Walmart\u27s Sustainability Journey: Andy Ruben and the Design of Organizaional Structures and Systems (A)

The case “Andy Ruben and the Design of Strategic Goals and Processes” flows from the previous discussion, by moving from the development of an ambitious vision to the challenges of adopting strategic policies and processes to reach those aspirations in practice. This case puts students into the role of Andy Ruben, Walmart’s first Vice-President for Sustainability , asking them to make concrete decisions about what should be done, in what order, and by what process if they were to implement an ambitious corporate sustainability strategy. In the case, Ruben confronts specific choices about how to define the responsibilities of the new sustainability office at Walmart in his efforts to lead the organization toward achieving Lee Scott’s vision. In Case B, we review the basic decisions Ruben made while building the resultant sustainability office

External morphology of the first and second instars of Lecanodiaspis tingtunensis (Coccoidea: Lecanodiaspididae)

The first and second instars of Lecanodiaspis tingtunensis are described and illustrated. First instars are distinguished from other species of Lecanodiaspis by the arrangement of dorsal 8-shaped pores in six complete longitudinal rows and a partial row in the thoracic region and the number of labial, anal plate, and spiracular setae. Second instars are dimorphic with males possessing well developed 5-segmented legs, dorsal tubular ducts, and long hair-like setae on the venter between the antennae and on the abdominal segments. Females have fewer 8-shaped pores in transverse rows on the dorsum, as well as legs reduced to stubs and only one pair of hair-like medial setae on the venter

Taxonomic status of Bambusaspis miliaris : B. robusta, and B. pseudomiliaris (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Asterolecaniidae)

Based on an assessment of 50 morphological characters from 110 specimens of Bambusaspis miliaris (BoisduvalI869), B. robusta (Green 1908), andB. pseudomiliaris (Green 1922) from different geographic regions around the world, we conclude that these specimens represent the same species. Therefore, the taxa B. robusta and B. pseudomiliaris are considered junior subjective synonyms of B. miliaris

Walmart\u27s Sustainability Journey: Lee Scott\u27s Founding Vision

The first case—“Lee Scott’s Founding Vision”—takes the perspective from the apex of the organization as Walmart’s CEO, Lee Scott, develops and articulates his vision of what Walmart hopes to achieve by pursuing an aggressive sustainability strategy. This case explores the pressures that led Scott to announce the company’s ambitious sustainability goals: achieving zero waste, 100% renewable energy, and selling sustainable products. It also explores the choices made when defining and communicating the scope of the strategy, particularly through an in-depth analysis of his announcement of Walmart’s new goals in his October 2005, “Twenty-First Century Leadership” speech

Risk, ambiguity and quantum decision theory

In the present article we use the quantum formalism to describe the effects of risk and ambiguity in decision theory. The main idea is that the probabilities in the classic theory of expected utility are estimated probabilities, and thus do not follow the classic laws of probability theory. In particular, we show that it is possible to use consistently the classic expected utility formula, where the probability associated to the events are computed with the equation of quantum interference. Thus we show that the correct utility of a lottery can be simply computed by adding to the classic expected utility a new corrective term, the uncertainty utility, directly connected with the quantum interference term.Comment: 1 figur

Contact as catalyst: The case for Coptic influence in the development of Arabic negation

This article discusses similar developments in the expression of negation in the histories of Egyptian-Coptic and Arabic and explores the evidence for these respective developments being related by language contact. Both Coptic and Arabic have undergone a development known as Jespersen’s Cycle (JC), whereby an original negative marker is joined by some new element to form a bipartite negative construction. The original marker then becomes optional while the new element becomes the primary negator. We present the results of a corpus study of negation in late Coptic, showing that, at the time when Arabic speakers began to settle in Egypt, the bipartite negative construction still predominated. This being the case, we argue that native speakers of Coptic learning Arabic as a second language played a key role in the genesis of the Arabic bipartite negative construction. More generally, we give reasons to doubt the a priori preference for internal explanations of syntactic change over those involving contact, as well as the assumption that the two are mutually exclusive. Rather, we suggest that not only purely internal but also (partially) contactinduced change can profitably be accounted for in terms of child language acquisition leading to a change in the grammars of individual speakers

Novel Topological Semimetals: Growth & Characterizing Sm3HfBi5

After dozens of reactions, the Missouri State University Crystal Growth Lab created a likely-topological material, Sm3HfBi5, through flux crystal growth methods. First created experimentally in 2015, Weyl materials are desirable and have garnered much interest due to the materials’ ability to conduct electricity exclusively on their surfaces. This paper discusses methods of selecting and mixing materials to be sealed inside an evacuated or argon-backfilled glass tube which itself is placed inside a furnace kept at high temperatures, as part of a flux growth method, as well as discussing results and difficulties encountered while growing the crystals

A phenomenological investigation of the experiences of adolescents who were apprehended while carrying a gun to school

Few issues have more forcefully captured the attention of the American public than the increasing presence of weapons on school campuses. Young people more and more bringing weapons to schooland making use of them. Through phenomenological interviews, five volunteer adolescents who had been apprehended for carrying a gun to school described their experiences. Transcribed interview protocols were analyzed by a phenomenological research team. Themes common to all interviews were identified and a general thematic structure was derived. Three themes emerged from this investigation: Fear, Anger, and Availability. The Availability theme included two subthemes: On Purpose and Accidentally. Evidence for all themes was found in every protocol and emerged within the context of Time. Additionally, the researcher found two non-thematic aspects of the interviews important: demeanor and dialogue. Results are discussed with respect to other studies on guns in schools and are related to literature on school violence

Professionalism…What Is It Anyway? Researching and Communally Defining an Elusive Social Construct in Occupational Therapy Programs

For its entirety, the profession of occupational therapy’s understanding of and approach to the development of professionalism in occupational therapy students (OTS) has remained relatively static and based largely on a White, Western, and male-dominated understanding of professionalism and how it manifests in academic environments. This understanding and approach are highly problematic in that it does not take into account the kaleidoscope of cultural differences that require occupational therapy practitioners to show up in different ways based on the needs and preferences of clients, communities, and populations. This research qualitatively analyzed existing documents containing references to professionalism utilized in one occupational therapy program. This was done to identify the program’s communal understanding of professionalism and whether this understanding is an accurate reflection of the values held by the faculty collective rooted in the context of a small university in the Northeast. Results indicated that existing documents did not accurately reflect these values. Findings created space for the development of a new statement that better represented how this program defined professionalism as manifested via ways of doing and being. Additionally, the results highlighted the need for the statement to include the students’ perspectives as well in an effort to fully embody the idea of a communal statement. The results of this research invite occupational therapy programs to analyze their current definition and understanding of professionalism to ensure that it is an accurate reflection of communal values and that it is contextually situated