Strategizing as multi-modal and rhetorical discursive practice: a case study of the BHP Billiton's failed acquisition of Rio Tinto

This thesis took a discourse approach to analyze BHP Billiton’s failed acquisition of Rio Tinto in 2007-08 to better understand what happens during strategizing. The research highlighted the structure and dynamics of the discourse, as well as the role of time and context in the social construction of meaning in strategizing. In doing so, the thesis provided new insights into how actors were able to influence such important strategic events. The thesis adopted a multi-modal discourse analytic framework and analyzed media reports, corporate videos, press releases and communications to shareholders, as well as slides and full transcripts of key presentations by both BHP and Rio leadership. The analysis identified the main internal and external actors as either decision-makers (BHP’s leadership, shareholders, competition regulators) or influencers (Rio’s leadership, analysts, media, customers). It further identified a range of multi-modal discursive practices and rhetorical strategies that were brought to bear to negotiate the meaning of three key constructs that shaped the discourse, that is, the additional value pool, the fair share exchange ratio, and the impact on competition. Further, the findings showed how time and context were discursively constructed and influenced the meaning of the three key constructs. These findings enabled a number of contributions to the discourse and M&A literature. While most research into acquisition discourses has routinely ignored the pre-acquisition discourse, this thesis focused on the period preceding the transaction. An initial contribution was to show that, in a pre-acquisition discourse, external actors were not a passive audience but played a significant role as rhetor and audience. Also, while previous empirical studies of discourse have emphasized the role of language, this thesis considered multi-modal discursive practices, including speech, writing, imagery, location and calculative devices. The thesis made a further contribution by showing how actors worked to persuade each other through multi-layered rhetorical strategies that were also brought to bear through non-linguistic modes. This contribution was extended by showing how these practices functioned as transgression markers that signaled convergence or divergence of meaning of the key constructs. A detailed analysis of calculative devices enabled further contributions. An initial contribution was that it showed how calculative devices developed as boundary objects over four stages: identification, calculation, negotiation, and objectification. Further, the thesis showed how calculative devices were imbued with logos and ethos through, for example, the calculative logic, accounting standards and data sources that were woven together in the symbolic manipulations of the device. Lastly, the thesis showed how calculative devices acted as boundary objects, and made a contribution to theory by proposing a third criterion, legitimacy, to complement widely acknowledged criteria of adaptability and commonality. In addition to these dynamics, the thesis outlined a discursive epistemology of strategizing through its analysis of the role of time and context in the social construction of meaning in strategizing. While the role of time and context is widely acknowledged in organizational discourse, it remained unclear what was specific to strategizing. The thesis argued that the purpose of strategizing is to construct and negotiate new or improved options for a preferred future and the actions to bring this about, and made a contribution to a discursive epistemology of strategizing by showing how temporal and contextual work in strategizing extends the horizon of discourses that relate to the future and discourses that relate to the broader discourse. This reconstructs the tapestry of interwoven discourses that make up the local strategy discourse, and creates new strategic options

Establishment of the New Particle Therapy Research Center (PARTREC) at UMCG Groningen

After 25 years of successful research in the nuclear and radiation physics domain, the KVI-CART research center in Groningen is upgraded and re-established as the PARticle Therapy REsearch Center (PARTREC). Using the superconducting cyclotron AGOR and being embedded within the University Medical Center Groningen, it operates in close collaboration with the Groningen Proton Therapy Center. PARTREC uniquely combines radiation physics, medical physics, biology and radiotherapy research with an R&D program to improve hadron therapy technology and advanced radiation therapy for cancer. A number of further upgrades, scheduled for completion in 2023, will establish a wide range of irradiation modalities, such as pencil beam scanning, shoot-through with high energy protons and SOBP for protons, helium and carbon ions. Delivery of spatial fractionation (GRID) and dose rates over 300 Gy/s (FLASH) are envisioned. In addition, PARTREC delivers a variety of ion beams and infrastructure for radiation hardness experiments conducted by scientific and commercial communities, and nuclear science research in collaboration with the Faculty of Science and Engineering of the University of Groningen

Pre- and postganglionic stimulation-induced noradrenaline overflow is markedly facilitated by a prejunctional β₂-adrenoceptor-mediated control mechanism in the pithed rat

The aim of the study was to further explore the prejunctional beta-adrenoceptor-mediated control mechanism of noradrenaline release from sympathetic nerves in response to preganglionic nerve stimulation (PNS) and local nerve stimulation of the portal vein, respectively, in the pithed rat. Baseline values as well as the increments of mean arterial blood pressure (Delta-BP), heart rate (Delta-HR) and plasma noradrenaline levels (Delta-NA) in response to four PNS episodes (0.8 Hz, 3 ms, 75 V for 45 s at 20 min intervals), respectively, were evaluated. Fenoterol administration (0.25 mg/kg, i.v.) reduced significantly the basal blood pressure but did not alter Delta-BP in response to PNS. Basal heart rate markedly increased after fenoterol without any further change in heart rate induced by PNS. The beta(1)-selective antagonist CGP 20712A attenuated Delta-BP in response to PNS and prevented the fenoterol-induced increase in basal heart rate. The beta(2)-selective antagonist ICI 118,551 per se did not change the blood pressure and heart rate values, but antagonized the fenoterol-induced decrease in basal blood pressure. Fenoterol enhanced plasma Delta-NA in response to PNS by 105% in comparison to the corresponding control value. This effect of fenoterol could be blocked by pretreatment with ICI 118,551 but not with CGP 20712A (a selective beta(1)-adrenoceptor antagonist) which per se did not significantly change plasma Delta-NA. Repeated local stimulation of the portal vein (S 1-S 3, 2 Hz, 3 ms, 10 mA, for 120 s at 30 min intervals) increased portal plasma noradrenaline without changing mean blood pressure and heart rate in pithed rats. Fenoterol enhanced the increase in portal-vein plasma noradrenaline evoked by nerve stimulation by 110%. Pretreatment with ICI 118,551 antagonized this effect of fenoterol, but had per se no effect on the portal vein nerve stimulation-evoked increase in portal plasma noradrenaline. It is concluded that the increase in plasma noradrenaline evoked both by pre- and postganglionic nerve stimulation can be markedly enhanced by activation of a facilitatory prejunctional beta(2)-adrenoceptor control mechanism