Search results for: Investment cost

Authors: F. Simba, L. Trojer, N.H. Mvungi, B.M. Mwinyiwiwa, E.M. Mjema

Abstract:

Rural areas of Tanzania are still disadvantaged in terms of diffusion of IP-based services; this is due to lack of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructures, especially lack of connectivity. One of the limitations for connectivity problems in rural areas of Tanzania is the high cost to establish infrastructures for IP-based services [1-2]. However the cost of connectivity varies from one technology to the other and at the same time, the cost is also different from one operator (service provider) to another within the country. This paper presents development of software system to calculate cost of connectivity to rural areas of Tanzania. The system is developed to make an easy access of connectivity cost from different technologies and different operators. The development of the calculator follows the V-model software development lifecycle. The calculator is used to evaluate the economic viability of different technologies considered as being potential candidates to provide rural connectivity. In this paper, the evaluation is based on the techno-economic analysis approach.

Keywords: rural, connectivity, cost, V-model, techno economic analysis.

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Authors: Tomáš Brabenec

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Cost contribution arrangements (CCAs) and Cost sharing agreements (CCAs) belong to the tools of modern finance management. Costs spend by associated enterprises on developing producing or obtaining assets, services or rights (in general - benefits) are used for tax optimizing too. The main purpose of joint research and development, producing or obtaining benefits is to lower these costs as much as possible or to maximize the benefits. In this article is mentioned the problematic of transfer pricing and arm's length principle with connection of CCAs, CSAs. Next, there is mentioned how to settle participation shares of the total cost and benefits contributions with respect to the OECD Transfer pricing for MNEs Guidelines and with respect to other significant regulations.

Keywords: Arm's length principle, Cost contribution arrangements, Cost sharing agreements, Reasonable anticipated benefits, Relevant costs, Transfer prices.

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Authors: Yibo Fan, Takeshi Ikenaga, Yukiyasu Tsunoo, Satoshi Goto

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This paper proposes a low-cost reconfigurable architecture for AES algorithm. The proposed architecture separates SubBytes and MixColumns into two parallel data path, and supports different bit-width operation for this two data path. As a result, different number of S-box can be supported in this architecture. The throughput and power consumption can be adjusted by changing the number of S-box running in this design. Using the TSMC 0.18μm CMOS standard cell library, a very low-cost implementation of 7K Gates is obtained under 182MHz frequency. The maximum throughput is 360Mbps while using 4 S-Box simultaneously, and the minimum throughput is 114Mbps while only using 1 S-Box

Keywords: AES, Reconfigurable architecture, low cost

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Authors: Bundit Pungnirund

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This research aimed to investigate the relationship between attitude towards marketing mix, brand image and consumer behavior of the passengers of low-cost airlines service. This study employed by quantitative research and the questionnaire was used to collect the data from 400 sampled of the passengers who have ever used the low-cost airline services based in Bangkok, Thailand. The descriptive statistics and Pearson’s correlation analysis were used to analyze data. The research results revealed that the attitude of the marketing mix of the low-cost airline services including product, price, place, promotion and process had related to the consumer behavior on the aspects of duration of service and frequency of service. While, the brand image of the low cost airline including the characteristics of organization, service quality and company identity had related to the consumer behavior on duration of service, frequency of service and cost of service at the significant statistically acceptable levels.

Keywords: Brand image, consumer behavior, low-cost airlines, marketing mix.

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Authors: Imen Dhaou

Abstract:

This study examines conditional Value at Risk by applying the GJR-EVT-Copula model, and finds the optimal portfolio for eight Dow Jones Islamic-conventional pairs. Our methodology consists of modeling the data by a bivariate GJR-GARCH model in which we extract the filtered residuals and then apply the Peak over threshold model (POT) to fit the residual tails in order to model marginal distributions. After that, we use pair-copula to find the optimal portfolio risk dependence structure. Finally, with Monte Carlo simulations, we estimate the Value at Risk (VaR) and the conditional Value at Risk (CVaR). The empirical results show the VaR and CVaR values for an equally weighted portfolio of Dow Jones Islamic-conventional pairs. In sum, we found that the optimal investment focuses on Islamic-conventional US Market index pairs because of high investment proportion; however, all other index pairs have low investment proportion. These results deliver some real repercussions for portfolio managers and policymakers concerning to optimal asset allocations, portfolio risk management and the diversification advantages of these markets.

Keywords: CVaR, Dow Jones Islamic index, GJR-GARCH-EVT-pair copula, portfolio optimization.

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Authors: A. Khanal, A. Osareh, G. Lebby

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Wind energy offers a significant advantage such as no fuel costs and no emissions from generation. However, wind energy sources are variable and non-dispatchable. The utility grid is able to accommodate the variability of wind in smaller proportion along with the daily load. However, at high penetration levels, the variability can severely impact the utility reserve requirements and the cost associated with it. In this paper the impact of wind energy is evaluated in detail in formulating the total utility cost. The objective is to minimize the overall cost of generation while ensuring the proper management of the load. Overall cost includes the curtailment cost, reserve cost and the reliability cost, as well as any other penalty imposed by the regulatory authority. Different levels of wind penetrations are explored and the cost impacts are evaluated. As the penetration level increases significantly, the reliability becomes a critical question to be answered. Here we increase the penetration from the wind yet keep the reliability factor within the acceptable limit provided by NERC. This paper uses an economic dispatch (ED) model to incorporate wind generation into the power grid. Power system costs are analyzed at various wind penetration levels using Linear Programming. The goal of this study is show how the increases in wind generation will affect power system economics.

Keywords: Balancing Reserves, Optimization, Wind Energy.

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Authors: I. Rodionov, A. Semenov, E. Gosteva, O. Sokolova

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The venture capital becomes more and more advanced and effective source of the innovation project financing, connected with a high-risk level. In the developed countries, it plays a key role in transforming innovation projects into successful businesses and creating the prosperity of the modern economy. In Russia, there are many necessary preconditions for creation of the effective venture investment system: the network of the public institutes for innovation financing operates; there is a significant number of the small and medium-sized enterprises, capable to sell production with good market potential. However, the current system does not confirm the necessary level of efficiency in practice that can be substantially explained by the absence of the accurate plan of action to form the national venture model and by the lack of experience of successful venture deals with profitable exits in Russian economy. This paper studies the influence of various factors on the venture industry development by the example of the IT-sector in Russia. The choice of the sector is based on the fact, that this segment is the main driver of the venture capital market growth in Russia, and the necessary set of data exists. The size of investment of the second round is used as the dependent variable. To analyse the influence of the previous round, such determinant as the volume of the previous (first) round investments is used. There is also used a dummy variable in regression to examine that the participation of an investor with high reputation and experience in the previous round can influence the size of the next investment round. The regression analysis of short-term interrelations between studied variables reveals prevailing influence of the volume of the first round investments on the venture investments volume of the second round. The most important determinant of the value of the second-round investment is the value of first–round investment, so it means that the most competitive on the Russian market are the start-up teams that can attract more money on the start, and the target market growth is not the factor of crucial importance. This supports the point of view that VC in Russia is driven by endogenous factors and not by exogenous ones that are based on global market growth.

Keywords: Venture industry, venture investment, determinants of the venture sector development, IT-sector.

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Authors: Lucian J. Pitt

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The primary purpose of this study is to understand the differences in the relationship between working capital management efficiency, working capital investment decisions and working capital finance decisions and the profitability of firms within the context of two African developing economies, Kenya and Nigeria. The study finds that there is a significant difference in the relationship between the firm’s profitability and the working capital variables which suggests different challenges for working capital management in each of these countries.

Keywords: Working Capital Management, Working Capital Investment, Working Capital Finance, Profitability, Cash Conversion Cycle.

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Authors: H. L. Yim, S. H. Lee, S. K. Yoo, J. J. Kim

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This study proposes a materials procurement contracts model to which the zero-cost collar option is applied for heading price fluctuation risks in construction.The material contract model based on the collar option that consists of the call option striking zone of the construction company(the buyer) following the materials price increase andthe put option striking zone of the material vendor(the supplier) following a materials price decrease. This study first determined the call option strike price Xc of the construction company by a simple approach: it uses the predicted profit at the project starting point and then determines the strike price of put option Xp that has an identical option value, which completes the zero-cost material contract.The analysis results indicate that the cost saving of the construction company increased as Xc decreased. This was because the critical level of the steel materials price increasewas set at a low level. However, as Xc decreased, Xpof a put option that had an identical option value gradually increased. Cost saving increased as Xc decreased. However, as Xp gradually increased, the risk of loss from a construction company increased as the steel materials price decreased. Meanwhile, cost saving did not occur for the construction company, because of volatility. This result originated in the zero-cost features of the two-way contract of the collar option. In the case of the regular one-way option, the transaction cost had to be subtracted from the cost saving. The transaction cost originated from an option value that fluctuated with the volatility. That is, the cost saving of the one-way option was affected by the volatility. Meanwhile, even though the collar option with zero transaction cost cut the connection between volatility and cost saving, there was a risk of exercising the put option.

Keywords: Construction materials, Supply chain management, Procurement, Payment, Collar option

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Authors: Balimu Mwiya, Mundia Muya, Chabota Kaliba, Peter Mukalula

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Factors affecting construction unit cost vary depending on a country’s political, economic, social and technological inclinations. Factors affecting construction costs have been studied from various perspectives. Analysis of cost factors requires an appreciation of a country’s practices. Identified cost factors provide an indication of a country’s construction economic strata. The purpose of this paper is to identify the essential factors that affect unit cost estimation and their breakdown using artificial neural networks. Twenty five (25) identified cost factors in road construction were subjected to a questionnaire survey and employing SPSS factor analysis the factors were reduced to eight. The 8 factors were analysed using neural network (NN) to determine the proportionate breakdown of the cost factors in a given construction unit rate. NN predicted that political environment accounted 44% of the unit rate followed by contractor capacity at 22% and financial delays, project feasibility and overhead & profit each at 11%. Project location, material availability and corruption perception index had minimal impact on the unit cost from the training data provided. Quantified cost factors can be incorporated in unit cost estimation models (UCEM) to produce more accurate estimates. This can create improvements in the cost estimation of infrastructure projects and establish a benchmark standard to assist the process of alignment of work practises and training of new staff, permitting the on-going development of best practises in cost estimation to become more effective.

Keywords: Construction cost factors, neural networks, roadworks, Zambian Construction Industry.

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Authors: D. de Matías Batalla

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This paper develops and extended eclectic paradigm to fit the firm internationalization process with the real international business world. The approach is based on Dunning´s, introducing new concepts like mode of entry, international joint venture o international mergers and acquisitions. At the same time is presented a model to describe the Spanish international mergers and acquisitions in order to determinate the most important factor that influence in this type of foreign direct investment.

Keywords: Dunning, eclectic paradigm, foreign direct investment, IJV, international business, international management, multinational firms, firm internationalization process, M&A.

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Authors: Hamide Özyürek, Metin Yılmaz

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Standard processes, similar and limited production lines, the production of high direct costs will be more accurate than the use of parts of the traditional cost systems in the literature. However, direct costs, overhead expenses, in turn, decrease the burden of increasingly sophisticated production facilities, a situation that led the researchers to look for the cost of traditional systems of alternative techniques. Variety cost management approaches for example Total quality management (TQM), just-in-time (JIT), benchmarking, kaizen costing, targeting cost, life cycle costs (LLC), activity-based costing (ABC) value engineering have been introduced. Management and cost applications have changed over the past decade and will continue to change. Modern cost systems can provide relevant and accurate cost information. These methods provide the decisions about customer, product and process improvement. The aim of study is to describe and explain the adoption and application of costing systems in SME. This purpose reports on a survey conducted during 2014 small and medium sized enterprises (SME) in Ankara. The survey results were evaluated using SPSS18 package program.

Keywords: Cost Accounting, Costing, Modern Costing Systems, Managerial Accounting.

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Authors: Hadi Sadoghi Yazdi, Tahereh Royani, Mehri Sadoghi Yazdi, Sohrab Effati

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In this paper, a new version of support vector regression (SVR) is presented namely Fuzzy Cost SVR (FCSVR). Individual property of the FCSVR is operation over fuzzy data whereas fuzzy cost (fuzzy margin and fuzzy penalty) are maximized. This idea admits to have uncertainty in the penalty and margin terms jointly. Robustness against noise is shown in the experimental results as a property of the proposed method and superiority relative conventional SVR.

Keywords: Support vector regression, Fuzzy input, Fuzzy cost.

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Authors: Peng Yew Wong

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House prices in the Australian capital cities were at record levels subsequent to Global Financial Crisis (GFC) 2008 and many believed that foreign investors, especially the Chinese investors, were the main reason for the Australian capital cities’ house prices escalation. This research conducted an Australian cross border semi-structured interviews in Shanghai, China to uncover historical evidence and emerging trend supporting the existence of a significant relationship between overseas investors and residential housing markets performance in Australia subsequent to the GFC 2008. Some unique investment strategies of private investors from China which emphasised on non-capitalist factors such as early education were identified, alongside with some insights on the significant China government policies that have incentivised the cross border investments from China. It is believed that this understanding will assist policy makers to effectively manage the overheated Australian residential property market without compromising the steady flow of FREI.

Keywords: Australian housing market, residential property, foreign real estate investment, education, China investor.

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Authors: Amadi Ugwulo Chinyere, Lewis D. Gbarayorks, Emem N. H. Inamete

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In this paper, the mandatory contribution, additional voluntary contribution (AVC) and administrative charges are merged together to determine the optimal investment strategy (OIS) for a pension plan member (PPM) in a defined contribution (DC) pension scheme under the modified constant elasticity of variance (M-CEV) model. We assume that the voluntary contribution is a stochastic process and a portfolio consisting of one risk free asset and one risky asset modeled by the M-CEV model is considered. Also, a stochastic differential equation consisting of PPM’s monthly contributions, voluntary contributions and administrative charges is obtained. More so, an optimization problem in the form of Hamilton Jacobi Bellman equation which is a nonlinear partial differential equation is obtained. Using power transformation and change of variables method, an explicit solution of the OIS and the value function are obtained under constant absolute risk averse (CARA). Furthermore, numerical simulations on the impact of some sensitive parameters on OIS were discussed extensively. Finally, our result generalizes some existing result in the literature.

Keywords: DC pension fund, modified constant elasticity of variance, optimal investment strategies, voluntary contribution, administrative charges.

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Authors: Farhad Kolahan, Vahid Kayvanfar

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In this paper we address a multi-objective scheduling problem for unrelated parallel machines. In unrelated parallel systems, the processing cost/time of a given job on different machines may vary. The objective of scheduling is to simultaneously determine the job-machine assignment and job sequencing on each machine. In such a way the total cost of the schedule is minimized. The cost function consists of three components, namely; machining cost, earliness/tardiness penalties and makespan related cost. Such scheduling problem is combinatorial in nature. Therefore, a Simulated Annealing approach is employed to provide good solutions within reasonable computational times. Computational results show that the proposed approach can efficiently solve such complicated problems.

Keywords: Makespan, Parallel machines, Scheduling, Simulated Annealing

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Authors: Shih-Hsu Wang, Yuan-Yuan Cheng, Ming-Tsung Lee, Wei-Chih Wang

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Determining reasonable fees is the main objective of designing the cost estimation and payment systems for consultant contracts. However, project clients utilize different cost estimation and payment systems because of their varying views on the reasonableness of consultant fees. This study reviews the cost estimation and payment systems of consultant contracts for five countries, including the US (Washington State Department of Transportation), Japan (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism), China (Engineering Design Charging Standard) and UK (Her Majesty's Treasure). Specifically, this work investigates the budgeting process, contractor selection method, contractual price negotiation process, cost review, and cost-control concept of the systems used in these countries. The main finding indicates that that project client-s view on whether the fee is high will affect the way he controls it. In the US, the fee is commonly considered to be high. As a result, stringent auditing system (low flexibility given to the consultant) is then applied. In the UK, the fee is viewed to be low by comparing it to the total life-cycle project cost. Thus, a system that has high flexibility in budgeting and cost reviewing is given to the consultant. In terms of the flexibility allowed for the consultant, the systems applied in Japan and China fall between those of the US and UK. Both the US and UK systems are helpful in determining a reasonable fee. However, in the US system, rigid auditing standards must be established and additional cost-audit manpower is required. In the UK system, sufficient historical cost data should be needed to evaluate the reasonableness of the consultant-s proposed fee

Keywords: Consultant Services, Cost Estimation and Payment System, Payment Flexibility, Cost-control Concept

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Authors: Jamshaid ur Rehman, Shahida Wizarat

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The principal focus of this study is on the measurement and analysis of labor learnings in Pakistan. The study at the aggregate economy level focus on the labor productivity movements and at large-scale manufacturing level focus on the cost structure, with isolating the contribution of the learning curve. The analysis of S-shaped curve suggests that learnings are only below one half of aggregate learning curve and other half shows the retardation in learning, hence retardation in productivity movements. The study implies the existence of learning economies in term of cost reduction that is input cost per unit produced decreases by 0.51 percent every time the cumulative production output doubles.

Keywords: Cost, Inflection Point, Learning Curve, Minima, Maxima, and Productivity

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Authors: Derya Eren Akyol, Gonca Tuncel, G. Mirac Bayhan

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Activity-Based Costing (ABC) which has become an important aspect of manufacturing/service organizations can be defined as a methodology that measures the cost and performance of activities, resources and cost objects. It can be considered as an alternative paradigm to traditional cost-based accounting systems. The objective of this paper is to illustrate an application of ABC method and to compare the results of ABC with traditional costing methods. The results of the application highlight the weak points of traditional costing methods and an S-Curve obtained is used to identify the undercosted and overcosted products of the firm.

Keywords: Activity-based costing, cost drivers, overheads, traditional costing.

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Authors: Rudi Kurniawan Arief

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Manufacturing cost and setup time are the hot topics to improve in Metal Stamping industry because material and components price are always rising up while costumer requires to cut down the component price year by year. The Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) is one of many methods to reduce waste in stamping industry. The Japanese Quick Die Change (QDC) dies system is one of SMED systems that could reduce both of setup time and manufacturing cost. However, this system is rarely used in stamping industries. This paper will analyze how deep the QDC dies system could reduce setup time and the manufacturing cost. The research is conducted by direct observation, simulating and comparing of QDC dies system with conventional dies system. In this research, we found that the QDC dies system could save up to 35% of manufacturing cost and reduce 70% of setup times. This simulation proved that the QDC die system is effective for cost reduction but must be applied in several parallel production processes.

Keywords: Press die, metal stamping, quick die change, QDC system, single minute exchange die, manufacturing cost saving, SMED.

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Authors: G. C. Mahata, A. Goswami

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This paper deals with infinite time horizon fuzzy Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) models for deteriorating items with  stock dependent demand rate and nonlinear holding costs by taking deterioration rate θ0 as a triangular fuzzy number  (θ0 −δ 1, θ0, θ0 +δ 2), where 1 2 0 0 <δ ,δ <θ are fixed real numbers. The traditional parameters such as unit cost and ordering  cost have been kept constant but holding cost is considered to vary. Two possibilities of variations in the holding cost function namely, a non-linear function of the length of time for which the item is held in stock and a non-linear function of the amount of on-hand inventory have been used in the models. The approximate optimal solution for the fuzzy cost functions in both these cases have been obtained and the effect of non-linearity in holding costs is studied with the help of a numerical example.

Keywords: Inventory Model, Deterioration, Holding Cost, Fuzzy Total Cost, Extension Principle.

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Authors: Heng Ma

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Third-party warehousing logistics has an important role in the development of external logistics. At present, the third-party logistics in our country is still a new industry, the accounting system has not yet been established, the current financial accounting system of third-party warehousing logistics is mainly in the traditional way of thinking, and only able to provide the total cost information of the entire enterprise during the accounting period, unable to reflect operating indirect cost information. In order to solve the problem of third-party logistics industry cost information distortion, improve the level of logistics cost management, the paper combines theoretical research and case analysis method to reflect cost allocation by building third-party logistics costing model using Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing(TDABC), and takes S company as an example to account and control the warehousing logistics cost.Based on the idea of “Products consume activities and activities consume resources”, TDABC put time into the main cost driver and use time-consuming equation resources assigned to cost objects. In S company, the objects focuses on three warehouse, engaged with warehousing and transportation (the second warehouse, transport point) service. These three warehouse respectively including five departments, Business Unit, Production Unit, Settlement Center, Security Department and Equipment Division, the activities in these departments are classified by in-out of storage forecast, in-out of storage or transit and safekeeping work. By computing capacity cost rate, building the time-consuming equation, the paper calculates the final operation cost so as to reveal the real cost.The numerical analysis results show that the TDABC can accurately reflect the cost allocation of service customers and reveal the spare capacity cost of resource center, verifies the feasibility and validity of TDABC in third-party logistics industry cost accounting. It inspires enterprises focus on customer relationship management and reduces idle cost to strengthen the cost management of third-party logistics enterprises.

Keywords: Third-party logistics enterprises, TDABC, cost management, S company.

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Authors: Mihai Liviu Despa

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The paper tackles the topic of determining the cost of innovation in software development projects. Innovation can be achieved either in a planned or unplanned manner. The paper approaches the scenarios were innovation is planned for. As a starting point an innovative software development project is analyzed. The project is depicted step by step as it was implemented, from inception to delivery. Costs that are proprietary to innovation in software development are isolated based on the author’s personal experience in managing the above mentioned project. Innovation costs components identified by the author are then validated using open discussions with software development professionals and projects managers on LinkedIn groups. In order to receive relevant feedback only groups that focus on software development and innovation management are targeted. Additional innovation cost components suggested by software development professionals and projects managers are also considered. Based on the identified cost components an indicator is built. The indicator is meant to formalize the process of determining the cost of innovation in a software development project. The indicator aggregates all the innovation cost components that are identified in the research process. The process of calculating each cost component is also described. Conclusions are formulated and new related research topics are submitted for debate.

Keywords: Innovation cost, IT project management, software development.

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Authors: Jin-O Kim, Hyun-Il Son

Abstract:

As the electrical power industry is restructured, the electrical power exchange is becoming extended. One of the key information used to determine how much power can be transferred through the network is known as available transfer capability (ATC). To calculate ATC, traditional deterministic approach is based on the severest case, but the approach has the complexity of procedure. Therefore, novel approach for ATC calculation is proposed using cost-optimization method in this paper, and is compared with well-being method and risk-benefit method. This paper proposes the optimal transfer capability of HVDC system between mainland and a separated island in Korea through these three methods. These methods will consider production cost, wheeling charge through HVDC system and outage cost with one depth (N-1 contingency)

Keywords: ATC, power system interconnection, well-being method, cost-optimization method, risk-benefit analysis, outage cost.

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Authors: S. S. Mishra, D. K. Yadav

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This paper focuses on cost and profit analysis of single-server Markovian queuing system with two priority classes. In this paper, functions of total expected cost, revenue and profit of the system are constructed and subjected to optimization with respect to its service rates of lower and higher priority classes. A computing algorithm has been developed on the basis of fast converging numerical method to solve the system of non linear equations formed out of the mathematical analysis. A novel performance measure of cost and profit analysis in view of its economic interpretation for the system with priority classes is attempted to discuss in this paper. On the basis of computed tables observations are also drawn to enlighten the variational-effect of the model on the parameters involved therein.

Keywords: Cost and Profit, Computing, Expected Revenue, Priority classes

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Authors: Ilhan Keskin, Hasan Bulent Kantarcı

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In this study, one of the tools of Islamic financing known as “Sukuk” a non-interest bearing investment which has started to be implemented in Turkey and the world as a whole is discussed. In order to increase the vitality and efficiency of the economy, by taking lessons from the recent economic crisis new developments in the banking and investment sector are being expanded. The purpose of all investors is to obtain more revenue through the use of capital. The inability of traditional investment tools to meet the expectations of investors and the interest based financial system where one investor benefits at the expense of another there has been the need for a different, reliable and noninterest bearing financial market that is consistent with the Islamic rule. As a result an alternative and more reliable interest free financing tool “Sukuk” rental certificates covering people who are sensitive to Islamic rules, appeal to all segments, hidden remaining capital that contributes to the economy, reduce disparities in income distribution, common risk sharing system of profit and loss sharing has emerged. Today, for the structural countries by examining the state of the world market economy the applicability, enactment and future issues associated with this attractive kind of Islamic finance namely the “Sukuk” market has been explained.

Keywords: Islamic finance, Islamic markets, non-interest bearing, rental certificates.

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Authors: Ganiyu Amuda Yusuf, Sarajul Fikri Mohamed

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The procurement and cost management approach adopted for mechanical and electrical (M&E) services in Malaysian construction industry have been criticized for its inefficiency. The study examined early cost estimating practices adopted for mechanical and electrical services (M&E) in Malaysia so as to understand the level of compliance of the current techniques with best practices. The methodology adopted for the study is a review of bidding documents used on both completed and on – going building projects awarded between 2008 – 2010 under 9th Malaysian Plan. The analysis revealed that, M&E services cost cannot be reliably estimated at pre-contract stage; the bidding techniques adopted for M&E services failed to provide uniform basis for contractors to submit tender; detailed measurement of items were not made which could complicate post contract cost control and financial management. The paper concluded that, there is need to follow a structured approach in determining the pre-contract cost estimate for M&E services which will serve as a virile tool for post contract cost control.

Keywords: Cost Management, Mechanical and Electrical Services, Procurement, Standard Method of Measurement

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Authors: Hongbin Gu, Dongsu Wu, Hui Liu

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A novel low-cost flight simulator with the development goals cost effectiveness and high performance has been realized for meeting the huge pilot training needs of airlines. The simulator consists of an aircraft dynamics model, a sophisticated designed low-profile electrical driven motion system with a subsided cabin, a mixed reality based semi-virtual cockpit system, a control loading system and some other subsystems. It shows its advantages over traditional flight simulator by its features achieved with open architecture, software solutions and low-cost hardware.

Keywords: Flight simulator, mixed reality, motion system, control loading system.

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Authors: M. A. Badr, M.N. El Kordy, A. N. Mohib, M. M. Ibrahim

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The basic objective of the research is to study the effect of hybrid wind energy on the cost of generated electricity considering the cost of reduction CO₂ emissions. The system consists of small wind turbine(s), storage battery bank and a diesel generator (W/D/B). Using an optimization software package, different system configurations are investigated to reach optimum configuration based on the net present cost (NPC) and cost of energy (COE) as economic optimization criteria. The cost of avoided CO₂ is taken into consideration. The system is intended to supply the electrical load of a small community (gathering six families) in a remote Egyptian area. The investigated system is not connected to the electricity grid and may replace an existing conventional diesel powered electric supply system to reduce fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions. The simulation results showed that W/D energy system is more economic than diesel alone. The estimated COE is 0.308$/kWh and extracting the cost of avoided CO₂, the COE reached 0.226 $/kWh which is an external benefit of wind turbine, as there are no pollutant emissions through operational phase.

Keywords: Hybrid wind turbine systems, remote areas electrification, simulation of hybrid energy systems, techno-economic study.

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Authors: Mabel A. Leva

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This study defines a methodology to compute unitary costs for freight transportation modes. The main objective was to gather relevant costs data to support the formulation and evaluation of railway, road, pipelines and port projects. This article will concentrate on the following steps: Compilation and analysis of relevant modal cost studies, Methodological adjustments to make cost figures comparable between studies, Definition of typology and scope of transportation modes, Analysis and validation of cost values for relevant freight transportation modes in Chile. In order to define the comparison methodology for the costs between the different transportation modes, it was necessary to consider that the relevant cost depends on who performs the comparison. Thus, for the transportation user (e.g. exporter) the pertinent costs are the mode tariffs, whereas from the operators perspective (e.g. rail manager), the pertinent costs are the operating costs of each mode.

Keywords: Intermodal costs, Logistics, Transportation costs.

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