Role of justice theory in explaining alliance negotiations, The

We report data from a revelatory qualitative case study of a failed attempt to negotiate an international joint venture agreement. We analyze issues of justice and the role that their occurrence in the course of the negotiations might have played in this outcome. These potential antecedents of the failure were derived from theories of organizational justice. The results support an argument that organizational justice theory, particularly interactional justice, can play an important role in explaining alliance negotiation outcomes.strategic alliances; alliances negotiations; justice theory;

A new molecular diagnostic tool for surveying and monitoring Triops cancriformis populations

© 2017 Sellers et al. The tadpole shrimp, Triops cancriformis, is a freshwater crustacean listed as endangered in the UK and Europe living in ephemeral pools. Populations are threatened by habitat destruction due to land development for agriculture and increased urbanisation. Despite this, there is a lack of efficient methods for discovering and monitoring populations. Established macroinvertebrate monitoring methods, such as net sampling, are unsuitable given the organism's life history, that include long lived diapausing eggs, benthic habits and ephemerally active populations. Conventional hatching methods, such as sediment incubation, are both time consuming and potentially confounded by bet-hedging hatching strategies of diapausing eggs. Here we develop a new molecular diagnostic method to detect viable egg banks of T. cancriformis, and compare its performance to two conventional monitoring methods involving diapausing egg hatching. We apply this method to a collection of pond sediments from the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust Caerlaverock National Nature Reserve, which holds one of the two remaining British populations of T. cancriformis. DNA barcoding of isolated eggs, using newly designed species-specific primers for a large region of mtDNA, was used to estimate egg viability. These estimates were compared to those obtained by the conventional methods of sediment and isolation hatching. Our method outperformed the conventional methods, revealing six ponds holding viable T. cancriformis diapausing egg banks in Caerlaverock. Additionally, designed species-specific primers for a short region of mtDNA identified degraded, inviable eggs and were used to ascertain the levels of recent mortality within an egg bank. Together with efficient sugar flotation techniques to extract eggs from sediment samples, our molecular method proved to be a faster and more powerful alternative for assessing the viability and condition of T. cancriformis diapausing egg banks

Relational quality: A dynamic framework for assessing the role of trust in strategic alliances

The organizational literature has always posited that «trust» plays a key role in economic exchanges, particularly when one or another party is subject to the risk of opportunistic behaviour, incomplete monitoring, or when moral hazard problems arise. These conditions are almost always present in the case of alliances and joint ventures between independent parties. This paper explores the concept of «relational quality» in one such inter-organizational form ­dyadic alliances­ where past experience and the shadow of the future play an important role. Relational quality is important, as it affects the extent to which partners substitute reliance on trust for more formal control mechanisms. Building on theory, case studies and survey data, we develop a framework for thinking about trust in dynamic and practical terms. We define three elements affecting relational quality in alliances: the initial conditions surrounding the exchange, the cumulative experiences of the parties with each other's behaviours as they interact, and the impact that external events have on perceptions of behaviour and attitudes of the parties about each other's trustworthiness. We use data on a sample of alliances with one Spanish partner to explore the relative impact of these elements and develop a more precise set of propositions from this framework. The paper should guide further work towards quantifying the role of trust as a control mechanism in the performance of strategic alliances.Alliances; economic exchanges; joint ventures;

Roles played by relational trust in strategic alliances

In this paper we develop the concept of relational quality as a proxy for relational trust. Exploration of data from 67 alliances confirms that relational quality is composed of three elements: initial conditions, partner interactions, and external events. We offer propositions on the relative importance of each of these elements depending on the different roles relational trust may play in strategic alliances: the role of a control mechanism, of a governance mechanism, or as an enabler of high risk initiativesManagement; Strategy

Relational quality: Managing trust in corporate alliances

The management literature has often argued that "trust" plays a key role in economic exchanges, particularly when one or another party is subject to the risk of opportunistic behaviour and incomplete monitoring, or when problems due to moral hazard or asymmetric information arise. These conditions are almost always present in the case of corporate alliances and joint ventures. We propose that one aspect of trust, what we call "relational quality", is fundamental to the maintenance of good working conditions in two-party alliances where past experience and the shadow of the future play important roles. Relying on a growing body of theory and a number of case studies, we develop a framework for thinking about trust in dynamic and practical terms. We conclude that a reservoir of relational quality exists in any such relationship, and that the level of trust implied in such a reservoir will not only influence whether and how future conflicts are resolved, but also is itself affected by the positive (or negative) resolution of such conflicts. Finally, we identify three elements that contribute to the relational quality reservoir in alliances: 1) the initial conditions surrounding the alliance formation; 2) the cumulative experience of the parties with each others' behaviours as the alliance unfolds; and 3) the impact that external events or behaviours outside the alliance's context have on the perceptions and attitudes the parties have about each other's trustworthiness. We conclude with some recommendations for more effective management of corporate alliances.corporate alliances; economic exchanges; monitoring;

Process issues in alliance management: A panel discussion.

The purpose in this series of papers is to examine different perspectives on the evolution of the process of collaboration and the management challenges therein by focusing on a single case experience. The literature on alliance and collaboration has grown immensely in the last few years. Much attention has been given to the economic rationale for intermediate organizational forms, the so-called «swollen middle» (Hennart, 1993) that lies between market and hierarchical solutions, and to the conditions under which such structures are optimal (Hennart, 1988; Balakrishnan & Koza, 1993; Buckley and Casson, 1996). More recently, there has been a virtual explosion in the treatment of the managerial challenges involved in inter-firm collaboration, ranging from issues of negotiation and conflict resolution to the role of strategic intent or prior experience, as well as numerous attempts to conceptualize and measure that most ephemeral and over-abused concept, trust. The initial paper in the series introduces the specifics of the case on which our discussion is based, and presents a view on the role that perceptions of efficiency and equity between the partners within a relationship have on the evolution of their collaboration. As elaborated in the paper, efficiency perceptions refer to the partners' views on the potential for value creation within the alliance, relative to other organizational choices. Equity perceptions relate to the expected balance between the partners' relative costs and benefits in the alliance, that is, the potential for fairness in value appropriation. The paper starts by summarizing the facts of a failed international joint venture, and chronicles the process of its disintegration through a series of events in its 3-year history. The concepts of efficiency and equity are then defined and formalized. Next, the authors provide their own interpretation of the case data and propose a structure for the analysis of the inter-partner relationship. Finally, they offer a model of the evolution of collaboration that is driven by the maintenance of relational quality among the partners, including the accommodation of changes in both the business environment and the strategies of the partners over time. The three other papers in the series elaborate on this interpretation and bring a broader set of concerns derived from each author's own research trajectory. Since two of these were responsible for earlier models on which the initial case analysis was based, they have a unique opportunity to revisit their original thinking and reinterpret it in view of the facts presented. They take a more dynamic view and incorporate more recent theoretical insights from the management process literature to the collaborative process. The last paper ventures beyond the dyadic framework of the original analysis to examine the lessons that can be drawn for broader networks of collaborative alliances. A final section on conclusions summarizes the arguments and suggests where there may be convergence, as well as proposing new avenues for research.alliances; evolution process collaboration; management challenges;

Relationship between firewood usage and urinary Cr Cu and As in informal areas of Cape Town

OBJECTIVES: The study investigated whether wood usage by informal food vendors and household residents in Cape Town results in the absorption of arsenic (As), chromium (Cr) and copper (Cu) owing to release of these metals in the burning of chromated copper arsenate (CCA)-treated wood. METHODS: The participants (N=78) selected included an equal number of food vendors and non-vendors from 2 informal settlements. All participants answered a questionnaire concerning exposure and were tested for urinary Cr, Cu and As, while the urine of 29 participants was also tested for toxic As (As(tox)). RESULTS: Multivariate analysis showed that the time spent in close proximity to the wood, as well as the quantity of wood used for cooking and for household use, was weakly positively associated with urinary levels of As, Cr and the sum of As, Cr and Cu. CONCLUSIONS: The study provides evidence that use of wood likely to contain CCA as a fuel for informal food outlets and household purposes may increase the absorption of inorganic As, Cu and Cr

Anti-diarrhoeal activity of the methanolic leaf extract of Phyllanthus muellerianus

The methanolic leaf extract of Phyllanthus muellerianus was investigated for anti-diarrhoeal activity. The anti-diarrhoeal activities were investigated using the castor oil-induced diarrhoea, magnesium sulphateinduced diarrhoea, small intestinal and distal colonic propulsion, isolated rabbit jejunum and castor oil-induced intestinal fluid accumulation. The results revealed that the methanolic leaf extract of Phyllanthus muellerianus significantly (p < 0.05) and dose-dependently inhibited castor oil-induced diarrhoea, magnesium sulphateinduced diarrhoea, and also inhibited small intestinal propulsion and distal colonic propulsion. The extract inhibited the spontaneous movement of the isolated rabbit jejunum and reduced castor oil-induced intestinal fluid accumulation. The intraperitoneal LD50 of the extract in mice was found to be 547.7 mg/kg and preliminary phytochemical screening revealed the presence of tannins, carbohydrates, free anthraquinones and flavonoids. The results of this study indicate the presence of biologically active substance(s) which may be beneficial in the management of diarrhoea.© 2009 International Formulae Group. All rights reserved.Key words: Phyllanthus muellerianus, Euphobiaceae, Herbal medicine, Anti-diarrhoea