Robots and AI

Robots and artificial intelligence (AI) are powerful forces that will likely have large impacts on the size, direction, and composition of international trade flows. This book discusses how industrial robots, automation, and AI affect international growth, trade, productivity, employment, wages, and welfare. The book explains new approaches on how robots and artificial intelligence affect the world economy by presenting detailed theoretical framework and country-specific as well as firm-product level-specific exercises. This book will be a useful reference for those researching on robots, automation, AI and their economic impacts on trade, industry, and employment

Hospitality unit diagnosis: an expert system approach

Formal methods of management problem-solving have been extensively researched. However, these concepts are incomplete in that they assume a problem has been correctly identified before initiating the problem-solving process. In reality management may not realise that a problem exists or may identify an incorrect problem. As a result, considerable time and effort may be wasted correcting symptoms rather than the true problem. This research describes the development of a computerised system to support problem identification. The system focuses specifically on the area of hospitality management, encompassing causes and symptoms of prominent problems in the hospitality industry. The system is based on knowledge rather than data. Research has shown that Expert Systems allow reasoning with knowledge. As a result, Expert Systems were selected as an appropriate technology for this application. Development is undertaken from the perspective of a hotel manager, using appropriate software development tools. The required knowledge is generally obtained from either expert interviews or textbook analysis. Gaining commitment from sufficient industry experts proved too difficult to allow the use of the former method, and therefore the latter method was utilised. However, knowledge acquired in this manner is limited in both quality and quantity. In addition, essential experience based judgmental knowledge is not available from this source. To counteract this, the personal knowledge of the author, a qualified hotel manager, was used. When developing an Expert System, knowledge acquisition and representation are of paramount importance. In this research, these issues are problematic due to the broad interdisciplinary nature and scope of hospitality management. To counteract this problem, some structure was required. Finance, Marketing, Personnel, Control, and Operations were selected as important functions within the hospitality business and therefore were represented within the system for diagnosis. A modular approach was used with modules being developed for each functional area. An initial top level module performs a general diagnosis, and then separate subordinate modules diagnose the functional areas. This research established that the knowledge required for incorporation into such a system is not available. The possibility of acquiring this knowledge is beyond the bounds of this research. However, sufficient marketing knowledge was sourced to facilitate the development of the Expert System structure. This structure demonstrates the application of the technology to the task and could subsequently be used when more knowledge is elicited. The research findings show that the development of a modular diagnostic system is possible using an Expert System Shell. The major limiting factor encountered is the total lack of the relevant knowledge. As a result, further research is recommended to establish the factors influencing diagnosis in the hospitality industry

The effect of the introduction of new technology upon female labour in the retail sector

The retail sector plays an important role in the economy. It contributes ten percent of G.D.P. and employs 1.87 million people, of whom sixty percent are female. The likely effect of new technology upon the nature and content of retail work is therefore of considerable importance. The development of microelectronics has led to an increasing number of technological applications in the retail sector. Most of which are designed to increase output whilst reducing the level of human input. This could result in the substitution of capital for labour in a traditionally labour intensive industry. This expected substitution of labour in the retail sector reflects the experience of manufacturing and office work, where earlier technological applications have resulted in the alienation and distancing of the workforce. This experience was expected to be paralleled in the retail sector. This study considers four separate but related issues concerning the introduction of new technology in the retail sector. Firstly, that technological applications change the nature and content of work. Secondly, that different groups react differently towards technology e.g. older women will be more resistant to change, as would less educated people or those lower in the organisational hierarchy. Thirdly, new technology affects job satisfaction, and lastly, that employment opportunities for women within retailing will also be reduced with the introduction of technology. The research considers each objective in turn. The actual experience of the retail workers was significantly different than had been expected or predicted from either factory of office work. The level of job satisfaction was increased and the high level of alienation that already existed in the industry was reduced through using new technology. The experience of the office and manufacturing sector was not mirrored in retail work. Supermarket workers actually welcomed the introduction of new technology. It reduced the boredom of performing repetitive tasks. Contrary to original expectations, supermarket workers welcomed reduced personal contact with customers. They also expressed favourable opinions towards depersonalising the service further. This was in direct contradiction to the opinion expressed in the manufacturing and office sectors. The skill level as perceived by the workforce, was also found to increase with the introduction of new technology. No significant differences were found in opinions when data was further analysed by sex. age or occupation. The fourth objective could not be tested in the study, due to the lack of empirical data upon which to base analysis. The study concludes that the introduction of new technology into the retail sector does change the nature and content of work. Although not as originally predicted from the literature

Human Machine Interaction

In this book, the reader will find a set of papers divided into two sections. The first section presents different proposals focused on the human-machine interaction development process. The second section is devoted to different aspects of interaction, with a special emphasis on the physical interaction

Computerized Manufacturing Automation: Employment, Education, and the Workplace

An assessment by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that looks "not only at robots but also at related computer-based technologies for design, production, and management" and "the technologies of programmable automation, their uses, and future capabilities" (p. iii)

Reading what farmers write : an agroecological exploration of three farmers/authors’ proposals to develop ecological, productive and profitable farm enterprises

This thesis uses a case study analysis to explore the accounts and proposals of three farmer-authors – Joel Salatin, Mark Shepard and Richard Perkins – to create productive, profitable, ecological and enjoyable farm enterprises and discuss their contribution to a better agriculture, food system, and society.Writings of successful ‘alternative’ farmers have generated much interest among aspiring farmers, media and the general public. Research in food systems, however, seems to have paid little attention to such cases. Should researchers be looking more closely at these approaches? This thesis uses a Case Study Analysis to explore the accounts and proposals of three farmer-authors – Joel Salatin, Mark Shepard and Richard Perkins. The analysis of the first two is based in the authors’ books, articles and interviews available online, while the third is also based in participant observation and semi-structured interviews. As the use of sustainability as an all-encompassing concept often muddles discussions, this study used a different method, analyzing these approaches in light of how desirable they are, how they sustain the resources they require, and their potential and appeal for broad adoption. These approaches were found to be generally in line with agroecological principles and likely to be among the best in various aspects of desirability and sustainability. Although they are knowledge intensive, they use low capital approaches which may ease their adoption. Moreover, they convey narratives that weave elements of entrepreneurship, ethics and personal fulfillment that are little studied in agroecological literature. Although solid conclusions require more detailed research, these models appear to be good prototypes for a return to highly diversified multi-purpose farms. Useful next steps include researching the actual values of their productivity and profitability, the extent of potential market for similar models, and how to develop the know-how required to make such farms work.M-A

Deployment maintenance strategy for the development of maintenance personnel in Irish and Malaysian automated manufacturing industries

In order to ensure that a manufacturing company is able to achieve the optimum productivity and equipment reliability, an effective maintenance system must be implemented. However it is very important to realize that the maintenance employee involvement is a critical factor in the maintenance implementation stage. An effective maintenance requires an understanding of the link between the maintenance and maintenance employee involvement. As such, there is a need for empirical research on the deployment strategy for the development of maintenance personnel incorporated within the company’s maintenance strategy. This study is a research programme based on the Irish and Malaysian automated manufacturing industries. The primary objective of this research is to formulate the maintenance strategy which leads to the deployment strategy for the development of maintenance personnel in Malaysian automated manufacturing companies. In order to achieve this primary objective, it is necessary to understand the current maintenance practice in manufacturing industries and to establish the extent to which Irish and also Malaysian companies invest in developing its maintenance teams through employee development. It involved carrying out a postal-survey questionnaire which examined and analyzed the maintenance implementation and the nature of problems and difficulties faced by the maintenance personnel in performing their tasks and activities. A comparative study has also been carried out between both countries, as well as the correlation between variables measured which relate to the performance of the company. The key findings are as follow: the commitment of top management plays very important role in the implementation of maintenance strategy; most of the problems encountered in maintaining the automated system are closely related to the human aspects, i.e. maintenance personnel; higher the utilization of proactive and aggressive maintenance, better the improvement of equipment availability that could be expected; by conducting an appropriate and good training implementation, a better improvement of equipment availability could be achieved; in Malaysia, there is higher improvement of equipment availability in the company which uses in-house maintenance. Based on the theoretical understanding of current research in the literature and the results of empirical data found in this study, the author proposes a deployment strategy for the development of maintenance personnel to be incorporated within the company’s maintenance strategy in Malaysia, from the maintenance employee perspective and participation for self reliance and improved reliability and performance