17 research outputs found

    Sustainability Analysis and Environmental Decision-Making Using Simulation, Optimization, and Computational Analytics

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    Effective environmental decision-making is often challenging and complex, where final solutions frequently possess inherently subjective political and socio-economic components. Consequently, complex sustainability applications in the “real world” frequently employ computational decision-making approaches to construct solutions to problems containing numerous quantitative dimensions and considerable sources of uncertainty. This volume includes a number of such applied computational analytics papers that either create new decision-making methods or provide innovative implementations of existing methods for addressing a wide spectrum of sustainability applications, broadly defined. The disparate contributions all emphasize novel approaches of computational analytics as applied to environmental decision-making and sustainability analysis – be this on the side of optimization, simulation, modelling, computational solution procedures, visual analytics, and/or information technologies

    Ethiopean-Eritrean studies: a bibliography on society and history, 2016-2022

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    J. Abbink produced a new bibliography on Ethiopian-Eritrean studies in society and history. It is a by- product of research he did on these countries in the past five years and is the ultimate volume in the series. The volume covers the period from 2016  to July 2022 and contains all the crucial references to recent work in history, archaeology, sociology, anthropology, economics, agricultural studies, politics, international relations, environmental studies, religious and cultural studies. Also prominent are themes like the Nile Basin, (regional) conflict, food (in)security, gender relations, demographic developments, urban life, arts & crafts, and pastoral societies.A brief introduction situates the bibliography in the wider field of Ethiopian-Eritrean studies and clarifies the underlying criteria of inclusion and organization of the references. As much as possible, the individual references also contain a link to their digital publication website. The work is concluded with an author name index and is published as an E-book only.ASC – Publicaties niet-programma gebonde

    OR for entrepreneurial ecosystems : a problem-oriented review and agenda

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    Innovation-driven entrepreneurship has become a focus for economic development and received increasing attention from policy makers and academics over the last decades. While consensus has been reached that context matters for innovation and entrepreneurship, little evidence and decision support exists for policy makers to effectively shape the environment for growth-oriented companies. We present the entrepreneurial ecosystem concept as a complex systems-based approach to the study of innovation-driven entrepreneurial economies. The concept, in combination with novel data sources, offers new opportunities for research and policy, but also comes with new challenges. The aim of this paper is to take stock of the literature and build bridges for more transdisciplinary research. First, we review emergent trends in ecosystem research and provide a typology of four overarching problems based on current limitations. These problems connect operational research scholars to the context and represent focal points for their contributions. Second, we review the operational research literature and provide an overview of how these problems have been addressed and outline opportunities for future research, both for the specific problems as well as cross-cutting themes. Operational research has been invaluable in supporting decision-makers facing complex problems in several fields. This paper provides a conceptual and methodological agenda to increase its contribution to the study and governance of entrepreneurial ecosystems

    Methodology for building trader's investment strategy based on assessment of the market value of the company

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    Purpose: The purpose of this research is the formation of a methodology for investment decision making by a trader in the stock market, based on the enterprise value indicators. Design/Methodology/Approach: The methodology for making investment decisions of a stock trader is based on a method of descriptive statistics used to describe the findings of the analysis of the dynamics of selected indicators characterizing the level of the company’s shares market value, a method of grouping statistical data used in the process of forming groups of selected indicators characterizing the level of shares market value, a сombinating method used for building a trader’s investment strategy and choosing the optimal combination of financial indicators (as well as ranking the formed combinations by profitability) that characterize the level of the market value of the company’s shares in the process of investment decision making. Findings: The findings of the study revealed that to eliminate financial risks and increase the efficiency of trading operations in the stock market, the trader’s investment strategy can be based on an economic and mathematical analysis of a set of indicators that evaluate the company’s market value. The combinatorics method and regression analysis method can be efficiently used as methods of building a trader’s investment strategy. Practical Implications: The proposed methodology allows to comprehensively assess the level of the enterprise value and on the basis of which is possible to develop an effective trader’s investment strategy, which can become a practical tool in conducting investment operations. Originality/Value: The use of the combinatorics method allows us to adjust the trading (investment) strategy of the trader to the specifics of the external and internal factors of functioning of each individual company and also provide a comprehensive tool for investment decisions making.peer-reviewe

    Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Indonesia; an empirical case study on Bali’s tourism industry

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    Diese Studie untersucht die Kommunikationspraxis der sozialen Unternehmensverantwortung in der Tourismusbranche auf Bali; (1) was ist das Ziel, die Zielgruppe, der Inhalt, der Kanal, die Integration und die Strategie, (2) die Beziehung zwischen den Unternehmensmerkmalen (Geschäftssektor, Größe, Management- und Eigentumsart sowie finanzielle Leistung) und der Kommunikation zur sozialen Unternehmensverantwortung, (3) und die Umweltfaktoren. Diese Studie testet drei Hypothesen; (1) Das Ziel ist Legitimität, das Publikum ist eine Gemeinschaft, Inhalt ist ein Beitrag zur Gesellschaft, der Kanal ist Social Media, Integration ist auf Fotos und mit Informationsstrategie, (2) es besteht ein Zusammenhang zwischen Unternehmensmerkmalen und der Kommunikation zur sozialen Unternehmensverantwortung, und (3) der Umweltfaktor ist ein kulturelles Merkmal. Diese Fallstudie wird in Bali, Indonesien mit einem Mixed-Method-Design des exploratory sequential design durchgeführt. Zunächst werden 13 halbstrukturierte qualitative Interviews mit Vertretern von 13 Unternehmen geführt. Das Ergebnis wird durch eine quantitative Umfrage unter 528 Unternehmen überprüft. Die Daten werden unter Verwendung einer one-way ANOVA mit Post-hoc-analyse, Hauptkomponentenanalyse und Pearson-Korrelationsanalyse analysiert. Das Ergebnis zeigt, dass die Kommunikationsziele der balinesischen Tourismusunternehmen in erster Linie darin bestehen, Werte zu schaffen und Werbung zu machen. Die Unternehmen kommunizieren Umwelt-, Ethik-, Mitarbeiter- und Gemeinschaftsinitiativen an das externe und interne Publikum, indem sie gedruckte, interaktive, elektronische und digitale sowie Berichtskanäle mit interaktiven und informativen Strategien verwenden, die von soziodemografischen Faktoren und Stakeholder-Drucks beeinflusst werden. Der Geschäftsbereich des Unternehmens hat eine Beziehung zu Ziel, Zielgruppe, Inhalt, Kanal und Strategie, jedoch nicht mit Integration. Die Unternehmensgröße steht in Beziehung zu Ziel, Zielgruppe, Inhalt, Kanal, Integration und Strategie. Sowohl Management- als auch Eigentumstypen haben eine Beziehung zu Ziel, Zielgruppe, Inhalt und Kanal, aber nicht zu Integration und Strategie. Die finanzielle Leistung hängt mit Ziel, Zielgruppe, Inhalt, Kanal und Integration zusammen, jedoch nicht mit der Strategie. Diese Studie hebt einige interessante Einblicke hervor. Erstens haben balinesische Tourismusunternehmen das Prinzip der Unternehmenskommunikation angewendet, indem sie Beziehungen zu internen, markt- und gesellschaftlichen Interessengruppen aufgebaut haben. Zweitens haben die Unternehmen mit dem offensichtlichen Einsatz interaktiver Kommunikationsstrategien erfolgreich das symmetrische Kommunikationsprinzip, Stakeholder-Engagement-Strategie, oder dialogische Öffentlichkeitsarbeit angewendet. Drittens wird soziale Unternehmensverantwortung als eine Form der Kommunikation betrachtet. Schließlich fungieren bestimmte Mitarbeiter (Reiseleiter, Frontliner) und lokale Mitarbeiter als Kommunikationskanäle der soziale Unternehmensverantwortung. Schlüsselwörter: Unternehmenskommunikation, Soziale Unternehmensverantwortung, Strategie, TourismusindustrieThis study investigates CSR communication practice in Bali tourism industry; (1) what is the goal, audience, content, channel, integration, and strategy, (2), the relationship between company characteristics (business sector, size, management and ownership type, and financial performance) and CSR communication, (3), and the environmental factors. This study tests three hypotheses; (1) the goal is legitimacy, audience is community, content is society contribution, channel is social media, integration is on photos, and with informing strategy, (2) there is a relationship between company characteristics and CSR communication, and (3) the environmental factor is culture characteristic. This case study is conducted in Bali, Indonesia with a mixed method approach of exploratory sequential design. First, 13 semi-structured qualitative interviews are conducted with representatives from 13 companies. The result is tested through a quantitative survey involving 528 companies. The data is analyzed by using one-way ANOVA with post hoc, main component analysis, and Pearson correlation analysis. The result indicates that Bali tourism companies’ CSR communication goal is mainly to create value and promotion. The companies communicate environment, ethical, employee, and community initiatives to the external and internal audience by using print, interactive, electronic & digital, and report channel with interactive and informative strategy influenced by socio-demographic and stakeholder pressures. Company’s business sector has a relationship with goal, audience, content, channel, and strategy but not with integration. Company size has a relationship with the goal, audience, content, channel, integration, and strategy. Both management and ownership types have a relationship with goal, audience, content, and channel but not with integration and strategy. Financial performance has a relationship with goal, audience, content, channel, and integration, but not with strategy. This study highlights some interesting insights. First, Bali tourism companies have applied the corporate communication principle by building relationships with internal, market, and society-based stakeholders. Second, with the apparent use of interactive communication strategy, the companies have successfully applied the symmetrical communication principle, stakeholder engagement strategy or dialogic Public Relations. Third, CSR is considered as a form of communication. Lastly, specific employees (tour guides, front liners) and local employees act as CSR communication channels. Keywords; corporate communication, corporate social responsibility (CSR), strategy, tourism industr

    WASTESCAPE REGENERATION. Values, approaches and tools to operationalise circular city models

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    This research investigates the wastescapes and their regeneration in urban contexts, presenting a deepening definition and an evaluation framework for a collaborative regeneration process. Because of the concept of waste, the wastescape is deemed as a multidimensional cultural landscape, constituted of discarded parts of metabolic resources, areas, built environment, society, and others systems of waste. Thus, it is composed of various multidimensional waste systems interplaying at different scales. In this sense, a wastescape is not only limited to a spatial domain. The urban physiology and morphology of the Netzstadt framework let define the urban systems of wastescape; mainly, metabolic processes and the built environment are explored in this research, and values, tools and methods to support regenerative processes in the frame of the circular city. Circular economy (CE) is becoming a global challenge to implement regenerative urban strategies in sustainability transition. Urban metabolism of waste, waste architecture and urban communities are the constituent systems considered in this study. Each one has different scales of analysis. While the urban metabolism is analysed at a big scale, the wasted architecture and urban community role are observed locally. The two scales reveal complementary issues and opportunities for the regeneration processes toward circular cities. This, the evaluation of an urban wastescape, as a multidimensional cultural landscape, consider environmental, social, economic and cultural dimensions. In this perspective, the urban landscape services can be the benchmarks for quantitative and qualitative analyses of the evaluation of the performances. In the circular city frame, policies and projects are oriented to the collaboration of multiple stakeholders and local actors. In this way, urban wastescape regeneration considers social equity and environmental justice in its fundamentals. In this path, the thesis explore both materials and methods of wastescape regeneration. In such urban policies, spatial decision-making support systems allow for managing multi-dimensional and multi-actor evaluation processes. The Geodesign method and multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDAs) are tested in two case studies at different scales. The case studies present two different wastescape analyses at two different scales, considering some relevant physiological and morphological aspects. The first case study analyses the Naples urban metabolism of waste in the REPAiR project. Starting from the CE principle that considers waste as a resource for sustainable development, resource management is at the centre of the REPAiR project research. In the Naples case, the Activity-based Spatial Material Flow Analysis (AS-MFA) map the organic waste and construction and demolition waste streams on the territory. From this wastescape status quo, the Geodesign Decision Support Environment supports the co-creation of circular economy strategies. It is a collaborative decision-making process, from knowledge to negotiation phase. Without deepening the morphological aspects, the AS_MFA maps and the geodesign method represent the two innovative tools for urban wastescape regenerations in a collaborative decision-making process. On a smaller scale, two cases of modern marginal neighbourhoods in Naples and Amsterdam show the social and spatial issues of wastescape of wasted architectures and marginal communities. In these cases, the urban morphological conditions produced urban wastescape physiological conditions. Similar circumstances and different events lead to two regeneration processes compared at the end of the section. The most significant transformations happened through architecture, public policies and communities of place and communities of practice. The demolition and adaptive reuse of modern architectures changed some environmental perceptions that led to the rejection of the place. The intense bottom-up actions and community actions made urban social regeneration over the years. Rejection, exclusion, cultural stigma, and prejudice made the neighbourhood urban wastescapes. The three cases study explore values, approaches and tools for wastescape regeneration at two different scales. They are part of the same approach to circularity. The cases show that circular economy in urban areas come up against two main issues: legal and cultural. Environmental and economic issues stem from those. The available techniques and technologies in waste management can be improved, but many are already available and underused. Any waste in urban areas is currently a problem, creating blighted areas and disamenities. Together with actors and stakeholders, the thesis shows how communities of place and practices are the core of long term sustainable transformations. In this path, circularity is the economic approach, and collaborative decision-making processes can ensure transparency and the inclusion of actors, stakeholders and local groups to transition to the circular city

    Assessing sustainability performance of high-tech firms through a hybrid approach

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    Purpose: In light of the lack of subjective criteria and scientific rationality in current sustainability performance assessment, the purpose of this paper is conducted to improve the sustainability performance assessment of high-tech firms by developing a hybrid approach that integrates quantitative and qualitative research methods. Design/methodology/approach: This study proposed a hybrid approach that integrates word frequency analysis, cluster analysis, grey theory and the decision-making and trial evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method. Specifically, this study identifies useful criteria using quantitative word frequency analysis as well as qualitative literature research. Then, cluster analysis is used to divide these criteria into different categories. Subsequently, this study applies the grey theory associated with the DEMATEL method to assess the sustainability performance of high-tech firms. Findings: The results reveal that the socio-environment is an important aspect underlying the corporate sustainability performance of high-tech firms. Therefore, high-tech firms should enhance their pollution emission control capabilities and increase investment in energy-conservation and emission-reduction technologies to drive sustainable development. In addition, increasing green product sales revenue and improving the guiding capability of green consumption are core issues that firms must address. Originality/value: This study assesses the sustainability performance of high-tech firms by applying a hybrid method. This method can be used to construct a framework for scientific sustainability performance assessment and to provide a clear direction for the sustainable development of firms

    Enhancing land use planning in Kuala Lumpur through the interaction of formal and informal spatial representations

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    The Southeast Asian region, as any other regions in the world, has experienced significant impact of globalisation for the past few decades. This development scenario is evident in Southeast Asian mega cities such as Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Bangkok and Manila. Kuala Lumpur in particular has developed into a center of economic growth activities for its Klang Valley and the country. The development of Kuala Lumpur has the pattern of a definite concentration of physical and economic activities in the center with ribbon development happening along the major arterials leading into the city. Development control is very important for Kuala Lumpur Metropolitan, especially in the Commercial Central Area. The existence of a good formal spatial representation such as land use map will enhance the development process in Kuala Lumpur. The thesis focuses on the land use planning process and development in Kuala Lumpur. The aim is to improve land use planning in Kuala Lumpur and the image and identity of Kuala Lumpur through the interaction between formal and informal spatial representations. Thus, the first step is to study the existing formal spatial representation implemented in Kuala Lumpur City Hall. The scope and limitation of the GIS system and its customised SKP application is investigated to identify the potential of enhancing its database. The thesis also looks into the informal spatial representation in Kuala Lumpur. Kampung Baru and Jalan TAR shopping district were identified as the appropriate cases study in investigating the land use planning related issues, informal spatial representation available and public perception in relation to land use planning. The investigation was carried out through observation and random interview using survey questionnaire. Findings from the investigations in Kuala Lumpur City Hall and the two case study areas are compiled to form the basis of integration of the formal and informal spatial representations. Recommendations are then put forward for the possibility of integrating both types of spatial representation in one database

    A Hybrid Grey based Two Steps Clustering and Firefly Algorithm for Portfolio Selection

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    Considering the concept of clustering, the main idea of the present study is based on the fact that all stocks for choosing and ranking will not be necessarily in one cluster. Taking the mentioned point into account, this study aims at offering a new methodology for making decisions concerning the formation of a portfolio of stocks in the stock market. To meet this end, Multiple-Criteria Decision-Making, Data Mining, and Multi-objective Optimization were employed. First, candidate stocks were clustered using two-step clustering method. Available stocks in each cluster were independently ranked using grey relational analysis. Firefly algorithm was employed for Pareto analysis of risk and ranking. The results of clustering in the stocks revealed that all candidate stocks were not placed in one cluster. The results of robustness analysis employed in ranking method verified the accuracy of calculations in the grey relational analysis through stock repetition of candidates in each cluster
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