Subsequent Realization Research Articles

Strategic goal accomplishment in export ventures: the role of capabilities, knowledge, and environment

The management literature suggests that setting strategic goals facilitates the identification of appropriate business strategies and focuses management attention and available resources on their accomplishment, enabling subsequent goal realization. Yet the literature also indicates that firms often find it difficult to realize their strategic goals and may find it even more challenging to do so when operating in foreign markets. However, little is known empirically about the extent to which strategic goals enable desired strategic positions to be achieved and factors that may affect this relationship. We examine this important issue using primary data from a sample of exporting manufacturers. Results support the existence of previously theorized strategic goal–realized strategic position gaps and show that these negatively impact performance. Thus, simply setting strategic goals does not necessarily aid in accomplishing the desired outcomes, and any failure to do so is costly. Drawing on organization theory, we find that internal capabilities and knowledge, and external market factors play important roles in minimizing such strategic goal–realized strategic position gaps. Specifically, we show that businesses with stronger architectural capabilities, those with higher levels of internationalization, and those operating in less dynamic market environments are better able to realize their intended strategic objectives and thereby enjoy superior performance.

From Patterns in Language to Patterns in Thought: Relativity Realized Across the Americas

Among the many results Boas envisioned for the documentation of American indigenous languages was a clearer delineation of some fundamental facets of human psychology. This paper examines the subsequent realization of that particular vision, outlining some of the ways in which research with speakers of American languages has helped illuminate human cognition. The focus is on key findings that offer support for linguistic relativity, the influence of linguistic disparities on thought evident in non-linguistic behavior. These findings relate to spatial, temporal, and numerical cognition. The relevant data surveyed offer compelling evidence that some cross-linguistic differences impact cognitive habits. A pivotal point is underscored throughout the paper: Despite the crossfield nature of the findings on this topic, those findings are ultimately contingent on the research of linguistic fieldworkers who have meticulously described typologically distinct languages. Through their research, the Boasian vision for...

Пролонгована гормональна контрацепція: профілактика непланованої вагітності та порушень репродуктивного здоров’я

The objective: depression of frequency of side effects at women who used various methods of the prolonged hormonal contraception and complications at the subsequent pregnancy and labors on the basis of the differentiated approach to their application taking into account clinical, endocrinologic, the ehografical, microbiological and psychological features, and also algorithm of preparation for the subsequent pregnancy. Patients and methods. Аt 1 stage influence of three types hormonal a rileasing of systems on condition of genesial health of 250 women was studied. At the 2nd stage features of clinical course of pregnancy and labors at 80 patients who used various hormonal system rileasing were studied. Results. All types hormonal rileasing of systems have high contraceptive effect and are especially shown to women with gynecologic case rate (vaginal and transdermal at premenstrual syndrome and dysmenorrheas; the endometrial – at hyperplastic processes of uterus and an adenomyosis), thus side effects arise within 3 months, and then independently disappear and don’t demand additional correction. Conclusion. Women who plan the subsequent realization of genesial function, advantages should give advantages to vaginal and transdermalny rileasing-systems. Key words: the prolonged hormonal contraception, pregnancy, genesial health, prophylaxis.

Australian Modernists in London: William Dobell’s The Dead Landlord and Patrick White’s The Ham Funeral

When Patrick White was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1973, it was primarily for his novels. Less well recognised is the significance of White’s dramatic literature and his involvement in the theatre. This article offers a new analysis of White’s first notable breakthrough into theatre and drama, The Ham Funeral, which he wrote in postwar London and which was produced in Adelaide in 1961. This article argues that a modernist idiom of 20th-century Australian drama can be found in this play that laid the groundwork for a poetics of language, image and theatricality. The play’s aesthetic modernism is found primarily in the blend of expressionist and surrealist elements, the poetic language, the alienated creative subject and the representation of sexuality and the unconscious. White’s thematics also become political, concerned with power, masculinity and gendered assumptions about rationality and emotion, poetry and the body. Having lived in London during the interwar years, White was also part of the networks that included Australian-born artists, and he was exposed to influences from visual arts as well as theatre. Of these, the artist William Dobell was central to the genesis of The Ham Funeral, as was the Polish-born modernist artist S. Ostoja-Kotkowski, who was critical to the design of the brooding expressionist set that set the standard for subsequent stage realisations of the play.

Acquisitions and the value versus growth phenomenon

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether investors value the future growth from acquisitions and the subsequent realisations thereof accurately. Design/methodology/approach The paper calculates conventional and adjusted market-to-book ratios and investigates abnormal cumulative returns over 20 quarters after portfolio formation for a sample of Standard & Poor’s 500 firms using a hedge portfolio and regression approach. Findings Hedge portfolios formed using adjusted market-to-book ratios underperform conventional hedge portfolios over a five-year period. Dividing the hedge into its comprising elements reveals that the underperformance of the adjusted hedge is mainly caused by weaker returns from value firms. Research Limitations/implications Findings are specific to large firms in a specific setting, and future research is needed to determine if findings are equally applicable to other situations. Findings imply that investors underrate the growth from new acquisitions and overrate the extent to which this has materialised. Practical Implications The paper highlights that the extrapolation of future growth rates should be carefully considered in any equity valuation of a firm with current or past acquisitions. Originality/value This paper shows that inaccurate valuation of the growth of new acquisitions and the realisation thereof is at least partially responsible for the value versus growth phenomenon. It shows that the accounting information could be improved and highlights the importance of extrapolating past growth rates with care.

Management Methods by Development of Objects of Energy Supply Taking into Account the Combined Risks

In the article the methods of choice of optimal administrative decisions are examined on the development of objects energy supplies of housing and communal services. That would take into account nascent risks related to investment-building activity of energy supplying enterprises. It is shown that the basic condition of housing and utilities on an energy supply is the building of objects with a subsequent production, distribution and realization of electric energy, that allows at their reproduction to provide quality and reliability of energy supply to the consumers. Also the questions of decline of risks and exposure of factors, influencing on the processes of management development of objects of energy supply in the field of housing and utilities, estimation of organizationally-economic reliability and combined risks, estimation of possibility of the use of innovative energy technologies, alternative sources of energy supply, are investigated in the article. It is fixed, that risk indexes must be appraised not only on the investment stage of building object, but also on his operating stage (after commissioning) on the basis of account of the great number of risks characterizing the combined risk.

Unmet aspirations as an explanation for the age U-shape in wellbeing

An emerging economic literature has found evidence that wellbeing follows a U-shape over age. Some theories have assumed that the U-shape is caused by unmet expectations that are felt painfully in midlife but beneficially abandoned and experienced with less regret during old age. This paper is the first to analyze age patterns in unmet expectations. Using the German Socio-Economic Panel, a unique data set that contains life satisfaction expectations as well as the same individuals’ subsequent life satisfaction realizations, I match 132,609 life satisfaction expectations to subsequent realizations. I find people to err systematically in predicting their life satisfaction over the life cycle. They expect – incorrectly – increases in young adulthood and decreases during old age. These errors are large, ranging from 9.8% at age 21 to −4.5% at age 68. They are stable over time and observed within cohorts and individuals as well as across socio-economic groups. These findings support theories that unmet expectations drive the age U-shape in wellbeing.

When Patient and Analyst Speak the “Same” Language: Exploring the Paradoxes of Belonging and Not Belonging

As the title suggests, this presentation explores the paradoxes found in the subjective experiences of belonging and not belonging when solely English-speaking psychoanalysts, like this author, assume they are speaking the “same” language as their bilingual patients for whom English is a secondary language. Seen through the lens of Brandchaft’s conceptualization of “systems of pathological accommodation,” in-depth, clinical vignettes from the analytic journey with her Italian patient, Antonio, illustrate the process by which the emergence of unspeakable traumas, embedded in his mother-tongue language world, bring into the foreground these unforeseen paradoxes. This awareness creates much turbulence in their analytic relationship. Ultimately, however, long-held convictions about their mutual experiences of belonging and not belonging are redefined, and significantly transform their ways-of-being in the world. In conclusion, the analyst describes the emergence of disavowed words and phrases particular to her own history and subsequent realization that paradoxically, none of us is truly monolingual. This in turn, raises questions about why the psychoanalytic world has privileged English: is this is a manifestation of ethnocentricity, or perhaps a means by which we sustain our ties with our psychoanalytic forebears, who, as survivors of the Holocaust, have disavowed horrific, unspeakable memories by silencing their own as well as their patients’ mother tongue?

Development of a Model for Successful Implementation of Supply Chain Management Information System in Indian Automotive Industry

Supply chain management information system (SCMIS) has gained a lot of importance because of its ability to reduce costs and increase responsiveness in the supply chain. The implementation of SCMIS is a complicated process with significant risk since disparate systems spanning across companies are being integrated. A review of literature has revealed that the success in implementing SCMIS is not very encouraging. Against this backdrop, this paper identified 18 critical success factors and proposes a model for successful implementation of the system that can give the organization an edge over their competitors. The proposed model confirms that following factors play a significant role during implementation of SCMIS—top management support, user involvement, pre-implementation analysis, user training, change management, data accuracy and communication. The process model and critical success factors will provide a useful guide for industry practitioners who are planning to implement SCMIS in their organization. The study can help them gain an understanding of the complexities intrinsic in implementing these systems, improve decision-making for successful implementation of the system right from inception and subsequent realization of the enormous benefits, such as, reduction of inventories, minimization of bullwhip effect and cost reduction, that will accrue with right implementation.

Life Satisfaction and Endogenous Aspirations

Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (N = 13,145), we investigate the effects of (not) achieving aspirations on subjective well-being. We match individual-level data about life satisfaction aspirations with their subsequent realizations and we jointly estimate two panel-data equations, the first depicting the effects that (not) achieving initial aspirations exerts on the subsequent level of life satisfaction, and the second describing the endogenous adjustment process followed by aspirations as a function of beaten and unmet targets. We find that while achieving aspirations exerts weak effects on life satisfaction, failing to match aspired conditions significantly reduces subsequent realizations of life satisfaction. Moreover, our analysis supports a hedonic adaptation explanation of the previous results, as we find that aspirations significantly adjust to beaten targets, while they remain almost unchanged in case of unmet targets.

Gandhi: A Spiritual Biography by Arvind Sharma (review)

Reviewed by: Gandhi: A Spiritual Biography by Arvind Sharma Sushumna Kannan (bio) Gandhi: A Spiritual Biography. By Arvind Sharma. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2013. Pp. vii + 252. isbn 978-0-300-18596-6. As is evident from the title of his new book, Gandhi: A Spiritual Biography, Arvind Sharma aims at tracing Gandhi’s life from the perspective of spirituality. The introduction begins by suggesting that some aspects of Gandhi’s life find explanation when viewed through prisms that qualify human beings as “spiritual beings having a human experience” (p. 4). It is then argued that the thesis that the source of Gandhi’s strength and leadership was spiritual is a strong one and worth investigating. The context for such a project is well-prompted in the face of many understandings of Gandhi as an individual accessing Hinduism in unique and intuitive ways as well as evolving spiritual principles in a specifically religion-neutral manner. Structurally, the book is divided into two parts. The first part describes and discusses all that could be considered spiritual in Gandhi’s life in his own words, mostly through his autobiography. This part acts as a typical biography, providing details of the significant events in Gandhi’s life. The second part is analytical and, through various sources, picks specific themes that prompt understandings of Gandhi as a spiritual person and the kind of spirituality he could be seen as upholding. The first part uses questions at pertinent points, enriching the content and defying what could otherwise have been a monotonous narrative. Most of these questions have to do with Gandhi’s ideas, the nature of their formation, and his influences. In his autobiography, Gandhi views his actions in retrospect and interjects his storytelling with thoughts such as “God in his infinite mercy protected me from myself,” which Sharma, as the spiritual biographer, duly notes and contextualizes (p. 19). Here, the analysis could have explored the nature of spirituality as something that gains greater relevance in later life—in keeping with similar insights from the Indian spiritual traditions. But Sharma draws on other ideas from, say, the Islamic tradition to suggest that “God turning his face toward us” could be a significant occurrence (p. 20). Though such analyses are a matter of authorial choice, a theory of the uniqueness of the Indian spiritual traditions from times prior to Gandhi, if proposed right at the beginning of the book, might have offered a richer view. Sharma does offer many small clarifications in a general manner that shed light on Hinduism and at times locate its uniqueness in contrast to both practical wisdom and also the enlightenment logic that re-defined the ideal place of God and man. Some comparisons and contrasts with other religious and spiritual traditions help cull [End Page 643] out aspects of Hinduism well. For instance, Sharma notes that “even hostility toward God can lead to salvation” (p. 23). Concepts of dharma and satya are explained through their unique usage by Gandhi, and these help the non-Indian reader in navigating the book. The only drawback of the first part of the book is its excessive reliance on Gandhi’s autobiography. Other perspectives from archival documents could have been used to avoid this. However, the occasional reliance on other biographies helps in alleviating this to some extent. Gandhi’s travel abroad and his subsequent realization of Hinduism’s place in the context of world religions are described interestingly through the prism of a contemporary traveler’s experiences. This contemporizing approach works well to cull out the issues involved. Gandhi’s Christian and other influences are duly recorded here. Sharma’s understanding that different movements from elsewhere “led him [Gandhi] to further explore his own Hindu background” lends greater credibility to the general experience of Indians traveling Westward (p. 38). That theosophy’s influence on Gandhi “re-introduced … a major text of his own tradition, the Bhagavad Gita” and “disabused him of the notion, fostered by the missionaries, that Hinduism is rife with superstition” is convincing and compatible with the cross-cultural experiences of the well traveled (p. 39). Again, Gandhi’s shame at not having read the Gītā in...

Development of Bases and Evaluation Capabilities of the New Tribotechnology for Plain Bearings

The article provides a tribological basis of a new deformation-thermal method to make the surfaces friction materials for plain bearings the improved anti-friction properties (high score resistance, running-in and others) by creating a modified surface layer. The method is based on the use of surface plastic exposure with the subsequent realization of the effect of thermal return of a thin surface layer. A number of most important descriptors of friction ensuring a durability of tribosystems in extreme conditions was considered. Basing of the laws of solid mechanics, principles of material science and regularities of friction and wear, the possibilities of transformation of these values in a favorable direction by using the new method were estimated. The experimental conditions for samples of bearings alloys used in modern reciprocator are given. The results of experimental study of tribodeformational effects for these alloys for a baseline option and with a preliminary modified surface layer are presented. A possibility in principle for the substantial increase of service properties of study group of materials basing on use of the presented method of modification is indicated.

Estimation of random field material properties for chopped fibre composites and application to vibration modelling

Typically there is variability in the material and geometrical properties of fibre-reinforced composites and this variability is often spatially correlated. Numerical models can predict the response of such panels, but the spatially correlated nature of the variability must be represented within the model. However, characterising spatially correlated variability is problematic. In this study, data is first generated by an automated optical process; light transmissibility measurements are taken of a dry chopped strand mat panel. The consequent image is post-processed to describe the fibre density as a random field using the Karhunen–Loeve decomposition. Previous measurements have shown a strong correlation between the density of the mat and the tensile modulus, so the information is then used to infer the statistics of the stiffness matrix in a Finite Element model. The panel is then cut into beams, from which mobility measurements provide an ensemble of measured mobility and natural frequencies. Subsequent realisations of the random field and corresponding Finite Element model are then used to predict the statistics of the vibration response of the beams and compare well with measured statistics. The method provides an automated approach to the characterisation of spatial variability and hence the prediction of the statistics vibration response.

Bottom-up perspectives on nature conservation systems: The differences between regional and local administrations

Abstract Many proposals to improve biodiversity governance target the stage of policy formulation. In this paper we highlight the importance of the subsequent policy realization stage, which is mostly carried out by sub-national administrative levels. We explore the differences in the opinions of practitioners representing regional and local public institutions in conservation policy design and implementation. The research was conducted through surveying a representative sample of local and regional practitioners within Malopolska, Poland. The results illustrate a cross-level mismatch between the regional and local practitioners. That is, practitioners operating at different administrative levels have significantly different opinions on nature conservation system performance, system effectiveness, the distribution of power among actors, and on the allocation of costs and benefits stemming from nature conservation. Local level representatives are generally more pleased with overall nature conservation performance and its outcomes, while regional level representatives are more skeptical, especially toward local level performance and the overall effectiveness of nature conservation. Also, local level respondents are more critical, while regional practitioners hold more positive images of the procedures involved during policy implementation. We highlight the practical implications of this kind of research, and the importance of quantitative data in evaluating the overall performance of conservation policy.

The politics of bicycle lane implementation: The case of Vancouver's Burrard Street Bridge

ABSTRACTShifting commuters out of cars and into active modes of transportation such as bicycling is necessary if communities and cities are to become more environmentally sustainable. Coupled with the resistance of drivers to change modes is a resistance on behalf of the politicians they elect to support the building of infrastructure for active transportation, particularly when this means taking resources away from the dominant automobile-based mode. Before scholars promote specific policies or methods for dealing with such issues, it is necessary to understand what strategies have been successful and unsuccessful in attaining a shift of resources into active transportation infrastructure such as bicycle lanes. Vancouver presents a case study of both such strategies. In 1996 a pilot project aimed at transferring a lane on the Burrard Street Bridge from cars to bicycles failed and ended in political acrimony. However, another such pilot attempted in 2009 was successful with the lanes made permanent shortly afterward. This article documents what transpired and analyzes the reasons for the initial failure and the subsequent realization 13 years later. The Burrard Street Bridge story provides lessons for how bicycle lanes, even those that take space away from cars, might be implemented in other contexts, given the reality of a politics that favors a status quo dominated by automobility.

The double-edged sword of recombination in breakthrough innovation

We explore the double-edged sword of recombination in generating breakthrough innovation: recombination of distant or diverse knowledge is needed because knowledge in a narrow domain might trigger myopia, but recombination can be counterproductive when local search is needed to identify anomalies. We take into account how creativity shapes both the cognitive novelty of the idea and the subsequent realization of economic value. We develop a text-based measure of novel ideas in patents using topic modeling to identify those patents that originate new topics in a body of knowledge. We find that, counter to theories of recombination, patents that originate new topics are more likely to be associated with local search, while economic value is the product of broader recombinations as well as novelty

First Encounters: Early Career Researchers and Fieldwork

This section of practice notes is written by early career researchers, reflecting on their first experiences of fieldwork in human rights-related settings. It has two sources of inspiration, the submission to JHRP of a practice note on this subject (Browne and Moffett’s piece) and the subsequent realization by the journal editors that although there is a growing literature on challenging fieldwork, there is little that directly addresses the challenges facing first time researchers. In the practice notes, authors address questions such as: † What knowledge and skills should researchers have before first conducting human rights-related fieldwork? † Are these requirements met by the training that NGOs, universities and others provide? † Are there attributes and sensibilities that can only be acquired by doing fieldwork (‘through research’—Darling, p. 201), and how should the divide between the class or training room and the field be addressed? The authors are from the global North working in the North, from the North working in the South, and from the South working in the South. They come from a range of academic disciplines, and reflect the fact that engagement with the practice and ethics of field research differs not only between academia and practice, but also between academic disciplines. The selection of notes presented here is by no means comprehensive. For example, none of the researchers conducted research on perpetrators, with the particular challenges that such research brings. All are currently located in academia rather than NGOs or civil society groups, although each of the contributions reflects on the links between human rights-related research and pressure for social and political change. The section also does not investigate what is specific about human rights research—and uses the term ‘human rights-related research’ deliberately, to designate a broader category of research on violence, conflict, vulnerable groups, and so on. As such, a gap remains on questions such as what is distinctive about human rights research (subject matter? normative reference points?) and how this label itself shapes research—for

InGaN/GaN quantum wells for polariton laser diodes: Role of inhomogeneous broadening

Contrary to the case of III-nitride based visible light-emitting diodes for which the inhomogeneous linewidth broadening characteristic of InGaN-based multiple quantum well (MQW) heterostructures does not appear as a detrimental parameter, such a broadening issue can prevent a microcavity (MC) system entering into the strong light-matter coupling regime (SCR). The impact of excitonic disorder in low indium content (x ∼ 0.1) InxGa1–xN/GaN MQW active regions is therefore investigated for the subsequent realization of polariton laser diodes by considering both simulations and optical characterizations. It allows deriving the requirements for such MQWs in terms of absorption, emission linewidth, and Stokes shift. Systematic absorption-like and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy experiments are performed on single and multiple In0.1Ga0.9N/GaN quantum wells (QWs). Micro-PL mappings reveal a low temperature PL linewidth of ∼30 meV, compatible with SCR requirements, for single QWs for which the microscopic origin responsible for this broadening is qualitatively discussed. When stacking several InGaN/GaN QWs, a departure from such a narrow linewidth value and an increase in the Stokes shift are observed. Various possible reasons for this degradation such as inhomogeneous built-in field distribution among the QWs are then identified. An alternative solution for the MC design to achieve the SCR with the InGaN alloy is briefly discussed.

Unconventional Monetary Policy, Media Uncertainty, and Expected Stock Market Volatility

This paper investigates the relationship between unconventional monetary policy, media uncertainty, and expected stock market volatility. We find that (1) expansionary unconventional monetary policy shocks induce higher media uncertainty as news reports aim to describe the uncertain economic environment leading up to these monetary policy events; and (2) that expansionary unconventional monetary shocks, when coupled with higher media uncertainty, lead to higher subsequent realizations of expected stock market volatility. These effects, which are asymmetric across the different rounds of the Federal Reserve's Quantitative Easing program, then reverse after several days in line with a behavioral interpretation of the results.

New Avogadro Spheres for the Redefinition of the Kilogram

The General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) discusses the improvements of a possible revision of the International System of Units (SI). For the new definition of the kilogram apart from an artifact of Platinum-Iridium a suitable fundamental constant seems to be found, to which the kg could be related. Although the Planck constant, h, is being considered for the new definition, its value can currently be determined with less uncertainty from the value of the Avogadro constant, NA. As well the determination of the Avogadro constant is suitable as a primary method for the subsequent realization of the kilogram. The international Avogadro group has reached so far a relative measurement uncertainty of 3×10-8, mainly limited by the interferometric measurement of the volume of the 28Si-spheres, used to count the atoms. The dominant influence on the measurement uncertainty is a contribution which subsumes wavefront aberrations due to surface deviations and irregularities of the spheres polished from our partner at CSIRO, Australia. A new multi-step machining process, developed and realized at PTB, reduces considerably the surface contamination and creates spheres with surface properties which exceed the standards in matters of form deviation and surface roughness. The manufacturing process incorporates highly reproducible multi-step grinding and polishing steps. The surfaces are almost free of scratches and show average roughness values below 0.3 nm. The form shows some regular, long wavelength errors below 30 nm in amplitude, collocated conform to crystal orientation.