Business Commons^™

Strategy And Structure: Reconceiving The Relationship, Herman L. Boschken

Herman L. Boschken

Discussions have drawn attention to the relationship between strategy and structure for much of the last quarter century. Yet, no firm basis has emerged to settle the issue of causal direction or to affirm the relationship's effects on organizational performance. By adding a new dimension to the strategy-structure model, this article attempts to conceptually link long-term performance with (a) the presence of subunits having distinctive competence in strategic planning and (b) the coordination of these differentiated subunits into a discernible micro-structure embedded within the overall organization. This new dimension is explored and developed by use of a case of the …

Positive Residues Involved In The Voltage-Gating Of The Mitochondrial Porin-Channel Are Localized In The External Moiety Of The Pore, Philadelphia University

Philadelphia University, Jordan

No abstract provided.

Privatize Deposit Insurance, Jeffrey Rogers Hummel

Jeffrey Rogers Hummel

No abstract provided.

Nonrandom Mixing Models Of Hiv Transmission, Peter Cramton, Edward H. Kaplan, A. David Paltiel

Peter Cramton

Models of HIV transmission and the AIDS epidemic generally assume random mixing among those infected with HIV and those who are not. For sexually transmitted HIV, this implies that individuals select sex partners without regard to attributes such as familiarity, attractiveness, or risk of infection. This paper formulates a model for examining the impact of nonrandom mixing on HIV transmission. We present threshold conditions that determine when HIV epidemics can occur within the framework of this model. Nonrandom mixing is introduced by assuming that sexually active individuals select sex partners to minimize the risk of infection. In addition to variability …

Dissolving A Partnership Efficiently, Peter Cramton, Robert Gibbons, Paul Klemperer

Peter Cramton

Several partners jointly own an asset that may be traded among them. Each partner has a valuation for the asset; the valuations are known privately and drawn independently from a common probability distribution. We characterize the set of all incentive-compatible and interim-individually-rational trading mechanisms, and give a simple necessary and sufficient condition for such mechanisms to dissolve the partnership ex post efficiently. A bidding game is constructed that achieves such dissolution whenever it is possible. Despite incomplete information about the valuation of the asset, a partnership can be dissolved ex post efficiently provided no single partner owns too large a …

The Leverage Problem In The Valuation Of Privately Held Firms, Thomas D. Berry, John Houston

Thomas D Berry

No abstract provided.

Strategic Planning Of Seaport Development In A Global Economy: Observations Of An Executive Port Director, Herman L. Boschken

Herman L. Boschken

Seaport management is central both to the use of coastal resources and to the needs of a global economy. As a major point of supply-chain activity along the coast and as a source of pollution, ports need to be administered strategically to provide the greatest benefit according to economic and environmental demands. This article is an annotated conversation that provides a practitioner's insight into the management of change along the coastal zone. To address the problem, we probe organization theory for new insight and attempt to apply concepts to practice.

Sequential Bargaining Mechanisms, Peter Cramton

Peter Cramton

The introductory discussion presented in this chapter considers the simplest type of sequential bargaining games in which the players’ time preferences are described by known and fixed discount rates. I begin by characterizing the class of perfect bargaining mechanisms, which satisfy the desirable properties of incentive compatibility (i.e., each player reports his type truthfully), individual rationality (i.e., every potential player wishes to play the game), and sequential rationality (i.e., it is never common knowledge that the mechanism induced over time is dominated by an alternative mechanism). It is shown that ex post efficiency is unobtainable by any incentive-compatible and individually …

Bargaining With Incomplete Information: An Infinite-Horizon Model With Two-Sided Uncertainty, Peter Cramton

Peter Cramton

The resolution of any bargaining conflict depends crucially on the relative urgency of the agents to reach agreement and the information each agent has about the others’ preferences. This paper explores, within the context of an infinite-horizon bargaining model with two-sided uncertainty, how timing and information affect the rational behavior of agents when commitment is not possible. Since the bargainers are uncertain about whether trade is desirable, they must communicate some of their private information before an agreement can be reached. This need for learning, due to incomplete information about preferences, results in bargaining inefficiencies: trade often occurs after costly …

Post-Tefra Holding Company Strategies, David Randall Jenkins

David Randall Jenkins, Ph.D.

Breadbox Water Heater Designs, David A. Bainbridge

David A Bainbridge

Integral solar water heaters (batch, breadbox, ICS) provide the most economical and reliable means of heating water. Simple designs can perform well and provide service for decades. Basic design principles include box insulation, orientation and control of heat loss.

Interorganizational Considerations In Coastal Management: The 1976 California Legislative Experience, Herman L. Boschken

Herman L. Boschken

Among coastal management programs, most states have found the question of appropriate administrative structure difficult to cope with. The dilemma of decision trade-offs caused by the dual governmental needs of "efficiency" and "representation" has led to some alternative patterns of administration. For complex issues that transcend local boundaries, the choice between trade-offs means adopting either (a) some form of consolidated bureaucracy or (b) some system of concurrent jurisdictions. Both alternatives have their inherent benefits and disadvantages but, considering the degree of environmental complexity and array of competing interests involved in coastal resource use, the most appropriate administrative form would seem …

Planning For Energy Conservation, David A. Bainbridge

David A Bainbridge

City planning can provide multiple benefits by considering energy conservation, solar orientation and local resource harvesting. Narrower streets reduce construction costs, reduce urban heat island impacts and are safer. Above ground drainage reduces costs and returns rainwater to groundwater.