The Nexus of Corporate Entrepreneurship and Radical Innovation

This paper explores the linkage between the entrepreneurial orientation of established firms and the development of radical innovation. Through five case studies in firms involved in radical innovation, three propositions are developed, suggesting that proactiveness, risk‐taking and autonomy stimulate the development of radical innovation, whereas competitive aggressiveness does not necessarily do so, as radical innovations are directed towards the creation of entirely new arenas of business, where existing competitors are not present.     

Extremes of random fields over arbitrary domains with application to concrete rupture stresses

To find the exact probability distribution of the global maximum or minimum of a random field within a bounded domain is a pending problem even for Gaussian fields. Except for very special examples of fields, recourse must be taken to approximate reasoning or asymptotic considerations to be judged with respect to accuracy by simulations. In this paper, the problem is addressed through a functional equation that leads to the definition of a class of distribution functions that depend solely on process or field characteristics and domain quantities that can be calculated explicitly. This distribution function class is studied for Gaussian processes in earlier works by the author and it has been obtained explicitly for Gaussian fields on rectangular domains in the plane. Simulation studies show that rather good predictions are obtained for sufficiently smooth wide band Gaussian processes and fields. In this paper, the distribution function is obtained in general for Gaussian fields over arbitrary bounded domains with piecewise continuous and differentiable boundaries, and as in earlier works the distribution function is tested against empirical distribution functions obtained by simulation of sample functions of a smooth approximately Gaussian field, herein called a broken line Hino field. For completeness this particular field type is defined in appendix a and appendix b. The paper concludes with a statistical application on data for plain concrete tensile strength.     

Simulation by Slepian method of plastic displacements of Gaussian process excited multistory shear frame

The object of study is a stationary Gaussian white noise excited multi-degree-of-freedom (MDOF) linear elastic, ideal plastic, linearly damped, statically determinate oscillator with several potential elements of ideal plastic yielding. Specifically the study is exemplified for a plane multistory shear frame with rigid traverses where all the connecting columns except the columns in one or more of the bottom floors have finite symmetrical yield limits. The white noise excitation acts on the mass of the first floor making the movement of the elastic bottom floors simulate a ground motion that interacts with the structure above the bottom floors. The method of study is so-called Slepian model simulation and is in principle the same for other statically determinate MDOF elasto-plastic oscillators of the considered type. The method is fast as compared to direct simulation and provides results that give good insight in the behavior of the plastic displacement response process.     

Partial summations of stationary sequences of non-Gaussian random variables

The distribution of the sum of a finite number of identically distributed random variables is in many cases easily determined given that the variables are independent. The moments of any order of the sum can always be expressed by the moments of the single term without computational problems. However, in the case of dependency between the terms even calculation of a few of the first moments of the sum presents serious computational problems.By use of computerized symbol manipulations it is practicable to obtain exact moments of partial sums of stationary sequences of mutually dependent lognormal variables or polynomials of standard Gaussian variables. The dependency structure is induced by specifying the autocorrelation structure of the sequence of standard Gaussian variables. Particularly useful polynomials are the Winterstein approximations that distributionally fit with non-Gaussian variables up to the moments of the fourth order [Winterstein, S. R. Nonlinear vibration models for extremes and fatigue. J. Engng Mech. ASCE 114 (1988) 1772–1790]¹. A method to obtain the Winterstein approximation to a partial sum of a sequence of Winterstein approximations is explained and results are given for different autocorrelation functions of the generic Gaussian sequence.The primary purpose of the investigation is to provide a tool for judging the validity of the central limit theorem argument in specific applicational situations occurring in stochastic mechanics, that is, to judge the speed of convergence of the distribution of a sum (or an integral) of mutually dependent random variables to the Gaussian distribution. The paper is closely related to the work in Ditlevsen et al. [Ditlevsen, O., Mohr, G. & Hoffmeyer, P. Integration of non-Gaussian fields. Prob. Engng Mech 11 (1996) 15–23]².     

Gender-differences in Self-efficacy ICT related to various ICT-user profiles in Finland and Norway. How do self-efficacy,gender and ICT-user profiles relate to findings from PISA 2006

In this paper, we explored the relationship between self-efficacy, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) user profiles, and gender. Self-efficacy is an important theoretical and empirical concept to identify and describe how students perceive their own ability to solve a task. ICT user profiles were developed as an empirical framework to identify and categorize students based on how frequent they use ICT. In this paper, we have chosen six ICT user profiles in order to distinguish between leisure activities and school activities. Each ICT user-profile was computed by combining two dimensions (frequency of ICT use for leisure purposes and frequency of ICT use for school purposes). We tried to identify how students’ perception of their ability to solve a task is related to both their gender and how frequently they use ICT. The results showed that student’s self-efficacy varied between the ICT user profiles. The findings showed how an increased level of self-efficacy in ICT High-level tasks is related to both an increased level of leisure use and with an increased level of educational use. Further, our findings provided evidence in support of positive relationships (for both males and the females) between Self-efficacy in ICT and the ICT user profiles.     

Clean seas: a North Sea test site

The Clean Seas project focused on the role that existing Earth observing satellites might play in monitoring marine pollution. Results are presented here from August 1997, for the North Sea test site, using sea surface temperature (SST), colour and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images in conjunction with a hydrodynamic model. There was good correlation between data sources, e.g. between SST and ERS-2 SAR images. Both datasets showed the development of fine plume structures close to the Rhine outflow, apparently associated with the outflow, and possibly caused by tidal pulsing of the Rhine Plume.

The model reproduced general temperature and sediment distributions well, but fine structures were not reproduced. Model sediment distribution patterns were verified using ‘chlorophyll concentration’ data from colour sensors, representative of sediment concentration in turbid water. In conjunction with the visible channels of the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer and Along-Track Scanning Radiometer, they give an uncalibrated measure of the sediment load. The model gives a more complete picture of the temporal dispersion of the Rhine Plume over time than is evident from the remotely sensed data alone.     

Statistical characterization of the sea ice extent during different winter scenarios in the Gulf of Riga (Baltic Sea) using optical remote-sensing imagery

This study focuses on the statistical characterization of ice conditions (extent, sea ice occurrence probability (SIOP), and length of ice season) in the Gulf of Riga, Baltic Sea, using remote-sensing data. The optical remote-sensing data with 250 m resolution acquired by a Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) during 2002–2011 were used for statistical characterization of sea ice. A method based on bimodal histogram analysis of remote-sensing reflectance data was developed to discriminate ice from water. In general, ice extent information obtained from MODIS data agrees with the official ice chart data (synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and in situ measurements) and multi-sensor product containing data from microwave and infrared instruments (R² >0.83). However, in case of severe winters and extremely mild winters there are differences in the dates when maximum ice extent is registered. MODIS data can be used for detailed analysis of ice extent in specific basins of Baltic Sea. Depending on the year, the ice season length in the Gulf of Riga ranged from 68 to 146 days, and the maximum ice extent varied greatly from 329 to 15,350 km². SIOP and number of ice days increased significantly in areas where the depth is less than 15 m. Based on negative-degree days and ice cover characteristics (SIOP and ice season length), three winter scenarios were defined: severe (2003, 2006, 2010, and 2011), medium (2004 and 2005), and mild (2007, 2008, and 2009).