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Reliability of products is becoming increasingly important due to rapid technological development and tough competition in the product market. One effective way to ensure reliability of sold product/asset is to consider after sales services linked to warranty and service contract. One of the major decision variables in designing a warranty is the warranty period. A longer warranty term signals better reliability and provides higher customer/user peace of mind. The warranty period offered by the manufacturer/dealer has been progressively increasing since the beginning of the 20th Century. Currently, a large number of products are being sold with long term warranties in the form of extended warranty, warranty for used product, long term service contracts, and lifetime warranty. Lifetime warranties and service contracts are becoming more and more popular as these types of warranties provide assurance to consumer for a long reliable service and protecting consumers against poor quality and the potential high cost of failure occurring during the long uncertain life of product. The study of lifetime warranty and service contracts is important to both manufacturers and the consumers. Offering a lifetime warranty and long term service contracts incur costs to the manufacturers/service provider over the useful life of the product/contract period. This cost needs to be factored into the price/premium. Otherwise the manufacturer/ dealer will incur loss instead of profit. On the other hand, buyer/user needs to model the cost of maintaining it over the useful life and needs to decide whether these policies/service contracts are worth purchasing or not. The analysis of warranty policies and costs models associated with short-term or fixed term policies have received a lot of attention. A significant amount of academic research has been conducted in modelling policies and costs for extended warranties and warranty for used products. In contrast, lifetime warranty policies and longer term service contracts have not been studied as extensively. There are complexities in developing failure and cost models for these policies due to the uncertainties of useful life, usage pattern, maintenance actions and cost of rectifications over longer period. This thesis defines product's lifetime based on current practices. Since there is no acceptable definition of lifetime or the useful life of product in existing academic literatures, different manufacturer/dealers are using different conditions of life measures of period of coverage and it is often difficult to tell whose life measures are applicable to the period of coverage (The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, 1975). Lifetime or the useful life is defined in this thesis provides a transparency for the useful life of products to both manufacturers/service provider and the customers. Followed by the formulation of an acceptable definition of lifetime, a taxonomy of lifetime warranty policies is developed which includes eight different one dimensional and two dimensional lifetime warranty policies and are grouped into three major categories, A. Free rectification lifetime warranty policies (FRLTW), B. Cost Sharing Lifetime Warranty policies (CSLTW), and C. Trade in policies (TLTW). Mathematical models for predicting failures and expected costs for different one dimensional lifetime warranty policies are developed at system level and analysed by capturing the uncertainties of lifetime coverage period and the uncertainties of rectification costs over the lifetime. Failures and costs are modelled using stochastic techniques. These are illustrated by numerical examples for estimating costs to manufacturer and buyers. Various rectification policies were proposed and analysed over the lifetime. Manufacturer's and buyer's risk attitude towards a lifetime warranty price are modelled based on the assumption of time dependent failure intensity, constant repair costs and concave utility function through the use of the manufacturer's utility function for profit and the buyer's utility function for cost. Sensitivity of the optimal warranty prices are analysed with numerical examples with respect to the factors such as the buyer's and the manufacturer/dealer's risk preferences, buyer's anticipated and manufacturer's estimated product failure intensity, the buyer's loyalty to the original manufacturer/dealer in repairing failed product and the buyer's repair costs for unwarranted products. Three new service contract policies and cost models for those policies are developed considering both corrective maintenance and planned preventive maintenance as the servicing strategies during the contract period. Finally, a case study is presented for estimating the costs of outsourcing maintenance of rails through service contracts. Rail failure/break data were collected from the Swedish rail and analysed for predicting failures. Models developed in this research can be used for managerial decisions in purchasing life time warranty policies and long term service contracts or outsourcing maintenance. This thesis concludes with a brief summary of the contributions that it makes to this field and suggestions and recommendations for future research for lifetime warranties and service contracts.

Le contentieux du contrat administratif a fait l’objet d’une restructuration qui se traduit par un phénomène de subjectivisation. Celui-ci repose sur une spécialisation des actions. Ce mouvement s’est construit en opposition avec la figure traditionnelle du requérant co-participant à la mise en œuvre du principe de légalité. Cette spécialisation des actions s’exprime d’abord par un renforcement des conditions d’appréciation de l’existence de l’action et se manifeste ensuite, de manière éloquente, au stade de l’examen des moyens. Enfin, le juge administratif a centré son office sur la norme contractuelle dont il détermine, à l’appui des pouvoirs dont il s’est doté et au regard des « circonstances de l’espèce », l’opportunité de son maintien dans l’ordre juridique. Il apparait ainsi que les modalités du contrôle juridictionnel de l’administration ont changé : il ne s’agit plus de contrôler un rapport de norme à norme mais de mettre en rapport une norme à la situation concrète dont le juge est saisi. Cette subjectivisation du contentieux accompagne la mutation du contrat administratif, objet du litige. En effet, l’étude des rapports entre le contrat administratif et le marché a mis en lumière la manière dont la notion de contrat administratif a été restructurée autour du marché concurrentiel. Le contrat administratif, en tant que contrat, s’appuie sur le marché concurrentiel avec la perspective de mieux satisfaire l’intérêt général. Son caractère administratif lui permet, dans le même temps, de faire prévaloir l’intérêt général sur le marché, lorsque celui-ci n’est pas en mesure de répondre aux impératifs poursuivis par l’action publique. Le contrat administratif permet à l’État de composer avec le marché, tout autant qu’il maintient les possibilités de s’y opposer. Aussi, la subjectivisation du contentieux intervient à rebours de l’objectivisme du contrat administratif, tel que pensé dans le marché concurrentiel. Le juge administratif a ainsi confirmé son rôle d’organe protecteur des intérêts étatiques. En dernière analyse, la mutation du contrôle juridictionnel de l’administration se fait l’écho de la mutation même du rôle de l’État et de son administration, dans son rapport au marché. / The litigation of the administrative contract has been the subject of a restructuring which is reflected in a phenomenon of subjectivization. This is based on a specialization of actions. This movement was constructed in opposition to the traditional figure of the applicant co-participating in the implementation of the principle of legality. This specialization of the actions is expressed first of all by a strengthening of the conditions of appreciation of the existence of the action and is then eloquently manifested in the examination of the defense. Finally, the administrative judge focused his function on the contractual norm. He determines, regarding his jurisdictional powers and in the light of the “circumstances of the case”, if the contract has to be kept in the legal order. Therefore, the terms of the jurisdictional control of the administration have changed: the judge is not anymore analyzing a norm to norm relation but a norm to concrete situation relation. This subjectivization of the litigation accompanies the mutation of the administrative contract, object of the litigation. Indeed, the study of the relationship between the administrative contract and the market has revealed how the notion of administrative contract has been restructured around the competitive market. As a contract, the administrative contract relies on the competitive market with the aim of better satisfying the general interest. Its administrative nature allows, at the same time, to impose the general interest to the market, when it is not able to respond to the imperatives pursued by public action. The administrative contract allows the state to be a part of the market, as well as to oppose it. The subjectivization of the litigation contravenes the objectivism of the administrative contract in a competitive approach. The administrative judge confirmed his role as a legal body protecting state interests. Ultimately, the mutation of the administration’s jurisdictional control reflects the evolution in the role of the state and its administration in its relationship to the market.

There is a major trend that manufacturers sell their services to customers instead of selling their products. These services can be provided through leasing, warranty, or maintenance outsourcing. In this dissertation, we have studied leasing and maintenance outsourcing services from different aspects of reliability-based maintenance, game-theoretic decision making, and inventory and supply chain management. We have studied how different interactions and relationships between the manufacturer and customer in service contracting affect the decisions they make and the profits they gain. The methods used to tackle the related decision-making processes are stochastic modeling, non-convex optimization, game-theoretical framework, and simulation. For equipment leasing, two non-cooperative game-theoretic models and a cooperative model have been developed to describe the relationships between the manufacturer (lessor) and customer (lessee). Through the lease contracts, the lessor decides on the maintenance policy of the leased equipment, and the lessee decides on the lease period and usage rate. In the non-cooperative simultaneous move scenario, the lessee and the lessor act simultaneously and independently to make their decisions. In the leader-follower non- cooperative contract, the lessor is the leader who specifies the maintenance policy first, and the lessee, as the follower, decides on the lease period and usage rate accordingly. We have next determined the total maximum profit and shown that the Nash and Stackelberg equilibria are different from the total maximum solution. As a result, the players can increase their total profit by cooperation. We have implemented the cooperative solution as an equilibrium through a nonlinear transfer-payment contract. Our results illustrate that cooperation can be regarded as a value-added strategy in establishing such lease contracts. Besides, our numerical results show that although cooperation always increases the total profit of the players, the magnitude of increase is case specific. When the lease price is low or the revenue is high, the profits in the non-cooperative contracts will be close to the cooperative alternative, while the cooperation may increase the total profit significantly in other cases. For maintenance outsourcing, we have studied different bargaining scenarios in determining the contract terms. First, we have considered the Nash bargaining solution to compute the bargaining profit of players. Next, we have considered the case where players pose threat against each other in order to increase their own bargaining position. We have determined the optimal threat strategy for each player. Our result shows that although such threatening decreases the efficiency of the contract, it can dramatically increase the profit of the player with a higher bargaining position. We have finally provided a solution to the problem of how the service agent and customer can cooperate and negotiate on the price. We have determined the discounted price as a result of negotiation. Indeed, the discounted price induces the customer to choose the total maximum maintenance policy. Our numerical examples illustrate the feasibility of using such a price-discount contract in maintenance service outsourcing. Moreover, one can see that both the customer and agent can benefit from this price-discount contract.

La décentralisation en transférant des compétences et des responsabilités aux collectivités territoriales a créé des centres de décision susceptibles de s’assurer, et a entrainé une modification de la gestion des risques. Cette gestion des risques constitue une opération à logique à la fois économique et assurantielle de segmentation, fondée sur le calcul actuariel, qui ignore la notion d’égalité et de solidarité des communes entre elles et qui met en vérité celles-ci dans une situation de faiblesse contractuelle en contradiction avec les prérogatives de puissance publique qui sont leur apanage. L’application du code des marchés publics organise certes, la concurrence par une objectivation des procédures, mais n’aboutit pas nécessairement à un choix fondé sur la qualité, tant la spécificité du droit des assurances limite les vertus attribuées au processus de mise en concurrence. La qualification critiquée de contrat administratif des marchés publics d’assurance n’a pas atteint son objectif d’unification des contentieux, précontractuel et contractuel, du fait des règles spécifiques de l’assurance mais n’a pas non plus rétabli, dans le cadre du rapport contractuel une égalité entre les contractants. De plus, malgré l’élargissement des possibilités de recours et en l’absence de contrôle sur le contenu des contrats, le mécanisme de subrogation, associé aux accords de règlement entre assureurs fait échapper quasi totalement le règlement des litiges aux collectivités territoriales. La coexistence entre le droit des assurances de source législative, le droit administratif encore largement d’origine jurisprudentielle, et le droit privé se révèle donc pour le moins difficile. / Decentralization by transferring powers and responsibilities to local governments has created decision centers that are likely to be insured, and has led to a change in risk management. This risk management is a logical operation in the economic and insurance-time segmentation, based on the actuarial calculation that ignores the notion of equality and solidarity, common between them and puts them in a situation of contractual weakness inconsistent with the public powers that are their prerogative. The application of the public procurement code certainly organizes competition objectification procedures, but does not necessarily lead to a choice based on quality, as the specificity of insurance law limits the virtues attributed to the process of competition. Qualification criticized administrative contract procurement insurance has not reached its goal of unification of pre-contractual and contractual disputes because of the specific insurance rules and has not either restored within the contractual relationship equality between the contracting parties. Moreover, despite the expansion of recourse and in the absence of control over the content of contracts, subrogation mechanism associated with settlement agreements between insurers is almost entirely escape the settlement of disputes with local authorities. Coexistence between insurance law legislative source, administrative law still largely based on jurisprudence law, and private law thus appears to be quite difficult.

Les situations péri-contractuelles se caractérisent par le fait qu'une tierce personne a réalisé des prestations au profit d'une personne publique en l'absence de contrat valide. Le prestataire ne peut réclamer le paiement du service rendu à la collectivité en invoquant les obligations résultant de l'accord qu'il a passé avec l'Administration. Pour sa part, la personne publique ne bénéficie d'aucune garantie contractuelle, ou post-contractuelle, au titre des malfaçons affectant l'ouvrage livré. Afin de garantir les divers intérêts en présence, le juge administratif a progressivement élaboré une solution juridique équitable, qui permet de régler le déséquilibre entre les situations financières des parties, en combinant les fondements de responsabilité, soit quasi-contractuelle, soit quasi-délictuelle. L'indemnité d'enrichissement sans cause permettra ainsi de couvrir l'ensemble des dépenses que le prestataire a utilement exposées au profit de la personne publique et une indemnisation complémentaire pourra lui être accordée afin de compenser le manque à gagner qu'il a subi du fait de l'inexistence d'un contrat. De plus les dommages résultant pour la personne publique, de la livraison d'un ouvrage non conforme à sa destination, pour avoir été construit en méconnaissance des règles de l'art, ouvrent droit à réparation sur le fondement de la responsabilité quasi-délictuelle des entreprises / The situations peri-contract are characterized by the fact that a third person realizes services for the benefit of a public person in the absence of valid contract. The person receiving benefits cannot demand the payment of the service provided in the community by calling upon the obligations resulting from an agreement spent with the Administration. The public person does'nt benefit from any contractual guarantee, or post-contractual, in conformance for the faults affecting the delivered work. To guarantee the diverse interests in presence, the administrative judge gradually developes a legal solution which enables to adjust the imbalance between the financial situations of the parts by combining the foundations of quasi-contractual or quasi-delictual responsibility. The compensation of enrichment without cause will in that way allows to cover the total expense that the person receiving benefits usefully exposed for the benefit of the public person and a complementary compensation can be granted to him to compensate for the loss of income which he suffered because of the absence of contract. More the damage resulting for the public person, of the delivery of a work not in compliance with its destination, to have been built in misunderstanding of the rules of the art, opens straight ahead to repair on the foundation of the quasi-delictual responsibility of companies

« La représentation et l’assistance du plaideur en justice » constitue un sujet classique, mais plus que jamais contemporain. Face à la crise de la justice civile, mais aussi devant son évolution rapide, les choix de politique législative actuels font preuve d’une volonté de renforcer la représentation obligatoire par avocat. Bien que la représentation et l’assistance du plaideur en justice soient utilisées quotidiennement, leur définition et leur finalité en procédure civile restent obscures. Qu’est-ce que « la représentation et l’assistance du plaideur en justice » ? À quoi sert « la représentation et l’assistance du plaideur en justice » ? Notre étude tend à la résolution de ce double problème. À cette fin, nous examinons la nature et la fonction de la représentation et de l’assistance du plaideur en justice. Quant à leur nature, il convient d’analyser leurs composantes conventionnelle et institutionnelle comportant leurs réalités intérieures et extérieures qui les définissent en droit. Quant à leur fonction, il faut approfondir leurs finalités d’intérêt privé et d’intérêt général visant respectivement la protection des droits fondamentaux du plaideur et la bonne administration de la justice. Cette étude permet d’apporter une définition de la représentation et de l’assistance du plaideur en justice, de leur restituer toute leur valeur en procédure civile au regard de leur finalité, de fournir des réponses aux problématiques rencontrées dans la pratique juridictionnelle et d’enrichir la réflexion sur l’avenir de la procédure civile. Elle aboutit à des propositions sur une réforme de la procédure civile fondée sur la représentation à l’instance par avocat. / "Legal representation and legal assistance of litigant" is a classic topic, more than ever contemporary, though. In front of civil justice crisis and its rapid evolution, current legislative choices show a willingness to strenghten legal representation by lawyer. Despite the use of legal representation and legal assistance of litigant on a daily basis, their definition and finality remain obscure. What is "legal representation and legal assistance of litigant" ? Which is the purpose of "legal representation and legal assistance of litigant" ? This study tends to solve this double question by examining the nature and the function of legal representation and legal assistance of litigant. As for their nature, it is their conventional and institutional components including their internal and external realities that contibute to their legal definition, that must be analysed. As for their function, it is necessary to delve into their private and general interest aims that respectively tend to protect the fundamental rights of the litigant and the proper administration of justice. This study permits a definition of legal representation and legal assistance of litigant, restores their value in civil procedure with regard to their purpose, provides answers to the judicial practice problems and permits to enrich the reflection on civil procedure’s futur. It leads to proposals for a reform of the civil procedure based on legal representation by lawyer.

The diploma thesis "The Payment services and their legal regulation" deals with payment services, their definition and description of the legislation. Furthermore it treats payment services contract and focuses further on payment transactions (transfer of funds), in particular payment orders and their requirements. The aim of the paper is analysis of various payment services and related institutions, including a short presentation of persons authorized to provide a payment service. The paper itself consists of introduction, three chapters and conclusion. The author presents the topic and his motives along with short example of literature in the introduction. First chapter deals with a theoretical introduction to the topic and explains key concepts and relations, including specific notion of payment (contact). Furthermore, the first chapter includes description of the persons authorized to provide payment services and introduces legislation dealing with payment services, including European legislation and its comparison with the preceding regulation covering payments. In the second part, the author presents, defines and describes the various payment services, including examples. Also so-called negative list of payment services, as results from the Payment Act, is presented. The second chapter also...

Submitted by Celso Magalhaes (celsomagalhaes@ufrrj.br) on 2017-07-10T13:42:06Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2016 - Emilio Possidente Daher.pdf: 6377828 bytes, checksum: 1b72ec0c17b9c0829e7a5c7abb93866c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T13:42:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2016 - Emilio Possidente Daher.pdf: 6377828 bytes, checksum: 1b72ec0c17b9c0829e7a5c7abb93866c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-01-22 / The objective of this research is to show the contribution of Process Management in the improvements implemented in selected critical processes linked to the Administrative Support Services Sector of the Instituto National de C?ncer Jos? Alencar Gomes da Silva (INCA). Its research topic Process Management and, as a thematic issue, and Analysis Management Process Improvement and inspection services contracts. For this purpose the theorist referencial emphasizes the concepts of Process Management, Administrative Management and Contracts Management and Quality Management. The methodology used in this study was the method of action research, using to collect data to literature, documentary and field research through semi-structured interviews. Involving those responsible for activities related to the investigated processes was established a focus group, making it possible to obtain as a result the diagnosis of the current situation of selected critical processes, draw your business process diagrams (BPD), identify problems, prioritize the resolution and develop an action plan with the implementation of new (BPD) of these processes. It stands out as key benefits: more transparency, fluency and rationality in the process execution, enabling the achievement of improvements in quality and productivity in accountability and management of public resources. / O objetivo desta pesquisa ? apresentar a contribui??o da Gest?o de Processos nas melhorias implementadas nos processos cr?ticos selecionados vinculados ao setor de Servi?o de Apoio administrativo do Instituto Nacional de C?ncer Jos? Alencar Gomes da Silva (INCA). Tem como tema de pesquisa a Gest?o de Processos e, como tem?tica, a An?lise e Melhoria de Processos da Gest?o e fiscaliza??o de contratos de servi?os. Para tal, o referencial te?rico privilegia os conceitos da Gest?o de Processos, Gest?o de Contratos Administrativos e Gest?o da Qualidade. A metodologia aplicada neste trabalho foi o m?todo de pesquisa-a??o, utilizando-se para a coleta de dados a pesquisa bibliogr?fica, documental e de campo por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas. Com a participa??o dos respons?veis pelas atividades relacionadas aos processos pesquisados foi constitu?do um grupo focal, viabilizando obter como resultados o diagn?stico das situa??es atuais dos processos cr?ticos selecionados, desenhar seus diagramas de processos de neg?cios (DPN), identificar os problemas, priorizar a resolu??o e desenvolver um plano de a??o com a implanta??o de novos (DPN) destes processos. Destacam-se como principais benef?cios: mais transpar?ncia, flu?ncia e racionalidade na execu??o do processo, possibilitando a obten??o de melhorias na qualidade e produtividade na presta??o de contas e na gest?o dos recursos p?blicos.

The resource curse is a defining feature of the African content. Despite vast resource wealth, Africa remains the poorest and most underdeveloped continent in the world. The aim of this study is to conduct a comparative analysis of the primary laws regulating of oil and gas exploration and product activities in Angola, Nigeria and South Africa in order to determine their effectiveness in protecting the continent's depleting petroleum resources. Different regulatory models apply to Angola, following the Norwegian carried-interest model, Nigeria, where a British discretionary model has been retained, an a South africa, where a unique model has been developed. The comparison is conducted by analysing and comparing these different regulatory systems in terms of legal frameworks; the legal nature of the regulatory systems; ownership of the oil and gas resources; legal nature of licenses; organisational or institutional structures; fiscal systems; local communities benefits from these proceeds of oil and gas resources; local content; state/government participation arrangements; and environmental challenges. The study evaluates the effectiveness of these regimes by examining the extent to which they recognise and enforce state ownership of he oil and gas resourcs in situ; recognise and enforce the doctrine of Permanent Sovereignty over Natural Resources (PSNR); protect the environment; how they provide for institutional capacities for the management of resources; and the protection of local communities from exploitation and abuse by recognising their rights to benefit from revenues derived from these resources. An overall assessment of the three systems reveals that there is no ideal model for oil and gas regulation in Africa. The Norwegian model might well be considered an ideal model if it was applied with care and correctly in Angola. The study hopes to gain practical importance for the proper regulationof the oil and gas industries' upstream activities in Africa and assist governments of the selected jurisdictions in their policy revisions, as some recommendations are made. / Economics / LLD.