Transportation Policy and the Effects on Modal Choice in the EU

This study addresses the question of how trans-national regulations could stimulate environmentally friendly transportation. Effects of capacity limitations, costs and transit time requirements on the attractiveness of different containerized transportation modes are modeled for a representative freight corridor in the European Union. Multiple legislative scenarios are developed for 2010, taking into account various characteristics of road, rail and inland waterway transportation, including costs to society and environmental costs. Analysis of the scenarios reveals that under the current legislation environmentally friendly transportation modes are already very attractive, but lack sufficient capacity to deal with demand. Further legislative interventions, such as increased taxation, would only lead to increased transportation costs, and render containerized transportation less effective and more costly to society. For a more favorable modal split, it appears that important investments are to be made in dedicated cargo rail and inland waterways.Economics ;

Oceanographic environment of the Sodwana Bay coelacanths (Latimeria chalumnae), South Africa

Trimix scuba divers discovered coelacanths in Jesser Canyon at a depth of 104 m on the northern KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) coast (Sodwana Bay) in October 2000. The existence of these animals at such a shallow depth and in the swift and powerful Agulhas Current led to a suggestion that this might be an isolated group swept well away from the main population in the Comoros, where they live at depths of 200–350 m with little current. Subsequent observations from three manned submersible surveys and one remotely operated vehicle expedition together with recreational diver observations indicate that the South African population of coelacanths has at least 26 individuals, mostly occupying the depth range of 104–140 m in canyons. Seventeen CTD sections collected during four cruises in 2002 and 2003 indicate the temperature range in this habitat to be similar to that found in the Comoros Islands (that is, 15–22°C cf. 15–19°C in the Comoros). However, a 2.5-month-long time series of hourly data collected by a thermistor array deployed near a known coelacanth cave in Wright Canyon indicated greater variation than anticipated, with temperature changes between 16°C and 24°C occurring in a day. Dissolved oxygen levels in this depth zone were found to range between 3.0 ml l[superscript (–1)] and 4.8 ml l[superscript (–1)] compared to 3.5 ml l[superscript (–1)] in the Comoros. The low oxygen values along this coast are a result of the shallow oxygen minimum, which becomes shallower in the southwest Indian Ocean, particularly in the Agulhas Current, than in tropical latitudes. Current velocities measured using a ship-borne ADCP in the depth range 100–140 m at Sodwana were considerably higher than those measured in the Comoros habitat (20–60 cm s[superscript (–1)] cf. 3–4 cm s[superscript (–1)]) and may be an important factor explaining the coelacanths’ occupation of the canyons found along the northern KZN shelf-break

Effectiveness of bonus and penalty incentive contracts in supply chain exchanges: Does national culture matter?

In this study, we investigate the impact of national culture on the effectiveness of bonus and penalty incentive contracts in supply chain exchanges. We conducted laboratory experiments in Canada, China, and South Korea, involving transactional exchanges in which suppliers were presented with either bonus or penalty contracts. Then we compared suppliers’ contract acceptance, level of effort, and shirking across national cultures. Our findings reveal critical cultural influences on contract effectiveness. We show that although acceptance of bonus contracts is comparable across cultures, suppliers from Canada, a national culture considered low in power distance and high in humane orientation, exhibit lower acceptance rates of penalty contracts. In addition, we find evidence that suppliers associated with collectivist cultures exert more effort and shirk less in bonus contracts but these relationships also are more complex. When we compare contract effectiveness across bonus and penalty contracts within a given cultural setting, we find in all three countries greater acceptance of bonus contracts than penalty contracts. Also, after contracts are accepted, bonus contracts are more successful in China because suppliers exert greater effort and shirk less under bonus contracts than penalty contracts. However, in Canada and South Korea, the results of accepted contracts for both penalty and bonus contracts are nearly indistinguishable

THE IMPACT OF CULTURAL DIFFERENCES ON BUYER-SUPPLIER RELATIONSHIPS.

In today's economy, an ever-increasing number of companies are dealing with partners from across the world giving rise to the need to understand the impact of cultural differences on business interactions. This dissertation uses two different approaches to investigate the impact of culture in buyer supplier relationships. The first study researches the effect of cultural differences in contractual buyer-supplier agreements using transaction cost as a theoretic lens. A large number of relationships translate into contracts between partners, but very few studies have investigated the effect of cultural differences on these written agreements: This research looks at the level of contract completeness and the option to renegotiate the contract as outcome variables. The study investigates the impact of cultural difference in buyer-supplier relationships using Hofstede's cultural dimensions. The main finding is that contract completeness increases as the cultural gap between the buyer and supplier widens. The results for individual culture dimensions on contract completeness are mixed. Cultural distance impacts the option of renegotiation but the individual dimensions fail to have an effect. Finally, asset specificity has the expected positive effect on the level of contract completeness and the option to renegotiate, while more frequent transactions result in lower levels of contract completeness and fewer options to renegotiate. Overall, these findings emphasize that cultural background is a factor in contractual buyer supplier relationships and need to be taken into account in global supply chain management. The second essay investigates the impact of cultural differences in the context of dyadic buyer-supplier negotiations. It looks at the moderating effect of culture. The study uses an experimental design to investigate these issues. In the simulation negotiation, participants, classified by their country of origin, are asked to take on the role of either a buyer or a seller. They negotiate prices and quality levels for three products. This study finds that cultural differences within the negotiation dyad reduce joint profits when compared to dyads of participants with similar cultural backgrounds. Cultural differences weaken the effect of trust and opportunism on joint profits. Overall, this study concludes that cultural differences as encountered in day-to-day business interactions in global supply chains impose greater challenges

Oceanographic environment of the Sodwana Bay coelacanths (Latimeria chalumnae)

Trimix scuba divers discovered coelacanths in Jesser Canyon at a depth of 104 m on the northern KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) coast (Sodwana Bay) in October 2000. The existence of these animals at such a shallow depth and in the swift and powerful Agulhas Current led to a suggestion that this might be an isolated group swept well away from the main population in the Comoros, where they live at depths of 200-350 m with little current. Subsequent observations from three manned submersible surveys and one remotely operated vehicle expedition together with recreational diver observations indicate that the South African population of coelacanths has at least 26 individuals, mostly occupying the depth range of 104-140 m in canyons. Seventeen CTD sections collected during four cruises in 2002 and 2003 indicate the temperature range in this habitat to be similar to that found in the Comoros Islands (that is, 15-22oC cf. 15-19oC in the Comoros). However, a 2.5-month-long time series of hourly data collected by a thermistor array deployed near a known coelacanth cave in Wright Canyon indicated greater variation than anticipated, with temperature changes between 16oC and 24oC occurring in a day. Dissolved oxygen levels in this depth zone were found to range between 3.0 ml l<sup>-1</sup> and 4.8 ml l<sup>-1</sup> compared to 3.5 ml l<sup>-1</sup> in the Comoros. The low oxygen values along this coast are a result of the shallow oxygen minimum, which becomes shallower in the southwest Indian Ocean, particularly in the Agulhas Current, than in tropical latitudes. Current velocities measured using a ship-borne ADCP in the depth range 100-140 m at Sodwana were considerably higher than those measured in the Comoros habitat (20-60 cm s<sup>-1</sup> cf. 3-4 cm s-1) and may be an important factor explaining the coelacanths' occupation of the canyons found along the northern KZN shelf-break

Contributions to the functional morphology of fishes Part VI: The jaw mechanism and feeding of the Holocephalan, Callorhynchus capensis Dumeril

No Abstrac

Book Reviews

Book Review 1Book Title: Malawian Cichlid Fishes: the Classification of some Haplochromine GeneraBook Authors: David H. Eccles & Ethelwynn TrewavasLake Fish Movies, Herten, West Germany, 1989. 335 pp., 196 figures.Book Review 2Book Title: Africanized Honey Bees and Bee MitesBook Authors: Edited by G.A. Needham, A.E. Page, M. Delfinado-Bakerand C.E. Bowman.Ellis Horwood, Chichester