AN EVALUATION OF ELECTRONIC MEETING SYSTEMS TO SUPPORT STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT

Strategic management, defined as the overall process of formulating and implementing goals, policies and plans of organizational strategy, is an important organizational task that is typically performed by groups of managers. While information technology has long been used to support strategic management, it has only recently been used to support the group processes of strategic management through the provision of Electronic Meeting Systems (EMS). An EMS can affect meetings by providing process support, process structure, task structure, and task support. Process support improves communication among group members (via an electronic communication channel), while process structure directs the pattern or content of discussion (via an agenda). Task structure refers to the use of a structured technique to analyze the task (a mathematical or conceptual model), while task support refers to the provision of information or computation support without additional structure (a data base or calculator). The objective of this paper is to evaluate the capability of EMS to support strategic management. The results of a series of seventeen case studies indicate that use of EMS technology can enhance six capabilities that prior research has linked to increased strategic management success. Process support and process structure were perceived to be more important than task structure and task support in contributing to success. An analysis of less successful meetings suggests that a lack of communication between the group leader/meeting organizer and meeting participants and extenuating external circumstances were primary causes for the lack of success

The Streaming Potential Generated by Flow of Wet Steam in Capillary Tubes

For a constant pressure differential, the flow of wet steam generated electric potentials which increased with time and did not reach equilibrium values. These potentials were found to increase to values greater than 100 volts. The reason for this kind of potential build-up behavior was the presence of tiny flowing water slugs which were interspersed with electrically nonconductive steam vapor slugs. The measured electric potential for wet steam increased with pressure differential, but the relationship was not linear. The increase in potential with pressure drop was attributed both to an increase in fluid flow rate and changes in the wet steam quality

The Name-Letter-Effect in Groups: Sharing Initials with Group Members Increases the Quality of Group Work

Although the name-letter-effect has been demonstrated reliably in choice contexts, recent research has called into question the existence of the name-letter-effect–the tendency among people to make choices that bear remarkable similarity with the letters in their own name. In this paper, we propose a connection between the name-letter-effect and interpersonal, group-level behavior that has not been previously captured in the literature. Specifically, we suggest that sharing initials with other group members promotes positive feelings toward those group members that in turn affect group outcomes. Using both field and laboratory studies, we found that sharing initials with group members cause groups to perform better by demonstrating greater performance, collective efficacy, adaptive conflict, and accuracy (on a hidden-profile task). Although many studies have investigated the effects of member similarity on various outcomes, our research demonstrates how minimal a degree of similarity among members is sufficient to influence quality of group outcomes

The Coverage of the Nuclear Risk in Europe: Which Alternative?*

The coverage of catastrophic risks, and in particular of industrial and technological risks, raises multiple questions. As nuclear risk is considered to be a special risk, its coverage is not provided in a traditional way. One of the problems in coverage of the nuclear risk is that operators today still to a large extent rely upon insurers. However, nuclear insurance is provided through national pools that operate on a non-competitive basis. These pools are costly for operators and the damage covered remains insufficient. Given their dissatisfaction with these insurance pools, many nuclear operators are now looking for alternatives. Relying on the previous work of Faure and Skogh, the goal of this paper is to examine whether a risk-sharing by nuclear operators could constitute a serious alternative for the current coverage system. In order to examine this alternative we will place it in a concrete context of nuclear operators in Europe. Moreover, we do not merely want to sketch the theoretical possibilities of a risk-sharing by operators (as this has been done before in the literature). We will in addition also examine the financial consequences for nuclear operators in Europe of such a risk-sharing agreement. The Geneva Papers (2008) 33, 288–322. doi:10.1057/gpp.2008.7