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Market Orientation and Corporate Brand Image in a Digital World
Get PDFThe evolving nature of strategic issues requires strategy researchers to keep advancing the extant body of literature to help explain organizational performance in light of the new market dynamics and global trends.
As such, this research aimed to study Digital Transformation (DT), a critical strategy topic and one of the most buzzwords in today's contemporary organizations.
"Unpacking” digital transformation in practice and theory is a key contribution of this study.
The study links digital transformation to the organization's adaptation theory. It then develops a theoretical framework that improves our understanding of digital transformation
and its role in building market orientation capabilities and enhancing brand image.
This study also looks into Market Orientation after thirty years of its inception. It explains the influence of digital capabilities on building strong market orientation and the consequences on business performance.
On the other hand, the study discusses the influence of digital capabilities on building a solid brand image and its impact on business performance. It validates the viability of corporate brand image as a strategic capability in the telecom industry, where brand differentiation is becoming difficult, and telecom brands are moving into commoditization.
The Middle East Telecom industry is taken as this study’s research object. This is the region where the author has worked for more than two decades and could reach the right participants to answer the research survey. Additionally, he could make sense of the research results related to telecom operators in this region.
Using structural equation modelling (SEM), this study examines the effect of the digital maturity of telecom operators on market orientation and brand image performance.
Moreover, it examines the impact of market orientation and corporate brand image on organizational performance. It also tests the indirect effect of digital maturity on organizational performance by affecting market orientation and brand image.
The study concludes that Digital Transformation has a significant indirect impact on Organizational Performance, mediated by Market Orientation and Brand Image.
The author suggests that this study will positively aid the strategic planning and setting of strategic organizational priorities of telecom operators in the Middle East. It studies the impact of three critical strategic themes (digital transformation, market orientation, and
brand image) on corporate performance.
He ends his research by providing strategic recommendations based on the analysed operators
Beyond the Screen: Telehealth and Care in New Mexico's Behavioural Health System
Get PDFThis thesis explores the use of telehealth in the behavioural health system of New Mexico (US), a state in which large portions of the population are rural and where residents live hours away from healthcare resources that tend to be concentrated in urban cities. In the effort to address gaps in the access to care, the state turned to telehealth technologies to provide secure, virtual, face-to-face doctor-patient encounters to rural residents. Drawing from ethnographic material collected across 2018 and 2019 at both sites that provide and receive such services, this thesis argues that telehealth shifts the nature of care by reconfiguring the mobilities, spaces and materials involved in the antecedent practices. These shifts afford changes in health worker roles and patient trust in the health system, as well as both the reduction and reproduction of inequities in healthcare. This thesis explores how the transformation of the doctor-patient encounter via telehealth produces new forms of distance, relations and entanglements that extend far beyond the basic technologies that so often characterise this type of care. These implications are felt throughout the communities and state-run health system and become part of the social geography of this sparsely populated state. Ultimately, in taking seriously the ambiguous realities of telehealth, this thesis contends that these technologies not only shape the way care is provided, but the functioning of health systems and the sociality of our daily lives
Decolonising the Eye: Visual Sovereignty in Sámi Film and Storytelling
Get PDFThe Sámi indigenous people, who hail from the northernmost territories of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the Kola Peninsula of Russia, have in recent years undergone a burgeoning of productivity in their visual media and cinema industries. This proliferation of creative material has been accompanied by a significant amount of international attention, collaboration, acclaim, and honours at both mainstream and indigenous film festivals, from Sundance in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A. to the imagiNATIVE Media Arts Festival in Toronto, Canada. However, this primacy of Sámi narrative agency, as well as input and ownership over their portrayals in broader global media, is relatively new and has emerged only within the last few decades. Indeed, prior to the 1960s and 70s, roughly, depictions of indigenous peoples, their lives, and traditions were largely dominated by outsiders. As a consequence, the Sámi and other global indigenous groups have been forced to grapple with the widespread misapprehensions of majority cultures as well as stereotypical, simplistic, and reductive depictions of their lives, epistemologies, and identities in both ethnographic media and other forms of global cinema.
In this thesis, I will emphasise that the stereotypes that populate Nordic mainstream media, which often depict Sámi characters as victims, alcoholics, slum-dwellers, mystics, or as little more than combatants in territorial disputes, have emerged in part from narratives that have stemmed from the domestic colonial legacies of the nations they inhabit. Specifically, I will argue that Norwegianisation, a colonial paradigm that defined Norwegian politics from roughly 1850 to 1980 and aimed to acculturate and “civilise” the Sámi people for the benefit of the newly sovereign nation, still leaves a narrative trace that paints a reductive picture of the Sámi minority, and that this influence continues to impact the Sámi presence – or lack thereof – in Nordic media. Conversely, and perhaps more importantly, I will also explore how Sámi cinema constitutes a form of storytelling emancipation as well as visual sovereignty for indigenous peoples, allowing them to consume alternative, humanising, and diversified narratives and imagery related to their historical and contemporary lives and cultures. In this way, I will suggest that Sámi creativity is intimately related to a decolonial endeavour that has been blossoming since the events and activities associated with the Sámi Cultural Revival of the 1970s and 80s, one which champions self- determination, dignity, and the survival of indigenous epistemologies in Sámi communities
Investigating the mode of action and antileishmanial activity of 5-nitrothiophene-2-carboxamides
Get PDFTwo hit 5-nitrothiophene-2-carboxamides (5N2Cs), 16 and 17, were identified in a high-throughput screen (HTS) of 1.8 million compounds from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) that showed promising antileishmanial activity. However, poor aqueous solubility and bioavailability limited their potential. A structure-activity relationship (SAR) campaign was carried out to optimise antileishmanial activity, reduce mammalian cell toxicity and improve aqueous solubility. The 5N2C functionality was found to be important for antileishmanial activity, however the right hand amino thiophene PAINS motif could be exchanged for an anthranilamide (140 and 141) with no loss of activity. Furthermore, introduction of a basic nitrogen in the form of a morpholine ring gave lead compounds 252 and 253, with significantly improved aqueous solubility compared to the hits and retained potent antileishmanial activity and selectivity over HepG2 cells.
The 5N2C series are bioactivated by a type I nitroreductase in Leishmania (LmjNTR1) to give two major metabolites: M+2 and 2M-98, where M is the mass of the parent nitro. The M+2 metabolite is proposed to be the 4,5-dihydrothiophene (307a), formed by direct reduction on the aromatic ring. The 2M-98 metabolite is proposed to be the thieno[2,3-b]pyridyl species (309a), formed by reaction of the postulated hydroxylamine (311) and α,β-unsaturated open chain nitrile (312) metabolites. The 2M-98 metabolite is an end point of bioactivation that results in detoxification of the transient electrophilic α,β-unsaturated open chain nitrile (312) intermediate.
Mitochondrial damage and ROS accumulation are both observed upon 5N2C treatment of L. major promastigotes. Moreover, the synthesis of probe 251, based off the 5N2C scaffold, revealed that multiple protein targets are covalently modified upon in cellulo bioactivation. iTRAQ proteomics confirmed that most proteins affected are ribosomal proteins involved in translation. Crucially, this suggests that disruption of protein translation is one of the major modes of action for the 5N2C series
Applications of higher-form symmetries at strong and weak coupling
Get PDFIn this thesis we consider two distinct applications of higher-form symmetries in quantum field theory. First we explore the spontaneous breaking of higher-form symmetry in a holographic quantum field theory containing matter fields in the fundamental representation of the gauge group U(N). At strong coupling, we numerically solve the bulk equations of motion to compute the current-current Green’s function and demonstrate the existence of a goldstone mode. We then compare to direct analytic perturbative results obtained at weak coupling. In the second half of the thesis we work with a hydrodynamic effective field theory which possesses a higher-form symmetry. In particular, we consider a natural higher-derivative correction to force-free electrodynamics and compute a hydrodynamic transport coefficient from microscopics. Concretely, this is a perturbative QED calculation in a background magnetic field. Finally we compare our findings to astrophysical observations
Soviet Industrial Sociology and Enterprise Social Planning under Brezhnev
No full textThis thesis, based on archival and other documentary sources and oral history interviews, charts the history of late-Soviet industrial sociology from 1956, with a particular focus on the Brezhnev era. It examines the sociologists’ response to the official directives to Soviet science to assume a greater role in the industrial economy and the impact of those developments on sociology as an academic, research, and occupational field. This thesis contributes to the historiographies of Soviet sociology and late-Soviet industry, which have so far failed to examine systematically the expansion of the sociological research carried out in Soviet factories and the harnessing of the social sciences in the management of the Soviet industrial workforce.
Industrial sociology developed especially rapidly after the economic reforms announced by Aleksei Kosygin in 1965, one consequence of which was the creation of social development plans, underpinned by scientific sociological research, for individual industrial enterprises. A few specific localities outside Moscow were at the vanguard of these initiatives, including Leningrad and Perm, which offer telling, yet distinct, case-studies. In the 1970s, social development planning was expanded into the management of urban areas, though the sociologists played a less prominent role in this field.
Late-Soviet industrial sociology was formed of three loosely interconnected groups, each with different priorities. One group of academics focused on the development of sociology more broadly into a fully-recognised Soviet science. Another was centred in the sociological research institutes and their work in partnership with individual industrial enterprises. The third and most numerous group comprised the sociologists employed directly by the enterprises. This thesis reveals the absence of a top-down plan for the development of the late-Soviet industrial sociology and argues that the ability of certain individuals to negotiate the constraints and opportunities afforded by the Soviet system proved critical to the expansion of this field
Self-Transformation in the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili
Get PDFThis thesis critically engages with the narrative of the Hypnerotomachia and with Poliphilo as a character within this narrative. Using narratological analysis, it critically engages with the journey of Poliphilo and the series of symbolic, allegorical, and metaphorical experiences narrated by him that are indicative of his metamorphosing interiority within a mystagogic journey. This is conducted through an analysis of the relationship between Poliphilo and his external surroundings in sequences of the narrative pertaining to thresholds; the symbolic architectural, topographical, and garden forms and spaces; and Poliphilo’s transforming interior passions pertaining to his love of antiquarianism, language and rhetoric, and of Polia, the latter of which leads to his elegiac description of lovesickness. The thesis examines the relationship between the narrative, which functions both realistically and symbolically to portray the protagonist’s transforming self into its final state at the climax of the narrative, and the symbolic function of the architecture and objects of art within the narrative. The thesis engages with the source material for the narrative drawn from classical, medieval and humanist literature in the areas of philosophy, poetry, natural history, travel diaries and architectural treatises. It demonstrates, through analysis of the broad literary source material of the Hypnerotomachia, how antiquarian objects, buildings, gardens, and topography are used as expressive narrative devices by the author, drawing on medieval and Renaissance concepts, to demonstrate Poliphilo’s transforming interiority, symbolically, metaphorically or allegorically, established through the character’s encounters during the narrative
On the Return Dynamics and Diversification Benefits of Property Sector REITs in the Japanese Market
Get PDFThis thesis consists of three empirical chapters. First, we examine the long-run linkages and short-term dynamics between Japan REITs, direct real estate and stocks. Our estimation using a vector error correction model shows the long-run cointegration relation between REITs and direct real estate, where stocks can be excluded from the long-run relation. We present the short-run bidirectional causality between REITs and direct real estate and the causal relation between REITs and stocks. The cointegration relation implies that Japanese REITs have a comparative advantage in terms of liquidity providing the same diversification benefit as a real estate asset.
Second, we develop a new methodology for deriving the variance-covariance matrix between the cumulative returns of assets over different time horizons from a vector error correction model, a framework that accounts for their long-run relationship and short-run dynamics. Our estimation results show the term structure of volatility for each asset increase with the increase in time horizon. Further, we find that J-REITs and direct real estate assets are positively correlated. Their correlation increases with the time horizon and converges to unity in the limit. We use the estimated variance-covariance matrix into a buy-and-hold portfolio. We find that the portfolio weight of Japanese REITs is reduced with the increase in time horizon. Our result suggests the substitutability of REITs as real estate is horizon-dependent, consistent with the high level of correlation between REITs and direct real estate.
Third, we examine the dynamic role of Japanese REITs in a mixed-asset portfolio. Using a DCC-GJRGARCH model, we derive forecast estimates of time-varying volatility of REITs and correlations with other assets returns. Using the estimates, we construct dynamics out-of-sample portfolios between these three assets on a daily basis. Our results show the diversification benefits of incorporating REITs over a benchmark portfolio consisting of stocks and bonds. We analyse the economic benefit of including REITs in improving the investor’s utility over the average transaction cost. Our results affirm that Japanese REITs are portfolio diversifiers for active portfolio management
The molecular control of oil biosynthesis in Arabidopsis
Get PDFThe enzyme acetyl-CoA carboxylase exists in Arabidopsis as one plastidic heteromeric form and two homomeric isoforms, ACC1 and ACC2; with different subcellular localisations, ACC1 is cytosolic, while ACC2 is plastidial. Plants that are mutant for ACC1 show that this protein is essential for the synthesis of very long chain fatty acids in the developing seed of Arabidopsis, and is also required for correct patterning of cell division in the developing embryo. While the ACC1 gene is transcribed in both seed and leaves, the enzyme is only active in the seed at high levels, leading to the accumulation of storage triacyl glycerols (TAGs). In investigating the possible post-transcriptional control of ACC1 activity, we found that the ACC1 transcript is alternatively spliced. Analysis of ACC1 splice isoforms in both wildtype seedlings and in seedlings of the mdf1 loss-of-function mutant, which is defective in splicing control, shows that the ACC1 transcript has an alternative donor site in the 5' UTR, upstream of the translation start site. Leaf and seed show different proportions of spliced and non-spliced versions of the ACC1 transcript, with the non-spliced isoform being abundant in leaf, consistent with a role for splicing in regulating ACC1 activity. Mis-splicing of ACC1 in the mdf mutant or in transgenic MDF overexpressors is associated with aberrant cell division in the root meristem and ectopic lipid accumulation. Genetic complementation of the mdf mutant with a genomic sequence of the ACC1 gene under the control of the MDF gene promoter leads to a partial rescue of the meristematic activity in the root and shoot systems, enhancing the development of lateral roots and true leaves, respectively. These results show that correct splicing of ACC1 is required for both correct cell division and tissue development in Arabidopsis
CO-PRODUCTION OF HYDROGEN, METHANE AND SILICA FROM RICE STRAW USING ANAEROBIC DIGESTION AND THERMAL TREATMENT PROCESSES IN AN INTEGRATED ENERGY SYSTEM
Get PDFThe response to electricity inadequacies and waste management issues in Nigeria is projected to be achieved by designing and employing an integrated energy system in predominantly farm communities to complement the traditional fossil energy. Although the design of the energy unit encompasses detailed aims, the primary objective of the research study is "A solution to Nigeria's energy challenges with hydrogen and methane co-produced from pretreated rice straw in a three-stage anaerobic digestion process and to calculate the energy value of the produced biogas via the combined cooling, heat and power strategy". These research objectives were achieved using acidogenic and methanogenic processes in batch, semi-continuous and continuous systems after pretreating rice straw with mechanical and chemicals/agro-industrial wastes followed by a biological agent. At the same time, silica precursors were produced from the various RS digestate using a thermal procedure, while the energy assessments were done using data from the laboratory study and the literature. The research findings indicated that
At acidogenesis stage, hydrogen yield was insignificant when chemical agents and agro-industrial wastes were employed alone. However, the daily H2 production increased when the pre-treated (PT) RS residues were biologically hydrolysed with NaOH-PT samples (114 NmL H2 g-1 TS d-1) and PE-PT RS residues (103 NmL H2 g-1 TS d-1) having the highest values at steady states and raw RS producing the least (30 NmL H2 g-1 TS d-1).
Mechanical and chemical/agro-industrial wastes pre-treatments followed by enzymatic hydrolysis of RS improved the daily specific methane production by 18%, 31.7% and 41.5% for HCL, PE and NaOH-PT RS residues than the raw RS (control) sample.
In the methanogenesis phase, the methane production efficiency was 80% for NaOH, 75% for PE, 68% for HCl RS PT samples, while the control (raw RS) was 48%.
Pre-treated and digested methanogenic RS ash samples contained amorphous silica materials confirmed by the scanning electron microscope, Energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer and X-ray diffraction results.
Using the energy-integrated unit's PEIO data, the net energy (bio-methane, electricity, thermal and cooling) from Nigeria's RS annual yield was estimated. It was found that the net bio-methane at 1.6mpa ranged from 100 to 170 hm3 if small scale processes were applied and 122 to 200 hm3 when large scale operations were used. In the same vein, the predicted electricity produced in TWh available for use was within the range of 8.4 to 9.3. In addition, the net thermal energy available for use was between 12.7 to 13.4 TWh which gave 8.9 to 9.4 TWh of cooling fluid.
Finally, whereas the Firmicutes, especially the Clostridium, Ruminococcus and Thermoanaerobacterium were the dominant microbial community in acidogenic digestates, the Euryarchaeota typified by Methanobacterium, Methanosarcina and Methanosaeta were the principal phyla for most methanogenic reactor
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