27,852 research outputs found
Beyond the Black Box of Demography: board processes and task effectiveness within Italian firms
No full textIn this paper we analyse boards of directors as workgroups, i.e. groups of people that perform one or more tasks within an organisational context. Building on previous studies, we developed a model that relates group's social-psychological processes to three different board tasks: service, monitoring and networking. We tested our model through a survey on 301 large manufacturing firms in Italy. Our findings support the idea that (a) process variables and, to a limited extent, demographic variables significantly influence board task performance; (b) board processes have a different impact on each specific board task; (c) board task performance varies depending upon firm and industry characteristics. Copyright (c) 2007 The Authors; Journal compilation (c) 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
La retribuzione del top management in Italia: aspetti teorici ed evidenze empiriche
No full textIn questo scritto si affronta, nell'ambito della corporate governance, il tema della retribuzione dei top manager in Italia, fornendo alcune evidenze empiriche e discutendo sull'applicabilità delle teorie esistenti nel contesto italiano
Antecedents of Corporate Scandals: CEOs' Personal Traits, Stakeholders' Cohesion, Managerial Fraud, and Imbalanced Corporate Strategy
No full textThis study examines the antecedents of corporate scandals. Corporate scandals are defined as rare events occurring at the apex of corporate fame when managerial fraud suddenly emerges in conjunction with a significant gap between perceived corporate success and actual economic conditions. Previous studies on managerial fraud have examined the antecedents of illegal acts in isolation from strategic decisions and in terms of CEOs’ individual responses to the external context. This study frames the antecedents of corporate scandals in terms of the interplay of CEOs’ personal traits with corporate strategy and stakeholders’ cohesion. With this aim, this study builds on extant theory to examine the case of Banca Popolare di Lodi, an Italian bank at the center of a major corporate scandal. The model contributes to advancing understanding of the complex dynamics underlying the emergence of corporate scandals
Zona Libre de Colon
No full text124 PAGLas Administración de la Zona Libre de Colon se complace en dar a todos los visitantes, la mas cordial bienvenida a esta zona franca con 75 años de existencia en el comercio.
Durante su ilustre historia, la Zona Libre ha evolucionado desde un área de pocas cuadras hasta llegar a tener una extensión que supera las mil hectáreas. Las empresas aquí instaladas son una referencia del comercio regional, basado en ser eslabones entre los países productores y consumidores. La actividad comercial es fuente de empleo muy empleo muy importante para su entorno, como también una fuente de beneficio para la economía nacional por su diversidad y volumen de operaciones3 EJEMPLARE
Seismic analysis of a steel structure with viscous dampers for the protection of masonry towers
No full textThis paper presents a solution for seismic retrofitting of existing historical masonry towers, consisting of an internal steel structure equipped with dissipative devices that does modify the vertical bearing mechanisms of the masonry tower and does not alter its external architectural appearance. A historic masonry bell tower in the town of Fermo (Italy) is adopted as testbed structure to evaluate the potentialities of the proposed retrofit strategy. A finite element model is developed of both the masonry tower and the dissipation system and numerical nonlinear dynamic analyses are performed to investigate and compare the seismic response before and after the intervention. The outcomes of the study highlight the suitability of the proposed retrofit strategy in mitigating the seismic response of the upgraded structure
La Rete come una Skinner box. Neocomportamentismo, bolle sociali e post-verità
No full textli autori, prendendo le mosse dal romanzo Walden Two di B.F Skinner, quale punto di riferimento di una concezione della società governata da dispositivi ingegneristici (umani o meno che siano) che determinano, progettano e regolano il comportamento umano, discutono un’idea suggestiva, ossia che il Web sia oggi configurabile come una enorme Skinner box. Una gabbia governata da algoritmi che gestiscono enormi quantità di dati sensibili e che, quindi, controllano e regolano l’accesso alle informazioni, monitorando e misurando senza sosta le nostre prestazioni e predicendo i nostri desideri, indirizzandoli. Sulla base di questa suggestione, gli autori riflettono anche su alcuni fenomeni socio-culturali (quindi politico-economici) riconducibili alla cosiddetta post-verità, quali sono quelli delle fake news o delle echo chambers, di difficile comprensione se non si ricostruiscono foucoltianamente i meccanismi e i dispositivi che li sottendono esercitando autenticamente l’azione dell’analisi critica che interroga la verità nei suoi effetti di potere e il potere nei suoi discorsi sulla verità.The authors, starting from the novel Walden Two by B. F. Skinner, as a reference point for a conception of society governed by engineering devices (human or not) that determine, plan and regulate human behavior, discuss a suggestive idea, namely that the Web is today configurable as a huge Skinner box. A cage governed by algorithms that manage enormous quantities of sensitive data and that, therefore, control and regulate access to information, monitoring and measuring our performances relentlessly and predicting our desires, directing them. Since this suggestion, the authors also reflect on some socio-cultural (therefore political-economic) phenomena referable to the so-called post-truth, such as those of fake news or echo chambers, difficult to understand if not by recostructing à la Foucault the mechanisms and devices that underlie them by authentically practicing the action of critical analysis that interrogates the truth in its effects of power and power in its discourses on the truth
Biosynthesis and expression of zona pellucida glycoproteins in mammals
No full textThe zona pellucida (ZP) is an extracellular matrix surrounding the oocyte and the early embryo that exerts several important functions during fertilization and early embryonic development. The ZP of most mammalian species is composed of three glycoproteins (ZPA, ZPB, ZPC), products of the gene families ZPA, ZPB and ZPC that have been found to be highly homologous within mammalian species. Most data on the structure and function of the ZP are obtained from studies in mouse. New data from pig and other domestic animals, however, indicate that the mouse model does not hold for all other species. Whereas in the mouse ZPB is the primary sperm receptor, in the pig ZPA has been shown to possess receptor activity. Contrary to the mouse, where the growing oocyte is the only source of zona glycoproteins, in domestic animals these proteins are expressed in both the oocyte and granulosa cells in a stage-specific pattern and may play also a role in granulosa cell differentiation. In several mammalian species, the epithelial secretory cells of the oviduct synthesize and secrete specific glycoproteins (oviductins) that become closely associated with the ZP of the ovulated oocyte. Once bound to the ZP, oviductin molecules could act as a protective layer around the oocyte and early embryo by virtue of their densely glycosylated mucin-type domains. Copyright (C) 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel
A Contingency Model of Boards of Directors and Firm Innovation: The Moderating Role of Firm Size
No full textThis study asserts that the effects of board characteristics on firm innovation need to be evaluated with reference to contingency variables. A literature review suggests that relatively few studies adopt a contingency view when examining the outcomes of boards
of directors. This study examines the influence on firm innovation of characteristics such as board size, outsider ratio and board diversity, and suggests that their influence is contingent upon firm size. The model is tested on a sample of Italian companies and finds support for the contingency hypothesis. This study advances research on boards of directors by emphasizing the importance of context
Assembly of the Inner Perivitelline Layer, a Homo log of the Mammalian Zona Pellucida: An Immunohistochemical and Ultrastructural Study
No full textThe avian inner perivitelline layer (IPVL), a homologous structure to the mammalian zona pellucida, is deposited between the granulosa cells and the oocyte cell membrane during folliculogenesis. The glycoprotein meshwork of the IPVL forms a 3-dimensional matrix and possesses important functions in the fertilization process: it contributes to the binding of avian spermatozoa to the oocyte and induces acrosomal exocytosis. In contrast to the zona pellucida of mammals, the IPVL does not prevent the physiological polyspermy found in birds. Previous studies have shown that in the Japanese quail (Cotumix japonica) at least 5 glycoproteins are constituents of the IPVL (ZP1, ZP2, ZP3, ZP4, and ZPD). In this study, we investigated the spatiotennporal assembly pattern of the IPVL during folliculogenesis using immunohistochemical and ultrastructural methods. The obtained results clearly show that these glycoproteins are incorporated into the IPVL at distinct points during follicular development, supporting the hypothesis that ZP2 and ZP4 form a type of prematrix into which ZP1, ZP3, and ZPD are integrated at a later stage of development. Copyright (C) 2011 S. Karger AG, Base
Amministratori incrociati e performance d’impresa: verso un approccio dinamico alla teoria della dipendenza dalle risorse
No full textAnalisi delle relazioni fra centralità dell'impresa nel network di interlocking e performance
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