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Book part
Publication date: 30 January 2025

Kirsten de Beurs, Kyle Harper and Le Wang

The European Marriage Pattern (EMP) was characteristic of preindustrial northwestern Europe and, in recent years, has been proposed as an important factor in the rise of the West…

Abstract

The European Marriage Pattern (EMP) was characteristic of preindustrial northwestern Europe and, in recent years, has been proposed as an important factor in the rise of the West. Yet, the origins and ultimate causes of the EMP remain obscure. We examine a novel hypothesis that the EMP can emerge in geographic environments with a lighter infectious disease burden. We overcome significant challenges facing empirical analysis of premodern societies. Using a large, individual-level database of marriages from the county of Kent, England, as well as a spatial regression discontinuity approach, we demonstrate a robust association between physical ecology and female age at first marriage (FAFM). We also find that the two potential channels proposed in the literature play starkly different roles in explaining our finding. Specifically, we fail to find that pastoralism plays any significant role in explaining the EMP, while the mortality rate channel accounts for a significant portion of the observed relationship between the disease environment and FAFM.

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Article
Publication date: 11 August 2010

Georges Ulrich, Sybille Sachs and Bruce Millett

This paper aims to show how instruments of empirical opinion research can help to provide a basis for interactive communication between a company and its stakeholders via the

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to show how instruments of empirical opinion research can help to provide a basis for interactive communication between a company and its stakeholders via the media, so that important issues can be identified and discussed internally and externally. By doing this, the company can actively participate in the process of forming public opinion and building trust.

Design/methodology/approach

Concentrating on the company of Pfizer, in order to acquire a comprehensive view, an empirical analysis of the opinions of those stakeholders mentioned in Pfizer's vision was conducted. In a first step, a content analysis of the Pfizer web site, two representative computer‐aided telephone interviews (CATI) surveys with the Swiss public, a content analysis over a period of two years of the five most important daily newspapers, and interviews with the top management team of Pfizer Switzerland were carried out. In a second step, the findings of the analysis were reflected on in a workshop with Pfizer's top management team.

Findings

The role of the media was recognised for its function for informing, and as a platform for initiating dialogues in appropriate areas of interaction. But it was also obvious that the reports published by the media, and the actual perception of the population, were distinctly different. In this realm, opinion research in its function of objectifying information makes a significant contribution to the ability to reflect on the actual situation.

Originality/value

The knowledge of the opinions of the relevant stakeholders based on a high standard of empirical data and the self‐reflection by senior management of its own beliefs provide an additional foundation for stakeholder‐oriented communication.

Details

Corporate Governance: The international journal of business in society, vol. 10 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1472-0701

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Book part
Publication date: 4 August 2017

Andrew Inkpen and Kannan Ramaswamy

This chapter examines the oil and gas industry and the efficacy of vertical integration strategies. Using multiple theoretical lenses ranging from the resource-based view…

Abstract

This chapter examines the oil and gas industry and the efficacy of vertical integration strategies. Using multiple theoretical lenses ranging from the resource-based view, transactions costs, and parenting perspective, the chapter considers different arguments associated with vertical integration. The 2011 breakup of ConocoPhillips and its global value chain helps address the question of which strategy is best – integrated or nonintegrated. We provide several conclusions about the structure of integration and value chains within the oil and gas industry. First, vertical integration based on the physical transfer of products between value chain activities will generate little firm advantage in the form of classical integration benefits, such as control over input quality or speed to market. Second, competing across the industry value chain as a hedge or strategy against industry cyclicality is not theoretically defensible. Third, pure play industry specialists can create value through management focus, agility, and, transparency for investors. Fourth, firms that compete across a wide range of industry value chain activities can create value-adding corporate strategies if they are able to leverage knowledge and assets across different industry sectors.

Details

Breaking up the Global Value Chain
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78743-071-6

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Article
Publication date: 1 October 2006

Nathan B. Crane, J. Wilkes, E. Sachs and Samuel M. Allen

Solid freeform fabrication processes such as three‐dimensional printing (3DP) and selective laser sintering (SLS) produce porous parts. Metal parts produced by these processes…

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Abstract

Purpose

Solid freeform fabrication processes such as three‐dimensional printing (3DP) and selective laser sintering (SLS) produce porous parts. Metal parts produced by these processes must be densified by sintering or infiltration to achieve maximum material performance. New steel infiltration methods can produce parts of standard alloy compositions with properties comparable to wrought materials. However, the infiltration process introduces dimensional errors due to both shrinkage and creep — particularly at the high temperatures required for steel infiltration. Aims to develop post‐processing method to reduce creep and shrinkage of porous metal skeletons.

Design/methodology/approach

The proposed process treats porous metal parts with a nanoparticle suspension that strengthens the bonds between particles to reduce creep and sintering shrinkage during infiltration. The process is tested by comparing the deflection and shrinkage of treated and untreated cantilevers heated to infiltration temperatures. The method is demonstrated with an iron nanoparticles suspension applied to parts made of 410 SS powder.

Findings

This process reduced creep by up to 95 percent and shrinkage by 50 percent. The best results were obtained using multiple applications of the nanoparticles dried under a magnetic field. Carbon deposited with the iron is shown to provide substantial benefit, but the iron is critical to establish strong bonds at low temperatures for minimal creep.

Research limitations/implications

This work shows that dimensional stability of porous metal skeletons during infiltration processes can be significantly improved by treatment with nanoparticles. The increased dimensional stability afforded by this technique can combine the excellent properties of homogenous infiltration with substantially improved part accuracy and open up new applications for this manufacturing technology.

Originality/value

The work shows how solid freeform fabrication processes can be improved.

Details

Rapid Prototyping Journal, vol. 12 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2546

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Article
Publication date: 1 April 2005

Sybille Sachs and Edwin Rühli

Challenged by recent incidents as they occurred at Enron, WorldCom, Disney and Xerox, management has to rethink its values and to consider the expectations of their stakeholders…

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Abstract

Challenged by recent incidents as they occurred at Enron, WorldCom, Disney and Xerox, management has to rethink its values and to consider the expectations of their stakeholders. In reality, it can be observed that some firms are already on a learning path to adopt a broader stakeholder‐oriented view than before. In order to implement the stakeholder view better into strategic thinking of management, top managers have to change their values which are challenged by stakeholder‐oriented incentives. Based on three comparative case studies some first propositions are developed.

Details

Corporate Governance: The international journal of business in society, vol. 5 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1472-0701

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Book part
Publication date: 29 November 2012

Sushil Vachani and James E. Post

The chapter explores factors that help define ‘socially responsible value chains’, in which firms create and deliver goods and services that provide social and economic value, but…

Abstract

The chapter explores factors that help define ‘socially responsible value chains’, in which firms create and deliver goods and services that provide social and economic value, but minimize negative externalities, operate in environmentally and socially sustainable ways, and address the concerns of all stakeholders. We use the case method to capture nuances of complex value-chain relationships extending into the unfamiliar territory of emerging markets. We chose three cases, involving Apple, Nike and Nestle, which have become landmarks in corporate responsibility policy and practice. We identify fundamental questions pertaining to social responsibility that arise when firms’ value chains extend across countries and deep into the bottom of the pyramid, and discuss how information gaps, institutional environment and socio-political actors affect outcomes. The chapter provides value by defining the role of governments, inter-governmental organizations, NGOs and managers in creating socially responsible value chains, and laying out specific recommendations.

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Book part
Publication date: 25 March 2021

Mirela Holy, Marija Geiger Zeman and Zdenko Zeman

Purpose: This paper aims to present the case study of the SHE (Šibenik Hub for Ecology) hub project, ecofeminist business practice in Croatia. The SHE hub is a sustainable tourism…

Abstract

Purpose: This paper aims to present the case study of the SHE (Šibenik Hub for Ecology) hub project, ecofeminist business practice in Croatia. The SHE hub is a sustainable tourism project based around issues of ‘ethical consumerism’ and sustainable development and shows that is possible to implement ecofeminist ideas in business.

Method: Paper is divided into two parts. The first part is theoretical and presents an overview of relevant literature regarding ecofeminism, sustainable development, corporate social responsibility and green consumerism. The second part is a case study of the SHE hub project, based on analysis of the project website, content analysis of the media coverage regarding the project and an in-depth interview with project initiator.

Findings: The results show that strengthening of the ethical consumerism movement has given a new impetus to the realisation of ecofeminist projects in real life and that SHE hub is a good example of this. Although the SHE hub has insufficient transformative social potential, it is important to notice that sustainable change always begins with small steps.

Originality/value: The topic of the relationship between social corporate responsibility and ecofeminism has not been researched, so this case study represents a valuable contribution to the research of this relationship.

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Article
Publication date: 14 August 2007

Isabelle Kern, Sybille Sachs and Edwin Rühli

In the research project “Good practices of stakeholder view” three firms in the Swiss telecommunications industry were analysed in order to compare their stakeholder involvement

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Abstract

Purpose

In the research project “Good practices of stakeholder view” three firms in the Swiss telecommunications industry were analysed in order to compare their stakeholder involvement. This paper seeks to illustrate how these three firms, namely Swisscom, Sunrise, and Orange, dealt with a particular problem all of them faced: the deployment of antennas for mobile telephony that in some cases was strongly opposed by the population. Thereby, the “Telco” firms were challenged as societal institutions and had to defend their licence to operate. The three firms chose different strategies to deal with the problem.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on comparative case studies that combine qualitative and quantitative aspects.

Findings

The benefits of good stakeholder relations are illustrated as well as the problems that might arise when stakeholders are ignored.

Research limitations/implications

The findings are based on a sample of three telecommunication firms.

Practical implications

The paper suggests good practices for firms that aim to improve their stakeholder interactions.

Originality/value

This paper sheds light on the value of different strategies in the stakeholder relations to maintain a firm's licence to operate and to pursue its business in the intended way.

Details

Corporate Governance: The international journal of business in society, vol. 7 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1472-0701

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Book part
Publication date: 28 January 2022

Michael Cohen

Prejudice against Jews was part of the landscape in the Union of South Africa long before Nazism made inroads into the country during the 1930s, at which stage Jews constituted…

Abstract

Prejudice against Jews was part of the landscape in the Union of South Africa long before Nazism made inroads into the country during the 1930s, at which stage Jews constituted approximately 4.6% of the country’s white (or European) population. Aggressive Afrikaner nationalism was marked by fervent attempts to proscribe Jewish immigration. By 1939, Jewish immigration was included as an official plank in the political platform of the opposition Purified National Party led by Dr D.F. Malan, along with a ban on party membership for Jews residents in the Transvaal province. Racial discrimination, in a country with diversified ethnic elements and intense political complexities, was synonymous with life in the Union long before the Apartheid system, with its official policy of enforced legal, political and economic segregation, became law in May 1948 under Dr Malan’s prime ministership. Although the Jews, while maintaining their own subcultural identity, were classified within South Africa’s racial hierarchy as part of the privileged white minority, the emergence of recurrent anti-Jewish stereotypes and themes became manifest in a country permeated by the ideology of race and white superiority. This was exacerbated by the growth of a powerful Afrikaner nationalist movement, underpinned by conservative Calvinist theology. This chapter focusses on measures taken in South Africa by organisational structures within the political sphere to restrict Jewish immigration between 1930 and 1939 and to do so on ethnic grounds. These measures were underscored by radical Afrikaner nationalism, which flew in the face of the principles of ethics and moral judgement.

Details

Transcendent Development: The Ethics of Universal Dignity
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80262-260-7

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Article
Publication date: 1 December 1995

S.‐J.J. Lee, E. Sachs and M. Cima

Emerging technologies commonly known as “rapid prototyping” fabricate solid objects directly from computer models by building parts in thin layers. Three‐dimensional printing is…

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Abstract

Emerging technologies commonly known as “rapid prototyping” fabricate solid objects directly from computer models by building parts in thin layers. Three‐dimensional printing is one such process that creates engineering prototypes and tooling by joining powder particles selectively on a layer‐by‐layer basis. The powder‐based approach offers tremendous flexibility in geometry and materials, but it makes layer position accuracy a fundamental concern for dimensional control in the vertical direction. Ideally, each powder layer is generated at a vertical position that remains fixed, at a prescribed distance with respect to a machine reference. However, compressive loads imparted to a stack of layers (by the weight of subsequent layers, for example) may cause the layers to displace downward. Develops a model for layer displacement using experimental data for compressibility and applied load. Compares predictions made from the model to measured displacements, and the predictions successfully captured the relative magnitudes of actual errors at various positions within layered powder beds. Position changes were most severe in the middle regions of the powder beds, with diminishing magnitude towards the top and bottom. Uses aluminium oxide powder in two different sizes (approximately of 10‐micron and 30‐micron diameter) and two different shapes (platelet and spherical) in the studies. The average measured displacement in a 76.2mm deep bed ranged from 23 microns for a 30‐micron platelet‐shaped powder to over 260 microns for a 9‐micron platelet‐shaped sample.

Details

Rapid Prototyping Journal, vol. 1 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2546

Keywords

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