In the contemporary business environment multiple projects are a common way of organising work and they are usually implemented and managed as a portfolio of projects. It is widely recognised that effective project portfolio management delivers a range of strategic benefits and significantly contributes to overall organisational success. However, project portfolio management is acknowledged by both theory and practice to be a highly challenging task which is even amplified by the presence of project interdependencies. Managing project interdependencies is found to be an area of weakness for contemporary portfolio management, which so far remains under investigated but emergent field within general portfolio management theory. Therefore this study presents an empirical investigation that aims to uncover why and how organisations from the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry manage project interdependencies. In order to answer why organisations manage project interdependencies the study examines the benefits of project interdependency management, the negative effects of failed project interdependency management and the related challenges. In order to investigate how project interdependencies are managed this study focuses on the hard and soft practices that portfolio practitioners use. The study is based on cross-case analysis of two case organisations operating within the ICT industry in Italy. The ICT is chosen as an excellent ground for studying project interdependency management since it is of significant importance for the contemporary world’s economy where project and portfolio management is practiced intensively. Qualitative data is collected via semi-structure interviews. The key findings apply to both case organisations demonstrating their similar reasons and manner of managing project interdependencies. The research findings show that there are various types of project interdependencies in the project portfolios that practitioners need to account for and that effective management of these interdependencies delivers significant benefits contributing to the portfolio success, while failed interdependency management distorts the portfolio success. The study indicates potential challenges that project interdependency management may encounter and confirms that comprehensive consideration of project interdependencies is a rather complex task within a project portfolio management. In order to manage issues arising from interdependent projects and leverage related benefits, organisations implement the following hard practices: web application platforms and tracking tools; and soft practices: formal and informal PM meetings, creation of a cooperative culture, leadership, negotiation and convincing and sacred cow. These practices are examined along with their benefits, limitations and context of their application. Although both hard and soft practices are found to be important in the case organisations, the preference is given to soft ones, mainly because of the benefits that soft practices offer over hard ones and the fact that the indicated hard practices allow only identification of project interdependencies, but do not provide managerial solutions per se. Therefore similar organisations operating within ICT industry may find it useful to devote attention to soft practices as they are found to be a prevailing mechanism for managing project interdependencies. The combination of hard and soft practices can also be seen beneficial for realisation of effective project interdependency management.

The main purpose of this dissertation is to develop a process to improve actual policy-making procedures in terms of aviation environmental effects. This research work expands current practices with physics based publicly available models. The process herein proposed provides information regarding the interdependencies between the environmental effects of aircraft. These interdependencies are also tied to the actual physical parameters of the aircraft and the engine, making it more intuitive for decision-makers to understand the impacts to the vehicle due to different policy scenarios. These scenarios involve the use of fleet analysis tools in which the existing aircraft are used to predict the environmental effects of imposing new stringency levels. The aircraft used are reduced to a series of coefficients that represent their performance, in terms of flight characteristics, fuel burn, noise, and emissions. These coefficients are then utilized to model flight operations and calculate what the environmental impacts of those aircraft are. If a particular aircraft does not meet the stringency to be analyzed, a technology response is applied to it, in order to meet that stringency. Depending on the level of reduction needed, this technology response can have an effect on the fuel burn characteristic of the aircraft. The proposed alternative is to create a fleet of replacement aircraft to the current fleet that does not meet stringency. These replacement aircraft represent the achievable physical limits for state of the art systems. In addition, the replacement aircraft show the linkage between environmental effects and fundamental aircraft and engine characteristics, something that has been neglected in previous policy making procedures. Another aspect that has been ignored is the creation of the coefficients used for the fleet analyses. In current literature, a defined process for the creation of those coefficients does not exist, but this research work develops a process to do so and demonstrates that the characteristics of the aircraft can be propagated to the coefficients and to the fleet analysis tools.

The interdependencies that exist within and between infrastructures can cause unexpected system properties to emerge when their components fail due to large disruptions. As witnessed following emergencies such as Hurricane Katrina, the complexities of these interdependencies make it very difficult to effectively recover infrastructure because of the challenges they create in prioritizing the most critical components for repair. The Joint Infrastructure Interdependencies Research Program was initiated by Public Safety Canada (PSC) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) in 2005 to research methods for remedying this problem. As a part of this research, the University of British Columbia (UBC) is developing an infrastructure interdependency simulator, named I2Sim, to simulate disasters and develop strategies for dealing with emergencies. Part of this development is to construct a model of the UBC electrical distribution system and interface it with I2Sim. In this research, a general methodology for such a model is presented, which employs an off-the-shelf powerflow modeling tool. In addition, a model of the UBC information technology infrastructure is developed to provide a second infrastructure model to demonstrate the electrical model's usefulness in multi-infrastructure disaster recovery simulations. Simulations with these models have shown that the recovery of this two-infrastructure system can be carried out more effectively following an earthquake if both infrastructures are considered together in the repair approach, rather than individually. This difference was on the order of thirty percent. To extend this research from electrical distribution systems to electrical bulk systems, an interdependency model of the British Columbia Transmission Corporation bulk power network and its communications system was also developed, along with a post-blackout restoration procedure. Using these, simulations of a post-blackout recovery were carried out to study the level of risk that communications outages may pose to the electrical network's recovery. These simulations revealed a correlation between restoration time and the number of communication points lost. This research also demonstrates there is value in combining the results of such simulations with risk evaluation tools. Together these results provided a clearer indication of where vulnerabilities exist.

Orientador: Prof. Dr. João Manoel Losada Moreira / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal do ABC. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Energia, 2017. / O descomissionamento de uma planta nuclear de potência é a etapa que encerra seu ciclo de vida, permitindo sua retirada do controle regulatório de forma segura e a liberação de seu sitio para um novo uso. O processo deve ser executado de acordo com o estabelecido no plano final de descomissionamento. O processo pode ser organizado de diferentes maneiras, conforme a similaridade das diferentes e inúmeras tarefas envolvidas, razões econômicas e interesse das diferentes partes interessadas. Contudo, as abordagens encontradas na literatura pouco variam devido à grande complexidade do processo de descomissionamento e suas inúmeras tarefas. Por esta razão, uma abordagem simplificada, capaz de organizar o processo em um número reduzido de etapas e tarefas gerais, mostra-se vantajosa uma vez que isto torna o processo mais claro, mesmo às partes interessadas que não possuam conhecimentos técnicos específicos. A despeito da existência de diferentes ferramentas de gerenciamento de projetos, não se encontra na literatura uma ferramenta que reúna as principais características destas ferramentas junto com um modelo matemático capaz de estimar os custos e volume de cada classe dos rejeitos produzidos durante o processo de descomissionamento ou para um sítio com múltiplos reatores com plantas interdependentes. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo propor uma ferramenta de gestão que permita propor diferentes estratégias de descomissionamento para sítios com múltiplos reatores, qualquer que seja seu número ou tipo, e que possua um modelo matemático capaz de estimar o custo de descomissionamento com a precisão exigida por um orçamento. A funcionalidade da ferramenta de gestão será demonstrada por meio de um estudo de caso, considerando um sítio nuclear hipotético com 3 plantas, o qual possui características similares ao sítio nuclear brasileiro de Angra e suas 3 usinas. Este sítio foi escolhido como referência dadas suas características únicas no mundo em termos de cronograma e interdependências. A validação da ferramenta de gestão e seu modelo matemático foi conduzida comparando o custo estimado para uma planta, em cerca de R$2,56 bilhões (aproximadamente US$767,00 milhões), com valores encontrados na literatura. Uma análise de sensibilidade dos principais parâmetros do modelo foi realizada, permitindo avaliar a influência destes sobre o resultado. As interdependências entre as plantas nucleares foram consideradas por meio de diferentes estratégias de descomissionamento, entre os sistemas, fatores de custo e volumes de cada classe de rejeitos radioativos produzidos. Ao final são discutidos os possíveis cenários para um projeto de descomissionamento no futuro. Como principais conclusões, verificou-se que a extensão do planejamento tem pouca influência sobre o custo do projeto e que a alteração do estado final do sítio ou a disposição de rejeitos não radioativos no sítio permitem uma pequena redução de custo. Por outro lado, o uso de tecnologias remotas e automação para execução das tarefas de descontaminação e desmantelamento nas áreas contaminadas permitem reduzir significativamente o custo do projeto. Adicionalmente, verificou-se que as interdependências apresentam grande influência no cronograma das estratégias propostas e respectivos custos do projeto, mas que estas influem de forma desprezível o volume de rejeitos produzidos. / TThe decommissioning of a nuclear power plant is the step that finishes its life cycle, allowing its safe release from regulatory control and a new use for the released site. This process must be executed according to the established final decommissioning plan. The process can be organized in different manners according to the similarity of the several tasks involved, economic reasons and interests of different stakeholders. However, the approaches found in literature do not vary much because of the high complexity of the decommissioning process and its numerous tasks. Due to this reason, a simplified approach, able to organize the process with a reduced number of phases and broad tasks is advantageous since it clarifies the process, even to those without specific technical knowledge in the subject. Despite the existence of several kinds of project management tools, it was not found in the literature one with such features, i.e., presenting a simplified mathematical model able to estimate costs and radioactive waste volumes generated during the decommissioning process, allowing to consider a site with multiple nuclear power plants, and possible interdependencies among them. The present work aims at developing a management tool that allows assessing different decommissioning strategies for a multiple power plant considering cost alternatives with a mathematical model with budget level accuracy. The management tool is verified in a case study considering a hypothetic nuclear power generation site with 3 plants, with characteristics similar to the Brazilian Angra nuclear power site. This choice was made because it presents unique features in terms of schedule of decommissioning and power plant interdependencies. The validation of the management tool and its mathematical model were carried out comparing a single plant decommissioning cost, of about R$2,56 billion (approximately US$767,00 millions), with the values reported in the literature. A sensibility study of the main model parameters was undertaken to estimate their influence on the results. The interdependencies among the nuclear power plants were considered regarding different decommissioning strategies, systems, decommissioning costs and volumes of each radioactive waste class. The final part of the work discusses the possible scenarios for the decommissioning of the site in the future. It was found that the extent of planning has little influence on the cost of the decommissioning project and that changes in the final state of the site of final disposal of non-radioactive wastes cause small cost reductions. On the other hand, the use of remote technologies and automation to carry out decontamination and dismantling tasks in contaminated areas can significantly reduce the cost of decommissioning. In addition, it was found that interdependencies have a great influence of the timeline of the proposed strategies and respective project costs, but have negligible influence on the volume of stored radioactive waste.

The interdependencies that exist within and between infrastructures can cause unexpected system properties to emerge when their components fail due to large disruptions. As witnessed following emergencies such as Hurricane Katrina, the complexities of these interdependencies make it very difficult to effectively recover infrastructure because of the challenges they create in prioritizing the most critical components for repair. The Joint Infrastructure Interdependencies Research Program was initiated by Public Safety Canada (PSC) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) in 2005 to research methods for remedying this problem. As a part of this research, the University of British Columbia (UBC) is developing an infrastructure interdependency simulator, named I2Sim, to simulate disasters and develop strategies for dealing with emergencies. Part of this development is to construct a model of the UBC electrical distribution system and interface it with I2Sim. In this research, a general methodology for such a model is presented, which employs an off-the-shelf powerflow modeling tool. In addition, a model of the UBC information technology infrastructure is developed to provide a second infrastructure model to demonstrate the electrical model's usefulness in multi-infrastructure disaster recovery simulations. Simulations with these models have shown that the recovery of this two-infrastructure system can be carried out more effectively following an earthquake if both infrastructures are considered together in the repair approach, rather than individually. This difference was on the order of thirty percent. To extend this research from electrical distribution systems to electrical bulk systems, an interdependency model of the British Columbia Transmission Corporation bulk power network and its communications system was also developed, along with a post-blackout restoration procedure. Using these, simulations of a post-blackout recovery were carried out to study the level of risk that communications outages may pose to the electrical network's recovery. These simulations revealed a correlation between restoration time and the number of communication points lost. This research also demonstrates there is value in combining the results of such simulations with risk evaluation tools. Together these results provided a clearer indication of where vulnerabilities exist. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Electrical and Computer Engineering, Department of / Graduate

abstract: This dissertation advances the capability of water infrastructure utilities to anticipate and adapt to vulnerabilities in their systems from temperature increase and interdependencies with other infrastructure systems. Impact assessment models of increased heat and interdependencies were developed which incorporate probability, spatial, temporal, and operational information. Key findings from the models are that with increased heat the increased likelihood of water quality non-compliances is particularly concerning, the anticipated increases in different hardware components generate different levels of concern starting with iron pipes, then pumps, and then PVC pipes, the effects of temperature increase on hardware components and on service losses are non-linear due to spatial criticality of components, and that modeling spatial and operational complexity helps to identify potential pathways of failure propagation between infrastructure systems. Exploring different parameters of the models allowed for comparison of institutional strategies. Key findings are that either preventative maintenance or repair strategies can completely offset additional outages from increased temperatures though-- improved repair times reduce overall duration of outages more than preventative maintenance, and that coordinated strategies across utilities could be effective for mitigating vulnerability. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering 2019

Les marchés obligataires d’État occupent une place centrale dans les sphères monétaires et financières. L’attractivité des titres d’État s’accentue en période de crise financières vu leur statut de valeurs refuges. La présente thèse se propose d’étudier l’organisation des échanges et les dynamiques des prix sur les marchés obligataires européen et chinois. Le choix du marché chinois est motivé par sa croissance soutenue. Nous avons essayé de voir si la croissance de ce marché obligataire émergent se réalise en concordance avec deux principaux marchés obligataires. Pour cela, nous avons articulé cette thèse en deux parties. Les deux 1er chapitres constituent la première partie en proposant d’étudier les particularités des marchés obligataires en Europe et en Chine en termes de microstructure et de formation des prix. La deuxième partie de la thèse, composée des deux derniers chapitres est consacrée à l’interrelation des marchés étudiés. Le 3ème chapitre propose de tester la cointégration entre ces marchés. Le dernier chapitre s’intéresse à l’explication de cette tendance commune à travers l’exploitation de la piste des chocs monétaires non anticipés. Nos résultats prouvent l’intégration du marché chinois. Cette intégration a été accompagnée par une succession de réformes visant la standardisation des échanges sur le marché chinois.L’intégration de ce marché se caractérise par son ajustement aux principales tendances communes du système de cointégration dominés par les marchés obligataires américain et allemand. Les résultats empiriques montrent que les chocs monétaires non anticipés américains et européen influencent les anticipations sur les marchés obligataires étudiés. / Government bond markets play a central role in financial and monetary spheres. The government bonds become more attractive during financial crises, when capitals migrate to sovereign debt markets. The attractiveness of government bonds can be motivated by their safety status. In this thesis, we studied market microstructure and price discovery in Chinese and European sovereign bond markets. Our interest in the emergent Chinese bond market is motivated by his rapid and important growth. We tried to study the relationship between the evolutions of this market and developed ones. To reach our purpose, we organized this research in two sections. In the first two chapters we studied the specificities of the European and Chinese government bond market regarding to the market microstructure and price formation. The second part of this thesis was reserved to study the interdependencies between bond markets. In the third chapter we tested the cointegration between US, German, Chinese and Honk Kong government bond markets. In the last chapter we tried to explain the role of monetary policy surprises in the international bond markets integration. Our results indicate the existence of international integration of the Chinese bond market. This integration may be explained by the succession of reforms in the direction of the standardization of the rules of exchanges in this emergent market. Cointegration tests results chow that the Chinese bond market is adjusting to the principal common trends dominated by the US and the German markets. Our empirical results indicate that the US and the European monetary policy surprises tend to influence anticipations on the studied bond markets.

This thesis evaluates and develops a method for studying the occurrence of cascading effects between critical infrastructures. The thesis also analyzes how the results of previous research using the method may have been affected by certain aspects of the method. Applying different inclusion thresholds and exploring how material could be gathered differently, the thesis provides some tentative answers to the value of using newspaper articles when studying cascading effects. In addition, the thesis offers recommendations for future research and policy on the protection of critical infrastructures.

This thesis evaluates and develops a method for studying the occurrence of cascading effects between critical infrastructures. The thesis also analyzes how the results of previous research using the method may have been affected by certain aspects of the method. Applying different inclusion thresholds and exploring how material could be gathered differently, the thesis provides some tentative answers to the value of using newspaper articles when studying cascading effects. In addition, the thesis offers recommendations for future research and policy on the protection of critical infrastructures.

The German Government’s Integrated Energy and Climate Programme (IEKP) and the National Biomass Action Plan set ambitious targets for the further development of bioenergy until 2020. The share of energy from biomass is supposed to reach 8 % and 9.7 % of the total power consumption and of the total heat usage, respectively. The share of biofuels on the total consumption of fuels for transportation should rise up to 12 % (energetic) by 2020. This project aims to assess the possibilities of achieving the IEKP targets for bioenergy in a regional and global context. On a regional as well as global level, the potentials of different biomasses were determined in different development scenarios until 2020. Furthermore, the extent to which remote sensing could contribute in improving the spatial specification of biomass resources and whether it could be used as a monitoring system for the early detection of land use changes was investigated. On the regional level, the spatial implications of energetic biomass use was analysed with regard to environmental impacts and land use conflicts. Depending on their significance of spatial impacts, instruments of spatial planning were assessed in order to steer the supply of bioenergy. [... from Executive Summary]