Factors Associated with Creative Strategic Decisions

The study and practice of business strategy is fundamentally based on employing creative solutions to differentiate a firm from its competitors. Theories used to describe the causes and consequences of strategic differentiation tend to focus on organization‐level characteristics such as resources, capabilities and structures. However, less is known about day‐to‐day processes and practices whereby strategic managers develop create solutions necessary to establish strategic differentiation. This paper presents a preliminary field study of factors suggested by previous strategy process and micro‐strategy research that may lead to, and result from, creative strategic decisions. Findings produced by a longitudinal field study of 52 strategic decisions reveal that creative strategic choices arise in response to managers' perceptions of uncertainty and competition. The findings also suggest that creativity may improve the ultimate effectiveness of strategic choices by 5–10 per cent.     

Honeycomb Wachspress finite elements for structural topology optimization

Traditionally, standard Lagrangian-type finite elements, such as linear quads and triangles, have been the elements of choice in the field of topology optimization. However, finite element meshes with these conventional elements exhibit the well-known “checkerboard” pathology in the iterative solution of topology optimization problems. A feasible alternative to eliminate such long-standing problem consists of using hexagonal (honeycomb) elements with Wachspress-type shape functions. The features of the hexagonal mesh include two-node connections (i.e. two elements are either not connected or connected by two nodes), and three edge-based symmetry lines per element. In contrast, quads can display one-node connections, which can lead to checkerboard; and only have two edge-based symmetry lines. In addition, Wachspress rational shape functions satisfy the partition of unity condition and lead to conforming finite element approximations. We explore the Wachspress-type hexagonal elements and present their implementation using three approaches for topology optimization: element-based, continuous approximation of material distribution, and minimum length-scale through projection functions. Examples are presented that demonstrate the advantages of the proposed element in achieving checkerboard-free solutions and avoiding spurious fine-scale patterns from the design optimization process.     

The effect of time of day on injury patterns amongst adolescents in Australia

Labour force participation of adolescents in Australia is growing at an unprecedented rate. This increased participation is coupled with a growing realisation of the vulnerability of adolescents in the labour market in terms of occupational injury. Despite recent evidence that time of day may be an important determinant of adolescent injuries, the impact of non-standard and night work on adolescent injury rates has received scant attention to date. The current study addresses this shortcoming by examining injury patterns of 3201 working adolescents in Queensland. Results revealed that female adolescents are 2.5 times more likely to sustain an injury on day shift and 4.71 times more likely to sustain an injury on night shift than their adult counterparts when total work hours are taken into consideration. Similar results were found for male adolescents with an injury to work hours ratio of 2.19 on day shift and 3.05 on night shift. These findings point to the value of considering the temporal pattern of adolescent work in future research aimed at minimising injuries at work and improving the work experience of tomorrow's workforce.     

Quantifying the genericness of trademarks using natural language processing: an introduction with suggested metrics

If a trademark (“mark”) becomes a generic term, it may be cancelled under trademark law, a process known as genericide. Typically, in genericide cases, consumer surveys are brought into evidence to establish a mark’s semantic status as generic or distinctive. Some drawbacks of surveys are cost, delay, small sample size, lack of reproducibility, and observer bias. Today, however, much discourse involving marks is online. As a potential complement to consumer surveys, therefore, we explore an artificial intelligence approach based chiefly on word embeddings: mathematical models of meaning based on distributional semantics that can be trained on texts selected for jurisdictional and temporal relevance. After identifying two main factors in mark genericness, we first offer a simple screening metric based on the ngram frequency of uncapitalized variants of a mark. We then add two word embedding metrics: one addressing contextual similarity of uncapitalized variants, and one comparing the neighborhood density of marks and known generic terms in a category. For clarity and validation, we illustrate our metrics with examples of genericized, somewhat generic, and distinctive marks such as, respectively, DUMPSTER, DOBRO, and ROLEX.

     

Effects of regional stimulation using a miniature stimulator implanted in feline posterior biceps femoris

The effects of placement of a miniature implantable stimulator on motor unit recruitment were examined in the posterior head of cat biceps femoris. The implantable stimulator (13-mm long x 2-mm diameter) was injected either proximally near the main nerve branch, or distally near the muscle insertion, through a 12-gauge hypodermic needle. Glycogen-depletion methods were used to map the distribution of fibers activated by electrical stimulation. Muscle fibers were found to be depleted at most or all proximodistal levels of the muscle, but the density of depleted fibers varied transversely according to the stimulus strength and proximity of the device to the nerve-entry site. Thus, muscle cross sections often had a "patchy" appearance produced because different proportions of depleted fibers intermingled with undepleted fibers in different parts of the cross section. In other preparations, the force of muscle contraction was measured when stimuli of varying strengths were delivered by the stimulator positioned at the same proximal or distal sites within the muscle. Devices placed close to the nerve-entry site produced the greatest forces. Those placed more distally produced less force. As stimulus current and/or pulse width increased, muscle force increased, often in steps, until a maximum was reached, which was usually limited by the compliance voltage of the device to less than the force produced by whole nerve stimulation.     

The Road to Greener IT Pastures

Developing a green IT strategy for any organization, large or small, is critical to establishing a culture where the focus is on reducing cost and addressing both imminent regulatory pressure and increased scrutiny of carbon-neutral strategies. This paper discusses the "green practices" that can be used by organisations for energy efficiency improvements and also to avoid potential disruptions to existing infrastructure.     

A little Birdie told me: Social media,organizational legitimacy,and underpricing in initial public offerings

Drawing on the organizational legitimacy literature, we propose and test a set of hypotheses arguing that social media, an artifact of information technology, serves as a mechanism for conferring legitimacy in the market for initial public offerings (IPOs). The extant literature identifies third-party authorities, such as traditional media outlets and industry analysts, as a valuable source of organizational legitimacy. Social media and micro-blogging, however, remain outside current classifications of the phenomenon. This study theoretically develops and empirically tests a new mechanism in the legitimation process: the direct interaction with potential investors and society-at-large via social media. Our findings indicate broad support that having a Twitter account, and the extent to which a firm utilizes Twitter, is associated with systematically higher levels of IPO underpricing. Moreover, we find support that social media variables external to the firm, including number of followers and retweets, also impact the level of underpricing in an IPO. In conclusion, we highlight the emerging role of social media in processes of legitimation and invite additional research at the intersection of IS and management.     

Development of clinical indicators for performance measurement and improvement: an HMO/purchaser collaborative effort

This article describes a collaborative effort between a major health care purchaser, three area health maintenance organizations, and a state Medicaid agency to develop clinical indicators as the basis for a comparison database. Some of the difficulties in developing a "common yardstick" of quality and value are candidly discussed.