Firm Place Research Articles

Stephen Harding: A Biographical Sketch and Texts (review)

Reviewed by: Stephen Harding: A Biographical Sketch and Texts Daniel F. Callahan Stephen Harding: A Biographical Sketch and Texts. By Claudio Stercal. Translated by Martha F. Krieg. [Cistercian Studies Series, No. 226.] (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press. 2008. Pp. vi, 158. $18.95 paperback. ISBN 978-0-879-07326-8.) The title of this book clearly states what the reader can expect: namely, a biographical sketch of St. Stephen Harding, the third abbot of Cîteaux, with five important source pieces that can be definitely attributed to him, in Latin and English with a solid accompanying critical apparatus. It is, as the author states, “a collection of working material,” a firm place on which all further work on this extraordinary man and his place in the history of Cistercian monasticism can build. Claudio Stercal, a professor at the Facoltà teologica dell’Italia Settentrionale in Milan and author of several studies on St. Bernard of Clairvaux and Cistercian spirituality, in this work, originally published in Italian in 2001, offers a brief study of the principal facts of Harding’s life and influence on the development of the Cistercian ideals. For an individual who contributed so significantly to the future of Cistercian monasticism through his emphasis on a return to a fundamental observance of the Rule of St. Benedict; his desire to obtain the purest form of the Vulgate Bible; his seeking the use of liturgical hymns sung in the sixth and seventh century; and his contributions to the Cistercian constitution, the Carta Caritatis, much remains debatable about the facts of his life. Born in the early 1060s, closely associated with Cîteaux from its origins and third abbot of the house from 1108 to 1133, and dying in 1134, he was very important in shaping the Cistercians from an early period in the existence of the order through his working with other leaders of the congregation and through his exemplary life. Following the perception of Thomas Merton and others, one finds that he and the first and second abbots of the house, Robert of Molesme and Alberic, formed a foundational trinity of immense importance for the future, but especially valuable was the life and work of Harding. The strengths of this book are many, particularly its clear, succinct presentation of the roots and early development of Cîteaux. Also notable is its clear indication of the problems arising from lack of data or contradictions as, for example, the difficulty in determining the authorship of the Carta Caritatis in its various redactions. The book also nicely manages to keep its focus on the central importance for Harding of the Rule of St. Benedict, resulting in an extraordinary revitalization of Benedictine life by a return to its essence. [End Page 325] The principal deficiency is the failure to give more attention to the contributions of St. Bernard of Clairvaux. Stercal does indicate some significant differences between Harding and St. Bernard, but does not develop the subject as much as it deserves. Yet one must be grateful for what the book achieves. Highly readable in an excellent translation by Martha F.Krieg, it will serve future scholars well on so important a subject, through, for example, its double bibliography—one ordering studies chronologically, the other listing the studies alphabetically by name of the author. There is much yet to be said about Harding and the Cistercian roots, but Stercal has provided in this little book much assistance in having this important material studied more fully. Daniel F. Callahan University of Delaware Copyright © 2010 The Catholic University of America Press

Alignment of virtual enterprise, information technology, and performance: an empirical study

Functional-level strategic planning should align with and support business-level strategies. Alignment of strategies is presumed to be a positive contributor to business performance just as misalignment is presumed to be a negative contributor. These presumptions should be true for all types of business environments. This study develops and tests these presumptions by examining managers’ perceptions of strategy. Drawing on both virtual enterprise (VE) and information technology (IT) literature, this research compares how these managers’ perceptions of the amount of emphasis their firm places on different aspects of business-level VE strategies and how the amount of functional level information technology support for each aspect of VE strategy are aligned. Based on a sample of matched pairs of general managers and operations managers from 196 organisations, hypotheses relating the alignment of virtual enterprise, information technology, and business performance are tested. The moderating effects of the years of association between the operations manager (OM) and the general manager (GM) were also examined. The results support the hypotheses that years of association between the GM and OM moderates the relationship between business performance and the alignment of operations managers’ and general managers’ of perceptions of the amount of emphasis their firm places on different aspects of business-level VE strategies and how the amount of functional level information technology support for each aspect of VE strategy.

Making Natural History: Doing the Enlightenment

The image of the Enlightenment as an era has proved to be remarkably constant, repeatedly resisting protracted and subtle attempts to de-ideologize, pluralize, and reperiodize it. Historians have turned away from a pure history of ideas in favor of a cultural history of publishing and reading, a social history of intellectual sociability, and the situating of ideas within historical-political constellations. The concept of a homogeneous, quasi-monolithic Enlightenment has been pluralized and parceled into a large number of geographically and thematically distinct Enlightenments. At the same time, the chronological scope of research interests has been extended and refined. Whereas the decades of the high Enlightenment in Britain and France were the initial focus of interest, the phase of the radical early Enlightenment has since achieved a firm place in a total panorama that also takes account of chronologically different developments in various national contexts. Nonetheless it is true, although necessarily a generalization, to say that the interpretation of the Enlightenment as a whole concentrates on an “Enlightenment thinking” characterized as rational, critical of dogma, and systematic, and whose main emphases are seen as political ideas, philosophy, criticism of superstition, and the experimental sciences. The intention here is to focus on the aspect of active mass participation in the intellectual project of the Enlightenment and to supplement the image of an intellectual history centered on the triad of ideas, authors, and texts (more rarely books) with a perspective that focuses on learned practice.

Der Körper als Dritter - Psychosomatische Triangulierungsprozesse am Beispiel der Adoleszenz

One of the earliest developmental tasks of childhood is the child's possession of its own body, which it formerly had shared with its mother, and which it more and more can experience as belonging to himself. What is called the "psychosomatic triangulation" requires the mother's internal handing over of the responsibility for its body increasingly to the child. For a while the body can play the role of a third between mother and child until in the adolescence the young person completely takes responsibility for his body. There are three ways which can lead to the development of psychosomatic symptoms: Firstly the body can remain the bearer of all emotions, if no empathic relationship with a primary object is available, in which the symbolization of emotions can be learned. Secondly psychosomatic symptoms can emerge from the symbiotic islands of the body regions which are still shared phantasmatically by mother and child. There is a third way of developing psychosomatic symptoms in which the subject falls back upon the body as a third object either if no other third--characteristically the father--takes in a firm place in the relation between child and mother or if the family's development is blocked for other reasons. With regard to the medical and therapeutic treatment of psychosomatic symptoms it will finally be discussed the communicative function of psychosomatic symptoms as a sign in the relation to important persons and how the factors, which contribute to biosemiotic regression or progression can be identified.

Integrating analytical Customer Relationship Management with Customer Relationship Management in organisations

This paper aims to examine how Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems are in place in firms in practice with a focus on the customer needs and requirements, i.e., how analytical CRM (aCRM) systems are used to support existing CRM systems and how such a system can be integrated with CRM systems. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) has always been widely regarded for developing and retaining customers through their increased satisfaction and loyalty. This paper also discusses how customer information is used by powerful analytical CRM where CRM systems are already in place in organisations. To support the arguments made, the paper presents the analytical CRM framework. Analytical Customer touch points and interesting patterns of analytical customer related data are presented. A clear difference between CRM and aCRM is presented. The application of analytical CRM has been very recent and its visibility is substantially low, and the provision of these systems is limited to a few leading firms in the world. The paper explains the value of analytical CRM systems inform of customer touch points.

Strategia rozwoju a ocena jakości usług na przykładzie Zespołu Pałacowego w Kurozwękach w świetle badań sondażowych

The strategy in the development and the process of creating the quality of services is one of the most important elements the business management. A 14th­century Palace in Kurozwęki is one of the most expansive and developing enterprises in the Świętokrzyski region, which has been becoming the crucial touristic centre for this province. In the present article, due to the basic conditioning, directions of the touristic enterprise development of the Palace in Kurozwęki were shown. They concerned the period of two years from 2006 up to 2008. In order to estimate the activities and the quality of services in the Palace in Kurozwęki, the survey investigations were conducted by the use of questionnaires. The 14th­century Palace in Kurozwęki has no straightforward strategies indicated. However, on the basis of the conducted investigations, interviews and analyses, it was decided to specify such strategy. The strategy presented by the author should indicate aims, which this firm must realize and constantly develop. This strategy enables the firm to deal with the specific activities, transformations as well as to gain the required funds in order to realize tasks and their allocation together with the stabilization of the firm place on the market in the future. Any enterprise has to consider the future, not only in the aspect of the existence, but also in the light of the development. The strategic benefits do not depend on the product or service prices, moreover, on their increase but they relay on the high quality of the production, the process of getting ahead others in the study of modern goods as well as on the improvement and/or introduction of new technologies and organizations.

Cause Marketing: Spillover Effects of Cause-Related Products in a Product Portfolio

The number of firms carrying a cause-related product has significantly increased in recent years. We consider a duopoly model of competition between firms in two products to determine which products a firm will link to a cause. We first test the behavioral underpinnings of our model in two laboratory experiments to demonstrate the existence of both a direct utility benefit to consumers from cause marketing (CM) and a spillover benefit onto other products in the portfolio. Linking one product in a product portfolio to a cause can therefore increase sales both of that product and, via a spillover effect, of other products in the firm's portfolio. We construct a CM game in which each firm chooses which products, if any, to place on CM. In the absence of a spillover benefit, a firm places a product on CM if and only if it can increase its price by enough to compensate for the cost of CM. Thus, in equilibrium, firms either have both products or neither product on CM. However, with the introduction of a spillover benefit to the second product, this result changes. We show that if a single firm in the market links only one product to a cause, it can raise prices on both products and earn a higher profit. We assume each firm has an advantage in one product and show that there is an equilibrium in which each firm links only its disadvantaged product to a cause. If the spillover effect is strong, there is a second equilibrium in which each firm links only its advantaged product to a cause. In each case, firms raise their prices on both products and earn higher profits than when neither firm engages in CM. We also show that a firm will never place its entire portfolio on CM. Overall, our work implies that, by carrying cause-related products, companies can not only improve their image in the public eye but also increase profits.

Escape from New York: The market impact of loosening disclosure requirements

We examine the first significant deregulation of U.S. disclosure requirements since the passage of the 1933/1934 Exchange and Securities Acts: the 2007 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Rule 12h-6. Rule 12h-6 has made it easier for foreign firms to deregister with the SEC and thereby terminate their U.S. disclosure obligations. We show that the market reacted negatively to the announcement by the SEC that firms from countries with weak disclosure and governance regimes could more easily opt out of the stringent U.S. reporting and legal environment. We also find that since the rule's passage, an unprecedented number of firms have deregistered, and these firms often had been previous targets of U.S. class action securities lawsuits or SEC enforcement actions. Our findings suggest that shareholders of non-U.S firms place significant value on U.S. securities regulations, especially when the home country investor protections are weak.

Flupirtine: pharmacology and clinical applications of a nonopioid analgesic and potentially neuroprotective compound

Background: Flupirtine is a nonopioid drug without antipyretic or antiphlogistic properties and with a favorable tolerability. It constitutes a unique class within the group of nonsteroidal analgesics and displays a peculiar pharmacodynamic profile that invites the investigation of applications beyond the pain-relieving effect. Objective: This review describes and evaluates the pharmacologic and clinical literature regarding flupirtine and discusses its future potential. Methods: A search of the primary literature and conference abstracts was conducted using the keyword ‘flupirtine’. Resulting articles were compiled and analyzed for this review. Results/conclusions: Although flupirtine has gained a firm place in the treatment of acute and chronic pain in various clinical settings since its introduction, a broader range of applications remains to be explored in clinical trials. Possible neuroprotective effects due to N-methyl-d-aspartate antagonistic properties of flupirtine might be promising in the treatment of Creutzfeld–Jakob disease, Alzheimer's disease, and multiple sclerosis. Trials in these fields are forthcoming.

Apprenticeship Training and the Business Cycle

Dual apprenticeship training is a market-driven form of education at the upper secondary level, taking place in firms as well as in vocational schools. So far, little is known about the impact of the business cycle on the number of apprenticeship programs offered by firms. Using panel-data of Swiss cantons from 1988-2004, we find that the influence of the business cycle is statistically significant, but small in size. Instead, supply of apprenticeship programs is driven to a much greater extent by demographic change. Conversely, the number of first-year high school students is not affected by the business cycle. We find, however, that enrollment increases if the population at age 16 grows, but access to high schools does not become more restricted in times of negative growth.

18F-FDG PET and PET/CT in the Evaluation of Cancer Treatment Response

Multimodality imaging, as represented by its greatest exponent, PET/CT, has a firm place in the evaluation of a patient presenting with cancer. With 18F-FDG, PET/CT is rapidly becoming the key investigative tool for the staging and assessment of cancer recurrence. In the last 5 y, PET/CT has also gained widespread acceptance as a key tool used to demonstrate early response to intervention and therapy. In this setting, a major clinical need is being addressed with 18F-FDG PET/CT, because of its inherent ability to demonstrate (before other markers of response) if disease modification has occurred. This review presents available evidence to this effect.

Information Technology and Diversification

While the importance of IT coupled with organizational changes for business performance has been widely discussed in the information systems (IS) literature, there has been little empirical research on the issue. This research examines empirically the relationship between IT and diversification by employing multiple diversification measures. It also examines empirically the relative impact on performance of IT and diversification. Results show that diversification coupled with increased IT spending improves firm performance when its strategic emphasis is on related diversification. The results also show that firms place strategic focus on related diversification when they increase IT spending, and that they require more IT when their strategic emphasis is tilted toward related diversification. The findings imply that by providing a better means of coordination, IT enables scope economies, efficient utilization of business resources and collaboration across individual business units, eventually leveraging the benefits of diversification.

Discovering the Role of the Firm: The Separation Criterion and Corporate Law

Professor Daniel F. Spulber presents a theory of the firm based on the ability to separate the objectives of the firm from those of its owners. He introduces a separation criterion which defines a firm as a transaction institution such that the consumption objectives of the institution's owners can be separated from the objectives of the institution itself. The separation criterion provides a bright line distinction between firms and other types of transaction institutions. Firms under this criterion include profit-maximizing sole proprietorships, corporations, and limited-liability partnerships. Institutions that are not classified as firms include contracts, clubs, workers' cooperatives, buyers' cooperatives, merchants associations, basic partnerships, government enterprises, and government sponsored enterprises. The separation theory of the firm yields insights into corporate law that extend and complement the standard contractarian approach. The separation theory of the firm places emphasis on shareholder property rights and corporate governance.

Il chiodo-placca dorsale DNP: note di tecnica chirurgica

There are many methods of treatment for fractures of the wrist and it is true to say that Orthopaedic surgeons are undecided as which method of treatment is best. The particular method of treatment will depend both upon the preference and experience of the surgeon and will also depend upon the nature of the fracture. In particular there are many methods about treatment of extra-articular distal radius fractrures type A2. A3 (Colles fractures). It is also worth saying that traditionally treatment of these fractures has been guided by the statement of Colles in his original paper who said that people with these fractures do well even if the fracture isn’ reduced. This has meant that these fractures have tended to be under treated in the past although most Orthopaedic surgeons now realise that treatment of these fractures is important if later problems are to be avoided. This is particularly true these days when patients place greater demands upon their wrists and are less willing to accept limitations of movement and/or pain. In this paper, we report our experience with a new plate that has been in use in Europe since April 2005. It is a fixed-amgle intrafocal nail plate. We have treated 25 patients in a period from October 2005 to may 2007. After one year we can only provide provisional results. In all patients we have had a early restart of they common way life without complications though there are, in litterature, cases of rupture of the thumb extensor tendon. The nail plate always has a firm place in our daily routine for those cases where a stable osteosynthes is indicated and in patients that required greater demands upon their wrists and are less willing to accept limitations of movement.

Divulgação voluntária da demonstração dos fluxos de caixa no mercado de capitais Brasileiro

Este trabalho avalia os motivos da divulgação voluntária da DFC, Demonstração dos Fluxos de Caixa, no mercado de capitais brasileiro. Para tal, utiliza o referencial teórico da Teoria da Divulgação Voluntária. A partir do modelo proposto por Verrecchia (2001), são elaboradas cinco hipóteses relacionando a divulgação voluntária da DFC a outras variáveis. Essas hipóteses são testadas a partir dos dados das companhias abertas com ações listadas na BOVESPA, Bolsa de Valores de São Paulo, as quais divulgaram voluntariamente a DFC no período de 2000 a 2004. Utilizam-se testes estatísticos univariados de diferenças de médias e multivariados, a partir da aplicação do modelo da regressão logística. As evidências empíricas sugerem que a divulgação voluntária da DFC tem forte correlação positiva com a divulgação voluntária passada da DFC e positiva com a importância dada pela empresa às percepções dos outsiders. Percebe-se, ainda, correlação positiva com o desempenho da empresa; negativa com os custos de divulgação e negativa com o nível de assimetria informacional. Também é empregada uma variável de controle relacionada à participação das empresas nos programas de ADRs, American Depositary Receipts, notandose uma correlação positiva entre a divulgação da DFC e a participação das empresas nos programas de ADRs.

Relational Capital: Strategic Advantage for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises (SMEs) Through Negotiation and Collaboration

Collaborative entrepreneurship research suggests that organizations will soon pursue more collaborative relationships throughout a worldwide network of firms, driving a strategy of continuous innovation, specially small- and medium-size firms (SMEs). Tapping into a body of literature that focuses on the importance of human capital in driving long-term success, we merge ideas of collaborative research with a growing body of work on human capital or human resource management in SMEs. Our paper states that it is not the human, per se, that is the real asset but the relationships those humans have that are the most inimitable and important capital. We will discuss how companies use relational capital as the basis for collaborative entrepreneurship. Consistent with our hypotheses, our exploratory study suggests that smaller firms place more value on relational capital than do larger firms. We also have some indication that the key capital that differentiates low vs. high performance, regardless of firm size, is the relational capital aspect. To sum up, relational capital is a fundamental asset for firms, but especially for SMEs, and high performing companies are those that are able to negotiate with others and develop collaborative agreements, thus placing a high value in relational capital.

Encounters in the Fields – Tourism to the Battlefields of the Western Front

The First World War is now slipping beyond the realm of lived experience, yet it continues to wield a profound fascination over the British modern imagination. The Western Front in France and Belgium, which was the decisive theatre of operations for the Allied troops, has fashioned its own mythology and imagery and has secured a firm place in modern memory. Although the unremarkable topography of the region now visually betrays little of the momentous nature of the battles fought across its expanses, thousands of British visitors travel to the area throughout the year. This paper explores the ways in which tourists embarking on commercial coach tours engage with the battlefield landscape by examining contemporary tourist performance. It also considers the role of the tour guide in setting and directing the tourist encounter.

대퇴골(Femur)고정용 골 금속판 제작 및 강도 평가

Study was developed the metallic plate for fixation in the femur fracture and plates has a firm place in fracture treatment. This plates can be stabilized for fracture fixation as well as biological and dynamical device. The device's designation and sizing has a optimization with bending structural stiffness and strength, known meaning that is reliable regardless of the plate by the short type and long type. The bending strength of the curved metallic long plate has to evaluate a 11,000N and the bending strength of the curved metallic short plate has to evaluate a 6,525N. This see the X-ray image of bending angle made certain of 15° at number 2 and same 82.87° at number 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10 by outside angle, and confirmed 25.26° at number 3, 3.68° at number 6, 15.64° at number 9 by inside angle. This study shows that keep up the metallic plate for fixation in the femur fracture through X-ray Image and the device can be used to support Revision case of Hip Implant and to use a case of Hip screw compression of Hip Neck Fracture. Short plate have a wrapping of femur and long plate have to preserve a pole of femur.

Discovering the Role of the Firm: The Separation Criterion and Corporate Law

Professor Daniel F. Spulber presents a theory of the firm based on the ability to separate the objectives of the firm from those of its owners. He introduces a separation criterion which defines a firm as a transaction institution such that the consumption objectives of the institution’s owners can be separated from the objectives of the institution itself. The separation criterion provides a bright line distinction between firms and other types of transaction institutions. Firms under this criterion include profit-maximizing sole proprietorships, corporations, and limited-liability partnerships. Institutions that are not classified as firms include contracts, clubs, workers’ cooperatives, buyers’ cooperatives, merchants associations, basic partnerships, government enterprises, and government sponsored enterprises. The separation theory of the firm yields insights into corporate law that extend and complement the standard contractarian approach. The separation theory of the firm places emphasis on shareholder property rights and corporate governance. _____________________________ * Elinor Hobbs Distinguished Professor of International Business, Professor of Management Strategy, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 606 Jacobs Center, 2001 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208-2013, e-mail: jems@kellogg.northwestern.edu I am grateful for the support of a grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffmann Foundation for research on entrepreneurship. I thank Michael Baye, Henry Butler, Shane Greenstein, David Haddock, Gillian Hadfield, Peter G. Klein, Jin Li, Henry Manne, Scott Masten, Troy Paredes, Jens Prufer, Steve Ramirez, Larry Ribstein, John Rust, Scott Stern, and Joshua Wright for helpful comments on an earlier draft.

Escape From New York: The Market Impact of SEC Rule 12h-6

We examine the stock market impact of SEC Rule 12h-6 which eased the ability of foreign firms to deregister with the SEC and as a result terminate their U.S. disclosure obligations under the 1934 Securities Exchange Act. We document that the market reacted negatively to the ability of firms from weak disclosure and governance countries to more easily opt out of the stringent U.S. reporting and legal environment. Our findings suggest that shareholders of non-U.S firms place significant value on U.S. securities regulations, especially when the home country investor protections are weak.