Executive Order Number Forty-Nine, August 4, 2006

Executive order signed by Governor Thomas Vilsck

Executive Order Number Fifty-One, December 8, 2006

Executive order signed by Governor Thomas Vilsck

Executive Order Number Fifty, December 1, 2006

Executive order signed by Governor Thomas Vilsack

Executive Order Number One, January 27, 2007

Orders that the United States Flag be flown at half-staff to honor any member of Iowa National Guard, Iowa Air National Guard or an Iowa resident serving as a member of the United States Armed Forces who is killed in the line of duty.

Three essays in control, entrepreneurship and innovation

One of the key emphases of these three essays is to provide practical managerial insight. However, good practical insight, can only be created by grounding it firmly on theoretical and empirical research. Practical experience-based understanding without theoretical grounding remains tacit and cannot be easily disseminated. Theoretical understanding without links to real life remains sterile. My studies aim to increase the understanding of how radical innovation could be generated at large established firms and how it can have an impact on business performance as most businesses pursue innovation with one prime objective: value creation. My studies focus on large established firms with sales revenue exceeding USD $ 1 billion. Usually large established firms cannot rely on informal ways of management, as these firms tend to be multinational businesses operating with subsidiaries, offices, or production facilities in more than one country. I. Internal and External Determinants of Corporate Venture Capital Investment The goal of this chapter is to focus on CVC as one of the mechanisms available for established firms to source new ideas that can be exploited. We explore the internal and external determinants under which established firms engage in CVC to source new knowledge through investment in startups. We attempt to make scholars and managers aware of the forces that influence CVC activity by providing findings and insights to facilitate the strategic management of CVC. There are research opportunities to further understand the CVC phenomenon. Why do companies engage in CVC? What motivates them to continue "playing the game" and keep their active CVC investment status. The study examines CVC investment activity, and the importance of understanding the influential factors that make a firm decide to engage in CVC. The main question is: How do established firms' CVC programs adapt to changing internal conditions and external environments. Adaptation typically involves learning from exploratory endeavors, which enable companies to transform the ways they compete (Guth & Ginsberg, 1990). Our study extends the current stream of research on CVC. It aims to contribute to the literature by providing an extensive comparison of internal and external determinants leading to CVC investment activity. To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the influence of internal and external determinants on CVC activity throughout specific expansion and contraction periods determined by structural breaks occurring between 1985 to 2008. Our econometric analysis indicates a strong and significant positive association between CVC activity and R&D, cash flow availability and environmental financial market conditions, as well as a significant negative association between sales growth and the decision to engage into CVC. The analysis of this study reveals that CVC investment is highly volatile, as demonstrated by dramatic fluctuations in CVC investment activity over the past decades. When analyzing the overall cyclical CVC period from 1985 to 2008 the results of our study suggest that CVC activity has a pattern influenced by financial factors such as the level of R&D, free cash flow, lack of sales growth, and external conditions of the economy, with the NASDAQ price index as the most significant variable influencing CVC during this period. II. Contribution of CVC and its Interaction with R&D to Value Creation The second essay takes into account the demands of corporate executives and shareholders regarding business performance and value creation justifications for investments in innovation. Billions of dollars are invested in CVC and R&D. However there is little evidence that CVC and its interaction with R&D create value. Firms operating in dynamic business sectors seek to innovate to create the value demanded by changing market conditions, consumer preferences, and competitive offerings. Consequently, firms operating in such business sectors put a premium on finding new, sustainable and competitive value propositions. CVC and R&D can help them in this challenge. Dushnitsky and Lenox (2006) presented evidence that CVC investment is associated with value creation. However, studies have shown that the most innovative firms do not necessarily benefit from innovation. For instance Oyon (2007) indicated that between 1995 and 2005 the most innovative automotive companies did not obtain adequate rewards for shareholders. The interaction between CVC and R&D has generated much debate in the CVC literature. Some researchers see them as substitutes suggesting that firms have to choose between CVC and R&D (Hellmann, 2002), while others expect them to be complementary (Chesbrough & Tucci, 2004). This study explores the interaction that CVC and R&D have on value creation. This essay examines the impact of CVC and R&D on value creation over sixteen years across six business sectors and different geographical regions. Our findings suggest that the effect of CVC and its interaction with R&D on value creation is positive and significant. In dynamic business sectors technologies rapidly relinquish obsolete, consequently firms operating in such business sectors need to continuously develop new sources of value creation (Eisenhardt & Martin, 2000; Qualls, Olshavsky, & Michaels, 1981). We conclude that in order to impact value creation, firms operating in business sectors such as Engineering & Business Services, and Information Communication & Technology ought to consider CVC as a vital element of their innovation strategy. Moreover, regarding the CVC and R&D interaction effect, our findings suggest that R&D and CVC are complementary to value creation hence firms in certain business sectors can be better off supporting both R&D and CVC simultaneously to increase the probability of generating value creation. III. MCS and Organizational Structures for Radical Innovation Incremental innovation is necessary for continuous improvement but it does not provide a sustainable permanent source of competitiveness (Cooper, 2003). On the other hand, radical innovation pursuing new technologies and new market frontiers can generate new platforms for growth providing firms with competitive advantages and high economic margin rents (Duchesneau et al., 1979; Markides & Geroski, 2005; O'Connor & DeMartino, 2006; Utterback, 1994). Interestingly, not all companies distinguish between incremental and radical innovation, and more importantly firms that manage innovation through a one-sizefits- all process can almost guarantee a sub-optimization of certain systems and resources (Davila et al., 2006). Moreover, we conducted research on the utilization of MCS along with radical innovation and flexible organizational structures as these have been associated with firm growth (Cooper, 2003; Davila & Foster, 2005, 2007; Markides & Geroski, 2005; O'Connor & DeMartino, 2006). Davila et al. (2009) identified research opportunities for innovation management and provided a list of pending issues: How do companies manage the process of radical and incremental innovation? What are the performance measures companies use to manage radical ideas and how do they select them? The fundamental objective of this paper is to address the following research question: What are the processes, MCS, and organizational structures for generating radical innovation? Moreover, in recent years, research on innovation management has been conducted mainly at either the firm level (Birkinshaw, Hamel, & Mol, 2008a) or at the project level examining appropriate management techniques associated with high levels of uncertainty (Burgelman & Sayles, 1988; Dougherty & Heller, 1994; Jelinek & Schoonhoven, 1993; Kanter, North, Bernstein, & Williamson, 1990; Leifer et al., 2000). Therefore, we embarked on a novel process-related research framework to observe the process stages, MCS, and organizational structures that can generate radical innovation. This article is based on a case study at Alcan Engineered Products, a division of a multinational company provider of lightweight material solutions. Our observations suggest that incremental and radical innovation should be managed through different processes, MCS and organizational structures that ought to be activated and adapted contingent to the type of innovation that is being pursued (i.e. incremental or radical innovation). More importantly, we conclude that radical can be generated in a systematic way through enablers such as processes, MCS, and organizational structures. This is in line with the findings of Jelinek and Schoonhoven (1993) and Davila et al. (2006; 2007) who show that innovative firms have institutionalized mechanisms, arguing that radical innovation cannot occur in an organic environment where flexibility and consensus are the main managerial mechanisms. They rather argue that radical innovation requires a clear organizational structure and formal MCS.

Executive Order Number Two, February 28, 2007

Orders that the deadline for individual Iowa taxpayers who are farmers to pay their 2006 individual income tax is extended until March 15, 2007.

Propuesta para un Proyecto de Evaluación de Stocks de Camarón de Profundidad en aguas de Cabo Verde (2010-2013)

A bibliographic revision on the fisheries research in the Canary, Madeira, and the Azores Islands related to stock assessment of the striped soldier shrimp (Plesionika edwardsii) (Crustacea, Decapoda, Pandalidae) was made. Biological information –reproduction, growth, mortality, recruitment– of the target species, selective technological developments –multiple semi-floating shrimp traps–, and know-how gained by the ICCM can give support to elaborate and execute an ICCM-INDP joint project, in order to explore and assess its insular stocks in the Capeverdian deepwaters (150-300 m). In the frame of the UE Trans-national Cooperation Programme MAC (2007- 2013), the next coming call for proposals seems to be an adequate source to fund it. This project should include some activities for the valorisation and promotion of this new shellfish product, as well as for scientific-technical and social divulgation, and for giving advice to the decision-makers. Lastly, with the aim of developing a new fishing activity in the Cape Verdes on a responsible and sustainable basis, authors have scheduled a second study phase. This should consist of a process of technology transfer, followed by an experimental fishing pilot project including a study on biological and commercial viability with the participation of the Capeverdian fishing sector.

Evaluation of Virtual Reality Snowplow Simulator Training, January 2007

Each winter, Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) maintenance operators are responsible for plowing snow off federal and state roads in Iowa. Drivers typically work long shifts under treacherous conditions. In addition to properly navigating the vehicle, drivers are required to operate several plowing mechanisms simultaneously, such as plow controls and salt spreaders. There is little opportunity for practicing these skills in real-world situations. A virtual reality training program would provide operators with the opportunity to practice these skills under realistic yet safe conditions, as well as provide basic training to novice or less-experienced operators. In order to provide such training to snowplow operators in Iowa, the Iowa DOT purchased a snowplow simulator. The Iowa DOT commissioned a study through Iowa State University designed to (1) assess the use of this simulator as a training tool and (2) examine personality and other characteristics associated with being an experienced snowplow operator. The results of this study suggest that Iowa DOT operators of all ages and levels of experience enjoyed and seemed to benefit from virtual reality snowplow simulator training. Simulator sickness ratings were relatively low, implying that the simulator is appropriate for training a wide range of Iowa DOT operators. Many reported that simulator training was the most useful aspect of training for them.

O Financiamento e a Estrutura de Capitais das Empresas. Uma Comparação entre os Países do Sul da Europa e os Países da Escandinávia

Este trabalho estuda e compara os fatores determinantes do endividamento em empresas do sector das manufacturas de 7 países do Sul da Europa e da Escandinávia para o ano 2008. Os resultados encontrados sugerem que não existem diferenças significativas entre esses países, não obstante os níveis de endividamento médio entre as empresas dos vários países apresentarem diferenças significativas. No estudo utilizou-se o modelo de regressão fraccionário para estimar o modelo, dadas as fragilidades que as outras formas funcionais apresentam em situações em que a variável dependente representa uma proporção. Rendibilidade (-); Crescimento (+); e Liquidez (-) evidenciam a superioridade da teoria de pecking order em relação à teoria do trade-off e custos de agência. Outras fontes de protecção fiscal (-), tangibilidade (+) e idade (-) são também factores importantes para a explicação do endividamento das empresas analisadas.

Gestão Documental: Gestão de Processos de Aposentação usando a Plataforma IBM FileNet na Direcção Geral de Administração Pública

Ainda, nos nossos dias, o papel como sendo base de suporte das informações, é o maior problema operacional na maioria das empresas, órgãos governamentais e instituições. A administração pública cabo-verdiana lida anualmente com um grande volume de documentos e, a dificuldade de se lidar cada vez mais com os documentos produzidos é crescente. Daí, a necessidade de estabelecer princípios de racionalidade administrativa, a partir da intervenção nas etapas do ciclo de produção, utilização, conservação e destinação dos documentos de arquivo - a Gestão Documental. Com a evolução das Tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação (TIC) é contínua, igualmente a gestão da informação precisa adaptar-se a cada nova onda de mudança. A utilização de sistemas de gestão de conteúdos e de processos constituem ferramentas indispensáveis para o desenvolvimento de modernos sistemas de informação, agilizando assim os processos críticos nas instituições, de forma a optimizar o binómio produtividade - qualidade. Este trabalho faz referência à utilização da IBM FileNet, para modelação do processo de pedido de aposentação na Administração Pública. Ficou comprovado que o sistema de gestão de Workflow - Bussiness Process Management (BPM) da IBM, é capaz de automatizar o procedimento dos processos, gerir a sequência de actividades de trabalho e chamar (ou invocar) os recursos humanos e electrónicos apropriados, associados aos vários passos de actividades numa instituição. As evidências da plataforma FileNet como solução de Gestão de Conteúdos, e Gestão de Processos na nossa Administração Pública, demonstram vantagens consideráveis em todos os níveis. Para além de dinamizar e automatizar os processos críticos, o FileNet BPM pode permitir a optimização das operações e melhorar a capacidade de tomar decisões rápidas e acertadas, capacitando a instituição, para tomar decisões atempadas, baseadas na mais rigorosa informação disponível.

Executive Order Number Three, June 21, 2007

Orders that the use of E-85 fuel in the state's flexible-fuel vehicles shall be increased to at least 60% of fuel purchases, and instructs the Office of Energy Independence and DAS to develop a "State Government E-85 Use Plan .

Iowa Utilities Board Fiscal Year 2006 Regulatory Plan Pursuant to Executive Order Nine

Regulatory Plan for Fiscal Year 2005

Iowa Utilities Board Fiscal Year 2007 Regulatory Plan Pursuant to Executive Order Nine

Regulatory Plan for Fiscal Year 2007

Iowa Utilities Board Fiscal Year 2008 Regulatory Plan Pursuant to Executive Order Nine

Regulatory Plan for Fiscal Year 2008

The effects of poor financial information systems on the long term sustainability of local public services. Empirical evidence from the Catalan Municipalities

In this paper we describe the existence of financial illusion in public accountingand we comment on its effects for the future sustainability of local publicservices. We relate these features to the lack of incentives amongst publicmanagers for improving the financial reporting and thus management of publicassets. Financial illusion pays off for politicians and managers since it allowsfor larger public expenditure increases and managerial slack, these beingarguments in their utility functions. This preference is strengthen by the shorttime perspective of politically appointed public managers. Both factors runagainst public accountability. This hypothesis is tested for Spain by using anunique sample. We take data from around forty Catalan local authorities withpopulation above 20,000 for the financial years 1993-98. We build this databasis from the Catalan Auditing Office Reports in a way that it can be linkedto some other local social and economic variables in order to test ourassumptions. The results confirm that there is a statistical relationship between the financialillusion index (FI as constructed in the paper) and higher current expenditure.This reflects on important overruns and increases of the delay in payingsuppliers, as well as on a higher difficulties to face capital finance. Mechanismsfor FI creation have to do among other factors, with delays in paying suppliers(and thereafter higher future financial costs per unit of service), no adequateprovision for bad debts and lack of appropriate capital funding either forreposition or for new equipments. For this, it is crucial to monitor the way inwhich capital transfers are accounted in local public sheet balances. As a result,for most of the Municipalities we analyse, the funds for guaranteeing continuityand sustainability of public services provision are today at risk.Given managerial incentives at present in public institutions, we conclude thatpublic regulation recently enforced for assuring better information systems inlocal public management may not be enough to change the current state of affairs.