The big pictures: sources of national competitiveness in the global movie industry

The competitive dynamics of the global film industry are not frozen in time. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) studios have pursued an utterly transparent strategy of buying out or otherwise dominating their domestic and international distribution chains, while generally avoiding cooperation with other nations’ producers. This strategy has gone unchallenged largely because other nations and film production companies have lacked perspective on their own position and potential in the global film industry. With keener use of existing tools, including co-production, these countries can establish themselves. For instance, Canada, having co-production treaties with both mainland China and Hong Kong while no other nation has co-production treaties with either, has uniquely positioned its film industry to enter the Chinese mass market either directly or via Hong Kong’s free trade without the crippling import expenses that other foreign producers face. However, Canada’s producers to date have made less creative use of the co-production treaty with China, using it to more easily access low-cost animation inputs

α‑Alkylidene-γ-butyrolactone Formation via Bi(OTf)₃‑Catalyzed, Dehydrative, Ring-Opening Cyclizations of Cyclopropyl Carbinols: Understanding Substituent Effects and Predicting <i>E</i>/<i>Z</i> Selectivity

A Bi­(OTf)₃-catalyzed ring-opening cyclization of (hetero)­aryl cyclopropyl carbinols to form α-alkylidene-γ-butyrolactones (ABLs) is reported. This transformation represents different chemoselectivity from previous reports that demonstrated formation of (hetero)­aryl-fused cyclohexa-1,3-dienes upon acid-promoted cyclopropyl carbinol ring opening. ABLs are obtained in up to 89% yield with a general preference for the <i>E</i>-isomers. Mechanistically, Bi­(OTf)₃ serves as a stable and easy to handle precursor to TfOH. TfOH then catalyzes the formation of cyclopropyl carbinyl cations, which undergo ring opening, intramolecular trapping by the neighboring ester group, subsequent hydrolysis, and loss of methanol resulting in the formation of the ABLs. The nature and relative positioning of the substituents on both the carbinol and the cyclopropane determine both chemo- and stereoselective outcomes. Carbinol substituents determine the extent of cyclopropyl carbinyl cation formation. The cyclopropane donor substituents determine the overall reaction chemoselectivity. Weakly stabilizing or electron-poor donor groups provide better yields of the ABL products. In contrast, copious amounts of competing products are observed with highly stabilizing cyclopropane donor substituents. Finally, a predictive model for <i>E</i>/<i>Z</i> selectivity was developed using DFT calculations

MODELING LEADERSHIP EFFECTS AND RECRUIT TYPE IN AN ARMY RECRUITING STATION

Army recruiters have an uphill battle recruiting wellqualified volunteers into military service. With a prospering economy, there are many alternatives to joining the military, and all services are having difficulty recruiting young people. United States Army Recruiting Command (USAREC) sponsored our research in simulating the workings of an Army recruiting station in an effort to help understand more about the recruiting process. Specifically, USAREC wanted a management tool to examine the effects of changing a variety of controllable factors on the way an individual recruiting station performs. We focused this study on the effect of recruiting station commander leadership on recruiting productivity, and the differences in processing times and success rates for different types of applicants (potential recruits). This study added capability to a previous simulation model developed at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) (Cordeiro and Friend 1998). Cordeiro &amp; Friend’s model depicted an Army recruiting station with three types of recruiters, and a single (average) recruiter type. For the current work, we needed to gather pertinent data on the effects of leadership and on the differences between different applicant types. In addition, we needed to incorporate the new data into the simulation model. The remainder of this paper includes an overview of the recruiting process, considerations for modeling leadership effects and applicant types, a discussion of incorporating these features in the simulation, a brief look at some simulation output, and some future research interests. 1 RECRUITING PROCESS Army recruiters produce leads for new applicants two ways. First, they prospect for new applicants by visiting high schools or calling potential candidates on th