The CR management black-hole

How can companies avoid corporate responsibility falling into a management black-hole? What can managers do to take corporate responsibility forward in their organisation, even if the company overall is indifferent or at an early stage of development in corporate responsibility

Embedding corporate responsibility and sustainability: Marks and Spencer

Purpose – The British retailer Marks & Spencer aspires to be the world's most sustainable major global retailer by 2015. This paper seeks to examine how the company is embedding sustainability. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is written as part of an ongoing investigation into how businesses do this. It is based on direct dialogue with corporate sustainability specialists inside and outside the company; participation in company stakeholders' briefings held regularly since the launch of Marks & Spencer's Plan A for sustainability in January 2007; and analysis by the company's own corporate sustainability specialists about how they are embedding. Findings – This case demonstrates that, in order to speed their journey, Marks & Spencer have aligned sustainability with core strategy. Top leadership is driving the strategy, which is overseen by the board. M&S have made a very public commitment: Plan A with measurable targets, timescales and accountabilities. The strategy is being integrated into every business function and strategic business unit; and involves suppliers, employees and increasingly customers. To enable implementation, the company is developing its knowledge-management and training; engaging with wider stakeholders including investors; building partnerships and collaborations; and has evolved its specialist sustainability team into an internal change-management consultancy and coach/catalyst for continuous improvement. Originality/value – The value of the case study is that it provides an analysis of how one company, which has been active in progressing corporate sustainability, has evolved its approach in rece

Engage employees and transform social and economic performance

Forward thinking companies embrace intrapreneurs and employee social interaction to develop sustainability programmes driven from the top down and bottom up

Unexpected Formation of 10-Iodo- and 10-Chlorocamphor under Halosulfonylation Conditions, and Convenient Routes to 10-Chloro- and 10-Bromocamphor

The generation of camphor-10-sulfonyl iodide in situ under halosulfonylation conditions or exposure of camphor-10-sulfonyl chloride to copper(II) chloride under Asscher–Vofsi conditions leads unexpectedly to the formation of 10-iodocamphor or 10-chlorocamphor, respectively. Additionally, convenient syntheses of 10-bromocamphor and 10-chlorocamphor have been achieved by extension of a previously reported methodology

Emerging Materials for Physically Reconfigurable Antenna Technologies

The goal of this work is to demonstrate the fabrication and operation of reconfigurable microwave devices that incorporate emerging materials such as liquid metals and dielectric fluids, in order to foster a more effective collaboration between the material science and microwave engineering communities. This goal is accomplished by outlining the design, fabrication, and measurement processes of a few prototype devices. The first device is a series stub-based microwave band-stop filter that uses dielectric fluids in a 3D-printed channel to change the effective length of the filter stubs to enable frequency reconfigurability. A method for using the reconfigurable properties of the filter to determine the dielectric constant of the fluid is also developed and evaluated. The same band-stop filter design is modified by replacing the fixed copper stubs with an acrylic channel filled with eutectic gallium indium (EGaIn) to allow the physical length of the stubs to change dynamically as a mechanism for frequency reconfigurability. Another device presented in this work is a stretchable microstrip patch antenna made from silver thermoplastic polyurethane (AgTPU) printed on spandex. Stretching the spandex material changes the physical length of the patch to reconfigure the operating frequency. A simulation of the antenna shows that stretching only the half of the antenna with the feedline results in a better impedance match compared to when stretching the whole antenna. The last device presented is a patch antenna with a flexible, integrated pumping mechanism that can be used to drive fluid networks that enable frequency reconfigurability

The role of perceived proximity in video-mediated communication

As technology for remote communication continues to advance and become more widespread, there is a need for research to attempt to understand the manner in which such technology may most suitably support human communication. This thesis describes a series of experiments which investigated the role of proximity within video-mediated communication. Proximity is one of the most fundamental forms of non-verbal communication used in a face-to-face interaction. Even subtle changes in interpersonal positioning are rich in information which people use to attempt to regulate the behaviour of themselves and others. At present it is unknown whether this type of non-verbal communication is preserved in video-mediated interactions. The aim of the present research project was to investigate whether impressions of proximity could be conveyed across a video link. In addition the research attempts to illuminate the physical parameters which may underpin the perception of proximity and to explore the impact upon users that any changes in perceived proximity may cause. The research uses a wide range of approaches to study the potential impact of proximity including analyses of the structure and content of dialogue, objective and subjective task outcome measures. The research demonstrates that perceptions of proximity can exist in a video-mediated environment and when they do, they can lead to differences in the communication behaviour of individuals communicating across a video link. It is found that when participants interact with a remote interlocutor who appears to be close, they tend to be more interactive. The research goes on to investigate the perceptual basis behind this effect and also considers how this relates to other variables which are known to affect communication, most notably familiarity

Longitudinal analysis of the developing rhesus monkey brain using magnetic resonance imaging: birth to adulthood.

We have longitudinally assessed normative brain growth patterns in naturalistically reared Macaca mulatta monkeys. Postnatal to early adulthood brain development in two cohorts of rhesus monkeys was analyzed using magnetic resonance imaging. Cohort A consisted of 24 rhesus monkeys (12 male, 12 female) and cohort B of 21 monkeys (11 male, 10 female). All subjects were scanned at 1, 4, 8, 13, 26, 39, and 52 weeks; cohort A had additional scans at 156 weeks (3 years) and 260 weeks (5 years). Age-specific segmentation templates were developed for automated volumetric analyses of the T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging scans. Trajectories of total brain size as well as cerebral and subcortical subdivisions were evaluated over this period. Total brain volume was about 64 % of adult estimates in the 1-week-old monkey. Brain volume of the male subjects was always, on average, larger than the female subjects. While brain volume generally increased between any two imaging time points, there was a transient plateau of brain growth between 26 and 39 weeks in both cohorts of monkeys. The trajectory of enlargement differed across cortical regions with the occipital cortex demonstrating the most idiosyncratic pattern of maturation and the frontal and temporal lobes showing the greatest and most protracted growth. A variety of allometric measurements were also acquired and body weight gain was most closely associated with the rate of brain growth. These findings provide a valuable baseline for the effects of fetal and early postnatal manipulations on the pattern of abnormal brain growth related to neurodevelopmental disorders

Antivortex Device for Multi-Outlet Liquid Reservoir

A liquid reservoir with a sump includes at least two outlet ports in fluid communication with a fluid conduit. An anti-vortex device includes a first plate extending across the at least two outlet ports and a second plate coupled to the first plate and extending substantially perpendicular to the first plate. The anti-vortex device is configured to disrupt formation of a vortex formed by liquid passing from the reservoir through said outlet ports