Internal Carbon Pricing within Supply Chains : A qualitative interview study that explores existing structures and attitudes within a company and one of their supply chainsregarding the opportunities and challenges of internal carbon pricing

Företag förväntas reducera deras miljömässiga fotavtryck och agera mot klimatåtagande till en större utsträckning än någonsin förr. Många aktörer har långsiktiga visioner och strategier som berör hållbarhet, men att stänga gapet mellan målsättningar och operationellt beslutsfattande har visat sig vara svårt. Ett verktyg som potentiellt kan koppla samman visioner, strategier och beslutsfattande är carbon pricing. Carbon pricing ämnar att omvandla växthusgasutsläpp till ett monetärt värde, vilket sedan kan användas för att förstå den miljömässiga påverkan och översätta konsekvenser som uppstår om inte hänsyn till fotavtryck tas. Studien ämnar till att analysera huruvida carbon pricing inom leverantörskedjor som verktyg bidrar till hållbart företagande, samt studera inom vilken leverantörskedja det är mest relevant att påbörja en implementering utifrån ett företags och dess leverantörers befintliga strukturer och attityder. Studien ämnar även att undersöka hur carbon pricing kan etableras och varför det vore relevant utifrån den potentiella påverkan verktyget kan få på företaget och leverantörskedjan. Upptäckter inom studien har lett fram till en förståelse om att carbon pricing som verktyg har potential att bidra till hållbart företagande genom att synliggöra koldioxidavtryck och kostnaderna kopplade till utsläppen, vilket kan påverka beslutsfattande gällande valet av leverantörer, arbete mot måluppfyllelse, samt hur och var investeringar genomförs. Verktyget är mest relevant att studera inom de leverantörskedjor som emitterar mest växthusgaser i och med att det är där som det finns mest utrymme för förändring. Carbon pricing kan utformas och implementeras på ett flertal olika sätt, vilket både anses vara en styrka och en svaghet med verktyget. De främsta möjligheterna med verktyget är beteendeförändringar, effektiva beslutsunderlag, samt konkurrensmässiga fördelar. Verktygets främsta hinder är bristen på standardisering och bristen på kompetens, samt utmaningen med hur verktyget ska utformas på effektivast sätt. I realiserandet av en implementation behövs mer kunskap om verktyget, både när det kommer till möjligheterna men även när det kommer till hinder och begränsningar med verktyget. Companies are expected to reduce their environmental footprint and undertake climate action to a larger extent than ever before. Many actors have long-term visions and strategies that target sustainability, however closing the gap between these goals to operational and tactical decision-making has been proven to be a struggle. One tool that can potentially connect visions, strategies and decision-making is carbon pricing. Carbon pricing aims to convert greenhouse gas emission to a monetary value, which can then be used to understand environmental impact and translate the consequences of not considering footprint to common business language. The study aims to analyze whether carbon pricing as a tool contributes to sustainable business, and study within which supply chain it is most relevant to start an implementation based on a company’s and its suppliers’ existing structures and attitudes. The study also intends to investigate how carbon pricing can be established and why it would be relevant based on the potential impact the tool can have on the company and the supply chain. Discoveries within the study have led to an understanding that carbon pricing as a tool has the potential to contribute to sustainable business by highlighting carbon footprints and the costs associated with emissions, which can influence decision making regarding the choice of suppliers, work towards goal fulfillment, and how and where investments should be done. The tool is most relevant to study within the supply chains that emit the most greenhouse gases, as this is where there is most room for improvement. Carbon pricing can be designed and implemented in several different ways, which is considered both a strength and a weakness with the tool. The main possibilities with the tool are behavioral changes, effective decision making and competitive advantages. The tool’s main obstacles are the lack of standardization and the lack of competence, as well as the challenge of how the tool should be designed in an efficient manner. In the realization of an implementation, more knowledge about the tool is needed, both when it comes to the possibilities but also when it comes to the obstacles and limitations with the tool.

Internal Carbon Pricing within Supply Chains : A qualitative interview study that explores existing structures and attitudes within a company and one of their supply chainsregarding the opportunities and challenges of internal carbon pricing

Företag förväntas reducera deras miljömässiga fotavtryck och agera mot klimatåtagande till en större utsträckning än någonsin förr. Många aktörer har långsiktiga visioner och strategier som berör hållbarhet, men att stänga gapet mellan målsättningar och operationellt beslutsfattande har visat sig vara svårt. Ett verktyg som potentiellt kan koppla samman visioner, strategier och beslutsfattande är carbon pricing. Carbon pricing ämnar att omvandla växthusgasutsläpp till ett monetärt värde, vilket sedan kan användas för att förstå den miljömässiga påverkan och översätta konsekvenser som uppstår om inte hänsyn till fotavtryck tas. Studien ämnar till att analysera huruvida carbon pricing inom leverantörskedjor som verktyg bidrar till hållbart företagande, samt studera inom vilken leverantörskedja det är mest relevant att påbörja en implementering utifrån ett företags och dess leverantörers befintliga strukturer och attityder. Studien ämnar även att undersöka hur carbon pricing kan etableras och varför det vore relevant utifrån den potentiella påverkan verktyget kan få på företaget och leverantörskedjan. Upptäckter inom studien har lett fram till en förståelse om att carbon pricing som verktyg har potential att bidra till hållbart företagande genom att synliggöra koldioxidavtryck och kostnaderna kopplade till utsläppen, vilket kan påverka beslutsfattande gällande valet av leverantörer, arbete mot måluppfyllelse, samt hur och var investeringar genomförs. Verktyget är mest relevant att studera inom de leverantörskedjor som emitterar mest växthusgaser i och med att det är där som det finns mest utrymme för förändring. Carbon pricing kan utformas och implementeras på ett flertal olika sätt, vilket både anses vara en styrka och en svaghet med verktyget. De främsta möjligheterna med verktyget är beteendeförändringar, effektiva beslutsunderlag, samt konkurrensmässiga fördelar. Verktygets främsta hinder är bristen på standardisering och bristen på kompetens, samt utmaningen med hur verktyget ska utformas på effektivast sätt. I realiserandet av en implementation behövs mer kunskap om verktyget, både när det kommer till möjligheterna men även när det kommer till hinder och begränsningar med verktyget. Companies are expected to reduce their environmental footprint and undertake climate action to a larger extent than ever before. Many actors have long-term visions and strategies that target sustainability, however closing the gap between these goals to operational and tactical decision-making has been proven to be a struggle. One tool that can potentially connect visions, strategies and decision-making is carbon pricing. Carbon pricing aims to convert greenhouse gas emission to a monetary value, which can then be used to understand environmental impact and translate the consequences of not considering footprint to common business language. The study aims to analyze whether carbon pricing as a tool contributes to sustainable business, and study within which supply chain it is most relevant to start an implementation based on a company’s and its suppliers’ existing structures and attitudes. The study also intends to investigate how carbon pricing can be established and why it would be relevant based on the potential impact the tool can have on the company and the supply chain. Discoveries within the study have led to an understanding that carbon pricing as a tool has the potential to contribute to sustainable business by highlighting carbon footprints and the costs associated with emissions, which can influence decision making regarding the choice of suppliers, work towards goal fulfillment, and how and where investments should be done. The tool is most relevant to study within the supply chains that emit the most greenhouse gases, as this is where there is most room for improvement. Carbon pricing can be designed and implemented in several different ways, which is considered both a strength and a weakness with the tool. The main possibilities with the tool are behavioral changes, effective decision making and competitive advantages. The tool’s main obstacles are the lack of standardization and the lack of competence, as well as the challenge of how the tool should be designed in an efficient manner. In the realization of an implementation, more knowledge about the tool is needed, both when it comes to the possibilities but also when it comes to the obstacles and limitations with the tool.

Angela Carter's The Passion of New Eve Becomes Opera: The Process of Creating the Libretto to Tristessa

This essay examines the many methods involved in adapting a literary text into an opera libretto and specifically how Angela Carter's novel The Passion of New Eve was made into the opera Tristessa. This study demonstrates the several processes involved in writing a libretto. This specific kind of literary work includes finding a useful source text, deciding what part of the story that needs to be in the libretto and what can be excluded, and transforming the narration into a text suitable for singing. The lack of adaptation theory for opera has steered me toward theories developed for film adaptations and scholarly texts that are concerned with how adaptation into opera functions. However, this essay's main interest is how well the two (male) librettists succeeded in keeping the novel's clear feminist and queer themes when transferring the text into the libretto. Therefore, not only adaptation theory is used in this essay. Feminist theory and queer theory have given several insights into both the novel and the opera Interviews conducted with the librettists allow for an understanding of their reasoning and working process. Using feminist and queer theories as conterpoints to the reading of the libretto of Tristessa and comparing it to the novel The Passion of New Eve this essay has found that the novel is well suited for adaptation, that queer elements are a natural part of the art of opera, and that the opera Tristessa is indeed both feminist and queer. One could expect a shift in the narration from the novel's story because of the title being Tristessa. That is not so but the cuts and additions that have been made enhance the story of Tristessa as well as the story of Evelyn's transgression into Eve

Angela Carter's The Passion of New Eve Becomes Opera: The Process of Creating the Libretto to Tristessa

This essay examines the many methods involved in adapting a literary text into an opera libretto and specifically how Angela Carter's novel The Passion of New Eve was made into the opera Tristessa. This study demonstrates the several processes involved in writing a libretto. This specific kind of literary work includes finding a useful source text, deciding what part of the story that needs to be in the libretto and what can be excluded, and transforming the narration into a text suitable for singing. The lack of adaptation theory for opera has steered me toward theories developed for film adaptations and scholarly texts that are concerned with how adaptation into opera functions. However, this essay's main interest is how well the two (male) librettists succeeded in keeping the novel's clear feminist and queer themes when transferring the text into the libretto. Therefore, not only adaptation theory is used in this essay. Feminist theory and queer theory have given several insights into both the novel and the opera Interviews conducted with the librettists allow for an understanding of their reasoning and working process. Using feminist and queer theories as conterpoints to the reading of the libretto of Tristessa and comparing it to the novel The Passion of New Eve this essay has found that the novel is well suited for adaptation, that queer elements are a natural part of the art of opera, and that the opera Tristessa is indeed both feminist and queer. One could expect a shift in the narration from the novel's story because of the title being Tristessa. That is not so but the cuts and additions that have been made enhance the story of Tristessa as well as the story of Evelyn's transgression into Eve

Entering the telecom industry in Japan

The current Japanese recession along with pressures from WTO and GATT have forced Japan to open up, and a deregulation process has started in various industry sectors. The deregulation process in the telecom industry has been relatively slow compared to other countries, but along with the global development of the Internet, the Japanese telecom industry has started to change rapidly. The purpose of this thesis has been to investigate the telecom industry in Japan and evaluate how a small foreign company supplying consumer products can enter this market. As our case company we have used Todos Data System AB, which is a small Swedish company that produces telecom and datacom consumer products. In order to be able to study what type of entry strategy that Todos can pursue we have briefly investigated the Japanese macro environment and focused on analysing the Japanese telecom industry. Entering Japan normally involves relatively high costs and long payback times. To act as efficiently as possible in the fast-changing telecom industry, a company needs to be committed and goal oriented. Depending on what type of customer to target, we have identified different alternatives for Todos when entering Japan. In these cases, Todos should get assistance from a partner, which could be either an agent or a distributor/trading company. A more long-term alternative is to create a strategic alliance with a telecom manufacturer for knowledge exchange and thereafter jointly develop products

Ischemic heart disease induce upregulation of endothelin receptor mRNA in human coronary arteries

Endothelin has been implicated in the pathogenesis of ischemic heart disease and congestive heart failure. The aims were to quantify endothelin type A (ETA) and type B (ETB) receptor mRNA levels in human coronary arteries from patients with ischemic heart disease, congestive heart failure and controls using real-time polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR). In addition, the suitability of organ culture as a model mimicking endothelin receptor changes in cardiovascular disease was evaluated by in vitro pharmacology and real-time PCR. Endothelin ETA and ETB receptor mRNA levels were significantly higher in arteries from patients with ischemic heart disease (0.23 +/- 0.04 and 0.35 +/- 0.06) as compared to congestive heart failure (0.09 +/- 0.02 and 0.07 +/- 0.01) and controls (0.08 +/- 0.02 and 0.08 +/- 0.01). After organ culture, the endothelin ETB receptor mRNA levels were elevated, and the sarafotoxin 6c-induced vasoconstriction was more efficacious. Increased endothelin receptor activity may contribute to the increased vascular tone and development of atherosclerotic disease in ischemic heart disease in man. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved