Sample records for firme sob manelo

  1. Thermodynamics of firms' growth

    PubMed Central

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

    2015-01-01

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

  2. Thermodynamics of firms' growth.

    PubMed

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

    2015-11-06

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

  3. Scaling Behavior of Firm Growth

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

    1996-03-01

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

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

    Treesearch

    Urs Buehlmann; Matthew Bumgardner; Michael Sperber

    2013-01-01

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

  5. 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.

  6. 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

  7. 40 CFR 745.89 - Firm certification.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

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

  8. 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

  9. Firms, crowds, and innovation.

    PubMed

    Felin, Teppo; Lakhani, Karim R; Tushman, Michael L

    2017-05-01

    The purpose of this article is to suggest a (preliminary) taxonomy and research agenda for the topic of "firms, crowds, and innovation" and to provide an introduction to the associated special issue. We specifically discuss how various crowd-related phenomena and practices-for example, crowdsourcing, crowdfunding, user innovation, and peer production-relate to theories of the firm, with particular attention on "sociality" in firms and markets. We first briefly review extant theories of the firm and then discuss three theoretical aspects of sociality related to crowds in the context of strategy, organizations, and innovation: (1) the functions of sociality (sociality as extension of rationality, sociality as sensing and signaling, sociality as matching and identity), (2) the forms of sociality (independent/aggregate and interacting/emergent forms of sociality), and (3) the failures of sociality (misattribution and misapplication). We conclude with an outline of future research directions and introduce the special issue papers and essays.

  10. Firms, crowds, and innovation

    PubMed Central

    Felin, Teppo; Lakhani, Karim R; Tushman, Michael L

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this article is to suggest a (preliminary) taxonomy and research agenda for the topic of “firms, crowds, and innovation” and to provide an introduction to the associated special issue. We specifically discuss how various crowd-related phenomena and practices—for example, crowdsourcing, crowdfunding, user innovation, and peer production—relate to theories of the firm, with particular attention on “sociality” in firms and markets. We first briefly review extant theories of the firm and then discuss three theoretical aspects of sociality related to crowds in the context of strategy, organizations, and innovation: (1) the functions of sociality (sociality as extension of rationality, sociality as sensing and signaling, sociality as matching and identity), (2) the forms of sociality (independent/aggregate and interacting/emergent forms of sociality), and (3) the failures of sociality (misattribution and misapplication). We conclude with an outline of future research directions and introduce the special issue papers and essays. PMID:28690428

  11. 32 CFR 37.1250 - Commercial firm.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... REGULATIONS TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT AGREEMENTS Definitions of Terms Used in This Part § 37.1250 Commercial firm. A for-profit firm or segment of a for-profit firm (e.g., a division or other business unit) that does a substantial portion of its business in the commercial marketplace. ...

  12. 46 CFR 201.22 - Firms and corporations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

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

  13. 46 CFR 201.22 - Firms and corporations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

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

  14. 46 CFR 201.22 - Firms and corporations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

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

  15. 46 CFR 201.22 - Firms and corporations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

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

  16. 46 CFR 201.22 - Firms and corporations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

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

  17. Insurance within the Firm

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Guiso, Luigi; Pistaferri, Luigi; Schivardi, Fabiano

    2005-01-01

    We evaluate the allocation of risk between firms and their workers using matched employer-employee panel data. Unlike previous contributions, this paper focuses on idiosyncratic shocks to the firm, which are the correct empirical counterpart of the theoretical notion of diversifiable risk. We allow for both temporary and permanent shocks to output…

  18. Small firm subsistence and market dimensionality

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bruggeman, Jeroen; Péli, Gábor

    2014-04-01

    In many markets, large and small firms coexist. As large firms can in principle out-compete small ones, the actual presence of the latter asks for an explanation. In ours, we focus on the dimensionality of markets, which can change as a consequence of product innovations, preference elaboration or institutions. We show that increasing market dimensionality substantially enlarges the market periphery relative to the market center, which creates new potential niches for small firms. We thereby provide a parsimonious explanation for small firm subsistence.

  19. 49 CFR 1522.103 - Requirements for validation firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

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

  20. An empirical examination of the influence of industry and firm drivers on the rate of internationalization by firms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Elango, B.

    A gradual shift in U.S. firms' 'center of gravity' toward international markets is taking place. This study seeks to explain which drivers are related to this push toward international markets by U.S. firms. In addressing internationalization, previous research has not focused on various drivers that influence the rate of internationalization. Drivers refer to forces, both within and outside the firm, that impact (both positively and negatively) a firm's extent of internationalization. The role of these drivers on the rate of internationalization, though acknowledged in the literature, is yet to be validated through empirical research. This research seeks to narrow the gap in the literature by testing the various relationships among industry drivers, firm drivers, and the rate of internationalization. The objectives of this study are: (A) To develop a conceptual framework that takes into account various forces that influence the internationalization strategy of a firm; (B) To examine empirically (a) the influence of industry drivers on the rate of internationalization pursued by firms; and, (b) the influence of firm drivers on the rate of internationalization by firms. The sample for this study consists of 158 large U.S.- based multinational firms drawn from seven different industries. Data for the study is gathered from a variety of sources including the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis; COMPUSTAT; and WORLDSCOPE databases. Set-wise regression models were used for data analysis. This study found that global market growth rate, domestic market growth rate, relative size of domestic market to international market, employee productivity, administrative investments, as well as new plant and equipment influences the international strategy of firms. This study explains about 24 percent of the variance of the rate of internationalization. This research finding is contributory to our existing understanding of internationalization in many ways

  1. Power Laws in Firm Productivity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mizuno, T.; Ishikawa, A.; Fujimoto, S.; Watanabe, T.

    We estimate firm productivity for about 3.2 million firms from30 countries. We find that the distribution of firm productivity in each country, which is measured by total factor productivity (TFP), has a power law upper tail. However, the power law exponent of a TFP distribution in a country tends to be greater than that of a sales distribution in that country, indicating that the upper tail of a TFP distribution is less heavy compared to that of a sales distribution. We also find that the power law exponent of a TFP distribution tends to be greater than the power law exponents associated with the number of workers or tangible fixed assets. Given the idea that the sales of a firm is determined by the amount of various inputs employed by the firm (i.e., ``production function'' in the terminology of economics), these results suggest that the heavy tail of a sales distribution in a country comes not from the tail of a TFP distribution, but from the tail of the distribution of the number of workers or tangible fixed assets.

  2. Sobetirome and its Amide Prodrug Sob-AM2 Exert Thyromimetic Actions in Mct8-Deficient Brain.

    PubMed

    Bárez-López, Soledad; Hartley, Meredith D; Grijota-Martínez, Carmen; Scanlan, Thomas S; Guadaño-Ferraz, Ana

    2018-06-29

    Loss of function mutations in the thyroid hormone (TH)-specific cell membrane transporter, the monocarboxylate transporter 8 (MCT8), lead to profound psychomotor retardation and abnormal TH serum levels, with low thyroxine (T4) and high triiodothyronine (T3). Several studies point to impaired TH transport across brain barriers as a crucial pathophysiological mechanism resulting in cerebral hypothyroidism. Treatment options for MCT8-deficient patients are limited and are focused on overcoming the brain barriers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of the TH analog sobetirome and its prodrug Sob-AM2 to access the brain and exert thyromimetic actions in the absence of Mct8. Juvenile wild-type (Wt) mice and mice lacking Mct8 and deiodinase type 2 (Mct8/Dio2KO) were treated systemically with daily injections of vehicle, 1 mg of sobetirome/kg body weight/day, or 0.3 mg of Sob-AM2/kg body weight/day for seven days. Sobetirome content was measured using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, and T4 and T3 levels by specific radioimmunoassays. The effect of sobetirome treatment in the expression of T3-dependent genes was measured in the heart, liver, and cerebral cortex by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Sob-AM2 treatment in Mct8/Dio2KO animals led to 1.8-fold more sobetirome content in the brain and 2.5-fold less in plasma in comparison to the treatment with the parent drug sobetirome. Both sobetirome and Sob-AM2 treatments in Mct8/Dio2KO mice greatly decreased plasma T4 and T3 levels. Dio1 and Ucp2 gene expression was altered in the liver of Mct8/Dio2KO mice and was not affected by the treatments. In the heart, Hcn2 but not Atp2a2 expression was increased after treatment with the analogs. Interestingly, both sobetirome and Sob-AM2 treatments increased the expression of several T3-dependent genes in the brain such as Hr, Abcd2, Mme, and Flywch2 in Mct8/Dio2KO mice. Sobetirome and its amide prodrug Sob-AM2 can access the brain in the absence

  3. Cooperative Education Programs in CPA Firms.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Thibadoux, Gregory M.; Greenberg, Ira S.

    1986-01-01

    A study was conducted to determine the background of employed students in a sampling of accounting cooperative education programs, the nature of the final selection process made by the firms, the value of the students to the firm, and the value of the program to the students as perceived by members of the firm. (CT)

  4. Firm profitability and the network of organizational capabilities

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wagner, Friedrich; Milaković, Mishael; Alfarano, Simone

    2010-11-01

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

  5. CRP for Pesticides - Testing Firms

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This list includes firms that have conducted tests or have indicated an interest in conducting tests on child-resistant packaging. This list is not intended to indicate EPA approval, certification, or endorsement of these firms, nor is it comprehensive..

  6. Financial Constrains for Innovative Firms: The Role of Size, Industry and ICT Uses as Determinants of Firms' Financial Structure

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Castillo-Merino, David; Vilaseca-Requena, Jordi; Plana-Erta, Dolors

    This paper uses a large and original data set of Catalan firms in all the economic branches to analyse the effects of size, industry and degree of ICT uses on financial constraints for innovative firms. We have conducted a micro econometric analysis following Henry et al. (1999) investment model to empirically contrast the relationship between firms' investment spread over time and their financial structure, and we have used von Kalckreuth (2004) methodology, based on an original survey with data on financial issues. Our results show that it exits a positive and significant relationship between investment shift and financial structure, emerging financial constraints for more innovative firms. Furthermore, these constraints are higher for micro companies and firms within the knowledge-advanced services' industry. Finally, we have also found that advanced ICT uses by more innovative firms allow them to reduce constraints of access to sources of finance.

  7. Cournot competition between a non-profit firm and a for-profit firm with uncertainty

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ferreira, Fernanda A.

    2010-03-01

    In this paper, we consider a Cournot competition between a nonprofit firm and a for-profit firm in a homogeneous goods market, with uncertain demand. Given an asymmetric tax schedule, we compute explicitly the Bayesian-Nash equilibrium. Furthermore, we analyze the effects of the tax rate and the degree of altruistic preference on market equilibrium outcomes.

  8. 18 CFR 284.7 - Firm transportation service.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Firm transportation... AUTHORITIES CERTAIN SALES AND TRANSPORTATION OF NATURAL GAS UNDER THE NATURAL GAS POLICY ACT OF 1978 AND RELATED AUTHORITIES General Provisions and Conditions § 284.7 Firm transportation service. (a) Firm...

  9. 18 CFR 284.7 - Firm transportation service.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Firm transportation... AUTHORITIES CERTAIN SALES AND TRANSPORTATION OF NATURAL GAS UNDER THE NATURAL GAS POLICY ACT OF 1978 AND RELATED AUTHORITIES General Provisions and Conditions § 284.7 Firm transportation service. (a) Firm...

  10. 18 CFR 284.7 - Firm transportation service.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Firm transportation... AUTHORITIES CERTAIN SALES AND TRANSPORTATION OF NATURAL GAS UNDER THE NATURAL GAS POLICY ACT OF 1978 AND RELATED AUTHORITIES General Provisions and Conditions § 284.7 Firm transportation service. (a) Firm...

  11. 18 CFR 284.7 - Firm transportation service.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Firm transportation... AUTHORITIES CERTAIN SALES AND TRANSPORTATION OF NATURAL GAS UNDER THE NATURAL GAS POLICY ACT OF 1978 AND RELATED AUTHORITIES General Provisions and Conditions § 284.7 Firm transportation service. (a) Firm...

  12. 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.

  13. 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…

  14. 21 CFR 7.46 - Firm-initiated recall.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... action, e.g., seizure. In such cases, the firm will be asked to provide the Food and Drug Administration... requested a recall. The firm's action also is considered a firm-initiated recall and is subject to... but where it is apparent, e.g., because of complaints or adverse reactions regarding the product, that...

  15. Bringing the Firms into Globalization Research: The Effects of Foreign Investment and Exports on Wages in Mexican Manufacturing Firms

    PubMed Central

    Villarreal, Andrés; Sakamoto, Arthur

    2011-01-01

    Researchers specializing in organizations and labor markets have paid insufficient attention to the effects that foreign ownership of a firm and its orientation towards export production may have on the wages it pays to its workers. Using information from a nationally-representative sample of manufacturing firms in Mexico, a paradigmatic case of a developing country that is highly integrated into world markets, we find that foreign-owned and export-oriented firms pay considerably more than nationally-owned firms engaged in the production of goods for sale in the domestic market. Second, beyond paying higher wages to their workers, foreign-owned firms also raise the wages paid by domestic firms operating in the same regional labor markets. The wage premium in foreign and export-oriented firms cannot be explained by their size, industry, geographical location, productivity, use of advanced technology, or the sociodemographic composition of their workforce. We find evidence that wages in foreign-owned companies in Mexico are dependent on the country of origin of the capital investment. A greater difference between the industry-specific wages paid in the country of ownership and Mexico is associated with a higher wage premium in Mexican affiliates. Future work should strive to link information from foreign-owned affiliates with their parent companies abroad. PMID:21566699

  16. 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

  17. Finding the "Right Staff" in Small Firms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barrett, Rowena; Neeson, Robyn; Billington, Leo

    2007-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore what owners of small firms are looking for from new employees. The aim is to pursue this in light of the debate around formality and informality of small firm HRM, exploring the extent to which the small firms studied had formalized HRM practices. Design/methodology/approach: The data reported here…

  18. Skills Gaps in Australian Firms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lindorff, Margaret

    2011-01-01

    This paper reports the results of a survey of more than 2000 managers examining perceptions of skills gaps in a range of Australian firms. It finds that three quarters report a skills gap, and almost one third report skills gaps across the whole organisation. Firm size and industry differences exist in perceptions of the effect of the skills gap…

  19. Statistical properties of business firms structure and growth

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

    2004-08-01

    We analyze a database comprising quarterly sales of 55624 pharmaceutical products commercialized by 3939 pharmaceutical firms in the period 1992 2001. We study the probability density function (PDF) of growth in firms and product sales and find that the width of the PDF of growth decays with the sales as a power law with exponent β = 0.20 ± 0.01. We also find that the average sales of products scales with the firm sales as a power law with exponent α = 0.57 ± 0.02. And that the average number products of a firm scales with the firm sales as a power law with exponent γ = 0.42 ± 0.02. We compare these findings with the predictions of models proposed till date on growth of business firms.

  20. Microcap pharmaceutical firms: linking drug pipelines to market value.

    PubMed

    Beach, Robert

    2012-01-01

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

  1. Objectives of the Airline Firm: Theory

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kneafsey, J. T.

    1972-01-01

    Theoretical models are formulated for airline firm operations that revolve around alternative formulations of managerial goals which these firms are persuing in practice. Consideration is given to the different objective functions which the companies are following in lieu of profit maximization.

  2. 13 CFR 315.6 - Firm eligibility for Adjustment Assistance.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

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

  3. The structure of a market containing boundedly rational firms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ibrahim, Adyda; Zura, Nerda; Saaban, Azizan

    2017-11-01

    The structure of a market is determined by the number of active firms in it. Over time, this number is affected by the exit of existing firms, called incumbents, and entries of new firms, called entrant. In this paper, we considered a market governed by the Cobb-Douglas utility function such that the demand function is isoelastic. Each firm is assumed to produce a single homogenous product under a constant unit cost. Furthermore, firms are assumed to be boundedly rational in adjusting their outputs at each period. A firm is considered to exit the market if its output is negative. In this paper, the market is assumed to have zero barrier-to-entry. Therefore, the exiting firm can reenter the market if its output is positive again, and new firms can enter the market easily. Based on these assumptions and rules, a mathematical model was developed and numerical simulations were run using Matlab. By setting certain values for the parameters in the model, initial numerical simulations showed that in the long run, the number of firms that manages to survive the market varies between zero to 30. This initial result is consistent with the idea that a zero barrier-to-entry may produce a perfectly competitive market.

  4. 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...

  5. 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.

  6. Collective firm bankruptcies and phase transition in rating dynamics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sieczka, P.; Hołyst, J. A.

    2009-10-01

    We present a simple model of firm rating evolution. We consider two sources of defaults: individual dynamics of economic development and Potts-like interactions between firms. We show that such a defined model leads to phase transition, which results in collective defaults. The existence of the collective phase depends on the mean interaction strength. For small interaction strength parameters, there are many independent bankruptcies of individual companies. For large parameters, there are giant collective defaults of firm clusters. In the case when the individual firm dynamics favors dumping of rating changes, there is an optimal strength of the firm's interactions from the systemic risk point of view. in here

  7. 48 CFR 519.7006 - Mentor firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Mentor firms. 519.7006... PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS GSA Mentor-Protégé Program 519.7006 Mentor firms. (a) Mentors must be... plan as required by FAR 19.7 - Small business mentors are exempted; or (2) A small business prime...

  8. Firm size distribution and mobility of the top 500 firms in China, the United States and the world

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Guo, Jinzhong; Xu, Qi; Chen, Qinghua; Wang, Yougui

    2013-07-01

    This paper considers the macroscopic and microscopic statistical features of the top 500 firms in China, the United States and the world, denoted as China 500 (CH500), Fortune 500 (US500) and Fortune Global 500 (FG500). From a macroscopic perspective, the firm size distribution of each category, when measured by revenue, is steadily distributed over the observed period, even during periods of financial crises. As is evidenced by the Gini coefficient, divergences between firm scales are most significant for the CH500. From a microscopic perspective, the underlying micro-dynamics are volatile and often turbulent due to the exit and entry of firms as well as shifts in their revenues and ranks. Such fluctuations, or mobility, are visualized in rank/revenue/share clocks. We also propose a revenue/rank/share mobility index that is a quantitative measurement of mobility. Among these, we find that the share mobility acts as an effective indicator of economic status; where there is a share mobility spike, there is an ailing economy. The share mobility indexes indicate that the 2008 Financial Crisis had little impact on the Chinese economy, while it triggered violent changes in the top 500 firms in the United States and the world.

  9. Where Gibrat meets Zipf: Scale and scope of French firms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bee, Marco; Riccaboni, Massimo; Schiavo, Stefano

    2017-09-01

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

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

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

    2007-03-01

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

  11. Endogenous network of firms and systemic risk

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ma, Qianting; He, Jianmin; Li, Shouwei

    2018-02-01

    We construct an endogenous network characterized by commercial credit relationships connecting the upstream and downstream firms. Simulation results indicate that the endogenous network model displays a scale-free property which exists in real-world firm systems. In terms of the network structure, with the expansion of the scale of network nodes, the systemic risk increases significantly, while the heterogeneities of network nodes have no effect on systemic risk. As for firm micro-behaviors, including the selection range of trading partners, actual output, labor requirement, price of intermediate products and employee salaries, increase of all these parameters will lead to higher systemic risk.

  12. Factors Affecting Firm Yield and the Estimation of Firm Yield for Selected Streamflow-Dominated Drinking-Water-Supply Reservoirs in Massachusetts

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Waldron, Marcus C.; Archfield, Stacey A.

    2006-01-01

    Factors affecting reservoir firm yield, as determined by application of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection's Firm Yield Estimator (FYE) model, were evaluated, modified, and tested on 46 streamflow-dominated reservoirs representing 15 Massachusetts drinking-water supplies. The model uses a mass-balance approach to determine the maximum average daily withdrawal rate that can be sustained during a period of record that includes the 1960s drought-of-record. The FYE methodology to estimate streamflow to the reservoir at an ungaged site was tested by simulating streamflow at two streamflow-gaging stations in Massachusetts and comparing the simulated streamflow to the observed streamflow. In general, the FYE-simulated flows agreed well with observed flows. There were substantial deviations from the measured values for extreme high and low flows. A sensitivity analysis determined that the model's streamflow estimates are most sensitive to input values for average annual precipitation, reservoir drainage area, and the soil-retention number-a term that describes the amount of precipitation retained by the soil in the basin. The FYE model currently provides the option of using a 1,000-year synthetic record constructed by randomly sampling 2-year blocks of concurrent streamflow and precipitation records 500 times; however, the synthetic record has the potential to generate records of precipitation and streamflow that do not reflect the worst historical drought in Massachusetts. For reservoirs that do not have periods of drawdown greater than 2 years, the bootstrap does not offer any additional information about the firm yield of a reservoir than the historical record does. For some reservoirs, the use of a synthetic record to determine firm yield resulted in as much as a 30-percent difference between firm-yield values from one simulation to the next. Furthermore, the assumption that the synthetic traces of streamflow are statistically equivalent to the

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

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

    2005-07-01

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

  14. Production, depreciation and the size distribution of firms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ma, Qi; Chen, Yongwang; Tong, Hui; Di, Zengru

    2008-05-01

    Many empirical researches indicate that firm size distributions in different industries or countries exhibit some similar characters. Among them the fact that many firm size distributions obey power-law especially for the upper end has been mostly discussed. Here we present an agent-based model to describe the evolution of manufacturing firms. Some basic economic behaviors are taken into account, which are production with decreasing marginal returns, preferential allocation of investments, and stochastic depreciation. The model gives a steady size distribution of firms which obey power-law. The effect of parameters on the power exponent is analyzed. The theoretical results are given based on both the Fokker-Planck equation and the Kesten process. They are well consistent with the numerical results.

  15. 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.…

  16. Networks of Firms and the Ridge in the Production Space

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Souma, Wataru

    We develop complex networks that represent activities in the economy. The network in this study is constructed from firms and the relationships between firms, i.e., shareholding, interlocking directors, transactions, and joint applications for patents. Thus, the network is regarded as a multigraph, and it is also regarded as a weighted network. By calculating various network indices, we clarify the characteristics of the network. We also consider the dynamics of firms in the production space that are characterized by capital stock, employment, and profit. Each firm moves within this space to maximize their profit by using controlling of capital stock and employment. We show that the dynamics of rational firms can be described using a ridge equation. We analytically solve this equation by assuming the extensive Cobb-Douglas production function, and thereby obtain a solution. By comparing the distribution of firms and this solution, we find that almost all of the 1,100 firms listed on the first section of the Tokyo stock exchange and belonging to the manufacturing sector are managed efficiently.

  17. Theoretical Perspectives on the Internationalization of Firms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rask, Morten; Strandskov, Jesper; Hakonsson, Dorthe Dojbak

    2008-01-01

    The purpose of this article is to build a coherent framework of the four main theories relating to the internationalization of firms, in order to facilitate better business teaching and research. Yet, theories of the internationalization of firms are broad and rest on different underlying assumptions. With the purpose of clarifying the potential…

  18. Optoelectronics-related competence building in Japanese and Western firms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Miyazaki, Kumiko

    1992-05-01

    In this paper, an analysis is made of how different firms in Japan and the West have developed competence related to optoelectronics on the basis of their previous experience and corporate strategies. The sample consists of a set of seven Japanese and four Western firms in the industrial, consumer electronics and materials sectors. Optoelectronics is divided into subfields including optical communications systems, optical fibers, optoelectronic key components, liquid crystal displays, optical disks, and others. The relative strengths and weaknesses of companies in the various subfields are determined using the INSPEC database, from 1976 to 1989. Parallel data are analyzed using OTAF U.S. patent statistics and the two sets of data are compared. The statistical analysis from the database is summarized for firms in each subfield in the form of an intra-firm technology index (IFTI), a new technique introduced to assess the revealed technology advantage of firms. The quantitative evaluation is complemented by results from intensive interviews with the management and scientists of the firms involved. The findings show that there is a marked variation in the way firms' technological trajectories have evolved giving rise to strength in some and weakness in other subfields for the different companies, which are related to their accumulated core competencies, previous core business activities, organizational, marketing, and competitive factors.

  19. Evolutionary model of the growth and size of firms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kaldasch, Joachim

    2012-07-01

    The key idea of this model is that firms are the result of an evolutionary process. Based on demand and supply considerations the evolutionary model presented here derives explicitly Gibrat's law of proportionate effects as the result of the competition between products. Applying a preferential attachment mechanism for firms, the theory allows to establish the size distribution of products and firms. Also established are the growth rate and price distribution of consumer goods. Taking into account the characteristic property of human activities to occur in bursts, the model allows also an explanation of the size-variance relationship of the growth rate distribution of products and firms. Further the product life cycle, the learning (experience) curve and the market size in terms of the mean number of firms that can survive in a market are derived. The model also suggests the existence of an invariant of a market as the ratio of total profit to total revenue. The relationship between a neo-classic and an evolutionary view of a market is discussed. The comparison with empirical investigations suggests that the theory is able to describe the main stylized facts concerning the size and growth of firms.

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

    PubMed

    Tang, Erzi; Zhang, Jingjing; Haider, Zulfiqar

    2015-11-01

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

  1. 48 CFR 519.7008 - Selection of protégé firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

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

  2. Box-Cox transformation of firm size data in statistical analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, Ting Ting; Takaishi, Tetsuya

    2014-03-01

    Firm size data usually do not show the normality that is often assumed in statistical analysis such as regression analysis. In this study we focus on two firm size data: the number of employees and sale. Those data deviate considerably from a normal distribution. To improve the normality of those data we transform them by the Box-Cox transformation with appropriate parameters. The Box-Cox transformation parameters are determined so that the transformed data best show the kurtosis of a normal distribution. It is found that the two firm size data transformed by the Box-Cox transformation show strong linearity. This indicates that the number of employees and sale have the similar property as a firm size indicator. The Box-Cox parameters obtained for the firm size data are found to be very close to zero. In this case the Box-Cox transformations are approximately a log-transformation. This suggests that the firm size data we used are approximately log-normal distributions.

  3. 48 CFR 52.216-16 - Incentive Price Revision-Firm Target.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ...-Firm Target. 52.216-16 Section 52.216-16 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL ACQUISITION... Clauses 52.216-16 Incentive Price Revision—Firm Target. As prescribed in 16.406(a), insert the following clause: Incentive Price Revision—Firm Target (OCT 1997) (a) General. The supplies or services identified...

  4. 48 CFR 52.216-16 - Incentive Price Revision-Firm Target.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ...-Firm Target. 52.216-16 Section 52.216-16 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL ACQUISITION... Clauses 52.216-16 Incentive Price Revision—Firm Target. As prescribed in 16.406(a), insert the following clause: Incentive Price Revision—Firm Target (OCT 1997) (a) General. The supplies or services identified...

  5. 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).

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

    PubMed

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

    2018-02-04

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

  7. Beefing up operations in service firms.

    PubMed

    Chase, R B; Hayes, R H

    1991-01-01

    Many articles exhort service firm managers to empower workers and first-line supervisors, exploit technology, focus on the customer, and, above all, provide outstanding service. This article proposes a framework to help you evaluate your company's competitive standing in each of these areas. It discusses four types of companies on a continuum, from the company that is simply "available for service" to the firm that delivers world class service. The authors focus on operations, the function that controls the service encounter, and apply the manufacturing strategy paradigm to services as a means of implementing change.

  8. 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.

  9. 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.

  10. 39 CFR 281.1 - Notification of firm mailers.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... customer services at the office of mailing to give known mailers timely notification of the incident and... 39 Postal Service 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Notification of firm mailers. 281.1 Section 281.1 Postal Service UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION FIRM MAILINGS DAMAGED OR...

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

    PubMed Central

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

    2018-01-01

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

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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

    2010-01-01

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

  13. 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…

  14. Environmental performance, profitability, asset utilization, debt monitoring and firm value

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bukit, R. Br; Haryanto, B.; Ginting, P.

    2018-02-01

    The growing issue on firm value shows that firm value is not only determined by the firm ability to increase financial profit, but also by the company's concern in maintaining the environmental condition. The industrial development produces waste that pollutes the environment that has potential to serious impact on the next life. In addition to provide financial benefits, companies are increasingly facing pressure to be socially responsible for the survival of the company. However, past findings demonstrate that the effect of environmental performance, profitability, and asset utilization to the firm’s value are still unclear. This study aims to test whether environmental performance, firm profitability and asset utilization can effectively enhance firm value in two different conditions: intensive debt monitoring and less intensive debt monitoring. Sample of companies is taken from the list of Indonesia Stock Exchange during the period of 2013 to 2015. Using multiple regression analysis, discloses that: in intensive monitoring, managers tend to have high firm value when company has high environmental performance and or high profitability and high asset utilization. Monitoring system needs to be intensified especially for companies with the above characteristics.

  15. [Micro-simulation of firms' heterogeneity on pollution intensity and regional characteristics].

    PubMed

    Zhao, Nan; Liu, Yi; Chen, Ji-Ning

    2009-11-01

    In the same industrial sector, heterogeneity of pollution intensity exists among firms. There are some errors if using sector's average pollution intensity, which are calculated by limited number of firms in environmental statistic database to represent the sector's regional economic-environmental status. Based on the production function which includes environmental depletion as input, a micro-simulation model on firms' operational decision making is proposed. Then the heterogeneity of firms' pollution intensity can be mechanically described. Taking the mechanical manufacturing sector in Deyang city, 2005 as the case, the model's parameters were estimated. And the actual COD emission intensities of environmental statistic firms can be properly matched by the simulation. The model's results also show that the regional average COD emission intensity calculated by the environmental statistic firms (0.002 6 t per 10 000 yuan fixed asset, 0.001 5 t per 10 000 yuan production value) is lower than the regional average intensity calculated by all the firms in the region (0.003 0 t per 10 000 yuan fixed asset, 0.002 3 t per 10 000 yuan production value). The difference among average intensities in the six counties is significant as well. These regional characteristics of pollution intensity attribute to the sector's inner-structure (firms' scale distribution, technology distribution) and its spatial deviation.

  16. 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.

  17. Ontology-Based Model Of Firm Competitiveness

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Deliyska, Boryana; Stoenchev, Nikolay

    2010-10-01

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

  18. Two-Production-Period in a Duopoly with Nonprofit and For-Profit Firms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ferreira, Fernanda A.

    2010-09-01

    We investigate endogenous roles in a competition between a nonprofit firm and a for-profit firm in a homogeneous goods market, by allowing two production periods. We find that the Cournot-type equilibrium and one Stackelberg-type equilibrium where the nonprofit firm becomes the follower exist; however, another tackelberg-type equilibrium where the nonprofit firm becomes the leader does not exist.

  19. Input output scaling relations in Italian manufacturing firms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bottazzi, Giulio; Grazzi, Marco; Secchi, Angelo

    2005-09-01

    Recent analyses on different database have proposed some regularities with respect to size and growth rates distribution of firms. In this work we explore some basic properties of the dynamics of productivity in Italian manufacturing firms. We investigate relations between different inputs and output examining the impact of productivity in shaping the pattern of corporates evolution.

  20. 48 CFR 16.403-1 - Fixed-price incentive (firm target) contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... (firm target) contracts. 16.403-1 Section 16.403-1 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL... Fixed-price incentive (firm target) contracts. (a) Description. A fixed-price incentive (firm target) contract specifies a target cost, a target profit, a price ceiling (but not a profit ceiling or floor), and...

  1. 48 CFR 16.403-1 - Fixed-price incentive (firm target) contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... (firm target) contracts. 16.403-1 Section 16.403-1 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL... Fixed-price incentive (firm target) contracts. (a) Description. A fixed-price incentive (firm target) contract specifies a target cost, a target profit, a price ceiling (but not a profit ceiling or floor), and...

  2. Efficiency and Productivity Analysis of Multidivisional Firms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gong, Binlei

    Multidivisional firms are those who have footprints in multiple segments and hence using multiple technologies to convert inputs to outputs, which makes it difficult to estimate the resource allocations, aggregated production functions, and technical efficiencies of this type of companies. This dissertation aims to explore and reveal such unobserved information by several parametric and semiparametric stochastic frontier analyses and some other structural models. In the empirical study, this dissertation analyzes the productivity and efficiency for firms in the global oilfield market.

  3. A database linking Chinese patents to China’s census firms

    PubMed Central

    He, Zi-Lin; Tong, Tony W.; Zhang, Yuchen; He, Wenlong

    2018-01-01

    To meet researchers’ increasing interest in the fast growing innovation activities taking place in China, we match patents filed with China’s State Intellectual Property Office to firms covered in China’s Census. China has experienced a strong growth in patent filings over the past two decades, and has since 2011 become the world’s top patent filing country. China’s Census database covers about one million unique manufacturing firms from 1998–2009, representing the broad Chinese economy. We design data parsing and pre-processing routines to clean and stem firm and assignee names, create a matching algorithm that fits with our data and maintains a balance between matching accuracy and workload of manual check, and implement a systematic manual check process to filter out false positives generated from computerized matching. Our project generates 1,113,588 matches for the Census firms, among which 849,647 patents are uniquely matched. By creating the patent-firm linked dataset, we hope to reduce duplicative effort and encourage more research to better understand China’s fast changing innovation landscape. PMID:29583142

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

    PubMed

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

    2014-12-15

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

  5. 48 CFR 819.7107 - Selection of Protégé firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS VA Mentor-Protégé Program 819.7107 Selection of Protégé firms. (a) Mentor firms will be solely responsible for selecting protégé firms. Mentors are encouraged to.... (b) Mentors may have multiple protégés. However, to preserve the integrity of the Program and assure...

  6. Social firms: a means for building employment skills and community integration.

    PubMed

    Lysaght, Rosemary; Jakobsen, Klara; Granhaug, Birgit

    2012-01-01

    Social firms are widely used in Europe as a means of affirmatively creating employment opportunities and training for employment challenged groups. These commercial businesses produce, market and sell goods and services to the public while providing opportunities for productive engagement, increased incomes, and social integration for their employees. This article presents a case study of a Norwegian social firm that was created to improve employment and functional outcomes for workers with mental health disabilities and addictions. The case illustrates one model of social firm, and is used as the foundation for discussion of the relative contributions of social firms to employment outcomes for people who are marginalized in the labour market. The social firm represented a major change in philosophy and operations for mental health service provision in the local municipality. Numbers of individuals served increased dramatically, and changes were observed in the extent and nature of participant daily involvement, and in outcomes achieved. This model brings participants into contact with the public, and has served to break down barriers and reduce stigma. Social firms represent a viable alternative for creating employment options and training and for enhancing social integration of people with mental health disabilities.

  7. Hunting for a headhunter. How to select a physician search firm.

    PubMed

    Walker, R

    1989-05-01

    Many healthcare facilities in search of a physician are bombarded with offers from physician search firms to drum up potential candidates. Determining which firm has the right stuff for the job takes considerable time and skill. More than 60 companies belong to the National Association of Physician Recruiters, and their methods, policies, and results may vary widely. Administrators can begin getting basic information by contacting firms and requesting written material. During the initial telephone call, the administrator in charge of the search should speak with a consultant or principal of the firm (whoever would be doing the search) and find out what experience that person has had with searches for facilities in similar geographical areas, his or her success in placing physicians who specialize in the specialty needed, how many searches the consultant undertakes at one time, whether the firm guarantees its services, and an outline of its fee structure. After evaluating written material, the administrator should choose two or three search firms to make personal presentations. These presentations should follow a logical sequence and include statistics, completion times, ratios, and specific deadlines for various parts of the search process.

  8. How Knowledge Organisations Work: The Case of Software Firms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gottschalk, Petter

    2007-01-01

    Knowledge workers in software firms solve client problems in sequential and cyclical work processes. Sequential and cyclical work takes place in the value configuration of a value shop. While typical examples of value chains are manufacturing industries such as paper and car production, typical examples of value shops are law firms and medical…

  9. Firm Size and Skill Formation Processes: An Emerging Debate

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bishop, Daniel

    2012-01-01

    Recent research has established that small firms tend to develop and acquire the skills they need in different ways to those employed by larger organisations. More specifically, due to certain characteristics inherent to their small size, small firms generally display greater informality in their learning processes. As such, it is now broadly…

  10. Firm performance and the role of environmental management.

    PubMed

    Lundgren, Tommy; Zhou, Wenchao

    2017-12-01

    This paper analyzes the interactions between three dimensions of firm performance - productivity, energy efficiency, and environmental performance - and especially sheds light on the role of environmental management. In this context, environmental management is investments to reduce environmental impact, which may also affect firm competitiveness, in terms of change in productivity, and spur more (or less) efficient use of energy. We apply data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique to calculate the Malmquist firm performance indexes, and a panel vector auto-regression (VAR) methodology is utilized to investigate the dynamic and causal relationship between the three dimensions of firm performance and environmental investment. Main results show that energy efficiency and environmental performance are integrated, and energy efficiency and productivity positively reinforce each other, signifying the cost saving property of more efficient use of energy. Hence, increasing energy efficiency, as advocated in many of today's energy policies, could capture multiple benefits. The results also show that improved environmental performance and environmental investments constrain next period productivity, a result that would be in contrast with the Porter hypothesis and strategic corporate social responsibility; both concepts conveying the notion that pro-environmental management can boost productivity and competitiveness. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Determinants of Successful Training Practices in Large Australian Firms.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dawe, Susan

    The determinants of successful training practices in large Australian firms were examined. The study's three phases were as follows: (1) a review of existing literature; (2) a meta-analysis of previously conducted case studies of 49 large Australian firms in 14 industrial sectors; and (3) a comparative analysis of the findings of the past studies…

  12. Firm Size, Ownership, Training Duration and Training Evaluation Practices

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Asadullah, Muhammad Ali; Peretti, Jean Marie; Ali, Arain Ghulam; Bourgain, Marina

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to test the mediating role of training duration in relationship between firm characteristics and training evaluation practices. In this paper, the authors also investigated if this mediating effect differs with respect to the size of the firm. Design/methodology/approach: The authors collected data from 260…

  13. 48 CFR 2936.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... with architect-engineer firms. 2936.209 Section 2936.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF LABOR GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Special Aspects of Contracting for Construction 2936.209 Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms. As...

  14. 48 CFR 2936.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... with architect-engineer firms. 2936.209 Section 2936.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF LABOR GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Special Aspects of Contracting for Construction 2936.209 Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms. As...

  15. 48 CFR 1536.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... architect-engineer firms. 1536.209 Section 1536.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Special Aspects of Contracting for Construction 1536.209 Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms. (a...

  16. 48 CFR 2936.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... with architect-engineer firms. 2936.209 Section 2936.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF LABOR GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Special Aspects of Contracting for Construction 2936.209 Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms. As...

  17. 48 CFR 2936.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... with architect-engineer firms. 2936.209 Section 2936.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF LABOR GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Special Aspects of Contracting for Construction 2936.209 Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms. As...

  18. Contingent feasibility for forest carbon credit: evidence from South Korean firms.

    PubMed

    Roh, TaeWoo; Koo, Ja-Choon; Cho, Dong-Sung; Youn, Yeo-Chang

    2014-11-01

    Under the Kyoto Protocol, a global governmental response to climate change, protocol signatories make an effort to cut their greenhouse gas emissions. South Korea is not included in the list of Annex I countries; yet, South Korea is the seventh highest emitter of CO2. The South Korean government has enacted various institutional policies to encourage greenhouse gas reductions. While previous studies have focused on the guidance that reflects the stance of suppliers in the carbon market, this study focuses on South Korean firms' actual demand for forest carbon credits. By applying the contingent valuation method, we estimated domestic firms' willingness to pay for forest carbon credits. We then applied a rank-ordered logistic regression to confirm whether the rank of forest carbon credits, as compared to any other carbon credit, is influenced by a firm's characteristics. The results showed that Korean firms are willing to pay 5.45 USD/tCO2 and 7.77 USD/tCO2 for forest carbon credits in domestic and overseas forest carbon projects, respectively. Therefore, the introduction of forest carbon credits in the Korean carbon market seems reasonable. Analysis of the priority rankings of forest carbon credits, however, demonstrated that forestry projects were least likely to be ranked by firms as their first priority. Although relative preferences for forest carbon credits were influenced by individual firms' characteristics such as prior experience of environmental CSR related activities and whether the firm established an emissions reduction plan, the impact of perceived behavior control, whether the firm was included in the emissions target management scheme on forest carbon credits was negligible. Therefore, forest carbon credits are not a feasible solution without strong government support or institutional instruments. The results of this study are expected to provide policy makers with realistic approaches to formulate climatic change-related policies. Copyright © 2014

  19. Productivity and safety in worker cooperatives and conventional firms.

    PubMed

    Grunberg, L; Everard, J; O'Toole, M

    1984-01-01

    This paper examines the relationship between productivity and workers' safety in firms characterized by very different types of relations in production. Arguments are developed to explain why worker cooperatives are expected to have higher productivity and lower accident rates than conventional capitalist firms. Workers who own and control their firms are expected to have a greater incentive to be efficient and a greater ability to safeguard their health than workers employed under hierarchical and alienating conditions. The hypotheses are tested by comparing carefully matched conventional and cooperative plywood companies. Preliminary results suggest that while cooperatives may be more productive they are not safer, indicating the limits of the isolated cooperative form in capitalist market economies.

  20. 48 CFR 36.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... with architect-engineer firms. 36.209 Section 36.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Special Aspects of Contracting for Construction 36.209 Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms. No...

  1. 48 CFR 636.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... with architect-engineer firms. 636.209 Section 636.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF STATE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Special Aspects of Contracting for Construction 636.209 Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms. The...

  2. 48 CFR 636.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... with architect-engineer firms. 636.209 Section 636.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF STATE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Special Aspects of Contracting for Construction 636.209 Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms. The...

  3. 48 CFR 836.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... with architect-engineer firms. 836.209 Section 836.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER...-engineer firms. (a) When the contracting officer considers it necessary or advantageous to award a contract...

  4. 48 CFR 636.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... with architect-engineer firms. 636.209 Section 636.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF STATE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Special Aspects of Contracting for Construction 636.209 Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms. The...

  5. 48 CFR 636.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... with architect-engineer firms. 636.209 Section 636.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF STATE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Special Aspects of Contracting for Construction 636.209 Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms. The...

  6. 48 CFR 836.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... with architect-engineer firms. 836.209 Section 836.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER...-engineer firms. (a) When the contracting officer considers it necessary or advantageous to award a contract...

  7. 48 CFR 836.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... with architect-engineer firms. 836.209 Section 836.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER...-engineer firms. (a) When the contracting officer considers it necessary or advantageous to award a contract...

  8. 48 CFR 36.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... with architect-engineer firms. 36.209 Section 36.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Special Aspects of Contracting for Construction 36.209 Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms. No...

  9. 48 CFR 636.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... with architect-engineer firms. 636.209 Section 636.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF STATE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Special Aspects of Contracting for Construction 636.209 Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms. The...

  10. 48 CFR 2936.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... architect-engineer firms. 2936.209 Section 2936.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF LABOR GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Special Aspects of Contracting for Construction 2936.209 Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms. As required by FAR...

  11. 48 CFR 36.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... with architect-engineer firms. 36.209 Section 36.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Special Aspects of Contracting for Construction 36.209 Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms. No...

  12. 48 CFR 836.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... with architect-engineer firms. 836.209 Section 836.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER...-engineer firms. (a) When the contracting officer considers it necessary or advantageous to award a contract...

  13. 48 CFR 36.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... with architect-engineer firms. 36.209 Section 36.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Special Aspects of Contracting for Construction 36.209 Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms. No...

  14. 48 CFR 836.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... with architect-engineer firms. 836.209 Section 836.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER...-engineer firms. (a) When the contracting officer considers it necessary or advantageous to award a contract...

  15. 48 CFR 36.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... with architect-engineer firms. 36.209 Section 36.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Special Aspects of Contracting for Construction 36.209 Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms. No...

  16. Training's Practices: Education and Training within the American Firm.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zemsky, Robert; Meyerson, Martin

    A study examined the training provided to workers by 20 firms across the Nation. In the 12 years between 1969 and 1981, American firms increased their expenditures on employee training from $2.4 to $3.5 million according to an analysis of data gathered by Current Population Surveys. In the same period, members of the American Society for Training…

  17. Firms navigating through innovation spaces: a conceptualization of how firms search and perceive technological, market and productive opportunities globally.

    PubMed

    McKelvey, Maureen

    2016-01-01

    The main contribution of this paper is a theory-based conceptual framework of innovation spaces, and how firms must navigate through them to innovate. The concept of innovation systems - at the regional, sectoral and national levels - have been highly influential. Previous literature developing the concept of innovation systems has stressed the importance of institutions, networks and knowledge bases at the regional, sectoral and national levels. This paper primarily draws upon an evolutionary and Schumpeterian economics perspective, in the following three senses. The conceptualization of 'innnovation spaces' focuses upon how and why firm search for innovations is influenced the opportunities within certain geographical contexts. This means that the firm create opportunities and can span different context, but they are influence by the context in term of the access, flow and co-evolution of ideas, resources, technology, people and knowledge, which help stimulate business innovation in terms of products, process and services. The paper concludes with an agenda for future research and especially the need to focus on globalization as a process of intensifying linkages across the globe.

  18. Disability Management in Small Firms.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Drury, David

    1991-01-01

    Notes that American research has paid relatively little attention to prospects for adapting disability management practices to financial and management environment of smaller employers. Compares large and small firms in terms of employer disability practices and characteristics of disabled workers; discusses barriers to rehabilitation and…

  19. Firm size diversity, functional richness, and resilience

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Garmestani, A.S.; Allen, Craig R.; Mittelstaedt, J.D.; Stow, C.A.; Ward, W.A.

    2006-01-01

    This paper applies recent advances in ecology to our understanding of firm development, sustainability, and economic development. The ecological literature indicates that the greater the functional richness of species in a system, the greater its resilience - that is, its ability to persist in the face of substantial changes in the environment. This paper focuses on the effects of functional richness across firm size on the ability of industries to survive in the face of economic change. Our results indicate that industries with a richness of industrial functions are more resilient to employment volatility. ?? 2006 Cambridge University Press.

  20. 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.

  1. Unbundled infrastructure firms: Competition and continuing regulation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hogendorn, Christiaan Paul

    Unbundled infrastructure firms provide conduits for electricity transmission, residential communications, etc. but are vertically disintegrated from "content" functions such as electricity generation or world-wide-web pages. These conduits are being deregulated, and this dissertation examines whether the deregulated conduits will behave in an efficient and competitive manner. The dissertation presents three essays, each of which develops a theoretical model of the behavior of conduit firms in a market environment. The first essay considers the prospects for competition between multiple conduits in the emerging market for broadband (high-speed) residential Internet access. It finds that such competition is likely to emerge as demand for these services increase. The second essay shows how a monopoly electricity or natural gas transmission conduit can facilitate collusion between suppliers of the good. It shows that this is an inefficient effect of standard price-cap regulation. The third essay considers the supply chain of residential Internet access and evaluates proposed "open access" regulation that would allow more than one firm to serve customers over the same physical infrastructure. It shows that the amount of content available to consumers does not necessarily increase under open access.

  2. 10 CFR 603.615 - Financial management standards for-profit firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Financial management standards for-profit firms. 603.615... § 603.615 Financial management standards for-profit firms. (a) To avoid causing needless changes in participants' financial management systems, an expenditure-based TIA will make for-profit participants that...

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

    PubMed

    Earnhart, Dietrich; Leonard, J Mark

    2013-10-15

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

  4. 48 CFR 719.273-5 - Selection of Protégé firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... (USAID) Mentor-Protégé Program 719.273-5 Selection of Protégé firms. (a) Mentor firms will be solely responsible for selecting Protégé firms. Mentors are encouraged to select from a broad base of small business.... (b) Mentors may have multiple Protégés. However, to preserve the integrity of the Program and assure...

  5. Firm behavior, environmental externalities and public policy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Curtis, Earnest Markell, IV

    This dissertation consists of three essays which examine environmental policy, employer mandates and energy consumption. The essays explore how firms respond to government policies such as environmental regulation and employer mandates. Understanding how firms adjust to government policies is crucial to law makers attempting to design optimal policies that maximize net benefits to society. The first essay, titled Who Loses under Power Plant Cap-and-Trade Programs tests how a major cap-and-trade program, known as the NOx Budget Trading Program (NBP), affected labor markets in the region where it was implemented. The cap-and-trade program dramatically decreased levels of NOx emissions and added substantial costs to energy producers. Using a triple-differences approach that takes advantage of the geographic and time variation of the program as well as variation in industry energy-intensity levels, I examine how employment dynamics changed in manufacturing industries whose production process requires high levels of energy. After accounting for a variety of flexible state, county and industry trends, I find that employment in the manufacturing sector dropped by 1.7% as a result of the NBP. Young workers experienced the largest employment declines and earnings of newly hired workers fell after the regulation began. Employment declines are shown to have occurred primarily through decreased hiring rates rather than increased separation rates, thus mitigating the impact on incumbent workers. The second essay, titled Evaluating Workplace Mandates with Flows versus Stocks: An Application to California Paid Family Leave uses an underexploited data set to examine the impact of the California Paid Family Leave program on employment outcomes for young women. Most papers on mandated benefits examine labor outcomes by looking at earnings and employment levels of all workers. Examining these levels will be imprecise if the impacts of the program develop over time and firms are wary

  6. 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…

  7. 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

  8. 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

  9. Hospitals look to hospitality service firms to meet TQM goals.

    PubMed

    Hard, R

    1992-05-20

    Hospitals that hire contract service firms to manage one or all aspects of their hospitality service departments increasingly expect those firms to help meet total quality management goals as well as offer the more traditional cost reduction, quality improvement and specialized expertise, finds the 1992 Hospital Contract Services Survey conducted by Hospitals.

  10. 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…

  11. A new role for the Arabidopsis AP2 transcription factor, LEAFY PETIOLE, in gibberellin-induced germination is revealed by the misexpression of a homologous gene, SOB2/DRN-LIKE.

    PubMed

    Ward, Jason M; Smith, Alison M; Shah, Purvi K; Galanti, Sarah E; Yi, Hankuil; Demianski, Agnes J; van der Graaff, Eric; Keller, Beat; Neff, Michael M

    2006-01-01

    Gibberellic acid (GA) promotes germination, stem/hypocotyl elongation, and leaf expansion during seedling development. Using activation-tagging mutagenesis, we identified a mutation, sob2-D (for suppressor of phytochromeB-4 [phyB-4]#2 dominant), which suppresses the long-hypocotyl phenotype of a phyB missense allele, phyB-4. This mutant phenotype is caused by the overexpression of an APETALA2 transcription factor, SOB2, also called DRN-like. SOB2/DRN-like transcript is not detectable in wild-type seedling or adult tissues via RT-PCR analysis, suggesting that SOB2/DRN-like may not be involved in seedling development under normal conditions. Adult sob2-D phyB-4 plants have curled leaves and club-like siliques, resembling plants that overexpress a closely related gene, LEAFY PETIOLE (LEP). Hypocotyls of a LEP-null allele, lep-1, are shorter in the light and dark, suggesting LEP involvement in seedling development. This aberrant hypocotyl phenotype is due at least in part to a delay in germination. In addition, lep-1 is less responsive to GA and more sensitive to the GA biosynthesis inhibitor paclobutrazol, indicating that LEP is a positive regulator of GA-induced germination. RT-PCR shows that LEP transcript accumulates in wild-type seeds during imbibition and germination, and the transcript levels of REPRESSOR OF ga1-3-LIKE2 (RGL2), a negative regulator of GA signaling during germination, is unaffected in lep-1. These results suggest LEP is a positive regulator of GA-induced germination acting independently of RGL2. An alternative model places LEP downstream of RGL2 in the GA-signaling cascade.

  12. Growth and profitability in small privately held biotech firms: preliminary findings.

    PubMed

    Brännback, Malin; Carsrud, Alan; Renko, Maija; Ostermark, Ralf; Aaltonen, Jaana; Kiviluoto, Niklas

    2009-06-01

    This paper reports on preliminary findings on a study of the relationship of growth and profitability among small privately held Finnish Life Science firms. Previous research results concerning growth and profitability are mixed, ranging from strongly positive to a negative relationship. The conventional wisdom states that growth is a prerequisite for profitability. Our results suggest that the reverse is the case. A high profitability-low growth biotech firm is more probably to make the transition to high profitability-high growth than a firm that starts off with low profitability and high growth.

  13. 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…

  14. Community Structure of a Bank-Firm Credit Network in Japan

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Iyetomi, Hiroshi; Matsuura, Yuki

    2014-03-01

    We study temporal change of community structure in a Japanese credit network formed by banks and listed firms through their financial relations over the last 30 years. The credit connectedness is regarded as a potenital source of systemic risk. Our network is a bipartite graph consisting of two species of nodes connected with bidirectional links. The direction of links is identified with that of risk flows and their weights are relative credit/loan with respect to the targets. In a partial credit network obtained only with the links pointing from firms toward banks, the city banks forms one major community in most of the time period to share risk when firms go wrong. On the other hand, a partial network only with the links from banks toward firms is decomposed into communities of similar size each of which has its own city bank, reflecting the main-bank system in Japan. Finally we take overlapping parts of the two community sets to find cores of the risk concentration in the credit network. This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 22300080.

  15. 48 CFR 252.236-7011 - Overseas architect-engineer services-Restriction to United States firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ..., resulting from this solicitation, to a United States firm or a joint venture of United States and host... firm or a joint venture of United States and host nation firms. (End of provision) [62 FR 2858, Jan. 17...

  16. U.S. metric board 1979 survey of selected large U.S. firms and industries

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    King, L. L.

    1980-05-01

    A mail survey of randomly chosen 202 of the 1000 largest manufacturing and mining firms, as listed by Fortune magazine, was conducted in late 1979 and early 1980. About 64 percent (112 firms) responded with useful data. Among the findings are: about 63 percent of the largest firms produce at least one metric product; about 48 percent of exported sales are of metric products; about three quarters of the firms selling metric products sell products labelled in customary and metric units (soft conversion); about half the firms selling metric products sell hard converted products (products manufactured in metric units); little corporate coordination and planning seems to accompany conversion to the metric system; about one-third of the firms see laws and reputation impeding conversion; over 50 percent see lack of customer demand as inhibiting conversion; and the most realistic time period for conversion is 10 years, the minimum time for conversion (under pressure) is three years, and the perferred time (at the firm's own pace) is eight years.

  17. SELECTION AND TRAINING, A SURVEY OF IOWA MANUFACTURING FIRMS. MONOGRAPH SERIES NO. 4.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    SHERIFF, DON R.; AND OTHERS

    INFORMATION ON EMPLOYEE SELECTION AND TRAINING ACTIVITIES WAS SECURED FROM QUESTIONNAIRES RETURNED BY 215 OF 283 FIRMS EMPLOYING AT LEAST 100 PERSONS. DATA FROM 207 SEPARATE ITEMS FOR EACH FIRM WERE KEY PUNCHED AND TABULATED INTO MULTIVARIATE CROSS-CLASSIFICATIONS. OVER 60 PERCENT OF THE FIRMS WERE IN CITIES HAVING OVER 25,000 POPULATION, 40…

  18. The effects of safety practice, technology adoption, and firm characteristics on motor carrier safety

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2004-01-01

    The theory of the firm suggests that firms should maximize profit by investing in safety until : marginal cost is equal to the marginal benefit. This paper addresses motor carrier safety from the : perspective of the firm, developing the theoretical ...

  19. 10 CFR 904.6 - Charge for capacity and firm energy.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Charge for capacity and firm energy. 904.6 Section 904.6 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY GENERAL REGULATIONS FOR THE CHARGES FOR THE SALE OF POWER FROM THE BOULDER CANYON PROJECT Power Marketing § 904.6 Charge for capacity and firm energy. The charge for Capacity and...

  20. 10 CFR 904.6 - Charge for capacity and firm energy.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Charge for capacity and firm energy. 904.6 Section 904.6 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY GENERAL REGULATIONS FOR THE CHARGES FOR THE SALE OF POWER FROM THE BOULDER CANYON PROJECT Power Marketing § 904.6 Charge for capacity and firm energy. The charge for Capacity and...

  1. 10 CFR 904.6 - Charge for capacity and firm energy.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Charge for capacity and firm energy. 904.6 Section 904.6 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY GENERAL REGULATIONS FOR THE CHARGES FOR THE SALE OF POWER FROM THE BOULDER CANYON PROJECT Power Marketing § 904.6 Charge for capacity and firm energy. The charge for Capacity and...

  2. 48 CFR 216.403-1 - Fixed-price incentive (firm target) contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... (firm target) contracts. 216.403-1 Section 216.403-1 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEFENSE... CONTRACTS Incentive Contracts 216.403-1 Fixed-price incentive (firm target) contracts. (b) Application. (1... target) contracts, especially for acquisitions moving from development to production. (2) The contracting...

  3. 13 CFR 315.17 - Assistance to firms in import-impacted industries.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ...-impacted industries. 315.17 Section 315.17 Business Credit and Assistance ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE TRADE ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE FOR FIRMS Assistance to Industries § 315.17 Assistance to firms in import-impacted industries. (a) Whenever the International Trade Commission makes an...

  4. 13 CFR 315.17 - Assistance to firms in import-impacted industries.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ...-impacted industries. 315.17 Section 315.17 Business Credit and Assistance ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE TRADE ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE FOR FIRMS Assistance to Industries § 315.17 Assistance to firms in import-impacted industries. (a) Whenever the International Trade Commission makes an...

  5. 13 CFR 315.17 - Assistance to firms in import-impacted industries.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ...-impacted industries. 315.17 Section 315.17 Business Credit and Assistance ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE TRADE ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE FOR FIRMS Assistance to Industries § 315.17 Assistance to firms in import-impacted industries. (a) Whenever the International Trade Commission makes an...

  6. 13 CFR 315.17 - Assistance to firms in import-impacted industries.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ...-impacted industries. 315.17 Section 315.17 Business Credit and Assistance ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE TRADE ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE FOR FIRMS Assistance to Industries § 315.17 Assistance to firms in import-impacted industries. (a) Whenever the International Trade Commission makes an...

  7. 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.

  8. 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

  9. 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

  10. 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.

  11. Locational Determinants of Emissions from Pollution-Intensive Firms in Urban Areas

    PubMed Central

    Zhou, Min; Tan, Shukui; Guo, Mingjing; Zhang, Lu

    2015-01-01

    Industrial pollution has remained as one of the most daunting challenges for many regions around the world. Characterizing the determinants of industrial pollution should provide important management implications. Unfortunately, due to the absence of high-quality data, rather few studies have systematically examined the locational determinants using a geographical approach. This paper aimed to fill the gap by accessing the pollution source census dataset, which recorded the quantity of discharged wastes (waste water and solid waste) from 717 pollution-intensive firms within Huzhou City, China. Spatial exploratory analysis was applied to analyze the spatial dependency and local clusters of waste emissions. Results demonstrated that waste emissions presented significantly positive autocorrelation in space. The high-high hotspots generally concentrated towards the city boundary, while the low-low clusters approached the Taihu Lake. Their locational determinants were identified by spatial regression. In particular, firms near the city boundary and county road were prone to discharge more wastes. Lower waste emissions were more likely to be observed from firms with high proximity to freight transfer stations or the Taihu Lake. Dense populous districts saw more likelihood of solid waste emissions. Firms in the neighborhood of rivers exhibited higher waste water emissions. Besides, the control variables (firm size, ownership, operation time and industrial type) also exerted significant influence. The present methodology can be applicable to other areas, and further inform the industrial pollution control practices. Our study advanced the knowledge of determinants of emissions from pollution-intensive firms in urban areas. PMID:25927438

  12. 49 CFR 1522.121 - Security threat assessments for personnel of TSA-approved validation firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ...-approved validation firms. 1522.121 Section 1522.121 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to... FOR ALL MODES OF TRANSPORTATION TSA-APPROVED VALIDATION FIRMS AND VALIDATORS TSA-Approved Validation... for personnel of TSA-approved validation firms. Each of the following must successfully complete a...

  13. CIMOSA process classification for business process mapping in non-manufacturing firms: A case study

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Latiffianti, Effi; Siswanto, Nurhadi; Wiratno, Stefanus Eko; Saputra, Yudha Andrian

    2017-11-01

    A business process mapping is one important means to enable an enterprise to effectively manage the value chain. One of widely used approaches to classify business process for mapping purpose is Computer Integrated Manufacturing System Open Architecture (CIMOSA). CIMOSA was initially designed for Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) system based enterprises. This paper aims to analyze the use of CIMOSA process classification for business process mapping in the firms that do not fall within the area of CIM. Three firms of different business area that have used CIMOSA process classification were observed: an airline firm, a marketing and trading firm for oil and gas products, and an industrial estate management firm. The result of the research has shown that CIMOSA can be used in non-manufacturing firms with some adjustment. The adjustment includes addition, reduction, or modification of some processes suggested by CIMOSA process classification as evidenced by the case studies.

  14. 48 CFR 236.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. 236.602 Section 236.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEFENSE... ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 236.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer...

  15. 48 CFR 236.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. 236.602 Section 236.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEFENSE... ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 236.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer...

  16. 48 CFR 236.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. 236.602 Section 236.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEFENSE... ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 236.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer...

  17. 48 CFR 236.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. 236.602 Section 236.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEFENSE... ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 236.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer...

  18. 48 CFR 236.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. 236.602 Section 236.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEFENSE... ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 236.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer...

  19. 40 CFR 745.89 - Firm certification.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 31 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Firm certification. 745.89 Section 745.89 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) TOXIC SUBSTANCES CONTROL ACT LEAD-BASED PAINT POISONING PREVENTION IN CERTAIN RESIDENTIAL STRUCTURES Residential Property Renovation...

  20. 40 CFR 745.89 - Firm certification.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 32 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Firm certification. 745.89 Section 745.89 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) TOXIC SUBSTANCES CONTROL ACT LEAD-BASED PAINT POISONING PREVENTION IN CERTAIN RESIDENTIAL STRUCTURES Residential Property Renovation...

  1. 40 CFR 745.89 - Firm certification.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 31 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Firm certification. 745.89 Section 745.89 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) TOXIC SUBSTANCES CONTROL ACT LEAD-BASED PAINT POISONING PREVENTION IN CERTAIN RESIDENTIAL STRUCTURES Residential Property Renovation...

  2. 40 CFR 745.89 - Firm certification.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 32 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Firm certification. 745.89 Section 745.89 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) TOXIC SUBSTANCES CONTROL ACT LEAD-BASED PAINT POISONING PREVENTION IN CERTAIN RESIDENTIAL STRUCTURES Residential Property Renovation...

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

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

    2016-08-01

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

  4. Exploration decisions and firms in the mineral industries

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Attanasi, E.D.

    1981-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how physical characteristics of deposits and results of past exploration enter future exploration decisions. A proposed decision model is presented that is consistent with a set of primitive probabilistic assumptions associated with deposit size distributions and discoverability. Analysis of optimal field exploration strategy showed the likely firm responses to alternative exploration taxes and effects on the distribution of future discoveries. Examination of the probabilistic elements of the decision model indicates that changes in firm expectations associated with the distribution of deposits cannot be totally offset by changes in economic variables. ?? 1981.

  5. 13 CFR 315.17 - Assistance to firms in import-impacted industries.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Assistance to firms in import-impacted industries. 315.17 Section 315.17 Business Credit and Assistance ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT... Assistance to firms in import-impacted industries. (a) Whenever the International Trade Commission makes an...

  6. A Knowledge Management Model for Firms in the Financial Services Industry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Held, Carsten; Duncan, Glen; Yanamandram, Venkat

    2013-01-01

    The financial services industry faces many demanding challenges. Firms within this industry are predominantly knowledge-based, as are most of the industry's products, processes and services. The application of knowledge management represents a clear opportunity for financial services firms to confront challenges. However, no industry specific…

  7. Healthy vs. unhealthy food: a strategic choice for firms and consumers.

    PubMed

    Antoñanzas, Fernando; Rodríguez-Ibeas, Roberto

    2011-07-20

    In this paper, we carry out a theoretical analysis of the strategic choice made by firms regarding the type of food they market when they face consumers who care about the healthy/unhealthy attributes of the product but incur in emotional/health costs when the food they consume has unhealthy attributes. We consider a two-stage game. In the first stage, one of the firms chooses the unhealthy content of its product. In the second stage, both firms simultaneously decide their prices. We find that, depending on the parameters of the model, product differentiation can be maximal or less than maximal. The firm that produces the unhealthy food charges a higher price and obtains a larger share of the market unless the emotional/health costs and the unhealthy food production costs are relatively high. We also find that educational campaigns will not always reduce the demand for the unhealthy food or the degree of the unhealthy attribute.JEL Classification:I10, I18, L11.

  8. Healthy vs. unhealthy food: a strategic choice for firms and consumers

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

    In this paper, we carry out a theoretical analysis of the strategic choice made by firms regarding the type of food they market when they face consumers who care about the healthy/unhealthy attributes of the product but incur in emotional/health costs when the food they consume has unhealthy attributes. We consider a two-stage game. In the first stage, one of the firms chooses the unhealthy content of its product. In the second stage, both firms simultaneously decide their prices. We find that, depending on the parameters of the model, product differentiation can be maximal or less than maximal. The firm that produces the unhealthy food charges a higher price and obtains a larger share of the market unless the emotional/health costs and the unhealthy food production costs are relatively high. We also find that educational campaigns will not always reduce the demand for the unhealthy food or the degree of the unhealthy attribute. JEL Classification:I10, I18, L11 PMID:22828271

  9. Distinctive Human Resources Are the Core Competencies of Firms. EQW Working Papers WP18.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cappelli, Peter; Crocker-Hefter, Anne

    The interrelationship between people management practices and product market/competition was examined in a series of case comparisons of pairs of firms/organizations of the following types: professional sports teams, military services, retailing firms, information service firms, business schools, financial services, shipping services, and food and…

  10. Earnings Management before Rights Issues and the Subsequent Cash Transfer in Chinese Firms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tsai, Bi-Huei

    2009-08-01

    Unlike private enterprises in developed markets, political influence is profound upon Chinese state-dominated firms. Under this consideration, this paper demonstrates how political impact interferes in Chinese managers' decisions. State-assigned managers were found to deliberately transfer cash raised via rights issues from the public shareholders to the state by cash dividends in order to please Chinese politicians. Especially, to meet the regulatory requirement of rights issues, managers from firms which distributed more cash dividends in the same year of rights issues were more likely to inflate earnings before rights issues. The earnings inflation which managers use to boost firm's incomes is defined as "earnings management." Furthermore, the empirical results also exhibit that firm's close relationship with the state enables managers to obtain approvals of rights issues easily, which reduces the firm's earnings management tendency. The manager's incentives of earnings management is closely attributed to the political intervention.

  11. 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

  12. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT THEORIES AND BUSINESS FIRM STRATEGIES,

    DTIC Science & Technology

    characteristic economic patterns also provide a basis for business firms to plan their policies for investment and other international business activities in relation to opportunities in different kinds of environments. (Author)

  13. Size distribution of Portuguese firms between 2006 and 2012

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pascoal, Rui; Augusto, Mário; Monteiro, A. M.

    2016-09-01

    This study aims to describe the size distribution of Portuguese firms, as measured by annual sales and total assets, between 2006 and 2012, giving an economic interpretation for the evolution of the distribution along the time. Three distributions are fitted to data: the lognormal, the Pareto (and as a particular case Zipf) and the Simplified Canonical Law (SCL). We present the main arguments found in literature to justify the use of distributions and emphasize the interpretation of SCL coefficients. Methods of estimation include Maximum Likelihood, modified Ordinary Least Squares in log-log scale and Nonlinear Least Squares considering the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm. When applying these approaches to Portuguese's firms data, we analyze if the evolution of estimated parameters in both lognormal power and SCL is in accordance with the known existence of a recession period after 2008. This is confirmed for sales but not for assets, leading to the conclusion that the first variable is a best proxy for firm size.

  14. 48 CFR 1019.202-70-10 - Application process for mentor firms to participate in the program.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

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

  15. ERP and Knowledge Management Integration: The Case of Malaysian Business Firms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Supramaniam, Mahadevan; Kuppusamy, Mudiarasan

    2010-01-01

    In order to compete in a global environment, Malaysian business firms need to improve their products and services through best practices. This paper aims to investigate the critical success factors to adopt Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) with knowledge management (KM) strategies among Malaysian business firms. In order to achieve the research…

  16. 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…

  17. 10 CFR 603.1230 - Commercial firm.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Commercial firm. 603.1230 Section 603.1230 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (CONTINUED) ASSISTANCE REGULATIONS TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT AGREEMENTS Definitions of Terms...., a division or other business unit) that does a substantial portion of its business in the commercial...

  18. Relative importance of moisture migration and amylopectin retrogradation for pound cake crumb firming.

    PubMed

    Luyts, A; Wilderjans, E; Van Haesendonck, I; Brijs, K; Courtin, C M; Delcour, J A

    2013-12-15

    Moisture migration largely impacts cake crumb firmness during storage at ambient temperature. To study the importance of phenomena other than crumb to crust moisture migration and to exclude moisture and temperature gradients during baking, crustless cakes were baked using an electrical resistance oven (ERO). Cake crumb firming was evaluated by texture analysis. First, ERO cakes with properties similar to those baked conventionally were produced. Cake batter moisture content (MC) was adjusted to ensure complete starch gelatinisation in the baking process. In cakes baked conventionally, most of the increase in crumb firmness during storage was caused by moisture migration. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H NMR) showed that the population containing protons of crystalline starch grew during cake storage. These and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) data pointed to only limited amylopectin retrogradation. The limited increase in amylopectin retrogradation during cake storage cannot solely account for the significant firming of ERO cakes and, hence, other phenomena are involved in cake firming. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. 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

  20. 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.

  1. 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

  2. U.S. International Firms and R,D&E in Developing Countries.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC.

    This document provides a panel report of research, development, and engineering (R,D&E) issues confronting international firms operating in developing countries. Biscussed are the R,D&E objectives of developing countries, the objectives of international firms, conflicts and the possibilities for cooperation between the two, and the role of U.S.…

  3. Spatial firm competition in two dimensions with linear transportation costs: simulations and analytical results

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Roncoroni, Alan; Medo, Matus

    2016-12-01

    Models of spatial firm competition assume that customers are distributed in space and transportation costs are associated with their purchases of products from a small number of firms that are also placed at definite locations. It has been long known that the competition equilibrium is not guaranteed to exist if the most straightforward linear transportation costs are assumed. We show by simulations and also analytically that if periodic boundary conditions in a plane are assumed, the equilibrium exists for a pair of firms at any distance. When a larger number of firms is considered, we find that their total equilibrium profit is inversely proportional to the square root of the number of firms. We end with a numerical investigation of the system's behavior for a general transportation cost exponent.

  4. Workplace Learning and Its Organizational Benefits for Small Enterprises: Evidence from Greek Industrial Firms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Panagiotakopoulos, Antonios

    2011-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore small firm owners' perceptions of the impact of employee training on small firm competitiveness in the context of Greece. Design/methodology/approach: The research adopts a qualitative orientation. Empirical data were collected from 43 owners of small and micro-firms operating in various sectors of…

  5. Quantification of the evolution of firm size distributions due to mergers and acquisitions.

    PubMed

    Lera, Sandro Claudio; Sornette, Didier

    2017-01-01

    The distribution of firm sizes is known to be heavy tailed. In order to account for this stylized fact, previous economic models have focused mainly on growth through investments in a company's own operations (internal growth). Thereby, the impact of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) on the firm size (external growth) is often not taken into consideration, notwithstanding its potential large impact. In this article, we make a first step into accounting for M&A. Specifically, we describe the effect of mergers and acquisitions on the firm size distribution in terms of an integro-differential equation. This equation is subsequently solved both analytically and numerically for various initial conditions, which allows us to account for different observations of previous empirical studies. In particular, it rationalises shortcomings of past work by quantifying that mergers and acquisitions develop a significant influence on the firm size distribution only over time scales much longer than a few decades. This explains why M&A has apparently little impact on the firm size distributions in existing data sets. Our approach is very flexible and can be extended to account for other sources of external growth, thus contributing towards a holistic understanding of the distribution of firm sizes.

  6. Quantification of the evolution of firm size distributions due to mergers and acquisitions

    PubMed Central

    Sornette, Didier

    2017-01-01

    The distribution of firm sizes is known to be heavy tailed. In order to account for this stylized fact, previous economic models have focused mainly on growth through investments in a company’s own operations (internal growth). Thereby, the impact of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) on the firm size (external growth) is often not taken into consideration, notwithstanding its potential large impact. In this article, we make a first step into accounting for M&A. Specifically, we describe the effect of mergers and acquisitions on the firm size distribution in terms of an integro-differential equation. This equation is subsequently solved both analytically and numerically for various initial conditions, which allows us to account for different observations of previous empirical studies. In particular, it rationalises shortcomings of past work by quantifying that mergers and acquisitions develop a significant influence on the firm size distribution only over time scales much longer than a few decades. This explains why M&A has apparently little impact on the firm size distributions in existing data sets. Our approach is very flexible and can be extended to account for other sources of external growth, thus contributing towards a holistic understanding of the distribution of firm sizes. PMID:28841683

  7. 48 CFR 1019.202-70-8 - Protégé firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... multiple mentors unless approved, in writing, by the Director, Office of Small Business Development (OSBD... SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS Policies 1019.202-70-8 Protégé firms. (a) For selection as a protégé, a firm must be: (1) A small business, women-owned small business, small disadvantaged business...

  8. 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...

  9. 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...

  10. 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...

  11. 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...

  12. 75 FR 66796 - Pricewaterhousecoopers LLP (“PwC”), Internal Firm Services Client Account Administrators Group...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-10-29

    ... LLP (``PwC''), Internal Firm Services Client Account Administrators Group Atlanta, GA; Amended...''), Internal Firm Services Client Account Administrators Group. Accordingly, the Department is amending this... Firm Services Client Account Administrators Group. The amended notice applicable to TA-W-73,630 is...

  13. Structural Break, Stock Prices of Clean Energy Firms and Carbon Market

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Yubao; Cai, Junyu

    2018-03-01

    This paper uses EU ETS carbon future price and Germany/UK clean energy firms stock indices to study the relationship between carbon market and clean energy market. By structural break test, it is found that the ‘non-stationary’ variables judged by classical unit root test do own unit roots and need taking first difference. After analysis of VAR and Granger causality test, no causal relationships are found between the two markets. However, when Hsiao’s version of causality test is employed, carbon market is found to have power in explaining the movement of stock prices of clean energy firms, and stock prices of clean energy firms also affect the carbon market.

  14. Leveraging Human Assets in Law Firms: Human Capital Structures and Organizational Capabilities.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sherer, Peter D.

    1995-01-01

    Using the ratio of associates to partners as a measure of human asset leveraging, analysis of data from 312 law firms reveals that the ratio is related to business strategy, human resource management practices, organizational structure, and the competitiveness of the firm. (SK)

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Martynov, Aleksey; Logachev, Sergey

    2016-01-01

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

  16. 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

  17. 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...

  18. 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...

  19. 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...

  20. Correlation of fresh muscle firmness with sensory characteristics of pork loins destined for a quality focused market.

    PubMed

    Arkfeld, E K; Mancini, S; Fields, B; Dilger, A C; Boler, D D

    2015-10-01

    Production of pork for quality-driven export markets offers economic incentive. Pork processors use subjective firmness as a sorting tool for loins intended for high-quality export. The objectives of this study were to determine 1) durometer efficacy in muscle, 2) if firmness on one portion of the loin is indicative of other locations, 3) if 1 d firmness is related to export quality traits, and 4) if variation in firmness is explained by mechanistic measures. Subjective firmness scores (1 = extremely soft and 5 = extremely firm) were determined by a trained individual 1 d (initial time point) postmortem. Loins (North American Meat Processors number 414 Canadian back; = 154) were wet aged for 28 d at 1.7°C. On d 28, a panel of 4 individuals assigned firmness scores on the ventral side of the loin at the area of the 10th rib, the anterior half, and the posterior half of the loin. Durometer readings were collected at the area of the 10th rib on the dorsal and ventral side of the loin. Spearman correlation coefficients were computed in SAS (version 9.3) to account for nonnormality of categorical data. Subjective firmness measurements at d 28 at the 10th rib and on the anterior portion of the loin were not correlated ( ≥ 0.21) with whole loin durometer readings on the dorsal or ventral portion of the loin or the average of the whole loin values. Subjective firmness (d 28) at the 10th rib accounted for 38.44 ( = 0.620) and 48.30% ( = 0.695) of the variation in firmness at the anterior portion of the loin and the posterior portion of the loin, respectively ( ≤ 0.05). One-day subjective firmness measurements were correlated with 28-d Warner-Bratzler shear force measurements ( = 0.174, = 0.03) but were not significantly correlated with sensory characteristics ( ≥ 0.08). Purge tended to be correlated with 1 d firmness ( = 0.136, = 0.10); however, drip and cooking loss, 24-h and 28-d pH, and soluble and insoluble collagen content were not correlated ( ≥ 0

  1. Stochasticity Favoring the Effects of the R&D Strategies of the Firms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pinto, Alberto A.; Oliveira, Bruno M. P. M.; Ferreira, Fernanda A.; Ferreira, Flávio

    We present stochastic dynamics on the production costs of Cournot competitions, based on perfect Nash equilibria of nonlinear R&D investment strategies to reduce the production costs of the firms at every period of the game. We analyse the effects that the R&D investment strategies can have in the profits of the firms along the time. We observe that, in certain cases, the uncertainty can improve the effects of the R&D strategies in the profits of the firms due to the non-linearity of the profit functions and also of the R&D parameters.

  2. Mean field approximation for biased diffusion on Japanese inter-firm trading network.

    PubMed

    Watanabe, Hayafumi

    2014-01-01

    By analysing the financial data of firms across Japan, a nonlinear power law with an exponent of 1.3 was observed between the number of business partners (i.e. the degree of the inter-firm trading network) and sales. In a previous study using numerical simulations, we found that this scaling can be explained by both the money-transport model, where a firm (i.e. customer) distributes money to its out-edges (suppliers) in proportion to the in-degree of destinations, and by the correlations among the Japanese inter-firm trading network. However, in this previous study, we could not specifically identify what types of structure properties (or correlations) of the network determine the 1.3 exponent. In the present study, we more clearly elucidate the relationship between this nonlinear scaling and the network structure by applying mean-field approximation of the diffusion in a complex network to this money-transport model. Using theoretical analysis, we obtained the mean-field solution of the model and found that, in the case of the Japanese firms, the scaling exponent of 1.3 can be determined from the power law of the average degree of the nearest neighbours of the network with an exponent of -0.7.

  3. 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).

  4. Solar hybrid power plants: Solar energy contribution in reaching full dispatchability and firmness

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Servert, Jorge F.; López, Diego; Cerrajero, Eduardo; Rocha, Alberto R.; Pereira, Daniel; Gonzalez, Lucía

    2016-05-01

    Renewable energies for electricity generation have always been considered as a risk for the electricity system due to its lack of dispatchability and firmness. Renewable energies penetration is constrained to strong grids or else its production must be limited to ensure grid stability, which is kept by the usage of hydropower energy or fossil-fueled power plants. CSP technology has an opportunity to arise not only as a dispatchable and firm technology, but also as an alternative that improves grid stability. To achieve that objective, solar hybrid configurations are being developed, being the most representative three different solutions: SAPG, ISCC and HYSOL. A reference scenario in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has been defined to compare these solutions, which have been modelled, simulated and evaluated in terms of dispatchability and firmness using ratios defined by the authors. The results show that: a) SAPG obtains the highest firmness KPI values, but no operation constraints have been considered for the coal boiler and the solar energy contribution is limited to 1.7%, b) ISCC provides dispatchable and firm electricity production but its solar energy contribution is limited to a 6.4%, and c) HYSOL presents the higher solar energy contribution of all the technologies considered: 66.0% while providing dispatchable and firm generation in similar conditions as SAPG and ISCC.

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

    PubMed

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

    2013-07-11

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

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

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

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

  7. Actual and perceived impacts of tobacco regulation on restaurants and firms.

    PubMed

    Crémieux, P Y; Ouellette, P

    2001-03-01

    To examine the actual and anticipated costs of a law regulating workplace smoking and smoking in restaurants, taking into consideration observed and anticipated infrastructure costs, lost productivity, increased absenteeism, and loss of clientele. A survey of 401 Québec restaurants and 600 Québec firms conducted by the Québec Ministry of Health before the enactment of the law was used to derive costs incurred by those who had already complied and anticipated by those that did not. Direct and indirect costs associated with tobacco regulation at work and in restaurants were minimal. Annualised infrastructure costs amounted to less than 0.0002% of firm revenues and 0.15% of restaurant revenues. Anticipated costs were larger and amounted to 0.0004% of firm revenues and 0.41% of restaurant revenues. Impacts on productivity, absenteeism, and restaurant patronage were widely anticipated but not observed in currently compliant establishments. Firms and restaurants expected high costs to result from strict tobacco regulation because of infrastructure costs, decreased productivity, and decreased patronage. That none of these were actually observed suggests that policy makers should discount industry claims that smoking regulations impose undue economic hardship.

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

    PubMed

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

    2016-09-01

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

  9. Workplace Education Programs in Small and Medium-Sized Michigan Firms. Staff Working Paper 92-13.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hollenbeck, Kevin; Anderson, William

    A project collected data from small and medium-sized firms (employing fewer than 500) in Michigan concerning workplace education programs. It addressed why firms were or were not offering programs, program characteristics, and program impacts on firms and employees. Case studies of 28 businesses were undertaken from May 1991-July 1992 and a…

  10. A stochastic model of firm growth

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bottazzi, Giulio; Secchi, Angelo

    2003-06-01

    Recently from analyses on different databases the tent-shape of the distribution of firm growth rates has emerged as a robust and universal characteristic of the time evolution of corporates. We add new evidence on this topic and we present a new stochastic model that, under rather general assumptions, provides a robust explanation for the observed regularity.

  11. 78 FR 70987 - Proxy Advisory Firm Roundtable

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-11-27

    ... SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION [Release No. 34-70929; IA-3721; File No. 4-670] Proxy Advisory Firm Roundtable AGENCY: Securities and Exchange Commission. ACTION: Notice of roundtable discussion; request for comment. SUMMARY: The Securities and Exchange Commission will host a roundtable about proxy...

  12. 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…

  13. Cooperative Factors, Cooperative Innovation Effect and Innovation Performance for Chinese Firms: an Empirical Study

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xie, Xuemei

    Based on a survey to 1206 Chinese firms, this paper empirically explores the factors impacting cooperative innovation effect of firms, and seeks to explore the relationship between cooperative innovation effect (CIE) and innovation performance using the technique of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The study finds there are significant positive relationships between basic sustaining factors, factors of government and policy, factors of cooperation mechanism and social network, and cooperative innovation effect. However, the result reveals that factors of government and policy demonstrate little impact on the CIE of firms compared with other factors. It is hoped that the findings can pave the way for future studies in improving cooperative innovation capacity for firms in emerging countries.

  14. 75 FR 66797 - PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (“PwC”) Internal Firm Services Client Account Administrators Group...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-10-29

    ... LLP (``PwC'') Internal Firm Services Client Account Administrators Group, Charlotte, NC; Amended... Firm Services Client Account Administrators Group. Accordingly, the Department is amending this... Firm Services Client Account Administrators Group. The amended notice applicable to TA-W-73,608 is...

  15. 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.

  16. Comparison and fusion of four nondestructive sensors for predicting apple fruit firmness and soluble solids content

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Four nondestructive technologies (i.e., acoustic firmness, bioyield firmness, visible/near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy, and spectral scattering) have been developed in recent years for assessing the firmness and/or soluble solids content (SSC) of apples. Each of these technologies has its merits and...

  17. A Classroom Entry and Exit Game of Supply with Price-Taking Firms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cheung, Stephen L.

    2005-01-01

    The author describes a classroom game demonstrating the process of adjustment to long-run equilibrium in a market consisting of price-taking firms. This game unites and extends key insights from several simpler games in a framework more consistent with the standard textbook model of a competitive industry. Because firms have increasing marginal…

  18. 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.

  19. Inter-firm Networks, Organizational Learning and Knowledge Updating: An Empirical Study

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Su-rong; Wang, Wen-ping

    In the era of knowledge-based economy which information technology develops rapidly, the rate of knowledge updating has become a critical factor for enterprises to gaining competitive advantage .We build an interactional theoretical model among inter-firm networks, organizational learning and knowledge updating thereby and demonstrate it with empirical study at last. The result shows that inter-firm networks and organizational learning is the source of knowledge updating.

  20. Firm-Specific Marketing Capital and Job Satisfaction of Marketers: Evidence from Vietnam

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nguyen, Tho D.; Nguyen, Trang T. M.

    2011-01-01

    Purpose: Based on the resource-based view of the firm, this study aims to examine antecedents and outcomes of firm-specific marketing capital pool invested by marketers in a transition market, Vietnam. Design/methodology/approach: A sample of 528 marketers in Ho Chi Minh City was surveyed to test the theoretical model. Structural equation…

  1. 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…

  2. Optimal investment and location decisions of a firm in a flood risk area using Impulse Control Theory

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Grames, Johanna; Grass, Dieter; Kort, Peter; Prskawetz, Alexia

    2017-04-01

    Flooding events can affect businesses close to rivers, lakes or coasts. This paper provides a partial equilibrium model which helps to understand the optimal location choice for a firm in flood risk areas and its investment strategies. How often, when and how much are firms willing to invest in flood risk protection measures? We apply Impulse Control Theory to solve the model analytically and develop a continuation algorithm to solve the model numerically. Firms always invest in flood defense. The investment increases the higher the flood risk and the more firms also value the future, i.e. the more sustainable they plan. Investments in production capital follow a similar path. Hence, planning in a sustainable way leads to economic growth. Sociohydrological feedbacks are crucial for the location choice of the firm, whereas different economic situations have an impact on investment strategies. If flood defense is already present, e.g. built up by the government, firms move closer to the water and invest less in flood defense, which allows firms to accrue higher expected profits. Firms with a large initial production capital surprisingly try not to keep their market advantage, but rather reduce flood risk by reducing exposed production capital.

  3. Innovation, Technology and Decision Making: A Perspective for Strategic Action in Firms

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mulenburg, Gerald M.

    2002-01-01

    Innovation, technology, and the making of decisions are tightly intertwined in what can generally be called, strategic decision making. Although true for all firms, it is especially true in innovative, high technology firms that operate in a turbulent, fast moving environment where strategic decisions must be made accurately and quickly to survive. This paper looks at some factors reported in the literature that affect how and why the strategic decision process is so important, especially in companies in fast-moving, competitive environments. The work of several prominent authors who looked critically at past theory and research, and the current state of knowledge and practice, provides a perspective of how firms make strategic decisions.

  4. The origin of asymmetric behavior of money flow in the business firm network

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Miura, W.; Takayasu, H.; Takayasu, M.

    2012-09-01

    In the business firm network, the number of in-degrees and out-degrees show the same scale-free property, however, the distribution of authorities and hubs show asymmetric behavior. Here we show the result of an analysis of the two-link structure of the network to find the origin of this asymmetric behavior. We find the tendency for big construction firms intermediating small subcontracting firms to have higher hub degrees. By measuring the strength of preferential attachment rate of new companies, we also find a abnormally strong preferential attachment for which the exponent is 1.4 with respect to out-degree when a new company forms a business partnership with a construction company. We propose a new model that reproduces the asymmetric behavior of the degrees of authorities and hubs by changing the preferential attachment rate between the in-degree and the out-degree in the business firm network.

  5. 14 CFR 1274.915 - Restrictions on sale or transfer of technology to foreign firms or institutions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... technology to foreign firms or institutions. 1274.915 Section 1274.915 Aeronautics and Space NATIONAL... Conditions § 1274.915 Restrictions on sale or transfer of technology to foreign firms or institutions. Restrictions on Sale or Transfer of Technology to Foreign Firms or Institutions July 2002 (a) The parties agree...

  6. 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.

  7. 31 CFR 515.559 - Certain transactions by U.S.-owned or controlled foreign firms with Cuba.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... controlled foreign firms with Cuba. 515.559 Section 515.559 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations Relating... transactions by U.S.-owned or controlled foreign firms with Cuba. (a) Effective October 23, 1992, no specific... controlled firms in third countries and Cuba for the exportation to Cuba of commodities produced in the...

  8. 31 CFR 515.559 - Certain transactions by U.S.-owned or controlled foreign firms with Cuba.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... controlled foreign firms with Cuba. 515.559 Section 515.559 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations Relating... transactions by U.S.-owned or controlled foreign firms with Cuba. (a) Effective October 23, 1992, no specific... controlled firms in third countries and Cuba for the exportation to Cuba of commodities produced in the...

  9. 31 CFR 515.559 - Certain transactions by U.S.-owned or controlled foreign firms with Cuba.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... controlled foreign firms with Cuba. 515.559 Section 515.559 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations Relating... transactions by U.S.-owned or controlled foreign firms with Cuba. (a) Effective October 23, 1992, no specific... controlled firms in third countries and Cuba for the exportation to Cuba of commodities produced in the...

  10. 31 CFR 515.559 - Certain transactions by U.S.-owned or controlled foreign firms with Cuba.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... controlled foreign firms with Cuba. 515.559 Section 515.559 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations Relating... transactions by U.S.-owned or controlled foreign firms with Cuba. (a) Effective October 23, 1992, no specific... controlled firms in third countries and Cuba for the exportation to Cuba of commodities produced in the...

  11. 31 CFR 515.559 - Certain transactions by U.S.-owned or controlled foreign firms with Cuba.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... controlled foreign firms with Cuba. 515.559 Section 515.559 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations Relating... transactions by U.S.-owned or controlled foreign firms with Cuba. (a) Effective October 23, 1992, no specific... controlled firms in third countries and Cuba for the exportation to Cuba of commodities produced in the...

  12. Microsimulation of household and firm behaviors: anticipation of greenhouse gas emissions for Austin, Texas.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2009-05-01

    Anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions can be attributed to household and firm travel and : building decisions. This study demonstrates the development and application of a microsimulation model : for household and firm evolution and location c...

  13. Inter-Firm Cooperation in Training. A National Vocational Education and Training Research and Evaluation Program Report

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cooney, Richard; Long, Michael

    2008-01-01

    Industry policy emphasises the importance of competition between firms as the basis of efficient markets and as a stimulus for improved firm efficiency. Yet research has shown that much can be gained from cooperation among firms in a range of activities, especially those involving the transfer of knowledge, such as training. These cooperative…

  14. US firms leave business lobby group

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gwynne, Peter

    2009-11-01

    Three US energy and hi-tech firms have left the US Chamber of Commerce - a powerful group that lobbies on behalf of business - because it has openly questioned the science behind climate change. The departing organizations protest that the chamber and another business lobbying group, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), could cripple advances in renewable energy by becoming representatives of fossil-fuel interests.

  15. NASA cash boost for space firms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gwynne, Peter

    2012-09-01

    NASA has awarded 1.1bn to three US firms to design and develop the "next generation of human spaceflight capabilities". Boeing, Sierra Nevada and Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), who will receive 460m, 212.5m and 440m respectively, will use the money to improve and test their systems intended to fly astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) within the next five years.

  16. Providing accurate near real-time fire alerts for Protected Areas through NASA FIRMS: Opportunities and Challenges

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ilavajhala, S.; Davies, D.; Schmaltz, J. E.; Wong, M.; Murphy, K. J.

    2013-12-01

    The NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) is at the forefront of providing global near real-time (NRT) MODIS thermal anomalies / hotspot location data to end-users . FIRMS serves the data via an interactive Web GIS named Web Fire Mapper, downloads of NRT active fire, archive data downloads for MODIS hotspots dating back to 1999 and a hotspot email alert system The FIRMS Email Alerts system has been successfully alerting users of fires in their area of interest in near real-time and/or via daily and weekly email summaries, with an option to receive MODIS hotspot data as a text file (CSV) attachment. Currently, there are more than 7000 email alert subscriptions from more than 100 countries. Specifically, the email alerts system is designed to generate and send an email alert for any region or area on the globe, with a special focus on providing alerts for protected areas worldwide. For many protected areas, email alerts are particularly useful for early fire detection, monitoring on going fires, as well as allocating resources to protect wildlife and natural resources of particular value. For protected areas, FIRMS uses the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) supplied by United Nations Environment Program - World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC). Maintaining the most up-to-date, accurate boundary geometry for the protected areas for the email alerts is a challenge as the WDPA is continuously updated due to changing boundaries, merging or delisting of certain protected areas. Because of this dynamic nature of the protected areas database, the FIRMS protected areas database is frequently out-of-date with the most current version of WDPA database. To maintain the most up-to-date boundary information for protected areas and to be in compliance with the WDPA terms and conditions, FIRMS needs to constantly update its database of protected areas. Currently, FIRMS strives to keep its database up to date by downloading the most recent

  17. 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.

  18. 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.

  19. Bureaucratic versus Craft Administration: The Relationship of Market Structure to the Construction Firm.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Eccles, Robert G.

    1981-01-01

    Examines the factors that influence subcontracting and type of management in the construction industry. Argues that subcontracting is explained by a construction firm's size, complexity, and market extent, and that management type results from a firm's size and role in the production process and from census classification problems. (Author/RW)

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

    USGS Publications Warehouse

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

    2005-01-01

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

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

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gwynne, Peter

    2008-06-01

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

  2. 78 FR 692 - Notice of Petitions by Firms for Determination of Eligibility To Apply for Trade Adjustment...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-01-04

    ..., injection 59715. moldings, and tooling. Firm provides services for design, lean manufacturing consulting... Manufacturing, Inc...... 910 E. Saint Andrew 12/20/2012 Firm manufactures steel Street, Rapid City, SD doors..., or threat thereof, and to a decrease in sales or production of each petitioning firm. List of...

  3. Logging firms, nonindustrial private forests, and forest parcelization: evidence of firm specialization and its impact on sustainable timber supply

    Treesearch

    Mark Rickenbach; Thomas W. Steele

    2006-01-01

    Increasing forest parcelization has raised concerns about tract-size economies and sustainable timber supply. We explored this issue by examining the logging sector and forest ownership in northern Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Using 2004 survey data, we found that 48% of logging firms demonstrated a near exclusive reliance on nonindustrial private...

  4. 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…

  5. 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…

  6. 77 FR 12007 - Notice of Petitions by Firms tor Determination of Eligibility to Apply For Trade Adjustment...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-02-28

    .../2011 through 02/21/2012] Date accepted for Firm name Address investigation Products Cuisine Holdings Unlimited, 1997 Surgi Dr., 12/29/2011 The firm manufactures food for human LLC.. Mandeville, LA consumption. 70448. Custom Service Printer, lnc.. 916 E. Keating 2/8/2012 The firm manufactures printed products...

  7. 77 FR 48127 - Notice of Petitions by Firms for Determination of Eligibility to Apply for Trade Adjustment...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-08-13

    ... firm designs and Brockton, MA 02301. manufactures coil winding machinery. New World Millworks, Inc 1211... workers, or threat thereof, and to a decrease in sales or production of each petitioning firm. List of... Delaware Avenue, 07/10/12 The firm manufactures hats Longmont, CO 80501. and other apparel. HEB...

  8. The Nature of Conflict in Firm-Client Relations: A Content Analysis of "Public Relations Journal," 1980-89.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bourland, Pamela G.

    1993-01-01

    Finds that key issues recurring in articles regarding public relations firm-client relations were concerns over knowing each other's businesses, contributing to a consistent communication flow, finances, and "chemistry." Finds that conflict issues for public relations firms parallel those for advertising firms as reported in the advertising agency…

  9. 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.

  10. 77 FR 47820 - Invention Promoters/Promotion Firms Complaints

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-08-10

    ... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE United States Patent and Trademark Office Invention Promoters/Promotion... investigate these complaints or participate in any legal proceedings against invention promoters or promotion... invention promoter or promotion firm, explain the basis for the complaint, and include the signature of the...

  11. 76 FR 30098 - Notice of Petitions by Firms for Determination of Eligibility To Apply for Trade Adjustment...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-05-24

    .... Enterprises, Inc 6543 South Laramie 28-Apr-11 The firm designs and Avenue, Bedford manufactures leather Park.... Chicago Booth Manufacturing, Inc. 5000 W. Roosevelt 12-May-11 The firm manufactures Road, Chicago, IL..., or threat thereof, and to a decrease in sales or production of each petitioning firm. [[Page 30099...

  12. 76 FR 11424 - Notice of Petitions by Firms for Determination of Eligibility To Apply for Trade Adjustment...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-03-02

    ... Products, Inc... 400 Riverside Avenue, 07-Feb-11 The firm designs and manufactures a wide Medford, MA 02155... S. Koster Ave, 11-Feb-11 The firm designs, manufactures, and Chicago, IL 60623. assembles decorative..., or threat thereof, and to a decrease in sales or production of each petitioning firm. List of...

  13. 75 FR 60083 - Notice of Petitions by Firms for Determination of Eligibility To Apply for Trade Adjustment...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-09-29

    ..., MA 9/17/10 The firm designs, manufactures, markets and services high- 01876. resolution imaging... manufacturing industry. Mize and Co., Inc 2020 N. Koch Industrial 9/20/10 The firm manufactures wire harnesses..., or threat thereof, and to a decrease in sales or production of each petitioning firm. LIST OF...

  14. Medical malpractice web advertising: a qualitative, cross-sectional analysis of plaintiff medical malpractice firms in Suffolk County, Massachusetts.

    PubMed

    Ghobadi, Comeron W; Gevorgyan, Ofelya; Bednarski, Caroline E; Hayman, Emily L; Walter, Jessica R; Xu, Shuai

    2017-01-01

    Medical malpractice plaintiff firms play a central role in the prosecution of malpractice claims. There have been limited studies on the online advertising practices of plaintiff medical malpractice firms. The Martindale-Hubbell directory was used to identify all plaintiff medical malpractice firms in Suffolk County, Massachusetts. Each firm's website was individually mined for relevant data. Thirty-one unique medical malpractice law firms were identified. Seventy-seven percent of law firms advertised awards with the Martindale-Hubbell AV rating, AVVO, and Super Lawyer being the three most common. The second most common method of advertising was accomplished through descriptions of successful verdicts and settlements (61%). A total of 408 verdicts, settlements, and arbitrations collectively representing $1.4 billion dollars were advertised by all law firms. Median awarded values for verdicts was advertised as $4.5 million, while the median awarded values for settlements was $1.25 million. Defendants most commonly practiced obstetrics (18%), followed by primary care (14%). Law firms report treatment and diagnosis delay as the most common successful claim (50%), followed much further by misdiagnosis (8%), and communication error (4%). Our sample correlates with larger claims-based studies surrounding the most commonly sued specialties, however, median reported settlement and verdict values were significantly higher in our cohort. Considerations should be made to provide advertising guidelines for medical malpractice plaintiff firms. Copyright © 2017 by the National Legal Center for the Medically Dependent and Disabled, Inc.

  15. 13 CFR 124.1003 - How does a firm become certified as an SDB?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... as an SDB? 124.1003 Section 124.1003 Business Credit and Assistance SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 8(a... certified as an SDB? (a) All firms that are current Participants in SBA's 8(a) BD program are automatically deemed to be certified SDBs. (b) Any firm seeking to be certified as an SDB in order to represent that it...

  16. 13 CFR 124.1003 - How does a firm become certified as an SDB?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... as an SDB? 124.1003 Section 124.1003 Business Credit and Assistance SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 8(a... certified as an SDB? (a) All firms that are current Participants in SBA's 8(a) BD program are automatically deemed to be certified SDBs. (b) Any firm seeking to be certified as an SDB in order to represent that it...

  17. 13 CFR 124.1003 - How does a firm become certified as an SDB?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... as an SDB? 124.1003 Section 124.1003 Business Credit and Assistance SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 8(a... certified as an SDB? (a) All firms that are current Participants in SBA's 8(a) BD program are automatically deemed to be certified SDBs. (b) Any firm seeking to be certified as an SDB in order to represent that it...

  18. 13 CFR 124.1003 - How does a firm become certified as an SDB?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... as an SDB? 124.1003 Section 124.1003 Business Credit and Assistance SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 8(a... certified as an SDB? (a) All firms that are current Participants in SBA's 8(a) BD program are automatically deemed to be certified SDBs. (b) Any firm seeking to be certified as an SDB in order to represent that it...

  19. 13 CFR 124.1003 - How does a firm become certified as an SDB?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... as an SDB? 124.1003 Section 124.1003 Business Credit and Assistance SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 8(a... certified as an SDB? (a) All firms that are current Participants in SBA's 8(a) BD program are automatically deemed to be certified SDBs. (b) Any firm seeking to be certified as an SDB in order to represent that it...

  20. Architectural Innovation: The Reconfiguration of Existing Product Technologies and the Failure of Established Firms.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Henderson, Rebecca M.; Clark, Kim B.

    1990-01-01

    Using an empirical study of the semiconductor photolithographic alignment equipment industry, this paper shows that architectural innovations destroy the usefulness of established firms' architectural knowledge. Because this knowledge is embedded in the firms' structure and information-processing procedures, the destruction is hard to detect.…

  1. 48 CFR 19.306 - Protesting a firm's status as a HUBZone small business concern.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Protesting a firm's status... FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS Determination of Small Business Status for Small Business Programs 19.306 Protesting a firm's status as a HUBZone small business...

  2. Teaching Evaluation: A Student-Run Consulting Firm

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cundiff, Nicole; Nadler, Joel; Scribner, Shauna

    2011-01-01

    Applied Research Consultants (ARC) is a graduate student run consulting firm that provides experience to students in evaluation and consultation. An overview of this program has been compiled in order to serve as a model of a graduate training practicum that could be applied to similar programs or aid in the development of such programs. Key…

  3. Scale-free models for the structure of business firm networks.

    PubMed

    Kitsak, Maksim; Riccaboni, Massimo; Havlin, Shlomo; Pammolli, Fabio; Stanley, H Eugene

    2010-03-01

    We study firm collaborations in the life sciences and the information and communication technology sectors. We propose an approach to characterize industrial leadership using k -shell decomposition, with top-ranking firms in terms of market value in higher k -shell layers. We find that the life sciences industry network consists of three distinct components: a "nucleus," which is a small well-connected subgraph, "tendrils," which are small subgraphs consisting of small degree nodes connected exclusively to the nucleus, and a "bulk body," which consists of the majority of nodes. Industrial leaders, i.e., the largest companies in terms of market value, are in the highest k -shells of both networks. The nucleus of the life sciences sector is very stable: once a firm enters the nucleus, it is likely to stay there for a long time. At the same time we do not observe the above three components in the information and communication technology sector. We also conduct a systematic study of these three components in random scale-free networks. Our results suggest that the sizes of the nucleus and the tendrils in scale-free networks decrease as the exponent of the power-law degree distribution lambda increases, and disappear for lambda>or=3 . We compare the k -shell structure of random scale-free model networks with two real-world business firm networks in the life sciences and in the information and communication technology sectors. We argue that the observed behavior of the k -shell structure in the two industries is consistent with the coexistence of both preferential and random agreements in the evolution of industrial networks.

  4. Scale-free models for the structure of business firm networks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kitsak, Maksim; Riccaboni, Massimo; Havlin, Shlomo; Pammolli, Fabio; Stanley, H. Eugene

    2010-03-01

    We study firm collaborations in the life sciences and the information and communication technology sectors. We propose an approach to characterize industrial leadership using k -shell decomposition, with top-ranking firms in terms of market value in higher k -shell layers. We find that the life sciences industry network consists of three distinct components: a “nucleus,” which is a small well-connected subgraph, “tendrils,” which are small subgraphs consisting of small degree nodes connected exclusively to the nucleus, and a “bulk body,” which consists of the majority of nodes. Industrial leaders, i.e., the largest companies in terms of market value, are in the highest k -shells of both networks. The nucleus of the life sciences sector is very stable: once a firm enters the nucleus, it is likely to stay there for a long time. At the same time we do not observe the above three components in the information and communication technology sector. We also conduct a systematic study of these three components in random scale-free networks. Our results suggest that the sizes of the nucleus and the tendrils in scale-free networks decrease as the exponent of the power-law degree distribution λ increases, and disappear for λ≥3 . We compare the k -shell structure of random scale-free model networks with two real-world business firm networks in the life sciences and in the information and communication technology sectors. We argue that the observed behavior of the k -shell structure in the two industries is consistent with the coexistence of both preferential and random agreements in the evolution of industrial networks.

  5. 77 FR 38268 - Notice of Petitions by Firms for Determination of Eligibility To Apply for Trade Adjustment...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-06-27

    ... manufactures Wausau WI 54401. engineered hardwood flooring. Bruin Manufacturing, Co 607 North 4th Avenue, 06/08..., connectors, and rings. Homeart Designs, LLC 6419 McPherson Road, 06/14/12 The firm manufactures Laredo TX... firm's workers, or threat thereof, and to a decrease in sales or production of each petitioning firm...

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

    PubMed

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

    2005-12-27

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

  7. 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…

  8. 75 FR 2491 - Trade Adjustment Assistance for Firms Program Fiscal Year 2009 Annual Report

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-01-15

    ... strengthen their marketing channels to more effectively reach service firms, it is expected that the number... a marketing/sales project or production/engineering project in their Adjustment Proposals, and 35... types of projects in Adjustment Proposals. More than half of all firms proposed to implement marketing...

  9. Declines in Employer-Sponsored Insurance between 2000 and 2008: Examining the Components of Coverage by Firm Size

    PubMed Central

    Vistnes, Jessica; Zawacki, Alice; Simon, Kosali; Taylor, Amy

    2012-01-01

    Objective To examine trends in employer-sponsored health insurance coverage rates and its associated components between 2000 and 2008, to provide a baseline for later evaluations of the Affordable Care Act, and to provide information to policy makers as they design the implementation details of the law. Data Sources Private sector employer data from the 2000, 2001, and 2008 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey-Insurance Component (MEPS-IC). Study Design We examine time trends in employer offer, eligibility, and take-up rates. We add a new dimension to the literature by examining dependent coverage and decomposing its trends. We investigate heterogeneity in trends by firm size. Data Collection The MEPS-IC is an annual survey, sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The MEPS-IC obtains information on establishment characteristics, whether an establishment offers health insurance, and details on up to four plans. Principal Findings We find that coverage rates for workers declined in both small and large firms. In small firms, coverage declined due to a drop in both offer and take-up rates. In the largest firms, offer rates were stable and the decline was due to falling take-up rates. In addition, enrollment shifted toward single coverage and away from dependent coverage in both small and large firms. For small firms, this shift was due to declining offer and take-up rates for dependent coverage. In large firms, offers of dependent coverage were stable but take-up rates dropped. Within the category of dependent coverage, the availability of employee-plus-one plans increased in all firm size categories, but take-up rates for these plans declined in small firms. PMID:22250730

  10. 77 FR 28567 - Notice of Petitions by Firms for Determination of Eligibility To Apply for Trade Adjustment...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-05-15

    ..., LLC......... Hubbardton Forge, 04/06/12 The firm designs and manufactures hand- LLC., P.O. Box 827... workers, or threat thereof, and to a decrease in sales or production of each petitioning firm. List of... U.S. Highway 90W, 04/23/12 The firm manufactures processed food for San Antonio, TX 78237. human...

  11. 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.

  12. 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…

  13. Refinement and evaluation of the Massachusetts firm-yield estimator model version 2.0

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Levin, Sara B.; Archfield, Stacey A.; Massey, Andrew J.

    2011-01-01

    The firm yield is the maximum average daily withdrawal that can be extracted from a reservoir without risk of failure during an extended drought period. Previously developed procedures for determining the firm yield of a reservoir were refined and applied to 38 reservoir systems in Massachusetts, including 25 single- and multiple-reservoir systems that were examined during previous studies and 13 additional reservoir systems. Changes to the firm-yield model include refinements to the simulation methods and input data, as well as the addition of several scenario-testing capabilities. The simulation procedure was adapted to run at a daily time step over a 44-year simulation period, and daily streamflow and meteorological data were compiled for all the reservoirs for input to the model. Another change to the model-simulation methods is the adjustment of the scaling factor used in estimating groundwater contributions to the reservoir. The scaling factor is used to convert the daily groundwater-flow rate into a volume by multiplying the rate by the length of reservoir shoreline that is hydrologically connected to the aquifer. Previous firm-yield analyses used a constant scaling factor that was estimated from the reservoir surface area at full pool. The use of a constant scaling factor caused groundwater flows during periods when the reservoir stage was very low to be overestimated. The constant groundwater scaling factor used in previous analyses was replaced with a variable scaling factor that is based on daily reservoir stage. This change reduced instability in the groundwater-flow algorithms and produced more realistic groundwater-flow contributions during periods of low storage. Uncertainty in the firm-yield model arises from many sources, including errors in input data. The sensitivity of the model to uncertainty in streamflow input data and uncertainty in the stage-storage relation was examined. A series of Monte Carlo simulations were performed on 22 reservoirs

  14. Managing Information in Law Firms: Changes and Challenges

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Evans, Nina; Price, James

    2017-01-01

    Introduction. Data, information and knowledge together constitute a vital business asset for every organization that enables every business activity, every business process and every business decision. The global legal industry is facing unprecedented change, which inevitably creates challenges for individual law firms. These global changes affect…

  15. 37 CFR 10.35 - Firm names and letterheads.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 37 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Firm names and letterheads. 10.35 Section 10.35 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE REPRESENTATION OF OTHERS BEFORE THE PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE Patent and Trademark...

  16. 37 CFR 10.35 - Firm names and letterheads.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 37 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Firm names and letterheads. 10.35 Section 10.35 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE REPRESENTATION OF OTHERS BEFORE THE PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE Patent and Trademark...

  17. 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.

  18. Age and Hydration dependence of jowl and forearm skin firmness in young and mature women.

    PubMed

    Mayrovitz, Harvey N; Wong, Jennifer; Fasen, Madeline

    2017-12-27

    Quantitative assessment of possible linkages between skin's firmness and water content is useful for cosmetic and clinical purposes and to better understand features of advancing age. Our goals were to characterize age-related differential features in skin firmness in women and determine the relationship between skin firmness and indices of skin water. Skin firmness was quantified using handheld devices that measure the force to indent skin 0.3 and 1.3 mm (F0.3 and F1.3). Skin hydration was quantified using handheld devices that measured tissue dielectric constant (TDC) at 300 MHz to skin depths of 0.5 and 2.0-2.5 mm. All parameters were measured bilaterally in the jowl area and volar forearm of 60 women grouped by age <45 years (YOUNG) and ≥45 years old (MATURE). All measured parameters were bilaterally symmetrical at jowl and forearm. Forearm and jowl indentation forces were greater in YOUNG with statistically significant declines with advancing age with regression relations most evident at shallower indentation depths (P < .001). Quantitative relations for arm and jowl were F 0.3 = 0.256 × AGE + 32.7 mN and F 0.3 = -0.07 × AGE + 17.7 mN. Firmness was related to TDC values only when indentation force and TDC were assessed on the arm at the shallowest skin depths, as weakly related to firmness and was observed to change with age only when measured to a depth of 0.5 mm represented by TDC5 = 0.096 × AGE + 32.7. Experimental finding show clear differences in skin firmness between age-groups with skin hydration playing a minor role. Possible explanations and suggestions for further studies are provided. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  19. 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.

  20. Financial effects of pharmaceutical price regulation on R&D spending by EU versus US firms.

    PubMed

    Golec, Joseph; Vernon, John A

    2010-01-01

    EU countries closely regulate pharmaceutical prices, whereas the US does not. This paper shows how price constraints affect the profitability, stock returns and R&D spending of EU and US firms. Compared with EU firms, US firms are more profitable, earn higher stock returns and spend more on R&D. We tested the relationship between price regulation and R&D spending, and estimated the costs of tight EU price regulation. Although results show that EU consumers enjoyed much lower pharmaceutical price inflation, we estimated that price controls cost EU firms 46 fewer new medicines and 1680 fewer research jobs during our 19-year sample period. Had the US used controls similar to those used in the EU, we estimate it would have led to 117 fewer new medicines and 4368 fewer research jobs in the US.

  1. 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…

  2. Characteristics of construction firms at risk for future workers' compensation claims using administrative data systems, Washington State.

    PubMed

    Marcum, Jennifer L; Foley, Michael; Adams, Darrin; Bonauto, Dave

    2018-06-01

    Construction is high-hazard industry, and continually ranks among those with the highest workers' compensation (WC) claim rates in Washington State (WA). However, not all construction firms are at equal risk. We tested the ability to identify those construction firms most at risk for future claims using only administrative WC and unemployment insurance data. We collected information on construction firms with 10-50 average full time equivalent (FTE) employees from the WA unemployment insurance and WC data systems (n=1228). Negative binomial regression was used to test the ability of firm characteristics measured during 2011-2013 to predict time-loss claim rates in the following year, 2014. Claim rates in 2014 varied by construction industry groups, ranging from 0.7 (Land Subdivision) to 4.6 (Foundation, Structure, and Building Construction) claims per 100 FTE. Construction firms with higher average WC premium rates, a history of WC claims, increasing number of quarterly FTE, and lower average wage rates during 2011-2013 were predicted to have higher WC claim rates in 2014. We demonstrate the ability to leverage administrative data to identify construction firms predicted to have future WC claims. This study should be repeated to determine if these results are applicable to other high-hazard industries. Practical Applications: This study identified characteristics that may be used to further refine targeted outreach and prevention to construction firms at risk. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  3. The role of facial appearance on CEO selection after firm misconduct.

    PubMed

    Gomulya, David; Wong, Elaine M; Ormiston, Margaret E; Boeker, Warren

    2017-04-01

    [Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported in Vol 102(4) of Journal of Applied Psychology (see record 2017-10684-001). The wrong figure files were used. All versions of this article have been corrected.] We investigate a particular aspect of CEO successor trustworthiness that may be critically important after a firm has engaged in financial misconduct. Specifically, drawing on prior research that suggests that facial appearance is one critical way in which trustworthiness is signaled, we argue that leaders who convey integrity, a component of trustworthiness, will be more likely to be selected as successors after financial restatement. We predict that such appointments garner more positive reactions by external observers such as investment analysts and the media because these CEOs are perceived as having greater integrity. In an archival study of firms that have announced financial restatements, we find support for our predictions. These findings have implications for research on CEO succession, leadership selection, facial appearance, and firm misconduct. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  4. 21 CFR 107.210 - Firm-initiated product removals.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... (CONTINUED) FOOD FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION INFANT FORMULA Infant Formula Recalls § 107.210 Firm-initiated product removals. (a) If a manufacturer has determined to recall voluntarily from the market an infant formula that... this subpart. (b) If a manufacturer has determined to withdraw voluntarily from the market an infant...

  5. 21 CFR 107.210 - Firm-initiated product removals.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... (CONTINUED) FOOD FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION INFANT FORMULA Infant Formula Recalls § 107.210 Firm-initiated product removals. (a) If a manufacturer has determined to recall voluntarily from the market an infant formula that... this subpart. (b) If a manufacturer has determined to withdraw voluntarily from the market an infant...

  6. 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.

  7. 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

  8. 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.

  9. 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.

  10. Law Firm: A First-Year Course on Lawyering.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Braveman, Daan

    1989-01-01

    An experimental first-year course introducing law students to the law firm addressed: a single issue in contract law from both sides, writing as an advocate, the lawyer's role, legal research methods, the legislative process, the counseling function, the appellate process, and traditional legal writing. An interdisciplinary approach was used. (MSE)

  11. The Marketing Firm: Operant Interpretation of Corporate Behavior

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vella, Kevin J.; Foxall, Gordon R.

    2013-01-01

    In this article we address the issue of applying operant psychology to derive plausible and useful interpretations of complex firm behavior in natural settings. The objective is to discuss an appropriate methodology based on case study design, developed specifically in Vella and Foxall (2011), to produce an operant interpretation of secondary…

  12. The Role of Minority Firms and 8(a) Companies in Educational Research and Development.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Thompson, Ronald L.; Braithwaite, Ronald L.

    Over the last decade, minority firms and individuals have become increasingly more active in the process of educational research and development (R&D) activities. The future of such involvement appears to be one of continued increase, both because of the response of the marketplace and the growth in the number of firms owned by minority…

  13. 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.

  14. Enhancing technological innovation in small firms: Role of collaboration

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

    2014-07-01

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

  15. The Profit-Maximizing Firm: Old Wine in New Bottles.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Felder, Joseph

    1990-01-01

    Explains and illustrates a simplified use of graphical analysis for analyzing the profit-maximizing firm. Believes that graphical analysis helps college students gain a deeper understanding of marginalism and an increased ability to formulate economic problems in marginalist terms. (DB)

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

    PubMed

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

    2014-05-01

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

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

    PubMed Central

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

    2014-01-01

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

  18. 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

  19. 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

  20. 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

  1. 48 CFR 236.602-70 - Restriction on award of overseas architect-engineer contracts to foreign firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... countries bordering the Arabian Gulf, shall be awarded only to United States firms or to joint ventures of United States and host nation firms. [62 FR 2858, Jan. 17, 1997, as amended at 76 FR 58155, Sept. 20...

  2. 48 CFR 236.602-70 - Restriction on award of overseas architect-engineer contracts to foreign firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... countries bordering the Arabian Gulf, shall be awarded only to United States firms or to joint ventures of United States and host nation firms. [62 FR 2858, Jan. 17, 1997, as amended at 76 FR 58155, Sept. 20...

  3. 48 CFR 236.602-70 - Restriction on award of overseas architect-engineer contracts to foreign firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... countries bordering the Arabian Gulf, shall be awarded only to United States firms or to joint ventures of United States and host nation firms. [62 FR 2858, Jan. 17, 1997, as amended at 76 FR 58155, Sept. 20...

  4. Game analysis among the central government, local governments, and firms in China’s environmental pollution governance

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Shuwen; Xu, Jin

    2018-05-01

    China’s environmental pollution governance has entered the game stage centered on interests, and there are three main bodies in environmental pollution governance: the central government, local governments and firms. The research firstly reveals the relationships among the central government, local governments, and firms in the process of environmental governance, and then analyzes the game among the central government, local governments and firms using game theory in Economics. Finally, the research makes a conclusion and proposes some corresponding policy proposals so as to solve the problem of environmental pollution.

  5. Revisiting the Complementarity between Education and Training--The Role of Job Tasks and Firm Effects

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Görlitz, Katja; Tamm, Marcus

    2016-01-01

    This paper addresses the question to what extent the strong positive correlation between education and training can be attributed to differences in individual-, job- and firm-specific characteristics. The novelty of this paper is to analyze previously unconsidered characteristics, in particular, job tasks and firm-fixed effects. The results show…

  6. Fractalkine and CX3CR1 Mediate a Novel Mechanism of Leukocyte Capture, Firm Adhesion, and Activation under Physiologic Flow

    PubMed Central

    Fong, Alan M.; Robinson, Lisa A.; Steeber, Douglas A.; Tedder, Thomas F.; Yoshie, Osamu; Imai, Toshio; Patel, Dhavalkumar D.

    1998-01-01

    Leukocyte migration into sites of inflammation involves multiple molecular interactions between leukocytes and vascular endothelial cells, mediating sequential leukocyte capture, rolling, and firm adhesion. In this study, we tested the role of molecular interactions between fractalkine (FKN), a transmembrane mucin-chemokine hybrid molecule expressed on activated endothelium, and its receptor (CX3CR1) in leukocyte capture, firm adhesion, and activation under physiologic flow conditions. Immobilized FKN fusion proteins captured resting peripheral blood mononuclear cells at physiologic wall shear stresses and induced firm adhesion of resting monocytes, resting and interleukin (IL)-2–activated CD8+ T lymphocytes and IL-2–activated NK cells. FKN also induced cell shape change in firmly adherent monocytes and IL-2–activated lymphocytes. CX3CR1-transfected K562 cells, but not control K562 cells, firmly adhered to FKN-expressing ECV-304 cells (ECV-FKN) and tumor necrosis factor α–activated human umbilical vein endothelial cells. This firm adhesion was not inhibited by pertussis toxin, EDTA/EGTA, or antiintegrin antibodies, indicating that the firm adhesion was integrin independent. In summary, FKN mediated the rapid capture, integrin-independent firm adhesion, and activation of circulating leukocytes under flow. Thus, FKN and CX3CR1 mediate a novel pathway for leukocyte trafficking. PMID:9782118

  7. 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.

  8. Effects of the turnover rate on the size distribution of firms: An application of the kinetic exchange models

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chakrabarti, Anindya S.

    2012-12-01

    We address the issue of the distribution of firm size. To this end we propose a model of firms in a closed, conserved economy populated with zero-intelligence agents who continuously move from one firm to another. We then analyze the size distribution and related statistics obtained from the model. There are three well known statistical features obtained from the panel study of the firms i.e., the power law in size (in terms of income and/or employment), the Laplace distribution in the growth rates and the slowly declining standard deviation of the growth rates conditional on the firm size. First, we show that the model generalizes the usual kinetic exchange models with binary interaction to interactions between an arbitrary number of agents. When the number of interacting agents is in the order of the system itself, it is possible to decouple the model. We provide exact results on the distributions which are not known yet for binary interactions. Our model easily reproduces the power law for the size distribution of firms (Zipf’s law). The fluctuations in the growth rate falls with increasing size following a power law (though the exponent does not match with the data). However, the distribution of the difference of the firm size in this model has Laplace distribution whereas the real data suggests that the difference of the log of sizes has the same distribution.

  9. Consulting-Research Froblems with German and American Multinational Firms.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hildebrandt, Herbert W.

    International researchers need to be aware of international problems and multinational managerial codes when they work with worldwide organizations. This paper develops the premise that consulting with German multinational companies is more complex than consulting with or researching for American firms. Discussion focuses on the following three…

  10. Teaching Business Students to Recognize a Firm in Distress: What Information Is Important to Experts?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lehmann, Constance M.; Norman, Carolyn Strand

    2005-01-01

    Business failures are the result of many decisions within individual companies--Can business students be taught to recognize a firm that is in financial distress? If it can be known and understood how professionals acquire expertise in evaluating the financial health of a firm, then it follows that structuring both the college classroom experience…

  11. 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.

  12. A combined qualitative-quantitative approach for the identification of highly co-creative technology-driven firms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Milyakov, Hristo; Tanev, Stoyan; Ruskov, Petko

    2011-03-01

    Value co-creation, is an emerging business and innovation paradigm, however, there is not enough clarity on the distinctive characteristics of value co-creation as compared to more traditional value creation approaches. The present paper summarizes the results from an empirically-derived research study focusing on the development of a systematic procedure for the identification of firms that are active in value co-creation. The study is based on a sample 273 firms that were selected for being representative of the breadth of their value co-creation activities. The results include: i) the identification of the key components of value co-creation based on a research methodology using web search and Principal Component Analysis techniques, and ii) the comparison of two different classification techniques identifying the firms with the highest degree of involvement in value co-creation practices. To the best of our knowledge this is the first study using sophisticated data collection techniques to provide a classification of firms according to the degree of their involvement in value co-creation.

  13. 75 FR 56061 - Notice of Petitions by Firms for Determination of Eligibility To Apply for Trade Adjustment...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-09-15

    ... Avenue, 8/31/2010 The firm manufactures hydraulic, air over Jackson, MI 49203. oil and pneumatic presses..., cylinders, valves, servo controls, and fittings. Fiber-Line, Inc 3050 Campus Drive 9/7/2010 The firm...

  14. Estimation of Flux Between Interacting Nodes on Huge Inter-Firm Networks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tamura, Koutarou; Miura, Wataru; Takayasu, Misako; Takayasu, Hideki; Kitajima, Satoshi; Goto, Hayato

    We analyze Japanese inter-firm network data showing scale-free properties as an example of a real complex network. The data contains information on money flow (annual transaction volume) between about 7000 pairs of firms. We focus on this money-flow data and investigate the correlation between various quantities such as sales or link numbers. We find that the flux from a buyer to a supplier is given by the product of the fractional powers of both sales with different exponents. This result indicates that the principle of detailed balance does not hold in the real transport of money; therefore, random walk type transport models such as PageRank are not suitable.

  15. Use of two test methods to ensure accurate surface firmness and stability measurements for accessibility.

    PubMed

    Axelson, Peter W; Hurley, Seanna L

    2018-05-01

    The firmness and stability of indoor and outdoor surfacing are critical to the accessibility and safety of all environments for people with mobility impairments and/or who use mobility devices. ASTM F1951 laboratory test procedures include pass/fail criteria for determining playground surface accessibility by comparing the work to propel up a 1:14 (7.1%) grade ramp to that of the test surface in a wheelchair. A portable instrumented surface indenter (ISI) was developed to validate that accessibility results obtained in the laboratory are maintained in the field where the surface is installed and used. Accessibility measurements have been made on indoor and outdoor surfaces tested in the laboratory using both the ASTM F1951 and the ISI over 13 years. Correlations between these two methods were calculated. A strong correlation has been demonstrated for the sum of the ISI firmness and stability results compared to the sum of the ASTM F1951 straight propulsion and turning results (R 2 =0.9006). The portable ISI can be used to verify that the firmness and stability of an installed surface in the field correlates to the accessibility results of the surface tested in the laboratory concurrently according to ASTM F1951 and the ISI. Implications for Rehabilitation The Instrumented Surface Indenter (ISI) allows for surfaces in all environments to be tested for firmness and stability, which is critical for wheelchair user safety, especially during rehabilitation when learning to use a wheelchair. The ISI allows for surfaces in all environments to be tested for firmness and stability, which increases access to all indoor and outdoor surfaces, thereby improving the quality of life for people who have mobility impairments and/or use mobility devices, such as canes, crutches, walkers, and wheelchairs. Using the ISI to test the firmness and stability of installed playground surfaces increases access to playgrounds for children with mobility impairments, facilitating

  16. Developing Small Firms in Local Communities. Circular CRD-24.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Strawn, Harry B.

    Focusing on small, independent businesses, this primer answers questions relating to starting and operating a new firm and how local development organizations can help in the process. The general pattern of the company forming process (displacement, disposition to act, credibility, and availability of resources) is discussed. Success factors for…

  17. Maximize Benefits, Minimize Risk: Selecting the Right HVAC Firm.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Golden, James T.

    1993-01-01

    An informal survey of 20 major urban school districts found that 40% were currently operating in a "break down" maintenance mode. A majority, 57.9%, also indicated they saw considerable benefits in contracting for heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) maintenance services with outside firms. Offers guidelines in selecting…

  18. The Impact of Intrapreneurial Programs on Fortune 500 Manufacturing Firms.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Marcus, Melissa H.; Tesolowski, Dennis G.; Isbell, Clinton H.

    2000-01-01

    A survey of 100 manufacturing firms in 10 Standard Industrial Classification areas found that intrapreneurial programs did not significantly affect sales, profits, or returns to investors. Electronics and computer companies and the most dominant intrapreneurial programs. (SK)

  19. 48 CFR 436.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... with architect-engineer firms. 436.209 Section 436.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Special Aspects of Contracting for Construction 436.209 Construction contracts with architect-engineer...

  20. 48 CFR 436.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... with architect-engineer firms. 436.209 Section 436.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Special Aspects of Contracting for Construction 436.209 Construction contracts with architect-engineer...

  1. 48 CFR 1536.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... with architect-engineer firms. 1536.209 Section 1536.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Special Aspects of Contracting for Construction 1536.209 Construction contracts with architect-engineer...

  2. 48 CFR 436.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... with architect-engineer firms. 436.209 Section 436.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Special Aspects of Contracting for Construction 436.209 Construction contracts with architect-engineer...

  3. 48 CFR 436.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... with architect-engineer firms. 436.209 Section 436.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Special Aspects of Contracting for Construction 436.209 Construction contracts with architect-engineer...

  4. 48 CFR 436.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... with architect-engineer firms. 436.209 Section 436.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Special Aspects of Contracting for Construction 436.209 Construction contracts with architect-engineer...

  5. 48 CFR 1536.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... with architect-engineer firms. 1536.209 Section 1536.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Special Aspects of Contracting for Construction 1536.209 Construction contracts with architect-engineer...

  6. 48 CFR 1536.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... with architect-engineer firms. 1536.209 Section 1536.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Special Aspects of Contracting for Construction 1536.209 Construction contracts with architect-engineer...

  7. 48 CFR 1536.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... with architect-engineer firms. 1536.209 Section 1536.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Special Aspects of Contracting for Construction 1536.209 Construction contracts with architect-engineer...

  8. The Relative Importance of Market Power and Efficiency to Profitability in the Defense Sector: A Firm Based Analysis.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1983-12-01

    Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Operations Research Charles E. Schmeling, Capt t December 1983 Approved for public release... research and development expense, and firm size. Market power is measured by the four-firm concentration ratio and the number of firms in each industry...OF THIS PAGE Acknowledgements I wish to take this opportunity to thank the people who have assisted me in this research effort. First of all, I would

  9. Microsimulation of household and firm behaviors : coupled models of land use and travel demand in Austin, Texas

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2007-12-01

    Households and firms are key drivers of urban growth, yet models for forecasting travel demand often : ignore their dynamic evolution and several key decision processes. An understanding of household and : firm behavior over time is critical in antic...

  10. 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

  11. 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.

  12. Knowledge Management and the Competitive Strategy of the Firm

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Halawi, Leila A.; McCarthy, Richard V.; Aronson, Jay E.

    2006-01-01

    Purpose: Knowledge management (KM) has emerged as a strategy to improve organizational competitiveness. Our purpose is to identify the relationship between KM and the firm's competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach: We review the existing literature on KM and strategy formulation. We utilize the resource-based view approach as a lens for…

  13. Competitive actions of small firms in a declining market

    Treesearch

    Matthew Bumgardner; Urs Buehlmann; Albert Schuler; Jeff Crissey

    2011-01-01

    Small firms, through their flexibility advantages and closeness to customers, potentially can increase their sales volume in economic downturns. The decline in U.S. housing construction (beginning in 2006) provided an opportunity to develop and test four hypotheses predicting the attributes and marketing actions associated with successful companies supplying housing...

  14. 48 CFR 1436.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... with architect-engineer firms. 1436.209 Section 1436.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Special Aspects of Contracting for Construction 1436.209 Construction contracts with architect-engineer...

  15. 48 CFR 1436.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... with architect-engineer firms. 1436.209 Section 1436.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Special Aspects of Contracting for Construction 1436.209 Construction contracts with architect-engineer...

  16. 48 CFR 1436.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... with architect-engineer firms. 1436.209 Section 1436.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Special Aspects of Contracting for Construction 1436.209 Construction contracts with architect-engineer...

  17. 48 CFR 1436.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... with architect-engineer firms. 1436.209 Section 1436.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Special Aspects of Contracting for Construction 1436.209 Construction contracts with architect-engineer...

  18. 48 CFR 1436.209 - Construction contracts with architect-engineer firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... with architect-engineer firms. 1436.209 Section 1436.209 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Special Aspects of Contracting for Construction 1436.209 Construction contracts with architect-engineer...

  19. 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.

  20. The Importance of Being an Insider: How Networks Influence the Small Firm's Engagement with Formal Training

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bishop, Dan

    2011-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the ways in which the small firm's external relationships influence its approach to formal training and training providers. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative approach was adopted, involving semi-structured interviews with senior managers, in 25 small firms in South Wales. These interviews…

  1. Early warning of active fire hotspots through NASA FIRMS fire information system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ilavajhala, S.; Davies, D.; Schmaltz, J. E.; Murphy, K. J.

    2014-12-01

    Forest fires and wildfires can threaten ecosystems, wildlife, property, and often, large swaths of populations. Early warning of active fire hotspots plays a crucial role in planning, managing, and mitigating the damaging effects of wildfires. The NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) has been providing active fire location information to users in easy-to-use formats for the better part of last decade, with a view to improving the alerting mechanisms and response times to fight forest and wildfires. FIRMS utilizes fires flagged as hotspots by the MODIS instrument flying aboard the Aqua and Terra satellites and sends early warning of detected hotspots via email in near real-time or as daily and weekly summaries. The email alerts can also be customized to send alerts for a particular region of interest, a country, or a specific protected area or park. In addition, a web mapping component, named "Web Fire Mapper" helps query and visualize hotspots. A newer version of Web Fire Mapper is being developed to enhance the existing visualization and alerting capabilities. Plans include supporting near real-time imagery from Aqua and Terra satellites to provide a more helpful context while viewing fires. Plans are also underway to upgrade the email alerts system to provide mobile-formatted messages and short text messages (SMS). The newer version of FIRMS will also allow users to obtain geo-located image snapshots, which can be imported into local GIS software by stakeholders to help further analyses. This talk will discuss the FIRMS system, its enhancements and its role in helping map, alert, and monitor fire hotspots by providing quick data visualization, querying, and download capabilities.

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

    PubMed

    Kent, Blake Victor

    2017-01-01

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

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hegelheimer, Barbara

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

  4. Strategic HRM for SMEs: Implications for Firms and Policy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brand, Maryse J.; Bax, Erik H.

    2002-01-01

    This paper is on the growing importance of strategic human resource management (SHRM) for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Many small firms encounter serious human resource problems, while at the same time these human resources play a vital role in developing and sustaining their competitive advantages. In (S)HRM literature specific…

  5. 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.

  6. Time-varying causal network of the Korean financial system based on firm-specific risk premiums

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Song, Jae Wook; Ko, Bonggyun; Cho, Poongjin; Chang, Woojin

    2016-09-01

    The aim of this paper is to investigate the Korean financial system based on time-varying causal network. We discover many stylized facts by utilizing the firm-specific risk premiums for measuring the causality direction from a firm to firm. At first, we discover that the interconnectedness of causal network is affected by the outbreak of financial events; the co-movement of firm-specific risk premium is strengthened after each positive event, and vice versa. Secondly, we find that the major sector of the Korean financial system is the Depositories, and the financial reform in June-2011 achieves its purpose by weakening the power of risk-spillovers of Broker-Dealers. Thirdly, we identify that the causal network is a small-world network with scale-free topology where the power-law exponents of out-Degree and negative event are more significant than those of in-Degree and positive event. Lastly, we discuss that the current aspects of causal network are closely related to the long-term future scenario of the KOSPI Composite index where the direction and stability are significantly affected by the power of risk-spillovers and the power-law exponents of degree distributions, respectively.

  7. 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.

  8. Firmness at Harvest Impacts Postharvest Fruit Softening and Internal Browning Development in Mechanically Damaged and Non-damaged Highbush Blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum L.).

    PubMed

    Moggia, Claudia; Graell, Jordi; Lara, Isabel; González, Guillermina; Lobos, Gustavo A

    2017-01-01

    Fresh blueberries are very susceptible to mechanical damage, which limits postharvest life and firmness. Softening and susceptibility of cultivars "Duke" and "Brigitta" to developing internal browning (IB) after mechanical impact and subsequent storage was evaluated during a 2-year study (2011/2012, 2012/2013). On each season fruit were carefully hand-picked, segregated into soft (<1.60 N), medium (1.61-1.80 N), and firm (1.81-2.00 N) categories, and then either were dropped (32 cm) onto a hard plastic surface or remained non-dropped. All fruit were kept under refrigerated storage (0°C and 85-88% relative humidity) to assess firmness loss and IB after 7, 14, 21, 28, and 35 days. In general, regardless of cultivar or season, high variability in fruit firmness was observed within each commercial harvest, and significant differences in IB and softening rates were found. "Duke" exhibited high softening rates, as well as high and significant r 2 between firmness and IB, but little differences for dropped vs. non-dropped fruit. "Brigitta," having lesser firmness rates, exhibited almost no relationships between firmness and IB (especially for non-dropped fruit), but marked differences between dropping treatments. Firmness loss and IB development were related to firmness at harvest, soft and firm fruit being the most and least damaged, respectively. Soft fruit were characterized by greater IB development during storage along with high soluble solids/acid ratio, which could be used together with firmness to estimate harvest date and storage potential of fruit. Results of this work suggest that the differences in fruit quality traits at harvest could be related to the time that fruit stay on the plant after turning blue, soft fruit being more advanced in maturity. Finally, the observed differences between segregated categories reinforce the importance of analyzing fruit condition for each sorted group separately.

  9. Instructional Skills for On-the-Job Training and Experiential Learning: An Empirical Study of Japanese Firms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Matsuo, Makoto

    2014-01-01

    Despite the effectiveness of on-the-job training (OJT), few systematic empirical studies have been conducted on how OJT trainers instruct trainees in firms. The primary goal of this study was to investigate the characteristics of the trainer's instructional skills for OJT using survey data collected from 715 employees covering 22 firms. Results…

  10. 76 FR 46269 - Notice of Petitions by Firms for Determination of Eligibility To Apply for Trade Adjustment...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-08-02

    ... novel, simple to use automation and process monitoring products for industrial customers. Methods.... Nursery Supplies, Inc........ 1415 Orchard Drive, 26-Jul-11 The firm manufactures plastic containers... containers. Technautic International, 141 Robert E. Lee 22-Jul-11 The firm manufactures automated dissolved...

  11. Profiles of Regional Efficiency in Pakistan: Comparison of Public and Private Sector Manufacturing Firms

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1994-01-01

    Public and Private Sector Manufacturing Firms 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER 5e...REGIONAL EFFICIENCY IN PAKISTAN: COMPARISON OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR MANUFACTURING FIRMS by Robert E. Looney In an examination of the relative...efficiency in public and private sector enter- prises should be explored in more detail. In this vein the purpose of the analysis below is to examine the

  12. The Politics of Global Value Chains: Import-dependent Firms and EU–Asia Trade Agreements

    PubMed Central

    Eckhardt, Jappe; Poletti, Arlo

    2015-01-01

    In 2006, the European Commission released its Global Europe Communication, in which it announced a shift from a multilateral to a bilateral trade strategy. One of the key pillars of this new strategy was to strengthen the bilateral trade relations with key Asian countries. In contrast to existing analyses that focus on European Union (EU) decision makers’ agency, we propose an explanation for this notable shift in the EU’s trade policy that stresses the political role of import-dependent firms. In light of the increasing integration of such firms into global value chains, the article argues that a plausible case can be made, both theoretically and empirically, that import-dependent firms had a clear stake in the signing of preferential trade agreements between the EU and Asian countries and that their lobbying efforts significantly affected the EU’s decision to start negotiations with South Korea, India and Vietnam. PMID:28018131

  13. The Politics of Global Value Chains: Import-dependent Firms and EU-Asia Trade Agreements.

    PubMed

    Eckhardt, Jappe; Poletti, Arlo

    2016-01-01

    In 2006, the European Commission released its Global Europe Communication, in which it announced a shift from a multilateral to a bilateral trade strategy. One of the key pillars of this new strategy was to strengthen the bilateral trade relations with key Asian countries. In contrast to existing analyses that focus on European Union (EU) decision makers' agency, we propose an explanation for this notable shift in the EU's trade policy that stresses the political role of import-dependent firms. In light of the increasing integration of such firms into global value chains, the article argues that a plausible case can be made, both theoretically and empirically, that import-dependent firms had a clear stake in the signing of preferential trade agreements between the EU and Asian countries and that their lobbying efforts significantly affected the EU's decision to start negotiations with South Korea, India and Vietnam.

  14. 10 CFR 603.615 - Financial management standards for-profit firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 4 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Financial management standards for-profit firms. 603.615 Section 603.615 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (CONTINUED) ASSISTANCE REGULATIONS TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT AGREEMENTS Award Terms Affecting Participants' Financial, Property, and Purchasing Systems Financial Matters...

  15. Learning from the Failures of Others: The Effects of Post-Exit Knowledge Spillovers on Recipient Firms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Amankwah-Amoah, Joseph

    2011-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of post-exit knowledge diffusion created by departed firms on recipient firms. Design/methodology/approach: This is an inductive and exploratory study which tries to understand questions of how and why. The research used a qualitative interview methodology and data analysis using within…

  16. Barriers to Technological Acceptance in a Legal Environment: A Case Study of a Florida Law Firm

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Owusu, Theophilus D.

    2010-01-01

    Technology is made available in the law firm to promote time efficient tasks and to provide resources that allows the accurate billing and storing of documents. This study examined the impact of three major technologies that are used by attorneys in a law firm. Quantitative procedures facilitated the identification of barriers to Personal Digital…

  17. To what do firms attribute success? An application of attribution theory to the secondary woodworking industry

    Treesearch

    Matthew Bumgardner; Urs Buehlmann

    2015-01-01

    Small firms are a critical component of the secondary woodworking industry and are important to hardwood lumber demand in the US. Understanding managers' perceptions of competitiveness in these firms is important to those working with the industry to help maintain a viable wood manufacturing base. One area of interest relative to the overall business environment...

  18. A generalized preferential attachment model for business firms growth rates. II. Mathematical treatment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

    2007-05-01

    We present a preferential attachment growth model to obtain the distribution P(K) of number of units K in the classes which may represent business firms or other socio-economic entities. We found that P(K) is described in its central part by a power law with an exponent ϕ = 2+b/(1-b) which depends on the probability of entry of new classes, b. In a particular problem of city population this distribution is equivalent to the well known Zipf law. In the absence of the new classes entry, the distribution P(K) is exponential. Using analytical form of P(K) and assuming proportional growth for units, we derive P(g), the distribution of business firm growth rates. The model predicts that P(g) has a Laplacian cusp in the central part and asymptotic power-law tails with an exponent ζ = 3. We test the analytical expressions derived using heuristic arguments by simulations. The model might also explain the size-variance relationship of the firm growth rates.

  19. Modeling the 360° Innovating Firm as a Multiple System or Collective Being

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bouchard, Véronique

    Confronted with fast changing technologies and markets and with increasing competitive pressures, firms are now required to innovate fast and continuously. In order to do so, several firms superpose an intrapreneurial layer (IL) to their formal organization (FO). The two systems are in complex relations: the IL is embedded in the FO, sharing human, financial and technical components, but strongly diverges from it when it comes to representation, structure, values and behavior of the shared components. Furthermore, the two systems simultaneously cooperate and compete. In the long run, the organizational dynamics usually end to the detriment of the intrapreneurial layer, which remains marginal or regresses after an initial period of boom. The concepts of Multiple Systems and Collective Beings, proposed by Minati and Pessa, can help students of the firm adopt a different viewpoint on this issue. These concepts can help them move away from a rigid, Manichean view of the two systems' respective functions and roles towards a more fluid and elaborate vision of their relations, allowing for greater flexibility and coherence.

  20. 77 FR 77217 - Fiscal Year 2012 Annual Report to Congress on the Trade Adjustment Assistance for Firms Program

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-12-31

    ... projects, which comprised over half of all projects supported throughout the year. In January 2011, as... preparing petitions, 206 firms in preparing APs, and 935 firms in implementing projects within their APs...-supported [[Page 77221

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

    PubMed

    Foxall, Gordon R

    2014-01-01

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

  2. Learning the Hard Way? Issues in the Adoption of New Technology in Small Technology Oriented Firms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chibelushi, Caroline

    2008-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore, through a survey and two short case studies, the issues smaller firms face with the adoption of new technologies. Design/methodology/approach: A survey of the pressures to adopt new technologies and the existence of specialist technology skills was conducted of small ICT oriented firms in the West…

  3. 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.

  4. 75 FR 58363 - Notice of Petitions by Firms for Determination of Eligibility to Apply for Trade Adjustment...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-09-24

    ..., Inc 6550 Wedgwood Road, 09/13/10 The firm manufactures Maple Grove, MN 55311- electronic integrated.... Genplex, Inc 7 Industrial Park Road, 09/14/10 The firm manufactures Skowhegan, ME 04976. extruded plastic... and decorated apparel utilizing custom industrial sewing, RF welding, embroidery and silk screen...

  5. 21 CFR 607.7 - Establishment registration and product listing of blood banks and other firms manufacturing human...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... blood banks and other firms manufacturing human blood and blood products. 607.7 Section 607.7 Food and... ESTABLISHMENT REGISTRATION AND PRODUCT LISTING FOR MANUFACTURERS OF HUMAN BLOOD AND BLOOD PRODUCTS General Provisions § 607.7 Establishment registration and product listing of blood banks and other firms...

  6. 21 CFR 607.7 - Establishment registration and product listing of blood banks and other firms manufacturing human...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... blood banks and other firms manufacturing human blood and blood products. 607.7 Section 607.7 Food and... ESTABLISHMENT REGISTRATION AND PRODUCT LISTING FOR MANUFACTURERS OF HUMAN BLOOD AND BLOOD PRODUCTS General Provisions § 607.7 Establishment registration and product listing of blood banks and other firms...

  7. 21 CFR 607.7 - Establishment registration and product listing of blood banks and other firms manufacturing human...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... blood banks and other firms manufacturing human blood and blood products. 607.7 Section 607.7 Food and... ESTABLISHMENT REGISTRATION AND PRODUCT LISTING FOR MANUFACTURERS OF HUMAN BLOOD AND BLOOD PRODUCTS General Provisions § 607.7 Establishment registration and product listing of blood banks and other firms...

  8. The Private Military Firms: Historical Evolution and Industry Analysis

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2007-06-01

    Company, Private Military Firm, Supply Push, Demand Pull, Future Projections, Blackwater, DynCorp, Entrepreneurship 16. PRICE CODE 17. SECURITY...Business Administration, University of California, 1995. Baumol, W. J. Entrepreneurship , Management, and the Structure of Payoffs. Cambridge, MA: The MIT...P. F. Innovation and Entrepreneurship : Practice and Principles. Toronto: Fitzhenry & Whiteside Limited, 1985. Duffy, M. When Private Armies Take to

  9. Evolutionary technology adoption in an oligopoly market with forward-looking firms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lamantia, F.; Radi, D.

    2018-05-01

    In this paper, we propose an evolutionary oligopoly game of technology adoption in a market with isoelastic demand and two possible (linear) production technologies. While one technology is characterized by lower marginal costs, the magnitude of fixed costs entails that a technology does not necessarily dominate the other. Firms are forward-looking as they assess the profitability of employing either technology according to the corresponding expected profits. The dynamics of the system is studied through a piecewise-smooth map, for which we present a local stability analysis of equilibria and show the occurrence of smooth and border collision bifurcations. Global analysis of the model is also presented to show the coexistence of attractors and its economic significance. This investigation reveals that firms can fail to learn to adopt the more efficient technology.

  10. Evolutionary technology adoption in an oligopoly market with forward-looking firms.

    PubMed

    Lamantia, F; Radi, D

    2018-05-01

    In this paper, we propose an evolutionary oligopoly game of technology adoption in a market with isoelastic demand and two possible (linear) production technologies. While one technology is characterized by lower marginal costs, the magnitude of fixed costs entails that a technology does not necessarily dominate the other. Firms are forward-looking as they assess the profitability of employing either technology according to the corresponding expected profits. The dynamics of the system is studied through a piecewise-smooth map, for which we present a local stability analysis of equilibria and show the occurrence of smooth and border collision bifurcations. Global analysis of the model is also presented to show the coexistence of attractors and its economic significance. This investigation reveals that firms can fail to learn to adopt the more efficient technology.

  11. 48 CFR 2936.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 2936.602 Section 2936.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF LABOR GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 2936.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  12. 48 CFR 2936.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 2936.602 Section 2936.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF LABOR GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 2936.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  13. 48 CFR 2936.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 2936.602 Section 2936.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF LABOR GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 2936.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  14. 48 CFR 2936.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 2936.602 Section 2936.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF LABOR GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 2936.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  15. 48 CFR 2936.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 2936.602 Section 2936.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF LABOR GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 2936.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  16. Firms' contribution to the internal and external employability of older employees: evidence from Germany.

    PubMed

    Tisch, Anita

    2015-03-01

    In the examination of older employees' employability, one can distinguish between internal and external employability. Internal employability can be measured by individual employment stability, and external employability occurs when employees replace one employment relationship with another. Most studies focus on the personal skills and characteristics that are necessary to maintain employability. However, external factors also contribute to individual employability. Therefore, this study examines which organisational attributes of firms contribute to older employees' employability in Germany. Taking firm and individual characteristics into account, the results of discrete-time survival models show that in specific organisational structures, older employees have higher internal employability. Accordingly, older employees are more likely to maintain employment in the service sector and in recruiting organisations facing (skilled) labour shortages. However, the results also indicate that financially investing organisations facilitate early labour market exits. With regard to older employees' external employability, the results show only little evidence indicating an association between organisational attributes of firms and the likelihood of job change.

  17. 75 FR 70724 - Notice of Petitions by Firms for Determination of Eligibility To Apply for Trade Adjustment...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-11-18

    ... designs and Chicago, IL 60642. manufactures industrial and commercial refrigeration equipment such as..., or threat thereof, and to a decrease in sales or production of each petitioning firm. List of... 4277 Dan Hanks Lane, San 10/29/2010 The firm manufactures of Angelo, TX 76902. windmills and the...

  18. 78 FR 9032 - Notice of Petitions by Firms for Determination of Eligibility to Apply for Trade Adjustment...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-02-07

    ... Design, Inc........ 610 Baeten Road, Green 1/3/2013 Firm manufactures paper Bay, WI 54324. manufacturing..., or threat thereof, and to a decrease in sales or production of each petitioning firm. List of... manufactures components Parkway, Reno, NV 89521. in bicycle and other cycle related shock absorbers, and...

  19. 76 FR 38115 - Notice of Petitions by Firms for Determination of Eligibility To Apply for Trade Adjustment...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-06-29

    ..., product designing, progressive dies, molds, and jig fixtures. WP Manufacturing, Inc. DBA WP 802 South... thereof, and to a decrease in sales or production of each petitioning firm. List of Petitions Received By... Avenue, 6/21/2011 The firm manufactures plated York, PA 17404. finishes, to ASTM and military...

  20. The R&D Boundaries of the Firm: An Empirical Analysis.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pisano, Gary P.

    1990-01-01

    Examines how two sources of transaction costs, small-numbers bargaining hazards and appropriability concerns, may affect established firms' choices between inhouse and external sources of research and development when technological change shifts the locus of R & D expertise from established enterprises to new entrants, and established…

  1. 48 CFR 1536.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 1536.602 Section 1536.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 1536.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  2. 48 CFR 636.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 636.602 Section 636.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF STATE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 636.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  3. 48 CFR 1536.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 1536.602 Section 1536.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 1536.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  4. 48 CFR 436.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 436.602 Section 436.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Service 436.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  5. 48 CFR 1336.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 1336.602 Section 1336.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 1336.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  6. 48 CFR 636.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 636.602 Section 636.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF STATE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 636.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  7. 48 CFR 536.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 536.602 Section 536.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 536.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  8. 48 CFR 36.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 36.602 Section 36.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 36.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  9. 48 CFR 536.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 536.602 Section 536.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 536.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  10. 48 CFR 636.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 636.602 Section 636.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF STATE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 636.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  11. 48 CFR 36.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 36.602 Section 36.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 36.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  12. 48 CFR 36.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 36.602 Section 36.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 36.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  13. 48 CFR 36.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 36.602 Section 36.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 36.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  14. 48 CFR 1536.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 1536.602 Section 1536.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 1536.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  15. 48 CFR 536.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 536.602 Section 536.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 536.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  16. 48 CFR 1336.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 1336.602 Section 1336.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 1336.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  17. 48 CFR 436.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 436.602 Section 436.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Service 436.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  18. 48 CFR 536.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 536.602 Section 536.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 536.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  19. 48 CFR 36.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 36.602 Section 36.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 36.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  20. 48 CFR 436.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 436.602 Section 436.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Service 436.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  1. 48 CFR 1336.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 1336.602 Section 1336.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 1336.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  2. 48 CFR 1536.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 1536.602 Section 1536.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 1536.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  3. 48 CFR 636.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 636.602 Section 636.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF STATE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 636.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  4. 48 CFR 436.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 436.602 Section 436.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Service 436.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  5. 48 CFR 1536.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 1536.602 Section 1536.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 1536.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  6. 48 CFR 1336.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 1336.602 Section 1336.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 1336.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  7. 48 CFR 436.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 436.602 Section 436.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Service 436.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  8. 48 CFR 1336.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 1336.602 Section 1336.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 1336.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  9. 48 CFR 536.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 536.602 Section 536.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 536.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  10. 48 CFR 636.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 636.602 Section 636.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF STATE SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 636.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  11. Firmness at Harvest Impacts Postharvest Fruit Softening and Internal Browning Development in Mechanically Damaged and Non-damaged Highbush Blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum L.)

    PubMed Central

    Moggia, Claudia; Graell, Jordi; Lara, Isabel; González, Guillermina; Lobos, Gustavo A.

    2017-01-01

    Fresh blueberries are very susceptible to mechanical damage, which limits postharvest life and firmness. Softening and susceptibility of cultivars “Duke” and “Brigitta” to developing internal browning (IB) after mechanical impact and subsequent storage was evaluated during a 2-year study (2011/2012, 2012/2013). On each season fruit were carefully hand-picked, segregated into soft (<1.60 N), medium (1.61–1.80 N), and firm (1.81–2.00 N) categories, and then either were dropped (32 cm) onto a hard plastic surface or remained non-dropped. All fruit were kept under refrigerated storage (0°C and 85–88% relative humidity) to assess firmness loss and IB after 7, 14, 21, 28, and 35 days. In general, regardless of cultivar or season, high variability in fruit firmness was observed within each commercial harvest, and significant differences in IB and softening rates were found. “Duke” exhibited high softening rates, as well as high and significant r2 between firmness and IB, but little differences for dropped vs. non-dropped fruit. “Brigitta,” having lesser firmness rates, exhibited almost no relationships between firmness and IB (especially for non-dropped fruit), but marked differences between dropping treatments. Firmness loss and IB development were related to firmness at harvest, soft and firm fruit being the most and least damaged, respectively. Soft fruit were characterized by greater IB development during storage along with high soluble solids/acid ratio, which could be used together with firmness to estimate harvest date and storage potential of fruit. Results of this work suggest that the differences in fruit quality traits at harvest could be related to the time that fruit stay on the plant after turning blue, soft fruit being more advanced in maturity. Finally, the observed differences between segregated categories reinforce the importance of analyzing fruit condition for each sorted group separately. PMID:28443123

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

    PubMed

    Sapountzaki, Kalliopi

    2005-06-01

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

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

    PubMed Central

    2017-01-01

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

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

    PubMed

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

    2017-01-01

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

  15. 48 CFR 836.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 836.602 Section 836.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 836.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  16. 48 CFR 1436.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 1436.602 Section 1436.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 1436.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  17. 48 CFR 1436.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 1436.602 Section 1436.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 1436.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  18. 48 CFR 836.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 836.602 Section 836.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 836.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  19. 48 CFR 1436.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 1436.602 Section 1436.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 1436.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  20. 48 CFR 1436.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 1436.602 Section 1436.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 1436.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  1. 48 CFR 1436.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 1436.602 Section 1436.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 1436.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  2. 48 CFR 836.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 836.602 Section 836.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 836.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  3. 48 CFR 836.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 836.602 Section 836.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 836.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  4. 48 CFR 836.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 836.602 Section 836.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 836.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  5. 76 FR 2082 - Notice of Petitions by Firms for Determination of Eligibility To Apply for Trade Adjustment...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-01-12

    ..., or threat thereof, and to a decrease in sales or production of each petitioning firm. List of... Services, Ltd. dba 34621 Highway 11 West, Roseau, 09-Dec-10 The firm manufactures rails, A-arms, axels and IceAge Manufacturing, Inc. MN 56751. various other components for snowmobiles. Concept Works, Inc...

  6. 76 FR 60452 - Notice of Petitions by Firms for Determination of Eligibility To Apply for Trade Adjustment...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-09-29

    ... food packaging solutions. EuroPlast, Ltd 100 S. Industrial Lane, 9/9/2011 The firm manufactures plastic... Centech Road, Omaha, 9/19/2011 The firm designs and NE 68138. manufactures equipment used to manufacture... manufactures custom Covington, LA 70433. cabinetry and millwork. Oakridge Seafood, LLC 3408 E. Old Spanish 9/12...

  7. Employment-Based Training in Japanese Firms in Japan and in the United States: Experiences of Automobile Manufacturers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hashimoto, Masanori

    An economic theory of training holds that training in technical skills and training in employment relations (namely, information reliability or the ability to quickly and reliably disseminate information among the members of the firm) reinforce each other. This theory is an organizing framework for understanding some practices at Japanese firms in…

  8. Investigation of Intra-Firm Upward Mobility among Selected Skilled Craftsmen.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barnes, Clarence Harold

    The objective was to investigate the factors which influence the upward movement of skilled craftsmen within the firm. Particular attention was directed to the importance of apprenticeship training in causing intrafirm upgrading; that is: were apprentice-trained craftsmen more inclined to be promoted than nonapprentice-trained craftsmen. Observed…

  9. A Geometric Solution of a Cournot Ogilopoly with Nonidentical Firms.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sarkar, Jyotirmoy; Gupta, Barnali; Pal, Debashis

    1998-01-01

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

  10. 48 CFR 519.7007 - Protégé firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS GSA Mentor-Protégé Program 519.7007 Protégé firms. (a) For selection as.../mentor assigns to the subcontract; and (3) Eligible (not listed in the “Excluded Parties List System”) for U.S. Government contracts and not excluded from the Mentor-Protégé Program under section 519.7014...

  11. 48 CFR 1836.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 1836.602 Section 1836.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 1836.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  12. 48 CFR 1836.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 1836.602 Section 1836.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 1836.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  13. 48 CFR 1836.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 1836.602 Section 1836.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 1836.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  14. 48 CFR 1836.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 1836.602 Section 1836.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 1836.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  15. 48 CFR 1836.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 1836.602 Section 1836.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 1836.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  16. 78 FR 20887 - Notice of Petitions by Firms for Determination of Eligibility To Apply for Trade Adjustment...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-04-08

    .../b/a Donna M 688 South Santa Fe 103, Los Angeles, CA the design, production 90021. and sales of women..., or threat thereof, and to a decrease in sales or production of each petitioning firm. List of... 5880 Sheridan Blvd., 3/5/2013 The firm designs and Arvada, CO 80003. manufacturers audio- visual...

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

    PubMed

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

    2016-01-01

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

  18. 48 CFR 2436.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 2436.602 Section 2436.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 2436.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  19. 48 CFR 2436.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 2436.602 Section 2436.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 2436.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  20. 48 CFR 2436.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 2436.602 Section 2436.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 2436.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  1. 48 CFR 2436.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 2436.602 Section 2436.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 2436.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  2. 48 CFR 2436.602 - Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... architect-engineer contracts. 2436.602 Section 2436.602 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Architect-Engineer Services 2436.602 Selection of firms for architect-engineer contracts. ...

  3. The cost of a "bad hire:" how search firms can help.

    PubMed

    O'Connor, S J

    1991-10-01

    What's the key to competitive advantage and total quality management? O'Connor believes it's hiring top-quality people that are a "good fit" with your organization, and he tells how a search firm can help you do just that.

  4. Examining the articulation of innovativeness in co-creative firms: a neural network approach

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    di Tollo, Giacomo; Tanev, Stoyan

    2010-10-01

    Value co-creation is an emerging marketing and innovation paradigm describing a broader opening of the firm to its customers by providing them with the opportunity to become active participants in the design and development of personalized products, services and experiences. The aim of the present contribution is to provide preliminary results from a research project focusing on the relationship between value co-creation and the perception of innovation in technology-driven firms. The data was collected in a previous study using web search techniques and factor analysis to identify the key co-creation components and the frequency of firms' online comments about their new products, processes and services. The present work focuses on using an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) approach to understand if the extent of value co-creation activities can be thought of as an indicator of the perception of innovation. The preliminary simulation results indicate the existence of such relationship. The ANN approach does not suggest a specific model but the relationship that was found out between the forecasted values of the perception of innovation and its actual values clearly points in this direction.

  5. Examining the articulation of innovativeness in co-creative firms: a neural network approach

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    di Tollo, Giacomo; Tanev, Stoyan

    2011-03-01

    Value co-creation is an emerging marketing and innovation paradigm describing a broader opening of the firm to its customers by providing them with the opportunity to become active participants in the design and development of personalized products, services and experiences. The aim of the present contribution is to provide preliminary results from a research project focusing on the relationship between value co-creation and the perception of innovation in technology-driven firms. The data was collected in a previous study using web search techniques and factor analysis to identify the key co-creation components and the frequency of firms' online comments about their new products, processes and services. The present work focuses on using an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) approach to understand if the extent of value co-creation activities can be thought of as an indicator of the perception of innovation. The preliminary simulation results indicate the existence of such relationship. The ANN approach does not suggest a specific model but the relationship that was found out between the forecasted values of the perception of innovation and its actual values clearly points in this direction.

  6. Human Resource Blueprints in Irish High-Tech Start-Up Firms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Keating, Mary A.; Olivares, Mariabrisa

    2006-01-01

    Focusing on Irish high-tech start-ups, this paper reports on the results of an empirical study of organization building by entrepreneurial firms, specifically in relation to human resource practices. The research findings are benchmarked with findings from SPEC, the Stanford Project of Emerging Companies (Baron and Hannan, 2002). Human resources…

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Siegel, Donald S.

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

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

    PubMed

    Gorman, Elizabeth H; Kmec, Julie A

    2009-03-01

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

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

    PubMed

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

    2014-04-01

    Postharvest treatment with high-pressure CO2 helps to control decay and increase firmness in strawberries. Increases in firmness occurred through modification of calcium binding to cell wall. However, the mechanism(s) involved in Ca(2+) migration to pectic polymers and other physiological events associated with the maintenance of increased firmness are not clearly understood. The focus of this study was to find potential mechanism(s) that are associated with calcium movement, increases in firmness, or maintenance of firmness in strawberry fruit after high-pressure CO2 treatment. An increase in firmness was induced by high-pressure CO2 treatment, but not by high-pressure N2 treatment. This indicates that CO2 stimulates a change in firmness. The increase in firmness induced by high-pressure CO2 seems to involve calcium efflux. Using membrane Ca(2+) -dependent ATPase inhibitors sodium vanadate (250 μM) and erythrosin B (100 μM) delayed both the increase in firmness and calcium binding to wall polymers. Exogenous application of CaCl2 (10 mM) enhanced the firmness increase of fruit slices only when they were exposed to high-pressure CO2 . The activity of pectate lyase was downregulated by CO2 treatment, but β-galactosidase activity was not affected. The increase in strawberry firmness induced by high-pressure CO2 treatment primarily involves the efflux of calcium ions and their binding to wall polymers. These physiological changes are not induced by an anaerobic environment. The downregulation of wall-modifying enzymes, such as pectate lyase, appeared to contribute to the maintenance of firmness that was induced by high-pressure CO2 treatment. © 2014 Institute of Food Technologists®

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

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

    2007-05-01

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

  11. 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

  12. 13 CFR 124.1006 - Can SBA initiate a review of the SDB status of a firm claiming to be an SDB?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... SDB status of a firm claiming to be an SDB? 124.1006 Section 124.1006 Business Credit and Assistance... § 124.1006 Can SBA initiate a review of the SDB status of a firm claiming to be an SDB? SBA may initiate an SDB determination on any firm that has been certified to be an SDB by a procuring agency or that...

  13. 13 CFR 124.1006 - Can SBA initiate a review of the SDB status of a firm claiming to be an SDB?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... SDB status of a firm claiming to be an SDB? 124.1006 Section 124.1006 Business Credit and Assistance... § 124.1006 Can SBA initiate a review of the SDB status of a firm claiming to be an SDB? SBA may initiate an SDB determination on any firm that has been certified to be an SDB by a procuring agency or that...

  14. 13 CFR 124.1006 - Can SBA initiate a review of the SDB status of a firm claiming to be an SDB?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... SDB status of a firm claiming to be an SDB? 124.1006 Section 124.1006 Business Credit and Assistance... § 124.1006 Can SBA initiate a review of the SDB status of a firm claiming to be an SDB? SBA may initiate an SDB determination on any firm that has been certified to be an SDB by a procuring agency or that...

  15. 13 CFR 124.1006 - Can SBA initiate a review of the SDB status of a firm claiming to be an SDB?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... SDB status of a firm claiming to be an SDB? 124.1006 Section 124.1006 Business Credit and Assistance... § 124.1006 Can SBA initiate a review of the SDB status of a firm claiming to be an SDB? SBA may initiate an SDB determination on any firm that has been certified to be an SDB by a procuring agency or that...

  16. 13 CFR 124.1006 - Can SBA initiate a review of the SDB status of a firm claiming to be an SDB?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... SDB status of a firm claiming to be an SDB? 124.1006 Section 124.1006 Business Credit and Assistance... § 124.1006 Can SBA initiate a review of the SDB status of a firm claiming to be an SDB? SBA may initiate an SDB determination on any firm that has been certified to be an SDB by a procuring agency or that...

  17. The International Consortium for the Investigation of Renal Malignancies (I-ConFIRM)

    Cancer.gov

    The International Consortium for the Investigation of Renal Malignancies (I-ConFIRM) was formed to promote international, multidisciplinary collaborations to advance our understanding of the etiology and outcomes of kidney cancer.

  18. 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.

  19. 25 CFR 39.410 - What qualifications must an audit firm meet to be considered for auditing ISEP administration?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... considered for auditing ISEP administration? 39.410 Section 39.410 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS... qualifications must an audit firm meet to be considered for auditing ISEP administration? To be considered for auditing ISEP administration under this subpart, an independent audit firm must: (a) Be a licensed...

  20. Interplay between Rolling and Firm Adhesion Elucidated with a Cell-Free System Engineered with Two Distinct Receptor-Ligand Pairs

    PubMed Central

    Eniola, A. Omolola; Willcox, P. Jeanene; Hammer, Daniel A.

    2003-01-01

    The firm arrest of leukocytes to the endothelium during inflammation is known to be mediated by endothelial intercellular adhesion molecules (ICAMs) binding to activated integrins displayed on leukocyte surface. Selectin-ligand interactions, which mediate rolling, are believed to be important for facilitating firm adhesion, either by activating integrins or by facilitating the transition to firm adhesion by making it easier for integrins to bind. Although leukocytes employ two distinct adhesion molecules that mediate different states of adhesion, the fundamental biophysical mechanisms by which two pairs of adhesion molecules facilitate cell adhesion is not well understood. In this work, we attempt to understand the interaction between two molecular systems using a cell-free system in which polystyrene microspheres functionalized with the selectin ligand, sialyl LewisX (sLeX), and an antibody against ICAM-1, aICAM-1, are perfused over P-selectin/ICAM-1 coated surfaces in a parallel plate flow chamber. Separately, sLeX/P-selectin interactions support rolling and aICAM-1/ICAM-1 interactions mediate firm adhesion. Our results show that sLeX/aICAM-1 microspheres will firmly adhere to P-selectin/ICAM-1 coated surfaces, and that the extent of firm adhesion of microspheres is dependent on wall shear stress within the flow chamber, sLeX/aICAM-1 microsphere site density, and P-selectin/ICAM-1 surface density ratio. We show that P-selectin's interaction with sLeX mechanistically facilitates firm adhesion mediated by antibody binding to ICAM-1: the extent of firm adhesion for the same concentration of aICAM-1/ICAM-1 interaction is greater when sLeX/P-selectin interactions are present. aICAM-1/ICAM-1 interactions also stabilize rolling by increasing pause times and decreasing average rolling velocities. Although aICAM-1 is a surrogate for β2-integrin, the kinetics of association between aICAM-1 and ICAM-1 is within a factor of 1.5 of activated integrin binding ICAM-1

  1. A Novel Hybrid MADM Based Competence Set Expansions of a SOC Design Service Firm

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Huang, Chi-Yo; Tzeng, Gwo-Hshiung; Lue, Yeou-Feng; Chuang, Hsiu-Tyan

    As the IC (integrated circuit) industry migrates to the System-on-Chip (SOC) era, a novel business model, the SOC design service (DS), is emerging. However, how to expand a firm’s innovation competences while satisfying multiple objectives including highest quality, lowest cost, and fastest time to market as well as most revenues for economics of scale are always problems for a design service firm. Therefore, attempts to expand the innovation competences, and thus the competitiveness, of latecomers in the SOC DS industry have already become the most critical issue facing the top managers of SOC design service firms. In this paper, a novel multiple attribute decision making (MADM) analytic framework based on the concept of competence set expansion, as well as MADM methods consisting with DEMATEL, ANP and multiple objective decision making (MODM) will be proposed in order to define a path for expanding a late-coming SOC DS firm’s innovation capabilities. An empirical study on expanding innovation competence sets, of a late-coming Taiwanese DS firm then will be presented.

  2. A Framework to Move Forward on the Path to Eco-innovation in the Construction Industry: Implications to Improve Firms' Sustainable Orientation.

    PubMed

    Segarra-Oña, María-del-Val; Peiró-Signes, Angel; Cervelló-Royo, Roberto

    2015-12-01

    This paper examines key aspects in the innovative behavior of the construction firms that determine their environmental orientation while innovating. Structural equation modeling was used and data of 222 firms retrieved from the Spanish Technological Innovation Panel (PITEC) for 2010 to analyse the drivers of environmental orientation of the construction firms during the innovation process. The results show that the environmental orientation is positively affected by the product and process orientation of construction firms during the innovation process. Furthermore, the positive relation between the importance of market information sources and environmental orientation, mediated by process and product orientation, is discussed. Finally, a model that explains these relations is proposed and validated. Results have important managerial implications for those companies worried about their eco-innovative focus as the types of actions and relations within firms most suitable for improving their eco-innovative orientation are highlighted.

  3. Firmness Perception Influences Women’s Preferences for Vaginal Suppositories

    PubMed Central

    Zaveri, Toral; Primrose, Rachel J.; Surapaneni, Lahari; Ziegler, Gregory R.; Hayes, John E.

    2014-01-01

    Microbicides are being actively researched and developed as woman-initiated means to prevent HIV transmission during unprotected coitus. Along with safety and efficacy, assessing and improving compliance is a major area of research in microbicide development. We have developed carrageenan-based semisoft vaginal suppositories and have previously evaluated how physical properties such as firmness, size and shape influence women’s willingness to try them. Firmness has previously been quantified in terms of small-strain storage modulus, G’, however large-strain properties of the gels may also play a role in the firmness perception. In the current study we prepared two sets of suppositories with the same G’ but different elongation properties at four different G’ values (250, 2500, 12,500, 25,000 Pa): For convenience we refer to these as “brittle” and “elastic”, although these terms were never provided to study participants. In the first of two tests conducted to assess preference, women compared pairs of brittle and elastic suppositories and indicated their preference. We observed an interaction, as women preferred brittle suppositories at lower G’ (250, 2500 Pa) and elastic ones at a higher G’ (25,000 Pa). In the second test, women evaluated samples across different G’, rated the ease-of-insertion and willingness-to-try and ranked the samples in order of preference. Brittle suppositories at G’ of 12,500 Pa were most preferred. In vitro studies were also conducted to measure the softening of the suppositories in contact with vaginal simulant fluid (VSF). Release of antiretroviral drug tenofovir in VSF was quantified for the brittle and elastic suppositories at G’ of 12,500 Pa to determine the effect of suppository type on release. The initial rate of release was 20% slower with elastic suppositories as compared to brittle suppositories. Understanding how different physical properties simultaneously affect women’s preferences and

  4. 40 CFR 745.226 - Certification of individuals and firms engaged in lead-based paint activities: target housing and...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 30 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Certification of individuals and firms engaged in lead-based paint activities: target housing and child-occupied facilities. 745.226 Section 745... § 745.226 Certification of individuals and firms engaged in lead-based paint activities: target housing...

  5. 40 CFR 745.226 - Certification of individuals and firms engaged in lead-based paint activities: target housing and...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 31 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Certification of individuals and firms engaged in lead-based paint activities: target housing and child-occupied facilities. 745.226 Section 745... § 745.226 Certification of individuals and firms engaged in lead-based paint activities: target housing...

  6. Understanding the role and value of marketing communications by a regulated, monopoly firm

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Guzek, Frederick J.

    2003-10-01

    Expenditures on advertising and other marketing efforts have been found to generate profits for the firm and savings for the consumer in competitive industries. However, prior research has not addressed the use of these practices by price-regulated monopolies such as electric utility companies. Surprisingly, many utilities spend substanstially on advertising and sales despite having a captive customer base. Moreover, a unique feature within electric utilities is that much utility advertising involves demarketing, with a view to lessen strain on the system and to help avoid situations demanding high-cost energy. In this context, I ask the following questions: Is spending on marketing by monopoly firms justified? Does the consumer pay a higher price for electricity because of marketing or do shareholders pay for it? Do such activities provide a net welfare benefit? Finally, do measurable differences in marketing expenditures exist along the continuum from heavily regulated to nearly competitive markets? I analyze data from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and from the National Regulatory Research Institute. I find a significant positive relationship between advertising and net income, supporting the notion that advertising expenditures benefit the utility firm. I do not, however, find a significant relationship between marketing effort and consumer price, suggesting that consumers may not be bearing the expense of such practices. I also investigate the manner in which advertising improves net earnings. Speciifically, I find that advertising is negatively related to indirect expenses in this industry. Surprisingly, advertising is also negatively related to electricity consumption. Overall, the results suggest that advertising creates value by reducing indirect expenses without raising prices. These finds thus support the premise of a net welfare gain. Finally, I also find that progress toward deregulation and the level of advertising expenditures are

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

    PubMed Central

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

    2016-01-01

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

  8. Publishers Hire PR Firm to Counter Open-Access Publishing Movement: Former Board of "Topology" Starts a Rival Journal

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brown, Susan; Monastersky, Richard

    2007-01-01

    The Association of American Publishers has hired a public-relations firm with a hard-hitting reputation to respond to the open-access-publishing movement, which campaigns for scientific results to be made freely available to the public. The firm, Dezenhall Resources, designs aggressive public-relations campaigns to counter activist groups. The…

  9. 22 CFR 228.35 - Construction services from foreign-owned local firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Construction services from foreign-owned local firms. 228.35 Section 228.35 Foreign Relations AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT RULES ON SOURCE, ORIGIN AND NATIONALITY FOR COMMODITIES AND SERVICES FINANCED BY USAID Conditions Governing the...

  10. 48 CFR 2936.603 - Collecting data on and appraising firms' qualifications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 7 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Collecting data on and appraising firms' qualifications. 2936.603 Section 2936.603 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT... Acquisition Management Services, for review and recommendation for approval to the HCA when updated. These...

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

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

    2005-12-01

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

  12. 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…

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

    PubMed

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

    2017-04-01

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

  14. 48 CFR 36.603 - Collecting data on and appraising firms' qualifications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... for a geographical region or area, or a specialized type of construction. (b) Qualifications data. To... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Collecting data on and... Architect-Engineer Services 36.603 Collecting data on and appraising firms' qualifications. (a) Establishing...

  15. 48 CFR 36.603 - Collecting data on and appraising firms' qualifications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... for a geographical region or area, or a specialized type of construction. (b) Qualifications data. To... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Collecting data on and... Architect-Engineer Services 36.603 Collecting data on and appraising firms' qualifications. (a) Establishing...

  16. Is Learning Orientation in Manufacturing and Service Firms Different in India?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Awasthy, Richa; Gupta, Rajen K.

    2011-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this study is to assess employees' perceptions of their organizations' orientation towards learning in manufacturing and service firms. Design/methodology/approach: The Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire (DLOQ) developed by Marsick and Watkins, was administered to 235 executives working in the National…

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

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sankowska, Anna

    2013-01-01

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

  18. 48 CFR 736.603 - Collecting data on and appraising firms' qualifications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Collecting data on and... Architect-Engineer Services 736.603 Collecting data on and appraising firms' qualifications. An USAID Consultant Registry Information System (ACRIS) is maintained in Washington by the USAID Office of Small and...

  19. 48 CFR 736.603 - Collecting data on and appraising firms' qualifications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Collecting data on and... Architect-Engineer Services 736.603 Collecting data on and appraising firms' qualifications. An USAID Consultant Registry Information System (ACRIS) is maintained in Washington by the USAID Office of Small and...

  20. 48 CFR 736.603 - Collecting data on and appraising firms' qualifications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Collecting data on and... Architect-Engineer Services 736.603 Collecting data on and appraising firms' qualifications. An USAID Consultant Registry Information System (ACRIS) is maintained in Washington by the USAID Office of Small and...

  1. 48 CFR 736.603 - Collecting data on and appraising firms' qualifications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Collecting data on and... Architect-Engineer Services 736.603 Collecting data on and appraising firms' qualifications. An USAID Consultant Registry Information System (ACRIS) is maintained in Washington by the USAID Office of Small and...

  2. 48 CFR 736.603 - Collecting data on and appraising firms' qualifications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Collecting data on and... Architect-Engineer Services 736.603 Collecting data on and appraising firms' qualifications. An USAID Consultant Registry Information System (ACRIS) is maintained in Washington by the USAID Office of Small and...

  3. Obstacles to Innovation in Brazil: The Lack of Qualified Individuals to Implement Innovation and Establish University-Firm Interactions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rapini, Marcia Siqueira; Chiarini, Tulio; Bittencourt, Pablo Felipe

    2017-01-01

    Through an investigation of data available from the Brazilian Innovation Survey (Pesquisa de Inovação) of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística) and from a national survey on university-firm interactions (the BR Survey), the authors show that Brazilian industrial firms lack qualified…

  4. Do We Need Stronger Sanctions to Ensure Legal Compliance By Pharmaceutical Firms?

    PubMed

    Rodwin, Marc A

    2015-01-01

    The increasing number of enforcement lawsuits against pharmaceutical firms and the large size of settlement payments suggest that misconduct is widespread and even risks slipping into the banalities of ordinary business practices. It also raises questions as to whether current sanctions are an effective means to ensure compliance. This article explores the causes of the frequent illegal conduct, why prosecutors rarely use the strongest sanctions in their arsenal--criminal penalties and debarment from participation in public programs--and asks whether the use of the strongest sanctions would be desirable. Prosecutors might not use the strongest penalties available because of divided enforcement authority or because they prefer to seek monetary penalties to support their budgets. Moreover, strong sanctions might be perceived as imposing steep collateral damages on the-general public and being politically costly. If prosecutors are reluctant to impose the strongest possible sanctions, then policymakers need to develop alternative responses. One option is to create stronger economic penalties than the ones that currently exist. Corporations and their managers have incentives to increase their income, and their pursuit of profit sometimes leads these managers to violate the law. To deter illegal conduct, legislation typically allows courts to impose penalties--including fines and incarceration--on convicted individuals and firms. The increasing wide-scale illegal conduct by pharmaceutical firms and their employees over the last two decades prompts three questions. Are current sanctions sufficient? Are stronger sanctions and enforcement policy possible? If so, would they effectively deter harmful illegal conduct?

  5. Firms' Motivation for Training Apprentices: An Australian-German Comparison. Occasional Paper

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pfeifer, Harald

    2016-01-01

    This study investigated how firms in Germany and Australia compare when dealing with the institutional arrangements for apprenticeship training in their countries, with particular attention given to factors which may impact on their training motivation. Apprenticeships are a well-established pathway to employment across many countries, with a…

  6. 48 CFR 436.603 - Collecting data on and appraising firms' qualifications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Collecting data on and... Architect-Engineer Service 436.603 Collecting data on and appraising firms' qualifications. (a) HCA's which....603. (b) The procedures shall include a list of names, addresses, and phone numbers of offices or...

  7. 48 CFR 436.603 - Collecting data on and appraising firms' qualifications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Collecting data on and... Architect-Engineer Service 436.603 Collecting data on and appraising firms' qualifications. (a) HCA's which....603. (b) The procedures shall include a list of names, addresses, and phone numbers of offices or...

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

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Archfield, Stacey A.; Carlson, Carl S.

    2006-01-01

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

  9. Five years after the Metric Conversion Act, where do we stand? Survey of large US manufacturing and mining firms (the Fortune Magazine 1000)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    1980-12-01

    A mail survey of randomly chosen 202 of the 1000 largest manufacturing and mining firms, as listed by Fortune magazine, was conducted in late 1979 and early 1980. About 64 percent (112 firms) responded with useful data. This Executive Summary draws on the full report (U.S. Metric Board 1979 Survey of Selected Large U.S. Firms and Industries, Lisa King, King Research, Inc., May 1980; AD-A-091-618) and provides an overview of the study's findings. Some selected findings are: (1) about 30 percent of the large firms produce at least one hard metric product; (2) about 48 percent of foreign sales are of metric products; (3) little corporate coordination and planning seems to accompany conversion to the metric system; (4) about one-third of the firms see laws and regulations as impeding conversion; (5) over 50 percent see lack of customers demand as inhibiting conversion; (6) the most realistic time period for conversion is 10 years, the minimum time for conversion (under pressure) is three years, and the preferred time (at the firm's own pace) is eight years.

  10. Randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind, split-face study on the clinical efficacy of Tricutan on skin firmness.

    PubMed

    Sommerfeld, B

    2007-11-01

    Tricutan is a combination product of herbal extracts traditionally used for treatment of skin conditions, together with dimethylaminoethanol. The effectiveness of Tricutan in improving skin firmness and elasticity in photoaged facial skin was examined in a randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind, split-face study in 28 women, 34-67 years old. Treatment with Tricutan and placebo was given for 4 weeks. Skin firmness and elasticity was evaluated using the speed of propagation of ultrasound shear waves in the skin as end point (Reviscometer RVM 600). The study was completed by 25 women. The Tricutan treatment resulted in a significantly reduced propagation speed indicating increased firmness. There was no immediate effect by Tricutan application on propagation speed. At self evaluation the women evaluated the treatment effect of Tricutan to be significantly better than the treatment effect of placebo. The clinical evaluation also showed Tricutan to give a significantly better treatment result than placebo. Tolerance to Tricutan was generally good. However, three women did not complete the study because of mild irritative contact dermatitis. The results show that Tricutan can increase skin firmness both objectively and subjectively. Further studies are warranted, especially to investigate if Tricutan can delay the need for surgical face-lift procedures.

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

    PubMed Central

    Foxall, Gordon R.

    2014-01-01

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

  12. "The role of facial appearance on CEO selection after firm misconduct:" Correction to Gomulya et al. (2016).

    PubMed

    2017-04-01

    Reports an error in "The Role of Facial Appearance on CEO Selection After Firm Misconduct" by David Gomulya, Elaine M. Wong, Margaret E. Ormiston and Warren Boeker ( Journal of Applied Psychology , Advanced Online Publication, Dec 19, 2016, np). The wrong figure files were used. All versions of this article have been corrected. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2016-60831-001.) We investigate a particular aspect of CEO successor trustworthiness that may be critically important after a firm has engaged in financial misconduct. Specifically, drawing on prior research that suggests that facial appearance is one critical way in which trustworthiness is signaled, we argue that leaders who convey integrity, a component of trustworthiness, will be more likely to be selected as successors after financial restatement. We predict that such appointments garner more positive reactions by external observers such as investment analysts and the media because these CEOs are perceived as having greater integrity. In an archival study of firms that have announced financial restatements, we find support for our predictions. These findings have implications for research on CEO succession, leadership selection, facial appearance, and firm misconduct. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  13. 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.

  14. 78 FR 8491 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Trade Adjustment Assistance for Firms

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-02-06

    ... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Economic Development Administration Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Trade Adjustment Assistance for Firms AGENCY: Economic Development Administration (EDA... Assistance Division, Room 71028, Economic Development Administration, Washington, DC 20230, telephone (202...

  15. 32 CFR 37.685 - May I allow for-profit firms to purchase real property and equipment with project funds?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 32 National Defense 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false May I allow for-profit firms to purchase real... Award Terms Affecting Participants' Financial, Property, and Purchasing Systems Property § 37.685 May I allow for-profit firms to purchase real property and equipment with project funds? (a) With the two...

  16. Exploiting Managerial Capability for Innovation in a Micro-Firm Context: New and Emerging Perspectives within the Irish Hotel Industry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kearney, Arthur; Harrington, Denis; Kelliher, Felicity

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: The paper has been developed from a critical review of available literature drawn from the micro firm, managerial capability and innovation management fields. The paper aims to address these issues. Design/methodology/approach: The paper has been developed from a critical review of available literature drawn from the micro firm,…

  17. Small business executives and health insurance: findings from a national survey of very small firms.

    PubMed

    Holve, Erin; Brodie, Mollyann; Levitt, Larry

    2003-09-01

    Previous researchers have documented that very small businesses (3-24 workers) are less likely to offer employees health insurance than larger corporations. This study supplements previous findings on the prevalence of health insurance among small firms. The authors also attempt to illuminate reasons behind coverage decisions by interviewing small business owners and executives, who most often make health benefits decisions on behalf of their employees. The study examines attitudes about health insurance, opinions, and practices in these very small firms, and the response of small business owners to policy alternatives designed to expand coverage in small businesses.

  18. Canadianization a red flag to US firms and their friends in Congress

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

    Corrigan, R.

    1981-08-01

    Efforts to gain control over its own petroleum industry are squeezing US-based oil and gas companies that have dominated Canadian energy development. Foreign-owned firms account for 72% of Canada's industry revenues. The effort is more a de-Americanization than a nationalization in the series of take-over moves and countermoves. The US views this as an abrupt shift in traditional business and trade relationships, with angry industry leaders lobbying Congress for retaliatory action. Trudeau's program to slow the drain of wealth from energy-poor eastern provinces to the west has also sparked controversy in Canada. The program enlarges the federal role in oilmore » companies, regulates foreign acquisitions, gives preferential treatment to Canadian firms, and continues price controls in Canadian crude oil. Several American interagency groups are evaluating Canada's moves, but the administraion is reluctant to move beyond diplomatic persuasion. (DCK)« less

  19. Reconciling Estimates of the Value to Firms of Reduced Regulatory Delay in the Marketing of Their New Drugs.

    PubMed

    Wilmoth, Daniel R

    2015-12-01

    The prescription drug user fee program provides additional resources to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration at the expense of regulated firms. Those resources accelerate the review of new drugs. Faster approvals allow firms to realize profits sooner, and the program is supported politically by industry. However, published estimates of the value to firms of reduced regulatory delay vary dramatically. It is shown here that this variation is driven largely by differences in methods that correspond to differences in implicit assumptions about the effects of reduced delay. Theoretical modeling is used to derive an equation describing the relationship between estimates generated using different methods. The method likely to yield the most accurate results is identified. A reconciliation of published estimates yields a value to a firm for a one-year reduction in regulatory delay at the time of approval of about $60 million for a typical drug. Published 2015. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the U.S.A. Published 2015. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

  20. Breaking the barriers to commercialization of MEMS: a firm's search for competitive advantage

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Walsh, Steven T.; Linton, Jonathan D.

    1999-08-01

    A model of infrastructure development for MEMS manufacturing Technologies is offered. The role of discontinuous innovation in achieving competitive advantage is briefly reviewed. This is followed by the development of a model that describes the stages in the growth of an infrastructure to support Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems infrastructure. We briefly describe how an infrastructure gradually grows to support a new industry, resulting from discontinuous innovation. the model indicates the evolving nature of the actions and investments that firms and governments need to make to support the growth of an immature industry. Consequently, we aim to not only offer a descriptive model, but offer guidance to firms on whether their intentions and resources fit with the state of the industry and to offer policy makers guidance on the timing of different types of support.