Achieving high international market performance via simple vs complex configuration of international managerial network ties: A set theoretic approach across two countries

This study investigates the configuration of entrepreneurial capabilities, international managerial network ties and its performance effect among international ventures located in institutionally different contexts (Austria and Hungary). The study introduces and defines the concept of simple vs complex configuration of international managerial network ties and uses a set theoretic approach to assess the configuration of the above factors. The results of the fuzzy set analysis demonstrate that international ventures can fully capitalize on their entrepreneurial capabilities when they rely on a complex configuration of international managerial network ties. The findings also show that international ventures seek a balance between institutionally different contexts which may result in behaviors that are normally unacceptable by home country-related cultural and institutional norms. Finally, the results reveal that integrating exploration and exploitation strategies requires a complex configuration of international managerial network ties, which in turn leads to high IMP

Maintenance Task Classification: Towards Automated Robotic Maintenance for Industry

AbstractThe business model of high-value capital assets is shifting from purchasing a physical product to acquiring a result or a function supported by the product combined with a number of related services. One such service, maintenance, is perhaps the most efficient way to keep the function available during the product lifecycle. Automation has played a vital role in industry throughout history, particularly within the production line. With the movement towards providing product service systems the need for services such as maintenance are increasingly important for a manufactured product, and the pull towards automation may drive down costs and improve performance time. Although currently robotic applications to maintenance beyond monitoring and inspection tasks are not common, this research aims at exploring the feasibility of future maintenance robots that can perform a variety of maintenance tasks. As its first step, this work looks first at investigation, cataloging and classification of a number of maintenance tasks using standard industrial engineering techniques such as time motion, method or workflow analysis. This involves decomposing the maintenance work into a number of ‘unit tasks’ required to be performed in order to accomplish the specified maintenance

Health promoting potential of herbal teas and tinctures from Artemisia campestris subsp maritima: from traditional remedies to prospective products

This work explored the biotechnological potential of the medicinal halophyte Artemisia campestris subsp. maritima (dune wormwood) as a source of health promoting commodities. For that purpose, infusions, decoctions and tinctures were prepared from roots and aerial-organs and evaluated for in vitro antioxidant, anti-diabetic and tyrosinase-inhibitory potential, and also for polyphenolic and mineral contents and toxicity. The dune wormwood extracts had high polyphenolic content and several phenolics were identified by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array-mass-spectrometry (UHPLC-PDA-MS). The main compounds were quinic, chlorogenic and caffeic acids, coumarin sulfates and dicaffeoylquinic acids; several of the identified phytoconstituents are here firstly reported in this A. campestris subspecies. Results obtained with this plant's extracts point to nutritional applications as mineral supplementary source, safe for human consumption, as suggested by the moderate to low toxicity of the extracts towards mammalian cell lines. The dune wormwood extracts had in general high antioxidant activity and also the capacity to inhibit a-glucosidase and tyrosinase. In summary, dune wormwood extracts are a significant source of polyphenolic and mineral constituents, antioxidants and a-glucosidase and tyrosinase inhibitors, and thus, relevant for different commercial segments like the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and/or food industries.FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology [CCMAR/Multi/04326/2013]; Portuguese National Budget; FCT [IF/00049/2012, SFRH/BD/94407/2013]; Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO) [12M8315N]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Is corporate environmental disclosure associated with firm value? A multi-country study of Gulf Cooperation Council firms

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.open access articleSeveral studies have found a relationship between corporate social and environmental disclosure and firm value or accounting profitability. Where environmental disclosure has been the focus, though, only single-country studies have been published; and most of the previous research concerns the developed world. This study examines the association between corporate environmental disclosure (CED) and firm value (FV) in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, where CED has been increasing from its previous low base. Findings from a multi-country sample of 500 firm-year observations using a 55-item unweighted environmental disclosure index suggest that CED is significantly and positively related to FV as measured by Tobin’s Q (TBQ). The relationship is robust to using a weighted version of the disclosure index, individual countries and environmental disclosure sub-indices. Some evidence of a positive relationship between CED and return on assets (ROA) is also found, but even where statistically significant, the relationship is much weaker than in the case of TBQ. For empirical and theoretical reasons, we recommend that future studies pay greater attention to market-based proxies, if possible when investigating the value relevance of CED in both developed and developing countries. Our results suggest that both managers and policymakers in GCC countries should take a positive view of expanded CED

A. Rebai, A GRASP based on DE to solve single machine scheduling problem with SDST

International audienceno abstrac

A GRASP based on DE to solve single machine scheduling problem with SDST

International audienc

New Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedure based on Differential Evolution algorithm for solving no-wait flowshop scheduling problem

International audienceno abstrac

Un algorithme GRASP hybridé avec un algorithme d’évolution différentielle pour la résolution des problèmes d’ordonnancement de type flowshop avec contraintes no-wait

International audienceno abstrac