“Blue” social capital and work performance: anthropological fieldwork among crew members at four Danish international ships

One outcome of globalization is an increasing number of seafarers, who seldom are members of the same crew two voyages in a row and must cooperate with seafarers from many countries (Progoulaki and Roe WMU J Marit Affairs 10:7–23, 2011). This situation challenges the level of social capital on board, i.e., the resources inherent in network cooperation associated with norms of reciprocity and trust (Putnam 2000: 19). Fragmentized “blue” social capital should, however, be restored, as work performance depends on the quality of cooperation among crew members horizontally, as well as between crew members and the shipping company vertically. Drawing on anthropological fieldwork data from four Danish international ships, the purpose of this paper is to offer a new theoretical framework for analyzing cooperation among crews. Our inductive empirical findings suggest that a balance between three types of social capital—bonding, bridging and linking—is needed to achieve a high-performing work system (Gittell et al. Organ Sci 21(2):490–506, 2010). Hence, the main actors within the shipping sector should take “blue” social capital into account to increase work efficiency and economic performance.     

编者的话

近期。美国“三巨头“的命运一直受各方关注。原以为3月30日能有个基本的论断,谁知奥巴马政府又抛出给通用60天、给克莱斯勒30天的“最后期限”。其中唯一还未申请政府救援的福特公司最近成功削减债务达99亿美元;而克莱斯勒和菲亚特公司的合作现今看来也比较顺利,如果达成协议,联邦政府有可能追加60亿美元的贷款;唯独通用的命运依旧令人摸不着头脑。任通用CEO长达8年之久的瓦格纳被迫下台．其工作由前通用汽车公司总裁兼首席执行官Fritz Henderson接任。     

Energy use in passenger transport in OECD countries: Changes since 1970

This paper analyzes some of the changes that took place in the structure of energy use for passenger travel in industrialized countries. Data is presented on energy use and travel activity for the four major modes of travel — automobile, bus, rail and air — for eight OECD countries: the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, West Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, and Norway. We use the Laspeyres and Divisia indices to analyze the causes of the change in energy use between 1970 and 1987. The total change in energy use for travel is explained by changes in domestic passenger transport volumes, the mix of modes of travel, and the energy intensities of each mode. We have found two important effects that have a fundamental impact on energy use for travel since 1970. First, shifts among modes of transport towards more energy-intensive ones and large increases in volumes of travel (measured in passenger-kilometers) increased energy use for travel in many OECD countries, often more rapidly than the overall growth in GDP. Second, energy intensities, measured in mJ/passenger-kilometer, of passenger transport fell only in a few countries between 1970 and 1987. Even though individual automobiles have become more energy-efficient, greater size, power, and weight, worsening traffic conditions in Japan and Europe, and fewer people in cars restrained or even offset efficiency improvements. Particularly notable are the increases in intensities in Japan and Germany. The most important exception to this trend was the United States, but the intensities of land-based travel remain higher there than in most other countries. These findings lead to a pessimistic outlook for future energy use for travel. After all, if little or no energy was saved during the decades of high fuel prices, what can be expected in the 1990s?     

Extreme-response analysis of jack-up platforms

The extreme wave and current response of a typical North Sea jack-up drilling platform has been calculated using nonlinear, stochastic, time-domain analysis techniques. A statistical treatment of the response-time histories has been performed. Appropriate probability distributions have been fitted to simulated response amplitudes and extrapolated to determine extreme values in storms of 3 or 6 h duration. Nonlinear geometric effects and dynamic effects are also addressed.

The results of the nonlinear time-domain analyses are compared to the results of more simplified methods used in jack-up designs.     

Variation in predicting pantograph–catenary interaction contact forces,numerical simulations and field measurements

The contact force between the pantograph and the contact wire ensures energy transfer between the two. Too small of a force leads to arching and unstable energy transfer, while too large of a force leads to unnecessary wear on both parts. Thus, obtaining the correct contact force is important for both field measurements and estimates using numerical analysis. The field contact force time series is derived from measurements performed by a self-propelled diagnostic vehicle containing overhead line recording equipment. The measurements are not sampled at the actual contact surface of the interaction but by force transducers beneath the collector strips. Methods exist for obtaining more realistic measurements by adding inertia and aerodynamic effects to the measurements. The variation in predicting the pantograph–catenary interaction contact force is studied in this paper by evaluating the effect of the force sampling location and the effects of signal processing such as filtering. A numerical model validated by field measurements is used to study these effects. First, this paper shows that the numerical model can reproduce a train passage with high accuracy. Second, this study introduces three different options for contact force predictions from numerical simulations. Third, this paper demonstrates that the standard deviation and the maximum and minimum values of the contact force are sensitive to a low-pass filter. For a specific case, an 80?Hz cut-off frequency is compared to a 20?Hz cut-off frequency, as required by EN 50317:2012; the results show an 11% increase in standard deviation, a 36% increase in the maximum value and a 19% decrease in the minimum value.     

Failure modes in the maritime transportation system: a functional approach to throughput vulnerability

Maritime Transportation Systems (MTSs) are essential for world trade; it is crucial to understand how these systems may fail, to be able to maintain their capacity. In this paper, the MTS is seen as a throughput mechanism; a technical system which serves its purpose by moving goods for its dependents. Understanding which key functions and capabilities are prerequisite for the ability to move goods, the loss of which are the failure modes, allows for the creation of a ‘business continuity plan’ for the MTS. Through two surveys and interviews with maritime transportation industry stakeholders, it was observed that while stakeholders in the industry have a solid focus on frequent operational risks, there is a lack of awareness of vulnerabilities, as well as methods for addressing and planning for low-frequency high-impact disruption scenarios. The presented approach provides a structured set of matrices of the key functions of the MTS, allowing stakeholders to increase the system's resilience through preparing to restore this limited number of critical functions.     

Opportunities for increased profit and reduced cost and emissions by service differentiation within container liner shipping

This paper investigates opportunities for increased profit and reduced emissions and cost by service differentiation within container shipping. Traditionally the strategy among the container lines has been profit maximization by utilizing economies of scale through the building of larger and faster vessels. In 2008, the financial crisis in combination with higher fuel prices put an end to this progress and in today’s market operators are basically trying to survive by providing standardized services at the lowest possible cost. This study investigates alternative strategies and the results indicate that container lines should provide two different services instead of one standardized service. A fast service to be more competitive versus air freight for fast-moving goods and a slow service to be more competitive versus traditional shipping types for transport of minor bulk, break bulk, liquid bulk and project cargo.     

Impacts of combining partial and general equilibrium modelling in freight transport analyses – a forest sector case study from Norway

Abstract

The forest sector in Norway is very transport intensive, accounting for approximately 14% of total domestic freight transport traffic on Norwegian roads. This paper presents an analysis linking a general equilibrium freight transport modelling tool with a partial equilibrium model of the forest sector. The freight transport model predicts transport costs, modal split and transport patterns, and the results are treated as inputs to the forest sector model. The objective of the paper is to analyse the modelling effect of taking forest sector model effects back into the freight transport model and treated as new demand. Compared to a base scenario for the year 2020, we compare analyses with and without this new demand from the forest sector model back into the freight transport modelling tool.     

编者的话

这是春节后的《产经》第一期，借此机会，我代表本刊工作人员向各位读者道声：新年快乐，梦筑09！ 想必读者已经发现了本期与以往的不同。是的，原来的执行主编徐慧妮小姐由于各种原因离开了本刊，接下来我会与其他编辑一起接手工作。衷心感谢来自各方的支持，积极为本刊供稿。相信未来我们会获得越来越的信息资源，并提供愈加深入的行业报道及透析。力争成为业内外人士首选的汽车经济杂志。