A fragmentação da floresta nativa, em regiões de Mata Atlântica, foi impulsionada pela expansão de áreas urbanas e agrícolas, gerando uma demanda por restauração de áreas degradadas, afim de promover o aumento da cobertura florestal e a conexão de remanescentes florestais. Essas ações de restauração devem considerar a influência dos atributos da paisagem no processo de restauração ecológica e a definição de áreas prioritárias. Neste contexto, o objetivo do trabalho foi desenvolver um índice de priorização de fragmentos florestais, composto por métricas de Ecologia da Paisagem, visando à restauração ecológica da paisagem. A metodologia do Índice Restauração Ecológica de Paisagem (IREP), iniciou-se com a elaboração do mapa de uso e cobertura do solo da sub-bacia do rio Passa-Cinco, a partir do qual se obteve seu mapeamento dos seus remanescentes de floresta nativa que, por sua vez, foi a base para o cálculo de suas métricas de Ecologia da Paisagem e do IREP. As métricas selecionadas foram a área do fragmento (AREA), a dimensão fractal do fragmento (PFD) e a distância média entre os fragmentos (DIST), as quais não apresentaram correlação entre si. Elas foram valoradas por meio da Técnica Participatória e do Processo Hierárquico Analítico, obtendo para a métrica DIST importância de 60%, para AREA de 30% e PFD de 10%. Em seguida calculou-se o IREP para os remanescentes florestais da sub-bacia, os quais foram reclassificados em sete classes de prioridade. Os resultados indicaram o predomínio de fragmentos florestais com área menor que 5 ha, que se encontram dispersos na paisagem e, inseridos em uma matriz agrícola em que se tem o predomínio de pastagem. Assim, 25,44% da área ocupada pelos fragmentos florestais foram associadas a prioridade alta, segundo o IREP. Conclui-se que o IREP propiciou avaliar a importância dos fragmentos florestais para a restauração ecológica da paisagem, destacando, dentre as métricas utilizadas, a distância entre fragmentos. / The native forest fragmentation, in the Atlantic Forest regions, was driven by the urban and agricultural expansion, generating a demand for restoration of degraded areas, to promote the increase of forest cover and the connection of forest remnants. These restoration actions should consider the landscape attributes influence on the ecological restoration process and, the definition of priority areas. In this context, the objective of the work was to develop an index for forest fragment prioritization, composed by Landscape Ecology metrics, aiming at the ecological restoration of the landscape. Considering the land-use/land-cover mapping of the Passa-Cinco sub-basin, we obtained the native forest remnants maps, that supported the generation of Landscape Ecology metrics and, consequently, the Ecological Landscape Restoration Index (ELRI). Three metrics, no correlated between then, were select for ELRI, considering their importance for the study, that was defined through the Participatory Technique and Analytic Hierarchy Process. The selected metrics were the mean distance between patches (DIST), patch area (AREA), the fractal dimension of the patch (PFD) and, their respective importance was 60%, 30% and, 10%. This way, ELRI was calculated for forest patches, defining their priority for ecological restoration. According to the results, the forest fragments smaller than 5 ha were the majority in the Passa-Cinco and, they are scattered in the agriculture matrix, where the pasture is the main land-use. Consequently, 25.44% of the forest patches were associated with the high priority level, through the index. We conclude that ELRI allows the evaluation of forest fragments for the ecological restoration of the landscape, highlighting the importance of distance among fragments.

O avanço da economia brasileira e o amadurecimento dos mercados induzem a crescente competitividade nos diferentes setores. Com isso, as corporações buscam por maneiras de investir com maior produtividade de modo a direcionar recursos nas suas atividades fins para desenvolvimento e expansão do negocio principal. Os ativos imobiliários são um dos recursos mais onerosos para muitas empresas, que ainda imobilizam recursos nesses ativos de longo prazo de maturação. É incipiente a percepção das empresas brasileiras em relação às perdas de oportunidade de ganho com os investimentos que são internados nas suas bases instaladas. Nesse contexto, a tese trata da configuração de um método para analise da oportunidade de imobilização e desmobilização em imóveis corporativos sob a ótica das corporações usuárias, por meio da identificação de critérios qualitativos e quantitativos (econômico-financeiros) relevantes a analise, considerando (i) os mecanismos diretos e indiretos atualmente empregados no Brasil, (ii) a sustentação legal, (iii) as praticas tributarias e contábeis, e (iv) as praticas prevalentes de mercado. Os critérios de decisão do método são priorizados pelos administradores das corporações com auxilio de uma ferramenta para analise hierárquica de decisão (Analytic Hierarchy Process - AHP), que indica a alternativa mais adequada entre as opções de imobilização ou não no real estate para cada situação. O método desenvolvido nesta tese pode ser uma importante ferramenta de apoio para as diretrizes de governança corporativa no que tange as decisões em relação ao portfolio de real estate das corporações, podendo ser utilizado por empresas com atuação nos diferentes setores da economia, tais como: manufatura, serviços, varejo, entre outros, inclusive no setor publico. / The development of the Brazilian economy and the maturity of the markets have prompted growing competition within different sectors. In this context corporations tend to find ways to invest more productively by focusing on their main activities in an effort to enhance their core business. Real estate assets are generally one of the companies\' greatest expenses; even so, companies still invest in these long-term maturity assets. It is still incipient the perception of Brazilian companies as regards the opportunity costs incurred by them as a result of investing in real estate assets. In view of the foregoing, the thesis sets forth an analysis method to guide the decision whether to invest or not in real estate assets from the perspective of corporate users. The analysis is based on qualitative and quantitative attributes by taking in account (i) both direct and indirect procedures currently used in Brazil, (ii) the legal framework, (iii) the tax and accounting practices, and (iv) the prevalent market practices. The method\'s decision criteria are prioritized by the corporations` officers through the AHP tool (Analytic Hierarchy Process), which indicates the most appropriate decision in each situation. The method herein developed may work as an important corporate governance guideline in the extent real estate portfolio decisions are taken by corporations, and it can be used by companies of different sectors, such as manufacturing, service, retail, among others, including the public sector.

This thesis considers how the development of Product-Service Systems (PSS) relates to cultural changes in the organizations doing the development. On one hand, reducing cultural shift is desirable to absorb shocks and reduce obstacles that come from internal relations. And on the other hand, the cultural changes may be an opportunity and a breakthrough - or even necessary - to develop PSS. In exploring the possibility of managing culture, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to prioritize three possible actions to support the best culture to help PSS development. A survey was also carried out through sending questionnaires to nineteen experts. The results suggest that when people prioritized the three actions, the most important was related to pursuing “economic benefits”, and adopted “strengthen executive support and performance management”. This study proposes a portfolio of practices which is targeted at deep into the prioritized action and figure out an action plan as well as some sub-activities around the four quadrants which formed by the integration of Fulfillment, Informal, Innovation, and Formal approach. And each action and planning could still be applied to PSS development as well as other changes, prepare organizational culture changes and create a more harmonious enterprise culture. / 46769611005

In the past few decades, there has been increasing concern towards the potential effects of industrial pollutants on our eco-system. Each country has developed and enacted stringent environmental regulatory standards to address this concern. Several studies conducted in the general area of regulatory impact show significant direct impact of these regulations on organizations. Pharmaceutical industry in particular, due to the generation of variety of hazardous waste during operations, is one among the highly regulated industrial sector globally. The financial liabilities and resource shortages associated while incorporating abatement technologies and related procedural changes make Pharmaceutical Small and Medium Enterprises (PSMEs) highly vulnerable to these regulatory compliance standards. This study aims to investigate two aspects of environment regulation compliance in the PSMEs, namely To identify the nature and magnitude of vulnerabilities encountered by the PSMEs in India while complying with environmental regulations, and To explore and to analyze the adaptation mechanisms followed by the PSMEs in India, while complying with environmental regulations. Literature explorations in the area of environmental regulation, enforcement, compliance, pharmaceutical industry and SMEs, gave limited studies with focus on India. Hence a questionnaire based survey was administered online and face to face. The sampling design followed was stratified random and the total sample size taken for the final analysis was 71. The survey targeted the senior executive officers of pharmaceutical firms across India. Unstructured discussions and interactions with experts in the field were also carried out to understand the gravity of each concern. Data was analyzed using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) for exploring and prioritizing vulnerability concerns, factor analysis for identifying the general adaptation mechanisms and systems practiced, and cluster analysis for assessing the underlying relationship among vulnerability concerns and adaptation patterns of firms under study. Findings of the analysis highlighted several significant drivers of the interaction between the PSMEs and the environment regulations. Some of them are as follows: One, conforming to literature finding, our study also found manufacturing related problems as the most significant concern for the PSMEs. However, unlike the Western countries, it was the poor quality of raw material available in the market that causes the main concern, and not the need for intensive capital investment in abatement technologies. Investigations revealed the steady global market decline for this sub-sector and the need for new innovations to meet the changing global trends. Two, marketing was a significantly higher concern for the PSMEs than regulator and regulatory management. Marketing has special relevance in the pharmaceutical industry as it deals with health and life saving issues for the people, and this got highlighted in our results. Three, the study found external management factors as the most followed coping / adaptation mechanism pursued by the PSMEs. Conforming to literature findings, our study also demonstrated smaller firms as significantly more vulnerable to adaptation in comparison with medium scale firms. The study also highlighted the attempt at balancing the local and global by the Indian PSMEs. While the process orientation was towards meeting international standards, the management of resources, marketing and regulatory requirements had a focus on the local pressures. The study provides some insight into the vulnerabilities and adaptation efforts of the Indian PSMEs and brings out the relevant strategic interventions needed from government, regulatory organizations and industry associations to develop a more sustainable business environment for the Indian PSMEs.

[EN] This research presents a new methodology to evaluate the development trends of the residential trade and industry up until 2050. In the first step available data are analysed for the period 1970 - 2050. In the second step an expert assessment based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) methodology is integrated to reflect the estimation of various expert forecasts of the future. The AHP methodology is based on different variables in the fields of demographic, social-environmental as well as build-quality characteristics to imply a widespread perception of the portfolio mix of habitations in 2050. There will mainly be a focus on several European Union countries with potential future-shrinking populations like Bulgaria, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. Furthermore, they will be compared with Spain whose population is expected to increase. / [ES] Esta investigación presenta una nueva metodología para evaluar las tendencias de desarrollo del comercio y la industria de viviendas hasta el año 2050. En la primera etapa, los datos disponibles son analizados para el período 1970 hasta 2050 con el fin de establecer las tendencias generales de los mercados de bienes raíces en la Unión Europea. En el segundo paso se integra una evaluación de expertos sobre la base de la metodología analítica Hierarchy Process (AHP) para reflejar la estimación de las distintas previsiones de los expertos. La metodología AHP se basa en diferentes variables en los campos de la demografía, las características de calidad de construcción ambientales, así como sociales. El objetivo es inferir la percepción generalizada de la mezcla de la cartera de viviendas en 2050. El enfoque se ha desarrollado sobre varios países de la Unión Europea con un previsible descenso demográfico futuro: Bulgaria, Estonia, Alemania, Hungría, Letonia, Lituania, Polonia, Rumania y Eslovaquia. Además, se comparan con España cuya población se espera que aumente en el futuro. / [CAT] Aquesta recerca presenta una nova metodologia per avaluar les tendències de desenvolupament del comerç i la indústria d'habitatges fins a l'any 2050. En la primera etapa, les dades disponibles són analitzades per al període 1970 fins a 2050 amb la finalitat d'establir les tendències generals del mercat de béns inmobles en la Unió Europea. En el segon pas s'integra una avaluació d'experts sobre la base de la metodologia Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) per reflectir l'estimació de les diferents previsions dels experts. La metodologia AHP es basa en diferents variables en els camps de la demografia, les característiques de qualitat de construcció ambientals, així com socials. L'objectiu és inferir la percepció generalitzada del mix de la cartera d'habitatges en 2050. L'enfocament s'ha desenvolupat sobre diversos països de la Unió Europea amb un previsible descens demogràfic futur: Bulgària, Estònia, Alemanya, Hongria, Letònia, Lituània, Polònia, Romania i Eslovàquia. A més, es comparen amb Espanya la població del qual s'espera que augmenti en el futur. / Preuss, M. (2016). Enlargement for residential trade and industry portfolio valuation and optimisation within the framework of the demographic development in the European Union [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/64068 / TESIS

Yes / Failure Modes and Effect Analysis (FMEA) is a proactive, highly structured, and systematic approach for failure analysis. It has been also applied as a risk assessment tool, by ranking potential risks based on the estimation of Risk Priority Numbers (RPNs). This paper develops an improved FMEA methodology for strategic risk analysis. The proposed approach combines the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique with the Exponential and Weighted Geometric Mean method (EWGM) to support risk analysis. AHP is applied to estimate the weights of three risk factors: Severity (S), Occurrence (O) and Detection (D), which integrate the RPN for each risk. The EWGM method is applied for ranking RPNs. Combining AHP with EWGM allows avoiding repetition of FMEA results. The results of the developed methodology reveal that duplication of RPNs has been decreased, and facilitating an effective risk ranking by offering a unique value for each risk. The proposed methodology focuses not only on high severity values for risk ranking but also it considers other risk factors (O and D), resulting in an enhanced risk assessment process. Furthermore, the weights of the three risk factors are considered. In this way, the developed methodology offers unique value for each risk in a simple way which makes the risk assessment results more accurate. This methodology provides a practical and systematic approach to support decision-makers in assessing and ranking risks that could affect long-term strategy implementation. The methodology was validated through the case study of a power plant in the Middle East, assessing 84 risks within 9 risk categories. The case study revealed that top management should pay more attention to key risks associated with electricity price, gas emissions, lost-time injuries, bad odor, and production. / This research has been supported by Hashemite University, Jordan.

The automotive manufacturing facility is extremely complex and expensive system. Managing and understanding the dynamics of automotive manufacturing is a challenging endeavour. In the current era of dynamic global competition, a new concept such as Collaborative Lean Manufacturing Management (CLMM) can be implemented as an alternative for organisations to improve their Lean Manufacturing Management (LMM) processes. All members in the CLMM value chain must work together towards common objectives in order to make the LMM achievable in the collaborative environment. The novel research approach emphasises the use of Knowledge-Based (KB) approach in such activities as planning, designing, assessing and providing recommendations of CLMM implementation, through: a) developing the conceptual CLMM model; b) designing the KBCLMM System structure based on the conceptual model; and c) implementing Gauging Absences of Pre-requisites (GAP) analysis and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) approach in the hybrid KBCLMM. The development of KBCLMM Model is the most detailed part in the research process and consists of five major components in two stages. Stage 1 (Planning stage) consists of Organisation Environment, Collaborative Business and Lean Manufacturing components. Stage 2 (Design stage) consists of Organisation CLMM Capability and Organisation CLMM Alignment components. Each of these components consists of sub-components and activities that represent particular issues in the CLMM development. From the conceptual model, all components were transformed into the KBCLMM System structure, which is embedded with the GAP and AHP techniques, and thus, key areas of potential improvement in the LMM are identified for each activity along with the identification of both qualitative and quantitative aspects for CLMM implementation. In order to address the real situation of CLMM operation, the research validation was conducted for an automotive manufacturer¿s Lean Manufacturing Chain in Malaysia. Published case studies were also used to test several modules for their validity and reliability. This research concludes that the developed KBCLMM System is an appropriate Decision Support System tool to provide the opportunity for academics and industrialists from the fields of industrial engineering, information technology, and operation management to plan, design and implement LMM for a collaborative environment. / Universiti Utara Malaysia and Ministry of Higher Education of Malaysia

Science and technology are constantly transforming our day-to-day living. Science education has become of vital importance to prepare learners for this everchanging world. Unfortunately, science education in South Africa is hampered by under-qualified and inexperienced teachers. Textbooks of good quality can assist teachers and learners and facilitate the development of science teachers. For this reason thorough assessment of textbooks is needed to inform the selection of good textbooks. An investigation revealed that the available textbook evaluation instruments are not suitable for the evaluation of the physical science textbooks in the South African context. An instrument is needed that focusses on science education textbooks and which prescribes the criteria, weights, evaluation procedure and rating scheme that can ensure justifiable, transparent, reliable and valid evaluation results. This study utilised elements from the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to develop such an instrument and verified the reliability and validity of the instrument’s evaluation results. Development of the Instrument for the Evaluation of Science Education Textbooks started with the formulation of criteria. Characteristics that influence the quality of textbooks were identified from literature, existing evaluation instruments and stakeholders’ concerns. In accordance with the AHP, these characteristics or criteria were divided into categories or branches to give a hierarchical structure. Subject experts verified the content validity of the hierarchy. Expert science teachers compared the importance of different criteria. The data were used to derive weights for the different criteria with the Expert Choice computer application. A rubric was formulated to act as rating-scheme and score sheet. During the textbook evaluation process the ratings were transferred to a spreadsheet that computed the scores for the quality of a textbook as a whole as well as for the different categories. The instrument was tested on small scale, adjusted and then applied on a larger scale. The results of different analysts were compared to verify the reliability of the instrument. Triangulation with the opinions of teachers who have used the textbooks confirmed the validity of the evaluation results obtained with the instrument. Future investigations on the evaluation instrument can include the use of different rating scales and limiting of criteria. / Thesis (M. Ed. (Didactics))

This study demonstrates that hybrid methods can be used for measuring the risk severity of technology-induced errors (TIE) that result from use of health information technology (HIT). The objectives of this research study include: 1. Developing an integrated conceptual risk assessment model to measure the risk severity of technology-induced errors. 2. Analyzing the criticality and risk thresholds associated with TIE’s contributing factors. 3. Developing a computer-based simulation model that could be used to undertake various simulations of TIE’s problems and validate the results. Using data from published papers describing three sample problems related to usability and technology-induced errors, hybrid methods were developed for assessing the risk severity and thresholds under various simulated conditions. A risk assessment model (RAM) and its corresponding steps were developed. A computer-based simulation of risk assessment using the model was also developed, and several runs of the simulation were carried out. The model was tested and found to be valid. Based on assumptions and published statistics obtained by publically available databases, we measured the risk severity and analyzed its criticality to classify risks of contributing factors into four different classes. The simulation results validated the efficiency and efficacy of the proposed methods with the sample problems. / Graduate / 0723 / 0680 / 0769 / tschio2011@gmail.com

The automotive manufacturing facility is extremely complex and expensive system. Managing and understanding the dynamics of automotive manufacturing is a challenging endeavour. In the current era of dynamic global competition, a new concept such as Collaborative Lean Manufacturing Management (CLMM) can be implemented as an alternative for organisations to improve their Lean Manufacturing Management (LMM) processes. All members in the CLMM value chain must work together towards common objectives in order to make the LMM achievable in the collaborative environment. The novel research approach emphasises the use of Knowledge-Based (KB) approach in such activities as planning, designing, assessing and providing recommendations of CLMM implementation, through: a) developing the conceptual CLMM model; b) designing the KBCLMM System structure based on the conceptual model; and c) implementing Gauging Absences of Pre-requisites (GAP) analysis and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) approach in the hybrid KBCLMM. The development of KBCLMM Model is the most detailed part in the research process and consists of five major components in two stages. Stage 1 (Planning stage) consists of Organisation Environment, Collaborative Business and Lean Manufacturing components. Stage 2 (Design stage) consists of Organisation CLMM Capability and Organisation CLMM Alignment components. Each of these components consists of sub-components and activities that represent particular issues in the CLMM development. From the conceptual model, all components were transformed into the KBCLMM System structure, which is embedded with the GAP and AHP techniques, and thus, key areas of potential improvement in the LMM are identified for each activity along with the identification of both qualitative and quantitative aspects for CLMM implementation. In order to address the real situation of CLMM operation, the research validation was conducted for an automotive manufacturer's Lean Manufacturing Chain in Malaysia. Published case studies were also used to test several modules for their validity and reliability. This research concludes that the developed KBCLMM System is an appropriate Decision Support System tool to provide the opportunity for academics and industrialists from the fields of industrial engineering, information technology, and operation management to plan, design and implement LMM for a collaborative environment.