Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Case for “Living” Models

How best to teach and compose negative messages is a topic that continues to challenge and spark debate among business communication educators and researchers. Even where business communications textbooks emphasize the importance of context and audience analysis to determine whether to adopt a direct or indirect arrangement when expressing bad news, many still favour an indirect approach. In reviewing 50 years of negative news research, this article highlights the major concerns that continue to influence the debate as educators challenge and question existing models for addressing this rhetorically complex message genre.
Beliefs, attitudes, and behaviour towards marketing communication on social networks – the case of Central and Eastern European country

The article deals with users' beliefs, attitudes and behaviour towards marketing communication on social networks. The main novelty in comparison with previous studies is the inclusion of belief factor 'good for individual'. The results show that users' beliefs about factors 'information', 'entertainment' 'good for individual' and 'good for economy' have positive impacts on users' attitudes towards marketing communication on social networks, while users' beliefs about factors 'materialism', 'falsity/non-sense' and 'value corruption' have negative impact on users' attitudes towards marketing communication on social networks. Level of users' education has negative impact on both, users' attitudes and behaviour towards marketing communication on social networks, while users' gender has impact only on their attitudes towards marketing communication on social networks. Based on the results of the research, authors created a generally applicable model of users' beliefs, attitudes and behaviour towards marketing communication on social networks.
forthcoming in Manufacturing & Service Operations Management Is Servicization a Win-Win Strategy ? Profitability and Environmental Implications of Servicization

Problem definition: Servicization is a business strategy to sell the functionality of a product rather than the product itself. It has been touted as an environmentally friendly strategy as it encourages manufacturers to take more responsibility for their products. We study when servicization results in a win-win outcome where it can simultaneously increase a firm’s profits and decrease its environmental impact compared to selling products. Academic/Practical Relevance: While policy planners are interested in strategies that reduce environmental impact, firms are unlikely to embrace them if they are not profitable. Hence, understanding when servicization results in a win-win outcome is critical both for firms and policy-makers. Methodology: We construct a stylized game theoretic model that takes into account several key dynamics not accounted in prior literature. In particular, we allow the servicizing firm to tailor the service to consumers’ needs, endogenize product durability choice, and also use an environmental impact metric that captures the low discretionary use nature of products. Results: For products that have low use impact relative to their production and disposal impacts, servicization can be a win-win strategy only if the firm has a sufficiently high operating efficiency. In contrast, for products that have high use impact relative to their production and disposal impacts, servicization can be a win-win strategy only if the firm has a sufficiently low operating efficiency and the consumer segments are adequately similar. Furthermore, servicization can improve consumer welfare and simultaneously improve profitability and environmental impact only for low relative use impact products. Managerial Implications: Whether servicization leads to a win-win outcome cannot be simply determined by changes in product durability as often argued. It critically depends on the firm’s relative operating efficiency, environmental impact of product in its use phase relative to the production and disposal phases, and the similarity of consumer segments. Our results explicitly characterize these relations.
Pyeloplasty in Hydronephrosis: Examination of Surgical Results from a Morphologic Point of View

Background: Dilatation of the upper urinary tract is the most common congenital urogenital anomaly. Pyeloplasty is the therapy of choice in those patients with significant obstruction of the ureteropelvic junction. There are not many reports concerning the operative long‐term results from a morphologic point of view. Furthermore, little information is available about children with giant hydronephrosis treated without resection of the dilated renal pelvis.
KiVa Antibullying Program: Overview of Evaluation Studies Based on a Randomized Controlled Trial and National Rollout in Finland

The effects of a Finnish national school-based antibullying program (KiVa) were evaluated in a randomized controlled trial (2007–2009) and during nationwide implementation (since 2009). The KiVa program is been found to reduce bullying and victimization and increase empathy towards victimized peers and self-efficacy to support and defend them. KiVa increases school liking and motivation and contributes to significant reductions in anxiety, depression, and negative peer perceptions. Somewhat larger reductions in bullying and victimization were found in the randomized controlled trial than in the broad rollout, and the largest effects were obtained in primary school (grades 1–6). The uptake of the KiVa program is remarkable, with 90 percent of Finnish comprehensive schools currently registered as program users.
How one becomes an ‘entrepreneur’ in a transition economy: the case of manufacturers in Laos

With the exhaustive life histories of 24 manufacturers, I explore whether and, if at all, how inward foreign direct investment (FDI) and imports inspire individuals to become entrepreneurs in Laos: a small transition economy. The data is constructed from the interviews conducted in 2005: about 20 years after the official initiation of market-oriented economic reforms in Laos. The life histories of my respondents, the first-generation local entrepreneurs, are generally in line with the classical argument made by Albert O. Hirschman: FDI and imports have positive impact on the rise of local firms by revealing potential markets to would-be local entrepreneurs. Not through providing access to specific technology, but through revealing new business opportunities and reducing demand uncertainties in these businesses, inward FDI and imports often prompted my respondents into modern manufacturing business. In contrast, the respondents with no foreign involvements tend to choose relatively traditional products, such as furniture and wood products, as their main line of business.
Ownership structure and firm performance in transition countries: The case of European Union new members

Our study focuses on the EU new members, which are transition countries. After a long period of privatization and restructuring, the ownership structure of firms in these countries takes a clearer form. This evolution of ownership structure has a considerable effect on firm performance. In using data from listed companies in the stock market of these countries, we study the relationship under two aspects: the structure and the nature of shareholders. Unlike studies undertaken about firms in developed countries, our sample includes firms with a foreign ownership majority. Our results, in contradiction with alignment of interest theory, rather corroborate the entrenchment theory. We find a negative relationship between the concentrated ownership and firm performance. Nevertheless, a concentrated ownership in the hands of foreign investors increases performance of firms. We also find that the manager-owners have a positive influence on the firm performance. Given that the financial markets in these countries are not very liquid and that the ownership structure is sufficiently stable after significant changes in the middle of the 1990s, the endogeneity problem described by Demsetz (1985, 2001) does not arise in our studies.
Development and Validation of a Couples Measure of Biased Responding: The Marital Aggrandizement Scale

More than 30 years ago, Edmonds (1967) recognized the need for a couples measure of biased responding. Like other categories of self-report instruments, marital measures are believed to be highly susceptible to distortion. In this study, we describe the development of the Marital Aggrandizement Scale (MAS). For this study, item analyses were performed on a subset of responses (n = 200). A priori inclusion criteria were applied from which a set of 18 items was selected. Three phases of validation research establish the reliability and validity of responses to the MAS among an international sample of older married adults (n = 410). The concurrent and discriminant validity of responses to this scale is demonstrated vis-à-vis separate measures of biased responding, marital satisfaction, and psychological well-being. Internal consistency was calculated as α = . 84. Test-retest reliability was calculated as r(200) = . 80 over an average interval of 15 months. The challenge remains to identify factors associated with the etiology and maintenance of this construct. Subsequent research is required to identify correlates and antecedents of marital aggrandizement across populations over time.
Market Orientation: An Iterative Process of Customer and Market Engagement

ABSTRACT Research Purpose. The objective of this research was to examine market orientation in organisations that deliver manufacturing-based services to both client organisations and their customers. Research Approach. The case study research method employed three data collection methods: in-depth, semi-structured interviews, document analysis and physical artefact analysis. Embedded study units comprising groups of different stakeholders with distinctly different perspectives provided a basis for replication logic to enhance validity of the findings. Findings. The research revealed that a firm's transition toward a market-oriented state is progressive. At a given point in time, a firm may be adjusting to its markets intuitively or cognitively; market responsiveness may be occurring in specific pockets of the firm, or as an enterprise-wide strategy; and some of the conditions specified may be met, some may be partly met and others may remain to be addressed in the future. A specific customer focus was important to the conceptualisation of market orientation in the case organisation. Research Implications. Key implications of the research are as follows: • In conceptualising market orientation as a process as opposed to an ideal state, important issues of structural and policy alignment and senior executive vision and drive are revealed; • in addition to customer and competitor orientations and intra-organisational co-ordination, other dimensions of a market orientation revealed in the research context are a customer focus and a new knowledge orientation; and • both inter- and intra-organisational co-ordination facilitate the development of market driven and market driving customer value. Practical Implications. While the senior executives were aware of the significant performance benefits to be achieved through a national, market-oriented vision, the lack of a co-ordinated plan to achieve cultural change resulted in incremental achievements towards the vision. One key factor inhibiting the envisioned cultural change was the power base of those within the organisation who perceived that a national, market focus would eliminate local autonomy. Specific policy was required to align rewards with required behavioural change. Contribution. This research provides a unique perspective of market orientation as process of organisational development directed towards aligning the organisation with its served markets. Intervention strategies and incremental changes attempted to achieve a national market perspective, highlight the importance of aligning structure, human resource management strategy, top management commitment and leadership drive in achieving such a cultural change.
Stock Market Yields and the Pricing of Municipal Bonds

This paper proposes an alternative to the traditional model for explaining the spread between taxable and tax-exempt bond yields. This alternative model is a special case of a general class of clientele models of portfolio choice and asset market equilibrium. In particular, we consider a setting with two types of investors, a taxable investor and a tax-exempt investor, who hold specialized bond portfolios. The tax-exempt investor holds only taxable bonds, and the taxable investor holds only tax-exempt bonds. Both investors hold equity, and the taxable and tax-exempt bond markets are linked through the equilibrium conditions governing equity holding and bond holding for each type of investor. In contrast to the traditional model, this alternative model has the potential to explain the small observed spread between taxable and tax-exempt yields. In addition, this model predicts that the yield spread between taxable and tax-exempt bonds should be an increasing function of the dividend yield on corporate stocks. Although the substantial changes in the tax code during the last four decades complicate the testing of this model, we find some support for the predicted relationship between the equity dividend yield and the yield spread between taxable and tax-exempt bonds.
Taking a Chance: A Formal Model of How Firms Use Risk in Strategic Interaction with Other Firms

This article provides a formal mathematical treatment of the link between competitive advantage and risk in strategic interaction. In the first part of the analysis, I establish a basic mechanism whereby a rational, profit-maximizing firm that is risk neutral with respect to realized profits would nonetheless benefit from risk in the antecedent process of developing a competitive advantage. This result serves to motivate two game-theoretic models demonstrating that (1) the trade-off between risk and expectation in developing a competitive advantage and (2) the shape of this risk each define a different and previously unexplored dimension of differentiation along which firms choose distinctive competitive positions. Two other important aspects of market rivalry—the number of competing firms and their product market overlap—affect where firms position themselves and which firms have higher expected profit than others. The analysis offers a risk-based theory of the origins of competitive advantage among init.
Relief of Symptoms in Patients with Group A ß-Hemolytic Streptococcus Tonsillopharyngitis: Comparison Between Telithromycin and Penicillin V

This study compared the resolution of symptoms in patients with group A β-hemolytic streptococcus tonsillopharyngitis treated with 5 d of telithromycin 800 mg once daily, or 10 d of penicillin V 500 mg 3 times daily. At days 3-5 of treatment, the mean improvement in total symptom score was greater with telithromycin than with penicillin V (p=0.042). Thus, telithromycin provided faster symptom relief than penicillin V.
Relationship of the Vitamin D Receptor and Collagen Iα1 Gene Polymorphisms with Low Bone Mineral Density and Vertebral Fractures in Postmenopausal Turkish Women

©2011 Turkish League Against Rheumatism. All rights reserved. Amac: Bu calismada postmenopozal Turk kadinlarinda (i) D vitamini reseptoru (VDR) geni ve kollajen Ia1 (COL Ia1) geni polimorfizmlerinin sikligini ve (ii) VDR genindeki BsmI polimorfizmi ve COL Ia1 genindeki Sp1 polimorfizmleri ile dusuk kemik mineral yogunlugu (KMY) ve vertebral kiriklar arasinda bir iliski olup olmadiginin arastirilmasi amaclandi. Hastalar ve yontemler: Osteoporoz tani ve tedavisi nedeniyle poliklinigimize basvuran postmenopozal 100 Turk kadin (ort. yas 63.4±8.7 yil; dagilim 48-86 yil) calismaya dahil edildi. Calisma grubu KMY olcumu temelinde T skoru degerine gore uc gruba ayrildi. Buna ek olarak T skoru >-1.0 olanlar kontrol grubunu (n=30) olusturdu. BT skoru -2.5 olanlar osteopenik grubu (n=30) ve T skoru <-2.5 olanlar (n=40) osteoporotik grubu olusturdu. D vitamini reseptoru genindeki Bsm1 (B/b) ve COL Ia1 genindeki Sp1 (S/s) polimorfizmleri iki paralel polimeraz zincir reaksiyonu ve ardindan hibridizasyon ile belirlendi. Lomber omurga ve femur kemik mineral yogunluklari cift enerjili X isini absorbsiyometrisi yontemi ile olculdu. Bulgular: D vitamini reseptoru genindeki Bsm1 (B/b) polimorfizmi genotip frekanslari ve COL Ia1 genindeki Sp1 (S/s) polimorfizmi genotip frekanslari uc calisma grubu arasinda istatistiksel olarak farkli degildi. Ayrica VDR genindeki BB, Bb, bb genotipleri ve COL Ia1 genindeki SS, Ss, ss genotipleri acisindan vertebral kirigi olan hastalar ile kirigi olmayan hastalar arasinda anlamli farklilik bulunmadi. Sonuc: Bulgularimiz postmenopozal Turk kadinlarinda VDR genindeki Bsm1 polimorfizmi ile COL Ia1 genindeki Sp1 polimorfizmlerinin dusuk kemik yogunlugu ya da vertebral kiriklar ile iliskili olmadigini gostermistir.
Redesigning the balanced scorecard model : an African perspective

iv LIST OF ACRONYMS xx LIST OF DEFINITIONS xxii LIST OF FIGURES xxvii LIST OF TABLES xxix 1 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 BACKGROUND 1 1.2 USE OF FINANCIAL MEASUREMENT SYSTEMS 3 1.3 THE BALANCED SCORECARD MODEL 5 1.4 A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF STAKEHOLDER RELATIONSHIPS AND NETWORKS 7 1.5 RESEARCH PROBLEM STATEMENT 9 1.6 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES 10 1.6. 1 Primary research objective 10 1.6. 2 Secondary research objectives 10 1.7 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 11 1.7. 1 Research Question 1 11 1.7. 2 Research Question 2 12 1.7. 3 Research Question 3 13 1.7. 4 Research Question 4 13 1.8 DATA GEOGRAPHIC COVERAGE FOR PRIMARY RESEARCH 14
Distribution and Sites of Synthesis of NTT4, an Orphan Member of the Na+/Cl‐‐dependent Neurotransmitter Transporter Family, in the Rat CNS

The distribution and sites of synthesis in rat CNS of NTT4, a novel orphan member of the Na+/Cl‐‐dependent neurotransmitter transporter family, were determined by immunohistochemistry and hybridization histochemistry. Antibodies raised against recombinant fusion proteins, corresponding to residues of NTT4, and 35S‐labelled oligodeoxyribonucleotide probes, were used to delineate the cellular distribution of the transporter at the protein and mRNA levels. High levels of immunoreactivity (mainly in the neuropil) were found in the olfactory bulb, cerebral cortex, striatum, hippocampus, thalamus, substantia nigra, pontine nuclei, cerebellum and spinal cord. The lowest levels were associated with the lateral hypothalamic area and deep mesencephalic nuclei. In situ hybridization signals correlated well with the immunoreactivity, and demonstrated a widespread distribution of NTT4 transcripts exclusively in neurons. NTT4 transcripts appeared widely codistributed with the N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate receptor subunit 1 (1–4b), i.e. spliced variants characterized by a common 5’63 bp insertion. These results indicate that the transporter was associated with neuronal processes in specific glutamate innervated CNS regions. Although the substrate transported by NTT4 remains unknown, our findings suggest a possible role for this carrier protein in glutamate/glycine neurotransmission.
Does Multinationality Matter? Evidence of Value Destruction in U.S. Multinational Corporations

We document that capital markets penalize corporate multinationality by putting a lower value on the equity of multinational corporations than on otherwise similar domestic corporations. Using Tobin's q, the multinational discount is estimated to be in the range of 8.6% to 17.1%. The most important mechanism of value destruction is an asset channel in which multinationals have disproportionately high levels of assets in relation to the earnings they generate. Foreign assets are particularly associated with value destruction. In contrast, exporting from U.S. operations is associated with an export premium -- of approximately 3.9% -- resulting from both a higher market value and a lower asset size. Given these findings, we ask why firms become multinationals. Evidence reveals that the portion of a firm owned by management is inversely related to the likelihood that the firm is a multinational, so we conclude that managers who do not own much of the firm may be building multinational empires for private gains at the expense of the shareholders.
Resolving the impasse regarding research on the origins of products and brands

– The purpose of this paper is to address the apparent controversy surrounding the relevance of country of origin (CO) and brand origin (BO) lines of research, with particular reference to an article authored by Magnusson, Westjohn, and Zdravkovic (MWZ) whose research findings assert that CO matters, irrespective of whether customers can actually recall origins of brands. , – Drawing on the extant literature from academic and business publications, the paper offers evidence regarding the relative unimportance of origin‐related attributes in most purchasing situations. In this context, the paper examines the atheoretic nature of CO research combined with a general lack of realistic managerial relevance, consumers’ impoverished CO and BO knowledge base, and the challenges of using CO as a positioning tool in marketing strategy. Finally, the paper examines some critical research issues regarding MWZ's contribution. , – Country of origin research is not as relevant in customer choice process as some scholars believe and is generally void of meaningful managerial guidelines. , – This is a commentary about an International Marketing Review article.
The customer as co‐producer

Buyer‐seller interaction in industrial markets is a widely applied work logic, which has been thoroughly researched both empirically and theoretically. Addresses, in contrast,the interactive way of working in consumer markets, which is referred to increasingly under the heading of “customer co‐production”. Results indicate that company‐consumer interaction is becoming more frequent in a wide range of consumer industries, but in contrast to such interaction in industrial markets it generally encompasses only one or two of the value‐creating activities of design, production or consumption, and the benefits are mostly short‐term: a better fit for the consumers and the advantage of more differentiated offerings for the companies. However, the strategic benefits of learning that enhance the innovative capability of the producers and add to the competence of the users, still seem limited. One reason for this may be lack of channels for feedback, since it is the front‐line staff who interact with the consumers. Also, they lack the authority and competence for undertaking the feedback role. A growing population of advanced consumers, flexible production modes and the widespread application of information technology all help to create a potential for this logic, but in order to exploit its benefits to the full, more knowledge is needed about how to organize the interaction with a view to learning.
The sacrificial HR strategy in call centers

Balancing the competing objectives of efficiency and service typically requires management compromises to be made. However, some call centers have found that a compromise is not necessary. By using a “sacrificial HR strategy”, they achieve both efficiency and high levels of service at the same time. This is possible because part of the sacrificial HR strategy is the deliberate, frequent replacement of employees in order to provide enthusiastic, motivated customer service at low cost to the organization. Describes a multiple‐case analysis of four call centers and the sacrificial HR strategy they used. The contingencies leading to the appearance of this strategy are discussed.