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Article
Publication date: 11 July 2013

Giovanna Testa

The objective of the current study is to map the Val d'Agri district relationships, defining the way firms relate along the district value production chain with reference to both

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Abstract

Purpose

The objective of the current study is to map the Val d'Agri district relationships, defining the way firms relate along the district value production chain with reference to both their position and “contractual power”, and to understand how the firms' positions in the value chain affect knowledge transfer (KT) processes in the district. Considering the “hub and spoke” morphology, the author argues that KT is deeply affected by both the firms' contractual power and their positions within the district. Explicit KT is mainly linked to development of production processes; in contrast, tacit KT depends primarily on the actions of people working in the district. Human capital plays an important role in transferring knowledge through imitation, work mobility and social interaction.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors adopt an empirical approach in which they describe and analyse the principle characteristics of the Val d'Agri relational structure, with identification of the main issues that impact the KT development process. The study consists of two parts: first is an analysis of the main national and international literature on knowledge transfer, industrial districts and oilfield environments, from economic and managerial perspectives; second is the empirical study to specifically describe and analyse the way KT occurs within the vertical relationships typical of a hub‐and‐spoke district.

Findings

For the ID typology under observation, the hub and spoke theory provides better fit than the Marshallian district model.

Practical implications

Mapping the specific characteristics of this oilfield industrial district indicates that such characteristics are closely dependent on the character of the actual resources and on national laws and regulations that govern oil exploitation in Italy, creating positions of power within the production chain that determine the relationship between the companies.

Originality/value

Noting the importance of industrial districts and of KT in general competition among firms, the paper provides a useful framework to understand both industrial district dynamics and the ways KT can be promoted among all the firms that are related along a given value chain.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 17 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1367-3270

Keywords

Case study
Publication date: 24 November 2023

Asha Kaul and Vidhi Chaudhri

On May 27, 2020, a blowout occurred in Well No. 5 at Baghjan (Assam); the well, owned by Oil India Ltd., caught fire on June 9, 2020. For almost five and a half months, the…

Abstract

On May 27, 2020, a blowout occurred in Well No. 5 at Baghjan (Assam); the well, owned by Oil India Ltd., caught fire on June 9, 2020. For almost five and a half months, the company tried to douse the 200-foot high flame but failed to do so. Finally, on Day 173, Oil India Ltd succeeded in capping the well. Biswajit Roy, Director (Human Resources and Business Development), was tasked with investigating the nature and cause of the crisis. Roy pondered on the nature of the crisis: Had it been purely technical or stakeholder-induced? What had led to the chaotic condition? Could things have been done differently?

Details

Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, vol. no.
Type: Case Study
ISSN: 2633-3260
Published by: Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 March 2023

Asaah Sumaila Mohammed, Francis Xavier Dery Tuokuu and Edgar Balinia Adda

The purpose of this study is to contribute to the discourse on livelihood access and challenges of fisherfolks and farmers within coastal communities in Ghana. Insights from such…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to contribute to the discourse on livelihood access and challenges of fisherfolks and farmers within coastal communities in Ghana. Insights from such studies can help to create win-win outcomes between communities and oil companies and give the latter social license to operate. Also, it will help to identify the existing knowledge gaps that still need to be filled and contribute to the overall management of Ghana’s oil resources. It will further contribute to the government’s livelihood diversification programs in oil-producing communities.

Design/methodology/approach

The study employed the use of qualitative research paradigm to collect primary data in oil- and gas-producing communities in the Western Region of Ghana. Specifically, focus group discussions and in-depth interviews were conducted among diverse stakeholders.

Findings

Findings from the study show that several people and households along the coast of Ghana’s Western Region depend on the fishing industry as their livelihoods. However, fisherfolks are facing several challenges due to oil production. For instance, the quantity of fish harvest has reduced drastically since oil production started in 2010. Farming activities have also been adversely affected. The study has unearthed that the existing social and economic infrastructure are very limited to support the development of the coastal communities in Ghana’s Western Region. The study suggests that to deal with some of the challenges faced by coastal communities, livelihood diversification programs should be introduced.

Research limitations/implications

Not every community within the oil and gas areas in the Western Region was covered. Future work will address this limitation.

Practical implications

The study has revealed that the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies need to expedite the process of conducting a comprehensive needs assessment of communities and capture them in their medium-term development plans.

Social implications

The corporate social responsibility programs will create win-win outcomes between oil companies and communities.

Originality/value

The study is an original piece of work with data collected from the field. The study will contribute to the efficient management of natural resources in Ghana and other developing countries.

Details

Journal of Global Responsibility, vol. 14 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2041-2568

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 25 September 2012

Krystal Tribbett

Purpose – Emissions trading is often heralded as an efficient approach to environmental regulation. In the mid-90s Communities for a Better Environment (CBE), a Los Angeles-based…

Abstract

Purpose – Emissions trading is often heralded as an efficient approach to environmental regulation. In the mid-90s Communities for a Better Environment (CBE), a Los Angeles-based advocacy organization, raised concerns that emissions trading in the South Coast Air Basin, the most polluted region in Southern California, would result in environmental injustice. The organizations concerns received mixed responses from regulators. Historical analysis is used to assess the clash between emissions trading and environmental justice (EJ).

Methodology/approach – Emissions trading and EJ arose side by side between the 1960s and the 1990s, yet they disagree on how to clean the air. Historical analysis of legal documents, presidential addresses, letters, working papers, reports, and the like offers a better understanding of the development of emissions trading and EJ, and their intersection in environmental policy.

Findings – Emissions trading was grafted onto Clean Air Act policies not inherently designed for their incorporation. As a result, emissions trading came into direct philosophical opposition with EJ as political pressures calling for both economically efficient antiregulatory-ism and environmental equity forced their intersection. Formally, regional and national government accepted EJ as part of law. However, in principle, emissions trading undermined this acceptance. As a result, CBE could not easily win or explicitly lose its battle against emissions trading.

Originality/value of paper – Previous work on the relationship between emissions trading and EJ tend to focus on legal analysis and normative implications of emissions trading. Putting emissions trading and environment justice into historical perspective helps to illuminate larger questions about EJ activism and policy. Also, as California, the United States, and Europe turn to emissions trading to combat not only air pollution but also climate change, important lessons can be learned from the histories and collision of emissions trading and EJ.

Article
Publication date: 19 April 2011

Peter Bille Larsen

The aim of this paper is to illustrate the particularities and challenges associated with creating municipal environmental governance institutions in the Peruvian Amazon.

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to illustrate the particularities and challenges associated with creating municipal environmental governance institutions in the Peruvian Amazon.

Design/methodology/approach

A case‐study approach based on qualitative research, document analysis and interviews is used based on field research between 2007 and 2009.

Findings

Findings reveal the limitations of municipal governance institutions to reflect local environmental concerns illustrated by the example of oil exploration. Whereas municipal institutions put in place resulted in environmental plans and policies, they failed to effectively address major sustainability concerns within their territorial boundaries. On the one hand, policy ambiguities about the meaning of “local” action reflect longstanding divides between centralised policy making and local agenda setting. On the other hand, findings point to the flexibility of local environmental processes easily neglecting core environmental problems.

Practical implications

The conclusions justify reinforcing policy efforts to strengthen the mandate and competencies of municipalities on broader environmental matters. They also reinforce the need for more locally responsive and socially inclusive environmental agenda setting.

Originality/value

The study sheds light on poorly described environmental governance aspects from an area of global significance. Amazonian affairs are emblematic for environmental conflicts related to deforestation, extractive industries and ecological complexity. Analyzing the importance of municipal processes is critical in this respect.

Details

Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, vol. 22 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 September 1899

In a previous article we have called attention to the danger of eating tinned and bottled vegetables which have been coloured by the addition of salts of copper and we have urged…

Abstract

In a previous article we have called attention to the danger of eating tinned and bottled vegetables which have been coloured by the addition of salts of copper and we have urged upon the public that no such preparations should be purchased without an adequate guarantee that they are free from copper compounds. Copper poisoning, however, is not the only danger to which consumers of preserved foods are liable. Judging from the reports of cases of irritant poisoning which appear with somewhat alarming frequency in the daily press, and from the information which we have been at pains to obtain, there can be no question that the occurrence of a large number of these cases is to be attributed to the ingestion of tinned foods which has been improperly prepared or kept. It is not to be supposed that the numerous cases of illness which have been ascribed to the use of tinned foods were all cases of metallic poisoning brought about by the action of the contents of the tins upon the metal and solder of the latter. The evidence available does not show that a majority of the cases could be put down to this cause alone; but it must be admitted that the evidence is in most instances of an unsatisfactory and inconclusive character. It has become a somewhat too common custom to put forward the view that so‐called “ptomaine” poisoning is the cause of the mischief; and this upon very insufficient evidence. While there is no doubt that the presence in tinned goods of some poisonous products of decomposition or organic change very frequently gives rise to dangerous illness, so little is known of the chemical nature and of the physiological effects of “ptomaines” that to obtain conclusive evidence is in all cases most difficult, and in many, if not in most, quite impossible. A study of the subject leads to the conclusion that both ptomaine poisoning and metallic poisoning—also of an obscure kind—have, either separately or in conjunction, produced the effects from time to time reported. In view of the many outbreaks of illness, and especially, of course, of the deaths which have been attributed to the eating of bad tinned foods it is of the utmost importance that some more stringent control than that which can be said to exist at present should be exercised over the preparation and sale of tinned goods. In Holland some two or three years ago, in consequence partly of the fact that, after eating tinned food, about seventy soldiers were attacked by severe illness at the Dutch manœuvres, the attention of the Government was drawn to the matter by Drs. VAN HAMEL ROOS and HARMENS, who advocated the use of enamel for coating tins. It appears that an enamel of special manufacture is now extensively used in Holland by the manfacturers of the better qualities of tinned food, and that the use of such enamelled tins is insisted upon for naval and military stores. This is a course which might with great advantage be followed in this country. While absolute safety may not be attainable, adequate steps should be taken to prevent the use of damaged, inferior or improper materials, to enforce cleanliness, and to ensure the adoption of some better system of canning.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 1 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Article
Publication date: 13 June 2008

Bernd Möller

The objective is to describe and evaluate the development of a novel planning tool for end‐use efficiency in the built environment and for infrastructural changes in the energy…

1002

Abstract

Purpose

The objective is to describe and evaluate the development of a novel planning tool for end‐use efficiency in the built environment and for infrastructural changes in the energy system.

Design/methodology/approach

After describing problems related to further reduce heat demand in the Danish built environment, the geographical nature of the planning task is discussed. The requirements are then translated into concepts for the development of a general method, which is implemented in a practical design of a heat atlas. Typical applications are described and discussed.

Findings

It was found that the availability of the extensive public databases in Denmark make feasible the development and application of a highly detailed geographical information base for end use and infrastructure planning and analysis. It was also realised that the development has much higher potentials than explored in this paper. On the other hand, the complex geography of the urban/rural boundaries of cities requires extra care when using this approach.

Research limitations/implications

Unfortunately, the results of this report are only directly applicable for Denmark, which maintains public databases on the built environment and socio‐demography with a very high standard of detail and coverage. The research presented here may require further development of empirical methods of the relation between energy demand and physically and socially mapped data. On the other hand, the research may contribute to better data for analyses in the techno‐economic analyses of future energy systems, which now can be carried out for arbitrary geographical units, independent of administrative boundaries.

Practical implications

The method presented here may be further developed as a practical tool to be used to revive the municipal and regional energy planning, either by technical consultants or by local governments. Even a publicly accessible, web‐based tool is feasible.

Originality/value

The paper describes how existing data in society can be assembled to a novel method to be used within energy planning, and environmental management as a whole. A system of the one developed does not exist as yet. On the other hand it builds upon existing traditions in energy planning and local governance.

Details

Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, vol. 19 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 2000

Arlene K. Wong and Peter H. Gleick

Provides a summary of recycled water use in California, illustrating the evolution of its application from individual projects for nearby users, to city‐wide and district

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Abstract

Provides a summary of recycled water use in California, illustrating the evolution of its application from individual projects for nearby users, to city‐wide and district programs. Presents three detailed case studies of recent water recycling projects: the West Basin Water Recycling project in Los Angeles County, the South Bay Water Recycling project in Santa Clara County, and several projects in Marin County. Barriers to recycled water projects include the cost, institutional barriers that separate water supply and wastewater functions, slow regulatory response in permitting, recognizing new technology and expended uses, and educating stakeholders. From the case studies, common elements to successful implementation demonstrate the importance of working with numerous stakeholders throughout the process and addressing their concerns, creating new institutional partnerships, educating stakeholders to bring actors together, market services, and engender support, acquiring financial assistance and providing incentives and, finally, relying on large volume users to support a more cost‐effective design.

Details

Environmental Management and Health, vol. 11 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0956-6163

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 November 2021

Andi Irawan, Saefudin Saefudin, Melli Suryanty and M. Zulkarnain Yuliarso

This study aimed to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the oil palm smallholders' income, which includes both on-farm and off-farm resources.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the oil palm smallholders' income, which includes both on-farm and off-farm resources.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used a simultaneous equations system for arranging the oil palm household economic model.

Findings

The results showed that the negative effect of demand disruption (decreasing of household income) is more than supply disruption (production declining). Declining household income due to COVID-19 caused farmer households to have no access to both basic need and other goods.

Research limitations/implications

The samples for before-pandemic data differed from the situation during COVID-19 in both the location and the person due to technical constraints in research sites.

Originality/value

The main contribution of this study was providing an empirical understanding of how the COVID-19 pandemic influences the economic behavior of the most vulnerable entities in the Indonesian palm oil industry (oil palm smallholder farmers' households). This study would provide baseline information on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy of oil palm smallholder's household income.

Details

Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies, vol. 12 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2044-0839

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1953

In the last article in this series we dealt with the methods of applying grease to anti‐friction bearings. In this article we deal with application of lubricating oils.

Abstract

In the last article in this series we dealt with the methods of applying grease to anti‐friction bearings. In this article we deal with application of lubricating oils.

Details

Industrial Lubrication and Tribology, vol. 5 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0036-8792

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