TECHNICAL STRATEGIC ALLIANCES AND PERFORMANCE: THE MEDIATING EFFECT OF KNOWLEDGE ¿BASED COMPETENCIES

This study provides an empirical evidence of the relationship that exists between participation in technological strategic alliances and business performance by considering the knowledge-based distinctive competencies that the alliance is capable of generating as a mediating variable. The generation of knowledge in technological strategic alliances explains the contradictory results that emerge from the direct effect of strategic alliances on economic performance. The study uses a sample of Spanish industrial firms. The results findings prove that the relationship between R&D and innovation strategic alliances, and performance is mediated by the generation of knowledge-based distinctive competencies; and that the contribution of the participation in alliances to the growth of the firm¿s knowledge stock depends on its creation of innovation competencies. R&D managers should enhance the development of this kind of competencies in order to achieve superior performance. El presente trabajo provee evidencia empírica de la relación existente entre la participación en alianzas estratégicas tecnológicas y el desempeño organizativo, introduciendo como variable mediadora las competencias distintivas basadas en conocimiento que la alianza es capaz de generar. En la literatura existen resultados contradictorios en cuanto al efecto directo de las alianzas estratégicas en el desempeño organizativo. La generación de conocimiento en las alianzas estratégicas tecnológicas explica estos resultados contradictorios. A través de una muestra compuesta por empresas industriales españolas, nuestros resultados demuestran que la relación entre alianzas estratégicas en I+D y el desempeño, está mediada por la generación de competencias distintivas basadas en conocimiento; y que la contribución de la participación en las alianzas en el crecimiento del stock de conocimiento de la empresa depende de la creación de competencias en innovación. Los directivos de I+D deben alentar el desarrollo de este tipo de competencias para conseguir un desempeño organizativo superior.Alianzas estratégicas, cooperación tecnológica, competencias basadas en conocimiento e innovación, desempeño organizativo. Strategic alliances, technological cooperation, knowledge-based and innovation competencies, performance

Agreement answer scale design for multilingual surveys: Effects of translation-related changes in verbal labels on response styles and response distributions

Answer scales in survey instruments are widely used, but little is known about how to choose verbal descriptors as labels. In multilingual research, this matter is further complicated because answer scales must be appropriate for all languages and function comparatively. Comparing source questionnaires to translations of multinational projects (e.g., the World Values Survey, the European Social Survey), it was observed that certain verbal features differed across languages, countries, and modules. This dissertation empirically investigates the effect of such changes on response distributions. The verbal feature examined is the presence or absence of an intensity modifier in the second and fourth labels of a 5-point agreement scale: strongly agree, (somewhat) agree, neither/nor, (somewhat) disagree, strongly disagree. Two studies are conducted analyzing data from more than 40 countries of the International Social Survey Programme. The first investigates whether two methodological features (scale translation and administration mode) affect cross-cultural differences in three response styles. It was expected that adding an intensity modifier would increase extreme response style, decrease middle response style, and not affect acquiescence. Acquiescence was expected to be higher in interviewer-administered than in self-administered surveys. Using multilevel models in five ISSP modules, the analyses show that, as predicted, adding an intensity modifier results in higher extreme response style, and does not affect acquiescence. No support was found for the hypothesized effect on middle response style. Partial support was found for the hypothesized effect of data collection mode. The second study investigates the effect of adding the intensity modifier on the use of each response category. Using an 8-item attitudinal scale, Graded Response Models for each of the answer scale versions were compared. For the answer scale under study, adding an intensity modifier made the scale points less useful to measure the underlying attitude than were scale points without modifier. These findings suggest that modifications made to answer scale language versions are a critical source of variability in response patterns and distributions

New challenges in competitiveness: knowledge development and coopetition

The main aim of this paper is to suggest how collaboration with competitors -coopetition - established for the joint creation of knowledge, could be a new opportunity that managers must evaluate as a strategic option. The literature on strategic alliances and knowledge creation is considered, together with the specific trend of alliances with competitors. Then, the process continues with the discussion of circumstances and characteristics in which coopetition could be a superior option, making it possible to develop new knowledge. Our research shows that in the case of coopetition, the two sides of the behaviour -competitive and cooperative- provide greater incentives to improve knowledge development. As this is a theoretical paper, deeper analysis is required to prove whether the advantages of strategic alliances with competitors over other alternatives are superior forms of organizing the process of knowledge creation in high-technology industries. With regard to practical implications, managers must consider the option of this kind of inter-organizational agreement with competitors as an alternative and an opportunity for integrating knowledge faster than they would in isolation. The originality of this paper lies in showing that the objective of coopetition must be the joint creation of new knowledge by partners, and in differentiating this type of cooperation from another in which the aim is to absorb knowledge from one of the partners. We present this kind of coopetition as a new strategic option that managers must evaluate, and this is the first attempt to discuss and differentiate the two types of alliances in a coopetition environment. El principal objetivo de este trabajo es sugerir cómo la colaboración con competidores, conocida con el término coopetición, establecida para la creación conjunta de conocimiento, puede suponer una nueva oportunidad que los directivos deben evaluar como una opción estratégica. Para el desarrollo del trabajo se tiene en cuenta la literatura relacionada con la creación de conocimiento y con alianzas estratégicas, junto con las especificidades de las alianzas con competidores. El trabajo continúa con la discusión de las circunstancias y características en las que la coopetición puede ser una opción superior, haciendo posible el desarrollo de nuevo conocimiento. Nuestra investigación muestra que en el caso de la cooperación con competidores, las dos características de esta relación ¿ competitiva y cooperativa -, proveen mayores incentivos para mejorar el desarrollo de conocimiento. Al tratarse de un trabajo teórico, en futuras investigaciones se debería realizar un análisis más profundo para contrastar si las ventajas de las alianzas estratégicas con competidores son superiores efectivamente a otras formas de organizar el proceso de creación de conocimiento en industrias de alta tecnología. Con respecto a las implicaciones prácticas, los directivos deberían considerar esta opción de acuerdos inter-empresariales con los competidores como una alternativa y una oportunidad para integrar conocimiento más rápido que el desarrollo de manera aislada por una sola empresa. La originalidad de este trabajo residen en mostrar que el objetivo de la coopetición puede ser la creación conjunta de conocimiento por los socios, y en diferenciar este tipo de cooperación de otros en el que el objetivo es únicamente absorber conocimiento de los socios. Presentamos esta opción de coopetición como una nueva opción estratégica que los directivos deben evaluar, y esto supone el primer intento en diferenciar estos dos tipos de alianzas en un entorno de coopetición.Coopetición, creación de conocimiento, alianzas estratégicas Coopetition, knowledge creation, strategic alliances,

Udder health in organic dairy cattle in Northern Spain

This paper presents first data on the udder health status of organic dairy farms in Northern Spain and analyses some management and productive characteristics related to milk production comparing with the conventional sector. Five certified organic farms from the Cantabrian Region were monitored monthly from February 2006 to January 2008 and individual samples of all lactating cows were taken from parturition to the end of lactation. Although organic farms in our study showed a great individual variability, overall these were small (<50 lactating cows) traditional farms, with a high degree of pasture (66-82% dry matter intake) and a milk production (average milk yield: 5950 L) 23% lower compared with the reference conventional sector (<50 cow farms). The organic farms had higher (p<0.05) average number of calves per cow (3.93) and a lower number of first-lactation cows (16.9%) than the comparable conventional farms (2.47 calves per cow and 33.1% first-lactation cows). Organic farms showed higher (p<0.05) somatic cell counts (SCC) than the reference conventional farms (mean log10±SD for all cows: 5.25±0.49 and 5.06±0.59, respectively). Detailed analysis of the SCC depending on the number of lactation and % of monthly SCC tests with linear scores indicative of udder infection suggest that while the heifers’ sanitary condition at the beginning of their productive cycle was similar in both types of farms, this seems to become worse along the productive cycle in the organics. This could be related to a low use of antibiotics for prophylaxis and treatment of udder infections and merits further investigationINIA (ref. RTA2006-00132-C02-01)S

Business models in Spanish industry : a taxonomy-based efficacy analysis

The present study provides a conceptualization of the business model construct from which a multi-dimensional evaluation tool is developed that provides the basis for drawing up a taxonomy and analysing its comparative efficacy. The empirical data was obtained from a sampling of 159 Spanish business organisations. The cluster analysis revealed the existence of four business models that were designated as"multidivisional","integrated","hybrid" and"network". The results also indicate that the adoption of a certain business model is not enough to attain superior performance, highlighting the need to consider other contingent factors

Infiltración ecoguiada de plasma rico en plaquetas para el tratamiento de tendinopatías

La tendinopatía es una patología muy frecuente, especialmente a partir de los 35 años, en la que se afecta la morfología del tendón y las estructuras que lo rodea, debido a mecanismos de sobrecarga. El diagnóstico se realiza con técnicas de imagen como resonancia magnética (RM) o ecografía. La clínica es variada, predominando una afectación de la funcionalidad y dolor. Los tratamientos contemplados son médicos (infiltración de corticoides, analgesia oral…), rehabilitadores o quirúrgicos. El objetivo de nuestro trabajo es demostrar la efectividad del plasma rico en plaquetas (PRP) para el tratamiento de tendinopatías, expresando la posible efectividad a través de una mejora clínica y/o ecográfica, a través de la escala ASES modificada antes – después y de controles ecográficas. Materiales y métodos: realizamos un estudio cuasi experimental antes – después, con una muestra de 25 pacientes, tratados desde 2016 hasta 2019 en el Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid, en el Servicio de Radiodiagnóstico. Recogimos múltiples variables socio demográficas, clínicas, analíticas y radiológicas. El PRP permite una mejoría clínica de forma global (ASES score modificada), tanto en dolor como en función, de los pacientes seleccionados. Es decir, tras el último control a los 3 meses tras la última infiltración (ya fuera solo una, dos o tres), el 100% de los pacientes presentan mejoría clínica, siendo parcial un 44% y total un 56%. Además, un 88% de los que presentan mejoría clínica también presenta mejoría ecográfica. El PRP permite una mejoría clínica de forma global (ASES score modificada), tanto en dolor como en función, de los pacientes seleccionados. No existe relación entre el número de infiltraciones y la mejoría en la ASES score modificada – después. Puede haber factores influyentes en la respuesta al tratamiento con PRP como el deporte, la patología concomitante y tratamientos crónicos. Las incidencias en la obtención del PRP se relacionan con el tamaño plaquetar. Ahora se abre la puerta a nuevos estudios con muestras más amplias para establecer, más allá de esta mejoría clínica, si existen factores que influyan en la respuesta, para lograr un tratamiento más efectivo. Resulta necesario realizar estudios posteriores utilizando siempre el mismo kit para la obtención del PRP y bajo las mismas condiciones.Grado en MedicinaGrado en Medicin

Implementation of a Linked Open Data Solution for the Statistics Agency of Cantabria's Metadata and Data Bank

Statistics is a fundamental piece inside the Open Government philosophy, being a basic tool for citizens to know and make informed decisions about the society in which they participate. Due to the great number of organizations and agencies that collect, process and publish statistical data all over the world, several standards and methodologies for information exchange have been created in recent years in order to improve interoperability between data producers and consumers, of which SDMX is one of the most renowned examples. Despite having been developed independently of this, the global Semantic Web effort (backed mainly by the W3C-driven Linked Open Data initiatives) presents itself as an extremely useful tool for publishing both completely contextualized metadata and data, therefore making them easily understandable and processable by third parties. This report details the changes made to the IT systems of the Statistical Agency of Cantabria (Instituto Cántabro de Estadística, ICANE) with the purpose of implementing a Linked Open Data solution for its website and statistical data bank, making all data and metadata published by this Agency available not only to humans, but to automatized consumers, too. Multiple standards, recommendations and vocabularies were used for this task, ranging from Dublin Core metadata RDFa tagging, through the creation of several SKOS concept schemes, to providing statistical data using the RDF Data Cube vocabulary

Metafictional Predestination in Muriel Spark’s the Driver’s Seat

Muriel Spark’s The Driver’s Seat is a radical metafictional experiment, suggesting the inexorable connections between contingency and a predetermined plot which are so common to many Sparkian novels. Following Marina MacKay’s perception that Spark’s experimental narrative operates “in the conceptual space where the more abstract preoccupations of Roman Catholic theology overlap with the metafictional and fabulist concerns of postmodernism” (2008: 506), this essay will discuss how the notion of predestination reverberates in The Driver’s Seat, not only as a remnant of Spark’s Presbyterian education but also as a postmodern re-visitation of classical tragedy in a metafictional key. Spark’s preference for predetermined plots may echo a long philosophical and theological discussion spanning many centuries about free will and predestination, particularly intense in the times of the Protestant Reformation, but it also reflects the sense of predestination as a necessary ingredient of classical tragedy. In The Driver’s Seat Spark deliberately brought to the fore some conventions of Aristotelian tragedy, although she approached them through an experimental subversion ultimately resorting to comedy and ridicule, on Spark’s own admission her weapons for the only possible art form. Our contention is that the metafictional implications of The Driver’s Seat’s prolepses undermine a Calvinist-like certainty concerning predestined salvation or damnation. By using a partial narrator only capable of producing limited accounts, Spark may be playing with an experimental and essentially postmodern interpretive openness which is in tune with the ultimate uncertainty about each individual’s eternal salvation that is commonly accepted in Catholic thought

Het zorgpotentieel in de netwerken van ouderen

Tamarix hohenackeri Bunge is reported here for the first time for the flora of Mexico. It also represents the first record for the American continent. This species, native from Asia, was collected along riversides of the river San Salvador (Ensenada, Baja California). A detailed morphological description of the newly reported taxon is provided, and the taxonomic treatment of T. hohenackeri is also discussed. As a result of this study, the presence of six species of the genus Tamarix is confirmed for Mexico, and a dichotomous key for the Tamarix species in Mexico is presented.Se documenta por primera vez la presencia de Tamarix hohenackeri Bunge para la flora de México. Se trata, a su vez, de la primera cita para el continente americano. Esta especie, nativa de Asia, ha sido recolectada en los márgenes del río San Salvador (Ensenada, Baja California). Se aporta una descripción morfológica detallada del nuevo taxon citado y se discute, también, su estatus taxonómico. Como resultado del estudio, se indica la presencia de seis especies del género Tamarix y además se aporta una clave para la identificación de los representantes de Tamarix en México

Estructuras organizativas, estrategias competitivas y ventajas estratégicas de las PYME. Mercados globalizados

El objetivo de este trabajo es sintetizar las principales estructuras organizativas y estrategias competitivas adoptadas por las pequeñas y medianas empresas (pymes) con la finalidad de identificar las posibles ventajas estratégicas asociadas a las mismas y que pueden ser la clave del éxito competitivo en el actual entorno globalizado. Las estructuras organizativas propias de las pymes (pyme independiente, modelo ensanchado y/o distritos industriales) y las estrategias competitivas, sobre todo, aquéllas orientadas a la diferenciación, son fuente de algunas ventajas estratégicas que se analizan en profundidad en este trabajo, como son la flexibilidad (estructural y productiva), la capacidad innovadora, y para el desarrollo de capacidades basadas en el conocimiento, el desarrollo de un estilo de liderazgo emprendedor y/o el uso de prácticas organizativas de gestión de la calidad total.The objective of this paper is to synthetize the main organizational structures and competitive strategies adopted by small and medium sized enterprises (smes) with the purpose of identifying the possible strategic advantages associated to them and which can be the key of the competitive success in the current globalized environment. Organizational structures (independent sme, expanded model and/or industrial districts) and competitive strategies, mainly that oriented to differentiation, are source of some strategic advantages that are analyzed in depth in this study such as flexibility (structural and manufacturing), innovation and knowledge capabilities, an entrepreneurial orientation and/or the utilization of total quality management systems