Emission trading scheme : risks & strategies for the Norwegian petroleum industry

Masteroppgave i Energy management - Universitetet i Nordland, 2012The issue of climate change has become one of the greatest challenges to our living pattern. There is huge pressure on the countries to cut their greenhouse gas emission that caused the climate change. Kyoto protocol is one of the international agreement that binds the developed countries to mitigate the greenhouse gas emissions for the certain amount. Protocol has recommended three mechanisms to achieve emissions reduction target cost effectively. One of them is emission trading scheme. The purpose of this study to explore what opportunities and Risks have emerged for the Norwegian Petroleum with the implementation of the Emission trading scheme. Institutional theory and Domestic political model has used to analyze the risks from the environmental regulations. Furthermore, this study has also focused deeply on what strategic actions industry undertaking in order to undermine the risks and utilize the opportunities. We have used Steger model and corporate model to examine the industry response to the EU ETS (European Emission trading Scheme). We have found that main risk for the industry is increase in operating cost that would create the financial problems, delay the projects and may restrain the upcoming projects on the Norwegian continental shelf. The decrease in the demand of the fossil fuel due to tight environment regulations is another challenges for the industry but it is unlikely in short term. Currently, industry is striving to increase the electrification of the shelf and deploy CCS technology in order to reduce the significant amount of emissions. Furthermore, industry is paying attention on the efficiency measures that can also limit emissions in short period of time without heavy investment. Industry is also participating in CDM and JI to offset carbon emission cost effectively. In order to develop sustainable technologies, industry and other stakeholder engage in Research and Development Activities

HESITANCY TOWARDS ONLINE SHOPPING, A STUDY OF PAKISTANI CONSUMERS

To study the influence of Perceived cost, risk, convenience and enjoyment on online consumer purchases. Being more convenient online shopping seems painless compared to in store shopping, why consumers are still reluctant to shop online?.A sample of 220 questionnaires was filled from different departments at University of Sargodha. Respondents were asked to fill the questionnaire based on four factors (Perceived cost, Perceived risk, Perceived convenience, Perceived enjoyment), there were 2 general questions. Out of 220, 207 questionnaires were returned. One sample test is applied in this study to check the reliability of independent variables. Analysis was also done on basis of gender and their ages. The most important factor out of four, which can persuade the customer's online buying decision, is delivery cost for purchased items and it has negative relationship with dependent variable, moreover perceived risk has also negative relationship with dependent one. Perceived convenience and Perceived enjoyment has positive relationship with online shopping preference. As online shopping is easier to do but due to extra delivery cost and risk factors consumers do not adopt online shopping and these factors should be minimized to promote online shopping. Online shopping should be promoted and to gain the consumer confidence, delivery cost and risk factor should be minimized. As online shopping is easier to do as compared to offline shopping but people still reluctant to use internet for online shopping, so to promote online shopping delivery cost and risk factor should be minimized to gain consumers attraction and confidence. People want to experience online shopping but it won’t be promoted until delivery cost and perceived risk factors be reduced. A little work has been done on exploring the factors that influence the online buying decision. These factors are called situational factors and include delivery charges, risk factors, convenience factors and enjoyment factors. In Pakistan consumers are not too much affiliated to online shopping as compared to European countries and not too much researches have been done related to online shopping in Pakistan , so this research been conducted to promote online shopping

Antiulcerogenic Activity of Vitamin E on Gastric Ulcers produced by Indomethacin

Objective: To study the morphological and histological effects of vitamin E on gastric lesions produced by indomethacin.Materials and Methods: This was an animal interventional study, 48 adult healthy albino mice were selected and were split into four groups A, B, C and D. Number of animals in each group was 12. Group A was categorized as control. Evion 400mg/kg was administered to Group B. Indocid 25mg/kg was given to group C. Indocid and Evion both (25mg/kg &400 mg/kg respectively) were administered to Group D. In all group, six animals were selected and treated for three days and rest for eight days with calculated doses of drugs. Mice were sacrificed and dissection was done 24 hours after the last dose. The stomach was identified, washed, and observed under dissecting microscope to study the number and shape of ulcers. The dimension of ulcers was measured under a compound microscope.Results: No ulcers were seen in groups A and B. 35 and 10 ulcers were observed in groups C and D respectively. The mean number of ulcers in groups C and D was statistically significant (p-value=0.000). In comparison to group D, Pindot, linear, Irregular, and punched-out ulcers were more prevalent in group C and were statistically significant (p-value < 0.05). The mean linear dimension of ulcers in group C was much greater than in group D. The mean dimension of ulcers in group C1 and C2 was 262.50µm and 232.5µm respectively. Whereas in group D1 and D2 given both Indocid and vitamin E the dimensions were 56.5µm and 50µm.Conclusion: Vitamin E has an anti-ulcerogenic effect on stomach mucosa by reducing the number and dimension of ulcers

Understanding Flood Risk Management in Asia: Concepts and Challenges

In this chapter, an attempt is made to review the behavior of flood in Asian region and mechanism of flood risk management adopted among Asian nations. Flood is the most frequent natural disaster at present and vulnerability is widespread across the globe. Though, Asian region is on a knife-edge. Distribution of natural disasters in Asia followed by economic damage and human killing is illustrated in this chapter. In addition, discourse of China, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka on flood risk management is examined. Flood risk management policies framed by these nations over the period of time are synthesized. Research and investment on forecasting, planning, preparedness, assessment, evaluation, and mitigation of flood risk are explained. This synthesis can present a pathway for better response and flood management for debated Asian countries through filling the identified policy gaps. This chapter also urges a need of holistic and inter-countries research and cross country analysis followed by increased funding for sustainable management of risk

ULOGA OBITELJSKE KONTROLE U ODREĐIVANJU STRUKTURE KAPITALA: SLUČAJ NEFINANCIJSKIH PODUZEĆA UVRŠTENIH NA BURZU

This study aims to examine the effect of family control on the corporate financing decision of firms in Pakistan. This study uses the annual data of 100 non-financial firms listed at PSX for the period 2005-2012. To estimate the impact of family control on the corporate financing decision, we employ the ordinary least square (OLS) method. The findings of the univariate analysis show that a significant difference exists between family and nonfamily firms based on many characteristics of firms. Multivariate analysis results show that family firms maintain significantly high “total debt ratio” and “short-term debt ratio” compared to non-family firms. There are two reasons why family firms keep high debt ratios compared to non-family firms. First, family-owned firms do not want to dilute their ownership, and that is why they fulfill their major financing needs through debt instead of issuing new shares in the market. Second, family firms in Pakistan use extra cash flows for their private benefits. These findings reveal useful insights for investors, banks, regulators, and business families of Pakistan.Ovaj rad ispituje učinak obiteljske kontrole na odluke o financiranju poduzeća u Pakistanu. Korišteni su godišnji podaci 100 nefinancijskih poduzeća navedenih na PSX-u za razdoblje 2005.-2012. Za procjenu utjecaja obiteljske kontrole na odluku o financiranju poduzeća korištena je metoda običnog najmanjeg kvadrata (ordinary least square, OLS). Nalazi univarijantne analize pokazuju da postoji značajna razlika između obiteljskih i neobiteljskih poduzeća na temelju brojnih karakteristika poduzeća. Rezultati multivarijantne analize pokazuju da obiteljska poduzeća imaju značajno visok “omjer ukupnog duga” i “omjer kratkoročnog duga” u usporedbi s neobiteljskim poduzećima. Dva su razloga zašto obiteljska poduzeća drže visoke stope duga u usporedbi s neobiteljskim poduzećima. Prvo, obiteljska poduzeća ne žele razvodnjavati svoje vlasništvo i zato svoje potrebe financiranja zadovoljavaju dugovima umjesto da izdaju nove udjele na tržištu. Drugo, obiteljska poduzeća u Pakistanu koriste dodatne novčane tokove za svoje privatne koristi. Ovi nalazi otkrivaju korisne uvide za investitore, banke, regulatore i poslovne obitelji Pakistana

A Novel Features-Based Multivariate Gaussian Distribution Method for the Fraudulent Consumers Detection in the Power Utilities of Developing Countries

According to statistics, developing countries all over the world have suffered significant non-technical losses (NTLs) both in natural gas and electricity distribution. NTLs are thought of as energy that is consumed but not billed e.g., theft, meter tampering, meter reversing, etc. The adaptation of smart metering technology has enabled much of the developed world to significantly reduce their NTLs. Also, the recent advancements in machine learning and data analytics have enabled a further reduction in these losses. However, these solutions are not directly applicable to developing countries because of their infrastructure and manual data collection. This paper proposes a tailored solution based on machine learning to mitigate NTLs in developing countries. The proposed method is based on a multivariate Gaussian distribution framework to identify fraudulent consumers. It integrates novel features like social class stratification and the weather profile of an area. Thus, achieving a significant improvement in fraudulent consumer detection. This study has been done on a real dataset of consumers provided by the local power distribution companies that have been cross-validated by onsite inspection. The obtained results successfully identify fraudulent consumers with a maximum success rate of 75%. 2013 IEEE.This work was supported by the Qatar National Library.Scopus2-s2.0-8510734936

How Different Behavior of Bosses Affect the Organization Performance

The behaviors of bosses in the organization determine the good and bad performances of employees. The purpose of this research is to identify behaviors of different bosses in various situations. Actually people or employees must be guided by bosses, who have a clear sense of direction. A group discussion approach has been adopted by the researchers in which department of management sciences of The Islamia University Bahawalpur has been taken for the discussion on boss behaviors. A qualitative approach has been adopted for content analysis of performance evaluation of employees in this university. Research has been taken from teaching staff of university and results are analyzed for the basis of group discussion. Results have shown that by compare and contrast method to evaluate the responses of teacher about their boss. Research have also shown that factors like displaying moral courage ,abusive supervision ,keep commitments and opportunity learn and grow are the potential hindrances in performances of teacher in this department .Proposals and implications for this department have also been discussed in order to improve the performance. Keywords: Human resource management, organization performance, teacher’s evaluation, work environment, bosses behavior, Department of management sciences Islamia University Bahawalpur (DMS, IUB

Mediation of The Superior-Subordinate Communication In Determining Work Engagement Among Bureaucrats

This study aims to investigate how the superior-subordinate communication mediates policy formulation and employees' dedication in work engagement among the serving bureaucracy in Punjab (province of Pakistan) government. The study used a cross-sectional design vis-à-vis survey method to collect data from a representative sample (n=250) of serving bureaucrats of the Punjab government. The findings showed that there was a positive association between policy formulation (PF) and dedication towards work engagement (WE). Furthermore, the findings revealed that the relationship between policy formulation (PF) and dedication towards work engagement (WE) was partially mediated by superior-subordinate communication (SSC). The study addressed the research gap regarding the association of the policy formulation (PF) and dedication towards work engagement (WE) by examining the mediation of superior-subordinate communication (SSC) in their association by progressing the LMX theory in a less researched context of Pakistan. The results explained how more sophisticated work engagement could be achieved in the implementation of the policies by improving the communication channels between superiors and subordinates among the different ranks of the bureaucrats.&nbsp