Rising oil prices have been a concern for both developed and developing countries, especially in more recent years as it tends to have a crippling effect on production and transportation. Many countries have moved towards the development of fossil fuel alternatives as a means of achieving energy independence and achieving environmental targets (for example the Kyoto Protocol). Developments in both these types of energy markets (fossil fuel and renewable fuels) may impact Canadian Prairie agriculture. Most of Canadian prairie crops are exported. The Canadian prairies are land locked to some extent. The closest ocean access to the eastern portion of the prairies is the port of Churchill, but is closed during the winter season. Crops are therefore transported west through the Rocky Mountains or east through the Great Lakes to get to a port. This requires hundreds of kilometres of truck and rail transportation, which is fuel dependent. To a lesser extent, at the micro-level farmers depend on fossil fuels to operate machinery to facilitate efficient crop production. If oil prices continue on an upward trajectory, will farmers cropping behaviour change? Furthermore, the development of the bioethanol industry on the Canadian prairies has given wheat farmers another crop option. As oil prices increase, the price of ethanol increases as well. Also, demand is bolstered by renewable fuel standards and government tax exemptions or subsidies. This study seeks to put forward the notion that as oil prices increase, crop production and transportation costs also increase thereby reducing farmers’ gross margins. Also, ceteris paribus, as oil prices increase there will be an increased demand for, and an increase in the price of biofuels thereby increasing the price of biofuel feedstock. Higher feedstock prices are expected to increase the gross margins of farmers. Therefore higher oil prices drive increased crop competition between traditional cropping (cropping for food exports) and energy cropping. This thesis seeks to ascertain at what level of oil prices would farmers, in general, be willing to switch from producing wheat for traditional (hard/food wheat) purposes to bioenergy (soft/ biofuel wheat) cropping alternatives. Also under varying scenarios of oil price growth and government support to the biofuel industry, this thesis seeks to ascertain the impact of biofuel industry expansion on grain elevator pricing behaviour and the structure of the elevator industry, assuming elevators spatially compete with each other for farmers’ crops. An agent based model (ABM) is employed for this study. The model is selected over other types as the researcher wants to capture the increased complexity stemming from the competition between crops that belong to at least one distribution chain. Agent based networks allow for emergent behaviour that is obtained from the spatial competition of elevators. Finally, the agent based model allows for spatial heterogeneity in location of farmers in terms of soil quality and their proximity to an elevator, which affects crop productivity and transportation costs, respectively. The ABM (also called the FARMCHAIN model) is comprised of over 35000 farmer agents, 176 elevator agents, 6 canola crushing plant agents, 5 ethanol plant agents and 1 biodiesel plant agent located on the 20 census agricultural regions (CARs) of Saskatchewan. Farmers allocate land based on their expected gross margins. Farmers produce and truck crops to the designated distribution chain. Crops move through the chain and at every stage the associated costs are computed and apportioned to the farmer. At the end of the period, gross margins are computed and these gross margins are used in computing the expected gross margins for the subsequent period. It is found that real annual crude prices would have to be greater than $133 before farmers begin to switch to producing biofuel wheat (soft wheat) from food wheat (hard wheat). This would have to be approximately 30% higher than that of 2008 in which crude prices were at record levels. Also, if biofuel support is declining then it would take a considerably higher price to entice farmers, in aggregate, to switch.

The first generation of agricultural crops developed using biotechnology have offered the primary producers of the crops agronomic benefits. Some consumers have resisted accepting this technology because of concerns with food and environmental safety, and ethical issues that arise from the processes that are involved in developing these products. The second and third generation of agricultural biotechnology are being developed to offer products with direct benefits to consumers. The focus of this thesis is the second generation, which have added health benefits. Specifically, the obstacles to commercialization of functional foods derived through biotechnology are examined. The three factors which have the potential to set back commercial introduction of functional foods derived through biotechnology are government regulatory uncertainty, consumer aversion and brand risk, and gaining access to intellectual property. The regulations governing functional foods are examined to show the regulatory ambiguity that exists in Canada. Comparisons are drawn to other nations. Literature that focuses on consumer aversion to agricultural biotechnology is reviewed, along with consumer preference studies with regards to genetically modified (GM) foods with and without health benefits. Transaction cost economics literature is used to analyse the problems related to gaining access to intellectual property and the resulting supply chain implications. Three separate theoretical models are developed to examine each of the three factors separately. Government regulatory uncertainty is incorporated into an expected profit model to show the effects of increased uncertainty on the expected profit from a new technology. A heterogeneous consumer preference model is used to show the effects of changing consumer preferences on the market share of the firm introducing the GM functional food to the market. Simulation analysis using this model shows the effects of changing variables on the market shares of three products in the market. Finally a stylized model of the vertical market shows the effects of increased transaction costs incurred in gaining access to intellectual property on the rent that is available for distribution throughout the supply chain. The results show that these factors could be an obstacle to commercial development of functional foods derived through biotechnology. When the three factors are combined, the rent available for distribution is important for the success of the supply chain. Multiple bilateral monopoly negotiations cause this rent to be less than optimal. Increased levels of government regulatory uncertainty, consumer aversion and brand risk, and costs gaining of access to intellectual property decrease the expected rent available for distribution. This could be a problem facing developers of functional foods derived through biotechnology.

Canada has been recognized as the largest exporter of flax seed in the world. Currently, very little flax straw is further processed, despite its potential as a value added product, with only about 7-10% of Canadian flax seed producers harvesting residual flax straw rather than burning the straw. A traditional use of flax straw has been for the production of fibre for the linen industry. Interest in flax fibre has been rekindled with the impetus to seek out bioproducts that replace non-renewal resources and provide value-added opportunities for agricultural producers. Flax fibre also has a range of potential uses in automotive parts, geotextiles, insulation material, etc. Despite this potential, the Canadian flax fibre sector remains largely underdeveloped, with fledgling supply chains and lack of investment in the necessary processing capacity. This paper develops a framework for analysing the relational exchanges at different stage of the supply chain to determine if the paucity in investment is the result of prohibitively high exchange costs. A number of distinct stages in the flax fibre supply chain can be identified: farmers producing flax seed and/or straw; processors who extract the natural fibre from the straw; and manufacturers who use the fibre in their products. The paper develops a framework that draws together insights from Transaction Cost Economics, Agency Theory and Bargaining Theory. The role of institutions in facilitating quality measurement and providing participants with information is also considered. The theoretical framework identifies asset specificity, agency measurement costs, bargaining power and under-developed institutions as key factors in the development of the flax fibre sector. From the theoretical framework, a set of propositions is developed that examine the anticipated effect of these factors on vertical coordination in the sector. The theoretical propositions are explored through a series of semi-structured interviews with parties at each stage of the supply chain (producers, fibre processors, final manufacturers), as well as with industry experts. Information from the interviews is used to identify the transaction characteristics and the institutional framework characterizing the flax fibre sector in Canada. This is analysed through a comparative case study approach with the flax fibre sector in Europe, and the wool fibre sector in New Zealand as an example of a fully developed and long-standing fibre sector. By also noting the different vertical coordination strategies that are present in these supply chains, a connection is drawn between the presence of certain transaction characteristics and the corresponding cost-minimizing exchange relationships. The case studies are used to investigate the propositions developed from the theoretical framework regarding the impact of transaction characteristics on the optimal vertical coordination strategy and the impediments to development and investment in the sector. The propositions developed in the framework are verified to a great extent by the comparative case study. The uncertainty in the exchange environment regarding the future direction of the flax fibre industry and the high measurement costs due to the absent quality and grading regime in the Canadian flax fibre set the two industries apart from each other. Both of these dimensions impact the exchange costs of a transaction and subsequently, the extent to which the parties are closely coordinated. The case studies verify that using a framework to analyze transactions provides additional insights because of the joint consideration of several features of the transaction.

This study uses the case study method to investigate how IT facilitates business model innovation. The A Steel Corporation (A Company) is chosen for this study. We consider the business model and information technology (IT) factors andanalyze how A Company use IT to facilitate business model innovation. Regarding thebusiness model factor, we describe the A Company¡¦s value propositions, value configuration, and key resources for co-production; further we identify the needed abilities for each stakeholder among the value network to make the co-production business model possible. For the IT factor, we present what ITs are developed and deployed among the value configuration in order to make the business model work. Finally, we report A Company¡¦s performance after its innovation. The case company, applied for industrial technology development projects sponsored by the goverment policy as strategies to introduce their new collaborating-commerce business model.They invoked their strategies to integrate the supply chains for expansion through startup a new business model for partners to understand, communicate and improve the value chain to link to the global companies. The performances cause high impacts on collaborative effectiveness among value chain partners. This thesis, based on a case study of A Company,is to analyze and find the key factor how to use the knowledge management makes strategies success and enable to expend the enterprise worth.

The Possibility of Promoting Collaboration Commerce for Steel Industry ¡V A Case Study of Big sized Enterprises in Taiwan. Student¡GMing-Ho Chen Advisor¡GPhd. Chin-Fu Ho Department of Information Management National Sun Yat-sen University Abstract The time of high steel price is coming ,the competitive rules is still not change are low cost and discriminatory is the same as depression in economy .It is important to care for customer service product added values and to reduce management costs to prevent cycling from previous Dilemma .Collaboration Commerce is the perfect solution to promote competitive capability and to reduce cost for B2B. Collaboration Commerce is not only to share information to reduce cost but also promote market effective ,further , to create a transaction-platform for customer and supplier. Collaboration Commerce is not successfully in Domestic steel industry ,although electronized enterprise very early. Therefore, the introduction of IOS shall not only start from technological aspect, but also have to evaluate as a whole from collaboration, organization and technology. Hence, this research is based on the three major scopes of IOS addressed by Kumar and Crook (1999), and explores inter-organizational collaboration¡¦s influence on Collaboration Commerce through IBM e-Business Collaboration Tool / evaluation model for supplier ; furthermore, combines TEMPLET evaluation model to analyze enterprise¡¦s organization and technology capability to predict the possibility for domestic steel enterprises to promote Collaboration Commerce in the future. This research adopts qualitative research method and combines secondary literature to discuss the pioneer enterprises promotion processes, which implement the project of Collaboration Commerce , and through the analysis to verify and correct the initial concept model and theoretical claims of the research framework. Furthermore, in terms of case analysis, the research object is the big sized steel companies and their subcontractors of the big sized steel industry. Steel industry is one of the traditional domestic industries, which required highly specialty and labor division, all of its products have to be closely cooperated between manufacturers and subcontractors, so it is the model of standard upper and lower supply chains relationship, however, its supply chains still lack of information system¡¦s support till now. Therefore, it is expected to estimate the feasibility for Steel industry to promote Collaboration Commerce to upper and lower supply chains through this research, and bring up appropriate business model and relevant suggestions according to research results. This research shows that case enterprise¡¦s Collaboration for supplier¡¦s capability is inferior to the pioneer enterprises C.S.C., on one hand it is because of the different industrial natures, and on the other hand is not ready for workflow . In terms of organization management and IT¡¦s capability, case enterprise has common or above organization levels, so it has adequate operating flexibility, however, to see as a whole, Furthermore, the research shows the problem and successful case and the implement strategy &planning. Case enterprises to implement Collaboration Commerce in the future shall enhance the strength and improve the weakness in evaluation model, and have all the supply chains levels up and balanced ,still great chances for it to promote Collaboration Commerce successfully in the future ,can improve the production ¡B Inventory ¡Bpurchase¡Bcustomer desire get good optimized,to integrate interenterprises from inner to outer and less labor via organization and technology.specially,it is easy to be successful in grouping enterprises for Collaboration Commerce ,because it is be shared for information and data transactions .Low cost and discriminatory are the keypoints in competition enterprises need to investigate the key performance indicator any time ,included people ¡Awrkflow ¡Astrategy etc. it shall have a team to promote Collaboration Commerce and discuss it one another by the top leader's support. This research gives the steel enterprises that want to promote Collaboration Commerce 9 specific discoveries and 2 specific discoveries in organization and IT listed below: ¤@¡BOrganization and technology 1.The work flow of companies involve considerable human intervension due to sale discounts or seasonal adequate raw material. 2.Case enterprise care for intergrating application system and database will be helpful to promote Collaboration Commerce. ¤G¡BCollaboration for supplier 1. Digital divide exist still severely in suppliers of raw material and MRO due to the performance of investment. 2. Standardize is going in progress ,but communication and coordination process slowly. 3. Government¡¦s policy have the successfully cases ,so it will be lasting to be pushed 4. Collaboration ¡¥s capability of the case enterprises ¡¥s for supplier is not adequate due to not integrated database and work flow . 5. The definition of workflow and business rules is not accordance with interorganization . 6.The Circumstances for design collaboration have the new desires in globalization . 7.The transparant of inventory information is not yet acceptable in steel industry due to privileges. 8. The investment is too high in collaboration will be considered if implement collaboration commerce by efficient. 9. Collaboration production is helpful with each other in supply chains to share iinformations and closely customer relationship. It is also expected to provide more valuable references for steel enterprises that want to promote Collaboration Commerce by this research. Keywords: steel industry, IOS, Collaboration Cmmmerce ,supply chains,TEMPLET

Current trends have seen a rise in the frequency and severity of disasters on a global scale, with disasters in recent years having some of the most devastating impacts ever seen on the societies they affect. As a result, there are increasing pressures on the Formal Humanitarian Sector (FHS) and their resources, resulting in a growing need to examine the logistical processes essential to humanitarian operations. Existing research within the humanitarian logistics (HL) domain has highlighted a plethora of challenges relating to the efficient and effective delivery of humanitarian assistance to those affected by disasters. Through a systematic literature review, it was discovered that current research predominantly focuses on the activities of humanitarian organisations (HOs); overlooking the social and logistical capacity already present within affected communities. In order to address the gap left by HO-centric HL research, this investigation approaches the challenges of efficient and effective humanitarian assistance from a novel perspective. Drawing upon the notion of Collaborative Aid Networks (CANs), this research explores the role of communities as drivers of HL processes, and of their own relief and recovery. In a field in which empirical data is lacking, this enquiry utilises a constructivist grounded theory methodology in order to gather empirical insights from post-earthquake Nepal. Interviews and observations were conducted over a period of seven weeks, with data being continuously analysed and refined throughout this process. The findings from this research culminated in the development of a theoretical framework which illustrates the interrelationships between CAN characteristics and their outcomes on HL. This study contributes to the emerging debates concerning community participation in disaster contexts, and provides revelatory insights regarding CANs’ unique attributes and competencies, which enable them to positively impact disaster affected communities. In levying CAN support, the FHS could increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their HL operations, whilst improving collaboration and communication between the FHS and the community; in turn supporting the legitimacy and downward accountability of FHS programmes.

<p> Supply chain management is a major issue in many industries as firms realize the importance of creating an integrated relationship with their suppliers and customers. In many manufacturing organizations minimizing the total cost of inventory holding and delivery plays a major role in production scheduling. Inventory holding cost is proportional to the flow time of jobs at the shop. Therefore, we study single machine batch scheduling problems to minimize the sum of weighted flow time and the delivery cost in supply chains.</p> <p> It has been proven that many single machine batch scheduling problems even at the supplier level and the manufacturer level are hard problems to be solved. Therefore, batch scheduling problems for supplier-manufacturer coordination are even harder. Hence, heuristic algorithms may be developed to solve such problems. A good heuristic can be developed only when the specific properties of the given problem are analyzed thoroughly. Since there are many problems at the supplier level and manufacturer level not yet solved, we study single machine scheduling problems under different conditions at the supplier and manufacturer. Then we study batch scheduling problems in a supplier-manufacturer system.</p> <p> We first study some polynomially solvable problems at the supplier and at the manufacturer. Batch scheduling problems at the supplier when jobs have arbitrary processing times and arbitrary weights are intractable. We provide a 2-approximation algorithm for this problem. The performance of this 2-approximation algorithm shows that it provides close to optimal solutions for practical situations. Batch scheduling problems at the manufacturer of multi-product case is intractable even if the weights are identical. We provide a 2-approximation algorithm for this problem and a hybrid meta-heuristic algorithm for the arbitrary weight case. We develop an algorithm for the lower bound of this problem and compare the result of the heuristic algorithm with that of the lower bound solution.</p> <p> Then some batch scheduling problems at the manufacturer in a customer centric supply chain are analysed and dynamic programming algorithms are developed to solve these problems optimally. Finally batch scheduling with supplier manufacturer coordination is studied and there again dynamic programming algorithms are developed to solve the batch scheduling problems of given job sequence under two different conditions.</p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

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No / In recent years Government departments and public/private organisations are becoming increasingly transparent with their data to establish the whole new paradigm of big open data. Increasing research interest arises from the claimed usability of big open data in improving public sector reforms, facilitating innovation, improving supplier and distribution networks and creating resilient supply chains that help improve the efficiency of public services. Despite the advantages of big open data for supply chain and operations management, there is severe shortage of empirical analyses in this field, especially with regard to its acceptance. To address this gap, in this paper we use an extended technology acceptance model to empirically examine the factors affecting users’ behavioural intentions towards public sector big open data. We outline the importance of our model for operations and supply chain managers, the limitations of the study, and future research directions.

Background: The relevance of the food system for economic, environmental and social well-being is vital to consider. However, there is a lack of research covering issues and performance assessments of the supply chains in the food industry. Due to pressures on the natural environment and unsustainable production and distribution, Short Food Supply Chains (SFSC’s) have arisen as an alternative model to conventional supply chains. However, there is a need for more research in the field as its showing to be a growing trend in the food industry. Purpose: The purpose of this research is to study the topic of SFSC, where the focus in this paper is to explore what advantages and barriers food producers experience when operating within a SFSC. Method: This study is exploratory and follows an inductive and qualitative approach, where 6 semi-structured interviews with local food producers were used to collect data. The data was analysed and connected to previous literature using a thematic analysis.   Conclusion: The findings in this research illuminates that the advantages and barriers from selling through SFSC´s depends on the circumstances of the channel and the characteristics of the producers. They experienced advantages in their organization such as a high professional satisfaction, fair compensation and autonomy. The social proximity between the actors also facilitated the management of information and allowed for supply chain flexibility. However, producers also faced barriers such as the lack of proper governance in the SFSC channels, and logistical challenges such as the uncertainty of production and the difficulty of ensuring the efficiency of transportations. The analysis of SFSC’s is still in its early stages and the necessary innovations to attain the full positive effects have yet to be implemented.