Influence of internal production conditions on the efficiency and competitiveness of enterprises

In the practice of enterprises, there is no clear boundary between the establishment and development of economic and management tools. The purpose of the article is to study the influence of internal production conditions on the efficiency of enterprises. The novelty of the study concerns the development of tools required when new systems for managing business processes are built. The conducted studies of the theoretical and methodological foundations of business process management demonstrated that the economic and managerial tools for ensuring business processes in the enterprise management system constitute a necessary arsenal of management methods. This set of methods primarily includes methods of maintaining the flexibility and adaptability of management systems to ensure the quality of business processes. During the study, it was identified that most often, the expected parameters of development and performance are established for business processes in the management of enterprises. The practical significance of the study is conditioned by the fact that systems for managing business processes and ensuring their quality exist at the studied enterprises in various forms, their functions refer to different departments and sometimes to different levels of management.

Model of the influence of internal production conditions on the efficiency of enterprises

The establishment and development of economic and management tools for supporting business processes are consistent elements of supporting these processes. In the practice of enterprises, there is no clear boundary between the establishment and development of economic and management tools. In establishment, there is a development of methods and approaches to business process management. The novelty of the study concerns the development of tools required when new systems for managing business processes are built and their quality is ensured at enterprises. Under conditions of changes and improvement of existing systems, this novelty refers to the development of an ensured course of business processes. It was identified that the model for determining the economic efficiency of quality management systems based on the ratio of quality results and costs is consolidated by indicators in the documentation pyramid at the enterprise, which creates opportunities for the preparation of guidelines for the management system at various levels for the development of strategies, policies, tactics and procedures for flexibility and adaptability of business processes. The practical significance of the study is conditioned by the fact that systems for managing business processes and ensuring their quality exist at the studied enterprises in various forms, their functions refer to different departments and sometimes to different levels of management. The success and effectiveness of such systems are usually closely intertwined with such concepts as the flexibility and adaptability of enterprise management systems.

Rio De Janeiro Workshops

The following three papers were presented in September 2019 at the Simposio Psicanalise e Envelhecimento convened by the Sociedade Brasileira de Psicanálise de Rio de Janeiro. They are the result of the internal production of the Travesía Foundation of Buenos Aires, institution devoted to the meta-psychological study of midlife transition and crisis since 1989. We would like to thank the SBPRJ for its invitation and the cordiality with which we were received. The fact that the three workshops were written especially for the Symposium led us to select narratives from Brazilian authors so that our words would resonate in the auditorium as something familiar. Likewise, we have allowed ourselves to disseminate psychoanalytic understanding towards other ends, contributing to the universality of the discipline. Furthermore, the workshops have been written in a way that makes previous readings of the narratives under consideration unnecessary.

Evaluation of the Efficiency of Maritime Transport Using a Network Slacks-Based Measure (SBM) Approach: A Case Study on the Korean Coastal Ferry Market

Safety is a key performance indicator for the sustainable management of a coastal ferry service business. An efficiency strategy that balances safety and transport performance should be considered. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relative transport efficiency of coastal ferry operators through undesirable safety-related output. Coastal ferry operators create added value through logistics activities such as cargo and passenger transport. Accordingly, this study designed a three-stage network-slacks-based measure (SBM) model that delineated production through ferry transport services such as service generation, service execution, and transport value creation. Detention records and marine accidents caused by human errors or technical faults were considered undesirable safety-related outputs. Moreover, the relative transport efficiency of 23 Korean firms that have continuously managed a coastal ferry transport business from 2015 to 2018 was analyzed. The results showed that the differentiation of transport efficiency of firms improved when applying the three-stage network SBM model compared to applying the SBM model that did not consider the internal production stage. This fact suggests that it is more desirable to apply the three-stage network SBM model proposed in this study when a more stringent comparison of transport performance is needed in terms of service quality.

Protocol for local on-site dialysate production for continuous renal replacement therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic

Acute kidney injury frequently occurs in patients with COVID-19 and injury severe enough to require renal replacement therapy (RRT) is a common complication among critically-ill patients.[1-3] During the surge, there was a high demand for dialysate for continuous RRT, and this increase in demand coupled with vulnerabilities in the supply chain necessitated alternative approaches, including internal production of dialysate. Using a standard hemodialysis machine and off the shelf supplies as per Federal Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines, we developed a method for on-site dialysate production that is adaptable and can be used to fill multiple bags at once. The use of a central reverse osmosis unit, dedicated hemodialysis machine, sterile bags with separate ports for fill and use, and frequent testing will ensure stability, sterility and therefore safety of produced dialysate. Dialysate made in house was tested and showed both stability and sterility for at least 30 hours. This detailed description of our process for generating dialysate can serve as a guide for other programs experiencing similar vulnerabilities in the demand vs. supply of dialysate.

Water Quality Assessment of 14 Reservoirs in Geum River Basin Using Multivariate Statistical Analysis

Objectives : 14 reservoirs in the Geum river watershed were clustered and classified using the results of factor analysis based on water quality characteristics. Also, correlation analysis between pollutants (land system, living system, livestock system) and water quality characteristics was performed to elucidate the effect of pollutants on water quality.Methods : Cluster analysis (CA), principal component analysis (PCA), and factor analysis (FA) using water quality data of 14 reservoirs in the Geum river watershed during the last 5 years (2014-2018) were performed to derive the principal components. Then, correlation analysis between principal components and pollutants was performed to verify the feasibility of clustering.Results and Discussion : From the factor analysis (FA) using water quality data of 14 reservoirs in the Geum river watershed, three to six principal components (PCs) were extracted and extracted PCs explained approximately 74% of overall variations in water quality. As a result of clustering reservoirs based on the extracted PCs, the reservoirs clustered by nitrogen and seasonal PCs were Ganwol, Geumgang, and Sapgyo, the reservoirs clustered by organic pollution and internal production PCs were Tapjung, Dae, Seokmun, and Yongdam, the reservoirs clustered by organic pollution, internal production, and phosphorus are Bunam, Yedang, and Cheongcheon, and finally the remaining Boryeong, Daecheong, Chopyeong, and Songak were clustered as other factors. From the correlation analysis between principal components and pollutants, significant correlation between the land, living, and livestock pollutants and water quality characteristics was found in Ganwol, Topjeong, Daeho, Bunam, and Daecheong. These reservoirs are considered to require continuous and careful management of specific (land, living, livestock) pollutants. In terms of water quality and pollutant management, the Ganwol, Sapgyo, and Seokmunho are considered to implement intensive measures to improve water quality and to reduce the input of various pollutants.Conclusions : Although the water quality of the reservoir is a result of complex interactions such as influent water factors, morphological and hydrological factors, internal production factors, and various pollutants, optimized watershed and water quality management measures can be implemented through multivariate statistical analysis.

Dependence of an aquatic insect population on contemporaneous primary production

Characterizing the dynamics of energy flow through ecosystems requires quantifying the degree to which primary and secondary production are coupled. This coupling is expected to be tight in ecosystems with high internal production relative to external carbon and energy inputs. We experimentally quantified the dependence of aquatic insect emergence on fresh primary production, specifically for the midge population in Lake Myvatn, Iceland. Using field mesocosms, we manipulated algal primary production by reducing light availability via shading. We then used dissolved oxygen incubations to estimate fluxes of carbon through photosynthesis (i.e., gross primary production or "GPP") over the course of the experiment. We found that elevated GPP was associated with higher emergence rates of adults, as judged both by comparison of emergence across the experimental shading treatments and estimates of in situ GPP within the mesocosms. Furthermore, larger adults emerged earlier than smaller ones, suggesting that asymmetries in resource availability among individuals affected the timing of emergence. Nonetheless, midge emergence was substantial under light-limiting conditions, indicating that while midges benefit from primary production contemporaneous with larval development, they are also capable of completing their life cycles on carbon already existing in the organic matter pool. Our results show that even in systems with limited allochthonous inputs, contemporaneous primary production may be not necessary for high secondary production and insect emergence. Instead, consumers can develop from consumption of biomass derived from past autochthonous primary production. This suggests that primary production and consumer dynamics can be partially decoupled in time in systems that depend on internal production.

In Defense of Limited Manufacturing Cost Control: Disciplining Acquisition of Private information by Suppliers

When a firm's input supplier can acquire and misreport private information to gain an edge in negotiations, we show that the firm can blunt the supplier's informational advantage by permitting inefficiencies in its own internal production. Specifically, we establish that a modest increase in the cost of the input(s) a firm makes internally credibly commits it to be more aggressive in negotiations with a supplier for the input(s) the firm buys. Recognizing that its potential information rents will be limited, the supplier, in turn, becomes less aggressive in information acquisition. The paper fully characterizes the equilibrium - the firm's investments, the supplier's information acquisition and reporting decisions, and the terms of trade - to demonstrate that often-maligned internal bloat can be an endogenous facilitator of efficient outsourcing.

Internal Deadlines, Drug Approvals, and Safety Problems

Absent explicit quotas, incentives, reporting, or fiscal year-end motives, drug approvals around the world surge in December, at month-ends, and before respective major national holidays. Drugs approved before these informal deadlines are associated with significantly more adverse effects, including more hospitalizations, life-threatening incidents, and deaths—particularly, drugs most rushed through the approval process. These patterns are consistent with a model in which regulators rush to meet internal production benchmarks associated with salient calendar periods: this “ desk-clearing” behavior results in more lax review, leading both to increased output and increased safety issues at particular—and predictable—periodicities over the year. (JEL D83, I11, L51, L65)