Office Supplies Research Articles

Inclusión de criterios ambientales en las compras públicas en Costa Rica: suministros de oficina

El sector público es el principal consumidor del país, por ende, tiene la capacidad de accionar los mercados hacia modelos de producción sostenibles. Costa Rica cuenta con iniciativas para promover las compras verdes y sustentables en sus instituciones estatales. Sin embargo, aún existe desconocimiento y falta de experiencia. Esta investigación propone la inclusión de criterios ambientales en los procesos de contratación administrativa, desarrollada en el Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica (ITCR) para la compra de suministros de oficina. Para esto, se definieron criterios ambientales con sus respectivas evidencias de verificación y se realizaron entrevistas a proveedores con el fin de determinar la factibilidad de cumplimiento. Los hallazgos encontrados reflejan la poca capacidad de los proveedores consultados para responder a los criterios ambientales, la importancia de realizar estudios de mercado para su adecuada clasificación en los carteles y la necesidad de formación ambiental de los entrevistados para obtener mejores rendimientos en las licitaciones.

Visibility of tobacco products and advertisement at the point of sale: a systematic audit of retailers in Amsterdam

ObjectivesVisibility of tobacco products at the point of sale (PoS), in settings where open display of tobacco is allowed, is one of the last remaining ways in which the tobacco...

Managerial practices for designing circular economy business models

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the managerial practices that companies can implement in order to design a circular economy business model and how companies can create and capture value from a circular economy business model.Design/methodology/approachThe paper adopts a single case study methodology with semi-structured interviews and company, supplier, and manufacturing site visits, conducted in a small-to-medium-size Italian company operating in the office supply industry.FindingsThe theoretical setting maps a set of managerial practices for a circular economy business model and sets the research gaps and questions in a research framework designed along three main dimensions: value network, customer value proposition and interface, and managerial commitment. Then, through an empirical analysis, the findings reveal that the proposed dimensions are interdependent and reinforce each other. Moreover, the managerial commitment as moderating factor between the value network and the customer value proposition and interface dimensions is identified as essential for reaching the intended goals of circular economy business models.Research limitations/implicationsThis study maximizes the depth of the phenomenon under investigation by leveraging a single case study methodology, which ideally helps in a theory-testing approach as in the present case. Future research opportunities could be found in qualitative and quantitative studies to increase the generalizability of the findings of this paper.Practical implicationsThe paper presents a set of relevant managerial practices for circular economy business models that can be used by managers who have the will to embrace in practice circular economy principles to support the design, change, or upgrade of the business model of companies within which they operate.Originality/valueAn interdisciplinary approach that integrates the research streams of circular economy, social psychology, organizational behavior, and business model design has been pursued to test the theoretical setting and the research framework for circular economy business models in a real-world context.

Cultura material e trabalho nos serviços de mineração do Distrito Diamantino (Minas Gerais, século XVIII)

RESUMO Com o propósito de intensificar o controle sobre a produção e o comércio de diamantes na segunda metade do século XVIII, a Coroa portuguesa criou a Real Extração. De 1772 em diante, esta nova administração passou a adquirir em mercados locais e europeus tudo que fosse necessário à extração das pedras preciosas e à sobrevivência de seus empregados no Distrito Diamantino. Neste artigo, estuda-se esse abastecimento pela perspectiva da cultura material, com o objetivo de evidenciar as relações possíveis entre os elementos materiais utilizados no cotidiano da extração e o trabalho de centenas de empregados e milhares de escravos. Assim, materiais para mineração, materiais de escritório, tecidos e aviamentos, artigos de luxo, drogas de botica e alimentos não serão apenas descritos, mas analisados naquele contexto social específico. O estudo da interação entre homens e objetos, longe de se apresentar como trivial, desvela o funcionamento de um mundo do trabalho ainda pouco conhecido pela historiografia da mineração.

PENGARUH DISIPLIN KERJA, KEMAMPUAN KERJA DAN FASILITAS KERJA TERHADAP KINERJA PEGAWAI PADA KANTOR PELAYANAN PAJAK PRATAMA MEDAN TIMUR

There are many factors that can affect performance, but this study only examines factors of work discipline, work ability factors and work facilities factors. This study aims at determining the effect of work discipline variables, work ability variables and work facilities partially and simultaneously on the performance of employees at the East Medan Primary Tax Office. The population of this research is 113 employees. To determine the number of samples used the Slovin formula so that the sample is 53 employees. Data collection techniques in this study are questionnaires, interviews and documentation studies. While the data analysis technique used is the classical assumption test, multiple regression, t test, F test and the coefficient of determination. The results show that the work discipline variable has a significant effect on the performance of the employees at the East Medan Primary Tax Office, where the higher the work discipline, the better the employee's performance. The work ability variable has a significant effect on the performance of employees at the East Medan Primary Tax Office, where the higher the work ability, the better the employee's performance. The work facility variable has a significant influence on the performance of the employees at the East Medan Primary Tax Office, where the better the work facilities, the better the employee's performance. There is a significant influence on work discipline variables, work ability variables and work facilities variables on employee performance at the East Medan Primary Tax Office. The coefficient of determination is 88.40%, the variation in employee performance is explained by work discipline variables, work ability variables, and work facilities variables simultaneously, and the remaining 11.60% is explained by other factors such as organizational climate variables and leadership. It is recommended that leaders in agencies need to provide an example of discipline and assertiveness in making decisions so that work discipline in agencies can be better. In this case, every employee committing disciplinary violations, both minor and serious, must be given strict sanctions. Leaders in agencies need to make efforts so that employees have sufficient experience in their field of work and place employees in positions that are in accordance with their work experience. In this case, employees need to be given the opportunity to attend training such as training in accordance with the field of work of each employee. Agencies need to organize offices with more comfortable decorations, and also need to provide more adequate office equipment and supplies for employees to use by using the agency's budget. It is necessary to improve employee discipline and make more efforts to improve employee abilities because these variables are classified as weaker than the work facility variable. Other researchers need to do further research by using more independent variables on employee performance.

오피스 부동산 공급량과 공실률 간 관계 분석 - 수도권 지역을 대상으로 -

While economic feasibility analysis is very important to the business of new office supply, there have been insufficient robust studies on benefit estimation methods. This paper intends to investigate the relationships among the major variables of vacancy rate, new supply and rent, in the office market of Seoul Capital Area. If a new supply had significant effects on vacancy rate or rent, it would be necessary to adjust the economic benefit of a relevant project, with the effects in mind. To identify relationships among the variables, panel data were generated by using data from the Korea Appraisal Board’s Commercial Real Estate Rental Trend Survey and ShinYoung Asset’s the Office Scope. And a fixed effects model and an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model were employed for analysis. The results of analysis show that correlations between office rent and new supply and between new supply and vacancy rate are not very great at the level of the whole Seoul Capital Area. This implies that new supply in the office market creates new economic benefit, rather than substituting for the existing rental facilities.

Applying Corporate Governance for Sustainable Development: An Empirical Investigation in Developing Economics Using Structural Equation Modeling

Public administration is popularly regarded as the handmaid of public policies. However, this traditional role of public administration has since changed. Public administrators now play vital roles in policy formulation as the perceived gap between politics and administration continue to close up. Yet, since independence, national development has progressed in twists and turns thereby necessitating the imperative of sustainable national development. In the quest for sustainable national development, public administration is certainly a game changer. Therefore, with the use of the ecological theory, the paper argued that in the quest for sustainable national development in the country, there are stumbling blocks before public administration which should be surmounted. These include among others: lack of ethical climate in the public sector, poor professionalization of public administration, lack of inclusive decision making, attitudinal change by public officers, pursuit of foreign paradigm of development, lack of merit system in the public sector and low morale among public administrators. The paper made far-reaching recommendations on how to achieve sustainable national development through public administration. These include: comparative pay and reward system, ability to develop home grown development paradigm, reliable power supply, training and retraining of public officers, emphasis on merit and zero tolerance to corruption.

Municipal amalgamations and their effects: a literature review

Abstract Municipal amalgamation reforms have been advocated as ways to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance capacity in local government service provision. Research on the consequences of amalgamations has reached maturity in terms of theories, research designs and methods, justifying a systematic survey of results. This article provides a synthesis of the empirical literature published over the last 20 years, organizing the effects of amalgamations into three categories: economic efficiency and cost savings, managerial implications, and democratic outcomes. Despite the significant variation across countries and reforms, some regularities emerge: cost savings being primarily limited to general administration expenditures (wages, office supplies, and so on), few changes in the quality of local services, and the diminished quality of local democracy. Several studies point to amalgamation reforms experiencing a trade-off between efficiency and democracy.

Portrait of an Administrator with Strategic Plan and Office Supplies

The poem “Portrait of an Administrator with Strategic Plan and Office Supplies” by poet Jehanne Dubrow.

No Good Deed is Too Small: Experimental Studies of Identities and Workplace Saving Behavior

As a type of prosocial behavior in the workplace, saving office supplies such as printing papers and pens seems trivial, but in fact it can prevent wasting a large amount of organizational resources. In this research, we conducted a field experiment and a laboratory experiment to examine the relationship between employees’ three types of self-identity and workplace saving behavior. Drawing from the social cognitive theory about employees’ self- identity system, we highlight the importance of situational cues in activating different types of identity, including individual, relational, and collective identity. We also propose that carefully activating these kinds of identity could increase workplace saving, and the extent to which it is increased varies when different types of identity are activated. In particular, activating interpersonal identity (i.e., relational and collective identity) increased workplace saving more than did activating the intrapersonal identity (i.e., individual identity). Activating the relational identity was more effective in increasing employees’ saving behavior than activating the collective identity. The experiment results generally supported the hypotheses. Furthermore, we found that the activating relational identity enhanced workplace saving behavior most and employees’ prosocial motive mediated the relationships between the three types of identity and workplace saving behavior. Theoretical and practical implications of the results were discussed.

戦間期日本における高級船員の需給関係 : 1914年～1938年

戦間期日本における高級船員の需給関係 : 1914年～1938年

都市内部レベルのオフィス立地と都市地域構造の再編 : オフィス供給の変化を中心に(オフィス立地変動と都市地域構造の変容-その近年の動向と将来像-,2013年度秋季学術大会シンポジウム)

都市内部レベルのオフィス立地と都市地域構造の再編 : オフィス供給の変化を中心に(オフィス立地変動と都市地域構造の変容-その近年の動向と将来像-,2013年度秋季学術大会シンポジウム)

STRATEGI PEMASARAN TERHADAP PENJUALAN PRODUK TABUNGAN IB HASANAH DI PT. BANK NEGARA INDONESIA SYARIAH KANTOR CABANG JAKARTA BARAT

BNI Syariah branch office in West Jakarta has one of funding products that Savings iB Hasanah useful for pure investment vehicles Shariah compliance, where customers can make deposits and withdrawals of cash very easily. In marketing this product, BNI Syariah use 2 pattern to implement a marketing strategy that intensification patterns for customers who already have a product BNI Syariah and extension patterns for prospective customers at other banks that have not used that product at BNI Syariah. Besides, in general BNI Syariah has some marketing strategies that include 9P is Process, People, Product, Price, Place, Promotion, Partners, Presentation, and Passion. Employees who are experts in marketing their products to barriers such as the lack of make Savings iB Hasanah customers, how to services and lack of staff was quick to respond, competition between conventional banks and Islamic banks BNI Syariah office supplies in some areas.Keywords : Marketing strategy, Savings iB Hasanah, Product marketing barriers savings iB Hasanah

Outsourcing at Office Supply Inc.

This case is designed to teach how to structure information technology (IT) infrastructure outsourcing deals from both the outsourcer and the client perspective. Office Supply Incorporated (OSI) is a company in crisis, with challenges in its cost structure and poor IT performance. Outsourcing to Technology Infrastructure Solutions is an opportunity to both reduce costs and complexity for the firm, but students first must consider whether outsourcing is a good strategic fit for OSI. Detailed spreadsheet templates are given that are based on a real outsourcing client engagement for a major infrastructure outsourcing company. The spreadsheets are complex but have been simplified so that they automatically calculate when populated, allowing the students to quickly move to answering the management challenge: how should TIS price and structure the outsourcing deal? Answering this question provides deep insights into the business case for IT outsourcing and how outsourcers financially engineer a deal structure to ensure a win-win outcome for both the client and outsource service provider.Students will: Understand the strategic context of IT outsourcing and when it will benefit a firm; Understand IT infrastructure outsourcing and management issues such as personnel reductions and organizational change; Learn which outsourcing pricing model is the best fit for a project; Create a rigorous cost-benefit financial analysis and ROI model for IT infrastructure outsourcing; Analyze the model and learn how to financially engineer the deal to be a win-win for the outsourcer and client.

OUTPATIENT FLOW OPTIMIZATION - The redesign and implementation of non face-to-face flow systems

Introduction : In a global context of increasing demand for health care and the greater demand on the quality of care, our health systems are being challenged to maintain high quality standards. In order to meet these expectations, it is necessary to apply increasingly efficient management models that safeguard and improve the user’s perception of the attention received. Limited public or private resources in health institutions urge us to seek their optimization by implementing more effective alternative modus operandi. By incorporating technological advances in the sector, particularly through new communication systems, we are given an opportunity to substantially alter doctor-patient or administration-patient relations whilst promoting co responsibility in the health process. With these premises, and a clear commitment to the patient, a project is born focused on the outpatient area of the Hospital Sant Joan de Deu de Martorell in Barcelona. The aim is to simplify the highly complex flow of patients, which increases the cost of the care process due to its numerous associated administrative procedures. This gives rise to a negative impact on the end user’s satisfaction. Using the basic principles of ‘LEAN’ methodology and process reengineering in the areas of surgical scheduling, outpatient visits, admissions and certain outpatient procedures, waiting time targets have been reduced and improved levels of accessibility to specialist consultants were established. Methods : The project is defined initially by focusing on the outpatient area, however with a view to expanding it into other hospital areas. The project has been undertaken in close collaboration with primary care teams resulting in the setting of the main following lines of action: 1. Review and redesign of patient care systems, from hospital admission to scheduling consultations and diagnostic tests by applying reduced flow time and optimization of resources. 2. Incorporation of non-face-to-face service processes by implementing mobile-phone technology as a way of bi-directional communication with the patient. 3. Creation of a preoperative care unit, with a single preoperative interaction as a specific approach in the pre-surgical procedure. 4. Application of biometric signatures, with informed consent, and the elimination of paper medical records. Results : In less than a year, after the implementation of the actions described, the results exceeded the expectations created and effected directly and indirectly all influential areas of the organization. There were substantial quantitative and qualitative improvements in the main assessment indicators. A notable 95% reduction of face events (250.000 per year) in the areas of scheduling outpatient visits, diagnostic tests and surgical procedures, through computerization of the requests generated in consultancies, along with the extension and acceptance of the non-contact care program, has been the biggest factor in allowing the users to spend only the minimum time necessary in those activities that add value to the process of health. The bi-directional communication with the patient through mobile messaging for appointments, modification and/or cancellation, has allowed a reduction in the rate of user’s presence. This has produced an 11% increase in accessibility to the agendas and has facilitated meeting current commitments to ‘Maximum Delay’ objectives for first visits in all specialties. The new preoperative care unit, which provides a single time for the patient to take all necessary surgical diagnostic tests has resulted in improvements in the level of patient risk and in the application of complementary diagnostic tests. The prior review of the need to test, avoiding duplication and unnecessary patient radiation, has meant an 8% reduction in electrocardiograms and 56% in chest x-rays. Document scanning, the implementation of the biometric signature and the incorporation of advances in communication, replacing letters and phone calls has reduced by up to 70% office supplies costs (paper, printer toner, labels, ...) and gave over 60% savings in telephone costs. Discussion : Results to date show that the implementation of mobile-phone technology is an essential tool in order to obtain a more effective and higher quality health care. Having noted the acceptance and profitability of the project in the hospital environment, we consider the feasibility of it is exportable to all primary care services, as it has been proven in our area of influence. Conclusion : From the patient's perspective, and the considerable organizational benefits, simplifying the flow of patients, reducing queues and waiting times as well as the reduction of face-to face services has facilitated the meeting of objectives giving rise to an improvement in overall user satisfaction and the perception of health care.

Estimating Substitution and Basket Effects in Retail Stores: Implications for Assortment Planning

Many retailers are reducing store footprint and downsizing their assortments accordingly to improve store productivity. Some of the revenue for items removed from the assortment may be recouped by substitution, but also some of the revenue for items kept in the assortment may be lost due to basket abandonment. For a practical setting where baskets may contain any subset of items from thousands of products, estimating both substitution and basket effects is a challenge. To address this we develop a demand model that incorporates a multinomial logit (MNL) model to estimate substitution within a subcategory and a parsimonious model to estimate basket retention. Using transaction and product availability data from 8 stores of an office supplies retail chain that were dramatically downsized from large- to small-format stores, we show that inclusion of the basket retention effect in assortment selection for the small stores can significantly improve profits at these stores.

제로에너지 빌딩 평가를 통한 제도적 개선방안에 대한 조사 연구

전 세계에서 건물 내에서 사용되고 있는 에너지는 지구온난화의 주요원인일 뿐만 아니라 기후변화 대응을 위해 다루어져야할 주요 과제이다. 본 연구는 빌딩을 대상으로 사용되고 있는 에너지의 평가를 통하여 개선사항을 도출하고자 하였으며 이를 위하여 제로에너지빌딩을 검토하고 영향인자들을 조사하였다. 또한 실제 건물을 대상으로 환경적 요인과 환경부하로 구분하여 평가항목을 설정하였으며 평가결과를 토대로 개선사항을 제안하고자 하였다. 그 결과 제로에너지빌딩을 구현하기 위한 평가단계에서는 건물부지의 지형과 기후변수가 고려되어야 하며, 신재생에너지의 이용, 저장 및 관리 측면에서는 비용 상승에 따른 제도적 지원이 필요한 것으로 나타났다. 또한 제로에너지 빌딩에서는 에너지 효율이 중요하나 현재 건물 내에서 사용되는 에너지 소비량을 확인하고 관리하기 위해서 모니터링과 같은 평가항목이 필요하다. 이와 같은 모니터링 결과를 사용해서 세부적인 체계로서 절약과 낭비 에너지에 대하여 국내 실정에 적적한 체계적인 관리가 요구된다. Energy use has been recognized worldwide as a main cause of global warming and it is at the center of climate change. In this study, problems and measures of zero-energy building construction are investigated and analyzed. Based on the results, evaluation criteria of the zero-energy building are suggested. Performance related factors(Q) representing the environmental grade were divided into three categories as outdoor, indoor environment and maintenance. Energy related factors(LR) representing the energy load were divided into an energy, materials & resources, water cycle management, land use and transportation. Detailed fifty three items are listed for the evaluation under the consideration of energy, water cycle management sections gave weight. Upon receiving the first in the environment friendly certification system, Seoul Central Post Office and Seoul Metropolitan Water Supply Center evaluated. The reason why this score difference is due to lack of use of new generation energy building construction is required expensive costs so need expansion of governmental support. This effort is successful zero energy building construction and copes with global warming and climate change.

Fabrication of highly amphiphobic paper using pulp debonder

As a biodegradable, inexpensive and universally accessible material, paper is used widely in many applications, including packaging, office supplies and household products. However, the hydrophilic and oleophilic nature of paper often limits its use in applications that involve direct contact with liquids. The main purpose of this study was to create highly amphiphobic paper for products such as low cost medical testing strips, liquid packaging, and breathable and disposable medical apparel. A three-step process was developed to create paper with contact angles greater than 150° for water and motor oil, and greater than 140° for n-hexadecane. First, a commercially available debonding agent was used to manipulate the dimensions of the fiber network through efficient fines removal and modification of inter-fiber hydrogen bonding. Then an oxygen plasma was used to create nano-scale roughness on the micrometer-sized fibers and to remove residual fines that were blocking the inter-fiber pores. Finally, the paper was immersed in a fluorosilane solution to obtain a thin, low surface energy coating. XPS, SEM, mercury porosimetry and profilometry were used to evaluate changes in the fiber network after each step. This study marks the first report that uses debonder agents specifically to modify the anti-wetting properties of paper substrates by controlling the topology of the fiber network. The processes used in this procedure are simple, cost effective and amenable to scale-up.

Study on the Synthesis and Properties of MAH-POE/LMW-EP/PP/CaCO<sub>3</sub> Quadruple Composites

This paper adopted the mixing modification to prepare MAH-POE/ LMW-EP/PP/CaCO3 thermoplastic composites, probed into the structure of composites, the system compared the modification made by composites and the single system of the rheological property, the influence law of flow rate, mechanical properties, dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) and the network structure of the composite material etc. The results showed that the elastomer was preferably dispersed in the PP, the two phases have a strong interaction force, When the content reaches 20%, the tensile strength decreased by 7.37%, the elongation at break increased by 410.1%, the impact strength reached 546.3J.m2, there has been broad and strong low internal friction peak tanδ2 peak, and with the increase of elastomer content, liquidity blends decreases, MFR decreases. In short, quadruple composites have optimum overall performance. Polypropylene (PP) is a source of abundant, excellent mechanical properties, good electrical insulation, and resistance to stress cracking and has good overall performance excellent chemical stability thermoplastics. Widely used in medical equipment, auto parts , building materials, home office supplies, as well as a large number of transport and packaging materials [1-3] . However, due to the strong ability of PP crystallization, resulting PP mold shrinkage, impact toughness is poor [4-5] , in order to solve this problem , the current modification methods often used are: copolymerization and blending modification , and blending is the most simple and effective toughening PP method . The main focus ① blended with a modified rubber or thermoplastic elastomer blends toughening ; ② Toughening with other organic polymers ; ③ rigid inorganic particle toughening ; ④ elastomer / toughening common inorganic particles [6-10] . POE because both thermoplastic plastics , but also the crosslinkable rubber , which has a small cohesive energy , high shear sensitivity , and good compatibility with PP machining , toughening modification of PP the effect is significant and widespread attention , but the larger POE elastomer modified PP viscosity , processing performance be affected [11-13] . In this paper, LMW-EP and MAH-POE-modified PP, while adding CaCO3 prepared by a four-element composite elastomer material, by contrast, explores the compatibility of the quaternary blends, processing fluidity and mechanical properties

Optimizing the order picking of a scholar and office supplies warehouse

The warehouse operation planning in the scholar and office supplies industry encompasses the activities of receiving, storing, order picking, and shipping products. The order picking operation is a laborious and capital intensive procedure. Despite the extensive literature to solve practical problems of warehouse routing as a step of the order picking process, the application of general approaches to deal with the routing of the warehouse pickers is not straightforward given the specific conditions and configurations and the singular design and operational policies commonly found in practice. In this paper, we present an optimization approach to the stacker routing problem found in the order picking of a Brazilian scholar and office supplies company. The approach is based on a routing algorithm that solves different integer linear problems to define the optimal routes of the stacker inside the facility. The solutions of several numerical experiments show the potential and effectiveness of the approach, for instance, that only one fifth of the routes actually performed by the company are optimal and that the algorithm application to a real set of batches reduced by more than one fourth the total distance monthly traveled by the stacker.