A Conceptualisation of innovative organisation of an ICT company: A focus on the impact of ‘innovative milieu’

Purpose: This paper investigates key elements for supporting strategic management behaviour with actionable implications for multinational corporations in the ICT business sector. Design/methodology/approach: Samsung was chosen as a research case. A qualitative approach was applied to this study to develop a discussion framework with key elements which support innovative organisational behaviour. Findings: From an analysis of secondary data of academic discussions relating with business behaviour of Samsung, five key themes were developed (e.g., Direction and driving force; Understanding the market; Management system; Organisational strategies; Review & evaluation). Further discussions were expanded from the framework with five key themes revealed a catalytic factor to foster an innovative behaviour of the organisation. Discussions: It has been found that close communications with stakeholders and the impact of innovative milieu should be a catalytic factor to enhance dynamic innovative actions within the organisation. Especially in the competitive ICT business sector, it has been suggested that the inter-organisational and internal learning attitudes covering both individuals and organisational proactiveness should be focused to sustain the businesses. Moreover, organisational innovation can be achieved from the collaborative ‘innovative milieu’ which enhances the proactive innovations

Vertical integration in production and services: development in transaction cost economics

In this paper, we first establish the core, fundamental concepts of Williamson's TCE, examining the different governance structures or the institutional alternatives that TCE theory proposes. We go on to describe some critical considerations and theoretical proposals that correspond fundamentally to Williamson's heuristic model, the integration of incentives in organizational forms, idiosyncratic demand, and how the concept of transaction is conceived in general.Peris-Ortiz, M.; Bonet, F.; Rueda Armengot, C. (2011). Vertical integration in production and services: development in transaction cost economics. Service Business. 5(1):87-97. doi:10.1007/s11628-011-0103-0S879751Alchian A (1965) The basic of some recent advances in the theory of management of the firm. J Ind Econ 14:30–41Alchian A (1969) Corporate management and property rights. In: Manne GH (ed) Economic Policy and Regulation of Corporate Securities. 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Nonlinear Dynamics in Gene Regulation Promote Robustness and Evolvability of Gene Expression Levels

This is the final version of the article. Available from Public Library of Science via the DOI in this record.Cellular phenotypes underpinned by regulatory networks need to respond to evolutionary pressures to allow adaptation, but at the same time be robust to perturbations. This creates a conflict in which mutations affecting regulatory networks must both generate variance but also be tolerated at the phenotype level. Here, we perform mathematical analyses and simulations of regulatory networks to better understand the potential trade-off between robustness and evolvability. Examining the phenotypic effects of mutations, we find an inverse correlation between robustness and evolvability that breaks only with nonlinearity in the network dynamics, through the creation of regions presenting sudden changes in phenotype with small changes in genotype. For genotypes embedding low levels of nonlinearity, robustness and evolvability correlate negatively and almost perfectly. By contrast, genotypes embedding nonlinear dynamics allow expression levels to be robust to small perturbations, while generating high diversity (evolvability) under larger perturbations. Thus, nonlinearity breaks the robustness-evolvability trade-off in gene expression levels by allowing disparate responses to different mutations. Using analytical derivations of robustness and system sensitivity, we show that these findings extend to a large class of gene regulatory network architectures and also hold for experimentally observed parameter regimes. Further, the effect of nonlinearity on the robustness-evolvability trade-off is ensured as long as key parameters of the system display specific relations irrespective of their absolute values. We find that within this parameter regime genotypes display low and noisy expression levels. Examining the phenotypic effects of mutations, we find an inverse correlation between robustness and evolvability that breaks only with nonlinearity in the network dynamics. Our results provide a possible solution to the robustness-evolvability trade-off, suggest an explanation for the ubiquity of nonlinear dynamics in gene expression networks, and generate useful guidelines for the design of synthetic gene circuits.This work was funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, grant number EP/I017445/1

Adoption of improved processing technology among African locust bean processors in south-west, Nigeria

The paper investigated the effect of socio-economic and institutional factors on the adoption of improved locust bean processing technology in South-West, Nigeria. Specifically, the study described the socio-economic characteristics of the locust bean processors, examines the level of awareness and adoption of the improved locust bean processing technology in the study area and determines the effect of socio-economic and institutional factors on the adoption and intensity of use of improved locust bean processing technology in the study area. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 360 respondents used for the study. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the Cragg’s (double-hurdle) model. The result of the study showed that majority (84%) of the locust bean processors were female with an average age of 48 (±11.36) years. Majority (97%) of the respondents were married with an average household size of 8.25 (±4.32) persons. The result showed that 44.2% were aware while 55.8% were not aware of the technology in the study area. The results from the Cragg’s double hurdle model show that in the first hurdle, age, experience, access to credit and awareness positively influenced the decision to adopt the improved locust bean processing technology while in the second hurdle, education and income positively influenced the intensity of the use of the improved locust bean processing technology. It is therefore recommended that Relevant stakeholders, agencies and government should made available credit facilities which will enable the locust bean processors acquired the technology in no distant time. Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. Tech. 10(1): 123-128, June 202

Case report: First case report of an Emirati child with a novel gene variant causing aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase deficiency

Aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) deficiency is a rare, neurometabolic disorder resulting from biallelic mutations in the dopa decarboxylase (DDC) gene. This is the first reported case of AADC deficiency in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and describes an Emirati male patient who presented in the first few months of life with a severe phenotype of global hypotonia, developmental delay and oculogyric crisis. Following whole exome sequencing, a novel homozygous mutation in the DDC gene (c.1144G>T, p.Val382Phe) was reported and the patient underwent further testing, after which a diagnosis of AADC deficiency was confirmed. This mutation has not been previously described, but the clinical phenotype and corresponding biochemical profile confirmed that it is a pathogenic variant. The patient is currently managed at a tertiary referral center in the UAE and is treated in accordance with published guidance on AADC deficiency, including the recommended medical therapy combined with multidisciplinary care from a team of specialists. Some symptomatic improvements have been reported but at 5 years of age the patient continues to exhibit profound developmental delay, oculogyric crisis and is prone to recurrent respiratory infections. In order to improve outcomes for patients with AADC deficiency in the Middle Eastern region, there is an urgent need to raise the index of clinical suspicion, particularly among primary care physicians, pediatricians, and pediatric neurologists, and to improve access to diagnostic testing. This is particularly relevant at the current time, given the ongoing development of potentially disease-modifying gene therapy for AADC deficiency

Is CSR a magic word?: An exploring study of consumer behaviour in cosmetic market in Thailand

Many authors stated that decision-making today is more complex than in the past, especially when they are being confronted by various kinds of product (eg.: Hafstrom et al., 1992; Lysonski et al., 1995; Mitchell et al., 1998). Thailand is an example of a developing country where a huge number of products from various countries imported cosmetic products. Due to the competition in Thailand, cosmetic market is always very intense; therefore it is important for firms to understand the factors that affect the consumers purchasing behaviour. At the same time, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been one of the most popular theme for academics and marketers when they analyse its impact on consumers’ behaviour (Maignan and Ferrel, 2004; Smith, 2003). Does CSR have a positive impact on Thai consumers’ purchasing intention? To investigate this theme based on quantitative approach, we analyse the impact of CSR factor as an antecedent factor for Thai consumers’ attitudes towards cosmetic products, drawing the pathways resulting in their final decision of purchasing

Modelling and Forecasting Periodic Electric Load for a Metropolitan City in Nigeria

In this work, three models are used to analyze the electric load capacity of a fast growing urban city and to estimate its future consumption. Ikorodu, the case-study location is a highly populated city whose energy demand is continuously increasing. The ultimate focus of this study is to establish a basis for the comparison of different electric load consumption for the existing populace and to provide estimates for the future planning of the city. In this work, three different models have been used to present more accurate load predictions and to enhance proper comparison of results. Among numerous mathematical and scientific models that are applicable to this kind of task, the compound-growth method, the linear model approach and the cubic model have been chosen to enhance diversity in load analysis. The futuristic scheme to be harnessed will fall within the ranges of values obtained from the three different models used in forecasting. This paper concludes with issues pertaining to economics of load utilization as it affects substantive planning.Key words: Electric-load, Linear trend, Compound-growth, Cubic model, forecastin