Technological convergence: a strategic perspective

The information and communication technologies (ICT) sectors are in a process of technological convergence. Determinant factors in this process are the liberalisation of the telecommunications markets and technological change. Many firms are engaged in a process of mergers and alliances to position themselves in this new framework. Technological and demand uncertainties are very important. Our objective in this paper is to study the economic determinants of the strategies of the firms. With this aim, we review some key technological and demand aspects. We shed some light on the strategic motivations of the firms by establishing a parallel with the evolution of the retailing sector

Prices versus exams as strategic instruments for competing universities

In this paper we investigate the optimal choice of prices and/or exams by universities in the presence of credit constraints. We first compare the optimal behavior of a public, welfare maximizing, monopoly and a private, profit maximizing, monopoly. Then we model competition between a public and a private institution and investigate the new role of exams/prices in this environment. We find that, under certain circumstances, the public university may have an interest to raise tuition fees from minimum levels if it cares for global welfare. This will be the case provided that (i) the private institution has higher quality and uses only prices to select applicants, or (ii) the private institution has lower quality and uses also exams to select students. When this is the case, there are efficiency grounds for raising public prices

Large-Area Photo-Mosaics Using Global Alignment and Navigation Data

Seafloor imagery is a rich source of data for the study of biological and geological processes. Among several applications, still images of the ocean floor can be used to build image composites referred to as photo-mosaics. Photo-mosaics provide a wide-area visual representation of the benthos, and enable applications as diverse as geological surveys, mapping and detection of temporal changes in the morphology of biodiversity. We present an approach for creating globally aligned photo-mosaics using 3D position estimates provided by navigation sensors available in deep water surveys. Without image registration, such navigation data does not provide enough accuracy to produce useful composite images. Results from a challenging data set of the Lucky Strike vent field at the Mid Atlantic Ridge are reported

Intersubjetividad de la realidad empresarial del sistema financiero colombiano : el caso COLPATRIA

Dentro de los aspectos más importantes para el desarrollo organizacional se encuentra el factor humano, donde existen diferentes formas para examinar la manera en que las personas perciben el desarrollo del negocio y su entorno. La intersubjetividad como asunto de la realidad empresarial se convierte entonces en una manera de recopilar la forma en que los involucrados en diferentes niveles de una organización perciben fenómenos, siendo esto fuente fundamental para la medición de la alineación de la organización con su plataforma estratégica. Este estudio busca examinar la forma en que los empleados de la empresa Colpatria perciben el sector financiero, en el cual se desempeña la empresa.

Implementation of global make to inventory strategy at BASF SE

La optimización y armonización son factores clave para tener un buen desempeño en la industria química. BASF ha desarrollado un proyecto llamada acelerador. El objetivo de este proyecto ha sido la armonización y la integración de los procesos de la cadena de suministro a nivel mundial. El proceso básico de manejo de inventarios se quedó fuera del proyecto y debía ser analizado. El departamento de manejo de inventarios en BASF SE ha estado desarrollando su propia estrategia para la definición de procesos globales de manufactura. En este trabajo se presentará un informe de las fases de la formulación de la estrategia y establecer algunas pautas para la fase de implementación que está teniendo lugar en 2012 y 2013.

Strategic searching and controlled vocabulary

Using free text and controlled vocabulary in Medline and CINAHL

Diseño de un plan estratégico en el Instituto de Enfermedades Autoinmunes Renato Guzmán - IDEARG S.A.S.

IDEARG S.A.S es una Institución Prestadora de Servicios de Salud dedicada a la atención de pacientes con enfermedades autoinmunes. Dentro de su ordenación se encuentra una planta de personal organizada y comprometida con el progreso de la empresa. Sin embargo, existe una sentida necesidad de implementar estrategias que permitan el fortalecimiento interno de la institución y su posicionamiento en el mercado como una de las empresas de mayor prestigio en su campo de acción. Resulta oportuno establecer un plan estratégico de mejoramiento que permita incentivar entre los clientes internos, el sentido de pertenencia hacia la institución con el fin de obtener resultados de excelencia y calidad propuestos para la prestación de servicios de salud. Dadas las condiciones que anteceden, resulta importante implementar nuevas estrategias, basado en el modelo Parasuraman, ZeithamI y Berry teniendo en cuenta la escala de medida de calidad del servicio Servqual, la Auditoría PCE (Puntos Críticos de Éxito), la alineación de la cultura con la planeación estratégica, los incentivos e indicadores. Inicialmente, se realizó un diagnóstico de situación de la institución con el fin de identificar las áreas claves para la ejecución del proyecto, posteriormente se crearon las iniciativas y estrategias para enfrentar las dificultades encontradas y por último los resultados serán socializados con las directivas de la institución para su futura ejecución.

Laser alignment (NPL)

Short video on laser alignment produced by the National Physical Laboratory

Ontology alignment

Introduction to alignment, mapping,

Factores para la implementación eficiente de un sistema de control de gestión en las organizaciones

La implementación del MCS es una necesidad que demandan las organizaciones en la medida en que incrementan de tamaño, pero la experiencia muestra que esta metodología tiene casos de éxito como de fracaso, por lo que es importante identificar y contemplar los factores que influyen en la implementación para que el sistema sea efectivo. Este proyecto pretende analizar las variables y herramientas para la implementación de un MCS en una organización. Para este análisis se hizo una amplia revisión literaria teórica y práctica. Finalmente el resultado que se obtuvo fue definir cuáles son los factores determinantes para la implementación de un MCS efectivo en una empresa.

Decoding the canada's foreing and security policy: tracking the strategic and ethicliberal approaches of a middle power's behavior

The article attempts to explain the main paradox faced by Canada at formulating its foreign policy on international security. Explained in economic and political terms, this paradox consists in the contradiction between the Canadian ability to achieve its strategic goals, serving to its own national interest and its dependence on the United States. The first section outlines three representative examples to evaluate this paradox: the Canada’s position in North American security regime, the US-Canada economic security relations, and the universe of possibilities for action of Canada as a middle power. The second section suggests that liberal agenda, especially concerning to ethical issues, has been established by this country to minimize this paradox. By pursing this agenda, Canada is able to reaffirm its national identity and therefore its independence on the United States. The third section evaluates both the explained paradox and the reaffirmation of Canadian identity during the Jean Chrétien (1993-2003), Paul Martin (2003-2006) and Stephen Harper’s (2006) governments.

Evaluation of strategic knowledge of students through authentic tasks of writingin science classroom

The difficulties at evaluating strategic knowledge have been connected to the use of deconxetualized tests that, at the end, do not involve the use of this knowledge. For this reason, an interest in developing authentic writing tasks that offer advantages for these kinds of evaluation have arisen. Throughout this research, authentic writing tasks were developed in a natural sciences class, with the purpose of evaluating the students' strategic knowledge. Different instruments were used to collect data, e.g. Interviews, questionnaires, a self-inform, as well as three samples of writing by the students, with the objective of analyzing the changes that occurred between one and the others, as well as to determine the decisions that students made in order to complete the assigned tasks successfully. An authentic writing task gives great opportunities to evaluate strategic knowledge. These tasks lead students to arrange their knowledge about the topic in hand, organize and adapt it to fit the objectives and the audience, also, it allows them to control and adjust their decisions on the task. This last stage became the perfect opportunity to take notes on the knowledge and regulation of cognitive processes that the students brought into play, as well as to evaluating their understanding of writing and the demands given on the different discursive genres. As a result, the students showed different degrees of strategic knowledge in the task. The students who showed a better strategic knowledge trust in their structural abilities know about discursive genres and have a good performance in basic linguistic abilities. The students who showed weak strategic knowledge distrust their writing skills, seem extremely worried about organizing the content of their texts, fail when checking their writings, and overlook or are unaware of the basic requirements of the discursive genre they are asked to exemplify. It appears that the previous knowledge and experiences at writing the students have been exposed to may affect the strategic knowledge shown when writing in this subject. 

A Strategic-Equilibrium Based

The strategic equilibrium of an N-person cooperative game with transferable utility is a system composed of a cover collection of subsets of N and a set of extended imputations attainable through such equilibrium cover. The system describes a state of coalitional bargaining stability where every player has a bargaining alternative against any other player to support his corresponding equilibrium claim. Any coalition in the sable system may form and divide the characteristic value function of the coalition as prescribed by the equilibrium payoffs. If syndicates are allowed to form, a formed coalition may become a syndicate using the equilibrium payoffs as disagreement values in bargaining for a part of the complementary coalition incremental value to the grand coalition when formed. The emergent well known-constant sum derived game in partition function is described in terms of parameters that result from incumbent binding agreements. The strategic-equilibrium corresponding to the derived game gives an equal value claim to all players.  This surprising result is alternatively explained in terms of strategic-equilibrium based possible outcomes by a sequence of bargaining stages that when the binding agreements are in the right sequential order, von Neumann and Morgenstern (vN-M) non-discriminatory solutions emerge. In these solutions a preferred branch by a sufficient number of players is identified: the weaker players syndicate against the stronger player. This condition is referred to as the stronger player paradox.  A strategic alternative available to the stronger players to overcome the anticipated not desirable results is to voluntarily lower his bargaining equilibrium claim. In doing the original strategic equilibrium is modified and vN-M discriminatory solutions may occur, but also a different stronger player may emerge that has eventually will have to lower his equilibrium claim. A sequence of such measures converges to the equal opportunity for all vN-M solution anticipated by the strategic equilibrium of partition function derived game.    [298-words]