京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(経済学) / 甲第20874号 / 経博第569号 / 新制||経||284(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院経済学研究科経済学専攻 / (主査)教授 原 良憲, 准教授 菊谷 達弥, 准教授 秋田 祐哉 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Economics / Kyoto University / DFAM

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Science, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Hydrogeology, School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand. Johannesburg, June 2017. / Groundwater is a principal source of water for many semi-arid countries, including Botswana and South Africa. This is especially true for the rural communities within these regions that lie on the periphery of local water scheme pipelines and make direct use of groundwater. The Ramotswa transboundary aquifer, which supplies local communities and nearby cities with fresh groundwater, is a highly productive and unique karst sequence shared by South Africa and Botswana. The objective of the study was to contribute to the available hydrogeological data by means of evaluating groundwater flow, nitrate pollution and the median recession index and master recession curve for the aquifer. The interpreted airborne geophysical data revealed the presence of collapsed features in the northeastern area corresponding to the karst morphology. A piezometric map of the area shows the groundwater flow is towards the north-northeast, which is supported by salinity increase across the study area. Increased nitrate concentrations were identified in areas with increased rainfall, shallow groundwater and a mature karst system. Only 3% of the 36 sample sites had nitrate concentrations exceeding the WHO guideline limit of 50 mg/l. This was attributed to the legacy of unlined pit latrines in karstified areas. Pollution is entirely anthropogenic and generally from non-point sources. A median recession index computed by RECESS program from the Dinokana spring discharge data was 295.7 days per log cycle and the generated master recession curve’s gentle slope alludes to massive storage potential within the karst compartment. The results of the study can alert stakeholders alike of the health risk of direct consumption of the groundwater without pretreatment. Establishing an understanding of the nitrate pollution sources and groundwater flow direction, and estimating the recession index provides informed groundwater pollution and vulnerability management options. This can improve the aquifer resource assessment and the livelihoods of local communities in the face of increasing climate change. / XL2017

Background:Strategic flexibility and supply chain agility are integral for textile companies in developing countries to achieve success and competitive benefits. Technology is continuously being adopted in the supply chain process. However, some developing companies are lagging due to a lack of investment, poor infrastructure, lack of skilled workers, and other challenges. Developing countries face significant barriers to competing in the market. For instance, there is advancement in the supply chain for textile manufacturing that cannot be adopted by developing countries because of their conventional and rigid business model. Evaluating the relationship between strategic flexibility and supply chain agility in developing countries is imperative. Aim:This research aimed to discover the impact of different factors of strategic flexibility in the supply chain agility of textile companies in developing countries. Methodology:The research adopted a qualitative research method, utilizing semi-structured interviews with managers and employees of the supply chain process. We have employed two case studies i.e.Lucky Textile and Rainbow Textile, located in Pakistan. We used a thematic analysis technique to analyze data. Findings:The research identified three factors that influenced textile companies' strategic flexibility and supply chain agility. The factors include uncertainties in the environment, technology enablers, and organizational relationships. The technology enablers have been found more effective; however, the selected textile companies faced a lack of investment in technology adoption and usage of technology. Moreover, trust in partners, the commitment of partners, and shared vision between partners are three major factors involved to achieve supply chain agility and strategic flexibility. Conclusion:The adoption of technology can improve strategic flexibility and supply chain agility in textile companies in developing countries. Nevertheless, there is a need to adopt some useful steps like investing in technology, training and educating workers, building trust, and doing more research to enhance supply chain performance and satisfaction. Further research is required to discover the contribution of technology enablers to achieve strategic flexibility and supply and chain agility in other developing countries.

Thesis (M.Sc.(Geology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / The Limpopo Province is largely underlain by crystalline basement rocks, which are characterised by low porosity and permeability. The climate in this province is arid to semi-arid, with scarce surface water for domestic and industrial use. As a result, groundwater is the prime source of fresh water supply for various uses. The complex geology, the impacts of climate change and man-made interactions with groundwater and surface water are the main threat to the availability of a sustainable source of fresh water in the province. In addition, despite substantial research efforts conducted by academic institutions and government organisations, there is still a gap in understanding quantitatively the dynamics of the hydrological systems in large parts of the Limpopo Province. The present study is therefore focused on the investigation of hydrological stresses that are applied to groundwater and surface water in one of the catchments situated in the Limpopo Province. In this study, a three-dimensional steady-state numerical model of groundwater flow was carried out at Mogalakwena Subcatchment, which is situated in the western sector of the Limpopo Province. The area is situated approximately 40 km northwest of Mokopane and 50 km west of Polokwane town. The research aims to understand the dynamics of the exchange between surface water and groundwater, and to assess the influences of these processes on the sustainability of water supply in the area. Hydrologically, the area falls within the boundaries of the Mogalakwena River Catchment, which forms part of the Limpopo River Basin. Previous studies suggest that there is a continuous decline in groundwater levels in the study area due to extensive use of groundwater for mining, irrigation, and domestic purposes. Furthermore, continued climate changes have altered the rainfall events during the last couple of decades, which consequently had an impact on groundwater recharge, quality, and availability. In addition, the complex geology of the area has an impact on the aquifers’ productivity resulting in variability in borehole yields throughout the study area. To achieve the aims of the research project, a three-dimensional steady-state numerical model of groundwater flow was implemented using MODFLOW NWT and ModelMuse v graphical user interface. The model domain covers an area of 5896 sq. km and was discretised with a grid cell size of 200 m by 200 m. The MODFLOW Packages used include DIS, UPW, RCH, EVT, WEL, GHB, RIV and UZF as well as the ZONEBUDGET. The conceptual model of groundwater flow consists of two layers, and it was developed based on drillhole logs, hydrochemical data, environmental isotopes, geological, digital terrain models, and other spatial data relevant for the conceptualisation of boundary conditions and hydrological stresses. The results of the steady-state simulation of groundwater flow show that recharge contributes 99.6% of inflow, followed by river leakage (0.36%) and GHB (0.08%). Among the outflow components, surface runoff takes the lion’s share (83.3%), followed by evapotranspiration (16.6%) and river leakage 0.02%. The zone budget was implemented to evaluate the interaction between surface water and groundwater by quantifying the amount of water that flows from one zone to the other. This was achieved by assigning zone numbers to the objects that represent boundary conditions (e.g., aquifer, river and dam). Zone 1, 2 and 3 were assigned to the aquifer, river and dam, respectively. The results indicate that the rivers gain more water than they supply to the aquifer. Similarly, the Glen Alpine Dam gain more water from the aquifer than it supplies to the aquifer. This implies that the interaction between surface water bodies such as rivers and dams have a significant impact on the aquifer, which consequently partly contributed to the shortage of water in the area. A predictive analysis of the aquifer’s response to an increase in abstraction rate, evapotranspiration rate and a decrease in recharge was carried out to investigate the future fate of water availability in the study area. The results suggest that as recharge decreases, the river inflow slightly increases to compensate for the declining water level due to the river stage exceeding the piezometric surface. In addition, the decrease in recharge rate is accompanied by a slight decrease in both surface runoff and evapotranspiration rate. Thus, a decline in recharge causes a significant drop in piezometric surface relative to the evapotranspiration extinction depth, which ultimately decreases the rate of evapotranspiration. Similarly, a decrease in recharge rate lowers the depth of the water level below the river stage, which consequently triggers water vi exchange from Mogalakwena River to the aquifer. In general, the water balance shows that as recharge decreases by 20% or more, the outflows exceed the inflows resulting in a continuous drop in water level, which may ultimately risk the availability of groundwater in the area. / Council for Geoscience (CGs)

This paper addresses the existing situation of Supply Chain Management (SCM) in readymade garment manufacturing factories in Bangladesh. Supply chain management is a key issue for garment manufacturers, retailers, and consumers. The literature on current supply chain management in garment factories in Bangladesh is very poor. Therefore, in this study, the author has made an attempt to analyze a more effective supply chain scenario for the Bangladeshi garment industry that will lead to better competitive advantage over their rivals by analyzing the current supply chain and examining the relationships among the actors in supply chain management.

<div>Food Banks play an important role in assuaging hunger and improving food security in many nations worldwide. These organizations provide food and services to people in need. Food banks rely on food and cash donations that occur infrequently, to meet their objectives. In a highly uncertain environment such as this, balancing the supply and demand of food is challenging considering the limited availability of resources and the complex system. This research addresses these challenges and presents and analyses several statistical and mathematical models to facilitate the distribution of food to the food insecure in a sustainable and effective manner. The objective of this research is to develop data-driven models and analytical techniques and developing decision support frameworks to assist the food bank administrators in understanding the dynamics of supply and demand of food donations and improve the prediction accuracies of the food supply and demand behavior at various levels of planning to ensure equitable and efficient distribution of food to the food insecure. </div><div> </div><div>First, a systematic review was conducted to research the evolving literature in the field of food bank logistics. Perusal of the literature shows that research in the field of food bank logistics is in evolving phase and issues pertaining to fairness, sustainability, cost reduction, food quality and nutrition, data uncertainty, and food waste study have not been reviewed extensively. Second, for understanding the food supply behavior, a novel hybrid model combining ARIMA and neural network autoregressive (NNAR) model was proposed for univariate analysis and the work was extended to conduct a multi-variate numerical analysis implementing machine learning algorithms with Random Forests (RF) best capturing the complex structure of the data. Thirdly, to understand the dynamics of the food demand behavior, a Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) clustering method is implemented to identify the possible causes of food insecurity in a given region by means of understanding the characteristics and structure of the food assistance network in a particular region, and the clustering result is further utilized to explore the patterns of uncertain food demand behavior and its significant importance in inventory management and redistribution of surplus food thereby developing a two-stage hybrid food demand estimation model with the proposed method significantly improving the prediction accuracies. </div><div> </div><div>Finally, the results of the analytical methods implemented and developed to study the supply and demand of the food donations is extracted and used to develop a conceptual framework for designing a decision support system to apply visual analytics to a food bank’s decision-making process. </div>

This dissertation investigates the consequences of supply chain disruptions in pharmaceutical supply chains. Across different studies, I examine various impacts of pharmaceutical supply chain disruptions on buyer’s behavior, medication errors, and market share. In Chapter 1, coauthored with Anita Carson, Erin Fox, and Rena Conti, we demonstrate the stockpiling behaviors of buyers during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Leveraging a quasi-experimental design on IQVIA’s National Sales Perspectives™ data, we show that the sales volume of essential medicines related to U.S. hospital-based COVID-19 treatment concentrated only for the first two months of the pandemic. After these two months, the sales volume of drugs for COVID-19 treatment decreases significantly despite a nationwide increase in COVID-19-related hospitalizations. In Chapter 2, coauthored with Anita Carson and Rena Conti, we examine the impact of a hurricane that decimated the factories of major producers of heparin, an important drug used frequently in hospitals. Using a natural experiment, we find that the hurricane-related pharmaceutical supply chain disruption increased medication error rates of heparin. In addition, we find significant spillover effects. The supply chain disruption increased the medication error rates of a substitute drug. In Chapter 3, coauthored with Anita Carson and Rena Conti, we study how long it takes to recover the market share after the supply chain disruptions using a new metric we propose, Time to Recover Market Share. We explore the differential effects by the brand type of products, the competition level in markets, and the duration of the supply disruptions. With the extensive global supply chain disruptions that we are facing today, understanding their potential consequences is significant. This dissertation advances our understanding of the different impacts of supply chain disruptions and provides practical implications for supply chain members to build resilient supply chains and minimize the effects of supply chain disruptions.

Background: Closed-loop supply chains are a concept in sustainability that refers to reusingraw materials and reducing waste to fulfill the global demands for sustainable action.While profit-driven organizations’ interest in closed-loop supply chains has increased, there arefinancial barriers that limit the integration of the economic and the environmental dimension of sustainability. This study investigates profitability factors along with the closed-loop supplychain activities in their potential for overcoming the financial barriers within the context ofSwedish furniture manufacturers. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine closed-loop supply chains in their integrationof forward and reverse flows to achieve sustainability. The forward and reverse flows are investigated for factors of closed-loop supply chain profitability, within the context of the Swedish furniture industry. Method: This explorative study follows an inductive approach using a qualitative case studymethod. Data is triangulated from primary and secondary sources in the form of semi-structuredinterviews with purposefully chosen case companies, and secondary reports. Following a content analysis, data is coded and analyzed within and across cases. Findings: The study revealed seven financial barriers and a large range of profitability factorsthat help overcome financial barriers in closed-loop supply chains. The study generated a framework to show how profitability can be integrated along the closed-loop supply chain. The studyalso disclosed that product design and collaborative relationships offer the most potential forovercoming barriers among and between supply chains and for achieving a profitable CLSC.

Background: The importance of transitioning to a more sustainable and circular production and consumption model is growing, with the looming threat of climate change. The supply chains (SC) are at the foreground of this change, with the linear model as a polluter of magnitude. Transitioning to a circular supplychain (CSC) is a massive undertaking, and barriers may arise between SC partners embracing this significant change. However, the literature is vague on which barriers are significant within buyer-supplier collaboration and how to address and overcome the barriers that may stand in the way of implementing CSCs. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis to explore to investigate how to support circularity implementation in SCs through dyadic buyer-supplier collaboration. By exploring the collaboration barriers presented in academic literature, this study aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of which barriers can arise during collaboration when implementing circularity in the SC, while linking relevant actions to address these barriers. Thereby providing new insights to practitioners who wish to implement circularity in their SC. Method: A multiple case study method with four interior textile companies were studied with the help of collaboration barriers when implementing CE in the SC from existing literature. By using a qualitative research approach, data was collected through ten interviews. Conclusion: Five major barriers occur in buyer-supplier collaboration when implementing circularity in the SC within the case companies. Including (1) lack of shared vision, (2) lack of commitment, (3) lack of capable suppliers, (4) lack of transparency, (5) and lack of power balance between buyer-supplier. To address the five barriers, five action groups emerged from the case companies, (1) communication, (2) supplier engagement, (3) education, (4) addressing cultural differences, and lastly (5) long-term commitment. These barriers and actions are matched to each other in a framework and summarizes the finding of this study.

Today, worldwide business communities are in the era of the Supply Chains. A Supply Chain is a collection of several independent enterprises that partner together to achieve specific goals. These enterprises may plan, source, produce, deliver, or transport materials to satisfy an immediate or projected market demand, and may provide the after sales support, warranty services, and returns. Each enterprise in the Supply Chain has roles and elements. The roles include supplier, customer, or carrier and the elements include functional units, processes, information, information resources, materials, objects, decisions, practices, and performance measures. Each enterprise, individually, manages these elements in addition to their flows, their interdependencies, and their complex interactions. Since a Supply Chain brings several enterprises together to complement each other to achieve a unified goal, the elements in each enterprise have to complement each other and have to be managed together as one unit to achieve the unified goal efficiently. Moreover, since there are a large number of elements to be defined and managed in a single enterprise, then the number of elements to be defined and managed when considering the whole Supply Chain is massive. The supply chain community is using the Supply Chain Operations Reference model (SCOR model) to define their supply chains. However, the SCOR model methodology is limited in defining the supply chain. The SCOR model defines the supply chain in terms of processes, performance metrics, and best practices. In fact, the supply chain community, SCOR users in particular, exerts massive effort to render an adequate supply chain definition that includes the other elements besides the elements covered in the SCOR model. Also, the SCOR model is delivered to the user in a document, which puts a tremendous burden on the user to use the model and makes it difficult to share the definition within the enterprise or across the supply chain. This research is directed towards overcoming the limitations and shortcomings of the current supply chain definition methodology. This research proposes a methodology and a tool that will enable an automated and comprehensive definition of the Supply Chain at any level of details. The proposed comprehensive definition methodology captures all the constituent parts of the Supply Chain at four different levels which are, the supply chain level, the enterprise level, the elements level, and the interaction level. At the Supply Chain level, the various enterprises that constitute the supply chain are defined. At the enterprise level, the enterprise elements are identified. At the enterprises' elements level, each element in the enterprise is explicitly defined. At the interaction level, the flows, interdependence, and interactions that exist between and within the other three levels are identified and defined. The methodology utilized several modeling techniques to generate generic explicit views and models that represents the four levels. The developed views and models were transformed to a series of questions and answers, where the questions correspond to what a view provides and the answers are the knowledge captured and generated from the view. The questions and answers were integrated to render a generic multi-view of the supply chain. The methodology and the multi-view were implemented in an ontology-based tool. The ontology includes sets of generic supply chain ontological components that represent the supply chain elements and a set of automated procedures that can be utilized to define a specific supply chain. A specific supply chain can be defined by re-using the generic components and customizing them to the supply chain specifics. The ontology-based tool was developed to function in the supply chain dynamic, information intensive, geographically dispersed, and heterogeneous environment. To that end, the tool was developed to be generic, sharable, automated, customizable, extensible, and scalable.