Bio-PCI a renewable reductant for iron production—where can it flourish?

Presently the iron and steel makers are compelled to incorporate rational initiatives to reduce its processing CO_2 total emissions.In the medium and long term,the injection of small particles of biochar through the tuyerees in blast furnaces,here called Bio-PCI,offers attractive features from the environmental and metallurgical point of view,as it is a renewable carbon neutral reductant and presents lesser impurities than coke.However,its utilization in iron plants is been hindered by the traditional large availability of relatively economical coal and coke.As the cost of the principal processing inputs increases(coal,coke and iron ore) the gap between fossil and renewable reductants decreases.In this sense,our contribution aims to complement the metallurgical inquiry of technical feasibility with a strategic identification of the areas with best prospects to benefits from the incorporation of Bio-PCI:where can it flourish?.Our analysis leads to indicate that emerging countries in specific,China,Brazil and India,are in a prime position to incorporate the Bio-PCI as they simultaneously comply with a growing iron industry based on blast furnaces,and possess an important potential for energy generation from forestry residues.

New Idea Generation and Individual Motivation： A Conceptual Framework

The adoption of specific idea management programs is becoming a strategic asset for organizations, as they are increasingly trying to adopt specific organizational solutions to detect, fertilize, evaluate, and promote new idea generation within and across their boundaries. The centrality of the ideas generation is linked to its vital characteristic of being the main source for new products, services, processes, and drivers of change. This paper copes with the controversial role of the general organizational setting and closely focuses on the rewards mechanisms that could further nurture creativity. By formulating a set of propositions, the paper submits that the understanding of the motivational drivers and the organizational settings is paramount to distill the links between idea generation and incentive structures. This paper aims also to critically analyze and assess the impact of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation on idea generation both at an individual and team level, and develop a framework within which it explores the necessary change to be adopted by firms in managing the idea generation. What is new to the field is the recognition of the impact of the individual locus of control on creative performance. In this vein, the paper sees its ultimate aim in uncovering the dynamics of individual and collective motivation related to creativity, considered as the main source for innovation. The paper concludes that new ideas could be nurtured through the adoption of routine system aligned with the companies＇ human resource management policy.

The Impact of Outsourcing on Business Performance： An Empirical Analysis

Corporate decisions related to ＂make or buy＂ have significantly changed over the last 20 years, since the rush towards concentration on core business of the 1980s has progressively lost grasp. Although long-term alliances and mega deals are replacing the existing spot contracts, both academic literature and managerial practices still lack appropriate models for coping with such decisions. As a consequence, the traditional accounting approach, extensively based on emerging costs and cost savings, seems to be less and less effective in the governance of such phenomena. On the other hand, the managerial literature still suffers significant gaps in modeling the relations between outsourcing and business performance. The attention paid to the subject in past decades has not been matched by the rigor in assessing the actual impact on business performance. This paper aims to fill some of the existing gaps by presenting an original empirical study based on the analysis of the impact of outsourcing decisions on business performance.

管理会计师:实现SDGs的重要角色

由于财务专业知识和在组织中的定位,管理会计师们将在领导可持续发展目标中扮演重要角色。2015年9月,世界范围内的多个政府达成一致,共同努力实现17个可持续发展目标（Sustainable Development Goals,简称SDGs）。在联合国的推动下,这些SDGs确定了到2030年全球的首要事项和愿景,并且依靠商业组织向公众传递可持续和包容性发展的承诺。对企业来说,实现SDGs在未来几年里既是机遇又是挑战。