Contributions in Merlin

Our longitudinal study of the entire population of internal corporate ventures within a large European electronics manufacturer finds that the conventional focus in the corporate venturing literature to evaluate ventures based on business growth and financial performance may be misguided. Instead, we found that ventures are temporary conduits for capability development and play a primary role in launching the founding stage of new capability life cycles. Ventures' main contribution was often to transfer valuable capabilities to other ventures or the firm's existing business units. The benefit from investing in ventures was therefore largely independent of their commercial success. Furthermore, estimation of success rates proved highly sensitive to the stage of the ventures at which sampling began. These findings suggest the need to reconceptualize the notion of early stage ventures and their success. We further found that the venturing process can be conceptualized as a nested system of simultaneous selection at both the venture and the capability level. We show that these selection processes are distinct yet operate in a coevolutionary way and are amenable to proactive management.

Recent developments in robotics clearly suggest that the issue of robot control is not solely determined by its internal controlling system but rather accompanied by the coupling between the control system and its body. This demonstrates the importance of the body's morphology and also the importance of its material properties. In this session, we report our recent attempt on the control of octopus-like soft robot arms. Octopus arms lack any form of rigid skeleton and their motor capabilities are far beyond any existing robot, because of their dexterity and the variability of their stiffness. Hence, it would require the implementation of arms' material property into the strategy of control to lessen the complexity of the system. We used the silicon based soft robot arm with 4 embedded nylon cables along the arm which is arranged equally in the circular direction to mimic the 4 groups of longitudinal muscle bundles in the octopus arm. By regulating the tension of the strings, we show some elementary behaviors of this system, such as exploration. Finally, we will discuss the future directions to achieve the various characteristic behaviors of octopus arms.

null

With the intention of bridging the digital divide, many programmes have been launched to provide computers for educational institutions, ranging from refurbishing second hand computers to delivering low cost new computers. The fast and economical provision of large quantities of equipment is one of the many challenges faced by such programmes. If an increase is to be achieved in the sustainability of computer supplies for schools, not only must equipment be provided, but also suitable training and maintenance delivered. Furthermore, appropriate recycling has to be ensured, so that end-of-life equipment can be dealt with properly. This study has evaluated the suitability of three computer supply scenarios to schools in Colombia: (i) Colombian refurbishment - refurbishment of computers donated in Colombia, (ii) Overseas refurbishment -import of computers which were donated and refurbished abroad, and (iii) XO Laptop - purchase of low cost computers manufactured in Korea. The methods applied were: Material Flow Assessment - to assess the quantities, Life Cycle Assessment - to assess the environmental impacts, and the application of the Multiple Attribute Utility Theory - to analyse, evaluate and compare different scenarios. The most sustainable solution proved to be the local refurbishment of second hand computers of Colombian origin to an appropriate technical standard. The environmental impacts of such practices need to be evaluated carefully, as second hand appliances have to be maintained, require spare parts and sometimes use more energy than newer equipment. Providing schools with second hand computers from overseas and through programmes such as One Laptop Per Child; has the disadvantage that the potential for social improvements - such as creation of jobs and local industry involvement - is very low.

Today terrorists usually work in network forms to conduct attacks. Terrorist networks remain active and can still function even after being severely damaged by authorities. Analyzing terrorist networks from a dynamic point of view can provide insights about the mechanisms responsible for the survival of terrorist organizations. This paper studies the dynamics of a major international terrorist organization over a 14-year period – the Global Salafi Jihad (GSJ) terrorist network. We found that a scale-free topology gradually emerged as new members joined the GSJ network based on operational needs. In addition, since the network has been experiencing member losses while it grows, we also studied the robustness of the GSJ network. We used a simulation approach to examine its vulnerability to random failures, targeted attacks, and real world authorities' counterattacks. We found that authorities' counterattacks have been rather ineffective in disrupting the terrorist network.

The precautionary principle (PP) aims to anticipate and minimize potentially serious or irreversible risks under conditions of scientific uncertainty. Thus it preserves the potential for future developments. It has been incorporated into many international treaties and pieces of national legislation for environmental protection and sustainable development. In this article, we outline an interpretation of the PP as a framework of orientation for a sustainable information society. Since the risks induced by future information and communication technologies (ICT) are social risks for the most part, we propose to extend the PP from mainly environmental to social subjects of protection. From an ethical point of view, the PP and sustainability share the principle of intergenerational justice, which can be used as an argument to preserve free space for the decisions of future generations. Applied to technical innovation and to ICT issues in particular, the extended PP can serve as a framework of orientation to avoid socio-economically irreversible developments. We conclude that the PP is a useful approach for: (i) policy makers to reconcile information society and sustainability policies and (ii) ICT companies to formulate sustainability strategies.

null

Liquid markets generate hundreds or thousands of ticks (the minimum change in price a security can have, either up or down) every business day. Data vendors such as Reuters transmit more than 275,000 prices per day for foreign exchange spot rates alone. Thus, high-frequency data can be a fundamental object of study, as traders make decisions by observing high-frequency or tick-by-tick data. Yet most studies published in financial literature deal with low frequency, regularly spaced data. For a variety of reasons, high-frequency data are becoming a way for understanding market microstructure. This book discusses the best mathematical models and tools for dealing with such vast amounts of data.This book provides a framework for the analysis, modeling, and inference of high frequency financial time series. With particular emphasis on foreign exchange markets, as well as currency, interest rate, and bond futures markets, this unified view of high frequency time series methods investigates the price formation process and concludes by reviewing techniques for constructing systematic trading models for financial assets.

Lors des dernières années, «le pilier 3a» s’est érigé un moyen des plus importants pour l’épargne des investisseurs privés. Les produits structurés permettent de reproduire les besoins des investisseurs. Mais les conditions d’admissibilité des produits structurés sont formulées de façon trop générale. Des dispositions plus précises sont nécessaires. Cependant, cette insécurité juridique nuit à la sécurité du droit. Elle a empêché jusqu’ici la proposition plus étendue des produits structurés. Il est indispensable que les adaptations légales des OPP, qui seront nécessaires, évitent de contrevenir à l’innovation de produits du secteur des finances et que ces adaptations augmentent la sécurité du droit.