Re-balancing the excellence frameworks with individualistic logic

The analysis and assessment of business excellence are often associated with the discussion on the design and justification of the excellence measures and their dimensions. This paper re-visits the critical issues in assessing business excellence, and aims to explore the conceptual development on re-balancing the performance dimensions in view of a framework. Based on the synthesising of published literatures and case studies it reveals that all the published excellence frameworks are based on the commonality logic ; and it suggests re-balancing them with the individualistic logic . This concept has then been operationalised by constructing a new excellence framework named world-class diamond model. Based on the surveyed data and by using structural equation modelling the re-balanced diamond model is tested and analysed in order to secure its theoretical validity. With the re-balanced framework, it stresses the critical importance of the individualistic logic in achieving business excellence. It also argues that the managerial implication of the individualistic logic lies in the firm-specific and situation-sensitive practices of business excellence. The original contribution of the research is a conceptually re-balanced perspective of business excellence, suggesting a shift from commonality logic towards individualistic logic

Spin dependent transport in ferromagnetic/superconductor/ferromagnetic single electron transistor

Ferromagnetic single electron transistors with Al islands and orthogonal ferromagnetic leads (Co) are fabricated using ebeam lithography followed by shadow evaporation techniques. I-V characteristics exhibit typical single electron tunneling effects. Transport measurements performed in external magnetic field show that, when the two ferromagnetic leads are in antiparallel configuration, spin imbalance leads to a suppression of superconductivity.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figure

Experimental violation of the Leggett-Garg inequality in a 3-level system

The Leggett-Garg (LG) test of macroscopic realism involves a series of dichotomic non-invasive measurements that are used to calculate a function which has a fixed upper bound for a macrorealistic system and a larger upper bound for a quantum system. The quantum upper bound depends on both the details of the measurement and the dimension of the system. Here we present an LG experiment on a three-level quantum system, which produces a larger theoretical quantum upper bound than that of a two-level quantum system. The experiment is carried out in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and consists of the LG test as well as a test of the ideal assumptions associated with the experiment, such as measurement non-invasiveness. The non-invasive measurements are performed via the modified ideal negative result measurement scheme on a three-level system. Once these assumptions are tested, the violation becomes small, despite the fact that the LG value itself is large. Our results showcase the advantages of using the modified measurement scheme that can reach the higher LG values, as they give more room for hypothetical malicious errors in a real experimentComment: 8 Page

Perception gap and its impact on supply chain performance

The main purpose of this paper is to frame the perception differences between the buyer and supplier on the supply chain’s operational delivery, and to investigate their causal relation to the overall supply chain performance. A conceptual three-level model is developed to theorise the structural existence of the perception gaps in primarily a dyadic buyer-supplier setting. Using the primary data gathered through a major survey exercise, confirmative factor analysis and structural equation modelling were conducted to test the hypotheses on the significance and relevance of the perception gaps in supply chain management. This study provides a better conceptual understanding of the perception differences on the required as well as achieved operational deliveries within the supplier-buyer dyad, and reveals their significant and negative causal impact on the overall supply chain performance

The Meservey-Tedrov effect in FSF double tunneling junctions

Double tunneling junctions of ferromagnet-superconductor-ferromagnet electrodes (FSF) show a jump in the conductance when a parallel magnetic field reverses the magnetization of one of the ferromagnetic electrodes. This change is generally attributed to the spin-valve effect or to pair breaking in the superconductor because of spin accumulation. In this paper it is shown that the Meservey-Tedrov effect causes a similar change in the conductance since the magnetic field changes the energy spectrum of the quasi-particles in the superconductor. A reversal of the bias reverses the sign in the conductance jump