Catch-up strategies in the Indian auto components industry: domestic firms��� responses to market liberalization

Market liberalization in emerging-market economies and the entry of multinational firms spur significant changes to the industry/institutional environment faced by domestic firms. Prior studies have described how such changes tend to be disruptive to the relatively backward domestic firms, and negatively affect their performance and survival prospects. In this paper, we study how domestic supplier firms may adapt and continue to perform, as market liberalization progresses, through catch-up strategies aimed at integrating with the industry's global value chain. Drawing on internalization theory and the literatures on upgrading and catch-up processes, learning and relational networks, we hypothesize that, for continued performance, domestic supplier firms need to adapt their strategies from catching up initially through technology licensing/collaborations and joint ventures with multinational enterprises (MNEs) to also developing strong customer relationships with downstream firms (especially MNEs). Further, we propose that successful catch-up through these two strategies lays the foundation for a strategy of knowledge creation during the integration of domestic industry with the global value chain. Our analysis of data from the auto components industry in India during the period 1992���2002, that is, the decade since liberalization began in 1991, offers support for our hypotheses.

Making the tacit explicit: children's strategies for classroom writing

A key highlight of this study is generating evidence of children ���making aware the unaware���, making tacit knowledge explicit. The research explores the levels of awareness in thinking used by eight 7���8 year-old children when engaged in school-based genre writing tasks. The focus is on analysing children���s awareness of their thought processes, using a framework originally devised by Swartz and Perkins (1989), in order to investigate ways in which children can transform their tacit knowledge to explicit within the writing process. Classroom ���think aloud��� protocols are used to help children ���manage their knowledge transfer���, to speak the unspoken. In their framework Swartz and Perkins distinguish between four levels of thought that they view as hierarchical and ���increasingly metacognitive.��� However, there is little evidence in this study to show that levels of awareness in thinking are increasingly progressive and observations made during the study suggest that young writers move in and out of the suggested levels of thinking during different elements of a writing task. The reasons for this may depend on a number of factors which are noted in this paper. Evidence does suggest children in this age group are consciously aware of their own and others��� thought processes both with and without adult prompting. By using collaborative talk, their awareness of these thought processes is highlighted enabling the co-construction and integration of new ideas into their existing knowledge base.

Global, local, or regional? The locus of MNE strategies

This paper provides an overview of the main insights arising from the ���regional strategy��� literature. It also develops the contours of a new, rich research agenda for future international strategy scholarship, whereby the region should be introduced as an explicit, third geographic level of analysis, in addition to the country-level and the global level. Regional strategy analysis requires a fundamental rethink of mainstream theories in the international strategy sphere. This rethink involves, inter alia, internalization theory, with its resource-based view and transaction cost economics components, as well as the integration (I) ��� national responsiveness (NR) framework.

Integration of Ligand- and Target-Based Virtual Screening for the Discovery of Cruzain Inhibitors

A myriad of methods are available for virtual screening of small organic compound databases. In this study we have successfully applied a quantitative model of consensus measurements, using a combination of 3D similarity searches (ROCS and EON), Hologram Quantitative Structure Activity Relationships (HQSAR) and docking (FRED, FlexX, Glide and AutoDock Vina), to retrieve cruzain inhibitors from collected databases. All methods were assessed individually and then combined in a Ligand-Based Virtual Screening (LBVS) and Target-Based Virtual Screening (TBVS) consensus scoring, using Receiving Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves to evaluate their performance. Three consensus strategies were used: scaled-rank-by-number, rank-by-rank and rank-by-vote, with the most thriving the scaled-rank-by-number strategy, considering that the stiff ROC curve appeared to be satisfactory in every way to indicate a higher enrichment power at early retrieval of active compounds from the database. The ligand-based method provided access to a robust and predictive HQSAR model that was developed to show superior discrimination between active and inactive compounds, which was also better than ROCS and EON procedures. Overall, the integration of fast computational techniques based on ligand and target structures resulted in a more efficient retrieval of cruzain inhibitors with desired pharmacological profiles that may be useful to advance the discovery of new trypanocidal agents.

Contemporary Approaches to Translation in the Classroom : A study of students' Attitudes and Strategies

The purpose of this study is to explore the strategies and attitudes of students towards translation in the context of language learning. The informants come from two different classes at an Upper Secondary vocational program. The study was born from the backdrop of discussions among some English teachers representing different theories on translation and language learning, meeting students endeavoring in language learning beyond the confinement of the classroom and personal experiences of translation in language learning. The curriculum and course plan for English at the vocational program emphasize two things of particular interest to our study; integration of the program outcomes and vocational language into the English course - so called meshed learning ��� and student awareness of their own learning processes. A background is presented of different contrasting methods in translation and language learning that is relevant to our discussion. However, focus is given to contemporary research on reforms within the Comparative Theory, as expressed in Translation in Language and Teaching (TILT), Contrastive Analysis and ���The Third Space���. The results of the students��� reflections are presented as attempts to translate two different texts; one lyric and one technical vocational text. The results show a pragmatic attitude among the students toward tools like dictionaries or Google Translate, but also a critical awareness about their use and limits. They appear to prefer the use of first language to the target language when discussing the correct translation as they sought accuracy over meaning. Translation for them was a natural and problem-solving event worth a rightful place in language teaching.

Aligning sustainability and corporate strategies: the case of hybrid-electric vehicles and Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles

Este estudo analisa a integra����o da sustentabilidade ambiental na estrat��gia das empresas no contexto da ind��stria automobil��stica. A implementa����o de estrat��gias de sustentabilidade e o desenvolvimento de ve��culos h��brido-el��tricos s��o investigados com refer��ncia ao caso de um ator principal na ind��stria. Entre as aplica����es de mobilidade el��ctrica, que ir�� aumentar a presen��a no mercado nos pr��ximos anos devido ��s regulamenta����es rigorosas e as prefer��ncias dos clientes, a pesquisa est�� focada em ve��culos h��brido-el��tricos. As estrat��gias de sustentabilidade das grandes fabricantes de autom��veis e as implica����es subsequentes em termos de desenvolvimento de produtos, com uma aten����o especial aos ve��culos el��tricos h��bridos, foram analisados atrav��s de dados secund��rios. Al��m disso, os dados prim��rios foram coletados sobre a estrat��gia de sustentabilidade de um ator importante na ind��stria e usados para realizar um estudo de caso. A an��lise incidiu sobre os fatores cr��ticos e os aspectos que t��m impacto sobre as estrat��gias de sustentabilidade, que visam reduzir o impacto ambiental da ind��stria automobil��stica, e sobre o desenvolvimento de ve��culos h��bridos. A an��lise dos dados mostrou que a Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) teve uma ��nfase menor na mobilidade el��ctrica em termos de relat��rios de sustentabilidade. A conclus��o apresenta uma avalia����o da estrat��gia corporativa da FCA, em termos de sustentabilidade ambiental, e apresenta um quadro para o desenvolvimento de ve��culos h��bridos com quatro abordagens diferentes que t��m impacto sobre a estrat��gia de sustentabilidade de uma montadora.

Cultural strategies: how do national cultures impact the operations strategy?

Through the assessment of the fourth round of the High Performance Manufacturing (HPM) project and the introduction of Hofstede���s Cultural Classification, the present work aims to deepen the comprehension of the impact of National Cultures on firms��� Operations Strategy. The ANOVA comparisons of four Operations Strategy elements in countries with different industrialization and development backgrounds (e.g. Germany, China, Brazil and South Korea) suggest that while Integrating Leadership and Implementation of Manufacturing Strategy are affected by the cultural levels of Power Distance, Individualism vs. Collectivism and Uncertainty Avoidance, the other two elements of Operations Strategy, Functional Integration and Formal Manufacturing Strategy, show effects of the degree of Individualism vs. Collectivism and Long-Term Orientation. The results of the study are expected to offer new perspectives on the planning and implementation of strategic and operations management for both practitioners and academics. More specifically, the analysis of cross-cultural influence over operations strategy may contribute to a better understanding of how cooperative behavior may lead firms to generate higher rents through the strengths and weaknesses of their relations, particularly in terms of global supply chains.

A Metacommunity Framework for Enhancing the Effectiveness of Biological Monitoring Strategies

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient��fico e Tecnol��gico (CNPq)

Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean 2010-2011: Internacional integration and macroeconomic policy challenges amid global economic turmoil

Includes bibliography

Policy alternatives and strategies for the Plurinational State of Bolivia following the end of trade preferences

Include bibliography

Korean OFDI: investment strategies and corporate motivations for investing abroad

Includes bibliography

Regional integration and the issue of choosing an appropriate exchange-rate regime in Latin America

Includes bibliography

A comparative study of MPPT strategies and a novel singlephase integrated buck-boost inverter for small wind energy conversion systems

This paper presents the analysis of some usual MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) strategies intended for small wind energy conversion (up to 1kW) based on permanent magnet synchronous generators (PMSG), considering the stand-alone application for a novel buck-boost integrated inverter. Each MPPT method is analytically introduced and then it is simulated using MatLab/Simulink considering standard conditions of wind and also commercially available turbines and generators. The extracted power in each case is compared with the maximum available power, so the tracking factor is calculated for each method. Thus, the focus is on the application to improve the efficiency of stand-alone wind energy conversion systems (WECS) with battery chargers and AC load supplied by inverter. Therefore, for this purpose a novel single phase buck-boost integrated inverter is introduced. Finally, the main experimental results for the introduced inverter are presented. �� 2011 IEEE.

Regional integration in the 1990s

The renewed interest sparked by the potential for intraregional cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean today has been reflected in numerous agreements regarding trade preferences and in attempts to establish free trade areas, customs unions or common markets. The possibility has even been discussed of setting up free trade arrangements on a hemispheric scale. This plethora of proposals inevitably raises a great many questions. What is the reason for this renewed interest? Are the differences between the schemes of today and those of the 1960s and 1970s significant enough to avert the obstacles and difficulties encountered by those earlier schemes? What are the most suitable mechanisms and instruments for promoting intra-Latin American integration? What are the defining characteristics of the various categories of integration initiatives, such as free trade areas, customs unions and common markets? Is it feasible to set up free trade areas involving countries having very dissimilar levels of development or macroeconomic policies? Would it be wise to work towards a gradual convergence of all these initiatives into a single, regionwide scheme? And most importantly: Just how functional would integration be in terms of the development strategies and policies adopted by the individual countries of the region? The various sections of this article attempt to answer, albeit tentatively, these questions.

Open regionalism and economic integration

Includes bibliography