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The purpose of this paper is to unveil any underlying relationships between contractor inputs and performance outputs. The outcome of the reported study is intended to help identify the inputs, which have more significant impacts on contractor performance outputs and therefore, help formulate more reliable “upfront” (ex ante) performance assessment criteria, hence improving approaches to the contractor‐selection process.

A case study was conducted on the Performance Assessment Scoring System (PASS) of a large public client in Hong Kong to determine the Pearson product‐moment correlation between the scores of various input assessments and output assessments.

The findings revealed relationships between some of the input assessment scores and the output results. Emerging as positive, all the discerned relationships confirmed that better outputs did in fact relate well to better inputs.

The PASS system is designed to be very objective, hence the criteria and assessment of inputs may be restricted to easily measurable items. The sample size obtainable was small, but still considered to be adequate for this initial study.

Construction clients could choose to improve their contractor selection processes by identifying and incorporating contractor input factors that are seen to influence performance outputs. Contractors can also improve their outputs by focusing on the identified critical inputs.

Few studies have sought to discern relationships between contractor inputs and their performance outputs through a quantitative approach. This case study provided a methodology, incorporating a statistics‐based approach along with examples and explanations of how inputs can influence contractor outputs.

The purpose of this paper is to present functional requirements for bibliographic records (FRBR)‐based model and functional requirements for authority data (FRAD)‐based model; both of which incorporate an event concept that transforms FRBR and FRAD with minimal modification.

Relationships between the entities defined in FRBR/FRAD are transformed into event entities and relationships with other kinds of entities. The cardinality of those relationships is also examined. In addition, a comparison of the proposed FRBR‐based model with the object‐oriented FRBR (FRBR_OO) is conducted.

In the proposed event‐aware FRBR model, an event and its output resource are dependent on each other and necessary information about an event can be expressed with information about its output resource, and vice versa. Therefore, the usefulness and expressiveness of the proposed model is limited. In the FRBR_OO model, dependency between an event and its output resource is not observed, except in a few cases, since a different resource and event modeling was adopted there. The event‐aware FRAD model proposed is useful – but also the scope of its usefulness limited since dependency between an event and its input/output resource is not observed on some event entities.

The proposed models are meaningful in terms of understanding the basic structure and features of a model that incorporates an event concept. The usefulness and limitation of event modeling have been clarified through such model building. The proposed models provide a stable basis for examining FRBR/FRAD further.

Because of the importance and potential usefulness of construction market statistics to firms and government, consistency between different sources of data is examined with a view to building a predictive model of construction output using construction data alone. However, a comparison of Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Office for National Statistics (ONS) series shows that the correlation coefcient (used as a measure of consistency) of the DTI output and DTI orders data and the correlation coefficient of the DTI output and ONS output data are low. It is not possible to derive a predictive model of DTI output based on DTI orders data alone. The question arises whether or not an alternative independent source of data may be used to predict DTI output data. Independent data produced by Emap Glenigan (EG), based on planning applications, potentially offers such a source of information. The EG data records the value of planning applications and their planned start and finish dates. However, as this data is ex ante and is not correlated with DTI output it is not possible to use this data to describe the volume of actual construction output. Nor is it possible to use the EG planning data to predict DTI construc‐tion orders data. Further consideration of the issues raised reveal that it is not practically possible to develop a consistent predictive model of construction output using construction statistics gathered at different stages in the development process.

Examines the fifthteenth published year of the ITCRR. Runs the whole gamut of textile innovation, research and testing, some of which investigates hitherto untouched aspects. Subjects discussed include cotton fabric processing, asbestos substitutes, textile adjuncts to cardiovascular surgery, wet textile processes, hand evaluation, nanotechnology, thermoplastic composites, robotic ironing, protective clothing (agricultural and industrial), ecological aspects of fibre properties – to name but a few! There would appear to be no limit to the future potential for textile applications.

Efficiency has not been the most familiar concept in the vocabulary of the personal social services in recent years. Some of the more obvious reasons for this having been the post‐Seebohm emphasis on expansion; the lack of clarity about service outputs and objectives; and the relative failure of the economics profession, with only a few exceptions, to concern itself with developments in this area in contrast with, say, the National Health Service. However, now that the post‐oil crisis economic recession has reduced prospects for growth in the personal and other social and public services almost to zero, in the short to medium term, the efficient use of resources assumes greater importance. This is in complete contrast to recent experience when, during the years of rapid expansion, efficiency was, inevitably, a poor second to the objective of maximising inputs. That is not to suggest that resources were deliberately wasted, but the development of new services in a growing number of areas, often on an ad hoc basis, meant that some inefficiency was unavoidable. Now the economic climate has changed and it is vital that the recession is used as a period of consolidation. Existing practices need to be rigorously examined in the search for more cost‐effective methods of achieving objectives. If this can be done at all successfully it will provide managers in the social services with much greater flexibility to meet the increasing pressures of future demands and conflicting priorities, and might even prevent that blunt instrument, the pro rata cut, being over employed. Of course, even the most efficient authority may not be able to avoid some cuts in service provision, but these will be most easily kept to a minimum by identifying areas where genuine savings can be made.

An informal survey conducted by Arthur D. Little, Inc., about three years ago showed that there were 200 corporations in the United States that, at one time or another, have used input‐output in some form in their corporate planning work. Of these 200 corporations, all of which have sales in excess of $500 million annually, 60 firms indicated that they used input‐output regularly and intended to continue to do so. From some other informal questionnaires that ADL circulated among some 50 or so major United States' corporations for whom it had undertaken input‐output studies, it was found that input‐output analysis was typically used in connection with forecasting work. A few other types of application have been made that tie directly into corporate planning.

In this chapter, the authors argue that organizational controls are best depicted and studied as sets of control configurations. Concepts from extant control research streams describing basic control elements as well as ideal types of control systems are used to identify and classify control configurations. The authors present compositional distinctions among four control configurations using a decade-long case study of a start-up company. By displaying how specific control elements are simultaneously distinct and intertwined in this company, the authors reveal significant theoretical insights that can assist scholars in distinguishing between different configurational patterns and in comprehending dynamics present in holistic perspectives of control. The authors conclude by discussing how conceptualizing controls as configurations most accurately reflects both organizational and managerial practice in ways that can motivate the development of new theories and approaches to studying this key aspect of organizational design. Because control configurations inherently reflect interdisciplinary concerns, and because such configurations affect the attainment of strategic goals, this work provides findings and ideas that fit the interests of a broad audience.

The results of five experiments on design of work stations are discussed. The first two experiments investigated the effects of work surface height on performance, the third investigated eye‐hand coordination at two heights and directions of movement, the fourth investigated both height and direction of movement, and the fifth studied the effect of angle and direction (in versus out) of movement. It was found that the optimum height is about one inch below the elbow. The effect of angle at a height is important: the best moves for a right‐hand movement are at 45 degrees.

Survey data were used to determine the influence of job satisfaction on the publication output of librarians in Nigerian universities. A stratified random sampling method was used to select 202 librarians working in 22 out of the 35 university libraries in Nigeria. A multiple regression statistical analysis was employed to examine the influence of job satisfaction on publication output of librarians. The results of the empirical analysis indicate that of the six dimensions of job satisfaction used in the study, only three (librarians’ levels of satisfaction with their achievement responsibility and recognition) had a significant influence on their publication output. Other dimensions including salary, university library policies and administration, and supervision, had no significant influence on their publication output. The study also reveals that the intrinsic job satisfaction dimensions were the greatest influence on the quantity of publications among the sample population. This should be given top priority. However, the extrinsic job satisfaction dimensions which do not influence publication output should not be neglected, rather they could be improved to enhance job satisfaction and raise publication productivity.