Individual-level outcomes in poorly managed cross-border mergers and acquisitions: A holistic view of the relevant processes

This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article (with the provisional title "Undesired individual-level outcomes in cross-border mergers and acquisitions: A process approach") published in Schmalenbach Business Review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version, "Individual-level outcomes in poorly managed cross-border mergers and acquisitions: A holistic view of the relevant processes" in Special Issue 3/11, 92 - 116, 2011 is available online at: http://www.sbr-online.de/special_issues.html.We explore the processes that lead to undesirable individual-level outcomes in crossborder mergers and acquisitions (M&As). Based on the empirical findings from an in-depth longitudinal case study that describes the unsuccessful integrative efforts between a German multinational company and an Austrian service provider, we develop a generic model that describes a holistic view of the processes and its relevant associated dynamics. These processes raise the awareness of aspects that significantly impact the integration process, but whose dynamics have not been linked. Our model provides an explanation of why traditional attempts to integrate mostly meet with failure

An analysis of core-competences of successful multinational team leaders

Copyright @ 2010 The Authors. This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below.Researchers have endeavoured to understand the factors that enable effective functioning of multinational teams (MNTs) but with few exceptions they have ignored studying the competences of MNT leaders. In this paper we present those competences leaders must possess in order to effectively lead MNTs. Our findings are based on 70 problem-centred interviews with MNT leaders and members from five multinational corporations. The competences our interviewees mentioned most frequently for effective leadership were knowledge management and transfer. Results further indicated that a leader must be cross-culturally competent and multilingual in order to motivate MNT members to fully explore, exploit and transfer valuable knowledge within the team and beyond

On Style: Through Architectural Model

Conceived as an agent to the spatial experience in the architectural design, style constitutes an important means of architectural modeling. Exceedingly the spatial organizations are tempted to be reached through three dimensional communicative tools such as free-hand sketches, technical drawings or by models. While approaching to design strategies via these techniques, a closer relation is emerged with the user or the reader, who as a “perceiving subject”, gets involved into the three dimensional environment. “Through architectural model” tends to scrutinize the labeling of the modeled spaces under the grand set of style

Multinational Teams in European and American Companies

Incorporating team context into research and practice concerning team effectiveness in multinational organizations still remains an ongoing challenge. This book aims at drawing the attention of researchers and practitioners towards the importance of various ‘layers’ of context on multinational teams and developing an empirically derived framework for multinational team functioning in business organisations. It shows how companies make use of these teams and how these teams contribute to competitive advantage. The study has been conducted in an Austrian, a German, and an American company. It reveals that if managed appropriately, these teams reduce the complexity of operations by facilitating the creation and transfer of explicit and tacit knowledge and by transferring appropriate dimensions of headquarter corporate culture between geographically dispersed business units

Pengembangan Kreativitas Peserta Didik Melalui Pembelajaran Berbasis Game Pada Mata Pelajaran Pendidikan Agama Islam

Developing students' creativity through game-based learning in Islamic Education subjects is very useful. Learning is a complex process and requires an innovative approach to increase students' creativity. One method that can be used is game-based learning, which is able to combine educational elements with entertainment aspects. This research aims to examine the development of students' creativity through the application of game-based learning in PAI subjects. The research method used is classroom action research involving class students which consists of two learning cycles. The research results show a significant increase in students' creativity levels after participating in game-based learning. This learning provides opportunities for students to develop their creativity through challenges in the form of games that are integrated with the concept of Islamic Religious Education. In addition, students show a high level of motivation in participating in learning, considering that the game element provides a fun and interactive learning experience. This research contributes to educational literature by showing that game-based learning can be an effective alternative in increasing students' creativity in Islamic Religious Education subjects. The practical implication of this research is the need to apply innovative and interesting learning methods to increase the effectiveness of religious learning in schools

Cultural influences and the mediating role of socio-cultural integration processes on the performance of cross-border mergers and acquisitions

This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.This paper reports findings from a longitudinal case study (2005–2011) of a merger between an Austrian and a German energy provider. I develop a model of socio-cultural integration processes based on an analysis of critical incidents expressed in 71 problem-centred interviews and observations with acquired and acquiring employees at four different points of time: immediately before the takeover and during the first negotiation talks, and one, three and six years after the takeover. The findings suggest that the relationship between national and organizational cultural differences and M&A outcomes is mediated by socio-cultural integration processes defined in terms of the formation of interpersonal relationships, trust and shared identity. Based on these findings I formulate specific propositions and build an evidence-based model of M&A socio-cultural integration processes that guides future research and practice

"Har du tänkt söka upp dina rötter?". En kvalitativ intervjustudie om identitet och anknytning med vuxna adopterade från länder utanför Europa

Abstract Author: Hajro Örneland Title: “Well then, are you planning to find your roots?” A qualitative interview study about identity and attachment with adults adopted from non-European countries. Supervisor: Carina Tigervall and Elizabeth Martinell Barfoed Assessor: Anna Angelin Adoption is a topic often discussed in various social contexts as well as in media, through for example different TV shows. Research carried out on adoption has typically focused on problems related to adoption and specific groups of adopted individuals. The aim of the current study was to get a more in-depth understanding of how individuals adopted from non-European countries relate to their identity. The material used for this study was collected through a series of qualitative, semi-structured interviews with six adults adopted from countries outside of Europe. The analysis was based on theories of identities and social constructions. More specifically, the investigation focuses on two themes. The first theme covered the ambient interest of the adoptee’s roots and origin. The second theme dealt with the issue of identity related to factors such as physical appearance, and inherency, features that are socially constructed and mirrored through the eyes of the beholder. This theme also included if and how the adopted has discussed identity with the closest family and friends. Previous research and investigations have had a tendency to put forward the adoptee as a particularly vulnerable group of individuals. The findings presented in this composition indicate that questions related to identity and appearance might not be much more essential for the adopted compared to other groups in society. Key words: adoption, identity, social constructivism, interviews, qualitative method

Fitting curves and impact toughness transition temperature of quenched and tempered steel welds

Welded products of quenched and tempered (QT) structural steels are used from ambient to moderately low design/service temperatures. Therefore, besides base metal, a weld also must possess required minimal design impact toughness (KV) at temperatures lower than transition temperature (TT), where the transition from ductile to brittle fracture occurs. A common way to determine transition temperature is by use of appropriate fitting curves, in accordance with specified standardised criterion. From the point of welding procedure evaluation, it is important to analyse welds for its impact toughness and transition temperature, particularly for three main zones: weld metal, heat-affected zone (HAZ) and base metal. This paper covers welds of two QT steel grades, 690 and 890, which are interesting regarding their yield strength and characteristic weld zones. Basic details of gas metal arc welding (GMAW, process used in this experiment) are provided, while temperatures for impact toughness tests of weld zones were varied from +20 °C down to -60 °C. Based on acquired experimental results of impact toughness, fitting curves were developed by use of Oldfield model, e.g. hyperbolic tangent function. Acquired transition temperatures (TT) from fitting curves show mostly allowable values for all three weld zones. As expected, lower strength grade 690 possess higher impact toughness, in comparison to higher strength grade 890. The standardized criteria of minimal absorbed energy of 30 J (KV) and 50 % of shear fracture (SF) show different transition temperatures (TT-30J and TT-50%SF), while general dependence of impact toughness to shear fracture (KV vs. SF) shows a reasonable trend. Finally, used GMAW procedures may be considered as acceptable, since for both steel grades (690 and 890) all three weld zones show better TT-30J values than minimal required by standard (TT-30J=-40 °C) for QT structural steels

Automated nasal feature detection for the lexical access from features project

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2004.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 150-151).The focus of this thesis was the design, implementation, and evaluation of a set of automated algorithms to detect nasal consonants from the speech waveform in a distinctive feature-based speech recognition system. The study used a VCV database of over 450 utterances recorded from three speakers, two male and one female. The first stage of processing for each speech waveform included automated 'pivot' estimation using the Consonant Landmark Detector - these 'pivots' were considered possible sonorant closures and releases in further analyses. Estimated pivots were analyzed acoustically for the nasal murmur and vowel-nasal boundary characteristics. For nasal murmur, the analyzed cues included observing the presence of a low frequency resonance in the short-time spectra, stability in the signal energy, and characteristic spectral tilt. The acoustic cues for the nasal boundary measured the change in the energy of the first harmonic and the net energy change of the 0-350Hz and 350-1000Hz frequency bands around the pivot time. The results of the acoustic analyses were translated into a simple set of general acoustic criteria that detected 98% of true nasal pivots. The high detection rate was partially offset by a relatively large number of false positives - 16% of all non-nasal pivots were also detected as showing characteristics of the nasal murmur and nasal boundary. The advantage of the presented algorithms is in their consistency and accuracy across users and contexts, and unlimited applicability to spontaneous speech.by Neira Hajro.M.Eng

De optimale gebruiker:onderzoek naar de gebruikerstevredenheid van het maatschappelijk vastgoed van de gemeente Helmond

De gemeente Helmond is vijftien jaar geleden gestart met het professionaliseren van het vastgoedbeheer. Dit is gedaan door het vastgoed te centraliseren in één afdeling, het team Vastgoed. Een grote operatie aangezien de gemeente ruim 150.000m² vastgoed bezit. De gemeente Helmond is een van de eerste gemeenten die zich zo intensief bezig heeft gehouden met het centraliseren van het vastgoedbeheer binnen de gemeente. Inmiddels is het team Vastgoed op het punt aangekomen dat zij een inventarisatie willen van de mening over de dienstverlening van het team Vastgoed. Samen met het Consortium Maatschappelijk Vastgoed is er besloten om een onderzoek te starten naar de gebruikerstevredenheid van de gemeente Helmond. De uitkomsten van dit onderzoek kunnen een basis vormen voor andere gemeenten om de professionalisering goed aan te pakken. De gemeente heeft invloed op de huurders doordat zij de subsidiestromen hebben gekoppeld aan de huur. Organisaties ontvangen subsidies om activiteiten te organiseren en om daarnaast de huur te kunnen betalen. Indien een huurder zich niet gedraagt als een goede huurder heeft de gemeente op deze manier een middel om de huurder te dwingen om te verhuizen of om zijn gedrag te veranderen. Een ander voordeel van deze manier van financiering is dat vastgoed de huur rendeert die het nodig heeft om de kosten aan het vastgoed te dekken. Hierdoor lijdt de gemeente geen kapitaalverlies op het vastgoed. De probleemstelling van dit onderzoek is de volgende: Welk beeld hebben huurders van het maatschappelijk vastgoed van de dienstverlening van het team Vastgoed van de gemeente Helmond?’ Studentenonderzoek in het kader van het thema Leefomgeving