Social Sustainability and Cost Competitiveness – beyond ‘winwins’? A Case Study of Facilitation-based Productivity Intervention in the Pakistani Garment Industry

This thesis explores how a facilitation-based productivity intervention created by the International Labour Organization (ILO) might play a role in handling tensions between demands for social and environmental sustainability and cost competitiveness. This intervention is called Factory Improvement Toolset (FIT), and ILO is currently piloting FIT in the Pakistani garment industry. The purpose of this pilot is to improve productivity and working conditions by upgrading production systems and factory practices through a facilitation-based approach. This study finds that codes of conduct and in-factory audits are ineffective tools to overcome tensions, whereas facilitation-based productivity interventions have the potential to assist factories in bringing attention to economic and social concerns simultaneously, and through this handle tensions. Drawing on a longitudinal, mixed-method case study, I present an empirical model which illustrates how the facilitation-based productivity intervention FIT impacts employee engagement and blurs boundaries between hierarchical levels in the factory. The model highlights three main elements of facilitation that are important for successful results: ensuring psychological safety, having context-adapted material, and using an activitybased approach, while also considering potential barriers to success. The FIT provides a platform for the factories to increase productivity and improve working conditions through simple and non-costly initiatives deriving from workers’ first-hand knowledge about factory processes. Consequently, this study provides empirical evidence that the use of facilitation has considerable advantages in handling tensions between social sustainability and cost competitiveness that have not yet been recognized within the current literature. My findings suggest that international brands should re-evaluate their adherence to code of conducts and audits, moving past the search for so-called ‘win-win’ solutions aiming to reconcile social and economic goals by bypassing tensions. Rather, brands can benefit from supporting the rollout of facilitation-based productivity interventions and establishing platforms for the exploration and handling of tensions within the factories. This study also has practical implications for managers of manufacturing firms, as well as development agencies professionals, as it proposes a facilitation-based productivity intervention as a new strategy for the development of supplier units and improving the working environment.nhhma

Alien Registration- Farstad, Rolf (Portland, Cumberland County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/31248/thumbnail.jp

Small modular nuclear reactors as a cost-effective source of clean baseload electricity

The world needs stable and sustainable, low-carbon energy sources to address the pressing challenges of climate change and energy security. Unlike non-renewable sources of electricity, many renewable sources are intermittent. This intermittency poses a challenge in ensuring a reliable and steady supply of electricity to meet the baseload demand. Nuclear energy offers the advantage of being virtually carbon-free and capable of providing a consistent power output, to meet baseload demand. Small modular nuclear reactors also known as SMRs, present potential improvements over traditional large-scale nuclear reactors, making SMRs a potentially feasible contributing solution to the security of supply issue posed by renewables. On this basis my thesis proposes the question: Can small modular nuclear reactors be a cost-effective solution to the security of supply issue in achieving carbon-neutral power grids? Through using a cost-benefit analysis framework for financial net present value estimation while exploring the relevant economic literature, I model the financial returns of small modular nuclear reactors, SMRs, and large-scale reactors. I proceed to use the financial estimates from the cost-benefit analysis framework to model the cost-effectiveness measures of SMRs and large-scale reactors, and perform cost-effectiveness analysis comparing SMRs to large-scale reactors and an all-renewable battery-based solution for benchmarking. My results imply the needed retail market electricity price for the return on the nuclear power plant to be worthwhile for investors, ranges between $147 and$213 per MWh, for SMRs. Meanwhile, that of the large-scale reactors ranges between $101 and$2806 per MWh, and combining lead-acid batteries with intermittent wind and solar under ideal conditions, might require a retail electricity price of $575 per MWh. As I estimate the historical real average retail price for electricity over the last few years to be$140, it seems that neither SMRs nor large-scale reactors are competitive in wholesale electricity markets without policy intervention. However, my results suggest SMRs require a lower retail price of electricity for the investment to be attractive, compared to large-scale reactors and the benchmarking alternative. This led to the conclusion that small modular nuclear reactors can be a cost-effective solution to the security of supply issue in achieving carbon-neutral power grids. I recommend that policy intervention should be used to incentivize investments in SMRs and other carbon-neutral solutions, as long as the financial and social costs of these interventions are lower than the benefit of achieving carbon-neutral power grids.MasteroppgaveECON391MASV-SØKPROF-SØ

The distribution of small consignments from a production facility remote to the markets: The case of OMYA Hustadmarmor AS

Confidential until 20. May 201

The development of Western wheat stem sawfly (Cephus cinctus Nort) in various host plants as an index of resistance

Resistance is not an unalterable factor, but is influenced by environment;Wheat stems which are solid or partially solid are more resistant than hollow stems;Golden Ball, a durum wheat, retains its solid characteristic under all conditions thus far investigated. The consistency of the pithy tissue is variable depending on environment;The solid and semi-solid vulgare varieties, S615, S632, S633 and S493, are variable in the expression of the pith tissue in the lumen. If a completely solid stem which would be stable under a wide range of conditions could be obtained by selection it would be of great value in a breeding program;Agropyron elongatum is highly resistant. Since it can be readily crossed with wheat it may be very valuable as parental breeding stock;There is evidence to indicate that timothy (Phleum pratense) is highly resistant to wheat stem sawfly. If this is definitely established this grass will undoubtedly be used in many areas as a permanent trap crop;Oats with its many varieties appears to lack nutritional requirements for the development of C. cinctus;Resistance can be determined to some extent by observing the development of the larvae and the size and oviposition potential of the females;The most reliable measure of resistance is the resultant larval mortality in infested stems

Bygdefolks syn på hytte-boomen. Delresultater fra undersøkelsen By, bygd og fritidsboliger 2008

-I dette notatet gis en presentasjon av noen av de empiriske resultatene fra Norsk senter for bygdeforsknings spørreundersøkelse ”By, bygd og fritidsboliger 2008” som ble gjennomført vinteren 2008. Analysene viser at bygdefolket i distriktskommuner med mange hytter jevnt over er positive til hyttefenomenet i bostedskommunen. Ikke minst gjelder dette lokale aktører som har en direkte økonomisk gevinst av hytteutbyggingen, så som grunneiere og selvstendig næringsdrivende som har hyttefolket som kunder. Samtidig er det også en betydelig gruppe som mener at gevinstene av hyttebyggingen er begrenset, og som også er skeptisk til videre hytteutvikling i bostedskommunen

A Wavelet Analysis of the Bitcoin-Hashrate Nexus Accounting for the Effects of Energy Commodities

This study investigates the relationship between the growth rates of Bitcoin and Bitcoin hashrate while controlling for the effect of energy commodities, specifically two-month futures on Brent crude oil, coal, and natural gas. Based on daily data from January 2013 until December 2022, we utilize the wavelet methodology to analyze dynamics both in time and frequency. Building on the previous work of Rehman and Kang (2021), this study extends the sample period and improves the replicability of their findings. Controlling for the effect of energy commodities, our analysis reveals several interesting results, highlighting the temporal and dynamic nature of these relationships. Our most significant observation that was discovered in both bi- and multivariate forms of the wavelet methodology is the low-frequency in-phase coherence between bitcoin's returns and hashrate growth rates, which persists from the beginning of 2020 until the end of our sample period in 2023, with hashrate growth rates leading bitcoin returns. These findings suggest that the link between the returns on bitcoin and hashrate growth rates while considering the impact of the energy commodities is complex and context-dependent, and further research is needed to fully understand the underlying mechanisms driving these relationships. Our study contributes to the existing literature on the Bitcoin-hashrate nexus by providing a more comprehensive analysis that accounts for the dynamic nature of these relationships, and by improving the replicability of previous research

A Wavelet Analysis of the Bitcoin- Hashrate Nexus Accounting for the Effects of Energy Commodities

This study investigates the relationship between the growth rates of Bitcoin and Bitcoin hashrate while controlling for the effect of energy commodities, specifically two-month futures on Brent crude oil, coal, and natural gas. Based on daily data from January 2013 until December 2022, we utilize the wavelet methodology to analyze dynamics both in time and frequency. Building on the previous work of Rehman and Kang (2021), this study extends the sample period and improves the replicability of their findings. Controlling for the effect of energy commodities, our analysis reveals several interesting results, highlighting the temporal and dynamic nature of these relationships. Our most significant observation that was discovered in both bi- and multivariate forms of the wavelet methodology is the low-frequency in-phase coherence between bitcoin's returns and hashrate growth rates, which persists from the beginning of 2020 until the end of our sample period in 2023, with hashrate growth rates leading bitcoin returns. These findings suggest that the link between the returns on bitcoin and hashrate growth rates while considering the impact of the energy commodities is complex and context-dependent, and further research is needed to fully understand the underlying mechanisms driving these relationships. Our study contributes to the existing literature on the Bitcoin-hashrate nexus by providing a more comprehensive analysis that accounts for the dynamic nature of these relationships, and by improving the replicability of previous research

Crowdfunding of GHG mitigation measures in agriculture: A feasible contribution to the climate challenges? Sociocultural constraints and enablers in Norway

publishedVersio