Managing routine emergence: the Neste case

Changes in organizations and in the operating environment occur on a regular basis. In the context of organizational routines, this indicates that routines will remain, change, emerge or be unlearned. Yet, routine emergence and managerial role in routines lacks previous academic research. Managing routine emergence is a somewhat contrasting concept, which offers an interesting starting point to examine the topic. The purpose of this study is to be describe routine emergence and the managerial role in routines. The study aims to shed light on understanding the phases of routine emergence, factors affecting the emergence as well managerial role in the process and the way to verify competence in routines. To achieve this, the study adopts a practice-based view of routines. The research builds on critical realism approach. The empirical part of the research was conducted as a case study with three embedded cases of investment projects in which the emergence of new operating routines was examined. The case company was Neste, a Finnish company that operates on a global market in three business areas: oil products, renewable products, and marketing & services. Sources of data collection consisted of participant observation, 15 semi-structured interviews, and documentation. The study reveals that routine emergence consists of three main phases: routine content definition, routine learning, and routine implementation in practice. The findings indicate that routine emergence cannot be fully planned since unexpected issues take place during the routine implementation. The study highlights the importance of operator involvement in each phase of the routine emergence. “Building your own house” was seen as descriptive representation for operator involvement in projects. Interestingly, operators acquire a comprehensive understanding of the process during the project work, but still a considerable part of learning takes place during and after the routine implementation. During this period, attentiveness, ability to understand how the process works against the guidelines and planned routines, readiness to surprises, and flexibility in operations are needed. Moreover, the study shows that it is critical to verify competence in routines. This study thereby has two theoretical contributions: new routine emergence and the managerial role in routines. The research provides with four practical implications for managers: 1) managing routine emergence is essential, 2) routine content definition extends beyond a specific routine, 3) well-planned trainings enable and enhance routine learning, and 4) routine implementation implies changes to the planned routine

Crude oil scheduling in refinery operations

Master'sMASTER OF ENGINEERIN

The Esso refinery, Everett, Mass., an analysis and evaluation of its public relations policies and practices

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University Includes bibliographical references (leaves 147-148)

U.S. Climate Policy Developments

This paper outlines recent developments in U.S. climate policies. Although the United States does not participate in the Kyoto Mechanism, a number of climate policies are being implemented at state level as well as at the federal level. First, we report and compare the federal cap and trade proposals in the 110th Congress. Then, the paper illustrates the current situations of state level climate policies, such as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in the northeastern states or AB32 in California. We analyze these proposals from the viewpoint of technology policies and impacts on international markets. It is found that technology policies play important roles in the cap and trade proposals and that there is a great expectation for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology. In terms of the impacts on international markets, several federal proposals as well as regional programs permit trading in international markets. As emission targets become more stringent in the future, U.S. GHG emitters are more likely to interact with these markets. Thus, despite the lack of U.S. participation in the Kyoto Protocol, U.S. markets will be linked to foreign markets, at least, in an indirect way.United States, climate policy, cap and trade, the Kyoto mechanism, technology policy

Partial CO2 capture to facilitate cost-efficient deployment of carbon capture and storage in process industries - Deliberations on process design, heat integration, and carbon allocation

Climate change requires that all energy-related sectors reduce drastically their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, at a global rate of 1–2\ua0GtCO2 per year, starting now. Process industries, such as the iron and steel, cement, petrochemical, and oil-refining industries, are inherently carbon-intensive, and carbon capture and storage (CCS) is one of the few options available to achieve the required deep reductions in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Despite being technologically mature, CCS has so far not been implemented at the required rates. This is due inter alia to the low value created by CCS for process industries, which is attributed to uncertainties related to carbon pricing and the considerable investments required for CO2 capture installations. This thesis explores the concept of partial carbon capture as an opportunity for the process industry, as part of its transition, to operate in a net-zero emissions framework by the middle of this century. Partial capture is governed by market and site conditions, and aims to capture a designated share of the CO2 emissions from an industrial site, thereby lowering the absolute and specific costs (in€/tCO2) for CO2 capture, as compared to a conventional full-capture system. The thesis elaborates the relevant technical, economic, and policy-related aspects related to facilitating the near-term implementation of carbon capture at industrial sites. These aspects include: 1) the energy- and cost-effective design of solvent-based processes for partial capture, which can lead to capture cost savings of up to 10% for gases with a high CO2 content (>17 vol.%wet); 2) the efficient use of residual heat and existing capacities on-site to power partial capture, which in case studies of an oil refinery and an integrated steel mill, are shown to confer cost savings along the entire CCS chain of 17%–24%; 3) the incorporation of site realities, such as temporal variations in heat availability, into techno-economic assessments; 4) the adaption of policies that address the allocation of carbon emissions reductions to low-carbon products, so that investments in mitigation technologies are incentivized with respect to the ambition level; and 5), the recognition of the rather narrow window of opportunity for partial capture with regard to the lifetime of the existing infrastructure, alternative production and (co-)mitigation technologies, as well as the regional energy and CO2 transport and storage systems. As the title image indicates, the share of carbon extracted from the earth that is sequestered needs to reach 100% by mid-century, in order to limit global warming in line with the targets of the Paris Agreement (i.e., 1.5\ub0C or well below 2\ub0C). Thus, partial capture is only a short-term solution for kick-starting CCS, and it will eventually have to lead to full capture, alternatively full mitigation (e.g., via carbon-free production), or be combined with renewable feedstocks if used in the longer term. Therefore, it is timely for the process industry to apply partial capture and, thereby, ramp up widespread adoption of CCS, so to build up the infrastructure for direct removal of carbon from the atmosphere, which will be required on the gigatonne scale in the second half of the 21st Century

The Emergence of Oligopoly

Originally published in 1969. In describing the emergence of oligopoly, Professor Eichner has written a history of the American sugar refining industry, one based in part on records of the United States Department of Justice. Sugar refining was one of the first major industries to be consolidated, and its expertise was in many ways typical of the development of other industries. Eichner's focus is on the changing pattern of industrial organization. This study is based on a unique four-stage model of the process by which the industrial structure of the American economy has evolved. The first part of the book traces the early history of the sugar refining industry and argues that the classical model of a competitive industry is inherently unstable once large fixed investments are required. The more closely sugar refining approximated this model, the more unstable the model became in practice. This instability led, in 1887, to the formation of the sugar trust. The author contends that the trust was formed not to exploit economies of scale but with the intent of achieving control over prices. In the second part of the book, Eichner describes the political and legal reaction that transformed monopoly into oligopoly. This sequence of events is best understood in terms of a learning curve in which the response of businessmen over time was related to the changing institutional environment in which they were forced to operate

Industry Career Guide: Manufacturing

Manufacturing sector in the Philippines has one of the largest contributions to the growth of the economy. Throughout the years, starting from the 1970s, the manufacturing sector has been one of the driving forces behind the country’s growth. It has proven its importance in the economy because of benefits such as employment generation and technological innovation