Quantitative Indicators of Social Sustainability and Determination of Their Interdependencies. Example Analysis for a Wastewater Treatment Plant

Social impact as growing concern is becoming an important aspect of the design and operation of wastewater treatment processes. A need has arisen for the development of quantitative indicators of social sustainability. Design and operation of wastewater treatment processes additionally require simple and effective methods to represent and understand the interconnections between the indicators of social sustainability. This paper presents an approach for the development of quantitative social sustainability indicators, and introduces a novel method for defining and visualizing indicator interdependence. It outlines equations for quantitative evaluation of health, safety and security, and comfort. Weighting method of the bipartite network of the relations between the indicators and stakeholders enables clear visualization of the interdependencies of the indicators and facilitates simplification of the set of social sustainability criteria. It creates a basis for reduction of amount of data needed for performing the analysis and reducing the social sustainability assessment’s costs

KNOWLEDGE DISCOVERY FOR IDENTIFICATION OF ENZYME WITH A PRIORY SPECIFIED PROPERTIES

Development of new products with the given properties from the known raw materials is one of the common research tasks in process engineering. Usually the first step of research is a literature survey based on the search for the specific keywords. Nowadays there exist many vast databases of articles and patents, and the traditional, keywords-based, searching tools are not always sufficient to find the desired information. The main objective of this paper is to develop methodology for identification of new materials, based on knowledge discovery. As an example, the proposed methodology is applied for identification of new enzyme of microbial origin capable of polymerizing lactose in aqueous solution, with the number of required criteria

A Tuned Value Chain Model for University Based Public Research Organisation. Case Lut Cst.

The Porter´s value chain model was introduced for strategic business purposes. During the last decades also Universities and University based institutes have started to use actions similar to private business concepts. A University based institute is not independent actor like company but there are interest groups who are expecting them to act like they would be. This article discusses about the possibility of utilize tuned value chain to public research organizations (PRO). Also the interactions of tuned value chain model to existing industrial network are discussed. The case study object is the Centre for Separation Technology (CST) at Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) in Finland

Application of the rough set data analysis for the development of the control structure of an FCC unit

The rough set data analysis (RSDA) is widely used for the determination of non-linear relationships in many different areas. In this paper it is applied to investigate the dependencies among the variables in fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCC) consisting of reactor and regenerator parts. The analysis has been performed to understand FFC behaviour and to develop its control structure. About 140 operating points of an industrial FCC unit are considered and analysed using the rough set methodology. The ROSETTA toolkit is applied to discover the dependencies among the controlled and the manipulated variables. It is determined that the temperature of the regenerated catalyst has a significant influence on the product quality (motor octane number) and it should be controlled. A new control loop is designed and its controlled variable is the temperature in the regenerator unit. To avoid afterburning in the regenerator part of the FCC unit, several temperature measurements are recommended with the use of a special control unit, a high selector (HS).The manipulated variable of the new control loop is the feed flow of the bottom product of the main distillation column (BMC) in the reactor part of the FCC unit

The Impact of Relational Governance on Performance Improvement in Export Manufacturing Firms

Purpose: This paper seeks to identify the factors affecting social performance improvements in the Pakistan export manufacturing firms and investigate inter-relationships existing among them. Design/methodology/approach: This study used a cross-sectional survey; data were collected using self-administered survey questionnaire. Using data collected from 239 small- and medium-sized direct exporters manufacturing firms in Pakistan. We used structural equation modelling (SEM) approach to test structural model, and mediation analysis was conducted with regression analysis. Findings: The results support that meta-cognitive dimensions of cultural intelligence effect on social performance improvements, while the social performance improvement significant associated with innovation performance improvements. We suggest that cultural intelligence is a key to maintaining a relationship through development better cultural understanding and creating harmony among suppliers and buyers through minimizing the differences and disputes, requires developing social cohesion. Our results reveal that exporting firms need to adapt, reconfigure cultural knowledge and integrate resources into the operations to build learning capability, in turn, they can improve social performance and achieve superior innovation performance. Practical implications: Through the application of cultural intelligence capability, a firm could increase its ability to sense cultural differences, seize and adapt globally scattered cultural practices on social issues and allows for the development of unique knowledge resources and capabilities, impact on firm social performance and innovation performance improvements. Originality/value: The study conducted in Pakistan cultural context, which can be extended to other Asian countries. We argue that in a globalising world it is pertinent for exporting firms to have a better understanding of the various facets of cultural when dealing with inter-organisational relationships.Peer Reviewe

green supply chain management practices and company performance a meta analysis approach

Abstract Varying conceptualizations of green supply chain management (GSCM) practices can be observed in extant literature and there is evidence of mixed results relating GSCM practices to firm performance. These inconclusive findings have often confused managers which practices would yield desired performance outcomes. Hence, by applying meta-analysis approach in 85 independent effect sizes with a total sample size of 20011 firms, we tested the impact of GSCM practices on firm performance. Findings indicate that the relationship between GSCM practices and firm performance is positive and significant, providing empirical generalization and support to practitioners and scholars. Likewise, the GSCM practices positively and significantly influence environmental, social, operational and economic performance. This relationship is moderated by geographical region, industry type and firm size. Future studies should test how ascendants of GSCM practices affect firm's sustainability performance

Offshored Service Cost Model as a Key Post-Transition Challenge

Business process offshoring has been dynamically growing worldwide in the last few years, facilitated by the corporate need for operational expenses reduction, overcoming skilled workers shortage and the potential for operations optimization. At every stage of organizational changes, there are various challenges the service offshoring managerial community constantly struggles with. Th e paper presents the offshored service cost model that can be adjusted and applied for service budgeting, valuation and control, for it has been identified as the most common challenge affecting Polish service off shoring corporations in the post-transition period. Th e need for strengthening this area of knowledge was identified through empirical research and the case study conducted in this work serves for presenting the authors’ insights on cost modelling for offshored business services

Offshored Service Cost Model as a Key Post-Transition Challenge

Business process offshoring has been dynamically growing worldwide in the last few years, facilitated by the corporate need for operational expenses reduction, overcoming skilled workers shortage and the potential for operations optimization. At every stage of organizational changes, there are various challenges the service offshoring managerial community constantly struggles with. Th e paper presents the offshored service cost model that can be adjusted and applied for service budgeting, valuation and control, for it has been identified as the most common challenge affecting Polish service off shoring corporations in the post-transition period. Th e need for strengthening this area of knowledge was identified through empirical research and the case study conducted in this work serves for presenting the authors’ insights on cost modelling for offshored business services

Assessment of environmental sustainability of nickel required for mobility transition

Nickel (Ni) in batteries (e.g., nickel-metal hydride battery (NiMH), lithium nickel cobalt aluminum oxide (NCA) and lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC)) aim to ensure higher energy density and greater storage capacity. Two typical layered nickel-rich ternary cathode materials, NCA and NMC, are commercialized as advanced lithium-ion batteries (LiBs) for electric vehicles (EVs). The technology of those batteries has been improving by steadily increasing the nickel content in each cathode generation. In this study, we consider two types of batteries having a composite cathode made of Li [Ni0.80Co0.1Al0.1]O2, and Li [Ni0.33Mn0.33Co0.33]O2, which are the most common cathode materials for LiBs in EVs since 2010 and their functional recycling is performed. The increasing use of nickel in battery technologies has resulted in the continuous growth of demand for nickel over recent years. Nickel was added to the list of critical materials by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) already in 2021. Unfortunately now, the sustainable supply of nickel is even at higher risk due to the sanctions-related disruption of supplies from Russia. Therefore, enhancing the circularity of nickel starts to be vital for many economies. Demand for recycled nickel is growing, however, a systematic analysis of the sustainability of its recycling is still missing. Therefore, we provide a comprehensive assessment of the sustainability of the global primary and secondary production of nickel. Using system dynamics modelling integrated with geometallurgy principles and by analyzing the processing routes (pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical processes), we quantify the key environmental concerns across the life cycle of primary and secondary nickel required for sustainable mobility transition. Energy consumption, water use, and related emissions are assessed for all stages of the nickel supply chain, from mining to recycling. Our analysis shows the possibility of reducing the emissions by around 4.7 mt for GHG, 6.9 kt for PM2.5, 34.3 t for BC, 2.8 kt for CH4, 7.5 kt for CO, 3.3 mt for CO2, 169.9 t for N2O, 3.8 kt for NOx, 11.8 kt for PM10, 104.8 t for POC, 1.6 mt for SOx, and 232.5 t for VOC by engaging in the secondary production of nickel through the recycling of batteries. However, identical growth rate of energy consumption and water use compared to nickel mass flows means no technical progress has been achieved in different stages of the nickel supply chain towards sustainability over the period 2010–2030. Therefore, an improvement in technology is needed to save energy and water in nickel production processes. The results and findings of this study contribute to a better understanding of the necessity for improving closed-loop supply chain policies for nickel