Organizational consequences linked to the incorporation of ERP into companies' service-marketing activities

ERPs offer a two-fold answer to the need for integration. The first is technical in nature, since the architecture of these programs is designed to ensure the compatibility of their software components and the transparency of their data. They also offer a dynamic approach, because ERPs are mechanisms for incorporating a company's specific functional elements. However, the ERP solution cannot replace every existing management computing system. Accordingly, applying ERP to existing systems will have a significant cost, whether it occurs in the implementation of ERP itself or in the work of making over the firm's own information system. The field surveys that have been carried out show that good management practices already included in non-ERP computing systems can easily be transposed into ERP systems. Conversely, applications that do not follow a horizontal management structure create incompatibilities if we attempt to transfer them into an ERP. The influence of the firm's structure on the implementation of ERP will depend on how compatible it is with the underlying structure of the ERP (structure must follow strategy: A. Chandler.)ERP, organizational structure, strategy, information system, integration.

Crises financières : rôle de l'information et mimétisme légal

Plusieurs phénomènes sont à l'origine des crises boursières et l'aspect mimétique des comportements des investisseurs prévaudrait sur l'analyse fondamentale des valeurs. En ce sens, l'interprétation de l'information semble jouer un rôle central lors de ces évènements particuliers. Une des nouveautés de la crise actuelle est liée à un alignement législatif mondial des comptabilités financières. Les normes IAS-IFRS auraient eu des effets procycliques engendrés par un " mimétisme légal ". L'évaluation à la Juste Valeur et la valorisation des instruments financiers, ont paru être les principales courroies de transmission de la crise.Crises boursières, mimétisme informationnel et légal, normes IAS-IFRS.

The Origin of Stock-Market Crashes: Proposal for A Mimetic Model Using Behavioral Assumptions and An Analysis of Legal Mimicry

ABSTRACT A number of phenomena are responsible for market crashes, but an analysis of investor behavior will tell us more than the valuation of securities on their fundamentals. In this regard, the interpretation of information seems to play a central role in these exceptional events. One specific type of mimetic behavior, called informational mimicry 1 , sheds light on the kind of sudden, precipitous price plunges seen in 1929, 1987, and 2000. The current financial crisis certainly exhibits these mechanisms, but one of its novelties is related to a new form of herd behavior arising from the international legislative alignment of financial accounting data. In fact, the new IAS-IFRS standards have produced certain pernicious, globalized effects that may be described as "legal mimicry". Among the items most commonly blamed for this "Panurgic" 2 behavior, Fair Market Valuation and the valuation of financial instruments appear to have been the major mechanisms involved in spreading the crisis. Indeed, they lent support to one of the causes of the current crash, via securitization. JEL Classification: G01, G11, G14, G1

Understanding Factors Contributing to Suboptimal Rates of Childhood Vaccinations in Vermont

Introduction: Nationally, childhood immunizations have proven themselves invaluable in preventing contagious diseases and their associated morbidity and mortality. Nonetheless, vaccines have become increasingly controversial, with a growing number of parents refusing to vaccinate their children. Primary reasons given for vaccination refusal include fears of side effects and the belief that the target diseases are not harmful. Those parents who refuse to vaccinate their children generally have higher levels of education and income. An additional population of under-vaccinated children who have received limited recommended vaccinations has been identified and often comes from a lower socioeconomic level. Unimmunized children have been associated with recent disease outbreaks, placing other individuals at risk and increasing the controversy about childhood vaccinations. Nationally, Vermont has one of the highest rates of unvaccinated children with recent data showing these rates are continuing to increase.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1057/thumbnail.jp

Reference values for and cross-validation of time to exhaustion on a modified Balke protocol in Norwegian men and women

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Independent prognostic value of echocardiography and N-terminal pro–B-type natriuretic peptide in patients with heart failure

Echocardiographic indices of cardiac structure and function and natriuretic peptide levels are strong predictors of mortality in patients with heart failure. Whether cardiac ultrasound and natriuretic peptides provide independent prognostic information is uncertain

Metabolic responses to the acute ingestion of two commercially available carbonated beverages: A pilot study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The purpose of this placebo-controlled, double-blind cross-over study was to compare the effects of two commercially available soft drinks on metabolic rate.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>After giving informed consent, twenty healthy men and women were randomly assigned to ingest 12 ounces of Celsius™ and, on a separate day, 12 ounces of Diet Coke®. All subjects completed both trials using a randomized, counterbalanced design. Metabolic rate (via indirect calorimetry) and substrate oxidation (via respiratory exchange ratio) were measured at baseline (pre-ingestion) and at the end of each hour for 3 hours post-ingestion.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Two-way ANOVA revealed a significant interaction (p < 0.001) between trials in metabolic rate. Scheffe post-hoc testing indicated that metabolic rate increased by 13.8% (+ 0.6 L/min, p < 0.001) 1 hr post, 14.4% (+0.63 L/min, p < 0.001) 2 hr post, and 8.5% (+0.37 L/min, p < 0.004) 3 hr post Celsius™ ingestion. In contrast, small (~4–6%) but statistically insignificant increases in metabolic rate were noted following Diet Coke^®ingestion. No differences in respiratory exchange ratio were noted between trials.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These preliminary findings indicate Celsius™ has thermogenic properties when ingested acutely. The effects of repeated, chronic ingestion of Celsius™ on body composition are unknown at this time.</p

A NEURAL NETWORK APPROACH TO PREDICTING OUTCOMES IN HEART FAILURE USING CARDIOPULMONARY EXERCISE TESTING

To determine the utility of an artificial neural network (ANN) in predicting cardiovascular (CV) death in patients with heart failure (HF). ANNs use weighted inputs in multiple layers of mathematical connections in order to predict outcomes from multiple risk markers. This approach has not been applied in the context of cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPX) to predict risk in patients with HF. 2635 patients with HF underwent CPX and were followed for a mean of 29 ± 30 months. The sample was divided randomly into ANN training and testing sets to predict CV mortality. Peak VO2, VE/VCO2 slope, heart rate recovery, oxygen uptake efficiency slope, and end-tidal CO2 pressure were included in the model. The predictive accuracy of the ANN was compared to logistic regression (LR) and a Cox proportional hazards (PH) score. A multi-layer feed-forward ANN was used and was tested with a single hidden layer containing a varying number of hidden neurons. There were 291 CV deaths during the follow-up. An abnormal VE/VCO2 slope was the strongest predictor of CV mortality using conventional PH analysis (hazard ratio 3.04; 95% CI 2.2-4.2, p<0.001). After training, the ANN was more accurate in predicting CV mortality compared to LR and PH; ROC areas for the ANN, LR, and PH models were 0.72, 0.70, and 0.69, respectively. Age and BMI-adjusted odds ratios were 4.2, 2.6, and 2.9, for ANN, LR, and PH, respectively. An ANN model slightly improves upon conventional methods for estimating CV mortality risk using established CPX responses

Worsening Depressive Symptoms Are Associated With Adverse Clinical Outcomes in Patients With Heart Failure

To assess the impact of changes in symptoms of depression over a 1-year time period on subsequent clinical outcomes in heart failure (HF) patients