Risk indicators for managing the energy procurement process

2015 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 228-242
Author(s):  
Chiara Verbano ◽  
Maria Crema
Keyword(s):  
Price Volatility ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Risk Indicators ◽  
Risk Exposure ◽  
High Price ◽  
Energy Prices ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Procurement Process ◽  
Energy Companies

Purpose – Energy commodities are characterised by rigid demand and high price volatility, linked to many variables such as climate factors, exchange rates, availability of resources. At the same time, the authorities often set prices, so wholesale energy companies need to create margins carefully by managing the procurement process and selecting appropriate tools to manage the risks associated with the volatility of energy prices. The purpose of this paper is to analyse and evaluate price and volume risks in the energy procurement process considering a “non-speculative” point of view, which is understudied in the literature review. Design/methodology/approach – The paper adopts a quantitative approach to risk evaluation, based on accounting indicators, and applies it to a large Italian energy wholesale company. Findings – A set of key risk indicators to measure price and volume risks is presented in the results, split into synthesis risk, unbalanced risks, modulation risks and risks derived from bilateral contracts. These indicators are applied to the case study, and each risk is prioritised and discussed. Originality/value – This contribution is one of the first attempts to analyse energy procurement risks in a non-speculative approach. The proposed method allows: first, to evaluate and prioritise the three major types in the energy procurement process, second, to observe the trend of risk exposure, third, the performance measurement of the procurement process, and fourth, benchmarking activities if widely implemented in the energy sector.

Strategic procurement from forward contract and spot market

2014 ◽  
Vol 114 (5) ◽  
pp. 778-796 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.K.M. Lee ◽  
Danping Lin ◽  
Rohan Pasari
Keyword(s):  
Demand Uncertainty ◽  
Price Volatility ◽  
Real Data ◽  
Spot Market ◽  
Spot Price ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Procurement Process ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Forward Contracting

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to formulate procurement strategies and determine the optimal procurement quantity in order to maximize profit through forward contracting and the spot market. Design/methodology/approach – The procurement process is modeled at various stages along a time horizon from the perspective of the buyer, with consideration of uncertain yields, stochastic demand and dynamic spot market prices. Monte Carlo simulation based experiments were conducted to figure out the best procurement quantity for five different scenarios. The framework was developed to understand the impact of different uncertain variables on a firm's profit. A case study was carried out in a steel making company in India, with real data. Findings – The results indicate that the proposed approach enables buyers to achieve higher profits under volatile demand conditions. In the case study, it was found that the profit is higher for the spot market than for contract pricing if there is significant demand and spot price volatility. Originality/value – This research considers not only demand uncertainty but also supply uncertainty in the procurement process, and profit analysis was carried out to enable an enterprise to set up a procurement plan by using forward contracting and the spot market. This study should also increase awareness in both academia and industry on the opportunities of using the spot market to enhance flexibility and to mitigate risk in the procurement process.

A deliberately emergent strategy – a key to successful city branding

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 90-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janne Lindstedt
Keyword(s):  
Place Branding ◽  
Place Identity ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
City Branding ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Emergent Strategy ◽  
Branding Strategies ◽  
Local Stakeholders ◽  
Place Brand

Purpose – The paper aims to address a neglected issue in the literature on place brand co-creation, namely, the strategic planning of the branding process. Furthermore, the paper demonstrates the benefits of a deliberately emergent strategy. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative case study focusing on Turku, Finland, supports the development of the argument. In this study, branding of Turku is examined both during the European Capital of Culture 2011 (ECoC) project and after it. Findings – The contribution of the ECoC 2011 project – which was widely perceived as a success – to Turku’s brand was based on a deliberately emergent strategy. Afterwards, the local government has, however, chosen a different approach to branding. Research limitations/implications – Given the increasing popularity of brand thinking among practitioners all over the world, it would be meaningful for scholars to pay more attention to the application of brand co-creation in place branding strategies. Practical implications – The deliberately emergent branding strategy could be considered an approach to applying the idea of brand co-creation in practice. It enables local stakeholders to make their voices heard and results in increased credibility of a branding process. Originality/value – Place brand co-creation has not yet been examined from strategic planning’s point of view. The need for this kind of examination is apparent, because branding strategies have traditionally been based on the idea of static place identity. The Turku case helps to propose a solution in terms of the notion of deliberately emergent branding.

Simulation in food catering industry. A dashboard of performance indicators

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Tufano ◽  
Riccardo Accorsi ◽  
Andrea Gallo ◽  
Riccardo Manzini
Keyword(s):  
Decision Support Tool ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
High Price ◽  
Main Concern ◽  
Support Tool ◽  
Safety Control ◽  
Catering Industry ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Single Production

"Contract catering industry is concerned with the production of ready-to-eat meals for schools, hospitals and private companies. The structure of this market is highly competitive, and customers are rarely willing to pay a high price for this catering service. A single production sites may be demanded up to 10.000 meals per day and these operations can hardly be managed via rule of thumbs without any quantitative decision support tool. This situation is common at several stages of a food supply chain and the methodologies presented in this paper are addressed to any food batch production system with similar complexity and trade-offs. This paper proposes an original KPI dashboard, designed to control costs, time and quality efficiency and helping managers to identify criticalities. Special emphasis is given on food safety control which is the management’s main concern and must be carefully monitored in each stage of the production. To calculate the value of KPIs a Montecarlo simulation approach is used to deal with production complexity and uncertainty. A case study showcases the potential of simulation in this complex industrial field. The case study illustrates an application of the methodology on an Italian company suffering local recipe contamination. The company aims at defining the best standard for production, identifying cycles being sustainable from an economic and environmental point of view."

The combination of different open innovations: a longitudinal case study

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 342-362
Author(s):  
Xiaodong Yuan ◽  
Xiaotao Li
Keyword(s):  
New Product Development ◽  
Open Innovation ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Longitudinal Case Study ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Strategic Direction ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Innovation Capacity

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how an organization can combine different types of open innovations and what are the key factors that may influence the combination of different open innovations. Design/methodology/approach The basic methodology of this paper is the longitudinal inductive analysis within the conceptual framework of the open innovation proposed by Dahlander and Gann (2010). In this case study of Xiaomi Tech Inc., the open innovation combination is investigated through examining 25 new products created between August 2010 and December 2016 in terms of four general types: acquiring, sourcing, selling and revealing open innovation. Findings In practice, the combination of different types of open innovations can be realized. A firm may combine different open innovations at three levels: a single product level, a related product cluster level and a company level. In addition, different open innovations can be combined in diverse modes. The purpose of combining different types of open innovations is to overcome the disadvantages of each type and to exploit the advantages of all different types. Many factors may affect a firm’s option of how to combine open innovations. At different development stages, a firm may make and implement corresponding strategic direction based on its innovation capacity and internal resource. For a given strategy, the firm needs to create profits and manage intellectual property in the implementation of open innovations. These factors are interacted each other, rather than isolated. Originality/value The findings of this paper are helpful for better understanding how and why an organization can combine different types of open innovations. From a managerial point of view, an organization may combine different types of open innovations to leverage advantages and avoid disadvantages of each certain type of open innovation. An appropriate combination of different open innovations can effectively improve new product development.

scholarly journals The drivers of omni-channel shopping intention: a case study for fashion retailing sector in Danang, Vietnam

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thi Hieu Hanh Truong
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Customer Perception ◽  
Channel Strategy ◽  
Retail Setting ◽  
Managerial Perspective

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to look into the mechanism in which customers involve themselves in omni-channel retail setting and use its advantages.Design/methodology/approachVia an empirical analysis through surveying customers, this paper assesses and confirms the drivers of omni-channel shopping intention within the context of fashion retailing sector in Danang.FindingsThe findings highlight the significance of customer perception of research shopping (including showrooming and webrooming) behaviours, compatibility and risk to their intention towards omni-channel shopping, implying profound understanding of designing effective omni-channel retailing strategy.Originality/valueFrom a theoretical perspective, comprehending customer perception of the omni-channel concept has emerged as an important theme in recent literature as well as in practitioners' reports. Hence, the meaningful contribution of this study is the involvement in the attractive steam of study. From a managerial perspective, this study could offer guidance to retailers or managers about developing a successful omni-channel strategy from a customer point of view.

Dynamic safety prewarning mechanism of human–machine–environment using computer vision

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (8) ◽  
pp. 1813-1833 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenpei Xu ◽  
Ting-Kwei Wang
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Computer Vision ◽  
Expert Knowledge ◽  
Safety Information ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Risk Indicators ◽  
Risk Assessment Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Risk Levels

PurposeThis study provides a safety prewarning mechanism, which includes a comprehensive risk assessment model and a safety prewarning system. The comprehensive risk assessment model is capable of assessing nine safety indicators, which can be categorised into workers’ behaviour, environment and machine-related safety indicators, and the model is embedded in the safety prewarning system. The safety prewarning system can automatically extract safety information from surveillance cameras based on computer vision, assess risks based on the embedded comprehensive risk assessment model, categorise risks into five levels and provide timely suggestions.Design/methodology/approachFirstly, the comprehensive risk assessment model is constructed by adopting grey multihierarchical analysis method. The method combines the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the grey clustering evaluation in the grey theory. Expert knowledge, obtained through the questionnaire approach, contributes to set weights of risk indicators and evaluate risks. Secondly, a safety prewarning system is developed, including data acquisition layer, data processing layer and prewarning layer. Computer vision is applied in the system to automatically extract real-time safety information from the surveillance cameras. The safety information is then processed through the comprehensive risk assessment model and categorized into five risk levels. A case study is presented to verify the proposed mechanism.FindingsThrough a case study, the result shows that the proposed mechanism is capable of analyzing integrated human-machine-environment risk, timely categorising risks into five risk levels and providing potential suggestions.Originality/valueThe comprehensive risk assessment model is capable of assessing nine risk indicators, identifying three types of entities, workers, environment and machine on the construction site, presenting the integrated risk based on nine indicators. The proposed mechanism, which adopts expert knowledge through Building Information Modeling (BIM) safety simulation and extracts safety information based on computer vision, can perform a dynamic real-time risk analysis, categorize risks into five risk levels and provide potential suggestions to corresponding risk owners. The proposed mechanism can allow the project manager to take timely actions.

Pre-event marketing and territorial governance: the case of Monza and Brianza province

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Gavinelli ◽  
Maria Cristina Morra ◽  
Angelo Di Gregorio
Keyword(s):  
Marketing Mix ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Event Marketing ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
A Minor ◽  
Mega Event

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine whether and how a mega event can be an opportunity for a territory to be developed as a marketing product. The topic is analysed in the pre-event phase, from the point of view of marketing mix and governance. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative method was adopted with a case study on Monza and Brianza province (northern Italy) which is strongly involved in EXPO2015 initiatives. The triangulation among multiple sources such as documents, interviews and observation, allow for deeper data collection. Findings A mega event can enhance development and repositioning also of minor territories. There are, however, two main conditions for benefiting from such an opportunity: to plan the marketing mix, taking into account people and partnerships, and to ensure a vision on territory through coordination with a legacy perspective. Research limitations/implications This study is not representative or generalizable. However, it gives insights into the mechanism of coordination and collaboration between different stakeholders and on how to plan the Monza and Brianza marketing mixes. Practical implications The research has implications for governance mechanisms and for marketing politics both for public and private decision-makers, especially in the pre-mega event phase, but also with some inputs into legacy phase. Originality/value The research is original for three reasons: the context concerns Monza and Brianza province, and so can help understand how mega events can help a minor territory reposition itself; the research looks at the managerial implications of place marketing in this pre-event phase; and in Italy, provinces are being reorganized or abolished: this case study looks at a province and its future.

Managing the women managers: a case study of paper bag makers

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Anupma Srivastava ◽  
Amita Marwha
Keyword(s):  
Women Workers ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Informal Sector ◽  
Urban Poor ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The World ◽  
Management Students

Subject area Human resource management. Study level/applicability It is appropriate for graduate students majoring in human resource or business management. Students who are interested in studying Asian economies in the world, as they are the most growing economies in the world and at the same time have a shocking number of people employed in the informal sector. Case overview This case study talks about women workers who face a glass ceiling at the management level and deplorable working conditions at the informal level. This case involves women in the paper bag-making business, a part of the urban informal sector. The paper bag-making business provides employment and income generation for the urban poor. The focus in this study is on women production workers, rather than entrepreneurs or professional managers. Focus of the study will be on the change in the pattern of income distribution within the family-based household, the degree of bargaining power derived from productive work and income and impact of technology on the plight of unskilled women force and how technology and vocational training can lead to utilization of manpower being wasted because of lack of synergy between technology and the informal sector in India. Expected learning outcomes Four key points of selection, training, assessment and leadership all have been addressed in this case study, and the relevance of these points is important from the point of view of management students who have to understand the linkages and the hidden costs these informal sector occupations come with and then to device an appropriate strategy to bring and use these human resources to their full capacity by utilizing the existing resources instead of adding new ones, which in development economics is known as Solow residual. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email [email protected] to request teaching notes.

scholarly journals The Impact of COVID-19 on Electricity Demand Profiles: A Case Study of Selected Business Clients in Poland

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (17) ◽  
pp. 5332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcin Malec ◽  
Grzegorz Kinelski ◽  
Marzena Czarnecka
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Electricity Consumption ◽  
Electricity Demand ◽  
Energy Prices ◽  
Total Change ◽  
Rapid Changes ◽  
Sales Company ◽  
Energy Companies ◽  
The Impact

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused changes in electricity demand and, consequently, electricity consumption profiles. Given the rapid changes in energy prices, it is significant from the perspective of energy companies, and forecasting consumed energy volume. A necessity for accurate energy volume planning forces the need for analyzing consumers’ behaviors during the pandemic, especially under lockdowns, to prepare for the possibility of another pandemic wave. Many business clients analyzed in the paper are economic entities functioning in sectors under restrictions. That is why analyzing the pandemic’s impact on the change in energy consumption profiles and volume of these entities is particularly meaningful. The article analyzes the pandemic and restrictions’ impact on the total change of energy consumption volume and demand profiles. The analysis was conducted basing on data collected from a Polish energy trading and sales company. It focused on the energy consumption of its corporate clients. Analyzed data included aggregated energy consumption volumes for all company’s customers and key groups of economic entities under restrictions. The analysis demonstrates the influence of pandemic restrictions on energy consumption in the group of business clients. Significant differences are observable among various sectors of the economy. The research proves that the largest drops in energy consumption are related to shopping centers and offices. Altogether, the restrictions have caused a 15–23% energy consumption drop during the first lockdown and a maximum 11% during the second against expected values.

scholarly journals Analysis of cryptocurrency’s characteristics in four perspectives

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 206-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirza Hedismarlina Yuneline
Keyword(s):  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Price Volatility ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
High Price ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Economic Perspective ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Working Paper ◽  
Legal Perspective ◽  
Research Findings

Purpose The innovation of cryptography technique and blockchain has made cryptocurrency an alternative medium of exchange due to its safety, transparency and cost effectiveness. But its main feature cannot be separated from the users who use cryptocurrency for their illegal transactions. There are several arguments related to the legality of cryptocurrency. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the nature of cryptocurrency based on characteristics of money, legal perspective, economic perspective and Sharia perspective. Design/methodology/approach In this study, the methodology used is descriptive with a qualitative approach. The object of this research is cryptocurrency. The data are secondary data obtained from peer-reviewed journal articles, conference papers review, working paper and Sharia consultant reports addressing the legality of cryptocurrency. The literature review analysis includes the following steps: material collection, descriptive analysis, discussion with people in Sharia competency and intuitive-subjective material evaluation. Findings Regarding the characteristic of money, cryptocurrency is acceptable. But in terms of the legal perspectives, cryptocurrency does not meet the criteria as currency. From the economic perspective, cryptocurrency does not fully meet the characteristic currency due to high price volatility, and from the Sharia perspective, cryptocurrency can be considered property (mal) but not as a monetary value (thamanniyah). Research limitations/implications The research findings are based on the journal articles, working paper and Sharia consultant report, and it may lack Sharia’s opinion. Any further discussion related to Sharia perspectives will be a great input to enrich the study. Practical implications This study also includes the implications related to the opportunities and the risks of cryptocurrency that can be discussed for the development of the cryptocurrency in the future. Social implications This study includes the implication cryptocurrency is using as nature of money and not as speculative instrument. Originality/value This study argued the legality of cryptocurrency in four perspectives such as the nature of money, legal, economy and Sharia perspective.

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