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Business Groups as an Organizational Model
Summary and Keywords
Business groups are an organizational model in which collections of legally independent firms bounded together with formal and informal ties use collaborative arrangements to enhance their collective welfare. Among the different varieties of business groups, diversified business groups that exhibit unrelated product diversification under central control, and often containing chains of publicly listed firms, are the most-studied type in the management literature. The reason is that they challenge two traditionally held assumptions. First, broad and especially unrelated diversification have a negative impact on performance, and thus business groups should focus on a narrow scope of related businesses. Second, such diversification is only sustainable in emerging economies in which market and institutional underdevelopment are more common and where business groups can provide a solution to such imperfections. However, a historical perspective indicates that diversified business groups are a long-lived organizational model and are present in emerging and advanced economies, illustrating how business groups adapt to different market and institutional settings. This evolutionary approach also highlights the importance of going beyond diversification when studying business groups and redirecting studies toward the evolution of the group structure, their internal administrative mechanisms, and other strategic actions beyond diversification such as internationalization.
Keywords: business groups, emerging markets, large enterprise, conglomerates, corporate governance
Business groups are an organizational model in which a collection of legally independent companies are bound together with formal and informal ties that use collaborative arrangements to enhance their collective welfare (Colpan & Hikino, 2010). This organizational model has existed for a long time and across many countries, but its analysis had received relatively limited attention in modern management research because that research was dominated by the experience of modern US publicly traded firms in which business groups were mostly absent (Morck, 2005). In the 1980s, however, the interest in the success of Japanese companies and their affiliation to keiretsu groups prompted the analysis of business groups to understand how such organizations appeared to provide some level of superior management to the free-standing and product-specialized publicly traded corporation that was the prototypical organization studied in the United States (Gilson & Roe, 1993). This was partly because the fortunes of Japanese groups contrasted with that of acquisitive conglomerates with broad diversification that appeared in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s but which mostly disappeared due to their weak competitive capabilities and financial underperformance in the 1980s and 1990s (Chandler, 1982; Collis, Anand, & Cheng, 2018). In the 2000s, research studying business groups in emerging economies accelerated because some of these pulled the economic growth of their nations and were profitable enterprises (Khanna & Rivkin, 2001). Some business groups even began turning into multinational enterprises that mounted credible competitive threats to established multinationals from advanced economies (Ramamurti & Singh, 2009). The prevailing view was that those emerging market business groups challenged two of the precepts of standard management theories. One was the superiority of focused companies over unrelated diversified ones, which argued that broadly diversified firms suffered from a diversification discount as a result of the cross-subsidization of subsidiaries and inefficient investments (Rajan, Servaes, & Zingales, 2000). Another was that business groups were an organizational form sustained by the existence of market and institutional underdevelopment in emerging economies (Ghemawat & Khanna, 1998); following this logic, business groups should disappear as emerging economies develop and reduce their institutional underdevelopment. Thus, much of the literature concentrated on understanding whether the affiliation of a company with a business group provided some kind of advantage over companies that were unaffiliated, as well as how the characteristics of emerging economies supported the development of these organizational models (Khanna & Yafeh, 2007). However, especially since the 2010s, historical analysis of business groups challenged some of the prior assumptions as those studies showed that business groups have long existed in both emerging as well as advanced economies (Colpan & Hikino, 2018a).
The evolution in the understanding of the prevalence of business groups has also resulted in a parallel development in the understanding of the key characteristics of these organizational models and of the areas of research that need further attention. Thus, from an initial understanding of business groups as an organizational model created to address market and institutional underdevelopment in a given country (Khanna & Yafeh, 2007), the literature has moved toward an understanding of business groups as an organizational model that can change and adapt even as the market and institutions in the country develop (Colpan & Hikino, 2018b). In a similar fashion, studies have begun to see business groups as a dynamic organization that has the ability to change from a loosely coupled organization with a dispersed set of companies to a more systematically administered organization with competitive resources and capabilities shared among affiliated companies that can compete not only at home but also abroad (Colli & Colpan, 2016).
This article first presents a review of the definition and categorization of business groups to clarify the various types of business groups. It then discusses the theories that have been put forward to explain the existence of business groups. After that, it provides a brief overview of the state of the literature on business groups and concludes with some suggestions for future research on the topic.
Business Groups and Their Types
Business groups have been described in many ways, but in the broadest sense they "characterize an economic coordination mechanism in which legally independent companies (bounded together with formal and informal ties) utilize the collaborative arrangements to enhance their collective economic welfare" (Colpan & Hikino, 2010, p. 17). Business groups show a large variety of types that reflect the different analytical lenses researching those groups. Table 1 illustrates the stylized features of the major categories of business groups.
Table 1. Stylized Features of Different Types of Business Groups
Source: Colpan and Hikino (2010).
* Ultimate control here means "in a position to control, or materially to influence, the management of one or more other companies by virtue, in part at least, of its ownership of securities in the other company or companies" (Bonbright & Means, 1932, p. 10).
The first categorization of business groups is the separation by the type of control that ties the firms into two groups: alliance and authority (Colpan & Hikino, 2010). This separation reflects the distinction of economic relationships into three types based on the contractual relationships that govern transactions discussed in transaction cost economics (Williamson, 1985): hierarchies (i.e., long-term contractual relationships driven by managerial fiat), alliances (i.e., short- and long-term contractual relationships driven by negotiation and relationships), and markets (i.e., short-term contractual relationships driven by price signals).
Using this framework, the first type is the network type of business groups that are bound together under the "alliance principle" (Colpan & Hikino, 2010). These network-type business groups are understood as "loose coalitions of firms which have no legal status (as a whole) and in which no single firm or individual holds controlling interests in the other firms" (Granovetter, 1995, p. 96). The identifying feature of these groups is that they do not have a central apex unit that has the potential to exercise control over the entire group. The typical archetype of these types of groups is the Japanese kigyo-shudan, known as horizontal keiretsu. One example is the Mitsubishi group. After the dissolution of the pre–World War II zaibatsu in 1946, the component firms reformed the group through a web of cross-shareholdings with formal and informal coordinating mechanisms (including the presidents' council and interlocking directorates); the main group companies are the financial company Mitsuishi Bank (Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, since 2006), the trading company Mitsubishi Corporation, and the manufacturing group Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Fruin, 2008; Lincoln & Shimotani, 2010; Mitsubishi, 2017). However, network-type business groups are not exclusive to Japan. One example is the largest Colombian business group Grupo Empresarial Antioqueño. This is not a legal entity but rather a collection of businesses in a region. In 2016, it had sales of $50 billion or about 5% of the GDP of Colombia and had three main component subgroups: the food group Inversiones Nutresa; the cement, infrastructure, and real estate Grupo Argos; and the bank Bancolombia and insurance group Grupo Sura (Dinero, 2016).
The second type are hierarchy-type business groups, in which a central unit controls legally independent operating affiliated firms that are tied together via several ties, including equity ties and interlocking directorates (Khanna & Yafeh, 2007). In this category of business group, we can separate two subtypes depending on the analytical perspective taken by the researchers: pyramidal business groups, in which the ownership relationships among businesses is the center of attention, and diversified business groups, in which the strategic relationship among businesses is key. This is an analytical separation because business groups can be both diversified and pyramidal at the same time.
Pyramidal groups, which are usually the focus of interest of finance and governance scholars, can be understood as chains of publicly listed companies—they consist of "two or more listed firms under a common controlling shareholder, presumed to be the largest block holder voting at least 20 percent or, alternatively, 10 percent" (Morck, 2010, p. 603). The center of analytical attention here is on the ownership structure and the separation of control rights from cash flow rights (Morck, 2005).
Diversified business groups, on the other hand, can be defined as the "collections of legally-independent enterprises, linked through equity ties and other economic means, which have a central unit at the helm that controls the affiliated enterprises in unrelated industries" (Colpan & Hikino, 2018b). The focus of interest here is the unrelated diversification that these groups exhibit. One example is the Turkish Koç Holding, which in 2016 had $23 billion in revenues, employed more than 90,000 people, and operated businesses in a wide range of industries including energy, automotive, consumer durables, finance, and others (Koç Holding, 2017).
Diversified groups are also often divided according to their controlling ownership types into family-owned, state-owned, and bank-centered business groups (Colpan & Hikino, 2018a). One example of a family-owned group is the Brazilian group J&F Investimentos, which is the family holding of the Wesley and Joesley Batista brothers, with 2015 revenues of $55 billion and 230,000 employees. It owns JBS, the largest meat packer in the world, as well as Alpargatas, the largest footwear and clothing producer in Latin America; Flora, a large firm in the personal care and cleaning products firm; Eldorado Brasil, the largest pulp production mill in the world; Banco Original, an agribusiness bank; Ambar Energia in energy generation and distribution; television and other businesses, with operations in 23 countries (JFInvest, 2017). An example of a state-owned business group is the Spanish SEPI group, which acts as the holding for the Spanish state investment in industrial firms, being a majority shareholder in 15 firms operating in diverse industries such as energy, defense, food, tobacco, horse racing, media, mail, and coal; is a minority shareholder in 9 companies; and is the shareholder the TV broadcaster RTVE and a foundation (SEPI, 2017). Finally, an example of a bank-owned group was the Spanish Banesto Industrial and Financial Corporation, which in 1990 had the bank Banesto at the center of a group of industrial companies that represented 1% of Spanish GDP (El País, 1990).
While diversified business groups and pyramidal business groups may be analytically separate, in reality, diversified business groups often exhibit pyramidal structures of ownership, such as the Tata group in India, the Samsung group in South Korea, and the Wallenberg Group in Sweden—all of which are family-controlled. Figure 1 illustrates the archetypal structure of diversified business groups.
We will focus from here on a discussion of diversified business groups. These organizational models act as a research laboratory that challenges two traditional arguments in management research, as we indicated before. The first argument is that unrelated diversified firms underperform more focused ones and thus diversified business groups should not be able to operate profitably. The second argument is that business groups emerge as the result of underdeveloped markets and institutions in emerging markets and thus should not exist in advanced economies. These two arguments assume that business groups as an organizational model are only viable in filling the institutional gaps and overcoming associated transaction costs in emerging economies. However, there are alternative drivers behind the existence of business groups and other dimensions that are worth analyzing. The next section examines these.
Theoretical Explanations for Diversified Business Groups
The origins of the theoretical analysis of diversified business groups can be traced to Leff (1976, 1978) and his analysis of business groups in less developed countries. Since then, the analysis of diversified business groups has been examined basically from two perspectives (Colpan & Hikino, 2010): an external perspective that stresses the pre-eminence of environmental factors driving the existence of business groups and an internal perspective that emphasizes intra-group factors driving the existence of business groups.
In the external perspective, there are two main explanations: (1) underdevelopment of markets and institutions and (2) government support. First, the economics-based argument that business groups are a solution to market underdevelopment and the associated transaction costs in developing economies has become the most important explanation for the formation of business groups (Ghemawat & Khanna, 1998; Leff, 1976, 1978). The argument is that emerging economies suffer from capital, labor, and product markets and institutions that are underdeveloped, and business groups are designed to fill in those gaps in the markets and market institutions (Khanna & Palepu, 1997; Khanna & Rivkin, 2001). Capital markets are often underdeveloped in emerging economies as equity markets may be weak or missing altogether, and there are no adequate financial institutions for long-term financing. The business group then becomes, according to this school of thought, an effective substitute in transferring capital across companies and supporting the funding of new business ventures. When there is available outside capital, business groups with an established reputation will also be in an advantageous position due to the lack of reliable information and protective measures available to outside investors (Cheng, Zuzul, Jones, & Khanna, 2017; Khanna & Palepu, 1997). Likewise, labor markets are usually underdeveloped in emerging economies as qualified employees are scarce and there are few credible institutions that can certify employees' abilities. Business groups can form an internal labor market to nurture and then rotate personnel among their affiliated companies. In this instance, business groups imitate the roles of several labor market institutions including business schools, certification agencies, as well as headhunting firms (Khanna & Palepu, 1997; Khanna & Rivkin, 2001). Finally, product markets are often underdeveloped and lack adequate suppliers or distributors in industries. In this context, a business group can fill the gap in product markets by diversifying into various product lines. Limited enforcement of contracts in developing economies may also induce groups to internalize several businesses rather than using arm's-length transactions. The Tata group of India that has its origins in the 1860s and the Koç group of Turkey that began developing in the 1920s are appropriate examples in this regard (Colpan & Hikino, 2010; Khanna & Palepu, 1997).
Second, also part of this external perspective are political economy explanations that understand diversified business groups as the outcome of government support of and favor to selected entrepreneurs. In this situation, the government targets certain industries and provides entrepreneurs with favorable conditions, such as direct subsidies and lower interest rates, as well as protection of the domestic market. The upshot is the building of diversified business groups. South Korean business groups (known as chaebol) that developed under the policies of General Park Chung Hee are an often-used example in this context (Kim, 2010; Schneider, 2010). The theoretical logic behind this is that entrepreneurs have developed connections with politicians or government officials and use these connections to obtain preferential access to government support, for instance in the form of soft loans, that enables them to create new companies and achieve an advantage over other entrepreneurs, who have to pay market rates for their funds. Another means is to obtain preferential treatment from the government that enables entrepreneurs to achieve a monopolistic position as government officials provide them with exclusive operating licenses. This preferential access to politicians or government officials, developed through personal, family, educational, or social connections, can be leveraged not only to start and grow a company in one industry but also to expand into a variety of industries in which the government has a large influence either as a direct customer of the products of the industry or due to the regulation of the industry, resulting in the diversification of business groups across a multitude of industries (Ghemawat & Khanna, 1998). An underlying argument behind the idea of government support has been that the presence of political rent-seeking and crony capitalism that results in private benefits to business groups and their entrepreneurs is socially harmful. Thus, in cases in which the government falls out of power, those affiliated with the previous government see their companies suffer in their valuations as investors predict that the previous sources of the advantage of the business group have been harmed by the change in government (Fisman, 2001).
In the internal perspective, there are two explanations: (1) resources and capabilities and (2) ownership. First, studies rooted in strategic management and international business highlight the resources and capabilities of business groups as the drivers of their diversification. While firms in emerging economies may have few sophisticated resources and capabilities in technology and global brands, those that possess and leverage contacts with the government and international companies and build project execution capabilities can create diversified business groups; those generic resources help them to enter and operate in a multitude of businesses. First, contacts with the government may assist the procurement of state contracts or other favors, while contacts with international firms may help with the acquisition of foreign technology and licensing deals (Guillen, 2000; Kock & Guillen, 2001). Second, project execution capabilities mean the "skills required to establish or expand operating and other corporate facilities, including undertaking pre-investment feasibility studies, project management, project engineering (basic and detailed), procurement, construction and startup of operations" (Amsden & Hikino, 1994, p. 129), which can help the groups diversify into unrelated industries. In this case, even if the emergence of business groups may have been facilitated thanks to the market and institutional underdevelopment, their eventual success and continuity depend on their ability to run businesses effectively. Thus, the existence of superior resources and capabilities, initially contacts with the government and international companies and then project-execution capabilities, developed within the business group support their leveraging of those resources across multiple businesses. The superiority of business groups, in this case, is seen as driven by an internally generated set of resources and capabilities, which is often assisted by an initially limited competition from foreign products or companies.
Second, also in the internal perspective, governance scholars have explained the existence and behavior of business groups based on their ownership. They classify business groups into four types based on their controlling owner (Cuervo-Cazurra, 2006, 2018):
1. Family-owned business groups, in which individuals and their family members are the main shareholders in the business group
2. State-owned business groups, in which the state is the dominant shareholder in companies operating in multiple industries with a further separation based on the level of the government that owns them, i.e., central or federal, subnational (state or province) or local (municipality or town) government
3. Labor-owned business groups, in which employees are the main shareholders of the business group
4. Bank-centered business groups in which a financial institution is the main shareholder (and often the main creditor) in a variety of companies that are strategically coordinated
This separation of business groups by their ownership is important because it has a large influence on the explanation for their existence and on the different agency problems that they face internally (Cuervo-Cazurra, 2006). State-owned and labor-owned business groups follow a very different logic from family-owned and bank-centered business groups because the former are mostly driven by a desire to facilitate economic development and employment rather than by the desire to take advantage of business opportunities of the latter (Cuervo-Cazurra, 2018). Thus, in state-owned business groups, the government creates business groups to facilitate the country's development when the private sector is unable or unwilling to invest in certain activities or when the government deems certain activities to have a strategic value to the country that necessitates development. In the case of labor-owned business groups, their emergence is driven by the logic of providing employment to the owners of the group as well as economic development in a location. In contrast, family-owned business groups follow the logic of entrepreneurs searching for value and using their superior entrepreneurial capabilities, including in some cases preferred government contacts, to create a series of companies. Finally, bank-owned business groups tend to be driven by the existence of a regulation that either enables banks to invest in industrial firms, or in some cases requires banks to invest in industrial firms (e.g., to rescue and reorganize financially troubled firms). The bank acts as the source of capital to firms in the business group, substituting for alternative sources of capital.
Ongoing Debates
These differences in approaches to the study of business groups have basically resulted in three ongoing debates that continue driving research: (1) the value created by business groups, (2) the long-term evolution of business groups in different market and institutional settings, and (3) the control and coordination of business groups.
One debate is whether business groups create value and contribute to economic development or whether they are merely mechanisms for extracting rents. This debate is summarized by Khanna and Yafeh (2007) in their review of the literature on diversified business groups in emerging markets. Building on the economics literature, the authors present explanations and provide evidence on the reasons for the emergence and prevalence of business groups in emerging economies. They conclude that value creation by business groups depends on the particularities of the time periods, individual countries, and, as importantly, on the intra-group capabilities and administrative mechanisms of the business groups themselves.
Another debate analyzes the evolutionary dynamics of business groups in different market and institutional settings by incorporating evolutionary perspectives. Analyses in the handbook edited by Colpan, Hikino, and Lincoln (2010) highlight the importance of business groups in late-industrializing economies as mechanisms for facilitating development by providing a long-term account of their evolution and transformation. Building on this, a second volume edited by Colpan and Hikino (2018a) extends the analysis to business groups in advanced economies. The volume shows that business groups have been an organizational model prevalent across many countries and in different periods of economic development, challenging the traditional focus on market and institutional immaturities as the explanation for business groups. Hence, diversified business groups are not simply transitionary organizations that work well only in the early phase of economic development but are flexible organizations that can develop new capabilities and change with the environment. Business groups can fit the evolving market and institutional environment to stay on as a viable organization even in advanced economies, challenging the view of earlier research that assume that business groups only operate in emerging economies.
A third debate focuses on the role of owners of business groups and the most appropriate mechanisms to ensure that those owners achieve their objectives and address the managerial complexity created by a collection of nominally independent companies with multiple relationships. The work by Colli and Colpan (2016) examines the internal characteristics of business groups to highlight the intra-group control and coordination and the resulting organizational outcomes. The authors review 119 publications on business groups in the 30 leading journals in business, management, finance, and business history as well as books and book chapters. This analysis, which focus on hierarchy-type business groups and is based on a conceptual framework developed by the authors, highlights the diversity in coordination and control mechanisms that different types of business groups employ and the large variation in these mechanisms across business groups. The review brings to the fore the importance of the variety of business groups according to the type of controlling ownership and shows how the different types of owners play a large role in the way the groups are coordinated and controlled.
Directions for Future Research
The literature on diversified business groups has made significant advances as researchers have integrated insights from multiple theoretical approaches and provide a more nuanced and rich understanding of business groups, even if such a multi-theoretical approach has also resulted in the emergence of new debates (summarized in Colpan and Hikino, 2018b; Colpan et al., 2010; Khanna & Yafeh, 2007). Nevertheless, there are still many research avenues that future studies can explore in more detail to contribute to a better understanding of this organizational model. Three of these seem noteworthy.
First, a promising and pressing opportunity for future research is the study of diversified business groups in advanced economies, which introduce a significant challenge to the traditional explanations of business groups. The conventional explanation for the existence of diversified business groups is that they exist as solutions to market and institutional immaturities in late-industrializing economies. However, the long existence and even continued development of business groups in several advanced economies challenge these traditional explanations. Hence, building on Colpan and Hikino (2018a), a promising direction for research is to focus on analyzing diversified business groups throughout the advanced world and understanding why and how they have emerged, evolved, and declined—or stayed resilient over long periods of time. Historical research on business groups in earlier-industrializing economies can bring new perspectives to the study of today's emerging market business groups that tend to be handicapped by short-term horizons (for examples of longer perspectives and their benefits, see Jones & Colpan, 2010; Khanna & Jones, 2006). Examining contemporary business groups in advanced economies, which have well-developed competitive markets and established pro-market institutions, is also surely fruitful. This is especially important because several business groups in those economies have continued to prosper even when their economies have achieved advanced economy status with well-established markets and institutions. Some countries have even seen novel forms of diversified business groups emerge that began developing with the liberalization of capital and financial markets. For example, the US and UK economies witnessed the emergence of acquisitive conglomerates in the 1960s, such as Beatrice, Hanson, or ITT, and then private equity in the 1980s, for example Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. With strong regulations in place to deter "pyramiding" (building a multilayered hierarchy of publicly listed firms controlled through partial equity stakes), the conglomerate-type business groups in these two countries differ from business groups in other countries because they typically held full equity stakes in their invested firms (Colpan & Hikino, 2018b). Some researchers also see private equity as a "speed-dating versions of business groups" (Schneider, Colpan, & Wong, 2018). Nonetheless, since most private equity firms buy companies to sell within a short period, their behavior differs markedly from the long-term horizon that conventional business groups take.
Second, a better understanding of the governance and especially the internal administrative mechanisms of diversified business groups is another area that can be pursued in future research. Much of the literature, especially in management and finance, tends to focus on analyzing business groups by using quantitative methods that rely on existing databases of publicly traded firms. As a result, they study publicly traded firms that are affiliated with business groups, providing only snapshots of business groups without examining how the overall business groups are governed and how they can change and adapt their administrative mechanisms over time. This limits a better understanding of the functioning of not only the component firms but also the business groups as a whole, as few studies open the black box of business groups and analyze their behavior. Consequently, an important venue for research is to closely examine the actual functions that boards of directors and top executives play in different group firms. For instance, the literature does not provide in-depth knowledge on the way the boards of the business group–affiliated companies are working—e.g., how the boards of different group firms are taking decisions, how the decision process is coordinated among different affiliated firms, and what roles individual (and interlocking) directors are playing in that process (Colli & Colpan, 2016).
Relatedly, the ways the internal control and coordination mechanisms of diversified business groups evolve as their economies mature to fit into the new institutional contexts is a promising topic. Recent works examining the case of the Italian family-owned business group Exor (which owns the insurance company PartnerRe and has significant shares in the automobile firms Fiat Chrysler and Ferrari, the soccer club Juventus, the news magazine The Economist, and several industrial and financial firms), for instance, argued that over time the headquarters of the group has turned to achieving more administrative efficiency by enforcing systematized control mechanisms: the rules and responsibilities among the headquarters and individual operating units became more structured and systematic and consequently less confused (Colli & Vasta, 2018; Colpan & Hikino, 2018b). These questions necessitate a deep examination of business groups not only through quantitative approaches but also through qualitative sources and methods, such as archival work as well as interviews. While such an approach requires an investment in the long-term understanding of one particular business group, the debate will surely benefit from the comparison of long-term evolutions of business groups within one country and also across countries.
A third avenue that is in need of more attention is an understanding of the strategic conduct of diversified business groups beyond the traditional focus on product diversification. Much of the literature has concentrated its attention on understanding why business groups are found in a multitude of activities and how they can manage such a diverse set of unrelated operations. However, past research has paid less attention to other growth directions of business groups. For example, only recently has some research analyzed the internationalization of business groups and the way companies affiliated with business groups receive support from the parent organization and other affiliated companies in their internationalization (e.g., Guillen, 2002). Colpan and Cuervo-Cazurra (2018) provide an overview of this area and propose that emerging market business groups assert a dual influence on the international expansion of the member companies. On the one hand, business groups can support affiliated companies' internationalization as they provide those companies with not only capital but also deep tacit knowledge about international business and host country conditions that can facilitate entry into these host countries. On the other hand, the business group can also constrain the internationalization of affiliated firms by confining their expansion to countries in which other affiliated companies of a business group already have a presence, even if these particular countries are not the optimal location for investment. These international growth dynamics also depend on the institutional context of the home country where the business group is located, with the pro-market reforms in the home country leading business group–affiliated companies to expand faster and more extensively (Colpan & Cuervo-Cazurra, 2018). Informed by the extensive literature on emerging market multinationals (e.g., Cuervo-Cazurra & Ramamurti, 2014; Ramamurti & Singh, 2009), analyzing the internationalization of business groups is thus another promising field of research, which can be valuable in understanding the efficiency and effectiveness of this organizational model.
This article has analyzed business groups and outlined some of the areas in which we have gained a deep understanding and other areas in which there is still a need for better comprehension. Diversified business groups as an organizational model are not only vital to emerging economies, they have been as important in advanced economies—and are likely to stay so. As such, they deserve additional attention in particular regarding the areas that seem to challenge some of the traditional explanations behind multi-business companies. The complex organizational nature of these business groups is what creates an intriguing economic institution that deserves more attention.
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Guillen, M., & Garcia-Canal, E. (2012). Emerging markets rule: Growth strategies of the new global giants. New York: McGraw-Hill.Find this resource:
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Jones, G., & Colpan, A. M. (2010). Business groups in historical perspectives. In A. M. Colpan, T. Hikino, & J. Lincoln (Eds.), Oxford handbook of business groups (pp. 67–92). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Find this resource:
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Khanna, T., & Palepu, K. (1997). Why focused strategies may be wrong for emerging markets. Harvard Business Review, 75(4), 41–51.Find this resource:
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While most recent college grads are feverishly sending out resumes, moaning about the terrible job market (especially for young people), and generally having a tough time launching, two recent grads of Williams College in Massachusetts have put together a site that gives them plenty of work — and will help others too. Designed Good is the brainchild of Class of 2012 grads Katy Gathright and Imran Khoja (with help from an older third founder, Joe Bergeron, also from Williams).
How did she and her team do it, and what does the site look to accomplish? Check out my interview with Katy below (and consider yourself inspired!):
MNN: You and the site's founders are recent grads. How did you get the idea for your site? Were you afraid of the horrors of the job market and just decided to do this, or are you guys all working elsewhere too?
Katy Gathright: The idea for Designed Good came from Imran Khoja, one of my co-founders who graduated with me from Williams College this June. For him, the idea was an evolving concept that he began developing before his junior year: during a summer internship two years ago, he began thinking about how he could partner with NGOs [nongovernment organizations] to get more exposure for the work they were doing — and thought about how T-shirt sales could give them that exposure.
But over the next two years, he also spent a lot of time discovering how difficult it is to find basic information about how products are made and their ethical criteria when shopping online. Designed Good also began with this idea that products don't have to be less cool, or less trendy, or less desirable just because they are socially responsible.
I met Imran while we were studying abroad together and began hearing his ideas over the course of our junior year in England. At the time, I thought I just wanted to be any kind of writer after graduation — but by the time senior spring came around, Designed Good presented itself as an opportunity to write about how well-designed products can change the world, something I got excited about.
And so our third co-founder, Joe Bergeron (Williams '01) and I joined Imran in the spring of our senior year, and we've been working on it full-time since then. We won a grant through the first Williams College Business Plan Competition to get started, and after a long summer of planning, we launched our live website in September.
I don't think any of us would call working on a startup a relief from the job market per say, but compared to a lot of our friends who graduated with us, it's definitely awesome to be working so hard on something that we really care about.
How did you choose what to include on the site? What are your parameters?
We spend a lot of time curating the products for the site. We spend a lot of time talking to people about the kinds of products they like and meeting with designers and brands personally to talk about their work.
When we find products to source, the first question we always ask is "Is this awesome?" We're really excited about the opportunity to showcase artisans, designers and brands who have really used design in creative ways to prove that aesthetic and social responsibility are not at all mutually exclusive.
As for the ethical criteria, we basically think about four main categories: cause-driven products, locally made products that source local materials and create jobs in their communities, products that use recycled or otherwise environmentally responsible materials, and upcycled or reclaimed products.
But in the end, our litmus test is always whether we can write a good story about the product. I always interview every brand we work with so I can make sure we can write something about how their product is making a difference.
How would you like to see your project grow?
We would like to see Designed Good grow into the kind of community that sets the standard for the online marketplace. We have this big idea about socially conscious products being the baseline, not the exception. And along with that, one of our visions that we think about everyday is about everyone talking about social change through well-designed products, and I guess the question we would pose to introduce that idea is: What if every product in your life — the furniture in your apartment, the clothes you wear, the gifts you give friends — was a conversation starter, and a conversation starter about something good in the world?
What large ecommerce sites do you look up to? Who do you think is doing a great job bringing together social good and online sales?
There are a lot of people out there doing cool things with e-commerce. One larger site that we look up to is The Clymb. Like us, they work with flash sales, but they sell outdoor gear and adventure clothing. We just think they do a great job with inspiring their members to think about their lifestyles, and the kind of active people they would want to be. Every time I look at their site, I just want to go invite a friend to climb Mount Everest or something with me!
One place that we would highlight as doing a great job of combining social good with online sales is Charity:Water. They are, of course, a charity and not primarily an e-commerce site, but their mission is unbelievable, and they've found a way to bring great, accessible design to the world of impact-making. We look up to them as an organization that understands how design and social change can intersect, and also as an organization that believes in transparency: They're committed to telling clear, accessible stories about what they're doing and why they do it.
Their online store also epitomizes those values, using their platform to sell goods that capture the Charity:Water spirit with an awesome look and feel.
Related charity story on MNN: Charity: Water uses Google Maps to plot out projects

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The accessories for diorama building in the 1/200 scale, hitherto consisting of figurines, catering vehicles, container vehicles, the Kögel KAMA Tow Bear as well as jetways and tractor is now complemented by a self-propelled jetway. The telescopic stairway can be extended to the lower section of an A380 in the 1/200 scale and is flexible enough to use on many airplane types. The undercarriage is equipped with rollable wheels.
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Pinky Positioning and Shaping: The Key to Mastering Smooth Bow Changes
Created specifically with the young, developing violinist in mind by Cyrus Forough, performing artist and Professor at Carnegie Mellon along with Master Luthiers, brothers Shahram and Saeid Rezvani of California, the PinkyHold is not a crutch or support. Instead, it gently helps develop the pinky's muscle memory along the way to mastering bow control. The PinkyHold is easy to install and fits on all sizes of violin and viola bows and is easily adjusted to accommodate variations in hand size and hold placement.
The PinkyHold does not lock the player into some idealized notion of "the perfect position and shape". This varies with each individual. However, the pinky does have many responsibilities such as guiding bow direction, acting as a counter-weight, and initating many of the movements needed to produce bow strokes such as the martelé, collé and spiccato.
The PinkyHold is designed to encourage the development of an agile and flexible pinky, which leads to the proper flexibility and balance. Avoiding stiffness is critical, because it squelches good tone and significantly limits the versatility required in playing the instrument. A pinky that is either poorly positioned or constantly slipping off the stick can now be corrected quite simply.


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The Buffalo Bills have become the third team to seek permission from the Broncos to interview Denver offensive coordinator Mike McCoy.
The Chicago Bears and Arizona Cardinals have already set up interviews with McCoy in the Denver area this weekend.
Bears general manager Phil Emery will interview McCoy for the position vacated Monday with the firing of head coach Lovie Smith. Although Smith led the Bears to a 10-6 record, Emery went public Monday saying he wanted a more productive offense.
In that case, it's no wonder McCoy is on his list of candidates. He has shown the ability to adapt his offense to fit his quarterback's skill set. The Broncos' offense ranked No. 1 in rushing in 2011, and went 8-5 including a playoff victory with Tim Tebow at quarterback.
This year the Broncos went 13-3 and ranked No. 2 in scoring with passing surgeon Peyton Manning at quarterback.
Bears quarterback Jay Cutler is like neither Tebow nor Manning. Although Cutler has a stronger arm than both, he does not seem to have the leadership skills of either.
Arizona's quarterback situation has been in flux since they traded their future for Kevin Kolb, who has since failed either because of performance or injury. The quarterback issue, and poor offensive line, led to the demise of Cardinals' coach Ken Whisenhunt.
The Bills fired Coach Chan Gailey on Monday after the team invested a long-term contract in journeyman quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.
The Broncos are granting teams permission to interview McCoy, providing those discussions are held here in Denver, and are conducted in the window between Saturday afternoon and Sunday evening, when the team is off for the bye week. McCoy's priority is finishing the job with the Broncos as offensive coordinator through the team's postseason run.


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#103 2638 Ash Street, Cambridge Gardens, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 4K3, Canada
RARE OPPORTUNITY!! Bright & cheerful garden apartment home in Cambridge Gardens. 2 bedrooms & 1 bathroom. Large living & dining rooms for entertaining featuring laminate floors and a view of the courtyard. Kitchen offers a rare window. In suite laundry, plenty of closet space, 1 parking and 1 storage. Building features indoor swimming pool, hot tub, and sauna. Close to City Square shopping center, hospital & Downtown. One block from the Canada-line station. 2 cats or 1 dog under 50 pounds allowed, as well as rentals allowed. Must see!
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- Focus on Funds
Australia, PIMCO, GDL CEFs on the "Avoid List"
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There are two big reasons to avoid a closed-end fund -- it's too expensive or a juicy distribution isn't sustainable.
Those two criteria are behind Wells Fargo Advisors' quarterly "closed-end funds to avoid list," which was published today.
Eight closed-end funds (also called CEFs) were added to the list during the quarter that ended Dec. 30. They are The GDL Fund (GDL), the Cushing Royalty & Income Fund (SRF), the Guggenheim Enhanced Equity Strategy Fund (GGE), the Guggenheim Enhanced Equity Income Fund (GPM), the Guggenheim Strategic Opportunities Fund (GOF), the Aberdeen Australia Equity Fund (IAF), PIMCO Income Strategy Fund (PFL) and the PIMCO Income Strategy Fund II (PFN).
Every name on the current list – all 58 – got there, at least in part, due to concerns about distributions.
The PIMCO income strategy funds got added to the list last month. Like a number of fixed-income CEFs, its earnings have declined. But Wells Fargo analysts Daniel Brown and Mariana Bush say the drop was signifiant during the most recent filing period, resulting in distribution coverage rates of 65% and 77%. Given the current low-interest rate environment, the team sees earnings remaining low and warn that distributions must be cut to avoid NAV erosion.
The Aberdeen Australia Equity Fund got slapped because at 11.8%, its distribution rate is considered unachievable giventhe fund's 0.1% annualized NAV total return over the last three years.
The GDL Fund, a risk arbitrage fund, has roughly 40% of its assets in cash, which is very high for a CEF. But even if the fund was invested, the Wells fargo team considers the current distribution of 32-cents-a-share excessive in view of the fund's eroding NVAand annualized returns just 2.3% since the fund's 2007 inception.


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/ Sunday, January 16, 2011 / 14 Comments / Appetizers and Snacks , Grilling , North American , Tex-Mex-Mexican
Baked Tex-Mex Potato With Pico De Gallo
This was a pretty busy sports weekend. We had the football AFC & NFC divisional playoffs earlier, and the first major tennis Grand Slam got started for the new year, the Australian Open. Naturally, I knew that I was going to be glued to the television and so, I decided to bake this Baked Tex-Mex Potato With Pico De Gallo in advance. This is a really scrumptious snack that you can prepare well ahead, the potatoes and the salsa, with ample time to spare before intending to serve. Just pop the layered cheese potatoes in the oven for 10 minutes. Serve with lots of refreshing salsa and you have an addictive baked cheese potatoes ready to be enjoyed!
Baked Tex-Mex Potato With Pico De Gallo
About 900 g Roasted Potatoes (I used small tricolor potatoes)(click here for the recipe, quartered the potato and omit the rosemary)
200 g Tex-Mex Cheese (combination of Jalapeno Jack, Cheddar, and Mozzarella cheese)
Olive Oil
Sea Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
2 Scallions, chopped
Pico De Gallo-Mexican Salsa (click here for the recipe)
Preheat the oven to 400˚F.
Lightly grease 4 small or 1 large shallow baking dishes with olive oil. Layer the potatoes in the baking dish followed by the cheese, sea salt, and black pepper. Repeat another layer.
Bake the potatoes in the oven for about 8 to 10 minutes or until the cheese is nicely melted. Remove from the oven, and top with chopped scallions. Serve the potatoes with Pico De Gallo.
14 comments:
Yum! This looks fun and delicious! Thanks for sharing!ReplyDelete
what an amazing photo and recipe..looks really good!ReplyDelete
@Kacey, @Sandra: Thanks for the comments.ReplyDelete
This is a great sports-watching (or anytime!) snack. It's like nachos or queso dip... with potatoes! My husband and I would absolutely love it :).ReplyDelete
fabulous, I could dive right in to this bright dish.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 17, 2011 at 10:49 AM
looks delish!ReplyDelete
This looks scrumptious!I must make this! http://vanessacontessa.com/ReplyDelete
That looks so ooey gooey. Yum! Gosh, I'd love some right now for breakfast!! LOLReplyDelete
Angie, what an awesome dish!!! Kind of like scalloped potatoes, only with better "fixin's"! These potatoes have football written all over them!!! Nicely done!!ReplyDelete
Mmm all of that melted cheese looks delicious!! You can't go wrong with potatoes and cheese :)ReplyDelete
Oh my goodness. This looks delicious and cozy. I'm making this for dinner tomorrow night!!!ReplyDelete
hmmnn, those look great and imminently do-able. it just so happens I have some pepper cheese on hand already. thanksReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 19, 2011 at 10:38 PM
Delicious looking! Nice food photo.ReplyDelete
What a great way to dress up potatoes!ReplyDelete


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In this section you can download the RPG for android. Any android game can be incorporated into several sections. In the RPG, as well as throughout the site, you can play all the android free.
The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot - role-playing project from Ubisoft Entertainment in which gamers will find beautiful graphics, epic, but quickly tired of the soundtrack, gameplay mechanics in a style Hack'n Slash, high duration of the game, easy management, and more, but they will not find so this program originality.
Tiny Dice Dungeon - pixel role-playing project "bagel" with a classic storyline and gameplay mechanics in the form of dice rolls from the board game. Fans of retro and unpretentious entertainment always with joy poputeshestvuyut together with the main character on the fantasy world and will seek adventure on his head.
Arcane Quest HD - re-release of the cult old school role-playing game with better graphics, the ability to control the camera on several axes, the corrected inaccuracies and of course some modifications in the gameplay. This release is sure to please all fans of the series and those who missed the first part in the time and the sign only with the other.
Combo Clash - pretty standard in its mechanics, and general sense of the scene around the action-RPG. Its distinguishing feature - it's beautiful graphics and high duration of the game. It seems that perhaps not even a single player is not able to fully pass similar role projects. Perhaps this time it will be different.
Blade Of Conquest - class strategic role-playing game in the fantasy world moderately, that is, without demons, the immortal elves and other campaigns with a ring on the end of the world. Immediately it is worth mentioning that you can plunder the caravans, which means the game is, by definition, a real masterpiece. Get the all-powerful king and enslaved their abusers.
Eternium: Mage And Minions - beautiful and very interesting diabloidnaya hack slash role-playing game in which we traditionally will fight the hordes of undead monsters and demons. Good graphics, automatic redirection attacks excludes zaklikivanie eternal enemy, as well as the hope of correcting some misunderstandings will delight all fans of high-quality projects.
Rogue Life - it is a kind of runner divided into missions with elements of RPG, survival and several other genres and styles. The mixture is called from the developers 'crossover', and its concept is quite interesting for all who are tired of the same type of games. Well and beautiful graphics and diverse gameplay complement a positive impression.
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How Malloy pulled off his comeback
Malloy: How did ex-Stamford mayor pull off primary upset?
Dannel Malloy used a late-breaking bump in the polls, organized labor, aggressive TV ads and urban Democrats' dissatisfaction with local leaders to turn an underdog gubernatorial primary race into a 16-point romp over Ned Lamont.
While Democratic leaders in the major cities backed the Greenwich businessman, Malloy knit together a cadre of party contrarians, such as state Rep. Christopher L. Caruso, of Bridgeport, and a coalition of labor unions to defeat Lamont.
Malloy was able to overcome a 17-point shortfall in the polls and a spending disadvantage of nearly 5-to-1 to earn the right to face Greenwich Republican Tom Foley in the November election.
"Between Saturday and Monday, we had over 800 people participate in going door-to-door in 20 different communities and in phoning out," Malloy told reporters Wednesday afternoon in his campaign's Hartford war room. "It was really a remarkable tribute to the tenacity of our volunteers."
He said there were different tactics for every town and city.
"We deployed that strategy successfully," he said. "They were to reach out to our supporters, make sure that they understood that we can win this race. We had a way to go from 17 points down to 16 points up. Once people bought into it, they became energized by the prospect."
In Bridgeport, Malloy's supporters included an unlikely core group of veteran Democrats, including Caruso and attorney John Stafstrom, the former town committee chairman, who were lined up against Lamont allies that included Mayor Bill Finch and Town Chairman Mario Testa.
It was Testa's Madison Avenue restaurant that hosted the party Tuesday night that turned a planned political celebration into a wake for Lamont, whose political career could be over.
"When I was calling folks yesterday there was a lot of animosity toward Ned's campaign," Caruso said Wednesday, adding that negative ads and mailers, as well as early morning robo calls targeting Malloy, worked against Lamont.
"I think it was just a turnoff," said Caruso, the longest-serving member of the city's legislative delegation. "It was just, I guess, over the top and people reacted, I think."
Caruso said he decided to support Malloy late last month.
"I had a really honest conversation with him about Bridgeport," Caruso said. "Dan Malloy really understands Bridgeport and one of the biggest things for me, Dan Malloy really wants to be governor. Connecticut is in a crucial time period and we don't need on-the-job training."
Malloy's camp started breathing easier Tuesday night when, shortly after the polls closed, they received calls from the polls indicating Malloy essentially had tied Lamont in Bridgeport, New Haven and Hartford.
Without decisive victories in those cities, Lamont could not win, even after being ahead in the polls for months. At 9:15, 75 minutes after the polls closed, Lamont called Malloy to concede.
Douglas Schwartz, director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, which indicated on Monday that Malloy and Lamont were in a dead heat, said Wednesday the victory is simply explained.
"His supporters were more committed than Lamont's," Schwartz said. "Lamont's supporters who said they supported him didn't feel strongly enough to show up and vote for him, while Malloy's supporters were more committed."
The Q Poll released Monday indicated that 12 percent of Democrats were undecided and 30 percent admitted they could change their minds before voting.
"It wasn't a surprise that Malloy would win," Schwartz said. "The numbers were trending that way, but the race was too close to call. I was surprised by the size of the margin, but we did emphasize there were a large number of voters undecided. Evidently, a lot of the late deciders swung to Malloy."


text: Explore our current selection of new Mercedes-Benz models for sale in Westmont, IL. Our extensive inventory features all of the latest 2020 Mercedes-Benz models in a variety of colors and trim levels. We also offer a variety of exclusive Mercedes-Benz lease and finance specials to help make new vehicle ownership one step closer. Check out our current inventory below, then give us a call at 630-537-0313 to schedule a test drive today!


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Position Posting
You may post full-time, part-time, or internship positions with the Career Center by submitting directly to the YU CareerLink system.
On-Campus Recruiting
We offer on-campus interviewing opportunities during the fall and spring semesters for internship and full-time positions. We typically schedule formal on-campus recruiting activities from late September through late November, and from early February through early April.
Job Offer Guidelines for Employers and Students (PDF)
Information Sessions
We invite you to host information sessions at Yeshiva University prior to your on- or off-campus recruiting date. You may use these sessions to inform students about your organization, and you may send recruiting material to our office in advance. We assist you in reserving appropriate space.
Career Fairs
The Career Center produces one large Multi-industry Fair in the Spring Semester, and a number of industry-specific events throughout the course of the academic year. Past industry-specific events have included targeted forums in Accounting, Finance, Communications and Marketing, Allied Health, Not-for-Profit opportunities and year-long service programs. If you are interested in being included on the mailing lists for any of these events, contact the Career Center at (646) 592-4090.
Company Site Visits
We partner with student clubs and organizations to coordinate site visits to companies. These visits occur during the fall and spring semesters and include small groups of students. They give you an opportunity to expose students to your organization, its work, and its people.


text: Updated 2016 If you ever want to make an Austrian cringe, start singing 'The hills are alive with the Sound of Music'. The film that forever ingrained Austria in the minds of Americans is something of a sore spot in the country itself. If you go to Austria expecting to see families singing in the mountains you will be greatly disappointed. Most of the film was made in Hollywood and many of things that happened in the movie didn't occur in real life.


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Friday, May 27, 2011
Stay by Deb Caletti
After a bad relationship in the past, Clara sees Christian for the first time and she feels that connection. Even though they go to different schools, she makes the time to "bump" into him again, and a deeper relationship soon begins. She likes the way Christian makes her feel - wanted, cared for, concerned about - and the way she can be a new person around him. He's a good person, but sometimes, good is just a layer hiding the real truth.
Now, Clara and her father have moved away from Seattle to get away from the person Christian really is, and Clara wants no contact from him, this time from fear instead of love. They settle down in a small seaside village and soon become part of the community.
Life goes well for Clara and her father, but there are still secrets that are lurking under the happiness. Clara has become increasingly aware that her dad is hiding something about her mother through conversations she overhears between him and a close friend. Clara also has to get used to sharing her world, not only between herself and her father, but also with herself, when she begins a fresh friendship with Flinn, whom she meets by chance.
Always looking over her shoulder, Clara soon begins to find some breathing space, until a message comes through on her new phone - from Christian. Soon, she finds herself living a life of paranoia, convinced that he'll find her, that he's still around....and her paranoia then becomes reality....
Deb Caletti has written a beautiful novel, surrounded with layers of descriptive and poetic writing filled with witty metaphors, ironies, and narrative. She not only breathes life into her characters, but creates images through her words, so that what the reader is taking in becomes visual in their minds (I, for one, would LOVE to meet Clara's dad!!) Caletti's book is serious in tone, but her deft writing also provides some comic relief in the form of all things, a seagull, which she uses at perfect opportunities to give the reader a pause, just for a moment, in Clara's life. The adult characters in this novel aren't separated that far from the teen main character, but become a huge part of the story, that of a daughter and her father. But above all, it's about relationships on all levels, from friendship, to family, to loves present and past and how to make the decision to leave or stay. And this theme will draw readers in. Highly recommended
Friday, May 20, 2011
new book trailer! Z by Michael Thomas Ford
Sometimes, I make a good book trailer, sometimes I KICK BUTT on one...this is definitely one I feel is the one of the best I've created so far....enjoy! You can download it on my NHS Library webpage as well as link from youtube or schooltube. NHS Library link: http://www.nisdtx.org/site/Default.aspx?PageID=3587
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
The Horrors of Andersonville: Life and Death Inside a Civil War Prison by Catherine Gourley
Andersonville didn't start out as a prison camp. Set in the countryside of Georgia, 27 acres in swampy land would be cleared to hold Union soldiers. Built to house 10,000 prisoners, Andersonville maxed out in 14 months with over 32,000 soldiers, all living in squalid conditions with little food, no fresh water, lice, mud, open sewers….through cold winter nights and steamy hot summer, prisoners were left to try to live not through the war, but through this hell on earth.
The story of Andersonville is disturbing and intriguing at the same time. From orders issued from commandants to build the place, to the person (Wirz) who led camp, hindsight proved to be too late. There were no trade-offs between the Confederate and Union armies to free prisoners, afraid that once out, the soldiers would swell the ranks of that particular army. There was no discipline within the walls of Andersonville except those that belonged in gangs and those that opposed them. Everyone was fair game to be used, cheated, and killed – not only for their clothing and items, but for their living space as well. There was no food, especially not for prisoners. Men who came out Andersonville looked like walking skeletons, malnourished and suffering from anything from rickets to gangrene.
This non-fiction book is comprised of letters, diaries, first-hand accounts and court documents as well as photos and images of Andersonville for newspapers printed during the time. From the present perspective of the author looking back into history a new picture and story emerges from all of these primary source documents to weave a tale of hope, survival, death, and dedication. The author also uses inserts to other pertinent information involved with prison camps, including army orders, problems throughout prison camps in general (ie lice, gangrene) to personal letters, which creates a sore spot in once was called a gentleman's war.
Catherine Gourley writes a great book to add to any collection of Civil War books, but what makes this one stand out is fact that this subject hasn't really been written about or noted in most Civil War histories. Gourley writes for the reader, making it easy to process the facts, all the while keeping interest high through the many images and documents used within the book, which makes it highly appealing for teen readers. Gourley takes the reader on the journey instead of the reader digesting the facts, which is the beauty of the book. Highly recommended.
Z by Michael Thomas Ford
Josh loves hunting zombies. He knows the rules of the game, and he's good at it. He's quickly risen in the ranks of zombie hunting and his skills no few bounds. There's only one problem – his parents have banned him from playing this virtual game because it hits too close to home.
This is the year 2032, and Josh knows about the deadly virus that created a war between the well and this stricken that happened 15 years ago. It was a virus that slowly deteriorated the brain, creating "zombies" of those that had no control over their synapses anymore. It was kill or be killed, and to this day, Josh's mother won't talk about her experience much. But to Josh, it's past history, and the game rocks. There's nothing like killing meatbags and trying to out maneuver them to be the best torcher in the game. He and his best friend Firecracker, play online together when they can, but it's Josh who receives a strange message from Charlie, THE best player, that's an invitation to something deeper, something hidden….
When Josh finally meets Charlie, he's amazed, not only that she's a girl, but that there's real zombie hunting going on without anyone being aware it's happening. She invites Josh into a dark secret, where a real game is being played… humans vs. zombies… and televised live to a wealthy audience. Josh not only gets to play the game he loves, but also make some money at the same time.
But with all secrets, dark and deep, this secret holds a deadly consequence. Josh doesn't realize it at first, but the more he plays the real game, the more he realizes he's in over his head. But is it too late to stop playing? Can he just quit, or is he an unwitting victim in a game he thought he was in control of? Is Josh the player or the played?
What a great dystopian book that has so much written into it! Michael Thomas Ford has created a unique and brilliant premise not about zombies as monsters, but how a small virus infected the human race, one that put strains on relationships and families, both well and infected. The game simulation Josh plays under rides the main theme and focus of this book, but plays so well alongside it, making this one readers won't be able to get through fast enough. This is one guys will pick up and read, and girls will too thanks to Ford's main characters. I'm hoping there's a sequel….it definitely leaves it open to one!
Choker by Elizabeth Woods
Cara is a loner. She doesn't have many friends at all. She left her best friend Zoe behind when they were just kids and she's never replaced her. There could be no replacement for Zoe. But Cara wishes she could see her again, especially now.
Cara's high school life consists of living in the fringes of society. She is part of the track team, but not quite part of the girls. But an incident in the cafeteria escalates Cara into running and hiding, especially from Alexis and Syndey, whose mission is to make Cara's life miserable. They have everything going for them, especially Alexis, who's dating Cara's fantasy boyfriend, Ethan, who's more than real. She doesn't understand how someone that nice could be with someone that nasty.
Living beside Sydney doesn't help either. Cara gets to watch the parties, the friendships, the life she'd love to lead through her bedroom window. It's not enough that people in school don't include her, but her parents are always absent as well, working through the nights in their law firms and leaving Cara by herself.
But one day, Cara comes home, and Zoe's there. Her best friend, who's run away from problems of her own asks Cara to help her, hide her, protect her….and Cara is ecstatic to have her best friend back in her life again. It's easy to help Zoe with her parents gone, and Zoe more than helps Cara with her self-esteem and problems at school. And slowly, Cara's life begins to blossom, from making friends, to even catching the attention of Ethan….
But then, one night Sydney mysteriously drowns. Accidental or deliberate? The town is rocked to its core, and Cara begins doubting how harmless her best friend is. It isn't until Alexis shows up missing that Cara's doubts become stronger. Is Zoe to blame?
Elizabeth Woods makes a stunning debut in her first novel. A glimpse into the life of a girl who's been bullied and separated, Woods, connects the reader to the character through those emotional ties that are so important. The twist in the book is subtle and Woods manages to reveal it slowly but steadily throughout the narrative. This novel will keeper readers entranced until the end. Perfect pairing with de la Pena's I Will Save You. Recommended.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Interesting stats on librarians
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An indispensable and incomparable reference work, the Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament—newly translated from the original German edition—makes a wealth of theological insight accessible for the first time in English. In these volumes, outstanding scholars provide in-depth and wide-ranging investigations of the historical, semantic, and theological meanings of Old Testament concepts. This reference work serves a wide audience, from professors and researches to pastors and students of the Bible.
Whereas traditional lexicons do little more than offer possible translations in the light of etymological and grammatical evidence, the Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament goes further, evaluating each term's theological relevance by clearly describing its actual usage in the language. In the process, it makes available to readers many form- and tradition-critical insights which—until now—have been buried in scattered commentaries, monographs, Old Testament theologies, and journal articles. Thus, the individual articles in this lexicon serve as concise, well-structured histories of research, which contain conclusions, comprehensive discussions of controversies, and references to the most important literature in several related disciplines.
The words in the Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament are included because of their importance within the Hebrew Bible, not their suitability as elements of a secondary system of Old Testament theology. Since the entries are generally ordered according to roots—the traditional and most sensible approach to the lexical study of Semitic languages—and many words are treated as derivatives, synonyms, or antonyms of the terms listed in the articles, thousands of words are considered in approximately 330 articles. Other words can easily be found in the accompanying index. Besides the lexical entries on the key verbs, nouns, and adjectives, the Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament also examines theologically noteworthy pronouns and particles in their own separate entries.
With the Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament and the powerful tools in your Libronix Digital Library, serious theological and lexical study of the Old Testament can be accomplished quickly and accurately. You can now perform powerful searches faster than ever, and accomplish complex lexical research accurately and effectively. Knowing Hebrew will be an advantage, but English transliterations make this lexicon enormously useful for English-only study as well. Not only biblical studies scholars, but also—and especially—pastors, teachers, and others interested in serious theological studies of the Bible will profit from this important work.
Within the genre of the 'theological dictionary' the work of Jenni and Westermann is, within the limits of space, outstanding for its conciseness, care, and accuracy. It contains much linguistic information that is not easily accessible in the customary 'linguistic' dictionary. Its statistical work and tabulation are particularly valuable. In particular, the criticisms which were directed against theological dictionaries have been taken seriously, and faults have been avoided.
—James Barr, Distinguished Professor of Hebrew Bible, Vanderbilt Divinity School
Like a diamond, highly prized for its fine cut, sparkle, setting, durability, utility, and symbolism, Jenni-Westermann's Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament has enormous value for a variety of reasons. Its rich data range from the historical to the theological, from the earliest occurrence of a particular word to its post-biblical use, from its distribution in the canon to its attestation in other literature from the ancient Near East, from its grammatical and syntactical peculiarities to its religious nuance. The contributors retain their original perspectives, which give freshness and excitement to the whole. I have long wished for an English translation of this important work so that my divinity students would have access to it.
—James L. Crenshaw, Robert L. Flowers Professor of Old Testament, Duke University
Ernst Jenni is a member of the faculty of theology at the University of Basel and serves on the editorial committee of Theologische Zeitschrift.
Claus Westermann, emeritus professor at the University of Heidelberg, is author of the 3-volume Continental Commentary on Genesis and numerous other Old Testament studies.
Mark E. Biddle is associate professor of Old Testament and Hebrew Bible at the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond, Virginia. He received his Dr.Theol. from the University of Zurich and his Th.M. from Rüschlikon Baptist Theological Seminary.


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2012 Volkswagen Touareg Photo Gallery
As the Touareg was re-designed and re-engineered for the 2011 model year, changes for 2012 are limited to new equipment packages and additional features. The VR6 and TDI Clean Diesel lines are now available with a new Touareg Sport with Navigation model that adds a sophisticated RNS 850 navigation system with an eight-inch color touchscreen, 60GB hard drive and Park Distance Control. For 2012, the VR6 and TDI Clean Diesel Sport gain a touchscreen radio with in-dash six-CD changer.


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I was browsing Craft this evening and I came across this video of Denyse Schmidt, on her new line of quilts for Pottery Barn. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that I'm a big fan of Denyse and her work, so I was so excited to hear her speak about Modern Quilt design and I wanted to share this video with you.
I really love how Denyse talks about the history of quilts and the mixing of traditional with modern, as well as the social aspect of quilting. This tradition continues today, as there are branches of the Modern Quilt Guild popping up all over the country, including the one I started in my home town. We've been meeting for almost a year now, and we have such a great group of women. If you're in the Cincinnati area, we'd love to have you join us. You can learn more about our group on our blog and our Facebook page.
Edited to add: If you're interested in joining a branch of the Modern Quilt Guild in your area, please check out the current list of cities that have one on the MQG's site. And if there isn't one, you can always start-up your own!


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Boeing to pack fliers tight on high-density 737 model
Already squeezed for space on many flights, economy class passengers may soon lose another two inches of legroom when the fly on no-frills airlines.
That comes after Boeing confirmed on Sunday that it's planning to offer a "modified" high-density version of its popular 737 that will seat up to 200 passengers -- 11 more than on the comparable current model of the 737. The high-density version of Boeing's 737 MAX 8 jet will be targeted to bare bones, low-cost carriers that want to squeeze as many customers as they can onto their flights.
The Seattle Times writes "to make possible an extra 11 seats beyond the standard 189, Boeing will add an extra exit door just aft of the wing, the same one on the larger 737 MAX 9. That's needed to comply with safety regulations, to ensure that 200 people could exit quickly in an emergency."
SNAPSHOT:The planes made by U.S. jetmaker Boeing
And the The Wall Street Journal adds fliers "should expect less legroom as a result, as each seat will be spaced 29 inches apart, about 2 inches less than current economy seating."
It remains unclear when the first version of the high-density 737 might fly for an airline. Southwest's first 737 MAX 8 is set to go to Southwest Airlines in 2017, so the high-density version would come after that.
No airlines have yet to place an order, tough Boeing has said European low-cost giant Ryanair has been pushing it to offer such a high-density version of the jet.
Scott Hamilton, an industry analyst with Leeham.net, tells the Seattle Times Ryanair -- one of the world's largest operators of 737s -- is all but a lock to order the jet.
Conner confirmed to the Times that "(Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary) and I have talked about this since I've been in this job."
Reuters notes Boeing's move comes after "Airbus last month announced a similar drive to increase capacity on its A320 passenger jet family as airlines seek to drive down costs per seat. Planemakers compete aggressively for orders of single-aisle, medium-haul jets and are producing at record levels."
"When you're in the low-cost, low-fare business, you're always striving for that competitive advantage," John Wojick, Boeing's chief aircraft salesman, says in an interview with Bloomberg News.
Boeing tells Bloomberg he does not expect the high-density 737 MAX 8 to eat into sales of its bigger 737 MAX 9 jet, which is targeted more toward medium and long-haul routes than the short-haul-focused MAX 8.
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