Cascading Sustainability in Multi-tier Supply Chains:When Do Chinese Suppliers Adopt Sustainable Procurement?

As global brands assume more accountability for their extended supply chains, some request that their first-tier suppliers in turn adopt sustainable procurement practices, thereby “cascading” sustainability requirements to second-tier suppliers. However, such cascading has not yet become institutionalized. We partnered with a leading sustainability electronics company—here called “Tronics”—to investigate which Chinese suppliers are more likely to adopt sustainable procurement and when Tronics’ power—measured by its percentage of its Chinese suppliers’ business—is more/less relevant. We gathered secondary (audit and company records) and primary (survey) data on Tronics’ relationship with 134 Chinese suppliers, and complemented these sources with three archival datasets from CDP’s Supply Chain Program, the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System of China, and the World Economic Reports. The results show that Chinese suppliers that either have an integrated management system composed of economic, environmental, and social pillars or engage with key stakeholder networks are more likely to adopt sustainable procurement practices, and that these effects are boosted when Tronics’ power is low to moderate. Interestingly, Chinese suppliers with sustainability violations are not necessarily less likely to adopt sustainable procurement practices. When Tronics represents a large percentage of a supplier’s business, it can persuade a noncompliant supplier to adopt sustainable procurement practices, though it has limited power over suppliers that exhibit critical violations

Introduction to innovation in the East Asian automotive industry:Exploring the interplay between product architectures, firm strategies, and national innovation systems

East Asia is the origin and target market for an increasing number of technological innovations. We use the East Asian automotive industry as a focal point to discuss central questions of innovation research such as modularity, product architecture, and the dynamics of state sponsorship in national innovation systems. Two developments in the East Asian automotive industry are of particular interest to the broader innovation community: 1) East Asian firms and consumers are forerunners in the current transition to energy-efficient innovations and the future of automobiles. These technological developments will lead to a 'hybridization' of product architectures that need to be reflected in firm's competitive strategies. 2) Particularly in China, the role of the state for national innovation systems is pronounced in the automotive sector. The way national and regional frameworks interact with broader technology trends shapes business innovation, and this understanding can inform firms in other sectors as well. Before highlighting the contributions of each paper of the special issue, we provide contextual background regarding the unique trajectories of the Japanese, Chinese, and Korean automotive industry, and summarize the current state of research. We conclude with an outlook on future research topics

Thai Labour NGOs during the ‘Modern Slavery’ Reforms: NGO Transitions in a Post-aid World

This article explores how domestic NGOs responded to new opportunities that emerged during the 2015-2020 'modern slavery' labour reforms in Thailand's seafood sector. The analysis takes place against the background of civil society transitions in a 'post-aid' setting. Like NGOs in other middle-income countries, the Thai NGO sector has struggled to remain relevant and financially viable in recent decades, as international donors have withdrawn from countries with steadily declining poverty rates. As a result of the 'developmental successes' of Thailand, the NGO sector needed to rethink its strategies. Examining the modern slavery labour reform process provides an opportunity to understand the strategic choices available to NGOs in the face of several important phenomena: the emergence of new actors such as international philanthropic donors; the growing influence of the private sector in governance matters; and the need for NGOs to balance multiple strategic alliances. The article draws on in-depth interviews to explore narratives of Thai labour NGO adjustments during the period of the modern slavery reform. The study contributes to a better understanding of how NGOs in post-aid countries transition and adapt to changing circumstances by embracing new roles as 'sub-contractors' for emerging global philanthropic donors and as 'partners' of private corporations

Humanizing Research on Working Conditions in Supply Chains:Building a Path to Decent Work

Research on managing working conditions in the supply chain is currently conducted under the umbrella of "social" sustainability. In this introduction to the 2021 Emerging Discourse Incubator, "Managing Working Conditions in Supply Chains: Towards Decent Work," we argue that the trajectory of this research may be insufficient for addressing decent work. This is due to four characteristics of the extant literature-buyer-centrism, product-centrism, techno-centrism, and social-centrism. As an alternative, we offer ways to 'humanize' research on working conditions in supply chains across four dimensions: actors, issues, contexts, and methods. Through humanization, supply chain research has the potential to make a significant scholarly impact as well as to contribute to the realization of decent work in supply chains. We use our proposed path forward as a lens to elaborate on the core contributions of the four invited papers in the Emerging Discourse Incubator

Private governance of human and labor rights in seafood supply chains:The case of the modern slavery crisis in Thailand

A growing recognition of human rights in business has shed light on labor violations and abusive practices that prevail in many global supply chains. The recent 'modern slavery' crisis in the Thai fishing industry not only brings the question of government's responsibility to the fore but also increasingly highlights the role of private governance in global supply chains. This paper provides an updated analysis on the state of labor rights protection in the Thai fishing industry by analyzing responses from private business and civil society to the modern slavery scandal. We focus on three responses in particular: ethical recruitment policies, worker grievance mechanisms and worker associations. We analyse the effectiveness of these responses and delineate the potential of private governance as well as the limits that need to be overcome to ensure the protection of human and labor rights in global seafood supply chains

Complementarities and organizational (mis)fit:a retrospective analysis of the Toyota recall crisis

During the past six decades, the Toyota Motor Company established a ‘lean’ production and management system (the Toyota Way), which has become an iconic template for a high performing and learning organization. The massive recall crisis of 2009/2010 distorted Toyota’s image of a role model for a lean organization heavily. This case study analyzes retrospectively how the carmaker deviated from their original organizational configuration that was distinctive for its lean management system. We illustrate how managerial decisions geared towards extensive growth and globalization distorted complementarities among central elements of the Toyota Way, and ultimately caused organizational misfit. Whereas most of the literature on complementarities and organizational fit has emphasized processes of adaptation and evolution toward internal fit or misfit that are triggered by exogenous environmental changes, our case study of Toyota shows that external misfit can also be the unintended consequence of deliberate changes in the firm’s system of interdependent choices

Canal Cristae Growth and Fiber Extension to the Outer Hair Cells of the Mouse Ear Require Prox1 Activity

Background: The homeobox gene Prox1 is required for lens, retina, pancreas, liver, and lymphatic vasculature development and is expressed in inner ear supporting cells and neurons. Methodology/Principal Findings: We have investigated the role of Prox1 in the developing mouse ear taking advantage of available standard and conditional Prox1 mutant mouse strains using Tg(Pax2-Cre) and Tg(Nes-Cre). A severe reduction in the size of the canal cristae but not of other vestibular organs or the cochlea was identified in the E18.5 Prox1Flox/Flox; Tg(Pax2-Cre) mutant ear. In these mutant embryos, hair cell differentiated; however, their distribution pattern was slightly disorganized in the cochlea where the growth of type II nerve fibers to outer hair cells along Prox1 expressing supporting cells was severely disrupted. In the case of Nestin-Cre, we found that newborn Prox1Flox/Flox; Tg(Nestin-Cre) exhibit only a disorganized innervation of outer hair cells despite apparently normal cellular differentiation of the organ of Corti, suggesting a cell-autonomous function of Prox1 in neurons. Conclusions/Significance: These results identify a dual role of Prox1 during inner ear development; growth of the canal cristae and fiber guidance of Type II fibers along supporting cells in the cochlea.Bernd Fritzsch, Miriam Dillard, Alfonso Lavado, Natasha L. Harvey, Israt Jaha

Strength Training Prior to Endurance Exercise: Impact on the Neuromuscular System, Endurance Performance and Cardiorespiratory Responses

This study aimed to investigate the acute effects of two strength-training protocols on the neuromuscular and cardiorespiratory responses during endurance exercise. Thirteen young males (23.2 ± 1.6 years old) participated in this study. The hypertrophic strength-training protocol was composed of 6 sets of 8 squats at 75% of maximal dynamic strength. The plyometric strength-training protocol was composed of 6 sets of 8 jumps performed with the body weight as the workload. Endurance exercise was performed on a cycle ergometer at a power corresponding to the second ventilatory threshold until exhaustion. Before and after each protocol, a maximal voluntary contraction was performed, and the rate of force development and electromyographic parameters were assessed. After the hypertrophic strength-training and plyometric strength-training protocol, significant decreases were observed in the maximal voluntary contraction and rate of force development, whereas no changes were observed in the electromyographic parameters. Oxygen uptake and a heart rate during endurance exercise were not significantly different among the protocols. However, the time-to-exhaustion was significantly higher during endurance exercise alone than when performed after hypertrophic strength-training or plyometric strength-training (p <0.05). These results suggest that endurance performance may be impaired when preceded by strength-training, with no oxygen uptake or heart rate changes during the exercise

The geometrical shape of mesenchymal stromal cells measured by quantitative shape descriptors is determined by the stiffness of the biomaterial and by cyclic tensile forces

Controlling mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) shape is a novel method for investigating and directing MSC behaviour in vitro. it was hypothesized that specifigc MSC shapes can be generated by using stiffnessâ defined biomaterial surfaces and by applying cyclic tensile forces. Biomaterials used were thin and thick silicone sheets, fibronectin coating, and compacted collagen type I sheets. The MSC morphology was quantified by shape descriptors describing dimensions and membrane protrusions. Nanoscale stiffness was measured by atomic force microscopy and the expression of smooth muscle cell (SMC) marker genes (ACTA2, TAGLN, CNN1) by quantitative reverseâ transcription polymerase chain reaction. Cyclic stretch was applied with 2.5% or 5% amplitudes. Attachment to biomaterials with a higher stiffness yielded more elongated MSCs with fewer membrane protrusions compared with biomaterials with a lower stiffness. For cyclic stretch, compacted collagen sheets were selected, which were associated with the most elongated MSC shape across all investigated biomaterials. As expected, cyclic stretch elongated MSCs during stretch. One hour after cessation of stretch, however, MSC shape was rounder again, suggesting loss of stretchâ induced shape. Different shape descriptor values obtained by different stretch regimes correlated significantly with the expression levels of SMC marker genes. Values of approximately 0.4 for roundness and 3.4 for aspect ratio were critical for the highest expression levels of ACTA2 and CNN1. Thus, specific shape descriptor values, which can be generated using biomaterialâ associated stiffness and tensile forces, can serve as a template for the induction of specific gene expression levels in MSC. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141253/1/term2263.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141253/2/term2263_am.pd

Ursinus College Alumni Journal, Winter 1945

Dedication • What kind of memorial? • Alumni Day, 1946 • President\u27s page • Ursinus celebrates 75th anniversary: Special convocation held • Commencement exercises • Opening exercises, 76th academic year • Ursinus College Woman\u27s Club plans many activities • Sports revue • Gold star men of Ursinus • Salutation • Our foreign correspondents • Letter to the alumni • College entertains Navy unit • Returned to civilian status • News about ourselves • Necrology • Alumni Association executive committee creates reserve fund • Specialist in weather forecasting • Honored men of Ursinushttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/alumnijournal/1023/thumbnail.jp