Practical decision support system evaluation for consultant selection

The widespread development of Decision Support System (DSS) in construction indicate that the evaluation of software become more important than before. However, it is identified that most research in construction discipline did not attempt to assess its usability. Therefore, little is known about the approach on how to properly evaluate a DSS for specific problem. In this paper, we present a practical framework that can be guidance for DSS evaluation. It focuses on how to evaluate software that is dedicatedly designed for consultant selection problem. The framework features two main components i.e. Sub-system Validation and Face Validation. Two case studies of consultant selection at Malaysian Department of Irrigation and Drainage were integrated in this framework. Some inter-disciplinary area such as Software Engineering, Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and Construction Project Management underpinned the discussion of the paper. It is anticipated that this work can foster better DSS development and quality decision making that accurately meet the client’s expectation and needs

Risk, trust, and consumer online purchasing behaviour : a Chilean perspective

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate Latin American online purchase behaviour with a specific focus on the influence of perceived risk and trust. While studies of this nature have been conducted quite extensively in developed countries, their application in developing countries, such as Latin America is limited. Our study addresses this gap in the literature with an empirical study conducted in Chile. Design/methodology/approach: The authors develop and test a proposed model of the influence of consumer’s perceptions of risk and trust on their attitudes and intentions to purchase on the Internet. An online survey method is used. The sample consists of 176 Chilean consumers who have made at least one purchase online. The data is analysed using structural equation modelling technique (SEM). Findings: The analysis revealed that of the perceived risk and trust factors examined, trust in third party assurances and a cultural environment of trust had the strongest positive influence on intentions to continuing purchasing online. Perceived risk had an inverse relationship with attitude and consumers’ attitude has a positive influence on intentions to purchase online. Trust in online vendors and a propensity to trust were both insignificant. Practical implications: Practically, these results identity which risk and trust beliefs towards purchasing online have the most effect thereby providing insights into how companies should seek to mitigate perceptions of risk to encourage new and return purchasers. Additionally, this research shows that consumers in a Latin American country, recognised as a collectivist, high risk avoidance culture, are willing to make purchases online despite the risks involved. Originality/value: The study and its results is one of few available that consider a Latin American context. The value of the findings provides insights into the specific risk and trust factors that influence Chilean consumers when considering purchasing online. The tested model adds value not only to the literature on Latin American consumer behaviour but also provides guidance for companies offering online retailing facilities in these less developed countries.

Understanding IT business value creation and evaluation in least developed economies

Information Technology (IT) is an important resource that can facilitate growth and development in both the developed and developing economies. The forces of globalisation increase the digital divide between the developed and developing economies is increasing. The least developed economies (LDEs) are the most vulnerable within this environment. Intense competition for IT resources means that LDEs need a deeper understanding of how to source and evaluate their IT-related efforts. This effort puts LDEs in a better position to source funding from various stakeholders and promote localized investment in IT. This study presents a complementary approach to securing better IT-related business value in organizations in the LDEs. It further evaluates how IT and the complementaries need to managed within the LDEs. Analysis of data collected from five LDEs show that organizations that invest in IT and related complementaries are able to better their business processes. The data also suggest that improved business processes lead to overall business processes improvements. The above is only possible if organizations adopt IT and make related changes in the complementary resources within the established culture and localizing the required changes.

The investigation of design-build variants in the construction market of the People’s Republic of China

Design-Build (DB) system has been widely adopted overseas but it has not received the same popularity yet in the People’s Republic of China. The selection of design-build variant is regarded as one of the critical obstacles to the application of this alternative. This paper investigates categories of design-build variants in the construction market of China. The develop-and-construction, enhanced design-build, traditional-design-build and engineering procurement-construction (EPC) are the four current designbuild variants adopted by clients. Each of them is developed to meet a varying set of circumstances and has its own advantages and disadvantages. The develop-and-construction is mostly used in large, complex projects in housing industry and it will guarantee client’s great control over the project while still leave some design room for the contractor. The traditional-design-build and enhanced-design-build systems are mostly applied in projects that are comparatively simple, small-scale, and the DB contractors will have greater control of the projects. The EPC is the extension of pure design-build method and is widely adopted in the petrochemical, metallurgical and electronic fields because of the high-technique requirements and the necessity for one entity to control the design, construction, procurement and commissioning etc. Four corresponding design-build projects are also presented in this paper in order to better illustrate the operational process and provide the insight for understanding the design-build variants in Mainland China.

Defining the role of phytoene synthase in carotenoid accumulation of high provitamin A bananas

Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is a serious problem in developing countries, affecting approximately 127 million children of preschool age and 7.2 million pregnant women each year. However, this deficiency is readily treated and prevented through adequate nutrition. This can potentially be achieved through genetically engineered biofortification of staple food crops to enhance provitamin A (pVA) carotenoid content. Bananas are the fourth most important food crop with an annual production of 100 million tonnes and are widely consumed in areas affected by VAD. However, the fruit pVA content of most widely consumed banana cultivars is low (~ 0.2 to 0.5 ìg/g dry weight). This includes cultivars such as the East African highland banana (EAHB), the staple crop in countries such as Uganda, where annual banana consumption is approximately 250 kg per person. This fact, in addition to the agronomic properties of staple banana cultivars such as vegetative reproduction and continuous cropping, make bananas an ideal target for pVA enhancement through genetic engineering. Interestingly, there are banana varieties known with high fruit pVA content (up to 27.8 ìg/g dry weight), although they are not widely consumed due to factors such as cultural preference and availability. The genes involved in carotenoid accumulation during banana fruit ripening have not been well studied and an understanding of the molecular basis for the differential capacity of bananas to accumulate carotenoids may impact on the effective production of genetically engineered high pVA bananas. The production of phytoene by the enzyme phytoene synthase (PSY) has been shown to be an important rate limiting determinant of pVA accumulation in crop systems such as maize and rice. Manipulation of this gene in rice has been used successfully to produce Golden Rice, which exhibits higher seed endosperm pVA levels than wild type plants. Therefore, it was hypothesised that differences between high and low pVA accumulating bananas could be due either to differences in PSY enzyme activity or factors regulating the expression of the psy gene. Therefore, the aim of this thesis was to investigate the role of PSY in accumulation of pVA in banana fruit of representative high (Asupina) and low (Cavendish) pVA banana cultivars by comparing the nucleic acid and encoded amino acid sequences of the banana psy genes, in vivo enzyme activity of PSY in rice callus and expression of PSY through analysis of promoter activity and mRNA levels. Initially, partial sequences of the psy coding region from five banana cultivars were obtained using reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR with degenerate primers designed to conserved amino acids in the coding region of available psy sequences from other plants. Based on phylogenetic analysis and comparison to maize psy sequences, it was found that in banana, psy occurs as a gene family of at least three members (psy1, psy2a and psy2b). Subsequent analysis of the complete coding regions of these genes from Asupina and Cavendish suggested that they were all capable of producing functional proteins due to high conservation in the catalytic domain. However, inability to obtain the complete mRNA sequences of Cavendish psy2a, and isolation of two non-functional Cavendish psy2a coding region variants, suggested that psy2a expression may be impaired in Cavendish. Sequence analysis indicated that these Cavendish psy2a coding region variants may have resulted from alternate splicing. Evidence of alternate splicing was also observed in one Asupina psy1 coding region variant, which was predicted to produce a functional PSY1 isoform. The complete mRNA sequence of the psy2b coding regions could not be isolated from either cultivar. Interestingly, psy1 was cloned predominantly from leaf while psy2 was obtained preferentially from fruit, suggesting some level of tissue-specific expression. The Asupina and Cavendish psy1 and psy2a coding regions were subsequently expressed in rice callus and the activity of the enzymes compared in vivo through visual observation and quantitative measurement of carotenoid accumulation. The maize B73 psy1 coding region was included as a positive control. After several weeks on selection, regenerating calli showed a range of colours from white to dark orange representing various levels of carotenoid accumulation. These results confirmed that the banana psy coding regions were all capable of producing functional enzymes. No statistically significant differences in levels of activity were observed between banana PSYs, suggesting that differences in PSY activity were not responsible for differences in the fruit pVA content of Asupina and Cavendish. The psy1 and psy2a promoter sequences were isolated from Asupina and Cavendish gDNA using a PCR-based genome walking strategy. Interestingly, three Cavendish psy2a promoter clones of different sizes, representing possible allelic variants, were identified while only single promoter sequences were obtained for the other Asupina and Cavendish psy genes. Bioinformatic analysis of these sequences identified motifs that were previously characterised in the Arabidopsis psy promoter. Notably, an ATCTA motif associated with basal expression in Arabidopsis was identified in all promoters with the exception of two of the Cavendish psy2a promoter clones (Cpsy2apr2 and Cpsy2apr3). G1 and G2 motifs, linked to light-regulated responses in Arabidopsis, appeared to be differentially distributed between psy1 and psy2a promoters. In the untranscribed regulatory regions, the G1 motifs were found only in psy1 promoters, while the G2 motifs were found only in psy2a. Interestingly, both ATCTA and G2 motifs were identified in the 5’ UTRs of Asupina and Cavendish psy1. Consistent with other monocot promoters, introns were present in the Asupina and Cavendish psy1 5’ UTRs, while none were observed in the psy2a 5’ UTRs. Promoters were cloned into expression constructs, driving the â-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene. Transient expression of the Asupina and Cavendish psy1 and psy2a promoters in both Cavendish embryogenic cells and Cavendish fruit demonstrated that all promoters were active, except Cpsy2apr2 and Cpsy2apr3. The functional Cavendish psy2a promoter (Cpsy2apr1) appeared to have activity similar to the Asupina psy2a promoter. The activities of the Asupina and Cavendish psy1 promoters were similar to each other, and comparable to those of the functional psy2a promoters. Semi-quantitative PCR analysis of Asupina and Cavendish psy1 and psy2a transcripts showed that psy2a levels were high in green fruit and decreased during ripening, reinforcing the hypothesis that fruit pVA levels were largely dependent on levels of psy2a expression. Additionally, semi-quantitative PCR using intron-spanning primers indicated that high levels of unprocessed psy2a and psy2b mRNA were present in the ripe fruit of Cavendish but not in Asupina. This raised the possibility that differences in intron processing may influence pVA accumulation in Asupina and Cavendish. In this study the role of PSY in banana pVA accumulation was analysed at a number of different levels. Both mRNA accumulation and promoter activity of psy genes studied were very similar between Asupina and Cavendish. However, in several experiments there was evidence of cryptic or alternate splicing that differed in Cavendish compared to Asupina, although these differences were not conclusively linked to the differences in fruit pVA accumulation between Asupina and Cavendish. Therefore, other carotenoid biosynthetic genes or regulatory mechanisms may be involved in determining pVA levels in these cultivars. This study has contributed to an increased understanding of the role of PSY in the production of pVA carotenoids in banana fruit, corroborating the importance of this enzyme in regulating carotenoid production. Ultimately, this work may serve to inform future research into pVA accumulation in important crop varieties such as the EAHB and the discovery of avenues to improve such crops through genetic modification.

The effect of housing characteristics and occupant activities on the respiratory health of women and children in Lao PDR

The paper presents the results of a study conducted into the relationship between dwelling characteristics and occupant activities with the respiratory health of resident women and children in Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR). Lao is one of the least developed countries in south-east Asia with poor life expectancies and mortality rates. The study, commissioned by the World Health Organisation, included questionnaires delivered to residents of 356 dwellings in nine districts in Lao PDR over a five month period (December 2005-April 2006), with the aim of identifying the association between respiratory health and indoor air pollution, in particular exposures related to indoor biomass burning. Adjusted odds ratios were calculated for each health outcome separately using binary logistic regression. After adjusting for age, a wide range of symptoms of respiratory illness in women and children aged 1-4 years were positively associated with a range of indoor exposures related to indoor cooking, including exposure to a fire and location of the cooking place. Among women, “dust always inside the house” and smoking were also identified as strong risk factors for respiratory illness. Other strong risk factors for children, after adjusting for age and gender, included dust and drying clothes inside. This analysis confirms the role of indoor air pollution in the burden of disease among women and children in Lao PDR.

Strategic Management Practices in the Construction Industry : a Dynamic Capabilities View

This book is an empirical study of strategic management practices in the construction industry. It examines the dynamic capabilities paradigm within the context of the Indonesian construction industry. The characteristics of asset-capability combinations were found to be significant determinants of the competitive advantage of the Indonesian construction enterprises, and that such advantage sequentially contributes to organizational performance. In doing so, this study fills an important gap in the empirical literature and reinforces the dynamic capabilities framework’s recognition as a rigorous theory of strategic management. As the dynamic capabilities framework can work in the context of Indonesia, it suggests that the framework has potential applicability in other emerging and developing countries

Managing an ageing third sector workforce: international and local perspectives

Australia, like all developed and most developing countries, is facing major contextual changes, one of which is an ageing population, largely through declining fertility and increasing longevity (WHO 2002). This will impact on most aspects of global, national, local, community, family and individual interactions and decision-making, including for the nonprofit sector. The sector should be aware that population ageing is increasingly being addressed in public finance and policy agendas within Australia (see, for example, Intergenerational Report 2002-3), as well as by governments in countries such as the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and European Economic Policy Committee (EEPC).

What explains the association between socioeconomic status and depression among Vietnamese adults?

Background Depression is a major public health problem worldwide and is currently ranked second to heart disease for years lost due to disability. For many decades, international research has found that depressive symptoms occur more frequently among low socioeconomic (SES) individuals than their more-advantaged peers. However, the reasons as to why those of low socioeconomic groups suffer more depressive symptoms are not well understood. Studies investigating the prevalence of depression and its association with SES emanate largely from developed countries, with little research among developing countries. In particular, there is a serious dearth of research on depression and no investigation of its association with SES in Vietnam. The aims of the research presented in this Thesis are to: estimate the prevalence of depressive symptoms among Vietnamese adults, examine the nature and extent of the association between SES and depression and to elucidate causal pathways linking SES to depressive symptoms Methods The research was conducted between September 2008 and November 2009 in Hue city in central Vietnam and used a combination of qualitative (in-depth interviews) and quantitative (survey) data collection methods. The qualitative study contributed to the development of the theoretical model and to the refinement of culturally-appropriate data collection instruments for the quantitative study. The main survey comprised a cross-sectional population–based survey with randomised cluster sampling. A sample of 1976 respondents aged between 25-55 years from ten randomly-selected residential zones (quarters) of Hue city completed the questionnaire (response rate 95.5%). Measures SES was classified using three indicators: education, occupation and income. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale was used to measure depressive symptoms (range0-51, mean=11.0, SD=8.5). Three cut-off points for the CES-D scores were applied: ‘at risk for clinical depression’ (16 or above), ‘depressive symptoms’ (above 21) and ‘depression’ (above 25). Six psychosocial indicators: life time trauma, chronic stress, recent life events, social support, self esteem, and mastery were hypothesized to mediate the association between SES and depressive symptoms. Analyses The prevalence of depressive symptoms were analysed using bivariate analyses. The multivariable analytic phase comprised of ordinary least squares regression, in accordance with Baron and Kenny’s three-step framework for mediation modeling. All analyses were adjusted for a range of confounders, including age, marital status, smoking, drinking and chronic diseases and the mediation models were stratified by gender. Results Among these Vietnamese adults, 24.3% were at or above the cut-off for being ‘at risk for clinical depression’, 11.9% were classified as having depressive symptoms and 6.8% were categorised as having depression. SES was inversely related to depressive symptoms: the least educated those with low occupational status or with the lowest incomes reported more depressive symptoms. Socioeconomicallydisadvantaged individuals were more likely to report experiencing stress (life time trauma, chronic stress or recent life events), perceived less social support and reported fewer personal resources (self esteem and mastery) than their moreadvantaged counterparts. These psychosocial resources were all significantly associated with depressive symptoms independent of SES. Each psychosocial factor showed a significant mediating effect on the association between SES and depressive symptoms. This was found for all measures of SES, and for males and females. In particular, personal resources (mastery, self esteem) and chronic stress accounted for a substantial proportion of the variation in depressive symptoms between socioeconomic groups. Social support and recent life events contributed modestly to socioeconomic differences in depressive symptoms, whereas lifetime trauma contributed the least to these inequalities. Conclusion This is the first known study in Vietnam or any developing country to systematically examine the extent to which psychosocial factors mediate the relationship between SES and depression. The study contributes new evidence regarding the burden of depression in Vietnam. The findings have practical relevance for advocacy, for mental health promotion and health-care services, and point to the need for programs that focus on building a sense of personal mastery and self esteem. More broadly, the work presented in this Thesis contributes to the international scientific literature on the social determinants of depression.

The impact of organisational culture on project selection : what is the appropriate culture type?

Project selection is a complex decision making process that is not merely influenced by the technical aspects of the project. Selection of road infrastructure projects in the Indonesian public sector is generally conducted at an organisational level, which involves multiple objectives, constraints and stakeholders. Hence, a deeper understanding of the various organisational drivers that impact on such decisions, in particular organisational culture, is much needed for improving decision-making processes as it has been posited by some researchers that organisational culture can become either an enabler, or a barrier, to the process. One part of the cultural assessment undertaken as part of the research, identifies and analyses the cultural types of relevant and involved organisations in the decision making process. The organisational culture assessment instrument (OCAI) of Cameron and Quinn (2011) was utilized in this study and the data was taken from three selected provinces in Indonesia. The results can facilitate the surveyed (and similar) organisations to improve their performance by moving towards a more appropriate cultural typology that is arguably better suited to their operations and to improving their organisational processes to more closely align with their organisational vision, mission and objectives.

Factors contributing to design-build (DB) project delivery system implementation in road infrastructure projects in Indonesia

Design-build (DB) project delivery systems have increasingly been adopted by many private and public sector organizations worldwide due to the many advantages offered on projects by such systems. However, many Indonesian road infrastructure projects are still delivered using the traditional design-bid-build (DBB) project delivery system. In order to provide evidence of the benefits of DB, it is essential to identify the factors that can contribute to successful DB implementation and this paper aims to provide evidence of such factors that can promote the successful implementation of DB project delivery systems on Indonesian road infrastructure projects. Four main factors and 28 indicators were identified from an extensive literature review, and a Delphi questionnaire survey was conducted amongst 20 experts drawn from the Indonesian road infrastructure construction sector. The first round Delphi study found that regulation, competency of clients, ability to manage DB projects and external conditions were the major factors that can promote successful DB implementation.

Emergency medicine in China

With the world’s largest population of 1.3 billion, China is a rapidly developing country. In line with this development, China’s enormous health system is experiencing an unprecedented series of reforms. According to a recent official government report, China has 300, 000 health organizations, which include 60, 000 hospitals and a total number of 3.07 million beds (China NBoSoP 2006). To provide health services for the national population, as well as the substantial number of visitors, China has 1.93 million doctors and 1.34 million registered nurses (China NBoSoP 2006). From 1984 to 2004, the number of inpatients grew from about 25 to 50 million, with outpatient figures increasing from 1.1 to 1.3 billion (China MoH 2006). The scale of the health system is likely bigger than in any other countries in the world, but the quality of medical services is still among the levels of developing countries. In 2005, approximately 3.8% of inpatients (about 1.5 million)(China NBoSoP 2006) were admitted because of injury and poisoning, which created significant load for the acute health system. These increased figures are at least partly because of the development of the health system and technological health-care advances but, even with such advances, this rapid change in emergency health-care demand has created a very significant burden on existing systems...

The role of cultural beliefs in contributing to risky road use behaviour in Pakistan

Background Pakistan has the highest population rate of road fatalities in South Asia (25.3 fatalities per 100,000 people: Global Status Report on Road Safety, WHO 2009). Along with road environment and vehicle factors, human factors make a substantial contribution to traffic safety in Pakistan. Beliefs about road crash causation and prevention have been demonstrated to contribute to risky road use behaviour and resistance to preventive measures in a handful of other developing countries, but has not been explored in Pakistan. In particular, fatalism (whether based on religion, other cultural beliefs or experience) has been highlighted as a barrier to achieving changes in attitudes and behaviour. Aims The research reported here aimed (i) to explore perceptions of road crash causation among policy makers, police officers, professional drivers and car drivers in Pakistan; (ii) to identify how cultural and religious beliefs influence road use behaviour in Pakistan; and (iii) to understand how fatalistic beliefs may work as obstacles to road safety interventions. Methods In-depth interviews were conducted by the primary author (mostly in Urdu) in Lahore, Rawalpindi and Islamabad with 12 professional drivers (taxi, bus and truck), 4 car drivers, 6 police officers, 4 policy makers and 2 religious orators. All but two were Muslim, two were female, and they were drawn from a wide range of ages (24 to 60) and educational backgrounds. The interviews were taped and transcribed, then translated into English and analysed for themes related to the aims. Results Fatalism emerged as a pervasive belief utilised to justify risky road use behaviour and to resist messages about preventive measures. There was a strong religious underpinning to the statement of fatalistic beliefs (this reflects popular conceptions of Islam rather than scholarly interpretations), but also an overlap with superstitious beliefs which have longer-standing roots in Pakistani culture. These beliefs were not limited to people of poor educational background or position. A particular issue which was explored in more detail was the way in which these beliefs and their interpretation within Pakistani society contributed to poor police reporting of crashes. Discussion and conclusions The pervasive nature of fatalistic beliefs in Pakistan affects road user behaviour by supporting continued risk taking behaviour on the road, and by interfering with public health messages about behaviours which would reduce the risk of traffic crashes. The widespread influence of these beliefs on the ways that people respond to traffic crashes and the death of family members contribute to low crash reporting rates and to a system which is difficult to change. The promotion of an evidence-based approach to road user behaviour is recommended, along with improved professional education for police and policy makers.

Alleviating poverty by engaging in microenterprise : how can INGOs in Vietnam help microenterprises overcome market constraints?

Microenterprise programs (MEPs) that aim to help poor communities engage in micro businesses have contributed significantly to poverty reduction in developing countries. However, a review of the literature suggests that the current approach adopted by MEPs has mainly provided services to microenterprises (MEs) based on what MEPs can supply rather than on what MEs actually need and what the market demands. Therefore, MEPs’ approaches are more likely to be supply driven. Yet when there are market constraints, such as high competition or low demand, this approach has been linked to the failure of MEs in their infancy. The alternative is a demand driven approach, in which MEPs provide MEs with support based on what MEs need, and what markets demand. However, research examining the application of this approach is limited. In order to gain an understanding of the approaches of MEPs, to identify whether these approaches are demand or supply driven, and to discover how these approaches are used to help MEs operate under market constraints, this study examined the operation of International Non-Government Organisations (INGOs) operating in Vietnam. This exploratory study involved in-depth interviews with senior executives from 10 INGOs. Thematic analysis was used to analyse data collected from the in-depth interviews. The results were further verified with publicly available data from the INGOs. The findings of this research indicate that the demand driven approach is dominant in most approaches of INGOs in Vietnam, and has become a key approach in helping MEs deal with market constraints. Further, rather than explaining the demand and supply driven dichotomy, the findings highlight that MEPs’ approaches can be viewed in two dimensions: a participant-demand driven approach focusing on the basic needs and capabilities of the extremely poor, irrespective of market demands; and a market-demand driven approach focusing on the capabilities of poor communities, while also accommodating market demands. This research provides contemporary and practical insights into the DD and SD approaches, and a better understanding of MEPs’ approaches to MED in Vietnam.

Corporate social and environmental responsibility in relation to the agricultural sector and the food supply chain : a Case Study of Waitrose

Waitrose has a strong commitment to organic farming but also uses products from 'conventional' farms. At the production stage, Waitrose own-label products are fully traceable, GM-free and all suppliers undergo a detailed assessment programme based on current best practice. Crop suppliers to Waitrose operate an authenticity programme to certify that each assignment is GM-free and produce is screened for pesticide residues. Waitrose sources conventional crops grown from 'Integrated Crop Management Systems' (ICMS) using best horticultural practices. The 'Assured Product' scheme regulates all UK produce to ICMS standards and these audits are being extended worldwide. Business is withdrawn from suppliers who fail the audit. In relation to this, Waitrose has increased its Fairtrade range as in its view 'Buying these products provides direct additional benefit to workers in the developing countries where they are produced and assists marginal producers by giving them access to markets they would not otherwise have'. Currently, Waitrose is developing its own sustainable timber assessment criteria. For livestock, protocols are in place to ensure that animals are reared under the 'most natural conditions possible' and free range produce is offered where animals have access to open space although some produce is not from free-range animals. Waitrose also use a 'Hazards Analysis Critical Points' system to identify food safety hazards that occur at any stage from production to point of sale and to ensure that full measures are in place to control them. In addition, mechanisms have been implemented to reduce fuel use and hence reduce CO2 emissions in the transport of products and staff, and to increase the energy use efficiency of refrigeration systems which account for approximately 60% of Waitrose energy use.