Three essays on organizations and their external environment

Abstract: The literature on the various links between organizations and their external environment is very extensive and fragmented. This thesis is comprised of three separate essays, each examining specific research questions related to these links. The first essay deals with the notion of industry life cycle and how the geographical concentration of an industry is linked to the particular life cycle stage in which the industry finds itself. The aim of this first essay is firstly to verify if the evolution of the Swiss hotel industry fits some of the stylized facts of the industry life cycle. The second aim is to verify if there is evidence of geographical clustering of the hotel industry, and by extension of tourism. The third aim is to verify a hypothesis that industry decline manifests itself mainly by company closures in decentralized locations. The importance for organizational survival and performance of adapting and reacting to environmental changes has long been ascertained. This adaptation requires managers, under conditions of uncertainty, to identify relevant changes in their external environment and to interpret the possible effects of those changes on their organization. Furthermore, it requires finding and adopting organizational responses in reaction to the environmental changes. The second essay explores how managers perceive their environment by reporting the results of two workshops held with managers from the European hotel industry. In the third essay we examine in more detail the role of uncertainty in the interpretation by executives of environmental changes. We integrate existing theories of interpretation and uncertainty into one framework, which we then test using national survey data from the hotel industry. In all three essays we are able to provide some evidence to support our main hypotheses, but.also make suggestions far further research into the topics examined.

Asymmetric effects of monetary policy in the US: Positive vs. negative or big vs. small?

This paper reconsiders the empirical evidence on the asymmetricoutput effects of monetary policy. Asymmetric effects is a common feature ofmany theoretical models, and there are many different versions of suchasymmetries. We concentrate on the distinctions between positive andnegative money-supply changes, big and small changes in money-supply, andpossible combinations of the two asymmetries. Earlier research has foundempirical evidence in favor of the former of these in US data. Using M1 asthe monetary variable we find evidence in favor of neutrality of big shocksand non-neutrality of small shocks. The results may, however, be affected bystructual instability of M1 demand. Thus, we substitute M1 with the federalfunds rate. In these data we find that only small negative shocks affectreal aggregate activity. The results are interpreted in terms of menu-costmodels.

Institutional constraints on organizations: The case of Spanish car dealerships

We study the effect of organizational choice and institutions on the performance ofSpanish car dealerships. Using outlet-level data from 1994, we find that verticallyintegrateddealerships showed substantially lower labor productivity, higher labor costs andlower profitability than franchised ones. Despite these gaps in performance, no verticallyintegratedoutlet was separated until 1994, yet the few outlets that were eventuallyseparated systematically improved their performance. We argue that the conversion ofintegrated outlets into franchised ones involved significant transaction costs, due to aninstitutional environment favoring permanent, highly-unionized employment relations. Inline with this argument, we find that the observed separations occurred in distributionnetworks that underwent marked reductions in worker unionization rates, following thelegalization of temporary labor contracts.

Comparative genomics of chemosensory protein genes reveals rapid evolution and positive selection in ant-specific duplicates.

Gene duplications can have a major role in adaptation, and gene families underlying chemosensation are particularly interesting due to their essential role in chemical recognition of mates, predators and food resources. Social insects add yet another dimension to the study of chemosensory genomics, as the key components of their social life rely on chemical communication. Still, chemosensory gene families are little studied in social insects. Here we annotated chemosensory protein (CSP) genes from seven ant genomes and studied their evolution. The number of functional CSP genes ranges from 11 to 21 depending on species, and the estimated rates of gene birth and death indicate high turnover of genes. Ant CSP genes include seven conservative orthologous groups present in all the ants, and a group of genes that has expanded independently in different ant lineages. Interestingly, the expanded group of genes has a differing mode of evolution from the orthologous groups. The expanded group shows rapid evolution as indicated by a high dN/dS (nonsynonymous to synonymous changes) ratio, several sites under positive selection and many pseudogenes, whereas the genes in the seven orthologous groups evolve slowly under purifying selection and include only one pseudogene. These results show that adaptive changes have played a role in ant CSP evolution. The expanded group of ant-specific genes is phylogenetically close to a conservative orthologous group CSP7, which includes genes known to be involved in ant nestmate recognition, raising an interesting possibility that the expanded CSPs function in ant chemical communication.

Effect of Emotion and Personality on Deviation from Purely Rational Decision-Making

Human decision-making has consistently demonstrated deviation from "pure" rationality. Emotions are a primary driver of human actions and the current study investigates how perceived emotions and personality traits may affect decision-making during the Ultimatum Game (UG). We manipulated emotions by showing images with emotional connotation while participants decided how to split money with a second player. Event-related potentials (ERPs) from scalp electrodes were recorded during the whole decision-making process. We observed significant differences in the activity of central and frontal areas when participants offered money with respect to when they accepted or rejected an offer. We found that participants were more likely to offer a higher amount of money when making their decision in association with negative emotions. Furthermore, participants were more likely to accept offers when making their decision in association with positive emotions. Honest, conscientious, and introverted participants were more likely to accept offers. Our results suggest that factors others than a rational strategy may predict economic decision-making in the UG.

The benefits of limited feedback in organizations

In most firms, managers periodically assess workers' performance. Evidence suggeststhat managers withhold information during these reviews, and some observersargue that this necessarily reduces surplus. This paper assesses the validity of thisargument when workers have career concerns. Disclosure has two effects: it exposesthe worker to uncertainty about future effort levels, but allows him to use current effortto influence his employer's beliefs about future effort. The surplus-maximizingdisclosure policy reveals output realizations in the center of the distribution, butnot in the tails. Thus, it is efficient for firms to reveal some but not all performanceinformation.

Doublecortin-positive cells in the adult primate cerebral cortex and possible role in brain plasticity and development.

We have demonstrated that cortical cell autografts might be a useful therapy in two monkey models of neurological disease: motor cortex lesion and Parkinson's disease. However, the origin of the useful transplanted cells obtained from cortical biopsies is not clear. In this report we describe the expression of doublecortin (DCX) in these cells based on reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunodetection in the adult primate cortex and cell cultures. The results showed that DCX-positive cells were present in the whole primate cerebral cortex and also expressed glial and/or neuronal markers such as glial fibrillary protein (GFAP) or neuronal nuclei (NeuN). We also demonstrated that only DCX/GFAP positive cells were able to proliferate and originate progenitor cells in vitro. We hypothesize that these DCX-positive cells in vivo have a role in cortical plasticity and brain reaction to injury. Moreover, in vitro these DCX-positive cells have the potential to reacquire progenitor characteristics that confirm their potential for brain repair.

Definition of clinically distinct molecular subtypes in estrogen receptor-positive breast carcinomas through genomic grade.

PURPOSE: A number of microarray studies have reported distinct molecular profiles of breast cancers (BC), such as basal-like, ErbB2-like, and two to three luminal-like subtypes. These were associated with different clinical outcomes. However, although the basal and the ErbB2 subtypes are repeatedly recognized, identification of estrogen receptor (ER) -positive subtypes has been inconsistent. Therefore, refinement of their molecular definition is needed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We have previously reported a gene expression grade index (GGI), which defines histologic grade based on gene expression profiles. Using this algorithm, we assigned ER-positive BC to either high-or low-genomic grade subgroups and compared these with previously reported ER-positive molecular classifications. As further validation, we classified 666 ER-positive samples into subtypes and assessed their clinical outcome. RESULTS: Two ER-positive molecular subgroups (high and low genomic grade) could be defined using the GGI. Despite tracking a single biologic pathway, these were highly comparable to the previously described luminal A and B classification and significantly correlated to the risk groups produced using the 21-gene recurrence score. The two subtypes were associated with statistically distinct clinical outcome in both systemically untreated and tamoxifen-treated populations. CONCLUSION: The use of genomic grade can identify two clinically distinct ER-positive molecular subtypes in a simple and highly reproducible manner across multiple data sets. This study emphasizes the important role of proliferation-related genes in predicting prognosis in ER-positive BC.

Prevalence of positive tuberculosis skin tests during 5 years of screening in a Swiss remand prison

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) screening in prisons is recommended, but the appropriate methods remain controversial. Studies evaluating screening in remand prisons arc scarce. METHOD: Between 1997 and 2001, voluntary screening based on the tuberculin skin test (TST) was offered to all prisoners on entry into the largest remand prison in Switzerland. Prisoners with positive results underwent chest X-rays. We analysed this information collected in an anonymous database. RESULTS: A total of 4890 prisoners entered the prison and were eligible for screening; 3779 (77.3%) had TST performed on average 9 days after arrival: 46.9% were positive (induration >= 10 mm). Positive TST rates were similar over the 5 years. Women were more likely to have a negative TST (60.4%) than men (47.7%; P < 0.001, Pearson's chi(2) 16.5). Positive TSTs varied according to the prisoner's country of origin (64% for sub-Saharan Africa, 57% for Eastern Europe, 56% for North Africa, 51% for Asia and 34% for North and West Europe). CONCLUSION: The percentage of TST-positive subjects was high, and most did not receive preventive treatment for latent TB. The usefulness of systematic TST for all prisoners on entry is limited, as diagnosis of TB disease usually remains the priority in prisons. Keywords

Optimal information transmission in organizations: Search and congestion

We propose a stylized model of a problem-solving organization whoseinternal communication structure is given by a fixed network. Problemsarrive randomly anywhere in this network and must find their way to theirrespective specialized solvers by relying on local information alone.The organization handles multiple problems simultaneously. For this reason,the process may be subject to congestion. We provide a characterization ofthe threshold of collapse of the network and of the stock of foatingproblems (or average delay) that prevails below that threshold. We buildupon this characterization to address a design problem: the determinationof what kind of network architecture optimizes performance for any givenproblem arrival rate. We conclude that, for low arrival rates, the optimalnetwork is very polarized (i.e. star-like or centralized ), whereas it islargely homogenous (or decentralized ) for high arrival rates. We also showthat, if an auxiliary assumption holds, the transition between these twoopposite structures is sharp and they are the only ones to ever qualify asoptimal.

Effects of a treatment gap during adjuvant chemotherapy in node-positive breast cancer: results of International Breast Cancer Study Group (IBCSG) Trials 13-93 and 14-93.

BACKGROUND: The International Breast Cancer Study Group (IBCSG) conducted two complementary randomized trials to assess whether a treatment-free gap during adjuvant chemotherapy influenced outcome. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From 1993 to 1999, IBCSG Trials 13-93 and 14-93 enrolled 2215 premenopausal and postmenopausal women with axillary node-positive, operable breast cancer. All patients received cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan, C) plus either doxorubicin (Adriamycin, A) or epirubicin (E) for four courses followed immediately (No Gap) or after a 16-week delay (Gap) by classical cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil (CMF) for three courses. The median follow-up was 7.7 years. RESULTS: The Gap and No-Gap groups had similar disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). No identified subgroup showed a statistically significant difference, but exploratory subgroup analysis noted a trend towards decreased DFS for Gap compared with No Gap for women with estrogen receptor (ER)-negative tumors not receiving tamoxifen, especially evident during the first 2 years. CONCLUSIONS: A 16-week gap between adjuvant AC/EC and CMF provided no benefit and may have increased early recurrence rates in patients with ER-negative tumors.

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI): state of the art techniques and future perspectives.

Transcatheter aortic valve therapies are the newest established techniques for the treatment of high risk patients affected by severe symptomatic aortic valve stenosis. The transapical approach requires a left anterolateral mini-thoracotomy, whereas the transfemoral method requires an adequate peripheral vascular access and can be performed fully percutaneously. Alternatively, the trans-subclavian access has been recently proposed as a third promising approach. Depending on the technique, the fine stent-valve positioning can be performed with or without contrast injections. The transapical echo-guided stent-valve implantation without angiography (the Lausanne technique) relies entirely on transoesophageal echocardiogramme imaging for the fine stent-valve positioning and it has been proved that this technique prevents the onset of postoperative contrast-related acute kidney failure. Recent published reports have shown good hospital outcomes and short-term results after transcatheter aortic valve implantation, but there are no proven advantages in using the transfemoral or the transapical technique. In particular, the transapical series have a higher mean logistic Euroscore of 27-35%, a procedural success rate above 95% and a mean 30-day mortality between 7.5 and 17.5%, whereas the transfemoral results show a lower logistic Euroscore of 23-25.5%, a procedural success rate above 90% and a 30-day mortality of 7-10.8%. Nevertheless, further clinical trials and long-term results are mandatory to confirm this positive trend. Future perspectives in transcatheter aortic valve therapies would be the development of intravascular devices for the ablation of the diseased valve leaflets and the launch of new stent-valves with improved haemodynamic, different sizes and smaller delivery systems.

LAPATAX: A randomized phase II trial of FEC-docetaxel combined with lapatinib and/or trastuzumab as neoadjuvant therapy of HER2- positive breast cancer-EORTC 10054 trial.

Background: Patients with HER2 +ve breast cancer suitable for neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) have been shown in a series of clinical trials to have the best outcome when treated with anthracyclines (A), taxanes (T), and trastuzumab (Tz). Recent evidence confirms that adjuvant Tz is more effective when given concomitantly rather than sequentially with T (Perez SABCS 2009). Whilst there remains uncertainty as to the most efficacious A-T regimen and duration of Tz, there is widespread use in Europe of FEC-D [3 cycles of 5-FU 500 mg/m2, epirubicin 100 mg/m2 and cyclophosphamide 500 mg/m2 (FEC100) followed by 3 cycles of docetaxel 100 mg/m2 (D) q3w] following the results of PACS-01. The advent of TKI anti-HER2 agents such as L could offer superior outcomes if combined with NAC. However, a phase I study in heavily pre-treated advanced breast cancer reported difficulties in combining lapatinib (L) with D 100 mg/m2 (LoRusso JCO 2008). Methods: EORTC 10054 is designed as a two-part study to compare FEC-D with either Tz, L or their combination as NAC for patients with HER2 +ve large operable or locally advanced breast cancer. Before and on-treatment frozen tumor and blood samples will be taken to better define which tumours are particularly sensitive to either Tz and/or L. Stage 1: (complete) a dose- finding study has confirmed that with primary prophylactic G-CSF, D 100 mg/m2 can be safely and effectively given with L 1,250 mg daily continuously. The dose-limiting toxicity was myelosuppression, and there was no significant diarrhoea or cardiac toxicity (ESMO 2009 abstr P- 5073). Stage 2: (opening Q1 2010) will enroll 150 patients from European centres into a 3-arm randomized trial whose primary endpoint is pathological complete response. All patients will receive FEC-D before primary surgery: 3 cycles of FEC (without anti-HER2 therapy) followed by 3 cycles of D plus either Tz (conventional weekly schedule), monotherapy L, or the combination of Tz and L, using doses based on the EGF100161 dose-finding study in 1st line metastatic therapy of D+L+Tz. After surgery all patients will receive standard 3-weekly Tz, radiotherapy and endocrine therapy as per local guidelines.

Asking about adherence - from flipping the coin to strong evidence.

In the era of antiretroviral therapy (ART) as prevention for transmission of HIV as well as treatment for HIV-positive individuals irrespective of CD4 cell counts, the importance of adherence has grown. Although adherence is not the only determinant of treatment success, it is one of the only modifiable risk factors. Treatment failure reduces future treatment options and therefore long-term clinical success as well as increases the possibility of developing drug resistant mutations. Drug-resistant strains of HIV can then be transmitted to uninfected or drug-naïve individuals limiting their future treatment options, making adherence an important public-health topic, especially in resource-limited settings. Adherence should be monitored as a part of routine clinical care; however, no gold standard for assessment of adherence exists. For use in daily clinical practice, self-report is the most likely candidate for widespread use due to its many advantages over other measurement methods, such as low cost and ease of administration. Asking individuals about their adherence behaviour has been shown to yield valid and predictive data - well beyond the mere flip of a coin. However, there is still work to be done. This article reviews the literature and evidence on self-reported adherence, identifies gaps in adherence research, and makes recommendations for clinicians on how to best utilise self-reported adherence data to support patients in daily clinical practice.

Management control in non-profit organizations: The case of the Associations of Economists in Spain

The number of non-profit organizations has grown considerably over thelast decades, however management control techniques are not being introducedwith the same frequency as in lucrative organizations. The increasedcompetition in this sector has created a growing interest in managementcontrol techniques but with little empirical research in the area. Withthe aim to throw some light over the uses of management control inprofessional associations we have focused in the associations foreconomists in Spain as a particular case of a non-lucrative body.Specifically, the paper comprises three surveys addressed to the followingsectors:1) To the 30 Spanish associations of economists.2) To associations related to the business and/or economics area operatingin the United Kingdom.3) To members of the association of economists in Catalonia (Col.legid'Economistes de Catalunya).Results indicate that management accounting tools are used exceptionally,many times only the minimum legal requirements. The critical situation ofthe associations of economists in Spain requires the implementation ofinformation systems, specially taking into account the differentspecialities of economists and offering to its members, services and productsthat are not available through profit organizations.