Turning Isomorphic IT Innovations into Unique Capabilities

Firms often innovate with IT due to institutional pressures, which can lead into rash decisions and drive firms to innovate IT similarly, e.g. mimicking the industry leaders. This drives firms to look alike and turn homogeneous. However, recent observations show that firms can actually become heterogeneous while innovating with IT under institutional pressures. We argue that firms can learn from the IT innovation process and they can turn these learnings into better use of the technology, which can ultimately lead to heterogeneous capabilities. Thus in other words we argue that firms can revive disappointing IT innovations due to institutional pressure and turn them into competitive advantages. This study uses case studies to further explore this nascent phenomenon

Effects Of Supply Chain Strategies And Practices On Firm Performance

A number of studies have looked at the impacts of supply chain strategies on firm performance. Yet, how different supply chain practices translate to firm performance remains unclear. Drawing from the resource based view, this study investigates the role of supply chain capabilities in mediating the relationships between supply chain practices and firm performance. A survey was conducted with 171 manufacturing firms in five Chinese cities to empirically validate the research model. Our findings suggest that, supply chain practices, as driven by supply chain strategies, create different supply chain capabilities and lead to firm performance. The findings shed some lights on the mechanism in which supply chain strategies and practices translate into firm performance

A Preliminary Report on the Geometridae of Iowa

For the convenience of anyone desiring information on the family Geometridae, order Lepidoptera, the following list of species reported from Iowa has been prepared. The Geometridae are universally distributed in all parts of the world where vegetation is found. They are rather frail in structure, with considerable expanse of wing in relation to the size of the body. They are either semi-diurnal or crepuscular. Over 800 species of Geometrids are known to occur within the limits of the United States and Canada, of which 61 have been found in Iowa. This number could doubtless be greatly enlarged by more intensive collecting

Use of a Fish Transportation Barge for Increasing Returns of Steelhead Imprinted for Homing, 1986 Annual Report.

In 1982, the National Marine Fisheries Service began a 6-year study to determine if transporting steelhead, Salmo gairdneri, smolts by barge from Dworshak National Fish Hatchery (NFH) to a release site on the Columbia River below Bonneville Dam would result in increased returns of adults to the various fisheries and to the hatchery homing site. During 1982 and 1983, over 500,000 juveniles were marked and serially released as controls from the hatchery or barged as test fish to below Bonneville Dam. As of July 1986, returns of adults to various recovery sites from juveniles released in 1982 are virtually complete. Returns of one- and two-ocean fish from the 1983 release are nearly complete. The 1983 test releases showed much less homing impairment and delay in upstream migration than 1982 releases. Most adults from both control and test releases in 1983 and control releases in 1982 migrated a considerable distance upstream and overwintered in the Snake and Clearwater Rivers - behavior similar to Clearwater River fish previously transported from Lower Granite Dam. In contrast, many of the adults from test releases in 1982 failed to migrate upstream very far in the fall and overwintered in the Columbia River

A Design Theory for Supply Chain Visibility in the age of Big Data

Existing literature has extensively discussed that supply chain visibility (SCV) can help to improve supply chain performance. Yet there is no sound approach available to effectively operationalize SCV. We posit that information sharing alone is not decisive for SCV, as SCV is context sensitive. On one side, there is the generator role that shares information. However, we posit that there is also the utilizer role, which aims to solve specific management problems. This study documents three knowledge moments in the search for SCV in the age of big data. The first knowledge moment is of a nomothetic science, where we define SCV from a utilizer and generator perspective. The second knowledge moment is of a nomothetic design, where we developed an ISDT and proposed five design principles. Finally, the third knowledge moment is of an ideographic design, where we described an actual implementation in an actual garment supply chain

Pretreatment cognitive and neural differences between sapropterin dihydrochloride responders and non-responders with phenylketonuria

Sapropterin dihydrochloride (BH4) reduces phenylalanine (Phe) levels and improves white matter integrity in a subset of individuals with phenylketonuria (PKU) known as “responders.” Although prior research has identified biochemical and genotypic differences between BH4 responders and non-responders, cognitive and neural differences remain largely unexplored. To this end, we compared intelligence and white matter integrity prior to treatment with BH4 in 13 subsequent BH4 responders with PKU, 16 subsequent BH4 non-responders with PKU, and 12 healthy controls. Results indicated poorer intelligence and white matter integrity in non-responders compared to responders prior to treatment. In addition, poorer white matter integrity was associated with greater variability in Phe across the lifetime in non-responders but not in responders. These results underscore the importance of considering PKU as a multi-faceted, multi-dimensional disorder and point to the need for additional research to delineate characteristics that predict response to treatment with BH4

Visual pathway function and structure in Wolfram syndrome: Patient age, variation and progression

Background/aimsTo report alterations in visual acuity and visual pathway structure over an interval of 1–3 years in a cohort of children, adolescents and young adults who have Wolfram syndrome (WFS) and to describe the range of disease severity evident in patients with WFS whose ages differed by as much as 20 years at first examination.MethodsAnnual, prospective ophthalmological examinations were performed in conjunction with retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) analysis. Diffusion tensor MRI-derived fractional anisotropy was used to assess the microstructural integrity of the optic radiations (OR FA).ResultsMean age of the 23 patients with WFS in the study was 13.8 years (range 5–25 years). Mean log minimum angle resolution visual acuity was 0.66 (20/91). RNFL thickness was subnormal in even the youngest patients with WFS. Average RNFL thickness in patients with WFS was 57±8 µ or ~40% thinner than that measured in normal (94±10 µ) children and adolescents (P&lt;0.01). Lower OR FA correlated with worse visual acuity (P=0.006). Subsequent examinations showed declines (P&lt;0.05) in visual acuity, RNFL thickness and OR FA at follow-up intervals of 12–36 months. However, a wide range of disease severity was evident across ages: some of the youngest patients at their first examination had deficits more severe than the oldest patients.ConclusionThe genetic mutation of WFS causes damage to both pregeniculate and postgeniculate regions of the visual pathway. The damage is progressive. The decline in visual pathway structure is accompanied by declines of visual function. Disease severity differs widely in individual patients and cannot be predicted from their age.</jats:sec

Dynamic Isomorphism: IT Adaptation of the Bandwagon Followers

Firms often mindlessly adopt IT due to institutional pressure, which often leads to hastened and irrational decisions. Institutional pressure is therefore often considered as a negative effect on IT adoption. That is because little literature investigates into the adaptation effect after IT adoption due to institutional pressure. We advocate that institutional pressure indeed has a catalyzing effect on IT adoption in general, but firms can still mindfully correct the hastened decisions into a competitive advantage over time. We call this phenomenon dynamic isomorphism, which describes the IT adaptation process after institutional pressure. We propose to investigate in dynamic isomorphism by the use of a cross-case analysis, as it can provide an in-depth explanation of the proposed phenomenon