A QUALITATIVE INVESTIGATION INTO MAJOR DETERMINANTS OF MARKET SELECTION BY A MULTINATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY

By using a case study approach, this study reviews the internationalisation process of an American multinational insurance company and explores the major determinants of market selection for the entry into the German insurance market. Findings from the in-depth interviews suggest that American insurance companies take a simplistic approach towards internationalisation and base their market selection upon only a limited number of economic factors. Managers should use these results to reflect upon their market selection approach and critically question themselves about to what extent their decision is actually warranted by solid economic factors. In addition, the exploratory approach allowed the emergence of new factors that have not been explored before in relation to the insurance sector. The cultural receptivity to insurance products seems to be a major determinant of market selection. Finally, the results shed light upon the applicability of the existing internationalisation theory to the insurance secto

A QUALITATIVE INVESTIGATION INTO MAJOR DETERMINANTS OF MARKET SELECTION BY A MULTINATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY

By using a case study approach, this study reviews the internationalisation process of an American multinational insurance company and explores the major determinants of market selection for the entry into the German insurance market. Findings from the in-depth interviews suggest that American insurance companies take a simplistic approach towards internationalisation and base their market selection upon only a limited number of economic factors. Managers should use these results to reflect upon their market selection approach and critically question themselves about to what extent their decision is actually warranted by solid economic factors. In addition, the exploratory approach allowed the emergence of new factors that have not been explored before in relation to the insurance sector. The cultural receptivity to insurance products seems to be a major determinant of market selection. Finally, the results shed light upon the applicability of the existing internationalisation theory to the insurance secto

Free Vibration of Layered Circular Cylindrical Shells of Variable Thickness Using Spline Function Approximation

Free vibration of layered circular cylindrical shells of variable thickness is studied using spline function approximation by applying a point collocation method. The shell is made up of uniform layers of isotropic or specially orthotropic materials. The equations of motions in longitudinal, circumferential and transverse displacement components, are derived using extension of Love's first approximation theory. The coupled differential equations are solved using Bickley-type splines of suitable order, which are cubic and quintic, by applying the point collocation method. This results in the generalized eigenvalue problem by combining the suitable boundary conditions. The effect of frequency parameters and the corresponding mode shapes of vibration are studied with different thickness variation coefficients, and other parameters. The thickness variations are assumed to be linear, exponential, and sinusoidal along the axial direction. The results are given graphically and comparisons are made with those results obtained using finite element method

A Suspended Nanogap Formed by Field-Induced Atomically Sharp Tips

A sub-nanometer scale suspended gap (nanogap) defined by electric field-induced atomically sharp metallic tips is presented. A strong local electric field (\u3e109 V=m) across micro/nanomachined tips facing each other causes the metal ion migration in the form of dendrite-like growth at the cathode. The nanogap is fully isolated from the substrate eliminating growth mechanisms that involve substrate interactions. The proposed mechanism of ion transportation is verified using real-time imaging of the metal ion transportation using an in situ biasing in transmission electron microscope (TEM). The configuration of the micro/nanomachined suspended tips allows nanostructure growth of a wide variety of materials including metals, metal-oxides, and polymers. VC 2012 American Institute of Physics

No-rebound trend of sea ice reduction in the Arctic Ocean: Role of "inertia effect" of the ocean

第4回極域科学シンポジウム横断セッション：[IA] 「急変する北極気候システム及びその全球的な影響の総合的解明」―GRENE北極気候変動研究事業研究成果報告2013―11月12日（火） 国立極地研究所 ２階大会議

Novel Methods to Measure Surface Wave Velocity by Using Laser-generated Tone-burst Surface Wave

Ultrasonic wave velocity is a characteristic of material, which is considered as a significant factor of nondestructive testing (NDT) techniques. Generally, bulk wave velocity is measured by Time-of-Flight (TOF) of pulse echo from back wall reflection; however, pulse-echo method cannot be applied to surface acoustic wave in a case that an edge does not exist in a close range. Even when we use through-transmission method, it is quite cumbersome to measure the accurate distance between transmitter and receiver; this problem is more critical when using contact angle transducers. This study proposes two new signal processing methods to measure laser-generated surface wave velocity. The laser was irradiated on the line-arrayed slit to generate tone-burst surface wave, and the propagated surface wave was received by a contact transducer. The first signal processing method uses the auto-correlation to calculate the time Δt that the wave takes to pass through the interval of slit, and then velocity is calculated using the equation: C=Δ , where d is the interval of the slit. The second method uses FFT to find out the main frequency of the wave, and then the velocity is calculated from the equation: C=f∙λ where f is main frequency of surface wave, is the wavelength of surface wave, where is identical to the interval of slit d. Experimental results show that the two signal processing methods provide almost same performance and the velocity of the laser-generated surface wave can be measured in a precise manner by using the proposed signal processing methods

Site-specific load models and hazards for probability-based design

Structural design codes have evolved continuously since modern codes were established. The allowable stress design format has been widely used since the late 191h century. During the past two decades, probability-based limit states design concepts have evolved and are increasingly being used for various material and structural types. Limit state design, such as LRFD in the U.S., has requirements to ensure that structures perform satisfactorily under various loads and load combinations and that properly designed structures have reliable and consistent safety levels. Performance-based design concepts recently have gained interest among designers and researchers as an alternative to traditional (strength) design procedures. Performance-based engineering procedures require reliable predictions of structural response in order to quantify and limit damage to acceptable levels during the service-life of the structure. The objective of this study is to develop new contributions in performance-based design of engineered woodframe structures. Specially, fragility curves are developed for structures subjected to various natural hazards (and combinations of hazards) and new site-specific snow load models and hazard models are developed for use in probabilistic design. To accomplish these objectives, fragility curves are developed for assessing probabilistic response of engineered woodframe structures under wind, snow and earthquake hazards. The fragility curves developed herein can be used to develop performance-based design guidelines for woodframe structures built in high hazard regions as well as to provide information on which to base structural safety or expected structural (and economic loss) assessments. Probabilistic snow load models and snow hazard curves also are developed in this study. Updated snow load models can be used in code calibration studies and in the development of next-generation partial safety factors. The snow hazard curves can be used in a number of reliability-based design and performance-based design applications including assessment of partial safety factors for limit states design, evaluation of load combinations (coincidence) factors considering multiple hazards, evaluation of failure probabilities (by convolving with fragility curves for different performance levels, and development of risk-based assessment procedures for structures (and inventories of structures) under extreme snow loading

International Competitiveness of the SEACEN Countries

This study analyses the current competitive performances of SEACEN countries and suggest policies for their improvement. It focuses on a discussion of analytical frameworks than on drawing specific conclusions about each country's competitive standing.

Current Management and Future Strategies of Gastric Cancer

The overall prognosis of gastric cancer has gradually improved over the past decades with growing awareness of potential carcinogens, surveillance programs and early diagnosis, as well as advances in surgical techniques and multimodality treatments. Nevertheless, the outcome of advanced stage disease still remains poor with currently available treatments, and a worldwide consensus on the standard management thereof has not been established. To improve prognosis and quality of life in gastric cancer patients, both standardization and individualization of managements are imperative. Diagnostic tests and surgical procedures need to be further sophisticated and standardized based on more recent evidences from ongoing and future randomized controlled trials, while comprehensive management should be individualized to each patient. Future challenges lie with how to optimize personalized therapies by deciphering biological complexity of gastric cancer and incorporating molecular biomarkers in clinical practice to forecast prognosis and to guide targeted therapeutics in adjunct to current standards of care