Corporate strategies – the institutional approach

The present paper introduces a model of corporate strategies, based on institutional theories of the firm and formalized with the concepts of the theory of games. Corporate strategies are balanced outcomes of four social games: capital market, corporate governance, product market and social responsibility. Two empirical applications of the model are then introduced: a qualitative one, consisting in comparative study of strategies deployed by Royal Dutch Shell and Israel Corporation, then a quantitative one, presenting a study of capital accumulation and operational efficiency in 79 companies listed in the Warsaw Stock Exchange.institutional economics, strategy, corporation

Exchange Rates and the Consumer Price Index in Nigeria: A Causality Approach

This paper was motivated by the need to establish the impact of importation into �igeria and its main objectives were to find out the significant relationships between the official and parallel exchange rates and the consumer price index (CPI.). It also established that import ratio in the economy is a contributor to the increase in the cost of living (CPI) in the country. The paper adopted the techniques of correlation and Granger causality to find the significance of the relationships between the index and the exchange rates. It found out that there is higher positive relationship between the ratio of imports and the index than exist between the parallel and official rates. The coefficient between autonomous exchange rates and the consumer price index (CPI) is less significant than official rate, while the import ratio in the economy shows a near two-way balance causality with the consumer price index. The more significant one is causality is that import ratio granger causes CPI. The paper recommends a more liberalised foreign exchange market to reduce the impact of the parallel market and increase in domestic production of consumables to reduce importation of domestically substitutable goods in the economy

USING IMAGERY PRACTICE TO IMPROVE AIRLINE PILOT SITUATIONAL AWARENESS

Pilot error remains the primary cause of airline airplane accidents (Federal Aviation Administration, n.d.). Airline pilots have relied on Crew Resource Management and Threat Error Management to reduce or eliminate errors (Helmreich & Foushee, 2019). Unfortunately, the worldwide accident rate continues to increase (International Air Transport Association, 2021), demonstrating the need for further research into improving aviation safety. Current regulations do not require imagery training for airline pilots to improve situational awareness (Federal Aviation Administration, 2017a). Athletes and other professionals, such as musicians and medical professionals, use imagery to improve performance (Munzert et al., 2009). Imagery practice may improve the situational awareness of airline pilots. This study examined the relationship between imagery practice and airline pilot situational awareness. The researcher used an experimental posttest design with a group of airline pilots that received imagery training and a practice period. The data analysis answered the research questions and objectives using data provided by the participants who completed an interactive video survey. The researcher compared the survey results with airline pilots without imagery practice, measuring Endsley\u27s (1995) three levels of situational awareness, including perception, comprehension, and projection. The study\u27s results produced three findings that emphasize the effects of the research. Pilots who practiced imagery more often had higher levels of situational awareness during the video survey than pilots who practiced less. Although there was an improvement in the group that practiced imaging a flight, further research may improve the effectiveness of imagery practice. More experienced pilots participated in the study compared to less experienced pilots. Further research regarding safety training experience and situational awareness could add to the findings of this study, along with Wang et al. (2021) findings regarding pilots using personal attributes such as emotional intelligence that replace inadequate training to maintain situational awareness

Spatial And Temporal Modeling Of Radar Rainfall Uncertainties

It is widely acknowledged that radar-based estimates of rainfall are affected by uncertainties (e.g., mis-calibration, beam blockage, anomalous propagation, and ground clutter) which are both systematic and random in nature. Improving the characterization of these errors would yield better understanding and interpretations of results from studies in which these estimates are used as inputs (e.g., hydrologic modeling) or initial conditions (e.g., rainfall forecasting). Building on earlier efforts, the authors apply a data-driven multiplicative model in which the relationship between true rainfall and radar rainfall can be described in terms of the product of a systematic and random component. The systematic component accounts for conditional biases. The conditional bias is approximated by a power-law function. The random component, which represents the random fluctuations remaining after correcting for systematic uncertainties, is characterized in terms of its probability distribution as well as its spatial and temporal dependencies. The space-time dependencies are computed using the non-parametric Kendall\u27s τ measure. For the first time, the authors present a methodology based on conditional copulas to generate ensembles of random error fields with the prescribed marginal probability distribution and spatio-temporal dependencies. The methodology is illustrated using data from Clear Creek, which is a densely instrumented experimental watershed in eastern Iowa. Results are based on three years of radar data from the Davenport Weather Surveillance Radar 88 Doppler (WSR-88D) radar that were processed through the Hydro-NEXRAD system. The spatial and temporal resolutions are 0.5. km and hourly, respectively, and the radar data are complemented by rainfall measurements from 11 rain gages, located within the catchment, which are used to approximate true ground rainfall. © 2013 Elsevier B.V