Evaluation of Some Important Quality Parameters in Long-distance Goods Transport: - results from a stated preference analysis

Luft- og støjforureningen og antallet af trafikulykker vil stige dramatisk i de kommende år som følge af flere og flere lastbiler på Europas veje. I følge officielle prognoser forventes det, at i år 2010 vil ca. 85% af den samlede godstransport inden for EU´s 15 medlemslande blive transporteret med lastbil mod ca. 50% i 1970 og ca. 70% i 1992.For at få vendt eller i det mindste bremset denne udvikling er det nødvendigt med en større viden om og forståelse af hvilke transportkvaliteter, de mere miljøvenlige transportformer som bane og søtransport, skal tilbyde for at kunne konkurrere med lastbilen. Transportkvalitetens betydning skal ses både fra transportkøbernes og transportudbydernes side.I studiet interviewes 140 transportkøbere og transportudbydere fordelt over hele landet. Det pc-baserede interviewskema inderholder to typer af spørgsmål: Rangordning og værdisætning af 8 på forhånd definerede kvalitetsparametre med udgangspunkt firmaets nuværende transportpolitik, og Hypotetiske spørgsmål (Stated Preference spil), hvor transportkvaliteterne grupperes med henblik på at definere forskellige transportalternativer. Det observeres, hvorledes respondenternes valg af alternativer skifter, når transportvilkårerne(kvaliteterne) ændres. I dette notat beskrives den anvendte metode og de foreløbige resultater af analyserne

Journal Self-Citation IX: The Power of the Unspoken in Journal Referencing

Publication of articles in so called “reputed” journals and achieving high citation counts for the publications are becoming increasingly important in establishing the scientific achievements of individual scholars and institutions. Given that a journal’s reputation is based predominantly on the extent to which its articles are cited, some editors, reviewers, and journal publishers tend to overtly request references to their articles or journals. This is justifiably found unethical by many of us. However, we shall argue that such explicit requests for referencing is only the tip of the iceberg. There is a widespread, covert understanding among potential authors that unless they cite work of editors and/or have references to the journal where one is submitting a manuscript, the probability of getting the paper accepted for publication may suffer. This consideration is a much more powerful influence than the overt requests some may have experienced as authors. Overt, as well as covert, activities aimed at bumping up individual and journal citations is a dysfunctional result of an increasingly competitive scholarly environment, where the value of success is high, and failure is a very unpleasant option. In the short run, making the community aware of dysfunctional behaviors with respect to citations might help counteract the most blatant exertion of power. However, addressing the more covert use of power requires a more in depth look at ourselves and the way we conduct and assess scholarship. In the long run, the IS field may even need to seriously assess the extent to which our research efforts serve standards primarily internal to our field (similar to rites of other tribes) rather than delivering value to society

Exporting e-Customs to Developing Countries: a Semiotic Perspective

This paper reports on an ongoing study of an initiative to build e-Customs capabilities in eastern Africa. The EU’s customs capability building unit is trying to “export” e-Customs solutions to developing countries in order to strengthen the competiveness of companies based in these countries. Following the international development, e- Customs (with the improved control and traceability possibilities from producer to end consumer) will soon be a prerequisite for participation in international trade. The study is based on a semiotic framework for e-Customs implementations. Previous research has shown how interdependencies between the syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic levels cause problems already within the EU. This research we are now expanding to the introduction of so called Authorized Economic Operators (AEOs) in the East African Community. Since this project has just recently started we have only limited empirical material to load our framework, but initial data shows that the African initiative is trying to implement only parts of the e-Customs solutions that are developed to fit into a different semiotic structure. We can conclude that significant challenges lay ahead in adjusting also the rest of the structure if the initiative is to be successful

Circularity in waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) directive. Comparison of a manufacturer's Danish and Norwegian operations

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) as a reverse supply chain (RSC) has a low degree of circularity, mainly focusing on recovering or recycling. Targets to increase the circularity have recently been introduced in the EU WEEE directive. In this case study, we have investigated how WEEE is handled within an electric and electronic (EE) equipment manufacturer. The case study includes findings from two different Nordic countries, Norway and Denmark, with interviews of six stakeholders. The case study shows that there are significant differences in how the case company fulfills its extended producer responsibility (EPR), especially related to reporting. The study also found that there is a mismatch between the ambitions in the WEEE directive and a company’s approach related to circularity in the end-of-life phase of an EE product. Based on the results of this case study and from the literature we propose recommendations on alignment with other directives and on a common information regime within the WEEE RSC. Keywords: waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE); product information flow; reverse supply chain; manufacturer; circularity.publishedVersio

The Limits of an Ostrich Policy for Resolving Dialectical Conflicts

In this paper, we analyze the introduction of the Australian Integrated Cargo System (ICS) in order to improve our understanding of eCustoms innovations in Europe, primarily Single Window services. We combine the case study with a theorization based on socially constructed change in networks. The development and diffusion of eCustoms solutions takes place within an elaborate network of businesses, government agencies, and technology providers. We focus on the ongoing dialectics during change in such a network. This means we zoom in on the constant confrontations and conflicts of both interests and understandings of contents, processes, and outcomes of change. These conflicts potential shift change in unintended and unwanted directions, resulting in perceived failure. We critically reflect on the practical lessons that surfaced from the Australian ICS-Import case, where we observed a tendency to avoid facing conflicts, ignoring them, or dismissing them as not important. Our analysis demonstrates that using a dialectic approach can provide substantial insights in eCustoms innovation. We offer a characterization of conflicts and we contribute to the discussion of eCustoms in Europe

Future Strategies for a Click-and-Mortar Bank: A Case Study of the Nordea Group

The case study describes one of the most ambitious and successful attempts of creating a Nordic based large international financial service company, capable of spearheading the transition to the digital economy. Nordea is in the midst of various transformation processes across the organisation due to several years of multiple cross boarder mergers and acquisitions, new composition of the group executive management, increasing thrives towards automation of business processes to reduce costs, and different innovations involving a change of the roles of value network partners. The focus of the study is on the future e-business challenges to the Nordea Group internally, in its collaboration with network partners, in its utilization of the largest number of on-line customers of any bank (3,1 million in 2002), and the implications for the value proposition of the Nordea Group customers