Knowledge transfer: the facilitating attributes in supply-chain partnerships

This article examines the operational characteristics of supply-chain partnerships and identifies the relational attributes that cultivate knowledge transfer in such partnerships. A set of theoretical propositions are developed. A case study of a computer manufacturer's supply chain was conducted to examine their validity. The findings support the view that trust, commitment, interdependence, shared meaning, and balanced power facilitate knowledge transfer in supply-chain partnerships, and that knowledge transfer should be treated as a dynamic multistage process.

Protecting degraded rainforests: enhancement of forest carbon stocks under REDD+

The likely Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) mechanism includes strategies for the enhancement of forest carbon stocks. Recent concerns have been expressed that such enhancement, or restoration, of forest carbon could be counterproductive to biodiversity conservation, because forests are managed as “carbon farms” with the application of intensive silvicultural management that could homogenize diverse degraded rainforests. Restoration increases regeneration rates in degraded forest compared to naturally regenerating forest, and thus could yield significant financial returns for carbon sequestered. Here, we argue that such forest restoration projects are, in fact, likely to provide a number of benefits to biodiversity conservation including the retention of biodiversity, the prevention of forest conversion to agriculture, and employment opportunities for poor local communities. As with other forms of forest-based carbon offsets, there are possible moral hazard and leakage problems with restoration. However, due to the multiple benefits, we urge that enhancement of forest carbon stocks be detailed as a major component in the future negotiations of REDD+.

Unpacking the mechanism by which corporate responsibility impacts stakeholder relationships

Most research on corporate responsibility (CR) has investigated CR from the perspective of organizations, often focusing on how organizations define, manage and implement CR to gain benefits or competitive advantage. The benefits of CR for organizations are, however, often said to be achieved through increased support of stakeholders. Despite this, limited attention has been given to understanding CR from the perspective of stakeholders and, in particular, the mechanism by which CR drives stakeholder support. This study addresses this deficit. Building on advances in the application of psychological theories to the field of management, the research develops and empirically tests a theoretical model of how CR-related experiences and beliefs drive stakeholder trust and positive intent. The research is conducted with customers (n = 708) and employees (n = 359) of a service organization in the UK that introduced a range of CR-related activities into their business. The findings contribute to literature by empirically demonstrating (a) the impact of CR-related experiences on the development of beliefs about, and trust towards, the organization; (b) the importance of ‘others-related’ CR experiences even in the presence of ‘self-related’ CR experiences; and (c) the role of beliefs as partial mediators in how experiences of CR, both ‘self-related’ and ‘others-related’, translate into trust and positive intent.

Control of DNA conformation using 3'-S-phosphorothiolate-modified linkages

An in-depth study into the incorporation of multiple 3'-S-phosphorothiolate modifications into oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) and their subsequent effect on ODN/DNA and ODN/RNA duplex stability. 3'-S-Phosphorothiolate linkages increase the stability of ODN/RNA duplexes and decrease the stability of ODN/DNA duplexes.

Duplex stability of DNA.DNA and DNA.RNA duplexes containing 3 '-S-phosphorothiolate linkages

3′-S-Phosphorothiolate (3′-SP) linkages have been incorporated into the DNA strand of both a DNA·RNA duplex and a DNA·DNA duplex. Thermal melting (Tm) studies established that this modification significantly stabilises the DNA·RNA duplex with an average increase in Tm of about 1.4 °C per modification. For two or three modifications, the increase in Tm was larger for an alternating, as compared to the contiguous, arrangement. For more than three modifications their arrangement had no effect on Tm. In contrast to the DNA·RNA duplex, the 3′-S-phosphorothiolate linkage destabilised the DNA·DNA duplex, irrespective of the arrangement of the 3′-SP linkages. The effect of ionic strength on duplex stability was similar for both the phosphorothiolate-substituted and the unmodified RNA·DNA duplexes. The results are discussed in terms of the influence that the sulfur atom has on the conformation of the furanose ring and comparisons are also drawn between the current study and those previously conducted with other modifications that have a similar conformational effect.

Incorporation of a S-glycosidic linkage into a glyconucleoside changes the conformational preference of both furanose sugars

A glyconucleoside containing a thioglycoside linkage, namely 1-(3-S-beta-D-ribofuranosyl-2,3-dideoxy-3-thio-beta-D-ribofuranosyl)-thy mine, has been prepared through condensation of a suitably protected derivative of 3'-thiothymidine with an activated ribose sugar. NMR has been used to study the conformation of the S-disaccharide and the unmodified O-disaccharide. A full pseudorotational analysis showed that for the S-disaccharide, the ribose and deoxy ribose sugars have a preference for the south and north pucker, respectively; which is the reverse of what is seen for the O-disaccharide. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Stabilization of multi-stranded nucleic acid structures using 3'-S-phosphorothiolate linkages

3 '-S-Phosphorothiolate linkages incorporated into an oligodeoxynucleotide have been shown to stabilise duplex formation with a complementary RNA strand, but destabilise a duplex formed with a complementary DNA strand. The four-stranded i-motif structure is also stabilised this modification.

On discrimination algorithms for ill-posed problems with an application to magnetic tomography

In this paper we explore classification techniques for ill-posed problems. Two classes are linearly separable in some Hilbert space X if they can be separated by a hyperplane. We investigate stable separability, i.e. the case where we have a positive distance between two separating hyperplanes. When the data in the space Y is generated by a compact operator A applied to the system states ∈ X, we will show that in general we do not obtain stable separability in Y even if the problem in X is stably separable. In particular, we show this for the case where a nonlinear classification is generated from a non-convergent family of linear classes in X. We apply our results to the problem of quality control of fuel cells where we classify fuel cells according to their efficiency. We can potentially classify a fuel cell using either some external measured magnetic field or some internal current. However we cannot measure the current directly since we cannot access the fuel cell in operation. The first possibility is to apply discrimination techniques directly to the measured magnetic fields. The second approach first reconstructs currents and then carries out the classification on the current distributions. We show that both approaches need regularization and that the regularized classifications are not equivalent in general. Finally, we investigate a widely used linear classification algorithm Fisher's linear discriminant with respect to its ill-posedness when applied to data generated via a compact integral operator. We show that the method cannot stay stable when the number of measurement points becomes large.

Corporate responsibility, supply chain partnership and performance: An empirical examination

Unlike corporate and business levels, there is little research examining corporate responsibility (CR) at the functional level of the firm including supply chain strategy. The results of a firm-level survey show that CR internal awareness, and monitoring CR performance are positively related to the supply chain partnership approach, however sharing CR best practices is negatively associated. Furthermore, the impact of CR on firm performance is mediated by the functional behaviour of supply chain partnership formation. Our study provides support for including CR awareness building and monitoring in the development of partnerships but cautions against imposing CR best practices on suppliers.

Transaction based indices for the UK commercial real estate market: an exploration using IPD transaction data

The nature of private commercial real estate markets presents difficulties for monitoring market performance. Assets are heterogeneous and spatially dispersed, trading is infrequent and there is no central marketplace in which prices and cash flows of properties can be easily observed. Appraisal based indices represent one response to these issues. However, these have been criticised on a number of grounds: that they may understate volatility, lag turning points and be affected by client influence issues. Thus, this paper reports econometrically derived transaction based indices of the UK commercial real estate market using Investment Property Databank (IPD) data, comparing them with published appraisal based indices. The method is similar to that presented by Fisher, Geltner, and Pollakowski (2007) and used by Massachusett, Institute of Technology (MIT) on National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries (NCREIF) data, although it employs value rather than equal weighting. The results show stronger growth from the transaction based indices in the run up to the peak in the UK market in 2007. They also show that returns from these series are more volatile and less autocorrelated than their appraisal based counterparts, but, surprisingly, differences in turning points were not found. The conclusion then debates the applications and limitations these series have as measures of market performance.

Dynamic capabilities in a sixth generation family firm: entrepreneurship and the Bibby Line

In this paper we draw on the theory of dynamic capabilities to examine development of the only surviving family-owned Liverpool shipping company. The Bibby Line was founded in 1807 to take advantage of the growing sea-trade based in Liverpool. The company remained in shipping until the mid-1960s, when a series of external crises led the owner, Derek Bibby, to begin a process of diversification. In the last 50 years, the Bibby Line has grown into a £1bn business with interests in retail, distribution and financial services as well as a continuing commitment to shipping. Our intention is to demonstrate how multigenerational ownership contributes to the creation of dynamic capabilities in family firms. The distinctive nature of Bibby as a long-standing family business is related to unique assets such as patient capital, flexible governance structures as well as the ability to mobilise social and human capital.