The structure of binary Lennard-Jones clusters: The effects of atomic size ratio

We introduce a global optimization approach for binary clusters that for a given cluster size is able to directly search for the structure and composition that has the greatest stability. We apply this approach to binary Lennard-Jones clusters, where the strength of the interactions between the two atom types is the same, but where the atoms have different sizes. We map out how the most stable structure depends on the cluster size and the atomic size ratio for clusters with up to 100 atoms and up to 30% difference in atom size. A substantial portion of this parameter space is occupied by structures that are polytetrahedral, both those that are polyicosahedral and those that involve disclination lines. Such structures involve substantial strains for one-component Lennard-Jones clusters, but can be stabilized by the different-sized atoms in the binary clusters. These structures often have a `core-shell' geometry, where the larger atoms are on the surface, and the smaller atoms are in the core.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figure

An Incomplete Recovery: Youth Unemployment in Europe 2008 – 2016

After having endured many years of economic decline and other problems as- sociated with the financial and economic crisis between 2008 and 2013, most EU member states have resumed their upward trend. This development is due primarily to ongoing improvements in the labour market1. Although not all EU member states have achieved their pre-crisis unemployment levels (EU average in 2008: 7%), the average unemployment rate has fallen from its high point of 11% in 2013 to 8.7% in 2016. Similar trends hold true in Europe for youth unemployment levels, which bears particular consequences for unem- ployment and economic growth overall. This paper takes a closer look at this topic and its development since the Great Recession, thereby highlighting the situation among different subgroups of young people in EU countries. Ten years ago, youth labour markets in Europe and beyond were hit hard by the Great Recession, leaving many young people to struggle with finding and retaining sustainable jobs in a protracted period of (multiple) recession(s). At the height of the youth employment crisis in 2012/2013, more than 9 million young people aged 15-29 across the EU were unemployed, 3 million more than in 2007. Since then, the youth labour market has improved, though perfor- mance indicators have not yet returned to pre-crisis levels. Since 2013, some member states have seen stronger improvements in this re- gard than others, although this varies among different subgroups of young people. Clearly, integrating young people into education, employment and training systems poses a long-term policy challenge for all member states. Persistent structural problems in European labour markets make an immi- nent, rapid improvement of the situation for young people unlikely. Further action is thus needed to support this demographic in fulfilling their potential in European economies and societies. The EU has responded to this youth employment crisis by proposing a range of successive policy measures. Its most prominent recommendations include the call to establish a Youth Guarantee2 and the Youth Employment Initiative. The Youth Guarantee shall ensure that young people have access to quality employment, education, apprenticeship or training opportunities within four months of becoming unemployed. The Youth Employment Initiative provides additional funding to tackle high rates of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) in European regions most affected by youth unemployment

Shared Print Initiatives

This paper provides an overview of the history, issues, challenges, opportunities, and obligations associated with shared print programs. Many of the library operational activities associated with participating in a shared print program have precedents or shared concerns with other operational work around collection development, preservation, and staffing in general. Activities at Emory University serve as examples for participating in shared print programs

La qualité de la relation permet-elle de diminuer les compensations financières dans le cadre du management des réclamations

The purpose of this research is to investigate about the effectiveness of complaint management according to the quality of the relationship between the company and the client. We test how interactional and distributive compensations influence perceived justice of loyal clients with good quality of the relationship and new customers with weak quality of the relationship. The results show that the interactional compensations allow to a) decrease the level of the fi-nancial compensations to customers and b) grant vouchers instead of reimbursement for high relational quality customers.L'objet de cette recherche est d'étudier l'efficacité de la gestion des réclamations selon la qualité de la relation entre l'entreprise et le client. Nous testons comment les efforts interactionnels et les compensations distributives influencent la justice perçue des clients fidèles et nouveaux. Les résultats montrent que les efforts interactionnels permettent de diminuer le niveau des compensations financières adressées aux clients et de privilégier le bon d'achat au remboursement concernant les clients à forte qualité relationnelle

Complaint Management and the Role of Relationship Quality

Facing dissatisfaction, customers have several alternatives: exit, loyalty and voice. The verbal answer (Voice) can be word-of-mouth communication or a complaint which is a constructive way to express dissatisfaction to obtain a correction or compensation. The management of complaints thus perfectly integrates within scope of customer relationship management to increase loyalty since it gives an organization a last chance to retain dissatisfied clients (Smith et al, 1999). In addition, complaints are a very rich source of valuable information to improve quality continuously. The investigations on complaint management show that the theory of justice (Adams, 1965) explains the satisfaction of complaining customers (Orsingher et al, 2010). However, the questions about the nature and the valence of the compensations as well as which consumer targets to privilege remain unanswered. The principal contribution of this article is thus to determine the most effective dimensions of the theory of justice in the context of customer complaint management to satisfy and retain customers. We differentiate the effectiveness of the complaint management process according to the relationship quality or strength between the firm and the customer. We first describe the key factors for complaint management and then we explain our conceptual model as well as our hypotheses and methodology. Finally, the article shows the results and finishes with a discussion, managerial implications and research directions

The Long-Term Impact of Sales Promotions on Customer Equity

Sales promotion is an instrument whose effectiveness for shortterm sales is proven (Blattberg and Neslin, 1990). But for the long term, researchers have identified adverse effects without managing to actually determine its impact (Van Heerde et al, 2004). While most investigations analyze the effects of promotions on sales, it is important to consider the global impact, i.e. on the customer portfolio. Although several authors have taken up this issue (Fader and Hardie, 2010; Abe, 2009b), no contribution has integrated the entire portfolio development: customer acquisition, activity of existing customers and churn. This research, therefore, contributes by establishing a long-term vision of the impact of sales promotions on the value of the customer portfolio (customer equity), not just on sales. We combine explanatory and stochastic approaches via the integration of explanatory variables. The second contribution is the application of these models to fast moving consumer goods, a sector that has thus far been over-looked by existing research