Alliance Members Research Articles

Fleet co-deployment for liner shipping alliance: Vessel pool operation with uncertain demand

The rational distribution of fleet resources is an important way to improve the productivity of maritime transport industry. With container vessels becoming increasingly large and the industrial competition becoming more intense in maritime transportation industry, shipping alliances have become the most common ways of cooperation for liner enterprises. Studying how to co-deploy the alliance fleets is of great significance for increasing the overall profits and competitiveness of an alliance. This paper mainly studies the co-deployment of liner alliance fleets under the vessel pool operation with uncertain demand. First, the definition and operation mode of a vessel pool is explained. Then, the factors influencing the co-deployment of alliance fleets are analysed. Based on this and the uncertain demand of container transport in practice, a robust-optimization-based co-deployment model for the fleets of the container shipping alliance is established, and a case analysis of the six routes of the three liner companies under the alliance is performed. The model makes the optimal decision for the plan on co-deployment of alliance fleets, and the result achieved can give full play to the resource advantages of alliance members, and allow the alliance to get maximum profits, which proves the effectiveness and practicability of the model.

Research on the Knowledge-Sharing Incentive of the Cross-Boundary Alliance Symbiotic System

The rise of the cross-boundary alliance as a new organizational model profoundly affects innovation development. The incentive mode of knowledge-sharing among cross-boundary alliance members from the perspective of symbiosis is the key to improving the efficiency of knowledge-sharing and promoting the alliance’s sustainable development. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of knowledge and information asymmetry among alliance members, knowledge-sharing is prone to opportunistic behavior, which greatly impacts cross- boundary innovation cooperation. The symbiotic system of the cross-boundary alliance is constructed based on the analysis of symbiosis among alliance members to solve these problems. In this research study, the principal–agent theory is used to describe the expected benefits and the related constraints of knowledge-sharing partners. Moreover, an incentive model of knowledge-sharing in the cross-boundary alliance is established. By solving the model, the agent’s sharing intention and the principal’s reward incentive coefficient are obtained, which provide a theoretical basis for the formulation of the optimal incentive scheme of knowledge-sharing in the alliance. The results show that the knowledge potential difference, knowledge transmission efficiency, knowledge transformation, innovation effort, and the symbiotic environment will directly affect the knowledge transfer level of the alliance. In this research study, a theoretical research framework of the cross-boundary alliance symbiotic system linked by knowledge-sharing is constructed. The incentive model of knowledge-sharing is established especially on the basis of fully considering the internal and external factors of knowledge-sharing. This research study has provided some innovation in the theoretical system and method improvement, and has guaranteed the efficient integration, utilization, and innovation of knowledge resources in the cross-boundary alliance.

Alliance Participation, Treaty Depth, and Military Spending

Abstract How does alliance participation affect military spending? Some argue that alliance membership increases military expenditures, while others contend that it produces spending cuts. I argue that deep formal defense cooperation modifies the impact of alliance participation on military expenditures and can explain increases and decreases in spending by small alliance members. Security-seeking junior members of deep alliances usually decrease military spending because these treaties are more credible. Joining shallow alliances often increases junior alliance member military spending, however. I test the argument by creating a latent measure of alliance treaty depth and using it to predict differences in how alliance participation affects military spending. The research design generates new empirical evidence linking alliance participation and percentage changes in state military spending from 1919 to 2007. I find that deeper alliance treaties tend to decrease military spending by junior alliance members, and shallow alliances often increase military spending. These results help scholars and policymakers better understand a central question about alliance politics that has been debated in scholarship for decades.

The Council of the Thebaid, 362: Lucifer of Calaris, Eusebius of Vercellae, and the Readmission of the Clergy

This article focuses on the Council of the Thebaid of 362. A close examination of Theodoret's version of events reveals that, upon the recall of the pro-Nicenes from exile, Eusebius of Vercellae organised in the Thebaid a non-rigorist meeting, which laid the groundwork for the Council of Alexandria of the same year. The Council of the Thebaid may have also included lapsed pro-Nicenes who had reverted to their original views after being deposed at Constantinople in 360, and may even have seen the participation of members of the homoiousian alliance.

AMERICAN ANTI-MISSLE SHIELD, EASTERN EUROPEAN ASSET TO DISCOURAGE BALLISTIC ATTACKS

Abstract: Air-missile defense is a mission of anti-aircraft missile troops known in the field as anti-missile shield. It describes an anti-ballistic area intended for research, discovery, interception and combat of surface-to-air or air-to-air missiles with ballistic trajectory. The existence of the anti-missile shield implies the creation of a security zone of allied states, institutional structures and population that can ensure their functionality and existence, deployed on an alignment (territories of several states), in order to maintain a state of normalcy and security. This defense system must include the threatened states, members of the politico-military alliance, regardless of their economic and military power. The security environment also concerns both the population of those countries and the objectives of great political, economic, strategic, critical and military infrastructure importance.

Social Impact of Value-Based Banking: Best Practises and a Continuity Framework

How do financial institutions enable social impact? We examined this question in the context of values-based financial institutions, which are amongst the most experienced institutions around the world in addressing the very real banking needs of enterprises and individuals within their communities. There is, indeed, an urgency today to have the banking industry consider its social impact in a holistic way. This paper expands our understanding of how these financial institutions, all members of the Global Alliance for Banking on Values, define, design, implement, monitor and scale-up social impact. We used a multiple-case studies design to investigate their approach and inductive analysis to derive a model. From a theoretical perspective, we found that a social impact virtuous circular model best reflects how values-based financial institutions approach and practise social impact. Each step of the circular model clearly shows the way in which these institutions address and achieve social impact. Our findings have important implications for academic research focussed on understanding how finance can generate social impact. The findings of this article can, especially, also have practical implications for all types of financial institutions willing to improve the way in which they address social challenges and, ultimately, increase their social impact. At a time when more resources are needed to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, this is urgent.

Member engagement in multi-sector health care alliances.

Many communities are developing innovative forms of collaborative organizations such as multi-sector health care alliances (MHCAs) to address problems of misaligned incentives among providers, payers, and community stakeholders and improve health and health care. Member engagement is essential to the success of these organizations due to their dependence on volunteer members to develop and implement strategy and provide material and in-kind support for alliance efforts, yet relatively little research has examined how alliances can foster engagement. This study examined behavioral indicators of member engagement (e.g., recruitment and retention of organizational and individual members) and how they are related to two foundational dimensions of alliance functioning - alliance leadership and community centrality. Using three rounds of an internet-based survey of alliance members from 14 alliances, the study found that organizational recruitment and retention increased over time, from 26.6% to 41.5% and 56.0% to 65.2%, respectively. Recruitment of individuals increased over the study period (38.3% to 47.2%, while retention of individual members declined over the study period (61.0% to 53.2%). Alliance leadership was associated with lower levels of recruitment (both organizational and individual members) but higher levels of organizational retention (both organizational and individual members). Collectively, our findings suggest that behavioral aspects of alliances are more effective at retaining members than relatively stable characteristics such as size and positioning in the community. Contrasting relationships between recruitment and retention, however, suggest that different forms of leadership may be required to simultaneously attract new members while retaining existing ones.

Implementation of NATO standards in the training system for the Security Service of Ukraine

Incorporation of North Atlantic Alliance standards into domestic legislation, that governs relations in the security and defense sector is one of the key requirements for Ukraine to obtain a NATO Membership Action Plan and further deepen Euro-Atlantic integration with a view to acquiring Alliance membership. An Important condition for these tasks is the implementation of NATO standards and procedures in the legislation governing military education. In the process of standardizing and achieving the state of compatibility of the security and defense sector of Ukraine with the relevant NATO forces, the specificity of the application of standards in improving the system of training specialists for the Security Service of Ukraine should be highlighted separately. According to this development course, military education today includes formal and informal (general training) components, and the improvement of professional competence (special training). Professional training of military specialist according to NATO standards is carried out at the appropriate levels of management: operational, tactical, strategic. It remains compulsory for officers to have received a higher education in the relevant educational programs. Taking into account the specific nature of the professional activities of the members of the special service, the tasks assigned to them and the functions performed for that purpose, namely, countering intelligence and subversive activities, combating terrorism, counter-intelligence and defending national statehood, Ensuring the security of the State in cyberspace, etc., the training system for the Security Service may be differentiated according to its functional direction and institutionalized in the military education system or outside it. At the same time, an important basis for the development of the educational component in the Security Service of Ukraine will remain the recruitment of teaching staff from among persons with practical experience. Despite the format of the model chosen, training for the security forces should be based on NATO standards, with a conceptually new piece of legislation.

Study on the Evolution of Defense Expenses in Nato Member States for the Period 2010–2020. “Free Rider” behavior among Allies

Abstract This paper proposes a longitudinal study on the analysis of defense spending of NATO member states in the years 2010-2020. It also aims to identify the emergence of a possible “free-rider” behavior among alliance members. This behavior occurs when some members may be tempted to allocate a low level of defense spending. Defense spending is an important component of each state’s budget, which ensures a vital function of states, namely the national defense function. When the defense is carried out in military-type alliances, and the number of members is large, there is an increased possibility of observing a “free-rider” type behavior between the members of the alliances. To observe this behavior, we tried to identify the best evaluation indicator, which according to the literature could be “the share of defense spending in GDP.” The paper is divided into five parts as follows: the first point considers the introductory part of the paper and the setting of objectives; the second chapter describes the study database, as well as the research methodology and methods used in the study to obtain the results; in the third chapter is analyzed the literature with impact on the studied subject; in the fourth chapter the case study is carried out; and in the last chapter mentioned the conclusions of the study.

Who commits the most to NATO? It depends on how we measure commitment

Studies of NATO rely heavily on military spending as a fraction of GDP as the key indicator of members’ contribution to the alliance, but a growing number of scholars have challenged this approach. We suggest that each member’s public goods provision is a better measure of commitment to the alliance. In the case of post-Cold War NATO, out-of-area troop deployments (adjusted for population) constitute one of the strongest indicators of a state’s contribution to public goods. Providing troops for NATO missions in Afghanistan, Kosovo, and Bosnia-Herzegovina is one of the clearest signals of high commitment to the alliance. Using deployment data from 2004 to 2018, we show that there is evidence of disproportionate burden-sharing within the alliance. Countries like Slovenia, Denmark, the USA and UK contributed far more to NATO deployments than others like Turkey, Spain, Poland, and Portugal. We also use the data to begin examining possible causes of these disparities. We find that wealthier countries, countries that spend more on their militaries, and newer alliance members are more likely to contribute. Our indicator and first-cut model open avenues for further research on why some members demonstrate higher commitment to NATO than others.

OP0288 MACHINE LEARNING ALGORITHMS TO PREDICT COVID-19 ACUTE RESPIRATORY DISTRESS SYNDROME IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATIC DISEASES: RESULTS FROM THE GLOBAL RHEUMATOLOGY ALLIANCE PROVIDER REGISTRY

Background:Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) is a life-threatening complication of COVID-19 and has been reported in approximately one-third of hospitalized patients with COVID-191. Risk factors associated with the development of ARDS include older age and diabetes2. However, little is known about factors associated with ARDS in the setting of COVID-19, in patients with rheumatic disease or those receiving immunosuppressive medications. Prediction algorithms using traditional regression methods perform poorly with rare outcomes, often yielding high specificity but very low sensitivity. Machine learning algorithms optimized for rare events are an alternative approach with potentially improved sensitivity for rare events, such as ARDS in COVID-19 among patients with rheumatic disease.Objectives:We aimed to develop a prediction model for ARDS in people with COVID-19 and pre-existing rheumatic disease using a series of machine learning algorithms and to identify risk factors associated with ARDS in this population.Methods:We used data from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance (GRA) Registry from March 24 to Nov 1, 2020. ARDS diagnosis was indicated by the reporting clinician. Five machine learning algorithms optimized for rare events predicted ARDS using 42 variables covering patient demographics, rheumatic disease diagnoses, medications used at the time of COVID-19 diagnosis, and comorbidities. Model performance was assessed using accuracy, area under curve, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value. Adjusted odds ratios corresponding to the 10 most influential predictors from the best performing model were derived using hierarchical multivariate mixed-effects logistic regression that accounted for within-country correlations.Results:A total of 5,931 COVID-19 cases from 67 countries were included in the analysis. Mean (SD) age was 54.9 (16.0) years, 4,152 (70.0%) were female, and 2,399 (40.5%) were hospitalized. ARDS was reported in 388 (6.5% of total and 15.6% of hospitalized) cases. Statistically significant differences in the risk of ARDS were observed by demographics, diagnoses, medications, and comorbidities using unadjusted univariate comparisons (data not shown). Gradient boosting machine (GBM) had the highest sensitivity (0.81) and was considered the best performing model (Table 1). Hypertension, interstitial lung disease, kidney disease, diabetes, older age, glucocorticoids, and anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies were associated with the development of ARDS while tumor necrosis factor inhibitors were associated with a protective effect (Figure 1).Table 1.Performance of machine learning algorithms.GBMSVMGLMNETNNETRFAccuracy0.790.680.660.660.67AUC0.750.700.740.580.74Sensitivity0.810.680.650.680.67Specificity0.490.600.730.480.68PPV0.960.960.970.950.97NPV0.160.120.130.090.13GBM: Gradient Boosting Machine, SVM: Support vector machines, GLMNET: Lasso and Elastic-Net Regularized Generalized Linear Models, NNET: Neural Networks, RF: Random Forest. AUC: Area Under Curve; PPV: Positive Predictive Value; NPV: Negative Predictive Value.Conclusion:In this global cohort of patients with rheumatic disease, a machine learning model, GBM, predicted the onset of ARDS with 81% sensitivity using baseline information obtained at the time of COVID-19 diagnosis. These results identify patients who may be at higher risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes. Further studies are necessary to validate the proposed prediction model in external cohorts and to evaluate its clinical utility. Disclaimer: The views expressed here are those of the authors and participating members of the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance, and do not necessarily represent the views of the ACR, NIH, (UK) NHS, NIHR, or the department of Health.

Establishing consensus on the best ways to educate children about animal welfare and prevent harm: An online Delphi study

AbstractMany animal welfare organisations deliver education programmes for children and young people, or design materials for schoolteachers to use. However, few of these are scientifically evaluated, making it difficult for those working in this field to establish with any certainty the degree of success of their own programmes, or learn from others. There has been no guidance specifically tailored to the development and evaluation of animal welfare education interventions. Accordingly, a three-stage online Delphi study was designed to unearth the expertise of professionals working in this field and identify degree of consensus on various aspects of the intervention process: design, implementation and evaluation. Thirty-one experts participated in Round 1, representing eleven of 13 organisations in the Scottish Animal Welfare Education Forum (SAWEF), and eleven of 23 members of the wider UK-based Animal Welfare Education Alliance (AWEA). Seven further professionals participated, including four based in Canada or the US. Eighty-four percent of the original sample participated in Round 2, where a high level of consensus was apparent. However, the study also revealed areas of ambiguity (determining priorities, the need for intervention structure and degree of success). Tensions were also evident with respect to terminology (especially around cruelty and cruelty prevention), and the common goal for animal welfare to be part of school curricula. Findings were used to develop a web-based framework and toolkit to enable practitioners to follow evidence-based guidance. This should enable organisations to maximise the quality and effectiveness of their interventions for children and young people.

A Study on Satisfaction with the Success Factors of Gyeongju MICE Complex District: Comparison between MICE Participants and MICE Alliance

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to compare and analyze satisfaction with the success factors of MICE complex district around Gyeongju Hwabaek International Convention Center towards MICE participants and alliance members in Gyeongju, and then derive implications for suggesting a Gyeongju-type MICE complex district. Design/Methodology/Approach - In this study, a total of 250 questionnaires were collected from 150 MICE participants participating in MICE held at the Gyeongju Hwabaek International Convention Center(HICO) in 2020 and 100 alliance members around HICO. Valid Data of 135 participants and 94 alliance members. IPA and T-test were utilized to compare satisfaction levels with the success factors of MICE complex district between the two groups. Findings - First, the factors with low satisfaction level in common with the two groups are ‘concert hall’, ‘entertainment facilities’, and ‘large shopping centers’. Second, there existed differences between the two groups in satisfaction with ‘exhibition and convention facilities’ , ‘large shopping centers’, ‘concert hall’, ‘transportation and information systems’, ‘entertainment facilities’, and ‘special local tour experiences’. Research Implications - Accordingly, while a successful Gyeongju-type MICE complex district should be supplemented with MICE infrastructures including exhibition and convention facilities, entertainment facilities, and large-scale stores around the center, such as shopping centers and outlets, quality of multiple convention services including performances in concert halls, transportation and information systems and special local tour experiences need to be improved.

Survey of current practices in the management of anti-TNF failure in juvenile spondyloarthritis

To evaluate the current practices in management of patients with juvenile spondyloarthritis (JSpA) who failed anti-tumour necrosis factor agents (anti-TNF). An online survey was distributed to Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA) members of the JIA workgroup. Data collection included estimated number of JSpA patients who have failed anti-TNF therapy over two-year period, reasons for discontinuing anti-TNF therapy and other medications used afterward. The JSpA population was de ned as the following subtypes: enthesitis-related arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, undifferentiated spondyloarthritis, juvenile ankylosing spondylitis (AS) i.e. meeting modi ed NY criteria for AS before age 16, and reactive arthritis. Findings were summarised using descriptive statistics. The survey response rate was 36% (n= 60/169). The majority of participants were paediatric rheumatologists (93%). Many physicians have JSpA patients who failed anti-TNF therapy (63%). The most common reason for changing anti-TNF therapy was secondary non-response (72%). Sacroiliitis was the most important factor considered when assessing response to an anti-TNF agent and the most common reason for primary non-response (45%). When assessing anti-TNF failure for sacroiliitis, many (65%) felt imaging of the sacroiliac joints was the most important aspect in their decision making. The majority try a second anti-TNF agent after initial anti-TNF failure (87%) and switch to another medication class after 2 anti-TNF agents have failed (62%). More than half of paediatric rheumatologists surveyed have at least one JSpA patient who failed anti-TNF therapy. The majority failed because of secondary non-response. Sacroiliitis is an important but challenging aspect to manage for patients with JSpA.

What Is the Capacity of Individuals with Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder to Make Healthcare Decisions? An Exploratory Study of the Views of Patients, Psychiatrists, and Family Caregivers—A Survey on Decisional Capacity in Mental Health

Background: Research on the decisional capacity of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder patients mostly reflects the hospital context. Aim: To describe the views of patients, psychiatrists, and caregivers on the capacity of individuals with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder to make everyday decisions on their care related to their illness. Methods: A survey was conducted among schizophrenia and bipolar disorder patients, psychiatrists, and caregivers (June 2019 to January 2020; seven countries). A questionnaire was emailed to members of the Global Alliance of Mental Illness of Advocacy Network—Europe (GAMIAN; patients) and the European Federation of Families of People with Mental Illness (EUFAMI; caregivers) and to psychiatrists who voluntarily agreed to participate. Questions referred to patients’ involvement and capacity for healthcare decision making, and to barriers to and opportunities for autonomous decision making. Frequency, agreement, and importance were rated on Likert scales. Descriptive statistics were conducted. Results: 21 schizophrenia or bipolar disorder patients (52.3% female; mean age (years) ± SD: 50.71 ± 12.02), 11 psychiatrists (18.2% female), and 15 caregivers (86.6% female; 100% family related) participated in the survey. In total, 86% of patients felt frequently involved in decisions about everyday care and medications, and 91% of psychiatrists and 40% of caregivers perceived the same; 38% of patients felt frequently involved in decisions about the use of acute symptom medications, and 57% on care planning, and 55% and 82% of psychiatrists, and 40% and 53% of caregivers, respectively, believed the same; and 86% of patients, 91% of psychiatrists, and 47% of caregivers agreed on the capacity of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder patients to value the implications of taking medicines to prevent acute psychotic crises. Poor understanding and training are barriers, while advocacy and increasing interest in patients’ needs are opportunities for increasing autonomous decision making. Conclusions: Stakeholders concur that schizophrenia and bipolar disorder patients have the capacity to make everyday decisions around their care related to their illness, including acute symptom management. Barriers and opportunities exist to foster autonomous decisions among mental illness individuals.

International military cooperation as an impetus for enriching terminological dictionaries: the English-Ukrainian context

The article focuses on the problem of successful communication in the course of military translation. The significant part of this process is a translation of numerous military terms, acronyms, and abbreviations where a translator must consider the context of the military document to ensure the right translation, which is as close as possible to the original text meaning. The research is based on the method of scientific observation during the classes and practical exercises in cooperation with NATO officers, the descriptive method, the method of comparison, which was used in the analysis of many textbooks and scientific articles. The use of the specific method of distributive analysis allowed the consideration of the context-dependent military terms and abbreviations. This paper presents the results of the research, including, in particular, the outlining of the classification of military terms and abbreviations, accentuation on the skills and knowledge which are important for producing a correct translation of the military terms and abbreviations which, in its turn, may have correspondents in a target language or may not have ones. Last but not least, the article provides the most striking instances of translating military terms and abbreviations grouped by their types. Reviewing the results, one can consider military translation as a context-based linguistic activity to a significant degree. The translator should have wide knowledge in the military sphere generally and in a concrete object of translation in part: artillery, ammo, IT-technologies etc. Besides English, itself is a language that develops exponentially, which invokes the growth of a variety of military terminology. As known, English is one of the two official languages of NATO. However, there are some differences in vocabulary and stylistic usage between the native languages of the Alliance member countries and English, so translators must take it into account in order to avoid misunderstandings

Risk Control of Virtual Enterprise Based on Distributed Decision-Making Model

Virtual enterprise is a dynamic alliance of businesses, in which multiple members undertake joint research, development, manufacturing, operation, etc. The complexity of the relationship between business members, coupled with many new technologies or methods applied in the alliance operation, leads to more uncertain factors and difficulties in the operation and risk management of the virtual enterprise. The distributed decision-making model is a fast and effective decision-making model, in which dispersed intellectual resources and information resources are dynamically integrated through virtual organization forms and operating mechanisms, and the dynamic reorganization, result evaluation, and synthesis of the decision-making system are realized by certain control rules. On the basis of summarizing and analyzing previous research works, this paper expounded the research status and significance of the risk control of virtual enterprise; elaborated the development background, current status, and future challenges of distributed decision-making model; introduced the related works of decision-making variable calculation and constraint determination; constructed a risk control model for virtual enterprise based on distributed decision-making model; analyzed the multiobjective model and interval programming model of risk control; established a risk control approach for virtual enterprise based on distributed decision-making model; performed the optimal allocation of risk control funds and the selective optimization of backup allies; and finally conducted a case analysis. The study results show that, in view of the diversity of relationships between alliance businesses and the complexity of the distribution of cooperative areas, the distributed decision-making model can more reasonably describe the relationship between alliance members and accurately control the risks of virtual enterprise from multiple angles, which can effectively manage the risks of virtual enterprise. The study results of this paper provide a reference for further research on the risk control of virtual enterprise based on distributed decision-making model.

Multi-isotopic regional-scale screening on drinking groundwater in Lombardy Region (Italy)

Groundwater is the main and safest source of water used for drinking purposes in many urban and rural communities worldwide. A deep knowledge of aquifer systems in terms of quality, vulnerability and renewability is fundamental to preserving groundwater resources. Thanks to contributions by different members of Water Alliance in synergy with Sapienza University, during November 2019 a multiisotopic regional scale analysis was carried out on groundwater tapped for drinking purposes in a wide area of the Lombardy Region. The study aimed to improve knowledge of recharge mechanisms, the groundwater’s relative age, and the impact of human activities on groundwater quality. Each Water Alliance supplier selected some wells and springs drawing water from different aquifer groups and distributed from north to south, for a total of 121 samples. Groundwater stable isotope analyses were performed on all the monitoring points, while tritium, nitrogen isotopes (15N and 18O in nitrates), sulphate isotopes (34S and 18O) and 13C isotope in Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC) were analysed in selected monitoring wells based on previous data and major ion concentration results. The results confirm the key role of a multi-isotopic approach in defining aquifer recharge processes, relative groundwater age and the origin of pollutants, offering a useful tool to highlight local issues which could be investigated in depth by each water supplier.

Cooperative partner choice in multi-level male dolphin alliances

Investigations into cooperative partner choice should consider both potential and realised partners, allowing for the comparison of traits across all those available. Male bottlenose dolphins form persisting multi-level alliances. Second-order alliances of 4–14 males are the core social unit, within which 2–3 males form first-order alliances to sequester females during consortships. We compared social bond strength, relatedness and age similarity of potential and realised partners of individual males in two age periods: (i) adolescence, when second-order alliances are formed from all available associates, and (ii) adulthood, when first-order allies are selected from within second-order alliances. Social bond strength during adolescence predicted second-order alliance membership in adulthood. Moreover, males preferred same-aged or older males as second-order allies. Within second-order alliances, non-mating season social bond strength predicted first-order partner preferences during mating season consortships. Relatedness did not influence partner choice on either alliance level. There is thus a striking resemblance between male dolphins, chimpanzees and humans, where closely bonded non-relatives engage in higher-level, polyadic cooperative acts. To that end, our study extends the scope of taxa in which social bonds rather than kinship explain cooperation, providing the first evidence that such traits might have evolved independently in marine and terrestrial realms.

Core Resources and Strategic Alliance: Investigating the Alliances Performance in Malaysia

The purpose of this research is to examine the ways Malaysian companies deal with strategic alliance and to identify the relationships between the resources and type of strategic alliance (strategic partners). Besides that, the objective of this research is to look into the influence of the resources, type of strategic alliance, coopetition of alliance member and key success factors onto the alliance performance. Indeed, the construction of this research depends on the exploration of these relationships, which induce the objectives of this research. The resource-based theory is applied to find out what are the phenomena of strategic alliance in the last five years. The coopetition relationship may affect the performance of alliance. How should companies assess the right type of alliance before partnering with others? What should be the factors leading to the success of alliance? From the empirical findings, many conclusions can be made. Firstly, there is a weak relationship between type of strategic alliances (strategic partners) and core resources. Secondly, the type of alliance has weak significance to alliance performance. Thirdly, there is no evidence to support the relationships between alliance performance and the type of coopetition. Next, the relationship between alliance performance and the key success factors is not supported. Besides that, the type of alliance has weak influence in the alliance performance while the relationship is controlled by coopetition. In addition, the weak effect of the relationships of alliance performance and type of alliance is controlled by the key success factors. How to Cite this Article Pubmed Style Mohd Shukri Ab Yajid. Resources and Strategic Alliance: Investigating the Alliances Performance in SRP. 2020; 11(1): 972-981. doi:10.5530/srp.2020.1.124 Web Style Mohd Shukri Ab Yajid. Resources and Strategic Alliance: Investigating the Alliances Performance in http://www.sysrevpharm.org/?mno=128590 [Access: March 28, 2021]. doi:10.5530/srp.2020.1.124 AMA (American Medical Association) Style Mohd Shukri Ab Yajid. Resources and Strategic Alliance: Investigating the Alliances Performance in SRP. 2020; 11(1): 972-981. doi:10.5530/srp.2020.1.124 Vancouver/ICMJE Style Mohd Shukri Ab Yajid. Resources and Strategic Alliance: Investigating the Alliances Performance in SRP. (2020), [cited March 28, 2021]; 11(1): 972-981. doi:10.5530/srp.2020.1.124 Harvard Style Mohd Shukri Ab Yajid (2020) Resources and Strategic Alliance: Investigating the Alliances Performance in SRP, 11 (1), 972-981. doi:10.5530/srp.2020.1.124 Turabian Style Mohd Shukri Ab Yajid. 2020. Resources and Strategic Alliance: Investigating the Alliances Performance in Systematic Reviews in Pharmacy, 11 (1), 972-981. doi:10.5530/srp.2020.1.124 Chicago Style Mohd Shukri Ab Yajid. Core Resources and Strategic Alliance: Investigating the Alliances Performance in Malaysia. Systematic Reviews in Pharmacy 11 (2020), 972-981. doi:10.5530/srp.2020.1.124 MLA (The Modern Language Association) Style Mohd Shukri Ab Yajid. Core Resources and Strategic Alliance: Investigating the Alliances Performance in Malaysia. Systematic Reviews in Pharmacy 11.1 (2020), 972-981. Print. doi:10.5530/srp.2020.1.124 APA (American Psychological Association) Style Mohd Shukri Ab Yajid (2020) Resources and Strategic Alliance: Investigating the Alliances Performance in Systematic Reviews in Pharmacy, 11 (1), 972-981. doi:10.5530/srp.2020.1.124