Corporate Entrepreneurship: Building a Knowledge-Based View of the Firm

Increasing globalisation and dynamism in the economy has made it necessary for established companies to regenerate themselves and renew their ability to compete. This is the goal of Corporate Entrepreneurship (CE) activities, which involve extending the firm’s domain of competence and corresponding opportunity set, through internally generated new resource combinations. The purpose of this study is to contribute to the understanding of the way the process of CE is developed within the organizations. In order to achieve this, a model relating key components of the CE process (opportunity, initiative and capability) to five phases of knowledge creation taken from Nonaka & Takeuchi is proponed.organizational knowledge creation; corporate entrepreneurship; knowledge-base view; innovation; development of capabilities

Temporal and spatial variations in the quality of water in El Gergal Reservior, Seville, Spain

It is often difficult to define ‘water quality’ with any degree of precision. One approach is that suggested by Battarbee (1997) and is based on the extent to which individual lakes have changed compared with their natural ‘baseline’ status. Defining the base-line status of artificial lakes and reservoirs however, is, very difficult. In ecological terms, the definition of quality must include some consideration of their functional characteristics and the extent to which these characteristics are self-sustaining. The challenge of managing lakes in a sustainable way is particularly acute in semi-arid, Mediterranean countries. Here the quality of the water is strongly influenced by the unpredictability of the rainfall as well as year-to-year variations in the seasonal averages. Wise management requires profound knowledge of how these systems function. Thus a holistic approach must be adopted and the factors influencing the seasonal dynamics of the lakes quantified over a range of spatial and temporal scales. In this article, the authors describe some of the ways in which both long-term and short-term changes in the weather have influenced the seasonal and spatial dynamics of phytoplankton in El Gergal, a water supply reservoir situated in the south of Spain. The quality of the water stored in this reservoir is typically very good but surface blooms of algae commonly appear during warm, calm periods when the water level is low. El Gergal reservoir is managed by the Empresa Municipal de Abastecimiento y Saneamiento (EMASESA) and supplies water for domestic, commercial and industrial use to an area which includes the city of Seville and twelve of its surrounding towns (ca. 1.3 million inhabitants). El Gergal is the last of two reservoirs in a chain of four situated in the Rivera de Huelva basin, a tributary of the Guadalquivir river. It was commissioned by EMASESA in 1979 and since then the company has monitored its main limnological parameters on, at least, a monthly basis and used this information to improve the management of the reservoir. As a consequence of these intensive studies the physical, chemical and biological information acquired during this period makes the El Gergal database one of the most complete in Spain. In this article the authors focus on three ‘weather-related’ effects that have had a significant impact on the composition and distribution of phytoplankton in El Gergal: (i) the changes associated with severe droughts; (ii) the spatial variations produced by short-term changes in the weather; (iii) the impact of water transfers on the seasonal dynamics of the dinoflagellate Ceratium

El desarrollo financiero como medida de reducción de la informalidad en países en vías de desarrollo (2007-2017)

El presente estudio propone al desarrollo financiero como mecanismo para la reducción de la informalidad en países en desarrollo. Se presenta evidencia teórica y empírica acerca de la relación negativa existente entre los dos temas mencionados y se toma, para ello, una muestra de 29 países de ingresos medio altos para el periodo 2007-2017. Asimismo, para fines de comprobar las hipótesis, se aplica un modelo econométrico de datos de panel con efectos aleatorios, con el cual es posible concluir que, usando la oferta monetaria M2 como variable de medición del desarrollo financiero, este último impacta negativamente en la informalidad logrando un crecimiento económico para los países de la muestra en el largo plazo. Por esta razón, es recomendable que las autoridades de los países en desarrollo incentiven la inclusión financiera en sus economías mediante la creación de nuevos instrumentos financieros o potenciamiento de los ya existentes, la reducción de restricciones crediticias y/o la articulación de las instituciones gubernamentales. Sin embargo, este impulso al sector financiero logrará una reducción considerable de informalidad únicamente si se ve acompañado de cambios institucionales y de reformas de gasto público.The present study proposes financial development as a mechanism for the reduction of informality in developing countries. It shows theoretical and empirical evidence of the negative relationship between the two issues, taking a sample of 29 upper middle-income countries for the period 2007-2017. Likewise, in order to test the hypotheses, an econometric model of panel data with random effects is applied, with which it is possible to conclude that, using the broad money as a measurement variable of financial development, the latter negatively impacts informality achieving economic growth for the countries in the sample in the long term. For this reason, it is recommended that the authorities of developing countries encourage financial inclusion in their economies through the creation of new financial instruments or the strengthening of existing ones, the reduction of credit restrictions and/or the articulation of government institutions. However, this drive to the financial sector will achieve a considerable reduction in informality only if it is accompanied by institutional changes and public expenditure reforms

Phytoplankton patchiness in two shallow waterbodies

The hydrodynamic behaviour in lentic ecosystems is closely related with the spatial and temporal evolution of their physical, chemical and biological characteristics. Because of this, and in order to improve our present knowledge on the limnological dynamics of such ecosystems, a coupled analysis on the relationship between the biological patterns and the governing hydrodynamics mechanisms it is necessary. This paper uses both field analysis and numerical simulation to describe the links between the water movements and the phytoplankton spatial distribution on two shallow waterbodies in the South of Spain: Alhama de Granada Reservoir (Granada) and Laguna Nueva de la Albufera de Adra (Almería). In both systems the observed phytoplankton spatial distribution exhibited dynamic patterns forced by hydrodynamical transport processes. The knowledge of this physical-biological coupling could be useful to outline the basic guidelines for water quality management.Los ecosistemas acuáticos leníticos se caracterizan por un intenso acoplamiento entre los mecanismos de transporte hidrodinámico que en ellos ocurren y la evolución espacial y temporal de sus principales variables físico-químicas y biológicas. En consecuencia y con el objetivo de mejorar nuestro entendimiento sobre la dinámica limnológica de este tipo de sistemas, resulta necesario el desarrollo de análisis interdisciplinares que profundicen en esta estrecha relación hidrodinámica-biología. En este trabajo se analiza, a partir de estudios de campo y simulaciones numéricas, el acoplamiento entre el movimiento de la masa fluida a nivel de macroescala y la distribución espacial del fitoplancton en dos ecosistemas acuáticos someros del Sur de España : el embalse de Alhama de Granada (Granada) y la Laguna Nueva de la Albufera de Adra (Almería). En ambos sistemas se han encontrado patrones dinámicos de distribución espacial de las microalgas, íntimamente relacionados con la dinámica de la masa de agua. El conocimiento de este acoplamiento resulta útil en la definición de líneas básicas para la adecuada gestión de la calidad del agua

Analgesic and physiological effects in conscious sedation with different nitrous oxide concentrations

Objectives: to study the physiological changes, as well as the psychosedative and analgesic effects of nitrous oxide, in experimental conditions. Study Design: 101 dental students volunteers participated in a single nitrous oxide sedation session without dental treatment. Signs and symptoms were registered during and after the procedure. Pulse rate and hemoglobin oxygen saturation were monitored at: 100 per cent O 2 , 30 per cent N 2 O, 50 per cent N 2 O and 5 minutes after 100 per cent O 2 . A Likert scale was used to evaluate pain perception. The analgesic effects of nitrous oxide were evaluated at: 30 per cent N 2 O, 50 per cent N 2 O, and five minutes postoperatively. Results: Pulse rate and hemoglobin oxygen saturation decreased significantly through all the procedure and after recovery. However, oxygen saturation recovered after the final oxygenation. Only 8.2% of subjects reported the pain stimulus as being quite annoying when they inhaled 30 per cent N 2 O, while this percentage was of 15.8 % when inhaling 50 per cent N 2 O, and of 32.7 % during the recovery period. The most common effects of nitrous oxide sedation were bright eyes (99%), voice change (98%) and smiling (91%). Most of the subjects reported tingling (98%) and relax (91.1%) Conclusions: nitrous oxide causes a significant decrease in heart rate and oxygen saturation, but always within safety limits. Maintaining an appropriate level of consciousness was confirmed as a feature in 50 per cent dose in this study. The analgesic effect of nitrous oxide was confirmed but a dose dependency could not be established

An analysis according to game principles

Background: In the last few decades, Nonlinear Pedagogy (NLP) has emerged with the goal to promote a holistic approach through the use of Small-Sided Games (SSG), to optimize specific tactical defensive and offensive behaviours of players. These SSG are designed through the manipulation of relevant task constraints. Specifically, the balance on the number of outfield players is a constraint that has been recently studied because it can change players’ behaviour. However, most of the studies in this domain have only analysed the acute effects of the manipulation of different SSG without any idea about the implications for learning or to improve the transfer between practice tasks to the context of performance. Purpose: The main purpose of this study was to understand the effect of the use of a task of numerical superiority in attack (5 vs 4; NS) before a task of equal number of player in comparison with the use of only two numerical equality (5 vs 5; NE) tasks. A second objective was to examine this effect according to the game principles: keep the ball possession and progress to the goal. Method: Twenty footballers (U14 yrs), grouped in teams of five players, participated in this study. Each team performed two different sequences of SSG (NS + NE and NE + NE) and in two different conditions regarding the game principle. 2176 actions were analysed. Decisionmaking was measured through the GPET instrument. Also, it was assessed the duration of ball possession and the number of ball touches through a hand notation analysis system. Results: Results show a tendency to decrease the offensive performance in the sequence (NS + NE). However, if we compare both initial situations, significant higher values were observed in the situation with NS. In addition, regarding the two final situations, there are hardly any differences between them. Conclusion: This study highlighted some key pedagogical principles of the constraints-led approach for designing training environment in team games. Coaches in formative stages should promote unequal game situations with superiority number of players in attack, to facilitate the decision-making and develop the technical skills thanks to a greater participation and a greater duration of ball possession. As learning progresses, coaches should design equal situations to facilitate an adaptation to the real game and promote long-term adaptations on players’ performance. Finally, the game principle is another constraint to take into account since it promotes variability and boosts the discovery and exploration of players’ movement solutions.This study has been carried out thanks to the contribution of the Junta de Extremadura through the European Regional Development Fund. A way to make Europe [GR18129].info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The effects of a nonlinear pedagogy training program in the technical-tactical behaviour of youth futsal players

The aim of this study was to analyse the effect of an intervention program, based on nonlinear pedagogy, on the decisionmaking and execution of different actions in futsal. The intervention program consisted of 12 training sessions. A quasiexperimental study was developed with eight male futsal players (M¼15.375, SD¼0.517). The GPET instrument was used to analyse the decision-making and execution of 3442 actions measured during competitive matches (pass, dribbling and shooting). Both variables were analysed with regard to the three tactical principles of attack: keep the ball possession, progression towards the goal and shooting at goal with the lowest level of opposition. With respect to the pass, results showed significantly higher values in decision-making and execution in the first and second principles, but not in the third one. In the dribbling action, results showed significantly higher values in decision-making in the second and third principle, but not in the first one. However, no significant differences were found in the shooting actions. These findings suggest that coaches should take into account in the task design, the tactical principles of play to develop tactical behaviour of youth futsal players.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

La richesse spécifique des rongeurs et celle des carnivores sont corrélées en Espagne

The diversity of ecological niches favours species coexistence, increasing species richness. Therefore, carnivore species richness should increase with prey species richness, as this represents more trophic niches for carnivores. We evaluated this hypothesis with data from peninsular Spain, by using General Linear Models. We controlled for five alternative explanations for such a relationship: climate, human activity, spatial autocorrelation, habitat heterogeneity, and spurious chance, which might prompt a positive correlation between carnivore and rodent species richness (its main prey). Results show that rodent species richness was positively correlated with carnivore species richness (r = 0.62). The correlation between carnivore species richness and rodent species richness was not caused by climate, human activity, spatial autocorrelation or habitat heterogeneity. Together, these factors explained 13.6 % of variation in carnivore species richness, while rodent species richness alone explained 26.2 % of variation (50.4 % of explained variance). Moreover, carnivore species richness was more correlated with rodent species richness than with 28 other vertebrate taxa, with a probability of 0.034 of this being by chance. In conclusion, this study presents evidence that higher prey species richness may promote higher carnivore species richness. The conservation of prey diversity, thus, may contribute to the conservation of carnivoresLa diversité des niches écologiques favorise la coexistence des espèces, accroissant la richesse spécifique. La richesse spécifique des carnivores devrait donc croître avec celle de leurs proies, en raison des niches trophiques ainsi ouvertes. Cette hypothèse a été évaluée à l'aide de modèles linéaires généralisés utilisant des données de l'Espagne péninsulaire. Cinq facteurs susceptibles de générer une corrélation positive entre la richesse spécifique des carnivores et celle de leurs principales proies, les rongeurs, ont été contrôlés: le climat, l'activité humaine, l'autocorrélation spatiale, l'hétérogénéité de l'habitat et les effets du hasard. Les résultats montrent que la richesse spécifique des rongeurs et celle des carnivores sont positivement corrélées (r 0,62) et que cette corrélation n'est due ni au climat, ni à l'activité humaine, ni à l'autocorrélation spatiale, ni à l'hétérogénéité de l'habitat. Ensemble, ces facteurs n'expliquent que 13,6 % de la variation de la richesse spécifique des carnivores alors que les rongeurs en expliquent 26,2 % (soit 50,4 % de la variance expliquée). De plus, la richesse spécifique des carnivores s'avère plus corrélée à celle des rongeurs qu'à celle de 28 autres taxons de vertébrés, la probabilité que ce soit le produit du hasard n'étant que de 0,034. En conclusion, cette étude met en évidence qu'une plus forte richesse spécifique des proies engendrerait une plus forte richesse spécifique des carnivores. La conservation de la densité des proies contribuerait ainsi à celle des carnivores