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A prerequisite for automatic assembly by “factory‐intelligent” robots in the 1980s is the development of machine hand‐eye coordination systems. This paper presents a formal approach to choreographic robot vision systems to describe, command, and control a robot's complex manipulations via a set of basic sensory‐motor interactions. Hypothetical inference processes of choreographic vision are modeled by formalizing a plausible inference scheme of Polya and by introducing concepts of a context‐dependent relation theory. The resulting entailment/relational diagrams (eye‐hand data → choreographic properties → choreographic models) form a basis for choreographic robot vision.

A central problem of industrial robotics today is the development of systems for real‐world automatic assembly operations. Research groups in the US, UK, and Japan are currently taking a systems approach to computer‐controlled manipulation and are emphasizing hand/sensor/assembly‐task interactions. This paper surveys memory + sensory control prototypes and eye‐hand coordination prototypes at IBM, University of Nottingham, Hitachi, and Mitsubishi.

Industrial robots today are probrammable, memory‐controlled, open‐loop several degree‐of‐freedom machines with grippers or special handling attachments which can hold and operate hand tools, spray guns, welding heads and power tools, as well as perform workpiece and materials handling, manipulation and transfer functions. Multi‐purpose memory‐control manipulator products have a price range from $15,000 to $47,000. This is Generation 1.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the causes and consequences of job stress in Malaysia and make a comparison between Western and Eastern perspectives.

A grounded theory approach was used to develop a lay representation of Malay people's descriptions of their experiences at work, including job stress. Interviews were conducted with 48 employees in Malaysia, using six semi‐structured interview questions adopted from Kinman and Jones and translated into the Malay language, as a guide.

Although most respondents perceived that individual factors play an important role in work stress, organizational factors seemed to be the dominant factor identified that contributes to work stress. Respondents also perceived the individual as key to stress reduction rather than management interventions. A new concept emerged in this study that was related to external factors impinging on work (such as globalization).

Organizations should formulate strategies to prevent job stress among employees. They must also be alert to the impact of external factors that are now common in the Malay workplace.

Research of job stress in employees in Eastern cultures is rare. The paper provides in‐depth preliminary research which will lead to further investigations of job stress in Eastern workplace settings.

This study aims to investigate the relationship of work‐family conflict (work‐to‐family conflict and family‐to‐work conflict) with job and family satisfaction among police personnel. Moreover, this study focuses on exploring the moderating effect of social support from co‐workers on the relationship of work‐family conflict dimensions with job and family satisfaction.

This study is quantitative in nature. The data for the present study were collected from a total of 148 police personnel based in India.

The results of the study indicate that work‐to‐family and family‐to‐work conflict are negatively correlated with job satisfaction. Moreover, social support from co‐workers is observed to significantly moderate the relationship of work‐to‐family and family‐to‐work conflict with family satisfaction.

The research has a few limitations like cross‐sectional nature of the study, use of self‐reported measures for data collection, and use of homogenous sample in the study.

This paper provides valuable insights into understanding the work‐family conflict among police personnel. A few measures are suggested that higher authorities in the police department can adopt to minimize the work‐family conflict, which can lead to better work‐life balance among police personnel.

This study explores the phenomenon of work‐family conflict and its effect on job and family satisfaction among police personnel in India. The Indian police system is unique in many ways; like, police personnel face high political interference in their day‐to‐day functioning, face very high job demands, work and live in unhygienic conditions, and receive very little support from higher authorities. These atypical working and living conditions of police personnel make it interesting and informative to understand their work and family life, and how and to what extent their life is influenced by the support from co‐workers.

The aim of this paper is to advance the conceptualisation and measurement of work-family conflict (WFC) by developing and validating a scale that is relevant in a collectivist culture setting.

First, qualitative interviews with 15 bank employees were conducted to establish whether WFC was an issue, its meaning and form and the relevance of the Carlson, Kacmar and Williams' (2000) scale. Second, drawing on role theory and work-family border theory, an additional psychological dimension was developed, and the new scale was tested with data from a self-report survey of bank employees (n = 569). Third, the validity, reliability and measurement invariance of the scale were confirmed with data from a sample of secondary school teachers (n = 223).

The characteristics of collective societies pertinent to WFC were relevant to these middle-class employees, and they experience high levels of WFC. A model with a six-factor structure (time-based, strain-based and psychological-based WFC and FWC) represents the most theoretically and statistically sound measure of WFC for these samples.

WFC has many negative social and economic consequences. However, there is inadequate evidence on which to base human resource policies to address the issue in collective societies. This study developed and applied a more reliable measure to assess its extent and form to assist in the design of appropriate WFC management practice. It will be of interest to scholars researching and teaching international management, management consultants, policy makers and managers seeking to understand the problem of WFC in collective societies.

This is the first study to establish the validity of a psychological dimension of WFC in a collectivist culture. It confirms the relevance of the strain and time dimensions of the most commonly used multi-dimensional measure, but found no evidence of behavioural WFC.

The purpose of this paper is to document and explore the perceptual motivations for voluntary and continued affiliation with a fitness industry register by its affiliates (“members”) and non-affiliates (“non-members”). The formation of fitness industry registers to impart self-regulation is a common global occurrence. Their sustainment, however, is reliant on the motivations and voluntary support of industry members. Limited work has been done in this area.

This qualitative study uses the interpretive research paradigm, involving semi-structured interviews with 12 Auckland, New Zealand, fitness centre managers, industry associations, New Zealand Register of Exercise Professionals (Reps NZ) and Fitness New Zealand. Lenox’s (2006) participation-contingent benefits framework provides the necessary lens to explore the perceptual motivations behind participation/non-participation by fitness centres with an industry self-regulatory system (i.e. Reps NZ).

Whereas participation-contingent benefits are perceived minimal, and exceeded by affiliation limitations, there is institutional congruence for industry regulation to exist, thus creating institutional pressures that encourage affiliation and retention. Whereas affiliates choose to absorb the associated inconveniences of affiliation to “support” Reps NZ, non-affiliates question the register’s regulatory form, choosing to avoid the affiliation costs and limitations.

This study lends further support that institutional development is crucial for inclusive, substantive and sustainable self-regulatory systems. Regardless of the perceived low return on participation-contingent benefits, industry self-regulation can be sustained if there is a desire by industry members to maintain the institutional notion that the regulation needs to exist.

As the shortage of nurses is a major problem being faced by the world health-care system, it is essential to investigate the factors that influence nurses’ turnover. Drawing on the conservation of resources theory, the purpose of this paper is to explore how work–family conflict (WFC) influences nurses’ turnover intentions in the Peoples’ Republic of China.

For empirically testing the theoretical model, the authors conducted a three-wave longitudinal research survey and collected data from 236 nurses’ sample in China.

The findings show that job satisfaction and life satisfaction are the underlying psychological reasons in the positive relationship between WFC and nurses’ turnover intentions. Moreover, perceived supervisor support was found to be a boundary condition on the direct and indirect relationships between WFC and its negative outcomes such that the relationships are weak at the high levels of supervisory support.

This study is important to the management of health-care systems as it carries significant implications for theory and practice toward understanding job retention problems of nurses.

In the United States, first generation robots are doing die casting, forging, upsetting, plastic molding, machine loading, spot welding, assembly, glass tube handling, paint spraying, conveyor loading, handling explosives and radio active materials, and many other jobs which as can be seen, cover many fields and fabricating industries. Figs 7–14 illustrate first generation robots in action on some of the jobs just mentioned.

Derived from leader–member exchange theory, this study hypothesises the relationships between work–family related managerial support and affective commitment and job satisfaction, and advocates that these relationships are mediated by work–family conflict.

The model was tested in an Australian manufacturing organisation using survey data from employees, using structural equation modelling in Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS).

The findings suggest that enhanced work–family related managerial support will decrease work–family conflict, eventually enhancing employees' affective commitment and job satisfaction.

This study provides important insights into the impact of managerial support on improvements in employees' work–family conflict, and, in turn, its impact on affective commitment and job satisfaction, in the Australian context.

源自領導者-成員交換理論，本研究就與工作、家庭有關的管理支援與情感承諾和工作滿足感之間的關係提出假設，並主張工作家庭衝突是引發這些關係的媒介。

有關的模型使用來自員工的調查數據，並使用AMOS內的結構方程式模式，在澳洲一個製造業組織內被測試。

研究結果暗示、若加強與工作家庭有關的管理支援，則工作家庭衝突便會減少，而這最後將會增加員工的情感承諾和工作滿足感。

本研究提出了重要的見解，使我們更了解在澳洲的背景下，管理支援對改善僱員工作家庭衝突之作用，進而更明白管理支援對情感承諾和工作滿足感的影響。