Banded Contracts, Mediating Institutions, and Corporate Governance: A Naturalist Analysis of Contractual Theories of the Firm

Fort and Noone relate business ethics to notions of transcendence found in nature and anthropology. They address the notion of contracts within corporate legal theory because contracts are used as a model both by those who advocate minimalist, agency business duties and by others who propound a broad business ethic

A cross sectional comparison of postnatal care quality in facilities participating in a maternal health voucher program versus non-voucher facilities in Kenya

Background: Health service fees constitute substantial barriers for women seeking childbirth and postnatal care. In an effort to reduce health inequities, the government of Kenya in 2006 introduced the output-based approach (OBA), or voucher programme, to increase poor women’s access to quality Safe Motherhood services including postnatal care. To help improve service quality, OBA programmes purchase services on behalf of the poor and marginalised, with provider reimbursements for verified services. Kenya’s programme accredited health facilities in three districts as well as in two informal Nairobi settlements. Methods: Postnatal care quality in voucher health facilities (n = 21) accredited in 2006 and in similar non-voucher health facilities (n = 20) are compared with cross sectional data collected in 2010. Summary scores for quality were calculated as additive sums of specific aspects of each attribute (structure, process, outcome). Measures of effect were assessed in a linear regression model accounting for clustering at facility level. Data were analysed using Stata 11.0. Results: The overall quality of postnatal care is poor in voucher and non-voucher facilities, but many facilities demonstrated ‘readiness’ for postnatal care (structural attributes: infrastructure, equipment, supplies, staffing, training) indicated by high scores (83/111), with public voucher facilities scoring higher than public non-voucher facilities. The two groups of facilities evinced no significant differences in postnatal care mean process scores: 14.2/ 55 in voucher facilities versus 16.4/55 in non-voucher facilities; coefficient: -1.70 (-4.9, 1.5), p = 0.294. Significantly more newborns were seen within 48 hours (83.5 % versus 72.1 %: p = 0.001) and received Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) (82.5 % versus 76.5 %: p \u3c 0.001) at voucher facilities than at non-voucher facilities. Conclusions: Four years after facility accreditation in Kenya, scores for postnatal care quality are low in all facilities, even those with Safe Motherhood vouchers. We recommend the Kenya OBA programme review its Safe Motherhood reimbursement package and draw lessons from supply side results-based financing initiatives, to improve postnatal care quality

Marketing as a means to transformative social conflict resolution: lessons from transitioning war economies and the Colombian coffee marketing system

Social conflicts are ubiquitous to the human condition and occur throughout markets, marketing processes, and marketing systems.When unchecked or unmitigated, social conflict can have devastating consequences for consumers, marketers, and societies, especially when conflict escalates to war. In this article, the authors offer a systemic analysis of the Colombian war economy, with its conflicted shadow and coping markets, to show how a growing network of fair-trade coffee actors has played a key role in transitioning the country’s war economy into a peace economy. They particularly draw attention to the sources of conflict in this market and highlight four transition mechanisms — i.e., empowerment, communication, community building and regulation — through which marketers can contribute to peacemaking and thus produce mutually beneficial outcomes for consumers and society. The article concludes with a discussion of implications for marketing theory, practice, and public policy

Pulse Jet Mixing Tests With Noncohesive Solids

This report summarizes results from pulse jet mixing (PJM) tests with noncohesive solids in Newtonian liquid conducted during FY 2007 and 2008 to support the design of mixing systems for the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP). Tests were conducted at three geometric scales using noncohesive simulants. The test data were used to independently develop mixing models that can be used to predict full-scale WTP vessel performance and to rate current WTP mixing system designs against two specific performance requirements. One requirement is to ensure that all solids have been disturbed during the mixing action, which is important to release gas from the solids. The second requirement is to maintain a suspended solids concentration below 20 weight percent at the pump inlet. The models predict the height to which solids will be lifted by the PJM action, and the minimum velocity needed to ensure all solids have been lifted from the floor. From the cloud height estimate we can calculate the concentration of solids at the pump inlet. The velocity needed to lift the solids is slightly more demanding than "disturbing" the solids, and is used as a surrogate for this metric. We applied the models to assess WTP mixing vessel performance with respect to the two perform¬ance requirements. Each mixing vessel was evaluated against these two criteria for two defined waste conditions. One of the wastes was defined by design limits and one was derived from Hanford waste characterization reports. The assessment predicts that three vessel types will satisfy the design criteria for all conditions evaluated. Seven vessel types will not satisfy the performance criteria used for any of the conditions evaluated. The remaining three vessel types provide varying assessments when the different particle characteristics are evaluated. The assessment predicts that three vessel types will satisfy the design criteria for all conditions evaluated. Seven vessel types will not satisfy the performance criteria used for any of the conditions evaluated. The remaining three vessel types provide varying assessments when the different particle characteristics are evaluated. The HLP-022 vessel was also evaluated using 12 m/s pulse jet velocity with 6-in. nozzles, and this design also did not satisfy the criteria for all of the conditions evaluated

MODULATION OF THE CALLINECTES SAPIDUS CARDIAC SYSTEM BY SEROTONIN**

The heart of the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, is a simple central pattern generator-effector system. The nine neuron cardiac ganglion, embedded within the cardiac muscle, sets the basic rhythm of the heart. The activity of the cardiac ganglion is modulated by both neuronal (via cardioregulatory fibers) and hormonal signals (via the pericardial organs). Gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) and dopamine have been previously identified as the neurotransmitters of two of the three cardioregulatory fibers and are also both present in the pericardial organs. In this study, we used immunohistochemistry to determine the distribution of the biogenic amine, serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine), in the central nervous system of the blue crab. Serotonin-like immunoreactivity was observed in cells in the brain and thoracic ganglion and in multiple fibers in the brain-thoracic connectives. Several of these fibers terminated in varicosities within the commissural ganglia. Serotonin-like immunoreactive fibers, arising from cells in the posterior of the thoracic ganglion, project via segmental nerve 1 towards the pericardial organs. Multiple branching fine caliber fibers and varicosities expressed serotonin-like immunoreactivity within the pericardial organs. Immunoreactivity was not observed in the dorsal nerve or cardiac ganglion. Serotonin induced both positive chronotropic and inotropic effects in isolated heart preparations at concentrations consistent with hormonal signaling. The serotonin-like immunoreactivity distribution and cardiac responsiveness to serotonin both suggest a possible cardiomodulatory role for serotonin in the heart of the blue crab

The Angel on Your Shoulder: Prompting Employees to Do the Right Thing Through the Use of Wearables

The wearable revolution is upon us. Bulky chest straps and large wristbands are going the way of flip cellphones and floppy disks. In the near future, for example, it may be commonplace for athletes to wear Biostamps or smart T-shirts with embedded sensors during practices, games, and even sleep. And while athletic competitors may have been one of the first movers in the area, health care, the military, and the industrial sector have all begun to use wearables to harness vast treasure troves of information destined to provide highly individualized feedback. The possibilities are almost endless when such personal information is combined with big data analytics in the name of improving large-scale efficiency. Interestingly, employers were one of the first movers in the wearable revolution. Yet, other than basic tracking of people and goods, there is still a tremendous potential for expansion. What if wearables could be harnessed to assist employees in avoiding conflict of interests? What if wearables could assist employees in identifying ethical dilemmas and could then prompt them to consider alternative courses of action? What if the wearable evolution became an ethical revolution? But the drawbacks of using wearables in such a manner must also be critically analyzed. This Article takes this step by exploring the use of wearables as personal information gathering devices that feed into larger data sets. It then considers some of the legal and policy implications of the use and aggregation of data in such a manner and ultimately makes suggestions for bottom-up baseline regulation. Ultimately, we argue for the desirability of leveraging this emerging technology, subject to privacy and security safeguards, to help drive an ethical revolution in business cultures