Showing papers by "Texas A&M University published in 1991"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the link between firm resources and sustained competitive advantage and analyzed the potential of several firm resources for generating sustained competitive advantages, including value, rareness, imitability, and substitutability.
46,648 citations
Journal Article•
4,060 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the emotional, attentional and physiological aspects of stress reducing influences of nature, and found that both the stressor film and the nature settings elicited high levels of involuntary or automatic attention.
3,669 citations
TL;DR: Individual differences in willingness to engage in uncommitted sexual relations were investigated in 6 studies and it was demonstrated that the SOI correlates negligibly with measures of sexual satisfaction, anxiety, and guilt.
Abstract: Individual differences in willingness to engage in uncommitted sexual relations were investigated in 6 studies. In Study 1, a 5-item Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (SOI) was developed. Studies 2, 3, and 4 provided convergent validity evidence for the SOI, revealing that persons who have an unrestricted sociosexual orientation tend to (a) engage in sex at an earlier point in their relationships, (b) engage in sex with more than 1 partner at a time, and (c) be involved in relationships characterized by less investment, commitment, love, and dependency. Study 5 provided discriminant validity for the SOI, revealing that it does not covary appreciably with a good marker of sex drive. Study 6 demonstrated that the SOI correlates negligibly with measures of sexual satisfaction, anxiety, and guilt. The possible stability of, origins of, and motivational bases underlying individual differences in sociosexuality are discussed.
1,283 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined the extent to which the percentage of outside directors on a corporation's board of directors, the concentration of equity ownership, and the roles of individual and institution directors were influenced by outside directors.
Abstract: This study examined the extent to which the percentage of outside directors on a corporation’s board of directors, the concentration of equity ownership, and the roles of individual and institution...
972 citations
TL;DR: The authors showed that rapid change in public policy outcomes often occurs, but most theories of pluralism emphasize only incrementalism. Yet from a historical view, it can easily be seen that many policies go through lo...
Abstract: Rapid change in public policy outcomes often occurs, but most theories of pluralism emphasize only incrementalism. Yet from a historical view, it can easily be seen that many policies go through lo...
948 citations
TL;DR: To examine the populations of siderophore-producing bacteria colonizing the roots of two grass species that differed in their susceptibility to Fe deficiency, serial dilutions of root samples were inoculated onto CAS agar and several other selective and non-selective culture meida.
Abstract: Siderophores produced by rhizosphere bacteria may enhance plant growth by increasing the availability of Fe near the root or by inhibiting the colonization of roots by plant pathogens or other harmful bacteria. To examine the populations of siderophore-producing bacteria colonizing the roots of two grass species that differed in their susceptibility to Fe deficiency, we inoculated serial dilutions of root samples onto chrome azurol S (CAS) agar and several other selective and non-selective culture meida. CAS agar effectively differentiated bacteria that were capable of excreting large amounts of siderophore, but the composition of the medium limited its usefulness for ecological studies. A large proportion (71–79%) of the bacterial population that grew on a non-selective medium (tryptic soy agar) failed to grow on CAS agar, and several isolates that showed no sign of siderophore production on CAS agar produced siderophore in liquid culture. Similar populations of siderophore-producing bacteria were observed on roots of St. Augustine grass, which frequently exhibits Fe chlorosis, and bermuda grass, which does not. Roots of both grasses were colonized by bacteria that produced siderophore in vitro at concentrations ranging from 100 to 230 μM. The CAS assay solution was also used to compare siderophore production by Pseudomonas fluorescens Q6, an isolate from bermuda grass, and by P. putida B 10, a plant growth-promoting pseudomonad. P. fluorescens Q6 produced 2.4 times more siderophore in vitro than P. putida B 10.
771 citations
TL;DR: A meta-analytic review as discussed by the authors showed that the sexes typically differ in a variety of social behaviors, including aggression, helping, nonverbal behavior, and various aspects of interaction in task-oriented groups.
Abstract: Recent meta-analytic reviews have documented that the sexes typically differ in a variety of social behaviors, including aggression, helping, nonverbal behavior, and various aspects of inter-action in task-oriented groups. In general, these findings are consistent with a social-role theory of sex differences, which emphasizes the causal impact of gender roles-that is, of people's beliefs about the behavior that is appropriate for each sex. To move beyond the demonstration of consistency between role expectations and social behavior, meta-analyses have examined the moderators and mediators specified by this theoretical model The outcomes of these moderator and mediator analyses are illustrated from several meta-analyses of gender and social behavior. These meta-analyses thus show that quantitative reviewing is not limited to the mere summarizing of research findings; the technique also allows reviewers to examine the plausibility of theories that are relevant to these findings.
767 citations
TL;DR: This article present a conceptual framework for organizing and relating terms that pertain to select knowledge constructs, which is intended to clarify terms and the associations among them, and to articulate definitional statements for these knowledge terms.
Abstract: Terms used to designate knowledge constructs have proliferated in the literature and often seem to duplicate, subsume, or contradict one another. In this article, we present a conceptual framework for organizing and relating terms that pertain to select knowledge constructs. We begin with an examination of the literature. Based on that review, we build a framework that is intended to clarify terms, and the associations among them, and to articulate definitional statements for these knowledge terms. Finally, we consider the importance of this theoretical undertaking for future research in cognition and in learning.
714 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors characterized the phase composition of the NiO/Al 2 O 3 phase of a 25 wt% NiO+Al 2O 3 catalyst for complete oxidation of methane feed to CO 2 and H 2 O. The authors showed that the previously calcined catalyst bed consists of three different regions.
703 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, an integration of work on uncertainty avoidance in decision-making with research on causal attribution in punishment is proposed, where the authors hypothesize that judges attempt to manage uncertainty by developing "patterned responses" that are the product of an attribution process involving assessments of the offender's likelihood of committing future crime.
Abstract: Based on an integration of work on uncertainty avoidance in decision making with research on causal attribution in punishment, the author hypothesizes that judges attempt to manage uncertainty by developing “patterned responses” that are the product of an attribution process involving assessments of the offender's likelihood of committing future crime. Washington, D. C, felony sentencing data generated by the Prosecutor's Management and Information System (PROMIS) were used to test this integrated theoretical model. Support for the theoretical integration is provided by the evidence of the effects of prior record, defendant's race, use of a weapon, pretrial release, and the interaction between defendant's race and bail outcome on sentence severity. Contrary to common suppositions, information on defendant-victim relationship and victim provocation was unrelated to sentence severity. Further research should examine judges' attempt to reduce uncertainty by relying on stereotypes and attributions linked to the likelihood of recidivism.
TL;DR: The authors examine output time series from seven different public bureaucracies for responsiveness to political tools applied in the late Carter and early Reagan administrations and find responsiveness in all seven cases, indicating that political appointments are the most important instrument of political control; changing budgets, legislation, congressional signals, and administrative reorganizations are less important.
Abstract: A new paradigm of political-bureaucratic relations emerged through the 1980s holding that U.S. democratic institutions continuously shape nonelective public bureaucracies. Several empirical studies support the paradigm with evidence suggestive of political manipulation but none reveals the scope or specific mechanisms of political control. We explore the dynamics of political control of the bureaucracy explicitly to determine the scope and mechanisms. We examine output time series from seven different public bureaucracies for responsiveness to political tools applied in the late Carter and early Reagan administrations. We find responsiveness in all seven cases. The evidence also shows that political appointments—a shared power of the president and Congress—is the most important instrument of political control; changing budgets, legislation, congressional signals, and administrative reorganizations are less important. These findings confirm intuitive assertions by institutional scholars and suggest a method of “policy monitoring” that could enhance future democratic control of the bureaucracy.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present analytic one-loop expressions for sin 2 θ w, the unification scale M x, and the coupling at the unification level α (M x ), in supersymmetric grand-unified models with arbitrary intermediate scales.
TL;DR: In this article, a study of the daily practices of engineers engaged in redesigning a turbine engine package was conducted, where participant observation was used to study the social glue between individuals and between groups.
Abstract: Engineering sketches and drawings are the building blocks of technological design and production. These visual representations act as the means for organizing the design to production process, hence serving as a "social glue" both between individuals and between groups. The author discusses two main capacities such visual representations serve in facilitating distributed cognition in team design work As conscription devices, they enlist and organize group participation. As boundary objects, they facilitate the reading of alternative meanings by various groups involved in the design process. The introduction of computer-aided design into this visual culture of engineering restructures relationships between workers in ways that can hamper the flexibility necessary for these crucial capacities to take place. The data are drawn from a study of the daily practices of engineers engaged in redesigning a turbine engine package. The method is participant observation.
01 Jan 1991
TL;DR: A queuing-theoretical formulation of the imprecise scheduling problem is presented and workload models that quantify the tradeoff between result quality and computation time are reviewed.
Abstract: The imprecise computation technique, which prevents timing faults and achieves graceful degradation by giving the user an approximate result of acceptable quality whenever the system cannot produce the exact result in time, is considered. Different approaches for scheduling imprecise computations in hard real-time environments are discussed. Workload models that quantify the tradeoff between result quality and computation time are reviewed. Scheduling algorithms that exploit this tradeoff are described. These include algorithms for scheduling to minimize total error, scheduling periodic jobs, and scheduling parallelizable tasks. A queuing-theoretical formulation of the imprecise scheduling problem is presented. >
TL;DR: The authors pointed out that making acquisitions, although a popular strategy, may not always lead to positive firm performance, and offered several explanations for this relationship, including that acquisitions may not necessarily lead to better performance.
Abstract: Making acquisitions, although a popular strategy, may not always lead to positive firm performance. Researchers have offered several explanations for this relationship. One is that acquisitions lea...
TL;DR: In this paper, it is argued that uniquely valuable synergy might be created where differences (versus similarities) exist between resources in the acquiring and target firms, and tests of these competing hypotheses confirmed that differences contributed significantly to performance in the merged firm.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present an integrative perspective of the human resource system based on the notion of managing competencies and behavior, and derive six basic HR strategies by juxtaposing the three fundamental elements of a system (input, process, output) with the two strategic foci of HRM (competencies and behaviour).
Book•
27 Feb 1991TL;DR: An examination of the great black migration and how it changed America can be found in this article, where the author points out that the 20th-century migration of five million people from the rural South to the urban North changed America into a place where race relations affected the texture of life everywhere.
Abstract: An examination of the great black migration and how it changed America. The author points out that the 20th-century migration of five million people from the rural South to the urban North changed America into a place where race relations affected the texture of life everywhere.
TL;DR: In this article, exact solutions to the field equations of eleven-dimensional supergravity corresponding to stable multi-membrane configurations are given by the SO(8) subgroup of an enlarged tangent space group SO(1, 2)×SO(16), and hence one half of spacetime supersymmetries are broken.
TL;DR: In this paper, the saliency of payoffdominance, security, and historical precedents in related average opinion games is examined, and it is shown that it is possible to construct an accurate theory of equilibrium selection.
Abstract: Deductive equilibrium analysis often fails to provide a unique equilibrium solution in many situations of strategic interdependence. Consequently, a theory of equilibrium selection would be a useful complement to the theory of equilibrium points. A salient equilibrium selection principle would allow decision makers to implement a mutual best response outcome. This paper uses the experimental method to examine the salience of payoff-dominance, security, and historical precedents in related average opinion games. The systematic and, hence, predictable behavior observed in the experiments suggests that it should be possible to construct an accurate theory of equilibrium selection.
TL;DR: In this paper, the effect of the rib angle orientation on the local heat transfer distributions and pressure drop in a square channel with two opposite in-line ribbed walls was investigated for Reynolds numbers from 15,000 to 90,000.
Abstract: The effect of the rib angle orientation on the local heat transfer distributions and pressure drop in a square channel with two opposite in-line ribbed walls was investigated for Reynolds numbers from 15,000 to 90,000. The square channel composed of ten isolated copper sections has a length-to-hydraulic diameter ratio of 20; the rib height-to-hydraulic diameter ratio is 0.0625; the rib pitch-to-height ratio equals 10. Nine rib configurations were studied: 90 deg rib, 60 and 45 deg parallel ribs, 60 and 45 deg crossed ribs, 60 and 45 deg V-shaped ribs, and 60 and 45 deg {Lambda}-shaped ribs. The results show that the 60 deg (or 45 deg) V-shaped rib performs better than the 60 deg (or 45 deg) parallel rib and, subsequently, better than the 60 deg (or 45 deg) crossed rib and the 90 deg rib. The V-shaped rib produces the highest heat transfer augmentation, while the {Lambda}-shaped rib generates the greatest pressure drop. The crossed rib has the lowest heat transfer enhancement and the smallest pressure drop penalty.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that firms use debt to protect the wealth of shareholders from the threat of unionization under U.S. labor law and present empirical evidence that strongly supports this hypothesis.
Abstract: This paper argues that firms use debt to protect the wealth of shareholders from the threat of unionization. Under U. S. labor law the firm cannot prohibit its workers from attempting to form a collective bargaining unit. Debt policy offers a method of reducing the impact of this monopoly right on shareholders. By issuing debt, the firm credibly reduces the funds that are available to a potential union. Empirical evidence that strongly supports this hypothesis is presented.
TL;DR: More work is needed to improve meat tenderness, primarily for retail cuts from the round and chuck primals, and the interaction of antemortem and postmortem factors associated with variation in beef tenderness is investigated.
Abstract: To determine the average tenderness and sensory ratings of beef subprimal cuts sold in retail cases across the United States, retail cuts were purchased through typical retail outlets in 14 metropolitan cities and transported to Texas A&M University for sensory and Warner-Bratzler shear analysis. The overall mean shear force for all cuts was 3.65 kg, and the mean shear force values for chuck, rib, loin, and round cuts were 3.72, 3.36, 3.17, and 4.31 kg, respectively. No difference (P greater than .05) in tenderness was detected among the cuts from the rib. Mean palatability ratings and shear force values of top loin steaks were similar to those of rib cuts. Top sirloin steaks were tougher (P less than .05) and received the lowest sensory ratings compared with other loin cuts. Approximately two to three times as many round and chuck steaks had shear force values in excess of 4.6 kg compared with their roast counterparts. In all cases, roasts tended to be more tender than steaks from the same subprimal source. USDA Choice chuck retail cuts, compared to Select and No-roll chuck cuts, had approximately 10% fewer cuts with shear force values in excess of 4.0 kg. More work is needed to improve meat tenderness, primarily for retail cuts from the round and chuck primals. Future research must investigate the interaction of antemortem and postmortem factors associated with variation in beef tenderness.
TL;DR: This paper examined the syntactic and stylistic features of an emergent phenomenon called Interactive Written Discourse (IWD) and found that the concept of "register", a language variety according to use, helps account for syntactic reductions and omissions that characterize this historical juxtaposition of text format with real-time and interactive pressures.
Abstract: Text transmitted electronically through computer-mediated communication networks is an increasingly available yet little documented form of written communication. This article examines the syntactic and stylistic features of an emergent phenomenon called Interactive Written Discourse (IWD) and finds that the concept of “register,” a language variety according to use, helps account for the syntactic reductions and omissions that characterize this historical juxtaposition of text format with real-time and interactive pressures. Similarities with another written register showing surface brevity, the note taking register, are explored. The study is an empirical examination of written communication from a single discourse community, on a single topic, with a single recipient, involving 23 experienced computer users making travel plans with the same travel advisor by exchanging messages through linked computers. The study shows rates of omissions of subject pronouns, copulas, and articles and suggests that IWD ...
TL;DR: It is hypothesized that fixation, a block to successful problem solving, may develop during initial solution attempts and persist, interfering with immediate extra work more than with delayed extra work in problem solving.
Abstract: Extra work on unsolved problems may lead to more improvement if the new work is delayed rather than undertaken immediately after initial solution attempts. Such a result constitutes incubation in problem solving. "Unconscious work" on a problem, commonly assumed to be responsible for incubation effects, may not be necessary to observe the phenomenon. We hypothesize that fixation, a block to successful problem solving, may develop during initial solution attempts and persist, interfering with immediate extra work more than with delayed extra work. Five experiments are reported in which fixation was induced to prevent optimal performance on the initial test of Remote Associates Test (RAT) problems (e.g., Mednick, 1962). After the fixation manipulation in three of the experiments, the effects of incubation intervals were examined by retesting the fixated problems. Both fixation (poorer initial problem-solving performance) and incubation (more improvement after a delayed retest than an immediate retest) were found in all the experiments which tested for the effects. In Experiments 1, 2, and 3, misleading distractors were presented alongside the RAT problems during the initial test of the problems to cause fixation. In Experiment 4, a block of paired associates--pairing the RAT words with the misleading distractors prior to problem solving--successfully induced fixation, indicating that the distractors affected memory retrieval. In Experiment 5, a trial-by-trial technique allowed fixation and incubation to be induced and tested separately for each item. All of our findings of incubation effects appear to have depended upon the initial induction of fixation. Although the experiments may not be representative of all naturally occurring cases of incubation, they provide a methodology for the study of fixation and incubation effects in problem solving in the laboratory.
01 Jan 1991
TL;DR: In this paper, Schumaker and Pequegnat pointed out that patients sometimes have conflicting needs or orientations with respect to control, social support, and positive distractions, and that designers should recognize such differing orientations as potential sources of conflict and stress.
Abstract: To summarize briefly, key general points in this presentation include the following: To promote wellness, healthcare facilities should be designed to support patients in coping with stress As general compass points for designers, scientific research suggests that healthcare environments will support coping with stress and promote wellness if they are designed to foster: 1 Sense of control; 2 Access to social support; 3 Access to positive distractions, and lack of exposure to negative distractions; A growing amount of scientific evidence suggests that nature elements or views can be effective as stress-reducing, positive distractions that promote wellness in healthcare environments In considering the needs of different types of users of healthcare facilities--patients, visitors, staff--it should be kept in mind that these groups sometimes have conflicting needs or orientations with respect to control, social support, and positive distractions It is important for designers to recognize such differing orientations as potential sources of conflict and stress in health facilities (Schumaker and Pequegnat, 1989) For instance, a receptionist in a waiting area may understandably wish to control the programs on a television that he or she is continuously exposed to; however, patients in the waiting area may experience some stress if they cannot select the programs or elect to turn off the television Some staff may prefer bright, arousing art for corridors and patient rooms where they spend much of their time; however, for many patients, such art may increase rather than reduce stress A difficult but important challenge for designers is to be sensitive to such group differences in orientations, and try to assess the gains or losses for one group vis-a-vis the other in attempting to achieve the goal of psychologically supportive design Designers should also consider programs or strategies that combine or mesh different stress-reducing components For example, it seems possible that a program enabling patients to select at least some of their wall art or pictures would foster both control and access to positive distraction As another example, the theory outlined in this paper suggests that an "artist-in-residence" program, wherein an artist with a caring, supportive disposition would work with patients, might foster social support in addition to control and access to positive distraction Running through this presentation is the conviction that scientific research can be useful in informing the intuition, sensitivity, and creativity of designers, and thereby can help to create psychologically supportive healthcare environments(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
TL;DR: It is argued that the amount of information physicians provide patients during medical consultations may be influenced by two sets of factors, patients' personal characteristics (age, sex, education, and anxiety) and patients' communicative styles (question-asking, opinion-giving, and expression of concern).
TL;DR: Double-vessel bioassay studies indicated that a transferable substance was released from intact endothelium in response to flow, and the magnitude of myogenic responsiveness was attenuated.
Abstract: Pressure-induced myogenic responses and flow-induced vasodilatory responses have been documented in coronary resistance arterioles, but the interaction of these two mechanisms and the nature of the...