Relational quality: Managing trust in corporate alliances

The management literature has often argued that "trust" plays a key role in economic exchanges, particularly when one or another party is subject to the risk of opportunistic behaviour and incomplete monitoring, or when problems due to moral hazard or asymmetric information arise. These conditions are almost always present in the case of corporate alliances and joint ventures. We propose that one aspect of trust, what we call "relational quality", is fundamental to the maintenance of good working conditions in two-party alliances where past experience and the shadow of the future play important roles. Relying on a growing body of theory and a number of case studies, we develop a framework for thinking about trust in dynamic and practical terms. We conclude that a reservoir of relational quality exists in any such relationship, and that the level of trust implied in such a reservoir will not only influence whether and how future conflicts are resolved, but also is itself affected by the positive (or negative) resolution of such conflicts. Finally, we identify three elements that contribute to the relational quality reservoir in alliances: 1) the initial conditions surrounding the alliance formation; 2) the cumulative experience of the parties with each others' behaviours as the alliance unfolds; and 3) the impact that external events or behaviours outside the alliance's context have on the perceptions and attitudes the parties have about each other's trustworthiness. We conclude with some recommendations for more effective management of corporate alliances.corporate alliances; economic exchanges; monitoring;

EPR before EPR: a 1930 Einstein-Bohr thought experiment revisited

In 1930 Einstein argued against consistency of the time-energy uncertainty relation by discussing a thought experiment involving a measurement of mass of the box which emitted a photon. Bohr seemingly triumphed over Einstein by arguing that the Einstein's own general theory of relativity saves the consistency of quantum mechanics. We revisit this thought experiment from a modern point of view at a level suitable for undergraduate readership and find that neither Einstein nor Bohr was right. Instead, this thought experiment should be thought of as an early example of a system demonstrating nonlocal "EPR" quantum correlations, five years before the famous Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paper.Comment: 11 pages, revised, accepted for publication in Eur. J. Phy

Process issues in alliance management: A panel discussion.

The purpose in this series of papers is to examine different perspectives on the evolution of the process of collaboration and the management challenges therein by focusing on a single case experience. The literature on alliance and collaboration has grown immensely in the last few years. Much attention has been given to the economic rationale for intermediate organizational forms, the so-called «swollen middle» (Hennart, 1993) that lies between market and hierarchical solutions, and to the conditions under which such structures are optimal (Hennart, 1988; Balakrishnan & Koza, 1993; Buckley and Casson, 1996). More recently, there has been a virtual explosion in the treatment of the managerial challenges involved in inter-firm collaboration, ranging from issues of negotiation and conflict resolution to the role of strategic intent or prior experience, as well as numerous attempts to conceptualize and measure that most ephemeral and over-abused concept, trust. The initial paper in the series introduces the specifics of the case on which our discussion is based, and presents a view on the role that perceptions of efficiency and equity between the partners within a relationship have on the evolution of their collaboration. As elaborated in the paper, efficiency perceptions refer to the partners' views on the potential for value creation within the alliance, relative to other organizational choices. Equity perceptions relate to the expected balance between the partners' relative costs and benefits in the alliance, that is, the potential for fairness in value appropriation. The paper starts by summarizing the facts of a failed international joint venture, and chronicles the process of its disintegration through a series of events in its 3-year history. The concepts of efficiency and equity are then defined and formalized. Next, the authors provide their own interpretation of the case data and propose a structure for the analysis of the inter-partner relationship. Finally, they offer a model of the evolution of collaboration that is driven by the maintenance of relational quality among the partners, including the accommodation of changes in both the business environment and the strategies of the partners over time. The three other papers in the series elaborate on this interpretation and bring a broader set of concerns derived from each author's own research trajectory. Since two of these were responsible for earlier models on which the initial case analysis was based, they have a unique opportunity to revisit their original thinking and reinterpret it in view of the facts presented. They take a more dynamic view and incorporate more recent theoretical insights from the management process literature to the collaborative process. The last paper ventures beyond the dyadic framework of the original analysis to examine the lessons that can be drawn for broader networks of collaborative alliances. A final section on conclusions summarizes the arguments and suggests where there may be convergence, as well as proposing new avenues for research.alliances; evolution process collaboration; management challenges;

Efecto del sexo y el peso de faena sobre el perfil de ácidos grasos en carne

Existe una creciente preocupación por parte de los consumidores por cuestiones relacionadas a la nutrición y la salud. Por ser una importante fuente de proteína de alto valor biológico, vitaminas (A, B6, B12, D, y E) y minerales (hierro, zinc, y selenio) en la dieta humana, el valor nutricional de la carne bovina es solo cuestionado por su contenido graso, especialmente de ácidos grasos saturados (AGS) (Scollan et al., 2006). Así, las recomendaciones indican la necesidad de reducir el consumo total de grasas, particularmente la de AGS, e incrementar la proporción de ácidos grasos poli-insaturados (AGPI), especialmente los de la serie n-3 a expensas de los AGPI de la serie n-6. Es así que una relación AGPI/ AGS en la dieta superior a 0,45 y de AGPI n-6/ n-3 inferior a 4 son requeridas para prevenir ciertas enfermedades coronarias y algunos cánceres (Simopoulos, 2004; Williams, 2000). La composición de ácidos grasos en tejido adiposo y músculo puede ser afectada por un gran número de factores que incluyen la dieta, el contenido total de grasa, raza, genotipo, edad y sexo de los animales (Wood et al. 2008). Numerosos trabajos (Poulson et al., 2004; Pavan, 2006) han demostrado que la carne proveniente de animales terminados con dietas a base de forraje presentaría tanto un menor contenido total de grasa, como también un mejor perfil que la carne proveniente de animales terminados con altos niveles de concentrados. Este mejor perfil de ácidos grasos se debería a una menor proporción de los AGS que son más perjudiciales para la salud humana (C14:0 y C16:0) y a una mayor proporción de AGPI n-3 y del isómero cis-9, trans-11 del ácido linoleico conjugado (CLA) con demostradas propiedades anti-carcinogénicas y anti-aterogénicas, para la salud humana (Steen & Porter, 2003). Por su tradicional sistema de engorde a pasto, Argentina ha logrado generar un producto de calidad basado en su composición de ácidos grasos y antioxidantes naturales (Descalzo and Sancho 2008). Con el objetivo de anticipar y satisfacer las exigencias de los mercados tanto en calidad como en cantidad y uniformidad final, Argentina ha establecido un sistema de clasificación y tipificación de su ganado vacuno. Esta clasificación está basada principalmente en el sexo, la edad y el peso de faena de los animales, obteniendo de esta manera grupos más uniformes denominados categorías: entre ellas, las de vaquillona pesada (VP), vaquillona liviana (VL), novillito pesado (NP) y vaca (VC). El precio que el productor recibe por la comercialización de su ganado en el mercado de hacienda (Mercado de Liniers) está directamente asociado a dichas categorías. Así, el precio disminuye a medida que incrementa el peso de faena de los animales, a su vez ésta depreciación es más acentuada en hembras que en machos (Mercado de Liniers 2012). Un mayor peso de faena estaría asociado a un mayor contenido de grasa intramuscular, con un consecuente incremento en la proporción de ácidos grasos monoinsaturados (AGMI) en músculo (Dukett et al., 1993, Knight et al 2003). La enzima responsable de la conversión de AGS en AGMI y Efecto del sexo y el peso de faena sobre el perfil de ácidos grasos en carnedel ácido transvaccénico (TVA) en su correspondiente isómero del CLA (CLA cis-9, trans-11) es la estearoil CoA desaturasa (SCD) presente en el tejido adiposo de rumiantes. Según Martin et al (1999) un incremento en su actividad estaría asociado al incremento en el peso/edad del animal. Así mismo, Barton et al (2011) encontraron que las hembras presentarían una mayor expresión del gen de la SCD respecto a machos de similar edad de faena. Un estudio preliminar realizado por LuceroBorjas, et al (2012) demostró que el menor valor comercial de las vaquillonas pesadas respecto a vaquillonas livianas o a novillitos de similar peso no estaría asociado con menor valor organoléptico de la carne producida, pues éste resulto igual o superior en las vaquillonas pesadas. El objetivo del presente trabajo fue el de comparar el perfil de ácidos grasos en el músculo longissimus dorsi (LM) de una categoría de menor valor comercial (vaquillonas pesadas ) respecto a otras dos de mayor valor comercial (Vaquillonas Livianas y Novillos Pesados) y así mismo compararla con una categoría más devaluada aun que VP (Vaca de refugo).Fil: Pouzo, Laura Beatriz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; ArgentinaFil: De la Torre, M. S.. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; ArgentinaFil: Pavan, E.. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria; Argentin

Jackknife resampling technique on mocks: an alternative method for covariance matrix estimation

We present a fast and robust alternative method to compute covariance matrix in case of cosmology studies. Our method is based on the jackknife resampling applied on simulation mock catalogues. Using a set of 600 BOSS DR11 mock catalogues as a reference, we find that the jackknife technique gives a similar galaxy clustering covariance matrix estimate by requiring a smaller number of mocks. A comparison of convergence rates show that $\sim$7 times fewer simulations are needed to get a similar accuracy on variance. We expect this technique to be applied in any analysis where the number of available N-body simulations is low.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures, 2 table

Poor electronic screening in lightly doped Mott insulators observed with scanning tunneling microscopy

The effective Mott gap measured by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) in the lightly doped Mott insulator $(\rm{Sr}_{1 -x}\rm{La}_x)_2\rm{IrO}_4$ differs greatly from values reported by photoemission and optical experiments. Here, we show that this is a consequence of the poor electronic screening of the tip-induced electric field in this material. Such effects are well known from STM experiments on semiconductors, and go under the name of tip-induced band bending (TIBB). We show that this phenomenon also exists in the lightly doped Mott insulator $(\rm{Sr}_{1 -x}\rm{La}_x)_2\rm{IrO}_4$ and that, at doping concentrations of $x\leq 4 \%$, it causes the measured energy gap in the sample density of states to be bigger than the one measured with other techniques. We develop a model able to retrieve the intrinsic energy gap leading to a value which is in rough agreement with other experiments, bridging the apparent contradiction. At doping $x \approx 5 \%$ we further observe circular features in the conductance layers that point to the emergence of a significant density of free carriers in this doping range, and to the presence of a small concentration of donor atoms. We illustrate the importance of considering the presence of TIBB when doing STM experiments on correlated-electron systems and discuss the similarities and differences between STM measurements on semiconductors and lightly doped Mott insulators.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure