IT Capabilities – Quo Vadis?

The successful management of IT capabilities and their complex interdependencies with other organizational capabilities constitutes an important source of competitive advantage for many organizations today. The role of IT capabilities in enabling competitive actions is well-researched. By reviewing a large number of IT capabilities-focused research articles, the authors seek to answer the questions, “What have we learned? What do we still need to learn?” This research-in-progress article presents key findings regarding IT capabilities, highlighting current research limitations, and providing propositions and recommendations regarding future research

Using IT to Unleash the Power of Strategic Improvisation

To lead their company toward success in today’s ever-changing landscape, managers need to know how to rapidly and creatively use their organization’s capabilities to seize opportunities before others do. We term this leadership team capability strategic improvisation. Strategic improvisation, as an alternative to traditional planning for urgent situations, builds on clear and real-time information and communication. After surveying multiple executive respondents in 100 organizations, we found that information technology (IT) capabilities, especially information management capability and IT infrastructure flexibility, facilitate strategic improvisation. These capabilities play different roles depending on the type of IT strategy the organization follows. Other factors, including the organization’s competitive environment and design, affect the development and impact of strategic improvisation. In a rapidly changing business environment, an organization is best served by strategic improvisation when it has an innovative IT strategy, a flexible IT infrastructure, a loose organizational structure and an experimental culture

The Role of Information Systems in Organizational Improvisation: A Perspective based on Two Complementary Theories

To remain competitive or to simply survive in today’s highly dynamic environments, organizations often need to act rapidly. Top managers deal with urgent issues and must improvise. The role that information systems (IS) play in facilitating improvisation is critical to the organization’s internal processes and market performance. This research-in-progress paper reviews the organizational improvisation literature and examines improvisation using the complementary lenses of organizational learning and dynamic capabilities. It places IS strategy, digital options and IS leveraging capability at the core of the discussion on improvisation. A research model and propositions are presented, as well as the study’s methodology and expected contributions

The subperichondrial / subperiosteal dissection in preservation rhinoplasty: how histology can help us to perform better surgeries

Aim: The classical dissection plane in rhinoplasty is in the sub-SMAS plane with traumatic dissection of tissues and as a result significant and prolonged postoperative edema, especially in the external approach. A complete subperichondrial/periosteal route has been recently described. It seems to allow for simpler postoperative follow-up than external or closed approach performed in the sub-SMAS plane. However, little is known about the exact histological planes that are really dissected during surgery. Material and methods: Histological examinations of 10 cadavers noses dissected in the so-called subperichondrial/subperiosteal plane were performed. Results: The subperichondrial plane is truly subperichondrial and consists in a dissection under the chondrogenic layer of the perichondrium. Subperichondrial dissection necessitates sharp scrapping to separate the cartilage from the chondrogenic layer. The perichondrium is naturally thicker on the dorsum, which explains why it is easier to begin the dorsal dissection at the W point. Scroll cartilages are consistent and show between 9 and 13 isolated cartilages, most of the time, 1 major and several minors cartilages. Optimal strategy to ease the dissection is discussed Conclusions: The subperichondrial/subperiosteal route, although necessitating significant dissection of the teguments of the nasal pyramid, is respectful of the anatomy of the nasal pyramid. It allows minimal traumatic maneuvers than in the sub-SMAS route, despite of the large dissection performed

Effect of androgen treatment during foetal and/or neonatal life on ovarian function in prepubertal and adult rats

We investigated the effects of different windows of testosterone propionate (TP) treatment during foetal and neonatal life in female rats to determine whether and when excess androgen exposure would cause disruption of adult reproductive function. Animals were killed prepubertally at d25 and as adults at d90. Plasma samples were taken for hormone analysis and ovaries serial sectioned for morphometric analyses. In prepubertal animals, only foetal+postnatal and late postnatal TP resulted in increased body weights, and an increase in transitory, but reduced antral follicle numbers without affecting total follicle populations. Treatment with TP during both foetal+postnatal life resulted in the development of streak ovaries with activated follicles containing oocytes that only progressed to a small antral (smA) stage and inactive uteri. TP exposure during foetal or late postnatal life had no effect upon adult reproductive function or the total follicle population, although there was a reduction in the primordial follicle pool. In contrast, TP treatment during full postnatal life (d1-25) resulted in anovulation in adults (d90). These animals were heavier, had a greater ovarian stromal compartment, no differences in follicle thecal cell area, but reduced numbers of anti-Mullerian hormone-positive smA follicles when compared with controls. Significantly reduced uterine weights lead reduced follicle oestradiol production. These results support the concept that androgen programming of adult female reproductive function occurs only during specific time windows in foetal and neonatal life with implications for the development of polycystic ovary syndrome in women

A Biphasic and Brain-Region Selective Down-Regulation of Cyclic Adenosine Monophosphate Concentrations Supports Object Recognition in the Rat

Background: We aimed to further understand the relationship between cAMP concentration and mnesic performance. Methods and Findings: Rats were injected with milrinone (PDE3 inhibitor, 0.3 mg/kg, i.p.), rolipram (PDE4 inhibitor, 0.3 mg/ kg, i.p.) and/or the selective 5-HT4R agonist RS 67333 (1 mg/kg, i.p.) before testing in the object recognition paradigm. Cyclic AMP concentrations were measured in brain structures linked to episodic-like memory (i.e. hippocampus, prefrontal and perirhinal cortices) before or after either the sample or the testing phase. Except in the hippocampus of rolipram treated-rats, all treatment increased cAMP levels in each brain sub-region studied before the sample phase. After the sample phase, cAMP levels were significantly increased in hippocampus (1.8 fold), prefrontal (1.3 fold) and perirhinal (1.3 fold) cortices from controls rat while decreased in prefrontal cortex (,0.83 to 0.62 fold) from drug-treated rats (except for milrinone+RS 67333 treatment). After the testing phase, cAMP concentrations were still increased in both the hippocampus (2.76 fold) and the perirhinal cortex (2.1 fold) from controls animals. Minor increase were reported in hippocampus and perirhinal cortex from both rolipram (respectively, 1.44 fold and 1.70 fold) and milrinone (respectively 1.46 fold and 1.56 fold)-treated rat. Following the paradigm, cAMP levels were significantly lower in the hippocampus, prefrontal and perirhinal cortices from drug-treated rat when compared to controls animals, however, only drug-treated rats spent longer time exploring the novel object during the testing phase (inter-phase interval of 4 h)

Enhanced ERbeta immunoexpression and apoptosis in the germ cells of cimetidine-treated rats

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cimetidine, refereed as antiandrogenic drug, causes hormonal changes in male patients such as increased testosterone and FSH levels. In the rat testis, structural alterations in the seminiferous tubules have been related to germ cell loss and Sertoli cell death by apoptosis. Regarding the important role of Sertoli cells in the conversion of testosterone into estrogen, via aromatase, the immunoexpression of estrogen receptors-beta (ERbeta) was evaluated in the germ cells of untreated and treated rats with cimetidine. A relationship between ERbeta immunoreactivity and apoptosis was also investigated in the germ cells of damaged tubules.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Immunohistochemistry for detection of ERbeta and TUNEL method were performed in testicular sections of adult male rats treated with 50 mg/Kg of cimetidine (CmG) or saline solution (CG) for 52 days.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In CG, a cytoplasmic immunoexpression for ERbeta was observed in spermatogonia, primary spermatocytes and spermatids. An evident ERbeta immunoreactivity was always observed in the flagellum and residual bodies of late spermatids. In CmG, the cytoplasm or cytoplasm and nuclei of germ cells of the damaged tubules by cimetidine showed enhanced ERbeta immunostaining. TUNEL-labeling was usually observed in the same germ cell types exhibiting enhanced ERbeta immunoreactivity.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The presence of ERbeta immunolabeling in the flagellum and residual bodies of spermatids reinforces the role of estrogen in spermiogenesis. The overexpression of ERbeta in the germ cells of CmG could be related to a possible interference of cimetidine on tubular androgenization and/or on the intratubular aromatase due to Sertoli cell damage. The parallelism between ERbeta overexpression and apoptosis indicates a participation of ERbeta on germ cell death.</p