Material Food Probes:Personalized 3D Printed Flavors for Intimate Communication

Interactions with food are complex, integrating rich multisensory experiences within emotionally meaningful social contexts. Yet, the opportunities to explore food as material resource for emotional communication have been less explored. We describe a two-month project with 5 couples centered on the co-design of personalized flavors for intimate communication, which were experienced through an explorative three day study involving a 3D food printer in participants’ homes. We discuss the value of our findings indicating preferences for both remembered and imagined positive flavors and their integration in focal intimacy practices to support emotional coregulation. We also discuss material food probes and their value for exploring and inspiring both design-with and design-around food

What we talk about when we talk about "global mindset": managerial cognition in multinational corporations

Recent developments in the global economy and in multinational corporations have placed significant emphasis on the cognitive orientations of managers, giving rise to a number of concepts such as “global mindset” that are presumed to be associated with the effective management of multinational corporations (MNCs). This paper reviews the literature on global mindset and clarifies some of the conceptual confusion surrounding the construct. We identify common themes across writers, suggesting that the majority of studies fall into one of three research perspectives: cultural, strategic, and multidimensional. We also identify two constructs from the social sciences that underlie the perspectives found in the literature: cosmopolitanism and cognitive complexity and use these two constructs to develop an integrative theoretical framework of global mindset. We then provide a critical assessment of the field of global mindset and suggest directions for future theoretical and empirical research

International New Ventures: Revisiting the Influences Behind the 'Born-Global' Firm

There is a small but theoretically important literature on ‘born-globals’ or international new venture firms that positions itself in contrast to the more established sequential international entry literature. In this paper we examine the pattern of entry into international markets for a set of international new ventures and show that they need not be a distinct breed of firms, as previous research has portrayed. Absent a specific technological advantage, the decision for a new venture to internationalize at inception is influenced by the size of its home market and by its production capacity, as well as by cultural and economic forces that also influence other more traditional firms that stage their entry into international markets. Most importantly, we demonstrate that the decision to internationalize or not should be considered jointly with the capacity allocation decision to specific international markets, as analysing these separately may lead to biased results. Journal of International Business Studies (2007) 38, 1113–1131. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8400308

Demographic and spatial characteristics of feral hogs in the Chihuahuan Desert, Texas

Feral hogs (Sus scrofa) have recently expanded their range to include portions of the arid regions of the Chihuahuan Desert, Texas. We examined feral hog density, survival rates, range size, and habitat use in the Davis Mountains, Texas, to understand hog ecology in a desert environment. We tested the hypothesis that densities of feral hogs across Texas would be positively related to precipitation. Feral hog densities in the Chihuahuan Desert were low (0.65 individuals/km2), supporting our prediction. Annual home range sizes (100% minimum convex polygon) were also high and averaged 48.3 ± 4.4 km2 and 34.0 ± 4.4 km2 for males and females, respectively. Feral hogs exhibited a generalized use of habitats but preferred open-canopy, evergreen woodland. Annual survival rates for feral hogs were 0.86 (95% CI = 0.68-1.00). In the Chihuahuan Desert, feral hogs occurred in lower densities and had larger ranges than in more mesic environments. Efforts to control feral hogs in the Chihuahuan Desert should be concentrated on open-canopy, evergreen woodlands and sources of freestanding water