Risks of water and wastewater PPP projects: an investors’ perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Omid Amiri ◽  
Amir Ayazi ◽  
Mahmoud Rahimi ◽  
Garshasb Khazaeni
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Risk Score ◽  
Fault Tree Analysis ◽  
Risk Identification ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Financial Resources ◽  
Constructive Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Water And Wastewater

Purpose Water and wastewater (WW) projects are gaining attention in Iran because of shortages of water resources. However, these projects are lengthy and they are accompanied by numerous risks, such as lack of sufficient financial resources. Public–private partnerships (PPPs) are taken into account as a constructive approach to deal with the problem of insufficient government funds and they are increasingly being implemented to construct the required infrastructures in different countries. Although WW projects in PPPs can reduce the government’s debt, investors are still uncertain about this approach. Hence, this study aims to identify and evaluate the risk of all parties involved in WW-PPP projects, from the viewpoint of investor. Design/methodology/approach First, the risk factors which are involved in WW projects are identified by interviewing experts and reviewing the literature by means of fault tree analysis (FTA) tool. Second, the probability and effects of the risky factors which are related to specific event are evaluated and analyzed by hybridization of interval fuzzy Type-2 sets (IT2FS) and risk score formulation. Finally, some solutions are proposed to deal with the most challenging risks. Findings Six gate events, namely, risks which are related to investors such as investor’s consultant-related risks, risky conditions from engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractors’ point of view, risk factors which public sector takes into account, public sector’s consultant-related risks which public sector’s consultant consider challenging and external factors were defined according to the literature. From FTA tool and by interviewing the experts, 94 basic events were identified. Finally, from hybridization of IT2FSs and risk score formulation, top five risks are determined as “Difficulty of injecting financial resources into the project,” “Fluctuation in inflation rate,” “Poor decision-making process” in public sector, “Difficulty of importing the equipment which are required for the project (such as pumps, grain catchers, garbage collectors, etc.) from other countries” and “Impact of risky conditions in other projects on operation of PPP project.” Originality/value In the absence of a constructive approach for risk identification and a reliable model for evaluating the identified risks in PPP projects, this research project is one of the first research studies which used FTA for identifying risks and hybridization of IT2FSs and risk score formulation for evaluating the risks.

A fuzzy fault tree analysis based risk assessment approach for enterprise resource planning projects

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 1115-1141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mina Moeinedini ◽  
Sadigh Raissi ◽  
Kaveh Khalili-Damghani
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Enterprise Resource Planning ◽  
Fault Tree ◽  
Fault Tree Analysis ◽  
Resource Planning ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Tree Analysis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cause And Effect ◽  
Fuzzy Fault Tree Analysis

Purpose Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is assumed as a commonly used solution in order to provide an integrated view of core business processes, including product planning, manufacturing cost, delivery, marketing, sales, inventory management, shipping and payment. Selection and implementation of a suitable ERP solution are not assumed a trivial project because of the challenging nature of it, high costs, long-duration of installation and customization, as well as lack of successful benchmarking experiences. During the ERP projects, several risk factors threat the successful implementation of the project. These risk factors usually refer to different phases of the ERP projects including purchasing, pilot implementation, teaching, install, synchronizing, and movement from old systems toward new ones, initiation and utilization. These risk factors have dominant effects on each other. The purpose of this paper is to explore the hybrid reliability-based method is proposed to assess the risk factors of ERP solutions. Design/methodology/approach In this regard, the most important risk factors of ERP solutions are first determined. Then, the interactive relations of these factors are recognized using a graph based method, called interpretive structural modeling. The resultant network of relations between these factors initiates a new viewpoint toward the cause and effect relations among risk factors. Afterwards, a fuzzy fault tree analysis is proposed to calculate Failure Fuzzy Possibility (FFP) for the basic events of the fault tree leading to a quantitative evaluation of risk factors. Findings The whole proposed method is applied in a well-known Iranian foodservice distributor as a case study. The most impressive risk factors are identified, classified and prioritized. Moreover, the cause and effect diagram between the risk factors are identified. So, the ERP leader can plan a low-risk project and increase the chance of success. Originality/value According to the authors’ best knowledge, such approach was not reported before in the literature of ERP risk assessments.

The importance of financial resources and ownership of intellectual property rights for university spin-offs: the cases of Finland and Sweden

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
pp. 1125-1147
Author(s):  
Ignat Kulkov ◽  
Björn Berggren ◽  
Kent Eriksson ◽  
Magnus Hellström ◽  
Kim Wikstrom
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Property Rights ◽  
Intellectual Property Rights ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Financial Resources ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Small Countries ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Validation Stage

PurposeThis paper focuses on medical device university spin-offs (USOs), taking into account the peculiarities of financial and nonfinancial support and intellectual property rights (IPRs). The authors declare that these parameters play a significant role in business development at the early stages.Design/methodology/approachThis empirical data consist of individual and group interviews in Finland and Sweden, which are later inductively analyzed.FindingsThe results show that public financial support contributes to the formation and start of sales stages in small countries and local markets. However, at the validation stage, approaches for supporting entrepreneurship in the field of medical devices may differ. The ownership of IPRs assists in the development of entrepreneurship in the region due to the transfer of research results and researchers to the industry and increases the number of spin-offs and the cooperation of universities with business.Originality/valueThis contribution is in the identification of the key parameters for the formation, support and development of the USOs from the point of view of the availability of financial resources and the ownership of IPRs.

The term structure of equity factor diversification

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-35
Author(s):  
Julien Fouquau ◽  
Cecile Kharoubi
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Term Structure ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Dependence Structure ◽  
Copula Functions ◽  
Momentum Strategies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Time Horizons ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Factor Investing

Purpose Risk factor investing has grown in popularity in recent years and has become a cornerstone of investment portfolios. The goal of factor investing is to generate more returns in the long run. This paper aims to studies the term structure of equity factor. The authors consider the point of view of an American investor and use risk, diversification and performance measures. Design/methodology/approach The authors combine two methodologies as follows: wavelets and copulas. The authors use daily, weekly and monthly equity factor returns to calibrate wavelets and copulas. Copula functions are useful instruments to describe “joint” fluctuations in different markets, especially to capture nonlinearities, providing a reasonable alternative to the assumption of joint normality. To check robustness, the authors propose three different wavelet mother functions to decompose the data and three different time horizons and the authors add a complementary exercise based on performance and diversification measurement without wavelet transform. Findings The authors identify temporal horizons for which diversification benefits would be optimized with the decrease in the level of dependence or even the inversion of the dependence structure. Thus, investors seeking diversification with factor investing have to care about the considered horizon: size and book to market factors seem to provide better diversification in the short term. Momentum strategies seem to deliver better diversification in the long run. All the results are very consistent. Originality/value Very few papers have documented the diversification properties of the equity risk factors. While factors are built to capture systematic risk premia, their diversification properties are still poorly understood. It is necessary to take into account non-normality of risk factors and to study the diversification over different time horizons. The solution is to use wavelet methodology to decompose returns into temporal series of different maturities.

Workplace spirituality in the public sector: a study of US water and wastewater agencies

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 441-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Farmer ◽  
Stuart Allen ◽  
Kathy Duncan ◽  
Meera Alagaraja
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Expert Panel ◽  
Workplace Spirituality ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Future Role ◽  
The Public ◽  
Sense Of Purpose ◽  
Aging Infrastructure ◽  
Water And Wastewater

Purpose This paper aims to understand water and wastewater industry leaders’ perceptions of the current and future role of workplace spirituality, including the challenges and benefits of incorporating workplace spirituality in government utilities. Design/methodology/approach The Delphi technique was used to gather input and gain consensus from an expert panel of executive level managers. Findings The panel achieved consensus that workplace spirituality is evident in a higher sense of purpose for those working in the water and wastewater industry which is likely to be the greatest future benefit of workplace spirituality in the industry. Other central themes included making a positive environmental impact, going beyond compliance, collaborating with the community, creating a connection to peers and encouraging organizational belonging. Consensus was also achieved regarding obstacles to workplace spirituality’s future role in the industry, including concerns about terminology and the need for supportive leadership. Practical implications The water and wastewater industry face challenges including climate change, rising costs, aging infrastructure, increased regulatory requirements and a rapidly changing workforce. Workplace spirituality seems likely to support the industry in facing these challenges and can be promoted through encouraging a sense of purpose and meaning, collaborating with the community and recruiting individuals with resonant values and sense of calling. Originality/value Workplace spirituality has received growing attention in the private sector. However, workplace spirituality research in the public sector is minimal. This expert panel of top leaders from US water and wastewater agencies provide insight into the role of workplace spirituality in the public sector.

Risk analysis for container shipping: from a logistics perspective

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chia-Hsun Chang ◽  
Jingjing Xu ◽  
Dong-Ping Song
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Risk Identification ◽  
Container Shipping ◽  
Case Study Method ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Related Data ◽  
Operational Risks ◽  
Potential Risks

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore and analyse the risks in container shipping operations from a logistics perspective. In the paper, risks associated with the three flows in logistics − information, physical, and payment flow are identified and analysed. Design/methodology/approach – The use of case study method was first explained and justified. Second, risk identification was started with supporting references, several interviews were then conducted to identify and validate the potential risks in container shipping operations. A questionnaire was deployed to collect related data; and the impacts of the risks were then assessed and ranked using the method of risk mapping. Findings – The paper has identified a total of 35 risk factors and classified them into different categories. The paper has also revealed that the risks associated with physical flows have more serious risk impacts than the other types of risks; however, one of the risk factors associated with information flow (shippers hiding cargo information) is the most significant one among all the factors. Originality/value – Although many studies have been conducted on container shipping operational risks, no studies so far have approached this issue from a perspective that inclusively examines all the possible risks and comprehensively evaluates the relative importance of each of them. This study has identified the risks in container shipping operations, and analysed and ranked the level of these risks. The research further “refines” the findings of some previous studies by placing the risk factors addressed therein in a full “risk picture” which was developed systematically.

An evaluation of risk factors impacting construction cash flow forecast

2008 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry A. Odeyinka ◽  
John Lowe ◽  
Ammar Kaka
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Cash Flow ◽  
Significant Risk ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Extent Of Occurrence ◽  
Construction Contractor ◽  
Cash Flow Forecasting ◽  
Cash Flow Forecast ◽  
Flow Forecast

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify and assess the extent of occurrence and impact of risk factors responsible for the variation between the forecast and actual construction cash flow.Design/methodology/approachThe study was conducted through a structured questionnaire administered to UK contracting organizations. Adopting a project‐by‐project approach, respondents were asked to provide opinions on the extent of occurrence of some identified risk factors and their impacts on cash flow forecast. Respondents were split into three groups of small, medium and large contracting firms based on their annual turnover so as to be able to investigate statistical differences of opinions between the groups. Statistical analyses were carried out using mean response analysis and univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) in order to determine significant risk factors and also to investigate differences of opinions between respondents' groupings.FindingsThe research identified 11 significant risk factors out of 26 research risk variables. These significant risk variables can be grouped under three generic factors of “changes in the design or specification”, “project complexity” and “natural inhibition”. The significant risk variables are those ranking high in “extent of occurrence” and with critical impacts on cash flow forecast. The research further showed that there is no statistically significant difference in the opinions of different categories of contractors regarding the extent of risk occurrence and impacts on cash flow forecast.Research limitations/implicationsThe research showed that the order of extent of risk occurrence is different from the order of impact in case of occurrence. This suggests that further work needs to be done to measure the impact more objectively on a ratio scale so as to provide an avenue for a more quantitative measure of risk impacts on cash flow forecast. This objective is the next focus of this study.Practical implicationsBased on the finding, it is evident that the knowledge of the identified significant risk factors provides invaluable information to the construction contractor as regards what risk variables to focus attention on in cash flow forecasting.Originality/valueThe paper makes an original contribution of exploring the extent of risk occurrence and its impact on construction cash flow forecast from an objective point of view rather that the usual subjective point of view. The epistemic nature of the investigation makes the finding of practical value to the construction contractor in cash flow forecasting.

An integrated framework for the assessment of inbound supply risk and prioritization of the risk drivers

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 1261-1286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramesh K.T. ◽  
Sarada P. Sarmah ◽  
Pradeep Kumar Tarei
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
Risk Score ◽  
Service Industries ◽  
Risk Indicators ◽  
Supply Risk ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Indian Context ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a framework for identifying various inbound supply-risk factors and analyzing its indicators considering the contextual relationship between them. This study additionally proposes a framework for developing an overall inbound supply-risk score considering a real-life case of the electronics supply chain (ESC) in the Indian context. Design/methodology/approach In total, 32 risk indicators are identified by a systematic literature review approach and are validated by supply chain practitioners/experts and further categorized into six main risk factors. A hybrid multi-criteria decision-making-based DANP (DEMATEL and ANP) framework is employed to develop the overall inbound-supply-risk score (ISRS) and to prioritize the risk indicators. Indian ESC is chosen as a viable case study to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework. Findings The outcomes from the study reveal that the overall ISRS in the ESC is 36 percent and additionally forewarns critical inbound-supply-risk factors such as supplier performance, product, and buyer organization. Further, the study also identifies the most significant risk indicators such as price margin, investment, on-time delivery, order fulfillment and design changes for ESC. Research limitations/implications Supply chain practitioners can adopt this framework as a useful inbound supply-risk assessment tool. Moreover, the hybrid framework will address subjectivity and interrelations among various factors through experts’ judgments. The results will assist the managers to have better insights on the critical risk factors and their complicated interrelationships and further strategize action plans to nullify the impact of incoming risks. This study mainly focused on risk identification and assessment of electronics inbound-supply-risk indicators in the Indian context. The framework can be used for other manufacturing and service industries, albeit the results derived are in the context of a developing country. Originality/value This paper provides an effective risk assessment framework for the supply chain practitioners/managers to develop a decision-support system for inbound-supply-risk quantification and prioritization of risk factors in the context of the ESC.

scholarly journals Heritage assets in financial reporting: a critical analysis of the IPSASB's consultation paper

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucia Biondi ◽  
Fabio Giulio Grandis ◽  
Giorgia Mattei
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Individual Country ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Italian Case ◽  
Public Sector Accounting ◽  
Critical Case Study ◽  
Consultation Paper

PurposeWithin the stream of research on public sector accounting standards, heritage asset accounting represents a difficult and challenging issue. This paper intends to join the debate on heritage reporting by carrying out a critical review of the Consultation Paper (CP) “Financial Reporting for Heritage in the Public Sector” issued by the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) in order to highlight its strengths and weaknesses and to make recommendations.Design/methodology/approachTo this end, the current study adopts document analysis as a qualitative research method by referring to Italy as a typical and critical case study. Moreover, the authors actively took part in the Italian working group on heritage assets reporting, so they are well-informed people about the Italian point of view as well as the broad discussion underpinning the Italian response.FindingsEvidence demonstrates that, although the proposals included in the CP represent a new step towards an organic regulation of heritage asset reporting, if these preliminary views are confronted with the reality of an emblematic context, as in the Italian case, much room for improvement remains regarding the definition, recognition, measurement and disclosure of such assets.Originality/valueThe originality of the paper lies in its contribution to overcoming the current controversial aspects of heritage assets reporting and the issuing of an accounting standard. In doing so, the authors also attempt to answer the call made by Anessi-Pessina et al. (2019) to investigate in detail an individual country experience to better understand the state of the art in national and international accounting standards on heritage assets.

Integrating risk management's best practices to estimate deep excavation projects’ time and cost

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gholamreza Heravi ◽  
Amir Hosein Taherkhani ◽  
Soroush Sobhkhiz ◽  
Ali Hassandokht Mashhadi ◽  
Rouzbeh Zahiri-Hashemi
Keyword(s):  
Risk Analysis ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Fault Tree Analysis ◽  
Time Estimation ◽  
Bayesian Belief Networks ◽  
Risk Identification ◽  
Estimation Methods ◽  
Deep Excavation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Response Planning

PurposeThis study provides an integrated risk-based cost and time estimation approach for deep excavation projects. The purpose is to identify the best practices in recent advances of excavation risk analysis (RA) and integrate them with traditional cost and time estimation methods.Design/methodology/approachThe implemented best practices in this research are as follows: (1) fault-tree analysis (FTA) for risk identification (RI); (2) Bayesian belief networks (BBNs), fuzzy comprehensive analysis and Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) for risk analysis; and (3) sensitivity analysis and root-cause analysis (RCA) for risk response planning (RRP). The proposed approach is applied in an actual deep excavation project in Tehran, Iran.FindingsThe results show that the framework proposes a practical approach for integrating the risk management (RM) best practices in the domain of excavation projects with traditional cost and time estimation approaches. The proposed approach can consider the interrelationships between risk events and identify their root causes. Further, the approach engages different stakeholders in the process of RM, which is beneficial for determining risk owners and responsibilities.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the project management body of knowledge by integrating recent RM best practices in deep excavation projects for probabilistic estimation of project time and cost.

Exploring risks in lean production implementation: systematic literature review and classification framework

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tâmara Machado Fagundes da Silva ◽  
Luciano Costa Santos ◽  
Cláudia Fabiana Gohr
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Systematic Literature Review ◽  
Lean Production ◽  
Risk Identification ◽  
Lean Implementation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Classification Framework ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Potential Risks

Purpose Studies addressing barriers to implement lean production (LP) from the perspective of risk management (RM) have not been so usual in the literature. Re-interpreting barriers to lean as potential risks that should be avoided or mitigated, this paper aims to identify and categorise risks in the implementation of LP to propose a framework, which provides an overview of risks that negatively influence this process. Design/methodology/approach Through a systematic literature review exploring papers in the Web of Knowledge database, 69 papers were selected. A descriptive analysis was first carried out to identify the evolution in the number of papers, usual terminologies, research methods, analytic tools and the RM phases approached by each paper. After that, an in-depth study of the paper sample was conducted to find risk factors and categories. Findings The authors found a list of 61 risk factors. Then, considering the sources of the identified risk factors, six broad categories of risks were defined, namely, top management risks, human resources risks, lean knowledge risks, technical risks, supply chain risks and cultural risks. The authors also defined 34 subcategories, resulting in a risk classification framework. Research limitations/implications Based on the review, the authors identified literature gaps and provided a research agenda. A noteworthy research limitation is that the authors only selected papers about LP, so the authors might have missed some potential risks in lean implementation that may arise from other-related areas. Thus, the exploration of lean risks adopting other perspectives may constitute a promising pathway for further research. Practical implications The classification framework may help practitioners and researchers in risk identification, evaluation and mitigation. It can also enable the creation of response plans to risks in lean production implementation, as it indicates the potential risks that may be faced along with this process. Originality/value This study contributed to add the perspective of RM to the literature on lean implementation. The introduction of RM concepts and tools may generate more robust models of lean implementation. Therefore, the classification framework may represent a starting point to produce new knowledge about this research topic.

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