Regulating Complexity in Financial Markets

As the financial crisis has tragically illustrated, the complexities of modern financial markets and investment securities can trigger systemic market failures. Addressing these complexities, this Article maintains, is perhaps the greatest financial-market challenge of the future. The Article first examines and explains the nature of these complexities. It then analyzes the regulatory and other steps that should be considered to reduce the potential for failure. Because complex financial markets resemble complex engineering systems, and failures in those markets have characteristics of failures in those systems, the Article‟s analysis draws on chaos theory and other approaches used to analyze complex engineering systems

Community Development in Dynamic Neighborhoods: Synchronizing Services and Strategies with Immigrant Communities

Community development organizations must be increasingly cognizant of and responsive to their changing neighborhoods. Major demographic factors related to the growth and influx of recent immigrants to the United States are having a notable impact on many communities. Through a review of current research and interviews with leading experts and practitioners of community development organizations, private lenders and governmental agencies, this analysis explores (1) the importance of immigrants in community development, (2) the response of community development organizations to recent demographic shifts, and (3) the challenges and opportunities practitioners face when connecting immigrants to their communities.Despite growing research about the implications of immigrant markets for the private sector, there is little research about the role and contributions of community development organizations in the integration of new immigrants. Immigration trends and characteristics are different today than those of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This research concludes that these new demographics drive much of the dynamic change in cities across the United States. CDOs can best address the changes at the local level, but need more data and market analysis of neighborhood trends. These organizations are in a key position to connect newcomers not only to long-term housing, but also to business development, jobs and leadership opportunities through strategic partnerships and planning

Chief Digital Officers’ Evolving Strategies: Balancing Lightweight and Heavyweight IT During the Digital Transformation

In this paper, we investigate how chief digital officers (CDOs) deal with the digital transformation over time. The study is based on interviews with the CDOs of 26 Norwegian organizations, conducted over a three-year period. Our analytical lens involves differentiating between the knowledge regimes of heavyweight and lightweight IT. Based on the CDOs’ perceptions, we identify three important shifts related to strategic, technological, and methodological aspects, all indicating a more balanced approach to the interplay of heavyweight and lightweight IT. We contribute to the literature on the digital transformation and CDOs’ contribution, and to the theory of lightweight vs. heavyweight IT

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AND ITS IMPACT ON IT STRUCTURE AND LEADERSHIP

With digital transformation attracting increasing attention, our study is motivated by a need to under- stand the impact of digitalisation on the transformation of the Information Technology (IT) function in pre-digital organisations. In particular, in this paper, we present a qualitative study that aims to ex- amine how digital transformation influences the organisational structure and leadership of the IT function in pre-digital organisations. The empirical study is based on a series of semi-structured in- terviews with digital leaders across a range of organisations and sectors in the UK and Scandinavia. We find four different setups both in terms of structure and leadership for the IT function following digital transformation initiatives. The study has both theoretical and practical implications on the management of digital transformation and IT function

The Role of the CIO and the CDO in an Organization’s Digital Transformation

The CIO role often embodies both strategic as well as operational elements. However, the penetration of digital technologies into nearly every aspect of business has led many firms to create the role of a Chief Digital Officer (CDO) to oversee the establishment of digital capabilities in the company. This development has the potential for considerable redundancy between CIO and CDO roles and brings the CIO role to an inflection point. Through multiple interviews with executives of 19 firms, seven of which have a CDO, this paper explores the reasoning behind the CDO role, the need for which is often driven by digitization pressure, demand for organizational orchestration, aspects of the CIO role profile, and the digitization focus areas of the company. Moreover, this paper identifies four distinct CDO role-types (Evangelist, Coordinator, Innovator, and Advocate) and assesses the implications for the CIO role in the context of digital transformation

Subacute exposure of rats by metal oxide nanoparticles through the airways: general toxicity and neuro-functional effects

In order to create an animal model of human inhalational exposure by industrial trAct metal fumes, nanoparticulate metal oxides (MnO2 , CdO2 , PbO) were synthesized and instilled into the trachea of rats 5 times a week for 6 weeks (metal doses per kg b.w.: 2.63 and 5.26 mg Mn; 0.04 and 0.4 mg Cd; 2 and 4 mg Pb). At the end, the rats’ body weight gain during the treatment was determined, the animals had an open field session to investigate their spontaneous motility, and finally spontaneous and stimulus-evoked cortical activity was recorded in urethane anaesthesia. Mn caused decrease of open field ambulation and rearing, Cd had no effect, whereas Pb caused decreased rearing and increased ambulation. Spontaneous cortical activity was shifted to higher frequencies with each metal. Cortical evoked potentials had lengthened latency, mainly with Mn and Cd; and increased frequency dependence with Cd and Pb but hardly with Mn. The effects proved indirectly that the metal content of the nanoparticles had access form the airways to the CNS. Our method seems suitable for modelling human nervous system damage due to inhaled nanoparticles