Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Study of the Role Played by Manufacturing Strategic Objectives and Capabilities in Understanding the Relationship between Porter's Generic Strategies and Business Performance

An appropriate alignment between business strategy, manufacturing strategic objectives and manufacturing capabilities reportedly influences business performance positively. However, few papers empirically analyse this proposition for the case of Porter's generic strategies of cost leadership and differentiation, and none jointly considers all four elements. This paper integrates strategies, capabilities and performance in a single model and proposes that both manufacturing competitive priorities and capabilities, articulated in terms of cost and flexibility, are essential for explaining the link between generic business strategies and business commercial and financial performance. Within this analytic framework, we test whether companies that emphasize one business strategy rather than another achieve a better alignment and superior performance. The analyses conducted with a sample of 148 Spanish manufacturers provide general support for these propositions and contribute to a deeper understanding of the role played by functional strategies in understanding the outcomes of business strategy.
Competitive Positioning, Deracialization, and Attack Speech

Previous research on negative campaigning has focused on the influence of competitive circumstances and the timing of attacks. Here, we focus on whether campaign issues or character are more likely to be the focus of attacks and whether, as part of a deracialized campaign, minority candidates attack less than do nonminorities. Data are derived from content analyses of newspaper coverage and candidates’ TV ads in the 2001 Los Angeles mayoral election. Contrary to expectations, one’s position in the horse race is not a significant predictor of attacks in the primary campaign. More important are conditions in the campaign environment that maximize the benefits of attack speech. When candidates attack, they are likely to do so on salient issues and character. We also find that minority candidates attack significantly less than do nonminorities, in support of our expectations regarding deracialized campaigns. In a concluding section, we discuss the implications of our findings.
Evaluation of Oral Administration of Aqueous Leaf Extract of Momordica charantia on Fertility Hormones of Adult Male Wistar Rats

3 Abstract: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of various doses of aqueous leaf extract of Momordica charantia on fertility hormones of adult male Wistar rats. Twenty health male albino rats were randomly assigned equally to four groups: low dose (LD), medium dose (MD) and high dose (HD) groups, treated with extracts of M. charantia at 12.5g, 25.0g and 50.0g respectively for thirty days. The last group (C) served as control, being given distilled water. The animals were sacrificed after the treatment period. There was statistically significant (p<0.05) reduction in plasma FSH and testosterone levels in a dose dependent manner. This study has shown that M. charantia suppresses the pituitary-testicular axis, thus careful evaluation of an infertile male should involve a detailed drug history to aid diagnosis and management.
Intensive buffering can keep pH above 7.2 for over 4 h during apnea: an experimental porcine study

Ventilation with low tidal volumes reduces mortality in acute respiratory distress syndrome. A further reduction of tidal volumes might be beneficial, and it is known that apneic oxygenation (no tidal volumes) with arteriovenous CO2 removal can keep acid‐base balance and oxygenation normal for at least 7 h in an acute lung injury model. We hypothesized that adequate buffering might be another approach and tested whether tris‐hydroxymethyl aminomethane (THAM) alone could keep pH at a physiological level during apneic oxygenation for 4 h.
The High Value of Targeting: A Conceptual Model for Using HVT against a Networked Enemy

A swath of negative media attention throughout 2010 and 2011 has seen the coalition military tactic of High-Value Targeting (HVT) in Afghanistan come under intense scrutiny. United States Army doctrine defines a high-value target as an asset that an enemy commander requires for the completion of his mission. Within the context of Special Operations Forces (SOF), the process of HVT involves precision raids and/or airstrikes to either capture or kill specific assets or individuals required by a clandestine network to achieve its expressed aims. This process has been declared as ineffective in virtually all mediums for debate. The reasons offered often stem from three fundamental lines of argument: that HVT is too aggressive for counterinsurgency (COIN) operations and undermines overarching strategic goals; that HVT only works against hierarchical organizations and not decentralized network opponents, such as Al-Qaeda or the Haqqani Network, faced in current operations; and that coalition forces lack the requisite understanding of enemy organizations to successfully apply HVT. These lines of argument draw on assumptions about the decreasing utility of force in contemporary operations, the concomitant centrality of ‘soft’ or non-kinetic approaches to security in COIN operations, expectations of decisiveness when using force, and the elusive nature of clandestine networks. These assumptions are attractive, but they are flawed. Matt Frankel’s recent attempt to capture ‘lessons learned’ about HVT is instructive as it is the first attempt to systematically analyze
On Hartwick's Rule for Regular Maximin Paths of Capital Accumulation and Resource Depletion

In a series of recent papers, Hartwick (1977a, b, c, 1978b, c) has shown in a number of special models that keeping investment equal to the rents (really profits from the flow of depletion) from exhaustible resources under competitive pricing yields a path of constant consumption. We shall call this the " Hartwick Rule ". Our purpose is to examine this striking rule in a general context. We shall allow many types of consumption goods and endogenous labour supplies. We shall also allow heterogeneous capital goods, and treat exhaustible or renewable resources as special capital goods: exhaustible resources can be depleted but not produced, renewable ones can also be produced. One restriction we impose is that there is no population growth or technical progress. Hartwick (1977b) does allow these, but as they require a fortuitous coincidence of different exogenous rates if the rule is to remain valid, we do not think it worthwhile to attempt that generalization. In our general framework the Hartwick rule becomes " keep the total value of net investment under competitive pricing equal to zero ". This is then shown to be sufficient to give a constant utility path. The desirability of such a simple unified treatment should be evident. It even proves possible to generalize the rule to " keep the present discounted value of total net investment under competitive pricing constant over time "; indeed, the generalized Hartwick rule is necessary and sufficient for constant utility. More importantly, while these rules give intergenerational equality, it remains to be seen whether they yield the best paths of this kind, i.e. Rawlsian paths. We therefore show that the generalized Hartwick rule is sufficient to give a constant utility maximin path, or a little more precisely, a " regular " maximin path as defined in Burmeister and Hammond (1977), provided that there is free disposal and an absence of " stock reversal ", as explained in Section 4.
Factors affecting the performance of water utility companies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to carry out an analysis of Italian water utility companies to determine whether their performance was related to certain relevant variables that have been broadly discussed in the existing literature. Among these are ownership structure, size and diversification. In addition, the paper considers another variable – the geographical location.Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviewed the annual financial statements of 80 Italian water utility companies between 2004 and 2008. It also obtained data regarding tariffs, volumes supplied and population served from Conviri, the Italian national authority for water. Finally, the paper discusses the significant differences among clusters, using parametric statistic methods.Findings – It was found that ownership structure, size, diversification and geographical location had an impact on the performance of water utility companies, although with different degrees of significance.Research limitations/implications – Further s.
Intermediate Goods and Business Cycles: Implications for Productivity and Welfare

This paper presents an aggregate demand-driven model of business cycles that provides a new explanation for the procyclicality of productivity, and simultaneously predicts large welfare losses from monetary non-neutrality. The key features of the model are an input- output production structure, imperfect competition, countercyclical markups, and, for some results, state- dependent price rigidity. True technical efficiency is procyclical even though production takes place with constant returns, without technology shocks or technological externalities. The paper has observable implications that distinguish it empirically from related work. These implications are generally supported by data from U.S. manufacturing industries.
Green Philosophies in the Face of Climate Change

Societal attitudes to environmental management are likely to be influenced by the current debates on climate change. Twenty years ago the environmental author, Bill McKibben, first released The End of Nature, arguing that anthropogenic climate change had destroyed the idea of an independent natural world. The ramifications of this idea have been slow to seep into the public consciousness, but there are signs now that the thought of the ending of nature is influencing public attitudes in ways that are deeply inimical to responsible forest management, shifting perceptions towards ecocentrism and reducing the legitimacy of foresters as responsible stewards of forested lands.Climate change presents challenges to forest managers both in a biophysical sense and in the way that it will influence their public support. A shift in societal attitudes towards ecocentric philosophies will restrict forest managers’ options in dealing with climate change; however, this shift cannot be countered by scientific research or appeals to reason as ecocentric feelings are based on “feelings. ” Rather, managers need to understand that changing people’s feelings will hinge on changing the way they perceive nature and their views of foresters’ ability to manage. Forest managers must promote the concept of humans as responsible stewards of nature. This is not a new idea but, in breaking the dichotomy of people and nature, climate change offers foresters a new opportunity to present their case.
The Relationship between Fair Value, Market Value, and Efficient Markets*

This paper proposes that an assumption of reasonable market efficiency is at the essence of the relevance of fair value for financial reporting purposes. The paper's examination of this proposal begins with a review of recent academic literature on market efficiency, and on evidence of inefficiencies and their implications for the ability of the efficient market hypothesis to explain what market prices represent. It concludes that there is wide acceptance in this literature that a reasonable level of efficiency can generally be presumed to exist in active, well-regulated capital markets. The paper examines the essential attributes of a reasonably efficient market for fair value measurement purposes, and some basic implications for its reliable estimation. This is done in comparison with the provisions of the fair value measurement standard of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) (Statement of Financial Accounting Standards [SFAS] No. 157). It is concluded that the concept of reasonable market efficiency could provide a sound conceptual framework for defining fair value that is founded in real, observable market prices. It is demonstrated that, in contrast, SFAS No. 157 does not provide a clear, unequivocal concept of fair value, and that it permits estimates of fair value that have no demonstrable basis in real, observable market prices. Nevertheless, it appears that arguments typically put forward by the International Accounting Standards Board and the FASB for the relevance of fair value for financial reporting purposes do imply a presumption of reasonably efficient markets.
A Sample Frame for Rural Canada: Design and Evaluation

This paper discusses the design, implementation and evaluation of a national sample frame for research and education in rural Canada. The sample is the basis for a multidisciplinary research project using macro-level and fieldwork in 32 systematically selected rural sites. The sites were chosen to provide comparisons on five dimensions of importance to researchers, policy makers and rural citizens. Information collected since the establishment of the project in 1997 is used to evaluate the internal and external validity of the sample frame. This evaluation points to the complex interaction of economic and geographical processes on local conditions and reinforces the value of systematic designs for rural research. Cet article discute de la conception, de la mise en application et de l'évaluation d'un échantillon-type national pour la recherche et l'éducation dans le Canada rural. Cet échantillon sert de base pour des recherches multi-disciplinaires faites sur le plan macro-économique et sur le terrain dans 32 sites ruraux systématiquement sélectionnés. Les sites ont été sélectionnés afin de fournir des comparaisons à cinq niveaux qui intéressent les chercheurs, les décideurs et les citoyens ruraux. On se sert des informations rassemblées depuis le lancement du projet en 1997 pour évaluer la robustesse interne et externe de l'échantillon-type. Cette évaluation semble indiquer l'interaction complexe entre des processus économico-géographiques et le milieu local, et renforce la valeur des conceptions systématiques pour la recherche rurale. Dieser Aufsatz behandelt Entwurf, Ausführung und Bewertung eines staatlichen Stichprobenrahmen für Forschung und Bildung in den ländlichen Gebieten Kanadas. Die Stichprobe bildet die Grundlage für ein Mehrbereichsforschungsprojekt; sie stützt sich auf Arbeit im großen Rahmen und auf Geländearbeit an 32 systematisch ausgewählten ländlichen Stellen. Diese wurden so ausgesucht, daß sie Vergleiche fünf, für Forscher, Parteiideologen und ländliche Bevölkerung wichtige Dimensionen liefern. Daten, die seit Beginn des Projektes im Jahre 1987 gesammelt werden, werden dazu benutzt, die interne und externe Gültigkeit des Stichprobenrahmens zu bewerten. Diese Bewertung zeigt die komplexe Wechselwirkung wirtschaftlicher und geographischer Prozesse auf, denen örtliche Bedingungen unterworfen sind, und unterstreicht den Wert systematischer Entwürfe für Forschung auf dem Lande.
Financial crises and the evaporation of trust

Trust lies at the crux of most economic transactions, with credit markets being a notable example. Drawing on insights from the literature on coordination games and network growth, we develop a simple model to clarify how trust breaks down in financial systems. We show how the arrival of bad news about a financial agent can lead others to lose confidence in it and how this, in turn, can spread across the entire system. Our results emphasize the role of hysteresis -- it takes considerable effort to regain trust once it has been broken. Although simple, the model provides a plausible account of the credit freeze that followed the global financial crisis of 2007/8, both in terms of the sequence of events and the measures taken (and being proposed) by the authorities.
Baker's Yeast in Crohn's Disease—Can It Kill You?

TO THE EDITOR: Recently we have seen a surge of papers regarding anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae mannan antibodies (ASCA) as a possible marker for Crohn's disease (1, 2, 3), but this research has a long history. A decreased capacity of the leukocytes to phagocyte yeast particles was found in patients with Crohn's disease of the ileum 20 yr ago (4). Antibody to Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker's yeast) in Crohn's disease has been investigated since 1988 (5), in 1990 IgA antibody was proposed as a marker for Crohn's disease (6), whereas, in 1992, the focus shifted to yeast cell wall mannan (7).
Women's employment in a comparative perspective

Labour market patterns in Western Europe and the United States in the latter twentieth century, and particularly in the past twenty-five years, have shown a striking resemblance in the overall increase in women's employment. Despite this fact, there are also large differences in women's position among those countries. Moreover, East European countries differ considerably from Western countries. Policy driven by Communist ideology forced women to enter the labor market, and differences within Eastern Europe seem to have been smaller than in the West. At this moment, there is a good deal of country-specific information on women's employment, but a cross-national comparison over time - one that compares women's employment in different institutional settings - is still lacking. That is the issue taken up in this volume, which contains comparative studies written by authors from the United States, Hungary, Germany, and the Netherlands. Three different perspectives are used. The first is the macro approach, which provides a thorough, focused understanding of the influence of the institutional context on women's work. The second perspective, the micro approach, gives insight into the employ-ment behavior of individual women within a certain context. Finally, the combined macro-micro approach makes clear the extent to which differences in women's work can be ascribed to differences in their institutional context or to their individual characteristics. Implicitly, the book also addresses the methodological question, which of these approaches is best suited for comparative studies of this kind? Despite the convergence in the level of women's employment, the findings of these studies show that differences between countries are still substantial. These differences refer, for instance, to the number of hours women work, their earnings, and their job level. Children have an impact on women's work in all countries, but again, there are differences among institutional settings. In the East European and Scandinavian countries, women face fewer difficulties to combine paid work with domestic childcare. Women's earnings are also less affected by children in those settings where public childcare is widely available. In some countries where public childcare is lacking, employers try to fulfill the needs of working mothers by offering childcare or parental leave arrangements. These are only a few examples of insights into differing circumstances in women's employment that are provided in this book, which make it a contri-bution both to gender studies and to studies of the sociology of work.
Innovation adoption and training activities in SMEs

This article adopts the resource-based view and the complementarities approach to examine how small and medium enterprises (SMEs) combine the adoption of organisational and technological innovation with investments in training activities. The results of econometric analysis on a panel data-set of about 118 Italian manufacturing SMEs furnish a quite complex picture of the effects of innovation on training. On the one hand, organisational innovation seems to be related to higher investments in (formal and informal) internal training; specifically, it is the adoption of autonomous teams and multi-skilling practices that is associated with the coverage and the intensity of internal training, whereas job rotation is negatively associated with the coverage of external training. On the other hand, the general index of technological innovation does not show any significant relationship with training activities, whereas the individual technological innovation variables are associated with internal training. Specifically, the coverage of internal training is positively affected by ICT innovation and negatively affected by process innovation. These results demonstrate that SMEs have limited awareness of the risks associated with underinvesting in training during the implementation phase of the innovation process. The implications of such findings for research and practice are discussed.
The Effects of Outsourcing and Devolvement on the Strategic Position of HR Departments

This article critically examines how outsourcing and devolvement of HR activities influence the strategic position of HR departments. Past research has offered conflicting predictions about their impact, ranging from a very positive move of HR departments to powerful strategic positions to a rather negative move toward marginality as their tasks are being taken over by either external providers or line managers. In an effort to resolve existing inconsistencies in the literature, we base our propositions on the strategic contingency theory of subunit power (Hickson, Hinings, Lee, Schneck, & Pennings, 1971). Our results suggest that the strategic position of HR departments is negatively influenced by devolvement to line management and positively influenced by outsourcing of noncore HR tasks. No significant effect of outsourcing core HR activities was found. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Market Manipulation and the Role of Insider Trading Regulations

The authors show that the regulation requiring corporate insiders to disclose their trades ex post creates incentives for informed insiders to manipulate the market by sometimes trading against their information. This allows them to increase their trading profits by maintaining their information advantage over the market for a longer period of time. Such manipulation lowers initial bid-ask spreads. The authors show how the insider's likelihood of manipulation is affected by her information advantage, the number of other insiders, market liquidity, the early arrival of public information, and the choice of trade size. The short swing profit rule curtails this manipulation. Copyright 1997 by University of Chicago Press.
Remanufactured Products in Closed‐Loop Supply Chains for Consumer Goods

This study empirically investigates consumer perceptions of remanufactured consumer products in closed‐loop supply chains. A multi‐study approach led to increasing levels of measure refinement and facilitated examination of various assumptions researchers have made about the consumer market for remanufactured products. Based in part on the measure building studies, an experimental study examined remanufactured product perceptions from a national panel of consumers. The consumers responded to remanufactured product descriptions that manipulated price discount and brand equity. The results indicate that discounting had a consistently positive, linear effect on remanufactured product attractiveness. Curiously, the brand equity manipulation proved less important to consumers than specific remanufactured product quality perceptions. The results also show that green consumers and consumers who consider remanufactured products green typically found remanufactured products significantly more attractive. Finally, the findings introduce the concept of negative attribute perceptions, such as disgust, that had a significantly detrimental effect on remanufactured product attractiveness.