Job stress, social support, job satisfaction and absenteeism among offshore oil personnel

The major aim of this study was to examine how job stress in the offshore working environment may affect workers experience of strain. This study also analyses both the main and moderator effect of social support on the association between job stress and strain. The association between strain and absenteeism is also analysed. The analyses are based on a self-completion questionnaire survey among employees on offshore oil installations in the Norwegian part of the North Sea (n = 1137). The data collection was carried out in 1994. A similar study was conducted in 1990. Job stress was found to be associated with job dissatisfaction, as well as experience of strain. Social support from a supervisor had a main effect on strain. Some evidence of the moderating effects of social support were found. The employees who had been absent from work experienced most strain. It is concluded that job stress predicted job dissatisfaction and strain. In turn, strain and absenteeism were associated with each other. These results suggest that improving organizational and social factors should be the focal area in health promotion in the offshore oil industry.     

ENOP: Organizational issues in hospitals

Abstract

The major aim of this study was to examine how job stress in the offshore working environment may affect workers experience of strain. This study also analyses both the main and moderator effect of social support on the association between job stress and strain. The association between strain and absenteeism is also analysed. The analyses are based on a self-completion questionnaire survey among employees on offshore oil installations in the Norwegian part of the North Sea (n = 1137). The data collection was carried out in 1994. A similar study was conducted in 1990. Job stress was found to be associated with job dissatisfaction, as well as experience of strain. Social support from a supervisor had a main effect on strain. Some evidence of the moderating effects of social support were found. The employees who had been absent from work experienced most strain. It is concluded that job stress predicted job dissatisfaction and strain. In turn, strain and absenteeism were associated with each other. These results suggest that improving organizational and social factors should be the focal area in health promotion in the offshore oil industry.     

Using simulation to manage project supply chain in the offshore oil and gas industry

This paper is aimed at comparing simulation against spreadsheets as decision support tools to properly manage project supply chain in the offshore oil and gas industry. The paper presents a case study related to the problem of sizing a chain for pipeline laying from an offshore field in the Barents sea to the Russian coast. Results obtained through a spreadsheet developed by an oil and gas company have been compared to the ones gathered from an ad hoc simulation model. A simulation model with no stochastic variable has been introduced: results are quite similar to the ones of the spreadsheet, which allowed to validate the simulation model. However, the spreadsheet cannot take into account the continuous move of the pipe-lay vessel while laying the pipes and it does not consider stochastic variables whose effect in real life is not negligible. Both weaknesses above are discussed.     

Collaborative innovation: the decade that radically changed drilling performance

This article sheds light on key factors associated with innovations that are mainly based on experiential learning. The history of a company engaged in the offshore oil and gas industry exemplifies the points: Hitec started out as a small company with limited financial resources, but over a 10-year period, its innovations and improvements radically transformed offshore oil and gas drilling operations. An evolutionary methodological approach is balanced by theoretically informed analysis. A main finding is that customer–supplier interaction was crucial. Hitec's success, crowned by its eventual acquisition by American capital, can be attributed in part to the know-how and technology provided by one of its suppliers and partners during the early phase. However, it has also depended on a series of other factors: a flexible, motivated and creative organisation; targeting of the right know-how; being part of a cluster and thus enjoying easy access to important customers and suppliers as well as easy, informal flow of ideas and information; developers and entrepreneurs prepared to take risks; being in the right place at the right time; a good measure of luck; the underdeveloped state of American drilling control technology; Norwegian oil and gas policies supportive of domestic technological companies; and proximity to research labs which were conducting full-scale tests of drilling operations. An invention made by regional researchers can also be linked to Hitec's innovation of a drilling control system. The relevance of the article is its contribution to a better understanding of the complexity involved in the implementation of major practice-based innovations – a process which includes identifying and creating ideas; finding a market/customer and putting the ideas into practice.     

Environmental impact statements

Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) present the results of a structured appraisal of the likely effects of a proposed development on the environment. Systematic methods of identification and assessment of potential effects of major projects have been developed in response to public concern about environmental quality. EISs were first introduced in the United States (US) in 1970 but they have since been adopted in a number of countries. In the United Kingdom (UK) EISs have been prepared for certain major projects, in particular for developments related to North Sea oil, but the procedure has not been formally introduced into the planning system. In this article the history of EIS in the US, UK and elsewhere is traced. Contents of EISs and methods of appraisal which may be included are described. Many attitudes towards EIS are based on the early years of EIS in the US where it was seen to be a slow, costly procedure frequently involving lengthy court battles. A review of EIS experience in the US shows that these problems have been exaggerated. Two major developers in the UK, BP and British Gas Corporation, consider EIS to be a valuable component of their project planning activities, ensuring that environmental aspects of developments are considered at an early stage. Finally some arguments for and against the formal introduction of EIS in the UK are examined. The article concludes that EIS will play an increasingly important role in the UK planning system.     

QUALITY LADDERS IN A RICARDIAN MODEL OF TRADE WITH NONHOMOTHETIC PREFERENCES

The North–South trade literature has traditionally explored conditions under which international trade might further magnify income disparities between the advanced North and the backward South. We show that even when no single country is initially more advanced than any other one and productivity changes are uniform and identical in all countries, trade may still be a source of income divergence when nonhomothetic preferences and quality ladders are jointly taken into account. Income divergence will be experienced when comparative advantages induce patterns of specialization that, although initially optimal for all countries, do not offer the same scope for quality upgrading of final products.     

Strategic planning for resources

In the field or purchasing and supply, 1973 was a year to be remembered. A world-wide boom in industrialised countries produced record prices in markets for food, raw materials and manufactured goods. Rates of inflation in the U.S.A., Western Europe and Japan began to approach South American levels. The value of the dollar, the pound and other major currencies fluctuated dramatically, and the stock market experienced falls comparable to those which occurred during the slump in the thirties. Finally, 1973 was the year of the oil embargo, when oil prices were almost doubled and oil supplies to the West were cut by 15–20%, resulting in the rationing of oil and other commodities in Western Europe.By any standards, this was a momentous year. It is conceivable that supply markets will never be quite the same again. The traditional form of multi-national business, integrated from supply to consumer markets, is fast disappearing as the companies formed in developing countries to secure the supply of oil, food and raw materials are being taken over by the host governments. Indeed it may be that after the traumatic experiences of this year, negotiations for food and key raw materials will be increasingly carried out by governments rather than by private companies.To cope with shortages and higher prices in food, fuels and essential raw materials, government bodies and public and private enterprises will have to develop new capabilities. Western governments have responded quickly by setting up Ministers and Ministries for Energy and by establishing huge budgets for research into the exploration and exploitation of alternative fuels. The large oil companies have declared that they are in the “energy business” and have bought interests in nuclear power and coal.But what does the energy and resource crisis mean for the average firm? It seems that in the 1970s we are experiencing a level of competition for supplies similar to the competition for consumer markets which first produced “Marketing” in the late fifties and early sixties.     

Risk Perception by Offshore Oil Personnel During Bad Weather Conditions

This article presents the results of analyses of employee subjective risk assessments caused by platform movements on an offshore oil installation in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. The results are based on a self-completion questionnaire survey conducted among 179 respondents covering three shifts on the platform. The data collection was carried out during the spring of 1994. A minority expressed worry due to platform movements. A greater proportion of the personnel stated worry about the construction of the platform. The personnel were more unsafe when they assessed their own safety attitudes with regard to specific potentially hazardous consequences of platform movements. Two approaches aimed at modeling worry and concern caused by platform movements were tested. The models were the mental imagery approach and the rationalistic approach. The rationalistic and mental imagery models fitted equally well. Implications of the results for risk communication are discussed.     

Compliance Strategies under Permits for Emissions

We characterize the trade‐offs among firms' compliance strategies in a market‐based program where a regulator interested in controlling emissions from a given set of sources auctions off a fixed number of emissions permits. We model a three‐stage game in which firms invest in emissions abatement, participate in a share auction for permits, and produce output. We develop a methodology for a profit‐maximizing firm to derive its marginal value function for permits and translate this value function into an optimal bidding strategy in the auction. We analyze two end‐product market scenarios independent demands and Cournot competition. In both scenarios we find that changing the number of available permits influences abatement to a lesser extent in a dirty industry than in a cleaner one. In addition, abatement levels taper off with increasing industry dirtiness levels. In the presence of competition, firms in a relatively clean industry can, in fact, benefit from a reduction in the number of available permits. Our findings are robust to changes in certain modeling assumptions.     

A challenging marketplace for venture capital

This article looks at the contemporary situation facing the U.K. venture capital industry as it enters its second decade of activity. After 10 years of substantial growth, the industry is starting to mature. Accordingly, in an increasingly competitive marketplace, U.K. venture capital firms are having to address seriously strategic issues of product and market choice in order to meet the high investment expectations placed on them by their funders. There is evidence that the industry is already concentrating its finances into a small number of larger firms. It is likely that these better resourceed firms will have material advantages in initiating both product and market innovations. However, this concentration is unlikely to improve the supply of venture capital funds to start-up and other early stage, high risk ventures.     

移动互联网风向标

移动互联网已被证实是一块巨型蛋糕,但真正从中赚到钱的却少之又少,这是为什么?AppStore模式作为移动互联网门槛最低、人数最多的产业模式,目前究竟面临哪些瓶颈,让众多开发者怨声载道?资本市场对于移动互联网市场已渐渐回归理性,移动互     

Problems,possible solutions and lessons from British manufacturing engineering — An outsider's analysis

The declining state of the British engineering industry, especially in manufacturing, is described and quantified. The major causes are seen to be a slipping down-market and a lack of market orientation in current products. After noting that a hybrid undergraduate programme in engineering management was relatively inappropriate, several of the new enhanced Special Engineering Programmes are described. Their reception is noted to have been mixed. Limitations to teaching company schemes indicate that they can only benefit a limited number of engineers. Finally, Finniston's failure to distinguish between technical excellence and management potential is shown to lead to confusion of purpose in course design proposals. The lessons for other countries in a similar situation are to move up-market with their products and to train engineers for engineering management via post-experience master's degrees.     

DISTANCE AND FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT WHEN CONTRACTS ARE INCOMPLETE

We introduce incomplete contracts in a model where multinational firms from a certain country (“North”) can decide to serve a foreign market (“South”) through exports or through horizontal foreign direct investment (FDI). FDI relies on the supply of specialized intermediate inputs that could be supplied either by northern suppliers or by suppliers located in South. Intermediate sourcing contracts are complete in North but not in South. Were southern contracts also complete, FDI would arise only when trade barriers are high enough. Incomplete contracts in South generate, instead, a non‐linear relation between trade barriers and FDI as foreign investment emerges also when trade barriers are low enough. The reason is the positive effect that low trade barriers have on the bargaining power of final producers with respect to their southern suppliers. (JEL: F23, F12)     

基于复杂网络演化博弈的绿色消费者对新能源汽车扩散的影响研究

绿色消费行为是绿色产业发展的主要推动力。以市场需求侧与供给侧协调为思路,基于复杂网络演化博弈理论,构建新能源汽车扩散模型,研究绿色消费者对制造商微观决策与宏观新能源汽车扩散的影响。在小世界网络情境下进行仿真分析,结果表明：宏观上,绿色消费者溢价和绿色消费者比例的增加都能够促进新能源汽车扩散,但是二者的微观影响机制不同。绿色消费者溢价的增加总是使得演化稳定状态下所有制造商的平均收益都增加,而绿色消费者比例的增加可能导致所有制造商的平均收益都减少。在产业层面,绿色消费行为对新能源汽车扩散具有积极的促进作用,而在企业层面,绿色消费行为的作用并非总是积极的。因此,一方面,促进新能源汽车扩散需要加强对需求侧的重视。从扩大绿色消费者规模和提高绿色消费者溢价两方面考虑,政府应该通过制定激励机制或加大环保宣传等财税或非财税方式促使消费者环保意识的觉醒。另一方面,新能源汽车制造商应该制定恰当的营销策略促使绿色消费者对新能源汽车产生更多溢价;燃油汽车制造商能够从新能源汽车制造商的营销策略中搭便车,应避免与新能源汽车制造商进行恶性竞争。论文从影响因素和扩散机制两方面拓展了新能源汽车扩散理论研究体系,研究结论...     

Policy implications of north sea oil depletion at national level

This paper puts forward a methodology for analysing the impact of alternative oil depletion policies at national level. This is done by developing a long run macroeconomic model and combining it with the method of optimal control. The model presented here is formulated with special reference to North Sea oil in the UK, but it can be applied, with the necessary modifications, to determine depletion strategies to any oil-rich economy.     

Risk Perception in the U.K. Oil and Gas Production Industry: Are Expert Loss‐Prevention Managers' Perceptions Different From Those of Members of the Public?

This article investigates potential differences in risk perception between experts (loss-prevention managers in the U.K. oil and gas production industry) and nonexperts (managers and students). Extant research on expert versus nonexpert perceptions of risk is reviewed, followed by the present study concerning risk perceptions of seven pen-picture scenarios involving the occurrence of hazardous events in the U.K. oil and gas production industry. In contrast to many of the earlier studies of expert versus nonexpert perceptions of risk, the present analysis concludes that experts did not judge the overall riskiness of the portrayed hazardous events as less risky than the nonexperts. Nevertheless, the experts believe more strongly than our nonexperts that the risks portrayed in the scenarios pose little threat to future generations, are more precisely known, and are relatively controllable. Use of multiple regression analysis to help uncover the basis of overall riskiness assessments for expert and lay respondents was inconclusive, however. Finally, little evidence was found that nonexperts were any more heterogeneous in their risk perceptions than experts. It may be that the nature of the risks assessed in the present study may account for the general lack of clear expert versus nonexpert differences in overall perceptions of the riskiness of hazardous events in the North Sea. Earlier findings of strong expert versus nonexpert differences in risk perception assessed hazards of major public concern. It is inferred that using such extreme hazards may have resulted in an exaggerated view of differences in expert versus public (nonexpert) perception of risk.     

Safety sans Frontières: An International Safety Culture Model

The management of safety culture in international and culturally diverse organizations is a concern for many high‐risk industries. Yet, research has primarily developed models of safety culture within Western countries, and there is a need to extend investigations of safety culture to global environments. We examined (i) whether safety culture can be reliably measured within a single industry operating across different cultural environments, and (ii) if there is an association between safety culture and national culture. The psychometric properties of a safety culture model developed for the air traffic management (ATM) industry were examined in 17 European countries from four culturally distinct regions of Europe (North, East, South, West). Participants were ATM operational staff (n = 5,176) and management staff (n = 1,230). Through employing multigroup confirmatory factor analysis, good psychometric properties of the model were established. This demonstrates, for the first time, that when safety culture models are tailored to a specific industry, they can operate consistently across national boundaries and occupational groups. Additionally, safety culture scores at both regional and national levels were associated with country‐level data on Hofstede's five national culture dimensions (collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, and long‐term orientation). MANOVAs indicated safety culture to be most positive in Northern Europe, less so in Western and Eastern Europe, and least positive in Southern Europe. This indicates that national cultural traits may influence the development of organizational safety culture, with significant implications for safety culture theory and practice.     

The Ocean Ranger Oil Rig Disaster: A Risk Analysis

This paper analyzes quantitatively the design of the Ocean Ranger off-shore oil drilling rig that capsized and sank on February 15, 1982 off the coast of Canada. A review of the actual disaster is also included based on evidence gathered by the Canadian Royal Commission. The risk analysis includes the construction of a failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) table, a fault tree, and a quantitative evaluation including common cause failure of the rig components. In the case of the Ocean Ranger ballast control system, it was shown that the analysis was able both to successfully model the catastrophic system failure of the portholes, the actual system failure mode, and identify a common cause failure mode of the pump system. This study represents an application of reliability and risk techniques to the oil services industry.     

香港银行业开办人民币业务的风险评估

香港市场上人民币流通的规模变化,对于人民币业务开办的风险评估结论具有明显的影响。在渐进式的离岸业务推进模式下,当前可能会在特定的业务领域形成监管的模糊地带,但是总体上不会形成明显的风险隐患。通常而言离岸业务对于信息披露的要求较低,因而应当加强内地与香港的反洗钱合作。从当前的市场环境判断,当前香港市场上不会出现大规模的人民币对港币的替代。香港离岸的个人人民币业务的开展会对在岸的人民币业务形成一定的竞争,这种竞争压力随着香港离岸市场业务范围的扩大而继续增大。随着香港人民币离岸市场规模的不断扩大和业务范围的拓展,离岸人民币市场对于内地金融管制的冲击力会提高。从长期来看,随着人民币在香港流通规模的扩大,应及早研究人民币流通扩大背景下香港的金融体系改革战略问题。