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The influence of supply network structure on firm sustainability.
Get PDFFirms are facing increased pressure from various stakeholders to incorporate
social and environmental considerations into their strategies and operations. Yet,
the successful realisation and achievement of social and environmental
objectives extend beyond the boundaries of one single firm. Firms more and more
engage in relationships with various upstream and downstream actors across
their supply chains to achieve these sustainability goals. Whilst the literature has
highlighted the cruciality of the broader supply networks in driving firms’
sustainability, present literatures as a whole lacks both a synthesis of major
findings and a reflection of the current development of this area. Adopting a
Systematic Literature Review approach, the thesis extends the understanding of
the role of network in supply chain sustainability by identifying distinct network
attributes that influence the sustainability performance in the supply chain.
Specifically, relational and structural network attributes are distinguished and
their individual and interactive effects on both environmental and social
dimensions of sustainability in supply chains are examined. The study further
adds contributions to the current discussion on the cruciality of broader supply
networks in driving sustainability by investigating the interfirm connectivity
patterns of a real-world and large-scale Automotive supply network. The findings
demonstrate a positive relationship between the interconnectedness of supply
networks and firms’ sustainability performance. The study also determines the
moderating role of firms’ supply network structural properties in the relationship
between their sustainability efforts and sustainability performance; the study
shows that whereas firms’ in-degree centrality weakens the relationship between
their commitment to sustainability and the extent of sustainability performance,
out-degree centrality strengthens this association. The thesis further adds to the
existing literature examining the role of supply network structural properties by
investigating the structural properties of firms’ neighbours. Particularly, the study
distinguishes between two neighbours’ structural properties: neighbours’
interconnectedness and neighbours’ centrality. Moreover, the study determines
the moderating effect of firms’ bridging in sustainability controversies. In addition
to the sustainability outcome, the study examines firms’ sustainability
controversies as an alternative indicator of sustainability performance capturing
the importance and significance of the sustainability outcomes through market
sensitivities (i.e. market reactions to sustainability conflicts).PhD in Leadership and Managemen
The role, nature and contribution of Indian emerging market multinational companies in African countries
Get PDFThis article examines factors pertaining to the development of Indian emerging market multinational companies (EMNCs) in African countries. India is a member of the BRICS grouping of developing countries, the others being Brazil, China, Russia and South Africa. Therefore, understanding its role, scale and dynamics of internationalising in the African context is particularly important. The following key areas are examined: the historical and socio-economic context, internationalisation strategies of Indian MNCs in African countries, home and host country factors, labour markets in host countries and human resource management (HRM) approaches of selected Indian EMNCs in particular African countries. Most work on international business and international HRM in Africa focuses on the Sino-Africa nexus. Both China and India are members of the BRICS grouping but have followed different trajectories in internationalising in the African context. This analysis helps fill a gap by evaluating the Afro-Indian relationship in business, particularly EMNCs from India. The analysis finds the following abiding themes in the historical connections and relationships of Indian EMNCs: the role of family-owned businesses, human resource development and long-term host country commitment
The ORGAN SIZE (ORG) locus modulates both vegetative and reproductive gigantism in domesticated tomato
Get PDFBackground and Aims
Gigantism is a key component of the domestication syndrome, a suite of traits that differentiates crops from their wild relatives. Allometric gigantism is strongly marked in horticultural crops, causing disproportionate increases in the size of edible parts such as stems, leaves or fruits. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) has attracted attention as a model for fruit gigantism, and many genes have been described controlling this trait. However, the genetic basis of a corresponding increase in size of vegetative organs contributing to isometric gigantism has remained relatively unexplored.
Methods
Here, we identified a 0.4-Mb region on chromosome 7 in introgression lines (ILs) from the wild species Solanum pennellii in two different tomato genetic backgrounds (cv. ‘M82’ and cv. ‘Micro-Tom’) that controls vegetative and reproductive organ size in tomato. The locus, named ORGAN SIZE (ORG), was fine-mapped using genotype-by-sequencing. A survey of the literature revealed that ORG overlaps with previously mapped quantitative trait loci controlling tomato fruit weight during domestication.
Key Results
Alleles from the wild species led to lower cell number in different organs, which was partially compensated by greater cell expansion in leaves, but not in fruits. The result was a proportional reduction in leaf, flower and fruit size in the ILs harbouring the alleles from the wild species.
Conclusions
Our findings suggest that selection for large fruit during domestication also tends to select for increases in leaf size by influencing cell division. Since leaf size is relevant for both source–sink balance and crop adaptation to different environments, the discovery of ORG could allow fine-tuning of these parameters.Annals of Botan
C-level managers and born-digitals' scaling: The case of Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs)
Get PDFThis research contributes to the Management of Technology (MOT) literature by scrutinizing the interrelation between education, experience, and the scaling aptitudes of high-tech companies. The study hinges on a comprehensive analysis of data collected from 1987 C-level executives and 3644 born-digital firms that pursued funding via blockchain-based Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). Employing structural equation modeling, we systematically tested our hypotheses, contrasting the scaling trajectories of companies that successfully procured funding against those that fell short. Our findings reveal that amongst the diverse managerial competencies, only the leadership acumen of CEOs plays an important role in fostering the scaling of tech-companies across the spectrum, leaving the proficiencies of CFOs and CTOs with negligible impact. More crucially, the competencies of a CEO magnify in importance in relation to a tech-company's scaling potential post the securing of funds. The insights gained from this study not only enrich the existing body of knowledge on scaling and ICOs within the MOT literature but also hold considerable practical value for crafting effective scaling strategies in the high-tech industry
How does protectionism impact multinational firm reshoring? Evidence from the UK
Get PDFThere is growing interest in the nature and possible extent of de-globalization. This paper explores the impact that protectionist measures have on multinational enterprise (MNE) reshoring back to the UK. Besides taking into account the global trends indicating a return to protectionism, the existing literature highlights various firm-level and structural country-level determinants of reshoring decisions. We test a conceptual model with parent-subsidiary firm-level data for the period 2009 to 2017. We conclude that firms that are more sensitive to wage costs in their overseas subsidiaries were more likely to reshore. We did not find that more capital-intensive firms had a higher propensity to reshore. We find that our results are mostly driven from UK MNEs with subsidiaries in EU. This result has clear implications for a potential Brexit effect. Theoretically, we base our findings in transactional cost economics to help explain why different types of firms behave in the way they do, and why different types of firms may respond in quite different ways to the same mix of institutions
Gauging public perceptions of blue and green hydrogen futures: is the twin-track approach compatible with hydrogen acceptance?
Get PDFNational hydrogen strategies are emerging as a critical pillar of climate change policy. For homes connected to the gas grid, hydrogen may offer an alternative decarbonisation pathway to electrification. Hydrogen production pathways in countries such as the UK will involve both the gas network and the electricity grid, with related policy choices and investment decisions impacting the potential configuration of consumer acceptance for hydrogen homes. Despite the risk of public resistance, be it on environmental, economic, or social grounds, few studies have explored the emerging contours of domestic hydrogen acceptance. To date, there is scarce evidence on public perceptions of national hydrogen policy and the extent to which attitudes may be rooted in prior knowledge and awareness, or open to change following information provision and engagement. In response, this study evaluates consumer preferences for a low-carbon energy future, wherein parts of the UK housing stock may adopt low-carbon hydrogen boilers and hobs. Drawing on data from online focus groups, we examine consumer perceptions of the government's twin-track approach, which envisions important roles for both ‘blue’ and ‘green’ hydrogen to meet net zero ambitions. Through a mixed-methods, multigroup analysis, the underlying motivation is to explore whether the twin-track approach appears compatible with hydrogen acceptance. Moving forward, hydrogen policy should ensure greater transparency concerning the benefits, costs, and risks of the transition, with clearer communication about the justification for supporting respective hydrogen production pathways.International Journal of Hydrogen Energ
Towards agile talent management: the opportunities of a skills-first approach
Get PDFDespite its evolution over the last two decades, talent management has been criticised for being too static in its approach. Drawing on matching theory and adopting an agility lens, we show how a skills-matching perspective on talent management fosters the development of strategic agility, responsive to external and internal demands. Through qualitative research encompassing 34 interviews in 15 multinational enterprises, we illustrate how a skills focus required revisiting talent strategies to facilitate initial and dynamic matching in external and internal labour markets, and we highlight key boundary conditions for skills-matching. We reveal a set of dynamic capabilities, underlying two meta-capabilities, strategic sensitivity and resource fluidity, which underpin the skills-matching process and enable strategic agility. In doing so, we shift the focus of talent management towards skills acquisition and development, and emphasise the need to look beyond traditional learning and development to alignment across the wider talent function.83rd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (AOM 2023
A comparative evaluation of human factors intervention approaches in aviation safety management
Get PDFIn the Human Factors Intervention Matrix (HFIX) framework, human factors interventions are categorized into five different approaches and each of these approaches can be evaluated by five different evaluation criteria of feasibility, acceptability, cost, effectiveness, and sustainability. Although the outcome of evaluations can assist safety management practitioners in the selection of more viable safety recommendations, there exists a research gap on how the five different approaches differ with each other. In this study, overall comparisons of the five approaches in HFIX were carried out using the five evaluation criteria. Each intervention approach was also compared independently with other approaches in a pairwise manner to highlight comparative strengths. It was discovered that amongst the five evaluation criteria, only feasibility, cost, and effectiveness differed across the five approaches. Task- and human-based interventions were more feasible, whereas task- and organization-based interventions were rated more highly on cost, reflective of better cost-efficiency. Subjective differences in evaluation were also identified in effectiveness, showcasing that cognitive biases can exist within evaluative frameworks. The findings will benefit safety practitioners and managers in the selection and application of human factors intervention strategies, especially in resource constrained situations in the real world.HCII 2023: 25th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (HCII 2023)Engineering Psychology and Cognitive Ergonomics : Lecture Notes in Computer Scienc
Model-agnostic meta-learning for fault diagnosis of industrial robots
Get PDFThe success of deep learning in the field of fault diagnosis depends on a large number of training data, but it is a challenge to achieve fault diagnosis of multi-axis industrial robots in the case of few-shot. To address this issue, this paper proposes a method called Model-Agnostic Meta-Learning (MAML) for fault diagnosis of industrial robots. Its goal is to train an effective industrial robot fault classifier using minimal training data. Additionally, it can learn to recognize faults in new scenarios with high accuracy based on the training data. Experimental results based on a six-axis industrial robot dataset show that the proposed method is superior to traditional convolutional neural network (CNN) and transfer learning, and that the diagnostic results with the same amount of data in few-shot cases are better than existing intelligent fault diagnosis methods.2023 28th International Conference on Automation and Computing (ICAC
Conical shell X-ray beam tomosynthesis and micro-computed tomography for microarchitectural characterisation
Get PDFBone quality is commonly used to diagnose bone diseases such as osteoporosis, with many studies focusing on microarchitecture for fracture prediction. In this study a bovine distal femur was imaged using both micro-computed tomography (µCT) and tomosynthesis using focal construct geometry (FCG) for comparison of microarchitectural parameters. Six regions of interest (ROIs) were compared between the two imaging modalities, with both global and adaptive methods used to binarize the images. FCG images were downsampled to the same pixel size as the µCT images. Bone morphometrics were determined using BoneJ, for each imaging modality, binarization technique and ROI. Bone area/total area was found to have few significant differences between FCG and µCT (p < 0.05 for two of six ROIs). Fractal Dimension had only one significant difference (p < 0.05 for one of six ROIs) between µCT and downsampled FCG (where pixel size was equalized). Trabecular thickness and trabecular spacing were observed to follow trends as observed for the corresponding µCT images, although many absolute values were significantly different (p < 0.05 for between one and six ROIs depending on image types used). This study demonstrates the utility of tomosynthesis for measurement of microarchitectural morphometrics.Engineering Physical Sciences Research Council: EP/T034238/1
Royal Society Wolfson Fellowship: RSWF/R1/180012Scientific Report