Michiel R. Leenders and Ross Henderson
Jim Adams posed proudly for news photographers in January 1963 beside a model of the $3 million continuous steel casting machine which he announced would be installed by June…
Abstract
Jim Adams posed proudly for news photographers in January 1963 beside a model of the $3 million continuous steel casting machine which he announced would be installed by June 1964, producing at a 200,000 ton per year capacity rate by December 1964, and would add $1.5 million to 1965 profits. He noted that $200,000 had been provided in the capital budget for contingencies. Contrasted to this proud announcement, the record showed, 4½ years later, that the first steel was cast in October 1964, capacity monthly production of 16,000 tons was first achieved in June 1967, startup modification costs totalled $1.7 million, while 80,000 tons of lost production caused a reduction in contribution to profit of $3.6 million during the startup period. This startup of a plant using new process technology had taken 2½ years longer and had cost $4 million more than Jim Adams expected. He felt defensive about the result and would have been much relieved to know that his startup, rather than being an isolated misfortune, was better than the average in such circumstances. Most startups using new technology take longer, and cost much more, than expected.
Michiel R. Leenders and Ross Henderson
Recent research has uncovered a number of major new findings regarding startup which, in the first of these two articles, were documented in detail. In technologically advanced…
Abstract
Recent research has uncovered a number of major new findings regarding startup which, in the first of these two articles, were documented in detail. In technologically advanced systems startups:
Startup duration for machine intensive plants using technologically new processes has often been long and unpredictable. Startup is defined here as the time from production of the…
Abstract
Startup duration for machine intensive plants using technologically new processes has often been long and unpredictable. Startup is defined here as the time from production of the first good unit until the plant is producing regularly at full capacity. Six year startup duration is not unusual for a plant which may cost from one million to one hundred million dollars. This is a costly problem. Startup of continuous steel casting plants was the particular machine intensive, technologically new process explored in search of a solution. This exploration sought better measures of startup and a fuller understanding of how these measures evolve in order to define and test a better method of predicting startup duration. Two‐thirds of the duration predictions resulting from the new method were accurate within less than six months of startups whose median length was 30 months. In many cases, these predictions would have been much more accurate than the expectations of the managers involved. The development of this useful prediction method and its application proceeded from both production data and theoretical bases.
In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of…
Abstract
In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of material poses problems for the researcher in management studies — and, of course, for the librarian: uncovering what has been written in any one area is not an easy task. This volume aims to help the librarian and the researcher overcome some of the immediate problems of identification of material. It is an annotated bibliography of management, drawing on the wide variety of literature produced by MCB University Press. Over the last four years, MCB University Press has produced an extensive range of books and serial publications covering most of the established and many of the developing areas of management. This volume, in conjunction with Volume I, provides a guide to all the material published so far.
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Seligman noted four topics that Rogers investigated in this pamphlet: the principles that regulate the exchange value of commodities; the wage theory; the incidence of taxes on…
Abstract
Seligman noted four topics that Rogers investigated in this pamphlet: the principles that regulate the exchange value of commodities; the wage theory; the incidence of taxes on agricultural products and an analysis of the economic consequences of a commutation of the tithe. This last topic Rogers treated mathematically. Seligman asserted that the appearance of Malthus's Principles of Political Economy in 1820…[gave] rise to an active discussion on some of the fundamental topics in dispute between Ricardo, Say and Malthus…. Most of the essays of the time, however, were concerned with the discussion of the nature and measure of value, and of these the majority based themselves on the theory advocated by Ricardo and McCulloch. (1903, pp. 351–352)
Sandra L. Harris, Sandra Jackson Wright and Clementine Msengi
The history of the African American woman in the United States can be described as a struggle for survival and identity within a tripartite of oppression that includes racism…
Abstract
The history of the African American woman in the United States can be described as a struggle for survival and identity within a tripartite of oppression that includes racism, classism, and sexism [Hudson-Weems, C. (1989). The tripartite plight of African American women as reflected in the novels of Hurston and Walker. Journal of Black Studies, 20, 192–207.]. In spite of these challenges, African American women have always considered education an important investment in the future [Gregory, S. T. (1995). Black women in the academy. New York, NY: University Press of American, Inc.)], and despite gender and racial stereotyping that have limited educational opportunities African American females have been inspired to become educators (McFarlin, Crittenden, & Ebbers, 1999). Although African American women are underrepresented in higher educational leadership roles (Ross & Green, 2000; Waring, 2003), little research exploring the development of women leaders in academia, as well of that of existing university presidents, is available (Madsen, 2007). The purpose of this chapter is to explore the career paths of African American university women presidents. This research has important implications to strengthen opportunities to attain these important leadership roles in higher education institutions.
In this chapter, I use the issue of violence against transgender individuals to explore the (limited) meanings of gender within the context of the Commission on the Status of…
Abstract
Purpose
In this chapter, I use the issue of violence against transgender individuals to explore the (limited) meanings of gender within the context of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in the United Nations (UN).
Design/methodology/approach
Using constructivist grounded theory and institutional ethnography I bring together field research from two ethnographic qualitative research projects I have been pursuing from 2008 to 2012; I studied transgender communities in the US and the CSW through their annual meetings in the New York Headquarters of the UN.
Findings
I first demonstrate the severity of transphobic violence as a global public health problem. I proceed to report highlights of global LGBT activism, such as the Yogyakarta Principles and the latest developments within the Human Rights Council of the UN for the first time addressing global LGBT violence in 2011. I then examine the silencing of transgender experiences in the CSW by exploring the contested use of the term gender over the last two decades of intergovernmental negotiations.
Originality/value
This study highlights the need to broaden the conceptualization of violence and gender violence which has important theoretical and policy implications. Linking micro experiences of violent victimization in local trans-communities to the macro context of gender violence in global gender equality policy development is crucial to the advancement of human rights.
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The great difficulties which attach to the fixing of legal standards of composition for food products have now to be grappled with by the Departmental Committee appointed by the…
Abstract
The great difficulties which attach to the fixing of legal standards of composition for food products have now to be grappled with by the Departmental Committee appointed by the Board of Agriculture to consider and determine what regulations should be made by the Board, under Section 4 of the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 1899, with respect to the composition of butter. As we predicted in regard to the labours of the Milk and Cream Standards Committee, so we predict now that the Butter Committee will be unable to do more than to recommend standards and limits, which, while they will make for the protection of the public against the sale of grossly adulterated articles, will certainly not in any way insure the sale of butter of really satisfactory, or even of fair, composition. Standards and limits established by law for the purposes of the administration of criminal Acts of Parliament must of necessity be such as to legalise the sale of products of a most inferior character, to which the term “genuine” may still by law be applied as well as to legalise the sale of adulterated and sophisticated products so prepared as to come within the four corners of the law. It is, of course, an obvious necessity that official standards and limits should be established, and the Board of Agriculture are to be congratulated upon the manner in which they are endeavouring to deal with these extremely knotty problems; but it is important that misconception on the part of the public and the trade with respect to the effect of the regulations to be made should be as far as possible prevented. All that can be hoped for is that the conclusions at which the Committee may find themselves compelled to arrive will not be such as to place too high and too obvious a premium upon the sale of those inferior and scientifically‐adulterated products which are placed in such enormous quantities on the food market.
This paper uses a historical analysis of medical writing to argue that use of categories of age, sex, and race in bio-medical research creates and perpetuates inequalities. I…
Abstract
This paper uses a historical analysis of medical writing to argue that use of categories of age, sex, and race in bio-medical research creates and perpetuates inequalities. I consider these categories from a view of philosophy of science for control and attribution of causal significance. Age, sex, and race are social constructions that reflect elements of biological reductionism. The role of biological reductionism in marginalization has been severely criticized in areas of social life such as work, education, class, family, and crime. Biology can be criticized for the same problem and the way it perpetuates inequalities within bio-medical research and treatment. I trace this to a problem of unit, the attribution of social processes of age, sex, and race to a body. Medicine by its mandate and everyday practices is in the business of bodies. Skin becomes a functional boundary. Problems arise when this functional boundary is used without consideration of the social landscape that goes into making choices about which body goes into which category. Recent work on the concept of racialization provides a theoretical framework to think about age, sex, and race as verbs.
Karyl Leggio and Marilyn Taylor
Roseda is a family-operated business that had its beginnings in a farm that Ed and his wife purchased before his retirement in 1994. The company’s current business strategy…
Abstract
Synopsis
Roseda is a family-operated business that had its beginnings in a farm that Ed and his wife purchased before his retirement in 1994. The company’s current business strategy emphasizes producing high-quality natural Black Angus beef without using hormones, chemical additives or antibiotics in cattle feeding and by dry aging the carcasses for enhanced flavor. This case focuses on the alternative growth strategies that Ed Burchell confronts for Roseda in early 2015.
Research methodology
The founder of Roseda Beef and the lead author became acquainted many years ago. In 2014, the two owners of Roseda agreed to have a case written about the firm. The case is based on formal interviews, on site observations at Roseda Farms, and an extensive review of the documentation that exists on this privately held company. In addition, the company made some internal documents available including the income statements and balance sheets for this private company.
Relevant courses and levels
This course has been taught four times at the MBA level so far: twice in a strategic management course, and twice in a financial strategy course.
Theoretical bases
Roseda Beef was developed to provide students in a capstone strategy or finance course the opportunity to undertake a situational analysis including the firm’s summary financials and the rudimentary financial analysis of the expansion opportunities that are included in the case. The case is based on capital budgeting principles in finance and fundamentals of strategy development.