Firm-level strategic orientation and performance: a synthesis and extension of the knowledge base on entrepreneurial, market and learning orientation

Should a firm stay focused or should it rather adopt a broader strategic perspective? This dissertation summarizes and extends the existing knowledge base on entrepreneurial, market, and learning orientation. Building on multiple theoretical perspectives, empirical evidence from prior studies, as well as on survey and archival data collected in two economic contexts, performance effects from individual orientations, their dimensions and combinations are explored. Results reveal that the three strategic orientations are highly interrelated and that their relationship to firm performance is more complex than previously assumed.

Riding the Escalator: How Dangerous is it Really?

INTRODUCTION About 10,000 escalator-related injuries per year result in emergency department treatment in the United States. Since the 1990s, a steady increase has been reported, but few statistics on escalator-related injuries have been published worldwide. We have therefore analyzed escalator accident statistics in admissions to our hospital in Switzerland since 2000. METHODS Using retrospective electronic patient chart analysis, we included in our study patients >16 years treated over an 11-year period. We categorized patients in terms of gender, age and associated risk factors, and classified accidents according to day, time, location and cause. Resulting trauma was categorized according to type and location. We divided post-admission treatment into surgical and conservative, and into treatment as an outpatient, in a short-stay unit, or as a hospital admission. Women and men were compared using Fisher's exact test. RESULTS We identified 173 patients with 285 discrete injuries. Of these, 87 patients (50%) were women. Fifty-three (61%) of the women and 38 (44%) of the men were >60 years old (P = 0.033). Fifty percent of the men (43/86) of the men, but only 7% (6/87) of the women showed signs of alcohol intoxication (P < 0.0001). Accidents in women occurred predominantly on Tuesdays (19/87; 22%) between 12pm and 6pm (35/87; 40%), and in men on Saturdays (16/86; 19%) between 6pm and 12am (29/86; 34%; P = 0.0097). Sixty-two percent (44/71) of the accidents were in public transport facilities and 30% (21/71) in shopping centers. The majority of injuries in women were to the lower extremities (49/87; 56%), while most accidents in men were to the head and neck (51/86; 59%; P = 0.0052). About half (90; 52%) of the patients were treated conservatively. Almost half of all patients (76, 44%) required hospital admission. Of those, 45% left the hospital within 24 hours of admission (short stay unit) and 55% stayed longer than 24 hours. CONCLUSION Escalator accidents can result in severe trauma. Significant gender differences in escalator accidents have been observed. Alcohol intoxication and age are significant risk factors in escalator-related accidents and might be possible targets for preventive measures.

Heavy Metals in Crop Plants: Transport and Redistribution Processes on the Whole Plant Level

Copper, zinc, manganese, iron, nickel and molybdenum are essential micronutrients for plants. However, when present in excess they may damage the plant or decrease the quality of harvested plant products. Some other heavy metals such as cadmium, lead or mercury are not needed by plants and represent pollutants. The uptake into the roots, the loading into the xylem, the acropetal transport to the shoot with the transpiration stream and the further redistribution in the phloem are crucial for the distribution in aerial plant parts. This review is focused on long-distance transport of heavy metals via xylem and phloem and on interactions between the two transport systems. Phloem transport is the basis for the redistribution within the shoot and for the accumulation in fruits and seeds. Solutes may be transferred from the xylem to the phloem (e.g., in the small bundles in stems of cereals, in minor leaf veins). Nickel is highly phloem-mobile and directed to expanding plant parts. Zinc and to a lesser degree also cadmium are also mobile in the phloem and accumulate in meristems (root tips, shoot apex, axillary buds). Iron and manganese are characterized by poor phloem mobility and are retained in older leaves.