Architectural Modeling for Managing Risks in Forming an Alliance

2019 ◽  
Vol 04 (03) ◽  
pp. 1950006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Cook ◽  
John P. T. Mo
Keyword(s):  
Distribution Networks ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Financial Risks ◽  
Supply And Distribution ◽  
Complex Engineering ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Project Lifecycle ◽  
Engineering Projects

Many large and highly complex engineering projects present enormous technical and financial risks to organizations. This is especially true in the defence industry where budgets can potentially run into billions and the project lifecycle may extend over many years. In frequent cases, such projects are too much for a single organization to undertake. One option that is becoming ubiquitous across contemporary defence projects is to spread the risk by forming an alliance between several organizations. Unfortunately, forming an alliance between potentially competing organizations brings its own set of challenges and risks. The operating conditions of the business environment are characterized by frequent changes in products, services, processes, organizations, markets, supply and distribution networks. The partners need to work together as an entity to achieve a goal but the relationships within the alliance are often disrupted by the established practices, culture and motivation of the individual companies. This paper starts by examining how risks can essentially multiply when an alliance is formed and what potential impacts these risks have on project success. A novel 3PE method for modeling the structure of an alliance with the three elements being product, people, process, and their interactions is proposed within an alliance environment. This methodology is then used to calculate the increase in interactions between the 3Ps with the introduction of more organizations to the alliance. By examining each of the elements and their interactions, risks are identified, and the key drivers are exposed. Finally, a case study is presented that illustrates how the architectural model can be used to estimate the probability of failure of the alliance.

M-Pesa: an evolution in organisational strategy

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (8) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Mariam Cassim ◽  
Linda Ronnie
Keyword(s):  
Change Management ◽  
Business Model ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Successful Business

Subject area Change Management. Study level/applicability Postgraduate business courses, including MBA courses in change management and human resource management. Case overview This case study emphasises how important it is for organisations operating in today's turbulent and rapidly changing business environment to have an emergent approach to change. It focuses on the dilemmas faced by Hemmanth Singh, the newly appointed Managing Executive responsible for Mobile Commerce at Vodacom South Africa. Singh is responsible for the execution of the new strategy into financial services, the relaunch of M-Pesa into the South African market being the immediate task. The case sets the context for the relaunch of M-Pesa, and the reader is introduced to some of the limitations and challenges experienced by the company when trying to replicate a successful business model from one market to another, especially after an unsuccessful initial launch. Expected learning outcomes After reading and analysing the information contained in the case study and appendices, students should be able to evaluate the critical role that leadership needs to play when introducing and implementing a change initiative at an organisation that is stimulated by evolving external market conditions; understand the importance of adopting an emergent approach to change in current operating conditions; identify the factors that contribute to or hinder the creation and sustainability of an adaptive culture within an organisation; and appreciate the challenges of attempting to replicate a successful business model from one market into another. 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.

How Production Networks Adapted to Civil War in Liberia

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Topher L. McDougal
Keyword(s):  
Civil Wars ◽  
Distribution Networks ◽  
Production Networks ◽  
Trade Networks ◽  
Industrial Manufacturing ◽  
Supply And Distribution ◽  
Qualitative Evidence ◽  
Second Tier ◽  
Important Nodes

This chapter argues that firms in Liberia during the civil wars increasingly came to rely upon highly dispersed networks of traders to source from, and distribute to, rural hinterlands. Industrial manufacturing firms in Liberia shed important light on the structure of production networks in violent conflict. They serve as important nodes in the value-adding process that supply and distribution networks hook into, and their managers therefore have unique opportunities to observe the ways these networks adapt to, and traverse, the shifting combat frontier. In the broader context of this book, this case study then provides qualitative evidence for the claim that rural–urban trade networks in Liberia begin to exhibit exaggerated radial patterns, characterized increasingly by important urban hubs and limited importance of second-tier cities.

scholarly journals Decision Support Concept to Selection of Wastewater Treatment Plant Location—the Case Study of Town of Kutina, Croatia

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 717 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikša Jajac ◽  
Ivan Marović ◽  
Katarina Rogulj ◽  
Jelena Kilić
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Decision Support ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Optimal Solution ◽  
Location Selection ◽  
Complex Engineering ◽  
Engineering Projects ◽  
Selection Of

In environmental projects, decision-making can be a complex and challenging task due to the in-built existence of compromises between environmental, socio-political, and economic factors. This paper explores a systematic approach to developing a decision support concept that includes the analysis of wastewater treatment problems, knowledge acquisition, and the identification and evaluation of criteria that bring forth an optimal solution to the location selection of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The objective of this research is to develop a decision support concept (DSC) to aid in the planning phases of complex engineering projects, such as the construction of WWTP. The development of the concept starts with an assessment of the issue and an identification of relevant stakeholders accepting their different views and attitudes in an attempt to resolve this issue. The DSC was tested on a real case project—WWTP location selection within the town of Kutina, Croatia. Results indicate that it is possible to develop such a concept based on multicriteria methods on which decision-makers can rely.

scholarly journals Modelling Energy Distribution in Residential Areas: A Case Study Including Energy Storage Systems in Catania, Southern Italy

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 3715
Author(s):  
Alberto Fichera ◽  
Alessandro Pluchino ◽  
Rosaria Volpe
Keyword(s):  
Energy Storage ◽  
Energy Distribution ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Storage Systems ◽  
Distribution Networks ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Residential Areas ◽  
Energy Storage Systems

Complexity is a widely acknowledged feature of urban areas. Among the different levels to which this definition applies, the energy sector is one of the most representative of this way of conceiving cities. An evidence of this complexity can be detected in the growing impact of prosumers. Prosumers produce energy to meet their own demands, distribute it directly to neighbors and, eventually, store the energy neither consumed nor distributed. The modelling of distribution networks is a challenging task that requires ad hoc models to simulate the mutual energy exchanges occurring among prosumers. To serve at this scope, this paper proposes an agent-based model aiming at determining which operating conditions enhance the energy distribution among prosumers and diminish the supply from traditional power plants. An application of the model within a residential territory is then presented and simulations are conducted under two scenarios: the first investigating the distribution among prosumers equipped with photovoltaics (PV) systems, the second integrating energy storage systems to PV panels. Both scenarios are studied at varying the installed PV capacity within the territory, the allowed distance of connection among prosumers, as well as the rate of utilization of the links of the network. Results from the simulated case study reveal that the energy distribution among prosumers can be enhanced by providing short-range links for the electricity exchange. Similar advantages can be achieved by integrating storage systems to PV, along with a significant reduction in the electricity requested to the centralized grid.

scholarly journals Quantifying Topological Flexibility of Active Distribution Networks Based on Community Detection

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 4786
Author(s):  
Huizi Gu ◽  
Xiaodong Chu
Keyword(s):  
Clustering Algorithm ◽  
Distribution Networks ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Quantification Method ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Affinity Propagation Algorithm ◽  
Spectral Clustering Algorithm ◽  
Active Distribution Networks

Active distribution networks (ADNs) provide a flexible platform to integrate various distributed generation sources, among which the intermittent renewable sources impose high operating uncertainty. Topological flexibility of ADNs should be exploited to counter the stochastic operating conditions by modifying the topologies of ADNs. Quantifying the topological flexibility is a vital step to utilize it, which is lacking in previous studies. A quantification method is proposed to measure the topological flexibility of ADNs in this paper. First, the community structures of ADNs are detected to achieve spatial partitions of the networks. Second, an improved spectral clustering algorithm is employed to significantly reduce the dimensionality of the partition space, in which the ADNs are further partitioned using the affinity propagation algorithm. Finally, a topological flexibility metric is defined based on the guiding role of sectionalizing and tie switches within and between communities. The proposed topological flexibility quantification method is a superb approach to the utilization of flexibility resources in distribution networks. Case study results of test ADNs demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed quantification method.

scholarly journals A Metaheuristic Algorithm for Flexible Energy Storage Management in Residential Electricity Distribution Grids

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ovidiu Ivanov ◽  
Bogdan-Constantin Neagu ◽  
Gheorghe Grigoraș ◽  
Florina Scarlatache ◽  
Mihai Gavrilaș
Keyword(s):  
Energy Storage ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Low Voltage ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Distribution Networks ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Real Distribution ◽  
Residential Electricity ◽  
Local Storage

The global climate change mitigation efforts have increased the efforts of national government to incentivize local households in adopting individual renewable energy as a mean to help reduce the usage of electricity generated using fossil fuels and to gain independence from the grid. Since the majority of residential generation is made by PV panels that generate electricity at off-peak hours, the optimal management of such installations often considers local storage that can defer the use of locally generated electricity at later times. On the other hand, the presence of distributed generation can affect negatively the operating conditions of low-voltage distribution networks. The energy stored in batteries located in optimal places in the network can be used by the utility to improve the operation of the network. This paper proposes a metaheuristic approach based on a Genetic Algorithm that considers three different scenarios of using energy storage for reducing the losses in the network. Prosumer and network operator priorities can be considered in different scenarios inside the same algorithm, to provide a comparative study of different priorities in storage placement. A case study performed on a real distribution network provides insightful results.

The Development of Language-Training Programs for Postrubella Hearing-Impaired Children

1973 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Lynch ◽  
Annette Tobin
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Treatment Programs ◽  
Individual Treatment ◽  
Target Behaviors ◽  
Systematic Fashion ◽  
Development Of Language ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Impaired Children ◽  
Hearing Impaired Children

This paper presents the procedures developed and used in the individual treatment programs for a group of preschool, postrubella, hearing-impaired children. A case study illustrates the systematic fashion in which the clinician plans programs for each child on the basis of the child’s progress at any given time during the program. The clinician’s decisions are discussed relevant to (1) the choice of a mode(s) for the child and the teacher, (2) the basis for selecting specific target behaviors, (3) the progress of each program, and (4) the implications for future programming.

‘A Routh O’ Auld Nick-Nackets’ – the antiquarian collection of John Rae

2015 ◽  
Vol 36-37 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-183
Author(s):  
Paul Taylor
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Moral Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
Representative Case ◽  
National Museums ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The University

John Rae, a Scottish antiquarian collector and spirit merchant, played a highly prominent role in the local natural history societies and exhibitions of nineteenth-century Aberdeen. While he modestly described his collection of archaeological lithics and other artefacts, principally drawn from Aberdeenshire but including some items from as far afield as the United States, as a mere ‘routh o’ auld nick-nackets' (abundance of old knick-knacks), a contemporary singled it out as ‘the best known in private hands' (Daily Free Press 4/5/91). After Rae's death, Glasgow Museums, National Museums Scotland, the University of Aberdeen Museum and the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, as well as numerous individual private collectors, purchased items from the collection. Making use of historical and archive materials to explore the individual biography of Rae and his collection, this article examines how Rae's collecting and other antiquarian activities represent and mirror wider developments in both the ‘amateur’ antiquarianism carried out by Rae and his fellow collectors for reasons of self-improvement and moral education, and the ‘professional’ antiquarianism of the museums which purchased his artefacts. Considered in its wider nineteenth-century context, this is a representative case study of the early development of archaeology in the wider intellectual, scientific and social context of the era.

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