Industrial digitalization. A systematic literature review and research agenda

This paper addresses the recent growth in publications on the topic of digitalization by systematically reviewing the literature dealing with this major technological and organizational transformation in the manufacturing sector. Our aim is to enhance the understanding of this phenomenon and provide a critical account of the state of the art of the research on industrial digitalization. After summarizing the different conceptualizations of digitalization and the stages of its evolution, we identify four thematic areas (technologies, impacts, enabling factors, and barriers) and create a meaningful segmentation of the existing publications along these dimensions. We then develop a future research agenda on industrial digitalization at both a conceptual and an empirical level, encompassing the following themes: (i) the need for a more nuanced conceptualization; (ii) the potential evolution of one or more digital technologies toward the category of “general-purpose technology”; (iii) the search for new contingency approaches; (iv) the development of accurate models of inter-firm collaboration among digital manufacturers; and (v) the elaboration of suitable solutions able to guarantee the compatibility of industrial digitalization with ethical and sustainability principles.     

Path-related empirical research on M&A-outcome: review and research agenda

This article attempts to reflect the current state and progress of contemporary research on financial and non-financial M&A outcome. Based on a review of 183 empirical M&A studies an integrative framework is developed, in which impact factors are classified into four major dimensions to explore the impact on M&A outcome: antecedents, transaction content characteristics, transaction process characteristics, and the transaction itself. The review reveals that M&A research is dominated by studies focusing on state variables at the expense of path-related variables. The review also shows that, to date, neither state-related research nor path-related research on financial and non-financial M&A outcome categories have reached maturity. Although there is still room for clarifying the impact of various state-related variables, the most valuable new insights are expected to emerge from researching path-related variables. Building on these insights, an extensive future research agenda is presented, which focuses on path-related research questions and methodological issues.     

《萨班斯法案》对美国公司董事会影响的分析

2002年度美国出台的《萨班斯法案》全方位地对安然等事件暴露出来的问题作出相应的调整性规定,必将对公司治理产生深切的影响。《萨班斯法案》对审计委员会提出了修正性和提高性要求,本文选择外部董事、女性董事、财务专家、CEO兼任董事会主席、CEO在提名委员会任职等指标进行分析。实证分析结果说明:《萨班斯法案》有效消除了董事会和管理层任人唯亲的现象,董事会的独立性和专业性均有所提高。其实,《萨班斯法案》颁布之前就有加强公司治理的要求,公司治理就有改进的趋势,但《萨班斯法案》关于审计委员会方面的明文规定加速了公司董事会的变化,使得公司治理改革超越了法律的既定要求。     

New perspectives on board research: changing the research agenda

Scholars and practitioners have recently devoted considerable attention to boards of directors, but far more research is needed. We still know little about how boards actually work and how their behavior may be improved to contribute to value creation. During more than two decades agency theory has been the dominant theory in studies about boards of directors. When relaxing some of the assumptions in agency theory several new pathways for new research arise. To present new perspectives on board research we follow in this essay some of the pathways arising from relaxing agency theory assumptions about complete contracts. Alternative theoretical approaches, research questions and methods are suggested.     

The status of research on teleworking and an agenda for future research

Teleworking is a relatively new mode of alternative work arrangements. During its short life, the study of teleworking gained considerable attention in the literature for both its academic relevance and its practical implications for management. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the developments in this area, studying the nature of teleworking, its antecedents, processes and outcomes. Different models and perspectives are presented and analysed with emphasis shared between both positive and negative aspects. Directions for future research on teleworking issues, as well as recommendations for a new research agenda, are offered within a framework of Why , What and How to explore the future of teleworking.     

Evaluation of Two Approaches to Defining Extinction Risk under the U.S. Endangered Species Act

The predominant definition of extinction risk in conservation biology involves evaluating the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of extinction time at a particular point (the “time horizon”). Using the principles of decision theory, this article develops an alternative definition of extinction risk as the expected loss (EL) to society resulting from eventual extinction of a species. Distinct roles are identified for time preference and risk aversion. Ranges of tentative values for the parameters of the two approaches are proposed, and the performances of the two approaches are compared and contrasted for a small set of real‐world species with published extinction time distributions and a large set of hypothetical extinction time distributions. Potential issues with each approach are evaluated, and the EL approach is recommended as the better of the two. The CDF approach suffers from the fact that extinctions that occur at any time before the specified time horizon are weighted equally, while extinctions that occur beyond the specified time horizon receive no weight at all. It also suffers from the fact that the time horizon does not correspond to any natural phenomenon, and so is impossible to specify nonarbitrarily; yet the results can depend critically on the specified value. In contrast, the EL approach has the advantage of weighting extinction time continuously, with no artificial time horizon, and the parameters of the approach (the rates of time preference and risk aversion) do correspond to natural phenomena, and so can be specified nonarbitrarily.     

Use of risk assessment and life cycle assessment in decision making: a common policy research agenda.

Quantitative risk assessment (RA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) are both analytical tools used to support decision making in environmental management. They have been developed and used by largely separate groups of specialists, and it is worth considering whether there is a common research agenda that may increase the relevance of these tools in decision-making processes. The validity of drawing comparisons between use of the tools is established through examining key aspects of the two approaches for their similarities and differences, including the nature of each approach and contextual and methodological aspects. Six case studies involving use of each approach in public decision making are described and used to draw out concerns about using RA and LCA in this context. The following categories of concern can be distinguished: philosophical approach of the tools; quantitative versus qualitative assessment; stakeholder participation; the nature of the results; and the usefulness of the results in relation to time and financial resource requirements. These can be distilled into a common policy research agenda focusing on: the legitimacy of using tools built on a particular perspective in decision making; recognition and role of value judgments in RA and LCA; treatment of uncertainty and variability; the influence of analytical tools in focusing attention on particular aspects of a decision-making situation; and understandability of the results for nonspecialists. It is concluded that it is time to bring together the experiences of RA and LCA specialists and benefit from cross-fertilization of ideas.     

Mitigating the U.S. Drug Shortages Through Pareto‐Improving Contracts

Drug shortages have been a major challenge facing the US pharmaceutical industry and government in recent years. Although the problem has drawn tremendous attention from the government and media, limited academic research has been devoted to this problem, and few solutions have been proposed based on rigorous research. This study addresses the drug shortage problem from a supply chain perspective, a key aspect missing in the literature, and proposes to mitigate shortages through drug purchase contracts. By modeling the drug supply chain, we capture the objectives of various supply chain parties, and investigate Pareto‐improving contracts that mitigate drug shortages, improve drug manufacturer's and group purchasing organization (GPO)'s profits, and cut government spending and healthcare providers’ costs. We explore structural properties of key supply chain decisions and the Pareto‐improving contracts, and conduct scenario analysis with realistic industry data to evaluate shortage mitigation solutions. Our analysis shows that increasing drug prices only, a solution advocated by many, is not very effective in shortage mitigation. Price increases must be paired with strengthened failure‐to‐supply clauses (called the IPS approach) to achieve consistent and significant shortage reduction as well as Pareto improvement. Across all scenarios tested, a 30% price increase under IPS can lead to a minimum, average, and maximum shortage reduction of 25%, 53%, and 70%, respectively. Our analysis also shows the impacts of IPS on different parties in the supply chain and the impacts of various model parameters on shortage mitigation. The IPS approach rewards reliability of drug supply, which is in line with the FDA's strategic plan to reward quality, but is easier to achieve in this regulation‐based industry. Interactions with the government and industry practitioners indicate that IPS also challenges the current mindset in pharmaceutical contracting.     

The U.S. Forest Service and Its Responsibilities under the National Environmental Policy Act: A Work Design Problem

The U.S. Forest Service’s responsibilities under the National Environmental Policy Act entail a wide range of activities including scoping, scientific analysis, social and economic analysis, managing public input and involvement, media relations, regulatory analysis, and litigation. These myriad duties raise several important organizational and management questions. First, is the U.S. Forest Service capable of discharging these widely varying tasks with high levels of effectiveness and efficiency? To what extent should these activities be outsourced to private contractors or other providers? For those responsibilities retained in-house, what organizational structure best supports their effective and efficient execution? To address these questions, this article draws on concepts from new institutional economics and insights from the privatization and strategic organizational design literatures.     

Work and nonwork influences on health: a research agenda using inability to leave as a critical variable

A basic path analytic model of stressor-health relationships is formulated from a multidisciplinary literature base. Work, nonwork, and individual difference variables act as exogenous stressors influencing endogenous job and life satisfaction variables, which are then posited to influence health variables. Inability to leave is added to the model as a means of more completely integrating a research framework investigating work and nonwork influences on health.     

Planning reform beyond planning: the debate on an integrated Environment and Planning Act in the Netherlands

Land-use plans serve a dual function. On the one hand, they are programmes for future development, plans for action. On the other hand, they have a regulative function in relation to construction and land use. This paper investigates how the interplay between these functions is playing a role in the current debate about the new integrated Environment and Planning Act (Omgevingswet) in the Netherlands. Initially, the government proposed abolishing local land-use plans and replacing them with a system of by-laws. However, this proposal did not survive the debate on this bill. This paper will shed light on the relationships between planning and regulation by analysing that debate.     

基于价值创造的企业内部行为主体的特点及互动机制

针对企业持续创新活动的来源问题,基于价值网络理论从企业官方活动和非官方活动两个方面,分析了企业内部官方活动行为主体和非官方活动行为主体价值创造的特点,构建了这两类行为主体在价值创造和价值交换中的互动关系模型,并运用相关数据对模型各构成要素进行了初步的相关性检验,结果显示,该模型至少在一定的业务活动范围内是基本有效的。     

基于路径依赖视角的我国MAH制度实施演化博弈分析

MAH制度是国际公认通行的药品上市审批制度,具有生产形式多样化、技术转让自由、节约市场资源以及提升政府行政监管质量等优点。2016年,我国在北京、上海等10个省（市）开展药品上市许可持有人制度（MAH）试点工作。本文根据我国药品上市制度变迁的路径依赖问题,构建演化博弈模型,分别对由药品研发机构、药品生产企业构成的内部制度变迁和由政府、消费者构成的外部制度变迁进行分析,深入研究博弈主体行为的演化路径。研究表明：内部制度和外部制度路径依赖是制约我国医药产业发展和新药研发动力不足的主要原因,药品上市内部制度变迁主要通过规模效应和适应性预期影响药品研发机构和药品生产企业,从而产生药品上市内部制度路径依赖;药品上市外部制度变迁主要通过学习效应和协调效应影响政府和消费者,从而产生药品上市外部制度路径依赖。在此基础上,运用Matlab数值分析对药品制度变迁过程中的最优稳定策略进行探讨,解释了我国MAH制度变迁过程中存在的路径依赖问题,为完善我国MAH制度、破除路径依赖提供了一定参考。     

Differences in Pharmacokinetics Between Children and Adults—II. Children''s Variability in Drug Elimination Half-Lives and in Some Parameters Needed for Physiologically-Based Pharmacokinetic Modeling

In earlier work we assembled a database of classical pharmacokinetic parameters (e.g., elimination half-lives; volumes of distribution) in children and adults. These data were then analyzed to define mean differences between adults and children of various age groups. In this article, we first analyze the variability in half-life observations where individual data exist. The major findings are as follows. The age groups defined in the earlier analysis of arithmetic mean data (0-1 week premature; 0-1 week full term; 1 week to 2 months; 2-6 months; 6 months to 2 years; 2-12 years; and 12-18 years) are reasonable for depicting child/adult pharmacokinetic differences, but data for some of the earliest age groups are highly variable. The fraction of individual children's half-lives observed to exceed the adult mean half-life by more than the 3.2-fold uncertainty factor commonly attributed to interindividual pharmacokinetic variability is 27% (16/59) for the 0-1 week age group, and 19% (5/26) in the 1 week to 2 month age group, compared to 0/87 for all the other age groups combined between 2 months and 18 years. Children within specific age groups appear to differ from adults with respect to the amount of variability and the form of the distribution of half-lives across the population. The data indicate departure from simple unimodal distributions, particularly in the 1 week to 2 month age group, suggesting that key developmental steps affecting drug removal tend to occur in that period. Finally, in preparation for age-dependent physiologically-based pharmacokinetic modeling, nationally representative NHANES III data are analyzed for distributions of body size and fat content. The data from about age 3 to age 10 reveal important departures from simple unimodal distributional forms-in the direction suggesting a subpopulation of children that are markedly heavier than those in the major mode. For risk assessment modeling, this means that analysts will need to consider "mixed" distributions (e.g., two or more normal or log-normal modes) in which the proportions of children falling within the major versus highweight/fat modes in the mixture changes as a function of age. Biologically, the most natural interpretation of this is that these subpopulations represent children who have or have not yet received particular signals for change in growth pattern. These apparently distinct subpopulations would be expected to exhibit different disposition of xenobiotics, particularly those that are highly lipophilic and poorly metabolized.