A Study of the Role Played by Manufacturing Strategic Objectives and Capabilities in Understanding the Relationship between Porter's Generic Strategies and Business Performance

An appropriate alignment between business strategy, manufacturing strategic objectives and manufacturing capabilities reportedly influences business performance positively. However, few papers empirically analyse this proposition for the case of Porter's generic strategies of cost leadership and differentiation, and none jointly considers all four elements. This paper integrates strategies, capabilities and performance in a single model and proposes that both manufacturing competitive priorities and capabilities, articulated in terms of cost and flexibility, are essential for explaining the link between generic business strategies and business commercial and financial performance. Within this analytic framework, we test whether companies that emphasize one business strategy rather than another achieve a better alignment and superior performance. The analyses conducted with a sample of 148 Spanish manufacturers provide general support for these propositions and contribute to a deeper understanding of the role played by functional strategies in understanding the outcomes of business strategy.     

The Governance of Directors' Pay: Evidence from UK Companies

We examine the determination of directors' compensation in UK quoted companies between 1985 and 1994. The primary innovation contained in the paper is the focus on the governance mechanisms that determine pay outcomes. Our results indicate that: (i) directors' compensation is positively related to pre-dated shareholder returns and company size with the quantitative effect of the latter dominating the former. (ii) We find that the pay-for-performance link has become quantitatively stronger over our sample period. (iii) There has been positive adherence to the principles of the Cadbury report, but these variables play little statistical role in shaping the direct compensation of top directors.     

Application of Correspondence Analysis in the Assessment of Mine Tailings Dam Breakage Risk in the Mediterranean Region

A new statistical approach for preliminary risk evaluation of breakage in tailings dam is presented and illustrated by a case study regarding the Mediterranean region. The objective of the proposed method is to establish an empirical scale of risk, from which guidelines for prioritizing the collection of further specific information can be derived. The method relies on a historical database containing, in essence, two sets of qualitative data: the first set concerns the variables that are observable before the disaster (e.g., type and size of the dam, its location, and state of activity), and the second refers to the consequences of the disaster (e.g., failure type, sludge characteristics, fatalities categorization, and downstream range of damage). Based on a modified form of correspondence analysis, where the second set of attributes are projected as "supplementary variables" onto the axes provided by the eigenvalue decomposition of the matrix referring to the first set, a "qualitative regression" is performed, relating the variables to be predicted (contained in the second set) with the "predictors" (the observable variables). On the grounds of the previously derived relationship, the risk of breakage in a new case can be evaluated, given observable variables. The method was applied in a case study regarding a set of 13 test sites where the ranking of risk obtained was validated by expert knowledge. Once validated, the procedure was included in the final output of the e-EcoRisk UE project (A Regional Enterprise Network Decision-Support System for Environmental Risk and Disaster Management of Large-Scale Industrial Spills), allowing for a dynamic historical database updating and providing a prompt rough risk evaluation for a new case. The aim of this section of the global project is to provide a quantified context where failure cases occurred in the past for supporting analogue reasoning in preventing similar situations.     

An Outcomes-Based Assessment of Quality of Life in Social Services

The goal of this article consists of describing the calibration of an instrument to assess quality of life-related personal outcomes using Rasch analysis. The sample was composed of 3.029 recipients of social services from Catalonia (Spain) and was selected using a probabilistic polietapic sample design. Results related to unidimensionality, item and person separation reliability, calibration, items’ level of difficulty, response categories and differential item functioning by gender and type of collective are provided and point out the general fit of the data to the model. However, it is recommended to include more difficult items and eliminate one that seems not to be adequate.     

Priority Topics in the Study of Environmental Risk in Developing Countries: Report on a Workshop Held at the East–West Center, August, 1988

The rapid industrialization occurring in developing regions of the world brings not only economic benefits, but changes in the types and severity of health and environmental problems that each region experiences. As the industrialized world moves toward the use of risk assessment methodologies to aid in problem evaluation and regulatory and policy decision analysis, it seems inevitable that these methodologies will be applied globally. The changes brought about by rapid industrialization, however, must be viewed within the context of societies that are still struggling with the more traditional and basic environmental problems associated with urban and rural poverty. The urgency of development and the lack of adequate resources for characterizing health and environmental changes, often present under these circumstances, offer special challenges to the application of risk assessment methodologies.     

PI3K pathway and Bcl-2 family. Clinicopathological features in prostate cancer

The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT/mTOR pathways and Bcl-2 family play a central role in prostate cancer (PC). The aim was to determine influence in the biochemical progression in PC. To evaluate the association between clinic pathological and immunohistochemical variables, Spearman’s test was performed. Log-rank test and Kaplan–Meier curves were used for survival comparisons. To explore the correlation of the studied immunohistochemical parameters and the established prognostic variables with biochemical progression, univariate and multivariate Cox proportional Hazard regression analyses were performed. Spearman analysis showed correlation between stroma expression and tumor expression of PI3K with biochemical progression (p?=?.009, p?=?.004), respectively, and tumor immunohistochemical score with biochemical progression (p?=?.051). In the multivariate Cox regression model, only PI3K was retained as independent predictors of biochemical progression. In stroma expression, PI3K is (HR 0.172, 95% CI 0.065–0.452, p?=?.000); tumor expression, PI3K is (HR 0.087, 95% CI 0.026–0.293, p?=?.000), and tumor immunohistochemical score (HR 0.382, 95% CI 0.209–0.697 p?=?.002). Our results suggest a role for prostatic expression of PI3K was prognostic markers for PC. PI3K/AKT/mTOR and Bcl-2 family are becoming an important therapeutic target and predictive biomarkers of onset and progression of PC.     

Core Indicators to Assess Quality of Life in Population with Brain Injury

Assessing quality of life of people with brain injury has a relevant role for developing strategies focused on personal outcomes that allow us to guide good practices and rehabilitation. So far, assessment of quality of life for this population has been restricted to an evaluation of personal outcomes from a health-related quality of life perspective. This approach it is mostly centered on physical health, however, quality of life needs to be addressed from a holistic and multidimensional perspective. The goal of this study is to identify core indicators of quality of life in brain injury based on a comprehensive theoretical model focused on the most relevant aspects of this population functioning. A Delphi study was carried out to obtain the specific core indicators of quality of life for this population. The methodology used to reach a consensus about the best indicators and items to measure quality of life involved four rounds and 14 experts on rehabilitation of people with brain injury. The Delphi study provided evidence of content validity for the field-test version of a new scale that will be applied to a wide sample in order to empirically check its suitability for this population.     

Impact of Individual and Organizational Variables on Quality of Life

The general goal of this study consists of analyzing the influence of different types of human services in the quality of life of their nested users. Several multilevel models were proposed to test for significant differences not only in the overall quality of life score, but also in each of the eight core domains. Participants included 11,624 users of social and human services and the assessment quality of life instrument was the GENCAT Scale. Variables that were studied in the different models were gender, age, and diagnostic group (elderly, intellectual disability, physical disability, mental health problems, and chemical dependency) at the individual user level (level 1: individual), while type of services—in terms of the main population addressed by their supports (i.e. the aforementioned groups)—was studied at service level (level 2: organizational). In order to explain differences, individual characteristics were introduced first, types of services were introduced next, and finally joint individual and service variables were introduced in a single model. The main results of this study were that personal and organizational variables exhibited a different level of influence on users’ quality of life; and also that the type of services significantly influenced the quality of life of its users. The results of this study lead to practical implications for services providing support to these diagnostic groups, especially for those interested in managing, assessing, and improving quality of life related personal outcomes at the user level as well as quality enhancement at the organizational level.