MANAGING UTILITY COMPANIES IN DYNAMIC MARKETS

Uznapredovala liberalizacija tržišta sve je veći izazov sustavima upravljanja kakvi se primjenjuju u javnim poduzećima. Javlja se potreba za organizacijskim i procesnim preustrojem u tri područja: strukture grupe, sustavi upravljanja i organizacija za upravljanje/financijsku analizu i praćenje. Za tvrtke u ovom sektoru bitno je da sustavno podižu razinu svojih sustava upravljanja te da usvoje najviše međunarodne standarde. No jednako je važna temeljito upravljanje promjenama kako bi se osigurala puna provedba izrađenih strategija. U ovom se članku istražuje što se može učiniti u tri spomenuta područja kako bi se osiguralo da se javnim poduzećima upravlja u skladu s najnovijim dostignućima. Teorija se potom konkretizira primjenom jednog stvarnog slučaja – riječ je o novijem projektu što ga tvrtka Roland Berger vodi za jedno srednjoeuropsko javno poduzeće.The advance of market liberalization is posing an increasing challenge to the management systems operated by utility companies. A need for organizational and process realignment in three areas – group structures, management systems and management/financial analysis and monitoring organization – is coming to light. It is vital for companies in this sector to enhance their management systems systematically and to learn from international benchmarks. Just as important, though, is thorough change management to ensure that the strategies developed are fully implemented. This article explores what can be done in these three areas to ensure that utilities are managed in line with the state of the art. The theory is then fleshed out by a real-world case study – a recent project conducted by Roland Berger for a Central European utility company

Testing a silvicultural recommendation: Brazil nut responses 10 years after liana cutting.

1. Lianas or woody vines can be detrimental to the trees that support them. Research on liana cutting for tropical timber management has demonstrated positive yet costly benefits, but liana utting to enhance commercial outputs of nontimber forest products has not been examined. We implemented a controlled experiment to quantify the effects of cutting lianas on Brazil nut Bertholletia excelsa Bonpl. fecundity. 2. We conducted our 10-year experiment in a Brazilian extractive reserve where local harvesters collect fruits from this Amazonian canopy-emergent species as part of their forest-based livelihood system. We cut 454 lianas with a total basal area of 2 41 m 2 from 78 of 138 host trees ≥ 50 cm diameter at breast height. 3. Treated trees were significantly better producers 3 ½ years after liana cutting, and these differences increased dramatically in subsequent years, with consistent proportionally higher production in treated versus untreated individuals. 4. The number of lianas rooted within 5 m of the host tree significantly explained production levels, suggesting both above- and below-ground liana ? host tree competition. Once host crowns were liana-free, branch regrowth was highly visible, particularly in heavily infested trees, and crown reassessments suggested that liana cutting improved crown form. Additionally, liana cutting may induce some nonproducing trees to become producers and may circumvent mortality of trees heavily infested with lianas (> 75% crown covered). 5. Liana removal can be implemented easily when harvesting Brazil nut fruits. Only lianas associated with B. excelsa trees should be cut to conserve liana ecosystem functions. 6. Synthesis and applications. We quantified effects of liana cutting on Brazil nut host tree fecundity and provided estimates of increased commercial yields. Our long-term (10-year) study permits understanding of biological variation and informs related management decisions. Findings suggest that liana cutting reduces above- and below-ground competition with individual trees, ultimately allowing mature host crowns to recover such that 9 - 10 years after liana cutting, treated trees produced on average three times more fruits than untreated trees. Application of liana cutting to other tropical species would likely boost fruit and seed production, increase host tree fecundity and potentially enhance future recruitment

The evolving role of Bertholletia excelsa in Amazonia: contributing to local livelihoods and forest conservation.

O papel em evolução de Bertholletia excelsa na Amazônia: contribuição a modos de vida locais e conservação florestal: In the last three decades, Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa) has emerged as a cornerstone species for Amazonia. This has gone hand-in-hand with the creation of extractive reserves, an alternative land use model to balance biodiversity conservation with rural development, whereby traditional forest residents are assigned legal responsibility for co-management of these reserves and their resources, including Brazil nut. The essential role of this species in conservation and local livelihoods has precipitated a shift from general exploitation to more conscious, intensive management

Pollen and seed flow patterns of Carapa guianensis Aublet. (Meliaceae) in two types of Amazonian forest.

Various factors affect spatial genetic structure in plant populations, including adult density and primary and second-ary seed dispersal mechanisms. We evaluated pollen and seed dispersal distances and spatial genetic structure of Carapa guianensisAublet. (Meliaceae) in occasionally inundated andterra firmeforest environments that differed in tree densities and secondary seed dispersal agents. We used parentage analysis to obtain contemporary gene flow estimates and assessed the spatial genetic structure of adults and juveniles. Despite the higher density of adults (di-ameter at breast height25 cm) and spatial aggregation in occasionally inundated forest, the average pollen dis-persal distance was similar in both types of forest (195106minterra firme and 17587 m in occasionally inundated plots). Higher seed flow rates (36.7% of juveniles were from outside the plot) and distances (155 84 m) were found interra firme compared to the occasionally inundated plot (25.4% and 11469 m). There was a weak spatial genetic structure in juveniles and interra firme adults. These results indicate that inundation may not have had a significant role in seed dispersal in the occasionally inundated plot, probably because of the higher levels of seedling mortality

O Etnoconhecimeto da sangria em castanheiras-da-amazônia.

O presente estudo tem por objetivo descrever o etnoconhecimento da sangria na castanheira

Domesticação e melhoramento de castanheira.

A castanheira (Bertholletia excelsa Bonpl., Lechytidaceae) é uma das árvores-símbolo da Amazônia, devido a sua importância social, ecológica e econômica para a região. Milhares de famílias de extrativistas e produtores rurais utilizam a semente da castanheira como importante fonte de renda. É popularmente conhecida como castanha-do-pará ou castanha-do-brasil e, mais recentemente, castanha-da-amazônia. A castanheira pode ser considerada uma espécie de uso múltiplo, pois sua madeira é de excelente qualidade para a construção naval e civil. Com a madeira também se produz celulose de boa qualidade para fabricação de papel, de sua casca pode-se fazer um tipo de fibra de cor acinzentada que serve como estopa de calefação, do ouriço se faz carvão de elevado poder calorífico e da amêndoa se extrai um óleo de excelente qualidade tanto para alimentação como para fabricação de cosméticos

Sustainable forest use in Brazilian extractive reserves: natural regeneration of Brazil nut in exploited populations.

The emergence of Brazilian extractive reserves reinforced the notion that sustainable forest use could play a central role in conservation. Brazil nut is considered a model non-timber product for promoting conservation through use. Demographic studies, however, have demonstrated differential impacts of nut harvest on Brazil nut population structure. Comparing three populations with different forest use histories, degrees of road access, and recent levels of nut harvest, we asked: (1) Are they exhibiting regeneration failure? and (2) Are seedling/sapling densities explained by adult Brazil nut structure, fruit fate and/or overall forest structure? We installed four 9-ha plots in each site to census Brazil nut trees > 10 cm dbh, and within each plot, 36 subplots (25 × 25 m each) to quantify regeneration, overall forest structure, and open and closed fruit counts. Approximately 29-55% of fruits was unharvested, and more than 90% of these was opened by scatterhoarding dispersers. Population structure approximated a reverse-J size class distribution, with seedling densities varying from 3.2 to 5.8 individuals ha-1. We conclude that within the current harvest context, regeneration is sufficient for population persistence in our sites, at least over the medium term. The socioeconomics of sustainably managing Brazil nut is the greater challenge, involving interlinked competitive land uses, nut quality, and substantial increases in local income from harvest. Some of these challenges are being addressed in Brazil, Bolivia and Peru, providing hope that this cornerstone extractive species will continue to play a prominent role in the ecological and economic landscape of Amazonia

Comparing seed production and regeneration of Carapa guianensis (Aublet.) in two forest types in Acre, Brazil from 2004 to 2007.

Carapa guianensis is a tropical tree valuable for its seed oil and timber. This study compared Carapa seed production and regeneration density in two forest types: upland and occasionally inundated

Swidden fallow management to increase landscape-level Brazil nut productivity.

Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa Bonpl.) is considered the cornerstone non-timber species of Amazonian conservation. Nuts (or seeds) of this massive tree are harvested by local people living in and near old growth forests, supporting local livelihoods and regional economies. Secondary forests, however, particularly plots previously used for agriculture (swidden fallows), present better B. excelsa seedling and sapling recruitment than mature forest. This study examines the extent to which forest residents could increase nut productivity by allowing their fallows to grow into Brazil nut rich forests. We conducted B. excelsa inventories in the Brazilian state of Acre in abandoned swidden fallows of different ages. We also conducted interviews to determine landowner perspectives on the fallow potential for increasing nut production. An individual-based model, based on in-situ inventories and primary and secondary datasets from prior fieldwork, simulated growth, survivorship and production from the 250 inventoried trees in 18 fallows of varying sizes (from 0.41 to 4.18 ha) and different regrowth stages (12 to 60 years old). These simulation model predictions showed that after 10 years, 2.4% of existing trees would be productive, with an average of 68.6 ± 21.5 fruits per reproductively mature tree in the four fallows that most quickly yielded productive trees. By the final projected time interval (40 years), predictions suggest all fallows will produce fruits with cumulative production averaging 1475 ± 359 fruits ha?1, suggesting an increase in landowner income of US$55.1 ± 13.4 per hectare of fallow. Our simulation model is the first to explore fruit productivity of Brazil nut in secondary forest. It likely underpredicts B. excelsa growth and nut production, considering that swidden fallows provide better resource availability than the forest-derived datasets we used to construct the model equations. In conclusion, our findings support previous research that suggests that higher B. excelsa recruitment rates observed in abandoned swidden fallows could indeed translate into greater adult densities and thus potentially, higher nut production – a conclusion mirrored by most participant landowners