Integrating environmental and economic life cycle analysis in product development: a material selection case study

Purpose Achieving sustainability by rethinking products, services and strategies is an enormous challenge currently laid upon the economic sector, in which materials selection plays a critical role. In this context, the present work describes an environmental and economic life cycle analysis of a structural product, comparing two possible material alternatives. The product chosen is a storage tank, presently manufactured in stainless steel (SST) or in a glass fibre reinforced polymer composite (CST). The overall goal of the study is to identify environmental and economic strong and weak points related to the life cycle of the two material alternatives. The consequential win-win or trade-off situations will be identified via a Life Cycle Assessment/Life Cycle Costing (LCA/LCC) integrated model. Methods The LCA/LCC integrated model used consists in applying the LCA methodology to the product system, incorporating, in parallel, its results into the LCC study, namely those of the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) and the Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA). Results In both the SST and CST systems the most significant life cycle phase is the raw materials production, in which the most significant environmental burdens correspond to the Fossil fuels and Respiratory inorganics categories. The LCA/LCC integrated analysis shows that the CST has globally a preferable environmental and economic profile, as its impacts are lower than those of the SST in all life cycle stages. Both the internal and external costs are lower, the former resulting mainly from the composite material being significantly less expensive than stainless steel. This therefore represents a full win-win situation. As a consequence, the study clearly indicates that using a thermoset composite material to manufacture storage tanks is environmentally and economically desirable. However, it was also evident that the environmental performance of the CST could be improved by altering its End-of-Life stage. Conclusions The results of the present work provide enlightening insights into the synergies between the environmental and the economic performance of a structural product made with alternative materials. Further, they provide conclusive evidence to support the integration of environmental and economic life cycle analysis in the product development processes of a manufacturing company, or in some cases even in its procurement practices.

Privación de los derechos de protección a los consumidores del sector del turismo en Colombia a través de la ley 1558 de 2012

La ley 1480 de 2011 conocida también como Estatuto del Consumidor, es una norma creada para proteger en la mayor medida posible a los consumidores en Colombia en todos los sectores de la economía nacional, como regla general. A pesar de esto, fue expedida la Ley 1558 de 2011 que busca reformar la Ley del Turismo, la cual dispone que en materia de servicios de transporte aéreo, el Estatuto del Consumidor se encuentra excluido. En consecuencia los consumidores de este sector económico se encuentran protegidos exclusivamente por las normas especiales que menciona dicha ley, las cuales al ser analizadas y confrontadas con las disposiciones del Estatuto del Consumidor, se evidencia una precariedad en los derechos de protección que otorga la ley especial frente a la ley general. Por lo tanto se concluye que los usuarios de los servicios de transporta aéreo se encuentran desprotegidos en sus derechos como consumidores, al ser la norma especial significativamente menos proteccionista que la norma general. La Tesis de grado analiza la situación descrita, haciendo un análisis comparativo del régimen especial que busca proteger a los usuarios de servicios de transporte aéreo, con la norma general que aplica para el resto de consumidores en Colombia; Ley 1480 de 2011. Así mismo realiza un examen de constitucionalidad de la norma especial, para determinar la violación de las disposiciones Constitucionales, que la ley 1558 de 2012 causa, especialmente respecto del derecho a la igualdad y al derecho a la protección de los consumidores de el sector económico en mención.

Towards diversification of the tourism sector: A recreational demand study of yachting and marina services in the Caribbean

Includes bibliography.

Socio-economic atlas of Kenya: Depicting the national population census by county and sub-location

The Socio-Economic Atlas of Kenya is the first of its kind to offer high-resolution spatial depictions and analyses of data collected in the 2009 Kenya Population and Housing Census . The combination of geographic and socio-eco - nomic data enables policymakers at all levels, development experts, and other interested readers to gain a spatial understanding of dynamics affecting Kenya. Where is the informal economic sector most prominent? Which areas have adequate water and sanitation? Where is population growth being slowed effectively? How do education levels vary throughout the country? And where are poverty rates lowest? Answers to questions such as these, grouped into seven broad themes, are visually illustrated on high-resolution maps. By supplying precise information at the sub-location level and summarizing it at the county level, the atlas facilitates better planning that accounts for local contexts and needs. It is a valuable decision-support tool for government institutions at different administrative levels, educational institutions, and others. Three organizations – two in Kenya and one in Switzerland – worked together to create the atlas: the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the Nanyuki-based Centre for Training and Integrated Research in ASAL Development (CETRAD), and the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) at the University of Bern. Close cooperation between KNBS, CETRAD, and CDE maximized synergies and knowledge exchange.

Fearonomics and the Role of Nigeria's Private Sector in the Nigerian Ebola Response

Background: Outbreaks of infectious diseases such as Ebola have dramatic economic impacts on affected nations due to significant direct costs and indirect costs, as well as increased expenditure by the government to meet the health and security crisis. Despite its dense population, Nigeria was able to contain the outbreak swiftly and was declared Ebola free on 13th October 2014. Although Nigeria’s Ebola containment success was multifaceted, the private sector played a key role in Nigeria’s fight against Ebola. An epidemic of a disease like Ebola, not only consumes health resources but also detrimentally disrupts trade and travel to impact both public and private sector resulting in the ‘fearonomic’ effect of the contagion. In this thesis, I have defined ‘fearonomics’ or the ‘fearonomic effects’ of a disease as the intangible and intangible economic effects of both informed and misinformed aversion behavior exhibited by individuals, organizations, or countries during an outbreak. During an infectious disease outbreak, there is a significant potential for public-private sector collaborations that can help offset some of the government’s cost of controlling the epidemic.

Objective: The main objective of this study is to understand the ‘fearonomics’ of Ebola in Nigeria and to evaluate the role of the key private sector stakeholders in Nigeria’s Ebola response.

Methods: This retrospective qualitative study was conducted in Nigeria and utilizes grounded theory to look across different economic sectors in Nigeria to understand the impact of Ebola on Nigeria’s private sector and how it dealt with the various challenges posed by the disease and its ‘fearonomic effects'.

Results: Due to swift containment of Ebola in Nigeria, the economic impact of the disease was limited especially in comparison to the other Ebola-infected countries such as Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea. However, the 2014 Ebola outbreak had more than a just direct impact on the country’s economy and despite the swift containment, no economic sector was immune to the disease’s fearonomic impact. The potential scale of the fearonomic impact of a disease like Ebola was one of the key motivators for the private sector engagement in the Ebola response.

The private sector in Nigeria played an essential role in facilitating the country’s response to Ebola. The private sector not only provided in-cash donations but significant in-kind support to both the Federal and State governments during the outbreak. Swift establishment of an Ebola Emergency Operation Centre (EEOC) was essential to the country’s response and was greatly facilitated by the private sector, showcasing the crucial role of private sector in the initial phase of an outbreak. The private sector contributed to Nigeria’s fight against Ebola not only by donating material assets but by continuing operations and partaking in knowledge sharing and advocacy. Some sector such as the private health sector, telecom sector, financial sector, oil and gas sector played a unique role in orchestrating the Nigerian Ebola response and were among the first movers during the outbreak.

This paper utilizes the lessons from Nigeria’s containment of Ebola to highlight the potential of public-private partnerships in preparedness, response, and recovery during an outbreak.

Diagnóstico de la gestión presupuestaria para el sector dedicado a la venta al por mayor y menor de productos veterinarios en el cantón cuenca y propuesta para su mejoramiento. Caso práctico Agropecuaria en el Austro 2015-2016

EL presente trabajo de titulación, denominado; Diagnóstico de la gestión presupuestaria para el sector dedicado a la venta al por mayor y menor de productos veterinarios en el cantón Cuenca y propuesta para su mejoramiento. Caso práctico:Agropecuaria en el Austro. Para los años 2015-2016. Ha sido desarrollada con el propósito de contribuir socioeconómicamente a este sector económico; como primer punto se diagnosticará la situación del sector, para luego generar un modelo de gestión presupuestaria que sirva como guía y base de desarrollo empresarial, que posteriormente mediante la decisión de los propietarios de dichas empresas que se dedican a esta actividad economía, el modelo pueda ser implementado y puesto en marcha.

Prospectiva del sector de calzado de cuero en Colombia, caso Calzado Yullyan

Este trabajo busca aplicar los conocimientos adquiridos para identificar los problemas que se presentan en la empresa “Calzado Yullyan” y obtener posibles soluciones para lograr un mejor desempeño de la organización en el sector. Se pretende determinar los posibles escenarios en los que la empresa se puede ver involucrada, de manera que se planteen soluciones que mejoren las actividades desarrolladas y permitan el crecimiento y fortalecimiento de la misma. Para este trabajo se realizó un análisis del sector teniendo en cuenta diferentes aspectos como la productividad, el comportamiento de las importaciones y las exportaciones, la cadena productiva, las fuerzas del mercado, entre otros.

Divulgação de informação sobre instrumentos derivados: evidência empírica nas empresas do PSI 20

Mestrado em Contabilidade

Projecto de parceria entre a ONGD Estímulo e a Rede de Farmácias Portuguesas: a união de esforços entre sectores para a resolução de problemas contemporâneos

Trabalho de projeto apresentado à Escola Superior de Comunicação Social como parte dos requisitos para obtenção de grau de mestre em Gestão Estratégica das Relações Públicas.

A contabilidade analítica como suporte de informação para um adequado e eficiente controlo interno

Atualmente, a Contabilidade Analítica é referida como uma ferramenta de gestão no apoio à tomada de decisão. Este tipo de contabilidade prevê uma série de diferentes métodos de custeio e objetivos a atingir de acordo com o setor económico e com as necessidades de informação que se pretendem ver satisfeitas. O presente trabalho versa sobre um estudo científico que assenta em reconhecer que a Contabilidade Analítica é um importante suporte de informação para um adequado e eficiente Controlo Interno e deve ser objeto de elevada atenção e análise pela Auditoria. O estudo realizado teve como objetivos a Contabilidade Analítica, o Controlo Interno e a sua relação com a Auditoria, como contributo para formação de uma opinião credível e sustentada sobre a influência que pode assumir a informação fornecida pela Contabilidade Analítica e o controlo que isto proporciona à gestão. No estudo empírico seguimos a metodologia de abordagem de estudo de caso de Yin (1994) e chegamos à ideia geral de que a Contabilidade de Custos é fundamental para o processo de tomada de decisão.

Relating severe poverty and chronic poverty

The severely poor are very poor since their consumption is far below the absolute poverty line, and the chronically poor are very poor since their consumption persists for long periods below the absolute poverty line. A combination of chronic poverty and severe poverty (CSP) must represent the very worst instance of poverty. Yet the exercise in this paper of asking simple questions about CSP shows large research gaps. Quantified statements on CSP at the country level can be made for just 14 countries, and at the household level in just six countries. This data suggests a positive correlation between severe poverty and chronic poverty, both at the country level and the household level. Understanding the CSP relationship – whether it is strong, where it arises, what causes it – may improve our explanation of observed cross-country variation in the elasticity between macroeconomic growth and poverty reduction, and why within countries, some households take better advantage of opportunities afforded by macroeconomic growth. Some limited data suggests similarity in socioeconomic characteristics of the severe poor and the chronic poor in terms of location, household size, gender, education and economic sector of work. Of concern is that microlongitudinal datasets drop large proportions of their base year samples, and how this affects our understanding of CSP is not well evaluated. On causal mechanisms, evidence suggests that CSP may be caused by parental CSP (i.e. an intergenerational CSP cycle) and in households not previously poor, CSP may be caused by a morbidity cycle.

Health at work and risk factors related to ergonomics: some results from the Swiss sample of the 4th European working conditions survey

Introduction The European Foundation for the improvement of living and working conditions conducts a survey every 5 years since 1990. The foundation also offers the possibility to non-EU countries to be included in the survey: in 2005, Switzerland took part for the first time in the fourth edition of this survey. The Institute for Work and Health (IST) has been associated to the Swiss project conducted under the leadership of the SECO and the Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz. The survey covers different aspects of work like job characteristics and employment conditions, health and safety, work organization, learning and development opportunities, and the balance between working and non-working life (Parent-Thirion, Fernandez Macias, Hurley, & Vermeylen, 2007). More particularly, one question assesses the worker's self-perception of the effects of work on health. We identified (for the Swiss sample) several factors affecting the risk to report health problems caused by work. The Swiss sample includes 1040 respondents. Selection of participants was based on a random multi-stage sampling and was carried out by M.I.S Trend S.A. (Lausanne). Participation rate was 59%. The database was weighted by household size, gender, age, region of domicile, occupational group, and economic sector. Specially trained interviewers carried out the interviews at the respondents home. The survey was carriedout between the 19th of September 2005 and the 30th of November 2005. As detailed in (Graf et al., 2007), 31% of the Swiss respondents identify work as the cause of health problems they experience. Most frequently reported health problems include back pain (18%), stress (17%), muscle pain (13%), and overall fatigue (11%). Ergonomic aspects associated with higher risk of reporting health problems caused by work include frequent awkward postures (odds ratio [OR] 4.7, 95% confidence interval [CI] 3.1 to 5.4), tasks involving lifting heavy loads (OR 2.7, 95% CI 2.0 to 3.6) or lifting people (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.4 to 3.5), standing or walking (OR 1.4, 95% CI 1.1 to 1.9), as well as repetitive movements (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.3 to 2.3). These results highlight the need to continue and intensify the prevention of work related health problems in occupations characterized by risk factors related to ergonomics.

Measuring intangibles' productivity. Empirical evidence from Spanish firms

As companies and shareholders begin to note the potential repercussions of intangible assets uponbusiness results, the inability of the traditional financial statement model to reflect these new waysof creating business value has become evident. Companies have widely adopted newmanagement tools, covering in this way the inability of the traditional financial statement model toreflect these new ways of creating business value.However, there are few prior studies measuring on a quantifiable manner the level of productivityunexplained in the financial statements. In this study, we measure the effect of intangible assets onproductivity using data from Spanish firms selected randomly by size and sector over a ten-yearperiod, from 1995 to 2004. Through a sample of more than 10,000 Spanish firms we analyse towhat extent labour productivity can be explained by physical capital deepening, by quantifiedintangible capital deepening and by firm s economic efficiency (or total factor productivity PTF).Our results confirm the hypothesis that PTF weigh has increased during the period studied,especially on those firms that have experienced a significant raise in quantified intangible capital,evidencing that there are some important complementary effects between capital investment andintangible resources in the explanation of productivity growth. These results have significantdifferences considering economic sector and firm s dimension.

Are we wasting our talent? Overqualification and overskilling among PhD graduates

Drawing on a very rich data set from a recent cohort of PhD graduates, we examine the correlates and consequences of qualification and skills mismatch. We show that job characteristics such as the economic sector and the main activity at work play a fundamental direct role in explaining the probability of being well matched. However, the effect of academic attributes seems to be mainly indirect, since it disappears once we control for the full set of work characteristics. We detected a significant earnings penalty for those who are both overqualified and overskilled and also showed that being mismatched reduces job satisfaction, especially for those whose skills are underutilized. Overall, the problem of mismatch among PhD graduates is closely related to demand-side constraints of the labor market. Increasing the supply of adequate jobs and broadening the skills PhD students acquire during training should be explored as possible responses.

La performance sportive comme travail

Au cours des dernières décennies, les recherches articulant sport et travail se sont beaucoup développées. Elles portent sur un large ensemble de questions comme le fonctionnement des organisations sportives, les carrières des sportifs de haut niveau, la croissance d'un secteur économique et de métiers de l'intervention sportive, les migrations internationales des sportifs, les discriminations sexuelles ou raciales dans l'accès aux marchés du travail sportif, etc. Ici nous mettons l'accent sur une dimension, centrale, des activités sportives : la compétition. Et notre objectif est d'analyser les mécanismes de production de la performance sportive. Nous considérons celle-ci comme le résultat d'un travail qui n'engage pas les seuls sportifs, avec leurs aptitudes, qualités ou capacités individuelles. Nous la définissons comme une activité collective, qui mobilise une pluralité d'acteurs, institutions, organisations. À travers une variété d'opérations de jugement, d'évaluation, de reconnaissance, de qualification, de cotation, de sélection, ces acteurs contribuent, de manière directe et décisive, à produire la performance sportive. En présentant des travaux empiriques qui argumentent cette problématique et la mobilisent dans des domaines variés (cyclisme, rugby, judo, etc.), nous invitons au développement de recherches sur le travail sportif. In recent decades, there has been much development in research connecting sport and work. It covers a wide range of questions such as how sports organisations operate, the careers of top-level athletes, the growth of an economic sector and its specific jobs, the international migrations of athletes, sexual or racial discrimination in access to the labour market in sport, etc. Here, we place the emphasis on one central dimension of sports activities : competition. Our objective is to analyse the mechanisms of production of sports performance. We consider this to be the outcome of work that does not only involve athletes, with their individual skills, qualities or capacities. We define it as a collective activity that marshals multiple actors, institutions, organisations. Through a variety of activities of judgement, evaluation, recognition, qualification, classification and selection, these actors contribute directly and decisively to producing sports performance. By presenting empirical work that discusses this issue and applies it in varied domains (cycling, rugby, judo, etc.), we call for the development of research into work in sport.