Multicultural managers and competitive advantage: Evidence from elite football teams

Successful organizations have dynamic capabilities that are aligned with their competitive environments. As competitive environments globalize, the dynamic capabilities driven by managers with multicultural backgrounds are increasingly relevant. These managers are more likely to seize cognitively distant opportunities than monocultural managers. Using panel analysis of multilevel data from 355 elite football (soccer) teams, we find support for a moderated relationship among the degree of globalization in the competitive environment, the multicultural background of team managers, and team performance. When the competitive environment is highly global, teams with multicultural managers outperform teams with monocultural managers. When the competitive environment is less global, the reverse is true. The same effect holds when tested both cross-sectionally and longitudinally.     

Pareto efficient allocation of an in-motion wireless charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in a multipath network

Electric vehicles (EV) use an eco-friendly technology that limits the greenhouse gas emissions of the transport sector, but the limited battery capacity and the density of the battery are the major barriers to the widespread adoption of EV. To mitigate this, a good method seems to be the innovative wireless charging technology called ‘On-Line EV (OLEV)’, which is a contactless electric power transfer technology. This EV technology has the potential to charge the vehicle’s battery dynamically while the vehicle is in motion. This system helps to reduce not only the size of the battery but also its cost, and it also contributes to extending the driving range before the EV has to stop. The high cost of this technology requires an optimal location of the infrastructure along the route. For this reason, the objective of this paper is to study the problem of the location of the wireless charging infrastructure in a transport network composed of multiple routes between the origin and the destination. To find a strategic solution to this problem, we first and foremost propose a nonlinear integer programming solution to reach a compromise between the cost of the battery, which is related to its capacity, and the cost of installing the power transmitters, while maintaining the quality of the vehicle’s routing. Second, we adapt the multi-objective particle swarm optimization (MPSO) approach to our problem, as the particles were robust in solving nonlinear optimization problems. Since we have a multi-objective problem with two binary variables, we combine the binary and discrete versions of the particle swarm optimization approach with the multi-objective one. The port of Le Havre is presented as a case study to illustrate the proposed methodology. The results are analyzed and discussed in order to point out the efficiency of our resolution method.     

The financialization of the non‐financial corporation. A critique to the financial turn of accumulation hypothesis

One aspect in which non‐financial corporations (NFCs) are said to be financialized is that they have been increasingly engaged in financial accumulation from which they derive a growing proportion of financial income. This is what we call the financial turn of accumulation hypothesis. In this article, we show that the evidence used to sustain it, in the U.S. setting, has to be reconsidered. Our findings show that, contrary to the financial turn of accumulation hypothesis, financial income averages 2.5% of NFCs’ total income since the 1980s, oscillating since the beginnings of the 1990s until 2005 and then declining. In terms of assets, some of the alleged financial assets might actually reflect other activities in which NFCs have been increasingly engaged, such as tax avoidance, internationalization of production, activities refocusing and M&As.     

价值共创行为分析框架构建 ——基于赋能理论视角

通过文献调查并结合案例的描述性分析,提出数字技术时代价值网络中不同行为主体之间的赋能内涵、关键维度以及基于赋能跨层次效应的价值共创行为分析框架。将"赋能氛围""主体赋能"分别作为价值网络中赋能的宏观维度和微观维度进行概念化。界定了两个维度的关键组成要素,分别包括信息共享、开放性结构、协同规则以及主体关系、资源整合和影响。构建了赋能的跨层次效应模型,分析了赋能的宏观-微观跨层次效应及其对价值网络生态和主体价值创造的影响。     

面向规划管理的国外国家公园监测体系研究及启示——以美国、加拿大、英国为例

监测对于国家公园的科学保护管理与规划具有重要意义。中国正处于国家公园体制建设初期，有必要深入研究如何建立国家公园监测体系。以近20年来发展迅速的美国、加拿大和英国的国家公园监测体系为研究对象，基于文献调查和比较分析，从监测内容框架与指标、数据管理与转化、组织和保障3个方面梳理在各自资源与管理背景下国家公园监测体系的基本特点，并提取出面向规划管理的国家公园监测体系建设的16个基本要点，为我国提供借鉴和启示。     

青岛德租时期城市园林规划与设计探析

德国租借时期的青岛园林在中国近代园林中独树一帜，是世界范围的造林典范，是从造林到造园的成功探索，城市层面的建设意义突出。以史志、老照片、规划图与建设状况图等史实为依据，结合现场调研，梳理青岛园林规划，揭示其城市设计、科学生态、林业生产以及经济实用的规划思想。考证出公园、绿地以及林荫道布局在城市重要功能区；这些公园绿地既受到德国近代思潮的影响，又在地域环境中追求自然之美与森林化景观效果。希望理清青岛德国租借时期园林建设的状况，对当前我国城乡园林建设有所启发。     

Optimal granularity for portfolio choice

Many optimization-based portfolio rules fail to beat the simple 1/N rule out-of-sample because of parameter uncertainty. In this paper we suggest a grouping strategy in which we first form groups of equally weighted stocks and then optimize over the resulting groups only. This strategy aims at balancing the trade-off between the benefits from optimization and the losses from estimation risk. We rely on Monte-Carlo simulations to illustrate the performance of the strategy, and we derive the optimal group size for a simplified setup. Furthermore, we show that estimation risk also has an impact via the criterion by which the assets are sorted into groups (like the expected excess returns or betas), but does not negate the grouping approach. We relate our work to linear asset pricing models, and we conduct out of sample back-tests in order to confirm the validity of our grouping strategy empirically.     

The Use of Different Endorser Types in Advertising: A Content Analysis of Magazine Advertisements

Most of the literature assumes that endorsements, particularly by celebrities, are a frequently used advertising strategy. However, no study has yet investigated the use of the different endorser types identified by academic literature. This study seeks to close this research gap by analyzing German print advertisements. It finds that endorsement strategy in general is used much less than academic literature assumes, and that the relative significance of the different endorser types is incongruent to expectations. Moreover, the data suggest that, contrary to the literature's assumptions, credibility is not the most important underlying construct for endorsement advertisements, the endorser type used is frequently determined by the product category that is being advertised, and campaigns based on authenticity and similarity are gaining considerable importance in advertising practice.     

Fuel consumption for various driving styles in conventional and hybrid electric vehicles: Integrating driving cycle predictions with fuel consumption optimization*

Improving fuel economy and lowering emissions are key societal goals. Standard driving cycles, pre-designed by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), have long been used to estimate vehicle fuel economy in laboratory-controlled conditions. They have also been used to test and tune different energy management strategies for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). This paper aims to estimate fuel consumption for a conventional vehicle and a HEV using personalized driving cycles extracted from real-world data to study the effects of different driving styles and vehicle types on fuel consumption when compared to the estimates based on standard driving cycles. To do this, we extracted driving cycles for conventional vehicles and HEVs from a large-scale U.S. survey that contains real-world GPS-based driving records. Next, the driving cycles were assigned to one of three categories: volatile, normal, or calm. Then, the driving cycles were used along with a driver-vehicle simulation that captures driver decisions (vehicle speed during a trip), powertrain, and vehicle dynamics to estimate fuel consumption for conventional vehicles and HEVs with power-split powertrain. To further optimize fuel consumption for HEVs, the Equivalent Consumption Minimization Strategy (ECMS) is applied. The results show that depending on the driving style and the driving scenario, conventional vehicle fuel consumption can vary widely compared with standard EPA driving cycles. Specifically, conventional vehicle fuel consumption was 13% lower in calm urban driving, but almost 34% higher for volatile highway driving compared with standard EPA driving cycles. Interestingly, when a driving cycle is predicted based on the application of case-based reasoning and used to tune the power distribution in a hybrid electric vehicle, its fuel consumption can be reduced by up to 12% in urban driving. Implications and limitations of the findings are discussed.     

The Effectiveness of Brand- and Customer-Centric Content Strategies at Generating Shares, ‘Likes’, and Comments

Brands are constantly competing for user attention on Facebook and are trying to encourage fans to share, click ‘like’, and comment their posts. Yet, it remains unclear what content strategies are successful at encouraging those behaviors. Noting that the effectiveness of brand content strategies still remains an uncharted research area, this study adopts a discovery-oriented approach and employs workshops, quantitative content analysis, and episodic interviews, to link desired user responses (namely clicks share, ‘like’, and comment) to brand content strategies. This study reveals that customer-centric content strategies are the most effective at encouraging user responses. Managers can use provided recommendations to engage their customers by adopting content strategies that result in desired behavioral reactions.