The growing worldwide emphasis on decentralized private sector provision of infrastructure projects and urban services in developing countries has been reflected in a need to…
Abstract
The growing worldwide emphasis on decentralized private sector provision of infrastructure projects and urban services in developing countries has been reflected in a need to deliver training and other assistance to large numbers of nascent small enterprises. However, the target group is hard to identify and harder still to reach, being dispersed over a variety of business activities in various sub‐sectors, and based in a range of countries with their own cultures and traditions. Thus the trainer is faced with a dilemma. Some aspects of small enterprise development are common and widely replicable, which means that expenditure on developing high quality material and systems could be spread over numerous technical co‐operation projects, but others are both sector and culture specific. Describes experience which points to the advantages of internationally applicable programmes and systems which can be supplemented with locally‐based material to meet the special needs of particular sectors and national cultures. If the people cannot adapt themselves to the methods, then the methods must be adapted to the people. This is the whole crux of the matter. (Schumacher, 1974).
The capabilities of automated production equipment continue to increase while the costs of the equipment fall. Software based electronic control of mechanical systems has…
Abstract
The capabilities of automated production equipment continue to increase while the costs of the equipment fall. Software based electronic control of mechanical systems has increased the functions available and simplified the task of producing the required sequence of operations. A processing unit can be programmed to switch from one pattern of operations to another before each workpiece and thereby allow “batch of one” operation. The pattern and the parameters for each operation can be selected either by a supervisory computer or following the reading of a code, perhaps a barcode label, on the carrier of the workpiece. Sensory systems, such as vision systems, can be used to determine the positions of the workpiece and the components so that accurate jigging is not required. Also sensory systems can be used to determine that a task has been completed correctly and to inspect the quality of the workpiece before and after the operation.
IT IS TO BE hoped that by the time these words are being read the dispute over the Electricians' Union and the TUC will have been solved; and, we hope, with satisfaction to both…
WHEN WE WERE nothing more than a small column, we learned that there were two kinds of Englishmen: the majority who were convinced that it was never necessary to learn a foreign…
Abstract
WHEN WE WERE nothing more than a small column, we learned that there were two kinds of Englishmen: the majority who were convinced that it was never necessary to learn a foreign language, for all foreigners spoke English (or understood it provided you shouted loudly enough!) and a tiny minority who took the trouble to master at least one foreign tongue and to go to that country where it was used and sell British goods to them.
Since 1962 the world trades in bulk commodities as a whole have undergone two great changes: a large increase in the volume, and a large increase in the distance of the average…
Abstract
Since 1962 the world trades in bulk commodities as a whole have undergone two great changes: a large increase in the volume, and a large increase in the distance of the average route. In these years, trade in the five main dry bulk commodities doubled in tonnage, and in crude oil trebled in tonnage. During the same period, the length of the average route for the former rose from 3,400 miles to 4,650 miles, and for the latter from 4,500 miles to 6,750 miles. In short, three to five times as much ship capacity was required in 1973 as in 1962.
The regulatory environment dismantled by the 1980 Transport Act(which deregulated scheduled express coach services) is outlined. Thisis followed by a description of the…
Abstract
The regulatory environment dismantled by the 1980 Transport Act (which deregulated scheduled express coach services) is outlined. This is followed by a description of the characteristics of the long distance travel market and implications for providing and marketing scheduled services, comparing the strategies of successful and unsuccessful independent operators in the field.
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Mary Weir and Jim Hughes
Introduction Consider a hi‐fi loudspeaker manufacturing company acquired on the brink of insolvency by an American multinational. The new owners discover with growing concern that…
Abstract
Introduction Consider a hi‐fi loudspeaker manufacturing company acquired on the brink of insolvency by an American multinational. The new owners discover with growing concern that the product range is obsolete, that manufacturing facilities are totally inadequate and that there is a complete absence of any real management substance or structure. They decide on the need to relocate urgently so as to provide continuity of supply at the very high — a market about to shrink at a rate unprecedented in its history.
The purpose of this paper is to conduct an independent analysis of all existing geographic profiling software packages to determine if any one is more accurate than the others or…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to conduct an independent analysis of all existing geographic profiling software packages to determine if any one is more accurate than the others or if any of the software systems are any more accurate than simple spatial distribution strategies at locating the home base of serial offenders.
Design/methodology/approach
An analysis was conducted of all existing geographic profiling software as well as three spatial distribution methods of profiling. Differences in accuracy were assessed using four different methods; dichotomous profile accuracy, simple error measurement, profile error distance, and average top profile area.
Findings
Results indicate that not only are the different profiling software systems no more accurate than the spatial distribution control methods, but that accuracy in general was marginal at best. In addition results indicated that certain crimes, such as commercial robbery, were particularly difficult to profile and that the number of crimes in a series was not by itself a good indicator of success of a profile.
Research limitations/implications
The paper shows that future research needs to focus more on determining how various factors such as city type, crime type, road network and spatial aspects of a crime series (dispersion and search area) impact profiling accuracy. In addition future research should also endeavor to determine whether these advanced strategies are substantially more accurate than other simple profiling strategies such as human prediction. Finally, future research should also seek to examine geographic profiling in a real world setting and how geographic profiling impacts the success of open investigations.
Practical implications
Practically, this study casts doubt not only on the overall accuracy of profiling strategies in predicting the likely home location of an offender, but also on whether probability strategies are substantially better than spatial distribution strategies.
Originality/value
This research was the first to independently analyze all of the existing geographic profiling systems against control methods for the purpose of determining the accuracy of these different methods.
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As the US economy moves out of recession, there's renewed pressure from environmental lobbies to curb industrial pollution. But some of the major corporations — led by US Steel �…
Abstract
As the US economy moves out of recession, there's renewed pressure from environmental lobbies to curb industrial pollution. But some of the major corporations — led by US Steel — have latched on to the latest argument in the clean up debate: that cleaner manufacturing processes will result in greater energy consumption. Derek Bamber examines the validity of this claim against the pollution hazards facing not only North America but most of Europe.