Cross-border Market Co-creation, Dynamic Capabilities and the Entrepreneurial Theory of the Multinational Enterprise

The concepts of asset co-specialization and dynamic capabilities have been instrumental in furthering the organization and strategy scholarship agenda, but have so far had limited impact to the theory of the MNE and FDI. In addition, the role of entrepreneurial management in orchestrating system-wide value creation through market and eco-system creation and co-creation, in order to advance private appropriation, has been all but ignored. We claim that these ideas can help explicate the nature of the MNE in the knowledge-based, semi-globalized economy. The nature of the MNE in its turn should not be seen as separable from either the objectives of the agents (entrepreneurs) who set them up or its essence – the employment of strategy to capture co-created value.Asset Co-specialisation; Dynamic Capabilities; Cross-border Market and Ecosystem Co-creation; Theory of MNE and FDI; Entrepreneurial Theory

The (new) nature and essence of the firm

Extant explanations of the nature and scope of firms, such as transaction costs, property rights, metering and “resources” can be integrated into a more general (capability based) theory of the nature and essence of the firm that recognizes the importance to the firm of creating (and capturing) value from innovation. We note that the appropriability of returns from creative and innovative activity often requires the entrepreneurial creation and co-creation of markets. Accordingly, market failure and transaction costs approaches need to be revamped to capture the essence of entrepreneurial and managerial activity that extends beyond the mere exercise of authority. We suggest that the nature and objective of the firm in an economy with innovation and incomplete markets is to capture value (profit) from its advantages and actions; and that the way in which the firm tries to achieve this (by establishing quasisustainable competitive advantage) is its essence. This is non-separable from its nature and objectives.firm, nature, essence, innovation, dynamic capabilities

Telecommunications in Transition: Unbundling, Reintegration, and Competition

The world economy is experiencing a technological revolution, fueled by rapid advances in microelectronics, optics, and computer science, that in the 1990s and beyond will dramatically change the way people everywhere communicate, learn, and access information and entertainment. This technological revolution has been underway for about a decade. The emergence of a fully-interactive communications network, sometimes referred to as the Information Superhighway, is now upon us. This highway, made possible by fiber optics and the convergence of several different technologies, is capable of delivering a plethora of new interactive entertainment, informational, and instructional services that are powerful and user-friendly. The transition from analog to digital technologies, the expanding bandwidth of the enabling platform, and the shift from regulated to competitive environments have all served to make the 1990s the decade in which the Information Superhighway will be built and used. A true revolution in the delivery of entertainment, information, transactions, and telecommunications services is at hand. This paper outlines these technological changes and explores their implications for competition policy, industry structure, and business organization. Part I introduces competition as an organizational model and discusses the existing structure of the telecommunications industry in the United States. Part II describes recent technological advances that change the conditions underlying the current regulatory structure of the telecommunications industry and challenges the effectiveness and validity of the current regulatory scheme. Part III discusses how innovation impacts what has been considered the natural monopoly of local exchange. Part IV advances five principles that should guide policy modification. Part V explores how eliminating the line-of-business restrictions created by the Modification of the Final Judgment1 between the government and American Telephone and Telegraph Co. will accelerate competition and stimulate the development of the Information Superhighway. Ameritech\u27s Customer First Plan is presented as a viable means to enhance competition, avoid redundant investment, and increase service innovations and technological advances. Part VI discusses the impact of removing interLATA restrictions

Market Sensing, Dynamic Capability, and Competitive Dynamics

This is a research commentary to the following article: Hunt, S. D., & Madhavaram, S. (2019). Adaptive marketing capabilities, dynamic capabilities, and renewal competences: The “outside vs. inside” and “static vs. dynamic” controversies in strategy, Industrial Marketing Management, in press. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2019.07.004

A meta-analysis of variables that predict significant intracranial injury in minor head trauma.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have presented conflicting results regarding the predictive effect of various clinical symptoms, signs, and plain imaging for intracranial pathology in children with minor head injury. AIMS: To perform a meta-analysis of the literature in order to assess the significance of these factors and intracranial haemorrhage (ICH) in the paediatric population. METHODS: The literature was searched using Medline, Embase, Experts, and the grey literature. Reference lists of major guidelines were crosschecked. Control or nested case-control studies of children with head injury who had skull radiography, recording of common symptoms and signs, and head computed tomography (CT) were selected. OUTCOME VARIABLE: CT presence or absence of ICH. RESULTS: Sixteen papers were identified as satisfying criteria for inclusion in the meta-analysis, although not every paper contained data on every correlate. Available evidence gave pooled patient numbers from 1136 to 22 420. Skull fracture gave a relative risk ratio of 6.13 (95% CI 3.35 to 11.2), headache 1.02 (95% CI 0.62 to 1.69), vomiting 0.88 (95% CI 0.67 to 1.15), focal neurology 9.43 (2.89 to 30.8), seizures 2.82 (95% CI 0.89 to 9.00), LOC 2.23 (95% CI 1.20 to 4.16), and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) <15 of 5.51 (95% CI 1.59 to 19.0). CONCLUSIONS: There was a statistically significant correlation between intracranial haemorrhage and skull fracture, focal neurology, loss of consciousness, and GCS abnormality. Headache and vomiting were not found to be predictive and there was great variability in the predictive ability of seizures. More information is required about the current predictor variables so that more refined guidelines can be developed. Further research is currently underway by three large study groups

Sudden collapse of a colloidal gel

Metastable gels formed by weakly attractive colloidal particles display a distinctive two-stage time-dependent settling behavior under their own weight. Initially a space-spanning network is formed that for a characteristic time, which we define as the lag time \taud, resists compaction. This solid-like behavior persists only for a limited time. Gels whose age \tw is greater than \taud yield and suddenly collapse. We use a combination of confocal microscopy, rheology and time-lapse video imaging to investigate both the process of sudden collapse and its microscopic origin in an refractive-index matched emulsion-polymer system. We show that the height $h$ of the gel in the early stages of collapse is well described by the surprisingly simple expression, h(\ts) = \h0 - A \ts^{3/2}, with \h0 the initial height and \ts = \tw-\taud the time counted from the instant where the gel first yields. We propose that this unexpected result arises because the colloidal network progressively builds up internal stress as a consequence of localized rearrangement events which leads ultimately to collapse as thermal equilibrium is re-established.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures, final versio

Gels under stress: the origins of delayed collapse

Attractive colloidal particles can form a disordered elastic solid or gel when quenched into a two-phase region, if the volume fraction is sufficiently large. When the interactions are comparable to thermal energies the stress-bearing network within the gel restructures over time as individual particle bonds break and reform. Typically, under gravity such weak gels show a prolonged period of either no or very slow settling, followed by a sudden and rapid collapse - a phenomenon known as delayed collapse. The link between local bond breaking events and the macroscopic process of delayed collapse is not well understood. Here we summarize the main features of delayed collapse and discuss the microscopic processes which cause it. We present a plausible model which connects the kinetics of bond breaking to gel collapse and test the model by exploring the effect of an applied external force on the stability of a gel.Comment: Accepted version: 10 pages, 7 figure