Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods Commons^™

Bayesian Analysis Of Insurance Losses Using The Buhlmann-Straub Credibility Model, Abraham J. Van Der Merwe, Kobus N. Bekker

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

We propose a Bayesian analysis to develop credibility estimates of the well known Biihlmann-Straub model. We describe simple numerical methods to obtain exact posterior distributions and predictive densities under this model. These distributions are obtained through Monte Carlo simulations that generate independent samples from the joint posterior distribution. Our methods are therefore preferable to methods such as Gibbs sampling, which generates dependent samples from the joint distribution. The methods discussed also can be extended to more complicated credibility models.

Analysis Of An Insurance Risk Model With Thinning Dependence And Common Shock, Lai Mei Wan, Kam Chuen Yuen, Wai Keung Li

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

We consider a continuous-time insurance risk model with m dependent classes of business with dependent claim number processes due to thinning dependence and a common shock. The impact of the dependence is studied via the adjustment coefficient. The case m = 2 is investigated analytically for exponential claim distributions and via simulation for non-exponential claim distributions.

The Importance Of Vertical And Shared Leadership Within New Venture Top Management Teams: Implications For The Performance Of Startups, Michael D. Ensley, Keith M. Hmieleski, Craig L. Pearce

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

The current study investigated the relative influence of vertical versus shared leadership within new venture top management teams on the performance of startups using two different samples. Vertical leadership stems from an appointed or formal leader of a team (e.g., the CEO), whereas shared leadership is a form of distributed leadership stemming from within a team. Transformational, transactional, empowering, and directive dimensions of both vertical and shared leadership were examined. New venture performance was considered in terms of revenue growth and employee growth. The first sample was comprised of 66 top management teams of firms drawn from Inc. Magazine’s …

Virtuous Leadership: A Theoretical Model And Research Agenda, Craig L. Pearce, David A. Waldman, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

In this manuscript we attempt to shed light on the concept of virtuous leadership. We first attempt to identify the nature of virtuous leadership. Next, we specify two potential antecedents of virtuous vertical leadership. Specifically, we identify the personal characteristic of responsibility disposition as well as environmental cues as potential predictors of subsequent virtuous leadership. Moreover. we articulate how virtuous vertical leadership might result in virtuous shared leadership. We also demonstrate how both vertical and shared virtuous leadership can act as key factors in the creation of organizational learning. Importantly. we specify several important research implications of our theoretical model. …

Potential Added Value Of Psychological Capital In Predicting Work Attitudes, Milan Larson, Fred Luthans

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

Meeting the challenge of effectively managing human resources requires new thinking and approaches. To extend the traditional perspective of economic capital, increasing recognition is being given to human capital and more recently social capital, this article proposes and empirically tests the potential added value that psychological capital may have for employee attitudes of satisfaction and commitment. After first providing the background and theory of PsyCap, this article reports a study of manufacturing employees (N = 74) that found a significant relationship between PsyCap and job satisfaction (r=.373) and organization commitment (r=.313). Importantly, the employees’ PsyCap had a significant added impact …

Developing The Psychological Capital Of Resiliency, Fred Luthans, Gretchen R Vogelgesang, Paul B. Lester

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

In these turbulent times, we propose the importance of developing the psychological capital dimension of resiliency. After providing the theoretical background and meaning of psychological capital in general and resiliency in particular, the authors present proactive and reactive human resource development (HRD) strategies for its development. The proactive HRD includes increasing psychological assets, decreasing risk factors, and facilitating processes that allow human resources to enhance their resilience. The reactive HRD largely draws from a broaden-and-build model of positive emotions and self-enhancement, external attribution, and hardiness. The article includes specific guidelines for HRD applications and an agenda for future needed research.

The Business Dynamics In Telecommunication Market Consolidation, George Amstad

LSU Master's Theses

The Swiss telecommunication market is quite different from the markets in surrounding European countries. The Swiss Market is characterized by a very small number of competitors and relatively high and stable prices. The model in this thesis explains shows how the limited competition enables the mobile telecommunication service providers to keep prices up. This is due to a oligopoly market situation linked to complicated laws that discourage new competitors to join the Swiss market. Later in 2006, the Swiss federal council will pass the new televisor law, which will make it significantly easier to join the Swiss market. This will …

Comparison Of Data Mining And Statistical Techniques For Classification Model, Rochana Lahiri

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this study is to observe the performance of three statistical and data mining classification models viz., logistic regression, decision tree and neural network models for different sample sizes and sampling methods on three sets of data. It is a 3 by 2 by 3 by 8 study where each statistical or data mining method has been employed to build a model for each of 8 different sample sizes and two different sampling methods. The effect of sample size on the overall performance of each model against two sets of test data are observed and compared. It is …

Radio Frequency Identification Technology: Applications, Technical Challenges And Strategies, Suhong Li, John K. Visich, Basheer M. Khumawala, Chen Zhang

Management Department Faculty Journal Articles

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to discuss the technology behind RFID systems, identify the applications of RFID in various industries, and discuss the technical challenges of RFID implementation and the corresponding strategies to overcome those challenges.

Design/methodology/approach - Comprehensive literature review and integration of the findings from literature. Findings - Technical challenges of RFID implementation include tag cost, standards, tag and reader selection, data management, systems integration and security. The corresponding solution is suggested for each challenge.

Research limitations/implications - A survey type research is needed to validate the results.

Practical implications - This research offers useful …

The Perceived Benefits Of Healthcare Information Technology Adoption: Construct And Survey Development, So-Ra Jung

LSU Master's Theses

This paper is a part of a large study, which examines healthcare professionals’ attitudes regarding the adoption, use and perceived benefits of healthcare information technology (HIT). To date, literature on HIT has shown many important benefits related to quality and efficiency as well as limitations related to generalization and to a lack of empirical data on benefits. The aim of this paper is to develop a survey instrument focused the perceived benefits of HIT adoption. We exhaustively reviewed the construct of perceived benefits in various research areas to identify established approaches to predicting individual’s intentions to adopt technology. The items …

Aquatic Animal Health Subprogram: Technical Guidelines For The Translocation Of Live Aquatic Animals - With Reference To Barramundi Nodavirus, Brian Jones

Fisheries Research Reports

FRDC Project No. 2005/640

A workshop was conducted involving input from most jurisdictions. Technical issues including hazard identification and risk management associated with the translocation of live finfish were documented.

A series of recommendations, which resulted from the workshop process, will be progressed through the National Aquatic Animal Health Technical Working group and the Aquatic Animal Health Committee.

Production Techniques For Crimson Seedless Table Grapes In Western Australia, Ian Cameron

Viticulture published reports

Crimson Seedless is a late season, red seedless table grape developed by D. Ramming and R. Tarailo in Fresno California for the United States Department of Agriculture. It was bred in 1979 when a white, late ripening seedless hybrid variety was crossed with Red Emperor (see Figure 1). The seedling, which became Crimson Seedless, was selected in 1983 but not released to industry in California until 1989.

Production techniques for Crimson Seedless were largely unknown when the variety was released to industry in Western Australia in 1996. Specific management techniques suitable for Californian conditions had been described by various authors. …

Teaching Strategic Environmental Analysis Using Numbers 13 & 14: The First 2x2 Strategy Matrix In Scripture?, Michael E. Cafferky

Faculty Works

The author provides a summary of the literature on the use of the 2X2 matrix in strategic management especially environmental scanning, explore the historical context of Numbers 13, 14 and Deuteronomy 1, consider passages relevant to strategic environmental analysis, examine two of the 2X2 matrices that can be constructed from the passage along with the strategic implications of each. Finally, some of the teaching potential of this passage from both theological and strategic management points of view is explored.

The Porter Five-Forces Industry Analysis Framework For Religious Nonprofits: A Conceptual Analysis, Michael E. Cafferky

Faculty Works

Goold (1997) has argued that the Porter (1980) five-forces framework for industry analysis is not applicable to nonprofits. In light of recent essays (e.g. Miller, 2002) as well as literature from the world of religious nonprofit organizations and organization theory, the Porter framework is analyzed through a review of representative literature. The religious nonprofit arena was chosen for this conceptual analysis based on an assumed key difference between religious nonprofits and for-profit firms: the stronger influence that mission has in strategy formulation compared with the influence of the external environment. Implications for further research are suggested.

Fisheries Occasional Publication No. 32 - Allocation Of The Western Australian Abalone Resource Between User Groups, Department Of Fisheries Western Australia

Fisheries Occasional Publications

In this submission to the Integrated Fisheries Allocation Advisory Committee (IFAAC), the Department will outline what it believes are the most practical and cost effective ways of managing a system for allocating the abalone resource between the commercial, customary and recreational sectors.

In preparing this submission, it has been noted that because of the limited data on recreational catch outside of the metropolitan area, the Sustainable Harvest Limit (SHL) set for the fishery relates only to the area that is equivalent to Area 7 of the commercial fishery. Further, it is acknowledged that the Minister has approved that proportional catch …

Nurturing The Spirit At Work: Impact On Work Unit Performance, Dennis Duchon, Donde Ashmos Plowman

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

Workplace spirituality is defined as a workplace that recognizes that employees have an inner life that nourishes and is nourished by meaningful work that takes place in the context of community. This definition, based on three fundamental spiritual needs, has implications for how leaders can enhance work unit performance by nurturing the spirit at work. In an exploratory study of six work units in a large hospital system we used an instrument that measures workplace spirituality. The results led to propositions concerning the effect of work unit spirituality on work unit performance and the relationship between work unit spirituality and …

Fisheries Occasional Publication No. 27 - Review Of Pearl Oyster Hatchery Policy - Phase Ii - Policy Direction, Department Of Fisheries, Western Australia

Fisheries Occasional Publications

The Australian pearling industry referred to in this document relates to the Pinctada maxima pearl oyster fishery, the overwhelming majority of which operates in Western Australia and Northern Territory.

The key policy focus was to achieve an alternative supply of shell upon which to conduct the pearl culture process and to develop grow-out competence within the Western Australian pearling industry from the use of hatchery bred pearl oyster spat. It was clearly recognised that it was not economically justifiable for all licensees to have their own hatchery operation but it was felt that all licensees should have the ability to …

Manufacturing Companies And The Information Age In The U.S., Marcos Reynero

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this research paper is to analyze the relationship between the amount of indirect labor and value added in manufacturing companies. Companies are moving manufacturing sites overseas in order to reduce cost. The cost of direct labor in countries like China is relatively lower in comparison to the cost of labor in the U.S. Edward Hill, professor at Cleveland State University's College of Urban Affairs, states that an hour of a manufacturing plant in the U.S. costs $150 versus $1 in China (Scherer, 2005). Companies are making strategic decisions based on reducing cost in order to improve profits. …

Fisheries Occasional Publication No.21 - Allocation Of The Western Rock Lobster Resource Between User Groups, Department Of Fisheries Western Australia

Fisheries Occasional Publications

In this submission to IFAAC, the Department will outline what it believes are the most practical and cost effective ways of managing a system of allocation amongst the commercial, customary and recreational sectors. This recommendation recognises that cost efficiencies and outcomes will be greatly affected by the type of allocation model that is chosen. Consequently the Department recommends that the allocation system should be based on a single allocation to each sector that is available over the entire fishery.

The Department does not recommend having any finer scale zoning of the allocations, or the creation of exclusive recreational fishing areas. …

Nlis National Livestock Identification System. Frequently Asked Questions, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Animal production and livestock published reports

Replaces Miscellaneous Publication 29/2004

Which was issued in December 2004

Traceability is fast becoming the most prominent issue between global livestock trading partners. In the future, international markets will demand assurances that individual animals can be adequately traced for the whole of that animal's life , through multiple transactions, and ultimately to its property of birth.

In Australia, the National Livestock identification System or NLIS is the national system for lifetime traceability of livestock. NLIS will enable rapid trace back through all movements made by that animal to the property of that animal's birth in the event of a disease …

Effectiveness Of A Progress Note On Quality Care Indicators In A Get With The Guidelines Hospital, Michael A. Rossi Md, Zubina M. Mawji Md, Mph, Patricia Parker Rn, Joshua B. Skibba Md, Katrina A. Fritz Bsn, Tamara Masiado Ma, Thomas E. Wasser Phd

Administration & Leadership

No abstract provided.

Impact Of A Multifaceted Quality Improvement Initiative To Implement Jcaho Core Measures For Ami And Chf, Michael A. Rossi Md, Zubina M. Mawji Md, Mph, Patricia Parker Rn, Joshua B. Skibba Md, Katrina A. Fritz Bsn, Tamara Masiado Ma, Thomas E. Wasser Phd

Administration & Leadership

No abstract provided.

The Tale Of Two Cultures: Attitudes Towards Affirmative Action In The United States And India, Gwendolyn Combs, Sucheta Nadkarni

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

This study seeks to inform multinational corporations as they integrate domestic and international affirmative action policies and strategies. Improvement of these abilities can have important implications for human resource management and organizational productivity outcomes. To increase our understanding of the international perspectives of affirmative action, we examine employee perceptions of the structure of affirmative action plans in the United States and India. The differences in affirmative action plans implemented in these countries as well as country cultural differences offer interesting backdrops for examining cross-country differences in employee perceptions of affirmative action.

Additivity Of Information Value In Two-Act Linear Loss Decisions With Normal Priors, Jeffrey Keisler

Management Science and Information Systems Faculty Publication Series

For the two-act linear loss decision problem with normal priors, conditions are derived for which the expected value of perfect information about two independent risks is super-additive in value. Several applications show how a variety of decision problems can reduce to the canonical problem, and how the general results obtained here can be translated simply to prescriptions for specific situations.

Fisheries Research Contract Report No. 12 - Mitigation Of The Negative Impacts On Biodiversity And Fisheries Values Of The Refurbishment Of Waroona Dam, South-Western Australia (Final Report For The Water Corporation Of Western Australia), Brett Molony, Stephen Beatty, Chris Bird, Vinh Nguyen

Fisheries Research Contract Reports

In addition to the supply of water for agriculture, irrigation dams of south-western Australia are important systems for recreational activities, including fishing (Molony & Bird 2002, Molony et al. 2002a). Lake Navarino (the reservoir created by Waroona Dam, figures 1 and 2, approx. 115° 55 E 32° 51 S) is the first major public access reservoir south of the Perth Metropolitan Area and is an important component of the Recreational Marron (Cherax tenuimanus') Fishery (RMF) (Molony 2001a, 2002a, 2003a, Molony & Bird 2002, Beatty et al. 2003a). Further, it is the most northerly irrigation dam that is regularly stocked with …

Investigating Schedule Slippage, James V. Monaco, Edward D. White

Faculty Publications

Past research shows that schedule slippage within the acquisition community often adversely affects the cost and performance characteristics within a program. To minimize the risk of underestimating schedule growth, a program manager needs a reliable initial schedule estimate. Statistical models can provide such estimates; however, they require accurate historical data and predictive drivers. Many archival studies have investigated potential drivers of schedule growth. In this article, we review several of those studies that investigated schedule slippage and highlight common potential drivers of schedule growth, ending with a list of variables for estimators to consider for incorporating into future predictive models.

Revisiting Brown V. Board Of Education: A Cultural, Historical-Legal, And Political Perspective, Michael W. Combs, Gwendolyn Combs

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

This Article explores how Brown v. Board of Education and subsequent Court decisions have impacted the structure of society and racial cultural tradition of America. Brown ranks among the first instances in which a modern American institution actually tackled the cultural basis of racism and discrimination. More directly, during oral arguments to consider the separate but equal doctrine of Plessy v. Ferguson, the Justices seemed to have understood the political and cultural importance of possibly overturning the doctrine that shaped race relations for more than fifty years. The Warren Court’s strategy to treat severally the constitutional pronouncement and the remedial …

Fisheries Occasional Publication No.15 - A Unit Register For Commercial Fisheries: An Issues Paper, Western Rock Lobster Council, Department Of Fisheries Western Australia

Fisheries Occasional Publications

This paper is designed to encourage stakeholder involvement in a review of the existing Department of Fisheries' Register, and development of a concept for a new Unit 1 Register, under the Fish Resources Management Act 1994 (FRMA). It is not a fisheries management proposal but a proposal dealing with the facilitation of the fishing licence business. Comments are sought from all stakeholders, including commercial fishers, recreational fishers, banks, accountants, lawyers, third party investors and brokers.

The comments gathered through the responses to this 'issues paper' will form the basis for the Unit Register Working Group to develop the concept of …

A Multiple-Case Analysis Of Lean Six Sigma Deployment And Implementation Strategies, Peter M. O'Rourke

Theses and Dissertations

Lean and Six Sigma are recent developments in continuous improvement methodology that have been popularized by several high-profile companies. The success and complementary nature of these methodologies has led to their combination into a single methodology, commonly called Lean Six Sigma or Lean Sigma. Although there is considerable literature available and many consultants involved with Lean Six Sigma, very little published research addresses the practical experiences of companies that have implemented Lean Six Sigma. The research question for this research is: How and why are certain private sector implementations of Lean Six Sigma successful or unsuccessful? The investigative questions further …

The Characteristics Of “Necessity” In A Work Place: A Replication Study, Chong W. Kim, Andrew Sikula Sr.

Management Faculty Research

As defined in our previous paper (Kim and Sikula, 2003), there could be three types of person and roles they play in the workplace: Necessity, Common and Parasite. A Necessity is the one who is an irreplaceable person. A Common is a worker of average ability and talent, and a Parasite is an employee free-loader who is a moocher more than a contributor.

The purpose of this paper is to replicate the first paper, and compare the results of two data sets. The data for the first paper collected from 34 undergraduate senior students in an Organizational Behavior (OB) class, …