Step Zero Research Articles

Intentional Design of Marketplace Revitalization Program: Outcome Mapping For The Case of The Banjaran Market

Marketplace revitalization is a solution from the government and related stakeholders to maintain the existence of the declining traditional marketplace. One of the Indonesian marketplaces that intervened with the revitalization program for this case study is Banjaran Market, in Bandung Regency, West Java which aims to improve infrastructure performance and the socio-economic development of its surrounding community. The complexity and expected behavioral changes in the marketplace revitalization program need to be simplified to be easily understood by the implementing team, beneficiaries, and donors via Outcome Mapping analytical method. This study started by collecting qualitative data, then focusing on Step Zero and the Intentional Design stage to establish the vision, identify boundary partners, state outcome challenges, and conceptualize strategies that influence boundary partners’ behavioral changes. The results show that the Banjaran Market merchant association is the boundary partner of the revitalization program, with the expected behavioral change indicated by ‘relationship’ in the form of openness, not hindering program implementation, which in turn builds the community and business management capacity, according to the regional government and medium-term development plans. This study is accustomed to be an evaluation of other marketplace revitalization programs in Indonesia, for inclusive and sustainable community engagement and development.

Step zero of marine protected areas of Brazil

Despite the efforts to improve marine conservation through marine protected areas, effective management is challenging. Challenges in management have been attributed, amongst other reasons, to the initial process of Marine Protected Area (MPA) creation. In this context, the objective of this study is to describe the creation processes of Brazilian MPAs, via the “step zero” analysis. We analyzed eight MPAs through interviews with key informants. The main lessons learned from this study, is that the process of creation did not take into account fundamental aspects such as previous studies about local socioecological dynamic and citizen participation in the decision making processes, foreseen by the norms and guidelines of the Brazilian system. These variables, in turn, may explain why MPAs often demonstrate challenges in the management process. Furthermore, describing Brazil's experiences with creating MPAs, we believe we are contributing to the development of the step zero analysis, as well as to the decision making in the creation of MPAs in the national context.

Chevron and the Attorney General's Certification Power

Congress has delegated power to the Attorney General to execute the nation’s immigration laws, adjudicate individual noncitizens’ cases, and fill interpretive gaps in the statute. The Attorney General has in turn delegated this authority, by regulation, to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). Most BIA decisions are administratively final, and noncitizens appeal unfavorable decisions directly to federal courts of appeals. In a small but growing number of cases, however, the Attorney General will step in to decide a case himself de novo after the BIA has ruled. This power of intervention and decision, sometimes known as the “referral and review” power or “certification” power, has drawn some praise for being an efficient use of the broad power afforded to the executive branch in the immigration context, but more often has sustained criticism for potential abuse. In this Note, I analyze this certification power through the lens of Chevron. In particular, I argue that Chevron deference to the BIA is appropriate because it serves the values of the Chevron doctrine—expertise, procedural regularity, and public accountability—but that Chevron deference to the Attorney General’s certified opinions is inappropriate. Courts have a responsibility under Step Zero not to defer to an interpretation of law unless its issuance adheres sufficiently to fundamental tenets of administrative law. Certified opinions are insufficient on all counts. Deference to the Attorney General’s interpretations of law issued in this manner serves none of the values of the Chevron doctrine.

Step Zero: Determinants and Implications of Reliance on the Qualitative Goodwill Impairment Assessment

I examine the use of qualitative versus quantitative impairment testing methods and their differential implications for future impairments and goodwill valuation. Using hand-collected data, I find that the likelihood of reliance on a qualitative assessment is decreasing in both the complexity of goodwill and the risk of an underlying goodwill impairment. I also find that the likelihood of large future goodwill impairments is lower on average for firm-years in which the firm relies on a qualitative assessment. Finally, I investigate investor perceptions of this choice and find evidence that investors place a premium on goodwill when firms rely on a qualitative assessment versus a quantitative test. This finding suggests that investors perceive a firm’s goodwill impairment testing method choice as reflective of management’s private information. Overall, results suggest that managers are not using the discretion in ASU 2011-08 opportunistically, which was a concern in implementing this new standard.

The Simple Solution to Auer Problem

This Article provides empirical answers to several pressing questions in the ongoing debate over the Auer doctrine — i.e., controlling judicial deference to an agency’s interpretation of its own regulations. The study is based on an original dataset of variables attendant to 1,118 agency interpretations across 1,048 published U.S. Courts of Appeals opinions. The dataset includes all federal circuit court decisions that invoked Auer or related cases from 1993 to 2013. In order to allow for a comparative analysis, the author employed simple random sampling to create samples representative of populations of U.S. Courts of Appeals opinions that invoked the other two primary deference principles: controlling Chevron deference to an agency’s interpretation of its own enabling statutes and non-controlling Skidmore respect. For each interpretation, the author recorded identifying information and whether the government’s interpretation was accepted by the court. Also, each interpretation was put into one of twelve categories of administrative procedure. The results of this study point to the following notable conclusions. First, the data indicate that Auer deference has narrowed in U.S. Courts of Appeals over the last decade, in the wake of a number of Supreme Court opinions that were critical of the doctrine. Second, U.S. Courts of Appeals give Auer deference to interpretations falling across the continuum of administrative procedure in a surprisingly balanced manner. Overall, federal circuit courts applied Auer deference to virtually the same number of interpretations resulting from administrative processes that carry the force and effect of law as they applied the doctrine to processes that do not. Finally, the data allow for a simple modeling of the administrative burden of reforming Auer deference. Under conservative assumptions, implementing an Auer Step Zero would lead to an estimated difference in the government’s win rate amounting to a single interpretation per U.S. Court of Appeals every eight years across 66 administrative agencies identified in the study. These results belie claims that disrupting the doctrine would lead to chaos in regulatory agencies and federal courts.

Major Questions About the "Major Questions" Doctrine

After over a decade of hibernation, the United States Supreme Court has awoken the “major questions” doctrine, which has re-emerged in an expanded form. Under the doctrine, a court will not defer to an agency’s interpretation of a statutory provision in circumstances where the case involves an issue of deep economic or political significance or where the interpretive question could effectuate an enormous and transformative expansion of the agency’s regulatory authority. While the doctrine’s re-emergence in recent Supreme Court cases has already raised concerns, a subtle shift in its application has gone unnoticed. Unlike in earlier cases, where the Court invoked the major questions doctrine under Step One of the Chevron framework, the Court has recently applied the doctrine in other stages of the Chevron analysis. For instance, in Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA, the Court first found that the statutory provision at issue was ambiguous under Chevron Step One. It then raised the major questions doctrine as part of its Step Two analysis to find that the agency’s interpretation was unreasonable. In stark contrast, the Court in King v. Burwell invoked the major questions doctrine at Chevron Step Zero and thereby declined to apply the Chevron framework altogether. The re-emergence of the major questions doctrine and its expanded application is significant and raises doctrinal and pragmatic concerns. Accordingly, this Essay seeks to re-introduce the doctrine to the legal community and explain the Court’s recent application of the doctrine to demonstrate how and why its newfound scope warrants further study.

How to Exploit Standard Solutions in Problem Definition

In this paper we propose a creative method to support ARIZ, a step-by-step method for problem solving invented by Altshuller in 1956. Specifically, we propose a new formulation of step zero, which deals with clarifying and verifying the problem statement. Since the birth of ARIZ, step zero has been continuously updated; ARIZ-56, ARIZ-59, ARIZ-61, ARIZ-64, ARIZ-65, ARIZ-68, ARIZ-71,ARIZ-75, ARIZ-77, ARIZ-82, and 3 versions of ARIZ-85 prove all attempts to balance convergent and divergent phases in order to change the perspective on the given problem, adding useful information from the market or the patents, igniting lateral thinking and overcoming psychological inertia. After Altshuller's death, ARIZ development has been continued by TRIZ masters and followers without establishing a reference model.This paper proposes a revision of two classical Altshuller's tools, the “multiscreen method” and “76 standard solutions” to be used in the problem formulation phase. The first one is called Film MakerTM and is a simple tool to manage the cause-effect relationship through the description of a film, i.e. a sequence of events. The second one is called “111 Standards” and is a structured elaboration of Altshuller's 76 standard solutions to systematically identify alternative partial solutions. A four step method containing these tools is presented together with an exemplary case.After more than 2 years experimentation within a project commissioned by the chamber of commerce of Bergamo, involving over than 30 companies, we discuss the results and efficacy of this approach

5S implementation in Indian SME: a case study

The 'lean' approach is applicable more effectively in large-scale manufacturing than in job type small scale manufacturing sector, mainly because of several perceived barriers in the latter environment. This paper describes a case in Indian manufacturing scenario, where lean principles were adapted for a SME application at a tooling manufacturer. Predominantly, 5S was the main tool used to identify the opportunities for improvements as a step zero of lean techniques. Selected TQM factors were considered in assessing quality improvement along with 5S and visual management, to identify potential areas of improvement on the shop floor. Study reveals the reports of audit to highlight the 'before' and 'after' scenarios in detail. The case study also attempts to elaborate the constraints, inadequacy of research and approach of Indian SMEs while implementing the lean philosophy. It is an attempt to 'right size' the small business and in doing so what can be the attitude of an Indian manufacturing unit.

Analysis of the AMMON Experimental Program in the EOLE Facility Supporting the Qualification of the JHR Neutron and Photon Tools

The first divergence of the international Jules Horowitz Material Testing Reactor under construction at CEA Cadarache is foreseen in 2016. In order to perform all the design and safety studies, a specific neutron and photon calculation tool, HORUS3D/NP in this frame, the validation and qualification steps aim at quantifying all the biases and associated uncertainties of HORUS3D/N&P calculations. These biases originate from both the nuclear data and the calculation scheme, for calculations at step zero (JHR BOL core) or during depletion (JHR core at equilibrium). This paper focusses on the quantification of the biases due to nuclear data and the associated uncertainties. A new experimental program, named AMMON, was performed between 2010 and 2013 to provide experimental data for this quantification. A large part of the measurements has been today analyzed with the Monte Carlo TRIPOLI-4® code and the JEFF3.1.1 and EPDL97 data libraries relative to neutron/photon transport and photon emission. The C/E results were transposed from AMMON to JHR. The synthesis of the present analysis is very satisfactory. The calculation biases remains limited. In addition, thanks to a very good control to the experimental uncertainties during measurements, it is shown that the a priori uncertainties due to nuclear data for parameters at step zero was reduced up to a factor of 2.

A framework for executing Reengineering Step Zero

Corporations embarking on reengineering projects often underestimate the costs and risks involved. This arises because management is unaware of the critical preparatory activities that need to be undertaken before the formal kick-off of the reengineering project. A framework for preparation is proposed in this paper, comprising the following five core elements: achieving clarity, scope definition, data collection, project planning, and psychological preparation.

Mandated server training and reduced alcohol-involved traffic crashes: A time series analysis of the oregon experience : H. D. Holder, A. C. Wagenaar, Accident Analysis and Prevention, Vol. 26, No. 1, pp. 89–97

In this paper we propose a creative method to support ARIZ, a step-by-step method for problem solving invented by Altshuller in 1956. Specifically, we propose a new formulation of step zero, which deals with clarifying and verifying the problem statement. Since the birth of ARIZ, step zero has been continuously updated; ARIZ-56, ARIZ-59, ARIZ-61, ARIZ-64, ARIZ-65, ARIZ-68, ARIZ-71,ARIZ-75, ARIZ-77, ARIZ-82, and 3 versions of ARIZ-85 prove all attempts to balance convergent and divergent phases in order to change the perspective on the given problem, adding useful information from the market or the patents, igniting lateral thinking and overcoming psychological inertia. After Altshuller's death, ARIZ development has been continued by TRIZ masters and followers without establishing a reference model.This paper proposes a revision of two classical Altshuller's tools, the “multiscreen method” and “76 standard solutions” to be used in the problem formulation phase. The first one is called Film MakerTM and is a simple tool to manage the cause-effect relationship through the description of a film, i.e. a sequence of events. The second one is called “111 Standards” and is a structured elaboration of Altshuller's 76 standard solutions to systematically identify alternative partial solutions. A four step method containing these tools is presented together with an exemplary case.After more than 2 years experimentation within a project commissioned by the chamber of commerce of Bergamo, involving over than 30 companies, we discuss the results and efficacy of this approach

Numerical integration of stochastic differential equations

Several numerical methods for treating stochastic differential equations are considered. Both the convergence in the mean square limit and the convergence of the moments is discussed and the generation of appropriate random numbers is treated. The necessity of simulations at various time steps with an extrapolation to time step zero is emphasized and demonstrated by a simple example.