Manpower Demand Research Articles

Disaster management: Role of dental professionals

Natural or manmade catastrophic events place great manpower demands on communities and their health care and public health systems. This calls for ever preparedness on the part of the health care workers. Dentists are not perceived as much of help in case of any disaster event. Although the first responders are primarily looked upon for in case of any disaster response; if called upon dentists can be a source of vital support in medical surge events. Dentists and dental auxiliaries can augment the existing medical professionals, in responding to a declared medical emergency. Dentists are exposed to information in many general medical areas during their pre-doctoral education that can be useful in disaster response situations. Dentists have the clinical skills and medical knowledge that are invaluable assets in a mass casualty event. Dentists can be given the opportunity with additional targeted training to become more effective responders to natural disasters and other catastrophic events. Inculcating disaster training in the undergraduate and post graduate curriculum will better prepare the dentist for any surge event. The present article explores the various duties which dental professionals can play in a major public health disaster.

Lost in Translation? Challenges and Opportunities for Raising Health and Safety Awareness among a Multinational Workforce in the United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has experienced tremendous economic and industrial growth in the petroleum, airline, maritime and construction sectors, especially since the discovery of oil reserves. Mass recruitment of low skilled or unskilled laborers from less-developed countries has been utilized to satisfy the manpower demands of these fast paced industrial developments. Such workforce recruitment has created an unusual populace demographic, with the total UAE population estimated at 8.3 million, composed of 950,000 Emiratis, with the remainder being multinational expatriate workers, with varying educational qualifications, work experience, religious beliefs, cultural practices, and native languages. These unique characteristics pose a challenge for health and safety professionals tasked with ensuring the UAE workforce adheres to specific occupational health and safety procedures. The paper discusses two case studies that employ a novel multimedia approach to raising health and safety awareness among a multinational workforce.

A Critical Review of Forecasting Models to Predict Manpower Demand

Forecasting manpower requirements has been useful for economic planners, policy makers and training providers in order to avoid the imbalance of skills in the labour market. Although reviews of the manpower planning models have been conducted previously, with the accumulated experience and the booming of advanced statistical techniques and computer programs, the study of forecasting practices has undrgone considerable changes and achieved maturity during the past decade. This paper assesses the latest employment and manpower dmand estimating methods by examining their rationale, strength and constraints. It aims to identify enhancements for further development of manpower forecasting model for the construction industry and compare the reliability and capacity of different forecasting metodologies. It is cocluded that the top-down forecasting approach is the dominant methodology to forecast occupational manpower demand. It precedes other methodologies by its dynamic nature and sensitivity to aa variety of factors affecting the level and structure of employment. Given the improvement of the data available, advanced modelling techniques and computer programs, manpower planning is likely to be more accessible with improved accuracy at every level of the society.

A Review of Anomaly Detection in Automated Surveillance

As surveillance becomes ubiquitous, the amount of data to be processed grows along with the demand for manpower to interpret the data. A key goal of surveillance is to detect behaviors that can be considered anomalous. As a result, an extensive body of research in automated surveillance has been developed, often with the goal of automatic detection of anomalies. Research into anomaly detection in automated surveillance covers a wide range of domains, employing a vast array of techniques. This review presents an overview of recent research approaches on the topic of anomaly detection in automated surveillance. The reviewed studies are analyzed across five aspects: surveillance target, anomaly definitions and assumptions, types of sensors used and the feature extraction processes, learning methods, and modeling algorithms.

System dynamics of manpower planning strategies under various demand scenarios

Article history: Received August 10, 2012 Accepted 28 September 2012 Available online September 28 2012 The development of human resources recruitment and training strategies in a dynamic environment poses a challenge to many policy makers in various organisations. The goal of every human resource manager is to recruit, train and deploy the right personnel at the right place and at the right time in order to meet organizational requirements. We develop a system dynamics simulation model that captures the dynamic behaviour of a typical corporate manpower system. Three major strategies are indentified and simulated under different manpower demand scenarios. Based on a set of performance indices, the impact of the strategies is simulated under assumed demand scenarios including steady increasing, fluctuating, and s-shaped demand. Useful managerial insights are derived from the study. The model is a decision support tool for developing reliable dynamic manpower policies in terms of recruitment, training capacity, available skills, and attrition. This approach can assist organizations to design effective manpower strategies. © 2012 Growing Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fuzzy system dynamics and optimization with application to manpower systems

The dynamics of human resource recruitment and training in an uncertain environment creates a challenge for many policy makers in various organisations. In the presence of fuzzy manpower demand and training capacity, many companies fear losing critical human resources when their employees leave. As such, the development of effective dynamic policies for recruitment and training in a fuzzy dynamic environment is imperative. In this frame of mind, a fuzzy systems dynamics modelling approach is proposed to enable the policy maker to develop reliable dynamic policies relating recruitment, training, and available skills, from a systems perspective. It is anticipated in this study that fuzzy system dynamics and optimization approach would help organizations to design effective manpower policies and strategies.

Transformation and Change to Sustain Production

This article, written by Senior Technology Editor Dennis Denney, contains highlights of paper SPE 150070, ’Transformation and Change in Oil and Gas Production,’ by Sergio Sama Rubio and Mark J. Lochmann, SPE, Halliburton, and Larry Denver, SPE, and Dave Rees, SPE, Knowledge Reservoir, prepared for the 2012 SPE Intelligent Energy International, Utrecht, The Netherlands, 27-29 March. The paper has not been peer reviewed. Intelligent energy (IE) describes a new way of monitoring and performing production operations. Even though substantial gains are possible, the pace of innovation associated with these initiatives seems inconsistent. This paper examines the key contributing factor of manpower availability and its effect on the industry, and assesses the readiness for transformation within the exploration and production (E&P) industry. Introduction IE applies information technology to affect margins directly, enhance business productivity, boost corporate value, and act as a primary driver in economic growth. However, software implementation by itself cannot deliver the required gains because organizational change and buy-in (transformation) are necessary. Transformation in business is difficult. IE initiatives require new work processes, workforce adoption, and, ultimately, changes in behavior. For a company to overcome the barriers and undertake the process of adopting a new way of working, some compelling benefit or precipitating crisis must be identified. Production organizations have evaluated their greatest cost, risk, performance, and strategic justifications; decided that there was no overwhelming reason to invest in fundamental changes; and have acted accordingly. Recently collected information shows that the E&P industry has identified multiple opportunities to realize gains in performance, cost reduction, and risk management. Manpower Crisis Spare capacity has been reduced substantially compared with the glut of supply in the mid-1980s. Equally important is that investors demand a reasonable return on capital employed, return on operating capital, and return on investment, thus putting pressure on operations to generate the necessary cash flow. For the E&P industry’s manpower crisis, three conditions are necessary. Stated simply, Condition 1 says that demand for manpower increases as employee availability decreases. On its own, Condition 1 is not overwhelming until one considers the existing profile of upstream technical professionals. Studies have shown that the average age of the upstream petrotechnical professional is more than 50 years, and many experienced professionals soon will leave the industry. Condition 2 follows directly. The E&P industry is losing the most-experienced people rapidly, and a substantial experience gap will occur within the next 5 years. Increasing fresh-out-of-school recruitment cannot address this point as required. SPE membership in 1997 vs. 2010 is shown in Fig. 1. This chart shows the marked increase in age and the impending retirement of approximately 50% of SPE members (those at least 50 years old) further supporting the Condition 2 problem.

Current status, crisis and trends in Chinese dental technicians

Chinese dental technicians play a significant role in the globalised market of dental prosthesis fabrication, but this subject has not been investigated in detail. The demand for dental prostheses increases as individuals pay increasing attention to their oral health. Therefore, it is important to investigate the status of Chinese dental technicians. To evaluate the current status of Chinese dental technicians. Dental technicians' resumés, which reveal information regarding dental technician manpower, degrees, working age and salary, etc., were analysed and compared with those abroad. We also estimated the future demands of dental technician manpower, and discussed some potential solutions. There are fewer dental technicians in China than in other developed countries; they are also of a lower standard. Male technicians outnumber females. The education level of technicians is insufficient, and the education programme is still in its exploratory stage. The development of dental technician teams in China represents both an opportunity and a challenge. It is important to move forward from the current situation to yield long-term development. This article provides information on the Chinese dental technology industry, identifies the problems and offers solutions for its development.

식품관련 기업 수요 인력에 대한 연구

본 연구는 식품 관련 기업과 공공기관에서 요구되는 인력의 역량 항목과 전공과목의 업무 관련 중요도를 조사하고, 여러 종류의 식품 관련 자격증에 대한 가치를 추정하여 식품 관련 인력의 수요를 예측하고자 하였다. 또한 설문조사 결과의 신뢰성을 높이기 위해 식품 기업과 공공 기관의 업무 경험이 적어도 3년 이상된 실무자들을 대상으로 설문 조사를 실시하였다. 기업 및 공공기간에서 신입사원 채용 판단 기준 분석에 있어서 가장 중요하게 보는 것은 인성 및 성격, 식품전문지식 및 컴퓨터 능력의 순으로 나타났다. 기업별 및 공공기관으로 나누어 볼 때, 공공기관에서는 식품전문지식, 출신학교 및 학력이 기업군에 비해 중요하게 여기고 있으며, 자격증은 위탁급식업체에서 가장 중요하게 판단하는 것으로 나타났다. 업무와 전문과목 관련 중요도 분석 결과, 법규 및 위생 관련 과목이 중요하게 판단되는 것으로 나타났다.

한국 원자력 인력의 고령화와 인력정책의 함의: 원자력 관련기관 인력통계 분석

원자력 인력 고령화는 원전 수출에 따른 새로운 인력 수요 증가에 못지 않는 중요한 인력 문제를 야기할 수 있다. 고령화된 숙련 전문인력의 대거 퇴직에 따른 고급 인력난과 원자력 기술능력 약화는 한국 원자력의 경쟁력을 크게 약화시킬 수 있다. 본 연구는 한국 원자력 관련 기관 및 업체들에 대해 2001년과 2010년 국내원자력 기관의 인력 현황에 대한 통계조사에 근거하여 약 10년의 기간 동안 원자력 인력 변동 추이 등의 인력 현황 통계자료를 활용했다. 이를 토대로 조사대상 기관별로 그리고 통합적으로 원자력 인력의 고령화 수준을 검토한다. 그리고 원자력 인력 고령화 문제에 대비하기 위한 인력 충원의 방향과 한국 원자력 인력 수급의 문제점을 해소해 나가기 위한 대응방안을 제시할 것이다. In Korea, there are increasing concerns on nuclear manpower demand and supply due to construction of domestic nuclear power plants and exporting nuclear power plant. In addition, aging of nuclear manpower is another important concern for stable nuclear manpower demand and supply. A shortage of skilled high-quality human resources resulted in massive retirements of senior workers may seriously undermine Korean nuclear competitiveness. This paper analyzed current state of aging of nuclear manpower based on statistical analysis on Korean nuclear organizations. The data used in this paper is manpower statistics of domestic nuclear organizations surveyed in 2001 and 2010. This paper analyzed trends of manpower change for 10 years and based on these analyses, has reviewed the level of the aging nuclear manpower by surveyed organization and integrated. Finally, this paper suggested to direction of manpower recruitment to cope with aging nuclear manpower and alternatives to find a solution to problems of nuclear manpower demand and supply.

Stabilizing and destabilizing forces in the nursing work environment: A qualitative study on turnover intention

Background The nursing work environment, which provides the context of care delivery, has been gaining increasing attention in recent years. A growing body of evidence points to an inseparable link between attributes of the nursing work environment and nurse and patient outcomes. While most studies have adopted a survey design to examine the workforce and work environment issues, this study employed a phenomenological approach to provide empirical evidence regarding nurses’ perceptions of their work and work environment. Aim The aim of this study was to advance our understanding of the phenomenon of increasing nurse turnover through exploring frontline registered nurses’ lived experiences of working in Hong Kong public hospitals. Methods and participants A modified version of Van Kaam's controlled explication method was adopted. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 26 frontline nurses recruited from ten acute regional, district and non-acute public hospitals in Hong Kong. Their perspectives in regard to their work and work environment, such as workload, manpower demand and professional values, were extensively examined, and a hypothetical description relating the nursing work environment with nurses’ turnover intention was posited. Results Contemplation of nurses’ experiences revealed the vulnerable aspects of nursing work and six essential constituents of the nursing work environment, namely staffing level, work responsibility, management, co-worker relationships, job, and professional incentives. These essential constituents have contributed to two sets of forces, stabilizing and destabilizing forces, which originate from the attributes of the nursing work environment. Nurses viewed harmonious co-worker relationships, recognition and professional development as the crucial retaining factors. However, nurses working in an unfavorable environment were overwhelmed by destabilizing forces; they expressed frustration and demonstrated an intention to leave their work environment. Conclusions The nursing work environment is a complex entity comprising multiple constituents; its attributes affect nurses’ perceptions of their work and work environment, which warrant special attention in addressing the phenomenon of increasing nurse turnover.

Machines, Methods, and Modernity in the British Civil Service, c. 1870–c. 1950

The growth of government and its bureaucracy in the first half of the twentieth century focused political interest in Britain on office work, workers, and practices. Parallels were drawn to offices in large organizations in business and industry and an active market of office products offered a growing choice of machines and other appliances for use in public offices. Demands for manpower in the military and related industries during the First and Second World Wars coupled with an increase in public business in civil offices encouraged both novelty and greater system in analysing processes to overcome obstacles to speed and management controls. Certainly by 1930 civil servants in Britain saw their offices as being different from those of their predecessors. Modern ideas linking specialist skills in organization and methods with machine processes drove changes to increase economy and to speed workflow. This article explores aspects of office history in the British Civil Service especially as it relates to the use of machines for written communications, the conditions that encouraged their use, and the ideas that came in their wake.

Construction manpower demand forecasting

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the performance of the vector error‐correction (VEC) econometric modelling technique in predicting short‐ to medium‐term construction manpower demand.Design/methodology/approachThe VEC modelling technique is evaluated with two conventional forecasting methods: the Box‐Jenkins approach and the multiple regression analysis, based on the forecasting accuracy on construction manpower demand.FindingsWhile the forecasting reliability of the VEC modelling technique is slightly inferior to the multiple log‐linear regression analysis in terms of forecasting accuracy, the error correction econometric modelling technique outperformed the Box‐Jenkins approach. The VEC and the multiple linear regression analysis in forecasting can better capture the causal relationship between the construction manpower demand and the associated factors.Practical implicationsAccurate predictions of the level of manpower demand are important for the formulation of successful policy to minimise possible future skill mismatch.Originality/valueThe accuracy of econometric modelling technique has not been evaluated empirically in construction manpower forecasting. This paper unveils the predictability of the prevailing manpower demand forecasting modelling techniques. Additionally, economic indicators that are significantly related to construction manpower demand are identified to facilitate human resource planning, and policy simulation and formulation in construction.

Forecasting Construction Manpower Demand by Gray Model

Construction is a labor-intensive industry that is heavily reliant on the availability of local manpower. The construction workload also fluctuates in either a cyclical or random manner. As a result, there is always either a shortage or surplus of manpower. Although a number of good forecasting models have been developed, they require input of sufficient and good-quality data to produce accurate results. The aim of this paper is to explore the use of the gray model in forecasting construction manpower based on a limited amount of data. A wide range of forecasting models in the literature is first reviewed. A single-variable first-order gray model is then proposed to forecast construction manpower one quarter ahead. The model is tested using manpower data based on the Quarterly Report on General Household Survey published by the Census and Statistics Department of the HKSAR Government. Data from 64 quarters, covering the first quarter of 1992 to the fourth quarter of 2007, are included. A computer program is formulated to manipulate all of the calculations involved. Based on the minimum mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) criterion, it is found that the optimal sample size is 5. Based on the input of data from five quarters, the MAPE of the overall forecast is only 3.21%, and the maximum absolute percentage error is 8.92%. It is thus concluded that the gray model produces very accurate results. The results of this study also suggest that this model is applicable to forecasts of other time series particularly when limited data are available.

OPTIMAL MANPOWER PLANNING DECISION WITH SINGLE EMPLOYEE TYPE CONSIDERING MINIMAL EMPLOYMENT PERIOD CONSTRAINT

In this paper, we investigate a manpower planning problem with single employee type over a long planning horizon. The dynamic demand for manpower must be fulfilled by allocating enough number of employees and each employee has a minimal employment period. A cost objective is concerned where the costs for every employee include salary, recruitment and dismissal costs, in particular, setup cost when recruitment activity occurs in one period. In this paper we first formulate the problem as a dynamic programming model. Then we derive properties of the problem and propose an algorithm to minimize the total manpower-related cost over the entire planning horizon. Next we discuss the influence on the optimal states of changing some parameters and provide the sensitivity analysis of the optimal states concerning the future demands. Finally, we report computational results to illustrate the correctness of the approach and to analyze the influence on the optimal states of changing parameters or changing future demands.

Modeling Construction Occupational Demand: Case of Hong Kong

Appropriate training can only be developed if training needs for specific skills are carefully identified. This paper, further to an aggregate model developed previously, aims to forecast the occupational share of the aggregate manpower demand for the construction industry of Hong Kong. The forecast, based on existing manpower statistics, is divided into two levels: broad occupations and detailed occupations. The broad occupational demand forecasting model is formulated using a time-series regression analysis to derive the relationship between the occupational share and the construction output cycle, technology, and various work-mix variables; whereas exponential smoothing technique is used to forecast the share of detailed occupations. This occupational demand estimation can provide solid information to facilitate manpower planning. It enables the policymakers to foresee the trends of occupational manpower demand and formulate policies and training and retraining programs tailored to deal effectively wit...

MANPOWER DEMAND EVALUATION MODEL FOR TRAFFIC CONTROL DUTIES AT URBAN INTERSECTIONS

Conducting traffic control duties at urban intersections significantly affects the operating efficiency of traffic in peak hours. How to make a good personnel allocation plan is a very important issue for urban traffic management. Therefore, this study constructed a manpower demand evaluation model of three objectives and nine criteria based on two-stage questionnaire surveys. The relative weight of the criteria was determined by the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The generalized score of this evaluation model can be used to measure the need of traffic control manpower for urban intersections. According to this generalized score and a practical rule-of-thumb, this study proposed the personnel allocation principles further. Finally, this study found that the proposed model and principles are feasible by applying to two cases of the Taipei Police Districts.

The Implementation of Virtual Instruction in Relation to X-ray Anatomy and Positioning in a Chiropractic Degree Program: A Descriptive Paper

This article provides information regarding the introduction of virtual education into classroom instruction, wherein a method of classroom instruction was developed with the use of a computer, digital camera, and various software programs. This approach simplified testing procedures, thus reducing institutional costs substantially by easing the demand for manpower, and seemed to improve average grade performance. Organized files with hundreds of digital pictures have created a range of instructor resources. Much of the new course materials were organized onto compact disks to complement course notes. Customizing presentations with digital technology holds potential benefits for students, instructors and the institution.

Case Managers in Mass Casualty Incidents

To examine whether case managers affect patient evaluation/treatment/outcome and staffing requirements during Multiple Casualty Incidents (MCIs). Multiple patient relocations during MCIs may contribute to chaos. One hospital changed its MCI patient relocation policy during a wave of MCIs; rather than transfer patients from one medical team to another in each location, patients were assigned case-managers +/- teams who accompanied them throughout the diagnostic/treatment cascade until definitive placement. MCI data (n = 17, 2001-2006) were taken from the hospital database which is updated by registrars in real-time. ISSs were calculated retrospectively. Matched events before (n = 5)/after (n = 3) the change yielded data on staff utilization. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 26 experienced staff members regarding the effect of the change on patient care. Twelve events occurred before (n = 379 casualties) and 5 occurred after (n = 152 casualties) the change. Event extent/severity, manpower demands and patient mortality remained similar before/after the change. Reductions were observed in: the number of x-rays/patient/1st 24-hour (P < 0.001), time to performance of first chest x-ray (P = 0.015), time from first chest x-ray to arrival at the next diagnostic/treatment location (P = 0.016), time from ED arrival to surgery (P = 0.022) and hospital lengths of stay for critically injured casualties (37.1 +/- 24.7 versus 12 +/- 4.4 days, P = 0.016 for ISS > or = 25). Most interviewees (62%, n = 16) noted improved patient care, communication and documentation. During an MCI, case managers increase surge capacity by improving efficacy (workup/treatment times and use of resources) and may improve patient care via increased personal accountability, continuity of care, and involvement in treatment decisions.

Design Status Analysis for Development of U-City Education and Training Course

To provide effective support for education and training of U-City manpower, it is necessary to analyze its demand and develop the appropriate education course. Development of education courses requires reviewing the cases of other industries, understanding the demands of each educatees, developing the education courses in detail, and making the standard teaching materials. Therefore, this study analyzed the status of the manpower education and training project of NGIS, which can be the similar case, reviewed the current status of each local government’s U-City project, and determined the manpower demand based on the estimated U-City operation cost of local governments, to suggest the basic policy direction for educating and training manpower.