La valoración de inversiones corporativas desde la perspectiva del capital intelectual : una aproximación multicriterio

El aumento de la complejidad en la definición y posterior adopción de estrategias corporativas, especialmente las relativas a las decisiones de inversión, es uno de los elementos más significativos derivados del escenario económico internacional en el que operan en la actualidad las empresas. Una serie de factores concretos explican esta circunstancia, tales como la intensificación de los problemas de agencia, el carácter multidimensional del factor riesgo, o la naturaleza intangible de buena parte de los beneficios que generan las inversiones de carácter estratégico adoptadas en el marco de la denominada economía del conocimiento. Todos estos factores de complejidad están condicionando la correcta y eficiente asignación de recursos en la empresa y los procesos de decisión que la modelan. Las técnicas financieras clásicas, que abordan la resolución de dichos procesos desde la perspectiva de la optimización de los atributos rentabilidad y riesgo, son en la actualidad criticadas por no considerar determinados beneficios intangibles que se derivan de los proyectos de inversión. El objetivo general de esta tesis doctoral es desarrollar un nuevo enfoque teórico de valoración de inversiones no financieras fundamentado en el constructo ampliamente aceptado de creación de valor de mercado entendido desde una perspectiva integral y completa. Este enfoque implica una redefinición del término creación de valor, incorporando a la generación de valor financiero la creación de valor no financiero o de capital intelectual, a la vista del decisivo protagonismo de los intangibles como fuente de valor y de ventaja competitiva sostenible. El enfoque teórico de valoración propuesto se articula a través de dos métodos de análisis multicriterio: el proceso analítico jerárquico y el proceso analítico en red. Ambos permiten integrar en el estudio tanto los criterios que inciden en la creación de valor financiero, como aquellos que contribuyen a la creación de valor no financiero o de capital intelectual. Esta integración permite que los dos modelos de valoración que aquí se proponen cuantifiquen el valor total que genera cada alternativa de inversión, con el fin de ayudar a los directivos en sus procesos de decisión corporativos. La metodología propuesta se implementa en dos casos de estudio de la industria agroalimentaria andaluza. El primero consiste en la valoración de tres alternativas de sistemas de gestión de la calidad en el sector cárnico y, en el segundo caso, se evalúan las posibles alternativas de sistemas de gestión ambiental en la industria almazarera. Los resultados de la implementación empírica, además de validar los modelos, han evidenciado la conveniencia de considerar los impactos de las inversiones sobre los activos intangibles de la empresa, pues estos determinan en el mundo real la selección de la alternativa de inversión óptima. Los dos métodos de valoración propuestos implican la formalización del proceso de valoración de inversiones no financieras que actualmente siguen los directivos en las empresas...Increasing complexity in terms of defining and subsequently adopting corporate strategies, especially those relating to investment decisions, is one of the most significant issues emerging from the international economic environment in which businesses operate today. A number of specific factors play a part in this situation, such as the intensification of agency problems , the multidimensional nature of the risk factor, or the intangible nature of many of the benefits generated by strategic investments within the so-called ‘knowledge economy’. All these factors of complexity affect the appropriate and efficient allocation of company resources and the decisionmaking processes that determine them. Classical financial techniques that seek to address these processes from the perspective of optimizing risk and return attributes are now criticized because this kind of analysis ignore several key intangible issues also involved in investment projects. The overall objective of this thesis is to develop a new theoretical approach to evaluating nonfinancial investments, based on the widely-accepted concept of ‘creating market value’, understood from a holistic, comprehensive perspective. This approach requires a redefinition of the term ‘value creation’ to incorporate the creation of nonfinancial value or intellectual capital alongside the concept of financial value creation. This reflects the decisive role of intangible benefits as a source of value and sustainable competitive advantage. The proposed theoretical valuation approach is applied via two multicriteria methods: the analytic hierarchy process and the analytic network process. These allow the inclusion in the analysis of both the criteria that influence the creation of financial value as well as those that contribute to the creation of nonfinancial value or intellectual capital. This integration allows the two proposed valuation models to quantify the total value generated by each investment alternative in order to assist decision-makers in corporate decision processes. The proposed methodology is implemented in two case studies of the Andalusian food industry. The first concerns the evaluation of three alternative systems of quality management in the meat sector, and the second case evaluates possible alternatives for environmental management systems in the olive oil industry. The results of the empirical implementation, as well as validating the models, demonstrate the merits of considering the impact of investments on an organization’s intangible assets, as these influence the selection of the optimal investment alternative in the real world. The two proposed methods of assessment involve formalizing the current process of evaluating nonfinancial investments carried out by a company’s decision makers..

Development of a multi-criteria collaborative decision model for performance management in networks of organisations

Páginas numeradas; I-XIII, 14-117Tese de mestrado. Gestão de Informação. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 200

Strategies for sustainable socio-economic development and mechanisms their implementation in the global dimension

The authors of the book have come to the conclusion that it is necessary to effectively use modern approaches to developing and implementation strategies of sustainable socio-economic development in order to increase efficiency and competitiveness of economic entities. Basic research focuses on economic diagnostics of socio-economic potential and financial results of economic entities, transition period in the economy of individual countries and ensuring their competitiveness, assessment of educational processes and knowledge management. The research results have been implemented in the different models and strategies of supply and logistics management, development of non-profit organizations, competitiveness of tourism and transport, financing strategies for small and medium-sized enterprises, cross-border cooperation. The results of the study can be used in decision-making at the level the economic entities in different areas of activity and organizational-legal forms of ownership, ministries and departments that promote of development the economic entities on the basis of models and strategies for sustainable socio-economic development. The results can also be used by students and young scientists in modern concepts and mechanisms for management of sustainable socio-economic development of economic entities in the condition of global economic transformations and challenges

Information Technology Project Prioritization

This thesis provides a contemporary review of several topics related to information technology project prioritization, which will help managers create their own custom methodology. Traditional prioritization tools such as weighted average scoring models are used for simultaneous comparison of a number of proposed projects on multiple dimensions, to facilitate alignment with organization goals. These methods are used for the analysis of information related to the weight preferences over criteria used. If used correctly with this procedure, it is possible to bring forward an authentic figure of merit, which is used as the projects strategic potential. This allows the projects to be ranked and the highest-ranking projects to be considered for selection. Visual tools can then be used for selection of optimum project portfolio. The literature dedicates less time on tools beyond the selection of projects. This study aims to bridge this gap by proposing a final phase of project prioritization as Project Portfolio Management

Models and tools for value systems analysis in collaborative environments

Dissertation to obtain the degree of Doctor in Electrical and Computer Engineering, specialization of Collaborative NetworksParticipation in collaborative networks is vital for small and medium-sized enterprises to survive in the current market, bringing them several benefits. However,participation in collaborative networks also involves risks and often consortia fail due to internal conflicts. Conflicts can be originated by different prioritization of values and different perceptions of outcomes. The perception of outcomes is, to some extent, subjective given that it depends on the preferences of the subject and how exchanges are evaluated. Therefore, the establishment of a common Value System or the effort to align the Value Systems of network members can play an important role in the collaboration sustainability. Although the topic of values and values alignment has been studied within the scope of various scientific disciplines, there is still no common understanding on these concepts and the literature does not include any suitable models to formally represent and analyze Value Systems within the scope of collaborative networks. This thesis proposes a set of models and formal mechanisms for specifying and analyzing Value Systems in collaborative networks. The development of models and methods followed a hybrid approach, where qualitative and quantitative techniques are used in order to represent and analyze the Value System. A web application was designed and a prototype developed in order to show that the models and methods proposed can be implemented by a computer program and can be integrated into a single framework in order to support Value Systems management within the scope of collaborative networks. The application of a multifaceted and systematic validation strategy, supported by the “Square Validation Framework” brought together a set of preliminary results that attest the theoretical and practical relevance of the proposed approach and allow us to conclude that: (i) it is possible to define and analyze Value Systems in collaborative networks, considering the economic and sociologic approach, in an integrated and unambiguous way, (ii) the potential impacts between Value Systems in collaborative environments can be inferred if the typical influences among core values are known and the preferences of the actors, regarding those values, are identified; (iii) the identification and assessment of Value Systems misalignments would be improved if qualitative and quantitative assessment methods integrating the notion of shared-values, potential for conflict and positive impacts were developed

E-Government, transparency, reputation and performance. An empirical study in a sample of Spanish municipalities

Different streams of the Resource-Based View of the Firm (RBV) research have tested diverse relationships among intangible strategic resources and performance in heterogeneous industries, which have made a considerable contribution to our knowledge about firms and competition. The RBV establishes that those organizations capable of creating and developing strategic resources will have a competitive advantage and will enjoy a superior performance. Despite the substantial research effort, scarce empirical work has been developed trying to test the resourcebased view postulates in the public administration domain. The aim of this study is to examine how a set of strategic resources (e-government, transparency and reputation) can be the drivers of performance in public organizations, developing a theoretical model based on the RBV. The methodology considers a structural equation model (SEM) in order to test the hypotheses formulated in a sample of 78 Spanish municipalities. A group of models were designed considering performance as the dependent variable, and measuring it in six different ways: with three indicators of performance (economic activity index per capita, employment, and performance factor) and three indicators of performance growth (economic activity index growth, employment growth and population growth). The empirical research revealed a positive relationship between e-government and transparency, transparency and reputation, e-government and reputation, and reputation and performance, while the relationship between e-government and performance was not supported. Based on empirical findings, several implications emerge for scholars and practitioners; mainly that the RBV presents an adequate perspective for analysing public organizations, and that the development of strategic resources highly linked to local governments could be a source of competitive advantages with a positive impact on several indicators of city performance, and this should be considered by practitioners

Systems thinking and simulation to help IT/Software professionals to visualize knowledge assets evolution according to digital solutions implementation

Mención Internacional en el título de doctorThis doctoral thesis presents the SIPAC-framework, a methodological proposal created to systemically guide and help software engineers and information technology professionals in the process of proposing a customized technological solution, specifically oriented to propose software or IT solutions that provides business value supported on the status of intangible knowledge assets of organizations, and from this, drive the achievement of the strategic goals that define the organizational operation. To achieve this, the SIPAC-framework comprises three layers clearly differentiated but intimately interrelated and co-dependent on each other: a methodological layer, a mechanisms layer and a technological layer inclusive of the technological artifacts to be used. 1. The methodological layer comprises the SIPAC methodology itself, inspired by Peter Checkland's soft systems approach, but adapted to, from an engineering point of view, addressing the situation given by the underlying knowledge of an organization, which it is usually unstructured and disordered, and whose understanding fits to be addressed as a complex problem. The SIPAC-framework guides the professional in the process of identifying such knowledge, structuring it in knowledge assets, organizing such assets according to the identity of the organization, characterizing them according to their quality and the impact they have in achieving the strategic objectives, exploiting them to propose an appropriate technological solution and envisaging possible future scenarios based on what can happen to them as a consequence of the decision making about the technological solution to be implemented. 2. The mechanisms layer comprises the constructs necessary to be able to carry out the subjacent activities of the methodological layer, mainly a model of identification and valuation of intangible knowledge assets, a model of characterization of the assets according to their quality and impact, a Markovian model of prediction of the re-characterization of intangible knowledge assets, and an instance-based learning model implementation of decisions on the implementation of technological solutions. 3. The technological layer constitutes the artifacts to be used during the deployment of the methodology to support its methodological processes. In detail, this layer presents an instrument for collecting information on the knowledge of a company and its structuring into knowledge assets, a web application for the management of such information through a database, an agent-based model that implements both the automatic characterization of the knowledge assets from the information stored in the database, as well as the simulation and prediction of the behavior of said assets as a product of the decisions made regarding technological implementations. The SIPAC framework has been used in a total of 11 small and medium enterprises, by means of teams of 2-4 software engineers each, who have been in charge of doing the deployment in two different time stages: an initial audit carried out in the pre-project phase and prior to the decision of technological implementation; and an audit carried out after the implementation of the technological solution. The interaction of said professionals with the interested parties by the companies (stakeholders) has been discontinuous, limited to specific audits, interviews and validations on the information and models built. This work has derived in the methodological proposal that constitutes the SIPAC-framework, with its mechanisms and technological artefacts, and whose impact can be evidenced in several aspects: • The effective elicitation and characterization of organizational knowledge of the participating companies. • The success of the goals-aligned digital solution implementation proposals, which is evidenced by the improvement in organizational knowledge assets’ state. • The effective predictive power of the SIPAC-framework’s simulation module. • The satisfaction of software engineers and IT professionals by both the process of d • The improvement of the profession of software engineers and professionals of information and communication technologies, by providing them with an innovative approach that leads them to demonstrate to their clients the knowledge they have, in what state they are, how they can improve and what can happen if they decide to improve it. • The emergence of organizational information that is traditionally hidden and incomprehensible, usually reserved for its management by expensive consultants and the experience of a few; all at a minimum cost, maximizing the visualization of the information and minimizing the complexity of its interpretation. • This thesis is a starting point for the development of the body of knowledge on the valuation of knowledge assets in technological environments as a tool to achieve the strategic goal of an organization. In addition, this work leaves open the way for the future development of decision-making models based on value, as well as the evolution of the presented model, ideally in a single patentable technological device.eploying the methodology and the results obtained.Esta tesis doctoral presenta SIPAC-framework, una propuesta metodológica creada para sistémicamente guiar y ayudar a los ingenieros de software y profesionales de las tecnologías de la información en el proceso de proponer una solución tecnológica customizada, orientada a proporcionar valor a las organizaciones y soportada en los activos intangibles de conocimiento de las organizaciones, de manera que se pueda, a partir de esto, impulsar la consecución de los objetivos estratégicos que dirigen su funcionamiento. Para conseguir esto, el SIPAC-framework comprende tres capas claramente diferenciadas, pero íntimamente interrelacionadas y codependientes entre sí: una capa metodológica, una capa de mecanismos y una capa tecnológica o de artefactos tecnológicos de soporte a ser usados. 1. La capa metodológica comprende la metodología SIPAC en sí misma, inspirada en el enfoque de sistemas blandos de Peter Checkland, pero adaptada a, desde un punto de vista ingenieril, abordar la situación dada por el conocimiento subyacente en una organización, el cual usualmente está desestructurado y desordenado, y cuya comprensión debe ser abordada como un problema complejo. SIPAC-framework guía al profesional en el proceso de identificar tal conocimiento, estructurarlo en activos de conocimiento, organizarlos en función de la identidad de la organización, caracterizarlos en función de su calidad y el impacto que estos tienen en la consecución de los objetivos estratégicos, explotarlos para proponer una adecuada solución tecnológica y visualizar posibles escenarios futuros en función de lo que puede pasar con ellos como consecuencia de la toma de decisiones sobre la solución tecnológica a implementar. 2. La capa de mecanismos comprende los constructos conceptuales necesarios para poder llevar a cabo las actividades de la capa metodológica, principalmente un modelo de identificación y valoración de activos intangibles de conocimiento, un modelo de caracterización de los activos en función de su calidad e impacto, un modelo markoviano de predicción de la re-caracterización de activos intangibles de conocimiento, y una implementación del modelo basado en instancias (IBL-model) sobre las decisiones estratégicas con respecto a la implementación de soluciones tecnológicas. 3. La capa tecnológica se constituye por los artefactos utilizados durante el despliegue de la metodología para soportar sus procesos. En detalle, esta capa presenta un instrumento de recolección de información sobre el conocimiento de una empresa y su estructuración en activos de conocimiento, un aplicativo web para la gestión de dicha información por medio de una base de datos, un modelo basado en agentes que implementa tanto la caracterización automática de los activos de conocimiento a partir de la información almacenada en la base de datos, como la simulación y predicción del comportamiento de dichos activos como producto de las decisiones de implementación tecnológica tomadas. El SIPAC-framework se ha usado en un total de 11 pequeñas y medianas empresas, por medio de equipos de entre 2 y 4 profesionales de la ingeniería del software cada uno, que han estado a cargo de hacer el despliegue metodológico en dos estadios de tiempo diferentes: una auditoría inicial llevada a cabo en la fase de pre-proyecto y con anterioridad a la decisión de implementación tecnológica; y una auditoría llevada a cabo con posterioridad a la implementación de la solución tecnológica. La interacción de dichos profesionales con los interesados por parte de las empresas ha sido discontinua, limitándose a auditorías concretas, entrevistas y validaciones sobre la información y modelos construidos. Este trabajo ha derivado en la propuesta metodológica que constituye el SIPAC-framework, con sus mecanismos y artefactos tecnológicos, y cuyo impacto se puede ver en varios aspectos: • La elicitación y caracterización efectiva del conocimiento organizativo de las empresas participantes. • El éxito que han tenido las propuestas de implementación de solución tecnológica alineadas con los objetivos, lo que se evidencia por la mejora en el estado de los activos organizativos de conocimiento. • El efectivo poder predictivo del módulo de simulación del SIPAC-framework. • La satisfacción de los ingenieros de software y los profesionales de TI, tanto por el proceso de implementación de la metodología como por los resultados obtenidos. • La mejora de la profesión de los ingenieros de software y profesionales de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación, al dotarles de un enfoque innovador que les conduce a evidenciar ante sus clientes el conocimiento que tienen, en qué estado se encuentra, cómo lo pueden mejorar y lo que puede ocurrir si deciden mejorarlo. • La emergencia de información organizativa que tradicionalmente está oculta e incomprensible, usualmente reservada a costosas consultoras y a la experiencia de unos pocos; todo a un coste mínimo, maximizando la visualización de la información y minimizando la complejidad de su interpretación. Esta tesis es un punto de partida para el desarrollo de la base de conocimiento sobre la valoración de activos de conocimiento en entornos tecnológicos como herramienta para conseguir los objetivos estratégicos de una organización. Además, este trabajo deja abierto el camino para el futuro desarrollo de modelos de toma de decisiones basados en el valor, así como la evolución del modelo presentado, idealmente en un solo artefacto tecnológico patentable.Programa de Doctorado en Ciencia y Tecnología Informática por la Universidad Carlos III de MadridPresidente: Raúl Álvaro Espejo Ballivian.- Secretario: José María Álvarez Rodríguez.- Vocal: Stefano Armeni

Knowledge and Management Models for Sustainable Growth

In the last years sustainability has become a topic of global concern and a key issue in the strategic agenda of both business organizations and public authorities and organisations. Significant changes in business landscape, the emergence of new technology, including social media, the pressure of new social concerns, have called into question established conceptualizations of competitiveness, wealth creation and growth. New and unaddressed set of issues regarding how private and public organisations manage and invest their resources to create sustainable value have brought to light. In particular the increasing focus on environmental and social themes has suggested new dimensions to be taken into account in the value creation dynamics, both at organisations and communities level. For companies the need of integrating corporate social and environmental responsibility issues into strategy and daily business operations, pose profound challenges, which, in turn, involve numerous processes and complex decisions influenced by many stakeholders. Facing these challenges calls for the creation, use and exploitation of new knowledge as well as the development of proper management models, approaches and tools aimed to contribute to the development and realization of environmentally and socially sustainable business strategies and practices

A Software Product Line Approach to Ontology-based Recommendations in E-Tourism Systems

This study tackles two concerns of developers of Tourism Information Systems (TIS). First is the need for more dependable recommendation services due to the intangible nature of the tourism product where it is impossible for customers to physically evaluate the services on offer prior to practical experience. Second is the need to manage dynamic user requirements in tourism due to the advent of new technologies such as the semantic web and mobile computing such that etourism systems (TIS) can evolve proactively with emerging user needs at minimal time and development cost without performance tradeoffs. However, TIS have very predictable characteristics and are functionally identical in most cases with minimal variations which make them attractive for software product line development. The Software Product Line Engineering (SPLE) paradigm enables the strategic and systematic reuse of common core assets in the development of a family of software products that share some degree of commonality in order to realise a significant improvement in the cost and time of development. Hence, this thesis introduces a novel and systematic approach, called Product Line for Ontology-based Tourism Recommendation (PLONTOREC), a special approach focusing on the creation of variants of TIS products within a product line. PLONTOREC tackles the aforementioned problems in an engineering-like way by hybridizing concepts from ontology engineering and software product line engineering. The approach is a systematic process model consisting of product line management, ontology engineering, domain engineering, and application engineering. The unique feature of PLONTOREC is that it allows common TIS product requirements to be defined, commonalities and differences of content in TIS product variants to be planned and limited in advance using a conceptual model, and variant TIS products to be created according to a construction specification. We demonstrated the novelty in this approach using a case study of product line development of e-tourism systems for three countries in the West-African Region of Africa

A FRAMEWORK FOR STRATEGIC PROJECT ANALYSIS AND PRIORITIZATION

Projects that support the long-term strategic intent and alignment are considered strategic projects. Therefore, these projects must consider their alignment with the organization’s current strategy and focus on the risk, organizational capability, resources availability, political influence, and socio-cultural factors. Quantitative and qualitative methods prioritize the projects; however, they are usually suitable for specific industries. Although prioritization models are used in the private sector, the same in the public sector is not widely seen in the literature. The lack of models in the public sector has happened because of the projects’ social implications, the value perception of different projects in the public sector, and potentially differing value perceptions attached to the types of projects in different decision-making environments in the public sector. The thesis proposes a generic framework to develop a priority list of the available basket of projects and decide on projects for the next undertaking. The focus of the thesis is on public projects. The analysis in the framework considers the critical factors for prioritization obtained from the literature clustered through the agglomerative text clustering technique. In the proposed framework, 13 critical clusters are identified and weighted using the Criteria Importance Through Intercriteria Correlation (CRITIC) method to develop their ranking using the Technique for Order of Preference Similarity Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method. In addition, the proposed framework uses vector weighting to prioritize projects across industries. The applicability of the framework is demonstrated through Qatar’s real estate and transportation projects. The outcome obtained from the framework is compared with those obtained through the experts using the System Usability Scale (SUS). The comparison shows that the framework provides good predictability of the projects for implementation