scholarly journals Mitigating Shirking: Contracting Performance in Buyer-Initiated Service Triads

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabian Nullmeier ◽  
Finn Wynstra ◽  
Wendy van der Valk
Keyword(s):  
Contract Design ◽  
Performance Outcomes ◽  
Contract Management ◽  
Survey Questionnaire ◽  
Design Phase ◽  
Empirical Reality ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Satisfactory Performance ◽  
Behavior Based ◽  
And Behavior

Buyers that operate in buyer-initiated service triads must deal with the repercussions of service suppliers failing to satisfy the buyer’s customer. Performance-based contracting (PBC) can be used to shift the risks associated with performance shortfalls to service suppliers. Attaining specified performance outcomes can, however, be highly uncertain in service triads where there are many factors outside the supplier’s control. In such situations of high outcome uncertainty, suppliers may be induced to shirk their responsibilities since the direct customer–supplier link inherent to triadic structures gives suppliers an opportunity to engage in shirking without being detected. According to established theory, PBC is less effective in such situations, and behavior-based contracting (BBC) is more effective in achieving performance outcomes that are satisfactory to buyers. However, these insights are based on the long-standing assumption that PBC and BBC are substitutes. This assumption has been criticized as not being representative of empirical reality. Therefore, this chapter studies whether combining these contracting approaches during the contract design and contract management phases mitigates shirking of responsibility by suppliers. Using a data set derived from a survey questionnaire, the chapter finds that combining PBC and BBC during the contract design phase does not reduce shirking. However, the results do reveal that responsibility shirking can be mitigated by combining PBC and BBC during the contract management phase. This study provides purchasing managers with new insights concerning how to use PBC to achieve satisfactory performance outcomes, even in uncertain contexts such as service triads.

Temporal Focus

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abbie J. Shipp
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Psychology Research ◽  
The Past ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
The Future ◽  
Behavior Based ◽  
The Individual ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Temporal Focus

Temporal focus is the individual tendency to characteristically think more or less about the past, present, and future. Although originally rooted in early work from psychology, research on temporal focus has been steadily growing in a number of research areas, particularly since Zimbardo and Boyd’s (1999) influential article on the topic. This chapter will review temporal focus research from the past to the present, including how temporal focus has been conceptualized and measured, and which correlates and outcomes have been tested in terms of well-being and behavior. Based on this review, an agenda for research is created to direct temporal focus research in the future.

scholarly journals Effects of the domestic thyroid stimulating hormone receptor (TSHR) variant on the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis and behavior in chicken

Genetics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 217 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amir Fallahshahroudi ◽  
Martin Johnsson ◽  
Enrico Sorato ◽  
S J Kumari A Ubhayasekera ◽  
Jonas Bergquist ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Hormone Receptor ◽  
Thyroid Stimulating Hormone ◽  
Phenotypic Traits ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Red Junglefowl ◽  
Pituitary Thyroid Axis ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Stimulating Hormone

Abstract Domestic chickens are less fearful, have a faster sexual development, grow bigger, and lay more eggs than their primary ancestor, the red junglefowl. Several candidate genetic variants selected during domestication have been identified, but only a few studies have directly linked them with distinct phenotypic traits. Notably, a variant of the thyroid stimulating hormone receptor (TSHR) gene has been under strong positive selection over the past millennium, but it’s function and mechanisms of action are still largely unresolved. We therefore assessed the abundance of the domestic TSHR variant and possible genomic selection signatures in an extensive data set comprising multiple commercial and village chicken populations as well as wild-living extant members of the genus Gallus. Furthermore, by mean of extensive backcrossing we introgressed the wild-type TSHR variant from red junglefowl into domestic White Leghorn chickens and investigated gene expression, hormone levels, cold adaptation, and behavior in chickens possessing either the wild-type or domestic TSHR variant. While the domestic TSHR was the most common variant in all studied domestic populations and in one of two red junglefowl population, it was not detected in the other Gallus species. Functionally, the individuals with the domestic TSHR variant had a lower expression of the TSHR in the hypothalamus and marginally higher in the thyroid gland than wild-type TSHR individuals. Expression of TSHB and DIO2, two regulators of sexual maturity and reproduction in birds, was higher in the pituitary gland of the domestic-variant chickens. Furthermore, the domestic variant was associated with higher activity in the open field test. Our findings confirm that the spread of the domestic TSHR variant is limited to domesticated chickens, and to a lesser extent, their wild counterpart, the red junglefowl. Furthermore, we showed that effects of genetic variability in TSHR mirror key differences in gene expression and behavior previously described between the red junglefowl and domestic chicken.

Verifying Production Losses due to Petroleum Flow Improving Well Intervention and Design

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola Adriana Coca Suaznabar ◽  
Kazuo Miura ◽  
Celso Kazuyuki Morooka
Keyword(s):  
Saturation Index ◽  
Radioactive Material ◽  
Design Phase ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Line System ◽  
Well Design ◽  
Strontium Sulfate ◽  
Offshore Oil ◽  
Solids Deposition ◽  
Production Losses

The purpose of this research is to identify in the literature: causes, factors, case study descriptions and adopted solutions for production losses regarding the petroleum flow in offshore oil wells. Those facts will be organized and structured to identify potential zones of intervention for planning the well maintenance during well design phase to avoid production losses. This paper focuses on four offshore regions: Campos Basin, Gulf of Mexico, North Sea, and West Africa. These regions represent the most significant share of offshore oil production in the world. Data set available in the last thirty five years through academic, technical and governmental reports in the literature were the basis of this study. The procedure was accomplished in three steps: (1) data research (2) analysis of the data (3) guidelines establishment. The main cause of production loss regarding the petroleum flow is the solids deposition in the well/line system, such as hydrates, asphaltenes, wax, scales (barium sulfate, strontium sulfate, calcium sulfate, calcium carbonate, and naturally occurrence radioactive material), and calcium naphthenates. In this work the superposition of graphics (hydrate curve, wax appearance temperature, asphaltene onset pressure, and saturation index) resulted in a region free of solids deposition, denominated as “flow assurance envelope”. The main expected result is to propose a guideline to be used during the well design phase in order to minimize and facilitate the well intervention. The main contributions of this paper to the oil industry are the identification of potential zones of intervention due to solids deposition in the well/line system, the foresight of well intervention before the beginning of the oilfield production, and finally, possibilities to improve the well or intervention design.

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