Search results

In the last twenty years, the methods for structural system reliability evaluation have evolved considerably. Since these methods are based on different assumptions, it is necessary to evaluate their capabilities. For this reason, a research study was initiated at the University of Colorado at Boulder in order to investigate the accuracy and reliability of various methods for structural system reliability evaluation. This paper emphasizes certain important parametric studies on system reliability methods under uncertainty. The sensitivity of the accuracy of the methods to changes in both strength and load correlations is demonstrated by means of numerical examples.

Optimization of structural systems under reliability‐based performance constraints is an important problem at present receiving too little attention. This problem is investigated in this paper. In developing the reliability‐based optimization approach to the design of framed structures, we review first the general formulation of the deterministic optimization problem and present some of the main features of two general‐purpose deterministic optimization programs. A computer‐automated reliability‐based optimum design procedure is then presented by which the concept of reliability analysis with regard to both serviceability and ultimate performance constraints is combined with that of the minimum weight design to achieve an optimum trade‐off between the global reliability and the total cost. The procedure is feasible for application in system optimization of both steel and reinforced concrete structures.

The paper attempts to establish the connection between structural reliability and structural optimization for the particular case of plastic structures. Along this line, the paper outlines a reliability‐based optimization approach to design plastic structures with uncertain interdependent strengths and acted on by random interdependent loads. The importance of such interdependencies, and of some of the other statistical parameters used as input data in probabilistic computations, is demonstrated by several examples of sensitivity studies on both the probability of collapse failure as well as the reliability‐based optimum solution.

This paper aims to explore the application of the four-eyes principle (4EP) to management decisions in large family firms in the manufacturing sector, a heretofore neglected area of business and management research.

A theoretical analysis was first conducted of the 4EP in general and its application in family firms based on agency and stewardship theories. A qualitative field study of 15 large Austrian firms from the manufacturing sector with various degrees of family involvement was then conducted to explore how the 4EP is applied in these firms.

From the theoretical analysis, it can be concluded that the 4EP may generally serve as a mechanism to limit agency conflicts. Due to a theoretically lower level of agency conflicts in family firms than in non-family firms, a lower application of the 4EP in family firms can be expected. However, the field study shows that large family firms also regularly adopt the 4EP and that family-managed firms demonstrate a more flexible and opportunistic usage of the 4EP, limiting both its associated downsides and advantages. The present paper further shows that such flexible 4EP usage in family-managed firms may increase their abilities to make quick business decisions and to display high levels of flexibility; however, it may also increase the risk of making suboptimal decisions and experiencing unfavorable managerial behavior as firms grow in size and international activity.

This is the first paper to analyze the application of the 4EP in large family firms. Six propositions and a preliminary model of the 4EP in family firms are developed in the paper, which may lead to further research on the practical applications of the 4EP.