16,605 research outputs found
MODES OF INNOVATION & UNCERTAINTIES IN THE CAPITAL GOODS INDUSTRY
Product innovation is a subtle process, frequently leading to shifts in the competitiveness of firms. Developing products in an environment undergoing technological change is given to frequent failure, even in well-established and sophisticated organizations. In order to tackle competitiveness and to deal with innovation uncertainty, firms develop diverse innovation processes. Two modes of innovation are suggested in recent literature: 1) Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) mode, which is based on the production and use of codified scientific and technical knowledge; and 2) Doing, Using and Interacting (DUI) mode, which relies on informal processes of learning and experience-based know-how. In this paper we analyse product innovation at firm level. We perform an exploratory analysis in four leading equipment and machinery producers from the Aveiro region, in Portugal. Doing so, we explore the main features of the capital goodsâ industry with implications for innovation, and analyse the dominant uncertainties associated to the innovation process. and modes of innovation. Key findings include the complete absence of DUI mode in the cases studied, and even a low learning characteristic in one company. The paper concludes by considering the implications for firmsâ competitiveness and for innovation policy.modes of innovation, uncertainties, R&D, capital goods, SME
Supply chain management in industrial production. A retrospective view
The article presents a retrospective review on key-issues about how the management discipline evolved up to the current view about supply-chain management (SCM) in industrial production. Specifically, the article resumes: a) the reasons that led to the transition from the traditional procurement policies to the SCM approach, b) the variables involved in the process of defining SCM relations and c) the key managerial principles underlying SCM policies and strategies. In the manufacturing industry the problem of organizing and managing firmâs relationships with supplier has recently become of an unprecedented complexity. The evolution of production systems started around the â80s, with the shift from the âflexibleâ paradigm to the âleanâ one, has increased dramatically the intricacy of product and process architecture.. At the same time, the opportunities brought by the technological hybridization of products (that is: opportunities deriving from incorporating complementary technologies within products so to enhance its features and performance) gained a critical role as a competitive advantage. In our view supply chain management, as well as others managerial areas, has undergone a profound change; indeed, in the last 30 years the evolution of the industrial competitive environment has deeply modified the reference framework of supply-chain relationships even in common procurement and/or routine contracts. In the attempt to give an adequate response to changes in the competitive environment, supply policies evolve to become articulate relational strategies based on the strategic assessments of the role and the relevance of the various suppliers. The traditional approach to procurement management is combined with a perspective of value creation, a perspective that goes beyond the traditional âmake-or-buyâ criteria, since it introduces principles for the assessment of the strategic capability of the suppliers to create value for customer rather than to be able to fulfill its task for the firm. In such a view, firms operating in the same value-chain coordinate their strategies with a view to increase the overall value rather than compete for the allocation of the existing one. Firmsâ network of suppliers and the relational capabilities assume a critical role in order to coordinate the value creation processes within the chain.Supply chain management, industrial management
Plan recognition for space telerobotics
Current research on space telerobots has largely focused on two problem areas: executing remotely controlled actions (the tele part of telerobotics) or planning to execute them (the robot part). This work has largely ignored one of the key aspects of telerobots: the interaction between the machine and its operator. For this interaction to be felicitous, the machine must successfully understand what the operator is trying to accomplish with particular remote-controlled actions. Only with the understanding of the operator's purpose for performing these actions can the robot intelligently assist the operator, perhaps by warning of possible errors or taking over part of the task. There is a need for such an understanding in the telerobotics domain and an intelligent interface being developed in the chemical process design domain addresses the same issues
A Workaround Design System for Anticipating, Designing, and/or Preventing Workarounds
Idealized system design produces requirements reflecting management intentions and âbest practices.â This paper proposes a workaround design system (WDS) for anticipating, designing, and/or preventing workarounds that bypass systems as designed. A WDS includes a process and an interactive âworkaround design toolâ (WDT) for identifying and evaluating foreseeable workarounds based on work system theory and a theory of workarounds. This paper summarizes the conceptual background and explains the form, use, and implications of the proposed WDS and WDT.
The idea of WDS addresses significant gaps in practice and research. Designers should have methods for identifying likely obstacles and anticipating and evaluating a non-trivial percentage of plausible workarounds. Methods for identifying workarounds might help in training work system participants. Researchers might use WDS to explore why specific responses to obstacles did or did not occur. The lack of methods related to anticipating, designing or preventing workarounds implies that WDS may prove fruitful even though it is impossible to anticipate all possible workarounds
Using Work System Theory to Link Managerial and Technical Perspectives on BPM
Work system theory (WST) provides a bridge between managerial and technical perspectives on BPM that often seem distant from each other. In combination, the work system framework, underlying work system metamodel, and the work system life cycle model provide a number of bridges between those perspectives. In relation to managerial BPM, the work system framework treats business process as one of nine elements in a basic understanding of a work system. The others are participants, information, technology, products/services, customers, environment, infrastructure, and strategies. The underlying metamodel outlines a precise structure for analysis and design of work systems and for links to technical aspects of BPM. It provides details that are omitted from the work system framework, which has proven useful for initial high level summaries but is not granular enough to support detailed design and documentation. The work system life cycle model combines planned and unplanned (emergent) change through which work systems evolve. This paper explains where WST fits in the general realm of BPM-related topics and how WST might help in developing BPM further. It also identifies challenges and next steps related to using WST to expand the scope of BPM
Capturing complexity: developing an integrated approach to analysing HRM in SMEs
This article presents a framework to evaluate HRM in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), using an open systems theoretical perspective. In presenting an open systems perspective the objective is to overcome the limitations of existing theorising in HRM, in particular to facilitate a move away from the âsmall is beautifulâ versus âbleak houseâ stereotypes evident in much of the literature concerned with HRM in SMEs. The evidence is drawn from six SMEs operating in the Republic of Ireland, using a case study method. The findings show that a complex interplay of external structural factors and internal dynamics shaped HRM in each of the companies. HRM was not the coherent set of practices typically identified in the literature but rather was often informal and emergent. It is argued that the open systems theoretical framework enables a move beyond mere recognition of the complexity and heterogeneity of HRM in SMEs, towards an understanding, accommodation and explanation of particularistic factors
Up-scaling, formative phases, and learning in the historical diffusion of energy technologies
The 20th century has witnessed wholesale transformation in the energy system marked by the pervasive diffusion of both energy supply and end-use technologies. Just as whole industries have grown, so too have unit sizes or capacities. Analysed in combination, these unit level and industry level growth patterns reveal some consistencies across very different energy technologies. First, the up-scaling or increase in unit size of an energy technology comes after an often prolonged period of experimentation with many smaller-scale units. Second, the peak growth phase of an industry can lag these increases in unit size by up to 20 years. Third, the rate and timing of up-scaling at the unit level is subject to countervailing influences of scale economies and heterogeneous market demand. These observed patterns have important implications for experience curve analyses based on time series data covering the up-scaling phases of energy technologies, as these are likely to conflate industry level learning effects with unit level scale effects. The historical diffusion of energy technologies also suggests that low carbon technology policies pushing for significant jumps in unit size before a âformative phaseâ of experimentation with smaller-scale units are risky
In Pursuit of Crisis Readiness: An Examination of Managerial Characteristics, Firm Size, Industry Domain and Strategic Type within the Miles and Snow Framework
A crisis refers to an unpredictable event that can seriously threaten an organization. Crisis readiness is an integral part of the crisis management process and refers to the level of preparedness an organization possesses in response to a potential catastrophic event. Findings from a survey of 275 managers in the United States revealed that top managers with production/engineering and general management backgrounds reported higher degrees of crisis readiness capabilities than did their counterparts with other backgrounds. Likewise, higher levels of crisis readiness were reported in larger, manufacturing organizations than in smaller, service organizations
Human factors in space station architecture 1: Space station program implications for human factors research
The space station program is based on a set of premises on mission requirements and the operational capabilities of the space shuttle. These premises will influence the human behavioral factors and conditions on board the space station. These include: launch in the STS Orbiter payload bay, orbital characteristics, power supply, microgravity environment, autonomy from the ground, crew make-up and organization, distributed command control, safety, and logistics resupply. The most immediate design impacts of these premises will be upon the architectural organization and internal environment of the space station
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