Why Can’t a Family Business Be More Like a Nonfamily Business? Modes of Professionalization in Family Firms

The authors survey arguments that family firms should behave more like nonfamily firms and “professionalize.” Despite the apparent advantages of this transition, many family firms fail to do so or do so only partially. The authors reflect on why this might be so, and the range of possible modes of professionalization. They derive six ideal types: (a) minimally professional family firms; (b) wealth dispensing, private family firms; (c) entrepreneurially operated family firms; (d) entrepreneurial family business groups; (e) pseudoprofessional, public family firms; and (f) hybrid professional family firms. The authors conclude with suggestions for further research that is attentive to such variation

The Yin and Yang of Kinship and Business: Complementary or Contradictory Forces?

Are the social domains of kinship and business on balance complementary or contradictory? Do ventures that invest heavily in both – conventionally referred to as “family firms” – bear a net gain or net loss? We are scarcely the first to raise these questions. How then will we try to contribute to an answer? We try this in five ways, all of them based on previous literature. First, we develop the dichotomy of kinship and business by taking seriously the metaphor of yin and yang, merging it with the anthropological constructs of structural domains such as “domestic” and “public.” This metaphor proves to shed light on the relevant literature. Second, we provide a qualitative survey of the costs and benefits of kinship in business. Third, we summarize the empirical work that addresses the performance outcomes from family involvement. Fourth, we consider the practitioner implications of these studies. Finally, we ask if scholars are as yet in a position to answer these questions

Predicting Rainfall in the Context of Rainfall Derivatives Using Genetic Programming

Rainfall is one of the most challenging variables to predict, as it exhibits very unique characteristics that do not exist in other time series data. Moreover, rainfall is a major component and is essential for applications that surround water resource planning. In particular, this paper is interested in the prediction of rainfall for rainfall derivatives. Currently in the rainfall derivatives literature, the process of predicting rainfall is dominated by statistical models, namely using a Markov-chain extended with rainfall prediction (MCRP). In this paper we outline a new methodology to be carried out by predicting rainfall with Genetic Programming (GP). This is the first time in the literature that GP is used within the context of rainfall derivatives. We have created a new tailored GP to this problem domain and we compare the performance of the GP and MCRP on 21 different data sets of cities across Europe and report the results. The goal is to see whether GP can outperform MCRP, which acts as a benchmark. Results indicate that in general GP significantly outperforms MCRP, which is the dominant approach in the literature

A Theory of Expressive International Law

What is the pull of international society and how does it influence the willingness of States to enter into or comply with international law? Since Grotius first identified the concept that States seek esteem from the broader global community, its parameters have proven illusive. Nonetheless, the notion remains central to discussions of why States comply with international agreements. Understanding the reputational mechanism that impels State compliance is especially important to human rights treaties. Unlike other regimes, States that ratify and abide by the terms of these instruments receive neither reciprocal nor immediate benefits. Consequently, the desire for international esteem is the crucible by which compliance with human rights norms is determined. Professor Oona Hathaway has recently raised concerns about the efficacy of the reputational mechanism through an empirical study suggesting that ratification of human rights treaties may lead to increased human rights violations. While these findings have been challenged on both econometric and normative grounds, the need to understand whether Hathaway\u27s findings are simply the result of faulty measurement, improper regime design, or the inability of social forces to compel compliance is crucial to the development and success of the international human rights project. Answers to these questions begin with the development of more detailed models of the way social forces work. Not only will such models enable us to determine if social forces can be harnessed to better ensure compliance with human rights treaties, they also provide a framework that can help us better design human rights instruments

A Theory of Expressive International Law

What is the pull of international society and how does it influence the willingness of States to enter into or comply with international law? Since Grotius first identified the concept that States seek esteem from the broader global community, its parameters have proven illusive. Nonetheless, the notion remains central to discussions of why States comply with international agreements. Understanding the reputational mechanism that impels State compliance is especially important to human rights treaties. Unlike other regimes, States that ratify and abide by the terms of these instruments receive neither reciprocal nor immediate benefits. Consequently, the desire for international esteem is the crucible by which compliance with human rights norms is determined. Professor Oona Hathaway has recently raised concerns about the efficacy of the reputational mechanism through an empirical study suggesting that ratification of human rights treaties may lead to increased human rights violations. While these findings have been challenged on both econometric and normative grounds, the need to understand whether Hathaway\u27s findings are simply the result of faulty measurement, improper regime design, or the inability of social forces to compel compliance is crucial to the development and success of the international human rights project. Answers to these questions begin with the development of more detailed models of the way social forces work. Not only will such models enable us to determine if social forces can be harnessed to better ensure compliance with human rights treaties, they also provide a framework that can help us better design human rights instruments

Information Agents for Pervasive Sensor Networks

In this paper, we describe an information agent, that resides on a mobile computer or personal digital assistant (PDA), that can autonomously acquire sensor readings from pervasive sensor networks (deciding when and which sensor to acquire readings from at any time). Moreover, it can perform a range of information processing tasks including modelling the accuracy of the sensor readings, predicting the value of missing sensor readings, and predicting how the monitored environmental parameters will evolve into the future. Our motivating scenario is the need to provide situational awareness support to first responders at the scene of a large scale incident, and we describe how we use an iterative formulation of a multi-output Gaussian process to build a probabilistic model of the environmental parameters being measured by local sensors, and the correlations and delays that exist between them. We validate our approach using data collected from a network of weather sensors located on the south coast of England

Towards Real-Time Information Processing of Sensor Network Data using Computationally Efficient Multi-output Gaussian Processes

In this paper, we describe a novel, computationally efficient algorithm that facilitates the autonomous acquisition of readings from sensor networks (deciding when and which sensor to acquire readings from at any time), and which can, with minimal domain knowledge, perform a range of information processing tasks including modelling the accuracy of the sensor readings, predicting the value of missing sensor readings, and predicting how the monitored environmental variables will evolve into the future. Our motivating scenario is the need to provide situational awareness support to first responders at the scene of a large scale incident, and to this end, we describe a novel iterative formulation of a multi-output Gaussian process that can build and exploit a probabilistic model of the environmental variables being measured (including the correlations and delays that exist between them). We validate our approach using data collected from a network of weather sensors located on the south coast of England

In pursuit of Pomeron loops: the JIMWLK equation and the Wess-Zumino term

We derive corrections to the JIMWLK equation in the regime where the charge density in the hadronic wave function is small. We show that the framework of the JIMWLK equation has to be significantly modified at small densities in order to properly account for the noncommutativity of the charge density operators. In particular the weight function for the calculation of averages can not be real, but is shown to contain the Wess-Zumino term. The corrections to the kernel of the JIMWLK evolution which are leading at small density are resummed into a path ordered exponential of the functional derivative with respect to the charge density operator, thus hinting at intriguing duality between the high and the low density regimes.Comment: 8 pages, no figures. References added. Version to appear in Phys. Rev.

ARAS: an automated radioactivity aliquoting system for dispensing solutions containing positron-emitting radioisotopes.

BackgroundAutomated protocols for measuring and dispensing solutions containing radioisotopes are essential not only for providing a safe environment for radiation workers but also to ensure accuracy of dispensed radioactivity and an efficient workflow. For this purpose, we have designed ARAS, an automated radioactivity aliquoting system for dispensing solutions containing positron-emitting radioisotopes with particular focus on fluorine-18 ((18)F).MethodsThe key to the system is the combination of a radiation detector measuring radioactivity concentration, in line with a peristaltic pump dispensing known volumes.ResultsThe combined system demonstrates volume variation to be within 5 % for dispensing volumes of 20 μL or greater. When considering volumes of 20 μL or greater, the delivered radioactivity is in agreement with the requested amount as measured independently with a dose calibrator to within 2 % on average.ConclusionsThe integration of the detector and pump in an in-line system leads to a flexible and compact approach that can accurately dispense solutions containing radioactivity concentrations ranging from the high values typical of [(18)F]fluoride directly produced from a cyclotron (~0.1-1 mCi μL(-1)) to the low values typical of batches of [(18)F]fluoride-labeled radiotracers intended for preclinical mouse scans (~1-10 μCi μL(-1))

Internet Apprehensiveness: An Examination of On-Line Information Seeking and Purchasing Behavior

Purpose – A model of the relationships between individuals’ perceptions of internet use and internet usage behaviors is presented and tested. The purpose of this paper is to propose that a lack of perceived responsiveness to on-line communication is positively related to individuals’ general resistance to use the internet as a communication information exchange medium, termed general internet apprehensiveness (GIA). Perceptions of GIA are negatively associated with on-line information-seeking behavior, and positively associated with individuals’ resistance to or fear of using the internet for on-line retail transactions, termed transactional internet apprehensiveness (TIA). Design/methodology/approach – College-aged students reported their attitudes about on-line information seeking, on-line purchasing, and their on-line information seeking and purchasing behaviors. The model presented is tested with path analysis to assess the variables’ interrelationships. Findings – Ultimately, lack of responsiveness is positively related to GIA, GIA is negatively related to information-seeking behavior, and TIA is negatively related to consumers’ on-line purchasing of goods and services. Research limitations/implications – The student sample used in this study prevents us from making broad-based generalizations. While students represent a large base of internet users and have been presented as a viable population to study in investigations for both academic audiences and marketing practitioners, future research will continue to benefit from more diverse samples of internet users. Practical implications – This study offers hospitality professionals a better understanding of the elements that inhibit or encourage on-line information seeking and purchasing behaviors. Originality/value – This paper further defines the socio-demographic factors that inhibit consumers from using the internet as both an information-sharing tool and purchasing medium