Jack A. Fuller

The Influence of Empowerment and Job Enrichment on Employee Loyalty in a Downsizing Environment

Maintaining survivors’ loyalty in a downsizing environment is a difficult problem for management practitioners. Theorists have suggested that empowerment and job enrichment are mechanisms that allow survivors to cope with the stress of downsizing. This study examined the relationships between managerial empowerment behaviors, perceptions of job enrichment, and loyalty behaviors with employees who have survived downsizing in an organization. Results showed that empowerment does not have a direct effect on loyalty but affects loyalty indirectly through job enrichment. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for theory and practice.

Operations management and operations research: a historical and relational perspective

The focus of this research paper is to briefly trace the historical development of Operations Management (OM) and Operations Research (OR). The problems and challenges resulting from the convergence between the two fields in recent years are evaluated and some recommendations are offered to both OM and OR academicians and practitioners.

A Baselining of Alternative Fuel Usage

Alternative fuel usage is becoming a more and more prevalent topic of discussion and important research area for those who work in the energy field and perform research on energy topics. This interest is due to the dwindling supply and increasing cost of more traditional energy supplies, as well as environmental considerations. Bio-fuels have now become an important research area as they have the potential to be able to replace some portion of the current United

Atmospheric Fluidized Bed Combustion (AFBC) Plants: An Operations and Maintenance Study

The authors analyzed data from a fluidized bed boiler survey distributed during the spring of 2003 to develop appropriate AFBC (Atmospheric Fluidized Bed Combustion) performance benchmarks. The survey was sent to members of CIBO (Council of Industrial Boiler Owners), who sponsored the survey, as well as to other firms who had an operating AFBC boiler on-site. There were three primary purposes for the collection and analysis of the data contained in this fluidized bed boiler survey: (1) To develop AFBC benchmarks on technical, cost, revenue, and environmental issues; (2) to inform AFBC owners and operators of contemporary concerns and issues in the industry; (3) to improve decision making in the industry with respect to current and future plant start-ups and ongoing operations.

Atmospheric Fluidized Bed Combustion (AFBC) Plants: A Performance Benchmarking Study

The authors analyzed data from a fluidized bed boiler survey distributed during the spring of 2000 to begin the process of developing AFBC (Atmospheric Fluidized Bed Combustion) performance benchmarks. The survey was sent to members of CIBO (Council of Industrial Boiler Owners), who sponsored the snrvey, as well as to other firms who had an operating AFBC boiler on-site. The useable response rate to the survey was approximately thirty-two percent, resulting in thirtyfive useable surveys to analyze. (It should be noted that there are approximately 110 operating AFBC units in the United States to whom the survey was directed.) The survey respondents principally used AFBC technology in steam and power plants ranging in size from a few MW (megawatts) to several hundred MW in size.