Exploring the Cognitive Nature of Boards of Directors and Its Implication for Board Effectiveness

In this paper we propose a theoretical framework that emphasizes the development of a shared mental model (SMM) of a board of directors and its impact on board effectiveness and suggest that the accuracy and scope of the SMM in a board will moderate the relationship between a board’s SMM and board effectiveness. Also, we examine the impact of task and relationship conflict on the development of a SMM. Finally, we examine three board attributes (board size, CEO duality, and the proportion of outside directors on a board) as antecedents to the development of conflict among board members.Boards of directors, corporate governance, shared mental models

Small Business Solutions: Building and Leveraging a Competitive Intelligence Capability Without Going Broke

The interest in and use of Competitive Intelligence (CI) programs is increasing among small businesses. While small businesses/ace certain limitations in terms of resources, staff, time, and expertise, they are still able to design and utilize a Cl program  that will address their unique challenges and needs. This article presents a framework and set of guidelines that can be used by small businesses interested in designing or strengthening their competitive intelligence (Cl) program

Report of the panel on plate motion and deformation, section 2

Given here is a panel report on the goals and objectives, requirements and recommendations for the investigation of plate motion and deformation. The goals are to refine our knowledge of plate motions, study regional and local deformation, and contribute to the solution of important societal problems. The requirements include basic space-positioning measurements, the use of global and regional data sets obtained with space-based techniques, topographic and geoid data to help characterize the internal processes that shape the planet, gravity data to study the density structure at depth and help determine the driving mechanisms for plate tectonics, and satellite images to map lithology, structure and morphology. The most important recommendation of the panel is for the implementation of a world-wide space-geodetic fiducial network to provide a systematic and uniform measure of global strain

Gender and age differences among current smokers in a general population survey

BACKGROUND: Evidence suggests a higher proportion of current smokers among female than among male ever smokers at the age above 50. However, little is known about the proportion of current smokers among ever smokers in old age groups with consideration of women in comparison to men from general population samples. The goal was to analyze the proportions of current smokers among female and among male ever smokers including those older than 80. METHODS: Cross-sectional survey study with a national probability household sample in Germany. Data of 179,472 participants aged 10 or older were used based on face-to-face in-home interviews or questionnaires. The proportions of current smokers among ever smokers were analyzed dependent on age, age of onset of smoking and cigarettes per day including effect modification by gender. RESULTS: Proportions of current smokers tended to be larger among female than among male ever smokers aged 40 or above. Women compared to men showed adjusted odds ratios of 1.7 to 6.9 at ages 40 to 90 or older in contrast to men. No such interaction existed for age of onset of smoking or cigarettes per day. CONCLUSION: Special emphasis should be given to current smokers among the female general population at the age of 40 or above in public health intervention

Attempted re-establishment of a sooty tern Onychoprion fuscatus breeding colony on Denis Island, Seychelles

Seychelles supports around three million nesting pairs of sooty terns. However, there have been recent declines and the colonies continue to face ongoing threats from habitat change and excessive commercial harvesting of their eggs, as well as potential threats by commercial fishing and climate change. A possible method to counter these threats is to re-establish breeding colonies on islands from which they have disappeared. An attempt was made to attract birds to a previously occupied island through habitat management, decoy birds and playback of recorded sooty tern calls. Habitat preparation involved predator eradication and tree removal to provide open ground with bare sandy areas and low herb vegetation. Overflying birds were attracted by broadcast calls, with some circling over and landing among the decoys. Large three-dimensional plastic models were superior to other models presented. This study demonstrated that large numbers of birds can be attracted by these means and that the birds then undertook behaviour associated with breeding, including egg laying by a few birds. However, after five seasons a breeding colony has not yet been established; one possible cause is the emergence of unexpected egg predators, common moorhen Gallinula chloropus and common myna Acridotheres tristis

Fault healing inferred from time dependent variations in source properties of repeating earthquakes

We analyze two sets of repeating earthquakes on the Calaveras fault to estimate in-situ rates of fault strengthening (healing). Earthquake recurrence intervals t, range from 3 to 803 days. Variations in relative moment and duration are combined to study changes in stress drop, rupture dimension, rupture velocity, and particle velocity as a function of tr. Healing rates and source variations are compared with predictions of laboratory derived friction laws. Two interpretations of event duration τ are used: one in which τ: is given by the ratio of slip to particle velocity and one in which it scales as rupture dimension divided by rupture velocity. Our data indicate that faults strengthen during the interseismic period. We infer that source dimension decreases with tr due to aseismic creep within the region surrounding the repeatinge vents. Stress drop increases 1-3MPa per decade increase in tr, which represents an increase of a factor of 2-3 relative to events with tr between 10 and 100 days. This rate of fault healing is consistent with extrapolations of laboratory measurements of healing rates if fault strength is high, on order of 60MPa, ands tress drop is roughly 10% of this value