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Project management and project portfolio management (PPM) foster competitiveness by facilitating the implementation of organizational strategy. Although organizations often struggle to develop PPM capabilities, the academic community does not have an in-depth understanding of the conditions for successfully developing these capabilities. In response, we conducted a multiple-case study with 50 interviewees to develop a theoretical model of the PPM capability-building process. This model is built on the notion of organizational sensemaking and identifies aspects that comprehensively explain why it usually takes so long to develop PPM capabilities. We conceptualize the PPM capability-building process as one that is strongly influenced by (1) the effects of structural rearrangements, (2) the appropriate use of external resources during that process, (3) the role of executive support and legitimization, (4) episodes of regression, and (5) the need for internalization and habitualization. In addition, we provide starting points for explaining organizational capability building in more general terms.

This book discusses major issues of the current AI debate from the perspectives of philosophy, theology, and the social sciences: Can AI have a consciousness?Is superintelligence possible and probable?How does AI change individual and social life?Can there be artificial persons?What influence does AI have on religious worldviews?.

My aim in this article is to widen the scope of the current debate on peer disagreement by applying it to a kind of case it has hitherto remained silent about – namely, to cases of disagreement in which one of the disagreeing parties bases her opinion on a private religious experience to which the other party has no access. In order to do this, I will introduce a modified version of the notion of peerhood – a version that, in contrast to the one employed in the current debate, can be fruitfully applied to the troublesome kind of case in question. I will then employ this new notion in order to specify the degree of conciliation rationally required from the disagreeing parties in the kind of case in question.

My aim in this paper is to propose a way to resolve a supposed dilemma currently troubling the debate about rational belief formation in cases of peer disagreement. In section 1, I will introduce the general debate in question as well as the kind of view figuring in the supposed dilemma. In section 2, I will describe how the supposed dilemma arises. In section 3, I will consider the replies that have hitherto been offered and explain in how far these replies should be regarded as unsatisfying. Finally, in sections 4 and 5, I will propose and defend a new reply to the supposed dilemma. This reply consists in rejecting the intuitively appealing view that one should be conciliatory in the relevant kind of case, and in endorsing a more careful position, which respects the intuitions behind conciliationism and which, in contrast to the latter, does not give rise to the kind of dilemma in question.

Today’s companies rely heavily on in-company information technology standards (ICITS) to reduce costs, ensure flexibility, and facilitate the planning, implementation, and operation of IT systems. Steering and managing ICITS has proven to be challenging, revealing the need for efficient governance mechanisms. But even though prior research demonstrates the challenges of ICITS, viable advice on how to implement ICITS is scarce. In this paper, we develop an organizational design theory for the management of ICITS based on the framework of organizational control theory. We conducted a critical case study to identify basic goals, constitutive elements, and fundamental mechanisms of a working ICITS management. The resulting design goals and principles were then evaluated and further refined in the light of additional expert interviews. With our work, we wish to extend the body of theoretical knowledge on the management of ICITS and help practitioners master the various challenges occurring in this domain.

Background The endoluminal mechanical device SatiSphere is a new endoscopically implantable device designed to delay transit time of nutrients through the duodenum. It consists of a 1-mm nitinol wire with pigtail ends and several mesh spheres mounted along its course, released in the duodenum and gastric antrum to conform to the duodenal C loop configuration and thereby self-anchor. Methods The objective is to test the safety, efficacy, and effect on body weight in a 2:1 randomized study, as well as incretin secretion in a subgroup. Results Of 31 included cases (11 men, mean age 42.9 years, mean BMI 41.3 kg/m 2 ), 21 patients treated with endoscopic device insertion with scheduled device removal after 3 months were compared with 10 controls. In 10 of 21 patients, device migration occurred, in two cases necessitating emergency surgery, which led to termination of the trial. Weight loss after 3 months was 6.7, 4.6, and 2.2 kg in the groups completing therapy, all treatment cases using intention to treat (ITT) analysis and controls. Excess weight loss was significantly increased by endoluminal mechanical device insertion (18.4, 12.2, and 4.4 % in completers, ITT analysis group and controls; p  = 0.02 for completers vs. controls). Measuring glucose, insulin, and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) following a mixed-meal test with the device in place and after removal ( n  = 7), the device delayed glucose absorption and insulin secretion and altered kinetics in GLP-1 levels. Conclusions The device might be short-term effective in reducing body weight, which might be mediated through alterations in incretin metabolism. However, frequent device migration necessitates device modifications.

We discuss the current status of a computational approach which allows to evaluate the dielectric matrix, and hence electronic excitations like optical properties, including local field and excitonic effects. We introduce a recent numerical development which greatly reduces the use of memory in such type of calculations, and hence eliminates one of the bottlenecks for the application to complex systems. We present recent applications of the method, focusing our interest on insulating oxides.