Demystifying Measurement, Valuing Narrative

Charlie Blaich, Director, Center of Inquiry, Wabash College, and the Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium. Respondent: John Jeep, German, Russian, and East Asian Languages Department, Miami Universit

Knowledge Management in Knowledge Intensive Service Networks: A Strategic Management Perspective

Knowledge is the key to gaining and sustaining competitive advantage. Driven by a change in consumer needs towards “comprehensive service solutions”, more and more services are offered through networks. By so doing, individual firms can concentrate on their distinctive competencies and by combining these with those of partner firms such a network is able to offer complex, knowledge-intensive services at high quality and at reasonable prices. It is clear that the success of such knowledge intensive service networks depends strongly on the effective and efficient combination and use of the distinctive competencies of the network partners. That ability to combine and use distinctive competencies represents the core competency of the network as a whole. Understanding knowledge as a key resource for those distinctive competencies the combination problem can be seen as a knowledge management problem. The main contribution of this paper is to analyze knowledge management in service networks. We use a strategic management approach instead of a more technology-oriented approach since we believe that managerial problems still remain after technological problems have been solved. Therefore the question arises how to guarantee an effective and efficient combination and utilization of the distributed knowledge in knowledge-intensive service networks. The objective of this paper is to analyze the problems concerning the management of knowledge in service networks. It outlines possible solutions for these knowledge management problems in order to provide sustaining competitive advantage for the network as a whole.knowledge management, networks, knowledge-intensive services

Isoelectric focusing of grapevine peroxidases as a tool for ampelography

Enzymatically active proteins have been isolated from the phloem of internodes of 71 Vitis species and cultivars and separated by thin layer electrofocusing. Peroxidases (EC 1.11.1.7.) yielded a pattern which could be differentiated into up to 8 bands within the pH range 6 through 11. The patterns obtained from different samples were congruent with ampelographic data, they are virtually identical within the families of Pinot and Silvaner, as weil as between haploid and diploid forms of one variety, even under different environmental conditions. American and Asian wild species and some interspecific hybrids show a slight shift of the isoelectric point of one enzyme band as compared to Vitis vinifera varieties

Metabolism of stilbene phytoalexins in grapevines: Oxidation of resveratrol in single-cell cultures

Single-cell cultures of the fungus resistant grapevine varieties Pollux and Sirius and the susceptible ones Riesling and Optima have been established to study the metabolism of the stilbene phytoalexins resveratrol and viniferin. Cells of different varieties showed morphological differences (form and mechanical resistance) and their susceptibility to treatment with debris of killed mycelium of Bot1ytis cinerea reflected the varietal resistance under natural conditions. Most cells of Riesling and Optima were killed by toxic components of the mycelium within 60 h, whereas cultures of Pollux and Sirius showed only slight damage. Two types of peroxidases have been characterized which can take resveratrol as a substrate converting it to a brown pigment. Viniferin was observed as an intermediate product. Peroxidase activity in suscpetible varieties was reduced as compared to the resistant ones. The oxidation products of resveratrol inhibited the activity of peroxidase. The function of stilbene phytoalexins as precursors of lignin-like substances is discussed

Uptake of silica by grapevines from soil and recirculating nutrient solutions

The uptake of silica by grapevines was investigated both in the field and in hydroponic cultures. In aqueous soil suspensions (14 d at 20 °C) of 6 different locations (clay/loam) an equilibrium of 55-71 ppm of soluble silica (expressed as SiO2) was measured; the content of grapevine leaves at harvest time was between 0.44 and 0.73 % of the dry matter, the concentrations being correlated with the silica solubility of the relative soil. Before budburst xylem exudates contained only about 1-4 ppm SiO2 (rising with soil temperature), whereas during summer up to 68 ppm were measured. Six different grapevine cultivars were grown in recirculating nutrient solutions supplied with different amounts (112, 10 and 0 ppm) of SiO2; the solutions were changed weekly. The average SiO2 content of leaf dry matter at harvest time (0.1-2 %) was correlated with leaf age and the SiO2 concentration of the nutrient solution whereas in stems and petioles it was always less than 0.1 %. Significant varietal differences could be found only for cv. Regent which accumulated about 20 % more SiO2 than the other varieties from the 112 ppm solutions. By the end of the vegetation period fresh leaves from plants grown on 112 ppm contained always around 0.1 % of water soluble SiO2, irrespective of the leaves' age whereas the total amount of SiO2 was up to 2 % in old leaves from the basis of the shoots and less than 0.5 % in the apical region. In the leaf center the silica concentration was always around 50 % lower than in the leaf periphery

Inducible silica incrusts in cell walls of Vitis leaves

Epidermal cells of Vitis cvs attacked by powdery mildew or damaged mechanically exhibited silica deposits in the walls of the attacked and surrounding cells. Entire or parts of cell walls were vitrified to such an extent that pure, mechanically resistant silica skeletons remained after a treatment with conc. H2S04 + H2O2 at 400 °C and washing with conc. HCl. They consisted of groups of 1-20 cells of the upper epidermis with adhering parts of the corresponding palisade cells or of the lower epidermis (including stomatal cells) with adhering spongy parenchyma. Not only cell walls but also wrinkles of the upper epidermis, defense papillae and fungal haustoria were silicified. Silica accumulations were greater in resistant than in susceptible cultivars

Structural characters of epidermal cell walls and resistance to powdery mildew of different grapevine cultivars

The analysis of 12 grapevine cultivars differing in susceptibility to powdery mildew revealed a correlation between the thickness of cuticle plus cell wall of young leaves and resistance to mildew. Neither in mature leaves or in leaves of in vitro plants or in berries such correlations could be established. Coating of the leaf surface with a polymetacrylate antitranspirant prevented sporulation in all cases, although infection structures were formed

The influence of silica fertilization on the resistance of grapevines to powdery mildew

Six different Vitis cultivars grown in recirculating nutrient solutions supplied with 0, 10 and 112 mg.l-1 SiO2, respectively, were infected with spores of the powdery mildew fungus Uncinula necator and analyzed after 2, 4 and 6 weeks. Whereas the size of the silica endoskeletons induced by the powdery mildew was influenced by the SiO2 concentration, the cultivar-specific resistance could not be increased. However, after 2 weeks all varieties showed a slightly but significantly enhanced resistance in the 112 mg.l-1 solution which disappeared during the following weeks. The results show silica to be essential for a normal powdery mildew resistance but make evident that the Oidium susceptibility of cultivars cannot be overcome by supplementary silica fertilization in the field, the Si contents of most soil solutions being far above the minimal requirements of the grapevine

The dimensionality of self-rated employee performance : an integrated view

This study addresses the debate in the literature regarding the dimensionality of the job performance construct. The sample comprised 647 public servants from a state-based law enforcement organisation. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses delineate a four:factor structure, consisting of in-role behaviour, organisational citizenship behaviour directed towards (1) individuals or (2) the organisation, and a distinct latent variable deemed counter-productive work behaviour (CWB). The pattern of correlations among the four performance dimensions and between the performance dimensions and attitudes support the construct and discriminant validity of the four performance dimensions. Further, the .findings propose that CWB is a core, not discretionary, dimension of performance.<br /