Academic literature on the topic 'Industrial performances'

El presente artículo indaga sobre la estética sonora del grupo de performance uruguayo Moxhelis en cuanto a sus vínculos con la música industrial y post-industrial. La estética de las performances del grupo consistió en una yuxtaposición de imágenes fragmentarias en las que se entremezclaban aspectos post-industriales, circenses, post-vanguardistas, retrofuturistas y post-apocalípticos. La estética moxheliana se puede abordar desde distintas perspectivas, ya sea desde el plano sonoro, el plano visual y/o el plano corporal. Asimismo, estas posiciones interactúan entre sí en cada una de las performances, produciendo una red compleja de significaciones y percepciones estéticas. En este artículo abordaremos el plano sonoro sucintamente, a modo de presentación del trabajo del grupo en la década de los 90, en el territorio uruguayo, a través del análisis del archivo audiovisual conservado.

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to present and exemplify traditional and neoclassical approaches to market structure and tourism firm performance analysis. The paper tackles some of the industrial economic thinking trends which were meant to fill the gaps left by the traditional approaches. Two approaches stand out from among the industrial economic trends: SCP paradigm and game theory. The results show that the strategy tourism operators prefer is to practise high prices; however there is no certainty that the competitors would adhere to such an idea at the beginning or during the season.

In the last forty years, performance evaluations have been conducted to evaluate the behavior of industrial manipulators throughout the workspace. The information gathered from these evaluations describes the performances of robots from different points of view. In this paper, a novel method is proposed for evaluating the maximum speed that a serial robot can reach with respect to both the position of the robot and its direction of motion. This approach, called Kinematic Directional Index (KDI), was applied to a Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm (SCARA) robot and an articulated robot with six degrees of freedom to outline their performances. The results of the experimental tests performed on these manipulators prove the effectiveness of the proposed index.

Phosphoric acid production is of major importance to the Tunisian economy. However, the quality produced is not suitable for other than agricultural use due to mineral and organic impurities. In this study, the purification of industrial phosphoric acid with a maximum P2O5 concentration of 25% was achieved by nanofiltration. Six solutions of different P2O5 concentration were used. The removal of organic (total carbon) and inorganic impurities such as magnesium, iron, chrome, zinc, cadmium and vanadium, were studied.The performances of nanofiltration (NF) Nadir NP 30 membrane were determined in terms of permeate flux and P2O5 and impurities retention taking into account the effect of transmembrane pressure, P2O5 concentration and membrane prea-treatment by purified phosphoric acid solution.Results showed that for the industrial 25% P2O5 acid solution, the use of NF membrane achieved a retention of 87.35%, 86.73%, 87.57%, 78.41% and 73.17%, respectively, for iron, aluminum, chrome, magnesium, vanadium and organic matter (kerogen and humic acids) under a pressure of 20 bar. P2O5 permeation increased with the increase of its concentration in the acidic feed solution. The best permeation is provided by 25% P2O5 feeding acid solution which is of almost 98%.

It is not unknown that the evolution of firm theories has been developed along a path paved by an increasing awareness of the organizational structure importance. From the early “neoclassical” conceptualizations that intended the firm as a rational actor whose aim is to produce that amount of output, given the inputs at its disposal and in accordance to technological or environmental constraints, which maximizes the revenue (see Boulding, 1942 for a past mid century state of the art discussion) to the knowledge based theory of the firm (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995; Nonaka & Toyama, 2005), which recognizes in the firm a knnowledge creating entity, with specific organizational capabilities (Teece, 1996; Teece & Pisano, 1998) that allow to sustaine competitive advantages. Tracing back a map of the theory of the firm evolution, taking into account the several perspectives adopted in the history of thought, would take the length of many books. Because of that a more fruitful strategy is circumscribing the focus of the description of the literature evolution to one flow connected to a crucial question about the nature of firm’s behaviour and about the determinants of competitive advantages. In so doing I adopt a perspective that allows me to consider the organizational structure of the firm as an element according to which the different theories can be discriminated. The approach adopted starts by considering the drawbacks of the standard neoclassical theory of the firm. Discussing the most influential theoretical approaches I end up with a close examination of the knowledge based perspective of the firm. Within this perspective the firm is considered as a knowledge creating entity that produce and mange knowledge (Nonaka, Toyama, & Nagata, 2000; Nonaka & Toyama, 2005). In a knowledge intensive organization, knowledge is clearly embedded for the most part in the human capital of the individuals that compose such an organization. In a knowledge based organization, the management, in order to cope with knowledge intensive productions, ought to develop and accumulate capabilities that shape the organizational forms in a way that relies on “cross-functional processes, extensive delayering and empowerment” (Foss 2005, p.12). This mechanism contributes to determine the absorptive capacity of the firm towards specific technologies and, in so doing, it also shape the technological trajectories along which the firm moves. After having recognized the growing importance of the firm’s organizational structure in the theoretical literature concerning the firm theory, the subsequent point of the analysis is that of providing an overview of the changes that have been occurred at micro level to the firm’s organization of production. The economic actors have to deal with challenges posed by processes of internationalisation and globalization, increased and increasing competitive pressure of less developed countries on low value added production activities, changes in technologies and increased environmental turbulence and volatility. As a consequence, it has been widely recognized that the main organizational models of production that fitted well in the 20th century are now partially inadequate and processes aiming to reorganize production activities have been widespread across several economies in recent years. Recently, the emergence of a “new” form of production organization has been proposed both by scholars, practitioners and institutions: the most prominent characteristic of such a model is its recognition of the importance of employees commitment and involvement. As a consequence it is characterized by a strong accent on the human resource management and on those practices that aim to widen the autonomy and responsibility of the workers as well as increasing their commitment to the organization (Osterman, 1994; 2000; Lynch, 2007). This “model” of production organization is by many defined as High Performance Work System (HPWS). Despite the increasing diffusion of workplace practices that may be inscribed within the concept of HPWS in western countries’ companies, it is an hazard, to some extent, to speak about the emergence of a “new organizational paradigm”. The discussion about organizational changes and the diffusion of HPWP the focus cannot abstract from a discussion about the industrial relations systems, with a particular accent on the employment relationships, because of their relevance, in the same way as production organization, in determining two major outcomes of the firm: innovation and economic performances. The argument is treated starting from the issue of the Social Dialogue at macro level, both in an European perspective and Italian perspective. The model of interaction between the social parties has repercussions, at micro level, on the employment relationships, that is to say on the relations between union delegates and management or workers and management. Finding economic and social policies capable of sustaining growth and employment within a knowledge based scenario is likely to constitute the major challenge for the next generation of social pacts, which are the main social dialogue outcomes. As Acocella and Leoni (2007) put forward the social pacts may constitute an instrument to trade wage moderation for high intensity in ICT, organizational and human capital investments. Empirical evidence, especially focused on the micro level, about the positive relation between economic growth and new organizational designs coupled with ICT adoption and non adversarial industrial relations is growing. Partnership among social parties may become an instrument to enhance firm competitiveness. The outcome of the discussion is the integration of organizational changes and industrial relations elements within a unified framework: the HPWS. Such a choice may help in disentangling the potential existence of complementarities between these two aspects of the firm internal structure on economic and innovative performance. With the third chapter starts the more original part of the thesis. The data utilized in order to disentangle the relations between HPWS practices, innovation and economic performance refer to the manufacturing firms of the Reggio Emilia province with more than 50 employees. The data have been collected through face to face interviews both to management (199 respondents) and to union representatives (181 respondents). Coupled with the cross section datasets a further data source is constituted by longitudinal balance sheets (1994-2004). Collecting reliable data that in turn provide reliable results needs always a great effort to which are connected uncertain results. Data at micro level are often subjected to a trade off: the wider is the geographical context to which the population surveyed belong the lesser is the amount of information usually collected (low level of resolution); the narrower is the focus on specific geographical context, the higher is the amount of information usually collected (high level of resolution). For the Italian case the evidence about the diffusion of HPWP and their effects on firm performances is still scanty and usually limited to local level studies (Cristini, et al., 2003). The thesis is also devoted to the deepening of an argument of particular interest: the existence of complementarities between the HPWS practices. It has been widely shown by empirical evidence that when HPWP are adopted in bundles they are more likely to impact on firm’s performances than when adopted in isolation (Ichniowski, Prennushi, Shaw, 1997). Is it true also for the local production system of Reggio Emilia? The empirical analysis has the precise aim of providing evidence on the relations between the HPWS dimensions and the innovative and economic performances of the firm. As far as the first line of analysis is concerned it must to be stressed the fundamental role that innovation plays in the economy (Geroski & Machin, 1993; Stoneman & Kwoon 1994, 1996; OECD, 2005; EC, 2002). On this point the evidence goes from the traditional innovations, usually approximated by R&D investment expenditure or number of patents, to the introduction and adoption of ICT, in the recent years (Brynjolfsson & Hitt, 2000). If innovation is important then it is critical to analyse its determinants. In this work it is hypothesised that organizational changes and firm level industrial relations/employment relations aspects that can be put under the heading of HPWS, influence the propensity to innovate in product, process and quality of the firm. The general argument may goes as follow: changes in production management and work organization reconfigure the absorptive capacity of the firm towards specific technologies and, in so doing, they shape the technological trajectories along which the firm moves; cooperative industrial relations may lead to smother adoption of innovations, because not contrasted by unions. From the first empirical chapter emerges that the different types of innovations seem to respond in different ways to the HPWS variables. The underlying processes of product, process and quality innovations are likely to answer to different firm’s strategies and needs. Nevertheless, it is possible to extract some general results in terms of the most influencing HPWS factors on innovative performance. The main three aspects are training coverage, employees involvement and the diffusion of bonuses. These variables show persistent and significant relations with all the three innovation types. The same do the components having such variables at their inside. In sum the aspects of the HPWS influence the propensity to innovate of the firm. At the same time, emerges a quite neat (although not always strong) evidence of complementarities presence between HPWS practices. In terns of the complementarity issue it can be said that some specific complementarities exist. Training activities, when adopted and managed in bundles, are related to the propensity to innovate. Having a sound skill base may be an element that enhances the firm’s capacity to innovate. It may enhance both the capacity to absorbe exogenous innovation and the capacity to endogenously develop innovations. The presence and diffusion of bonuses and the employees involvement also spur innovative propensity. The former because of their incentive nature and the latter because direct workers participation may increase workers commitment to the organizationa and thus their willingness to support and suggest inovations. The other line of analysis provides results on the relation between HPWS and economic performances of the firm. There have been a bulk of international empirical studies on the relation between organizational changes and economic performance (Black & Lynch 2001; Zwick 2004; Janod & Saint-Martin 2004; Huselid 1995; Huselid & Becker 1996; Cappelli & Neumark 2001), while the works aiming to capture the relations between economic performance and unions or industrial relations aspects are quite scant (Addison & Belfield, 2001; Pencavel, 2003; Machin & Stewart, 1990; Addison, 2005). In the empirical analysis the integration of the two main areas of the HPWS represent a scarcely exploited approach in the panorama of both national and international empirical studies. As remarked by Addison “although most analysis of workers representation and employee involvement/high performance work practices have been conducted in isolation – while sometimes including the other as controls – research is beginning to consider their interactions” (Addison, 2005, p.407). The analysis conducted exploiting temporal lags between dependent and covariates, possibility given by the merger of cross section and panel data, provides evidence in favour of the existence of HPWS practices impact on firm’s economic performance, differently measured. Although it does not seem to emerge robust evidence on the existence of complementarities among HPWS aspects on performances there is evidence of a general positive influence of the single practices. The results are quite sensible to the time lags, inducing to hypothesize that time varying heterogeneity is an important factor in determining the impact of organizational changes on economic performance. The implications of the analysis can be of help both to management and local level policy makers. Although the results are not simply extendible to other local production systems it may be argued that for contexts similar to the Reggio Emilia province, characterized by the presence of small and medium enterprises organized in districts and by a deep rooted unionism, with strong supporting institutions, the results and the implications here obtained can also fit well. However, a hope for future researches on the subject treated in the present work is that of collecting good quality information over wider geographical areas, possibly at national level, and repeated in time. Only in this way it is possible to solve the Gordian knot about the linkages between innovation, performance, high performance work practices and industrial relations.

It is not unknown that the evolution of firm theories has been developed along a path paved by an increasing awareness of the organizational structure importance. From the early “neoclassical” conceptualizations that intended the firm as a rational actor whose aim is to produce that amount of output, given the inputs at its disposal and in accordance to technological or environmental constraints, which maximizes the revenue (see Boulding, 1942 for a past mid century state of the art discussion) to the knowledge based theory of the firm (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995; Nonaka & Toyama, 2005), which recognizes in the firm a knnowledge creating entity, with specific organizational capabilities (Teece, 1996; Teece & Pisano, 1998) that allow to sustaine competitive advantages. Tracing back a map of the theory of the firm evolution, taking into account the several perspectives adopted in the history of thought, would take the length of many books. Because of that a more fruitful strategy is circumscribing the focus of the description of the literature evolution to one flow connected to a crucial question about the nature of firm’s behaviour and about the determinants of competitive advantages. In so doing I adopt a perspective that allows me to consider the organizational structure of the firm as an element according to which the different theories can be discriminated. The approach adopted starts by considering the drawbacks of the standard neoclassical theory of the firm. Discussing the most influential theoretical approaches I end up with a close examination of the knowledge based perspective of the firm. Within this perspective the firm is considered as a knowledge creating entity that produce and mange knowledge (Nonaka, Toyama, & Nagata, 2000; Nonaka & Toyama, 2005). In a knowledge intensive organization, knowledge is clearly embedded for the most part in the human capital of the individuals that compose such an organization. In a knowledge based organization, the management, in order to cope with knowledge intensive productions, ought to develop and accumulate capabilities that shape the organizational forms in a way that relies on “cross-functional processes, extensive delayering and empowerment” (Foss 2005, p.12). This mechanism contributes to determine the absorptive capacity of the firm towards specific technologies and, in so doing, it also shape the technological trajectories along which the firm moves. After having recognized the growing importance of the firm’s organizational structure in the theoretical literature concerning the firm theory, the subsequent point of the analysis is that of providing an overview of the changes that have been occurred at micro level to the firm’s organization of production. The economic actors have to deal with challenges posed by processes of internationalisation and globalization, increased and increasing competitive pressure of less developed countries on low value added production activities, changes in technologies and increased environmental turbulence and volatility. As a consequence, it has been widely recognized that the main organizational models of production that fitted well in the 20th century are now partially inadequate and processes aiming to reorganize production activities have been widespread across several economies in recent years. Recently, the emergence of a “new” form of production organization has been proposed both by scholars, practitioners and institutions: the most prominent characteristic of such a model is its recognition of the importance of employees commitment and involvement. As a consequence it is characterized by a strong accent on the human resource management and on those practices that aim to widen the autonomy and responsibility of the workers as well as increasing their commitment to the organization (Osterman, 1994; 2000; Lynch, 2007). This “model” of production organization is by many defined as High Performance Work System (HPWS). Despite the increasing diffusion of workplace practices that may be inscribed within the concept of HPWS in western countries’ companies, it is an hazard, to some extent, to speak about the emergence of a “new organizational paradigm”. The discussion about organizational changes and the diffusion of HPWP the focus cannot abstract from a discussion about the industrial relations systems, with a particular accent on the employment relationships, because of their relevance, in the same way as production organization, in determining two major outcomes of the firm: innovation and economic performances. The argument is treated starting from the issue of the Social Dialogue at macro level, both in an European perspective and Italian perspective. The model of interaction between the social parties has repercussions, at micro level, on the employment relationships, that is to say on the relations between union delegates and management or workers and management. Finding economic and social policies capable of sustaining growth and employment within a knowledge based scenario is likely to constitute the major challenge for the next generation of social pacts, which are the main social dialogue outcomes. As Acocella and Leoni (2007) put forward the social pacts may constitute an instrument to trade wage moderation for high intensity in ICT, organizational and human capital investments. Empirical evidence, especially focused on the micro level, about the positive relation between economic growth and new organizational designs coupled with ICT adoption and non adversarial industrial relations is growing. Partnership among social parties may become an instrument to enhance firm competitiveness. The outcome of the discussion is the integration of organizational changes and industrial relations elements within a unified framework: the HPWS. Such a choice may help in disentangling the potential existence of complementarities between these two aspects of the firm internal structure on economic and innovative performance. With the third chapter starts the more original part of the thesis. The data utilized in order to disentangle the relations between HPWS practices, innovation and economic performance refer to the manufacturing firms of the Reggio Emilia province with more than 50 employees. The data have been collected through face to face interviews both to management (199 respondents) and to union representatives (181 respondents). Coupled with the cross section datasets a further data source is constituted by longitudinal balance sheets (1994-2004). Collecting reliable data that in turn provide reliable results needs always a great effort to which are connected uncertain results. Data at micro level are often subjected to a trade off: the wider is the geographical context to which the population surveyed belong the lesser is the amount of information usually collected (low level of resolution); the narrower is the focus on specific geographical context, the higher is the amount of information usually collected (high level of resolution). For the Italian case the evidence about the diffusion of HPWP and their effects on firm performances is still scanty and usually limited to local level studies (Cristini, et al., 2003). The thesis is also devoted to the deepening of an argument of particular interest: the existence of complementarities between the HPWS practices. It has been widely shown by empirical evidence that when HPWP are adopted in bundles they are more likely to impact on firm’s performances than when adopted in isolation (Ichniowski, Prennushi, Shaw, 1997). Is it true also for the local production system of Reggio Emilia? The empirical analysis has the precise aim of providing evidence on the relations between the HPWS dimensions and the innovative and economic performances of the firm. As far as the first line of analysis is concerned it must to be stressed the fundamental role that innovation plays in the economy (Geroski & Machin, 1993; Stoneman & Kwoon 1994, 1996; OECD, 2005; EC, 2002). On this point the evidence goes from the traditional innovations, usually approximated by R&D investment expenditure or number of patents, to the introduction and adoption of ICT, in the recent years (Brynjolfsson & Hitt, 2000). If innovation is important then it is critical to analyse its determinants. In this work it is hypothesised that organizational changes and firm level industrial relations/employment relations aspects that can be put under the heading of HPWS, influence the propensity to innovate in product, process and quality of the firm. The general argument may goes as follow: changes in production management and work organization reconfigure the absorptive capacity of the firm towards specific technologies and, in so doing, they shape the technological trajectories along which the firm moves; cooperative industrial relations may lead to smother adoption of innovations, because not contrasted by unions. From the first empirical chapter emerges that the different types of innovations seem to respond in different ways to the HPWS variables. The underlying processes of product, process and quality innovations are likely to answer to different firm’s strategies and needs. Nevertheless, it is possible to extract some general results in terms of the most influencing HPWS factors on innovative performance. The main three aspects are training coverage, employees involvement and the diffusion of bonuses. These variables show persistent and significant relations with all the three innovation types. The same do the components having such variables at their inside. In sum the aspects of the HPWS influence the propensity to innovate of the firm. At the same time, emerges a quite neat (although not always strong) evidence of complementarities presence between HPWS practices. In terns of the complementarity issue it can be said that some specific complementarities exist. Training activities, when adopted and managed in bundles, are related to the propensity to innovate. Having a sound skill base may be an element that enhances the firm’s capacity to innovate. It may enhance both the capacity to absorbe exogenous innovation and the capacity to endogenously develop innovations. The presence and diffusion of bonuses and the employees involvement also spur innovative propensity. The former because of their incentive nature and the latter because direct workers participation may increase workers commitment to the organizationa and thus their willingness to support and suggest inovations. The other line of analysis provides results on the relation between HPWS and economic performances of the firm. There have been a bulk of international empirical studies on the relation between organizational changes and economic performance (Black & Lynch 2001; Zwick 2004; Janod & Saint-Martin 2004; Huselid 1995; Huselid & Becker 1996; Cappelli & Neumark 2001), while the works aiming to capture the relations between economic performance and unions or industrial relations aspects are quite scant (Addison & Belfield, 2001; Pencavel, 2003; Machin & Stewart, 1990; Addison, 2005). In the empirical analysis the integration of the two main areas of the HPWS represent a scarcely exploited approach in the panorama of both national and international empirical studies. As remarked by Addison “although most analysis of workers representation and employee involvement/high performance work practices have been conducted in isolation – while sometimes including the other as controls – research is beginning to consider their interactions” (Addison, 2005, p.407). The analysis conducted exploiting temporal lags between dependent and covariates, possibility given by the merger of cross section and panel data, provides evidence in favour of the existence of HPWS practices impact on firm’s economic performance, differently measured. Although it does not seem to emerge robust evidence on the existence of complementarities among HPWS aspects on performances there is evidence of a general positive influence of the single practices. The results are quite sensible to the time lags, inducing to hypothesize that time varying heterogeneity is an important factor in determining the impact of organizational changes on economic performance. The implications of the analysis can be of help both to management and local level policy makers. Although the results are not simply extendible to other local production systems it may be argued that for contexts similar to the Reggio Emilia province, characterized by the presence of small and medium enterprises organized in districts and by a deep rooted unionism, with strong supporting institutions, the results and the implications here obtained can also fit well. However, a hope for future researches on the subject treated in the present work is that of collecting good quality information over wider geographical areas, possibly at national level, and repeated in time. Only in this way it is possible to solve the Gordian knot about the linkages between innovation, performance, high performance work practices and industrial relations.

Future industrial gas turbines will be required to operate at higher temperatures to increase operating efficiencies and will be subjected to more frequent thermal cycles. The temperatures that the substrates of components exposed in the harshest environments experience can be reduced using air-cooling systems coupled with ceramic thermal barrier coatings (TBCs); however, few studies have been carried out at the substrate temperatures encountered in industrial gas turbines (e.g. 900 – 1000 °C). Better understanding of their behaviour during service and, their various potential failure mechanisms, would allow more accurate prediction of TBC lifetimes and improve coatings. The aim of this research, as a part of the Supergen Plant Life Extension (PLE) project, was (a) to investigate the influence of industrial gas turbine blade geometry on TBC system lifetimes, and (b) to extend knowledge on the effect of bond coat composition on the oxide growth at temperatures below 1000 °C. The main results of this thesis, obtained using mass change and characterisation techniques, increase the understanding of the significant interactions between the different coating layers, samples’ geometry, interdiffusion and failure mechanisms involved during oxidation. Curvature was found to affect the quality of manufacture and thus promoted premature failure at the convex features of modified aerofoil-shaped samples. In parallel new bond coat compositions, suitable for industrial gas turbines were suggested from the wide range investigated in oxidation exposures. The selective growth of protective Cr2O3 or Al2O3 oxides or other mixed oxides was observed and mapped in ternary diagrams. Furthermore two novel techniques were successfully used during this project. Pulsed flash thermography proved to be efficient in identifying areas of sub-surface TBC delamination non-destructively. Magnetron co-sputtering using 2 and 3 targets was found to be a flexible method to deposit thick coatings with a wide range of compositions.

Organizational agility has received much attention from practitioners and researchers in Information Systems. Existing research on agility, however, often conceptualizes information systems in a traditional way, while not reflecting sufficiently on how, as a consequence of digitalization, they are turning into open systems defined by characteristics like modularity and generativity. The concept of digital infrastructures captures this shift and stresses the evolving, socio-technical nature of such systems. This thesis sees IT in large companies as digital infrastructures and organizational agility as a performance within them. In order to explain how such infrastructures can support performances of agility, a focus on the interactions between IT, information and the people using and designing them is proposed. A case study was conducted within Telco, a large telecommunications firm in the United Kingdom. It presents three projects employees regarded as agile. A critical realist ontology is applied in order to identify generative mechanisms for agility. The thesis develops a theory of agility as a performance within digital infrastructures. This contains the central generative mechanism of agilization – making an organization more agile by cultivating digital infrastructures and minding flows of information to attain an appropriate level of agility. This is supported by the related mechanisms of informatization and infrastructuralization. Moreover, the concept of bounded agility illustrates how people in large organizations do not strive for agility unreservedly, instead aiming for agility in well-defined areas that does not put the business at risk. This theory of agility and the concept of bounded agility constitute the main theoretical contributions of this thesis. It also contributes clear definitions of the terms ‘information’ and ‘data’ and aligns them to the ontology of critical realism. Finally, the proposed mechanisms contribute to an emerging middle range theory of organizational agility that will be useful for practitioners.

L’industrie sidérurgique est l’un des secteurs les plus énergivores contribuant à la consommation mondiale d’énergie et de ressources ainsi qu’aux émissions de dioxyde de carbone. Des efforts ont été réalisés pour augmenter l’efficacité des procédés en interne mais le potentiel d’amélioration est de plus en plus limité. Ce travail de recherche porte donc sur la symbiose industrielle comme solution pour faire face aux enjeux environnementaux sur un territoire industriel et pour laquelle les usines sidérurgiques ont un rôle majeur à jouer. Une nouvelle méthodologie et un nouvel outil évaluant dans le temps les impacts économiques et environnementaux de scénarios de symbiose industrielle sur ces sites ont été développés. Basés sur la dynamique des systèmes, ils visent à favoriser l’emploi des symbioses industrielles dans ce contexte industriel en proposant une approche systématique pour évaluer leurs performances.La méthode développée est décrite après l’étude de ses fondements théoriques. Elle est ensuite appliquée à une usine sidérurgique intégrée typique. Un modèle dynamique est ainsi construit et validé sur une période de simulation de deux ans afin de simuler tout scénario de symbiose industrielle impliquant des flux d'énergie et de matières relatifs aux activités sidérurgiques. Un cas concret d'application de symbiose industrielle dans des conditions opérationnelles réelles est enfin proposé et simulé. Il montre la valeur ajoutée de ce travail de recherche qui vient en support des processus de prise de décisions en matière de symbiose industrielle dans le contexte de l’industrie sidérurgique<br>Iron and steel industry is known as one of the most energy-intensive sectors which contribute to worldwide energy and resource consumptions as well as carbon dioxide emissions. Many efforts have been made to increase the efficiency of internal processes but the potential of improvement tends to be more and more limited. This research work is thus focused on industrial symbiosis as a mean to face these environmental stakes on a common industrial territory and for which iron and steel plants have a major role to play. A new methodology and a new tool aiming at evaluating over time economic and environmental impacts of industrial symbiosis scenarios on this kind of industrial sites have been therefore developed. Based on the system dynamics concepts, they further yearn to enhance the deployment of industrial symbioses in the context of iron and steel industry by providing a systematic approach for assessing their performances.The developed method is described after investigating its theoretical foundations. It is then applied to a typically integrated iron and steel plant. A dynamic model is thus built and validated over a two year simulation period enabling to run industrial symbiosis scenarios involving energy and material flows implied throughout iron and steel production activities. An application case of a concrete industrial symbiosis in real operational conditions is finally proposed and simulated. It allows showing the significant added value of this research work in the support of decisions-making processes towards industrial symbiosis in the framework of iron and steel industry

The aim of the study was to consider whether opera performances could exert an influence such that audiences travel and stay away from home overnight in order to experience those performances. In particular, it was to be considered whether such visits were undertaken as a holiday and whether opera was the sole or most important reason for that holiday. Additionally, an opera-producing organisation (Buxton Arts Festival) was to be studied in order to assess its recognition of the tourism connection and any influence of that upon the organisation. It was concluded, from an examination and synthesis of existing work, that there were grounds for believing that some of those in an opera audience could be tourists and holiday tourists for whom opera dominated as the reason for the tourist visit. A consideration of Buxton, the geographical location of the opera performances, confirmed its partial function as a tourist resort. Concern about the present and future nature of that function was identified. The Festival company was studied through a combination of observation, examination of internal papers and discussions. It was concluded that the company had acknowledged a need for and/or a desire to attract audiences from a widespread area. This tourism dimension did not dominate policy nor influence the product. Audiences at Festival operas were surveyed directly and by post. The surveys showed that there were tourists in the audiences and also those who classified their tourist visit as a holiday. For both holiday and non-holiday tourists itwas concluded that the operas had been the most important factors influencing the decision to visit. Despite some differences between holiday and non-holiday tourists, the factors causing the holiday/non-holiday distinction remained unclear. The distinction between the tourist and non-tourist was largely, though not necessarily, one of distance from Buxton.

Ce mémoire présente un cadre d’évaluation des performances économique, environnementale et sociale dans les chaînes logistiques. Nous avons proposé un modèle de caractérisation de la performance « globale », intégrant les trois performances liées au développement durable (économique, environnementale et sociale) dans les chaînes logistiques. Ce modèle nous a permis d’analyser les impacts des pratiques de gestion des chaînes logistiques sur un ensemble d’enjeux durables, matérialisés par la Matrice de Performance Globale des Chaînes Logistiques (MPGCL). Un modèle analytique permet ensuite d’évaluer ces impacts sous une forme agrégée par un triplet : . Trois instanciations de la MPGCL ont été réalisées : académique (basée sur l’analyse de la littérature), industrielle (basé sur des référentiels industriels) et empirique (suite à une enquête de terrain). Une approche multicritère d’aide à la décision pour le choix des pratiques à mettre en œuvre (CAMPLID) a été proposée. Son application sur les instances de MPGCL permet un classement de bonnes pratiques des chaînes logistiques basé sur l’amélioration simultanée, et selon différentes stratégies, des trois performances économique, environnementale et sociale. Une étude plus spécifique selon une approche par simulation de l’impact des pratiques d’approvisionnement (approvisionnement individuel / mutualisé, différentes règles de réapprovisionnement) sur des enjeux durables complète ce travail<br>This thesis presents a framework for assessing economic, environmental and social performances in supply chains. We propose a characterization model for "global" performance, integrating the three performances related to sustainable development (economic, environmental and social) in supply chains. This model allows us to analyze the impacts of management practices in supply chains on a set of sustainability fields, materialized by the Global Performance Matrix of Supply Chain (MPGCL). An analytical model is used to evaluate these impacts in aggregate form by a triplet. Three instantiations of MPGCL are carried out: academic, industrial and empirical. A multicriteria decision-making approach for selecting practices to implement (CAMPLID) is proposed. Its application to MPGCL instances allows a ranking of supply chains best practices, based on the simultaneous improvement of the economic, environmental and social performances. A more specific study in a simulation of the supply practices (individual/shared supply, different rules replenishment) impacts on sustainability fields complete this work

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2005.<br>ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Despite the seriousness of HIV and AIDS affecting productivity at workplaces, little attention is being paid to the special needs of the infected people in the world of work and the ultimate reality this will have on the companies’ financial health. HIV/AIDS retards economic development and business growth. The epidemic influences the workforce and markets in which business operates. Business must play a leading part in the internal response to HIV/AIDS pandemic. This is both an ethical imperative and the key to business success. Most research conducted on the subject mainly concentrated on the effects of HIV and AIDS on productivity, emphasizing absenteeism as the direct cause of low productivity. The costs of HIV and AIDS will be felt beyond the direct effect of the disease. The indirect costs include the following: The increased costs of recruiting and training, given the extra deaths and disabilities expected. The negative effect on staff morale Loss of time as a result of management and labor meetings to discuss the AIDS crisis as it develops, this resulting in loss of turnover and profits. With the rising prevalence of HIV/AIDS, businesses should be increasingly concerned about the impact of the disease on their organizations-concerns that should be well founded. At the broadest level, businesses are dependent on the strength and vitality of the economies in which they operate. HIV/AIDS raises the costs of doing business, reduces productivity and lowers overall demand for goods and services. The research process in this article focused particularly on workplace issues, which are a key dimension of the relationship between corporations and HIV/AIDS. Data collection was by both structured questionnaires and unstructured interviews, interviews with both management and workers’ representatives and structured questionnaires with the general workforce. The questions asked were open-ended: “Is HIV/AIDS a problem for your company now or in the future?” and “If HIV/AIDS impacted on your company’ financial performance would you act and why?” The research group consisted of four companies in different areas of operations: retail, service and manufacturing and the participants were chosen on the basis of certain inclusive criteria: The number of employees employed. Length of service operation. Willingness to share certain financial information. A qualitative method of data analysis was used in the study and is described in detail. The qualitative research method looks at the subjective meanings attached, descriptions, metaphors, symbols and descriptions of specific cases. It was found that despite the differences from one company to the other, the potential impact of HIV/AIDS on companies’ financials went beyond the direct costs of productivity. As the debate over the availability of cheaper generic anti-retroviral drugs rages in the background, business is faced with the dilemma of significant investment to keep their labour force healthy and alive. This has to be weighed up against the high costs involved in rehiring, retraining and re-incentivising their replacements.<br>AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Ten spyte van tekens dat MIV en VIGS produktiwiteit in die werkplek affekteer, word daar nog baie min te doen aan die behoeftes van die werkers wat deur die epidemie getref word. Verder, word min aandag geskenk aan die potensiële uitwerking van die epidemie op die finansiële gesondheid van maatskappye. MIV/VIGS vertraag ekonomiese ontwikkeling en besigheidsgroei. Die epidemie het ‘n negatiewe impak op die arbeidsmag en die market waarin besigheid plaasvind. Besigheid moet dus die leiding neem in die interne respons op die MIV/VIGS pandemie. Dit is eties belangrik en die sleutel tot die sukses van besigheid. Die meeste navorsing oor die onderwerp het tot dusver gekonsentreer op die effek van MIV en VIGS op produktiwiteit met die klem op afwesigheid as ‘n direkte oorsaak van lae produktiwiteit. Die koste van MIV en VIGS behels egter veel meer as net die direkte gevolge van die siekte. Die indirekte koste sluit die volgende in: Die koste verbonde aan opleiding en die soeke na nuwe personeel weens sterftes en siekte van personeel. Die negatiewe effek op die moraal van personeel. Verlore tyd as gevolg van bestuurs- en arbeidsvergaderings om die VIGS-krisis te bespreek namate dit ontwikkel en winste negatief beïnvloed. Besigheid behoort meer bekommerd te wees oor die toename in MIV/VIGS gevalle en die impak wat dit op organisasies sal hê. MIV/VIGS verhoog die kostes van besigheid doen, verminder produktiwiteit en verlaag die algemene vraag na goedere en dienste. Die navorsingsbenadering in die artikel fokus op daardie werkplek-aangeleenthede wat ‘n sleuteldimensie is van die verhouding tussen organisasies en MIV/VIGS. Data is ingewin deur middel van gestruktureerde vraelyste en ongestruktureerde onderhoude. Onderhoude is met beide bestuurslui en verteenwoordigers van werkers gevoer, en gestruktureerde vrae met die werkers. Die vrae gestel was oop vrae soos “Is MIV/VIGS `n problem vir u onderneming huidiglik of in die toekoms? En “Indien MIV/VIGS ‘n negatiewe impak het op die onderming se prestasie sal jy optree en waarom?” Die navorsingsgroep het bestaan uit vier ondernemings in die kleinhandels-, dienslewerings-, en vervaardigingssektor. Die deelnemers is gekies op die basis van inklusiwiteit met die volgende criteria: Die getal werkers in diens. Hoe lank is onderneming in besigheid? Die bereidwilligheid om inligting te deel. `n Kwalitatiewe metode van data analise is gebruik wat breedvoerig verduidelik en beskryf word. Die navorsingsmetode kyk veral na subjektiewe betekenisse, omskrywings, metafore, simbole en omskrywings van spesifieke gevalle. Navorsing het getoon dat MIV/VIGS ‘n impak het op ondernemings se finansiële omstandighede en produktiwiteit. Terwyl die debat oor goedkoper generiese anti-retrovirale middele aan die gang is, word ondernemings of besighede konfronteer met die keuse tussen beduidende investering om die arbeidsmag gesond en lewendig te hou of die hoë koste van herindiensneming, heropleiding en insentiewe.

The mechanical performance of an asphalt mixture is largely dependent on the properties of its constituents and by the way they reciprocally interact in the bituminous layer. In particular, the stress-strain response of the road pavements is closely related to the rheological behavior of the bituminous binder and of its interaction with the finest part of the lytic skeleton. Therefore, it is important to study in the laboratory by means of advanced rheological tests, how mastics (Bitumen-Filler Systems) and mortars (Bitumen-Filler-Sand Systems) react to dynamic loads and thermal stresses. Moreover, the understanding of the contacts mechanisms within the bitumen-filler system, through 3D micro-mechanical models, should allow for a deeper analysis of the mastic rheological behavior. Based on these considerations, in a socio-economic context in which it is necessary to reduce the environmental impact caused by the construction and maintenance of transportation infrastructures, bituminous mastics containing different reclaimed fillers from the industrial production wastes were studied. For this purpose, advanced rheological tests have been first validated and then implemented and combined with the 3D DEM models development. Results showed that the methods used to study the bituminous mastics and mortars allowed to understand the effects due to the addition of innovative and recycled fillers within the mixtures blend, highlighting as these can increase the asphalt mixture performance during its service life.

This presentation summarizes Singapore's economic performance, and examines the evolving industrial strategy, major policies and performances. Singapore has achieved substantial economic and social progress since political independence in 1965, with one of the highest per capita incomes in Asia. The economic success of Singapore has been used by neoclassical economists to support the role of the market, with minimal price distortions, openness to international trade, investment and technology flows, macroeconomic stability from fiscal and monetary prudence, and high savings and investment. This presentation was presented at the Latin America/Caribbean and Asia/Pacific Economics and Business Association (LAEBA)'s 2nd Annual Meeting held in Buenos Aires, Argentina on November 28th-29th, 2005.

The efficiency of separation operations is a critical point to determinate the yield and economic viability of a production process. Because of this, the selection of adequate operation parameters has become an important part in the design of a new bioprocess. [1, 2]. Due to its low cost and easily transformation to industrial scale, the cross-flow filtration had been highly studied in terms of process performances of microorganism biomass separation without being concerned about their viability. In this work, two parameters of cross-flow filtration were evaluated to separate yeast cells from fermented broth. Meyerozyma guilliermondii was the reference biology system used in the experiments [3]. First, an evaluation of the compatibility of two filtering agents over yeast cells was conducted. After the filtering agent was selected, the efficiency of separation was determined over different filter cloth on a monophasic filter system.

Twenty manufacturers participated to the Gas Quality Benchmark. Answers were given for 15 out of 16 compounds or categories of compounds. Only for "biological agents", no answer was collected. The answers are technical responses from the market to cover the needs and specifications expressed by the gas operators (in Phase 1). Eighteen analyzers were identified as multicomponents analyzers. These analyzers are able to measure from two up to eleven components. Most of them are designed for natural gas analysis. Some manufacturers proposed multicomponents analyzers which are develop for industrial gas, gas purity control and air quality. Thank to this study, a list a potential analyzer of interest are now available. Some of these analyzers could be tested in the near future to validate the analytical performances and confirm the adequacy to the gas industry needs. Also contains contact information to the suppliers, available data sheets, and summary information.

This presentation discusses Singapore's economic performance and industrial strategy of the past and the future. Their changing industrial strategy and structure includes the promotion of restructuring away from labor intensive and technologically simple towards technology intensive knowledge-based industries, as well as the creation of industry and services clusters. This presentation was presented at the Latin America/Caribbean and Asia/Pacific Economics and Business Association (LAEBA)'s 2nd Annual Meeting held in Buenos Aires, Argentina on November 28th-29th, 2005.

Industrial clusters, which are commonly targeted to receive financial support allocated to locally based development projects, are seen as an effective industrial policy tool for improving productivity and generating employment. Nevertheless, identifying clusters and assessing their economic performance is a challenge for policymakers. This paper aims to address this challenge by identifying the location of clusters based on neighbor relationships and specialization in Brazil and providing some insights on their effects on employment generation. The paper uses both Location Quotient and Local Indicator of Spatial Association to identify potential clusters in 27 industrial sectors in 5564 Brazilian municipalities. In addition, it uses annual municipal panel data for 2006-2009 to assess whether the presence of potential clusters is correlated with employment generation. The results show that clusters located in municipalities whose neighbors have similar industrial structures perform better than those that present industry specialization only.