The critical role of agency relationships in B2B exchange

Field of study: Business administration.Lisa Scheer, Dissertation Chair.Includes vita."July 2017."The U.S. Census Bureau (2014) reports that from 1974 to 2014, the number of mid- to large sized firms in the United States grew at nearly twice the rate of small firms. As the average firm in the U.S. becomes larger and as corporations continue to displace small proprietorships in the marketplace, both salespeople and buyers are finding it more difficult to directly access decision makers within the other's organization. In effect, agency relationships, i.e., relationships where "one or more persons engage another person to perform some service on their behalf" (Jensen and Meckling 1976; p.5), are becoming increasingly prevalent. Through two independent essays, this dissertation investigates two common, yet understudied, forms of agency relationships found in today's business-to-business (B2B) markets. Essay 1 My first essay emphasizes the salesperson's dual agency role in the customer-salesperson- seller firm triad. Prior marketing research has primarily focused on either salesperson-customer or seller firm-salesperson relationships. This research adopts a triadic approach to examine the salespeople's dual role. I conceptualize, measure and empirically examine a new construct, salesperson's customer advocacy, the salesperson's actions to advocate for the interests of a specific customer to others within the seller firm. Although the salesperson's dual role as seller representative and customer advocate has long been acknowledged, prior research focuses on the seller representative role. Drawing from agency theory, I explicate the salesperson's dual role as agent for the seller and as agent for the customer and demonstrate the importance for researchers and practitioners to consider both aspects concurrently. A triadic dataset and complex triadic analysis reveals that both customers' and seller decision-makers' responses to salesperson actions directed specifically to them are moderated by the salesperson's actions toward the other party. A subsequent experiment confirms the theorized mediating mechanism--that salesperson representation of the principal's interests to the other party reduces perceptions of salesperson self-interest. This research introduces an important new construct, customer advocacy, extends traditional agency theory, and examines complex interrelationships among salesperson, seller and customer, offering new theoretical and managerial insights. Essay 2 In Essay 2, I explore the behavior of buyer advocates, individuals who advocate on the supplier's behalf within customer buying centers, and the effects this form of B2B buyer behavior has on the supplier's customer-level financial outcomes. As buying centers continue to increase in size, so does the number of individuals involved in any given purchasing decision. In a recent study of B2B buying centers, Schmidt, Adamson, and Bird (2015) note that an average of 5.4 people now formally sign off on purchases in B2B settings and that these members represent a much wider variety of jobs, functions, and geographies than ever before. In response, suppliers have begun to rely on advocates inside the customer organization to establish consensus among buyer decision-makers. I present a new construct, buyer advocacy, defined as efforts by a buying center member to represent, support and defend a supplier during interactions with others within the buying center, and show how this form of B2B buyer behavior affects the supplier's customer-level outcomes. I theoretically justify and offer evidence of a positive effect of buyer advocacy on the supplier's sales while also providing theoretically grounded rationale for a countervailing mechanism, resulting in an inverted U-shaped relationship between buyer advocacy and the supplier's sales. An extremely high level of buyer advocacy risks raising suspicion from other members of the buying center. Second, relying on cognitive response theory, I test factors that moderate the inverted U-shaped relationship between buyer advocacy and the supplier's customer-level sales. Finally, I offer managerial implications, note limitations, and provide directions for future research.Includes bibliographical references

Study of the Amplitude of Pressure and Thrust Oscillations in a Lab-Scale Hybrid Rocket

Hybrid rockets are being studied as a potential replacement for the solid rocket boosters on the NASA space shuttle. One physical characteristic of hybrid rockets that must be understood and overcome is potentially severe pressure oscillations during combustion. Pressure oscillations inside the rocket combustion chamber lead to oscillations in the thrust of the rocket. These oscillations are damaging to potential human passengers and cargo and must be minimized. Current theories surmise that the oscillations are caused by combustion chamber geometry, oxygen feed line parameters, and/or fuel combustion characteristics. This study focuses on the role of the fuel characteristics in pressure and thrust oscillations. The standard hybrid rocket fuel is hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB). A fuel additive, guanidinium azo-tetrazolate (GAT), has been shown to increase thrust and impulse of the rocket when added as 15% by mass to the fuel. This study compares the amplitude of the pressure and thrust oscillations of the rocket when burning HTPB fuels and when burning GAT-added fuels. Data from several firings at oxygen flow rates from 0.018 kg/sec to 0.054 kg/sec are analyzed. Results show the GAT-added fuel combustion shows no significant increase or decrease in the amplitude of the pressure and thrust oscillations

Typologies of stress appraisal and problem-focused coping: associations with compliance with public health recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Given prior research finding that young adults are less likely to engage in recommended public health behaviors (PHBs) than older adults, understanding who is and is not likely to engage in PHBs among young adults is crucial to mitigating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on the Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping, this study examined how typologies of stress appraisal (SA) and problem-focused coping (PFC) among young adults were associated with compliance with public health recommendations during the pandemic. METHODS: An online sample of young adults in the United States, ages 18-35, was recruited during the early phase of the pandemic (April-May 2020). Participants reported their appraisals of how central, threatening, and uncontrollable the pandemic was, their tendencies to engage in instrumental, problem-focused coping strategies, and how frequently they engaged in three recommended PHBs (social distancing, mask wearing, and hand washing). RESULTS: Using latent class analysis, we identified three classes of individuals: Low-SA/Low-PFC, Low-SA/High-PFC, and High-SA/High-PFC. Demographics did not efficiently distinguish membership in the three classes. The former two classes reported less compliance with public health recommendations than did the latter class. Tests of measurement invariance for gender indicated trivial differences in the composition of class membership and relations to compliance. CONCLUSIONS: This research uncovered three qualitatively distinct classes of people who differed in their appraisal of the pandemic and their tendency to engage in PFC. Individuals who view the pandemic as central and threatening and engage in problem-focused coping were more likely than their peers to comply with guidelines recommending social distancing, mask wearing, and hand washing. These results contribute to our understanding of why people do and do not comply with public health guidelines and highlight the importance of attending to psychological variables in public health research. Understanding what drives poor compliance with public health recommendations can contribute to efforts promoting better compliance, and ultimately better health outcomes

Undernutrition and stage of gestation influence fetal adipose tissue gene expression

Funded by the Scottish Government’s Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division (RESAS), including the Strategic Partnership for Animal Science Excellence (SPASE) and the U.S. National Institutes of Health (HD045784). None of the authors had any financial or personal conflicts of interest.Peer reviewedPostprin

Fear of large carnivores causes a trophic cascade

The fear large carnivores inspire, independent of their direct killing of prey, may itself cause cascading effects down food webs potentially critical for conserving ecosystem function, particularly by affecting large herbivores and mesocarnivores. However, the evidence of this has been repeatedly challenged because it remains experimentally untested. Here we show that experimentally manipulating fear itself in free-living mesocarnivore (raccoon) populations using month-long playbacks of large carnivore vocalizations caused just such cascading effects, reducing mesocarnivore foraging to the benefit of the mesocarnivore\u27s prey, which in turn affected a competitor and prey of the mesocarnivore\u27s prey. We further report that by experimentally restoring the fear of large carnivores in our study system, where most large carnivores have been extirpated, we succeeded in reversing this mesocarnivore\u27s impacts. We suggest that our results reinforce the need to conserve large carnivores given the significant ecosystem service the fear of them provides

Outcomes of Fusions From the Cervical Spine to the Pelvis.

Study designRetrospective cohort study.ObjectiveDetermine the indications, complications, and clinical outcomes in patients requiring fusions from the cervical spine to the pelvis. Several investigators have examined fusions from the thoracic spine to the sacrum, but no similar study has been performed for cervical-to-pelvis fusions.MethodsPatients from 2003 to 2014 with an upper instrumented vertebrae (UIV) in the cervical spine (any level) and a lower instrumented vertebrae (LIV) in the sacrum or pelvis were included in the study. Those with infectious or acute trauma-related deformities were excluded. Patient demographics, medical history, diagnosis, operative procedure, and health-related quality of life measures were analyzed. Student's t test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and χ2 test were used as appropriate; significance was set at P < .05 for all tests.ResultsFifty-five patients met inclusion criteria for the study. Average follow-up was 2.8 years. Proximal junctional kyphosis was the most common indication for cervical-to-pelvis fusions (36%). The most common UIV was C2 (29%) followed by C7 (24%). There was an average 31° correction in maximum kyphosis and a 3.3 cm improvement in sagittal vertical axis. In adults, the rate of complication was 71.4%, with a major complication rate of 39.3% and reoperation rate of 53.6%. There was significant improvement in the Scoliosis Research Society (SRS-22r) score (3.0 to 3.5; P < .01).ConclusionProximal junctional kyphosis is the most common indication for patients requiring fusion to the cervical spine. Adult patients incur a significant risk of major complications and reoperations. However, significant improvement in SRS-22r outcomes are noted in these patients

Supraspinatus-to-Glenoid Contact Occurs During Standardized Overhead Reaching Motion

Background: Rotator cuff tears may result from repeated mechanical deformation of the cuff tendons, and internal impingement of the supraspinatus tendon against the glenoid is one such proposed mechanism of deformation. Purpose: To (1) describe the changing proximity of the supraspinatus tendon to the glenoid during a simulated overhead reaching task and (2) determine the relationship between scapular morphology and this proximity. Additionally, the patterns of supraspinatus-to-glenoid proximity were compared with previously described patterns of supraspinatus-to-coracoacromial arch proximity. Study Design: Descriptive laboratory study. Methods: Shoulder models were created from magnetic resonance images of 20 participants. Standardized kinematics were imposed on the models to simulate functional reaching, and the minimum distances between the supraspinatus tendon and the glenoid and the supraspinatus footprint and the glenoid were calculated every 5° between 0° and 150° of humerothoracic elevation. The angle at which contact between the supraspinatus and the glenoid occurred was documented. Additionally, the relationship between glenoid morphology (version and inclination) and the contact angle was evaluated. Descriptive statistics were calculated for the minimum distances, and glenoid morphology was assessed using Pearson correlation coefficients and simple linear regressions. Results: The minimum distances between the tendon and the glenoid and between the footprint and the glenoid decreased as elevation increased. Contact between the tendon and the glenoid occurred in all participant models at a mean elevation of 123° ± 10°. Contact between the footprint and the glenoid occurred in 13 of 20 models at a mean of 139° ± 10°. Less glenoid retroversion was associated with lower tendon-to-glenoid contact angles (r = -0.76; R (2) = 0.58; P \u3c .01). Conclusion: This study found that the supraspinatus tendon progressively approximated the glenoid during simulated overhead reaching. Additionally, all participant models eventually made contact with the glenoid by 150° of humerothoracic elevation, although anatomic factors influenced the precise angle at which contact occurred. Clinical Relevance: Contact between the supraspinatus and the glenoid may occur frequently within the range of elevation required for overhead activities. Therefore, internal impingement may be a prevalent mechanism for rotator cuff deformation that could contribute to cuff pathology

Does the worsening galactic cosmic radiation environment observed by CRaTER preclude future manned deep space exploration?

Abstract The Sun and its solar wind are currently exhibiting extremely low densities and magnetic field strengths, representing states that have never been observed during the space age. The highly abnormal solar activity between cycles 23 and 24 has caused the longest solar minimum in over 80 years and continues into the unusually small solar maximum of cycle 24. As a result of the remarkably weak solar activity, we have also observed the highest fluxes of galactic cosmic rays in the space age and relatively small solar energetic particle events. We use observations from the Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation (CRaTER) on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to examine the implications of these highly unusual solar conditions for human space exploration. We show that while these conditions are not a show stopper for long-duration missions (e.g., to the Moon, an asteroid, or Mars), galactic cosmic ray radiation remains a significant and worsening factor that limits mission durations. While solar energetic particle events in cycle 24 present some hazard, the accumulated doses for astronauts behind 10 g/cm2 shielding are well below current dose limits. Galactic cosmic radiation presents a more significant challenge: the time to 3% risk of exposure-induced death (REID) in interplanetary space was less than 400 days for a 30 year old male and less than 300 days for a 30 year old female in the last cycle 23–24 minimum. The time to 3% REID is estimated to be ∼20% lower in the coming cycle 24–25 minimum. If the heliospheric magnetic field continues to weaken over time, as is likely, then allowable mission durations will decrease correspondingly. Thus, we estimate exposures in extreme solar minimum conditions and the corresponding effects on allowable durations