Information assimilation in Multimedia surveillance systems

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

SOCIAL INTERACTION ANALYSIS USING A MULTI-SENSOR APPROACH

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

A DECISION-THEORETIC APPROACH FOR CONTROLLING AND COORDINATING MULTIPLE ACTIVE CAMERAS IN SURVEILLANCE

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Методологічні засади формування коопетиційної моделі організаційного розвитку підприємств

В дисертації розвинуто методичні засади формування системи організаційного розвитку та обгрунтовано концептуальні засади класифікації його моделей; визначено сутність коопетиції, здійснено кластеризацію теорії коопетиції за напрямками досліджень та хронологією становлення, виявлено найбільш ймовірні сфери формування стратегічних коопетиційних альянсів; запропоновано теоретико-методологічні засади визначення ключових факторів успіху підприємств – галузевих лідерів та отримано концептуальне пояснення причин і наслідків формування конкурентного тиску та ключових драйверів коопетиційної взаємодії; розроблено методологію галузевої селекції потенціальних учасників коопетиційної взаємодії, а також методичний інструментарій вибору потенційного коопетиційного партнера, методологічні основи та методичний інструментарій оцінювання ступеня готовності підприємства до впровадження стратегії коопетиції як проактивної стратегії організаційного розвитку.The disseration is aimed to develop theoretical basis and methodology for forming coopetition model of the organizational development in the context of strategic management. In the thesis, the methodology and methodical guidelines for evaluation of the readiness of an enterprise to implement coopetition model are performed that based on integral indicator assessment which generalizes the features of industry dynamics, market heterogeneity, the degree of cooperation inside of an enterprise and competition level. At the same time, the understanding of coopetition is presented as a system of paradoxical multilevel interactions between proactive economic entities that choose the partner consciously despite the previous experience or duration of the interactions towards new value creation and new competences generation. The classification of the coopetition is developed by restructuring the features, types and number of participants of the interaction, meanwhile, the organizational development models are classified by including the coopetition as an atypical and yet normal attribute of organizational dynamic. Therefore, the organizational models are classified by the following approaches: situational, selection, dialectic, theological, institutional, phenomena, game theory, revolutionary, cyclic and wave approach, and structural functionalism. The organizational development is interpreted as a system of coopetitive organizational and economic interrelations that are formed owing to dialectic interactions of planned and spontaneous interventions into organizational processes and structures, that develop co-evolutionarily reproducing mutual influence of the transformations in the business environment and strategic management concepts. As a results of overview of previous findings and comparative analysis the system of key features of organizational development is complemented by the following: coevolution of the strategic and organizational adaptations (or mutations), multifunctional leadership, the existence of systematic paradox of organizational development (proactivity and adaptivity co-existence), and coopetitive features of organizational development. In the thesis, the bibliometric analysis was conducted to reveal the clusters of the main academic outcomes in the sphere of coopetition research, the chronology analysis, global trends and the most possible trajectories of the future development of coopetition research were presented. The hypothesis about the existence of certain drivers of competitive, coopetitive and cooperative behavior in the market was formulated and proved by DEA which implies the determination of the efficiency of transformation of the inputs of an enterprise into outputs, and which gives the opportunity to reveal the industrial specifics of forming the competitive pressure, key drivers of competitive and coopetitive interactions. The air crafting industry became the pilot for the research to check the hypothesis. It is proved that the competitive pressure from B2B customers (airlines) arise and shifted the focus of competitive interactions between main players towards cost-effective decisions to the detriment of human-friendly decisions. Coopetition as an opposite to rent-seeking behaviour may offer many options that will bring benefits in terms of resources economization, as well as safety and security benefits. The methodology of the preliminary selection of the potential partners was performed in the thesis. The offered methodology is based on evaluation of three criteria: market share, intentions to competences development and ability to cooperate. These criteria allowed to form the profiles of the enterprises (outsider, laggard, business shark, lone ranger, scout, benefactor, innovator and technological leader) and their possible interferences (coopetition, intense competition, light competition, the cooperation of strong ones, cooperation of weak ones, neutrality and opportunism). The matrix of interference presented in the thesis is an effective tool for decisionmaking about the choice of strategic partner for coopetition. The methodical toolbox is developed as a two-steps approach which implies the microeconomic stability evaluation and cooperation stability assessment. The microeconomic stability hexagon is based on the evaluation of the dispersion of revenue and margin, research and development costs, sales and administration costs, long-term debts (quantitative data), meanwhile the cooperation stability hexagon is based on assessment of cooperative interactions in a sphere of supply, research and production (combination of quantitative and qualitative data). After revealing the most relevant potential partner for further coopetition there is a need to evaluate the business-patterns and strategic ploys in accordance complementarity of the further structuring business-processes. CANVAS modelling as a methodical approach was re-structured and re-grouped towards the search of homogeneity and /or heterogeneity of the patterns, and new zones of interactions with the potential partner, which can be done by the modification of neural network analysis (as it was performed in the thesis). The CANVAS-model is complemented by new blocks of the analysis: competitors-opportunists and competitors-voluntars (neologism). In the thesis the qualitative data research was performed (the combination of the expert evaluations and empiric research). The survey data were collected and processed to reveal the main antecedents and laws of coopetition appearance in such industries of Ukraine as: air crafting, car manufacturing, chemistry, energy and machine-building industries. It was revealed the link between the readiness to implement the coopetition strategy and life cycle of the organization, between readiness and internality – externality, and reactivity of the TOP-management of the enterprises. It is proved the coopetition is related to the competences-oriented strategy and is the opposite to the risk-avoiding and rent-seeking behavior. The hypothesis about the interrelations between the readiness to implement coopetition and the organizational characteristics was proved. Thus, the industrial specifics were revealed as a result of data processing: there is a link between the readiness and life cycle of the organization, internality or externality of TOP-management and activity degree in a process of decision-making. The criterions of the partner choice were detailed for the industries of Ukraine, and the link between opportunism and readiness to implement the coopetition was identified. In the thesis, it is offered to use the term "organizational viscosity" as a characteristic of an organizational system that affects the speed of evolution towards coopetition as a new paradigm, and which is related to decentralization and speed of decision-making and dynamics of organizational configurations

Методологічні засади формування коопетиційної моделі організаційного розвитку підприємств

В дисертації розвинуто методичні засади формування системи організаційного розвитку та обгрунтовано концептуальні засади класифікації його моделей; визначено сутність коопетиції, здійснено кластеризацію теорії коопетиції за напрямками досліджень та хронологією становлення, виявлено найбільш ймовірні сфери формування стратегічних коопетиційних альянсів; запропоновано теоретико-методологічні засади визначення ключових факторів успіху підприємств – галузевих лідерів та отримано концептуальне пояснення причин і наслідків формування конкурентного тиску та ключових драйверів коопетиційної взаємодії; розроблено методологію галузевої селекції потенціальних учасників коопетиційної взаємодії, а також методичний інструментарій вибору потенційного коопетиційного партнера, методологічні основи та методичний інструментарій оцінювання ступеня готовності підприємства до впровадження стратегії коопетиції як проактивної стратегії організаційного розвитку.The disseration is aimed to develop theoretical basis and methodology for forming coopetition model of the organizational development in the context of strategic management. In the thesis, the methodology and methodical guidelines for evaluation of the readiness of an enterprise to implement coopetition model are performed that based on integral indicator assessment which generalizes the features of industry dynamics, market heterogeneity, the degree of cooperation inside of an enterprise and competition level. At the same time, the understanding of coopetition is presented as a system of paradoxical multilevel interactions between proactive economic entities that choose the partner consciously despite the previous experience or duration of the interactions towards new value creation and new competences generation. The classification of the coopetition is developed by restructuring the features, types and number of participants of the interaction, meanwhile, the organizational development models are classified by including the coopetition as an atypical and yet normal attribute of organizational dynamic. Therefore, the organizational models are classified by the following approaches: situational, selection, dialectic, theological, institutional, phenomena, game theory, revolutionary, cyclic and wave approach, and structural functionalism. The organizational development is interpreted as a system of coopetitive organizational and economic interrelations that are formed owing to dialectic interactions of planned and spontaneous interventions into organizational processes and structures, that develop co-evolutionarily reproducing mutual influence of the transformations in the business environment and strategic management concepts. As a results of overview of previous findings and comparative analysis the system of key features of organizational development is complemented by the following: coevolution of the strategic and organizational adaptations (or mutations), multifunctional leadership, the existence of systematic paradox of organizational development (proactivity and adaptivity co-existence), and coopetitive features of organizational development. In the thesis, the bibliometric analysis was conducted to reveal the clusters of the main academic outcomes in the sphere of coopetition research, the chronology analysis, global trends and the most possible trajectories of the future development of coopetition research were presented. The hypothesis about the existence of certain drivers of competitive, coopetitive and cooperative behavior in the market was formulated and proved by DEA which implies the determination of the efficiency of transformation of the inputs of an enterprise into outputs, and which gives the opportunity to reveal the industrial specifics of forming the competitive pressure, key drivers of competitive and coopetitive interactions. The air crafting industry became the pilot for the research to check the hypothesis. It is proved that the competitive pressure from B2B customers (airlines) arise and shifted the focus of competitive interactions between main players towards cost-effective decisions to the detriment of human-friendly decisions. Coopetition as an opposite to rent-seeking behaviour may offer many options that will bring benefits in terms of resources economization, as well as safety and security benefits. The methodology of the preliminary selection of the potential partners was performed in the thesis. The offered methodology is based on evaluation of three criteria: market share, intentions to competences development and ability to cooperate. These criteria allowed to form the profiles of the enterprises (outsider, laggard, business shark, lone ranger, scout, benefactor, innovator and technological leader) and their possible interferences (coopetition, intense competition, light competition, the cooperation of strong ones, cooperation of weak ones, neutrality and opportunism). The matrix of interference presented in the thesis is an effective tool for decisionmaking about the choice of strategic partner for coopetition. The methodical toolbox is developed as a two-steps approach which implies the microeconomic stability evaluation and cooperation stability assessment. The microeconomic stability hexagon is based on the evaluation of the dispersion of revenue and margin, research and development costs, sales and administration costs, long-term debts (quantitative data), meanwhile the cooperation stability hexagon is based on assessment of cooperative interactions in a sphere of supply, research and production (combination of quantitative and qualitative data). After revealing the most relevant potential partner for further coopetition there is a need to evaluate the business-patterns and strategic ploys in accordance complementarity of the further structuring business-processes. CANVAS modelling as a methodical approach was re-structured and re-grouped towards the search of homogeneity and /or heterogeneity of the patterns, and new zones of interactions with the potential partner, which can be done by the modification of neural network analysis (as it was performed in the thesis). The CANVAS-model is complemented by new blocks of the analysis: competitors-opportunists and competitors-voluntars (neologism). In the thesis the qualitative data research was performed (the combination of the expert evaluations and empiric research). The survey data were collected and processed to reveal the main antecedents and laws of coopetition appearance in such industries of Ukraine as: air crafting, car manufacturing, chemistry, energy and machine-building industries. It was revealed the link between the readiness to implement the coopetition strategy and life cycle of the organization, between readiness and internality – externality, and reactivity of the TOP-management of the enterprises. It is proved the coopetition is related to the competences-oriented strategy and is the opposite to the risk-avoiding and rent-seeking behavior. The hypothesis about the interrelations between the readiness to implement coopetition and the organizational characteristics was proved. Thus, the industrial specifics were revealed as a result of data processing: there is a link between the readiness and life cycle of the organization, internality or externality of TOP-management and activity degree in a process of decision-making. The criterions of the partner choice were detailed for the industries of Ukraine, and the link between opportunism and readiness to implement the coopetition was identified. In the thesis, it is offered to use the term "organizational viscosity" as a characteristic of an organizational system that affects the speed of evolution towards coopetition as a new paradigm, and which is related to decentralization and speed of decision-making and dynamics of organizational configurations

Arquitectura para la gestión y coordinación de sistemas multisensor

Hoy en día podemos encontrarnos con numerosos entornos que cuentan con un gran conjunto de sensores heterogéneos espacialmente distribuidos. Entornos que pueden ir desde sistemas de vigilancia que incluyen un despliegue de múltiples sensores como cámaras o sensores de localización, a entornos de monitorización de procesos industriales, donde se supervisa cada uno de los procesos para comprobar el correcto funcionamiento del sistema. Inclusive actualmente podemos hablar de términos más modernos como el de Smart Cities que permiten la optimización de los recursos de una ciudad a través de su constante monitorización. En todos estos entornos es común encontrarnos con multitud de sensores percibiendo información del entorno. Estos entornos son de indudable utilidad en cada uno de sus ámbitos, y según avanza la tecnología podemos mejorarlos con la integración de más y mejores sensores. Esto resulta de utilidad porque nos permite monitorizar con más precisión y calidad las diferentes entidades o parámetros del entorno. Sin embargo esto puede suponer un problema a la hora de gestionar y coordinar diferentes tareas sobre el entorno, debido principalmente a la gran cantidad de información generada que tiene que ser analizada. En este sentido, la fusión de datos se volverá un aliado indispensable para mejorar los procesos de análisis y toma de decisiones. En estos entornos además podemos encontrarnos con sensores u actuadores que pueden requerir de cierta gestión, como por ejemplo el manejo de una cámara PTZ para monitorizar regiones o entidades de interés del entorno. Esta gestión se puede hacer de manera manual a través de un operador humano, pero puede convertirse en una tarea compleja cuando contamos con multitud de sensores similares que puedan requerir una gestión coordinada. En este sentido, en la tesis se abordará este problema de gestión y coordinación desde el punto de vista de un sistema multi-agente. Para ello diseñaremos una arquitectura general, que podrá ser aplicada a diferentes casos de uso. Sobre este diseño, evaluaremos su aplicación a dos entornos diferentes. El primer entorno consistirá en un sistema de vigilancia multi-cámara, donde será necesario realizar un control autónomo de las cámaras PTZ para monitorizar las diferentes entidades de interés. El segundo entorno se desarrollará sobre un sistema de vigilancia marítima, donde además de las cámaras podremos contar con otro tipo de sensores como radares o estaciones AIS. La experimentación llevada a cabo en esta tesis a través de la aplicación multi-cámara, ha permitido evaluar la arquitectura desde el punto de vista de la integración en un entornoreal. La aplicación sobre el entorno marítimo, en este caso desarrollado sobre un entorno simulado, nos ha permitido además evaluar la adecuación de de la arquitectura a diferentes sensores e información de las entidades. En ambos casos hemos podido observar la utilidad del sistema multi-agente desarrollado, así como su adecuación a este tipo de entornos, que dada su naturaleza son inherentemente distribuidos.Nowadays it is common to find several heterogeneous sensors spatially distributed in environments. Environments that can range from surveillance systems that include a set of multiple sensors such as cameras or location sensors. To environments monitoring industrial processes, where it is important to monitor several processes to ensure a proper system operation. Moreover we can talk about more modern terms as Smart Cities, which allow optimizing the city resources through its constant monitoring. Thus, in all those deployments, it is common to find multiple sensors perceiving information from the environment. These environments are undoubtedly useful in each of their fields, and as technology advances, we can improve the integration of more and better sensors. This is useful because it allows a better and more accurately monitoring of the different entities or environmental parameters. However this can be a problem when it comes to managing and coordinating different tasks over the environment, mainly due to the large amount of information generated required to be analyzed. In this sense, data fusion will become an indispensable ally to improve the analysis and decision making processes. Moreover, in these environments we can find multiple sensors or actuators that may require some kind of management, such as managing a PTZ camera to monitor regions or entities of interest. This management can be done manually by a human operator, but can become a complex task when we have multiple sensors requiring a coordinated management. In this sense, this thesis tackle the problem of multi-sensor management and coordination from the point of view of a multi-agent system. It is proposed a general multi-agent design that can be applied to different use cases. This design will be evaluated in two different environments. The first one will consist on a multi-camera surveillance system, where the multi-agent system must achieve an autonomous control of PTZ cameras to monitor different entities of interest. The second environment will rely on a maritime surveillance system, where in addition to the cameras, we will introduce other sensor types such as radar or AIS stations. Some experiments were carried out to evaluate the multi-agent system designed. The experiments done in the multi-camera application, allowed us to evaluate the architecture from the point of view of its integration in a real environment. Meanwhile the application in the maritime environment, developed over a simulated environment, let us evaluate the suitability of the architecture to different sensors and information. In both cases we have been able to observe the usefulness of the developed multi-agent system and its adaptation to these environments inherently distributed.Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Ciencia y Tecnología InformáticaPresidente: María Araceli Sanchís de Miguel.- Vocal: Javier Bajo Pérez.- Secretario: Ángel Arroyo Castill

Power play in television: a political economy analysis of power balances in broadcasting markets

In this dissertation, the focus is on the (evolving) configurations of power and control in broadcaster-to-distributor markets. Technological developments, as well as changes in the institutional framework, are in the process of fundamentally transforming legacy TV business models and have transferred power to ‘gatekeepers’ which derive a dominant position by controlling competitive bottlenecks. Since technology shocks might disrupt established power relationships in television, interactions between TV broadcasters and distributors incur tensions and conflicts of interests. It is argued that each party controls crucial platform resources and that the broadcaster-to-distributor market is organized around two converging TV platforms that unfold enveloping strategies and thus provoke power conflicts. One of the major assumptions of this dissertation is the mutual dependency between broadcasters and distributors, which leads to the conclusion that the market is marked by bilateral bargaining power, and needs to deal with double-marginalisation problems. Although both parties may have bargaining power, relationships between broadcasters and distributors are often characterised by power asymmetries, either in favour of the broadcaster or distributor. In the ever-increasing complex TV ecosystem, broadcasters as well as distributors are looking for outside opportunities to lessen dependence on their counterparty, and build strategic advantage during carriage negotiations. However, pricing power usually remains with the distributors, which eventually decide about the possible carriage and the package (basic or upgraded), and the position of the channel in that package (or in the electronic programming guide). A gatekeeping position allows distributors to pressure broadcasters to demand lower wholesale (input) prices. On top, distributors leverage bargaining power through the ownership of affiliated channels that directly compete access-seeking broadcasters. In a similar vein, owners of premium rights or must-have channels leverage their popularity and exclusivity in order to bargain higher retransmission payments from distributors. Whereas existing frameworks hold that competitive advantage essentially rests on the activities a firm performs within the value chain, it is claimed here that a firm’s position in the value chain does not adequately explain why different firms with similar activities have different levels of bargaining power. Rather than sticking to hollow aphorisms like ‘Content is King, but Distribution is King Kong’, it is assumed that the allocation of power between broadcasters and distributors crucially depends on the politico-economic context of broadcasting and its distribution, including the set of complex relationships between different parties in the business ecosystem. Since bargaining power in the broadcaster-to-distributor market tends to be context-specific and varies between different local settings, it is determined by the allocation of scarce resources in the industry, the individual nature of the broadcaster-to-distributor relationship and potential path dependencies in media and telecommunication policies. Hence, the major research objective is to study the interactions between broadcasters and distributors, and identify, in a qualitative way, those contextual variables that define bargaining power in broadcaster-to-distributor relationships. Although Porter’s model is still relevant for analysing the industry environment, the complexity of broadcasting and distribution markets and the speciality of carriage negotiations demands for a more specific framework to examine relationships and power conflicts between broadcasters and distribution. Following a resource-centric perspective, the ownership and control of strategic assets are considered determinants of bargaining power. Based on a literature review and interviews with 36 media managers and experts, it was possible to come up with a multidimensional and multilevel approach to bargaining power and to construct a complex of interrelated power attributes (clustered in five dimensions) that influence a firm’s competitive position in carriage negotiations. On the macro level, a number of legal provisions and regulatory requirements strongly affect the carriage negotiations. Reference is made to telecommunications rules, competition law, media-specific regulation and copyright law. On the meso level, the model suggests that the market structure forms an important factor in the creation of bargaining power. Industry concentration, number of business partners, entry barriers and the threat of technological progress are identified as critical parameters. On the micro level, the structure of the negotiating firms needs to be taken into account to assess bargaining power. Hence, firm-specific characteristics of broadcasters and distributors involved in a carriage negotiation include relative firm size, conglomerateness, vertical integration and financial resilience. Next to firm characteristics, emphasis is put on product differentiation as a source of a bargaining power. Product characteristics are related to the market and industry structure, and predominantly refer to product differentiation, exclusivity, bundling and switching costs. On the individual level, psychological, emotional and interpersonal issues play a decisive role in carriage negotiations

Globalization of R&D: Leveraging Offshoring for Innovative Capability and Organizational Flexibility

Within the realm of globalization of R&D, offshoring is a relatively recent and still emerging phenomenon. Rooted in the notion of comparative advantage, offshoring of R&D involves disaggregation and global distribution of the firm’s R&D value chain activities to leverage innovation capacity of low-cost countries. Characteristically different from market- and technology-seeking globalization of R&D, offshoring is motivated by the intertwining competitive needs to gain efficiency and access knowledge resources. This study represents a systematic, grounds-up attempt to explore the terrain of the phenomenon of offshoring of R&D and its influence on the competitive advantage of firms. Specifically, going beyond structural cost savings, the research examines the link between offshoring of R&D and the firm’s innovative capability and organizational flexibility—the two most important organizational capabilities of high technology firms. Employing an interpretive approach, the research includes multiple case studies of intra-firm and inter-firm offshoring of software R&D across a range of industries. The study demonstrates that by strategically organizing and managing offshoring of R&D, firms can significantly enhance their innovative capability and organizational flexibility. The findings suggest that offshoring of R&D is a new global organizational form that not only serves as an adaptive device but also allows firms to achieve ambidexterity