Tactical Management Decisions Research Articles

КОНЦЕПТУАЛІЗАЦІЯ ОБЛІКУ І АУДИТУ МАРКЕТИНГОВОЇ ДІЯЛЬНОСТІ ПІДПРИЄМСТВ ТОРГІВЛІ В УМОВАХ ЦИФРОВІЗАЦІЇ

The article is concerned with defining the conceptual framework for organizing accounting and auditing of marketing activities of trade enterprises using modern digital solutions. Attention is focused on the expediency of using information systems and technologies for the operational processing of a large array of data to ensure the management of marketing activities of trade enterprises, namely, for collecting and processing information that guarantees timely receipt of data for making marketing decisions, using certain standards, rules and technologies on the principles of focus, customization, flexibility, complexity and optimality. The scientific basis for solving the problem of increasing the analytical efficiency of management of marketing activities of trade enterprises is the formation of an information system through the development and implementation of the relevant concept. The concept is based on the accounting information paradigm, which is capable of structuring, processing and presenting data for making strategic and tactical management decisions in the field of marketing, as well as generating information for internal users and stakeholders in order to improve the efficiency of marketing activities and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. This system of information support for the management of marketing activities of trade enterprises is a synergy of accounting and audit components that interact through information flows in the process of accumulating and transmitting timely, relevant and high-quality information. The developed model of information support for managing the marketing activities of a trade enterprise in a single management information system, through the synergy of interconnections of integral functional components of accounting and auditing, combines the processes of data entry, processing and transfer to stakeholders at different stages of marketing management in the context of digitalization. Implementation of the proposed model allows automating accounting and auditing processes, improving the efficiency and quality of management decisions on managing the marketing activities of trade enterprises.

Strategic and tactical management of warehousing in distribution logistics

The temporal, structural and spatial variations of demand in urban distribution logistics systems leads to specific requirements on management at all levels. Especially strategic management, which involves long-term decisions and significant investments, is marked by multiple uncertainties. The analysis of an operator's own warehouse in a urban logistic system demonstrates the difficulty of deciding the storage capacity as an initial phase of warehouse design. Uncertainties cannot be eliminated in warehouse design even if other causes of the storage demand variations are excluded and only seasonal variations, for which information is available, are considered. Temporary excesses and/or shortages of storage capacity are inevitable. In this regard, this paper demonstrates how tactical management decisions can provide solutions with minimum consumption of resources in various operating circumstances that are impossible to consider in strategic decisions and cause storage capacity deficit.

NOAA fisheries research geared towards climate-ready living marine resource management in the northeast United States

Climate change can alter marine ecosystems through changes in ocean temperature, acidification, circulation, and productivity. Over the last decade, the United States northeast continental shelf (U.S. NES) has warmed faster than any other marine ecosystem in the country and is among the fastest warming regions of the global ocean. Many living marine resources in the U.S. NES ranging from recreational and commercial fish stocks to protected species have shifted their distribution in response to ocean warming. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) is responsible for the assessment, protection, and sustainable use of the nation’s living marine resources. In the U.S. NES, NOAA Fisheries has made substantial progress on climate research related to fish, fisheries, and protected species. However, more research is needed to help inform tactical management decisions with the goal of climate-ready living marine resource management. This is a major challenge because the observed physical and biological changes are unprecedented, and the majority of marine species assessments and management decisions do not utilize environmental data. Here we review the research accomplishments and key needs for NOAA Fisheries in the U.S. NES in the context of climate change and living marine resource management. Key research needs and products are: 1) Infrastructure with continued and enhanced ocean surveys that includes cooperative research with the fishing industry and other NOAA line offices and partners; 2) Tracking and projecting change, and understanding mechanisms including state of the ecosystem reporting, improved regional ocean and ecosystem hindcasts, forecasts, and projections, and continued process-based laboratory and field studies, 3) climate-informed management, including stock assessments that account for climate where possible, translation of changing species distributions into spatial management, climate vulnerability assessment and scenario planning, ecosystem-based management, management strategy evaluations, and increased multidisciplinary science that includes economic and social indicators.

Delivering context specific, climate informed agro-advisories at scale: A case study of iSAT, an ICT linked platform piloted with rainfed groundnut farmers in a semi-arid environment

The influence of climate and weather-based advisories in planning and managing agricultural systems under highly variable conditions was evaluated to understand the potential benefits and challenges associated with the use of probabilistic climate and weather information. A pilot study, conducted with 720 farmers in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh, India over 3 cropping seasons in the period 2017–2020, used a semi-automated decision support tool, the “intelligent agricultural Systems Advisory Tool – iSAT” to generate and disseminate pre- and in-season advisories by integrating insights from historical trends in climate, current weather and climate and weather forecasts. The pre-season advisory was based on the seasonal climate forecast and aimed at improving the preparedness of farmers for the forthcoming season. The in-season advisories were aimed at providing advice on the various farm operations where weather may play a role in management, i.e., land preparation, timing of planting and harvesting, crop management etc. After piloting the advisory system over the 3 cropping systems, a survey was conducted to evaluate how and what operations were influenced by the advisories and how well iSAT performed in developing and disseminating context-specific advisories through the season. The results have indicated that the advisories have influenced both strategic and tactical management decisions made by farmers. Strategic decisions on crop diversification are evident from land allocation in the treatment compared to the control villages. The influence of tactical farm decisions varied between operations, villages and years. Overall, 80% of the farmers used the information for making decisions on harvesting, 79% for sowing while 65% of farmers used it for land preparation. Advisory information has impacted crop productivity positively, with increases in the climate-informed villages of between 1 and 56% over the uninformed. The results further indicate that the farmers considered advisories more useful during the normal and below normal seasons as compared to above normal seasons.

A fire spread simulator to support tactical management decisions for Mediterranean landscapes

The use of fire simulation tools has become a regular feature of support systems for fuel management decisions at landscape level. Considering the spatial nature of fire in the evaluation of risk and the definition of fire mitigation goals is an ongoing research topic in forest management planning. By combining a fire simulation tool, a growth and yield simulator and an optimization module, it is possible to minimize the negative impact of fire over time and maximize the yield of various ecosystem services. Specific requirements for a fire simulator adapted to support tactical forest planning include a level of accuracy, the possibility of exploring diverse fire scenarios, the computational capability to simulate multiple fires and the flexibility to generate different outputs or metrics depending on the specific requirements of the planning problem under study. The present article addresses the requirements of fire simulators for their inclusion on forest tactical planning. The Cell2Fire simulator is adapted for use with fuel models more commonly employed in Europe and the United States, and to simulate the generation and spread of crown fires. Already able to solve static fire mitigation problems in its original version, this new adaptation, known as Cell2Fire_SB, has been developed with the more ambitious goal of being integrated into a decision support system that simultaneously considers fire behavior forest dynamics and allocation of management actions in order to solve temporal dynamic tactical forest problems.

FACTORS IN THE FORMATION OF SUPER-CYCLES IN WORLD COMMODITY MARKETS

Over the past few years, the world’s leading commodity markets have seen an upward trend in prices, which may indicate the beginning of a new super-cycle or may be of a short-term nature, driven by current changes in demand and supply. Commodity super-cycles are important for the global economy, especially for macroeconomic policies in commodity-exporting countries, and are also reflected in the dynamics of international financial markets. The purpose of the article is to determine the essence and features of super-cycles in world commodity markets as well as to identify the factors that led to the increase in commodity prices in 2020-2022. To solve the objectives set in the article, a number of general scientific and special methods of scientific cognition are used, namely the method of theoretical generalization, historical and logical methods, descriptive-analytical method, analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, abstractlogical method and method of economic-statistical analysis. The article outlines the mechanism of deployment of the conjunctural cycle in commodity markets and its connection with long cycles of business activity, which are conditioned by the implementation of revolutionary technological innovations. It discusses the dynamics of the main composite commodity indices. The factors influencing the growth of prices for commodity assets at the micro and macro levels are identified. The article traces changes in the course of commodity super-cycles during the 20th and early 21st centuries and investigates their causes. It is revealed that global inflationary processes, the dynamics of the US dollar index as well as the disruption of supply chains in international trade due to the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the global growth of commodity prices in 2020-2022. At the same time, forecasts about the recession of the global economy caused by the large-scale military aggression of russia in Ukraine and the long-term consequences of the pandemic as well as macroeconomic policies of large economies aimed at overcoming excessive inflation may somewhat cool the prices of commodity assets. To assess the sentiments and expectations of economic entities, the dynamics of the basis for WTI oil is analyzed, which gives grounds to conclude that the price fluctuations in global commodity markets in 2020-2022 are short-term in nature as well as to question the beginning of a new super-cycle. Identification and forecasts of conjunctural fluctuations in global commodity markets are important without any exaggeration for all economic entities – both for producers in making strategic as well as tactical management decisions on the development of production and in the formation of structural and macroeconomic policies of the country in order to increase the export potential of the national economy and to ensure its competitiveness.

Structural Features of the Intellectual Potential of the Regions and its Impact on the Development of the Country

In Kazakhstan, the approach to this area is not sufficiently developed, there is no systematic and scientific justification in the management of intellectual resources of the country and regions. Therefore, Kazakhstan is faced with the urgent issue of creating opportunities for the effective use of intellectual capital in the regions, working out management mechanisms and technologies. The development of the region can be traced to the development of intellectual potential in the region. Given the high intellectual potential of the population living in the region, it can be concluded that this region is not lagging in economic development. To determine the potential of the local population, it is necessary to consider the factors influencing it. In this connection, the purpose of this article is to determine the level of factors affecting intellectual potential in the regions of Kazakhstan. During the study, the methods of observation and comparison, system analysis, synthesis and logic were used. In the course of the analysis, it was revealed that in Almaty, Nur-Sultan, Karaganda region, East Kazakhstan region, the components constituting the intellectual potential show a high dynamics of development. There are also regions with low rates of development of components of intellectual potential, these are Almaty region, Akmola region, Turkestan region. For the complex and varied development of regions, appropriate strategic and tactical management decisions should be made, considering the specifics of each region. The factors identified because of the study can become the basis for developing a methodology for assessing the intellectual potential of regions. The research results can be used in programs and strategic plans aimed at developing the intellectual potential of the regions.

Glavni faktori koji utiču na konkurentnost kompleksa za preradu ulja

The development of the economic situation in Russia in recent years is characterized by the achievement of stabilization at the macro level, the strengthening of investment activity, the expansion of the scope of activities of the processing industry, the strengthening of public confidence in domestic goods and finished products. The research urgency is caused by the fact that in Russia economic competition becomes more acute in oil and fat processing sector, also has a problem of lack of training organizations to consider the impact of external factors and competitive advantages of the industry to ensure financial stability. The purpose of the study is to study the features of factors affecting the competitiveness of the oil processing complex. On the basis of sources of economic literature, the authors studied the competitiveness of vegetable oil production by comparison and identified the problems of insufficient methodological support for studying the impact of factors that determine the current state of the vegetable oil market, methods and approaches for assessing the competitiveness of organizations. The leading direction is a comprehensive approach presented by the authors in the article, including the study of domestic and international experience in determining the factors of internal and external environment that affect the development of the industry. The study of the traditional system of assessing the competitiveness of vegetable oils is given, proposed by Russian and foreign scientists. As a result of the conducted research it is established that modern domestic and foreign methods of the analysis of the competitiveness of vegetable oils do not differ in high quality and have shortcomings. The authors noted that the analysis of the concept of competitiveness of vegetable oils does not take into account the quality indicators are not always fully represented the composition and structure of the concept, not justified organizational and methodological approaches to the analysis of the concept of competitiveness applicable to vegetable oils. The researchers note the need for an objective assessment of the analysis of the concept of competitiveness of vegetable oils to supplement it with a more detailed study of improving the level of competitiveness. In their opinion, the lack of a single definition of the term "competitiveness of products" is one of the most difficult in the formation of an adequate approach to the assessment of the phenomenon. This leads to the fact that the most common assessment is a comparative assessment of similar vegetable oils with ethanol. The study conducted by the authors has scientific and practical significance and will allow to develop a methodological apparatus (parameters and criteria for assessing the level of competitiveness of vegetable oils) in accordance with the requirements of the industry in the world economy, as well as to form a set of strategic and tactical management decisions to improve the competitiveness of vegetable oils and mechanisms of interaction in creating competitive advantages and strengthening the market position of vegetable oils.

Tactical crop management for improved productivity in winter-dominant rainfall regions: a review

This study reviews published information on the tactical management decisions needed to maximise economic grain yield in winter-dominant rainfall regions of the Mediterranean type. Tactical decisions are defined as those relating to the period from immediately before sowing to harvest. Tactical management is the principal means by which farmers respond to changing environmental and short-term economic conditions as the season progresses. The review considers published evidence that underpins these decisions and relates to cereal crops (wheat, barley and oats), pulse crops (field pea, faba bean, chickpea and narrow-leaved lupin) and canola. The criteria used to guide management decisions during the season involve soil and tissue tests for nutrients, knowledge of weed numbers and resistance status in the current and previous seasons, weather conditions that favour disease development, and knowledge of thresholds and biology of insect pests that may warrant control measures. All of these decisions can be related to the timing of the opening rains and the length of the growing season; the crop, pasture or weeds present in the previous two seasons; the presence of pest- and disease-bearing crop residues; and the type of tillage in use. Most of these indicators require further refinement through research across environments, soil types, crop types and production systems. The likely interactions between tactical or short-term management decisions, longer term or strategic decisions, and genetic factors are discussed. The prevalent use of chemicals in the management of biotic factors that can impact the crops is noted, as is progress towards various systems of ‘integrated’ management of these threats to crop production. Most tactical decisions in rainfed cropping systems appear to be supported by adequate evidence, although some decisions are still based on practical experience and observations. Application of tactical management practices together with strategic management and use of improved genotypes provides the possibility of achieving rainfall-limited potential grain yield at a regional scale. The papers reviewed have been selected partly on the basis that the experimental treatments achieved the estimated potential grain yield. Where the potential grain yields are not being achieved in commercial crops, it remains unclear whether this is due to inadequate adoption of existing information or inadequate research to identify and address the underlying causes. We highlight the need to devise a simple decision aid to assist farmers and their advisers to respond to the variable seasonal conditions evident since the turn of the Century.

Аудит постконфліктної території: пропозиції для України.

Planning of reintegration and post-conflict management policy depends mostly on the form of the end of the conflict. Today, it is impossible to predict the form of the end of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, so any policy-making activity in this area can only serve as a theoretical basis for processes that will take place in practice. However, aware of the need to organize activities in the post-conflict area prior to the end of the conflict, the author proposes to conduct an audit of the post-conflict territory at an extraordinary stage after the end of the conflict, as a comprehensive study of the territory in which different indicators from different spheres of public life will be analyzed. This study should combine the conflict analysis, the definition of the demographic, social, legal, economic and other characteristics of the territory caused by the conflict, and also take into account the specific impact that conflict have had on the territory as a form of armed confrontation. In a number of indicators identified in the proposed post-conflict territory audit plan, research studies are available today, and such studies are being carried out. However, the dynamic nature of the conflict can lead to changes in certain indicators of this audit plan, as well as information need to be updated at the stage of the end of the conflict. The research of various spheres justifies the use of various methods, and also promotes the involvement of different actors and social groups. The post-conflict territory audit is a methodology and process that aims to provide empirical information to policy makers who will develop tactical management decisions and actions and strategies for managing post-conflict areas. Moreover, the audit of post-conflict territory is an activity that can initially synthesize the interests of national and international actors in a post-conflict territory and make planning of activities within this territory comfortable and effective for all parties to the process.

Perceptions of Risk, Risk Aversion, and Barriers to Adoption of Decision Support Systems and Integrated Pest Management: An Introduction

Rational management of plant diseases, both economically and environmentally, involves assessing risks and the costs associated with both correct and incorrect tactical management decisions to determine when control measures are warranted. Decision support systems can help to inform users of plant disease risk and thus assist in accurately targeting events critical for management. However, in many instances adoption of these systems for use in routine disease management has been perceived as slow. The under-utilization of some decision support systems is likely due to both technical and perception constraints that have not been addressed adequately during development and implementation phases. Growers' perceptions of risk and their aversion to these perceived risks can be reasons for the "slow" uptake of decision support systems and, more broadly, integrated pest management (IPM). Decision theory provides some tools that may assist in quantifying and incorporating subjective and/or measured probabilities of disease occurrence or crop loss into decision support systems. Incorporation of subjective probabilities into IPM recommendations may be one means to reduce grower uncertainty and improve trust of these systems because management recommendations could be explicitly informed by growers' perceptions of risk and economic utility. Ultimately though, we suggest that an appropriate measure of the value and impact of decision support systems is grower education that enables more skillful and informed management decisions independent of consultation of the support tool outputs.

Unintended and perverse consequences of ignoring linkages in fisheries systems

Abstract Degnbol, P., and McCay, B. J. 2006. Unintended and perverse consequences of ignoring linkages in fisheries systems. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 64: 793–797. The development of fisheries management strategies within institutions such as national governments, the EU, and ICES includes explicit or implicit decisions on longer term management objectives and performance criteria, on the relevant knowledge base for tactical management decisions, on decision rules regarding fisheries in the current or forthcoming fishing season, and on the implementation framework. These decisions, moreover, must be relevant to the characteristics of the fisheries and the stocks being exploited. The development of management strategies must be based, therefore, on an understanding of the overall fisheries system and linkages among its components. Based on recent examples in Europe and North America, we discuss how a failure to understand the linkages in the fisheries system may lead to management strategies that fail to achieve their objectives, and how an understanding of these linkages can inform the development of strategies that are more likely to achieve policy objectives.

04/00828 Life cycle assessment of a willow bioenergy cropping system: Heller, M. C. et al. Biomass and Bioenergy, 2003, 25, (2), 147–165

Increases in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases as a result of human activities are thought to be resulting in discernible changes in global climate. Australia, as a signatory to the Climate Change Convention, has agreed to stabilize emissions of these gases at 1990 levels. There is a need to identify options that may reduce emissions from all industry sectors including those emissions arising from agricultural activities such as wheat cropping. The wheat cropping systems of the Wimmera region of Victoria studied here are likely to be significant net emitters of greenhouse gases with average annual emissions equivalent to 1350 to 2150 kg of carbon dioxide per hectare. Choosing stubble retention wheat cropping systems could reduce the average net emissions per hectare by up to 37% depending on the systems used. More importantly though, the stubble retention cropping systems which have lower emissions also tend to have greater yields, and thus may produce up to four times the grain yield per unit emissions than other systems such as conventionally tilled, continuous wheat. This indicates that there is significant potential to adapt wheat cropping systems to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a cost-effective way. This capability may be enhanced by tactical management decisions that change fertilizer inputs depending on soil moisture levels at sowing or on seasonal forecasts based on factors such as the Southern Oscillation Index. This approach is also likely to have financial and risk management benefits. Loss of soil carbon was the most substantial component of the emissions budget for all cropping systems (63 to 84% of total emissions), followed by nitrous oxide emissions (from 12 to 42%) with methane forming a relatively small component (from 0.003 to 17%). Emissions from fossil fuel combustion (from 0.8 to 8%) and from burning crop stubble (from 0 to 21%) formed relatively small components of the emissions budget. Policy issues are discussed including the removal of barriers to adoption of the more sustainable, low-emission systems identified in this study.

Evaluating options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from an Australian temperate wheat cropping system

Increases in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases as a result of human activities are thought to be resulting in discernible changes in global climate. Australia, as a signatory to the Climate Change Convention, has agreed to stabilize emissions of these gases at 1990 levels. There is a need to identify options that may reduce emissions from all industry sectors including those emissions arising from agricultural activities such as wheat cropping. The wheat cropping systems of the Wimmera region of Victoria studied here are likely to be significant net emitters of greenhouse gases with average annual emissions equivalent to 1350 to 2150 kg of carbon dioxide per hectare. Choosing stubble retention wheat cropping systems could reduce the average net emissions per hectare by up to 37% depending on the systems used. More importantly though, the stubble retention cropping systems which have lower emissions also tend to have greater yields, and thus may produce up to four times the grain yield per unit emissions than other systems such as conventionally tilled, continuous wheat. This indicates that there is significant potential to adapt wheat cropping systems to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a cost-effective way. This capability may be enhanced by tactical management decisions that change fertilizer inputs depending on soil moisture levels at sowing or on seasonal forecasts based on factors such as the Southern Oscillation Index. This approach is also likely to have financial and risk management benefits. Loss of soil carbon was the most substantial component of the emissions budget for all cropping systems (63 to 84% of total emissions), followed by nitrous oxide emissions (from 12 to 42%) with methane forming a relatively small component (from 0.003 to 17%). Emissions from fossil fuel combustion (from 0.8 to 8%) and from burning crop stubble (from 0 to 21%) formed relatively small components of the emissions budget. Policy issues are discussed including the removal of barriers to adoption of the more sustainable, low-emission systems identified in this study.