A Strategic Approach to Crisis Management and Organizational Resilience

The paper adopts a strategic view on organizational survival and argues that preparedness, responsiveness, adaptability and learning abilities constitute organizational drivers of resilience and a new direction on crisis management. As a conceptual and literature exploration, the methodological focus is to combine various concepts within a unified model for resilience. The proposed conceptual model highlights the need for strategic reconfigurations toward the construction of a resilience culture and the development of a supporting social capital in organizations. It also portrays organizational survival and sustainability as dependent on strategic characteristics rather than the managerial ability to handle situations and manage crisis. Implications, methodological concerns in the study of resilience and further research directions are also presented. The paper approaches a new way of thinking about crises and provides a set of cultural and organisational characteristics that would increase resilience and crisis management abilities. While organisations are nowadays more than even affected by disruptions and crises, their inherent ability and strategies to protect their sustainability have been under theorized. This paper aims at contributing to a growing and fruitful discussion

I don't even know who I am anymore and frankly, neither do you: the role of the media in the collapse and reconfiguration of identities

Rich literature on organizational and individual identities construction assumes that identities are relatively stable and longstanding in time (e.g. Albert & Whetten, 1991). However, such assumptions presume a certain degree of stability in organizational settings while allocating power to the role of organizational identities in the formation of individual ones. In this paper, we focus on the problems of collapsing identities and aim at exploring how people respond to large-scale crises and organizational failures. By conducting qualitative research across middle managers in a troubled sector and within a troubled economy, we explore individuals’ responses to the collapse of organizational and personal work identities and by using concepts from Lacan, Bourdieu and Ricoeur we conceptualize the problem of identities’ reconfiguration, also bringing forward the role of mediated communication. Our analysis highlights three important issues. First, the importance of a ‘mirroring’ process as managers constantly attempt to retrieve particles of a new identity from pre-existing identities (family, sports, friend) and in the process of doing so they seek for validation and confirmation. Our analysis suggests that in the crisis and identity collapsing period, pre-existing hidden identities that have been silenced enter the arena of identity formation. Moreover, they are employed to construct new ones, such as the immigrant or ‘insider’. Second, we bring forward the dominant role of mechanisms of information mediation and their critical role in building ideological frameworks, framing the crisis, legitimizing certain identities and producing a projection of fragments of ‘other’ possible identities. We propose that Individuals engage with the mass media in an attempt to place a mirror between a chaotic present and the uncertain future – the process which we approach as ‘the construction of projected image’. Third, we explore a narrative and self-biographical approach to this identity reconfiguration process as individuals subscribe to a narrative of the self ‘in medias res’. They talk about the past and they design the future, thus building their association with different groups, organizations and the society. Our discussion moves around the notion of ‘failing identities’ and we draw on Lacan’s ideas of lack, Bourdieu’s argument on biographical illusions and Ricoeur’s understanding of identities as temporary narrative constructions. This paper argues that identity collapses stand both as a conceptual and practical problem to be analysed but also as an opportunity to explore the identity formation processes in organizations

Smart Asset Management for Electric Utilities: Big Data and Future

This paper discusses about future challenges in terms of big data and new technologies. Utilities have been collecting data in large amounts but they are hardly utilized because they are huge in amount and also there is uncertainty associated with it. Condition monitoring of assets collects large amounts of data during daily operations. The question arises "How to extract information from large chunk of data?" The concept of "rich data and poor information" is being challenged by big data analytics with advent of machine learning techniques. Along with technological advancements like Internet of Things (IoT), big data analytics will play an important role for electric utilities. In this paper, challenges are answered by pathways and guidelines to make the current asset management practices smarter for the future.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings of 12th World Congress on Engineering Asset Management (WCEAM) 201

Aventura gráfica multijugador

Este proyecto consiste en una aventura gráfica multijugador on-line basado en una historia en la facultad de informática de la UCM. El diseño del juego está basado en Java Beans Enterprise de J2EE para la arquitectura cliente servidor y en componentes swing de J2SE para la interfaz gráfica. Hemos usado el entorno Eclipse como plataforma de desarrollo. Además hemos aprovechado las siguientes herramientas que vienen integradas en el entorno del servidor JBOSS, Xdoclet, Ant y el plugin Lomboz. [ABSTRACT] This proyect is an on line multi user graphic adventure. It tells a history which happen on UCM Facultad de Informatica. The game design uses Java Bean Enterprise for server-client architecture and J2SE swing for graphic interface. We have worked on Eclipse environment which comes with JBOSS server, Xdoclet, Ant and Lomboz plugin

Five generations of intraocular lens power calculation formulas: A review

Background: The effectiveness of cataract surgery depends on preoperative biometric data, including the axial length (AL), keratometric value (K), anterior chamber depth (ACD), and the accuracy of the intraocular lens power (IOLp) calculation. Five generations of IOLp calculation formulas have been developed. This review summarizes these formulas and focuses on the characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages of each. Moreover, it compares the results of several formulas used in patients with specific characteristics. Methods: The authors searched PubMed and Google Scholar, using keyword combinations including IOLp, formulas, AL, ACD, K, and diopters (D). Two hundred recent articles that referred to IOLp calculation formulas and their effectiveness when used preoperatively in cataract surgery were retrieved and analyzed. Results: Each generation has advantages and disadvantages for individual patients, and the selection of the most appropriate IOL differs due to patients’ different ALs. The shorter or longer the eye is, the less accurate some formulas become. Formulas such as SRK-T, Holladay, SRK-II, Hoffer, and Binkhorst II seem to have comparable efficacy. However, studies have indicated that Hoffer is superior for short eyes. In contrast, SRK/T appears to be slightly more superior for long eyes. The fifth-generation formulas also appear to be very promising. Conclusions: Based on the available literature, there is no gold standard as yet that can be used for all patients. Instead, each patient should be managed individually depending on their particular eye characteristics

On the static and dynamic properties of flax and Cordenka epoxy composites

Fibre reinforced composites have excellent specific properties and are widely sought after by engineers seeking to reduce mass. However, end of life disposal is a significant problem and so research into more sustainable natural fibre composites is extremely topical. This paper examines the applicability of natural fibre composites for high performance structural applications. Woven flax and regenerated cellulose (Cordenka) textiles were pre-impregnated with commercially available epoxy resins and consolidated into test laminates in an autoclave to determine their static (compressive, tensile, flexural) and dynamic (energy absorption) properties. The range of compressive strengths was 77.5–299.6 MPa. Tensile strengths ranged from 63 to 92.6 MPa and interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) from 10.7 to 23.3 MPa. Specific energy absorption (SEA) varied between 21.2–34.2 kJ/kg. Biotex flax combined with MTM49 resin matched the SEA of T300 carbon fibre using the same resin system and layup. This work has demonstrated that natural fibre composites have significant scope for use in structural applications but additional work is required on fibre to matrix bonding in order to maximise their properties whilst remaining an environmentally credible option

Development of slate fiber reinforced high density polyethylene composites for injection molding

During the last decade the use of fiber reinforced composite materials has consolidated as an attracting alternative to traditional materials due to an excellent balance between mechanical properties and lightweight. One drawback related to the use of inorganic fibers such as those derived from siliceous materials is the relative low compatibility with conventional organic polymer matrices. Surface treatments with coupling agents and the use of copolymers allow increasing fiber-matrix interactions which has a positive effect on overall properties of composites. In this research work we report the use of slate fiber treated with different coupling agents as reinforcement for high density polyethylene from sugarcane. A silane (propyltrimethoxy silane; PTMS) and a graft copolymer (polyethylene-graft-maleic anhydride; PE-g-MA) were used to improve fiber-matrix interactions on HOPE-slate fiber. The effect of the different compatibilizing systems and slate fiber content were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), dynamic thermomechanical analysis (DTMA) as well as mechanical properties (tensile, flexural and impact). The results show that the use of silane coupling agents leads to higher fiber-matrix interactions which has a positive effect on overall mechanical properties. Interesting results are obtained for composites containing 30 wt.% slate fiber previously treated with propyltrimethoxy silane (PTMS) with an increase in tensile and flexural strength of about 16% and 18% respectively. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Authors thank "Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad" ref: MAT2011-28468-C02-02 and "Conselleria d'Educacio, Cultura i Esport" - Generalitat Valenciana ref: GV/2014/008 for financial support.Carbonell Verdú, A.; García García, D.; Jordá Vilaplana, A.; Samper Madrigal, MD.; Balart Gimeno, RA. (2015). Development of slate fiber reinforced high density polyethylene composites for injection molding. Composites Part B: Engineering. 69:460-466. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2014.10.026S4604666