The determinants of successful partnering: a transaction cost perspective

Support is emerging for the assertion that partnering can have a significant beneficial influence on project relationships and project outcomes. However, not all of the evidence bears this out: there are some examples of less-than-successful experiments with partnering approaches. Questions quite naturally arise as to whether any particular elements or aspects of partnering have differed in some of the documented examples, thus giving rise to their relative success or failure. In order to answer such questions there is a need for a theoretical framework against which to analyse the relative performance of partnering projects. In this paper, the authors propose an approach based upon aspects of Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) theory. It is argued that two main factors, contractual incompletedness and opportunism, are fundamental in determining whether project relationships are adversarial or not. The validity of the approach is examined by applying it retrospectively to a strategic partnering agreement involving more than 80 individual building projects. This agreement had been the subject of a four-year study and had been found to produce benefits in a number of areas, not least in the avoidance of conflict and disputes. After analysis, evidence for the reduction of contractual incompletedness was mixed, however the opportunistic inclinations of the participants (specifically, the contractors) were effectively attenuated by a clearly observable combination of factors, which included preselection criteria, and the use of appropriate management and commercial frameworks in which to operate. The case study suggests a prima facie validity to the analytical approach that was adopted, which merits further testing: the next stages being to develop and refine the framework, and to carry out comparative multi-case research on a number of different partnering projects

Multi-variable LQG optimal control - restricted structure control for benchmarking and tuning

The paper introduces the benchmarking of multivarialbe systems using an offline optimal LQG approach

Benchmarking for process control with applications in the hot strip finishing steel mill

This paper describes how new benchmarking concepts can be applied to different aspects of process control performance assessment

Shuttle system ascent aerodynamic and plume heating

The shuttle program provided a challenge to the aerothermodynamicist due to the complexity of the flow field around the vehicle during ascent, since the configuration causes multiple shock interactions between the elements. Wind tunnel tests provided data for the prediction of the ascent design heating environment which involves both plume and aerodynamic heating phenomena. The approach for the heating methodology based on ground test firings and the use of the wind tunnel data to formulate the math models is discussed

From market to non-market: an autonomous agent approach to central planning

In the longstanding debate in political economy about the feasibility of socialism, the Austrian School of Economists have argued that markets are an indispensable means of evaluating goods, hence a prerequisite for productive efficiency. Socialist models for non-market economic calculation have been strongly influenced by the equilibrium model of neoclassical economics. The Austrians contend that these models overlook the essence of the calculation problem by assuming the availability of knowledge that can be acquired only through the market process itself. But the debate in political economy has not yet considered the recent emergence of agent-based systems and their applications to resource allocation problems. Agent-based simulations of market exchange offer a promising approach to fulfilling the dynamic functions of knowledge encapsulation and discovery that the Austrians show to be performed by markets. Further research is needed in order to develop an agent-based approach to the calculation problem, as it is formulated by the Austrians. Given that the macro-level objectives of agent-based systems can be easily engineered, they could even become a desirable alternative to the real markets that the Austrians favour

Non-market coordination: towards an ecological response to Austrian economics

Although the ecological tradition tends to favour a substantive role for non-market institutions in securing objectives such as environmental sustainability, Green theorists have paid relatively little attention to the important challenge posed to such proposals by the pro-market arguments of Austrian economics. The methods of ecological economics, such as multiple criteria evaluation, offer important potential for responding to the Austrian thesis that democratic, non-market institutions face a coordination problem in the face of complexity. However, the development of an adequate ecological response to the Austrians requires clarification of the conceptual underpinnings and potential scope of such methods

Consequences of variation in predator attack for the evolution of the selfish herd

There is a strong body of evidence that patterns of collective behaviour in grouping animals are governed by interactions between small numbers of individuals within the group. These findings contrast with study of the ‘selfish herd’, where increasingly complex individual-level movement rules have been proposed to explain the rapid increase in aggregation observed when prey groups are startled by or detect a predator. While individuals using simple rules take into account the position of only a few neighbours, those using complex rules incorporate multiple neighbours, and their relative distance, to determine their movement direction. Here, we simulate the evolution of selfish herd behaviour to assess the conditions under which simple and complex movement rules might evolve, explicitly testing predictions arising from previous work. We find that complex rules outperform simple ones under a range of predator attack strategies, but that simple rules can fix in populations particularly when they are already in the majority, suggesting strong positive frequency dependence in rule success. In addition, we explore whether a movement rule derived from studies of collective behaviour (where individuals use the position of seven neighbours to determine movement direction) performs as successfully as more complex rules, finding again positive frequency dependence in rule success, and a particular role for predator attack strategy (from within or outside the group)

Steering, knowledge and the challenge of governance evaluation: the case of National Health Service governance and reform in England

Drawing from ‘robust political economy’ (RPE) literature, we address evaluative questions concerning governance effectiveness in the face of complex, cross cutting problems. Central to RPE is the challenge of coordination, with its fundamental epistemological dimension requiring close attention to stakeholder knowledge about policy impacts. This focus contrasts with process-orientated analysis predominant in political science and public administration and enables holistic governance evaluation that draws from various, often demarcated, research fields. This is demonstrated through a focus on the evolution of health governance in England, particularly how diabetes services in England were affected by the 2012 Health and Social Care Act