Downsizing implementation and financial performance

In the present study we explore the relationship between downsizing decisions and corporate financial performance after top management has decided to downsize. Our focus is on the financial consequences arising from the amount of downsizing and the use of disengagement incentives. For this purpose, we use a sample of downsizing announcements in the Spanish press from 1995 up to 2001. Although the results show that the amount of downsizing is not significantly related to post-downsizing profitability, the evidence provided supports the finding that the use of disengagement incentives (which motivate workers to leave the organization) is negatively related to firm performance. Our analysis helps to understand the role that strategic downsizing decisions play in explaining observed variance in the performance of downsized firms. Thus, it advances scholarly organizational research by reinforcing the concept that corporate performance is not only contingent on strategies, but also influenced by the means through which these strategies are implemented

Does downsizing improve organizational performance? An analysis of Spanish manufacturing firms

The objective of this study is to examine the effect of downsizing on corporate performance, considering a sample of manufacturing firms drawn from the Spanish Survey of Business Strategies during the 1993- 2005 period. No significant differences in post-downsizing performance arise between companies which downsize and those that do not. Likewise, we find that substantial workforce reductions through collective dismissals do not either lead to improved performance levels. Downsizing, therefore, may not be a way for managers to increase performance, particularly in a context like the Spanish one, where the labour market is characterized by a high protection of employees’ rights and substantial contract termination costs

Estimation of Total Phenols, Flavanols and Extractability of Phenolic Compounds in Grape Seeds Using Vibrational Spectroscopy and Chemometric Tools

Near infrared hyperspectral data were collected for 200 Syrah and Tempranillo grape seed samples. Next, a sample selection was carried out and the phenolic content of these samples was determined. Then, quantitative (modified partial least square regressions) and qualitative (K-means and lineal discriminant analyses) chemometric tools were applied to obtain the best models for predicting the reference parameters. Quantitative models developed for the prediction of total phenolic and flavanolic contents have been successfully developed with standard errors of prediction (SEP) in external validation similar to those previously reported. For these parameters, SEPs were respectively, 11.23 mg g−1 of grape seed, expressed as gallic acid equivalents and 4.85 mg g−1 of grape seed, expressed as catechin equivalents. The application of these models to the whole sample set (selected and non-selected samples) has allowed knowing the distributions of total phenolic and flavanolic contents in this set. Moreover, a discriminant function has been calculated and applied to know the phenolic extractability level of the samples. On average, this discrimination function has allowed a 76.92% of samples correctly classified according their extractability level. In this way, the bases for the control of grape seeds phenolic state from their near infrared spectra have been stablished.España MINECO AGL2017-84793-C2España, Universidad de Sevilla VPPI-II.2, VPPI-II.

Valorization of American Barrel-Shoot Wastes: Effect of Post Fermentative Addition and Readdition on Phenolic Composition and Chromatic Quality of Syrah Red Wines

The influence of post fermentative addition of American barrel-shoot wastes on phenolic composition and chromatic quality of Syrah red wines has been evaluated as an environmentally sustainable alternative to the conventional winemaking for avoiding the common color loss of red wines elaborated in warm climates. American oak wood byproducts added were previously classified by hyperspectral image analysis according to the amount of phenolic compounds transferred to the extraction media. After that, wines were elaborated under different maceration conditions by applying only one proportion of wood (12 g L−1) and two different maceration procedures (simple and double addition) and were compared with a traditionally macerated Syrah red wine (CW, no wood addition). Results proved the effectiveness of the moderate postfermentative addition of oak wood byproducts to stabilize the color of wines and to provoke lower color modification along the time, producing color wines chromatically more stable for a better aging. In the case of double addition, the adsorption of the pigments during the maceration presents a stronger effect on the color than copigmentation and polymerization by cause of the copigments extracted from the woodEspaña, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad AGL2017-84793-C

Por unas relaciones hispano-marroquíes más realistas y eficientes

A la vista de los numerosos desencuentros habidos a lo largo de más de cincuenta años, parece obligado promover un marco más realista en las relaciones entre ambas fronteras. Las relaciones entre España y Marruecos han pasado históricamente por distintos estadios, subordinados y marcados, casi exclusivamente, por los vaivenes de las políticas internas de ambos países. Sin embargo, pese a los numerosos altibajos, Perejil incluido, el lenguaje oficial siempre ha manifestado los “deseos recíprocos de reforzar unas relaciones fructíferas entre países hermanos”

Spinoza: el hereje que labró en lapenumbra los cristales

El filósofo Baruch Spinoza procede de una familia sefardí que tras huir desde España a Portugal acaba huyendo a Holanda en donde está floreciendo una cultura religiosa más tolerante que en otras naciones europeas. A pesar de todo el ambiente seguía siendo hostil a la independencia de pensamiento que profesaba Spinoza. Expulsado de la sinagoga trabajó sin descanso puliendo lentes cuya venta le proporcionaba independencia económica. Alumbró un manuscrito, la Ethica Ordine Geometrico Demonstrata, cargado de infinito –dice Borges- labrando a Dios con geometría delicada que no pudo publicarse hasta la muerte de su autor. Su pensamiento fue considerado por algunos autores como obsceno, monstruoso y sacrílego, y tendrán que pasar dos siglos antes de que aparezca otro libro, El origen de las especies de Darwin, capaz de suscitar tanta cólera e irritación. Su pensamiento ha permitido el desarrollo de la actual idea de Dios en el mundo moderno. La obra de Spinoza sigue teniendo interés en el ámbito de las neurociencias, por el modo en que estudia problemas como el libre albedrio o la moralidad como fenómeno universal. Otro ejemplo lo tenemos en los estudios sobre el afecto de Damasio o en la descripción de la interacción entre estados emocionales opuestos, anticipándose a algunos trabajos de Pavlov y Konorski. Es el Dios de Spinoza, el que ha permitido el libre pensamiento y con él, después de Galileo pero antes que llegaran Darwin o Cajal, ha unido para siempre al hombre con la naturaleza a través de la Ciencia