Implementation of virtual manufacturing by a technology licensing company

NoThe paper considers the implementation of a virtual manufacturing system as an alternative to outward technology licensing in a high technology industrial sector. Brief theoretical definition and description of the two strategy options is provided to give background and context. This is followed by empirical material from a longitudinal case study of a company that has developed a virtual manufacturing system in addition to its pre-existing outward technology licensing business stream. A summary account of the company history and development is followed by description of the virtual manufacturing proposal. Analysis of this identified a number of competencies that would be required in order to succeed. The final part of the paper describes the company's response to this analysis and discusses early implementation of the virtual system. It is shown that implementation of the proposal has represented a positive response to the business challenges facing the company

How portable is level-0 behavior? A test of level-k theory in game with non-neutral frames

We test the portability of level-0 assumptions in level-k theory in an experimental investigation of behavior in Coordination, Discoordination, and Hide and Seek games with common, non-neutral frames. Assuming that level-0 behavior depends only on the frame, we derive hypotheses that are independent of prior assumptions abou tsalience. Those hypotheses are not confirmed. Our findings contrast with previous research which has fitted parameterized level-k models to Hide and Seek data. We show that, as a criterion of successful explanation, the existence of a plausible model that replicates the main patterns in these data has a high probability of false positives

Dynamic coupling: intrinsic and extrinsic influences on reaching and grasping in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the influence of task and organismic constraints on the dynamic coupling, during reaching and touching, and reaching and grasping tasks in individuals with hemiplegic cerebral palsy. Executions with a hand and with both hands were compared. Thus, three different studies were acomplished: 1) envolving reaching and touching; and reaching and grasping; 2) envolving the same tasks, with under speed pressure; 3) envolving the same tasks, but with a change in the angle of the table upon which the object rested. In generally, the results showed a coupling between the body sides during the bimanual movement. The influence of the constraints introduced in the task was different among the subjects. The results of this study were discussed in the light of the dynamic systems approach, which emphasizes the role of organismic, task and environment constraint upon behaviorO presente estudo teve por objetivo comparar a influência de restrições da tarefa e organísmicas na realização de tarefas de alcançar e apreender em indivíduos com hemiplegia derivada de paralisia cerebral, durante execuções com uma mão e com ambas as mãos. Para tanto, três estudos diferentes foram realizados: 1) envolvendo a realização de tarefas de alcançar e tocar; e alcançar e apreender; 2) envolvendo a realização de tarefas de alcançar e tocar; e alcançar e apreender com estresse de tempo; 3) envolvendo a realização de tarefa de alcançar e apreender, com a manipulação do ângulo da mesa, no qual se encontrava o objeto. Essencialmente, o conjunto de dados aponta para um acoplamento na ação do lado comprometido com o outro, durante o movimento bimanual. A influência das restrições introduzidas na tarefa foi diferente entre os sujeitos. Os resultados do estudo foram discutidos sob a ótica da abordagem dos sistemas dinâmicos, a qual atribui grande ênfase no papel das restrições do organismo, do ambiente e da tarefa no comportament

Reclaiming Virtue Ethics for Economics

Virtue ethics is an important strand of moral philosophy which normative economists have largely neglected. It underpins influential critiques of the market (as a domain in which instrumental motivation corrodes virtue) and of economics (as justifying such motivation). We explain and respond to this critique. Using the methods of virtue ethics and with reference to the writings of major economists, we propose an understanding of the ‘telos’ (purpose) of markets as cooperation for mutual benefit, and identify traits that thereby count as virtues for market participants. We conclude that the market need not be seen as a virtue-free zone

Corporate disclosure and the deregulation of international investment

Drawing on evidence of major Western governments’ concerns with the wider economic, social and environmental impact and performance of transnational firms, we argue that recent emphasis on deregulating industrial development, such as in the proposed Multilateral Agreement on Investment and ongoing discussions over a multilateral framework on investment, necessitates a fuller and regulated, rather than voluntaristic, corporate accountability, covering further details of the impact and performance of transnationals

Landscape Evolution of the Dry Valleys, Transantarctic Mountains: Tectonic Implications

There are different views about the amount and timing of surface uplift in the Transantarctic Mountains and the geophysical mechanisms involved. Our new interpretation of the landscape evolution and tectonic history of the Dry Valleys area of the Transantarctic Mountains is based on geomorphic mapping of an area of 10,000 km(2). The landforms are dated mainly by their association with volcanic ashes and glaciomarine deposits and this permits a reconstruction of the stages and timing of landscape evolution. Following a lowering of base level about 55 m.y. ago, there was a phase of rapid denudation associated with planation and escarpment retreat, probably under semiarid conditions. Eventually, downcutting by rivers, aided in places by glaciers, graded valleys to near present sea level. The main valleys were flooded by the sea in the Miocene during a phase of subsidence before experiencing a final stage of modest upwarping near the coast. There has been remarkably little landform change under the stable, cold, polar conditions of the last 15 m.y. It is difficult to explain the Sirius Group deposits, which occur at high elevations in the area, if they are Pliocene in age. Overall, denudation may have removed a wedge of rock with a thickness of over 4 km at the coast declining to 1 km at a point 75 km inland, which is in good agreement with the results of existing apatite fission track analyses. It is suggested that denudation reflects the differences in base level caused by high elevation at the time of extension due to underplating and the subsequent role of thermal uplift and flexural isostasy. Most crustal uplift (2-4 km) is inferred to have occurred in the early Cenozoic with 400 m of subsidence in the Miocene followed by 300 m of uplift in the Pliocene

Laser detection utilizing coherence

Lasers are an unnatural occurrence, rendered almost impossible in nature due to the laws of thermodynamics. Thus, the presence of laser radiation is always accompanied by an intent for that laser such as sensing, targeting, range finding etc. Detection of laser radiation is therefore important as it may be a precursor to impending action. Laser warning receivers have been around for decades and have been aligned with the type of laser threat. In the last few years new threats have appeared in the form of low-cost diode lasers with dangerously high power levels (several Watts for a few hundred US dollars) and an ever expanding range of wavelengths. Protecting against such threats requires its detection, analysis and classification. In this paper we will discuss the types of technologies that have been used to detect lasers and the properties they can discern. We then focus on the developments in the detection of coherence properties and its ability to detect weak continuous wave (CW) laser sources