Method of evaluating the impact of ERP implementation critical success factors – a case study in oil and gas industries

The so far implemented enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems have in many cases failed to meet the requirements regarding the business process control, decrease of business costs and increase of company profit margin. Therefore, there is a real need for an evaluation of the influence of ERP on the company's performance indicators. Proposed in this article is an advanced model for the evaluation of the success of ERP implementation on organisational and operational performance indicators in oil–gas companies. The recommended method establishes a correlation between a process-based method, a scorecard model and ERP critical success factors. The method was verified and tested on two case studies in oil–gas companies using the following procedure: the model was developed, tested and implemented in a pilot gas–oil company, while the results were implemented and verified in another gas–oil company.     

Urban Climatology Applied to Urban Planning: A Postwar Knowledge Circulation Failure

The article discusses an instance of knowledge that failed to circulate — the application of urban climatology in town planning. This field of applied science was systematized in German‐speaking universities and cities and remains most firmly established in North‐Central Europe. In the decades after the second world war successive commissions and study groups of the World Meteorological Organization, the International Federation of Housing and Planning, the Confédération Internationale du Bâtiment and the International Society for Biometeorology sought to spread awareness of climatological factors among planners and architects worldwide. The article examines the organizations and individuals involved in this campaign, describes their meetings, publications and outreach, and assesses the disappointing impact. The legacy of this failure is considered in the context of present‐day interest in planning for carbon mitigation and climate‐change adaptation.     

浅析城市规划与建设

本文论述了当前城市规划与建设中存在的问题,本市规划的思路与对策。     

国家示范性高职院校学报办刊的困境与对策

从稿源的内向性、栏目设置、传统管理方式等方面分析了目前高职院校学报办刊模式的现状,结合国家示范性高职院校建设的内涵,从理念、管理机制和编辑策划等方面提出改进高职院校学报办刊模式的思考。     

Editorial

No abstract available for this article.     

Maritime tourism and terrorism: customer perceptions of the potential terrorist threat to cruise shipping

Maritime terrorism is a neglected area of research in tourism, particularly the use of scenario planning to understand potential threats to the cruise industry. Since the events of 9/11, terrorism, and the threat of terrorism, has become a major concern within the tourism industry. This article analyses tourist perception of perceived terrorist threats given that many ships are American owned. Using the scenario analysis presented by Greenberg, Chalk, Willis, Khilko, and Ortiz, this study suggests that an attack on a cruise ship is a distinct possibility. Indeed, 44% of respondents questioned perceived the possibility of a terrorist attack on a cruise ship to be likely despite the fact that safety and security is seen by the industry as a ‘hallmark’ of cruising. Differences in attitude among potential passengers revealed a high level of confidence in the cruise ship companies. This finding is particularly marked among more experienced cruise ship passengers. However, this did not necessarily preclude the possibility of security measures being improved. All passengers appeared generally resigned to the fact that risk is associated with travel in the twenty-first century and welcomed any efforts by cruise shipping companies to improve safety and security.     

Biofuels and ecoagriculture: can bioenergy production enhance landscape-scale ecosystem conservation and rural livelihoods?

Global development of the biofuel sector is proceeding rapidly, driven by national policy mandates, government subsidies, and profit opportunities for farmers, agribusiness and energy companies. To date, most investment in—and dialogue on—biofuels has focused on large-scale production of liquid transport fuels. A smaller set of efforts has explored the potential of biofuels to promote rural development by reducing energy poverty among the world's two billion poorest people. Here, we consider the potential of these diverse approaches to promote the goals of ecoagriculture: namely, sustainable agricultural production (including biofuel feedstocks), conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services and viable rural livelihoods. Using a landscape planning framework, we review empirical evidence and identify criteria for designing biofuel production systems that promote this trio of goals. Biofuel development has the greatest potential when biomass production is an ‘interstitial’ activity and when processing and use occurs at the local level. Larger scale production for regional or global liquid fuel markets may be beneficial under some circumstances, but a stronger policy framework is needed to guide this approach. To advance biofuels for sustainable development, while avoiding serious risks, investment must shift to include a variety of ecoagriculture-compatible pathways. Supportive public policies and market incentives must be developed before the biofuel sector develops strong path-dependence toward unsustainable outcomes.     

西流湖片区的生态分析方法及规划途径

伴随城市化进程加速,城市内部自然生态资源面临着严峻的现实状况.很多自然斑块消失殆尽,西流湖作为郑州曾经非常闻名的自然景观资源同样也遭受严重的破坏,甚至几乎消失.在生态系统如此脆弱的今天,自然资源对于城市的作用变得尤为珍贵.生态分析方法对西流湖现状环境进行了科学的分析,在此基础上对场地进行恢复和开发,更注重了景观规划的生态效益,为城市自然资源的保护与利用提供了具有借鉴性的可持续规划途径.