Piggy in the Middle: How Direct Customer Power Affects First-Tier Suppliers’ Adoption of Socially Responsible Procurement Practices and Performance

Companies are faced with a choice of which type of power to use in their efforts to persuade their first-tier suppliers to adopt socially responsible procurement practices with key second-tier suppliers. However, we know little about how first-tier suppliers will react to different types of power and which are most effective in encouraging the adoption of socially responsible procurement practices. We are also ignorant of the impact of these practices on first-tier suppliers’ performance. This paper uses bases of power theory to examine the impact of buyer companies’ power usage (non-mediated and mediated) on first-tier suppliers’ adoption of socially responsible procurement practices (process-based and market-based) with their own (second-tier) suppliers. We surveyed managers responsible for sustainable supply chain management in 156 firms and analyzed the results using structural equation modeling. Our findings show that non-mediated power use (expert and referent) influences the adoption of process-based and market-based practices, while mediated power use (coercion, legitimacy, and reward) has no significant impact on the adoption of either type of practice. Additionally, we find that the adoption of market-based socially responsible procurement practices leads to enhanced performance for first-tier suppliers who adopt these practices with their second-tier suppliers

Depression Care Management: Can Employers Purchase Improved Outcomes?

Fourteen vendors are currently selling depression care management products to US employers after randomized trials demonstrate improved work outcomes. The research team interviewed 10 (71.4%) of these vendors to compare their products to four key components of interventions demonstrated to improve work outcomes. Five of 10 depression products incorporate all four key components, three of which are sold by health maintenance organizations (HMOs); however, HMOs did not deliver these components at the recommended intensity and/or duration. Only one product delivered by a disease management company delivered all four components of care at the recommended intensity and duration. This “voltage drop,” which we anticipate will increase with product implementation, suggests that every delivery system should carefully evaluate the design of its depression product before implementation for its capacity to deliver evidence-based care, repeating these evaluations as new evidence emerges

A radiological assessment of nuclear power and propulsion operations near Space Station Freedom

Scenarios were identified which involve the use of nuclear power systems in the vicinity of Space Station Freedom (SSF) and their radiological impact on the SSF crew was quantified. Several of the developed scenarios relate to the use of SSF as an evolutionary transportation node for lunar and Mars missions. In particular, radiation doses delivered to SSF crew were calculated for both the launch and subsequent return of a Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NEP) cargo vehicle and a Nuclear Thermal Rocket (NTR) personnel vehicle to low earth orbit. The use of nuclear power on co-orbiting platforms and the storage and handling issues associated with radioisotope power systems were also explored as they relate to SSF. A central philosophy in these analyses was the utilization of a radiation dose budget, defined as the difference between recommended dose limits from all radiation sources and estimated doses received by crew members from natural space radiations. Consequently, for each scenario examined, the dose budget concept was used to identify and quantify constraints on operational parameters such as launch separation distances, returned vehicle parking distances, and reactor shutdown times prior to vehicle approach. The results indicate that realistic scenarios do not exist which would preclude the use of nuclear power sources in the vicinity of SSF. The radiation dose to the SSF crew can be maintained at safe levels solely by implementing proper and reasonable operating procedures

Perceived Benefits of Yoga among Urban School Students: A Qualitative Analysis

This study reports on the findings of a qualitative evaluation of a yoga intervention program for urban middle and high school youth in New York City public and charter schools. Six focus groups were conducted with students who participated in a year-long yoga program to determine their perceptions of mental and physical benefits as well as barriers and challenges. Results show that students perceived the benefits of yoga as increased self-regulation, mindfulness, self-esteem, physical conditioning, academic performance, and stress reduction. Barriers and challenges for a yoga practice include lack of time and space. The extent to which the benefits experienced are interrelated to one another is discussed. Suggestions for future research and school-based programming are also offered

Tribunals of inquiry as instruments of legitimacy: A ritualization perspective

This paper is an exploratory qualitative study into how tribunals of inquiry act as instruments of legitimacy and hegemony for the State. Focusing on a case study of two consecutive tribunals of inquiry into the biggest health scandal in the history of the Irish State, the paper draws on ritual theory to offer a view of the tribunal as a process of ritualization, a strategic way of acting by the State in times of crisis. Through this process of ritualization, an authoritative, structured and structuring ritualized environment is created with schemes of ritualization imposed on participants directed toward creating ritualized bodies, hoped-for acceptance of the tribunal’s projection of reality and the re-legitimation of the role of the State in undertaking its core functions.UCD College of Business Research Seed Funding SchemeAhead of print, to add citing and date details in 6

Water Uptake Threshold of Rabbiteye (\u3ci\u3eVaccinium ashei\u3c/i\u3e) Blueberries and Its Influence on Fruit Splitting

Split-resistant and split-susceptible rabbiteye blueberry fruit were evaluated at all stages of development to determine \u27\u27water uptake thresholds\u27\u27 by soaking in distilled water. Weight increase after soaking was measured, and percent weight gain was calculated to take into consideration the weight increase of the fruit from development. The ratio of percent increase in volume to weight increase resulting from water uptake was calculated. Ratios of percent water uptake to weight increase between splitsusceptible \u27Tifblue\u27 and split-resistant \u27Premier\u27 blueberries were found to be similar. The split-susceptible \u27Tifblue\u27 had a 1.6 g/50 fruit increase with a 1.7% water uptake and a ratio of 1.08. \u27Premier\u27 had a higher weight increase with 3.3 g/50 fruit and also a higher percentage of water uptake at 3.6% providing a ratio of 1.09. Although both absorbed water at a constant rate shown by a linear increase of weight increase over time, \u27Premier\u27 absorbed a significantly greater amount of water than did \u27Tifblue\u27 yet remained intact and did not split

How Does it Pay to be Green and Good? The Impact of Environmental and Social Supply Chain Practices on Operational and Competitive Outcomes

Although much has been written about whether it pays to be green, few researchers ask does it pay to be good and fewer still offer insights into which practices pay and which do not. This chapter addresses a key missing link in supply chain management by identifying which environmentally and socially sustainable supply chain management practices impact the operational and competitive outcomes of firms. The research literature has presented a diverse catalogue of measures of supply chain sustainability practices. In this chapter we have consolidated and synthesised existing measures in an effort to test the relationship between established sustainability practices and outcomes which allow firms to create a business case for both environmental and social sustainability practices. In doing so, we arrived at four environmental and four social supply chain sustainability practices with similar themes: monitoring; management systems; new product and process development; and strategy re-definition. A key outcome of this examination is that social sustainability practices pay more than environmental sustainability practices. This finding suggests that it might be advantageous for companies to invest their resources in social new product and process development as well as social supply chain re-definition focusing on social issues and in environmental monitoring and developing new environmental products and processes.Irish Research Counci