ALBERT

Notes: Existing market orientation frameworks are based mostly on studies of manufacturers. Therefore, there is a need of a modified approach that acknowledges the special conditions for retailers. A framework is presented that includes both internal and relational aspects. Inter-firm market orientation is presented as especially relevant for retailers. Antecedents to market orientation on a relationship level are also considered. Kohli and Jaworski's three basic components are used, but the paper then discusses indicators that are especially useful in order to capture market orientation in a retail context. The suggested framework is further developed using a case study of a major British food retailer.

Notes: Managing a set of relationships to other firms is a complex task, since each relationship is likely to have consequences on the other ones. Highlights the co-ordination of interorganizational ties during a process of internationalization, and the consequences that different types of relationships have on a firm's overall relational marketing opportunities. Systematizes the relational issues that face a firm when the boundaries surrounding its home market network dissolve. Presents a framework which stresses four types of relationships and the interplay between them. Based on the notion that a firm must co-ordinate the management of horizontal and vertical dependencies, and pursue new marketing opportunities while simultaneously safeguarding its original relations. Illustrates the significance of the framework and the interplay between the four relational issues, by the alliances presently developed by two Swedish food companies to organizations in other EU countries.

Notes: The desorption of OH radicals from Pt(111) at high temperature, (approximately-greater-than)1000 K, during the water formation (H2+1/2 O2→H2O) and water decomposition reactions, respectively, was investigated using the laser-induced fluorescence technique. The results are compared with corresponding data from our laboratory for polycrystalline Pt. The OH desorption rate in H2+O2 at 1–100 mTorr total pressure has its maximum at 8%–9% relative H2 concentration for surface temperatures between 1100 and 1400 K. With H2 replaced by D2, the OD desorption rate maximizes at somewhat higher relative hydrogen content. The apparent activation energy for OH desorption increases from about 1.4 eV at low relative hydrogen concentration to about 2.0 eV at hydrogen contents of 25% or more. For the water decomposition reaction, the apparent activation energy for OH desorption was found to be 1.7±0.2 eV at 0.5 Torr and 1.9±0.2 eV at 1 Torr. These differences in apparent activation energies are primarily due to kinetic effects. The results are analyzed within a kinetic model previously developed by Hellsing et al. [J. Catal. 132, 210 (1991)], and are also compared with previous data for polycrystalline Pt. The kinetic model calculations give good overall agreement with the measured OH desorption rates as functions of temperature, H2/O2 mixture and H2O pressure, respectively. A nonuniqueness problem, with respect to the choice of kinetic parameters, is encountered in the simulation of the measured data; quite different sets of two of the kinetic constants, namely the activation energy for water formation (via OH+H→H2O) and the activation energy for OH desorption can reproduce the data as long as their difference is constant.This nonuniqueness problem, which is a consequence of the steady-state nature of the measurements, is analyzed and discussed in some detail, as are some apparent contradictions in the absolute values of reported kinetic constants in the literature. From this analysis two important conclusions are drawn. (i) The apparent contradictions in the literature about absolute values of activation energies for the water formation reaction and for OH-desorption may be less severe than believed or nonexistent. (ii) Coverage dependent activation energies must be considered and experimental exploration of such coverage dependencies are needed to create a firmer base for the kinetic modeling of the H2/O2 reaction on Pt. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: The technique of intensity dependent photoacoustic probe beam deflection has been applied to the determination of surface damage thresholds. We take advantage of an unambiguous correlation between the degree of laser damage and the energy in the generated acoustic pulse. The high sensitivity of this method, cross checked by measuring scatter losses in reflection, is independent of any surface optical properties. As an example for optical materials, damage thresholds for MgF2 and CaF2 have been determined to be about 1.4 GW/cm2 , and for LiF to be about 0.2 GW/cm2 .