Corporate governance: quo vadis?

Purpose – This paper aims to examine current research trends into corporate governance and to propose a different dynamic, humanistic approach based on individual purpose, values and psychology. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews selected literature to analyse the assumptions behind research into corporate governance and uses a multi-disciplinary body of literature to present a different theoretical approach based at the level of the individual rather than the organisation. Findings – The paper shows how the current recommendations of the corporate governance research models could backfire and lead to individual actions that are destructive when implemented in practice. This claim is based on identifying the hidden assumptions behind the principal-agent model in corporate governance, such as the Hobbesian view and the Homo Economicus approach. It argues against the axiomatic view that shareholders are the owners of the company, and it questions the way in which managers are assessed based either on the corporate share price (the shareholder view) or on a confusing set of measures which include more stakeholders (the stakeholder view), and shows how such a yardstick can be demotivating and put the corporation in danger. The paper proposes a humanistic, psychological approach that uses the individual manager as a unit of analysis instead of the corporation and illustrates how such an approach can help to build better governance. Research limitations/implications – The paper's limited scope can only outline a conceptual framework, but does not enter into detailed operationalisation. Practical implications – The paper illustrates the challenges in applying the proposed framework into practice. Originality/value – The paper calls for the use of an alternative unit of analysis, the manager, and for a dynamic and humanistic approach which encompasses the entirety of a person's cognition, including emotional and spiritual values, and which is as of yet usually not to be found in the corporate governance literature.

The extent to which potential benefits to EU farmers of adopting transgenic crops are reduced by cost of compliance with coexistence regulations

This article forecasts the extent to which the potential benefits of adopting transgenic crops may be reduced by costs of compliance with coexistence regulations applicable in various member states of the EU. A dynamic economic model is described and used to calculate the potential yield and gross margin of a set of crops grown in a selection of typical rotation scenarios. The model simulates varying levels of pest, weed, and drought pressures, with associated management strategies regarding pesticide and herbicide application, and irrigation. We report on the initial use of the model to calculate the net reduction in gross margin attributable to coexistence costs for insect-resistant (IR) and herbicide-tolerant (HT) maize grown continuously or in a rotation, HT soya grown in a rotation, HT oilseed rape grown in a rotation, and HT sugarbeet grown in a rotation. Conclusions are drawn about conditions favoring inclusion of a transgenic crop in a crop rotation, having regard to farmers’ attitude toward risk.

Dynamic distributed lanes: motion planning for multiple autonomous vehicles

Unorganized traffic is a generalized form of travel wherein vehicles do not adhere to any predefined lanes and can travel in-between lanes. Such travel is visible in a number of countries e.g. India, wherein it enables a higher traffic bandwidth, more overtaking and more efficient travel. These advantages are visible when the vehicles vary considerably in size and speed, in the absence of which the predefined lanes are near-optimal. Motion planning for multiple autonomous vehicles in unorganized traffic deals with deciding on the manner in which every vehicle travels, ensuring no collision either with each other or with static obstacles. In this paper the notion of predefined lanes is generalized to model unorganized travel for the purpose of planning vehicles travel. A uniform cost search is used for finding the optimal motion strategy of a vehicle, amidst the known travel plans of the other vehicles. The aim is to maximize the separation between the vehicles and static obstacles. The search is responsible for defining an optimal lane distribution among vehicles in the planning scenario. Clothoid curves are used for maintaining a lane or changing lanes. Experiments are performed by simulation over a set of challenging scenarios with a complex grid of obstacles. Additionally behaviours of overtaking, waiting for a vehicle to cross and following another vehicle are exhibited.

Considering the Feasibility of Semantic Model Design in the Built-Environment

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is the process of structuring, capturing, creating, and managing a digital representation of physical and/or functional characteristics of a built space [1]. Current BIM has limited ability to represent dynamic semantics, social information, often failing to consider building activity, behavior and context; thus limiting integration with intelligent, built-environment management systems. Research, such as the development of Semantic Exchange Modules, and/or the linking of IFC with semantic web structures, demonstrates the need for building models to better support complex semantic functionality. To implement model semantics effectively, however, it is critical that model designers consider semantic information constructs. This paper discusses semantic models with relation to determining the most suitable information structure. We demonstrate how semantic rigidity can lead to significant long-term problems that can contribute to model failure. A sufficiently detailed feasibility study is advised to maximize the value from the semantic model. In addition we propose a set of questions, to be used during a model’s feasibility study, and guidelines to help assess the most suitable method for managing semantics in a built environment.

The ionospheric signatures of flux transfer events and solar wind dynamic pressure changes

The generation of flow and current vortices in the dayside auroral ionosphere has been predicted for two processes ocurring at the dayside magnetopause. The first of these mechanisms is time-dependent magnetic reconnection, in “flux transfer events” (FTEs); the second is the action of solar wind dynamic pressure changes. The ionospheric flow signature of an FTE should be a twin vortex, with the mean flow velocity in the central region of the pattern equal to the velocity of the pattern as a whole. On the other hand, a pulse of enhanced or reduced dynamic pressure is also expected to produce a twin vortex, but with the central plasma flow being generally different in speed from, and almost orthogonal to, the motion of the whole pattern. In this paper, we make use of this distinction to discuss recent observations of vortical flow patterns in the dayside auroral ionosphere in terms of one or other of the proposed mechanisms. We conclude that some of the observations reported are consistent only with the predicted signature of FTEs. We then evaluate the dimensions of the open flux tubes required to explain some recent simultaneous radar and auroral observations and infer that they are typically 300 km in north–south extent but up to 2000 km in longitudinal extent (i.e., roughly 5 hours of MLT). Hence these observations suggest that recent theories of FTEs which invoke time-varying reconnection at an elongated neutral line may be correct. We also present some simultaneous observations of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) and solar wind dynamic pressure (observed using the IMP8 satellite) and the ionospheric flow (observed using the EISCAT radar) which are also only consistent with the FTE model. We estimate that for continuously southward IMF ( ≈ 5 nT) these FTEs contribute about 30 kV to the mean total transpolar voltage (∼30%).

Arable crop rotations under abiotic stress: a dynamic economic model

Break crops and multi-crop rotations are common in arable farm management, and the soil quality inherited from a previous crop is one of the parameters that determine the gross margin that is achieved with a given crop from a given parcel of land. In previous work we developed a dynamic economic model to calculate the potential yield and gross margin of a set of crops grown in a selection of typical rotation scenarios, and we reported use of the model to calculate coexistence costs for GM maize grown in a crop rotation. The model predicts economic effects of pest and weed pressures in monthly time steps. Validation of the model in respect of specific traits is proceeding as data from trials with novel crop varieties is published. Alongside this aspect of the validation process, we are able to incorporate data representing the economic impact of abiotic stresses on conventional crops, and then use the model to predict the cumulative gross margin achievable from a sequence of conventional crops grown at varying levels of abiotic stress. We report new progress with this aspect of model validation. In this paper, we report the further development of the model to take account of abiotic stress arising from drought, flood, heat or frost; such stresses being introduced in addition to variable pest and weed pressure. The main purpose is to assess the economic incentive for arable farmers to adopt novel crop varieties having multiple ‘stacked’ traits introduced by means of various biotechnological tools available to crop breeders.

Intercomparison of methods of coupling between convection and large-scale circulation: 1. Comparison over uniform surface conditions

As part of an international intercomparison project, a set of single column models (SCMs) and cloud-resolving models (CRMs) are run under the weak temperature gradient (WTG) method and the damped gravity wave (DGW) method. For each model, the implementation of the WTG or DGW method involves a simulated column which is coupled to a reference state defined with profiles obtained from the same model in radiative-convective equilibrium. The simulated column has the same surface conditions as the reference state and is initialized with profiles from the reference state. We performed systematic comparison of the behavior of different models under a consistent implementation of the WTG method and the DGW method and systematic comparison of the WTG and DGW methods in models with different physics and numerics. CRMs and SCMs produce a variety of behaviors under both WTG and DGW methods. Some of the models reproduce the reference state while others sustain a large-scale circulation which results in either substantially lower or higher precipitation compared to the value of the reference state. CRMs show a fairly linear relationship between precipitation and circulation strength. SCMs display a wider range of behaviors than CRMs. Some SCMs under the WTG method produce zero precipitation. Within an individual SCM, a DGW simulation and a corresponding WTG simulation can produce different signed circulation. When initialized with a dry troposphere, DGW simulations always result in a precipitating equilibrium state. The greatest sensitivities to the initial moisture conditions occur for multiple stable equilibria in some WTG simulations, corresponding to either a dry equilibrium state when initialized as dry or a precipitating equilibrium state when initialized as moist. Multiple equilibria are seen in more WTG simulations for higher SST. In some models, the existence of multiple equilibria is sensitive to some parameters in the WTG calculations.

Current model capabilities for simulating black carbon and sulfate concentrations in the Arctic atmosphere: a multi-model evaluation using a comprehensive measurement data set

The concentrations of sulfate, black carbon (BC) and other aerosols in the Arctic are characterized by high values in late winter and spring (so-called Arctic Haze) and low values in summer. Models have long been struggling to capture this seasonality and especially the high concentrations associated with Arctic Haze. In this study, we evaluate sulfate and BC concentrations from eleven different models driven with the same emission inventory against a comprehensive pan-Arctic measurement data set over a time period of 2 years (2008–2009). The set of models consisted of one Lagrangian particle dispersion model, four chemistry transport models (CTMs), one atmospheric chemistry-weather forecast model and five chemistry climate models (CCMs), of which two were nudged to meteorological analyses and three were running freely. The measurement data set consisted of surface measurements of equivalent BC (eBC) from five stations (Alert, Barrow, Pallas, Tiksi and Zeppelin), elemental carbon (EC) from Station Nord and Alert and aircraft measurements of refractory BC (rBC) from six different campaigns. We find that the models generally captured the measured eBC or rBC and sulfate concentrations quite well, compared to previous comparisons. However, the aerosol seasonality at the surface is still too weak in most models. Concentrations of eBC and sulfate averaged over three surface sites are underestimated in winter/spring in all but one model (model means for January–March underestimated by 59 and 37 % for BC and sulfate, respectively), whereas concentrations in summer are overestimated in the model mean (by 88 and 44 % for July–September), but with overestimates as well as underestimates present in individual models. The most pronounced eBC underestimates, not included in the above multi-site average, are found for the station Tiksi in Siberia where the measured annual mean eBC concentration is 3 times higher than the average annual mean for all other stations. This suggests an underestimate of BC sources in Russia in the emission inventory used. Based on the campaign data, biomass burning was identified as another cause of the modeling problems. For sulfate, very large differences were found in the model ensemble, with an apparent anti-correlation between modeled surface concentrations and total atmospheric columns. There is a strong correlation between observed sulfate and eBC concentrations with consistent sulfate/eBC slopes found for all Arctic stations, indicating that the sources contributing to sulfate and BC are similar throughout the Arctic and that the aerosols are internally mixed and undergo similar removal. However, only three models reproduced this finding, whereas sulfate and BC are weakly correlated in the other models. Overall, no class of models (e.g., CTMs, CCMs) performed better than the others and differences are independent of model resolution.

Non-genomic actions of estrogens and their interaction with genomic actions in the brain

Ligands for the nuclear receptor superfamily have at least two mechanisms of action: (a) classical transcriptional regulation of target genes (genomic mechanisms); and (b) non-genomic actions, which are initiated at the cell membrane, which could also impact transcription. Though transcriptional mechanisms are increasingly well understood, membrane-initiated actions of these ligands are incompletely understood. This has led to considerable debate over the physiological relevance of membrane-initiated actions of hormones versus genomic actions of hormones, with genomic actions predominating in the endocrine field. There is good evidence that the membrane-limited actions of hormones, particularly estrogens, involve the rapid activation of kinases and the release of calcium and that these are linked to physiologically relevant scenarios in the brain. We show evidence in this review, that membrane actions of estrogens, which activate these rapid signaling cascades, can also potentiate nuclear transcription in both the central nervous system and in non-neuronal cell lines. We present a theoretical scenario which can be used to understand this phenomenon. These signaling cascades may occur in parallel or in series but subsequently, converge at the modification of transcriptionally relevant molecules such as nuclear receptors and/or coactivators. In addition, other non-cognate hormones or neurotransmitters may also activate cascades to crosstalk with estrogen receptor-mediated transcription, though the relevance of this is less clear. The idea that coupling between membrane-initiated and genomic actions of hormones is a novel idea in neuroendocrinology and provides us with a unified view of hormone action in the central nervous system.

Intercomparison of methods of coupling between convection and large-scale circulation. 2: Comparison over non-uniform surface conditions

As part of an international intercomparison project, the weak temperature gradient (WTG) and damped gravity wave (DGW) methods are used to parameterize large-scale dynamics in a set of cloud-resolving models (CRMs) and single column models (SCMs). The WTG or DGW method is implemented using a configuration that couples a model to a reference state defined with profiles obtained from the same model in radiative-convective equilibrium. We investigated the sensitivity of each model to changes in SST, given a fixed reference state. We performed a systematic comparison of the WTG and DGW methods in different models, and a systematic comparison of the behavior of those models using the WTG method and the DGW method. The sensitivity to the SST depends on both the large-scale parameterization method and the choice of the cloud model. In general, SCMs display a wider range of behaviors than CRMs. All CRMs using either the WTG or DGW method show an increase of precipitation with SST, while SCMs show sensitivities which are not always monotonic. CRMs using either the WTG or DGW method show a similar relationship between mean precipitation rate and column-relative humidity, while SCMs exhibit a much wider range of behaviors. DGW simulations produce large-scale velocity profiles which are smoother and less top-heavy compared to those produced by the WTG simulations. These large-scale parameterization methods provide a useful tool to identify the impact of parameterization differences on model behavior in the presence of two-way feedback between convection and the large-scale circulation.

Evaluation of the Plant–Craig stochastic convection scheme (v2.0) in the ensemble forecasting system MOGREPS-R (24 km) based on the Unified Model (v7.3)

The Plant–Craig stochastic convection parameterization (version 2.0) is implemented in the Met Office Regional Ensemble Prediction System (MOGREPS-R) and is assessed in comparison with the standard convection scheme with a simple stochastic scheme only, from random parameter variation. A set of 34 ensemble forecasts, each with 24 members, is considered, over the month of July 2009. Deterministic and probabilistic measures of the precipitation forecasts are assessed. The Plant–Craig parameterization is found to improve probabilistic forecast measures, particularly the results for lower precipitation thresholds. The impact on deterministic forecasts at the grid scale is neutral, although the Plant–Craig scheme does deliver improvements when forecasts are made over larger areas. The improvements found are greater in conditions of relatively weak synoptic forcing, for which convective precipitation is likely to be less predictable.