How Firm Age and Size Influence Value Creation from Cloud Computing

Most studies of value creation from cloud computing have examined firms that are old in age and large in size. We theorize different value appropriation pathways from cloud computing dependent upon the age and size of a firm, such that there are different pathways for younger firms as compared to established firms, and smaller firms as compared to larger firms. We hypothesize that established firms gain more Business Performance from Enterprise Cloud Capability – a higher-order capability formed of three second-order cloud computing capabilities, through the mediation effect of Business Responsiveness, whereas younger firms gain more Business Performance directly from Enterprise Cloud Capability. We further hypothesize that smaller firms achieve higher Business Performance through the mediating effect of Business Scalability, whereas larger firms achieve more Business Performance directly from Enterprise Cloud Computing. Partial least squares analysis of matched pair survey data from 197 firms in India provides support for our theor

Size Matters for Cloud Capability and Performance

Most research on cloud computing has been conducted in large firms. However, small, and medium enterprises (SMEs) constitute the majority of organizations worldwide. SMEs differ significantly from large firms and organizational size is a significant contingency variable in the organizational context. Accordingly, we examine how SMEs and large firms differ in leveraging cloud capabilities to achieve performance. We suggest that Business Scalability mediates the link between Enterprise Cloud Capability and a firm\u27s Business Performance. We further hypothesize that the positive effect of Enterprise Cloud Capability on Business Performance is stronger for SMEs as they benefit more from Business Scalability than larger firms. We collect primary matched pair survey data from 147 small and large firms in India to test our research model. Empirical analysis using partial least squares provides support for our primary thesis that SMEs and large firms derive value from Enterprise Cloud Capability through different value creation pathways

The timing of death in patients with tuberculosis who die during anti-tuberculosis treatment in Andhra Pradesh, South India

Background: India has 2.0 million estimated tuberculosis (TB) cases per annum with an estimated 280,000 TBrelated deaths per year. Understanding when in the course of TB treatment patients die is important for determining the type of intervention to be offered and crucially when this intervention should be given. The objectives of the current study were to determine in a large cohort of TB patients in India:- i) treatment outcomes including the number who died while on treatment, ii) the month of death and iii) characteristics associated with “early” death, occurring in the initial 8 weeks of treatment. Methods: This was a retrospective study in 16 selected Designated Microscopy Centres (DMCs) in Hyderabad, Krishna and Adilabad districts of Andhra Pradesh, South India. A review was performed of treatment cards and medical records of all TB patients (adults and children) registered and placed on standardized anti-tuberculosis treatment from January 2005 to September 2009. Results: There were 8,240 TB patients (5183 males) of whom 492 (6%) were known to have died during treatment. Case-fatality was higher in those previously treated (12%) and lower in those with extra-pulmonary TB (2%). There was an even distribution of deaths during anti-tuberculosis treatment, with 28% of all patients dying in the first 8 weeks of treatment. Increasing age and new as compared to recurrent TB disease were significantly associated with “early death”. Conclusion: In this large cohort of TB patients, deaths occurred with an even frequency throughout anti-TB treatment. Reasons may relate to i) the treatment of the disease itself, raising concerns about drug adherence, quality of anti-tuberculosis drugs or the presence of undetected drug resistance and ii) co-morbidities, such as HIV/ AIDS and diabetes mellitus, which are known to influence mortality. More research in this area from prospective and retrospective studies is needed

Trends in selective abortions of girls in India: analysis of nationally representative birth histories from 1990 to 2005 and census data from 1991 to 2011.

BACKGROUND: India's 2011 census revealed a growing imbalance between the numbers of girls and boys aged 0-6 years, which we postulate is due to increased prenatal sex determination with subsequent selective abortion of female fetuses. We aimed to establish the trends in sex ratio by birth order from 1990 to 2005 with three nationally representative surveys and to quantify the totals of selective abortions of girls with census cohort data. METHODS: We assessed sex ratios by birth order in 0·25 million births in three rounds of the nationally representative National Family Health Survey covering the period from 1990 to 2005. We estimated totals of selective abortion of girls by assessing the birth cohorts of children aged 0-6 years in the 1991, 2001, and 2011 censuses. Our main statistic was the conditional sex ratio of second-order births after a firstborn girl and we used 3-year rolling weighted averages to test for trends, with differences between trends compared by linear regression. FINDINGS: The conditional sex ratio for second-order births when the firstborn was a girl fell from 906 per 1000 boys (99% CI 798-1013) in 1990 to 836 (733-939) in 2005; an annual decline of 0·52% (p for trend=0·002). Declines were much greater in mothers with 10 or more years of education than in mothers with no education, and in wealthier households compared with poorer households. By contrast, we did not detect any significant declines in the sex ratio for second-order births if the firstborn was a boy, or for firstborns. Between the 2001 and 2011 censuses, more than twice the number of Indian districts (local administrative areas) showed declines in the child sex ratio as districts with no change or increases. After adjusting for excess mortality rates in girls, our estimates of number of selective abortions of girls rose from 0-2·0 million in the 1980s, to 1·2-4·1 million in the 1990s, and to 3·1-6·0 million in the 2000s. Each 1% decline in child sex ratio at ages 0-6 years implied 1·2-3·6 million more selective abortions of girls. Selective abortions of girls totalled about 4·2-12·1 million from 1980-2010, with a greater rate of increase in the 1990s than in the 2000s. INTERPRETATION: Selective abortion of girls, especially for pregnancies after a firstborn girl, has increased substantially in India. Most of India's population now live in states where selective abortion of girls is common. FUNDING: US National Institutes of Health, Canadian Institute of Health Research, International Development Research Centre, and Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute

Local Structure Investigation of Cobalt and Manganese Doped ZnO Nanocrystals and Its Correlation with Magnetic Properties

Co and Mn doped ZnO nanocrystals have been synthesized by two different routes, viz., a wet chemical method and a microwave-assisted nonaqueous method and it has been found that the samples prepared by the former method are ferromagnetic while those prepared through the later route are paramagnetic. Systematic investigation of these doped ZnO nanocrystals has been carried out by extended X-ray absorption fine structure technique to determine the changes in the local structure at the Zn and dopant sites. Co doped samples prepared by either of the techniques show almost similar behavior, with Co substituting Zn up to a 10% doping concentration, beyond which there is a signature of Co clustering. However, in the case of Mn doped samples, Mn clustering commences at lower values of doping (∼7%) for samples prepared by microwave-assisted method, while for nanocrystals prepared by the wet chemical method, Mn–K edge X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy measurement reveals the presence of a Mn₂O₃ phase at lower concentration and clustering at higher concentration (>10%). These findings were supported by the results of optical and magnetic measurements on the samples. The experimental results have been further corroborated by first principle calculations. The findings suggest that the origin of ferromagnetic properties in Co doped ZnO nanoparticles prepared by the wet chemical method may be a consequence of surface modification related to the preparation process and not related to bulk properties. The ferromagnetism in Mn doped samples prepared by the wet chemical method can be explained by the presence of a secondary Mn₂O₃ phase. The Mn doped samples prepared by the microwave-assisted method, on the other hand, manifest paramagnetism with a signature of antiferromagnetic interaction due to Mn clustering at relatively lower Mn concentration