Human resource management and competitive advantage: An application of resource-based view in the shipping industry

The resource-based view (RBV) of the firm has been established as one of the main approaches to strategy formulation for the development of sustainable competitive advantage. Moreover, human resource management can be conceptualised as a source of competitiveness. This paper proposes that RBV could contribute to the confrontation of the hindrances that shipping companies face in the management of their human resources, and to the formation of sustainable competitive advantage. The paper analyses the findings of a field study, regarding the different human resource and crew management practices that are applied by Greek-owned shipping companies. Finally, based on the RBV of the firm, it proposes an integrated framework for managing human resources in the shipping industry in a way that could lead to the formation of sustainable competitive advantage.     

Use of non-linear localization for isolating structures from earthquake-induced motions

The dynamic response due to earthquake-induced excitations of multi-storey buildings simulated by a cantilever (with attached concentrated masses) supported on a flexible foundation, is reconsidered when stiffness non-linearities are included. To this end, a suitable non-linear spring-mass device is placed between the ground and the mass of the foundation, which under certain conditions can absorb a significant amount of seismic energy over a large frequency range, thus drastically reducing the seismic response of the foundation. This is achieved by the stiffness non-linearity that gives rise to a localization phenomenon, according to which motions generated by external disturbances remain passively localized close to the point of seismic excitation instead of ‘spreading’ to the entire structure. The implications of these findings to the design of earthquake-resistant structures are discusssed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Organization of Emergency Response After a Major Disaster Event in an Urban Area with the Help of an Automatic Vehicle Location and Control System

The quick response of civil authorities after a major disaster event in an urban area is essential for the reduction of damages and impacts to human lives. One of the first critical problems to be solved at the very early stages of response is the optimum management of emergency vehicles and real time knowledge of the accessibility of the road network. In this article the concept of using a number of emergency vehicles as sensors for monitoring the traffic conditions in an urban area after a major disaster event is described. The fleet management system used for this taks is working with ral time DGPS. The system makes use of existing vehicle fleets in the urban area, rapidly collecting data and covering the whole road network. It records travel times with the help of the GPS system for every road segment driven through by each vehicle sensor, thus providing a digital time database from which traffic parameters can be also computed. It can be used for real time monitoring of traffic conditions under disaster or emergency situations where all the previously available data become invalid or unreliable. ? 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Using detrital garnets to determine provenance: a case study from the Vertiskos Unit (Serbomacedonian Massif,N. Greece)

Garnet single crystals of several millimeters in diameter were collected from the uppermost horizon of a soil profile developing immediately on the gneissic rocks of the Vertiskos Unit of the Serbomacedonian Massif in northern Greece. The garnets were analyzed for major elements by EDS analyzer mounted on a scanning electron microscope, and the obtained data were utilized to determine their source rocks. Bivariate diagrams, spider diagrams as well as statistical analysis were used in order to correlate and compare the garnet composition of the basement rocks of the Vertiskos Unit with the existing reference data. This case study demonstrates the difficulty in assigning a source rock to sediment, using only the chemical compositional of detrital garnet. Direct linking of the detrital garnets and the outcropping rocks is not always possible despite well documented outcrop lithologies. This is largely due to a complex metamorphic evolution that leads to overlapping compositions between garnets originating from different lithologies that have undergone similar metamorphic processes and alteration effects.     

Finite element analysis of damage and failure of reinforced concrete members under earthquake loading

This paper presents a three‐dimensional analysis framework, based on the explicit finite element method, for the simulation of reinforced concrete components under cyclic static and dynamic loading. A recently developed triaxial constitutive model for concrete is combined with a material model for reinforcing steel which can account for rupture due to low‐cycle fatigue. The reinforcing bars are represented with geometrically nonlinear beam elements to account for buckling of the reinforcement. The strain penetration effect is also accounted for in the models. The modeling scheme is used in a commercial finite element program and validated with the results of experimental static and dynamic tests on reinforced concrete columns and walls. The analyses are supplemented with a parametric study to investigate the impact of several modeling assumptions on the obtained results.     

Epithermal gold mineralisation in the active Aegean Volcanic Arc: the Profitis Ilias deposit, Milos Island, Greece

The Profitis Ilias gold deposit, located on the western part of Milos Island, Greece, is the first epithermal gold deposit discovered in the Pliocene–Pleistocene Aegean volcanic arc. Estimated ore reserves are 5 million tonnes grading 4.4 g/tonne Au and 43 g/tonne Ag. The deposit is closely associated with a horst and graben structure, and occurs in a series of steep interconnected crustiform-banded quartz veins up to 3 m wide, extending to depths of at least 300 m. The mineralisation occurs in three stages and is hosted by 3.5–2.5 Ma old silicified and sericitised rhyolitic lapilli-tuffs and ignimbrites. It consists of pyrite, galena, chalcopyrite, electrum and native gold. Additionally, adularia occurs with quartz mainly in veins. Homogenisation temperatures of primary liquid-rich inclusions vary from 145 to 399 °C for the ore stage, and 112 to 263 °C for the post-ore stage. Salinities range between 0.1 and 11.4 wt% NaCl equiv. and 0.93 to 8.5 wt% NaCl equiv. for the ore stage and the post-ore stage, respectively. Rare vapour-rich inclusions in ore stage quartz homogenise between 368 and 399 °C and estimates of eutectic melting (−25 to −38 °C) indicate the presence of Ca and Mg in the ore fluids. Sample elevation versus fluid inclusion T_h–salinity relationships show (1) a high-salinity trend, where moderate-temperature (300–250 °C) and moderate-salinity brines (∼3 wt% NaCl equiv.) trend to high-salinity (up to 15 wt% NaCl equiv.) fluids with lower (∼25–50 °C) homogenisation temperatures, and (2) a high-T_h trend where moderate-salinity and moderate-temperature brines (200–250 °C; 3 wt% NaCl equiv.) develop into low-salinity (<1 wt% NaCl equiv.), high-temperature (>350 °C) fluids. These trends are best explained by extreme boiling and vapourisation phenomena between 200 and 250 °C. The 430–450 m asl (metres above sea level) level marks the transition between a lower liquid-dominated segment of the system where only the steep high-salinity trend is seen, and an upper vapour-dominated segment where the high-T_h trend or a combination of both are seen. There is a close spatial association between mineable gold grades and the upper segment of the system. Depth-to-boiling curves suggest that the paleo-surface was ∼200 m above the present summit of Profitis Ilias. Comparison of the mineralisation and fluid geochemistry at Profitis Ilias with that of the nearby modern geothermal system indicates that the processes of metal mineralisation have probably been continuous since the Late Pliocene. Received: 24 February 2000 / Accepted: 15 July 2000     

Satellite motion in a non-singular gravitational potential

We study the effects of a non-singular gravitational potential on satellite orbits by deriving the corresponding time rates of change of its orbital elements. This is achieved by expanding the non-singular potential into power series up to second order. This series contains three terms, the first been the Newtonian potential and the other two, here R ₁ (first order term) and R ₂ (second order term), express deviations of the singular potential from the Newtonian. These deviations from the Newtonian potential are taken as disturbing potential terms in the Lagrange planetary equations that provide the time rates of change of the orbital elements of a satellite in a non-singular gravitational field. We split these effects into secular, low and high frequency components and we evaluate them numerically using the low Earth orbiting mission Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE). We show that the secular effect of the second-order disturbing term R ₂ on the perigee and the mean anomaly are 4″.307×10⁻⁹/a, and −2″.533×10⁻¹⁵/a, respectively. These effects are far too small and most likely cannot easily be observed with today’s technology. Numerical evaluation of the low and high frequency effects of the disturbing term R ₂ on low Earth orbiters like GRACE are very small and undetectable by current observational means.     

Environmental status of the metropolitan river (Kifissos) of Athens,Greece

Surficial and sub-surficial sediments obtained from the lower course of the Kifissos River, which drains the Athens Basin, have been analyzed for heavy metals and aliphatic and polycyclic hydrocarbons. Oddly, the calculated enrichment factors for the identified heavy metals, with the baseline taken from a pristine area in the adjacent Saronikos Gulf, are very low excluding only those related to Cu and Zn. In contrast, the enrichment factors for the measured hydrocarbons are particularly high. However, physicochemical water conditions and annual flushing episodes of the Kifissos River may have reduced significantly the sediment chemical fingerprint found out by the present study. Moreover, an evaluation of the fluvial sediment quality based on the enriched Cu and Zn amounts and concentration of PAH fraction with a consideration of the biological thresholds proposed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (USA) reveals little probability for serious biological impairments. Additionally, sediment toxicity due to the sediment PAH load may be considered as minimum.