Since businesses are constantly changing, making right decisions is a critical factor in order to achieve good results. In the thesis, two different decision support models are tested and the outcome is compared. This is done in cooperation with a company, Åmotfors Energi, who is facing a decision on how they can make use of their 30 GWh heat which they today do not have a paying customer for. Nine alternatives are used in the models and evaluated with seventeen different criteria. The purpose of this study is to compare and interpret the outcomes of two decision support models: the Analytical Hierarchy Process and Pugh Matrix Analysis. The purpose is also to investigate the main factors that influence the outcome of the models. The main research strategy was to use experimental design where three experts with various technical skills have scored the alternatives in both models. The alternatives have been carefully developed through an idea generation and idea selection phase. The results show that the models give different result when it comes to ranking the alternatives, both between the models and between the different experts. The empirical findings establish that the outcome from the models should be interpreted that the lowest scored alternatives can be eliminated for further research. The alternatives with the highest score should be further investigated before a decision could be made. Furthermore, what mainly affects the result is based on human factors. / Företag står inför ständiga förändringar och att fatta rätt beslut ses som en kritisk faktor för att uppnå goda resultat. I denna uppsats testas två beslutsstödjande modeller där utfallet av dem jämförs. Detta görs med hjälp av företaget Åmotfors Energi som står inför ett beslut om hur de kan använda deras 30 GWh värme som de i dagsläget inte har någon betalande kund för. Nio alternativ används i modellerna och utvärderas med sjutton uppsatta kriterier. Syftet med denna studie är att testa, jämföra och tolka resultatet från två beslutsstödjande modeller, den Analytiska Hierarkiska Processen och Pughs Matris Analys. Syftet är också att utreda vilka huvudfaktorer som påverkar utfallet av modellerna. Den huvudsakliga forskningsstrategin var ett experiment tre experter med olika tekniska färdigheter har poängsatt de olika alternativen i modellerna. Alternativen är omsorgsfullt framtagna genom en idégenereringsfas och en idéurvalsfas. Resultaten visar att modellerna ger olika resultat när det kommer till att rangordna alternativen, både vid jämförelsen mellan modellerna men även mellan experterna. Den empiriska studien visar att resultatet från modellerna bör tolkas som att de lägst rankade alternativen kan uteslutas, och de högst rankade alternativen bör utvärderas vidare innan ett besluta kan tas. Det som huvudsakligen påverkar resultatet baseras på mänskliga faktorer.

Submitted by STEFANO PETRINI DE OLIVEIRA null (stefanopetrini@hotmail.com) on 2016-05-06T00:57:17Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação - Stefano Petrini.pdf: 1880894 bytes, checksum: 90c6382ea8269445954a2790db221707 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Juliano Benedito Ferreira (julianoferreira@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2016-05-09T20:04:22Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 petrini_s_me_guara.pdf: 1880894 bytes, checksum: 90c6382ea8269445954a2790db221707 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-05-09T20:04:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 petrini_s_me_guara.pdf: 1880894 bytes, checksum: 90c6382ea8269445954a2790db221707 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-15 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / Recent research about the identification of factors that contribute to better sharing of knowledge and ways to evaluate this topic highlight the importance of knowledge management for the organization. Exploring opportunities in this scenario, the present study examines the share of the workers' knowledge in the automotive industry by factors related to the Production Organization, Work Organization and Knowledge Management, with attention to the influence of organizational and interpersonal context in the knowledge sharing process. This delimitation of the industrial sector in the light of the production area is justified by this area has dependence of the workers' tacit knowledge. The research uses a qualitative and quantitative approach in survey format and uses a questionnaire with managers (coordinators and supervisors) to assess the importance of leveraging factors of knowledge management in the view of the leadership body. It employed the Incomplete Pairwise Comparison method proposed by Harker (1986) based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process of Saaty (1977). The survey shows an integration between the factors and highlights the importance of systemic and technical conversation among the workers to improve their knowledge sharing, plus the role of communication, training and work instruction in the knowledge conversion processes. This research expands the theme of the conceptual limits knowledge management found in literature and contributes mainly in managerial direction for the qualification and learning new employees in the continuous process of recycling knowledge and mitigation of knowledge waste. Thus, it contributes to the promotion of an enabling environment for the creation and sharing of knowledge by the people of the workers' environment. / Pesquisas recentes relativas a identificação de fatores que contribuem para o melhor compartilhamento do conhecimento e formas de avaliação do tema evidenciam a importância da Gestão do Conhecimento para a organização. Explorando oportunidades neste cenário, a presente pesquisa analisa o compartilhamento do conhecimento operário na indústria automotiva por meio de fatores relativos à Organização da Produção, Organização do Trabalho e a Gestão do Conhecimento, com atenção a influência do contexto organizacional e interpessoal no processo de compartilhamento de conhecimento. Esta delimitação de setor industrial à luz da área de Produção justifica-se por esta área possuir dependência do conhecimento tácito operário. A pesquisa utiliza uma abordagem quali-quantitativa no formato survey e emprega um questionário com gestores (coordenadores e supervisores) para avaliar a importância dos fatores alavancadores da Gestão do Conhecimento na ótica do corpo de liderança. É empregada o método Incomplete Pairwise Comparison, proposta por Harker (1986) baseada no Analytic Hierarchy Process de Saaty (1977). A pesquisa evidencia uma integração entre os fatores e destaca a importância da conversa sistêmica e técnica entre os operários para o melhor compartilhamento de seu conhecimento, além do papel da comunicação, do treinamento e da instrução de trabalho nos processos de conversão do conhecimento. Esta pesquisa expande os limites conceituais do tema Gestão do Conhecimento verificado na pesquisa bibliográfica e contribui, principalmente, no direcionamento gerencial para a qualificação e aprendizado de novos funcionários, no processo contínuo de reciclagem de conhecimento e mitigação do desperdício do conhecimento. Logo, ela contribui à promoção de um contexto favorável à criação e ao compartilhamento do conhecimento pelas pessoas do ambiente operário.

Submitted by MELINA FUSHIMI (melinafushimi@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-06-27T15:24:06Z No. of bitstreams: 1 TESE_FINAL_Melina Fushimi.pdf: 21884758 bytes, checksum: 0c1b17ce557210c1ae752004961a846d (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Paula Grisoto (grisotoana@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2016-06-28T17:14:34Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 fushimi_m_dr_prud.pdf: 21884758 bytes, checksum: 0c1b17ce557210c1ae752004961a846d (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-28T17:14:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 fushimi_m_dr_prud.pdf: 21884758 bytes, checksum: 0c1b17ce557210c1ae752004961a846d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-06-17 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / No atual momento histórico, diante das transformações aceleradas das paisagens, em que as dinâmicas da sociedade se interpenetram e, muitas vezes, se sobressaem às dinâmicas da natureza, a questão ambiental assume importância em vários campos do conhecimento, sobretudo, na Geografia. Em meio aos diversos trabalhos desenvolvidos no âmbito geográfico e ambiental, tem-se a erosão como um dos assuntos mais enfatizados. Neste contexto, o objetivo geral da tese foi analisar os principais elementos que influenciam na vulnerabilidade ambiental aos processos erosivos lineares (sulcos, ravinas e voçorocas) de parte dos municípios de Marabá Paulista-SP e Presidente Epitácio-SP. Sob a perspectiva teórico-metodológica do pensamento da complexidade, foram caracterizados os aspectos do relevo, declividade, solos, substrato rochoso, cobertura vegetal, curvatura da superfície e uso da terra, além da elaboração de documentos cartográficos em ambiente de Sistemas de Informação Geográfica, em especial, o mapa de vulnerabilidade ambiental aos processos erosivos lineares. Em virtude das possibilidades de integração dos dados e atribuição de pesos, o referido mapa foi realizado a partir da lógica fuzzy, especificamente, da Técnica do Processo Analítico Hierárquico (AHP), a qual proporcionou o mapeamento de maneira classificada: baixa (0.32%), média (65.15%), alta (34.45%) e muito alta vulnerabilidade (0.08%). A baixa vulnerabilidade está elencada às matas ciliares remanescentes. A média vulnerabilidade se localiza nos topos das colinas com declividades inferiores a 5%. O uso da terra predominante é a pastagem e os solos são, em sua maioria, desenvolvidos e arenosos. A alta vulnerabilidade está, principalmente, nas vertentes convexas e retilíneas, em que as inclinações podem alcançar 15%. A pastagem prevalece, todavia, verificou-se a expansão do cultivo de cana de açúcar e do solo exposto para seu consecutivo plantio. A muito alta vulnerabilidade apresenta-se nas vertentes côncavas, cuja curvatura favorece a convergência das águas pluviais e, portanto, o fluxo linear. Tal evento se intensifica perante às declividades acentuadas – superiores a 20% para a região. Combinado a estes atributos, sobre solos rasos tem-se o pastoreio intensivo do gado, o qual acelera a compactação do solo e acarreta a erosão, sendo uma das formas de degradação mais recorrente no Extremo Oeste Paulista. Assim, o presente estudo pode contribuir no sentido de orientar a implantação de medidas preventivas e corretivas de controle à erosão por intermédio do planejamento ambiental. / In the current historical moment, given the accelerated changes in landscapes, in which the dynamics of society interpenetrate and, often, exceed the dynamics of nature, the environmental issue assumes importance in several fields of knowledge, especially, Geography. Among the diverse assignments developed in geographical and environmental contexts, erosion is one of the most commonly emphasized subjects. Therefore, this thesis aimed to analyze the main elements that influence environmental vulnerability to linear erosive processes (rills, ravines and gullies) in parts of Marabá Paulista-SP and Presidente Epitácio-SP. From the theoretical-methodological perspective of thought complexity, the relief, slope plans, soils, bedrocks, vegetation, surface curvature and land use aspects were characterized, in addition to the elaboration of cartographic documents using the Geographic Information System, in particular, the map of environmental vulnerability to linear erosive processes. Due to the possibilities of integrating data and assigning weights, the map was performed based on fuzzy sets, specifically, the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), which provided classified mapping: low (0.32%), medium (65.15%), high (34.45%) and very high vulnerability (0.08%). The low vulnerability is identified in the reminiscent cilliary forests. The medium vulnerability is located on the hilltops with slopes of less than 5%. The land use is predominantly for pasture and soils are for the most part developed and sandy. The high vulnerability is primarily the convex and rectilinear aspects, where the slopes can reach 15%. On the prevailing pasture, however, the expansion of the sugar cane crop was found and soil exposed to its successive planting. The very high vulnerability is present in the concave slopes, whose curvature favors the convergence of rainwater and thus, linear flow. This event is intensified towards the steep slopes – more than 20% of the region. Combined with these attributes, on shallow soils there is intensive grazing of livestock, which accelerates soil compaction and leads to erosion, one of the most recurrent means of degradation in the Far West of São Paulo. Thus, the present study may contribute to guiding the management of preventive and corrective measures to control erosion through environmental planning.

Efforts towards sustainable urban areas are fundamental for the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs], embodied in goal 11 of sustainable cities and communities. Sustainable urban development requires the goals to be localized and operationalized to the applied areas needs and prerequisites. Localization and operationalization of the goals has, however, proved to be difficult in a local setting. In relation, Neighbourhood Sustainability Assessment [NSA] tools are found to provide directives, metrics and indicators of community sustainability assessments, possibly appliable to provide guidance for local governance to operationalize the SDGs. This degree project aims to evaluate the possibility of SDG.11 attainment and policy operationalization at a local level through the use of an established NSA-tool, BREEAM-C. To do so, this degree project use deductive thematic analysis, with SDG.11 targets as analytical framework, to evaluate connectivity to SDG.11 of local policy documents stated to direct efforts of SDG.11 implementation and the selected NSA-tool manual. Further, a composite index of NSA-tool indicators, ranked and adapted to local intentions, is developed through an analytical hierarchy process. Overall strong connections, though variable, to SDG.11 are found for both municipal and NSA-tool intentions of urban development as well as between municipal and NSA-tool intentions. The proposed composite index for SDG.11 implementation is deemed to adequately answer to municipal intentions of SDG.11 implementation.

Forward osmosis (FO) is an emerging technology for water treatment due to their ability to draw freshwater using an osmotic pressure gradient across a semi-permeable membrane. However, the lack of draw agents that could both produce reasonable flux and be separated from the draw solution at a low cost stand in the way of widespread implementation. This study had two objectives: evaluate the performance of three materials — peptone, carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), and magnetite nanoparticles (Fe3O4 NPs) — as potential draw agents, and to use multi-criteria decision matrices to systematically prioritize known draw agents from literature for research investigation. Peptone showed water flux and reverse solute flux values comparable to other organic draw agents. CMC’s high viscosity made it impractical to use and is not recommended as a draw agent. Fe3O4 NPs showed average low fluxes (e.g., 2.14 LMH) but discrete occurrences of high flux values (e.g., 14 LMH) were observed during FO tests. This result indicates that these nanoparticles have potential as draw agents but further work is needed to optimize the characteristics of the nanoparticle suspension. Separation of the nanoparticles from the product water using coagulation was shown to be theoretically possible if only electrostatic and van der Waals forces are taken into account, not steric repulsion. If coagulation is to be considered for separation, research efforts on development of nanoparticle suspensions as FO draw agents should focus on development of electrostatically stabilized nanoparticles. A combination of Fe3O4 NP and peptone showed a higher flux than Fe3O4 NPs alone, but did not produce additive or synergistic flux. This warrants further research to investigate more combinations of draw agents to achieve higher flux than that obtained by individual draw agents. Potential draw agents were prioritized by conducting a literature review of draw agents, extracting data on evaluation criteria for draw agents developed over the past five years, using these data to rank the draw agents using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solutions (TOPSIS). The evaluation criteria used in the ranking matrices were water flux, reverse solute flux, replenishment cost, regeneration cost, and regeneration efficacy. The results showed that the top five ranked draw agents were P-2SO3-2Na, TPHMP-Na, PEI-600P-Na, NaCl, and NH4-CO2. The impact of the assumption made during the multi-criteria decision analysis process was evaluated through sensitivity analyses altering criterion weighting and including more criteria. This ranking system provided recommendations for future research and development on draw agents by highlighting research gaps.

Change from a regulated to deregulated structure means that, the centralized maintenance system is not valid any more. In the surveyed published literature, there is not a single model which incorporates all maintenance cost components to analyze the effect of different maintenance strategies for generator companies (GENCOs). The work enclosed in this thesis demonstrates that there is a considerable requirement for accurately modelling cost components of the maintenance model, to be used in maintenance scheduling for deregulated power system, in order to attain a superior schedule with major financial and operational impact. This research investigates and models most cost factors that affect the maintenance activities of the deregulated GENCOs, and demonstrates the utilization of the developed cost models in maintenance scheduling. It also presents the data gathering process for the developed maintenance cost model. A generator maintenance scheduling model that considers direct and indirect maintenance costs, opportunity costs (i.e. loss of customer goodwill), effective maintenance strategies, failures, and interruptions is developed. A Genetic Algorithm (GA) based approach is employed to achieve maintenance schedules to various generators maintenance scenarios. An Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) approach is proposed for modelling customer goodwill. The maintenance model was redeveloped under the Reliability Centred Maintenance (RCM) strategy to analyze the effect of a maintenance strategy on maintenance costs. Case studies are presented to demonstrate the utilisation of the developed models.The investigation shows that the market prices, opportunity costs and maintenance strategy have an effect on the final maintenance schedule. The research demonstrates that the cost components are critical factors to achieve an effective maintenance schedule, and they must be considered and carefully modelled in order to reflect more realistic situation for maintenance scheduling of generator units in deregulation environment.

Assuring production forms a crucial part of mining business profitability. Factors related to various mine operations, activities and business processes can threaten required/planned mine production. To address problems and ensure production level in mining, it is necessary to implement a mine production assurance program (MPA). Since such a guideline does not exist for mining as a process industry, this study started by reviewing four such techniques used in similar industries. These methods include: total productive maintenance, six sigma, a method prescribed by European foundation of quality management, and production assurance program (PAP) used in the oil and gas industry.These methods and techniques were reviewed according to their objectives and applications. Their implementation and achieved success was determined through a literature review and field participation/study. Comparing the tools, techniques and focus with mining productivity and production factors, it was observed that applicability of these methods for mining is limited due to a lack of tools for specific analysis or a lack of consideration of the requirements of mining. However, given certain similarities in objective and methods, PAP from the oil and gas industry may provide some guidance for MPA.As a basis of MPA, an index is required to create a clear relationship between different situations which can occur in mining operation and production loss. A literature review on mining productivity improvement methods shows availability, utilisation and production performance of equipment are the key factors in determining overall production. A single index applicable for chain operation in mining is needed. Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) which includes these three elements has some limitations for application in mining. A Mine Production index (MPi) is thus proposed. This index involves all three parameters for equipment productivity mentioned above. It also consists of weights for each parameter. The weights in this study are determined through expert opinions/judgements using fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP). Equipment with low MPi can be labelled as bottlenecks. Weights associated with MPi calculation for bottleneck equipment can point out critical factors in equipment operation. Once bottleneck equipment and relevant critical factors are known, further analysis can be carried out to determine the exact cause of production loss.By using MPi for machine operations, it is possible to rank machines in terms of production effectiveness. When the study applied MPi to chain operations in a mining case study, a crusher was determined as bottleneck equipment. Further root cause analysis and uncertainty detection for bottleneck equipment is also possible, and this forms the basis for MPA. / CAMM - Lean mining

evaluate disruption risks in the supply chain of petroleum production. This methodology is developed to formalise and facilitate the systematic integration and implementation of various models; such as analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) and various statistical tests. The methodology is validated with the case of Nigeria’s oil industry. The study revealed the need to provide a responsive approach to managing the influence of geopolitical risk factors affecting supply chain in the petroleum production industry. However, the exploration and production risk, and geopolitical risk were identified as concomitant risk factors that impact performance in Nigeria’s oil industry. The research findings show that behavioural-based mechanisms successfully predict the ability of the petroleum industry to manage supply chain risks. The significant implication for this study is that the current theoretical debate on the supply chain risk management creates the understanding of agency theory as a governing mechanism for supply chain risk in the Nigerian oil industry. The systematic approach results provide an insight and objective information for decisions-making in resolving disruption risk to the petroleum supply chain in Nigeria. Furthermore, this study highlights to stakeholders on how to develop supply chain risk management strategies for mitigating and building resilience in the supply chain in the Nigerian oil industry. The developed systematic method is associated with supply chain risk management and performance measure. The approach facilitates an effective way for the stakeholders to plan according to their risk mitigation strategies. This will consistently help the stakeholders to evaluate supply chain risk and respond to disruptions in supply chain. This capability will allow for efficient management of supply chain and provide the organization with quicker response to customer needs, continuity of supply, lower costs of operations and improve return on investment in the Nigeria oil industry. Therefore, the methodology applied provide a new way for implementing good practice for managing disruption risk in supply chain. Further, the systematic approach provides a simplistic modelling process for disruption risk evaluation for researchers and oil industry professionals. This approach would develop a holistic procedure for monitoring and controlling disruption risk in supply chains practices in Nigeria.

Klimatförändringarna och den globala uppvärmningen är ett faktum som kan leda till kraftigare nederbördstillfällen samt öka risken för bland annat översvämningar. Översvämningsrelaterade katastrofer har under de senaste 20 åren ökat och översvämningsrelaterade händelser står för 44 procent av världens naturkatastrofer. Samtidigt ökar tillväxten av många städer och samhällen vilket sätter större krav på beslutsfattare och kommuner att välja lämpliga platser för exploatering. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur en GIS-baserad multikriterieanalys kan användas för att identifiera översvämningsrisker samt hur karteringen över översvämningsrisker vidare kan användas för att identifiera lämpliga platser för bostadsexploatering. Studien utfördes genom att intervjua översvämningsexperter och samhällsplanerare, samt genom att använda geografiska informationssystems (GIS)-baserade metoder såsom Multikriterieanalys (MKA), Analytisk hieratisk process (AHP) och känslighetsanalys. Intervjuerna gav värdefulla synpunkter på kriterier, rangordning och viktning. Resultaten av översvmningsriskkarteringen visar de områden som har mycket hög till mycket låg risk att exponeras för en översvämning. För att identifiera lämpliga platser för bostadsutveckling användes översvämningsriskkarteringen som ett kriterium tillsammans med andra viktiga komponenter såsom fysiska och sociala faktorer. Resultaten visar att den lämpligaste platsen är lokaliserad i den sydvästra delen av Näringen och har en storlek på 25 737 kvadratmeter (kvm). Den känslighetsanalys som utfördes i studien, genom att ändra rangordningen på kategorierna (översvämningsrisk, fysiska- och sociala faktorer), visade det att den största förändringen skedde när de sociala faktorerna fick en hög rangordning och vikt. Diskussionen och slutsatsen visar hur bland annat valet av kriterier och intervjupersoner kan påverka resultatet och att det finns många osäkerheter med att använda MKA. Resultatet av en MKA bör därför utvärderas om det ska vara möjligt att avgöra om bostäder kan exploateras på Näringen. / Climate change and global warming are some causes that can lead to heavier precipitation and increased risk of floods. Flood-related disasters have increased over the past 20 years and 44 percent of the world's natural disasters are due to flood-related events. At the same time, the growth is increasing in many of the world's cities and communities, which places greater demands on decision-makers and municipalities to choose suitable places for exploitation. The purpose of the study is to investigate how a GIS-based multi-criteria analysis can be used to identify flood risks and how the mapping of flood risks can be used further to identify suitable sites for housing development. The study was conducted by interviewing flood experts and urban planners and implementing Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-based method such as Multi-criteria Analysis (MCA), Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Sensitivity Analysis to produce the results. The respondents provided valuable views on the criteria, ranking and weighting of criteria. The results of the flood hazard map show the areas that are at high and low risk of being flooded. In finding suitable sites for housing development, the flood hazard map was used as an input together with other important components such physical and social factors. The results show that the most suitable place is in the southwestern part of Näringen, which has a size of 25 737 m2. In the sensitivity analysis that was performed where ranking of the categories was changed (flood risk, physical and social factors), it showed that the biggest change took place when the social factors received high ranking and weight. The discussion and conclusion show how the choice of criteria, weighting and interviews can affect the results and the many uncertainties with using MCA. The results of an MCA should therefore be evaluated if it is to be possible to decide whether housing can be exploited on Näringen.

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