Security Policy Consistency

With the advent of wide security platforms able to express simultaneously all the policies comprising an organization's global security policy, the problem of inconsistencies within security policies become harder and more relevant. We have defined a tool based on the CHR language which is able to detect several types of inconsistencies within and between security policies and other specifications, namely workflow specifications. Although the problem of security conflicts has been addressed by several authors, to our knowledge none has addressed the general problem of security inconsistencies, on its several definitions and target specifications.Comment: To appear in the first CL2000 workshop on Rule-Based Constraint Reasoning and Programmin

International Business Research: Understanding Past Paths to Design Future Research Directions

In this paper we examine the extant research in IB by conducting a bibliometric study of the articles published in three leading international business journals – International Business Review, Journal of International Business Studies and Management International Review, over their entire track record of publication available in the ISI – Institute for Scientific Information. In longitudinal analyses of citation data we ascertain the most relevant works to the international business field. We also identify intellectual interconnectedness in co-citation networks of the research published in each journal. A second-tier analysis delves into publication patterns of those articles that are not at the top citation listings. Our results permit us better understand and depict the extant international business research and, to some extent, its evolution thus far.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Open and closed industry clusters: The social structure of innovation

In this paper we discuss knowledge and innovation in clusters and the benefits of clustering from a knowledge-based perspective. Knowledge-based resources and innovations are important sources of competitive advantage for firms. Aware of the importance of continuously seeking new knowledge firms increasingly seek knowledge-rich locations such as specific industry clusters across the world. These are locations characterized by the concentration of firms operating in related and supporting activities, a specialized work force and a specialized institutional environment that nurtures the industry. However, it is not likely that these clusters are always locations from which the firms will be able to draw the intended knowledge benefits. The social structure of the relationships between individuals and firms determines the extent to which knowledge will be created, will flow between co-located firms and bounds the knowledge benefits the firms may capture. We finish with a discussion of the need of further examination of the network dynamics involved in an industry cluster to obtain a clearer identification of the actual positive externalities that may accrue to co-locating firms.Strategy; Industry clusters; Innovation

Make or Buy in a mature industry? Models of client-supplier relationships under TCT and RBV perspectives

In this paper, we use the transaction cost theory (TCT) and the resource-based view (RBV) to discuss three propositions on the models of client-supplier relationships in mature industries. The two theories seem to advance different organizational forms of the client-supplier relationships, and in some instances contradictory. How should firms organize to prosper and grow, namely in the international markets? Through the case study of three Portuguese packaging firms, with primary (interviews) and secondary data, we discuss how the three firms deploy three distinct strategic organization models in a mature industry. One firm utilizes market-based governance mechanisms, and concentrates its production in a few selected locations. Another firm vertically integrates almost the entire value chain of the product to provide full service to its clients. The third firm operates in a model of integrated outsourcing, with the installation "wall to wall" to its clients. The models client-supplier assumed by these firms are based on efficient, stable, and trustworthy relationships, that permit the focus on their core competences and the reduction of the transaction costs. Firms? superior performance requires a proper alignment of hierarchical and relational governance taking in consideration the dimensions of the transactions.Client-supplier relationship models; Outsourcing; TCT; RBV; Strategic Governance

The impact of strategic resource seeking and market seeking strategies on foreign entry modes under institutional pressures

Multinational corporations (MNCs) are subject to the various dimensions of the external institutional environments where they operate. Institutional theory suggests that MNCs need to conform to the prevailing rules, norms and procedures of the locations where they operate in order to survive and grow. This means that MNCs need to develop the best possible configuration of strategy-structure for their worldwide operations. Previous research has noted that in these conditions firms may simply seek to follow a referent other. However, MNCs? specific strategy for a focal foreign operation is likely to determine the entry mode for each host country. That is, in certain circumstances it may be whether MNCs are pursuing a market-seeking strategy or a strategic resource seeking strategy that shapes the entry mode in face of the prevailing institutional pressures. We contribute to the understanding of entry modes into foreign markets as a reflection of a strategic choice that is bound by institutional constraints.strategic resource seeking, market seeking, institutional environment, foreign entry modes

Seasonal variation in foraging habitat preferences in Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni

Conhecer as preferências de habitat de uma espécie é crucial para a definição e implementação de medidas com objectivos de conservação. Neste estudo analisamos a preferência de habitat de caça de uma espécie ameaçada, e a maneira como estas preferências se alteram ao longo da época de reprodução. A disponibilidade de cada tipo de habitat varia consoante as actividades agrícolas, como sementeiras, aragem ou ceifas. Os resultados evidenciam que esta espécie selecciona diferentes tipos de habitat de acordo em cada fase do ciclo reprodutor. No início da época de reprodução, a espécie, prefere caçar em terrenos arados enquanto que no final prefere campos de cereais já ceifados nesta fase, e onde apenas há restolhos. As diferenças observadas não seriam detectadas caso não se considerassem as alterações de habitat inerentes às actividades agrícolas. Os Francelhos preferem caçar em habitats com vegetação baixa e pouco densa provavelmente devido à maior disponibilidade de presas neste tipo de habitats. Machos e fêmeas não apresentam diferenças significativas em parâmetros de caça como a taxa de êxito ou o tempo de caça necessário para capturar uma presa. A taxa de êxito foi mais elevada em restolhos e no período incubação e mais baixa em terrenos arados e durante o período de pré-incubação. As aves despendem menos tempo para efectuar um primeiro ataque em cereal e do que em plantações de algodão. Em plantações de cereais é necessário menos tempo para capturar uma presa enquanto que nos algodoais é necessário um maior esforço de caça. O número de ataques por minuto de observação não é significativamente diferente entre biótopos.Knowing the habitat preference of a species is of crucial importance in order to sketch measures with conservational purposes. In this study we analyse the foraging habitat preferences of a threatened species and how they change through the breeding season. Habitat availability varies due to changes in agricultural activities such as ploughing, sowing, or harvesting. Our results evidence that this species select different habitat types according to breeding season stage. In the beginning of the season prefer to forage in ploughed fields while during chick rearing and post-fledging prefer cotton fields and cereal stubbles. Thus changes in agricultural activities must be considered in habitat selection studies. Lesser kestrels prefer to forage in low height and sparse cover, probably because of higher prey availability in this kind of habitats. Males and females don’t show significant differences in several hunting parameters. Success rate was higher in cereal stubble and during incubation and lower in ploughed fields and in the pre-incubation period. Lesser kestrels take less time to make a strike in cereal stubble and more in cotton plantations. In cereals prey capture takes less time while in cotton takes more hunting effort. The number of strikes per minute of observation didn’t varied significantly between habitats

Export controls as industrial policy on natural resources: regulatory limitations on China: raw materials and China: rare earth cases

- DOI: 10.5102/rdi.v11i2.2984- Erro de publicação no rodapé na lateral do documento. Onde se lê: v. 12, leia-se: v. 11.Aborda a problemática dos controles de exportação no contexto das políticas industrias sobre recursos naturais, considerando como paradigmáticos os casos China - Matérias-primas e China - Terras Raras, apresentados na Organização Mundial do Comércio - OMC

Restrictive Trade Measures Based on Extraterritorial Human Rights Violations: An Analysis Under Allocation of Regulatory Jurisdiction and Transaction Costs

Are states entitled to take unilateral or collective trade measures in cases of extraterritorial human rights violations? Are states obligated to do so? The debate is often blurred by a multitude of legal, political, economic, and moral arguments that have, so far, produced many misunderstandings. On one hand, the human rights community alleges that the superiority of human rights resolves any conflict. On the other hand, the trade community fears the intrusion of human rights language and power within the trade regime, including multilateral regimes like the World Trade Organization. While exploring the above issue, this dissertation unfolds in three parts. First, using traditional legal analysis, I demonstrate that, in reality, states have not embraced any robust doctrine (in the general, trade and human rights branches) permitting states to apply restrictive trade measures as countermeasures against human rights violations abroad. Second, I use the framework of allocation of regulatory jurisdiction (ARJ) and transaction costs (TCs) to explain why the rules across those doctrinal branches reach the same end point. This framework is based on law and economics literature on property rights, which is transposed and expanded to problems of international law. The two primary suggested categories of TCs involved in ARJ are sovereignty and cognitive costs. Sovereignty costs increase because of extraterritorial allocations, and cognitive costs increase because of the two different domains or communities (trade and human rights) involved in the issue. I then apply this framework to three case studies: Chapter VII of the UN Charter, the World Trade Organization Diamond Waiver, and the trade and labor rights “linkages.” These case studies indicate that international law has not embraced any robust doctrine concerning the extraterritorial links between trade and human rights because of the above TCs. Third, I argue that, because of the heightened sovereignty and cognitive costs of public international law, human rights advocacy in connection with international trade is actually gaining traction in other ways. This phenomenon has been generally described as transnational new governance (TNG) and involves initiatives such as voluntary codes of conduct, social certification, and labeling. These initiatives directly target the behavior of companies and, at the same time, use international conventions as their normative basis. TNG initiatives do not incur the same TCs (though they bear different types of costs). In addition, these initiatives may have the potential to change the calculation of state’s interests in the long run