Configuring a new business model through conceptual combination: The rise of the Huffington Post

How a successful business model (BM) is designed is a key question in the business model innovation (BMI) literature. Delving on the shared concept of BM as a configuration of components and interdependencies, we take a cognitive perspective to study the conceptual combination as a central process in BMI. We investigate the complexity of conceiving a new BM configuration, through a longitudinal study of the emergence of “The Huffington Post” which combined newspaper and blog in a disruptive and successful BM. With our research we theoretically frame the dynamic interplay between the three cognitive mechanisms of conceptual combination and the system of interdependent components of an emerging BM. Our findings unveil how the overall process unfolds and specifically delves into the dynamic iteration of composing and experimenting with the new configuration until the overall coherence is reached. Hence, we advance the literature by showing how the conceptual combination of a new BM is a complex effort and comprises some iterative cycles, vital to reach a coherent configuration which could secure a superior performance.     

Dependency and truncated forms of combinations in multivariate combination-based permutation tests and ordered categorical variables

ABSTRACT

Quite an important problem usually occurs in several multi-dimensional hypotheses testing problems when variables are correlated. In this framework the non-parametric combination (NPC) of a finite number of dependent permutation tests is suitable to cover almost all real situations of practical interest since the dependence relations among partial tests are implicitly captured by the combining procedure itself without the need to specify them [Pesarin F, Salmaso L. Permutation tests for complex data: theory, applications and software. Chichester: Wiley; 2010a]. An open problem related to NPC-based tests is the impact of the dependency structure on combined tests, especially in the presence of categorical variables. This paper’s goal is firstly to investigate the impact of the dependency structure on the possible significance of combined tests in cases of ordered categorical responses using Monte Carlo simulations, then to propose some specific procedures aimed at improving the power of multivariate combination-based permutation tests. The results show that an increasing level of correlation/association among responses negatively affects the power of combination-based multivariate permutation tests. The application of special forms of combination functions based on the truncated product method [Zaykin DV, Zhivotovsky LA, Westfall PH, Weir BS. Truncated product method for combining p-values. Genet Epidemiol. 2002;22:170–185; Dudbridge F, Koeleman BPC. Rank truncated product of p-values, with application to genomewide association scans. Genet Epidemiol. 2003;25:360–366] or on Liptak combination allowed us, using Monte Carlo simulations, to demonstrate the possibility of mitigating the negative effect on power of combination-based multivariate permutation tests produced by an increasing level of correlation/association among responses.     

ASSESSING CONGRUENCEAMONG DISTANCE MATRICES: SINGLE-MALT SCOTCH WHISKIES REVISITED

A test of congruence among distance matrices is described. It tests the hypothesis that several matrices, containing different types of variables about the same objects, are congruent with one another, so they can be used jointly in statistical analysis. Raw data tables are turned into similarity or distance matrices prior to testing; they can then be compared to data that naturally come in the form of distance matrices. The proposed test can be seen as a generalization of the Mantel test of matrix correspondence to any number of distance matrices. This paper shows that the new test has the correct rate of Type I error and good power. Power increases as the number of objects and the number of congruent data matrices increase; power is higher when the total number of matrices in the study is smaller. To illustrate the method, the proposed test is used to test the hypothesis that matrices representing different types of organoleptic variables (colour, nose, body, palate and finish) in single‐malt Scotch whiskies are congruent.     

On inference for Kendall's τ within a longitudinal data setting

Kendall's τ is a non-parametric measure of correlation based on ranks and is used in a wide range of research disciplines. Although methods are available for making inference about Kendall's τ, none has been extended to modeling multiple Kendall's τs arising in longitudinal data analysis. Compounding this problem is the pervasive issue of missing data in such study designs. In this article, we develop a novel approach to provide inference about Kendall's τ within a longitudinal study setting under both complete and missing data. The proposed approach is illustrated with simulated data and applied to an HIV prevention study.     

Kumulation von Mikrodaten – Konzeptionelle Grundlagen und ein Vorschlag zur Realisierung

Zusammenfassung: In dieser Studie wird ein Konzept zur Kumulation von laufenden Haushaltsbudgetbefragungen im Rahmen des Projektes Amtliche Statistik und sozioökonomische Fragestellungen entwickelt und zur Diskussion gestellt. Dafür werden die theoretischen Grundlagen und Bausteine gelegt und die zentrale Aufgabe einer strukturellen demographischen Gewichtung mit einem Hochrechnungs–/Kalibrierungsansatz auf informationstheoretischer Basis gelöst.Vor dem Hintergrund der Wirtschaftsrechnungen des Statistischen Bundesamtes (Lfd. Wirtschaftsrechnungen und EVS) wird darauf aufbauend ein konkretes Konzept für die Kumulation von jährlichen Haushaltsbudgetbefragungen vorgeschlagen. Damit kann das Ziel einer Kumulation von Querschnitten mit einer umfassenderen Kumulationsstichprobe für tief gegliederte Analysen erreicht werden. Folgen sollen die Simulationsrechnungen zur Evaluation des Konzepts.

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Summary: In this study a concept for cumulating periodic household surveys within the frame of the project Official Statistics and Socio–Economic Questions is developed and asks for discussion. We develop the theoretical background and solve the central task of a structural demographic weighting/calibration based on an information theoretical approach.Based on the household budget surveys of the Federal Statistical Office (Periodic Household Budget Surveys and Income and Consumption Sample (EVS)) a practical concept is proposed to cumulate yearly household surveys. This allows a cumulation of cross–sections by a comprehensive cumulated sample for deeply structured analyses. In a following study this concept shall be evaluated.

     

中国诗歌“二源”合“一流”嬗变大势的初步确立者——曹植

"二源"即以《诗经》为代表的北方诗学体系和以《庄子》、《楚辞》为代表的南方诗学体系,中国诗歌长河的大势流变为"二源"合"一流"。曹植诗櫽括《风》、《雅》,组织《庄》、《骚》,得《汉乐府》精髓,法《十九首》意象,继往开来,初步确立中国诗歌这"二源"合"一流"的嬗变大势,这是曹植对中国诗史的最大贡献。     

论家班对昆曲的影响

在昆曲发展史上,昆曲的命运与家班紧紧相连。家班是联结文人与昆曲的纽带。通过家班,文人的审美理想与艺术追求才得以在昆曲中体现。因此,可以说,家班对提升昆曲的艺术品味起到了极为重要的作用。家班阶段的存在,确立了昆曲“尚雅”的美学追求,奠定了昆曲“精美”、“雅致”的审美格调。同时,作为一种重要的演出形式,家班还奠定了昆曲独特的艺术特征：在戏曲情节的推演上,用“歌舞并重”的方式进行呈现;在角色配置上,以正旦、小旦、正生为主;在演出方式上则以折子戏为主。     

基于加权模糊c均值聚类的快速图像自动分割算法

图像分割是指将一幅图像分解为若干互不交迭的区域的集合，是图像处理和计算机视觉的基本问题之一。为了提高图像分割的效率，提出了一种基于2维直方图加权的塔形模糊c均值（FCM）聚类图像快速分割算法。该方法先通过构造合理的2维直方图对噪声进行抑制；然后通过塔形分解来缩减聚类样本集；最后利用加权FCM聚类算法进行分类。仿真结果表明，该方法的效率明显优于标准的FCM算法。此外，为确定分割的最优类别数c，还引入了一种基于该快速算法的聚类有效性评价函数——修正划分模糊度，实现了最佳图像分割类别数c的自动确定。基于人造图像和实际图像的测试实验结果表明该方法是有效的。     

创新创业文化与思想政治教育对接的综合研究——基于创业文化视野下的大学生就业能力培养

不断提升大学生的就业能力是素质教育的重要目标之一。将创新创业文化与思想政治教育有机结合,通过世界观、方法论的引领,帮助广大青年学生树立崇高的人生理想,并通过教育引导学生掌握创业创新文化的基本知识,使大学生增强自信心,拓宽就业知识面,增加成功创业的几率,从根本上有效缓解大学生就业难、难就业的现状。     

道家——于寻常中寻觅神圣

圣人不同于常人之处不在于他能够创造神明,而在于他能够守护与生俱来的素朴恬淡的本性。神圣并非存在于脱离世俗的高洁之处,而在寻常之中。