Human Resources: Key to Competitive Advantage

[Excerpt] As difficult as it may be and as fuzzy as it may turn out, we all must invest in an attempt to peer into the future to discern what implications it has for our human resources. It is not a precise effort, and it certainly can be challenged from many quarters; however, it is not only noble, but may prove to be extremely worthwhile for a competitive firm. As with almost every organization activity, the competitive world makes a paradigm shift inevitable for the human resource function. Understanding the nature of that shift and how to implement meaningful change are the fundamental questions for us all

PERFORMANCE SIMULATION AND OPTIMIZATION OF A SIMULTANEOUS TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE PHASED ANTENNA ARRAY USING ADAPTIVE BEAMFORMING AND GENETIC ALGORITHM TECHNIQUES

The development of simultaneous transmit and receive capabilities is on the cutting-edge of research in phased array technology [1, 2, 3]. The large disparity in power between the transmitted and received signals in antenna systems has traditionally prevented operation in a simultaneous mode. However, simultaneous transmit and receive offers great opportunities for increased capabilities and performance in communications, radar, and electronic warfare applications [3]. This technology will be made feasible by realizing a high level of isolation between the transmitted and received signals through a variety of techniques. This work explores the feasibility of choosing non-standard array partitions that--when paired with the appropriate beamforming techniques--significantly reduce the self-interference between transmit and receive channels

African American Male Entrepreneurs: A Study of the Key Success Factors

African American males have a long-standing history of entrepreneurship dating back to the pre-Civil War era. Historically, they faced many challenges in this endeavor, including racism, lack of experience, and undercapitalization. African American males start businesses at a rate higher than their White counterparts, are confident in their ability to succeed, but are less successful in achieving an established business beyond 4 years. This study used grounded theory methodology to identify key success factors that contribute to the business survival rate of African American male entrepreneurs. Study participants were successful African American male entrepreneurs from the western New York area. Purposive sampling was used to deliberately select participants. Data was collected from face-to-face interviews with participants. The emergent theory from this study showed that there were six key factors needed to ensure business success for African American male entrepreneurs. Three were common for all entrepreneurs (opportunity recognition, use of mentors, detailed business knowledge), and three additional factors were critical to the success of African American male entrepreneurs (strategies to access financial capital, prepare for direct and systemic racism, resilient mindset). This study has national economic significance for African American male entrepreneurs. The findings revealed the difficulties they experienced on a daily basis, both interacting with customers and suppliers, as well as, with banks and other financial institutions in securing financial capital

An Examination of the Lubell Thesis: A Statistical and History Study of the McIntosh County, North Dakota, 1936-1940

North Dakota is often referred to as the leading isolationist state in the Union. The vociferous opposition expressed by the state’s people to World Wars I and II is cited as proof for this label. One explanation for the state\u27s behavior, advanced by Samuel Lubell, stresses ethnic origin. According to this view, the German-Russian population of the state is responsible for making North Dakota an isolationist stronghold. This study of one German-Russian county, McIntosh county, is an attempt to examine the validity of Lubell\u27s ethnic explanation. In particular, this study focuses on the reasons for the rejection of Franklin Roosevelt in 1940 by the McIntosh voters. The procedure involved a detailed study of McIntosh county from 1936 through 1940. This period covers the years prior to World War II, years when isolationism was a powerful sentiment in the nation. It also marks the period when the effects of the Great Depression were the severest in McIntosh county. The results of the 1940 election in McIntosh county can be traced to a number of sources. Traditional Republicanism, economic revival, hostility to war, influence of newspaper opinion, and the influence of state politicians all played a role in the political decision of November 5, 1940, in McIntosh county. Although people of the county were isolationists, this study does not find their isolationism to be ethnically motivated

Accuracy and uncertainty of single-shot, nonresonant laser-induced thermal acoustics

We study the accuracy and uncertainty of single-shot nonresonant laser-induced thermal acoustics measurements of the speed of sound and the thermal diffusivity in unseeded atmospheric air from electrostrictive gratings as a function of the laser power settings. For low pump energies, the measured speed of sound is too low, which is due to the influence of noise on the numerical data analysis scheme. For pump energies comparable to and higher than the breakdown energy of the gas, the measured speed of sound is too high. This is an effect of leaving the acoustic limit, and instead creating finite-amplitude density perturbations. The measured thermal diffusivity is too large for high noise levels but it decreases below the predicted value for high pump energies. The pump energy where the error is minimal coincides for the speed of sound and for the thermal diffusivity measurements. The errors at this minimum are 0.03% and 1%, respectively. The uncertainties for the speed of sound and the thermal diffusivity decrease monotonically with signal intensity to 0.25% and 5%, respectively

What Skills Do Students Need? A Multi-Year Study of IT/IS Knowledge and Skills in Demand by Employers

In the fields of information technology and information systems, faculty must consistently adjust curriculum to meet the demands of the field. However, a challenge they often face is understanding what should be covered, especially given the limited number of courses most universities are able to offer. This research explores the knowledge and skills demanded in the field by surveying a variety of employers across various roles. The survey focused on IS/IT professionals with the inclusion of management who may oversee these professionals. Additionally, those involved in hiring IT/IS professionals were also surveyed to evaluate future hiring needs across various roles. A variety of technologies were examined, including databases, operating systems, networking technologies, and cloud platforms, to understand the technologies currently being utilized at organizations. Furthermore, specific skills (e.g., programming languages, general business, etc.) across a variety of roles were explored to understand what skills are currently sought by employers. The goal of this research is to understand the importance of various technologies and skills to better prepare students for the workforce. This is part of an ongoing study that has evaluated changes in the field over the past 15 years

The State of Health Insurance in California: Findings from the 2005 California Health Interview Survey

Finds that eight in ten of the state's uninsured are employed, and that job-based health insurance coverage in California continues to decline

Antibodies to glycans dominate the host response to schistosome larvae and eggs: Is their role protective or subversive?

Multiple exposures of chimpanzees to the radiation-attenuated schistosome vaccine provoked a strong parasite-specific cellular and humoral immune response. Specific IgM and IgG were directed mainly against glycans on antigens released by cercariae; these were also cross-reactive with soluble antigens from larvae, adult worms, and eggs. Egg deposition was the major antigenic stimulus after challenge of vaccinated and control chimpanzees with normal parasites, eliciting strong antiglycan responses to egg secretions. Glycan epitopes recognized included LacdiNAc, fucosylated LacdiNAc, LewisX (weakly), and those on keyhole limpet hemocyanin. Antibodies to peptide epitopes became prominent only during the chronic phase of infection, as glycan-specific IgM and IgG decreased. Because of their intensity and cross-reactivity, the antiglycan responses resulting from infection could be a smoke screen to subvert the immune system away from more vulnerable larval peptide epitopes. Their occurrence in humans might explain the long time required for antischistosome immunity to build up after infection