Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2007. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 149-161). Also available on the World Wide Web.

This thesis presents an application of linear programming to the question of efficient log allocation in the forest industry of British Columbia. Current procedures for allocating logs among alternative utilization processes are discussed and it is suggested that a more efficient allocation might be obtained through a systematic approach to the problem. The economic necessity of improving net returns to the log supply is emphasized. A linear programme log-allocation model is presented, based on an integrated-industry in the coastal region of British Columbia. The model encompasses three main categories of log-use, namely sawmilling, plywood production and pulp production, and demonstrates how a given supply of logs may be optimally distributed among these structurally different log-conversion processes. Emphasis throughout this study is on the structure of the linear programme model, although considerable effort was directed to obtaining realistic data. Solutions of the model, obtained through the services of the Computing Centre at the University of British Columbia, are discussed, and a superficial comparison is made with actual log allocation in the industry. Modifications of the model to suit the log-allocation problem faced by an individual firm in the short-run are discussed and normal comparative-statics applications are considered. It is pointed out that many of the simplifying assumptions in the model may be relaxed. However, the main limitation to its practical application by industry and government lies in the quality and type of data available. In this respect it is suggested that the linear programme model of this thesis provides a valuable guide to the production data required to improve economic efficiency in the forest industry. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

Job evaluation is a technique which has proved useful in the forest industry in British Columbia. Its major benefit has been the provision of a responsible climate for collective bargaining. A secondary benefit has been the provision for a meaningful basis of measuring productivity. The dissertation examines job evaluation in three areas. The first section studies some of the relevant theory of job evaluation as it applies to the forest industry in British Columbia. The evolution of Plywood Job Evaluation is followed by the recently introduced Southern Interior study. The concluding section ponders the future of job evaluation as it may apply to B.C. Coast Sawmills. Certainly, job evaluation comes highly recommended by this writer as a possible means of solving several of the cantankerous problems which have plagued the forest industry in British Columbia. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

Forests and the forest industry have been dominant features in North Central British Columbia since initial settlement of the area in the 1900's. Trees have been logged and sawed into lumber to be sold to the residents of the three prairie provinces, and more recently, peeled for plywood and chipped for pulp to be exported abroad. As a result of the region's peripheral location and dependence upon these distant markets, the industry has had to adjust continuously to external pressures. Changing conditions such as expansion or contraction of markets, government decisions to build railways, changes in provincial forest management policies, and the introduction of a pulp economy to the area, have forced the industry to adapt its processes and products so that the North Central Interior could compete with other forest product regions. A gradual rationalization of the industry has occurred in both the structure and location of producing units within the region. Several periods in the development of the industry are identifiable as a series of external stimuli, and internal responses. In its initial years, in the early 1900's, the industry consisted of a few sawmills cutting rough lumber along the upper Fraser River. Later, in the years prior to World War II, poor market conditions restricted the industry in size, technological improvement and areal spread. The buoyant market conditions of the 1940's and 1950's encouraged growth in the number of operations and dispersion of cutting operations into remote areas. At this time, shortages of labour, equipment and capital combined with an indefinite forest management policy promoted the development of a large number of small, undercapitalized operations. The growth of large-scale production units, diversification of production and areal concentration of conversion plants have been the responses of the industry in the 1960's. A number of external forces such as changes in provincial forest management policies, changing market demands and rising labour costs have encouraged these responses. This thesis presents an overview of the development of the forest industry, rather than concentrating upon the individual locative decision. Particular firms are used, however, to illustrate changes in structure and location which are characteristic of certain periods. Emphasis is also placed upon the role exogenous forces and traditional locative factors have played in the changes. Interviews with entrepreneurs in the area, and data from trade journals and government publications provide most of the information presented here. The changes in size and location of producing units within the forest industry of North Central British Columbia from 1909 to 1966 are outlined first, with particular reference to external influences and industry responses. Comparisons are made of the structure and spatial patterns of the industry in 1925, 1950 and 1966. An analysis of (a) the external forces, (b) the internal adjustments of the region and, (c) the resultant pattern of location, constitutes the major part of the study. A summary of these forces, predictions of the future pattern of development and an outline of the general findings of this examination conclude the thesis. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

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Thesis (MBus) -- University of South Australia, 1994

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2007. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 183-205). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of British Columbia, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 374-417).

Thesis (doctoral)--Landbouwuniversiteit te Wageningen, 1989. / Summary and thesis note in Dutch. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references.