Industrial restructuring in transitional Baltic Sea Region countries (Baltic States, Kaliningrad oblast)

This paper analyses recent trends in industrial development in the Baltic Sea transition countries. The heavy industry collapsed during the first half of 1990s in most former socialist countries. However, since the second half of 1990s the industrial output, export, productivity and even employment (in some branches) has been increased remarkably. And instead of a de-industrialisation, which has been general trend in Western Europe since 1970s, we may speak about a re-industrialisation. Foreign investors have played major role in the restructuring and efficiency growth of manufacturing in transitional economies. The rising importance of foreign investors and the growing export and re-export to other BSR countries are showing, that the industries in transitional countries are becoming more and more integrated to developed BSR countries. Still, especially textiles and electronics that are concentrated on relatively low-skilled subcontracting are characterised by a sharp rise in re-exports. Hypothetically, when considering the price convergence in the case BSR transition countries joining the European Union, those low value added booming industries can run into crisis soon and relocate the production to further cheaper regions in Russia or South-East Asia. The empirical part analyses recent industrial development trends (employment structure, exports, investments) in three Baltic countries and Kaliningrad oblast. Finally, I try to compare the industrial restructuring within particular clusters in Estonia and Kaliningrad oblast using statistics and interviews. Key words: regional integration, transitional economies, industrial development

The stack resource protocol based on real time transactions

Current hard real time (HRT) kernels have their timely behaviour guaranteed at the cost of a rather restrictive use of the available resources. This makes current HRT scheduling techniques inadequate for use in a multimedia environment where one can profit by a better and more flexible use of the resources. It is shown that one can improve the flexibility and efficiency of real time kernels and a method is proposed for precise quality of service schedulability analysis of the stack resource protocol. This protocol is generalised by introducing real time transactions, which makes its use straightforward and efficient. Transactions can be refined to nested critical sections if the smallest estimation of blocking is desired. The method can be used for hard real time systems in general and for multimedia systems in particular

Some Hopf Algebras of Trees

This paper generalizes the operadic construction of the Connes-Kreimer Hopf algebra of rooted trees by Moerdijk. Examples of Hopf algebras obtained in this way include the Loday-Ronco Hopf algebra of planar binary trees and the Brouder-Frabetti pruning Hopf algebra. In some examples we obtain a natural pre-Lie or dendriform algebra structure on the dual Hopf algebra. v2: Proof in section 8 corrected. v3: more corrections.Comment: 24 pages, 3 figure

IT in construction: aligning IT and business strategies

The extent to which information technology (IT) infrastructures and strategies are aligned with business processes and strategies varies widely along firms. The objective of this paper is to explain the success or failure of IT in construction firms by focusing on the alignment (or lack of it) between business strategy, IT strategy, organizational infrastructure, and IT infrastructure. It is hypothesized that the ‘fit’ among these elements, the domains of the Strategic Alignment Model, is positively related to the Business Value of IT in Construction. The IT Business Value is evaluated in terms of efficiency, effectiveness and business performance. By applying the Strategic Alignment Model to the Dutch construction industry, it is shown that the inadequate alignment between these domains is a major reason for the modest added business value from IT investments in this industry. The first lack of alignment is the technology shortfall: hence IT contributes in an inadequate way to strategic processes of construction firms. The second lack of alignment is the strategy-shortfall: hence the firm strategy impedes the implementation of IT that could generate a high business value

Strictness of Leniency Programs and Cartels of Asymmetric Firms

This paper studies the effects of leniency programs on the behavior of firms participating in illegal cartel agreements.The main contribution of the paper is that we consider asymmetric firms.In general, firms differ in size and operate in several different markets.In our model, they form a cartel in one market only.This asymmetry results in additional costs in case of disclosure of the cartel, which are caused by an asymmetric reduction of the sales in other markets due to a negative reputation effect.This modeling framework can also be applied to the case of international cartels, where firms are subject to different punishment procedures according to the laws of their countries, or in situations where following an application for leniency firms are subject to costs other than the fine itself and where these costs depend on individual characteristics of the firm.Moreover, following the rules of existing Leniency Programs, we analyze the effects of the strictness of the Leniency Programs, which reflects the likelihood of getting complete exemption from the fine even in case many firms self-report simultaneously.Our main results are that, first, leniency programs work better for small (less diversified) companies, in the sense that a lower rate of law enforcement is needed in order to induce self-reporting by less diversified firms.At the same time, big (more diversified) firms are less likely to start a cartel in the first place given the possibility of self-reporting in the future.Second, the more cartelized the economy, the less strict the rules of leniency programs should be.Antitrust Policy;Antitrust Law;Self-reporting;Leniency Programs

Collaborative Engineering Environments. Two Examples of Process Improvement

Companies are recognising that innovative processes are determining factors in competitiveness. Two examples from projects in aircraft development describe the introduction of collaborative engineering environments as a way to improve engineering processes. A multi-disciplinary simulation environment integrates models from all disciplines involved in a common functional structure. Quick configuration for specific design problems and powerful feedback / visualisation capabilities enable engineering teams to concentrate on the integrated behaviour of the design. An engineering process management system allows engineering teams to work concurrently in tasks, following a defined flow of activities, applying tools on a shared database. Automated management of workspaces including data consistency enables engineering teams to concentrate on the design activities. The huge amount of experience in companies must be transformed for effective application in engineering processes. Compatible concepts, notations and implementation platforms make tangible knowledge like models and algorithms accessible. Computer-based design management makes knowledge on engineering processes and methods explicit