Determinants of firm performance control

Combination of geophysical and geotechnical data using belief functions: Assessment with numerical and laboratory data

Effective project management requires reliable knowledge of cash required in different stages of project life cycle. Getting this knowledge is highly dependent on sophisticated consideration of project environment. Nature of projects and their environments are associated with uncertain conditions. In this paper, a new project cash flow assessment method based on project scheduling is proposed to foresee projects' cash flow in their different stages. Interval-valued fuzzy sets (IVFSs) are applied to address the uncertainty of activity durations and costs. First, an IVF-project scheduling method is proposed to calculate early start time and early finish time of activities under IVF-environment and based on that, a new method of cash flow assessment is introduced under IVF-environment. For the purpose of illustration, the proposed method is implemented to generate cash flow of main activities of a large-scale project. The results show the flexibility of presented assessment method in expressing uncertainty, in addition to its capability in risk evaluation. Furthermore, using alpha-cuts to address different levels of uncertainty and risk provides a comprehensive insight of the cash required in different stages of project life cycle under different levels of risk and uncertainty. Finally, the results are discussed and the proposed method is believed to be useful in the project evaluation.

As more GISs are used in many institutions and fields, the importance of keeping GIS database current is keenly recognized. To fulfill the requirement, a concept of dynamic update of GIS databases using a wide variety of data from multiple sources is proposed and a methodological framework is proposed to realize it. At first, a model to represent geo-objects with spatio- temporal uncertainties is proposed. The model can serve as a basis to handle geo-objects with different levels of spatio-temporal uncertainties especially in integrating data from multiple sources. Secondly, a method is proposed to estimate or reconstruct the status of relatively static geo-objects which only emerge and extinguish using observational data from multiple sources. Further extension of the method is required to estimate the status of more dynamic geo-objects. To merge geometric data with different levels of uncertainties, a method to estimate the `most probable' position of a line feature with a statistically sound basis is proposed. It is necessary to validate the effectiveness of this methodological framework using actual data of an urban object such as houses or structures.© (1994) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

This paper presents results of a study the goal of which is to evaluate the impact of rainfall forecast errors on real time control (RTC) of combined sewers in the Québec Urban Community (Q.U.C.). Firstly, we analyzed the impact of different levels of uncertainty on the probability to generate overloads in combined sewers and on the optimal overflow volume. The effects of the spatial distribution of errors on overloads and on overflow volumes have also been studied. Secondly, we modified the system management decision criteria in order to reduce the overload probability and to avoid possible backflows. This modification consisted of reducing the maximum allowable flow in the pipes of the sewer network. The results obtained showed that despite the negative impacts of forecast errors on overloads, this simple method preserves the efficiency of predictive integrated management. This ensures a safety margin on the possible backflows due to meteorological forecast errors.Key words: overflow, real time, control, combined sewers, forecast, errors, rain, overloads, backflows.

Explicit versus implicit contracts for dividing the benefits of cooperation

While entrepreneurship is one of the most studied topics in business research, findings have been mixed regarding the traits of entrepreneurs. Some of the confusion in the literature may be explained by findings such as John Miner's who identified four personality types capable of achieving entrepreneurial success (Miner and Raju, 2004). Indeed, several authors differentiated between different entrepreneurial subgroups. However, almost all writers assumed that entrepreneurs have distinct personality traits. Among the traits mentioned most often were: high need for achievement, need for control, autonomy, independence, self-confidence, initiative, optimism, imagination, persistence, leadership, competitiveness and risk taking. Against all this body of research comes the claim that the entrepreneurial personality is nothing but a myth. The current study is the fourth in a series of studies on Israeli entrepreneurs that explored their personal traits, from a macro cross-cultural and cultural perspective, through a mezzo occupational perspective to a micro individual behavioral perspective. This study, coming from a micro individual perspective, examined the correlates of the set of personal traits portraying Israeli entrepreneurs found in our previous research. It showed a. that entrepreneurial traits such as love of challenge, initiative, optimism, creativity and energy are highly correlated with risk-taking propensity; b. that this set of traits are also correlated with higher level of venture uncertainty in terms of market and technological uncertainty, and c. ventures with higher levels of uncertainty and risk create higher opportunities for future activities such as entering new markets and introducing new product lines, but are less efficient in terms of meeting schedule and budget goals.

Relational contracts with and between agents

This chapter reports the results of a survey carried out by the Banco de España on a sample of around 2,000 Spanish firms to deepen the understanding of firms' price setting behaviour. Most firms are price setters that use predominantly state-dependent rules or a combination of time- and state-dependent rules when reviewing their prices. Changes in costs are the main factor underlying price increases, whereas changes in market conditions (demand and competitors' prices) are the main driving forces of price decreases. The degree of price flexibility is directly related to the share of energy inputs over total costs and to the intensity of competition, whereas it is inversely linked to the labour share. The three theories of price stickiness that receive the highest empirical support are implicit contracts, coordination failure, and explicit contracts.

The impact of different levels of uncertainty associated with mechanical properties of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) on landfill stability is evaluated in this study. Because of heterogeneous nature, different fill ages and varying degree of decomposition in MSW, it is very difficult to obtain the reliable strength parameters through experiments and above all by the great deformations that the material undergoes when stressed. Therefore, the practice of using a factor of safety to ensure adequate design has major limitations. The paper presents a framework for calculating the reliability index for the design of MSW landfills by considering the translational failure mechanism. Target reliability based approach (TRA) is used to determine the reliability index against sliding failure. Based on the reliability analysis, significant parameters that affect the design stability of landfills are discussed. The influence of coefficients of variation (COV) of unit weight and friction angle of the waste, apparent cohesion and interface shear strength between the MSW and liner material is presented.

Explicit and Implicit Contracts with Non-Financial Stakeholders and Corporate Capital Structure: The Case of Product Warranties

A disequilibrium formulation of the labor market is particularly appropriate because so many reasons, several of a social or institutional nature, have been given for the failure of wages to maintain equilibrium levels. The main economic rationale for sluggish wage adjustment and incomplete clearing of the labor market is based on the long-term, idiosyncratic nature of labor relationships. As recent research of principal-agent and contracting problems suggests, the optimal response of firms and workers to informational asymmetries, uncertainty, and job-specific capital is to form simple, non-contingent explicit and implicit contracts that insulate the wage from general supply and demand pressures.1

Firms are defined by their nexus of contracts. Although VC funds are financial intermediaries, their structure and their mode of operations is determined by a nexus of explicit and implicit contracts between those who provide the necessary inputs to VC funds. Like any other firms, VC funds are comprised of assets and liabilities. The liabilities of VC funds are equity transferred from savers through LPs; the assets are investments in young companies based on radical ideas in technology. Three basic contracts define how much capital VC funds invest, in what type of projects they invest, and how the return on the investment is allocated between entrepreneurs, GPs and LPs. These three contracts are the contract that defines the VC fund, the contract between the VC fund (the GP) and the entrepreneurs, and the contract between the LPs and the GP.

Surveys from a perspectival model the place of the chaplain in the psychiatric hospital in terms of the multidisciplinary mental health team and its workings; historical patterns that have guided mental institutions' explicit or implicit contracts with religion; definitions of the scope of chaplaincy; the symbolic nature of religion; and the prevailing diagnostic neglect of religion and of the patient's personal agenda.

Probing uncertainty levels of electrification in informal urban settlements: A case from South Africa

A cognitive and participative decision-making model for transportation planning under different uncertainty levels