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Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is assumed as a commonly used solution in order to provide an integrated view of core business processes, including product planning, manufacturing cost, delivery, marketing, sales, inventory management, shipping and payment. Selection and implementation of a suitable ERP solution are not assumed a trivial project because of the challenging nature of it, high costs, long-duration of installation and customization, as well as lack of successful benchmarking experiences. During the ERP projects, several risk factors threat the successful implementation of the project. These risk factors usually refer to different phases of the ERP projects including purchasing, pilot implementation, teaching, install, synchronizing, and movement from old systems toward new ones, initiation and utilization. These risk factors have dominant effects on each other. The purpose of this paper is to explore the hybrid reliability-based method is proposed to assess the risk factors of ERP solutions.

In this regard, the most important risk factors of ERP solutions are first determined. Then, the interactive relations of these factors are recognized using a graph based method, called interpretive structural modeling. The resultant network of relations between these factors initiates a new viewpoint toward the cause and effect relations among risk factors. Afterwards, a fuzzy fault tree analysis is proposed to calculate Failure Fuzzy Possibility (FFP) for the basic events of the fault tree leading to a quantitative evaluation of risk factors.

The whole proposed method is applied in a well-known Iranian foodservice distributor as a case study. The most impressive risk factors are identified, classified and prioritized. Moreover, the cause and effect diagram between the risk factors are identified. So, the ERP leader can plan a low-risk project and increase the chance of success.

According to the authors’ best knowledge, such approach was not reported before in the literature of ERP risk assessments.

The regulatory framework may be construed as the existence of supporting infrastructure that assists in control, direction/implementation of a proposed course of law, rule or action. The regulatory order is now more formalized, expert-driven, transparent, independent and pervasive across countries and sectors. As a result, regulatory reforms enable markets to function efficiently by providing a supportive environment for increased investment, private sector growth and market-led economic growth. This study aims to review previous literature for understanding the impact of sectoral regulatory framework on sectoral performance.

This paper has adopted a systematic literature review to understand dynamics between the sectoral regulatory framework and sectoral performance. While seven multidisciplinary databases were used to identify 51 research articles, the bibliometric research profiling was executed to broaden academic research.

The results are organized into three broad categories: research context, research area and research methods. The identified articles exhibited association with 12 distinct sectors/industries, with maximum articles belonging to telecom, energy and finance industries. The study has focused on evolution of regulatory studies, impact of regulatory framework on sectoral performance and commonality in regulatory studies. Among the 15 distinct research contexts identified in this systematic literature review (SLR), the highest mapping was registered (from 23 articles) by the research context “impact of regulatory framework on the sector–institutions, infrastructure and performance indicators.”

Public administration researchers are increasingly using mixed methods research approaches to add diverse and novel perspectives on wicked problems. The qualitative approach (grounded theory, action research, phenomenology and participant observations) is appropriate for understanding the native viewpoints of regulatory practitioners and reducing the gap between rigor and relevance.

The study addresses lack of systematic review of articles covering the impact of regulatory framework on sectoral performance encompassing all sectors by, inter alia, collating important bibliometric profiles of the identified articles.

This paper presents the effects of replacing fine aggregate (FA) with waste foundry sand (WFS) in natural aggregate and construction waste aggregate concrete specimens without and with superplasticizer (SP), silica fume (SF) and fiber (F) to solve the disposal problems of various wastes along with saving the environment. This study aims to investigate the effect of construction waste, WFS along with additives on the stress-strain behavior and development of compressive strength with age.

The various concrete specimen were prepared in mix proportion of 1: 2: 4 (cement (C): sand: coarse aggregate). The water-cement ratio of 0.5 (decreased by 10% for samples containing SP) to grading 1: 2: 4 under air-dry condition was adopted in the preparation of concrete specimens. The compressive strength of various concrete specimen were noticed for 3, 7 and 28 days by applying load through universal testing machine.

Upon adding construction and demolition waste aggregates, the compressive strength of concrete after 28 days was comparable to that of the control concrete specimen. An enhancement in the value of compressive strength is perceived when FA is replaced with WFS to the extent of 10%, 20% and 30%. If both construction and demolition waste aggregate and WFS replacing FA are used, the compressive strength increases. When FA is interchanged with WFS in natural aggregate or construction demolition waste aggregate concrete including usage of SF or F, the compressive strength improves significantly. Further, when construction and demolition waste aggregate and WFS replacing FA including SP are used, the compressive strength improves marginally compared to that of control specimen. The rate of strength development with age is observed to follow similar trend as in control concrete specimen. Therefore, construction and demolition waste and or WFS can be used effectively in concrete confirming an improvement in strength.

The utilization of these wastes in concrete will resolve the problem of their disposal and save the environment.

The purpose of this chapter is to describe and analyze the economic advantage of the geographical location of the Republic of Belarus. The current state of the Belarusian logistics system is analyzed in detail in the chapter. Thus effects of each direction of transportations are analyzed and also approaches to assessment of their cost efficiency are formulated. The factors influencing the export of transport services as well as the development of trends in the transport sector of Belarus are defined. The main directions and ways of improvement of logistics in the Republic of Belarus are described.

The crowding-out and crowding-in effects have been at the core of arguments among economists regarding the influence of government spending on private investment. This study aims to examine the crowding-out (or -in) effect of public spending on private investment in the transition economy of Kyrgyzstan.

The empirical model is an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) and the vector autoregression approach (VAR). Monthly data from 2005 to 2013 of the private investment, government expenditures, remittances from abroad and broad money data were used in the empirical analysis.

The authors found that an increase in government purchases leads to rise in private investment. More precisely, the public spending crowds-in private investment at the speed with 2.06 months. On the other hand, despite the fact that remittances to GDP ratio has reached to almost 30 per cent, there is no any statistically significant effect between these variables. On the contrary, it was revealed that the broad money has statistically significant, affirmative effect on private investment. Furthermore, findings of the VAR model support the results of ARDL. The variance decomposition demonstrates that private investment shock accounts for 58.16 per cent in government expenditures, 11 per cent in broad money and 5 per cent in remittances.

The results of the study allow policymakers to demonstrate that the growth of national economy of the Kyrgyz Republic may be encouraged by expanding public investment with external source assistance such as grants and international loans. Accordingly, efficient use of those external funds is one of the suggested ways for economic development. Nevertheless, expansionary monetary and fiscal policy may be beneficial for economic growth in Kyrgyzstan.

The Minerals and Petroleum Resources Royalty Act (MPRRA) became effective on 1 March 2010. This legislation may have a significant impact on employment, foreign investment and future exploration in the South African mining industry. This article reports on a critical analysis of the MPRRA prior to its implementation in order to identify aspects that may impact adversely on the South African mining industry and would require further research after the implementation of the MPRRA. Based on the findings, the authors recommend that the impact of the level of royalties levied as well as the mechanism to promote downstream beneficiation be researched to establish whether the legislators ought to reconsider these provisions in the light of their impact on the mining industry.

We investigate causes for the cost overrun and delay of the railway project Stuttgart 21. Besides, we try to forecast the actual costs and completion date at an early stage.

The results of exploratory research show the causes for the cost overrun and delay of Stuttgart 21; we compare our findings with other railway projects. To estimate the costs at an early stage, the reference class forecasting (RCF) model is applied; to estimate the time, we apply an OLS regression.

We find that the following causes are relevant for the cost overrun and delay of Stuttgart 21: scope changes, geological conditions, high risk-taking propensity, extended implementation, price overshoot, conflict of interests and lack of citizens' participation. The current estimated costs are within our 95% confidence interval based on RCF; our time forecast underestimates or substantially overestimates the duration actually required.

A limitation of our approach is the low number of comparable projects which are available.

The use of hyperbolic function or stepwise exponential discount function can help to give a clearer picture of the costs and benefits. The straightforward use of the RFC for costs and OLS for time should motivate more decision-makers to estimate the actual costs and time which are necessary in the light of the rising demand for democratic participation amongst citizens.

More realistic estimates can help to reduce the significant distortion at the beginning of infrastructure projects.

We are among the first who use the RCF to estimate the costs in Germany. Furthermore, the hyperbolic discounting function is added as a further theoretical explanation for cost underestimation.

Despite being a global public–private partnerships (PPPs) leader, India faces a vast PPP divide at a sub-national level, wherein a few states receive the majority of PPP projects, whereas other states face severe issues in attracting PPP investments. This necessitates the identification of factors that make some states attractive to PPP investors. The purpose of this study is to construct a “PPP readiness index” at the Indian state-level, which aims to assess the readiness of states for the diffusion of PPPs.

Using a quantitative method on secondary data, the study scores 17 Indian states on dimensions such as experience with PPPs, physical infrastructure, financial sector development, market conditions, institutional quality and political stability and fiscal constraints for each of the years during 2009–2018. Principal component analysis is used for assigning weights to the dimensions, thereby arriving at the composite index.

Results highlight that Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra offer the most favorable environment for PPPs to flourish. In contrast, Jharkhand and Bihar are laggards because they score the least and have limited PPP experience.

The index will assist the private sector in conducting a comparative analysis between state-specific PPP arrangements, thereby enabling them to make informed decisions prior to forging PPP arrangements. Further, the index will help the state governments in improving their PPP readiness by following the policies of the leading states.

Improvement in PPP readiness of the states will enable higher PPP investments in infrastructure, thereby reducing infrastructure deficits. This, in turn, will lead to economic growth, development and an improvement in the quality of life.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that comprehensively analyzes the PPP readiness at a sub-national level in India.

The purpose of this paper is to present modelling of power losses dependences on temperature in soft magnetic materials exposed to non-sinusoidal flux waveforms and DC bias condition.

Scaling theory allows the power loss density to be derived in the form of a general homogeneous function, which depends on the peak-to-peak of the magnetic inductance ΔB, frequency f, DC bias HDC and temperature T. The form of this function has been generated through the Maclaurin expansion with respect to scaled frequency, which suit very much for the Bertotti decomposition. The parameters of the model consist of expansion coefficients, scaling exponents, parameters of DC bias mapping, parameters of temperature factor and tuning exponents. Values of these model parameters were estimated on the basis of measured data of total power density losses.

The main finding of the paper is a unified methodology for the derivation of a mathematical model which satisfactorily describes the total power density losses versus ΔB, f, H_DC, and T in soft magnetic devices.

Still the derived method does not describe dependences of the power density loss on shape and size of considered sample.

The most important achievement is of the practical use. The paper is useful for device designers.

This paper presents the algorithm which enables us to calculate core losses while the temperature is changing. Moreover, this method is effective regardless of soft magnetic material type and the flux waveforms as well as the DC bias condition. The application of scaling theory in the description of energy losses in soft magnetic materials justifies that soft magnetic materials are scaling invariant systems.