集團企業是多個子公司的組合，在追求集團整體利益極大化的過程中，可能爲了追求內部資源市場配置，因而犧牲某些子公司的個別利益，或是彼此子公司之間出現交叉補貼的現象。在交叉補貼的動機下，雙方子公司進行交易時，將可能有一方犧牲，而另一方受惠；或是一方受惠較多，一方受惠較少的情形。在此情形下，集團企業爲追求長期利益，應採取何種管理作為以促使子公司間進行交易，是本研究的核心問題。 本研究以集團企業之子公司間交易為主題，嘗試探索影響子公司間交易發生的因素(本研究將影響子公司間交易發生的因素命名為「交易情境」)，且以「交易情境」的觀點，進一步探討集團企業中子公司間交易之管理方式。為此，本研究以台灣集團企業作為研究對象，結合集團企業之綜效管理相關理論及文獻，針對實務現象進行分析。 本研究採質性研究方法，以集團企業中子公司間的「交易」為分析單位，進行資料蒐集與個案分析。本研究分二階段進行。第一階段為前導個案研究，依個案分析歸納發現，子公司間交易發生的情境因素包括：「投入可衡量程度」、「投入成本程度」、「市場失靈程度」以及「產出互惠程度」。子公司間交易的管理作為包括：「目標一體化」、「轉撥計價」和「市場機制(市價)」。並且建構子公司間「交易情境」與「管理作為」之配適模式，發展出初步的研究架構、研究發現與研究命題，作為後續個案研究之原樣複現基礎。第二階段為後續個案研究，目的在修正並驗證前一階段建立的研究架構與研究命題，使其內容更為豐富。 本研究整合前導個案與後續個案，歸納出下列研究發現： 一、 公司間交易情境與管理作為之配適模式 集團企業進行子公司間交易管理時，應考量「交易」的本質，也就是交易情境，針對「市場失靈程度」、「投入可衡量程度」、「投入成本程度」以及「產出互惠程度」之不同，選擇較能發揮綜效之管理作為。子公司間交易的管理作為包括「目標一體化」、「轉撥計價」和「市場機制(市價)」，因應不同的交易情境組合，管理作為的搭配組合也有所不同，藉由此配適模式，以追求集團企業之綜效。 二、 「目標一體化」程度之提升，有助於「轉撥計價」、「市場機制(市價)」方式的發揮 集團企業在追求綜效過程中，若需要犧牲某一家子公司，成全另一家子公司利益時，「目標一體化」將扮演重要的角色。透過提升「目標一體化」程度，使「轉撥計價」、「市場機制(市價)」方式更能發揮。換言之，集團企業的綜效是源自於「目標一體化」，「目標一體化」有助於子公司之間交易成本的降低。 三、 「目標一體化」、「轉撥計價」和「市場機制(市價)」的使用有其搭配的強弱程度 「目標一體化」對於「轉撥計價」和「市場機制(市價)」具有調節作用，當子公司間交易依賴「高轉撥計價」時，則使用「目標一體化」的程度較低。當子公司間交易依賴「低轉撥計價」時，則使用「目標一體化」的程度較高。當子公司間交易依賴「市場機制(市價)」時，則使用「目標一體化」的程度較低。 / A business group is composed of several subsidiary companies. To increase group-level profits, the profits of subsidiaries may be scarified and one subsidiary may cross-subsidize others. In cross-subsidization between two subsidiaries, one may benefit more than the other or one may benefit and the other may suffer. Giving this understanding, two-stage study is conducted to observe the phenomena by studying business groups in Taiwan. In the first stage, ten pilot cases are conducted and eight more cases are examined in the second stage. Taking the view of “the contexts of transactions”, this study aims to examine how headquarters manages inter-subsidiaries transactions to create group synergy. As part of the methodology, a qualitative research method is adopted and the unit of analysis is inter-subsidiaries transaction. The research process includes two stages. In the first stage, it is found that the contexts affecting inter-subsidiaries transactions consist of “level of input measurability”, “level of input cost”, “level of market failure” and “level of outcome reciprocity”. The mechanisms for managing inter-subsidiaries transactions include “goal alignment”, “transfer-pricing” and “market mechanism (market price)”. Further, a fitting model between “the context of transactions” and “mechanisms” is proposed as a prior research framework for the second stage. In terms of integrating two-stage case analysis, three main research findings include: 1. A fitting model between “the contexts of transactions” and “mechanisms” Headquarters should take into account the essence of transaction when managing inter-subsidiaries transactions. The essence of transaction means “level of input measurability”, “level of input cost”, “level of market failure” and “level of outcome reciprocity”. In other words, different mechanisms should be adopted in different contexts of transactions to achieve group synergy. 2. The increase of the level of “goal alignment” is conducive to “transfer-pricing” and “market mechanism (market price)” “Goal alignment” plays an important role in a business group, especially when the profits of subsidiaries may be scarified and one subsidiary may cross-subsidize others. The increase of the level of “goal alignment” is conducive to “transfer-pricing” and “market mechanism (market price)”. In other words, synergy in a business group results from “goal alignment”, and “goal alignment” decreases the transaction cost between subsidiaries. 3. The combination of three mechanisms with different level “Goal alignment” has mediating effect for “transfer-pricing” and “market mechanism (market price)”. If headquarters depends on high level of “transfer-pricing”, then the level of “goal alignment” is low. If headquarters depends on low level of “transfer-pricing”, then the level of “goal alignment” is high. If headquarters depends on “market mechanism (market price)”, then the level of “goal alignment” is low.

<div>Stability of motor performance is important for voluntary movement control, but it should not be maximized to the exclusion of all else. To transition to a new task, the current task must be destabilized. When expecting to switch tasks, people are known to reduce their stability prior to initiating the change. Here, we determine if the observed stability modulation is influenced by the expectation of future movement, is a relic of the movements performed in the recent past, or is a consequence of both those processes. Furthermore, this work explores the relation between stability modulation observed in isometric finger force production tasks to cognitive flexibility and clinical measures of manual dexterity. Stability modulation can be viewed as a motor response to the recognition of altered environmental demands or internally generated desires to change body movements or postures. Therefore, it is hypothesized that cognitive flexibility – the efficacy of cognitive processing – will relate to stability modulation. Finally, it is hypothesized that the motor adjustments in response to changing task/environment demands will correlate with clinical tests of manual dexterity that involve placing pegs into holes.</div><div>Twenty-two young-adult participants (age 21.05 +/- 0.44 years) completed tasks in the three domains. The Grooved Pegboard and NIH 9-Hole tests of manual dexterity measured their manual function by time to complete the tests. Cognitive flexibility was measured by a task-switching task which required adjusting to a changing set of rules, and the reaction time and accuracy costs of task-switching were recorded. Lastly, participants’ stability of performance in an isometric finger-pressing task was assessed using the uncontrolled manifold analysis and root-mean-square error (RMSE) in the performance. Participants produced pressing forces with four fingers to match a single total force targets presented as feedback on a computer screen. In the ‘Steady’ task, target remained motionless. In the ‘Future Effects’ task, the target remained motionless for several seconds and then began moving. The ‘Past Effects’ task comprised of a dynamic initial portion followed by a stationary target. Lastly, the ‘Combined’ task had a constant force section flanked on either side by epochs of target movement. </div><div>The RMSE results confirmed the existence of stability modulation and established that this is driven by the expectation of future movement, and not by the history of previous movements. The Steady and Past Effects tasks exhibited higher stability than the Future Effects and Combined tasks. The stability estimates obtained from the uncontrolled manifold analysis showed similar trends. Cognitive flexibility (quantified as global accuracy cost) correlated with stability modulation indicating that individuals who show greater cognitive flexibility tend to demonstrate greater stability modulation. However, an association between stability modulation and clinical pegboard tests of manual function were not observed. This may possibly be due to the homogeneity of the test sample, or because the finger-force-production task and pegboard task measure disparate aspects of manual function. </div><div><br></div>

Verschiedene simultan wirkende Signale beeinflussen die Signalverarbeitung und die Genregulation von Säugetieren auf der systemischen Ebene. Die Signale müssen integriert und in ihrem jeweiligen Zusammenhang bewertet werden. Dabei können die Signale auch synergistisch miteinander interagieren, wobei dann einzig durch dieses Zusammenspiel auf genregulatorischer Ebene neue Funktionen induziert werden. Gängige experimentelle Ansätze zur Detektion von synergistischen Interaktionen erkennen zwar die beeinflussten Gene, aber die zugrunde liegenden Mechanismen bleiben unklar. In dieser Arbeit wurde deshalb ein globales systembiologisches Verfahren entwickelt, welches Synergien anhand ihrer generellen topologischen Eigenschaften in einem bipartiten Graphen detektiert. Das für die Analyse notwendige globale bipartite und mechanistische Signaltransduktionsreferenznetzwerk wurde auf der Basis experimentell verifizierter Daten aus verschiedenen Datenbanken sowie aktueller Literatur in dieser Arbeit rekonstruiert. Synergien sind besonders im Immunsystem relevant, wo verschiedene Signale parallel eine Immunreaktion auslösen. Eine adäquate Antwort kann dabei nur durch eine gleichzeitige und präzise regulierte Bewertung der wirkenden Signale ermöglicht werden. Das entwickelte Verfahren wurde auf die, für die Immunantwort essentiellen, Immunsignale Interleukin-3 (IL-3) und humanes Influenza Virus (Flu) in menschlichen plasmacytoiden dendritischen Zellen, einem Immunzelltyp, angewandt. Um synergistische Effekte während der Signalintegration zu untersuchen wurde das Referenznetzwerk auf die säugerspezifischen, in pDC präsenten und durch IL-3 und Flu aktivierten Signalpfade eingeschränkt. Es wurden unter anderem die synergistischen Interaktionspunkte detektiert, ihre regulierten Transkriptionsfaktoren sowie die durch sie regulierten Zielgene. Durch den Vergleich der ausgelösten Funktionen und der jeweils induzierten Signalwege konnte gezeigt werden, dass das entwickelte Verfahren die immunrelevanten synergistisch regulierten Gene besser detektiert als ein vergleichbares experimentelles Verfahren.

This diploma thesis deals with the issue of merger, the individual possibilities, which can be realized. Furthermore, the interest is directed towards the motives leading to this intention and the impact of these activities. One of the strongest motives of mergers is the synergistic effect, whose existence in the selected economic sector is the primary aim of this work or the assessment of its existence in the selected economic sector in specific business entities.

The thesis analyzes the area of enterprise content management (ECM), identifies its relation to other business applications and defines various stages of the life cycle of documents. It also describes individual components of ECM, including the technologies covering these components. A tool for managing and storing documents (DMS) in ABC company is presented in more detail in the practical part. The Exact Synergy Enterprise software demonstrates its advantages and disadvantages affecting document management and operational problems that this kind of software may carry.

From a visual standpoint it is often easy to point out whether a system is considered to be self-organizing or not, though a quantitative approach would be more helpful. Information theory, as introduced by Shannon, provides the right tools not only quantify self-organization, but also to investigate it in relation to the information processing performed by individual agents within a collective. This thesis sets out to introduce methods to quantify spatial self-organization in collective systems in the continuous domain as a means to investigate morphogenetic processes. In biology, morphogenesis denotes the development of shapes and form, for example embryos, organs or limbs. Here, I will introduce methods to quantitatively investigate shape formation in stochastic particle systems. In living organisms, self-organization, like the development of an embryo, is a guided process, predetermined by the genetic code, but executed in an autonomous decentralized fashion. Information is processed by the individual agents (e.g. cells) engaged in this process. Hence, information theory can be deployed to study such processes and connect self-organization and information processing. The existing concepts of observer based self-organization and relevant information will be used to devise a framework for the investigation of guided spatial self-organization. Furthermore, local information transfer plays an important role for processes of self-organization. In this context, the concept of synergy has been getting a lot attention lately. Synergy is a formalization of the idea that for some systems the whole is more than the sum of its parts and it is assumed that it plays an important role in self-organization, learning and decision making processes. In this thesis, a novel measure of synergy will be introduced, that addresses some of the theoretical problems that earlier approaches posed.

Background: Infections caused by carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae such as Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae are among the most urgent threats of the infectious disease realm. The incidence of these infections has only been increasing over the years and due to very limited treatment options, mortality is estimated at about 50%. Methods: To evaluate the in vitro activity of meropenem and polymyxin B against carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, antimicrobial susceptibility testing and time-kill studies were performed on K. pneumoniae clinical isolates representing a wide range of meropenem resistance (MICs 4 – 128 mg/L). Results: Regrowth was observed at clinically relevant concentrations of meropenem alone (4, 16, and 64 mg/L) or polymyxin B alone (0.25 and 1 mg/L) within 24 hours. However, meropenem and polymyxin B in combination were consistently bactericidal, achieving synergistic activity in strains with lower meropenem resistance (MICs ≤32 mg/L). Conclusions: Our findings are in agreement with the limited available literature, but we add that the synergistic interaction between meropenem and polymyxin B is dependent on the degree of meropenem resistance in KPC-producing K. pneumoniae. This data suggests that lower level resistance to carbapenems may be amenable to antimicrobial combinations involving a carbapenem and a polymyxin.

Mergers and acquisitions within the chemical industry is a common practice to increase market presence and customer base. Common justifications for M&A include synergy, business growth and competitive advantages, and management reasoning. Synergies are benefits a combined firm is able to receive through cost reductions, market expansion, and efficiencies in processes. As a result, firms are able to grow and position themselves competitively. To prevent an overpriced acquisition, numerous valuation techniques exist. The discount cash flow examines the value of a firm based on future cash flow. The market multiple compares target firms to similar firms in the industry. Lastly, the asset valuation determines the value of a firm based on the liquidation of the firm. To maximize the return on an acquisition, proper due diligence should be conducted based on the needs and goals of the purchaser, and the value added by the target firm. The premium paid for an acquisition should be based on the valued added through the synergies identified. Current business cycles and future outlook should also factor into the pricing of the acquisition. Having a thorough analysis of a target firm can help the acquirer to clearly understand what is being purchased and hence, determine an appropriate price for the acquisition. / text

<p>Businesses carrying out related diversification moves with the objective to gain synergy effects have been a frequently occurring phenomenon since the midst of the past century. Plenty of models have been constructed, mainly using external data, in order to predict the outcome of these moves, but a high degree of contradictory results in empiric testing shows that current models are insufficient. Our objective is to present a model which also takes into account the internal data presented by the line of research called horizontal strategies, with the aim of moving towards a more accurate explanatory model for related diversification. This is a study of literature which resulted in a model which may be used for approximations as a strategic planning device. Our main conclusions are that further empirical testing, mainly regarding the behaviour of costs for implementing interrelationships, is necessary in order to create an accurate, explanatory model for predicting the outcome of related diversification.</p>

This study investigated the consumers' intention towards multi-channel shopping and the function of synergy in a multi-channel retailing format (i.e., brick-and-mortar stores, catalogs, and the Internet). Two questionnaires were developed, one for the multi-channel consumers and the other for the multi-channel retailers. The structural equation modeling was used to predict the effect of shopping benefits and costs perceived from each channel on the consumer's purchase intention. Data analysis (N = 500) indicated that the purchase intentions were affected by different shopping benefit and cost variables. Qualitative analysis of retailers (N= 10) revealed that the retailers considered synergy to be an important part of their multi-channels. Also, there existed a high level of synergy among the existing three retail channels.