Business analysis of implementation of UCG technology in Indonesia

There is a deep-seated coal potency with a depth more than 100 meters below surface in Indonesia that has not been exploited yet. Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) is an unconventional technology that can become the solution to exploit the deep-seated coal potential by extracting coal into in-situ gas that can be converted to electricity or chemicals. Based on business analysis, this paper aims to analyze the implementation of UCG technology in Indonesia, whether it is potential or not. Data are collected from literature and analyzed using Porter Five Forces and PESTLE Analysis. The Porter Five Forces analysis shows that the implementation of UCG in Indonesia is still potential as an industry because the only threat will come from substitute products. PESTLE analysis shows that almost all the factors, except for technology, are very supportive of implementing UCG commercial plants in Indonesia. Based on both studies, it can be concluded that the UCG project is very potential to be developed in Indonesia. However, it needs full support and control from the government because it will become a pioneer project with financial and environmental risk still has not quantified ideally.

The Combined Effect of CKD and Silica Fume on the Mechanical and Durability Performance of Cement Mortar

To manufacture high-strength and high-performance concrete, the incorporation of silica fume with concrete was becoming popular nowadays. When utilizing various amounts of cement substitute products, the design becomes even more complicated. The latest research has been dedicated to researching the applicability of cement substitute products for cement kiln dust (CKD) and silica fume (SF). In permeability and compressive strength terms, the effect of these components on the efficacy of the concrete would be studied. Also, the materials proposed might limit greenhouse gas emissions, which will mitigate climate change on other causes of global pollution. Casting a standard concrete cube (100 percent OPC) equivalent to (150 gm) would initiate the experiment, which was utilized later for comparative purposes. The industrial waste materials (SF and CKD) was be applied as cement substitution proportions (10 percent, 20 percent, and 30 percent) of the dry cement weight at varying percentages of each component (5 percent, 10 percent, and 15 percent). Eventually, after 7, 14, 28 days, the compressive strength shift would be calculated. The permeability of the latest concrete will be checked after (7, 14, and 28) days of healing utilizing ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) technology. The experimental findings indicate that with a specimen comprising 20 percent of (SF and CKD) relative to (100 percent OPC) specimen, there is an improvement in compressive intensity and pulse velocity values in various curing times and specimens of various (SF and CKD) specimen M3 have a decrease in pulse velocity value after 7 curing days.

Assessment of Financial Conflicts of Interest Related to the Use of Dermal Substitutes in Burn Management

This study aims to systematically review the accuracy of the self-reporting of conflicts of interest (COI) among studies related to the use of dermal substitute products in burn management and evaluate factors associated with increased discrepancies. To do so, a literature search was done to identify studies investigating the use of dermal substitutes in burn management published between 2015 – 2019. Industry payments were collected using the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Open Payments database. Declared COI were then compared with the listed payments. Studies and authors were considered to have a COI if they received payments totaling >$100 for each company. A total of 51 studies (322 authors) were included for analysis. Thirty-eight studies (75%) had at least one author received an undisclosed payment from industry. From 2015 to 2019, 1391 general payments (totaling $1,696,848) and 108 research payments (totaling $1,849,537) were made by 82 companies. When increasing the threshold on what would be considered an undisclosed payment, the proportion of authors with discrepancies gradually decreased, from 88% of authors with undisclosed payments >$100 to 27% of authors with undisclosed payments >$10,000. Author order, journal impact factor, and study type were not significantly associated with increased risk of discrepancy. We found that the majority of studies investigating the use of dermal substitute products for burn management did not accurately declare COI, highlighting the need for a uniform declaration process and greater transparency of industry sponsorship by authors when publishing peer-reviewed burn surgery research papers.

Intellectual Property Rights and Country-of-Origins Labels in the Luxury Industry

Intellectual property rights and country-of-origin labels are two different and often complementary mechanisms of protection. Entrepreneurs in the luxury business use them to inform the consumer and the custom authorities, to protect their innovations and know-how, and also to enhance the narratives of their brands. These protective mechanisms are historically contingent and subject to reinforcement or weakening due to the entrepreneurs’ lobbying, due to governmental protectionism, and more generally due to international competition. Intellectual property rights are not complete systems of protection and present numerous asymmetries between various countries and industries. This chapter also addresses both the effectiveness and the weaknesses of intellectual property rights and of nation branding in informing the consumer, and in deterring the production and purchase of substitute products.

Chromate and molybdate pigments

Chromate and molybdate pigments are representatives of the inorganic yellow, orange and red pigments. They are characterized by excellent optical and application properties in particular regarding brightness of shade, hiding power, tinting strength, and weather fastness. The declining use of lead- and chromate-containing materials in the last decades is a result of the environmental discussion and the development of less problematic substitute products, especially of bismuth vanadate and high-value organic, temperature-stable yellow and red pigments.

Procurement Mechanisms for Assortments of Differentiated Products

Many procurement agencies around the world construct assortments of differentiated products from which consumers can buy from. A leading example is framework agreements, a type of procurement mechanism commonly used by governments. This type of practice is studied head on. The authors introduce a mechanism design formulation of the procurement agency’s problem and solves it under progressively more realistic implementation constraints. The results show how restricting entry of close-substitute products into the assortment can increase price competition, reducing spending significantly, without much damage to the variety offered to consumers. Furthermore, the results have practical implications that can be used by procurement agencies to increase consumer surplus and have already been used to redesign FAs in the Chilean government.

Disruption Through Complements

We expand the perspective on disruption by going beyond substitute products to consider the ways in which complements can impact the competitiveness of incumbents. Complementors represent a different kind of disruptive threat, one that is latent within the initial structure of value creation: complementors that disrupt are not new entrants but, rather, established actors that can shift their impact from positive to negative. With this perspective, we consider how ecosystem dynamics can clarify aspects of disruptive competition, and we use the dynamics of disruption to illuminate dimensions of competition in ecosystem settings. We elaborate three processes through which disruption through complements can occur: commoditization, adjacent entry, and value inversion. For each process we discuss specific examples, and we illustrate their interaction in the context of the automotive industry, which is fast evolving in response to technological change. In so doing, the paper fills a critical gap in the literature, which is so far missing a systematic examination of how complementors can disrupt established firms.

Cadmium sulfide / selenide pigments

Cadmium sulfide and selenide pigments (cadmium pigments) belong to the inorganic yellow, orange and red pigments. Cadmium sulfide pigments are based on the wurtzite lattice, where cadmium can be partially substituted by zinc or mercury and sulfide by selenide. Cadmium pigments are characterized by excellent optical and application characteristics in particular regarding brightness of shade, hiding power, tinting strength, and weather fastness. The declining use of cadmium-containing materials in the last decades is a result of the environmental discussion and the development of less problematic substitute products, especially of bismuth vanadate and high-value organic, temperature-stable yellow and red pigments.

Advancing a Framework for Entrepreneurship Development in a Bioeconomy

This chapter frames bioeconomy as a pathway to sustainable development, and entrepreneurship as the bedrock of a bioeconomy. Its objective is threefold. First, the chapter enumerates the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship in a bioeconomy. Second, the chapter identifies the key production determinants and transformative game changers in a bioeconomy that should be the focus of innovative entrepreneurial activities. Third, it presents a conceptual framework for entrepreneurship development in a bioeconomy. The chapter employs systematic literature review approach to achieve its objectives. In total, the chapter asserts that there are several entrepreneurial opportunities in a bioeconomy, spanning the production determinants, the development of transformative game changers, and in distinct innovations like substitute products, new (bio-based) products and new (bio-based) processes.

Information sharing when competing manufacturers adopt asymmetric channel in an e-tailer

<p style='text-indent:20px;'>This paper investigates the incentive for information sharing when competing manufacturers sell substitute products through the marketplace channel and the reseller channel respectively. Our analysis shows that the e-tailer's incentive to share information strongly depends on the platform fee, competition intensity, and different information sharing scenarios. If competition intensity is small, or competition intensity is large and the platform fee is enough large, the e-tailer has incentive to alone share information with the manufacturer who is from the marketplace channel; if competition intensity is moderate and the platform fee is small, or competition intensity is large but the platform fee is moderate, it has incentive to share information with both manufacturers; if competition intensity is large but the platform fee is small, it has no incentive to share information. The results also indicate that the double marginalization effect of information sharing is a promoting factor to share information under linear cost, which is different from previous literature. Additionally, we find that the main qualitative insights from the base model are robust even if one monopolist manufacturer employs both channels. And we also compare the incentive of information sharing under asymmetric channel with that under symmetric channel.</p>