Narratives of Diversity in the Corporate Boardroom: What Corporate Insiders Say About Why Diversity Matters

Over the last generation, the concept of diversity has become commonplace and taken-for-granted in discourses ranging from law to education to business. In higher education, for example, it is hard to imagine a faculty job search or a student admissions discussion that was not heavily laden with talk of diversity, in the sense of the representative inclusion of women and racial and ethnic minorities in a group or organization. In this paper we present the results of an interview-based study of the discourse of diversity in a particular business setting: the corporate boardroom. Our principal observation is that—thirty-one years after the Supreme Court’s Bakke decision introduced the term into public discourse--corporate insiders appear not to have arrived at a master narrative to explain the pursuit of diversity on boards of directors. Instead, their accounts stress a variety of factors and feature few concrete examples

Analysis and methodology for aeronautical systems technology program planning

A structured methodology was developed that allows the generation, analysis, and rank-ordering of system concepts by their benefits and costs, indicating the preferred order of implementation. The methodology is supported by a base of data on civil transport aircraft fleet growth projections and data on aircraft performance relating the contribution of each element of the aircraft to overall performance. The performance data are used to assess the benefits of proposed concepts. The methodology includes a computer program for performing the calculations needed to rank-order the concepts and compute their cumulative benefit-to-cost ratio. The use of the methodology and supporting data is illustrated through the analysis of actual system concepts from various sources

Dangerous Categories: Narratives of Corporate Board Diversity

In this article, we report the results of a series of interviews with corporate directors about racial, ethnic, and gender diversity on corporate boards. On the one hand, our respondents were clear and nearly uniform in their statements that board diversity was an important goal worth pursuing. Yet when asked to provide examples or anecdotes illustrating why board diversity matters, many subjects acknowledged difficulty in illustrating theory with reference to practice. This expressed reluctance to come to specific terms with general claims about the value of director diversity inspired our title phrase: dangerous categories. That is, while diversity evokes universal acclaim in the abstract, our respondents’ narratives demonstrate that it is an elusive and even dangerous subject to talk about concretely. So we are left with narratives that simultaneously extol difference and express embarrassment with it.This expressed reluctance to come to specific terms with general claims about the value of director diversity inspired our title phrase: dangerous categories. That is, while diversity evokes universal acclaim in the abstract, our respondents’ narratives demonstrate that it is an elusive and even dangerous subject to talk about concretely. So we are left with narratives that simultaneously extol difference and express embarrassment with it

Teaching about Arms Control

Here at the Naval War College, in struggling to tie together our sessions on arms control and negotiation, we have finally settled on a simulation exercises. This game has proved to be a powerful synthesizer, and several players in various positions within Government and civilian academia have suggested we share this tool with others. Our purpose here is to describe the game in a manner so intriguing that our readers will want to use it

Does Critical Mass Matter? Views from the Boardroom

In this Article, we report and analyze the results of forty-six wide-ranging interviews with corporate directors and other relevant insiders on the general topic of whether and how the racial, ethnic, and gender composition of corporate boards matters. In particular, we explore their views on the concept of “critical mass” — that is, the theory that women and racial or ethnic minorities are unlikely to have an impact in the boardroom until they grow from a few tokens into a considerable minority of the board. In contrast to other recent qualitative research on corporate boards, we find more limited support among our respondents for critical mass theory. Though some female respondents expressed the view, consistent with critical mass theory, that having more women on the board increased their comfort level and eased some of the stresses associated with being the first and only female, this narrative is in tension with our respondents’ apparent embrace of their first and only status. Moreover, with the possible exception of employee relations, our interviews largely fail to support the theory that a critical mass of female directors will produce different, and distinctly feminine, boardroom outcomes

Rapid Targeted Gene Disruption in Bacillus Anthracis

Anthrax is a zoonotic disease recognized to affect herbivores since Biblical times and has the widest range of susceptible host species of any known pathogen. The ease with which the bacterium can be weaponized and its recent deliberate use as an agent of terror, have highlighted the importance of gaining a deeper understanding and effective countermeasures for this important pathogen. High quality sequence data has opened the possibility of systematic dissection of how genes distributed on both the bacterial chromosome and associated plasmids have made it such a successful pathogen. However, low transformation efficiency and relatively few genetic tools for chromosomal manipulation have hampered full interrogation of its genome. Results: Group II introns have been developed into an efficient tool for site-specific gene inactivation in several organisms. We have adapted group II intron targeting technology for application in Bacillus anthracis and generated vectors that permit gene inactivation through group II intron insertion. The vectors developed permit screening for the desired insertion through PCR or direct selection of intron insertions using a selection scheme that activates a kanamycin resistance marker upon successful intron insertion. Conclusions: The design and vector construction described here provides a useful tool for high throughput experimental interrogation of the Bacillus anthracis genome and will benefit efforts to develop improved vaccines and therapeutics.Chem-Bio Diagnostics program from the Department of Defense Chemical and Biological Defense program through the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) B102387MNIH GM037949Welch Foundation F-1607Cellular and Molecular Biolog

Autonomous docking ground demonstration

The Autonomous Docking Ground Demonstration is an evaluation of the laser sensor system to support the docking phase (12 ft to contact) when operated in conjunction with the guidance, navigation, and control (GN&C) software. The docking mechanism being used was developed for the Apollo/Soyuz Test Program. This demonstration will be conducted using the 6-DOF Dynamic Test System (DTS). The DTS simulates the Space Station Freedom as the stationary or target vehicle and the Orbiter as the active or chase vehicle. For this demonstration, the laser sensor will be mounted on the target vehicle and the retroflectors will be on the chase vehicle. This arrangement was chosen to prevent potential damage to the laser. The laser sensor system, GN&C, and 6-DOF DTS will be operated closed-loop. Initial conditions to simulate vehicle misalignments, translational and rotational, will be introduced within the constraints of the systems involved

Autonomous docking ground demonstration (category 3)

The NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) is involved in the development of an autonomous docking ground demonstration. The demonstration combines the technologies, expertise and facilities of the JSC Tracking and Communications Division (EE), Structures and Mechanics Division (ES), and the Navigation, Guidance and Control Division (EG) and their supporting contractors. The autonomous docking ground demonstration is an evaluation of the capabilities of the laser sensor system to support the docking phase (12ft to contact) when operated in conjunction with the Guidance, Navigation and Control Software. The docking mechanism being used was developed for the Apollo Soyuz Test Program. This demonstration will be conducted using the Six-Degrees of Freedom (6-DOF) Dynamic Test System (DTS). The DTS environment simulates the Space Station Freedom as the stationary or target vehicle and the Orbiter as the active or chase vehicle. For this demonstration the laser sensor will be mounted on the target vehicle and the retroreflectors on the chase vehicle. This arrangement was used to prevent potential damage to the laser. The sensor system. GN&C and 6-DOF DTS will be operated closed-loop. Initial condition to simulate vehicle misalignments, translational and rotational, will be introduced within the constraints of the systems involved. Detailed description of each of the demonstration components (e.g., Sensor System, GN&C, 6-DOF DTS and supporting computer configuration) including their capabilities and limitations will be discussed. A demonstration architecture drawing and photographs of the test configuration will be presented

ENSO-Induced Co-Variability of Salinity, Plantkton Biomass and Coastal Currents in the Northern Gulf of Mexico

The northern Gulf of Mexico (GoM) is a region strongly influenced by river discharges of freshwater and nutrients, which promote a highly productive coastal ecosystem that host commercially valuable marine species. A variety of climate and weather processes could potentially influence the river discharges into the northern GoM. However, their impacts on the coastal ecosystem remain poorly described. By using a regional ocean-biogeochemical model, complemented with satellite and in situ observations, here we show that El Niño - Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a main driver of the interannual variability in salinity and plankton biomass during winter and spring. Composite analysis of salinity and plankton biomass anomalies shows a strong asymmetry between El Niño and La Niña impacts, with much larger amplitude and broader areas affected during El Niño conditions. Further analysis of the model simulation reveals significant coastal circulation anomalies driven by changes in salinity and winds. The coastal circulation anomalies in turn largely determine the spatial extent and distribution of the ENSO-induced plankton biomass variability. These findings highlight that ENSO-induced changes in salinity, plankton biomass, and coastal circulation across the northern GoM are closely interlinked and may significantly impact the abundance and distribution of fish and invertebrates