Real Companies Research Articles

OneFeather Mobile Wallet: A Digital Solution for Indigenous Peoples in Canada?*

ABSTRACTOneFeather is a real company located in British Columbia. The company aims to provide much‐needed services to Indigenous peoples, specifically those in Canada. This case involves a proposed digital wallet specifically designed for the needs of Indigenous peoples in Canada. Students are tasked to consider how the digital wallet needs to consider the unique circumstances of Indigenous peoples, the applicable tax laws, the appropriate technological foundation for the product, and strategies to roll out the product and attract users.

Operative Production Controlling as Entrance into Controlling 4.0

Purpose of the article: The paper focuses on the potentials and benefits controlling provides for companies in the transition period towards industry 4.0. Operative production controlling provides data that shall be used in the future to apply the concept of smart factories. This article proposes a controlling archtitecture based on computer-aided standardization. Methodology/methods: The paper develops an architecture on operational production controlling based on an international literature review. Literature on controlling 4.0 are found mostly in publications in German language. While this literature has its focus on controlling as a whole or on strategic controlling, the paper has a look on operational controlling and its further usage and development towards smart factories. Scientific aim: The aim of this article is to develop a model of an operational production controlling architecture that is able to suite the requirements of smart factories by using computer-aided standarization. Findings: Research is working on concepts for industry 4.0 and its way towards real implementation. Competitive advantage in industry 4.0 is created through digitization and robotization. An architecture that fully complies to industry 4.0 is still waiting in real companies due to technical limitation in data storing, retrieval and processing as well as storage capacities. Conclusions: The paper discussed the devlopment of a controlling architecture suitable for industry 4.0. Already today controlling is making use of data. Smart factories shall make use of production data. Production controlling together with the CAS, that is able to provide standardized data on all manufacturing, maintenance, and auxiliary processes, systems are able to make a step forward towards smart factories. The concept of production controlling combined with the strengths of a CAS may be seen as the basis from which to target smart factories and industry 4.0.

Operative Production Controlling as Entrance into Controlling 4.0

Purpose of the article: The paper focuses on the potentials and benefits controlling provides for companies in the transition period towards industry 4.0. Operative production controlling provides data that shall be used in the future to apply the concept of smart factories. This article proposes a controlling archtitecture based on computer-aided standardization.
 Methodology/methods: The paper develops an architecture on operational production controlling based on an international literature review. Literature on controlling 4.0 are found mostly in publications in German language. While this literature has its focus on controlling as a whole or on strategic controlling, the paper has a look on operational controlling and its further usage and development towards smart factories.
 Scientific aim: The aim of this article is to develop a model of an operational production controlling architecture that is able to suite the requirements of smart factories by using computer-aided standarization. 
 Findings: Research is working on concepts for industry 4.0 and its way towards real implementation. Competitive advantage in industry 4.0 is created through digitization and robotization. An architecture that fully complies to industry 4.0 is still waiting in real companies due to technical limitation in data storing, retrieval and processing as well as storage capacities.
 Conclusions: The paper discussed the devlopment of a controlling architecture suitable for industry 4.0. Already today controlling is making use of data. Smart factories shall make use of production data. Production controlling together with the CAS, that is able to provide standardized data on all manufacturing, maintenance, and auxiliary processes, systems are able to make a step forward towards smart factories. The concept of production controlling combined with the strengths of a CAS may be seen as the basis from which to target smart factories and industry 4.0.

The Effect of Liquidity, Solvency, Financial Condition and Company Size on Going Concern Audit Opinion on the Property and Real Estate Sector Listed on IDX

The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of liquidity, solvency, financial condition, and company size on going concern audit opinion on property and real estate sector companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange between 2017 and 2019. The data from this study are the company's financial statements obtained from www.idx.co.id or the company's official website. The population in this study are all property and real estate sector companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange for the 2017-2019 period totalling 62 companies. After careful examination, 43 companies matching the specified criteria, with a period of 3 years, so that 129 sample data were obtained. The logistic regression data analysis technique was utilized in this study. Liquidity, solvency, financial condition, and company size are the independent variables, while going concern audit opinion is the dependent variable. The results of this study state that simultaneously liquidity, solvency, financial condition, and company size have no impact on the granting of going concern audit opinion. Then the test findings partially state that liquidity, financial condition, and company size do not influence the provision of going concern audit opinion, while solvency partially affects the provision of going concern audit opinion.

Quantitative Analysis of Leverage Ratio on Earning-Per-Share of Property and Real Estate Sectors in Indonesia

Objectiveness of our study is expected to provide the several contributions: (1) Theoretical benefits, the results of this study are expected to contribute to the development of economics, especially financial science, as material for developing insight into financial performance through operating leverage and financial leverage on earnings per share (EPS). This research was conducted on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). The research time taken in carrying out and completing this activity is scheduled for 3 (three) months, from July to September 2020. The population in this study is the property and real estate sector companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) from 2017-2019, totaling 62 companies. The method of determining the sample in this study used purposive sampling. The result of this study showed operating leverage has a positive and significant effect on earnings per share, financial leverage has no effect and is not significant on EPS, operating leverage and financial leverage simultaneously have a positive and significant effect on earnings per share. Based on the results of our demonstration of the analysis and discussion, several suggestions are put forward e.g., before investing in any company, an investor needs to pay attention to the level of earnings per share.

On the use of techno‐economic evaluation on typical integrated energy technologies matching different companies

This paper mainly establishes the cost-benefit model for techno-economic evaluation on typical integrated energy technologies matching different companies including photovoltaic, electric heat storage, ground source heat pump etc. The techno-economic evaluation indicators such as net present value, investment payback period, and financial internal rate of return are considered. The proposed evaluation method is applied to separately analyze two real companies such as poultry and wood industry to conduct integrated energy technology matching, and then to analyze whether the configuration plan is feasible. The energy consumption and nature of the two enterprises are different, and the matched integrated energy technologies and the corresponding magnitudes are different. The results of the real case analyses show that the use of integrated energy technology will improve energy efficiency and reduce the energy costs.

Research of the Russian market of automobile cargo transportation: real companies for the purpose of efficiency growth

The transport and logistics industry is an important component of any economy. It serves the vast majority of other industries of production and non-production nature and provides cargo transportation among all participants of economic relations in the country and around the world. It can be noted that the state and development of cargo transportation directly depends on changes in the business environment, namely, not only on legislative regulation, state support and business skills, but also on the state of the served clients.

SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT OF THE RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN LITHUANIA

Development of real estate has the potential to advance sustainability. This is particularly important in residential sector as it plays a crucial role in the lives of habitats and directly influences their welfare. As populations grow and cities expand, the demand for real estate increases and construction volumes rise. Assurance of sustainability in the residential projects becomes a new concern of real estate developers and construction companies. This article aims to analyse in more detail the concept of a sustainable residential construction and the evaluation criteria. In the first part the concept of sustainable development and its dimensions in residential construction are analysed. The second part describes the research methodology. In the third part, the research methodology is applied to the evaluation of five residential construction projects in Vilnius, Lithuania. The fourth part describes the possibilities of using wooden construction to improve the sustainability of residential construction projects.

Optimization Method to Address Psychosocial Risks through Adaptation of the Multidimensional Knapsack Problem

This paper presents a methodological scheme to obtain the maximum benefit in occupational health by attending to psychosocial risk factors in a company. This scheme is based on selecting an optimal subset of psychosocial risk factors, considering the departments’ budget in a company as problem constraints. This methodology can be summarized in three steps: First, psychosocial risk factors in the company are identified and weighted, applying several instruments recommended by business regulations. Next, a mathematical model is built using the identified psychosocial risk factors information and the company budget for risk factors attention. This model represents the psychosocial risk optimization problem as a Multidimensional Knapsack Problem (MKP). Finally, since Multidimensional Knapsack Problem is NP-hard, one simulated annealing algorithm is applied to find a near-optimal subset of factors maximizing the psychosocial risk care level. This subset is according to the budgets assigned for each of the company’s departments. The proposed methodology is detailed using a case of study, and thirty instances of the Multidimensional Knapsack Problem are tested, and the results are interpreted under psychosocial risk problems to evaluate the simulated annealing algorithm’s performance (efficiency and efficacy) in solving these optimization problems. This evaluation shows that the proposed methodology can be used for the attention of psychosocial risk factors in real companies’ cases.

Brand essense: elements and added value

The emergence of branding as one of the areas of business has helped to draw the attention of management to the need to give a product or service an emotional reinforcement, a certain factor, working with the subconscious of the consumer. Scientists have experimentally found out that a person’s connection with a product is much stronger if it is based not only on conditionally rational judgments about it, but also on the sensory perception of the brand, the emotional attitude to the company that offers this product.This article is devoted to the study of the brand as the basis for the existence of the added value of the product, which brings the buyer additional satisfaction of certain needs, which may not even be directly related to the tasks potentially solved by the purchased product. In the course of writing the article, the author collected and structured the theorists ‘ ideas about the essence of the brand and its elements, which can be managed by a brand manager within the framework of working with the product. The paper considers the brand as one of the key factors influencing the final price of the product on the shelf, from the aspect of the real costs accompanying its construction, development and maintenance, as well as from the subjective benefits received by the consumer from contact with it. The author of the article provides examples of cases of real companies related to building a brand and its strong influence on the value that the final product carries.

The Interpretation of Article 42-3 of the Inheritance andGift Tax Act―Legal Problems and Legal Improvements for Gift Tax on Expedient Gift Using Real Estate Development Company―

The Interpretation of Article 42-3 of the Inheritance andGift Tax Act―Legal Problems and Legal Improvements for Gift Tax on Expedient Gift Using Real Estate Development Company―

The Application of Blockchain in Supply Chain Industry

This research focuses on analyzing the state of the art of the blockchain technology and in publicizing the potential applications and implementations that the blockchain can deliver to the supply chain. For this, it will be explained in a simple way technology and its operation in the supply chain and case studies of real companies that are currently betting on this technological revolution, capable of improving the efficiency of any process logistic.

Teaching Corporate Governance in an MBA Class: An Academic Note*

ABSTRACTCorporate governance is a new and emerging discipline in academia. The discipline of corporate governance has increased in importance, driven mostly by multiple financial scandals. These scandals have motivated regulators and the business community to require business professionals who are properly trained in various aspects of corporate governance. The problem, however, is that corporate governance covers many different subjects, such as finance, strategy, and law. This problem of multidimensionality of corporate governance is coupled with the fact that it is a field of study that has rapidly changed to keep up with changing regulations and the changing needs of the business community. These problems make the task of teaching corporate governance challenging for educators. Notwithstanding these challenges, business programs for MBA and CPA students are incorporating corporate governance into their programs. Therefore, our objective is to provide reflections on our three‐year experience of teaching corporate governance. We highlight the challenges that we experienced, such as the diversity of the clientele and the multidisciplinarity of corporate governance, and we discuss how we addressed these challenges. We also identity opportunities we used to develop our teaching approach, such as team teaching and using data from real companies. We present our reflections with the help of education frameworks that should help the community of educators if faced with challenges similar to ours.

Technological Energy Efficiency Improvements in Cement Industries

The cement industry is highly energy-intensive, consuming approximately 7% of global industrial energy consumption each year. Improving production technology is a good strategy to reduce the energy needs of a cement plant. The market offers a wide variety of alternative solutions; besides, the literature already provides reviews of opportunities to improve energy efficiency in a cement plant. However, the technology is constantly developing, so the available alternatives may change within a few years. To keep the knowledge updated, investigating the current attractiveness of each solution is pivotal to analyze real companies. This article aims at describing the recent application in the Italian cement industry and the future perspectives of technologies. A sample of plant was investigated through the analysis of mandatory energy audit considering the type of interventions they have recently implemented, or they intend to implement. The outcome is a descriptive analysis, useful for companies willing to improve their sustainability. Results prove that solutions to reduce the energy consumption of auxiliary systems such as compressors, engines, and pumps are currently the most attractive opportunities. Moreover, the results prove that consulting sector experts enables the collection of updated ideas for improving technologies, thus giving valuable inputs to the scientific research.

Designing a Low-Fat Food Packaging: Comparing Consumers' Responses in Virtual and Physical Shopping Environments.

This paper aims to test to what extent emotional responses towards a low-fat product presented virtually converge with emotional responses toward this product when presented physically. Second, we want to probe if low-order emotions (physiological/unconscious responses) and high-order emotions (cognitive/conscious responses) converge to explain healthy product choices. To this end, 83 young participants were engaged in our experiment. Two packaging design variables were manipulated with the help of a real company (the color and the message), so that six different packages were created. Two different buying contexts were simulated: A virtual context and a physical context. Physiological responses were continuously recorded in both contexts (heart rates, electro-dermal responses, and eye muscle reactions). At the end, participants provided cognitive responses in a questionnaire concerning the selected package. Our results have demonstrated that low-order emotions remain stable (from a virtual to a physical environments). Virtual simulations elections and real product elections are correlated (X2 = 40.493; p < 0.02). Physiological and cognitive responses do not converge. Correlations between unconscious responses (low-order emotions) and self-reported measures (high-order emotions) was contrary to expectations (negative sign). Only low-order emotions explain product choices. On the contrary, real packaging choice and high-order emotions correlated inversely (the t values were significant but negative).

Design of a thermoplastic micro over injection machine for the automotive component industry

The plastic injection molding process, including thermoplastic injection, is nowadays used in several industrial processes, including in the automotive industry for bowden cables. This process makes possible to produce a wide range of products with different sizes, shapes, and for varying applications. During the years, many challenges emerged, which obliged the injection machine manufacturers to adapt and continuously innovate in their equipment, and made the design process of these equipment highly complex. This work aims to design a thermoplastic micro over injection molding station adapted to the current injection rates in a real company, in order to increase efficiency, and that can be implemented in automated production lines, reducing the number of operators. The equipment should be used in the production lines of bowden cables, which are used to command different systems inside the car. These cables can have zamak terminations covered with plastic, or terminations entirely made of plastic. These plastic parts of the cables are over-injected using polyethylene, polyamide with and without the addition of glass fibers, and polyacetal. As a result of this work, the designed injection machine has an estimated production rate of 7 injected cable ends in a maximum of 39 seconds, which is equivalent to 5.57 seconds per cable end.

Stochastic production planning with internal and external storage and ordering costs

Abstract: This paper aims to compare different models to support decision making in production planning (and, consequently, in sales and inventory), in an environment where product demands are variable and uncertain, it is possible to produce at normal hours and overtime, loss of sales is consequence of stockouts, there is limit to internal storage, with possible and more expensive external storage, and ordering costs are non-negligible. At first, we present a linear and deterministic model, with known demand and without shortage. In the second model, safety stocks are calculated to meet a probabilistic demand, but it is not yet considered the possibility of shortage. The third model includes shortage calculation as a consequence from demand uncertainty. The last two models use an iterative process to re-estimate the unit cost of storage, needed to calculate safety stocks in each period of the planning horizon. The models were implemented in MSExcel, making use of linear programming and search functions available in the software. As the original problem, data of the examples are based on real companies. The study allows concluding that, in the problem analyzed, linear models, simpler and faster to execute, may be sufficient to support good decisions.

Using Digital Twining in Fast-food Production Chain Simulation

The topic of this paper represents our research in the process of creating a virtual model (digital twin) for a fast-food company production chain starting with the moment when a customer launches an order, following with the processing of that order, until the customer receives it. The model will describe elements that are included in this process such as equipment, human resources and the necessary space that is needed to host this layout. The virtual model created in a simulation platform will be a replicate of a real fast-food company, thus helping us observe the real time dynamic of this production system. Using WITNESS HORIZON 23 we will construct the model of the layout based on real time data received from the fast-food company. This digital twin will be used to manage the production chain material flow, evaluating the performance of the system architecture in various scenarios. In order to obtain a diagnosis of the system’s performance we will simulate the workflow running through preliminary architecture in compliance with the real time behaviour to identify the bottlenecks and blockages in the flow trajectory. In the end we will propose two different optimised architectures for the fast-food company production chain.

Cluster analysis of the economic activity of Slovak companies regarding potential indicators of earnings management

Research background:All over the world, any information about the earnings manipulation is very important for all the stakeholders of the companies. Therefore, it is necessary to detect this situation in a certain way. The global practice has shown that it is appropriate to create detection models and it would be very useful to specify individual sectors or the groups of sectors of economic activities of companies.Purpose of the article:The article aims to the financial ratios of Slovak companies that are globally used in the detection of earnings management. Based on hierarchical cluster analysis we identify groups of economic activities (according to the international NACE classification) with similar financial characteristics.Methods:For efficient earnings manipulation detection, high-quality and up-to-date financial data is required. We used financial data of real Slovak companies from the year 2018 obtained from international database Amadeus. After a precise pre-preparation of the dataset, we use the standard clustering procedures. Using the analysis of the dendrogram, the groups of the companies with their economic activities are identified.Findings &amp; Value added:The results of the analysis show that there exist logical groups of NACE categories of economic activity of companies with similar characteristics. Regarding potential earnings manipulation, companies in these groups are as similar as possible. Therefore, financial characteristics can be analyzed together, and more accurate detection models could be created for them.

Simulation of Package Delivery Optimization using a Combination of Carriers and Drop-Ship

A variety of goods and services in the contemporary world requires evolutionary improvement of services e-commerce platform performance and optimization of costs. Contemporary society is deeply integrated with delivery services, purchasing of goods and services online, that makes competition between service and good providers a key selection factor for end-user.. As long as logistic, timely, and cost-effective delivery plays important part authors decided to analyse possible ways of improvements in the current field, especially for regions distantly located from popular distribution canters and drop-ship delivery networks. Considering both: fast and lazy delivery the factor of costs is playing an important role for each end-user. The work proposes a simulation that analyses the current cost of delivery for e-commerce orders in the context of delivery by the Supplier Fleet, World-Wide delivery service fleet, and possible vendor drop-ship and checks of the alternative ways can be used to minimize the costs. Special attention is given to Drop-Ship networks as the factor of possible costs decrease. The main object of investigation is focused around mid and small companies living far from big distribution canters, in the rural areas but actively using e-commerce solutions for their daily activities. The authors analysed and proposed a solution for the problem of cost optimization for packages delivery for long-distance deliveries using a combination of paths delivered by supplier fleets, worldwide, local carriers and drop-ship networks. Data models and Add-ons of contemporary Enterprise Resource Planning systems have been used, and additional development is proposed in the perspective of the flow selection change for combination of carriers. The experiment is based on data sources of the United States companies using a wide range of carriers for delivery services and uses the data sources of the real companies; however, it applies repetitive simulations to analyse variances in obtained solutions for different combinations of carriers.