9,068 research outputs found
Organizational energy: A behavioral analysis of human and organizational factors in manufacturing
This paper seeks to explore the behavior and embodied energy involved in the decision-making of information technology/information systems (IT/IS) investments using a case within a small- to medium-sized manufacturing firm. By analyzing decision making within a given case context, this paper describes the nature of the investment through the lens of behavioral economics, causality, input-output (IO) equilibrium, and the general notion of depletion of executive energy function. To explore the interplay between these elements, the authors structure the case context via a morphological field in order to construct a fuzzy cognitive map of decision-making relationships relating to the multidimensional and nonquantifiable problems of IT/IS investment evaluation. Noting the significance of inputs and outputs relating to the investment decision within the case, the authors assess these cognitive interrelationships through the lens of the Leontief IO energy equilibrium model. Subsequently, the authors suggest, through an embodied energy audit, that all such management decisions are susceptible to decision fatigue (so-called 'ego depletion'). The findings of this paper highlight pertinent cognitive and IO paths of the investment decision-making process that will allow others making similar types of investments to learn from and draw parallels from such processes
Oblique Ion Two-Stream Instability in the Foot Region of a Collisionless Shock
Electrostatic behavior of a collisionless plasma in the foot region of high
Mach number perpendicular shocks is investigated through the two-dimensional
linear analysis and electrostatic particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation. The
simulations are double periodic and taken as a proxy for the situation in the
foot. The linear analysis for relatively cold unmagnetized plasmas with a
reflected proton beam shows that obliquely propagating Buneman instability is
strongly excited. We also found that when the electron temperature is much
higher than the proton temperature, the most unstable mode is the highly
obliquely propagating ion two-stream instability excited through the resonance
between ion plasma oscillations of the background protons and of the beam
protons, rather than the ion acoustic instability that is dominant for parallel
propagation. To investigate nonlinear behavior of the ion two-stream
instability, we have made PIC simulations for the shock foot region in which
the initial state satisfies the Buneman instability condition. In the first
phase, electrostatic waves grow two-dimensionally by the Buneman instability to
heat electrons. In the second phase, highly oblique ion two-stream instability
grows to heat mainly ions. This result is in contrast to previous studies based
on one-dimensional simulations, for which ion acoustic instability further
heats electrons. The present result implies that overheating problem of
electrons for shocks in supernova remnants is resolved by considering ion
two-stream instability propagating highly obliquely to the shock normal and
that multi-dimensional analysis is crucial to understand the particle heating
and acceleration processes in shocks.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Assessment of beam-column connections using perforated beams with multiple closely spaced web openings
Recently researchers concentrate on alternative fuse designs promoting the concept of performance-based design while reducing the beam section in different ways including that of creating a hole in its web (RWS connections). Similar practice is applied in the fabrication of perforated beams mostly used to support the service integration as well as the significant mass reduction in steel frames. This paper presents a finite element (FE) analysis of a partially restrained extended end-plate connection with single and multiple circular web perforations introduced along the length of the beam and subjected to the cyclic loading proposed by SAC protocol from FEMA-350 (2000). The parameters introduced were the distance from the face of the column, S, and the number of closely spaced web openings. The design of such connections should be based on the articulate decision of the first opening’s distance from the face of the column
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