Weighted simplicial complex reconstruction from mobile laser scanning using sensor topology

We propose a new method for the reconstruction of simplicial complexes (combining points, edges and triangles) from 3D point clouds from Mobile Laser Scanning (MLS). Our method uses the inherent topology of the MLS sensor to define a spatial adjacency relationship between points. We then investigate each possible connexion between adjacent points, weighted according to its distance to the sensor, and filter them by searching collinear structures in the scene, or structures perpendicular to the laser beams. Next, we create and filter triangles for each triplet of self-connected edges and according to their local planarity. We compare our results to an unweighted simplicial complex reconstruction.Comment: 8 pages, 11 figures, CFPT 2018. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1802.0748

The impact of inter-organizational management control systems on performance: a longitudinal case study of a supplier relation in automotive.

This study investigates whether appropriate management control design of supplier relations is associated with better performance. Although management control systems (MCSs) are found to be contingent on situational characteristics, it remains unclear whether this contingency fit contributes to performance. In order to illustrate the existence and refine the dynamics of the fit-performance association, we perform a longitudinal case study of an exemplary automotive manufacturer-supplier relation that was subject to considerable change and severe performance difficulties in the course of time. As proposed, case findings show that if the supplier is incapable of dealing with changed contingencies, a MCS contingency misfit is associated with poor operational performance. However, this misfit is only temporal, as the manufacturer adapts the MCS to fit the changed supplier relation and regain operational performance. In addition, the longitudinal study suggests that trust and basic formal control (control continuously exercised under all circumstances) are complements, while trust substitutes for extra formal control (control set up on top of basic formal control). Finally, the data indicate a timing difference in the substitutive relation: the building up of extra formal control proceeds gradually, while the lowering happens almost immediately.management control; trust; performance; supplier relationships; manufacturing; contingency theory; case research; automotive;

Management Accounting Concerning Inter-Organizational Relationship : Literature Review

This study is to examine what sort of studies have been accumulated on Inter-Organizational Management Accounting which has attracted attention in recent years, on the basis of the existing studies in the USA and Europe. The result of the examination clarifies that relevant studies have changed their tendency from paying attention to Japanese-style management to strengthening their conscious examination of the relationship with the past management accounting studies

Management control of supplier relationships in manufacturing: a case study in the automotive industry.

This paper studies management control design of supplier relationships in manufacturing, a supply chain phase currently under-explored. Compared to supplier relations during procurement and R&D, which research found to be governed by a combination of formal and informal controls, supplier relations in manufacturing are more formal, so that they could be governed by more formal and less informal controls. To refine the management control system and influencing contingencies, we propose a theoretical framework specifically adapted for the manufacturing stage. This framework is investigated by an in depth case study of the supplier management control of a Volvo Cars production facility. We identify three types of suppliers visualizing the associations in the framework and illustrating the framework’s explicative power in (automotive) manufacturing. Furthermore, the case contradicts that supplier relations in the manufacturing phase are governed by little informal control, because the automaker highly values the role of trust building and social pressure. Most notably, a structured supplier team functions as a clan and establishes informal control among participating suppliers, which strengthens the automaker’s control on dyadic supplier relations.management control; supplier relationships; manufacturing; contingency theory; case research;

LE PARTENARIAT VERTICAL DANS L'INDUSTRIE AERONAUTIQUE : VERS UNE CONFIGURATION DE CONTROLE ADAPTEE AUX EVOLUTIONS DE L'ENVIRONNEMENT

International audienceThis research aims at sutdying the adaptation of an inter-organisational control configuration (in termes of strategy, structure and control) to the evolutions of the environment. The empirical research is based on a case study of an aeronautic motorist called Aeromotor. This motorist has restructured its buyer-supplier relationships after a complete repositioning of its business model towards service activities. This repositioning is due ti strong evolutions of the environment of the aeronautic industry. Results show that Aeromotor developed a partenarial control configuration: a partenarial strategy with fewer suppliers, a purchasing structure that is local and global with buyer executive that coordinate the whole relationship and a supplier control that allies bureaucratic and relational devices.Cette recherche a pour objectif d'étudier l'adaptation d'une configuration de contrôle inter-organisationnelle (en termes de stratégie, de structure et de contrôle) aux évolutions de l'environnement. La recherche empirique est basée sur une étude de cas auprès d'un motoriste aéronautique Aeromotor. Ce motoriste a restructuré ses relations client-fournisseur après un repositionnement complet de son business model vers des activités de service compte tenu des évolutions de l'environnement de la filière aéronautique. Les résultats montrent qu'Aeromotor a développé une configuration de contrôle de type partenarial : une stratégie de partenariat avec un nombre plus restreint de fournisseurs, une structure achat à la fois locale et globale avec des responsables achat coordonnant toute la relation et un contrôle des fournisseurs alliant dispositifs bureaucratiques et relationnels

Is a reduction in brown adipose thermogenesis responsible for the change in core body temperature at menopause?

Maintenance of thermal homeostasis within a tight range is regulated not only by a variety of internal and external cues but also by sex and biological age. The major organ responsible for adaptive thermogenesis is brown adipose tissue (BAT) and the recent re-discovery of its presence in adult humans has led to huge interest in the role that it may play in modulating cardiometabolic health. Interestingly, as with maintenance of thermal homeostasis, the total amount and metabolic activity of BAT is modulated by sex and biological age. In this short commentary we discuss the recent finding that core-body temperature is reduced in women post-menopause, a period when excess adiposity and increased risk of cardiometabolic disease is evident and postulate that alterations in sex hormones downregulated the thermogenic activity of BAT cold contribute to this deleterious phenotype

Control configurations in buyer-supplier relationships: environment- buyer organisation- goals and modes of control

Considering the growing externalisation of strategic activities, the problem of the control of buyer-supplier relationships is crucial. Therefore, researchers usually propose modes of control that are adapted to various environments. However, the organisations are often considered as “black boxes” whose goals are unspecified. This paper examines buyer-supplier control configurations that take into account the organisation of buying firms and their goals toward their suppliers. This research is based on six case studies conducted in the manufacturing industry (60 interviews). The outcome of the research is a matrix which represents four configurations of buyer-supplier control, based on the global purchasing environment of the buying firm (in terms of reciprocal dependence between the buyer and its suppliers). For each configuration, a type of purchasing organisation (structure and intra-organisational control of purchasing agents) and a principal goal for the buying firm are proposed: the lord-buyer wants to exert its power, the partner-buyer aims at assuring goal congruence with its suppliers, the vassal-buyer tries to reduce uncertainty and the market-buyer seeks to grasp opportunities on the market. For each configuration, the modes of control that the buyer exerts on its suppliers –in terms of means, objects of control, influence strategies of the buyer (more or less coercive) and suppliers reactions- are coherent with the main goal of the buyer.interorganisational control; buyer-supplier relationship; power; dependence; Goals of control

LE PARTENARIAT VERTICAL DANS L'INDUSTRIE AERONAUTIQUE : VERS UNE CONFIGURATION DE CONTROLE ADAPTEE AUX EVOLUTIONS DE L'ENVIRONNEMENT

Cette recherche a pour objectif d'étudier l'adaptation d'une configuration de contrôle inter-organisationnelle (en termes de stratégie, de structure et de contrôle) aux évolutions de l'environnement. La recherche empirique est basée sur une étude de cas auprès d'un motoriste aéronautique Aeromotor. Ce motoriste a restructuré ses relations client-fournisseur après un repositionnement complet de son business model vers des activités de service compte tenu des évolutions de l'environnement de la filière aéronautique. Les résultats montrent qu'Aeromotor a développé une configuration de contrôle de type partenarial : une stratégie de partenariat avec un nombre plus restreint de fournisseurs, une structure achat à la fois locale et globale avec des responsables achat coordonnant toute la relation et un contrôle des fournisseurs alliant dispositifs bureaucratiques et relationnels.gouvernance inter-organisationnelle; contrôle client-fournisseur; partenariat; industrie aéronautique

applying levers of control in interorganisational relationships

Se pretende realizar una contribución desde la teoría del control de gestión, aplicando conceptos intraorganizacionales al control en un contexto de relaciones interorganizacionales, a través del modelo MPC (management control paths). En la primera parte se discute e identifica el problema del control de gestión en entornos intra e interorganizacionales. La segunda sección presenta el modelo, explicando el concepto de MPC como marco general para el diseño de sistemas de control de gestión en contextos interorganizacionales. Las dos últimas secciones describen la metodología de investigación y los resultados e identifican futuras líneas de investigació

Integration versus subcontracting: The case of the French automotive industry (1945-1970).

Today’s car manufacturers resort widely to subcontracting, but the origins of this practice are not recent. From the beginning of the twentieth century, the car manufacturer Louis Renault committed the production of some components to external suppliers, although the company is often presented as a comprehensive model of vertical integration. This article aims to describe the evolution of subcontracting within the Renault firm from 1945 to the 1970s. This family business company constitutes a relevant case study because of its history. During the interwar period, Renault became the leading French car manufacturer. The company then undertook a broad diversification of its business activities (towards the production of tractors, airplanes, buses, tanks…), but finally chose to focus on its core activity: the automotive business. In addition, this firm’s history is particularly interesting due to its close links with the history of France in the 20th century (Fridenson, 1998; Sardais, 2005). During this century, the political, economic and social events affecting France strongly influenced the company’s activity and constituted crucial turning points in its history (war production, nationalisation, privatisation …). The study of Renault’s archives, such as activity reports and internal memoranda, allow us to distinguish four stages in the evolution of the company’s externalisation policy. The nationalisation of the firm, at the end of World War II, constituted an interlude in its history. Under state control, the firm’s managers started to reflect on the possibility of a subcontracting policy. However, this debate was interrupted by strikes in the Billancourt factories. A real subcontracting strategy was implemented from the 1950s, after being hotly debated by the firm’s stakeholders. A great number of memoranda on the subject reveal a passionate debate on the advantages and disadvantages of subcontracting. The premises of this policy were not clearly affirmed, but they constituted the beginning of an irreversible process.Subcontracting; Renault;