控制外包的情报搜集——放养蝴蝶和咨询师

通常来说，不论规模大小，各个行业的公司都把搜集和生产初始一手来源竞争性信息的工作外包出去。（本文将间接的二手调研界定为对已公开出版的，通常是基于网络渠道获取的信息进行调研。）初始的一手调研是指通过直接找到能给出问题答案的相关人员并对他们询问来完成调研的信息搜集工作。     

Discipline‐Informed Approaches to Water Accounting

Recent decades have witnessed demands for greater transparency and more clearly defined lines of responsibility and accountability in the management of natural resources. Consequently, various approaches to recording and reporting data relating to such resources have emerged, particularly in relation to water. We explore international water accounting developments where different water accounting systems are being developed in different settings, with different origins, and influenced by different disciplines. Australia is developing a general‐purpose water accounting system with its genealogy in financial reporting. We explore its development and implications for regulators and professionals in accounting and water‐related business. We also contemplate the potential for a global water accounting system.     

Cost of operating room time for endovascular transcatheter aortic valve replacement

Abstract

Background: Procedural efficiencies can contribute to cost reductions in transcatheter aortic valve replacement procedures (TAVR). The objective of this study is to determine operating room (OR) variable cost per minute in endovascular TAVR procedures, in a real-world hospital setting.

Methods: Using Premier data from January 2015–June 2016 for patients undergoing a primary endovascular TAVR (primary ICD-9 code of 35.05, ICD-10 code of 02RF37Z, 02RF38Z, 02RF3JZ, or 02RF3KZ) procedure, the OR cost per minute was calculated for each patient by dividing the total hospital OR variable cost by the OR time (minutes).

Results: Of the 4,573 patients in the cohort, the average age was 80 years, 77% were admitted electively, and the vast majority were discharged home with (30%) or without (45%) home care. Median OR time for endovascular TAVR procedures was 180?min. The trimmed mean OR cost per minute was $43.59 (SD = $28.68). When stratified by Elixhauser Risk score and Charlson comorbidity index, OR cost per minute increased with higher risk and comorbidity (p?<?0.0001 and p?<?0.041, respectively).

Conclusions: This contemporary estimate of the real-world variable OR cost per minute provides researchers with a critical parameter to refine economic models of TAVR and aid clinical program directors in resource planning according to a priori risk and comorbidity.     

The Role of Geographic Location in the Acquisition Strategies of High‐Technology Firms: Evidence from Computer Networking Equipment Industry

The present study focuses on the acquisition strategies of Cisco Systems, a comprehensible representative of high‐technology firms. This investigation has depicted a dynamic picture of acquisition behavior when the geographic location of targets varies. Analysis has revealed that high‐technology firms are more likely to acquire co‐located start‐ups. Our findings suggest that high‐technology firms are more likely to acquire targets who have received an earlier equity investment and whose technologies have been standardized. We have also found partial evidence that supports the argument that high‐technology firms pursue cluster‐based acquisitions. Analysis suggests that access to patents does not matter for start‐up companies located in industry clusters while their counterparts outside these clusters need patents to become acquisition targets. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Kickstarting growth in bus patronage: Targeting support at the margins

This paper presents an assessment of the performance of the Kickstart and Bus Route Development Grant schemes in England and Scotland which aimed to move marginal or new bus services towards commercial operation. Three key aspects are addressed, namely: the bidding and implementation process; performance against objectives and the future potential of the approach. The evidence suggests that this form of transformational support appears to offer a better return than subsidy that supports the status quo or indeed patronage based support.     

寻找人际信息源：对调查计划的动物性比喻

如果竞争情报或企业情报有核心问题，那么很可能是：怎样有效地找到那些能给我们提供所需信息，并且毫无欺骗与保留地将信息同我们分享的人。本文探索了如何部分地解决这一问题，并对实施计划提出了有效建议。     

An empirical analysis of continuing improvements following the implementation of a performance-based compensation plan

Performance improvements subsequent to the implementation of a pay-for-performance plan can result because more productive employees self-select into the firm (selection effect) and because employees allocate effort to become more effective (effort effect). We analyze individual performance data for 3,776 sales employees of a retail firm to evaluate these alternative sources of continuing performance improvement. The incentive plan helps the firm attract and retain more productive sales employees, and motivates these employees to further improve their productivity. In contrast, the less productive sales employees’ performance declines before they leave the firm.     

How to Integrate ESG into Investment Decision‐Making: Results of a Global Survey of Institutional Investors

The authors review the findings of their global survey of 582 institutional investors that were either practicing or planning to practice some degree of integration of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors into their investment decision‐making process. The investors were evenly split between asset owners and asset managers, equity and fixed income, and across the three regions of the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East, and Africa. The survey explored reasons for ESG investing; the barriers to such investing and investor approaches to overcoming them; and the time frames used for making investment decisions, evaluating the performance of managers, and awarding compensation. The authors report finding that the commonly perceived barriers to ESG integration—the belief that ESG integration requires sacrificing returns, that fiduciary duty prevents one from doing so, and unrealistically short‐term expectations for ESG to deliver outperformance—were not as great as commonly believed. The biggest barrier is the lack of high quality data about the performance of companies on their material ESG factors—a scarcity that the authors attribute to the lack of standards for measuring ESG performance and the lack of ESG performance data reported by companies. The results were very similar between asset owners and asset managers, equity and fixed income, and across regions. However, the investment horizons of asset owners were notably longer than those of asset managers, and the same was true of equity vs. fixed income investors. Investors in the Americas were more patient about time frames for seeing outperformance from ESG, while those in Asia Pacific were the least patient. There were also differences across regions in how to overcome the barriers to ESG integration.