The purpose of the study was to compare differences among 18 personality trait scales of the California Personality Inventory (CPI), six American Association of Health, Physical Education and Recreation (AAHPER) tests of physical fitness, and Ponderal Index (PI, or body mass) measurements for a population of ethnic Chinese and aboriginal Taiwanese junior high school male athletes and nonathletes; the secondary purpose was to determine relationships among these variables. The study sample included 839 subjects, administered the tests at 18 junior high schools in Taiwan, Republic of China (ROC). Statistical analysis was prepared at the Institute of Physical Education, National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan, ROC. The subject population included 183 subjects active in team sports (volleyball, soccer, baseball), 214 subjects active in individual sports (track and field, wrestling, swimming), and 442 nonathlete subjects between the ages 13 to 16 years. From the results of this investigation, it was found that ethnic Chinese and aboriginal Taiwanese subjects differed significantly on several of the CPI trait scales and physical fitness tests, but that there were no significant differences between the two racial classifications for PI measurements. Athlete subjects from both racial classifications scored significantly higher than nonathletes on all of the physical fitness tests, and upon several of the CPI trait scales. Nonathletes from both racial classifications scored significantly higher than athletes from both groups for the PI measurements. In addition, team sport athletes scored significantly higher than individual sport athletes on physical fitness tests for sit-ups, the long jump, and the 600-yard run, as well as for PI measurements and the CPI Self-Acceptance scale. Significant interactions were found between athletes and nonathletes from both racial classifications for the sit-ups, shuttle run, and 50-yard dash physical fitness test and the CPI Communality scale, and between individual and team sport athletes from both racial classifications for the pull-ups and sit-ups physical fitness tests. For the ethnic Chinese subjects, with the exception of pull-ups, there was a significant interaction between all physical fitness tests and for 15 of the 18 CPI trait scales; for the aboriginal Taiwanese subjects, there was a significant interaction between all of the physical fitness tests and total CPI score. No significant correlationships were found between the CPI trait scales, tests of physical fitness, and PI measurements for ethnic Chinese subjects, whereas significant correlations among the same variables were established for the aboriginal Taiwanese subjects. For the latter, as physical fitness test scores increased, there was a tendency for certain personality characteristics (Dominance, Capacity for Status, Sociability, Social Presence, Self-Acceptance, Achievement via Independence, Intellectual Efficiency, and Femininity) to become increasingly strong influences. / Graduation date: 1992

The emergence in recent years of strong female musical artists asserting their sexuality as empowerment (Andsager & Roe, 2003; Gauntlett, 2002) has necessitated an evaluation of their depictions in music videos as perceived by contemporary target audiences. This study attempts to determine how viewers’ gender role identity, based upon gender schema theory (Bem, 1981; 1993) and measured through Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI), relate to perceptions of female pop and hip hop artists’ music videos. It was hypothesized that sex-typed respondents would perceive portrayals as traditional more than other groups, whereas cross-sex typed respondents would perceive empowerment more than others groups. A convenience sample of 177 female undergraduate students was used for this cross-sectional study. Results did not support the hypotheses. Though some of the traditional items were found significant, no other significant differences emerged. Overall, gender role identity was ultimately found to have little relationship to perceptions of music video portrayals.

<p>In the current recessionary cycle in which individuals finds themselves, it is interesting to see whether organisations and individuals have changed their strategies or whether they pursued their tried and tested inherent mechanisms of recruitment/work selection. In recessionary times, organisations would usually have a bigger pool to select from whilst employees, in turn, would try to position themselves in a stable work environment. From an organisational perspective, organisations have also undergone major transitions such as downsizing, merges and acquisitions, right sizing, restructuring, and reengineering. These changes have a direct impact on employees&rsquo / level of motivation and job satisfaction (Ellison &amp / Schreuder, 2000). The concept of a traditional career that an employee occupies for a lifetime performing one type of work in an organisation no longer exists. Instead, employees now work for more than one organisation in their lifetime. These changes entail that employees need to be flexible and adaptive in making career decisions (Schreuder &amp / Coetzee, 2006). Career anchors can be operationalized as a representation of self- perceived talents, motives, values and abilities that guide employees to make career decisions. Schreuder and Coetzee (2006), are of the opinion that if employees are not familiar with their&nbsp / career anchors, they could find themselves trapped in work environments that are not satisfactory and would continually be questioning themselves. Suutari and Taka (2004) emphasize the fact that there needs to be a fit between the careers of employees and the work environment. If there is no fit between the career anchors of employees and the work environment then employees are likely to become dissatisfied which may result in a high turnover of staff with a corresponding low productivity rate. This study investigates and explores the phenomenon of career anchors based&nbsp / on Schein&rsquo / s 1978 career anchor theory and how these career anchors affect employees level of job satisfaction. The Career Anchor Inventory and the Job Descriptive Index were administered to a sample of 154 employees at a leading retail organisation who completed the questionnaires. The results of this research study indicate that there are significant relationships between biographical factors and career anchors as well as between biographical factors and job satisfaction and similarly between typology of career anchors and dimensions of job satisfaction.</p>

The objective of this research project was to identify the limitations associated with schedule-based Material Requirements Planning (SBMRP) and to present a knowledge-based expert system (KBES) approach to solve these problems. In SBMRP, the basic strategy is to use backward or forward scheduling based on an arbitrary dispatching rule, such as First-In First-Out. One of the SBMRP weak points is that it does not use such job information as slack times, due dates, and processing times, information which otherwise is important to good scheduling decisions. In addition, the backward scheduling method produces a better schedule than the forward scheduling method in terms of holding and late costs. Dependent upon job characteristics, this may or may not be true and should be tested. This study focused on the means to overcome these two weak points by the use of a KBES. Heuristic rules were developed through an experiment-based knowledge acquisition process to generate better schedules, rather than relying solely upon forward or backward scheduling. Scheduling performance was measured, based on the minimization of the sums of holding and late costs. Due to complexities of the problem, heuristic methods were used rather than analytic methods. In particular, five loading rules were selected, based upon their close relationship to selected job characteristics, including processing times and due dates. Combined loading methods (CLMs) were developed to obtain better performance, derived by combining the two existing SBMRP scheduling strategies with five loading heuristic rules. This resulted in the generation of 10 CLMs for further evaluation. Since this study proposed a new approach, an expert human scheduler was not available. To overcome this problem, knowledge acqusition through computer experimentation (KACE) was utilized, based upon an architecture of five components: job generator, scheduler, evaluator, rule generator (an extended version of ID3), and the KBES. The first three components were used to generate a large number of examples required by the rule generator to derive knowledge. This derived knowledge was incorporated into the KBES. Experimental results indicated that the KBES outperformed the two existing SBMRP methods. Based on sensitivity analysis, the KBES exhibited robust performance with regard to every job parameter except number of parts. As the number of parts was increased, KBES performance was subject to degradation since the possibility of interactions or conflicts between parts tended to increase, resulting in shifting the threshold ratio of total available time to total processing time. Thus, it is strongly recommended that a new KBES capable of accommodating 30 parts or more should be developed using the KACE method. / Graduation date: 1991

As one of the oldest and most innovative financial institutions, a clearinghouse efficiently clears and settles payments for equity transactions as well as other securities. However, this paper will only be concerned with common and preferred equity securities. The purpose of a clearinghouse is to reduce counterparty risk. It acts as an intermediary between two parties, so that the risk of one party failing to honor its contractual obligation is diminished. It reduces settlement risk through netting, the process of eliminating offsetting transactions, thus decreasing the amount of cash flow. I examine the impact of the New York Stock Exchange Clearinghouse upon its establishment in May 1892. Specifically, I analyze the clearinghouse’s effect on trading costs for different equity securities, scrutinizing the effects on bid-ask spreads. I find that once a firm joined the NYSE clearinghouse, both its relative and absolute bid-ask spreads are narrowed, representing an overall reduction in spreads of 5.28 percent.

Time-since-fire data are used to describe wildfire disturbances, the major disturbance type in the Boreal forest, over a landscape. These data can be used to calculate various parameters about wildfire disturbances, such as size, shape and severity. Collecting time-since-fire data is expensive and time consuming; the ability to derive it from existing forest inventory data would result in availability of fire data over larger areas. The objective of this thesis was to explore the use of forest inventory information for the prediction of time-since-fire data in the mixedwood boreal forests of Saskatchewan. Regression models were used to predict time-since-fire from forest inventory variables for each inventory polygon with a stand age. Non-water polygons with no stand age value were assigned values from neighbouring polygons, after splitting long polygons that potentially crossed many historic fire boundaries. This procedure filled gaps that prevented polygons from being grouped together in latter analysis. The predicted time-since-fire ages were used to generate wildfire parameters such as age-class distributions and fire cycle. Three methods were examined to group forest inventory polygons together to predict fire event polygons: simple partitions, hierarchical clustering, and spatially constrained clustering. The predicted fire event polygons were used to generate polygon size distribution wildfire metrics. I found that there was a relationship between time-since-fire and forest inventory variables at this study site, although the relationship was not strong. As expected, the strongest relationship was between the age of trees in a stand as indicated by the inventory and the time-since-fire. This relationship was moderately improved by including tree species composition, harvest modification value, and the ages of the surrounding polygons. Assigning no-age polygons neighbouring values and grouping the forest inventory polygons improved the predicted time-since-fire results when compared spatially to the observed time-since-fire data. However, a satisfactory method of comparing polygon shapes was not found, and the map outputs were highly dependent on the grouping method and parameters used. Overall it was found that forest inventory data did not have sufficient detail and accuracy to be used to derive high quality time-since-fire information.

Bakgrund: E-handel har haft en ständig ökning i Sverige sedan de första företagen startade sina verksamheter. Under de senaste åren har e-handeln visat en betydligt större tillväxttakt än detaljhandeln. Statistik visar att nio av tio konsumenter någon gång har e-handlat vilket tyder på att e-handeln idag är väletablerat bland konsumenterna. En mognare marknad har lett e-handeln in i en ny fas i den konkurrenskraftiga expansionen. Med en expanderad e-handel tillkommer nya utmaningar och problem inom logistik. E-handelsföretag som inte infört nödvändiga logistiksatsningar riskerar att hindras i utvecklingen eller konkurreras ut. Detta innebär att företag inom e-handel måste optimera, förnya och bli mer personliga mot kund för att behålla ett övertag gentemot konkurrenterna. Syfte: Syftet med rapporten är att beskriva inköpsprocessen och lagerhanteringen samt undersöka vilka problem inom inköpsprocessen och lagerhanteringen svenska e-handelsföretag upplevt i samband med e-handelns tillväxt. Metod: Rapporten består av en kvalitativ flerfallstudie. Studien utfördes på fallföretagen NordicFeel, NordicInk, Sporttema, Bubbleroom och GreenTech. Datainsamling har skett genom litteraturstudier, semi-strukturerade intervjuer samt direkta observationer. Slutsats: Svenska e-handelsföretag i studien är små i förhållande till sina leverantörer. Därmed avviker de från van Weeles (2010) inköpsprocess då de inte tillämpar kontraktskrivning och leverantörsuppföljning. Eftersom samtliga fallföretag bedriver försäljning av befintliga varumärken begränsas även deras möjlighet att utfärda specifikationer till leverantörer. Studier av lagerhanteringen uppvisades att samtliga fallföretag utför ankomstkontroll på inkommande gods. Dock levereras godset i- 4 -avvikande förpackningar och på olika pallsystem, vilket medför varierande hantering vid inläggning och plock av produkterna. Avsaknad av kontraktskrivning medför att samtliga företag har svårt att kräva leverantörer på ersättning vid felaktiga leveranser. Felaktiga leveranser härrör från att de är ofullständiga eller innehåller felförpackade produkter. Vid mottagning upptäcker företagen skadade produkter, som rapporteras till inköpsavdelningen. Samtliga företag utnyttjar inte sin lageryta optimalt, vilket leder till försvårad framkomlighet på lagret vid inläggning och plock. / Background: E-commerce has had a constant increase in Sweden since the first companies started their operations. In recent years, e-commerce has shown a significantly higher growth rate than retail. Statistics show that nine out of ten consumers have shopped online, suggesting that e-commerce is well established among consumers. A mature market has led e-commerce in to a new phase of the comtetitive expansion. With an expanded e-commerce however, new logistical challenges and problems emerge. E-commerce companies that have not yet adopted necessary logistics efforts could be hindered in their development or forced to exit the market. This means that companies in e-commerce must optimize, innovate and be more personal with customers in order to maintain an edge over the competition. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the purchasing process and inventory management and study the problems in the purchasing process and inventory management Swedish e-commerce companies experienced in e-commerce growth. Method: The paper consists of a qualitative multiple case study. The study was performed on the companies NordicFeel, NordicInk, Sporttema, Bubbleroom and GreenTech. Data was obtained from literature reviews, semi-structured interviews and direct observations. Conclusion: Swedish e-commerce companies in the study are small in relation to their suppliers. The companies differ from van Weeles (2010) purchasing process since they do not apply contracts and supplier monitoring. Because the companies engage in sales of existing brands they are also limited in their ability to issue specifications for suppliers. The studies of inventory management demonstrated that the companies perform inspection of incoming goods. However, the delivered goods are received in- 6 -different packaging and different pallet systems, which results in varying handling during insertion and retrieval of the products. The lacks of contracts mean that the companies have difficulty to demand suppliers of compensation due to incorrect deliveries. Incorrect deliveries mean they are incomplete or contain improperly packaged products. Upon receiving damaged products, the companies report to the purchasing department. The companies do not use the warehouse space optimally, leading to a more cumbersome accessibility in the warehouse during loading and picking.

Examensarbetet är utfört på Lifco Dental, som är ett distributionsföretag i Enköping undervårterminen 2013 och omfattar 30 högskolepoäng. Lifco Dentals huvudsakliga verksamhet ärlagerhantering av tandläkarartiklar och det rör sig om cirka 40 000 artiklar i varierandestorlek.Examensarbetet avser i första hand styrning av lagerhållning och artikelplacering. Andraområden som har bearbetas är ergonomi och personalfrågor. Arbetet kretsar kring följandeforskningsfrågor;1. Enligt vilka principer kan man placera artiklar?2. Hur kan man utforma arbetssättet på lager både kostnadseffektivt och ergonomiskt?3. Hur kan materialflödet effektiviseras?från källor som artiklar, litteratur, internet och direktkontakt med personal har samlats in.Behandling av information har baserats på författarnas tidigare kunskaper och vägledning avhögskolans handledare.Valda vertyg och metod är; Read a Plant, värdeflödeskartläggning, spagettidiagram,Paretodiagram, 5-Varför, benchmarking och intervjuer av personal, säljbolag och tandläkare.Dessa verktyg har hjälpt att analysera nuläget i verksamheten och identifiera slöserier samtförbättringsområden. En del verktyg har varit mer relevant för att kunna besvaraforskningsfrågorna.Bäst artikelplacering torde uppnås med ABC-principen. Undersökning av tre identifieradeergonomiska riskmoment gjordes enligt arbetsmiljöverkets bedömningsmall, vilket påvisadeatt man genom att ha rätt resurser, hjälpmedel och klara direktiv kan undvika skador. Dettakan man åstadkomma bland annat genom visuellt ledningssystem och investering i nyaergonomiska verktyg. Resultatet från värdeflödeskartläggning och paretodiagram tyder påbristande fördelning av resurser och identifierar flaskhalsar i flödet. En kontrolleradfördelning av anpassade resurser reducerar ojämnheter och underlättar styrningen.Författarna har baserad på analysen rekommenderat principer för artikelplacering ochlagerflöde samt rekommendationer kring personalmotivering, engagemang och ergonomi. / This Master of Science thesis has been conducted at Lifco Dental, a logistics company inEnköping, Sweden, during the spring term of 2013, encompassing 30 credits. Lifco Dental’score operation is logistics and inventory management of dental products, a sum total ofapproximately 40,000 articles in various sizes.The thesis is primarily concerned with inventory management and article placement. Otherareas of interest have been ergonomics and human resource management. The main researchareas have been;1. According to which principles can articles be placed?2. How can the inventory be managed to be cost efficient and have good ergonomics?3. How can material flows be streamlined?Information from sources such as articles, literature, the internet and direct interaction withemployees has been gathered. This information has been processed based on the authors’prior experience as well as extensive guidance from the MDH supervisor.The authors´ chosen tools and methods have been Read a Plant; Value Stream Mapping;Spaghetti diagram; Pareto diagram; 5Why; benchmarking and interviews with employees,sales staff and dentists. These tools and methods have aided us in analyzing the current stateof operations and in identifying waste as well as areas of opportunity. Some tools have provenmore relevant than others in producing relevant research answers.Optimal article placement can be achieved with the ABC principle. Studies of threeergonomically problematic operations, utilizing templates provided by Arbetsmiljöverket,showed that correct resources and aids as well as clear directives reduces the risks of injuries.This can be achieved by deploying a visual management system and more ergonomical toolsand aids. Results from the Value Stream Mapping and Pareto diagram suggest deficiencies inthe allocation of resources and identifies bottlenecks in the material flow. Controlledallocation of resources reduces inbalances and enhances control.Based on the analysis the authors have recommended principles for article placement andinventory flow as well as recommendations regarding staff motivation, commitment andergonomics.

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Hybrid Make-To-Stock (MTS)-Make-To-Order (MTO) manufacturing is a well known policy that captures the benefits of both MTS and MTO policies. This manufacturing policy is adopted by many manufacturing firms because it allows for production based on customer specifications while keeping short response times. We study a hybrid MTS-MTO manufacturing system which consists of two processing stages and an intermediate buffer between these two stages. We propose two separate scenarios for ordering and replenishment of components from the first stage which will give more realistic guidance for practitioners. The first scenario is batching customer orders before being released to the first stage. The second scenario is batch replenishment of common components from the first stage. Most existing MTS-MTO models focus on one-for-one ordering and replenishment strategies. We enhance these models by introducing a batch ordering policy to account for economies of scale in ordering when there is an ordering cost associated with each order placed for common components. We use queueing theory to model the system behavior and use the matrix-geometric method to evaluate system performance under the new ordering policy. Afterwards, we develop an optimization model with the objective to minimize the system overall costs. The purpose of our optimization model is to find the optimal intermediate buffer size and the optimal order quantity for the system. In the second scenario, we introduce the batch replenishment policy from stage 1. This policy is suitable when stage 1 and stage 2 are physically distant and there is a shipping cost incurred when components are transferred from stage 1 to stage 2. The decision variables in this model are the intermediate buffer size and the shipping quantity. We show that the base stock policy is sub-optimal when there is an ordering cost incurred for ordering components. The savings from adopting the batch ordering policy are high and the response time for most customer orders is not affected. When there are shipping costs and shipping time between the two stages, we show that the right selection of the system decision variables can have a large impact on the total cost incurred by the system.