Alternative Growth Strategies Research Articles

Route to Enhancing Remote Epitaxy of Perovskite Complex Oxide Thin Films.

Remote epitaxy is taking center stage in creating freestanding complex oxide thin films with high crystallinity that could serve as an ideal building block for stacking artificial heterostructures with distinctive functionalities. However, there exist technical challenges, particularly in the remote epitaxy of perovskite oxides associated with their harsh growth environments, making the graphene interlayer difficult to survive. Transferred graphene, typically used for creating a remote epitaxy template, poses limitations in ensuring the yield of perovskite films, especially when pulsed laser deposition (PLD) growth is carried out, since graphene degradation can be easily observed. Here, we employ spectroscopic ellipsometry to determine the critical factors that damage the integrity of graphene during PLD by tracking the change in optical properties of graphene in situ. To mitigate the issues observed in the PLD process, we propose an alternative growth strategy based on molecular beam epitaxy to produce single-crystalline perovskite membranes.

The rise (and almost fall) of Maneli Pets

Learning outcomes At the end of the case discussion, students should be able to:▪ analyse and discuss networks as a form of social capital;▪ identify and discuss alternative growth strategies for an small, medium, micro enterprise (SMME) in the context of prevailing challenges;▪ use the six domains of the entrepreneurship ecosystem to identify and discuss factors that enhance and challenge a business with particular reference to an SMME; and▪ analyse and understand the key dimensions of entrepreneurial behaviour using the case protagonist as an example. Case overview/synopsis Nhlanhla Dlamini, the managing director of Maneli Pets based in Johannesburg, South Africa had opened an office in Cincinnati in the USA in July 2019 to take over the distribution and marketing of the company’s high-quality protein pet treats. Just over eight months later, the COVID-19 pandemic exploded across the world resulting in unprecedented disruption to people’s lives, world trade and the global economy.Now, in June 2022, Dlamini contemplated the successes and challenges he had experienced since starting Maneli Pets in 2016, not least of which was parting company with US-based Novel Dog LLC, which had previously marketed and distributed the pet treats. He had built an internationally accredited factory from scratch, produced pet products and a brand that was appealing to the competitive international market, and exported to 12 countries around the world. However, Dlamini had also faced the retrenchment of a large number of staff, the breakdown of the relationship with Novel Dog, the difficulties of setting up a distribution business in the USA along with overseeing the South African factory, and in September 2019, his co-founder, Sipha Ndawonde, had left Maneli Pets.Maneli Pets had served Dlamini’s philanthropic purpose of creating jobs and contributing to the growth of the South African economy. Despite the setback of parting ways with Novel Dog, he hoped to continue to create jobs and return to and exceed the staff numbers he had achieved by 2018, regardless of the hard work involved.In his dual position of managing director of Maneli Pets, based in Johannesburg, and sales director of the distribution and marketing arm, Nandi Pets Inc. in Cincinnati, Dlamini had a global view of the companies’ financials that he realised had been missing initially. Would the new structure of Maneli Pets he had created in 2019 in a pre-pandemic world see the company profitable by the end of 2022? What else could he do to take the company to the next level? Complexity academic level MBA, Masters in Management, Postgraduate Diploma in Business, Executive Education short courses. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

Determinants of performance drivers in online food delivery platforms: a dynamic performance management perspective

PurposeThis study aims to demonstrate that the Dynamic Performance Management (DPM) framework, integrating performance management with system dynamics modelling, enables decision-makers to identify sustainable strategies in online food delivery platforms, thereby avoiding company failure.Design/methodology/approachThis study undertakes a multistep methodological approach. After the literature review, a retrospective case study approach was used. To build the DPM framework and the system dynamics simulation model, primary and secondary data were collected and analysed.FindingsThis study by adopting the DPM perspective highlights the critical role performance drivers play to assess the viability of alternative growth strategies in food delivery digital platforms. As such, the findings complement extant studies which highlighted the need for adopting a dynamic perspective in Performance Measurement and Management (PMM), particularly in complex and turbulent environments. Findings also highlight that in food delivery platforms, network effects may result insufficient to reach a critical volume of users and factors such as key drivers impacting platform attractiveness must be considered to design effective PMM.Research limitations/implicationsFuture studies may apply the DPM framework here suggested to multiple digital platforms, to validate this study's findings.Practical implicationsThis paper offers a guidance to practitioners and scholars to design effective PMM in food delivery digital platforms.Originality/valueThis study offers an innovative perspective to analyse the interdependences among main mechanisms underpinning the performance of food delivery platforms. As such, it contributes to enrich prior PMM literature and addresses the call for more empirical and theoretical PMM contributions in fast-changing and turbulent environments.

Exploratory Growth in Streptomyces venezuelae Involves a Unique Transcriptional Program, Enhanced Oxidative Stress Response, and Profound Acceleration in Response to Glycerol.

Exploration is a recently discovered mode of growth and behavior exhibited by some Streptomyces species that is distinct from their classical sporulating life cycle. While much has been uncovered regarding initiating environmental conditions and phenotypic outcomes of exploratory growth, how this process is coordinated at a genetic level remains unclear. We used RNA sequencing to survey global changes in the transcriptional profile of exploring cultures over time in the model organism Streptomyces venezuelae. Transcriptomic analyses revealed widespread changes in gene expression impacting diverse cellular functions. Investigations into differentially expressed regulatory elements revealed specific groups of regulatory factors to be impacted, including the expression of several extracytoplasmic function (ECF) sigma factors, second messenger signaling pathways, and members of the whiB-like (wbl) family of transcription factors. Dramatic changes were observed among primary metabolic pathways, especially among respiration-associated genes and the oxidative stress response; enzyme assays confirmed that exploring cultures exhibit an enhanced oxidative stress response compared with classically growing cultures. Changes in the expression of the glycerol catabolic genes in S. venezuelae led to the discovery that glycerol supplementation of the growth medium promotes a dramatic acceleration of exploration. This effect appears to be unique to glycerol as an alternative carbon source, and this response is broadly conserved across other exploration-competent species. IMPORTANCE Exploration represents an alternative growth strategy for Streptomyces bacteria and is initiated in response to other microbes or specific environmental conditions. Here, we show that entry into exploration involves comprehensive transcriptional reprogramming, with an emphasis on changes in primary metabolism and regulatory/signaling functions. Intriguingly, a number of transcription factor classes were downregulated upon entry into exploration. In contrast, respiration-associated genes were strongly induced, and this was accompanied by an enhanced oxidative stress response. Notably, our transcriptional analyses suggested that glycerol may play a role in exploration, and we found that glycerol supplementation dramatically enhanced the exploration response in many streptomycetes. This work sheds new light on the regulatory and metabolic cues that influence a fascinating new microbial behavior.

How Streptomyces thrive: Advancing our understanding of classical development and uncovering new behaviors.

Streptomyces are soil- and marine-dwelling microbes that need to survive dramatic fluctuations in nutrient levels and environmental conditions. Here, we explore the advances made in understanding how Streptomyces bacteria can thrive in their natural environments. We examine their classical developmental cycle, and the intricate regulatory cascades that govern it. We discuss alternative growth strategies and behaviors, like the rapid expansion and colonization properties associated with exploratory growth, the release of membrane vesicles and S-cells from hyphal tips, and the acquisition of exogenous DNA along the lateral walls. We further investigate Streptomyces interactions with other organisms through the release of volatile compounds that impact nutrient levels, microbial growth, and insect behavior. Finally, we explore the increasingly diverse strategies employed by Streptomyces species in escaping and thwarting phage infections.

Firm-environment alignment of entrepreneurial opportunity exploitation in technology-based ventures: A configurational approach

ABSTRACT This study explores configurations for firm-environment alignment of entrepreneurial opportunity exploitation in technology-based ventures to explain firm performance. Classifying entrepreneurial opportunities by their source and location as technology driven and market driven, we develop a framework to investigate a multitude of factors in the firm and in the environment that influence firm performance only when aligned with each other. The study examines technology-based ventures using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. Our results highlight the presence of complete firm-environment alignment of technological and market opportunity exploitation in cases with very high organizational growth rates. High-growth cases are driven by market opportunity exploitation. Firm-environment misalignment characterizes low-growth cases. Our results extend entrepreneurial opportunity exploitation literature to encompass a configurational setting from a quality perspective and provides entrepreneurs, managers, and policy-makers with informed choices of alternative growth strategies when focusing on organizational and policy priorities.

Economic, land use, and ecosystem services impacts of Rwanda's Green Growth Strategy: An application of the IEEM+ESM platform

We develop and link the Integrated Economic-Environmental Modeling (IEEM) Platform to ecosystem services modeling (ESM). The IEEM+ESM Platform is an innovative decision-making framework for exploring complex public policy goals and elucidating synergies and trade-offs between alternative policy portfolios. The IEEM+ESM approach is powerful in its ability to shed light on (i) change in land use and ecosystem services driven by public policy and the supply and demand responses of businesses and households; and (ii) impacts on standard economic indicators of concern to Ministries of Finance such as gross domestic product and employment, as well as changes in wealth and ecosystem services. The IEEM+ESM approach is being adopted rapidly and by the end of 2020, IEEM+ESM Platforms will be implemented for about 25 countries. To demonstrate the insights generated by the IEEM+ESM approach, we apply it to the analysis of alternative green growth strategies in Rwanda, a country that has made strong progress in reducing poverty and enhancing economic growth in the last 15 years. The case of Rwanda is particularly compelling as it faces intense pressure on its natural capital base and ecosystem services, already with the highest population density in Africa, which is projected to double by 2050. In applying IEEM+ESM and comparing the outcomes of Rwanda's green growth policies, increasing fertilization of agricultural crops shows the largest economic gains but also trade-offs in environmental quality reflected through higher nutrient export and reduced water quality. Combining crop fertilization with forest plantations better balances critical ecosystem services and their role in underpinning economic development as Rwanda progresses toward its target of middle-income status by 2035. This application to Rwanda's green growth strategy demonstrates the value-added of the IEEM+ESM approach in generating results that speak to both economic outcomes and impacts on market and non-market ecosystem services.

Within-Generation Polygenic Selection Shapes Fitness-Related Traits across Environments in Juvenile Sea Bream.

Understanding the genetic underpinnings of fitness trade-offs across spatially variable environments remains a major challenge in evolutionary biology. In Mediterranean gilthead sea bream, first-year juveniles use various marine and brackish lagoon nursery habitats characterized by a trade-off between food availability and environmental disturbance. Phenotypic differences among juveniles foraging in different habitats rapidly appear after larval settlement, but the relative role of local selection and plasticity in phenotypic variation remains unclear. Here, we combine phenotypic and genetic data to address this question. We first report correlations of opposite signs between growth and condition depending on juvenile habitat type. Then, we use single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data obtained by Restriction Associated DNA (RAD) sequencing to search for allele frequency changes caused by a single generation of spatially varying selection between habitats. We found evidence for moderate selection operating at multiple loci showing subtle allele frequency shifts between groups of marine and brackish juveniles. We identified subsets of candidate outlier SNPs that, in interaction with habitat type, additively explain up to 3.8% of the variance in juvenile growth and 8.7% in juvenile condition; these SNPs also explained significant fraction of growth rate in an independent larval sample. Our results indicate that selective mortality across environments during early-life stages involves complex trade-offs between alternative growth strategies.

Economically Sustainable Growth of Perovskite Photovoltaics Manufacturing

Summary The significant capital expense of photovoltaics manufacturing has made it difficult for new cell and module technologies to enter the market. We present two technoeconomic models that analyze the sustainable growth of perovskite manufacturing for an R2R single-junction technology and a perovskite-silicon tandem module, focusing on the impacts of economies of scale and average selling price on profitability. We establish a cost range of $3.30/W to $0.53/W for flexible modules manufactured in factory sizes ranging from 0.3 MW/year to 1 GW/year. In addition, we model the cost to manufacture a tandem module consisting of a single-junction perovskite cell stacked in 4-terminal configuration onto a silicon cell and show how an existing manufacturer can grow at a faster rate by co-investing in tandems. Our analyses highlight potential routes to market for perovskite photovoltaics and the possibility to sustainably grow a photovoltaics manufacturing company even in markets with higher labor rates.

When to Ally? Labor Protection and Firm Growth Strategies

We study how increases in employment protection through the passage of state laws affect strategic alliance formation and firm’s choice of growth strategy. We show that, following the adoption of these laws, there is a significant increase in strategic alliance activities, especially among high growth firms. More importantly, there is a shift away from capital-intensive investments, such as internal capital expenditures and M&As towards the more flexible strategic alliance. We also find that firms that form strategic alliances following the adoption of the law have higher innovation output. Overall, our findings are consistent with employment protection making investments within the firm more irreversible and leading them to seek alternative growth strategies by moving investments outside their boundaries through strategic alliance formation.

Domestic agricultural value chain development and pro‐poor growth: A computable general equilibrium microsimulation application for the Democratic Republic of Congo

AbstractThe economy of the Democratic Republic of Congo has gained momentum between 2003 and 2015, with a high annual growth rate of over 6%. However, poverty and employment outcomes were relatively poor, while inequality increased. This study uses a computable general equilibrium (CGE) microsimulation model to study the pro‐poor effect of alternative growth strategy that is likely to strengthen the competitiveness of agro‐food products from the Congo. We experimented with three different scenarios: labor productivity growth, marketing efficiency, and transportation efficiency. The simulations demonstrated that improving the productivity of workers in agro‐food industries has not only produced strong relative pro‐poor effects, but also has the potential to lead to income convergence between rich and poor households. The analysis also revealed the underestimated contribution of agro‐food marketing and transportation efficiency. The major finding is that marketing efficiency favors the middle class. Efficiency gains in the transportation of agro‐food products generate strong pro‐poor effects in absolute and relative terms and are likely to be particularly effective in leading to income convergence. This policy has the potential not only to increase income and employment, but also to provide positive price impacts for both producers and consumers and benefits to all households, particularly low‐income households.

Stem radial growth and water storage responses to heat and drought vary between conifers with differing hydraulic strategies.

We investigated stem radial growth and water storage dynamics of 2 conifer species differing in hydraulic carbon strategies, Juniperus monosperma and Pinus edulis, under conditions of ambient, drought (∼45% reduction in precipitation), heat (∼4.8°C temperature increase), and the combination of drought+heat, in 2013 and 2014. Juniper maintained low growth across all treatments. Overall, the relatively isohydric piñon pine showed significantly greater growth and water storage recharge than the relatively anisohydric juniper across all treatments in the average climate year (2014) but no differences in the regionally dry year (2013). Piñon pine ceased growth at a constant predawn water potential across all treatments and at a less negative water potential threshold than juniper. Heat has a greater negative impact on piñon pines' growth and water storage than drought, whereas juniper was, in contrast, unaffected by heat but strongly impacted by drought. The whole-plant hydraulic carbon strategies, in this case captured using the isohydric/anisohydric concept, translate into alternative growth and water storage strategies under drought and heat conditions.

Roseda’s growth decision

Synopsis Roseda is a family-operated business that had its beginnings in a farm that Ed and his wife purchased before his retirement in 1994. The company’s current business strategy emphasizes producing high-quality natural Black Angus beef without using hormones, chemical additives or antibiotics in cattle feeding and by dry aging the carcasses for enhanced flavor. This case focuses on the alternative growth strategies that Ed Burchell confronts for Roseda in early 2015. Research methodology The founder of Roseda Beef and the lead author became acquainted many years ago. In 2014, the two owners of Roseda agreed to have a case written about the firm. The case is based on formal interviews, on site observations at Roseda Farms, and an extensive review of the documentation that exists on this privately held company. In addition, the company made some internal documents available including the income statements and balance sheets for this private company. Relevant courses and levels This course has been taught four times at the MBA level so far: twice in a strategic management course, and twice in a financial strategy course. Theoretical bases Roseda Beef was developed to provide students in a capstone strategy or finance course the opportunity to undertake a situational analysis including the firm’s summary financials and the rudimentary financial analysis of the expansion opportunities that are included in the case. The case is based on capital budgeting principles in finance and fundamentals of strategy development.

Endogenous economic growth in China

China has enjoyed spectacular economic growth over the past twenty years or so. However, Chinese regional economic development has relied on forein direct investment, export-oriented industralization, and other traditional growth models. While China can perhaps continue to rely on exports, cheap labor, and a huge domestic market for foreing invetment for some time to come, sooner or later the question will arise: How long can China sustain economic growth based on her current strategies?We propose in this article the endogenous growth model as an alternative and long-term growth strategy, and focus largely on its treatment of knowledge as an independent factor of production in Chinese regional economies. This article thus proposes a new institutional framework defined as a trilateral commission. The commissioners are designed to advise and enhance communication between local and regional government leaders and administrators on knowledge-based collaboration and coordination among business, government, and the research community, as well as on the issue of knowlege generation and utilization.

Alternative Growth and Defensive Strategies Reveal Potential and Gender Specific Trade-Offs in Dioecious Plants Salix paraplesia to Nutrient Availability.

Population sex ratios of many dioecious plants in nature are biased. This may be attributed to sexually different resource demands and adaptive capacity. In male-biasedPopulus, males often display stronger physiological adaptation than females. Interestingly, Populus and Salix, belonging to Salicaceae, display an opposite biased sex ratio, especially in nutrient-poor environmental conditions. Do female willows have a greater tolerance to nutrient deficiency than males? In this study, we investigated the growth and defensive strategies of Salix paraplesia cuttings, which were grown with high and low soil fertility for about 140 days over one growing season. Results suggest that different strategies for biomass allocation may result in sexually different defense capacities and trade-offs between growth and defense. Females are likely to adopt radical strategies, overdrawing on available resources to satisfy both growth and defense, which seems to be more like a gamble compared with males. It is also suggested that females may have an extra mechanism to compensate for the investment in growth under nutrient-poor conditions. In summary, the results may help focus restoration efforts on sex selection such that a moderate increase in female willow quantity could increase the resistance and resilience of willow populations to early sporadic desertification.

Epitaxy of SrTiO3 on Silicon: The Knitting Machine Strategy

SrTiO3 (STO) crystalline layers grown on Si open unique perspectives for the monolithic integration of functional oxides in silicon-based devices, but their fabrication by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) is challenging due to unwanted interfacial reactions. Here we show that the formation of single-crystal STO layers on Si by MBE at the moderate growth temperature imposed by these interface reactions results from the crystallization of a partially separated amorphous mixture of SrO and TiO2 activated by an excess of Sr. We identify the atomic pathway of this mechanism and show that it leads to an antiphase domain morphology. On the basis of these results, we suggest and test alternative STO growth strategies to avoid antiphase boundary formation and significantly improve the STO structural quality. The understanding provided by these results offers promising prospects to crystallize perovskite oxides on semiconductors at moderate temperature and circumvent the issue of parasitic interface reactions.

氮肥对夏秋季茶树吸收根生物量和养分储量的影响

PDF HTML阅读 XML下载 导出引用 引用提醒 氮肥对夏秋季茶树吸收根生物量和养分储量的影响 DOI: 10.5846/stxb201403200495 作者: 作者单位: 四川农业大学 园艺学院 四川成都,中国农业科学院茶叶研究所 农业部茶树生物学与资源利用重点实验室,四川农业大学 园艺学院 四川雅安,中国农业科学院茶叶研究所 农业部茶树生物学与资源利用重点实验室,四川农业大学 园艺学院 四川成都,中国农业科学院茶叶研究所 农业部茶树生物学与资源利用重点实验室 作者简介: 通讯作者: 中图分类号: 基金项目: 国家自然科学基金(41101286);国家茶叶产业技术体系资助(CAR-23) The effect of nitrogen fertilization on biomass and nutrient storage in the fibrous roots of tea plants(Camellia sinensis) during summer and autumn Author: Affiliation: College of Horticulture, Sichuan Agriculture University, Chengdu 611130,China;,,,,College of Horticulture, Sichuan Agriculture University, Chengdu 611130,China;,Tea Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Key Laboratory of Tea Biology and Resources Utilization, Ministry of Agricultural, Hangzhou 310008,China Fund Project: 摘要 | 图/表 | 访问统计 | 参考文献 | 相似文献 | 引证文献 | 资源附件 | 文章评论 摘要:以12年生龙井43茶树为研究对象,在7月至翌年1月利用土钻法对连续5a施用不同氮肥处理后的茶树吸收根生物量和养分含量进行了研究。结果表明茶树吸收根生物量在0.34-0.72 mg/dm3之间,碳、氮、磷、钾和镁储量变异范围分别为12.6-25.2 mg/dm3、4.55-11.2 mg/dm3、0.47-1.19 mg/dm3、1.31-4.05 mg/dm3、0.30-1.19 mg/dm3。茶树吸收根生物量和各养分含量随月份变化呈现双峰型,峰值分别在8月和翌年1月,而7月和11月生物量和养分储量均较低。与不施肥对照相比,施用氮肥影响茶树吸收根生物量,氮肥施用对茶树吸收根生物量的影响因氮肥施用时间而异。不同氮肥施用水平下茶树吸收根总碳浓度和总碳含量均不存在显著差异。受氮肥施用时间影响,施氮对茶树吸收根氮浓度的影响不同月份间存在差异,其中7月、8月和1月施氮处理下氮浓度较高,而9月、10月和11月不施氮处理下氮浓度较高。氮肥施用对各月份茶树吸收根氮养分储量均没有显著影响。氮肥施用降低了部分月份茶树吸收根磷、钾和镁的浓度和储量。施用中等用量的氮肥能缩小茶树吸收根夏秋季氮磷钾镁养分储量的月份间差异。 Abstract:China first country to produce tea,and its artificial cultivation can traced back to 1000 BC. Tea(Camellia sinensis), one of the main economic crops in China, can be grown in the tropical and subtropical provinces. The fibrous roots are the most active parts of the root system and play important roles in absorbing water and nutrients. Although many factors(e.g., climatic and topographic conditions, soil properties) significantly influence the growth, turnover and the storage of nutrients in the fibrous roots, very few studies have investigated the effects of nitrogen fertilization. In this study, the dynamic changes to biomass and nutrient storage in the fibrous roots of tea plants were investigated in an experimental plantation that previously received different rates of nitrogen fertilizer[0, 285 and 712 kg hm-2 a-1] for 5 consecutive years to elucidate the effect of N fertilization on growth. The fibrous root samples were collected in the summer and autumn seasons, namely from July 2011 to January 2012, using a soil core. The biomass production of the fibrous roots varied from 0.34 g/dm3to 0.72 g/dm3and the carbon(C), nitrogen(N), phosphorus(P), potassium(K), and magnesium(Mg) storage values were 12.6-25.2 mg/dm3, 4.55-11.2 mg/dm3, 0.47-1.19 mg/dm3, 1.31-4.05 mg/dm3, and 0.30-1.19 mg/dm3, respectively. Biomass and nutrient storage in the fibrous roots showed bimodal monthly variations, being the highest in August, 2011 and January, 2012, but relatively low in July and November 2011. Fibrous root growth was initially promoted by N fertilization, but was inhibited during later stages, which might be explained by an alternative above-ground growth strategy. Nitrogen fertilization significantly affected the biomass production of fibrous roots, but its effects varied depending on the month. Biomass production showed an increasing trend in the treatment without N application in July, August, and October. However, in September the biomass production was relatively higher in the treatment receiving medium N, and rose with increasing N applications in December. The N application rates did not significantly affect the total C concentration and contents in fibrous roots. The N concentrations in the fibrous roots were considerably higher in July, August, and January but lower in September, October, and November,. The C/N ratio was significantly affected by the level of nitrogen fertilizer. The root C:N ratio was higher in the treatment without N fertilizer than in the other treatments in July, and in the treatments with N fertilizers in September, October, and November, However, it was lowest in the treatments with high N fertilizer applications in December and January. Surprisingly, N storage in the fibrous roots was un-affected by N fertilization rates. Nitrogen fertilization led to decreasing concentrations and storage of P, K, and Mg in fibrous roots, but the the decreasing tendency was alleviated by a moderate application of N. In conclusion, N fertilization has significant, but temporally variable effects, on the biomass and nutrient storage in the fibrous roots of C. sinensis. 参考文献 相似文献 引证文献

Global trends and the economic crisis: Future alternative European growth strategies

In front of fiercer competition from outside (especially from emerging countries), of the contraction of the internal demand, following the crisis and the problems with public finances, and of the process of European integration that fostered increases in wages and inflation in its Eastern countries, Europe can no longer prosper without a clear long-run development strategy as it used to do before 2007. This paper aims at describing the long-run outcomes emerging from possible alternative growth strategies, differentiated between CEECs and EU15 countries, that had historically grown on the basis of two different development strategies. The analysis involves the development of scenarios over a time span of 18years, from 2012, the latest year with actual data, up to 2030. Results show that the effects of Eastern countries' development strategies are highly influenced by the strategies chosen by the Western ones, while the opposite does not hold. Moreover, a scenario in which both groups of countries increase the quality of their original strategies, but remain in their actual productive specialization trajectories, is the least expansionary. In all cases, a strategy of modernization of CEECs economies leads to a more expansionary scenario; this strategy pays the most for Eastern countries if Western countries also move towards an industrial strategy. Finally, the most expansionary scenario is one of an advanced industrial Europe, and interestingly enough, this is also associated to lower increases in regional disparities.

Enhancing competitiveness through MNC-local firms co-opetitive relationships

Subject area The case study reflects issues and challenges in the fields of strategy, management, competitive intelligence and new organizational designs. Study level/applicability The case study is recommended for MBA and postgraduate courses in strategy, management, competitive intelligence and new organizational designs. The case can also be used in executive development programs focusing on business strategy and innovation. Case overview It is 2009. LK Company has newly been established as lighting products manufacturer. Based in Thailand, the firm commences its business operations with an aggressive pricing strategy (low-cost products). At the time of the establishment and launch of operation activities, the market leader [an international multinational company (MNC)] has above 35 per cent market share, leaving LK with an initial 2 per cent market share. While the share of LK grew from 2 to 10 per cent in the past five years, competition in the industry nevertheless remains harsh. Companies are confronted with pressures to invest in the development of new energy-saving lamps, and in this context, LK's company executive board needs to make a strategic decision on which way to follow to sustain the business: shall this be with or without foreign MNCs. Expected learning outcomes Students will be able to better understand; analyze and assess the importance of resource management in highly competitive environments, as well as the importance of designing alternative growth strategies by identifying and assessing changes in the market/environment. They are introduced to characteristics of co-opetition strategies, advantages and disadvantages of co-opetitive business structures and impact of the choice of business partners over time. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

Financing Sustainable Forest Landscapes

Tropical deforestation is one of the defining issues of our time. Addressing it will require local solutions to a global problem that must be implemented within a narrow and closing window of time. This is no easy task and will require strong leadership and “joined-up” policy making. Addressing tropical deforestation will also require vast pools of capital, and much of it will need to come from the private sector. The good news is that this capital already exists at an enormous scale—an estimated US$225 trillion dollars of private capital is currently allocated through the world's financial markets. As a career banker, I have observed that the “financial economy” often facilitates much that takes place on the surface of the earth. While I am not rash enough to suggest that finance is the perfect solution that will enable sustainable forest landscapes, I strongly believe that the financial sector has a very important role to play in global forest conservation. One of the most promising mechanisms for channeling private capital to green economic growth more broadly—and to forest conservation more specifically—is Green Bonds. This belief was reinforced by a recent conversation with senior management of one of the world's largest Sovereign Wealth Funds who shared my excitement of the potential of these products. Although bonds themselves aren't new (they were used over 800 years ago in Renaissance Italy, for example), Green Bonds are a relatively recent innovation. Unprecedented interest from the world's largest investors is driving the transition from niche to mainstream at extraordinary pace. Bonds are simply an effective mechanism to borrow money, and are labelled “green” when the proceeds are dedicated to a specific set of “green activities.” In the context of forests, these activities will most likely have to address development far beyond the forest frontier, in sectors such as the agricultural, urban, transport and energy systems that can all impact the forests. Green bonds are essentially a mechanism for preferencing a holistic approach to “forest friendly” sustainable productive investments over alternative growth strategies in forest economies Green Bonds capitalize on a growing appetite for “purpose-driven” finance and are attractive to the financial sector for many reasons; they are a familiar product to the investment community and they represent the single largest pool of capital in the world. Importantly, they help reduce the risk and complexity of greener investing. They make product selection simple and standardized for investors and they outsource the social and environmental due diligence to credible third parties. From a policy perspective, they have the potential to create a virtuous cycle: uncovering the large-scale investor appetite we are seeing in the market will help to drive governments to develop forest friendly green growth frameworks in the knowledge that cheap private sector capital is eager and available. Investment requires clear indicators and measures of performance, and this is extremely relevant to complex topics like sustainable forest landscapes. We need to be clear about what we are trying to achieve and rigorous about how we measure it. We need to assist the financial sector by simplifying and standardizing. For that we need credible standards, and then third party verification of those standards. There is huge demand from the finance community for this. For the conservation community, this means rising to the challenge of producing clear yet comprehensive indicators and measures related to sustainable forest landscapes that large, responsible money managers can trust and use. The challenges related to sustainable forest landscapes are significant, but so are the opportunities. Engaging the financial sector and mobilizing private capital on a large scale is one of these opportunities. This will be no easy task, but working on the three areas above will we a considerable step in the right direction to realising the vision laid out by John Sawhill, the former President and CEO of TNC, who observed, “in the end, our society will be defined not only by what we create, but by what we refuse to destroy.”