Strategic agility and the effects of firm age and environmental turbulence

PurposeThe purpose of this empirical paper is to operationalize the Doz and Kosonen (2010) model of strategic agility, consisting of three dimensions and 15 subfactors and to test its relationship with firm performance under multiple contingencies.Design/methodology/approachA CEO-level survey is conducted to collect a sample of 73 firms from three industries in the US state of Florida. Factor analysis and convergence with similar criterion are used to validate the strategic agility construct. Multiple regression is used to test hypothesized relationships.FindingsThe findings support construct validity of Doz and Kosonen's model. Moreover, firm age and environmental turbulence are found to be important contingency factors. Environmental turbulence is found to moderate the relationship between firm age and strategic agility. Firm age and environmental turbulence are found to jointly moderate the relationship between strategic agility and firm performance.Research limitations/implicationsIt is evident that firms may benefit from strategic agility depending on their age and environment. The results encourage future longitudinal research addressing causality.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to research by validating a more comprehensive model of strategic agility and identifying contingency factors that help to explain prior mixed results on the relationship between strategic agility and performance.

THE LEGAL CAPACITY IN CONTRACT FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT (THE COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN INDONESIAN LAW, DUTCH LAW, AND ENGLISH LAW)

This article aims to determine the criterion of legal capacity of a patient in a contract for medical treatment and the legal consequences of a contract for medical treatment made by a minor. This article uses a normative juridical research method with a law approach and the data sources used are obtained from literature studies and document studies, and study results showed that there is a similar criterion for determining whether a patient is competent or not in giving consent for medical treatment between Indonesian law and Dutch law that is based on a legally fixed age. However, based on Dutch law, the age of legal capacity to consent for medical treatment differs from the age of legal majority. Meanwhile, English law uses mixed approaches to determine a minor capacity in giving consent for medical treatment that is based on the age and competence of a minor. Furthermore, according to Indonesian Law, a contract for medical treatment made by minors is voidable, whereas according to Dutch Law and also English Law any contract for medical treatment made by minors is legally binding.

Impulse concept in formulating a unified approach to bedload transport

<p>Due to their stochastic and fluctuating nature, the entrainment and transport of sediment particles present great challenges to scientists and engineers who endeavor to formulate a universal framework for quantifying sediment dynamics and transport behaviors. The application of impulse theory represents one of such efforts and has received increased attention over the past decade. Practically, the impulse concept helps to remove the inactive periods of transporting process from the entire transport history, such that the underlying driving mechanism of particle movements can be better identified. This approach not only proves to be useful in characterizing the threshold of motion conditions, as tested against experimental data from an increased body of literature, but also provides a new perspective in formulating the constitutive relation of bedload transport. In this study, we employ a similar criterion, yet based on the pertinent amounts of energy imparted upon sediment particles, to reproduce the stress-transport relations. These post-conditioned stress-transport relations are almost devoid of the inactive periods and, thus, better represent the physics of transport of sediment particles. It is noted that a consistent 1.5th power law has been recovered from a wide range of transport flow conditions, which can be deemed as a constitutive relation for bedload transport. Further examination of these data sets indicates that, in essence, the obtained 1.5th power relation accounts for a constant energy transfer efficiency of fluid flow applied upon the sediment particles. These efforts, based on the impulse concept, lead to a unified approach to sediment transport problems.</p>

Though Forced, Still Valid: Psychometric Equivalence of Forced-Choice and Single-Statement Measures

Forced-choice (FC) measures are gaining popularity as an alternative assessment format to single-statement (SS) measures. However, a fundamental question remains to be answered: Do FC and SS instruments measure the same underlying constructs? In addition, FC measures are theorized to be more cognitively challenging, so how would this feature influence respondents’ reactions to FC measures compared to SS? We used both between- and within-subjects designs to examine the equivalence of the FC format and the SS format. As the results illustrate, FC measures scored by the multi-unidimensional pairwise preference (MUPP) model and SS measures scored with the generalized graded unfolding model (GGUM) showed strong equivalence. Specifically, both formats demonstrated similar marginal reliabilities and test-retest reliabilities, high convergent validities, good discriminant validities, and similar criterion-related validities with theoretically relevant criteria. In addition, the formats had little differential impact on respondents’ general emotional and cognitive reactions except that the FC format was perceived to be slightly more difficult and more time-saving.

Cobordisms of graphs: A sliceness criterion for stably odd free knots and related results on cobordisms

In [1], the authors proved a sliceness criterion for odd free knots: free knots with odd chords. In the present paper, we give a similar criterion for stably odd free knots. In essence, free knots may be considered as framed 4-graphs. That leads to an important notion of framed 4-graph cobordism and the associated notion of graph genera. Some additional results on graph and free knot sliceness and cobordism are given.

Surmounting the Learning Curve of Core Suture Placement with Tendon Repair Simulator

Background: Attaining competency in placement of core suture with adequate distance from juncture is a key skill for learners of tendon repair. Currently, this is most commonly practiced on animal models in wet laboratory environment. To improve accessibility and availability, we developed a tendon repair trainer that aims to guide learners in obtaining this key competency. Methods: A customized tendon dock was designed and manufactured with additive method that permits insertion of 6mm silicon tendon rods to simulate flexor tendon repair along a digit. Four residents, divided into two groups, were instructed to repair two sets of tendon rods (60 rods per resident) with Kessler suture loop placed at 10 mm from juncture (Group A: rods marked at 10 mm, Group B: unmarked rods). The main criterion for passing was a loop placed within 1 mm of the target distance (10 mm). At a second session, both groups repaired unmarked tendons, and these were marked based on similar criterion. Results: At the first session, 100% of those who repaired marked rods (Group A) passed while 25% of unmarked rods (Group B) attained a pass. At the second session, where both groups repaired unmarked rods, residents from group A achieved a pass rate of 95% while group B achieved 33.3% pass. Conclusions: Learners who had previously repaired marked rods were able to retain their experience when repairing unmarked rods. This suggest that the proposed model may be a helpful adjunct to sharpen learners’ skills prior to practicing tendon repairs in more costly animal or cadaveric models.

Physical and Numerical Analysis of Bioclimatic Strategies Implemented on Social Housing

This paper presents the results of aerodynamical performance research focused on maintaining the thermal comfort and increasing the energy efficiency of a typical social housing unit located in a high-density urban area. Bioclimatic design strategies are used to develop a sustainable and economic technology in existing housing clusters in Mexico City. A full-scale prototype, built on campus facilities, was used to study the flow conditions around the design. All scaled prototypes implement similar criterion. Furthermore, a scaled prototype is evaluated within a low speed wind tunnel installation. Additionally, numerical simulations were performed at transient state based on previous physical measurements and historical local climatic conditions to determine preferable modifications.

A Study of Creep Similarity Criterion of Soft Rock in Temperature-Stress Environment

Model experiment is a method to study the creep deformation and failure mechanism of soft rock under complicated geological conditions. The similar criterion is the theoretical basis of Model Experiment. This paper used dimensional analysis to deduce the similarity criterion in elastic and creep stage of deep soft rock Model experiment. We got the Model experiment similarity index compliance by studying the similarity criterion. This provides a theoretical basis to study the creep properties of soft rock.

Effects of relevance criteria and subjective factors on web image searching behaviour

Searching for images is an everyday activity. Nevertheless, even a highly skilled searcher often struggles to find what they are looking for. This article studies the factors that affect users’ online web image search behaviour, investigating (1) the use of criteria in making image relevance judgements and (2) the effect of familiarity, difficulty and satisfaction. The study includes 48 users who performed four online image search tasks using Google Images. Simulated work scenarios, questionnaires and screen capture recordings were used to collect data of their image search behaviour. The results show in judging image relevance, users may apply similar criterion, however, the importance of these criteria depends on the type of image search. Similarly, ratings of users’ perception on subjective aspects of performing image search shows they were task dependent. Users’ perception on subjective aspects of performing image search did not always correspond with their actual search behaviour. Correlation analysis shows that subjective factors cannot be definitively measured by using only one component of search behaviour. Future work includes further analysis on the effects of topic familiarity and satisfaction.

A Rosenzweig-MacArthur (1963) Criterion for the Chemostat

The Rosenzweig-MacArthur (1963) criterion is a graphical criterion that has been widely used for elucidating the local stability properties of the Gause (1934) type predator-prey systems. It has not been stated whether a similar criterion holds for models with explicit resource dynamics (Kooi et al. (1998)), like the chemostat model. In this paper we use the implicit function theorem and implicit derivatives for proving that a similar graphical criterion holds under chemostat conditions, too.