619,728 research outputs found
Supporting strategy using system dynamics
This paper presents a protocol for supporting strategy development via system dynamics (SD) modeling in consultation with Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of small organizations; it also reports on the effectiveness of this protocol one year after an initial study was conducted. The protocol was applied in five small organizations; it involves the development of a SD model that is used to generate scenarios of alternative strategic situations an organization may face. We found that when the CEOs identified more feedback loops and causal relationships among key resources through their modeling analyses, they increased their capacities to generate new strategic ideas through more developed mental models. However, those CEOs who were not able to generate alternative strategic ideas to overcome the challenges of scenarios presented during the simulation sessions found it difficult to make strategic decisions when the scenarios occurred one year after our intervention. This finding suggests that SD modeling can affect firm performance when the facilitation process helps CEOs reflect on potential strategic actions that can be taken in the future. When CEOs cannot change their strategic plans by imagining what should be done in a challenging scenario, they are not able to address challenging situations when they arise
Real time unsupervised learning of visual stimuli in neuromorphic VLSI systems
Neuromorphic chips embody computational principles operating in the nervous
system, into microelectronic devices. In this domain it is important to
identify computational primitives that theory and experiments suggest as
generic and reusable cognitive elements. One such element is provided by
attractor dynamics in recurrent networks. Point attractors are equilibrium
states of the dynamics (up to fluctuations), determined by the synaptic
structure of the network; a `basin' of attraction comprises all initial states
leading to a given attractor upon relaxation, hence making attractor dynamics
suitable to implement robust associative memory. The initial network state is
dictated by the stimulus, and relaxation to the attractor state implements the
retrieval of the corresponding memorized prototypical pattern. In a previous
work we demonstrated that a neuromorphic recurrent network of spiking neurons
and suitably chosen, fixed synapses supports attractor dynamics. Here we focus
on learning: activating on-chip synaptic plasticity and using a theory-driven
strategy for choosing network parameters, we show that autonomous learning,
following repeated presentation of simple visual stimuli, shapes a synaptic
connectivity supporting stimulus-selective attractors. Associative memory
develops on chip as the result of the coupled stimulus-driven neural activity
and ensuing synaptic dynamics, with no artificial separation between learning
and retrieval phases.Comment: submitted to Scientific Repor
Supporting strategy : a survey of UK OR/MS practitioners
This paper reports the results of an on-line survey conducted with practitioner members of the UK Operational Research (OR) Society. The purpose of the survey was to explore the current practice of supporting strategy in terms of activities supported and tools used. The results of the survey are compared to those of previous surveys to explore developments in, inter-alia, the use of management/strategy tools and āsoftā Operational Research / Management Science (OR/MS) tools. The survey results demonstrate that OR practitioners actively support strategy within their organisations. Whilst a wide variety of tools, drawn from the OR/MS and management / strategy fields are used to support strategy within organisations, the findings suggest that soft OR/MS tools are not regularly used. The findings also demonstrate that tools are combined to support strategy from both within and across the OR/MS and management / strategy fields. The paper ends by identifying a number of areas for further research
Direct Observation of Early-stage Quantum Dot Growth Mechanisms with High-temperature Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics
Colloidal quantum dots (QDs) exhibit highly desirable size- and
shape-dependent properties for applications from electronic devices to imaging.
Indium phosphide QDs have emerged as a primary candidate to replace the more
toxic CdSe QDs, but production of InP QDs with the desired properties lags
behind other QD materials due to a poor understanding of how to tune the growth
process. Using high-temperature ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD)
simulations, we report the first direct observation of the early stage
intermediates and subsequent formation of an InP cluster from separated indium
and phosphorus precursors. In our simulations, indium agglomeration precedes
formation of In-P bonds. We observe a predominantly intercomplex pathway in
which In-P bonds form between one set of precursor copies while the carboxylate
ligand of a second indium precursor in the agglomerated indium abstracts a
ligand from the phosphorus precursor. This process produces an indium-rich
cluster with structural properties comparable to those in bulk zinc-blende InP
crystals. Minimum energy pathway characterization of the AIMD-sampled reaction
events confirms these observations and identifies that In-carboxylate
dissociation energetics solely determine the barrier along the In-P bond
formation pathway, which is lower for intercomplex (13 kcal/mol) than
intracomplex (21 kcal/mol) mechanisms. The phosphorus precursor chemistry, on
the other hand, controls the thermodynamics of the reaction. Our observations
of the differing roles of precursors in controlling QD formation strongly
suggests that the challenges thus far encountered in InP QD synthesis
optimization may be attributed to an overlooked need for a cooperative tuning
strategy that simultaneously addresses the chemistry of both indium and
phosphorus precursors.Comment: 40 pages, 9 figures, submitted for publicatio
Integrating modes of policy analysis and strategic management practice : requisite elements and dilemmas
There is a need to bring methods to bear on public problems that are inclusive, analytic, and quick. This paper describes the efforts of three pairs of academics working from three different though complementary theoretical foundations and intervention backgrounds (i.e., ways of working) who set out together to meet this challenge. Each of the three pairs had conducted dozens of interventions that had been regarded as successful or very successful by the client groups in dealing with complex policy and strategic problems. One approach focused on leadership issues and stakeholders, another on negotiating competitive strategic intent with attention to stakeholder responses, and the third on analysis of feedback ramifications in developing policies. This paper describes the 10 year longitudinal research project designed to address the above challenge. The important outcomes are reported: the requisite elements of a general integrated approach and the enduring puzzles and tensions that arose from seeking to design a wide-ranging multi-method approach
Innovation dynamics and the role of infrastructure
This report shows how the role of the infrastructure ā standards, measurement,
accreditation, design and intellectual property ā can be integrated into a quantitative
model of the innovation system and used to help explain levels and changes in
labour productivity and growth in turnover and employment. The summary focuses
on the new results from the project, set out in more detail in Sections 5 and 6. The
first two sections of the report provide contextual material on the UK innovation
system, the nature and content of the infrastructure knowledge and the institutions
that provide it.
Mixed modes of innovation, the typology of innovation practices developed and
applied here, is constituted of six mixed modes, derived from many variables taken
from the UK Innovation Survey. These are:
Investing in intangibles
Technology with IP innovating
Using codified knowledge
Wider (managerial) innovating
Market-led innovating
External process modernising.
The composition of the innovation modes, and the approach used to compute them,
is set out in more detail in Section 4. Modes can be thought of as the underlying
process of innovation, a bundle of activities undertaken jointly by firms, and whose
working out generates well known indicators such as new product innovations, R&D
spending and accessing external information, that are the partial indicators gathered
from the innovation survey itself
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