Applications of Modern Methods for Scattering Amplitudes

The large amount of new high energy data being collected by the LHC experiments has the potential to provide new information about the nature of the fundamental forces through precision comparisons with the Standard Model. These precision measurements require intensive perturbative scattering amplitude computations with large multiplicity final states. In this thesis we develop new on-shell methods for the analytic computation of scattering amplitudes in QCD which offer improved evaluation speed and numerical stability over currently available techniques and also allow us to explore the structure of amplitudes in gauge theories. We apply these techniques to extract compact analytic expression for the triple collinear splitting functions at one-loop in QCD and supersymmetric gauge theories which contribute to the universal factorisation at N${}^3$LO. We also investigate improvements to dimensionally regulated one-loop amplitude computations by combining the six-dimensional spinor helicity formalism and a momentum twistor parameterisation with the integrand reduction and generalised unitarity methods. This allowed the development of a completely algebraic approach to the computation of dimensionally regulated amplitudes in QCD including massive fermions. We present applications to Higgs plus five-gluon scattering in the large top mass limit and top pair production with up to three partons. In the case of massive one-loop amplitudes we present a new approach to the problem of wave-function renormalisation which only requires gauge invariant, on-shell building blocks. Massive one-loop amplitudes contain information that cannot be extracted from unregulated cuts, the new approach instead constrains the amplitudes using the universal poles in 6-2\eps dimensions which can be computed from an effective Lagrangian on dimension six operators

Reshoring by small firms: dual sourcing strategies and local subcontracting in value chains

This article assesses how the reshoring of manufacturing activities by micro and small enterprises (MSEs) affects the performances of co-located subcontracting networks and the reconfiguration of global value chains (GVCs). We utilize quantitative microdata of Italian MSEs operating in the clothing and footwear industries during the 2008-2015 period. Empirically MSE reshoring does not have a significant impact on domestic subcontractors' birth rates and survival chances, whereas it is positively associated with their productivity growth. Most MSEs in our sample adopt a dual sourcing strategy, expanding their global production networks while preserving their local supply base. Local and global production networks are not two alternative paradigms of industrial organization; they can be complementary and mutually reinforce each other

One-loop triple collinear splitting amplitudes in QCD

We study the factorisation properties of one-loop scattering amplitudes in the triple collinear limit and extract the universal splitting amplitudes for processes initiated by a gluon. The splitting amplitudes are derived from the analytic Higgs plus four partons amplitudes. We present compact results for primitive helicity splitting amplitudes making use of super-symmetric decompositions. The universality of the collinear factorisation is checked numerically against the full colour six parton squared matrix elements

Microfoundations of global value chain research: Big decisions by small firms

In this study, we introduce a unique longitudinal dataset from the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance Annual Survey (IMEFAS) to assess how micro and small enterprises (MSEs) partake in the global economy by tapping into global value chains (GVCs). The results of the empirical analysis show that the great majority of micro and small enterprises are unable to establish direct links with GVCs. However, two sub-categories of subcontractors and branded producers were able to accomplish upgrading and partake in GVCs after the 2008 economic crisis. For both groups of firms, strategies implemented in domestic value chains contributed to their future participation in GVCs. By identifying small firms' value chain decisions associated with their ability to access GVCs directly, this study sheds light on the microfoundations of GVCs. It paves the way for the future intersection of small business economics and GVCs, two areas of research that have seldom talked to each other

RESHAPING THE INTERFACE BETWEEN MARKETING AND OPERATIONS IN GLOBALIZING FURNITURE SUPPLY CHAINS

Over the past few decades, international fragmentation of production and offshore outsourcing have remarkably altered the organization of Western supply chains. Particularly in low-tech, manufacturing sectors, the fast spread of global production network has forced managers to reconsider the configuration of their supply chains, including the alignment between marketing and operations. Although the marketing-operations interface (MOI) is crucial in supply chain management, the understanding of globalization\u2019s effects on this process remains uncertain and unclear. By focusing on the furniture industry in USA and Italy, this paper uses a multiple case study to address the evolution of MOI in globalizing supply chains. Findings suggest that the relationship between marketing and operations in supply chains is contingent on dynamics of internationalization. Acknowledging the exploratory nature of this study, this article also indicates room further improvement and research development

Global value chain configuration: A review and research agenda

This paper reviews the literature on global value chain configuration, providing an overview of this topic. Specifically, we review the literature focusing on the concept of the global value chain and its activities, the decisions involved in its configuration, such as location, the governance modes chosen and the different ways of coordinating them. We also examine the outcomes of a global value chain configuration in terms of performance and upgrading. Our aim is to review the state of the art of these issues, identify research gaps and suggest new lines for future research that would advance our understanding of how firms are implementing new ways of organizing and managing activities on a global scale

The role of MNEs in the genesis and growth of a resilient entrepreneurial ecosystem

This article reports on a longitudinal process study of the critical role of anchor MNEs in the metamorphosis of a high-tech industrial cluster into a local entrepreneurial ecosystem. It draws on entrepreneurial ecosystem and international business literatures to frame the study of the genesis and evolutionary processes of an entrepreneurial ecosystem that emerged from two MNE subsidiaries, both of which had evolved into advanced R&D centres of excellence around a technology specialism. It shows how multiple new venture spinouts by former MNE employees introduced technological heterogeneity that catalysed into a resilient entrepreneurial ecosystem. The theoretical and policy implications that can be drawn from this case study emphasize the existence of both technology specialism and heterogeneity for resilience in an entrepreneurial ecosystem, and that reaching such a position is evolutionary in nature.Science Foundation Irelan

Psicoter-APP-ia: presencia, fonciòn y rol de las App en la clinica psicoterapéutica

Systemic therapists have always been attentive to changes in the social and life context of their patients. Use of telephone, e-mail, SMS, whatsapp is by now an established practice for any psychotherapist. Besides these commonly used devices, there are more, like Apps, that can be employed within a therapeutic relationship. Use of all these resources anyway is not without consequences on the patient-therapist relationship: from the standpoint of systemic therapists there is an implied relational level even in long distance communication because written communication and a limited number of characters do not transfer only data, but also implicit emotional and relational elements. Given the premise that it is practically impossible today to maintain a relationship without the use of internet and smartphones, it becomes necessary to question the ways in which the online space can become a useful extension of the therapeutic setting. Technology can be of great help to clinicians and the rapid evolution of digital innovation, accentuated by the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, has aroused further interest in the study of a new variable that increasingly intersects with patients' stories: the use of Apps. Through the study of data derived from a qualitative research based on a specifically designed questionnaire addressed to psychotherapists recruited on social media  and their confrontation with the authors’ own clinical experience, many ways are identified by which  different Apps can play an important role in the therapeutic context, becoming  powerful means of access to the patients’ world. The article explores the use of tools, such as software and applications, which enable therapists and patient to contact outside of the traditional setting but also take into therapy space and time bits of real, not only related, interactions with other significant people, by means for example of messages sent and received, photos, music… The authors describe how Apps make it possible to modernize the traditional technique of introducing an absent person in the therapy session, not only by related accounts or fantasy or an empty chair, but directly by messages and photos and by Apps of dating or music. The use of Apps can prove to be a powerful relational tool, capable of allowing competent and flexible therapists to access the narrative dimension of individuals, including children and adolescents, and their families. Results of the qualitative investigation illustrate what Apps, how often and by whose initiative enter therapy; the description by Authors  of some of their own experience in clinical cases involving use of different Apps makes it possible to integrate results of the qualitative research exemplifying in a more specific way the role Apps can play in the therapeutic interaction and relationship. Related examples illustrate specifically presence and use in therapy of Apps for messaging, for videoconferences, for music, for gaming and dating, Finally, some risks of Apps potentially interfering with therapy are illustrated by the inclusion, by initiative of a mother, of therapists in a family group of an App for messaging titled Emergency! Resumen El terapeuta sistémico siempre ha estado atento a los cambios sociales que caracterizan el contexto del individuo. La rápida evolución de la innovación digital, más evidente aún desde la aparición de la Pandemia de Covid-19, ha requerido sucesivamente el estudio de una nueva variable que se entrecruza cada vez más con las historias de nuestros pacientes: la presencia y el uso de las Apps en psicoterapia. Por eso, se ha realizado una investigación cualitativa a través de un cuestionario y basada en una muestra de psicoterapeutas extraída de las redes sociales, con el objetivo de determinar cómo y cuánto aparecen las Apps a lo largo de una terapia según los terapeutas activos en la clínica. Los resultados de esta investigación cualitativa se han comparado con los deducidos de la experiencia de los autores en diferentes situaciones clínicas, describiendo algunos casos para ilustrar cómo las Apps llegan a desempeñar un papel importante dentro del contexto terapéutico y a convertirse en un medio para adentrarse en el mundo del paciente hasta el punto de generar grandes valores comunicativos y relacionales con el terapeuta. Concretamente representan un nuevo modo de introducir en las terapias, especialmente en las individuales, la figura de otras personas significativas a través de mensajes, fotos, canciones, configurando una versión actualizada de la Presentificación del Tercero, técnica terapéutica histórica por la que estas figuras no se insertan solo mediante el relato y la fantasía, sino con documentos reales que consienten acceder, bajo petición del cliente, a sus relaciones interpersonales. Las mismas Apps se pueden emplear no sólo para evaluaciones diagnósticas y relacionales sino también para fines terapéuticos, pues son capaces de extender, independientemente del espacio y del tiempo de la sesión, la asistencia, el apoyo y el soporte prometidos al paciente, con lo que de este modo la psicoterapia entra en el mundo y el mundo entra en la psicoterapia

Changing perspectives on the internationalization of R&D and innovation by multinational enterprises: a review of the literature

Internationalization of R&D and innovation by Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) has undergone a gradual and comprehensive change in perspective over the past 50 years. From sporadic works in the late 1950s and in the 1960s, it became a systematically analysed topic in the 1970s, starting with pioneering reports and “foundation texts”. Our review unfolds the theoretical and empirical evolution of the literature from dyadic interpretations of centralization versus decentralization of R&D by MNEs to more comprehensive frameworks, wherein established MNEs from Advanced Economies still play a pivotal role, but new players and places also emerge in the global generation and diffusion of knowledge. Hence views of R&D internationalization increasingly rely on concepts, ideas and methods from IB and other related disciplines such as industrial organization, international economics and economic geography. Two main findings are highlighted. First, scholarly research pays an increasing attention to the network-like characteristics of international R&D activities. Second, different streams of literature have emphasized the role of location- specific factors in R&D internationalization. The increasing emphasis on these aspects has created new research opportunities in some key areas, including inter alia: cross-border knowledge sourcing strategies, changes in the geography of R&D and innovation, and the international fragmentation of production and R&D activities