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The study aims to design the limited number of random working cycle as a warranty term and propose two types of warranties, which can help manufacturers to ensure the product reliability during the warranty period. By extending the proposed warranty to the consumer's post-warranty maintenance model, besides the authors investigate two kinds of random maintenance policies to sustain the post-warranty reliability, i.e. random replacement first and random replacement last. By integrating depreciation expense depending on working time, the cost rate is constructed for each random maintenance policy and some special cases are provided by discussing parameters in cost rates. Finally, sensitivities on both the proposed warranty and random maintenance policies are analyzed in numerical experiments.

The working cycle of products can be monitored by advanced sensors and measuring technologies. By monitoring the working cycle, manufacturers can design warranty policies to ensure product reliability performance and consumers can model the post-warranty maintenance to sustain the post-warranty reliability. In this article, the authors design a limited number of random working cycles as a warranty term and propose two types of warranties, which can help manufacturers to ensure the product reliability performance during the warranty period. By extending a proposed warranty to the consumer's post-warranty maintenance model, the authors investigate two kinds of random replacement policies to sustain the post-warranty reliability, i.e. random replacement first and random replacement last. By integrating a depreciation expense depending on working time, the cost rate is constructed for each random replacement and some special cases are provided by discussing parameters in the cost rate. Finally, sensitivities to both the proposed warranties and random replacements are analyzed in numerical experiments.

It is shown that the manufacturer can control the warranty cost by limiting number of random working cycle. For the consumer, when the number of random working cycle is designed as a greater warranty limit, the cost rate can be reduced while the post-warranty period can't be lengthened.

The contribution of this article can be highlighted in two key aspects: (1) the authors investigate early warranties to ensure reliability performance of the product which executes successively projects at random working cycles; (2) by integrating random working cycles into the post-warranty period, the authors is the first to investigate random maintenance policy to sustain the post-warranty reliability from the consumer's perspective, which seldom appears in the existing literature.

What characterizes the relationships with intermediaries that are soon to be replaced, and are the replacements successful? The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The study applies a longitudinal design. The paper conducted a survey among a sample of exporters concerning their relationships with independent intermediaries in terms of trust, commitment, communication, control and two performance variables; financial performance and strategic goal achievement. Five years thereafter the author contacted the same companies again and questioned which independent intermediaries had been replaced in the period. The author then compared the replaced intermediaries with the extended intermediaries before they were replaced and analysed changes in the evaluations of the relationships and of the performance after the replacement.

The relationships with terminated intermediaries that were replaced by sales subsidiary or home-based direct sales were characterized having higher trust, communication and control than extended relationships before replacement. While it may be surprising that these quite successful relationships were terminated, this is in line with internationalization process theories. The replacements, both intermediaries that were replaced by other intermediaries and by sales subsidiary/home-based direct sales, were highly successful in terms of improvement in performance and behavioural relationship variables.

The empirical findings are limited by the sample and by data collection from the principal only in the dyadic relations.

International independent intermediaries should analyse the likelihood of being replaced by the principal because the relationship or the performance is unsatisfactory, but also because of satisfactory evaluations. Terminations of satisfactory relationships tend to be accompanied by change in operation mode to internal organization. The independent intermediary should in such cases build a defence structure against unwanted termination and/or prepare for buyout. The success of the replacements suggests that international marketers benefit from being proactive in replacing intermediaries with new intermediaries or with a hierarchal entry mode.

This is the first study that applies most of these variables from interorganizational relations theory in the study of international independent intermediary replacements. It is also the first to give insight into the consequences of intermediary terminations.

Notes that the so‐called age replacement model was first proposed to determine the optimum age limit at which the system is replaced after installation. It was then extended by further assuming that the one‐unit system is supported by a buffer which stores only one spare for replacement, and that whenever each replacement starts, one new unit is ordered and then arrives at the buffer in a random delivery time. Others have studied the same model but with the restriction that each new unit will be ordered in a deterministic lead time later, after each replacement starts. This article extends the age replacement model by taking into consideration the possibility that the unit, on arrival, may not be acceptable after test. The expression of the long‐run average cost per unit time is then derived. How to find the optimum age limit which minimizes such an expression is studied and two numerical examples are presented.

We formulate a multi‐attribute decision model for preventive replacement of a “magnetic sealing head” in a soft‐drink producing factory in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In case of failure of this part, the opportunity cost (for production losses) is very important, as the entire production line will be idle. We determine in a first case the replacement policy that minimizes the total expected unit cost of replacement (preventive and corrective). Next, we determine the optimal policy that maximizes the expected multi‐attribute utility of the decision‐maker in the factory. Four attributes are considered in the replacement problem, namely cost, quality, labor productivity, and cash flow availability. The optimal policy in each case outperforms by far the one applied in the plant, which turns out to be costly and inefficient with respect to the utility of the decision‐maker.

Proposes a replacement model for all types of library equipment — both audiovisual and computer. The model enables managers to develop a consistent capital equipment replacement budget based on such factors as equipment longevity, level of use, and technological advances. Also discusses machine reassignment as an alternative to obsolescence.

Examines a study carried out on the acquisition of consumer durables by a selection of English households. Reveals the class structure of ownership, the proportion of first acquisitions and replacements, and the reasons for timing. Presents an analysis based on the returns of 548 households successfully interviewed and extensive use of tables by way of explanation. Summarises that the data gathered demonstrated the method employed and the results indicate it was worthwhile.

A number of factors, including market competitiveness, the legal framework and increasing consumer expectations, are causing a focus on customer service of which complaint handling is a major part. Companies can accrue considerable advantages from taking complaint handling seriously, e.g. use of complaint data at strategic as well as operational level, reduced likelihood of legal proceedings, improved marketing intelligence, increased brand loyalty and internal marketing benefits. One of the most efficient ways of improving complaint handling is to computerize the process. Discusses some advantages of this and briefly describes one system already used by many companies.

Consideration can be defined as the process of giving careful thought to something. When an IEP team considers the instructional programming and related goals and objectives for a student identified eligible for special education services, the process gives careful attention to a multitude of factors from different perspectives that result in individualized instruction for that student. Similarly, when assistive technology is considered for students with certain learning characteristics, careful attention must be given to ensure that the recommended assistive technology is required for the student to be successful and reflects an appropriate match between him/her and the tools (Zabala, 1995, 1996). For example, given that prescription eyeglasses can be considered assistive technology, and that a certain degree of visual acuity is generally needed in order for an individual to visually access print, one can see the importance of ensuring that the prescription is indeed required for an individual to perform and is appropriately matched to the visual needs of the individual. If eyeglasses are arbitrarily assigned to an individual, they may serve as an obstacle for the individual to see properly, thus, hampering his/her overall performance.

The campaign for striker replacement legislation, which began in the late 1980s and had effectively ended by the mid-1990s, was the most important political battle over labor legislation since the defeat of the Labor Law Reform Bill in 1978. Striker replacement was the AFL-CIO’s top legislative priority in the early 1990s and, coming quickly after the passage of NAFTA, which labor had opposed, the defeat of its campaign solidified organized labor’s reputation for failure in legislative battles. As yet, however, the political campaign for striker replacement legislation has attracted surprisingly little attention from industrial relations scholars.

A cow that fails to conceive must either be kept for a year without revenue or replaced by a bred heifer. This choice is a unique case of comparing investments with different economic lives because the potential replacement asset is just a newer version of the old asset. In this study, a net present value model is developed that eliminates the problem of finding a common timeframe. Results indicate there are often times producers should keep the open cow. Whenever feed costs are low, the price differential between cull cows and replacement heifers is high, or the calf crop value is low, retaining open cows becomes more desirable.