An interactive decision support system for designing appropriate and adaptive sampling procedures in electric utility load research

Confidence interval estimation of customer demand for electricity plays a vital role in the capacity and financial planning of electric utility companies. Inaccurate or inadequate estimation could severely affect the economic efficiency of these companies. Selecting the appropriate sampling procedure is, in turn, critical to ensuring success in the accurate estimation of electrical demand. Because of the nature and diversity of demand for electricity, however, classical sampling procedures have to be extensively modified. This paper describes a decision support system (DSS) that aids electric utility companies in selecting and designing appropriate sampling plans. The DSS adapts sophisticated statistical techniques to address all aspects of the sampling procedure.     

An Empirical Investigation of the Relationship Between Change in Corporate Social Performance and Financial Performance: A Stakeholder Theory Perspective

Stakeholder theory provides a framework for investigating the relationship between corporate social performance (CSP) and corporate financial performance. This relationship is investigated by examining how change in CSP is related to change in financial accounting measures. The findings provide some support for a tenet in stakeholder theory which asserts that the dominant stakeholder group, shareholders, financially benefit when management meets the demands of multiple stakeholders. Specifically, change in CSP was positively associated with growth in sales for the current and subsequent year. This indicates that there are short-term benefits from improving CSP. Return on sales was significantly positively related to change in CSP for the third financial period, indicating that long-term financial benefits may exist when CSP is improved.