Innovation Development for Highly Energy-Efficient Housing: Opportunities and Challenges Related to the Adoption of Passive Houses

In previous years we have seen a recognition of the significant potential that exists for reducing energy use through innovation in residential buildings. This study investigates innovation challenges and identifies opportunities that could lead to a rapid increase in the adoption of highly energy-efficient housing concepts, particularly that of the passive house. To this end, it exemplifies, interprets and develops the innovation adoption theory through an investigation of views and experiences on the supply side, the demand side and the policy side. It highlights successful innovation trajectories and barriers experienced by businesses. It addresses both problems and positive experiences from the perspective of the end user and investigates different policy approaches. As such, the research reveals important features of innovation-adoption strategies in the building sector. It shows how multi-player enterprise collaboration plays a key role, and the study also recommends the development of quality assurance schemes. It makes a valuable contribution to discussions about how active the role of government policymakers and enterprise networks should be

Smart Systems:The Role of Advanced Technologies in Improving Business Quality, Performance and Supply Chain Integration

Technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, and Smart Systems (SSs) have become an important focus for industry, especially in the manufacturing and retail sectors. The aim of this paper is to analyse the importance of SSs and their related technologies in improving business performance. Through an initial systematic review of sixty-one papers, the authors identify six key determinants that lead to the effective application of SSs in business systems, namely, the application of effective managerial skills, supply chain integration, financial analysis, business performance, strategic and operational capabilities, and technologies. The work then goes on to develop an industry case study that informs thinking on the capabilities of smart technologies in collaborative working environments and then onto the development of a practice-focused framework for future research. This study identifies that the implementation of SSs within organisations not only improves business performance but also their supply chains through the effective integration of business activities and systems, and through the degree to which communication and decision-making is facilitated between humans and devices. This leads to the improvement of quality, speed of information, and information sharing. This study also finds that there is a lack of systems standards that currently govern IoT and SSs integration and data security within businesses

Smart Systems:The Role of Advanced Technologies in Improving Business Quality, Performance and Supply Chain Integration

Technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing and Smart Systems (SS) have become an important focus for industry, especially in the manufacturing and retail sectors. The aim of this paper is to analyse the importance of SS and their re-lated technologies towards improving business performance. Through an initial systematic review of sixty-one papers, the authors identify six key determinants that lead to the effective application of SS in business systems namely; application of effective managerial skills, supply chain integration, financial analysis, business performance, strategic/operational capabilities and, technologies. The work then goes on to develop an industry case study that informs thinking on the capabilities of smart technologies in collaborative working environments and then onto the development of a practice focused framework for future research. This study identifies that the implementation of SS within organisations not only improves business performance but their supply chains too through the effective integration of business activities and systems and, through the degree to which communication and decision-making is being facilitated between humans and devices. This leads to the improvement of quality, speed of information and, information sharing. The study also finds that there is a lack of systems standards that currently govern IoT/SS integration and data security within businesses

Corporate Social Responsibility, Stakeholder Engagement, and Universities

The present book contributes to the public administration literature by providing new insights into corporate social responsibility (CSR), sustainability initiatives, and stakeholder engagement in the higher education context. The fourteen papers published in this Special Issue discuss the role of public universities in promoting sustainability actions, university missions, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) embedded in the 2030 UN Agenda. In each contribution, avenues for research are suggested and, most importantly, stronger analytical connections are advocated between these inter-related research areas. In more detail, two papers focus their attention on university transparency and the processes’ complexity in public institutions. Furthermore, two papers focus on CSR teaching and education, three papers analyze universities’ social responsibility initiatives, and five papers focus on the SDGs. Lastly, taking into account how social networks have changed university communication and become powerful tools for building relationships with stakeholders, two papers of the Special Issue consider social media’s role in university communications

Parempi asiakaskokemus: Asiakaspalvelun kehittäminen tilaus-toimitusprosessissa

Intense competition and demanding customers have driven industrial manufacturers to offer additional customer service. However, these product-service systems are diffused, thus lessening their impact on strategic differentiation as such. Meanwhile, customer experience has emerged as a new basis for competitive advantage. Customer experience is the outcome of a service process, hence improving customer service in the order-delivery process is currently a relevant step towards competitiveness. The existing customer experience literature has mainly focused on the B2C markets, while the B2B markets have been studied less due to their specific nature. Consequently, the B2B markets and complex engineer-to-order (ETO) projects of the case company have created a research gap, thus motivating empirical research by a case study method. Furthermore, the subjective character of customer experience requires that each company study their own customers. The data collection methods employed in this thesis include a survey, focus groups and qualitative interviews; all of which gathered the required data for effective improvement of the case company’s process. The case study concluded that responsiveness and communication are the most important factors of customer experience. Flexibility and documentation, in turn, were identified as the main improvement areas in terms of customer service. This knowledge and understanding of the internal capabilities led to process improvement by means of an employee handbook. In addition, the study reports that the SERVQUAL instrument, which was originally designed for the B2C markets, is applicable for the case company’s needs within a specific B2B environment. The equivalence found between the SERVQUAL instrument and the preferences of the B2B customers may indicate that the B2C and B2B markets differ less in terms of humane topics, such as customer experience. Therefore, further research is needed in order to empirically test the applicability of the existing B2C theories in the B2B markets. Furthermore, future practitioners may benefit from the findings of this thesis, but only if they truly understand their customers.Intensiivinen kilpailu ja vaativat asiakkaat ovat ajaneet teolliset valmistajat tarjoamaan ylimääräistä asiakaspalvelua. Nämä tuotteen ja palvelun yhdistelmät ovat kuitenkin yleistyneet ja näin ollen niiden vaikutus strategiseen erilaistumiseen on vähentynyt. Samaan aikaan asiakaskokemus on kehittynyt uudeksi kilpailuedun lähtökohdaksi. Asiakaskokemus on seuraus palveluprosessista ja siksi asiakaspalvelun kehittäminen tilaus-toimitusprosessissa on tällä hetkellä järkevä askel kohti kilpailukykyä. Olemassa oleva asiakaskokemuskirjallisuus on keskittynyt lähinnä B2C markkinoihin ja samaan aikaan B2B markkinoita on tutkittu vähemmän niiden yksityiskohtaisen luonteensa vuoksi. Näin ollen kohdeyrityksen B2B markkinat ja monimutkaiset engineer-to-order (ETO) projektit osoittautuivat puutteellisesti tutkituiksi ja siten tarjosivat perusteita empirialle tapaustutkimusmenetelmän avulla. Lisäksi asiakaskokemuksen subjektiivinen luonne vaatii yrityksiä tutkimaan omia asiakkaitaan. Tämän diplomityön datankeräysmenetelmät, kyselytutkimus, focus group -menetelmä ja laadulliset haastattelut, kokosivat tarvittavan tiedon tehokkaaseen prosessikehitykseen kohdeyrityksessä. Tapaustutkimus havaitsi, että reagointikyky ja kommunikointi ovat asiakaskokemuksen tärkeimmät tekijät. Joustavuuden ja dokumentaation puolestaan havaittiin olevan keskeisimpiä asiakaspalvelun kehityskohteita. Tämä tietämys sekä ymmärrys sisäisistä kyvyistä johtivat prosessikehitykseen työntekijöille suunnatun käsikirjan avulla. Lisäksi tutkimus raportoi, että alun perin B2C markkinoille suunniteltu SERVQUAL mittari on käyttökelpoinen kohdeyrityksen tarpeisiin yksityiskohtaisessa B2B ympäristössä. Havaittu vastaavuus SERVQUAL mittarin ja B2B asiakkaiden mieltymysten välillä saattaa osoittaa, että B2C ja B2B markkinat ovat vähemmän erilaiset keskusteltaessa ihmisläheisistä aiheista, kuten asiakaskokemuksesta. Näin ollen uutta tutkimusta kaivataan, jotta olemassa olevat B2C teoriat voitaisiin empiirisisesti todentaa käyttökelpoisiksi B2B markkinoilla. Lisäksi tulevaisuuden ammatinharjoittajat saattavat hyötyä tämän diplomityön löydöksistä, mutta ainoastaan, jos he todella ymmärtävät asiakkaitaan

Digital Gaming and the Advertising Landscape

The evolution of the game industry and changes in the advertising landscape in recent years have led to a keen interest of marketers in using digital games for advertising purposes. However, despite the increasing interest in this marketing strategy, the potential of digital games as a medium to convey advertising messages remains unexploited.*Digital Gaming and the Advertising Landscape* explores the different ways advertising messages can be embedded within digital games. An interdisciplinary approach is used to help explain how persuasive communication works within digital games. It does so by forging new links within the area of game studies where the emphasis of this book clearly lies, while also taking up new subjects such as design theories and their relation to games as well as how this relationship may be used in a practical context

Congress UPV Proceedings of the 21ST International Conference on Science and Technology Indicators

This is the book of proceedings of the 21st Science and Technology Indicators Conference that took place in València (Spain) from 14th to 16th of September 2016. The conference theme for this year, ‘Peripheries, frontiers and beyond’ aimed to study the development and use of Science, Technology and Innovation indicators in spaces that have not been the focus of current indicator development, for example, in the Global South, or the Social Sciences and Humanities. The exploration to the margins and beyond proposed by the theme has brought to the STI Conference an interesting array of new contributors from a variety of fields and geographies. This year’s conference had a record 382 registered participants from 40 different countries, including 23 European, 9 American, 4 Asia-Pacific, 4 Africa and Near East. About 26% of participants came from outside of Europe. There were also many participants (17%) from organisations outside academia including governments (8%), businesses (5%), foundations (2%) and international organisations (2%). This is particularly important in a field that is practice-oriented. The chapters of the proceedings attest to the breadth of issues discussed. Infrastructure, benchmarking and use of innovation indicators, societal impact and mission oriented-research, mobility and careers, social sciences and the humanities, participation and culture, gender, and altmetrics, among others. We hope that the diversity of this Conference has fostered productive dialogues and synergistic ideas and made a contribution, small as it may be, to the development and use of indicators that, being more inclusive, will foster a more inclusive and fair world

Marketing plan of T building materials equipment company

China's building materials and equipment industry is growing rapidly, facing fierce market competition, overcapacity and homogenization. Traditional 4P and 4C marketing is no longer sufficient to meet these challenges. New marketing solutions need to be sought to enhance competitiveness and realize win-win situation. This thesis explains the basic principles of 4P, 4C and 4R, as well as the superiority of the 4R theory through the analysis of Company T. The external environment and industry level factors of the company were analyzed using PEST and Five Forces analysis model. Through research methods such as literature review, case study and in-depth interviews, the problems and causes of marketing planning were identified in relation to the market situation of T Building Material Company, especially the problems of communication and contact with customers, which led to the reduction of customers' purchases and the frequency of purchases. The main objective of this thesis is to formulate a plan to improve the management of customer relationship of Company T. In order to achieve this objective, this thesis proposes the image revamping, affiliation Program, Relationship Marketing and Reward Programs as improvement programs. This thesis helps Company T to improve its marketing program, as well as its goals and tasks.A indústria de materiais e equipamentos de construção da China está a crescer rapidamente, enfrentando uma concorrência feroz no mercado, excesso de capacidade e homogeneização. O marketing tradicional 4P e 4C já não é suficiente para enfrentar estes desafios. É necessário procurar novas soluções de marketing para aumentar a competitividade e criar uma situação vantajosa para todos. Esta tese explica os princípios básicos do 4P, 4C e 4R, bem como a superioridade da teoria 4R através da análise da Empresa T. O ambiente externo e os factores ao nível da indústria da empresa foram analisados utilizando o modelo de análise PEST e as Cinco Forças. Através de métodos de investigação como a revisão da literatura, o estudo de caso e entrevistas aprofundadas, foram identificados os problemas e as causas do planeamento de marketing em relação à situação de mercado da empresa T Building Material, especialmente os problemas de comunicação e contacto com os clientes, que levaram à redução das compras dos clientes e da frequência das compras. O principal objetivo desta tese é formular um plano para melhorar a gestão da relação com os clientes da empresa T. Para atingir este objetivo, esta tese propõe como programas de melhoria a renovação da imagem, o programa de afiliação, o marketing de relacionamento e os programas de recompensa. Esta tese ajuda a Empresa T a melhorar o seu programa de marketing, bem como os seus objectivos e tarefas