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Make, Buy, or Ally? — A Configurational Approach to Governance Choices in Vertical Expansion
Get PDFFirms expand their vertical boundaries by obtaining ownership of relevant resources. There are three means by which firms can achieve this goal: internal development, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and equity joint venture. From a transaction cost economics and resource-based view perspective, this study analyzed how resource characteristics, environmental conditions, and firms’ capabilities influence their governance choices. By studying 30 cases involving architectural, engineering, and construction (AEC) firms and employing a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fs-QCA) method, the findings of this study reveal that firms did not use configurational approaches when choosing to adopt one strategy over another. Rather, firms avoid to choose certain mean in a configurational approach. All the antecedents jointly influenced firms’ governance choices; however, they did so in a way that led to the firms’ rejection as opposed to implementation of one strategy. The results indicated that firms’ relational capabilities could help them handle external transaction costs and help them identify and exclude strategies with the lowest efficiency. The findings revealed that firms did not choose internal development to avoid high internal transaction costs or expand rapidly into new business. Firms excluded M&A when the similarity between new and existing resources was high to avoid resource redundancy; when market uncertainty was high, they did so to avoid investment risks. Moreover, when high external transaction costs were evident due to interactions and interdependency between firms and their partners, firms tended to choose a more integrated strategy and excluded equity joint venture
Tradition and Innovation in Construction Project Management
Get PDFThis book is a reprint of the Special Issue 'Tradition and Innovation in Construction Project Management' that was published in the journal Buildings
Directional motion of Gallium-based liquid metal induced by asymmetric chemical surrounding
Get PDFInterfacial, or surface tension, is a significant topic in chemical education. This paper describes the directional motion of gallium-based liquid metal drops, resulting from a difference of interfacial tension across the drop. This demonstration can engage students in discovering the underlying chemical principles. A mechanism for the drop’s directional motion is proposed to provide insight into this intriguing phenomenon. It appears that unbalanced chemical environments cause different physical or chemical processes to occur on each hemisphere of the drop, such as a pH difference, redox reactions, galvanic replacement, or adsorption. As a result, a difference in the interfacial tension across the drop is generated, providing the driving force that acts on the drop. This demonstration can be used to introduce the fundamental principles in chemical reactions, such as redox activity, electrical double-layer formation, and interfacial tension
Mechanism of material removal in tungsten carbide-cobalt alloy during chemistry enhanced shear thickening polishing
Get PDFThe use of cemented carbides is ubiquitous in many fields especially for mechanical tooling, dies, and mining equipment. Surface finishing of cemented carbide down to atomic level has been a long-standing quest in manufacturing and materials community. For application of complex-shaped cemented carbide components, this work proposes a novel ‘chemistry enhanced shear thickening polishing’ (C-STP) process using Fenton’s reagent to obtain sub 10 nanometers finished polishing at a rate twice that of the conventional STP. This work offers quantitative insights into the influence of the concentration of Fenton’s reagent on the polishing performance. While the material removal rate was seen to be sensitive to the concentration, the surface roughness (Sa) was found to be insensitive to the concentration of Fenton’s reagent. The electrochemical experiments proved that Fenton’s reagent could effectively reduce the corrosion resistance of tungsten carbide-cobalt alloy. The characterisation of polished carbides using XPS and EDS revealed that the Cobalt binder gets removed preferentially during C-STP, which explains why the material removal rate during this technique becomes twice that of conventional STP. This study provides a promising method for high efficiency polishing of tungsten carbide-cobalt alloy parts with complex-shaped such as micro-dril
Person-centred oral hydration care for older people with dementia admitted to acute hospital wards: Empirical research qualitative.
Get PDFTo conduct an in-depth exploration of oral hydration care provided to people living with dementia in acute hospital wards, using a person-centred care framework. Oral hydration care is an important, yet rarely explored aspect of fundamental care for people with dementia admitted to acute hospitals. Using person-centred care as a conceptual framework we investigated how oral hydration care is delivered for people living with dementia in acute hospital wards. A qualitative, multiple-case study. The cases were three acute wards in one hospital. Direct observation of care for 13 people with dementia (132 h), semistructured interviews with ward staff (n = 28), ward leaders (n = 4), organisational leaders (n = 5), people with dementia (n = 6), their relatives (n = 5), documentary analysis of clinical inpatient records (n = 26) and relevant hospital policies. Data were analysed using framework analysis. Four themes were identified: (1) The acute hospital: oral hydration is obscured and not prioritised (2) Overshadowing of oral hydration at ward level (3) Siloed nature of hydration roles (4) Strategies for, and barriers to, delivering person-centred oral hydration care. This study combines the concept of person-centred care and oral hydration care for people living with dementia admitted to acute hospital wards, demonstrating that person-centred hydration care was complex and not prioritised. Nurses should consider means of improving prioritisation and cohesive delivery of person-centred hydration care in acute hospital wards. [Abstract copyright: © 2023 The Authors. Journal of Clinical Nursing published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
The conceptualisation of Employee Voice in Permacrisis: A UK Perspective
Get PDFResearch on the topic of employment relations often adopts analytical frameworks related mainly to the concept of ‘voice’. While originally defined as the effort to effect change by Albert Hirschman, the meaning and conceptualisations of the term ‘voice’ have evolved over
the years. Later writers such as Freeman and Medoff describe the concept from the point of view of union monopoly of representation, i.e., union articulation of workers’ concern. In this chapter, we present a synthesis and overview of some of the early conceptualisations of employee voice and unionism in the United Kingdom. Our goal extends beyond simply sketching or cataloguing the historical analysis around voice, to using this analysis as an instrument for understanding the current state and projecting into the future of employee voice and unionism in the United Kingdom. The chapter reveals that the concept of voice has been
significantly reinvented by modern-day scholars. The chapter will heavily depend on a review of extant literature. It would, however, be impossible to synthesise the entire literature on voice in this short chapter. Hence, there will be a significant focus on the United Kingdom experience
and authors, howbeit, other authors based elsewhere may be selectively included. The study concludes that though employee voice is relevant today, in most cases it only serves the interest of management and where this is not the case management hardly pays any attention to it. The
study revealed further that during permacrisis, there is little or no attempt on the part of the management to attention to or implement the demand expressed in employee voice
Sensing the heat: Climate change vulnerability and foreign direct investment inflows
Get PDFWe investigate whether climate change vulnerability determines foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows. We reason that multinational firms foresee a higher climate change vulnerability of host-country a locational disadvantage while making FDI allocation decisions. Utilizing annual data from 152 countries spanning the period 1996–2019 and employing the panel pooled ordinary least square regressions, we evidence that FDI inflows are lower in countries more vulnerable to climate change. We also observe that FDI inflows are only sensitive to climate-related risks in high- and middle-income countries, but not in low-income countries where the market size is a primary driver of FDI inflows. Moreover, we also find that host countries may weaken the adverse effects of climate change vulnerability on FDI inflows by strengthening the economic, institutional, and social environment
A realist evaluation of an enhanced court‐based liaison and diversion service for defendants with neurodevelopmental disorders
Get PDFBackground
In England, court-based mental health liaison and diversion (L&D) services work across courts and police stations to support those with severe mental illness and other vulnerabilities. However, the evidence around how such services support those with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDs) is limited.
Aims
This study aimed to evaluate, through the lens of court and clinical staff, the introduction of a L&D service for defendants with NDs, designed to complement the existing L&D service.
Methods
A realist evaluation was undertaken involving multiple agencies based within an inner-city Magistrates' Court in London, England. We developed a logic model based on the initial programme theory focusing on component parts of the new enhanced service, specifically training, screening, signposting and interventions. We conducted semi-structured interviews with the court staff, judiciary and clinicians from the L&D service.
Results
The L&D service for defendants with NDs was successful in identifying and supporting the needs of those defendants. Benefits of this service included knowledge sharing, awareness raising and promoting good practice such as making reasonable adjustments. However, there were challenges for the court practitioners and clinicians in finding and accessing local specialist community services.
Conclusion
A L&D service developed for defendants with NDs is feasible and beneficial to staff and clinicians who worked in the court setting leading to good practice being in place for the defendants. Going forward, a local care pathway would need to be agreed between commissioners and stakeholders including the judiciary to ensure timely and equitable access to local services by both defendants and practitioners working across diversion services for individuals with NDs
Numerical and experimental investigation of an Archimedes screw turbine for open channel water flow application
Get PDFAbstractLow‐head turbines are becoming an agricultural imperative due to their high efficiency, low cost, ability to operate at low flow rates and minimal environmental impact. Therefore, the Archimedes screw turbine (AST) can play a leading role for producing electric power, especially in Pakistan's rural areas where most of the places have less than 1 m head. In this research work, performance evaluation of AST was carried out at different flow velocities in terms of power coefficient and torque generated. Design parameters such as blade width, blade pitches, and blade rotational angles are also used for performance evaluation. For this purpose, computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analyses of AST blades were conducted at different water flow velocities (e.g., 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, and 3.5 m/s). ANSYS FLUENT was used for AST blade simulations using three different design parameters such as blade width, blade pitch, and blade rotational angles. Additionally, CFD simulations have inherent errors and uncertainties that may lead to findings and deviations from their exact or real values. To prevent these uncertainties and errors, an experimental study was also conducted to provide validation for the CFD simulation results. The results revealed from CFD simulations for optimized design parameters were then compared with experimental data. From the results, it was examined that the numerical findings were in good agreement with the experiment data. The highest power coefficient and power output values were obtained under optimized design parameters such as inner and outer diameter, blade pitch, blade width, blade rotation angles and shaft length (e.g., 40 mm, 120 mm, 130 mm, 2 mm, 60°, and 850 mm respectively). The findings can be useful to implement the AST unit for those places where the available water head is ranging from 1 to 6.5 m and a flow rate of 0.2–6.5 m3/s, especially for rural areas of Pakistan
Barriers to healthcare and a ‘triple empathy problem’ may lead to adverse outcomes for autistic adults: A qualitative study
Get PDFAutistic people experience more co-occurring health conditions and, on average, die younger than non-autistic
people. Despite growing awareness of health inequities, autistic people still report barriers to accessing healthcare. We aimed to explore the experiences of autistic people accessing healthcare, shining a light on the complex interplay of relevant factors and to explain, at least in part, the possible reasons underling health disparities and adverse health outcomes. This is a qualitative study from an autistic research team. Data were collected from 1248 autistic adults as part of a large, mixed-methods, international survey exploring barriers to primary healthcare. This article reports the qualitative findings, following a thematic analysis. Using our exploratory findings, we then constructed a model to explain the reported experiences. Respondents reported a variety of barriers. Here, our article gives voice to their stories, in their own words. Themes included: early barriers; communication mismatch; doubt – in oneself and from doctors; helplessness and fear; and healthcare avoidance and serious adverse health outcomes. Our constructed model outlines a chronological journey through which healthcare access barriers may lead to adverse health outcomes. Our findings also build on the double empathy problem, situating this in a medical context, proposing a triple empathy problem