Assessing Negotiation Outcomes Matters in Classroom Settings

It is hardly disputable that negotiation outcomes count in real world negotiation settings. In classroom settings, however, the negotiation outcomes often do not count. In many negotiation courses, for the negotiators it does not really matter in any tangible dimensions what kind of outcomes they achieve through the negotiation – not only that they do not need to bear the (hypothetical) consequence of the agreement (or its lack of), but also that the negotiation outcomes do not affect their performance assessment in the negotiation course. Thus on the issue of whether negotiation outcomes count, this type of class-room negotiation is drastically different from those in real world settings. But does that difference really matter? Would it make any difference in terms of student learning? These are the question the current study aims to address

Modeling and Dynamical Analysis of the Water Resources Supply-Demand System: A Case Study in Haihe River Basin

The relationship between water resources supply and demand is very complex and exhibits nonlinear characteristics, which leads to fewer models that can adequately manage the dynamic evolution process of the water resources supply-demand system. In this paper, we propose a new four-dimensional dynamical model to simulate the internal dynamic evolution process and predict future trends of water supply and demand. At the beginning, a new four-dimensional dynamical model with uncertain parameters is established. Then, the gray code hybrid accelerating genetic algorithm (GHAGA) is adopted to identify the unknown parameters of the system based on the statistic data (1998–2009). Finally, the dynamical analysis of the system is further studied by Lyapunov-exponent, phase portraits, and Lyapunov exponent theory. Numerical simulation results demonstrate that the proposed water resources supply-demand system is in a steady state and is suitable for simulating the dynamical characteristics of a complex water supply and demand system. According to the trends of the water supply and demand of several nonlinear simulation cases, the corresponding measures can be proposed to improve the steady development of the water resources supply-demand system

Designing E-Commerce Product Innovation Strategies to Disrupt Existing Industries

This paper develops a taxonomy of product innovation methods for entering e-businesses. These product innovation strategies share two common features: 1) a goal of disrupting the competitive structure of an existing industry, and 2) the use of digital technology combined with e-commerce to enhance or transform products and services. By disruption, the authors denote the attempt to destabilize the profit structure of an industry such that the incumbent firms can no longer earn economic rents above the industry average. Under these conditions, incumbent firms make no more than new entrants, surrendering their economic advantages. Theoretical frameworks in strategic management and the management of innovation and technology suggest that radical innovations are more likely to lead to destabilized markets. While this paper suggests that the dominant incumbent’s advantage can be toppled, the paper does not suggest that the firm destabilizing the market will become the eventual market leader. While one can readily conceptualize the potential of e-commerce to disrupt existing markets, in practice few e-businesses have replaced entrenched competitors. Some of the failures of e-businesses to disrupt markets can be laid at the feat of strategies that were inadequately radical

A Comparison of False-Information Policies in Five Countries before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study analyzes five countries’ false-information policies before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Building upon existing discussions of regulation models, this paper uses a qualitative, comparative case study method to unpack the characteristics of false-information policies in each country. The before-after comparisons show that each country has a unique evolving path of false-information regulation and that the state has enhanced or attempted to enhance its role in battling against the infodemic during the pandemic. The regulatory practices are a dynamic process and involve not only government and social media platforms but also multiple other actors, which is leading to more complex practices and blurring the boundary of existing models. We discuss the limitation of existing regulation models and suggest a relational perspective to understand the underlying relations between the state, platforms, and other stakeholders

Controlled Hybridization With An Apple Breeding Selection Of Reduced Scion Vigor And The Study Of The Tree Architecture Of Its Offspring

Selection 1, an apple (Malus xdomestica Borkh.) progeny of 'Fuji' x Co-op 18, was characterized by reduced stature and repeated occurrence of forks (lateral branches of the same length). Crossing Selection 1 with parents with contrasting architectures generated progeny 805 and 806. Forked branching and reduced internode length were transmitted from Selection 1 to some of its progeny. Clear segregation of dwarf plants was observed in progeny 806 in the first growing season. These dwarfs resembled 'sturdy dwarf' suggested by Alston (1976) and were controlled by two recessive genes (d1, d3). Fewer columnar plants and more intermediate types were present in progeny 805 than expected, a manifestation of interaction of different architectural types. Shoots were collected from apple cultivar 'Redcort' (on 'M.M.106' rootstock), as well as dwarf and standard plants (own rooted) from progeny 806. These shoot were treated with [14C]GA12. Twenty-one metabolites were identified and used as tracers for the purification of endogenous GAs. The existence of endogenous GA12, GA15, GA53, GA44, GA19, GA20 and GA3 was demonstrated by GC-MS, an indication that [14C]GA12 was metabolized mainly through the 13hydroxylation pathway. Dwarf and standard seedlings from progeny 806 produced similar metabolites from [14C]GA12, except for peak N, which was only detected in standard plants between 3 and 6 h. The metabolic rate in standard plants was almost double that of dwarf plants, which may be due to the low vigor of the dwarf seedlings or to low bioactivity of certain enzymes in the pathway. Exogenous GA3 and GR24 (a strigolactone analog) were applied to plants in progeny 806. Branches treated with GA3 had more new growth due to increased number of nodes as compared to control branches in dwarf plants. Decapitation was conducted before the application of GR24 to induce outgrowth of axillary buds. Different degrees of dominance were observed for shoots induced by decapitation in the greenhouse on population 28 (derived from open pollinated Selection 1), whereas for plants in progeny 806, shoots from bud 1 and bud 2 always became dominant. GR24 did not effectively inhibit branching in our study