Shifts of attention in the early blind: an ERP study of attentional control processes in the absence of visual spatial information

To investigate the role of visual spatial information in the control of spatial attention, event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded during a tactile attention task for a group of totally blind participants who were either congenitally blind or had lost vision during infancy, and for an age-matched, sighted control group who performed the task in the dark. Participants had to shift attention to the left or right hand (as indicated by an auditory cue presented at the start of each trial) in order to detect infrequent tactile targets delivered to this hand. Effects of tactile attention on the processing of tactile events, as reflected by attentional modulations of somatosensory ERPs to tactile stimuli, were very similar for early blind and sighted participants, suggesting that the capacity to selectively process tactile information from one hand versus the other does not differ systematically between the blind and the sighted. ERPs measured during the cue–target interval revealed an anterior directing attention negativity (ADAN) that was present for the early blind group as well as for the sighted control group. In contrast, the subsequent posterior late direction attention negativity (LDAP) was absent in both groups. These results suggest that these two components reflect functionally distinct attentional control mechanisms which differ in their dependence on the availability of visually coded representations of external space

The Art of Piloting New Initiatives

International audienceSuccessful multinationals get that way by finding progressively better ways to leverage good operational improvements across the entire company. But developing such superior processes is not easy. As few as one in three new process initiatives succeeds. Each failure can cost the company as much as $10 million in development costs not to mention foregoing the hundreds of millions of dollars that a successful initiative might have generated. New operational ideas fail for many reasons. However, the experience and research of these authors suggests that one of the most common is not that the idea was bad, but that the developers set up a pilot that failed to persuade managers in the units that the process was an improvement. If the pilot covers business units, customer types, or products and services that the managers who are expected to roll out the innovation don't see as analogous to their own units situation, the working template may be viewed as insufficient to be considered a reliable experiment. Many of these failures can be avoided. Specifically, the authors find that successful pilots share three qualities: credibility, replicability and feasibility. The pilot location must seem credible in that the situations and challenges seem familiar to the managers who are expected to eventually adopt it into their own units. It needs to be replicable as well, and capable of being turned into a template that can be rapidly introduced in a variety of locations. Finally, its results must meet the expectations of multiple stakeholders.<br/

The Art of Piloting New Initiatives

International audienceSuccessful multinationals get that way by finding progressively better ways to leverage good operational improvements across the entire company. But developing such superior processes is not easy. As few as one in three new process initiatives succeeds. Each failure can cost the company as much as $10 million in development costs not to mention foregoing the hundreds of millions of dollars that a successful initiative might have generated. New operational ideas fail for many reasons. However, the experience and research of these authors suggests that one of the most common is not that the idea was bad, but that the developers set up a pilot that failed to persuade managers in the units that the process was an improvement. If the pilot covers business units, customer types, or products and services that the managers who are expected to roll out the innovation don't see as analogous to their own units situation, the working template may be viewed as insufficient to be considered a reliable experiment. Many of these failures can be avoided. Specifically, the authors find that successful pilots share three qualities: credibility, replicability and feasibility. The pilot location must seem credible in that the situations and challenges seem familiar to the managers who are expected to eventually adopt it into their own units. It needs to be replicable as well, and capable of being turned into a template that can be rapidly introduced in a variety of locations. Finally, its results must meet the expectations of multiple stakeholders.<br/

Joint Venture Management : Aus Kooperationen lernen

International audienc

International Joint Venture Management: Learning to Cooperate and Cooperating to Learn

International audienceJoint Venture Learning to Cooperate and Cooperating to Learn Joint venture management is a demanding and continuous process of organizing, guiding and developing, not only within the joint venture itself but also within the partner companies. Relationships between each side will change over time and problems can arise at different stages of development. An essential part of joint venture management consists of monitoring these stages, anticipating possible difficulties and avoiding them by applying appropriate measures in the areas of strategy, structure, human resources and culture. Using a range of international cases from top multinational companies, the authors present an effective model for implementing a successful joint venture management strategy. This is an essential book for practitioners in strategic planning, business professionals interested in entering joint ventures, as well as academics and students of international business. "This book offers valuable insights into how to make joint ventures work, both for practitioners and researchers. It represents a true step forward when it comes to better understanding how joint ventures function. The book significantly links joint ventures to present thinking on organizational learning and demonstrates more effectively than has been discussed elsewhere how the two fit together." Professor Peter Lorange President of IMD (International Institute for Management Development) "In our joint ventures we always look for strong complementarity with our partners. This book enlarges the traditional view of cooperation by delivering new and valuable insights into processes of interorganizational learning and knowledge management. The authors share with their readers a thoughtful toolbox built on practical experience." Franz Nawratil Chairman and CEO Hewlett-Packard Europe "Joint ventures have become an important business tool for market entry, use of synergies and innovations. Too many joint ventures are dissolved before the actual potential of these organizations have been capitalized. This book highlights the key factors of success in joint venture management by focusing on strategy development, structuring, cultural awareness and human resource management." M & A Review<br/

Joint Venture Management : Aus Kooperationen lernen

International audienc

Trust at different organizational levels

The authors explore the effects of trust at three distinct organizational levels in a marketing collaboration: interorganizational trust between collaborating firms, each firm's agency trust in its own representatives assigned to a collaborative entity (coentity), and intraentity trust among the representatives assigned to the coentity. Dyadic survey and longitudinal objective performance data from 114 international joint ventures indicate that trust at each level has unique effects but similarly influences the collaborating firms' resource investments or the coentity's use of those resources. Interorganizational and agency trust motivate resource investments in the coentity, particularly in the context of a differentiation strategy, whereas intraentity trust promotes coordination within the coentity, and interorganizational trust and a differentiation strategy magnify that effect. Intraentity trust can also undermine coentity responsiveness to environmental change, especially when joined by interorganizational trust between collaborating firms and formalized decision making within the coentity. These findings demonstrate that managing and building trust at multiple levels is critical to the success of interorganizational marketing collaborations. © 2008, American Marketing Association.Link_to_subscribed_fulltex