Search results

This paper aims to examine the connection between information system (IS) availability and operational risk losses and the capital requirements. As most businesses today become increasingly dependent on information technology (IT) services for continuous operations, IS availability is becoming more important for most industries. However, the banking sector has particular sector-specific concerns that go beyond the direct and indirect losses resulting from unavailability. According to the first pillar of the Basel II accord, IT outages in the banking sector lead to increased capital requirements and thus create an additional regulatory cost, over and above the direct and indirect costs of an outage.

A Bayesian belief network (BBN) with nodes representing causal factors has been used for identification of the factors with the greatest influence on IS availability, thus helping in investment decisions.

Using the BBN model for making IS availability-related decisions action (e.g. bringing a causal factor up to the best practice level), organization, according to the presented mapping table, would have less operational risk events related to IS availability. This would have direct impact by decreasing losses, related to those events, as well as to decrease the capital requirements, prescribed by the Basel II accord, for covering operational risk losses.

An institution using the proposed framework can use the mapping table to see which measures for improving IS availability will have a direct impact on operational risk events, thus improving operational risk management.

The authors mapped the factors causing unavailability of IS system to the rudimentary IT risk management framework implied by the Basel II regulations and, thus, established an otherwise absent link from the IT availability management to operational risk management according to the Basel II framework.

The first authorized property unit trusts in the UK were created in September 1991, and have operated unspectacularly since then, as the current property climate has not, in general, been encouraging. Similar Canadian investment vehicles first appeared in the early 1980s, and experienced significant growth through the property boom of the mid‐1980s. Since then, with decreasing property values many of these funds have been forced to reorganize. Yet, the structure of the Canadian funds would have complied with the most significant aspects of the UK regulations. The consideration of the nature of the manifold difficulties of the Canadian funds suggests that the regulations established in the UK may not prevent similar problems. Accordingly, the specifics of the Canadian funds and the manner in which their structure added further levels of risk to that inherent in their underlying assets should be considered relative to the possible future performance of similar vehicles in the UK.

The purpose of this paper is to explore work motivation among professionals at well-functioning primary healthcare centers subject to a national healthcare reform which include financial incentives.

Five primary healthcare centers in Sweden were purposively selected for being well-operated and representing public/private and small/large units. In total, 43 interviews were completed with different medical professions and qualitative deductive content analysis was conducted.

Work motivation exists for professionals when their individual goals are aligned with the organizational goals and the design of the reform. The centers’ positive management was due to a unique combination of factors, such as clear direction of goals, a culture of non-hierarchical collaboration, and systematic quality improvement work. The financial incentives need to be translated in terms of quality patient care to provide clear direction for the professionals. Social processes where professionals work together as cohesive groups, and provided space for quality improvement work is pivotal in addressing how alignment is created.

Leaders need to consistently translate and integrate reforms with the professionals’ drives and values. This is done by encouraging participation through teamwork, time for structured reflection, and quality improvement work.

The design of the reforms and leadership are essential preconditions for work motivation.

The study offers a more complete picture of how reforms are managed at primary healthcare centers, as different medical professionals are included. The value also consists of showing how a range of aspects combine for primary healthcare professionals to successfully manage external reforms.

The purpose of this paper is to seek to segment CSA members based on their motivations to join a CSA.

Data obtained from an online survey of 565 members belonging to a New York state CSA were analyzed using a combined hierarchical and non-hierarchical cluster analysis.

Based on their motivations to join a CSA results reveal four distinct types of segments among CSA members: No-Frills Member, Foodie Member, Nonchalant Member, and Quintessential Member. Results show all four clusters differ statistically across demographic characteristics including gender, political affiliation, and household income. The clusters differed across psychographic characteristics such as attitudes toward the treatment of animals, treatment of farm workers, pesticide use, the environment, food miles, and limiting factory farm purchases. Quintessential Members emerge as most concerned with food purchasing decisions while No-Frills Members are least concerned.

The study employs a non-random purposive sample of CSAs in New York state. Respondents were recruited indirectly to participate in an online survey. The length and complexity of the survey, absence of an email address for respondents, levels of digital fluency, and technical glitches may result in lower participation rates.

This paper offers recommendations to farmers for retaining and attracting different types of CSA members.

This is the first study that segments CSA members in the USA based on their motivations to subscribe to a CSA, and it differentiates CSA member clusters based on their demographics, psychographics, and food purchasing decisions.

This study aims to evaluate the performance of injection molding inserts produced via rapid and conventional manufacturing techniques considering the mechanical and thermal performance of the tools as well as the resulting molded part quality.

Three insert materials and manufacturing techniques were evaluated, jetted photopolymer (PolyJet) 3D printing using digital ABS, direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) using bronze and machining using stainless steel. Molding trials were performed, and the insert surface temperature, longevity and part properties were evaluated. Complementary information was acquired using computer simulation.

Similar behavior and part quality were observed in machined and DMLS inserts. The latter were used for 500 cycles without any signs of failure. PolyJet inserts had increased cycle time and slower rate of cooling which increased shrinkage and crystallinity in the molded parts. PolyJet inserts could be produced quickly at a lower cost than machined or DMLS inserts.

Cooling within the insert was not studied; inserts were cooled indirectly by the mold plates behind them. Subsequent studies will incorporate cooling lines directly into the inserts.

Little research has been done to understand the thermal behavior of inserts manufactured via rapid tooling techniques. This study provides a direct comparison between rapid tooling techniques, which is supported by simulation results and analysis of the actual molding properties.

Important reserves of oil and gas, which are left to be discovered and produced, are mainly concentrated in challenging locations and under severe conditions such as high pressure (HP)/high temperature (HT). The presence of aggressive environments including H₂S, CO₂ and chlorides plus HP/HT causes a series of corrosion problems, which cost the oil industry billions of dollars a year. Thus, there is an increasing challenge for tubes (i.e. oil country tubular goods, for short, OCTG) used in producing oil and gas. The purpose of this study is to summarize different kinds of corrosion problems and their mitigation, to more efficiently protect OCTG from corrosion.

To effectively select proper mitigation methods, the mechanism of corrosion must be understood, which can be classified into four categories: sweet corrosion, sour corrosion, galvanic corrosion and microbiologically induced corrosion. Also, the effects of environmental and material factors on the corrosion rate are presented. Subsequently, current technology of mitigating these corrosion problems has been discussed, including the development of materials, application of chemical inhibitors and application of protective layers.

It is stressed that limits exist for each individual mitigation method; therefore, a careful balance between economic life of OCTG and safety in operation is required.

The main purpose of this essay is to give a brief review and detailed introduction and analysis about those technologies.

The operational activities of manufacturing organizations are continuously degrading the environment. Circular economy adoption can help industries optimize their resources along with minimal waste generation. The purpose of this study is to identify and analyze the barriers that hinder the adoption of circular economy (CE) in the manufacturing sector.

The barriers are extracted from a critical review of the literature and listed into three categories as social, economic and environmental. The barriers in each category are then analyzed using the fuzzy-based analytic hierarchy process method. The approach is capable to consider the fuzziness in the preference of barriers and determine their priority.

The pairwise comparison and weight of all the main and sub-criteria are computed, which helps in deciding the ranking of barriers. The results show that social criteria are having the highest importance followed by economic and environmental criteria. Among all the sub-criteria, low demand and acceptance of remanufactured products is at the highest level followed by lack of government support and legislation barrier.

The outcome of this study would be helpful for the decision makers and business managers in the manufacturing sector to focus on the barriers in each category and accordingly formulate strategies for CE adoption.

This paper aims to contribute to the discussion of the experimental campaigns on Cultural Heritage buildings. By adopting integrated procedures it is possible to limit the invasiveness of the destructive techniques leading to reliable results. The purpose is the proper definition of the structural system, which represents the starting point of the following analysis's phases, not treated in this work. A methodology based on normative references and acknowledged non-destructive and partial destructive strategies has been conceived. The latter aims to an accurate comprehension of the structural information.

An integrated approach for the structural assessment of cultural heritage buildings is presented. The methodology defines an interdisciplinary procedure based on normative references, non-destructive and minor-destructive techniques. A funnel-shaped workflow is developed to characterize the structural system of the buildings. The non-destructive campaigns are widely extended. Then, in-depth analysis concerning partial demolitions and minor-destructive tests are performed. The dynamic identification of the building is executed to detect its global response. The final validation of the assumed mechanical values is obtained by comparing the experimental modes coming from the ambient vibrations and the analytical modes of the structural modelling.

This research belongs to the Protocol signed between the Municipality of Florence and Department of Earth's Science and Department of Architecture of the University of Florence for the seismic vulnerability assessment of relevant and strategic buildings.

The descripted methodology is targeted for monuments and special buildings where the use of destructive techniques is not possible or unrecommended.

Social implications are related to the conservation of Heritage buildings. The latter deals with: (1) risk assessment of the targeted buildings towards different hazard sources (e.g. earthquakes, floods); (2) knowledge path developed through non-invasive diagnostic campaigns oriented to the conservation of the manufact. Furthermore, the paper encourages towards the recognition of non-destructive techniques and ambient vibration tests for the achievement of higher knowledge levels.

This paper defines a funnel-shaped procedure defining hierarchical roles between the different available strategies. The originality of this contribution is firstly related to the methodological flowchart. It is targeted to limit the invasive tests and consequently achieving accurate levels of knowledge. Secondly, some novelty can be found in the adoption of improvement parameters from a regional database adopting a Bayesian approach.