Search results for "Strategic"

Manufacturing Strategy: Production Problem Analysis for Assessing Focused Flexibility

2008

The objective of this chapter is to define an operationalization pattern which supports decision makers and managers in determining the level of manufacturing flexibility competences, given the business strategy and the manufacturing structure of the firm. This should drive the production system design and configuration activity. Specifically, this chapter presents an innovative approach to develop a manufacturing strategy, which is based on the idea that information on potential production problems that the manufacturing system could face throughout a given long-term planning horizon should be used as a starting point to determine the level of flexibility that the system should possess.

The Challengers: Kymmene, United Paper Mills, and Metsäliitto

2006

Firms attempt to adapt themselves through their business strategies to the present and forthcoming (institutional and technical) environments. Whether these strategy choices are planned or implemented is the classic question in business history and strategic management. It is generally agreed that the basic aims of a firm is to be profitable (at least over the long term) and to survive. These basic assumptions seems to fit most of the current, publicly owned companies, but when we are dealing with e.g. governmental owned or cooperatives, this seemingly clear picture becomes fuzzy. This article aims to analyse three major Finnish forestry industry companies, namely Kymmene, United Paper Mill…

Over the Cuckoo’s Nest : Towards a Nordic Model of the Responsible University?

2019

AbstractThis concluding chapter takes stock of the major elements, both empirical and conceptual, that underpin the case chapters presented in the book. The chapter is organised in three distinct sections. First, addressing a largely scientific audience, the chapter attempts to make conceptual sense of the findings from an organisational theory perspective. Second, it shifts focus to the wider community of practitioners (policy makers, advisers, university managers and administrators, etc.) by shedding light on the practical implications of the volume’s core findings for both policy and practice. Third, the chapter once again addresses an academic audience by sketching out the road ahead re…

Reliability Analysis of a Controlled Stage-Constructed and Reinforced Embankment on Soft Ground Using 2D and 3D Models

2020

Geosynthetic reinforcement has become a very practical technique to improve geotechnical structure safety. In spite of improved soil behavior, structures are affected by uncertainties related to soil and reinforcement material properties. This paper aims to present a reliability analysis in order to take statistical information (uncertainties) into account in a safety analysis of reinforced embankments. The analysis was used in a case study on a controlled stage-constructed embankment on soft ground in order to investigate its probabilistic stability. Modeling was performed by commercial geotechnical software usage (GeoStudio and RocScience packs, SIGMA/W+SLOPE/W and SLIDE³, respectively) a…

Strategic Environmental Assessment: Integrating Landscape and Urban Planning

2016

This book explores the opportunities offered by Strategic Environmental Assessment in the context of guaranteeing the synchronized integration of landscape (in all its aspects) within urban plans, thereby helping to overcome the constraints of rigidly framed, sector-focused laws and a purely aesthetic concept of landscape. In pursuit of this goal, various scholars have previously attempted to construct arrays of indicators relating to the different conceptions of “landscape”. This book critically examines the most complete proposals of this nature, systematizing and comparing them and, finally, offering some guidelines with respect to their codification within specific application protocols…

Effects of Activated Carbon on PCB Bioaccumulation and Biological Responses of Chironomus riparius in Full Life Cycle Test

2016

The nonbiting midge Chironomus riparius was used to study the remediation potential and secondary effects of activated carbon (AC, ø 63-200 μm) in PCB contaminated sediments. AC amendments efficiently reduced PCB bioavailability determined by Chironomus riparius bioaccumulation tests and passive samplers. PCBs were shown to transfer from larvae to adults. Lower PCB concentrations were observed in adult midges emerging from AC amended compared to unamended sediments. Increased reproduction, survival, larval growth and gut wall microvilli length were observed with low AC dose (0.5% sediment dw) compared to unamended sediment, indicating an improved success of larvae in the sediment with low o…

Strategic Management Simulations: the German Case

1995

This chapter initially considers the rationale and potential value of games and simulations for managerial and executive assessment. Several shortcomings of existing techniques are discussed. In contrast, characteristics of the Strategic Management Simulations (SMS) are described in terms of applicability, reliability, construct validity, predictive validity and other factors. This chapter provides validity information about a German version of the SMS system via a case analysis procedure with two German samples.

La riforma amministrativa dei governi locali: "grande trasformazione" o gattopardesco maquillage?

2009

The Dynamics of the Global Multinationals: Determinants of New Global Configurations and New Management Challenges

2018

During the last few decades, the complex interplay between (the process of) globalization and (the evolution of global) multinationals has radically changed both the architecture of the global economy and the characteristics of their main players – the global multinationals; new configurations have emerged, while new complexities have replaced them, in unprecedented (in terms of speed, breadth, and depth) manners, adding new valences to the challenges firms and their strategists are confronting nowadays. The aim of the paper is to identify (some of) the most significant shifts that have marked the dynamics of the global multinationals during the last two decades, in order to sketch the new …

The new role of the corporate and functional strategies in the tourism sector: Spanish small and medium-sized hotels

2005

This article aims at establishing the presence or lack of possible relationships between the existence of a logical global strategy definition in Spanish small and medium-sized hotels and its links with functional or department strategies involving four areas – marketing, technology, human resources and finance. Results show that there is a relationship between enterprise size – using business turnover as a yardstick – and the proper definition of technology, human resources and finance functions. There is also a relationship between enterprise size, determined by the number of employees, and an adequate definition of corporate strategy and technology and human resources department function…