Suchergebnisse

This study examines practitioners as individual actors by focusing on a general manager's individual account. With a two-week episode of political maneuvering as a starting point, the case shows how skilful strategizing on the part of the general manager is at the origin of significant organizational change. Specifically, the paper has three purposes. First, to offer insights to practitioners and scholars regarding how powerful managers purposefully seek to influence organizational context in a non-disclosed fashion. Second, to illustrate how single case microstudies open a route to understanding events that would otherwise be unattainable. The third, and most important, is to apply organizational politics concepts to characterize managerial covert political action in the implementation of a deliberate strategy. Specifically, emphasis is put on how contextual characteristics relate to political action. How they constrain and enable politics, and facilitate the use and maintenance of concealed motives.

AbstractNotwithstanding the improvements already achieved in recent decades through regional and urban scale actions implemented across Europe, air pollution is still a major environment and health concern for Europeans. The quantitative assessment of the different sources of air pollution in regional/urban areas is crucial to support the design of accurate air quality plans. Source apportionment techniques are capable to relate air pollutant concentrations to existing emission sources activities and regions. The selection of the appropriate source apportionment technique to apply to a given area should take into account the ultimate goal of the study. Despite the growing number of studies that include source apportionment techniques, there is still a lack of works that summarise information on this topic in a systematic way. In this work, a literature review of studies applying SA techniques, published between 2010 and 2021, was performed. Additionally, this review summarizes the differences among the different source apportionment techniques, with focus on source-oriented models, highlighting their purpose and their advantages and disadvantages. Results shows that the number of studies using source apportionment source-oriented models has been increasing across the years, with 59% using tagged species methods, 28% brute force methods, and 13% other methods. This source-oriented models have been mostly applied for PM2.5, to assess the causes of air pollution levels.

In December 1997, the Kyoto Protocol was adopted, setting limits on the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of industrialized countries. The European Union agreed to reduce its emissions of GHG by 8% during the period 2008–2012 in comparison to their 1990 levels. Subsequently, in a scheme known as "burden-sharing", Portugal was allowed to increase its emissions by 27% in the same period. Large industrial facilities are responsible for a significant share of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and are object of a European Directive (2003/87/EC) establishing the scheme for GHG emission allowance trading within the European Union, launched with the purpose of allowing the reduction of GHG emissions cost-effectively. According to the Directive, Member States shall develop a National Allocation Plan (NAP) stating the total quantity of allowances that each one intends to allocate and how it proposes to allocate them among the activities included in the trading scheme. In this work, an analysis of the Portuguese industry is performed, focused on the energy consumption and CO2 emissions levels in the period 1990–2001 and on the estimation of the two parameters for the period 2002–2012, considering different economic growth scenarios and investments on energy reduction technologies. Results show that all the analysed sectors present a significant growth in CO2 emissions, exceeding the limit established in the frame of the Kyoto Protocol, and that measures other than cost-effective energy technologies will have to be implemented.

About 50% of the materials extracted from the earth's crust are used in construction. Given the huge consumption that has been made of minerals and ores in Europe, which amounts to about 15 tons per year for each inhabitant of the European Union, of which about 2/3 are industrial and ornamental rocks, it is necessary to promote urgently significant changes to consumption patterns. The recycling of construction materials is an ancient practice, used by the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. In the modern era, began to find expression in Europe after the 2nd World War, when crushed rock started to be used in the reconstruction of buildings. The Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) are wastes derived from construction, reconstruction, extension, alteration, maintenance and demolition and collapse of buildings. They include soil, rocks, vegetation, earthworks and foundations and also materials used in roads maintenance. This paper presents an overview, at the international level, of the type, amount produced and amount recycled of CDW. The importance of the knowledge related with the in situ performance of recycled materials is highlighted, together with the contribution of studies and technical specifications for the acceptance of these materials. A brief presentation of the production and recycle process of construction and demolition waste is made and their application in geotechnical works is addressed. Finally, barriers regarding the application of these materials are identified and some procedures in order to encourage the use of recycled materials are pointed out, such as: implementation of a waste management plan for the planning, design, construction and maintenance of works; strong incentive for selective demolition and separation in situ, in order to obtain good quality waste for recycling, encourage recycling in situ; promote conditions for the installation of recycling areas; promote the use of CDW in public and private works; promote the creation of recycling facilities in appropriate areas with strategic location; promote cooperation between enterprises of the construction sector, stakeholders and RTD institutions, to implement research and, consequently, expand the scope of CDW application. ; 11p ; DT/NIF ; 2012 ; 23 a 25 de Julho

About 50% of the materials extracted from the earth's crust are used in construction. Given the huge consumption that has been made of minerals and ores in Europe, which amounts to about 15 tons per year for each inhabitant of the European Union, of which about 2/3 are industrial and ornamental rocks, it is necessary to promote urgently significant changes to consumption patterns. The recycling of construction materials is an ancient practice, used by the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. In the modern era, began to find expression in Europe after the 2nd World War, when crushed rock started to be used in the reconstruction of buildings. The Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) are wastes derived from construction, reconstruction, extension, alteration, maintenance and demolition and collapse of buildings. They include soil, rocks, vegetation, earthworks and foundations and also materials used in roads maintenance. This paper presents an overview, at the international level, of the type, amount produced and amount recycled of CDW. The importance of the knowledge related with the in situ performance of recycled materials is highlighted, together with the contribution of studies and technical specifications for the acceptance of these materials. A brief presentation of the production and recycle process of construction and demolition waste is made and their application in geotechnical works is addressed. Finally, barriers regarding the application of these materials are identified and some procedures in order to encourage the use of recycled materials are pointed out, such as: implementation of a waste management plan for the planning, design, construction and maintenance of works; strong incentive for selective demolition and separation in situ, in order to obtain good quality waste for recycling, encourage recycling in situ; promote conditions for the installation of recycling areas; promote the use of CDW in public and private works; promote the creation of recycling facilities in appropriate areas with strategic location; promote cooperation between enterprises of the construction sector, stakeholders and RTD institutions, to implement research and, consequently, expand the scope of CDW application. ; 11p ; DT/NIF ; 2012 ; 23 a 25 de Julho

Wood is commonly used in residential combustion for heating purposes; however, it can be a major source of air pollutants, namely fine particles, volatile organic compounds and carbon monoxide. Since 2004, the PM10 daily limit value has been surpassed in Portugal, and the European Commission has stated that plans and programs must be designed in order to reduce these levels. In Portugal, 18% of PM10 emissions are due to residential wood combustion, which may deeply impact the PM10 levels in the atmosphere. The main aim of this study is to investigate the impact of residential wood combustion on the air quality in Portugal. The air quality modelling system MM5/CHIMERE was applied over Portugal for a winter month, for the following three scenarios: the reference scenario, considering the actual emissions of PM10; scenario 1, where residential wood combustion emissions are not considered; and scenario 2, which takes into account a complete conversion from traditional fireplaces to certified appliances (with a 90% reduction in PM emissions). The residential wood combustion contribution to PM10 air quality concentration values during January 2007 ranges from 0 to 14 μg m−3, with a mean contribution of 10 μg m−3 in the Lisboa area and 6 μg m−3 in the Porto region. Concerning the legislated values, the area where the daily average limit value (50 μg m−3) is exceeded decreases by 46% in the simulation when residential combustion is not considered. The modelling results for scenario 2 are not significantly different from those for scenario 1. In summary, the regulation of the residential wood combustion sector is as an effective way to reduce the PM10 levels in the atmosphere as regards air quality plans and programs.