The Influence of Railways on the development of Accrington and District, 1848-1914

The project explores the complex and counter-intuitive historical relationships between railways and development through a local study of Accrington and the surrounding smaller towns and townships in East Lancashire. This distinctive, yet little-researched, district formed a compact and self-contained mini-conurbation by 1914 flanked by its larger neighbours Blackburn and Burnley. Accrington itself flinctioned as the transport hub for the sub-region, dominated by cotton, coal, engineering and brick making, and served by the East Lancashire Railway from 1848 to 1859, and then by the successor amalgamated company, the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, until 1922. The important and unusual T-shaped rail network linked the district to Preston, Liverpool and West Lancashire, Leeds, Bradford and West Yorkshire, and towards the south, Bury and Manchester. The railway companies ran intensive passenger and freight services to connect the thriving industries and towns along the highly-developed trans-Pennine corridor. The Leeds and Liverpool canal, roads and tramways provided specialised services which complemented railways well in a sophisticated "transport-scape". Accrington was a railway town which experienced exponential growth during the mid and late Victorian eras. Its industries became both increasingly diversified and specialised, its economic base was independent yet interdependent as intra-regional and inter-regional trade and business networks grew rapidly, the rail hub organised the structure of urbanisation. Within the sub-region, multiple nuclei of growth emerged suddenly and rapidly without urban precursors during the railway era. There were no significant commuting flows or suburban developments. These striking phenomena cannot be explained by conventional approaches such as metropolitan central-place theory and cliometric counter-factual modelling. W.W. Rostow's "take-off' and F.J.Turner's "frontier" concepts are selectively rehabilitated, re-interpreted and synthesised to build an innovatory framework to describe and explain the observable patterns in East Lancashire. The theoretical synthesis is briefly applied to case-studies from northern England to explore the widely diverse impact of railway investments, and to highlight the potential for an extended comparative research agenda

Safety and Reliability - Safe Societies in a Changing World

The contributions cover a wide range of methodologies and application areas for safety and reliability that contribute to safe societies in a changing world. These methodologies and applications include: - foundations of risk and reliability assessment and management - mathematical methods in reliability and safety - risk assessment - risk management - system reliability - uncertainty analysis - digitalization and big data - prognostics and system health management - occupational safety - accident and incident modeling - maintenance modeling and applications - simulation for safety and reliability analysis - dynamic risk and barrier management - organizational factors and safety culture - human factors and human reliability - resilience engineering - structural reliability - natural hazards - security - economic analysis in risk managemen

The environmental impacts and developmental constraints of tidal current energy generation.

The thesis discusses the environmental impacts and developmental constraints of tidal current energy. Using an iterative approach and drawing upon a number of different methodologies the thesis attempts to evaluate the development potential of tidal current energy in terms of the resource and identify the potential environmental impacts. In addition, it attempts to identify the barriers to development that may be preventing the growth of the industry. The thesis also assesses further research requirements in terms of environmental and social barriers to development, focusing on an environmental impact methodology and its importance in tidal current energy development. Over recent years there has been a significant acceleration in tidal current energy research and development. The key challenge is for technologies to reach full commercialisation. The thesis investigates present market and industrial accessibility and due to institutional and environmental barriers, concludes that commerciality will be hard to achieve if such 'barriers' are not broken. However, the skills and capability base in the UK offshore industry and indeed the renewable energy sector is significant and this should be utilised accordingly. This vision of commercialisation needs to be sustained and a culture of forward thinking needs to be continuously cultivated. In essence, the UK cannot afford to miss this opportunity, both in terms of R&D status, economic stability, energy diversity and security of supply and in time export potential. The thesis identifies key environmental issues concerning tidal current energy development using a site-specific case study and highlights the misconception that renewable energies are without environmental impact. It is clear that some are well understood within the realm of other offshore industries, however, some are relatively unique to this type of development and the need for further research is evident in these areas, in order to dispel the environmental impact uncertainties that exist. The thesis also demonstrates that there are 'process gaps' within Environmental Impact Assessment and attempts to develop an environmental impact assessment framework to aid the tidal current energy development process

The drivers of Corporate Social Responsibility in the supply chain. A case study.

Purpose: The paper studies the way in which a SME integrates CSR into its corporate strategy, the practices it puts in place and how its CSR strategies reflect on its suppliers and customers relations. Methodology/Research limitations: A qualitative case study methodology is used. The use of a single case study limits the generalizing capacity of these findings. Findings: The entrepreneur’s ethical beliefs and value system play a fundamental role in shaping sustainable corporate strategy. Furthermore, the type of competitive strategy selected based on innovation, quality and responsibility clearly emerges both in terms of well defined management procedures and supply chain relations as a whole aimed at involving partners in the process of sustainable innovation. Originality/value: The paper presents a SME that has devised an original innovative business model. The study pivots on the issues of innovation and eco-sustainability in a context of drivers for CRS and business ethics. These values are considered fundamental at International level; the United Nations has declared 2011 the “International Year of Forestry”

Factors Influencing Customer Satisfaction towards E-shopping in Malaysia

Online shopping or e-shopping has changed the world of business and quite a few people have decided to work with these features. What their primary concerns precisely and the responses from the globalisation are the competency of incorporation while doing their businesses. E-shopping has also increased substantially in Malaysia in recent years. The rapid increase in the e-commerce industry in Malaysia has created the demand to emphasize on how to increase customer satisfaction while operating in the e-retailing environment. It is very important that customers are satisfied with the website, or else, they would not return. Therefore, a crucial fact to look into is that companies must ensure that their customers are satisfied with their purchases that are really essential from the ecommerce’s point of view. With is in mind, this study aimed at investigating customer satisfaction towards e-shopping in Malaysia. A total of 400 questionnaires were distributed among students randomly selected from various public and private universities located within Klang valley area. Total 369 questionnaires were returned, out of which 341 questionnaires were found usable for further analysis. Finally, SEM was employed to test the hypotheses. This study found that customer satisfaction towards e-shopping in Malaysia is to a great extent influenced by ease of use, trust, design of the website, online security and e-service quality. Finally, recommendations and future study direction is provided. Keywords: E-shopping, Customer satisfaction, Trust, Online security, E-service quality, Malaysia

A strategic turnaround model for distressed properties

The importance of commercial real estate is clearly shown by the role it plays, worldwide, in the sustainability of economic activities, with a substantial global impact when measured in monetary terms. This study responds to an important gap in the built environment and turnaround literature relating to the likelihood of a successful distressed commercial property financial recovery. The present research effort addressed the absence of empirical evidence by identifying a number of important factors that influence the likelihood of a successful distressed, commercial property financial recovery. Once the important factors that increase the likelihood of recovery have been determined, the results can be used as a basis for turnaround strategies concerning property investors who invest in distressed opportunities. A theoretical turnaround model concerning properties in distress, would be of interest to ‘opportunistic investing’ yield-hungry investors targeting real estate transactions involving ‘turnaround’ potential. Against this background, the main research problem investigated in the present research effort was as follows: Determine the important factors that would increase the likelihood of a successful distressed commercial property financial recovery. A proposed theoretical model was constructed and empirically tested through a questionnaire distributed physically and electronically to a sample of real estate practitioners from across the globe, and who had all been involved, directly or indirectly, with reviving distressed properties. An explanation was provided to respondents of how the questionnaire was developed and how it would be administered. The demographic information pertaining to the 391 respondents was analysed and summarised. The statistical analysis performed to ensure the validity and reliability of the results, was explained to respondents, together with a detailed description of the covariance structural equation modelling method used to verify the proposed theoretical conceptual model. vi The independent variables of the present research effort comprised; Obsolescence Identification, Capital Improvements Feasibility, Tenant Mix, Triple Net Leases, Concessions, Property Management, Contracts, Business Analysis, Debt Renegotiation, Cost-Cutting, Market Analysis, Strategic Planning and Demography, while the dependent variable was The Perceived Likelihood of a Distressed Commercial Property Financial Recovery. After analysis of the findings, a revised model was then proposed and assessed. Both validity and reliability were assessed and resulted in the following factors that potentially influence the dependent variables; Strategy, Concessions, Tenant Mix, Debt Restructuring, Demography, Analyse Alternatives, Capital Improvements Feasibility, Property Management and Net Leases while, after analysis, the dependent variable was replaced by two dependent variables; The Likelihood of a Distressed Property Turnaround and The Likelihood of a Distressed Property Financial Recovery. The results showed that Strategy (comprising of items from Strategic Planning, Business Analysis, Obsolescence Identification and Property Management) and Concessions (comprising of items from Concessions and Triple Net Leases) had a positive influence on both the dependent variables. Property Management (comprising of items from Business Analysis, Property Management, Capital Improvements Feasibility and Tenant Mix) had a positive influence on Financial Turnaround variable while Capital Improvements Feasibility (comprising of items from Capital Improvements Feasibility, Obsolescence Identification and Property Management) had a negative influence on both. Demography (comprising of items only from Demography) had a negative influence on the Financial Recovery variable. The balance of the relationships were depicted as non-significant. The present research effort presents important actions that can be used to influence the turnaround and recovery of distressed real estate. The literature had indicated reasons to recover distressed properties as having wide-ranging economic consequences for the broader communities and the countries in which they reside. The turnaround of distressed properties will not only present financial rewards for opportunistic investors but will have positive effects on the greater community and economy and, thus, social and economic stability. Vii With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, issues with climate change and sustainability, global demographic shifts, changing user requirements, shifts in technology, the threat of obsolescence, urbanisation, globalisation, geo-political tensions, shifting global order, new trends and different generational expectations, it is becoming more apparent that the threat of distressed, abandoned and derelict properties is here to stay, and which will present future opportunities for turnaround, distressed property owners, as well as future worries for urban authorities and municipalities dealing with urban decay. The study concluded with an examination of the perceived limitations of the study as well as presenting a comprehensive range of suggestions for further research.Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology, School of the built Environment, 202

Changing Paradigms : Designing for a Sustainable Future

Changing Paradigms: designing for a sustainable future is intended for designers, design students and design educators, who want to understand why and how to integrate Sustainability into design education and practice. It consists of five parts; Part One presents why we must design for a sustainable future, Part Two describes how to design for a sustainable future, Part Three presents student design projects exemplifying sustainable design, Part Four is a glossary of 120 terms and concepts about Sustainability and design, and finally, Part Five includes three appendices: The Cumulus Kyoto Design Declaration, and guidelines on how to green both school campuses and conferences. This book has been edited by Peter Stebbing and Ursula Tischner, who have invited internationally renown experts to contribute chapters. Changing Paradigms offers a comprehensive survey of essential knowledge for designers and other creative professions to shift their focus to the new design paradigm for sustainable production, consumption, and life styles

A strategic turnaround model for distressed properties

The importance of commercial real estate is clearly shown by the role it plays, worldwide, in the sustainability of economic activities, with a substantial global impact when measured in monetary terms. This study responds to an important gap in the built environment and turnaround literature relating to the likelihood of a successful distressed commercial property financial recovery. The present research effort addressed the absence of empirical evidence by identifying a number of important factors that influence the likelihood of a successful distressed, commercial property financial recovery. Once the important factors that increase the likelihood of recovery have been determined, the results can be used as a basis for turnaround strategies concerning property investors who invest in distressed opportunities. A theoretical turnaround model concerning properties in distress, would be of interest to ‘opportunistic investing’ yield-hungry investors targeting real estate transactions involving ‘turnaround’ potential. Against this background, the main research problem investigated in the present research effort was as follows: Determine the important factors that would increase the likelihood of a successful distressed commercial property financial recovery. A proposed theoretical model was constructed and empirically tested through a questionnaire distributed physically and electronically to a sample of real estate practitioners from across the globe, and who had all been involved, directly or indirectly, with reviving distressed properties. An explanation was provided to respondents of how the questionnaire was developed and how it would be administered. The demographic information pertaining to the 391 respondents was analysed and summarised. The statistical analysis performed to ensure the validity and reliability of the results, was explained to respondents, together with a detailed description of the covariance structural equation modelling method used to verify the proposed theoretical conceptual model. vi The independent variables of the present research effort comprised; Obsolescence Identification, Capital Improvements Feasibility, Tenant Mix, Triple Net Leases, Concessions, Property Management, Contracts, Business Analysis, Debt Renegotiation, Cost-Cutting, Market Analysis, Strategic Planning and Demography, while the dependent variable was The Perceived Likelihood of a Distressed Commercial Property Financial Recovery. After analysis of the findings, a revised model was then proposed and assessed. Both validity and reliability were assessed and resulted in the following factors that potentially influence the dependent variables; Strategy, Concessions, Tenant Mix, Debt Restructuring, Demography, Analyse Alternatives, Capital Improvements Feasibility, Property Management and Net Leases while, after analysis, the dependent variable was replaced by two dependent variables; The Likelihood of a Distressed Property Turnaround and The Likelihood of a Distressed Property Financial Recovery. The results showed that Strategy (comprising of items from Strategic Planning, Business Analysis, Obsolescence Identification and Property Management) and Concessions (comprising of items from Concessions and Triple Net Leases) had a positive influence on both the dependent variables. Property Management (comprising of items from Business Analysis, Property Management, Capital Improvements Feasibility and Tenant Mix) had a positive influence on Financial Turnaround variable while Capital Improvements Feasibility (comprising of items from Capital Improvements Feasibility, Obsolescence Identification and Property Management) had a negative influence on both. Demography (comprising of items only from Demography) had a negative influence on the Financial Recovery variable. The balance of the relationships were depicted as non-significant. The present research effort presents important actions that can be used to influence the turnaround and recovery of distressed real estate. The literature had indicated reasons to recover distressed properties as having wide-ranging economic consequences for the broader communities and the countries in which they reside. The turnaround of distressed properties will not only present financial rewards for opportunistic investors but will have positive effects on the greater community and economy and, thus, social and economic stability. Vii With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, issues with climate change and sustainability, global demographic shifts, changing user requirements, shifts in technology, the threat of obsolescence, urbanisation, globalisation, geo-political tensions, shifting global order, new trends and different generational expectations, it is becoming more apparent that the threat of distressed, abandoned and derelict properties is here to stay, and which will present future opportunities for turnaround, distressed property owners, as well as future worries for urban authorities and municipalities dealing with urban decay. The study concluded with an examination of the perceived limitations of the study as well as presenting a comprehensive range of suggestions for further research.Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology, School of the built Environment, 202