Seeing what other miss: A competition network lens on product innovation

How a firm views its competitors affects its performance. We extend the networks literature to examine how a firm’s positioning in competition networks—networks of perceived competitive relations between firms—relates to a significant organizational outcome, namely, product innovation. We find that when firms position themselves in ways that allow them to see differently than rivals, new product ideas emerge. Simply put, firms with an unusual view of competition are more innovative. We situate our analysis in the U.S. enterprise infrastructure software industry, examining the relationship between the firm’s position in competition networks and its innovation over the period of 1995–2012. Using both archival and in-depth field data, we find that two factors—the focal firm’s spanning of structural holes in the network and the perception of peripheral firms as competitors—are positively associated with its product innovation. At the same time, turnover in firms perceived as competitors has an unexpected negative association with innovation. Overall, the findings suggest that firms benefit when they see the competitive landscape differently than their competitors. The findings also show that what we know about innovation-enhancing positioning in collaboration networks does not necessarily hold in competition networks

Exhaust particle size distributions of a non-road diesel engine in an endurance test

The main objective of this study was to find out how the non-road diesel engine running period of 500 hours affects the exhaust particle size distribution. By means of an engine exhaust particle sizer (EEPS), particle number was measured before the endurance test and after 250 and 500 hours of engine operation. The size distributions were determined at full and 75% loads both at rated and at intermediate speeds. The soot, gaseous emissions and the basic engine performance were also determined and lubricating oil was analysed a few times during the running period. A blend of low-sulphur fossil diesel and soybean methyl ester (B20) was used as fuel in the 4-cylinder, turbocharged, intercooled engine which was equipped with a diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) and a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system. All emissions were measured downstream the catalysts. During the 500 hours of operation, the particle number increased considerably within an approximate size range of 7 to 30 nm. Between the initial and final measurements, no notable differences were observed in the particle number emissions within a particle size range of 50 to 200 nm. The copper content of lubricating oil also increased significantly during the 500 hours’ experiment. One possible reason for the substantial increase in the nucleation mode particle number was assumed to be copper, which is one of the metallic elements originating from engine wear. The engine efficiency was almost equal, and the differences both in smoke and hydrocarbon emission were negligible throughout the 500 hours’ experiment.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Is There a Doctor in the House? Expert Product Users, Organizational Roles, and Innovation

We explore the impact on innovation that professional end-users of a product have as inventors, executives, and board members in a young organization. In contrast to prior literature, which has emphasized technology roles, we put the spotlight on executive and governance roles that many professional users take in young firms. Using an extensive custom-collected dataset of 231 surgical instrument ventures over a 25-year period combined with qualitative fieldwork, we find that professional physician-users (surgeons) strengthen innovation in some roles but block it in others. Surgeons are related with the increase in a firm’s innovation when they take a technology role as inventors, and particularly when they take a governance role on the young firm’s board. However, despite their frequent involvement in executive roles, surgeon-executives are less likely to be helpful, and especially likely to block innovation as chief executives. Our results emphasize professional users as a critical external dependency for a young firm’s innovation, but show that a mismatch with a particular organizational role may have unanticipated negative effects on innovation. A key finding is that users are more helpful in suggesting a broad variety of solutions to the firm’s innovation problems but less helpful in selecting the best ones for the organization to pursue. Our findings have implications for research on evolutionary perspective on user innovation, organizational roles in young firms, and entrepreneurial policy

Acute hormonal findings after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage - report from a single center

Purpose: The aim was to assess anterior pituitary hormone levels during the acute phase of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) and analyze the possible association with the clinical condition and outcome. Material and methods: Forty patients with aSAH whose aneurysm was secured by endovascular coiling were enrolled. Basal secretions of cortisol, testosterone, luteinizing hormone (LH), prolactin (PRL), and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) levels were measured up to 14 days after the incident. Results: The main finding was that hypocortisolism was rare whereas testosterone deficiency was common in male patients. Furthermore, various other hormone deviations were frequent and there was wide interindividual variability. We found no association between delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI), outcome of the patients or aneurysm location, and hormone abnormalities, while both Hunt & Hess and Fisher grade were associated with low PRL levels. Hunt & Hess 5 was associated with low PRL concentration when compared to grades 1 (OR = 4.81, 95% CI 1.15-20.14, p = 0.03), 3 (OR 7.73, 95% CI 1.33-45.01, p = 0.02), and 4 (OR = 6.86 95% CI 1.28-26.83, p = 0.02). Fisher grade 4 was associated with low PRL concentration when compared to grades 3 (OR 3.37, 95% CI 1.06-10.73, p = 0.03) and 2 (OR 9.71, 95% CI 1.22-77.10, p = 0.04). Conclusion: Deviations from normal and huge interindividual differences are common in hormone levels during the acute phase of aSAH. Routine assessment of anterior pituitary function in the acute phase of aSAH is not warranted. During the follow-up in the outpatient clinic, hormone concentrations were not measured, which would have brought a more long-term perspective into our findings.Peer reviewe

Prevalence and evolution of snoring and the associated factors in two-year-old children

Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence and persistence of snoring during the first two years of life in two Finnish birth cohorts and to assess the associated factors. Study design: The study population comprised 947 children from the CHILD-SLEEP (CS) and 1393 children from the FinnBrain (FB) birth cohorts. Questionnaires were provided to both parents when the child was 24 months of age. The questionnaire consisted of parts concerning the child's sleep and environmental factors. Results: The combined prevalence of habitual snoring in the two birth cohorts at the age of 24 months was 2.3% (95% CI 1.5-3.1), which is markedly lower than reported previously. Children suffering from recurrent infections (CS odds ratio (OR) 3.9, 95% CI 1.2-12.5) or asthma (FB OR 4.3, 1.4-13.5) snored habitually more often. Both the mother's (CS OR 3.2, 1.2-9.0) and father's (CS OR 3.4, 1.4-8.0) snoring every night added to the risk of the child snoring. In the multivariate models, parental snoring (CS adjusted odds ratio (ORa) 2.8, 1.1-6.8), the mother's lower level of education (CS ORa 2.9, 1.2-7.5, FB ORa 2.1, 1.0-4.5), and the mother's lower monthly income (FB ORa 2.9, 1.3-6.3) associated with the child's habitual snoring. Conclusions: The prevalence of habitual snoring in two Finnish birth cohorts is lower than reported previously. The independent risk factors for habitual snoring at the age of two years were the parents' snoring and the mother's low income and low education.Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence and persistence of snoring during the first two years of life in two Finnish birth cohorts and to assess the associated factors. Study design: The study population comprised 947 children from the CHILD-SLEEP (CS) and 1393 children from the FinnBrain (FB) birth cohorts. Questionnaires were provided to both parents when the child was 24 months of age. The questionnaire consisted of parts concerning the child's sleep and environmental factors. Results: The combined prevalence of habitual snoring in the two birth cohorts at the age of 24 months was 2.3% (95% CI 1.5-3.1), which is markedly lower than reported previously. Children suffering from recurrent infections (CS odds ratio (OR) 3.9, 95% CI 1.2-12.5) or asthma (FB OR 4.3, 1.4-13.5) snored habitually more often. Both the mother's (CS OR 3.2, 1.2-9.0) and father's (CS OR 3.4, 1.4-8.0) snoring every night added to the risk of the child snoring. In the multivariate models, parental snoring (CS adjusted odds ratio (ORa) 2.8, 1.1-6.8), the mother's lower level of education (CS ORa 2.9, 1.2-7.5, FB ORa 2.1, 1.0-4.5), and the mother's lower monthly income (FB ORa 2.9, 1.3-6.3) associated with the child's habitual snoring. Conclusions: The prevalence of habitual snoring in two Finnish birth cohorts is lower than reported previously. The independent risk factors for habitual snoring at the age of two years were the parents' snoring and the mother's low income and low education. (C) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.Peer reviewe

Integrating databases for research on health and performance in small animals and horses in the Nordic countries

In a world of limited resources, using existing databases in research is a potentially cost-effective way to increase knowledge, given that correct and meaningful results are gained

Mitigation of Moral Hazard and Adverse Selection in Venture Capital Financing: The Influence of the Country’s Institutional Setting

A venture capitalist (VC) needs to trade off benefits and costs when attempting to mitigate agency problems in their investor-investee relationship. We argue that signals of ventures complement the VC’s capacity to screen and conduct a due diligence during the pre-investment phase, but its attractiveness may diminish in institutional settings supporting greater transparency. Similarly, whereas a VC may opt for contractual covenants to curb potential opportunism by ventures in the post-investment phase, this may only be effective in settings supportive of shareholder rights enforcement. Using an international sample of VC contracts, our study finds broad support for these conjectures. It delineates theoretical and practical implications for how investors can best deploy their capital in different institutional settings whilst nurturing their relationships with entrepreneurs

Reassembling difference? Rethinking inclusion through/as embodied ethics

This paper considers inclusion through the lens of embodied ethics. It does so by connecting feminist writing on recognition, ethics and embodiment to recent examples of political activism as instances of recognition-based organizing. In making these connections, the paper draws on insights from Judith Butler’s recent writing on the ethics and politics of assembly in order to re-think how inclusion might be understood and practiced. The paper has three inter-related aims: (i) to emphasize the importance of a critical reconsideration of the ethics and politics of inclusion given, on the one hand, its positioning as an organizational ‘good’ and on the other, the conditions attached to it; (ii) to develop a critique of inclusion, drawing on insights from recent feminist thinking on relational ethics, and (iii) to connect this theoretical critique of inclusion, re-considered here through the lens of embodied ethics, to assembly as a form of feminist activism. Each of these aims underpins the theoretical and empirical discussion developed in the paper, specifically its focus on the relationship between embodied ethics, the interplay between theory and practice, and a politics of assembly as the basis for a critical reconsideration of inclusion

Waveguide Zeeman Interferometry for Thin-Film Chemical Sensors

A chemical sensor is demonstrated which is based on Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} optical waveguides coated with species-selective thin films and using Zeeman interferometry as the detection technique. Relative phase change between TE and TM modes is measured. Real time and reversible response to toluene is shown with ppm level sensitivity