ICT industry and resources based analysis of maintenance SME in the Central Europe

Highly competitive situation in Information and Communication technology (ICT) maintenance industry requires a precise analysis of all important factors and carefully defined company strategy which addresses each of these aspects. This paper presents a resource based analysis of family run SME, operating in IT parts and consumables market. In order to understand this complex view, it first describes the company background. It briefly presents the industry key success factors and company strategy of the SME. The value chain analysis helps to name the main organization’s capabilities and evaluates them in terms of costs and customer willingness to pay. Resource audit provides an analysis of key company tangible, intangible and human resources. The outcome of this audit shows that most of SME resources are of an intangible nature. Contrary to the higher mobility of today’s resources, intangible resources of SME such as company reputation, culture and strategic business relations, are mostly immobile and inimitable. Based on the audit all key resources and capabilities are appraised by their strength and importance relative to closest rivals. Results are presented in graph which recognizes the key strengths (family run business related) and weaknesses (IT and finance). The results of the resourced based analysis lead to recommendations for changes in order to create and retain competitive advantage.ICT, resource based analysis, resources, capabilities, strategy, SME, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, GA, IN,

The effect of Sc and Yb microalloying additions and aged-hardening heat treatment on corrosion behavior of Al-Mg alloys

Sc-containing Al alloys are potentially applied in saline environment. However, the corrosion behavior and its mechanisms of Sc-containing Al alloys have not been paid much attention. In this research, the corrosion behavior of Al-4Mg, Al-4Mg-0.3Sc, and Al-4Mg-0.24Sc-0.06Yb alloys was investigated in 3.5wt% NaCl solution by immersion and potentiodynamic polarization analysis. Scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high-resolution TEM were used to characterize intermetallic phases and localized corrosion. The results showed that the Fe-containing intermetallic particles are cathodic with respect to the matrix and can lead to localized corrosion, whereas the high content of Mg makes the Fe-containing intermetallic particle less noble to the matrix. Yb-containing intermetallic particles did not show any dissolution of the matrix at the periphery of these particles. The results indicated that active dissolution and localized corrosion were the dominant corrosion mechanisms for Al-4Mg alloy. However the polarization curves of Al-4Mg-0.3Sc and Al-4Mg-0.24Sc-0.06Yb alloys showed spontaneous passivation followed by pitting corrosion. Results suggested that age-hardening heat treatment improved the stability of the passive film on Al-4Mg-0.3Sc and Al-4Mg-0.24Sc-0.06Yb alloys.This research was supported by The Project Bridging The Gap, funded by the Erasmus Mundus External Cooperation Window Program. Acknowledgements also to the University of Minho, for the provision of research facilities.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

An overview of population-based algorithms for multi-objective optimisation

In this work we present an overview of the most prominent population-based algorithms and the methodologies used to extend them to multiple objective problems. Although not exact in the mathematical sense, it has long been recognised that population-based multi-objective optimisation techniques for real-world applications are immensely valuable and versatile. These techniques are usually employed when exact optimisation methods are not easily applicable or simply when, due to sheer complexity, such techniques could potentially be very costly. Another advantage is that since a population of decision vectors is considered in each generation these algorithms are implicitly parallelisable and can generate an approximation of the entire Pareto front at each iteration. A critique of their capabilities is also provided

Webredaktionskompetenz für die Erwachsenenbildung. Ein E-Mail-Dialog

Von Oktober 2007 bis Mai 2008 leiteten der Erwachsenenbildner Christian Ocenasek und der Journalist Patrick Dax den Lehrgang w.eb-redaktions.com/petenz. In vier, jeweils dreitägigen Workshops wurden dabei MitarbeiterInnen der österreichischen Erwachsenenbildungsinstitutionen als KorrespondentInnen für Tätigkeiten im Online-Journalismus ausgebildet um u.a. für das Online-Medium www.erwachsenenbildung.at als KorrespondentInnen aktiv werden zu können. Im folgenden E-Mail-Dialog erläutern Ocenasek und Dax ihre – durchaus unterschiedlichen – Zugänge zum Lehrgang. Themen des E-Mail-Wechsels sind u.a. Unterschiede zwischen Journalismus und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit, das Netz als Austauschmedium für ErwachsenenbildnerInnen und – in Hinblick auf das nächste Projekt, an dem Ocenasek und Dax mitwirken werden – das Potenzial der neuen kommunikativen Möglichkeiten des Internets für die österreichische Erwachsenenbildung. (DIPF/Orig.

The City of Saints: Realizing Sports’ Positive Potential for Communities Following Disaster

There are numerous observable relationships between sport and community. By adhering to the external identity of the community, a sports franchise creates strong team identification with its community, increasing the loyalty and impact of its relationship. In the first several chapters, this thesis explores how and why these relationships are created between a team and its community. It examines the implications of the relationships between the team and the community, a player and the community, and fans of the team with one another. This thesis explores the effect of the relationships between sport and the community and how these relationships change after the community experiences a disaster