A Fit between Logistics and Supply Chain Management Education and Jobs Market Need in Nepal

The purpose of this paper is to explore a fit between Logistics and Supply Chain Management (LSCM) related course content and the industry needs in the Nepalese context. Since this study is undertaken using the Nepalese sample, the knowledge and skills prioritized by employers, it can be of value to educators while designing their LSCM course content. Desk-based research involving content analyses was done to understand the supply side information i.e. relative coverage of LSCM topics in business-related courses and degrees offered at selected five Nepalese Universities and for the demand side information i.e. analysis of job description of the LSCM related vacancies in the Nepalese job market over eighteen weeks. The study reveals that the inclusion of LSCM courses in the business programs at Nepalese Universities is currently negligible as none of them offered a separate program dedicated to LSCM. Besides, the LSCM courses were limited to just one course per program weighing not more than three credit hours. Instead, there seems to be an unprecedented number of business schools and colleges leaning towards more sellable traditional business degrees related to finance, marketing, human resource management, IT, and hospitality. Finally, when comparing the relative coverage of LSCM topics in the curriculum to the relative demand for such knowledge by the employers, there seems to be an over-emphasis or under-emphasis of courses related to LSCM both at the bachelors and masters level indicating a mismatch between the expectations of employers and education offered by the universities.

Classical Estimation of the Index Spmk and Its Confidence Intervals for Power Lindley Distributed Quality Characteristics

The process capability index (PCI) has been introduced as a tool to aid in the assessment of process performance. Usually, conventional PCIs perform well under normally distributed quality characteristics. However, when these PCIs are employed to evaluate nonnormally distributed process, they often provide inaccurate results. In this article, in order to estimate the PCI Spmk when the process follows power Lindley distribution, first, seven classical methods of estimation, namely, maximum likelihood method of estimation, ordinary and weighted least squares methods of estimation, Cramèr–von Mises method of estimation, maximum product of spacings method of estimation, Anderson–Darling, and right-tail Anderson–Darling methods of estimation, are considered and the performance of these estimation methods based on their mean squared error is compared. Next, three bootstrap confidence intervals (BCIs) of the PCI Spmk, namely, standard bootstrap, percentile bootstrap, and bias-corrected percentile bootstrap, are considered and compared in terms of their average width, coverage probability, and relative coverage. Besides, a new cost-effective PCI, namely, Spmkc is introduced by incorporating tolerance cost function in the index Spmk. To evaluate the performance of the methods of estimation and BCIs, a simulation study is carried out. Simulation results showed that the maximum likelihood method of estimation performs better than their counterparts in terms of mean squared error, while bias-corrected percentile bootstrap provides smaller confidence length (width) and higher relative coverage than standard bootstrap and percentile bootstrap across sample sizes. Finally, two real data examples are provided to investigate the performance of the proposed procedures.

Composición florística de las plantas suculentas del Parque Histórico Guayaquil.// Floristic composition of the succulent plants of the Guayaquil Historical Park

Se determinó la composición florística de la colección de plantas suculentas del Parque Histórico Guayaquil, a través de un estudio exploratorio y descriptivo, se realizó un inventario, mediciones dasométricas, estimaciones de densidad y cobertura relativa, se elaboró un catálogo y se propusieron lineamientos para retomar la idea inicial de recrear un ecosistema de espinar litoral. Se identificaron 34 especies, 24 géneros, 12 familias y nueve órdenes. La densidad absoluta fue de 401 individuos, con 24% de la población dominado por la familia Cactaceae, y Armatocereus cartwrightianus como la especie más abundante, con 32.7% de cobertura relativa. Se identificaron 25 plantas de valor ornamental, 12 plantas medicinales, siete comestibles, una especie endémica del Ecuador, de categoría En Peligro (EN) de extinción: Jatropha nudicaulis; ocho especies de la familia Cactaceae de comercio controlado, y ocho plantas nocivas o irritantes. No todas las especies identificadas forman parte del ecosistema de espinar litoral, por lo cual se propuso reubicarlas, respondiendo a sus características botánicas.ABSTRACTThe floristic composition of the succulent plants collection of the Guayaquil Historical Park was determined, through an exploratory and descriptive study. Also, an inventory, dasometric measurements, density and relative coverage estimations were made, a catalog was elaborated and guidelines were proposed to resume the initial idea of recreating a coastal ecosystem. Thirthy four species, 24 genders, 12 families and nine orders were identified. The absolute density was 401 individuals, with 24% of the population dominated by the Cactaceae family, and Armatocereus cartwrightianus as the most abundant species, with 32.7% in relative coverage. Twenty five plants of ornamental value were identified, 12 medicinal plants, seven edible species, one endemic specie of Ecuador with Endangered (EN) category (Jatropha nudicaulis), eight species of the Cactaceae family with controlled trade, and eight harmful or irritating plants. Not all identified species were part of the coastal ecosystem, so it was proposed to relocated them, responding to their botanical characteristics.

Validity and Media-Derived Protest Event Data: Examining Relative Coverage Tendencies in Mexican News Media *

This essay engages the debate over the validity of media-derived protest data through an assessment of event coverage for three Mexico news sources. With a focus on "relative"—as opposed to "absolute"—coverage tendencies, it is argued that certain coverage tendencies in news sources can be identified and, in turn, incorporated as controls into more substantive analyses of protest phenomena. Specifically, this analysis finds that that, for the Mexico media, claims that coverage is representative of all protest events is dubious with respect to the overall population of specific events and to the geographic distribution of events. At the same time, it is shown that tendencies driven by regional biases, chronology, event size, event targets, and event issues can be exposed and identified through a simple comparison of the principal media source to one or more others.