Development Resource Planning: Complexity of Product Development and the Capacity to Launch New Products

Overcommitment of development capacity or development resource deficiencies are important problems in new product development (NPD). Existing approaches to development resource planning have largely neglected the issue of resource magnitude required for NPD. This research aims to fill the void by developing a simple higher-level aggregate model based on an intuitive idea: The number of new product families that a firm can effectively undertake is bound by the complexity of its products or systems and the total amount of resources allocated to NPD. This study examines three manufacturing companies to verify the proposed model. The empirical results confirm the study`s initial hypothesis: The more complex the product family, the smaller the number of product families that are launched per unit of revenue. Several suggestions and implications for managing NPD resources are discussed, such as how this study`s model can establish an upper limit for the capacity to develop and launch new product families.

Development, implementation, and assessment of a distance module in endocrine physiology

Rangel EM, Mendes IA, Carnio EC, Marchi Alves LM, Godoy S, Crispim JA. Development, implementation, and assessment of a distance module in endocrine physiology. Adv Physiol Educ 34: 70-74, 2010; doi: 10.1152/advan.00070.2009.-This study aimed to develop, implement, and assess a distance module in endocrine physiology in TelEduc for undergraduate nursing students from a public university in Brazil, with a sample size of 44 students. Stage 1 consisted of the development of the module, through the process of creating a distance course by means of the Web. Stage 2 was the planning of the module's practical functioning, and stage 3 was the planning of student evaluations. In the experts' assessment, the module complied with pedagogical and technical requirements most of the time. In the practical functioning stage, 10 h were dedicated for on-site activities and 10 h for distance activities. Most students (93.2%) were women between 19 and 23 yr of age (75%). The internet was the most used means to remain updated for 23 students (59.0%), and 30 students (68.2%) accessed it from the teaching institution. A personal computer was used by 23 students (56.1%), and most of them (58.1%) learned to use it alone. Access to a forum was more dispersed (variation coefficient: 86.80%) than access to chat (variation coefficient: 65.14%). Average participation was 30 students in forums and 22 students in the chat. Students' final grades in the module averaged 8.5 (SD: 1.2). TelEduc was shown to be efficient in supporting the teaching- learning process of endocrine physiology.

Convergence of developmental mutants into a single tomato model system: 'Micro-Tom' as an effective toolkit for plant development research

Background: The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) plant is both an economically important food crop and an ideal dicot model to investigate various physiological phenomena not possible in Arabidopsis thaliana. Due to the great diversity of tomato cultivars used by the research community, it is often difficult to reliably compare phenotypes. The lack of tomato developmental mutants in a single genetic background prevents the stacking of mutations to facilitate analysis of double and multiple mutants, often required for elucidating developmental pathways. Results: We took advantage of the small size and rapid life cycle of the tomato cultivar Micro-Tom (MT) to create near-isogenic lines (NILs) by introgressing a suite of hormonal and photomorphogenetic mutations (altered sensitivity or endogenous levels of auxin, ethylene, abscisic acid, gibberellin, brassinosteroid, and light response) into this genetic background. To demonstrate the usefulness of this collection, we compared developmental traits between the produced NILs. All expected mutant phenotypes were expressed in the NILs. We also created NILs harboring the wild type alleles for dwarf, self-pruning and uniform fruit, which are mutations characteristic of MT. This amplified both the applications of the mutant collection presented here and of MT as a genetic model system. Conclusions: The community resource presented here is a useful toolkit for plant research, particularly for future studies in plant development, which will require the simultaneous observation of the effect of various hormones, signaling pathways and crosstalk.

State-of-the-Art and Future Directions for Green Human Resource Management: Introduction to the Special Issue

The topic of environmental sustainability is generating increased concern among business executives, governments, consumers, and management scholars. As these stakeholders struggle with the challenges and opportunities presented by an array of environmental issues, HRM scholars and practitioners alike have been relatively slow to engage in the ongoing discussions and debates. Through this special issue on Green FIRM, we seek to stimulate the field of HRM to expand its role in the pursuit of environmentally sustainable business. In this introduction to the special issue, we first provide an overview of the articles that appear in the special issue. Next we present a detailed discussion of research questions that arise from a consideration of several functional HRM practices, including performance management; training, development, and learning; compensation and rewards; and organizational culture. We conclude by describing opportunities for research at the intersection of strategic HRM and environmental management. If pursued with vigor, research addressing this extensive agenda could begin to establish a healthy field of Green FIRM scholarship.

The central role of human resource management in the search for sustainable organizations

The aim of this article is to present the main contributions of human resource management to develop sustainable organizations. The relationship between human resources and organizational sustainability, which is based on economical, social and environmental performance, involves some important aspects concerning management such as innovation, cultural diversity and the environment. The integration of items from the triple bottom line approach leads to developing a model based on a strategic and central posture of human resource management. Based on this model, propositions and recommendations for future research on this theme are presented.

Development and characterization of microsatellite markers for turmeric (Curcuma longa)

P>Curcuma longa L. is a sterile, triploid, vegetatively-propagated crop cultivated mainly in Southeast Asia. When dried rhizomes are ground, the resulting yellow powder is used by the food industry as a natural food dye. Moreover, many pharmacological compounds have broadened the commercial application of the crop. However, conventional breeding is difficult and hence, improvement has been limited to germplasm selection. To better utilize the germplasm collections and facilitate genotype selection, a total of 17 polymorphic microsatellite loci were developed using a CT/GT/CTT enriched genomic library. All microsatellites resulted in amplified PCR products, showing a banding pattern of 2-11 polymorphic bands per locus, enabling genotype discrimination. These results can be used in further studies aimed at characterizing C. longa genetic resource collections and also to improve breeding strategies.

The game to play: expanding the co-opetition proposal through the strategic games matrix

Purpose - Using Brandenburger and Nalebuff`s 1995 co-opetition model as a reference, the purpose of this paper is to seek to develop a tool that, based on the tenets of classical game theory, would enable scholars and managers to identify which games may be played in response to the different conflict of interest situations faced by companies in their business environments. Design/methodology/approach - The literature on game theory and business strategy are reviewed and a conceptual model, the strategic games matrix (SGM), is developed. Two novel games are described and modeled. Findings - The co-opetition model is not sufficient to realistically represent most of the conflict of interest situations faced by companies. It seeks to address this problem through development of the SGM, which expands upon Brandenburger and Nalebuff`s model by providing a broader perspective, through incorporation of an additional dimension (power ratio between players) and three novel, respectively, (rival, individualistic, and associative). Practical implications - This proposed model, based on the concepts of game theory, should be used to train decision- and policy-makers to better understand, interpret and formulate conflict management strategies. Originality/value - A practical and original tool to use game models in conflict of interest situations is generated. Basic classical games, such as Nash, Stackelberg, Pareto, and Minimax, are mapped on the SGM to suggest in which situations they Could be useful. Two innovative games are described to fit four different types of conflict situations that so far have no corresponding game in the literature. A test application of the SGM to a classic Intel Corporation strategic management case, in the complex personal computer industry, shows that the proposed method is able to describe, to interpret, to analyze, and to prescribe optimal competitive and/or cooperative strategies for each conflict of interest situation.

Petroleum royalties and regional development in Brazil: The economic growth of recipient towns

In 1997, Brazil approved law n(cr) 9478, establishing new rules for sharing petroleum royalties with Brazilian municipalities. The goal of this paper is to evaluate whether royalties distributed under the new law have contributed for the development of benefited municipalities. For that the difference-indifferences estimator (diff-in-diff) is used, which compares the evolution of the economic product into the municipality affected by the new law with the unaffected ones, by exploring the new legislation as an exogenous change. The data refer to the municipal gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate before and after the event. Results are surprising, showing that royalty receivers grew less than municipalities that did not receive such resources. The difference is small but statistically significant. In general, an increase of one real in royalties per capita reduces the growth rate of the municipal product in 0.002 percentile points. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Germination rate and sporeling development of Chondracanthus chamissoi (Rhodophyta, Gigartinales) varies along a latitudinal gradient on the coast of Chile

Chondracanthus chamissoi (C. Agardh) Kutzing is an economically important red seaweed with an extended latitudinal distribution along the south-east Pacific. Here we report on the seasonal in vitro germination of carpospores and tetraspores from four populations distributed from 27 to 41 degrees S on the Chilean coast. Our results show that both types of spores exhibited a different physiological behavior related to the geographic origin of the specimens. Germination occurred throughout the year for both spore types in the four populations. However, for the northern locations (Calderilla, La Herradura and Puerto Aldea) germination was higher in spring, while for the southern location (Lechagua), germination was higher in summer. The growth rate of carposporelings and tetrasporelings varied seasonally in ail locations studied, with higher growth in spring. Among all, carposporelings from Lechagua specimens reached the highest growth rates (9.3 +/- 0.2% d(-1)). However, spores from Herradura and P. Aldea had a good germination and SGR in all seasons and would be good candidates to start spores-based cultivation of this valuable resource in Chile. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Sexual System, Sex Ratio, and Group Living in the Shrimp Thor amboinensis (De Man): Relevance to Resource-Monopolization and Sex-Allocation Theories

The sexual system of the symbiotic shrimp Thor amboinensis is described, along with observations on sex ratio and host-use pattern of different populations. We used a comprehensive approach to elucidate the previously unknown sexual system of this shrimp. Dissections, scanning electron microscopy, size-frequency distribution analysis, and laboratory observations demonstrated that T amboinensis is a protandric hermaphrodite: shrimp first mature as males and change into females later in life. Thor amboinensis inhabited the large and structurally heterogeneous sea anemone Stichoclactyla helianthus in large groups (up to 11 individuals) more frequently than expected by chance alone. Groups exhibited no particularly complex social structure and showed male-biased sex ratios more frequently than expected by chance alone. The adult sex ratio was male-biased in the four separate populations studied, one of them being thousands of kilometers apart from the others. This study supports predictions central to theories of resource monopolization and sex allocation. Dissections demonstrated that unusually large males were parasitized by an undescribed species of isopod (family Entoniscidae). Infestation rates were similarly low in both sexes (approximate to 11%-12%). The available information suggests that T. amboinensis uses pure search promiscuity as a mating system. This hypothesis needs to be formally tested with mating behavior observations and field measurements on the movement pattern of both sexes of the species. Further detailed studies on the lifestyle and sexual system of all the species within this genus and the development of a molecular phylogeny are necessary to elucidate the evolutionary history of gender expression in the genus Thor.

Effects of Plasmodium gallinaceum on hemolymph physiology of Aedes aegypti during parasite development

Insect disease vectors show diminished fecundity when infected with Plasmodium. This phenomenon has already been demonstrated in laboratory models such as Aedes aegypti, Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles stephensi. This study demonstrates several changes in physiological processes of A. aegypti occurring upon infection with Plasmodium gallinaceum, such as reduced ecdysteroid levels in hemolymph as well as altered expression patterns for genes involved in vitellogenesis, lipid transport and immune response. Furthermore, we could show that P. gallinaceum infected A. aegypti presented a reduction in reproductive fitness, accompanied by an activated innate immune response and increase in lipophorin expression, with the latter possibly representing a nutritional resource for Plasmodium sporozoites. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Proposal of a Brazilian accreditation program for personal dosimetry using OSL

After the development of the highly sensitive material Al(2)O(3):C, personal dosimetry using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) has been continuously adopted in place of thermoluminescence dosimeters (TLD) by different countries (e.g. USA and Japan). In order to use a dosimetric system in Brazil it is necessary to develop a protocol and to fulfill performance and type tests in accordance with the accreditation program approved by the responsible governmental committee. This paper presents a proposal for an accreditation program for OSL personal dosimetry using a commercial dosimetric system, including tests that follow the same rules as applied to TLD and film dosimetry. The experimental results are within the reliability interval and in accordance to the expected behavior. A new test concerning re-analysis of exposed badges is also proposed. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.