Temunat Doryan Gri /

With: Tolstoy, Leo, garf, 1828-1910. Anah Ḳareninah.

Gri︠u︡nvalʹdenskai︠a︡ bitva 1410 goda; ri︠e︡ch.

Mode of access: Internet.

Importância da sustentabilidade para as empresas do setor de energia elétrica: utilização de relatório de sustentabilidade com base no GRI

O Relatório de Sustentabilidade é um instrumento que visa dar maior transparência às atividades empresariais e ampliar o diálogo da organização com a sociedade, tendo em vista a necessidade de comunicar aos stakeholders suas práticas socioambientais, além das econômicas. A presente pesquisa buscou compreender de que forma as empresas do segmento de energia elétrica, listadas na BM&F BOVESPA como Nível 1 e Novo Mercado de Governança Corporativa divulgam aos interessados seus Relatórios de Sustentabilidade. Realizou-se análise documental, através dos Relatórios de Sustentabilidade das empresas do setor elétrico: CEEE, Cemig, Cesp, Copel, CPFL, CTEEP, EDP, Eletrobrás, Equatorial, Light, Tractebel e MPX. Foram analisados os relatórios referentes aos anos de 2010, 2011 e 2012. Houve uma sutil evolução na divulgação dos indicadores da GRI-Global Reporting Initiative, possivelmente por serem reconhecidos internacionalmente, o que proporciona às empresas maior confiabilidade e transparência em suas informações.

Determinación de la contribución de los beneficios referidos al impuesto sobre la renta vigentes a 2014 en la incorporación de la responsabilidad social empresarial –RSE– a partir de la guía g4 de la iniciativa de reporte global –GRI– en las personas jurídicas de Colombia

La actividad empresarial en Colombia se desarrolla considerando factores que la condicionan siendo estos, sociales, políticos, económicos, ambientales, entre otros; motivo por el cual deben ser tenidos en cuenta en la gestión de las organizaciones. El modelo político colombiano garantiza la libertad de empresa, lo que se hace evidente en la jurisprudencia y doctrina, permitiéndoles desarrollar su actividad de manera regulada. Aunque-, la Constitución Nacional no señala de forma expresa la libertad de empresa, esta se puede colegir de lo contenido en el artículo 333 de dicho ordenamiento: “La actividad económica y la iniciativa privada son libres, dentro de los límites del bien común. Para su ejercicio, nadie podrá exigir permisos previos ni requisitos, sin autorización de la ley […]”.

The Relative Efficiency of International, Domestic, and Budget Airlines : Nonparametric Evidence

This study determines whether the inclusion of low-cost airlines in a dataset of international and domestic airlines has an impact on the efficiency scores of so-called ‘prestigious’ purportedly ‘efficient’ airlines. This is because while many airline studies concern efficiency, none has truly included a combination of international, domestic and budget airlines. The present study employs the nonparametric technique of data envelopment analysis (DEA) to investigate the technical efficiency of 53 airlines in 2006. The findings reveal that the majority of budget airlines are efficient relative to their more prestigious counterparts. Moreover, most airlines identified as inefficient are so largely because of the overutilization of non-flight assets.

Environmental reporting and its relation to corporate environmental performance

This study examines how both the level and the nature of environmental information voluntarily disclosed by Australian firms relate to their underlying environmental performance. Disclosure is scored using an index developed by Clarkson et al. (2008) based on Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Guidelines and the environmental performance measure is based on emission data available from the National Pollutant Inventory (NPI). The sample consists of 51 firms that reported to the NPI in both 2002 and 2006. The findings are as follows. First, descriptive statistics indicate that while there was modest improvement in disclosure between 2002 and 2006, the highest disclosure score obtained was just slightly in excess of 50% of the maximum available based on the GRI Guidelines. Second, the results consistently indicate that not only do firms with a higher pollution propensity disclose more environmental information; they also rely on disclosures that the GRI views as inherently more objective and verifiable. Taken together, these results suggest that concerns regarding the reliability of voluntary environmental disclosures in the Australian context remain valid and thereby potentially signal a need for both enhanced mandatory reporting requirements and improved enforcement. In this regard, our study also informs regulatory policy on mandatory disclosures of environmental performance.

Environmental reporting in the Australian mining industry : complying with regulation or meeting international best practice?

It is nearly 10 years since the introduction of s 299(1)(f) Corporations Act , which requires the disclosure of information regarding a company's environmental performance within its annual report. This provision has generated considerable debate in the years since its introduction, fundamentally between proponents of either a voluntary or mandatory environmental reporting framework. This study examines the adequacy of the current regulatory framework. The environmental reporting practices of 24 listed companies in the resources industries are assessed relative to a standard set by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Guidelines. These Guidelines are argued to represent "international best practice" in environmental reporting and a "scorecard" approach is used to score the quality of disclosure according to this voluntary benchmark. Larger companies in the sample tend to report environmental information over and above the level required by legislation. Some, but not all companies present a stand-alone environmental/sustainability report. However, smaller companies provide minimal information in compliance with s 299(1)(f) . The findings indicate that "international best practice" environmental reporting is unlikely to be achieved by Australian companies under the current regulatory framework. In the current regulatory environment that scrutinises s 299(1)(f) , this article provides some preliminary evidence of the quality of disclosures generated in the Australian market.

A business model for an inclusive entrepreneurial development

In 2004 Prahalad made managers aware of the great economic opportunity that the population at the BoP (Base of the Pyramid) represents for business in the form of new potential consumers. However, MNCs (Multi-National Corporations) generally continue to penetrate low income markets with the same strategies used at the top of the pyramid or choose not to invest at all in these regions because intimidated by having to re-envision their business models. The introduction of not re-arranged business models and products into developing countries has done nothing more over the years than induce new needs and develop new dependencies. By conducting a critical review of the literature this paper investigates and compares innovative approaches to operate in developing markets, which depart from the usual Corporate Social Responsibility marketing rhetoric, and rather consider the potential consumer at the BoP as a ring of continuity in the value chain − a resource that can itself produce value. Based on the concept of social embeddedness (London & Hart, 2004) and the principle that an open system contemplates different provisions (i.e. MNCs bring processes and technology, NGOs cultural mediating skills, governments laws and regulations, native people know-how and traditions), this paper concludes with a new business model reference that empowers all actors to contribute to value creation, while allowing MNCs to support local growth by turning what Prahalad called ‘inclusive capitalism’ into a more sustainable ‘inclusive entrepreneurial development’.

Corporate sustainability reporting for water : water footprint, global reporting initiative and the water accounting framework

Three initiatives with respect to water reporting in the mining sector are compared in this paper to understand the quantities that are asked for by each initiative and the guidelines of those initiatives through means of a case study. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) was chosen because it has achieved widespread acceptance amongst mining companies and its water-related indicators are widely reported in corporate sustainability reporting. In contrast, the Water Footprint Network, which has been an important initiative in food and agricultural industries, has had low acceptance in the mining industry. The third initiative is the Water Accounting Framework, a collaboration between The Minerals Council of Australia and the Sustainable Minerals Institute of the University of Queensland. A water account had previously been created according to the Water Accounting Framework for the case study site, an open pit coal mine in the Bowen Basin. The resulting account provided consistent data for the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the Water Footprint attributable to mining but in particular, a deficiency in the GRI indicator of EN10 reuse and recycling efficiency was illustrated quantitatively. This has far-reaching significance due to the widespread use of GRI indicators in mining corporate reports.

Support vector machine approach for the switching transient peak overvoltages during line energization

At the time of restoration transmission line switching is one of the major causes, which creates transient overvoltages. Though detailed Electro Magnetic Transient studies are carried out extensively for the planning and design of transmission systems, such studies are not common in a day-today operation of power systems. However it is important for the operator to ensure during restoration of supply that peak overvoltages resulting from the switching operations are well within safe limits. This paper presents a support vector machine approach to classify the various cases of line energization in the category of safe or unsafe based upon the peak value of overvoltage at the receiving end of line. Operator can define the threshold value of voltage to assign the data pattern in either of the class. For illustration of proposed approach the power system used for switching transient peak overvoltages tests is a 400 kV equivalent system of an Indian southern gri

CSR in forest industry – Case study of reporting and implementation of social responsibility in three international companies

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become increasingly important topic in forest industries, and other global companies, in recent years. Globalisation, faster information delivery and demand for sustainable development have set new challenges for global companies in their business operations. Also the importance of stakeholder relations, and pressure to become more transparent has increased in the forest industries. Three dimensions of corporate responsibility economic, environmental and social, are often included in the concept of CSR. Global companies mostly claim that these dimensions are equally important. This study analyses CSR in forest industry and has focus on reporting and implementation of social responsibility in three international companies. These case-companies are Stora Enso, SCA and Sappi, and they have different geographical base, product portfolios and therefore present interesting differences about forest industry strategy and CSR. Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has created the most known and used reporting framework in CSR reporting. GRI Guidelines have made CSR reporting a uniform function, which can also be measured between companies and different sectors. GRI Guidelines have also made it possible to record and control CSR data in the companies. In recent years the use of GRI Guidelines has increased substantially. Typically CSR reporting on economic and environmental responsibility have been systematic in the global companies and often driven by legistlation and other regulations. However the social responsibility has been less regulated and more difficult to compare. Therefore it has previously been often less focused in the CSR reporting of the global companies. The implementation and use of GRI Guidelines have also increased dialogue on social responsibility issues and stakeholder management in global companies. This study analyses the use of GRI´s framework in the forest industry companies´ CSR reporting. This is a qualitative study and the disclosure of data is empricially analysed using content analysis. Content analysis has been selected as a method for this study because it makes it possible to use different sources of information. The data of this study consists of existing academic literature of CSR, sustainability reports of thecase-companies during 2005-2009, and the semi-structured interviews with company representatives. Different sources provide the possibility to look at specific subject from more than one viewpoint. The results of the study show that all case-companies have relatively common themes in their CSR disclosure, and the differences rise mainly from their product-portfolios, and geographic base. Social impacts to local communities, in the CSR of the companies, were mainly dominated by issues concerning creating wealth to the society and impacting communities through creation of work. The comparability of the CSR reporting, and especially social indicators increased significally from 2007 onwards in all case-companies. Even though the companies claim that three dimensions of CSR economic, environmental and social are equally important economic issues and profit improvement still seem to drive most of the operations in the global companies. Many issues that are covered by laws and regulations are still essentially presented as social responsibility in CSR. However often the unwelcome issues in companies like closing operations are covered just briefly, and without adequate explanation. To make social responsibility equally important in the CSR it would demand more emphasis from all the case-companies. A lot of emphasis should be put especially on the detail and extensiveness of the social reponsibility content in the CSR.

A detailed numerical study of NOx kinetics in low calorific value H-2/CO syngas flames

The present study provides an extensive and detailed numerical analysis of NO chemical kinetics in low calorific value H-2/CO syngas flames utilizing predictions by five chemical kinetic mechanisms available out of which four deal with H-2/CO while the fifth mechanism (GRI 3.0) additionally accounts for hydrocarbon chemistry. Comparison of predicted axial NO profiles in premixed flat flames with measurements at 1 bar, 3.05 bar and 9.15 bar shows considerably large quantitative differences among the various mechanisms. However, at each pressure, the quantitative reaction path diagrams show similar NO formation pathways for most of the mechanisms. Interestingly, in counterflow diffusion flames, the quantitative reaction path diagrams and sensitivity analyses using the various mechanisms reveal major differences in the NO formation pathways and reaction rates of important reactions. The NNH and N2O intermediate pathways are found to be the major contributors for NO formation in all the reaction mechanisms except GRI 3.0 in syngas diffusion flames. The GRI 3.0 mechanism is observed to predict prompt NO pathway as the major contributing pathway to NO formation. This is attributed to prediction of a large concentration of CH radical by the GRI 3.0 as opposed to a relatively negligible value predicted by all other mechanisms. Also, the back-conversion of NNH into N2O at lower pressures (2-4 bar) was uniquely observed for one of the five mechanisms. The net reaction rates and peak flame temperatures are used to correlate and explain the differences observed in the peak NO] at different pressures. This study identifies key reactions needing assessment and also highlights the need for experimental data in syngas diffusion flames in order to assess and optimize H-2/CO and nitrogen chemistry. Copyright (C) 2014, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of H-2/CO Composition on Extinction Strain Rates of Counterflow Syngas Flames

This work presents a detailed experimental and numerical investigation of the effect of H-2/CO composition on extinction characteristics of premixed and nonpremixed syngas flames. Experimental measurements of local and global extinction strain rates in counterflow diffusion flames have been reported at atmospheric pressure for six different compositions of syngas fuel. The concentration of H-2 was varied from 5 to 20% with a 3% increment, and correspondingly, CO was decreased from 35 to 20% in steps of 3%. Particle imaging velocimetry has been used to determine the local extinction strain rates. Local extinction strain rates increased with an increase in the H-2/CO ratio in both nonpremixed and premixed flames. The predicted extinction strain rates for both nonpremixed and premixed counterflow flames using five different mechanisms available in the literature were compared with measurements. The Davis H-2/CO and Ranzi H-2/CO mechanisms predicted extinction strain rates within 10% of experimental values irrespective of the H-2/CO ratio. In the nonpremixed case, the Cl mechanism by Li et al., GRI 3.0, and the Ranzi H-2/CO mechanism predicted extinction strain rates well for low H-2/CO ratios (from 5:35 to 14:26) but deviated from experiments for higher H-2/CO values (17:23 and 20:20). In addition to kinetics, preferential diffusion effects were found to affect the reaction zone significantly and create distinct localized reaction zone structures in nonpremixed flames, which could contribute to discrepancies in extinction predictions.

Intersexual and spatial heterogeneity in trophic attributes of the sleeper, Bostrychus africanus (Eleotridae) in the Qua Iboe Estuary, Nigeria

There was variation in the ingestion of the food objects by the sexes. Despite the similarity in rank-order of the food objects, the ingestion of the objects vary significantly (rg=0.320, P>0.05). Dipterans adult and Hymenoptera were the only food objects not eaten by the males whereas insect remains and unidentified bivalves were absent from the trophics spectrum of the females. There was significant increase in feeding intensity by females than males. There was significant increase in GRI by specimens from Nipa Creek whereas individuals from mangrove creek recorded higher MGF and vice-versa. Dipterans adult. Hymenoptera, insect remains, Neritina glabrata and unid bivalves were absent from dietaries for nipa creek whereas a complete array of the food objects were eaten in the mangrove creek. The present findings highlights the importance of the mangrove ecosystem as the native vegetation encompassing great diversity of food resources and living conditions than the succeeding alien nipa vegetation

Identidade cultural e imagem de si: construções de subjetividades no Território do Centro Cultural Cartola - Mangueira/RJ

A presente Dissertação de Mestrado trata da construção da subjetividade de crianças que frequentam o Centro Cultural Cartola (CCC), na Mangueira/RJ, a partir da relação estabelecida entre território, identidade cultural e imagem de si. O trabalho foi fundamentado em uma metodologia participativa, baseada na compreensão do espaço proposta por Bourdieu (1988, 1998), a partir dos conceitos de campo social, espaço social e habitus. A técnica de ação da pesquisa de campo, por sua vez, fundamentou-se na metodologia de Grupo Operativo de Pichon-Rivière (1991, 1998). Com o intuito de contextualizar e compreender o sentido, dado historicamente, de viver em uma favela no Rio de Janeiro, o texto desta Dissertação inicia-se com o panorama de desenvolvimento da cidade, pelo recorte das relações sociais na ocupação da área urbana e a conjuntura história do início da proliferação das favelas. Descreve-se a história do desenvolvimento da Mangueira enquanto campo social onde se localiza o CCC, cujos objetivos, práticas e a história de Angenor de Oliveira, o Cartola, são elementos essências para a compreensão dos valores morais transmitidos desde a infância e de extrema importância na construção da subjetividade dos moradores da Mangueira. O Grupo Operativo desenvolveu-se com crianças que participam da Ação Griô do CCC, projeto que, por meio da história oral, privilegia a narrativa de experiências e objetiva promover a reapropriação da identidade cultural da Mangueira. Sendo assim, analisaram-se os conceitos de cultura e identidade cultural que, inseridos na contemporaneidade, se ressignificam e se constroem enquanto múltiplos e processuais. Discutiu-se, ainda, a formação da imagem de si, entendida, em sua dinamicidade, como a capacidade de reconhecer-se, ao exercer influência nas escolhas e decisões feitas pelo sujeito, em benefício da autoestima. As conclusões apontam que práticas como as do CCC exemplificam uma luta resistente de preservação e reapropriação da cultura local, por ocuparem o espaço de cidadania cultural, pela apropriação positiva do território e pelo fortalecimento da identidade cultural de ser Mangueirense. Além disso, também influenciam na construção da subjetividade do sujeito.