How Does It Fit? Exploring the Congruence Between Organizations and Their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Activities

Several studies have focused on the effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) fit on external stakeholders’ evaluations of CSR activities, attitudes towards companies or brands, and behaviors. The results so far have been contradictory. A possible reason may be that the concept of CSR fit is more complicated than previously assumed. Researchers suggest that there may be different types of CSR fit, but so far no empirical research has focused on a typology of CSR fit. This study fills this gap, describing a qualitative content analysis of the congruence between six organizations and their various CSR activities. Ten annual reports and CSR reports were analyzed, and 102 specific CSR activities were identified. The results show that two levels of fit must be distinguished: based on the means for and the intended ends of the CSR activity. Furthermore, six different types of fit were found, focusing on (1) products and services, (2) production processes, (3) environmental impact, (4) employees, (5) suppliers, and (6) geographical location. Considering the above variety of fit possibilities, the findings emphasize the role of CSR communication as a means of creating fit perception

Giant bubble pinch-off

Self-similarity has been the paradigmatic picture for the pinch-off of a drop. Here we will show through high-speed imaging and boundary integral simulations that the inverse problem, the pinch-off of an air bubble in water, is not self-similar in a strict sense: A disk is quickly pulled through a water surface, leading to a giant, cylindrical void which after collapse creates an upward and a downward jet. Only in the limiting case of large Froude number the neck radius $h$ scales as $h(-\log h)^{1/4} \propto \tau^{1/2}$, the purely inertial scaling. For any finite Froude number the collapse is slower, and a second length-scale, the curvature of the void, comes into play. Both length-scales are found to exhibit power-law scaling in time, but with different exponents depending on the Froude number, signaling the non-universality of the bubble pinch-off.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. Figure quality was reduced considerably and converted to greyscale to decrease file siz

REFLEX, a social-cognitive group treatment to improve insight in schizophrenia:Study protocol of a multi-center RCT

BACKGROUND: Insight is impaired in a majority of people with schizophrenia. Impaired insight is associated with poorer outcomes of the disorder. Based on existing literature, we developed a model that explains which processes may possibly play a role in impaired insight. This model was the starting point of the development of REFLEX: a brief psychosocial intervention to improve insight in schizophrenia. REFLEX is a 12-sessions group training, consisting of three modules of four sessions each. Modules in this intervention are: "coping with stigma", "you and your personal narrative", and "you in the present". METHODS/DESIGN: REFLEX is currently evaluated in a multicenter randomized controlled trial. Eight mental health institutions in the Netherlands participate in this evaluation. Patients are randomly assigned to either REFLEX or an active control condition, existing of cognitive remediation exercises in a group. In a subgroup of patients, fMRI scans are made before and after training in order to assess potential haemodynamic changes associated with the effects of the training. DISCUSSION: REFLEX is one of the few interventions aiming specifically to improving insight in schizophrenia and has potential value for improving insight. Targeting insight in schizophrenia is a complex task, that comes with several methodological issues. These issues are addressed in the discussion of this paper. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials: ISRCTN5024753

Sedimentary geology of the Middle Carboniferous of the Donbas region (Dniepr-Donets basin, Ukraine)

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

1-meting barometer duurzame landbouw Zuid-Holland : trends en ontwikkelingen in de akkerbouw en melkveehouderij

De Barometer gaat over de duurzaamheidsprestaties van de grondgebonden landbouw in Zuid-Holland en omvat een groot aantal indicatoren op people-, planet- en profit-thema’s. Het betreft een update van de eerste Barometer met recentere data. Het gemiddelde akkerbouwbedrijf in Zuid-Holland is in 2017 beter gaan presteren op het gebied van fosfaatbenutting en milieubelastingspunten per hectare ten opzichte van het meerjaarsgemiddelde (2010-2015). Op het gebied van stikstofoverschot en met name inkomen uit bedrijf zijn bedrijven minder duurzaam geworden. Het gemiddelde melkveebedrijf is over dezelfde periode beter gaan presteren op het gebied van inkomen uit bedrijf per onbetaalde arbeidsjaareenheid, stikstofoverschot en fosfaatoverschot per hectare en energie-efficiëntie. Daar stond tegenover dat de melkproductie per hectare toenam en het aandeel bedrijven dat huisverkoop toepaste afnam

The stochastic modelling of kleptoparasitism using a Markov process

Kleptoparasitism, the stealing of food items from other animals, is a common behaviour observed across a huge variety of species, and has been subjected to significant modelling effort. Most such modelling has been deterministic, effectively assuming an infinite population, although recently some important stochastic models have been developed. In particular the model of Yates and Broom (Stochastic models of kleptoparasitism. J. Theor. Biol. 248 (2007), 480–489) introduced a stochastic version following the original model of Ruxton and Moody (The ideal free distribution with kleptoparasitism. J. Theor. Biol. 186 (1997), 449–458), and whilst they generated results of interest, they did not solve the model explicitly. In this paper, building on methods used already by van der Meer and Smallegange (A stochastic version of the Beddington-DeAngelis functional response: Modelling interference for a finite number of predators. J. Animal Ecol. 78 (2009) 134–142) we give an exact solution to the distribution of the population over the states for the Yates and Broom model and investigate the effects of some key biological parameters, especially for small populations where stochastic models can be expected to differ most from their deterministic equivalents

Long-term prognosis, subsequent pregnancy, contraception and overall management of peripartum cardiomyopathy: practical guidance paper from the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology Study Group on Peripartum Cardiomyopathy

Peripartum cardiomyopathy is an idiopathic cardiomyopathy presenting with heart failure secondary to left ventricular systolic dysfunction towards the end of pregnancy or in the months following delivery, where no other cause for heart failure is identified. Outcome varies from full recovery to residual left ventricular systolic dysfunction and even death. Many women return to their physician to acquire information on their long‐term prognosis, to seek medical advice regarding contraception, or when planning a subsequent pregnancy. This position paper summarizes current evidence for long‐term outcome, risk stratification of further pregnancies and overall management. Based on the best available evidence, as well as the clinical experience of the European Society of Cardiology Study Group on Peripartum Cardiomyopathy members, a consensus on pre‐ and postpartum management algorithms for women undergoing a subsequent pregnancy is presented

Stability transitions for axisymmetric relative equilibria of Euclidean symmetric Hamiltonian systems

In the presence of noncompact symmetry, the stability of relative equilibria under momentum-preserving perturbations does not generally imply robust stability under momentum-changing perturbations. For axisymmetric relative equilibria of Hamiltonian systems with Euclidean symmetry, we investigate different mechanisms of stability: stability by energy-momentum confinement, KAM, and Nekhoroshev stability, and we explain the transitions between these. We apply our results to the Kirchhoff model for the motion of an axisymmetric underwater vehicle, and we numerically study dissipation induced instability of KAM stable relative equilibria for this system.Comment: Minor revisions. Typographical errors correcte