89 research outputs found

    Learning from Trump and Xi? Globalization and innovation as drivers of a new industrial policy. Bertelsmann GED Focus 2020

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    Technological innovations are essential drivers of longterm and sustainable growth. Accordingly, there currently is a debate in Germany and the EU as to whether a new, strategic industrial policy can be an answer to the complex dynamics of digitization. Products of this discussion are, for example, the Industrial Strategy 2030 published by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy in November 2019 and the Franco-German Manifesto for a European Industrial Policy for the 21st Century. The focus here is on the question of how the EU and its member states can maintain their innovative and thus competitive ability in the face of diverse challenges. However, there is no standard recipe for building and expanding the innovative capacity of an economy. Different countries rely on different strategies that can be equally successful. An important distinguishing feature is the role of the state. A clear example of divergent innovation models are China and the USA. Although both countries have completely different approaches to an innovation-promoting industrial policy, both models are characterized by major technological successes. With an analysis of the Chinese and American innovation system, this study highlights the main features and success factors of both innovation models and discusses whether and to what extent these factors are transferable to the European and German case. Five fields of action for an innovation-promoting industrial policy in the EU and Germany emerge from this analysis • Implementation of a long-term innovation strategy • Expansion of venture capital • Expansion of cluster approaches at EU level • Thinking and strengthening of cybersecurity at EU level • Creation of uniform and fair conditions for competition In addition to these fields of action, which are relevant both for the EU and for individual member states, industrial policy measures in the following three areas could be useful for Germany. In particular: • Improvement of framework conditions for research and development • Gearing the education and research system more strongly towards entrepreneurship and innovation • State as a pioneer and trailblazer in new technologies In their implementation, however, strategic European and German industrial policies face a trade-off between the protection and promotion of legitimate self-interests on the one hand and the defense against economically damaging protectionism and ill-considered state interventionism on the other. The so-called “mission orientation” can make a significant contribution here: Accordingly, industrial policy should serve to address specific societal challenges (e. g. globalization, digitization, demographic change, climate change) and be coherently targeted towards these objectives. Furthermore, industrial policy is to be driven in parallel by different actors. Above all, it is a joint task of business and politics to enable a competitive business location where the state ensures good competition- promoting framework conditions and the private actors implement concrete actions

    New Luxury Ideologies: A Shift From Building Cultural to Social Capital

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    This paper helps academics and practitioners understand the shift from traditional to new ideologies in luxury fashion. By tracing the workings of traditional luxury ideologies and unpacking the impact of digital and social media, the article explains why social capital has become a primary resource for brands and a core constituent of new luxury ideologies. It also unveils three traits of brands building social capital which might be of prime influence, and illustrates them in three case studies with luxury fashion brands Gucci, Noah and Pyer Moss. Academics can build on the findings with further theoretical development. We also raise important implications for marketing practitioners, who can rely on such for building stronger luxury brands

    Spironolactone and colitis: Increased mortality in rodents and in humans

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    Background: Crohn's disease causes intestinal inflammation leading to intestinal fibrosis. Spironolactone is an antifibrotic medication commonly used in heart failure to reduce mortality. We examined whether spironolactone is antifibrotic in the context of intestinal inflammation. Methods: In vitro, spironolactone repressed fibrogenesis in transforming growth factor beta (TGF‐β)‐stimulated human colonic myofibroblasts. However, spironolactone therapy significantly increased mortality in two rodent models of inflammation‐induced intestinal fibrosis, suggesting spironolactone could be harmful during intestinal inflammation. Since inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients rarely receive spironolactone therapy, we examined whether spironolactone use was associated with mortality in a common cause of inflammatory colitis, Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). Results: Spironolactone use during CDI infection was associated with increased mortality in a retrospective cohort of 4008 inpatients (15.9% vs. 9.1%, n = 390 deaths, P < 0.0001). In patients without liver disease, the adjusted odds ratio (OR) for inpatient mortality associated with 80 mg spironolactone was 1.99 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.51–2.63) In contrast to the main effect of spironolactone mortality, multivariate modeling revealed a protective interaction between liver disease and spironolactone dose. The adjusted OR for mortality after CDI was 1.96 (95% CI: 1.50–2.55) for patients without liver disease on spironolactone vs. 1.28 (95% CI: 0.82–2.00) for patients with liver disease on spironolactone when compared to a reference group without liver disease or spironolactone use. Conclusions: We propose that discontinuation of spironolactone in patients without liver disease during CDI could reduce hospital mortality by 2‐fold, potentially reducing mortality from CDI by 35,000 patients annually across Europe and the U.S. (Inflamm Bowel Dis 2011;)Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/92045/1/21929_ftp.pd

    Pathogenesis, diagnosis and management of pneumorrhachis

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    Pneumorrhachis (PR), the presence of intraspinal air, is an exceptional but eminent radiographic finding, accompanied by different aetiologies and possible pathways of air entry into the spinal canal. By reviewing the literature and analysing a personal case of traumatic cervical PR after head injury, we present current data regarding the pathoanatomy, clinical and radiological presentation, diagnosis and differential diagnosis and treatment modalities of patients with PR and associated pathologies to highlight this uncommon phenomenon and outline aetiology-based guidelines for the practical management of PR. Air within the spinal canal can be divided into primary and secondary PR, descriptively classified into extra- or intradural PR and aetiologically subsumed into iatrogenic, traumatic and nontraumatic PR. Intraspinal air is usually found isolated not only in the cervical, thoracic and, less frequently, the lumbosacral regions but can also be located in the entire spinal canal. PR is almost exceptional associated with further air distributions in the body. The pathogenesis and aetiologies of PR are multifold and can be a diagnostic challenge. The diagnostic procedure should include spinal CT, the imaging tool of choice. PR has to be differentiated from free intraspinal gas collections and the coexistence of air and gas within the spinal canal has to be considered differential diagnostically. PR usually represents an asymptomatic epiphenomenon but can also be symptomatic by itself as well as by its underlying pathology. The latter, although often severe, might be concealed and has to be examined carefully to enable adequate patient treatment. The management of PR has to be individualized and frequently requires a multidisciplinary regime

    Co-creating fashion spaces

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    Recent developments in digital technology and consumer culture have created new opportunities for retail and brand event concepts which create value by offering more than solely marketing or transactions, but rather a place where passion is shared. This chapter will define the concept of ‘fashion space’ and consumer experience, and delves into strategies for creating experiences that both align with a brand’s ethos and identity and build brand communities. It will provide insight on creating strong shared brand experiences that integrate physical and digital spaces, AR and VR. These insights can be used for consumer spaces but also for media and buyer events, runway shows, test labs and showrooms. Since its launch in 2007, international fashion brand COS has focused on creating fashion spaces that build and reinforce a COS fashion community. COS retail stores with their extraordinary architecture, both traditional and contemporary, contribute stories and facilitate intense brand experiences. Moreover, COS’ dedication to share the artistic inspirations of its people led to collaborating on interactive and multi-sensory installations which allow consumers to affectively connect to the brand’s personality and values. Thus, the brand was able to establish itself firmly in the lifestyle of its customers, facilitating and developing their aesthetics and values. This is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge/CRC Press in "Communicating Fashion Brands. Theoretical and Practical Perspectives" on 03-03-2020, available online: https://www.routledge.com/Communicating-Fashion-Brands-Theoretical-and-Practical-Perspectives/Huggard-Cope/p/book/9781138613560. LinkedIn: https://nl.linkedin.com/in/overdiek1234

    Lokale Helden in de retail: Wie zijn ze en wat hebben ze nodig?

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    Het winkellandschap in Nederland verandert in steeds sneller tempo. En de binnensteden veranderen mee. Door de voortschrijdende digitalisering ontstaan nieuwe manieren van communiceren en leveren. Nieuwe generaties zoals millennials (20-40 jaar) en nieuwe ouderen tonen een ander winkelgedrag dan voorgaande generaties. In de grotere steden met een regionale functie en in de Randstad hebben de veranderingen in de retail een ander gezicht: grote, vaak internationale merken en ketens nemen het terrein over. Dit is een mooie ontwikkeling voor de Nederlandse consument die zich op sociale media, via blogs en online communities, identificeert met de lifestyle en producten van deze merken. De consument kan het merk nu ook in een fysieke winkel ervaren en de producten kopen. Keerzijde is wel dat binnensteden hun gezicht verliezen als er geen kleine, authentieke winkels overblijven. Dergelijke lokale winkels geven kleur aan de stad. Kleine ondernemers die met dit soort winkels starten – of bestaande winkelconcepten innoveren – noemen we ‘lokale helden’. Lokale helden zijn micro-ondernemers met minder dan tien mensen in dienst. Tegenwoordig wordt bijna driekwart van alle fysieke winkels in Nederland gerund door micro-ondernemers. Velen van hen zijn traditionele ondernemers die het product – dat ze in hun fysieke winkels aanbieden aan hun klanten – als centrale waarde zien. Lokale helden zijn nieuwe creatieve ondernemers, met andere talenten dan traditionele retailondernemers. Ze hebben dan ook een creatief imago. Zonder lokale helden is het onderscheidend vermogen van steden ver te zoeken. Ze geven kleur aan winkelgebieden, naast horeca en cultuur. Voldoende reden voor De Haagse Hogeschool om lokale helden te volgen. We wilden uitvinden wie ze zijn en wat ze nodig hebben om succesvol te groeien als ondernemer. Hoe kunnen startende creatieve ondernemers zorgen dat ze vanuit een tijdelijke locatie of pop-upstore doorgroeien met een duurzaam businessmodel, ook al moeten ze meer huur betalen? Hoe kunnen gemeenten hun beleid beter afstemmen op lokale helden, ook als er geen lege op te vullen zijn? Dit boekje valt deze nieuwe inzichten samen en vertaalt ze naar concrete handvatten – voor lokale helden in spe, maar ook voor beleidsmakers die meer lokale helden naar hun stad willen trekken. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/overdiek12345

    Fashionable Interventions: The Pop-up Store as Differential Space

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    What is a pop-up store and how can it be used for organisational counterspacing? The pop-up can be interpreted as a fashionable and hypermodern platform focusing on the needs of a younger generation of consumers that searches for new experiences and is prone to ad hoc decision-making. From this perspective, the pop-up is a typical expression of the experience economy. But it is more. The ephemeral pop-up store, usually lasting from one day to six months, is also a spatial practice on the boundary between place as something stable/univocal and space as something transitory/polyphonic. Organizational theory has criticized the idea of a stable place and proposed the concept of spacing with a focus on the becoming of space. In this article, the pop-up store is introduced as a fashionable intervention into organizational spacing. It suggests a complementary perspective to non-representational theory and frames the pop-up as co-actor engaging everyday users in appropriating space. Drawing on Lefebvre’s notions of differential space, festival and evental moment, theory is revisited and then operationalized in two pop-up store experiments. Apart from contributing to the ongoing theoretical exploration of the spacing concept, this article aims to inspire differential pop-up practices in organisations. https://www.linkedin.com/in/overdiek12345
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