Outsourcing has grown more so than any other sector of IT services. According to a research by the analytic company Gartner soon four of ten jobs in the IT sector will be outsourced. For a nation like Sweden that means about 40,000 jobs going abroad. Business managers look to outsourcing as a means of reducing their operating cost and their need for capital spending. Companies turn to outsourcing to save money and seek expertise outside. As the competition is tough these days especially for small-to-medium sized enterprises, paying someone else to do work inexpensively is one way to get around. Small-to-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have become a sector buried in all the media "hype". This essay is written in an effort to help SMEs uncover the relevant strategic offshoring issues. Many managers fail to figure out India after their first visit, other get confused by the culture differences. The purpose of this essay is to map out the different ways to outsource to India and to assist managers with all necessary information that is needed. Which ownership models there are and how to choose the one that fits you. How the different ways and methods lack and what is their limitation. Not to mention how to avoid hindrance during the process. The essay will also map the Indian outsourcing industry, the major industry players and the major outsourcing locations. / Outsourcing är ett av de störst växande områdena i dagens IT-industri. Enligt analysföretaget Gartner kommer så småningom vart fjärde IT-jobb i den industrialiserade delen av världen att ha flyttat till låglöneländer som Indien. I siffror handlar det om 40 000 jobb bara i Sverige. IT-företagen söker efter billigare, snabbare, flexiblare och modernare lösningar. Samtidigt som man förväntar sig att kvalitén är bibehållen. IT-sektorn för små och medelstora företag är konkurrens kraftigare än någonsin. Att använda sig av utomstående expertis i form av offshore outsourcing är ett gensvar. De större företagen är dem som nämns i tidningar när det pratas om outsourcing, små och medelstora företag har hamnat i skymundan i samband med outsourcing av IT-verksamhet. Denna uppsats är skriven för att belysa de mindre företagen om de unika möjligheter offshore outsourcing till Indien erbjuder. Många företagsledare misslyckas att komma underfund med Indien efter första besöket, andra blir förvirrade i form av kulturkrockar. Syftet med denna kandidat uppsats är att kartlägga de olika sätten att outsourca till Indien och bistå företagsledare med information om hur processer inom fenomenet outsourcing går till. Vilka ägarskapsmodeller det finns att välja ibland samt visa vilka eventuella brister och/eller begränsningar metoderna har. Samt hur man hanterar risker. Uppsatsen kommer även att ge en inblick på den Indiska outsourcing industrin, de stora nyckel företagen och perspektiv utifrån geografiskt läge.

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The Master thesis deals with the analysis of tax havens, their origin and operating mechanisms. The thesis will elaborately describe individual entities advantaged in terms of taxes and specific ways of using offshore and onshore centers in order to achieve tax optimization, ownership anonymity, property protection or any other partial goal. The first part is theoretical and some basic terms related to this topic are defined in it. In the second part, the practical use of tax havens is discussed. In the first chapter, I described four selected jurisdictions in detail, and in the second and third chapters, I specifically illustrated how a company founded in an appropriately chosen tax haven can be utilized in achieving a predetermined goal.

Orientador: Celso Kazuyuki Morooka / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Mecânica e Instituto de Geociências / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-29T00:17:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Yamamoto_Marcio_M.pdf: 8268362 bytes, checksum: d7360bb0a9c0c1aed1900c2637804300 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / Resumo: Para a perfuração de poços de petróleo sob águas ultra-profundas (acima de 1500 m de profundidade), é necessária a instalação na cabeça do poço do equipamento de segurança do poço chamado de Preventor de Erupção, ou BOP. Este equipamento é descido pendurado pelo riser de perfuração, e esta operação é conhecida como Reentrada no Poço. Durante a aproximação do BOP ao poço, o equipamento é mantido suspenso sobre a cabeça do poço através do riser de perfuração, e a extremidade superior do riser fica engastada na plataforma flutuante de perfuração. Nesta dissertação de mestrado, a análise dinâmica dos dois sistemas dinâmicos acoplados (riser e plataforma) é realizada através de simulação numérica no domínio do tempo. Um programa computacional foi desenvolvido, que emprega um modelo não-linear para a dinâmica da plataforma flutuante e outro modelo utilizando o Método dos Elementos Finitos para a dinâmica do riser. O sistema de Posicionamento Dinâmico (DP) da plataforma, que é responsável em manter a posição da plataforma dentro de um raio de tolerância sobre a cabeça do poço, também foi incluído no modelo numérico. Um sistema de controle realimentado para controlar a aproximação do BOP à cabeça do poço é proposto. Discussões a respeito da otimização do controle realimentado a fim de minimizar o tempo gasto para a reentrada do poço são realizadas / Abstract: During the drilling of petroleum wells in ultra-deep water (more than 1500 m of water depth), it is necessary to assembly a piece of safety equipment called Blowout Preventer, or BOP, on the wellhead. The BOP is lowered hung by the drilling riser; this installation operation is called the Reentry Operation. During the well approach, the BOP is kept suspended above the wellhead by the drilling riser, and the upper end of the riser is fixed at the rig floor of the floating platform rig. In this work, the analysis of the dynamics of the coupled system (platform and riser) is carried out using numerical simulation in the time domain; the software was developed using a nonlinear model for the floating platform dynamics and the Finite Element Method for the riser dynamics. The Dynamic Positioning (DP) system, that keeps the platform position into a tolerance radius on the wellhead position, is also included in the numerical simulation. A feedback control system that controls the BOP approach is proposed. Discussions are carried out on the feedback control system which is developed to reduce the operational time of the reentry operation / Mestrado / Explotação / Mestre em Ciências e Engenharia de Petróleo

Investors constantly seek to secure business ventures and structures that will provide them with the most tax-efficient consequences by utilising loopholes in tax legislation and exploiting them within the legal requirements. With the recent growing interest in the undeveloped markets in Africa, many South African companies aim to invest into Africa in a tax-efficient manner. Mauritius, being a low tax jurisdiction and having a favourable tax treaty network with a large number of African countries, is an attractive choice for South African companies wishing to set up a platform for investing into Africa. The aim of this study was to address the shortcomings of efficient tax planning and the approach to invest into Africa using Mauritius as gateway for South African resident companies. The study focused on the tax implications of an offshore trust and offshore company incorporated in Mauritius for tax-efficient investing in order to minimise taxes. Therefore this study did not focus on using Mauritius for tax evasion purposes and a qualitative approach was applied, using a hypothetical case study to determine the most tax-efficient organisational structure for minimising taxes. The findings of the study revealed that, on a balance of case law and tax legislation, a tax-minimising organisational structure is largely influenced by its residency status and South Africa‟s control foreign company (CFC) legislation. Residency for an offshore trust and offshore company will be at the place where it is effectively managed. The findings revealed that the tax consequences are similar for an offshore trust and offshore company in Mauritius legislation. However, the hypothetical case study revealed that the impact of the CFC legislation can have negative consequences for a structure where only an offshore company is used, and therefore the ideal tax-minimising structure will be where a South African company uses a combination of an offshore trust and offshore company in Mauritius in order to avoid the possibility of CFC legislation having an impact on such a structure. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Taxation / unrestricted

Detta examensarbete har utförts av studenterna David Lönn och Oskar Lindqvist från Uppsala universitet, åt Marell Boats vägnar i samarbete med flera samarbetspartners. Service av vindkraftverk är komplicerat, farligt och tidskrävande, särskilt i svåra väderförhållanden. Många servicetekniker har skadats allvarligt och dödsfall har också inträffat. Uppdraget var att anpassa en båtdesign för offshorearbete samt implementera ett hissystem från Offshore Access Sweden. Syftet var att förbättra arbetsmiljön genom att lyfta hela båten till offshoreenhetens landningsplattform. Detta för att minska risken för skador på offshore-enheten, båten och besättningen samt möjliggöra en mer säker och effektiv service. Större servicefartyg har förbättrat arbetsvillkoren genom att transportera serviceteknikerna till olika vindkraftverk där service utförs parallellt. Detta är ett ineffektivt sätt att arbeta som resulterar i dödtid för transport, ombordstigning och avstigning och invänta hämtning efter genomförd service. Baserat på forskningsrapporter och litteratur och genom intervjuer och brainstorming togs koncept fram som testades med hjälp av FEM-simuleringar. Därefter utvärderades koncepten genom Pugh matriser baserade på produktspecifikationen som resulterade i ett komplett lösningsförslag. Lösningsförslaget bestod av att införa fästanordningar ombord på båten som säkerställer jämn balans och möjliggör lyft från offshoreenheter. Dessutom anpassades båten för att förbättra arbetsmiljön genom att bland annat sänka relingen och implementera en öppen däcklayout. / This thesis has been carried out by David Lönn and Oskar Lindqvist, Uppsala University, on behalf of Marell Boats in collaboration with several partners. Servicing offshore wind turbines is complicated, dangerous and time-consuming, especially in difficult weather conditions. Many service technicians have been severely injured and deaths have also occured. The assignment was to adapt a boat design for offshore work as well as implement a hoisting system provided by Offshore Access Sweden. The aim was to improve the work environment by enabling to hoist the entire boat to the offshore unit's landing platform. Thereby reducing the risk of damaging the offshore unit, the boat and the crew as well as enabling service to be performed safer and more efficient. Larger service operation vessels have improved the working conditions by transporting the service technicians to different wind turbines where service is performed in parrallelly to the wind turbines. However, this is an inefficient way of working because it results in dead time for transportation, embarking and disembarking and awaiting pick up after preformed service. Based on reasearch reports, literature, interviews and brainstorming concepts were developed and tested using FEM simulations. Thereafter, the concepts were evaluated using Pugh matrices based on product specification and resulted in a complete solution proposal. The solution proposal consisted of implementing hook attachments onboard the boat that ensured even balance and enabled lifting from offshore units. In addition, the boat was also adapted to improve work enviroment by lowering the railing and an open deck layout.

The main motivations of this thesis are to bring new insights into the different forms of international assignment in a non-multinational context. For this purpose, the dissertation provides new evidence on the roles of different forms of international assignees in offshore insourcing and outsourcing arrangements. The thesis is based on four research essays. The first chapter develops a conceptual framework that links the extent of international assignments to the characteristics of service offshoring strategies in terms of drivers, task complexity, governance mode, and host country location. We argue that offshoring strategies are associated with different needs for control, coordination and transfer of tacit knowledge. Those needs are in turn best served by using a different combination of international assignments. The model suggests that opting for extensive international transfers when the offshoring strategy does not require doing so, exposes firms to unnecessary extra costs. On the contrary, limiting the use of international transfers below the level required to guarantee cross-border control, coordination and knowledge transfer increases the risk of not being able to integrate the offshored services. Therefore, the adequate use of various forms of international assignments (such as expatriation, inpatriation and virtual assignments) constitutes an important capability for the offshoring organization to be able to integrate globally dispersed value chain activities whilst at the same time containing costs. The aim of Chapter 2 is to develop a comprehensive integrative framework that provides a deeper understanding of the use of expatriates and inpatriates to exert control in the specific context of offshore outsourcing. This study extends the agency theory by investigating different practices used by expatriates and inpatriates to exert control on third party providers in order to reduce the agency problems of the client-provider relationships. The research approach consists of an exploratory qualitative study of 32 offshore outsourcing initiatives from 32 companies located in Belgium. The model suggests that even though expatriates and inpatriates play a vital role in exerting control through different strategic control practices implemented in the client company or the third-party provider, they may differ in various matters. Companies prefer to use inpatriates than expatriates as the latter is difficult to find, costly, have an attitude of dominance, and have difficulties in adjusting to the new environment. The specific advantage of using inpatriates is that they provide unique understanding and insight into ‘why things are happening’, which is difficult for expatriates to decipher. This emphasises that the process of inpatriating offshore members into the client company appears to hold significant potential in exerting control in offshore outsourcing relations. Control is a role that has traditionally been attributed to expatriates. Our research shows that inpatriates offer valid alternative with several advantages in the context of offshoring.Chapter 3 develops a comprehensive framework of potential factors responsible for hindering the learning process of offshore team members that should be considered in an offshore insourcing context. This paper adopts a longitudinal case study approach for over a period of one year for studying a large firm in the financial services sector based in Belgium and offshoring its service in Poland. The study focuses on a firm that has set up its own service operations abroad using an offshore insourcing arrangement. Based on a longitudinal study, this research recognizes delayed barriers that still hinder the learning process of offshore team members. Unexpectedly, the study demonstrates that the role of expatriates and inpatriates is an influencing factor (positive or negative) in the learning process of offshore team members. In addition, the results highlighted the fact that short-term perspectives for companies to fully benefit from their actions may not be the solution to enable offshore team members to learn their tasks efficiently in the long-run. Even though offshoring provides access to lower costs and specialised resources, the primary challenge faced by companies is to be able to manage its knowledge efficiently across locations and facilitate the access of knowledge to its offshore team members. The purpose of chapter 4 is to explore how a large firm in the financial service sector transfers different types of knowledge, particularly through different forms of international assignees in an offshore insourcing arrangement. This study adopted a single in-depth case study of a firm based in Belgium where his offshore location is in Poland. The findings from 31 interviews concluded that different forms of international assignees are used in the form of complementary sequences to transfer various types of knowledge during the offshore insourcing arrangement. Therefore, all international assignments are not the same and should not be generalised into one category. Further, the findings offer qualitative evidence to support the roles of different forms of international assignees for creating and retaining new knowledge and avoiding knowledge loss for the organisation. / Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Wake interactions on a floating platform for offshore wind energy applications were investigated. The study is performed in collaboration with Hexicon AB which has a patent family for innovative floating platforms, which are able to turn automatically. The Jensen model is used for wake effect calculations and the simulations were performed in MATLAB. The present study starts with wind speed and wind direction data analysis for the specific site that Hexicon AB plans to construct its first platform. Data analysis is followed by wake interaction studies for H4-24MW type Hexicon AB platform. Wake interaction simulations were performed for three different cases. Fixed turbine and platform, Nacelle yawing and fixed platform and Nacelle yawing and turned platform. Different cases were investigated in order to see wake interactions for different wind directions. Wind direction effect on wake interactions were performed between _90_ and 90_ with an increment of 10_. After having the simulation results for Nacelle yawing and turned platform case the results were compared with ANSYS - CFX simulations results. The results didn’t match exactly but they were very close, which is an indicator to the validity of the Jensen Model. After finding out the possible behavior of wake interactions for different wind directions, power calculations were performed for the same three cases. In order to perform the power calculations the wake interactions for different wind directions were taken into account. In case of platform turning it was assumed that power losses were caused both by wake interactions and in case of thrusters activation. The losses that would be caused by different thrust forces on the turbine blades were not included. The last study was performed to suggest different layouts. In the second case, Nacelle yawing and fixed platform, it was found out that nacelle yawing for most of the angles is not possible because it creates wake regions in front of the rotor area. It was decided to propose new turbine configurations on the platform which are tolerant to different nacelle yawing angles. The simulations were run without considering any constructions limitations, meaning that the availability of platform structure was not included. The study is ended by performing some probabilistic results for platform turning behavior.

Wake interactions on a floating platform for offshore wind energy applications were investigated.The study is performed in collaboration with Hexicon AB which has a patent family for innovative floating platforms, which are able to turn automatically. The Jensen model is used for wake effect calculations and the simulations were performed in MATLAB. The present study starts with wind speed and wind direction data analysis for the specific site that Hexicon AB plans to construct its first platform. Data analysis is followed by wake interaction studies for H4-24MW type Hexicon AB platform. Wake interaction simulations were performed for three different cases. Fixed turbine and platform, Nacelle yawing and fixed platform and Nacelle yawing and turned platform. Different cases were investigated in order to see wake interactions for different wind directions. Wind direction effect on wake interactions were performed between _90_ and 90_ with an increment of 10_. After having the simulation results for Nacelle yawing and turned platform case the results were compared with ANSYS - CFX simulations results. The results didn’t match exactly but they were very close, which is an indicator to the validity of the Jensen Model. After finding out the possible behavior of wake interactions for different wind directions, power calculations were performed for the same three cases. In order to perform the power calculations the wake interactions for different wind directions were taken into account. In case of platform turning it was assumed that power losses were caused both by wake interactions and in case of thrusters activation. The losses that would be caused by different thrust forces on the turbine blades were not included. The last study was performed to suggest different layouts. In the second case, Nacelle yawing and fixed platform, it was found out that nacelle yawing for most of the angles is not possible because it creates wake regions in front of the rotor area. It was decided to propose new turbine configurations on the platform which are tolerant to different nacelle yawing angles. The simulations were run without considering any constructions limitations, meaning that the availability of platform structure was not included. The study is ended by performing some probabilistic results for platform turning behavior.

[pt] Aços ARBL são cada vez utilizados na construção de linhas de dutos (pipelines) devido aos benefícios de pressões de linha mais elevadas, redução de peso do tubo, e, principalmente, diminuição dos riscos de falhas estruturais. Entretanto, tais tubos, em serviço offshore, podem ser fragilizados pela presença de H2S no fluido transportado. Sendo assim, esta pesquisa estudou a influência do hidrogênio no comportamento à fratura do aço API 5L X65 por ensaios de tenacidade à fratura (CTOD e Integral J) no aço com e sem hidrogênio a – 30 Graus Celsius, o que possibilitou uma análise comparativa das duas condições. Pelos parâmetros CTOD e Integral J, se verificou ausência de redução da tenacidade à fratura do aço X65, uma vez que os valores dos parâmetros citados para a condição mais severa de hidrogenação foram similares àqueles encontrados na condição de referência. O efeito degradante provocado pelo hidrogênio foi associado a uma maior propagação de trinca durante os ensaios de tenacidade. Isto indica que o hidrogênio pode causar efeitos contraditórios no comportamento à fratura do material que estão relacionados ao tipo de investigação realizada para análise do comportamento mecânico do material (macroscópica ou microscópica), da microestrutura e às variáveis experimentais adotadas nos ensaios, tais como taxa de deformação, concentração de hidrogênio e nível de tensões. / [en] HSLA steels are increasingly used in the construction of pipelines due to its excellent mechanical properties, resulting in adjustments to higher line pressures, weight reduction of the tube, and mainly risk decrease of structural failure. However, such pipes, when in offshore operation, can be embrittled by the presence of H2S in the transported fluid. So that, this research aimed to study the influence of hydrogen on the fracture behavior of API 5L X65 steel with and without hydrogen at –30 Celsius Degree, which enabled a comparative analysis of the two conditions. Based on the CTOD and J Integral parameters, it was found that there was no reduction in the toughness of the X65 steel, since the CTOD and J related to the most severe hydrogenation conditions were similar to those found in the reference condition. The degrading effect caused by hydrogen was associated with a higher crack propagation during the toughness tests. This indicates that hydrogen can cause contradictory effects on the fracture behavior of the material. The discrepant effects are related to the type of research undertaken to analyze the mechanical behavior of the material (macroscopic or microscopic), microstructure and experimental variables adopted during the tests, such as strain rate, hydrogen concentration, stress levels.