Notes from \u3ci\u3eThe Future of California’s Garment Industry\u3c/i\u3e

The document includes the notes from various workshops, brainstorming sessions, discussions, and strategy sessions that took place at the conference focusing on The Future of California’s Garment Industry

Network Effects and Switching Costs In the Market for Routers and Switches

This research examines the impact of switching costs on vendor choice in the market for routers and switches. We show that despite the use of open standards which attempt to enhance interoperabilities for equipments from different vendors, vendors in this market are able to maintain high switching costs. Because routers and switches are networked goods, switching costs may arise from prior investments made at the same establishment and/or at other establishments within the same firm. We study how the introduction of switches into the LAN market affected vendor choice in routers. In particular, we provide evidence of significant cross-product switching costs and sizeable shopping costs when buyers purchase routers and switches simultaneously. However, we also show that the introduction of switches may have temporarily reduced switching costs for router buyers investing in switches

Co-Opetition Between SAP And Oracle: The Effects Of The Partnership And Competition On The Companies Success

This research paper presents the secondary research findings on the similarities and differences between the strategies of SAP and Oracle, reasons why customers choose one vendor over the other, and how the competition between SAP and Oracle affects their cooperation with each other.  This latter effect we refer to as co-opetition.  A summary and conclusions will follow a detailed discussion of the aforementioned factors of co-opetition between SAP and Oracle

Radio Deregulation: Has It Served Citizens and Musicians?

This report is an historical, structural, statistical and public survey analysis of the effects of the 1996 Telecommunications Act on musicians and citizens.Each week, radio reaches nearly 95 percent of the U.S. population over the age of 12 (see Chapter 5, p. 69). But more importantly, radio uses a frequency spectrum owned, ultimately, by the American public. Because the federal government manages this spectrum on citizens' behalf, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has a clear mandate to enact policies that balance the rights of citizens with the legitimate interests of broadcasters.Radio has changed drastically since the 1996 Telecommunications Act eliminated a cap on nationwide station ownership and increased the number of stations one entity could own in a single market. This legislation sparked an unprecedented period of ownership consolidation in the industry with significant and adverse effects on musicians and citizens

FINANCIAL VISUALIZATION APPLICATION ADOPTING BIMODAL VISUALIZATION

Thevisualization system considers financial people's needs and approaches alternative wayto understand financial data. This is oneof the processes of analyzing and converting data from two different modalities into graphics. This allows financial decision makers andfinancial analyst to gaininsight intothe data, drawconclusions and directly interact with the data. The purpose of this project is to develop visualization for financial instruments - equity and to researchthe effectiveness of financial visualization for financial trader andinvestors. Tomake sure financial visualization for equities will work, this project will focus first in otherelement from finance whichis share price. Thereasonto choose share price is because share price is one of important financial elements in financial market. This visualizationsystemdeals with two modalities of information; numerical and textual. Financial trader or investor make his/her decision based onthe behaviour of equities or share price overa certain period of time and consults other sources of information directly or indirectly with theinstruments. These sources include internal factor of certain industry or economies and about the sectorand wider issues that may affect on the instrument which equities

Urban School Decentralization and the Growth of "Portfolio Districts"

In the latter half of the past decade, school districts in several large cities, including New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and post-Katrina New Orleans, have implemented an urban school decentralization model generally known as "portfolio districts." Others, including those in Denver and Cleveland, are following suit in what appears to be a growing trend. The portfolio strategy has become increasingly prominent in educational policy circles, think tank and philanthropy literature, and education news reporting. As CEO of the Chicago Public Schools, Arne Duncan embraced the portfolio district model. His appointment as U.S. Secretary of Education suggests the Obama administration also supports the approach. The premise of the portfolio strategy is that if superintendents build portfolios of schools that encompass a variety of educational approaches offered by different vendors, then over time school districts will weed out under-performing approaches and vendors; as a result, more children will have more opportunities for academic success. This brief examines the available evidence for the viability of this premise and the proposals that flow from it.The portfolio district approach merges four strategies: 1) decentralization; 2) charter school expansion; 3) reconstituting/closing "failing" schools; and 4) test-based accountability. Additionally, portfolio district restructuring often involves firing an underperforming school's staff in its entirety, whether or not the school is reconstituted as a charter school. In this model, the portfolio district is conceptualized as a circuit of "continuous improvement." Schools are assessed based on test scores; if their scores are low, they are subject to being closed and reopened as charters. The replacement charters are subsequently subject to test-based assessment and, if scores remain disappointing, to possible closure and replacement by still other contractors. The portfolio district concept implements what has been since the 1990's discussed in educational policy literature as market-based "creative destruction" or "churn."1 This perspective considers public schools to be comparable to private enterprise, with competition a key element to success. Just as businesses that cannot turn sufficient profit, schools that cannot produce test scores higher than competitors' must be "allowed" to "go out of business." The appeal of the portfolio district strategy is that it appears to offer an approach sufficiently radical to address longstanding and intractable problems in public schools.Although the strategy is being advocated by some policy centers, implemented by some large urban districts, and promoted by the education reforms proposed as part of the Obama administrations Race to the Top initiative, no peer-reviewed studies of portfolio districts exist, meaning that no reliable empirical evidence about portfolio effects is available that supports either the implementation or rejection of the portfolio district reform model. Nor is such evidence likely to be forthcoming. Even advocates acknowledge the enormous difficulty of designing credible empirical studies to determine how the portfolio approach affects student achievement and other outcomes. There are anecdotal reports of achievement gains in one portfolio district, New Orleans. The New Orleans results, however, have been subjected to serious challenge. Extrapolation of research on the constituent elements of the model is not helpful because of the complex interactions of these elements within the portfolio model. Moreover, even when the constituent elements are considered as a way to predict the likely success of the model, no evidence is found to suggest that it will produce gains in either achievement or fiscal efficiency. Finally, the policy writing of supporters of the portfolio model suggests that the approach is expensive to implement and may have negative effects on student achievement.In light of these considerations, it is recommended that policymakers and administrators use caution in considering the portfolio district approach. It is also highly recommended that before adopting such a strategy, decision makers ask the following questions.What credible evidence do we have, or can we obtain, that suggests the portfolio model offers advantages compared to other reform models? What would those advantages be, when might they be expected to materialize, and howmight they be documented?If constituent elements of the model (such as charter schools and test-based accountability) have not produced advantages outside of portfolio systems, whatis the rationale for expecting improved outcomes as part of a portfolio system?What funding will be needed for startup, and where will it come from?What funding will be necessary for maintenance of the model? Where will continuation funds come from if startup funds expire and are not renewed?How will the cost/benefit ratio of the model be determined?What potential political and social conflicts seem possible? How will concerns of dissenting constituents be addressed

Defense Acquisition Trends 2022: A Preliminary Look

Excerpt from the Proceedings of the Nineteenth Annual Acquisition Research SymposiumThis report is the latest in an annual series examining trends in what the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is buying, how the DoD is buying it, and from whom the DoD is buying. Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 proved to be the end of a five-year bounce back in defense contract spending, with contract obligations dropping to $380.1 billion, a 10% decline from FY2020 but still 28% higher than the FY2015 trough. This year’s study focuses on the first year to partially fall under the new administration and examines how present trends align with the newly released National Defense Strategy fact sheet (DoD, 2022). The new administration has maintained a concern with speeding force development and technological adaption that justifies a continued focus on research and development in both contracting and other transaction authority (OTA) agreements. Additionally, this report includes analysis of the topline DoD contracting trends with particular attention to the report on the State of Competition within the Defense Industrial Base.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

New Organizational Challenges in a Digital World: Securing Cloud Computing Usage and Reacting to Asset-Sharing Platform Disruptions

Information technology (IT) and IT-enabled business models are transforming the business ecosystem and posing new challenges for existing companies. This two-essay dissertation examines two such challenges: cloud security and the disruption of asset-sharing business models.The first essay examines how an organizations usage of cloud storage affects its likelihood of accidental breaches. The quasi-experiment in the U.S. healthcare sector reveals that organizations with higher levels of digitalization (i.e., Electronic Health Records levels) or those with more IT applications running on their internal data center are less likely to experience accidental breaches after using public cloud storage. We argue that digitalization and operational control over IT applications increase organizations awareness and capabilities of establishing a company-wide security culture, thereby reducing negligence related to physical devices and unintended disclosure after adopting cloud storage. The usage of cloud storage is more likely to cause accidental breaches for organizations contracting to more reputable or domain expert vendors. We explain this result as the consequence of less attention being focused on securing personally accessible data and physical devices given high reliance on reputed and knowledgeable cloud providers. This research is among the first to empirically examine the actual security impacts of organizations cloud storage usage and offers practical insights for cloud security management.The second essay examines how Asset-Sharing Business Model Prevalence (ASBMP) affects the performance implications of industry incumbent firms competitive actions when faced with entrants with asset-sharing business models, like Airbnb. ASBMP represents the amount of third-party products and services that originally were unavailable inside the traditional business model but now are orchestrated by asset-sharing companies in an industry. We use texting mining and econometrics approaches to analyze a longitudinal dataset in the accommodation industry. Our results demonstrate that incumbents competitive action repertoires (i.e., action volume, complexity, and heterogeneity) increase their performance when the ASBMP is high but decrease incumbents performance when the ASBMP is low. Practically, incumbents who are facing greater threat from asset-sharing firms can implement more aggressive competitive action repertoires and strategically focus on new product and M&A strategies. This research contributes to the literature of both competitive dynamics and asset-sharing business models

Project Extranets : b a strategic necessity or a tool for competitive advantage?

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2000.Vitae.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-80).An exploratory study was conducted to determine the strategic advantage that firms may gain by using project extranets on real estate development projects. Eight organizations were interviewed to determine their priorities, risk preferences, and needs regarding project communication technologies. Interviews were conducted with Corporate Owner/Occupiers, Owner/Non Occupiers, and Institutional Owner/Occupiers. The hypothesis tested was that owners and developers of real estate were looking to use project extranets to gain a competitive advantage. Research results indicated a resounding 'no' to our hypothesis. No owners or developers are currently looking at extranets as a source of competitive advantage at this time. However, the research data did provide insights into what is necessary for the technology to deliver for organizations to view a project extranet as a source of competitive advantage in the future. Owners were segmented into categories based on risk profile and needs regarding project extranets. Corporate Owner/Occupiers with real estate support needed assistance with predictability and execution. Corporate Owner/Occupiers of Manufacturing operations needed increases in speed. Institutional Owner/Occupiers needed certainty. Finally Owner/Non-Occupiers needed mitigation of market risks.by Ryan Carley [and] Matthew Robinson.S.M