Pomiar wydajności zarządzania zielonymi łańcuchami dostaw

Only what is measured can be managed properly. And the measurement process should serve a continuous improvement of companies and whole supply chains. Data from the performance measurement system should cause an increase of cooperation and help in taking right decisions about changes at the operational level, and on the other hand, are an important information when redefining strategies. This will allow for the development of the supply chain based on knowledge, in which the scope of cooperation is literally unlimited (including green aspects). There are two basic approaches to measuring the performance of supply chains: a comprehensive measurement that measures the results of the entire chain (which can be divided into individual tiers and levels) and partial measurement when we measure only certain aspects. Often, in practice, only measurement of separately operating companies is practiced by companies, not throughout chains. And the problem is even more evident when it comes to measuring performance of green activities in integrated supply chains. The paper presents the possibilities of evaluation of GSCM performance. The major challenges and obstacles are presented and assessed.Tylko to, co jest mierzone, może być właściwie zarządzane. Proces pomiaru powinien służyć ciągłemu doskonaleniu przedsiębiorstw i całych łańcuchów dostaw. Dane z systemu pomiaru powinny powodować wzrost współpracy i pomagać w podejmowaniu decyzji o zmianach na poziomie operacyjnym, a z drugiej strony może to być ważna informacja przy przedefiniowaniu strategii. Pozwala to na rozwój łańcuchów dostaw opartych na wiedzy, gdzie zakres współpracy jest dosłownie nieograniczony (dotyczy to również aspektów ekologicznych). Istnieją dwa podstawowe podejścia do pomiaru wydajności łańcucha dostaw: kompleksowy pomiar, który patrzy na wyniki całego łańcucha (który można rozdzielić na poszczególne szczeble i poziomy), oraz pomiar częściowy, gdy mierzymy tylko niektóre aspekty. Często praktykowany jest tylko pomiar oddzielnie działających firm, a nie całego łańcucha. Problem jest jeszcze bardziej widoczny, jeśli chodzi o pomiar wydajności działań ekologicznych w zintegrowanych łańcuchach dostaw. W artykule opisano możliwości oceny wyników GSCM. Przedstawiono i oceniono główne wyzwania i przeszkody stojące przed pomiarem wyników zielonych łańcuchów dostaw

Lean and green – a systematic review of the state of the art literature

The move towards greener operations and products has forced companies to seek alternatives to balance efficiency gains and environmental friendliness in their operations and products. The exploration of the sequential or simultaneous deployment of lean and green initiatives is the results of this balancing action. However, the lean-green topic is relatively new, and it lacks of a clear and structured research definition. Thus, this paper’s main contribution is the offering of a systematic review of the existing literature on lean and green, aimed at providing guidance on the topic, uncovering gaps and inconsistencies in the literature, and finding new paths for research. The paper identifies and structures, through a concept map, six main research streams that comprise both conceptual and empirical research conducted within the context of various organisational functions and industrial sectors. Important issues for future research are then suggested in the form of research questions. The paper’s aim is to also contribute by stimulating scholars to further study this area in depth, which will lead to a better understanding of the compatibility and impact on organisational performance of lean and green initiatives. It also holds important implications for industrialists, who can develop a deeper and richer knowledge on lean and green to help them formulate more effective strategies for their deployment

First assessment of the plant phenology index (PPI) for estimating gross primary productivity in African semi-arid ecosystems

The importance of semi-arid ecosystems in the global carbon cycle as sinks for CO2 emissions has recently been highlighted. Africa is a carbon sink and nearly half its area comprises arid and semi-arid ecosystems. However, there are uncertainties regarding CO2 fluxes for semi-arid ecosystems in Africa, particularly savannas and dry tropical woodlands. In order to improve on existing remote-sensing based methods for estimating carbon uptake across semi-arid Africa we applied and tested the recently developed plant phenology index (PPI). We developed a PPI-based model estimating gross primary productivity (GPP) that accounts for canopy water stress, and compared it against three other Earth observation-based GPP models: the temperature and greenness model, the greenness and radiation model and a light use efficiency model. The models were evaluated against in situ data from four semi-arid sites in Africa with varying tree canopy cover (3 to 65 percent). Evaluation results from the four GPP models showed reasonable agreement with in situ GPP measured from eddy covariance flux towers (EC GPP) based on coefficient of variation, root-mean-square error, and Bayesian information criterion. The PPI-based GPP model was able to capture the magnitude of EC GPP better than the other tested models. The results of this study show that a PPI-based GPP model is a promising tool for the estimation of GPP in the semi-arid ecosystems of Africa.Comment: Accepted manuscript; 12 pages, 4 tables, 9 figure

A heuristics approach for classroom scheduling using genetic algorithm technique

Reshuffling and arranging classroom based on the capacity of the audience, complete facilities, lecturing time and many more may lead to a complexity of classroom scheduling. While trying to enhance the efficiency in classroom planning, this paper proposes a heuristic approach for timetabling optimization. A new algorithm was produced to take care of the timetabling problem in a university. The proposed of heuristics approach will prompt a superior utilization of the accessible classroom space for a given time table of courses at the university. Genetic Algorithm through Java programming languages were used in this study and aims at reducing the conflicts and optimizes the fitness. The algorithm considered the quantity of students in each class, class time, class size, time accessibility in each class and lecturer who in charge of the classes

Green IT based energy efficiency model for data centers to reduce energy consumption & CO2 emissions

Problem Statement: The advancement of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) based business and social practices in the last few decades has transformed many, if not most, economies into e-economy and businesses into e-businesses. For economies, ICTs are increasingly playing critical roles in transforming and generating ortunities. On the other hand, global warming and climate change coalescing with limited availability and rising cost of energy are posing serious challenges for the sustainability of the global digital (or otherwise) economy. Technology has a potential to create sustainable business and society both in grim and green economic times. Especially, the recovery from the current economic crisis is going to need and lead to more Greener and energy efficient industries. As corporations look to become more energy efficient, they are examining their operations more closely. Data centers provide capabilities of central storage, backups and networking, recovery. Data centers are found major culprits in consuming too much energy in their overall operations and generating too much CO2. In order to handle the sheer magnitude of today’s data, data centers have had to use much more power and servers have become larger, denser, hotter and significantly more costly to operate. This study determine the properties and attributes of green IT infrastructures and determines the way it will be helpful in achieving green sustainable businesses. The proposed Green IT model will be drafted using Virtualization technology for data centers to make them more energy efficient and green, hence reducing the emission of green house gases so that the overall effect on global warming can be reduced or even eliminated. Results & Conclusion: The proposed model would reveal the qualities of green IT to enhance the proper utilization of hardware and software resources available in the data center. It helps data center managers to come up with a new environment friendly and sustainable green IT strategy making environment greener and sustainable. The heart of this strategy is to reduce global warming effects by using green and energy efficient data centers

The Benefits of Information on the Efficient Usage of Consumer Durables

This paper attempts to measure how information provision affects usage of consumer durables, using data on residential demand for electricity in Japan. Assuming that consumer preferences are well described by a translog indirect utility function, a discrete-continuous model of information and usage choice is estimated to examine the effects of information about efficient usage of electric appliances. The empirical results indicate that information provision contributed to energy conservation.information, energy conservation, discrete-continuous model

Research of Green Roof Implementation and Impact on Outdoor Thermal Performance at Pedestrian and Near-surface Level in Subtropical Area

北九州市立大学博士（工学）This dissertation would be conducted in Hangzhou city of subtropical zoon, analysis the green roof market by divers, motivations, barriers is to complement and promote green roof research, furthermore, analysis the green roof market by different area, age group and gender in China. Then, through two studies of numerical simulation, outdoor thermal environment of green roof is improved by building morphologies and green-roof configurations in different scenarios. Lastly, near-surface thermal performance of green roof and virginally reveal its thermal characteristics in different weather and period.doctoral thesi

Greening Business Information Systems

Efficient and effective environmental information processing is a key element for the improvement of an organization‘s environmental performance. Business Information Systems (BIS) are recognized as a tool for the facilitation of collecting, storing, processing and communicating any kind of information. However, there are other benefits that BIS can provide for a company. These benefits are related to the effective use of information, such as support of informed decision-making, increase of overall environmental awareness in an organization and, as a consequence, behavioral change. Therefore, the purpose of study is related to the extension of BIS‘ functionalities through the integration of the environmental information flow. The efficient and effective integration of environmental information flow is pursued by means of application of the multi-disciplinary approach where organizational and cybernetic science and environmental management are combined. Beer‘s Viable System Model and Organizational Information Processing Theory are the main theories used for the assessment of studied information systems and information technology solutions in the purchasing process. The studied IT solutions are deployed in the areas of supplier evaluation, logistics and business traveling. The Environmental Information System Evaluation Framework (EISEF) is the principal outcome of the research work. The research implications are two-fold. The scientific implication is based on the application of the aforementioned theories for the environmental information processing by means of Business Information Systems. According to the results of literature review, a similar approach has not been used before in this field. The practical implications are EISEF itself and recommendations for its use that are also the principal outcomes of research