Traceability system for capturing, processing and providing consumer-relevant information about wood products: System solution and its economic feasibility

Current research and practice reports indicate the existence of purchase barriers concerning eco-friendly products, e.g. wood products. These can be ascribed to consumers' mistrust regarding the non-observable environmental impact of wood products. To counter the mistrust, wood products are commonly endowed with eco-labels, which may be perceived mostly as a marketing tool, therefore not fulfilling their intended purpose. Current studies have shown that providing consumers with wood product information based on traceability systems increases product trust and purchase intentions, with those information items most valued by consumers being identified as well. Based on this, the paper proposes a traceability information system for the capturing, processing, and provision of product information using examples of wood furniture. Furthermore, a cost-benefit model for the proposed solution is developed. The calculations indicate the possibility of implementing traceability at the item level based on a four-layer system architecture enabling the capture and delivery of all information valued by consumers at acceptable costs. The proposed system helps to overcome purchase barriers of eco-friendly products, increasing consumers' product trust and purchase intentions

Diffusion of IS in companies using renewable resources and its impact on uncertainty

The importance of sustainability is meanwhile well known in research as well as in practice. One way to produce moresustainable goods is the use of renewable resources. In this paper we present a two-staged study, consisting of a quantitativesurvey followed by qualitative interviews with companies which use renewable resources as an input for production. Thefocus of our study is on the diffusion of IS and supporting technologies and concepts in these special industrial sector. Due tothe natural growth and environmental influence factors it can be supposed that renewable resources are underlying a greateruncertainty regarding quantity, quality and time of availability. Therefore we also examine the influence of IS on uncertaintyin the companies surveyed

Software tools for stochastic programming: A Stochastic Programming Integrated Environment (SPInE)

SP models combine the paradigm of dynamic linear programming with modelling of random parameters, providing optimal decisions which hedge against future uncertainties. Advances in hardware as well as software techniques and solution methods have made SP a viable optimisation tool. We identify a growing need for modelling systems which support the creation and investigation of SP problems. Our SPInE system integrates a number of components which include a flexible modelling tool (based on stochastic extensions of the algebraic modelling languages AMPL and MPL), stochastic solvers, as well as special purpose scenario generators and database tools. We introduce an asset/liability management model and illustrate how SPInE can be used to create and process this model as a multistage SP application

Bio-ethanol Production from Wheat in the Winter Rainfall Region of South Africa: A Quantitative Risk Analysis

Contrary to developments in other parts of the world, South Africa has not developed a bio-ethanol industry. The objective was to quantify the risks and economic viability of a wheat based bio-ethanol plant in the winter rainfall region of South Africa. Monte Carlo simulation of a bio-ethanol plant was used to quantify the risk that investors will likely face. Under the Base scenario a 103 million liter bio-ethanol plant would not offer a reasonable chance of being economically viable. Alternative price enhancing policies were analyzed to determine policy changes needed to make a bio-ethanol plant economically viable in the region.biofuels, ethanol, risk analysis, simulation, economic viability, Simetar, SERF, Crop Production/Industries, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Engineering coordination : eine Methodologie für die Koordination von Planungssystemen

Planning problems, like real-world planning and scheduling problems, are complex tasks. As an efficient strategy for handing such problems is the ‘divide and conquer’ strategy has been identified. Each sub problem is then solved independently. Typically the sub problems are solved in a linear way. This approach enables the generation of sub-optimal plans for a number of real world problems. Today, this approach is widely accepted and has been established e.g. in the organizational structure of companies. But existing interdependencies between the sub problems are not sufficiently regarded, as each problem are solved sequentially and no feedback information is given. The field of coordination has been covered by a number of academic fields, like the distributed artificial intelligence, economics or game theory. An important result is, that there exist no method that leads to optimal results in any given coordination problem. Consequently, a suitable coordination mechanism has to be identified for each single coordination problem. Up to now, there exists no process for the selection of a coordination mechanism, neither in the engineering of distributed systems nor in agent oriented software engineering. Within the scope of this work the ECo process is presented, that address exactly this selection problem. The Eco process contains the following five steps. • Modeling of the coordination problem • Defining the coordination requirements • Selection / Design of the coordination mechanism • Implementation • Evaluation Each of these steps is detailed in the thesis. The modeling has to be done to enable a systemic analysis of the coordination problem. Coordination mechanisms have to respect the given situation and the context in which the coordination has to be done. The requirements imposed by the context of the coordination problem are formalized in the coordination requirements. The selection process is driven by these coordination requirements. Using the requirements as a distinction for the selection of a coordination mechanism is a central aspect of this thesis. Additionally these requirements can be used for documentation of design decisions. Therefore, it is reasonable to annotate the coordination mechanisms with the coordination requirements they fulfill and fail to ease the selection process, for a given situation. For that reason we present a new classification scheme for coordination methods within this thesis that classifies existing coordination methods according to a set of criteria that has been identified as important for the distinction between different coordination methods. The implementation phase of the ECo process is supported by the CoPS process and CoPS framework that has been developed within this thesis, as well. The CoPS process structures the design making that has to be done during the implementation phase. The CoPS framework provides a set of basic features software agents need for realizing the selected coordination method. Within the CoPS process techniques are presented for the design and implementation of conversations between agents that can be applied not only within the context of the coordination of planning systems, but for multiagent systems in general. The ECo-CoPS approach has been successfully validated in two case studies from the logistic domain.Reale Planungsprobleme, wie etwa die Produktionsplanung in einer Supply Chain, sind komplex Planungsprobleme. Eine übliche Strategie derart komplexen Problemen zu lösen, ist es diese Probleme in einfachere Teilprobleme zu zerlegen und diese dann separat, meist sequentiell, zu lösen (divide-and-conquer Strategie). Dieser Ansatz erlaubt die Erstellung von (suboptimalen) Plänen für eine Reihe von realen Anwendungen, und ist heute in den Organisationsstrukturen von größeren Unternehmen institutionalisiert worden. Allerdings werden Abhängigkeiten zwischen den Teilproblemen nicht ausreichend berücksichtigt, da die Partialprobleme sequentiell ohne Feedback gelöst werden. Die erstellten Teillösungen müssen deswegen oft nachträglich koordiniert werden. Das Gebiet der Koordination wird in verschiedenen Forschungsgebieten, wie etwa der verteilten Künstlichen Intelligenz, den Wirtschaftswissenschaften oder der Spieltheorie untersucht. Ein zentrales Ergebnis dieser Forschung ist, dass es keinen für alle Situationen geeigneten Koordinationsmechanismus gibt. Es stellt sich also die Aufgabe aus den zahlreichen vorgeschlagenen Koordinationsmechanismen eine Auswahl zu treffen, die für die aktuelle Situation den geeigneten Mechanismus identifiziert. Für die Auswahl eines solchen Mechanismus existiert bisher jedoch kein strukturiertes Verfahren für die Entwicklung von verteilten Systems und insbesondere im Bereich der Agenten orientierter Softwareentwicklung. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wird genau hierfür ein Verfahren vorgestellt, der ECo-Prozess. Mit Hilfe dieses Prozesses wird der Auswahlprozess in die folgenden Schritte eingeteilt: • Modellierung der Problemstellung und des relevante Kontextes • Formulierung von Anforderungen an einen Koordinationsmechanismus (coordination requirements) • Auswahl/Entwurf eines Koordinationsmechanismuses • Implementierung des Koordinationsverfahrens • Evaluation des Koordinationsverfahrens Diese Schritte werden im Rahmen der vorliegenden Arbeit detailliert beschrieben. Die Modellierung der Problemstellung stellt dabei den ersten Schritt dar, um die Problemstellung analytisch zugänglich zu machen. Koordinationsverfahren müssen die Gegebenheiten, den Kontext und die Domäne, in der sie angewendet werden sollen hinreichend berücksichtigen um anwendbar zu sein. Dieses kann über Anforderungen an den Koordinationsprozess formalisiert werden. Der von den Anforderungen getrieben Auswahlprozess ist ein Kernstück der hier vorgestellten Arbeit. Durch die Formulierung der Anforderungen und der Annotation eines Koordinationsmechanismus bezüglich der erfüllten und nicht erfüllten Anforderungen werden die Motive für Designentscheidungen dieses Verfahren expliziert. Wenn Koordinationsverfahren anhand dieser Anforderungen klassifiziert werden können, ist es weiterhin möglich den Auswahlprozess (unabhängig vom ECo-Ansatz) zu vereinfachen und zu beschleunigen. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wird eine Klassifikation von Koordinationsansätzen anhand von allgemeinen Kriterien vorgestellt, die die Identifikation von geeigneten Kandidaten erleichtern. Diese Kandidaten können dann detaillierter untersucht werden. Dies wurde in den vorgestellten Fallstudien erfolgreich demonstriert. Für die Unterstützung der Implementierung eines Koordinationsansatzes wird in dieser Arbeit zusätzlich der CoPS Prozess vorgeschlagen. Der CoPS Prozess erlaubt einen ganzheitlichen systematischen Ansatz für den Entwurf und die Implementierung eines Koordinationsverfahrens. Unterstürzt wird der CoPS Prozess durch das CoPS Framework, das die Implementierung erleichtert, indem es als eine Plattform mit Basisfunktionalität eines Agenten bereitstellt, der für die Koordination von Planungssystemen verantwortlich ist. Im Rahmen des CoPS Verfahrens werden Techniken für den Entwurf und die Implementierung von Konversation im Kontext des agenten-orientiertem Software Engineerings ausführlich behandelt. Der Entwurf von Konversationen geht dabei weit über Fragestellung der Formatierung von Nachrichten hinaus, wie dies etwa in den FIPA Standards geregelt ist, und ist für die Implementierung von agentenbasierten Systemen im Allgemeinen von Bedeutung. Die Funktionsweise des ECo-CoPS Ansatzes wird anhand von zweierfolgreich durchgeführten Fallstudien aus dem betriebswirtschaftlichen Kontext vorgestellt

Multi-disciplinary Green IT Archival Analysis: A Pathway for Future Studies

With the growth of information technology (IT), there is a growing global concern about the environmental impact of such technologies. As such, academics in several research disciplines consider research on green IT a vibrant theme. While the disparate knowledge in each discipline is gaining substantial momentum, we need a consolidated multi-disciplinary view of the salient findings of each research discipline for green IT research to reach its full potential. We reviewed 390 papers published on green IT from 2007 to 2015 in three disciplines: computer science, information systems and management. The prevailing literature demonstrates the value of this consolidated approach for advancing our understanding on this complex global issue of environmental sustainability. We provide an overarching theoretical perspective to consolidate multi-disciplinary findings and to encourage information systems researchers to develop an effective cumulative tradition of research

An Empirical Analysis of the RFID Effect on Suppliers\u27 Financial Performance

The objective of this study is to rigorously examine the effects of RFID on suppliers’ profitability while adjusting for endogeneity bias arising from the decision process for RFID adoption. To this end, we use a Heckman two-stage estimation method, which allows us to control for endogeneity between a firm’s organizational characteristics and its decision for RFID adoption. We find that suppliers faced with both a low level of inventory efficiency and with highly uncertain demand are more likely to adopt RFID. Further, suppliers that have adopted RFID achieve greater financial gains than their counterparts that have not. More importantly, we show that these financial gains result from improved inventory and sales efficiencies after RFID is deployed. In sum, our study sheds new light on what drives supplying firms to adopt RFID and on its role in shaping relatively higher financial performance in a post-adoption period

Modelling relationship quality across organizational cultures : an empirical investigation within the logistics outsourcing industry

Relationship quality is the cornerstone of relationship marketing. However, conceptualizations of relationship quality vary across studies indicating the absence of a general consensus. Consistent with the definition of Hennig-Thurau et al. (2002, p. 234), relationship quality most often refers to ―a metaconstruct composed of several key components reflecting the overall nature of relationships between companies and consumers‖. However, ―the only area of convergence is three major dimensions of RQ [relationship quality] (trust, commitment and satisfaction)‖ (Athanasopoulou, 2009, p. 603). This assumption is at odds with a growing body of research which calls to ―expand the constructs and determine which aspects or dimensions should be included to obtain a multifaceted view of relational exchanges‖ (Palmatier et al., 2006, p. 152). Moreover, there is a consensus that culture affects business relationships. Yet, to date, both the phenomena are under-researched. Owing to the fragmented insights into relationship quality and its links with organizational culture, calls for future research gather momentum each day. This thesis forwards a study of relationship quality across organizational cultures. Consequently, the objective of the current study is to conceptualize rival models by amalgamating extant literature stemming from diverse theories in order to empirically corroborate (1) the dimensions of relationship quality, (2) the structural relationships between them and (3) the effects of organizational culture on relationship quality. In doing so, the current study constitutes the first attempt to evaluate the direct and moderating effects of organizational culture on relationship quality in a holistic manner. Extensive synthesis of extant literature stemming from different theories reveals six dimensions of relationship quality: loyalty, reciprocity, co-operation, communication, trust and opportunism. Further synthesis of the literature identifies five dimensions or organizational culture relevant to relationship quality: individualism and collectivism, human orientation, power distance, assertiveness and uncertainty avoidance. Owing to the absence of a general consensus, two competing models of relationship quality are conceptualized. A web-based survey was employed to collect data within the logistics outsourcing industry in the United Kingdom. This process resulted in two hundred and sixty six usable responses. Subsequently, structural equation modelling was employed to test the hypotheses of interest. The findings demonstrate that the construct of relationship quality comprises five dimensions: action loyalty, reciprocity, co-operation, trust and opportunism. Moreover, four dimensions of organizational culture appear to have effects on relationship quality: individualism and collectivism, human orientation, power distance and assertiveness. The findings result in numerous theoretical contributions and practical implications