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PurposeThe purpose of this article is to demonstrate that basic interventions using method study investigations can improve productivity in the workplace. Continuous improvement of operational processes allows an organisation to develop its capabilities to keep it ahead of its competitors.Design/methodology/approachA mixed-methods approach was used as the research design of the study. It involved an intensive method study investigation at a tap manufacturer to improve productivity. Structured searches using keywords were carried to identify important contributors to research articles in the areas of work-study, method study and productivity.FindingsThe empirical results indicate the essential need for method study investigations to improve productivity in organisations. It can be concluded that the systematic implementation of this methodology will ensure that productivity is enhanced in organisations.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is restricted to a single manufacturing organisation. Literature on method study was found to be limited.Practical implicationsThis research is intended to support organisations by providing a methodology to address areas of inefficiency and also to assist with subsequent turnaround strategies to ensure organisational effectiveness and sustainability.Originality/valueThe essential contribution that this article makes is that it provides organisations with a universally accepted, user-friendly technique to improve organisational effectiveness and productivity with minimal capital outlay.

PurposeEven though fiscal autonomy plays a role as one of the prerequisite conditions for fiscal decentralization, there has been little research into why fiscal autonomy is important or how it works for subnational governments. This study aims to examine the effectiveness of fiscal autonomy by using a panel dataset of US state governments from 2001 to 2013.Design/methodology/approachAccording to the results of general method of moments, the author find that fiscal autonomy leads to reducing volatility in total expenditures.FindingsIt indicates that fiscal autonomy is necessary for state governments performing one of the three Musgravian role of government (e.g. stabilization). However, when we look at the more detailed relationship between fiscal autonomy and volatility by applying expenditures from major categories such as capital outlay, general expenditure and public welfare, this study finds no statistically significant results. Interestingly, balanced budget requirement and tax and expenditure limitation indicate different effects on expenditure volatility, even though they belong to the same institutional factors.Originality/valueThis paper is meaningful because it can support the importance of fiscal autonomy on fiscal performance.

Quality K-12 education is essential for a student’s success in college and future career. In this paper, we proposed a Random Forest-based algorithm to identify the principal factors affecting the academic success of students in K-12 education across various states in the United States. Our model outperforms other machine learning-based models like Lasso and ElasticNet, reaching an MSE of 0.910. Grid search is used to automatically search for a set of optimal hyperparameters and we concluded that enrollment number, the year when data is recorded and capital outlay expenditure per student have the strongest effect on student’s academic success.

Author(s): Nwozor, Agaptus; Olanrewaju, John Shola; Ake, Modupe; Aleyomi, Michael | Abstract: This paper evaluates Nigeria’s commitment to ending gas flaring within the context of the global quest for zero routine flaring by 2030. The combination of strategies deployed by Nigeria has been generally ineffective in inducing compliance from IOCs. The ineffectiveness is linked to both Nigeria’s weak institutional framework and the unattractiveness of economic payoffs associated with investing in gas-gathering infrastructure by IOCs. Using data from secondary sources, the paper locates the non-realization of flare-out dates in the disconnect between legal enactments and economic permutations, especially in view of the huge capital outlay required to develop gas-gathering infrastructure and the uncertainty surrounding the gas market. The paper contends that achieving zero gas flaring in 2020 as planned by Nigeria or 2030 as projected by the international community will entail going beyond present operational arrangements by adopting a holistic implementation strategy that is capable of extracting unconditional compliance from IOCs.

In those countries where malaria prevails, the tax which this disease levies upon railway systems in all stages of their activities has been noted by many observers. Malaria may not only delay for many years the initiation of great schemes of transport, with associated development of natural resources, but may also have a very marked effect in hindering the construction of railways and in increasing the cost of such work. Even after they have been constructed, malaria may add largely to their operation costs, from its effects in reducing the number and the quality of the available labour force. The latter may also require a higher wage and greater privileges on account of its exposure to sickness. This leads to an increase in transport charges, and so an inhibition of the proper development of the natural resources of the area served by the railroad. These factors give rise to a vicious cycle whereby not only is the interest obtained from the capital outlay small, or negligible, but also the high transport charges lead to a diminished traffic, which has little encouragement to increase and so to swell the profits of the line.

In order to achieve improved power quality and grid reliability, the Indian electricity sector will requires a cumulative energy storage capacity of 270 GW by 2047, at a cumulative capital outlay of US$ 200 billion in pumped hydro storage and US$ 120 billion in electrochemical-based systems.

Drawing on Harrod, Kalecki and Kaldor, this paper seeks to revive the view that ceteris paribus firms reduce investment if they have already built up high capacities relative to their assessment of the normal potential of their markets. This reaction introduces a fundamental stabilizing mechanism into the economy. The paper adapts the idea to a growth context and applies it to the neo-Kaleckian baseline model with its Harrodian instability. It demonstrates that, in principle, a sufficiently strong feedback could stabilize the steady state.

The case study presented below is a representation of a real-world, ongoing situation involving a public school district’s capital outlay for charter schools within its boundaries. One particular charter, Beacon Charter School, was promised a permanent building by the public school district that also acts as its authorizer. However, recent events have created a statewide revenue failure which has, in return, caused a dramatic decrease in the school district’s available funds. The school district leadership must decide whether they can still provide school facilities to Beacon Charter School. To complicate matters, the political climate surrounding the district’s 12 charter schools has become increasingly contentious. This case study provides ample material for discussion as well as suggests guiding questions and activities.

Nowadays, the giant open-pit mining operation is to be continued in a more remote and difficult part of the ground. Transportation is the most challenging and costly task in such situations. It accounts for more than 50% of total operating and capital outlay. Among the current transportation alternatives, the conveyor is the best from operating cost and sustainable development points of view. The conveyors should be designed in the way that imposes the lowest cost to the project. The exit method of conveyors from the pit is one main design element which significantly influences the conveyor cost. There are a few methods by which the conveyor system can exit from the pit. Dedicated ramp slot (DRS), the existing ramping system (ERS), tunnel and high angle conveyors (HAC) are these alternatives which are not extensively studied in the past. In this paper, a theoretical foundation is developed to analyze the cost of alternative schemes. Besides, the basis is able to determine the break-even points between the alternatives. In the base case, our computational results indicate that the net present cost of DRS is the lowest possible up to 140 m depth, while afterward the HAC has the lowest net present cost.

COVID-19 highlights impact of sudden and sustained periods of low demand that may have major ramifications for financial viability of utilities. However, these effects may be mitigated to some extent through efficient management of dispatch, adjustment of capital outlay for committed capacity and provides an opportunity to reshape longer term capacity development. These issues are particularly critical for developing countries like Bangladesh where the demand shock was acute from avg. 10 % per-annum (pa) to (−)12 % over April-June 2020. This analysis shows how Bangladesh can significantly curtail expensive liquid fuel based generation dispatch, eliminate the use of expensive peaking capacity and even delay some of its capacity addition for the intervening period up to 2025. Prospects of using Battery storage to manage evening peak at the wholesale level have been explored in the analysis and it demonstrates such investments in the present demand scenario is not economic. On the other hand, a more balanced import-export regime with neighboring countries may be beneficial to manage the seasonal capacity surplus that is likely to grow over the next five years.

Hydrate management is a pervasive challenge for the offshore oil and gas industry. The consequences of a hydrate blockage in a flowline can be significant due to deferred production and additional expenditure to remediate a blockage. A common hydrate management strategy for gas-condensate systems is to avoid hydrate formation using a thermodynamic inhibition strategy. Towards end of field life, costs associated with inhibiting produced water can increase OPEX and CAPEX. The reduced production and increased costs associated with hydrate avoidance can create economic pressure to discontinue production. An alternative to this is to consider a commercial risk-based hydrate management strategy, which can result in considerable OPEX and CAPEX savings, making marginal developments economic. A case study on the adoption of a successful risk-based hydrate management strategy is presented. The goal was to maximise production from a declining asset to deliver incremental business value. Historically a hydrate avoidance strategy had been used; to continue with hydrate avoidance would have needed further capital outlay to manage the produced water from the declining reservoir. It was determined that during normal operation, hydrate risk could be managed without the need for continuous injection of a hydrate inhibitor. Further, in the event of an unplanned shutdown, where the hydrate risk is greater, it was also demonstrated that the production system could be restarted with minimal intervention.

Applying the idea of convergence in economics to revenues and expenditures of state governments (sub-national governments), the paper examines fiscal convergence across states in India. Using panel and cross-section regressions, the study finds evidence of convergence in revenues and expenditures. Among the fiscal indicators used in the paper, the speed of beta convergence was found to be highest in capital outlay. We contribute to the existing literature by examining the process of fiscal convergence for pre and post fiscal rules period. The comparison of convergence process before and after implementation of fiscal rules revealed that, the convergence was more pronounced in the post-FRBM period. Evidence of the favourable impact of fiscal rules on indicators such as capital outlay suggest that states should follow fiscal rules for fiscal consolidation without compromising on the quality of expenditure.

This article examines the financing options in the oil and gas sector of Nigeria and acknowledges the important role of oil and gas to the Nigerian economy in terms of generating the bulk of government revenue, which is estimated to be over 70 per cent of the total revenue. It also identifies the regulatory framework for the oil and gas sector and captures the various forms of financing and securities taken by major financiers like local and foreign banks, as well as international financial institutions. This article is necessitated by the various challenges besetting oil and gas financing in Nigeria, such as the technicalities and the substantial capital outlay required for such financing, the sabotage of oil and gas equipment and installations, which may jeopardise the collateral securities taken by financiers, the relatively low knowledge of the concept of reserves-based lending, which accepts ‘oil in the ground’ as collateral, lack of equity contributions, high cost of security documentation, the rigo...

A capital investment appraisal is a means of ensuring value for money. It is not meant to provide an indication of profit or loss, but rather a comparison of costs in relation to those areas where there is an opportunity or an inclination for change. The decision to invest in a project is based on the expectation of future returns since a rational investor does not expect to incur loss on his capital outlay. This decision making is usually hinged on advice obtained during pre-investment appraisal. This study is aimed at evaluating the mode of practicing investment viability appraisal by Estate Surveyors and Valuers in Lagos metropolis. The data for the study was obtained by randomly administering structured questionnaires on eighty-seven (87) practicing Estate Surveyors and Valuers in the study area and the findings were analyzed through descriptive statistical tools such as the Likert scale to present the result. Findings revealed that the payback period is the most adopted appraisal technique in practice as evidenced with a mean score of 3.57. The objective (s) of the investor is also the most significant factor being considered while selecting appraisal technique with a mean score of 3.83 while the problems of actual return varying from the expected return and also difficulty in the repayment of loans always result when a wrong viability technique is employed. The success of any viability study goes beyond knowing the objective (s) of the investor; therefore, it was recommended that appraisers should ensure that they are equipped with adequate knowledge required for the execution of feasibility and on viability studies because knowing the right viability criteria for a particular objective will help in advising an investor on a course of action that will best achieve the developer’s objective.

There are new and interesting adsorbents that show very high levels of adsorption on a mass basis. As one looks for viable new materials that can be moved from the bench to a pilot and then to full-scale units, a gap in adsorption results of these adsorbents immediately emerges. There has been a lack of consideration given to adsorbent density. When the transition is made from science to technology, density is critical because this variable will control the volume of the adsorbent bed and the size of the unit, both of which determine capital outlay.

Objectives:To compare the microbiological efficacy, turnaround time, cost, convenience, and patient and user tolerance of Tristel Trio Wipes, PeraSafe solution and Cidex OPA solution for the high-level disinfection of flexible nasendoscopes.Methods:Flexible nasendoscopes were used in routine clinical encounters. They were then disinfected with one of the three disinfectant methods. Surveillance cultures were taken before and after each disinfection process. Data relating to each of the study parameters were recorded.Results:Positive bacterial cultures were discovered on nasendoscopes disinfected with PeraSafe and Cidex OPA. Tristel Trio Wipes have no capital outlay cost, the lowest running cost, the greatest convenience and the fastest turnaround time. PeraSafe had a faster turnaround time than Cidex OPA, and lower running costs.Conclusion:Tristel Trio Wipes are equal to PeraSafe and Cidex OPA in terms of microbiological efficacy. Turnaround time and cost are dramatically reduced when using Tristel Trio Wipes compared to the other disinfectant methods.

The financing of infrastructures is a major topic in recent energy policy debates. Project finance, as a specialized form of debt finance, thereby has become a well-established financing tool. This paper contributes a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the determinants of the debt ratio in project finance, using data on 26 liquefied natural gas (LNG) export and import projects. We argue that lenders will make their decision on how much to lend dependent on the risk profile of the project. In this vein, a project’s off-take agreements serve as a security for financial contracts. We empirically show that the debt ratio of an LNG project decreases with increasing risks associated to future cash flows. Estimation results confirm that leverage increases with higher shares of a project’s capacity sold under long-term sales-and-purchase agreements, with a lower capital outlay of the project, and with a lower risk index of the country where the project is located.

This study investigated the cyclicality of fiscal policy in India at the Centre, State, and combined Centre - State level by employing three alternative methods. The period of analysis extended from 1970-71 to 2013-14. In general, the study finds pro-cyclicality behavior of expenditure in case of India. Revenue expenditure, primary revenue expenditure, capital outlay, and total expenditure were found to be pro-cyclical at the Centre and combined Centre - State level. Capital outlay was found to have more pro-cyclicality as compared to other expenditure categories both at the Centre and combined Centre - State level. However, at the State level, capital outlay was not found to have any cyclical relation with output.

The behaviours of dams under hydrodynamic forces are very complex. The huge capital outlay required for the dam construction coupled with the devastating effect it can on life and property in case of failure, is a cause of great concern. Thus it is essential to ensure the safety of dams in the design, pre construction and post constructional stages. Also seismic loading has much importance since it is a combined effect of the interaction among dam, reservoir and foundation. In this paper Koyna dam is taken as a case study, subjected to real time earthquake acceleration having maximum 0.5 g and finding out the type of failure the dam likely to suffer. An attempt is made to examine the critical stresses occurred in Koyna dam due to the earthquake by considering three different models.