Group Strategy (group + strategy)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Interest Group Strategies: Navigating Between Privileged Access and Strategies of Pressure

POLITICAL STUDIES, Issue 4 2005
Anne Binderkrantz
The literature often contrasts interest groups possessing insider status and outsider groups forced to seek influence through more indirect means. Drawing on data from a survey of all national Danish interest groups, this article demonstrates that most groups have an action repertoire including both direct contacts to bureaucrats and parliamentarians and indirect activities such as media campaigns and mobilizations of members. Different strategies of influence are correlated positively, hence, there is no contradiction between pursuing strategies associated with insider access to decision-making and strategies where pressure is put on decision makers through media contacts and mobilizations. An analysis of four distinct strategies , an administrative, a parliamentary, a media and a mobilization strategy , finds interesting variations in the factors that affect the pursuance of the various strategies of influence. Groups with a privileged position vis-à-vis decision makers have high levels of activities targeting these decision makers, but the lack of a privileged position does not lead groups to pursue indirect strategies. Indirect strategies are most intensively pursued by cause groups and groups who find themselves in a competitive situation with regard to attracting members. [source]


Interest group strategies in multi-level Europe

JOURNAL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, Issue 1 2007
John Constantelos
This article analyzes the political responses of French and Italian business associations to Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in the EU. I propose and test the empirical relevance of a multi-level lobbying model for multi-tiered systems, a model assumed by, but never systematically examined in, the pluralism literature. Data for this ten-sector cross-national panel study come from personal interviews with the presidents of French and Italian business associations. The interviews were held at the beginning and the end of the euro implementation process. The research shows that organized groups routinely overstep their territorial jurisdictions to lobby across multiple levels of government in multi-level Europe. The degree of state political decentralization is a statistically significant variable in explaining the choice of lobbying target. This ,crucial comparative case study' finds that, in adjusting to deeper economic integration, regional associations in France focus their energy on the central government, while Italian groups favour the regional government. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


PNA synthesis using a novel Boc/acyl protecting group strategy

JOURNAL OF PEPTIDE SCIENCE, Issue 8 2001
Thomas Kofoed
Abstract The synthesis of novel Boc/acyl protected monomers for the synthesis of peptide nucleic acid (PNA) is described. The oligomerization protocol using these new monomers has been optimized with regard to coupling reagents. The use of base-labile acyl protecting groups at the exocyclic amines of the heterocyclic bases (isobutyryl for guanine and benzoyl for adenine and cytosine) and a PAM-linked solid support offers an attractive alternative to the present procedures used in PNA synthesis. This strategy has been applied for the synthesis of a test 17mer PNA on both control pore glass (CPG) and a polystyrene MBHA support and was used in the preparation of PNA,DNA chimeras. Copyright © 2001 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Preparation and Use of Microarrays Containing Synthetic Heparin Oligosaccharides for the Rapid Analysis of Heparin,Protein Interactions

CHEMISTRY - A EUROPEAN JOURNAL, Issue 34 2006
Christian Noti
Abstract Heparin is a highly sulfated, linear polymer that participates in a plethora of biological processes by interaction with many proteins. The chemical complexity and heterogeneity of this polysaccharide can explain the fact that, despite its widespread medical use as an anticoagulant drug, the structure,function relationship of defined heparin sequences is still poorly understood. Here, we present the chemical synthesis of a library containing heparin oligosaccharides ranging from di- to hexamers of different sequences and sulfation patterns. An amine-terminated linker was placed at the reducing end of the synthetic structures to allow for immobilization onto N -hydroxysuccinimide activated glass slides and creation of heparin microarrays. Key features of this modular synthesis, such as the influence of the amine linker on the glycosidation efficiency, the use of 2-azidoglucose as glycosylating agents for oligosaccharide assembly, and the compatibility of the protecting group strategy with the sulfation-deprotection steps, are discussed. Heparin microarrays containing this oligosaccharide library were constructed using a robotic printer and employed to characterize the carbohydrate binding affinities of three heparin-binding growth factors. FGF-1, FGF-2 and FGF-4 that are implicated in angiogenesis, cell growth and differentiation were studied. These heparin chips aided in the discovery of novel, sulfated sequences that bind FGF, and in the determination of the structural requirements needed for recognition by using picomoles of protein on a single slide. The results presented here highlight the potential of combining oligosaccharide synthesis and carbohydrate microarray technology to establish a structure,activity relationship in biological processes. [source]


Knowledge use, capitalisation and sharing in the audit and consultancy professions

KNOWLEDGE AND PROCESS MANAGEMENT: THE JOURNAL OF CORPORATE TRANSFORMATION, Issue 4 2009
Sophie Mignon
The introduction of knowledge management (KM) systems has become a key factor that potentially leads to competitive advantage. To take fully advantage of KM systems it is often necessary to make adjustments along a variety of dimensions to the organisations concerned. This paper proposes a KM model built around four factors: strategic; organisational; technical and informational; cultural and human. With special focus on the audit and consultancy profession, this paper identifies the respective influence of individual factors on the use and capitalisation of the knowledge contained in the KM system that is introduced into an organisation. The results show that use of the system is facilitated by technical and information systems (knowledge bases) developed as a significant part of the group's strategy and culture. However, despite organisational actions that focus o knowledge, knowledge capitalisation remains problematic, in large part, due to human and cultural reticence over sharing. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]