Supplier search in industrial clusters: Sheffield metal working in the 1990s

Industrial clusters can be characterised by high levels of personal interaction between the owners/managers of firms. It has been argued that within industrial clusters community and firm tend to merge. One result of the notion of a cluster as a community is that it might be expected that personal interaction between members of the community will have an important influence on intra-cluster trading patterns. Whereas there appears to be a number of anecdotal stories of the impact of the 'personal' upon the 'economic' within clusters we do not know whether such relationships are uniquely part of cluster behaviour or whether they are found more widely within the industrial system. The paper reports the result of a new interview survey of seventy small metal working firms in the Sheffield metal working cluster in the UK. Although dealing with a traditional industrial sector the analysis is focused upon contemporary business patterns. It explores the ways in which owner/managers of small metal working firms search for new suppliers. In the empirical analysis the search process is conceptualised as being characterised by two stages: the identification of potential new suppliers and the selection of a specific new supplier. The research is in undertaken in two parts. It first measures the role of the personal networks of the owner/managers of small firms in the identification and selection of suppliers. Second, the research examines whether personal factors are more important in the identification and selection of within cluster suppliers than in the identification and selection of suppliers based outside the cluster. It is shown that, overall, personal networks are of major significance in the identification of suppliers and that information received from third parties are more important than direct contacts between the owner/manager and the potential supplier. However, in the selection decision, price and availability are dominant considerations and personal factors such as trust and reputation of only minor significance. It was not possible to identify a cluster effect in disaggregation of the data to separate out the relationships with cluster suppliers and relationships with suppliers based outside the cluster. There was no evidence that personal factors play a more important role in the establishment of within cluster links. In sum, personal networks are important in the identification of within cluster links but they are equally important in the establishment of links outside the cluster. This suggests that the importance of personal interaction within clusters has been overplayed.

Making hospital shops healthier:evaluating the implementation of a mandatory standard for limiting food products and promotions in hospital retail outlets

Background The range of products stocked and their promotions in food retail outlets in healthcare settings can affect food choices by staff, patients and visitors. The innovative Scottish Healthcare Retail Standard (HRS) is a national mandatory scheme requiring all hospital food retail outlets to change the balance of food products stocked and their promotion to comply with nutritional criteria and promotional restrictions. The aim is to facilitate healthier food choices in healthcare settings. This study examined the implementation of HRS and the impact on foods stocked and promoted. Methods The study aimed to examine implementation process and changes to the retail environment in relation to food promotions and choice. A sample of hospital retail outlets (n=17) including shops and trolley services were surveyed using a mixed methods design comprising: (a) structured observational audits of stock, layout and promotions (with a specific focus on chocolate and fruit product lines, and) (b) face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with the shop manager or nominated members of staff (n=32). Data were collected at Wave 1 (2016), at the beginning and during the early stages of HRS implementation; and Wave 2, 12 months later, after the HRS implementation deadline. Results All outlets, both commercial and not-for-profit, in the sample successfully implemented HRS. Implementation was reported to be more challenging by independent shop managers compared to chain store staff. Retail managers identified areas where more implementation guidance and support could have been provided. The number of chocolate product lines and promotions reduced substantially between Waves 1 and 2, but with no substantial increase in fruit product lines and promotions. Despite initial negative expectations of HRS’s impact, managers identified some opportunities in the scheme and positive changes in the supply chain. Conclusions Positive changes in food retail outlets occurred after hospital shops were required to implement HRS. By creating a consistent approach across hospital shops in Scotland, HRS changed the food retail environment for hospital staff, visitors and patients. HRS provides a regulatory template and implementation learning points for influencing retail environments in other jurisdictions and settings

Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) within the Feed the Future Project Portfolio of USAID-Bangladesh: A CCAFS Deep-Dive Review

As part of a global effort that will inform how Feed the Future tracks CSA across the 19 focus countries (plus aligned) the CCAFS and USAID/BFS team selected 5 to carry out a deeper analysis of their portfolio. A visit in August 2015 by personnel from CCAFS and USAID-BFS Washington to the Bangladesh Mission provided an opportunity to identify and discuss CSA-related activities within the country and the USAID zone of influence (ZOI). The five-day visit included a series of meetings with Mission staff, project implementing partners and the Bangladesh Department of Agricultural Extension. While the discussion scope emphasized the second of the above CSA objectives, adaptation, within Feed the Future (FTF) projects, the meetings included discussion of the other CSA objectives and USAID projects associated with Food for Peace and Global Climate Change. The visits were preceded by a document review of the Bangladesh Mission projects and relevant agriculture and climate change information available on the web. This report outlines key findings of the visit and suggests ways in which CSA can be further integrated into upcoming Feed the Future programming in Bangladesh

The Best Predictions in Experimental Biology are Critical and Persuasive

A powerful way to evaluate scientific explanations (hypotheses) is to test the predictions that they make. In this way, predictions serve as an important bridge between abstract hypotheses and concrete experiments. Experimental biologists, however, generally receive little guidance on how to generate quality predictions. Here, we identify two important components of good predictions – criticality and persuasiveness – which relate to the ability of a prediction (and the experiment it implies) to disprove a hypothesis or to convince a skeptic that the hypothesis has merit. Using a detailed example, we demonstrate how striving for predictions that are both critical and persuasive can speed scientific progress by leading us to more powerful experiments. Finally, we provide a quality control checklist to assist students and researchers as they navigate the hypothetico-deductive method from puzzling observations to experimental tests

Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) within the Feed the Future Project Portfolio of USAID-Zambia: A CCAFS Deep Dive Review

As part of a global effort that will inform how Feed the Future tracks CSA across the 19 focus countries (plus aligned) the CCAFS and USAID/BFS team selected 5 to carry out a deeper analysis of their portfolio. A visit in May 2015 by staff from CCAFS and USAID-BFS Washington to the Zambia Mission provided an opportunity to identify and discuss CSA-related activities within the country and the USAID zone of influence (ZOI). The five-day visit included a series of meetings with Mission staff, implementing partners of Feed the Future projects, agency personnel of the Government of Zambia, and the FAO-Zambia CSA specialist. The discussions were preceded by a document review of projects in the Feed the Future portfolio, shared in advance of the visit by the Mission, and other agriculture and climate change information available on the web. This report outlines key findings of the visit and suggests ways in which CSA can be further integrated into upcoming Feed the Future programming in Zambia. Although climate change has been a key theme in FtF, considerations are under way for CSA being an explicit cross-cutting theme. Five countries were selected for visits. Results from these inquiries will inform how FtF tracks CSA across the 19 focus countries, plus aligned countries

System and method for calibrating inter-star-tracker misalignments in a stellar inertial attitude determination system

A method and apparatus for determining star tracker misalignments is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of defining a defining a reference frame for the star tracker assembly according to a boresight of the primary star tracker and a boresight of a second star tracker wherein the boresight of the primary star tracker and a plane spanned by the boresight of the primary star tracker and the boresight of the second star tracker at least partially define a datum for the reference frame for the star tracker assembly; and determining the misalignment of the at least one star tracker as a rotation of the defined reference frame