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To explore goals for economics education and ways in which these goals might be improved, reconciled, and consolidated, a Delphi-like inquiry among more than 200 economics educators, economists, businessmen, other social scientists, and educational administrators was undertaken. Statistical data and comments as to respondents' views expressed in one questionnaire was relayed back to them with a successive questionnaire. The process was repetitive for the purpose of eventually developing a composite opinion shared by the respondents in the light of reactions of others. Key findings of the inquiry, considered important guides for more effective economics education, are that the goals of economics education differ widely, both within and among the groups surveyed and that respondents arrived at a general concentration on one or another of three possible goals. The need for the inquiry, its process, and findings are discussed. Recommended actions deal with specification of goals, explanations to business interests and educational administrators, and implications to trainers of teachers of social studies. Exhibits include four questionnaires and responses. (Author/KSM)

In an attempt to bridge the gap between academic understanding and practical business use, the Box-Jenkins technique of time series analysis for forecasting future events is presented with a minimum of mathematical notation. The method is presented in three stages: a discussion of traditional forecasting techniques, focusing on traditional techniques that relate to the Box-Jenkins model; a presentation of the key characteristics of the Box-Jenkins model; and a detailed demonstration of the method's steps. A discussion of the technical requirements needed to use the model, its cost versus that of other forecasting methods, and the potential areas of its application conclude the paper. The mathematical rationale is appended. (Author/DW)

Two methods for aiding workers to realize success in their job search process were investigated in the present study. These approaches involved the use of computerized systems for matching workers and employers for interviews that supposedly were mutually satisfying. The two approaches are identified as first generation and second generation computerized systems and differ in their level of sophistication for identifying "best" vs. "acceptable" interview pairings of workers and jobs, with the latter system incorporating the features of the former system plus additional inputs and outputs for evaluating interview quality. The subjects were persons seeking professional employment in the public schools. It appeared that for the procedure followed in this study, the second generation system, did not substantially improve the results obtained from the first generation system. Several issues associated with this finding are discussed. (Author)

Material requirements planning (MRP) systems are described as management tools for planning and controlling production operations. A wide variety of industries and production organizations are credited as reporting significant operating improvements in such areas as inventory control, production scheduling, delivery performance, and production costs when MRP systems are used. MRP systems are cited as making significant improvements in the management of plant operations by automating many of the routine decisions involved in scheduling the production of component parts and controlling the inventory levels of these items. This paper points out some of the areas in which additional knowledge would be useful for designing and implementing MRP systems, indicates promising areas of research to gain this knowledge, and reports some initial efforts in research on MRP systems. (Author/MLF)

College students and college recruiters rated bogus resumes of twelve senior industrial management students who were allegedly seeking employment. In addition to subject population, three variables were systematically varied in each resume: applicant's sex, physical attractiveness, and scholastic standing. The dependent variable was subjects' perceptions of the applicant's suitability for the position of head of a furniture department in a large department store. Significant effects showed that applicants with high scholastic standing were preferred to applicants with low scholastic standing, male applicants were preferred to female applicants, attractive applicants were preferred to unattractive applicants, and applicants were rated more favorably by college students than by recruiters. It appears that the training and experience of college recruiters did not reduce the tendency to discriminate among job applicants on the basis of sex or physical attractiveness. (Author)

For many persons, a satisfying group experience involves reaching a desired level of personal participation. The experimental laboratory studies of communication network groups have been the most rigorous attempts at understanding the effects of differential participation. It has been shown that centrality of a subject's position influences: (1) his sense of being a part of the group, (2) the amount of information available to him, and (3) his importance in the process of locomotion and progress toward group goals. These are aspects of member participation. The present study used decision conferences incorporating either centralized or decentralized decision structures to investigate the resulting attitudinal consequences of these conferences for the members relative to their performance, position, and participation in the group decision process. (Author)

This study examines the impact of job-relevant information on search behavior of males and females, and compares the findings with those obtained in the Ullman and Gutteridge studies. The data were obtained from two questionnaires and by monitoring the operations of the Purdue University computerized teacher placement bureau. The subjects of the study were 85 inexperienced persons completing their bachelors or masters degrees in education, who were seeking their first teaching jobs in public or private schools. The 40 control subjects and the 45 experimental subjects received the same kinds of information regarding job vacancies from the placement bureau. But the experimental subjects also received additional information concerning the quality of the jobs offered. Job search and job choice behavior of the subjects were observed in terms of five dependent variables: (a) number of job opportunities; (b) length of job search; (c) salary for job accepted; (d) satisfaction with the job accepted; and (e) satisfaction with service provided by the placement bureau. Results indicated that male and female applicants made differential use of job-relevant information available to them, and that the impact of such information on job-search behavior and resulting outcomes was greater for males than for females. (A list of references is included.) (JS)

Models of five alternative ways to approach the evaluation of organizational development (OD) projects are sketched: (1) ask the expert; (2) what's the target; (3) did we hit the target; (4) mid-course correction; and (5) continuous monitoring. Each model provides a different perspective on the problem of evaluation and each contains certain advantages and disadvantages. The five approaches are next put into organizational context by a survey of some major obstacles to effective evaluation studies. Persistent obstacles are found in the client, in the OD consultant, and within the OD activitv itself. In the final section, two issues are addressed that must be faced in any effort to evaluate an OD program--clarity of the role of evaluation and the audience of the evaluation. (Author)

This is the final report of a study to identify the role of economics education in the professional activities of college and university social studies educators. Two groups of social studies educators, one randomly selected and the other from the college and university section of the National Council for the Social Studies, received a questionnaire requesting level of economics education, attitudes toward economics education, degree of cooperation with economists, and level of interest for increasing understanding of economics. The stimulus for the study was determining the need for a program in economics designed specifically for social studies educators. The results of the survey indicate that the general background in economics of social studies educators is very weak, that interdisciplinary activity between educators and economists is lacking, and that a high degree of interest exists among social studies educators in enriching their understanding of economics. Contained in this report are the objectives, rationale, design, results, analysis of data, and conclusions of the study. Appendices including a sample questionnaire and collected data are available from the author. (JH)

This paper describes a study that compared the use of consensual, nominal, and conventional decision-making techniques in established and ad hoc groups. The impact of the structural interventions on group decision quality and group attitudes is examined and the appropriateness of the techniques in various situation is discussed. Findings of the study indicate that the nominal technique is particularly well suited to situations in which time is a critical factor, while the consensual technique is apparently better suited to situations in which decision quality is critical. Both the nominal and consensual techniques appear to yield better results than conventional decision-making methods do. (Author/JG)

A conceptual approach to studying interpersonal influence is outlined as a framework within which results of a study of purchase decisions in business firms are presented. Data concerning the bases of influence in these organizations--especially data showing the importance of a person's stake in the decision--do not fit neatly into the well-known influence categories proposed by French and Raven. Disagreements among informants about who had most influence on each decision also raises questions about the general applicability of certain often-used measures of influence in organizations. (Author)

This historical study tests the hypothesis that wage and hour issues in collective bargaining have not declined in relative importance over time. Comparing strikes and lockouts caused by wage and hour conflicts with those caused by all other issues, it is concluded that wage and hour issues have not declined in relative importance and likely will not decline during the next several years. Tables and graphs are appended. (DW)

Competitive bidding has recently received considerable attention in the literature of economics and operations research. Unfortunately, the classic formulation of the problem developed by Friedman and still expounded (Stark and Mayer) can lead to an incorrect estimate of the expected profit for a bidder when uncertainty about the cost of fulfilling the contract exists. The purpose of this paper is to point out the deficiency in the formulation and to indicate how it may be corrected. (Author)

Estimating the probability that a proposed bid will win is obviously a central problem in competitive bidding theory. Unfortunately, a method for doing this, which originated with Friedman and which continues to be expounded in the literature, is logically incorrect. This paper points out the deficiency in that formulation. (Author/MLF)

While avoiding evaluation or specification of individual companies, computer time-sharing commercial contract agreements are analyzed. Price and non-price contract elements are analyzed according to 22 evaluation criteria: confidentiality measures assumed by the vendor; consultation services available; package programs and user routines; languages supported by the system; availability and nature of documentation and user manuals; availability of instruction and training; existence of syntax check prior to compilation; advance notice of systems change; physical limitations of the programs; availability of storage; user file structure requirements; delay for user owned tape/disk mounts; number of users on the system; peripheral services; availability of immediate telephone assistance; availability of systems time; telephone network and location of computing equipment; back-up systems and excessive delays; systems crash recovery procedures; possibility of benchmark tests; preventative maintenance procedures; and history of the vendor, up-time, and customer references. A formula is presented for comparison of computer time costs. (Author/DW)

It is recognized that there is a major gap between the promises of large data bases and optimization and simulation models and their actual ability to solve real world problems. This document describes a Generalized Data Base Planning System (GPLAN), currently being developed at Purdue University, that is proposed as a system to bridge this gap. A number of systems contain some of the components of GPLAN, and a survey of each system is presented with details of its contribution to GPLAN design. Research on two systems at Purdue is directly leading to the development of GPLAN. One application is concerned with the development of a regional water pollution control planning system; the other is an interactive information system design package. The authors suggest that GPLAN is as much a major advance over a Generalized Data Management System (GDMS) as a GDMS is a major advance over application programs with formatted sequential files. A bibliography is included. Diagrams may reproduce poorly. (Author/DN)

Group structure is one of the important mediators between individual input and group output. The present study examines the effect of group structure on the following dependent variables: (1) change in the group member's evaluation of items evaluated before group interaction, (2) change in his subjective evaluation model as a consequence of group interaction, (3) group (collective) evaluations, and (4) group efficiency measured in terms of the amount of time required to complete the group task. The results of the study corroborate previous findings of the positive performance effects of decentralized group structures on complex tasks. (Author)