IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/fobric/v12y2018i1d10.1186_s11782-018-0035-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Production risk caused by human factors: a multiple case study of thermal power plants

Author

Listed:
  • Huiyue Diao

    (Renmin University of China)

  • Majid Ghorbani

    (Renmin University of China)

Abstract

Introduction Thermal power plants are very popular in China. However, there has not been proportional research attention paid to production risk in these plants and human impact on production due to their importance in electricity generation. This study investigates production risks caused by human factors in thermal power plants and management methods to address identified human factors. Case description Eighteen semi-structured interviews with front-line, middle and senior managers from four thermal power plants in China were carried out in this cross-sectional inductive study. Fault tree analysis and causal network analysis are used. Discussion and evaluation We identify a range of production risks and human factors potentially influencing production in both negative and positive ways. We also recognize the most effective and practical relevant management methods to deal with identified human factors. Conclusion By investigating production risk caused by human factors through the whole production process, this study emphasizes working attitude, safety consciousness, creativity and awareness of environmental protection as essential human factors potentially influencing production risks in thermal power plants. Through our analysis, by linking human factors to different types of production risk and supplying corresponding management methods to address these human factors, we offer practical human resource management approaches in the production management of thermal power plants.

Suggested Citation

  • Huiyue Diao & Majid Ghorbani, 2018. "Production risk caused by human factors: a multiple case study of thermal power plants," Frontiers of Business Research in China, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-27, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:fobric:v:12:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1186_s11782-018-0035-9
    DOI: 10.1186/s11782-018-0035-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1186/s11782-018-0035-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1186/s11782-018-0035-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Neumann, W.P. & Dul, J., 2010. "Human Factors: Spanning the Gap between OM & HRM," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2010-020-LIS, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    2. Wenjie Li & Wenyu Du & Jiamin Yin, 2017. "Digital entrepreneurship ecosystem as a new form of organizing: the case of Zhongguancun," Frontiers of Business Research in China, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 1-21, December.
    3. Theophilus, Stephen C. & Esenowo, Victor N. & Arewa, Andrew O. & Ifelebuegu, Augustine O. & Nnadi, Ernest O. & Mbanaso, Fredrick U., 2017. "Human factors analysis and classification system for the oil and gas industry (HFACS-OGI)," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 168-176.
    4. Orme, George J. & Venturini, Mauro, 2011. "Property risk assessment for power plants: Methodology, validation and application," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 3189-3203.
    5. Abadie, Luis M. & Chamorro, José M., 2009. "Income risk of EU coal-fired power plants after Kyoto," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(12), pages 5304-5316, December.
    6. Bevilacqua, Maurizio & Ciarapica, Filippo Emanuele, 2018. "Human factor risk management in the process industry: A case study," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 149-159.
    7. Vaurio, Jussi K., 2009. "Human factors, human reliability and risk assessment in license renewal of a nuclear power plant," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 94(11), pages 1818-1826.
    8. G Cornelis van Kooten & Jun Duan & Rachel Lynch, 2016. "Is There a Future for Nuclear Power? Wind and Emission Reduction Targets in Fossil-Fuel Alberta," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(11), pages 1-14, November.
    9. Amato, Andrea & Compare, Michele & Gallisto, Maurizio & Maccari, Augusto & Paganelli, Mauro & Zio, Enrico, 2011. "Business interruption and loss of assets risk assessment in support of the design of an innovative concentrating solar power plant," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 1558-1567.
    10. John M. Antle, 1983. "Incorporating Risk in Production Analysis," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 65(5), pages 1099-1106.
    11. Torben Tiedemann & Uwe Latacz-Lohmann, 2013. "Production Risk and Technical Efficiency in Organic and Conventional Agriculture – The Case of Arable Farms in Germany," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 64(1), pages 73-96, February.
    12. Elisabeth Vollmer & Daniel Hermann & Oliver Mußhoff, 2017. "Is the risk attitude measured with the Holt and Laury task reflected in farmers’ production risk?," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 44(3), pages 399-424.
    13. Antle, John M., 1983. "Incorporating Risk In Production Analysis," 1983 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 3, West Lafayette, Indiana 279106, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    14. G. Cornelis van Kooten & Rachel Lynch & Jon Duan, 2016. "Is there a Future for Nuclear Power? Wind and Emission Reduction Targets in Alberta," Working Papers 2016-03, University of Victoria, Department of Economics, Resource Economics and Policy Analysis Research Group.
    15. Sobhani, A. & Wahab, M.I.M. & Neumann, W.P., 2017. "Incorporating human factors-related performance variation in optimizing a serial system," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 257(1), pages 69-83.
    16. Verbruggen, Aviel, 2008. "Renewable and nuclear power: A common future?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 4036-4047, November.
    17. Jean-Paul Chavas & Robert G. Chambers & Rulon D. Pope, 2010. "Production Economics and Farm Management: a Century of Contributions," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 92(2), pages 356-375.
    18. Zhao, Zhen-yu & Zhu, Jiang & Xia, Bo, 2016. "Multi-fractal fluctuation features of thermal power coal price in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 117(P1), pages 10-18.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mohammad Khalilzadeh & Laleh Katoueizadeh & Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas, 2020. "Risk identification and prioritization in banking projects of payment service provider companies: an empirical study," Frontiers of Business Research in China, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 1-27, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Marie Lassalas & Sabine Duvaleix & Laure Latruffe, 2024. "The technical and economic effects of biodiversity standards on wheat production," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 51(2), pages 275-308.
    2. David J. Pannell, 1991. "Pests and pesticides, risk and risk aversion," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 5(4), pages 361-383, August.
    3. Rasmussen, Svend, 2003. "Criteria for optimal production under uncertainty. The state-contingent approach," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 47(4), pages 1-30.
    4. Jon Duan & G. Cornelis van Kooten & A. T. M. Hasibul Islam, 2023. "Calibration of Grid Models for Analyzing Energy Policies," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-21, January.
    5. Mitchell, Paul David, 1999. "The theory and practice of green insurance: insurance to encourage the adoption of corn rootworm IPM," ISU General Staff Papers 1999010108000013154, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    6. Wall, Charles A. & Fisher, Brian S., 1988. "Supply Response and the Theory of Production and Profit Functions," Review of Marketing and Agricultural Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 56(03), pages 1-22, December.
    7. Babcock, Bruce A. & Shogren, Jason F., 1995. "The cost of agricultural production risk," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 12(2), pages 141-150, August.
    8. D. J. Pannell, 1990. "Responses To Risk In Weed Control Decisions Under Expected Profit Maximisation," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(3), pages 391-401, September.
    9. Marra, Michele C. & Carlson, Gerald A., 1985. "Models Of Technology Adoption Under Risk: Some Preliminary Results," Regional Research Projects > 1985: S-180 Annual Meeting, March 24-27, 1985, Charleston, South Carolina 271808, Regional Research Projects > S-180: An Economic Analysis of Risk Management Strategies for Agricultural Production Firms.
    10. Radha R. Ashrit, 2023. "Estimation of technical efficiency of Indian farms for major crops during 2013–2014 and 2017–2018: a stochastic Frontier production approach," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 3(2), pages 1-32, February.
    11. Jean‐Paul Chavas & Giorgia Rivieccio & Salvatore Di Falco & Giovanni De Luca & Fabian Capitanio, 2022. "Agricultural diversification, productivity, and food security across time and space," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 53(S1), pages 41-58, November.
    12. Kehkha, Ahmad Ali & Mohammadi, Gholamreza Soltani & Villano, Renato A., 2005. "Agricultural Risk Analysis in the Fars Province of Iran: A Risk-Programming Approach," Working Papers 12897, University of New England, School of Economics.
    13. McCarl, Bruce A., 1986. "Innovations In Programming Techniques For Risk Analysis," Regional Research Projects > 1986: S-180 Annual Meeting, March 23-26, 1986, Tampa, Florida 271825, Regional Research Projects > S-180: An Economic Analysis of Risk Management Strategies for Agricultural Production Firms.
    14. Stefan Baumgärtner & Martin F. Quaas, 2010. "Managing increasing environmental risks through agrobiodiversity and agrienvironmental policies," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 41(5), pages 483-496, September.
    15. Behrendt, Karl & Cacho, Oscar & Scott, James M. & Jones, Randall, 2016. "Using seasonal stochastic dynamic programming to identify optimal management decisions that achieve maximum economic sustainable yields from grasslands under climate risk," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 13-23.
    16. Mankan M. Koné & Carl Gaigné & Lota Tamini, 2017. "Supply Uncertainty and Foreign Direct Investments in Agri-food Industry," CIRANO Working Papers 2017s-22, CIRANO.
    17. Petsakos, Athanasios & Rozakis, Stelios, 2015. "Calibration of agricultural risk programming models," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 242(2), pages 536-545.
    18. Pawel Robert Smolinski & Joseph Januszewicz & Barbara Pawlowska & Jacek Winiarski, 2023. "Nuclear Energy Acceptance in Poland: From Societal Attitudes to Effective Policy Strategies -- Network Modeling Approach," Papers 2309.14869, arXiv.org.
    19. Tocker, Jonathon & Malcolm, B. & Heard, J. & Ho, C. & Behrendt, R., 2022. "Profitable Sheep Farming in South-west Victoria: Specialisation or Diversification Under Volatile Prices, Costs and Climate," AFBM Journal, Australasian Farm Business Management Network, vol. 19(1), April.
    20. Tomasz Gerard Czekaj & Arne Henningsen, 2013. "Panel Data Nonparametric Estimation of Production Risk and Risk Preferences: An Application to Polish Dairy Farms," IFRO Working Paper 2013/6, University of Copenhagen, Department of Food and Resource Economics.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:fobric:v:12:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1186_s11782-018-0035-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.