Rethinking the Disclosure Paradigm in a World of Complexity

In a prior article, Professor Schwarcz examined the factors that differentiate Enron\u27s questionable use of off-balance sheet special purpose entities, (SPEs) from the trillions of dollars of legitimate securitization and other structured-finance transactions that use SPEs. The presence of meaningful differences, Professor Schwarcz argued, may inform regulatory schemes by providing a basis to distinguish which such transactions should be allowed or restricted. In that connection, Professor Schwarcz encountered the dilemma that some structured transactions are so complex that disclosure to investors of the company originating the transaction is necessarily imperfect - either oversimplifying the transaction, or providing detail and sophistication beyond the level of even most institutional investors and securities analysts. In this article, Professor Schwarcz focuses on solutions to this dilemma, arguing that complexity forces a rethinking of the long-held disclosure paradigm of securities law

From swollen granule to a suspension : shear flow behaviour of a physically modified starch

It has been seen that starch that remains in a granular form when heated and used in food systems offered better flavour perception than hydrocolloid thickenec products. It seems that starch that remains in the granular form has a better mixmg ability in the mouth, leading to better release of the tastants to the receptor. A suggested parameter to differentiate food thickeners is droplet break-up. In this context, the flow behaviour of starch was studied in depth to better understand its properties.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Analysis of the software powertrain development process at Scania

Scanias nuvarande mjukvaruprocess upplevs, i många fall, vara onödigt lång från det att en idé har genererats tills att den har lanserats på marknaden. För att konkurrera på marknaden är det viktigt att erbjuda nya tjänster och ny avancerad fordonsstyrning som snabbt ska kunna sättas i produktion. För att säkerställa att mjukvaran uppfyller de uppsatta kvalitet- och säkerhetskraven används inarbetade processer däribland den så kallade Embedded Release Process. Dock är denna process inte alltid till hjälp för utvecklingen och kan medföra lång "time-to-market". Syftet med detta examensarbete var att utreda Scanias nuvarande utvecklingsprocess av mjukvara med avseende på ledtider, eftersom det idag råder frågetecken om huruvida processen är tidsmässigt optimerad från idé tills att den når kund. De metoder som har använts för att angripa de uppställda frågeställningarna har bestått mestadels av kvalitativa forskningsmetoder så som litteraturstudie, värdeflödesanalys, fallstudie, benchmarking samt workshop. Såsom ett komplement till den kvalitativa forskningen har statistik tillämpats i fallstudien. Värdeflödesanalysen visade på många överlämningar inom organisationen, centraliserad beslutsfattning samt att flödet sker sekventiellt. Vidare utfördes en fallstudie på två mjukvaruprojekt med olika karaktär. Efter analys av de både projekten identifierades mestadels olikheter, där framgångsfaktorerna för det ena fallet kan tillämpas på framtida projekt. Även ett benchmarkingbesök på företaget Maquet har skett vilket påvisade underlag för att de långa ledtiderna i Scanias mjukvaruutveckling kan reduceras. Slutligen utfördes en omfattande workshop med representanter från olika mjukvaruavdelningar där slöserier inom mjukvaruutvecklingen fastställdes. Examensarbetets forskningsmetoder har sammantaget visat på att det finns inneboende ledtider som är obefogade för rena mjukvaruprojekt. De processer som tillämpas idag är inte behovsstyrda och flexibla som mjukvaruutvecklingen erfordrar. Om dessa ledtider skulle optimerats utifrån examensarbetets rekommendationer skulle de nya funktionerna kunnat nå marknaden tidigare. Sökord: mjukvaruutveckling, Scania, process, kvalitet, effektivitet, ledtider, slöserier, testning.The current software lead times at Scania are perceived, in many cases, as unnecessary long. Companies within the automotive industry nowadays have to deliver advanced automotive control systems in a rapid pace to be able to compete on the market. At Scania, there are well established processes, including the so called Embedded Release Process, ensuring that the original demands for quality and safety are met by the software. However this process seems not to have an approach where the "pull" comes from the demand. The current software development process is questioned whether this process, from its idea until it is launched, is time optimized. The main purpose of this master thesis was therefore to investigate the current software development process focusing on lead times. In order to address the stated issues, in the introduction chapter, the master thesis have utilized mostly qualitative research methods. A selection of the chosen methods and tools have been; literature study, value stream analysis, case study, benchmarking, workshop and statistics. The value stream analysis highlighted several handovers within the organisation of Scania, centralized decision-making and a process based on numerous sequential activities. Further on, the case study was performed on two software development projects with various characteristics. Through the analysis of the specific cases mostly differences were identified, where the success factors for one of the cases could be learned from for the future projects. Furthermore a benchmarking was conducted at the company Maquet which showed on potential improvements regarding the software lead times at Scania. Finally a comprehensive workshop was organised involving representatives from various departments within software development at Scania. The last mentioned resulted in many concrete examples of waste hidden in the current software development process. This master thesis’ research has altogether showed on intrinsic lead times not adapted to software projects exclusively. The nature of software development calls for flexibility and a process that will satisfy the rapidly changing customer needs of today. This has proven not to be the case with the current applied processes. Lastly, an optimization of the intrinsic lead times, based on the recommendations of this report, is believed to result in an earlier market introduction for the software. Keywords: software development, Scania, process, quality, efficiency, lead times, waste, testing

Endurance Sports Medicine : A Clinical Guide

Endurance Sports Medicin