Resursers roll för tillväxt i små och medelstora företag

Tillväxt är ett mångfacetterat begrepp som idag mäts med olika mätinstrument såsom omsättning, resultat eller anställning. Olika mätverktyg gynnar företag olika och graden av tillväxt är beroende av hur och vad som egentligen mäts. Begreppets innebörd är även otydligt inom forskning då det definieras olika i olika studier. Problem uppstår därför när jämförelser mellan olika studier görs. Företag jämförs ofta med avseende på hur mycket de växer och de starkast växande företagen hyllas och ses som framgångssagor. I Sverige delar Dagens Industri årligen ut pris till årets snabbast växande företag och utser dessa till Gaseller. Dessa företag ses som inspirerande förebilder och mästare på lönsam tillväxt och anses bidra till tillväxt och till arbetstillfällen. Att Gaseller är mästare på lönsam tillväxt innebär att de inte bara växer utan också har förmågan hantera de problem som uppstår när ett företag blir större. Företag som växer stöter förr eller senare på hinder som en följd av förändring i organisationens storlek. Det är svårt att identifiera specifika resurser och hur dessa resurser ska användas för att skapa förutsättningar för företag att växa och övervinna de hinder och risker som är förknippade med att företag blir större. Denna uppsats syftar till att belysa hur olika resurser påverkar företags möjlighet att växa. De forskningsfrågor som ligger till grund för uppsatsen är; vad är tillväxt, finns det olika typer av tillväxt, vilka resurser kan leda till tillväxt, vilken roll har planeringen vid tillväxt och vad är entreprenörens roll vid tillväxt? För att besvara uppsatsens syfte och forskningsfrågor har en litteraturstudie genomförts med fokus på resurserna entreprenörskap och planering i små och medelstora företag som visar hög tillväxt. Då den här uppsatsen har en induktiv ansats ligger empirin till grund för de teorier som valts. Den huvudsakliga teorin som använts är den resursbaserade teorin, resources basad-view (RBV), presenterad av Penrose (1959). Utvidgningar av denna teori är VRIO och dynamic capabilities som tillsammans med Klofstens affärsplattform används för att diskutera det empiriska resultat uppsatsen kommit fram till. Uppsatsens resultat visar att de resurser som starkast påverkar företags förmåga att växa i tidigt stadie är entreprenören och dennes egenskaper. Vidare konstaterar vi att planering till stor del kan tillföra värden och förutsättningar för att växa, men i varierande grad. I uppsatsen kommer vi också fram till att företag enbart växer organisk och att tillväxt mäts på olika sätt. Hur tillväxt mäts beror till stor del på vad syftet med studien är. För att skapa en bra teoretisk grund för praktisk tillämpning bör noggranna och individuella studier göras med företagets mål och strategier som utgångspunkt.The term growth may have multiple meanings and is today measured in different ways by using various tools such as turnover, profits, employment, revenue, etc. Different measurement tools favour different companies and the rate of growth may depend on how it is measured. The concept of growth becomes even more unclear when researchers define growth in different ways. Companies are compared with regard to how much they grow and the strongest growing companies are praised as success stories. On a yearly basis Dagens Industri awards the fastest growing companies, labeled gazelles. These companies are seen as inspiring role models and masters of profitable growth who contribute to the country’s growth and employment. That the gazelles are masters of profitable growth means that they don’t only grow but also can handle the barriers, which occur when the companies gain in size. Companies who grow will sooner or later reach these barriers as a result of the organization’s size. It is hard to identify the specific resources needed and how to use these resources to create the conditions that the companies need to grow and overcome these barriers and risks that occur when companies are growing. This paper aims to highlight how different resources impact a company’s ability to grow. The research questions that form the basis of this paper are: what is growth, are there different types of growth, which resources can lead to growth, what role does business planning have with regards to growth, and, what is the entrepreneur’s role with regards to growth? To answer this paper’s purpose and research questions, a literature review has been conducted with a focus on resource entrepreneurship and planning in small- to medium-sized enterprises and their contribution to growth in small- and medium-sized enterprises. As this paper is based on an inductive approach, the empirical chapter been the basis for the theories selected. The main theory used is resource-based theory, resources-based view (RBV), presented by Penrose (1959), as well as extensions of this theory, which include VRIO and dynamic capabilities. These theories, in addition, to Klofsten’s business platform, are used to analyze and discuss the empirical results in this paper. The results in this paper demonstrate that the resource that most strongly affects the company’s ability to grow in the early stages is the entrepreneur and his or her qualities and capacity. Furthermore, it is noted that business planning can add value and potential to growth, but that the results may vary. In the paper, we found that companies only grow organically and that growth can be measured in various ways. How growth is measured largely depends on what the aims of the studies are. In order to create a good theoretical basis for practical studies, detailed and individual studies should be carried out based on the company goals and strategies as the starting point

Aquaculture-driven evolution of the salmon louse mtDNA genome

Resistance toward the antiparasitic pyrethroid, deltamethrin, is reported in the Atlantic salmon louse (Lepeophtheirus salmonis salmonis), a persistent ectoparasite of farmed and wild salmonids. The resistance mechanism is linked to mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), where genetic markers for resistance have been identified. Here, we investigated how widespread pyrethroid use in aquaculture may have influenced mtDNA variation in lice, and the dispersion of resistant haplotypes across the North Atlantic, using historical (2000–2002 “pre-resistance”) and contemporary (2014–2017 “post-resistance”) samples. To study this, we sequenced ATPase 6 and cytochrome b, genotyped two genetic markers for deltamethrin resistance, and genotyped microsatellites as “neutral” controls of potential population bottlenecks. Overall, we observed a modest reduction in mtDNA diversity in the period 2000–2017, but no reduction in microsatellite variation was observed. The reduction in mtDNA variation was especially distinct in two of the contemporary samples, fixed for one and two haplotypes, respectively. By contrast, all historical samples consisted of close to one mtDNA haplotype per individual. No population genetic structure was detected among the historical samples for mtDNA nor microsatellites. By contrast, significant population genetic differentiation was observed for mtDNA among some of the contemporary samples. However, the observed population genetic structure was tightly linked with the pattern of deltamethrin resistance, and we therefore conclude that it primarily reflects the transient mosaic of pyrethroid usage in time and space. Two historically undetected mtDNA haplotypes dominated in the contemporary samples, both of which were linked to deltamethrin resistance, demonstrating primarily two origins of deltamethrin resistance in the North Atlantic. Collectively, these data demonstrate that the widespread use of pyrethroids in commercial aquaculture has substantially altered the patterns of mtDNA diversity in lice across the North Atlantic, and that long-distance dispersion of resistance is rapid due to high level of genetic connectivity that is observed in this species.publishedVersio

Feedback modeling of non-esterified fatty acids in rats after nicotinic acid infusions

A feedback model was developed to describe the tolerance and oscillatory rebound seen in non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) plasma concentrations following intravenous infusions of nicotinic acid (NiAc) to male Sprague-Dawley rats. NiAc was administered as an intravenous infusion over 30 min (0, 1, 5 or 20 μmol kg−1 of body weight) or over 300 min (0, 5, 10 or 51 μmol kg−1 of body weight), to healthy rats (n = 63), and serial arterial blood samples were taken for measurement of NiAc and NEFA plasma concentrations. Data were analyzed using nonlinear mixed effects modeling (NONMEM). The disposition of NiAc was described by a two-compartment model with endogenous turnover rate and two parallel capacity-limited elimination processes. The plasma concentration of NiAc was driving NEFA (R) turnover via an inhibitory drug-mechanism function acting on the formation of NEFA. The NEFA turnover was described by a feedback model with a moderator distributed over a series of transit compartments, where the first compartment (M1) inhibited the formation of R and the last compartment (MN) stimulated the loss of R. All processes regulating plasma NEFA concentrations were assumed to be captured by the moderator function. The potency, IC50, of NiAc was 45 nmol L−1, the fractional turnover rate kout was 0.41 L mmol−1 min−1 and the turnover rate of moderator ktol was 0.027 min−1. A lower physiological limit of NEFA was modeled as a NiAc-independent release (kcap) of NEFA into plasma and was estimated to 0.032 mmol L−1 min−1. This model can be used to provide information about factors that determine the time-course of NEFA response following different modes, rates and routes of administration of NiAc. The proposed model may also serve as a preclinical tool for analyzing and simulating drug-induced changes in plasma NEFA concentrations after treatment with NiAc or NiAc analogues

Cause-specific mortality time series analysis: a general method to detect and correct for abrupt data production changes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Monitoring the time course of mortality by cause is a key public health issue. However, several mortality data production changes may affect cause-specific time trends, thus altering the interpretation. This paper proposes a statistical method that detects abrupt changes ("jumps") and estimates correction factors that may be used for further analysis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The method was applied to a subset of the AMIEHS (Avoidable Mortality in the European Union, toward better Indicators for the Effectiveness of Health Systems) project mortality database and considered for six European countries and 13 selected causes of deaths. For each country and cause of death, an automated jump detection method called Polydect was applied to the log mortality rate time series. The plausibility of a data production change associated with each detected jump was evaluated through literature search or feedback obtained from the national data producers.</p> <p>For each plausible jump position, the statistical significance of the between-age and between-gender jump amplitude heterogeneity was evaluated by means of a generalized additive regression model, and correction factors were deduced from the results.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Forty-nine jumps were detected by the Polydect method from 1970 to 2005. Most of the detected jumps were found to be plausible. The age- and gender-specific amplitudes of the jumps were estimated when they were statistically heterogeneous, and they showed greater by-age heterogeneity than by-gender heterogeneity.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The method presented in this paper was successfully applied to a large set of causes of death and countries. The method appears to be an alternative to bridge coding methods when the latter are not systematically implemented because they are time- and resource-consuming.</p

In-situ estimation of ice crystal properties at the South Pole using LED calibration data from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory instruments about 1 km3 of deep, glacial ice at the geographic South Pole using 5160 photomultipliers to detect Cherenkov light emitted by charged relativistic particles. A unexpected light propagation effect observed by the experiment is an anisotropic attenuation, which is aligned with the local flow direction of the ice. Birefringent light propagation has been examined as a possible explanation for this effect. The predictions of a first-principles birefringence model developed for this purpose, in particular curved light trajectories resulting from asymmetric diffusion, provide a qualitatively good match to the main features of the data. This in turn allows us to deduce ice crystal properties. Since the wavelength of the detected light is short compared to the crystal size, these crystal properties do not only include the crystal orientation fabric, but also the average crystal size and shape, as a function of depth. By adding small empirical corrections to this first-principles model, a quantitatively accurate description of the optical properties of the IceCube glacial ice is obtained. In this paper, we present the experimental signature of ice optical anisotropy observed in IceCube LED calibration data, the theory and parametrization of the birefringence effect, the fitting procedures of these parameterizations to experimental data as well as the inferred crystal properties.</p

TXS 0506+056 with Updated IceCube Data

Past results from the IceCube Collaboration have suggested that the blazar TXS 0506+056 is a potential source of astrophysical neutrinos. However, in the years since there have been numerous updates to event processing and reconstruction, as well as improvements to the statistical methods used to search for astrophysical neutrino sources. These improvements in combination with additional years of data have resulted in the identification of NGC 1068 as a second neutrino source candidate. This talk will re-examine time-dependent neutrino emission from TXS 0506+056 using the most recent northern-sky data sample that was used in the analysis of NGC 1068. The results of using this updated data sample to obtain a significance and flux fit for the 2014 TXS 0506+056 "untriggered" neutrino flare are reported

Galactic Core-Collapse Supernovae at IceCube: “Fire Drill” Data Challenges and follow-up

The next Galactic core-collapse supernova (CCSN) presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make astrophysical measurements using neutrinos, gravitational waves, and electromagnetic radiation. CCSNe local to the Milky Way are extremely rare, so it is paramount that detectors are prepared to observe the signal when it arrives. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory, a gigaton water Cherenkov detector below the South Pole, is sensitive to the burst of neutrinos released by a Galactic CCSN at a level >10σ. This burst of neutrinos precedes optical emission by hours to days, enabling neutrinos to serve as an early warning for follow-up observation. IceCube\u27s detection capabilities make it a cornerstone of the global network of neutrino detectors monitoring for Galactic CCSNe, the SuperNova Early Warning System (SNEWS 2.0). In this contribution, we describe IceCube\u27s sensitivity to Galactic CCSNe and strategies for operational readiness, including "fire drill" data challenges. We also discuss coordination with SNEWS 2.0

All-Energy Search for Solar Atmospheric Neutrinos with IceCube

The interaction of cosmic rays with the solar atmosphere generates a secondary flux of mesons that decay into photons and neutrinos – the so-called solar atmospheric flux. Although the gamma-ray component of this flux has been observed in Fermi-LAT and HAWC Observatory data, the neutrino component remains undetected. The energy distribution of those neutrinos follows a soft spectrum that extends from the GeV to the multi-TeV range, making large Cherenkov neutrino telescopes a suitable for probing this flux. In this contribution, we will discuss current progress of a search for the solar neutrino flux by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory using all available data since 2011. Compared to the previous analysis which considered only high-energy muon neutrino tracks, we will additionally consider events produced by all flavors of neutrinos down to GeV-scale energies. These new events should improve our analysis sensitivity since the flux falls quickly with energy. Determining the magnitude of the neutrino flux is essential, since it is an irreducible background to indirect solar dark matter searches