Hx Machine Boilers Descaling The Boiler example essay topic

The most important feature of learning is making the basic effort to discover key facts on your own. The cutting and pasting that is becoming increasingly popular since the web has made it possible to find a wide range of material has little to do with learning. Monkeys could accomplish the same thing if banana oil were spread on the keys of a computer keyboard. Even worse, much of the cutting and pasting done by students today involves theft of material from other people. It is dishonest or even illegal in many cases. Perhaps the saddest thing is that few instructors currently teach the limits of what constitutes acceptable use of other peoples? work.

Students submit papers that are almost entirely stolen without even realizing that they are violating important rules. However, the saddest thing is that people just don? t learn from this process. Even if you do a weak job on your own, you will learn more than if you steal someone else's work. In the long run, your grades will be better if you learn to learn and you also will do better on the job. Employers frequently complain to university faculty about the fact that new graduates have limited ability to learn and upgrade their skills on the job. Of course, the comments are not that polite? terms like? worthless? are applied to people who graduated with respectable grades from recognized universities.

The rest of this paper will be throwaway trash added simply to fill up space. Good luck? if you are reading this you already need it. Try working on your own instead. Just like going to the gym, it builds mental muscles. Since Stephen Hymer introduced the concept of disadvantages of foreignness in 1960, it has received scholarly attention from various fields. Although Hymer's definition of the liability of foreignness (i. e., costs of doing business abroad) seems rudimentary, the concept has helped us to better understand the behavior, decisions, and performance of MNEs during international expansion.

Indeed, most foreign direct investment (FDI) theories assume that foreign subsidiaries are at a disadvantage relative to domestic firms with respect to some aspects of doing business in host-countries. To succeed in foreign markets, international companies need to overcome the liability of foreignness through the commitment of dynamic capabilities that can generate ownership-specific advantages superior to those of local firms. While the concept of the liability of foreignness has become more widely used, the majority of the writing has been anecdotal in nature, and few studies have rigorously investigated it, theoretically or empirically. Most MNE and FDI research has focused on investigating the sources and types of advantages, such as intangible assets, foreign investors must posses to overcome whatever disadvantages they face. While the success of FDI does depend on the advantages investors possess, disadvantages faced in the host-country also affect performance. Understanding the nature of disadvantages facing foreign subsidiaries could uncover ways to minimize these liabilities of foreignness and improve the management of FDI.

At the turn of this new century, MNEs, whether large or small, are operating in a global environment that differs in many aspects from the international setting over the past decades. Many emerging markets provide MNEs with new business opportunities but enormous liabilities of foreignness as well. Such liabilities are derived and heightened not only from the complexity and uncertainty of the regulatory and legal environment, but also the specificity and criticality of the social and cultural environment. The coexistence of more promising opportunities and higher liability of foreignness in this new international context has many MNEs adjusting their market entry, local operations, and global integration strategies.

There are several challenges to improving our understanding of liabilities of foreignness. A primary challenge is that this construct is not well developed or defined in the literature. Another challenge stems from the idiosyncratic nature of these liabilities. Because host-country environments differ significantly, the types of liabilities of foreignness vary across countries. Consequently, increased understanding requires investigation of specific liabilities of foreignness in many different focal countries. Seeking to help advance our understanding of liabilities of foreignness, the Journal of International Management is soliciting papers for an upcoming special issue.

A variety of theoretical and empirical approaches to investigate this construct will be considered for this special issue. The following list is meant to be suggestive and is by no means exhaustive. Theoretical papers defining, developing, or modeling this concept: For instance, how should it be accurately defined? What are major environmental conditions influencing the level and pattern of the liability of foreignness? How is it linked with the antecedent and consequence factors? What should be appropriate strategic response to mitigating this liability while expanding internationally?

How should it be positioned in the Ownership-Location-Internalization framework? How does this liability influence the evolutionary process of internationalization? What are key strategic assets, resources, or capabilities MNEs can leverage in order to attenuate this liability, and how should these assets, resources, or capabilities be deployed and configured in order to mitigate specific liabilities of foreignness? Papers investigating interactions, theoretically or empirically, between MNEs' competitive advantages and liabilities of foreignness are also welcome. Qualitative or quantitative empirical research ope rationalizing or investigating specific liabilities of foreignness in focal countries: For example, is it necessary to differentiate between overall and specific liabilities? How should they be operational ized and measured?

In a focal country, particularly an emerging market, what are reasonable indicators or proxies for these liabilities? For specific liabilities, are there any components that are common to all countries while others are peculiar only to a specific country? How does the liability affect MNE performance at either the subsidiary or the parent levels, ceteris paribus? What are the organizational or strategic factors (parent or subsidiary) that significantly reduce a hazardous effect of the liability? Could a better relationship with a local government, for instance, help reduce such an effect? Well-developed case studies investigating aspects or types of liabilities of foreignness: It is particularly interesting to compare and contrast different experiences, and ultimately consequences, of MNEs which have dealt differently with the same liability of foreignness.

Papers must be received by March 1, 2001. Authors should prepare manuscripts in accordance with JIM's style guide. All submissions will be subjected to the usual review process and judged based on the following criteria: conceptualization of this construct, advancement of our understanding these liabilities of foreignness, likely utility to researchers and practitioners, and novelty of the arguments advanced by the papers. Submissions (in quadruplicate) and inquiries should be directed to: The Strategic Management Society has created Interest Groups to foster the generation of new ideas in a more interactive forum, providing a means for integrating its members as well as members-to-be (A-academics, B-business practitioners and C-consultants) in creative discussions on themes of common interest. The Interest Group? Managing Knowledge? organizes two kick-off workshops to launch its activities.

The workshops will be devoted to the exploration of? The Role of Knowledge and Learning in Strategic Management? The emergence of what is increasingly recognized as a Knowledge Economy has dramatically changed the conditions for business and management, opening up new ways to think about strategy and creating urgent needs for addressing the issues of managing learning and knowledge. We are inviting scholars as well as practitioners to jointly participate in the exciting exploration of innovative and creative ways of studying, theorizing and developing new concepts and tools to address the complex issues of building and leveraging knowledge. The workshop format will provide a set of in-depth interactive discussions, making it possible to explore issues such as: -What exactly is organizational knowledge?

How to go about conceptualizing and investigating learning and knowledge? Are existing theoretical models of knowledge of any use for practitioners? What can we learn from the variety of experiments which companies conduct on Knowledge Management? -How does organizational learning take place and how does it feed into knowledge? How does it contribute to innovation processes? How is it affected by innovation?

Can we learn more about communities of practice? How useful is storytelling? Is it relevant to study languaging? How is knowledge shared and transmitted in strategic alliances? -How do organizations memorize what they have learnt and what they know? What is the social capital of an organization?

How can firms build strategies to best manage knowledge? How can organizations manage their knowledge workers? -How can organizations best leverage their knowledge base strategically to build competitive advantages? How promising and useful is the real options approach? To what extent and how is strategy formulation affected by the new form of competition brought about by the so-called Knowledge Economy? -etc. The very open character of the Interest Group on?

Managing Knowledge? and the workshop format of both kick-off events with focus on exchange and discussion mean that we welcome management researchers from different disciplines as well as practitioners with different interests in knowledge to take an active part in the discussions. We encourage participants to join for both meetings, in Durham on April 14-16, 2002 and in Paris on September 22, 2002, the day just before the SMS 2002 conference starts. Call for Contributions & Papers -Participants willing to contribute to the preparation and content of the workshops are kindly invited to write a one to three page contribution, sending it before Feb 1st for the Durham event and before July 1st for the Paris event. These contributions may raise specific issues around the general theme, address a specific point, suggest a research agenda, etc. These contributions will feed into the structuring of the workshops. The organizers may decide to circulate some of these contributions to registered participants prior to the workshops.

-The format of the events do not really allow for formal presentations of papers. However, those who wish to submit a paper for the workshop are invited to send a 3 page abstract (typical SMS conference format) or, if available, a full paper before Feb 1st 2002 for Durham and before July 1st 2002 for Paris. These will be reviewed by at least two members of the Core team of the Interest Group. Acceptance of papers will be notified to presenters one month later. All contributions should be sent to Thomas Durand both by e-mail ( ) and in three paper copies: Thomas Durand, Ecole Centrale Paris, 92295 Ch^ate nay, France Workshop fee for the Durham event will be lb 325 (approx. Euro 500).

This includes accommodation at the University of Durham Business School plus all meals. Bus transportation (at cost) to and from Newcastle Airport will be arranged for those arriving and departing by air. Workshop fee for the Paris event (the Interest Group workshop on Sept 22 only) will be 100? (Euro 100). This includes coffee breaks, lunch and documentation. For accommodation in Paris, participants should follow SMS indications for the 2002 conference.

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5 to. 75 fluid ounces (1 to 1.5 tablespoons, or 8 to 12 grams) of citric or tartaric (grape) acid powder dissolved in 1 liter of water. This is a 2.25% to 3.5% solution, equivalent to 33% to 50% dilute lemon juice. Cleancaf and other coffee manufacturers' descaler use this formula. Theoretically, these amounts will dissolve about 12 to 18 grams of scale per liter, but that would require leaving the solution in for several days; in practice, it is used for an hour or two to dissolve up to 5 grams of scale. The formula is mild enough to be harmless to espresso machine components, but it will come out of brass or copper machines with a slight greenish tinge.

This comes from milligram levels of dissolved copper and is no cause for alarm. 5 lb bags of citric or tartaric acid cost about $10 at home brewers' or soapmakers's supply stores. This is roughly a 20 year supply DESCALING INTERVALS Know the hardness of the water you " re using, and how much you use the machine. Descale when accumulations are between 2.5 and 5 grams. More often is a waste of time, less often may result in scale build up.

Check out section 1.7 for instructions on determining your set up's scaling rate. SINGLE BOILER MACHINES For single boiler machines, preventive descaling is no problem, just follow the instructions given by the manufacturer. In general, this involves filling the boiler, letting the solution work for about ten minutes, and replacing it by running it out of the steam wand under pump pressure. This procedure is repeated three to five times, until about a liter of descaler is used up. Then the machine is flushed with water until any taste is gone.

Manufacturer's recommendations differ on whether the brewhead should be flushed or not. This is not surprising. The water's temperature drops and LI rises as it moves from the boiler to the head, so scale won't form there. In scaled machines however, fragments can move from the boiler into the head, fouling the gic leur valve.

My guess is that with regular descaling, flushing the head is unnecessary but harmless. I do not know if the dual boiler Techno can be descaled in this way, or if there is some procedure peculiar to it. HEAT EXCHANGERS HX machines have two things to descale, the boiler and the heat exchanger (s). Any descaling of a plumbed in machine will involve moving the water inlet pipe to a tank that can hold the solution.

Doing the heat exchanger is as easy as a single boiler machine. Just run descaler through it until it exits the brewhead (or Heed tap). Leave the descaler in for 5 to 10 minutes with the machine off (or 2 to 4 with it on), then run out a 3/4 cup worth, repeat six times until you " ve used up a liter of descaler. If the boiler refill comes on during this period, very little harm is done, since it will be adding only 20 ml or so to a liter or more of boiler water. Boiler flushes (see below) can be scheduled after an HX descaling to minimize this problem even further. However, ONLY USE CITRIC OR TARTARIC ACID FOR HX MACHINE DESCALING, since if any remains in the boiler it's no big deal, whereas smelly vinegar or cleancaf's detergent could be a problem even at low concentrations.

HX MACHINE BOILERS Descaling the boiler is much more of a headache. If you cook, you know that scale preferentially forms at the waterline. This means that filling the boiler with descaling solution only to the autofill line is not going to be very effective, since the descaler will barely be in contact with the bulk of the scale. Disconnecting the autofill (a wand like device sticking out of the top of the boiler with a single wire attached) will fill the boiler to a higher level and allow the descaler to work on this "rim".

In machines with a direct boiler tap, the boiler can be filled by opening the water tap, and letting the autofill refill the boiler with descaler. When that's done, close the tap, and disconnect the autofill for 30 seconds or so to fill the boiler a little above the regular water line. On machines without a direct boiler tap, the autofill has to be disconnected, and the fill may have to proceed by flushing the boiler through the steam wand. If there's an easily accessible drain, it may be easier to use it in conjunction with the autofill.

If you " re draining via the steam wand, don't let the machine get too cold, otherwise the vacuum breaker will leak. Disconnecting the autofill at the sensor risks shifting the sensor's depth, so it's best to buy a spade lug and its mate, or an inline switch that is rated for 130 C ambient, and use them to make a disconnect in the wire to the sensor. One can even extend the wiring so this can be done without removing the case (i.e. so it's reachable at the water tank). Once the boiler is filled with descaler, leave it in for two and half hours with the machine off, or one hour with the machine on.

The descaler is flushed out using the same procedure that brought it in, either via the tap, steam wand or drain. Keep flushing and refilling until there's no more lemon taste. This may take about twice as much water as is usually in the boiler. It's best to refill the boiler with RO water (see below).

Add 5% to 10% tap water to keep the autofill happy. 4.3 BOILER FLUSHING Obviously, no one in their right minds would want to go through the hassle of doing a boiler descaling at monthly or bimonthly intervals. Fortunately, one can reduce the descaling requirement to virtually nothing, even when running the 90 mg / l hardness, 50 mg / l alkalinity water best for coffee by using this trick. If the boiler autofill only runs to replenish water lost by steaming, it only amounts to a few ounces per day. Suppose the water in the boiler starts out very soft. Then these small additions of moderately hard water won't bring it to scaling levels for at least a week or so.

So once a week, put very soft water into your tank and flush the boiler with it until the water has been softened down. The flushing technique is the same as that described in the descaling section. Then put your regular nue tral to moderately hard espresso water back in and enjoy your shots with complete confidence. If you regularly use boiler water for Americans, etc., or do a lot of steaming, adjust the frequency of soft water flushing to match [see section 1.7]. If this is impossible due to very high use or boiler inaccessibility, you will have to go with a softer non-scaling water. Straight RO can be used for this flushing since enough minerals will generally remain to operate the autofill sensor.

If the pump doesn't go off due to low minerals, simply shut the machine and replace the RO water with the regular water. It will only take a few seconds of pumping to raise the mineral content enough to deactivate the autofill. Alternatively, add 5% to 10% tap water to make it conductive enough. Even if boiler safe water is used, the boiler needs to be flushed occasionally.

The frequency can be calculated using the data in section 1. If these procedures are followed, there's technically no need to descale the boiler at all. Nevertheless, an annual or biannual descaling is wise to pick up any stray scale that may have formed due to forgetfulness. At the other end of the transaction-cost spectrum, transactions in goods or services that are difficult to measure or involve tacit knowledge or embedded information may be quite costly to manage through any form of inter-firm transfer. Repeated exchanges of this latter type may be more efficiently accomplished through full internalization within the hierarchy of a firm (Williamson, 1985). Reliance upon US parent firms for operating routines or procedures may pose this type of problem for ventures.

Operating routines and procedures may have important idiosyncratic or firm-specific features that are only imperfectly transferred or reproduced (Polanyi, 1975). The implementation of operating procedures also may involve path-dependent learning and produce different results in different organizations (Mahoney & Pandian, 1992; Nelson & Winter, 1982). Routines and procedures involving forms of knowledge that are difficult to codify are likely to take this form (Winter, 1987). Efforts to supply these types of resources to an alliance may be inefficient and demand costly on-going involvement of personnel from parent firms in the operations of alliances. Complaints from US managers about high levels of support that must be provided to ventures in order to implement relatively modest alterations in inputs, specifications or technologies typically reflect this type of problem. The capacity to create and modify basic operating procedures and routines is a fundamental feature of organizational development, and failure to build the necessary capabilities internally may compromise the performance of a venture.

Dependence upon the US parent for operating resources such as materials, on one hand, routines and operating procedures, on the other, may have a negative impact on performance. This effect may be more readily observed for contributions of resources from the US parent than the Mexican parent. Operating resources of this type may involve some location-specific features when they are contributed by the Mexican parent, and it may be difficult to clearly distinguish operating resources from local resources in certain cases. US parent contributions of operating resources are less ambiguous and can be expected to have a more obvious adverse effect on the perceived performance of alliances.

Proposition 3: Contributions of operating resources to the alliance by the US parent firm have a negative effect on alliance performance, as perceived by managers of the US parent firm The three propositions above suggest a simple model of the relationship between different types of resource contributions and perceptions of alliance success (Figure 1). Combining these different types of resource contributions in a single model is appropriate, both because they may be interdependent and because they can be expected to simultaneously influence perceived performance. Contributions of certain strategic resources such as management personnel and technical skills can be expected to improve organizational development in the venture, which may have the effect of reducing the reliance of the venture on the US parent for basic operating resources. The three propositions above and the link between strategic and operating resources are represented by paths between constructs in the model in Figure 1. Put Figure 1 about here The approach to alliances outlined above has a good deal in common with research by Dunning (1988) and Teece (1986); however, it also differs from their work in certain important ways. Although Dunning (1988) and Teece (1986) both identified similar combinations of strategic advantage, local advantage, and transactional advantages as critical to alliances, their objectives were to explain the conditions that favor alliances as a form of organization.

Their approaches involve ex post explanation based on underlying efficiency assumptions characteristic of economics (Ko gut, 1988; Tallman, 1992). The object of explanation here is quite different. Rather than explaining the incidence of alliances, the research is aimed gaining a better understanding of the conditions that are conducive to (perceived) success of alliance strategies. The observed alliances are not assumed to represent efficient solutions to economic organization under specifiable constraints.

On the contrary, performance may vary among alliances depending, in part, on relationships with parent firms. This research also has different practical implications than work based on a more economic approach. Where the economically-oriented work primarily is aimed at identifying the appropriate form of organization for a specific type of exchange, this research is designed to explore the differential effects that the roles played by alliance participants may have on the perceived success of alliance strategies.