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.

A study of knowledge supernetworks and network robustness in different business incubators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Haihong; Wu, Wenqing; Zhao, Liming

2016-04-01

As the most important intangible resource of the new generation of business incubators, knowledge has been studied extensively, particularly with respect to how it spreads among incubating firms through knowledge networks. However, these homogeneous networks do not adequately describe the heterogeneity of incubating firms in different types of business incubators. To solve the problem of heterogeneity, the notion of a knowledge supernetwork has been used both to construct a knowledge interaction model among incubating firms and to distinguish social network relationships from knowledge network relationships. The process of knowledge interaction and network evolution can then be simulated with a few rules for incubating firms regarding knowledge innovation/absorption, social network connection, and entry and exit, among other aspects. Knowledge and networks have been used as performance indicators to evaluate the evolution of knowledge supernetworks. Moreover, we study the robustness of incubating firms' social networks by employing four types of attack strategies. Based on our simulation results, we conclude that there have been significant knowledge interaction and network evolution among incubating firms on a periodic basis and that both specialized and diversified business incubators have every advantage necessary in terms of both knowledge and networks to cultivate start-up companies. As far as network robustness is concerned, there is no obvious difference between the two types of business incubators with respect to the stability of their network structures, but specialized business incubators have stronger network communication abilities than diversified business incubators.

Social firms: building cross-sectoral partnerships to create employment opportunity and supportive workplaces for people with mental illness.

PubMed

Paluch, Tamar; Fossey, Ellie; Harvey, Carol

2012-01-01

A major barrier to employment for people with mental illness is limited access to supportive and non-discriminatory workplaces. Social firms are businesses committed to employing up to 50% of people with a disability or other disadvantage and to providing supportive work environments that benefit workers. Little research has been conducted to understand the features and social processes that support the vocational experiences of employees with mental health issues in social firms. This ethnographic study sought to explore the experiences of nine employees at one Australian social firm. Nine employees of a social firm, with and without mental illness. Study methods used included participant observation, interviewing and document analysis. The study highlights the complexity of running a socially-invested business, and the importance of cross-sectoral partnerships to support their operational success. Natural workplace supports, adequate training and support infrastructure and enabling participation in the business, were identified as important to creating a supportive workplace. Partnerships within the workplace and in support of the workplace are discussed. Future growth and development of partnerships are recommended to support the establishment of social firms.

Beyond one-size-fits-all: Tailoring diversity approaches to the representation of social groups.

PubMed

Apfelbaum, Evan P; Stephens, Nicole M; Reagans, Ray E

2016-10-01

When and why do organizational diversity approaches that highlight the importance of social group differences (vs. equality) help stigmatized groups succeed? We theorize that social group members' numerical representation in an organization, compared with the majority group, influences concerns about their distinctiveness, and consequently, whether diversity approaches are effective. We combine laboratory and field methods to evaluate this theory in a professional setting, in which White women are moderately represented and Black individuals are represented in very small numbers. We expect that focusing on differences (vs. equality) will lead to greater performance and persistence among White women, yet less among Black individuals. First, we demonstrate that Black individuals report greater representation-based concerns than White women (Study 1). Next, we observe that tailoring diversity approaches to these concerns yields greater performance and persistence (Studies 2 and 3). We then manipulate social groups' perceived representation and find that highlighting differences (vs. equality) is more effective when groups' representation is moderate, but less effective when groups' representation is very low (Study 4). Finally, we content-code the diversity statements of 151 major U.S. law firms and find that firms that emphasize differences have lower attrition rates among White women, whereas firms that emphasize equality have lower attrition rates among racial minorities (Study 5). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

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.

How Is Corporate Social Responsibility Addressed by Biotech Firms? a Case Study Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pérez-Bustamante, Guillermo

2013-01-01

This paper explores corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the biotech high-tech sector as a way to achieve competitive advantages. After presenting the importance of science for high-tech firms, the paper focuses on the social and economic role of CSR. Next, the primary reasons for firms' engagement in CSR activities are presented, followed by…

EO-Performance relationships in Reverse Internationalization by Chinese Global Startup OEMs: Social Networks and Strategic Flexibility.

PubMed

Chin, Tachia; Tsai, Sang-Bing; Fang, Kai; Zhu, Wenzhong; Yang, Dongjin; Liu, Ren-Huai; Tsuei, Richard Ting Chang

2016-01-01

Due to the context-sensitive nature of entrepreneurial orientation (EO), it is imperative to in-depth explore the EO-performance mechanism in China at its critical, specific stage of economic reform. Under the context of "reverse internationalization" by Chinese global startup original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), this paper aims to manifest the unique links and complicated interrelationships between the individual EO dimensions and firm performance. Using structural equation modeling, we found that during reverse internationalization, proactiveness is positively related to performance; risk taking is not statistically associated with performance; innovativeness is negatively related to performance. The proactiveness-performance relationship is mediated by Strategic flexibility and moderated by social networking relationships. The dynamic and complex institutional setting, coupled with the issues of overcapacity and rising labor cost in China may explain why our distinctive results occur. This research advances the understanding of how contingent factors (social network relationships and strategic flexibility) facilitate entrepreneurial firms to break down institutional barriers and reap the most from EO. It brings new insights into how Chinese global startup OEMs draw on EO to undertake reverse internationalization, responding the calls for unraveling the heterogeneous characteristics of EO sub-dimensions and for more contextually-embedded treatment of EO-performance associations.

EO-Performance relationships in Reverse Internationalization by Chinese Global Startup OEMs: Social Networks and Strategic Flexibility

PubMed Central

Chin, Tachia; Tsai, Sang-Bing; Fang, Kai; Zhu, Wenzhong; Yang, Dongjin; Liu, Ren-huai; Tsuei, Richard Ting Chang

2016-01-01

Due to the context-sensitive nature of entrepreneurial orientation (EO), it is imperative to in-depth explore the EO-performance mechanism in China at its critical, specific stage of economic reform. Under the context of “reverse internationalization” by Chinese global startup original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), this paper aims to manifest the unique links and complicated interrelationships between the individual EO dimensions and firm performance. Using structural equation modeling, we found that during reverse internationalization, proactiveness is positively related to performance; risk taking is not statistically associated with performance; innovativeness is negatively related to performance. The proactiveness-performance relationship is mediated by Strategic flexibility and moderated by social networking relationships. The dynamic and complex institutional setting, coupled with the issues of overcapacity and rising labor cost in China may explain why our distinctive results occur. This research advances the understanding of how contingent factors (social network relationships and strategic flexibility) facilitate entrepreneurial firms to break down institutional barriers and reap the most from EO. It brings new insights into how Chinese global startup OEMs draw on EO to undertake reverse internationalization, responding the calls for unraveling the heterogeneous characteristics of EO sub-dimensions and for more contextually-embedded treatment of EO-performance associations. PMID:27631368

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.

Influential aspects of leader’s Bourdieu capitals on Malaysian landscape architecture subordinates’ creativity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zahari, R.; Ariffin, M. H.; Othman, N.

2018-02-01

Free Trade Agreements as implemented by Malaysian government calls out local businesses such as landscape architecture consultant firm to explore internationally and strengthen their performance to compete locally. Performance of landscape architecture firm as a design firm depends entirely on creativity of the subordinates in the firm. Past research has neglected studying the influence of a leader’s capitals on subordinates’ creativity, especially in Malaysian landscape architecture firms. The aim of this research is to investigate the influence of subordinates’ perceptions of the leader’s Bourdieu capitals towards promoting subordinate’s creative behaviours in Malaysian Landscape Architecture firms. The sample chosen for this research are subordinates in registered landscape architecture firm. Data was collected using qualitative semi-structured interviews with 13 respondents and analysed using Qualitative Category Coding. Aspects of the leader’s social capital (i.e. knowledge acquisition, problem solving, motivation boosting), human capital (guidance, demotivating leadership, experiential knowledge, knowledge acquisition), and emotional capital (chemistry with leader, respect, knowledge acquisition, trust, understanding, self-inflicted demotivation) that influence subordinates’ creativity were uncovered from the data. The main finding is that the leader’s capitals promote the subordinate landscape architects or assistant landscape architect to be more creative based on three main things, first is knowledge acquisition, motivation, and ability for the leader to influence through positive relationship. The finding contributes to a new way of understanding the leader’s characteristics that influence subordinates’ creativity.

Tax Professional Internships and Subsequent Professional Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Siegel, Philip H.; Blackwood, B. J.; Landy, Sharon D.

2010-01-01

How do internships influence the socialization and performance of accounting students employed in the tax department of a CPA firm? Previous research on accounting internships primarily focuses on auditing personnel. There is evidence in the literature that indicates audit and tax professionals have different work cultures. This paper examines the…

Unternehmerische Verantwortung in der Stadt- und Regionalentwicklung. Einführung in das Themenheft "Corporate Regional Responsibility"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kiese, Matthias; Schiek, Meike

2016-03-01

Firms assume increasing importance within co-operative modes of regional and urban governance. Further to just filling gaps left by the retreat of the welfare state, firms recognise the impact of their regional and local business environment on their performance, especially when it comes to attracting and retaining highly-skilled personnel. As an introduction to this issue, this contribution introduces the basic concept of corporate social responsibility and its regional variation, corporate regional responsibility.

Performance and Maqasid al-Shari'ah's Pentagon-Shaped Ethical Measurement.

PubMed

Bedoui, Houssem Eddine; Mansour, Walid

2015-06-01

Business performance is traditionally viewed from the one-dimensional financial angle. This paper develops a new approach that links performance to the ethical vision of Islam based on maqasid al-shari'ah (i.e., the objectives of Islamic law). The approach involves a Pentagon-shaped performance scheme structure via five pillars, namely wealth, posterity, intellect, faith, and human self. Such a scheme ensures that any firm or organization can ethically contribute to the promotion of human welfare, prevent corruption, and enhance social and economic stability and not merely maximize its own performance in terms of its financial return. A quantitative measure of ethical performance is developed. It surprisingly shows that a firm or organization following only the financial aspect at the expense of the others performs poorly. This paper discusses further the practical instances of the quantitative measurement of the ethical aspects of the system taken at an aggregate level.

Evasion of "mandatory" social health insurance for the formal sector: evidence from Lao PDR.

PubMed

Alkenbrack, Sarah; Hanson, Kara; Lindelow, Magnus

2015-10-19

In the last decade, almost every low- or middle-income country in the world has expressed support for universal health coverage (UHC). While at the beginning of the UHC movement, country strategies focused on increasing access to the formal sector as the first step of UHC, there is now consensus that countries should cover the entire population, with particular attention to covering the poor. However, it is often assumed that mandatory schemes will automatically cover their target populations, and consequently little is known about why firms comply or do not comply with enrolment requirements. Using the experience of Lao PDR, where the enrolment rate in the mandatory social security scheme is low and the capacity for regulation is weak, we conducted this study to better understand the determinants of enrolment of private sector firms in mandatory social security. We used a cross-sectional case-comparison design, surveying 130 firms. We applied a structured questionnaire to explore determinants of enrolment, specifically looking at firm characteristics (e.g., industry category, ownership); sociodemographic characteristics of company heads; firms' risk perceptions; details of employment contracts; employee benefits; and exposure to social security. Closed ended questions were analysed quantitatively, while content analysis was applied to open-ended questions. Logistic regression was used to examine the determinants of enrolment. Smaller privately owned firms in the services industry were the least likely to enrol in social security, while firms in the trade industry were more likely to enrol than firms in manufacturing, construction, or services. The main reason for not enrolling was that firms offered a better package of benefits to their employees, although further investigation of company benefits showed that this was not the case in practice. Additional reasons for non-compliance were lack of knowledge and poor quality of care at government hospitals. The study contributes to the dialogue on how best to increase coverage in the formal sector, which is an important element of achieving UHC. It also provides much needed information about the motivation of private sector firms to comply with mandatory schemes.

[Supervisors and Employment Counselors in Messidor Transitional Social Firms Supporting People with Psychiatric Disability to Gain Competitive Employment].

PubMed

de Pierrefeu, Inès; Corbière, Marc; Pachoud, Bernard

Objectives Some programs have been developed in France for helping people with a psychiatric disability to get competitive employment, especially prevocational programs such as transitional social firms. However, these programs have not been studied until now. Studies on supported employment programs (evidence-based practices) conducted in other countries demonstrated that variation of work outcomes is due, among other factors, to employment specialists' competencies. These results highlight the need for describing more specifically the work of the two professionals, employment counselors and supervisors, working in transitional social firms in order to better understand their role, tasks and competencies. Therefore, the objective of this study aims at describing the roles, tasks and competencies of these two professionals working in transitional social firms, to better understand how they support people with psychiatric disability for eventually obtaining competitive employment.Methods A qualitative method was used to describe roles, tasks and competencies of employment counselors and supervisors working in the transitional social firms of the Messidor's association (7 regions). In sum, 24 individual interviews with employment counselors and supervisors of these social firms as well as 7 focus groups with the two types of professionals, were conducted.Results This study allowed to define the work of the two professionals (role and tasks) and a list of 110 competencies for employment counselors as well as 155 competencies for supervisors working in these transitional social firms, emerged from qualitative analyses. This "double support" has been defined as a complementary approach helping workers to change their own perceptions, becoming more confident in their work abilities, and thus helping them to gain competitive employment. On the one hand, the employment counselor supports each worker in developing strategies and actions to reach competitive employment, and put in place "job development skills" to coordinate his role with key stakeholders (e.g. psychiatrist, employers) involved in the work integration of people with severe mental disorders. On the other hand, the supervisor is following each worker all day long, training and helping them to overcome potential difficulties regarding the work to do, and building confidence and self-esteem in the workers under their supervision, which are all key elements to gain competitive employment.Conclusion Clinical implications are suggested regarding the recruitment of professionals working in transitional social firms, and thus improving work outcomes for people with a severe mental illness.

The Social Policy of the Firm and the State. Revised.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rein, Martin

Every country has a system of social protection to help people when risks, contingencies, and needs arise. In each society this system is organized in three sections: a public sector, a personal sector, and a mixed sector. Each society combines these sectors in different ways. Here, the firm's social policy within the broader context of social…

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.

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.

Multiplex network analysis of employee performance and employee social relationships

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cai, Meng; Wang, Wei; Cui, Ying; Stanley, H. Eugene

2018-01-01

In human resource management, employee performance is strongly affected by both formal and informal employee networks. Most previous research on employee performance has focused on monolayer networks that can represent only single categories of employee social relationships. We study employee performance by taking into account the entire multiplex structure of underlying employee social networks. We collect three datasets consisting of five different employee relationship categories in three firms, and predict employee performance using degree centrality and eigenvector centrality in a superimposed multiplex network (SMN) and an unfolded multiplex network (UMN). We use a quadratic assignment procedure (QAP) analysis and a regression analysis to demonstrate that the different categories of relationship are mutually embedded and that the strength of their impact on employee performance differs. We also use weighted/unweighted SMN/UMN to measure the predictive accuracy of this approach and find that employees with high centrality in a weighted UMN are more likely to perform well. Our results shed new light on how social structures affect employee performance.

Interpersonal Attraction and Organizational Outcomes: A Field Examination.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ross, Jerry; Ferris, Kenneth R.

1981-01-01

A cross-sectional study of 306 male accountants and managers at two public accounting firms examined the relationship of physical attractiveness, attitude similarity, and social background to performance ratings and salaries. Results suggest that physical attractiveness leads to higher ratings and salaries but that attitudes and background have…

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.

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.

Electronic Commerce, Digital Information, and the Firm.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rosenbaum, Howard

2000-01-01

Discussion of the social context of electronic commerce (ecommerce) focuses on information imperatives, or rules that are critical for ecommerce firms. Concludes with a discussion of the organizational changes that can be expected to accompany the incorporation of these imperatives into the mission and core business processes of ecommerce firms.…

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.

The social architecture of capitalism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wright, Ian

2005-02-01

A dynamic model of the social relations between workers and capitalists is introduced. The model self-organises into a dynamic equilibrium with statistical properties that are in close qualitative and in many cases quantitative agreement with a broad range of known empirical distributions of developed capitalism, including the power-law firm size distribution, the Laplace firm and GDP growth distribution, the lognormal firm demises distribution, the exponential recession duration distribution, the lognormal-Pareto income distribution, and the gamma-like firm rate-of-profit distribution. Normally these distributions are studied in isolation, but this model unifies and connects them within a single causal framework. The model also generates business cycle phenomena, including fluctuating wage and profit shares in national income about values consistent with empirical studies. The generation of an approximately lognormal-Pareto income distribution and an exponential-Pareto wealth distribution demonstrates that the power-law regime of the income distribution can be explained by an additive process on a power-law network that models the social relation between employers and employees organised in firms, rather than a multiplicative process that models returns to investment in financial markets. A testable consequence of the model is the conjecture that the rate-of-profit distribution is consistent with a parameter-mix of a ratio of normal variates with means and variances that depend on a firm size parameter that is distributed according to a power-law.

Outsourcing Relationships between Firms and Their Training Providers: The Role of Trust

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gainey, Thomas W.; Klaas, Brian S.

2005-01-01

Firms increasingly use external vendors to provide training for their employees. And because trust has been found to be essential in successful interfirm relationships, this study identified a number of factors thought to be associated with both self-interested trust and socially oriented trust between firms and their training suppliers. Using…

Spaces of Innovation: Experiences from Two Small High-Tech Firms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heiskanen, Tuula; Heiskanen, Hannu

2011-01-01

Purpose: By comparing two small high-tech firms specialising in medical technology this article seeks to answer the following questions: What are the key characteristics of innovation processes in the case firms? How do the mutual relationships between mental, social and physical spaces explain the different pathways in the innovation processes in…

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

Toward a social capital theory of competitive advantage in medical groups.

PubMed

Hoelscher, Mark L; Hoffman, James J; Dawley, David

2005-01-01

Social capital can have a positive impact on medical group performance. We forward our theory based on the integration of theories in social capital, resource advantage, and the resource-based view of the firm. Further, we suggest specific ways in which medical groups can increase their levels of social capital. First, medical groups should design or redesign the workplace so that there is ample interaction among employees. Second, employee participation within the community should be encouraged. Third, medical groups should recognize that social capital becomes ingrained in organizational culture. Therefore, medical groups should take steps to ensure a culture that supports its social capital. Fourth, hiring procedures should be designed (or redesigned) to ensure that new employees add social capital to the organization. Finally, trust must be fostered at the employee level.

Industrial Relations and Firm Behavior: Informal Labor Practices in the West Coast Longshore Industry.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Finlay, William

1987-01-01

Considers industrial relations policies and practices of stevedore firms in the West Coast longshore industry in terms of the social worker, worker-resource, and institutional theories. Subsidiary firms were more lenient in contract interpretation and more competitive in recruitment, supporting the worker-resource theory. Includes 2 tables and 33…

Social Intelligence and Top Management Team: An Exploratory Study of External Knowledge Acquisition for Strategic Change in Global IT Service Providers in India

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kong, Eric; Chadee, Doren; Raman, Revti

2012-01-01

This paper focuses on the processes by which firms, particularly knowledge intensive firms, can augment their overall knowledge stock by tapping into external sources of knowledge. It is argued that Top Management Teams' (TMTs') social intelligence is a critical learning capability in acquiring external knowledge that leads to strategic change.…

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.

Core Knowledge Employee Creativity and Firm Performance: The Moderating Role of Riskiness Orientation, Firm Size, and Realized Absorptive Capacity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gong, Yaping; Zhou, Jing; Chang, Song

2013-01-01

In this study, we examine when creativity is positively or negatively related to firm performance. Building on the creation-implementation tension theorized in the literature and the attention capacity perspective, we argue that the relationship between creativity and firm performance is contingent on riskiness orientation, firm size, and realized…

Social capital in Asia: Investigating returns to brokerage in collectivistic national cultures.

PubMed

Merluzzi, Jennifer

2013-05-01

Evidence on the returns to brokerage networks predominately comes from studies of firms located in the United States. Analyses conducted in other countries have noted differences in how social capital may be valued questioning whether brokerage networks yield economic advantage in less individualistic contexts such as Asia. Using network data on employees involved in a product launch in the Asian region of a large American software firm, evidence of returns to brokerage is found among the top executives located and working in the collectivistic national country offices. This finding provides new insights on how returns to brokerage in a non-US culture may arise by considering the differing influences of firm and national culture as well as an employee's formal position at a firm. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Does microblogging convey firm-specific information? Evidence from China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Dehua; Li, Xiao; Xue, Mei; Zhang, Wei

2017-09-01

This paper investigates the impact of opening microblogging account in Sina Weibo on the diffusion of firm-specific information in Chinese stock market. With the unique sample of firms opening their official accounts, the empirical results show that this newly emerged information diffusion channel, i.e., Sina Weibo, plays an important role in conveying firm-specific information to the market. Generally speaking, these empirical findings have practical implications to securities regulators who have interest in monitoring the diffused information via social media.

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.

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...

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...

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).

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.

Innovation flow through social networks: productivity distribution in France and Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

di Matteo, T.; Aste, T.; Gallegati, M.

2005-10-01

From a detailed empirical analysis of the productivity of non financial firms across several countries and years we show that productivity follows a non-Gaussian distribution with `fat tails' in the large productivity region which are well mimicked by power law behaviors. We discuss how these empirical findings can be linked to a mechanism of exchanges in a social network where firms improve their productivity by direct innovation and/or by imitation of other firm's technological and organizational solutions. The type of network-connectivity determines how fast and how efficiently information can diffuse and how quickly innovation will permeate or behaviors will be imitated. From a model for innovation flow through a complex network we show that the expectation values of the productivity of each firm are proportional to its connectivity in the network of links between firms. The comparison with the empirical distributions in France and Italy reveals that in this model, such a network must be of a scale-free type with a power-law degree distribution in the large connectivity range.

AID awards 3-year Guatemala contract.

PubMed

1984-01-01

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded a 3-year US$593,036 grant to the Los Angeles firm of Juarez and Associates, Inc. to help implement a contraceptive social marketing project in Guatemala. The firm will provide marketing assistance to the for-profit organization. Importadora de Productos Farmaceuticos (PROFA), an offshoot of the nonprofit International Planned Parenthood Federation affiliate, Asociacion Pro-Bienestar de la Familia de Guatemala (APROFAM), created specifically to conduct the social marketing project. Juarez and Associates has previous market research experience in family planning in Guatemala. Contraceptive social marketing sales are projected to begin in early 1985.

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.

Competition and quality in a physiotherapy market with fixed prices.

PubMed

Pekola, Piia; Linnosmaa, Ismo; Mikkola, Hennamari

2017-01-01

Our study focuses on competition and quality in physiotherapy organized and regulated by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela). We first derive a hypothesis with a theoretical model and then perform empirical analyses of the data. Within the physiotherapy market, prices are regulated by Kela, and after registration eligible firms are accepted to join a pool of firms from which patients choose service providers based on their individual preferences. By using 2SLS estimation techniques, we analyzed the relationship among quality, competition and regulated price. According to the results, competition has a statistically significant (yet weak) negative effect (p = 0.019) on quality. The outcome for quality is likely caused by imperfect information. It seems that Kela has provided too little information for patients about the quality of the service.

Privatization in a public leadership mixed duopoly

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferreira, Fernanda A.; Ferreira, Flávio

2016-06-01

We consider domestic and international competitions with one public leader firm and one follower private firm, producing complementary goods and competing on prices. We compare the results obtained in both models. Furthermore, we examine the impacts of privatization on consumer surplus and on social welfare.

Analysis Influence of Managerial Competence, Technical Competence, and Strategic Competence on Firm Performance in Electrical Engineering Company in Bandung

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wijaya, E. R.; Irianto, D.

2018-03-01

The industry sectors that have an important role in the era of globalization is the electro engineering sector. The era of globalization led to intense competition. One of the negative effects of the intense competition is declining profits. Drop in profits caused many firms reduces their employees without seeking the root cause of declining profits in detail. Whereas, employee is the important resources to maintain competitive advantage. Competitive advantage can be measured by the performance of which is owned by the firm. The firm's performance can be formed of competencies that is unique, rare, irreplaceable, and difficult to imitate within the firm, one of them is the competence of the individual. According to a competency-based approach and the resource- based approach, individual competence that affect the performance of the firm is managerial competence, technical competence, and strategic competence. Questionnaire is built based on the dimensions of the firm's performance, managerial competence, technical competence, and strategic competence, are processed using partial least squares application. The results indicate that managerial competence negatively impact firm’s performance with weak ties. The technical competence and strategic competence positively affect firm’s performance with moderate ties.

No more business as usual: enticing companies to sharply lower the public health costs of the products they sell.

PubMed

Sugarman, S

2009-03-01

Cigarettes, alcohol, junk food and motor vehicles cause a staggeringly high level of death, injury and disease. Business leaders from the industries that make these products currently try to frame these negative outcomes as 'collateral damage' that is someone else's problem. That framing is not only morally objectionable, but also overlooks the possibility that, with proper prodding, industry could substantially mitigate these public health disasters. A promising regulatory tool called 'performance-based regulation' is a new approach to combating the problem. Simply put, performance-based regulation would impose a legal obligation on manufacturers to reduce their negative social costs. Rather than suing the firms for damages, or telling them how they should run their businesses differently (as typical 'command and control' regimes do), performance-based regulation allows the firms to determine how best to decrease today's negative public health consequences. Like other public health strategies, performance-based regulation shifts the focus away from individual consumers on to those who are far more likely to achieve real public health gains. Analogous to a tax on causing harm that exceeds a threshold level, performance-based regulation seeks to harness private initiative in pursuit of the public good.

Fertility and social interaction at the workplace: Does childbearing spread among colleagues?

PubMed

Pink, Sebastian; Leopold, Thomas; Engelhardt, Henriette

2014-09-01

This research investigates whether colleagues' fertility influences women's transitions to parenthood. We draw on Linked-Employer-Employee data (1993-2007) from the German Institute for Employment Research comprising 33,119 female co-workers in 6579 firms. Results from discrete-time hazard models reveal social interaction effects on fertility among women employed in the same firm. In the year after a colleague gave birth, transition rates to first pregnancy double. This effect declines over time and vanishes after two years. Further analyses suggest that the influence of colleagues' fertility is mediated by social learning. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Customer social network affects marketing strategy: A simulation analysis based on competitive diffusion model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hou, Rui; Wu, Jiawen; Du, Helen S.

2017-03-01

To explain the competition phenomenon and results between QQ and MSN (China) in the Chinese instant messaging software market, this paper developed a new population competition model based on customer social network. The simulation results show that the firm whose product with greater network externality effect will gain more market share than its rival when the same marketing strategy is used. The firm with the advantage of time, derived from the initial scale effect will become more competitive than its rival when facing a group of common penguin customers within a social network, verifying the winner-take-all phenomenon in this case.

Information Systems, Competitive Dynamics, and Firm Performance: An Interpretive and Centering Resonance Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vannoy, Sandra A.

2010-01-01

This dissertation examines, from a managerial interpretive perspective, how information systems contribute to firms' specific competitive actions and responses, and the resultant impacts upon firm performance. The findings from this research suggest that the answer may well lie within the role of information systems in firms' competitive dynamics…

A face only an investor could love: CEOs' facial structure predicts their firms' financial performance.

PubMed

Wong, Elaine M; Ormiston, Margaret E; Haselhuhn, Michael P

2011-12-01

Researchers have theorized that innate personal traits are related to leadership success. Although links between psychological characteristics and leadership success have been well established, research has yet to identify any objective physical traits of leaders that predict organizational performance. In the research reported here, we identified leaders' facial structure as a specific physical trait that correlates with organizational performance. Specifically, we found that firms whose male CEOs have wider faces (relative to facial height) achieve superior financial performance. Decision-making dynamics within a firm's leadership team moderate this effect, such that the relationship between a given CEO's facial measurements and his firm's financial performance is stronger in firms with cognitively simple leadership teams.

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

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.

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.

Firm performance model in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) based on learning orientation and innovation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lestari, E. R.; Ardianti, F. L.; Rachmawati, L.

2018-03-01

This study investigated the relationship between learning orientation, innovation, and firm performance. A conceptual model and hypothesis were empirically examined using structural equation modelling. The study involved a questionnaire-based survey of owners of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) operating in Batu City, Indonesia. The results showed that both variables of learning orientation and innovation effect positively on firm performance. Additionally, learning orientation has positive effect innovation. This study has implication for SMEs aiming at increasing their firm performance based on learning orientation and innovation capability.

Destructive de-energizing relationships: How thriving buffers their effect on performance.

PubMed

Gerbasi, Alexandra; Porath, Christine L; Parker, Andrew; Spreitzer, Gretchen; Cross, Rob

2015-09-01

In this paper, we establish the relationship between de-energizing relationships and individual performance in organizations. To date, the emphasis in social network research has largely been on positive dimensions of relationships despite literature from social psychology revealing the prevalence and detrimental impact of de-energizing relationships. In 2 field studies, we show that de-energizing relationships in organizations are associated with decreased performance. In Study 1, we investigate how de-energizing relationships are related to lower performance using data from 161 people in the information technology (IT) department of an engineering firm. In Study 2, in a sample of 439 management consultants, we consider whether the effects of de-energizing relationships on performance may be moderated by the extent to which an individual has the psychological resource of thriving at work. We find that individuals who are thriving at work are less susceptible to the effects of de-energizing relationships on job performance. We close by discussing implications of this research. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

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.

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.

Using integrated information systems in supply chain management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gonzálvez-Gallego, Nicolás; Molina-Castillo, Francisco-Jose; Soto-Acosta, Pedro; Varajao, Joao; Trigo, Antonio

2015-02-01

The aim of this paper is to empirically test not only the direct effects of information and communication technology (ICT) capabilities and integrated information systems (IS) on firm performance, but also the moderating role of IS integration along the supply chain in the relationship between ICT external and capabilities and business performance. Data collected from 102 large Iberian firms from Spain and Portugal are used to test the research model. The hierarchical multiple regression analysis is employed to test the direct effects and the moderating relationships proposed. Results show that external and internal ICT capabilities are important drivers of firm performance, while merely having integrated IS do not lead to better firm performance. In addition, a moderating effect of IS integration in the relationship between ICT capabilities and business performance is found, although this integration only contributes to firm performance when it is directed to connect with suppliers or customers rather than when integrating the whole supply chain.

Does Organizational Learning Lead to Higher Firm Performance? An Investigation of Chinese Listing Companies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhou, Wencang; Hu, Huajing; Shi, Xuli

2015-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework for studying organizational learning, firm innovation and firm financial performance. Design/methodology/approach: This paper examines the effects of organizational learning on innovation and performance among 287 listed Chinese companies. Findings: The results indicate a positive…

Is Transfer of Training Related to Firm Performance?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saks, Alan M.; Burke-Smalley, Lisa A.

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to bridge the gap between micro-training research on the transfer of training and macro-training research on training and firm performance by testing the relationship between transfer of training and firm performance. Training and development professionals completed a survey about the training methods used in their…

Integrating Sustainability into the Marketing Curriculum: Learning Activities that Facilitate Sustainable Marketing Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Borin, Norm; Metcalf, Lynn

2010-01-01

In response to political, social, and competitive forces, many firms are developing sustainable marketing strategies. Marketing educators can play an important role in assisting these firms by developing curricula that build the knowledge and skills required to enable marketing graduates to contribute to sustainable marketing efforts. Marketing…

Environmental Education and Behaviour: The Case of Corporate Social-Responsibility.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harvey, Brian

1981-01-01

Addresses the potential effects of environmental education on corporate behavior and social and environmental impact by examining connections between human behavior and environmental problems, the role of the modern corporation, a behavioral theory of the firm, and corporate social responsibility. (DC)

Control of power: the political economy of electric-utility development in the US

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

McGuire, P.W.

1986-01-01

This work examines the processes by which the dominant relations of production are reproduced and the dominant social order maintained amidst the conflicts and contradictions of capitalism. The specific subject of analysis is the changing relationships and dynamics of the various electric utility firms and associated organizations. The development of the industry is traced from the initial development of commodifiable electric devices through regulation, consolidation, and the Great Crash. The work relies on secondary sources drawn from numerous disciplines, government agencies, industry sources, and the accounts of central social actors. This consideration of the early history of an industry whichmore » is such a crucial underpinning of 20th century economic development, provides a springboard for reevaluation of the prevailing instrumental and structural theories of social-economic control and change. There are 4 basic concerns in each time frame: (1) competition among privately-owned firms; (2) competition between privately - and publicly-owned firms; (3) interactions between industry and political agencies; and (4) interactions between industry and economic institutions.« less

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

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.

Nonmanufacturing Businesses. U.S. Metric Study Interim Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cornog, June R.; Bunten, Elaine D.

In this fifth interim report on the feasibility of a United States changeover to a metric system stems from the U.S. Metric Study, a primary stratified sample of 2,828 nonmanufacturing firms was randomly selected from 28,184 businesses taken from Social Security files, a secondary sample of 2,258 firms was randomly selected for replacement…

The social control of energy: A case for the promise of decentralized solar technologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gilmer, R. W.

1980-05-01

Decentralized solar technology and centralized electric utilities were contrasted in the ways they assign property rights in capital and energy output; in the assignment of operational control; and in the means of monitoring, policing, and enforcing property rights. An analogy was drawn between the decision of an energy consumer to use decentralized solar and the decision of a firm to vertically integrate, that is, to extend the boundary of a the firm to vertically integrate, that is, to extend the boundary of the firm by making inputs or further processing output. Decentralized solar energy production offers the small energy consumer the chance to cut ties to outside suppliers--to vertically integrate energy production into the home or business. The development of this analogy provides insight into important noneconomic aspects of solar energy, and it points clearly to the lighter burdens of social management offered by decentralized solar technology.

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

Expanding the psychosocial work environment: workplace norms and work-family conflict as correlates of stress and health.

PubMed

Hammer, Tove Helland; Saksvik, Per Øystein; Nytrø, Kjell; Torvatn, Hans; Bayazit, Mahmut

2004-01-01

This study examined the contributions of organizational level norms about work requirements and social relations, and work-family conflict, to job stress and subjective health symptoms, controlling for Karasek's job demand-control-support model of the psychosocial work environment, in a sample of 1,346 employees from 56 firms in the Norwegian food and beverage industry. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses showed that organizational norms governing work performance and social relations, and work-to-family and family-to-work conflict, explained significant amounts of variance for job stress. The cross-level interaction between work performance norms and work-to-family conflict was also significantly related to job stress. Work-to-family conflict was significantly related to health symptoms, but family-to-work conflict and organizational norms were not.

Computer Simulation in Social Science.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garson, G. David

From a base in military models, computer simulation has evolved to provide a wide variety of applications in social science. General purpose simulation packages and languages such as FIRM, DYNAMO, and others have made significant contributions toward policy discussion in the social sciences and have well-documented efficacy in instructional…

Foundation Trusts: economics in the 'postmodern hospital'.

PubMed

Newbold, David

2005-09-01

Foundation Trust Hospitals are community-controlled health care providers which have increased autonomy about how they produce outcomes for the British National Health Service. Although there is a literature on hospital economics it is unclear how these innovative providers will behave, if they have to compete for scarce resources with other hospitals. This paper reviews some of the earlier theories, such as the neoclassical theory of the firm, and discusses their relevance along with 'newer' economic theories such as the transaction costs and evolutionary theory of the firm, plus organizational and human resources theory, to the performance of Foundation Trusts. Much contemporary health care provision is shaped along modernist lines, using scientific endeavour to maximize the impact on health outcomes and technical and social efficiency. However, there is an increasingly postmodern standpoint--critical of modernity--being taken by both patients and hospital staff, to deconstruct processes in the organizations that serve them. Foundation Trusts are postmodern hospitals insomuch as they (to attract scarce resources in a competitive environment), need to marshal the diverse theories of the firm together in order to provide a mass-customized, quality experience, transparently and at least cost--whilst maintaining a stable organizational culture for staff.

Examining the scope of multibusiness health care firms: implications for strategy and financial performance.

PubMed

Noorein Inamdar, S

2007-08-01

Use theory and data to examine the scope of corporate strategies for multibusiness health care firms, also known as organized or integrated health care delivery systems. Data are from the 2000 HIMSS Analytics Annual Survey of integrated health care delivery systems (IHDS), which provides complete information on businesses owned by IHDS. Scope defined as the breadth and type of businesses in which a firm chooses to compete is measured across seven separate business areas: (1) health plans, (2) ambulatory, (3) acute, (4) subacute, (5) home health, (6) other related nonpatient care businesses, and (7) external collaborations. Theories on strategy and organizational configurations along with measures of scope and a novel dataset were used to classify 796 firms into five mutually exclusive groups. The bases for classification were two competitive dimensions of scope: (1) breadth of businesses and (2) mix of existing core businesses versus new noncore businesses. Unit of analysis is the multibusiness health care firm. Sample consists of 796 firms, defined as nonprofit organizations that own two or more direct patient care businesses in two or more separate areas across the health care value chain. Firms were clustered into five mutually exclusive organizational configurations with unique scope characteristics revealing a new taxonomy of corporate strategies. Analysis of the scope variables revealed five strategic types (along with the number of firms and distinguishing features of each strategy) defined as follows: (1) Core Service Provider (340 firms with the smallest scope providing core set of patient care services), (2) Mission Based (52 firms with the next smallest scope offering core set of services to underserved populations), (3) Contractor (266 firms with medium scope and contracting with physician groups), (4) Health Plan Focus (83 firms with large scope and providing health plans), and (5) Entrepreneur (55 firms with the largest scope offering both a core set of services and investing in a variety of new noncore business opportunities including many for-profit ventures). Significant differences in financial performance among the strategies were found when controlling for payer reimbursement conditions. Specifically, in an unfavorable condition with high Medicaid and low commercial insurance, the Mission Based strategy performs significantly worse while the Entrepreneur strategy performs surprisingly well, in comparison with the other strategies. Findings suggest: (a) scope can be used to classify a large number of multibusiness health care firms into a taxonomy representing a small group of distinct corporate strategies, which are recognizable by senior management in the health care industry, (b) no single strategy dominates in performance across different payer profiles, instead there appears to be complementarities or fit between strategy and payer profiles that determines which firms perform well and which do not under different conditions, and (c) senior management of nonprofit health care firms are cross-subsidizing unprofitable patient care through ownership of nonpatient care businesses including for-profit ventures.

Examining the Scope of Multibusiness Health Care Firms: Implications for Strategy and Financial Performance

PubMed Central

Noorein Inamdar, S

2007-01-01

Objective Use theory and data to examine the scope of corporate strategies for multibusiness health care firms, also known as organized or integrated health care delivery systems. Data Sources Data are from the 2000 HIMSS Analytics Annual Survey of integrated health care delivery systems (IHDS), which provides complete information on businesses owned by IHDS. Study Design Scope defined as the breadth and type of businesses in which a firm chooses to compete is measured across seven separate business areas: (1) health plans, (2) ambulatory, (3) acute, (4) subacute, (5) home health, (6) other related nonpatient care businesses, and (7) external collaborations. Theories on strategy and organizational configurations along with measures of scope and a novel dataset were used to classify 796 firms into five mutually exclusive groups. The bases for classification were two competitive dimensions of scope: (1) breadth of businesses and (2) mix of existing core businesses versus new noncore businesses. Data Extraction Methods Unit of analysis is the multibusiness health care firm. Sample consists of 796 firms, defined as nonprofit organizations that own two or more direct patient care businesses in two or more separate areas across the health care value chain. Firms were clustered into five mutually exclusive organizational configurations with unique scope characteristics revealing a new taxonomy of corporate strategies. Principal Findings Analysis of the scope variables revealed five strategic types (along with the number of firms and distinguishing features of each strategy) defined as follows: (1) Core Service Provider (340 firms with the smallest scope providing core set of patient care services), (2) Mission Based (52 firms with the next smallest scope offering core set of services to underserved populations), (3) Contractor (266 firms with medium scope and contracting with physician groups), (4) Health Plan Focus (83 firms with large scope and providing health plans), and (5) Entrepreneur (55 firms with the largest scope offering both a core set of services and investing in a variety of new noncore business opportunities including many for-profit ventures). Significant differences in financial performance among the strategies were found when controlling for payer reimbursement conditions. Specifically, in an unfavorable condition with high Medicaid and low commercial insurance, the Mission Based strategy performs significantly worse while the Entrepreneur strategy performs surprisingly well, in comparison with the other strategies. Conclusions Findings suggest: (a) scope can be used to classify a large number of multibusiness health care firms into a taxonomy representing a small group of distinct corporate strategies, which are recognizable by senior management in the health care industry, (b) no single strategy dominates in performance across different payer profiles, instead there appears to be complementarities or fit between strategy and payer profiles that determines which firms perform well and which do not under different conditions, and (c) senior management of nonprofit health care firms are cross-subsidizing unprofitable patient care through ownership of nonpatient care businesses including for-profit ventures. PMID:17610444

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.

A Society without a "State"? Political Organization, Social Conflict, and Welfare Provision in the United States.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Skocpol, Theda

The programmatic structure and modes of implementation of U.S. social provisions must be understood in order to gain insight into social programs in the United States. National standards have not been established for public benefits and "social security" has remained firmly separated, both institutionally and symbolically, from…

The Role of Craft Industry in Germany's Social Market Economy. Social Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schroder, Karsten

1992-01-01

Social market economy success in the Federal Republic of Germany is due to free competition, enterprise in the business community, and employees' social security. Craft industries play a major role in Germany's market economy. The craft industry is second only to the manufacturing industry, comprising 23 percent of German firms. There are seven…

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…

An Overview of the Use of Mechanical Turk in Behavioral Sciences: Implications for Social Work

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chan, Chitat; Holosko, Michael J.

2016-01-01

Crowdsourcing is a process in which a firm parcels out work to a "crowd" and offers payment for anyone within the crowd who completes the task determined by that firm. A growing number of behavioral scientists have begun using the Mechanical Turk (MTurk) to facilitate their research and practice, but there is apparently not one academic…

Learning Styles Inequity for Small to Micro Firms (SMFs): Social Exclusion through Work-Based E-Learning Practice in Europe

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hardaker, Glenn; Dockery, Richard; Sabki, Aishah

2007-01-01

Purpose: The elearn2work study of learning styles in the context of small to micro firms' (SMFs) and their perceived satisfaction has identified some important finding specific to e-learning content design, delivery and international standards development. Design/methodology/approach: The method of research adopts a deductive rather than an…

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.

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.

How an Organization's Environmental Orientation Impacts Environmental Performance and Its Resultant Financial Performance through Green Computing Hiring Practices: An Empirical Investigation of the Natural Resource-Based View of the Firm

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aken, Andrew Joseph

2010-01-01

This dissertation uses the logic embodied in Strategic Fit Theory, the Natural Resource- Based View of the Firm (NRBV), strategic human resource management, and other relevant literature streams to empirically demonstrate how the environmental orientation of a firm's strategy impacts their environmental performance and resultant financial…

Porter's generic strategies, discontinuous environments, and performance: a longitudinal study of changing strategies in the hospital industry.

PubMed

Lamont, B T; Marlin, D; Hoffman, J J

1993-12-01

Changes in generic strategies in response to discontinuous environments have been relatively ignored in the management literature. This study reports an examination of the relationships between Porter's (1980) generic strategies, discontinuous environments, and performance. Archival data for 1984 and 1988 were collected for 172 acute care hospitals in Florida in order to test these relationships. To examine fully the performance impact of changes in strategy in a discontinuous environment, a longitudinal research design that identified a firm's strategy at two points in time, 1984 and 1988, was used. Results indicate that firms with a proper strategy environment fit performed the highest, firms that did not change their strategy had no change in performance, and firms that changed their strategy toward a proper strategy environment showed an increase in performance. Findings support the notion that hospitals with appropriate strategy-environment combinations will exhibit higher performance.

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.

Embracing the Village and Tribe: Critical Thinking for Social Workers from an African-Centered Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dyson, Yarneccia D.; Brice, Tanya Smith

2016-01-01

The social work department at a small historically Black college implemented an African-centered approach to the course Critical Thinking for Social Workers for freshmen students who declared social work as their major. We firmly believe that knowing and understanding the history and legacy of people of African descent is extremely important in…

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.

The whole relationship between environmental variables and firm performance: competitive advantage and firm resources as mediator variables.

PubMed

López-Gamero, María D; Molina-Azorín, José F; Claver-Cortés, Enrique

2009-07-01

The examination of the possible direct link between environmental protection and firm performance in the literature has generally produced mixed results. The present paper contributes to the literature by using the resource-based view as a mediating process in this relationship. The study specifically tests whether or not the resource-based view of the firm mediates the positive relationships of proactive environmental management and improved environmental performance with competitive advantage, which also has consequences for financial performance. We also check the possible link between the adoption of a pioneering approach and good environmental management practices. Our findings support that early investment timing and intensity in environmental issues impact on the adoption of a proactive environmental management, which in turn helps to improve environmental performance. The findings also show that a firm's resources and competitive advantage act as mediator variables for a positive relationship between environmental protection and financial performance. This contribution is original because the present paper develops a comprehensive whole picture of this path process, which has previously only been partially discussed in the literature. In addition, this study clarifies a relevant point in the literature, namely that the effect of environmental protection on firm performance is not direct and can vary depending on the sector considered. Whereas competitive advantage in relation to costs influences financial performance in the IPPC law sector, the relevant influence in the hotel sector comes from competitive advantage through differentiation.

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…

Community Services for the Aged: The View from Eight Countries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kamerman, Sheila B.

1976-01-01

A country, case-descriptive methodology was employed in a cross-national study of social service systems. The major findings with regard to the aged are: (1) countries must establish a firm infrastructure of basic social provision for community services to function adequately and: (2) a common core of "personal social services" is emerging…

Hail to the Tweeps

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stoner, Michael

2012-01-01

Engaging with stakeholders on social media channels can burnish a brand's reputation, according to an early 2012 survey conducted by BRANDfog, a social media branding firm that caters to CEOs. The study found that 82 percent of respondents "were more likely to trust a company whose CEO and leadership team engage in social media." In addition, 94…

Impact of parallel trade on pharmaceutical firm's profits: rise or fall?

PubMed

Guo, Shen; Hu, Bin; Zhong, Hai

2013-04-01

Most existing studies on parallel trade conclude that it reduces pharmaceutical firms' profits. One special feature of the pharmaceutical industry is the presence of price regulation in most countries. Taking into account the impact of parallel trade on the regulated pharmaceutical prices [Pecorino, P.: J. Health Econ. 21, 699-708 (2002)] shows that a pharmaceutical firm's profit is greater in the presence of parallel trade. The present paper relaxes the assumption on identical demands among countries, and takes into account transaction costs. The results of our model show that a firm's profits may increase or decrease in the presence of parallel trade, depending on its bargaining power in the price negotiation and market size of the drug. Changes in social welfare due to the transition to parallel trade regime are also considered.

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.

Organizational Learning, Knowledge Management Practices and Firm's Performance: An Empirical Study of a Heavy Engineering Firm in India

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jain, Ajay K.; Moreno, Ana

2015-01-01

Purpose: The study aims at investigating the impact of organizational learning (OL) on the firm's performance and knowledge management (KM) practices in a heavy engineering organization in India. Design/Methodology/Approach: The data were collected from 205 middle and senior executives working in the project engineering management division of a…

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

Perception-Induced Effects of Corporate Social Irresponsibility (CSiR) for Stereotypical and Admired Firms

PubMed Central

Voliotis, Seraphim; Vlachos, Pavlos A.; Epitropaki, Olga

2016-01-01

How do stakeholders react to Corporate Social Irresponsibility (CSiR)? What are the emotional mechanisms and behavioral outcomes following CSiR perception? The psychology of CSR literature has yet to address these important questions and has largely considered CSR and CSiR as the opposite poles of the same continuum. In contrast, we view CSR and CSiR as distinct constructs and theorize about the cognitive (perceptual), emotional, and behavioral effects of CSiR activity on observers (i.e., primary and secondary stakeholders) building on theories of intergroup perception. Specifically, building on the Stereotype Content Model (SCM; Fiske et al., 2002) and the BIAS map (i.e., Behaviors from Intergroup Affect and Stereotypes; Cuddy et al., 2007)—which extends the SCM by predicting behavioral responses—we make predictions on potential stakeholder reactions to CSiR focusing on two practice-relevant cases: (a) a typical for-profit firm that engages in a CSiR activity, (b) an atypical admired firm that engages in CSiR activity. PMID:27445931

Perception-Induced Effects of Corporate Social Irresponsibility (CSiR) for Stereotypical and Admired Firms.

PubMed

Voliotis, Seraphim; Vlachos, Pavlos A; Epitropaki, Olga

2016-01-01

How do stakeholders react to Corporate Social Irresponsibility (CSiR)? What are the emotional mechanisms and behavioral outcomes following CSiR perception? The psychology of CSR literature has yet to address these important questions and has largely considered CSR and CSiR as the opposite poles of the same continuum. In contrast, we view CSR and CSiR as distinct constructs and theorize about the cognitive (perceptual), emotional, and behavioral effects of CSiR activity on observers (i.e., primary and secondary stakeholders) building on theories of intergroup perception. Specifically, building on the Stereotype Content Model (SCM; Fiske et al., 2002) and the BIAS map (i.e., Behaviors from Intergroup Affect and Stereotypes; Cuddy et al., 2007)-which extends the SCM by predicting behavioral responses-we make predictions on potential stakeholder reactions to CSiR focusing on two practice-relevant cases: (a) a typical for-profit firm that engages in a CSiR activity, (b) an atypical admired firm that engages in CSiR activity.

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...

Benefits and costs of HIV testing.

PubMed

Bloom, D E; Glied, S

1991-06-28

The benefits and costs of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing in employment settings are examined from two points of view: that of private employers whose profitability may be affected by their testing policies and that of public policy-makers who may affect social welfare through their design of regulations related to HIV testing. The results reveal that HIV testing is clearly not cost-beneficial for most firms, although the benefits of HIV testing may outweigh the costs for some large firms that offer generous fringe-benefit packages and that recruit workers from populations in which the prevalence of HIV infection is high. The analysis also indicates that the testing decisions of unregulated employers are not likely to yield socially optimal economic outcomes and that existing state and federal legislation related to HIV testing in employment settings has been motivated primarily by concerns over social equity.

Bank-firm credit network in Japan: an analysis of a bipartite network.

PubMed

Marotta, Luca; Miccichè, Salvatore; Fujiwara, Yoshi; Iyetomi, Hiroshi; Aoyama, Hideaki; Gallegati, Mauro; Mantegna, Rosario N

2015-01-01

We investigate the networked nature of the Japanese credit market. Our investigation is performed with tools of network science. In our investigation we perform community detection with an algorithm which is identifying communities composed of both banks and firms. We show that the communities obtained by directly working on the bipartite network carry information about the networked nature of the Japanese credit market. Our analysis is performed for each calendar year during the time period from 1980 to 2011. To investigate the time evolution of the networked structure of the credit market we introduce a new statistical method to track the time evolution of detected communities. We then characterize the time evolution of communities by detecting for each time evolving set of communities the over-expression of attributes of firms and banks. Specifically, we consider as attributes the economic sector and the geographical location of firms and the type of banks. In our 32-year-long analysis we detect a persistence of the over-expression of attributes of communities of banks and firms together with a slow dynamic of changes from some specific attributes to new ones. Our empirical observations show that the credit market in Japan is a networked market where the type of banks, geographical location of firms and banks, and economic sector of the firm play a role in shaping the credit relationships between banks and firms.

Bank-Firm Credit Network in Japan: An Analysis of a Bipartite Network

PubMed Central

Marotta, Luca; Miccichè, Salvatore; Fujiwara, Yoshi; Iyetomi, Hiroshi; Aoyama, Hideaki; Gallegati, Mauro; Mantegna, Rosario N.

2015-01-01

We investigate the networked nature of the Japanese credit market. Our investigation is performed with tools of network science. In our investigation we perform community detection with an algorithm which is identifying communities composed of both banks and firms. We show that the communities obtained by directly working on the bipartite network carry information about the networked nature of the Japanese credit market. Our analysis is performed for each calendar year during the time period from 1980 to 2011. To investigate the time evolution of the networked structure of the credit market we introduce a new statistical method to track the time evolution of detected communities. We then characterize the time evolution of communities by detecting for each time evolving set of communities the over-expression of attributes of firms and banks. Specifically, we consider as attributes the economic sector and the geographical location of firms and the type of banks. In our 32-year-long analysis we detect a persistence of the over-expression of attributes of communities of banks and firms together with a slow dynamic of changes from some specific attributes to new ones. Our empirical observations show that the credit market in Japan is a networked market where the type of banks, geographical location of firms and banks, and economic sector of the firm play a role in shaping the credit relationships between banks and firms. PMID:25933413

Skirting around Critical Feminist Rationales for Teaching Women in Social Studies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schmeichel, Mardi

2015-01-01

Feminist practices can provide firm theoretical grounding for the kind of social studies that scholars promote, especially in relation to efforts to include women in the curriculum. However, in P-12 social studies education, neither women nor feminism receive much attention. The study described in this article was a discourse analysis of 16…

Porter's generic strategies, discontinuous environments, and performance: a longitudinal study of changing strategies in the hospital industry.

PubMed Central

Lamont, B T; Marlin, D; Hoffman, J J

1993-01-01

OBJECTIVE. Changes in generic strategies in response to discontinuous environments have been relatively ignored in the management literature. This study reports an examination of the relationships between Porter's (1980) generic strategies, discontinuous environments, and performance. DATA SOURCES. Archival data for 1984 and 1988 were collected for 172 acute care hospitals in Florida in order to test these relationships. STUDY DESIGN. To examine fully the performance impact of changes in strategy in a discontinuous environment, a longitudinal research design that identified a firm's strategy at two points in time, 1984 and 1988, was used. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS. Results indicate that firms with a proper strategy environment fit performed the highest, firms that did not change their strategy had no change in performance, and firms that changed their strategy toward a proper strategy environment showed an increase in performance. CONCLUSION. Findings support the notion that hospitals with appropriate strategy-environment combinations will exhibit higher performance. PMID:8270424

Environmental management and firm performance: a case study.

PubMed

Claver, Enrique; López, María D; Molina, José F; Tarí, Juan J

2007-09-01

This study has as its aim to help to clarify the relationship between environmental management and economic performance by integrating it into a wider framework that includes the relationship between environmental strategy and firm performance, the latter being understood as the combination of environmental performance, competitive advantage and economic performance. A case study of the COATO farming cooperative showed us that its environmental management, focused on prevention logic, has had a positive net effect on its environmental performance. Besides, the order in which these practices were adopted favoured the development of new organisational capabilities that have contributed to the appearance of advantages derived from the greater accumulated experience of employees in creating new projects that are designed to reduce residues and pollution. COATO has also obtained a competitive advantage in differentiation thanks to an improved brand image and to its increased credibility in business relationships. Finally, a positive correlation exists between the pioneering proactive strategy adopted by this cooperative and the improvement of its firm performance with respect to the other firms in its sector.

Measuring Economic Discrimination of Hispanic-Owned Architecture and Engineering Firms in South Florida

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carvajal, Manuel J.

2004-01-01

Using data developed for the U.S. District Court, this study compared the performance of Hispanic-owned firms and two groupings of non-Hispanic-owned firms in three South Florida markets: architecture (n= 176), structural engineering (n= 144), and civil engineering (n = 200). Within each market, firms?earnings are expressed as functions of…

Corporate Funding of Human Services Agencies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zippay, Allison

1992-01-01

Conducted case study of philanthropic giving among 29 companies in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Found that most corporations used informal rather than formal process for making funding decisions, with many firms relying on tradition, social contacts, and intuition to guide allocations. Findings suggest ways that social services administrators can…

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.

A framework for assessing discretionary corporate performance towards the environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Labatt, Sonia

1991-03-01

This article reviews the existing models of corporate social responsiveness and develops a theoretical framework with which to examine corporations' discretionary performance with respect to one social issue, that of the environment. Discretionary indicators of corporate response to environmental issues are developed and tested within this framework. Twelve companies from five different sectors were selected for the survey, based on prior knowledge of their commitment to environmental concerns. Primary data was collected from personal interviews, and secondary data was obtained from company documents, annual reports, and other forms of publically disclosed information. Empirical results varied, but certain voluntary indicators, such as composition of the board of directors, the environmental affairs function, community support, and the annual report are considered to provide strong indications of discretionary corporate performance. Philanthropy and company products proved to be less satisfactory indicators of corporate commitment to the environment. The aggregated results revealed a correlation between the final rankings of firms' discretionary environmental performance and whether those companies are process or product oriented. Linkages between discretionary elements and those of economic and legal requirements were not explored.

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 Effect of Initial Public Offering (IPO) Firm Legitimacy on Cooperative Agreements and Performance

DTIC Science & Technology

2000-04-04

4(1): 15-27. Keats , B.W. 1990. Diversification and business economic performance revisted: Issues of measurementand causality. Journal of... Economics 50 III. DEVELOPMENT OF- HYPOTHESES 53 Introduction 53 The Link Between Legitimacy and Cooperative Agreements 53 The Link Between...for cooperative agreements is the young , growth oriented firm (Doz and Hamel, 1998). These firms find that a disproportionate number and type of

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).

Designing Social Production Models to Support Producer-Consumer Collaboration and Innovation in Digital Social Spaces

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arakji, Reina Y.

2009-01-01

The first decade of the twenty-first century has seen dramatic advances in Internet technologies. Digital social spaces have emerged as popular Internet applications that are radically changing how firms and consumers of digital content interact. In the first chapter "Research Agenda" I introduce my research and the context within which it is…

The Effects of a Developmental, Social-Pragmatic Language Intervention on Rate of Expressive Language Production in Young Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ingersoll, Brooke; Dvortcsak, Anna; Whalen, Christina; Sikora, Darryn

2005-01-01

Developmental, social-pragmatic (DSP) interventions are based on the study of interactions between typically developing infants and their mothers. Despite the fact that DSP approaches are firmly grounded in developmental theory, there is limited research on the efficacy of these interventions for promoting social-communicative behavior in young…

Determination of Duty Cycle for Energy Storage Systems in a Renewables (Solar) Firming Application

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

Schoenwald, David A.; Ellison, James

2016-04-01

This report supplements the document, “Protocol for Uniformly Measuring and Expressing the Performance of Energy Storage Systems,” issued in a revised version in April 2016, which will include the renewables (solar) firming application for an energy storage system (ESS). This report provides the background and documentation associated with the determination of a duty cycle for an ESS operated in a renewables (solar) firming application for the purpose of measuring and expressing ESS performance in accordance with the ESS performance protocol.

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.

A taxonomy of green supply chain management capability among electronics-related manufacturing firms in Taiwan.

PubMed

Shang, Kuo-Chung; Lu, Chin-Shan; Li, Shaorui

2010-05-01

This study investigated crucial green supply chain management (GSCM) capability dimensions and firm performance based on electronics-related manufacturing firms in Taiwan. On the basis of a factor analysis, six green supply chain management dimensions were identified: green manufacturing and packaging, environmental participation, green marketing, green suppliers, green stock, and green eco-design. According to their factor scores in the GSCM dimensions, a cluster analysis subsequently assigned responding firms into four groups, namely, the weak GSCM oriented group, the green marketing oriented group, the green supplier oriented group, and the green stock oriented group. Differences in firm performance and GSCM dimensions among groups were examined. Results indicated that the green marketing oriented group performed best. Based on the resource-based view (RBV), the capability of the green marketing oriented group was considered to be the deployment of a collection of resources that enables it to successfully compete against rivals. The importance of green marketing as a GSCM capability and strategic asset/critical resources for electronics-related manufacturing firms to obtain a competitive edge is therefore highlighted in this study. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Becoming allies: Combining social science and technological perspectives to improve energy research and policy making

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

Diamond, Rick; Moezzi, Mithra

Within the energy research community, social sciences tends to be viewed fairly narrowly, often as simply a marketing tool to change the behavior of consumers and decision makers, and to ''attack market barriers''. As we see it, social sciences, which draws on sociology, psychology, political science, business administration, and other academic disciplines, is capable of far more. A social science perspective can re-align questions in ways that can lead to the development of technologies and technology policy that are much stronger and potentially more successful than they would be otherwise. In most energy policies governing commercial buildings, the prevailing Rmore » and D directives are firmly rooted in a technology framework, one that is generally more quantitative and evaluative than that fostered by the social sciences. To illustrate how social science thinking would approach the goal of achieving high energy performance in the commercial building sector, they focus on the US Department of Energy's Roadmap for commercial buildings (DOE 2000) as a starting point. By ''deconstructing'' the four strategies provided by the Roadmap, they set the stage for proposing a closer partnership between advocates of technology-based and social science-based approaches.« less

Social Policy Supports for Adolescence in the Twenty-First Century: Framing Questions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pittman, Karen; Diversi, Marcelo; Ferber, Thaddeus

2002-01-01

Offers "framing questions" to help countries and communities create adaptable public policies related to adolescents and youth. Recommends principles for policy development, maintaining that social policy should focus on positive and nonacademic outcomes as well as negative outcomes and academic success, should be firmly connected to…

Sex Differences in the Socialization of Competence in Preschoolers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roberts, William L.

An extension of a project that examined the associations between parental responses to children's emotional upset and children's competence in preschool, this study focuses on gender differences in the socialization of competence. Parents' warmth and responsiveness, firmness and control, and responses to their children's emotional upset were…

The Social Fabric and Innovation Diffusion: Symbolic Adoption of Food

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sapp, Stephen G.; Korsching, Peter F.

2004-01-01

This study used a longitudinal, panel design to examine the effects of negative information acquisition, compliance with opinion leader endorsements, and social demographic characteristics on consumers' symbolic adoption of food irradiation. Data collection coincided with the first market test of irradiated food conducted by a commercial firm,…

Social Welfare and the Market Economy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nelson, Joel I.

1992-01-01

Reports on a study that questions whether private enterprise can maintain quality while reducing costs of providing social welfare services. Reviews three aspects of privatization: (1) competitive markets; (2) rationality; and (3) cost reduction. Concludes by questioning a central claim of economic theory: that free markets and private firms are…

The Impact of IT Capability on Employee Capability, Customer Value, Customer Satisfaction, and Business Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chae, Ho-Chang

2009-01-01

This study empirically examines the impact of IT capability on firms' performance and evaluates whether firms' IT capabilities play a role in improving employee capability, customer value, customer satisfaction, and ultimately business performance. The results were based on comparing the business performance of the IT leader companies with that of…

ICT, complementary investment, and firm performance in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Linlin; Ding, Juan; Fan, Maoqing

2011-12-01

Using China firm data about ICT, we provide some insight into the link between ICT, productivity and complementary investment. The results show that the contribution of ICT capital deepening is raised when firms combine ICT use and some complementary investment (human capital, innovation and organization change).

The Stock Performance of C. Everett Koop Award Winners Compared With the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.

PubMed

Goetzel, Ron Z; Fabius, Raymond; Fabius, Dan; Roemer, Enid C; Thornton, Nicole; Kelly, Rebecca K; Pelletier, Kenneth R

2016-01-01

To explore the link between companies investing in the health and well-being programs of their employees and stock market performance. Stock performance of C. Everett Koop National Health Award winners (n = 26) was measured over time and compared with the average performance of companies comprising the Standard and Poor's (S&P) 500 Index. The Koop Award portfolio outperformed the S&P 500 Index. In the 14-year period tracked (2000-2014), Koop Award winners' stock values appreciated by 325% compared with the market average appreciation of 105%. This study supports prior and ongoing research demonstrating a higher market valuation--an affirmation of business success by Wall Street investors--of socially responsible companies that invest in the health and well-being of their workers when compared with other publicly traded firms.

The Construct Validation of Learning Organization and Its Influence upon Firm Performance in Mainland China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Mingfei; Lu, Xiaojun

2007-01-01

This paper examines the applicability of the learning organization concept and its influence upon firm performance in mainland China. Based on the theoretical framework proposed by Watkins and Marsick, four dimensions of the learning organization instead of seven dimensions were identified. A balanced scorecard-based performance evaluation…

Targeting, Segmenting and Positioning the Market for College Students to Increase Customer Satisfaction and Overall Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wright, Robert E.

2008-01-01

Numerous studies have explored the relationship between marketing efforts and firm financial performance. Studies have looked at potential lifetime value of customers, to demonstrate the value of keeping customers. Various other studies have looked at the relationship between customer satisfaction and firm performance. However, few studies have…

A Community of One: Social Cognition and Auditory Verbal Hallucinations

PubMed Central

Bell, Vaughan

2013-01-01

Auditory verbal hallucinations have attracted a great deal of scientific interest, but despite the fact that they are fundamentally a social experience—in essence, a form of hallucinated communication—current theories remain firmly rooted in an individualistic account and have largely avoided engagement with social cognition. Nevertheless, there is mounting evidence for the role of social cognitive and social neurocognitive processes in auditory verbal hallucinations, and, consequently, it is proposed that problems with the internalisation of social models may be key to the experience. PMID:24311984

12 CFR 19.246 - Petition for reinstatement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... PROCEDURE Removal, Suspension, and Debarment of Accountants From Performing Audit Services § 19.246 Petition... reinstatement by an independent public accountant, an accounting firm, or an office of a firm that was removed... the Comptroller, be afforded a hearing. The accountant or firm shall bear the burden of going forward...

12 CFR 19.246 - Petition for reinstatement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... PROCEDURE Removal, Suspension, and Debarment of Accountants From Performing Audit Services § 19.246 Petition... reinstatement by an independent public accountant, an accounting firm, or an office of a firm that was removed... the Comptroller, be afforded a hearing. The accountant or firm shall bear the burden of going forward...

12 CFR 19.246 - Petition for reinstatement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... PROCEDURE Removal, Suspension, and Debarment of Accountants From Performing Audit Services § 19.246 Petition... reinstatement by an independent public accountant, an accounting firm, or an office of a firm that was removed... the Comptroller, be afforded a hearing. The accountant or firm shall bear the burden of going forward...

12 CFR 263.404 - Notice of removal, suspension, or debarment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... Accountants From Performing Audit Services § 263.404 Notice of removal, suspension, or debarment. (a) Notice... independent public accountant or accounting firm from providing audit services, the Board shall make the order... Board by accountants and firms. An accountant or accounting firm that provides audit services to a...

12 CFR 263.404 - Notice of removal, suspension, or debarment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... Accountants From Performing Audit Services § 263.404 Notice of removal, suspension, or debarment. (a) Notice... independent public accountant or accounting firm from providing audit services, the Board shall make the order... Board by accountants and firms. An accountant or accounting firm that provides audit services to a...

12 CFR 263.404 - Notice of removal, suspension, or debarment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... Accountants From Performing Audit Services § 263.404 Notice of removal, suspension, or debarment. (a) Notice... independent public accountant or accounting firm from providing audit services, the Board shall make the order... Board by accountants and firms. An accountant or accounting firm that provides audit services to a...

12 CFR 19.246 - Petition for reinstatement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... PROCEDURE Removal, Suspension, and Debarment of Accountants From Performing Audit Services § 19.246 Petition... reinstatement by an independent public accountant, an accounting firm, or an office of a firm that was removed... the Comptroller, be afforded a hearing. The accountant or firm shall bear the burden of going forward...

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.

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.

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.

Student Services Go Social

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Villano, Matt; Gullon, Monica

2009-01-01

Like fine wines, Web 2.0 technologies get better with age. Gone are the days of the pointless chat room; this is the era of social networking juggernauts such as Facebook, MySpace, and Friendster. Services offered by these firms are helpful in facilitating connections among users in every industry and of every age. In higher education, however, a…

Socially Conscious Ventures and Experiential Learning: Perceptions of Student Engagement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vasbinder, William; Koehler, William

2015-01-01

This qualitative study explored stakeholder perceptions of the outcomes of semester-long experiential learning projects in five selected business courses at a small, private college. Students worked with the owners of socially conscious startup firms to develop and present strategic marketing and business plans. The work draws upon interviews with…

Social Networking Sites as a Learning Tool

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sanchez-Casado, Noelia; Cegarra Navarro, Juan Gabriel; Wensley, Anthony; Tomaseti-Solano, Eva

2016-01-01

Purpose: Over the past few years, social networking sites (SNSs) have become very useful for firms, allowing companies to manage the customer-brand relationships. In this context, SNSs can be considered as a learning tool because of the brand knowledge that customers develop from these relationships. Because of the fact that knowledge in…

Educational and Social Inclusion of Handicapped Children. Polish Experiences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Czyz, Anna

2016-01-01

This paper is dedicated to a very difficult and important subject--inclusion. Removing barriers, spreading social awareness and firmly established assistantship-guidance: these are the pillars by which inclusion is no longer an idea, but it becomes a process of creating a modern model of human functioning in the world. This pattern is primarily…

Student Participation in University Decision Making.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morris, Arval A.

The causes of student rebellion against established social and educational systems are rooted in many forces that impinge upon their lives, 3 of which are rapid social change, affluence, and the fear of technological death. The firm conviction of "new left" activists --the third generation of radical, militant students-- is that they must do…

Exploring the relationship between nursing home financial performance and management entrepreneurial attributes.

PubMed

Davis, Jullet A; Marino, Louis D; Vecchiarini, Mariangela

2013-01-01

This paper explores the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) (i.e., their innovativeness, proactiveness and risk-taking) and financial performance in nursing homes. We hypothesize that nursing homes that are more proactive will report better short-term financial performance, while when firms with higher propensities for innovativeness and risk-taking will experience poorer financial performance in the short period due to the high costs associated with the initial adoption of innovation and with pursuing high-risks ventures. In 2004, a survey was developed and mailed to a population of 670 nursing homes in the state of Florida who were listed in the Florida Nursing Home Guide of the Agency for Health Care Administration. The final sample for this study included 104 respondents. The data from these surveys were merged with additional variables gathered from the 2004 Online Survey Certification and Reporting (OSCAR) system and the 2004/2005 Medicare Cost Reports (MCR). EO was operationalized using a nine-item scale adapted from Covin and Slevin (1989), and financial performance was assessed using total profit margin. The overall findings suggest partial support for the hypotheses. Support was found for the negative relationship between innovativeness and short-term financial performance, but only partial support was found for the relationship between performance and risk-taking. Our results demonstrated that the various aspects of entrepreneurial behaviors have a differential effect on firm performance. From a managerial perspective, nursing home administrators may continue to seek ways to be entrepreneurial while understanding that some activities may only lead to short-term profitability. These findings should not dissuade administrators from innovative behaviors. They do suggest, however, that innovative administrators should prepare for some initial decrease in profitability following new service implementation. Findings suggest that to varying degrees, nursing home administrators may view themselves as being entrepreneurial despite the intense pressures from governments, poor public perceptions, decreasing reimbursement, more impaired residents, and increasing competition from substitute providers. Further administrators may need to manage the expectations of key stakeholders when they undertake innovative programs that will support social outcomes but which may not enhance short term financial performance. This paper demonstrates the complex relationship between entrepreneurial activities and firm performance in nursing homes and has implications for the broader health care setting.

Economic analysis of secondary and enhanced oil recovery techniques in Wyoming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kara, Erdal

This dissertation primarily aims to theoretically analyze a firm's optimization of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and carbon dioxide sequestration under different social policies and empirically analyze the firm's optimization of enhanced oil recovery. The final part of the dissertation empirically analyzes how geological factors and water injection management influence oil recovery. The first chapter builds a theoretical model to analyze economic optimization of EOR and geological carbon sequestration under different social policies. Specifically, it analyzes how social policies on sequestration influence the extent of oil operations, optimal oil production and CO2 sequestration. The theoretical results show that the socially optimal policy is a subsidy on the net CO2 sequestration, assuming negative net emissions from EOR. Such a policy is expected to increase a firm's total carbon dioxide sequestration. The second chapter statistically estimates the theoretical oil production model and its different versions. Empirical results are not robust over different estimation techniques and not in line with the theoretical production model. The last part of the second chapter utilizes a simplified version of theoretical model and concludes that EOR via CO2 injection improves oil recovery. The final chapter analyzes how a contemporary oil recovery technology (water flooding of oil reservoirs) and various reservoir-specific geological factors influence oil recovery in Wyoming. The results show that there is a positive concave relationship between cumulative water injection and cumulative oil recovery and also show that certain geological factors affect the oil recovery. Moreover, the curvature of the concave functional relationship between cumulative water injection and oil recovery is reservoir-specific due to heterogeneities among different reservoirs.

Data survey on the effect of product features on competitive advantage of selected firms in Nigeria.

PubMed

Olokundun, Maxwell; Iyiola, Oladele; Ibidunni, Stephen; Falola, Hezekiah; Salau, Odunayo; Amaihian, Augusta; Peter, Fred; Borishade, Taiye

2018-06-01

The main objective of this study was to present a data article that investigates the effect product features on firm's competitive advantage. Few studies have examined how the features of a product could help in driving the competitive advantage of a firm. Descriptive research method was used. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 22) was engaged for analysis of one hundred and fifty (150) valid questionnaire which were completed by small business owners registered under small and medium scale enterprises development of Nigeria (SMEDAN). Stratified and simple random sampling techniques were employed; reliability and validity procedures were also confirmed. The field data set is made publicly available to enable critical or extended analysis.

Is environmental management an economically sustainable business?

PubMed

Gotschol, Antje; De Giovanni, Pietro; Esposito Vinzi, Vincenzo

2014-11-01

This paper investigates whether environmental management is an economically sustainable business. While firms invest in green production and green supply chain activities with the primary purpose of reducing their environmental impact, the reciprocal relationships with economic performance need to be clarified. Would firms and suppliers adjust their environmental strategies if the higher economic value that environmental management generates is reinvested in greening actions? We found out that environmental management positively influences economic performance as second order (long term) target, to be reached conditioned by higher environmental performance; in addition, firms can increase their performance if they reinvest the higher economic value gained through environmental management in green practices: While investing in environmental management programs is a short term strategy, economic rewards can be obtained only with some delays. Consequently, environmental management is an economically sustainable business only for patient firms. In the evaluation of these reciprocal relationships, we discovered that green supply chain initiatives are more effective and more economically sustainable than internal actions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

CEO Business Education and Firm Financial Performance: A Case for Humility Rather than Hubris

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lindorff, Margaret; Jonson, Elizabeth Prior

2013-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between CEO business education and firm financial performance. Design/methodology/approach: An analysis of the relationship between three-year and five-year shareholder return as measured by dividend and change in share price and CEO educational qualification was performed.…

Improving Performance in Very Small Firms through Effective Assessment and Feedback

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lorenzet, Steven J.; Cook, Ronald G.; Ozeki, Cynthia

2006-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to improve assessment and feedback processes in the training practices of very small firms, thereby improving the firms' human capital. Design/methodology/approach: The paper reviews research and practice on effective assessment and feedback. Findings: Based on this paper, human resources are increasingly seen…

12 CFR 19.244 - Automatic removal, suspension, and debarment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... OF PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE Removal, Suspension, and Debarment of Accountants From Performing Audit Services § 19.244 Automatic removal, suspension, and debarment. (a) An independent public accountant or accounting firm may not perform audit services for insured national banks if the accountant or firm: (1) Is...

12 CFR 19.244 - Automatic removal, suspension, and debarment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... OF PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE Removal, Suspension, and Debarment of Accountants From Performing Audit Services § 19.244 Automatic removal, suspension, and debarment. (a) An independent public accountant or accounting firm may not perform audit services for insured national banks if the accountant or firm: (1) Is...

12 CFR 19.244 - Automatic removal, suspension, and debarment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... OF PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE Removal, Suspension, and Debarment of Accountants From Performing Audit Services § 19.244 Automatic removal, suspension, and debarment. (a) An independent public accountant or accounting firm may not perform audit services for insured national banks if the accountant or firm: (1) Is...

12 CFR 19.244 - Automatic removal, suspension, and debarment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... OF PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE Removal, Suspension, and Debarment of Accountants From Performing Audit Services § 19.244 Automatic removal, suspension, and debarment. (a) An independent public accountant or accounting firm may not perform audit services for insured national banks if the accountant or firm: (1) Is...

Does it pay to have a network contact? Social network ties, workplace racial context, and pay outcomes.

PubMed

Kmec, Julie A; Trimble, Lindsey B

2009-06-01

This article investigates how social network use to find work affects pay. Analyses using the Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality consider the extent to which a network contact's influence level affects a job applicant's pay, whether this effect differs for white, black, and Latino contacts, and how workplace racial context moderates this relationship. Three main findings emerge. First, having an influential contact--one with hiring authority--compared to having no contact yields higher pay. Second, white and minority contact influence on pay differs: among minority contacts, being an outsider (i.e., someone not employed by the firm to which the applicant applies) is associated with higher pay, but being an employee of the firm--an insider--is not. Third, regardless of workplace racial context, black and Latino contacts' influence is most beneficial when their race/ethnicity is not known to the hiring agent. We offer a new interpretation of the mixed findings with regard to the relationship between social network use and pay.

Industry in motion: using smart phones to explore the spatial network of the garment industry in New York City.

PubMed

Williams, Sarah; Currid-Halkett, Elizabeth

2014-01-01

Industrial agglomerations have long been thought to offer economic and social benefits to firms and people that are only captured by location within their specified geographies. Using the case study of New York City's garment industry along with data acquired from cell phones and social media, this study set out to understand the discrete activities underpinning the economic dynamics of an industrial agglomeration. Over a two week period, data was collected by employing the geolocative capabilities of Foursquare, a social media application, to record every movement of fashion workers employed at fashion design firms located both inside and outside the geographical boundaries of New York City's Garment District. This unique method of studying worker activity exposed the day-to-day dynamics of an industrial district with a precision thus far undocumented in literature. Our work suggests that having access to the cluster provides almost the same agglomeration economies as residing within its borders.

Industry in Motion: Using Smart Phones to Explore the Spatial Network of the Garment Industry in New York City

PubMed Central

Williams, Sarah; Currid-Halkett, Elizabeth

2014-01-01

Industrial agglomerations have long been thought to offer economic and social benefits to firms and people that are only captured by location within their specified geographies. Using the case study of New York City’s garment industry along with data acquired from cell phones and social media, this study set out to understand the discrete activities underpinning the economic dynamics of an industrial agglomeration. Over a two week period, data was collected by employing the geo-locative capabilities of Foursquare, a social media application, to record every movement of fashion workers employed at fashion design firms located both inside and outside the geographical boundaries of New York City’s Garment District. This unique method of studying worker activity exposed the day-to-day dynamics of an industrial district with a precision thus far undocumented in literature. Our work suggests that having access to the cluster provides almost the same agglomeration economies as residing within its borders. PMID:24505256

Beyond regulation: A social compact' for gas and electricity

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

Stram, B.; Thorn, T.

The public utility covenant, granting franchise protection to firms in return for just and reasonable rate regulation, has come under increasing scrutiny as socially inefficient for several reasons. First, cost-based regulation fails to adequately incite cost-minimization and new product development. Second, public utility regulation has turned into a micro-management exercise where prospective strategies are laboriously scrutinized and past performance is penalized from 20-20 hind-sight. Third, traditional regulation has provided a forum for nontraditional special interest regulation that may not be in the ratepayer's interest. An alternative to the regulatory covenant is the social compact where long-term contracts among the affectedmore » parties set price and service terms. The advantages of such contracting would be to reduce the administrative costs of regulation, better incite the market's entrepreneurial discovery process, deregulate upstream production and transportation, and eliminate extraneous regulation of electric and gas distribution. The winners would be gas consumers and the most efficient industry suppliers.« less

Adult Graduates' Negotiations of Age(ing) and Employability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Siivonen, Päivi; Isopahkala-Bouret, Ulpukka

2016-01-01

In this article, we will explore Finnish adult graduates' social positioning in relation to age and ageing, and the new discursive framing of employability that is firmly expressed in national as well as in European policy agendas. Age is here understood as a social construction and ageing as a lifelong process. We will analyse our joint interview…

A Mixed-Methods Evaluation of Social Work Learning Outcomes in Interprofessional Training with Medicine and Pharmacy Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wharton, Tracy; Burg, Mary Ann

2017-01-01

Social work has moved firmly into a need for partnership training models, as our newest Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards explicitly call for interprofessional education (IPE). Although IPE is not a new model, we have not been consistently involved in training partnerships. Three professional schools formed partnerships to provide IPE…

Redefining Technological Literacy in the Workplace: A Qualitative Study of Social Affordances in Workplace Email

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bacci, Tina Marie

2011-01-01

This dissertation examines the social affordances of workplace email use. Through group and individual interviews of six knowledge workers in a distributed real estate firm, it explores the extent workplace writers recognize and rely on extra-textual devices (i.e., copy, blind-copy, and forward devices) and email applications (i.e., email…

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.…

Private versus social incentives for pharmaceutical innovation.

PubMed

González, Paula; Macho-Stadler, Inés; Pérez-Castrillo, David

2016-12-01

We provide a theoretical framework to contribute to the current debate regarding the tendency of pharmaceutical companies to direct their R&D toward marketing products that are "follow-on" drugs of already existing drugs, rather than toward the development of breakthrough drugs. We construct a model with a population of patients who can be treated with drugs that are horizontally and vertically differentiated. In addition to a pioneering drug, a new drug can be marketed as the result of an innovative process. We analyze physician prescription choices and the optimal pricing decision of an innovative firm. We also characterize the incentives of the innovative firm to conduct R&D activities, disentangling the quest for breakthrough drugs from the firm effort to develop follow-on drugs. Our results offer theoretical support for the conventional wisdom that pharmaceutical firms devote too many resources to conducting R&D activities that lead to incremental innovations. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Downsizing?-?Intellectual Capital Performance Anorexia or Enhancement?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, S. Mitchell

2004-01-01

The objective of this paper is to investigate if downsizing contributes to, or impedes, a firm's intellectual capital performance (ICE) based on a longitudinal analysis of 56 United States publicly listed companies that significantly downsized their workforce during the mid-1990s. Empirical analysis indicates that for the majority of firms, ICE…

12 CFR 263.403 - Automatic removal, suspension, and debarment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... independent public accountant or accounting firm may not perform audit services for banking organizations if... permission to such accountant or firm to perform audit services for banking organizations. The request shall... 12 Banks and Banking 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Automatic removal, suspension, and debarment...

Business Models for Training and Performance Improvement Departments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carliner, Saul

2004-01-01

Although typically applied to entire enterprises, the concept of business models applies to training and performance improvement groups. Business models are "the method by which firm[s] build and use [their] resources to offer.. value." Business models affect the types of projects, services offered, skills required, business processes, and type of…

48 CFR 832.202-4 - Security for Government financing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... appropriate officer of the firm. (b) A cash flow forecast for the remainder of the contract term showing the planned origin and use of cash within the firm or branch performing the contract. (c) Information on financing arrangements disclosing the availability of cash to finance contract performance, the contractor's...

48 CFR 832.202-4 - Security for Government financing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... appropriate officer of the firm. (b) A cash flow forecast for the remainder of the contract term showing the planned origin and use of cash within the firm or branch performing the contract. (c) Information on financing arrangements disclosing the availability of cash to finance contract performance, the contractor's...

14 CFR 1274.912 - Patent rights-retention by the recipient (large business).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 5 2011-01-01 2010-01-01 true Patent rights-retention by the recipient... than a small business firm or nonprofit organization for the performance of experimental, developmental... business firm or nonprofit organization for the performance of experimental, developmental, or research...

12 CFR 308.603 - Automatic removal, suspension, and debarment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... PRACTICE RULES OF PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE Removal, Suspension, and Debarment of Accountants From Performing... accountant or accounting firm may not perform audit services for insured depository institutions for which the FDIC is the appropriate Federal banking agency if the accountant or firm: (1) Is subject to a...

12 CFR 263.403 - Automatic removal, suspension, and debarment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... Accountants From Performing Audit Services § 263.403 Automatic removal, suspension, and debarment. (a) An independent public accountant or accounting firm may not perform audit services for banking organizations if the accountant or firm: (1) Is subject to a final order of removal, suspension, or debarment (other...

12 CFR 263.403 - Automatic removal, suspension, and debarment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... Accountants From Performing Audit Services § 263.403 Automatic removal, suspension, and debarment. (a) An independent public accountant or accounting firm may not perform audit services for banking organizations if the accountant or firm: (1) Is subject to a final order of removal, suspension, or debarment (other...

12 CFR 308.603 - Automatic removal, suspension, and debarment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... PRACTICE RULES OF PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE Removal, Suspension, and Debarment of Accountants From Performing... accountant or accounting firm may not perform audit services for insured depository institutions for which the FDIC is the appropriate Federal banking agency if the accountant or firm: (1) Is subject to a...

12 CFR 308.603 - Automatic removal, suspension, and debarment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... PRACTICE RULES OF PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE Removal, Suspension, and Debarment of Accountants From Performing... accountant or accounting firm may not perform audit services for insured depository institutions for which the FDIC is the appropriate Federal banking agency if the accountant or firm: (1) Is subject to a...

12 CFR 263.403 - Automatic removal, suspension, and debarment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... Accountants From Performing Audit Services § 263.403 Automatic removal, suspension, and debarment. (a) An independent public accountant or accounting firm may not perform audit services for banking organizations if the accountant or firm: (1) Is subject to a final order of removal, suspension, or debarment (other...

12 CFR 308.603 - Automatic removal, suspension, and debarment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... PRACTICE RULES OF PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE Removal, Suspension, and Debarment of Accountants From Performing... accountant or accounting firm may not perform audit services for insured depository institutions for which the FDIC is the appropriate Federal banking agency if the accountant or firm: (1) Is subject to a...

The Stock Performance of C. Everett Koop Award Winners Compared With the Standard & Poor's 500 Index

PubMed Central

Goetzel, Ron Z.; Fabius, Raymond; Fabius, Dan; Roemer, Enid C.; Thornton, Nicole; Kelly, Rebecca K.; Pelletier, Kenneth R.

2016-01-01

Objective: To explore the link between companies investing in the health and well-being programs of their employees and stock market performance. Methods: Stock performance of C. Everett Koop National Health Award winners (n = 26) was measured over time and compared with the average performance of companies comprising the Standard and Poor's (S&P) 500 Index. Results: The Koop Award portfolio outperformed the S&P 500 Index. In the 14-year period tracked (2000–2014), Koop Award winners’ stock values appreciated by 325% compared with the market average appreciation of 105%. Conclusions: This study supports prior and ongoing research demonstrating a higher market valuation—an affirmation of business success by Wall Street investors—of socially responsible companies that invest in the health and well-being of their workers when compared with other publicly traded firms. PMID:26716843

Relationship Between Lean Production and Operational Performance in the Manufacturing Industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rasi, Raja Zuraidah R. M.; Syamsyul Rakiman, Umol; Ahmad, Md Fauzi Bin

2015-05-01

Nowadays, more and more manufacturing firms have started to implement lean production system in their operations. Lean production viewed as one of the mechanism to maintain the organisation's position and to compete globally. However, many fail to apply the lean concepts successfully in their operations. Based on previous studies, implementation of lean production in the manufacturing industry is more focused on the relationship between Lean and Operational Performance of one dimension only. Therefore, this study attempted to examine the relationship between Lean Production (LP) and Operational Performance in 4 dimensions which are quality, delivery, cost and flexibility. This study employed quantitative study using questionnaires. Data was collected from 50 manufacturing industries. The data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) 22.0. This study is hoped to shed new understanding on the concept of Lean Production (LP) in regards of Operational Performance covering the 4 dimensions.

49 CFR 23.39 - What other certification requirements apply in the case of ACDBEs?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... the firm and its key personnel to perform the concession contracts or other contracts it wishes to... private terminal owners or lessees are not authorized to certify firms as ACDBEs. As a car rental company or private terminal owner or lessee, you must obtain ACDBE participation from firms which a recipient...

49 CFR 23.39 - What other certification requirements apply in the case of ACDBEs?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... the firm and its key personnel to perform the concession contracts or other contracts it wishes to... private terminal owners or lessees are not authorized to certify firms as ACDBEs. As a car rental company or private terminal owner or lessee, you must obtain ACDBE participation from firms which a recipient...

49 CFR 23.39 - What other certification requirements apply in the case of ACDBEs?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... the firm and its key personnel to perform the concession contracts or other contracts it wishes to... private terminal owners or lessees are not authorized to certify firms as ACDBEs. As a car rental company or private terminal owner or lessee, you must obtain ACDBE participation from firms which a recipient...

49 CFR 23.39 - What other certification requirements apply in the case of ACDBEs?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... the firm and its key personnel to perform the concession contracts or other contracts it wishes to... private terminal owners or lessees are not authorized to certify firms as ACDBEs. As a car rental company or private terminal owner or lessee, you must obtain ACDBE participation from firms which a recipient...

49 CFR 23.39 - What other certification requirements apply in the case of ACDBEs?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... the firm and its key personnel to perform the concession contracts or other contracts it wishes to... private terminal owners or lessees are not authorized to certify firms as ACDBEs. As a car rental company or private terminal owner or lessee, you must obtain ACDBE participation from firms which a recipient...

The Resource-Based View and Value: The Customer-Based View of the Firm

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clulow, Val; Barry, Carol; Gerstman, Julie

2007-01-01

Purpose: The resource-based view (RBV) explores the role of key resources, identified as intangible assets and capabilities, in creating competitive advantage and superior performance. To a great extent the conceptual analysis and empirical research within the RBV has focused on the firm's perspective of key resources and the value to the firm of…

31 CFR 226.5 - Examinations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... CPA firms of Insurance Organizations shall be performed in accordance with, and at intervals...) Examinations by State regulatory authorities or audits by CPA firms of insured financial institutions shall be...

31 CFR 226.5 - Examinations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... CPA firms of Insurance Organizations shall be performed in accordance with, and at intervals...) Examinations by State regulatory authorities or audits by CPA firms of insured financial institutions shall be...

31 CFR 226.5 - Examinations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... CPA firms of Insurance Organizations shall be performed in accordance with, and at intervals...) Examinations by State regulatory authorities or audits by CPA firms of insured financial institutions shall be...

31 CFR 226.5 - Examinations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... CPA firms of Insurance Organizations shall be performed in accordance with, and at intervals...) Examinations by State regulatory authorities or audits by CPA firms of insured financial institutions shall be...

31 CFR 226.5 - Examinations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... CPA firms of Insurance Organizations shall be performed in accordance with, and at intervals...) Examinations by State regulatory authorities or audits by CPA firms of insured financial institutions shall be...

Assessing the evolution of sustainability reporting in the mining sector.

PubMed

Perez, Fabiana; Sanchez, Luis E

2009-06-01

Since the 1990s several large companies have been publishing nonfinancial performance reports. Focusing initially on the physical environment, these reports evolved to consider social relations, as well as data on the firm's economic performance. A few mining companies pioneered this trend, and in the last years some of them incorporated the three dimensions of sustainable development, publishing so-called sustainability reports. This article reviews 31 reports published between 2001 and 2006 by four major mining companies. A set of 62 assessment items organized in six categories (namely context and commitment, management, environmental, social and economic performance, and accessibility and assurance) were selected to guide the review. The items were derived from international literature and recommended best practices, including the Global Reporting Initiative G3 framework. A content analysis was performed using the report as a sampling unit, and using phrases, graphics, or tables containing certain information as data collection units. A basic rating scale (0 or 1) was used for noting the presence or absence of information and a final percentage score was obtained for each report. Results show that there is a clear evolution in report's comprehensiveness and depth. Categories "accessibility and assurance" and "economic performance" featured the lowest scores and do not present a clear evolution trend in the period, whereas categories "context and commitment" and "social performance" presented the best results and regular improvement; the category "environmental performance," despite it not reaching the biggest scores, also featured constant evolution. Description of data measurement techniques, besides more comprehensive third-party verification are the items most in need of improvement.

Improving environmental performance through unit-level organizational citizenship behaviors for the environment: A capability perspective.

PubMed

Alt, Elisa; Spitzeck, Heiko

2016-11-01

Organizational citizenship behaviors for the environment (OCBEs) are increasingly advocated as a means of complementing formal practices in improving environmental performance. Adopting a capability perspective, we propose that a firm's employee involvement capability translates into environmental performance through the manifestation of unit-level OCBEs, and that this relationship is amplified by a shared vision capability. In a cross-country and multi-industry sample of 170 firms, we find support for our hypotheses, shedding light on contextual determinants of OCBEs, and on how firms may engender a positive relationship between top-down environmental initiatives and bottom-up behaviors. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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.

The Storytelling Organization: A Study of Story Performance in an Office-Supply Firm.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boje, David M.

1991-01-01

Analyzes how employees in a large office supply firm performed stories to make sense of events, introduce change, and gain political advantage. These stories were dynamic, varied by context, and were often challenged and reinterpreted by listeners. The collective story telling system allowed members to supplement individual memories with…

Privileges and penalties in the legal profession: an intersectional analysis of career progression.

PubMed

Tomlinson, Jennifer; Valizade, Danat; Muzio, Daniel; Charlwood, Andy; Aulakh, Sundeep

2018-04-26

Intersectionality theory is concerned with integrating social characteristics to better understanding complex human relations and inequalities in organizations and societies (McCall ). Recently, intersectionality research has taken a categorical and quantitative turn as scholars critically adopt but retain existing social categories to explain differences in labour market outcomes. A key contention is that social categories carry penalties or privileges and their intersection promotes or hinders the life chances of particular groups and individuals. An emergent debate is whether the intersection of disadvantaged characteristics (such as female gender or minority ethnic status) produce penalties that are additive, multiplicative or ameliorative. Research is inconclusive and as yet pays little attention to moderating factors such as employer type, size, geographic location or work profile. Drawing on administrative records for individuals qualified as solicitors in England and Wales, collected by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), combined with aggregated workforce data and firm characteristics of their law firms, we undertake a statistical analysis of the intersection of gender and ethnicity in the profession with a degree of precision and nuance not previously possible. In response to calls to broaden studies of inequalities and intersectionality beyond their effect on pay or income (Castilla ) we focus on career progression to partnership as our key measure of success. The original contribution of our study is twofold. First, we establish statistically different profiles of law firms, showing how the solicitors' profession is stratified by gender, ethnicity and socio-economic background, as well as the type of legal work undertaken by developing a model of socio-economic stratification in the profession. Second, we demonstrate that while penalties tend to be additive (i.e. the sum of the individual ethnic and gender penalties) this varies significantly by law firm profile and in some situations the effect is ameliorative. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2018.

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.

48 CFR 1827.304-1 - General. (NASA supplements paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (f), (g), and (h))

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

..., shall apply. (b) Greater rights determinations. In any contract with other than a small business firm or... in the performance of work under any contract with other than a small business firm or a nonprofit... inventions made and reported under any contract with other than a small business firm or a nonprofit...

48 CFR 1827.304-1 - General. (NASA supplements paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (f), (g), and (h))

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

..., shall apply. (b) Greater rights determinations. In any contract with other than a small business firm or... in the performance of work under any contract with other than a small business firm or a nonprofit... inventions made and reported under any contract with other than a small business firm or a nonprofit...

48 CFR 1827.304-1 - General. (NASA supplements paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (f), (g), and (h))

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

..., shall apply. (b) Greater rights determinations. In any contract with other than a small business firm or... in the performance of work under any contract with other than a small business firm or a nonprofit... inventions made and reported under any contract with other than a small business firm or a nonprofit...

48 CFR 1827.304-1 - General. (NASA supplements paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (f), (g), and (h))

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

..., shall apply. (b) Greater rights determinations. In any contract with other than a small business firm or... in the performance of work under any contract with other than a small business firm or a nonprofit... inventions made and reported under any contract with other than a small business firm or a nonprofit...

48 CFR 1827.304-1 - General. (NASA supplements paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (f), (g), and (h))

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

..., shall apply. (b) Greater rights determinations. In any contract with other than a small business firm or... in the performance of work under any contract with other than a small business firm or a nonprofit... inventions made and reported under any contract with other than a small business firm or a nonprofit...

Engaging the Small Firm in Learning: Practice Based Theorising on Complex Social Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Higgins, David

2009-01-01

Purpose: The paper sets out to suggest that knowledge in the SME enterprise is embodied as evident in such notions as tacit knowing and learning, and embedded grounded in the situated social historic contexts of individual lives and work. This supports the view that the nature of knowledge is inherently indeterminate and continually evolving.…

The financial performance of diversified hospital subsidiaries.

PubMed Central

Clement, J P; D'Aunno, T; Poyzer, B L

1993-01-01

Despite its proliferation, we know relatively little about the impact of hospital restructuring to offer new services. This exploratory study examines the relationship between types of services offered and financial performance among separately incorporated subsidiaries of acute care hospitals. We draw data from the subsidiaries of all hospital firms operating in one state (Virginia) that requires reporting by all such firms. Results from multiple regression analyses of 1987 data indicate that units that existed longer, produced health care or related products, or were nonprofit subsidiaries of nonprofit firms tended to be more profitable than the other subsidiaries. PMID:8428811

Selection of infectious medical waste disposal firms by using the analytic hierarchy process and sensitivity analysis.

PubMed

Hsu, Pi-Fang; Wu, Cheng-Ru; Li, Ya-Ting

2008-01-01

While Taiwanese hospitals dispose of large amounts of medical waste to ensure sanitation and personal hygiene, doing so inefficiently creates potential environmental hazards and increases operational expenses. However, hospitals lack objective criteria to select the most appropriate waste disposal firm and evaluate its performance, instead relying on their own subjective judgment and previous experiences. Therefore, this work presents an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method to objectively select medical waste disposal firms based on the results of interviews with experts in the field, thus reducing overhead costs and enhancing medical waste management. An appropriate weight criterion based on AHP is derived to assess the effectiveness of medical waste disposal firms. The proposed AHP-based method offers a more efficient and precise means of selecting medical waste firms than subjective assessment methods do, thus reducing the potential risks for hospitals. Analysis results indicate that the medical sector selects the most appropriate infectious medical waste disposal firm based on the following rank: matching degree, contractor's qualifications, contractor's service capability, contractor's equipment and economic factors. By providing hospitals with an effective means of evaluating medical waste disposal firms, the proposed AHP method can reduce overhead costs and enable medical waste management to understand the market demand in the health sector. Moreover, performed through use of Expert Choice software, sensitivity analysis can survey the criterion weight of the degree of influence with an alternative hierarchy.

Interventions targeting loneliness and social isolation among the older people: An update systematic review.

PubMed

Poscia, Andrea; Stojanovic, Jovana; La Milia, Daniele Ignazio; Duplaga, Mariusz; Grysztar, Marcin; Moscato, Umberto; Onder, Graziano; Collamati, Agnese; Ricciardi, Walter; Magnavita, Nicola

2018-02-01

This systematic review aims to summarize and update the current knowledge on the effectiveness of the existing interventions for alleviating loneliness and social isolation among older persons. A search of PubMed, ISI Web of science, SCOPUS, The Cochrane Library, and CINAHL databases was performed. The terminology combined all possible alternatives of the following keywords: social isolation, loneliness, old people, intervention and effectiveness. Eligible studies were published between January 2011 and February 2016 in English or Italian language and regarded the implementation of loneliness/social isolation interventions among the older generations. Outcome measures in terms of the intervention effects needed to be reported. In total, 15 quantitative and five qualitative studies were ultimately included in this review. Eighteen interventions were reported across the quantitative studies. Six out of 11 group interventions (55%), one out of four mixed interventions (25%) and all three individual interventions reported at least one significant finding related to loneliness or social isolation. Our review suggested that new technologies and community engaged arts might be seen as a promising tool for tackling social isolation and loneliness among the older individuals. Future studies need to work on methodological quality and take into consideration the suggestions of the present literature in order to provide firm evidence. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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.

Looking good or doing good? Motivations for organisational citizenship behaviour in Turkish versus South Korean collectivists.

PubMed

Alabak, Merve; Peker, Müjde; Booth, Robert W

2016-06-01

The purpose of this article is to explore potential motivations to perform organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) in collectivistic Turkish and South Korean societies. Although collectivism has been proposed as a predictor of OCB, previous research has not fully explored the possibility that collectivistic individuals' OCB may result from their self-oriented motives (i.e. social desirability concerns) or their future-oriented motives (i.e. long-term orientation concerns). We predicted that OCB stems from social desirability concerns among Turkish collectivists, meaning it is used for maintaining a positive image within the organisation. However, for South Korean collectivists, we predicted that OCB stems from their long-term orientation concerns, meaning it is used to make the organisation better. The results were in line with our predictions, and the findings are discussed in terms of their implications for firms in collectivistic societies. © 2015 International Union of Psychological Science.

Complex Dynamics in Information Sharing Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cronin, Bruce

This study examines the roll-out of an electronic knowledge base in a medium-sized professional services firm over a six year period. The efficiency of such implementation is a key business problem in IT systems of this type. Data from usage logs provides the basis for analysis of the dynamic evolution of social networks around the depository during this time. The adoption pattern follows an "s-curve" and usage exhibits something of a power law distribution, both attributable to network effects, and network position is associated with organisational performance on a number of indicators. But periodicity in usage is evident and the usage distribution displays an exponential cut-off. Further analysis provides some evidence of mathematical complexity in the periodicity. Some implications of complex patterns in social network data for research and management are discussed. The study provides a case study demonstrating the utility of the broad methodological approach.

The Constant Gardener revisited: the effect of social blackmail on the marketing concept, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

PubMed

Miles, Morgan P; Munilla, Linda S; Covin, Jeffrey G

2002-12-01

This paper discusses how adoption of the social dimensions of the marketing concept may unintentionally restrict innovation and corporate entrepreneurship, ultimately reducing social welfare. The impact of social marketing on innovation and entrepreneurship is discussed using the case of multinational pharmaceutical firms that are under pressure when marketing HIV treatments in poor countries. The argument this paper supports is that social welfare may eventually be diminished if forced social responsibility is imposed. The case of providing subsidized AIDS medication to less developed nations is used to illustrate how social blackmail may result in less innovation, entrepreneurship, and product development efforts by the pharmaceutical industry, ultimately reducing social welfare.

Putting your money where your mouth is: why sustainability reporting based on the triple bottom line can be misleading.

PubMed

Shnayder, Larissa; van Rijnsoever, Frank J; Hekkert, Marko P

2015-01-01

In the packaged food industry, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an informal requirement for which firms account through sustainability reporting. CSR behaviors are often reported and analyzed using the Triple Bottom Line (3BL) framework, which categorizes them as affecting people, planet, or profit. 3BL is useful in determining which of these categories is most elaborated upon by the firm, but has a limited scope and many documented criticisms. This paper aims to address the aforementioned insufficiencies by augmenting the 3BL framework with two important attributes of CSR practices: (1) the presence of change in core firm behavior of the firm itself or of others in the supply chain, and (2) whether the behavior qualifies as being outside of the firm's normal business practice or is something that they might have done anyway. We qualitatively analyze CSR behaviors described in sustainability reports and interviews from major players in the packaged food industry and categorize them using these attributes as a supplement to 3BL. This enables us to separate the behaviors from their framing and analyze them more critically. Our results demonstrate how the visible CSR efforts of a firm can be misleading at first glance. Using only 3BL, we find that the CSR focus of firms in this industry is people. We then discover that the codes focusing on people (as opposed to planet or profit) require the least amount of real structural change from a firm or its supply chain partners, and thus arguably, the least amount of effort. We also find that behaviors that focus on planet require the most effort within the firm itself, but for behaviors involving supply chain partners, effort is required for behaviors in all three categories. Finally, we find that CSR behavior that is related to planet tends to go beyond normal business practice.

An examination of the relationship between strategic group membership and hospital performance.

PubMed

Marlin, Dan; Huonker, John W; Sun, Minghe

2002-01-01

Membership in a particular strategic group, where a strategic group can be defined as groups of firms in an industry following similar competitive approaches and having similar market positions, defines the essentials of a firm's strategy. This study longitudinally examines the relationship between strategic group membership and performance in the hospital industry.

Measuring Organizational Learning Capability in Indian Managers and Establishing Firm Performance Linkage: An Empirical Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bhatnagar, Jyotsna

2006-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to measure Organizational Learning Capability (OLC) perception in the managers of public, private and multinational organizations and establish the link between OLC and firm performance. Design/methodology/approach: The data were collected from a sample of 612 managers randomly drawn from Indian industry,…

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…

The Effect of Firm Strategy and Corporate Performance on Software Market Growth in Emerging Regions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mertz, Sharon A.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this research is to evaluate the impact of firm strategies and corporate performance on enterprise software market growth in emerging regions. The emerging regions of Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Latin America, currently represent smaller overall markets for software vendors, but exhibit high growth…

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.

Restructuring the US telecommunications industry - Impact on innovation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Agnew, C. E.; Romeo, A. A.

1981-01-01

The Communications Act of 1934, which regulates the United States telecommunications industry, is becoming less able to deal with the changes brought by modern technology. Therefore, proposals are being made to restructure the industry. Breaking up AT&T into smaller firms would have only minor effects, since its ratio of R and D to sales has been near the median for large telephone companies. Restructuring AT&T into subsidiaries dealing at arms' length might cause a reordering of priorities toward more directly marketable and useful products, but too extensive a break-up could endanger Bell Labs' commitment to basic research. Regulation leads a firm to ignore true social value of possible products, expand into low profit markets, and favor capital-intensive over labor-intensive innovation. If regulatory lag occurs, a firm will produce cost-reducing innovation in order to increase its profit.

Reason and Reaction: The Dual Route of Decision Making Process on Social Media Usage: The Case of Hospitality Brand Fan Pages

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Manthiou, Aikaterini

2012-01-01

A new phenomenon on Facebook, resulting from social media revolution, is the emergence of numerous Facebook fan pages. This form of online brand community is an effective tool for building relationships with consumers. Many hospitality firms (i.e. restaurants) have captured the strength of a fan page because it can enhance brand attractiveness and…

Guiding White Pre-Service and In-Service Teachers toward Critical Pedagogy: Utilizing Counter-Cultures in Teacher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Porfilio, Brad J.; Malott, Curry S.

2011-01-01

This essay documents a few key examples of the critical pedagogy and curriculum that the authors employ to challenge pre-service and in-service teachers to consider the concrete and theoretical contexts of taking on a social-activist-teacher persona. Their vision of social justice is rooted firmly in the critical tradition, as it is anchored in…

Young worker safety in construction: do family ties and workgroup size affect hazard exposures and safety practices?

PubMed

Rauscher, Kimberly J; Myers, Douglas J; Runyan, Carol W; Schulman, Michael

2012-01-01

Little is known about how social aspects of the work environment influence exposures or safety practices affecting young construction workers. Our objective was to investigate whether working on a construction site with a small number of workers (≤10 vs. 11-50) or having a family-firm connection (working in a family-owned firm or one in which a family member also works) impacts hazard exposures and safety practices. Participants included 187 North Carolina construction workers 14 to 17 years old who were surveyed about their jobs. We conducted stratified analyses using cross-tabulations and chi-square statistics to measure associations between workgroup size (i.e., the total number of workers on a jobsite) and family-firm connections (yes/no) and hazard exposures (e.g., saws) and safety practices (e.g., supervision). Having a family-firm connection was associated with fewer hazard exposures and greater safety practices. Youth who worked on jobsites with a larger workgroup (11-50 workers) reported more hazards but also more safety practices. Family-firm connections, in particular, may have a protective effect for youth in construction. Even though the statistical significance of our findings on workgroup size was limited in places, the pattern of differences found suggest that further research in this area is warranted.

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

NREL's System Advisor Model Simplifies Complex Energy Analysis (Fact Sheet)

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

Not Available

2015-01-01

NREL has developed a tool -- the System Advisor Model (SAM) -- that can help decision makers analyze cost, performance, and financing of any size grid-connected solar, wind, or geothermal power project. Manufacturers, engineering and consulting firms, research and development firms, utilities, developers, venture capital firms, and international organizations use SAM for end-to-end analysis that helps determine whether and how to make investments in renewable energy projects.

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.).

Employee Post-Training Behaviour and Performance: Evaluating the Results of the Training Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Diamantidis, Anastasios D.; Chatzoglou, Prodromos D.

2014-01-01

Despite the fact that firms invest in training, there is considerable evidence to show that training programmes often fail to achieve the intended result of improving worker and organization performance. The purpose of this paper is to examine the medium- to long-term effects of training programmes on firms by means of an integrated research model…

Anti-profit beliefs: How people neglect the societal benefits of profit.

PubMed

Bhattacharjee, Amit; Dana, Jason; Baron, Jonathan

2017-11-01

Profit-seeking firms are stereotypically depicted as immoral and harmful to society. At the same time, profit-driven enterprise has contributed immensely to human prosperity. Though scholars agree that profit can incentivize societally beneficial behaviors, people may neglect this possibility. In 7 studies, we show that people see business profit as necessarily in conflict with social good, a view we call anti-profit beliefs . Studies 1 and 2 demonstrate that U.S. participants hold anti-profit views of real U.S. firms and industries. Study 3 shows that hypothetical organizations are seen as doing more harm when they are labeled "for-profit" rather than "non-profit," while Study 4 shows that increasing harm to society is viewed as a strategy for increasing a hypothetical firm's long-run profitability. Studies 5-7 demonstrate that carefully prompting subjects to consider the long run incentives of profit can attenuate anti-profit beliefs, while prompting short run thinking does nothing relative to a control. Together, these results suggest that the default view of profits is zero-sum. While people readily grasp how profit can incentivize firms to engage in practices that harm others, they neglect how it can incentivize firms to engage in practices that benefit others. Accordingly, people's stereotypes of profit-seeking firms are excessively negative. Even in one of the most market-oriented societies in history, people doubt the contributions of profit-seeking industry to societal progress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Selection of infectious medical waste disposal firms by using the analytic hierarchy process and sensitivity analysis

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

Hsu, P.-F.; Wu, C.-R.; Li, Y.-T.

2008-07-01

While Taiwanese hospitals dispose of large amounts of medical waste to ensure sanitation and personal hygiene, doing so inefficiently creates potential environmental hazards and increases operational expenses. However, hospitals lack objective criteria to select the most appropriate waste disposal firm and evaluate its performance, instead relying on their own subjective judgment and previous experiences. Therefore, this work presents an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method to objectively select medical waste disposal firms based on the results of interviews with experts in the field, thus reducing overhead costs and enhancing medical waste management. An appropriate weight criterion based on AHP is derivedmore » to assess the effectiveness of medical waste disposal firms. The proposed AHP-based method offers a more efficient and precise means of selecting medical waste firms than subjective assessment methods do, thus reducing the potential risks for hospitals. Analysis results indicate that the medical sector selects the most appropriate infectious medical waste disposal firm based on the following rank: matching degree, contractor's qualifications, contractor's service capability, contractor's equipment and economic factors. By providing hospitals with an effective means of evaluating medical waste disposal firms, the proposed AHP method can reduce overhead costs and enable medical waste management to understand the market demand in the health sector. Moreover, performed through use of Expert Choice software, sensitivity analysis can survey the criterion weight of the degree of influence with an alternative hierarchy.« less

Building Collaborative Capacity for Homeland Security

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-11-01

Kesner, I. F. (1993). Top Managerial Prestige, Power and Tender Offer Response - a Study of Elite Social Networks and Target Firm Cooperation During...Organization Science, 12(3), 372-388. Galaskiewicz, J., & Burt, R. S. (1991). Interorganization Contagion in Corporate Philanthropy . Administrative

Making Market Decisions in the Classroom.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rose, Stephen A.

1986-01-01

Computer software that will help intermediate and secondary social studies students learn to make rational decisions about personal and societal concerns are described. The courseware places students in the roles of business managers who make decisions about operating their firms. (RM)

Value acceleration: lessons from private-equity masters.

PubMed

Rogers, Paul; Holland, Tom; Haas, Dan

2002-06-01

The most successful private-equity firms regularly spearhead dramatic business transformations, creating exceptional returns for their investors. To understand how those firms do it, the authors studied more than 2,000 PE transactions over the past ten years and discovered that the top performers' success stems from the rigor with which they manage their businesses. This article describes the four management disciplines vital to the success of the best PE firms. First, for each business, they define an investment thesis: a brief, clear statement of how to make the business more valuable within three to five years. The thesis, which guides all actions by the company, usually focuses on growth. PE firms know that the demonstration of a path to strong growth produces the big returns on investment. Second, they don't measure too much. They zero in on a few financial indicators that most clearly reveal the business's progress in increasing its value. They watch cash more closely than earnings and tailor performance measures to each business, rather than imposing one set of measures across their entire portfolio. Third, they work their balance sheets, mining undervalued assets, turning fixed assets into sources of financing, and aggressively managing their physical capital. Last, they make the center the shareholder. Corporate staffs in PE firms make unsentimental investment decisions, buying and selling businesses when the price is right and bringing in new management when performance falters. These firms also keep their corporate centers extremely lean. By adopting these four disciplines, executives at public companies should be able to reap significantly greater returns from their own business units.

Critical social theory as a grounded process.

PubMed

Fleming, V E; Moloney, J A

1996-09-01

This article reflects upon the research process that uses critical social science as its basis. Some of the common criticisms of critical social science research are rebutted by following the research trail taken by the authors when undertaking their own projects. The similarities and differences of critical social science and the interpretative methodologies are outlined in the selection of study area, the relationship of the researcher and participants, ethical issues, and data collection and analysis. The writers conclude that critical social science research reports that are correctly carried out should be firmly grounded in each of these stages, thereby a foundation for nursing and midwifery practice.

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.

The Logic of Collective Rating

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nax, Heinrich

2016-05-01

The introduction of participatory rating mechanisms on online sales platforms has had substantial impact on firms' sales and profits. In this note, we develop a dynamic model of consumer influences on ratings and of rating influences on consumers, focussing on standard 5-star mechanisms as implemented by many platforms. The key components of our social influence model are the consumer trust in the `wisdom of crowds' during the purchase phase and indirect reciprocity during the rating decision. Our model provides an overarching explanation for well-corroborated empirical regularities. We quantify the performance of the voluntary rating mechanism in terms of realized consumer surplus with the no-mechanism and full-information benchmarks, and identify how it could be improved.

Value-based metrics and Internet-based enterprises

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gupta, Krishan M.

2001-10-01

Within the last few years, a host of value-based metrics like EVA, MVA, TBR, CFORI, and TSR have evolved. This paper attempts to analyze the validity and applicability of EVA and Balanced Scorecard for Internet based organizations. Despite the collapse of the dot-com model, the firms engaged in e- commerce continue to struggle to find new ways to account for customer-base, technology, employees, knowledge, etc, as part of the value of the firm. While some metrics, like the Balance Scorecard are geared towards internal use, others like EVA are for external use. Value-based metrics are used for performing internal audits as well as comparing firms against one another; and can also be effectively utilized by individuals outside the firm looking to determine if the firm is creating value for its stakeholders.

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

Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is: Why Sustainability Reporting Based on the Triple Bottom Line Can Be Misleading

PubMed Central

Shnayder, Larissa; van Rijnsoever, Frank J.; Hekkert, Marko P.

2015-01-01

In the packaged food industry, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an informal requirement for which firms account through sustainability reporting. CSR behaviors are often reported and analyzed using the Triple Bottom Line (3BL) framework, which categorizes them as affecting people, planet, or profit. 3BL is useful in determining which of these categories is most elaborated upon by the firm, but has a limited scope and many documented criticisms. This paper aims to address the aforementioned insufficiencies by augmenting the 3BL framework with two important attributes of CSR practices: (1) the presence of change in core firm behavior of the firm itself or of others in the supply chain, and (2) whether the behavior qualifies as being outside of the firm’s normal business practice or is something that they might have done anyway. We qualitatively analyze CSR behaviors described in sustainability reports and interviews from major players in the packaged food industry and categorize them using these attributes as a supplement to 3BL. This enables us to separate the behaviors from their framing and analyze them more critically. Our results demonstrate how the visible CSR efforts of a firm can be misleading at first glance. Using only 3BL, we find that the CSR focus of firms in this industry is people. We then discover that the codes focusing on people (as opposed to planet or profit) require the least amount of real structural change from a firm or its supply chain partners, and thus arguably, the least amount of effort. We also find that behaviors that focus on planet require the most effort within the firm itself, but for behaviors involving supply chain partners, effort is required for behaviors in all three categories. Finally, we find that CSR behavior that is related to planet tends to go beyond normal business practice. PMID:25793612

Denial and Affirmation in Victorian Thought

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Euwema, Ben

1969-01-01

Discussion of the Victorian outlook on life with emphasis on the works of Browning, Tennyson and George Eliot. The author suggests that these authors attempted to "reconstruct christianity and to find a "firm basis for social progress and personal fulfillment. (Author/AP)

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.

Learning in innovation networks: Some simulation experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gilbert, Nigel; Ahrweiler, Petra; Pyka, Andreas

2007-05-01

According to the organizational learning literature, the greatest competitive advantage a firm has is its ability to learn. In this paper, a framework for modeling learning competence in firms is presented to improve the understanding of managing innovation. Firms with different knowledge stocks attempt to improve their economic performance by engaging in radical or incremental innovation activities and through partnerships and networking with other firms. In trying to vary and/or to stabilize their knowledge stocks by organizational learning, they attempt to adapt to environmental requirements while the market strongly selects on the results. The simulation experiments show the impact of different learning activities, underlining the importance of innovation and learning.

The effect of environmental regulation on firms' competitive performance: the case of the building & construction sector in some EU regions.

PubMed

Testa, Francesco; Iraldo, Fabio; Frey, Marco

2011-09-01

There is a considerable debate on the effects of environmental regulation on competitive performance. Based on survey data, this paper analyzes the two main research questions, derived from literature, on the links between environmental regulation and competitiveness, by focusing on firms operating in the building and construction sector, i.e.: 1) whether environmental policy stringency affects the competitive performance of firms in the building and construction sector 2) and how a specific form of environmental regulation (direct regulation, economic instruments and soft instruments) affects this performance? By applying a regression analysis, we find that a more stringent environmental regulation, measured by inspection frequency, provides a positive impulse for increasing investments in advanced technological equipment and innovative products and on business performance. Moreover, a well-designed "direct regulation" appears to be the most effective policy instrument for prompting the positive impact of environmental policies on innovation and intangible performance while economic instruments do negatively affect business performance. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Does Gender Matter? Female Representation on Corporate Boards and Firm Financial Performance--A Meta-Analysis.

PubMed

Pletzer, Jan Luca; Nikolova, Romina; Kedzior, Karina Karolina; Voelpel, Sven Constantin

2015-01-01

In recent years, there has been an ongoing, worldwide debate about the representation of females in companies. Our study aimed to meta-analytically investigate the controversial relationship between female representation on corporate boards and firm financial performance. Following a systematic literature search, data from 20 studies on 3097 companies published in peer-reviewed academic journals were included in the meta-analysis. On average, the boards consisted of eight members and female participation was low (mean 14%) in all studies. Half of the 20 studies were based on data from developing countries and 62% from higher income countries. According to the random-effects model, the overall mean weighted correlation between percentage of females on corporate boards and firm performance was small and non-significant (r = .01, 95% confidence interval: -.04, .07). Similar small effect sizes were observed when comparing studies based on developing vs. developed countries and higher vs. lower income countries. The mean board size was not related to the effect sizes in studies. These results indicate that the mere representation of females on corporate boards is not related to firm financial performance if other factors are not considered. We conclude our study with a discussion of its implications and limitations.

Does Gender Matter? Female Representation on Corporate Boards and Firm Financial Performance - A Meta-Analysis

PubMed Central

Pletzer, Jan Luca; Nikolova, Romina; Kedzior, Karina Karolina; Voelpel, Sven Constantin

2015-01-01

In recent years, there has been an ongoing, worldwide debate about the representation of females in companies. Our study aimed to meta-analytically investigate the controversial relationship between female representation on corporate boards and firm financial performance. Following a systematic literature search, data from 20 studies on 3097 companies published in peer-reviewed academic journals were included in the meta-analysis. On average, the boards consisted of eight members and female participation was low (mean 14%) in all studies. Half of the 20 studies were based on data from developing countries and 62% from higher income countries. According to the random-effects model, the overall mean weighted correlation between percentage of females on corporate boards and firm performance was small and non-significant (r = .01, 95% confidence interval: -.04, .07). Similar small effect sizes were observed when comparing studies based on developing vs. developed countries and higher vs. lower income countries. The mean board size was not related to the effect sizes in studies. These results indicate that the mere representation of females on corporate boards is not related to firm financial performance if other factors are not considered. We conclude our study with a discussion of its implications and limitations. PMID:26086454

Developing Trust in Virtual Teams

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Germain, Marie-Line

2011-01-01

Rapid globalization, advances in technology, flatter organizational structures, synergistic cooperation among firms, and a shift to knowledge work environments have led to the increasing use of virtual teams in organizations. Selecting, training, and socializing employees in virtual teamwork has therefore become an important human resource…

Sources of Self-Esteem in Work: What's Important for Whom?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schwalbe, Michael L.

1988-01-01

A survey of 250 workers in five manufacturing firms examined sources of self-esteem in work. Responses suggest that, in the workplace, self-perceived competence is the most important source of self-esteem, followed by reflected appraisals and social comparisons. (JOW)

Social Networks as a Source of Competitive Advantage for the Firm.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Laere, Kristien; Heene, Aime

2003-01-01

Proposes a conceptual framework for managing relationships of small and medium-sized enterprises, based on the necessity of cooperation for survival. Describes characteristics of embedded relationship in stakeholder interactions, including trust, durability, information transfer, and collaboration. (Contains 72 references.) (SK)

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

Proof firm downsizing and diagnosis-specific disability pensioning in Norway.

PubMed

Claussen, Bjørgulf; Næss, Øyvind; Reime, Leif Jostein; Leyland, Alastair H

2013-01-11

We wanted to investigate if firm downsizing is related to an increased rate of disability pensions among the former employed, especially for those with musculoskeletal and psychiatric diagnoses, and for those having to leave the firm. Statistics Norway provided a linked file with demographic information and all social security grants from the National Insurance Administration for 1992-2004 for all inhabitants in Norway. Our sample was aged 30-55 years in 1995, being alive, employed and not having a disability pension at the end of 2000. Downsizing was defined as percent change in number of employed per firm from 1995 to end 2000. Employment data were missing for 25.6% of the sample. Disability pension rates in the next four years were 25% higher for those experiencing a 30-59% downsizing than for those not experiencing a reduction of the workforce. 1-29% and 60-100% downsizing did not have this effect. Stayers following down-sizing had higher disability pension rates than leavers. What we have called complex musculoskeletal and psychiatric diagnoses were relatively most common. Moderate downsizing is followed by a significant increase in disability pension rates in the following four years, often with complex musculoskeletal and psychiatric diagnoses.

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.

Entropy model of dissipative structure on corporate social responsibility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Zuozhi; Jiang, Jie

2017-06-01

Enterprise is prompted to fulfill the social responsibility requirement by the internal and external environment. In this complex system, some studies suggest that firms have an orderly or chaotic entropy exchange behavior. Based on the theory of dissipative structure, this paper constructs the entropy index system of corporate social responsibility(CSR) and explores the dissipative structure of CSR through Brusselator model criterion. Picking up listed companies of the equipment manufacturing, the research shows that CSR has positive incentive to negative entropy and promotes the stability of dissipative structure. In short, the dissipative structure of CSR has a positive impact on the interests of stakeholders and corporate social images.

32 CFR 552.57 - Authorization to solicit.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... specific appointment must be made with the individual and must be conducted in family quarters or in other..., whether the agent is employed by a reputable firm. (b) Certain companies seeking solicitation privileges on military installations may arrange personal demonstrations of their products at social gatherings...

Video Cartridges and Cassettes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kletter, Richard C.; Hudson, Heather

The economic and social significance of video cassettes (viewer-controlled playback system) is explored in this report. The potential effect of video cassettes on industrial training, education, libraries, and television is analyzed in conjunction with the anticipated hardware developments. The entire video cassette industry is reviewed firm by…

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.

12 CFR 263.403 - Automatic removal, suspension, and debarment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM RULES OF PRACTICE FOR HEARINGS Removal, Suspension, and Debarment of Accountants... independent public accountant or accounting firm may not perform audit services for banking organizations if the accountant or firm: (1) Is subject to a final order of removal, suspension, or debarment (other...

Using design to drive organizational performance and innovation in the corporate workplace: implications for interprofessional environments.

PubMed

Laing, Andrew; Bacevice, Peter Anthony

2013-09-01

Learning and working are increasingly inseparable social processes characterized by a mix of routine and non-routine activities, which are meant to sustain an optimal balance of creative risk taking, idea exploration and development of professional mastery. Learning and working are embedded in broader social institutions such as universities, academic medical centers, professional organizations and business firms. The future of learning and working is witnessing a blurring of these institutional boundaries, and consequently, a spanning of disciplines and professions that have traditionally assimilated and oriented people around knowledge domains. Learning and working practices are increasingly less defined by bureaucratic controls and are, instead, more collaborative, fluid and interdisciplinary. One of the most tangible manifestations of this shift is in the spaces and places where learning and working activities happen and where people interact and organize. This article explores these learning and working paradigm shifts by discussing recent developments in the corporate workplace and exploring how such changes inform the future of interprofessional education.

ACUTE TERMINATION OF HUMAN ATRIAL FIBRILLATION BY IDENTIFICATION AND CATHETER ABLATION OF LOCALIZED ROTORS AND SOURCES

PubMed Central

Shivkumar, Kalyanam; Ellenbogen, Kenneth A.; Hummel, John D.; Miller, John M.; Steinberg, Jonathan S.

2012-01-01

Catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF) currently relies on eliminating triggers, and no reliable method exists to map the arrhythmia itself to identify ablation targets. The aim of this multicenter study was to define the use of Focal Impulse and Rotor Modulation (FIRM) for identifying ablation targets. METHODS We prospectively enrolled the first (n=14, 11 males) consecutive patients undergoing FIRM guided ablation for persistent (n=11) and paroxysmal AF at 5 centers. A 64 pole basket catheter was used for panoramic right and left atrial mapping during AF. AF electrograms were analyzed using a novel system to identify sustained rotors (spiral waves), or focal beats (centrifugal activation to surrounding atrium). Ablation was performed first at identified sources. The primary endpoints were acute AF termination or organization (>10 % cycle length prolongation). Conventional ablation was performed only after FIRM guided ablation. RESULTS 12/14 cases were mapped. AF sources were demonstrated in all patients (average of 1.9±0.8 per patient). Sources were left atrial in 18 cases, and right atrial in 5 cases, and 21/23 were rotors. FIRM guided ablation achieved the acute endpoint in all patients, consisting of AF termination in n=8 (4.9±3.9 min at the primary source), and organization in n=4. Total FIRM time for all patients was 12.3±8.6 min. CONCLUSIONS FIRM guided ablation revealed localized AF rotors/focal sources in patients with paroxysmal, persistent and longstanding persistent AF. Brief targeted FIRM guided ablation at a priori identified sites terminated or substantially organized AF in all cases prior to any other ablation. PMID:23130890

[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.

Biomedical innovation in the era of health care spending constraints.

PubMed

Robinson, James C

2015-02-01

Insurers, hospitals, physicians, and consumers are increasingly weighing price against performance in their decisions to purchase and use new drugs, devices, and other medical technologies. This approach will tend to affect biomedical innovation adversely by reducing the revenues available for research and development. However, a more constrained funding environment may also have positive impacts. The passing era of largely cost-unconscious demand fostered the development of incremental innovations priced at premium levels. The new constrained-funding era will require medical technology firms to design their products with the features most valued by payers and patients, price them at levels justified by clinical performance, and manage distribution through organizations rather than to individual physicians. The emerging era has the potential to increase the social value of innovation by focusing industry on design, pricing, and distribution principles that are more closely aligned with the preferences-and pocketbooks-of its customers. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

Assessing the sensitivity and robustness of prediction models for apple firmness using spectral scattering technique

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Spectral scattering is useful for nondestructive sensing of fruit firmness. Prediction models, however, are typically built using multivariate statistical methods such as partial least squares regression (PLSR), whose performance generally depends on the characteristics of the data. The aim of this ...

12 CFR 263.405 - Petition for reinstatement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... SYSTEM RULES OF PRACTICE FOR HEARINGS Removal, Suspension, and Debarment of Accountants From Performing... the Board, a petition for reinstatement by an independent public accountant, an accounting firm, or an... may, in the sole discretion of the Board, be afforded a hearing. The accountant or firm shall bear the...

Community relations 2.0.

PubMed

Kane, Gerald C; Fichman, Robert G; Gallaugher, John; Glaser, John

2009-11-01

Before the Internet, organizations had far more time to monitor and respond to community activity, but that luxury is long gone, leaving them in dire need of a coherent outreach strategy, fresh skills, and adaptive tactics. Drawing on the authors' study of more than two dozen firms, this article describes the changes wrought by social media in particular and shows managers how to take advantage of them--lessons that Kaiser Permanente, Domino's, and others learned the hard way. Social media platforms enhance the power of communities by promoting deep relationships, facilitating rapid organization, improving the creation and synthesis of knowledge, and enabling robust filtering of information. The authors cite many examples from the health care industry, where social media participation is vigorous and influential. For instance, members of Sermo, an online network exclusively for doctors, used the site to call attention to and organize against insurers' proposed reimbursement cuts. And on PatientsLikeMe, where people share details about their chronic diseases and the treatments they've pursued, charts and progress curves help members visualize their own complex histories and allow comparisons and feedback among peers. As you modernize your company's approach to community outreach, you'll need to assemble a social media team equipped to identify new opportunities for engagement and prevent brand damage. In the most successful firms the authors studied, community management was a dedicated function, combining marketing, public relations, and information technology skills.

Enterprise 2.0: An Extended Technology Acceptance Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kurz, James M.

2012-01-01

The amount of information that people produce is changing, especially as social networking becomes more commonplace and globalization inefficiencies continue to swamp enterprise. Companies are rising to the challenge to create a collaborative approach for information management, but according to many leading technology advisory firms, they have…

Compulsion, Craft, or Commodity? Education Services Trade in the Larger Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Payne, Brandyn L.

2008-01-01

The role of education in fostering economic growth and social development is universally recognized. Although history places the provision of education firmly within national control, countries increasingly search outside national borders for alternative distribution frameworks. Tellingly, the World Trade Organization recently included education…

Theory Z and Schools: What Can We Learn from Toyota?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

George, Paul S.

1984-01-01

William Ouchi's 1981 book designates as "Type Z" American firms that effectively combine domestic and Japanese management strategies. Applications of this theory to improving school effectiveness would involve combining in each school the components of vital philosophy, curricular clarity, instructional focus, social organization, and…

How Business Intelligence and Social Interaction Amplify Organizational Cognition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Penn, Stephen Paul

2012-01-01

This systematic literature review of current scholarship on business intelligence, individual decision-making behavior, strategy as practice, and strategic planning offers a roadmap for firms seeking to increase their competitive advantage through data driven decision-making. Planning, deciding, and using information is a single phenomenon where…

Using Health Literacy in School to Overcome Inequalities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flecha, Ainhoa; Garcia, Rocio; Rudd, Rima

2011-01-01

Health literacy has firmly established the links between literacy skills and health outcomes and is subsequently considered a key strategy for improving the health of disadvantaged populations and addressing social inequality. However, current research findings for improving health literacy have primarily focused on adults and actions within…

How star women build portable skills.

PubMed

Groysberg, Boris

2008-02-01

In May 2004, with the war for talent in high gear, Groysberg and colleagues from Harvard Business School wrote in these pages about the risks of hiring star performers away from competitors. After studying the fortunes of more than 1,000 star stock analysts, they found that when a star switched companies, not only did his performance plunge, so did the effectiveness of the group he joined and the market value of his new company. But further analysis of the data reveals that it's not that simple. In fact, one group of analysts reliably maintained star rankings even after changing employers: women. Unlike their male counterparts, female stars who switched firms performed just as well, in the aggregate, as those who stayed put. The 189 star women in the sample (18% of the star analysts studied) achieved a higher rank after switching firms than the men did. Why the discrepancy? First, says the author, the best female analysts appear to have built their franchises on portable, external relationships with clients and the companies they covered, rather than on relationships rooted within their firms. By contrast, male analysts built up greater firm- and team-specific human capital by investing more in the internal networks and unique capabilities and resources of their own companies. Second, women took greater care when assessing a prospective new employer. In this article, Groysberg explores the reasons behind the star women's portable performance.

Effects of Deregulation and Vertical Unbundling on the Performance of China's Electricity Generation Sector†

PubMed Central

Gao, Hang; Van Biesebroeck, Johannes

2014-01-01

The restructuring of the Chinese electricity sector in 2002 reshaped the market structure by vertically unbundling the dominant integrated firm and started the process of wholesale price liberalization. We estimate factor demands to study whether these reforms boosted productivity in the generation segment of the industry. Controlling explicitly for price‐heterogeneity across firms and unobservable productivity shocks, we find that the reforms are associated with reductions in labor and material use of 7 and 5 per cent, respectively. These effects only appear two years after the reforms and are robust to many specification checks. The absolute magnitudes of the estimated restructuring effects vary in intuitive ways by location, firm size or age, and for different definitions of restructured firms. PMID:27076686

Virtual firm as a role-playing tool for biomedical education.

PubMed

Blagosklonov, Oleg; Soto-Romero, Georges; Guyon, Florent; Courjal, Nadège; Euphrasie, Sebatien; Yahiaoui, Reda; Butterlin, Nadia

2006-01-01

The paper describes design of a role-playing tool based on the experience of the practice firm which allows participants to obtain relevant and practical on-the-job experience. The students played the roles of the employees and the applicants for vacant positions at the virtual firm - a small business specialized in biomedical sector - founded to design the demonstration vehicle for a biomedical device. We found that this innovative concept may be used to improve the young engineers performance and to facilitate their post-graduate integration.

SPS market analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goff, H. C.

1980-05-01

A market analysis task included personal interviews by GE personnel and supplemental mail surveys to acquire statistical data and to identify and measure attitudes, reactions and intentions of prospective small solar thermal power systems (SPS) users. Over 500 firms were contacted, including three ownership classes of electric utilities, industrial firms in the top SIC codes for energy consumption, and design engineering firms. A market demand model was developed which utilizes the data base developed by personal interviews and surveys, and projected energy price and consumption data to perform sensitivity analyses and estimate potential markets for SPS.

The occupational and environmental status of Polish industry: a comparative study of the private and public sectors.

PubMed

Broszkiewicz, Roman; Brown, Halina Szejnwald; Hibner, Zofia

2002-01-01

During the last decade, Poland has made a successful transition toward democracy and market economy. Since the mid-1990s, we have studied the reforms in the environmental and occupational protection system in Poland, focusing on the privately owned firms. We found that considerable progress has taken place, especially in increasing the accountability of private employers and in improved enforcement. The fundamental legitimacy of regulators and the regulatory process, and the capacity for case-specific decision-making, are among the key explanatory factors. The case-specific implementation in Poland is consistent with models advocated by several authors in relation to other industrialized European economies. We attribute these developments in Poland to the continuity of institutions, and the generally good "fit" between the policies and institutions on one hand, and their social context on the other, including a wide sharing of certain values and norms. The outstanding question from our previous work has been the fate of state-owned firms, which may be facing different issues than the privatized ones, both in terms of economics, organizational culture, and relationships with the regulatory authorities. In this article, we report the results of a comparison between the private and state-owned firms, based on the questionnaire surveys of the two sectors. We find a striking similarity in performance of both sectors and in the authorities' attitudes toward both. These findings support our earlier proposition that Poland's success in instituting an effective occupational protection system is deeply embedded in the attitudes toward protecting workers' health and safety and toward balancing competing societal objectives. These attitudes have not changed during the transition to the market economy.

Contra Aquam Remigare: Reimagining Humanistic Paideia through Comparative-Historical Analysis of Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roussakis, Yiannis

2018-01-01

This article attempts a reading of Andreas M. Kazamias's work and method as a persistent and firmly grounded attempt to "go against the tide" of an empirical/instrumentalist comparative education and toward a "modernist 'episteme.'" Kazamias has been explicitly critical of the social-scientific-cum-positivist comparative…

Continuing Education Modules and the Scholarship of Engagement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mitchell, Jim

2010-01-01

Economic and political trends underscore the importance of engaged scholarship as evidence that colleges and universities are serving their constituencies. Set in a background of debate about pure versus applied social science this article describes a planned approach to continuing gerontological education grounded firmly in the principles of the…

No More Free Lunch: Commercial Fee-Based Information Services--Past, Present and Future.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wright, A. J.

This discussion of nongovernmental public- and private-sector fee-based information services in the changing library, social, and technological environment includes descriptions of the relationships between libraries and commercial firms, types of fee-based information services, and the services provided by commercial information vendors. Brief…

JPRS Report, East Europe.

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-01-25

POLITYKA 25 Nov] ............................................................. 6 YUGOSLAVIA Leader of Croatian Social-Liberal Alliance Interviewed...DuesseldorfHANDELSBLATT 15-16 Dec] ............. 41 Pharmaceutical Firm on Expansion of Imports [RZECZPOSPOLITA 6 Nov] ............................. 43 Tax, Credit Relief...of membership dues. 2. The party and its agencies and organizations develop 6 . CPCZ members may form clubs of communists their activities based on

Leveraging the Talent-Driven Organization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adler, Richard

2010-01-01

This report details how a number of firms are using social networking tools to open up communication, collaboration and learning across boundaries, leveraging these tools to develop new products and real-time solutions for customers. It discusses the qualities of leadership throughout an organization that fosters innovation and learning. And it…

The Recognition of Occupational Skills and Educational Qualifications within the EEC.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bertrand, Olivier

1992-01-01

A survey conducted in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom analyzed employment practices and viewpoints of the social partners regarding comparability of qualifications and geographical mobility. Carried out in late 1991 with a limited sampling of respondents (firms, employers' organizations, and unions), the survey focused…

Rescaling Vocational Education: Workforce Development in a Metropolitan Region

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lakes, Richard D.

2008-01-01

This article profiles a vocational charter school located in Atlanta as an institutional model for customized industry training in the high-tech production firms located nearby. Social partnerships with business and industry, parents and educators, and elected officials will be illuminated, exhibiting new forms of neoliberalism that reconstitute…

Enhancing Self-Esteem through Self-Management Strategies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Valett, Robert E.

Self-esteem, well managed, is a powerful force for effective learning. Research has shown that good self-esteem is associated with analytical thinking, persistence, creative ability, social independence, stability and high expectations, and that the antecedents of positive self-esteem are found in parental models who provide firm guidance in the…

Exploiting Terrorist Vulnerabilities: A Law Enforcement Approach to Fighting Terrorist Organizations

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-05-01

assassination led to a crackdown by the Egyptian Government. This crackdown led to an alliance with Gamal Abdel Nasser. Nasser promised a return to......He believed that the Western powers were bleeding Egyptian resources dry. He was firmly against capitalism and formed a social welfare network

Academic Discipline and Personal Finance Instruction in High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loibl, Cäzilia; Fisher, Patti J.

2013-01-01

Despite public support for personal finance instruction in high school, its effectiveness has not been firmly established. The current study investigates instructional approaches as a reason for these inconsistent outcomes by comparing survey responses of business education, family and consumer sciences, and social studies/economics teachers. The…

49 CFR 26.71 - What rules govern determinations concerning control?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... control? 26.71 Section 26.71 Transportation Office of the Secretary of Transportation PARTICIPATION BY... Standards § 26.71 What rules govern determinations concerning control? (a) In determining whether socially and economically disadvantaged owners control a firm, you must consider all the facts in the record...

49 CFR 26.71 - What rules govern determinations concerning control?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... control? 26.71 Section 26.71 Transportation Office of the Secretary of Transportation PARTICIPATION BY... Standards § 26.71 What rules govern determinations concerning control? (a) In determining whether socially and economically disadvantaged owners control a firm, you must consider all the facts in the record...

49 CFR 26.71 - What rules govern determinations concerning control?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... control? 26.71 Section 26.71 Transportation Office of the Secretary of Transportation PARTICIPATION BY... Standards § 26.71 What rules govern determinations concerning control? (a) In determining whether socially and economically disadvantaged owners control a firm, you must consider all the facts in the record...

49 CFR 26.71 - What rules govern determinations concerning control?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... control? 26.71 Section 26.71 Transportation Office of the Secretary of Transportation PARTICIPATION BY... Standards § 26.71 What rules govern determinations concerning control? (a) In determining whether socially and economically disadvantaged owners control a firm, you must consider all the facts in the record...

48 CFR 236.273 - Construction in foreign countries.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... estimated to exceed $1,000,000 and are to be performed in the United States outlying area in the Pacific and on Kwajalein Atoll, or in countries bordering the Arabian Gulf, shall be awarded only to United States firms, unless— (1) The lowest responsive and responsible offer of a United States firm exceeds the...

48 CFR 236.273 - Construction in foreign countries.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... estimated to exceed $1,000,000 and are to be performed in the United States outlying area in the Pacific and on Kwajalein Atoll, or in countries bordering the Arabian Gulf, shall be awarded only to United States firms, unless— (1) The lowest responsive and responsible offer of a United States firm exceeds the...

Evidence on the Relationship between Firm-Based Screening and the Returns to Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Sarah; Sessions, John G.

2006-01-01

We explore the relationship between the signalling role of education and direct screening measures adopted by employers using a matched employee-employer data set drawn from the 1998 "Workplace Employee Relations Survey" for Great Britain. We identify which firms use personality/attitude and/or performance/competency tests during the…

78 FR 21160 - Notice of Intent To Seek Approval To Establish an Information Collection

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-09

... Collection The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) of the National Science... related activities performed within the United States by industrial firms. In 2004 the National Academy of... industrial firms. However, businesses with fewer than five employees are excluded from this survey. MIST will...

40 CFR 745.91 - Suspending, revoking, or modifying an individual's or firm's certification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) TOXIC SUBSTANCES CONTROL ACT LEAD-BASED PAINT POISONING PREVENTION IN CERTAIN... comply with Federal lead-based paint statutes or regulations. EPA may also suspend, revoke, or modify a... individual performing a renovation on behalf of the firm fails to comply, with Federal lead-based paint...

40 CFR 745.91 - Suspending, revoking, or modifying an individual's or firm's certification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) TOXIC SUBSTANCES CONTROL ACT LEAD-BASED PAINT POISONING PREVENTION IN CERTAIN... comply with Federal lead-based paint statutes or regulations. EPA may also suspend, revoke, or modify a... individual performing a renovation on behalf of the firm fails to comply, with Federal lead-based paint...

40 CFR 745.91 - Suspending, revoking, or modifying an individual's or firm's certification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) TOXIC SUBSTANCES CONTROL ACT LEAD-BASED PAINT POISONING PREVENTION IN CERTAIN... comply with Federal lead-based paint statutes or regulations. EPA may also suspend, revoke, or modify a... individual performing a renovation on behalf of the firm fails to comply, with Federal lead-based paint...

40 CFR 745.91 - Suspending, revoking, or modifying an individual's or firm's certification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) TOXIC SUBSTANCES CONTROL ACT LEAD-BASED PAINT POISONING PREVENTION IN CERTAIN... comply with Federal lead-based paint statutes or regulations. EPA may also suspend, revoke, or modify a... individual performing a renovation on behalf of the firm fails to comply, with Federal lead-based paint...

40 CFR 745.91 - Suspending, revoking, or modifying an individual's or firm's certification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) TOXIC SUBSTANCES CONTROL ACT LEAD-BASED PAINT POISONING PREVENTION IN CERTAIN... comply with Federal lead-based paint statutes or regulations. EPA may also suspend, revoke, or modify a... individual performing a renovation on behalf of the firm fails to comply, with Federal lead-based paint...

Performance Problems in Service Contracting

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-01-01

technical manual for the U.S. Army. Contract types have run the gamut from firm fixed price to various forms of cost plus arrangements, and award has been...in a National Forest to producing a technical manual for the U.S. Army. Contract types have run the gamut from firm fixed price to various forms of

Electronic Reverse Auctions: Integrating an E-Sourcing Tool into a Sales and Purchasing Cross-Course Negotiation Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, Jacqueline A.; Dobie, Kathryn

2011-01-01

Electronic reverse auctions are increasingly being used by firms to improve firm financial and operational performance. The described teaching innovation serves as a model for introducing electronic reverse auctions as a central element in a comprehensive negotiation exercise involving sales management and purchasing management students. Results…

Corporate funding of human services agencies.

PubMed

Zippay, A

1992-05-01

This article reviews national trends in the organization of corporate giving to human services agencies, examines how corporations make funding decisions, and reports the results of a case study of philanthropic giving among 29 companies in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The study found that most corporations use an informal rather than a formal process for making funding decisions, with many firms relying on tradition, social contacts, and intuition to guide allocations. Suggestions that social services administrators can use to enhance development planning at their agencies are provided.

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.

Proof firm downsizing and diagnosis-specific disability pensioning in Norway

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background We wanted to investigate if firm downsizing is related to an increased rate of disability pensions among the former employed, especially for those with musculoskeletal and psychiatric diagnoses, and for those having to leave the firm. Methods Statistics Norway provided a linked file with demographic information and all social security grants from the National Insurance Administration for 1992–2004 for all inhabitants in Norway. Our sample was aged 30–55 years in 1995, being alive, employed and not having a disability pension at the end of 2000. Downsizing was defined as percent change in number of employed per firm from 1995 to end 2000. Employment data were missing for 25.6% of the sample. Results Disability pension rates in the next four years were 25% higher for those experiencing a 30-59% downsizing than for those not experiencing a reduction of the workforce. 1-29% and 60-100% downsizing did not have this effect. Stayers following down-sizing had higher disability pension rates than leavers. What we have called complex musculoskeletal and psychiatric diagnoses were relatively most common. Conclusion Moderate downsizing is followed by a significant increase in disability pension rates in the following four years, often with complex musculoskeletal and psychiatric diagnoses. PMID:23311568

Does External Knowledge Sourcing Enhance Market Performance? Evidence from the Korean Manufacturing Industry.

PubMed

Lee, Kibaek; Yoo, Jaeheung; Choi, Munkee; Zo, Hangjung; Ciganek, Andrew P

2016-01-01

Firms continuously search for external knowledge that can contribute to product innovation, which may ultimately increase market performance. The relationship between external knowledge sourcing and market performance is not well-documented. The extant literature primarily examines the causal relationship between external knowledge sources and product innovation performance or to identify factors which moderates the relationship between external knowledge sourcing and product innovation. Non-technological innovations, such as organization and marketing innovations, intervene in the process of external knowledge sourcing to product innovation to market performance but has not been extensively examined. This study addresses two research questions: does external knowledge sourcing lead to market performance and how does external knowledge sourcing interact with a firm's different innovation activities to enhance market performance. This study proposes a comprehensive model to capture the causal mechanism from external knowledge sourcing to market performance. The research model was tested using survey data from manufacturing firms in South Korea and the results demonstrate a strong statistical relationship in the path of external knowledge sourcing (EKS) to product innovation performance (PIP) to market performance (MP). Organizational innovation is an antecedent to EKS while marketing innovation is a consequence of EKS, which significantly influences PIP and MP. The results imply that any potential EKS effort should also consider organizational innovations which may ultimately enhance market performance. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed as well as concluding remarks.

SOCIAL CAPITAL AND HEALTH CARE ACCESS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

PubMed Central

Derose, Kathryn Pitkin; Varda, Danielle M.

2017-01-01

A growing interest in community-level characteristics such as social capital and their relationship to healthcare access is evident. To assess the rigor with which this construct has been empirically applied in research on healthcare access, we conducted a systematic review. A total of 2396 abstracts were reviewed, with 21 ultimately meeting our criteria of examining some measure of social capital and its effects on healthcare access. Our review found a lack of congruence in how social capital was measured and interpreted and a general inconsistency in findings, which made it difficult to draw firm conclusions about the effects of social capital on healthcare access. Insights from the social network literature can help improve the conceptual and measurement problems. We recommend that future work distinguish between bonding, bridging, and linking social capital and their sources and benefits, and that perhaps three dimensions of social capital actually exist –cognitive, behavioral, and structural. PMID:19174538

The uncompromising leader.

PubMed

Eisenstat, Russell A; Beer, Michael; Foote, Nathaniel; Fredberg, Tobias; Norrgren, Flemming

2008-01-01

Managing the tension between performance and people is at the heart of the CEO's job. But CEOs under fierce pressure from capital markets often focus solely on the shareholder, which can lead to employee disenchantment. Others put so much stock in their firms' heritage that they don't notice as their organizations slide into complacency. Some leaders, though, manage to avoid those traps and create high-commitment, high-performance (HCHP) companies. The authors' in-depth research of HCHP CEOs reveals several shared traits: These CEOs earn the trust of their organizations through their openness to the unvarnished truth. They are deeply engaged with their people, and their exchanges are direct and personal. They mobilize employees around a focused agenda, concentrating on only one or two initiatives. And they work to build collective leadership capabilities. These leaders also forge an emotionally resonant shared purpose across their companies. That consists of a three-part promise: The company will help employees build a better world and deliver performance they can be proud of, and will provide an environment in which they can grow. HCHP CEOs approach finding a firm's moral and strategic center in a competitive market as a calling, not an engineering problem. They drive their firms to be strongly market focused while at the same time reinforcing their firms' core values. They are committed to short-term performance while also investing in long-term leadership and organizational capabilities. By refusing to compromise on any of these terms, they build great companies.

Performance of the internal audit department under ERP systems: empirical evidence from Taiwanese firms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsai, Wen-Hsien; Chen, Hui-Chiao; Chang, Jui-Chu; Leu, Jun-Der; Chao Chen, Der; Purbokusumo, Yuyun

2015-10-01

In this study, the performance of the internal audit department (IAD) and its contribution to a company under enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems was examined. It is anticipated that this will provide insight into the factors perceived to be crucial to a company's effectiveness. A theoretical framework was developed and tested using the sample of Taiwanese companies. Using mail survey procedures, we elicited perceptions from key internal auditors about the ERP system and auditing software, as well as their opinions concerning the IAD's effectiveness and its contribution within a company. Data were analysed using the partial least square (PLS) regression to test the hypotheses. Drawing upon a sample of Taiwanese firms, the study suggests that a firm can improve the performance of the IAD through an enterprise-wide integrated, effective ERP system and appropriate auditing software. At the same time, the performance of the IAD can also contribute significantly to the company. The results also show that investments in computer-assisted auditing techniques (CAATs) are crucial due to their tremendous effectiveness in regard to the performance of the IAD and for the contributions CAATs can make to a company.

Small and Medium-Sized Information Technology Firms: Assessment of Non-Local Partnership Facilitators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Findikoglu, Melike Nur

2012-01-01

A two-phased qualitative study was conducted to explore the facilitators of non-local (i.e. domestic or international) partnerships formed by small- and medium-sized firms (SME). Rooted in trust, proximity and dynamic capabilities lenses, the study focused on behaviors of SMEs performing in dynamic, competitive and highly interlinked industry, the…

Innovation Value of Information Technology: Impact of Information Technology--Intensity on Innovation Capability and Firm Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ramamani, Mahesh Kumar

2010-01-01

Though information technology adoptions have been always referred to as innovations in firms, much of the business value literature has concentrated on the tangible and immediately measurable impacts of information technology (IT) adoptions. This study aims to explore the impact of information technology investments on the innovativeness of a…

Understanding How Resources and Capabilities Affect Performance: Actively Applying the Resource-Based View in the Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sheehan, Norman T.

2006-01-01

The resource-based view is a strategic framework for understanding why some firms outperform others. Its importance is reflected in its wide inclusion in strategy texts as a tool for assessing a firm's internal strengths and weaknesses. This article outlines an experiential exercise that demonstrates how different bundles of resources and…

SPS market analysis. [small solar thermal power systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goff, H. C.

1980-01-01

A market analysis task included personal interviews by GE personnel and supplemental mail surveys to acquire statistical data and to identify and measure attitudes, reactions and intentions of prospective small solar thermal power systems (SPS) users. Over 500 firms were contacted, including three ownership classes of electric utilities, industrial firms in the top SIC codes for energy consumption, and design engineering firms. A market demand model was developed which utilizes the data base developed by personal interviews and surveys, and projected energy price and consumption data to perform sensitivity analyses and estimate potential markets for SPS.

Does symbolism benefit environmental and business performance in the adoption of ISO 14001?

PubMed

Ferrón-Vílchez, Vera

2016-12-01

Much research has focused on the organisational and reputational benefits of ISO 14001. However, less discussed is the symbolic adoption that some firms are implementing without experiencing significant reductions in environmental impacts. This work analyses the relationships between the different ISO 14001 adoption profiles (from symbolic profile to factual approach) and both environmental performance and profitability. These relationships are examined using a sample of 1214 manufacturing firms in 7 OECD countries while controlling for selection bias. The results suggest that only ISO 14001 adopters that monitor an extensive set of negative environmental impacts are associated with real improvements in both environmental performance and business performance. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

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.

Performance-based regulation: enterprise responsibility for reducing death, injury, and disease caused by consumer products.

PubMed

Sugarman, Stephen D

2009-12-01

This article offers a bold new idea for confronting the staggering level of death, injury, and disease caused by five consumer products: cigarettes, alcohol, guns, junk food, and motor vehicles. Business leaders try to frame these negative outcomes as "collateral damage" that is someone else's problem. That framing not only is morally objectionable but also overlooks the possibility that, with proper prodding, industry could substantially lessen these public health disasters. I seek to reframe the public perception of who is responsible and propose to deploy a promising approach called "performance-based regulation" to combat the problem. Performance-based regulation would impose on manufacturers a legal obligation to reduce the negative social costs of their products. Rather than involving them in litigation or forcing them to operate differently (as "command-and-control" regimes do), performance-based regulation allows the firms to determine how best to decrease bad public health consequences. Like other public health strategies, performance-based regulation focuses on those who are far more likely than individual consumers to achieve real gains. Analogous to a tax on causing harm that exceeds a threshold level, performance-based regulation seeks to harness private initiative in pursuit of the public good.

Information Assurance and Information Technology: Training, Certification, and Personnel Management in the Department of Defense

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-08-27

firms Infiltrate social events, like exchanging business cards at microbrewery festivals, art fairs, home & garden shows Assign candidates an in-house...E-2 Table 6. Sampling Plan for IA Data Call...F-7 Table 19. Planning and Implementation (3C3X1) ................................................................F-7

What's Happening to the American Family?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eisenberg, Leon

In the aftermath of the Industrial Revolution, the American family has been stripped of two of its traditional social functions: serving as a unit for economic production and as a school for the vocational training of children. The first function has been usurped by commercial firms, the second by the state. Some functions remain: physically and…

77 FR 2697 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Annual Services Report

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-19

... and from a sample of small- and medium-sized businesses selected using a stratified sampling procedure... be canvassed when the sample is re-drawn, while nearly all of the small- and medium-sized firms from...); Educational Services (NAICS 61); Health Care and Social Assistance (NAICS 62); Arts, Entertainment, and...

Social Justice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oguntoyinbo, Lekan

2012-01-01

These are tough times for the law profession. Employment prospects are the weakest they have been in decades. Wages have stagnated. Many blue chip law firms have laid off lawyers or are hiring fewer lawyers. Lately, law schools have been accused of luring students with false promises of cushy, high-paying jobs. There have been accusations of law…

78 FR 40434 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Survey of Fish Processors and Disruptions...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-05

... Science Center's Social Sciences Branch seeks to collect data on distribution networks and business... also seeks to collect data on business disruptions due to Hurricane Sandy for those firms. The data collected will improve research and analysis on the economic impacts of potential fishery management actions...

Insidious Influence of Gender Socialization on Females' Physical Activity: Rethink Pink

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mullins, Nicole M.

2015-01-01

Continually accumulating information on the health risks associated with sedentary lifestyles indicates a severe public health need for increased physical activity, as well as for careful attention to factors that can curtail it. Study and documentation of such factors, however, are not enough to promote widespread change in firmly established…

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…

13 CFR 124.1004 - What is a misrepresentation of SDB status?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false What is a misrepresentation of SDB... of SDB status? (a) Any person or entity that misrepresents a firm's status as a “small business concern owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals” (“SDB status”) in...

13 CFR 124.1004 - What is a misrepresentation of SDB status?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false What is a misrepresentation of SDB... of SDB status? (a) Any person or entity that misrepresents a firm's status as a “small business concern owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals” (“SDB status”) in...

13 CFR 124.1004 - What is a misrepresentation of SDB status?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false What is a misrepresentation of SDB... of SDB status? (a) Any person or entity that misrepresents a firm's status as a “small business concern owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals” (“SDB status”) in...

13 CFR 124.1004 - What is a misrepresentation of SDB status?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false What is a misrepresentation of SDB... of SDB status? (a) Any person or entity that misrepresents a firm's status as a “small business concern owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals” (“SDB status”) in...

13 CFR 124.1004 - What is a misrepresentation of SDB status?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false What is a misrepresentation of SDB... of SDB status? (a) Any person or entity that misrepresents a firm's status as a “small business concern owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals” (“SDB status”) in...

Baby Bonds: Parenting, Attachment and a Secure Base for Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moullin, Sophie; Waldfogel, Jane; Washbrook, Elizabeth

2014-01-01

The idea that parenting matters for early child development is now firmly recognised by policymakers. It is well established that parents' investments influence young children's development, and their chances in life. Parenting is one of the most important drivers of social inequalities in cognitive development before school. We also know that…

76 FR 82303 - Draft Guidance for Industry on Responding to Unsolicited Requests for Off-Label Information About...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-12-30

... indication and risk information, post-marketing submission requirements) in their internet and social media... requests for off-label information, including those that firms may encounter on emerging electronic media...] Draft Guidance for Industry on Responding to Unsolicited Requests for Off-Label Information About...

Wellbeing in Schools: Examining the Policy-Practice Nexus

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Powell, Mary Ann; Graham, Anne

2017-01-01

National concern regarding the social and emotional wellbeing of children and young people is now strongly reflected in a wide range of Australian policy initiatives. A considerable number of these target schools and point firmly to the role education is perceived to play in promoting student wellbeing. Given that wellbeing can be difficult to…

Is "the Posthuman" Educable? On the Convergence of Educational Philosophy, Animal Studies, and Posthumanist Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pedersen, Helena

2010-01-01

Formal education in Western society is firmly rooted in humanist ideals. "Becoming human" by cultivating certain cognitive, social, and moral abilities has even symbolised the idea of education as such in Enlightenment philosophical traditions. These ideas are increasingly coming under scrutiny by posthumanist theorists, who are addressing…

Software Innovations: The Influence of Quality, Diversity and Structure of Network Ties

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Singh, Harpeet

2010-01-01

There is high uncertainty associated with the outcomes of Information Technology (IT) investments and innovations. In such environments, IT actors (firm and individuals) are also unsure about their actions and preferences. The social relationships of these actors create substantial value for these actors in multiple ways (e.g. providing social…

Decolonisation through Critical Career Research and Action: Maori Women and Accountancy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McNicholas, Patty; Humphries, Maria

2005-01-01

The call for a just social order in Aotearoa (New Zealand) includes the transformation of mono-cultural institutions such as the accountancy profession. Maori women accountants in this research expressed concern about maintaining their identity as Maori while participating in the corporate culture of the firms in which they are employed. These…

Variations in disaster evacuation behavior: public responses versus private sector executive decision-making processes.

PubMed

Drabek, T E

1992-06-01

Data obtained from 65 executives working for tourism firms in three sample communities permitted comparison with the public warning response literature regarding three topics: disaster evacuation planning, initial warning responses, and disaster evacuation behavior. Disaster evacuation planning was reported by nearly all of these business executives, although it was highly variable in content, completeness, and formality. Managerial responses to post-disaster warnings paralleled the type of complex social processes that have been documented within the public response literature, except that warning sources and confirmation behavior were significantly affected by contact with authorities. Five key areas of difference were discovered in disaster evacuation behavior pertaining to: influence of planning, firm versus family priorities, shelter selection, looting concerns, and media contacts.

Interdisciplinary integration for quality improvement: the Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center Firm System.

PubMed

Aucott, J N; Pelecanos, E; Bailey, A J; Shupe, T C; Romeo, J H; Ravdin, J I; Aron, D C

1995-04-01

Many of the characteristics of Firm Systems lend themselves to the application of principles of continuous quality improvement (CQI). A Firm System is defined as two or more parallel practices organized on the principle of continuity of relationships between patients and an interdisciplinary group of health care professionals and trainees. Firm Systems are organized around the care of the patient or customer and emphasize access, continuity, and quality of care. The Firm System was implemented at the Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) not as a CQI initiative per se, but as an effort to coordinate the processes involved in the delivery of patient care. The primary goals of this implementation were to improve the quality of patient care, medical education, and health care research. The main strategy to deal with problems caused by uncoordinated care were to move from a departmental approach to an integrated interdisciplinary approach. This approach represented a paradigm shift within the organization that extended to planning, documentation, and the general work environment. Most important, the institution had leaders who were committed to the Firm System and willing to authorize resources to ensure its success. VA hospitals are ideal settings for Firm Systems because they provide longitudinal, comprehensive care with a centralized, prepaid payment mechanism, and they have well-developed information systems that allow the random assignment of patients to Firms. Recommendations to others interested in implementing Firm Systems include creation of a written plan that can gain general support; identification of resources needed for successful implementation; remembering that the patient is the most important customer, as well as that complex systems have many customers; monitoring of performance; and the importance of randomizing patients and providers.

Time series momentum and contrarian effects in the Chinese stock market

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Huai-Long; Zhou, Wei-Xing

2017-10-01

This paper concentrates on the time series momentum or contrarian effects in the Chinese stock market. We evaluate the performance of the time series momentum strategy applied to major stock indices in mainland China and explore the relation between the performance of time series momentum strategies and some firm-specific characteristics. Our findings indicate that there is a time series momentum effect in the short run and a contrarian effect in the long run in the Chinese stock market. The performances of the time series momentum and contrarian strategies are highly dependent on the look-back and holding periods and firm-specific characteristics.

The impact of HCA's 2006 leveraged buyout on hospital performance.

PubMed

McCue, Michael J; Thompson, Jon M

2012-01-01

Leveraged buyout (LBO) arrangements are a reorganization strategy whereby a firm assumes a substantial amount of debt to buy back its publicly held stock to become privately held. LBOs offer a firm several advantages and have the potential to increase efficiency. In the past 20 years, several healthcare firms have engaged in LBOs, but the literature on performance changes in healthcare organizations as a result of an LBO is limited. In this article, we report on a study that examined the performance of Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) hospitals before and after the LBO that was initiated in 2006. We used data from the Medicare Hospital Cost Report Information System and analyzed data from 130 HCA hospitals and 490 comparison hospitals. Findings show that HCA hospitals reduced expenses and their number of full-time equivalents (FTEs) relative to local competitor hospitals. HCA hospitals' cash-flow-margin ratio was substantially higher when adjusted for its local competing hospitals at the beginning of the LBO as well as at end of the LBO. When compared to local hospitals, HCA hospitals had a significant decrease in their capital investment in fixed assets from 2006 to 2009. These findings underscore the effectiveness of HCA's management strategies to repay debt and increase the value of the company, and they are informative for healthcare firms and their managers who are considering LBOs.

The effect of gender and age differences on media selection in small and medium tourism enterprises.

PubMed

Dehkordi, Majid A; Zarei, Behrouz; Dehkordi, Shabnam A

2008-12-01

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact that gender and age differences have on the communication media selection within the context of small and medium tourism enterprises (SMEs). Media Richness Theory (MRT) was used to assess media preferences in the firms. Using a mail questionnaire, data from 78 firms were collected on seven popular media in use. Historical data of the firms, media characteristics, and other firm-specific factors were included in the analysis. The results indicated that there are substantial gender and age differences in term of communication media selection. This is consistent with MRT and highlights the importance of choosing the appropriate media in SMEs, according with the employee's behaviors, in order to achieve better outcomes and to smooth the path towards good performance in the future.

76 FR 16450 - Management Resources Group, Inc., Including Workers in the States of Georgia and New York...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-23

...) there has been a shift by the workers' firm to a foreign country in the production of articles or supply...) there has been an acquisition from a foreign country by the workers' firm of articles/services that are.... Further, the Department determined that workers in the Inventory Services Group, which performs activities...

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…

12 CFR 513.8 - Removal, suspension, or debarment of independent public accountants and accounting firms...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... misleading information to the Office or any officer or employee of the Office; (5) Has engaged in, or aided... that there is good cause for the removal, suspension, or debarment of a member or employee of an... members or employees of the accounting firm involved in the performance of audit services; (4) The extent...

Basic Skills Testing & Training. 1996 AMA Survey. Summary of Key Findings.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

American Management Association, New York, NY.

The American Management Association's (AMA) 10th annual survey on workplace testing was mailed in January 1996 to a sample of its 9,500 member companies, resulting in 961 usable responses. The survey sought to determine how many firms test for "basic skills," how job applicants perform on these tests, how much the tests costs, and what firms do…

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.

Conflicts of Interest in Medical Technology Markets: Evidence from Orthopedic Surgery.

PubMed

Smieliauskas, Fabrice

2016-06-01

Financial relationships between physicians and industry are vital to biomedical innovation yet create the potential for conflicts of interest in medical practice. I consider an inducement model of the role of financial relationships in health care markets, where consulting payments induce physicians to use more devices of the firms that sponsor them. To test the model, I exploit a policy shock, whereby government monitoring of payments to joint replacement surgeons resulted in declines of over 60% in both total payments and in the number of physicians receiving payments from 2007 to 2008. Using hospital discharge data from three states, I find that the loss of payments leads physicians to switch 7 percentage points of their device utilization from their sponsoring firms' devices to other firms' devices, an effect which is concentrated among surgeons with low switching costs. These results offer support for the inducement model. I also find evidence of an increase in medical productivity following the policy intervention, which suggests conditions under which regulation of financial relationships would be socially beneficial. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The adoption of Firm-Hosted Online Communities: an empirical investigation into the role of service quality and social interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Corkindale, David; Ram, Jiwat; Chen, Howard

2018-02-01

Online communities are a powerful device for collaborative creativity and innovation. Developments in Web 2.0 technologies have given rise to such interactions through firm-hosted online communities (FHOCs) - firm-run online information services that also provide self-help to a community. We devise a model that seeks to explain the factors that encourage people to become members of a FHOC and test the model using structural equation modelling based on data collected from 511 users of a FHOC. The study finds that: (a) an understanding of Perceived Usefulness (PU) plays a mediating role between Behavioural Intention (BI) to adopt FHOC and Trust, as well as Interface design; b) Networking among users has an indirect effect on BI; and c) design of the Interface has a direct influence on BI. A managerial implication is that Networking plays a role in the way supplementary services, including blogs and discussion forums, are perceived. Theoretically, when service quality is decomposed into components such as core services and supplementary services, it also positively influences PU.

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.

12 CFR 263.400 - Scope.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... of independent public accountants and their accounting firms from performing independent audit and... PRACTICE FOR HEARINGS Removal, Suspension, and Debarment of Accountants From Performing Audit Services...

12 CFR 263.400 - Scope.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... PRACTICE FOR HEARINGS Removal, Suspension, and Debarment of Accountants From Performing Audit Services... of independent public accountants and their accounting firms from performing independent audit and...

Electricity generation and transmission planning in deregulated power markets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Yang

This dissertation addresses the long-term planning of power generation and transmission facilities in a deregulated power market. Three models with increasing complexities are developed, primarily for investment decisions in generation and transmission capacity. The models are presented in a two-stage decision context where generation and transmission capacity expansion decisions are made in the first stage, while power generation and transmission service fees are decided in the second stage. Uncertainties that exist in the second stage affect the capacity expansion decisions in the first stage. The first model assumes that the electric power market is not constrained by transmission capacity limit. The second model, which includes transmission constraints, considers the interactions between generation firms and the transmission network operator. The third model assumes that the generation and transmission sectors make capacity investment decisions separately. These models result in Nash-Cournot equilibrium among the unregulated generation firms, while the regulated transmission network operator supports the competition among generation firms. Several issues in the deregulated electric power market can be studied with these models such as market powers of generation firms and transmission network operator, uncertainties of the future market, and interactions between the generation and transmission sectors. Results deduced from the developed models include (a) regulated transmission network operator will not reserve transmission capacity to gain extra profits; instead, it will make capacity expansion decisions to support the competition in the generation sector; (b) generation firms will provide more power supplies when there is more demand; (c) in the presence of future uncertainties, the generation firms will add more generation capacity if the demand in the future power market is expected to be higher; and (d) the transmission capacity invested by the transmission network operator depends on the characteristic of the power market and the topology of the transmission network. Also, the second model, which considers interactions between generation and transmission sectors, yields higher social welfare in the electric power market, than the third model where generation firms and transmission network operator make investment decisions separately.

Analyses of direct and indirect impacts of a positive list system on pharmaceutical R&D investments.

PubMed

Han, Euna; Kim, Tae Hyun; Jeung, Myung Jin; Lee, Eui-Kyung

2013-07-01

The South Korean government recently enacted a Positive List System (PLS) as a major change of the national formulary listing system and reimbursed prices for pharmaceutical products. Regardless of the primary goal of the PLS, its implementation might have spillover effects by influencing the pharmaceutical industry's research and development (R&D), potentially leading to a variety of responses by firms in relation to their R&D activities. We investigated the spillover effect of the PLS on R&D investments of the pharmaceutical industry in Korea through both direct and indirect channels, examining the influence of the PLS on sales profit and cash flow. Data from 9 years (5 before and 4 after PLS implementation) were drawn from the financial statements of firms whose stocks were exchanged in 2 official stock markets in Korea (526 firms) and additional pharmaceutical firms whose financial performance was officially audited by external reviewers (263 firms). Longitudinal analyses were conducted, using the panel nature of the data to control for permanent unobserved firm heterogeneity. Our results showed that the PLS was directly associated with R&D investments. In contrast, its indirect impacts stemming from the influence on sales profit and cash flow were minimal and statistically nonsignificant. The gross impact of the PLS on R&D investments increased moving further from the enactment year; R&D investments were reduced by 18.3% to 25.8% in 2009-2010 (compared with before PLS implementation) in the firm fixed-effects model. We also found that such negative direct and gross impacts of the PLS on R&D investments were significant only in firms without newly developed chemical entities. Considering the gross negative impact of the PLS on R&D investments of pharmaceutical firms and the heterogeneous response of these firms by the R&D activities, governmental efforts of cost-containment may need to consider the spillover impact of the PLS on pharmaceutical innovation. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier HS Journals, Inc. All rights reserved.

Performance in quasi-firms: an example from the Community Clinical Oncology Program.

PubMed

Lacey, L M; Hynes, D M; Kaluzny, A D

1992-01-01

In this analysis, the authors examined the effects of different sets of process, structure, and environmental variables on the performance of the CCOP as a quasi-firm. Specifically, they distinguished between internal organizational processes, structural, and size characteristics of the CCOP and the organizational environment created by prior NCI program experience and the relationship within the quasi-firm. The analysis revealed that these sets of organizational and environmental characteristics have differential effects on treatment accrual. The strongest predictors are those associated with the quasi-firm relationship between the CCOP and its chosen research bases. Any definitive policy implications for the design of organizational network relationships--especially the CCOPs--will require further analysis. Particular attention needs to be given to the longitudinal nature of the relationships and the ability of these organizational and environmental factors to affect other aspects of performance. Several points have been made within this initial assessment. First, the structural character of the CCOP and its relationship to its organizational environment are important factors affecting accrual performance. The subtleties of this multivariate model are not as important as simply demonstrating that the various internal and external characteristics of these organizations as quasi-firms simultaneously affect their ability to accrue patients to clinical trials. Secondly, the importance of research base relations, and particularly the significant role of nurses, needs to be emphasized. While CCOPs were originally designed as a network of physicians and hospitals, it appears that an infrastructure of professionally active nurses working within a larger organizational environment is critical to success--at least as defined by accrual to treatment protocols. Finally, the failure of prior experience with other NCI community programs to affect CCOP accrual performance suggests that such experience does not assure "organizational learning" that may enhance performance. This suggests that CCOPs can be designated de novo to maximize performance without necessarily having to undergo a developmental or experiential phase involving community cancer programs to be effective. However, the authors suspect that another method of characterizing experience may produce different results. Further analyses of these data will test these results against other measures of CCOP performance. Specifically, attention will be given to whether this same set of characteristics is predictive of accrual to cancer control research protocols. Similarly, these same organizational characteristics may or may not be associated with other dimensions of CCOP performance such as changes in physician practice patterns and/or levels of institutionalization of the CCOP within its local community.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

How Might Civilian Technology Firms Play A Role In The Defense Industrial Base Going Forward

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-12-01

Political ............................................................................. 55 2. Economic ...the political, economic , social, technological, environmental, and legal forces affecting entry into the defense industrial base...development BBP 1.0 Better Buying Power 1.0 BBP 2.0 Better Buying Power 2.0 BBP 3.0 Better Buying Power 3.0 BEA Bureau of Economic Analysis BLS

The Educational Validity and Utility of Single-Case Design Research in Building Evidence-Based Practices in Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kourea, Lefki; Lo, Ya-yu

2016-01-01

Improving academic, behavioural, and social outcomes of students through empirical research has been a firm commitment among researchers, policy-makers, and other professionals in education across Europe and the United States (U.S.). To assist in building scientific evidences, executive bodies such as the European Commission and the Institute for…

The Power of Accounts: Ethnographic Research in a Professional Educational Setting.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coffey, Amanda

This paper explores the dynamic nature of the power relationship within social research, concentrating on the production and reproduction of a text of the field and focusing on the processes of recording, writing, and reading. It draws on ethnographic research conducted in a United Kingdom office of an international firm of chartered accountants…

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 ''Coconut Tree'' Model of Careers: The Case of French Academia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Altman, Yochanan; Bournois, Frank

2004-01-01

This research note sets out to explain the main features of the French university academic career--the ''coconut tree,'' as it is colloquially known, setting it firmly within a social and cultural context; outlining the logic and functions of career stages, explaining its rituals and conventions, its rewards and pitfalls. These are narrated by two…

Technology Entrepreneurship: A Deliberation on Success and Failure in Technology Venturing toward a Grounded Theory of Dystechnia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stewart, McDonald R.

2011-01-01

In the realm of social sciences, the greater body of business and economic theory constructs frameworks of complex organizational systems: the firm, the industry, the institution. Underlying these interdependent and concentric layers are individuals whose behaviors exist first; behaviors must give rise to institutions before institutions can mold…

Economic Adjustment/Conversion

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-07-01

55 11. State and Local Economic Development Process ...................... 61 PART IV: ECNOMIC AND SOCIAL SERVICE ASSISTANCE TO PERSONS 12. Special...defense production which occurs in plants essentially ded- icated to that purpose. Although a major weapon system is usually budgeted as a single entity...and cuait; of life are essential to attracting new firms and especially important to retaining existing businesses. Research indicates that

Team Learning: Through the Relational Dynamics of Co-operation and Rivalry in Team Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lotz, Maja

2010-01-01

This paper explores the constructive links between cooperation, rivalry, and learning within the structure of team communities. Drawing upon social learning theory and qualitative data from case studies conducted in Danish team-based firms, the main purpose is to argue that both cooperation and rivalry are important triggers for mobilizing…

Positive Parenting of Young Adolescents by Male Cohabiting Partners: The Roles of Coparenting Conflict and Support

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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

2016-01-01

Fathers have often been ignored in the parenting literature. The current study focused on male cohabiting partners (MCPs) who can serve as "social stepfathers" and examined the association of coparent support and conflict with their positive parenting behavior (i.e., acceptance, firm control, and monitoring) of adolescents. Participants…

Social marketing of condoms in India.

PubMed

Thapa, S; Prasad, C V; Rao, P H; Severy, L J; Rao, S R

1994-01-01

Contraceptive social marketing is a way of supplying contraceptives to consumers who cannot afford to buy them at full market price, yet are not reached by the free public distribution program. The process involves supplying a subsidized product through existing commercial distribution networks, using the mass media and other retail marketing techniques to commercially advertise the products. India was the first country to introduce this concept to its family planning program. India's social marketing program is also the largest in the world. Over the past 25 years, total condom sales in India have expanded under the program from less than 10 million per year to more than one billion. The authors present an overview of India's social marketing initiative, describe the firms participating in the program, and summarize the lessons learned from the social marketing experience. Problems and prospects, and experiences and implications are discussed.

Diversity begets diversity? The effects of board composition on the appointment and success of women CEOs.

PubMed

Cook, Alison; Glass, Christy

2015-09-01

Previous research on the effects of leadership diversity on firm outcomes has produced inconsistent and inconclusive findings. While some scholars argue that diversity increases organizational equity and enhances performance, others argue that diversity increases conflict, reduces cooperation and harms performance. This study tests the impact of a variety of compositional factors on firm outcomes. Specifically, we analyze whether and how board composition affects the advancement and mobility of women CEOs and firm performance. Our analysis relies on a unique data set of all Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and Board of Directors (BODs) in Fortune 500 companies over a ten-year period. We find a marginally significant positive relationship between board diversity and the likelihood of a woman being appointed CEO. We further find that board diversity significantly and positively influences the post-promotion success of women CEOs. Our findings suggest that board composition is critical for the appointment and success of women CEOs, and increasing board diversity should be central to any organizational diversity efforts. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

12 CFR 263.400 - Scope.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

...) RULES OF PRACTICE FOR HEARINGS Removal, Suspension, and Debarment of Accountants From Performing Audit... debarment of independent public accountants and their accounting firms from performing independent audit and...

12 CFR 263.400 - Scope.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

...) RULES OF PRACTICE FOR HEARINGS Removal, Suspension, and Debarment of Accountants From Performing Audit... debarment of independent public accountants and their accounting firms from performing independent audit and...

12 CFR 263.400 - Scope.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

...) RULES OF PRACTICE FOR HEARINGS Removal, Suspension, and Debarment of Accountants From Performing Audit... debarment of independent public accountants and their accounting firms from performing independent audit and...

Are you a collaborative leader?

PubMed

Ibarra, Herminia; Hansen, Morten T

2011-01-01

Social media and technologies have put connectivity on steroids and made collaboration more integral to business than ever. But without the right leadership, collaboration can go astray. Employees who try to collaborate on everything may wind up stuck in endless meetings, struggling to reach agreement. On the other side of the coin, executives who came of age during the heyday of "command and control" management can have trouble adjusting their style to fit the new realities. In their research on top-performing CEOs, Insead professors Ibarra and Hansen have examined what it takes to be a collaborative leader. They've found that it requires connecting people and ideas outside an organization to those inside it, leveraging diverse talent, modeling collaborative behavior at the top, and showing a strong hand to keep teams from getting mired in debate. In this article, they describe tactics that executives from Akamai, GE, Reckitt Benckiser, and other firms use in those four areas and how they foster high-performance collaborative cultures in their organizations.

A Structural Equation Model of the Factors Associated with Influence and Power of IT Departments and Their Relationship to Firm's IT Orientation and Business Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kowshik, Raghu V.

2010-01-01

Although few firms can function without an information technology (IT) department, senior executives often consider IT as secondary. Historically, studies have found IT departments to have low influence and power status compared to other departments. Few, if any, studies have investigated what factors contribute to this subservient position. Three…

Project Proposals Evaluation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Encheva, Sylvia; Tumin, Sharil

2009-08-01

Collaboration among various firms has been traditionally used trough single project joint ventures for bonding purposes. Eventhough the performed work is usually beneficial to some extend to all participants, the type of collaboration option to be adapted is strongly influenced by overall purposes and goals that can be achieved. In order to facilitate a choice of collaboration option best suited to a firm's need a computer based model is proposed.

Impact of Top Management Team on Firm Performance in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Adopting Commercial Open-Source Enterprise Resource Planning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cereola, Sandra J.; Wier, Benson; Norman, Carolyn Strand

2012-01-01

Based on the large number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the United States, their increasing interest in enterprise-wide software systems and their impact on the US economy, it is important to understand the determinants that can facilitate the successful implementation and assimilation of such technology into these firms' daily…

Outcome-Focused Market Intelligence: Extracting Better Value and Effectiveness from Strategic Sourcing

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-04-01

disseminating information are not systematically taught or developed in the government’s acquisition workforce. However, a study of 30 large firms ...to keep themselves abreast of changes in the marketplace, such as technological advances, process improvements, and available sources of supply. The...and performance measurement (Monczka & Petersen, 2008). Firms that develop supply management strategic plans typically set three-to-five year

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.

The relationship between family resiliency factors and caregiver-perceived duration of untreated psychosis in persons with first-episode psychosis.

PubMed

Mo'tamedi, Hadi; Rezaiemaram, Peyman; Aguilar-Vafaie, Maria E; Tavallaie, Abaas; Azimian, Mojtaba; Shemshadi, Hashem

2014-11-30

Although the family has an important role in the early detection and intervention of first-episode psychosis (FEP), there are few findings reporting associations between family strengths and early treatment-seeking experiences. This study aimed to investigate, within the framework of the resiliency model of family stress, adjustment, and adaptation, the association between family coping strategies, resource management factors and duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) in Iranian families with one adult child with FEP. Hundred and seven individuals referred to three medical centers in Tehran and diagnosed with FEP participated in this study. Caregiver-perceived DUP was measured via semi-structured interviews administered to primary caregivers. They also completed two questionnaires regarding family resources of stress management and family coping strategies. Data analysis indicated that the Family Inventory of Resources of Management (FIRM) total scale score did not significantly explain the variance of caregiver-perceived DUP, but one of the FIRM subscales, the Extended Family Social Support, and the Family Crisis-Oriented Personal Evaluation scale (F-COPES) total score and one its subscales, the Acquiring Social Support, explained a significant amount of the variance of caregiver-perceived DUP. The results suggest that higher family resiliency, especially social support, facilitates the family's appropriate adaptive reaction (i.e., treatment-seeking), with the consequent decrease of DUP. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Embeddedness of Adolescent Friendship Nominations: The Formation of Social Capital in Emergent Network Structures

PubMed Central

Frank, Kenneth A.; Muller, Chandra; Mueller, Anna S.

2014-01-01

Although research on social embeddedness and social capital con-firms the value of friendship networks, little has been written about how social relations form and are structured by social institutions. Using data from the Adolescent Health and Academic Achievement study and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, the authors show that the odds of a new friendship nomination were 1.77 times greater within clusters of high school students taking courses together than between them. The estimated effect cannot be attributed to exposure to peers in similar grade levels, indirect friendship links, or pair-level course overlap, and the finding is robust to alternative model specifications. The authors also show how tendencies associated with status hierarchy inhering in triadic friendship nominations are neutralized within the clusters. These results have implications for the production and distribution of social capital within social systems such as schools, giving the clusters social salience as “local positions.” PMID:25364011

Organizational Strategy and Business Environment Effects Based on a Computation Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reklitis, Panagiotis; Konstantopoulos, Nikolaos; Trivellas, Panagiotis

2007-12-01

According to many researchers of organizational theory, a great number of problems encountered by the manufacturing firms are due to their ineffectiveness to respond to significant changes of their external environment and align their competitive strategy accordingly. From this point of view, the pursuit of the appropriate generic strategy is vital for firms facing a dynamic and highly competitive environment. In the present paper, we adopt Porter's typology to operationalise organizational strategy (cost leadership, innovative and marketing differentiation, and focus) considering changes in the external business environment (dynamism, complexity and munificence). Although simulation of social events is a quite difficult task, since there are so many considerations (not all well understood) involved, in the present study we developed a dynamic system based on the conceptual framework of strategy-environment associations.

Ablation of Rotor and Focal Sources Reduces Late Recurrence of Atrial Fibrillation Compared to Trigger Ablation Alone

PubMed Central

Narayan, Sanjiv M.; Baykaner, Tina; Clopton, Paul; Schricker, Amir; Lalani, Gautam; Krummen, David E.; Shivkumar, Kalyanam; Miller, John M.

2014-01-01

Objectives To determine if ablation that targets patient-specific AF-sustaining substrates (rotors or focal sources) is more durable than trigger ablation alone at preventing late AF recurrences. Background Late recurrence substantially limits the efficacy of pulmonary vein (PV) isolation for AF, and is associated with PV reconnection and the emergence of new triggers. Methods We performed 3 year follow-up of the CONFIRM trial, in which 92 consecutive AF patients (70.7% persistent) underwent novel computational mapping to reveal a median of 2 (IQR 1–2) rotors or focal sources in 97.7% of patients during AF. Ablation comprised source (Focal Impulse and Rotor Modulation, FIRM) then conventional ablation in n=27 (FIRM-guided), and conventional ablation alone in n=65 (FIRM-blinded). Patients were followed with implanted ECG monitors when possible (85.2% FIRM guided, 23.1% FIRM-blinded). Results On 890 days follow-up (median; IQR 224–1563) compared FIRM-blinded therapy, patients receiving FIRM-guided ablation maintained higher freedom from AF after 1.2±0.4 procedures (median 1, IQR 1–1) (77.8% vs 38.5%; p=0.001) and a single procedure (p>0.001), and higher freedom from all atrial arrhythmias (p=0.003). Freedom from AF was higher when ablation directly or coincidentally passed through sources than when it missed sources (p>0.001). CONCLUSIONS FIRM-guided ablation is more durable than conventional trigger-based ablation at preventing 3 year AF recurrence. Future studies should investigate how ablation of patient-specific AF-sustaining rotors and focal sources alters the natural history of arrhythmia recurrence. PMID:24632280

The Facial Appearance of CEOs: Faces Signal Selection but Not Performance.

PubMed

Stoker, Janka I; Garretsen, Harry; Spreeuwers, Luuk J

2016-01-01

Research overwhelmingly shows that facial appearance predicts leader selection. However, the evidence on the relevance of faces for actual leader ability and consequently performance is inconclusive. By using a state-of-the-art, objective measure for face recognition, we test the predictive value of CEOs' faces for firm performance in a large sample of faces. We first compare the faces of Fortune500 CEOs with those of US citizens and professors. We find clear confirmation that CEOs do look different when compared to citizens or professors, replicating the finding that faces matter for selection. More importantly, we also find that faces of CEOs of top performing firms do not differ from other CEOs. Based on our advanced face recognition method, our results suggest that facial appearance matters for leader selection but that it does not do so for leader performance.

An Analysis of Viable Financial Negotiations Processes and Related Internal Controls for Procurement in Pakistan

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-06-01

regulations are in accordance with UNCITRAL Model Law and are based on principles of “ accountability , transparency, fairness, efficiency and value for... account certain factors about the firm(s) for pre-qualification. These factors include past performance and experience; financial health; managerial...internal control components, along with associated principles , were discussed in detail to develop a suitable internal control system for the financial

JPRS Report, Science & Technology, Europe & Latin America

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-09-23

one cannot misuse them. But in this case we have made the real practical utility of the language impossible. As for whether the tools of Ada—in...Fiat’s Financial Performance for 1986 ( INDUSTRIA OGGI, Mar 87) ,. ,, BIOTECHNOLOGY FRG Funds R&D for Genetic Engineering Safety (FRANKFURTER...ELECTRONIQUE ACTUALITES, 20 Mar 87) 11 Italy’s Olivetti Acquires New Firms ( INDUSTRIA OGGI, Apr 87) 12 Fiat/IBM Form Data Processing Firm

A Uniform Profit Policy for Government Acquisition

DTIC Science & Technology

1978-12-01

primarily to evaluate managerial (not economic) performance. The second survey by Gitman and Forrester concentrated on determining the 3 capital...budgeting techniques used by major firms. A list of 268 companies 3 L. J. Gitman , and J. R. Forrester, Jr. , "A Survey of Capital Budgeting Techniques...Approximately 70 percent of the firms responding to the Gitman and Forrester survey required returns of at least 15 percent before considering a project

Eating Together at the Firehouse: How Workplace Commensality Relates to the Performance of Firefighters

PubMed Central

Kniffin, Kevin M.; Wansink, Brian; Devine, Carol M.; Sobal, Jeffery

2015-01-01

Cooperative activities among coworkers can provide valuable group-level benefits; however, previous research has often focused on artificial activities that require extraordinary efforts away from the worksite. We investigate organizational benefits that firms might obtain through various supports for coworkers to engage in commensality (i.e., eating together). We conducted field research within firehouses in a large city to explore the role that interacting over food might have for work-group performance. Using a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods, our field research shows a significant positive association between commensality and work-group performance. Our findings establish a basis for research and practice that focuses on ways that firms can enhance team performance by leveraging the mundane and powerful activity of eating. PMID:27226698

Using hybrid method to evaluate the green performance in uncertainty.

PubMed

Tseng, Ming-Lang; Lan, Lawrence W; Wang, Ray; Chiu, Anthony; Cheng, Hui-Ping

2011-04-01

Green performance measure is vital for enterprises in making continuous improvements to maintain sustainable competitive advantages. Evaluation of green performance, however, is a challenging task due to the dependence complexity of the aspects, criteria, and the linguistic vagueness of some qualitative information and quantitative data together. To deal with this issue, this study proposes a novel approach to evaluate the dependence aspects and criteria of firm's green performance. The rationale of the proposed approach, namely green network balanced scorecard, is using balanced scorecard to combine fuzzy set theory with analytical network process (ANP) and importance-performance analysis (IPA) methods, wherein fuzzy set theory accounts for the linguistic vagueness of qualitative criteria and ANP converts the relations among the dependence aspects and criteria into an intelligible structural modeling used IPA. For the empirical case study, four dependence aspects and 34 green performance criteria for PCB firms in Taiwan were evaluated. The managerial implications are discussed.

Integrating Implicit Leadership Theories, Leader-Member Exchange, Self-Efficacy, and Attachment Theory to Predict Job Performance.

PubMed

Khorakian, Alireza; Sharifirad, Mohammad Sadegh

2018-01-01

The impact of implicit leadership theories on performance and the mechanism linking them have received insufficient theoretical and research attention. Drawing on Bandura's social cognitive theory, the present study contributes theory through examining the assertion that higher congruence between followers' implicit leadership theory and the characteristics of supervisors enhance job performance through higher quality of leader-member exchange and self-efficacy. Moreover, in the proposed model, attachment insecurity was considered as the antecedent of the congruence and leader-member exchange in addition to the moderator of the relationship between them. Capitalizing upon Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), this study tested the model in a field study using a sample of employees in knowledge-oriented firms in Iran. The results suggest that the congruence between followers' implicit leadership theory and the characteristics of supervisors does not directly impact performance and leader-member exchange and self-efficacy are the full mediators. The results also showed that attachment insecurity is the predictor of neither the congruence nor the leader-member exchange. Additionally, attachment insecurity moderates the relationship between these two variables in a way that when attachment insecurity is high, the congruence has more positive impact on leader-member exchange.

Training Implications of Technological Change in Manufacturing in New Industrial Countries: The Case of Ireland. Training Policies Discussion Paper No. 14.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

International Labour Office, Geneva (Switzerland).

This report on Ireland is one in a series of studies for a research project designed to identify training and education policies pursued by governments and individual firms that have contributed to innovation, technological adaptation, and skill development in manufacturing. Part 1 describes Ireland's economic, social, and educational structure…

A Structuration Agency View of Investor-Officer Power Struggles and Conflict in a Private Firm: A Tale of Two Agendas

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Workman, Michael

2010-01-01

Structuration theory helps to explain the role of human agency in the reciprocal relationship between social systems and structures, which Giddens called the "duality of structure." The theory explicates how power struggles emerge and are negotiated and, depending on the restructuration, can help to resolve conflict or lead to deteriorations and…

Promoting the Development of a Supportive Learning Environment through Action Research from the "Middle Out"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hodgson, David; May, Steve; Marks-Maran, Diane

2008-01-01

This paper reports on a case study of a supportive learning environment initiative (SLEI) for students on health and social care undergraduate programmes in one English university. It involved the development of small scale support projects that are firmly grounded in the outcomes of prior research as well as the ongoing experience of students and…

Forgiving Loans of Those in Public Service Grows Popular, but Programs Are Unproven

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Field, Kelly

2007-01-01

As the cost of college continues to rise, more and more graduates are entering public-service careers like nursing, teaching, and social work with unmanageable levels of student debt. Many will struggle to repay their student loans while meeting their own basic needs. While some debts can be manageable for lawyers at private firms, it can be a…

The Management of Education and the Social Theory of the Firm: From Distributed Leadership to Collaborative Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hartley, David

2010-01-01

Modes of organisation and control within educational organisations have tended to accord with those of the workplace. Bureaucracy has endured in both. Of late, it has been loosened. This has opened up a new conceptual space within educational management and leadership. Its underlying theme is collaboration. The analysis here extends the space…

Understanding Turnover Intentions and Behavior of Indian Information Systems Professionals: A Study of Organizational Justice, Job Satisfaction and Social Norms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Iyer, Vidya V.

2011-01-01

Despite the phenomenal growth projected for the Indian information technology (IT) industry, one of the biggest challenges it faces is the high rate of turnover in offshore supplier firms based in India (Everest Research Group 2011). According to recent estimates, turnover rates among Indian information systems (IS) professionals have been…

Inventing the Future: Using Social Media to Transform a University from a Teaching Organization to a Learning Organization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Manlow, Veronica; Friedman, Hershey; Friedman, Linda

2010-01-01

In the corporate world, with its global, competitive environment, many firms have become learning organizations in order to survive and thrive. Similarly, 21st century universities that succeed will be lean, flexible, and nimble, enabling them to cross geographic and time boundaries, and to better meet the needs of future generations. The…

Thomas Aquinas: Integrating Faith and Reason in the Catholic School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doyle, Dennis M.

2007-01-01

The Second Vatican Council, social upheaval, and quickly changing cultural norms were a part of the fabric of life in the 1960s. Values and beliefs held firmly for generations were called into question. Faith, once solid, appeared to some Catholics to turn fluid and doubtful. Though now well over seven centuries old, the work of Thomas Aquinas can…

Mayor's Firm Hand over N.Y.C. Schools Sparks New Debate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Archer, Jeff

2004-01-01

This article reports a new debate on mayoral control over New York City schools. Mayoral control of the N.Y.C. schools was at the center of renewed debate, after Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg replaced two members of the city's education policymaking board to ensure enough votes for a controversial plan he backed to end social promotion. The shakeup…

Cross-Field Effects and Temporary Social Fields: A Case Study of the Mediatization of Recent Australian Knowledge Economy Policies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rawolle, Shaun

2005-01-01

This paper utilizes Bourdieu's conceptual frame to examine the mediatized effects of policy processes concerned with the growth and support of knowledge industries in Australia. These policies span education, science, research and other knowledge industries (such as venture capital firms and intellectual property law). The paper argues that some…

26 CFR 301.7216-2 - Permissible disclosures or uses without consent of the taxpayer.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... social security number (SSN) to a tax return preparer located outside of the United States or any..., a member of an accounting firm, is conducting an audit of M Corporation, and B, a member of the same... invoices to M. B discloses this information to A who, acting upon it, searches in the course of the audit...

Social Media and eBusiness: Cultural Impacts on the Influence Process in Consumer Communities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yong; Chen, Hong; Xu, Li

2016-08-01

Social media has been used as an important tool by firms to influence consumers’ attitude and behavior. Influence occurs in consumer communities in social media because community members have the control of discovering, producing, sharing, and distributing information and because the spread out of their experiences and opinions in the format of electronic word-of-mouth forms emerging conformance. Prior research has explored how the influence occurring in online social media communities impacts consumers’ attitude and behavior (e.g., product attitude and purchase decision, effectual thinking and behavior, brand trust and brand loyalty). But because social media has the ability of global reach, cross-border factors should not be neglected in studying the influence process. As such, this paper adopts national cultural dimensions identified by Hofstede (1984), individualism/collectivism and power distance particularly, the index of cultural distance, and the social influence theory to explore how culture impacts the influence occurring in consumer communities in social media.

Assessing the Liquidity of Firms: Robust Neural Network Regression as an Alternative to the Current Ratio

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Andrés, Javier; Landajo, Manuel; Lorca, Pedro; Labra, Jose; Ordóñez, Patricia

Artificial neural networks have proven to be useful tools for solving financial analysis problems such as financial distress prediction and audit risk assessment. In this paper we focus on the performance of robust (least absolute deviation-based) neural networks on measuring liquidity of firms. The problem of learning the bivariate relationship between the components (namely, current liabilities and current assets) of the so-called current ratio is analyzed, and the predictive performance of several modelling paradigms (namely, linear and log-linear regressions, classical ratios and neural networks) is compared. An empirical analysis is conducted on a representative data base from the Spanish economy. Results indicate that classical ratio models are largely inadequate as a realistic description of the studied relationship, especially when used for predictive purposes. In a number of cases, especially when the analyzed firms are microenterprises, the linear specification is improved by considering the flexible non-linear structures provided by neural networks.

Growth of health maintenance organisations in Nigeria and the potential for a role in promoting universal coverage efforts.

PubMed

Onoka, Chima A; Hanson, Kara; Mills, Anne

2016-08-01

There has been growing interest in the potential for private health insurance (PHI) and private organisations to contribute to universal health coverage (UHC). Yet evidence from low and middle income countries remains very thin. This paper examines the evolution of health maintenance organisations (HMOs) in Nigeria, the nature of the PHI plans and social health insurance (SHI) programmes and their performance, and the implications of their business practices for providing PHI and UHC-related SHI programmes. An embedded case study design was used with multiple subunits of analysis (individual HMOs and the HMO industry) and mixed (qualitative and quantitative) methods, and the study was guided by the structure-conduct-performance paradigm that has its roots in the neo-classical theory of the firm. Quantitative data collection and 35 in-depth interviews were carried out between October 2012 to July 2013. Although HMOs first emerged in Nigeria to supply PHI, their expansion was driven by their role as purchasers in the government's national health insurance scheme that finances SHI programmes, and facilitated by a weak accreditation system. HMOs' characteristics distinguish the market they operate in as monopolistically competitive, and HMOs as multiproduct firms operating multiple risk pools through parallel administrative systems. The considerable product differentiation and consequent risk selection by private insurers promote inefficiencies. Where HMOs and similar private organisations play roles in health financing systems, effective regulatory institutions and mandates must be established to guide their behaviours towards attainment of public health goals and to identify and control undesirable business practices. Lessons are drawn for policy makers and programme implementers especially in those low and middle-income countries considering the use of private organisations in their health financing systems. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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.

Does Green Investment Increase Financial Performance? Empirical Evidence from Indonesian Companies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chariri, Anis; Bukit, Gretta Ratna Sari Br; Eklesia, Octrine Bethary; Christi, Bourinta Uly; Tarigan, Daisy Meirisa

2018-02-01

The negative effects of globalization and rapid growth of industries on environment have changed the business paradigm from profit issues to profit, people and planet (triple bottom line). Consequently, a number of companies have invested their money in environmental issues (called as green investment). This study aims to investigate the effect of firm characteristics on green investment and how green investment influences financial performance. Using annual reports of companies receiving the Program for Pollution Control, Evaluation and Rating (PROPER) award and listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchanges in the year of 2009-2014 as research data, the findings showed that firm size, foreign ownership, industry profile, and frequency of audit committee meeting significantly influenced green investment whereas ISO14001 management certification had no effect on it. Interestingly, green investment positively determined an increase in firm financial performance. This reveals that the better the green investment, the higher the financial performance of the companies. The findings contribute to the importance of adopting green investment as a company's strategy to increase profit without destroying the environment. Secondly, this finding can be used by government as a reference for formulating any regulations concerning business and environment. Finally, the finding contributes to the importance of including environmental issues in business education.

Application of a model for delivering occupational safety and health to smaller businesses: Case studies from the US

PubMed Central

Cunningham, Thomas R.; Sinclair, Raymond

2015-01-01

Smaller firms are the majority in every industry in the US, and they endure a greater burden of occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities than larger firms. Smaller firms often lack the necessary resources for effective occupational safety and health activities, and many require external assistance with safety and health programming. Based on previous work by researchers in Europe and New Zealand, NIOSH researchers developed for occupational safety and health intervention in small businesses. This model was evaluated with several intermediary organizations. Four case studies which describe efforts to reach small businesses with occupational safety and health assistance include the following: trenching safety training for construction, basic compliance and hazard recognition for general industry, expanded safety and health training for restaurants, and fall prevention and respirator training for boat repair contractors. Successful efforts included participation by the initiator among the intermediaries’ planning activities, alignment of small business needs with intermediary offerings, continued monitoring of intermediary activities by the initiator, and strong leadership for occupational safety and health among intermediaries. Common challenges were a lack of resources among intermediaries, lack of opportunities for in-person meetings between intermediaries and the initiator, and balancing the exchanges in the initiator–intermediary–small business relationships. The model offers some encouragement that initiator organizations can contribute to sustainable OSH assistance for small firms, but they must depend on intermediaries who have compatible interests in smaller businesses and they must work to understand the small business social system. PMID:26300585

Application of a model for delivering occupational safety and health to smaller businesses: Case studies from the US.

PubMed

Cunningham, Thomas R; Sinclair, Raymond

2015-01-01

Smaller firms are the majority in every industry in the US, and they endure a greater burden of occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities than larger firms. Smaller firms often lack the necessary resources for effective occupational safety and health activities, and many require external assistance with safety and health programming. Based on previous work by researchers in Europe and New Zealand, NIOSH researchers developed for occupational safety and health intervention in small businesses. This model was evaluated with several intermediary organizations. Four case studies which describe efforts to reach small businesses with occupational safety and health assistance include the following: trenching safety training for construction, basic compliance and hazard recognition for general industry, expanded safety and health training for restaurants, and fall prevention and respirator training for boat repair contractors. Successful efforts included participation by the initiator among the intermediaries' planning activities, alignment of small business needs with intermediary offerings, continued monitoring of intermediary activities by the initiator, and strong leadership for occupational safety and health among intermediaries. Common challenges were a lack of resources among intermediaries, lack of opportunities for in-person meetings between intermediaries and the initiator, and balancing the exchanges in the initiator-intermediary-small business relationships. The model offers some encouragement that initiator organizations can contribute to sustainable OSH assistance for small firms, but they must depend on intermediaries who have compatible interests in smaller businesses and they must work to understand the small business social system.

7 CFR 3400.3 - Eligibility requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... they relate to a particular project: (1) Have adequate financial resources for performance, the necessary experience, organizational and technical qualifications, and facilities, or a firm commitment..., judgment, and performance, including, in particular, any prior performance under grants and contracts from...

Discussion point: should governments buy drug patents?

PubMed

del Llano, Juan

2007-06-01

Between just 1995 and 2003, the number of new chemical entities fell from 45 to 25, while the costs increased by two and a half times in the same period. Firms in the USA accounted for more than half of biotech drugs from 1982 to 2003. European firms are losing competitiveness. In this hostile environment for investment in pharmaceutical R&D, providing quick access to market for real innovations is the main challenge for regulatory agencies. More initiatives, more entrepreneurial spirit and easier work regulation are needed to facilitate the growth of firms in this field, especially in emerging economies like the Spanish. A new open source model proposes the use of pre-competitive public platforms formed by young and qualified human capital carrying out research in areas not sufficiently attractive for private initiatives, followed by the introduction of pharmaceutical companies to carry out the clinical research. The last step would be fast and effective approval by assessment agencies. Governments should, therefore, facilitate the regulation of socially effective innovations, bringing in manufacturers to take part in the post-clinical trial period after entering the market. The gathering of incentives between regulatory agencies and pharmaceutical industry must be approached through innovation and authorization stimulating systems.

Technology Assessment Need: Review on Attractiveness and Competitiveness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salwa Sait, Siti; Merlinda Muharam, Farrah; Chin, Thoo Ai; Sulaiman, Zuraidah

2017-06-01

Technology assessment is crucial in managing technology for the purpose of technology exploitation. With business environment continuously changing, firms have to address this issue critically as technology is considered one of the important elements to evaluate performance and gain competitive advantage. Missteps in deciding the best technology to be developed, employed or maintained would cost the firm overall value. To fulfil the need of finding the appropriate scale to assess suitable technology, this paper summarizes that technology assessment (TA) should cover two main aspects, namely technology attractiveness and competitiveness. These components are seen capable to link the scale suggested towards evaluation of financial and non-financial performance towards competitive advantage.

Policy uncertainty and corporate performance in government-sponsored voluntary environmental programs.

PubMed

Liu, Ning; Tang, Shui-Yan; Zhan, Xueyong; Lo, Carlos Wing-Hung

2018-08-01

This study combines insights from the policy uncertainty literature and neo-institutional theory to examine corporate performance in implementing a government-sponsored voluntary environmental program (VEP) during 2004-2012 in Guangzhou, China. In this regulatory context, characterized by rapid policy changes, corporate performance in VEPs is affected by government surveillance, policy uncertainty, and peer pressures. Specifically, if VEP participants have experienced more government surveillance, they tend to perform better in program implementation. Such positive influence of government surveillance is particularly evident among those joining under high and low, rather than moderate uncertainty. Participants also perform better if they belong to an industry with more certified VEP firms, but worse if they are located in a regulatory jurisdiction with more certified VEP firms. At a moderate level of policy uncertainty, within-industry imitation is most likely to occur but within-jurisdiction imitation is least likely to occur. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Facial Appearance of CEOs: Faces Signal Selection but Not Performance

PubMed Central

Garretsen, Harry; Spreeuwers, Luuk J.

2016-01-01

Research overwhelmingly shows that facial appearance predicts leader selection. However, the evidence on the relevance of faces for actual leader ability and consequently performance is inconclusive. By using a state-of-the-art, objective measure for face recognition, we test the predictive value of CEOs’ faces for firm performance in a large sample of faces. We first compare the faces of Fortune500 CEOs with those of US citizens and professors. We find clear confirmation that CEOs do look different when compared to citizens or professors, replicating the finding that faces matter for selection. More importantly, we also find that faces of CEOs of top performing firms do not differ from other CEOs. Based on our advanced face recognition method, our results suggest that facial appearance matters for leader selection but that it does not do so for leader performance. PMID:27462986

Social murder: the long-term effects of conservative economic policy.

PubMed

Chernomas, Robert; Hudson, Ian

2009-01-01

In this article, the authors take inspiration from Engels's 1845 account of the social murder committed by British capitalists to assess the contemporary impact of conservative economic policy, which they define as policies designed to maximize the accumulation of profit while socializing the associated risks and costs. Conservative economists argue that if their policy prescription is followed, it will produce broad-based economic benefits including more rapid growth, higher incomes, less illness, and, even, more democracy. The authors contrast the myth of conservative economic policy with the reality. What conservative economic policy has actually accomplished is a redistribution of wealth and power away from the vast majority of the population to firms and their owners. The effects of these policies on citizens and workers have been socially determined economic instability, unemployment, poverty, inequality, dangerous products, and infectious and chronic disease.

Capital investment strategies in health care systems.

PubMed

Reiter, K L; Smith, D G; Wheeler, J R; Rivenson, H L

2000-01-01

Capital investment decisions are among the most important decisions made by firms. They determine the firm's capacity for providing services and commit the firm's cash for an extended period of time. Interviews with chief financial officers of leading health care systems reveal capital investment strategies that generally follow the recommendations of modern finance theory. Still, there is substantial variation in capital budgeting techniques, methods of risk adjustment, and the importance of qualitative considerations in investment decision making. There is also variation in delegation of investment decision making to operating units and methods of performance evaluation. Health care systems face the same challenges as other organizations in developing and implementing capital investment strategies that use consistent methods for evaluation of projects that have inconsistent aims and outcomes.

7 CFR 3401.3 - Eligibility requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... standards as they relate to a particular project: (1) Have adequate financial resources for performance, the necessary experience, organizational and technical qualifications, and facilities, or a firm commitment..., judgment, and performance, including, in particular, any prior performance under grants and contracts from...

East Europe Report.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-09-05

spectators. Let us not forget, however, that "over there," while ritually condemning the " Coca - Cola civilization," they have entered marketing agreements...on this Leninist tradition without restraint while enriching and developing further the party policy, the general line aimed at perfecting the...better and more accurate view of the ways to perfect socialism and attain communism. The CPSU is undeterred in holding on firmly to the communist

An Economic Necessity and a Vital Social and Cultural Good

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marsden, Gordon

2012-01-01

The author would like to think that, in twenty-first century Britain, the case for adult learning was firmly established and no-one was in any doubt of its value. Having spent nearly 20 years before he became an MP working as a part-time lecturer and tutor with the Open University, and seeing the transformation that it could bring to his students,…

Antecedents to Reverse Auction Use

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-02-01

sourcing the specific products or services. Comprehension of the effect of sourcing strategy on a sourcing professional’s choice of sourcing media ...of strategic items and services are typically manifested in partnerships, long-term contracts, and strategic alliances . Given the nature of such...technical, service, and social benefits a customer firm receives in exchange for the price it pays for a market offering" (Anderson and Narus 1988

Does workplace social capital buffer the effects of job stress? A cross-sectional, multilevel analysis of cigarette smoking among U.S. manufacturing workers

PubMed Central

Sapp, Amy L.; Kawachi, Ichiro; Sorensen, Glorian; LaMontagne, Anthony D.; Subramanian, S.V.

2010-01-01

Objective To investigate whether workplace social capital buffers the association between job stress and smoking status. Methods As part of the Harvard Cancer Prevention Project’s Healthy Directions-Small Business Study, interviewer-administered questionnaires were completed by 1740 workers and 288 managers in 26 manufacturing firms (84% and 85% response). Social capital was assessed by multiple items measured at the individual-level among workers, and contextual-level among managers. Job stress was operationalized by the demand-control model. Multilevel logistic regression was used to estimate associations between job stressors and smoking, and test for effect modification by social capital measures. Results Workplace social capital (both summary measures) buffered associations between high job demands and smoking. One compositional item—worker trust in managers—buffered associations between job strain and smoking. Conclusion Workplace social capital may modify the effects of psychosocial working conditions on health behaviors. PMID:20595910

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

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…

Gene Expression Profiling of Soft and Firm Atlantic Salmon Fillet

PubMed Central

Larsson, Thomas; Mørkøre, Turid; Kolstad, Kari; Østbye, Tone-Kari; Afanasyev, Sergey; Krasnov, Aleksei

2012-01-01

Texture of salmon fillets is an important quality trait for consumer acceptance as well as for the suitability for processing. In the present work we measured fillet firmness in a population of farmed Atlantic salmon with known pedigree and investigated the relationship between this trait and gene expression. Transcriptomic analyses performed with a 21 K oligonucleotide microarray revealed strong correlations between firmness and a large number of genes. Highly similar expression profiles were observed in several functional groups. Positive regression was found between firmness and genes encoding proteasome components (41 genes) and mitochondrial proteins (129 genes), proteins involved in stress responses (12 genes), and lipid metabolism (30 genes). Coefficients of determination (R2) were in the range of 0.64–0.74. A weaker though highly significant negative regression was seen in sugar metabolism (26 genes, R2 = 0.66) and myofiber proteins (42 genes, R2 = 0.54). Among individual genes that showed a strong association with firmness, there were extracellular matrix proteins (negative correlation), immune genes, and intracellular proteases (positive correlation). Several genes can be regarded as candidate markers of flesh quality (coiled-coil transcriptional coactivator b, AMP deaminase 3, and oligopeptide transporter 15) though their functional roles are unclear. To conclude, fillet firmness of Atlantic salmon depends largely on metabolic properties of the skeletal muscle; where aerobic metabolism using lipids as fuel, and the rapid removal of damaged proteins, appear to play a major role. PMID:22745718

Gene expression profiling of soft and firm Atlantic salmon fillet.

PubMed

Larsson, Thomas; Mørkøre, Turid; Kolstad, Kari; Østbye, Tone-Kari; Afanasyev, Sergey; Krasnov, Aleksei

2012-01-01

Texture of salmon fillets is an important quality trait for consumer acceptance as well as for the suitability for processing. In the present work we measured fillet firmness in a population of farmed Atlantic salmon with known pedigree and investigated the relationship between this trait and gene expression. Transcriptomic analyses performed with a 21 K oligonucleotide microarray revealed strong correlations between firmness and a large number of genes. Highly similar expression profiles were observed in several functional groups. Positive regression was found between firmness and genes encoding proteasome components (41 genes) and mitochondrial proteins (129 genes), proteins involved in stress responses (12 genes), and lipid metabolism (30 genes). Coefficients of determination (R(2)) were in the range of 0.64-0.74. A weaker though highly significant negative regression was seen in sugar metabolism (26 genes, R(2) = 0.66) and myofiber proteins (42 genes, R(2) = 0.54). Among individual genes that showed a strong association with firmness, there were extracellular matrix proteins (negative correlation), immune genes, and intracellular proteases (positive correlation). Several genes can be regarded as candidate markers of flesh quality (coiled-coil transcriptional coactivator b, AMP deaminase 3, and oligopeptide transporter 15) though their functional roles are unclear. To conclude, fillet firmness of Atlantic salmon depends largely on metabolic properties of the skeletal muscle; where aerobic metabolism using lipids as fuel, and the rapid removal of damaged proteins, appear to play a major role.

Online Learning and Performance Support in Organizational Environments Using Performance Support Platforms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gal, Eran; Nachmias, Rafi

2011-01-01

An electronic performance support system (EPSS) is a method that integrates learning and task performance into one single action by providing information and guidance during performance. Wide-range EPSS effectiveness research has been conducted by Tel Aviv University in tandem with a large telecommunications firm implementing EPSS solutions. The…

40 CFR 745.239 - Effective dates.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... LEAD-BASED PAINT POISONING PREVENTION IN CERTAIN RESIDENTIAL STRUCTURES Lead-Based Paint Activities... or firm shall perform, offer, or claim to perform lead-based paint activities, as defined in this... 1, 2000. (c) All lead-based paint activities shall be performed pursuant to the work practice...

40 CFR 745.239 - Effective dates.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... LEAD-BASED PAINT POISONING PREVENTION IN CERTAIN RESIDENTIAL STRUCTURES Lead-Based Paint Activities... or firm shall perform, offer, or claim to perform lead-based paint activities, as defined in this... 1, 2000. (c) All lead-based paint activities shall be performed pursuant to the work practice...

40 CFR 745.239 - Effective dates.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... LEAD-BASED PAINT POISONING PREVENTION IN CERTAIN RESIDENTIAL STRUCTURES Lead-Based Paint Activities... or firm shall perform, offer, or claim to perform lead-based paint activities, as defined in this... 1, 2000. (c) All lead-based paint activities shall be performed pursuant to the work practice...

40 CFR 745.239 - Effective dates.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... LEAD-BASED PAINT POISONING PREVENTION IN CERTAIN RESIDENTIAL STRUCTURES Lead-Based Paint Activities... or firm shall perform, offer, or claim to perform lead-based paint activities, as defined in this... 1, 2000. (c) All lead-based paint activities shall be performed pursuant to the work practice...

40 CFR 745.239 - Effective dates.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... LEAD-BASED PAINT POISONING PREVENTION IN CERTAIN RESIDENTIAL STRUCTURES Lead-Based Paint Activities... or firm shall perform, offer, or claim to perform lead-based paint activities, as defined in this... 1, 2000. (c) All lead-based paint activities shall be performed pursuant to the work practice...

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.

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.

Role of intensive and extensive variables in a soup of firms in economy to address long run prices and aggregate data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hosseiny, Ali; Gallegati, Mauro

2017-03-01

We review the production function and the hypothesis of equilibrium in the neoclassical framework. We notify that in a soup of sectors in economy, while capital and labor resemble extensive variables, wage and rate of return on capital act as intensive variables. As a result, Baumol and Bowen's statement of equal wages is inevitable from the thermodynamics point of view. We try to see how aggregation can be performed concerning the extensive variables in a soup of firms. We provide a toy model to perform aggregation for production and the labor income as extensive quantities in a neoclassical framework.

75 FR 28667 - Market Structure Roundtable

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-21

... views of investors, issuers, exchanges, alternative trading systems, financial services firms, high... roundtable will focus on market structure performance, including the events of May 6, metrics for evaluating market structure performance, high frequency trading, and undisplayed liquidity. The roundtable...

What tourist business managers must learn from disaster research.

PubMed

Drabek, Thomas E

2016-01-01

Death and social disruption caused by disasters of varying forms will continue to increase in the future. So too will the impacts on tourism, now one of the fastest growing and largest sectors of the worldwide economy. Tourist business managers must implement evidence-based preparedness activities to enhance the survival potential and future profitability of their firms. Drawing upon recent research studies of the tourist industry during times of crisis and the broad social science knowledge base regarding human responses to disaster, seven key lessons are described. Emergency managers must facilitate the incorporation of these lessons into the culture of tourist business managers.

Marketing physical activity: lessons learned from a statewide media campaign.

PubMed

Peterson, Michael; Abraham, Avron; Waterfield, Allan

2005-10-01

Steps taken to create, implement, and initially assess a statewide physical activity social marketing campaign targeted to 18-to 30-year-olds are presented. Included is a summary demonstration of the application of the associative group analysis in formative market research and message development. Initial postcampaign questionnaire (n = 363) results indicated that 39.1% of respondents had seen the television ad, of which 31.2% indicated they intended to be more active, and 62.5% of respondents had been exposed to either the television or outdoor media ads. Lessons learned through the social marketing process including media channel effectiveness, message development and assessment, and marketing firm relationships are provided.

The Strategic Partners Network's Extraction: The XStrat.Net Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taifi, Nouha; Passiante, Giuseppina

The firms in the business environment have to choose adequate partners in order to sustain their competitive advantage and their economic performance. Plus, the creation of special communities consisting of these partners is essential for the life-long development of these latter and the firms creating them. The research project XStrat.Net aims at the identification of factors and indicators about the organizations for the modelling of intelligent agents -XStrat intelligent agents- and the engineering of a software -XStrat- to process these backbones intelligent agents. Through the use of the software, the firms will be able to select the needed partners for the creation of special communities for the purpose of learning, interest or innovation. The XStrat.Net project also intends to provide guidelines for the creation of the special communities.

Insider versus outsider executive succession: The relationship to hospital efficiency.

PubMed

Ford, Eric W; Lowe, Kevin B; Silvera, Geoffrey B; Babik, Dmytro; Huerta, Timothy R

The relationship between Chief Executive Officer (CEO) succession and hospitals' competitive performance is an area of interest for health services researchers. Of particular interest is the impact on overall strategic direction and health system performance that results from selecting a CEO from inside the firm as opposed to seeking outside leadership. Empirical work-to-date has yielded mixed results. Much of this variability has been attributed to design flaws; however, in the absence of a clear message from the evidence, the preference for hiring "outsiders" continues to grow. This paper investigates on the extent to which insider CEO succession versus outsider succession impacts hospitals' competitive advantage vis-à-vis a sample of organizations that compete in the same sector. A hospital matching protocol based on propensity scores is used to control for endogeneity and makes comparisons of productivity across organizations through the use of stochastic frontier estimation. Succession negatively impacts hospitals' productivity, and firms with outsider CEO succession events closed the gap toward the competitive advantage frontier faster than comparable firms with insider successions. More research needs to be done on succession planning and its impact on CEO turnover.

Social Science Between Neo-Kantianism and Philosophy of Life: The Cases of Weber, Simmel, and Mannheim

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Šuber, Daniel

In recent years, a group of social scientists have credited Wilhelm Dilthey with the status of a "classical sociological theorist" (Bakker 1999) and a key figure with regard to the establishment of the social sciences since the last decades of the nineteenth century.1 Such evaluations stand in distinct contrast to Dilthey's reputation as a firm critic of sociology on the one hand and his dubious standing within his proper field, philosophy, on the other, where he is perceived as a failed epistemologist. Generally, his influence on social and cultural science is associated with his notion of Erleben and understanding as fundamental categories for the interpretive sciences and their unique relatedness to their particular subject. On the basis of this starting point, he eventually established a division between Verstehen and Erklären and, correspondingly, human and natural sciences.

The ``battle of gold'' under the light of green economics: a case study from Greece

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Damigos, D.; Kaliampakos, D.

2006-05-01

Mining firms stimulate local and national economies but this comes at a certain cost. In the light of increasing public concern, external costs of environmental degradation and social disruption are no longer of pure academic interest. The assessment of mining projects on the grounds of sustainable development is critical in order to decide whether the exploitation of mineral resources is socially desirable. In practice, few steps have been taken towards this end. In this paper, a case study is illustrated that provides the means for evaluating the social worthiness of mining projects. The analysis, which is the first of its kind in Greece, deals with a major problem of the mining industry: the gold debate on the grounds of green economics. The assessment is based on the social cost benefit approach. Well-established techniques (e.g. benefit transfer) and innovative approaches have been adopted to overcome various practical problems

Holding Firm: Power, Push-Back, and Opportunities in Navigating the Liminal Space of Critical Qualitative Health Research.

PubMed

Hart, Corinne; Poole, Jennifer M; Facey, Marcia E; Parsons, Janet A

2017-10-01

Critical qualitative health researchers typically occupy and navigate liminal academic spaces and statuses, with one foot planted in the arts and social sciences and the other in biomedical science. We are at once marginalized and empowered, and this liminality presents both challenges and opportunities. In this article, we draw on our experiences of being (often the lone) critical qualitative health scholars on thesis advisory committees and dissertation examinations, as well as our experiences of publishing and securing funding, to illuminate how power and knowledge relations create conditions that shape the nature of our roles. We share strategies we have developed for standing our theoretical and methodological ground. We discuss how we use the power of our liminality to hold firm, push back, and push forward, to ensure that critical qualitative research is not further relegated to the margins and its quality and integrity sustained.

A Conceptual framework of Strategy, Structure and Innovative Behaviour for the Development of a Dynamic Simulation Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Konstantopoulos, Nikolaos; Trivellas, Panagiotis; Reklitis, Panagiotis

2007-12-01

According to many researchers of organizational theory, a great number of problems encountered by the manufacturing firms are due to their failure to foster innovative behaviour by aligning business strategy and structure. From this point of view, the fit between strategy and structure is essential in order to facilitate firms' innovative behaviour. In the present paper, we adopt Porter's typology to operationalise business strategy (cost leadership, innovative and marketing differentiation, and focus). Organizational structure is built on four dimensions (centralization, formalization, complexity and employees' initiatives to implement new ideas). Innovativeness is measured as product innovation, process and technological innovation. This study provides the necessary theoretical framework for the development of a dynamic simulation method, although the simulation of social events is a quite difficult task, considering that there are so many alternatives (not all well understood).

[B-BS and occupational health and safety management systems].

PubMed

Bacchetta, Adriano Paolo

2010-01-01

The objective of a SGSL is the "prevention" agreement as approach of "pro-active" toward the safety at work through the construction of an integrated managerial system in synergic an dynamic way with the business organization, according to continuous improvement principles. Nevertheless the adoption of a SGSL, not could guarantee by itself the obtainment of the full effectiveness than projected and every individual's adhesion to it, must guarantee it's personal involvement in proactive way, so that to succeed to actual really how much hypothesized to systemic level to increase the safety in firm. The objective of a behavioral safety process that comes to be integrated in a SGSL, it has the purpose to succeed in implementing in firm a process of cultural change that raises the workers social group fundamental safety value, producing an ample and full involvement of all in the activities of safety at work development. SGSL = Occupational Health and Safety Management System.

'There was a struggle between my instinct and my head': women's perception and experience of masturbation in contemporary Vietnam.

PubMed

Huong, Bui Thu; Liamputtong, Pranee

2018-05-01

This paper investigates how masturbation, as one form of non-coital sexual practice, is interpreted and experienced by young married women in contemporary Vietnam. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 20 professional women aged 25-40 living in Hanoi. Thematic analysis suggests that by embracing the pursuit of pleasure and aspiring to achieve this goal, many women stake a claim for modernity by promoting the idea that they are no longer traditional in this particular domain of social life. However, wider social forces associated with traditional Vietnamese gender ideology and sexual values remain firmly rooted, impacting on their everyday lives as working wives and mothers, and stalling their pursuit of pleasure and thus 'wellbeing' in its fullest sense. Indeed, among participants in this study, sex was interpreted as being almost exclusively organised around penile-vaginal intercourse. Even when sex was conceptualised as involving more than penetration, penile-vaginal intercourse was still viewed as its most essential component, without which a sexual transaction could not be seen as complete. The normality of penetrative sex was sometimes coupled with the stigma and discrimination associated with other non-coital sexual practices, positioning women firmly within conventional discourses of naturalness and health in regard to sex.

The anxieties of globalization: antidepressant sales and economic crisis in Argentina.

PubMed

Lakoff, Andrew

2004-04-01

This paper describes the role of market research firms in shaping the actions of key players in the pharmaceutical arena. It focuses on strategies for marketing novel antidepressants (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, SSRIs) to doctors in Buenos Aires during the Argentine financial crisis of 2001, posing the question of whether increased antidepressant sales were due to the social situation or to promotional practices. This case demonstrates how 'pharmaceutical relations' - interactions between doctors and pharmaceutical companies - are structured by a gift economy whose effects are monitored through the sales numbers produced by database firms. It suggests that the use of these numbers takes on special importance given the distinctiveness of both the Argentine context and the antidepressant market. More generally, the case points to the interpretive flexibility of psychotropic medication. In the Argentine setting, doctors' prescription of SSRIs was dependent neither on a diagnosis of depression nor on a biological understanding of mental disorder. These drugs found a different means of entering the professionally mediated marketplace: doctors understood and used SSRIs as a treatment not for a lack of serotonin in the brain, but for the suffering caused by the social situation - the sense of insecurity and vulnerability that the economic and political crisis had wrought.

[Diffusion of clinical governance among the Italian Local Health Units (LHUs). Analysis of the Health Surveys, the Firm Acts and the Health Plans].

PubMed

de Belvis, A G; Biasco, A; Pelone, F; Romaniello, A; De Micco, F; Volpe, M; Ricciardi, W

2009-01-01

The objective of our research is to report on the diffusion of Clinical Governance, as introduced with the National Health Plan 2006-2008, by analysing the planning instruments set up by each Region (Regional Health Plans and Emergency Plans in regions with budget deficit), the organizational frameworks (Atti Aziendali, firm acts), and the surveys on performance and quality of healthcare among the Italian Local Health Units (Health Surveys). Our research was realized on September-December 2007 and consisted of the collection of all retrieved documents available on the web and on the online public access catalog (OPAC SBN) of the National Library Service. Futhermore, each document has been classified and analysed according to Chambers' Clinical Governance definition. A descriptive statistical and inferential analysis by applying the Chi-2 Test was performed to test the correlation between the diffusion of such a classified documents and the geographical partition of each LHU. Our results show a scarce diffusion of Firm acts (43%) and Health Surveys (24.9% of the total). Any remind to Clinical Governance instruments and methods inside each document resulted even poorer among both the organizational and performance surveys and the regional health planning frameworks, respectively.

Meteorology as an infratechnology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Williams, G. A.; Smith, L. A.

2003-04-01

From an economists perspective, meteorology is an underpinning or infratechnology in the sense that in general it does not of its own accord lead to actual products. Its value added comes from the application of its results to the activities of other forms of economic and technological activity. This contribution discusses both the potential applications of meteorology as an ininfratechnology, and quantifying its socio-economic impact. Large economic and social benefits are both likely in theory and can be identified in practice. Case studies of particular weather dependent industries or particular episodes are suggested, based on the methodology developed by NIST to analyze the social impact of technological innovation in US industries (see www.nist.gov/director/planning/strategicplanning.htm ). Infratechnologies can provide economic benefits in the support of markets. Incomplete information is a major cause of market failure because it inhibits the proper design of contracts. The performance of markets in general can be influenced by strategies adopted by different firms within a market to regulate the performance of others especially suppliers or purchasers. This contribution will focus on benefits to society from mechanisms which enhance and enforce mitigating actions. When the market mechanism fails, who might social benefits be gained, for example, by widening the scope of authorities to ensure that those who could have taken mitigating action, given prior warning, cover the costs. This goes beyond the design and implementation of civil responses to severe weather warnings to include the design of legislative recourse in the event of negligence given prior knowledge, or the modification of insurance contracts. The aim here, for example, would be to avoid the loss of an oil tanker in heavy seas at a location where a high probability of heavy seas had been forecast for some time.

Towards a Human Rights Culture in Social Work Education

PubMed Central

Werkmeister Rozas, Lisa; Garran, Ann Marie

2016-01-01

A human rights perspective must be embedded in the institutions, organisations or agencies where social work students find themselves. This paper will focus on one particular strategy that could be helpful to the process of solidifying a commitment to human rights for our students. Using a pedagogical tool from a school of social work in the USA originally developed to combat the social injustice of racism, the example transcends the academic institution and offers a solid link in connecting human rights, social justice and social work. Using the construct of critical realism, we argue that, for social work programmes to take steps towards an explicit commitment to human rights, not only must human rights be infused throughout the curriculum, but educators must provide opportunities for making more overt the links between human rights principles, social justice and social work. By addressing behaviours, tendencies and attitudes, students then acquire not only the skills and deeper understanding, but they internalise the motivation and commitment to broaden their human rights frame. In the process of developing a more firm commitment to human rights, we must not be limited to the walls of the academy, but rather extend beyond to our field agencies, organisations and communities. PMID:27559204

Towards a Human Rights Culture in Social Work Education.

PubMed

Werkmeister Rozas, Lisa; Garran, Ann Marie

2016-06-01

A human rights perspective must be embedded in the institutions, organisations or agencies where social work students find themselves. This paper will focus on one particular strategy that could be helpful to the process of solidifying a commitment to human rights for our students. Using a pedagogical tool from a school of social work in the USA originally developed to combat the social injustice of racism, the example transcends the academic institution and offers a solid link in connecting human rights, social justice and social work. Using the construct of critical realism, we argue that, for social work programmes to take steps towards an explicit commitment to human rights, not only must human rights be infused throughout the curriculum, but educators must provide opportunities for making more overt the links between human rights principles, social justice and social work. By addressing behaviours, tendencies and attitudes, students then acquire not only the skills and deeper understanding, but they internalise the motivation and commitment to broaden their human rights frame. In the process of developing a more firm commitment to human rights, we must not be limited to the walls of the academy, but rather extend beyond to our field agencies, organisations and communities.

Broadening the concept of marketing.

PubMed

Kotler, P; Levy, S J

1969-01-01

Marketing in business is the task of finding and stimulating buyers for a firms's output. Product development, pricing, distribution, and communication are the mainstays of marketing, while progressive firms also develop new products and chart the trends and changes in people's needs and desires. Marketing can either apply its knowledge to social problems and organizations or remain in a narrowly defined business activity. Every organization has basically the same functions: personnel management, production, income, and promotion, which are using modern marketing skills in commercial sectors. Suppliers and consumers are needed by all organizations. In Canada a group wished to promote an antismoking campaign but they had little money compared to the tobacco companies. This group used modern marketing techniques to combat their lack of funds and found many ways, e.g., books, articles. A business firm uses a multitude of marketing tools to sell its product. Nonbusiness organizations frequently do not integrate their programs the way the businesses place all activities under one marketing vice president and department. Astute marketing depends on continuous feedback from consumers and suppliers. They are dependent upon up-to-the-minute research that tells them about changes in the environment and moves of competitors. Nonbusiness organizations are often casual about the research upon which they base their vital decisions.

Competitive Advantage and its Sources in an Evolving Market

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zaridis, Apostolos D.

2009-08-01

In a continuously altered and evolving Market, as is the food manufacturing market, the main and long-lasting objective of firm that is the maximization of its wealth and consequently the continuous remaining in profit regions, appears that it is possible to be achieved via the obtainment and maintenance of diachronically long-term competitive advantage, which it will render the firm unique or leader force in a inexorable competition that is continuously extended in a globalized market. Various definitions and different regards are developed in regard to the competitive advantage and the way with which a firm it is possible, acquiring it, to star in the market in which it is activated. As result of sustainable competitive advantage in a firm comes the above the average performance. Abundance of resources and competences that are proposed as sources of competitive advantage in the resource-based view literature exists, while they are added continuously new based on empiric studies. In any case, it appears to suffer hierarchy of sources of competitive advantage, with regard to sustainability of these.

Analyzing the Interaction of Performance Appraisal Factors Using Interpretive Structural Modeling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Manoharan, T. R.; Muralidharan, C.; Deshmukh, S. G.

2010-01-01

In today's changed environment where the economy and industry are driven by customers, business is open to worldwide competition. Manufacturing firms have looked at employee performance improvement as a means to succeed. These findings advocate setting up priorities for employee performance improvement. This requires a continuous improvement…

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.

Evaluation of different cooking conditions on broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) to improve the nutritional value and consumer acceptance.

PubMed

Bongoni, Radhika; Verkerk, Ruud; Steenbekkers, Bea; Dekker, Matthijs; Stieger, Markus

2014-09-01

The objective of this study was to gain insights into the effect of the cooking method on the liking as well as the retention of glucosinolates in broccoli. With this knowledge it can be concluded whether the health aspects of broccoli be improved by the cooking method without deteriorating sensory perception. For this, broccoli was cooked by methods commonly applied by consumers: boiling with a cold (water) start; boiling with a hot (water) start; and steaming. Firmness, greenness and amount of total glucosinolates in cooked broccoli were instrumentally determined. Sensory evaluation by untrained consumers (n = 99) for liking and sensory attributes intensity rating were performed on broccoli cooked by steaming and boiling-cold start at three time points, which resulted in 'high', 'medium', 'low' firm broccoli samples. At the end of cooking, steaming showed an increase in the amount of total glucosinolates (+17%). Boiling-hot start (-41%) and boiling-cold start (-50%) showed a decrease in amount of total glucosinolates. Sensory evaluation did not show statistically significant differences between steaming and boiling-cold start in liking at 'high' and 'medium' firmness; and in the attribute intensity ratings (except for juiciness at 'medium' firmness, and flavour at 'medium' and 'low' firmness). This study demonstrates that medium firm broccoli showed optimum liking and that steaming compared to boiled-cold start showed higher amount of glucosinolates. It is concluded that the health aspects of broccoli can be improved without reducing the sensory aspects by optimising the cooking method.

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

Effects of enterprise technology on supply chain collaboration: analysis of China-linked supply chain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Ling

2012-02-01

Supply chain collaboration has received increasing attention from scholars and practitioners in recent years. However, our understanding of how enterprise information technology facilitates supply chain collaboration is still very limited, especially with regard to Chinese enterprise ownerships such as state-owned firms, joint-venture firms and local village-owned firms. This paper extends the theory established in enterprise information technology (IT) and supply chain collaboration literature and relates it with coordination in China-linked supply chain. Drawing upon an empirical study from 177 Chinese companies, we provide three major findings: (i) uncovered the importance of leveraging enterprise IT through supply chain collaboration; (ii) identified the relationship between enterprise ownership and enterprise technology use and supply chain collaboration in China-linked supply chain and (iii) illustrated effects of supply chain collaborative activities on operational and market performance.

Bi-directional Exchange: the Cornerstone of Globally Focused Social Work.

PubMed

Parker, Gary; Ali, Samira; Ringell, Kassia; McKay, Mary

2014-03-01

Social work holds a unique place relative to other professions in that it prioritizes the elimination of human suffering as its primary goal. The roots of the profession are firmly planted in Western theories, historically and culturally specific perspectives, and knowledge. History has repeatedly demonstrated an association between the arrival of Westerners and the subsequent control of natural resources. Some argue that the development of global social work practice has serious pitfalls, including diverting needed resources away from local contexts and inadvertently spreading western world-views, paradigms and practices. However, the social work profession is uniquely positioned to offer expertise and collaborate with those experiencing the serious consequences of social inequity and the dearth of economic and social resources locally and across the globe. Grounded in anti-oppressive theory, guided by the difficult, yet acute awareness of western privilege and racism, and drawing from social/collective action and collaborative paradigms, a bi-directional exchange and action are detailed as the foundations for globally focused social work. The skills and knowledge base for global social work are essential as populations locally and worldwide are impacted by a global economic system that innately increases serious social inequity. Comprehensive training and preparation for globally focused social work, critical to successful engagement in global practice are outlined.

Bi-directional Exchange: the Cornerstone of Globally Focused Social Work

PubMed Central

Ali, Samira; Ringell, Kassia; McKay, Mary

2014-01-01

Social work holds a unique place relative to other professions in that it prioritizes the elimination of human suffering as its primary goal. The roots of the profession are firmly planted in Western theories, historically and culturally specific perspectives, and knowledge. History has repeatedly demonstrated an association between the arrival of Westerners and the subsequent control of natural resources. Some argue that the development of global social work practice has serious pitfalls, including diverting needed resources away from local contexts and inadvertently spreading western world-views, paradigms and practices. However, the social work profession is uniquely positioned to offer expertise and collaborate with those experiencing the serious consequences of social inequity and the dearth of economic and social resources locally and across the globe. Grounded in anti-oppressive theory, guided by the difficult, yet acute awareness of western privilege and racism, and drawing from social/collective action and collaborative paradigms, a bi-directional exchange and action are detailed as the foundations for globally focused social work. The skills and knowledge base for global social work are essential as populations locally and worldwide are impacted by a global economic system that innately increases serious social inequity. Comprehensive training and preparation for globally focused social work, critical to successful engagement in global practice are outlined. PMID:25346884

USSR Report World Economy and International Relations No. 9, September 1983.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-01-04

analysis of the recent struggle for detente and new international economic order in their numerous intertwxnxng aspects. On the firm basis of Marxist...Further, the losses are usually calculated on the basis of an analysis of some single aspect of the economic interaction of the West and the...suppositions based on an analysis of the trends of economic and social development of individual countries and regions may be found in Western

The Military Dimension of the Niger Delta Crisis: Increasing the Effectiveness of Security Forces Through Information Operations

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-06-11

Torulagha makes strong accusations against the oil companies who he says barely conduct any environmental assessment before engaging in exploratory...residents widely regard the GoN as ―having collaborated with the multinational oil firms to alter the social and environmental stability of the area ...residents demanded resource control in the face of environmental degradation by multinational oil companies; and complaints of government marginalization

Syria: Reassessing U.S. Approach and Options

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-02-06

to a common U.S. perception that Basher is an already weak leader plagued by serious internal social and economic problems, analysts see the Syrian...efforts to reach an Arab-Israeli peace settlement. Another possible alternative to Basher would be the emergence of a hardliner, Baathist substitute. With...much doubt as to exactly how firm a grip Basher has on power over his father’s entrenched Baath party elites and military apparatus, who prefer to

Interventions for adult family carers of people who have had a stroke: a systematic review.

PubMed

Brereton, Louise; Carroll, Christopher; Barnston, Sue

2007-10-01

A systematic review of the effectiveness of interventions for adult family carers of people with stroke, and an exploratory examination of the relationship between the conceptual basis of these interventions and their effectiveness. Seventeen electronic databases and grey literature sources were searched, including ASSIA, BNI, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Social Science Citation Index and the Science Citation Index, HMIC and the National Research Register. Authors of unpublished material were contacted for data and additional publications. Reference and citation tracking was performed on included publications. randomized controlled trials of interventions aimed primarily at adult family carers of people post stroke; carers were the primary sample; primary outcomes reported were for carers. Two independent reviewers screened titles and abstracts to identify publications and extract data. Quality assessment was performed to weight study findings. Eight papers were found reporting on six complex, generally heterogeneous, interventions: caregiver training; education and counselling; social problem-solving partnerships, delivered principally by telephone; a psycho-educational telephone support group; a nurse-led support and education programme; and a support programme, delivered either to groups in hospital or individuals during home visits. Half of the interventions were based on stress-coping theories; the remainder did not identify a conceptual basis for the intervention. Some benefits were reported for all interventions, although trials were generally of low quality, preventing firm conclusions being drawn. The presence of a conceptual basis for interventions does not appear to influence effectiveness.

PhysicsCentral's future in Snapchat, and new social media strategy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roche, James

In 2017, social media is no longer just an amplifier for marketing strategy, but for many large organizations is firmly at the core of it. Facebook is the reigning social media king, boasting 1.2 billion daily active users around the world. Snapchat, one of the latest platforms to be declared the future of social media, hits 150 million daily active users globally. The platforms differ by nature, with Snapchat valuing ephemerality over Facebook's stalk-able photo albums. However, the average age of a Facebook user is 40, while the average age range of Snapchat users is between 12-25, and on any given day, Snapchat reaches 41% of all 18-34 year olds in the United States. Students under 25 now turn nearly equally to TV and social media as their primary source of news content. The opportunity for physics outreach in an important young demographic is clear. American Physical Societys outreach website, physicscentral.com has found success on multiple online and social media platforms, and now thanks to the SPS summer intern program, has entered the Snapchat world.

Benefits of Enterprise Social Networking Systems for High Energy Physics community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silva de Sousa, B.; Wagner, A.; Ormancey, E.; Grzywaczewski, P.

2015-12-01

The emergence of social media platforms in the consumer space unlocked new ways of interaction between individuals on the Web. People develop now their social networks and relations based on common interests and activities with the choice to opt-in or opt-out on content of their interest. This kind of platforms have also an important place to fill inside large organizations and enterprises where communication and collaborators interaction are keys for development. Enterprise Social Networking Systems (ESN) add value to an organization by encouraging information sharing, capturing knowledge, enabling action and empowering people. CERN is currently rolling out an ESN which aims to unify and provide a single point of access to the multitude of information sources in the organization. It also implements social features that can be added on top of existing communication channels. While the deployment of this kind of platforms is not without risks we firmly believe that they are of the best interest for our community, opening the opportunity to evaluate a global social network for High Energy Physics (HEP).

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.

Human Resource Orientation and Corporate Performance.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lam, Long W.; White, Louis P.

1998-01-01

A study of 14 manufacturing firms found significantly better financial performance among those that strongly emphasized recruitment, compensation, and training and development (a human resource orientation). Human resource development that helped sustain competence combined with that orientation to form a valuable competitive advantage. (SK)

Can an Internal Locus of Control and Social Support Reduce Work-Related Levels of Stress and Strain?: A Comparative Study Between Spanish Owners and Managers.

PubMed

Ariza-Montes, Antonio; Leal-Rodríguez, Antonio L; Rodríguez-Félix, Lucía; Albort-Morant, Gema

2017-09-01

The aim of this article is to assess the role played by both individual and contextual factors in reducing the manager's levels of stress and strain within the workplace setting. This article also highlights the manager's locus of control (LOC) as an internal factor and emphasizes the social support variable as a contextual factor. We use a sample of 332 respondents belonging to Spanish manufacturing and services firms and a structural equation modeling technique (partial least squares path modeling). The results reveal that there are significant differences between managers and owners about stress-strain relationship. The study provides support for the literature on stress management, which emphasizes the importance of a LOC and social support in influencing stress and strain between managers and owners.

When do scientists become entrepreneurs? The social structural antecedents of commercial activity in the academic life sciences.

PubMed

Stuart, Toby E; Ding, Waverly W

2006-07-01

The authors examine the conditions prompting university-employed life scientists to become entrepreneurs, defined to occur when a scientist (1) founds a biotechnology company, or (2) joins the scientific advisory board of a new biotechnology firm. This study draws on theories of social influence, socialization, and status dynamics to examine how proximity to colleagues in commercial science influences individuals' propensity to transition to entrepreneurship. To expose the mechanisms at work, this study also assesses how proximity effects change over time as for-profit science diffuses through the academy. Using adjusted proportional hazards models to analyze case-cohort data, the authors find evidence that the orientation toward commercial science of individuals' colleagues and coauthors, as well as a number of other workplace attributes, significantly influences scientists' hazards of transitioning to for-profit science.

Managing Sustainability with the Support of Business Intelligence Methods and Tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petrini, Maira; Pozzebon, Marlei

In this paper we explore the role of business intelligence (BI) in helping to support the management of sustainability in contemporary firms. The concepts of sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) are among the most important themes to have emerged in the last decade at the global level. We suggest that BI methods and tools have an important but not yet well studied role to play in helping organizations implement and monitor sustainable and socially responsible business practices. Using grounded theory, the main contribution of our study is to propose a conceptual model that seeks to support the process of definition and monitoring of socio-environmental indicators and the relationship between their management and business strategy.

Development, social norms, and assignment to task

PubMed Central

Fafchamps, Marcel

2011-01-01

Economic development involves a structural transformation in the way people are allocated to tasks. There is a shift from self-provision to market exchange, facilitating specialization. There is also a shift from self-employment to wage employment in large firms and organizations, driven by innovation and increasing returns to scale. Changes in allocation mechanisms require changes in norms and attitudes. Because different labor assignment domains coexist, conflicts arise among norms that apply to different domains, possibly resulting in dysfunctional outcomes. I argue that religion, humanism, and schools have all played an important historical role in fostering the changes in social norms and attitudes that are needed to accompany structural changes in the way economies allocate workers to tasks. PMID:22198757

"Who's winning the human race?"Cold war as pharmaceutical political strategy.

PubMed

Tobbell, Dominique A

2009-10-01

Between 1959 and 1962, Senator Estes Kefauver led a congressional investigation into the pricing practices of U.S. drug firms. As part of its defense, the industry mobilized the rhetoric of cold war and promoted the industry as a critical national asset in the global war against communism. The industry argued that any effort to undermine corporate innovation by inviting, as Kefauver proposed, greater government involvement in drug development threatened the public's health and invited socialism-in the form of socialized medicine-into the domestic political economy. This strategy proved critical to the industry's efforts to build political support for itself, particularly among the medical profession, and undermine Kefauver's reform agenda.

Percolation threshold determines the optimal population density for public cooperation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zhen; Szolnoki, Attila; Perc, Matjaž

2012-03-01

While worldwide census data provide statistical evidence that firmly link the population density with several indicators of social welfare, the precise mechanisms underlying these observations are largely unknown. Here we study the impact of population density on the evolution of public cooperation in structured populations and find that the optimal density is uniquely related to the percolation threshold of the host graph irrespective of its topological details. We explain our observations by showing that spatial reciprocity peaks in the vicinity of the percolation threshold, when the emergence of a giant cooperative cluster is hindered neither by vacancy nor by invading defectors, thus discovering an intuitive yet universal law that links the population density with social prosperity.

[Study of lung cancer risk in the electroplating industry in Lombardy based on the OCCAM method].

PubMed

Panizza, C; Bai, E; Oddone, E; Scaburri, Alessandra; Massari, Stefania; Modonesi, C; Crosignani, P

2011-01-01

The OCCAM method consists of case-control studies aimed at estimating occupational risks by cancer site, by area and by economic sector, using available archives to identify cases and controls; for exposure definition each subject is assigned to the category code of the economic sector or company where he/she worked the longest, obtained by automatic link with the Social Security Institute (INPS) files. The reference category (unexposed) consists of service industry workers. The economic sector is given by the ATECO category that INPS assigns to each firm. In the Lombardy Region, lung cancer risk evaluated for the "metal treatment" industry as a whole was 1.32 (90% CI 1.33-3.10, 67 cases) for males and 1.33 (90% CI 0.51-3.59, 10 cases) for females. The aim of the study was to estimate lung cancer risk among metal electroplating workers only. The metal electroplating firms were identified according to the detailed description of production, data which was also contained in INPS files, instead of using the "metal treatment" ATECO code. Lung cancer risk was evaluated using 2001-2008 incident cases identified from hospital discharge records of residents in the Lombardy Region. Controls were a sample from National Health Service files. For the group of firms identified as metal electroplating industries the risk was 2.03 (90% CI 1.69-8.32, 18 cases) for males and 3.75 (90% CI 1.38-9.03, 4 cases) for females. Focusing on the true electroplating firms increased the risk estimates. Even though these risk were due to past exposures, case histories and recent acute effects indicate that, at least in some factories, a carcinogenic hazard still exists.

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

Modified Balance Error Scoring System (M-BESS) test scores in athletes wearing protective equipment and cleats.

PubMed

Azad, Aftab Mohammad; Al Juma, Saad; Bhatti, Junaid Ahmad; Delaney, J Scott

2016-01-01

Balance testing is an important part of the initial concussion assessment. There is no research on the differences in Modified Balance Error Scoring System (M-BESS) scores when tested in real world as compared to control conditions. To assess the difference in M-BESS scores in athletes wearing their protective equipment and cleats on different surfaces as compared to control conditions. This cross-sectional study examined university North American football and soccer athletes. Three observers independently rated athletes performing the M-BESS test in three different conditions: (1) wearing shorts and T-shirt in bare feet on firm surface (control); (2) wearing athletic equipment with cleats on FieldTurf; and (3) wearing athletic equipment with cleats on firm surface. Mean M-BESS scores were compared between conditions. 60 participants were recruited: 39 from football (all males) and 21 from soccer (11 males and 10 females). Average age was 21.1 years (SD=1.8). Mean M-BESS scores were significantly lower (p<0.001) for cleats on FieldTurf (mean=26.3; SD=2.0) and for cleats on firm surface (mean=26.6; SD=2.1) as compared to the control condition (mean=28.4; SD=1.5). Females had lower scores than males for cleats on FieldTurf condition (24.9 (SD=1.9) vs 27.3 (SD=1.6), p=0.005). Players who had taping or bracing on their ankles/feet had lower scores when tested with cleats on firm surface condition (24.6 (SD=1.7) vs 26.9 (SD=2.0), p=0.002). Total M-BESS scores for athletes wearing protective equipment and cleats standing on FieldTurf or a firm surface are around two points lower than M-BESS scores performed on the same athletes under control conditions.

Modified Balance Error Scoring System (M-BESS) test scores in athletes wearing protective equipment and cleats

PubMed Central

Azad, Aftab Mohammad; Al Juma, Saad; Bhatti, Junaid Ahmad; Delaney, J Scott

2016-01-01

Background Balance testing is an important part of the initial concussion assessment. There is no research on the differences in Modified Balance Error Scoring System (M-BESS) scores when tested in real world as compared to control conditions. Objective To assess the difference in M-BESS scores in athletes wearing their protective equipment and cleats on different surfaces as compared to control conditions. Methods This cross-sectional study examined university North American football and soccer athletes. Three observers independently rated athletes performing the M-BESS test in three different conditions: (1) wearing shorts and T-shirt in bare feet on firm surface (control); (2) wearing athletic equipment with cleats on FieldTurf; and (3) wearing athletic equipment with cleats on firm surface. Mean M-BESS scores were compared between conditions. Results 60 participants were recruited: 39 from football (all males) and 21 from soccer (11 males and 10 females). Average age was 21.1 years (SD=1.8). Mean M-BESS scores were significantly lower (p<0.001) for cleats on FieldTurf (mean=26.3; SD=2.0) and for cleats on firm surface (mean=26.6; SD=2.1) as compared to the control condition (mean=28.4; SD=1.5). Females had lower scores than males for cleats on FieldTurf condition (24.9 (SD=1.9) vs 27.3 (SD=1.6), p=0.005). Players who had taping or bracing on their ankles/feet had lower scores when tested with cleats on firm surface condition (24.6 (SD=1.7) vs 26.9 (SD=2.0), p=0.002). Conclusions Total M-BESS scores for athletes wearing protective equipment and cleats standing on FieldTurf or a firm surface are around two points lower than M-BESS scores performed on the same athletes under control conditions. PMID:27900181

The Influence of Creative Process Engagement on Employee Creative Performance and Overall Job Performance: A Curvilinear Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Xiaomeng; Bartol, Kathryn M.

2010-01-01

Integrating theories addressing attention and activation with creativity literature, we found an inverted U-shaped relationship between creative process engagement and overall job performance among professionals in complex jobs in an information technology firm. Work experience moderated the curvilinear relationship, with low-experience employees…

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

PubMed Central

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. PMID:29727461

12 CFR 308.600 - Scope.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... procedures for the removal, suspension, or debarment of independent public accountants and accounting firms... PROCEDURE Removal, Suspension, and Debarment of Accountants From Performing Audit Services § 308.600 Scope...

12 CFR 308.600 - Scope.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... PROCEDURE Removal, Suspension, and Debarment of Accountants From Performing Audit Services § 308.600 Scope... procedures for the removal, suspension, or debarment of independent public accountants and accounting firms...

12 CFR 308.600 - Scope.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... PROCEDURE Removal, Suspension, and Debarment of Accountants From Performing Audit Services § 308.600 Scope... procedures for the removal, suspension, or debarment of independent public accountants and accounting firms...

12 CFR 308.600 - Scope.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... PROCEDURE Removal, Suspension, and Debarment of Accountants From Performing Audit Services § 308.600 Scope... procedures for the removal, suspension, or debarment of independent public accountants and accounting firms...

12 CFR 308.600 - Scope.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... PROCEDURE Removal, Suspension, and Debarment of Accountants From Performing Audit Services § 308.600 Scope... procedures for the removal, suspension, or debarment of independent public accountants and accounting firms...

From Spin to Swindle: Identifying Falsification in Financial Text.

PubMed

Minhas, Saliha; Hussain, Amir

Despite legislative attempts to curtail financial statement fraud, it continues unabated. This study makes a renewed attempt to aid in detecting this misconduct using linguistic analysis with data mining on narrative sections of annual reports/10-K form. Different from the features used in similar research, this paper extracts three distinct sets of features from a newly constructed corpus of narratives (408 annual reports/10-K, 6.5 million words) from fraud and non-fraud firms. Separately each of these three sets of features is put through a suite of classification algorithms, to determine classifier performance in this binary fraud/non-fraud discrimination task. From the results produced, there is a clear indication that the language deployed by management engaged in wilful falsification of firm performance is discernibly different from truth-tellers. For the first time, this new interdisciplinary research extracts features for readability at a much deeper level, attempts to draw out collocations using n -grams and measures tone using appropriate financial dictionaries. This linguistic analysis with machine learning-driven data mining approach to fraud detection could be used by auditors in assessing financial reporting of firms and early detection of possible misdemeanours.

Optimizing Eco-Efficiency Across the Procurement Portfolio.

PubMed

Pelton, Rylie E O; Li, Mo; Smith, Timothy M; Lyon, Thomas P

2016-06-07

Manufacturing organizations' environmental impacts are often attributable to processes in the firm's upstream supply chain. Environmentally preferable procurement (EPP) and the establishment of environmental purchasing criteria can potentially reduce these indirect impacts. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) can help identify the purchasing criteria that are most effective in reducing environmental impacts. However, the high costs of LCA and the problems associated with the comparability of results have limited efforts to integrate procurement performance with quantitative organizational environmental performance targets. Moreover, environmental purchasing criteria, when implemented, are often established on a product-by-product basis without consideration of other products in the procurement portfolio. We develop an approach that utilizes streamlined LCA methods, together with linear programming, to determine optimal portfolios of product impact-reduction opportunities under budget constraints. The approach is illustrated through a simulated breakfast cereal manufacturing firm procuring grain, containerboard boxes, plastic packaging, electricity, and industrial cleaning solutions. Results suggest that extending EPP decisions and resources to the portfolio level, recently made feasible through the methods illustrated herein, can provide substantially greater CO2e and water-depletion reductions per dollar spend than a product-by-product approach, creating opportunities for procurement organizations to participate in firm-wide environmental impact reduction targets.

The Relationship Between Cosmopolitan-Local Orientation and Job Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

London, Manuel; And Others

1977-01-01

Relationships between cosmopolitan--local orientation and measures of job performance were examined for 150 technical employees in three architectural firms. Cosmopolitan orientation was positively related to supervisor ratings of following prescribed work hours and supervisor and co-worker ratings of impressing others. (Author)

The Interaction of Production and Consumption in the News Media Social Space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Graham, Gary; Kerrigan, Finola; Mehmood, Rashid; Rahman, Mustafizur

Newspapers are operating in increasingly competitive and fragmented markets for audiences and advertising revenues, government media policy and changing audience requirements for news and the ways in which it is presented and delivered. A growing army of bloggers and amateur citizen journalists now delivers - but rarely edits - content for all media platforms, while new media technologies, combined with the changing structure of global news industries, are radically changing the ways in which newspapers and media business functions and struggles for profitability. Our research sought to answer the question of how the internet is impacting on producer/consumer value activities in the news media supply chain. To answer this question initial descriptive statistical analysis was performed on 51 newspapers. This was followed by a focus group undertaken with London-based news media organizations and bloggers. The findings showed that in spite of initial fear and rejection, the internet is now firmly embedded in news media supply chain operations. Firms are now using the internet as an operant resource and working proactively with consumers to develop various forms of relationship value. We highlight the role of consumers in the creation of news (editorial) content and consumer-driven moves toward a merged media platform of distribution (including television, online, mobile and printed forms). Regional news media organizations will probably continue to survive if they are able to supply a highly specialized and 'hyper local' community service. This will be in the form of 'hybrid' content: analysis, interpretation and investigative reporting in a print product that appears less than daily combined with constant updating and reader interaction on the web.

Technical note: Improving modeling of coagulation, curd firming, and syneresis of sheep milk.

PubMed

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

2018-04-18

The importance of milk coagulation properties for milk processing, cheese yield, and quality is widely recognized. The use of traditional coagulation traits presents several limitations for testing bovine milk and even more for sheep milk, due to its rapid coagulation and curd firming, and early syneresis of coagulum. The aim of this technical note is to test and improve model fitting for assessing coagulation, curd firming, and syneresis of sheep milk. Using milk samples from 87 Sarda ewes, we performed in duplicate lactodynamographic testing. On each of the 174 analyzed milk aliquots, using 180 observations from each aliquot (one every 15 s for 45 min after rennet addition), we compared 4 different curd firming models as a function of time (CF t , mm) using a nonlinear procedure. The most accurate and informative results were observed using a modified 4-parameter model, structured as follows: [Formula: see text] , where t is time, RCT eq (min) is the gelation time, CF P (mm) is the potential asymptotical CF at an infinite time, k CF (%/min) is the curd firming rate constant, and k SR (%/min) is the curd syneresis rate constant. To avoid nonconvergence and computational problems due to interrelations among the equation parameters, CF P was preliminarily defined as a function of maximum observed curd firmness (CF max , mm) recorded during the analysis. For this model, all the modeling equations of individual sheep milk aliquots were converging, with a negligible standard error of the estimates (coefficient of determination >0.99 for all individual sample equations). Repeatability of the modeled parameters was acceptable, also in the presence of curd syneresis during the lactodynamographic analysis. Copyright © 2018 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.