Genetic re-engineering of corporations

The work presented here constitutes a chapter in a forthcoming book by the same author entitled Conquering Uncertainty (McGraw-Hill). The approach uses the Voltera-Lotka equations to describe the competitive dynamics in a market niche occupied by two competitors. All types of competition are considered. Examples from industry demonstrate the possibility to alter the competitive roles by acting on the parameters of the equations. A methodology is given on how to guide and optimize advertising and image-building strategies.

Will coral reefs survive by adaptive bleaching?

Some reef-building corals form symbioses with multiple algal partners that differ in ecologically important traits like heat tolerance. Coral bleaching and recovery can drive symbiont community turnover toward more heat-tolerant partners, and this ‘adaptive bleaching’ response can increase future bleaching thresholds by 1–2°C, aiding survival in warming oceans. However, this mechanism of rapid acclimatization only occurs in corals that are compatible with multiple symbionts, and only when the disturbance regime and competitive dynamics among symbionts are sufficient to bring about community turnover. The full scope of coral taxa and ecological scenarios in which symbiont shuffling occurs remains poorly understood, though its prevalence is likely to increase as warming oceans boost the competitive advantage of heat-tolerant symbionts, increase the frequency of bleaching events, and strengthen metacommunity feedbacks. Still, the constraints, limitations, and potential tradeoffs of symbiont shuffling suggest it will not save coral reef ecosystems; however, it may significantly improve the survival trajectories of some, or perhaps many, coral species. Interventions to manipulate coral symbionts and symbiont communities may expand the scope of their adaptive potential, which may boost coral survival until climate change is addressed.

Structures within structures: Examining alternative cultures of learning in the institution

This article explores the possibilities of using critical pedagogy inside and outside the art school to counter the effects of neoliberalism. Developed from an initial transcript of a conversation between three graduates of the Royal College of Art (United Kingdom) about our education-as-art projects, it takes the form of a constructed dialogue that mirrors our approach to working collectively. We discuss particular issues that arose for us whilst studying, as we experienced how the neo-liberal art school conceptualized a form of education and arts practice that promoted individualized paths and set competitive dynamics between students. We are interested in how art practices characterized as being social, collaborative and democratic can resist the neo-liberal art school. Advocating for process-based methods that facilitate learning between groups of students, we aim to open up space for embodied and situated knowledges. Bringing critical pedagogical approaches to the inside of the university creates a porosity with the alternatives we experienced outside. Through re-practicing historically radical methods and creating supportive structures, we challenge the dominant ways of communicating and managing the student-body. We argue that students and artists can organize their own cultures of learning in opposition to those that the university-as-business wants to promote, whilst creating supportive models that take students’ needs into account.

Determinants of cross selling through mobile apps in Indian Banks – A Factor Analysis Approach

With the release of world economic forums report on “New physics of financial services”, the financial ecosystem of India will adapt to digital transformation and artificial intelligence. This will change the competitive dynamics and operating models of Indian Banking Sector creating opportunities to procure and secure customers. The steadiest path to address the challenge is Cross selling. From reduced customer acquisition cost to increase in the wallet share, the economics and financials of cross selling are very compelling and hence have become the strategic priority for Indian banking sector. Banks are placing greater emphasis on providing improved services to their clients, upgrading their expertise to augment customer’s overall experience thereby earning competitive edge. The banking complexity that spans multiple lines of products, diverse serviceable areas and distinct technologies and business processes must be coordinated using mobile banking apps to deliver effective cross-sell programs which the present study proposes.

Disruptive innovation in a dynamic environment: a winning strategy? An illustration through the analysis of the yoghurt industry in Algeria

Disruptive strategies have only been studied in stable environments. To overcome this limitation, this article aims to show through an in-depth study of the main actors in the yoghurt industry in Algeria that these strategies are possible in a dynamic environment. This research was carried out on the basis of an exploratory qualitative study. We have focused our efforts on two types of players, including new entrants and incumbent businesses.Our results show that the strong factors of the competitive dynamics pushed companies and industries to undertake disruptive innovation, which strategy became an indispensable element to survive and succeed for all the actors in the industry. Overall, our study indicates that the link between the competitive dynamics and disruptive innovation is not only in need of, but is deserving of, more consideration.

Competitive Rationales: Beneath the Surface of Competitive Behavior

Competitive dynamics research has focused on studying whether rivals are able and likely to carry out competitive actions, typically by examining indirect reasons such as characteristics of the actions themselves, the firms involved, or the competitive context. We explore why rivals initiate a specific competitive action at a particular time and situation. Drawing from the philosophy of action literature, we introduce the concept of competitive rationales to examine the primary reasons that cause tactical actions. Given the rapid exchanges characterizing tactical competitive dynamics, we conducted an inductive, multicase study to explore the reasons behind over 800 discrete tactical decisions carried out by 9 professional basketball coaches during 15 basketball games. To garner insight, we develop a conceptual framework revealing their types and scope. Even during intense head-to-head rivalry, most rationales were not rivalrous but were instead organizational—to optimize resource use, strategic consistency, and reputation—or social—to manage relationships. Moreover, the three main types of rationales varied in scope, extending beyond immediate competitive situations and rivals to address longer term, strategic outcomes, and assorted stakeholders. Thus, our analysis reveals these rationales to be complex and potentially difficult for rivals to decipher. It also recasts each component of the dominant awareness-motivation-capability (AMC) model of rivalry, suggesting that awareness is challenged by subtle rationales, motivation drives not only action but also forbearance, and capability is both a requirement and product of action.