48 CFR 1536.201 - Evaluation of contracting performance.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... performance. 1536.201 Section 1536.201 Federal Acquisition Regulations System ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Contracting for Construction 1536.201 Evaluation of contracting performance. (a) The Contracting Officer will... will file the form in the contractor performance evaluation files which it maintains. (e) The Quality...

A SIMULATION OF CONTRACT FARMING USING AGENT BASED MODELING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuanita Handayati

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This study aims to simulate the effects of contract farming and farmer commitment to contract farming on supply chain performance by using agent based modeling as a methodology. Supply chain performance is represented by profits and service levels. The simulation results indicate that farmers should pay attention to customer requirements and plan their agricultural activities in order to fulfill these requirements. Contract farming helps farmers deal with demand and price uncertainties. We also find that farmer commitment is crucial to fulfilling contract requirements. This study contributes to this field from a conceptual as well as a practical point of view. From the conceptual point of view, our simulation results show that different levels of farmer commitment have an impact on farmer performance when implementing contract farming. From a practical point of view, the uncertainty faced by farmers and the market can be managed by implementing cultivation and harvesting scheduling, information sharing, and collective learning as ways of committing to contract farming.

A performance incentive contract that pays off for all parties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krummrich, C.R.; Johnston, R.E.; Crist, T.W.

1995-01-01

The Western Business Unit Bakersfield drilling department of Chevron, U.S.A. Production Company developed a drilling performance incentive contract that was implemented during 1994 in the Lost Hills field of California. The performance incentive contract (PIC) financially rewarded all of the drilling contractor's rig employees for outperforming pre-established drilling performance goals. The key elements of the performance incentive program are: (1) Goals that rigger incentives are based on cost categories that are controllable by the drilling team; (2) Goals were established using a database of past years performance; (3) Goals that are not achieved negatively impact the incentive earned in an effort to deter repeated errors; (4) Accidents that occur on the job negatively impact the incentive earned; (5) Administration of the program is not time consuming. The results of using an incentive contract in the Lost Hills drilling program are: (1) Time and cost of operations are reduced; (2) The results are measurable and repeatable; (3) A team environment develops in which ideas are shared and acted upon by crew members and supervisory personnel

Incorporating Non-energy Benefits into Energy Savings Performance Contracts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Larsen, Peter; Goldman, Charles; Gilligan, Donald; Singer, Terry

2012-06-01

This paper evaluates the issue of non-energy benefits within the context of the U.S. energy services company (ESCO) industry?a growing industry comprised of companies that provide energy savings and other benefits to customers through the use of performance-based contracting. Recent analysis has found that ESCO projects in the public/institutional sector, especially at K-12 schools, are using performance-based contracting, at the behest of the customers, to partially -- but not fully -- offset substantial accumulated deferred maintenance needs (e.g., asbestos removal, wiring) and measures that have very long paybacks (roof replacement). This trend is affecting the traditional economic measures policymakers use to evaluate success on a benefit to cost basis. Moreover, the value of non-energy benefits which can offset some or all of the cost of the non-energy measures -- including operations and maintenance (O&M) savings, avoided capital costs, and tradable pollution emissions allowances-- are not always incorporated into a formal cost-effectiveness analysis of ESCO projects. Nonenergy benefits are clearly important to customers, but state and federal laws that govern the acceptance of these types of benefits for ESCO projects vary widely (i.e., 0-100percent of allowable savings can come from one or more non-energy categories). Clear and consistent guidance on what types of savings are recognized in Energy Savings agreements under performance contracts is necessary, particularly where customers are searching for deep energy efficiency gains in the building sector.

A preliminary assessment of financial stability, efficiency, health systems and health outcomes using performance-based contracts in Belize.

Science.gov (United States)

Bowser, Diana M; Figueroa, Ramon; Natiq, Laila; Okunogbe, Adeyemi

2013-01-01

Over the last 10 years, Belize has implemented a National Health Insurance (NHI) program that uses performance-based contracts with both public and private facilities to improve financial sustainability, efficiency and service provision. Data were collected at the facility, district and national levels in order to assess trends in financial sustainability, efficiency payments, year-end bonuses and health system and health outcomes. A difference-in-difference approach was used to assess the difference in technical efficiency between private and public facilities. The results show that per capita spending on services provided by the NHI program has decreased over the period 2006-2009 from BZ$177 to BZ$136. The private sector has achieved higher levels of technical efficiency, but lower percentages of efficiency and year-end bonus payments. Districts with contracts through the NHI program showed greater improvements in facility births, nurse density, reducing maternal mortality, diabetes deaths and morbidity from bronchitis, emphysema and asthma than districts without contracts over the period 2006-2010. This preliminary assessment of Belize's pay-for-performance system provides some positive results, however further research is needed to use the lessons learned from Belize to implement similar reforms in other systems.

14 CFR 151.49 - Performance of construction work: Contract requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Performance of construction work: Contract... § 151.49 Performance of construction work: Contract requirements. (a) Contract provisions. In addition to any other provisions necessary to ensure completion of the work in accordance with the grant...

Energy Savings Performance Contract Energy Sales Agreement Toolkit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2017-08-14

FEMP developed the Energy Savings Performance Contracting Energy Sales Agreement (ESPC ESA) Toolkit to provide federal agency contracting officers and other acquisition team members with information that will facilitate the timely execution of ESPC ESA projects.

A Business Case for Home Performance Contracting

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baechler, Michael C.; Antonopoulos, Chrissi A.; Sevigny, Maureen; Gilbride, Theresa L.; Hefty, Marye G.

2012-10-01

This report was prepared by PNNL for the DOE Building America program. The report provides information for businesses considering entering the home performance contracting industry. Metrics discussed include industry trends and drivers, specific points of entry, business models, startup costs, and marketing strategies. The report includes detailed analysis of eight businesses around the country that have successfully entered the home performance contracting industry. Data is provided on their financial structures, program participation, marketing efforts, and staff training. This report will be distributed via the DOE Building America website, www.buildingamerica.gov. Individual case studies will also be cleared separately.

PERFORMANCE OF INTEGRATED CONTRACT AND INDEPENDENT BROILER PRODUCTION IN EAST LOMBOK, WEST NUSA TENGGARA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Indarsih

2012-03-01

Full Text Available This study was undertaken to evaluate the performance of vertical integration and independent poultry producers in East Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, during the period July to September 2011. Data was collected from a primary field survey of integrated contract and independent producers. The sample producers were interviewed to collect the required data using a questioner. Supporting data were obtained from the relevant institution, and poultry association. Thirty integrated contract and fourteen independent growers were involved to measure farms performance with references on numerical performance (NP and farmer returns. This study indicates that the NP of integrated contract and independent farms were 315.7 and 317.1, respectively, both was higher than the standard that is 200. Returns for integrated contract farmers were lower than the independent when calculated based on the production cycle when this study was undertaken. Integrated contract farmers were attractive to various types of professions, the graduated people of university or college (43.3% was the most, whilst independent farmers were dominated by senior high school (50% with higher experience which was more than 20 years.

A Guide to Performance Contracting. A Presentation and Discussion of the Multiple Considerations Regarding Contracted Services in Local Education Agencies.

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, John W.; Kitchak, Karen H.

This report provides a framework for evaluating the use of performance contracts. It serves as a working guide for those who are considering or are committed to performance contracts with public or private organizations. The topics cover (1) the theoretical basis and rationale of performance contracting, (2) the procurement model and the request…

Specific performance as a primary remedy in the South African law of contract

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jean Chrysostome Kanamugire

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Specific performance is a primary remedy for breach of contract available for the aggrieved party. This order emphasises the performance of contractual obligations. Although the plaintiff can elect to claim specific performance from the defendant, the court has a discretion to grant or decline the order of specific performance. The discretion must be exercised judicially and does not confine on rigid rules. Courts decide each case according to its own facts and circumstances. Plaintiff has a right of election whether to claim specific performance from the defendant or damages for breach of contract. The defendant does not enjoy any choice in this matter. As a general rule, specific performance is not often awarded in the contract of services. However, recent developments have demonstrated that specific performance will usually be granted in employment contracts if there is equality of bargaining power among contracting parties and such order will not produce undue hardship to the defaulting party. Public policy generally favours the utmost freedom of contract and requires that parties should respect or honour their contractual obligations in commercial transactions. Public policy is rooted in the constitution and can sparingly be used to strike down contracts. Specific performance should not continue to be a primary remedy for breach of contract. Contracting parties should be allowed to resile from the contract and use damages as a remedy for breach of contract

48 CFR 52.232-32 - Performance-Based Payments.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... Contracting Officer, such excess shall be credited as a reduction in the unliquidated performance-based... adjustments. (e) Reduction or suspension of performance-based payments. The Contracting Officer may reduce or... sound and generally accepted accounting principles and practices: (i) Parts, materials, inventories, and...

Qualitative Comparison of Contraction-Based Curve Skeletonization Methods

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sobiecki, André; Yasan, Haluk C.; Jalba, Andrei C.; Telea, Alexandru C.

2013-01-01

In recent years, many new methods have been proposed for extracting curve skeletons of 3D shapes, using a mesh-contraction principle. However, it is still unclear how these methods perform with respect to each other, and with respect to earlier voxel-based skeletonization methods, from the viewpoint

Balancing Government Risks with Contractor Incentives in Performance-Based Logistics Contracts

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Gardner, Christopher P

2008-01-01

...: the PBL goal of developing long-term partnerships that encourage investment from commercial partners is best achieved through lengthy, guaranteed contracts -- but such contracts increase the DoD's...

48 CFR 970.1100-1 - Performance-based contracting.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... Federal Procurement Policy's Seven Steps to Performance-Based Acquisition located at Web site http://www...) performance standards and objectives and quality assurance surveillance plans; provide performance incentives... planning processes. Measurable performance criteria, objective measures, and where appropriate, performance...

Population-based contracting (population health): part II.

Science.gov (United States)

Jacofsky, D J

2017-11-01

Modern healthcare contracting is shifting the responsibility for improving quality, enhancing community health and controlling the total cost of care for patient populations from payers to providers. Population-based contracting involves capitated risk taken across an entire population, such that any included services within the contract are paid for by the risk-bearing entity throughout the term of the agreement. Under such contracts, a risk-bearing entity, which may be a provider group, a hospital or another payer, administers the contract and assumes risk for contractually defined services. These contracts can be structured in various ways, from professional fee capitation to full global per member per month diagnosis-based risk. The entity contracting with the payer must have downstream network contracts to provide the care and facilities that it has agreed to provide. Population health is a very powerful model to reduce waste and costs. It requires a deep understanding of the nuances of such contracting and the appropriate infrastructure to manage both networks and risk. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2017;99-B:1431-4. ©2017 The British Editorial Society of Bone & Joint Surgery.

Maintaining a Viable Energy Savings Performance Contract

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Weber, Katherine L; Huckeby, Michael A

2005-01-01

Substantial amounts of information are available on Energy Savings Performance Contract award requirements, measurement, and verification, but we have found very little information on the day-to-day...

Performance contracting to engage detoxification-only patients into continued rehabilitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Haley, Sean J; Dugosh, Karen Leggett; Lynch, Kevin G

2011-03-01

In 2006, only 18.7% of Delaware's detoxification patients were admitted to continuing recovery-oriented treatment within 30 days after discharge. In response, Delaware established financial contingencies to (1) maintain 90% detoxification occupancy, (2) make receipt of 10% of the facility's monthly reimbursement contingent on 25% of patients entering treatment, and (3) provide a $500 bonus for every patient with three or more prior detoxification visits who was retained in treatment. Under the performance contract, the detoxification provider (1) maintained the 90% occupancy requirement, (2) achieved the 25% treatment entry target for 7 of 12 months, and (3) observed only 8% (27/337) of detoxification completions that met the targeted length of stay. Continuation to and retention in treatment was even more constrained for patients with three or more prior detoxifications. Contrary to the policy intent, the number of patients with three or more detoxifications in fiscal year (FY) 2008 is nearly triple that of FY 2006. The modest gain in the transition rate was achieved without changes in patient access; the FY 2008 patient population reported significantly higher rates of homelessness and a younger age of first use than before the performance contract in FY 2006. Performance contracting may offer promise for improving transition to treatment rates. However, the unique needs of detoxification patients, the treatment capacity of each level of care to meet patient needs, and the structure of the performance contract must be carefully considered. Performance contracting efforts may be strengthened when service contracts across the system are tightly synchronized. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A trace-based model for multiparty contracts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hvitved, Tom; Klaedtke, Felix; Zălinescu, Eugen

2012-01-01

In this article we present a model for multiparty contracts in which contract conformance is defned abstractly as a property on traces. A key feature of our model is blame assignment, which means that for a given contract, every breach is attributed to a set of parties. We show that blame...... assignment is compositional by de¿ning contract conjunction and contract disjunction. Moreover, to specify real-world contracts, we introduce the contract speci¿cation language CSL with an operational semantics. We show that each CSL contract has a counterpart in our trace-based model and from...... the operational semantics we derive a run-time monitor. CSL overcomes limitations of previously proposed formalisms for specifying contracts by supporting: (history sensitive and conditional) commitments, parametrised contract templates, relative and absolute temporal constraints, potentially in¿nite contracts...

[The Brazilian National Health Surveillance Agency performance evaluation at the management contract model].

Science.gov (United States)

Moreira, Elka Maltez de Miranda; Costa, Ediná Alves

2010-11-01

The Brazilian National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) is supervised by the Ministry of Health by means of a management contract, a performance evaluation tool. This case study was aimed at describing and analyzing Anvisa's performance evaluation model based on the agency's institutional purpose, according to the following analytical categories: the management contract formalization, evaluation tools, evaluators and institutional performance. Semi-structured interviews and document analysis revealed that Anvisa signed only one management contract with the Ministry of Health in 1999, updated by four additive terms. The Collegiate Board of Directors and the Advisory Center for Strategic Management play the role of Anvisa's internal evaluators and an Assessing Committee, comprising the Ministry of Health, constitutes its external evaluator. Three phases were identified in the evaluation model: the structuring of the new management model (1999-2000), legitimation regarding the productive segment (2001-2004) and widespread legitimation (2005). The best performance was presented in 2000 (86.05%) and the worst in 2004 (40.00%). The evaluation model was shown to have contributed little towards the agency's institutional purpose and the effectiveness measurement of the implemented actions.

Deliberating A Contract Type Based Risk Mitigation Strategy For South African Defense Acquisitions

Science.gov (United States)

2016-06-01

cash flow may lead to cost overruns and schedule slippage. Table 1 shows the description, schedule and cost performance status for two SA DOD...possibility of applying a contract-type based strategy to manage acquisition program costs and schedule risks for the South African (SA) Department of...deviations between technical, cost and schedule performance. 14. SUBJECT TERMS acquisition process, defense acquisition, contract-type, risk

Explaining the contract terms of energy performance contracting in China: The importance of effective financing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Yan; Qiu, Yueming; Wang, Yi David

2014-01-01

Energy service company (“ESCO”) uses Energy Performance Contracting (“EPC”) to provide energy-saving services to its clients. Under an EPC, both ESCO and the client invest in the energy efficiency measures, according to a negotiated share of investment. Within the length of the contract, the ESCO and its client divide up the saved energy bill according to a negotiated share. Once the contract expires, the client claims all of the saved energy bills if the energy efficiency measures still last. Different EPC projects have different contract terms, including total investment, share of investment and length of contract. These contract terms directly determine the resulted energy savings. Thus it is essential and important to look at how these contract terms are formed and what are the major influencing factors. This paper first builds a theoretical bargain model between ESCO and its client to find out the structural relationship among these contract terms. Then, using the information of about 140 EPC contracts in China in 2010 and 2011, the paper empirically estimates the impacts of various factors on the contract terms and the resulted energy savings. We find that cost of capitals for ESCOs and the clients, especially for ESCOs, is a major factor influencing contract terms and the resulted energy savings. Thus providing effective financing is critical for the development of EPC in China. - Highlights: • We build a theoretical bargain model between an ESCO and its client. • We empirically quantify the impacts of various factors on EPC contract terms. • Cost of capital is a key factor determining EPC contract terms. • Providing effective financing, especially for ESCOs is important

Performance Contracting as a Performance Management Tool in the Public Sector in Kenya: Lessons of learning

Science.gov (United States)

Hope, Kempe Ronald, Sr.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this article is to provide an assessment and analysis of public sector performance contracting as a performance management tool in Kenya. It aims to demonstrate that performance contracting remains a viable and important tool for improving public sector performance as a key element of the on-going public sector transformation…

PERFORMANCE OF INTEGRATED CONTRACT AND INDEPENDENT BROILER PRODUCTION IN EAST LOMBOK, WEST NUSA TENGGARA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Indarsih

2014-10-01

Full Text Available This study was undertaken to evaluate the performance of vertical integration and independentpoultry producers in East Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, during the period July to September 2011.Data was collected from a primary field survey of integrated contract and independent producers. Thesample producers were interviewed to collect the required data using a questioner. Supporting data wereobtained from the relevant institution, and poultry association. Thirty integrated contract and fourteenindependent growers were involved to measure farm’s performance with references on numericalperformance (NP and farmer’ returns. This study indicates that the NP of integrated contract andindependent farms were 315.7 and 317.1, respectively, both was higher than the standard that is 200.Returns for integrated contract farmers were lower than the independent when calculated based on theproduction cycle when this study was undertaken. Integrated contract farmers were attractive to varioustypes of professions, the graduated people of university or college (43.3% was the most, whilstindependent farmers were dominated by senior high school (50% with higher experience which wasmore than 20 years.

Share Contract Choices and Economic Performance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Salazar Espinoza, César Antonio

2015-01-01

framework, we estimate a dose-response function to study the formation of contracts and identify the marginal effects of changes in crew profit shares on fishing returns in Chilean artisanal fisheries. The results support share contract choices based on bargaining power, monitoring costs, technology, state...... of fishing resources, and outside options. We find significant effects of increasing crew profit shares on vessel owner returns in the interval (0.25, 0.65). The results vary across fisheries, however. While the effects are not significant in the fish group, they are larger and robust for molluscs...

An Analysis of USMC Facilities Support Contracts with a Focus on Base Maintenance

Science.gov (United States)

2017-06-01

success and customer satisfaction . Furthermore, it is in the best interest of all for the contractor to know immediately of any noted deficiencies in...award a contract for an ill- defined requirement. The end result is a less expensive contract, happier contractor, and happier customers . Therefore, a...Supplement [NMCARS], 2016). Performance-based contracting, as defined in FAR 2.101, is “an acquisition structured around the results to be achieved

48 CFR 52.222-49 - Service Contract Act-Place of Performance Unknown.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Service Contract Act-Place... Provisions and Clauses 52.222-49 Service Contract Act—Place of Performance Unknown. As prescribed in 22.1006(f), insert the following clause: Service Contract Act—Place of Performance Unknown (MAY 1989) (a...

Network meta-analyses performed by contracting companies and commissioned by industry

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schuit, Ewoud; Ioannidis, John P A

2016-01-01

Background: Industry commissions contracting companies to perform network meta-analysis for health technology assessment (HTA) and reimbursement submissions. Our objective was to estimate the number of network meta-analyses performed by consulting companies contracted by industry, to assess whether

Contraction theory based adaptive synchronization of chaotic systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharma, B.B.; Kar, I.N.

2009-01-01

Contraction theory based stability analysis exploits the incremental behavior of trajectories of a system with respect to each other. Application of contraction theory provides an alternative way for stability analysis of nonlinear systems. This paper considers the design of a control law for synchronization of certain class of chaotic systems based on backstepping technique. The controller is selected so as to make the error dynamics between the two systems contracting. Synchronization problem with and without uncertainty in system parameters is discussed and necessary stability proofs are worked out using contraction theory. Suitable adaptation laws for unknown parameters are proposed based on the contraction principle. The numerical simulations verify the synchronization of the chaotic systems. Also parameter estimates converge to their true values with the proposed adaptation laws.

Finding the 'sweet spot' in value-based contracts.

Science.gov (United States)

Eggbeer, Bill; Sears, Kevin; Homer, Ken

2015-08-01

Health systems pursing value-based contracts should address six important considerations: The definition of value. Contracting goals. Cost of implementation. Risk exposure. Contract structure and design. Essential contractual protections.

AMCP Partnership Forum: Advancing Value-Based Contracting.

Science.gov (United States)

2017-11-01

During the past decade, payment models for the delivery of health care have undergone a dramatic shift from focusing on volume to focusing on value. This shift began with the Affordable Care Act and was reinforced by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), which increased the emphasis on payment for delivery of quality care. Today, value-based care is a primary strategy for improving patient care while managing costs. This shift in payment models is expanding beyond the delivery of health care services to encompass models of compensation between payers and biopharmaceutical manufacturers. Value-based contracts (VBCs) have emerged as a mechanism that payers may use to better align their contracting structures with broader changes in the health care system. While pharmaceuticals represent a small share of total health care spending, it is one of the fastest-growing segments of the health care marketplace, and the increasing costs of pharmaceuticals necessitate more flexibility to contract in new ways based on the value of these products. Although not all products or services are appropriate for these types of contracts, VBCs could be a part of the solution to address increasing drug prices and overall drug spending. VBCs encompass a variety of different contracting strategies for biopharmaceutical products that do not base payment rates on volume. These contracts instead may include payment on the achievement of specific goals in a predetermined patient population and offer innovative solutions for quantifying and rewarding positive outcomes or otherwise reducing payer risk associated with pharmaceutical costs. To engage national stakeholders in a discussion of current practices, barriers, and potential benefits of VBCs, the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) convened a Partnership Forum on Advancing Value-Based Contracting in Arlington, Virginia, on June 20-21, 2017. The goals of the VBC forum were as follows: (a) agree to a definition

48 CFR 32.1007 - Administration and payment of performance-based payments.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... contractor's experience, performance record, reliability, financial strength, and the adequacy of controls... of performance-based payments. 32.1007 Section 32.1007 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS CONTRACT FINANCING Performance-Based Payments 32.1007...

Medical negligence based on bad faith, breach of contract, or mental anguish.

Science.gov (United States)

Ficarra, B J

1980-01-01

Financial recovery owing to breach of contract is restricted to the pecuniary amount lost because of failure to perform on the stipulated contract. With the acquisition of newer knowledge, attorneys are now utilizing the weapon of contractual failure as applied to medical negligence. The impetus to this new weapon for the plaintiff has accrued because of the favorable verdicts rendered from positive decisions based upon bad faith.

14 CFR 151.47 - Performance of construction work: Letting of contracts.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... Development Projects § 151.47 Performance of construction work: Letting of contracts. (a) Advertising required... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Performance of construction work: Letting... project, each contract for construction work on a project in the amount of more than $2,000 must be...

Contract Monitoring in Agent-Based Systems: Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Hodík, Jiří; Vokřínek, Jiří; Jakob, Michal

Monitoring of fulfilment of obligations defined by electronic contracts in distributed domains is presented in this paper. A two-level model of contract-based systems and the types of observations needed for contract monitoring are introduced. The observations (inter-agent communication and agents’ actions) are collected and processed by the contract observation and analysis pipeline. The presented approach has been utilized in a multi-agent system for electronic contracting in a modular certification testing domain.

From performance to performativity: The legitimization of US security contracting and its consequences.

Science.gov (United States)

Krahmann, Elke

2017-12-01

Discussions about the legitimacy of private security companies (PSCs) in multilateral military interventions abound. This article looks at how the United States has sought to legitimize the outsourcing of security services to PSCs through performance-based contracting and performance assessments. Both mechanisms aim to demonstrate the effective provision of publicly desirable outcomes. However, the immaterial and socially constructed nature of security presents major problems for performance assessments in terms of observable and measurable outcomes. Performance has therefore given way to performativity - that is, the repetitive enactment of particular forms of behaviour and capabilities that are simply equated with security as an outcome. The implications of this development for the ways in which security has been conceptualized, implemented and experienced within US interventions have been profound. Ironically, the concern with performance has not encouraged PSCs to pay increased attention to their impacts on security environments and civilian populations, but has fostered a preoccupation with activities and measurable capabilities that can be easily assessed by government auditors.

LEGAL PRINCIPLES IN FUNCTION AND PERFORMANCE OF BOT CONTRACT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reifon Cristabella Eventia

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT represents a long term partnership of the government and private sector. In BOT project, either the government or a private sector identifies a need for a development project. The philosophy in BOT contract begins from the increasing infrastructural needs in all areas and with a limited budget, government are required to commit the duties and functions state governance so that the concept of BOT give a solution through a partnership with the private sector. The government then gives a concession to the private sector to build the project and operate it for a fixed period years, after the period ended, the building shall be transferred to the government. Through BOT, the country is able to gain asset without government spending while maintaining a measure of regulatory control over the project. BOT permits the government to use private sector fund to finance public infrastructure development. The main issues elaborated in this article are the legal principle in the formation of BOT contract and the legal principle in the performance of BOT contract. There are two results; firstly, in the formation of a BOT contract, the principles of partnership and the principle of transparency should be emphasized. Secondly, in performance of the BOT contract, the principle of risk management and the principle of proportionality should be clearly stated in the rules and legal norms.

48 CFR 47.207-2 - Duration of contract and time of performance.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... performance of segments of a major job; e.g., an office relocation for which the work phases must be... time of performance. 47.207-2 Section 47.207-2 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL...-Related Services 47.207-2 Duration of contract and time of performance. The contracting officer shall— (a...

The Use of Performance Incentives in DOD Contracting

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Hildebrandt, Gregory G

1998-01-01

.... Such contracts may have renewed policy relevance today because of both the change from detailed design-to-performance specifications and the implementation of Cost as an Independent Variable (CAIV...

ANALISA RISIKO TAHAP PERAWATAN JALAN DALAM PENERAPAN PERFORMANCE BASED CONTRACT PADA PROYEK JALAN DI JAWA TIMUR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eko Prihartanto

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Road as the main infrastructure in cross overland to connect starting area to the destination area. The level of damage that occurred after the implementation reduce the road’s service quality. Performance Based Contract (PBC has stages such as Design, Build, Operation, and Maintenance. PBC is expected to minimize the budget for road construction due to damage that routinely occurs every year. PBC has the maintenance stage to meet the performance who have risk reducing road maintenance after road completion and operation. Risk variables in this study use variables in the maintenance stage from the PBC application in Eastern Java road project. It uses Probability Impact Analysis method to analyze road maintenance risk in PBC application. The results are highest score of risk variable in the maintenance stage as the descriptive analysis references to compare the threat and opportunity in PBC application. Then, it is used to create strategy in order to fulfil dominant risk in the maintenance stage.

Psychological contract breach and work performance: Is social exchange a buffer or an intensifier?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bal, P.M.; Chiaburu, D.S.; Jansen, P.G.W.

2010-01-01

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to investigate how social exchanges modify the relationship between psychological contract breach and work performance. It aims to present two concurrent hypotheses, based on theoretical interaction effects of social exchanges (conceptualized as social exchange

Life cycle cost-based risk model for energy performance contracting retrofits

Science.gov (United States)

Berghorn, George H.

Buildings account for 41% of the primary energy consumption in the United States, nearly half of which is accounted for by commercial buildings. Among the greatest energy users are those in the municipalities, universities, schools, and hospitals (MUSH) market. Correctional facilities are in the upper half of all commercial building types for energy intensity. Public agencies have experienced reduced capital budgets to fund retrofits; this has led to the increased use of energy performance contracts (EPC), which are implemented by energy services companies (ESCOs). These companies guarantee a minimum amount of energy savings resulting from the retrofit activities, which in essence transfers performance risk from the owner to the contractor. Building retrofits in the MUSH market, especially correctional facilities, are well-suited to EPC, yet despite this potential and their high energy intensities, efficiency improvements lag behind that of other public building types. Complexities in project execution, lack of support for data requests and sub-metering, and conflicting project objectives have been cited as reasons for this lag effect. As a result, project-level risks must be understood in order to support wider adoption of retrofits in the public market, in particular the correctional facility sub-market. The goal of this research is to understand risks related to the execution of energy efficiency retrofits delivered via EPC in the MUSH market. To achieve this goal, in-depth analysis and improved understanding was sought with regard to ESCO risks that are unique to EPC in this market. The proposed work contributes to this understanding by developing a life cycle cost-based risk model to improve project decision making with regard to risk control and reduction. The specific objectives of the research are: (1) to perform an exploratory analysis of the EPC retrofit process and identify key areas of performance risk requiring in-depth analysis; (2) to construct a

Learning Contracts in Undergraduate Courses: Impacts on Student Behaviors and Academic Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Frank, Timothy; Scharf, Lauren F. V

2013-01-01

This project studied the effect of individualized, voluntary learning contracts for 18 students who performed poorly in the first part of the semester. Contracts were hypothesized to increase commitment and motivation, and lead to changes in behaviors and course performance. Self-reported prioritization and learning-related behaviors (completion…

Defense Department Profit and Contract Finance Policies and Their Effects on Contract and Contractor Performance

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Arnold, Scot A; Harmon, Bruce R; Tyson, Karen W; Fasana, Kenton G; Wait, Christopher S

2009-01-01

.... The goal of profit policy is a contract price that reimburses the contractor for its costs, provides the necessary incentives to yield beneficial performance, and provides the contractor with sufficient risk reward...

Implementing a Rule-Based Contract Compliance Checker

Science.gov (United States)

Strano, Massimo; Molina-Jimenez, Carlos; Shrivastava, Santosh

The paper describes the design and implementation of an independent, third party contract monitoring service called Contract Compliance Checker (CCC). The CCC is provided with the specification of the contract in force, and is capable of observing and logging the relevant business-to-business (B2B) interaction events, in order to determine whether the actions of the business partners are consistent with the contract. A contract specification language called EROP (for Events, Rights, Obligations and Prohibitions) for the CCC has been developed based on business rules, that provides constructs to specify what rights, obligation and prohibitions become active and inactive after the occurrence of events related to the execution of business operations. The system has been designed to work with B2B industry standards such as ebXML and RosettaNet.

The economical contracting management in Agricultural Cooperatives: tools for evaluating their performance.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rafael Enrique Viña Echevarría

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The economic and management contracts involve strategic actions, legal and operational purposes that make possible to convert the goal of an organization on results that express the fulfillment of the mandates and satisfies customers on the basis of the duties and obligations set out in the negotiating document. This article aims to get inside into the performance evaluation of the management of the recruitment of Agricultural Cooperatives and to reflex about the insufficiencies evidenced in this process. To which we developed a theoretical valuation and economic procurement praxiological showing a group of deficiencies that have impacted in the contracts management The study was able to obtain, process, analyze, interpret and argue the problems associated with economic contracting and justify the need to propose a system of indicators to assess recruitment management Agricultural Cooperatives in the province of Sancti Spiritus, the results revealed the ineffectiveness of the process and the negative impact on the productive base.

Defense Department Profit and Contract Finance Policies and Their Effects on Contract and Contractor Performance

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Arnold, Scot A; Harmon, Bruce R; Tyson, Karen W; Fasana, Kenton G; Wait, Christopher S

2008-01-01

.... The goal of profit policy is a contract price that reimburses the contractor for its costs, provides the necessary incentives to yield beneficial performance, and to provide the contractor with sufficient risk reward...

Building America Energy Renovations. A Business Case for Home Performance Contracting

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baechler, Michael C. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Antonopoulos, C. A. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Sevigny, M. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Gilbride, T. L. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Hefty, M. G. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

2012-10-01

This research report gives an overview of the needs and opportunities that exist in the U.S. home performance contracting industry. The report discusses industry trends, market drivers, different business models, and points of entry for existing and new businesses hoping to enter the home performance contracting industry. Case studies of eight companies who successfully entered the industry are provided, including business metrics, start-up costs, and marketing approaches.

Contractual Alliance Governance: Impact of Different Contract Functions on Alliance Performance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Faems, D.L.M.; Alberink, Rutger; Groen, Arend J.; Klein Woolthuis, Rosalinde

2010-01-01

Recent research on alliance governance has emphasized that contracts can have both a control and coordination function. In this paper, we test the impact of these different contract functions on alliance performance. Conducting structural equation analyses on a sample of 270 Dutch technology

Team incentives in relational contracts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kvaloey, Ola

2003-01-01

Incentive schemes for teams are compared. I ask: under which conditions are relational incentive contracts based on joint performance evaluation, relative performance evaluation and independent performance evaluation self-enforceable. The framework of Che and Yoo (2001) on team incentives is combined with the framework of Baker, Gibbons and Murphy (2002) on relational contracts. In a repeated game between one principal and two agents, I find that incentives based on relative or independent performance are expected to dominate when the productivity of effort is high, while joint performance evaluation dominates when productivity is low. Incentives based on independent performance are more probable if the agents own critical assets. (author)

Use of performance standards in behavioral health carve-out contracts among Fortune 500 firms.

Science.gov (United States)

Merrick, E L; Garnick, D W; Horgan, C M; Goldin, D; Hodgkin, D; Sciegaj, M

1999-06-25

To determine the prevalence and nature of performance standards in specialty managed behavioral healthcare contracts among Fortune 500 companies. This was a cross-sectional survey of all companies listed on the Fortune 500 during 1994, 1995, or both. From April 1997 to May 1998 we conducted a mailed survey with phone follow-up. Of the 68% of firms that responded, over one third reported carve-out contracts. The survey focused on whether companies had behavioral health carve-out contracts with specialty vendors and characteristics of these contracts, including the use of performance standards. More than three quarters of the Fortune 500 companies reporting specialty behavioral healthcare contracts used at least one performance standard. Most common were administrative standards (70.2%) and customer service standards (69.4%). About half of the companies used quality standards, whereas only a third used provider-related standards. Most (58.8%) companies using performance standards also specified financial consequences. Larger Fortune 500 firms were significantly more likely to use performance standards. Risk contracts and contracts that included all covered employees were also more likely to include some categories of standards. Administrative and customer service standards may be most common because companies find it easier to specify those standards, especially compared with clinical quality measures. To the extent that employers want to obtain the most value from their behavioral healthcare purchasing, we expect that more will begin to adopt quality standards in their contracts, especially as performance measures become more refined. Reliance on accreditation, however, is an alternative approach for employers.

Innovative procurement frameworks for energy performance contracting in the UK public sector

OpenAIRE

Nolden, Colin; Sorrell, Steve; Polzin, Friedemann

2015-01-01

Procurement Frameworks for Energy Performance Contracting (PFEPCs) simplify the process of negotiating, developing and implementing Energy Performance Contracts (EPCs) with Energy Service Companies (ESCOs). This paper analyses their role in promoting the implementation of cost-effective energy efficiency measures in the UK public sector. Compared to conventional approaches to procuring goods and services involving detailed specifications, PFEPCs translate the challenge of upgrading, retrofitt...

Performance-Based Acquisition: A tool to reduce costs and improve performance at US Army environmental remediation sites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kosko, Nancy; Gilman, Janet; White, Debbie

2007-01-01

The US Army, like most US federal and state environmental organizations, is faced with limited resources to conduct environmental work, an increasing workload, and challenges in achieving closeout of its environmental cleanup programs. In 2001, in an effort to incorporate proven private sector tools into federal cleanup programs, the Department of Defense (DoD) Business Initiative Council (BIC), initiated the use of Performance-Based Acquisition (PBA) for environmental cleanup. Since fiscal year 2000, the US Army Environmental Command (USAEC) has successfully awarded more than 55 performance-based contracts for environmental remediation. These contracts range in size from $500,000 to $52.4 million, and include closing properties (Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC)) and some of the US Army's most complex active installations. The contracts address a range of activities including investigation through monitoring and site completion, as well as various technical challenges including dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPL) in ground water, karst systems, munitions and explosives of concern, and biological agents. The contracts are most often firm-fixed price, and 50 percent of the contracts required contractors to purchase environmental insurance in the form of remediation stop loss insurance (also known as cleanup cost cap insurance). The USAEC has conducted continuous process improvement since inception of the initiative. This paper presents results of two studies that were conducted in 2005-2006 to determine what lessons learned can be applied to future activities and to measure performance of contractors currently executing work under the performance based contracts. (authors)

Analysis of Air Force Wartime Contracted Construction Project Performance

Science.gov (United States)

2015-03-26

KPIs ) identified in current literature. Chan’s meta-analysis of KPIs found that time and cost are the primary objective indicators of a successful...Smith, Currie & Hancock, 2009). 46 Key performance indicators ( KPI ) were also used as input factors to analyze differences between contracts...Chan, et al. (2002) performed a meta-analysis of KPIs , as determined by construction researchers. They found that the most predictive performance

An Analysis of the Acquisition Process for Simplified Acquisition of Base Engineering Requirements (SABER) Contracts and Its Potential Impact on Contractor Performance

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Heaps, Brian

2001-01-01

The Simplified Acquisition of Base Engineering Requirements (SABER) contract's main purpose is to expedite contract award of civil engineer requirements through the issuance of individual delivery orders...

Framing Performance Magic: The Role of Contract, Discourse and Effect

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Landman, Todd

2013-10-01

Full Text Available A wide continuum of genres in performance magic has developed since the Victorian period, including stage magic, street magic, close-up magic, comedy magic, mentalism, bizarre and mystery entertainment. Each of these genres frames its performance on a different contract between the performer and the audience, the discourse used during performance and the effect on the audience both in terms of its perception of what has transpired and the personal meaning attached to the effect. This article examines this interplay between contract, discourse and effect in theory and practice. The article constructs a typology of performance magic which is then explored through an examination of audience perception and feedback from a drama workshop and focus group conducted at the University of Huddersfield in October 2012. The group experienced three performances framed around the idea of the magician, the mentalist, and the mystic, and the ensuing discussion revealed a wide range of insights into these different framings of performance. The reactions and ensuing discussions involved different understandings of trust, plausibility, explanation, authority, and dynamic interaction.

Performance Optimization of Tensor Contraction Expressions for Many Body Methods in Quantum Chemistry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hartono, Albert; Lu, Qingda; Henretty, Thomas; Krishnamoorthy, Sriram; Zhang, Huaijian; Baumgartner, Gerald; Bernholdt, David E.; Nooijen, Marcel; Pitzer, Russell M.; Ramanujam, J.; Sadayappan, Ponnuswamy

2009-01-01

Complex tensor contraction expressions arise in accurate electronic structure models in quantum chemistry, such as the coupled cluster method. This paper addresses two complementary aspects of performance optimization of such tensor contraction expressions. Transformations using algebraic properties of commutativity and associativity can be used to significantly decrease the number of arithmetic operations required for evaluation of these expressions. The identification of common subexpressions among a set of tensor contraction expressions can result in a reduction of the total number of operations required to evaluate the tensor contractions. The first part of the paper describes an effective algorithm for operation minimization with common subexpression identification and demonstrates its effectiveness on tensor contraction expressions for coupled cluster equations. The second part of the paper highlights the importance of data layout transformation in the optimization of tensor contraction computations on modern processors. A number of considerations such as minimization of cache misses and utilization of multimedia vector instructions are discussed. A library for efficient index permutation of multi-dimensional tensors is described and experimental performance data is provided that demonstrates its effectiveness.

Performance Optimization of Tensor Contraction Expressions for Many Body Methods in Quantum Chemistry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krishnamoorthy, Sriram; Bernholdt, David E.; Pitzer, R.M.; Sadayappan, Ponnuswamy

2009-01-01

Complex tensor contraction expressions arise in accurate electronic structure models in quantum chemistry, such as the coupled cluster method. This paper addresses two complementary aspects of performance optimization of such tensor contraction expressions. Transformations using algebraic properties of commutativity and associativity can be used to significantly decrease the number of arithmetic operations required for evaluation of these expressions. The identification of common subexpressions among a set of tensor contraction expressions can result in a reduction of the total number of operations required to evaluate the tensor contractions. The first part of the paper describes an effective algorithm for operation minimization with common subexpression identification and demonstrates its effectiveness on tensor contraction expressions for coupled cluster equations. The second part of the paper highlights the importance of data layout transformation in the optimization of tensor contraction computations on modern processors. A number of considerations, such as minimization of cache misses and utilization of multimedia vector instructions, are discussed. A library for efficient index permutation of multidimensional tensors is described, and experimental performance data is provided that demonstrates its effectiveness.

Collaboration in Action: Measuring and Improving Contracting Performance in the University of California Contracting Network

Science.gov (United States)

Tran, Tam; Bowman-Carpio, LeeAnna; Buscher, Nate; Davidson, Pamela; Ford, Jennifer J.; Jenkins, Erick; Kalay, Hillary Noll; Nakazono, Terry; Orescan, Helene; Sak, Rachael; Shin, Irene

2017-01-01

In 2013, the University of California, Biomedical Research, Acceleration, Integration, and Development (UC BRAID) convened a regional network of contracting directors from the five University of California (UC) health campuses to: (i) increase collaboration, (ii) operationalize and measure common metrics as a basis for performance improvement…

Game-Theoretic Models for Usage-based Maintenance Contract

Science.gov (United States)

Husniah, H.; Wangsaputra, R.; Cakravastia, A.; Iskandar, B. P.

2018-03-01

A usage-based maintenance contracts with coordination and non coordination between two parties is studied in this paper. The contract is applied to a dump truck operated in a mining industry. The situation under study is that an agent offers service contract to the owner of the truck after warranty ends. This contract has only a time limit but no usage limit. If the total usage per period exceeds the maximum usage allowed in the contract, then the owner will be charged an additional cost. In general, the agent (Original Equipment Manufacturer/OEM) provides a full coverage of maintenance, which includes PM and CM under the lease contract. The decision problem for the owner is to select the best option offered that fits to its requirement, and the decision problem for the agent is to find the optimal maintenance efforts for a given price of the service option offered. We first find the optimal decisions using coordination scheme and then with non coordination scheme for both parties.

The energy performance contract - key towards energy efficiency in Europe?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Murafa Corina

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The paper focuses on the Energy Performance Contract (EPC as a business model for energy efficiency. More precisely, it examines, using two case studies, enablers and disablers – from an economic, legal and institutional/managerial perspective – for advancing this arrangement across the EU. The EU has set a 20% energy savings target by 2020 (roughly equivalent to turning off 400 power stations, with an even more ambitious target of 27% by 2030. To reach these ambitious targets, the investments needed are approximately EUR 100 bn/year across the EU (according to the European Commission. Energy efficiency is not, as fervent proponents often claim, the low hanging fruit in terms of investment efforts. Like any other sub-sector, such as transmission and distribution, it demands innovative financing instruments to ensure adequate scale-up. In the paper, I use two comparative case studies to identify and classify the disablers and enablers of Energy Performance Contracting/Energy Services Companies (ESCOs development: the European frontrunner, namely Germany, and a laggard, namely Romania. As research methodology, I use literature review, comparisons between similar government policy planning and evaluation documents, and stakeholder interviews. While academic literature on the topic (Seefeldt, 2003; Wilhelm, 2015 is developed for Germany, for Romania a critical reflection on EPC promotion policy is to be found only in industry documents (e.g.: ARPEE, 2013; Tractebel, 2015. The German success demonstrates that, contrary to the belief of Romanian stakeholders, it is not the lack of a standardized contract model that prevents EPC development, but lack of genuine commitment, drive and leadership of public officials in promoting this financing instrument. A solid communication between public authorities and private beneficiaries, and public administration capacity for impact assessment and evidence-based policy planning are two other significant

What encourages local authorities to engage with energy performance contracting for retrofitting? Evidence from German municipalities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Polzin, Friedemann; Flotow, Paschen von; Nolden, Colin

2016-01-01

Municipalities aiming at mitigating climate change by implementing new energy efficiency technologies face budgetary and capacity constraints. Outsourcing through energy service contracting could provide a solution. This paper reports results from a survey of 1298 municipalities concerning barriers to retrofitting public street lighting and the possible role of energy service contracting to overcome these barriers. Using a logistic regression analysis, the authors investigate determinants of opting for energy service contracts in the specific context of LED retrofits. Results point to an advantage of outsourcing in a financially and capacity-constrained environment, which corresponds with the main reasons for engaging in contracting: minimising investments and financial risks. However, municipalities often do not fully grasp the risks associated with retrofitting especially using a novel technology such as LED. In relation to that they underestimate the risk reduction potential of energy performance contracts (EPC). Previous experience with outsourcing increases the probability to engage in servitization although certain existing partnerships, particularly with utilities, prevent municipalities from considering energy performance contracts. Interestingly, engaging an energy consultant has a negative propensity to use energy service contracts, while pre-negotiated standardised contracts for energy performance contracts have a positive influence. - Highlights: •Barriers to retrofitting can be addressed through energy performance contracts (EPC). •Outsourcing has the potential to alleviate personnel and financial constraints. •Standardised contracts and previous experience with outsourcing facilitate use of EPC. •Engaging energy consultants has a negative influence on the willingness to adopt EPC. •Policy makers could support facilitators and standard contracts to boost EPC market.

The effects of area contraction on the performance of UNITEN's shock tube: Numerical study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohsen, A M; Yusoff, M Z; Al-Falahi, A

2013-01-01

Numerical study into the effects of area contraction on shock tube performance has been reported in this paper. The shock tube is an important component of high speed fluid flow test facility was designed and built at the Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN). In the above mentioned facility, a small area contraction, in form of a bush, was placed adjacent to the diaphragm section to facilitate the diaphragm rupturing process when the pressure ratio across the diaphragm increases to a certain value. To investigate the effects of the small area contraction on facility performance, numerical simulations were conducted at different operating conditions (diaphragm pressure ratios P 4 /P 1 of 10, 15, and 20). A two-dimensional time-accurate Navier-Stokes CFD solver was used to simulate the transient flow in the facility with and without area contraction. The numerical results show that the facility performance is influenced by area contraction in the diaphragm section. For instance, when operating the facility with area contraction using diaphragm pressure ratio (P 4 /P 1 ) of 10, the shock wave strength and shock wave speed decrease by 18% and 8% respectively.

A high performance data parallel tensor contraction framework: Application to coupled electro-mechanics

Science.gov (United States)

Poya, Roman; Gil, Antonio J.; Ortigosa, Rogelio

2017-07-01

The paper presents aspects of implementation of a new high performance tensor contraction framework for the numerical analysis of coupled and multi-physics problems on streaming architectures. In addition to explicit SIMD instructions and smart expression templates, the framework introduces domain specific constructs for the tensor cross product and its associated algebra recently rediscovered by Bonet et al. (2015, 2016) in the context of solid mechanics. The two key ingredients of the presented expression template engine are as follows. First, the capability to mathematically transform complex chains of operations to simpler equivalent expressions, while potentially avoiding routes with higher levels of computational complexity and, second, to perform a compile time depth-first or breadth-first search to find the optimal contraction indices of a large tensor network in order to minimise the number of floating point operations. For optimisations of tensor contraction such as loop transformation, loop fusion and data locality optimisations, the framework relies heavily on compile time technologies rather than source-to-source translation or JIT techniques. Every aspect of the framework is examined through relevant performance benchmarks, including the impact of data parallelism on the performance of isomorphic and nonisomorphic tensor products, the FLOP and memory I/O optimality in the evaluation of tensor networks, the compilation cost and memory footprint of the framework and the performance of tensor cross product kernels. The framework is then applied to finite element analysis of coupled electro-mechanical problems to assess the speed-ups achieved in kernel-based numerical integration of complex electroelastic energy functionals. In this context, domain-aware expression templates combined with SIMD instructions are shown to provide a significant speed-up over the classical low-level style programming techniques.

Integration of Multiple Contractors with Performance Type of Contracts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

BURDGE, L.F.

2000-01-01

The management practices, procedures, and processes that are suited to managing Management and Operation (MandO) type of contracts at Department of Energy (DOE) sites, which were cost reimbursement with award fee, are not well suited to managing contracts where fee is determined by performance metrics. Thus a different style of management, requiring substantial revamping of the management process, is needed. This shift in philosophy also requires a dramatic shift in culture. This paper will describe how these changes are being managed at the River Protection Project (RPP), located at the DOE's Hanford Site in Washington State, one of DOE's largest and highest risk environmental clean-up project

The Performance Contracting Concept, Appendix: A Critique of the Theory

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Stucker, James P

1971-01-01

.... A. Simon, and Optimal Rewards in Incentive Systems, a Ph.D. dissertation by C. N. Yowell, Jr. These analyses could provide a foundation for a fully articulated theory of performance contracting...

Ontologies for commitment-based smart contracts

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Kruijff, Joost; Weigand, Hans; Panetto, H; Debruyne, C.; Gaaloul, W.; Papazoglou, M.; Paschke, A.; Ardagna, C.A.; Meersman, R.

2017-01-01

Smart contracts gain rapid exposure since the inception of blockchain technology. Yet there is no unified ontology for smart contracts. Being categorized as coded contracts or substitutes of conventional legal contracts, there is a need to reduce the conceptual ambiguity of smart contracts. We

Making contracting work better and cost less: Report of the Contract Reform Team

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1994-02-01

In June 1993, Secretary of Energy Hazel O`Leary formed a Contract Reform Team, chaired by Deputy Secretary Bill White, to evaluate the contracting practices of the Department of Energy and to formulate specific proposals for improving those practices. This report summarizes the results of the work of the Contract Reform Team. It recommends actions for implementation that will significantly improve the Department`s contracting practices and will enable the Department to help create a government that -- in the words of Vice President Gore -- {open_quotes}works better and costs less.{close_quotes} These actions and the deadlines for their implementation are listed. Among other things, they recommend replacing the Department`s standard Management and Operating Contract with a new Performance-Based Management Contract and strengthening the Department`s systems for selecting and managing contractors.

The 'Alternative Quality Contract,' based on a global budget, lowered medical spending and improved quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Zirui; Safran, Dana Gelb; Landon, Bruce E; Landrum, Mary Beth; He, Yulei; Mechanic, Robert E; Day, Matthew P; Chernew, Michael E

2012-08-01

Seven provider organizations in Massachusetts entered the Blue Cross Blue Shield Alternative Quality Contract in 2009, followed by four more organizations in 2010. This contract, based on a global budget and pay-for-performance for achieving certain quality benchmarks, places providers at risk for excessive spending and rewards them for quality, similar to the new Pioneer Accountable Care Organizations in Medicare. We analyzed changes in spending and quality associated with the Alternative Quality Contract and found that the rate of increase in spending slowed compared to control groups, more so in the second year than in the first. Overall, participation in the contract over two years led to savings of 2.8 percent (1.9 percent in year 1 and 3.3 percent in year 2) compared to spending in nonparticipating groups. Savings were accounted for by lower prices achieved through shifting procedures, imaging, and tests to facilities with lower fees, as well as reduced utilization among some groups. Quality of care also improved compared to control organizations, with chronic care management, adult preventive care, and pediatric care within the contracting groups improving more in year 2 than in year 1. These results suggest that global budgets with pay-for-performance can begin to slow underlying growth in medical spending while improving quality of care.

Empirical Study on Annual Energy-Saving Performance of Energy Performance Contracting in China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hongquan Ruan

2018-05-01

Full Text Available A lack of trust in Energy Service Company (ESCo is the most critical factor affecting the development of Energy Performance Contracting (EPC in China, compared with other constraints. One cannot easily estimate the energy-saving performance of an EPC project. Under that condition, lack of trust may cause the Energy-Consuming Unit (ECU to suspect the energy-saving performance promised by the ESCo, thus leaving potentially profitable projects without necessary funding. Currently, specific studies taking an across-projects viewpoint on annual energy-saving performance of EPC projects in multiple subsectors, objectively and quantitatively, are lacking. This paper studies the regression relationships of annual energy-saving quantity in terms of revamping cost and the regression relationships of annual cost saving in terms of revamping cost. The regression results show that there are statistically significant correlations in the above relationships in the nine subsectors investigated. This is significant for ESCos and ECUs, because knowledge on energy-saving performance could contribute to EPC investment decisions and trust relationships between ESCos and ECUs. Then, a multiple linear regression model of revamping cost is set up to analyze its influencing factors. The model indicates that the subsector the sample belongs to, financing, registered capital of the ESCo, and contract period have significant effects on revamping cost. Thus, policy implications regarding innovation of EE promotion technology, clarifying ESCos’ exit mechanism, innovation of financing mechanism, and improving the market credit environment for promoting investment in EPC projects, are provided.

Super Energy Savings Performance Contracts: Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) Program Overview (revision)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pitchford, P.

2001-01-01

This four-page publication describes the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) streamlined energy savings performance contracting, or ''Super ESPC,'' process, which is managed by DOE's Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP). Under a Super ESPC, a qualifying energy service company (ESCO) from the private sector pays for energy efficiency improvements or advanced renewable energy technologies (e.g., photovoltaic systems, wind turbines, or geothermal heat pumps, among others) for a facility of a government agency. The ESCO is then repaid over time from the agency's resulting energy cost savings. Delivery orders under these contracts specify the level of performance (energy savings) and the repayment schedule; the contract term can be up to 25 years, although many Super ESPCs are for about 10 years or less

Provider cost analysis supports results-based contracting out of maternal and newborn health services: an evidence-based policy perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Hatcher, Peter; Shaikh, Shiraz; Fazli, Hassan; Zaidi, Shehla; Riaz, Atif

2014-11-13

using standard treatment guideline (STG) based service costing frameworks should be applied across a number of health facilities to calculate the cost of services and guide development of evidence based resource envelopes and performance based contracting.

Legal Issues of A Surrogacy Contract Based on Iranian Acts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amir Pirouz

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Assistive technologies have always opened new horizons in human's life, posed solutions to problemsand brought relief and prosperity for human beings. Iranian judicial authorities have recently recognizedthe importance of medical technologies. Accordingly, Iranian legal system has recognized surrogacy anda surrogacy contract seems unavoidable for surrogacy to be legally valid, socially acceptable andreligiously legitimate. As a legal defense of including a typical surrogacy contract in contract law, thisreview studies the four building blocks of a valid contract: the intention and consent of parties, theirlegal capacity, the subject of the contract and its legitimacy. Discussing related Iranian Acts concerningcontracts and responsibilities of parties, the authors of the present article deal with main commitmentsand responsibilities of the parties to a typical surrogacy contract: infertile couples, surrogate, fertilityclinic or medical institute, and surrogate's husband. The authors conclude that a surrogacy contract isaccepted based on article 10 of Iranian Civil Act 1928, pose some suggestions to be included in such acontract, and emphasize that a specific Act concerning surrogacy should be approved to cover rights andlegal needs of all parties to a surrogacy contract.

Psychological contract breach and work performance:Is social exchange a buffer or an intensifier?

OpenAIRE

Bal, P. Matthijs; Chiaburu, Dan S.; Jansen, Paul G. W.

2010-01-01

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to investigate how social exchanges modify the relationship between psychological contract breach and work performance. It aims to present two concurrent hypotheses, based on theoretical interaction effects of social exchanges (conceptualized as social exchange relationships, POS, and trust). Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from a sample of 266 employees in a service sector company in the USA. Regression analysis was used to explore the moder...

48 CFR 16.405-2 - Cost-plus-award-fee contracts.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... CONTRACTING METHODS AND CONTRACT TYPES TYPES OF CONTRACTS Incentive Contracts 16.405-2 Cost-plus-award-fee... during performance and that is sufficient to provide motivation for excellence in the areas of cost... consisting of (1) a base amount fixed at inception of the contract, if applicable and at the discretion of...

Two 'hot buttons' in gas contracting: security performance and force majeure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, J.J.

1996-01-01

Two important developments in gas contracting issues are the 'force majeure' provisions and security for performance clauses. 'Force majeure' was defined as any acts of God or any acts of omission by a transporter of gas, which is excused by any event not within the control of the party claiming suspension. 'Force majeure' provisions need to be specifically negotiated in every case. These issues often arise in gas contracting situations, but the nature of Canada's non-litigious oil and gas industry is such that we have had little or no Canadian case law to assist in interpreting what these clauses mean. The 'force majeure' clause is basically meant to protect the parties from events outside normal business risk. The security of performance issue arises when the obligation of a supplier of gas to perform, and the obligation of a buyer of gas to pay, is unsecured, as would be the case for example, if one of the parties becomes bankrupt

Management of Contracts for F110 Engine Procurements

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Granetto, Paul

2001-01-01

This audit was performed in response to an allegation to the Defense Hotline that the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Procurement Contracting Office made poor procurement decisions on F110 aircraft engine contracts...

Chaos synchronization based on contraction principle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Junwei; Zhou Tianshou

2007-01-01

This paper introduces contraction principle. Based on such a principle, a novel scheme is proposed to synchronize coupled systems with global diffusive coupling. A rigorous sufficient condition on chaos synchronization is derived. As an example, coupled Lorenz systems with nearest-neighbor diffusive coupling are investigated, and numerical simulations are given to validate the proposed synchronization approach

Location, Location: Jurisdiction & Conflicts in Transborder Contract Litigation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lookofsky, Joseph

In transborder contract litigation place-based factors are often decisive, both as regards jurisdiction to adjudicate as well as the rules which determine the applicable substantive law. Relevant locations include the place where the contract was made, where the parties reside, transact business...... or own property, the place of delivery, payment or other performance etc. Using concrete case-based examples, Professor Lookofsky explains how rules of jurisdiction and contract conflicts in Europe are tied to rigidly defined, single-place-based factors. In the United States, by contrast...

Federal Research and Development Contract Trends and the Supporting Industrial Base, 2000-2014

Science.gov (United States)

2016-04-30

Homeland Security, and government-wide services contracting trends; sourcing policy and cost estimation methodologies; and recent U.S. Army modernization ...been fears that the sharp downturn in federal contract obligations would disproportionately impact the R&D contracting portfolios within individual...329 - contracting portfolios , and the industrial base that supports those efforts, within each R&D contracting agency. The main finding of this

State-Andra performance contract 2017-2021

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2017-12-01

After a brief presentation of the ANDRA and of its missions, of challenges faced by this agency in the elaboration of the performance contract in addressing waste issues, the role of time and life cycle for storages, and the collaboration with territories, this publication presents ANDRA's objectives for the period 2017-2021 according to six main strategic axes: to conduct a transformation of the agency, to set the environment and dialogue with society at the core of its action, to make Cigeo a collective success, to confirm the ANDRA's industrial excellence and to contribute the one of the whole sector, to develop, capitalise and transmit knowledge, to develop the public agency model as a reference for a safe waste management with a good and reasonable taking of challenges into account

Entrepreneurs, Contracts, and the Failure of Young Firms

OpenAIRE

Pierre Azoulay; Scott Shane

2001-01-01

Although economic theory has emphasized that moral hazard and hold-up problems influence the design of contracts, very little is known about the process by which explicit contracts are established and the effect of contractual arrangements on firm performance. This paper attempts to demonstrate that firms are selected for survival on the basis of contracting efficiency. Based on a statistical analysis of 170 new franchise contracts and interviews with the founders of 16 of these new franchise...

Contract Award Decisions Resulting in Contract Termination for Default

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

1996-01-01

.... Specifically, the audit focused on contracts terminated either for default or convenience and determined whether the contract terminations could have been averted based on information available before contract award...

Contract Formation and Performance under the UCC and CISG: A Comparative Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Saunders, Kurt M.; Rymsza, Leonard

2015-01-01

Contracts for the sale of goods in the United States are governed by the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) in every state but one. When one of the parties to the contract is based in another country, however, the conflict of laws principles that will determine which country's law governs the transaction can be confounding. In addition, the commercial…

Bonneville Purchasing Instructions. Appendix 14A, Contracting Officer`s Technical Representatives` Guide for Services Contracts.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

United States. Bonneville Power Administration.

1993-07-01

This guide outlines the duties of BPA personnel designated as Contracting Officers Technical Representatives (COTRs). The BPA Administrator gives contracting officers (COs) in BPA responsibility and authority for awarding and administering contracts. COs are authorized to designate other BPA employees to act as their representatives for purposes of contract administration, from the time of contract award until final receipt and acceptance of the contracted services. COTRs are the individuals primarily relied upon to perform technical contract administration functions. Similar functions for supply and construction contracts are performed by engineering representatives, construction inspectors, and inspectors. Although this Guide is written primarily with the COTR in mind, the concept and operation of teamwork is essential throughout the entire process of contract administration. The CO administers the contract during performance, but rarely has expertise in all of the relevant technical areas. Therefore, CO decisions rely on input from a team. The COTR is an indispensable member of that team. The instructions in this Guide are designed to facilitate this essential CO-COTR cooperation. COTR duties are usually additional to those required of the COTR in his or her assigned line organization. The COTR is still accountable to the line supervisor for performance of regularly-assigned duties. These duties are to be reflected appropriately in performance appraisals and job descriptions. For contract administration duties, however, the COTR reports directly to, and is accountable only to, the CO. The COTR`s supervisor must allow sufficient time to ensure that the COTR can adequately monitor the contract for technical compliance. This Guide is designed for COTRs who are performing service contract (including intergovernmental contract) administration functions as an adjunct to their normal technical duties.

Expanding Energy Performance Contracting in china: policy solutions and market mechanisms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shen, Bo [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Price, Lynn [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Liu, Xu [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Meng, Lu [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Shi, Wenjing [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Evans, Meredydd [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Roshchanka, Volha [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Yu, Sha [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

2017-07-19

Energy performance contracting is an important market mechanism that uses energy savings to pay over time for the upfront costs of energy efficiency retrofits in buildings, industries, and other types of facilities. Through energy performance contracts (EPCs), Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) play an important role in implementing energy efficiency retrofits. Both China and the United States have large markets for EPCs and significant opportunities for growth. The Chinese government has made great efforts in promoting the country’s ESCO business and expanding its EPC markets. This paper makes a series of recommendations for China to adopt more ambitious policy measures to encourage deep energy savings projects via EPCs. These recommendations are built on initial insights from a white paper developed by researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory with the assistance from the ESCO Committee of China’s Energy Conservation Association (EMCA). Key recommendations are listed below.

Book-Smart, Not Street-Smart: Blockchain-Based Smart Contracts and The Social Workings of Law

OpenAIRE

Karen E. C. Levy

2017-01-01

This paper critiques blockchain-based “smart contracts,” which aim to automatically and securely execute obligations without reliance on a centralized enforcement authority. Though smart contracts do have some features that might serve the goals of social justice and fairness, I suggest that they are based on a thin conception of what law does, and how it does it. Smart contracts focus on the technical form of contract to the exclusion of the social contexts within which contracts operate, an...

Contract Design: Financial Options and Risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Mühlbacher, Axel C; Amelung, Volker E; Juhnke, Christin

2018-01-12

Integrated care systems as well as accountable care organisations (ACOs) in the US and similar concepts in other countries are advocated as an effective method of improving the performance of healthcare systems. These systems outline a payment and care delivery model that intends to tie provider reimbursements to predefined quality metrics. By this the total costs of care shall be reduced. When designing healthcare options contractors are faced with a variety of financial options. The costs of market utilisation are highly relevant for the conception of healthcare contracts; furthermore contract-specific investments are an obstacle to the efficient operation of ACOs. A comprehensive literature review on methods of designing contracts in Integrated Care was conducted. This article is the second in a row of three that are all published in this issue and contribute to a specific issue in designing healthcare contracts. The first dealt with the organisation of contracts and information asymmetries, while part 3 concludes with the question of risk management and evaluation. The specific research question of this second article focusses on the financial options and reimbursement schemes that are available to define healthcare contracts. A healthcare contract is a relational contract, which determines the level of reimbursement, the scope of services and the quality between service providers and payers, taking account of the risks relating to population and performance. A relational contract is an agreement based upon assumption of a longer timeframe. A major obstacle to the practical implementation of healthcare contracts is the prognosis of the inflows and outflows due to the actuarial risks of the insured population. Financing conditions and reimbursement arrangements that are based on a prospectively determined fixed price, have a significant drawback: it is very difficult to take the differences in health status and the utilisation of distinct insured clientele

31 CFR 538.406 - Exportation of services; performance of service contracts; legal services.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Exportation of services; performance of service contracts; legal services. 538.406 Section 538.406 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations... SUDANESE SANCTIONS REGULATIONS Interpretations § 538.406 Exportation of services; performance of service...

Method Determining the Contents of the Contract

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Agus Yudha Hernoko

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The contents of the contract are primarily determined by what the real mutually agreed upon by the parties. By interpreting some certain statements, in this case to determine its meaning, to be clear based on what the parties committed themselves. Why is the interpretation required? In facts, on the many cases provided a valuable lesson, how many commercial disputes arise when the performance of the contract. The dispute begins when the parties have a different understanding of the statement that they use in the contract. Indeed, businesses are very familiar with the business processes that they do, but at the time of the business process are set forth in the contract language and designed by those who do not understand the legal aspects of the contract, the contract can be ascertained open possibility for disputes. The power of contract binding (the contents of the agreement toward to the characteristic and the wide spectrum of the rights and obligations contractually, basically a contract represents the power of performance among others in order implementing the rights and obligations of the parties. As an instrument to understand the contract, the method of determining the content of the contract (e.g., through interpretation, autonomous and heteronomous factors, further can be used to assess the reciprocation of rights and obligations in a meaningful and proportional contractual relationship.

Between Status and Contract?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thorsten Keiser

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This contribution deals with unfree labour in Germany from the early modern age until the beginning of the 20th century. It presents the main conclusions of a book published in 2013 on this subject in German. Unfree labour is not identified in the first place with slavery or any other labour relationship based on status. Instead, this study aims at an analysis of freedom and coercion in contractual labour relationships. It will be argued that in Germany contractual labour relationships before 1800 were embedded in a legal system that strongly restricted contractual autonomy and aimed at the suppression of free labour markets. The scope of this legislation was to guarantee efficient labour performance, which was not only perceived as being in the personal interest of an employer, but as a fundamental element of the common good. After 1800 the system changed to more incentive-based legislation that established freedom of contract for labour relations. Nevertheless, coercion in order to perform the contractual duties of a work contract remained important for many groups of workers, especially farmhands and industrial workers. The last criminal sanctions for breaches of labour contracts were only abolished in the revolution of 1919. This development shows the difficulties German law had in extending the principles of private law to workers. When a system of free labour was fully established, the issue of unemployment and economic problems, especially in the Weimar Republic, required a new system of protective rules. The history of free market based labour contracts in Germany was therefore very short, with state intervention shi ing from control and coercion to social assistance.

Why performance-based contracting failed in Uganda--an "open-box" evaluation of a complex health system intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Ssengooba, Freddie; McPake, Barbara; Palmer, Natasha

2012-07-01

Performance-based contracting (PBC) is a tool that links rewards to attainment of measurable performance targets. Significant problems remain in the methods used to evaluate this tool. The primary focus of evaluations on the effects of PBC (black-box) and less attention to how these effects arise (open-box) generates suboptimal policy learning. A black-box impact evaluation of PBC pilot by the Development Research Group of the World Bank (DRG) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) concluded that PBC was ineffective. This paper reports a theory-based case study intended to clarify how and why PBC failed to achieve its objectives. To explain the observed PBC implementation and responses of participants, this case study employed two related theories i.e. complex adaptive system and expectancy theory respectively. A prospective study trailed the implementation of PBC (2003-2006) while collecting experiences of participants at district and hospital levels. Significant problems were encountered in the implementation of PBC that reflected its inadequate design. As problems were encountered, hasty adaptations resulted in a de facto intervention distinct from the one implied at the design stage. For example, inadequate time was allowed for the selection of service targets by the health centres yet they got 'locked-in' to these poor choices. The learning curve and workload among performance auditors weakened the validity of audit results. Above all, financial shortfalls led to delays, short-cuts and uncertainty about the size and payment of bonuses. The lesson for those intending to implement similar interventions is that PBC should not be attempted 'on the cheap'. It requires a plan to boost local institutional and technical capacities of implementers. It also requires careful consideration of the responses of multiple actors - both insiders and outsiders to the intended change process. Given the costs and complexity of PBC implementation, strengthening conventional approaches

An event-based model for contracts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tiziana Cimoli

2013-02-01

Full Text Available We introduce a basic model for contracts. Our model extends event structures with a new relation, which faithfully captures the circular dependencies among contract clauses. We establish whether an agreement exists which respects all the contracts at hand (i.e. all the dependencies can be resolved, and we detect the obligations of each participant. The main technical contribution is a correspondence between our model and a fragment of the contract logic PCL. More precisely, we show that the reachable events are exactly those which correspond to provable atoms in the logic. Despite of this strong correspondence, our model improves previous work on PCL by exhibiting a finer-grained notion of culpability, which takes into account the legitimate orderings of events.

Designation of Contracting Officers Representatives and Oversight Framework Could Be Improved for Contracts in Afghanistan

Science.gov (United States)

2016-08-30

Sea Systems issue guidance to contracting officers to obtain a quality assurance surveillance plan for all service contracts, and ensure that the...prepare a quality assurance surveillance plan (QASP) for service contracts in order to facilitate assessment of contractor performance.12 Furthermore...that the contracting activities received and paid for goods or services that did not meet contract performance standards. At the time of the audit

Contract Design: Risk Management and Evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Mühlbacher, Axel C; Amelung, Volker E; Juhnke, Christin

2018-01-12

Effective risk adjustment is an aspect that is more and more given weight on the background of competitive health insurance systems and vital healthcare systems. The risk structure of the providers plays a vital role in Pay for Performance. A prerequisite for optimal incentive-based service models is a (partial) dependence of the agent's returns on the provider's gain level. Integrated care systems as well as accountable care organisations (ACOs) in the US and similar concepts in other countries are advocated as an effective method of improving the performance of healthcare systems. These systems outline a payment and care delivery model that intends to tie provider reimbursements to predefined quality metrics. By this the total costs of care shall be reduced. Little is known about the contractual design and the main challenges of delegating "accountability" to these new kinds of organisations and/or contracts. The costs of market utilisation are highly relevant for the conception of healthcare contracts; furthermore information asymmetries and contract-specific investments are an obstacle to the efficient operation of ACOs. A comprehensive literature review on methods of designing contracts in Integrated Care was conducted. The research question in this article focuses on how reimbursement strategies, evaluation of measures and methods of risk adjustment can best be integrated in healthcare contracting. Each integrated care contract includes challenges for both payers and providers without having sufficient empirical data on both sides. These challenges are clinical, administrative or financial nature. Risk adjusted contracts ensure that the reimbursement roughly matches the true costs resulting from the morbidity of a population. If reimbursement of care provider corresponds to the actual expenses for an individual/population the problem of risk selection is greatly reduced. The currently used methods of risk adjustment have widely differing model and forecast

Administrative contracts

OpenAIRE

Vukićević-Petković Milica

2015-01-01

Administrative contracts are a special type of contract where usually one of the contracting parties is a public law body and which is concluded for the performance of public service and the realization of a public interest. They go a long way since its inception to its eventual final acceptance of all the legal systems. One of the enduring characteristics of this type of contract is their disquised or unnoticed existence. This is why only monitoring their development may lead to a complete u...

13 CFR 126.700 - What are the performance of work requirements for HUBZone contracts?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false What are the performance of work... ADMINISTRATION HUBZONE PROGRAM Contract Performance Requirements § 126.700 What are the performance of work... meet the performance of work requirements set forth in § 125.6(c) of this chapter. (b) In addition to...

Asymmetric Information, Self-selection, and Pricing of Insurance Contracts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Donnelly, Catherine; Englund, Martin Kristian; Nielsen, Jens Perch

2014-01-01

This article presents an optional bonus-malus contract based on a priori risk classification of the underlying insurance contract. By inducing self-selection, the purchase of the bonus-malus contract can be used as a screening device. This gives an even better pricing performance than both...... an experience rating scheme and a classical no-claims bonus system. An application to the Danish automobile insurance market is considered....

Contract-based Internet Service Software Development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Giambiagi, Pablo; Owe, Olaf; Schneider, Gerardo

The fast evolution of the Internet has popularized service-oriented architectures dynamic IT-supported inter-business collaborations. Yet, interoperability between different organizations, requires contracts to reduce risks. Thus, high-level models of contracts are making their way into service...

The Contract Management Body of Knowledge: A Comparison of Contracting Competencies

Science.gov (United States)

2013-12-01

and supply chain management policies in an effort to deliver higher returns for their companies ( KPMG , 2012). As purchasing becomes increasingly more...conservation, hazardous materials , and ozone-depleting substances (NCMA, 2011). Contract Structures (1.5) has to do with identifying specific contract types...discusses time and material contracts as well as cost, performance, and delivery incentives. Incentive and award-fee contracts pertaining to fixed-price

Value-based contracting innovated Medicare advantage healthcare delivery and improved survival.

Science.gov (United States)

Mandal, Aloke K; Tagomori, Gene K; Felix, Randell V; Howell, Scott C

2017-02-01

In Medicare Advantage (MA) with its CMS Hierarchical Condition Categories (CMS-HCC) payment model, CMS reimburses private plans (Medicare Advantage Organizations [MAOs]) with prospective, monthly, health-based or risk-adjusted, capitated payments. The effect of this payment methodology on healthcare delivery remains debatable. How value-based contracting generates cost efficiencies and improves clinical outcomes in MA is studied. A difference in contracting arrangements between an MAO and 2 provider groups facilitated an intervention-control, preintervention-postintervention, difference-in-differences approach among statistically similar, elderly, community-dwelling MA enrollees within one metropolitan statistical area. Starting in 2009, for intervention-group MA enrollees, the MAO and a provider group agreed to full-risk capitation combined with a revenue gainshare. The gainshare was based on increases in the Risk Adjustment Factor (RAF), which modified the CMS-HCC payments. For the control group, the MAO continued to reimburse another provider group through fee-for-service. RAF, utilization, and survival were followed until December 31, 2012. The intervention group's mean RAF increased significantly (P based visits (P based care for these MA enrollees with multiple comorbidities, a 6% survival benefit with a 32.8% lower hazard of death (P Value-based contracting can drive utilization patterns and improve clinical outcomes among chronically ill, elderly MA members.

Performance-Based Risk-Sharing Arrangements: U.S. Payer Experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Goble, Joseph A; Ung, Brian; van Boemmel-Wegmann, Sascha; Navarro, Robert P; Parece, Andrew

2017-10-01

As a result of global concern about rising drug costs, many U.S. payers and European agencies such as the National Health Service have partnered with pharmaceutical companies in performance-based risk-sharing arrangements (PBRSAs) by which manufacturers share financial risk with health care purchasing entities and authorities. However, PBRSAs present many administrative and legal challenges that have minimized successful contract experiences in the United States. To (a) identify drug and disease characteristics and contract components that contribute to successful PBRSA experiences and the primary barriers to PBRSA execution and (b) explore solutions to facilitate contract negotiation and execution. A 37-item, web-based survey instrument (Qualtrics), approximately 20 minutes in duration, was open during July and August 2016. The survey was emailed to 90 pharmacy and medical directors of various health care organizations. Statistical analysis included the Kruskal-Wallis test and chi-square tests to examine differences among payer responses. Survey responses were anonymized and data were aggregated. Twenty-seven individuals completed the survey (30% completion rate). The majority of respondents worked for regional health plans (52%, n = 14), covering at least 1 million lives (63%, n = 17), with at least 7 years of managed care experience (81%, n = 22). A total of 51 PBRSAs were active among respondents at the time of the survey. Easily obtainable and evaluable drug data and medical data were the most important drug and disease attributes for successful PBRSAs, respectively. Pharmacy claims and patient demographic data were assessed as "very easy and inexpensive" to collect. Type and amount of manufacturer payment for drug outcome performance failure, endpoint measurement, and necessary clinical data for drug performance measurement were all critical factors for successful PBRSAs. Standardized contract templates and transparent contract financial risk evaluation and

A Manpower Model for U.S. Navy Operational Contracting

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-01

CLC 056 Analyzing Contract Costs CLC 057 Performance Based Payments and Value of Cash Flow HBS 428 Negotiating Education At least 24...MONTHLY METRICS 38 The heads of contracting at the seven FLCs are responsible for maintaining all of the “ dashboard ” metrics. NAVSUP GLS headquarters

Book-Smart, Not Street-Smart: Blockchain-Based Smart Contracts and The Social Workings of Law

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karen E. C. Levy

2017-02-01

Full Text Available This paper critiques blockchain-based “smart contracts,” which aim to automatically and securely execute obligations without reliance on a centralized enforcement authority. Though smart contracts do have some features that might serve the goals of social justice and fairness, I suggest that they are based on a thin conception of what law does, and how it does it. Smart contracts focus on the technical form of contract to the exclusion of the social contexts within which contracts operate, and the complex ways in which people use them. In the real world, contractual obligations are enforced through all kinds of social mechanisms other than formal adjudication—and contracts serve many functions that are not explicitly legal in nature, or even designed to be formally enforced. I describe three categories of contracting practices in which people engage (the inclusion of facially unenforceable terms, the inclusion of purposefully underspecified terms, and willful nonenforcement of enforceable terms to illustrate how contracts actually “work.” The technology of smart contracts neglects the fact that people use contracts as social resources to manage their relations. The inflexibility that they introduce, by design, might short-circuit a number of social uses to which law is routinely put. Therefore, I suggest that attention to the social and relational contexts of contracting are essential considerations for the discussion, development, and deployment of smart contracts.

Contract Design: Risk Management and Evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Axel C. Mühlbacher

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Effective risk adjustment is an aspect that is more and more given weight on the background of competitive health insurance systems and vital healthcare systems. The risk structure of the providers plays a vital role in Pay for Performance. A prerequisite for optimal incentive-based service models is a (partial dependence of the agent’s returns on the provider’s gain level. Integrated care systems as well as accountable care organisations (ACOs in the US and similar concepts in other countries are advocated as an effective method of improving the performance of healthcare systems. These systems outline a payment and care delivery model that intends to tie provider reimbursements to predefined quality metrics. By this the total costs of care shall be reduced.  Methods: Little is known about the contractual design and the main challenges of delegating “accountability” to these new kinds of organisations and/or contracts. The costs of market utilisation are highly relevant for the conception of healthcare contracts; furthermore information asymmetries and contract-specific investments are an obstacle to the efficient operation of ACOs. A comprehensive literature review on methods of designing contracts in Integrated Care was conducted. The research question in this article focuses on how reimbursement strategies, evaluation of measures and methods of risk adjustment can best be integrated in healthcare contracting.  Results: Each integrated care contract includes challenges for both payers and providers without having sufficient empirical data on both sides. These challenges are clinical, administrative or financial nature. Risk adjusted contracts ensure that the reimbursement roughly matches the true costs resulting from the morbidity of a population. If reimbursement of care provider corresponds to the actual expenses for an individual/population the problem of risk selection is greatly reduced. The currently used methods

A Social Contract for University-Industry Collaboration: A Case of Project-Based Learning Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Vartiainen, Tero

This study determines a social contract for a form of university-industry collaboration to a project-based learning environment in close collaboration with industry. The author's previous studies on moral conflicts in a project-based learning (PjBL) environment and his 5-year engagement in the PjBL environment are used as background knowledge, and John Rawls' veil of ignorance is used as a method in the contract formulation. Fair and impartial treatment of actors is strived for with the contract which constitutes of sets of obligations for each party, students, clients, and university (instructors) in the chosen project course. With the contract fair and impartial treatment of actors is strived for and the most dilemmatic moral conflicts are tried to be avoided. The forming of the social contract is evaluated, and implications for research and collaborations in practice are offered.

Quantitative application study on the control system of contract progress

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu Xiaocong; Kang Rujie; Zhan Li

2012-01-01

Quantitative application study on the control system of contract progress, which is based on project management theory and PDCA cycle methods, provides a new way for the contract business management of enterprise, in line with the current situation and the nuclear power enterprise performance management needs. The concept of the system, system development, program design and development of ERP (VBA design) which come from the work experience summary of business managers are convenient and feasible in practical applications. By way of the applications in 2009, 2010, 2011 three-year overhaul contract management and continuous adjustment it has become an important business management tool, which not only effectively guaranteed the contract time and efficiency, but also combines the performance management and contract progress management. This study has provided useful reference for the enterprise management. (authors)

Administrative contracts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vukićević-Petković Milica

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Administrative contracts are a special type of contract where usually one of the contracting parties is a public law body and which is concluded for the performance of public service and the realization of a public interest. They go a long way since its inception to its eventual final acceptance of all the legal systems. One of the enduring characteristics of this type of contract is their disquised or unnoticed existence. This is why only monitoring their development may lead to a complete understanding of the importance and essence of this institution as well as the need for its complete legal regulation.

Energy efficiency performance contracts in the school environment; Contrats de performance energetique dans le milieu scolaire

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Drouin, J. [Quebec Ministere de l' Education, Ste-Foy, PQ (Canada)

1999-12-01

An overview of new regulations concerning the awarding of energy performance contracts by school boards in the province of Quebec is provided. The article deals with buildings belonging to boards of education that are wholly or primarily utilised for educational purposes. It provides an inventory of such buildings and statistical information about about energy consumption and energy-related costs of educational facilities during the school years 1996/1997 and 1997/1998. Regarding the new regulations, the principal change appears to be that school boards are required to award construction or building services contracts estimated to cost between $50,000 and $100,000 either by public requests for tenders, or by invitation; construction or building services contracts whose cost exceeds $100,000 must be awarded by public tender. In effect, to meet the energy efficiency criteria specified in the new regulations, school boards are obliged to call for bids on any project that contribute to the energy efficiency of school buildings whose cost is estimated to exceed $50,000. The objective of the new regulation is to encourage the consideration of energy efficiency standards by school boards, and by potential contractors. The regulations also prescribe the method of requesting bids and specifies the energy efficiency criteria bidders must meet in order to be eligible.

Non-Performance Pay and Relational Contracting: Evidence from CEO Compensation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

DeVaro, Jed; Kim, Jin-Hyuk; Vikander, Nick

2017-01-01

compensation by invoking the idea of informal agreements, specifically the theory of relational contracting. We derive observable implications to distinguish relational from formal contracting and, using ExecuComp data, find that CEOs' annual cash and equity incentive payments positively correlate...... with the cyclical component of sales and respond to measures of persistence as relational contracting theory predicts....

Efficient Structure-Based Models for the McKibben Contraction Pneumatic Muscle Actuator: The Full Description of the Behaviour of the Contraction PMA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alaa Al-Ibadi

2017-10-01

Full Text Available To clarify the advantages of using soft robots in all aspects of life, the effective behaviour of the pneumatic muscle actuator (PMA must be known. In this work, the performances of the PMA are explained and modelled with three formulas. The first formula describes the pulling force of the actuator based on the structure parameters; furthermore, the formula presented is the generalised contraction force for wholly-pneumatic muscle actuators. The second important model is the length formula, which is modified to our previous work to fit different actuator structures. Based on these two models, the stiffness of the actuator is formulated to illustrate its variability at different air pressure amounts. In addition, these formulas will make the selection of proper actuators for any robot arm structure easier using the knowledge gained from their performance. On the other hand, the desired behaviour of this type of actuator will be predefined and controlled.

Impact of the pay-for-performance contract and the management of hypertension in Scottish primary care: a 6-year population-based repeated cross-sectional study.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Simpson, Colin R

2011-07-01

The 2004 introduction of the pay-for-performance contract has increased the proportion of income that GPs are able to earn by targeting quality care to patients with chronic diseases such as hypertension.

Strategic design of cost savings guarantee in energy performance contracting under uncertainty

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deng, Qianli; Jiang, Xianglin; Cui, Qingbin; Zhang, Limao

2015-01-01

Highlights: • A methodology is proposed to assist Energy Service Companies to maintain competitiveness in winning bids. • Uncertainties within the energy cost savings are modeled stochastically using the Monte-Carlo simulation. • A strategic energy savings guarantee design curve is derived, where all points return as appropriate guarantees. • A campus case is presented to demonstrate the applicability for finding appropriate guaranteed savings value. - Abstract: Among the key barriers to profit in Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) are uncertainties about attaining the realized energy cost savings and potential disputes over the guaranteed cost savings. In this paper, a methodology has been proposed to assist the Energy Service Company (ESCO): (1) to evaluate the risk threshold if the guarantee has already been made, and (2) to determine the guarantee design, if the guarantee has not been made yet, that not only promises the ESCO’s profitability from EPC but also maintains its competitiveness to win the bid. Uncertainties within the energy cost savings are modeled stochastically using Monte-Carlo simulation, taking both the energy price fluctuation and the facility performance variability into account. Based on that, a strategic energy savings guarantee design curve is derived, that all the points on it would return as appropriate guarantees. Finally, a campus case is presented to demonstrate the applicability for finding the appropriate guaranteed savings value. This method is also worth popularizing in similar performance-based projects

Experiments on supply chain contracting: effects of contract type and fairness concerns

OpenAIRE

Arabacı, Özge; Arabaci, Ozge

2013-01-01

In this thesis, we conduct experiments with human decision makers on supply chain contracting. We consider a simple manufacturer-retailer supply chain scenario where the retailer faces the newsvendor problem. Building on Sahin and Kaya (2011), we compare the experimental performance of three contract types (wholesale price, buyback and revenue sharing contracts) between the firms with theoretical predictions, and among each other. We are interested in the manufacturer’s contract parameter dec...

31 CFR 545.406 - Exportation of services; performance of service contracts; legal services.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... of service contracts; legal services. 545.406 Section 545.406 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations... TALIBAN (AFGHANISTAN) SANCTIONS REGULATIONS Interpretations § 545.406 Exportation of services; performance... received in the territory of Afghanistan controlled by the Taliban. Note to § 545.406. See § 545.513 with...

Standard form contracts and a smart contract future

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kristin B. Cornelius

2018-05-01

Full Text Available With a budding market of widespread smart contract implementation on the horizon, there is much conversation about how to regulate this new technology. Discourse on standard form contracts (SFCs and how they have been adopted in a digital environment is useful toward predicting how smart contracts might be interpreted. This essay provides a critical review of the discourse surrounding digitised SFCs and applies it to issues in smart contract regulation. An exploration of the literature surrounding specific instances SFCs finds that it lacks a close examination of the textual and documentary aspects of SFCs, which are particularly important in a digital environment as a shift in medium prompts a different procedural process. Instead, common perspectives are either based on outdated notions of paper versions of these contracts or on ideologies of industry and business that do not sufficiently address the needs of consumers/users in the digital age. Most importantly, noting the failure of contract law to address the inequities of SFCs in this environment can help prevent them from being codified further with smart contracts.

Lessons learned : pavement marking warranty contract.

Science.gov (United States)

2013-12-01

In 2012, UDOT implemented a performance-based warranty on a portion of an I-15 pavement marking : project. The awarded contract requested a contractor warranty on the implemented markings for a total : duration of six years. This is the first time th...

Contract-Based Incentive Mechanism for Mobile Crowdsourcing Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nan Zhao

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Mobile crowdsourcing networks (MCNs are a promising method of data collecting and processing by leveraging the mobile devices’ sensing and computing capabilities. However, because of the selfish characteristics of the service provider (SP and mobile users (MUs, crowdsourcing participants only aim to maximize their own benefits. This paper investigates the incentive mechanism between the above two parties to create mutual benefits. By modeling MCNs as a labor market, a contract-based crowdsourcing model with moral hazard is proposed under the asymmetric information scenario. In order to incentivize the potential MUs to participate in crowdsourcing tasks, the optimization problem is formulated to maximize the SP’s utility by jointly examining the crowdsourcing participants’ risk preferences. The impact of crowdsourcing participants’ attitudes of risks on the incentive mechanism has been studied analytically and experimentally. Numerical simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed contract design scheme for the crowdsourcing incentive.

Monte Carlo simulation based reliability evaluation in a multi-bilateral contracts market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goel, L.; Viswanath, P.A.; Wang, P.

2004-01-01

This paper presents a time sequential Monte Carlo simulation technique to evaluate customer load point reliability in multi-bilateral contracts market. The effects of bilateral transactions, reserve agreements, and the priority commitments of generating companies on customer load point reliability have been investigated. A generating company with bilateral contracts is modelled as an equivalent time varying multi-state generation (ETMG). A procedure to determine load point reliability based on ETMG has been developed. The developed procedure is applied to a reliability test system to illustrate the technique. Representing each bilateral contract by an ETMG provides flexibility in determining the reliability at various customer load points. (authors)

Organizational Commitment, Psychological Contract Fulfillment and Job Performance: A Longitudinal Quanti-qualitative Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leticia Gomes Maia

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The goals of this study are to contribute to the understanding of the development of organizational commitment and to explore the relations among psychological contract fulfillment, organizational commitment, and job performance. This paper reports the findings of a longitudinal quanti-qualitative study conducted with newcomers over three years. We identified four trajectories of commitment development: Learning to Love, High Match, Honeymoon Hangover and Learning to Hate. The last one is originally proposed in this study, and it is represented by individuals who began work highly committed to the organization, but then their commitment levels decreased dramatically over time. We discuss some characteristics associated with these trajectories. Our results corroborate the assumption that psychological contract fulfillment is positively related to commitment. Nevertheless, our findings about the relationship between commitment and job performance were different according to the trajectories. The trajectories Learning to Love and Learning to Hate support the assumption that higher commitment levels would lead to better performance, and vice versa; however, the trajectories High Match and Honeymoon Hangover contradict it. We offer and discuss some possible explanations for these findings.

A Corpus-based Study on the Use of Contractions by EFL Learners in Argumentative Essays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Pınar Babanoğlu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Contraction forms in English are mostly occur in speech and informal writing and they are generally avoided in formal writing types such as academic prose, business reports and journal articles, therefore, most teachers discourage their use in academic essays (Biber, Johansonn, Leech, Conrad and Finegan 1999. Contractions in English have two types; negative contractions (isn’t, haven’t, doesn’t and verb contractions (I’m, they’ve, that’s. This corpus based study attempts to investigate contraction usage in learner and native English speaker essays. Major goal is to examine whether learners consider essay writing rules in respect of contractions which are accepted inappropriate for academic prose style. Five corpora, three learner and two native English, were utilized in order to analyze verb and not-contraction forms. Frequency calculations of contraction forms in each corpus compared via log-likelihood measurement for statistical significance.  Results revealed that learners use considerably more contraction forms, especially negative ones, than native English students in their argumentative essays.

Contract management survey 2002.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoppszallern, Suzanna

2002-10-01

Spending on clinical contracts continues to outpace spending on business services, but may be leveling off. The 12th annual Contract Management Survey shows that the performance of clinical vendors is now comparable to business service vendors in meeting savings targets. Both business and clinical vendors are receiving higher marks from hospital leaders, but execs quickly respond to low marks by bringing the service back in-house of changing vendors. This report examines trends in outsourcing, satisfaction levels, the decision-making process, contract features and performance, and spending.

A DIC Based Technique to Measure the Contraction of a Skeletal Muscle Engineered Tissue

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emanuele Rizzuto

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Tissue engineering is a multidisciplinary science based on the application of engineering approaches to biologic tissue formation. Engineered tissue internal organization represents a key aspect to increase biofunctionality before transplant and, as regarding skeletal muscles, the potential of generating contractile forces is dependent on the internal fiber organization and is reflected by some macroscopic parameters, such as the spontaneous contraction. Here we propose the application of digital image correlation (DIC as an independent tool for an accurate and noninvasive measurement of engineered muscle tissue spontaneous contraction. To validate the proposed technique we referred to the X-MET, a promising 3-dimensional model of skeletal muscle. The images acquired through a high speed camera were correlated with a custom-made algorithm and the longitudinal strain predictions were employed for measuring the spontaneous contraction. The spontaneous contraction reference values were obtained by studying the force response. The relative error between the spontaneous contraction frequencies computed in both ways was always lower than 0.15%. In conclusion, the use of a DIC based system allows for an accurate and noninvasive measurement of biological tissues’ spontaneous contraction, in addition to the measurement of tissue strain field on any desired region of interest during electrical stimulation.

Retendering of ST-CV maintenance contract

CERN Document Server

Battistin, M

2003-01-01

During the next three years, the ST/CV group will be deeply involved in the installation works for the LHC project. During this period the need for maintenance activity will decrease. The minimum level will be reached during the “long shutdown” of the PS and SPS machines in 2005. The budget for the maintenance will decrease accordingly, thus the CV group had to review its maintenance strategy. The new contract, which started on January 1st 2003, has been defined to cope with these workload variations during the next years and to guarantee the minimum maintenance activity on the existing equipment. A lump-sum contract based on a win-win strategy has been discarded. The contractor no longer has to guarantee the performance of the CERN cooling and ventilation systems. A new price list strategy based on performance indicators and penalties has been chosen. The contractor now has to guarantee the performance of every maintenance operation demanded by CERN. This modification obliged the Operation section of the...

Buy-back and revenue-sharing contracts in global supply shain

OpenAIRE

Liu, Yang

2015-01-01

Purpose: The main propose of this study is to investigate how exchange rate risk affects the buy-back and revenue-sharing contracts in the global supply chain, hence to improve the performance of global supply chain. Design/methodology/approach: Based on a two-echelon global supply chain, with the model equilibrium, this paper studies the difference between the buy-back contract and the revenue-sharing contract. By the transmitting of the exchange rate risk, it discusses the node-enterpris...

IPP fuel contracts - creating certain contracts for uncertain times

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Coddington, I. [Coddington International Pty. Ltd., Milsons Point, NSW (Australia)

1998-12-31

Coal contracts for the new Asian Independent Power Producers (IPPs) are examined. Since most IPPs will be selling to state electricity utilities, often in competition with power plant using other fuels, coal based IPPs must negotiate advantageous coal supply contracts several years before the commissioning of a plant, and must ensure security of supply for at least the life of the construction loan. A more recent trend in the developed world is the Merchant IPP, where there is no guaranteed electricity sale. Lenders are wary of IPPs relying an imported coal, and insist on binding fuel contracts, while coal companies are wary of the quantity of information demanded by these lenders. A full understanding of the risks involved is needed; and a method of price indexation for the contracts. Contracts must also specify security of supply, coal quality, freight contracts and other details. 2 figs.

Research on the energy-saving and revenue sharing strategy of ESCOs under the uncertainty of the value of Energy Performance Contracting Projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qian, Dong; Guo, Ju’e

2014-01-01

Under the uncertainty of the value of Energy Performance Contracting Projects (EPCPs), this paper develops a revenue-sharing bargaining model between an Energy Service Company (ESCO) and an Energy-Using Organization (EU). Based on the model the paper analyzes the impacts of energy prices, risk-adjusted discount rates and accidents on the ESCO’s bargaining strategies. The research shows that the greater the probability of adverse circumstances is, the higher is the revenue share (of the EU), and the more disadvantageous is the ESCO’s position in the game. Furthermore, we design a forecast–commitment contract between an ESCO and an EU and analyze the optimal product’s energy savings commitment strategy of the ESCO to cope with uncertain energy savings and contract risk. The research illustrates that by introducing penalties and commitments, the contract can eliminate the impact of the uncertain energy savings on the contract execution to a certain extent; when the EU takes a greater commitment risk, the ESCO is willing to provide a higher commitment, thus enhancing the strategy value of the bilateral relationship and reducing the contract risk. Finally, the policy recommendations about improving shared savings contract standard, third-party energy savings measurement and verification mechanism and arbitration mechanism of EPCs are provided. - Highlights: • We provide a method for determining the revenue-sharing bargaining strategy space in a finite bargaining game of the ESCO. • The increase of the probability of adverse circumstances will increase the revenue share (of the EU). • We design a forecast–commitment contract between an ESCO and an EU. • The forecast–commitment contract can eliminate the impact of the uncertain energy savings on the contract execution to a certain extent. • When the EU takes a greater commitment risk, the ESCO is willing to provide a higher commitment

Motor unit activity when young and old adults perform steady contractions while supporting an inertial load

Science.gov (United States)

Gould, Jeffrey R.; Enoka, Roger M.

2013-01-01

The purpose of the study was to compare the discharge characteristics of biceps brachii motor units of young and old adults when they performed steady, submaximal contractions while the arm supported different inertial loads. Young (28 ± 4 yr; n = 16) and old (75 ± 4 yr; n = 14) adults performed steady contractions with the elbow flexors at target forces set at either small (11.7 ± 4.4% maximum) or large (17.8 ± 6.5% maximum) differences below the recruitment threshold force of the motor unit (n = 40). The task was to maintain an elbow angle at 1.57 rad until the motor unit was recruited and discharged action potentials for ∼120 s. Time to recruitment was longer for the larger target force difference (187 ± 227 s vs. 23 ± 46 s, P recruited, motor units discharged action potentials either repetitively or intermittently, with a greater proportion of motor units exhibiting the repetitive pattern for old adults. Discharge rate at recruitment and during the steady contraction was similar for the two target force differences for old adults but was greater for the small target force difference for young adults. Discharge variability was similar at recruitment for the two age groups but less for the old adults during the steady contraction. The greatest difference between the present results and those reported previously when the arm pulled against a rigid restraint was that old adults modulated discharge rate less than young adults across the two contraction intensities for both load types. PMID:23221403

LPTA versus Tradeoff: Analysis of Contract Source Selection Strategies and Performance Outcomes

Science.gov (United States)

2016-06-15

7 - Naval Postgraduate School source selection strategies to be made on a best value basis and not the lowest price ” (Office of...cost is an evaluation factor in all procurements, regardless of the source selection strategy chosen. In evaluating cost or price , FAR...contract performance is minimal, cost or price may play a dominant role in source selection. The less definitive the requirement, the more

Analysis of General Accounting Office, Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals and Federal Court of Claims Decisions on Protests Disputes Involving Performance Specifications

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Murphy-Sweet, Philip

2002-01-01

... involving Performance Specifications. Performance Specifications generally leave the contractor open to decide the best means to accomplish the work of a contract and deliver the product called for in the contract...

Consequences of and remedies for breach of natural gas contracts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gretener, N. M.; Evans, A.; Callihoo, M.

1999-01-01

A common clause in a gas purchase contract is one that provides for specific damages for the non-performance of an obligation. As a rule, damages will be calculated based on the loss in the value of the bargain plus those losses foreseeably caused by the breach of contract. the rationale being to put the non-breaching party in as good a position as it would have been had the contract been performed. This paper examines the complex issues involved assessing and measuring damages, the concept of injunctive relief in circumstances where damages will be inadequate or insufficient to prevent injustice, the doctrine of mitigation, the extent of the right of set-off between different contracts, and the impact of bankruptcy and insolvency laws on the exercise of remedies. Four case histories are presented to illustrate the Courts' treatment of gas purchase contracts in the context of bankruptcies and /or insolvencies. 36 refs

Consequences of and remedies for breach of natural gas contracts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gretener, N. M.; Evans, A.; Callihoo, M. [Bennett Jones Law Group, Calgary, AB (Canada)

1999-07-01

A common clause in a gas purchase contract is one that provides for specific damages for the non-performance of an obligation. As a rule, damages will be calculated based on the loss in the value of the bargain plus those losses foreseeably caused by the breach of contract. the rationale being to put the non-breaching party in as good a position as it would have been had the contract been performed. This paper examines the complex issues involved assessing and measuring damages, the concept of injunctive relief in circumstances where damages will be inadequate or insufficient to prevent injustice, the doctrine of mitigation, the extent of the right of set-off between different contracts, and the impact of bankruptcy and insolvency laws on the exercise of remedies. Four case histories are presented to illustrate the Courts' treatment of gas purchase contracts in the context of bankruptcies and /or insolvencies. 36 refs.

Energy-Performance-Based Design-Build Process: Strategies for Procuring High-Performance Buildings on Typical Construction Budgets: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Scheib, J.; Pless, S.; Torcellini, P.

2014-08-01

NREL experienced a significant increase in employees and facilities on our 327-acre main campus in Golden, Colorado over the past five years. To support this growth, researchers developed and demonstrated a new building acquisition method that successfully integrates energy efficiency requirements into the design-build requests for proposals and contracts. We piloted this energy performance based design-build process with our first new construction project in 2008. We have since replicated and evolved the process for large office buildings, a smart grid research laboratory, a supercomputer, a parking structure, and a cafeteria. Each project incorporated aggressive efficiency strategies using contractual energy use requirements in the design-build contracts, all on typical construction budgets. We have found that when energy efficiency is a core project requirement as defined at the beginning of a project, innovative design-build teams can integrate the most cost effective and high performance efficiency strategies on typical construction budgets. When the design-build contract includes measurable energy requirements and is set up to incentivize design-build teams to focus on achieving high performance in actual operations, owners can now expect their facilities to perform. As NREL completed the new construction in 2013, we have documented our best practices in training materials and a how-to guide so that other owners and owner's representatives can replicate our successes and learn from our experiences in attaining market viable, world-class energy performance in the built environment.

48 CFR 9903.201-4 - Contract clauses.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... consistently the Contractor's cost accounting practices in accumulating and reporting contract performance cost... contract performance cost data concerning this contract. If any change in cost accounting practices is made...-4 Section 9903.201-4 Federal Acquisition Regulations System COST ACCOUNTING STANDARDS BOARD, OFFICE...

Evidence of long term muscle fatigue following prolonged intermittent contractions based on mechano- and electromyograms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Søgaard, K; Blangsted, A K; Jørgensen, L V

2003-01-01

The focus of the present study is the long term element of muscle fatigue provoked by prolonged intermittent contractions at submaximal force levels and analysed by force, surface electromyography (EMG) and mechanomyogram (MMG). It was hypothesized that fatigue related changes in mechanical...... performance of the biceps muscle are more strongly reflected in low than in high force test contractions, more prominent in the MMG than in the EMG signal and less pronounced following contractions controlled by visual compared to proprioceptive feedback. Further, it was investigated if fatigue induced by 30...... min intermittent contractions at 30% as well as 10% of maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) lasted more than 30 min recovery. In six male subjects the EMG and MMG were recorded from the biceps brachii muscle during three sessions with fatiguing exercise at 10% with visual feedback and at 30% MVC...

Identifying key performance indicators in food technology contract R&D

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Flipse, S.M.; Sanden, van der M.C.A.; Velden, van der T.; Fortuin, F.T.J.M.; Omta, S.W.F.; Osseweijer, P.

2013-01-01

Innovating companies increasingly rely on outsourcing to Contract Research Organisations (CROs) for their Research and Development (R&D), which are largely understudied. This paper presents the outcome of a case study in the field of food technology contract research, identifying context

Characterizing contract-based multiagent resource allocation in networks.

Science.gov (United States)

An, Bo; Lesser, Victor

2010-06-01

We consider a multiagent resource allocation problem where individual users intend to route traffic by requesting the help of entities across a network, and a cost is incurred at each network node that depends on the amount of traffic to be routed. We propose to study contract-based network resource allocation. In our model, users and nodes in the network make contracts before nodes route traffic for the users. The problem is an interesting self-interested negotiation problem because it requires the complete assembly of a set of distinct resources, and there are multiple combinations of distinct resources that could satisfy the goal of negotiation. First, we characterize the network allocation problem and show that finding optimal allocations is NP-complete and is inapproximable. We take both Nash equilibrium and pairwise Nash equilibrium as the solution concepts to characterize the equilibrium allocations. We find that, for any resource allocation game, Nash equilibrium and pairwise Nash equilibrium always exist. In addition, socially optimal allocations are always supported by Nash equilibrium and pairwise Nash equilibrium. We introduce best-response dynamics in which each agent takes a myopic best-response strategy and interacts with each other to dynamically form contracts. We analyze the convergence of the dynamics in some special cases. We also experimentally study the convergence rate of the dynamics and how efficient the evolved allocation is as compared with the optimal allocation in a variety of environments.

Research on air and missile defense task allocation based on extended contract net protocol

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yunzhi; Wang, Gang

2017-10-01

Based on the background of air and missile defense distributed element corporative engagement, the interception task allocation problem of multiple weapon units with multiple targets under network condition is analyzed. Firstly, a mathematical model of task allocation is established by combat task decomposition. Secondly, the initialization assignment based on auction contract and the adjustment allocation scheme based on swap contract were introduced to the task allocation. Finally, through the simulation calculation of typical situation, the model can be used to solve the task allocation problem in complex combat environment.

Smart Contract Relations in e-Commerce: Legal Implications of Exchanges Conducted on the Blockchain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Philippa Ryan

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Much of the discussion around blockchain-based smart contracts has focused on whether or not they operate in the same way as legal contracts. However, it is argued that most contracts are social rather than legal in nature and are entered into because the parties trust each other to perform the agreed exchange. Little has been written to address how the blockchain’s trust protocol can enable the kind of social contracting that characterized the way exchanges were conducted before the Internet. This article aims to fill that gap by exploring blockchain-based smart contracts primarily as non-contractual social exchanges.

48 CFR 811.404 - Contract clause.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Contract clause. 811.404... ACQUISITION PLANNING DESCRIBING AGENCY NEEDS Delivery or Performance Schedules 811.404 Contract clause. When delivery is required by or on a particular date for f.o.b. destination contracts, the contracting officer...

Blockchain-based Smart Contracts: A Systematic Mapping Study

OpenAIRE

Alharby, Maher; van Moorsel, Aad

2017-01-01

An appealing feature of blockchain technology is smart contracts. A smart contract is executable code that runs on top of the blockchain to facilitate, execute and enforce an agreement between untrusted parties without the involvement of a trusted third party. In this paper, we conduct a systematic mapping study to collect all research that is relevant to smart contracts from a technical perspective. The aim of doing so is to identify current research topics and open challenges for future stu...

A Longitudinal Study of Age-Related Differences in Reactions to Psychological Contract Breach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bal, P.M.; Lange, A.H. de; Jansen, P.G.W.; Velde, M.E.G. van der

2013-01-01

The current paper investigated age-related differences in the relations of psychological contract breach with work outcomes over time. Based on affective events theory, we expected job satisfaction to mediate the longitudinal relationship of contract breach with changes in job performance. Moreover,

A longitudinal study of age-related differences in reactions to psychological contract breach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bal, P.M.; de Lange, A.H.; Jansen, P.G.W.; van der Velde, E.G.

2013-01-01

The current paper investigated age-related differences in the relations of psychological contract breach with work outcomes over time. Based on affective events theory, we expected job satisfaction to mediate the longitudinal relationship of contract breach with changes in job performance. Moreover,

a longitudinal study of age-related differences in reactions to phsycological contract breach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Paul Jansen; Annet de Lange; Matthijs Bal; Mandy van der Velde

2013-01-01

The current paper investigated age‐related differences in the relations of psychological contract breach with work outcomes over time. Based on affective events theory, we expected job satisfaction to mediate the longitudinal relationship of contract breach with changes in job performance. Moreover,

Study of impacts of physical contracts and financial contracts on bidding strategies of GENCOs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xiaoling Chen; He, Y.; Song, Y.H.

2004-01-01

This paper studies the impacts of physical contracts and financial contracts on the bidding strategies of GENCOs, including Physical Bilateral Contracts, Contracts for Difference (CfDs), Call Options and Put Options under discriminatory pricing mechanism. The integrated bidding decision model is applied, which has three main modules - probabilistic local marginal price simulator, market-oriented unit commitment model and multi-criteria decision system. The numerical results show that the GENCO will choose different bidding strategies if it holds different types of contract. The results also suggest that CfDs have the best performance for risk alleviation. (author)

Contracts and management services site support program plan WBS 6.10.14

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Knoll, J.M. Jr.

1994-09-01

Contracts and Management Services is recognized as the central focal point for programs having company or sitewide application in pursuit of the Hanford Missions`s financial and operational objectives. Contracts and Management Services actively pursues cost savings and operational efficiencies through: Management Standards by ensuring all employees have an accessible, integrated system of clear, complete, accurate, timely, and useful management control policies and procedures; Contract Reform by restructuring the contract, organization, and cost accounting systems to refocus Hanford contract activities on output products; Systems and Operations Evaluation by directing the Cost Reduction program, Great Ideas, and Span of Management activities; Program Administration by enforcing conditions of Accountability (whether DEAR-based or FAR-based) for WHC, BCSR, ICF KH, and BHI; Contract Performance activities; chairing the WHC Cost Reduction Review Board; and analyzing companywide Performance Measures; Data Standards and Administration by establishing and directing the company data management program; giving direction to the major RL programs and mission areas for implementation of cost-effective and efficient data management practices; directing all operations, application, and interfaces contained within the Hanford PeopleCore System; directing accomplishment and delivery of TPA data management milestones; and directing the sitewide data management processes for Data Standards and the Data Directory.

48 CFR 225.802-70 - Contracts for performance outside the United States and Canada.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... outside the United States and Canada. 225.802-70 Section 225.802-70 Federal Acquisition Regulations System... States and Canada. Follow the procedures at PGI 225.802-70 when placing a contract requiring performance outside the United States and Canada. Also see Subpart 225.74, Defense Contractors Outside the United...

Construction contracting for the 1990s

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kane, C.; Lyon, V.F.

1991-01-01

This paper reports that power plant constructing during the 1980s is over. Demand growth projections presently anticipate a need for 100,000 MW of new capacity by the year 2000, with only a small percentage of the demand growth currently under construction. Given a six-year lead time for baseload plants, a surge of activity must now begin. Another development over the past five years has been a conscious decision by regulators in increase rates only for the costs of efficiently built plants. The cost of construction inefficiencies will no longer be shouldered by investors. Large construction claims, excessive cost overruns, and expensive delays will no longer be passed on to the consumer automatically. Utility commissions will require the inefficient builders to either clean up their act or forego building their own plants. The most traditional contracting scheme, general contracting, will probably be the lease desirable in the construction of new power plants. General contracting is a single, general construction contract based on a detailed design. The design is not performed by the general contractor

The selective use of emergency shipments for service-contract differentiation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Alvarez, Elisa; van der Heijden, Matthijs C.; Zijm, Willem H.M.

2013-01-01

Suppliers of capital goods increasingly offer performance-based service contracts with customer-specific service levels. We use selective emergency shipments of spare parts to differentiate logistic performance: We apply emergency shipments in out-of-stock situations for combinations of parts and

Too much or too little of R&D offshoring : The impact of captive offshoring and contract offshoring on innovation performance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Steinberg, Philip; Procher, Vivien D.; Urbig, Diemo

2017-01-01

Innovating firms may acquire foreign knowledge and improve their innovation performance by offshoring their R&D activities to their own foreign affiliates (captive offshoring) as well as by contracting out their R&D to external foreign parties (contract offshoring). This study examines the impact of

Combined Effect of Contraction Ratio and Chamber Pressure on the Performance of a Gaseous Hydrogen-Liquid-Oxygen Combustor for a Given Propellant Weight Flow and Oxidant-Fuel Ratio

Science.gov (United States)

Hersch, Martin

1961-01-01

The effect of contraction ratio and chamber pressure on the combustion performance of a gaseous-hydrogen-liquid-oxygen combustor was investigated analytically and experimentally. The experiment was conducted with a "two-dimensional" gaseous-hydrogen-liquid-oxygen engine of about 150-pound thrust. The contraction ratio was varied from 1.5 to 6 by changing the nozzle throat area. This variation resulted in a chamber pressure variation of about 25 to 120 pounds per square inch. The experimental results were corrected for heat transfer to the engine walls and momentum pressure losses. The experimental performance, as evaluated in terms of characteristic exhaust velocity, was 98 percent of theoretical at contraction ratios greater than 3 but decreased very rapidly at smaller contraction ratios. The heat-transfer rate increased with increasing contraction ratio and chamber pressure; it was about 1 Btu per square inch per second at a contraction ratio of 1.5 and increased to about 3 at a contraction ratio of 6. The combined effects of contraction-ratio and chamber-pressure changes on performance were investigated analytically with a mixing model and a vaporization model. The mixing model predicted very poor mixing at contraction ratios below 3 and almost perfect mixing at higher contraction ratios. The performance predicted by the vaporization model was very close to 100 percent for all contraction ratios. From these results, it was concluded that the performance was limited by poor mixing at low contraction ratios and chamber pressures.

LPTA Versus Tradeoff: How Procurement Methods Can Impact Contract Performance

Science.gov (United States)

2015-06-01

by saying, “Whether we’re talking about socks or stocks, I like buying quality merchandise when it is marked down” (Buffett, 2008, p. 5). The same...system by a member of ACC. Electronic contract file documents were retrieved from PCF to create a digital contract file that was reviewed to obtain the

Duplicate Recording of Contracts in the Mechanization of Contract Administration Services System

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Lane, F

1996-01-01

... in more than one of the system's data bases. We also evaluated whether the Mechanization of Contract Administration Services system had adequate controls to detect and prevent duplicate contract payments, and whether database errors...

Software Support for Industrial Controls Contract

CERN Document Server

Sánchez-Corral, E

2001-01-01

The contract covers the development and the operation and maintenance (O&M) of the monitoring and control systems used for supervising CERN's technical infrastructure. The contract involves those responsible for equipment in any current or future technical installation. We are outsourcing a complex activity which will require efforts on both preparing the specifications for new projects and setting clear definitions of tasks and procedures for O&M. It is a result-oriented contract in which performance will be continually evaluated by different methods and tools: project management plan and project follow-up, and CAMMS (Computerised Assets and Maintenance Management system). To be used effectively, this approach requires complete traceability of activities and documentation of the systems. Based on the analysis of the results measured and the shared (CERN and contractor) experience, the O&M activities will be reviewed and reorganised and operational procedures will be changed according to needs. A ...

Choice of Contract Type and Other Policy Initiatives for Reducing Contract Prices

Science.gov (United States)

2013-09-01

system franchise model). Assume that the contractor retained ownership of the design rights so that subsequent procurement lots are not open to...2 1. The Weapon System Franchise Model ..........................................................2 2. The Agency Problem and...40 2. Contracting for Time vs . Contracting for Performance ..............................41 B. Empirical Analysis of DoD Service

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTRACT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Blanca Giorgiana GRAMA

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The psychological contract became known as a research paradigm within corporate research, providing a broad framework which explains the employee-company relations. Despite all this, there are still many debates on the concept and a series of criticism were expressed that led to the necessity of some more rigorous theoretical and empirical analysis. The psychological contract refers to the unwritten, implicit expectations that employees have from the company and vice versa; it is that which defines the things the employee expects from the employer. Consequently, each of the parties involved in the contract may have different perceptions on these commitments and obligations. Thus the psychological contract may be regarded as an exchange relation between the employer and the employee. Breaking the psychological contract affects the performance, the morale, and the motivation of the staff in a negative manner. The information presented in this paper is intended to contribute to the theoretical and methodological development of the concept.

Alternative contract mechanisms for environmental restoration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Billings, R.M.; Geotze, P.; Billings, B.G.

1994-01-01

Remediation and investigation contracting mechanisms used by Billings and Associates, Inc. (BAI), for operations within New Mexico are described, and the advantages and disadvantages are considered. Methods discussed are: time and materials, unit pricing, and pay for performance. An emphasis is placed upon the pay for performance method. While there are alternative contracting mechanisms, the state has thus far been limited to traditional contract types, such as time and materials. While the undertaking of a pay for performance remediation scenario presents higher risk with an opportunity for comparable reward, application of this type of alternative contracting has been slow to materialize. The New Mexico Environment Department/Underground Storage Tank Bureau is mandated by regulation to seek complete remediation of petroleum contaminated soils and ground water within the shortest practicable period of time

Characteristics of nuclear contracts. Pt. 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blanchard, R.

1976-01-01

While the object of nuclear contracts is specific, these contracts are concluded according to proven techniques based on general regulations on contracts. Following a review of contract classification, they are differentiated according to the nature of the co-contracting parties, the purpose of the contract itself, the procedure for drawing up the contracts, and payment. The operations prior to the contract vary in that they may include a call for tenders, an option for delays or a letter of intent. (NEA) [fr

FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT PROSPECTS BASED PAY EFFECTIVE CONTRACT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Владимир Иванович Долгий

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In this article examines the application of the principle of «effective contract», the contracting institution to be introduced into the system of labor relations. Purpose of the article is to offer an effective method of the contract for the design of incentives to domestic enterprises of different ownership forms, including the budget. Distinctive features of the work, reflecting its novelty is the use of a set of methods and techniques for building an effective motivational model, as well as practical experience in implementation of the proposed instruments in the activities of Russian enterprises. At the heart of the functioning of this institution are techniques improve the fairness of the forms and payroll systems. With the proposed program can be measured by the individual results of specific employees. Using the «effective contract» to be used in schools to improve the motivation of the teaching staff.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12731/2218-7405-2013-9-61

Republic of Korea Reduction of Financing Barriers for Energy Savings Performance Contracts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Howard, D. L.

2005-11-01

This paper discusses the findings developed for strengthening the role of performance contracting in improving energy efficiency in the Republic of Korea. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sponsored development of this paper by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), as a part of the Korean-U.S. Climate Technology Partnerships (CTP) program. The results and recommendations outlined in this paper together with other efforts are designed to assist other countries striving to improve their efficient use of energy.

Three-Level Supply Chain Coordination under Disruptions Based on Revenue-Sharing Contract with Price Dependent Demand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qinghua Pang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Considering the market demand is stochastic and dependent on price, this paper shows that the revenue-sharing contract could coordinate a three-level supply chain consisting of one manufacturer, one distributor, and one retailer under normal environment. However, the original revenue-sharing contract cannot coordinate the supply chain under disruptions in circumstances of certain incidents leading to significant changes in market demand and causing additional deviation costs. To solve the problem, this essay introduces two improved forms of revenue-sharing contract: a mixed contract form based on a quantity discount policy and a pure form, which are characterized by antidisruption ability. The model of improved revenue-sharing contract is optimized when the market demand is in the additive form or in the multiplicative form with price dependent demand. Formulas are given to calculate the optimal contract parameters. Finally, this essay demonstrates the accuracy of the model of improved revenue-sharing contract with the help of numerical examples.

Contract theory and EU Contract Law

OpenAIRE

Hesselink, M.W.; Twigg-Flesner, C.

2016-01-01

This paper explores the relationship between contract theory and European contract law. In particular, it confronts the leading contract law theories with the main characteristics of EU contract law. The conclusion is that the two do not match well. In particular, monist normative contract theories are largely irreconcilable with the contract law of the EU. The paper further addresses the main implications of this mismatch, both for contract theory and for EU contract law. It suggests that in...

Contract types for nuclear power projects, non-turnkey type contracts in particular

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nyte'n, T.

1975-01-01

A non-turnkey contract differs from a turnkey contract in no special formal way. The way the buyer chooses to exercise his project leadership must be concretized in the contract. The way and extent he wishes to exercise technical checking must be laid down in the form of clear rules. The way information has to flow from one contractor over buyer to others and vice versa has to be laid down in detail and the consequences of non conformance fixed in such a manner that optimum project performance is reached. (orig./FW) [de

Department of Energy contract/business management initiatives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fisher, S.B.

1992-01-01

More than 40 years ago the Department of Energy (DOE) developed a unique contractual instrument called a management and operating contract, to be used for the operation of our weapons production plants and the national laboratories. The contracts are very broad in scope. There is no output objective set forth in the contract. There are no cost targets, nor any contractually motivated cost objectives. Performance is measured against criteria which is often subjective. The time has come to make changes in the structure of these contracts to reflect changes in the work being performed and to make the contractors more accountable. DOE's work now, at these sites, and for years to come, consists largely of major project-type work such as environmental restoration which lends itself to a more definitized structure. DOE is in the process of implementing a work order authorization control system (task order contracting) under its management and operating contracts. Target date for implementation for our for-profit contractors is FY 1992, and for the non-profit contractors is FY 1993. Under this system, requirements will be contracted for as entities of work and contractors will be held accountable for performance, schedules and costs. Billings, payments and award fee will be tied to the specific planning objectives set forth in the tasks, including costs and schedules. Incentives will be provided for outstanding performance, fee may be withheld if performance is unacceptable. These changes will necessitate more DOE oversight of contractor operations and sound business support systems, as well as effective management disciplines. US DOE will perform business management reviews to assure contractors' systems are adequate and to support this form of contracting. The Contractor Procurement Systems Review Program will be enhanced to assure good subcontractor procurement practices

Investigation of an innovative maintenance contracting strategy : the performance-based maintenance contract (PBMC).

Science.gov (United States)

2015-06-01

One of the major responsibilities of state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) is to maintain their road assets so : that road users can travel cost effectively, safely, and in a timely manner. Maintenance projects can be performed : either by using...

Electricity contract choices of Finnish residential customers. A choice based conjoint analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rouvinen, S.; Matero, J. (Univ. of Eastern Finland, Joensuu (Finland), School of Forest Sciences), e-mail: seppo.rouvinen@uef.fi, e-mail: jukka.matero@uef.fi

2010-07-01

Our aim is to examine how different environmental attributes of electricity contracts affect the residential customer choices when heterogeneity in customer preferences and motivations is taken into account. The data was acquired by a mail questionnaire to random sample of Finnish people in October-November 2009 with a response rate of 38 %. In addition to conventional questions, like questions on socio-demographic and agreements of energy related statements, the discrete choice experiment (DCE) of electricity contracts was included. The choice sets in the DCE had three electricity contract alternatives with varying levels of predetermined attributes (including unit price, supplier type, frequency of power outages, energy source and CO{sub 2} emissions). In this paper, we present the findings of our DCE design. Modeling respondent choices resulted in implicit prices for various electricity contract attributes that provide guidance for green marketing strategies of electricity suppliers and energy related informational activities of public institutions. We conclude that currently the potential for increasing demand-based environmental competitiveness from the wood electricity differentiation remains limited as we did not find any significant market segment of residential customers with strong preferences for wood over other sources of electricity (including 'mixture'). (orig.)

Smart Contract Relations in e-Commerce: Legal Implications of Exchanges Conducted on the Blockchain

OpenAIRE

Philippa Ryan

2017-01-01

Much of the discussion around blockchain-based smart contracts has focused on whether or not they operate in the same way as legal contracts. However, it is argued that most contracts are social rather than legal in nature and are entered into because the parties trust each other to perform the agreed exchange. Little has been written to address how the blockchain’s trust protocol can enable the kind of social contracting that characterized the way exchanges were conducted before the Internet...

29 CFR 4.111 - Contracts “to furnish services.”

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act Covered Contracts Generally § 4.111 Contracts “to furnish services.” (a) “Principal purpose” as criterion. Under its terms, the Act applies to a “contract * * * the... performed are only incidental to the performance of a contract for another purpose, the Act does not apply...

Strips of hourly power options. Approximate hedging using average-based forward contracts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lindell, Andreas; Raab, Mikael

2009-01-01

We study approximate hedging strategies for a contingent claim consisting of a strip of independent hourly power options. The payoff of the contingent claim is a sum of the contributing hourly payoffs. As there is no forward market for specific hours, the fundamental problem is to find a reasonable hedge using exchange-traded forward contracts, e.g. average-based monthly contracts. The main result is a simple dynamic hedging strategy that reduces a significant part of the variance. The idea is to decompose the contingent claim into mathematically tractable components and to use empirical estimations to derive hedging deltas. Two benefits of the method are that the technique easily extends to more complex power derivatives and that only a few parameters need to be estimated. The hedging strategy based on the decomposition technique is compared with dynamic delta hedging strategies based on local minimum variance hedging, using a correlated traded asset. (author)

Methodological remarks on contraction theory

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jouffroy, Jerome; Slotine, Jean-Jacques E.

Because contraction analysis stems from a differential and incremental framework, the nature and methodology of contraction-based proofs are significantly different from those of their Lyapunov-based counterparts. This paper specifically studies this issue, and illustrates it by revisiting some c...... classical examples traditionally addressed using Lyapunov theory. Even in these cases, contraction tools can often yield significantly simplified analysis. The examples include adaptive control, robotics, and a proof of convergence of the deterministic Extended Kalman Filter....

Work and minor work contracts

CERN Document Server

1999-01-01

The Work and Minor Work contracts are all of the result-oriented type. The work is specified by CERN and the contractor is given full responsibility for its performance. The contracts are thus very similar to supply contracts. The re-tendering of the existing contracts is almost complete, except for some building maintenance contracts. A new cycle of re-tendering for some activities will be launched in the next twelve months. The total estimated expenditure in the year 2000 for the contracts referred to in this document is 27 750 000 Swiss francs at 1999 prices. The Finance Committee is invited: - to approve the proposed expenditure for the extension of contracts for which the estimated amount for the year 2000 exceeds 750 000 Swiss francs, namely those under references 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 23, highlighted in Table I; - to take note that all Work and Minor Work contracts have been tendered since 1 January 1994, except the small contracts shown under references 12 and 16 in Table I; - to take note that the ...

48 CFR 37.602 - Performance work statement.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... on the use of measurable performance standards and financial incentives in a competitive environment... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Performance work statement... CATEGORIES OF CONTRACTING SERVICE CONTRACTING Performance-Based Acquisition 37.602 Performance work statement...

Contract theory and EU Contract Law

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hesselink, M.W.; Twigg-Flesner, C.

2016-01-01

This paper explores the relationship between contract theory and European contract law. In particular, it confronts the leading contract law theories with the main characteristics of EU contract law. The conclusion is that the two do not match well. In particular, monist normative contract theories

A socio-emotional selectivity perspective on age-related differences in reactions to psychological contract breach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Matthijs Bal; Paul Jansen; Annet de Lange; Mandy van der Velde

2013-01-01

The current paper investigated age-related differences in the relations of psychological contract breach with work outcomes over time. Based on affective events theory, we expected job satisfaction to mediate the longitudinal relationship of contract breach with changes in job performance. Moreover,

Energy conservation. Federal shared energy savings contracting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fultz, Keith O.; Milans, Flora H.; Kirk, Roy J.; Welker, Robert A.; Sparling, William J.; Butler, Sharon E.; Irwin, Susan W.

1989-04-01

A number of impediments have discouraged federal agencies from using shared energy savings contracts. As of November 30, 1988, only two federal agencies - the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and the Department of the Army -had awarded such contracts even though they can yield significant energy and cost savings. The three major impediments we identified were uncertainty about the applicability of a particular procurement policy and practice, lack of management incentives, and difficulty in measuring energy and cost savings. To address the first impediment, the Department of Energy (DOE) developed a manual on shared energy savings contracting. The second impediment was addressed when the 100th Congress authorized incentives for federal agencies to enter into shared savings contracts. DOE addressed the third impediment by developing a methodology for calculating energy consumption and cost savings. However, because of differing methodological preferences, this issue will need to be addressed on a contract-by-contract basis. Some state governments and private sector firms are using performance contracts to reduce energy costs in their buildings and facilities. We were able to identify six states that were using performance contracts. Five have established programs, and all six states have projects under contract. The seven energy service companies we contacted indicated interest in federal shared energy savings contracting

Micro and small firms contracted the works of third sector contracting and public

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniela Juliano Silva

2015-06-01

Full Text Available In a scenario of successive changes, we are faced today with a "new" State of design (First Sector subsidiary and developer, embracing new contracting models, involving private non-profit institutions (Third Sector ahead of social services relevance (health, education, technology, among others. To comply with the obligations entered into with the public entity (end-obligations, this Third Sector performs hires (to perform their half-bonds with the second sector (market, where they operate Micro and Small Businesses. This study aims a reflective look at these contracts, usually the result of simplified bidding process in order to verify their specificities and whether they take place in compliance with the prerogatives and differential treatment meted especially those business companies (art. 170, X, SC / 1988. In this endeavor, it was decided, besides a literature review by an investigative approach from the point of view of three different social organizations that have management contracts in health care with public entities and therefore have signed contracts with ME and EPP for the fulfillment of their obligations to the government.      

Variability of Measurement of Patellofemoral Indices with Knee Flexion and Quadriceps Contraction: An MRI-Based Anatomical Study

Science.gov (United States)

Laugharne, Edward; Bali, Navi; Purushothamdas, Sanjay; Almallah, Faris; Kundra, Rik

2016-01-01

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of varying knee flexion and quadriceps activity on patellofemoral indices measured on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Materials and Methods MRI of the knee was performed in 20 patients for indications other than patellar or patellofemoral pathology. Axial and sagittal sequences were performed in full extension of the knee with the quadriceps relaxed, full extension of the knee with the quadriceps contracted, 30° flexion of the knee with the quadriceps relaxed, and 30° flexion with the quadriceps contracted. Bisect offset, patella tilt angle, Insall-Salvati ratio and Caton-Deschamps index were measured. Results With the knee flexed to 30° and quadriceps relaxed, the mean values of patellar tilt angle, bisect offset, Insall-Salvati ratio and Caton-Deschamps index were all within normal limits. With the knee extended and quadriceps contracted, the mean patellar tilt angle (normal value, patellofemoral indices. MRI taken with the knee in 30° of flexion allows more reliable assessment of the patellofemoral joint and minimises the confounding effect of quadriceps contraction. PMID:27894177

Testing for Distortions in Performance Measures: An Application to Residual Income Based Measures like Economic Value Added

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sloof, R.; van Praag, M.

2015-01-01

Distorted performance measures in compensation contracts elicit suboptimal behavioral responses that may even prove to be dysfunctional (gaming). This paper applies the empirical test developed by Courty and Marschke (2008) to detect whether the widely used class of Residual Income based performance

Paradoxical sphincter contraction is rarely indicative of anismus.

Science.gov (United States)

Voderholzer, W A; Neuhaus, D A; Klauser, A G; Tzavella, K; Müller-Lissner, S A; Schindlbeck, N E

1997-08-01

Anismus is thought to be a cause of chronic constipation by producing outlet obstruction. The underlying mechanism is paradoxical contraction of the anal sphincter or puborectalis muscle. However, paradoxical sphincter contraction (PSC) also occurs in healthy controls, so anismus may be diagnosed too often because it may be based on a non-specific finding related to untoward conditions during the anorectal examination. To investigate the pathophysiological importance of PSC found at anorectal manometry in constipated patients and in patients with stool incontinence. Digital rectal examination and anorectal manometry were performed in 102 chronically constipated patients, 102 patients with stool incontinence, and in 18 controls without anorectal disease. In 120 of the 222 subjects defaecography was also performed. Paradoxical sphincter contraction was defined as a sustained increase in sphincter pressure during straining. Anismus was assumed when PSC was present on anorectal manometry and digital rectal examination and the anorectal angle did not widen on defaecography. Manometric PSC occurred about twice as often in constipated patients as in incontinent patients (41.2% versus 25.5%, p anismus is rare.

Improved Taguchi method based contract capacity optimization for industrial consumer with self-owned generating units

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Hong-Tzer; Peng, Pai-Chun

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► We propose an improved Taguchi method to determine the optimal contract capacities with SOGUs. ► We solve the highly discrete and nonlinear optimization problem for the contract capacities with SOGUs. ► The proposed improved Taguchi method integrates PSO in Taguchi method. ► The customer using the proposed optimization approach may save up to 12.18% of power expenses. ► The improved Taguchi method can also be well applied to the other similar problems. - Abstract: Contract capacity setting for industrial consumer with self-owned generating units (SOGUs) is a highly discrete and nonlinear optimization problem considering expenditure on the electricity from the utility and operation costs of the SOGUs. This paper proposes an improved Taguchi method that combines existing Taguchi method and particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm to solve this problem. Taguchi method provides fast converging characteristics in searching the optimal solution through quality analysis in orthogonal matrices. The integrated PSO algorithm generates new solutions in the orthogonal matrices based on the searching experiences during the evolution process to further improve the quality of solution. To verify feasibility of the proposed method, the paper uses the real data obtained from a large optoelectronics factory in Taiwan. In comparison with the existing optimization methods, the proposed improved Taguchi method has superior performance as revealed in the numerical results in terms of the convergence process and the quality of solution obtained.

24 CFR 983.203 - HAP contract information.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 4 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false HAP contract information. 983.203... DEVELOPMENT PROJECT-BASED VOUCHER (PBV) PROGRAM Housing Assistance Payments Contract § 983.203 HAP contract information. The HAP contract must specify: (a) The total number of contract units by number of bedrooms; (b...

A Contract That Manages Itself: The Time Has Arrived

Science.gov (United States)

2015-02-01

technology inspires contracting. The Smart Contract The paradigm of a contract as a static document is about to change. The days of a contract being read...efficiency is of paramount importance in order for an organization to perform its mission. The Smart Contract as an Object In discussions about...the contract object ( smart contract ) exists, the contract will be able to interact with other objects. That will enable the contract to know how

Contracting as a Science

Science.gov (United States)

2012-04-30

disconfirmation of expectations theory to examine customer satisfaction in the procuring contracting officer (PCO)–program manager (PM) relationship in...marketing terms, finding that disconfirmed expectations lead to consumer satisfaction or dissatisfaction. The former approach presents the idea that if an...individual exerts effort, the expectation is that successful performance will occur leading to a desired result. In contracting, the theory might be

The effect of behavioral contracting on the acquisition of guitar performance skills in a college-level beginning guitar class.

Science.gov (United States)

Gooding, Lori F

2009-01-01

Behavioral contracting has been used as a tool to modify behavior in a variety of settings, and the purpose of this study was to determine the impact of behavioral contracting on the acquisition of guitar performance skills in a college-level beginning guitar class. Music and nonmusic majors enrolled in 4 college-level beginning guitar classes participated in this study. Participants (N = 27) were divided into four groups, with Groups 1 and 2 serving as control (n = 5, n = 6) and Groups 3 and 4 serving as experimental (n = 7, n = 9). A Multiple baseline format was implemented that involved 3 testing conditions (T1, T2, T3). Participants played the same I-IV-V7-1 chord progression for all 3 testing conditions. Experimental Group 3 received a behavioral contract between T1 and T2, while experimental Group 4 received a contract between T2 and T3. Participants in the contracting groups were allowed to make structured choices about evaluation procedures and reward outcomes. Data on speed increase and accuracy were collected via videotaping and analyzed by an independent reviewer blind to condition. Two-way repeated measures ANOVAs were used to analyze differences in tempo and errors. A significant interaction was found for tempo and group and a significant difference in errors was found across treatment conditions. However, no significance was found between the groups for errors. Graphic analysis of tempo changes indicated that Group 1 improved tempo by a total of 41%, Group 2 by a total of 38%, Group 3 (contract) by a total of 76% and Group 4 (contract) by a total of 67%. Both contracting groups showed the biggest decrease in errors during the contracting condition, although errors actually increased slightly for Group 3 once the contracting condition was removed.

Bottlenecks and contracts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2001-01-01

The report surveys the central points in the literature about contracts on geographical price differences and transmission rights in the power market. It is commonly believed that such contracts may reduce market power and contribute to better network investments. The theoretical debate is in part unfinished and largely based on very stylised assumptions. There is some indication that such contracts may not be very useful in practice. But they may be useful in some cases, perhaps in particular when power is transported outside limited surplus areas and for certain investment decisions where there is no systems operator with a natural responsibility

48 CFR 16.305 - Cost-plus-award-fee contracts.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... CONTRACTING METHODS AND CONTRACT TYPES TYPES OF CONTRACTS Cost-Reimbursement Contracts 16.305 Cost-plus-award... consisting of (a) a base amount (which may be zero) fixed at inception of the contract and (b) an award amount, based upon a judgmental evaluation by the Government, sufficient to provide motivation for...

Stability of contracts in the Brazilian wine industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Decio Zylbersztajn

2005-06-01

Full Text Available A variety of contracts between wineries and grape growers are observed in Brazil. This study addresses the concept of coordination of food chains, particularly the stability of contractual relationships. A qualitative analysis of industry-farmers contracts is presented, followed by a quantitative analysis testing transaction cost economics-based hypothesis. Scale, location, age of vineyard, and the cooperative organizational form are addressed in terms of the effect on the stability of contracts. Vertical and horizontal coordination are addressed. Data come from a sample of 139 grape-growers that supplied 10 major wineries. The results show that more stable contracts or vertical integration are characteristic of high quality wine production, where the need for strict contractual coordination is more relevant, i.e. risk of hold up losses is larger. We test the hypothesis that site specificity and quality-related specific investments are associated with more stable contractual architectures. Farmers' cooperatives present poorer performance but tend to hold more stable relationships with their members, possibly the result of adverse selection, since specialized farmers prefer to maintain contracts with investor-owned wineries, instead of farmers' cooperatives. Conclusions are presented in the final part.

PROJECT HANFORD MANAGEMENT CONTRACT (PHMC) PERFORMANCE REPORT 05/2004 (WWW.HANFORD.GOV/EMPR.INDEX.CFM)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

PIELSTICK, R.M.

2004-01-01

This report is the monthly performance summary of the Central Plateau Contractors. FH work scope responsibilities are described, and other contractor/RL-managed work is excluded. Section A, Overview, provides a summary of the cost, schedule, and technical performance described in this report. It summarizes performance for the period covered, highlights areas worthy of management attention, and provides key performance activities as extracted from the contractor baseline. Subsequent sections of this report provide detailed performance data relative to contract sections (e.g., Project Hanford Cleanup Work Summary, Waste and Spent Nuclear Fuel Management Operations, Infrastructure and Hanford Site Services, and other Work Scope). All information is as of the end of May 2004 unless otherwise noted

Labour contracts and performance of Cameroonian firms | Benjamin ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study evaluated employees' productivity in relation to their contract status. It used survey data collected among manufacturing sector firms, having more than 15 employees, in Cameroon between April and May 2006; and information issued by the National Institute of Statistics. Information collected concerned 45 firms ...

Effort and Selection Effects of Incentive Contracts

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bouwens, J.F.M.G.; van Lent, L.A.G.M.

2003-01-01

We show that the improved effort of employees associated with incentive contracts depends on the properties of the performance measures used in the contract.We also find that the power of incentives in the contract is only indirectly related to any improved employee effort.High powered incentive

Coordination mechanism of SaaS service supply chain: Based on compensation contracts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yanli Guo

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to build new contracts theories of SaaS service supply chain. Software as a Service (SaaS has become a hot topic in this industry . Compared with traditional manufacturing supply chain and general service supply chain, the new IT service supply chain which based on SaaS has characteristics of both service and IT. And SaaS is completely different from traditional software package model. Therefore the classic contracts, which be widely used in traditional manufacturing supply chain, can’t be directly applied in SaaS service supply chain. The necessary way of IT services developing is to study the SaaS service supply chain combining with characteristics of SaaS. Therefore, It focuses on the coordination of SaaS service supply chain. Design/methodology/approach: It tries to answer the following question: how do the ISV motivate SaaS operators to improve the service level through effective contracts mechanism under conditions of asymmetric information. In order to answer these questions, this paper does some researches including: Under the conditions of information asymmetry, supposing the service level (is related to the degree of effort of SaaS operator was private information, we construct model of compensation contract, i.e., to motivate SaaS operator to improve service level through transfer payments of compensation price. Findings and Originality/value: The study finds out that when ISV get to “positive feedback”, instead of the traditional market equilibrium, compensation contract (linear can coordinate satisfactorily the SaaS service supply chain. In the point of “positive feedback”, the marginal revenue equals the marginal cost, but it is not the equilibrium of ISV’profit-maximization. Research limitations/implications: There are some limitations in this research. In the linear compensation contracts, the compensation price is fixed value. If in the contract, we can create a change value

25 CFR 170.809 - Can a tribe perform road maintenance under a self-determination contract or self-governance...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 25 Indians 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Can a tribe perform road maintenance under a self..., DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR LAND AND WATER INDIAN RESERVATION ROADS PROGRAM BIA Road Maintenance § 170.809 Can a tribe perform road maintenance under a self-determination contract or self-governance agreement...

Types of contracts and contracting procedures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zijl, N.A. van

1977-01-01

Contracting for a nuclear power plant can be carried out in many different ways, from a bilateral agreement between two countries to an international open bidding competition. Also the kind of contracts (turnkey, split-package or multi-contract type) are discussed with their pros and cons as well as the contracting procedures which can be followed to come to the conclusion of a contract. (orig.) [de

Semantic Expression and Execution of B2B Contracts on Multimedia Content

Science.gov (United States)

Rodríguez-Doncel, Víctor; Delgado, Jaime

Business to business commerce of audiovisual material can be governed by electronic contracts, in the same way as digital licenses govern business to consumer transactions. The digital licenses for end users have been expressed either in proprietary formats or in standard Rights Expression Languages and they can be seen as the electronic replacement of distribution contracts and end user licenses. However, these languages fail to replace the rest of the contracts agreed along the complete Intellectual Property value chain. To represent their corresponding electronic counterpart licenses, a schema based on the standard eContracts and the Media Value Chain Ontology is presented here. It has been conceived to deal with a broader set of parties, to handle typical clauses found in the audiovisual market contracts, and to govern every transaction performed on IP objects.

Automatic Conflict Detection on Contracts

Science.gov (United States)

Fenech, Stephen; Pace, Gordon J.; Schneider, Gerardo

Many software applications are based on collaborating, yet competing, agents or virtual organisations exchanging services. Contracts, expressing obligations, permissions and prohibitions of the different actors, can be used to protect the interests of the organisations engaged in such service exchange. However, the potentially dynamic composition of services with different contracts, and the combination of service contracts with local contracts can give rise to unexpected conflicts, exposing the need for automatic techniques for contract analysis. In this paper we look at automatic analysis techniques for contracts written in the contract language mathcal{CL}. We present a trace semantics of mathcal{CL} suitable for conflict analysis, and a decision procedure for detecting conflicts (together with its proof of soundness, completeness and termination). We also discuss its implementation and look into the applications of the contract analysis approach we present. These techniques are applied to a small case study of an airline check-in desk.

Automated electrohysterographic detection of uterine contractions for monitoring of pregnancy: feasibility and prospects.

Science.gov (United States)

Muszynski, C; Happillon, T; Azudin, K; Tylcz, J-B; Istrate, D; Marque, C

2018-05-08

Preterm birth is a major public health problem in developed countries. In this context, we have conducted research into outpatient monitoring of uterine electrical activity in women at risk of preterm delivery. The objective of this preliminary study was to perform automated detection of uterine contractions (without human intervention or tocographic signal, TOCO) by processing the EHG recorded on the abdomen of pregnant women. The feasibility and accuracy of uterine contraction detection based on EHG processing were tested and compared to expert decision using external tocodynamometry (TOCO) . The study protocol was approved by local Ethics Committees under numbers ID-RCB 2016-A00663-48 for France and VSN 02-0006-V2 for Iceland. Two populations of women were included (threatened preterm birth and labour) in order to test our system of recognition of the various types of uterine contractions. EHG signal acquisition was performed according to a standardized protocol to ensure optimal reproducibility of EHG recordings. A system of 18 Ag/AgCl surface electrodes was used by placing 16 recording electrodes between the woman's pubis and umbilicus according to a 4 × 4 matrix. TOCO was recorded simultaneously with EHG recording. EHG signals were analysed in real-time by calculation of the nonlinear correlation coefficient H 2 . A curve representing the number of correlated pairs of signals according to the value of H 2 calculated between bipolar signals was then plotted. High values of H 2 indicated the presence of an event that may correspond to a contraction. Two tests were performed after detection of an event (fusion and elimination of certain events) in order to increase the contraction detection rate. The EHG database contained 51 recordings from pregnant women, with a total of 501 contractions previously labelled by analysis of the corresponding tocographic recording. The percentage recognitions obtained by application of the method based on coefficient H 2 was

Options for change in the NHS consultant contract.

Science.gov (United States)

Clarke, R W; Gray, C

The lead negotiators for the management and consultant sides in an NHS trust in northern England responded to debate in their trust about consultant contracts by offering to research the attitudes of their peers towards a variety of contract options. The options tested included the current contract; models already examined in the trust and elsewhere, such as time sensitive and mild performance related contracts; and some more radical and speculative possibilities, including consultants franchising their services to the trust. Beyond the predictable conclusion that consultants would prefer no change while managers desired it, a time sensitive contract emerged as having potential for successful negotiation. On the other hand, neither consultants nor managers favoured a strict performance related contract or a fee for service contract. There was a strong similarity of opinion between the two groups on the relative salary values of the options, though the consultants consistently priced these higher than the managers.

48 CFR 32.501-3 - Contract price.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Contract price. 32.501-3... REQUIREMENTS CONTRACT FINANCING Progress Payments Based on Costs 32.501-3 Contract price. (a) For the purpose of making progress payments and determining the limitation on progress payments, the contract price...

Managing the relational character of public-private partnership contracts

OpenAIRE

Cvetković, Predrag

2015-01-01

A public-private partnership contract has the character of a relational contract. Relational contracts are incomplete agreements governing transactions where the contracting parties have mutually agreed that it is impossible or economically inefficient to contractually define ex ante possible difficulties and contingencies in the contract implementation, nor the difficulties and contingencies underlying the ex post control of contract performance by a third entity (court or arbitration). Cons...

Optimal contracts based on subjective performance evaluations and reciprocity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sebald, Alexander Christopher; Walzl, Markus

2015-01-01

As demonstrated in a recent laboratory experiment (see Sebald & Walzl, 2014), individuals tend to sanction others who subjectively evaluate their performance whenever this assessment falls short of the individuals’ self-evaluation. Interestingly, this is the case even if the individuals’ earnings...

Army Contract Writing System (ACWS)

Science.gov (United States)

2016-03-01

2016 Major Automated Information System Annual Report Army Contract Writing System (ACWS) Defense Acquisition Management Information Retrieval...Information 4 Responsible Office 4 References 4 Program Description 5 Business Case 5 Program Status 6 Schedule 7 Performance...Program Information Program Name Army Contract Writing System (ACWS) DoD Component Army Responsible Office Program Manager References MAIS

Fractal based complexity measure and variation in force during sustained isometric muscle contraction: effect of aging.

Science.gov (United States)

Arjunan, Sridhar P; Kumar, Dinesh K; Bastos, Teodiano

2012-01-01

This study has investigated the effect of age on the fractal based complexity measure of muscle activity and variance in the force of isometric muscle contraction. Surface electromyogram (sEMG) and force of muscle contraction were recorded from 40 healthy subjects categorized into: Group 1: Young - age range 20-30; 10 Males and 10 Females, Group 2: Old - age range 55-70; 10 Males and 10 Females during isometric exercise at Maximum Voluntary contraction (MVC). The results show that there is a reduction in the complexity of surface electromyogram (sEMG) associated with aging. The results demonstrate that there is an increase in the coefficient of variance (CoV) of the force of muscle contraction and a decrease in complexity of sEMG for the Old age group when compared with the Young age group.

Market performance and bidders' bidding behavior in the New York Transmission Congestion Contract market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Ning

2009-01-01

Using publicly available bidder level bids data for Transmission Congestion Contracts (TCCs) and the realized awards of TCCs in the NYISO monthly reconfiguration auctions from June 2000 to December 2004, we examine both market performance and bidders' bidding behavior in the auctions. The data show significant under-pricing in the realized awards of TCCs. Theories suggest that under-pricing may arise from risk-aversion, monopsonistic market power or winner's curse. Our empirical analysis illustrates that all of the three effects play a role in the NYISO TCCs market. Both market performance and bidders' bidding strategies can be best explained by the theoretical model with asymmetric information and risk-averse bidders. (author)

Service quality in contracted facilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Rabbani, Fauziah; Pradhan, Nousheen Akber; Zaidi, Shehla; Azam, Syed Iqbal; Yousuf, Farheen

2015-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to explore the readiness of contracted and non-contracted first-level healthcare facilities in Pakistan to deliver quality maternal and neonatal health (MNH) care. A balanced scorecard (BSC) was used as the assessment framework. Using a cross-sectional study design, two rural health centers (RHCs) contracted out to Aga Khan Health Service, Pakistan were compared with four government managed RHCs. A BSC was designed to assess RHC readiness to deliver good quality MNH care. In total 20 indicators were developed, representing five BSC domains: health facility functionality, service provision, staff capacity, staff and patient satisfaction. Validated data collection tools were used to collect information. Pearson χ2, Fisher's Exact and the Mann-Whitney tests were applied as appropriate to detect significant service quality differences among the two facilities. Contracted facilities were generally found to be better than non-contracted facilities in all five BSC domains. Patients' inclination for facility-based delivery at contracted facilities was, however, significantly higher than non-contracted facilities (80 percent contracted vs 43 percent non-contracted, p=0.006). The study shows that contracting out initiatives have the potential to improve MNH care. This is the first study to compare MNH service delivery quality across contracted and non-contracted facilities using BSC as the assessment framework.

Confabulation Based Real-time Anomaly Detection for Wide-area Surveillance Using Heterogeneous High Performance Computing Architecture

Science.gov (United States)

2015-06-01

CONFABULATION BASED REAL-TIME ANOMALY DETECTION FOR WIDE-AREA SURVEILLANCE USING HETEROGENEOUS HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTING ARCHITECTURE SYRACUSE...DETECTION FOR WIDE-AREA SURVEILLANCE USING HETEROGENEOUS HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTING ARCHITECTURE 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER FA8750-12-1-0251 5b. GRANT...processors including graphic processor units (GPUs) and Intel Xeon Phi processors. Experimental results showed significant speedups, which can enable

Optimal long-term contracting with learning

OpenAIRE

He, Zhiguo; Wei, Bin; Yu, Jianfeng; Gao, Feng

2016-01-01

We introduce uncertainty into Holmstrom and Milgrom (1987) to study optimal long-term contracting with learning. In a dynamic relationship, the agent's shirking not only reduces current performance but also increases the agent's information rent due to the persistent belief manipulation effect. We characterize the optimal contract using the dynamic programming technique in which information rent is the unique state variable. In the optimal contract, the optimal effort is front-loaded and decr...

Medial Elbow Joint Space Increases With Valgus Stress and Decreases When Cued to Perform A Maximal Grip Contraction.

Science.gov (United States)

Pexa, Brett S; Ryan, Eric D; Myers, Joseph B

2018-04-01

Previous research indicates that the amount of valgus torque placed on the elbow joint during overhead throwing is higher than the medial ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) can tolerate. Wrist and finger flexor muscle activity is hypothesized to make up for this difference, and in vitro studies that simulated activity of upper extremity musculature, specifically the flexor digitorum superficialis and flexor carpi ulnaris, support this hypothesis. To assess the medial elbow joint space at rest, under valgus stress, and under valgus stress with finger and forearm flexor contraction by use of ultrasonography in vivo. Controlled laboratory study. Participants were 22 healthy males with no history of elbow dislocation or UCL injury (age, 21.25 ± 1.58 years; height, 1.80 ± 0.08 m; weight, 79.43 ± 18.50 kg). Medial elbow joint space was measured by use of ultrasonography during 3 separate conditions: at rest (unloaded), under valgus load (loaded), and with a maximal grip contraction under a valgus load (loaded-contracted) in both limbs. Participants lay supine with their arm abducted 90° and elbow flexed 30° with the forearm in full supination. A handgrip dynamometer was placed in the participants' hand to grip against during the contracted condition. Images were reduced in ImageJ to assess medial elbow joint space. A 2-way (condition × limb) repeated-measures analysis of variance and Cohen's d effect sizes were used to assess changes in medial elbow joint space. Post hoc testing was performed with a Bonferroni adjustment to assess changes within limb and condition. The medial elbow joint space was significantly larger in the loaded condition (4.91 ± 1.16 mm) compared with the unloaded condition (4.26 ± 1.23 mm, P space increases under a valgus load and then decreases when a maximal grip contraction is performed. This indicates that wrist and finger flexor muscle contraction may assist in limiting medial elbow joint space, a result similar to findings of previous

Psychological Contracts and Their Implications for Commitment: A Feature-Based Approach

Science.gov (United States)

McInnis, Kate J.; Meyer, John P.; Feldman, Susan

2009-01-01

Two studies were conducted to examine the link between employee perceptions of the psychological contract and their affective and normative commitments to the organization. The authors adapt a new approach to the study of psychological contracts by developing a generalizable measure of "contract features" (e.g., scope; time frame). In Study 1…

26 CFR 1.460-1 - Long-term contracts.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... the manufacture of personal property is a manufacturing contract. In contrast, a contract for the... performance of engineering and design services, and the production of components and subassemblies that are..., enters into a single long-term contract to design and manufacture a satellite and to develop computer...

Agile Contracts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pries-Heje, Jan; Pries-Heje, Lene

2014-01-01

with “endless” re-negotiation of the requirements; you need a more flexible way to develop IS. A new way of coping with many changes is to use an agile development approach and a fixed budget and resources contract. This paper presents an example case. We analyse the case and design a guideline for how......When you have stable and non-ambiguous requirements then a classic contract for IS between a supplier and a public sector institution based on a requirements specification may be well suited. However, if you have to accept many changes or have ambiguous requirements then you may end up...... to implement a fixed budget and resources contract in the public sector. The guideline includes elements to cope with challenges in a tender process such as transparency, criteria for supplier selection, and live assessment of resource skills and capabilities, as well as achieving the flexibility for change...

Buy-back and Revenue-Sharing Contracts in Global Supply Chain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yang Liu

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The main propose of this study is to investigate how exchange rate risk affects the buy-back and revenue-sharing contracts in the global supply chain, hence to improve the performance of global supply chain. Design/methodology/approach: Based on a two-echelon global supply chain, with the model equilibrium, this paper studies the difference between the buy-back contract and the revenue-sharing contract. By the transmitting of the exchange rate risk, it discusses the node-enterprises’ optimal strategies. Findings: The result shows that: (1 Both these two contracts can diminish the inefficiency caused by demand risk, but none of them can manage the exchange rate risk. (2 No matter which currency is used to settle the payment, both these two contracts will lead to the transmitting of exchange rate risk from one node-enterprise to another. (3 When the currency of the supplier’s country in the relatively appreciating, it is better to use the buy-back contract; when the currency of the supplier’s country in the relatively depreciating, the revenue-sharing contract will lead to a better result. Research limitations/implications: Though this study analyzes how the exchange rate risk affects these two contracts, it based on the assumption that node-enterprises’ goal is maximizing theirs expected profit. In fact, many firms not only focus on maximizing theirs expected profit; the risk-taking is also an important concern. For future researches, how firms’ risk-preferences affects theirs decisions in the global supply chain will be an interesting question. Also, will there be any difference if consider the node-enterprises’ utility functions instead of the expected profit. Originality/value: Existing literature about the global supply chain mainly focus on the exchange rate risk management, few of them considers the double marginalization effect caused by the demand risk. Therefore, with the exchange rate fluctuation, we discuss the

24 CFR 983.202 - Purpose of HAP contract.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 4 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Purpose of HAP contract. 983.202... DEVELOPMENT PROJECT-BASED VOUCHER (PBV) PROGRAM Housing Assistance Payments Contract § 983.202 Purpose of HAP contract. (a) Requirement. The PHA must enter into a HAP contract with the owner. The HAP contract must be...

48 CFR 46.710 - Contract clauses.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... QUALITY ASSURANCE Warranties 46.710 Contract clauses. The clauses and alternates prescribed in this... research and development contract is contemplated and the use of a warranty clause has been approved under... performance specifications or design are of major importance; a fixed-price supply, service, or research and...

CONTRACT ADMINISTRATIVE TRACKING SYSTEM (CATS)

Science.gov (United States)

The Contract Administrative Tracking System (CATS) was developed in response to an ORD NHEERL, Mid-Continent Ecology Division (MED)-recognized need for an automated tracking and retrieval system for Cost Reimbursable Level of Effort (CR/LOE) Contracts. CATS is an Oracle-based app...

Choreography Synthesis as Contract Agreement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julien Lange

2013-10-01

Full Text Available We propose a formal model for distributed systems, where each participant advertises its requirements and obligations as behavioural contracts, and where multiparty sessions are started when a set of contracts allows to synthesise a choreography. Our framework is based on the CO2 calculus for contract-oriented computing, and borrows concepts and results from the session type literature. It supports sessions where the number of participants is not determined beforehand, and keeps CO2's ability to rule out participants that are culpable if contracts are not fulfilled at runtime. We show that we have progress and session fidelity in CO2, as a result of the honesty of participants — i.e., their ability to always adhere to their contracts.

75 FR 23710 - Order Finding That the ICE PG&E Citygate Financial Basis Contract Traded on the...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-04

... ICE maintains exclusive rights over IPI's bidweek price indices. As a result, no other exchange can... this contract has the exclusive right to base its settlement on the IPI PG&E Citygate Index price... Contract Traded on the IntercontinentalExchange, Inc., Performs a Significant Price Discovery Function...

PREREQUISITES OF THE RESOLUTION OF A CONTRACT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vlad-Victor OCHEA

2017-05-01

Full Text Available I herein want to emphasise the prerequisites of the resolution of a contract according to the Romanian Civil Code of 2009. The prerequisites of the resolution of a contract are substantially different from those identified under the former fundamental civil legislation (the Romanian Civil code of 1864. This study aims at a better understanding of the new prerequisites of the resolution of a contract: a. a fundamental non-performance of the obligation; b. an unjustified non-performance of the obligation; c. mora debitoris The analysis of these prerequisites reveals a new possible trait of the resolution: a remedy for the non-performance of the contract rather than a sanction or a variety of contractual liability. Thus the modern legislator of the Romanian Civil Code of 2009 proposed to partially change the physiognomy of the resolution of a contract, different from the former institution and here we are in front of a new law institution. The resolution of a contract under the Romanian Civil Code of 2009 is regulated under The 5th Book – The Obligations, The second chapter – The enforcement of the Obligations, The 5th Section – Resolution of the Contract, respectively under the Article 1549 – 1554. As will be shown below, the resolution of a contract has a homogeneous structure without being spread in different parts of the Civil code. The earning lies in the action of organism the new legal provisions, apparently enriched in comparison to those found in the Romanian Civil Code of 1864. Most notably, the Romanian Civil Code of 2009 preserves the Roman legacy. The modern legislator had a difficult task: 146 years of legal doctrine and jurisprudence transposed into a new legislation which, of course, has its flaws. Nevertheless, it should be praised, as it encompasses useful tools to regulate social relations

The 3rd annual Australian contract mining conference

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1997-12-31

Papers discussed: the termination of contract debate - implications for the industry; contract industry`s outlook; viability of contract mining at ERA`s Ranger mine in the Northern Territory; obtaining superior operational performance, and reducing risk, using mining contractors; industry consolidation, contracts and market trends; mining equipment financing - the operating lease alternative; Portman Mining Ltd.; development of contract mining within the coal operations of Eastern Australia; case study - Thiess. contractors` experience in operating the Collinsville coal mine for the MIM/Itochu joint venture; integrating contractor management on mines with duty of care; the risk variables; and conflicting objectives - mine optimisation and the underground contract.

Safety Case for Service Contracts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Martinez, Israel L.

2014-07-01

Safety cases developed for the Facilities Management and Operations Center (FMOC) are based on the requirements in MN471021, Work Planning and Control Criteria for Safe Design and Operations. The FMOC performs maintenance activities in various locations at Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico (SNL/NM). SNL/NM consists of more than 6,000,000 square feet of buildings, structures, and site infrastructure on approximately 13,000 acres of land. The FMOC performs approximately 7500 service contract work orders a year to assist with operations and maintenance at the SNL/NM site and facilities. As part of the continual improvement process, this Safety Case will be reviewed and updated, as needed, or at a minimum every three years.

Relational Contracts, Multitasking, and Job Design

OpenAIRE

Anja Schöttner

2008-01-01

This article analyzes optimal job design in a repeated principal-agent relationship when there is only one contractible and imperfect performance measure for three tasks whose contribution to firm value is nonverifiable. The tasks can be assigned to either one or two agents. Assigning an additional task to an agent strengthens his relational contract. Therefore, broad task assignments are optimal when the performance measure strongly distorts incentives for the two-task job. This is more like...

30 CFR 881.6 - Project contract.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... contractors or suppliers for the construction, installation, services or work to be performed. (b) Project... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Project contract. 881.6 Section 881.6 Mineral... LAND RECLAMATION SUBSIDENCE AND STRIP MINE REHABILITATION, APPALACHIA § 881.6 Project contract. (a...

Contract Mining versus Owner Mining

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Owner

mining companies can concentrate on their core businesses while using specialists for ... 2 Definition of Contract and Owner. Mining ... equipment maintenance, scheduling and budgeting ..... No. Region. Amount Spent on. Contract Mining. ($ billion). Percent of. Total. 1 ... cost and productivity data based on a large range.

Increased fall risk is associated with elevated co-contraction about the ankle during static balance challenges in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Nelson-Wong, Erika; Appell, Ryan; McKay, Mike; Nawaz, Hannah; Roth, Joanna; Sigler, Robert; Third, Jacqueline; Walker, Mark

2012-04-01

Falls are a leading contributor to disability in older adults. Increased muscle co-contraction in the lower extremities during static and dynamic balance challenges has been associated with aging, and also with a history of falling. Co-contraction during static balance challenges has not been previously linked with performance on clinical tests designed to ascertain fall risk. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between co-contraction about the ankle during static balance challenges with fall risk on a commonly used dynamic balance assessment, the Four Square Step Test (FSST). Twenty-three volunteers (mean age 73 years) performed a series of five static balance challenges (Romberg eyes open/closed, Sharpened Romberg eyes open/closed, and Single Leg Standing) with continuous electromyography (EMG) of bilateral tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius muscles. Participants then completed the FSST and were categorized as 'at-risk' or 'not-at-risk' to fall based on a cutoff time of 12 s. Co-contraction was quantified with co-contraction index (CCI). CCI during narrow base conditions was positively correlated with time to complete FSST. High CCIs during all static balance challenges with the exception of Romberg stance with eyes closed were predictive of being at-risk to fall based on FSST time, odds ratio 19.3. The authors conclude that co-contraction about the ankle during static balance challenges can be predictive of performance on a dynamic balance test.

Public Internal Performance Contracting - Managing and financing energy-efficiency measures in public administrations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Irrek, Wolfgang; Thomas, Stefan; Attali, Sophie; Benke, Georg; Borg, Nils; Figorski, Arkadiusz; Filipowicz, Mariusz; Labanca, Nicola; Pindar, Andrew; Ochoa, Amalia

2005-01-01

Public Internal Performance Contracting (PICO) is a type of in-house 'third-party' financing or energy performance contracting scheme. In theory, once triggered, PICO provides a 'perpetual motion' finance mechanism for public authorities by which energy efficiency savings fund new investments in an upward virtuous cycle. One unit of the public authority, e.g. the technical department, delivers the financial and technical energy efficiency service to another unit of the same public administration. Remuneration takes place through cross payments between these units, according savings made in energy costs. The initial investments require 'seed funds' to kick start the process, after which the cross payments provide sufficient means to fund further measures. How can the PICO mechanism be initiated in times of tight public budgets? What difficulties are faced during the implementation process and how can these be overcome? What kind of energy-efficiency measures is PICO best suited to? And what role can national and European policy play to facilitate implementation? These are the key questions that the EU-funded PICOLight project aimed to tackle. This was done through testing and disseminating the PICO schemes, first used in Germany, in six European countries, developing these further and making the necessary adaptations. PICO schemes were piloted in seven public administrations with the technical focus on energy-efficient lighting retrofits. The experiences gathered in these pilot projects should help to introduce PICO schemes on a larger scale in public administrations in Europe. The paper presents the preliminary results from these pilot projects

Mitigating Provider Uncertainty in Service Provision Contracts

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Chris; van Moorsel, Aad

Uncertainty is an inherent property of open, distributed and multiparty systems. The viability of the mutually beneficial relationships which motivate these systems relies on rational decision-making by each constituent party under uncertainty. Service provision in distributed systems is one such relationship. Uncertainty is experienced by the service provider in his ability to deliver a service with selected quality level guarantees due to inherent non-determinism, such as load fluctuations and hardware failures. Statistical estimators utilized to model this non-determinism introduce additional uncertainty through sampling error. Inability of the provider to accurately model and analyze uncertainty in the quality level guarantees can result in the formation of sub-optimal service provision contracts. Emblematic consequences include loss of revenue, inefficient resource utilization and erosion of reputation and consumer trust. We propose a utility model for contract-based service provision to provide a systematic approach to optimal service provision contract formation under uncertainty. Performance prediction methods to enable the derivation of statistical estimators for quality level are introduced, with analysis of their resultant accuracy and cost.

A survey of formal languages for contracts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hvitved, Tom

2010-01-01

In this short paper we present the current status on formal languages and models for contracts. By a formal model is meant an unambiguous and rigorous representation of contracts, in order to enable their automatic validation, execution, and analysis — activates that are collectively referred...... to as contract lifecycle management (CLM). We present a set of formalism requirements, which represent features that any ideal contract model should support, based on which we present a comparative survey of existing contract formalisms....

Contraction-based classification of supersymmetric extensions of kinematical lie algebras

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Campoamor-Stursberg, R.; Rausch de Traubenberg, M.

2010-01-01

We study supersymmetric extensions of classical kinematical algebras from the point of view of contraction theory. It is shown that contracting the supersymmetric extension of the anti-de Sitter algebra leads to a hierarchy similar in structure to the classical Bacry-Levy-Leblond classification.

INFLUENCE OF TYPE OF MUSCLE CONTRACTION AND GENDER ON POSTACTIVATION POTENTIATION OF UPPER AND LOWER LIMB EXPLOSIVE PERFORMANCE IN ELITE FENCERS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Charilaos Tsolakis

2011-09-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to evaluate the postactivation potentiation (PAP effect of isometric and plyometric contractions on explosive performance of the upper and the lower limbs in male and female elite athletes. Thirteen male and ten female international level fencers performed four protocols of either isometric (3 sets of 3 sec or plyometric (3 sets of 5 repetitions bench and leg press, in a within subject randomized design. Before and immediately after the PAP treatment and following 4, 8, 12 min, explosive performance was measured by performing a countermovement jump (CMJ or a bench press throw. Statistical analysis revealed significant time effect for peak leg power during the CMJ (p < 0.001 only for men, with values after the isometric PAP treatment being lower than baseline at the 8 and 12 min time points (by 7.5% (CI95% = 3.9-11.2% and 8.7% (CI95% = 6.0-11.5%, respectively, while after the plyometric PAP treatment peak leg power remained unchanged. A significant negative correlation was found between leg strength (as expressed by 1-RM leg press performance and the change in peak leg power between baseline and after 12 min of recovery only in male fencers (r = -0.55, p < 0.05, suggesting that stronger individuals may show a greater decrease in peak leg power. Based on the above results we conclude that lower body power performance in international level fencers may be negatively affected after isometric contractions and thus they should be advised against using isometric exercises to induce PAP with the protocol prescribed in the present study. Furthermore, gender and strength level must be considered in the practical application of PAP

Green Performance Contracting Strategy for Highway Construction Projects

OpenAIRE

2014-01-01

With the growing awareness of sustainability and global climate change, state highway agencies are taking essential steps to reduce carbon emissions from highway infrastructure on a life cycle basis. While much is known regarding climate change mitigation and adaption strategies during highway operation, very little is understood about how climate change issues should be integrated into highway planning, delivery, and construction processes. This paper presents the current contracting pra...

14 CFR 1274.509 - Contract provisions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... bidder equivalent to five percent of the bid price. The “bid guarantee” shall consist of a firm... assurance that the bidder shall, upon acceptance of his bid, execute such contractual documents as may be... the contract price. A “performance bond” is one executed in connection with a contract to secure...

Banking contracts

OpenAIRE

Durčáková, Klára

2010-01-01

Resumé - Bank Contracts Bank Contracts are an integral part of our everyday lives. Citizen and bussines entities used bank contracts very often. Despite this fact we can't find legal definition in the Czech law. Banking contracts understand contracts that are signed by banks in their business activities and obligations under these contracts arise. While the banking contracts have been widely used, in Czech law there is not too much literature and judgements abou this issue. Lack of legislatio...

Financial Management: Reopening of Contracts in the Mechanization of Contract Administration Services System

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Granetto, Paul

2003-01-01

The Defense Finance and Accounting Service planned to replace the payment and entitlement function performed by the Mechanization of Contract Administration Services system with a new or modified system...

The effects of the contract-relax-antagonist-contract form of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation stretching on postural stability.

Science.gov (United States)

Ryan, Edwin E; Rossi, Mark D; Lopez, Richard

2010-07-01

To investigate the effects of the contract-relax-antagonist-contract (CRAC) form of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) stretching, with and without a warm-up, on postural stability. Thirty volunteers (15 men and 15 women, age: 25.17 +/- 5.4 years, height: 173.76 +/- 8.2 cm, and weight: 72.03 +/- 14.87 kg) were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: warm-up and stretch (WS), stretching only (SO), and a control condition (CON). Contract-relax-antagonist-contract PNF of the hamstrings, plantar flexors, and hip flexors was performed during WS and SO. A 6-minute treadmill warm-up was applied before CRAC in the WS condition. Measures of anterior/posterior and medial/lateral (M/L) postural stability were taken before and after treatment conditions. A 2 x 3 analysis of variance was used to assess for differences between conditions. Significance was set at p Contract-relax-antagonist-contract form of stretching is a useful protocol for improving M/L stability.

14 CFR 1260.148 - Contract provisions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... equivalent to five percent of the bid price. The “bid guarantee” shall consist of a firm commitment such as a... bidder shall, upon acceptance of his bid, execute such contractual documents as may be required within... contract price. A “performance bond” is one executed in connection with a contract to secure fulfillment of...

28 CFR 70.48 - Contract provisions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... bidder equivalent to five percent of the bid price. The “bid guarantee” must consist of a firm commitment... that the bidder must, upon acceptance of his bid, execute such contractual documents as may be required... contract price. A “performance bond” is one executed in connection with a contract to secure fulfillment of...

Monitoring multi-party contracts for E-business

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Xu, L.

2004-01-01

"Monitoring multi-party contracts for E-business" investigates the issues involved in the performance of econtract monitoring of business automations in business to business e-commerce environment. A pro-active monitoring contract model and monitoring mechanism have been designed and developed. A

Frustration of contract e impossibility of performance en el common law inglés

OpenAIRE

José Félix Chamie

2009-01-01

Sumario: i. Premisa. Formación de la doctrina de la frustration of contract. ii. Implied term theory. iii. Just and reasonable solution theory. iv. Foundation of contract theory. v. Radical change in the obligation: The “Construction theory”. vi. Efectos de la aplicación de la doctrine of frustration. vii. Límites de la jurisprudencia a la aplicación de la doctrine of frustration of contract

24 CFR 983.205 - Term of HAP contract.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 4 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Term of HAP contract. 983.205... DEVELOPMENT PROJECT-BASED VOUCHER (PBV) PROGRAM Housing Assistance Payments Contract § 983.205 Term of HAP contract. (a) Ten-year initial term. The PHA may enter into a HAP contract with an owner for an initial...

Multiperiod Production and Ordering Policies for a Retailer-Led Supply Chain through Option Contracts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nana Wan

2018-01-01

Full Text Available This paper formulates two groups of multiperiod production and ordering models with call and bidirectional option contracts for a two-party supply chain consisting of one followed supplier and one dominant retailer, respectively. Based on dynamic programming theory, we characterize the optimal policy structures for two partners in each period. We also provide an approximation for the corresponding policy parameters evaluation in two cases. Then, we investigate the impacts of different option contracts and the demand risk on the decisions and performances of two members. Our results suggest that, whether concerning call or bidirectional option contracts, the optimal policies for two members always follow a base stock type. When the price parameters are the same for different option contracts, the service levels of both the system and the retailer are higher with call option contracts than with bidirectional ones, whereas the retailer’s inventory risk is lower with bidirectional option contracts than with call ones. Under the same conditions stated above, call option contracts can always benefit the supplier, but not the retailer. Owing to the retailer’s dominant position, call option contracts are better choice for the supply chain if the option (exercise price is low (high, while bidirectional option contracts are more suitable choice for the supply chain if the option (exercise price is high (low. In addition, an increase in the demand risk would prompt the supplier to increase his production quantity and the retailer to reduce the initial firm order quantity, either with call or bidirectional option contracts.

Future Contract Selection by Term Structure Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vasco Grossmann

2017-07-01

Full Text Available In futures markets, a single asset is generally represented by several contracts with different maturities. The selection of specific contracts is an inevitable task that also creates new opportunities, especially in terms of speculative trading. Evaluating immediate and upcoming trading costs for all considered contracts might lead to a significantly improved performance. Among that, even possible market inefficiencies might be taken into consideration. This research introduces and evaluates a new algorithm for the contract selection. The results are benchmarked and compared with established methods using a Monte Carlo simulation on different commodity and index futures.

48 CFR 225.7403-2 - Contract clause.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... performance or travel outside the United States, except for contracts with— (a) Foreign governments; (b..., DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS FOREIGN ACQUISITION Defense Contractors Outside the United States 225.7403-2 Contract clause. Use the clause at 252.225-7043, Antiterrorism/Force Protection Policy...

Frustration of contract e impossibility of performance en el common law inglés

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Félix Chamie

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Sumario: i. Premisa. Formación de la doctrina de la frustration of contract. ii. Implied term theory. iii. Just and reasonable solution theory. iv. Foundation of contract theory. v. Radical change in the obligation: The “Construction theory”. vi. Efectos de la aplicación de la doctrine of frustration. vii. Límites de la jurisprudencia a la aplicación de la doctrine of frustration of contract

Contract-based electricity markets in developing countries: Overcoming inefficiency constraints

Science.gov (United States)

Perera, M. N. Susantha

The electric utility sector throughout the world has been undergoing significant changes. It is changing from its traditional, central-station generation model managed under a vertically integrated monopoly to a more market-dependent business. In the rich industrialized countries, this change has progressed rapidly with the emergence of competitive markets---not only in the area of electricity generation, but also in the extension of such markets down to the level of retail domestic consumer. Developing countries, on the other hand, are trying to attract much-needed investment capital for their power sector expansion activities, particularly for the expansion of generating capacity, through the involvement of the private sector. Unlike their industrialized counterparts, they are facing many limitations in transforming the mostly government-owned monopolies into market-driven businesses, thereby creating an environment that is conducive to private sector participation. Amongst these limitations are the lack of a well-developed, local private sector or domestic financial market that can handle the sophisticated power sector financing; inadequate legal and regulatory frameworks that can address the many complexities of private power development; and numerous risk factors including political risks. This dissertation research addresses an important inefficiency faced by developing countries in the new contract-based market structure that has emerged within these countries. It examines the inefficiencies brought on by restrictions in the contracts, specifically those arising from the guaranteed purchase conditions that are typically included in contracts between the purchasing utility and independent power producers in this new market. The research attempts to provide a solution for this problem and proposes a methodology that enables the parties to conduct their businesses in a cost-efficient manner within a cooperative environment. The situation described above is

Understanding contract under the law of Lithuania and other European countries

OpenAIRE

Tikniūtė, Agnė; Dambrauskaitė, Asta

2011-01-01

Contract theories may be a useful analytical tool for understanding and explaining contract, as well as for facilitating orientation in a complex and often fragmented legal regulation. The article presents main understandings of contract in various European jurisdictions: contract as free assumption of obligation, contract as a bargain based on the idea of consideration, contract as free assumption of obligation based on sufficient causa. The article inquires as to how universal those theorie...

Is Contract Law Necessary?

OpenAIRE

SCHWARTZ, Alan

2010-01-01

This lecture was delivered on 17 March 2010. Alan Schwartz, Sterling Professor of Law; Professor of Management, Yale University This Lecture argues that much of the contract law in the cases (the US, the UK and Canada) and in the codes (Europe and Latin America) is unnecessary. To say that a law is unnecessary is to say that it does not perform a useful social function. The argument below thus sets out the functions that contract laws today are thought to serve, and then shows that many of...

[Barriers to the normalization of telemedicine in a healthcare system model based on purchasing of healthcare services using providers' contracts].

Science.gov (United States)

Roig, Francesc; Saigí, Francesc

2011-01-01

Despite the clear political will to promote telemedicine and the large number of initiatives, the incorporation of this modality in clinical practice remains limited. The objective of this study was to identify the barriers perceived by key professionals who actively participate in the design and implementation of telemedicine in a healthcare system model based on purchasing of healthcare services using providers' contracts. We performed a qualitative study based on data from semi-structured interviews with 17 key informants belonging to distinct Catalan health organizations. The barriers identified were grouped in four areas: technological, organizational, human and economic. The main barriers identified were changes in the healthcare model caused by telemedicine, problems with strategic alignment, resistance to change in the (re)definition of roles, responsibilities and new skills, and lack of a business model that incorporates telemedicine in the services portfolio to ensure its sustainability. In addition to suitable management of change and of the necessary strategic alignment, the definitive normalization of telemedicine in a mixed healthcare model based on purchasing of healthcare services using providers' contracts requires a clear and stable business model that incorporates this modality in the services portfolio and allows healthcare organizations to obtain reimbursement from the payer. 2010 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

A tensor based morphometry study of longitudinal gray matter contraction in FTD

Science.gov (United States)

Brambati, Simona M.; Renda, Natasha C.; Rankin, Katherine P.; Rosen, Howard J.; Seeley, William W.; Ashburner, John; Weiner, Michael W.; Miller, Bruce L.; Gorno-Tempini, Maria Luisa

2008-01-01

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive behavioural abnormalities and frontotemporal atrophy. Here we used tensor based morphometry (TBM) to identify regions of longitudinal progression of gray matter atrophy in FTD compared to controls. T1-weighted MRI images were acquired at presentation and 1-year follow-up from 12 patients with mild to moderate FTD and 12 healthy controls. Using TBM as implemented in SPM2, a voxel-wise estimation of regional tissue volume change was derived from the deformation field required to warp a subject’s late to early anatomical images. A whole brain analysis was performed, in which a level of significance of pBased on prior studies, a region of interest (ROI) analysis was also performed, including in the search area bilateral medial and orbital frontal regions, anterior cingulate gyrus, insula, amygdala and hippocampus. Within this ROI a level of significance of p<0.001 uncorrected was accepted. In the whole brain analysis, the anterior cingulate/paracingulate gyri were the only regions that showed significant atrophy change over 1 year. In the ROI analysis, the left ventro-medial frontal cortex, right medial superior frontal gyrus, anterior insulae and left amygdala/hippocampus showed significant longitudinal changes. In conclusion, limbic and paralimbic regions showed detectable gray matter contraction over 1 year in FTD, confirming the susceptibility of these regions to the disease and the consistency with their putative role in causing typical presenting behaviours. These results suggest that TBM might be useful in tracking progression of regional atrophy in FTD. PMID:17350290

Learning Contracts in Undergraduate Courses: Impacts on Student Behaviors and Academic Performance

Science.gov (United States)

2013-04-01

they "felt bound and obligated by the mutual expectations," and the learning contract motivated them to complete readings on time ( Lemieux , 2001...1974; Huff and Johnson, 1998; Williams and Williams, 1999; Chan and Wai-tong, 2000; Lemieux , 2001; Chyung, 2007; Litchfield, et al., 2007; O’Halloran...were required to sign a contract (e.g. Barlow, 1974; Huff and Johnson, 1998; Williams and Williams, 1999; Chan and Wai-tong, 2000; Lemieux 2001

JURIDICAL WILL IN CONTRACTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emilian CIONGARU

2015-07-01

Full Text Available In the business law, almost all judicial relationships of private law are obligational juridical relationships which are made up of legal acts and facts. The most important legal act is the contract since it is the basis of the social life in any community meaning that it represents the most important economic and juridical instrument for the participants to a contract. The persons are free and equal in society and, consequently, no power is valid and fundamental unless it relies on their consent, namely on a contract. So, the existence of a civil contract relies on the principles of consensualism, a perception based on moral rules to observe one’s promises, to have good faith and to observe the interests of your fellow creature. The exterior manifestation, the expression or declaration of the juridical will constitutes the consent of such person in making the structure of contract. The declared will must correspond to the person’s real will and the adoption and declaration of the juridical will must take place consciously. Any contract that does not derive from juridical will is null and the civilizing character is inexistent. The principles giving sense to consensualism is the one of agreement between parties so as to produce legal effects by itself and it is enough for the conclusion of a contract, regardless of the form in which it is exteriorized, a principle expressed by the Latin adagio pacta sunt servanda.

SmartInspect: Smart Contract Inspection Technical Report

OpenAIRE

Bragagnolo , Santiago; Rocha , Henrique ,; Denker , Marcus; Ducasse , Stéphane

2017-01-01

Smart contracts are embedded procedures stored with the data they act upon. Debugging deployed Smart Contracts is a difficult task since once deployed, the code cannot be reexecuted and inspecting a simple attribute is not easily possible because data is encoded. In this technical report, we present SmartInspect to address the lack of inspectability of a deployed contract. Our solution analyses the contract state by using decompilation techniques and a mirror-based architecture to represent t...

Managing the relational character of public-private partnership contracts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cvetković Predrag

2015-01-01

Full Text Available A public-private partnership contract has the character of a relational contract. Relational contracts are incomplete agreements governing transactions where the contracting parties have mutually agreed that it is impossible or economically inefficient to contractually define ex ante possible difficulties and contingencies in the contract implementation, nor the difficulties and contingencies underlying the ex post control of contract performance by a third entity (court or arbitration. Considering the methodology of managing relational contracts, it is essential that the theory of relational contracts does not advocate for the establishment of relational contracts as a separate category of contracts, with specifically designated contractual instruments. This theory defines the relational contract as a category which legitimizes 'the relational mode' of a particular contract. The methodology of relational contracts is important for contracts on public-private partnership as it ensures that the contractual relationship is aligned with the changes in the immediate environment where the PPP contract operates. The aforementioned alignment has two aspects. The first one is the ex ante aspect of the alignment which is primarily aimed at preventing the detrimental effect of such alignment to the public partner's interests. Therefore, the intent to prevent such an effect shall be taken into account when defining the criteria for the selection of the most favorable private partner and the best offer. At the same time, it is essential to establish verifiable standards for measuring the private partner performance in the phase of contract implementation. For this goal to be achieved, it is crucial to specify the subject matter of the private partner's obligations, to establish the priority rank of PPP project objectives, to elaborate on the specific requirements governing the eligibility of private partners to participate in the bidding process, to specify

23 CFR 635.121 - Contract time and contract time extensions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... TRAFFIC OPERATIONS CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE Contract Procedures § 635.121 Contract time and contract time extensions. (a) The STD should have adequate written procedures for the determination of contract... 23 Highways 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Contract time and contract time extensions. 635.121...

Assessment of Navy Contract Management Processes

Science.gov (United States)

2016-04-30

capability? • 85% of quality problems are related to processes, while only 15% of problems are controlled by individual workers ( Deming , 1986...eligible participants: 369 • Total surveys completed: 185 • Response rate: 50% CONTRACT MANAGEMENT MATURITY MODEL© MATURITY LEVEL 5...Measurement – Organizations systematically use performance metrics to measure the quality and evaluate the effectiveness of the contract management

Army Contracting: Training and Guidance Needed to Ensure Appropriate Use of the Option to Extend Services Clause

Science.gov (United States)

2016-01-28

reproduce this material separately. The Government Accountability Office, the audit , evaluation, and investigative arm of...Executive Director Army Contracting Command-Redstone Arsenal Army Contracting: Training and Guidance Needed to Ensure Appropriate Use of the Option to...which this report is based in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the

Pricing structures in US coal supply contracts

Science.gov (United States)

Kacker, Kanishka

The subject of my dissertation is the study of coal procurement by electric utilities in the US over 2 decades, from 1979 to 2000. Energy markets are typically characterized by severe contracting problems. Buyers and sellers therefore employ various instruments, such as contract length or complex pricing arrangements, to restrict these problems. Relationship specific investment, wherein buyers make investments specific to their suppliers, has been advanced as a prominent explanation for contractual length. Investment decisions are however endogenous in length or pricing, making causal identification of the role of investment specificity difficult. In my first chapter, I attempt a resolution. I use the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendment as an exogenous shifter of the extent of relationship specific investment. A key feature of the Amendment's design helps me define a difference-in-difference model arguably free of the endogeneity issues discussed above. I find that the plants forced into switching - Phase I plants located in the US Midwest - are more likely to choose fixed price contracts than those that were not. Further they also write contracts of shorter terms, with the reduction being approximately 30%. Considerably little is known about the performance implications of contractual choices. These form the basis for Chapter 2. Here I find prices to be lower, by between 5% to 20% of the total transaction price, but the probability of renegotiation higher, under fixed price contracts than under escalator or cost-plus contracts. Contract choices appear consistent with a trade-off between establishing incentives ex-ante and lowering negotiation costs ex-post, with relationship specific investments in particular making such a trade-off compelling. Chapter 3 considers the regulatory environment these utilities were subject to. Both incentive based regulation as well as the restructuring of electricity generation are smaller in comparison to relationship specific investment

Non-renewal of contracts

CERN Multimedia

Association du personnel

2007-01-01

A new illegal practice is appearing in certain sectors of the Organization: the non-renewal of renewable three-year limited-duration (LD) contracts, despite a more than satisfactory performance and an obvious commitment to the Organization.

Judicial construction of termination clauses of employment contracts ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

These principles are underpinned by theoretical assumptions that do not distinguish between pure commercial contracts and employment contracts, although the two kinds of ... This is so, given that contract- based principles do not recognise and protect workers' reasonable expectations of fair treatment and job security.

Phase analysis of regional and global ventricular contraction patterns in Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Konishi, Tokuji; Koyama, Takao; Ichikawa, Takehiko

1989-01-01

Multigated blood pool scintigraphy was performed in 20 normal subjects and 39 patients with various intraventricular conduction abnormalities, including 25 patients with Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome. Cardiac imaging was performed in the modified left anterior oblique, right anterior oblique, and left lateral projections. In WPW syndrome, early contraction sites which were not seen in normal subjects were detected at the ventricular base in phase images. These anomalous early contraction sites disappeared after successful suppression of conduction through an accessory pathway by intravenous procainamide. These sites are believed to correspond to the location of the bundle of Kent and were consistent with the electrocardiographic findings. Phase mapping is a suitable noninvasive method to locate the position of the bundle of Kent and evaluate the ventricular contraction pattern in WPW syndrome and other intraventricular conduction abnormalities. (author)

48 CFR 970.2303-3 - Contract clauses.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... facility, the clause at 48 CFR 970.5223-1, Integration of Environment, Safety and Health into Work Planning..., Renewable Energy Technologies, Occupational Safety and Drug-Free Work Place 970.2303-3 Contract clauses. (a) When work under management and operating contracts and subcontracts thereunder is to be performed at a...

Maintenance service contract model for heavy equipment in mining industry using principal agent theory

Science.gov (United States)

Pakpahan, Eka K. A.; Iskandar, Bermawi P.

2015-12-01

Mining industry is characterized by a high operational revenue, and hence high availability of heavy equipment used in mining industry is a critical factor to ensure the revenue target. To maintain high avaliability of the heavy equipment, the equipment's owner hires an agent to perform maintenance action. Contract is then used to control the relationship between the two parties involved. The traditional contracts such as fixed price, cost plus or penalty based contract studied is unable to push agent's performance to exceed target, and this in turn would lead to a sub-optimal result (revenue). This research deals with designing maintenance contract compensation schemes. The scheme should induce agent to select the highest possible maintenance effort level, thereby pushing agent's performance and achieve maximum utility for both parties involved. Principal agent theory is used as a modeling approach due to its ability to simultaneously modeled owner and agent decision making process. Compensation schemes considered in this research includes fixed price, cost sharing and revenue sharing. The optimal decision is obtained using a numerical method. The results show that if both parties are risk neutral, then there are infinite combination of fixed price, cost sharing and revenue sharing produced the same optimal solution. The combination of fixed price and cost sharing contract results in the optimal solution when the agent is risk averse, while the optimal combination of fixed price and revenue sharing contract is obtained when agent is risk averse. When both parties are risk averse, the optimal compensation scheme is a combination of fixed price, cost sharing and revenue sharing.

Certified symbolic management of financial multi-party contracts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bahr, Patrick; Berthold, Jost; Elsman, Martin

2015-01-01

Domain-specific languages (DSLs) for complex financial contracts are in practical use in many banks and financial institutions today. Given the level of automation and pervasiveness of software in the sector, the financial domain is immensely sensitive to software bugs. At the same time...... automatically extract a Haskell implementation of an embedded contract DSL along with the formally verified contract management functionality. This approach opens a road map towards more reliable contract management software, including the possibility of analysing contracts based on symbolic instead of numeric...

Building Psychological Contracts in Security-Risk Environments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ramirez, Jacobo; Madero, Sergio; Vélez-Zapata, Claudia

2015-01-01

This paper examines the reciprocal obligations between employers and employees that are framed as psychological contracts in security-risk environments. A total of 30 interviews based on psychological contract frameworks, duty-of-care strategies in terms of human resource management (HRM) systems...... and the impacts of narcoterrorism on firms were conducted with human resources (HR) personnel, line managers and subordinates at eight national and multinational corporations (MNCs) with subsidiaries in Colombia and Mexico. Our findings generally support the existence of a relational psychological contract in our...... sample. Duty-of-care strategies based on both HRM systems and the sensitivities of HR personnel and line managers to the narcoterrorism context, in combination with both explicit and implicit security policies, tend to be the sources of the content of psychological contracts. We propose a psychological...

46 CFR 205.5 - Contracts containing disputes article.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 46 Shipping 8 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Contracts containing disputes article. 205.5 Section 205... AUDIT APPEALS; POLICY AND PROCEDURE § 205.5 Contracts containing disputes article. When a contract contains a disputes article, the disputes article will govern the bases for negotiating disputes regarding...

48 CFR 1631.205-74 - FEHBP losses on other contracts.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... carry forward” principle that is fundamental to continuing insurance contracts that are based on... MANAGEMENT FEDERAL EMPLOYEES HEALTH BENEFITS ACQUISITION REGULATION GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS CONTRACT COST PRINCIPLES AND PROCEDURES Contracts With Commercial Organizations 1631.205-74 FEHBP losses on...

Construction contract revenue recording comparison

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hana Bohušová

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Publicly traded companies prepare their consolidated accounts in conformity with the international accounting standards (IAS/IFRS in accordance with the Regulation No. 1606/2002. This is obliged for all publicly traded joint-stock companies in the Czech Republic. Other companies prepare financial statements in accordance with national accounting standards. There are Accounting Act No. 563/1991 of Coll. and Regulation No. 500/2002 of Coll., Czech Accounting Standards in the Czech Republic. Both systems are based on different principles so there are many differences. The Czech Accounting System (CAS is based on the rules while IAS/IFRS are based on principles (Kovanicová, 2005. These differences are mainly caused by the different philosophy. CAS prefers the fiscal policy to the economic substance while IAS/IFRS prefere the economic substance. One of the most significant dif­fe­ren­ces is in the field of revenue recording. There are two standards concerning the revenues recording (IAS 18 − Revenue, IAS 11 – Construction Contracts in IAS/IFRS. CAS 019 – Expenses and Revenue are dealing with the revenue recording in the Czech Republic. The paper is aimed at the comparison of the methodical approaches for revenue recording used by IAS/IFRS and by CAS. The most important differences are caused by the different approach to the long term contracts (construction contracts, software development contracts revenues recording.

Bound to treatment: the Ulysses contract.

Science.gov (United States)

Dresser, R

1984-06-01

Several commentators have proposed a novel legal mechanism, the "Ulysses contract" or "voluntary commitment contract," to permit mental patients with recurrent treatable disorders to consent in advance to treatment which they might reject at a time when their cognitive abilities are impaired. Dresser discusses the legal ramifications of precommitment, the implications of basing consent on a patient's past rather than current wishes, problems of enforcing Ulysses contracts given the uncertainties of psychiatric diagnosis, and the inherent paternalism of these precommitment agreements.

CT imaging during microwave ablation: Analysis of spatial and temporal tissue contraction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu, Dong; Brace, Christopher L., E-mail: clbrace@wisc.edu [Departments of Radiology and Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53705 (United States)

2014-11-01

Purpose: To analyze the spatial distribution and temporal development of liver tissue contraction during high-temperature ablation by using intraprocedural computed tomography (CT) imaging. Methods: A total of 46 aluminum fiducial markers were positioned in a 60 × 45 mm grid, in a single plane, around a microwave ablation antenna in each of six ex vivo bovine liver samples. Ablations were performed for 10 min at 100 W. CT data of the liver sample were acquired every 30 s during ablation. Fiducial motion between acquisitions was tracked in postprocessing and used to calculate measures of tissue contraction and contraction rates. The spatial distribution and temporal evolution of contraction were analyzed. Results: Fiducial displacement indicated that the zone measured postablation was 8.2 ± 1.8 mm (∼20%) smaller in the radial direction and 7.1 ± 1.0 mm (∼10%) shorter in the longitudinal direction than the preablation tissue dimension. Therefore, the total ablation volume was reduced from its preablation value by approximately 45%. Very little longitudinal contraction was noted in the distal portion of the ablation zone. Central tissues contracted more than 60%, which was near an estimated limit of ∼70% based on initial water content. More peripheral tissues contracted only 15% in any direction. Contraction rates peaked during the first 60 s of heating with a roughly exponential decay over time. Conclusions: Ablation zones measured posttreatment are significantly smaller than the pretreatment tissue dimensions. Tissue contraction is spatially dependent, with the greatest effect occurring in the central ablation zone. Contraction rate peaks early and decays over time.

Smart Contract Templates: foundations, design landscape and research directions

OpenAIRE

Clack, Christopher D.; Bakshi, Vikram A.; Braine, Lee

2016-01-01

In this position paper, we consider some foundational topics regarding smart contracts (such as terminology, automation, enforceability, and semantics) and define a smart contract as an automatable and enforceable agreement. We explore a simple semantic framework for smart contracts, covering both operational and non-operational aspects, and describe templates and agreements for legally-enforceable smart contracts, based on legal documents. Building upon the Ricardian Contract, we identify op...

The Army Did Not Effectively Monitor Contractor Performance for the Kuwait Base Operations and Security Support Services Contract

Science.gov (United States)

2017-03-07

and efficiency; advises the Secretary of Defense and Congress; and informs the public. Vision Our vision is to be a model oversight organization in...COR reports, nominations , appointments, and terminations to ensure an accurate list of COR personnel can be generated. ACC-RI, in coordination with...audit in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. During the audit, we advised ASG-KU, ACC-RI, and 408th CSB of the contract

Managing the training process: contracting for training services

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carlson, E.R.

1985-01-01

The need for using consultants and contracting for training services should be based on one or more of these three major reasons: the need to expand capability on a crash basis, the need for specialized expertise, and the need for objectivity, and independence. When the need for using a consultant exists, the training manager must first define the scope of work or services the consultant is to provide and how the consultant will interface with the training staff. The next step will be to develop a Request for Proposal which involves management, training staff, and contract services organizations. The critical parts of an RFP are scope and schedule. Consideration would be given to determining which consultant organizations should receive the RFP, and specifying who is on the bidders list. The third step will consist of evaluating the proposals and awarding the work. This step needs to be objective, defendable, and repeatable. The final phase will be the performance of the work. The activities included are project initiation, monitoring contractor performance, and formal conclusion

48 CFR 16.601 - Time-and-materials contracts.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... contracts for certain commercial services. (1) Government surveillance. A time-and-materials contract..., appropriate Government surveillance of contractor performance is required to give reasonable assurance that... procedures, the fixed hourly rates for services that meet the definition of commercial item at 2.101 that are...

Avoiding surety contracts in bankruptcy procedure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hiber Dragor

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Serbia's courts jurisprudence has divergent attitudes with respect to the dilemma whether a surety contract represents a contract without consideration, which may be avoided once the guarantor is subject to bankruptcy procedure without any additional conditions, or an onerous contract. Whether a surety contract is an onerous one has anyhow been disputed in the legal theory. One school of thought considers this contract as non-onerous one, since vis-a-vis guarantor's obligation no benefit to be expected from the other contractual party (i. e. creditor exists. The other school of thought understands surety (almost always as an onerous contract bearing in mind that the guarantor who enters into this contract does not have intentio liberalis. There are numerous and nuanced views based on analyses of the relation between a guarantor and a debtor focused on the argument that surety is a contract without consideration if intentio liberalis existed vis-a-vis main debtor rather than vis-a-vis creditor. Our legal literature did not pay much attention to that issue until recently. In a rare text dedicated to it the author's basic standpoint is that surety represents a contract without consideration. An exception, depending on the circumstances of the case, could be surety given by a parent company for the obligation of a subsidiary, provided the former reasonably expected a benefit in terms of an increase in the value of shares. Commercial courts followed such reasoning. In this article an opposite stance has been argued. Namely, the onerousness of surety must be assessed based on the relation between the guarantor and the main debtor rather than between the guarantor and the creditor. As a rule, surety is an onerous contract because the guarantor expects to collect from the debtor through subrogation the amount he paid to the creditor; exceptionally, surety may be a non-onerous contract if intentio liberalis existed vis-a-vis main debtor. However, this

A Module Language for Typing by Contracts

Science.gov (United States)

Glouche, Yann; Talpin, Jean-Pierre; LeGuernic, Paul; Gautier, Thierry

2009-01-01

Assume-guarantee reasoning is a popular and expressive paradigm for modular and compositional specification of programs. It is becoming a fundamental concept in some computer-aided design tools for embedded system design. In this paper, we elaborate foundations for contract-based embedded system design by proposing a general-purpose module language based on a Boolean algebra allowing to define contracts. In this framework, contracts are used to negotiate the correctness of assumptions made on the definition of a component at the point where it is used and provides guarantees to its environment. We illustrate this presentation with the specification of a simplified 4-stroke engine model.

48 CFR 1432.102 - Description of contract financing methods.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... financing methods. 1432.102 Section 1432.102 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS CONTRACT FINANCING Non-Commercial Item Purchase Financing 1432.102 Description of contract financing methods. Use of progress payments based on a percentage or stage...

48 CFR 932.102 - Description of contract financing methods.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... financing methods. 932.102 Section 932.102 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS CONTRACT FINANCING Non-Commercial Item Purchase Financing 932.102 Description of contract financing methods. (e)(2) Progress payments based on a percentage or stage of...

48 CFR 1532.102 - Description of contract financing methods.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... financing methods. 1532.102 Section 1532.102 Federal Acquisition Regulations System ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS CONTRACT FINANCING General 1532.102 Description of contract financing methods. Progress payments based on a percentage or stage of completion are authorized for use as...

48 CFR 432.102 - Description of contract financing methods.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... financing methods. 432.102 Section 432.102 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS CONTRACT FINANCING Non-Commercial Item Purchase Financing 432.102 Description of contract financing methods. Progress payments based on a percentage or stage of completion are...

CONTINGENCY CONTRACTING: DOD, State, and USAID Contracts and Contractor Personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Hutton, John; Ayers, Johana R; Berkholtz, Jessica M; Brandon, E; Culley, Brendan S; James, Jr., Art; McMillen, Lisa A; McSween, Jean; Thornton, Karen

2008-01-01

DOD, State, and USAID reported that they obligated at least $33.9 billion during fiscal year 2007 and the first half of fiscal year 2008 on 56,925 contracts with performance in either Iraq or Afghanistan...

ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND THE AIR FORCE CONTRACT AUGMENTATION PROGRAM: A PATTERNED APPROACH TO RISK IDENTIFICATION

Science.gov (United States)

2016-04-22

eight contractors. It is a multiple - award indefinite-delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) $5 billion arrangement with one base year and four option...evaluation factors, and the pre-award phase is completed. The post-award phase concerns the insurance of performance under the terms of the contract...may have consequences ranging from award fee decrements , contract termination, suspension or debarment, or other appropriate remedies or

Demand and Signing of General Practitioner Contract Service among the Urban Elderly: A Population-Based Analysis in Zhejiang Province, China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yanrong Zhao

2017-03-01

Full Text Available This study aims to examine whether the urban elderly in the Zhejiang Province of China signed contracts with their general practitioner (GP based on their health service needs, and to further identify the determinants of their demand and signing decisions. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in 16 community health service (CHS institutions in Zhejiang Province, China. The urban elderly over 60 years of age were enrolled when visiting the sampled CHS. Baseline characteristics were compared between participants using Chi-Square tests for categorical variables. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to identify determinants of the GP contract service demand and signing decisions, respectively. Among the 1440 urban elderly, 56.67% had signed contracts with their GP, and 55.35% had a demand of the GP contract service. The influencing factors of demand were a history of diabetes or cardiovascular disease (OR = 1.33, 95% CI, 1.05–1.68; urban resident basic medical insurance (URBMI vs. urban employee basic medical insurance (UEBMI (OR = 1.96, 95% CI, 1.46–2.61; and middle-income vs. low-income (OR = 0.67, 95% CI, 0.50–0.90 for RMB 1001–3000; OR = 0.59, 95% CI, 0.39–0.90 for RMB 3001–5000. Having a demand for the GP contract service was the strongest determinant of signing decisions (OR = 13.20, 95% CI, 10.09–17.27. Other factors also contributed to these decisions, including gender, caregiver, and income. The urban elderly who had signed contracts with GPs were mainly based on their health care needs. Elderly people with a history of diabetes or cardiovascular disease, as well as those with URBMI, were found to have stronger needs of a GP contract service. It is believed that the high-income elderly should be given equal priority to those of low-income.

48 CFR 12.207 - Contract type.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... fixed-price with economic price adjustment contracts (e.g., by limiting the value or length of the time... when— (i) The prices are established based on a firm-fixed-price or fixed-price with economic price... pricing structure is not practicable. The D&F for this contract shall be approved one level above the...

High-frequency irreversible electroporation (H-FIRE for non-thermal ablation without muscle contraction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arena Christopher B

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Therapeutic irreversible electroporation (IRE is an emerging technology for the non-thermal ablation of tumors. The technique involves delivering a series of unipolar electric pulses to permanently destabilize the plasma membrane of cancer cells through an increase in transmembrane potential, which leads to the development of a tissue lesion. Clinically, IRE requires the administration of paralytic agents to prevent muscle contractions during treatment that are associated with the delivery of electric pulses. This study shows that by applying high-frequency, bipolar bursts, muscle contractions can be eliminated during IRE without compromising the non-thermal mechanism of cell death. Methods A combination of analytical, numerical, and experimental techniques were performed to investigate high-frequency irreversible electroporation (H-FIRE. A theoretical model for determining transmembrane potential in response to arbitrary electric fields was used to identify optimal burst frequencies and amplitudes for in vivo treatments. A finite element model for predicting thermal damage based on the electric field distribution was used to design non-thermal protocols for in vivo experiments. H-FIRE was applied to the brain of rats, and muscle contractions were quantified via accelerometers placed at the cervicothoracic junction. MRI and histological evaluation was performed post-operatively to assess ablation. Results No visual or tactile evidence of muscle contraction was seen during H-FIRE at 250 kHz or 500 kHz, while all IRE protocols resulted in detectable muscle contractions at the cervicothoracic junction. H-FIRE produced ablative lesions in brain tissue that were characteristic in cellular morphology of non-thermal IRE treatments. Specifically, there was complete uniformity of tissue death within targeted areas, and a sharp transition zone was present between lesioned and normal brain. Conclusions H-FIRE is a feasible technique for

White Paper: Unleashing Energy Efficiency Retrofits Through Energy Performance Contracts in China and the United States

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shen, Bo [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Price, Lynn [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Liu, Manzhi [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Meng, Lu [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Miao, Pei [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Dai, Fan [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Evans, Meredydd [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Yu, Sha [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Roshchanka, Volha [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Halverson, Mark [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

2015-09-15

Energy performance contracting (EPC) is a mechanism that uses private sector investment and expertise to deploy energy efficiency retrofits in buildings, industries, and other types of facilities. China and the United States both have large, growing EPC markets. This White Paper shares key insights on each market, including strengths and barriers inherent to these markets, compares the two markets, and sets forth options for enhancing EPC markets in each country. The White Paper concludes with recommendations structured around common goals of both countries.

A Model for Sustainable Building Energy Efficiency Retrofit (BEER) Using Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) Mechanism for Hotel Buildings in China

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Pengpeng

Hotel building is one of the high-energy-consuming building types, and retrofitting hotel buildings is an untapped solution to help cut carbon emissions contributing towards sustainable development. Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) has been promulgated as a market mechanism for the delivery of energy efficiency projects. EPC mechanism has been introduced into China relatively recently, and it has not been implemented successfully in building energy efficiency retrofit projects. The aim of this research is to develop a model for achieving the sustainability of Building Energy Efficiency Retrofit (BEER) in hotel buildings under the Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) mechanism. The objectives include: • To identify a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for measuring the sustainability of BEER in hotel buildings; • To identify Critical Success Factors (CSFs) under EPC mechanism that have a strong correlation with sustainable BEER project; • To develop a model explaining the relationships between the CSFs and the sustainability performance of BEER in hotel building. Literature reviews revealed the essence of sustainable BEER and EPC, which help to develop a conceptual framework for analyzing sustainable BEER under EPC mechanism in hotel buildings. 11 potential KPIs for sustainable BEER and 28 success factors of EPC were selected based on the developed framework. A questionnaire survey was conducted to ascertain the importance of selected performance indicators and success factors. Fuzzy set theory was adopted in identifying the KPIs. Six KPIs were identified from the 11 selected performance indicators. Through a questionnaire survey, out of the 28 success factors, 21 Critical Success Factors (CSFs) were also indentified. Using the factor analysis technique, the 21 identified CSFs in this study were grouped into six clusters to help explain project success of sustainable BEER. Finally, AHP/ANP approach was used in this research to develop a model to

13 CFR 124.515 - Can a Participant change its ownership or control and continue to perform an 8(a) contract, and...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... of a majority of the voting stock of the concern in order to raise equity capital, but only if— (i... financing; (2) Ownership and control of the concern that is performing the 8(a) contract will pass to...

Framework for Structuring Procurement Contracts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lena Borg

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to propose a new framework for structuring contract types and payment methods. Concerning procurement contracts, the first important new feature of this framework is a stepwise structure with three main steps in the contract design: (1 what will be procured—should the contract only include construction, or should it include both construction and operation/maintenance (2 who will do the detailed design of the premise and (3 how many contractors will the client use? The second important new feature of this framework is that both step 2 and step 3 include a continuum of alternatives. Concerning payment methods, the new framework is primarily based on how the specific risks of the project are shared. These frameworks can be useful for policy formulation in that they can help to avoid some problematic ways of formulating policies.

Contract Research, the University, and the Academic.

Science.gov (United States)

Crawshaw, Bruce

1985-01-01

Implications of the growth of university-based contract research are examined, including moral and ethical issues, legal aspects, ownership of research results, staff rights, researcher status, publication, authority, responsibility, social justice, and conflicts between teaching and research. Eleven suggestions for successful contract research…

Contracting Out of the Provision of Welfare Services to Private Actors and Liability Issues

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ulfbeck, Vibe Garf; Andrecka, Marta

2017-01-01

there is no contract between the individual and the private service provider there may be several obstacles to a claim against the private service provider based on contract. At the same time it is a general tort law principle that there is no vicarious liability for independent contractors, making it difficult also......The article discusses liability issues related to the contracting out of welfare services. It focuses on the possible liability of the private actor and of the public entity towards the individual (the citizen) for non- performance or malperformance of the welfare service. It is argued that since...... to succeed with a claim against the public entity based on tort law. Thus, a liability gap seems to exist. However, the article demonstrates that there are signs in different jurisdictions that solutions are being found in case law to this problem allowing to some extent for the imposition of some kind...

The determinants of loan contracts to business firms

OpenAIRE

Pham, Thi Thu Trà; Lensink, Robert

2006-01-01

This paper deals with loan contracting from a private bank in Vietnam. We focus on the main loan contract features that the bank uses in lending to business firms, namely loan maturity, collateral and loan interest rate. Based upon the simultaneous equation model of Dennis et al. (2000) and the bank’s loan contracting policies, we examine the possible interdependency of the three different loan contract terms. Also, we try to determine which firm characteristics and exogenous factors are rele...

The Suitability of the Remedy of Specific Performance to Breach of a "Player's Contract" with Specific Reference to the Mapoe and Santos cases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K Mould

2011-04-01

Full Text Available During the 1990s, rugby union formation in the Republic of South Africa developed rapidly from a system of strict amateurism to one of professionalism. Professional participants in the sport received salaries for participation, and rugby became a business like any other. As in all forms of business, rugby had to be regulated moreefficiently than had previously been the case. Tighter regulations were instituted by governing bodies, and ultimately labour legislation became applicable to professional rugby. A professional sportsman or woman participating in a team sport is generallyconsidered an employee. This means that the same principles that govern employees in general should also apply to professional sportsmen and women. The exact nature of the "player's contract", a term generally used to describe the contract of employment between a professional sportsman or sportswoman and his or her employer, deserves closer attention. It has been argued with much merit that the "player's contract", while in essence a contract of employment, possesses certain sui generis characteristics. The first aim of this article is to demonstrate how this statement is in fact a substantial one. If it is concluded that the "player's contract" isin fact a sui generis contract of employment, the most suitable remedy in case of breach of contract must be determined. The second aim of this article is to indicate why the remedy of specific performance, which is generally not granted in cases where the defaulting party has to provide services of a personal nature, is the most suitable remedy in case of breach of "player's contracts". To substantiate this statement, recent applicable case law is investigated and discussed, particularly the recent case of Vrystaat Cheetahs (Edms Beperk v Mapoe. Suggestions are finally offered as to how breach of "player's contracts" should be approached by South African courts in future.

Monitoring sinew contraction during formation of tissue-engineered fibrin-based ligament constructs.

Science.gov (United States)

Paxton, Jennifer Z; Wudebwe, Uchena N G; Wang, Anqi; Woods, Daniel; Grover, Liam M

2012-08-01

The ability to study the gross morphological changes occurring during tissue formation is vital to producing tissue-engineered structures of clinically relevant dimensions in vitro. Here, we have used nondestructive methods of digital imaging and optical coherence tomography to monitor the early-stage formation and subsequent maturation of fibrin-based tissue-engineered ligament constructs. In addition, the effect of supplementation with essential promoters of collagen synthesis, ascorbic acid (AA) and proline (P), has been assessed. Contraction of the cell-seeded fibrin gel occurs unevenly within the first 5 days of culture around two fixed anchor points before forming a longitudinal ligament-like construct. AA+P supplementation accelerates gel contraction in the maturation phase of development, producing ligament-like constructs with a higher collagen content and distinct morphology to that of unsupplemented constructs. These studies highlight the importance of being able to control the methods of tissue formation and maturation in vitro to enable the production of tissue-engineered constructs with suitable replacement tissue characteristics for repair of clinical soft-tissue injuries.

Skeletal muscle fiber type composition and performance during repeated bouts of maximal, concentric contractions

Science.gov (United States)

Colliander, E. B.; Dudley, G. A.; Tesch, P. A.

1988-01-01

Force output and fatigue and recovery patterns were studied during intermittent short-term exercise. 27 men performed three bouts of 30 maximal unilateral knee extensions on 2 different occasions. Blood flow was maintained or occluded during recovery periods (60 s). Blood flow was restricted by inflating a pneumatic cuff placed around the proximal thigh. Muscle biopsies from vastus lateralis were analyzed for identification of fast twitch (FT) and slow twitch (ST) fibers and relative FT area. Peak torque decreased during each bout of exercise and more when blood flow was restricted during recovery. Initial peak torque (IPT) and average peak torque (APT) decreased over the three exercise bouts. This response was 3 fold greater without than with blood flow during recovery. IPT and APT decreased more in individuals with mainly FT fibers than in those with mainly ST fibers. It is suggested that performance during repeated bouts of maximal concentric contractions differs between individuals with different fiber type composition. Specifically, in high intensity, intermittent exercise with emphasis on anaerobic energy release a high FT composition may not necessarily be advantageous for performance.

Management practices and performance of mergers and acquisitions in Pakistan: mediating role of psychological contract.

Science.gov (United States)

Bari, Muhammad Waseem; Fanchen, Meng; Baloch, Muhammad Awais

2016-01-01

The objective of this study is to examine the direct and indirect effect of management practices (procedural justice, coordination approach, communication system, integration strategy, and coping programs) on merger and acquisition (M&A) performance in the Pakistan banking industry. Psychological contract (PC) acts as a mediator between Management practices and M&A performance. The Present study distributes a structured questionnaire to 700 bank employees of different management cadres. The useful response rate is 76 % (536 employees). It uses PLS-SEM technique for data analysis. (1) procedural justice is a key strategy which has highly significant direct and indirect effect on M&A performance; however integration strategy and the communication system have an only direct effect. (2) PC performs partial mediation at different levels between management practices and M&A financial and non-financial performance. This study provides an effective solution to solve the soft issues during and post-M&A process. This is one of the few studies which effectively integrate the five constructs into a single framework to study their effects on M&A performance. Limitations and future research directions are presented in the last section of the study.

Long-term contracts for European gas supply - an empirical analysis of the changing nature of pipeline and LNG-contracts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neumann, Anne

2005-01-01

As the structure of the European natural gas market is evolving towards more competition and more diverse market structures than before, the nature of the long-term contracts for European natural gas supply is also undergoing change. Experience from other liberalization processes, such as in the U.S. or the UK, suggests that the importance of long-term contracts diminishes over time, but that they remain an important element of supply. In Europe long-term contracts are still considered as a firm basis for investment and financing of capital-intensive infrastructure with a high degree of asset and relationship-specificity. Literature on institutional economics also suggests that long-term contracts act as a device to overcome the ''hold-up'' problem of relationship-specific investments in infrastructure (Klein, Crawford, and Alchian, 1987; Williamson, 1975, 1985). On the other hand, Hartley and Brito (2002) show that more flexible markets also imply a lower degree of asset specificity, thus requiring less fixed contracts. This paper explores the changing nature of long-term contracts for European natural gas supply, with a particular focus on differences between contracts for pipeline gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG). Traditionally, Europe relied on very long-term contracts for pipeline gas (Russia, Norway, Algeria). More recently, increasing LNG supplies are contemplated as a more flexible source of natural gas: The international LNG market is becoming more flexible, LNG can be sourced from a variety of sellers, and the cost of LNG supplies and infrastructure is coming down rapidly (Jensen, 2004). Thus, the evaluation of investing in LNG infrastructure (and the so bought flexibility and possibility of arbitraging profits) may be higher than committing to fixed/predetermined flows of pipeline gas. We ask whether this is reflected in the observed contracts. The paper is based on standard contract theory (Bolton and Dewatripont, 2005). We apply a microeconomic

Panel discussion : contract design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vallas, A.; Vegh, G.; McGee, M.; Zaremba, T.; Seshan, A.; Harricks, P.; Bertoldi, L.; Taylor, R.

2003-01-01

This session presented highlights of the comments of 8 panelists who discussed the issue of contract design. The new electricity market in Ontario has introduced the energy trader, who enters into a contract with the consumer, based on the spot price set by the Independent Electricity Market Operator. Every contract has a fixed price payer as well as floating-price payers. If the floating price for a given amount of energy is higher than the fixed price, then the consumer gets the difference. Confusion, however, arises with the purchase of retail physical power in the market, particularly in deciding a fixed rate that the consumer will be paying. Different billing options were also discussed with emphasis on mid to large retail customers that have portfolios in the tens of MW and up to 100 MW or more. figs

Panel discussion : contract design

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vallas, A. [Sempra Energy Trading, Toronto, ON (Canada); Vegh, G. [MacLeod Dixon, Toronto, ON (Canada); McGee, M. [Energy Profiles Ltd., Etobicoke, ON (Canada); Zaremba, T. [Direct Energy Marketing, Calgary, AB (Canada); Seshan, A. [Larson and Toubro Information Technology, Toronto, ON (Canada); Harricks, P. [Gowlings, Toronto, ON (Canada); Bertoldi, L. [Borden Ladner Gervais, Toronto, ON (Canada); Taylor, R. [Hydro One Networks Inc., Markham, ON (Canada)

2003-05-01

This session presented highlights of the comments of 8 panelists who discussed the issue of contract design. The new electricity market in Ontario has introduced the energy trader, who enters into a contract with the consumer, based on the spot price set by the Independent Electricity Market Operator. Every contract has a fixed price payer as well as floating-price payers. If the floating price for a given amount of energy is higher than the fixed price, then the consumer gets the difference. Confusion, however, arises with the purchase of retail physical power in the market, particularly in deciding a fixed rate that the consumer will be paying. Different billing options were also discussed with emphasis on mid to large retail customers that have portfolios in the tens of MW and up to 100 MW or more. figs.

The advantages of cost plus award fee contracts

Science.gov (United States)

Keathley, William C.

1994-01-01

A Cost Plus Award Fee contract is the best procurement vehicle for the high-tech, one-of-a-kind, development projects that constitute most of NASA'S projects. The use of this type of contract requires more government and contractor effort than any other forms of contracts. An award fee contract is described as an arrangement whereby the government periodically awards a fee consistent with the cost, schedule and technical performance that is achieved by a contractor during a preset period with preset award fee pools. It's the only contracting method where both the government and contractor goals are closely linked. It also has a built-in mechanism to conveniently alter and emphasize program events in order to current external and internal situations. The award fee process also demands good communication between government and contractor participants.

Physician Personal Services Contract Enforceability: The Influence of the Thirteenth Amendment.

Science.gov (United States)

Fasko, Steven A; Kerr, Bernard J; Alvarez, M Raymond; Westrum, Andrew

We explore the influence of the Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution on the enforceability of personal services contracts for physicians. This influence extends from the ambiguous definition to the legal interpretation of personal services contracts. The courts have struggled with determining contracts to be a personal service and whether to grant injunctions for continued performance. The award or denial of damages due to a breach of contract is vested in these enforceability complications. Because of the Thirteenth Amendment's influence, courts and contracting parties will continue to struggle with physician personal services contract enforceability; although other points of view may exist. Possible solutions are offered for health care contract managers dealing with challenges attributable to physician personal services contracts.

Quantification of wall motion and phase of contraction in tomographic gated blood pool studies using length-based Fourier analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nakajima, Kenichi; Bunko, Hisashi; Taki, Junichi; Nambu, Ichiro; Shiire, Yasushi; Tonami, Norihisa; Hisada, Kinichi; Tada, Akira; Kojima, Kazuhkio

1985-03-01

Length-based Fourier analysis, a new method for quantification of wall motion and timing of contraction, was applied to tomographic gated blood pool study. Two parameters, percent-length shortening (%LS) and length-based phase were calculated based on the time-length curves from a center to ventricular edges, and compared with the count-based method. In mathematical models for tomographic gated blood pool images, the severity of asynergy was easily determined by length-based method, and the accuracy of the parameters was good. As to the setting of the center, fixed center provided more reliable parameters than the method using movable center, i.e., when a center of gravity was determined in each frame. By length-based Fourier analysis, quantification of wall motion was easily performed, and the initial inward movement caused by the accessory conduction pathway was assessed in patients with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. Length-based approach was considered to be reasonable and effective because the movements of the ventricular edges are essential in tomographic gated blood pool images.

Quantification of wall motion and phase of contraction in tomographic gated blood pool studies using length-based Fourier analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakajima, Kenichi; Bunko, Hisashi; Taki, Junichi; Nambu, Ichiro; Shiire, Yasushi; Tonami, Norihisa; Hisada, Kinichi; Tada, Akira; Kojima, Kazuhiko.

1985-01-01

Length-based Fourier analysis, a new method for quantification of wall motion and timing of contraction, was applied to tomographic gated blood pool study. Two parameters, percent-length shortening (%LS) and length-based phase were calculated based on the time-length curves from a center to ventricular edges, and compared with the count-based method. In mathematical models for tomographic gated blood pool images, the severity of asynergy was easily determined by length-based method, and the accuracy of the parameters was good. As to the setting of the center, fixed center provided more reliable parameters than the method using movable center, i.e., when a center of gravity was determined in each frame. By length-based Fourier analysis, quantification of wall motion was easily performed, and the initial inward movement caused by the accessory conduction pathway was assessed in patients with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. Length-based approach was considered to be reasonable and effective because the movements of the ventricular edges are essential in tomographic gated blood pool images. (author)

Polymorphic Contracts

Science.gov (United States)

Belo, João Filipe; Greenberg, Michael; Igarashi, Atsushi; Pierce, Benjamin C.

Manifest contracts track precise properties by refining types with predicates - e.g., {x : Int |x > 0 } denotes the positive integers. Contracts and polymorphism make a natural combination: programmers can give strong contracts to abstract types, precisely stating pre- and post-conditions while hiding implementation details - for example, an abstract type of stacks might specify that the pop operation has input type {x :α Stack |not ( empty x )} . We formalize this combination by defining FH, a polymorphic calculus with manifest contracts, and establishing fundamental properties including type soundness and relational parametricity. Our development relies on a significant technical improvement over earlier presentations of contracts: instead of introducing a denotational model to break a problematic circularity between typing, subtyping, and evaluation, we develop the metatheory of contracts in a completely syntactic fashion, omitting subtyping from the core system and recovering it post facto as a derived property.

Perceived Effects of Prevalent Errors in Contract Documents on Construction Projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oluwaseun Sunday Dosumu

2018-03-01

Full Text Available One of the highly rated causes of poor performance is errors in contract documents. The objectives of this study are to investigate the prevalent errors in contract documents and their effects on construction projects. Questionnaire survey and 51 case study projects (mixed method were adopted for the study. The study also involved the use of Delphi technique to extract the possible errors that may be contained in contract documents; it did not however constitute the empirical data for the study. The sample of the study consists of 985 consulting and 275 contracting firms that engaged in the construction of building projects that were completed between 2013 and 2016 and were above the ground floor. The two-stage stratified random sampling technique was adopted for the study. The data for the study were analysed with descriptive and inferential statistics (based on Shapiro-Wilk’s test. The results of the study indicate that errors in contract documents were moderately prevalent. However, overmeasurement in bill of quantities was prevalent in private, institutional and management procured projects. Traditionally procured projects contain 68% of the errors in contract documents among the procurement methods. Drawings contain the highest number of errors, followed by bill of quantities and specifications. The severe effects of errors in contract documents were structural collapse, deterioration of buildings and contractors’ claims among others. The result of the study implies that, management procurement method is the route to error minimization in developing countries, but it may need to be backed by law and guarded against overmeasurement.

The regulation of peculiarities of electronic contracting: comparative analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Наталія Юліївна Філатова

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Contract formation by electronic means nowadays is a widespread phenomenon. Nevertheless electronic contracting has been thoroughly explored by scholars all over the world and regulated both internationally and domestically, there still remain some issues which need to be carefully analyzed. In our view, the most essential question raised by electronic contracting is whether there is a need to amend substantial contract law provisions with regard to peculiarities of contracts concluded by electronic means. Seeking the answer to this question several approaches have been formulated, but none of them seems to be completely appropriate. In this paper the answer is also attempted to be found. For this purpose a comparative analysis of doctrine, legislation and judicial practice of certain states is performed. Particularly, offer, acceptance and moment of electronic contract formation are explored. On the basis of this research the following conclusion is done: amendments to substantial contract law provisions are not always necessary to improve the regulation of electronic contracting. Nevertheless the provisions of law should be applied correctly to the disputes arising from electronic contract formation taking into account the peculiarities of such contracts.

Impacts of government subsidies on pricing and performance level choice in Energy Performance Contracting: A two-step optimal decision model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu, Zhijian; Shao, Shuai

2016-01-01

Highlights: • An ESCO optimal decision model considering governmental subsidies is proposed. • Optimal price and performance level are deduced via a two-stage model. • Demand, profit, and performance level increase with increasing subsidies. • ESCO’s market strategy should firstly focus on high energy consumption industries. • Governmental subsidies standard in different industries should be differentiated. - Abstract: Government subsidies generally play a crucial role in pricing and the choice of performance levels in Energy Performance Contracting (EPC). However, the existing studies pay little attention to how the Energy Service Company (ESCO) prices and chooses performance levels for EPC with government subsidies. To fill such a gap, we propose a joint optimal decision model of pricing and performance level in EPC considering government subsidies. The optimization of the model is achieved via a two-stage process. At the first stage, given a performance level, ESCOs choose the best price; and at the second stage, ESCOs choose the optimal performance level for the optimal price. Furthermore, we carry out a numerical analysis to illuminate such an optimal decision mechanism. The results show that both price sensitivity and performance level sensitivity have significant effects on the choice of performance levels with government subsidies. Government subsidies can induce higher performance levels of EPC, the demand for EPC, and the profit of ESCO. We suggest that ESCO’s market strategy should firstly focus on high energy consumption industries with government subsidies and that government subsidies standard adopted in different industries should be differentiated according to the market characteristics and energy efficiency levels of various industries.

Analysis of General Accounting Office, Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals and Federal Court of Claims Decisions on Protests Disputes Involving Performance Specifications

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Murphy-Sweet, Philip

2002-01-01

... contract. As compared with Design Specifications, which tell the contractor exactly the processes and materials that must be used to accomplish the task, Performance Specifications only specify the final...

Energy Performance Contracting - success in Austria and Germany - dead end for Europe?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seefeldt, Friedrich

2003-01-01

At the beginning of the 21st century, the European market for Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) is extremely diverse. Without a doubt, Germany and Austria are the pioneers, standing out due to their already high market standards and consistent market growth. The market in Germany is characterised by more than 200 EPC-agreements made since the mid-90s - with high-tech individual buildings like hospitals, as well as building 'pools' of up to 100 separate buildings. In Austria, EPC projects have been implemented in approximately 500 buildings during the last four years - with the public building administrations as the driving forces. While EPC has become a standard instrument in facility management in Germany and Austria, in most other European countries the market is still at its very beginning. First, the basic idea and conception of the instrument will be presented in a short introduction, illustrated by concrete project examples with an emphasis on discussing the perspectives from the demand side, especially the public and tertiary sectors. Next, the question centres on how a deliberate energy (efficiency) policy can accelerate the successful market introduction of EPC (role of public building administration as pioneers, support of building owners during project preparation; energy agencies with specific know-how etc.). A last reflection discusses the consequences for a possible directive on Energy Services. In all this, the authors draw continuous attention to the common traits, but also take a look at barriers and success factors. The analysis is based on both authors' broad practical experience in EPC project development and dissemination of best practices

48 CFR 1552.209-74 - Limitation of future contracting.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... supports EPA's performance of Superfund Headquarters policy work including support for the analysis and... contracts, and Superfund Technical and Analytical support contracts. (d) To the extent that the work under... nondiscretionary technical or engineering services not specifically listed above, including laboratory analysis...

Proofs of Contracted Length Non-covariance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strel'tsov, V.N.

1994-01-01

Different proofs of contracted length non covariance are discussed. The way based on the establishment of interval inconstancy (dependence on velocity) seems to be the most convincing one. It is stressed that the known non covariance of the electromagnetic field energy and momentum of a moving charge ('the problem 4/3') is a direct consequence of contracted length non covariance. 8 refs

29 CFR 4.122 - Contracts for operation of postal contract stations.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... Application of the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act Specific Exclusions § 4.122 Contracts for operation of postal contract stations. The Act, in paragraph (7) of section 7, exempts from its provisions “any... 29 Labor 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Contracts for operation of postal contract stations. 4.122...

Overview of coordination contracts within forward and reverse supply chains

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Govindan, Kannan; Popiuc, M.N.; Diabat, A.

2013-01-01

Contracts are comprehensive coordination mechanisms used in both theory and practice to coordinate various supply chain structures. By focusing on the coordination by contracts of the forward and reverse supply chains, the intention of this paper is to (1) present an overview of contracting...... literature and (2) suggest a classification of coordination contracts and contracting literature in the form of classification schemes. The criteria used for contract classification are transfer payment contractual incentives and inventory risk sharing. The classification schemes are based on the level...

Superincentive public transport contracting in the greater Amsterdam area

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bakker, B.; Van de Velde, D.M.

2009-01-01

All suburban/regional bus services around Amsterdam City have been submitted to competitive tendering. This is done under a very innovative form of revenue-based contract that can be classified as a ‘super incentive’ contract. Payments to operators (‘subsidies’) are based on realised passenger

Combining auctions and performance-based payments in a forest enrichment field trial in Western Kenya.

Science.gov (United States)

Khalumba, Mercelyne; Wünscher, Tobias; Wunder, Sven; Büdenbender, Mirjam; Holm-Müller, Karin

2014-06-01

Cost-effectiveness is an important aspect in the assessment of payments for environmental services (PES) initiatives. In participatory field trials with communities in Western Kenya, we combined procurement auctions for forest enrichment contracts with performance-based payments and compared the outcomes with a baseline scenario currently used by the Kenyan Forest Service. Procurement auctions were the most cost-effective. The competitive nature of the auction reduced contracting expenses (provision costs), and the result-oriented payments provided additional incentives to care for the planted seedlings, resulting in their improved survival rates (service quantity). These gains clearly exceeded increases in transaction costs associated with conducting an auction. The number of income-poor auction participants and winners was disproportionately high and local institutional buy-in was remarkably strong. Our participatory approach may, however, require adaptations when conducted at a larger scale. Although the number of contracts we monitored was limited and prohibited the use of statistical tests, our study is one of the first to reveal the benefits of using auctions for PES in developing countries. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

ADMINISTRATIVE CONTRACTS. DELIMITATIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liana Teodora PASCARIU

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Article examines whether all contracts of public persons are administrative contracts; in other words, if the administration may conclude contracts that, according to their legal nature, are not administrative. If we start from the definition of administrative contracts as it appears in Law no. 554/2004, these include contracts by public authorities which concern the enhancement of public property execution of works of public interest, public services, public procurement and other administrative contracts provided by special laws and subject to the jurisdiction of the administrative courts.

The missing link between maintenance contracts and flexible asset management

OpenAIRE

Marttonen-Arola, Salla; Viskari, Sari; Kärri, Timo

2013-01-01

The paper shows how additional value can be created in maintenance collaboration through integrating the features of flexible asset management into maintenance contracts. We expand the traditional typology of maintenance contracts and introduce a new contract type, flexible asset management contracts. Also value sharing in the new contract type is discussed. Our logic for sharing the value is based on reaching for win-win situations in industrial maintenance collaboration. Finally, we present...

The Importance of Employment Contract for Umsida Quality Employees Improvement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Noor Fatimah Mediawati

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The absence of employment contracts in UMSIDA recognized cause some problems. Especially in improving the performance of employees. Issues a little more disturbing harmonious labor relations between employees and UMSIDA. In the terminology of the Labour Act, employment contract terms it is known as the Employment Agreement. Where the existence of labor agreement / contract employment is expected to harmonize the working relationship with the employer in accordance with the applicable rules. The existence of employment contracts is also a legal instrument which according to researchers ought to be put forward in efforts to increase the qualifications and competence of employees. By contract it will also avoid things that are not desirable in an employment relationship, because each party will always carry out their rights and responsibilities are aligned and balanced. Tranquility in the work and the guarantee of legal protection are expected to improve employee performance especially towards quality UMSIDA 2020. So this study explored further the urgency employment contract once its design. How To Cite: Mediawati, N., & Phahlevy, R. (2015. The Importance of Employment Contract for Umsida Quality Employees Improvement. Rechtsidee, 2(2, 141-156. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.21070/jihr.v2i2.106

MODEL APLIKASI FIKIH MUAMALAH PADA FORMULASI HYBRID CONTRACT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Murtadho

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Modern literatures of fiqh mu’āmalah talk alot about various contract formulation with capability of maximizing profit in shariah finance industry. This new contract modification is the synthesis among existing contracts which is formulated in such a way to be an integrated contract. This formulation is known as a hybrid contract or multicontract (al-'uqūd al-murakkabah. Some of them are, bay' bi thaman 'ājil, Ijārah muntahiyah bi ’l-tamlīk dan mushārakah mutanāqiṣah. This study intends to further describe models of hybrid contract, and explore the shari'ah principles in modern financial institutions. This study found a potential shift from the ideal values of the spirit of shari'ah into the spirit of competition based shari'ah formally.

Defense Contract Audit Agency Reviews of Price Proposals

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

1998-01-01

.... Auditors perform field pricing reviews of contractor price proposals when procurement office information is insufficient to perform the cost or price analysis needed to negotiate contract prices...

Electrical contracting

CERN Document Server

Neidle, Michael

2013-01-01

Electrical Contracting, Second Edition is a nine-chapter text guide for the greater efficiency in planning and completing installations for the design, installation and control of electrical contracts. This book starts with a general overview of the efficient cabling and techniques that must be employed for safe wiring design, as well as the cost estimation of the complete electrical contract. The subsequent chapters are devoted to other electrical contracting requirements, including electronic motor control, lighting, and electricity tariffs. A chapter focuses on the IEE Wiring Regulations an

Contract Design: The problem of information asymmetry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Axel C. Mühlbacher

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Integrated care systems are advocated as an effective method of improving the performance of healthcare systems. These systems outline a payment and care delivery model that intends to tie provider reimbursements to predefined quality metrics. Little is known about the contractual design and the main challenges of delegating “accountability” to these new kinds of organisations and/or contracts. The research question in this article focuses on how healthcare contracts can look like and which possible problems arise in designing such contracts. In this a special interest is placed on information asymmetries.  Methods: A comprehensive literature review on methods of designing contracts in Integrated Care was conducted. This article is the first in a row of three that all contribute to a specific issue in designing healthcare contracts. Starting with the organisation of contracts and information asymmetries, part 2 focusses on financial options and risks and part 3 finally concludes with the question of risk management and evaluation.  Results: Healthcare contracting between providers and payers will have a major impact on the overall design of future healthcare systems. If Integrated care systems or any other similar concept of care delivery are to be contracted directly by payers to manage the continuum of care the costs of market utilisation play an essential role. Transaction costs also arise in the course of the negotiation and implementation of contracts. These costs are the reason why it is generally not possible to conclude perfect (complete contracts. Problems with asymmetric distribution of information can relate to the situation before a contract is concluded (adverse selection and after conclusion of a contract (moral hazard.  Discussion and Conclusions: Information asymmetries are seen as a major obstacle to the efficient operation of integrated care programmes. Coordination and motivation problems cannot be solved

Contract Design: The problem of information asymmetry.

Science.gov (United States)

Mühlbacher, Axel C; Amelung, Volker E; Juhnke, Christin

2018-01-12

Integrated care systems are advocated as an effective method of improving the performance of healthcare systems. These systems outline a payment and care delivery model that intends to tie provider reimbursements to predefined quality metrics. Little is known about the contractual design and the main challenges of delegating "accountability" to these new kinds of organisations and/or contracts. The research question in this article focuses on how healthcare contracts can look like and which possible problems arise in designing such contracts. In this a special interest is placed on information asymmetries. A comprehensive literature review on methods of designing contracts in Integrated Care was conducted. This article is the first in a row of three that all contribute to a specific issue in designing healthcare contracts. Starting with the organisation of contracts and information asymmetries, part 2 focusses on financial options and risks and part 3 finally concludes with the question of risk management and evaluation. Healthcare contracting between providers and payers will have a major impact on the overall design of future healthcare systems. If Integrated care systems or any other similar concept of care delivery are to be contracted directly by payers to manage the continuum of care the costs of market utilisation play an essential role. Transaction costs also arise in the course of the negotiation and implementation of contracts. These costs are the reason why it is generally not possible to conclude perfect (complete) contracts. Problems with asymmetric distribution of information can relate to the situation before a contract is concluded (adverse selection) and after conclusion of a contract (moral hazard). Information asymmetries are seen as a major obstacle to the efficient operation of integrated care programmes. Coordination and motivation problems cannot be solved at no-costs. The presented problems in the design of selective individual contracts

48 CFR 1552.242-72 - Financial administrative contracting officer.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... Administrative Contracting Officer (FACO) is responsible for performing certain post-award functions related to the financial aspects of this contract when the EPA is the cognizant federal agency. These functions...) Negotiate advance agreements applicable to treatment of costs and to Independent Research & Development/Bid...

Exploring the Mechanism of Tonal Contraction in Taiwan Mandarin

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cheng, C.; Xu, Y.; Gubian, M.

2010-01-01

This study investigates the mechanism of tonal contraction when a disyllabic unit is merged into a monosyllable at fast speech rate in Taiwan Mandarin. Various degrees of contraction of bi-tonal sequences were elicited by manipulating speech rates. Functional Data Analysis was performed to compare

Final Report for Contract No. MDA903-85-C-0472

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Lewman, T

2002-01-01

.... Work was performed on site at ARI Presidio of Monterey (ARI-POM). This document, the final report for the contract, describes the results achieved during the contract, and provides a list of the products delivered...

Discharge properties of motor units during steady isometric contractions performed with the dorsiflexor muscles.

Science.gov (United States)

Jesunathadas, Mark; Klass, Malgorzata; Duchateau, Jacques; Enoka, Roger M

2012-06-01

The purpose of this study was to record the discharge characteristics of tibialis anterior motor units over a range of target forces and to import these data, along with previously reported observations, into a computational model to compare experimental and simulated measures of torque variability during isometric contractions with the dorsiflexor muscles. The discharge characteristics of 44 motor units were quantified during brief isometric contractions at torques that ranged from recruitment threshold to an average of 22 ± 14.4% maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) torque above recruitment threshold. The minimal [range: 5.8-19.8 pulses per second (pps)] and peak (range: 8.6-37.5 pps) discharge rates of motor units were positively related to the recruitment threshold torque (R(2) ≥ 0.266; P recruitment was positively associated with recruitment threshold torque (R(2) = 0.443; P recruitment threshold torque. The variability in the simulated torque did not differ from the experimental values once the recruitment range was set to ∼85% MVC torque, and the association between motor twitch contraction times and peak twitch torque was defined as a weak linear association (R(2) = 0.096; P motor units in the tibialis anterior.

Performance-Based Service Acquisition (PBSA) Study and Graduate Level Course Material

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Kennedy, Penny S; McClure, Joe T

2005-01-01

.... It is important to understand that the PBSA contract form involves acquisition strategies, methods, and techniques that define and communicate measurable performance expectations in terms of outcomes...

Analysis of the 314th Contracting Squadrons Contract Management Capability Using the Contract Management Maturity Model (CMMM)

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Jackson, Jr, Carl J

2007-01-01

.... The purpose of this research project is to analyze the 314th Contracting Squadron contracting processes and requirement target areas for improvement efforts by the application of the Contract Management Maturity Model (CMMM...

Reverse Revenue Sharing Contract versus Two-Part Tariff Contract under a Closed-Loop Supply Chain System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zunya Shi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The importance of remanufacturing has been recognized in research and practice. The integrated system, combining the forward and reverse activities of supply chains, is called closed-loop supply chain (CLSC system. By coordination in the CLSC system, players will get economic improvement. This paper studies different coordination performances of two types of contracts, two-part tariff (TTC and reverse revenue sharing contract (RRSC, in a closed-loop system. Through mathematical analysis based on Stackelberg Game Theory, we find that it is easy for manufacturer to improve more profits and retailer’s collection effects by adjusting the ratio of transfer collection price through RRSC, and we also give the function to calculate the best ratio of transfer collection price, which may be a valuable reference for the decision maker in practice. Besides, our results also suggest that although the profits of the coordinated CLSC system are always higher than the contradictory scenario, the RRSC is more favorable to the manufacturer than to the retailer, as results show that the manufacturer will share more profits from the system through RRSC. Therefore, RRSC has attracted the manufacturers more to closing the supply chain for economic consideration.

Contracting with the Enemy: The Contracting Officer’s Dilemma

Science.gov (United States)

2015-06-01

contracting command xv KO contracting officer KTR contractor LSC lead service component MGAA Mesopotamia Group Atlas Apache NAT National Afghanistan...and Contract Authority Understanding the roles of contracting versus command authority and command relationships is a fundamental that must be...Audit 12-7 (2012) described the CENTCOM-JTSCC (C- JTSCC) formation and command relationship : In April 2010, CENTCOM issued a fragmentary order to

Sales Rebate Contracts in Fashion Supply Chains

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chun-Hung Chiu

2012-01-01

Full Text Available We explore in this paper the performance of sales rebate contracts in fashion supply chains. We conduct both analytical and numerical analyses via a mean-variance framework with reference to real empirical data. To be specific, we evaluate the expected profits and variance of profits (risk of the fashion supply chains, fashion retailers, and manufacturers under (1 the currently implemented sales rebate practices, (2 the case without sales rebate, and (3 the theoretical coordination situation (if target sales rebate is adopted. In addition, we analyze how sales effort affects the performances of the supply chain and its agents. Our analysis indicates that the rebate contracts may hurt the retailer and the manufacturer of a fashion supply chain when it is inappropriately set. Moreover, a properly designed sales rebate contract not only can coordinate the supply chain (with retail sales effort but can also improve expected profits and lower the levels of risk for both the manufacturer and the retailer.

Contract on using computer resources of another

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cvetković Mihajlo

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Contractual relations involving the use of another's property are quite common. Yet, the use of computer resources of others over the Internet and legal transactions arising thereof certainly diverge from the traditional framework embodied in the special part of contract law dealing with this issue. Modern performance concepts (such as: infrastructure, software or platform as high-tech services are highly unlikely to be described by the terminology derived from Roman law. The overwhelming novelty of high-tech services obscures the disadvantageous position of contracting parties. In most cases, service providers are global multinational companies which tend to secure their own unjustified privileges and gain by providing lengthy and intricate contracts, often comprising a number of legal documents. General terms and conditions in these service provision contracts are further complicated by the '.service level agreement', rules of conduct and (nonconfidentiality guarantees. Without giving the issue a second thought, users easily accept the pre-fabricated offer without reservations, unaware that such a pseudo-gratuitous contract actually conceals a highly lucrative and mutually binding agreement. The author examines the extent to which the legal provisions governing sale of goods and services, lease, loan and commodatum may apply to 'cloud computing' contracts, and analyses the scope and advantages of contractual consumer protection, as a relatively new area in contract law. The termination of a service contract between the provider and the user features specific post-contractual obligations which are inherent to an online environment.

IRSN. Contract of objectives and performance 2014-2018

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Le Drian, Jean-Yves; Royal, Segolene; Macron, Emmanuel; Vallaud-Belkacem, Najat; Touraine, Marisol; Fioraso, Genevieve; Repussard, Jacques; Le Guludec, Dominique

2014-01-01

After an introduction which presents and comments the IRSN missions, the achievements of the previous contract, IRSN strengths and improvement perspectives, elements of context, and the contract scope and follow-up, this report presents and describes the three strategic areas of improvement: research, expertise and transparency. One or more indicators are defined for each area as well as a quantitative target (number of publications or actions per year). Objectives are then defined regarding security, safety and non proliferation, radiation protection, and crisis situation. Indicators and targets are as well defined for the various identified or defined associated actions or publications. They notably concern expertise missions for safety authorities, the ability to provide a response adapted to safety stakes with a guaranteed integration of lessons learned from the Fukushima accident, the ability to respond to the evolutions of the nuclear fleet (including in terms of dismantling and waste management), the ability to provide expertise and technical support for a better nuclear material safety, for a better protection of radioactive sources against malevolent actions, to contribute to the international struggle against nuclear threats and to the implementation of international treaties (non proliferation treaty, ban of chemical weapons), the implementation of control and assessment actions regarding the exposure to ionizing radiations, the ability to provide responses in the field of the assessment of radiological risks and of the protection against them, the contribution to a better knowledge of the effects of ionizing radiations, the contribution to the development of doctrines and to the improvement of national and international organisations for the management of a radiological or nuclear crisis. A third chapter addresses objectives related to IRSN governance, knowledge management, and financial management. Indicators and targets are also defined. All these

Federal Energy Savings Performance Contracts: Frequently Asked Questions on the Scope of 42 U.S.C. § 8287 et seq.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None, None

2016-12-21

Document provides clarification and guidance on issues commonly raised regarding the scope of 42 U.S.C. § 8287 et seq. It is a supplement to the Federal Energy Management Program's extensive collection of materials that are available to assist federal agencies execute successful energy savings performance contract (ESPC) projects.

Licensee Performance Evaluation: Phase II

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chakoff, H.E.; Speaker, D.M.; Thompson, S.R.; Cohen, S.C.

1979-08-01

This report details work performed during the second phase of a two-phase contract to develop methodology for Licensee Performance Evaluation. The Phase I report, NUREG/CR-0110 details initial efforts on the contract. The model developed in Phase I was used to evaluate nine additional facilities for this report. Performance indicators from noncompliance data were also evaluated. Methodology was developed employing the noncompliance indicators and used for 12 case studies. It was found that licensee event report indicators could be more easily identified and utilized than noncompliance indicators based on presently available data systems. However, noncompliance data, appropriately related to cause, could provide real insight into why performance was what it was

77 FR 70850 - International Mail Contract

Science.gov (United States)

2012-11-27

... three aspects of the Agreement expected to enhance performance: an anticipated revision to accounting... affect either the fundamental service being offered or the fundamental structure of the contracts. Id. at...

Governance variety in the energy service contracting market

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ostertag, Katrin; Huelsmann, Friederike

2008-07-01

There is a surprisingly high variety of actors involved in the supply of energy service contracting arrangements. Based on an empirical record of approximately 2,500 contracting projects in the domain of space heating in Germany, the paper analyses specialisation patterns of contractors. An econometric model is used to test hypotheses derived from transaction cost economics, which contractor type should be expected for which kind of contracting project. According to our results, if physical, site and human asset specificity are high, governance modes are preferred, for which contracting represents a downward integration of business activities along the value-added chain. This includes the supply of contracting by municipal utilities. More specifically, municipal utilities occur as superior suppliers of contracting if combined heat and power is implemented, if the building served is connected to their gas grid and if it is a public building. This pattern could orient the development of contracting activities for utilities reconsidering their strategic position following the liberalisation of the electricity market. (orig.)

Why radiologists lose their hospital contracts: is your contract secure?

Science.gov (United States)

Muroff, Lawrence R

2010-03-01

Previously, a hospital contract meant tenure for the incumbent group of radiologists; however, those days are long gone. Exclusive contracts have morphed into exclusive contracts with carve-outs. Turf erosion has become a fact of life for radiology practices. Now radiologists are losing their hospital contracts in record numbers. Group size, though helpful for a variety of reasons, does not ensure that a practice will be secure in its hospital setting. The reasons that groups lose their hospital contracts are varied, and in this paper, the author discusses the most common ones. Suggestions to help practices avoid this unfortunate fate are presented.

Reviving Ulysses contracts.

Science.gov (United States)

Spellecy, Ryan

2003-12-01

Ulysses contracts have faced paternalism objections since they first were proposed. Since the contracts are designed to override a present request from a legally competent patient in favor of a past request made by that patient, enforcement of these contracts was argued to be unjustifiable strong paternalism. Recent legal developments and new theories of practical reasoning suggest that the discussion of Ulysses contracts should be revived. This paper argues that with a proper understanding of the future-directed planning embodied in Ulysses contracts, the charge of strong paternalism can be answered, and the enforcement of some Ulysses contracts may be justified under the rubric of weak paternalism.

29 CFR 785.4 - Application to Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 29 Labor 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Application to Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act. 785.4... Considerations § 785.4 Application to Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act. The principles set forth in this part... employees performing work subject to the provisions of the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act. [35 FR 15289...

Store-Assistance Management for a Supply Chain with Consumer Return under Consignment Contract

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhihui Wu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, the strategy problems of pricing and store-assistance service investment are investigated for a supply chain with consumer return, where the considered supply chain under consignment contract consists of a single manufacturer and a single retailer. Firstly, we use differential equation to model the evolution of store-assistance service level and depict the effect of store-assistance service level on the return rate. By applying two-stage game, both optimal pricing and store-assistance service strategies are obtained based on the presented optimal control model. Subsequently, the committed dynamic consignment price contract is designed to coordinate and improve the performance of supply chain. Finally, a numerical example is provided to illustrate the impacts of the effectiveness of store-assistance service level and decay rate on the feasible region of corresponding contract.

From Orchestration to Choreography through Contract Automata

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Davide Basile

2014-10-01

Full Text Available We study the relations between a contract automata and an interaction model. In the former model, distributed services are abstracted away as automata - oblivious of their partners - that coordinate with each other through an orchestrator. The interaction model relies on channel-based asynchronous communication and choreography to coordinate distributed services. We define a notion of strong agreement on the contract model, exhibit a natural mapping from the contract model to the interaction model, and give conditions to ensure that strong agreement corresponds to well-formed choreography.

The effects of residential real-time pricing contracts on transco loads, pricing, and profitability: Simulations using the N-ABLE trademark agent-based model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ehlen, Mark A.; Scholand, Andrew J.; Stamber, Kevin L.

2007-01-01

An agent-based model is constructed in which a demand aggregator sells both uniform-price and real-time price (RTP) contracts to households as means for adding price elasticity in residential power use sectors, particularly during peak-price hours of the day. Simulations suggest that RTP contracts help a demand aggregator (1) shift its long-term contracts toward off-peak hours, thereby reducing its cost of power and (2) increase its short-run profits if it is one of the first aggregators to have large numbers of RTP contracts; but (3) create susceptibilities to short-term market demand and price volatilities. (author)

Bilateral electric energy contracts: return and risk

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gunn, Laura K.; Silva, Elisa B.; Correia, Paulo B. [State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), SP (Brazil). College of Mechanical Engineering

2009-07-01

In Brazil electricity is traded through three segments: the spot market that balances offer and demand, with prices calculated by a cost-based computational model; the regulated market , where prices are settled in public auctions, and the free market for bilateral contracts. As spot and regulated market prices are public information, a seller is able to calculate his opportunity price to trade a bilateral contract in the free market by using the non-arbitrage principle. Thus, the seller searches the price of a bilateral contract in the free market that balances his/her revenues with the value expected in case it were negotiated in the regulated and the spot market. Besides the expected revenue, the seller may also consider the CVaR to measure the risk of her/his bilateral contract in the free market. So this paper develops a binomial lattice approach to price bilateral contracts in the free market, considering the seller's opportunity of negotiations in both regulated and spot markets, and measuring the contract risk directly. (author)

29 CFR 4.112 - Contracts to furnish services “in the United States.”

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... Application of the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act Covered Contracts Generally § 4.112 Contracts to furnish services “in the United States.” (a) The Act and the provisions of this part apply to contract... Act. (b) A service contract to be performed in its entirety outside the geographical limits of the...

A New Approach Regarding the Legal Contract Lesion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sache Neculaescu

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Why not agreeing upon a contract based on misbalanced services: because the party benefiting from an excessive service unlawfully exploited the precarious situation of the other party as a result of whom came to accept an unfair contract, or because contractual balance must be an essential feature of which and every contract with clearly established services? Which of the two reasons mentioned above is more important in terms of current contractual discipline? These are two questions which, no matter what answers will get, will involve an important matter of choice, in relation to which it will be possible to assess correctly the solutions proposed by the new Romanian Civil Code, as well as by the main bills on Europeancodification of contract law. The present study upholds the idea of misbalanced services only if it constitutes rather a remedy for a contractual problem, if it is oriented towards the legitimate interests of the most vulnerable party of that contract and less interested in sanctioning the guilty conduct of the person who tookadvantage from an excessive service. As a consequence, we support the objective perspective in what misbalanced services are concerned, a reason for which we shall be making a few comments on some of thenew legal provisions, by referring to the main bills on the European codification of contract law, and stating later on a few de lege ferenda proposals, in terms of contracts based on misbalanced services.

78 FR 9865 - Air Carrier Contract Maintenance Requirements; Extension of Comment Period

Science.gov (United States)

2013-02-12

.... FAA-2011-1136; Notice No. 12-07] RIN 2120-AJ33 Air Carrier Contract Maintenance Requirements... performing contract maintenance that are acceptable to the FAA and to include them in their maintenance... contract their maintenance. At the behest of several of their FAA-certificated air carrier members...

48 CFR 237.102-72 - Contracts for management services.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... development or production of the major system ensures that Federal employees are responsible for determining— (1) Courses of action to be taken in the best interest of the Government; and (2) Best technical performance for the warfighter; and (c) The contract requires that the prime contractor for the contract may...

The obligation to contract in British law

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Verena Klappstein

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Nowadays the obligation to contract is rarely looked upon. Without reason though, because it is neither outdated nor inoperable. Based on three common law doctrines the obligation to contract goes back to the Middle Ages. It has not lost its relevance, as it can still be found in modern statutory law, such as in the electricity and mail sector. What is more, it is a fundamental institution with a great impact. The analysis showed that the five chosen forms of obligations to contract bear analogical requirements but very similar rationales and economic consequences. It sets impaired market power right and it overstrikes irrational behaviour of market participants. As overall achievement it aligns the range of property, freedom of contract and freedom of competition.

24 CFR 983.206 - HAP contract amendments (to add or substitute contract units).

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 4 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false HAP contract amendments (to add or... Contract § 983.206 HAP contract amendments (to add or substitute contract units). (a) Amendment to substitute contract units. At the discretion of the PHA and subject to all PBV requirements, the HAP contract...

24 CFR 982.451 - Housing assistance payments contract.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 4 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Housing assistance payments... URBAN DEVELOPMENT SECTION 8 TENANT BASED ASSISTANCE: HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHER PROGRAM Housing Assistance Payments Contract and Owner Responsibility § 982.451 Housing assistance payments contract. (a)(1) The HAP...

13 CFR 124.513 - Under what circumstances can a joint venture be awarded an 8(a) contract?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

...; and (ii)(A) For a procurement having a revenue-based size standard, the procurement exceeds half the... an employee-based size standard, the procurement exceeds $10 million; (2) For sole source and... the purpose of performing one or more specific 8(a) contracts. (2) A joint venture agreement is...

Natural gas contracts in efficient portfolios

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sutherland, R.J.

1994-12-01

This report addresses the {open_quotes}contracts portfolio{close_quotes} issue of natural gas contracts in support of the Domestic Natural Gas and Oil Initiative (DGOI) published by the U.S. Department of Energy in 1994. The analysis is a result of a collaborative effort with the Public Service Commission of the State of Maryland to consider {open_quotes}reforms that enhance the industry`s competitiveness{close_quotes}. The initial focus of our collaborative effort was on gas purchasing and contract portfolios; however, it became apparent that efficient contracting to purchase and use gas requires a broader consideration of regulatory reform. Efficient portfolios are obtained when the holder of the portfolio is affected by and is responsible for the performance of the portfolio. Natural gas distribution companies may prefer a diversity of contracts, but the efficient use of gas requires that the local distribution company be held accountable for its own purchases. Ultimate customers are affected by their own portfolios, which they manage efficiently by making their own choices. The objectives of the DGOI, particularly the efficient use of gas, can be achieved when customers have access to suppliers of gas and energy services under an improved regulatory framework. The evolution of the natural gas market during the last 15 years is described to account for the changing preferences toward gas contracts. Long-term contracts for natural gas were prevalent before the early 1980s, primarily because gas producers had few options other than to sell to a single pipeline company, and this pipeline company, in turn, was the only seller to a gas distribution company.

Managing Reputation in Contract-Based Distributed Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Baldoni, Roberto; Doria, Luca; Lodi, Giorgia; Querzoni, Leonardo

In industry practice, bilateral agreements are established between providers and consumers of services in order to regulate their business relationships. In particular, Quality of Service (QoS) requirements are specified in those agreements in the form of legally binding contracts named Service Level Agreements (SLA). Meeting SLAs allows providers to be seen in the eyes of their clients, credible, reliable, and trustworthy. This contributes to augment their reputation that can be considered an important and competitive advantage for creating potentially new business opportunities.

Army Contract Specialists’ Lack of Desire to Become Contracting Officers

Science.gov (United States)

2012-05-01

response to question 2 was 1 or 2, choose all the responses that support the reasoning for your answer. B ). N o t en o u g h w el l tr ai n ed...contracting specialist set the goal of becoming a contracting officer? ACC 20 Contracting officer burnout Consider contracting officer rotations every 2 to

Optimal contracts decision of industrial customers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsay, M.-T.; Lin, W.-M.; Lee, J.-L.

2001-01-01

This paper develops a software package to calculate the optimal contract capacities for industrial customers. Based on the time-of-use (TOU) rates employed by the Taiwan Power Company, the objective function is formulated, to minimize the electricity bill of industrial customers during the whole year period. Evolutionary programming (EP) was adopted to solve this problem. Users can get the optimal contract capacities for the peak load, semi-peak load, and off-peak load, respectively. Practical load consumption data were used to prove the validity of this program. Results show that the software developed in this paper can be used as a useful tool for industrial customers in selecting contract capacities to curtail the electricity bill. (author)

Representation and Non-representation of Knowledge Mediation in Legal Contracts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Aase Voldgaard

takes place in different ways. A survey among lawyers (Larsen 2009) showed that, concerning legal contracts, mediation of knowledge is largely performed by legal experts, i.e. lawyers, to their clients during personal consultations before the contract is signed. Many lawyers prefer to explain difficult......In this paper, focus is on mediation of legal knowledge between expert and layman in connection with German legal contracts. Focus is not, however, on the role of a classical mediator (e.g. a translator), but on knowledge mediation performed by the expert himself. This mediation of legal knowledge...... for the layman. Some legal experts, however, take these problems into account and mediate the legal knowledge that the layman is expected to be lacking in the wording of the legal contract. Using methods of text analysis, this paper explores the ways in which this is done. On the one hand, it is seen...

24 CFR 983.207 - Condition of contract units.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... URBAN DEVELOPMENT PROJECT-BASED VOUCHER (PBV) PROGRAM Housing Assistance Payments Contract § 983.207... in accordance with the HQS. The PHA may not make any HAP payment to the owner for a contract unit.... Such remedies include termination of housing assistance payments, abatement or reduction of housing...

48 CFR 216.601 - Time-and-materials contracts.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

...-Hour Proposal Requirements—Non-Commercial Item Acquisition with Adequate Price Competition, with 252... contract type for non-commercial items if the price is expected to be based on adequate competition. [71 FR... of the contract or order; establishing fixed prices for portions of the requirement); and (D...

Inflation Forecast Contracts

OpenAIRE

Gersbach, Hans; Hahn, Volker

2012-01-01

We introduce a new type of incentive contract for central bankers: inflation forecast contracts, which make central bankers’ remunerations contingent on the precision of their inflation forecasts. We show that such contracts enable central bankers to influence inflation expectations more effectively, thus facilitating more successful stabilization of current inflation. Inflation forecast contracts improve the accuracy of inflation forecasts, but have adverse consequences for output. On balanc...

A conceptual model of psychological contracts in construction projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yongjian Ke

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The strategic importance of relationship style contracting is recognised in the construction industry. Both public and private sector clients are stipulating more integrated and collaborative forms of procurement. Despite relationship and integrated contractual arrangement being available for some time, it is clear that construction firms have been slow to adopt them. Hence it is timely to examine how social exchanges, via unwritten agreement and behaviours, are being nurtured in construction projects. This paper adopted the concept of Psychological Contracts (PC to describe unwritten agreement and behaviours. A conceptual model of the PC is developed and validated using the results from a questionnaire survey administered to construction professionals in Australia. The results uncovered the relationships that existed amongst relational conditions and relational benefits, the PC and the partners’ satisfaction. The results show that all the hypotheses in the conceptual model of the PC are supported, suggesting the PC model is important and may have an effect on project performance and relationship quality among contracting parties. A validated model of the PC in construction was then developed based on the correlations among each component. The managerial implications are that past relationships and relationship characteristics should be taken into account in the selection of procurement partners and the promise of future resources, support and tangible relational outcomes are also vital. It is important for contracting parties to pay attention to unwritten agreements (the PC and behaviours when managing construction projects.

Study on the contract characteristics of Internet architecture

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Chuan; Zhang, Guoqing; Yang, Jing; Liu, Xiaona

2011-11-01

The importance of Internet architecture goes beyond the technical aspects. The architecture of Internet has a profound influence on the Internet-based economy in term of how the profits are shared by different market participants (Internet Server Provider, Internet Content Provider), since it is the physical foundation upon which the profit-sharing contracts are derived. In order to facilitate the continuing growth of the Internet, it is necessary to systematically study factors that curtail the Internet-based economy including the existing Internet architecture. In this paper, we used transaction cost economics and contract economics as new tools to analyse the contracts derived from the current Internet architecture. This study sheds light on how the macro characteristics of Internet architecture effect the microeconomical decisions of market participants. Based on the existing Internet architecture, we discuss the possibility of promoting Internet-based economy by encouraging user to connect their private stub network to the Internet and giving the user more right of self-governing.

Procurement of construction services: a case study on bidding competition in Singapore public sector contracts

Science.gov (United States)

Oo, B. L.; Yan, Y.

2018-04-01

There are many variables that public clients need to consider in their bidding procedure to enhance efficiency in their procurement for construction services. This paper focusses on the competitive bidding process for public sector procurement of construction services in Singapore. A distinctive feature of the Singapore government competitive bidding process is that full bidding feedback information is released to all competing bidders (and public). The specific objectives are: (i) to examine the degree of competition in the construction markets; and (ii) to examine the bidding performance of competing bidders. Based on a collection of bidding data for a 15-month period, the results show the market environment of the Singapore public sector construction contracting is highly competitive with long bidder lists. In selection of contractors, only 50% of the contracts were awarded to lowest bidders. The results also show that the competing contractors can be broadly classified into three groups based on their bidding performance in terms of number of bidding attempts, bidding success rate and bidding competitiveness. These results provide a useful insight into the bidding competition in the Singapore public sector construction contracting, especially to new market entrants and foreign contractors who want to bid for jobs in Singapore.

Phase analysis of regional and global ventricular contraction patterns in Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. Assessment by radionuclide ventriculography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Konishi, Tokuji; Koyama, Takao; Ichikawa, Takehiko and others

1989-04-01

Multigated blood pool scintigraphy was performed in 20 normal subjects and 39 patients with various intraventricular conduction abnormalities, including 25 patients with Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome. Cardiac imaging was performed in the modified left anterior oblique, right anterior oblique, and left lateral projections. In WPW syndrome, early contraction sites which were not seen in normal subjects were detected at the ventricular base in phase images. These anomalous early contraction sites disappeared after successful suppression of conduction through an accessory pathway by intravenous procainamide. These sites are believed to correspond to the location of the bundle of Kent and were consistent with the electrocardiographic findings. Phase mapping is a suitable noninvasive method to locate the position of the bundle of Kent and evaluate the ventricular contraction pattern in WPW syndrome and other intraventricular conduction abnormalities. (author).

Offer And Acceptance In Cross-Border Electronic Contracts: A Brief Comparative Perspective

OpenAIRE

Cupido, Robin

2015-01-01

Electronic communications have become a widely accepted method of contract conclusion, in part due to the relative ease of contracting afforded to parties who contract inter absentes. The traditional rules of contract law are specifically designed for paper-based contracts, and it is necessary to consider whether these rules would find the same application in contracts concluded electronically. Of particular interest to me is the approach taken to offer and acceptance. This paper will investi...

Reconciling Contracts and Relational Governance through Strategic Contracting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, Bent; Østergaard, Kim

2018-01-01

on contract types, such as strategic versus conventional, may reconcile the enduring research controversy between the substitution and complements perspectives. Practical implications: Today, formal contracts with foreign distributors tend to resemble “prenuptial agreements”. The opportunity for relational...

Use of Ibovespa Future Contracts for Pension Funds in Brazil: a sectorial approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thiago de Melo Teixeira da Costa

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The Pension Funds must be dealt with better management strategies. This work aimed to analyze the risk of  Pension Funds with and without Ibovespa futures contracts and to evaluate the gains obtained in the return/risk relation using the sectorial approach proposed. The levels of use of futures contracts that would allow optimum hedge were obtained using the co-integration models, and the risk, represented by the Value-at-risk (VaR was obtained via conditional volatility models. The mean daily return of the hedge strategies drops, compared to the strategy without hedge. However, this drop is relatively small, compared to the drop of the risk offered by the use of the Ibovespa futures contracts. The results found indicated that a dynamic management, based on a sectorial monitoring of the assets that compose a particular investment portfolio improves its performance, considerably reducing the level of risk attained.

HARMONIZATION OF THE CONSUMER CONTRACT DISPOSITIONS WITH THE GENERAL CONTRACT RULES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandru MATEESCU

2016-05-01

Full Text Available This work contains and mainly tackles the contract of consumption, its differences and similitudes to a general contract, manners of applying it, and the way in which the former can be better coordinated and correlated to the general contracting terms, established by the civil law. Along the years, the consumption contract has undergone several addenda and it has come to represent an instrument of both refference and regulation for the socio-economical relations between two parties who have a commercial agreement. The general law frame has had a great influence in the development of the consumption contract, as well as on its applicability conditions and its manner of deployment. Through the development of the judicial law concerning the contract of concumption, this type of agreement has influenced, through its human and social nature, both the general contract, and the specific frame it relates to. The relationship between the two types of contract is one of interdependence, which is determined by the need of judicial regulation in the Romanian and European economy. The ceaselees development of interhuman relations pushes society towards maintaining a continuous study of the advancement of specific legislation and judicial regulation. The main purpose of this work is analyzing the general judicial frame and the way in which the differences between the general contract and the consumption one may represent a benefic and mutual influence on protecting the citizens’ rights, which in the case of the consumption contract encompasses the protection of consumers’ rights. Also, it will analyze the aspects that determine the manner of application and the the differences that can be surmounted in order to achieve a better cohesion between these types of contracts.

Energy Efficiency Investments in Public Facilities - Developing a Pilot Mechanism for Energy Performance Contracts (EPCs) in Russia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Evans, Meredydd; Roshchanka, Volha; Parker, Steven A.; Baranovskiy, Aleksandr

2012-02-01

: Russian public sector buildings tend to be very inefficient, which creates vast opportunities for savings. This report overviews the latest developments in the Russian legislation related to energy efficiency in the public sector, describes the major challenges the regulations pose, and proposes ways to overcome these challenges. Given Russia’s limited experience with energy performance contracts (EPCs), a pilot project can help test an implementation mechanism. This paper discusses how EPCs and other mechanisms can help harness energy savings opportunities in Russia in general, and thus, can be applicable to any Russian region.

Esophageal contractions in type 3 achalasia esophagus: simultaneous or peristaltic?

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Tae Ho; Patel, Nirali; Ledgerwood-Lee, Melissa; Mittal, Ravinder K

2016-05-01

Absence of peristalsis and impaired relaxation of lower esophageal sphincter are the hallmarks of achalasia esophagus. Based on the pressurization patterns, achalasia has been subdivided into three subtypes. The goal of our study was to evaluate the esophageal contraction pattern and bolus clearance in type 3 achalasia esophagus. High-resolution manometry (HRM) recordings of all patients diagnosed with achalasia esophagus in our center between the years 2011 and 2013 were reviewed. Recordings of 36 patients with type 3 achalasia were analyzed for the characteristics of swallow-induced "simultaneous esophageal contraction." The HRM impedance recordings of 14 additional patients with type 3 achalasia were analyzed for bolus clearance from the impedance recording. Finally, the HRM impedance along with intraluminal ultrasound imaging was conducted in six patients to further characterize the simultaneous esophageal contractions. Among 187 achalasia patients, 30 were type 1, 121 type 2, and 36 type 3. A total of 434 swallows evaluated in type 3 achalasia patients revealed that 95% of the swallow-induced contractions met criteria for simultaneous esophageal contraction, based on the onset of contraction. Interestingly, the peak and termination of the majority of simultaneous esophageal contractions were sequential. The HRM impedance revealed that 94% of the "simultaneous contractions" were associated with complete bolus clearance. Ultrasound image analysis revealed that baseline muscle thickness of patients in type 3 achalasia is larger than normal but the pattern of axial shortening is similar to that in normal subjects. The majority of esophageal contractions in type 3 achalasia are not true simultaneous contractions because the peak and termination of contraction are sequential and they are associated with complete bolus clearance.

48 CFR 227.7009-3 - Additional clauses-contracts except running royalty contracts.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

...-contracts except running royalty contracts. 227.7009-3 Section 227.7009-3 Federal Acquisition Regulations...—contracts except running royalty contracts. The following clauses are examples for use in patent release and settlement agreements, and license agreements not providing for payment by the Government of a running...

29 CFR 4.113 - Contracts to furnish services “through the use of service employees.”

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... CONTRACTS Application of the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act Covered Contracts Generally § 4.113... contract performance. (1) As indicated in § 4.110, the Act covers service contracts only where “service... no event be used by the contractor in providing the contract services, the Act will not be deemed...

78 FR 80369 - Federal Acquisition Regulation; Service Contracts Reporting Requirements

Science.gov (United States)

2013-12-31

... (e.g., cost-reimbursement, time-and- materials, and labor-hour contracts), which already require... contract costs and labor can significantly fluctuate each year or how this type of labor can be comingled... of direct labor hours expended on the services performed is extremely concerning, particularly in a...

Formal verification of smart contracts based on users and blockchain behaviors models

OpenAIRE

Abdellatif , Tesnim; Brousmiche , Kei-Léo

2018-01-01

International audience; Blockchain technology has attracted increasing attention in recent years. One reason for this new trend is the introduction of on-chain smart contracts enabling the implementation of decentralized applications in trust-less environments. Along with its adoption, attacks exploiting smart contract vul-nerabilities are inevitably growing. To counter these attacks and avoid breaches, several approaches have been explored such as documenting vulnerabilities or model checkin...

CONTRACT FOLLOW UP TRAINING

CERN Multimedia

Technical Training; Tel. 74460

2001-01-01

SPL is organizing Training Sessions on the Contract Follow Up application. CFU is a Web based tool, developped and supported by the Administrative Information Services. It allows the creation of Divisional Requests and the follow up of their processing, from the Market Survey to the Invitation to Tender or Price Enquiry, approval by the Finance Committee, up to the actual signature of a Contract, acccording to the CERN Purchasing procedures. It includes a document management component. It also provides link with other AIS applications such as BHT and EDH. The course is primarily intended for DPOs, Contract Technical responsibles in the division and their assistants, but is beneficial to anybody involved in the follow up of such Purchasing Procedures. This course is free of charge, but application is necessary. The details of the course may be found at http://training.web.cern.ch/Training/ENSTEC/P2001/Bureautique/cfu4_f.htm General information of CFU may be found at http://ais.cern.ch/apps/cfu/ The dates of t...

Blood pressure response to low level static contractions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fallentin, Nils; Jørgensen, Kurt

1992-01-01

The present study re-examines the 15% MVC concept, i.e. the existence of a circulatory steady-state in low intensity static contractions below 15% of maximal voluntary contraction (MVC). Mean arterial blood pressure was studied during static endurance contractions of the elbow flexor and extensor...... 0.7) min for elbow extension]. Mean arterial blood pressure exhibited a continuous and progressive increase during the 10% MVC contractions indicating that the 15% MVC concept would not appear to be valid. The terminal blood pressure value recorded at the point of exhaustion in the 10% MVC elbow...... the circulation to the muscles was arrested just prior to the cessation of the contraction, blood pressure only partly recovered and remained elevated for as long as the occlusion persisted, indicating the level of pressure-raising muscle chemoreflexes. Based on blood pressure recordings obtained during...

The Weyl law for contractive maps

Science.gov (United States)

Spina, Maria E.; Rivas, Alejandro M. F.; Carlo, Gabriel

2013-11-01

We find an empirical Weyl law followed by the eigenvalues of contractive maps. An important property is that it is mainly insensitive to the dimension of the corresponding invariant classical set, the strange attractor. The usual explanation for the fractal Weyl law emergence in scattering systems (i.e., having a projective opening) is based on the classical phase space distributions evolved up to the quantum to classical correspondence (Ehrenfest) time. In the contractive case this reasoning fails to describe it. Instead, we conjecture that the support for this behavior is essentially given by the strong non-orthogonality of the eigenvectors of the contractive superoperator. We test the validity of the Weyl law and this conjecture on two paradigmatic systems, the dissipative baker and kicked top maps.

The Weyl law for contractive maps

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spina, Maria E; Rivas, Alejandro M F; Carlo, Gabriel

2013-01-01

We find an empirical Weyl law followed by the eigenvalues of contractive maps. An important property is that it is mainly insensitive to the dimension of the corresponding invariant classical set, the strange attractor. The usual explanation for the fractal Weyl law emergence in scattering systems (i.e., having a projective opening) is based on the classical phase space distributions evolved up to the quantum to classical correspondence (Ehrenfest) time. In the contractive case this reasoning fails to describe it. Instead, we conjecture that the support for this behavior is essentially given by the strong non-orthogonality of the eigenvectors of the contractive superoperator. We test the validity of the Weyl law and this conjecture on two paradigmatic systems, the dissipative baker and kicked top maps. (paper)

Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System

Data.gov (United States)

US Agency for International Development — CPARS is a web-based system used to input data on contractor performance. Reports from the system are used as an aid in awarding contracts to contractors that...

A 'new' psychological contract for nurses: some management implications.

Science.gov (United States)

Cavanagh, S J

1996-03-01

Changes within the health services are raising a number of employment issues for nurses. The idea that a professional qualification and a job will lead to security of employment and career development is rapidly changing. These assumptions, the 'old' psychological contract, is giving way to new expectations from employers and employees; the emergence of a 'new' psychological contract. A psychological contract is an implicit agreement between employer and employee that each party will treat the other fairly. Such contracts are maintained by virtue of all parties wanting to seek agreement on issues where possible and to maintain trust. While such a contract is not a legally binding agreement it is nonetheless a binding understanding between people. Changes to this psychological contract can have important implications for individuals and their employer in terms of work and organizational commitment. This paper will discuss some of the issues surrounding psychological contracts and the impact of violating them. It will also discuss, from a management perspective, how psychological contracts develop between employer and employee, and how to form a 'new' psychological contract based upon mutual benefit and shared values.

Contracting and building renovation - does it work together?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tritthart, Wibke; Bruner-Lienhart, Susanne [Inter-Univ. Research Centre for Technology, Work and Culture, Graz (Austria); Bleyl, Jan W.; Bucar, Gerhard [Graz Energy Agency (Austria)

2007-07-01

The renovation or refurbishment is an important point in the life cycle of a building that makes it possible to achieve both environmental and climate protection goals and a higher quality of living of the inhabitants. However, lack of money often leads to a renovation that covers only the basic requirements, whereas measures that are valuable in a long term perspective like energy saving measures are not realised. Energy performance contracting (EPC) is widely used as an instrument to reduce long term operating costs significantly by guaranteed energy savings. An energy service company (ESCo) implements saving technologies, especially in the field of heating, HVAC, lighting and plug loads, and in particular in public buildings. It is the aim of this paper to investigate the possibilities to incorporate construction measures like building envelope insulation into standard energy performance contracting.For this purpose a qualitative survey is presented that was performed among experts and stakeholders in the business: ESCos, building owners and facility managers, representatives of construction companies and financing institutions were interviewed. The focus was on their experiences with such projects, on difficulties that arose or barriers that exist from their point of view and on the chances they perceived. This provides the basis for identifying restraints and supporting factors for the integration of contracting and constructional measures.Three pilot projects that have been renovated in Austria are outlined subsequently. They are evaluated with respect to the contractual network between the project partners, types of guarantees and financing issues. Special emphasis is put on the assignment of tasks and the cash flow between the project partners. Various constellations of trades acted as energy service provider: a general contractor, an energy supply company, a consortium of a builder and a plumber. The projects reveal some differences to the standard energy

Options: the value of flexibilities in long term uranium contracts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Major-Sosias, M.A.

1996-01-01

It has been commonplace for uranium suppliers to offer utilities long-term contracts with significant quantity flexibilities. These are attractive to the utility for which the consumption of fuel is dependent on variable reactor performance and have given the suppliers an additional competitive tool. The return to a uranium market in which near-term supply is likely to be tight is a disincentive to suppliers to offer new contracts with flexibilities. Typical recent flexibility offers have been significantly less generous than in the past. A methodology is outlined which can be used to give a theoretical estimate of the value of the flexibility provision to the supplier and buyer. It is based on the similarity between flexibility provision and option contracts in the securities and commodity markets. By regarding flexibilities as ''embedded options'' it is possible to apply to them the Black-Scholes option pricing formula as long as the necessary inputs, such as the price of uranium, the loan rate and the volatility, are available. The formula does have its shortfalls, however; in particular, it cannot incorporate the political perturbations that are continually taking place in the uranium industry. (13 figures, 15 references). (UK)

Sex differences in neuromuscular function after repeated eccentric contractions of the knee extensor muscles.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Andrea; Baxter, Jake; Eischer, Claire; Gage, Matt; Hunter, Sandra; Yoon, Tejin

2017-06-01

This study examined the mechanisms for force and power reduction during and up to 48 h after maximal eccentric contractions of the knee extensor muscles in young men and women. 13 men (22.8 ± 2.6 years) and 13 women (21.6 ± 2.2 years) performed 150 maximal effort eccentric contractions (5 sets of 30) with the knee extensor muscles at 60° s -1 . Maximal voluntary isometric contractions (MVIC) and maximal voluntary concentric contractions (MVCC) were performed before and after the 150 eccentric contractions. The MVCCs involved a set of two isokinetic contractions at 60° s -1 and sets of isotonic contractions performed at seven different resistance loads (1 N m, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60% MVIC). Electrical stimulation was used during the MVICs and at rest to determine changes in voluntary activation and contractile properties. At baseline, men were stronger than women (MVIC: 276 ± 48 vs. 133 ± 37 N m) and more powerful (MVCC: 649 ± 77 vs. 346 ± 78 W). At termination of the eccentric contractions, voluntary activation, resting twitch amplitude, and peak power during concentric contractions at the seven loads and at 60° s -1 decreased (P  0.05) with no sex differences. Central mechanisms were primarily responsible for the depressed maximal force production up to 48 h after repeated eccentric contractions of the knee extensors and these mechanisms were similar in men and women.

Drilling contract issues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davison, G.B.; Worden, D.R.; Borbridge, G.K.D.

1997-01-01

Some selected issues which are facing both operators and contractors in drilling for oil and gas, such as the allocation of risk by contract and by statute and the implementation of new technologies, were discussed. There are three varieties of written drilling contracts used in Canada: (1) day work and meterage contracts, (2) master drilling agreements, and (3) contracts that are used in construction projects that do not specifically relate to drilling. Issues relevant to the contractual allocation of risk, to implementing new drilling technologies, to reconciling contract and statute liability, and the formation of strategic alliances for mutual benefit, and the factors contributing to the success of such alliances were explored. 12 refs

Relationship Contracting: The South Australian Experience - A Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jian Zou

2012-11-01

Full Text Available The construction industry has long been accusedof poor performance. The confrontational attitudeof its members and the resultant adversarial atmosphere has been identified as a major factor responsible for this poor performance. A cultural change is required to remove these barriers and to promote optimum project outcomes. Relationship contracting is promoted as a way to support the shift from the adversarial culture to the co-operative and collaborative culture within the industry and the project team.The Adelaide Convention Centre Extensions project was the first in South Australia to be procure und r the principles of relationship contract1ng. Usmg the case study approach, this paper reviews the form of relationship contracting used in this milestone project. The paper documents the lessons learned from this project and makes recommendations that can lead to improvements for future projects.

Simple steps help minimize costs, risks in project contracts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Camps, J.A.

1996-01-01

Contrary to prevailing opinion, risks and project financing costs can be higher for lump sum (LS) project contracts than under reimbursable-type contracts. An element-by-element analysis of the risks and costs associated with a project enables investors to develop variations of reimbursable contracts. Project managers can use this three-step procedure, along with other recommendations, to measure the hidden project costs and risks associated with LS contracts. The author bases his conclusions on case studies of recent projects in the petroleum refining and petrochemical industries. The findings, however, are general enough to be applicable in other industrial sectors

Radiation sterilisation - a contract steriliser's view

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Woolston, J.

1995-01-01

Radiation processing is based on two characteristics of high energy radiations namely their ability to kill micro-organisms and their ability to modify polymer structure. Contract radiation plants are particularly prominent in the application of radiation processing, accounting for approx. 33% of gamma plants world wide and over 50% of installed Cobalt 60. Amongst contract radiation plants Globally sterilisation will account for some 70-80% of gamma plant revenues with 20-30% being associated with other microbiological control activities. Individual plants however will show significant variation. Total volumes of sterile product generated by contract gamma plants are estimated at approx. 1.5-2.0 m3 per annum. Chemical modification generally forms a small proportion of their activity in value or volume terms although the high dosages generally required for polymer modification may result in a larger proportion of process time. Non-sterilisation irradiation services based on microbiological control are provided for a variety of industries particularly pharmaceutical raw material, food packaging and pharmaceutical packaging and food itself. (author)

Provider-based Medicare risk contracting and subcontracting: opportunities and risks for provider sponsored organizations.

Science.gov (United States)

Levin, H A; Zenner, P A; Kipp, R A; Whitney, E L

1997-01-01

Provider sponsored organizations (PSOs) are increasingly acquiring the risk for the management of Medicare Risk patients by accepting capitation directly from the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) or through contracts with HMOs or other organizations contracting with HCFA. The Medicare population and the requirements that the federal administration has put into place with respect to risk contracting are unique and demand specific responses on the part of the PSO for a contract to be successful. The PSO is cautioned to understand the actuarial risk, the clinical uniqueness of the Medicare beneficiary, Medicare reimbursement regulatory requirements, utilization management needs, and necessary reporting before entering into a contractual arrangement. This article attempts to describe some of the more common issues a provider organization must consider.

Six Dimension Strategy As A Basis Of Banking Standard Contract

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wulanmas Frederik

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Indonesia banking based on Article 4 of Act No.10, 1998, aims at supporting the implementation of national development in order to improve equity, economic growth and national stability in the direction of improving people’s welfare. Therefore, to show how important is banking role in supporting the implementation of development, the 6 (six Strategic Dimensions as the foundation of Banking Standards Contract are: (1. Prudent Banking Supervision and Good Corporate Governance (GCG in banking activities, (2. Refunctionalization the principle of Contract Law in Banking Standards Contract, (3. Ethics Value in Business, (4. The Act No. 8, 1999 on Consumer Protection, (5. Enforcement of Human Rights Principles in banking activities, (6. Abuse of Circumstances implementations (Misbruik van Omstandigheden in banking Contract. Based on the 6 (six Strategic Dimension as the foundation of Banking Standard Contract, it will undoubtedly create justice, equity and assurance of the rights and obligations of the parties framed in the contractual and law bonds.

Contract portfolio optimization for a gasoline supply chain

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Shanshan

this model, we characterize a simple and easily implementable dynamic contract portfolio policy that would enable the company to dynamically rebalance its supply contract portfolio over time in anticipation of the future market conditions in each individual channel while satisfying the contractual obligations. The optimal policy is a state-dependent base-share contract portfolio policy characterized by a branded base-share level and an unbranded contract commitment combination, given as a function of the initial information state. Using real-world market data, we estimate the model parameters. We also apply an efficient modified policy iteration method to compute the optimal contract portfolio strategies and corresponding profit value. We present computational results in order to obtain insights into the structure of optimal policies, capture the value of the dynamic contract portfolio policy by comparing it with static policies, and illustrate the sensitivity of the optimal contract portfolio and corresponding profit value in terms of the different parameters. Considering the geographic dispersion of different market areas and the pipeline network together with the dynamic contract portfolio optimization problem, we formulate a forward-looking operational model, which could be used by gasoline suppliers for lower-level planning. Finally, we discuss the generalization of the framework to other problems and applications, as well as further research.

CONTRACT FARMING PRACTICE IN INDIAN PUNJAB: FARMERS’ PERSPECTIVE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nivedita Sharma

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the status quo of contract farming in Indian Punjab from the farmers‟ perspective. The analysis is based on the field survey of three districts of the state covering 300 contract farmers. It is observed that agribusiness normalization has taken hold of the CF practice and farmers are facing its brunt. Withdrawal of extension services, reneging on prices and procurement are the major issues afflicting CF. Lack of adjudication is making contract farming exploitative in approach and the study recommends vigilant and strong intervention of the government.

Potential for the Use of Energy Savings Performance Contracts to Reduce Energy Consumption and Provide Energy and Cost Savings in Non-Building Applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Williams, Charles; Green, Andrew S.; Dahle, Douglas; Barnett, John; Butler, Pat; Kerner, David

2013-08-01

The findings of this study indicate that potential exists in non-building applications to save energy and costs. This potential could save billions of federal dollars, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, increase energy independence and security, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Federal Government has nearly twenty years of experience with achieving similar energy cost reductions, and letting the energy costs savings pay for themselves, by applying energy savings performance contracts (ESPC) inits buildings. Currently, the application of ESPCs is limited by statute to federal buildings. This study indicates that ESPCs can be a compatible and effective contracting tool for achieving savings in non-building applications.

Unfair contract terms in B2C contracts

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hesselink, M.W.; Loos, M.B.M.

2012-01-01

Because of its textual similarity to the Unfair Terms Directive 1993, Chapter 8 of the proposed CESL, on ‘Unfair contract terms’, can benefit from two decades of interpretative experience which is likely to provide a comparably high degree of instant legal certainty to contracting parties.

Life-Cycle Based Climate Regulation Through Supply Chain Contracts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mitkidis, Katerina

question thus arises what can we do to reduce emissions in global supply chains without having a clear knowledge on their distribution among the supply chain tiers. The paper proposes that commercial contracting can be a viable tool. It provides a brief theoretical account for, some empirical evidence...

Teaching about Contracts.

Science.gov (United States)

Froman, Michael; Kosnoff, Kathy

1978-01-01

Presents teaching strategies for introducing high school students to contract law. Offers as a case study a contract agreement between pro football players and team owners. Stresses basic elements of contracts (offer, acceptance, consideration, and understanding the bargaining process). Journal available from the American Bar Association, 1155…

Variations in government contract in Malaysia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaspal Singh Nachatar

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The complexity of construction works means that it is hardly possible to complete a project without changes to the plans or the construction process itself. There can only be a minority of contracts of any size in which the subject matter when completed is identical in every respect with what was contemplated at the outset. As such, variations are inevitable in even the best-planned contracts. This study is attempted to examine the ways a variation was formed in law and project, in finding out whether the Standard Form of Contract used in Malaysia particularly the government Public Works Department (PWD form has been utilized to the best level in variation cases. Additionally, this study examined the benefits of variations to parties in contract and also provides suggestions and assumptions in an effort to contribute solutions to issues and problem detected. The research methodology used in this study was an extensive review of relevant literature, case study, empirical questionnaires and structured interviews and general observations based on experience and surroundings. The academic study approach incorporated stages such as initial understanding, data and information gathering, analysis of data, findings and conclusion and general suggestions in the study. The major findings of this study, among others, revealed that the existences of variations are common in projects. The main cause of variations was due to client request because of inadequate project objectives for the designer to develop comprehensive design. Besides, the analysis pointed out that the government form of contract the Public Works Department (PWD 203/203A can help in overcoming projects with variation because of the clear defined procedure. This study also found that proper planning and coordination at tender stage can minimize the risk of ‘unwanted’ variations. In conclusion, this study recommended that future research should be done in design and build based contract

Physiological Response to Static Muscle Contractions in Standing and Supine Positions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Jens Meldgaard; Andersen, T. Bull

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the physiological responses to static muscle contractions in the standing position and the supine position. Eight subjects performed static contractions of the ankle extensors in both positions. Blood pressure (SBP and DBP), heart rate (HR...

Conscientiousness and reactions to psychological contract breach: a longitudinal field study.

Science.gov (United States)

Orvis, Karin A; Dudley, Nicole M; Cortina, Jose M

2008-09-01

The authors examined the role of employee conscientiousness as a moderator of the relationships between psychological contract breach and employee behavioral and attitudinal reactions to the breach. They collected data from 106 newly hired employees within the 1st month of employment (Time 1), 3 months later (Time 2), and 8 months after Time 1 (Time 3) to observe the progression through contract development, breach, and reaction. Results suggest that conscientiousness is a significant moderator for 4 of the 5 contract breach-employee reaction relationships examined (turnover intentions, organizational loyalty, job satisfaction, and 1 of 2 facets of job performance). Specifically, employees who were lower in conscientiousness had more negative reactions to perceived breach with respect to turnover intentions, organizational loyalty, and job satisfaction. In contrast, employees who were higher in conscientiousness reduced their job performance to a greater degree in response to contract breach. Future research directions are discussed.

The effects of hospitals' governance on optimal contracts: bargaining vs. contracting.

Science.gov (United States)

Galizzi, Matteo M; Miraldo, Marisa

2011-03-01

We propose a two-stage model to study the impact of different hospitals' governance frameworks on the optimal contracts designed by third-party payers when patients' disease severity is the private information of the hospital. In the second stage, doctors and managers interact within either a bargaining or a contracting scenario. In the contracting scenario, managers offer a contract that determines the payment to doctors, and doctors decide how many patients to treat. In the bargaining scenario, doctors and managers strategically negotiate on both the payment to doctors and the number of patients to treat. We derive the equilibrium doctors' payments and number of treated patients under both scenarios. We then derive the optimal contract offered by the government to the hospital in the first stage. Results show that when the cost of capital is sufficiently low, the informational rent is lower, and the social welfare is higher, in the contracting scenario. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Muscle activity during leg strengthening exercise using free weights and elastic resistance: effects of ballistic vs controlled contractions.

Science.gov (United States)

Jakobsen, Markus Due; Sundstrup, Emil; Andersen, Christoffer H; Aagaard, Per; Andersen, Lars L

2013-02-01

The present study's aim was to evaluate muscle activity during leg exercises using elastic vs. isoinertial resistance at different exertion and loading levels, respectively. Twenty-four women and eighteen men aged 26-67 years volunteered to participate in the experiment. Electromyographic (EMG) activity was recorded in nine muscles during a standardized forward lunge movement performed with dumbbells and elastic bands during (1) ballistic vs. controlled exertion, and (2) at low, medium and high loads (33%, 66% and 100% of 10 RM, respectively). The recorded EMG signals were normalized to MVC EMG. Knee joint angle was measured using electronic inclinometers. The following results were obtained. Loading intensity affected EMG amplitude in the order: lowBallistic contractions always produced greater EMG activity than slow controlled contractions, and for most muscles ballistic contractions with medium load showed similar EMG amplitude as controlled contractions with high load. At flexed knee joint positions with elastic resistance, quadriceps and gluteus EMG amplitude during medium-load ballistic contractions exceeded that recorded during high-load controlled contractions. Quadriceps and gluteus EMG amplitude increased at flexed knee positions. In contrast, hamstrings EMG amplitude remained constant throughout ROM during dumbbell lunge, but increased at more extended knee joint positions during lunges using elastic resistance. Based on these results, it can be concluded that lunges performed using medium-load ballistic muscle contractions may induce similar or even higher leg muscle activity than lunges using high-load slow-speed contractions. Consequently, lunges using elastic resistance appear to be equally effective in inducing high leg muscle activity as traditional lunges using isoinertial resistance. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Analysis of the Science and Technology Enterprise Core Employee Turnover Negative Effects – Based on the theory of psychological contract

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jin Xin

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This article explores the problem of negative effect of resignation of core employees from scientific enterprise based on psychological contract theory and summary of references. It uses questionnaires to analyze the data and construct a model of negative effect of resignation caused by psychological contract violation. It also makes an analysis on resignation tendency and negative effect of resignation in two perspectives to provide a basis for reduction of the negative effect.

Contracting for safety with patients: clinical practice and forensic implications.

Science.gov (United States)

Garvey, Keelin A; Penn, Joseph V; Campbell, Angela L; Esposito-Smythers, Christianne; Spirito, Anthony

2009-01-01

The contract for safety is a procedure used in the management of suicidal patients and has significant patient care, risk management, and medicolegal implications. We conducted a literature review to assess empirical support for this procedure and reviewed legal cases in which this practice was employed, to examine its effect on outcome. Studies obtained from a PubMed search were reviewed and consisted mainly of opinion-based surveys of clinicians and patients and retrospective reviews. Overall, empirically based evidence to support the use of the contract for safety in any population is very limited, particularly in adolescent populations. A legal review revealed that contracting for safety is never enough to protect against legal liability and may lead to adverse consequences for the clinician and the patient. Contracts should be considered for use only in patients who are deemed capable of giving informed consent and, even in these circumstances, should be used with caution. A contract should never replace a thorough assessment of a patient's suicide risk factors. Further empirical research is needed to determine whether contracting for safety merits consideration as a future component of the suicide risk assessment.

The effect of human resource practices on psychological contracts at an iron ore mining company in South Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Caren B. Scheepers

2011-08-01

psychological contracts. Practical/managerial implications: The influence of human resource practices on relational contracts could assist organisations to invest in human resource practices. During recessions, organisations tend to reduce expenditure on human resource practices, especially training and development. The findings of this study, about the relationship between training and development and relational contracts, highlight the negative effect that this trend could have on psychological contracts, individual and organisational behaviour and, ultimately, organisational performance. Contribution/value-add: Based on this empirical study, the researchers proposed a conceptual model to illustrate the relationship between different psychological contracts and specific human resource practices, like training and development, which had the strongest relationships with relational contracts.

Getting more than contractually guaranteed. Five years energy conservation contracting in the clinic Bremerhaven; Mehr bekommen als vertraglich garantiert. Fuenf Jahre Energiespar-Contracting im Klinikum Bremerhaven

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Breuer, Juergen [Klinikum Bremerhaven-Reinkenheide (Germany); Habel, Birger; Harneit, Maurice; Kahmann, Lars [Siemens AG, Region Nord (Germany). Building Technologies Div.

2012-04-15

Most hospitals in Germany virtually throw their money out the window - for heat that could be produced more efficiently, for air that would not be worked up or for coldness which is produced at the wrong place at the wrong time and with low efficiency. Quite different in the Hospital Bremerhaven-Reinkenheide (Bremerhaven, Federal Republic of Germany): In 2004, the hospital administration decided for energetic modernization of building systems based on energy performance contracting with 25% of guaranteed conservation.

Consolidating staff augmentation contracts improves teamwork and reduces costs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Townsend, J.; Sibilla, L.; Gregovich, J.W.

1991-01-01

Nuclear power plants have traditionally used multiple contracting firms to provide temporary staff augmentation personnel primarily because of two perceptions: (1) managers believe they have greater access to a higher quality, readily available pool of applicants. (2) using multiple contractors inherently keeps costs down as a result of several competitors submitting resumes for the same position. This paper provides information, based on the experiences of a leading nuclear power plant, that disproves these perceptions. It explains why consolidating several contracts for professional and technical classifications (excluding craft labor and refueling personnel) and competitively bidding and awarding the contract to a single contracting firm promotes teamwork and reduces costs

How Complex Do Movie Channel Contracts Need to Be?

OpenAIRE

Sumit Raut; Sanjeev Swami; Eunkyu Lee; Charles B. Weinberg

2008-01-01

The motion picture industry is characterized by a dynamic market environment, limited shelf space and product category management, and consequently, complex channel contracts specifying the split of box office revenue between distributors and exhibitors. Although such a contracting practice creates a considerable administrative effort and channel conflict, it is not clear whether such complexity is necessary for superior channel performance. This study investigates this question by analyzing ...

The Relationship between the Employment Contract and other Civil Contracts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Răzvan Radu Popescu

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The employment relationship is a contractual one and as such must have all the basic elements of an enforceable contract to make it legally binding. In strict contractual terms, the offer is made by the employer and formally accepted by the employee. Once the acceptance has taken place, there is a legally binding agreement and an action will lie against the party who breaches that agreement, even though it may only just have come into existence. An employment contract, however, is unlike most other contracts. Although the parties will have negotiated the main terms, we shall see that a large number of terms will be implied into the agreement from all sorts of different sources and will not have been individually negotiated by the parties at all. This is what makes an employment contract so different from other contracts. We think this article is an important step in the disclosure of the problem eraised by these two concepts.

Negotiating Efficient PPP Contracts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tvarnø, Christina D.

. An opportunity the member states should consider using when procuring a PPP. This paper looks at the negotiation and contracting of a PPP in an economic theoretical and EU public procurement perspective and discusses how to establish an efficient PPP contract under a strong public law doctrine. Governments......This paper concerns Public Private Partnership (PPP) contracts in concern to the coming new 2014/24IEU public procurement directive. The new EU public procurement directive gives the public authority the opportunity to negotiate PPPs much more when they are implemented in national law...... procurement law. Furthermore, the paper seeks to establish a connection between public law, private law and the efficient PPP contract by drawing upon economic theory and empirical contract data from UK, US and Danish partnering contracts from the construction industry and the aim of contracting joint utility...

Natural gas contracts in an emerging competitive market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sutherland, R.J.

1992-01-01

Natural gas is being viewed by many as the fuel of the 1990s and beyond because of its environmental qualities, relatively low cost and significant domestic resource base. However, in the Fall of 1991, a group of electric utility executives met with then Deputy Secretary of Energy Henson Moore and asserted that an inability to obtain long term gas contracts meant that supplies are unreliable and construction of gas-fueled generating stations is being discouraged. This study was requested by the Deputy Secretary to address the issues surrounding long-term gas contracts and supply reliability. The relationship between supply reliability and contracts is explained in terms of the number of buyers and sellers in a market. With the appropriate state regulatory policies, utilities can contract for gas and obtain reliable supplies at competitive market prices. Public utility commissioners are encouraged to permit utilities a free choice in signing gas contracts, but to allow only competitive market prices to be reflected in allowable fuel costs

Natural gas contracts in an emerging competitive market

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sutherland, R.J.

1992-11-01

Natural gas is being viewed by many as the fuel of the 1990s and beyond because of its environmental qualities, relatively low cost and significant domestic resource base. However, in the Fall of 1991, a group of electric utility executives met with then Deputy Secretary of Energy Henson Moore and asserted that an inability to obtain long term gas contracts meant that supplies are unreliable and construction of gas-fueled generating stations is being discouraged. This study was requested by the Deputy Secretary to address the issues surrounding long-term gas contracts and supply reliability. The relationship between supply reliability and contracts is explained in terms of the number of buyers and sellers in a market. With the appropriate state regulatory policies, utilities can contract for gas and obtain reliable supplies at competitive market prices. Public utility commissioners are encouraged to permit utilities a free choice in signing gas contracts, but to allow only competitive market prices to be reflected in allowable fuel costs.

Natural gas contracts in an emerging competitive market

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sutherland, R.J.

1992-01-01

Natural gas is being viewed by many as the fuel of the 1990s and beyond because of its environmental qualities, relatively low cost and significant domestic resource base. However, in the Fall of 1991, a group of electric utility executives met with then Deputy Secretary of Energy Henson Moore and asserted that an inability to obtain long term gas contracts meant that supplies are unreliable and construction of gas-fueled generating stations is being discouraged. This study was requested by the Deputy Secretary to address the issues surrounding long-term gas contracts and supply reliability. The relationship between supply reliability and contracts is explained in terms of the number of buyers and sellers in a market. With the appropriate state regulatory policies, utilities can contract for gas and obtain reliable supplies at competitive market prices. Public utility commissioners are encouraged to permit utilities a free choice in signing gas contracts, but to allow only competitive market prices to be reflected in allowable fuel costs.

Optimisation of Healthcare Contracts: Tensions Between Standardisation and Innovation; Comment on “Competition in Healthcare: Good, Bad or Ugly?”

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Misja Mikkers

2016-02-01

Full Text Available An important determinant of health system performance is contracting. Providers often respond to financial incentives, despite the ethical underpinnings of medicine, and payers can craft contracts to influence performance. Yet contracting is highly imperfect in both single-payer and multi-payer health systems. Arguably, in a competitive, multi-payer environment, contractual innovation may occur more rapidly than in a single-payer system. This innovation in contract design could enhance performance. However, contractual innovation often fails to improve performance as payer incentives are misaligned with public policy objectives. Numerous countries seek to improve healthcare contracts, but thus far no health system has demonstrably crafted the necessary blend of incentives to stimulate optimal contracting.

The Performance Blueprint: An Integrated Logic Model Developed To Enhance Performance Measurement Literacy: The Case of Performance-Based Contract Management.

Science.gov (United States)

Longo, Paul J.

This study explored the mechanics of using an enhanced, comprehensive multipurpose logic model, the Performance Blueprint, as a means of building evaluation capacity, referred to in this paper as performance measurement literacy, to facilitate the attainment of both service-delivery oriented and community-oriented outcomes. The application of this…

Duration in Production Contracts

OpenAIRE

MacDonald, James M.; Korb, Penelope J.

2006-01-01

We use 2003 and 2004 ARMS data to analyze variations in contract duration among growers of broilers who hold production contracts. Most contracts cover just a single flock, but many extend for 1-2 years, and a significant minority of broiler contracts specify lengths of 5, 10, and even 15 years. We find that grower debt and production volume are inversely related to the choice of a short term (a year or less) contract, while lengthy prior experience with the contractor promotes short term con...

Contract for service to produce 50 tonnes sterifeed - lesson learned from semi-commercial scale test production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hassan Hamdani Mutaat; Mat Rasol Awang; Zainon Said; Irwan Md Arif; Alias K Sadeli

2005-01-01

A contract for service has been awarded to a local company to produce 50 tonnes Sterifeed in a period of 4 months commencing 3 September 2001. The production was for supplying enough feed for the testing of Sterifeed on cattle. Appointed contractor was required to manage the production, supply labours and provide transport for the full production operation of the plant. The production performance is discussed based on: the labour cost; supervision and control; and skill and training. This report discusses and evaluate the suitability of service for contract for the future commercial scale production. (Author)

State-Ademe contracts on objectives and performance 2016-2019. Synthesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2016-04-01

This publication indicates the main strategic orientations of the ADEME from 2016 to 2019 as they have been defined in contracts between the French State and this public agency. It indicates how this agency promotes and supports innovation and prepares the future of the ecological and energy transition, and how it contributes to the collective expertise for an ecological and energy transition. It also presents operational objectives by distinguishing transverse, thematic (energy, climate change and air quality, circular economy) and support (governance, budgetary, financial and logistic management) objectives

Validating Timed Component Contracts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Le Guilly, Thibaut; Liu, Shaoying; Olsen, Petur

2015-01-01

This paper presents a technique for testing software components with contracts that specify functional behavior, synchronization, as well as timing behavior. The approach combines elements from unit testing with model-based testing techniques for timed automata. The technique is implemented...... in an online testing tool, and we demonstrate its use on a concrete use case....

Defense Contract Management: DOD's Lack of Adherence to Key Contracting Principles on Iraq Oil Contract Put Government Interests at Risk

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Hutton, John P; Ahearn, Marie; Augustine, Penny B; Campbell, Greg; James, Jr., Arthur; Lesonsky, Eric; Lord, Stephen; McDonough-Hughes, Anne; McKelvey, Janet; Patton, Kenneth

2007-01-01

.... The contract was also used to ensure adequate fuel supplies inside Iraq. RIO I was a cost-plus-award-fee type contract that provided for payment of the contractor's costs, a fixed fee determined at inception of the contract, and a potential award fee...

Development and perspectives of principles of european insurance contract law

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana Keglević

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Summary: Principles of European Insurance Contract Law (PEICL provides for a set of principles, definitions and model rules exclusively addressing general law for insurance contract. This work has been preformed within greater project for the creation of Common frame of reference on European contract law initiated by the Commission in 2003. PEICL is essentially designed to perform two basic functions. It would improve the quality of the EU acquis in the area of contract law, remove differences and achieve higher degree of divergences between contract laws of the Member states, and even help the national legislators when enacting legislation or Courts with the possible interpretation of the acquis. On the other hand PEICL could be adopted as an optional instrument, thus offering the common platform for contracting in the area of insurance law on the EU level. Possible Optional instrument would exist parallel with, rather instead of, national insurance contract laws. European Parliament resolution of 2011 on policy options for progress towards a European Contract Law for consumers and businesses and corresponding Green Paper of 2010 show positive tendency towards optional instrument in the legal form of Regulation. This would suit the requirements of the insurance sector. However, there are numerous signals showing adversely. For that reason this paper analyses the development and the status of Principles of European Insurance Contract Law particularly the status and perspectives of Principles within the project for the creation of European contract law.

Energy contracting has lots to offer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aeberli, O.

2001-01-01

In this interview with Roland Heller, CEO of Greenergy Contracting AG, the future of contracting as a way of providing reliable and cheap energy services for enterprises is discussed. The topic is treated from the points of view of both the supplier of energy services - the contractor - and of the customer / energy user. Advantages to be gained by both sides in the financial and technical areas are listed. The use of modern, efficient technologies such as combined heat and power (CHP) units is discussed. Examples of successful co-operation with local utilities are given, including solutions where the utility provides gas and base load energy and the CHP units deliver valuable peak-load energy to the grid. Political aspects such as the influence of market liberalisation and environmental factors are discussed and the market for contracting solutions is also examined

CONDITIONS AND EFFECTS OF THE COMMISSORIA LEX IN THE LEASING CONTRACT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raluca Tomescu

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The main problem with the execution of a leasing contract in Romania is that there are still shortcomings to the laws in force. The complexity of this contract which, at first sight, seems so commonplace, as well as the void in our ambiguous law are an inexhaustible source of research and exploration, but also the origin of controversial conflicts. With this paper I decided to elaborate I would like to contribute to consolidating the ”status” of national leasing operations, which are still in search of their own identity. Aiming to place the leasing contract back in its rightful place, that of a contract from which nobody has anything to lose but everything to gain, I consider it appropriate to analyse the conditions and effects of the commissoria lex fragments inserted in the leasing contract. One of the most controversial aspect of these last years brought to the attention of the courts of law cases where the financier, once the leasing contract was cancelled, requests the foreclosure of the user. The cancellation we are taking into account is based on the commissoria lex inserted in the clauses of the leasing contract. We have therefore to an alyse whether the foreclosure of the user can be carried on, based on the provisions of GO 51/1997 referring to leasing contracts.