh can follow the proposed supply chain structure (as par the research model) and test various policies via simulation prior to its application. Positive outcomes of the simulation study may provide enough confidence to implement the desired changes within the industry and their supply chain networks.

Addresses the standardization of the measurements and the labels for concepts commonly used in the study of work organizations. As a reference handbook and research tool, seeks to improve measurement in the study of work organizations and to facilitate the teaching of introductory courses in this subject. Focuses solely on work organizations, that is, social systems in which members work for money. Defines measurement and distinguishes four levels: nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio. Selects specific measures on the basis of quality, diversity, simplicity and availability and evaluates each measure for its validity and reliability. Employs a set of 38 concepts ‐ ranging from “absenteeism” to “turnover” as the handbook’s frame of reference. Concludes by reviewing organizational measurement over the past 30 years and recommending future measurement reseach.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a methodology for the comparison of business units and to illustrate its implementation. Job stress is introduced as a mediator variable. A postal company is taken as a case study and its three business units are compared. The units (i.e. employees who have direct contact with customers) analyzed are postal clerks, couriers and call center operators.

Quantitative data were collected using two questionnaires: the first to assess the state of predefined organizational parameters, and the second to measure the stress levels of employees. The χ² test of independence (χ² test) and Fisher’s exact test are used to calculate correlation. Work stress score and stress distribution index, which are proposed in this study, are used to quantify the levels of stress, the state of organizational parameters and possible improvement points, as well as to compare the business units.

According to the results, the most demanding job is that of couriers, followed by postal clerks and call center operators.

The proposed model could be used to assess and improve businesses and to reduce the stress levels of employees. Further, a model for the comparison of business units might be a useful tool for managers in defining working hours, breaks, length of holiday periods and even in creating a wage structure.

Purpose – The integration of librarians and technologists to deliver information services represents a new and costly organizational challenge for many library administrators. To understand how to control the costs of integration, this study uses structural contingency theory to study the coordination of librarians and technologists within the information commons.

Design/methodology/approach – This study tests the structural contingency theory expectation that an organization will achieve higher levels of performance when there is a positive relationship between the degree of workflow interdependence and the complexity of coordinative structures necessary to integrate these workflows. This expectation was tested by (a) identifying and collecting a sample of information common; (b) developing and validating survey instruments to test the proposition; and (c) quantitatively analyzing the data to test the proposed contingency theory relationship.

Findings – The contingency theory expectations were confirmed by finding both a positive relationship between coordination and interdependence and a positive relationship between perceptions of performance and degree of congruency between interdependence and coordination.

Limitations – The findings of this study are limited to both the context of an information common and the structures tested. Future research should seek to both broaden the context in which these findings are applicable, and test additional structural relationships as proposed by contingency theory

Practical implications – This study contributes to the library profession in a number of ways. First, it suggests that managers can improve IC performance by matching coordination structures to the degree of interdependence. For instance, when librarians and technologists are strictly co-located, managers should coordinate workflows using less resource-intensive policies rather than meetings. Second, the instruments developed in this study will improve the library manager's ability to measure and report unit interdependence and coordination in a valid and reliable manner. Lastly, it also contributes to the study of structural contingency theory by presenting one of the first empirical confirmations of a positive relationship between interdependence and coordination.

Originality/value – This study represents one of the first empirical confirmations of the structural contingency theory expectations of both a positive relationship between workflow interdependence and coordination, and a positive relationship between performance and coordination's fit to workflow interdependence. These findings are of value to both organizational theorists and to administrators of information commons.

This chapter introduces four research methods that are not covered in the previous chapters. They are (1) non-parametric statistics, (2) interpretive structural modeling, (3) analytic hierarchy process, and (4) data envelopment analysis. The methods are discussed with examples. The discussion, however, is introductory; so we urge the reader to go through the pertinent references for details.

Reports the results of an empirical investigation conducted for the purposes of exploring the issue of unit selection and the sales comparison approach. The proximate motivation of this study was in determining how non‐reinforcing appraisal estimates may be addressed. The investigation proceeds by exploring two possible criteria through which the reliability of appraisal estimates may be measured. The first involves the percentage error made in price per unit of comparison (UOC), while the second concerns the total valuation error in the appraisal of real property. Results involve the utilization of the coefficient of variation and the Markov inequality, and may assist appraisers when different units of comparison yield non‐reinforcing estimates of value. It is shown that maximum confidence in guaranteeing that the percentage error between the estimated and actual price per UOC lies within a tolerance level chosen ex‐ante obtains through choosing the UOC with the minimum coefficient of variation. Total valuation error is minimized as a function of the standard deviation for the price per UOC, the sample size, and the UOC’s value for the real property being appraised. While minimum per unit percentage error may be obtained utilizing a particular UOC, the minimization of total valuation error may imply the utilization of an alternative unit. It is shown for the empirical analysis conducted, that when two common units of comparison are considered ‐ acreage and front footage ‐ both percentage and total valuation error were minimized through the use of price per acre rather than price per front foot.

The Nature of Business Policy Business policy — or general management — is concerned with the following six major functions:

Action in international marketing is usually preceded by research. Most international marketing research reports are built on a skeleton of currently available international socio‐economic, demographic and social indicators. The author in this paper argues that the currently available indicators used by marketing analysts have in many cases little comparative value and are in many cases inadequate for, or irrelevant to, the requirements of marketing. He uses in illustration the needs of a specific project that had as its objective the prediction of the different levels of retail distribution in Western Europe. The limitations of available international indicators are analysed. Preferable alternatives are proposed. Some of these require original research: others the restructuring of existing data. It is also urged that it is a basic pre‐requisite that international marketing analysis be made at the level of the sub‐national region — not at national level. The formation of a specifically‐oriented Marketing Indicators Working Party is proposed.

1.1. Logical Necessity of the Three Dimensions as a Unit of Thought The mathematician does not look kindly on the simple question of why natural space should consist of precisely three dimensions. Instead of giving an answer he assumes a silent smile and shows us a version of space with an infinity of dimensions, as if space were some kind of toy for him to fiddle with to his heart's content.