A framework and tool to manage Cloud Computing service quality

Cloud Computing has generated considerable interest in both companies specialized in Information and Communication Technology and business context in general. The Sourcing Capability Maturity Model for service (e-SCM) is a capability model for offshore outsourcing services between clients and providers that offers appropriate strategies to enhance Cloud Computing implementation. It intends to achieve the required quality of service and develop an effective working relationship between clients and providers. Moreover, quality evaluation framework is a framework to control the quality of any product and/or process. It offers a tool support that can generate software artifacts to manage any type of product and service efficiently and effectively. Thus, the aim of this paper was to make this framework and tool support available to manage Cloud Computing service quality between clients and providers by means of e-SCM.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación TIN2013-46928-C3-3-RJunta de Andalucía TIC-578

Expanding the exergy concept to the urban water cycle

The world is urbanizing fast and this increases the pressure on available resources. In a world of cities, it is therefore crucial to take a new look at the way urban systems function: where do the resources come from and where do the wastes end up? It is essential to find ways to minimize urban impacts on resource depletion and environmental impacts and also to improve cycles within the systems. Energy and water cycles are vital to support urban life. Over the last decades, important advances have been made separately in the field of integrated water management and energy efficiency in urban areas. However, for urban planning purposes a shared framework is required that allows planners to model and understand the dynamics of the broader system to achieve an integrated management of the resources. Natural energy and water cycles are modified by metabolic profiles of the cities. The metabolic profile varies with the local resource availability and the level of technological development. To cope with this complexity, the concept of Exergy, based on Thermodynamic laws, and defined as the non-used fraction of energy, has been used to understand the energy cycle in the built environment. This will lead to new approaches towards urban planning and better resources use. This paper aims to find out if the exergy concept can be expanded to the water cycle defined as the use of the non-used water(-fraction). This way the cycle can be optimized and closed at a high efficiency level. In order to achieve this, we want to study to what extend the energy and water cycles are comparable, and how they can learn from each other in order to optimize their management

Market Access for Local Food through the Conventional Food Supply Chain

The paper examines relationships and linkages between the conventional supply chain actors (wholesalers and retailers) and local food producers based on a study conducted in Southeast Michigan. A case study approach was employed to examine chain actors’ operations and to explore their roles, experiences and perceptions about local foods. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the owners and managers of eleven retailers and six wholesalers. The study found differences in local food perceptions, buying experiences and perceived benefits and risks associated with local food sourcing activities. The study also identified some competition between local independent food retailers and alternative market outlets. The major implication of the findings is that producers need to provide additional market services and develop trust-based relationships with their buyers to create better market access for local foods.local food, supply chain, buying local, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Financial Economics,

Feeding Ourselves Thirsty: How the Food Sector is Managing Global Water Risks

The global food sector faces extraordinary risks from the twin challenges of water scarcity and water pollution. Growing competition for water, combined with weak regulations, failing infrastructure, pollution and climate change impacts threaten the sector's water security and contribute to a water availability emergency that was recently ranked the world's "top global risk" by the World Economic Forum.This report examines how water risks affect the profitability and competitive positioning of 37 major food sector companies in four industries: packaged food, beverage, meat and agricultural products. It evaluates and ranks these companies -- the majority of which are U.S. domiciled and publicly-traded -- on how well they are positioned to anticipate and mitigate these risks, as well as contribute to improved water resource management.The report provides recommendations for how analysts and investors can effectively evaluate food sector companies on their water risk exposure and management practices. It also provides recommendations for how food companies can improve water efficiency and water quality across their operations and supply chains to reduce risks and protect water resources

Purchasing Organization and Design: A Literature Review

This paper presents the results of a comprehensive literature review of the organization of purchasing covering the period from 1967 to 2009. The review provides a structured overview of prior research topics and findings and identifies gaps in the existing literature that may be addressed in future research. The intention of the review is to a) synthesize prior research, b) provide researchers with a structural framework on which future research on the organization of purchasing may be oriented, and c) suggest promising areas for future research.purchasing, supply, procurement, organization, institutional structure, structure, institution, design, performance, literature review

Late Innovation Strategies in Asian Electronics Industries: A Conceptual Framework and Illustrative Evidence

This paper was published in Oxford Development Studies special issue in honor of the late Professor Linsu Kim. The paper reviews evidence on the evolution of electronics design in Asia's leading electronics exporting countries, to establish what capabilities have been developed, and to shed light on the forces that are driving "late innovation" strategies. It also reviews intellectual sources that can be used to theoretically ground these hypotheses. Using a well-known taxonomy of innovation that distinguishes incremental, modular, architectural and radical innovations, and the concept of "disruptive technologies", I argue that Asian firms may have realistic chances to engage in incremental innovations as well as in architectural innovations. However, to sustain "late innovation" strategies over a longer period, "complex system integration" capabilities are necessary to provide the missing link.

Sustainable Sourcing of Global Agricultural Raw Materials: Assessing Gaps in Key Impact and Vulnerability Issues and Indicators.

Understanding how to source agricultural raw materials sustainably is challenging in today's globalized food system given the variety of issues to be considered and the multitude of suggested indicators for representing these issues. Furthermore, stakeholders in the global food system both impact these issues and are themselves vulnerable to these issues, an important duality that is often implied but not explicitly described. The attention given to these issues and conceptual frameworks varies greatly--depending largely on the stakeholder perspective--as does the set of indicators developed to measure them. To better structure these complex relationships and assess any gaps, we collate a comprehensive list of sustainability issues and a database of sustainability indicators to represent them. To assure a breadth of inclusion, the issues are pulled from the following three perspectives: major global sustainability assessments, sustainability communications from global food companies, and conceptual frameworks of sustainable livelihoods from academic publications. These terms are integrated across perspectives using a common vocabulary, classified by their relevance to impacts and vulnerabilities, and categorized into groups by economic, environmental, physical, human, social, and political characteristics. These issues are then associated with over 2,000 sustainability indicators gathered from existing sources. A gap analysis is then performed to determine if particular issues and issue groups are over or underrepresented. This process results in 44 "integrated" issues--24 impact issues and 36 vulnerability issues--that are composed of 318 "component" issues. The gap analysis shows that although every integrated issue is mentioned at least 40% of the time across perspectives, no issue is mentioned more than 70% of the time. A few issues infrequently mentioned across perspectives also have relatively few indicators available to fully represent them. Issues in the impact framework generally have fewer gaps than those in the vulnerability framework