Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Strategic Management and Business Policy: Entering 21st Century Global Society

I. INTRODUCTION TO STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT AND BUSINESS POLICY. 1. Basic Concepts of Strategic Management. 2. Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility. II. SCANNING THE ENVIRONMENT. 3. Environmental Scanning and Industry Analysis. 4. Internal Scanning: Organizational Analysis. III. STRATEGY FORMULATION. 5. Strategy Formulation: Situation Analysis and Business Strategy. 6. Strategy Formulation: Corporate Strategy. 7. Strategy Formulation: Functional Strategy and Strategic Choice. IV. STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION AND CONTROL. 8. Strategy Implementation: Organizing for Action. 9. Strategy Implementation: Staffing and Directing. 10. Evaluation and Control. V. OTHER STRATEGIC ISSUES. 11. Strategic Issues in Managing Technology and Innovation. 12. Strategic Issues in Entrepreneurial Ventures and Small Businesses. 13. Strategic Issues in Not-for-Profit Organizations. VI. INTRODUCTION TO CASE ANALYSIS. 14. Suggestions for Case Analysis. VII. CASES IN STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT. Section A. Corporate Governance: Questions of Executive Leadership. The Recalcitrant Director at Byte Products, Inc.: Corporate Legality versus Corporate Responsibility. The Wallace Group. Section B. Environmental Issues: Questions of Social Responsibility and Ethics. The Audit. Brookstone Hospice: Heel or Heroine? Section C. Issues in Strategic Management. FOOD: Arm & Hammer (1998): Poised for Growth? Tasty Baking Company (1998). COMPUTER/INTERNET/SOFTWARE: Microsoft Corporation (1998): Growth versus Antitrust. Apple Computer, Inc. (1997): The Second Time Around. Cisco Systems, Inc. (1998). Sun Microsystems, Inc. (1998). ENTERTAINMENT/TRAVEL: Circus Circus Enterprise, Inc. (1998). The Walt Disney Company (1996): Capital Cities/ABC Merger (Revised). Carnival Corporation (1998). American Council for International Studies (ACIS): Striving to Stay Small. RECREATION EQUIPMENT: Harley-Davidson, Inc. (1998): The 95th Anniversary. Reebok International, Ltd. (1998): Consumer Revolt. MAJOR HOME APPLIANCES: The U.S. Major Home Appliance Industry (1996): Domestic versus Global Strategies. Maytag Corporation (1996): Back to Basics. Whirlpool's Quest for Global Leadership. Whirlpool: the First Venture into India. MASS MERCHANDISING/DEPARTMENT STORES: Kmart Corporation (1998): Still Searching for a Successful Strategy. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (1998): Rapid Growth in the 1990s. Nordstrom (1998). SPECIALTY RETAILERS: The Home Depot, Inc. (1998): Growing the Professional Market. Seven-Eleven Japan: Managing a Network Organization. The Body Shop International PLC and Anita Roddick, OBE (1998). SMALL/MEDIUM ENTREPRENEURIAL VENTURES: Inner-City Paint Company (Revised). Vermont Teddy Bear, Inc. (1998): Challenges Facing a New CEO. MANUFACTURING: Sunbeam and Albert J. Dunlap: Maximization of Shareholder Wealth.But At What Cost? Mikromashina of Moscow: Problems and Opportunities of Privatization. A Joint Venture in China: An Expatriate's Experience. Airbus Industrie: Coping with a Giant Competitor. VIII. CASES IN INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY.
Relevance of Tenascin-C and Matrix Metalloproteinases in Vascular Abnormalities in Murine Hypoplastic Lungs

Background: Tenascin-C (TN-C), an extracellular matrix glycoprotein, is crucial to cell-migration, proliferation, apoptosis and remodeling of tissues, with a potential role in pathobiology of pulmonary hypertension. Matrix metallopro-teinases (MMPs) and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) are crucial to the integrity of the extracellular matrix. TN-C and MMPs are counter-regulatory molecules, which influence the vascular integrity through modulations of elastin. We have a murine model of pulmonary hypoplasia with coexistent diaphragmatic hernia, vascular abnormalities and excessive arterial smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation. Objectives: Our objective was to investigate modulations of TN-C and MMPs in hypoplastic lungs and their possible contribution to the observed pulmonary vascular abnormalities. Methods: We addressed our objectives by pursing immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry and zymography/reverse zymography to assess the alterations in activities of MMPs and their inhibitors. Results: We observed significant down-regulation of MMP-9 activity in hypoplastic lungs at the later fetal developmental stages, whereas MMP-2 activity assessed by gelatin zymography remained unaltered. Reverse zymography revealed up-regulation of activities of TIMP-1, -2, -3 and -4 in hypoplastic lungs during later fetal development, with pronounced increases in TIMP-3 and -4 activities. Furthermore, immunoblot analyses and immunohistochemistry revealed that TN-C protein was down-regulated in developing hypoplastic lungs, compared to normal lungs. Conclusions: (1)TN-C is known to inhibit vascular SMC proliferation. But, decrease in TN-C in hypoplastic lungs may support the observed arterial SMC proliferation. (2) Our studies showed that in hypoplastic lungs the SMC apoptosis is not affected, thus suggesting that SMC proliferation and apoptosis may be two separate processes in pulmonary hypoplasia with coexistent diaphragmatic hernia. Together, our data showed an imbalance in the extracellular matrix proteins, which may contribute to the pulmonary vascular abnormalities.
Early Markers in Infants and Toddlers for Development of ADHD

Objective: Characterization of risk factors for ADHD in infancy may enable early intervention to diminish the symptoms that ensue. Method: In a retrospective study, the well-baby-care clinic records from birth to 18 months of age of 58 children diagnosed at school age for ADHD were compared with those of 58 control children, and the differences between the two groups were statistically analyzed. Results: Eight parameters during infancy were found to be significantly associated with later development of ADHD: at 0 to 1 month—advanced maternal age, lower maternal education, family history of ADHD, and social problems; at 3 and 18 months—decrease in head circumference percentile; at 9 and 18 months—delay in motor and language development, and difficult temperament. The predictive regression model accounted for 58% of the variance. Conclusion: This study highlights early risk markers in infants and toddlers that may predict the development of ADHD.
Protection by Herpes Simplex Virus Glycoprotein D against Fas-mediated Apoptosis

Signals involved in protection against apoptosis by herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) were investigated. Using U937 monocytoid cells as an experimental model, we have demonstrated that HSV-1 rendered these cells resistant to Fas-induced apoptosis promptly after infection. UV-inactivated virus as well as the envelope glycoprotein D (gD) of HSV-1, by itself, exerted a protective effect on Fas-induced apoptosis. NF-κB was activated by gD, and protection against Fas-mediated apoptosis by gD was abolished in cells stably transfected with a dominant negative mutant I-κBα, indicating that NF-κB activation plays a role in the antiapoptotic activity of gD in our experimental model. Moreover, NF-κB-dependent protection against Fas-mediated apoptosis was associated with decreased levels of caspase-8 activity and with the up-regulation of intracellular antiapoptotic proteins.
Situated analysis of team handball players' decisions: An exploratory study

This exploratory study aimed to investigate elements involved in decision making in team handball live situations and to provide coaches and educators with teaching recommendations. The study was positioned within the framework of the situated action paradigm of which two aspects were of particular interest for this project: (a) the relationship between planning and action, and (b) the perception-action coordination. We used qualitative methods that linked (a) video observation of six female elite players’ actions during two championship matches and (b) self-confrontation interviews. Players’ verbalizations reflected that their decision making included the following: (a) perception (visual, auditory, tactile, proprioceptive), (b) knowledge (concepts, teammates and opponents’ characteristics, experience), (c) expectations (opponents and teammates’ intentions), and (d) contextual elements (score, power play, players on the field, match difficulty). Findings were discussed in terms of teaching implications.
The identification of Taenia Tenuicollis Rudolphi, 1819, in North America.

Taenia tenuicollis and its larval stage, originally named Cysticercus talpae, were described from European hosts by Rudolphi (1819). This tapeworm was first recognized as part of the helminth fauna of North America when Skinker (1935) reported the larvae, both cysticerci and coenuri, in the livers of muskrats in Ontario, Canada, and the adult cestode in mink from the same locale. She presented a review of the European literature and thus clarified the early nomenclature of this cestode. She also listed the first North American host records in muskrat and mink in Ontario, Canada. Since Skinker's paper, published records of this tapeworm's occurrence in the United States have been limited to a tentative diagnosis cf the larvae in Michigan muskrats by Ameel (1942). Skinker's drawings of larval hook shapes corresponded closely with the adult and larval hooks found in this survey and were used as the basis for diagnosis of the larval cestodes. Baylis (1935) reported the cysticercus from muskrat in Shropshire and Perthshire, England, where the North American muskrat had been introduced. Baylis, unaware of Skinker's record in Canada, postulated that the muskrats had acquired a European parasite after their introduction into England. He had also found the cysticercus in "Evotomys glareolus, Microtus agrestis, Arvicola amphibius and the grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) in Great Britain, and in Evotomys rufocanus from Norway. " Warwick (1936) also found the muskrat in Shropshire and Perthshire, England, infected with the larvae and records an instance of over 100 larvae in one liver. Ameel (1942) found cestode larvae in muskrats from southern and central Michigan, which he recognized as similar to larvae of T. tenuicollis. However, he would not positively indentify them as such without feeding experiments to recover the adult cestode.
Minimising Monetary Policy

The response of leading central banks to the current financial crisis has raised the magnitude of the financial and governance risks they face. An evaluation of the financial strength of a number of those banks suggests that they are in little danger of being forced by financial losses to alter their policies. Governance risks cannot be dismissed so lightly. In engaging extensively in unorthodox policies - bearing similarities to fiscal policy - a number of central banks have risked a critical examination of their governance structures and thereby potentially jeopardised their monetary policy independence. In order to forestall this risk to monetary policy, it is argued that unconventional policies be placed under a separate governance structure that would allow them to be brought under greater political control and accountability while preserving the operational independence of monetary policy.
Dual-Listed Shares and Trading

We study companies with dual-listed shares in China (mainland) and Hong Kong. When China has a short-sale ban, Chinese stock prices are 1.8 as high as Hong Kong prices (on average). Stock pairs with higher fundamental volatilities or more volatile order ows have higher price disparities (on average). The average stock pair’s return dierence is volatile and has a standard deviation of 8.8% per week. This paper shows that order ows can aect both a company’s fundamental price and/or its transitory prices. In Hong Kong, transitory variance accounts for 39% of a stock’s total variance. These results are surprising because the average market capitalization is over USD 8 billion for the Hong Kong-listed shares and the turnover is over 2.5 per annum. We exploit a quasi-natural experiment in which the short-sale ban is lifted for some Chinese stocks but not others. After the ban is lifted, the aected shares trade at parity. We estimate that lifting the short-sale ban in China (mainland) reduces weekly transitory volatility in Hong Kong by 49 bp per week because it enables a hedging mechanism.
Oxidative stress in midpregnancy as a predictor of gestational hypertension and pre‐eclampsia

Objectives To explore the relationship between the levels of maternal oxidative stress and glycaemia during pregnancy and to compare the predictive values of 8‐epimer of prostaglandin F2alpha (8‐isoPGF2α) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) in midpregnancy for the development of hypertensive complications in later pregnancy.
ATMs vs. POS Terminals: A Horse Race?

This paper analyzes the adoption, diffusion and interaction patterns of the widely observed expansion of ATM and point-of-sale (POS) devices in the banking industry. POS (debit and credit) card transactions are considered as a main paradigm of a welfare-improving transition from cash to electronic-based payment instruments. This transition, however, is following a slow path in many developed countries which can be, at least partially, due to the over time overlapping of the objectives of banks in deploying ATMs (moving some front-desk activities away from branches) and POS devices (increasing the use of cards for purchase transactions). The results of various empirical tests in this paper suggest that the adoption and diffusion of ATMs and POS machines at banks is mostly driven by rival precedence, network effects and market power while demand factors do not seem to be significant. The growth of ATMs is found to negatively affect POS adoption which, in turn, suggests that the promotion of cards relative to cash is diminished by the co-existence and joint promotion of these two rival technologies. Additionally, we provide estimates of the effects of these technologies on the demand for currency. The results show that POS devices and higher POS transactions may reduce significantly the demand for currency and offset the negative effects that the deployment of ATMs and ATM use may have on the demand for currency.
Conglomeration : an investigation into the incidence and significance amongst FTSE100 companies since 1993

This research created a database of financial and non-financial information extracted from DataStream, annual reports and accounts, company websites and other reputable sources to investigate the incidence of conglomeration amongst the largest, by market capitalisation, companies, both industrial/manufacturing and service, that comprised the London Stock Exchange FTSE100 index at the end of 1993, 1998 and 2003. Categorising companies according to the 4-category Rumelt-based scheme used in previous UK research by Channon (1973, 1978) and Whittington & Mayer (2000), this research has found support for the contention, based on anecdotal evidence, that conglomeration amongst the FTSE100 has declined, especially between 1998 and 2003. Rather than confirming the evolutionary flow of companies through the Model of Corporate Development from single business to conglomerate strategies, the research shows more companies to have retreated to greater focus than advanced to wider diversification. Furthermore, the breadth of activities pursued by conglomerates fell through the research period and there was also an increase in diversified companies with a core activity generating more than 50% of their turnover. Whilst acknowledging that several conglomerates were created by strong business personalities including Lords Hanson and White at Hanson and Sir Owen Green at BTR, no strong relationships were found between corporate governance and diversification. The enhancement of corporate governance Best Practice resulted in improvements across all companies. Finally, this research suggests performance is not a primary driver of the trend towards focus but that financial/market and regulatory, especially competition authority, factors led to changes in diversification through a mixture of divestment, demerger, capital reduction/downsizing, acquisitions and internationalisation. The Model of Corporate Development has become multi-directional with movements influenced by generic, industry specific and company specific factors. There is also an inherent trade-off across diversification categories in the potential level of risk, growth, scale and scope benefits.
Influence of encapsulation on staphylococcal opsonization and phagocytosis by human polymorphonuclear leukocytes

In previous studies, encapsulated Staphylococcus aureus strains have been shown to resist phagocytosis. In this investigation, the nature of the interference with phagocytosis by human polymorphonuclear leukocytes was examined by studying the opsonization of two pairs of unencapsulated (Smith compact and M variant) and encapsulated (Smith diffuse and M) S. aureus strains. The uptake of [3H]glycine-labeled bacteria by normal leukocytes was quantitatively measured after incubation of bacteria in pooled serum, C2-deficient serum, immunoglobulin-deficient serum, and serum from a rabbit immunized with S. aureus M. The presence of a capsule was found to interfere with opsonization by both the classical and alternative pathways of complement as well as by heat-stable opsonic factors in nonimmune human serum. This interference was significantly greater in the case of the S. aureus M strain than in the case of the Smith diffuse strain. The only effective opsonic source for S. aureus M was immune rabbit serum. It is proposed that encapsulation of S. aureus strains interferes with phagocytosis by preventing effective bacterial opsonization.
Preceptors' strategies for correcting residents in an ambulatory care medicine setting: a qualitative analysis

PURPOSE. To understand the interactional strategies preceptors use as they relate to and occasionally correct interns in a general internal medicine teaching clinic. METHOD. An observational, cohort study was carried out from May 1990 through May 1993 of the precepting conversations between 11 pairs of interns and faculty preceptors in the general internal medicine ambulatory care clinic of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. All interactions were videotaped and transcribed. The interactions provided numerous examples of preceptors' correcting of interns. These were analyzed qualitatively by ethnographic and conversation-analytic methods. RESULTS. The strategies the preceptors used to correct the interns were complicated and quite indirect, and tended to minimize exposing the interns' errors. These strategies revealed the dilemmas inherent in being a preceptor and also the beliefs the preceptors brought to their task. The preceptors' strategies demonstrated their high regard for maintaining the interns' self-esteem and sense of responsibility, as well as the preceptors' willingness to forego, at least for the moment, correctional strategies that might have been more explicit and direct. CONCLUSION. The preceptors' general approach to correcting interns was consistent with pedagogic norms favoring discovery learning and with societal norms favoring egalitarianism and respect for individuals. This approach, however, may not be free of problems, and raises questions regarding the effects such strategies have upon the interns' capacity for accurate self-assessment, including the assessment of their own knowledge bases.
G-1,6-P2 in human skeletal muscle after isometric contraction.

The content of glucose 1,6-bisphosphate (G-1,6-P2), an in vitro activator of phosphofructokinase (a rate-limiting enzyme for glycolysis), and the glycolytic rate in skeletal muscle during isometric contraction have been determined. Subjects contracted the knee extensor muscles at two-thirds maximal voluntary force to fatigue. Biopsies from the quadriceps femoris muscle were obtained before and immediately after contraction. G-1,6-P2 increased in all subjects from a mean of 101 +/- 15 (SE) mumol/kg dry wt at rest to 128 +/- 24 at fatigue (P less than 0.05). Muscle glucose did not change significantly, whereas hexosemonophosphates were significantly increased after contraction. The glycogenolytic and glycolytic rate averaged 70.0 +/- 13.8 and 47.3 +/- 6.7 mmol.kg dry wt-1.min-1, respectively, and the glycolytic rate was positively correlated with the accumulation rates of fructose 6-phosphate (F-6-P) (r = 0.95, P less than 0.01) and G-6-P (r = 0.96, P less than 0.01). Phosphocreatine and ATP decreased by 87 and 17%, respectively, whereas ADP increased by 31% after contraction. These data demonstrate that intense, short-term isometric contraction results in an elevation of the muscle content of G-1,6-P2. The increase in G-1,6-P2 could not be accounted for by the side reactions of phosphoglucomutase or phosphofructokinase. It remains to be determined whether the observed increase in G-1,6-P2 is sufficient to account for the high glycolytic rate during intense exercise. The lack of increase in muscle glucose while G-6-P increased (which will inhibit hexokinase) suggests that the debranching enzyme complex was not active during contraction.
Intracellular Growth of Trypanosoma cruzi in Cardiac Myocytes Is Inhibited by Cytokine-Induced Nitric Oxide Release

ABSTRACT The effect of interleukin-1β (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), and gamma interferon (IFN-γ) on Trypanosoma cruzi multiplication and nitric oxide (NO) production in cardiac myocytes was investigated. Cardiac myocyte cultures were obtained from neonatal Wistar rat hearts, infected with T. cruzi, and treated with IL-1β, TNF-α, IFN-γ, or N-monomethyl-l-arginine (l-NAME) for 72 h. Parasite growth was calculated from the number of infected cells in Giemsa-stained smears. Nitric oxide production was determined with the Griess reagent. Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression by cardiac myocytes was detected by Western blot. The results showed that the percentages of cardiac myocytes containing T. cruzi amastigotes in cytokine-treated cultures were significantly lower than in nontreated cultures. The addition of l-NAME reversed the inhibitory effect on parasite growth of IL-1β and TNF-α but not of IFN-γ. Nitrite levels released by T. cruzi-infected and noninfected cardiac myocyte cultures after 72 h of stimulation with IL-1β were significantly higher than those produced upon treatment with TNF-α, IFN-γ, or medium alone, regardless of the infection status. Nitrite levels in TNF-α-stimulated infected cultures were significantly higher than in untreated infected cultures and TNF-α-treated noninfected cultures. l-NAME inhibited IL-1β- but not TNF-α-induced NO production, indicating the presence of iNOS-dependent and iNOS-independent mechanisms for NO formation in this experimental system. iNOS expression was detected in infected and noninfected cardiac myocytes stimulated with IL-1 β and TNF-α but not with IFN-γ. These results suggest an important role for cardiac myocytes and locally secreted cytokines in the control of parasite multiplication in T. cruzi-induced myocarditis.
Spatial Agglomeration of MNEs: The Role of Information Externalities and Knowledge Spillovers

This study suggests a model for the agglomerative behaviour of MNEs with local competitors. Relying on foreign MNEs’ spatial distribution across 686 Italian Local Labor Systems, we find that MNEs’ locational behaviour is influenced by (i) informational externalities, giving rise to locational cascades and imitation of other foreign MNEs, and (ii) potential knowledge spillovers, which might act both as a centrifugal and a centripetal force, depending on the nature of local counterparts. Specifically, foreign MNEs tend not to agglomerate with local domestic companies as they perceive potential knowledge inflows to be lower than potential leakages, unless local companies enjoy some comparative advantages. Conversely, foreign MNEs’ are willing to agglomerate with other foreign MNEs, as they bet on a positive balance between knowledge inflows and outflows.