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Below, a list of publications that may be of interest is presented. Abstracts are included. The list is organized as follows:
For a more complete list, please see my Resume. Click here for a selections of paper downloads. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Emblemsvåg, J. and B. Bras (2000). Activity-Based Cost and Environmental Management: A Different Approach to the ISO 14000 Compliance. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston. pp. 317. ISBN: 0-7923-7247-6. Summary: It is clear that our environment is
changing, and not for the better. Companies cannot ignore environmental issues anymore.
Public awareness is growing, legislation is tightening, and demand for ISO 14000
compliance is rising. For many, however, the field of environmental management (including
ISO 14000) is full of unfamiliar terms, high learning curves, unproductive approaches,
much frustration, and often little action. If environmental management is to become widely
accepted and self-motivated in industry, it must connect to the basic motivators for
business: increased competitiveness and profitability. ----------------------------------------- Emblemsvåg, J. (2003). Life-Cycle Costing: Using Activity-Based Costing and Monte Carlo Methods to Manage Future Costs and Risks. John Wiley & Sons, New York. pp. 320. ISBN: 0-471-35885-1. This book is also available as e-book. Summary: Most cost management efforts concern understanding the past but this book focuses on future costs, their uncertainties, and risks. It presents a new approach toward life cycle costing based on the principles of activity-based costing, uncertainty and risk management, and Monte Carlo methods. This book provides a how to methodology and shows readers that they can perform any type of cost management better than before if they introduce uncertainty into their models and exploit to the maximum what happens. ----------------------------------------- Emblemsvåg, J. (2008). Flodbølger fra Åkneset: Før eller Senere - Tiltak eller Katastrofe. Kolofon Forlag, Oslo, pp. 193. ISBN: 978-82-300-0427-2. This book is written in Norwegian. Sammendrag: Noen få kilometer fra Norges kanskje største turistattraksjon med rundt en halv million besøkende hver sommer, Geiranger, ligger Åkneset. På Åkneset er et fjellparti på størrelse med over 200 postgirobygg i sakte bevegelse, og en dag vil enten hele eller deler av dette fjellpartiet falle i fjorden og skape en enorm flodbølge som i verste fall vil ramme hele Sunnmøre i større eller mindre grad. Hardest vil det gå utover de tre kommunene Stranda, Norddal og Stordal hvor vi snakker om kanskje langt på vei utslettelse av alle kommunesentrene samt flere bygder. Tiltross for iherdig lokalt engasjement med faglig støtte fra Norges Geologiske Undersøkelse (NGU) og delvis finansiering fra staten, har ikke denne saken fått den håndteringen som trengs. Hvis ikke saken tas mer seriøst – og det snart – kan vi kanskje få en av de største naturkatastrofene i nyere norsk historie. Denne boken presenterer en uavhengig analyse av saken slik den står høsten 2007. Selv om hovedformålet med denne boken er å stille spørsmål, er det likevel tydelig at vi allerede i dag vet nok til å kunne gi en del retningslinjer. Noen retningslinjer blir trukket opp i boken, og de viser klart at med dagens linje vil det langt på vei være flaks om det går bra. I et av verdens rikeste land, kan man spørre seg; er dette godt nok? Spesielt når det er mulig med begrensede midler å løse saken uten tap av liv og kanskje uten større tap av materielle verdier. Etter Tafjord-ulykken i 1934 presterte den norske stat å beslaglegge store deler av de midlene som ble samlet inn til de kriserammede. Kanskje det er på tide at den norske stat tar sitt ansvar på alvor nå – ikke bare når det gjelder å samle inn penger?
Bras, B. A. and J. Emblemsvåg (1996). "Activity-Based Costing and Uncertainty in Designing for the Life-Cycle" in Design for X: Concurrent Engineering Imperatives, G. Q. Huang Ed., Chapman & Hall, London. Abstract: Concurrent Engineering represents a common sense approach to product realization in which all elements of the product life-cycle from conception through manufacturing to disposal are integrated into a single continuos feed-back driven design process. The primary goal of Concurrent Engineering has always been the minimization of costs over the complete life-cycle of a system while maximizing its quality and performance (Winner, R.I., J.P. Pennel, H.E. Bertrand and M.M.G. Slusarczuk (1988), IDA Report R-338). The growing importance of including environmental issues in design has amplified the impetus for companies to more formally consider the entire life-cycle of a product, from cradle to grave or even to reincarnation through recycling and reuse. In this chapter, a method for developing an Activity-Based Cost (ABC) model for use in life-cycle design under the presence of uncertainty is described. The crux in developing an ABC model is to identify the activities that will be present in the life-cycle of a product, and afterwards assign reliable cost drivers and associated consumption intensities to the activities. Uncertainty distributions are assigned to the numbers used in the calculations, representing the inherent uncertainty in the model. The effect of the uncertainty on the cost and the model behavior are found by employing a numerical simulation technique - the Monte Carlo simulation technique. The additional use of detailed process action charts and sensitivity charts allows the influence of the uncertainty to be traced through the cost model to specific product and process parameters. The method is illustrated using a detailed product demanufacturing cost model. ----------------------------------------- Emblemsvåg, J. (2005). "From Hindsight to Foresight in Strategic Cost Management" - in Handbook of Business Strategy 2006, P. Coate, Ed., Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Bradford. Abstract: Hindsight is 20/20, but foresight is better. It is time to turn cost management practices away from accurate historic numbers to approximate forecasts generated from a process-oriented framework where risk is managed and uncertainty is analyzed. This is not only highly desirable in strategic cost management, but also doable. In this paper it is explained how this can be achieved and a case is provided. ----------------------------------------- Seepersad, C.C., Pedersen K., Emblemsvag J., Bailey R., Allen J.K. and F. Mistree. (2006). “The Validation Square: How Does One Verify and Validate a Design Method?” in Decision making in engineering design, K.E. Lewis, W. Chen and L. Schmidt, Eds, ASME Press, New York, pp. 303 - 314. Abstract: Validation of engineering research has traditionally been anchored in the context of scientific inquiry that demands formal, rigorous and quantitative validation. Logical induction and deduction play key roles in this formalism, making it particularly useful for validating internal consistency within the framework of the scientific method. Since much engineering research is based on mathematical modeling, this kind of validation has worked–and still works–very well. There are, however, other areas of engineering research that rely on subjective statements as well as mathematical modeling, making formal, rigorous and quantitative validation problematic. One such area is that of design methods within the field of engineering design. In this paper, we explore the question: “How does one validate design research in general, and design methods in particular, given that many proposed designs will never be realized and that it is often infeasible to follow the realized designs through their complete life cycles?” Anchored in the tradition of scientific inquiry, research validation is strongly tied to a fundamental problem addressed in epistemology: “What is scientific knowledge, and how is new knowledge confirmed?” Thus, we first look to epistemology for: (1) reasons why the traditional approach of formal, rigorous and quantifiable validation is problematic for engineering design research; and (2) an alternative approach to research validation. We present a new validation procedure, namely, the Validation Square, and offer advice for applying it in an engineering design research context. We recognize that no one has the answer to the questions we pose. To help us converge on an answer to these questions, we think aloud and invite you to join us. It is our hope that the ensuing discussion will enrich all of us as members of the design community.
Emblemsvåg, J. (1995). Activity-Based Costing in Designing for the Life-Cycle, Master of Science Thesis, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Summary: Politicians and consumers around the world have become increasingly aware of environmental problems. New legislation has therefore been posed, e.g., car manufacturers in Germany face legislation that will force them to take back cars for recycling. This increased trend of tougher legislation makes it necessary to design products for reuse and recycling. However, today recycling and reuse are technically feasible for most products, but not economically. What is needed is a method for assessing and tracing costs with respect to design changes for the entire life-cycle of a product. In addition, the method has to handle uncertainty since this is always present in design. In this thesis, cost assessment models for use in Life-Cycle Design based on Activity-Based Costing (ABC) are presented. The inherent uncertainty is handled by employing a numerical simulation technique - the Monte Carlo simulation technique - to simulate the behavior of the model when the uncertainty is modeled in terms of fuzzy numbers. Several case studies are provided; ranging from a high level life-cycle model for the conceptual design of a handicap vehicle to a detailed demanufacturing model for a variety of products, like telephones and cars. More specifically, the following issues are addressed in the thesis:
Based on the results, we have found that our method is versatile, and indeed can be used to trace and estimate costs effectively. The results from the cost models are comparable with real-life findings. ----------------------------------------- Emblemsvåg, J. (1999). Activity-Based Life-Cycle Assessments in Design and Management, Ph.D. Dissertation, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Summary: The increasing environmental problems have made many realize that our stewardship of the planet is not sustainable. New avenues of stewardship are therefore being explored. One such avenue is Life-Cycle Assessments (LCA), which can be defined as an approach to assess the environmental impact throughout the life-cycle of a product system. However, none of the current LCA methods yield comparable results, something industry demands, to mention one problem. To remedy this unfortunate situation, we design a different LCA method that yields comparable results. Unlike the International Standards Organization and other prominent bodies for LCA research, we utilize modern cost management practices and expand them to handle environmental impacts in terms of energy consumption and waste generation because energy consumption and waste generation complement costs. Waste generation is related to the efficiency of which materials are converted into useful artifacts and services, while energy consumption is a measure of how efficient this conversion is in terms of energy. We believe that environmental issues not captured by energy consumption and waste generation must be decided upon wisely from case to case because they cannot be accounted for accurately. With these ideas in mind we designed 1) a new LCA method called Activity-Based LCA and 2) a new environmental indicator called the Waste Index (WI). Activity-Based LCA can in many ways be viewed as an extension of Activity-Based Costing because costs, energy consumption and waste generation are handled in an integrated activity-based framework. In addition, the attention directing capabilities are greatly enhanced in Activity-Based LCA by purposely adding uncertainty to the models and employing Monte Carlo methods and sensitivity analyses. The usage of Monte Carlo methods also allows remarkably easy uncertainty handling and the effects of the inherent distortions in assessments are also illustrated. Since proactiveness is vital, our assessments and identification of critical success factors are linked to product- and process design. The Waste Index is based on the basic laws of thermodynamics and chemistry and yields comparable results. It therefore overcomes the problem of incomparability. The axiom behind the WI is that ‘environmental impact can only be measured relatively by benchmarking Nature’. This represent a paradigm shift in environmental impact assessments since conventional indicators always try to relate the assessments to specific environmental problems which are inherently incomparable. Our research is validated by using three real-life case studies and an illustrative simulation case study:
Activity-Based LCA when using the Waste Index proved very useful in providing comparable results, accurate assessments, good tracing and attention directing in all these case studies. From this we conclude that Activity-Based LCA is a major improvement over conventional LCA methods.
Emblemsvåg, J. and B. A. Bras (1997). "A Method for Life-Cycle Design Cost Assessments using Activity-Based Costing and Uncertainty", International Journal of Design Automation. Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 339-354. Abstract: A growing concern about the environment has spurred the design of more environmentally benign products and processes. For businesses, the cost of such environmentally benign products and processes is of critical importance. In this paper, a method for establishing an Activity-Based Costing with Uncertainty (ACU) model for use in life-cycle design is described. The crux is to identify the activities that will be present in the life-cycle of a product, and afterwards assign reliable cost drivers to the activities. Throughout the whole process of identifying cost drivers and consumption intensities, uncertainty distributions are assigned to the numbers used in the calculations, representing the uncertainty in the model. The inherent uncertainty is handled by employing a numerical simulation technique - the Monte Carlo simulation technique - to simulate the behavior of the model. The shape of these distributions could be based on historical data or on a designer's insight. The inclusion of these uncertainties in the model has the advantage that more true to nature assumptions are made. In addition, Activity-Based Costing (ABC) facilitates the tracing of the effects of these uncertainties through the activity network. By tracing the influence of the uncertainty and variability through the activity network, it may be noted that some uncertainties have an insignificant effect and no further data or information gathering has to be undertaken. The method is highlighted in an illustrative example where a car maker faces legislation that will force a take back of cars after a car's useful life has ended and wants to know the cost or profit involved in recycling a car under presence of uncertainty. ----------------------------------------- Emblemsvåg, J. and B. Bras (1999). "LCA Comparability and the Waste Index". International Journal of Life-Cycle Assessments. Vol. 4, No. 5, pp. 282-290. Abstract: There are several problems with the current Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) methods. One of the most serious problems, in our opinion, is incomparability of results. Several industry representatives have expressed that without comparability and benchmarkability LCA will not survive long in the commercial world. It is therefore paramount that comparability is achieved. Incomparability stems from the usage of different functional units, unit processes and, most notably, different impact categorizations. We propose a new index - the Waste Index (WI) - that does not rely upon any of these techniques, but rather measures an imbalance in Nature and relies upon thermodynamics and chemistry - resulting in comparability. ----------------------------------------- Emblemsvåg, J. and B. Bras (2000). "Process Thinking - A New Paradigm for Science and Engineering." Futures. Vol. 32, No. 7, pp. 635 - 654. Abstract: As our research related to sustainability has progressed, we have realized that knowledge is not the prime problem. We believe that the ruling paradigm of science and engineering and policy needs to be critically evaluated. This paradigm holds that everything can be reduced to the tiniest particles which interact in a clockwork like fashion. However, new discoveries has lead to the concept of 'systems thinking'. Systems thinking is particularly important in dealing with our environmental problems and other large scale open-ended problems. But is systems thinking sufficient? We intend to show that systems thinking is a major step in the right direction, but it is insufficient in handling the increasing environmental problems of our planet. We believe that 'process thinking' is a better paradigm due to the profound importance of change and continuous improvement. The superficial understanding of change in science and engineering has, in our opinion, resulted in what we call the 'Dogmas of Science and Engineering' which are the main roots of our problems. A new paradigm must therefore violate these dogmas for mankind to overcome the problems we are facing. This new paradigm must permeate the entire society as well, hence both scientific and political leadership is crucial. ----------------------------------------- Emblemsvåg, J. (2001). "Activity-Based Life-Cycle Costing". Managerial Auditing Journal. Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 17 - 27. Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to present a new method for Life-Cycle Costing (LCC) called Activity-Based LCC which derives from the comprehensive Activity-Based Cost and Environmental Management method. A real-life case study of a Platform Supply Vessel operating in the North Sea is utilized to present the method, illustrate an implementation including results and discuss the benefits. Furthermore, due to the inherent uncertainty in LCC handling of uncertainty is emphasized. A crucial side-effect of handling uncertainty by employing Monte Carlo simulations - as prescribed by the method - is the greatly enhanced tracing of critical success factors. Such tracing enables the shipowners to increase long term profitability by focusing on what is critical to their success. Also, a design option of using Heavy Fuel Oil versus Marine Gas Oil is investigated. ----------------------------------------- Emblemsvåg, J. and L. E. Kjølstad (2002). "Strategic Risk Analysis - a Field Version". Management Decision. Vol. 40, No. 9, pp. 842-852. Abstract: Most people agree that preparing for the future is necessary to excel, but doing it effectively is difficult. All risk analyses offer some foresight, but tools based on classic probabilistic calculus open for deception through apparent accuracy in some situations because ambiguity and fuzziness is largely ignored. We believe this is particularly a problem in strategic settings as it may lead to less informed decision-making. We also believe that Strategic Risk Analysis can hardly be performed well without matching risk management actions to the organization’s characteristics. We therefore present a new approach towards Strategic Risk Analysis that remedies the two aforementioned problems. The purpose is to analyze strategic risks in a meaningful and practical way, yet capable of handling the broader scope of strategic risk. The approach is illustrated by a case. ----------------------------------------- Emblemsvåg, J. and L. Tonning (2003). "Decision Support in Selecting Maintenance Organization". Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering. Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 11-24. Abstract: Selecting a satisfactory maintenance organization to support costly and technologically advanced assets with a long life-cycle is not easy. There are numerous objectives to fulfill and many are changing. There are many fuzzy and multi-dimensional decision criteria and significant uncertainties and risks. Additionally, stakeholders from industry and government may not share similar interests, and this restricts the range of alternative solutions. Yet, we must select the complete maintenance organization for these assets to ensure product integrity through life compliant to end-user needs. This paper discusses how the Analytic Hierarchy Process is applied in a method to identity the preferred maintenance organization for one particular weapons system of the Norwegian Army. We also find it necessary to evaluate the robustness of the decision using Monte Carlo simulations and to employ sensitivity analyses to identify critical success factors. ----------------------------------------- Emblemsvåg, J. (2003). "The Green Invisible Hand". Foresight. Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 11-19. Abstract: The idea behind the Invisible Hand is that when market participants pursue their own self-interest constrained by sympathy for man and economic rivalry they satisfy the needs of others more effectually than if they intentionally tried to satisfy those needs. This pursuit of self-interest drives the marketplace towards generation of wealth, and it has undoubtedly led to many technical and societal marvels, but limitations are evident because the material wealth has partly been developed at the expense of the natural- and social wealth. To improve this unfortunate situation we need to fundamentally reengineer commerce. Some ideas are discussed here – an important one is the concept of money because an environmental equivalent of money is needed to make the Invisible Hand ‘green’. ----------------------------------------- Emblemsvåg, J. (2004) “Activity-Based Costing and Economic Profit – Why, What and How”. Cost Management (fmr. Journal of Cost Management). Vol. 18. July/August. pp. 38-46. Abstract: Activity-Based Costing (ABC) is recognized for providing excellent decision support for a variety of management activities. By combining ABC and Economic Profit (EP), however, a company can better understand how to profitably manage its capital because the basis for managing costs is more complete. A case study is provided to show how to combine ABC and EP. ----------------------------------------- Emblemsvåg, J. and L. E. Kjølstad (2006). "Qualitative Risk Analysis - some problems and remedies". Management Decision. Vol. 44, No. 3, pp. 395-408. Abstract: Risk management is increasingly on the corporate agenda, but experience and research indicate that the current, qualitative risk management approaches produce widely different results depending on the chosen approach and how it is facilitated. This is a problem because it may ultimately undermine the whole notion of risk management. In this paper we therefore present some possible remedies in the risk analysis part. The most important remedies include 1) properly capturing the difference between risk and uncertainty, 2) ensuring consistency in the risk analysis, 3) matching risk and capabilities and 4) managing information. All these remedies can be effectuated in a single approach using Analytic Hierarchy Process and Monte Carlo methods. In this paper we show how, and our discussion is supported by functional examples. ----------------------------------------- Emblemsvåg, J. (2008). “On probability in risk analysis of natural disasters”. Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal. Vol. 17, No. 4, pp. 508-518. Abstract: The analysis of risks of natural disasters is an important part of disaster prevention and management, and it typically follows a standard risk analysis process. But there are pitfalls. One pitfall is that the risk analysis is commonly based on the frequency interpretation of probability. This paper illustrates that unless this pitfall is properly addressed decision-makers run the risk of being greatly mislead particularly for so called low-probability and high-consequence disasters. The paper uses the case of the Åknes project in Norway as illustration. At Åknes there is a mountain from which up to 100 million m3 of rocks may slide into the deep fjord beneath causing a tidal wave of disastrous proportions – possibly killing thousands. ----------------------------------------- Emblemsvåg, J. (2010). "The augmented subjective risk management process". Management Decision. Vol. 4, No. 2, pp.248 – 259. Abstract: Risk management is increasingly on the corporate agenda, but experience and research indicate that current, risk management approaches produce widely different results depending on the chosen approach and how it is facilitated. This is not a desirable situation because it can ultimately undermine the whole notion of risk management. In this paper, an augmented subjective risk management process is therefore presented as a preliminary and partial solution to the problem to at least invoke some debate and further research. The approach is not radically different in the overall process, but three major aspects are emphasized; 1) consistent risk analysis, 2) consistent information management and 3) knowledge management. The discussion is supported by a functional example of information management.
Conference Papers with Referee Emblemsvåg, J. and B. A. Bras (1995). "The Use of Activity-Based Costing, Uncertainty and Disassembly Action Charts in Demanufacture Cost Assessments". 1995 ASME Advances in Design Automation Conference, Ed., Boston, Massachusetts, ASME, Sept 17-20, 1995. Abstract: In this paper, the development of an Activity-Based Cost (ABC) model is presented for use in design for demanufacture under the presence of uncertainty. Demanufacture is defined as the process opposite to manufacturing involved in recycling materials and product components after a product has been taken back by a company. The crux in developing an ABC model is to identify the activities that will be present in the demanufacturing process of a product, and afterwards assign reliable cost drivers and associated consumption intensities to the activities. Uncertainty distributions are assigned to the numbers used in the calculations , representing the inherent uncertainty in the model. The effect of the uncertainty on the cost and model behavior are found by employing a numerical simulation technique. The additional use of disassembly action charts allows the influence of the uncertainty to be traced through the cost model to specific demanufacture process and product design parameters. ----------------------------------------- Emblemsvåg, J. and B. Bras (1997). "An Activity-Based Life-Cycle Assessment Method". 1997 ASME Design Engineering Technical Conference, Sacramento, California, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Sept 14 - 17, 1997. Abstract: In this paper, a new activity-based method for the concurrent assessment and tracing of costs, energy consumption and waste generation for usage in Life-Cycle Design is presented. The method is based on Activity-Based Costing (ABC). By utilizing ABC we are able to assess and trace accurately overhead - and direct costs, energy and waste generation.. The inherent uncertainty is modeled in terms of fuzzy numbers, but solved numerically using the Monte Carlo simulation technique, which allows us to perform a sensitivity analysis. This enables us to not only estimate the costs, energy consumption and waste generation, but also trace the largest contributors. The capability to trace the contributors is perhaps the most significant feature - especially when the method is employed for design. To illustrate the usage of this method, a simple case study is provided in which we explore the life-span costs, energy consumption and waste generation of a oil/gas exploration platform supply vessel operating in the North Sea. ----------------------------------------- Emblemsvåg, J. and B. Bras (1998). "Financial Analysis, Critical Assumption Planning and Uncertainty in Product Development". 1998 International Conference on Achieving Excellence in New Product Development and Management, Atlanta, Georgia. Product Development & Management Association (PDMA). Abstract: Uncertainty analysis and critical assumption planning are vital activities in product development, and traditionally this is done by assessing risk and manually varying the model parameters. This approach is inaccurate and laborious. Monte Carlo methods with sensitivity analyses reduce these problems significantly because uncertainty is modeled more realistically and the impact of uncertainty on the performance measures is assessed. A simple financial analysis of services provided by Farstad Shipping to oil companies illustrates the approach. ----------------------------------------- Emblemsvåg, J. and B. A. Bras (1998). "ISO 14000 and Activity-Based Life-Cycle Assessment in Environmentally Conscious Design and Manufacturing: A Comparison". 1998 ASME Design Engineering Technical Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Sept 14 - 17, 1998. Abstract: As a part of the new ISO 14000 environmental management standard, standards for conducting Life-Cycle Assessments (LCAs) are proposed. In this paper we compare these standards to Activity-Based LCA by using a toy manufacturer called WagonHo!, Inc. as an implementation test case. In this case study, both economical and environmental assessments are made of the product- and process designs. Because the ISO 14000 LCA does not incorporate costing methods, we have used Variable Costing combined with standard times. Activity-Based LCA, on the other hand, combines an Activity-Based Costing (ABC) like method and activity-based environmental impact assessment methods into a single method. The ISO 14000 and Activity-Based LCA are compared with respect to assessment accuracy and how well they indicate areas in need of redesign. Due to the need of short-term survival caused by a severe negative economic result, we will mainly look at process design and market strategies, because product design is a more long-term effort. It is shown that in this case, Activity-Based LCA is superior to ISO 14000 based LCA - possibly in most situations.
Fet, Annik M., Emblemsvåg, Jan and Johannessen, Jan T. (1996): "Environmental Impacts and Activity Based Costing during Operation of a Platform Supply Vessel", Møreforsking Ålesund. Rapport nummer Å 9604. Summary: In this report the methodologies concerning Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) are discussed and tested out in a limited way. The preliminary result is that the methodologies seems to be appropriate tools for tracing costs and environmental impact during the life time of complicated systems as e.g. ships. This project has been a project under the research program "Environmental management in a life cycle perspective". The program committee has interacted with other projects within this program (including amongst four shipyards). The project leader at Farstad Shipping ASA has been Jan H. Farstad. Bjarne Nygaaren and Jim Watt have also participated in the project. The project leader at Møre Research Ålesund has been Annik Magerholm Fet. The other project participants at MFÅ have been Jan Emblemsvåg, Jahn Terje Johannessen and Alfred Angelfoss. The results are, except from confidential information, collected in a main report covering data presentation, evaluation, suggestions for further actions and conclusions which will be a part of a joint report to the Kommunal and Arbeidsdepartementet. The total budget for this project was NOK 182.500,-. ----------------------------------------- Emblemsvåg, J. and B. A. Bras (1998). "Energy Accounting - A Step Towards Sustainability". The 42nd Annual Meeting of the International Society of Systems Sciences, Atlanta, Georgia, International Society of Systems Sciences (ISSS). Abstract: After the oil embargo in 1973, the world realized how important a steady energy supply is. Energy studies were conducted, but after the initial shock of the oil embargo the interest in energy analyses gradually declined. We believe it is time to revive the energy studies, and in this paper we launch the idea of Energy Accounting equally to monetary accounting with similar General Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). There are two major reasons for reviving energy studies: (1) The importance of energy in socio-economic and consequently sustainable development and (2) the strong correlation between energy consumption and pollution. Energy Accounting will most likely also give an economic return, however, this is not the focus of this paper. We are convinced that Energy Accounting can force the marketplace - organizations and end-users - toward higher energy efficiency and thereby towards less relative environmental impact. Environmental laws and regulations can then concentrate on issues not related to energy consumption, such as toxicity, because the general pollution prevention - which is related to large-scale problems such as global warming - will be handled in the marketplace by Energy Accounting and energy taxation. If Energy Accounting was established, at least in the industrialized world, the market would itself develop energy management systems and the incentive to use them would be along the lines of having cost management systems today. In our opinion, this is in sharp contrast to the ad hoc LCA methodology developed by, e.g., International Standards Organization (ISO). In this paper, we therefore intend to show that Energy Accounting is feasible from a methods point of view, and that Energy Accounting would be an important step towards sustainability. ----------------------------------------- Emblemsvåg, J. And B. Bras (1999). "Integrating Economic and Environmental Performance Measurements Using Activity-Based LCA". Sixth International Seminar on Life Cycle Engineering, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, CIRP. Abstract: The increasingly complex marketplace has fueled a trend towards performance measurement integration. Traditionally, cost management, environmental management and design have been separated by almost impenetrable functional walls. Here, we present a cross-functional system that gives decision support with respect to both management and design; costs and environmental impact. The system is implemented based on the Activity-Based Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method, which is a significant extension of Activity-Based Costing (ABC) as it handles costs, energy consumption, waste generation and uncertainty. In this paper we present how an Activity-Based LCA system is implemented in one of Norway’s leading mattress and bed manufacturers and the associated results. ----------------------------------------- Emblemsvåg, J. and B. Bras (2000). "Industry Experiences with Activity-Based LCA". Total Life Cycle Conference and Exposition (TLC), April 26-28, 2000, Detroit, MI. Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). Ref. No. 2000 - 01 - 1464. Abstract: In this paper, we discuss our experiences with applying an approach called Activity-Based Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) in industrial settings. In contrast to other Life-Cycle Assessment approaches, we have taken modern cost management practices such as Activity-Based Costing as basis for our approach to environmental impact assessment. The resulting method, Activity-Based LCA, is an extension of Activity-Based Costing as it handles costs, energy consumption and waste generation simultaneously under the presence of uncertainty in a single framework. ----------------------------------------- Emblemsvåg, J. and B. Bras (2000). "Activity-Based Cost and Environmental Assessments". Proceedings 2000 ASME National Conference. Chicago, Illinois. ASME. Abstract: In this paper, we discuss our approach called Activity-Based Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) that integrates economic and environmental assessments. In contrast to other Life-Cycle Assessment approaches, we have taken modern cost management practices such as Activity-Based Costing as a basis for our approach to environmental impact assessment. The resulting method, Activity-Based LCA, is an extension of Activity-Based Costing as it handles costs, energy consumption and waste generation simultaneously under the presence of uncertainty in a single framework. ----------------------------------------- Emblemsvåg, J. (2005). "Kicking away the Ladder: Development Strategy in Historical Perspective". On The Horizon. Vol. 13, No. 3. pp. 186 - 191. Abstract: This is a review of a book titled Kicking Away the Ladder, in which Ha-Joon Chang discussed how the now-developed countries became wealthy and what lessons this should provide for establishing a suitable framework for developing countries today. His historical analysis shows convincingly that the now-developed countries used largely employed interventionist policies to grow, and that their institutions were poorly developed. In fact, today’s developing countries are less protectionist and have better institutions than the now-developed countries had at comparable stages of development. He concludes that the current framework in effect ‘kicks away the ladder’ the now-developed countries used to achieve wealth and prosperity. While I find his historical analysis to be accurate, I do not concur with his conclusions of the present. ----------------------------------------- Emblemsvåg, J. (2005). "Business analytics: getting behind the numbers". International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management. Vol. 54, No. 1, pp. 47-58. Abstract: Many business analysts have a tendency to ‘torture’ their numbers for a long while only to discover that they did not get anywhere ending up in paralysis by analysis. Using concept like the Law of Large Numbers to simplify both the model building and the interpretation of its results, basing decisions on averages, medians and modes and ignoring uncertainty and risks they miss the most insightful part of many types of analyses – the analysis of variation. As argued here, by paying closer attention to the sources of and the impact of variation, true insight from numbers can be gained in scores of business applications. More importantly, a learning process can be facilitated. ----------------------------------------- Settanni, E. and J. Emblemsvag (2008). "Enterprise Input-Output Accounting: a non-deterministic approach". International Input-Output Meeting on Managing the Environment, July 9-11, Seville. Abstract: Input-Output Analysis (IOA) provides a computational structure which is interesting for many applications within supply chain analysis and business processes analysis. These applications are usually performed as static and deterministic analyses, especially as far as cost accounting is concerned. The aim of this paper is to introduce elements of uncertainty analysis within an environmentally-extended Input-Output technological model at the enterprise level, which is common to the environmental accounting and the cost accounting. This will allow both backcasting and forecasting to aid management towards taking informed actions. The approach is built bottom-up from the basic operations within the enterprise, describing each internal process in terms of parameters that reasonably approximate its real characteristics. Monte Carlo methods will be employed to assess how the uncertainty associated with such estimated parameters of the model – especially the price which is expected to correspond for the external purchasing of resources – may affect its expected outcomes. Besides production planning and product costing, such framework can also be employed in order to evaluate what effect different design solutions are likely to have on both the material flows which link a supply chain of production processes, and even the associated whole-life costs. |
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