Will Green CSR Enhance Innovation? A Perspective of Public Visibility and Firm Transparency

PubMed Central

Wu, Weiwei; Liu, Yexin; Chin, Tachia; Zhu, Wenzhong

2018-01-01

In response to the asking and requiring of stakeholders to be more environmentally responsible, firms must commit to green corporate social responsibility (CSR). Firms being green and responsible always can acquire intangible resources that are important for firm innovation. Given the scarcity of existing research addressing relevant issues in depth, this paper expands our understanding of green CSR by revealing its antecedent effects on firm innovation performance. We also include public visibility and firm transparency as contingency factors to explore the relationship between green CSR and firm innovation performance. Using data collected from publicly listed firms in China, we find that greater innovation performance is associated with an increase in firm green CSR, and the positive relationship between green CSR and innovation performance is moderated by public visibility and firm transparency. Based on the results, theoretical contributions and practical implications are outlined. PMID:29401714

Will Green CSR Enhance Innovation? A Perspective of Public Visibility and Firm Transparency.

PubMed

Wu, Weiwei; Liu, Yexin; Chin, Tachia; Zhu, Wenzhong

2018-02-04

In response to the asking and requiring of stakeholders to be more environmentally responsible, firms must commit to green corporate social responsibility (CSR). Firms being green and responsible always can acquire intangible resources that are important for firm innovation. Given the scarcity of existing research addressing relevant issues in depth, this paper expands our understanding of green CSR by revealing its antecedent effects on firm innovation performance. We also include public visibility and firm transparency as contingency factors to explore the relationship between green CSR and firm innovation performance. Using data collected from publicly listed firms in China, we find that greater innovation performance is associated with an increase in firm green CSR, and the positive relationship between green CSR and innovation performance is moderated by public visibility and firm transparency. Based on the results, theoretical contributions and practical implications are outlined.

The Industrial Perspective

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-09-01

projections of planned construction, overhaul and repair work from both the public and commercial sectors can never sustain the industry at a level which...and other government organizations to support the Shipyard Recovery Plan and the revitalization of commercial shipbuilding in America. Expanding...engineer sitting next to the organization that does work package planning on ships and from the fleet. It won’t be, at least in these competitive firms

Why Does the Spatial Agglomeration of Firms Benefit Workers? Examining the Role of Organizational Diversity in U.S. Industries and Labor Markets

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fullerton, Andrew S.; Villemez, Wayne J.

2011-01-01

Several recent studies across the social sciences show that the spatial agglomeration of employment in a local labor market benefits both firms and workers in terms of better firm performance and higher wages. Drawing from the organizational ecology perspective, we argue that workers receive higher wages in large industrial clusters and urban…

Persistent and transient cost efficiency—an application to the Swiss hydropower sector

DOE PAGES

Filippini, Massimo; Geissmann, Thomas; Greene, William H.

2017-11-27

Electricity prices on the European market have decreased significantly over the past few years, resulting in a deterioration of Swiss hydropower firms’ competitiveness and profitability. One option to improve the sector’s competitiveness is to increase cost efficiency. The goal of this study is to quantify the level of persistent and transient cost efficiency of individual firms by applying the generalized true random effects (GTRE) model introduced by Colombi et al. (Journal of Productivity Analysis 42(2): 123–136, 2014) and Filippini and Greene (Journal of Productivity Analysis 45(2): 187–196, 2016). Applying this newly developed GTRE model to a total cost function, themore » level of cost efficiency of 65 Swiss hydropower firms is analyzed for the period between 2000 and 2013. A true random effects specification is estimated as a benchmark for the transient level of cost efficiency. The results show the presence of both transient as well as persistent cost inefficiencies. The GTREM predicts the aggregate level of cost inefficiency to amount to 21.8% (8.0% transient, 13.8% persistent) on average between 2000 and 2013. These two components differ in interpretation and implication. From an individual firm’s perspective, the two types of cost inefficiencies might require a firm’s management to respond with different improvement strategies. The existing level of persistent inefficiency could prevent the hydropower firms from adjusting their production processes to new market environments. From a regulatory point of view, the results of this study could be used in the scope and determination of the amount of financial support given to struggling firms.« less

Persistent and transient cost efficiency—an application to the Swiss hydropower sector

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Filippini, Massimo; Geissmann, Thomas; Greene, William H.

Electricity prices on the European market have decreased significantly over the past few years, resulting in a deterioration of Swiss hydropower firms’ competitiveness and profitability. One option to improve the sector’s competitiveness is to increase cost efficiency. The goal of this study is to quantify the level of persistent and transient cost efficiency of individual firms by applying the generalized true random effects (GTRE) model introduced by Colombi et al. (Journal of Productivity Analysis 42(2): 123–136, 2014) and Filippini and Greene (Journal of Productivity Analysis 45(2): 187–196, 2016). Applying this newly developed GTRE model to a total cost function, themore » level of cost efficiency of 65 Swiss hydropower firms is analyzed for the period between 2000 and 2013. A true random effects specification is estimated as a benchmark for the transient level of cost efficiency. The results show the presence of both transient as well as persistent cost inefficiencies. The GTREM predicts the aggregate level of cost inefficiency to amount to 21.8% (8.0% transient, 13.8% persistent) on average between 2000 and 2013. These two components differ in interpretation and implication. From an individual firm’s perspective, the two types of cost inefficiencies might require a firm’s management to respond with different improvement strategies. The existing level of persistent inefficiency could prevent the hydropower firms from adjusting their production processes to new market environments. From a regulatory point of view, the results of this study could be used in the scope and determination of the amount of financial support given to struggling firms.« less

SMR Forum: technological myopia - the need to think stategically about technology

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wyman, J.

Technological myopia - a form of business short-sightedness - is an affliction to be avoided. In its internal or external form, an industry or company fails to comprehend technological progress. In this paper, the author states that an inappropriate attitude toward technology is often the cause. He outlines a four-phase process - assessment, involvement, selection, and integration - that can be used to overcome technological myopia, a process that incorporates a change in perspective. The author draws on examples from several firms to illustrate his points regarding information technology and its level of priority within a firm. He maintains thatmore » the key to the successful implementation of technology lies in choosing a strategic approach. 6 references.« less

How to Hire Fund-Raising Counsel.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hayes, Joanne

1991-01-01

As objective outsiders, consultants can bring a fresh and unbiased view to institutional needs and perspectives. However, careful preliminary screening of consulting firms by colleges and universities considering their use is important, addressing a variety of cost considerations; prospective firms' experience and success record; and the specific…

The impacts of different expansion modes on performance of small solar energy firms: perspectives of absorptive capacity.

PubMed

Chen, Hsing Hung; Shen, Tao; Xu, Xin-Long; Ma, Chao

2013-01-01

The characteristics of firm's expansion by differentiated products and diversified products are quite different. However, the study employing absorptive capacity to examine the impacts of different modes of expansion on performance of small solar energy firms has never been discussed before. Then, a conceptual model to analyze the tension between strategies and corporate performance is proposed to filling the vacancy. After practical investigation, the results show that stronger organizational institutions help small solar energy firms expanded by differentiated products increase consistency between strategies and corporate performance; oppositely, stronger working attitudes with weak management controls help small solar energy firms expanded by diversified products reduce variance between strategies and corporate performance.

The determinants of merger waves: An international perspective

PubMed Central

Gugler, Klaus; Mueller, Dennis C.; Weichselbaumer, Michael

2012-01-01

One of the most conspicuous features of mergers is that they come in waves that are correlated with increases in share prices and price/earnings ratios. We use a natural way to discriminate between pure stock market influences on firm decisions and other influences by examining merger patterns for both listed and unlisted firms. If “real” changes in the economy drive merger waves, as some neoclassical theories of mergers predict, both listed and unlisted firms should experience waves. We find significant differences between listed and unlisted firms as predicted by behavioral theories of merger waves. PMID:27346903

An empirical analysis of ERP adoption by oil and gas firms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romero, Jorge

2005-07-01

Despite the growing popularity of enterprise-resource-planning (ERP) systems for the information technology infrastructure of large and medium-sized businesses, there is limited empirical evidence on the competitive benefits of ERP implementations. Case studies of individual firms provide insights but do not provide sufficient evidence to draw reliable inferences and cross-sectional studies of firms in multiple industries provide a broad-brush perspective of the performance effects associated with ERP installations. To narrow the focus to a specific competitive arena, I analyze the impact of ERP adoption on various dimensions of performance for firms in the Oil and Gas Industry. I selected the Oil and Gas Industry because several companies installed a specific type of ERP system, SAP R/3, during the period from 1990 to 2002. In fact, SAP was the dominant provider of enterprise software to oil and gas companies during this period. I evaluate performance of firms that implemented SAP R/3 relative to firms that did not adopt ERP systems in the pre-implementation, implementation and post-implementation periods. My analysis takes two different approaches, the first from a financial perspective and the second from a strategic perspective. Using the Sloan (General Motors) model commonly applied in financial statement analysis, I examine changes in performance for ERP-adopting firms versus non-adopting firms along the dimensions of asset utilization and return on sales. Asset utilization is more closely aligned with changes in leanness of operations, and return on sales is more closely aligned with customer-value-added. I test hypotheses related to the timing and magnitude of the impact of ERP implementation with respect to leanness of operations and customer value added. I find that SAP-adopting companies performed relatively better in terms of asset turnover than non-SAP-adopting companies during both the implementation and post-implementation periods and that SAP-adopting firms outperformed non-SAP-adopting firms in terms of return on sales during the post-implementation period. These findings indicate that the impact of ERP implementation on return on sales occurred after an assimilation period. I perform an analysis of the impact of ERP in the Oil and Gas Industry using strategic performance metrics described in Banker et al. (1996) including profitability, productivity, price recovery, product mix, and capacity utilization. My results show that the benefits obtained from ERP implementation in terms of productivity and capacity utilization are persistently positive during and after the installation.

The Impacts of Different Expansion Modes on Performance of Small Solar Energy Firms: Perspectives of Absorptive Capacity

PubMed Central

Chen, Hsing Hung; Shen, Tao; Xu, Xin-long; Ma, Chao

2013-01-01

The characteristics of firm's expansion by differentiated products and diversified products are quite different. However, the study employing absorptive capacity to examine the impacts of different modes of expansion on performance of small solar energy firms has never been discussed before. Then, a conceptual model to analyze the tension between strategies and corporate performance is proposed to filling the vacancy. After practical investigation, the results show that stronger organizational institutions help small solar energy firms expanded by differentiated products increase consistency between strategies and corporate performance; oppositely, stronger working attitudes with weak management controls help small solar energy firms expanded by diversified products reduce variance between strategies and corporate performance. PMID:24453837

Exploring SME Market Orientation: An Organisational Learning Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bradshaw, Robert; Maycock, Carina; Oztel, Hulya

2008-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop and enhance organisational capability through learning within a small firm context. This paper forms part of a KTP project. The paper considers here traditional quantitative approaches where data was gathered largely through questionnaires received from a single source within the firm approaches for…

International Competitiveness: A National Security Perspective

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-06-01

Maxwell AFB AL 36112-5532. International Competitiveness A National Security Perspective 0 C 0 Thank you for your assistance / , ’I RELSEARCJ RhINORT NO...AU-ARI-88-11 International Competitiveness A National Security Perspective RONALD H. DABROWSKI, Maj, USAF Research Fellow Airpower Research Institute...26 International Competition ......................... 26 Identification of Firms Involved ..................... 26 Continued Leadership in

PERSPECTIVE VIEW FROM SOUTHWEST OF THE ALCOA BUILDING, A WELLKNOWN ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

PERSPECTIVE VIEW FROM SOUTHWEST OF THE ALCOA BUILDING, A WELL-KNOWN POST-WAR CORPORATE SKYSCRAPER BUILT IN 1953 AND DESIGNED BY THE FIRM OF HARRISON AND ABRAMOVITZ. - ALCOA Building, 425 Sixth Avenue, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, PA

PERSPECTIVE VIEW FROM NORTHWEST OF PITTSBURGH HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

PERSPECTIVE VIEW FROM NORTHWEST OF PITTSBURGH HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE CREATIVE AND PERFORMING ARTS, BUILT 2003 BY THE FIRM OF MACLACHLAN CORNELIUS AND FILONI. - Pittsburgh High School for the Creative & Performing Arts, 111 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, PA

Gap Analysis of Zalora Online Application: Indonesian Users' Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pradna, Mahir; Novitasari, Fransiska

2017-01-01

In a time where firms tend to transform themselves to become the most innovative, information and communication technologies (ICT) have the ability to help firms expanding to new markets and trigger their customer's loyalty. Online application has been proven to be the key for companies in marketing their products. One e-commerce that follows this…

Advantage Management Strategy in Competition via Technological Race Perspective: Empirical Evidence from the Taiwanese Manufacturing Industry

PubMed Central

Hung, Tsu-Yi; Hsiao, Yu-Ju; Wu, Shih-Wei

2014-01-01

This study investigated the advantage management strategies of a firm regarding the technological race in the manufacturing sector. This is to reveal whether firms adopt a catch-up or leapfrogging strategy in the competition for innovation. The results show that competition is fierce in the Taiwanese manufacturing industry. Taiwanese manufacturing firms (mostly SMEs) tend to adopt the “catch-up” strategy to keep up with their competitors in order to remain in the technological race. The result indicates that, under financial constraints, Taiwanese manufacturing firms attempt to invest in R&D to catch up with their rivals or to avoid being eliminated from the race. PMID:25295307

Advantage management strategy in competition via technological race perspective: empirical evidence from the Taiwanese manufacturing industry.

PubMed

Hung, Tsu-Yi; Hsiao, Yu-Ju; Wu, Shih-Wei

2014-01-01

This study investigated the advantage management strategies of a firm regarding the technological race in the manufacturing sector. This is to reveal whether firms adopt a catch-up or leapfrogging strategy in the competition for innovation. The results show that competition is fierce in the Taiwanese manufacturing industry. Taiwanese manufacturing firms (mostly SMEs) tend to adopt the "catch-up" strategy to keep up with their competitors in order to remain in the technological race. The result indicates that, under financial constraints, Taiwanese manufacturing firms attempt to invest in R&D to catch up with their rivals or to avoid being eliminated from the race.

A cost-benefit analysis of Wisconsin's screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment program: adding the employer's perspective.

PubMed

Quanbeck, Andrew; Lang, Katharine; Enami, Kohei; Brown, Richard L

2010-02-01

A previous cost-benefit analysis found Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) to be cost-beneficial from a societal perspective. This paper develops a cost-benefit model that includes the employer's perspective by considering the costs of absenteeism and impaired presenteeism due to problem drinking. We developed a Monte Carlo simulation model to estimate the costs and benefits of SBIRT implementation to an employer. We first presented the likely costs of problem drinking to a theoretical Wisconsin firm that does not currently provide SBIRT services. We then constructed a cost-benefit model in which the firm funds SBIRT for its employees. The net present value of SBIRT adoption was computed by comparing costs due to problem drinking both with and without the program. When absenteeism and impaired presenteeism costs were considered from the employer's perspective, the net present value of SBIRT adoption was $771 per employee. We concluded that implementing SBIRT is cost-beneficial from the employer's perspective and recommend that Wisconsin employers consider covering SBIRT services for their employees.

The Effect of Training on Italian Firms' Productivity: Microeconomic and Macroeconomic Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guerrazzi, Marco

2016-01-01

In this article, I explore the effect of training on the productivity of a sample of Italian firms and the impact of training on EU economic growth. Specifically, retrieving data from a survey performed by the Italian Institute for the Development of Vocational Training in 2009, I find that employer-sponsored training displays a positive and…

Job Supply and Demand for University Graduates in Spain: A (Relative) Mismatch Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parellada, Marti; Duch, Nestor; Alvarez, Montserrat

2009-01-01

This article provides an analysis of job supply by Spanish firms and the demand for work, and the mismatch that occurs between these two variables. Data are taken for the year 2006, with particular attention to jobs offered by firms that require people with university degrees or other higher education qualifications. Demand and supply are broken…

Executive Search Firms' Consideration of Person-Organization Fit in College and University Presidential Searches

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turpin, James Christopher

2013-01-01

Largely what is known about P-O Fit stems from research conducted in business organizations. Surprisingly with such an important position as a college or university president, P-O Fit has not been empirically studied in the presidential selection process, much less from the perspective of the executive search firms that conduct these searches.…

Voluntary Environmental Programs: A Comparative Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Prakash, Aseem; Potoski, Matthew

2012-01-01

Voluntary environmental programs (VEPs) are institutions for inducing firms to produce environmental goods beyond legal requirements. A comparative perspective on VEPs shows how incentives to sponsor and participate in VEPs vary across countries in ways that reveal their potential and limitations. Our brief survey examines conditions under which…

Beyond "Discovery": Lewis & Clark from an Indigenous Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Littlebear, Richard

2003-01-01

Recontextualizes the history of the Lewis and Clark expedition from a Native American perspective. Argues that the success of the expedition hastened killing of American Indians and more firmly entrenched U.S. government policies toward indigenous peoples. Stresses that education, particularly at tribal colleges, is the key to success for…

A Russian Perspective: The Author's Right of Innovative Pedagogics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Belich, Vladimir

1991-01-01

Presents a Russian perspective on patent rights in pedagogic studies. The paper notes that patents and licenses are profitable for the author, firm, and state and questions why teachers are not involved in the process. It also describes a center for pedagogical innovations in the USSR. (SM)

Adolescent Perspectives on Rules and Resistance within the Parent-Child Relationship

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parkin, C. Melanie; Kuczynski, Leon

2012-01-01

Thirty-two adolescents between the ages of 13 and 19 participated in a semistructured interview regarding their perspectives on parental expectations and their strategies for expressing resistance. Thematic analyses indicated that adolescents perceive parental expectations as flexible and coconstructed rather than as firm, explicit, standing…

Putting a Face on the Issue: Corporate Stakeholder Mobilization in Professional Grassroots Lobbying Campaigns.

PubMed

Walker, Edward T

2012-12-01

Business scholars pay increasing attention to the expanded influence of stakeholders on firm strategies, legitimacy, and competitiveness. At the same time, analysts have noted that the transformed regulatory and legislative environments of recent decades have encouraged firms to become much more politically active. Surprisingly, relatively little research has tied together these two trends. The present study integrates perspectives on stakeholder management with research on corporate political activity to develop an understanding of the structural sources of stakeholder mobilization in professional grassroots lobbying campaigns. This study employs a unique, original data source to consider how the adoption of grassroots lobbying by a firm relates to its industry, degree of inside lobbying, partisan PAC contributions, and more. This research shows that corporate grassroots lobbying is shaped most significantly by a firm's degree of inside lobbying, as highly active firms take a diversified strategy for gaining influence. Firms in industries with a heavy public presence as well as those concerned with taxation, government appropriations, and economic development also adopt these strategies readily. PAC contributions to Republican, but not Democratic, candidates also heighten firms' propensity to lobby the public.

Do they see eye to eye? Management and employee perspectives of high-performance work systems and influence processes on service quality.

PubMed

Liao, Hui; Toya, Keiko; Lepak, David P; Hong, Ying

2009-03-01

Extant research on high-performance work systems (HPWSs) has primarily examined the effects of HPWSs on establishment or firm-level performance from a management perspective in manufacturing settings. The current study extends this literature by differentiating management and employee perspectives of HPWSs and examining how the two perspectives relate to employee individual performance in the service context. Data collected in three phases from multiple sources involving 292 managers, 830 employees, and 1,772 customers of 91 bank branches revealed significant differences between management and employee perspectives of HPWSs. There were also significant differences in employee perspectives of HPWSs among employees of different employment statuses and among employees of the same status. Further, employee perspective of HPWSs was positively related to individual general service performance through the mediation of employee human capital and perceived organizational support and was positively related to individual knowledge-intensive service performance through the mediation of employee human capital and psychological empowerment. At the same time, management perspective of HPWSs was related to employee human capital and both types of service performance. Finally, a branch's overall knowledge-intensive service performance was positively associated with customer overall satisfaction with the branch's service. (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved.

Decision-making in product portfolios of pharmaceutical research and development – managing streams of innovation in highly regulated markets

PubMed Central

Jekunen, Antti

2014-01-01

Decision-making is a core function of any drug development firm. Developing drugs demands a firm to be highly innovative, while at the same time the activity is strictly regulated. Successful drug development offers the right to apply for a long-term patent that confers exclusive marketing rights. This article addresses the issue of what constitutes an adequate portfolio of drugs for a drug development firm and how it might be managed successfully. The paper investigates decision-making in the industry and specifically in the development of oncology drugs from various perspectives: the need for decisions, their timing, decision-making at the project level, the optimal portfolio, tools for portfolio analysis, the evaluation of patents, and finally the importance of the drug portfolio. Drug development decisions as important organizational elements should get more emphasis, and decisions in drug portfolio using modern decision-making methods should be used more widely than what currently happens. Structured, informed decisions would help avoiding late terminations of drugs in Phase III development. An improved research and development pipeline and drug portfolio management are the major elements in the general strategy targeting success. PMID:25364229

Decision-making in product portfolios of pharmaceutical research and development--managing streams of innovation in highly regulated markets.

PubMed

Jekunen, Antti

2014-01-01

Decision-making is a core function of any drug development firm. Developing drugs demands a firm to be highly innovative, while at the same time the activity is strictly regulated. Successful drug development offers the right to apply for a long-term patent that confers exclusive marketing rights. This article addresses the issue of what constitutes an adequate portfolio of drugs for a drug development firm and how it might be managed successfully. The paper investigates decision-making in the industry and specifically in the development of oncology drugs from various perspectives: the need for decisions, their timing, decision-making at the project level, the optimal portfolio, tools for portfolio analysis, the evaluation of patents, and finally the importance of the drug portfolio. Drug development decisions as important organizational elements should get more emphasis, and decisions in drug portfolio using modern decision-making methods should be used more widely than what currently happens. Structured, informed decisions would help avoiding late terminations of drugs in Phase III development. An improved research and development pipeline and drug portfolio management are the major elements in the general strategy targeting success.

What results when firms implement practices: the differential relationship between specific practices, firm financial performance, customer service, and quality.

PubMed

Gibson, Cristina B; Porath, Christine L; Benson, George S; Lawler, Edward E

2007-11-01

Previous research on organizational practices is replete with contradictory evidence regarding their effects. Here, the authors argue that these contradictory findings may have occurred because researchers have often examined complex practice combinations and have failed to investigate a broad variety of firm-level outcomes. Thus, past research may obscure important differential effects of specific practices on specific firm-level outcomes. Extending this research, the authors develop hypotheses about the effects of practices that (a) enable information sharing, (b) set boundaries, and (c) enable teams on 3 different firm-level outcomes: financial performance, customer service, and quality. Relationships are tested in a sample of observations from over 200 Fortune 1000 firms. Results indicate that information-sharing practices were positively related to financial performance 1 year following implementation of the practices, boundary-setting practices were positively related to firm-level customer service, and team-enabling practices were related to firm-level quality. No single set of practices predicted all 3 firm-level outcomes, indicating practice-specific effects. These findings help resolve the theoretical tension in the literature regarding the effects of organizational practices and offer guidance as to how to best target practices to increase specific work-related outcomes. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed. (c) 2007 APA

Employers' Perspectives on Training: Three Industries. NCVER Research Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shah, Chandra

2017-01-01

This study explores employers' perspectives on workforce training from 10 firms in three industries (red meat processing, road freight transport, and freight forwarding) located in urban and regional areas of five states on Australia's eastern seaboard. The analysis draws on data collected at interviews with senior managers and internal and…

Global Views, Personal Perspectives: Connecting to Self as Scholar

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simmons, Nicola

2009-01-01

A global view requires not only a broader perspective, but also greater depth to anchor it firmly. In increasingly changing contexts, are we connected to ourselves in a way that feeds our spirits and nourishes our work? A professional sphere based only on research and practice risks being unbalanced and may jeopardize our well-being as academics.…

Determinants of plant community assembly in a mosaic of landscape units in central Amazonia: ecological and phylogenetic perspectives.

PubMed

Umaña, María Natalia; Norden, Natalia; Cano, Angela; Stevenson, Pablo R

2012-01-01

The Amazon harbours one of the richest ecosystems on Earth. Such diversity is likely to be promoted by plant specialization, associated with the occurrence of a mosaic of landscape units. Here, we integrate ecological and phylogenetic data at different spatial scales to assess the importance of habitat specialization in driving compositional and phylogenetic variation across the Amazonian forest. To do so, we evaluated patterns of floristic dissimilarity and phylogenetic turnover, habitat association and phylogenetic structure in three different landscape units occurring in terra firme (Hilly and Terrace) and flooded forests (Igapó). We established two 1-ha tree plots in each of these landscape units at the Caparú Biological Station, SW Colombia, and measured edaphic, topographic and light variables. At large spatial scales, terra firme forests exhibited higher levels of species diversity and phylodiversity than flooded forests. These two types of forests showed conspicuous differences in species and phylogenetic composition, suggesting that environmental sorting due to flood is important, and can go beyond the species level. At a local level, landscape units showed floristic divergence, driven both by geographical distance and by edaphic specialization. In terms of phylogenetic structure, Igapó forests showed phylogenetic clustering, whereas Hilly and Terrace forests showed phylogenetic evenness. Within plots, however, local communities did not show any particular trend. Overall, our findings suggest that flooded forests, characterized by stressful environments, impose limits to species occurrence, whereas terra firme forests, more environmentally heterogeneous, are likely to provide a wider range of ecological conditions and therefore to bear higher diversity. Thus, Amazonia should be considered as a mosaic of landscape units, where the strength of habitat association depends upon their environmental properties.

Determinants of Plant Community Assembly in a Mosaic of Landscape Units in Central Amazonia: Ecological and Phylogenetic Perspectives

PubMed Central

Umaña, María Natalia; Norden, Natalia; Cano, Ángela; Stevenson, Pablo R.

2012-01-01

The Amazon harbours one of the richest ecosystems on Earth. Such diversity is likely to be promoted by plant specialization, associated with the occurrence of a mosaic of landscape units. Here, we integrate ecological and phylogenetic data at different spatial scales to assess the importance of habitat specialization in driving compositional and phylogenetic variation across the Amazonian forest. To do so, we evaluated patterns of floristic dissimilarity and phylogenetic turnover, habitat association and phylogenetic structure in three different landscape units occurring in terra firme (Hilly and Terrace) and flooded forests (Igapó). We established two 1-ha tree plots in each of these landscape units at the Caparú Biological Station, SW Colombia, and measured edaphic, topographic and light variables. At large spatial scales, terra firme forests exhibited higher levels of species diversity and phylodiversity than flooded forests. These two types of forests showed conspicuous differences in species and phylogenetic composition, suggesting that environmental sorting due to flood is important, and can go beyond the species level. At a local level, landscape units showed floristic divergence, driven both by geographical distance and by edaphic specialization. In terms of phylogenetic structure, Igapó forests showed phylogenetic clustering, whereas Hilly and Terrace forests showed phylogenetic evenness. Within plots, however, local communities did not show any particular trend. Overall, our findings suggest that flooded forests, characterized by stressful environments, impose limits to species occurrence, whereas terra firme forests, more environmentally heterogeneous, are likely to provide a wider range of ecological conditions and therefore to bear higher diversity. Thus, Amazonia should be considered as a mosaic of landscape units, where the strength of habitat association depends upon their environmental properties. PMID:23028844

Complementary or competing climates? Examining the interactive effect of service and ethical climates on company-level financial performance.

PubMed

Myer, Adam T; Thoroughgood, Christian N; Mohammed, Susan

2016-08-01

By bending rules to please their customers, companies with high service climates may be less ethical but ultimately more profitable. In this article, we pose the question of whether being ethical comes at a cost to profits in customer-oriented firms. Despite the organizational reality that multiple climates coexist at a given time, research has largely ignored these types of questions, and the simultaneous analysis of multiple climate dimensions has received little empirical attention to date. Given their scientific and practical importance, this study tested complementary and conflicting perspectives regarding interactions between service (outcome-focused) and ethical (process-focused) climates on company-level financial performance. Drawing on a sample of 16,862 medical sales representatives spread across 77 subsidiary companies of a large multinational corporation in the health care product industry, we found support for a complementary view. More precisely, results revealed that profitability was enhanced, not diminished, in service-oriented firms that also stressed the importance of ethics. Results suggest studying the interactive effects of multiple climates is a more fruitful approach than examining main effects alone. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Applications of a Wage-Turnover Model to the Shipbuilding Industry.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-02-08

wage differential leaving a firm indifferent between the two groups is 1 3 J2 Because older workers have a shorter work- life expectancy, their rate...discussion of the relationship between current and future wage rates over a worker’s life cycle, see Joanne Salop and Steven Salop, "Self Selection...existing wage scales. 24- F4or an optimal solution to the problem of life -cycle wage Fates from the perspective of the firm, Information is needed on

Extending the User’s Reach. Responsive Networking for Integrated Military Operations

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-02-01

why customers within DOD increasingly bypass “the system,” and why leading IT firms stay out of the defense market. These anomalies will become...processes, lack the perspective, ability, and incentive to meet joint C4 needs. Those who control money are network providers, not customers ; and they do...should seek to attract IT firms. This requires reform of the Federal Acquisition Regulation as it applies to joint C4, not work-arounds and waivers

How the Process of the CSR Activities Works on Private Hospitals and Pharmaceutical Firms: Multiple Case Study from Strategic Perspective.

PubMed

Yıldırım, Mustafa; Dinçer, Mustafa Abdül Metin

2018-06-23

The phenomenon of corporate social responsibility "CSR" has stimulated lots of debates and disagreement among the business scholars. One of the most howling sounds comes from strategy and CSR thinkers. Strategic thinkers of this debate believe that CSR is not only an accountability action but also it is countability action. Due to this countability action heavily based on profit, the scholar of strategy field stated that strategic thinking lens should revise the phenomenon of CSR and the result of its activities. To this end in this study, we examine the CSR activities, especially philanthropy activities (sports, art sponsorships, etc.) from strategy perspectives. And the question of this study is "How the process of the CSR activities work on private hospitals and pharmaceutical firms?" In this framework, private hospitals, pharmaceutical firms in Turkey, and their CSR activity and global compact reports are used as the cases of the study. We make qualitative content analysis, and the documents in this study are analyzed with qualitative analysis software (MAXQDA). The results which were obtained from the analysis are considered important by the researchers since it is shown in this multiple case study that private hospitals and pharmaceutical firms have to focus on some specific points in their social responsibility activities to get competitive superiority for themselves and gain profit in the long term. While the CSR orientation of the private hospitals concentrates on sports dimension, the direction of pharmaceutical firms is on education dimension. In both fields, the cases construct their CSR activities on these two dimensions or relate their other CSR activities with these dimensions.

To Invest or Not to Invest, That Is the Question: Analysis of Firm Behavior under Anticipated Shocks

PubMed Central

Kovac, Dejan; Vukovic, Vuk; Kleut, Nikola; Podobnik, Boris

2016-01-01

When companies are faced with an upcoming and expected economic shock some of them tend to react better than others. They adapt by initiating investments thus successfully weathering the storm, while others, even though they possess the same information set, fail to adopt the same business strategy and eventually succumb to the crisis. We use a unique setting of the recent financial crisis in Croatia as an exogenous shock that hit the country with a time lag, allowing the domestic firms to adapt. We perform a survival analysis on the entire population of 144,000 firms in Croatia during the period from 2003 to 2015, and test whether investment prior to the anticipated shock makes firms more likely to survive the recession. We find that small and micro firms, which decided to invest, had between 60 and 70% higher survival rates than similar firms that chose not to invest. This claim is supported by both non-parametric and parametric tests in the survival analysis. From a normative perspective this finding could be important in mitigating the negative effects on aggregate demand during strong recessionary periods. PMID:27508896

Social firms: sustainable employment for people with mental illness.

PubMed

Williams, Anne; Fossey, Ellie; Harvey, Carol

2012-01-01

Social firms or enterprises aim to offer sustainable employment in supportive workplaces for people who are disadvantaged in the labour market. Therefore, this study sought to explore employees' views in one social firm about the features of their workplace that they found supportive. Seven employees were recruited, all of whom experienced persistent mental illness, and had worked in this social firm for between eleven months and six years. A semi-structured interview, the Work Environment Impact Scale (version 2.0), was used to explore participants' views of their workplace and to rate how its physical and social characteristics impacted them. Participants also rated their job satisfaction with a modified Indiana Job Satisfaction Scale. Features of the social firm workplace identified by these employees as contributing to their sustained employment and satisfaction were the rewards, task demands, work schedule, and workplace interactions with supervisors and other co-workers. From their views, guiding principles for the development of supportive workplaces and evaluation of their capacity to afford sustainable employment were derived. This study adds to current knowledge about workplace supports from an employee perspective, and is of relevance for informing future social firm development, workplace design and evaluation.

To Invest or Not to Invest, That Is the Question: Analysis of Firm Behavior under Anticipated Shocks.

PubMed

Kovac, Dejan; Vukovic, Vuk; Kleut, Nikola; Podobnik, Boris

2016-01-01

When companies are faced with an upcoming and expected economic shock some of them tend to react better than others. They adapt by initiating investments thus successfully weathering the storm, while others, even though they possess the same information set, fail to adopt the same business strategy and eventually succumb to the crisis. We use a unique setting of the recent financial crisis in Croatia as an exogenous shock that hit the country with a time lag, allowing the domestic firms to adapt. We perform a survival analysis on the entire population of 144,000 firms in Croatia during the period from 2003 to 2015, and test whether investment prior to the anticipated shock makes firms more likely to survive the recession. We find that small and micro firms, which decided to invest, had between 60 and 70% higher survival rates than similar firms that chose not to invest. This claim is supported by both non-parametric and parametric tests in the survival analysis. From a normative perspective this finding could be important in mitigating the negative effects on aggregate demand during strong recessionary periods.

The marketing firm and consumer choice: implications of bilateral contingency for levels of analysis in organizational neuroscience.

PubMed

Foxall, Gordon R

2014-01-01

The emergence of a conception of the marketing firm (Foxall, 1999a) conceived within behavioral psychology and based on a corresponding model of consumer choice, (Foxall, 1990/2004) permits an assessment of the levels of behavioral and organizational analysis amenable to neuroscientific examination. This paper explores the ways in which the bilateral contingencies that link the marketing firm with its consumerate allow appropriate levels of organizational neuroscientific analysis to be specified. Having described the concept of the marketing firm and the model of consumer behavior on which it is based, the paper analyzes bilateral contingencies at the levels of (i) market exchange, (ii) emotional reward, and (iii) neuroeconomics. Market exchange emerges as a level of analysis that lends itself predominantly to the explanation of firm-consumerate interactions in terms of the super-personal level of reinforcing and punishing contingencies: the marketing firm can be treated as a contextual or operant system in its own right. However, the emotional reward and neuroeconomic levels of analysis should be confined to the personal level of analysis represented by individual managers on the one hand and individual consumers on the other. This also entails a level of abstraction but it is one that can be satisfactorily handled in terms of the concept of bilateral contingency.

Doing Good Again? A Multilevel Institutional Perspective on Corporate Environmental Responsibility and Philanthropic Strategy.

PubMed

Liu, Wei; Wei, Qiao; Huang, Song-Qin; Tsai, Sang-Bing

2017-10-24

This study investigates the relationship between corporate environmental responsibility and corporate philanthropy. Using a sample of Chinese listed firms from 2008 to 2013, this paper examines the role of corporate environmental responsibility in corporate philanthropy and the moderating influence of the institutional environment using multilevel analysis. The results show that corporate eco-friendly events are positively associated with corporate philanthropic strategy to a significant degree. Provincial-level government intervention positively moderate the positive relationship between eco-friendly events and corporate philanthropy and government corruption is negatively moderate the relationship. All these results are robust according to robustness checks. These findings provide a new perspective on corporate philanthropic strategy as a means to obtain critical resources from the government in order to compensate for the loss made on environmental responsibility. Moreover, the institutional environment is proved here to play an important role in corporate philanthropic strategy.

Doing Good Again? A Multilevel Institutional Perspective on Corporate Environmental Responsibility and Philanthropic Strategy

PubMed Central

Liu, Wei; Wei, Qiao; Huang, Song-Qin

2017-01-01

This study investigates the relationship between corporate environmental responsibility and corporate philanthropy. Using a sample of Chinese listed firms from 2008 to 2013, this paper examines the role of corporate environmental responsibility in corporate philanthropy and the moderating influence of the institutional environment using multilevel analysis. The results show that corporate eco-friendly events are positively associated with corporate philanthropic strategy to a significant degree. Provincial-level government intervention positively moderate the positive relationship between eco-friendly events and corporate philanthropy and government corruption is negatively moderate the relationship. All these results are robust according to robustness checks. These findings provide a new perspective on corporate philanthropic strategy as a means to obtain critical resources from the government in order to compensate for the loss made on environmental responsibility. Moreover, the institutional environment is proved here to play an important role in corporate philanthropic strategy. PMID:29064451

A Contingency View of the Strategies of Sustainable Development and Disclosure: Study of ENR's Top 10 Contractors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ho, Shih Ping; Yu, Chong Yang; Hsu, Yaowen

2017-04-01

More and more international firms in the A/E/C (Architecture/Engineering/ Construction) industries voluntarily invest in sustainable development and disclose their efforts publicly. Especially, the sustainable development efforts of the firms in Construction industry draw more attentions from the public, compared to that in A/E industries. There are various reporting systems in practice for reporting the performance of a firm's development on sustainability. The most well known reporting systems include Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), and the AA1000 Accountability Principal Standards. However, most of these reporting systems are very complicated in terms of the performance indices and the categories and subcategories of these indices. It is impossible and also unnecessary for a firm to be evaluated on all the indices. However, it is also not clear on what indices are more important for a firm than other indices and why. The more fundamental questions are "what sustainable development efforts contribute more to a particular firm's competitive advantages and why?" In this research, we studied the world's top 10 contractors in ENR (Engineering News Records). We analyzed how these contractors disclose their efforts and performance in sustainable development and, most importantly, why. Lastly, based on the insights obtained from the analysis, we developed a contingency view of sustainable development and disclosure strategies. This strategic framework can be further examined from the perspective of firms' competitive advantages and give implications to how a firm's top managers should implement the firm's sustainable development program.

Impact of green supply chain management practices on firms' performance: an empirical study from the perspective of Pakistan.

PubMed

Khan, Syed Abdul Rehman; Qianli, Dong

2017-07-01

This article investigates the impact of five determinants of the green supply chain practices on organizational performance in the context of Pakistan manufacturing firms. A sample of 218 firms was collected from the manufacturing industry. The green supply chain practices were measured through five independent variables including green manufacturing, green purchasing, green information systems, cooperation with customers, and eco-design. By using exploratory factor and simultaneous regression analysis, the results indicate that except green purchasing, rests of the four independent variables have been found statistically significant to predict organizational performance. However, the eco-design of green practices followed by green information systems has revealed the greatest impact on organizational performance. Therefore, the managers of the manufacturing firms should not only implement eco-design in their supply chain but also concentrate on proper monitoring and implementation of green information systems to increase their firms' performance. A main contribution of this research from theoretical side is that it is possible to notice a negative effect of "green purchasing" towards organizational performance particularly in the scenario of Pakistan manufacturing industry. Another valuable result is that green purchasing is an important antecedent of firms economic performance in the US manufacturing firms (Green et al. 2012), although not significantly related to organizational performance in our study. In addition, we also discussed research limitations, areas for future research, and implications for practitioners.

The development and deployment of electronic personal health records records: a strategic positioning perspective.

PubMed

Lewis, Mark; Baxter, Ryan; Pouder, Richard

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of strategic position on the ability of an entrepreneurial firm to successfully develop and deploy electronic personal health records technology within the US healthcare industry. This study uses an in-depth longitudinal case study methodology. The study contributes by juxtaposing a longitudinal view of how the focal firm proposed and acted on different strategic positions in an attempt to achieve development and deployment success. In doing so, the study also elaborates on Porter's recognition that firms need to make trade-offs when choosing a strategic position, as the purposeful limitation of service offerings can protect against the degradation of existing value creating activities. The authors' study highlights the enormous challenge of facilitating the adoption and diffusion of technology enabled interventions in the US healthcare ecosystem. Future research that combines both interdisciplinary and multi-level investigation and analysis is sorely needed to develop a more sophisticated understanding of the phenomenon and to encourage the development and deployment of useful technology enabled interventions within the US healthcare industry. While the fragmented nature of the healthcare industry provides opportunities for entrepreneurial firms, such complexity within the ecosystem should not be underestimated as a reason for concern for small firms. Total economic burden due to chronic diseases and other healthcare-related expenses is massive for the USA. Consequently, prevention and early detection of future disease states has become a core component of the current healthcare reform debate. EPHRs are considered one core component of a broader healthcare strategy to improve health outcomes and lower costs. By deepening our understanding of how best to develop and deploy such interventions, society will surely benefit. The longitudinal nature of the authors' study provides a unique opportunity to understand the dynamic interrelationships between context, position, and performance within the US healthcare industry.

Faith in science in global perspective: Implications for transhumanism.

PubMed

Evans, John H

2014-10-01

While citizens can know scientific facts, they also have faith in science - with faith defined as a firm belief for which there is no proof. Using national public opinion surveys from twelve nations from 1993 to 2010, I examine three different types of faith in science that citizens could hold. I examine temporal changes in levels of faith in science as well as the social determinants of each type of faith. I focus on the implications of these levels of faith for the transhumanist movement, which is particularly dependent on faith in science. I find that two of three types of faith in science are on the rise across the West, and that the social determinants of these types of faith suggest particular challenges for the transhumanist movement. © The Author(s) 2014.

Firm productivity, pollution, and output: theory and empirical evidence from China.

PubMed

Tang, Erzi; Zhang, Jingjing; Haider, Zulfiqar

2015-11-01

Using a theoretical model, this paper argues that as firm productivity increases, there is a decrease in firm-level pollution intensity. However, as productivity increases, firms tend to increase their aggregate output, which requires the use of additional resources that increase pollution. Hence, an increase in productivity results in two opposing effects where increased productivity may in fact increase pollution created by a firm. We describe the joint effect of these two mechanisms on pollution emissions as the "productivity dilemma" of pollution emission. Based on firm-level data from China, we also empirically test this productivity dilemma hypothesis. Our empirical results suggest that, in general, firm productivity has a positive and statistically significant impact on pollution emission in China. However, the impact of productivity on pollution becomes negative when we control for increases in firm output. The empirical evidence also confirms the positive influence of productivity on output, which suggests that the main determinant of pollution is the firm's output. The empirical results provide evidence of the existence of, what we describe as, the productivity dilemma of pollution emission.

Supply chain carbon footprinting and responsibility allocation under emission regulations.

PubMed

Chen, Jin-Xiao; Chen, Jian

2017-03-01

Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions has become an enormous challenge for any single enterprise and its supply chain because of the increasing concern on global warming. This paper investigates carbon footprinting and responsibility allocation for supply chains involved in joint production. Our study is conducted from the perspective of a social planner who aims to achieve social value optimization. The carbon footprinting model is based on operational activities rather than on firms because joint production blurs the organizational boundaries of footprints. A general model is proposed for responsibility allocation among firms who seek to maximize individual profits. This study looks into ways for the decentralized supply chain to achieve centralized optimality of social value under two emission regulations. Given a balanced allocation for the entire supply chain, we examine the necessity of over-allocation to certain firms under specific situations and find opportunities for the firms to avoid over-allocation. The comparison of the two regulations reveals that setting an emission standard per unit of product will motivate firms to follow the standard and improve their emission efficiencies. Hence, a more efficient and promising policy is needed in contrast to existing regulations on total production. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Putting a Face on the Issue: Corporate Stakeholder Mobilization in Professional Grassroots Lobbying Campaigns

PubMed Central

Walker, Edward T.

2014-01-01

Business scholars pay increasing attention to the expanded influence of stakeholders on firm strategies, legitimacy, and competitiveness. At the same time, analysts have noted that the transformed regulatory and legislative environments of recent decades have encouraged firms to become much more politically active. Surprisingly, relatively little research has tied together these two trends. The present study integrates perspectives on stakeholder management with research on corporate political activity to develop an understanding of the structural sources of stakeholder mobilization in professional grassroots lobbying campaigns. This study employs a unique, original data source to consider how the adoption of grassroots lobbying by a firm relates to its industry, degree of inside lobbying, partisan PAC contributions, and more. This research shows that corporate grassroots lobbying is shaped most significantly by a firm’s degree of inside lobbying, as highly active firms take a diversified strategy for gaining influence. Firms in industries with a heavy public presence as well as those concerned with taxation, government appropriations, and economic development also adopt these strategies readily. PAC contributions to Republican, but not Democratic, candidates also heighten firms’ propensity to lobby the public. PMID:24707060

When Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Meets Organizational Psychology: New Frontiers in Micro-CSR Research, and Fulfilling a Quid Pro Quo through Multilevel Insights

PubMed Central

Jones, David A.; Willness, Chelsea R.; Glavas, Ante

2017-01-01

Researchers, corporate leaders, and other stakeholders have shown increasing interest in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)—a company’s discretionary actions and policies that appear to advance societal well-being beyond its immediate financial interests and legal requirements. Spanning decades of research activity, the scholarly literature on CSR has been dominated by meso- and macro-level perspectives, such as studies within corporate strategy that examine relationships between firm-level indicators of social/environmental performance and corporate financial performance. In recent years, however, there has been an explosion of micro-oriented CSR research conducted at the individual level of analysis, especially with respect to studies on how and why job seekers and employees perceive and react to CSR practices. This micro-level focus is reflected in 12 articles published as a Research Topic collection in Frontiers in Psychology (Organizational Psychology Specialty Section) titled “CSR and organizational psychology: Quid pro quo.” In the present article, the authors summarize and integrate findings from these Research Topic articles. After describing some of the “new frontiers” these articles explore and create, the authors strive to fulfill a “quid pro quo” with some of the meso- and macro-oriented CSR literatures that paved the way for micro-CSR research. Specifically, the authors draw on insights from the Research Topic articles to inform a multilevel model that offers multiple illustrations of how micro-level processes among individual stakeholders can explain variability in meso (firm)-level relationships between CSR practices and corporate performance. The authors also explore an important implication of these multilevel processes for macro-level societal impact. PMID:28439247

When Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Meets Organizational Psychology: New Frontiers in Micro-CSR Research, and Fulfilling a Quid Pro Quo through Multilevel Insights.

PubMed

Jones, David A; Willness, Chelsea R; Glavas, Ante

2017-01-01

Researchers, corporate leaders, and other stakeholders have shown increasing interest in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)-a company's discretionary actions and policies that appear to advance societal well-being beyond its immediate financial interests and legal requirements. Spanning decades of research activity, the scholarly literature on CSR has been dominated by meso- and macro-level perspectives, such as studies within corporate strategy that examine relationships between firm-level indicators of social/environmental performance and corporate financial performance. In recent years, however, there has been an explosion of micro-oriented CSR research conducted at the individual level of analysis, especially with respect to studies on how and why job seekers and employees perceive and react to CSR practices. This micro-level focus is reflected in 12 articles published as a Research Topic collection in Frontiers in Psychology (Organizational Psychology Specialty Section) titled "CSR and organizational psychology: Quid pro quo." In the present article, the authors summarize and integrate findings from these Research Topic articles. After describing some of the "new frontiers" these articles explore and create, the authors strive to fulfill a "quid pro quo" with some of the meso- and macro-oriented CSR literatures that paved the way for micro-CSR research. Specifically, the authors draw on insights from the Research Topic articles to inform a multilevel model that offers multiple illustrations of how micro-level processes among individual stakeholders can explain variability in meso (firm)-level relationships between CSR practices and corporate performance. The authors also explore an important implication of these multilevel processes for macro-level societal impact.

Do similarities or differences between CEO leadership and organizational culture have a more positive effect on firm performance? A test of competing predictions.

PubMed

Hartnell, Chad A; Kinicki, Angelo J; Lambert, Lisa Schurer; Fugate, Mel; Doyle Corner, Patricia

2016-06-01

This study examines the nature of the interaction between CEO leadership and organizational culture using 2 common metathemes (task and relationship) in leadership and culture research. Two perspectives, similarity and dissimilarity, offer competing predictions about the fit, or interaction, between leadership and culture and its predicted effect on firm performance. Predictions for the similarity perspective draw upon attribution theory and social identity theory of leadership, whereas predictions for the dissimilarity perspective are developed based upon insights from leadership contingency theories and the notion of substitutability. Hierarchical regression results from 114 CEOs and 324 top management team (TMT) members failed to support the similarity hypotheses but revealed broad support for the dissimilarity predictions. Findings suggest that culture can serve as a substitute for leadership when leadership behaviors are redundant with cultural values (i.e., they both share a task- or relationship-oriented focus). Findings also support leadership contingency theories indicating that CEO leadership is effective when it provides psychological and motivational resources lacking in the organization's culture. We discuss theoretical and practical implications and delineate directions for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Capital raising of aerospace companies: equities or debts?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hui-Shan, L.; Taw-Onn, Y.; Wai-Mun, H.

2016-10-01

Aerospace products enhance national and economic activities, thus maintaining the sustainability of aerospace industry is crucial. One of the perspectives in ensuring sustainability of aerospace companies is expansion of firms by raising funds for research and development in order to provide a reasonable profitability to the firms. This study comprises a sample of 47 aerospace companies from 2009 to 2015 to analyze the impact of raising fund by equities or debts to the profitability of the firms. The result indicates that capital raising through equities is preferable than debts. Moreover, the study also identifies that the profit of aerospace industry is volatile and there is cyclical reduction of the net income in the first quarter of the year. The management needs to make wise decisions in raising fund to ensure a healthy growth of the aerospace company.

The marketing firm and consumer choice: implications of bilateral contingency for levels of analysis in organizational neuroscience

PubMed Central

Foxall, Gordon R.

2014-01-01

The emergence of a conception of the marketing firm (Foxall, 1999a) conceived within behavioral psychology and based on a corresponding model of consumer choice, (Foxall, 1990/2004) permits an assessment of the levels of behavioral and organizational analysis amenable to neuroscientific examination. This paper explores the ways in which the bilateral contingencies that link the marketing firm with its consumerate allow appropriate levels of organizational neuroscientific analysis to be specified. Having described the concept of the marketing firm and the model of consumer behavior on which it is based, the paper analyzes bilateral contingencies at the levels of (i) market exchange, (ii) emotional reward, and (iii) neuroeconomics. Market exchange emerges as a level of analysis that lends itself predominantly to the explanation of firm—consumerate interactions in terms of the super-personal level of reinforcing and punishing contingencies: the marketing firm can be treated as a contextual or operant system in its own right. However, the emotional reward and neuroeconomic levels of analysis should be confined to the personal level of analysis represented by individual managers on the one hand and individual consumers on the other. This also entails a level of abstraction but it is one that can be satisfactorily handled in terms of the concept of bilateral contingency. PMID:25071506

The clinical profile of employees with mental health problems working in social firms in the UK.

PubMed

Milton, Alyssa; Parsons, Nicholas; Morant, Nicola; Gilbert, Eleanor; Johnson, Sonia; Fisher, Adrian; Singh, Swaran; Cunliffe, Di; Marwaha, Steven

2015-08-01

UK social firms are under-researched but are a potentially important vocational option for people with mental health problems. To describe the clinical profile, satisfaction levels and experiences of social firms employees with mental health problems. Clinical, work and service use characteristics were collected from social firms' employees with mental health problems in England and Wales. Workplace experience and satisfaction were explored qualitatively. Predominantly, social firms' employees (N = 80) report that they have a diagnosis of depression (56%) and anxiety (41%). People with schizophrenia (20%) or bipolar disorder (5%) were a minority. Respondents had low symptom and disability levels, high quality of life and job satisfaction and experienced reductions in secondary mental health service use over time. High-workplace satisfaction was related to flexibility, manager and colleague support and workplace accommodations. The clinical profile, quality of life and job satisfaction level of employees with mental health problems suggest social firms could be a useful addition to UK vocational services for some people. Current employees mainly have common mental disorders, and social firms will need to shift their focus if they are to form a substantial pathway for the vocational recovery of people currently using community mental health teams.

Cyber security risk management: public policy implications of correlated risk, imperfect ability to prove loss, and observability of self-protection.

PubMed

Oğüt, Hulisi; Raghunathan, Srinivasan; Menon, Nirup

2011-03-01

The correlated nature of security breach risks, the imperfect ability to prove loss from a breach to an insurer, and the inability of insurers and external agents to observe firms' self-protection efforts have posed significant challenges to cyber security risk management. Our analysis finds that a firm invests less than the social optimal levels in self-protection and in insurance when risks are correlated and the ability to prove loss is imperfect. We find that the appropriate social intervention policy to induce a firm to invest at socially optimal levels depends on whether insurers can verify a firm's self-protection levels. If self-protection of a firm is observable to an insurer so that it can design a contract that is contingent on the self-protection level, then self-protection and insurance behave as complements. In this case, a social planner can induce a firm to choose the socially optimal self-protection and insurance levels by offering a subsidy on self-protection. We also find that providing a subsidy on insurance does not provide a similar inducement to a firm. If self-protection of a firm is not observable to an insurer, then self-protection and insurance behave as substitutes. In this case, a social planner should tax the insurance premium to achieve socially optimal results. The results of our analysis hold regardless of whether the insurance market is perfectly competitive or not, implying that solely reforming the currently imperfect insurance market is insufficient to achieve the efficient outcome in cyber security risk management. © 2010 Society for Risk Analysis.

Environmental Concerns, Environmental Policy and Green Investment.

PubMed

Gao, Xuexian; Zheng, Haidong

2017-12-13

Environmental regulators often use environmental policy to induce green investment by firms. However, if an environmental policy fails to exert a long-run effect on regulating the economic agents' behavior, it may be more reasonable to think of the firm as the leader in the game, since the investment in green technology is usually a strategic decision. In this paper, we consider a three-stage Stackelberg game to address the interaction between a profit-maximizing firm (Stackelberg leader) facing emission-dependent demand, and the environmental regulator (Stackelberg follower). The firm decides on the green technology level in the first stage of the game based on its understanding of the regulator's profits function, especially an environmental concern that is introduced as an exogenous variable. In the current research, we show that high levels of the regulator's environmental concerns do not necessarily lead to the choice of green technology by the firm, and green investment level depends on the combined effects of the market and operational factors for a given level of the regulator's environmental concerns. The result also shows that increasing environmental awareness amongst the consumers is an effective way to drive the firm's green investment.

The Evolving Private Military Sector: A Survey

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-08-05

enough evidence (for instance, the diversification of commercial security firms into the PM sector) and enough theory (for instance, institutional ... theory about how new fields are created out of old ones, how legitimacy is co-opted) to suggest this perspective might warrant further investigation

Differential economic stability and psychosocial stress at work: associations with psychosomatic complaints and absenteeism.

PubMed

Godin, Isabelle; Kittel, France

2004-04-01

Stressful working conditions are well known to have a negative impact on the worker's health. We investigated this association in a Belgian study with a psychosocial health perspective, including individual work characteristics as well as firms' features. These data come from the first measure of the Somstress study. This is a 4 year project, initiated in 1999 and conducted in four different firms. The objective of this article is to investigate the relationships between stress, working conditions and absenteeism, self-reported health and psychosomatic complaints. Firms were selected according to their degree of structural environment and job stability. Among the four work sites, one can be considered as stable, one unstable and the remaining ones in an in-between situation. Stress is generally measured according to one of the following models: the job demands control model (Karasek) and the effort-reward imbalance model (Siegrist). We used here both models, along with the social support at work (Karasek) and overcommitment (Siegrist). Sex, age and education are important health determinants. After adjustment for those three variables and additionally for the work instability, it appeared that poor health outcomes (measured by the self-rated health, depression (SCL-90), anxiety (SCL-90), somatisation (SCL-90), chronic fatigue (Vercoulen) and reported absenteeism) are mainly associated with a low control, low social support at work, high overcommitment and high level of imbalance. Inversely, job demands do not make any significant contribution in the logistic regression models for the above-mentioned health outcomes.

Micro-Level Adaptation, Macro-Level Selection, and the Dynamics of Market Partitioning

PubMed Central

García-Díaz, César; van Witteloostuijn, Arjen; Péli, Gábor

2015-01-01

This paper provides a micro-foundation for dual market structure formation through partitioning processes in marketplaces by developing a computational model of interacting economic agents. We propose an agent-based modeling approach, where firms are adaptive and profit-seeking agents entering into and exiting from the market according to their (lack of) profitability. Our firms are characterized by large and small sunk costs, respectively. They locate their offerings along a unimodal demand distribution over a one-dimensional product variety, with the distribution peak constituting the center and the tails standing for the peripheries. We found that large firms may first advance toward the most abundant demand spot, the market center, and release peripheral positions as predicted by extant dual market explanations. However, we also observed that large firms may then move back toward the market fringes to reduce competitive niche overlap in the center, triggering nonlinear resource occupation behavior. Novel results indicate that resource release dynamics depend on firm-level adaptive capabilities, and that a minimum scale of production for low sunk cost firms is key to the formation of the dual structure. PMID:26656107

Micro-Level Adaptation, Macro-Level Selection, and the Dynamics of Market Partitioning.

PubMed

García-Díaz, César; van Witteloostuijn, Arjen; Péli, Gábor

2015-01-01

This paper provides a micro-foundation for dual market structure formation through partitioning processes in marketplaces by developing a computational model of interacting economic agents. We propose an agent-based modeling approach, where firms are adaptive and profit-seeking agents entering into and exiting from the market according to their (lack of) profitability. Our firms are characterized by large and small sunk costs, respectively. They locate their offerings along a unimodal demand distribution over a one-dimensional product variety, with the distribution peak constituting the center and the tails standing for the peripheries. We found that large firms may first advance toward the most abundant demand spot, the market center, and release peripheral positions as predicted by extant dual market explanations. However, we also observed that large firms may then move back toward the market fringes to reduce competitive niche overlap in the center, triggering nonlinear resource occupation behavior. Novel results indicate that resource release dynamics depend on firm-level adaptive capabilities, and that a minimum scale of production for low sunk cost firms is key to the formation of the dual structure.

Human factors in anaesthesia: lessons from aviation.

PubMed

Toff, N J

2010-07-01

Aviation safety has evolved over more than a century and has achieved remarkable results. Applying some of the lessons learned may help make healthcare safer. From the perspective of an anaesthetic background and some thousands of hours of airline flying, I offer a personal perspective, try to give a sense of the place of human factors in airline operations and some of the current problems, and make some suggestions as to what the NHS and anaesthesia might learn from this. Although many of the ingredients for safe operation are frequently already present in our hospitals, and some individual clinical areas and departments achieve high levels of reliability and safety, I will emphasize my firm belief that we cannot expect improvements in human factors training and awareness to be fully effective in the healthcare setting without the parallel development of a simple and strong safety system across organizations. In the process, we may find that the safe hospital turns out somewhat differently to the safe airline.

Small employer perspectives on the Affordable Care Act's premiums, SHOP exchanges, and self-insurance.

PubMed

Gabel, Jon R; Whitmore, Heidi; Pickreign, Jeremy; Satorius, Jennifer L; Stromberg, Sam

2013-11-01

Beginning January 1, 2014, small businesses having no more than fifty full-time-equivalent workers will be able to obtain health insurance for their employees through Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) exchanges in every state. Although the Affordable Care Act intended the exchanges to make the purchasing of insurance more attractive and affordable to small businesses, it is not yet known how they will respond to the exchanges. Based on a telephone survey of 604 randomly selected private firms having 3-50 employees, we found that both firms that offered health coverage and those that did not rated most features of SHOP exchanges highly but were also very price sensitive. More than 92 percent of nonoffering small firms said that if they were to offer coverage, it would be "very" or "somewhat" important to them that premium costs be less than they are today. Eighty percent of offering firms use brokers who commonly perform functions of benefit managers--functions that the SHOP exchanges may assume. Twenty-six percent of firms using brokers reported discussing self-insuring with their brokers. An increase in the number of self-insured small employers could pose a threat to SHOP exchanges and other small-group insurance reforms.

Improving productivity and firm performance with enterprise resource planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beheshti, Hooshang M.; Beheshti, Cyrus M.

2010-11-01

Productivity is generally considered to be the efficient utilisation of organisational resources and is measured in terms of the efficiency of a worker, company or nation. Focusing on efficiency alone, however, can be harmful to the organisation's long-term success and competitiveness. The full benefits of productivity improvement measures are realised when productivity is examined from two perspectives: operational efficiency (output/input) of an individual worker or a business unit as well as performance (effectiveness) with regard to end user or customer satisfaction. Over the years, corporations have adopted new technology to integrate business activities in order to achieve both effectiveness and efficiency in their operations. In recent years, many firms have invested in enterprise resource planning (ERP) in order to integrate all business activities into a uniform system. The implementation of ERP enables the firm to reduce the transaction costs of the business and improve its productivity, customer satisfaction and profitability.

Do women CEOs face greater threat of shareholder activism compared to male CEOs? A role congruity perspective.

PubMed

Gupta, Vishal K; Han, Seonghee; Mortal, Sandra C; Silveri, Sabatino Dino; Turban, Daniel B

2018-02-01

We examine the glass cliff proposition that female CEOs receive more scrutiny than male CEOs, by investigating whether CEO gender is related to threats from activist investors in public firms. Activist investors are extraorganizational stakeholders who, when dissatisfied with some aspect of the way the firm is being managed, seek to change the strategy or operations of the firm. Although some have argued that women will be viewed more favorably than men in top leadership positions (so-called "female leadership" advantage logic), we build on role congruity theory to hypothesize that female CEOs are significantly more likely than male CEOs to come under threat from activist investors. Results support our predictions, suggesting that female CEOs may face additional challenges not faced by male CEOs. Practical implications and directions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Efficiency in the United States electric industry: Transaction costs, deregulation, and governance structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peterson, Carl

Transaction costs economics (TCE) posits that firms have an incentive to bypass the market mechanisms in situations where the cost of using the market is prohibitive. Vertical integration, among other governance mechanisms, can be used to minimize the transactions costs associated with the market mechanism. The study analyses different governance mechanisms, which range from complete vertical integration to the use of market mechanisms, for firms in the US electric sector. This sector has undergone tremendous change in the past decade including the introduction of retail competition in some jurisdictions. As a result of the push toward deregulation of the industry, vertically integration, while still significant in the sector, has steadily been replaced by alternative governance structures. Using a sample of 136 investor-owned electric utilities that reported data the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission between 1996 and 2002, this study estimates firm level efficiency using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and relates these estimates to governance structure and public policies. The analysis finds that vertical integration is positively related to firm efficiency, although in a non-linear fashion suggesting that hybrid governance structures tend to be associated with lower efficiency scores. In addition, while some evidence is found for negative short-term effects on firm efficiency from the choice to deregulate, this result is sensitive to DEA model choice. Further, competition in retail markets is found to be positively related to firm level efficiency, but the retreat from deregulation, which occurred after 2000, is negatively associated with firm-level efficiency. These results are important in the ongoing academic and public policy debates concerning deregulation of the electric section and indicate that vertical economies remain in the industry, but that competition has provided incentives for improving firm level efficiency.

Determinants of environmental audit frequency: the role of firm organizational structure.

PubMed

Earnhart, Dietrich; Leonard, J Mark

2013-10-15

This study empirically examines the extent of environmental management practiced by US chemical manufacturing facilities, as reflected in the number of environmental internal audits conducted annually. As its focus, this study analyzes the effects of firm-level organizational structure on facility-level environmental management practices. For this empirical analysis, the study exploits unique data from a survey distributed to all U.S. chemical manufacturing permitted to discharge wastewater in 2001; the data reflect internal audits conducted during the years 1999-2001. Empirical results reveal differences in auditing behavior based on whether facilities are owned by publicly held or non-publicly held firms, owned by U.S.-based or non-U.S.-based firms, and owned by larger or smaller firms. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The environmental actions of firms: examining the role of spillovers, networks and absorptive capacity.

PubMed

Albornoz, Facundo; Cole, Matthew A; Elliott, Robert J R; Ercolani, Marco G

2014-12-15

In the light of climate uncertainty and growing concern for the natural environment, an increasingly important aspect of global business is the environmental behaviour of firms. In this paper we consider the factors that influence firms' environmental actions (EAs). Our study of Argentinean firms concentrates on measures of environmental spillovers, informal and formal networks and absorptive capacity by testing four related hypotheses. We find that foreign-owned firms, large firms and those with a greater capacity to assimilate new environmental technologies are more likely to adopt EAs. We also show that formal and informal networks aid the adoption of EAs in the presence of traditional firm-level spillovers. Finally, we show that foreign-owned firms have different motives to domestic firms for undertaking EAs. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Equal Opportunities and Vocational Training. In-firm Training and Career Prospects for Women in the Federal Republic of Germany. Summary.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hegelheimer, Barbara

A study examined the relationship between occupational advancement among women and their participation in the training offered at the enterprise level in West Germany. Women from four firms, a department store company, a large bank, a computer firm, and a public sector service undertaking, were studied. In all four firms, the internal recruitment…

Causal Relationships among Technology Acquisition, Absorptive Capacity, and Innovation Performance: Evidence from the Pharmaceutical Industry.

PubMed

Jeon, Jieun; Hong, Suckchul; Ohm, Jay; Yang, Taeyong

2015-01-01

This paper discusses the importance of absorptive capacity in improving a firm's innovation performance. Specifically, we examine firm interaction with the knowledge and capabilities of outside organizations and the effect on the firm's bottom line. We use the impulse-response function of the vector auto-regressive model to gain insight into this relationship by estimating the time required for the effect of each activity level to reach outputs, the spillover effects. We apply this methodology to pharmaceutical firms, which we classify into two sub-groups--large firms and medium and small firms--based on sales. Our results show that the impact of an activity on any other activity is delayed by three years for large firms and by one to two years for small and medium firms.

Reducing the Observed Curriculum Perception Gaps between Stakeholders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chang, Amy; Churyk, Natalie Tatiana; Yu, Shaokun

2015-01-01

Developing a vibrant and relevant accounting curriculum requires involvement of many stakeholders such as interns, alumni, and firms. Each has a distinct perspective regarding the strengths and weaknesses of accounting education. Discussion of perception gaps between the three groups and the importance of aligning these perceptions are presented.…

Determinants of Corporate Web Services Adoption: A Survey of Companies in Korea

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Daekil

2010-01-01

Despite the growing interest and attention from Information Technology researchers and practitioners, empirical research on factors that influence an organization's likelihood of adoption of Web Services has been limited. This study identified the factors influencing Web Services adoption from the perspective of 151 South Korean firms. The…

A Practical Decision-Analysis Process for Forest Ecosystem Management

Treesearch

H. Michael Rauscher; F. Thomas Lloyd; David L. Loftis; Mark J. Twery

2000-01-01

Many authors have pointed out the need to firm up the 'fuzzy' ecosystem management paradigm and develop operationally practical processes to allow forest managers to accommodate more effectively the continuing rapid change in societal perspectives and goals. There are three spatial scales where clear, precise, practical ecosystem management processes are...

Factors Influencing Employee Learning in Small Businesses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coetzer, Alan; Perry, Martin

2008-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to identify key factors influencing employee learning from the perspective of owners/managers. Design/methodology/research: Data were gathered from owners/managers in a total of 27 small manufacturing and services firms through interviews and analysed using content analytic procedures. Findings: The…

The Enforcement of University Patent Policies: A Legal Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stopp, Margaret T.; Stopp, G. Harry, Jr.

1992-01-01

Federal civil litigation in which a faculty inventor challenged the university's right to share in proceeds from his invention is examined. Issues of employment contracts, the university research office's responsibility for monitoring faculty research, and the role of patenting and licensing firms are considered. Implications for university policy…

Workplace Training: Employer and Employee Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), 2017

2017-01-01

According to the 2016 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report, Education at a glance, much of the learning at work takes place through employer-supported training. Both employers and employees recognise the benefits of such training because skilling the workforce can lead to better jobs, greater firm competitiveness,…

The effects of staffing and training on firm productivity and profit growth before, during, and after the Great Recession.

PubMed

Kim, Youngsang; Ployhart, Robert E

2014-05-01

This study integrates research from strategy, economics, and applied psychology to examine how organizations may leverage their human resources to enhance firm performance and competitive advantage. Staffing and training are key human resource management practices used to achieve firm performance through acquiring and developing human capital resources. However, little research has examined whether and why staffing and training influence firm-level financial performance (profit) growth under different environmental (economic) conditions. Using 359 firms with over 12 years of longitudinal firm-level profit data, we suggest that selective staffing and internal training directly and interactively influence firm profit growth through their effects on firm labor productivity, implying that staffing and training contribute to the generation of slack resources that help buffer and then recover from the effects of the Great Recession. Further, internal training that creates specific human capital resources is more beneficial for prerecession profitability, but staffing is more beneficial for postrecession recovery, apparently because staffing creates generic human capital resources that enable firm flexibility and adaptation. Thus, the theory and findings presented in this article have implications for the way staffing and training may be used strategically to weather economic uncertainty (recession effects). They also have important practical implications by demonstrating that firms that more effectively staff and train will outperform competitors throughout all pre- and postrecessionary periods, even after controlling for prior profitability. (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Risk aversion and compliance in markets for pollution control.

PubMed

Stranlund, John K

2008-07-01

This paper examines the effects of risk aversion on compliance choices in markets for pollution control. A firm's decision to be compliant or not is independent of its manager's risk preference. However, non-compliant firms with risk-averse managers will have lower violations than otherwise identical firms with risk-neutral managers. The violations of non-compliant firms with risk-averse managers are independent of differences in their profit functions and their initial allocations of permits if and only if their managers' utility functions exhibit constant absolute risk aversion. However, firm-level characteristics do impact violation choices when managers have coefficients of absolute risk aversion that are increasing or decreasing in profit levels. Finally, in the equilibrium of a market for emissions rights with widespread non-compliance, risk aversion is associated with higher permit prices, better environmental quality, and lower aggregate violations.

Environmental Concerns, Environmental Policy and Green Investment

PubMed Central

Gao, Xuexian; Zheng, Haidong

2017-01-01

Environmental regulators often use environmental policy to induce green investment by firms. However, if an environmental policy fails to exert a long-run effect on regulating the economic agents’ behavior, it may be more reasonable to think of the firm as the leader in the game, since the investment in green technology is usually a strategic decision. In this paper, we consider a three-stage Stackelberg game to address the interaction between a profit-maximizing firm (Stackelberg leader) facing emission-dependent demand, and the environmental regulator (Stackelberg follower). The firm decides on the green technology level in the first stage of the game based on its understanding of the regulator’s profits function, especially an environmental concern that is introduced as an exogenous variable. In the current research, we show that high levels of the regulator’s environmental concerns do not necessarily lead to the choice of green technology by the firm, and green investment level depends on the combined effects of the market and operational factors for a given level of the regulator’s environmental concerns. The result also shows that increasing environmental awareness amongst the consumers is an effective way to drive the firm’s green investment. PMID:29236072

Lumpy investment, sectoral propagation, and business cycles (Invited Paper)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nirei, Makoto

2005-05-01

This paper proposes a model of endogenous fluctuations in investment. A monopolistic producer has an incentive to invest when the aggregate demand is high. The investment at the firm level is also known to exhibit a threshold behavior called an (S,s) policy. These two facts lead us to consider that the fluctuation in aggregate investment is generated by the global coupling of the non-linear oscillators. From this perspective, we characterize the probability distribution of the investment clustering in a partial equilibrium of product markets, and show that its variance can be large enough to match the observed investment fluctuations. We then implement this mechanism in a dynamic general equilibrium model to explore an investment-driven business cycle. By calibrating the model with the SIC 4-digit level industry data, we numerically show that the model replicates the basic structure of the business cycles.

From the seat of heat and intelligence to regular heart activity as automatic movement: progress in cardiology up to 1900 from a Dutch perspective.

PubMed

van Tellingen, C

2009-04-01

The development in cardiovascular anatomy and physiology is described from a Dutch perspective. The newly formed Republic in the 17th century, with its pragmatism and business-like character, became an ideal breeding ground for Descartes' new philosophy. His separation of body and soul provided a mechanistic model of body structure and formed a firm basis for anatomical and physiological research to become catalysts for a tempestuous growth and progress in medicine. (Neth Heart J 2009;17:130-5.).

29 CFR 525.10 - Prevailing wage rates.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

.... Such data may be obtained by surveying comparable firms in the area that employ primarily nondisabled... services which only provide entry level wage data are not acceptable as sources for prevailing wage... with firm or other source; (2) Name, address, and phone number of firm or other source contacted; (3...

Electric energy costs and firm productivity in the countries of the Pacific Alliance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Camacho, Anamaria

This paper explores the relation between energy as an input of production and firm-level productivity for Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, all country members of the Pacific Alliance economic bloc. The empirical literature, has explored the impact of infrastructure on productivity; however there is limited analysis on the impact of particular infrastructure variables, such as energy, on productivity at the firm level in Latin America. Therefore, this study conducts a quantitative assessment of the responsiveness of productivity to energy cost and quality for Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. For this, the empirical strategy is to estimate a Cobb-Douglas production function using the World Bank's Enterprise Survey to obtain comparable measures of output and inputs of production. This approach provides estimates of input factor elasticities for all of the factors of production including energy. The results indicate that electric energy costs explain cross-country differences in firm level productivity. For the particular case of Colombia, the country exhibits the lowest capital and labor productivity of the PA, and firm output is highly responsive to changes in energy use. As a result, the evidence suggests that policies reducing electric energy costs are an efficient alternative to increase firm performance, particularly in the case of Colombia.

Do governance, equity characteristics, and venture capital nvolvement affect long-term wealth creation in U.S. health care and biotechnology IPOs?

PubMed

Williams, David R; Duncan, W Jack; Ginter, Peter M; Shewchuk, Richard M

2006-01-01

Agency theory remains the dominant means of examining governance issues and ownership characteristics related to large organizations. Research in these areas within large organizations has increased our understanding, yet little is known about the influence that these mechanisms and characteristics have had on IPO firm performance. This study tests an agency perspective that venture capital involvement, governance and equity characteristics affect health care and biotechnology IPO firm performance. Our results indicate that there is no correlation between these factors and health care and biotechnology IPO wealth creation. For these entrepreneurs, our findings suggest a contingent approach for the use of these mechanisms.

War-gaming application for future space systems acquisition part 2: acquisition and bidding war-gaming modeling and simulation approaches for FFP and FPIF

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguyen, Tien M.; Guillen, Andy T.

2017-05-01

This paper describes cooperative and non-cooperative static Bayesian game models with complete and incomplete information for the development of optimum acquisition strategies associated with the Program and Technical Baseline (PTB) solutions obtained from Part 1 of this paper [1]. The optimum acquisition strategies discussed focus on achieving "Affordability" by incorporating contractors' bidding strategies into the government acquisition strategies for acquiring future space systems. The paper discusses System Engineering (SE) frameworks, analytical and simulation approaches and modeling for developing the optimum acquisition strategies from both the government and contractor perspectives for Firm Fixed Price (FFP) and Fixed Price Incentive Firm (FPIF) contract types.

Counseling Perspectives on Sexual Harassment in Industry.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dai, Sheila; Papalia, Anthony S.

This report focuses on the problem of sexual harassment in industry. Prior research documenting such harassment is cited, and the ability of the counseling profession to address the issue is discussed. Results of the authors' survey of salaried women (N=85) from a large industrial firm are reported; the demographic data and information on sexual…

Western and Eastern Views on Social Networks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ordonez de Pablos, Patricia

2005-01-01

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to examine social networks from a Western and Eastern view. Design/methodology/approach: The paper uses case study methodology to gather evidence of how world pioneering firms from Asia and Europe measure and report their social connections from a Western perspective. Findings: It examined the basic indicators…

Interview: Raymond Fairchild.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Long, Britt

1995-01-01

Born in 1939 and raised in southwestern North Carolina, banjoist Raymond Fairchild discusses music, religion, the mountain life of his youth, education, racism, and politics from the unique perspective of one who "never did go to school enough to mess up none of my work." His firm belief in a self-made, self-educated person is reflected…

The Manager's Role in Financial Reporting: A Risk Consultant's Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bell, Reginald L.

2007-01-01

This article presents an interview with Ray Gonzalez, a risk consultant at Deloitte & Touche LLP, in Houston, Texas, about the financial reporting responsibilities of top, middle, and frontline managers in large and medium-size firms. This interview spotlights the necessity for timely and accurate reporting of financial information relating to…

Digital Examination in Higher Education--Experiences from Three Different Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berggren, Björn; Fili, Andreas; Nordberg, Olle

2015-01-01

Assessment through new technology has gained a firm foothold within the university system in the last decade. This paper summarizes the experiences that have been made during the introduction of digital examination over the past two years at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. The experiences are divided between three different…

University-Industry Collaboration from a Relationship Marketing Perspective: An Empirical Analysis in a Spanish University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Frasquet, Marta; Calderon, Haydee; Cervera, Amparo

2012-01-01

Building relationships between universities and industry bodies is of prime importance for creating value for universities' stakeholders. This paper focuses on relationships in relation to undergraduate internship programmes in the Social Sciences. Using the relationship marketing approach, we analyze this type of collaboration of firms with a…

Teaching Entrepreneurship and Micro-Entrepreneurship: An International Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mondal, Wali I.; Jimenez, Lizandra

2015-01-01

Entrepreneurship is an integral part of business education. However, the concept is often confused or used synonymously with capitalism, perhaps because entrepreneurship is one of the four factors of production and profit maximization is considered as the single most important topic in teaching theory of the firm. Using risk as the key variable in…

Education by Objectives: Putting Teacher Accountability into Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Valentine, Ivan E.; Larson, Milton E.

1976-01-01

If education by objectives is to be firmly established as an instructional approach, teachers must insist on a validated curriculum that truly prepares students to secure employment and to function effectively in society. This means members of the community responsible for fund allocation and resource selection must also be accountable. (Author/BP)

Outsourcing of IT Services: Studies on Diffusion and New Theoretical Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mann, Arti

2012-01-01

Information technology (IT) outsourcing, including foreign or offshore outsourcing, has been steadily growing over the last two decades. This growth in IT outsourcing has led to the development of different hubs of services across nations, and has resulted in increased competition among service providers. Firms have been using IT outsourcing to…

Education in the Learning Economy: A European Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lundvall, Bengt-Ake; Rasmussen, Palle; Lorenz, Edward

2008-01-01

Innovation is crucial to the competitiveness of the economies of Europe, and learning is crucial to innovation. The most important trend shift is not that knowledge is becoming more important but that it is becoming obsolete more rapidly than before, so that firms and employees constantly have to learn and acquire new competencies. This involves…

Information Risk Management and Resilience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dynes, Scott

Are the levels of information risk management efforts within and between firms correlated with the resilience of the firms to information disruptions? This paper examines the question by considering the results of field studies of information risk management practices at organizations and in supply chains. The organizations investigated differ greatly in the degree of coupling from a general and information risk management standpoint, as well as in the levels of internal awareness and activity regarding information risk management. The comparison of the levels of information risk management in the firms and their actual or inferred resilience indicates that a formal information risk management approach is not necessary for resilience in certain sectors.

Towards a new paradigm: Activity level balanced sustainability reporting.

PubMed

Samudhram, Ananda; Siew, Eu-Gene; Sinnakkannu, Jothee; Yeow, Paul H P

2016-11-01

Technoeconomic paradigms based economic growth theories suggest that waves of technological innovations drove the economic growth of advanced economies. Widespread economic degradation and pollution is an unintended consequence of such growth. Tackling environmental and social issues at firm levels would help us to overcome such issues at macro-levels. Consequently, the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) reporting approach promotes firm level economic, environmental and social performances. Incorporating Zink's (2014) 3-pillar presentation model, this paper indicates that economic, social and environmental performances tend to be reported at firm level. All three pillars are not covered evenly at the activity levels. Thus, a loophole is identified whereby excellent environmental performance at activity levels could potentially leave poor social performance undisclosed. A refinement of the TBL paradigm, whereby all three pillars are covered at the activity level, is suggested, to enhance sustainability reporting. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Boundary Conditions of the High-Investment Human Resource Systems-Small-Firm Labor Productivity Relationship

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chadwick, Clint; Way, Sean A.; Kerr, Gerry; Thacker, James W.

2013-01-01

Although a few published, multiindustry, firm-level, empirical studies have linked systems of high-investment or high-performance human resource management practices to enhanced small-firm performance, this stream of strategic human resource management research is underdeveloped and equivocal. Accordingly, in this study, we use a sample of…

The Birth, Death, and Resurrection of an SPI Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carlsson, Sven; Schönström, Mikael

Commentators on contemporary themes of strategic management and firm competitiveness stress that a firm's competitive advantage flows from its unique knowledge and how it manages knowledge, and for many firms their ability to create, share, exchange, and use knowledge have a major impact on their competitiveness (Nonaka & Teece 2001). In software development, knowledge management (KM) plays an increasingly important role. It has been argued that the KM-field is an important source for creating new perspectives on the software development process (Iivari 2000). Several Software Process Improvement (SPI) approaches stress the importance of managing knowledge and experiences as a way for improving software processes (Ahem et al. 2001). Another SPI-trend is the use of ideas from process management like in the Capability Maturity Model (CMM). Unfortunately, little research on the effects of the use of process management ideas in SPI exists. Given the influx of process management ideas to SPI, the impact of these ideas should be addressed.

Shared vision promotes family firm performance.

PubMed

Neff, John E

2015-01-01

A clear picture of the influential drivers of private family firm performance has proven to be an elusive target. The unique characteristics of private family owned firms necessitate a broader, non-financial approach to reveal firm performance drivers. This research study sought to specify and evaluate the themes that distinguish successful family firms from less successful family firms. In addition, this study explored the possibility that these themes collectively form an effective organizational culture that improves longer-term firm performance. At an organizational level of analysis, research findings identified four significant variables: Shared Vision (PNS), Role Clarity (RCL), Confidence in Management (CON), and Professional Networking (OLN) that positively impacted family firm financial performance. Shared Vision exhibited the strongest positive influence among the significant factors. In addition, Family Functionality (APGAR), the functional integrity of the family itself, exhibited a significant supporting role. Taken together, the variables collectively represent an effective family business culture (EFBC) that positively impacted the long-term financial sustainability of family owned firms. The index of effective family business culture also exhibited potential as a predictive non-financial model of family firm performance.

Shared vision promotes family firm performance

PubMed Central

Neff, John E.

2015-01-01

A clear picture of the influential drivers of private family firm performance has proven to be an elusive target. The unique characteristics of private family owned firms necessitate a broader, non-financial approach to reveal firm performance drivers. This research study sought to specify and evaluate the themes that distinguish successful family firms from less successful family firms. In addition, this study explored the possibility that these themes collectively form an effective organizational culture that improves longer-term firm performance. At an organizational level of analysis, research findings identified four significant variables: Shared Vision (PNS), Role Clarity (RCL), Confidence in Management (CON), and Professional Networking (OLN) that positively impacted family firm financial performance. Shared Vision exhibited the strongest positive influence among the significant factors. In addition, Family Functionality (APGAR), the functional integrity of the family itself, exhibited a significant supporting role. Taken together, the variables collectively represent an effective family business culture (EFBC) that positively impacted the long-term financial sustainability of family owned firms. The index of effective family business culture also exhibited potential as a predictive non-financial model of family firm performance. PMID:26042075

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Granderson, G.D.

The purpose of the dissertation is to examine the impact of rate-of-return regulation on the cost of transporting natural gas in interstate commerce. Of particular interest is the effect of the regulation on the input choice of a firm. Does regulation induce a regulated firm to produce its selected level of output at greater than minimum cost The theoretical model is based on the work of Rolf Faere and James Logan who investigate the duality relationship between the cost and production functions of a rate-of-return regulated firm. Faere and Logan derive the cost function for a regulated firm as themore » minimum cost of producing the firm's selected level of output, subject to the regulatory constraint. The regulated cost function is used to recover the unregulated cost function. A firm's unregulated cost function is the minimum cost of producing its selected level of output. Characteristics of the production technology are obtained from duality between the production and unregulated cost functions. Using data on 20 pipeline companies from 1977 to 1987, the author estimates a random effects model that consists of a regulated cost function and its associated input share equations. The model is estimated as a set of seemingly unrelated regressions. The empirical results are used to test the Faere and Logan theory and the traditional Averch-Johnson hypothesis of overcapitalization. Parameter estimates are used to recover the unregulated cost function and to calculate the amount by which transportation costs are increased by the regulation of the industry. Empirical results show that a firm's transportation cost decreases as the allowed rate of return increases and the regulatory constraint becomes less tight. Elimination of the regulatory constraint would lead to a reduction in costs on average of 5.278%. There is evidence that firms overcapitalize on pipeline capital. There is inconclusive evidence on whether firms overcapitalized on compressor station capital.« less

Are Skill Requirements Rising? Evidence from Production and Clerical Jobs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cappelli, Peter

1993-01-01

Examination of production jobs in 93 manufacturing firms (1978-86) and clerical jobs in 211 firms (1978-88) suggests (1) significant upskilling within most production jobs; (2) in clerical jobs, an even split between raised and lowered skill levels; and (3) decreasing skill levels associated with office automation. (SK)

Profit maximization, industry structure, and competition: A critique of neoclassical theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keen, Steve; Standish, Russell

2006-10-01

Neoclassical economics has two theories of competition between profit-maximizing firms-Marshallian and Cournot-Nash-that start from different premises about the degree of strategic interaction between firms, yet reach the same result, that market price falls as the number of firms in an industry increases. The Marshallian argument is strictly false. We integrate the different premises, and establish that the optimal level of strategic interaction between competing firms is zero. Simulations support our analysis and reveal intriguing emergent behaviors.

A School Wide Approach to Leading Pedagogical Enhancement: An Australian Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Conway, Joan M.; Andrews, Dorothy

2016-01-01

This paper presents how some Australian schools are changing their approaches to leading the teaching and learning in their diverse and multi-characteristic contexts. Experiences of these schools shows that the development of a school wide approach to pedagogy and its implementation needs to be firmly embedded in the leadership of learning.…

Ready or Not...: Perspectives on Literacy and Essential Skills in this Economic Downturn--A Canadian Baseline Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murray, Janet; Yerichuk, Deanna; Murray-Smith, Nick

2009-01-01

In March 2009, Movement for Canadian Literacy (MCL) commissioned "Resources for Results", a private research and evaluation firm, to conduct a baseline study to explore the effects of the recent economic downturn on literacy and essential skills programs across Canada. The "Resources for Results" research team interviewed 35…

Standing Firm on Slippery Slopes: Understanding Ethical Boundaries in Student Affairs Work

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liddell, Debora; Hornak, Anne M.; Ignelzi, Michael G.

2016-01-01

Understanding ethical boundaries in student affairs work can be challenging and difficult to navigate for student affairs professionals. The purpose of this article is to examine the complexities of dual relationships and the ethical issues that may arise. As a result, the authors offer tools to (a) identify various perspectives in resolving…

Sectoral Perspectives on the Benefits of Vocational Education and Training. Research Paper No. 22

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cedefop - European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, 2012

2012-01-01

The report confirms the importance of training for the European Union (EU) industrial policy. It demonstrates that sectors where training is firmly integrated in human resource practices have higher productivity gains. Such economic benefits are not only realised through developing workers' skills, but also thanks to higher job satisfaction and…

Investigating Adolescent Health-Related Quality of Life: From a Self-Identity Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Kun-Hu; Yao, Grace

2010-01-01

The aim of the study was to investigate the relation between self-identity and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in adolescence. This study assumed that four aspects (i.e. personal, social, ability, and academic identity) of identity firmness could predict adolescent's HRQOL more than four aspects of identity importance. Meanwhile, this study…

The Curriculum Design in Universities from the Perspective of Providers in Accounting Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cheng, Kai-Wen

2007-01-01

Under the influence of globalization and the ongoing expansion of technology, many scholars believe that there is an obvious discrepancy of expectation between the providers of accounting education (i.e. teachers and students) and the demanders of that education (i.e. accounting firms and business enterprises) (Albrecht & Sack, 2000; Li, 1999; Ma,…

Quality of Life Experienced by Human Capital: An Assessment of European Cities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morais, Paulo; Migueis, Vera L.; Camanho, Ana S.

2013-01-01

This paper aims to provide an assessment of urban quality of life (QoL) of European cities from the perspective of qualified human resources. The competitiveness of cities relies increasingly in their capacity to attract highly educated workers, as they are important assets for firms when choosing a location. Qualified human resources, on the…

Recurrence Quantification of Fractal Structures

PubMed Central

Webber, Charles L.

2012-01-01

By definition, fractal structures possess recurrent patterns. At different levels repeating patterns can be visualized at higher magnifications. The purpose of this chapter is threefold. First, general characteristics of dynamical systems are addressed from a theoretical mathematical perspective. Second, qualitative and quantitative recurrence analyses are reviewed in brief, but the reader is directed to other sources for explicit details. Third, example mathematical systems that generate strange attractors are explicitly defined, giving the reader the ability to reproduce the rich dynamics of continuous chaotic flows or discrete chaotic iterations. The challenge is then posited for the reader to study for themselves the recurrent structuring of these different dynamics. With a firm appreciation of the power of recurrence analysis, the reader will be prepared to turn their sights on real-world systems (physiological, psychological, mechanical, etc.). PMID:23060808

The moderating role of absorptive capacity and the differential effects of acquisitions and alliances on Big Pharma firms' innovation performance.

PubMed

Fernald, K D S; Pennings, H P G; van den Bosch, J F; Commandeur, H R; Claassen, E

2017-01-01

In the context of increased pharmaceutical innovation deficits and Big Pharma blockbusters' patent expirations, this paper examines the moderating role of firms' absorptive capacity in external innovation activities of Big Pharma firms. The study indicates a rising interest of Big Pharma in acquisitions of and alliances with biotechnology companies. Unfortunately, this increased interest is not reflected in the number of new drugs generated by Big Pharma. We find that acquisitions of biotech companies have negatively affected Big Pharma firms' innovation performance on average but these acquisitions might have a positive effect at higher levels of acquiring firms' absorptive capacity. Moreover, also acquisitions of pharma companies and alliances with biotech companies only have a positive effect on innovation performance at sufficiently high levels of absorptive capacity. The moderating role of absorptive capacity implicates that a tight integration of internal R&D efforts and (unrelated) external knowledge is crucial for harnessing complementarity effects.

From the seat of heat and intelligence to regular heart activity as automatic movement: progress in cardiology up to 1900 from a Dutch perspective

PubMed Central

van Tellingen, C.

2009-01-01

The development in cardiovascular anatomy and physiology is described from a Dutch perspective. The newly formed Republic in the 17th century, with its pragmatism and business-like character, became an ideal breeding ground for Descartes' new philosophy. His separation of body and soul provided a mechanistic model of body structure and formed a firm basis for anatomical and physiological research to become catalysts for a tempestuous growth and progress in medicine. (Neth Heart J 2009;17:130-5.19421357) PMID:19421357

Hypercompetitive Environments: An Agent-based model approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dias, Manuel; Araújo, Tanya

Information technology (IT) environments are characterized by complex changes and rapid evolution. Globalization and the spread of technological innovation have increased the need for new strategic information resources, both from individual firms and management environments. Improvements in multidisciplinary methods and, particularly, the availability of powerful computational tools, are giving researchers an increasing opportunity to investigate management environments in their true complex nature. The adoption of a complex systems approach allows for modeling business strategies from a bottom-up perspective — understood as resulting from repeated and local interaction of economic agents — without disregarding the consequences of the business strategies themselves to individual behavior of enterprises, emergence of interaction patterns between firms and management environments. Agent-based models are at the leading approach of this attempt.

Theories of lean management: an empirical evaluation.

PubMed

Handel, Michael J

2014-03-01

Debates within organization theory traditionally argued the relative merits of bureaucracy but today there is broad agreement across different perspectives that bureaucratic organization is inefficient and outmoded. Despite their differences, post-bureaucratic and neo-liberal theories argue that organizations with relatively flat hierarchies and low management overhead are better adapted to current market requirements. Post-bureaucratic theory also argues that employees, as well as firms, benefit from leaner management structures. This paper investigates trends in managerial leanness, proposed explanations for such trends, and the consequences of leanness for firms and employees. Although there is a trend toward flatter management hierarchies, there is only weak support for current claims regarding both the causes and consequences of lean management. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Skill-Biased Technological Change. Evidence from a Firm-Level Survey.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Siegel, Donald S.

A study addressed the effects of technological change using a new, rich source of firm-level data on technology usage and labor force composition. The empirical investigation is based on a survey of Long Island manufacturers' usage of computer-integrated manufacturing systems (CIMS) or advanced manufacturing technologies (AMTs). The study also…

The true cost of greenhouse gas emissions: analysis of 1,000 global companies.

PubMed

Ishinabe, Nagisa; Fujii, Hidemichi; Managi, Shunsuke

2013-01-01

This study elucidated the shadow price of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for 1,024 international companies worldwide that were surveyed from 15 industries in 37 major countries. Our results indicate that the shadow price of GHG at the firm level is much higher than indicated in previous studies. The higher shadow price was found in this study as a result of the use of Scope 3 GHG emissions data. The results of this research indicate that a firm would carry a high cost of GHG emissions if Scope 3 GHG emissions were the focus of the discussion of corporate social responsibility. In addition, such shadow prices were determined to differ substantially among countries, among sectors, and within sectors. Although a number of studies have calculated the shadow price of GHG emissions, these studies have employed country-level or industry-level data or a small sample of firm-level data in one country. This new data from a worldwide firm analysis of the shadow price of GHG emissions can play an important role in developing climate policy and promoting sustainable development.

The True Cost of Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Analysis of 1,000 Global Companies

PubMed Central

Ishinabe, Nagisa; Fujii, Hidemichi; Managi, Shunsuke

2013-01-01

This study elucidated the shadow price of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for 1,024 international companies worldwide that were surveyed from 15 industries in 37 major countries. Our results indicate that the shadow price of GHG at the firm level is much higher than indicated in previous studies. The higher shadow price was found in this study as a result of the use of Scope 3 GHG emissions data. The results of this research indicate that a firm would carry a high cost of GHG emissions if Scope 3 GHG emissions were the focus of the discussion of corporate social responsibility. In addition, such shadow prices were determined to differ substantially among countries, among sectors, and within sectors. Although a number of studies have calculated the shadow price of GHG emissions, these studies have employed country-level or industry-level data or a small sample of firm-level data in one country. This new data from a worldwide firm analysis of the shadow price of GHG emissions can play an important role in developing climate policy and promoting sustainable development. PMID:24265710

Strategic Orientation in the Globalization of Software Firms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dedrick, Jason; Kraemer, Kenneth L.; Carmel, Erran; Dunkle, Debora

In the search for profits, software firms are globalizing their development activities. Some firms achieve greater profits by becoming more efficient, whereas others do so by reaching new markets; some do both. This paper creates an a priori typology of strategies based on the extent to which firms are focused on operational improvement or market access, have a dual focus or are unfocused. We find that firms with these strategies differ in degree of internationalization, organization of offshoring and performance outcomes related to offshoring. Market-oriented firms receive a greater proportion of their total revenue from sales outside the U.S., showing a greater international orientation. They keep more of their offshore development in-house via captive operations. They also are most likely to report increased non-U.S. sales as a result of offshoring. On the other hand, operations-oriented firms have lower levels of international sales, are more likely to go offshore via outsourced software development, and achieve greater costs savings and labor force flexibility as a result of offshoring. Operations-oriented firms also face more obstacles in offshoring, perhaps because of their reliance on outsourcing. Dual focus firms generally achieve some of the best of both strategies, whereas unfocused firms achieve lower cost benefits.

Managerial Cognitive Moral Development and the Firm's Owners' Salience: Empirical Evidence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martynov, Aleksey; Logachev, Sergey

2016-01-01

In this paper, we study the agency relationship between the firm's owners and managers. We apply the theory of Cognitive Moral Development (CMD) to answer the question: What factors affect salience of the interests of the firm's owners to the managers? Using a sample of Russian managers, we found that higher levels of CMD weaken the relationship…

Row erupts over US firm's plan to import nuclear waste

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gwynne, Peter

2008-06-01

A controversy is brewing in the US over a plan by a firm in Utah to import, process and dispose of 20 000 tonnes of low-level radioactive waste from decommissioned nuclear reactors built in Italy by American companies. EnergySolutions intends to recycle some of this waste at a site near Oak Ridge, Tennessee, so that it can be re-used as shielding blocks in nuclear plants. The firm then wants to dispose of the remaining radioactive material at a site in Clive, Utah, where over 90% of low-level radioactive waste generated in the US is currently buried.

Does human capital matter? A meta-analysis of the relationship between human capital and firm performance.

PubMed

Crook, T Russell; Todd, Samuel Y; Combs, James G; Woehr, David J; Ketchen, David J

2011-05-01

Theory at both the micro and macro level predicts that investments in superior human capital generate better firm-level performance. However, human capital takes time and money to develop or acquire, which potentially offsets its positive benefits. Indeed, extant tests appear equivocal regarding its impact. To clarify what is known, we meta-analyzed effects drawn from 66 studies of the human capital-firm performance relationship and investigated 3 moderators suggested by resource-based theory. We found that human capital relates strongly to performance, especially when the human capital in question is not readily tradable in labor markets and when researchers use operational performance measures that are not subject to profit appropriation. Our results suggest that managers should invest in programs that increase and retain firm-specific human capital.

Determinants and Developments of Employer Provided Training: Evidence from a Wage Compressed Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schone, Pal

2006-01-01

Using a representative employer-employee level dataset, this paper answers four questions: (1) What characterises employer provided training in Norway? (2) What characterises firms that invest heavily in employer provided training? (3) Is it the same firms that invest in employer provided all the time? (4) Has the level of employer provided…

Does Human Capital Matter? A Meta-Analysis of the Relationship between Human Capital and Firm Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crook, T. Russell; Todd, Samuel Y.; Combs, James G.; Woehr, David J.; Ketchen, David J., Jr.

2011-01-01

Theory at both the micro and macro level predicts that investments in superior human capital generate better firm-level performance. However, human capital takes time and money to develop or acquire, which potentially offsets its positive benefits. Indeed, extant tests appear equivocal regarding its impact. To clarify what is known, we…

Human Capital Linkages to Labour Productivity: Implications from Thai Manufacturers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rukumnuaykit, Pungpond; Pholphirul, Piriya

2016-01-01

Human capital investment is a necessary condition for improving labour market outcomes in most countries. Empirical studies to investigate human capital and its linkages on the labour demand side are, however, relatively scarce due to limitations of firm-level data-sets. Using firm-level data from the Thai manufacturing sector, this paper aims to…

Power Projection in the Digital Age: The Only Winning Move is to Play

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-12-21

and compromise or corrupt sensitive information. Without a corresponding cybersecurity focus to complement our developing physical capabilities...industry, and academia to participate in a series of cyber- security roundtables. These experts included heads of cybersecurity firms, Chief...cyber-degraded environments. These cybersecurity roundtables are now biannual events, designed to continuously expand the Command’s perspective and

Analysis of the Transitioning Opportunity for Non-Traditional Firms Under Other Transaction Authority

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-06-01

PESTEL Analysis PESTEL Analysis examines the general environment surrounding the defense industry in a macro perspective. Its focus is on six main...legislation (p. 575). C. STRATEGIC ANALYSIS OF THE MACRO ENVIRONMENT 1. Porter’s Five-Forces Model Analysis Porter’s Five-Forces Model is used to analyze...B. PREVIOUS ANALYSES.................................................................................9 C. STRATEGIC ANALYSIS OF THE MACRO

A Review of the Research Literature on the Influences of Culturally Based Education on the Academic Performance of Native American Students. Final Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Demmert, William G., Jr.; Towner, John C.

There is a widespread, firm belief among Native American communities (American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians) and among professional Native educators that meaningful educational experiences require an appropriate language and cultural context. From their perspective, such context supports the traditions, knowledge, and language(s) of…

The Invisible Hand of Ideology: Perspectives from the History of School Governance.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Timar, Thomas; Tyack, David

This paper examines the history of school governance in the U.S. It discusses four major shifts in education governance that have occurred over the past 150 years, describing how control was firmly anchored in local communities throughout most of the 19th century. By the end of the century, Americans decided that schooling should serve public…

Women in Radio Soap Operas: A Historical Perspective of the Image of Women's "Sphere" in the "Golden Age."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

St John, Jacqueline

Radio's "Golden Age," the 1930s and 1940s produced numerous successful and profitable daytime serials, called "soap operas" because they were most often sponsored by firms selling laundry products. Among the most popular of these series were those produced by the team of Anne and Frank Hummert. Working through the…

Evolving Knowledge Integration and Absorptive Capacity Perspectives upon University-Industry Interaction within a University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sparrow, John; Tarkowski, Krystyna; Lancaster, Nick; Mooney, Michele

2009-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report upon an initiative within a case study UK university to facilitate service innovation in small firms. The paper aims to outline how explicit use of such concepts has the potential to enhance the effectiveness of this form of university-industry interaction. Design/methodology/approach: The paper…

Defining and measuring the costs of the HIV epidemic to business firms.

PubMed Central

Farnham, P G

1994-01-01

Most published estimates of the costs of the epidemic of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) have been developed from the societal perspective, attempting to measure the burden of the epidemic to society in this country. Although societal cost analysis is well-developed, relatively little is known about many of the factors influencing the costs of the epidemic to business firms. The business community may bear a substantial portion of those costs in the form of health-related benefits provided to workers. Other effects of the epidemic in the workplace are related to fears and stigma associated with the illness. The author compares frameworks for analyzing the costs of the epidemic to the business community and to society. Societal costs include direct costs, the resources used in providing health care, and indirect costs, the resources lost to society as a result of the epidemic. Costs to business include illness-based employment costs, legal or administrative costs, prevention costs, perception-based employment costs, care giver costs, and nonmonetary costs. Not all societal costs are borne by business, and businesses may incur costs that are not traditionally measured from the societal perspective. PMID:8190854

Measuring firm size distribution with semi-nonparametric densities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cortés, Lina M.; Mora-Valencia, Andrés; Perote, Javier

2017-11-01

In this article, we propose a new methodology based on a (log) semi-nonparametric (log-SNP) distribution that nests the lognormal and enables better fits in the upper tail of the distribution through the introduction of new parameters. We test the performance of the lognormal and log-SNP distributions capturing firm size, measured through a sample of US firms in 2004-2015. Taking different levels of aggregation by type of economic activity, our study shows that the log-SNP provides a better fit of the firm size distribution. We also formally introduce the multivariate log-SNP distribution, which encompasses the multivariate lognormal, to analyze the estimation of the joint distribution of the value of the firm's assets and sales. The results suggest that sales are a better firm size measure, as indicated by other studies in the literature.

Causal Relationships among Technology Acquisition, Absorptive Capacity, and Innovation Performance: Evidence from the Pharmaceutical Industry

PubMed Central

Jeon, Jieun; Hong, Suckchul; Ohm, Jay; Yang, Taeyong

2015-01-01

This paper discusses the importance of absorptive capacity in improving a firm’s innovation performance. Specifically, we examine firm interaction with the knowledge and capabilities of outside organizations and the effect on the firm’s bottom line. We use the impulse-response function of the vector auto-regressive model to gain insight into this relationship by estimating the time required for the effect of each activity level to reach outputs, the spillover effects. We apply this methodology to pharmaceutical firms, which we classify into two sub-groups – large firms and medium and small firms – based on sales. Our results show that the impact of an activity on any other activity is delayed by three years for large firms and by one to two years for small and medium firms. PMID:26181440

Construction cost impacts related to manpower, material, and equipment factors in contractor firms perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Husin, Saiful; Abdullah, Riza, Medyan; Afifuddin, Mochammad

2017-11-01

Risk can be defined as consequences which possible happened inscrutably. Although an activity has planned as good as possible, but it keep contains uncertainty. Implementation of construction project was encountering various risk impacts from a number of risk factors. This study was intended to analyze the impacts of construction cost to for contractor firms as construction project executor related to the factors of manpower, material and equipment. The study was using data obtained from questionnaires distributed to 15 large qualification contractor firms. The period of study classified into conflict period (2000-2004), post tsunami disaster rehabilitation and reconstruction period (2005-2009), and post rehabilitation and reconstruction period (2010-present). The statistical analysis of severity index and variance used to analyze the data. The three risk factors reviewed generally affected the cost in a medium impact. The high impact occurred in minor variables, which are `increase in material prices', `theft of materials', and `the fuel scarcity'. In overall, the three risk factors and the observed period contributed significant impact on construction costs.

Human resources management and firm performance: The differential role of managerial affective and continuance commitment.

PubMed

Gong, Yaping; Law, Kenneth S; Chang, Song; Xin, Katherine R

2009-01-01

In this study, the authors developed a dual-concern (i.e., maintenance and performance) model of human resources (HR) management. The authors identified commonly examined HR practices that apply to the middle manager level and classified them into the maintenance- and performance-oriented HR subsystems. The authors found support for the 2-factor model on the basis of responses from 2,148 managers from 463 firms operating in China. Regression results indicate that the performance-oriented HR subsystems had a positive relationship with firm performance and that the relationship was mediated by middle managers' affective commitment to the firm. The maintenance-oriented HR subsystems had a positive relationship with middle managers' continuance commitment but not with their affective commitment and firm performance. This study contributes to the understanding of how HR practices relate to firm performance and offers an improved test of the argument that valuable and firm-specific HR provide a source of competitive advantage. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).

Blood on the coal: the effect of organizational size and differentiation on coal mine accidents.

PubMed

Page, Karen

2009-01-01

Each year, there are at least 100,000,000 occupational accidents and 100,000 occupational deaths in the world. In the United States, one of the safest countries in the world in which to work, there were more than 5,400 workplace fatalities and 5.9 million workplace injuries in 2007. The cost to American industry and taxpayers is estimated to be at least $170 billion per year. Further, as illustrated by accidents such as Three Mile Island and Bhopal, industrial accidents potentially impact a much wider sphere than that of the injured worker and his or her employer. As the repercussions of organizational accidents reverberate through organizations and are felt from human resources to accounting, firms are beginning to incorporate messages of safety in their missions and strategies. As firms organize to achieve safer work environments, they are faced with decisions on how to structure their activities in terms of, among other things, size and differentiation. This paper explores the impact on accident rates of size and differentiation at the corporate and mine levels of mining companies in an effort to create a framework for thinking about organizational accidents from a structural perspective. The results suggest that larger mines are safer than smaller mines, and that mines with less task diversity are safer than mines with greater task diversity. The results also suggest that at the corporate level, task diversity decreases mine accidents. These results may help mining executives and engineers structure their corporate activities and individual mines more effectively to help reduce accidents.

Dynamical generalized Hurst exponent as a tool to monitor unstable periods in financial time series

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morales, Raffaello; Di Matteo, T.; Gramatica, Ruggero; Aste, Tomaso

2012-06-01

We investigate the use of the Hurst exponent, dynamically computed over a weighted moving time-window, to evaluate the level of stability/instability of financial firms. Financial firms bailed-out as a consequence of the 2007-2008 credit crisis show a neat increase with time of the generalized Hurst exponent in the period preceding the unfolding of the crisis. Conversely, firms belonging to other market sectors, which suffered the least throughout the crisis, show opposite behaviors. We find that the multifractality of the bailed-out firms increase at the crisis suggesting that the multi fractal properties of the time series are changing. These findings suggest the possibility of using the scaling behavior as a tool to track the level of stability of a firm. In this paper, we introduce a method to compute the generalized Hurst exponent which assigns larger weights to more recent events with respect to older ones. In this way large fluctuations in the remote past are less likely to influence the recent past. We also investigate the scaling associated with the tails of the log-returns distributions and compare this scaling with the scaling associated with the Hurst exponent, observing that the processes underlying the price dynamics of these firms are truly multi-scaling.

Firm Size, a Self-Organized Critical Phenomenon: Evidence from the Dynamical Systems Theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chandra, Akhilesh

This research draws upon a recent innovation in the dynamical systems literature called the theory of self -organized criticality (SOC) (Bak, Tang, and Wiesenfeld 1988) to develop a computational model of a firm's size by relating its internal and the external sub-systems. As a holistic paradigm, the theory of SOC implies that a firm as a composite system of many degrees of freedom naturally evolves to a critical state in which a minor event starts a chain reaction that can affect either a part or the system as a whole. Thus, the global features of a firm cannot be understood by analyzing its individual parts separately. The causal framework builds upon a constant capital resource to support a volume of production at the existing level of efficiency. The critical size is defined as the production level at which the average product of a firm's factors of production attains its maximum value. The non -linearity is inferred by a change in the nature of relations at the border of criticality, between size and the two performance variables, viz., the operating efficiency and the financial efficiency. The effect of breaching the critical size is examined on the stock price reactions. Consistent with the theory of SOC, it is hypothesized that the temporal response of a firm breaching the level of critical size should behave as a flicker noise (1/f) process. The flicker noise is characterized by correlations extended over a wide range of time scales, indicating some sort of cooperative effect among a firm's degrees of freedom. It is further hypothesized that a firm's size evolves to a spatial structure with scale-invariant, self-similar (fractal) properties. The system is said to be self-organized inasmuch as it naturally evolves to the state of criticality without any detailed specifications of the initial conditions. In this respect, the critical state is an attractor of the firm's dynamics. Another set of hypotheses examines the relations between the size and the performance variables during the sub-critical (below the critical size) and the supra-critical (above the critical size) states. Since the dynamics of any two firms is likely to be different, the analysis is performed individually for each company within the Pharmaceuticals and the Perfume industries. The statistical results of this study provide evidence in support of the hypotheses. The size of a firm is found to be a self-organized critical phenomenon. The presence of 1/f noise and the spatial power-law behavior is taken as an evidence of the firm's size as a self-organized critical phenomenon. (Abstract shortened by UMI.).

Gross domestic product growth rates as confined Lévy flights: Towards a unifying theory of economic growth rate fluctuations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lera, Sandro Claudio; Sornette, Didier

2018-01-01

A model that combines economic growth rate fluctuations at the microscopic and macroscopic levels is presented. At the microscopic level, firms are growing at different rates while also being exposed to idiosyncratic shocks at the firm and sector levels. We describe such fluctuations as independent Lévy-stable fluctuations, varying over multiple orders of magnitude. These fluctuations are aggregated and measured at the macroscopic level in averaged economic output quantities such as GDP. A fundamental question is thereby to what extent individual firm size fluctuations can have a noticeable impact on the overall economy. We argue that this question can be answered by considering the Lévy fluctuations as embedded in a steep confining potential well, ensuring nonlinear mean-reversal behavior, without having to rely on microscopic details of the system. The steepness of the potential well directly controls the extent to which idiosyncratic shocks to firms and sectors are damped at the level of the economy. Additionally, the theory naturally accounts for business cycles, represented in terms of a bimodal economic output distribution and thus connects two so far unrelated fields in economics. By analyzing 200 years of U.S. gross domestic product growth rates, we find that the model is in good agreement with the data.

Gross domestic product growth rates as confined Lévy flights: Towards a unifying theory of economic growth rate fluctuations.

PubMed

Lera, Sandro Claudio; Sornette, Didier

2018-01-01

A model that combines economic growth rate fluctuations at the microscopic and macroscopic levels is presented. At the microscopic level, firms are growing at different rates while also being exposed to idiosyncratic shocks at the firm and sector levels. We describe such fluctuations as independent Lévy-stable fluctuations, varying over multiple orders of magnitude. These fluctuations are aggregated and measured at the macroscopic level in averaged economic output quantities such as GDP. A fundamental question is thereby to what extent individual firm size fluctuations can have a noticeable impact on the overall economy. We argue that this question can be answered by considering the Lévy fluctuations as embedded in a steep confining potential well, ensuring nonlinear mean-reversal behavior, without having to rely on microscopic details of the system. The steepness of the potential well directly controls the extent to which idiosyncratic shocks to firms and sectors are damped at the level of the economy. Additionally, the theory naturally accounts for business cycles, represented in terms of a bimodal economic output distribution and thus connects two so far unrelated fields in economics. By analyzing 200 years of U.S. gross domestic product growth rates, we find that the model is in good agreement with the data.

Phenotypic and genetic relationships between indicators of the mammary gland health status and milk composition, coagulation, and curd firming in dairy sheep.

PubMed

Pazzola, Michele; Cipolat-Gotet, Claudio; Bittante, Giovanni; Cecchinato, Alessio; Dettori, Maria L; Vacca, Giuseppe M

2018-04-01

The present study investigated the effect of somatic cell count, lactose, and pH on sheep milk composition, coagulation properties (MCP), and curd firming (CF) parameters. Individual milk samples were collected from 1,114 Sarda ewes reared in 23 farms. Milk composition, somatic cell count, single point MCP (rennet coagulation time, RCT; curd firming time, k 20 ; and curd firmness, a 30 , a 45 , and a 60 ), and CF model parameters were achieved. Phenotypic traits were statistically analyzed using a mixed model to estimate the effects of the different levels of milk somatic cell score (SCS), lactose, and pH, respectively. Additive genetic, herd, and residual correlations among these 3 traits, and with milk composition, MCP and CF parameters, were inferred using a Bayesian approach. From a phenotypic point of view, higher SCS levels caused a delayed gelification of milk. Lactose concentration and pH were significant for many milk quality traits, with a very intense effect on both coagulation times and curd firming. These traits (RCT, RCT estimated using the curd firming over time equation, and k 20 ) showed an unfavorable increase of about 20% from the highest to the lowest level of lactose. Milk samples with pH values lower than 6.56 versus higher than 6.78 were characterized by an increase of RCT (from 6.00 to 14.3 min) and k 20 (from 1.65 to 2.65 min) and a decrease of all the 3 curd firmness traits. From a genetic point of view, the marginal posterior distribution of heritability estimates evidenced a large and exploitable variability for all 3 phenotypes. The mean intra-farm heritability estimates were 0.173 for SCS, 0.418 for lactose content, and 0.206 for pH. Lactose (favorably), and SCS and pH (unfavorably), at phenotypic and genetic levels, were correlated mainly with RCT and RCT estimated using the curd firming over time equation and scarcely with the other curd firming traits. The SCS, lactose, and pH were significantly correlated with each other's. In conclusion, results reported in the present study suggest that SCS, pH, and lactose affect, contemporarily and independently, milk quality and MCP. These phenotypes, easily available during milk recording schemes measured by infrared spectra prediction, could be used as potential indicators traits for improving cheese-making ability of ovine milk. Copyright © 2018 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve: History, Perspectives, and Issues

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-12-28

Germany , Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden...Iran. Firms providing, or insuring tankers carrying, refined product to Iran would also be included in the prohibition. The Drawdown Authorities The...taking place in the operation of oil markets after the experiences of the 1970s, and deregulation of oil price and supply. Sales of SPR oil authorized

Training and Competitiveness: An Asian Firm Perspective. Survey of Asia Business Council Members. An Asia Business Council Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Centre for Vocational Education Research, Leabrook (Australia).

The Asian Business Council surveyed 40 large Asian businesses on training strategies, emerging skill shortages, government investment in training, and the quality of the education and training sector. Of the 25 businesses that responded, 23 had their head office in Asia and all but 3 had more than 500 employees. Although the responding businesses…

Explain the Behavior Intention to Use e-Learning Technologies: A Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shaqrah, Amin A.

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study is to explain the behavior intention to use e-learning technologies. In order to achieve a better view and validate the study, researcher attempts to give details of how technology acceptance models help Jordanian trainees firms in accepting e-learning technology, and how if applied will result more attention to usage…

The Local "War for Talent"--Recruitment of Recent Tertiary Education Graduates from a Regional Perspective: Some Evidence from the German Case

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Winterhager, Nicolas; Krücken, Georg

2015-01-01

We analyse recruitment of recent tertiary education graduates drawing on a rich set of interviews with human resource managers of 46 large- and medium-sized firms in different regions across Germany. Specifically, we address the question of which higher education institutions' managers choose for campus recruiting and which criteria managers use…

Integrating ICT Skills and Tax Software in Tax Education: A Survey of Malaysian Tax Practitioners' Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ling, Lai Ming; Nawawi, Nurul Hidayah Ahamad

2010-01-01

Purpose: This study aims to examine the ICT skills needed by a fresh accounting graduate when first joining a tax firm; to find out usage of electronic tax (e-tax) applications in tax practice; to assess the rating of senior tax practitioners on fresh graduates' ICT and e-tax applications skills; and to solicit tax practitioners' opinion regarding…

Beyond the hype: a taxonomy of e-health business models.

PubMed

Parente, S T

2000-01-01

This paper describes a business model of e-commerce, its application to health care, and the reasons why the health policy community should monitor its development. The business model identifies the market barriers health e-commerce firms must overcome and provides perspective on opportunities for building a health care data infrastructure that is capable of delivering both a private and a public good.

A controlled time-series trial of clinical reminders: using computerized firm systems to make quality improvement research a routine part of mainstream practice.

PubMed Central

Goldberg, H. I.; Neighbor, W. E.; Cheadle, A. D.; Ramsey, S. D.; Diehr, P.; Gore, E.

2000-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To explore the feasibility of conducting unobtrusive interventional research in community practice settings by integrating firm-system techniques with time-series analysis of relational-repository data. STUDY SETTING: A satellite teaching clinic divided into two similar, but geographically separated, primary care group practices called firms. One firm was selected by chance to receive the study intervention. Forty-two providers and 2,655 patients participated. STUDY DESIGN: A nonrandomized controlled trial of computer-generated preventive reminders. Net effects were determined by quantitatively combining population-level data from parallel experimental and control interrupted time series extending over two-month baseline and intervention periods. DATA COLLECTION: Mean rates at which mammography, colorectal cancer screening, and cholesterol testing were performed on patients due to receive each maneuver at clinic visits were the trial's outcome measures. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Mammography performance increased on the experimental firm by 154 percent (0.24 versus 0.61, p = .03). No effect on fecal occult blood testing was observed. Cholesterol ordering decreased on both the experimental (0.18 versus 0.1 1, p = .02) and control firms (0.13 versus 0.07, p = .03) coincident with national guidelines retreating from recommending screening for young adults. A traditional uncontrolled interrupted time-series design would have incorrectly attributed the experimental-firm decrease to the introduction of reminders. The combined analysis properly indicated that no net prompting effect had occurred, as the difference between firms in cholesterol testing remained stochastically stable over time (0.05 versus 0.04, p = .75). A logistic-regression analysis applied to individual-level data produced equivalent findings. The trial incurred no supplementary data collection costs. CONCLUSIONS: The apparent validity and practicability of our reminder implementation study should encourage others to develop computerized firm systems capable of conducting controlled time-series trials. Images Fig. 1 PMID:10737451

Effect of Different Levels of Pressure Relieving Air-Mattress Firmness on Cough Strength

PubMed Central

Kamikawa, Norimichi; Taito, Shunsuke; Takahashi, Makoto; Sekikawa, Kiyokazu; Hamada, Hironobu

2016-01-01

Cough is an important host-defense mechanism. The elderly and patients who are severely ill cannot cough effectively when lying in the supine position. Furthermore, pressure relieving air-mattresses are recommended for preventing the development of pressure ulcers. In this study, we clarified whether or not the cough peak flow (CPF), an index of cough strength, is affected by different firmness levels of a pressure relieving air-mattress in healthy volunteers in the supine position. Fifty-two healthy young men participated. All the measurements were carried out on each participant in the supine position on a pressure relieving air-mattress. The participants were assessed at two firmness levels, a “hard” and “soft” mode. The CPF, forced vital capacity (FVC), maximal expiratory pressure (PEmax), and maximal inspiratory pressure (PImax) were determined for each mode. The sinking distance of the body into the mattress was measured without any activity and the difference between the sinking distances of the two firmness levels was determined. The CPF, FVC, PEmax, and PImax were determined for each mode. The sinking distance of the body into the mattress was measured and the difference between the sinking distances of the two firmness levels was determined. The CPF, FVC, PEmax and PImax values of the participants coughing on the mattress were significantly lower when the mattress was in “soft” than in “hard” mode. The differences between the sinking distances of the mattress in “soft” and “hard” modes were larger for the anterior superior iliac spine. A harder mattress may lead to increased CPF in healthy young men lying in the supine position, and increased CPF may be important for host defense. PMID:26741497

Effect of Different Levels of Pressure Relieving Air-Mattress Firmness on Cough Strength.

PubMed

Kamikawa, Norimichi; Taito, Shunsuke; Takahashi, Makoto; Sekikawa, Kiyokazu; Hamada, Hironobu

2016-01-01

Cough is an important host-defense mechanism. The elderly and patients who are severely ill cannot cough effectively when lying in the supine position. Furthermore, pressure relieving air-mattresses are recommended for preventing the development of pressure ulcers. In this study, we clarified whether or not the cough peak flow (CPF), an index of cough strength, is affected by different firmness levels of a pressure relieving air-mattress in healthy volunteers in the supine position. Fifty-two healthy young men participated. All the measurements were carried out on each participant in the supine position on a pressure relieving air-mattress. The participants were assessed at two firmness levels, a "hard" and "soft" mode. The CPF, forced vital capacity (FVC), maximal expiratory pressure (PEmax), and maximal inspiratory pressure (PImax) were determined for each mode. The sinking distance of the body into the mattress was measured without any activity and the difference between the sinking distances of the two firmness levels was determined. The CPF, FVC, PEmax, and PImax were determined for each mode. The sinking distance of the body into the mattress was measured and the difference between the sinking distances of the two firmness levels was determined. The CPF, FVC, PEmax and PImax values of the participants coughing on the mattress were significantly lower when the mattress was in "soft" than in "hard" mode. The differences between the sinking distances of the mattress in "soft" and "hard" modes were larger for the anterior superior iliac spine. A harder mattress may lead to increased CPF in healthy young men lying in the supine position, and increased CPF may be important for host defense.

Measuring the Return on Information Technology: A Knowledge-Based Approach for Revenue Allocation at the Process and Firm Level

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-07-01

approach for measuring the return on Information Technology (IT) investments. A review of existing methods suggests the difficulty in adequately...measuring the returns of IT at various levels of analysis (e.g., firm or process level). To address this issue, this study aims to develop a method for...view (KBV), this paper proposes an analytic method for measuring the historical revenue and cost of IT investments by estimating the amount of

The importance of cleanliness in a proper construction site management in malaysia: a contractor’s perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shazwan, M. A.; Quintin, J. V.; Osman, N. A.; Suhaida, S. K.; Ma'arof, M. I. N.

2017-11-01

Construction site’s cleanliness and tidiness is one of top main concerns of construction site management. A good site management with adequate planning in regards to housekeeping will ensure safety to both the site’s working personnel and the neighbouring environment. This is especially of priority today due to the rapid growth of construction projects in Malaysia. Nevertheless, to date, statistics had shown that housekeeping related accidents happened repeatedly despite the awareness on site’s cleanliness and tidiness. The objective of this study was to explore constructor’s perspective on site cleanliness and tidiness. A set of questionnaire was distributed to thirty-four (34) Grade 7 CIDB contractors’ firms in Petaling Jaya. Petaling Jaya was chosen since this area are developed area covered with residential area and cleaning management an importance issues. The goals of the survey study were to identify the following items from the perception of the contractors: (i) the hierarchy of importance of several purposes in ensuring construction site’s cleanliness and tidiness, and (ii) the risk factors that influence a construction site’s level of cleanliness and tidiness. It was found that from the contractor’s perspective, ensuring a site cleanliness and tidiness is of importance mainly due to the need in protecting the environment, whilst, the least in cost saving. In addition, poor personnel’s working attitude was found to be the main risk factor that will influences a construction site’s level of cleanliness and tidiness. Conclusively, construction site’s cleanliness and tidiness is highly vital. Even so, for nationwide awareness on the topic matter will requires full cooperation from all related parties.

Unveiling consumer's privacy paradox behaviour in an economic exchange.

PubMed

Motiwalla, Luvai F; Li, Xiao-Bai

2016-01-01

Privacy paradox is of great interest to IS researchers and firms gathering personal information. It has been studied from social, behavioural, and economic perspectives independently. However, prior research has not examined the degrees of influence these perspectives contribute to the privacy paradox problem. We combine both economic and behavioural perspectives in our study of the privacy paradox with a price valuation of personal information through an economic experiment combined with a behavioural study on privacy paradox. Our goal is to reveal more insights on the privacy paradox through economic valuation on personal information. Results indicate that general privacy concerns or individual disclosure concerns do not have a significant influence on the price valuation of personal information. Instead, prior disclosure behaviour in specific scenario, like with healthcare providers or social networks, is a better indicator of consumer price valuations.

Unveiling consumer’s privacy paradox behaviour in an economic exchange

PubMed Central

Li, Xiao-Bai

2015-01-01

Privacy paradox is of great interest to IS researchers and firms gathering personal information. It has been studied from social, behavioural, and economic perspectives independently. However, prior research has not examined the degrees of influence these perspectives contribute to the privacy paradox problem. We combine both economic and behavioural perspectives in our study of the privacy paradox with a price valuation of personal information through an economic experiment combined with a behavioural study on privacy paradox. Our goal is to reveal more insights on the privacy paradox through economic valuation on personal information. Results indicate that general privacy concerns or individual disclosure concerns do not have a significant influence on the price valuation of personal information. Instead, prior disclosure behaviour in specific scenario, like with healthcare providers or social networks, is a better indicator of consumer price valuations. PMID:27708687

Corporate social responsibility motives and theories evidenced among oilwell drilling firms in Alberta

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Altvater, Norbert

This dissertation is a study in conceptual CSR motives and theories prompted by the knowledge that socially active NGOs have tried to influence the CSP of companies in Alberta's oil patch by using media pressure. The focus of the study was narrowed to changing CSP among Alberta's oilwell drilling firms. This permits intensive interviews with the firms' informants. The examination of changing CSP implies a consideration of the pressures that prompt and influence its change, and points this study to firm motives for behaving responsibly. The firms were firstly categorized according to their primary and secondary CSP using 5 dimensions of CSR previously used by The Conference Board of Canada. The study uses CSR motives conceptualized by Ruth Aguilera and her collaborators to assess the firms' CSP using self-assessed CSR motives and observed CSP. At the onset 3 working hypotheses were posited as starting points from which substantiated propositions were developed. Lance Moir's and Elisabet Garriga and Domènec Meld's classifications of CSR theories were used to organize and evaluate the data. A mapping of the motives and theories in respect of the firms' primary and secondary CSR dimensions appears to display correlations between the CSR theories and the conceptualized motives. Nevertheless, for some of the firms none of the motives conceptualized by Aguilera and her collaborators seem to apply. By re-visiting the motives, and examining them more closely, it seems possible refine the conceptualized motives relying more on perceived conceptions, which are at the basis of legitimacy theories, rather than on relational factors to better explain the normative expectations raised. A similar analysis also indicates that the firms' seem to seek economic benefits, social benefits, or a combination of both. The CSP that results is within the same continuum; the resulting CSP for the firms seems to mediate towards a blend of both, regardless of the original CSR motives. These analyses create both theoretical and applied implications for law. On a theoretical level suggestions for better understanding the nature of law seem to appear, while on an applied level the CSR analysis suggests avenues to make laws more effective.

Corporate social responsibility to improve access to medicines: the case of Brazil.

PubMed

Thorsteinsdóttir, Halla; Ovtcharenko, Natasha; Kohler, Jillian Clare

2017-02-21

Access to medicines and the development of a strong national pharmaceutical industry are two longstanding pillars of health policy in Brazil. This is reflected in a clear emphasis by Brazil's Federal Government on improving access to medicine in national health plans and industrial policies aimed at promoting domestic pharmaceutical development. This research proposes that such policies may act as incentives for companies to pursue a strategic Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) agenda. CSR that supports Governmental priorities could help companies to benefit significantly from the Governmental industrial policy. We sought to determine whether CSR activities of Brazilian pharmaceutical firms are currently aligned with the Federal Government's health prioritization. To do so we examined key Brazilian health related policies since 2004, including the specific priorities of Brazil's 2012-2015 Health Plan, and compared these with CSR initiatives that are reported on the websites of select pharmaceutical firms in Brazil. Brazil's national health plans and industrial policies demonstrated that the Federal Government has followed diverse approaches for improving access to medicines, including strengthening health care infrastructure, increasing transparency, and supporting product development partnerships. Case studies of six pharmaceutical firms, representing both public and private companies of varying size, support the perspective that CSR is a priority for firms. However, while many programs target issues such as health infrastructure, health care training, and drug donation, more programs focus on areas other than health and do not seem to be connected to Governmental prioritization. This research suggests that there are loose connections between Governmental priorities and pharmaceutical firm CSR. However, there remains a significant opportunity for greater alignment, which could improve access to medicines in the country and foster a stronger relationship between the Government and industry.

Transnational pharmaceutical corporations and neo-liberal business ethics in India.

PubMed

D'Mello, Bernard

2002-03-01

The author critiques the expedient application of market valuation principles by the transnational corporations and other large firms in the Indian pharmaceutical industry on a number of issues like patents, pricing, irrational drugs, clinical trials, etc. He contends that ethics in business is chiseled and etched within the confines of particular social structures of accumulation. An ascendant neo-liberal social structure of accumulation has basically shaped these firms' sharp opposition to the Indian Patents Act, 1970, government administered pricing, etc. The author contents that the practice of neo-liberal economics is strongly associated with a "one-dimensional" ethics that privileges market valuation principles over all others. This seems to inevitably generate a social counter-movement that struggles for social protections. He critiques neo-liberal business practices from a perspective that derives from the work of the economic anthropologist Karl Polanyi. Before the present phase of liberalization in India, markets were "managed", but without a "welfare state" in place. Moving toward deregulation of the markets without a welfare state in place is unethical. Keeping the debilities of the institutional framework of public policy in mind, the author adopts a Polanyian perspective that places its trust and hope in the growing social legitimacy of the counter-movement in opposition to both neo-liberal business practices and the degenerate behavior of state agencies.

Quantity Competition in a Differentiated Duopoly

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferreira, Fernanda A.; Ferreira, Flávio; Ferreira, Miguel; Pinto, Alberto A.

In this paper, we consider a Stackelberg duopoly competition with differentiated goods, linear and symmetric demand and with unknown costs. In our model, the two firms play a non-cooperative game with two stages: in a first stage, firm F 1 chooses the quantity, q 1, that is going to produce; in the second stage, firm F 2 observes the quantity q 1 produced by firm F 1 and chooses its own quantity q 2. Firms choose their output levels in order to maximise their profits. We suppose that each firm has two different technologies, and uses one of them following a certain probability distribution. The use of either one or the other technology affects the unitary production cost. We show that there is exactly one perfect Bayesian equilibrium for this game. We analyse the variations of the expected profits with the parameters of the model, namely with the parameters of the probability distributions, and with the parameters of the demand and differentiation.

ROI (return on investment): its role in voluntary hospital planning.

PubMed

Cleverley, W

1990-01-01

Return on investment is the primary financial criterion used to evaluate the desirability of capital investment in investor-owned firms. Voluntary health care firms need to examine more carefully their return-on-investment levels. The potential loss of capital cost payment in the Medicare program and the removal of tax-exempt financing would raise the effective cost of capital to voluntary health care firms significantly. Many health care providers might find that they are no longer going concerns if capital costs increase much more.

Employment growth through labor flow networks.

PubMed

Guerrero, Omar A; Axtell, Robert L

2013-01-01

It is conventional in labor economics to treat all workers who are seeking new jobs as belonging to a labor pool, and all firms that have job vacancies as an employer pool, and then match workers to jobs. Here we develop a new approach to study labor and firm dynamics. By combining the emerging science of networks with newly available employment micro-data, comprehensive at the level of whole countries, we are able to broadly characterize the process through which workers move between firms. Specifically, for each firm in an economy as a node in a graph, we draw edges between firms if a worker has migrated between them, possibly with a spell of unemployment in between. An economy's overall graph of firm-worker interactions is an object we call the labor flow network (LFN). This is the first study that characterizes a LFN for an entire economy. We explore the properties of this network, including its topology, its community structure, and its relationship to economic variables. It is shown that LFNs can be useful in identifying firms with high growth potential. We relate LFNs to other notions of high performance firms. Specifically, it is shown that fewer than 10% of firms account for nearly 90% of all employment growth. We conclude with a model in which empirically-salient LFNs emerge from the interaction of heterogeneous adaptive agents in a decentralized labor market.

Employment Growth through Labor Flow Networks

PubMed Central

Guerrero, Omar A.; Axtell, Robert L.

2013-01-01

It is conventional in labor economics to treat all workers who are seeking new jobs as belonging to a labor pool, and all firms that have job vacancies as an employer pool, and then match workers to jobs. Here we develop a new approach to study labor and firm dynamics. By combining the emerging science of networks with newly available employment micro-data, comprehensive at the level of whole countries, we are able to broadly characterize the process through which workers move between firms. Specifically, for each firm in an economy as a node in a graph, we draw edges between firms if a worker has migrated between them, possibly with a spell of unemployment in between. An economy's overall graph of firm-worker interactions is an object we call the labor flow network (LFN). This is the first study that characterizes a LFN for an entire economy. We explore the properties of this network, including its topology, its community structure, and its relationship to economic variables. It is shown that LFNs can be useful in identifying firms with high growth potential. We relate LFNs to other notions of high performance firms. Specifically, it is shown that fewer than 10% of firms account for nearly 90% of all employment growth. We conclude with a model in which empirically-salient LFNs emerge from the interaction of heterogeneous adaptive agents in a decentralized labor market. PMID:23658682

Alignment between chain quality management and chain governance in EU pork supply chains: a Transaction-Cost-Economics perspective.

PubMed

Wever, Mark; Wognum, Nel; Trienekens, Jacques; Omta, Onno

2010-02-01

Although inter-firm coordination of quality management is increasingly important for meeting end-customer demand in agri-food chains, few researchers focus on the relation between inter-firm quality management systems (QMS) and inter-firm governance structures (GS). However, failure to align QMSs and GSs may lead to inefficiencies in quality management because of high transaction-costs. In addition, misalignment is likely to reduce the quality of end-customer products. This paper addresses this gap in research by empirically examining the relation between QMSs and GSs in pork meat supply chains. Transaction-Cost-Economic theory is used to develop propositions about the relation between three aspects of QMSs--ownership, vertical scope and scale of adoption--and the use of different types of GSs in pork meat supply chains. To validate the propositions, seven cases are examined from four different countries. The results show that the different aspects of QMSs largely relate to specific GSs used in chains in the manner predicted by the propositions. This supports the view that alignment between QMSs and GSs is important for the efficient coordination of quality management in (pork meat) supply chains.

Hierarchical rank and women's organizational mobility: glass ceilings in corporate law firms.

PubMed

Gorman, Elizabeth H; Kmec, Julie A

2009-03-01

This article revives the debate over whether women's upward mobility prospects decline as they climb organizational hierarchies. Although this proposition is a core element of the "glass ceiling" metaphor, it has failed to gain strong support in previous research. The article establishes a firm theoretical foundation for expecting an increasing female disadvantage, with an eye toward defining the scope conditions and extending the model to upper-level external hires. The approach is illustrated in an empirical setting that meets the proposed scope conditions: corporate law firms in the United States. Results confirm that in this setting, the female mobility disadvantage is greater at higher organizational levels in the case of internal promotions, but not in the case of external hires.

Corporate social responsibility practices in the Nigerian oil sector: The case of Royal Dutch Shell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rwabizambuga, Alexis

The thesis contributes to the perspective on the role of stakeholder engagement in negotiating corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies and practices in developing country context. It critically examines the role of societal pressures as drivers of Shell's CSR agenda, and explores the forms of relationships existing between Shell and its stakeholders in Nigeria, as the company implements its CSR programme, both in the light of its strategic business objectives and of its social responsibilities and environmental liabilities. Furthermore, it examines the role of government in the oil MNCs' CSR agenda, and explores the conditions under which the government, in its dual role as business partner and as state authority, promotes CSR policies and practices in Nigeria. Shell's CSR policies and practices in Nigeria were examined under the theoretical lenses of the resource-based view perspective extended to notions of legitimacy and the licence to operate. Additionally, the stakeholder engagement perspective was applied as the theoretical framework for examining Shell's stakeholder engagement, and the role of the company's stakeholders in negotiating its current CSR policies and practices in Nigeria. Data collection was undertaken during field research in Nigeria. The evidence presented is drawn from individual interviews with corporate executives at Shell Nigeria, Shell International, several stakeholders in the Nigerian oil sector, and from an online survey conducted in 2005 on Shell Nigeria's stakeholders. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used throughout the analysis presented in the thesis. The research findings suggest that the relationship between the firm's pursuit of the social licence to operate through CSR initiatives and stakeholder engagement is more complex than assumed. It adds to the understanding of the dynamics of a MNC's stakeholder engagement in the local context. It highlights the various interdependencies that develop between stakeholder groups and the company at the institutional level as well as within the context of the organisation, as the corporation develops and implements its CSR agenda. As such, the research invites an examination not just of the differences and barriers existing between the firm and its stakeholders, home and host country practices, but also of the ways in which they are embedded in each other, and how this affects their collaboration.

"It's like you are just a spectator in this thing": Experiencing social life the 'aspie' way.

PubMed

Ryan, Sara; Räisänen, Ulla

2008-12-01

This study explores the experiences of people with Asperger syndrome (AS) from a sociological perspective using the theoretical approaches of ethnomethodology and symbolic interactionism. In-depth interviews were conducted with 16 people with AS and three key themes of feeling different, trying to fit in and safe spaces are considered here. We suggest that people with AS develop a different symbolic capacity to most people and have difficulties in making sense of social encounters. While these difficulties can be overcome, to some degree, by developing strategies to try to fit in, this learning remains at a superficial level and is not internalised through the process of socialisation. Without being able to derive a firm sense of reality from spontaneous involvement in social encounters, participants feel "unruled, unreal and anomic" (Goffman, 1967: 135) and experience intense autistic emotion (Davidson, 2007a,b).

“It's like you are just a spectator in this thing”: Experiencing social life the ‘aspie’ way

PubMed Central

Ryan, Sara; Räisänen, Ulla

2008-01-01

This study explores the experiences of people with Asperger syndrome (AS) from a sociological perspective using the theoretical approaches of ethnomethodology and symbolic interactionism. In-depth interviews were conducted with 16 people with AS and three key themes of feeling different, trying to fit in and safe spaces are considered here. We suggest that people with AS develop a different symbolic capacity to most people and have difficulties in making sense of social encounters. While these difficulties can be overcome, to some degree, by developing strategies to try to fit in, this learning remains at a superficial level and is not internalised through the process of socialisation. Without being able to derive a firm sense of reality from spontaneous involvement in social encounters, participants feel “unruled, unreal and anomic” (Goffman, 1967: 135) and experience intense autistic emotion (Davidson, 2007a,b). PMID:24683419

Economic order quantity (EOQ) by game theory approach in probabilistic supply chain system under service level constraint for items with imperfect quality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Setiawan, R.

2018-03-01

In this paper, Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) of probabilistic two-level supply – chain system for items with imperfect quality has been analyzed under service level constraint. A firm applies an active service level constraint to avoid unpredictable shortage terms in the objective function. Mathematical analysis of optimal result is delivered using two equilibrium scheme concept in game theory approach. Stackelberg’s equilibrium for cooperative strategy and Stackelberg’s Equilibrium for noncooperative strategy. This is a new approach to game theory result in inventory system whether service level constraint is applied by a firm in his moves.

Do Executives' Backgrounds Matter to IPO Investors? Evidence from the Life Science Industry

PubMed Central

Chok, Jay; Qian, Jifeng

2013-01-01

In this study, we focus on the impact of senior executives' industry backgrounds on the amount of capital raised in the stock market. The primary contribution of the study entails applying the upper echelon theory to the initial public offering (IPO) phenomenon. Specifically, we hypothesize that the industry backgrounds of corporate executives affect the amount of capital that the firm raised in the primary stock market. We argue that the firm's future investment strategies are unobserved by the investors ex-ante and investors expect firms' investment strategies to be based on the executives' industry backgrounds. As a result, the executives' industry backgrounds influence the investors' expectations about what investment strategies the firm is likely to deploy. Furthermore, the above logic also suggests that executives of different industry backgrounds should prefer different investment strategies corresponding with demand for different amount of capital. As a result, we expect the industry backgrounds to covary with the capital raised from both the supply and demand perspectives. To test the hypotheses, we ran a reduced econometric model wherein the executives' background predicts the amount of capital raised. Regression analyses suggest that the capital raised is negatively associated with the number of senior executives with prior career experience in the healthcare and genomic sectors but positively associated with the number of senior executives with prior career experience in regulatory affairs. The results provide tentative support for the notion that investors infer corporate strategies from senior executives' industry backgrounds. PMID:23690920

Do executives' backgrounds matter to IPO investors? Evidence from the life science industry.

PubMed

Chok, Jay; Qian, Jifeng

2013-01-01

In this study, we focus on the impact of senior executives' industry backgrounds on the amount of capital raised in the stock market. The primary contribution of the study entails applying the upper echelon theory to the initial public offering (IPO) phenomenon. Specifically, we hypothesize that the industry backgrounds of corporate executives affect the amount of capital that the firm raised in the primary stock market. We argue that the firm's future investment strategies are unobserved by the investors ex-ante and investors expect firms' investment strategies to be based on the executives' industry backgrounds. As a result, the executives' industry backgrounds influence the investors' expectations about what investment strategies the firm is likely to deploy. Furthermore, the above logic also suggests that executives of different industry backgrounds should prefer different investment strategies corresponding with demand for different amount of capital. As a result, we expect the industry backgrounds to covary with the capital raised from both the supply and demand perspectives. To test the hypotheses, we ran a reduced econometric model wherein the executives' background predicts the amount of capital raised. Regression analyses suggest that the capital raised is negatively associated with the number of senior executives with prior career experience in the healthcare and genomic sectors but positively associated with the number of senior executives with prior career experience in regulatory affairs. The results provide tentative support for the notion that investors infer corporate strategies from senior executives' industry backgrounds.

The real economic effects of cross-delisting from the United States: Evidence on post-operating performance, financial constraints and stock crash risk =

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silva, Sonia Maria da Silva Faria Nogueira da

In this study we examine the economic consequences for firms that cross-delisted from a U.S. stock exchange. Using a sample of foreign firms that cross-delisted from U.S. exchange markets from 2000 to 2012, we investigate the long-term performance, the level of financial constraints, and the likelihood of stock price crashes after the cross-delisting event. We document several new findings as follows: i) cross-delisted firms have less growth opportunities, in the long-run, than their cross-listed peers; ii) after the adoption of Rule 12h-6 of 2007, cross-delisted firms exhibit a significant decline in operating performance; iii) cross-delisted firms underperform their cross-listed peers as they experience negative average abnormal returns, especially in the post-cross-delisting period; iv) cross-delisted firms face higher financial constraints post-delisting than their cross-listed counterparts, and also tend to save more cash out of cash flows; v) the increase in financial constraints post-cross-delisting seems to be primarily driven by informational frictions that constrain access to external financing, which are stronger for firms from countries with weaker investor protection and less developed capital markets; vi) cross-delisted firms experience a significant increase in crash risk associated with earnings management in the post-delisting period relative to a control sample of cross-listed firms, and this effect is more pronounced for delisted firms from countries with weaker investor protection and poor quality of their information environment; vii) cross-delisted firms that engage in earnings management to inflate reported earnings prior to a seasoned equity offering are more likely to a subsequent stock price crash.

[Communication in the health service].

PubMed

Panini, Roberta; Fiorini, Fulvio

2014-01-01

In the last twenty years, the hospitals have become firms, therefore they have had the necessity to differentiate from each other.Thus, as it is done in the commercial firms, in the health service different formality of communication are studied and introduced in order to attract new consumers and to maintain their trust. Furthermore, due to the introduction of the digitization in the Public Administrations, the communication has become more transparent.A systematic application of communication tools is more and more spread among the Sanitary Firms, whether they are Local Firm or Hospital Firm.Regarding the reference population, communication tools are used with different purposes such as educational and informative. In addition, they are applied as institutional marketing tool, in order to show the offered potentialities and also to increase the level of satisfaction in the patients/consumers who perceive the typology of reception and treatment during the sanitary performance.

The relationship among the resiliency practices in supply chain, financial performance, and competitive advantage in manufacturing firms in Indonesia and Sierra Leone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Musa, I.; Nyoman Pujawan, I.

2018-04-01

Current supply chain management (SCM) has become a potentially treasured way of safeguarding competitive advantage and improving organizational performance since competition is no longer between organizations, but among supply chains. This research conceptualizes and develops four resiliency practices (Flexibility, Redundancy, Collaboration and Agility) and tests the relationships between organizations’ financial performance and competitive advantage in manufacturing firms. The study involves manufacturing firms in Indonesia and Sierra Leone. The study used stratified random sampling to pick a sample size of 95 manufacturing firms, which represented different industrial sectors. The respondents were mainly managers of different manufacturing companies. The relationships proposed in the conceptual framework were tested using correlation analysis. The results indicate that higher levels of resilience practices in manufacturing firms can lead to enhanced competitive advantage and improved financial performance.

Organizational Communication--An Analysis Based on Empirical Data.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brenner, Marshall H.; Sigband, Norman B.

This two-phase study examined communication style and practice in a major aerospace firm. First, sixty-five high-level company managers were interviewed to ascertain their views on communication problems and practices within the firm. Second, a questionnaire survey was distributed to 700 supervisors and non-supervisory personnel, soliciting…

Getting to the Truth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roach, Ronald

2006-01-01

In recent years, corporate executives and local bar association officials have increasingly questioned why so few of the nation's elite corporate law firms can claim significant racial and ethnic diversity among their partner or upper management ranks. Some organizations have even pledged to reward law firms that ensure high-level assignments for…

Relationships between Organizational Trust, Knowledge Transfer, Knowledge Creation, and Firm's Innovativeness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sankowska, Anna

2013-01-01

Purpose: This study seeks to provide empirical evidence of relationships between organizational trust, knowledge transfer, creation and innovativeness at the firm level. It aims to hypothesize a mediational model implying that organizational trust is related to knowledge transfer, which will, in turn, enhance knowledge creation, thereby…

76 FR 66229 - Transmission Planning Reliability Standards

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-26

... Transmission Services, at all demand levels over the range of forecast system demands, under the contingency... any planned firm load that is not directly served by the elements that are removed from service as a... to plan for the loss of firm service for a single contingency, the Commission finds that their...

A Geometric Solution of a Cournot Ogilopoly with Nonidentical Firms.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sarkar, Jyotirmoy; Gupta, Barnali; Pal, Debashis

1998-01-01

Maintains that a proper understanding of the Augustin Cournot model of imperfect competition and strategic interactions among firms in various contexts is essential for economics education. Although most models rely on complicated algebra, this one requires nothing more than high school level geometry. Includes a graphical analysis. (MJP)

Dynamics of ambulatory surgery centers and hospitals market entry.

PubMed

Housman, Michael; Al-Amin, Mona

2013-08-01

In this article, we investigate the diversity of healthcare delivery organizations by comparing the market determinants of hospitals entry rates with those of ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). Unlike hospitals, ASCs is one of the growing populations of specialized healthcare delivery organizations. There are reasons to believe that firm entry patterns differ within growing organizational populations since these markets are characterized by different levels of organizational legitimacy, technological uncertainty, and information asymmetry. We compare the entry patterns of firms in a mature population of hospitals to those of firms within a growing population of ASCs. By using patient-level datasets from the state of Florida, we break down our explanatory variables by facility type (ASC vs. hospital) and utilize negative binomial regression models to evaluate the impact of niche density on ASC and hospital entry. Our results indicate that ASCs entry rates is higher in markets with overlapping ASCs while hospitals entry rates are less in markets with overlapping hospitals and ASCs. These results are consistent with the notion that firms in growing populations tend to seek out crowded markets as they compete to occupy the most desirable market segments while firms in mature populations such as general hospitals avoid direct competition. © The Author(s) 2013 Reprints and permissions:]br]sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.

Whither the RMA: Two Perspectives on Tomorrow’s Army

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-07-22

HENRI (ROY) ALCALA heads a consulting firm, Alcala Enterprises, which specializes in national security and foreign policy issues . He retired from the...thinking about national security was too constrained by immediate issues . Downsizing of force structure, budget reductions, Bosnia, and other issues were all...these immediate issues as signposts of the future, even though little evidence existed to support such aI :use. From many years of experience in long

Identity and the Military Profession: An Eriksonian Perspective

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-04-01

psychosocial development , Erlk Erikson ascribes great importance to achieving a sense of identity. First, he believes that "a firm sense of inner identity marks...nent psychoanalyst, Erik Erikson , as a conceptual Framework for analyzing how an Army officer’s individual and profes- sional identity develops . It...noted psychoanalyst Erik Erikson provide an ideal framework For studying the growth of identity and the problems in developing a coherent sense of self

Promises to keep. An evaluator's perspective on employee assistance programs.

PubMed

Albert, W C; Smythe, P C; Brook, R C

1985-01-01

This paper presents a critical review of the rapidly expanding literature concerning employee assistance programs (EAPs). Several essential features of EAPs are identified and the assumptions underlying these components are examined. The latter section of this report offers some tentative suggestions for correcting this situation so that the EAP movement will no longer suffer from the lack of a firm database upon which to build more coherent and defensible theories and programs.

United States Air Force Computer-Aided Acquisition and Logistics Support (CALS) Evolution of Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) Technologies

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-11-01

Manufacturing System 22 4. Similar Parts Based Shape or Manufactuting Process 24 5. Projected Annual Unit Robot Sales and Installed Base Through 1992 30 6. U.S...effort needed to perform personnel, product design, marketing , and advertising, and finance tasks of the firm. Level III controls the resource...planning and accounting functions of the firm. Systems at this level support purchasing, accounts payable, accounts receivable, master scheduling and sales

Business ethics: the materiel/manufacturing perspective.

PubMed

Marucheck, A S; Robbins, L B

1990-08-01

The discussion of purchasing practices and product integrity, which have ethical implications for materiel/manufacturing management, serves to illustrate how routine decisions can have larger implications for the firm as a whole. Management needs to take a proactive role in confronting ethical issues by (1) demonstrating a corporate commitment to sound ethics in business practices, (2) providing written policies where appropriate to provide a basis for sound ethical conducts, (3) educating various functional areas to understand their responsibility in seeming unrelated ethical problems, (4) delegating authority in ethical issues where such issues are considered in decision making, and (5) fostering interfunctional communication as a means in establishing corporatewide responsibility. The basic philosophical principles of JIT serve as a blueprint for recognizing and managing ethical responsibility. The unexpected by-products of a JIT implementation may be vendor/customer good will and an excellent reputation for the firm.

No Regret Learning in Oligopolies: Cournot vs. Bertrand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nadav, Uri; Piliouras, Georgios

Cournot and Bertrand oligopolies constitute the two most prevalent models of firm competition. The analysis of Nash equilibria in each model reveals a unique prediction about the stable state of the system. Quite alarmingly, despite the similarities of the two models, their projections expose a stark dichotomy. Under the Cournot model, where firms compete by strategically managing their output quantity, firms enjoy positive profits as the resulting market prices exceed that of the marginal costs. On the contrary, the Bertrand model, in which firms compete on price, predicts that a duopoly is enough to push prices down to the marginal cost level. This suggestion that duopoly will result in perfect competition, is commonly referred to in the economics literature as the "Bertrand paradox".

Environmental and international tariffs in a mixed duopoly

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferreira, Fernanda A.; Ferreira, Flávio

2013-10-01

In this paper, we study the effects of environmental and trade policies in an international mixed duopoly serving two markets, in which the public firm maximizes the sum of consumer surplus and its profit. We also analyse the effects of privatization. The model has two stages. In the first stage, governments choose environmental taxes and import tariffs, simultaneously. Then, the firms engage in a Cournot competition, choosing output levels for the domestic market and to export. We compare the results obtained in the three different ways of moving on the decision make of the firms.

Ontology-Based Model Of Firm Competitiveness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deliyska, Boryana; Stoenchev, Nikolay

2010-10-01

Competitiveness is important characteristics of each business organization (firm, company, corporation etc). It is of great significance for the organization existence and defines evaluation criteria of business success at microeconomical level. Each criterium comprises set of indicators with specific weight coefficients. In the work an ontology-based model of firm competitiveness is presented as a set of several mutually connected ontologies. It would be useful for knowledge structuring, standardization and sharing among experts and software engineers who develop application in the domain. Then the assessment of the competitiveness of various business organizations could be generated more effectively.

OBIA based hierarchical image classification for industrial lake water.

PubMed

Uca Avci, Z D; Karaman, M; Ozelkan, E; Kumral, M; Budakoglu, M

2014-07-15

Water management is very important in water mining regions for the sustainability of the natural environment and for industrial activities. This study focused on Acigol Lake, which is an important wetland for sodium sulphate (Na2SO4) production, a significant natural protection area and habitat for local bird species and endemic species of this saline environment, and a stopover for migrating flamingos. By a hierarchical classification method, ponds representing the industrial part were classified according to in-situ measured Baumé values, and lake water representing the natural part was classified according to in-situ measurements of water depth. The latter is directly related to the water level, which should not exceed a critical level determined by the regulatory authorities. The resulting data, produced at an accuracy of around 80%, illustrates the status in two main regions for a single date. The output of the analysis may be meaningful for firms and environmental researchers, and authorizations can provide a good perspective for decision making for sustainable resource management in the region which has uncommon and specific ecological characteristics. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Data on empirical estimation of the relationship between agency costs and ownership structure in Italian listed companies (2002-2013).

PubMed

Rossi, Fabrizio; Barth, James R; Cebula, Richard J

2018-06-01

The data presented in this article are related to the research article entitled "Do shareholder coalitions affect agency costs? Evidence from Italian-listed companies", Research in International Business and Finance , Forthcoming (Rossi et al., 2018) [1]. The study shows an empirical analysis using an extensive balanced panel dataset of 163 Italian listed companies for the period 2002-2013, which is a sample yielding 1956 firm-year observations. The sample consists primarily of manufacturing firms, but also includes some service enterprises. However all financial firms and regulated utilities are excluded. We collected data on ownership structure for the entire study period. Information was acquired from the Consob website and the individual company reports on corporate governance. Data on firm-level indicators (debt-to-capital ratio, firm size, and age of the firm) for all companies in the sample were collected from Datastream, Bloomberg , and Calepino dell'Azionista , as well as obtained manually from the financial statements of the individual companies being studied. Our dataset contains several measures of ownership structure for Italian listed companies.

Relational Capital Quality and Client Loyalty: Firm-Level Evidence from Pharmaceuticals, Pakistan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mubarik, Shujaat; Chandran, V. G. R.; Devadason, Evelyn S.

2016-01-01

Purpose: This study aims to examine the influence of relational capital quality on client loyalty, comprising both behavioral and attitudinal, in the pharmaceutical industry of Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach: The partial least squares technique is used to test the relationship using a sample of 111 pharmaceutical firms. We applied a…

48 CFR 19.803 - Selecting acquisitions for the 8(a) Program.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... code, business support levels, and business activity targets; or, (ii) If competitive, a statement that... activity targets. If requested by the contracting activity, SBA will identify at least two such firms and... independently, or through the self marketing efforts of an 8(a) firm, identify a requirement for the 8(a...

Do high-commitment work systems affect creativity? A multilevel combinational approach to employee creativity.

PubMed

Chang, Song; Jia, Liangding; Takeuchi, Riki; Cai, Yahua

2014-07-01

In this article, some information about the data used in the article and a citation were not included. The details of the corrections are provided.] This study uses 3-level, 2-wave time-lagged data from a random sample of 55 high-technology firms, 238 teams, and 1,059 individuals in China to investigate a multilevel combinational model of employee creativity. First, we hypothesize that firm (macrolevel) high-commitment work systems are conducive to individual (microlevel) creativity. Furthermore, we hypothesize that this positive crosslevel main impact may be combined with middle-level (mesolevel) factors, including team cohesion and team task complexity, such that the positive impact of firm high-commitment work systems on individual creativity is stronger when team cohesion is high and the team task more complex. The findings from random coefficient modeling analyses provide support for our hypotheses. These sets of results offer novel insight into how firms can use macrolevel and mesolevel contextual variables in a systematic manner to promote employee creativity in the workplace, despite its complex nature.

An academic-marketing collaborative to promote depression care: a tale of two cultures.

PubMed

Kravitz, Richard L; Epstein, Ronald M; Bell, Robert A; Rochlen, Aaron B; Duberstein, Paul; Riby, Caroline H; Caccamo, Anthony F; Slee, Christina K; Cipri, Camille S; Paterniti, Debora A

2013-03-01

Commercial advertising and patient education have separate theoretical underpinnings, approaches, and practitioners. This paper aims to describe a collaboration between academic researchers and a marketing firm working to produce demographically targeted public service anouncements (PSAs) designed to enhance depression care-seeking in primary care. An interdisciplinary group of academic researchers contracted with a marketing firm in Rochester, NY to produce PSAs that would help patients with depressive symptoms engage more effectively with their primary care physicians (PCPs). The researchers brought perspectives derived from clinical experience and the social sciences and conducted empirical research using focus groups, conjoint analysis, and a population-based survey. Results were shared with the marketing firm, which produced four PSA variants targeted to gender and socioeconomic position. There was no simple, one-to-one relationship between research results and the form, content, or style of the PSAs. Instead, empirical findings served as a springboard for discussion and kept the creative process tethered to the experiences, attitudes, and opinions of actual patients. Reflecting research findings highlighting patients' struggles to recognize, label, and disclose depressive symptoms, the marketing firm generated communication objectives that emphasized: (a) educating the patient to consider and investigate the possibility of depression; (b) creating the belief that the PCP is interested in discussing depression and capable of offering helpful treatment; and (c) modelling different ways of communicating with physicians about depression. Before production, PSA prototypes were vetted with additional focus groups. The winning prototype, "Faces," involved a multi-ethnic montage of formerly depressed persons talking about how depression affected them and how they improved with treatment, punctuated by a physician who provided clinical information. A member of the academic team was present and consulted closely during production. Challenges included reconciling the marketing tradition of audience segmentation with the overall project goal of reaching as broad an audience as possible; integrating research findings across dimensions of words, images, music, and tone; and dealing with misunderstandings related to project scope and budget. Mixed methods research can usefully inform PSAs that incorporate patient perspectives and are produced to professional standards. However, tensions between the academic and commercial worlds exist and must be addressed. While rewarding, academic-marketing collaborations introduce tensions which must be addressed. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

An Academic-Marketing Collaborative to Promote Depression Care: A Tale of Two Cultures

PubMed Central

Kravitz, Richard L.; Epstein, Ronald M.; Bell, Robert A.; Rochlen, Aaron B.; Duberstein, Paul; Riby, Caroline H.; Caccamo, Anthony F.; Slee, Christina K.; Cipri, Camille S.; Paterniti, Debora A.

2011-01-01

Objectives Commercial advertising and patient education have separate theoretical underpinnings, approaches, and practitioners. This paper aims to describe a collaboration between academic researchers and a marketing firm working to produce demographically targeted public service anouncements (PSAs) designed to enhance depression care-seeking in primary care. Methods An interdisciplinary group of academic researcherss contracted with a marketing firm in Rochester, NY to produce PSAs that would help patients with depressive symptoms engage more effectively with their primary care physicians (PCPs). The researchers brought perspectives derived from clinical experience and the social sciences and conducted empirical research using focus groups, conjoint analysis, and a population-based survey. Results were shared with the marketing firm, which produced four PSA variants targeted to gender and socioeconomic position. Results There was no simple, one-to-one relationship between research results and the form, content, or style of the PSAs. Instead, empirical findings served as a springboard for discussion and kept the creative process tethered to the experiences, attitudes, and opinions of actual patients. Reflecting research findings highlighting patients’ struggles to recognize, label, and disclose depressive symptoms, the marketing firm generated communication objectives that emphasized: a) educating the patient to consider and investigate the possibility of depression; b) creating the belief that the PCP is interested in discussing depression and capable of offering helpful treatment; and c) modelling different ways of communicating with physicians about depression. Before production, PSA prototypes were vetted with additional focus groups. The winning prototype, “Faces,” involved a multi-ethnic montage of formerly depressed persons talking about how depression affected them and how they improved with treatment, punctuated by a physician who provided clinical information. A member of the academic team was present and consulted closely during production. Challenges included reconciling the marketing tradition of audience segmentation with the overall project goal of reaching as broad an audience as possible; integrating research findings across dimensions of words, images, music, and tone; and dealing with misunderstandings related to project scope and budget. Conclusion Mixed methods research can usefully inform PSAs that incorporate patient perspectives and are produced to professional standards. However, tensions between the academic and commercial worlds exist and must be addressed. Practice implications With certain caveats, implementation and dissemination researchers should consider opporutnities to join forces with marketing specialists. The results of such collaborations should be rigorously evaluated. PMID:21862274

Reliability of reservoir firm yield determined from the historical drought of record

USGS Publications Warehouse

Archfield, S.A.; Vogel, R.M.

2005-01-01

The firm yield of a reservoir is typically defined as the maximum yield that could have been delivered without failure during the historical drought of record. In the future, reservoirs will experience droughts that are either more or less severe than the historical drought of record. The question addressed here is what the reliability of such systems will be when operated at the firm yield. To address this question, we examine the reliability of 25 hypothetical reservoirs sited across five locations in the central and western United States. These locations provided a continuous 756-month streamflow record spanning the same time interval. The firm yield of each reservoir was estimated from the historical drought of record at each location. To determine the steady-state monthly reliability of each firm-yield estimate, 12,000-month synthetic records were generated using the moving-blocks bootstrap method. Bootstrapping was repeated 100 times for each reservoir to obtain an average steady-state monthly reliability R, the number of months the reservoir did not fail divided by the total months. Values of R were greater than 0.99 for 60 percent of the study reservoirs; the other 40 percent ranged from 0.95 to 0.98. Estimates of R were highly correlated with both the level of development (ratio of firm yield to average streamflow) and average lag-1 monthly autocorrelation. Together these two predictors explained 92 percent of the variability in R, with the level of development alone explaining 85 percent of the variability. Copyright ASCE 2005.

Performance improvement: an active life cycle product management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cucchiella, Federica; Gastaldi, Massimo; Lenny Koh, S. C.

2010-03-01

The management of the supply chain has gained importance in many manufacturing firms. Operational flexibility can be considered a crucial weapon to increase competitiveness in a turbulent marketplace. It reflects the ability of a firm to properly and rapidly respond to a variable and dynamic environment. For the firm operating in a fashion sector, the management of the supply chain is even more complex because the product life cycle is shorter than that of the firm operating in a non-fashion sector. The increase of firm flexibility level can be reached through the application of the real option theory inside the firm network. In fact, real option may increase the project value by allowing managers to more efficiently direct the production. The real option application usually analysed in literature does not take into account that the demands of products are well-defined by the product life cycle. Working on a fashion sector, the life cycle pattern is even more relevant because of an expected demand that grows according to a constant rate that does not capture the demand dynamics of the underlying fashion goods. Thus, the primary research objective of this article is to develop a model useful for the management of investments in a supply chain operating in a fashion sector where the system complexity is increased by the low level of unpredictability and stability that is proper of the mood phenomenon. Moreover, unlike the traditional model, a real option framework is presented here that considers fashion product characterised by uncertain stages of the production cycle.

A historical and economic perspective on Sir John Charnley, Chas F. Thackray Limited, and the early arthoplasty industry.

PubMed

Gomez, Pablo F; Morcuende, Jose A

2005-01-01

In the 1960s, Sir John Charnley pioneered modern total hip arthroplasty (THA) and spent the next two decades refining all aspects of the procedure, working with the commercial firm of Chas F. Thackray Limited, now a subsidiary of DePuy Orthopaedics, a Johnson and Johnson Company. We review here that relationship, in light of the complex relationships today that exist among industry, researchers, surgeons, and the public.

Precision Machining Application and Technology: An Overview and Perspective.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-08-24

diamond turning lathes are being used to produce computer discs. Bryant Symons, an English firm, has reported diamond turning an aluminum computer disk at...34 Precision Engineering, Vol. 5(2), Guildford, Engl nd, July 1983. Watt, G., " Lathe for Generation of Spherical -arfaces of Revolution," given to Optical...Precision CNC Diamond Turning Machine," Annuals of the CIRP, Vol. 31/1, p 409, 1982. 8. Bryant Simmons Product Brochur-, "Ultra Precision Oiamond Turning

Augmenting Naval Capabilities in Remote Locations

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-12-01

suggested that the Navy adopt a different style of war fighting and that the Navy consider tailoring its forces by region and mission. Based on these...Vessel Return To Ship End 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 33 Figure 14. Future State Maps. From a Lean Six Sigma perspective, the project team was trained ...systems development and the training and support services robotics companies offer. In many cases, robotics firms and the customer sign up for modular

Tactical Generalship: A View from the Past and a Look Toward the 21st Century

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-12-05

Toward the 21st Centur Approved by: -Monograph Director (Robert M. Epstein, Ph.D.) Director, School of (Col. Richard Hart Sinnreich, MA) Advanced...accomplish missions under stress - ful conditions. In order to maintain his perspective and to continue to focus on his main effort, it is critical that...his higher commanders but also to the country he serves. Fortitude involves resolute perseverance and firmness of mind under stressful conditions. This

Diversity of the lactic acid bacterium and yeast microbiota in the switch from firm- to liquid-sourdough fermentation.

PubMed

Di Cagno, Raffaella; Pontonio, Erica; Buchin, Solange; De Angelis, Maria; Lattanzi, Anna; Valerio, Francesca; Gobbetti, Marco; Calasso, Maria

2014-05-01

Four traditional type I sourdoughs were comparatively propagated (28 days) under firm (dough yield, 160) and liquid (dough yield, 280) conditions to mimic the alternative technology options frequently used for making baked goods. After 28 days of propagation, liquid sourdoughs had the lowest pH and total titratable acidity (TTA), the lowest concentrations of lactic and acetic acids and free amino acids, and the most stable density of presumptive lactic acid bacteria. The cell density of yeasts was the highest in liquid sourdoughs. Liquid sourdoughs showed simplified microbial diversity and harbored a low number of strains, which were persistent. Lactobacillus plantarum dominated firm sourdoughs over time. Leuconostoc lactis and Lactobacillus brevis dominated only some firm sourdoughs, and Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis persisted for some time only in some firm sourdoughs. Leuconostoc citreum persisted in all firm and liquid sourdoughs, and it was the only species detected in liquid sourdoughs at all times; it was flanked by Leuconostoc mesenteroides in some sourdoughs. Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Candida humilis, Saccharomyces servazzii, Saccharomyces bayanus-Kazachstania sp., and Torulaspora delbrueckii were variously identified in firm and liquid sourdoughs. A total of 197 volatile components were identified through purge and trap-/solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (PT-/SPME-GC-MS). Aldehydes, several alcohols, and some esters were at the highest levels in liquid sourdoughs. Firm sourdoughs mainly contained ethyl acetate, acetic acid, some sulfur compounds, and terpenes. The use of liquid fermentation would change the main microbial and biochemical features of traditional baked goods, which have been manufactured under firm conditions for a long time.

Diversity of the Lactic Acid Bacterium and Yeast Microbiota in the Switch from Firm- to Liquid-Sourdough Fermentation

PubMed Central

Di Cagno, Raffaella; Pontonio, Erica; Buchin, Solange; De Angelis, Maria; Lattanzi, Anna; Valerio, Francesca; Calasso, Maria

2014-01-01

Four traditional type I sourdoughs were comparatively propagated (28 days) under firm (dough yield, 160) and liquid (dough yield, 280) conditions to mimic the alternative technology options frequently used for making baked goods. After 28 days of propagation, liquid sourdoughs had the lowest pH and total titratable acidity (TTA), the lowest concentrations of lactic and acetic acids and free amino acids, and the most stable density of presumptive lactic acid bacteria. The cell density of yeasts was the highest in liquid sourdoughs. Liquid sourdoughs showed simplified microbial diversity and harbored a low number of strains, which were persistent. Lactobacillus plantarum dominated firm sourdoughs over time. Leuconostoc lactis and Lactobacillus brevis dominated only some firm sourdoughs, and Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis persisted for some time only in some firm sourdoughs. Leuconostoc citreum persisted in all firm and liquid sourdoughs, and it was the only species detected in liquid sourdoughs at all times; it was flanked by Leuconostoc mesenteroides in some sourdoughs. Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Candida humilis, Saccharomyces servazzii, Saccharomyces bayanus-Kazachstania sp., and Torulaspora delbrueckii were variously identified in firm and liquid sourdoughs. A total of 197 volatile components were identified through purge and trap–/solid-phase microextraction–gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (PT–/SPME–GC-MS). Aldehydes, several alcohols, and some esters were at the highest levels in liquid sourdoughs. Firm sourdoughs mainly contained ethyl acetate, acetic acid, some sulfur compounds, and terpenes. The use of liquid fermentation would change the main microbial and biochemical features of traditional baked goods, which have been manufactured under firm conditions for a long time. PMID:24632249

An analysis of the relationship between staff qualification and export readiness of pharmaceutical companies: the case of iran.

PubMed

Mohammadzadeh, Mehdi

2012-01-01

Export and the readiness to export constitute the first step of international marketing, which are affected by both internal and external factors of firms. One of the most important internal factors is the presence of skilled personnel. The purpose of this study was to define the relationship between staff qualification and encouragment with the readiness level of Iranian pharmacuetical firms for engagement in export marketing. The research was based on a single case study on a basket of seven leading domestic firms. For the bias reduction, questionnaires as well as interviews with managers were used. The performance of the studied factor was lower than the desired level for export readiness and there was much scope for improvement in staff qualifications to achieve such readiness. The results of this research enable small and medium-sized pharmaceutical companies to evaluate their staff qualification levels needed for export readiness and to detect their shortcomings in order to improve them.

An Analysis of the Relationship Between Staff Qualification and Export Readiness of Pharmaceutical Companies: The Case of Iran

PubMed Central

Mohammadzadeh, Mehdi

2012-01-01

Export and the readiness to export constitute the first step of international marketing, which are affected by both internal and external factors of firms. One of the most important internal factors is the presence of skilled personnel. The purpose of this study was to define the relationship between staff qualification and encouragment with the readiness level of Iranian pharmacuetical firms for engagement in export marketing. The research was based on a single case study on a basket of seven leading domestic firms. For the bias reduction, questionnaires as well as interviews with managers were used. The performance of the studied factor was lower than the desired level for export readiness and there was much scope for improvement in staff qualifications to achieve such readiness. The results of this research enable small and medium-sized pharmaceutical companies to evaluate their staff qualification levels needed for export readiness and to detect their shortcomings in order to improve them. PMID:24250528

The relationship between human resource investments and organizational performance: a firm-level examination of equilibrium theory.

PubMed

Subramony, Mahesh; Krause, Nicole; Norton, Jacqueline; Burns, Gary N

2008-07-01

It is commonly believed that human resource investments can yield positive performance-related outcomes for organizations. Utilizing the theory of organizational equilibrium (H. A. Simon, D. W. Smithburg, & V. A. Thompson, 1950; J. G. March & H. A. Simon, 1958), the authors proposed that organizational inducements in the form of competitive pay will lead to 2 firm-level performance outcomes--labor productivity and customer satisfaction--and that financially successful organizations would be more likely to provide these inducements to their employees. To test their hypotheses, the authors gathered employee-survey and objective performance data from a sample of 126 large publicly traded U.S. organizations over a period of 3 years. Results indicated that (a) firm-level financial performance (net income) predicted employees' shared perceptions of competitive pay, (b) shared pay perceptions predicted future labor productivity, and (c) the relationship between shared pay perceptions and customer satisfaction was fully mediated by employee morale.

Dataset for corporate valuation and analyses of peer effects in corporate practices and local factors favoring innovation.

PubMed

Carosi, Andrea

2017-02-01

This data article provides cross-sectionals on the local values of the coefficients of ROE, R&D-TO-SALES, and TOTAL ASSET as regressors of the MARKET-TO-BOOK ratio and is related to the research article entitled "Do Local Causations Matter? The Effect of Firm Location on the Relations of ROE, R&D, and Firm Size with Market-to-Book" (A. Carosi, 2016) [1]. The data are aggregated at the regional level (NUTS2). The reported data are the regional average values of the coefficients of ROE, R&D-TO-SALES, and LN(TOTAL ASSET) on LN(MARKET-TO-BOOK), estimated upon the Italian non-financial listed firms in 1999-2007. Local coefficient estimates for family firms and utilities are also provided.

Essays on Firm Behavior in Developing Economies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abeberese, Ama Baafra

The performance of firms is central to growth in developing economies. A burgeoning literature within development economics seeks to understand the behavior of firms in developing countries and the constraints to their performance. This dissertation explores two types of constraints---infrastructure-related constraints and trade-related constraints---faced by manufacturing firms in developing countries. Despite the widely acknowledged importance of infrastructure for economic growth, there has been relatively little research on how infrastructure affects the decisions of firms. Electricity, in particular, is commonly cited by firms in developing countries as a major obstacle to their performance. In the first two chapters, I analyze the responses of firms to two types of electricity constraints, namely electricity prices and electricity shortages. Chapter 1 provides evidence on how electricity prices affect a firm's industry choice and productivity growth using data on Indian manufacturing firms. I construct an instrument for electricity price as the interaction between the price of coal paid by power utilities, which is arguably exogenous to firm characteristics, and the initial share of thermal generation in a state's total electricity generation capacity. I find that, in response to an exogenous increase in electricity price, firms reduce their electricity consumption and switch to industries with less electricity-intensive production processes. I also find that firm output, machine intensity and labor productivity decline with an increase in electricity price. In addition to these level effects, I show that firm output and productivity growth rates are negatively affected by high electricity prices. These results suggest that electricity constraints faced by firms may limit a country's growth by leading firms to operate in industries with fewer productivity-enhancing opportunities. Chapter 2 examines the impact of electricity shortages on firm investment. I identify this impact by studying an electricity rationing program that took place in Ghana in 1998, which placed significant constraints on the electricity available to firms. Using data on Ghanaian manufacturing firms, I find a significant decline in investment in plant and machinery during the electricity rationing period. The decline in investment is more pronounced for firms in electricity-intensive sectors. I explore alternative explanations for the reduction in investment during the electricity rationing period, including a contraction in firm credit access and economy-wide shocks unrelated to electricity constraints, and find no evidence in support of either explanation. The results, therefore, suggest that the reduction in investment during the electricity rationing period was due to the constraints on the availability of electricity. These findings highlight the potentially negative impact of the inadequate provision of electricity that frequently plagues developing countries. These electricity constraints can hinder growth in these countries by curbing investment by firms. In Chapter 3, I turn to the investigation of the effect of a trade-related constraint. Until recently, most of the literature on firms engaged in international trade had largely focused on exporting, with little work on the role of imports in the behavior and performance of firms. Using data on Indonesian manufacturing firms, Chapter 3 analyzes the effect of a reduction in tariffs on imported inputs on the exporting activity of firms. I argue that a tariff reduction program in Indonesia, which generated exogenous variation in the tariffs imposed on imports of goods used by firms, had a positive effect on the exported share of output of firms. I explore the mechanisms underlying this positive effect and find that an increase in the use of imported inputs, facilitated by the reduction in input tariffs, generated an increase in the exported share of output of firms. I also find that this positive effect is stronger for firms in industries with a greater scope for quality differentiation and high skill intensity. These results suggest that input tariff liberalization, by increasing access to higher-quality inputs from abroad, allows firms to produce higher-quality products for export markets.

Empirical evidences of owners’ managerial behaviour - the case of small companies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lobontiu, G.; Banica, M.; Ravai-Nagy, S.

2017-05-01

In a small firm, the founder or the owner-manager often leaves his or her own personal “stamp” on the way things are done, finding solutions for the multitude of problems the firm faces, and maintaining control over the firm’s operations. The paper aims to investigate the degree to which the owner-managers are controlling the operations of their firm on a day-to-day basis or even getting involved into the management of the functional areas. Our empirical research, conducted on a sample of 200 small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) from the North-Western Romania, Maramures (NUTS3 level - RO114), shows that owner-managers tend to be all-powerful, making decisions based on their experience. Furthermore, the survey highlights the focus of owner-managers on two functional areas, namely the production, and sales and marketing. Finally, the correlation analysis states that in the case of small firms, the owner-manager is more involved in managing the functional areas of the firm, as compared to the medium-ones.

75 FR 40010 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Amex LLC; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-13

... Proposed Rule Change 1. Purpose Currently, the Exchange aggregates all of an ATP Holder's volume at the trading permit level for purposes of the Firm Proprietary Manual tiers. Recently, certain ATP Holders have... this filing, the Exchange proposes to allow its ATP Holders to elect to have their Firm Proprietary...

Enterprise Content Buying--The New Landscape

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Noorlander, Bill

2009-01-01

Content is both a key ingredient for business and a major expense. Market research shows that the investment in content and data is generally one of the top expense items within a firm. For some firms, within the financial industry, for example, content costs are the second or third level of expense behind the cost of employees. While there has…

On the topological structure of multinationals network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Joyez, Charlie

2017-05-01

This paper uses a weighted network analysis to examine the structure of multinationals' implantation countries network. Based on French firm-level dataset of multinational enterprises (MNEs) the network analysis provides information on each country position in the network and in internationalization strategies of French MNEs through connectivity preferences among the nodes. The paper also details network-wide features and their recent evolution toward a more decentralized structure. While much has been said on international trade network, this paper shows that multinational firms' studies would also benefit from network analysis, notably by investigating the sensitivity of the network construction to firm heterogeneity.

Firm behavior, environmental externalities and public policy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Curtis, Earnest Markell, IV

This dissertation consists of three essays which examine environmental policy, employer mandates and energy consumption. The essays explore how firms respond to government policies such as environmental regulation and employer mandates. Understanding how firms adjust to government policies is crucial to law makers attempting to design optimal policies that maximize net benefits to society. The first essay, titled Who Loses under Power Plant Cap-and-Trade Programs tests how a major cap-and-trade program, known as the NOx Budget Trading Program (NBP), affected labor markets in the region where it was implemented. The cap-and-trade program dramatically decreased levels of NOx emissions and added substantial costs to energy producers. Using a triple-differences approach that takes advantage of the geographic and time variation of the program as well as variation in industry energy-intensity levels, I examine how employment dynamics changed in manufacturing industries whose production process requires high levels of energy. After accounting for a variety of flexible state, county and industry trends, I find that employment in the manufacturing sector dropped by 1.7% as a result of the NBP. Young workers experienced the largest employment declines and earnings of newly hired workers fell after the regulation began. Employment declines are shown to have occurred primarily through decreased hiring rates rather than increased separation rates, thus mitigating the impact on incumbent workers. The second essay, titled Evaluating Workplace Mandates with Flows versus Stocks: An Application to California Paid Family Leave uses an underexploited data set to examine the impact of the California Paid Family Leave program on employment outcomes for young women. Most papers on mandated benefits examine labor outcomes by looking at earnings and employment levels of all workers. Examining these levels will be imprecise if the impacts of the program develop over time and firms are wary to immediately adjust employment and wages for existing workers. Using Quarterly Workforce Indicator data, we are able to measure the impact on hires, new hire earnings, separations and extended leaves among young women. Earnings for young female new hires fell in California relative to other workers, but changed little relative to country-wide comparison groups. We find strong evidence that separations (of at least three months) among young women and the number and shares of young female new hires increased. Many young women that separate (leave the payroll) eventually return to the same firm. Increased separation and hiring rates among young women in the labor market ("churning") may reflect both increased time spent with children and greater job mobility (i.e., reduced job lock) as the result of mandated paid family leave across the labor market. The third essay, Evidence of an Energy Management Gap in U.S. Manufacturing: Spillovers from Firm Management Practices to Energy Efficiency, merge a well-cited survey of firm management practices into confidential plant level U.S. Census manufacturing data to examine whether generic, i.e. non-energy specific, firm management practices, "spillover" to enhance energy efficiency in the United States. For U.S. manufacturing plants we find this relationship to be more nuanced than prior research on UK plants. Most management techniques are shown to have beneficial spillovers to energy efficiency, but an emphasis on generic targets, conditional on other management practices, results in spillovers that increase energy intensity. Our specification controls for industry specific effects at a detailed 6-digit NAICS level and finds the relationship between management and energy use to be strongest for firms in energy intensive industries. We interpret the empirical result that generic management practices do not necessarily spillover to improved energy performance as evidence of an "energy management gap."

Social Firms as a means of vocational recovery for people with mental illness: a UK survey.

PubMed

Gilbert, Eleanor; Marwaha, Steven; Milton, Alyssa; Johnson, Sonia; Morant, Nicola; Parsons, Nicholas; Fisher, Adrian; Singh, Swaran; Cunliffe, Di

2013-07-11

Employment is associated with better quality of life and wellbeing in people with mental illness. Unemployment is associated with greater levels of psychological illness and is viewed as a core part of the social exclusion faced by people with mental illness. Social Firms offer paid employment to people with mental illness but are under-investigated in the UK. The aims of this phase of the Social Firms A Route to Recovery (SoFARR) project were to describe the availability and spread of Social Firms across the UK, to outline the range of opportunities Social Firms offer people with severe mental illness and to understand the extent to which they are employed within these firms. A UK national survey of Social Firms, other social enterprises and supported businesses was completed to understand the extent to which they provide paid employment for the mentally ill. A study-specific questionnaire was developed. It covered two broad areas asking employers about the nature of the Social Firm itself and about the employees with mental illness working there. We obtained returns from 76 Social Firms and social enterprises / supported businesses employing 692 people with mental illness. Forty per cent of Social Firms were in the south of England, 24% in the North and the Midlands, 18% in Scotland and 18% in Wales. Other social enterprises/supported businesses were similarly distributed. Trading activities were confined mainly to manufacturing, service industry, recycling, horticulture and catering. The number of employees with mental illness working in Social Firms and other social enterprises/supported businesses was small (median of 3 and 6.5 respectively). Over 50% employed people with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, though the greatest proportion of employees with mental illness had depression or anxiety. Over two thirds of Social Firms liaised with mental health services and over a quarter received funding from the NHS or a mental health charity. Most workers with mental illness in Social Firms had been employed for over 2 years. Social Firms have significant potential to be a viable addition to Individual Placement and Support (IPS), supporting recovery orientated services for people with the full range of mental disorders. They are currently an underdeveloped sector in the UK.

Social firms as a means of vocational recovery for people with mental illness: a UK survey

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Employment is associated with better quality of life and wellbeing in people with mental illness. Unemployment is associated with greater levels of psychological illness and is viewed as a core part of the social exclusion faced by people with mental illness. Social Firms offer paid employment to people with mental illness but are under-investigated in the UK. The aims of this phase of the Social Firms A Route to Recovery (SoFARR) project were to describe the availability and spread of Social Firms across the UK, to outline the range of opportunities Social Firms offer people with severe mental illness and to understand the extent to which they are employed within these firms. Method A UK national survey of Social Firms, other social enterprises and supported businesses was completed to understand the extent to which they provide paid employment for the mentally ill. A study-specific questionnaire was developed. It covered two broad areas asking employers about the nature of the Social Firm itself and about the employees with mental illness working there. Results We obtained returns from 76 Social Firms and social enterprises / supported businesses employing 692 people with mental illness. Forty per cent of Social Firms were in the south of England, 24% in the North and the Midlands, 18% in Scotland and 18% in Wales. Other social enterprises/supported businesses were similarly distributed. Trading activities were confined mainly to manufacturing, service industry, recycling, horticulture and catering. The number of employees with mental illness working in Social Firms and other social enterprises/supported businesses was small (median of 3 and 6.5 respectively). Over 50% employed people with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, though the greatest proportion of employees with mental illness had depression or anxiety. Over two thirds of Social Firms liaised with mental health services and over a quarter received funding from the NHS or a mental health charity. Most workers with mental illness in Social Firms had been employed for over 2 years. Conclusions Social Firms have significant potential to be a viable addition to Individual Placement and Support (IPS), supporting recovery orientated services for people with the full range of mental disorders. They are currently an underdeveloped sector in the UK. PMID:23844779

Real-Time Diffusion of Information on Twitter and the Financial Markets

PubMed Central

Tafti, Ali; Zotti, Ryan; Jank, Wolfgang

2016-01-01

Do spikes in Twitter chatter about a firm precede unusual stock market trading activity for that firm? If so, Twitter activity may provide useful information about impending financial market activity in real-time. We study the real-time relationship between chatter on Twitter and the stock trading volume of 96 firms listed on the Nasdaq 100, during 193 days of trading in the period from May 21, 2012 to September 18, 2013. We identify observations featuring firm-specific spikes in Twitter activity, and randomly assign each observation to a ten-minute increment matching on the firm and a number of repeating time indicators. We examine the extent that unusual levels of chatter on Twitter about a firm portend an oncoming surge of trading of its stock within the hour, over and above what would normally be expected for the stock for that time of day and day of week. We also compare the findings from our explanatory model to the predictive power of Tweets. Although we find a compelling and potentially informative real-time relationship between Twitter activity and trading volume, our forecasting exercise highlights how difficult it can be to make use of this information for monetary gain. PMID:27504639

Real-Time Diffusion of Information on Twitter and the Financial Markets.

PubMed

Tafti, Ali; Zotti, Ryan; Jank, Wolfgang

2016-01-01

Do spikes in Twitter chatter about a firm precede unusual stock market trading activity for that firm? If so, Twitter activity may provide useful information about impending financial market activity in real-time. We study the real-time relationship between chatter on Twitter and the stock trading volume of 96 firms listed on the Nasdaq 100, during 193 days of trading in the period from May 21, 2012 to September 18, 2013. We identify observations featuring firm-specific spikes in Twitter activity, and randomly assign each observation to a ten-minute increment matching on the firm and a number of repeating time indicators. We examine the extent that unusual levels of chatter on Twitter about a firm portend an oncoming surge of trading of its stock within the hour, over and above what would normally be expected for the stock for that time of day and day of week. We also compare the findings from our explanatory model to the predictive power of Tweets. Although we find a compelling and potentially informative real-time relationship between Twitter activity and trading volume, our forecasting exercise highlights how difficult it can be to make use of this information for monetary gain.

The impact of information disclosure on market liquidity: Evidence from firms' use of Twitter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qu, Qixing; Wang, Lin; Qin, Liangjuan; Zhao, Xiaoye; Wang, Lijie

2017-01-01

Despite the popular use of social media by firms, empirical research investigating their economic values still lags. Based on the Security Exchange Commission's (SEC) new regulation on Fair Disclosure valid important corporate information discloses via social media (RIDSM), in this study, we examine the effectiveness of this new regulation to market liquidity. We collect trade data including daily volume and bid-ask spread to assemble a unique data set at individual firm level from S&P 500 firms and analyze the firms' bid-ask spread and volume before and after issuing the regulation. This natural experiment allows us to separate the effect of regulation from the effect of other confounding factors. The results from our panel data analyses indicate that bid-ask spread has decreased by about 5% in response to the new regulation. Our results are statistically significant and highly robust. We also examine the impact of the new regulation on a volume-based measure of liquidity, and find that the regulation is associated with greater volume, consistent with a reduction in information asymmetry. Moreover, this result holds mainly for firms that are high-tech, consistent with them being in greater need of this additional information disclosure channel.

Full employment and competition in the Aspen economic model: implications for modeling acts of terrorism.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sprigg, James A.; Ehlen, Mark Andrew

2004-11-01

Acts of terrorism could have a range of broad impacts on an economy, including changes in consumer (or demand) confidence and the ability of productive sectors to respond to changes. As a first step toward a model of terrorism-based impacts, we develop here a model of production and employment that characterizes dynamics in ways useful toward understanding how terrorism-based shocks could propagate through the economy; subsequent models will introduce the role of savings and investment into the economy. We use Aspen, a powerful economic modeling tool developed at Sandia, to demonstrate for validation purposes that a single-firm economy converges tomore » the known monopoly equilibrium price, output, and employment levels, while multiple-firm economies converge toward the competitive equilibria typified by lower prices and higher output and employment. However, we find that competition also leads to churn by consumers seeking lower prices, making it difficult for firms to optimize with respect to wages, prices, and employment levels. Thus, competitive firms generate market ''noise'' in the steady state as they search for prices and employment levels that will maximize profits. In the context of this model, not only could terrorism depress overall consumer confidence and economic activity but terrorist acts could also cause normal short-run dynamics to be misinterpreted by consumers as a faltering economy.« less

Corporate social responsibility in global health: an exploratory study of multinational pharmaceutical firms.

PubMed

Droppert, Hayley; Bennett, Sara

2015-04-09

As pharmaceutical firms experience increasing civil society pressure to act responsibly in a changing globalized world, many are expanding and/or reforming their corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies. We sought to understand how multinational pharmaceutical companies currently engage in CSR activities in the developing world aimed at global health impact, their motivations for doing so and how their CSR strategies are evolving. We conducted a small-scale, exploratory study combining (i) an in-depth review of publicly available data on pharmaceutical firms' CSR with (ii) interviews of representatives from 6 firms, purposively selected, from the highest earning pharmaceutical firms worldwide. Corporate social responsibility differed for each firm particularly with respect to how CSR is defined, organizational structures for managing CSR, current CSR activities, and motivations for CSR. Across the firms studied, the common CSR activities were: differential pharmaceutical pricing, strengthening developing country drug distribution infrastructure, mHealth initiatives, and targeted research and development. Primary factors that motivated CSR engagement were: reputational benefits, recruitment and employee satisfaction, better rankings in sustainability indices, entrance into new markets, long-term economic returns, and improved population health. In terms of CSR strategy, firms were at different points on a spectrum ranging from philanthropic donations to integrated systemic shared value business models. CSR is of increasing importance for multinational pharmaceutical firms yet understanding of the array of CSR strategies employed and their effects is nascent. Our study points to the need to (i) develop clearer and more standardized definitions of CSR in global health (2) strengthen indices to track CSR strategies and their public health effects in developing countries and (iii) undertake more country level studies that investigate how CSR engages with national health systems.

Physicians' perspectives and practices regarding the fertility management of obese patients.

PubMed

Harris, Isiah D; Python, Johanne; Roth, Lauren; Alvero, Ruben; Murray, Shona; Schlaff, William D

2011-10-01

To assess the practice patterns and personal beliefs of fertility physicians who care for obese patients seeking assisted reproduction, we conducted a national survey of fertility program directors from both private and academic practices and discovered that although few practices have firm guidelines regarding the management of obese patients, the overwhelming majority of providers believe that body mass index guidelines or cutoffs should exist. Copyright © 2011 American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Story of a Typical Atypical Graduate of the Physics Entrepreneurship Program at Case Western Reserve University

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luta, Adele

2012-02-01

An entrepreneurial perspective to life can lead to wearing a myriad of hats. Long gone is the stereotypical start-up role. Entrepreneurs now hold physics degrees and procure innovation when called upon. An alumni of the Physics Entrepreneurship Program, Adele Luta has spent the last 5 years at NASA developing an innovative approach to spacesuit sizing. Previously, she founded Eleda International consulting firm and is currently working with Adjuvat Biosciences, on a proprietary treatment pancreatic cancer.

A Historical and Economic Perspective on Sir John Charnley, Chas F. Thackray Limited, and the Early Arthroplasty Industry

PubMed Central

Gomez, Pablo F; Morcuende, Jose A

2005-01-01

In the 1960s, Sir John Charnley pioneered modern total hip arthroplasty (THA) and spent the next two decades refining all aspects of the procedure, working with the commercial firm of Chas F. Thackray Limited, now a subsidiary of DePuy Orthopaedics, a Johnson and Johnson Company. We review here that relationship, in light of the complex relationships today that exist among industry, researchers, surgeons, and the public. PMID:16089068

Antecedents of Corporate Environmental Commitments: The Role of Customers.

PubMed

Afshar Jahanshahi, Asghar; Brem, Alexander

2018-06-06

The management of natural environments has become a fundamental issue for companies in recent years. A firm’s environmental commitment affects all levels of its operation. In this study, we investigated whether having an effective and constant relationship with customers over time (customer capital) makes a difference to firms with a high environmental commitment compared with less environmentally committed firms. We found support for our idea by using original survey data from 149 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Iran (2016⁻2017). Furthermore, we found that customer capital enhances environmental collaboration with customers which, in turn, has a positive impact on the firm’s environmental commitments. These findings provide empirical evidence for the important role of “getting closer to customers” as a way of enhancing corporate environmental responsibility in developing countries with weak institutional environments.

A decision support system for delivering optimal quality peach and tomato

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thai, C. N.; Pease, J. N.; Shewfelt, R. L.

1990-01-01

Several studies have indicated that color and firmness are the two quality attributes most important to consumers in making purchasing decisions of fresh peaches and tomatoes. However, at present, retail produce managers do not have the proper information for handling fresh produce so it has the most appealing color and firmness when it reaches the consumer. This information should help them predict the consumer color and firmness perception and preference for produce from various storage conditions. Since 1987, for 'Redglobe' peach and 'Sunny' tomato, we have been generating information about their physical quality attributes (firmness and color) and their corresponding consumer sensory scores. This article reports on our current progress toward the goal of integrating such information into a model-based decision support system for retail level managers in handling fresh peaches and tomatoes.

The Mediating Effect of Innovation on the Relationship between Information Technology Investments and Firm Performance: An Empirical Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karanja, Erastus

2011-01-01

The last couple of decades has witnessed a plethora of research studies addressing the cause-and-effect relationship between Information Technology (IT) investments and performance at the firm level. These studies elicited mixed results between IT investments and performance which led to various points of view from IT Scholars and Practitioners.…

40 CFR 52.34 - Action on petitions submitted under section 126 relating to emissions of nitrogen oxides.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... group that addressed the problem of ground-level ozone and the long-range transport of air pollution... that had a nameplate capacity greater than 25 MWe and produced electricity for sale under a firm... capacity greater than 25 MWe and produced electricity for sale under a firm contract to the electric grid...

40 CFR 52.34 - Action on petitions submitted under section 126 relating to emissions of nitrogen oxides.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... group that addressed the problem of ground-level ozone and the long-range transport of air pollution... that had a nameplate capacity greater than 25 MWe and produced electricity for sale under a firm... capacity greater than 25 MWe and produced electricity for sale under a firm contract to the electric grid...

Current state and future perspectives of loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP)-based diagnosis of filamentous fungi and yeasts.

PubMed

Niessen, Ludwig

2015-01-01

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification is a rather novel method of enzymatic deoxyribonucleic acid amplification which can be applied for the diagnosis of viruses, bacteria, and fungi. Although firmly established in viral and bacterial diagnosis, the technology has only recently been applied to a noteworthy number of species in the filamentous fungi and yeasts. The current review gives an overview of the literature so far published on the topic by discussing the different groups of fungal organisms to which the method has been applied. Moreover, the method is described in detail as well as the different possibilities available for signal detection and quantification and sample preparation. Future perspective of loop-mediated isothermal amplification-based assays is discussed in the light of applicability for fungal diagnostics.

Returns on equity for not-for-profit hospitals.

PubMed

Pauly, M V

1986-04-01

This study examines the circumstances in which a large third-party payer or regulator might want to set hospital prices to yield a positive rate of return on equity capital. The level of return is shown to depend on the willingness of donors to make funds available in the community relative to the (derived) demand for capital to produce output. It is shown that the appropriate price might well be set to yield a zero or below-market return, and that the return to not-for-profit firms should generally be less than that to for-profit firms, if for-profit firms are to be active in the market.

Analytical and policy issues in energy economics: Uses of the FRS data base

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1981-12-01

The relevant literature concerning several major analytical and policy issues in energy economics is reviewed and criticized. The possible uses of the Financial Reporting System (FRS) data base for the analysis of energy policy issues are investigated. Certain features of FRS data suggest several ways in which the data base can be used by policy makers. FRS data are collected on the firm level, and different segments of the same firm operating in different markets can be separately identified. The methods of collection as well as FRS's elaborate data verification process guarantee a high degree of accuracy and consistency among firms.

Has microblogging changed stock market behavior? Evidence from China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jin, Xi; Shen, Dehua; Zhang, Wei

2016-06-01

This paper examines the stock market behavior for a long-lived subset of firms in Shanghai and Shenzhen CSI 300 Index (CSI 300 Index) both before and after the establishment of firms' Microblogging in Sina Weibo. The empirical results show a significant increase in the relative trading volume as well as the decreases in the daily expected stock return and firm-level volatility in the post-Sina Weibo period. These findings suggest that Sina Weibo as an alternative information interaction channel has changed the information environment for individual stock, enhanced the speed of information diffusion and therefore changed the overall stock market behavior.

The growth of business firms: theoretical framework and empirical evidence.

PubMed

Fu, Dongfeng; Pammolli, Fabio; Buldyrev, S V; Riccaboni, Massimo; Matia, Kaushik; Yamasaki, Kazuko; Stanley, H Eugene

2005-12-27

We introduce a model of proportional growth to explain the distribution P(g)(g) of business-firm growth rates. The model predicts that P(g)(g) is exponential in the central part and depicts an asymptotic power-law behavior in the tails with an exponent zeta = 3. Because of data limitations, previous studies in this field have been focusing exclusively on the Laplace shape of the body of the distribution. In this article, we test the model at different levels of aggregation in the economy, from products to firms to countries, and we find that the predictions of the model agree with empirical growth distributions and size-variance relationships.

Returns on equity for not-for-profit hospitals.

PubMed Central

Pauly, M V

1986-01-01

This study examines the circumstances in which a large third-party payer or regulator might want to set hospital prices to yield a positive rate of return on equity capital. The level of return is shown to depend on the willingness of donors to make funds available in the community relative to the (derived) demand for capital to produce output. It is shown that the appropriate price might well be set to yield a zero or below-market return, and that the return to not-for-profit firms should generally be less than that to for-profit firms, if for-profit firms are to be active in the market. PMID:3086256

Use of Climatological Data in Weather Insurance.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Changnon, Stanley A.; Changnon, Joyce M.

1990-05-01

There are three major types of crop-related weather insurance: hail, all perlis, and rain insurance. The development of rates is an exercise in applied climatology, and the importance of the historical data selected for assessing risk (and developing rates) is revealed by the problems encountered by firms insuring against deficient summer rainfall during the drought of 1988. Extensive purchase of premiums costing $9 million for coverage ($400 million) in the Midwest occurred with buyers (farmers) apparently aware during May and June 1988 that an unusually dry event was in progress. The levels of loss (50% or less of average June-August rainfall) offered by insurance firms were exceeded throughout the Midwest. The firms attempted to refund the record number of premiums accepted in June, and in turn, 8000 farmers filed a class-action suit against the firms for failure to accept premiums and to provide coverage. The insurance firms ultimately settled by agreeing to pay $48 million in claims. The coverage offered was based on the most recent 25 years of data, and this unusually wet period did not represent the longer-term likelihood of areally extensive dry summers. Uses of climatic data by the insurance industry include planning for the occurrence of such extreme event considerations, plus point vs area probabilities of these anomalous events; choosing the periods to select for routinely establishing new rates (rerating is typically done an 2- to 10-year cycles); and for determining the averages most appropriate to use for rate levels and sales considerations.

Environmental strategy and performance in small firms: a resource-based perspective.

PubMed

Aragón-Correa, J Alberto; Hurtado-Torres, Nuria; Sharma, Sanjay; García-Morales, Víctor J

2008-01-01

In spite of the widespread recognition of the important roles that small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) play in most economies, limited research has focused on their impacts on the natural environment and the strategies such enterprises adopt to reduce these impacts. It is usually assumed that SMEs lack the resources to implement proactive environmental strategies that go beyond minimum regulatory compliance. In this study of 108 SMEs in the automotive repair sector in Southern Spain, we found that SMEs undertake a range of environmental strategies from reactive regulatory compliance to proactive pollution prevention and environmental leadership. These strategies are associated with three organizational capabilities: shared vision, stakeholder management, and strategic proactivity, hypothesized based on the unique strategic characteristics of SMEs--shorter lines of communication and closer interaction within the SMEs, the presence of a founder's vision, flexibility in managing external relationships, and an entrepreneurial orientation. We also found that firms with the most proactive practices exhibited a significantly positive financial performance.

Making medicine a business in Japan: Shimadzu Co. and the diffusion of radiology (1900-1960).

PubMed

Donzé, Pierre-Yves

2010-01-01

This contribution focuses on the role of the firm Shimadzu in the marketing of X-ray machines in Japan during the first part of the 20th century, viewed from a business history perspective. It attempts to further understanding of the process of technology diffusion in medicine. In a global market controlled by American and German multinational enterprises, Japan appears to have been a particular country, where a domestic independent firm, Shimadzu, succeeded in establishing itself as a competitive company. This success is the result of a strategy based on both the internalisation of technological capabilities (recruitment of university graduate engineers, subcontracting of research and development activities) and an original communication policy towards the medical world. Finally, the specific structure of the Japanese medical market, composed of numerous and largely privatised small healthcare centres, facilitated the rapid diffusion of X-ray machines, a new technology which conferred a comparative advantage on its holders.

Combating Terrorism: A Socio-Economic Strategy

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-01-01

alleviate poverty. As C.K. Prahalad states: Historically, governments, aid agencies, non- governmental organizations, large firms, and the organized...undergraduate and graduate students. What are the incentives for the private sector and large firms to service the BOP? According to Prahalad , “The...humanitarian and civic activities at a strategic level in January 2004. As the command began to realize the importance of environmental aspects of

Match your innovation strategy to your innovation ecosystem.

PubMed

Adner, Ron

2006-04-01

High-definition televisions should, by now, be a huge success. Philips, Sony, and Thompson invested billions of dollars to develop TV sets with astonishing picture quality. From a technology perspective, they've succeeded: Console manufacturers have been ready for the mass market since the early 1990s. Yet the category has been an unmitigated failure, not because of deficiencies, but because critical complements such as studio production equipment were not developed or adopted in time. Under-performing complements have left console producers in the position of offering a Ferrari in a world without gasoline or highways--an admirable engineering feat, but not one that creates value for customers. The HDTV story exemplifies the promise and peril of innovation ecosystems--the collaborative arrangements through which firms combine their individual offers into a coherent, customer-facing solution. When they work, innovation ecosystems allow companies to create value that no one firm could have created alone. The benefits of these systems are real. But for many organizations the attempt at ecosystem innovation has been a costly failure. This is because, along with new opportunities, innovation ecosystems also present a new set of risks that can brutally derail a firm's best efforts. Innovation ecosystems are characterized by three fundamental types of risk: initiative risks--the familiar uncertainties of managing a project; interdependence risks--the uncertainties of coordinating with complementary innovators; and integration risks--the uncertainties presented by the adoption process across the value chain. Firms that assess ecosystem risks holistically and systematically will be able to establish more realistic expectations, develop a more refined set of environmental contingencies, and arrive at a more robust innovation strategy. Collectively, these actions will lead to more effective implementation and more profitable innovation.

Economic analysis of the water demand in the hotels and restaurants sector: Shadow prices and elasticities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Angulo, Ana; Atwi, Majed; Barberán, Ramón; Mur, Jesús

2014-08-01

Despite the growing economic importance of tourism, and its impact on relative water shortage, little is known about the role that water plays in the productive process of hotels and restaurants and, therefore, the possible implications of water demand management policy for this sector. This study aims to fill this gap. It is based on the microdata of 676 firms in the sector, operating in the city of Zaragoza (Spain) for a 12 year period. Based on the Translog cost function, we estimate the shadow price of water in the short run and, from a long-run perspective, its direct price elasticity, its cross elasticities relative to labor, capital, and supplies, and its elasticity with respect to the level of output. The results obtained show that water provides sector firms returns that are on average higher than its price, although in the case of hotels the margin is really narrow. This situation provides policy makers with a margin for applying price increases without affecting the sector's viability, with some caution in the case of hotels. Water demand elasticity equals -0.38 in the case of hotels, but it is not significant in the case of restaurants and bar-cafes; hence, only in hotels is there potential for influencing water use patterns, encouraging the resource's conservation through pricing policy. Moreover, capital is a substitutive factor of water, and the elasticity of water with respect to output is 0.40, all of which should also be considered by policy makers in water resource management.

Going the extra mile and feeling energized: An enrichment perspective of organizational citizenship behaviors.

PubMed

Lam, Chak Fu; Wan, Wylie H; Roussin, Christopher J

2016-03-01

Scholars have voiced concerns about the potential dark side of Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB), arguing that OCB consumes energy, which contributes to a depletion of personal resources and results in poorer well-being. Drawing from research on the meaningfulness of work, we propose a pattern opposite to depletion: that OCB enhances energy, which contributes to an enrichment of personal resources and results in better well-being. This idea was tested over the course of a workweek with 224 day-level ratings from 67 employees and 30 managers working in a service management firm. Three-level hierarchical linear modeling indicated that supervisor-rated daily OCB was positively associated with employees' vigor at the end of the workday, and multilevel structural equation modeling analyses showed that this relationship was mediated by meaningfulness of work. Moreover, we found that the association between OCB and work meaningfulness was stronger for employees with greater role ambiguity. Exploratory analyses revealed that daily in-role performance and daily OCB interacted to predict meaningfulness of work, such that the association between daily OCB and meaningfulness of work was more prominent among those who exhibited high levels of daily in-role performance. We discuss implications of these findings, limitations, and directions for future research. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Psychometric Properties of the Family Inventory of Resources for Management in a Sample of Iranian Family Caregivers of Cancer Patients

PubMed Central

Mirsoleymani, Seyed Reza; Matbouei, Mahsa; Nasiri, Malihe; Vasli, Parvaneh

2016-01-01

Objective. The aim of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Family Inventory of Resources for Management (FIRM) in a sample of family caregivers of cancer patients. Methods. In this methodological study, construct validity of the FIRM was evaluated by known groups and convergent validity in a convenience sample of family caregivers of cancer patients (n = 104) referred to the outpatient oncology wards of five educational hospitals in Tehran from January to April 2016. Reliability was determined by assessing the internal consistency and stability of the instrument. Results. The known-groups findings showed that there is a significant difference between the scores of the FIRM in family caregivers with different levels of caregiver burden (p < 0.001). Also, the results of convergent validity showed that there is a moderate negative correlation (r = −0.50; p < 0.001) between the total scores of the FIRM and the scores of the caregiver burden inventory (CBI). The FIRM showed a good internal consistency (α = 0.85) and a good stability of the test-retest reliability result. Conclusions. There is a sound psychometric basis for the use of the Persian translation of the FIRM for family studies in the Iranian population. PMID:28127470

The pricing effect of the common pattern in firm-level idiosyncratic volatility: Evidence from A-Share stocks of China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Su, Zhi; Shu, Tengjia; Yin, Libo

2018-05-01

Inspired by Herskovic et al. (2016), we investigate the pricing effect of the firm-level common idiosyncratic volatility (CIV) in China's A-Share market. Return tests indicate that lower CIV risk loadings bring higher returns significantly, while the pricing function of market volatility (MV) is inconsistent. Strategy that goes long the highest CIV-beta quintile and short the lowest CIV-beta quintile brings an annualized average return of 5%-7%. Our findings supplement Herskovic et al. (2016) by confirming a significantly negative relationship between CIV and stock returns in a developing market.

Parent perspectives from participating in a family component for CBITS: Acceptability of a culturally informed school-based program

PubMed Central

Santiago, Catherine DeCarlo; Fuller, Anne K.; Lennon, Jaclyn M.; Kataoka, Sheryl H.

2015-01-01

This study explored parents’ responses to a family component developed as an addition to the Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS). The family component was developed in order to improve engagement and participation in CBITS and to support parents’ own skill-building. To evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of the family component from the perspective of parents who participated, qualitative interviews were conducted with 15 low-income, Latino parents (80% female; 80% immigrants; average age = 38.07). Themes emerged across three primary categories: Need for CBITS+Family, Results of Participating in CBITS+Family, and Implications for Feasibility. Parents agreed that there was a need for programs like CBITS and expressed a firm belief in the importance of parental involvement with their children and schools. Parents reported a high level of satisfaction with the family component and indicated that it was beneficial to them, culturally relevant, and that they would recommend it to others. Still, some logistical barriers to participation and areas for improvement were noted. Overall, the results of this study indicate that CBITS+Family is an appropriate, acceptable, and feasible intervention for Latino families. Supplemental data from children whose parents participated in the program provide further support for the value of the family component. Clinical implications for implementing culturally sensitive, school-based interventions with parents are discussed. PMID:26390104

New perspective of Grodzins E × B(E2) ↑ product rule

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gupta, J. B.; Katoch, Vikas

In the collective spectra of atomic nuclei, the level energy E(21+) varies with atomic number Z and neutron number N. Also the E2 decay-reduced transition probability B(E2, 01+ → 2 1+) is related to the energy E(21+). The product E(21+) × B(E2) ↑ is constant according to Grodzins product rule, independent of the vibration or rotational status of the nucleus. The product rule is often used for determining B(E2) from the known E(21+). However, the variation of the product with various parameters is also suggested in the literature. Hence, a detailed global study of this rule for (Z = 54‑‑78, 66 < N < 126) region is warranted. We use a novel method of displaying the linear relation of B(E2) ↑ with 1/E(21+) for the isotopes of each element (Xe-Pt), instead of their variation with N,Z or A. Through our work, we firmly establish the global validity of the Grodzins relation of B(E2), being proportional to the moment of inertia, except for the deviation in specific cases. Our B(E2) ↑ versus 1/E plots provide a transparent view of the variation of the low-energy nuclear structure. This gives a new perspective of their nuclear structure. Also the various theoretical interpretations of B(E2)s and the energy E(21+) are reviewed.

Novel Syntrophic Populations Dominate an Ammonia-Tolerant Methanogenic Microbiome.

PubMed

Frank, J A; Arntzen, M Ø; Sun, L; Hagen, L H; McHardy, A C; Horn, S J; Eijsink, V G H; Schnürer, A; Pope, P B

2016-01-01

Biogas reactors operating with protein-rich substrates have high methane potential and industrial value; however, they are highly susceptible to process failure because of the accumulation of ammonia. High ammonia levels cause a decline in acetate-utilizing methanogens and instead promote the conversion of acetate via a two-step mechanism involving syntrophic acetate oxidation (SAO) to H 2 and CO 2 , followed by hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis. Despite the key role of syntrophic acetate-oxidizing bacteria (SAOB), only a few culturable representatives have been characterized. Here we show that the microbiome of a commercial, ammonia-tolerant biogas reactor harbors a deeply branched, uncultured phylotype (unFirm_1) accounting for approximately 5% of the 16S rRNA gene inventory and sharing 88% 16S rRNA gene identity with its closest characterized relative. Reconstructed genome and quantitative metaproteomic analyses imply unFirm_1's metabolic dominance and SAO capabilities, whereby the key enzymes required for acetate oxidation are among the most highly detected in the reactor microbiome. While culturable SAOB were identified in genomic analyses of the reactor, their limited proteomic representation suggests that unFirm_1 plays an important role in channeling acetate toward methane. Notably, unFirm_1-like populations were found in other high-ammonia biogas installations, conjecturing a broader importance for this novel clade of SAOB in anaerobic fermentations. IMPORTANCE The microbial production of methane or "biogas" is an attractive renewable energy technology that can recycle organic waste into biofuel. Biogas reactors operating with protein-rich substrates such as household municipal or agricultural wastes have significant industrial and societal value; however, they are highly unstable and frequently collapse due to the accumulation of ammonia. We report the discovery of a novel uncultured phylotype (unFirm_1) that is highly detectable in metaproteomic data generated from an ammonia-tolerant commercial reactor. Importantly, unFirm_1 is proposed to perform a key metabolic step in biogas microbiomes, whereby it syntrophically oxidizes acetate to hydrogen and carbon dioxide, which methanogens then covert to methane. Only very few culturable syntrophic acetate-oxidizing bacteria have been described, and all were detected at low in situ levels compared to unFirm_1. Broader comparisons produced the hypothesis that unFirm_1 is a key mediator toward the successful long-term stable operation of biogas production using protein-rich substrates.

Air Quality Co-benefits of Energy Policy in China: Evidence from Iron & Steel and Cement Industries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qiu, M.; Weng, Y.; Selin, N. E.; Karplus, V. J.; Cao, J.

2017-12-01

Previous literature has calculated large air quality co-benefits from policies that reduce CO2 emissions and increase energy efficiency. These (often prospective) studies rely on assumptions about how air pollutant emissions respond to energy use changes. Using a unique firm-level data set from China, we examine how a real-world energy efficiency policy affected SO2 emissions, estimate its actual effects on atmospheric PM2.5, and compare to ex ante theoretical estimates. During the 11th Five-year plan (2006-2010), the Chinese government implemented policies directing large energy-consuming firms to reduce their energy consumption per unit of economic output. The Top 1000 Enterprises Program (T1000P) set binding energy intensity targets for China's 1000 highest energy-consuming firms. This program is widely considered a policy success, as 92% of firms met their energy intensity target. Focusing on the cement and iron and steel industry, we examine how T1000P (and related provincial policies) affected firms' SO2 emissions and coal consumption from 2005 to 2008. By comparing T1000P firms with similar firms not subject to the policy, we find that T1000P had a very limited incremental effect on energy use or on air quality co-benefits. Compared to firms not subject to the policy, T1000P firms had 14.7% (cement) and 24.0% (iron & steel) lower reductions in SO2 emission per unit energy use. We also observe large, heterogeneous changes in emission factors (defined as SO2 emissions per unit of coal consumption) among all firms during this period. In comparison to co-benefits estimates that assume constant emission factors, SO2 emissions from T1000P firms in the post-policy period are 23.2% (iron and steel) and 40.2% (cement) lower, but spatially heterogeneous, with some regions experiencing increases. Using the GEOS-Chem model, we estimate the air quality co-benefits of the T1000P policy with realized SO2 emissions changes and compare them with two theoretical estimations of co-benefits: one assuming that emission factors stay the same, and one in which emissions factors decline exponentially with time. We conclude that heterogeneous technology and behavioral responses of covered firms can significantly affect the real-world air quality co-benefits of energy intensity policies delivered by a fixed policy design.

FaPOD27 functions in the metabolism of polyphenols in strawberry fruit (Fragaria sp.)

PubMed Central

Yeh, Su-Ying; Huang, Fong-Chin; Hoffmann, Thomas; Mayershofer, Mechthild; Schwab, Wilfried

2014-01-01

The strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) is one of the most preferred fresh fruit worldwide, accumulates numerous flavonoids but has limited shelf life due to excessive tissue softening caused by cell wall degradation. Since lignin is one of the polymers that strengthen plant cell walls and might contribute to some extent to fruit firmness monolignol biosynthesis was studied in strawberry fruit. Cinnamoyl-CoA reductase (CCR), cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD), and a peroxidase (POD27) gene were strongly expressed in red, ripe fruit whereas a second POD gene was primarily expressed in green, immature fruit. Moreover, FaPOD27 transcripts were strongly and constitutively induced in fruits exposed to Agrobacterium infection. Gene expression levels and enzymatic activities of FaCCR and FaCAD were efficiently suppressed through RNAi in FaCCR- and FaCAD-silenced strawberries. Besides, significantly elevated FaPOD transcript levels were detected after agroinfiltration of pBI-FaPOD constructs in fruits. At the same time, levels of G-monomers were considerably reduced in FaCCR-silenced fruits whereas the proportion of both G- and S-monomers decisively decreased in FaCAD-silenced and pBI-FaPOD fruits. Development, firmness, and lignin level of the treated fruits were similar to pBI-intron control fruits, presumably attributed to increased expression levels of FaPOD27 upon agroinfiltration. Additionally, enhanced firmness, accompanied with elevated lignin levels, was revealed in chalcone synthase-deficient fruits (CHS−), independent of down- or up-regulation of individual and combined FaCCR. FaCAD, and FaPOD genes by agroinfiltration, when compared to CHS−/pBI-intron control fruits. These approaches provide further insight into the genetic control of flavonoid and lignin synthesis in strawberries. The results suggest that FaPOD27 is a key gene for lignin biosynthesis in strawberry fruit and thus to improving the firmness of strawberries. PMID:25346738

Fresh pasta quality as affected by enrichment of nonstarch polysaccharides.

PubMed

Brennan, C S; Tudorica, C M

2007-11-01

Nonstarch polysaccharides (NSPs), both soluble and insoluble, were added to pasta doughs at levels of 2.5%, 5%, 7.5%, and 10% levels. The cooking and textural characteristics of the pastas were evaluated using a range of analytical techniques. Generally, NSP addition was found to increase the cooking losses, and reduce the protein and starch contents of the pasta. This effect was dependent on the level of NSP added and also the type (soluble or insoluble). Pasta firmness was generally reduced in relation to the level of NSP addition, although some gel-forming NSPs resulted in higher firmness values. Pasta stickiness, adhesiveness, and elasticity were also affected. The results indicate that careful selection of NSP addition is needed to ensure optimum textural and cooking characteristics in NSP enriched pasta products.

A generalized preferential attachment model for business firms growth rates. I. Empirical evidence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pammolli, F.; Fu, D.; Buldyrev, S. V.; Riccaboni, M.; Matia, K.; Yamasaki, K.; Stanley, H. E.

2007-05-01

We introduce a model of proportional growth to explain the distribution P(g) of business firm growth rates. The model predicts that P(g) is Laplace in the central part and depicts an asymptotic power-law behavior in the tails with an exponent ζ = 3. Because of data limitations, previous studies in this field have been focusing exclusively on the Laplace shape of the body of the distribution. We test the model at different levels of aggregation in the economy, from products, to firms, to countries, and we find that the predictions are in good agreement with empirical evidence on both growth distributions and size-variance relationships.

From the Cover: The growth of business firms: Theoretical framework and empirical evidence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Dongfeng; Pammolli, Fabio; Buldyrev, S. V.; Riccaboni, Massimo; Matia, Kaushik; Yamasaki, Kazuko; Stanley, H. Eugene

2005-12-01

We introduce a model of proportional growth to explain the distribution Pg(g) of business-firm growth rates. The model predicts that Pg(g) is exponential in the central part and depicts an asymptotic power-law behavior in the tails with an exponent = 3. Because of data limitations, previous studies in this field have been focusing exclusively on the Laplace shape of the body of the distribution. In this article, we test the model at different levels of aggregation in the economy, from products to firms to countries, and we find that the predictions of the model agree with empirical growth distributions and size-variance relationships. proportional growth | preferential attachment | Laplace distribution

Prisoners of liberation: a psychoanalytic perspective on disenchantment and burnout among career women lawyers.

PubMed

Berger, B

2000-05-01

Using a psychoanalytic perspective, this article addresses the roots and treatment of disillusionment and incipient burnout in female corporate lawyers. It suggests that one of the primary issues that needs to be addressed in therapy with this group is the tendency to be self-punishing, a characteristic that often may be traced back to insensitive parenting. This formulation, combined with the penchant of law firms to regard as "good and expected" the inclination of their workers (especially women) to work without respite and with little regard for their own needs, places individuals at high risk for burnout. A case example is used to illustrate this phenomenon. It is concluded that whereas psychoanalytic treatment greatly may help overstressed professionals, society at large must address the values that foster the attitude of high career achievement at any cost.

A guide to understanding the variation in premiums in rural health insurance marketplaces.

PubMed

Barker, Abigail R; McBride, Timothy D; Kemper, Leah M; Mueller, Keith

2014-05-01

Key Findings. (1) State-level decisions in implementing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) have led to significant state variation in the design of Health Insurance Marketplace (HIM) rating areas. In some designs, rural counties are grouped together, while in others, rural and urban counties have been deliberately mixed. (2) Urban counties have, on average, approximately one more firm participating in the marketplaces, representing about 11 more plan offerings, than rural counties have. (3) The highest-valued "platinum" plan types are less likely to be available in rural areas. Thus, the overall mix of plan types should be factored into the reporting of average premiums. (4) Levels of competition are likely to have a greater impact on the decisions of firms considering whether to operate in higher-cost areas or not, as those firms must determine how they can pass such costs on to consumers, conditional on the market share they are likely to control.

Coexistence Possibility of Biomass Industries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jingchun, Sun; Junhu, Hou

This research aims to shed light on the mechanism of agricultural biomass material competition between the power generation and straw pulp industries and the impact on their coexistence. A two-stage game model is established to analyze including factors such as unit transportation cost, and profit spaces for the firms. The participants in the competition are a biomass supplier, a power plant and a straw pulp plant. From the industrial economics perspective, our analysis shows that raw material competition will bring about low coexistence possibility of the two industries based on agricultural residues in a circular collection area.

The Paradox of "Structured" Methods for Software Requirements Management: A Case Study of an e-Government Development Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Conboy, Kieran; Lang, Michael

This chapter outlines the alternative perspectives of "rationalism" and "improvisation" within information systems development and describes the major shortcomings of each. It then discusses how these shortcomings manifested themselves within an e-government case study where a "structured" requirements management method was employed. Although this method was very prescriptive and firmly rooted in the "rational" paradigm, it was observed that users often resorted to improvised behaviour, such as privately making decisions on how certain aspects of the method should or should not be implemented.

Turbulent mixing and beyond: non-equilibrium processes from atomistic to astrophysical scales II

PubMed Central

Abarzhi, S. I.; Gauthier, S.; Sreenivasan, K. R.

2013-01-01

This Introduction summarizes and provides a perspective on the papers representing one of the key themes of the ‘Turbulent mixing and beyond’ programme—the hydrodynamic instabilities of the Rayleigh–Taylor (RT) and Richtmyer–Meshkov (RM) type and their applications in nature and technology. The collection is intended to present the reader a balanced overview of the theoretical, experimental and numerical studies of the subject and to assess what is firm in our knowledge of the RT and RM turbulent mixing. PMID:24146016

Determinants of FDI Localization in China: A County-Level Analysis for the Pharmaceutical Industry.

PubMed

Li, Su; Angelino, Antonio; Yin, Haitao; Spigarelli, Francesca

2017-08-30

Foreign direct investments (FDIs) have been widely recognized as a crucial feature of the Chinese industrial development process. Over the past decades, China has been attracting huge amounts of inward FDIs as a consequence of both spontaneous market dynamics and place-based preferential policies at the sub-national level. However, the Chinese market exhibits large dissimilarities in terms of FDI localization across territories that are worth investigating at a more disaggregated level. In this regards, our study explores the determinants of attraction of inward FDIs in China, at the county level. It focuses on the pharmaceutical industry and attempts to assess whether factors related to location advantages, agglomeration dynamics, information cost effects and environmental regulation costs affect foreign firms' localization choices as well as invested amounts in that location. By means of discrete choice models, our paper confirms the findings of the prevalent literature about the positive effects of location advantages on pharmaceutical FDI attraction. Different from our expectations, a higher proportion of foreign enterprises do not stimulate significant effects on FDI localization, while preferential policies and sectoral agglomeration are positively correlated with the localization of pharmaceutical foreign firms. Finally, our results suggest that investing firms tend to avoid areas with strict environment regulation.

Neuroscience Evidence for Economic Humanism in Management Science: Organizational Implications and Strategy.

PubMed

Lattanzi, Nicola; Menicagli, Dario; Dal Maso, Lorenzo

2016-04-01

Globalization phenomena and Information Communication Technology (ICT) are producing deep changes worldwide. The economic environment and society where firms both cooperate and compete with each other are rapidly changing leading firms towards recognizing the role of intangible resources as a source of fresh competitive advantage. Experience, innovation and the ability to create new knowledge completely arise from the act of human resources inviting firms to focus on how to generate and shape knowledge. Therefore, the future of firms depends greatly on how managers are able to explore and exploit human resources. However, without a clear understanding of the nature of human beings and the complexity behind human interactions, we cannot understand the theory of organizational knowledge creation. Thus, how can firms discover, manage and valorize this "human advantage"? Neuroscience can increase the understanding of how cognitive and emotional processes work; in doing so, we may be able to better understand how individuals involved in a business organization make decisions and how external factors influence their behavior, especially in terms of commitment activation and engagement level. In this respect, a neuroscientific approach to business can support managers in decision-making processes. In a scenario where economic humanism plays a central role in the process of fostering firms' competitiveness and emerging strategies, we believe that a neuroscience approach in a business organization could be a valid source of value and inspiration for manager decision-making processes.

Financial risk of the biotech industry versus the pharmaceutical industry.

PubMed

Golec, Joseph; Vernon, John A

2009-01-01

The biotech industry now accounts for a substantial and growing proportion of total R&D spending on new medicines. However, compared with the pharmaceutical industry, the biotech industry is financially fragile. This article illustrates the financial fragility of the biotech and pharmaceutical industries in the US and the implications of this fragility for the effects that government regulation could have on biotech firms. Graphical analysis and statistical tests were used to show how the biotech industry differs from the pharmaceutical industry. The two industries' characteristics were measured and compared, along with various measures of firms' financial risk and sensitivity to government regulation. Data from firms' financial statements provided accounting-based measures and firms' stock returns applied to a multifactor asset pricing model provided financial market measures. The biotech industry was by far the most research-intensive industry in the US, averaging 38% R&D intensity (ratio of R&D spending to total firm assets) over the past 25 years, compared with an average of 25% for the pharmaceutical industry and 3% for all other industries. Biotech firms exhibited lower and more volatile profits and higher market-related and size-related risk, and they suffered more negative stock returns in response to threatened government price regulation. Biotech firms' financial risks increase their costs of capital and make them more sensitive to government regulations that affect their financial prospects. As biotech products grow to represent a larger share of new medicines, general stock market conditions and government regulations could have a greater impact on the level of innovation of new medicines.

Investor Behavior and Flow-through Capability in the US Stock Market

PubMed Central

Cano, Carlos; Jareño, Francisco; Tolentino, Marta

2016-01-01

This paper analyzes investor behavior depending on the flow-through capability (FTC) in the US stock market, because investors seek protection from inflation rate changes, and the FTC (a firm's ability to transmit inflation shocks to the prices of its products and services) is a key factor in investment decisions. Our estimates of the FTC of firms listed on the US stock exchange at the sector level are significantly different among industries, and we demonstrate a direct relationship between changes in stock prices (at the sector level) and FTC. These results would be relevant because they have important implications on investor behavior. PMID:27242585

Investor Behavior and Flow-through Capability in the US Stock Market.

PubMed

Cano, Carlos; Jareño, Francisco; Tolentino, Marta

2016-01-01

This paper analyzes investor behavior depending on the flow-through capability (FTC) in the US stock market, because investors seek protection from inflation rate changes, and the FTC (a firm's ability to transmit inflation shocks to the prices of its products and services) is a key factor in investment decisions. Our estimates of the FTC of firms listed on the US stock exchange at the sector level are significantly different among industries, and we demonstrate a direct relationship between changes in stock prices (at the sector level) and FTC. These results would be relevant because they have important implications on investor behavior.

Quality choice in Medicaid markets. The case of nursing homes.

PubMed

McKay, N L

1989-01-01

This article examines whether private patients, who typically pay a price higher than the Medicaid reimbursement rate, receive the same or higher quality services than Medicaid patients in the same health care facility. Because the mix of patients will affect the firm's cost only when Medicaid and private patients receive different levels of quality, the cost function can be used to test for the presence of quality differences. Estimates of a cost function for Texas nursing home in 1983 indicate that the mix of patients does not affect the firm's cost. Thus, private and Medicaid patients in the same nursing home receive the same level of quality.

Gender differences on the job satisfaction in the phase of implementing advanced manufacturing technology in the Chinese manufacturing firms.

PubMed

Yu, Na; Shen, Li Ming; Lewark, Siegfried

2012-01-01

This research gave an effort to study on gender differences in the job satisfaction for technological innovation at Chinese manufacturing firm. The exploratory study was conducted in four Chinese furniture manufacturing firms, which are all in the phases of introducing advanced manufacturing system. The results of statistical analysis show that general satisfaction of female employees to their jobs is significantly higher than male employees. In addition, supervisory satisfaction of female employees is significantly higher than male employees. The findings of the study reveal that activities are suggested to be carried out to increase the job satisfaction of male employees, especially improve communication and relationship between the managerial and the non-managerial levels in the innovation process. In addition, the higher job satisfaction of female employees could be considered a positive factor for the successful implementation of AMT in the technological innovation, although male employees are still dominated work force in the case study firms.

Regulation of international energy markets: Economic effects of political actions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shcherbakova, Anastasia V.

Recent increases in volatility of energy prices have led many governments to reevaluate their regard of national energy reserves and reconsider future exploration, production, and consumption patterns. The flurry of activity that has been generated by such price volatility has included large-scale nationalizations of energy sectors, unilateral renegotiations of foreign energy development contracts, and expropriations of resources from foreign energy firms on one hand, and on the other hand more rapid energy sector liberalization, intensified search for and development of renewable fuels and technologies, and development of incentives for increased energy efficiency and conservation. The aim of this dissertation is to examine and quantify the extent of positive and negative effects that have resulted from some of these activities. The first chapter focuses on quantifying the effect that nationalistic sentiment has had on economic attractiveness of energy sectors during the decade prior to the recent global economic crisis, as measured by foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows. Empirical results demonstrate that both political and economic conditions play an important role in investors' decisions. A combination of investment friendliness, corruption levels, and democracy all help to explain the trends in energy-sector investment levels over time in my sample countries, although differences in the types of corruption existing in these nations do not. Investment levels, in turn, appear to influence future levels of oil production, underscoring the significance of good investment policies for future success of energy sectors. Chapter two considers the response of energy stock prices to severe regulatory actions. It employs an event study framework to examine causal effects of critical informational announcements (i.e. events of expropriation and nationalization) on daily returns and cumulative losses in firm value of energy corporations. Results show that a firm's participation in a regulated market results in an average decline in its stock returns of up to 50 basis points per day, and a cumulative loss of more than 3.5% of its market value. Negative shocks to securities returns persist for at least two months. Participation in a regulated market, however, is not always unfavorable, as involved firms not directly targeted by regulatory action appear to gain sizable risk premiums. Additional evidence suggests that, although there is no direct linear relationship between firm size and effect magnitude, large firms tend to be hurt more in the short term, while small firms suffer bigger declines in returns over a longer time period. The last chapter turns to global electricity sectors to examine the development of Demand Response (DR) programs, which have become popular means of addressing the sector's central market failure of pricing below marginal generation cost. DR programs incorporate demand signals into retail electricity rates, and have the potential to effectively and inexpensively improve grid reliability and increase end-use efficiency. However, DR faces many challenges, arguably the most important of which is a general lack of information among consumers regarding usage levels and existence of alternative providers and rate plans. Financial considerations, lack of access to technological infrastructure, and misaligned producer incentives also play an important role in DR's limited success.

Evaluating firms' R&D performance using best worst method.

PubMed

Salimi, Negin; Rezaei, Jafar

2018-02-01

Since research and development (R&D) is the most critical determinant of the productivity, growth and competitive advantage of firms, measuring R&D performance has become the core of attention of R&D managers, and an extensive body of literature has examined and identified different R&D measurements and determinants of R&D performance. However, measuring R&D performance and assigning the same level of importance to different R&D measures, which is the common approach in existing studies, can oversimplify the R&D measuring process, which may result in misinterpretation of the performance and consequently fallacy R&D strategies. The aim of this study is to measure R&D performance taking into account the different levels of importance of R&D measures, using a multi-criteria decision-making method called Best Worst Method (BWM) to identify the weights (importance) of R&D measures and measure the R&D performance of 50 high-tech SMEs in the Netherlands using the data gathered in a survey among SMEs and from R&D experts. The results show how assigning different weights to different R&D measures (in contrast to simple mean) results in a different ranking of the firms and allow R&D managers to formulate more effective strategies to improve their firm's R&D performance by applying knowledge regarding the importance of different R&D measures. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Theoretical and clinical perspectives of client stalking behavior.

PubMed

Laskowski, Cheryl

2003-11-01

This article applies theoretical perspectives of client stalking behavior to vignettes of clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) who have experienced stalking incidents. A description of stalking behavior, estimations of the frequency of stalking behavior, characteristics of stalkers, and the impact of stalking on victims are addressed. Health care professionals, including CNSs, may inadvertently become victims of stalking behavior. Firm and clear boundary setting is important in all CNS-client relationships. CNSs who believe that they are becoming the objects of attention for particular individuals are advised to convey a clear message that they have no interest in the development of such a relationship. In this article CNS responses to actual client stalking behavior, including confrontation by the CNS, police involvement, restraining orders, and use of the CNS's attorney, are explored. The use of clinical consultation and the need for agencies to develop safety plans for all employees are also addressed.

Corporate sustainability: the environmental design and human resource management interface in healthcare settings.

PubMed

Sadatsafavi, Hessam; Walewski, John

2013-01-01

Purpose of the Paper: The purpose of this study is to provide healthcare organizations with a new perspective for developing strategies to enrich their human resource capabilities and improve their performance outcomes. The focus of this study is on leveraging the synergy between organizational management strategies and environmental design interventions. This paper proposes a framework for linking the built environment with the human resource management system of healthcare organizations. The framework focuses on the impact of the built environment regarding job attitudes and behaviors of healthcare workers. Research from the disciplines of strategic human resource management, resource-based view of firms, evidence-based design, and green building are utilized to develop the framework. The positive influence of human resource practices on job attitudes and behaviors of employees is one mechanism to improve organizational performance outcomes. Organizational psychologists suggest that human resource practices are effective because they convey that the organization values employee contributions and cares about their well-being. Attention to employee socio-emotional needs can be reciprocated with higher levels of motivation and commitment toward the organization. In line with these findings, healthcare environmental studies imply that physical settings and features can have a positive influence on job attitudes and the behavior of caregivers by providing for their physical and socio-emotional needs. Adding the physical environment as a complementary resource to the array of human resource practices creates synergy in improving caregivers' job attitudes and behaviors and enhances the human capital of healthcare firms. Staff, evidence-based design, interdisciplinary, modeling, perceived organizational supportPreferred Citation: Sadatsafavi, H., & Walewski, J. (2013). Corporate sustainability: The environmental design and human resource management interface in healthcare settings. Health Environments Research & Design Journal 6(2), pp 98-118.

An analysis of the field service function of selected electronics firms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hull, Dennis Lee

For the purposes of this study, field service was defined as the function concerned with the servicing and maintaining, by the manufacturer or supplier, of products (usually owned by customers) used away from the manufacturer's or supplier's site. Field service is an important component of the service sector and of customer service. Field service availability and quality of this service are increasingly being used by customers as a means of product selection. Many companies have recognized this trend and have identified field service as a competitive edge. A review of the field service literature and discussions with field service consultants and professionals indicated a lack of field service research--more specifically, a systems analysis of the area was lacking. The purpose of this research was to examine, utilizing a systems perspective, the field service practices of leading electronics firms in order to develop field service management propositions (empirical generalizations) and a prescriptive model of best practice. The electronics industry was selected due to the critical relation of service-based competition to company profitability.

The Impact of Price-cap Regulations on Exit by Generic Pharmaceutical Firms.

PubMed

Zhang, Wei; Guh, Daphne; Sun, Huiying; Marra, Carlo A; Lynd, Larry D; Anis, Aslam H

2016-09-01

In 1998, the Province of Ontario in Canada adopted price-cap "70/90" regulations whereby the first generic entrant was required to be priced at ≤70% of the associated brand-name product and subsequent generics were priced at ≤90% of the first generic price. The price-caps were further lowered to 50% in 2006 and 25% in 2010. This study assessed the impact of such price-cap regulations on exit by generic drug firms. Formulary (2003-2012) listings of prescription drugs covered under the Ontario Drug Benefit program were used. The formulary tracks the "status" (on formulary, discontinued by manufacturer, and delisted for other reasons) for each drug. Markets were defined based on unique active ingredient and form within Ontario. Firm exit occurred when a manufacturer discontinued all its generic drugs within a market. The exit rate was defined as the number of generic firm-market exits divided by total generic firm-market follow-up years. Poisson regression was used to compare the exit rates during the 3 policy periods ("25," "50," and "70/90"). A total of 1126 generic manufacturers paired with 290 markets were identified. The exit rate ratio during the 25% price-cap period compared with the 70%/90% period was 2.42 (95% confidence interval, 1.56-3.77). A small manufacturer or a manufacturer in a market with ≥3 competitors or in an older market was more likely to exit. Lowering the price-cap level is associated with a higher incidence of generic firm exit from markets. Continuously reducing price-caps may have the unintended consequence of forcing generic firms to exit.

Descriptive analysis and early-stage consumer acceptance of yogurts fermented with carrot juice.

PubMed

Cliff, M A; Fan, L; Sanford, K; Stanich, K; Doucette, C; Raymond, N

2013-07-01

This research explored the sensory characteristics and consumer acceptance of novel probiotic unsweetened yogurts. Yogurts were made with 4 carrot juice levels (8, 16, 24, and 32%), 2 firmness levels (regular, 45g/L milk solids; firm, 90g/L milk solids), and 2 starter cultures (C1, C2). The sensory profile characterized the color intensity (before and after stirring), carrot flavor, sourness, and 7 texture/mouth-feel attributes (astringency, chalkiness, mouth-coating, thickness, smoothness, creaminess, and graininess). The influence of carrot juice level and firmness level were evaluated using ANOVA, polynomial contrasts, and principal component analysis. Mean scores and standard errors were calculated. Consumer acceptance panels in Wolfville, Nova Scotia (n=56), and in Vancouver, British Columbia (Asian n=72, non-Asian n=72), evaluated the hedonic responses to the C1 and C2 formulations, respectively. We observed increases in color intensity, carrot flavor, creaminess, mouth-coating, and chalkiness with increasing carrot juice levels, as well as increases in color intensity, carrot flavor, creaminess, mouth-coating, thickness, and astringency with increasing milk solids concentrations of the C1 and C2 yogurts. Mean hedonic scores for color, appearance, and texture/mouth-feel were greater than hedonic scores for aroma, flavor/taste, and overall liking. This research identified the sensory qualities that need further development and demonstrated the importance of early-stage consumer acceptance research for directing new product development. Copyright © 2013 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Diversification versus specialization in complex ecosystems.

PubMed

Di Clemente, Riccardo; Chiarotti, Guido L; Cristelli, Matthieu; Tacchella, Andrea; Pietronero, Luciano

2014-01-01

By analyzing the distribution of revenues across the production sectors of quoted firms we suggest a novel dimension that drives the firms diversification process at country level. Data show a non trivial macro regional clustering of the diversification process, which underlines the relevance of geopolitical environments in determining the microscopic dynamics of economic entities. These findings demonstrate the possibility of singling out in complex ecosystems those micro-features that emerge at macro-levels, which could be of particular relevance for decision-makers in selecting the appropriate parameters to be acted upon in order to achieve desirable results. The understanding of this micro-macro information exchange is further deepened through the introduction of a simplified dynamic model.

Diversification versus Specialization in Complex Ecosystems

PubMed Central

Di Clemente, Riccardo; Chiarotti, Guido L.; Cristelli, Matthieu; Tacchella, Andrea; Pietronero, Luciano

2014-01-01

By analyzing the distribution of revenues across the production sectors of quoted firms we suggest a novel dimension that drives the firms diversification process at country level. Data show a non trivial macro regional clustering of the diversification process, which underlines the relevance of geopolitical environments in determining the microscopic dynamics of economic entities. These findings demonstrate the possibility of singling out in complex ecosystems those micro-features that emerge at macro-levels, which could be of particular relevance for decision-makers in selecting the appropriate parameters to be acted upon in order to achieve desirable results. The understanding of this micro-macro information exchange is further deepened through the introduction of a simplified dynamic model. PMID:25384059

Attachment to God, religious tradition, and firm attributes in workplace commitment.

PubMed

Kent, Blake Victor

2017-01-01

Research on organizational commitment suggests there is an association between American theists' emotional attachment to God and their emotional commitment to the workplace. A sense of divine calling has been shown to partially mediate this association but, beyond that, little is known. The purpose of this study is to shed further light on the relationship between secure attachment to God and affective organizational commitment. I do so by testing whether the employee's religious tradition is associated with affective organizational commitment and whether the employee's firm attributes moderate the relationship between attachment to God and organizational commitment. Results suggest that: 1) Catholics evince higher levels of organizational commitment than Evangelicals, and 2) firm size significantly moderates the relationship between attachment to God and organizational commitment across religious affiliations.

Realising the Real Benefits of Outsourcing: Measurement Excellence and Its Importance in Achieving Long Term Value

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oshri, Ilan; Kotlarsky, Julia

These days firms are, more than ever, pressed to demonstrate returns on their investment in outsourcing. While the initial returns can always be associated with one-off cost cutting, outsourcing arrangements are complex, often involving inter-related high-value activities, which makes the realisation of long-term benefits from outsourcing ever more challenging. Executives in client firms are no longer satisfied with the same level of service delivery through the outsourcing lifecycle. They seek to achieve business transformation and innovation in their present and future services, beyond satisfying service level agreements (SLAs). Clearly the business world is facing a new challenge: an outsourcing delivery system of high-value activities that demonstrates value over time and across business functions. However, despite such expectations, many client firms are in the dark when trying to measure and quantify the return on outsourcing investments: results of this research show that less than half of all CIOs and CFOs (43%) have attempted to calculate the financial impact of outsourcing to their bottom line, indicating that the financial benefits are difficult to quantify (51%).

Limitations of and Barriers to Using Performance Measurement: Purchasers' Perspectives

PubMed Central

Ginsberg, Caren; Sheridan, Samantha

2001-01-01

Although health plan performance data are becoming increasingly more available, many purchasers are still not using these data to make their purchasing decisions. In this article, we review barriers that private purchasers face to using performance data. In addition, we consider the effects of the larger health care purchasing environment and employers' quality improvement activities on their use of the data. We conclude that a variety of factors, including trends, the health care purchasing environment, characteristics of firms, and problems with performance data and their presentation to users create barriers to incorporating this information into health care decisionmaking. PMID:25372184

Growth and innovation in medical devices: a conversation with Stryker chairman John Brown. Interview by Lawton R. Burns.

PubMed

Brown, John

2007-01-01

John Brown, current chairman and past chief executive officer (CEO) of the Stryker Corporation, reviews the development of his device firm and the medical device industry over the past thirty years. Brown describes the trajectory of innovation in medical devices and the managerial and organizational strategy he pioneered at Stryker to achieve consistently high growth rates over the long term. He also shares his perspective on some of the current policy issues facing the device industry today, including product safety, conflicts of interest, rising product prices, and direct-to-consumer advertising.

Massachusetts health reform: employer coverage from employees' perspective.

PubMed

Long, Sharon K; Stockley, Karen

2009-01-01

The national health reform debate continues to draw on Massachusetts' 2006 reform initiative, with a focus on sustaining employer-sponsored insurance. This study provides an update on employers' responses under health reform in fall 2008, using data from surveys of working-age adults. Results show that concerns about employers' dropping coverage or scaling back benefits under health reform have not been realized. Access to employer coverage has increased, as has the scope and quality of their coverage as assessed by workers. However, premiums and out-of-pocket costs have become more of an issue for employees in small firms.

Study of Systemic Risk Involved in Mutual Funds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dash, Kishore C.; Dash, Monika

Systemic risk, may be defined as the risk that contaminates to the whole system, consisting of many interacting agents that fail one after another. These agents, in an economic context, could be firms, banks, funds, or other financial institutions. Systemic risk is a macroscopic property of a system which emerges due to the nonlinear interaction of agents on a microscopic level. A stock market itself is a system in which there are many sub-systems, like Dowjones, Nifty, Sensex, Nasdaq, Nikkei and other market indices in global perspective. In Indian market, subsystems may be like Sensex, Nifty, BSE200, Bankex, smallcap index, midcap index, S&P CNX 500 and many others. Similarly there are many mutual funds, which have their own portfolio of different stocks, bonds etc. We have attempted to study the systemic risk involved in a fund as a macroscopic object with regard to its microscopic components as different stocks in its portfolio. It is observed that fund managers do manage to reduce the systemic risk just like we take precautions to control the spread of an epidemic.

Using a Feedback Environment to Improve Creative Performance: A Dynamic Affect Perspective.

PubMed

Gong, Zhenxing; Zhang, Na

2017-01-01

Prior research on feedback and creative performance has neglected the dynamic nature of affect and has focused only on the influence of positive affect. We argue that creative performance is the result of a dynamic process in which a person experiences a phase of negative affect and subsequently enters a state of high positive affect that is influenced by the feedback environment. Hierarchical regression was used to analyze a sample of 264 employees from seven industry firms. The results indicate that employees' perceptions of a supportive supervisor feedback environment indirectly influence their level of creative performance through positive affect (t2); the negative affect (t1) moderates the relationship between positive affect (t2) and creative performance (t2), rendering the relationship more positive if negative affect (t1) is high. The change in positive affect mediates the relationship between the supervisor feedback environment and creative performance; a decrease in negative affect moderates the relationship between increased positive affect and creative performance, rendering the relationship more positive if the decrease in negative affect is large. The implications for improving the creative performances of employees are further discussed.

Wealth inequality and health: a political economy perspective.

PubMed

Nowatzki, Nadine R

2012-01-01

Despite a plethora of studies on income inequality and health, researchers have been unable to make any firm conclusions as a result of methodological and theoretical limitations. Within this body of research, there has been a call for studies of wealth inequality and health. Wealth is far more unequally distributed than income and is conceptually unique from income. This paper discusses the results of bivariate cross-sectional analyses of the relationship between wealth inequality (Gini coefficient) and population health (life expectancy and infant mortality) in 14 wealthy countries. The results confirm that wealth inequality is associated with poor population health. Both unweighted and weighted correlations between wealth inequality and health are strong and significant, even after controlling for a variety of potential aggregate-level confounders, including gross domestic product per capita, and after excluding the United States, the most unequal country. The results are strongest for female life expectancy and infant mortality. The author outlines potential pathways through which wealth inequality might affect health, using specific countries to illustrate. The article concludes with policy recommendations that could contribute to a more equitable distribution of wealth and, ultimately, decreased health disparities.

Three essays in energy economics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Dae-Wook

Deregulation in electricity and natural gas market in an attempt to alleviate market power of privately owned utilities is widespread throughout the United States. Beginning with Gollop and Roberts (1979), a number of empirical studies have allowed the data to identify industry competition and marginal cost levels by estimating the firms' first order condition within a conjectural variations framework. The first chapter of my dissertation uses direct measures of marginal cost for the California electricity market to measure the extent to which estimated mark-ups and marginal costs are biased. My results suggest that the New Empirical Industrial Organization technique poorly estimates the level of mark-ups and the sensitivity of marginal cost to cost shifters. The second chapter takes advantage of the market structure of electricity and natural gas varies in the United States. The goal of the chapter is to analyze whether combined-billed residential households of electricity and natural gas firms face information costs associated with determining the portion of their monthly energy bill attributed to natural gas consumption and the portion attributed to electricity consumption. However, if households are unable to determine whether an increase in their energy bill is the result of an increase in the price of electricity or an increase in the price of natural gas, they act as if electricity and natural gas were complements. I find that own-price elasticities are smaller in absolute terms in combined-billed markets, while cross-price elasticities are more positive, compared to separate-billed markets; both of these results are consistent with the presence of information costs. In chapter 3, I provide an empirical evidence of the impact of variations in ownership, regulation and market structure on the electric and natural gas markets in the United States. My results suggest that the private firms in electricity markets are associated with higher prices than public firms. I further find that dual-product firms in the natural gas industry tend to charge less than single product firms. Finally, my results suggest that merger activities in natural gas markets are associated with higher rates after controlling cost and demand.

Strategic Sourcing of R&D: The Determinants of Success

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brook, Jacques W.; Plugge, Albert

The outsourcing of the R&D function is an emerging practice of corporate firms. In their attempt to reduce the increasing cost of research and technology development, firms are strategically outsourcing the R&D function or repositioning their internal R&D organisation. By doing so, they are able to benefit from other technology sources around the world. So far, there is only limited research on how firms develop their R&D sourcing strategies and how these strategies are implemented. This study aims to identify which determinants contribute to the success of R&D sourcing strategies. The results of our empirical research indicate that a clear vision of how to manage innovation strategically on a corporate level is a determinant of an effective R&D strategy. Moreover, our findings revealed that the R&D sourcing strategy influences a firm's sourcing capabilities. These sourcing capabilities need to be developed to manage the demand as well as the supply of R&D services. The alignment between the demand capabilities and the supply capabilities contributes to the success of R&D sourcing.

Developing a validation for environmental sustainability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adewale, Bamgbade Jibril; Mohammed, Kamaruddeen Ahmed; Nawi, Mohd Nasrun Mohd; Aziz, Zulkifli

2016-08-01

One of the agendas for addressing environmental protection in construction is to reduce impacts and make the construction activities more sustainable. This important consideration has generated several research interests within the construction industry, especially considering the construction damaging effects on the ecosystem, such as various forms of environmental pollution, resource depletion and biodiversity loss on a global scale. Using Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling technique, this study validates environmental sustainability (ES) construct in the context of large construction firms in Malaysia. A cross-sectional survey was carried out where data was collected from Malaysian large construction firms using a structured questionnaire. Results of this study revealed that business innovativeness and new technology are important in determining environmental sustainability (ES) of the Malaysian construction firms. It also established an adequate level of internal consistency reliability, convergent validity and discriminant validity for each of this study's constructs. And based on this result, it could be suggested that the indicators for organisational innovativeness dimensions (business innovativeness and new technology) are useful to measure these constructs in order to study construction firms' tendency to adopt environmental sustainability (ES) in their project execution.

The Bottom Line: Performance Measurement in a Corporate Library.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McAllister, Moyra

This paper discusses performance measurement in the Blake Dawson Waldron (BDW) law firm, a partnership with five offices in Australia, as well as a number overseas. Three levels of performance measurement are described: (1) personal level--through annual performance appraisals; (2) team level--the annual team meeting; and (3) service…

In vitro evaluation of the effect of haemodilution with dextran 40 on coagulation profile as measured by thromboelastometry and multiple electrode aggregometry.

PubMed

Kam, Pca; Liou, Jpc; Yang, Kxf

2017-09-01

We evaluated the effects of haemodilution with either dextran 40 or 0.9% normal saline on coagulation in vitro using rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM®, Pentapharm Co., Munich, Germany) and multiple electrode aggregometry (Multiplate® Platelet Function Analyser, Dynabyte, Munich, Germany). Venous blood samples obtained from 20 healthy volunteers were diluted in vitro with dextran 40 or normal saline by 5%, 10% and 15%. Fibrinogen concentration, ROTEM-EXTEM® (screening test for the extrinsic coagulation pathway), FIBTEM® (an EXTEM-based assay of the fibrin component of clot) parameters including coagulation time, clot formation time, alpha angle, maximum clot firmness and lysis index were measured in the undiluted sample and at each level of haemodilution. Dextran 40 at 15% haemodilution significantly prolonged coagulation time, clot formation time and significantly decreased the alpha angle and maximal clot firmness (EXTEM amplitude at five minutes [A5] and ten minutes [A10]) compared with normal saline. The FIBTEM assay (maximal clot firmness and FIBTEM A5 and A10) showed a marked decrease in maximal clot firmness at all dilutions suggesting impaired fibrinogen activity and a risk of bleeding. Multiple electrode aggregometry did not demonstrate any platelet dysfunction. Haemodilution with dextran 40 causes significant impairment in clot formation and strength compared to saline haemodilution and undiluted blood. At the levels of in vitro haemodilution designed to reflect the clinical use of dextran infusions, no significant fibrinolysis or platelet inhibition was observed.

Enhancing technological innovation in small firms: Role of collaboration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, D.; Khamba, J. S.; Nanda, T.

2014-07-01

Contribution of Micro-Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) is highly remarkable in the overall industrial economy of the country. In recent years, the MSME sector has consistently registered higher growth rate compared to the overall industrial sector. With its agility and dynamism, the sector has shown admirable innovativeness and adaptability to survive the recent economic downturn and recession. However, MSMEs growth rate is still at low level. Therefore, it becomes essential for organizations to adopt new technologies or upgrade existing setup to meet continuously changing global market and fulfill customer needs. This paper explores the relationships between different collaboration networks and technological innovation of small firms through an extensive review of literature. The study finds that collaboration with larger enterprises, R&D institutions, universities and government agencies play a significant role in enhancing technological innovation in small firms.

The effect of information technology investment on firm-level performance in the health care industry.

PubMed

Thouin, Mark F; Hoffman, James J; Ford, Eric W

2008-01-01

The return on investment for information technology (IT) has been the subject of much debate throughout the history of management information systems research. Often referred to as the productivity paradox, increased IT investments have not been consistently associated with increased productivity. Understanding individual IT factors that directly contribute to business value should provide insight into the productivity paradox. The effects of 3 different firm-level IT characteristics on financial performance in the health care industry are studied. Specifically, the effects of IT budget, IT outsourcing, and the relative number of IT personnel on firm-level financial performance are analyzed. Regression analysis of archival survey data for 914 Integrated Healthcare Delivery Systems is performed. IT budgetary expenditures and the number of IT services outsourced are associated with increases in the profitability of Integrated Healthcare Delivery Systems, whereas increases in IT personnel are not significantly associated with increased profitability. Each one tenth of a percentage increase in IT expenditures is associated with approximately $100,000 in increased profit, and each additional IT service outsourced is associated with approximately $950,000 in increased profit for an average-sized Integrated Healthcare Delivery System. To increase profitability, IT administrators should increase IT budgetary expenditures along with IT outsourcing levels. IT administrators in the health care industry can use such findings during budgeting cycles to justify increased investments in IT personnel as being budget neutral while increasing organizational capacity.

What Small Firms Look for in New-Graduate Candidates.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pritchard, Constance J.; Fidler, Paul P.

1993-01-01

Surveyed 171 small organizations that employed professional-level staff to examine what managers of small organizations value in professional-level employees and how they recruit potential employees. Most frequent recruitment methods included personal referrals, classified ads, and referrals from current employees. (NB)

Vascular surgery is an unattractive career option for current basic surgical trainees: a regional perspective.

PubMed

Currie, S; Coughlin, P A; Bhasker, S; Hossain, J; Irvine, C D; Curley, P J

2007-11-01

The workload of vascular services will substantially increase in the foreseeable future with the recent changes in surgical training presenting a challenge to training and recruitment in vascular surgery. This study aimed to determine the current feelings towards vascular surgery as a career choice from basic surgical trainees (BSTs) within a single region. BSTs from a single region were questioned. Probable career specialty choice was ascertained, as were suggestions for changes to the career pathway of a vascular surgeon to make it a more attractive career choice. Seventy-seven of 110 BSTs returned the questionnaire. Of the 77, 52 had previous experience of a vascular firm. Ten BSTs had been on a pure vascular firm as an SHO and 52 had been on a general surgical firm. No BST specified vascular surgery as their ultimate career choice. Career choices included general surgery (n = 30), orthopaedics (n = 17), plastic surgery (n = 9) and urology (n = 5). Thirty-three BSTs would not be tempted at all to a career in vascular surgery. Changes in the career structure that would result in BSTs contemplating a career in vascular surgery included the inclusion of endovascular surgery (n = 13), no compulsion to undertake a period of research (n = 5), pure vascular training (n = 2), more general surgical training (n = 2) and less onerous on-calls when older (n = 2). The lack of trainees wishing to become vascular surgeons is of grave concern. Increasing the endovascular capabilities of vascular surgeons as well as altering the stance on research may have an increasingly positive role in recruitment.

Competition and equilibria in electricity markets based on two-settlement system: A conjectural variation approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Watts, David

This dissertation studies electricity markets based on two-settlement systems and applies the concept of conjectural variation (CV) as a tool for representing different levels of competitiveness in the market. Some recent theoretical works are addressed to support the use of CV as a solution concept. A notion of consistency is introduced to make the level of competitiveness of the market endogenous, and allows finding consistent CV equilibria and the corresponding conditions for existence of equilibria. First, a case is studied in which firms hold exogenous levels of forward commitments. Then, backward induction and sub-game perfection are used to solve sequentially for the spot and forward market equilibrium. This allows analyzing how firms take positions in the forward market, based on considering their later impact on the spot market. It is concluded that positions taken in the forward market depend largely on firms expectations about the competitiveness of both the spot and the forward market. Forward markets are welfare enhancing even if they are not as competitive as the associated spot market as long as they are not too oligopolistie. The above formulation is used to model a dynamic scenario to analyze market stability, linking this research to Dr. Alvarado's earlier research on market stability. This brings about interesting trade offs between market power and market stability.

Star scientists and institutional transformation: patterns of invention and innovation in the formation of the biotechnology industry.

PubMed

Zucker, L G; Darby, M R

1996-11-12

The most productive ("star") bioscientists had intellectual human capital of extraordinary scientific and pecuniary value for some 10-15 years after Cohen and Boyer's 1973 founding discovery for biotechnology [Cohen, S., Chang, A., Boyer, H. & Helling, R. (1973) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 70, 3240-3244]. This extraordinary value was due to the union of still scarce knowledge of the new research techniques and genius and vision to apply them in novel, valuable ways. As in other sciences, star bioscientists were very protective of their techniques, ideas, and discoveries in the early years of the revolution, tending to collaborate more within their own institution, which slowed diffusion to other scientists. Close, bench-level working ties between stars and firm scientists were needed to accomplish commercialization of the breakthroughs. Where and when star scientists were actively producing publications is a key predictor of where and when commercial firms began to use biotechnology. The extent of collaboration by a firm's scientists with stars is a powerful predictor of its success: for an average firm, 5 articles coauthored by an academic star and the firm's scientists result in about 5 more products in development, 3.5 more products on the market, and 860 more employees. Articles by stars collaborating with or employed by firms have significantly higher rates of citation than other articles by the same or other stars. The U.S. scientific and economic infrastructure has been particularly effective in fostering and commercializing the bioscientific revolution. These results let us see the process by which scientific breakthroughs become economic growth and consider implications for policy.

Self-insurance and worksite alcohol programs: an econometric analysis.

PubMed

Kenkel, D S

1997-03-01

The worksite is an important point of access for alcohol treatment and prevention, but not all firms are likely to find offering alcohol programs profitable. This study attempts to identify at a conceptual and empirical level factors that are important determinants of the profitability of worksite alcohol programs. A central question considered in the empirical analysis is whether firms' decisions about worksite alcohol programs are related to how employee group health insurance is provided. The data used are from the 1992 National Survey of Worksite Health Promotion Activities (N = 1,389-1,412). The econometric analysis focuses on measures of whether the surveyed firms offer Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs), individual counseling, group classes and resource materials regarding alcohol and other substance abuse. Holding other factors constant, the probability that a self-insured firm offers an EAP is estimated to be 59%, compared to 51% for a firm that purchases market group health insurance for its employees. Unionized worksites and larger worksites are also found to be more likely to offer worksite alcohol programs, compared to nonunionized smaller worksites. Worksites with younger work-forces are less likely than those with older employees to offer alcohol programs. The empirical results are consistent with the conceptual framework from labor economics, since self-insurance is expected to increase firms' demand for worksite alcohol programs while large worksite is expected to reduce the average program cost. The role of union status and workforce age suggests it is important to consider workers' preferences for the programs as fringe benefits. The results also suggest that the national trend towards self-insurance may be leading to more prevention and treatment of worker alcohol-related problems.

Essays in applied microeconomics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xiaoting

In this dissertation I use Microeconomic theory to study firms' behavior. Chapter One introduces the motivations and main findings of this dissertation. Chapter Two studies the issue of information provision through advertisement when markets are segmented and consumers' price information is incomplete. Firms compete in prices and advertising strategies for consumers with transportation costs. High advertising costs contribute to market segmentation. Low advertising costs promote price competition among firms and improves consumer welfare. Chapter Three also investigates market power as a result of consumers' switching costs. A potential entrant can offer a new product bundled with an existing product to compensate consumers for their switching cost. If the primary market is competitive, bundling simply plays the role of price discrimination, and it does not dominate unbundled sales in the process of entry. If the entrant has market power in the primary market, then bundling also plays the role of leveraging market power and it dominates unbundled sales. The market for electric power generation has been opened to competition in recent years. Chapter Four looks at issues involved in the deregulated electricity market. By comparing the performance of the competitive market with the social optimum, we identify the conditions under which market equilibrium generates socially efficient levels of electric power. Chapter Two to Four investigate the strategic behavior among firms. Chapter Five studies the interaction between firms and unemployed workers in a frictional labor market. We set up an asymmetric job auction model, where two types of workers apply for two types of job openings by bidding in auctions and firms hire the applicant offering them the most profits. The job auction model internalizes the determination of the share of surplus from a match, therefore endogenously generates incentives for an efficient division of the matching surplus. Microeconomic foundation for competitive auctions is also discussed in this chapter.

ERP and Four Dimensions of Absorptive Capacity: Lessons from a Developing Country

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gil, María José Álvarez; Aksoy, Dilan; Kulcsar, Borbala

Enterprise resource planning systems can grant crucial strategic, operational and information-based benefits to adopting firms when implemented successfully. However, a failed implementation can often result in financial losses rather than profits. Until now, the research on the failures and successes were focused on implementations in large manufacturing and service organizations firms located in western countries, particularly in USA. Nevertheless, IT has gained intense diffusion to developing countries through declining hardware costs and increasing benefits that merits attention as much as developed countries. The aim of this study is to examine the implications of knowledge transfer in a developing country, Turkey, as a paradigm in the knowledge society with a focus on the implementation activities that foster successful installations. We suggest that absorptive capacity is an important characteristic of a firm that explains the success level of such a knowledge transfer.

Measuring the gradualist approach to internationalization: Empirical evidence from the wine sector.

PubMed

Clavel San Emeterio, Mónica; Fernández-Ortiz, Rubén; Arteaga-Ortiz, Jesús; Dorta-González, Pablo

2018-01-01

The objective of this paper is to fill a gap in the literature on internationalization, in relation to the absence of objective and measurable performance indicators for the process of how firms sequentially enter external markets. To that end, this research develops a quantitative tool for use as a performance indicator of gradualness for firms entering external markets at a sectoral level. The performance indicator is based on firms' export volumes, number of years operating in the export market, geographic areas targeted for export and when exports began to each area. The indicator is tested empirically in the wine sector. The main contribution of this study is the creation of a reliable international priority index, which can serve more widely as a valuable tool because of its potential use in other industry sectors and geographic areas, and which would allow the analysis of how geographically differentiated internationalization strategies develop.

Risk Evaluation of Business Continuity Management by Using Green Technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gang, Chen

IT disasters can be seen as the test of the ability in communities and firms to effectively protect their information and infrastructure, to reduce both human and property loss, and to rapidly recover. In this paper, we use a literature meta-analysis method to identify potential research directions in Green Business Continuity Management (GBCM). The concept and characteristics of GBCM are discussed. We analysis the connotation and the sources of green technology risk. An assessment index system is established from the perspectives of GBCM. A fuzzy comprehensive assessment method is introduced to assess the risks of green technology in Business Continuity Management.

The aerodynamics and control of free flight manoeuvres in Drosophila.

PubMed

Dickinson, Michael H; Muijres, Florian T

2016-09-26

A firm understanding of how fruit flies hover has emerged over the past two decades, and recent work has focused on the aerodynamic, biomechanical and neurobiological mechanisms that enable them to manoeuvre and resist perturbations. In this review, we describe how flies manipulate wing movement to control their body motion during active manoeuvres, and how these actions are regulated by sensory feedback. We also discuss how the application of control theory is providing new insight into the logic and structure of the circuitry that underlies flight stability.This article is part of the themed issue 'Moving in a moving medium: new perspectives on flight'. © 2016 The Author(s).

The aerodynamics and control of free flight manoeuvres in Drosophila

PubMed Central

Muijres, Florian T.

2016-01-01

A firm understanding of how fruit flies hover has emerged over the past two decades, and recent work has focused on the aerodynamic, biomechanical and neurobiological mechanisms that enable them to manoeuvre and resist perturbations. In this review, we describe how flies manipulate wing movement to control their body motion during active manoeuvres, and how these actions are regulated by sensory feedback. We also discuss how the application of control theory is providing new insight into the logic and structure of the circuitry that underlies flight stability. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Moving in a moving medium: new perspectives on flight’. PMID:27528778

Does Competition Have an Effect on Price and Quality in Physiotherapy?

PubMed

Pekola, Piia; Linnosmaa, Ismo; Mikkola, Hennamari

2017-10-01

We estimate the effect of competition on quality and prices in physiotherapy organised and financed by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland for disabled individuals. Within the physiotherapy market, firms participate in competitive bidding, prices are determined by the market, services are free at the point of use and firms are allowed to react to patient choice only by enhancing quality. Firm-level data (n = 854) regarding quality and price were analysed. Using 2SLS estimation techniques, we analysed the relationship between quality and competition, and price and competition. Our study found that competition has a negative (yet weak) effect on quality. Prices on the other hand are not affected by competition. The result is likely caused by imperfect information, because it seems that the Social Insurance Institution of Finland has provided too little information for patients to make adequate choices about proper service providers. We argue that by publishing quality information, it is possible to ease the decision-making of patients and influence the quality strategies of firms active in the physiotherapy market. Moreover, we found that competition appeared as an exogenous variable in this study. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Environmental efficiency of energy, materials, and emissions.

PubMed

Yagi, Michiyuki; Fujii, Hidemichi; Hoang, Vincent; Managi, Shunsuke

2015-09-15

This study estimates the environmental efficiency of international listed firms in 10 worldwide sectors from 2007 to 2013 by applying an order-m method, a non-parametric approach based on free disposal hull with subsampling bootstrapping. Using a conventional output of gross profit and two conventional inputs of labor and capital, this study examines the order-m environmental efficiency accounting for the presence of each of 10 undesirable inputs/outputs and measures the shadow prices of each undesirable input and output. The results show that there is greater potential for the reduction of undesirable inputs rather than bad outputs. On average, total energy, electricity, or water usage has the potential to be reduced by 50%. The median shadow prices of undesirable inputs, however, are much higher than the surveyed representative market prices. Approximately 10% of the firms in the sample appear to be potential sellers or production reducers in terms of undesirable inputs/outputs, which implies that the price of each item at the current level has little impact on most of the firms. Moreover, this study shows that the environmental, social, and governance activities of a firm do not considerably affect environmental efficiency. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

When the firm prevents the crash: Avoiding market collapse with partial control.

PubMed

Levi, Asaf; Sabuco, Juan; A F Sanjuán, Miguel

2017-01-01

Market collapse is one of the most dramatic events in economics. Such a catastrophic event can emerge from the nonlinear interactions between the economic agents at the micro level of the economy. Transient chaos might be a good description of how a collapsing market behaves. In this work, we apply a new control method, the partial control method, with the goal of avoiding this disastrous event. Contrary to common control methods that try to influence the system from the outside, here the market is controlled from the bottom up by one of the most basic components of the market-the firm. This is the first time that the partial control method is applied on a strictly economical system in which we also introduce external disturbances. We show how the firm is capable of controlling the system avoiding the collapse by only adjusting the selling price of the product or the quantity of production in accordance to the market circumstances. Additionally, we demonstrate how a firm with a large market share is capable of influencing the demand achieving price stability across the retail and wholesale markets. Furthermore, we prove that the control applied in both cases is much smaller than the external disturbances.

Exploring the resilience of industrial ecosystems.

PubMed

Zhu, Junming; Ruth, Matthias

2013-06-15

Industrial ecosystems improve eco-efficiency at the system level through optimizing material and energy flows, which however raises a concern for system resilience because efficiency, as traditionally conceived, not necessarily promotes resilience. By drawing on the concept of resilience in ecological systems and in supply chains, resilience in industrial ecosystems is specified on the basis of a system's ability to maintain eco-efficient material and energy flows under disruptions. Using a network model that captures supply, asset, and organizational dependencies and propagation of disruptions among firms, the resilience, and particularly resistance as an important dimension of resilience, of two real industrial ecosystems and generalized specifications are examined. The results show that an industrial ecosystem is less resistant and less resilient with high inter-firm dependency, preferentially organized physical exchanges, and under disruptions targeted at highly connected firms. An industrial ecosystem with more firms and exchanges is less resistant, but has more eco-efficient flows and potentials, and therefore is less likely to lose its function of eco-efficiency. Taking these determinants for resilience into consideration improves the adaptability of an industrial ecosystem, which helps increase its resilience. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The art of obtaining grants.

PubMed

Devine, Emily Beth

2009-03-15

The grantsmanship process is described from the perspective of the investigator. Successful grant writing involves considerable preparation. There are thousands of grant-making agencies, both public and private, and many of the grants offered can be found in online databases. Investigators should focus their grant-seeking efforts on firms and research subjects of interest. Factors that determine the type of funding pursued include the source of funds, the activity pursued by the investigator, the research subject area, the geographic area, the investigator's career level, the investigator's affiliation with a professional society, and the size of the grant. To strategize for long-term success, there are two ways a new investigator can begin-by serving as a coinvestigator on a grant held by a more-senior investigator or by pursuing a small grant as a principal investigator. When reviewing grant proposals, reviewers usually focus on a proposal's significance and impact, originality, usefulness and generalizability, scope, approach to research, feasibility, and sufficiency of resources to complete the project. Once a grant is awarded, investigators must ensure they are well versed in conducting ethical research, complying with regulations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, preparing human subjects applications, managing grant budgets, and managing the project and personnel. Most grant makers require the presentation and publication of project results. Writing a grant proposal involves significant preparation. To be a successful grant writer, the investigator should have a strong interest in the research topic at hand. At the same time, he or she should have a clear understanding of the sponsor's perspective and interests.

48 CFR 236.102 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... Engineering Command, or Air Force Directorate of Civil Engineering. (3) Marshallese firm is defined in the... any organizational level of the DoD that— (i) Is responsible for the architectural, engineering, and...

Is the modernisation of postgraduate medical training in the Netherlands successful? Views of the NVMO Special Interest Group on Postgraduate Medical Education.

PubMed

Scheele, Fedde; Van Luijk, Scheltus; Mulder, Hanneke; Baane, Coby; Rooyen, Corry Den; De Hoog, Matthijs; Fokkema, Joanne; Heineman, Erik; Sluiter, Henk

2014-02-01

Worldwide, the modernisation of medical education is leading to the design and implementation of new postgraduate curricula. In this article, the Special Interest Group for postgraduate medical education of the Netherlands Association for Medical Education (NVMO) reports on the experiences in the Netherlands. To provide insight into the shift in the aims of postgraduate training, as well as into the diffusion of distinct curricular activities, introduced during the process of modernisation. Based on three levels of training described by Frenk et al., the process of modernisation in the Netherlands is reviewed in a narrative way, using the expert views of the NVMO-SIG on PGME as a source of information. Educational science has effectively been incorporated and has until now mainly been applied on the level of informative learning to create 'medical expertise'. Implementing change on the level of formative learning for 'professional performance' has until now been a slow and arduous process, but the concept of reflection on practice has been firmly embraced. The training on the level of transformative learning is still in its early stages. The discussion about the aims of modern medical education could benefit from a more structured and transdisciplinary approach. Research is warranted on the interface between health care provision and those sciences that specialise in generic professional skills and in the societal context. Training professionals and educating 'enlightened change agents' for transformation in health care requires more governance and support from academic leaders with a broader perspective on the future of health care.

Obesity in primary care: a qualitative synthesis of patient and practitioner perspectives on roles and responsibilities.

PubMed

Henderson, Emily

2015-04-01

Obesity is a top-priority global health issue; however, a clear way to address obesity in primary care is not yet in view. To conduct a meta-ethnography of patient and primary care practitioner perspectives of roles and responsibilities in how to address obesity in the UK, to inform evidence-based services that are acceptable to, and appropriate for, patients and practitioners. Qualitative synthesis applying meta-ethnographic methods according to the Noblit and Hare monograph. Database searches in MEDLINE(®), Social Sciences Citation Index(®), CINAHL, and Health Management Information Consortium were limited to 1997-2012 to examine recent perspectives. Full articles of practitioner and/or patient perspectives on obesity services in primary care were reviewed, and included semi-structured or unstructured interviews and focus groups, and participant observations. Nine studies were synthesised with perspectives from patients (n = 105) and practitioners (n = 144). Practitioners believe that patients are responsible for obesity, and that primary care should not help, or is poorly equipped to do so. Patients 'take responsibility' by 'blaming' themselves, but feel that practitioners should demonstrate more leadership. The empowerment of patients to access health services is reliant on the empowerment of practitioners to take an unambiguous position. Primary care has the potential either to perpetuate or counter obesity-related stigma. There needs to be a firm decision as to what role primary care will take in the prevention and treatment of obesity. To remain ambiguous runs the risk of losing patients' confidence and adding to a growing sense of futility. © British Journal of General Practice 2015.

Quality changes of highbush blueberries fruit stored in CA with different CO levels.

PubMed

Duarte, Carolina; Guerra, María; Daniel, Peter; Camelo, Andrés López; Yommi, Alejandra

2009-01-01

Quality changes of blueberries (Vacccinium corymbosum L. cv Brigitta) were evaluated during CA storage (0 degrees C) with different concentrations of CO(2) (5%, 10%, and 15%) combined with 5% O(2), respectively. Atmospheric air (20.9% O(2)+ 0.03% CO(2)) was used as control. From samples taken at 0, 24, and 48 d of storage, unmarketable fruits and weight loss were recorded as well as color (h), firmness (g), soluble solid content (%), titratable acidity (% citric acid), ratio, and the monomeric anthocyanin content (ppm). At each sampling time, additional units were kept for 3 d at 10 degrees C to simulate retail holding conditions. Irrespective of gas concentration, 0.9% of the initial fresh weight was lost after 48 d at 0 degrees C. CA fruit had better quality than control at the 24 d sampling but due to the high number of unmarketable fruits, this advantage was not observed at 48 d at 0 degrees C. After 24 d of storage, fruits for CA treatments were more firm and had better color, with higher anthocyanin and acidity levels. Soluble solid content showed no significant differences throughout the cold storage period. Residual effect of CA storage was observed at the retail holding condition yielding better firmness, acidity, and ratio. However, the CO(2) level tested increased the number of unmarketable fruit in long-term storage (48 d). Response of "Brigitta" blueberries to the different CO(2) levels studied was moderate and could be related to the high storage potential of this cultivar.

Subnational mobility and consumption-based environmental accounting of US corn in animal protein and ethanol supply chains.

PubMed

Smith, Timothy M; Goodkind, Andrew L; Kim, Taegon; Pelton, Rylie E O; Suh, Kyo; Schmitt, Jennifer

2017-09-19

Corn production, and its associated inputs, is a relatively large source of greenhouse gas emissions and uses significant amounts of water and land, thus contributing to climate change, fossil fuel depletion, local air pollutants, and local water scarcity. As large consumers of this corn, corporations in the ethanol and animal protein industries are increasingly assessing and reporting sustainability impacts across their supply chains to identify, prioritize, and communicate sustainability risks and opportunities material to their operations. In doing so, many have discovered that the direct impacts of their owned operations are dwarfed by those upstream in the supply chain, requiring transparency and knowledge about environmental impacts along the supply chains. Life cycle assessments (LCAs) have been used to identify hotspots of environmental impacts at national levels, yet these provide little subnational information necessary for guiding firms' specific supply networks. In this paper, our Food System Supply-Chain Sustainability (FoodS 3 ) model connects spatial, firm-specific demand of corn purchasers with upstream corn production in the United States through a cost minimization transport model. This provides a means to link county-level corn production in the United States to firm-specific demand locations associated with downstream processing facilities. Our model substantially improves current LCA assessment efforts that are confined to broad national or state level impacts. In drilling down to subnational levels of environmental impacts that occur over heterogeneous areas and aggregating these landscape impacts by specific supply networks, targeted opportunities for improvements to the sustainability performance of supply chains are identified.

18 CFR 2.105 - Gas supply charges.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... Implement the Economic Stabilization Act of 1970, As Amended, and Executive Orders 11615 and 11627 § 2.105... customers to nominate levels of service freely within their firm sales entitlements or otherwise employ a mechanism for the renegotiation of levels of service at regular intervals. (c) The pipeline must announce...

49 CFR 1522.103 - Requirements for validation firms.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... firm's security program. (e) Change in information. (1) The validation firm must inform TSA, in a form... 49 Transportation 9 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Requirements for validation firms. 1522.103...-APPROVED VALIDATION FIRMS AND VALIDATORS TSA-Approved Validation Firms and Validators for the Certified...

Adoption of Emissions Abating Technologies by U.S. Electricity Producing Firms Under the SO2 Emission Allowance Market

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Creamer, Gregorio Bernardo

The objective of this research is to determine the adaptation strategies that coal-based, electricity producing firms in the United States utilize to comply with the emission control regulations imposed by the SO2 Emissions Allowance Market created by the Clean Air Act Amendment of 1990, and the effect of market conditions on the decision making process. In particular, I take into consideration (1) the existence of carbon contracts for the provision of coal that may a affect coal prices at the plant level, and (2) local and geographical conditions, as well as political arrangements that may encourage firms to adopt strategies that appear socially less efficient. As the electricity producing sector is a regulated sector, firms do not necessarily behave in a way that maximizes the welfare of society when reacting to environmental regulations. In other words, profit maximization actions taken by the firm do not necessarily translate into utility maximization for society. Therefore, the environmental regulator has to direct firms into adopting strategies that are socially efficient, i.e., that maximize utility. The SO 2 permit market is an instrument that allows each firm to reduce marginal emissions abatement costs according to their own production conditions and abatement costs. Companies will be driven to opt for a cost-minimizing emissions abatement strategy or a combination of abatement strategies when adapting to new environmental regulations or markets. Firms may adopt one or more of the following strategies to reduce abatement costs while meeting the emission constraints imposed by the SO2 Emissions Allowance Market: (1) continue with business as usual on the production site while buying SO2 permits to comply with environmental regulations, (2) switch to higher quality, lower sulfur coal inputs that will generate less SO2 emissions, or (3) adopting new emissions abating technologies. A utility optimization condition is that the marginal value of each input should be equal to the product generated by using it and to the activities that are required by new regulations. The comparative technological and scale efficiency factors of coal-based electricity producing plants are calculated using the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) framework, and used as proxies to test this condition. In the empirical analysis, econometric models of the response of firms to emissions control are analyzed around the following aspects: (1) characterization of the behavior of firms and their efficiency, (2) relevant variables that trigger the adoption of technology, that is, the acquisition of scrubbers , and (3) the influence of exogenous variables, such as the existence of contracts, distance from mine to plant, and local conditions of the region where plants are located.

Non-equilibrium thermodynamics theory of econometric source discovery for large data analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Bergem, Rutger; Jenkins, Jeffrey; Benachenhou, Dalila; Szu, Harold

2014-05-01

Almost all consumer and firm transactions are achieved using computers and as a result gives rise to increasingly large amounts of data available for analysts. The gold standard in Economic data manipulation techniques matured during a period of limited data access, and the new Large Data Analysis (LDA) paradigm we all face may quickly obfuscate most tools used by Economists. When coupled with an increased availability of numerous unstructured, multi-modal data sets, the impending 'data tsunami' could have serious detrimental effects for Economic forecasting, analysis, and research in general. Given this reality we propose a decision-aid framework for Augmented-LDA (A-LDA) - a synergistic approach to LDA which combines traditional supervised, rule-based Machine Learning (ML) strategies to iteratively uncover hidden sources in large data, the artificial neural network (ANN) Unsupervised Learning (USL) at the minimum Helmholtz free energy for isothermal dynamic equilibrium strategies, and the Economic intuitions required to handle problems encountered when interpreting large amounts of Financial or Economic data. To make the ANN USL framework applicable to economics we define the temperature, entropy, and energy concepts in Economics from non-equilibrium molecular thermodynamics of Boltzmann viewpoint, as well as defining an information geometry, on which the ANN can operate using USL to reduce information saturation. An exemplar of such a system representation is given for firm industry equilibrium. We demonstrate the traditional ML methodology in the economics context and leverage firm financial data to explore a frontier concept known as behavioral heterogeneity. Behavioral heterogeneity on the firm level can be imagined as a firm's interactions with different types of Economic entities over time. These interactions could impose varying degrees of institutional constraints on a firm's business behavior. We specifically look at behavioral heterogeneity for firms that are operating with the label of `Going-Concern' and firms labeled according to institutional influence they may be experiencing, such as constraints on firm hiring/spending while in a Bankruptcy or a Merger procedure. Uncovering invariant features, or behavioral data metrics from observable firm data in an economy can greatly benefit the FED, World Bank, etc. We find that the ML/LDA communities can benefit from Economic intuitions just as much as Economists can benefit from generic data exploration tools. The future of successful Economic data understanding, modeling, simulation, and visualization can be amplified by new A-LDA models and approaches for new and analogous models of Economic system dynamics. The potential benefits of improved economic data analysis and real time decision aid tools are numerous for researchers, analysts, and federal agencies who all deal with increasingly large amounts of complex data to support their decision making.

Gradually truncated log-normal in USA publicly traded firm size distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gupta, Hari M.; Campanha, José R.; de Aguiar, Daniela R.; Queiroz, Gabriel A.; Raheja, Charu G.

2007-03-01

We study the statistical distribution of firm size for USA and Brazilian publicly traded firms through the Zipf plot technique. Sale size is used to measure firm size. The Brazilian firm size distribution is given by a log-normal distribution without any adjustable parameter. However, we also need to consider different parameters of log-normal distribution for the largest firms in the distribution, which are mostly foreign firms. The log-normal distribution has to be gradually truncated after a certain critical value for USA firms. Therefore, the original hypothesis of proportional effect proposed by Gibrat is valid with some modification for very large firms. We also consider the possible mechanisms behind this distribution.

Marketing new medical devices.

PubMed

LoBuglio, R J

1988-01-01

The marketing concept says that a firm should focus all of its efforts on satisfying its customers, at a profit. This is really a a new philosophy of business, replacing a production-oriented philosophy which focused on organizing a firm's resources to make products and then selling them. The marketing concept calls for reorienting the firm's ways of doing things. Instead of trying to get customers to buy what the firm has produced, a marketing-oriented firm would try to sell what the customers want. The underlying principle of the marketing concept is that a firm should seek to meet the needs of customers, at a profit, rather than place its main emphasis on its own internal activities and utilization of its resources. These latter factors are also important, of course, but those who believe in the marketing concept feel that customers' needs should be the firm's primary focus and that resources should be organized to satisfy those needs. Give the customer what he needs--this may seem so obvious and logical that it is difficult to understand why the marketing concept is considered such a breakthrough. However, people haven't always done the logical and obvious. In a typical company, production men thought mainly about getting the product out. Accountants were only interested in balancing the books. Financial people were absorbed in the company's cash position. And salesmen were mainly concerned with getting orders. No one was particularly concerned with whether the whole system made sense. As long as the company made a profit, each department went merrily on its independent way, "doing its own thing." Unfortunately, they still do in the majority of companies today. Finding out customer's attitudes can avoid prejudices and stereotypes commonly found in the typical organization. The need for market research to avoid stereotypes can be dramatized by the following results from a large-scale survey of European adults: The average Frenchman uses almost twice as many cosmetics and beauty aids as his wife. The Germans and the French eat more spaghetti than the Italians. French and Italian housewives are not as interested in cooking as their counterparts in Luxembourg and Belgium. No firm can conduct its business successfully without trying to measure the actual size of markets, present and future. Quantitative measurements are essential for the analysis of market opportunity, the planning of marketing programs, and the control of marketing effort. The firm may make many measures of demand, varying in the level of product aggregation, the time dimension,a nd the space dimension.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Innovation, Diffusion, and Regulation in Energy Technologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fetter, Theodore Robert

The innovation and diffusion of new technologies is one of the central concerns of economics. New inventions or technological combinations do not spring fully formed into the world; as firms encounter and learn about new technologies they experiment, refine, and learn about them, improving productivity (and sometimes earning economic rents). Understanding the processes by which firms learn, and how these processes interact with regulations, is fundamental to understanding the emergence of new technologies, their contribution to growth, and the interaction of innovation and regulation. This dissertation addresses how firms learn and respond to regulations in the context of emerging technologies. Within this framework, I address several questions. When production inputs are socially controversial, do firms respond to disclosure laws by voluntarily constraining their inputs? Do these public disclosure laws facilitate knowledge transmission across firms, and if so, what are the implications for public welfare - for instance, do the gains from trade outweigh any effects of reduced incentives for innovation? I study these questions in the context of hydraulic fracturing, though the results offer insight for more general settings. Panning out to a much broader view, I also explore how energy-related technologies - in both generation and consumption - diffuse across national boundaries over time, and whether innovation and diffusion of energy-efficient technologies has led to more or less energy-efficient economic growth. In my first paper, I contribute to improved understanding of the conditions in which information-based regulations, which are increasingly common in multiple policy domains, decrease externalities such as environmental pollution. Specifically, I test whether information disclosure regulations applied to hydraulic fracturing chemicals caused firms to decrease their use of toxic inputs. Prior to these mandatory disclosure laws, some operators voluntarily disclosed fluid components for some or all of their wells. I compare the chemical mixtures used prior to the mandatory disclosure laws to those used after the laws took effect, using a difference-in-differences method motivated by the difference in timing of state-level disclosure laws. I use voluntary disclosures to measure the toxicity of fluids prior to mandated disclosure, and thus observe a composite effect of both full reporting and disclosure pressure. These effects likely have opposite signs; I employ several methods to tease them apart so that I can separately identify the effect of disclosure pressure. My analysis, which covers over 70,000 wells in seven states, suggests that state disclosure regulations resulted in a large and persistent decrease in the use of toxic and regulated chemicals in fracturing fluids. This is not the first paper to find that disclosure regulations can change firms' behavior, but it demonstrates such an effect in a setting in which consumer or market pressure is minimal or nonexistent: firms that produce undifferentiated products for an intermediate market, and disclosure policies that do not generate readily accessible or interpretable information. The second paper tests whether disclosure laws facilitated the transmission of useful knowledge across companies. It is well established that economic agents learn about new technologies in part from other adopters, though even sophisticated firms may not take full advantage of social learning. With my co-authors, I examine whether firms took advantage of environmentally-focused disclosure laws to learn from competitors and improve productivity. We find evidence that they did: following mandatory disclosure we observe convergence in productivity per well, in production inputs, and strong evidence of a link between the two. To our knowledge this is the first study to examine this pathway for social learning in an emerging technology. This could also be interpreted as a form of technology diffusion facilitated by environmental regulation. In my third paper, I address a broader scale of technology change, looking for evidence that improved technologies for energy generation and consumption have allowed less energy-intensive or pollution-intensive growth in developing countries. I analyze panel data on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and national energy consumption to look for evidence of technology "leapfrogging" (i.e., decreased intensity of energy consumption for a given level of economic growth). I combine 1960-2014 data on energy consumption from the International Energy Agency with historical data that extends back to 1861 for several countries on energy consumption and fuel source, as well as GDP. I compare countries at the same income level and test whether energy consumption and energy intensity are different for today's less-developed countries compared to today's industrialized countries when they had similar income levels. Compared to prior analysis, my much longer time series allows me to test for leapfrogging over a scale appropriate to the pace of widespread technological change.

Definition of price in circular raw materials from the process of incineration of hazardous industrial waste in sicilian a high risk area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matarazzo, Agata; Baglio, Lorenzo; Bonanno, Sandro; Fichera, Andrea; Leanza, Andrea; Russo, Gabriele; Amara, Giovanni; Amara, Giuseppe; Gigli, Carlo; Lombardo, Enrico

2018-05-01

Waste is classified (art.184, sub. 1, L.D. n.152/2006) as urban or special depending on its origin and whether it is dangerous or not, as well as the degree of danger. The reuse and recycling of materials are two of the main features that characterize the concept of the circular economy. Every firm operating in the field of the circular economy should adopt an industrial approach based on resource efficiency and the use and supply of sustainable raw materials, which can be achieved through innovative technologies, innovative methodologies and new business models. GE.S.P.I, has become a leading firm in the sector of hazardous industrial waste disposal, adding value to waste through a groundbreaking technology. The result of the process is the production of energy, as well as the creation of ash; this ash is then treated in order to separate dangerous heavy metals from the ash through the technique of eddy currents. Metals and purified ash are then put on the market. The aim of this paper is the price definition of this special waste thanks to the analysis of the specific second raw materials market. In this firm, incineration is a process where emissions are strongly controlled by innovative instruments in order to excel in the social and environmental respect. Through SWOT analysis we moreover describe how a company can turn the weaknesses of a high risk area into opportunities and value becomes a useful problem solving instrument to analyze logistic, marketing, and social responsibility, in the perspective of the optimization of eco-management material flows.

Ground-Water Contributions to Reservoir Storage and the Effect on Estimates of Firm Yield for Reservoirs in Massachusetts

USGS Publications Warehouse

Archfield, Stacey A.; Carlson, Carl S.

2006-01-01

Potential ground-water contributions to reservoir storage were determined for nine reservoirs in Massachusetts that had shorelines in contact with sand and gravel aquifers. The effect of ground water on firm yield was not only substantial, but furthermore, the firm yield of a reservoir in contact with a sand and gravel aquifer was always greater when the ground-water contribution was included in the water balance. Increases in firm yield ranged from 2 to 113 percent, with a median increase in firm yield of 10 percent. Additionally, the increase in firm yield in two reservoirs was greater than 85 percent. This study identified a set of equations that are based on an analytical solution to the ground-water-flow equation for the case of one-dimensional flow in a finite-width aquifer bounded by a linear surface-water feature such as a stream. These equations, which require only five input variables, were incorporated into an existing firm-yield-estimator (FYE) model, and the potential effect of ground water on firm yield was evaluated. To apply the FYE model to a reservoir in Massachusetts, the model requires that the drainage area to the reservoir be clearly defined and that some surface water flows into the reservoir. For surface-water-body shapes having a more realistic representation of a reservoir shoreline than a stream, a comparison of ground-water-flow rates simulated by the ground-water equations with flow rates simulated by a two-dimensional, finite-difference ground-water-flow model indicate that the agreement between the simulated flow rates is within ?10 percent when the ratio of the distance from the reservoir shoreline to the aquifer boundary to the length of shoreline in contact with the aquifer is between values of 0.5 and 3.5. Idealized reservoir-aquifer systems were assumed to verify that the ground-water-flow equations were implemented correctly into the existing FYE model; however, the modified FYE model has not been validated through a comparison of simulated and observed data. A comparison of simulated and observed reservoir water levels would further define limitations to the applicability of the ground-water-flow equations to reservoirs in Massachusetts whose shorelines are in contact with a sand and gravel aquifer.

Firm profitability and the network of organizational capabilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wagner, Friedrich; Milaković, Mishael; Alfarano, Simone

2010-11-01

A Laplace distribution for firm profit rates (or returns on assets) can be obtained through the sum of many independent shocks if the number of shocks is Poisson distributed. Interpreting this as a linear chain of events, we generalize the process to a hierarchical network structure. The hierarchical model reproduces the observed distributional patterns of firm profitability, which crucially depend on the life span of firms. While the profit rates of long-lived firms obey a symmetric Laplacian, short-lived firms display a different behavior depending on whether they are capable of generating positive profits or not. Successful short-lived firms exhibit a symmetric yet more leptokurtic pdf than long-lived firms. Our model suggests that these firms are more dynamic in their organizational capabilities, but on average also face more risk than long-lived firms. Finally, short-lived firms that fail to generate positive profits have the most leptokurtic distribution among the three classes, and on average lose slightly more than their total assets within a year.

Robotic Thyroid Surgery: Current Perspectives and Future Considerations.

PubMed

Aidan, Patrick; Arora, Asit; Lorincz, Balazs; Tolley, Neil; Garas, George

2018-05-22

Robotic transaxillary thyroidectomy, pioneered in South Korea, is firmly established throughout the Far East but remains controversial in Western practice. This relates to important population differences (anthropometry and culture) compounded by the smaller mean size of thyroid nodules operated on in South Korea due to a national thyroid cancer screening programme. There is now level 2 evidence (including from Western World centres) to support the safety, feasibility, and equivalence of the robotic approach to its open counterpart in terms of recurrent laryngeal nerve injury, hypoparathyroidism, haemorrhage, and oncological outcomes for differentiated thyroid cancer. Moreover, robotic thyroidectomy has been shown to be superior to open surgery for certain patient-reported outcome measures, namely scar cosmesis and pain. Downsides include its high cost, longer operative time, and risk of complications not encountered in open thyroidectomy (brachial plexus neurapraxia). Careful patient selection is paramount as this procedure is not for every patient, surgeon, or hospital. It should only be undertaken by high-volume surgeons operating as part of a multidisciplinary robotic team in specialised centres. Novel robotic approaches utilising the retroauricular and transoral routes for thyroidectomy have recently been described but further studies are required to establish their respective role in modern thyroid surgery. © 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Using a Feedback Environment to Improve Creative Performance: A Dynamic Affect Perspective

PubMed Central

Gong, Zhenxing; Zhang, Na

2017-01-01

Prior research on feedback and creative performance has neglected the dynamic nature of affect and has focused only on the influence of positive affect. We argue that creative performance is the result of a dynamic process in which a person experiences a phase of negative affect and subsequently enters a state of high positive affect that is influenced by the feedback environment. Hierarchical regression was used to analyze a sample of 264 employees from seven industry firms. The results indicate that employees’ perceptions of a supportive supervisor feedback environment indirectly influence their level of creative performance through positive affect (t2); the negative affect (t1) moderates the relationship between positive affect (t2) and creative performance (t2), rendering the relationship more positive if negative affect (t1) is high. The change in positive affect mediates the relationship between the supervisor feedback environment and creative performance; a decrease in negative affect moderates the relationship between increased positive affect and creative performance, rendering the relationship more positive if the decrease in negative affect is large. The implications for improving the creative performances of employees are further discussed. PMID:28861025

Necessary but Not Sufficient… Comment on "Knowledge Mobilization in Healthcare Organizations: A View From the Resource-Based View of the Firm".

PubMed

Harvey, Gill; Kitson, Alison

2015-08-25

The challenge of mobilizing knowledge to improve patient care, population health and ensure effective use of resources is an enduring one in healthcare systems across the world. This commentary reflects on an earlier paper by Ferlie and colleagues that proposes the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm as a useful theoretical lens through which to study knowledge mobilization in healthcare. Specifically, the commentary considers 3 areas that need to be addressed in relation to the proposed application of RBV: the definition of competitive advantage in healthcare; the contribution of macro level theory to understanding knowledge mobilization in healthcare; and the need to embrace and align multiple theories at the micro, meso, and macro levels of implementation. © 2015 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

Changes in quality and biochemical parameters in 'Idared' apples during prolonged shelf life and 1-MCP treatment.

PubMed

Bizjak, Jan; Slatnar, Ana; Stampar, Franci; Veberic, Robert

2012-12-01

In this study, changes in quality and various biochemical parameters of 'Idared' apples during prolonged shelf life period after ultra-low oxygen (ULO) storage were investigated. Additionally, the impact of the postharvest application of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) on different parameters was evaluated. After the harvest, apples were stored in the ULO storage for 6 months and then exposed to room temperature. Fruit firmness, peel color, and changes in sugars, organic acids and phenolics were monitored during the 3 weeks of shelf life. Malic acid, sugars and firmness decreased at room temperature. However, the color of the apples remained unchanged. The level of citric and ascorbic acid remained constant. Levels of phenolics in the peel increased significantly, whereas remained constant in the pulp of apples. 1-MCP treatment resulted in higher amounts of fructose and glucose, malic acid and greater firmness of apples. However, 1-MCP did not influence the phenolic content, ascorbic acid or color. The results obtained indicate that the content of different health-promoting compounds of apples does not change dramatically at room temperature. At the same time these results suggest that 1-MCP could be useful for maintaining certain quality and biochemical parameters and might extend the shelf life of apples.

Evaluating the Risk of Re-identification of Patients from Hospital Prescription Records.

PubMed

Emam, Khaled El; Dankar, Fida K; Vaillancourt, Régis; Roffey, Tyson; Lysyk, Mary

2009-07-01

Pharmacies often provide prescription records to private research firms, on the assumption that these records are de-identified (i.e., identifying information has been removed). However, concerns have been expressed about the potential that patients can be re-identified from such records. Recently, a large private research firm requested prescription records from the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), as part of a larger effort to develop a database of hospital prescription records across Canada. To evaluate the ability to re-identify patients from CHEO'S prescription records and to determine ways to appropriately de-identify the data if the risk was too high. The risk of re-identification was assessed for 18 months' worth of prescription data. De-identification algorithms were developed to reduce the risk to an acceptable level while maintaining the quality of the data. The probability of patients being re-identified from the original variables and data set requested by the private research firm was deemed quite high. A new de-identified record layout was developed, which had an acceptable level of re-identification risk. The new approach involved replacing the admission and discharge dates with the quarter and year of admission and the length of stay in days, reporting the patient's age in weeks, and including only the first character of the patient's postal code. Additional requirements were included in the data-sharing agreement with the private research firm (e.g., audit requirements and a protocol for notification of a breach of privacy). Without a formal analysis of the risk of re-identification, assurances of data anonymity may not be accurate. A formal risk analysis at one hospital produced a clinically relevant data set that also protects patient privacy and allows the hospital pharmacy to explicitly manage the risks of breach of patient privacy.

Rationale for hedging initiatives: Empirical evidence from the energy industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dhanarajata, Srirajata

Theory offers different rationales for hedging including (i) financial distress and bankruptcy cost, (ii) capacity to capture attractive investment opportunities, (iii) information asymmetry, (iv) economy of scale, (v) substitution for hedging, (vi) managerial risk aversion, and (vii) convexity of tax schedule. The purpose of this dissertation is to empirically test the explanatory power of the first five theoretical rationales on hedging done by oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) companies. The level of hedging is measured by the percentage of production effectively hedged, calculated based on the concept of delta and delta-gamma hedging. I employ Tobit regression, principal components, and panel data analysis on dependent and raw independent variables. Tobit regression is applied due to the fact that the dependent variable used in the analysis is non-negative. Principal component analysis helps to reduce the dimension of explanatory variables while panel data analysis combines/pools the data that is a combination of time-series and cross-sectional. Based on the empirical results, leverage level is consistently found to be a significant factor on hedging activities, either due to an attempt to avoid financial distress by the firm, or an attempt to control agency cost by debtholders, or both. The effect of capital expenditures and discretionary cash flows are both indeterminable due possibly to a potential mismatch in timing of realized cash flow items and hedging decision. Firm size is found to be positively related to hedging supporting economy of scale hypothesis, which is introduced in past literature, as well as the argument that large firm usually are more sophisticated and should be more willing and more comfortable to use hedge instruments than smaller firms.

Shifting the burden: the private sector's response to the AIDS epidemic in Africa.

PubMed

Rosen, Sydney; Simon, Jonathon L

2003-01-01

As the economic burden of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) increases in sub-Saharan Africa, allocation of the burden among levels and sectors of society is changing. The private sector has more scope to avoid the economic burden of AIDS than governments, households, or nongovernmental organizations, and the burden is being systematically shifted away from the private sector. Common practices that transfer the burden to households and government include pre-employment screening, reductions in employee benefits, restructured employment contracts, outsourcing of low skilled jobs, selective retrenchments, and changes in production technologies. Between 1997 and 1999 more than two-thirds of large South African employers reduced the level of health care benefits or increased employee contributions. Most firms also have replaced defined-benefit retirement funds, which expose the firm to large annual costs but provide long-term support for families, with defined-contribution funds, which eliminate risks to the firm but provide little for families of younger workers who die of AIDS. Contracting out previously permanent jobs is also shielding firms from benefit and turnover costs, effectively shifting the responsibility to care for affected workers and their families to households, nongovernmental organizations, and the government. Many of these changes are responses to globalization that would have occurred in the absence of AIDS, but they are devastating for the households of employees with HIV/AIDS. We argue that the shift in the economic burden of AIDS is a predictable response by business to which a deliberate public policy response is needed. Countries should make explicit decisions about each sector's responsibilities if a socially desirable allocation is to be achieved.

Shifting the burden: the private sector's response to the AIDS epidemic in Africa.

PubMed Central

Rosen, Sydney; Simon, Jonathon L.

2003-01-01

As the economic burden of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) increases in sub-Saharan Africa, allocation of the burden among levels and sectors of society is changing. The private sector has more scope to avoid the economic burden of AIDS than governments, households, or nongovernmental organizations, and the burden is being systematically shifted away from the private sector. Common practices that transfer the burden to households and government include pre-employment screening, reductions in employee benefits, restructured employment contracts, outsourcing of low skilled jobs, selective retrenchments, and changes in production technologies. Between 1997 and 1999 more than two-thirds of large South African employers reduced the level of health care benefits or increased employee contributions. Most firms also have replaced defined-benefit retirement funds, which expose the firm to large annual costs but provide long-term support for families, with defined-contribution funds, which eliminate risks to the firm but provide little for families of younger workers who die of AIDS. Contracting out previously permanent jobs is also shielding firms from benefit and turnover costs, effectively shifting the responsibility to care for affected workers and their families to households, nongovernmental organizations, and the government. Many of these changes are responses to globalization that would have occurred in the absence of AIDS, but they are devastating for the households of employees with HIV/AIDS. We argue that the shift in the economic burden of AIDS is a predictable response by business to which a deliberate public policy response is needed. Countries should make explicit decisions about each sector's responsibilities if a socially desirable allocation is to be achieved. PMID:12751421

Social welfare with a foreign competitor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferreira, Fernanda A.

2009-11-01

In this paper, we consider a mixed market in which a state-owned welfare-maximizing public (domestic) firm competes against a profit-maximizing private (foreign) firm. We suppose that the domestic firm is less efficient than the foreign firm. However, the domestic firm can lower its marginal costs by conducting cost-reducing R&D investment. We examine the impacts of entry of a foreign firm on decisions upon cost-reducing R&D investment by the domestic firm and how these affect the domestic welfare.

Educational Competencies That Mid-Sized CPA Firms Value in Their Professional Accounting Staff

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Margheim, Loren; Hora, Judith A.; Pattison, Diane

2010-01-01

This study examined the educational competencies mid-sized accounting firm partners value in their professional staff when making promotion decisions to senior, manager, and partner. Mid-sized firms were defined in this study to include all of the non-Big 4 national firms, the large regional CPA firms, and several large local firms. Over 1,380…

Environmental policies in an international mixed duopoly

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferreira, Fernanda A.; Ferreira, Flávio

2009-11-01

The purpose of this paper is to study the effects of environmental and trade policies in an international mixed duopoly serving two markets. We suppose that the firm in the home country is a welfare-maximizing public firm, while the firm in the foreign country is its own profit-maximizing private firm. We find that the environmental tax can be a strategic instrument for the home government to distribute production from the foreign private firm to the home public firm. An additional effect of the home environmental tax is the reduction of the foreign private firm's output for local consumption, thereby expanding the foreign market for the home public firm.

Cities and Regions in the New Learning Economy. Education and Skills.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris (France). Centre for Educational Research and Innovation.

This publication analyzes relationships between various forms of learning and economic performance at the regional level and provides rather strong evidence of the importance of individual and firm-level organizational learning for regions' economic performance. Chapter 1 is an introduction. Chapter 2 maps out a conceptual framework for the…

Effect of Ambulatory Utilization Review on Referrals from Generalists to Specialists

PubMed Central

Grimm, Cordelia T.; Gomez, Arthur G.

1998-01-01

We studied whether ambulatory utilization review (UR) alters how many patients internal medicine residents refer to subspecialists, and whether the effect persists without reinforcement. We compared referral rates of residents from a firm that held UR meetings (intervention firm residents, n=20) with those of residents from a firm that did not (control firm residents, n=21). We then compared referral rates of 17 intervention firm residents while they were participating in UR with their rates after not participating for at least 4 weeks. Intervention firm residents submitted 30% fewer referrals than control firm residents (9% vs 13%, p=.05). However, the effect was short-lived; after 4 weeks without UR, intervention firm resident referral rates were similar to control firm referral rates. PMID:9824526

A topological proof of chaos for two nonlinear heterogeneous triopoly game models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pireddu, Marina

2016-08-01

We rigorously prove the existence of chaotic dynamics for two nonlinear Cournot triopoly game models with heterogeneous players, for which in the existing literature the presence of complex phenomena and strange attractors has been shown via numerical simulations. In the first model that we analyze, costs are linear but the demand function is isoelastic, while, in the second model, the demand function is linear and production costs are quadratic. As concerns the decisional mechanisms adopted by the firms, in both models one firm adopts a myopic adjustment mechanism, considering the marginal profit of the last period; the second firm maximizes its own expected profit under the assumption that the competitors' production levels will not vary with respect to the previous period; the third firm acts adaptively, changing its output proportionally to the difference between its own output in the previous period and the naive expectation value. The topological method we employ in our analysis is the so-called "Stretching Along the Paths" technique, based on the Poincaré-Miranda Theorem and the properties of the cutting surfaces, which allows to prove the existence of a semi-conjugacy between the system under consideration and the Bernoulli shift, so that the former inherits from the latter several crucial chaotic features, among which a positive topological entropy.

The impact of price-cap regulations on market entry by generic pharmaceutical firms.

PubMed

Zhang, Wei; Sun, Huiying; Guh, Daphne; Anis, Aslam H

2017-04-01

In 1998, the province of Ontario, Canada implemented price-cap '70/90' regulations: the first generic must be priced at ≤70% of the associated brand-name price and subsequent generics must be priced at ≤90% of the first generics' price. The price-cap was further lowered to 50% in 2006 and 25% in 2010 for all generic drugs regardless of the first or subsequent generic entrants. This study assessed the impact of such price-cap regulations on market entry by generic firms using the formulary database from 9 provinces (January 2004-March 2013). A logistic regression was estimated to compare the probability of entry during the three policy periods in Ontario ('70/90', '25', versus '50'). Since different price-caps were subsequently introduced in other provinces, Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan, difference-in-differences was used to compare market entry. In Ontario, compared with the period '50', generic firms were 76% and 63% less likely to enter markets in the periods '25' and '70/90', respectively. The difference-in-differences showed that the entry probability decreased the most in Ontario during the '25' period from the '50' period. Lowering the price-cap level to 25% leads to a significantly lower probability of market entry by generic firms.

A topological proof of chaos for two nonlinear heterogeneous triopoly game models.

PubMed

Pireddu, Marina

2016-08-01

We rigorously prove the existence of chaotic dynamics for two nonlinear Cournot triopoly game models with heterogeneous players, for which in the existing literature the presence of complex phenomena and strange attractors has been shown via numerical simulations. In the first model that we analyze, costs are linear but the demand function is isoelastic, while, in the second model, the demand function is linear and production costs are quadratic. As concerns the decisional mechanisms adopted by the firms, in both models one firm adopts a myopic adjustment mechanism, considering the marginal profit of the last period; the second firm maximizes its own expected profit under the assumption that the competitors' production levels will not vary with respect to the previous period; the third firm acts adaptively, changing its output proportionally to the difference between its own output in the previous period and the naive expectation value. The topological method we employ in our analysis is the so-called "Stretching Along the Paths" technique, based on the Poincaré-Miranda Theorem and the properties of the cutting surfaces, which allows to prove the existence of a semi-conjugacy between the system under consideration and the Bernoulli shift, so that the former inherits from the latter several crucial chaotic features, among which a positive topological entropy.

When the firm prevents the crash: Avoiding market collapse with partial control

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Market collapse is one of the most dramatic events in economics. Such a catastrophic event can emerge from the nonlinear interactions between the economic agents at the micro level of the economy. Transient chaos might be a good description of how a collapsing market behaves. In this work, we apply a new control method, the partial control method, with the goal of avoiding this disastrous event. Contrary to common control methods that try to influence the system from the outside, here the market is controlled from the bottom up by one of the most basic components of the market—the firm. This is the first time that the partial control method is applied on a strictly economical system in which we also introduce external disturbances. We show how the firm is capable of controlling the system avoiding the collapse by only adjusting the selling price of the product or the quantity of production in accordance to the market circumstances. Additionally, we demonstrate how a firm with a large market share is capable of influencing the demand achieving price stability across the retail and wholesale markets. Furthermore, we prove that the control applied in both cases is much smaller than the external disturbances. PMID:28832608

10 CFR 31.5 - Certain detecting, measuring, gauging, or controlling devices and certain devices for producing...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... industrial firms and research, educational and medical institutions, individuals in the conduct of their... thickness, density, level, interface location, radiation, leakage, or qualitative or quantitative chemical...

10 CFR 31.5 - Certain detecting, measuring, gauging, or controlling devices and certain devices for producing...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... industrial firms and research, educational and medical institutions, individuals in the conduct of their... thickness, density, level, interface location, radiation, leakage, or qualitative or quantitative chemical...

10 CFR 31.5 - Certain detecting, measuring, gauging, or controlling devices and certain devices for producing...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... industrial firms and research, educational and medical institutions, individuals in the conduct of their... thickness, density, level, interface location, radiation, leakage, or qualitative or quantitative chemical...

10 CFR 31.5 - Certain detecting, measuring, gauging, or controlling devices and certain devices for producing...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... industrial firms and research, educational and medical institutions, individuals in the conduct of their... thickness, density, level, interface location, radiation, leakage, or qualitative or quantitative chemical...

10 CFR 31.5 - Certain detecting, measuring, gauging, or controlling devices and certain devices for producing...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... industrial firms and research, educational and medical institutions, individuals in the conduct of their... thickness, density, level, interface location, radiation, leakage, or qualitative or quantitative chemical...

How small firms contrast with large firms regarding perceptions, practices, and needs in the U.S

Treesearch

Urs Buehlmann; Matthew Bumgardner; Michael Sperber

2013-01-01

As many larger secondary woodworking firms have moved production offshore and been adversely impacted by the recent housing downturn, smaller firms have become important to driving U.S. hardwood demand. This study compared and contrasted small and large firms on a number of factors to help determine the unique characteristics of small firms and to provide insights into...

Prevalence and risk factors for voice problems among telemarketers.

PubMed

Jones, Katherine; Sigmon, Jason; Hock, Lynette; Nelson, Eric; Sullivan, Marsha; Ogren, Frederic

2002-05-01

To investigate whether there is an increased prevalence of voice problems among telemarketers compared with the general population and if these voice problems affect productivity and are associated with the presence of known risk factors for voice problems. Cross-sectional survey study. One outbound telemarketing firm, 3 reservations firms, 1 messaging firm, 1 survey research firm, and 1 community college. Random and cluster sampling identified 373 employees of the 6 firms; 304 employees completed the survey. A convenience sample of 187 community college students similar in age, sex, education level, and smoking prevalence served as a control group. Demographic, vocational, personality, and biological risk factors for voice problems; symptoms of vocal attrition; and effects of symptoms on work. Telemarketers were twice as likely to report 1 or more symptoms of vocal attrition compared with controls after adjusting for age, sex, and smoking status (P<.001). Of those surveyed, 31% reported that their work was affected by an average of 5.0 symptoms These respondents tended to be women (P<.001) and were more likely to smoke (P =.02); take drying medications (P<.001); have sinus problems (P =.04), frequent colds (P<.001), and dry mouth (P<.001); and be sedentary (P<.001). Telemarketers have a higher prevalence of voice problems than the control group. These problems affect productivity and are associated with modifiable risk factors. Evaluation of occupational voice disorders must encompass all of the determinants of health status, and treatment must focus on modifiable risk factors, not just the reduction of occupational vocal load.

Financial Distress Prediction Using Discrete-time Hazard Model and Rating Transition Matrix Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsai, Bi-Huei; Chang, Chih-Huei

2009-08-01

Previous studies used constant cut-off indicator to distinguish distressed firms from non-distressed ones in the one-stage prediction models. However, distressed cut-off indicator must shift according to economic prosperity, rather than remains fixed all the time. This study focuses on Taiwanese listed firms and develops financial distress prediction models based upon the two-stage method. First, this study employs the firm-specific financial ratio and market factors to measure the probability of financial distress based on the discrete-time hazard models. Second, this paper further focuses on macroeconomic factors and applies rating transition matrix approach to determine the distressed cut-off indicator. The prediction models are developed by using the training sample from 1987 to 2004, and their levels of accuracy are compared with the test sample from 2005 to 2007. As for the one-stage prediction model, the model in incorporation with macroeconomic factors does not perform better than that without macroeconomic factors. This suggests that the accuracy is not improved for one-stage models which pool the firm-specific and macroeconomic factors together. In regards to the two stage models, the negative credit cycle index implies the worse economic status during the test period, so the distressed cut-off point is adjusted to increase based on such negative credit cycle index. After the two-stage models employ such adjusted cut-off point to discriminate the distressed firms from non-distressed ones, their error of misclassification becomes lower than that of one-stage ones. The two-stage models presented in this paper have incremental usefulness in predicting financial distress.

Nomadic concepts in the history of biology.

PubMed

Surman, Jan; Stráner, Katalin; Haslinger, Peter

2014-12-01

The history of scientific concepts has firmly settled among the instruments of historical inquiry. In our section we approach concepts from the perspective of nomadic concepts (Isabelle Stengers). Instead of following the evolution of concepts within one disciplinary network, we see them as subject to constant reification and change while crossing and turning across disciplines and non-scientific domains. This introduction argues that understanding modern biology is not possible without taking into account the constant transfers and translations that affected concepts. We argue that this approach does not only engage with nomadism between disciplines and non-scientific domains, but reflects on and involves the metaphoric value of concepts as well. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Going for the gold

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sklar, S.

1994-12-31

From an international perspective, the solar story is a fairy tale that has come true. Currently, over 175,000 villages around the world are being solarized. More than one-half of the manufacturing capacity of the US photovoltaics industry is exported, as is nearly one-half of the output of US solar water-heating firms. However, the US solar industry is still losing many overseas sales to foreign competition because their governments provide more generous export-financing programs. While the US Government is implementing many changes to make our export assistance programs more flexible, there have yet to be meaningful improvements in financing for smaller-scalemore » projects - the size that solar tends to be.« less

49 CFR 1522.129 - Recordkeeping requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... VALIDATION FIRMS AND VALIDATORS TSA-Approved Validation Firms and Validators for the Certified Cargo Screening Program § 1522.129 Recordkeeping requirements. (a) Each validation firm must maintain records... operation as a validation firm, including the records listed below. (b) Each validation firm must retain the...

The effects of market structure and payment rate on the entry of private health plans into the Medicare market.

PubMed

Frakt, Austin B; Pizer, Steven D; Feldman, Roger

2012-01-01

Private insurance firms participating in Medicare can offer up to three principal plan types: coordinated care plans (CCPs), prescription drug plans (PDPs), and private fee-for-service (PFFS) plans. Firms can make entry and marketing decisions separately across plan types and geographic regions. In this study, we estimate firm-level models of Medicare private plan entry using data from the years 2007 to 2009. Our models include a measure of market structure and separately identify CCP, PDP, and PFFS entry. We find evidence that entry barriers associated with CCP market concentration affect all three product types. We also find evidence of cross-product competition and common cost or demand factors that make entry with certain product combinations more likely. We predict that the market presence of CCPs and PFFS plans will decrease and that of PDPs will increase in response to payment reductions included in the new health reform law.

Coping with seismic vulnerability: small manufacturing firms in western Athens.

PubMed

Sapountzaki, Kalliopi

2005-06-01

This paper attempts to contribute to international discourse on the responsibility of macro structures (economic and political) and private agencies for the production and distribution of vulnerability. It does so by focusing on an individual economic entity, small manufacturing firms (SMFs), in a specific location, western Athens, Greece. By evaluating the losses that SMFs sustained in the earthquake of 7 September 1999, the paper points to variations in vulnerability levels among such firms and highlights the 'sources' of vulnerability they confront. Furthermore, the SMF recovery cycle is systematically monitored in parallel with relevant public policies and state reactions to private recovery methods. The analysis illustrates processes that externalise recovery costs, alter the relationship between physical and socio-economic vulnerability and shift the vulnerability load from macro structures to individual agencies or vice versa. It is based on two methodological approaches: the division of vulnerability into three constituent components (exposure, resistance and resilience); and the conceptual split between producers and carriers of vulnerability.

Quality standards versus nutritional taxes: Health and welfare impacts with strategic firms.

PubMed

Réquillart, Vincent; Soler, Louis-Georges; Zang, Yu

2016-12-01

The goal of this paper is to better understand firms' strategic reactions to nutritional policies targeting food quality improvements and to derive optimal policies. We propose a model of product differentiation, taking into account the taste and health characteristics of products. We study how two firms react to alternative policies: an MQS policy, linear taxation of the two goods on the market, and taxation of the low-quality good. The MQS and the taxation of the low-quality product are the preferred options by a social planner. If taste is moderately important, the MQS policy is chosen by a populist and a paternalist social planner. If taste is a major component of choice, the populist planner chooses to tax the low-quality product whereas the paternalist planner prefers the MQS policy. Finally, for a paternalist social planner, an MQS-based policy always allows for higher levels of welfare than an information policy alone. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Involvement in Childrearing and Firm Control Parenting by Male Cohabiting Partners in Black Low-income Stepfamilies: Forecasting Adolescent Problem Behaviors

PubMed Central

Forehand, Rex; Parent, Justin; Golub, Andrew; Reid, Megan; Lafko, Nicole

2018-01-01

Cohabitation is a family structure that is rapidly increasing in the United States. The current longitudinal study examined the interplay of involvement in a youth’s daily activities and firm control parenting by male cohabiting partners (MCPs) on change in adolescents’ internalizing and externalizing problems. In a sample of 111 inner-city African American families, adolescents reported on involvement and parenting by MCPs at wave 1 and biological mothers reported on adolescent problem behaviors at waves 1 and 2. A significant interaction indicated that low involvement and low firm control by MCPs at wave 1 were associated with the highest level of internalizing problems at wave 2. An interaction did not emerge when externalizing problems served as the outcome. The findings indicate that male partners play an important role in parenting adolescents in cohabiting families and should be considered as potential participants in prevention and intervention programs. PMID:26007695

Selected chemical compounds in firm and mellow persimmon fruit before and after the drying process.

PubMed

Senica, Mateja; Veberic, Robert; Grabnar, Jana Jurhar; Stampar, Franci; Jakopic, Jerneja

2016-07-01

Persimmon is a seasonal fruit and only available in fresh form for a short period of each year. In addition to freezing, drying is the simplest substitute for the fresh fruit and accessible throughout the year. The effect of mellowing and drying was evaluated in 'Tipo' persimmon, an astringent cultivar. 'Tipo' firm fruit contained high levels of tannins (1.1 mg g(-1) DW), which were naturally decreased to 0.2 mg g(-1) DW after mellowing. The drying process greatly impacted the contents of carotenoids, total phenols, individual phenolics, tannins, organic acids, sugars and colour parameters in firm and mellow fruit. The reduction of tannins, phenolic compounds and organic acids were accompanied by the increase of sugars and carotenoids, improving the colour of the analysed samples. These results showed that the drying process improved the quality of persimmon products and extended their shelf life. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.

The influence of different electrical conductivity values in a simplified recirculating soilless system on inner and outer fruit quality characteristics of tomato.

PubMed

Krauss, Sandra; Schnitzler, Wilfried H; Grassmann, Johanna; Woitke, Markus

2006-01-25

Irrigation with saline water affects tomato fruit quality. While total fruit yield decreases with salinity, inner quality characterized by taste and health-promoting compounds can be improved. For a detailed description of this relationship, the influence of three different salt levels [electrical conductivity (EC) 3, 6.5, and 10] in hydroponically grown tomatoes was investigated. Rising salinity levels in the nutrient solution significantly increased vitamin C, lycopene, and beta-carotene in fresh fruits up to 35%. The phenol concentration was tendentiously enhanced, and the antioxidative capacity of phenols and carotenoids increased on a fresh weight basis. Additionally, the higher EC values caused an increase of total soluble solids and organic acids, parameters determining the taste of tomatoes. Total fruit yield, single fruit weight, and firmness significantly decreased with rising EC levels. Regression analyses revealed significant correlations between the EC level and the dependent variables single fruit weight, total soluble solids, titrable acids, lycopene, and antioxidative capacities of carotenoids and phenols, whereas vitamin C and phenols correlated best with truss number, and beta-carotene correlated best with temperature. Only pressure firmness showed no correlation with any of the measured parameters. As all desirable characteristics in the freshly produced tomato increased when exposed to salinity, salinity itself constitutes an alternative method of quality improvement. Moreover, it can compensate for the loss of yield by the higher inner quality due to changing demands by the market and the consumer. This investigation is to our knowledge the first comprehensive overview regarding parameters of outer quality (yield and firmness), taste (total soluble solids and acids), nutritional value (vitamin C, carotenoids, and phenolics), as well as antioxidative capacity in tomatoes grown under saline conditions.

To trade or not to trade: firm-level analysis of emissions trading in Santiago, Chile.

PubMed

Coria, Jessica; Löfgren, Asa; Sterner, Thomas

2010-11-01

Whether tradable permits are appropriate for use in transition and developing economies--given special social and cultural circumstances, such as the lack of institutions and lack of expertise with market-based policies--is much debated. We conducted interviews and surveyed a sample of firms subject to emissions trading programs in Santiago, Chile, one of the first cities outside the OECD that has implemented such trading. The information gathered allows us to study what factors affect the performance of the trading programs in practice and the challenges and advantages of applying tradable permits in less developed countries. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Scholarships for High School Teachers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hach, Bryce

2007-12-01

The Hach Scientific Foundation 's mission is very focused and very simple: supporting chemistry education, primarily at the K 12 level. Through the recruitment of new teachers, addressing the issues of existing teacher retention, and supporting the best instruction and assessment strategies in chemistry education, the Foundation has a firm commitment to making the life of the chemistry student and teacher the most positive and educational experience possible. Although the Foundation's charter has its roots firmly planted in chemistry, the outgrowth of Hach Co. cofounder Clifford Hach's love of the "central science", it took more than 20 years before the Foundation announced it would narrow its aim singly on chemistry education.

Essays in environmental economics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bartz-Marvez, Sherry L.

This body of work contributes to the literature on two current topics in environmental economics: (1) the relationship between economic development and environmental degradation; and (2) the effectiveness of mandatory information disclosure as a regulatory instrument. For the first topic, we link theoretical and empirical Environmental Kuznets Curve research by using calibration and simulation to test a growth model with environmental quality as a normal good and emissions as a factor of production. We use U.S. macroeconomic, emissions and compliance data to calibrate parameters representing preferences for environmental quality and marginal abatement costs. We simulate the model starting from a less-developed initial condition and compare the predicted pollution-income relationship with that in the data. Our results are mixed. Some support exists for the theory that an inverted U-shape results from a corner solution in which less developed countries do not abate pollution. However, pollution peaks at a level of per capita income which is much lower than that observed in the U.S. data. For the second topic, we study the effectiveness of mandatory information disclosure as environmental regulation. Community-right-to-know programs such as the EPA's Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) use mandatory information disclosure to "shame" dirty firms into reducing emissions. The idea is that the public---armed with previously unavailable emissions information---will pressure firms with higher-than-expected emissions to "clean-up." We use the electricity industry to study the impact of price-and-entry deregulation on the effectiveness of the TRI. Using event studies, we find that, on average, utilities experience losses in firm value immediately following TRI announcements. Using panel regressions, we show that toxic emissions released in regulated states are associated with decreases in firm value while those released in deregulated states are associated with increases in firm value. We then estimate the impact of changes in firm value on subsequent emissions, finding that releases of most TRI pollutants are reduced in regulated states, but not in deregulated states.

An Evolutionary Complex Systems Decision-Support Tool for the Management of Operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baldwin, J. S.; Allen, P. M.; Ridgway, K.

2011-12-01

This research aimed to add both to the development of complex systems thinking in the subject area of Operations and Production Management and to the limited number of applications of computational models and simulations from the science of complex systems. The latter potentially offer helpful decision-support tools for operations and production managers. A mechanical engineering firm was used as a case study where a combined qualitative and quantitative methodological approach was employed to extract the required data from four senior managers. Company performance measures as well as firm technologies, practices and policies, and their relation and interaction with one another, were elicited. The data were subjected to an evolutionary complex systems model resulting in a series of simulations. The findings included both reassuring and some unexpected results. The simulation based on the CEO's opinions led the most cohesive and synergistic collection of practices describing the firm, closely followed by the Marketing and R&D Managers. The Manufacturing Manager's responses led to the most extreme evolutionary trajectory where the integrity of the entire firm came into question particularly when considering how employees were utilised. By drawing directly from the opinions and views of managers rather than from logical 'if-then' rules and averaged mathematical representations of agents that characterise agent-based and other self-organisational models, this work builds on previous applications by capturing a micro-level description of diversity and a learning effect that has been problematical not only in terms of theory but also in application. This approach can be used as a decision-support tool for operations and other managers providing a forum with which to explore a) the strengths, weaknesses and consequences of different decision-making capacities within the firm; b) the introduction of new manufacturing technologies, practices and policies; and, c) the different evolutionary trajectories that a firm can take.

Biopharmaceutical Innovation System in China: System Evolution and Policy Transitions (Pre-1990s-2010s)

PubMed Central

Hu, Hao; Chung, Chao-Chen

2015-01-01

Background: This article sets up the initial discussion of the evolution of biopharmaceutical innovation in China through the perspective of sectoral innovation system (SIS). Methods: Two data sources including archival documentary data and field interviews were used in this study. Archival documentary data was collected from China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). In addition, industrial practitioners and leading researchers in academia were interviewed. Results: Biopharmaceutical in China was established through international knowledge transfer. The firms played more active role in commercializing biopharmaceutical in China though universities and research institutes were starting to interact with local firms and make contribution to biopharmaceutical industrialization. The transition of the Chinese government’s policies continuously shapes the evolution of biopharmaceutical sector. Policies have been dramatic changes before and after 1980s to encourage developing biopharmaceutical as a competitive industry for China. Conclusion: A SIS for biopharmaceutical has been shaped in China. However, currently biopharmaceutical is still a small sector in China, and for the further growth of the industry more synthetic policies should be implemented. Not only the policy supports towards the research and innovation of biopharmaceuticals in the early stage of development should be attended, but also commercialization of biopharmaceutical products in the later stage of sales. PMID:26673466

Biopharmaceutical Innovation System in China: System Evolution and Policy Transitions (Pre-1990s-2010s).

PubMed

Hu, Hao; Chung, Chao-Chen

2015-09-03

This article sets up the initial discussion of the evolution of biopharmaceutical innovation in China through the perspective of sectoral innovation system (SIS). Two data sources including archival documentary data and field interviews were used in this study. Archival documentary data was collected from China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). In addition, industrial practitioners and leading researchers in academia were interviewed. Biopharmaceutical in China was established through international knowledge transfer. The firms played more active role in commercializing biopharmaceutical in China though universities and research institutes were starting to interact with local firms and make contribution to biopharmaceutical industrialization. The transition of the Chinese government's policies continuously shapes the evolution of biopharmaceutical sector. Policies have been dramatic changes before and after 1980s to encourage developing biopharmaceutical as a competitive industry for China. A SIS for biopharmaceutical has been shaped in China. However, currently biopharmaceutical is still a small sector in China, and for the further growth of the industry more synthetic policies should be implemented. Not only the policy supports towards the research and innovation of biopharmaceuticals in the early stage of development should be attended, but also commercialization of biopharmaceutical products in the later stage of sales. © 2015 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

40 CFR 745.89 - Firm certification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... LEAD-BASED PAINT POISONING PREVENTION IN CERTAIN RESIDENTIAL STRUCTURES Residential Property Renovation... submit to EPA a completed “Application for Firms,” signed by an authorized agent of the firm, and pay at... reimburse the firm for the excess amount. (2) After EPA receives a firm's application, EPA will take one of...

46 CFR 201.22 - Firms and corporations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 46 Shipping 8 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Firms and corporations. 201.22 Section 201.22 Shipping... PROCEDURE Appearance and Practice Before the Administration (Rule 2) § 201.22 Firms and corporations. Except as regards law firms, practice before the Administration by firms or corporations on behalf of others...

46 CFR 201.22 - Firms and corporations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 46 Shipping 8 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Firms and corporations. 201.22 Section 201.22 Shipping... PROCEDURE Appearance and Practice Before the Administration (Rule 2) § 201.22 Firms and corporations. Except as regards law firms, practice before the Administration by firms or corporations on behalf of others...

46 CFR 201.22 - Firms and corporations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 46 Shipping 8 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Firms and corporations. 201.22 Section 201.22 Shipping... PROCEDURE Appearance and Practice Before the Administration (Rule 2) § 201.22 Firms and corporations. Except as regards law firms, practice before the Administration by firms or corporations on behalf of others...

46 CFR 201.22 - Firms and corporations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 46 Shipping 8 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Firms and corporations. 201.22 Section 201.22 Shipping... PROCEDURE Appearance and Practice Before the Administration (Rule 2) § 201.22 Firms and corporations. Except as regards law firms, practice before the Administration by firms or corporations on behalf of others...

46 CFR 201.22 - Firms and corporations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 46 Shipping 8 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Firms and corporations. 201.22 Section 201.22 Shipping... PROCEDURE Appearance and Practice Before the Administration (Rule 2) § 201.22 Firms and corporations. Except as regards law firms, practice before the Administration by firms or corporations on behalf of others...

Agent-Based Model Approach to Complex Phenomena in Real Economy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iyetomi, H.; Aoyama, H.; Fujiwara, Y.; Ikeda, Y.; Souma, W.

An agent-based model for firms' dynamics is developed. The model consists of firm agents with identical characteristic parameters and a bank agent. Dynamics of those agents are described by their balance sheets. Each firm tries to maximize its expected profit with possible risks in market. Infinite growth of a firm directed by the ``profit maximization" principle is suppressed by a concept of ``going concern". Possibility of bankruptcy of firms is also introduced by incorporating a retardation effect of information on firms' decision. The firms, mutually interacting through the monopolistic bank, become heterogeneous in the course of temporal evolution. Statistical properties of firms' dynamics obtained by simulations based on the model are discussed in light of observations in the real economy.

Microcap pharmaceutical firms: linking drug pipelines to market value.

PubMed

Beach, Robert

2012-01-01

This article examines predictors of the future market value of microcap pharmaceutical companies. This is problematic since the large majority of these firms seldom report positive net income. Their value comes from the potential of a liquidity event such as occurs when a key drug is approved by the FDA. The typical scenario is one in which the company is either acquired by a larger pharmaceutical firm or enters into a joint venture with another pharmaceutical firm. Binary logistic regression is used to determine the impact of the firm's drug treatment pipeline and its investment in research and development on the firm's market cap. Using annual financial data from 2007 through 2010, this study finds that the status of the firm's drug treatment pipeline and its research and development expenses are significant predictors of the firm's future stock value relative to other microcap pharmaceutical firms.

Can Cross-Listing Mitigate the Impact of an Information Security Breach Announcement on a Firm's Values?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yong; Dong, Feng; Chen, Hong; Xu, Li

2016-08-01

The increase in globalization in the markets has driven firms to adopt online technologies and to cross-list their stocks. Recent studies have consistently found that the announcements of information security breaches (ISBs) are negatively associated with the market values of the announcing firms during the days surrounding the breach announcements. Given the improvement in firms’ information environments and the better protection for investors generated by cross-listing, does cross-listing help firms to reduce the negative impacts caused by their announcements of ISBs? This paper conducts an event study of 120 publicly traded firms (among which 25 cross-list and 95 do not), in order to explore the answer. The results indicate that the impact of ISB announcements on a firm's stock prices shows no difference between cross-listing firms and non-cross-listing firms. Cross-listing does not mitigate the impact of ISBs announcement on a firm's market value.

Thermodynamics of firms' growth

PubMed Central

Zambrano, Eduardo; Hernando, Alberto; Hernando, Ricardo; Plastino, Angelo

2015-01-01

The distribution of firms' growth and firms' sizes is a topic under intense scrutiny. In this paper, we show that a thermodynamic model based on the maximum entropy principle, with dynamical prior information, can be constructed that adequately describes the dynamics and distribution of firms' growth. Our theoretical framework is tested against a comprehensive database of Spanish firms, which covers, to a very large extent, Spain's economic activity, with a total of 1 155 142 firms evolving along a full decade. We show that the empirical exponent of Pareto's law, a rule often observed in the rank distribution of large-size firms, is explained by the capacity of economic system for creating/destroying firms, and that can be used to measure the health of a capitalist-based economy. Indeed, our model predicts that when the exponent is larger than 1, creation of firms is favoured; when it is smaller than 1, destruction of firms is favoured instead; and when it equals 1 (matching Zipf's law), the system is in a full macroeconomic equilibrium, entailing ‘free’ creation and/or destruction of firms. For medium and smaller firm sizes, the dynamical regime changes, the whole distribution can no longer be fitted to a single simple analytical form and numerical prediction is required. Our model constitutes the basis for a full predictive framework regarding the economic evolution of an ensemble of firms. Such a structure can be potentially used to develop simulations and test hypothetical scenarios, such as economic crisis or the response to specific policy measures. PMID:26510828

Thermodynamics of firms' growth.

PubMed

Zambrano, Eduardo; Hernando, Alberto; Fernández Bariviera, Aurelio; Hernando, Ricardo; Plastino, Angelo

2015-11-06

The distribution of firms' growth and firms' sizes is a topic under intense scrutiny. In this paper, we show that a thermodynamic model based on the maximum entropy principle, with dynamical prior information, can be constructed that adequately describes the dynamics and distribution of firms' growth. Our theoretical framework is tested against a comprehensive database of Spanish firms, which covers, to a very large extent, Spain's economic activity, with a total of 1,155,142 firms evolving along a full decade. We show that the empirical exponent of Pareto's law, a rule often observed in the rank distribution of large-size firms, is explained by the capacity of economic system for creating/destroying firms, and that can be used to measure the health of a capitalist-based economy. Indeed, our model predicts that when the exponent is larger than 1, creation of firms is favoured; when it is smaller than 1, destruction of firms is favoured instead; and when it equals 1 (matching Zipf's law), the system is in a full macroeconomic equilibrium, entailing 'free' creation and/or destruction of firms. For medium and smaller firm sizes, the dynamical regime changes, the whole distribution can no longer be fitted to a single simple analytical form and numerical prediction is required. Our model constitutes the basis for a full predictive framework regarding the economic evolution of an ensemble of firms. Such a structure can be potentially used to develop simulations and test hypothetical scenarios, such as economic crisis or the response to specific policy measures. © 2015 The Authors.

A primer on multifactor productivity : description, benefits, and uses

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2008-04-01

This primer presents a description of multifactor : productivity (MFP) and its calculation. Productivity : is an important measure of the state of the : economy at various levels: firm, industry, sectoral, : and the macroeconomic. The method describe...

2016 availability and disparity study : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-07-01

The study examined whether there was a level playing field for minority- and women-owned firms in the Montana transportation : contracting marketplace and for MDT contracting. This information helps MDT set an overall goal for Disadvantage Business :...

National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Provides information about how the permit program interacts with other CWA programs to protect and improve water quality, and provides resources for professionals working in the program at the federal, state, local, and firm level, and concerned public.

Effectively Integrating an International Field Study into the EMBA Curriculum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cotner, John; Jones, Raymond; Kashlak, Roger

2003-01-01

An international field study (IFS) is an integral part of the EMBA program because of the various critical roles it plays. This international travel experience is a value-added activity not only as "stand alone" vehicle for understanding macro-level environments and firm-level strategic initiatives, but also as a tool that integrates other pieces…

Through tobacco industry eyes: civil society and the FCTC process from Philip Morris and British American Tobacco’s perspectives

PubMed Central

Gonzalez, Mariaelena; Green, Lawrence W; Glantz, Stanton A

2011-01-01

Objective To analyse the models Philip Morris (PM) and British American Tobacco (BAT) used internally to understand tobacco control non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and their relationship to the global tobacco control policy-making process that resulted in the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC). Methods Analysis of internal tobacco industry documents in the Legacy Tobacco Document Library. Results PM contracted with Mongoven, Biscoe, and Duchin, Inc. (MBD, a consulting firm specialising in NGO surveillance) as advisors. MBD argued that because NGOs are increasingly linked to epistemic communities, NGOs could insert themselves into the global policy-making process and influence the discourse surrounding the treaty-making process. MBD advised PM to insert itself into the policy-making process, mimicking NGO behaviour. BAT’s Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (CORA) department argued that global regulation emerged from the perception (by NGOs and governments) that the industry could not regulate itself, leading to BAT advocating social alignment and self-regulation to minimise the impact of the FCTC. Most efforts to block or redirect the FCTC failed. Conclusions PM and BAT articulated a global policy-making environment in which NGOs are key, non-state stakeholders, and as a result, internationalised some of their previous national-level strategies. After both companies failed to prevent the FCTC, their strategies began to align. Multinational corporations have continued to successfully employ some of the strategies outlined in this paper at the local and national level while being formally excluded from ongoing FCTC negotiations at the global level. PMID:21636611

Parental verbal abuse and the mediating role of self-criticism in adult internalizing disorders.

PubMed

Sachs-Ericsson, Natalie; Verona, Edelyn; Joiner, Thomas; Preacher, Kristopher J

2006-07-01

Researchers (e.g., [Gibb, B.E., 2002. Childhood maltreatment and negative cognitive styles. A quantitative and qualitative review. Clinical Psychology Review, 22 (2), 223-246]; [Rose, D.T., Abramson, L.Y., 1992. Developmental predictors of depressive cognitive styles: developmental perspectives on depression. In Cicchetti, D., Toth, S.L. (Eds.), Developmental Perspectives on Depression. Rochester symposium on developmental psychopathology, vol. 4, pp. 323-349]) have proposed that when childhood abuse is verbal (rather than sexual or physical), the child is more likely to develop a negative self-schema because the negative self-cognitions are directly supplied to the child by the abuser (e.g., "you are stupid"). In a test of this theory in adult participants, and drawing on the National Comorbidity Survey (NCS) (N=5877), we investigate the mediating role of current levels of self-criticism on the relationship between retrospective reports of parental verbal abuse, as well as sexual and physical abuse, and adult internalizing symptoms. We found self-criticism, but not dependency traits, to fully mediate the relationship between childhood verbal abuse perpetrated by parents and internalizing (depression, anxiety) symptoms. On the other hand, self-criticism was only a partial mediator of the relationship between the other types of abuse and internalizing symptoms. The NCS data is cross-sectional, which limits any firm conclusions regarding causality. While these results are suggestive that self-criticism is a mediator of the relationship between abuse and internalizing symptoms, longitudinal data are necessary to help rule out alternative explanations. Results of this study suggest that childhood abuse experiences, and in particular verbal abuse, may confer risk for internalizing disorders in part because verbal abuse influences the development of a self-critical style.

13 CFR 315.6 - Firm eligibility for Adjustment Assistance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... least 50 percent of the total cash cost of the Adjustment Assistance, in addition to appropriate in-kind... certification. The TAAC will assist Firms in completing such petitions (at no cost to the Firms); (2) Firms... least 25 percent of the cost of preparing its Adjustment Proposal. Each Certified Firm requesting $30...

Scaling Behavior of Firm Growth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stanley, Michael H. R.; Nunes Amaral, Luis A.; Buldyrev, Sergey V.; Havlin, Shlomo; Leschhorn, Heiko; Maass, Philipp; Salinger, Michael A.; Stanley, H. Eugene

1996-03-01

The theory of the firm is of considerable interest in economics. The standard microeconomic theory of the firm is largely a static model and has thus proved unsatisfactory for addressing inherently dynamic issues such as the growth of economies. In recent years, many have attempted to develop richer models that provide a more accurate representation of firm dynamics due to learning, innovative effort, and the development of organizational infrastructure. The validity of these new, inherently dynamic theories depends on their consistency with the statistical properties of firm growth, e.g. the relationship between growth rates and firm size. Using the Compustat database over the time period 1975-1991, we find: (i) the distribution of annual growth rates for firms with approximately the same sales displays an exponential form with the logarithm of growth rate, and (ii) the fluctuations in the growth rates --- measured by the width of this distribution --- scale as a power law with the firm sales. We place these findings of scaling behavior in the context of conventional economics by considering firm growth dynamics with temporal correlations and also, by considering a hierarchical organization of the departments of a firm.

Bankruptcy risk model and empirical tests

PubMed Central

Podobnik, Boris; Horvatic, Davor; Petersen, Alexander M.; Urošević, Branko; Stanley, H. Eugene

2010-01-01

We analyze the size dependence and temporal stability of firm bankruptcy risk in the US economy by applying Zipf scaling techniques. We focus on a single risk factor—the debt-to-asset ratio R—in order to study the stability of the Zipf distribution of R over time. We find that the Zipf exponent increases during market crashes, implying that firms go bankrupt with larger values of R. Based on the Zipf analysis, we employ Bayes’s theorem and relate the conditional probability that a bankrupt firm has a ratio R with the conditional probability of bankruptcy for a firm with a given R value. For 2,737 bankrupt firms, we demonstrate size dependence in assets change during the bankruptcy proceedings. Prepetition firm assets and petition firm assets follow Zipf distributions but with different exponents, meaning that firms with smaller assets adjust their assets more than firms with larger assets during the bankruptcy process. We compare bankrupt firms with nonbankrupt firms by analyzing the assets and liabilities of two large subsets of the US economy: 2,545 Nasdaq members and 1,680 New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) members. We find that both assets and liabilities follow a Pareto distribution. The finding is not a trivial consequence of the Zipf scaling relationship of firm size quantified by employees—although the market capitalization of Nasdaq stocks follows a Pareto distribution, the same distribution does not describe NYSE stocks. We propose a coupled Simon model that simultaneously evolves both assets and debt with the possibility of bankruptcy, and we also consider the possibility of firm mergers. PMID:20937903

10 CFR 205.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... that an authorized purchaser be supplied at a specified entitlement level by a specified supplier... and similar transcriptions. Person means any individual, firm, estate, trust, sole proprietorship..., or a charitable, educational or other institution, and includes any officer, director, owner or duly...

48 CFR 1019.202-70-10 - Application process for mentor firms to participate in the program.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... mentor firms to participate in the program. 1019.202-70-10 Section 1019.202-70-10 Federal Acquisition...-70-10 Application process for mentor firms to participate in the program. (a) Firm interested in becoming a mentor firm may apply in writing to Treasury's OSBD. The application will be evaluated based...

Comparison of Health Risks and Changes in Risks over Time Among a Sample of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Heterosexual Employees at a Large Firm.

PubMed

Mitchell, Rebecca J; Ozminkowski, Ronald J

2017-04-01

The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of health risk factors by sexual orientation over a 4-year period within a sample of employees from a large firm. Propensity score-weighted generalized linear regression models were used to estimate the proportion of employees at high risk for health problems in each year and over time, controlling for many factors. Analyses were conducted with 6 study samples based on sex and sexual orientation. Rates of smoking, stress, and certain other health risk factors were higher for lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) employees compared with rates of these risks among straight employees. Lesbian, gay, and straight employees successfully reduced risk levels in many areas. Significant reductions were realized for the proportion at risk for high stress and low life satisfaction among gay and lesbian employees, and for the proportion of smokers among gay males. Comparing changes over time for sexual orientation groups versus other employee groups showed that improvements and reductions in risk levels for most health risk factors examined occurred at similar rates among individuals employed by this firm, regardless of sexual orientation. These results can help improve understanding of LGB health and provide information on where to focus workplace health promotion efforts to meet the health needs of LGB employees.

Silencing of SlPL, which encodes a pectate lyase in tomato, confers enhanced fruit firmness, prolonged shelf-life and reduced susceptibility to grey mould.

PubMed

Yang, Lu; Huang, Wei; Xiong, Fangjie; Xian, Zhiqiang; Su, Deding; Ren, Maozhi; Li, Zhengguo

2017-12-01

Pectate lyase genes have been documented as excellent candidates for improvement of fruit firmness. However, implementation of pectate lyase in regulating fruit postharvest deterioration has not been fully explored. In this report, 22 individual pectate lyase genes in tomato were identified, and one pectate lyase gene SlPL (Solyc03g111690) showed dominant expression during fruit maturation. RNA interference of SlPL resulted in enhanced fruit firmness and changes in pericarp cells. More importantly, the SlPL-RNAi fruit demonstrated greater antirotting and pathogen-resisting ability. Compared to wild-type, SlPL-RNAi fruit had higher levels of cellulose and hemicellulose, whereas the level of water-soluble pectin was lower. Consistent with this, the activities of peroxidase, superoxide dismutase and catalase were higher in SlPL-RNAi fruit, and the malondialdehyde concentration was lower. RNA-Seq results showed large amounts of differentially expressed genes involved in hormone signalling, cell wall modification, oxidative stress and pathogen resistance. Collectively, these data demonstrate that pectate lyase plays an important role in both fruit softening and pathogen resistance. This may advance knowledge of postharvest fruit preservation in tomato and other fleshy fruit. © 2017 The Authors. Plant Biotechnology Journal published by Society for Experimental Biology and The Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Risky business: when mom and pop buy health insurance for their employees.

PubMed

Gabel, Jon R; Pickreign, Jeremy D

2004-04-01

The economics of small group insurance makes offering health benefits to employees a risky business. Surveys of employers from 1989 to 2003 reveal that more rapid premium increases are forcing small firms to impose higher cost-sharing. In 2003, premiums for small firms (3-199 workers) increased 15.5 percent, outpacing the 13.2 percent increase for large firms (200+ workers). From 2000 to 2003, deductibles among small firms increased 100 percent in PPO plans when employees use in-network providers and 131 percent when they use out-of-network providers; among large firms, deductibles in PPO plans increased 33 percent and 44 percent, respectively. And in 2003, 40.3 percent of employees in the smallest firms contributed 41 percent or more of the total family premium, compared with only 11.2 percent of employees in large firms. Clearly, fundamental change in the small employer market is necessary, including new options for helping small firms gain access to the advantages large firms have in purchasing health benefits.

Joint Decision-Making and the Coordination of a Sustainable Supply Chain in the Context of Carbon Tax Regulation and Fairness Concerns.

PubMed

Liu, Zhi; Zheng, Xiao-Xue; Gong, Ben-Gang; Gui, Yun-Miao

2017-11-27

Carbon tax regulation and consumers' low-carbon preference act as incentives for firms to abate emissions. Manufacturers can improve product sustainability and retailers can strengthen the promotion of low-carbon products as part of such abatement. Current incomplete rationality also affects product sustainability and low-carbon promotion level. In this context, we consider a supply chain with a manufacturer and a retailer and investigate the impacts of the manufacturer's and the retailer's fairness concerns on their production sustainability level, low-carbon promotion level and profitability. We also explore the coordination contract. The results show that the manufacturer's and the retailer's fairness concerns decrease their product sustainability and low-carbon promotion level, together with the profits of the system and the manufacturer. With regard to the retailer's fairness concern, the product sustainability level and the manufacturer's profit are lower; moreover, the low-carbon promotion level and the profits of the supply chain and the retailer are higher. A revenue-sharing contract can coordinate the supply chain perfectly; however, members' fairness concerns increase the difficulty of coordination. Finally, the numerical results reveal that carbon tax regulation can encourage the manufacturer to enhance the product sustainability level. Further, the impacts on the low-carbon promotion level and firms' profitability are related to the cost coefficients of product sustainability.

Where Gibrat meets Zipf: Scale and scope of French firms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bee, Marco; Riccaboni, Massimo; Schiavo, Stefano

2017-09-01

The proper characterization of the size distribution and growth of firms represents an important issue in economics and business. We use the Maximum Entropy approach to assess the plausibility of the assumption that firm size follows Lognormal or Pareto distributions, which underlies most recent works on the subject. A comprehensive dataset covering the universe of French firms allows us to draw two major conclusions. First, the Pareto hypothesis for the whole distribution should be rejected. Second, by discriminating across firms based on the number of products sold and markets served, we find that, within the class of multi-product companies active in multiple markets, the distribution converges to a Zipf's law. Conversely, Lognormal distribution is a good benchmark for small single-product firms. The size distribution of firms largely depends on firms' diversification patterns.

A topological proof of chaos for two nonlinear heterogeneous triopoly game models

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pireddu, Marina, E-mail: marina.pireddu@unimib.it

We rigorously prove the existence of chaotic dynamics for two nonlinear Cournot triopoly game models with heterogeneous players, for which in the existing literature the presence of complex phenomena and strange attractors has been shown via numerical simulations. In the first model that we analyze, costs are linear but the demand function is isoelastic, while, in the second model, the demand function is linear and production costs are quadratic. As concerns the decisional mechanisms adopted by the firms, in both models one firm adopts a myopic adjustment mechanism, considering the marginal profit of the last period; the second firm maximizesmore » its own expected profit under the assumption that the competitors' production levels will not vary with respect to the previous period; the third firm acts adaptively, changing its output proportionally to the difference between its own output in the previous period and the naive expectation value. The topological method we employ in our analysis is the so-called “Stretching Along the Paths” technique, based on the Poincaré-Miranda Theorem and the properties of the cutting surfaces, which allows to prove the existence of a semi-conjugacy between the system under consideration and the Bernoulli shift, so that the former inherits from the latter several crucial chaotic features, among which a positive topological entropy.« less

Effects of high inclusion of soybean meal and a phytase superdose on growth performance of weaned pigs housed under the rigors of commercial conditions.

PubMed

Moran, K; Boyd, R D; Zier-Rush, C; Wilcock, P; Bajjalieh, N; van Heugten, E

2017-12-01

Two studies were conducted to determine whether soybean meal (SBM) use in nursery pig diets can be increased by superdosing with phytase. In Exp. 1, 2,550 pigs (BW of 5.54 ± 0.09 kg) were used to evaluate the optimal level of phytase in low- or high-SBM diets. Two SBM levels (low and high) and 4 phytase doses (0, 1,250, 2,500, and 3,750 phytase units [FTU]/kg) were combined to create 8 dietary treatments in a 2 × 4 factorial arrangement. Pigs were fed a 3-phase feeding program, with each period being 10, 10, and 22 d, respectively. Inclusion of low and high SBM was 15.0 and 25.0%, respectively, for Phase 1; 19.0 and 29.0%, respectively, for Phase 2; and 32.5% for the common Phase 3 diet. Pigs fed diets with high SBM had improved G:F for Phase 1 and 2 and overall ( < 0.01) compared with low-SBM diets. Phytase quadratically improved G:F during Phase 3 and overall ( < 0.05), with the optimum phytase dose being 2,500 FTU/kg. High-SBM diets tended ( = 0.09) to decrease stool firmness (determined daily from d 1 to 10) only on d 2. In Exp. 2, 2,112 pigs (BW of 5.99 ± 0.10 kg) were used to evaluate the impact of high levels of SBM and phytase on performance, stool firmness, mortality, and morbidity in weaned pigs originating from a porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) virus-positive sow farm. Pigs were fed a 3-phase feeding program as in Exp. 1. Three levels of SBM (low, medium, or high) and 2 phytase levels (600 or 2,600 FTU) were combined to create 6 dietary treatments in a 3 × 2 factorial arrangement. Inclusion of SBM was 15.0, 22.5, and 30.0% for Phase 1 and 20.0, 27.5, and 35.0% for Phase 2 for low, medium, and high SBM, respectively, and 29.0% for the common Phase 3 diet. Inclusion of SBM did not affect growth performance. The percentage of pigs removed for medical treatment linearly declined with increasing SBM levels ( = 0.04). High-SBM diets tended ( < 0.10) to decrease stool firmness during d 4 and 5 and high phytase tended ( < 0.10) to improve stool firmness on d 2 and 4. Analyzed PRRS titers in saliva samples collected on d 20 and 42 confirmed the PRRS status of the pigs; however, viral load was not impacted by dietary treatments ( ≥ 0.11). Results indicate that SBM levels in early nursery diets can be increased without decreasing growth performance and may be favorable in pigs originating from PRRS-positive sow farms by reducing costs of medical treatments. Supplementation of phytase at superdose levels can improve growth performance independently from the level of SBM in the diet.

Symbolic interactionism and critical perspective: divergent or synergistic?

PubMed

Burbank, Patricia M; Martins, Diane C

2010-01-01

Throughout their history, symbolic interactionism and critical perspective have been viewed as divergent theoretical perspectives with different philosophical underpinnings. A review of their historical and philosophical origins reveals both points of divergence and areas of convergence. Their underlying philosophies of science and views of human freedom are different as is their level of focus with symbolic interactionism having a micro perspective and critical perspective using a macro perspective. This micro/macro difference is reflected in the divergence of their major concepts, goals and basic tenets. While their underlying philosophies are different, however, they are not necessarily contradictory and areas of convergence may include the concepts of reference groups and looking glass self within symbolic interactionism and ideological hegemony within critical perspective. By using a pragmatic approach and combining symbolic interactionism and critical perspectives, both micro and macro levels come into focus and strategies for change across individual and societal levels can be developed and applied. Application of both symbolic interactionism and critical perspective to nursing research and scholarship offers exciting new opportunities for theory development and research methodologies. In nursing education, these two perspectives can give students added insight into patients' and families' problems at the micro level while, at the same time, giving them a lens to see and tools to apply to problems at the macro level in health care. In nursing practice, a combined symbolic interactionism/critical perspective approach assists nurses to give high-quality care at the individual level while also working at the macro level to address the manufacturers of illness. New research questions emerge from this combination of perspectives with new possibilities for theory development, a transformation in nursing education, and the potential for new practice strategies that can address individual client and larger system problems through empowerment of clients and nurses.

48 CFR 519.7008 - Selection of protégé firms.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS GSA Mentor-Protégé Program 519.7008 Selection of protégé firms. (a) Mentor firms will be solely responsible for selecting protégé firms. Mentors are encouraged to... subcontractor or a newly selected subcontractor for the prime contractor's GSA contract. (b) Mentor firms may...

Construction of a microscopic agent-based model for firms' dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iyetomi, Hiroshi; Aoyama, Hideaki; Fujiwara, Yoshi; Ikeda, Yuichi; Kaizoji, Taisei; Soma, Wataru

2005-07-01

A workable microscopic model for firms' dynamics has been constructed. The model consists of firm agents and a bank agent dynamics of which are described by balance sheets. The size distribution of firms and the temporal evolution of the bank show critical dependence on whether or not firms use perfect information on their financial conditions to draw up next production plans.

Health insurance, cost expectations, and adverse job turnover.

PubMed

Ellis, Randall P; Albert Ma, Ching-To

2011-01-01

Because less healthy employees value health insurance more than the healthy ones, when health insurance is newly offered job turnover rates for healthier employees decline less than turnover rates for the less healthy. We call this adverse job turnover, and it implies that a firm's expected health costs will increase when health insurance is first offered. Health insurance premiums may fail to adjust sufficiently fast because state regulations restrict annual premium changes, or insurers are reluctant to change premiums rapidly. Even with premiums set at the long run expected costs, some firms may be charged premiums higher than their current expected costs and choose not to offer insurance. High administrative costs at small firms exacerbate this dynamic selection problem. Using 1998-1999 MEDSTAT MarketScan and 1997 Employer Health Insurance Survey data, we find that expected employee health expenditures at firms that offer insurance have lower within-firm and higher between-firm variance than at firms that do not. Turnover rates are systematically higher in industries in which firms are less likely to offer insurance. Simulations of the offer decision capturing between-firm health-cost heterogeneity and expected turnover rates match the observed pattern across firm sizes well. 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Potential role of pectate lyase and Ca(2+) in the increase in strawberry fruit firmness induced by short-term treatment with high-pressure CO2.

PubMed

Wang, Mao Hua; Kim, Jin Gook; Ahn, Sun Eun; Lee, Ah Youn; Bae, Tae Min; Kim, Deu Re; Hwang, Yong Soo

2014-04-01

Postharvest treatment with high-pressure CO2 helps to control decay and increase firmness in strawberries. Increases in firmness occurred through modification of calcium binding to cell wall. However, the mechanism(s) involved in Ca(2+) migration to pectic polymers and other physiological events associated with the maintenance of increased firmness are not clearly understood. The focus of this study was to find potential mechanism(s) that are associated with calcium movement, increases in firmness, or maintenance of firmness in strawberry fruit after high-pressure CO2 treatment. An increase in firmness was induced by high-pressure CO2 treatment, but not by high-pressure N2 treatment. This indicates that CO2 stimulates a change in firmness. The increase in firmness induced by high-pressure CO2 seems to involve calcium efflux. Using membrane Ca(2+) -dependent ATPase inhibitors sodium vanadate (250 μM) and erythrosin B (100 μM) delayed both the increase in firmness and calcium binding to wall polymers. Exogenous application of CaCl2 (10 mM) enhanced the firmness increase of fruit slices only when they were exposed to high-pressure CO2 . The activity of pectate lyase was downregulated by CO2 treatment, but β-galactosidase activity was not affected. The increase in strawberry firmness induced by high-pressure CO2 treatment primarily involves the efflux of calcium ions and their binding to wall polymers. These physiological changes are not induced by an anaerobic environment. The downregulation of wall-modifying enzymes, such as pectate lyase, appeared to contribute to the maintenance of firmness that was induced by high-pressure CO2 treatment. © 2014 Institute of Food Technologists®

A randomised controlled study to evaluate the effectiveness of targeted occupational health and safety consultation or inspection in Ontario manufacturing workplaces.

PubMed

Hogg-Johnson, Sheilah; Robson, Lynda; Cole, Donald C; Amick, Benjamin C; Tompa, Emile; Smith, Peter M; van Eerd, Dwayne; Mustard, Cameron

2012-12-01

From 2004 to 2008, the prevention system in Ontario, Canada ran the High Risk Firm Initiative, an injury-experience based targeted consultation or inspection programme. Our objective was to establish whether prevention system targeting of firms was effective in improving injury outcomes. Randomised controlled parallel groups. Population included all manufacturing firms registered with the Ontario Workplace Safety & Insurance Board in 2005. Firms ranked between the 2nd and 10th percentile on a composite measure of occupational health and safety performance were randomised to three study arms in 2006: targeted for Health & Safety Association (HSA) consultation, targeted for Ministry of Labour (MOL) inspection, or services as usual. Data included firm characteristics (sector, size, years in business, region, branches), work injury claims 2002-2008 and measures of consulting and inspecting activity. Negative binomial generalised estimating equations modelled claim and disability day rates by study arm and year, controlling for firm characteristics. Among 2153 firms, firm characteristics and 2002-2005 rates of work injury claims and disability days were similar across arms. Firm outcomes were significantly different from year to year, but study arm by year interactions were insignificant indicating similar trends for all three study arms. 83% of HSA targeted firms were contacted and 63% engaged while 75% of MOL targeted firms were inspected with orders written in 56%. Consultation and enforcement programmes as implemented were not sufficient to reduce work injury outcomes over 21 month follow-up. Lack of benefit could be due to non-specific firm selection methods, limited firm participation in interventions, low intervention intensity or insensitivity of available outcomes.

Correlation of fresh muscle firmness with sensory characteristics of pork loins destined for a quality focused market.

PubMed

Arkfeld, E K; Mancini, S; Fields, B; Dilger, A C; Boler, D D

2015-10-01

Production of pork for quality-driven export markets offers economic incentive. Pork processors use subjective firmness as a sorting tool for loins intended for high-quality export. The objectives of this study were to determine 1) durometer efficacy in muscle, 2) if firmness on one portion of the loin is indicative of other locations, 3) if 1 d firmness is related to export quality traits, and 4) if variation in firmness is explained by mechanistic measures. Subjective firmness scores (1 = extremely soft and 5 = extremely firm) were determined by a trained individual 1 d (initial time point) postmortem. Loins (North American Meat Processors number 414 Canadian back; = 154) were wet aged for 28 d at 1.7°C. On d 28, a panel of 4 individuals assigned firmness scores on the ventral side of the loin at the area of the 10th rib, the anterior half, and the posterior half of the loin. Durometer readings were collected at the area of the 10th rib on the dorsal and ventral side of the loin. Spearman correlation coefficients were computed in SAS (version 9.3) to account for nonnormality of categorical data. Subjective firmness measurements at d 28 at the 10th rib and on the anterior portion of the loin were not correlated ( ≥ 0.21) with whole loin durometer readings on the dorsal or ventral portion of the loin or the average of the whole loin values. Subjective firmness (d 28) at the 10th rib accounted for 38.44 ( = 0.620) and 48.30% ( = 0.695) of the variation in firmness at the anterior portion of the loin and the posterior portion of the loin, respectively ( ≤ 0.05). One-day subjective firmness measurements were correlated with 28-d Warner-Bratzler shear force measurements ( = 0.174, = 0.03) but were not significantly correlated with sensory characteristics ( ≥ 0.08). Purge tended to be correlated with 1 d firmness ( = 0.136, = 0.10); however, drip and cooking loss, 24-h and 28-d pH, and soluble and insoluble collagen content were not correlated ( ≥ 0.34). Firmness measurements collected in the production facility (1 d) were negatively correlated with iodine value (IV; = -0.199, = 0.02), yet no 28-d subjective firmness measurements were correlated with IV ( ≥ 0.33). When loins not achieving export standards are removed from the population, 1 d firmness was not correlated to export quality or sensory characteristics (d 28). Differences in firmness were not explained by mechanistic measures. Inconsistencies among subjective and objective firmness measurements suggest that the durometer may not be an appropriate way to determine firmness.

The Production, Value, and Reduction Responsibility of Carbon Emissions through Electricity Consumption of Manufacturing Industries in South Korea and Thailand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kitikun, Medhawin

This dissertation provides a new method of measuring efforts by manufacturing industries to reduce their emissions by curtailing electricity consumption. Employing comprehensive firm-level data from the National Manufacture Annual Surveys of South Korea and Thailand, I construct the measure from estimates of revenue functions by industry. The data consists of firms from more than 20 industries in each year from 1982 to 2005 for Korea and from 2001 to 2008 for Thailand. With a total of more than two million observations, I estimate revenue functions for each industry and year. Here, I use three inputs: number of employees(L), fixed asset stock(K), and electricity consumption(E) and two types of functional forms to represent each industry's revenue function. Second, under market competitive condition, I find that profit maximizing firms deviated their level of electricity usage in production from the profit-maximizing level during the time period for both countries, and I develop a theoretical framework to explain this behavior. Then, I tested the theory using my empirical models. Results support the notion of a hidden environmental value expressed by firms in the form of voluntary deviations from profit-maximizing levels of input demand. The measure used is the gap between the marginal revenue product of electricity and its price. This gap should increase with income, consistent with the Environmental Kuznets Curve literature. My current model provides considerable support for this proposition. Estimates indicate, in most industries, a negative relationship between per-capita income and emissions. In the final section of the dissertation, I consider the equitable distribution of emissions reduction burden under an international agreement such as the reduction effort, Kyoto Protocol. Both developed and developing countries have to cut their emissions to a specific reduction percentage target. Domestically, I present two extreme scenarios. In the first scenario, manufacturing industries take full responsibility for emissions reductions by curtailing their use of energy without any subsidies from the government. Revenue function estimates provide measures of the differential costs imposed on different industries by emissions reductions. In the second scenario, emissions reductions are achieved by changing the mix of electricity generation technologies used by the power generation sector within the country. For the international case, I focus on the fairness of emission reduction responsibility among countries. To be fair to countries at different levels of development and with different rate of carbon emissions, I propose a new method to adjust the timing and rates of emission reductions based on a lifetime cumulative emission per capita.

An Extended N-Player Network Game and Simulation of Four Investment Strategies on a Complex Innovation Network

PubMed Central

Zhou, Wen; Koptyug, Nikita; Ye, Shutao; Jia, Yifan; Lu, Xiaolong

2016-01-01

As computer science and complex network theory develop, non-cooperative games and their formation and application on complex networks have been important research topics. In the inter-firm innovation network, it is a typical game behavior for firms to invest in their alliance partners. Accounting for the possibility that firms can be resource constrained, this paper analyzes a coordination game using the Nash bargaining solution as allocation rules between firms in an inter-firm innovation network. We build an extended inter-firm n-player game based on nonidealized conditions, describe four investment strategies and simulate the strategies on an inter-firm innovation network in order to compare their performance. By analyzing the results of our experiments, we find that our proposed greedy strategy is the best-performing in most situations. We hope this study provides a theoretical insight into how firms make investment decisions. PMID:26745375

Financial Constrains for Innovative Firms: The Role of Size, Industry and ICT Uses as Determinants of Firms' Financial Structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castillo-Merino, David; Vilaseca-Requena, Jordi; Plana-Erta, Dolors

This paper uses a large and original data set of Catalan firms in all the economic branches to analyse the effects of size, industry and degree of ICT uses on financial constraints for innovative firms. We have conducted a micro econometric analysis following Henry et al. (1999) investment model to empirically contrast the relationship between firms' investment spread over time and their financial structure, and we have used von Kalckreuth (2004) methodology, based on an original survey with data on financial issues. Our results show that it exits a positive and significant relationship between investment shift and financial structure, emerging financial constraints for more innovative firms. Furthermore, these constraints are higher for micro companies and firms within the knowledge-advanced services' industry. Finally, we have also found that advanced ICT uses by more innovative firms allow them to reduce constraints of access to sources of finance.

An Extended N-Player Network Game and Simulation of Four Investment Strategies on a Complex Innovation Network.

PubMed

Zhou, Wen; Koptyug, Nikita; Ye, Shutao; Jia, Yifan; Lu, Xiaolong

2016-01-01

As computer science and complex network theory develop, non-cooperative games and their formation and application on complex networks have been important research topics. In the inter-firm innovation network, it is a typical game behavior for firms to invest in their alliance partners. Accounting for the possibility that firms can be resource constrained, this paper analyzes a coordination game using the Nash bargaining solution as allocation rules between firms in an inter-firm innovation network. We build an extended inter-firm n-player game based on nonidealized conditions, describe four investment strategies and simulate the strategies on an inter-firm innovation network in order to compare their performance. By analyzing the results of our experiments, we find that our proposed greedy strategy is the best-performing in most situations. We hope this study provides a theoretical insight into how firms make investment decisions.

New and Emerging Entry-Level Office and Distributive Occupations and Their Effect on Business Education Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maxwell, G. W.; O'Hare, Judith Knight

A study was conducted to identify new and emerging entry-level office and distributive occupations and analyze their effect on the business education curriculum. Two methods of gathering data were used in the study. First, data were gathered from interviews of forty-seven office firms, twelve individuals who were informed regarding office…

Simulation of reservoir storage and firm yields of three surface-water supplies, Ipswich River Basin, Massachusetts

USGS Publications Warehouse

Zarriello, Phillip J.

2002-01-01

A Hydrologic Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) model previously developed for the Ipswich River Basin was modified to simulate the hydrologic response and firm yields of the water-supply systems of Lynn, Peabody, and Salem-Beverly. The updated model, expanded to include a portion of the Saugus River Basin that supplies water to Lynn, simulated reservoir system storage over a 35-year period (1961-95) under permitted withdrawals and hypothetical restrictions designed to maintain seasonally varied streamflow for aquatic habitat. A firm yield was calculated for each system and each withdrawal restriction by altering demands until the system failed. This is considered the maximum withdrawal rate that satisfies demands, but depletes reservoir storage. Simulations indicate that, under the permitted withdrawals, Lynn and Salem-Beverly were able to meet demands and generally have their reservoir system recover to full capacity during most years; reservoir storage averaged 83 and 82 percent of capacity, respectively. The firm yields for the Lynn and Salem-Beverly systems were 11.4 and 12.2 million gallons per day (Mgal/d), respectively, or 8 and 21 percent more than average 1998-2000 demands, respectively. Under permitted withdrawals and average 1998-2000 demands, the Peabody system failed in all years; thus Peabody purchased water to meet demands. The firm yield for the Peabody system is 3.70 Mgal/d, or 37 percent less than the average 1998-2000 demand. Simulations that limit withdrawals to levels recommended by the Ipswich River Fisheries Restoration Task Group (IRFRTG) indicate that under average 1998-2000 demands, reservoir storage was depleted in each of the three systems. Reservoir storage under average 1998-2000 demands and IRFRTG-recommended streamflow requirements averaged 15, 22, and 71 percent of capacity for the Lynn, Peabody, Salem-Beverly systems, respectively. The firm-yield estimates under the IRFRTG-recommended streamflow requirements were 6.02, 1.94, and 7.69 Mgal/d or 43, 64, and 34 percent less than the average 1998-2000 demands for the Lynn, Peabody, and Salem-Beverly systems, respectively. Simulations that limit withdrawals from the Saugus River to a less stringent set of restrictions (based on an Instream Flow Incremental Methodology study) than those previously simulated indicate that the firm yield of the Lynn system is about 31 percent less than the average 1998-2000 withdrawals (7.31 Mgal/d).

Solving the competitive facility location problem considering the reactions of competitor with a hybrid algorithm including Tabu Search and exact method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bagherinejad, Jafar; Niknam, Azar

2018-03-01

In this paper, a leader-follower competitive facility location problem considering the reactions of the competitors is studied. A model for locating new facilities and determining levels of quality for the facilities of the leader firm is proposed. Moreover, changes in the location and quality of existing facilities in a competitive market where a competitor offers the same goods or services are taken into account. The competitor could react by opening new facilities, closing existing ones, and adjusting the quality levels of its existing facilities. The market share, captured by each facility, depends on its distance to customer and its quality that is calculated based on the probabilistic Huff's model. Each firm aims to maximize its profit subject to constraints on quality levels and budget of setting up new facilities. This problem is formulated as a bi-level mixed integer non-linear model. The model is solved using a combination of Tabu Search with an exact method. The performance of the proposed algorithm is compared with an upper bound that is achieved by applying Karush-Kuhn-Tucker conditions. Computational results show that our algorithm finds near the upper bound solutions in a reasonable time.

Truck freight commodity flows : US 395 North of Spokane Washington,

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-10-01

The search for understanding of commodity flows throughout the nation and the State of : Washington is a continual process. This understanding is critical at many levels of the : transportation industry and to those firms and entities that provide th...

Determinants of the cost of capital for privately financed hospital projects in the UK.

PubMed

Colla, Paolo; Hellowell, Mark; Vecchi, Veronica; Gatti, Stefano

2015-11-01

Many governments make use of private finance contracts to deliver healthcare infrastructure. Previous work has shown that the rate of return to investors in these markets often exceeds the efficient level. Our focus is on the factors that influence that return. We examine the effect of macroeconomic, project- and firm-level variables using a detailed sample of 84 UK private finance initiative (PFI) contracts signed between 1997 and 2010. Of the above variables, macroeconomic conditions and lead sponsor size are related to the investor return. However, our results show a remarkable degree of stability in the return to investors over the 14-year period. We find evidence of a 'prevailing norm' that is robust to project- and firm-level variation. The sustainability of excess returns over a long period is indicative of a concentrated market structure. We argue that policymakers should consider new mechanisms for increasing competition in the equity market, while ensuring that authorities have the specialist resources required to negotiate efficient contract prices. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Roller milled black gram (Phaseolus mungo) semolina and its influence on the quality characteristics of high protein pasta.

PubMed

Rajiv, Jyotsna; Milind; Inamdar, Aashitosh A; Sakhare, Suresh; Venkateswara Rao, G

2015-04-01

Black gram (Phaseolus mungo) was roller milled into semolina (BGS) and was substituted at 25, 50 and 75 % levels in vermicelli making in this investigation. There was an increase in ash and protein content as the inclusion of BGS in blends increased. The quality characteristics of pasta showed marginal increase in cooking loss up to 50 % level of BGS. The firmness value did not change much up to 50 % BGS in pasta. At 75 % level of BGS, the cooking loss and stickiness value were highest (6.10 % and 0. 90 N) whereas firmness value and overall quality score were lowest (4 N and 27.5/40) indicating that the pasta had mushy, indiscrete, sticky strands and had a prominent beany odour making it unacceptable. Hence 50 % BGS was considered optimum in vermicelli. The pasta made with 50 % BGS inclusion had a protein and dietary fiber content of 15.30 % and 8 % as against the control value of 11.30 and 4.20 % respectively.

Two-Production-Period in a Duopoly with Nonprofit and For-Profit Firms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferreira, Fernanda A.

2010-09-01

We investigate endogenous roles in a competition between a nonprofit firm and a for-profit firm in a homogeneous goods market, by allowing two production periods. We find that the Cournot-type equilibrium and one Stackelberg-type equilibrium where the nonprofit firm becomes the follower exist; however, another tackelberg-type equilibrium where the nonprofit firm becomes the leader does not exist.

75 FR 49538 - Formtech Industries, LLC, Minerva Division, Minerva, OH; Notice of Revised Determination on...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-08-13

... had increased and that the subject firm supplied component parts (steel forgings) to several firms... steel forgings produced at the subject firm, the Department did confirm that the subject firm did supply...

Narrative Therapy's Relational Understanding of Identity.

PubMed

Combs, Gene; Freedman, Jill

2016-06-01

We describe how we think of identity as relational, distributed, performed, and fluid, and we illustrate the use of this conceptualization within a narrative worldview. Drawing on the work of Michael White, we describe how this relational view of identity leads to therapeutic responses that give value to interconnection across multiple contexts and that focus on becoming rather than on being. We show how a narrative worldview helps focus on the relational, co-evolving perspective that was the basis of our early attraction to family therapy. We offer detailed examples from our work of practices that help us stay firmly situated in a relational worldview that is counter to the pervasive influence of individualism in our contemporary culture. © 2016 Family Process Institute.

Wearables and the Internet of Things for Health: Wearable, Interconnected Devices Promise More Efficient and Comprehensive Health Care.

PubMed

Metcalf, David; Milliard, Sharlin T J; Gomez, Melinda; Schwartz, Michael

2016-01-01

In our recent book Health-e Everything: Wearables and the Internet of Things for Health, we capture in an interactive e-book format some global thought-leader perspectives as well as early examples of case studies and novel innovations that are driving this emerging technology domain. Here, we provide a brief snapshot of key findings related to these novel technologies and use cases, which are driving both health care practitioners and health consumers (patients). As technologists, having a firm understanding of customer-driven innovation and the actual user benefits of interconnective devices for health will help us engineer better solutions that are more targeted to the triple aim of better, faster, and cheaper health solutions.

49 CFR 26.83 - What procedures do recipients follow in making certification decisions?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... an on-site visit to the offices of the firm. You must interview the principal officers of the firm... information concerning the firm's eligibility. If you have grounds to question the firm's eligibility, you may...

48 CFR 619.202-70 - The Department of State Mentor-Protégé Program.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... disadvantaged business (SDB), women-owned small business (WOSB), veteran-owned small business (VOSB), and... relationships. (h) Eligibility of protégé firms. (1) A protégé firm must be: (i) A SB, HUBZone, SDB, WOSB, VOSB... contracts. (2) Except for SDB and HUBZone firms, a protégé firm may self-certify to a mentor firm that it...

48 CFR 619.202-70 - The Department of State Mentor-Protégé Program.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... disadvantaged business (SDB), women-owned small business (WOSB), veteran-owned small business (VOSB), and... relationships. (h) Eligibility of protégé firms. (1) A protégé firm must be: (i) A SB, HUBZone, SDB, WOSB, VOSB... contracts. (2) Except for SDB and HUBZone firms, a protégé firm may self-certify to a mentor firm that it...

48 CFR 619.202-70 - The Department of State Mentor-Protégé Program.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... disadvantaged business (SDB), women-owned small business (WOSB), veteran-owned small business (VOSB), and... relationships. (h) Eligibility of protégé firms. (1) A protégé firm must be: (i) A SB, HUBZone, SDB, WOSB, VOSB... contracts. (2) Except for SDB and HUBZone firms, a protégé firm may self-certify to a mentor firm that it...

48 CFR 619.202-70 - The Department of State Mentor-Protégé Program.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... disadvantaged business (SDB), women-owned small business (WOSB), veteran-owned small business (VOSB), and... relationships. (h) Eligibility of protégé firms. (1) A protégé firm must be: (i) A SB, HUBZone, SDB, WOSB, VOSB... contracts. (2) Except for SDB and HUBZone firms, a protégé firm may self-certify to a mentor firm that it...

Reputation and Competition in a Hidden Action Model

PubMed Central

Fedele, Alessandro; Tedeschi, Piero

2014-01-01

The economics models of reputation and quality in markets can be classified in three categories. (i) Pure hidden action, where only one type of seller is present who can provide goods of different quality. (ii) Pure hidden information, where sellers of different types have no control over product quality. (iii) Mixed frameworks, which include both hidden action and hidden information. In this paper we develop a pure hidden action model of reputation and Bertrand competition, where consumers and firms interact repeatedly in a market with free entry. The price of the good produced by the firms is contractible, whilst the quality is noncontractible, hence it is promised by the firms when a contract is signed. Consumers infer future quality from all available information, i.e., both from what they know about past quality and from current prices. According to early contributions, competition should make reputation unable to induce the production of high-quality goods. We provide a simple solution to this problem by showing that high quality levels are sustained as an outcome of a stationary symmetric equilibrium. PMID:25329387

Reputation and competition in a hidden action model.

PubMed

Fedele, Alessandro; Tedeschi, Piero

2014-01-01

The economics models of reputation and quality in markets can be classified in three categories. (i) Pure hidden action, where only one type of seller is present who can provide goods of different quality. (ii) Pure hidden information, where sellers of different types have no control over product quality. (iii) Mixed frameworks, which include both hidden action and hidden information. In this paper we develop a pure hidden action model of reputation and Bertrand competition, where consumers and firms interact repeatedly in a market with free entry. The price of the good produced by the firms is contractible, whilst the quality is noncontractible, hence it is promised by the firms when a contract is signed. Consumers infer future quality from all available information, i.e., both from what they know about past quality and from current prices. According to early contributions, competition should make reputation unable to induce the production of high-quality goods. We provide a simple solution to this problem by showing that high quality levels are sustained as an outcome of a stationary symmetric equilibrium.

The structure of a market containing boundedly rational firms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ibrahim, Adyda; Zura, Nerda; Saaban, Azizan

2017-11-01

The structure of a market is determined by the number of active firms in it. Over time, this number is affected by the exit of existing firms, called incumbents, and entries of new firms, called entrant. In this paper, we considered a market governed by the Cobb-Douglas utility function such that the demand function is isoelastic. Each firm is assumed to produce a single homogenous product under a constant unit cost. Furthermore, firms are assumed to be boundedly rational in adjusting their outputs at each period. A firm is considered to exit the market if its output is negative. In this paper, the market is assumed to have zero barrier-to-entry. Therefore, the exiting firm can reenter the market if its output is positive again, and new firms can enter the market easily. Based on these assumptions and rules, a mathematical model was developed and numerical simulations were run using Matlab. By setting certain values for the parameters in the model, initial numerical simulations showed that in the long run, the number of firms that manages to survive the market varies between zero to 30. This initial result is consistent with the idea that a zero barrier-to-entry may produce a perfectly competitive market.

Visual perspective taking impairment in children with autistic spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Hamilton, Antonia F de C; Brindley, Rachel; Frith, Uta

2009-10-01

Evidence from typical development and neuroimaging studies suggests that level 2 visual perspective taking - the knowledge that different people may see the same thing differently at the same time - is a mentalising task. Thus, we would expect children with autism, who fail typical mentalising tasks like false belief, to perform poorly on level 2 visual perspective taking as well. However, prior data on this issue are inconclusive. We re-examined this question, testing a group of 23 young autistic children, aged around 8years with a verbal mental age of around 4years and three groups of typical children (n=60) ranging in age from 4 to 8years on a level 2 visual perspective task and a closely matched mental rotation task. The results demonstrate that autistic children have difficulty with visual perspective taking compared to a task requiring mental rotation, relative to typical children. Furthermore, performance on the level 2 visual perspective taking task correlated with theory of mind performance. These findings resolve discrepancies in previous studies of visual perspective taking in autism, and demonstrate that level 2 visual perspective taking is a mentalising task.

Engagement in health and wellness: An online incentive-based program.

PubMed

Gibson, Teresa B; Maclean, J Ross; Carls, Ginger S; Moore, Brian J; Ehrlich, Emily D; Fener, Victoria; Goldberg, Jordan; Mechanic, Elaine; Baigel, Colin

2017-09-01

Increasingly, corporate health promotion programs are implementing wellness programs integrating principles of behavioral economics. Employees of a large firm were provided a customized online incentive program to design their own commitments to meet health goals. This study examines patterns of program participation and engagement in health promotion activities. Subjects were US-based employees of a large, nondurable goods manufacturing firm who were enrolled in corporate health benefits in 2010 and 2011. We assessed measures of engagement with the workplace health promotion program (e.g., incentive points earned, weight loss). To further examine behaviors indicating engagement in health promotion activities, we constructed an aggregate, employee-level engagement index. Regression models were employed to assess the association between employee characteristics and the engagement index, and the engagement index and spending. 4220 employees utilized the online program and made 25,716 commitments. Male employees age 18-34 had the highest level of engagement, and male employees age 55-64 had the lowest level of engagement overall. Prior year health status and prior year spending did not show a significant association with the level of engagement with the program ( p  > 0.05). Flexible, incentive-based behavioral health and lifestyle programs may reach the broader workforce including those with chronic conditions and higher levels of health spending.

Canadian Accountants: Examining Workplace Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hicks, Elizabeth; Bagg, Robert; Doyle, Wendy; Young, Jeffrey D.

2007-01-01

Purpose: This paper seeks to examine workplace learning strategies, learning facilitators and learning barriers of public accountants in Canada across three professional levels--trainees, managers, and partners. Design/methodology/approach: Volunteer participants from public accounting firms in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick completed a demographic…

Statistical properties of business firms structure and growth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matia, K.; Fu, Dongfeng; Buldyrev, S. V.; Pammolli, F.; Riccaboni, M.; Stanley, H. E.

2004-08-01

We analyze a database comprising quarterly sales of 55624 pharmaceutical products commercialized by 3939 pharmaceutical firms in the period 1992 2001. We study the probability density function (PDF) of growth in firms and product sales and find that the width of the PDF of growth decays with the sales as a power law with exponent β = 0.20 ± 0.01. We also find that the average sales of products scales with the firm sales as a power law with exponent α = 0.57 ± 0.02. And that the average number products of a firm scales with the firm sales as a power law with exponent γ = 0.42 ± 0.02. We compare these findings with the predictions of models proposed till date on growth of business firms.

Staling of cereal bran enriched cakes and the effect of an endoxylanase enzyme on the physicochemical and sensorial characteristics.

PubMed

Lebesi, Dimitra M; Tzia, Constantina

2011-08-01

The staling of cakes enriched with untreated brans and endoxylanase-treated brans was evaluated by monitoring the changes in physicochemical, thermal, and sensorial properties of cakes during 7-d storage. Oat and rice bran were treated with different levels (0, 70, and 700 ppm) of an endoxylanase enzyme and added to cakes on 30% flour weight basis. Moisture losses, water activity, crumb firmness, starch retrogradation, and sensorial characteristics were used as staling indicators. Avrami-type equations were efficiently used for modeling the starch retrogradation kinetics, while linear models most adequately described crumb firming kinetics. Cake staling induced an increase in crumb firmness and enthalpy of amylopectin retrogradation, and a decrease in crumb moisture and sensory quality and acceptability scores of cakes. Oat bran-containing cakes better maintained their characteristics compared to the ones containing rice bran along the 7-d storage. Endoxylanase treatment of brans delayed the changes naturally induced during staling in crumb moisture content, amylopectin retrogradation enthalpy, and crumb firmness in the respective cakes. Deterioration of the sensorial characteristics was slower for the cakes containing endoxylanase-treated brans, as well. The level of endoxylanase treatment did not differentiate significantly (P < 0.05) any of the staling indicators. Overall, this study demonstrated that addition of endoxylanase-treated brans can result in cakes with improved nutritional characteristics and increased shelf life. The results of the study show the potential of using enzymes to modify underutilized food sources that can be properly incorporated in baked goods, improving their nutritional value, their quality characteristics, and providing longer shelf life. The developed procedure and results can be utilized by the bakery industry to make high fiber and low cost bakery products with improved sensorial characteristics that are appealing to the consumers. © 2011 Institute of Food Technologists®

Collaborative business processes for enhancing partnerships among software services providers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heil Cancian, Maiara; Rabelo, Ricardo; Gresse von Wangenheim, Christiane

2015-08-01

Software services have represented a powerful view to support the realisation of the service-oriented architecture (SOA) paradigm. Using open standards and facilitating systems projects, they have increasingly been used as a corporate architectural approach to create interoperable services-based software solutions that can more easily be reused and shared across disparate applications. In the context of software companies, most of them are small firms having enormous difficulties to keep competitive. One strategy to enhance their sustainability is to enlarge partnerships among them at a more valuable level by jointly offering (web) services-based solutions. However, their culture of collaboration is low, and partnerships are usually done with the same companies and sporadically. This article presents an approach to support a more intense collaboration among software companies to attend business opportunities in a more agile way, joining capacities and capabilities which they would not have if they worked alone. This requires, however, some preparedness. From the perspective of business processes, they should understand how to carry out a collaboration more properly. This is essentially what this article is about. It presents a comprehensive list of collaborative business processes and base practices that can also act as a guide for service providers' managers to implement and manage the collaboration along its lifecycle. Processes have been validated and results are discussed.

32 CFR 37.1250 - Commercial firm.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... REGULATIONS TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT AGREEMENTS Definitions of Terms Used in This Part § 37.1250 Commercial firm. A for-profit firm or segment of a for-profit firm (e.g., a division or other business unit) that does a substantial portion of its business in the commercial marketplace. ...

48 CFR 252.236-7011 - Overseas architect-engineer services-Restriction to United States firms.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

..., resulting from this solicitation, to a United States firm or a joint venture of United States and host... firm or a joint venture of United States and host nation firms. (End of provision) [62 FR 2858, Jan. 17...

49 CFR 1522.113 - Withdrawal of approval.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY SECURITY RULES FOR ALL MODES OF TRANSPORTATION TSA-APPROVED VALIDATION FIRMS AND VALIDATORS TSA-Approved Validation Firms and Validators for the Certified Cargo Screening Program... TSA-approved validation firm if the validation firm ceases to meet the standards for approval, fails...

Networks of Firms and the Ridge in the Production Space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Souma, Wataru

We develop complex networks that represent activities in the economy. The network in this study is constructed from firms and the relationships between firms, i.e., shareholding, interlocking directors, transactions, and joint applications for patents. Thus, the network is regarded as a multigraph, and it is also regarded as a weighted network. By calculating various network indices, we clarify the characteristics of the network. We also consider the dynamics of firms in the production space that are characterized by capital stock, employment, and profit. Each firm moves within this space to maximize their profit by using controlling of capital stock and employment. We show that the dynamics of rational firms can be described using a ridge equation. We analytically solve this equation by assuming the extensive Cobb-Douglas production function, and thereby obtain a solution. By comparing the distribution of firms and this solution, we find that almost all of the 1,100 firms listed on the first section of the Tokyo stock exchange and belonging to the manufacturing sector are managed efficiently.

U.S. metric board 1979 survey of selected large U.S. firms and industries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

King, L. L.

1980-05-01

A mail survey of randomly chosen 202 of the 1000 largest manufacturing and mining firms, as listed by Fortune magazine, was conducted in late 1979 and early 1980. About 64 percent (112 firms) responded with useful data. Among the findings are: about 63 percent of the largest firms produce at least one metric product; about 48 percent of exported sales are of metric products; about three quarters of the firms selling metric products sell products labelled in customary and metric units (soft conversion); about half the firms selling metric products sell hard converted products (products manufactured in metric units); little corporate coordination and planning seems to accompany conversion to the metric system; about one-third of the firms see laws and reputation impeding conversion; over 50 percent see lack of customer demand as inhibiting conversion; and the most realistic time period for conversion is 10 years, the minimum time for conversion (under pressure) is three years, and the perferred time (at the firm's own pace) is eight years.

An empirical examination of the influence of industry and firm drivers on the rate of internationalization by firms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elango, B.

A gradual shift in U.S. firms' 'center of gravity' toward international markets is taking place. This study seeks to explain which drivers are related to this push toward international markets by U.S. firms. In addressing internationalization, previous research has not focused on various drivers that influence the rate of internationalization. Drivers refer to forces, both within and outside the firm, that impact (both positively and negatively) a firm's extent of internationalization. The role of these drivers on the rate of internationalization, though acknowledged in the literature, is yet to be validated through empirical research. This research seeks to narrow the gap in the literature by testing the various relationships among industry drivers, firm drivers, and the rate of internationalization. The objectives of this study are: (A) To develop a conceptual framework that takes into account various forces that influence the internationalization strategy of a firm; (B) To examine empirically (a) the influence of industry drivers on the rate of internationalization pursued by firms; and, (b) the influence of firm drivers on the rate of internationalization by firms. The sample for this study consists of 158 large U.S.- based multinational firms drawn from seven different industries. Data for the study is gathered from a variety of sources including the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis; COMPUSTAT; and WORLDSCOPE databases. Set-wise regression models were used for data analysis. This study found that global market growth rate, domestic market growth rate, relative size of domestic market to international market, employee productivity, administrative investments, as well as new plant and equipment influences the international strategy of firms. This study explains about 24 percent of the variance of the rate of internationalization. This research finding is contributory to our existing understanding of internationalization in many ways. Unlike many previous studies on internationalization which attempted to explain the variance in the extent of internationalization, this study tested for the factors influencing the change in the extent of internationalization by firms.

Essays on price cap regulation and yardstick competition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noronha, Vernon Andrew

This dissertation presents three papers on the regulation of monopoly firms in the same industry using yardstick competition to determine prices. In the first paper, "Yardstick Competition for Diversified Firms," we extend Shleifer's (1985) model to the case of diversified firms, and find that the social optimum, in which firms would need to produce at lower marginal cost than in Shleifer's model, is unlikely to be attained through profit maximization. In the second paper, "Cost Reduction under a Regression-Based Revenue Cap Regime," we identify certain hitherto unexplored and potentially undesirable properties for the form of yardstick competition that is widely applied. Allowed revenue totals for monopoly utility firms are determined by a regression of all firms' current costs on their cost drivers. It is shown that this mechanism induces firms to invest less in cost-reducing technology than if prices are determined purely exogenously, and that such cost-distorting behavior is not uniform across the industry. In particular, firms whose sizes are most different from the industry-mean elevate their costs proportionately much more than firms of similar size to the mean. However, this distortion vanishes as the number of firms grows large. In the third paper, "Predicted Cost-Distorting Conduct by UK Electricity Distribution Firms," by undertaking numerical examples using data on the UK electricity distribution industry, we discover that although the currently employed system of yardstick competition may have theoretical shortcomings, in practice, these are of slight consequence. There is found to be relatively little predicted distortion of costs for the majority of firms. In fact, this system is shown to generate greater social welfare than a similar system in which firms would not have any incentive to distort costs, unless consumer surplus enjoys a very high weight relative to industry profits. It is also shown that mergers within the industry could have an unexpected beneficial effect by reducing the extent of cost-distorting behavior by larger firms, although the industry-wide net effect has to be judged on a case-by-case basis.

Collective firm bankruptcies and phase transition in rating dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sieczka, P.; Hołyst, J. A.

2009-10-01

We present a simple model of firm rating evolution. We consider two sources of defaults: individual dynamics of economic development and Potts-like interactions between firms. We show that such a defined model leads to phase transition, which results in collective defaults. The existence of the collective phase depends on the mean interaction strength. For small interaction strength parameters, there are many independent bankruptcies of individual companies. For large parameters, there are giant collective defaults of firm clusters. In the case when the individual firm dynamics favors dumping of rating changes, there is an optimal strength of the firm's interactions from the systemic risk point of view. in here

The Expanding Educational Services Sector: Neoliberalism and the Corporatization of Curriculum at the Local Level in the US

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sloan, Kris

2008-01-01

This study analyzes and describes the links between the curriculum policies of one urban school district in the US and an intervention by the economics firm Standard & Poor's (S&P). It characterizes the languages and values introduced to the district leadership by S&P as ideologically neoliberal. This school-level case study that makes…

VET and the Diffusion and Implementation of Innovation in the Mining, Solar Energy and Computer Games Sectors. NCVER Monograph Series 06/2011

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dalitz, Robert; Toner, Phillip; Turpin, Tim

2011-01-01

Innovation is thought to improve productivity at the firm level and economic prosperity at the national level. This would seem to have implications for the skills and skills development of employees. However, little is known about the relationship between skills development and innovation. This report is the culmination of case studies exploring…

Intuitive Expertise and Empowerment: The Long-Term Impact of Simulation Training on Changing Accountabilities in a Biotech Firm

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DiBello, Lia; Missildine, Whit; Struttman, Marie

2009-01-01

This paper describes a two-year study in which high levels of performance were achieved and sustained among so-called low-level workers in a biotech company. The purpose of the study--funded by National Science Foundation and lnvitrogen Corporation--were to explore the effectiveness of an accelerated learning Operational Simulation (OpSim)…

18 CFR 284.7 - Firm transportation service.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Firm transportation... AUTHORITIES CERTAIN SALES AND TRANSPORTATION OF NATURAL GAS UNDER THE NATURAL GAS POLICY ACT OF 1978 AND RELATED AUTHORITIES General Provisions and Conditions § 284.7 Firm transportation service. (a) Firm...

18 CFR 284.7 - Firm transportation service.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Firm transportation... AUTHORITIES CERTAIN SALES AND TRANSPORTATION OF NATURAL GAS UNDER THE NATURAL GAS POLICY ACT OF 1978 AND RELATED AUTHORITIES General Provisions and Conditions § 284.7 Firm transportation service. (a) Firm...

18 CFR 284.7 - Firm transportation service.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Firm transportation... AUTHORITIES CERTAIN SALES AND TRANSPORTATION OF NATURAL GAS UNDER THE NATURAL GAS POLICY ACT OF 1978 AND RELATED AUTHORITIES General Provisions and Conditions § 284.7 Firm transportation service. (a) Firm...

18 CFR 284.7 - Firm transportation service.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Firm transportation... AUTHORITIES CERTAIN SALES AND TRANSPORTATION OF NATURAL GAS UNDER THE NATURAL GAS POLICY ACT OF 1978 AND RELATED AUTHORITIES General Provisions and Conditions § 284.7 Firm transportation service. (a) Firm...

12 CFR 513.8 - Removal, suspension, or debarment of independent public accountants and accounting firms...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... independent public accountants and accounting firms performing audit services. 513.8 Section 513.8 Banks and... Removal, suspension, or debarment of independent public accountants and accounting firms performing audit... of independent public accountants and their accounting firms from performing independent audit and...

48 CFR 16.403-1 - Fixed-price incentive (firm target) contracts.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... (firm target) contracts. 16.403-1 Section 16.403-1 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL... Fixed-price incentive (firm target) contracts. (a) Description. A fixed-price incentive (firm target) contract specifies a target cost, a target profit, a price ceiling (but not a profit ceiling or floor), and...

48 CFR 52.216-16 - Incentive Price Revision-Firm Target.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

...-Firm Target. 52.216-16 Section 52.216-16 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL ACQUISITION... Clauses 52.216-16 Incentive Price Revision—Firm Target. As prescribed in 16.406(a), insert the following clause: Incentive Price Revision—Firm Target (OCT 1997) (a) General. The supplies or services identified...

12 CFR 390.97 - Removal, suspension, or debarment of independent public accountants and accounting firms...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... independent public accountants and accounting firms performing audit services. 390.97 Section 390.97 Banks and... debarment of independent public accountants and accounting firms performing audit services. (a) Scope. This... accountants and their accounting firms from performing independent audit and attestation services required by...

12 CFR 513.8 - Removal, suspension, or debarment of independent public accountants and accounting firms...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... public accountants and accounting firms performing audit services. 513.8 Section 513.8 Banks and Banking..., suspension, or debarment of independent public accountants and accounting firms performing audit services. (a... independent public accountants and their accounting firms from performing independent audit and attestation...

12 CFR 390.97 - Removal, suspension, or debarment of independent public accountants and accounting firms...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... independent public accountants and accounting firms performing audit services. 390.97 Section 390.97 Banks and... debarment of independent public accountants and accounting firms performing audit services. (a) Scope. This... accountants and their accounting firms from performing independent audit and attestation services required by...

12 CFR 390.97 - Removal, suspension, or debarment of independent public accountants and accounting firms...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... independent public accountants and accounting firms performing audit services. 390.97 Section 390.97 Banks and... debarment of independent public accountants and accounting firms performing audit services. (a) Scope. This... accountants and their accounting firms from performing independent audit and attestation services required by...

12 CFR 513.8 - Removal, suspension, or debarment of independent public accountants and accounting firms...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... public accountants and accounting firms performing audit services. 513.8 Section 513.8 Banks and Banking..., suspension, or debarment of independent public accountants and accounting firms performing audit services. (a... independent public accountants and their accounting firms from performing independent audit and attestation...

12 CFR 513.8 - Removal, suspension, or debarment of independent public accountants and accounting firms...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... independent public accountants and accounting firms performing audit services. 513.8 Section 513.8 Banks and... Removal, suspension, or debarment of independent public accountants and accounting firms performing audit... of independent public accountants and their accounting firms from performing independent audit and...

48 CFR 16.403-1 - Fixed-price incentive (firm target) contracts.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... (firm target) contracts. 16.403-1 Section 16.403-1 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL... Fixed-price incentive (firm target) contracts. (a) Description. A fixed-price incentive (firm target) contract specifies a target cost, a target profit, a price ceiling (but not a profit ceiling or floor), and...

48 CFR 52.216-16 - Incentive Price Revision-Firm Target.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

...-Firm Target. 52.216-16 Section 52.216-16 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL ACQUISITION... Clauses 52.216-16 Incentive Price Revision—Firm Target. As prescribed in 16.406(a), insert the following clause: Incentive Price Revision—Firm Target (OCT 1997) (a) General. The supplies or services identified...

75 FR 66797 - PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (“PwC”) Internal Firm Services Client Account Administrators Group...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-10-29

... LLP (``PwC'') Internal Firm Services Client Account Administrators Group, Charlotte, NC; Amended... Firm Services Client Account Administrators Group. Accordingly, the Department is amending this... Firm Services Client Account Administrators Group. The amended notice applicable to TA-W-73,608 is...

75 FR 66796 - Pricewaterhousecoopers LLP (“PwC”), Internal Firm Services Client Account Administrators Group...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-10-29

... LLP (``PwC''), Internal Firm Services Client Account Administrators Group Atlanta, GA; Amended...''), Internal Firm Services Client Account Administrators Group. Accordingly, the Department is amending this... Firm Services Client Account Administrators Group. The amended notice applicable to TA-W-73,630 is...

49 CFR 1522.121 - Security threat assessments for personnel of TSA-approved validation firms.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

...-approved validation firms. 1522.121 Section 1522.121 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to... FOR ALL MODES OF TRANSPORTATION TSA-APPROVED VALIDATION FIRMS AND VALIDATORS TSA-Approved Validation... for personnel of TSA-approved validation firms. Each of the following must successfully complete a...

Comparison and fusion of four nondestructive sensors for predicting apple fruit firmness and soluble solids content

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Four nondestructive technologies (i.e., acoustic firmness, bioyield firmness, visible/near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy, and spectral scattering) have been developed in recent years for assessing the firmness and/or soluble solids content (SSC) of apples. Each of these technologies has its merits and...

5 CFR 300.506 - Requirements of procurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... must follow the Federal procurement laws and the Federal Acquisition Regulation, as applicable, in... Federal procurement system to make clear that the firm is the legally responsible employer and to specify... the types and levels of skills to be provided, deadlines for providing service, liability insurance...

Impacts of Advanced Manufacturing Technology on Parametric Estimating

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-12-01

been build ( Blois , p. 65). As firms move up the levels of automation, there is a large capital investment to acquire robots, computer numerically...Affordable Acquisition Approach Study, Executive Summary, Air Force Systems Command, Andrews AFB, Maryland, February 9, 1983. Blois , K.J., "Manufacturing

39 CFR 3020.72 - Supporting justification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

...(c); (c) Explain why, as to competitive products, the addition, subtraction, or transfer will not... classify as competitive a product over which the Postal Service exercises sufficient market power that it can, without risk of losing a significant level of business to other firms offering similar products...

19 CFR 351.502 - Specificity of domestic subsidies.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 351.502 Customs Duties INTERNATIONAL TRADE ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE ANTIDUMPING AND...) The subsidy programs have the same purpose; (2) The subsidy programs bestow the same type of benefit; (3) The subsidy programs confer similar levels of benefits on similarly situated firms; and (4) The...

Empirical Linkages between Firm Competencies and Organisational Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murray, Peter; Donegan, Kevin

2003-01-01

Management, operational, technology, and learning competencies in 26 large and 15 small Australian construction contractors were identified at five levels: simplistic, structure, efficiency, value, and dynamic. Organizational learning appeared useful when combined with competency development embedded in the routines of a learning culture.…

The moderating role of absorptive capacity and the differential effects of acquisitions and alliances on Big Pharma firms' innovation performance

PubMed Central

Fernald, K. D. S.; Pennings, H. P. G.; van den Bosch, J. F.; Commandeur, H. R.; Claassen, E.

2017-01-01

In the context of increased pharmaceutical innovation deficits and Big Pharma blockbusters’ patent expirations, this paper examines the moderating role of firms’ absorptive capacity in external innovation activities of Big Pharma firms. The study indicates a rising interest of Big Pharma in acquisitions of and alliances with biotechnology companies. Unfortunately, this increased interest is not reflected in the number of new drugs generated by Big Pharma. We find that acquisitions of biotech companies have negatively affected Big Pharma firms’ innovation performance on average but these acquisitions might have a positive effect at higher levels of acquiring firms’ absorptive capacity. Moreover, also acquisitions of pharma companies and alliances with biotech companies only have a positive effect on innovation performance at sufficiently high levels of absorptive capacity. The moderating role of absorptive capacity implicates that a tight integration of internal R&D efforts and (unrelated) external knowledge is crucial for harnessing complementarity effects. PMID:28231332

Adaptive capacity of geographical clusters: Complexity science and network theory approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Albino, Vito; Carbonara, Nunzia; Giannoccaro, Ilaria

This paper deals with the adaptive capacity of geographical clusters (GCs), that is a relevant topic in the literature. To address this topic, GC is considered as a complex adaptive system (CAS). Three theoretical propositions concerning the GC adaptive capacity are formulated by using complexity theory. First, we identify three main properties of CAS s that affect the adaptive capacity, namely the interconnectivity, the heterogeneity, and the level of control, and define how the value of these properties influence the adaptive capacity. Then, we associate these properties with specific GC characteristics so obtaining the key conditions of GCs that give them the adaptive capacity so assuring their competitive advantage. To test these theoretical propositions, a case study on two real GCs is carried out. The considered GCs are modeled as networks where firms are nodes and inter-firms relationships are links. Heterogeneity, interconnectivity, and level of control are considered as network properties and thus measured by using the methods of the network theory.

Estimating investment worthiness of an ergonomic intervention for preventing low back pain from a firm's perspective.

PubMed

Hughes, Richard E; Nelson, Nancy A

2009-05-01

A mathematical model was developed for estimating the net present value (NPV) of the cash flow resulting from an investment in an intervention to prevent occupational low back pain (LBP). It combines biomechanics, epidemiology, and finance to give an integrated tool for a firm to use to estimate the investment worthiness of an intervention based on a biomechanical analysis of working postures and hand loads. The model can be used by an ergonomist to estimate the investment worthiness of a proposed intervention. The analysis would begin with a biomechanical evaluation of the current job design and post-intervention job. Economic factors such as hourly labor cost, overhead, workers' compensation costs of LBP claims, and discount rate are combined with the biomechanical analysis to estimate the investment worthiness of the proposed intervention. While this model is limited to low back pain, the simulation framework could be applied to other musculoskeletal disorders. The model uses Monte Carlo simulation to compute the statistical distribution of NPV, and it uses a discrete event simulation paradigm based on four states: (1) working and no history of lost time due to LBP, (2) working and history of lost time due to LBP, (3) lost time due to LBP, and (4) leave job. Probabilities of transitions are based on an extensive review of the epidemiologic review of the low back pain literature. An example is presented.

Economic evaluation and cost-effectiveness thresholds: signals to firms and implications for R & D investment and innovation.

PubMed

Vernon, John A; Goldberg, Robert; Golec, Joseph

2009-01-01

In this article we describe how reimbursement cost-effectiveness thresholds, per unit of health benefit, whether set explicitly or observed implicitly via historical reimbursement decisions, serve as a signal to firms about the commercial viability of their R&D projects (including candidate products for in-licensing). Traditional finance methods for R&D project valuations, such as net present value analyses (NPV), incorporate information from these payer reimbursement signals to help determine which R&D projects should be continued and which should be terminated (in the case of the latter because they yield an NPV < 0). Because the influence these signals have for firm R&D investment decisions is so significant, we argue that it is important for reimbursement thresholds to reflect the economic value of the unit of health benefit being considered for reimbursement. Thresholds set too low (below the economic value of the health benefit) will result in R&D investment levels that are too low relative to the economic value of R&D (on the margin). Similarly, thresholds set too high (above the economic value of the health benefit) will result in inefficiently high levels of R&D spending. The US in particular, which represents approximately half of the global pharmaceutical market (based on sales), and which seems poised to begin undertaking cost effectiveness in a systematic way, needs to exert caution in setting policies that explicitly or implicitly establish cost-effectiveness reimbursement thresholds for healthcare products and technologies, such as pharmaceuticals.

Illness related wage and productivity losses: Valuing 'presenteeism'.

PubMed

Zhang, Wei; Sun, Huiying; Woodcock, Simon; Anis, Aslam

2015-12-01

One source of productivity loss due to illness is the reduced "quantity" or "quality" of labor input while working, often referred to as presenteeism. Illness-related presenteeism has been found to be potentially more costly than absenteeism. To value presenteeism, existing methods use wages as a proxy for marginal productivity at the firm level. However, wage may not equal marginal productivity in some scenarios. One instance is when a job involves team production and perfect substitutes for workers are not readily available. Using a Canadian linked employer-employee survey (2001-2005), we test whether relative wage equals relative marginal productivity among team workers and non-team workers with different frequencies of presenteeism (reduction at work due to illness). For the pooled cross-sectional estimates (2001, 2003, 2005) we obtain 13,755 observations with 6842 unique workplaces. There are 6490 observations for the first differences estimates from the odd years and 5263 observations for the first differences estimates from 2001 to 2002 and 2003 to 2004. We find that in both small and large firms, team workers with frequent reductions at work are less productive but earn similarly compared with non-team workers without reductions. We also find that in small firms, workers with occasional work reductions are more productive than workers without reductions, but the reverse is true in large firms. The study findings partially support the literature stating that productivity loss resulting from employee presenteeism could exceed wages if team work is involved. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Small firm subsistence and market dimensionality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bruggeman, Jeroen; Péli, Gábor

2014-04-01

In many markets, large and small firms coexist. As large firms can in principle out-compete small ones, the actual presence of the latter asks for an explanation. In ours, we focus on the dimensionality of markets, which can change as a consequence of product innovations, preference elaboration or institutions. We show that increasing market dimensionality substantially enlarges the market periphery relative to the market center, which creates new potential niches for small firms. We thereby provide a parsimonious explanation for small firm subsistence.

Technological and organizational diversity and technical advance in the early history of the American semiconductor industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cohen, W.; Holbrook, D.; Klepper, S.

1994-06-01

This study examines the early years of the semiconductor industry and focuses on the roles played by different size firms in technologically innovative processes. A large and diverse pool of firms participated in the growth of the industry. Three related technological areas were chosen for in-depth analysis: integrated circuits, materials technology, and device packaging. Large business producing vacuum tubes dominated the early production of semiconductor devices. As the market for new devices grew during the 1950's, new firms were founded and existing firms from other industries, e.g. aircraft builders and instrument makers, began to pursue semiconductor electronics. Small firms began to cater to the emerging industry by supplying materials and equipment. These firms contributed to the development of certain aspects of one thousand firms that were playing some part in the semiconductor industry.

CIMOSA process classification for business process mapping in non-manufacturing firms: A case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Latiffianti, Effi; Siswanto, Nurhadi; Wiratno, Stefanus Eko; Saputra, Yudha Andrian

2017-11-01

A business process mapping is one important means to enable an enterprise to effectively manage the value chain. One of widely used approaches to classify business process for mapping purpose is Computer Integrated Manufacturing System Open Architecture (CIMOSA). CIMOSA was initially designed for Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) system based enterprises. This paper aims to analyze the use of CIMOSA process classification for business process mapping in the firms that do not fall within the area of CIM. Three firms of different business area that have used CIMOSA process classification were observed: an airline firm, a marketing and trading firm for oil and gas products, and an industrial estate management firm. The result of the research has shown that CIMOSA can be used in non-manufacturing firms with some adjustment. The adjustment includes addition, reduction, or modification of some processes suggested by CIMOSA process classification as evidenced by the case studies.

48 CFR 1019.202-70-7 - Mentor firms.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Mentor firms. 1019.202-70... SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS Policies 1019.202-70-7 Mentor firms. A mentor firm may be either... developmental assistance to enhance the capabilities of protégés to perform as subcontractors. Mentors will be...

Cooperative Education Programs in CPA Firms.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thibadoux, Gregory M.; Greenberg, Ira S.

1986-01-01

A study was conducted to determine the background of employed students in a sampling of accounting cooperative education programs, the nature of the final selection process made by the firms, the value of the students to the firm, and the value of the program to the students as perceived by members of the firm. (CT)

49 CFR 1522.115 - Renewal of TSA approval.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... operate as a validation firm. If the validation firm submits the information in the month before or after it is due, the validation firm is considered to have submitted the information in the month it is due... application. (b) Content. In addition to any other information required by TSA, the validation firm must...

Distinctive Human Resources Are the Core Competencies of Firms. EQW Working Papers WP18.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cappelli, Peter; Crocker-Hefter, Anne

The interrelationship between people management practices and product market/competition was examined in a series of case comparisons of pairs of firms/organizations of the following types: professional sports teams, military services, retailing firms, information service firms, business schools, financial services, shipping services, and food and…

21 CFR 7.46 - Firm-initiated recall.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... action, e.g., seizure. In such cases, the firm will be asked to provide the Food and Drug Administration... requested a recall. The firm's action also is considered a firm-initiated recall and is subject to... but where it is apparent, e.g., because of complaints or adverse reactions regarding the product, that...

Bringing the Firms into Globalization Research: The Effects of Foreign Investment and Exports on Wages in Mexican Manufacturing Firms

PubMed Central

Villarreal, Andrés; Sakamoto, Arthur

2011-01-01

Researchers specializing in organizations and labor markets have paid insufficient attention to the effects that foreign ownership of a firm and its orientation towards export production may have on the wages it pays to its workers. Using information from a nationally-representative sample of manufacturing firms in Mexico, a paradigmatic case of a developing country that is highly integrated into world markets, we find that foreign-owned and export-oriented firms pay considerably more than nationally-owned firms engaged in the production of goods for sale in the domestic market. Second, beyond paying higher wages to their workers, foreign-owned firms also raise the wages paid by domestic firms operating in the same regional labor markets. The wage premium in foreign and export-oriented firms cannot be explained by their size, industry, geographical location, productivity, use of advanced technology, or the sociodemographic composition of their workforce. We find evidence that wages in foreign-owned companies in Mexico are dependent on the country of origin of the capital investment. A greater difference between the industry-specific wages paid in the country of ownership and Mexico is associated with a higher wage premium in Mexican affiliates. Future work should strive to link information from foreign-owned affiliates with their parent companies abroad. PMID:21566699

Optimal investment and location decisions of a firm in a flood risk area using Impulse Control Theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grames, Johanna; Grass, Dieter; Kort, Peter; Prskawetz, Alexia

2017-04-01

Flooding events can affect businesses close to rivers, lakes or coasts. This paper provides a partial equilibrium model which helps to understand the optimal location choice for a firm in flood risk areas and its investment strategies. How often, when and how much are firms willing to invest in flood risk protection measures? We apply Impulse Control Theory to solve the model analytically and develop a continuation algorithm to solve the model numerically. Firms always invest in flood defense. The investment increases the higher the flood risk and the more firms also value the future, i.e. the more sustainable they plan. Investments in production capital follow a similar path. Hence, planning in a sustainable way leads to economic growth. Sociohydrological feedbacks are crucial for the location choice of the firm, whereas different economic situations have an impact on investment strategies. If flood defense is already present, e.g. built up by the government, firms move closer to the water and invest less in flood defense, which allows firms to accrue higher expected profits. Firms with a large initial production capital surprisingly try not to keep their market advantage, but rather reduce flood risk by reducing exposed production capital.

[Micro-simulation of firms' heterogeneity on pollution intensity and regional characteristics].

PubMed

Zhao, Nan; Liu, Yi; Chen, Ji-Ning

2009-11-01

In the same industrial sector, heterogeneity of pollution intensity exists among firms. There are some errors if using sector's average pollution intensity, which are calculated by limited number of firms in environmental statistic database to represent the sector's regional economic-environmental status. Based on the production function which includes environmental depletion as input, a micro-simulation model on firms' operational decision making is proposed. Then the heterogeneity of firms' pollution intensity can be mechanically described. Taking the mechanical manufacturing sector in Deyang city, 2005 as the case, the model's parameters were estimated. And the actual COD emission intensities of environmental statistic firms can be properly matched by the simulation. The model's results also show that the regional average COD emission intensity calculated by the environmental statistic firms (0.002 6 t per 10 000 yuan fixed asset, 0.001 5 t per 10 000 yuan production value) is lower than the regional average intensity calculated by all the firms in the region (0.003 0 t per 10 000 yuan fixed asset, 0.002 3 t per 10 000 yuan production value). The difference among average intensities in the six counties is significant as well. These regional characteristics of pollution intensity attribute to the sector's inner-structure (firms' scale distribution, technology distribution) and its spatial deviation.

The Pennsylvania certified safety committee program: an evaluation of participation and effects on work injury rates.

PubMed

Liu, Hangsheng; Burns, Rachel M; Schaefer, Agnes G; Ruder, Teague; Nelson, Christopher; Haviland, Amelia M; Gray, Wayne B; Mendeloff, John

2010-08-01

Since 1994, Pennsylvania, like several other states, has provided a 5% discount on workers' compensation insurance premiums for firms with a certified joint labor management safety committee. This study explored the factors affecting program participation and evaluated the effect of this program on work injuries. Using Pennsylvania unemployment insurance data (1996-2006), workers' compensation data (1998-2005), and the safety committee audit data (1999-2007), we conducted propensity score matching and regression analysis on the program's impact on injury rates. Larger firms, firms with higher injury rates, firms in high risk industries, and firms without labor unions were more likely to join the safety committee program and less likely to drop out of the program. The injury rates of participants did not decline more than the rates for non-participants; however, rates at participant firms with good compliance dropped more than the rates at participant firms with poor compliance. Firm size and prior injury rates are key predictors of program participation. Firms that complied with the requirement to train their safety committee members did experience reductions in injuries, but non-compliance with that and other requirements was so widespread that no overall impact of the program could be detected. Copyright 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

The emergence of commercial genomics: analysis of the rise of a biotechnology subsector during the Human Genome Project, 1990 to 2004.

PubMed

Wiechers, Ilse R; Perin, Noah C; Cook-Deegan, Robert

2013-01-01

Development of the commercial genomics sector within the biotechnology industry relied heavily on the scientific commons, public funding, and technology transfer between academic and industrial research. This study tracks financial and intellectual property data on genomics firms from 1990 through 2004, thus following these firms as they emerged in the era of the Human Genome Project and through the 2000 to 2001 market bubble. A database was created based on an early survey of genomics firms, which was expanded using three web-based biotechnology services, scientific journals, and biotechnology trade and technical publications. Financial data for publicly traded firms was collected through the use of four databases specializing in firm financials. Patent searches were conducted using firm names in the US Patent and Trademark Office website search engine and the DNA Patent Database. A biotechnology subsector of genomics firms emerged in parallel to the publicly funded Human Genome Project. Trends among top firms show that hiring, capital improvement, and research and development expenditures continued to grow after a 2000 to 2001 bubble. The majority of firms are small businesses with great diversity in type of research and development, products, and services provided. Over half the public firms holding patents have the majority of their intellectual property portfolio in DNA-based patents. These data allow estimates of investment, research and development expenditures, and jobs that paralleled the rise of genomics as a sector within biotechnology between 1990 and 2004.

Medical malpractice web advertising: a qualitative, cross-sectional analysis of plaintiff medical malpractice firms in Suffolk County, Massachusetts.

PubMed

Ghobadi, Comeron W; Gevorgyan, Ofelya; Bednarski, Caroline E; Hayman, Emily L; Walter, Jessica R; Xu, Shuai

2017-01-01

Medical malpractice plaintiff firms play a central role in the prosecution of malpractice claims. There have been limited studies on the online advertising practices of plaintiff medical malpractice firms. The Martindale-Hubbell directory was used to identify all plaintiff medical malpractice firms in Suffolk County, Massachusetts. Each firm's website was individually mined for relevant data. Thirty-one unique medical malpractice law firms were identified. Seventy-seven percent of law firms advertised awards with the Martindale-Hubbell AV rating, AVVO, and Super Lawyer being the three most common. The second most common method of advertising was accomplished through descriptions of successful verdicts and settlements (61%). A total of 408 verdicts, settlements, and arbitrations collectively representing $1.4 billion dollars were advertised by all law firms. Median awarded values for verdicts was advertised as $4.5 million, while the median awarded values for settlements was $1.25 million. Defendants most commonly practiced obstetrics (18%), followed by primary care (14%). Law firms report treatment and diagnosis delay as the most common successful claim (50%), followed much further by misdiagnosis (8%), and communication error (4%). Our sample correlates with larger claims-based studies surrounding the most commonly sued specialties, however, median reported settlement and verdict values were significantly higher in our cohort. Considerations should be made to provide advertising guidelines for medical malpractice plaintiff firms. Copyright © 2017 by the National Legal Center for the Medically Dependent and Disabled, Inc.