Abstract This paper examines issues in job design from the perspective of developments in the labor market. Among the issues considered are the impact of technological change, shifts in how work is organized, the changing balance of power between employers and employees, the growing diversity in employment practices among similarly situated firms, and the persistence of a large low wage sector in the labor market. All of this suggests that this is a dynamic and interesting time to study the interaction of job design and broader trends in the labor market. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

- The simple trade-off between incentive and risk, which is crucial to the agency problem, is not a sufficient explanation for the ineffectiveness of a specific output-related pay such as the contract system adopted in the US iron and steel industry during the second half of the nineteenth-century. The high rate of technological innovation along with workers' extensive bargaining power made output-related pay a sub-optimal solution. This stylised fact unveils the conflicting nature of piece-rate pay compared to fixed pay as new technology is introduced and stimulates an analysis of the interaction between technological change, bargaining powers, and payment systems which can be conducive to a better understanding of the agency problem and the use of incentive pay. Key words: Incentive Contracts, Inside Contracting, Unions, Technological Change. JEL Classification: J33, J51, N31, O33

The Voyage Data Recorder (VDR) has proved a valuable tool for maritime accident and incident investigation over the last 20 years. New applications, functionalities and proposals for specifications and standards were examined based upon industry survey and expert view, published reports, and likely impact of changes in technology. A high proportion of incidents are attributed to human error; many of the changes proposed here are intended to support investigators in understanding crew perception of situations. It was found that regular automated analysis of VDR records by operators could yield safety and financial benefits.

Usando una variedad de nuevas series de información estadística para los cultivos más importantes, este artículo analiza el desempeño del sector agropecuario durante la Era del Salitre (1880-1930), un periodo de rápida expansión y modernización económica en Chile. El trabajo muestra que en esos años, y especialmente después del cambio del siglo XIX, la producción y el valor real del producto agropecuario aumentaron en la mayoría de los cultivos más importantes, así como en la ganadería. Además, hubo importantes mejoras en la productividad de la tierra, las cuales reflejaron el impacto de cambios tecnológicos, como las innovaciones biológicas. En suma, al contrario de las interpretaciones convencionales que popularizaron la noción de "estancamiento agrícola?, este trabajo demuestra que la agricultura de la Era del Salitre fue un sector mucho más dinámico de lo que se suponía.

This paper introduces a new approach for evaluating the impact of technological change on complex sociotechnical systems. The approach uses Work Domain Analysis as a theoretical base for extracting the key factors that influence system performance. The process has been designed to be expeditious, both in terms of construction and data collection. The approach uses the opinion of subject matter experts to evaluate the impact of each of the abstraction hierarchy nodes on system performance. This approach was used to evaluate the effects of digitization within land based military headquarters, at brigade and battlegroup levels. The proposed approach proved sensitive enough to reveal clear differences between the old analogue and new digital system. The description of the same system at a number of levels of abstraction allows the analyst to develop a high level rating of the system as well as understanding of the key factors that have influenced this opinion.

The paper considers the impact of recent technological advancements on the law and policy of the Official Information Act 1982. As the capacity and potential of technology increases, the ability to store, retrieve, and disseminate information could add immense value to the purposes and operation of the Act. However, there are two substantial difficulties with the technological changes. First, there are insufficient efforts to improve access to technology for certain segments of society. Second, co-ordination between initiatives to improve government information management systems have so far proved ineffective. These two problems pose substantial threats to the usefulness of the new technology. Consequently, the paper concludes by recommending that a co-ordinated, educational approach led by central government will ensure that the Act's benefits for citizens are enhanced by technological change, rather than undermined by it.

Our purpose was to demonstrate the impact of changes in technology, staffing, and departmental processes on service levels in emergency department (ED) radiology. We also attempted to determine if report turnaround time affects ED patient throughput. Radiology performance was evaluated before and after the modifications of processes integral to the interpretation of ED imaging. Picture archiving and communication system, voice recognition (VR), staffing, physical site, work flow, and administrative modifications were undertaken over approximately 2 years. The average time interval from the exam completion to report signature was 5,184 min (standard deviation (SD) of 1,858 min before the implementation of VR and other modifications of ED radiology processes). In post initial modifications, it was 150 min (SD, 169 min) and 157 min (SD, 215 min) in post additional modifications. The percentage of the signed written reports available in less than or equal to 60 min was 0%, 27%, and 40%, respectively. Ongoing improvements are needed to increase the service levels for ED radiology. Further improvement will require collaboration and adjustment with the ongoing assessment of metrics.

This paper presents the results of research undertaken between 2002 and 2004 into the impact of technological change on the UK consumer magazine industry. The findings highlight patterns of innovation, both in the range of products (most notably monthly magazine titles) and the structure of organisations and work practices, which have tended to elude much of the contemporary debate within the ‘cultural industries’ approach adopted in the media studies discipline. Instead, our analysis makes use of insights from the innovation literature to highlight the impact of technological discontinuities on the capabilities of both incumbent firms and new entrants. It also highlights the important and growing role that is being played in innovation-led industries through the adoption of organisational practices that find their origins in the traditions of project-based firms.

Despite the abundant literature on educational measurement there has been relatively little work investigating the psychological processes underpinning marking. This research investigated the processes involved when examiners mark examination responses. Scripts from two geography A‐level examinations were used: one requiring short and medium length responses and one requiring essays. Six examiners marked 50 scripts from each of the two examinations and were later asked to think aloud whilst marking four to six scripts from each examination. Coding and analyses identified different types of reading behaviours, social, emotional and personal reactions and provided insight into the nature of evaluations. Some differences between examiners and between question types were identified. Analysis of associations between marker behaviours and marker agreement suggested that positive evaluations, comparisons and thorough reading were important to avoiding severity. Potential implications for marker training and for the impact of technological changes to assessment systems are discussed.

This paper examines the vertical and horizontal integration models used in broadcasting and newer forms of delivery of audiovisual services. It presents a historical perspective on separation and integration in broadcasting in Australia to provide a context before presenting a typology of the delivery of audiovisual services. The paper provides an analysis of the current delivery in Australia of such services and concludes by considering the impact of technological change on these models. Copyright 2008 Rob Nicholls. No part of this article may be reproduced by any means without the written consent of the publisher.

A Theory of Law Firm Globalization

The Impact of Technological Changes on Radiation Therapy Incidents

Investment, Replacement and Scrapping in a Vintage Capital Model With Embodied Technological Change

Any assessment of the extent of the economic benefits for the construction sector from technological change is difficult to determine accurately but in view of the construction sector's contribution to a nation's economy, it is important that the impact of technological change on the industry is properly recognised. One area of technological change in the industry — the increased use of information and communication technology (ICT) is considered in this study, which examines the evidence concerning the crucial role of ICT usage and investment in generating growth and improving technical productivity in the industry and considers the question of how the gains from ICT can be evaluated at the industry level. The U.K. construction sector forms the focal point of this study but comparisons are also made with the construction sectors of other industrially developed countries. The results of the analysis find that the construction industry is now beginning to reap the benefits on productivity from the post ‐ 1995 surge in ICT investment.

The tertiary education reforms have placed considerable pressure on Industry Training Organisations (ITOs), which are now required to assume "new roles as strategic leaders in skills and training needs for the industries under their coverage” (Statement of Tertiary Education Priorities (STEP) 2003-04. p. 21). This paper argues that the STEP requirement can lead 10 productive relationships between ITOs and established research organisations. It considers the new context within which ITOs now operate and offers an illustrative case study of the sort of research that can result from collaborative relationships. Specifically if reports on research commissioned by the New Zealand Industry Training Organisation (NZ/TO), which covers dairy manufacturing, meat processing, and leather processing, as part of its strategic planning. The research reported includes: an analysis of the industries covered by the NZ/TO and their economic significance: the impact of an ageing workforce and other demographic on the labour market and ifs implications for NZ/TO industries: the impact of technological change on the labour market: and some of the consequences of the continuing integration of the global economy.

Several noteworthy developments in logistics practice have taken place without an equivalent and comprehensive development in urban freight transportation modeling. Part of the problem is the lack of deep understanding of the workings of distribution processes in relation to the generation of truck traffic. This study emphasizes the role and importance that distribution network size and information and communications technology have on the truck traffic flows that materialize as the supply chain flows over the public infrastructure. A concept is developed of commercial activity routing types that characterize the interplay between transportation demand requests and routing characteristics. This research contributes to the field by proposing a novel and detailed characterization of truck flows in a supply chain context. With well-known, yet simple, models and formulas from vehicle routing, operations research, and management science literature, behavioral insights are derived about distributors’ and carriers’ routing and order-sizing decisions, since routing constraints and second-order effects are important drivers of truck flows. The main contribution is to bring a new commercial activity-routing perspective and a deeper level of operational decision-making analysis to cope with the intricacies of freight transportation modeling.

The impact of technological changes in DNA profiling in the Forensic Science Service® (FSS), together with a newly developed service approach, has increased the effectiveness of the police, in terms of crime detection and prosecution. This paper provides a brief overview of the FSS and the recent historical context, which, in part, drove the initiatives described here. The link between the FSS, the police and the wider Criminal Justice System in England and Wales is explained before describing the development of the UK National DNA Database. The improvements in both the technology and approach to service delivery by the FSS is shown to have had a dramatic impact on the effectiveness of the police in terms of identifying criminals, bringing them to trial and securing convictions. A new approach for measuring the outcomes of the process is also presented.

Several noteworthy developments in logistics practice have taken place without an equivalent and comprehensive development in urban freight transportation modeling. Part of the problem is the lack of deep understanding of the workings of distribution processes in relation to the generation of truck traffic. This study emphasizes the role and importance that distribution network size and information and communications technology have on the truck traffic flows that materialize as the supply chain flows over the public infrastructure. A concept is developed of commercial activity routing types that characterize the interplay between transportation demand requests and routing characteristics. This research contributes to the field by proposing a novel and detailed characterization of truck flows in a supply chain context. With well-known, yet simple, models and formulas from vehicle routing, operations research, and management science literature, behavioral insights are derived about distributors’ and carriers’ routing and order-sizing decisions, since routing constraints and second-order effects are important drivers of truck flows. The main contribution is to bring a new commercial activity-routing perspective and a deeper level of operational decision-making analysis to cope with the intricacies of freight transportation modeling.

Among key drivers of healthcare reform in Canadian society are the challenges faced by the rapid rate of technological change and its impact on organizational performance in terms of efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and innovation in business and operational processes. However, despite the noted significance of the impact of technological change on healthcare organizations, the challenge of healthcare technology management (HCTM) has received only scattered and marginal attention in the technology management (TM) literature. The lack of formalization in HCTM construct, attributes, and measures motivated an empirical study to develop a metric for HCTM. This metric was then used to assess HCTM practices in teaching hospitals across Canada. The project began with an analysis of developments to date in the fields of Management of Technology and Management of Medical Technology. An extensive literature content analysis generated a set of definitions and attributes of the conceptual TM construct, which was eventually extended to HCTM. A measuring instrument was developed through a formal design process involving expert panel review, pilot testing, instrument refinement, and field-testing to extract and measure HCTM performance indicators. Administration of this metric with the help of the Association of Canadian Academic Health Organizations via a Web-based survey of senior healthcare administrators provided insights into the HCTM status of Canadian teaching hospitals and its relationship with organizational performance.

After a century of effort, directed at modernising Chinese script, it is still the case that Chinese characters (henceforth hanzi) remain a deficient communication system both for human use and for mechanical application. In some respects, the reform of Chinese hanzi has been a very political process, driven ultimately by politicians, yet at the same time influenced by the masses and historical traditions. Early views of language planning (henceforth LP) saw the discipline as a clinical linguistic process aimed at solving language problems, while modern-day critical theorists would argue that it is rooted in the social, economic and political agendas of the dominant elites. This struggle of ideologies has been played out in hanzireform during the last century and highlights the enormous challenge that Chinese language planners face. In this monograph, the reform process is examined and explained in light of these struggles. The focus is on a discussion of the recent developments in the Chinese hanzimodernisation process, with a historical description provided to create the necessary background for understanding the origin of the underlying issues. It provides a prospective view that suggests possible future developments, particularly in light of the impact of technological change.