Internationalization of Large Retailers and Cross-Cultural Determinants – The Singular Trajectory of Carrefour in Romania

This article discusses the large retailers’ internationalization strategy. It deals more particularly with the way in which international expansion proceeds on the level of operations management and the application of strategies used on the domestic market: does the retailer choose a universalistic perspective, thanks to the export of a well-managed retail format (the superstore format, the supermarket format), or does it opt for an adjustment to the cultural conditions of the target country, and this, even in the operational dimensions of management? To answer this question and to take part in the current debates about the stakes of international marketing, a case study was conducted on the Carrefour Group in Romania, while using a structural analysis of narrative. The research associates, for the first time, three theoretical frameworks: the internationalization of the retailer, the management of relationships in the marketing channel and the management of the cross-cultural variable. The authors bring to light a three-stage managerial cycle around a double-cultural filtration phenomenon which questions the usually used dichotomous approach to analyze the internationalization of the large retailer: universalism vs. culturalism.Carrefour Group, cultural filtration, internationalization, retailing industry, România, structural analysis of narrative

Cubature formulas, geometrical designs, reproducing kernels, and Markov operators

Cubature formulas and geometrical designs are described in terms of reproducing kernels for Hilbert spaces of functions on the one hand, and Markov operators associated to orthogonal group representations on the other hand. In this way, several known results for spheres in Euclidean spaces, involving cubature formulas for polynomial functions and spherical designs, are shown to generalize to large classes of finite measure spaces $(\Omega,\sigma)$ and appropriate spaces of functions inside $L^2(\Omega,\sigma)$. The last section points out how spherical designs are related to a class of reflection groups which are (in general dense) subgroups of orthogonal groups

Disturbed growth and selection of the human ovarian follicle

The first objective of this stody was to review some aspects of current knowledge of ovarian function in normal menstrual cycles. A discussion of the anatomy and physiology of the normal ovary can be found in chapter 2. The second objective was to provide new information about the dynamics of follicular growth in the normal menstrual cycle, and to validate the use of highfrequency transvaginal sonography for this type of investigation. This is presented in chapter 3. The third objective was to provide an overview of present concepts related to the polycystic ovary syndrome pathogenesis. To this end, clinical, pathophysiological, and morphological findings associated with polycystic ovaries are dealt with in chapter 4. Attempts to establish an experimental model of polycystic ovaries have failed in different animal species. The fourth objective was to find a human model for the study of PCOS. To this end, a morphological study performed in female to male transsexuals is presented in chapter 5. The fifth objective was twofold. Firstly, to analyse the data obtained by using transvaginal sonography in the appraisal of ovarian structure in women with irregular cycles. Secondly, to use the same validated method in a attempt to discriminate between normal and polycystic ovaries. These issues are discussed in chapter 6. The sixth objective was also twofold. Firstly, to assess gonadotropin disturbances in serum in women with the polycystic ovary syndrome as compared to a group of women with cycle abnormalities, and a group of regularly cycling women. Secondly, the aim was to appraise these clinical and biochemical findings in the light of our sonographic criteria for polycystic ovaries. The seventh objective was to determine to what extent intra-ovarian steroid perturbations could be present in women with polycystic ovaries. All data concerning these last two objectives can be found in chapter 7. Conclusions which may be drawn from studies performed in this work are presented in the general discussion, in chapter 8

Prevalence of measured and reported multimorbidity in a representative sample of the Swiss population.

Background: Little is known on the prevalence of multimorbidity (MM) in the general population. We aimed to assess the prevalence of MM using measured or self-reported data in the Swiss population. Methods: Cross-sectional, population-based study conducted between 2003 and 2006 in the city of Lausanne, Switzerland, and including 3714 participants (1967 women) aged 35 to 75 years. Clinical evaluation was conducted by thoroughly trained nurses or medical assistants and the psychiatric evaluation by psychologists or psychiatrists. For psychiatric conditions, two definitions were used: either based on the participant's statements, or on psychiatric evaluation. MM was defined as presenting ≥2 morbidities out of a list of 27 (self-reported - definition A, or measured - definition B) or as the Functional Comorbidity Index (FCI) using measured data - definition C. Results: The overall prevalence and (95% confidence interval) of MM was 34.8% (33.3%-36.4%), 56.3% (54.6%-57.9%) and 22.7% (21.4%-24.1%) for definitions A, B and C, respectively. Prevalence of MM was higher in women (40.2%, 61.7% and 27.1% for definitions A, B and C, respectively, vs. 28.7%, 50.1% and 17.9% in men, p < 0.001); Swiss nationals (37.1%, 58.8% and 24.8% for definitions A, B and C, respectively, vs. 31.4%, 52.3% and 19.7% in foreigners, all p < 0.001); elderly (>65 years: 67.0%, 70.0% and 36.7% for definitions A, B and C, respectively, vs. 23.6%, 50.2% and 13.8% for participants <45 years, p < 0.001); participants with lower educational level; former smokers and obese participants. Multivariate analysis confirmed most of these associations: odds ratio (95% Confidence interval) 0.55 (0.47-0.64), 0.61 (0.53-0.71) and 0.51 (0.42-0.61) for men relative to women for definitions A, B and C, respectively; 1.27 (1.09-1.49), 1.29 (1.11-1.49) and 1.41 (1.17-1.71) for Swiss nationals relative to foreigners, for definitions A, B and C, respectively. Conversely, no difference was found for educational level for definitions A and B and abdominally obese participants for all definitions. Conclusions: Prevalence of MM is high in the Lausanne population, and varies according to the definition or the data collection method

Construction of spherical cubature formulas using lattices

We construct cubature formulas on spheres supported by homothetic images of shells in some Euclidian lattices. Our analysis of these cubature formulas uses results from the theory of modular forms. Examples are worked out on the sphere of dimension n-1 for n=4, 8, 12, 14, 16, 20, 23, and 24, and the sizes of the cubature formulas we obtain are compared with the lower bounds given by Linear Programming

Inside the hybrid organization: An organizational level view of responses to conflicting institutional demands

This paper explores organizational responses to conflicting institutional demands. An inductive comparative case study of four social enterprises that scaled their organization while embedded in competing social welfare and commercial logics suggests that, when facing competing organizational templates imposed by their institutional environment, organizations attempt to strike a balance at the organizational level by adopting a combination of intact practices from both logics instead of balancing at the practice level by resorting to strategies such as decoupling. In addition, we find an important legitimating effect of founding origins: in a sector where the social welfare logic is ultimately predominant, organizations originating from the social sector benefited from an a priori legitimacy capital, which allowed them to borrow freely from both social and commercial practices. In contrast, organizations emanating from the commercial sector, suffering from an a priori legitimacy deficit, had to display their conformity with social templates in order to secure their acceptance in the field and therefore adopted predominantly social practices. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of hybrid organizations and point to the founding origins of organizations as an important determinant of the pattern of hybridization strategies.

Outschool, plateforme Web pour camps scolaires

Le projet outschool.ch est une start-up aidée par "Buisiness Expérience" qui propose aux différentes personnes tel que des professeurs de les aider à organiser des camps scolaires. En date du 17 mai 2010, l'entreprise outschool ne dispose pas encore de plateforme Web. Toutes demandes faites par des personnes désirant organiser des camps scolaires, sont traitées de manière manuelle. L'idée de ce projet et d'informatiser au maximum le processus de réservation afin de diminuer la masse de travail manuel de l'équipe outschool. Une version 1.0 a été mise en production au début du mois de juin 2010. Mais cette version ne fait que de proposer un formulaire qui envoie un courriel à l'équipe d'outschool avec les besoins nécessaires. Le traitement se fait ensuite de manière manuelle. La version 1.1 qui est développée dans le cadre de ce travail de bachelor offre les différentes fonctionnalités : Possibilité à une personne désirant mettre à disposition des utilisateurs de la plateforme faisant une réservation un bien ou un service. Pour ces personnes-là, un outil de gestion de leurs biens ou services sera également mise en place sous forme de gadget Windows. Un formulaire dynamique de réservation donnera la possibilité à l'utilisateur de choisir lui-même les biens ou les services désirés parmi une liste affichée suivant différents paramètres. Toutes les réservations, composées de différents biens ou services ainsi que les coordonnées de contact, seront enregistrées dans une base de données. Cette plateforme permettra aussi l'intégration des biens ou de services depuis des bases de données externes