Building a Talent Pipeline: Development of the ‘Alltech Mini-MBA’

Alltech, Executive Education, MBA, Agribusiness, Industrial Organization,

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

Building a Talent Pipeline: Development of the ‘Alltech Mini-MBA’

By the time Alltech had reached its twentieth anniversary, the Company’s growth had surpassed even the ambitious goals of its founder, Pearse Lyons. This success, however, has led to a dilemma faced by many corporate leaders—a need to create a new cadre of managers who can take the company forward. After analyzing how best to fill this gap a commitment was made to build a highly customized, internal education program using lecture, case study and project-based learning processes. Developing staff management skills, increasing loyalty and empowering complex decision making have been some of the rewards realized from this commitment. Backed by senior management, Alltech has used lessons learned from the mini-MBA to shape its future strategy. This paper examines the options Alltech explored, the model it chose, and the costs and benefits of adopting an executive education program in agribusiness

Can Agribusiness Feed 3 Billion New People…and Save the Planet? A GLIMPSE into the Future

The challenge of feeding another three billion people within the next 40 years clearly meets the definition of a ‘wicked problem’. Agribusinesses have been seen as part of the problem, pursuing short-term gains at the expense of human development and the environment. We argue that private sector, market-driven solutions are an essential component to meeting this challenge. Combining a literature review with interviews from a panel of 24 agribusiness ‘experts’, we identify seven key barriers which impede our ability to feed nine billion people on earth. Collected under the acronym GLIMPSE, they help to frame the obstacles and identify the opportunities. This is an important step towards harnessing the power of the marketplace so that agribusinesses can bring together the creativity, determination, and technology similar to the ‘miracle of the cerrados’ in Brazil to bear on the challenge of feeding the three billion additional people that will join our world by 2050

Building a Talent Pipeline: Development of the ‘Alltech Mini-MBA’

By the time Alltech had reached its twentieth anniversary, the Company’s growth had surpassed even the ambitious goals of its founder, Pearse Lyons. This success, however, has led to a dilemma faced by many corporate leaders – a need to create a new cadre of managers who can take the company forward. After analyzing how best to fill this gap, a commitment was made to build a highly customized, internal education program using lecture, case study and project-based learning processes. Developing staff management skills, increasing loyalty and empowering complex decision-making have been some of the rewards realized from this commitment. Backed by senior management, Alltech has used lessons learned from the mini-MBA to shape its future strategy. This paper examines the options Alltech explored, the model it chose, and the costs and benefits of adopting an executive education program in agribusiness

When Amazon ate Whole Foods: big changes for Big Food

The grocery store is ground zero in the tsunami of change facing Big Food. Consumers are changing how they relate to grocery stores, increasingly circling the perimeter, focusing on produce and preferentially choosing fresh, local, and new, even unknown, brands while spending less time in the processed food aisles in the center. The next generation, the millenials, are increasingly shunning traditional outlets when buying food. Traditional leading brands of processed food, backed by traditional marketing strategies (heavy advertising on traditional media, coupons, brand extensions, etc.) are failing to hold on to their customers. The challenges can be found throughout the food value chain, from new competitors for grocery providers to new delivery mechanisms, from changes in generational food preferences with social media platforms to express their preferences to farmers who increasingly can and want to communicate directly with the end-users who actually eat the food that they produce. This access to more information opens more options (and opportunities) to buyers and suppliers all along the food value chain. Barely 100 years old, the grocery store model is becoming obsolete, and with it the organization of the food value chain must be re-written. So what does that mean for Big Food and the food supply chain? What directions can the industry take to adjust to the new competitive realities? This paper offers direction and guidance for Big Food and other producers in the food supply chain

A Seismic Change: Land Control in Africa. Is this a Wake Up Call for Agribusiness?

Africa has often been described as the 'forgotten continent' but dramatic changes have occurred in African agribusiness over the last ten years. On the one hand, the greatest transfer of land ownership since the colonial era continues apace. These deals are sometimes seen as a land grab, or new form of colonialism. On the other hand this new investment and the involvement of large scale agribusiness also offers the potential of bringing new technologies and techniques to the region. Could this technology transfer help Africa to replicate the Brazilian ‘miracle’? The wider agricultural community, more familiar with tales of feuds and famine in Africa, has largely overlooked many of these changes, but this paper argues that it behoves the Agribusiness community to understand what is happening, and to ask: is it time for Agribusinesses to invest in Africa

GLIMPSE 2.0: A framework to feed the world

Five years ago a new acronym GLIMPSE was proposed in the International Food and Agribusiness Management Review to summarize the seven barriers faced by agriculture in its quest to feed the world, based on interviews of 25 agribusiness experts. Through an iterative, grounded theory methodology the original research that led to the GLIMPSE framework was validated, deepened and expanded. The new research made minor revisions to the original GLIMPSE, but confirmed it as an effective framework to explain to an interested public how agriculture can tackle the planet’s nutritional requirements if certain constraints are addressed. Specifically, international policy makers, governments, non-governmental organization, charities, industry organizations, integrated food companies and farmers often struggle to explain the complex challenges agribusiness faces, and in this respect the GLIMPSE framework allows all stakeholders to describe the main challenges agriculture faces on its journey to feed almost 10 billion people by 2050