Purpose The purpose of the study is to identify transport related performance measure within construction logistics in order to evaluate construction logistics solution. The aim is also to verify identified transport performance measures by available empirical data from both cases i.e. Case 1 and Case 2. Methodology This study is exploratory case study with qualitative research method. The research approach of this study is both deductive as well as inductive. Data has been collected from literature review, semi structured interview, focus group discussion and empirical data. Research question (RQ) RQ1 aims at identifying transport related performance measures and then classifying them according to terminal, checkpoint and their respective construction sites? The answer to this question lies in Figure 17 and 18. RQ2 refers to what kind of data is needed to measure identified transport performance measures. The answer to this question lies in the analysis of RQ2. RQ3 is related to what empirical data is available at construction logistics end. The answer to this RQ3 is that mostly the” duration of activities” has been found within both cases empirical data which seems to be insufficient to calculate identified performance measures in RQ3. RQ4 the aim of RQ4 is to find the gap between needed and available data. And the answer to this RQ can be found in Table 35. Conclusion Theoretical and practical case discussion of Case 1and Case 2 has given an in -depth view regarding the phenomena of construction logistics solutions. This paper will help in creating awareness among developer and main contractors regarding the benefit of construction logistics solution.

Pequenas e médias empresas (PMEs) cumprem um importante papel no desenvolvimento econômico e social das nações: geram riquezas, empregos e produzem inovação. Empresas como Apple® e Microsoft®, maiores do mundo na atualidade, já figuraram na dimensão dessas empresas. Entretanto, compreender a dinâmica desse universo empresarial tem se revelado um desafio para a pesquisa acadêmica. No contexto mundial constata-se que em torno de 25% das empresas nascentes sobrevivem menos de dois anos e, em torno de 50%, menos de cinco. O objetivo desta Tese consistiu em identificar e testar os fatores que determinam a sobrevivência e o desempenho de PMEs. A amostra foi formada por 410 empresas da região centro-sul do Estado do Paraná, sendo 74 empresas inativas (não sobreviventes) e 336 ativas (sobreviventes). A medida de desempenho resultou de oito indicadores, e foi testada sob três modalidades: a) sobrevivência versus não sobrevivência; b) grupos: não sobreviventes, sobrevivência marginal e alto desempenho, e; c) desempenho como variável contínua. As variáveis independentes foram distribuídas em oito dimensões: capital humano, capital social, características gerenciais, condições do ambiente, características organizacionais, motivação e percepção do risco, demografia pessoal e tamanho que, por sua vez, formaram as oito hipóteses declaradas no estudo. As inferências foram realizadas no contexto de cada uma das dimensões e em relação ao conjunto geral, mediante utilização das estatísticas análise fatorial, regressão linear múltipla e regressão logística. Das oito dimensões, seis (capital humano, capital social, características gerenciais, condições do ambiente, características organizacionais e tamanho) apresentaram pelo menos um indicador influente, e tiveram a hipótese nula rejeitada. A maior densidade nas evidências foi apresentado pelo modelo logístico geral (R2 = 75%) onde o suporte governamental, experiência ocupacional, capital social, sazonalidade e a qualificação dos empregados foram os indicadores que apresentaram maior poder discriminatório, demonstrando que as chances de sobrevivência de PMEs aumentam com a melhora desses fatores. Pelo modelo multinomial (R2 = 80%) constatou-se que o planejamento antes da abertura da empresa, a disponibilidade de recursos, o acesso ao crédito e as fontes e os custos de financiamento de curto prazo apresentaram maior capacidade de discriminação, demonstrando que o empobrecimento e a deterioração das características gerenciais e de fatores de capital social diminuem a probabilidade da empresa sobreviver ou de obter elevado desempenho. Na regressão linear (R2 = 42%) a qualificação dos empregados (32%) e o suporte governamental (22%) melhor explicaram o desempenho de PMEs. Constatou-se, ainda, que aproximadamente 35% das variáveis influentes estão associadas com a fase anterior à abertura da empresa, como: planejamento ou plano de negócio, experiências e disponibilidade de capital. / Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in economic and social development of nations: they generate wealth, jobs and innovation. Companies like Apple® and Microsoft®, the world\'s largest today, have already appeared in the size of these companies. However, understanding the dynamics of these enterprises has proven a challenge for academic research. In the international context it appears that about 25% of new companies survive less than two years, and about 50%, less than five. The aim of this study consisted in to identify and test the factors that determine the survival and performance of SMEs. The sample consisted of 410 companies in the central southern State of Paraná, including 74 inactive companies (non-survivors) and 336 active (survivors). The performance measure resulted from eight indicators, and was tested in three ways: a) survival versus non-survival b) groups: no survivors, marginal survival and high performance, and; c) performance as a continuous variable. The independent variables were divided into eight dimensions: human capital, social capital, managerial characteristics, environmental conditions, organizational characteristics, motivation and perceived risk, personal demographics and size, that, in turn, formed the eight hypothesis reported in the study. Inferences were made in the context of each of the dimensions and in relation to the general assembly by use of statistical factor analysis, multiple linear regression and logistic regression. Of the eight dimensions, six (human capital, social capital, managerial characteristics, environmental conditions, organizational characteristics and size) had at least one influential indicator, and had rejected the null hypothesis. The highest density was presented by the general logistic model (R2 = 75%) where government support, occupational experience, capital, seasonality and quality of staff were indicators that showed greater discriminatory power, demonstrating that the chances of survival of SMEs increase with the improvement of these factors. By multinomial model (R2 = 80%) found that planning before of the opening of the company, the availability of resources, access to credit and the sources and costs of short-term financing had higher capacity discrimination, demonstrating that the impoverishment and deterioration of managerial characteristics and factors of capital decrease the likelihood of the company surviving or get high performance . In OLS regression (R2 = 42%) the quality of staff (32%) and government support (22%) best explained the performance of SMEs. It was noted also that about 35% of influential variables are associated with earlier stage the opening of the company, such as planning or business plan, experience and availability of capital.

Supply chains evolve in accordance with changes in the market and their ambitions. The evolution of supply chain is correlated to different elements of progress in the business context referred to as performance measurement, innovation and clockspeed. These correlations are the starting point of moving the chain towards the higher goals and therefore are of most importance. In order to assure that the chain is moving on the right path in its evolutionary journey, the journey must start based on the most accurate data available. In chapter 1 an overview of evolution strategy is discussed and two definitions of supply chain evolution are provided. The second chapter begins with performance measures and its relevance to supply chain evolution. There is also a discussion of weighted approach to SCOR model and an introduction of some new measures for further research. Chapter 3 is discussing outsourcing strategies in different business structures based on product modularity. The concept of „modularity balance‟ and evolution advantages with regards to modularity are introduced. The evolution stages from inter-organizational level to network level are discussed. Also two solutions for dealing with uncertainty during evolutionary process are suggested. The double helix is introduced and discussed. In chapter 4, evolution aspects of different innovation methods within the supply chain is discussed. Primary and secondary innovations are introduced and the correlation between clockspeed and innovation is discussed.

O presente estudo apresentou os objetivos de: desenvolver lista de indicadores para compor modelo de avaliação de desempenho para as CEs e após verificar sobre o uso e finalidade dos indicadores CEs, na sequência foi verificado sobre a existência de correlação (associação) dos indicadores com as finalidades de tomada de decisão estratégica, monitoramento e controle, educação e aprendizagem, legitimidade e comunicação externa, e por fim foi verificado sobre as finalidades mais relevantes no uso dos indicadores nas CEs. O desenvolvimento metodológico do estudo ocorreu em três etapas, sendo que na primeira e segunda etapa a pesquisa se caracterizou como do tipo exploratória, com dados coletados por meio das técnicas de pesquisa de grupo focal e Delphi e a terceira etapa da pesquisa foi do tipo descritiva e correlacional, com dados coletados por meio de pesquisa Survey. A primeira etapa do estudo iniciou a partir da relação teórica de trinta e quatro indicadores, que por meio da pesquisa de grupo focal junto a cooperativa Creluz foi possível acrescentar outros trinta e três indicadores de uso das CEs. Estes indicadores foram distribuídos nas seguintes dimensões: econômico-financeira, eficiência operacional, pessoas e inovação, qualidade técnica e comercial, satisfação do consumidor, relacionamento com associados e benefícios sociais e ambientais. Na segunda etapa do estudo, os 67 (sessenta e sete) indicadores foram submetidos a apreciação de quinze especialistas em eletrificação por meio da técnica de pesquisa Delphi, tendo em vista selecionar os indicadores mais importantes (privilegiados) para compor um modelo de avaliação de desempenho para as CEs - MADCE. Os especialistas indicaram quarenta e um indicadores para compor o modelo de avaliação de desempenho. Na sequência na terceira etapa do estudo os quarenta e um indicadores do modelo de avaliação, foram submetidos por meio de um instrumento de coleta de dados junto as CEs, tendo em vista: i) verificar sobre o uso e as finalidades de uso dos indicadores pelas diretorias das CEs, ii) verificar sobre o grau de associação/correlação do uso dos indicadores com as finalidades de tomada de decisão estratégica, monitoramento e controle, legitimidade, educação e aprendizagem e comunicação externa, e iii) verificar sobre as finalidades mais relevantes no uso dos indicadores. Os resultados demonstram que os indicadores que compõe o modelo de avaliação são quase sempre e sempre utilizados pelas CEs, com níveis de uso variando de 0,49 a 0,87 de uma escala de zero a um. Os indicadores mais utilizados pelas CEs fazem parte das dimensões que retratam sobre a eficiência operacional, o relacionamento com associados e econômico-financeiros. Quanto às finalidades das informações dos indicadores pelas diretorias, os resultados demonstram que os indicadores possuem os seguintes propósitos: i) para o monitoramento e controle (0,70), ii) para a tomada de decisão estratégica (0,67), iii) para a comunicação externa (0,66), iv) para a legitimidade (0,63) e v) para a educação e aprendizagem (0,62) de uma escala de zero a um. Após verificou-se sobre os graus de correlação (associação) dos indicadores com as finalidades descritas. Os resultados demonstram correlações fortes e positiva dos indicadores (variáveis) com a tomada de decisão estratégica e monitoramento e controle e correlação moderada e positiva com a educação e aprendizagem, legitimidade e comunicação externa. Por fim, foi possível verificar sobre as finalidades mais relevantes em função da frequência do número de correlações fortes. Os resultados demonstram que as finalidades mais relevantes no uso dos indicadores são as seguintes, pela ordem: tomada de decisão estratégica, monitoramento e controle, legitimidade e educação, aprendizagem e comunicação externa. / The present study has the following objectives: develop list of indicators to compose model performance evaluation for ECs and after checking on the use and purpose of the indicators ECs following was found on the correlation (association) with the indicators purposes of strategic decision making, monitoring and control, education and learning, legitimacy and external communication, and ultimately was found on the most important purposes in the use of indicators in ECs. The methodological development of the study occurred in three stages, with the first and second stage of the study was regarded as exploratory type, with data collected by the techniques of focus group research and Delphi and the third stage of the research was descriptive and correlational, with data collected through Survey Research. The first phase of the study started from the theoretical relationship of thirty-four indicators that through focus group research with the cooperative Creluz could add another thirty-three indicators of use of ECs. These indicators were distributed in the following dimensions: economic and financial, operational efficiency, people and innovation, technical and commercial quality, consumer satisfaction, and relationship with associated social and environmental benefits. In the second stage of the study, 67 (sixty seven) indicators underwent assessment of fifteen experts electrification through the Delphi survey technique, in order to select the most important indicators (privileged) to compose a model of performance evaluation for ECs - MADCE. Experts indicated forty-one indicators to compose the model performance evaluation. Following the third stage of the study the forty-one indicators of the evaluation model, submitted by an instrument to collect data from the ECs, in order to: i) check on the use and purpose of use of indicators by boards of ECs, ii) check on the degree of association / correlation of the use of indicators for the purposes of strategic decision making, monitoring and control, legitimacy, education and learning and external communication, and iii) check on the most important purposes in use of indicators. The results demonstrate that the indicators that make up the evaluation model are almost always used by CEs and always with use levels ranging from 0.49 to 0.87 on a scale of zero to one. The indicators used by more ECs are part of the dimensions that portray on operational efficiency, relationships with associates and economic-financial. As for information purposes by the boards of the indicators, the results show that the indicators have the following purposes: i) to monitor and control (0.70), ii) for strategic decision making (0.67), iii) for external communication (0.66), iv) to the legitimacy (0.63) ev) for education and learning (0.62) on a scale from zero to one. After it was found on the degrees of correlation (association) of the indicators for the purposes described. The results show strong correlations and positive indicators (variables) with strategic decision making and monitoring and control and moderate and positive correlation with education and learning, legitimacy and external communication. Finally, it was possible to check on the most relevant purposes depending on the frequency of the number of strong correlations. The results show that the most important purpose in the use of indicators are as follows, in order: strategic decision making, monitoring and control, legitimacy and education, learning and external communication.

Thesis (M. Com.) --University of Limpopo, 2018 / The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficiency and effectiveness of e-business applications when used for the creation and delivering of value propositions that the target markets that businesses desire to achieve in the Limpopo Province. The study had three objectives. (1) To identify the e-business applications that can be used in the development of new value propositions for businesses (2) To identify the benefits that the use of e-business applications offers to businesses (3) To determine the relationship between the use of e-business applications and the operational performance of the value propositions. The study was quantitative in nature. Exploratory and descriptive research were utilised to the use of e-business applications by businesses. A sample size of 330 businesses was used. The questionnaire was based on a thorough theoretical basis and a pilot study was conducted to improve the validity. The Cronbach alpha test was conducted to ascertain the reliability of the research instrument. Data was collected through the use of self-administered questionnaires in a survey. SPSS was used for data analysis. The results indicate the e-business applications, the benefits of e-business and the relationship between the e-business applications and operational performance of value propositions. Recommendations to businesses utilise e-business applications so that they are able to create and deliver value propositions in an efficient and effective manner are made.

There is a growing demand for accountability of nonprofit organizations, and nonprofit business leaders are increasingly under pressure to demonstrate operational effectiveness. The problem is that some business leaders of nonprofit organizations lack strategies for identifying and selecting actionable performance measures of operational effectiveness. Using the plan-do-study-act conceptual framework, this single case study of a nonprofit organization located in the mid-Atlantic region of United States was conducted to explore strategies that 3 of its business leaders used to identify and select actionable performance measures of operational effectiveness. Using thematic analysis of data collected from semistructured interviews, documents, and public sources, emergent themes included: (a) usefulness of measures, (b) customer experience, and (c) workforce education. The findings of this study may have implications for social change by helping nonprofit business leaders achieve consensus on measures of effectiveness beyond financial measures. Additionally, the findings could support the usefulness of transparency in reporting performance outcomes, encourage a shift in focus from program spending and ratios to effectiveness, and prompt external stakeholders to expect performance measures that demonstrate effectiveness in nonprofit program operations.

This thesis is divided into two parts. The first part considers and develops some of the statistics used in genetic programming (GP) while the second uses those statistics to study and develop a form of incremental evolution and an early termination heuristic for GP. The first part looks in detail at success proportion, Koza's minimum computational effort, and a measure we rename "success effort". We describe and develop methods to produce confidence intervals for these measures as well as confidence intervals for the difference and ratio of these measures. The second part studies Jackson's fitness-based incremental evolution. If the number of fitness evaluations are considered (rather than the number of generations) then we find some potential benefit through reduction in the effort required to find a solution. We then automate the incremental evolution method and show a statistically significant improvement compared to GP with automatically defined functions (ADFs). The success effort measure is shown to have the critical advantage over Koza's measure as it has the ability to include a decreasing cost of failure. We capitalise on this advantage by demonstrating an early termination heuristic that again offers a statistically significant advantage.

<p>In line with the company-wide CS09 project being carried out at Volvo CE Components, Cell 14 will have changes in terms of distribution of machines and parts routing to meet the lean manufacturing goals established.  These changes are of course dependant on future production volumes, as well as lot sizing and material handling considerations.</p><p>In this context, an important emphasis is given to the awareness of the performance measures that support decision making in these production development projects.  By using simulation as a confirmation tool, it is possible to re-assess these measures by testing the impact of changes in complex situations, in line with the lean manufacturing principles.</p><p>The aim of the project is to develop a discrete event simulation model following the methodology proposed by Banks et al (1999).  A model of Cell 14 will be built using the software Technomatix Plant Simulation ® which is used by the Company and the results from the simulation study will be analyzed.</p>

In line with the company-wide CS09 project being carried out at Volvo CE Components, Cell 14 will have changes in terms of distribution of machines and parts routing to meet the lean manufacturing goals established.  These changes are of course dependant on future production volumes, as well as lot sizing and material handling considerations. In this context, an important emphasis is given to the awareness of the performance measures that support decision making in these production development projects.  By using simulation as a confirmation tool, it is possible to re-assess these measures by testing the impact of changes in complex situations, in line with the lean manufacturing principles. The aim of the project is to develop a discrete event simulation model following the methodology proposed by Banks et al (1999).  A model of Cell 14 will be built using the software Technomatix Plant Simulation ® which is used by the Company and the results from the simulation study will be analyzed.

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the effect of ingesting an 8% carbohydrate (CHO) beverage during a moderate intensity exercise trial on performance outcomes, fuel utilization and blood glucose levels of wheelchair athletes (spinal cord injury (SC I) or cerebral palsy (CP)). The secondary purpose was to analyze the dietary intake of the eight participants and to determine if they were meeting current sport nutrition guidelines for macronutrients and fluids recommended in the joint position statement developed by the American Dietetic Association (ADA), the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and Dietitians of Canada (DC).<p> Under random, double blind conditions eight athletes (6 males, 2 females); mean age 36 ± 8.5 y with a SCI (n = 7) or CP (n = 1) completed two exercise trials on an adapted stationary hand cycle; each trial was 60 minutes in duration at 65 % VO2peak followed immediately by a 30-minute performance trial. During the first 60-minutes the participants were given four 200 ml dosages (15, 30, 45, 60-min) of an 8% CHO beverage or a taste-matched placebo beverage. Blood lactate and glucose levels were sampled during the 60-minute exercise trial (pre, 20, 40, 60-min) and immediately after the 30-minute performance trial (post, 2, 5, 10-min). Heart rate was monitored continuously during the exercise and performance trial. Expired gas samples were also taken for 5-min periods during the exercise trial and then continuously during the performance trial. These values were used to calculate respiratory exchange ratio (RER) and carbohydrate oxidation. Dietary intake was assessed with a three day food record.<p> No significant differences were apparent between beverage trials for total distance (km), average speed (kmhr-1) or maximum speed achieved (kmhr-1). Significant differences were evident for blood glucose values, RER and CHO oxidation between the two beverage trials (p< .05). At the end of the 30-minute performance trial blood glucose values were significantly higher in the CHO trial (4.8 ± 1.3 mmol.l-1 vs. 4.0 ± 0.5 mmol.l-1 for placebo trial; p< .05). The CHO beverage resulted in higher CHO oxidation during the last 5 minutes of the performance trial, 2.1 ± 1.0 gmin-1 vs. the placebo beverage 1.9 ± 1.0 gmin-1 (p< .05). The CHO beverage trial resulted in significantly higher RER values during the final 5 minutes of the exercise trial and during the final 10 minutes of the performance trial. At the 20-25 minute mark RER values were significantly higher with the CHO beverage trial (1.04 ± 0.10) vs. the placebo trial (1.01 ± 0.11) (p< .05). During the final 5 minutes of the performance trial RER values were also significantly higher with the CHO beverage trial (1.06 ± 0.11) vs. the placebo trial (1.01 ± 0.10) (p< .05). The results indicated the participants were not meeting the current dietary guidelines for able-bodied athletes and active adults. Only 25% of the participants met the daily caloric requirements for active adults. Carbohydrate recommendations of 6 to 10 gkg-1 body weightd -1 were not met by any of the wheelchair athletes Seven participants were within the acceptable macronutrient range (AMDR) for CHO. For protein intake, 63% of the participants were meeting the protein recommendations active adults and all of them were within the AMDR. Average caloric intake from fat exceeded current recommendations of 20 to 25%; two participants were above the AMDR. The results demonstrate that the 8% CHO beverage consumed during exercise resulted in higher CHO oxidation rates and elevated blood glucose values, but it did not result in a performance gain.