Markov Chains and Dynamic Geometry of Polygons

In this paper we construct sequences of polygons from a given n-sided cyclic polygon by iterated procedures and study the limiting behaviors of these sequences in terms of non-negative matrices and Markov chains. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved

Human Resources and the Resource Based View of the Firm

The resource-based view (RBV) of the firm has influenced the field of strategic human resource management (SHRM) in a number of ways. This paper explores the impact of the RBV on the theoretical and empirical development of SHRM. It explores how the fields of strategy and SHRM are beginning to converge around a number of issues, and proposes a number of implications of this convergence

Genetic Signatures of Exceptional Longevity in Humans

Like most complex phenotypes, exceptional longevity is thought to reflect a combined influence of environmental (e.g., lifestyle choices, where we live) and genetic factors. To explore the genetic contribution, we undertook a genome-wide association study of exceptional longevity in 801 centenarians (median age at death 104 years) and 914 genetically matched healthy controls. Using these data, we built a genetic model that includes 281 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and discriminated between cases and controls of the discovery set with 89% sensitivity and specificity, and with 58% specificity and 60% sensitivity in an independent cohort of 341 controls and 253 genetically matched nonagenarians and centenarians (median age 100 years). Consistent with the hypothesis that the genetic contribution is largest with the oldest ages, the sensitivity of the model increased in the independent cohort with older and older ages (71% to classify subjects with an age at death>102 and 85% to classify subjects with an age at death>105). For further validation, we applied the model to an additional, unmatched 60 centenarians (median age 107 years) resulting in 78% sensitivity, and 2863 unmatched controls with 61% specificity. The 281 SNPs include the SNP rs2075650 in TOMM40/APOE that reached irrefutable genome wide significance (posterior probability of association = 1) and replicated in the independent cohort. Removal of this SNP from the model reduced the accuracy by only 1%. Further in-silico analysis suggests that 90% of centenarians can be grouped into clusters characterized by different “genetic signatures” of varying predictive values for exceptional longevity. The correlation between 3 signatures and 3 different life spans was replicated in the combined replication sets. The different signatures may help dissect this complex phenotype into sub-phenotypes of exceptional longevity

The Effects of Cost and Asset Retrenchment on Firm Performance: The Overlooked Role of a Firm’s Competitive Environment

When firms face declining financial performance, research suggests that cost and asset retrenchment can lead to improved performance among poorly performing firms. However, previous studies have largely focused on firms operating in mature industries. This research develops and tests arguments that cost and/or asset retrenchment strategies will have different effects on firm performance in competitive environments characterized as growing and declining. In growth industries, asset retrenchment was positively related to performance improvement while cost retrenchment was unrelated. In declining industries, cost retrenchment was positively related to improved performance while asset retrenchment had a negative effect on firm performance. Implications of these findings for turnaround strategies are discussed.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

A Marketing Perspective on Mergers and Acquisitions : How Marketing Integration Affects Postmerger Performance

Previous research on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) has neglected marketing issues by and large. This paper examines the effects of post merger integration (PMI) in marketing (ex tent and speed of marketing integration) on M&A performance mediated by integration outcomes (magnitude of cost savings and market-related performance). Results from a survey of 232 horizontal mergers and acquisitions show that market-related performance after the merger or acquisition has a much stronger impact on the financial performance after a merger or acquisition than cost savings. Also, extent of integration is found to be beneficial in terms of cost savings, but detrimental in terms of market-related performance. Finally, the study identifies a number of variables that moderate the relationships under consideration

Neglected Outcomes of Customer Satisfaction

Although there is significant evidence that customer satisfaction is an important driver of firm profitability, extant literature has largely neglected two intermediate outcomes of customer satisfaction - a firm’s advertising and promotion efficiency and its human capital performance. Based on longitudinal analyses of large-scale secondary data from multiple sources, the authors find that customer satisfaction boosts the efficiency of future advertising and promotion investments. This finding can be explained by the possibility that customer satisfaction generates free word-of-mouth advertising and saves subsequent marketing costs. In addition, customer satisfaction has a positive influence on a company’s excellence in human capital (employee talent and manager superiority). This finding is highly novel, indicating that human resources managers should have a strong interest in customer satisfaction as well. Finally, the moderating influence of market concentration on both relationships is investigated. The uncovered results have important implications for marketers in their dialogue with financial executives and human resources managers