Dynamic evolution in information sharing networks

This study examines the roll-out of a collaborative information repository or 'knowledge-base' in a medium-sized UK professional services firm over a six year period. Data from usage logs provides the basis for analysis of the dynamic evolution of social networks around the depository during this time. The adoption pattern follows an 's-curve' and usage exhibits something of a power law distribution, both attributable to network effects and network opposition is associated with organisational performance on a number of indicators. But periodicity in usage is evident and the usage distribution displays an exponential cut-off. Fourier analysis provides some evidence of mathematical complexity in the periodicity. Some implications of complex patterns in social network data for research and management are discussed.

Economic restructuring in New Zealand: A classical account

New Zealand's recent experiment with radical neoliberalism is well rehearsed in international policy circles. Yet, given the economic restructuring premise for the reforms, there has been little assessment of their structural impact. In this paper I take up this challenge, utilising [Shaikh, A., Tonak, E. Measuring the wealth of nations: the political economy of national accounts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1994] methodology for deriving classical value categories from official national accounts data but extending this to the industry level. This approach allows changes to the production and appropriation of surplus value in different industries during the period to be identified, underpinning a Marxian interpretation of restructuring. Beyond the methodology, the research makes four contributions. First, conventional analysis is found limited by its concentration on changes to the distribution of value rather than its creation. Second, land rents are significant. Third, the role of financial capital is found more complex than traditionally argued. Finally, the approach provides a firm grounding for the unfashionable concept of class fraction.

Interlocking directorships

[Introduction] When a director of one company at the same time serves on the board of another company, the two companies are said to be interlocked by that director. Through this linkage each company has potential access to information about the activities of the other, either explicitly as intelligence transferred by the director or implicitly in shaping the director’s perspective and general views. Director interlocks formed by executive directors, employed by the firm, are generally interpreted as more instrumental for the firm than those formed by non-executive directors. Firms are often interlocked with more than one other firm and those firms, in turn, with others; a web of social relationships envelops business.

Theories of the state

[Introduction] The recent, unparalleled ascendancy of the liberal democratic state may seem to render alternative theories of the state redundant. But while the prevailing view might be that “I have seen the future, and it works”, it was not so long ago that this was said about a very different type of state. And while the liberal democratic state is an abundant form of government, in practice this often reflects an uneasy compromise of conflicting conceptions of politics. It thus remains important to unpick the theoretical underpinnings of conceptions of the state.

Isomorphic effects of managerial and directoral career paths

The extensive array of interlocking directorate research remains near-exclusively cross-sectional or comparative cross-sectional in nature. While this has been fruitful in identifying persistent structures of inter-organisational relationships evidence of the impact of these structures on organisational performance or activity has been more limited. This should not be surprising because, by their nature, relationships have strong longitudinal and dynamic qualities that are likely to be difficult to isolate through cross-sectional approaches. Clearly, managerial practice is inevitably strongly conditioned by the specific contingencies of the time and the information available through networks of colleagues and advisers (particularly at board level) at the time. But managerial and directoral capabilities and mental sets are also developed over time, particularly through previous experiences in these roles and the formation of long-lasting 'strong' and 'weak' relationships. This paper tests the influence of three longitudinal dimensions of managers and directors' relationships on a set of indicators of financial performance, drawing from a large dataset of detailing historic board membership of UK firms. It finds evidence of isomorphic processes through these channels and establishes that the longitudinal design considerably enhances the detection of performance effects from directorate interlocks. More broadly, the research has implications for the conception of collective action and the constitution of 'community'.

Journal citation among heterodox economists 1995-2007: Dynamics of community emergence

Purpose – This study aims to investigate the pattern among 17 heterodox economic journals over a prolonged period to provide evidence about the social dynamics among the group of researchers who publish in them and the extent to which they hold or develop a collective identity as heterodox economists. Design/methodology/approach – Traditional approaches to citation analysis are extended by the use of techniques from social network analysis. In addition to citation counts, measures of network position and clique membership are used to identify key journals and turning points in a longitudinal analysis. Findings – Important shifts in the nature of citation within the network of journals are identified in the 1998-2001 period and evidence is found of the emergence of a collective identity. Research limitations/implications – The methods prove a valuable extension of citation analysis and also focus greater consideration on the social relationships that citations represent. They are well suited to addressing the principal limitation of the study, its restriction to journals within the defined community rather than journals in general. Originality/value – This extends traditional approaches to citation analysis, provides an important new technique in identifying emergent collective identities and provides insight into the history and nature of the heterodox economic community.

Managing the supply side for product development in China: a Guanxi network approach

Based on the IMP research tradition this paper regards relationships and networks as key issues in the product development and supply management agenda. Within business networks, co-development is only possible to be analysed when emphasis is placed on interdependences and interactive relationships. Co-development usually implies close relationships that allow companies to rely on each other's resources. Close relationships imply interdependences, which may improve companies' technical and product development. By looking at the actual interactions - between a UK company and its Chinese suppliers - that led to an innovative solution and a successful product launch, evolving relationship patterns are identified and analysed in a case study. Both the literature review and case study findings highlight the importance of the 'guanxi' concept (meaning interpersonal relationships in Mandarin) when analysing business-to-business networks in China. Hence, it is suggested that guanxi-based thinking and acting should be incorporated into the interaction model when considering business networking that embrace China. 'Guanxi' broadens the validity of the interaction model, in terms of geographical proximity, and deepens its theoretical base. The case study provides valuable insights for supply management under a product development context in China. In practice, the main point of interest is that Chinese suppliers are important 'resource' providers as well as 'network' providers. Hence, it is suggested that guanxi practice should be reflected into theoretical developments.

Relational dimensions of corporate governance in translation: networked governance in China and India

The effectiveness of corporate governance mechanisms has been a subject of academic research for many decades. Although the large majority of corporate governance studies prior to mid 1990s were based on data from developed market economies such as the U.S., U.K. and Japan, in recent years researchers have begun examining corporate governance in transition economies. A comparison of China and India offers a unique environment for analyzing the effectiveness of corporate governance. First, both countries state-owned enterprise (SOE) reform strategies hinges on the Modern Enterprise System characterized by the separation of ownership and control. Ownership of an SOE’s assets is distributed among the government, institutional investors, managers, employees, and private investors. Effective control rights are assigned to management, which generally has a very small, or even nonexistent ownership stake. This distinctive shareholding structure creates conflict of interest not only between management (insiders) and outside investors but also between large shareholders and minority investors. Moreover, because both governments desire to retain some control—in part through partial retained ownership of commercialized SOEs, further conflicts arise between politicians and firms. Second, directors in publicly listed firms in both countries are predominantly drawn from institutions with significant non-market objectives: the government and other state enterprises, particularly in China, and extended families, particularly in India. As a result, the effectiveness of internal governance mechanisms, such as the number of independent directors on the board and the number of independent supervisors on the supervisory committee, are likely to be quiet limited, although this has yet to be fully evaluated. Third, because of the political nature of the privatization process itself, typical external governance mechanisms, such as debt (in conjunction with appropriate bankruptcy procedures), takeover threats, legal protection of investors, product market competition, etc., have not been effective. Bank loans have traditionally been viewed as grants from the state designed to bail out failing firms. State-owned banks retain monopoly or quasi-monopoly positions in the banking sector and profit is not their overriding objective. If political favor is deemed appropriate, subsidized loans, rescheduling of overdue debt or even outright transfer of funds can be arranged with SOEs (soft budget constraints). In addition, a market for private, non-bank debt is limited in India and has yet to be established China. There is no active merger or takeover activity in Chinese stock markets to discipline management. Information available in the capital markets is insufficient to keep at arm’s length of the corporate decisions. In light of the above peculiarities, China and India share many of the typical institutional characteristics as a transition economy, including poor legal protection of creditors and investors, the absence of an effective takeover market, an underdeveloped capital market, a relative inefficient banking system and significant interference of politicians in firm management. Su (2005) finds that the extent of political interference, managerial entrenchment and institutional control can help explain corporate dividend policies and post-IPO financing choices in this situation. Allen et al. (2005) demonstrate that standard corporate governance mechanisms are weak and ineffective for publicly listed firms while alternative governance mechanisms based on reputation and relationship have been remarkably effective in the private sector. Because the peculiarities are significant in this context, the differences in the political-economies of the two countries are likely to be evident in such relational terms. In this paper we explore the peculiarities of corporate governance in this transitional environment through a systematic examination of certain aspects of these reputational and relationship dimensions. Utilising the methods of social network analysis we identify the inter-organisational relationships at board level formed by equity holdings and by shared directors. Using data drawn from the Orbis database we map these relations among the 3700 largest firms in India and China respectively and identify the roles played in these relational networks by the particularly characteristic institutions in each case. We find greatly different social network structures in each case with some support in these relational dimensions for their distinctive features of governance. Further, the social network metrics allow us to considerably refine proxies for political interference, managerial entrenchment and institutional control used in earlier econometric analysis.

Cyclic voltammetry and spectroelectrochemical study of nickel and cobalt diphenyltetraazaannulene complexes

The absorption spectra. cyclic voltammetry and spectroelectrochemistry of [Ni(II)DPTAA] and [Co(II)DPTAA] (DPTAA = 6,13-diphenyldibenzo[b,i][1,4,8,11] tetraaza[14]annulene) complexes in DMF are reported in detail. The ligand oxidation is observed for [Ni(II)DPTAA] at +0.70 V vs. SCE whereas Ni2(+/+) occurs at - 1.60 V. For [Co(II)DPTAA], a ligand oxidation redox couple is seen at +0.56 V while the Co2+/+ and Co2+/3+ redox couples appear at -1.21 and +0.24 V, respectively. All observed redox couples are assigned to reversible one-electron processes on account of peak separations and scan-rate dependency. These processes were further investigated by spectroelectrochemistry for [Co(II)DPTAA]. For [Co(II)DPTAA], axial ligation of pyridine was found to shift the Co2+/3+ redox couple more negative. while the ligand oxidation was shifted to more positive potentials. From a spectrophotometric titration of [Co(II)DPTAA] with pyridine an equilibrium constant, K-f, was determined for the binding of pyridine to [Co(II)DPTAA]. This was found to be 10.2 dm(3) mol(-1), slightly lower than that of [Co(II)TAA], indicating the influence of the phenyl groups. From this value and shifts in the Co2+/3+ redox couple upon ligation, an equilibrium constant for the binding of pyridine to [Co(III)DPTAA], K'(f), was found to be 5.06 x 10(6) dm(3) mol(-1). (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Early growth and adult respiratory function in men and women followed from the fetal period to adulthood

While some studies suggest that poor fetal growth rate, as indicated by lower birth weight, is associated with poor respiratory function in childhood, findings among adults remain inconsistent. A study was undertaken to determine the association between early growth and adult respiratory function.

Peat, pine stumps and people: interactions behind climate, vegetation change and human activity in wetland archaeology at Loch Farlary, Northern Scotland

First paragraph: In 1993, a peat-cutter, Bruce Field, working on the blanket peat bank he rented from the Sutherland Estate by Loch Farlary, above Golspie in Sutherland (fig 1), reported to Scottish Natural Heritage and Historic Scotland several pieces of pine wood bearing axe marks. Their depth in the peat suggested the cut marks to be prehistoric. This paper summarizes the work undertaken to understand the age and archaeological significance of this find (see also Tipping et al 2001 in press). The pine trees were initially thought to be part of a population that flourished briefly across northern Scotland in the middle of the Holocene period from c 4800 cal BP (Huntley, Daniell & Allen 1997). The subsequent collapse across northernmost Scotland of this population, the pine decline, at around 4200-4000 cal BP is unexplained: climate change has been widely assumed (Dubois & Ferguson 1985; Bridge, Haggart & Lowe 1990; Gear & Huntley 1991) but anthropogenic activity has not been disproved (Birks 1975; Bennett 1995). It was hypothesized that the Farlary find would allow for the first time the direct link between human woodland clearance and the Early Bronze Age pine decline.

An evaluation of the implementation of hand held health records with adults with learning disabilities: a cluster randomized controlled trial

Background: Personal health records were implemented with adults with learning disabilities (AWLD) to try to improve their health-care. Materials and Method: Forty GP practices were randomized to the Personal Health Profile (PHP) implementation or control group. Two hundred and one AWLD were interviewed at baseline and 163 followed up after 12 months intervention (PHP group). AWLD and carers of AWLD were employed as research interviewers. AWLD were full research participants. Results: Annual consultation rates in the intervention and control groups at baseline were low (2.3 and 2.6 visits respectively). A slightly greater increase occurred over the year in the intervention group 0.6 ()0.4 to 1.6) visits ⁄ year compared with controls. AWLD in PHP group reported more health problems at follow-up 0.9 (0.0 to 1.8). AWLD liked their PHP (92%) but only 63% AWLD and 55% carers reported PHP usage. Carers had high turnover (34%). Conclusions: No significant outcomes were achieved by the intervention.