Evaluation of ECA Gesture strategies for robust Human-Computer Interaction

Embodied Conversational Agents (ECAs) offer us the possibility to design pleasant and efficient human-machine interaction. In this paper we present an evaluation scheme to compare dialogue-based speaker authentication and information retrieval systems with and without ECAs on the interface. We used gestures and other visual cues to improve fluency and robustness of interaction with these systems. Our tests results suggest that when an ECA is present users perceive fewer system errors, their frustration levels are lower, turn-changing goes more smoothly, the interaction experience is more enjoyable, and system capabilities are generally perceived more positively than when no ECA is present. However, the ECA seems to intensify the users' privacy concerns

Unraveling the Shift to the Entrepreneurial Economy

A recent literature has emerged providing compelling evidence that a major shift in the organization of the developed economies has been taking place: away from what has been characterized as the managed economy towards the entrepreneurial economy. In particular, the empirical evidence provides consistent support that (1) the role of entrepreneurship has significantly increased, and (2) a positive relationship exists between entrepreneurial activity and economic performance. However, the factors underlying this observed shift have not been identified in a systematic manner. The purpose of this paper is to suggest some of the factors leading to this shift and implications for public policy. In particular, we find that a fundamental catalyst underlying the shift from the managed to the entrepreneurial economy involved the role of technological change. However, we also find that it was not just technological change but rather involved a number of supporting factors, ranging from the demise of the communist system, increased globalization, new competition for multinational firms and higher levels of prosperity. Recognition of the causes of the shift from the managed to the entrepreneurial economy suggests a rethinking of the public policy approach. Rather than the focus of directly and exclusively on promoting startups and SMEs, it may be that the current approach to entrepreneurship policy is misguided. The priority should not be on entrepreneurship policy but rather a more pervasive and encompassing approach, policy consistent with an entrepreneurial economy

The international entrepreneurial firm's social networks

This paper investigates theoretically the importance and impact of the international entrepreneurial firms’ (IEFs) social networks on selected firms’ strategies. We focus specifically on some core attributes of IEFs and the impact of social networks on such strategies as the choice of the foreign markets to operate and the foreign entry modes. The social networks are a major driver of the internationalization from inception and help in overcoming a variety of physical and social resource limitations as well as transactional hazards. We conclude that it is likely that both some fundamental characteristics of the IEFs and those of the foreign markets entered account for these firms reliance on their social networks

Phosphorus and nitrogen limitation of primary production in a simulated estuarine gradient

The transition between phosphorus limitation of primary production in freshwater and nitrogen limitation in seawater was examined along an estuarine gradient simulated in 4 large 13 m3 enclosures connected in a series and containing pelagic and benthic subsystems. Nominal salinities of 0, 5, 10 and 25 ppt were maintained by exchanging appropriate volumes of water between enclosures. River water, which served as a freshwater endmember, was naturally high in N relative to P, while the oceanic endmember (water from Narragansett Bay, RI, USA) was low in N relative to P. Production in the water column was supported by external inputs and recycled nutrients. Bioassays, inorganic nutrient concentrations and N:P ratios of the seston and inorganic nutrients indicated that phosphorus was limiting at 0, 5 and 10 ppt, while nitrogen was limiting at 25 ppt. Coincident with this shift in limiting nutrient was a shift in the N:P ratio of nutrient supply from greater than the Redfield ratio of 16 to less than 16. External inputs established relative rates of supply in each enclosure. The relative proportion of N and P in external inputs was largely a function of the hydrodynamic mixing of fresh (high N, low P) and salt water (low N, high P) endmembers. At the scale of the estuarine segment or enclosure, neither recycled inputs from the benthos and water column, nitrogen fixation nor internal losses of N and P to sedimentation and/or denitrification materially altered relative supply rates, despite a hydrodynamic residence time of 27 d

A retrospective and agenda for future research on Chinese outward foreign direct investment

Our original paper “The determinants of Chinese Outward Foreign Direct Investment” was the first theoretically based empirical analysis of the phenomenon. It utilised internalisation theory to show that Chinese state-owned firms reacted to home country market imperfections to surmount barriers to foreign entry arising from naivety and the lack of obvious ownership advantages, leveraging institutional factors including favourable policy stimuli. This special theory explained outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) but provided surprises. These included the apparent appetite for risk evinced by these early investors, causing us to conjecture that domestic market imperfections, particularly in the domestic capital market, might be responsible. The article stimulated a massive subsequent, largely successful, research effort on emerging country multinationals. In this Retrospective article we review some of the main strands of research that ensued, for the insight they offer for the theme of our commentary. Our theme is that theoretical development can only come through embracing yet more challenging, different, and new contexts, and we make suggestions for future research directions

Organizational innovation in the multinational enterprise: internalization theory and business history

This article engages in a methodological experiment by using historical evidence to challenge a common misperception about internalization theory. The theory has often been criticized for maintaining that it assumes a hierarchically organized MNE based on knowledge flowing from the home country. This is not an accurate description of how global firms operate in recent decades, but this article shows it has never been true historically. Using longitudinal data on individual firms from the nineteenth century onwards, it reveals evidence of how entrepreneurs and firms with multinational activity faced with market imperfections changed the design of their headquarters and their organizational structures