What do they know? The effects of outside director acquisition experience on firm acquisition performance

This article contributes to the literature on board effectiveness by being perhaps the first to systematically examine how the nature of outside directors' prior experience, and resulting expertise, will influence the performance of a focal firm's strategic initiatives. Our theoretical model is grounded in the psychological literature on expertise and its role in group decision making effectiveness. We focus on outside director expertise in acquisition decision making, and its implications for the performance of the acquisitions of a focal firm. Our conceptual framework indicates that directors will develop expertise in making particular kinds of acquisition decisions (e.g., related or unrelated acquisitions or acquisitions in specific industries or product markets) through their past experiences at other firms with decisions about those specific types of acquisitions, and we predict that this experience and expertise will have positive effects on the performance of a focal firm's acquisitions. We extend our theoretical model to consider the conditions under which relevant director experience will prove most beneficial. Our model predicts that outside director acquisition expertise will deliver the greatest benefits when the focal firm's board is independent from management. We find empirical support for all of our hypotheses. In considering how and when director experience and resulting expertise may influence the performance of corporate acquisitions, our theory and results help to highlight a potential second main focus for research on the long-standing question of what factors render boards of directors effective. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/61235/1/704_ftp.pd

Librarians as Faculty Association Participants: An Autoethnography

Academic librarian participation in university faculty associations has been a topic of discussion in Canadian and U.S. publications for over thirty years. Often the discussion has centered on faculty or academic status for librarians. However, what has been missing in the discussion is research regarding the experience of librarians in leadership positions within faculty associations. Specifically, what is the experience of librarians who actively participate on the Board of Directors for their faculty associations? This chapter presents the findings of an auto-ethnographic study of three librarians currently sitting on the Board of Directors at three universities in Canada

Elastic-Wavefield Seismic Stratigraphy: A New Seismic Imaging Technology

The purpose of our research has been to develop and demonstrate a seismic technology that will provide the oil and gas industry a better methodology for understanding reservoir and seal architectures and for improving interpretations of hydrocarbon systems. Our research goal was to expand the valuable science of seismic stratigraphy beyond the constraints of compressional (P-P) seismic data by using all modes (P-P, P-SV, SH-SH, SV-SV, SV-P) of a seismic elastic wavefield to define depositional sequences and facies. Our objective was to demonstrate that one or more modes of an elastic wavefield may image stratal surfaces across some stratigraphic intervals that are not seen by companion wave modes and thus provide different, but equally valid, information regarding depositional sequences and sedimentary facies within that interval. We use the term elastic wavefield stratigraphy to describe the methodology we use to integrate seismic sequences and seismic facies from all modes of an elastic wavefield into a seismic interpretation. We interpreted both onshore and marine multicomponent seismic surveys to select the data examples that we use to document the principles of elastic wavefield stratigraphy. We have also used examples from published papers that illustrate some concepts better than did the multicomponent seismic data that were available for our analysis. In each interpretation study, we used rock physics modeling to explain how and why certain geological conditions caused differences in P and S reflectivities that resulted in P-wave seismic sequences and facies being different from depth-equivalent S-wave sequences and facies across the targets we studied

What Do They Know? The Effects Of Outside Director Acquisition Experience On Firm Acquisition Performance

This article contributes to the literature on board effectiveness by being perhaps the first to systematically examine how the nature of outside directors\u27 prior experience, and resulting expertise, will influence the performance of a focal firm\u27s strategic initiatives. Our theoretical model is grounded in the psychological literature on expertise and its role in group decision making effectiveness. We focus on outside director expertise in acquisition decision making, and its implications for the performance of the acquisitions of a focal firm. Our conceptual framework indicates that directors will develop expertise in making particular kinds of acquisition decisions (e.g., related or unrelated acquisitions or acquisitions in specific industries or product markets) through their past experiences at other firms with decisions about those specific types of acquisitions, and we predict that this experience and expertise will have positive effects on the performance of a focal firm\u27s acquisitions. We extend our theoretical model to consider the conditions under which relevant director experience will prove most beneficial. Our model predicts that outside director acquisition expertise will deliver the greatest benefits when the focal firm\u27s board is independent from management. We find empirical support for all of our hypotheses. In considering how and when director experience and resulting expertise may influence the performance of corporate acquisitions, our theory and results help to highlight a potential second main focus for research on the long-standing question of what factors render boards of directors effective. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Chemical-Vapor-Deposited Materials for High Thermal Conductivity Applications

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is an attractive method for producing bulk and thin-film materials for a variety of applications. In this method, gaseous reagents condense onto a substrate and then react to produce solid materials. The materials produced by CVD are theoretically dense, highly pure, and have other superior properties.</jats:p

Identification of novel functional mini-receptors by combinatorial screening of split-WW domains

A combinatorial approach toward novel functional WW domains based on coiled-coil-mediated reconstitution of split WW domains is presented. As such, an ATP-binding WW domain was found from a 4-by-6 library of N- and C-terminal WW domain fragments.</jats:p