271 research outputs found
Cultural influences and the mediating role of socio-cultural integration processes on the performance of cross-border mergers and acquisitions
This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.This paper reports findings from a longitudinal case study (2005–2011) of a merger between an Austrian and a German energy provider. I develop a model of socio-cultural integration processes based on an analysis of critical incidents expressed in 71 problem-centred interviews and observations with acquired and acquiring employees at four different points of time: immediately before the takeover and during the first negotiation talks, and one, three and six years after the takeover. The findings suggest that the relationship between national and organizational cultural differences and M&A outcomes is mediated by socio-cultural integration processes defined in terms of the formation of interpersonal relationships, trust and shared identity. Based on these findings I formulate specific propositions and build an evidence-based model of M&A socio-cultural integration processes that guides future research and practice
Reductive atmospheric acid leaching of lateritic smectite/nontronite ores in H2SO4/Cu(II)/SO2 solutions
Despite the success of reductive atmospheric acid leaching (RAAL) of limonitic nickel laterite ores in recent studies limited attempt has been made to apply this method to smectite/nontronite ores of different mineralogies. A comparative study of four smectite/nontronite ores in this study showed that the use of 700 kg H2SO4/ton dry ore leaches only 74-86% Ni, 37-76% Co, 47-58% Fe and 24-66% Mn at 90 °C from slurries of 20-35% (w/w) pulp density even after 10 h, depending upon the mineralogy. These values increased to 90-97% Ni, 94-97% Co, 92-98% Mn and 72-85% Fe in the presence of Cu(II)/SO2. The first order dependence of initial fraction of iron, aluminium and nickel leached from a typical smectite ore in the first 0.5 h on the initial acid concentration provides evidence for the involvement of hydrogen ions in the surface reaction. Low activation energy of 10 kJ/mol based on the fraction of nickel leached in the first 0.5 h indicates a diffusion controlled reaction. This is supported by the applicability of a shrinking core kinetic model for metal dissolution over the first 2 h, with different apparent rate constants (kap) depending upon the iron oxide content, mineralogy and porosity. A log-log plot of kap for ores with high iron content as a function of acid concentration agrees reasonably well with the correlation already established for the leaching of nickel from limonitic laterite and manganese nodules. Thus, initial fast leaching can be related to the higher porosity and a rate controlling step which involves the diffusion of H+ through a thickening solid layer. The slow leaching at latter stages is a result of low remnant acid, thickening solid layer and changes in mineral composition
Evaluation of potential rice (Oryza sativa L.) genotypes with different levels of N under rainfed shallow lowland situation
A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the yield of potential rice genotypes during kharif season, 2012 and 2013 at Rice Research Station, Bankura, West Bengal, India on sandy loam soil of slightly acidic in reaction (pH: 5.7). This experiment was conducted in split-plot design with three replications. The results indicated that 105 kg N ha-1, the yield attributes recorded maximum number of panicles m-2 (307.9), panicle length (25.3cm), panicle weight (2.32g), number of filled grains per panicle (117.8), 1000-grains weight (24.5g) and finally recorded highest grain yield (4.80 t ha-1) than lower fertilities. While, 70 kg N ha-1 was remained closed to 105 kg N ha-1 in number of panicles m-2, panicle weight and number of filled grains per panicle. Among the potential rice varieties ‘Sampriti’ (IET 21987) recorded the highest grain yield (4.66 t ha-1) under rainfed shallow lowland situation of red and laterite zone of West Bengal. The highest grain yield (4.80 t ha-1) was obtained at 105 kg N ha-1and it was statistically at par with 70 kg N ha-1 (4.62 t ha-1). Therefore, the increased in grain yield of rice by the varieties due to overall respective performance in growth and appreciable improvement in the yield attributing characters
Aspects of the dynamics of colloidal suspensions: Further results of the mode-coupling theory of structural relaxation
Results of the idealized mode-coupling theory for the structural relaxation
in suspensions of hard-sphere colloidal particles are presented and discussed
with regard to recent light scattering experiments. The structural relaxation
becomes non-diffusive for long times, contrary to the expectation based on the
de Gennes narrowing concept. A semi-quantitative connection of the wave vector
dependences of the relaxation times and amplitudes of the final
-relaxation explains the approximate scaling observed by Segr{\`e} and
Pusey [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 77}, 771 (1996)]. Asymptotic expansions lead to a
qualitative understanding of density dependences in generalized Stokes-Einstein
relations. This relation is also generalized to non-zero frequencies thereby
yielding support for a reasoning by Mason and Weitz [Phys. Rev. Lett {\bf 74},
1250 (1995)]. The dynamics transient to the structural relaxation is discussed
with models incorporating short-time diffusion and hydrodynamic interactions
for short times.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures; to be published in Phys. Rev.
Transverse spin effects in hadron-pair production from semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering
First measurements of azimuthal asymmetries in hadron-pair production in
deep-inelastic scattering of muons on transversely polarised ^6LiD (deuteron)
and NH_3 (proton) targets are presented. The data were taken in the years
2002-2004 and 2007 with the COMPASS spectrometer using a muon beam of 160 GeV/c
at the CERN SPS. The asymmetries provide access to the transversity
distribution functions, without involving the Collins effect as in single
hadron production. The sizeable asymmetries measured on the NH_ target indicate
non-vanishing u-quark transversity and two-hadron interference fragmentation
functions. The small asymmetries measured on the ^6LiD target can be
interpreted as indication for a cancellation of u- and d-quark transversities.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, updated to the published versio
The Spin-dependent Structure Function of the Proton g_1^p and a Test of the Bjorken Sum Rule
The inclusive double-spin asymmetry, A_1^p, has been measured at COMPASS in
deepinelastic polarised muon scattering off a large polarised NH3 target. The
data, collected in the year 2007, cover the range Q2 > 1 (GeV/c)^2, 0.004 < x <
0.7 and improve the statistical precision of g_1^p(x) by a factor of two in the
region x < 0.02. The new proton asymmetries are combined with those previously
published for the deuteron to extract the non-singlet spin-dependent structure
function g_1^NS(x,Q2). The isovector quark density, Delta_q_3(x,Q2), is
evaluated from a NLO QCD fit of g_1^NS. The first moment of Delta_q3 is in good
agreement with the value predicted by the Bjorken sum rule and corresponds to a
ratio of the axial and vector coupling constants g_A/g_V =
1.28+-0.07(stat)+-0.10(syst).Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure
Leading order determination of the gluon polarisation from DIS events with high-p_T hadron pairs
We present a determination of the gluon polarisation Delta g/g in the
nucleon, based on the longitudinal double-spin asymmetry of DIS events with a
pair of large transverse-momentum hadrons in the final state. The data were
obtained by the COMPASS experiment at CERN using a 160 GeV/c polarised muon
beam scattering off a polarised ^6LiD target. The gluon polarisation is
evaluated by a Neural Network approach for three intervals of the gluon
momentum fraction x_g covering the range 0.04 < x_g < 0.27. The values obtained
at leading order in QCD do not show any significant dependence on x_g. Their
average is Delta g/g = 0.125 +/- 0.060 (stat.) +/- 0.063 (syst.) at x_g=0.09
and a scale of mu^2 = 3 (GeV/c)^2.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures and 3 table
Measurement of the Collins and Sivers asymmetries on transversely polarised protons
The Collins and Sivers asymmetries for charged hadrons produced in deeply
inelastic scattering on transversely polarised protons have been extracted from
the data collected in 2007 with the CERN SPS muon beam tuned at 160 GeV/c. At
large values of the Bjorken x variable non-zero Collins asymmetries are
observed both for positive and negative hadrons while the Sivers asymmetry for
positive hadrons is slightly positive over almost all the measured x range.
These results nicely support the present theoretical interpretation of these
asymmetries, in terms of leading-twist quark distribution and fragmentation
functions.Comment: 9 Pages, 5 figure
Quark helicity distributions from longitudinal spin asymmetries in muon-proton and muon-deuteron scattering
Double-spin asymmetries for production of charged pions and kaons in
semi-inclusive deep-inelastic muon scattering have been measured by the COMPASS
experiment at CERN. The data, obtained by scattering a 160 GeV muon beam off a
longitudinally polarised NH_3 target, cover a range of the Bjorken variable x
between 0.004 and 0.7. A leading order evaluation of the helicity distributions
for the three lightest quarks and antiquark flavours derived from these
asymmetries and from our previous deuteron data is presented. The resulting
values of the sea quark distributions are small and do not show any sizable
dependence on x in the range of the measurements. No significant difference is
observed between the strange and antistrange helicity distributions, both
compatible with zero. The integrated value of the flavour asymmetry of the
helicity distribution of the light-quark sea, \Delta u-bar - \Delta d-bar, is
found to be slightly positive, about 1.5 standard deviations away from zero.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure
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