The ugly twins: failed global sourcing projects and their substitutes

Purpose of the paper and literature addressed:\ud Analyzing the impact of failed global sourcing projects on the entire commodity group and exploring isomorphism as potential antecedent to the observed phenomenon. The paper is embedded in the global sourcing literature, as well as isomorphism and total cost analysis. \ud \ud Research method:\ud Secondary data analysis.\ud \ud Research findings:\ud 1) Each failed global sourcing project had an “ugly twin”, i.e. the material which was not delivered by the new supplier had to be purchased from another supplier, usually the old supplier which was meant to be replaced. This re-sourcing was associated with poorer commercial conditions.\ud 2) Higher savings expectations corresponded with lower realization rate. We interpret this finding as an expression of the presence of mimetic isomorphism.\ud \ud Main contribution:\ud Exposing the “ugly twins” and empirically testing the isomorphism assumption. Findings ask to expand total cost calculations by including the costs of failed projects. Global sourcing benefits may be over-estimated by previous studies, as they do not seem to deduce the costs of failed projects from overall savings. Firms are alerted that unrealistically high savings expectations are very likely to result in disappointment. Thus projects should preferably be avoided

Weak Solutions to joined nonlinear Systems of PDES

We establish an existence and uniqueness result for a system which consists of a finite number of coupled nonlinear systems. In each system we have two highly nonlinearly coupled equations. Such problems arise if one couples thin rods of shape memory alloys, and each of the rods is described by Falk's Landau-Ginzburg model. The two equations stand for the momentum and energy balance, respectively

Fixed Points of a Generalized Discrete Baker's Transformation

In this note we investigate the fixed point sets for the iterations of a generalization of the two-dimensional discrete baker's transformation. In particular, we will derive explicit formulas for the fixed points, and the number of fixed points. Moreover, we will show that the set of all fixed points is a closed set. This generalizes the some of known results for the classical baker's transformation

Wie reagieren unterschiedliche Kuhtypen auf eine Reduktion des Konzentratfuttereinsatzes in einem Bio-Low-Input System?

The present study compared the response of two different dairy cow types to the reduction of concentrate supplementation within an Alpine low-input system. Conventional Brown Swiss (BV) and a strain of Holstein Friesian selected for lifetime performance (HFL) were assigned to one of two concentrate supplementation levels which included 618 kg DM (Kon) and 279 kg DM (Low) of concentrates per cow and lactation. During the two years of the study, data were collected of 21 lactations from 13 individual BV animals and 29 lactations from 21 individual HFL animals. No significant interaction between breed and dietary treatment was observed for milk production, body condition score or reproductive performance. Cows fed the Low diet had significantly lower lactation milk yield, but there were no differences in milk production between breeds. The reduction of concentrate supplementation increased the loss of body condition in early lactation, but mean values for body condition score did not differ between dietary treatments. No significant breed or diet effect was found for days from calving to conception

Entanglement frustration for Gaussian states on symmetric graphs

We investigate the entanglement properties of multi-mode Gaussian states, which have some symmetry with respect to the ordering of the modes. We show how the symmetry constraints the entanglement between two modes of the system. In particular, we determine the maximal entanglement of formation that can be achieved in symmetric graphs like chains, 2d and 3d lattices, mean field models and the platonic solids. The maximal entanglement is always attained for the ground state of a particular quadratic Hamiltonian. The latter thus yields the maximal entanglement among all quadratic Hamiltonians having the considered symmetry.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur

Vergleich zweier Kuhtypen hinsichtlich ihrer Eignung für ein low-input Produktionssystem unter alpinen Bedingungen

The core task of sustainable milk production is the conversion of forage into milk, dairy products and, as a by-product, into meat. In Europe and North America, for decades dairy cows were selected for a high genetic merit for milk production under high input farming conditions. It is therefore questionable whether these "high input genotypes" are suitable for forage-based, organic farming systems. The objective of this study was to compare two cow types concerning their suitability for an Alpine organic, low input dairy production system. The cow types used were conventional Brown Swiss (BV) on the one hand and a specific strain of Holstein Friesian (HFL), selected for lifetime performance, on the other. Both cow types were managed within one herd in an organic, pasture-based system with seasonal calving. Data from 91 lactations showed that BV animals were heavier and superior in milk production. HFL cows lost less body weight during lactation and showed a higher reproductive performance, which may indicate a greater suitability for low-input dairy production systems

More efficient Bell inequalities for Werner states

In this paper we study the nonlocal properties of two-qubit Werner states parameterized by the visibility parameter 0<p<1. New family of Bell inequalities are constructed which prove the two-qubit Werner states to be nonlocal for the parameter range 0.7056<p<1. This is slightly wider than the range 0.7071<p<1, corresponding to the violation of the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (CHSH) inequality. This answers a question posed by Gisin in the positive, i.e., there exist Bell inequalities which are more efficient than the CHSH inequality in the sense that they are violated by a wider range of two-qubit Werner states.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figur

Comparison of two different dairy cow types in an organic, low input milk production system under Alpine conditions

The core task of sustainable milk production is the conversion of forage into milk, dairy products and, as a by-product, into meat. In Europe and North America, for decades dairy cows were selected for a high genetic merit for milk production under high input farming conditions. It is therefore questionable whether these "high input genotypes" are suitable for forage-based, organic farming systems. The objective of this study was to compare two cow types concerning their suitability for an Alpine organic, low input dairy production system. The cow types used were conventional Brown Swiss (BS) on the one hand and a specific strain of Holstein Friesian (HFL), selected for lifetime performance, on the other. Both cow types were managed within one herd in an organic, pasture-based system with seasonal calving. Data from 89 lactations showed that BS animals were heavier and superior in milk production. HFL cows lost less body weight during lactation and showed a higher reproductive performance, which may indicate a greater suitability for low-input dairy production systems

Gaussian Entanglement of Formation

We introduce a Gaussian version of the entanglement of formation adapted to bipartite Gaussian states by considering decompositions into pure Gaussian states only. We show that this quantity is an entanglement monotone under Gaussian operations and provide a simplified computation for states of arbitrary many modes. For the case of one mode per site the remaining variational problem can be solved analytically. If the considered state is in addition symmetric with respect to interchanging the two modes, we prove additivity of the considered entanglement measure. Moreover, in this case and considering only a single copy, our entanglement measure coincides with the true entanglement of formation.Comment: 8 pages (references updated, typos corrected