Greener Small Cities: Deploy Environmental Action Faster and Smarter

How might we support small Canadian cities (1k-100k) to become greener and smarter in a way that prioritizes deliberate and proportional action whilst accounting for their unique composition? Greener Small Cities: Deploy Environmental Action Faster and Smarter, was built to support those in charge of climate action at the municipal level of small Canadian cities with strategy, systemic, and foresight tools. The first half of this report explores the theory surrounding environmental action and smart technologies within a Canadian context. Action is the focus of the second section. We’ll walk readers through the steps of building a comprehensive, measurable, equitable, and effective environmental action plan of their own, or revamp the one they currently have in place by learning how to include and manage stakeholders, decide on a vision, set strategic pillars, strategies, and strategic actions, envision future states, leverage data, secure funding, and much more

Application of six sigma methodology to reduce defects of a grinding process

Six Sigma is a data-driven leadership approach using specific tools and methodologies that lead to fact-based decision making. This paper deals with the application of the Six Sigma methodology in reducing defects in a fine grinding process of an automotive company in India. The DMAIC (Define–Measure–Analyse–Improve–Control) approach has been followed here to solve the underlying problem of reducing process variation and improving the process yield. This paper explores how a manufacturing process can use a systematic methodology to move towards world-class quality level. The application of the Six Sigma methodology resulted in reduction of defects in the fine grinding process from 16.6 to 1.19%. The DMAIC methodology has had a significant financial impact on the profitability of the company in terms of reduction in scrap cost, man-hour saving on rework and increased output. A saving of approximately US$2.4 million per annum was reported from this project

Internal Controls in Fraud Prevention Effort: a Case Study

This study is aimed at investigating how far the internal controls are able to prevent fraud in financing administration at an Islamic Bank in Medan, Indonesia. The method applied in this study was a case study method. The operational definition used in this study was COSO framework. The data were collected through observations and semi-structured interviews. The results of the study show that some weaknesses of the internal controls have been identified as one of the factors of fraud. Poor internal controls lead to fraud. The management of the bank still employs one official to the same officials to conduct various financing activities. It leads to fraud because the activities are lack of supervisions. This study is focused on one company, so the findings may not be generalized to other companies. It is because of the different types of business, working environment, and practices. It is expected that the future study is able to enlarge the number of samples or companies.Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui sejauh mana pengendalian internal yang dimiliki mampu mencegah fraud yang terjadi dalam penyediaan kegiatan pembiayaan pada bank pembiayaan syariah di Medan, Indonesia. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah metode studi kasus, definisi operasional dalam penelitian ini adalah kerangka kerja COSO. Teknik pengumpulan data menggunakan teknik observasi dan wawancara di bank pembiayaan syariah di Medan, Indonesia. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa beberapa kelemahan pengendalian internal telah diidentifikasi dapat mengakibatkan terjadinya kegiatan fraud. Pengendalian internal yang buruk memberikan peluang terjadinya fraud. Manajemen bank masih memberdayakan beberapa fungsi terkait yang menjalankan kegiatan pembiayaan dimana masih ada pekerjaan yang dilakukan oleh satu pejabat wewenang yang mengurusi berbagai kegiatan pembiayaan, sehingga kegiatan dari pembiayaan tersebut tidak dapat berjalan secara maksimal dan rentan terhadap aktivitas fraud. Keterbatasan penelitian ini hanya berfokus pada satu Perusahaan saja, temuan tersebut mungkin tidak digeneralisasikan ke Perusahaan lain, karena sifat bisnis, lingkungan kerja, dan praktiknya berbeda. Penelitian di masa yang akan datang diharapkan dapat memperbesar jumlah sampel atau Perusahaan

New Urbanism and Euclidian Zoning: Can They Co-Exist?

Euclidian zoning served a purpose in its time. It separated land uses so that people could live away from industrial developments without the fear that such industries would locate to their backyard. But despite the positive effects of Euclidian zoning, many people believe it provides too little attention to character and historic design and promotes sprawl. New Urbanism offers an alternative to Euclidian zoning and many cities are beginning to utilize New Urbanism principles as they strive to bring back a sense of place to their communities. Challenges result when the New Urbanism principles conflict with the zoning in place, but these challenges are not insurmountable. Finally, where there is market for New Urbanism communities developers should take advantage of a design concept that promotes the unique character and history that is a community and provides developers with the opportunity to provide the style of development consumers want

An Analysis of Development Impact Fees in Georgia

A development impact fee is defined as “payment of money imposed upon development as a condition to development approval to pay for a proportionate share of the cost of system improvements needed to serve growth and development.” Development impact fees are a relatively new idea in Georgia, but have been used in other jurisdictions for years. This paper analyzes the development of the Georgia Development Impact Fee Law. It also tracks use of impact fees in Georgia and makes recommendations for jurisdictions considering adopting impact fees

Performing Smartness Differently - Strategic Enactments of a Global Imaginary in Three European Cities

In the scholarly literature on smart city, normative and prescriptive approaches dominate. Most publications with analytic goals focus on transnational corporations, the related global imaginary of a smart city, and on associated new technologies. In comparison, actually existing smart cities have seldom been investigated. This is even more the case for public governance arrangements of smart city policies. Our study compares three EU cities in this regard, which are attempting to take a lead in smart city development. In addition, urban agriculture and citizens' participation are specifically investigated in their relation to smart city policy-making. Based on policy document and media discourse analysis, interviews, and participant observation, three governance arrangements of smart city policies are identified: hierarchical governance by the government in Barcelona between 2011 and 2015, closed co-governance by the city executive and non-governmental actors in Vienna and since 2015 in Barcelona, and open co-governance in Berlin. Citizens' participation is in the center in Barcelona since 2015, and is potentially important in Berlin. The Viennese smart city governance arrangement is characterized by non-hierarchical bargaining within the administration and signals innovative meta-governance, without citizens' participation. In all three cities, international dynamics play a crucial role for engaging with smart city, but it is enacted in particular ways according to place-specific history, social forces, and economic and political conditions. The meaning of smart city varies thus considerably: a comprehensive urban sustainability strategy focused upon climate policy goals in Vienna; a comprehensive internationalization strategy in Barcelona between 2011 and 2015; a limited technology- and business-oriented approach in Berlin; and a limited digital city frame geared to participatory democracy and technological sovereignty in Barcelona since 2015. Contrary to the literature, we highlight the agency of city executives, and the place-specific enactments that global smart city imaginaries undergo. Current smart city policies express more continuity than rupture with regard to urban development policies in our case study cities.Series: SRE - Discussion Paper