Least-cost Option Research Articles

India's oil policy: To import crudes or products?

India will remain a net oil importer in the foreseeable future and any additional refining capacity will run essentially on imported crudes. However, self-sufficiency in infigenous refining capability would not necessarily be the least-cost option. Demand for refined products in India, their prices in the international market and quality of crude oils available for import are among the major factors that will influence refinery investment decisions. It may be worthwhile negotiating a suitable petroleum products procurement contract with product-surplus nations in the region. Negotiating such a contract may be easier if oil demand management measures are also implemented successfully.

A method for the appraisal of alternative electricity supply options applied to the rural areas of Misiones Province, Argentina

This paper reports on a major research effort to develop a method to analyze the electricity needs of poor rural people and to determine the least-cost option for meeting these needs. The method has two particular features: first, it allows consideration of the full range of “conventional and nonconventional” technical options that are possible given the actual natural resource endowment of the region and its technological capabilities. Second, it provides practical methods for determining the electricity requirements of a range of end uses for a number of different income groups in specific geographical locations. The method not only makes it possible to identify the least-cost option for each geographical location, but it also provides a wide range of economic information (including the macroeconomic effects) which is often required by policy makers. In particular, it allows quantitative estimates to be made of the impacts of electricity investment on a number of other key variables such as employment, the development of local industrial sectors, and the use of foreign exchange. The method is applied to the specific case of the electricity needs of the rural population of Oberá and Cainguás departments in the province of Misiones, Argentina. The complete set of results is reported elsewhere (IDEE, 1988). The purpose of this article is to summarize the method developed and the results obtained in Misiones.

Integration of Short and Medium/Long Term Planning in the Indian Power Sector

The power supply situation in India is characterized by shortages. In response to this situation, many industrial consumers have invested in captive generation facilities for their own use. Although the use of small, expensive, diesel-based captive generator sets may be rational from the viewpoint of the industrial entrepreneurs, their use is not the least-cost option for the Indian economy.

India's oil policy: The dilemma for self-sufficiency in refining capability

India is likely to be a net oil importer in the foreseeable future and any additional refining capacity will run essentially on imported crudes. It is not clear that self-sufficiency in indigenous refining capability will be the least-cost option. Product price levels in the international market and quality of crude oils available for import are among the major factors that will influence refinery-investment decisions. It may be desirable for India to negotiate a suitable petroleum products procurement contract with productsurplus nations in the region.

The strategic options of least-cost, differentiation, and niche

Peter Wright is a professor of management at Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond. He has published articles in such journals as the Harvard Business Review, Strategic Management Journal, and the Long-Range Planning Journal. He published Challenges to Management in the Arab World in the August 1978 issue of Business Horizons. Three different firms. Three strategic options. RCA succeeded by choosing the leastcost option. Coca-Cola opted for differentiation. Rockford found a special niche in its market. Which is the right option for your firm?