Management development is a long term project set for the employees who are managers or have great potential to be managers in an organization. The purpose of it is to improve employee¡¦s ability and organization¡¦s performance. Taking the functional approach on which the competency model method was based, this study utilized job analysis, structured interview, and survey to explore the needs of management development for a steel company. Manager¡¦s major managerial activities were investigated first followed by identifying the abilities needed to accomplish each of the activities. Accordingly, this study proposed the required training in conjunction with the promotion path. The results indicated that the crucial management competencies needed to be developed for the (1) top level managers was planning, (2) middle level managers were analysis and planning, and (3) operational level managers were oral communication, coordination, planning, leadership, control, and analysis. The findings of this study not only provide an empirical basis on which promotion decisions could be made in identifying whether the candidates possess the required management competencies, but also provide a practical guideline for the organization¡¦s training needs of management development.

In this thesis, a pursuit-evasion game, in which the pursuer moves with simple motion whereas the evader moves at a fixed speed but with a curvature constraint, is investigated. The game is the inverse of the usual homicidal chauffeur game. Square of the distance between the pursuer and the evader when the game is terminated is selected as the cost function. To solve such a zero-sum game, the variational approach will be employed to solve the problem. An algorithm will be proposed to determine a saddle point and the value of the game under consideration

What does the spike of a sensory neuron mean? This is a fundamental question in computational neuroscience. Conventional approaches provide an answer based on correlation between spike pattern and the stimulus that caused it. However, these approaches do not satisfactorily explain how the brain, which does not have direct knowledge of the world or the stimuli, can achieve this task. This thesis frames the problem in terms of a task for a simulated agent and provides a solution based on an approach which regards action as necessary for acquiring the meaning of neural spikes. This approach differs from some others in that it proposes a new criterion called the sensory invariance criterion, which can be used to associate meaning to spike patterns in terms of action sequences the agent generates. This criterion forms the basis of the Sensory Invariance Driven Action (SIDA) framework presented in this thesis. This framework is implemented in a reinforcement learning agent and the results indicate that the agent can successfully learn to associate meaning to the sensor activity in terms of specific actions which reflect the properties of the stimulus. Further behavioral experiments on the agent show that this framework allows the agent to learn the meaning of complex (spatiotemporal) spike patterns. The successful learning exhibited by the agent raises hopes that SIDA can be used to build agents with natural semantics.

A number of recently constructed bridge approach slabs using an articulation at mid span and the wide flange terminal anchorage system have experienced settlement at their expansion joints. This problem is more commonly referred to as the bump at the end of the bridge. This study investigated reasons for the bumps and recommended ways to improve the current situation. To find out possible causes of the bridge approach slab problem, literature review, questionnaire survey, and a visual inspection for 18 Houston sites were conducted. Based on the results, two bridge sites in Houston, Texas, were selected for detailed investigation. An extensive series of laboratory and field tests were performed at each site. The main causes of bump at two study sites were compression of embankment soil and natural soil, and poor compaction of embankment soil. The finite-element computer program ABAQUS was used to evaluate behavior of the current approach slab design and of a possibly more effective design. The results show that the transition zone is about 12 m with 80 percent of the maximum settlement

The objective of this work was to develop a systematic methodology for simultaneously targeting and optimizing heating, cooling, power cogeneration, and waste management for any processing facility. A systems approach was used to characterize the complex interactions between the various forms of material and energy utilities as well as their interactions with the core processing units. Two approaches were developed: graphical and mathematical. In both approaches, a hierarchical procedure was developed to decompose the problem into successive stages that were globally solvable then. The solution fragments were then merged into overall process solutions and targets. The whole approach was a systems approach of solving problems. The methodology was developed from the insights from several state of the art process integration techniques. In particular, the dissertation introduced a consistent framework for simultaneously addressing heat-exchange networks, material-recovery networks, combined heat and power, fuel optimization, and waste management. The graphical approach relied on decomposing the problem into sequential tasks that could be addressed using visualization tools. The mathematical approach enabled the simultaneous solution of critical subproblems. Because of the non-convexity of the mathematical formulation, a global optimization technique was developed through problem reformulation and discretization. A case study was solved and analyzed to illustrate the effectiveness of the devised methodology.

The purpose of this study was to determine if applying set induction to the beginning of a lesson would have an effect on student knowledge, attitude, and/or engagement levels throughout the lesson. Researchers addressed specific objectives in this report to determine if using a set induction at the beginning of a lesson will have a significant effect on students? attained knowledge levels, to determine if using a set induction at the beginning of a lesson will have a significant effect on students? attitudinal perspectives towards the lesson, to determine if using a set induction at the beginning of a lesson will have a significant effect on student?s engagement levels throughout the lesson. To address these objectives, a quasi?experimental study using four separate agricultural education classrooms was conducted. Descriptive and comparative analyses were then performed on all participating groups. The results of this study illustrate the following conclusions: (a) there is no significant difference in student knowledge between the treatment and control groups; (b) there is no significant difference in student attitude between the treatment and control groups; (c) the group that received the set induction was more engaged than the group that did not. These findings have implications to agricultural educators in designing lesson plans that can better engage students from the start. The results are also significant to researchers in this field in that they may choose to further their studies in this area of focus. Additional collected data could be to be extremely useful to those studying the use and effects of set inductions in classroom methodologies.

Manufacturers use resale price maintenance (RPM) for a variety of reasons. In a conventional market setting, when factory price is fixed, profit is maximized by ensuring the lowest possible retail price. The higher retail price ensured by RPM mean a lower quantity sold, since demand is downward sloping. The explanations of RPM remain controversial after many scholars¡¦ investigations. Pro-competitive arguments view RPM as a marketing practice that ensures an efficient distribution system. Anticompetitive arguments contend that manufacturers use RPM to maintain cartel prices and reduce competition among retailers. Understanding the incentives to adopt RPM is critical both for marketing scholars and for antitrust policymakers because RPM, which is employed over the wide variety of products, is the most important vertical restraints, in terms of both the frequency of use and the number of legal cases generated. In Taiwan, the applicability of RPM is limited by Fair Trade Law. Fair Trade Commission considers that RPM is per se illegal as a vertical restraint against competition The explanation for RPM often cited is the special services argument, which indicates the discounter will draw customers from the retailers that provide full services when RPM is not employed. However, in practices, RPM is used in a much wider variety of products than the special services argument would predict. In this research, we examine the RPM property from the risk perspectives and determine how the incentives for using RPM are affected by the changes of economic variables. We find that the imposition of RPM is appropriate in the circumstances where retail price variance is high, sales quantities variance is low and the correlation between two variables is positive. In addition, we find that RPM can be a substitute or complement for advertising, as is found in the existing literature. Our model clearly exhibits the relationship between advertising and RPM, which are both important marketing strategies. We also find that RPM can reduce consumers¡¦ incentive to delay purchases. As the demand price elasticity increases, RPM is more strictly employed by manufactures who want to eliminate purchase delay caused by frequent markdowns. We also perform empirical tests to show that the motivation behind RPM is to reduce the negative externality of frequent markdowns on consumers¡¦ purchase delay.

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This thesis applies the historical-structural approach to study rice industry of the development in Taiwan and stat role how to change. We through the influence cause and structure by whole international and internal circumstance, political economics, and social factors during the transferring process of rice industry after the government of R.O.C. moved to Taiwan in 1949¡Athis thesis based on the production and sale of the rice policy changing in four different and sequential stages, which is used to examine the four stages at the relationship among state¡Brice farmers and unofficial agricultural sectors in development of Taiwan Rice Industry, and also explores what kind of pressures will influence the state¡¦s role.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 166-175). Also available on the Internet.