Major fire in a steam-methane reformer furnace

Causes of a major fire which resulted when a pigtail ruptured on a 10-year old hydrogen plant reformer and led to the destruction of 54 catalyst tubes.     

Consumer Response to Adjustable Rate Mortgages: Implications of the Evidence from Illinois and Wisconsin

The innovation-adoption framework is used to determine consumers' levels of awareness of AMIs and the degrees to which they are able and willing to evaluate and/or accept the complicated alternatives available to them. A mail survey of consumers in Illinois and Wisconsin was structured to compare previous studies on this topic and to compare consumers across various demographic categories. Results indicate that awareness of AMIs is increasing, as is the willingness to accept them with an initial interest rate discount and a limitation on the range over which the interest rate can fluctuate. Findings suggest that some consumers have moved beyond the information-gathering stage, now view nontraditional mortgages as a legitimate mechanism for financing home purchases, and are willing to accept certain configurations of these instruments.     

Orientations Toward Consumerism: A Test of a Two-Dimensional Theory

Some past studies concerning attitudes toward consumer public policy issues have attempted to distinguish characteristics of consumerism supporters from those of nonsupporters. Results to date have been largely inconsistent. This study incorporates a solution preference dimension into the supporter/nonsupporter analysis in order to help resolve past identification anomalies and to suggest a theoretical explanation for diverse orientations. More specifically, a two-dimensional theory of consumerism orientations is developed and tested as a special case of Rokeach's broader Two-Value Theory of Political Orientations. The survey data presented tend to general support the hypothesized theoretical structure.     

The Production of Institutional Behaviour: A Constructive Comment on the Use of Institutionalization Theory in Organizational Analysis

I argue that the development of institutional theories of the formal structure of organizations have assumed that the implementation of institutional behaviours is a routine activity. This has resulted in a neglect of the problems facing organizations attempting to meet institutional demands. Data from a study of the adoption of professional institutions by accounting associations is used to identify four sources of problems in implementing institutional behaviours: (1) pragmatic difficulties; (2) conflicts with organizational “identities”; (3) inter-organizational conflicts; and, (4) intra-organizational conflicts. Résumé Cette étude soutient que les théories institutionnelles concernant les structures organisationnelles ont présumé que l'adoption de comportements institutionnels s'effectue de routine. Ceci a donc donnée lieu à un oubli des problèmes auxques doivent faire face les entreprises qui tentent de respecter les exigences institutionnelles. Les données d'une étude relative à l'adoption d'institutions professionnelles au sein d'associations comptables est utilisée pour identifier quatre sources de problèmes dans l'adoption de comportements institutionnels: (1) difficultés d'ordre pratique (2) conflits avec les diverses identités institutionnelles (3) conflits intra-organisationnels (4) conflits inter-organisationnels.